#BUT CHARLOTTE IS JUST ANOTHER LEVEL

[br1ghtestlight]

CHARLOTTE TOO god hfjone is such a good show im devastated...... heartbreaking characters great worldbuilding depressing ending what more could u want

[lxdymoon0357]

Idk if your requests are open it not but if it is can you give me some pinjng for Roxanna x fem reader / gen reader? I need more of her 😭

(Honestly, understandable. She is a bit of a goddess...a demonic one, but a goddess nonetheless. Homophobia LGBT ally)

© Writing belongs to me, Lxdymoon0357. Do not plagiarize, but reblogging, liking and commenting is deeply appreciated.

Roxanna Agriche X Fem! Reader Headcanons.

⊈ Rozanna either met you as you were her maid or you were a pet from another noble house. Either way, she had you under her control, doing her dangerous betting every single day. She had you easily wrapped around her perfectly, bloody manicured finger.

⊈ Your life was daily in her hands and she was always careless with it, but you know what you did when you came here; either by force or own desperate situation, but of-course it never scared less not knowig which is your last day.

⊈ Eventually you and her did fall in love and she had you close...Though Lante was horrified at his daughter being in love with a girl, but afterwards he calmed down and let her date you, as long as she'd somehow get a child for him to his lineage continues and Roxanna nonchalantly agrees.

⊈ Level passed!! New Level: You're an Agriche now!

⊈ Of-course you're now also a victim to many of the Agriches, including Dion, Charlotte, Fondaine and possibly others. But it's okay, Sierra adores you, Maria...she is weirdly infatuated, Jeremy is slightly jealous you're taking his sister's attention, but eventually you also become his friend.

⊈ She often feeds your blood to the butterflies as well, so they can recognize you too. Also adding tiny doses of poison into your tea, food, drinks. Has the most expensive furs decorating you with the heaviest security around your room.

⊈ Freedom is basically non-existent with the way she moved you into her room and you didn't go outside for like...three months! (I know it's normal for you nerds, probs. But please be normal right now.) ut yeah, almost zero freedom of going out, your'e free to do yada yada in your room though.

⊈ I know for SURE! Roxanne doesn't allow Dion anywhere near you, you'll easily be his next victim so Dion can see Roxanne's emotions more rawful, Charlotte is just annoyed with you being here, because you're simply BELOW her and you're also one of the favourites of THIS HOUSE?! FUCK YOU!

⊈ Speaking of favourites, you'll be joining them in Lant's "special-favourite children dinner" whenever it happens, maids and butlers and cooks are asked to taste everything in advance so you don't get poisoned by ANYONE. It will rain hell by Roxanna if anything happened.

⊈ Has you in makeout sessions right before bed, her fingers gently groping your tits and tweaking your nips, very gently though...depends if it leads to more or simply just a makeout sessions where you both sleep snuggled against each other, where she wakes up every few hours to make sure you're alive.

⊈ Has made sure you're always as safe as her mum, speaking of her mum. You spend a majority of your free time with Sierra, she likes you though a bit nervous around you two. You have to be super nice and get her to warm up to you and she'll adore you as much as she adores her daughter, likes that someone in this house brings her daughter happiness even if she herself couldn't.

⊈ Lanta, Charlotte, Dion, Maria, Grizelda are weirdly homophobic..yet allies? I don't get it, but imagine them just mocking Roxanne for liking a girl despite being beautiful, but the moment a guy or anyone would try to get near you and the person is dead because they're like "Not Roxanne's little shit, you fucker. I'll fuck you up if you hurt her, she's only ours to hurt" like a messed up family dynamic which is hysterically insane.

[muffinrecord]

Magia Exedra Stream News

Post originally made by Razielim on discord. I'm copypasting it to the letter so that other folks can see the news (and to help answer questions that folks have). This is a long post, enjoy!

--

The Magia Exedra News Stream has just concluded and the news are highly positive for us MagiReco players! An absolute truckload of new info about the game was just released, so let's go over the news one by one!

The stream started off with a quick overview of the evolution of Magia Record's story throughout the years, from Arc 1 to Arc2, to Puella Historia, and to Scene0.

We were then given a quick overview of the data that the MagiReco Archive App (which the MagiReco app itself will turn into once the service has ended) will show us. The archive app provides the following:

Your Magical Girl info screen, from which you can view all of your Magical Girls and their levels/Memo Slots/Magia Levels/Transformations, etc.

Your info archive, which shows off the information of all the Magical Girls, Memoria, Doppels, Witches, and Uwasa that you have encountered during you Magia Record career.

Then, a new Teaser Trailer for Magia Exedra is shown off, which you can find here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_KwtjOarUI The new teaser shows off various spin-off characters, such as Oriko, Suzune, Tart, and Kazumi, followed by Madoka and Iroha holding hands before showing the Lighthouse and the green Kyubey-like creature greeting us.

Following this, a new VA is welcomed to the stream, the VA of "Namae", Akari Komiyama.

Multiple spin-offs are also confirmed to be featured in Magia Exedra, including:

Magia Record

Suzune Magica

Oriko Magica

Tart Magica

(- Kazumi Magica, while not specifically mentioned, was shown in the above Teaser Trailer)

More information about the story and setting of Magia Exedra We have been given more detailed information about the story of Magia Exedra. The Lighthouse we have seen many times now is supposed to function like a guide for the souls of Magical Girls. For some reason, it is malfunctioning and we have to gather the Light of Memories to repair it.

The player will be tasked to enter into the Windows of Memory to find the Light of Memories from the memories of various Magical Girls.

Our player character is named "Namae" (will most likely be re-named by the player during the tutorial) who has lost most of her memories but still remembers having been a Magical Girl, and looks like a non-descript black silhouette. She will be tasked with searching for the Light of Memories.

The green Kyubey-like creature that assists us is called "A-Q" and is not technically a Kyubey

Character Teasers! We have been shown a character teaser for Madoka , which can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLy6AExK2VE as well as a character teaser for Iroha , which can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeMc7T-zwPg

Additonally, the 3D models for both characters have been shown off in the livestream.

