#Assign Electra | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

endlessxdreams · 3 months ago

Text

The little hints that are easily missed part 2:

1. When Charles said to Declan (I’m paraphrasing because I don’t remember exactly the lines) that he and Rupert are the same, stubborn, workaholics and want their way always winning I feel like it was a for shadowing for the dynamic between Declan & Rupert’s relationship with each other. They are the same person that in another universe they might be the other way around (Rupert married with kids and Declan a playboy). Regarding that, I feel that it was intensionally assigned as a scene to showcase that Declan’s hate was influenced by Tony but also reasonated the reason why Taggie is entangled with Rupert. Electra’ s syndrome where women fall for men that have the same personality as their father. She sees a lot of her father (which she admires) in Rupert. It may be far fetched but hear me out. Maud is a really bad mother to her children, especially Tags, which she is jealous because of her youth and beauty and she calls her retarted and stupid. Declan on the other hand, has a drinking problem, is a workaholic who rarely goes to his house, has anger issues and has been in a weird relationship with his wife (he enjoys other men watching Maud, lusting after her, being desired and sleeping with them) but as a father he loves Taggie (I think she is his favourite because in their house she’s the only person that is not problematic and tries her best to care for them).

2. Declan immediately saw the way way Rupert was watching Taggie at the pub and said “Stay away from Taggie, you’re old enough to be her father”. So if Taggie is 20 years old (in the books she’s 18) that makes Rupert 40 (in the books he’s 38). The dirt he gathered for Rupert and his secret weapon he will use it when he finds out about AngelBlack (I love the ship name, kudos ❤️❤️ to the person that suggested it).

3. The way he calls her “Angel” is his way of seeing the celestial light, she is an innocent creature, full of love, care and compassion for animals, people, her family. She’s an introvert who loves her own space, likes to provide comfort and love to others but also she didn’t choose this role. She’s not the typical 20 year girl. She’s like a mother figure, she takes care of the household, she cooks, she tries to help other people, her father, her sister while at the same time she tries her best to make her life better, to overcome her own difficulties (dyslexia)- As someone who has dyslexia I can assure you that is difficult, I’m lucky in a sense because while it was 20 years ago (I was in first grade) and it was when my teacher noticed and informed my parents, they didn’t dismissed her and they took me to speech and occupational therapists and is not bad (I read-write-think perfectly without a grammar mistake and when I tell people that I have dyslexia they don’t believe me because I’m the devils advocate and they tell me I should be a lawyer because I’m always 5 steps ahead. But I have a terrible ADHD brain disorder and I can’t remember stuff I read a day before and I can’t concentrate to read and understand what I’m reading/I have also a bad anxiety disorder so while I read I can’t get my mind to remember shit and get anxious and start crying and feel like I’m an idiot because I read the same paragraph 15 times to comprehend what I’m reading and wherever how hard you study and you try you always fail miserably). Mind you that this was 20 years ago in Greece which is not a place that people have empathy or tolerance toward someone else being different than them (even some teachers back then didn’t want me in their class or they didn’t want to help me study because they though I was slow and dummy and some of my classmates were the same). Therefore, I love the representation of people with learning disabilities and how difficult is for them to navigate life. And in the 80’s when so little things were known back then. Thus, Taggie is a fallen angel, she pays for other people’s sins, she is a pure sensitive soul, who from a young age she is always puts other people’s needs first, she keeps her distance, doesn’t try to make herself visible to others, doesn’t take space, attention, affection and love (only her siblings love her continuously as we saw at the hug scene of the NYE episode but I feel like the love her like a mother figure and not as a sister). Rupert’s sees all of that, her sacrifices, her fierce nature to others and her willingness and is drawn to her like a dog needs water, he is the devil and she will redeem him from himself. Someone on Tik Tok mentioned that the bedroom scene from the NYE episode was directed to Rupert’s emotional state. He is in a cold place, he doesn’t care about anyone or tries to give this impressions, he doesn’t see his children because his ex wife didn’t want him anywhere near them, he finds comfort between women’s legs but is temporary and he is a shell of himself and his glory days. And as he puts Taggie to sleep and they look at each others eyes, the celestial light shines bright making Rupert feel warmth inside of him, like all his sins will be consumed.

4. From all the people in NYE episode he was the only one that went into the kitchen and told her to relax and have fun, no one other cared to bother to remember that she existed (expect Patrick and Caitlin). He took care of everything that needing to be taken care of, he protected Charle’s photo of panic attacks getting on paper, he payed the DJ’s, cleaned up and went home. Acts of service. He saw Taggie in an fragile emotional state, feeling unlovable, unworthy, unable to cope with all of this pain and wanted to help her. He talked to Freddie and wanted all three of them to make the franchise in order for Taggie to not leave and because she was devastated by her father losing his job, credibility and leave the town she liked for once in her life. Rupert saw all of this. She had the world on her shoulders at such a young age and wanted to make her happy.

5. The line “What if no one ever loves me?” is a parallel to Rupert’s own thoughts. He confessed to never have been in love in Declan’s show.

6. The way that he was jealous of Ralphie and said that she can do so much better than him and watched intensely and wanted to throw hands for hurting her in the worst way, of Seb who took her to the movies meanwhile he was fucking Cameron.

7. He cared about her opinion of him. He doesn’t give a fuck or pretends to to other people’s opinions but with Taggie he’s eager to learn what she feels of him and he starts slowly to unmask himself from his persona. He gave her an egg jewel and not something mainstream which he would get for other women (for example the bracelet). He was pleasantly surprised by the fact that she accepted his apology but not his gift, because he is so used to pay his way into women’s hearts-pants and Taggie returns it. Also I believe that the egg jewel was a personal gift in which he choose himself whereas all the others were picked by the Jewerly stuff or his assistants.

8. He wants her empowered and to speak her mind. In the episode of the killing of the birds which she did the catering, he pursue her to admit that she will not do another catering job for hunting/killing innocent animals.

9. Rupert’s worry of Taggie’s accident and the way they hugged each other, especially him, the realisation that shr could have been dead. He immediately drove the car and Taggie home because she was so upset that she couldn’t drive and when he heard the tape of the directions, he offered both of them to go to the tours around city promoting Venturer.

10. The way that I HATED HIS GUTS/ LOATHED HIM in the first episodes and couldn’t fathom the fact that they’re a ship and slowly we saw him change, yearning and longing for a glimpse of her, like he see his true self come to the surface and be vulnerable when he sees her . As Bas said “crushing like a school girl”. A 40 year old playboy with a lot of issues that wants his partners daughter which he promised that “she’s out of bounds” and everything is complicated, he could loose everything, his money, his house, his position as a minister, Declan, Freddie, Taggie and his entirety of his life. Talk about complicated and difficult.