Afterwards, another teaser showing slight glimpses of gameplay have been shown, which featured mostly Mami and Madoka walking through a Witch labyrinth, before lining up with Iroha to face Charlotte. This particular teaser has so far not been uploaded to the official Exedra youtube, but the most important screenshots of it have been attached to this post as an image.

What are Portraits? Magia Exedra will feature a system of equippable items to grant your characters various bonuses. These come in the form of "Portraits", which are in effect the exact same as "Memoria" in Magia Record. Just like Memoriae, the Portraits will feature images of various scenes and characters that appear in the story. A few of these have been shown off during the livestream.

There is also a special Portrait for MagiReco players; more on that below.

The MagiReco to Exedra Transfer System As was mentioned before, once Magia Record ends service and transforms into the Archive App, players will be able to view their Exedra Transfer Code from the Archive App. Entering this code into Exedra once it launches, will grant the player various benefits and allow you to transfer various data to Exedra.

We have now been granted more information as to what exactly this will entail:

You can view your MagiReco Account's data, such as Magical Girls, Memoria, Transformation videos, etc.

(Note: You can VIEW this information. You will not GAIN your playable characters or Memoriae for play in Exedra.)

You will gain special titles in Exedra, based on your highest Mirror Ranking Score and your Account's overall player score

You will gain a special Portrait (the Exedra equivalent of Memoriae) in Exedra

(- Further bonuses may potentially be added to this function before release)

Furtermore, our pleas to conserve MagiReco's stories for the future have been heard and as part of the developers' goodwill, the following MagiReco stories will be uploaded in video form to the official Exedra youtube:

Main Story Arc 1

Main Story Arc 2

Puella Historia

Scene 0

Some events, such as:

Cherry Blossom Dreams / Dreaming Sakura (Trial event)

From New Breath / A New Beginning (2nd Anniversary event)

Green Jasper Diviners

Crimson Resolve

Dependence Blue

Ashen Revolution

Paradise Shift

Magia Day continues! The once-a-year celebration of Magia Record will continue in a new form! Magia Day will be held again this year on the 25th of August and will now evolve into a news event for Magia Exedra! Various VAs will meet up in person and provide us with even more information about Magia Exedra. Here's to hoping that this year we will see the Mokyuu button again.

After this, the Exedra News event concluded with the VAs waving bye-bye

Summary of Platform-related Information So, can you play the game on PC? On mobile? In english? The answer to all of that is YES

First off, the game is available on Mobile and PC. Both Android and iOS versions will exist, although currently pre-registration is only available on Android. The English Android version can be found here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.aniplex.magia.exedra.en And the Japanese Android version here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.aniplex.magia.exedra.jp

While in the Android store the app is seperated between an english installation and a japanese installation, on PC there is only a singular entry. The steam PC version can be found here: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2987800/Madoka_Magica_Magia_Exedra/

This seems to point towards Exedra having a combined English/Japanese version, possibly sectioned into multiple servers depending on your Player Region. This however is still a speculation and not yet confirmed.

There is still no further information on the exact release date of Magia Exedra, but this may possibly be revealed during Magia Day on the 25th of August.

Hold up, what if the game shows as not available for me? Okay so here is kind of a little problem. From what we can tell, the game may not be available in every country. We do not currently have a specific list of countries that the game is available in, but it seems to be somewhat random. Our guess is that the developers secured the Distribution Rights for the game in what they believed to be their most important target countries, which may leave some players in various countries unable to normally play the game. We suggest you click on the android link above and see if the store allows you to pre-register or if it tells you that the item is not available in your country.

If the game is not available for you: Do not despair just yet. First off, its possible that more countries will be cleared as the game nears its release. Secondly, even if the game ends up releasing region locked for you, there are still ways around it such as using a VPN on Android, or making a Steam account of a different country. We are not able to provide specific instructions regarding this yet, as we need to wait and see how the region lock might be implemented anyway. If instructions regarding how to circumvent the region-lock is required, users on this discord will most likely be able to provide such information once the game goes live.

Finally, some general Gameplay info: In Magia Exedra, you will be able to enter various Witch Labyrinths. Within these, you will be traversing the regions of the labyrinth and encounter various battles. In battles, you will make use of a party of up to 5 Characters at once to take down your opponents.

Battles are turn-based and you can see the Turn Order on the left side of the screen. There seems to be various attack options, including a Special meter below each character that most likely is linked to their Magia, but no concrete information on this has been revealed. A "Break" system is additionally implemented, where attacks of Elemental Types that are Super Effective against the opponent will wear down their defense and ultimately put them in a weakened state after enough pressure has been applied. Yes, this combat system is almost a 1:1 re-creation of the combat of Honkai: Star Rail, including the Break system Personally I dont mind this much as I find the Star Rail combat system to be highly enjoyable. Auto-Battle and Speed-Up seems to be included as well.

Characters themselves have an Element to them, similar as in Magia Record. Currently we know of at least 6 Elements: Water, Fire, Forest, Light, Dark, and an unnamed sixth Element that may be something like Void /Physical/Non-Elemental/Something else. All of this information is gleaned from promotional material and has not yet been officially revealed, so take all of this with a grain of salt. The elements that an enemy is weak to (and will therefore cause enemies to become Broken) are listed next to the Boss's HP and Break bar at the top of the screen. Additionally, characters can of course be equipped with Portraits (which are basically Memoriae) as described above.

Confirmed Characters: A lot of characters have been shown off already in some capacity or another. Among these, the following have been shown in the trailer, but not in-game:

Suzune

Oriko

Kazumi

Tart

While the following characters have also been shown in battle in promotional material found on the game's Steam page:

Madoka (Light)

Sayaka (Water)

Mami (Forest)

Kyouko (Fire)

Homura (Dark)

Iroha (Light)

Yachiyo (Water)

To close the news with: One of the screenshots on the Steam page shows the Home Screen of the game, which includes buttons for: Room of Light, Shop, Gacha, Party, Quest, Union, and Player Match.

What these buttons are for, are of course up for you to guess.

--

Everyone say "thank you" to Razielim for writing all of this out so that the game is more accessible to English players :)

Hopefully this helps folks become more informed on tumblr too!

[functionofjules]

At Last

Pairing: Five Hargreeves X (She/her) Synopsis: (Taking place at the start of Season 2) Y/n finds herself alone in the sixties. Just as she begins to give up hope of ever getting home to her husband, Five, she��s pleasantly surprised. A/N: Reader has healing powers which lead to enhanced abilities like endurance and strength. Aged up Five in my interpretation. Feeling nostalgic after the series finale.

I slam to the ground with a force that could rival an elephant cracking my spine. Luckily enough, I have a tendency to avoid the repercussions from a fall of such heights. I can practically feel my cells regenerating already.

My tattered Umbrella Academy uniform that I borrowed from Allison’s closet upon Five and I’s arrival is reeking of the events of the last week. I’m not particularly fond of it and due to my lack of personal hygiene lately, I think I may be due for an outfit change.

I observe my surroundings. It seems I’m far away from home. By that I mean directly next to a dumpster.

I cautiously make my way into the street and take note of the vintage style of clothing. This indicates I’ve been dropped somewhere between the 50s-60s. This is confirmed when I steal a glance at a newspaper dated March 5th, 1960. At this point I feel myself begin to hyperventilate. Not necessarily because of the date but because I can’t seem to find a single Hargreeves sibling, most importantly my husband, Number Five.

I stagger backward until my back hits a wall that I slide down. Just as the tears begin to pour, a figure casts a shadow over my hunched position. I look up in hopes of a familiar face but am only met with a stranger. She has soft blonde hair framing her face which honestly reminds me of that actress, Florence Pugh, from the only film Five and I had time to see.

In pitying tone accompanied by her southern drawl she asks “You okay, Pumpkin? What’s the matter? You look like you ain’t doing too hot.”

I let a shaky breath escape and contemplate how much information I should give this woman. There’s no way in hell I’m explaining how my husband and I just attempted to stop the end of the world only the end up being separated from him and the rest of his family. So I settle for the next best thing.

“I’m a little lost,” I admit “My family and I got separated and I have nowhere to go.”

“Aw you poor thing!” She exclaims, bending down to my level and taking my hand “You want to come with me? I can getcha something to eat and figure things out from there.”

I nod, standing to my feet.

“That sounds nice. Thank you…” I falter realizing we hadn’t properly introduced ourselves.

She takes both my hands in hers and says “Charlotte, but you can call me Lottie.”

“I’m Y/n,” I say, offering my first smile since getting thrown out of that portal “Y/n Hargeeves.”

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

It’s been three years since I was dropped in Dallas and a lot has changed.

Lottie and I live together I her two bedroom loft apartment and work together everyday at the local diner. It was quite different from my work at the Commission but not to brag, I’ve developed a very impressive coffee pouring time.

I haven’t heard anything from Five. At first I figured he’d come along right after me but he never did. A part of me holds out hope he got dropped somewhere further ahead in the timeline then me or got caught up with someone putting out a hit on him but I’m losing that hope. But I’m okay here with Lottie. I’ve built myself a nice life in Dallas.

I had just expected it to be another normal day at the diner. I tied my apron in a tight knot around my waist, told Lottie to hurry up, and we began to rush down the street together.

I had told Lottie a little about Five. How we were in love and we always protected each other. She knows better than anyone how much I miss him.

We rush into the diner with the ring of the bell behind us and ran to the back to put away our bags. Just as we’re about to head through the door my manager calls, “Y/n! I need you to give one of the chefs a hand with the pantry inventory.”

I shrug “Okay boss!”

A shoot Lottie a wave and run back to help our chef, Dave, count various condiments.

I was still in there after about fifteen minutes when Lottie ran back with a strange look in her eye. She slammed the door with such force I almost slipped off the stool I was balanced on.

“Sorry!” She apologizes, but I can tell she can’t contain herself for long “There’s a guy asking for you.”

I raise a brow “Asking for me? Is it that Harry guy again? Because he gives me the creeps, I’m really not in the mood to-“

She shushes me

“No it’s not Charlie! I really think you ought to get out there. I’ll finish up back here for ya!” She cuts me off, practically shoving me out the door.

“Okay, okay!” I say, chuckling at her intensity “I’ll go! Don’t get your panties in a twist.”

I think nothing of what could be on the other side of that door cause I know it’ll be the same thing everyday. I snatch my notepad out of my apron and the pen from behind my ear.

“Welcome in! What can I do for you today?” I say. I was about to list off the specials until I look up and see Luther Hargreeves sat next to…”Five?”

He blinks behind the counter saying “Hello Darling-“

I don’t let him get to far before a tackle him with kisses. Every inch of his face is smeared in my burgundy lipstick and it takes everything in me to stop there. I let him stand to his feet as tears spring to my eyes.

“I can’t believe you’re here! I can’t believe-“ And then the anger sets in “I can’t believe you!”

His brown furrows as I begin to land strikes to his chest.

“You left me! You abandoned me for three years! I was terrified I was never going to see you again! How could you do something so reckless!” I tell. There’s a large part of me that knows it isn’t actually his fault but I choose to neglect that right now. My hits become harder and it’s only then he gently grasps my wrists and lays his forehead against mine.

Throughout my whole fit, he is shushing me and whispering “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry my love. I didn’t want to. I’m so sorry. Please forgive me.”

I finally cease my attacks and begin to breathe easily again. Once I’m calm I turn back towards my brother in law.

“Hi Luther.”

“Oh,” he says with an awkward attempt at a smile “Hello!”

Just then, Lottie reveals herself from behind the kitchen doors and walks over. She scans the scene and smirks at me, saying “Hey pumpkin! Care to introduce your friends?”

I chuckle introducing everyone “Lottie, this is my husband, Five Hargreeves. And this is my brother in law, Luther.”

“Alright!” She replies with a smile “Who wants coffee?”

[strawberrystepmom]

yami x f!noble reader. cw smoking, sex insinuated, misogyny and mentions of marriage as well as fertility but not on yami's part. i just like these two sorry for party rockin | wc 1.1k, divider thanks to @cafekitsune

you can read more about these two here

“I know it’s impolite to ask but what happened between the two of you?”