#rivals disney+#rivals #declan o’hara #taggie rupert #taggie o'hara #taggie x rupert #rupert campbell black #maud o’hara #bella maclean #alex hassell #angelblack #rivals jilly cooper #rivals 2024 #rivals hulu #rupert x taggie

236 notes · View notes

ilions-end · 12 days ago

Text

okay MORE thoughts on the orestes now that the play has been percolating in my head for another day:

(i notice i seem to be pondering this one more than i usually do? there's something in its strangeness and how morally challenging it is. there's so much friction in it. also its events genuinely took me by surprise and shocked me. my mind-tongue is still prodding at it)

apparently scholars have always been struggling to neatly assign this play a genre, and i see why. what IS it trying to do to the audience? it's like a tragedy that can't be contained in its own tropes and formulae, and the mythological characters won't behave and play their parts. interesting to learn that euripides wrote it at the end of his life, and likely invented this section of the narrative himself. the play feels cynical in ways, almost disillusioned.

the contrast to the eumenides is even bigger and feels more intentional than i first thought, because now i realize ORESTES AND ELECTRA ARE PUT ON FORMAL TRIAL IN THIS. euripides pointedly abandons aeschylus' narrative where the murder of clytemnestra leads directly to the invention of a formal legal process. that process (or at least some parallel form of it) already exists in the orestes! and our protagonists DO NOT RESPECT IT, they turn to more crime and murder instead of facing their sentencing

orestes' main defensive argument, that he was used as a divine tool to punish clytemnestra for her crimes, falls apart when he eagerly decides to kill helen and potentially her innocent daughter. NO GOD TOLD HIM TO DO THAT! (although pylades did, and that pylades-apollo connection from the oresteia is still on my mind)

i also failed to mention yesterday how hype pylades is about the idea of a suicide pact. it's very orestes going "my suicide--" and pylades like "no no no *takes his hand* OUR suicide :)"

i don't have a good point about that, i just think orestes and pylades' relationship feels even more interesting on this level of unhinged loyalty and mutual sacrifice

OH THE PHRYGIAN SLAVE IS MEANT TO TALK IN GARBLED, SIMPLISTIC GREEK??? because obviously it isn't his native language! that didn't come through in the translation i read. ohh that's so interesting, really adding to the chaos of the scene. it's a messenger speech falling apart, tripping over itself, failing to make itself understood, when messenger speeches are usually so concise and informative. wow!

i keep thinking about what a horrific time hermione is having. most of all when she hears apollo tell orestes "you shall marry the young girl whose throat you currently have your blade against". the famously insane man who kidnapped her and has been threatening to kill her for the last fifteen minutes. i mean, the horror. imagine.

generally how, idk, simplistic apollo's decrees feel when the situation has devolved this far... it really makes me ponder the idea of deus ex machinas not being salvation or resolution, but more the gods tying up loose threads only to their own satisfaction. many thoughts.

#first impressions tag #the orestes #euripides

28 notes · View notes

phillippadgettwrites · 1 year ago

Text

Dropped Call, Chapter 2

Rated X / 3700 words / posted on AO3 / Tagging @today-in-fic

They’re in Lakeland, Florida and it’s been pissing rain since they hit the tarmac in Tampa. Between the inability to keep his loafers dry, the fact that he forgot his glasses, and the lack of cable in his motel room, Mulder is in a seriously bad fucking mood. He even turned down dinner with Scully, something that is typically the highlight of his day on assignment, to spare her from his grouchiness. He always hates himself when he’s an asshole to her for no justifiable reason, and right now he doesn’t possess the capacity to regulate his emotions as effectively as he’d need to to avoid it.��

At this point, he’s come to the conclusion that the phone call was some kind of hyper-realistic dream or fantasy. Given, the facts don’t totally line up in support of that theory, but it’s easier to operate under the belief that it never happened than it is to accept the idea that it did happen but will never be spoken of, much less acted on. Easier than accepting that he unwittingly divulged graphic details regarding his sexual fantasies about Scully to Scully herself, and she was so horrified that she can only cope by acting as though the phone call never took place at all.

But was she really horrified? His memory of the exact words spoken by each of them isn’t especially sharp, given that he thought he was speaking to Electra, but he’s pretty sure he remembers her asking him questions, goading him into sharing more. And he knows that he correctly recalls what she said about “enjoying other meals,” because by then he knew exactly what he’d done and who he was speaking to, and the high he experienced in light of her confession lasted well into the following day, right up until he knocked on her door with a paper bag containing tom kah gai in hand.

She hadn’t acted strangely, aside from the general lethargy caused by her cold, and that in itself struck him as strange. She ate her soup, smiled at him while he detailed the creative ways he’d wasted time that morning in her absence, and then yawned and said she was going to take a nap. It’s not that he was expecting her to bring up the phone call or kiss him goodbye or something, but he thought things would feel…different. He certainly felt different.

But weeks have passed, and she has more than fully recovered from her cold, yet there is nary a hint of increased sexual tension between the two of them. In fact, there’s been a distinct lack of their typical casual flirtations, almost like they’ve regressed. What conclusion can he come to other than she’s just not interested? She seems to want to pretend it never happened, and for lack of a better option he’s done the same.

He calls the front desk again, hoping that he’ll get someone other than the exceedingly unhelpful young man who offered apologies regarding the lack of cable, but no solutions. After speaking to the night shift manager at length, his options are to move to a room clear on the other side of the complex, or go without.

“Let me think about it and call you back,” he says, then slams the phone down on the receiver with more force than is necessary and flops onto the bed.

Within seconds the phone is ringing and he picks it back up, expecting to hear the night manager on the other end.

“Yeah?”

“Hey, it’s me.”

He can hear the ghost of her voice through the poorly insulated wall between their rooms, a murmuring, indecipherable vibration.

“Hey, what’s up?”

“I was going to ask if you wanted the rest of this pizza, but I kept getting a busy signal so it’s probably cold now,” she says.

“I’ll never understand your aversion to cold pizza,” he says.

She makes a noncommittal little noise, and then they are quiet for a beat.

“So who were you talking to?” she asks.

Her voice is a bit higher than normal, giving away her attempt to appear disinterested in the answer, and that, in turn, piques Mulder’s curiosity.

“Who do you think?” he replies, just to see what she’ll say.

Scully scoffs as though this confirms what she already suspected.

“Please send my regards to Electra,” she snarks. The reference to their previously unmentionable phone call sends a shock of adrenaline through him. He can’t think of anything to say, so he just doesn’t say anything. “What time do you want to head out tomorrow?” Scully says quickly, changing the subject, and he can nearly feel her embarrassment radiating through the wall.

“Nine?” he suggests, and she grunts her agreement. There’s another pregnant pause, and he decides to seize the opportunity. “I told Electra about what happened,” he says, his heart pounding loudly in his ears.

“Oh?” Scully says after a beat.

“Mmhmm,” Mulder replies, summoning courage. “She said you’re going to put her out of a job.”

Scully huffs an uncomfortable little laugh.

“I highly doubt that,” she says quietly.

They’ve never had an issue with awkward silences. As many hours as they spend in one another’s company, it’s just not possible to avoid lulls in conversation, and he’s long appreciated the fact that Scully doesn’t try to fill them with meaningless drivel. An unfortunate side effect of this is that on those occasions where they are intentionally avoiding a specific topic of conversation, the weight of those unfilled silences is practically unbearable.

He wants to ask her so many questions. Why didn't she tell him it was her? Was she disgusted by what he said? What did her cryptic comment about “enjoying other meals” really mean? Is this a door she never wants to open, or does she just need him to open it for her so they can both walk through?

“I’m sorry about that, by the way,” he blurts out, inexplicably compelled to keep them on this subject. “We’ve never talked about it, but I realize that it was probably really weird for you and…sorry.”

Part of him knows he’s fishing for information. If she accepts his apology, he can take that to mean that an apology was due. If she refutes the need for one, that will tell him something entirely different.

She doesn’t do either of those things.

“Well, I could have hung up,” she says, her tone inscrutable.

“But you didn’t,” he says, equally ambiguous.

“No,” she says.

The silence is so fucking heavy it makes him feel sick.

“Why is that?” he ventures. “Just out of curiosity.”

He hears her pull in a slow, deep breath and then expel it in a huff.

“I’m not sure,” she finally says. He can’t tell whether she’s obfuscating.

“Were you offended?”

“...No.”

“Surprised?”

“Very.”

“Was that surprise of the pleasant or unpleasant variety?” he asks, switching the handset from one ear to the other so he can wipe his sweaty palms on the bedspread.

He’s listening so intently that he hears both the wet sounds of her tongue moving around inside her mouth in search of words, as well as the creak of bed springs as she shifts uncomfortably on the mattress.

“I’m not sure how to answer that,” she says after a time.