Yami chuckles, shoulders pressed against the rickety headboard behind him. 

“Who?” He asks, well aware of what you mean despite his attempt to seem unsure. You sigh, turning to look at him. 

“Charlotte.”

A moonbeam pours in over the two of you, the room otherwise dark and silent, the stillness emboldening you to finally ask him some questions. Tightening the sheet that is wrapped around your body, you dare glance up at him to find him already staring at you, as though he’s trying to figure out why you’d ask in the first place.

“Sometimes things just don’t work out,” he shrugs flippantly. You get the sense that he’s downplaying but keep it to yourself, wide eyes watching his every movement. “We were more different than we thought and decided to go our separate ways and it has been mostly fine.”

Perhaps it’s naivety (or the four failed engagements) but you believe that you understand what he means, nodding slowly. You’ve always viewed love as an ever changing puzzle, similar to the one in your father’s study at home. A wooden frame holds ceramic sliding tiles and you position them again and again until a picture is clear and in front of you - what you’ve been looking for the entire time. 

You blink hard and glance down at your hands, once again pulling the linens over your exposed cleavage. Goosebumps prickle your skin, forcing you to dive further under, and he notices and pulls you against his warm side.

“Since we’re asking questions all of sudden, how about you?” He raises a brow, sliding lower into the bed and giving you room to rest your head against the firmness of his stomach. “Four is damn near impressive.”

Mirroring his prior shrug, you contemplate quietly what it truly means to tell four men you don’t want to marry them. Arrogant is what one told you and you found it hard to disagree when he was red cheeked and yelling at you. Frigid was what another said, accusing you of hiding potential issues with producing an heir for his family. A third said nothing but left you silently to consider your opinion of yourself, sitting in a wooden backed chair in the study where that slide puzzle rested on a table across from you while he cast you a disappointed glance.

The fourth and most recent you objected to before he could harm your ego further, refusing his offers of land and jewels. You have both of those things. You’re an heiress in your own right despite the sons your father has now sired amongst your 11 siblings. Physical means mean nothing to you when what you desire is deeper than gilded flesh. 

“I cannot commit to living a life where I will be unable to be who I am.” 

You finally answer after prolonged silence, giving yourself permission to be honest since he was honest with you. 

“So you don’t want to get married?” He asks, finally lighting a cigarette but politely blowing the smoke in the opposite direction of you. You shake your head, the back of it against his stomach, leaving you to look up at him. “The opposite, actually. I would love to be married and to have a family but not at the cost of myself and having to be misunderstood to maintain peace.”

He hums, a sound you believe is some level of understanding of what you mean, and inhales another puff. 

“What makes you so different from all the other noble girls?”

The question would be offensive if it were to be asked by anyone else but you know Yami. He’s rough around the edges and sometimes a bit too curt in saying what he means but there’s genuine curiosity not derision in his tone. 

“I’m apprehensive to say that I am all that different considering how similar our upbringings tend to be yet I feel like I’ve never quite fit in with them.” Your head remains resting in the cradle of his slightly bent middle, the cherry glow of his cigarette illuminating his face enough you can make out those wise eyes staring at your mouth. “I’ve never loved high society. It’s suffocating and everyone is very judgemental and most of them have already, probably correctly, theorized that I will be a spinster left to take care of my siblings for all my life.”

A chuckle rumbles through him in tandem with a shake of his head you can see thanks to the glow of his cigarette. He mumbles around the filter, one big hand coming to rest on the covered dip of your waist. “Don’t say shit like that. You’re pretty and smart and funny once you get to runnin’ your mouth so what’s the point in pretending you aren’t?”

Your face warms beneath his praise and your eyes dart away from him, choosing to settle on the specs of dust floating through the single beam of light shining through the room. You’ve already given him more of yourself than you intended and not simply your body, your feelings as well. There’s no turning back so you continue, feeling your heart beating in your throat while speaking.

“I believe it’s easier for me to make all of this my fault,” you nearly whisper, keeping your gaze locked on the ceiling above while you’re making a confession. “To believe there’s something wrong with me rather than the system we use to decide people’s value.”

Stamping out his cigarette against the windowsill with his free hand, he squeezes your waist with the occupied one and draws your attention back, leaving you blinking up at him.

“Well don’t. It doesn’t seem like you’re the problem here at all.” Another squeeze and your heart beats in time with it. There’s an easy smile on his face, one you can barely make out in the dim room, yet you match it with one of your own.  “I think you have plenty of time to find someone if you want to,” he continues. 

“I think the same of you, Yami.” An unexpected response. He raises a brow, sliding further down into the bed beside you. You remain with your head against him, tucked into his side, a large arm wrapped around your waist. “I think the woman who ends up with you will be lucky.”

Pulling you tighter against him, he considers your sentiment and hums.

“I guess you’ll have to ask her when that day comes if she’s lucky or not.”

You nod once, deciding to let silence win you both over as the night continues to fade away, hoping to prolong your time with him as much as possible without any further interruption.

[doodle-pops]

House of Feanor | Being In An Arranged Marriage With Them

A/N: This was so much I wrote!! For some reason I felt like I made a few of them OOC, but what the hell. It's an AU, so they’ll all be different from the regular Silm verse 😆. I think I broke my wrist whilst breaking a sweat thinking of different scenarios for each of them, but I managed to make it to the finish line! Alas, the final piece! ಥ_ಥ

Warnings: arranged marriage, there are minor angst themes, neglect and loneliness, rejection, comfort and happy endings for most except (Feanor)

˖ ࣪. ࿐♡˚. Feanor

He’s not known as Fëanáro without reason. When those words came out of his father’s mouth, as much as he adored his father, he was incensed by the level and nature of the dictation he was subjected to. He felt he was unjustly punished for some unknown transgression by Eru through this method.

Don’t anticipate him to even breathe, let alone glance in your direction when you’re observing him. He would gladly lock eyes with your figure when you’re not paying attention and scrutinize you without remorse. There’s nothing you could say to convince him of your innocence in this arrangement.

He assumes that you had a say in choosing your spouse because he’s Fëanáro, the firstborn and Crown Prince, and everyone desired him. Though politics and royal duties didn’t interest him, he was now aware of the political rationale behind the union. Eventually, he resists continuing his resentment towards his father because his father was compelled into it (in his opinion).

This resembles a Bridgerton moment, akin to King George and Queen Charlotte, where you reside in one house while he lives in another, a significant distance away. His father can complain all he wants about the lack of effort to establish a connection, and Fëanáro would simply ignore and roll his eyes.

Throughout the arranged marriage, you will feel completely alienated and rejected. There was a time when you were excited about being wed to the Crown Prince, even though your freedom was being curtailed. Even at events where you’re expected to appear as a couple, you arrive in separate coaches.

Do not expect him to hold your hand or have your arm around his elbow. Fëanáro takes the commitment seriously, as he feels his own freedom has been taken away. Talking to him is futile, for he will merely pretend to listen while focusing on getting drunk to forget the entire night.

“Why do you despise me so much? You act as if I am the cause of this entire arrangement when it is your father who is responsible. Listen, if you intend to ignore me, it might be best if we end this, as I did not willingly sign up for this mistreatment, especially from you. We can part ways and continue our separate lives, or if we are to continue, at least afford me the same respect you expect.”

You displayed remarkable courage by confronting his tantrums and earning yourself a few withering side–glances filled with anger and disbelief, because “How dare you speak to me so openly, as if we are equals?!” Kudos to you; you’ve just earned yourself another round of silence for the remainder of the night and week, perhaps even into the afterlife.

Fëanáro has no intention of making your marriage work. Eru could punish him, but he’d simply retort and carry on with his life. It’s all about his belief that he’s being coerced into the same situation as his father and his determination to avoid making that mistake.

If this arrangement is to succeed, you’ll need to pray seven times an hour, every day, for the rest of your life for divine intervention. Otherwise, you’ll be left complaining about his behaviour and treatment while he remains unruffled.

˖ ࣪. ࿐♡˚. Maedhros

He had anticipated this situation due to the constant rivalry between his father and his half–uncle, who incessantly engaged in banter to prove the superiority of their respective families. He often found himself thrust into the forefront of this unnecessary competition. Therefore, he approached the arrangement with a sense of neutrality (lie! he chats his mother’s ear off).

As the firstborn of the heir, he fully comprehends the specific obligations that accompany his title and embraces them wholeheartedly. So, when you join your parents for the first meeting, he gracefully accepts his fate as your husband (although he sheds a few tears in private to his mother).

“It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, My Lady/Lord Y/N. I am Prince Nelyafinwë Maitimo, your betrothed. I sincerely hope that in the brief time before our wedding, we can learn a lot to make our journey as a married couple smoother. Please, do not hesitate to inform me of any discomforts you may encounter, and I will do my utmost to ensure your well–being. Remember, I am your husband, not your master. Have no fear as we build a life together.”

He is a polite and reserved individual, leaning more towards propriety than humour. He barely possesses a funny bone and seldom indulges in levity, which can be one of the more challenging aspects of the marriage. Nevertheless, he is respectful, stands up for you, is considerate, and fulfils all the duties of a husband.

However, he respects your boundaries when it comes to intimacy, acknowledging that you both are strangers. This means separate sleeping arrangements. All other spaces, such as the kitchen, dining room, reading room, coaches, and carriages, are shared.

As a husband, he typically leaves most decisions up to you, entrusting you with the role of household caretaker and offering his input only when you seek an additional opinion or when he believes a change is necessary.

During the initial stages of your relationship, he hopes that you can build good bonds with the rest of his family, particularly his brothers and parents. He is observant of your reactions and interactions with them and adjusts accordingly if he senses any discomfort.

Despite his efforts to avoid such emotions, he becomes sentimental when he reflects on the life he has created with you, even if it feels somewhat mechanical. The absence of arguments and the harmonious atmosphere in the house bring him joy. There are moments of awkwardness, but you’ve both learned to overcome them (and the first time you saw him laugh was when you attempted to make a joke about it).

As your marriage progresses, you encounter numerous highs and lows, primarily stemming from the political aspects. You have expressed your discontent with being treated as a trophy and being involved in unnecessary competition, despite knowing this from the outset. Dealing with this, particularly from his father, is a challenge that you and Maedhros will face together.

˖ ࣪. ࿐♡˚. Maglor

Maglor is just as composed as his older brother, but he doesn’t quite align with the idea of both of you being used for political and competitive purposes. He grapples with the notion that Maedhros accepted the idea of an arranged marriage for political gain so readily. Now, he feels a profound sadness that he can’t freely choose someone to capture his heart.

However, Maglor makes sure that your time together never feels forced or obligatory. He disapproves of the constant reminder of the arranged marriage hanging over your heads. He’s dedicated to making your marriage healthy and happy, erasing any memory of your freedom being taken away.

Inheriting his mother’s temperament, Maglor is a pillar of strength for your concerns and worries. If you ever feel like you’re falling short of the arrangement’s expectations, or if you’re fearful, confused, unhappy, or distant, he encourages you to confide in him without hesitation. After all, he’s your husband and should be your confidant.

The perk of living with Maglor is a home constantly filled with music and music sheets. You may grumble about the sheets being everywhere but his music room, but he melts away any tension by serenading you with songs dedicated to you. It’s his way of expressing his genuine affection and appreciation for having you in his life.

“I’d like to dedicate my next song to someone I’ve grown close to in such a short time. They’ve found their way into my heart, even if they’re not entirely aware of it. This song is for them, to show how much I truly care and consider them a dear part of my life. So, without further ado, my next piece is in honour of my wonderful spouse.”

Though he may put you on the spot, he hopes that you’ll be moved by his heartfelt dedication. He isn’t being manipulative; his intentions are sincere, and he genuinely appreciates having you in his life.

Among his brothers, Maglor stands out as the most understanding and the one who despises the mistreatment of the arranged marriage. He firmly shuts down conversations that dwell on the circumstances of how you ended up together and replaces them with whimsical tales of your imaginary first encounters. His theatrical skills come into play as he playfully flirts and teases you, creating a charming and flirtatious atmosphere.