What the fuck does that mean? He wonders. He could logically conclude that she was into it, between the not hanging up, the asking of questions, and the hesitance to outright say whether it bothered her. But this is Scully, and the risk of making an incorrect assumption is not one he is willing to take.

“How long have you been talking to her?” she asks, and at first he doesn’t understand the question. Talking to who?

“Oh, I was actually talking to the front desk,” he says, realizing that he never corrected her. “The cable in my room is out.”

“Oh,” she says. “So you didn’t really tell her about what happened?”

Her tone is strange and foreign to him. She sounds uncertain, insecure almost.

“I did, a few weeks ago.”

“Hm.”

“To answer your question, I’ve been talking to her for….I guess a little over a year now,” he says.

This would typically be an embarrassing thing to disclose, but her active participation in a phone call of the same nature makes him feel like she doesn’t really have a place to judge. He also finds her curiosity regarding Electra compelling, though he can’t really say why.

“Oh,” she says, sounding surprised. “That’s a long time. With one person, I mean.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

He can tell there’s something she’s not saying. Something she wants to ask him, or wants to know but is unwilling to ask. He has an overwhelming urge to tell her everything, to detail the ways that talking to Electra helps him cope with having to bury his feelings for Scully every weekday between the hours of 9-5, plus most weekends. He wants to tell her that it’s not just about sex, though it was the night he ended up with her on the line. That Electra knows exactly what Scully looks like, down to the little mole on her upper lip, and that she snorts if he manages to make her laugh hard enough. That for every time he’s jerked off while telling Electra what he wishes he could do with Scully physically, there were two phone calls where he kept his pants on and told her how tormented he is by his inability to get closer to her emotionally.

“It’s not always like that,” he says, opting for a less detailed disclosure. “Most of the time when I talk to her, we just talk.”

“About what?” she asks, and he immediately feels his face get hot.

“I feel like you already know the answer to that,” he says, equally mortified and irritated. It doesn’t seem fair for her to feign ignorance at this point.

Scully is quiet, but he knows her mind is racing. He can feel it, a frenetic crackle against the shell of his ear.

“I guess I do,” she says when he’s just about to ask if she’s still there. “I don’t want you to think…” she starts. He waits for her to find the right words. “I don’t want you to think I was offended or that I’m upset about what happened,” she says carefully. “I realize that it might seem like I am, so I just wanted you to know that I’m not.”

“Okay,” he says uncertainly. This is good news, in a way, but it’s also non-news.

“I also owe you an apology,” she continues. “It was inappropriate of me not to tell you as soon as I realized. I violated your privacy, and I’m very sorry for that.”

“No apology needed,” he says. A beat passes. This is ridiculous. “Can we just—Look, I know this is awkward, and I know you’re a private person, but can we just—”

“I don’t think I’m ready to do that,” she interrupts him, her voice urgent and a little afraid.

He takes a moment to absorb this.

“You’re not ready to talk about it,” he says, and she hums in confirmation. “But you’re….interested? Open to it? Eventually?”

“Eventually,” she repeats. “Not now.”

“Okay,” he says, satisfied that he understands the situation. “I can and will respect that.”

“Thank you.”

“See you at 9 tomorrow?”

“Yep.”

He hangs up the phone and folds his hands over his belly, staring at the dusty popcorn ceiling as he thinks back through it all. A little smile plays at the corners of his mouth. Eventually isn’t something he can necessarily look forward to, but it’s a hell of a lot better than never.

The phone rings, and reaches across the nightstand to answer it.

“Hello?”

“Hi.”

Mulder’s eyebrows furrow. The voice is definitely female, but he can’t immediately place it

“Hi. Who’s this?”

The caller clears her throat.

“Uh, this is…it’s Electra,” she says.

A hot flush spreads out over his entire body, and there’s a slight ringing in his ears.

“Hi,” he says, sitting up. “How are you?”

“I’m well,” she says. “What are you doing?”

He hears the vibration of her voice from the other side of the wall, the cadence of it a millisecond ahead of what comes to his ear through the phone.

“I’m just relaxing,” he says. He suddenly doesn’t know how to behave. “I’m at a motel and there’s no cable in my room.”

“Oh no,” she says. “What are you going to do to entertain yourself?”

Her tone is awkward and unconfident, but he understands what she’s going for and plays along.

“I don’t know,” he says, swinging his feet over the side of the bed. “Any ideas?”

“Well,” she says, her voice just this side of shaky. “You could tell me about another one of your fantasies, if you want.”

There is a rush of blood to his lap that makes him momentarily lightheaded. She’s really doing this.

“Okay,” he says, but his mind goes blank. What is she hoping to hear? What if he says something she finds offensive? This is a lot harder when he knows it’s Scully he’s talking to. “Give me a second to think of something.”

“Last time we talked, you said you had other fantasies of the same nature,” she says hesitantly.

“I do,” he confirms. “I just…sorry, you just caught me off guard.”

“I can relate,” she says with just a hint of coyness, and that makes him relax a little.

He lays back down on the bed and closes his eyes. If he’s going to do this, he has to pretend it’s really Electra on the line.

“Okay,” he says. “Something that’s important to know for context is that she loves to take baths.”

“She?”

Mulder opens his eyes, taken out of the moment. He never has to specify with Electra; there’s only one “she” he’s ever referring to.

“My partner,” he says reluctantly.

“Oh,” she replies. “Okay, go ahead.”

Mulder closes his eyes again and lets the image of his fantasy fill his mind. The tiled walls of Scully’s bathroom, the bright smell of her lavender bubble bath, her dirty clothes in a heap on the floor by the tub.

“One of my fantasies is that I stop by her apartment unannounced, and I hear her call out for me to let myself in. So I use my key, and once I’m inside she tells me that she’s in the bath.” He pauses to see if she has any commentary on this, but she says nothing. “I start talking to her through the door, which is something I’ve done a handful of times, but in my fantasy she tells me to come in.” Another pause. All he hears is her even breathing. “She’s in the bath, but it’s so full of bubbles that I can’t see anything. I sit on a little stool beside the tub and we keep talking.”

His heart is pounding. He can’t just say this to her.

“And then what?” she asks. Mulder swallows.

“And then…I end up touching her under the bubbles,” he says, glazing over the rest of the details and making use of a euphemism.

Scully laughs a little.

“I think you may have skipped some things,” she says gently, and he cringes.

“Sorry. I don’t want to be too graphic.”

“Why?”

“I guess I’m worried I’ll offend you,” he says.

“What if I promise not to be offended?” she offers.

“Is that something you can reasonably promise?”

“I guess we’ll find out.”

“Okay,” Mulder says, sucking in a steadying breath. “I’m sitting next to the tub and we’re talking. After a while some of the bubbles start to dissolve and I can kind of see her body. Not details, just sort of the contrast of her skin, and—” he pauses, then forces himself to say the next part. “I can see darker areas, like her nipples and her pubic hair.”

Scully hums, an indication that she’s following along. That she’s listening.

“She’s talking about how much stress she’s been under. I think in the fantasy I kind of know that she’s been having a hard time and I’m worried about her.”

“Interesting,” Scully says, her voice breathy.

“Why is that interesting?” he asks.

“Oh…just…I guess I find it interesting that her emotional state factors into your fantasy,” she observes without judgment. “That was also true in the previous fantasy you shared.”

He doesn’t miss the fact that she’s referring to herself in the third person. And she isn’t wrong.

“So she’s talking about how stressed out she is,” he continues, shifting his hips around as his erection begs to be touched, “and I tell her I can help. I ask if she’ll let me.”

“What do you say, exactly?” she asks.

He reaches down and gives his cock a squeeze. “I say something like, ‘I know what you need,’ and then I look at her body under the bubbles. I’m not very explicit.”

“Why?”

“Because in this fantasy we’ve never done anything like that before, so I wouldn’t just come out and say it directly. That would be too forward for her.”