Only when you’re comfortable, does he extend his hand or arm for you to hold, patiently listen to your conversations, or spend time planning extravagant surprises.

Throughout your marriage, Maglor’s primary aim is to provide comfort and eliminate any tension or discomfort. You’ll have a loving husband who will fiercely defend your marriage against anyone who challenges it.

˖ ࣪. ࿐♡˚. Celegorm

Another individual who defiantly scoffs at the arrangement, dismissing it because no one would dare challenge his freedom. Unfortunately, much to his discontent, the news proved true. As a result, he’s now in a fit of rage, flipping tables, and has disappeared for weeks, remaining unseen and unheard.

Tyelko isn’t present during the initial weeks of the arrangement, as he’s off wandering in the forest, complaining to Orome about the perceived unfairness of the situation. All the while, you are left alone in the new house. One can only imagine the shock he’ll experience upon his return.

His return is facilitated by Orome, who encourages him to give the arrangement a chance and approach it with an open mind. Thanks to Orome, your first meeting with Tyelko is relatively amicable, as he meets you standing in the doorway with a concerned expression on your face.

The look of concern you give him is unsettling for Tyelko, as he is accustomed to expecting anger for behaviour. Not knowing how to respond, he might inadvertently snap, making him come across as a jerk. This leads to you becoming reclusive to avoid triggering his temper, making his plan to scare you off fail.

Tyelko soon realises that you rarely speak or interact with him, leaving him to his own devices with homecooked meals and a comforting, caring tone. You even avoid making eye contact when he addresses you directly, leading him to conclude that you’re afraid or hate him.

“Why do you still treat me this way when I have been unpleasant? I don’t like it or enjoy how you look at me. Why must you still care for me when I have been unbothered? Are you manipulating me into feeling guilty? Because if that is the case, I can leave if it stops this unpleasant play. Just why are you still friendly with me?”

You could see the uneasiness in his posture prompting you to feel a sense of pity for neglecting an unheard-of side of him and the pleading tone makes you realise his sincerity. He genuinely wants to know how to end the discomfort in the house.

Accustomed to his harsh nature as described by others, you had found it difficult to imagine him being soft. It was a start in breaking the ice with your views and how you had perceived him to be during the arrangement. To which he scoffed at how you easily fell for the rumours of his roughness (he knows that he’s rough around the edges, but refuses to admit it).

Tyelko cautiously falls into the routine of becoming a caretaker alongside you since you gave him no reason to be hostile. All he can do is hope for the best. He’s still hesitant to let go of his freedom as it brings him peace of mind.

He eventually finds himself slowly warming up to the idea of you doing your best to understand and not readily judge. This eases the preconceived notions he had about you from the beginning. He thought your demeanour was all a façade to control him.

˖ ࣪. ࿐♡˚. Caranthir

Two distinct reactions unfold the moment he’s abruptly brought up to speed with his situation: firstly, he swears, and secondly, he makes a swift attempt to escape the room. This was far from the life he had envisioned for himself, or any different from what his family had endured. He had heard of such unfortunate circumstances befalling others but never fathomed that he too would become a victim.

He seems rather brooding during the entire introduction, and he’s taken aback by the familiar expression mirrored on your face. He had assumed that you would be delighted, as many individuals often eagerly vie for the role of a prince’s spouse, particularly from the first house.

He remains quiet and distant, wanting to intensify your the distance between. Both of you share similar attitudes towards marriage and living habits, which results in minimal attempts at interaction, with each of you occupying different ends of the house.

Polite greetings are given from your end while he silently grumbles and mutters incomprehensible phrases. You take it as a sign that he doesn’t wish to communicate. Though at times, you tend to feel the weight of his gaze on you, and if you catch him staring, he quickly averts his gaze, returning to his displeasure state.

It’s a significant challenge for him to partially embrace the role of a suitable husband, given the constant reminder of the unexpected circumstances that brought you together. Expressing himself has always been a struggle when in times of comfort forsaken, leading to Caranthir muttering his words grumpily.

“I’m not quite certain how to put this into words, but I want us to be on the same page during this arrangement. So, I’d like to know your expectations and views of me. This way, if I am to avoid you or limit our interactions to prevent any discomfort or tension, I can meet them.”

It’s not an easy task for him to forge a tiny connection when the circumstances makes it daring. He has to be mindful of his temper while closely observing your reactions to his actions. He critically assesses every aspect and draws conclusions accordingly.

When in his own environment and free from intrusion, he attempts to gradually involve you in his world by silently inviting you through non-verbal gestures. You have to get use to the fact that he doesn’t appreciate talking too much. This can offer insight into his true self, allowing you to connect more deeply.

However, as your relationship with Caranthir continues to develop, there are bound to be ups and downs, especially when dealing with his outbursts triggered by various factors or his siblings’ relentless teasing. One way to show your appreciation for your place beside him is by coming to his defence.

˖ ࣪. ࿐♡˚. Curufin

I’d like to say he’s Feanor 2.0 in terms of his ideas and approach. However, since it’s Feanor orchestrating the arrangement, Curufin is fully on board and understands his father’s perspective on the benefits. I mean, he’s just as competitive as his father, which is the primary reason behind this arrangement.

Curufin perceives this as a political strategy that he must honour and uphold. From the day you met him, he has had no hesitation in stepping forward and reminding you of the duties you must fulfil as his spouse and the newest member of his household. Your loyalty to him must be unwavering.

Although your initial impression of him left you thinking he was controlling and demanding, all Curufin desires from you, aside from his earlier requests, is your comfort and happiness while living with him. You want to expand your house, sure. You desire a spacious backyard, certainly. You hope for more gifts, without a doubt. If you want to discuss your feelings, he’ll make an effort. If you need space, he’s willing to compromise.

I’m serious about this one; you’ll need to compromise with him if you want your own space—by that, I mean wanting to live separately. If you want separate rooms, he can work with that. Curufin has proper etiquette when it comes to the comfort of those he holds dear.

His top priority is to treat his spouse with the utmost care and respect, ensuring all your needs are met. The only thing he asks is that you don’t take advantage of his vulnerability and exert undue control over him.