“So you want it to be realistic?” she asks.

“Sometimes.”

“Okay, so you tell her that you know what she needs. What does she say?” Scully says, getting them back on track.

“She doesn’t really say anything. Her eyes get wide, and she looks down and realizes that she’s slowly being exposed. She’s embarrassed, but she’s also excited.”

“How do you know?”

“Because she’s not telling me to get the fuck out of her bathroom,” he says lightly, and she laughs.

“So what do you do next?”

“I reach out and touch her knee, which is above the water. And then I watch her face as I run my fingers down the inside of her thigh.”

“You don’t kiss her?”

“Not yet.”

“Does she stop you?”

“No. She just looks at me. Her eyes are still all big and her mouth is open. She’s breathing hard. And then she moves her other leg to the side.” He swears he hears the tiniest little moan slip through the phone. “Hey, can I ask you something?”

“What?” she asks, though it’s unclear whether she’s asking what his question is or if she’s just confused by his divergence from the story.

“When we talked before, when I told you about my other fantasy?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Were you, um…did you touch yourself?”

She’s quiet for so long that he gets his dick out and gives it a few strokes before leaving it to rest, stiff and aching, against his belly.

“Yes.”

His dick lurches, standing at attention briefly before it flops to the side. He doesn’t want to come before this is over, lest his post-nut clarity ruin the rest of the experience, so he tries to touch it as little as possible.

“She moves her other leg to the side so I know without a doubt that she wants it. When I touch her, she closes her eyes and moans right away. Even under the water I can feel how wet she is. How slippery. I ask her again to let me help, but this time I say, ‘let me make you come, Scully.’”

She gasps a little, and he realizes that he used her name. He’s never used her name with Electra.

“What does she say?” Scully asks, nearly whining. Her voice is high and tight, and he wants to know so badly if she’s touching herself again now.

“She says, ‘we can’t.’ But she’s pushing her hips into my hand even when she’s saying it so I don’t stop. I know she wants it. I put one finger inside her and she just…she melts.”

“Oh,” Scully breathes out. It’s unclear whether it’s commentary on the story or a vocalization of whatever she’s doing over there.

“I get rid of the stool and I kneel beside the tub so I can kind of lean over into it for leverage. And that’s when I kiss her. Or I try to, but she can barely kiss because of what I’m doing to her with my hand. I add a second finger and she’s throbbing like crazy.”

“Yes,” Scully says in encouragement.

“Are you touching yourself?” he asks quickly, his tone unchanged from his narration.

“Yes,” she says again.

Mulder squeezes his cock in his fist.

“Me too.”

Another, “Oh.”

“I curl my fingers up towards her belly, and then I get my thumb on her clit. She’s holding on to the sides of the tub for leverage and practically fucking my hand, she wants it so bad.”

“Uh huh.”

He can’t hold back anymore. He strokes his cock frantically fast, pumping his hips up off the mattress as though thrusting. He no longer has the capacity to worry about how graphic he’s being.

“Then she comes. She comes so hard she can’t speak, can’t breathe. And her cunt is just…god she’s so tight. And all I can think about is how good it would feel to be inside her when she’s coming.”

Scully gasps, and suddenly the line goes dead. Through the wall, he hears a long, low moan, and then a series of high staccato whimpers. He explodes forcefully into his own hand, sending ropes of cum up as far as his chest and completely defiling his last clean T-shirt. He still has the phone propped against his ear and his cock in hand, slippery and quickly softening, when he hears a click, and then her voice comes back through the open line.

“Mulder?”

He sits up quickly, which makes his head spin.

“Yeah?”

“I was thinking, can we leave at 8:30 tomorrow? I’d like to stop for some decent coffee if we can make time.”

Mulder blinks stupidly, disoriented.

“Uh, yeah, 8:30 is fine. Are you…you’re good?”

“Yeah, I’m great,” she says simply.

“Okay. Goodnight, then.”

“Goodnight. Sleep well.”

Mulder sets the phone back on the receiver and looks down at his cum-streaked lap and belly. That absolutely happened, there is no doubt in his mind.

#x files fanfic #the x files #xf fic #xf fanfic

76 notes · View notes

themagicoolcat · 1 month ago

Text

this is what the allegiances are looking like for my warrior cats au!! i'll put explanations and stuff for choices and cats i'm considering adding under the cat! :)

JellicleClan!

Leader -

Old Deuteronomy

Deputy -

Munkustrap

Medicine Cats -

Coricopat

Tantomile

Warriors -

Skimbleshanks

Jennyanydots

Jellylorum

Bustopher Jones

Bombalurina

Demeter

Rum Tum Tugger

Mr Mistofelees

Rumpleteazer

Mungojerrie

Cassandra

Alonzo

George

Victoria - was just made into a warrior!

Apperntices -

Plato

Pouncival

Electra

Etcetera

Bill Bailey

Queen & Kit -

Jemima

Elders -

Gus

find out more about my au below the cut!!

now of course i'll be giving everybody a warrior name but right now i'm just focusing on getting all the cats organised into their proper roles! i'll also get to assigning the apprentices mentors as well before i name them!

old deut being the leader of the jellicle clan is something i feel like i don't have to explain hehe and i feel like it's only right for munk to be his deputy with him being the tribe's protector and a sort of leader when old deut being around. it just makes sense!

often in warrior cats (or at least in the earlier arcs) it's common for leaders to consult their deputy and a group of older cats who consist of senior warriors and elders. this little group within the jellicleclan is skimble, jenny, jelly, bustopher and gus!

i struggled with choosing who i wanted to be a medicine cat for a while and it put me off of thinking about the au until last night when i realised that tantomile and coricopat could be medicine cats. their psychic, mystical and mysterious abilites translate well to the role of medicine cat who's connection to starclan in the series is something mystical and mysteries with the cats that share tongues with starclan being the only ones to truly know it's secrets.

being magic doesn't automatically mean the cat is a medicine cat of course. misto in the au is a warrior but he still possesses the same magical abilities which are still as unexplained as usual with the clan just accepting it as a normal thing. demeter is a warrior also as baby jemima is almost of apprentice age and doesn't need constant care anymore, jemima is super excited about becoming an apprentice like her friends! also george is here.

vicky just completed her training to become a warrior! all of the other kittens (with the exception of jemima who's a kit) are apprentices still undergoing their warrior training :)

i think that's all i've gotta say about my au allegiance right now!

i might add some swing kitties to the allegiances but i'm not sure who i'd add. if anybody has any suggestions about any kitties to add or just anything to say about the au then please feel free to share! :D

10 notes · View notes

octives-space · 6 months ago

Text

Welcome to OCtives space! ༄.ೃ࿔࿐໋✧˖°.

This is a blog dedicated to fictives/introjects of OCs. An oc is an original character, and they can be made for original stories and media, or even as original characters for pre-existing media and fandoms. Self-inserts count!

BYI: ⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

✧ We are an endo-neu system. Everyone regardless of orgin or syscourse stance is allowed here. We will not tolerate hate or syscourse in our askbox or replies.

✧ We are chronically ill, in college, and working- so we go radio silent on occasion to deal with assignments and treatment. Please be patient with us.

✧ This isn’t a place for discourse of any kind. Please keep discourse out of this blog.

DNI: ⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

✧ Basic DNI criteria- radqueer, queerphobic, sexist, racist, maps, zoos, TERFs.

✧ Sysmeds - we are pro self-diagnosis. You may interact if you can do so without being hateful to others.

✧ Fakeclaimers and hate blogs.

Meet the Mods below the cut! ༄.ೃ࿔࿐໋✧˖°.

Meet the Mods༄.ೃ࿔࿐໋✧˖°.

✧ Emily | She/Her | Ace-heteroflexible

Hi! I’m the main blog manager and will post the most. I roped other headmates into joining in too >:)

I’m a self-insert from a Roleplay that later introjected into my system. Due to the multifandom nature of it, I have a lot of sources and a very complicated lore.

Sign off: -Emily

✧ Electra | She/Her | straight

Hi, I thought ide do this with Emily because it sounded like fun. I don’t really talk about my source much, but it is original media that was developed with the systems childhood friends.

Sign off: -💎 or -Electra

✧ Yami | She/He | Ace-Demiromantic (Bi)

Hi there! I’m Yami but you can call me the Queen of games >:) (jk- ) I’m partially an OCtive and partially a yugioh! Fictive. Emily asked me to join her in making this blog and I couldn’t say no.

Sign off: -Yami

22 notes · View notes

phia-myth · 2 days ago

Note

Hi! Can u please talk more abt Helen, Menelaus & Paris in ur AU? C:

omg thanks for asking!

(i should warn that helen comes with trigger warnings. i’ll put a warning before whatever bullet point mentions something of note)

so helen is sort of a cliche high school movie popular girl. she’s beautiful, she’s wealthy, she’s smart. she’s not a huge fan of the attention and she prefers to just stick with her twin clytemnestra and her cousin penelope, but she guesses it can’t be helped

paris has been pursuing her for a while and she’s not thrilled about it. he’s far too insistent and pushy. she much prefers menelaus who she was partnered with on an assignment. they like each other but menelaus knows helen has a rep of not liking people who are too pushy with her. helen knows menelaus likes her but clytemnestra and agamemnon are having a nasty breakup and for obvious reasons dating her twin’s ex’s brother is a messy situation she does NOT want to be involved in

have i mentioned menelaus is shorter than helen bc he is and i like it very much.

helen is a fairly tall girl (around 5’10) and menelaus is a cool 5’5, which is short but not as short as odysseus who’s 5’3.

(bless)

don’t let his height fool you he is on the wrestling team and he is on the wrestling team for a REASON.

having said that he 100% wears socks and crocs to class. he dresses like a loser next to helen who’s like

perfect hair perfect clothes perfect makeup

helen and clytemnestra are rly tight with their brothers who are ALSO twins. you know them you love them. castor and pollux. people thought they were quadruplets but luckily for leda they were not

iphigenia, electra, orestes, chrysothemis and hermione do exist, but for obvious reasons they’re not their kids they’re kids about pyrrhus’ age who are their cousins. they‘re still protective of them don’t get me wrong. it’s the whole reason clytemnestra and agamemnon break up. call that shit the orestea on the remix

menelaus is a year younger than agamemnon and they have a love-hate relationship going on. it’s mostly generational trauma. and agamemnon.

which reminds me menelaus and agamemnon have had a go of it. their dad atreus was arrested for attempting to murder his brother after he found out his wife was having an affair with him. since then thyestes (the brother) and aerope (the ex wife) have been married but it’s not doing so hot.

as you can see that does wonders for menelaus and agamemnon’s perspective on relationships. they just go in opposite directions with it.

agamemnon repeats the cycle menelaus fears the cycle it’s a tale as old as time

um… so… speaking of bad relationships…

at one point clytemnestra and penelope’s Boy Problems™️ overlap (clytemnestra’s having a messy breakup, penelope’s boyfriend is having something of an awakening) so they decide to go to a party

(TW: RAPE) helen gets separated from them and paris takes this opportunity to dr drug and rape her. clytemnestra and penelope find her and they go straight to their parents who are obviously outraged. they take her to court but the court rules that, since paris has been courting her and there were no witnesses and no way to prove she hadn’t taken the drug of her own accord, that paris wasn’t in the wrong and actually helen should marry paris and drop out of high school. they threaten to sue helen and her family for emotional damages if she doesn’t

(this is your friendly reminder that this is still an ancient civilisation in the modern era and women’s rights have very blurred lines. in this world such a sentence is about the same morality level as being legally ruled a housewife. women’s rights are in place, but there are a lot of exploits that allow corrupt courts to keep backwards rulings based on technicalities and loopholes)

obviously this is ridiculously backwards so helen’s parents take it to a higher court which overrules this decision and nobody’s getting sued. all things considered the whole issue ends quite quickly. the only issue is that paris gets off with only paying a fine and the school not allowing them to be in the same classes to minimise contact

but obviously paris is paris so the situation just kind of dissolves into him provoking menelaus (since he’s not allowed near helen). then he’d hide behind hector as soon as menelaus or one of his friends try to absolutely pummel him. the trojan war is essentially menelaus and co trying to beat paris up, hector beating them up back, and then they all end up in detention

in case you’re wondering how hector feels about all of this: he doesn’t support paris — in fact quite the opposite — but when his brother is using him as essentially a human shield and people start punching him to get to paris, he’s obviously going to punch back

anyway it’s a whole mess. everyone’s fighting. clytemnestra and cassandra are having an enemies to lovers romance— wait who said that?!

the whole thing ends when paris accidentally ends up in the same room as helen but odysseus manages to convince a teacher that he did it on purpose and he gets expelled and suddenly there’s no fighting in the hallways anymore woah

the things odysseus does not only for bros but also to win back his girl it’s crazy

helen and menelaus take things slow for obvious reasons

but they do go on nice dates where they hold hands and leave room for artemis

i should mention that this one is a storyline i haven’t solidified and some things may change!

#this one was more plot than the patrochilles one #not my intention #greek mythology #tagamemnon #ancient greek mythology #the iliad #trojan war #ancient greece #helen of troy #helen of sparta #menelaus #agamemnon #clytemnestra #penelope #odysseus #paris of troy #hector of troy #ask me anything

18 notes · View notes

clovenhoofedjester · 8 months ago

Text

NEW CATS NONREPLICA IDEA. ITS FURBIES. HI.

JUSTIFICATIONS UNDER THE CUT

i wanted the kittens to be furby babies for obvious reasons. they are so small

the adults are standard furbies and all the song cats (minus the OLLDDDD elders) are special edition/prize furbies

aforementioned elders are 2005 furbies. i love those things

i chose mostly off vibes. colors, cool features, names, gimmicks that matched--some are closer to their replica costumes and others are just. my desire for batshit colorful nonrep designs

pry angel macavity out of my Cold Dead Hands .

mungojerrie and rumpleteazer were switched before i realised i wanted to give teazer a cool hat

pouncival and george are rainbow because i want to

tantomile & coricopat wouldve been the autumn/witch furby if they were song cats

i think. my favorite choice here is sillabub. like thats her guys. lets go home

i really like asparagus jr being green. get it its likethegvegetabil

i struggled w electra like i really had no idea who to assign her since sillabub already had the bright orange/black furby. wavy stripes was originally going to be tumblebrutus until i became entranced by all 5 pixels of the grey squirrel furby. then everything was balanced once more

i have alternatives to the special edition furbies (that are closer to the replica designs/less colorful) tell me if you wanna see them

did not include booms onwards because i couldnt figure out a solid system for them. like who tf am i assigning a furby withNvm the rumpus cat. the rumpus cat would be a furby boom

i spent 4 hours on this thing

grizabella was originally going to be a peepy. imagine this thing singing memory

#cats the musical #furby #furbies #non-replica #soon i may design all of these. but dont count on it #shitpost #kind of

21 notes · View notes

acdc-is-okay-by-me · 26 days ago

Note

You actually give me so much gender envy its insane. I wish I could be more like you

Aww, thank you anon!

#Assign Electra

1 note · View note

thesweetnessofspring · 7 months ago

Text

Roses and Pearls by HalfHope (thesweetnessofspring)

Rated: E

Description: Peeta Mellark is the sole victor of the Quarter Quell. With District 12 nothing but ash, he rebuilds his life by moving to the Capitol and falling in love with Rosalia Snow, granddaughter to Coriolanus Snow.