“As your husband, it is my duty to ensure that all your needs are met, and in return, I expect the same from you. Whatever you require, please come forward and inform me; there’s no need to conceal your desires. Lay them on the table, and we can work on them together as we were intended to do. I also request that you maintain your dignity and pride when it comes to our new household and family, and everything will go smoothly. Furthermore, I ask that you don’t exploit my kindness and keep our personal life within the confines of our home.”

The entire arrangement may sound controlling and suffocating, but Curufin allows you your freedom. He believes in reciprocity—what he wants for himself, he’s willing to provide in return. He puts in his utmost effort to meet your needs, as long as you show the same enthusiasm.

When he attends an event, his greatest desire is for you to accompany him. He takes pride in showcasing his craftsmanship through the pieces he has created especially for you. He spends hours crafting an array of jewellery to match your preferences.

The surprising aspect of this marriage is his firm stance on conversations concerning your arrangement and your relationship. Everyone is aware of it, but he doesn’t allow others to discuss it, not even his brothers. He sees you as his spouse with the arrangement being a thing of the past.

˖ ࣪. ࿐♡˚. Amrod

Much like Tyelko, Amrod possesses a rebellious spirit, often disappearing when the harsh reality of his situation becomes too apparent. When he does, it’s typically in search of his mother’s advice and assistance. His primary concern is unravelling the mystery of his father’s role in this arranged marriage. Sadly, his suspicions are confirmed as Nerdanel had no say in the matter; it was entirely Feanor’s competitive nature that drove it.

His mother’s invaluable advice to him was to make the best of the situation and take time to get to know you before making any serious commitments. She became his go–to source of guidance whenever he found himself in a tight spot.

Fast forward to the time when he meets you, he’s fully aware that you aren’t thrilled about the arrangement and even contemplated an escape before the introduction. It hurt to hear that you were reluctant to give him a chance, as he was open to doing so. This prompted his dedication to ensuring that the time you spent with him was worthwhile.

Much like Maglor, he’s determined to fill your days with joy and dispel the clouds of resentment, all while maintaining a respectful distance to avoid overstepping any boundaries. Whenever your responses leave him puzzled, he frequently seeks advice from his mother.

Simultaneously, he avoids his father due to his disgust at being essentially bartered like a commodity for his father’s satisfaction. Any discussion related to his marriage is swiftly shut down, and he walks away. He has no interest in hearing comments or mockery about the arrangement.

However, there’s no need to worry because he receives guidance from his mother. If you wish to converse with him, he encourages you to speak openly and share your thoughts without fear. He wants to hear your perspective on things.

“Please understand that I may not be the most well–known among my siblings, and you may have heard little about me. Nonetheless, please don’t hesitate to express your thoughts. While we may not be romantically involved or incredibly close, I will do my utmost to work towards a harmonious relationship. Please give me the opportunity to build something prosperous between us.”

Amrod is dedicated to establishing a secure friendship between the two of you before any romantic involvement comes into play. He aims to create a space where you can feel comfortable and relaxed without the weight of the arranged marriage hanging over your heads. There’s no rush, and you both have the time to sort out your duties and positions as your friendship grows.

Throughout your journey from friendship to romance, Amrod maintains a gentlemanly demeanour. Though you may encounter some challenges along the way, they will be infrequent. Your relationship won’t be flawless, as it’s impossible to forget that you were both thrust into this arrangement without your consent. However, it’s something you can bond over and find common ground to overcome your fears.

˖ ࣪. ࿐♡˚. Amras

The quieter of the two siblings, Amras, maintains his silence even when informed of his situation. His irritation is clearly visible on his face, which leaves you anxious about what to anticipate. He reserves his complaints for private conversations with his twin and mother, all due to his father’s insistence on marriage, which he feels is encroaching on his freedom.

Amras’s silence remains constant from the moment you first met him. Your relationship is marred by a sense of being strangers living under the same roof. He refrains from even greeting you, still seething over the situation and pondering how to express his anger.

Despite his understanding that you played no part in arranging this engagement, Amras can’t prevent his anger from simmering. It’s not directed at you but rather at both sets of parents for their low regard for both of you. Amras struggles to find a way to communicate his feelings without intimidating you.

Amras notices your tendency to distance yourself whenever you’re in the same room with him or when you shrink under his silently judgmental gaze. Your eyes rarely meet his, and when they do, you quickly look away. Your actions make him feel as though he has harmed you or been hostile towards you at some point.

“Could it be that you...resent me for the circumstances that have come between us? You hardly speak to me even when I desire it, fearing rejection and silence. I can sense your anger over what your parents have done, and I share that anger. Perhaps we could attempt to build something together, starting as acquaintances and moving from there.”

His voice breaks, and he likely breaks down, allowing you to witness his vulnerability as he cries. He’s confused and doesn’t know what to do. All he wants is your guidance and support to navigate the storm he’s been thrust into. You are the only lifeline in the ocean he can rely on, just as you rely on him.

Amras may appear somewhat awkward, much like Caranthir, as he observes you in your element, awed by your ability to remain resolute. He is eager to assist and hopes that you will show him what is expected of him, as he has few memories of his parents’ dynamics and relationships.

His primary goal is to become the best husband possible for you, but he first wants to establish a basic foundation and compatibility. He follows you like an eager puppy, observing your features and silently appreciating your beauty. He feels fortunate to have ended up with someone good.

˖ ࣪. ࿐♡˚. Celebrimbor

The moment those words escape his advisor’s lips, he feels a strong urge to toss them out the window. The idea of following his family’s tradition makes Tyelpë shudder. He neither desires marriage nor believes he’s capable of being a great husband, haunted as he is by his old life. He fears that others assume he will repeat his family’s mistakes.

Despite his personal reservations, he acknowledges the political necessity of the situation for the betterment of his kingdom. Consequently, he has no choice but to go with the flow and bear the burden. Upon being introduced to you, he maintains a stiff demeanour, silently repeating to himself, “Don’t mess up, don’t scare them.”