Then people Peeta thought long dead kidnap him and Rosalia, including the one person he hates more than anyone: Katniss Everdeen. They say he's been hijacked. They say that he used to love her. Locked away in District 13, Peeta is determined to protect his mind and his fiancée from the rebels. But while imprisoned, videos disprove his memories and his feelings toward Katniss grow confusing. Who can he trust, and what really happened in his past?

Thank you @louezem for beta-ing this chapter! It's been a long time coming and one we've been looking forward to.

Chapter One | Chapter Twenty-Seven

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Each day, more people from District 13 come to Three. They first utilize the homes in Victor Village, four people to each bedroom, with families and couples getting priority and the single people then lining the living rooms with their cots to sleep. I get assigned to the Everdeens’ room, the same one Katniss and I shared. Once we wash the sheets, we let Prim and Mrs. Everdeen have the bed while Katniss and I put our cots next to each other on the floor. It means we don’t have the same privacy as before, but we manage to find time to ourselves, especially when Prim and Mrs. Everdeen work at the same time.

The propos air in all of the Districts while Beetee and Electra continue to work on how to break through the Capitol’s airwaves long enough for the propos to run. The feedback, they say, is largely positive. Unknown to me, as I’d been shielded in the Capitol, had been the fact that many in the districts grew distrustful of me when I started dating Rosalia. The propo revealing the details of the hijacking and Katniss accepting me as her lover again had increased the fury toward the Capitol and restored my image. Most importantly, Katniss and I coming together again after six years apart gave people hope that after all of these years, the Capitol can be toppled.

With the positive response, Plutarch and Cressida want to keep the momentum going, and Katniss and I are told we’ll be given a tour of a factory in Three for a propo. So far, Three is the only district to completely push the Capitol out, because of the force fields they’ve set up around key parts of the district. This was largely thanks to Electra, who had designed a force field stronger than the one that had contained all of the arenas for years. The so-called “chink” Katniss had described to me had gone from the size of an orange to a pea.

Continue reading on ao3

#everlark fanfiction #thg fanfiction #roses and pearls #rap update #roses and pearls chapter twenty-seven

17 notes · View notes

ourtearsofrain · 4 months ago

Text

The Barbarians (D.R.W/S.F.K) - Chapter 3

Pairings: Danny Wagner x Sam Kiszka

Genre: angst

Word Count: just under 4.4k

Warnings: AU typical events/threats/violence (later in the series), brief explanation of past traumatic experiences in the games, family issues once again

--------------------------------------------------------

Can't You See What You've Done?

Sam

It had only taken about an hour to arrive at The Garden, and Sam was glad to get away from both Hazel and his brothers. He couldn’t stand Hazel’s eyes on him at all times, Joshua’s focus on how spectacular The Garden was, and worst of all, how quiet Jacob had been. He said nothing as Joshua filled the silence, only half listening to his twin’s words as he went back and forth between their seats and the drink cart. Sam hated him for it; hated each barely audible scoff he gave, each time he could see him roll his eyes behind his tinted shades. Why is he acting like such a dick? I mean, yeah, he’s been sort of like this ever since the games, but it’s only gotten worse now. I bet he’s just upset that I’ll be taking their spotlight. Hates that he won’t be the youngest Kiszka that’s adored by The Garden.

While the people tending to him to get him cleaned up and ready for his official introduction to the citizens of The New World were slightly annoying, he was glad to finally be somewhat alone. God, they’re all wasting their time; I don’t need to be scrubbed head to toe, they can save that for the tributes from the lower districts. Don’t they know who I am? Where I’m from? At least I know they’re using expensive, nice products. Couldn’t imagine being presented after being covered in shit products.

After they finish cleaning him off and present him with a change of clothes which he chooses to decline, knowing what he had brought surely had to be nicer than what they offered, he’s led into a large hallway, once again joined by Hazel, Electra, and the twins. “Now, we have a floor all to ourselves while we wait for the other tributes to arrive. Since you’re from District 1, you’ll be on the first floor, that’ll save us all some time waiting in an elevator any time we need to make an appearance!” Electra’s voice is bright and excited despite the mundane topic. That’s going to get on my nerves fast. I don’t know how long I can stand this shit.

“It usually takes about two days for further districts to arrive, so we’ll all have plenty of down time until then.” Joshua explains as the elevator doors close behind him. “I doubt we’ll get to take you anywhere before the Tribute Parade, though, so I guess we can all just hang out until then.”

As soon as the elevator doors open, Sam’s chomping at the bit to get out of the small space, already weaving through the entry area to find his room. A room, really anywhere else where he could get real privacy was what he wanted, what he needed. “Are the rooms assigned?”

Electra’s face twists with confusion and annoyance at his attitude and eagerness to leave them, but he can’t see it as he crosses the living room. “I- um, no, they aren’t.”

“Don’t you want to spend time with us before the games?”

Jacob rolls his eyes as he follows, holding the same feelings as his younger brother. “Oh, just let him go, Joshua. He obviously doesn’t want to. I think I’ll find my room too.”

Sam pauses to look back at the group, forcing a small smile onto his face as he remembers his manners. “Sorry guys, I’m just tired. Didn’t sleep well last night, too excited for the reaping.” Jacob scoffs as he passes him, disappearing into a bedroom without another word. Weird. Whatever. “I think I’ll try to get some sleep; I’ll see you guys for dinner.”

--------------------------------------------------------

Sam “slept” through dinner intentionally, grumbling out “half asleep” incoherent nonsense at Joshua when he was sent to retrieve him even though he hadn’t managed to get even a minute of rest. He didn’t leave his room until long after the sun had gone down, hoping that the living room and kitchen would be empty long enough for him to grab a bite to eat. His footsteps are silent as he walks through the rooms barefoot, making as little noise as possible as he sneaks into the kitchen, his stomach screaming at him for waiting so long as he looks over the food options. Finally landing on whatever soup they had left in a heating tray, he serves himself a large bowl before hoisting himself up to sit on the counter. He sits in silence as he eats, glad to finally be alone with his thoughts. If his brothers weren’t going to prepare him, he’d have to do it himself. Be charming, got that. Be confident, definitely got that. I don’t know why I’m so worried anyways, like they said, I just have to remember my training. That’s easy enough, I was always top of my classes.

Sam’s ripped from his thoughts as Jacob stumbles into the room, only offering a small nod as he reaches past him, grabbing a large bottle of fine wine and uncorking it. Finally, without his glasses on, Sam could see his eyes for the first time in what seemed like years. They looked tired, even in the dim lighting of the room, perpetually sad. The light Sam had grown up seeing in them was gone, leaving nothing but a broken man. It isn’t until he bypasses the wine glass Sam offers, choosing to bring the bottle straight to his lips instead, that he finally speaks.

“What happened to you, Jacob?”

“Excuse me?”

“What happened to you?” Sam repeats, clarifying nothing for his older brother. “You used to be fun, happy. You used to think it was an honor to fight in the games, you would have congratulated me. Ever since you guys won the games, you’ve changed. You’re moody, quiet. You’re not you anymore.”

Jacob scoffs at his words, taking another long swig from the bottle. “The fucking games happened to me. You know the only reason I volunteered was for Josh? Because they said they would allow two victors as long as they were from the same district, and I knew I couldn’t let him go into the arena alone. I figured we came into this world together so we might as well leave it together. Or win; and we did.”

“So, you regret volunteering?”

“No. Josh would have died without me, and I wouldn’t have let myself live knowing I could have prevented it.”

“So why are you... like this? Why did you change, Jacob?”

“You won’t fully understand my answer until you set foot in that arena. Until there’s someone you care about, dying in your arms, or the other way around. Until you realize that you just took another kid’s life for some rich elite’s entertainment.”

“Tell me anyways.”

“Jesus fuck, why all the questions?” Jacob lets out a heavy sigh, his gaze dropping to the floor as he tries to collect his thoughts. “Even though we aren’t in that arena anymore, I am still constantly stressed about Joshua’s wellbeing, about keeping him alive. Every time I close my eyes to sleep, I see every tribute I killed, their blood still warm on my hands. I can hear Joshua pleading, fucking begging the other tributes to spare me. Did you know that the other Careers pretty much tortured me in front of him? Killing us was far too easy for them, no, they had to break us mentally before going in for the kill. Which was stupid of them; we waited until their watchman finally passed out from exhaustion and killed them where they slept.”

“I- I didn’t know. I’m sorry. I tried to watch all the games, but I fell asleep the night you won. I woke up to the announcement, I never- I never knew what happened before your victory.”

“I don’t want your apologies. Of course you didn’t know, it’s a fucking television show. Their own reality TV program where they get to watch teenagers brutally murder each other while they sit safe in the comfort of their mansions and penthouses. If anyone should be apologizing, it’s me. Maybe if I had told you sooner, you wouldn’t have volunteered. You would have been satisfied benefiting from what we went through. I feel as if it’s the Second Quarter Quell all over again, only this time I won’t be there to keep my brother safe. I can’t lose you to them, Sammy. I can’t watch you die.”

“You won’t, I’ll win. I’ll make you guys proud.”

“Have you not been listening to me? I don’t give a shit about pride. Don’t you see that the only thing I care about is you surviving?!” Sam’s at a loss for words at how sharp his brother’s tone was, his mouth opening and closing as he tries to find anything to say to him. “Y’know, it actually might be better if you die. Better to die as soon as the games start than to live with the weight of your actions, with what you’ll go through. I wish you hadn’t fucking volunteered; you were so close to getting out of it. And it’s my fault, Joshua’s too. We failed you. I failed you. Goodnight, Samuel.”

Sam thinks he can see the glint of tears in his eyes before he turns, but he doesn’t try to say anything more as Jacob walks away from him, wine bottle in hand. Only one sentence circles his mind as his own tears begin to trail down his cheeks, alone on the counter of their luxurious apartment.

“It actually might be better if you die.”

--------------------------------------------------------

This Is for Their Own Desire

Danny

Danny nearly jumps out of his seat when a woman sits down across from him and Daphne, her steps having been so light that he hadn’t heard her enter the room. “Hi, I’m Luna Evergreen.” She offers a smile to Danny and Daphne, but unlike Sable’s, there was an air of sadness behind it. She understood what it really meant to be a tribute. She knew what challenges were to come for them.

Once again, Daphne shuts down, her fear back with a raging vengeance at the newcomer. “Nice to meet you, I’m Danny and this is Daphne.” Danny takes her in as he shakes her hand, and for the first time, he felt like he might finally have someone on his side in The Garden. With sandy blond hair twisted into two neat French braids hanging over her shoulders and a comfortable flannel over jeans and a black shirt, she looked like any other woman from 7. The most striking thing about her was her eyes, deep emerald like an evergreen tree; kind, yet sad. Everything about her would have fit into their district perfectly, everything except for the small sprigs of Red Cedar needles woven into her hair. Really playing up to the name, huh? Bet The Garden eats that shit up with a gold spoon. At least she has calluses on her hands, she isn’t some prissy mentor that’s never worked a day in our district.

“It’s nice to meet you guys too. And I’m sorry. I know how terrifying it is to be reaped, and I know you’re about to be overwhelmed with everything The Garden throws at you even before the games. I promise you both that I will do all I can to prepare you and keep you alive in the arena.”

“Thank you, Luna.”

“Of course, kid. Now, we should be at The Garden in about an hour, I don’t want to overwhelm you with advice and everything right now, so let’s just get to know each other for the time being. We’ll have about two days before the other tributes arrive, so we can and will talk before the games.” When neither Danny nor Daphne say anything, she continues, understanding of their silence. “I come from a family of four, worked both out chopping wood and working in my father’s carpentry shop starting at age 10, and I won the 40th games when I was 17 by outsmarting the other tributes in the arena.”

Pausing, she looks to Danny, urging him to speak next. “I’m 18, this was my last year in the reaping. I uh- I mostly just keep to the woods, lumberjack y’know, never really been good at working with wood other than chopping trees down. My parents- they died when I was 14, so I’ve been looking after my little sister, Josie, ever since then. My best friend, David, he’s- him and his family are taking care of her while I’m gone.” A lump forms in his throat at the memories, beginning to blink rapidly to keep his tears at bay.

“Thank you, Danny. Daphne? You wanna introduce yourself?” Despite Luna’s best intentions, Daphne flinches, her eyes still wide and wild as she grabs Danny’s arm when Luna scoots closer to her. “Hey- I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. I promise I’m only here to help. I like to get to know the kids I mentor before- before you guys go into the arena. That way I know how to help you.”

Daphne looks to Danny, silently asking him if she should trust her. He nods slightly, giving her hand a gentle squeeze from where it still sat on his bicep. “It’s ok, she’s alright. She’s a new friend, like me.”

“Ok…” Daphne relaxes slightly, repositioning in her seat as she tries to keep eye contact with Luna. “I’m Daphne, I’m 12. I help my parents out in their shop and take care of my siblings.”

“How many siblings do you have, Daphne?”

“Five. All younger than me. I took out extra food rations over the winter, 11 times I think, so they could eat. I think that’s why I was reaped.”

Danny’s heart shatters at the words. 12 years old and already fucking taking care of her family due to The Garden’s neglect. They’re killing an innocent fucking child just because she wanted them to have food. All while they’re bursting at the seams with extra resources.

“That was very brave of you, kid. I remember having to do that for my family too, I’m sorry the consequences were so severe.” As her voice breaks, Danny looks at Luna’s eyes, seeing tears along her waterline; she felt exactly as he did. “Thanks again for sharing that, just like Danny said, we’re all new friends here. We’ll look out for you.” As soon as the words leave her mouth, she meets Danny’s eyes, and he sends her a silent message, pleading with her to focus all help she could get from The Garden towards Daphne when they were thrown into that arena.

She nods slightly, the movement so small that Danny questions if she had even moved. Daphne will be ok. We’ll keep her safe. She’ll be ok, Danny.

--------------------------------------------------------

The second their train stops at The Garden, Danny’s thankful that Luna had waited to begin advising them, his senses bombarded instantly. Between the cheering citizens and countless Peacekeepers steering them down hallways decorated with rich, intricate sculptures and décor; with so many new, too fancy smells no matter where he went, Danny couldn’t think straight. It was as if someone had turned his perception up to 100 and he couldn’t get it back down. He dissociates as he’s separated from his group, pulled into a separate room and not given even a minute to readjust before more people filter into it, setting in on cleaning him up instantly. In his daze, he doesn’t allow himself to feel their rough hands raking through his knotted, frizzy hair, nor their attempts at smoothing the calluses on his palms. They could try all they wanted to make him a shiny, new tribute, it wouldn’t matter. In the end, Danny knew he would always be the lumberjack tribute from 7. Nothing more than strong arms and an axe. That’s all they would ever see him as.

He hears them mumble something at him before one of the attendants sets new, neatly folded clothes down on the edge of the table he was on before leaving the room as fast as they had entered. Removing himself from his daze, he gets up to dress in the comfortable, yet light and loose-fitting sweater and pants they had left. He takes a deep breath before walking over to a mirror hung on the wall to see just how much “progress” they had made. He almost doesn’t recognize the man standing before him, what with the dirt and sap he thought would be permanently stuck to his hands and arms gone, but the most drastic difference was his hair. Instead of the frizzed-out mane of waves he was used to keeping out of the way in a small bun, it now laid in curls slightly past his shoulders, each strand a perfect ringlet of hair. The image sends rage coursing through his body. Did they fucking chemically treat my hair? What the fuck else did they do to me? Where do those no-eyebrowed, Garden freaks get off? I thought they were supposed to clean us up, not fucking change who we are.

He rips the door open without another thought, finding the lead attendant standing at the ready outside of it. “What the fuck did you do to my hair?”

He gives an amused glance to his assistant next to him, only furthering Danny’s fury. “We washed it, sir.”

“I fucking know that.” He takes a step towards him, not missing how he flinched at the motion, fear flashing behind his eyes. “Why is it curly? I’m a tribute, not The Garden’s fucking poodle. What did you do? Chemically treat it? Huh? What other chemicals did you use on me?” He takes another threatening step towards the man, his hands fisted at his sides.

“N- nothing, sir. We simply washed it, nothing more. Did you not know your hair was curly, sir?”

His confusion replaces his anger, “What?” being the only coherent word he can form as Luna notices the interaction, quickly finding his side in an instant to deescalate the situation.

“Danny, now that you and Daphne are both done, would you like Sable to show us our floor?” She fixes him a pointed stare that sends the message that she wasn’t asking, she was telling him to drop it and leave.

“Yeah, yeah alright.” He looks back to the lead attendant, relaxing his body as the man looks as if he was preparing for Danny to hit him. “Sorry.”

“Quite alright, sir.” Sir. This whole “sir” bullshit is going to get on my fucking nerves. Danny lets Luna lead him away, back to Sable and Daphne who stood in silence, watching the interaction with bated breath.

“Well, you cleaned up amazingly, didn’t you!” Sable’s cheery comment strikes a nerve in Danny, and he chooses to ignore it, changing the subject instead of snapping at her.

“Luna said something about you showing us to our floor? Why floor? Why not just rooms?”

“Oh! You two are in for a treat! Come, come.” As Sable begins excitedly leading them towards an elevator, Danny drops back with Daphne, seeing her anxiety written clear across her face.

Danny puts on his worst imitation of her accent as he drops his voice to just barely above a whisper. “‘You two are in for a treat! Come, come!’” As Daphne laughs at his impression, Sable glances back mid-sentence, causing Danny to wipe the grin off his face, silently elbowing Daphne. Thankfully, their escort chooses to ignore it as the pair share one last quiet laugh behind her back before following her into the elevator.

“Each district’s tributes and their mentors, escorts, and stylists get their own floor. You’re from 7, so we’re on the seventh floor.”

Isn’t that a bit much? Just as Danny’s about to voice his question, the elevator doors open, revealing a massive entry hall decorated with fine artwork and furniture. His jaw drops as his voice fails him, his words vanishing as he takes the space in, and his body goes into autopilot to follow his group. This entry room is as big as my entire fucking house. How do people have this many nice things, let alone enough to spare some for the tribute’s apartments? Now they’re really just rubbing their wealth in our faces.

“And this is the dining area, we’ll have all our meals together so that our little group can get to know each other better, considering we’re all in this together.”

“All in this together?” Danny’s voice is sharp, barely concealed rage bubbling beneath his tone as he fixes Sable with a look that could kill. “I missed the part where you’re joining us in the arena.”

“Sable!” Luna cuts in, steering the conversation away from one that would surely lead to Danny yelling at her. “Can you show Daphne to her room? I would like to talk to Danny alone.”

Without missing a beat, she plasters a smile back onto her face, sparing one last glance at Danny before turning her attention to Daphne. “Of course, dear. Come along, follow me.”

As soon as they’re out of earshot, Luna motions for Danny to follow her, stopping in the living room and pouring a drink for both her and Danny before sitting down. “You need to cool off.” She hands the glass to him without another word, taking a drink of her own as she watches him settle into a comfortable chair.

“I’m sorry, they all just make me so- so-”

“Angry?”

“Yeah.”

“I get it. They sign you up for a death sentence for their own enjoyment, and then flaunt their wealth in front of you. I was angry too; I’m still angry. Do you want my advice?”

“Yes, please.”

“Ignore it. Ignore it and kiss their ass. Getting through the games is about being the best kiss ass just as much as any physical strengths or talents. I’m well-liked in The Garden, that’s bound to get you guys a few sponsors automatically, but I’m not the most liked. There are other tributes, other mentors, that The Garden adores. You need to charm every single goddamn person in this godforsaken country, and you’re not going to do that by picking fights with anyone in The Garden.”

“Who? Who’s more well-liked?”

“Why do you care?”

Danny shrugs, trying not to let fear pass over his face as he takes a drink, wincing at the contents. “I want to know what I’m up against.”

“You know the mentors for 1 have been the Kiszka twins the last few years, right?”

“Yeah, of course. With how they won, The Garden isn’t letting them retire until they die.”

“Yeah, well, I’ve heard rumors that their younger brother volunteered this year. And so did their female tribute. They’re bound to be a deadly pair, charming too. Just watch The Garden eat them up. If you have to worry about anyone, it’s them.”

“Excuse me if I’m not too worried about two entitled pricks from the pet district, I’m sure they’re fucking snobs.”

“I’m serious, Danny.” Luna sets her glass down, leaning forward with her elbows resting on her knees as she stares at him. “Not only are they highly trained, but they will be loved. Don’t underestimate them because they were confident enough to volunteer. They may look like shiny toys of The Garden, but they won’t hesitate to run straight into the bloodbath the second those cannons fire. Which is why you need to run.”

“What?”

“You heard me, the second you can step off those pedestals, find Daphne and run. Grab a pack on the way if you can, but don’t try to get to the Cornucopia for a weapon. That’s where the Careers make the most kills, they run head on into it and come out covered in other tribute’s blood. Want to know how I won? I kept my head down. I hid for as long as I could and kept myself out of the fight. Set up traps and got the hell away from them before other tributes set them off until there was only me and one other tribute left.”

“And how did you kill them?”

“Led him straight into a trap. Tied the handle of an axe to a tripwire, jumped over it as he chased me. He didn’t see it coming straight for him until it was lodged into his forehead.”

“Jesus Christ.”

She takes a deep breath as she stands, her focus going out the large window of the room at the skyline of The Garden. “It’s not always about physical strength. It’s about surviving whatever they throw at you, and it’s about thinking faster and better than your opponents. We can talk more about this later, but right now I need to rest. I don’t know about you, but it’s been a long fucking day, and I am exhausted in more ways than one.”

Just before she leaves the room, Danny speaks, stopping her in her place. “Does it hurt? Getting to know the tributes you mentor, only for them to die?”

“Yes, it does.”

“Then why do you do it?”

“Because everyone else in this place is about to treat you like you’re only there for their enjoyment, their entertainment, because that’s all you are to them. They don’t care about who you are, only about how you die and how many you take with you before you go. No one deserves to die like that. I want the people, the kids I mentor, to know that there’s at least one person here that cares about them, about who they are. Even if that means that my heart breaks every year. Goodnight, Danny.”

“Goodnight, Luna.” Danny’s voice is small, his mind reeling at everything she had just said as he’s left alone once again. This time, no attendants rush to his side, he was finally, truly alone. He watches the sun sink below the horizon, his mind a constant overlap of different thoughts blending together incoherently, only hoping that he would get at least one day of peace before being sent to his death.

--------------------------------------------------------

Taglist: @jake-whatthefisgoingon-kiszka @milojames16 @gretnavannfleet @aioba1503-sdm @sanguinebats @cheersdannyx2 @musicislove3389 @holdingup-fallingsky @Maddie-Rae

#greta van fleet #greta van fleet fan fiction #gvf fic #daniel gvf #sam gvf #sanny gvf #greta van angst #sam kiszka x danny wagner #sam kiszka #danny wagner #hunger games au

7 notes · View notes