His conduct in this moment is heavily influenced by the obligation he feels toward the prosperity of his people, even though he resents it. Tyelpë can’t help but grind his teeth at the thought, as he believes there must be alternative ways to improve his homeland. However, like everyone else except Feanor, Tyelpe is reserved, observant, and respectful. He listens to you chatter on about the benefits of unifying both kingdoms while silently stewing in his own thoughts.

Polite and approachable, he makes an effort to ensure you don’t feel alienated by his role as your future husband. He respects your boundaries and the need for distance between you, given that you are still strangers.

“Please do not harbour any ill feelings toward me for the choices I’ve made to secure myself. We are still in the process of getting to know each other, and my intentions are far from ostracising you. The concept of an arranged marriage and warming up to a stranger from a distant land is still a challenge for me. I have much to learn, so I ask for your patience.”

During the pre–courtship period before your marriage, Tyelpë is a gentleman and crafts small trinkets as tokens of his growing fondness for you. These may include a hairpin, hair comb, bracelet, earrings, or a simple pendant necklace. He saves the more extravagant designs for when he becomes more accustomed to his role as your partner.

While you need not fear his temper, he kindly requests that you refrain from flaunting your relationship in public, even though everyone is aware of the arrangement. Tyelpë values his privacy and would be disappointed if his personal life became a topic of discussion.

Be prepared to spend nights alone in bed, as he isn’t yet comfortable sharing his personal space. He might suggest having separate chambers until some time has passed and he’s warmed up to the idea of closer proximity. He simply asks for your understanding, as his reclusive tendencies are his source of comfort.

The only potential challenge you may face is his reclusive behaviour persisting for a longer period than expected. He is aware that you may eventually come to terms with being paired with him, but he struggles with it. There are unresolved issues from his past that he needs to address before fully embracing someone new in his life.

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[theobjectofmyobsession055]

Boothill x SingleParent!Reaer: Lassos and Lullabies Chpt. 1

When Boothill helps find a lost child's mother at the grocery store, he'll end up finding a hell of a lot more than he bargained for.

Next part

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Even though Boothill was mostly made of metal, he still had need of basic necessities. He’d never admit it to anyone, but taking care of his hair was especially of importance to him. Not that he cared much about his appearance, but as one of the only human parts of him left, he’d be careless to let it fall into disrepair. So that led him to the supermarket, browsing the aisles of haircare products. Seriously, how many different kinds of shampoo could there be? It seemed unnecessary to him.

Just as he’d grabbed the simplest-looking bottle he could find, he felt a little tug on his pant leg. He looked down, and his breath caught in his mechanical lungs. Looking up at him with big, teary eyes was a little girl, her tiny fist clutching at his pant leg. She couldn’t have been much older than two, if that. Her dark curls framed her chubby, tear-stained face in a little halo, and if he still had a heart in his chest he knew it would have clenched painfully. She looked so much like his little girl, even down to the way she wobbled slightly on her feet. She must have just learned how to walk. It tugged at his nonexistent heartstrings to see her snotty nose and forlorn look in her big, dewy eyes.

He knelt down to her level, his gruff voice uncharacteristically gentle as he said, “Hey there, little lady. Where’re yer parents?”

She hiccupped, letting go of his pant leg to grip at his metal fingers. He couldn’t help but smile at the sight, despite his concern—she could barely wrap her whole hand around one of his fingers. “M-mama… Mama…”

Oh if that didn’t just break his heart. He couldn’t leave her to wander around the store by herself. “You’re lookin’ for yer momma, eh? Don’t worry, I’ll help ya find her.” He stood back up, but the moment he did the little girl started sobbing, reaching her little hands up towards him. “You want up, little lady?” She nodded her head, so he leaned down and scooped her up into his arms, propping her up on his hip. It’d been a long, long time since Boothill had held a child, but his muscle memory didn’t fail him, even in his cybernetic body.

She calmed down a little once she was secure in his arms, but she still sniffled and cried out for her mom every once in a while as they walked through the store. He didn’t know how long it would take to find her mom, so he started wracking his brain for ways to cheer her up while they looked. He bounced her up and down in his arms as he hummed an old tune he’d heard who-knew when. He didn’t fancy himself much of a singer, but his daughter always loved it whenever he'd sing or play the guitar for her.

The little girl giggled, so he figured he must’ve been doing something right. As he continued humming, he scanned the store for anyone who appeared particularly frantic, peering down each aisle as they passed. He almost didn’t notice the little girl reaching her hands up until she babbled out something that sounded suspiciously like “Hat!”

He chuckled as he peeked down at her, seeing how she reached up towards the brim of his hat. “You like cowboys, little lady? Here.” He took off his hat and placed it on her head. He snickered at the sight of how it almost completely engulfed her face, tipping it back so it didn’t cover her eyes. “Looks better on you than it does on me anyways.”

She squealed happily, clapping her little hands together. A soft smile grew on his face. Interacting with this little girl made him feel nostalgic in a way he hadn’t felt in a long time, in a way he deliberately tried to avoid feeling. But it wasn’t awful, even if his chest ached as he couldn’t help but think of his own little girl, another lifetime ago.

“Charlotte? Oh my god, Charlotte, there you are!”

The little girl’s eyes lit up, and she reached her hands out. “Mama!”

A plump young woman came running up to Boothill, tears in her eyes that looked strikingly similar to the little girl’s in his arms. He could see the outline of her soft tummy through her modest but flattering dress, the fabric hugging her full hips. Despite himself, he couldn’t help the light flush on his face as he took in the sight of her, and it only got worse when she looked up at him with those dewy eyes. He cleared his throat. “Are you this here little lady’s momma?”

Instead of the trepidation he expected to see on her face from seeing a cyborg holding her daughter, her face melted with relief and gratitude. “Yes, I am. Thank you so so much for finding her, I was worried sick! I set her down for just one second and the next thing I knew she was gone!” She gently took the little girl from him, cradling her in her arms. The little girl cooed and cuddled up in her mother’s embrace, content as could be. The woman sighed deeply. “I can’t believe I lost sight of her…”

A smile made its way onto Boothill’s lips. If his hat was still on his head, he would’ve tipped it at her. “S’no problem, ma’am, don’t beat yerself up ‘bout it. Second they learn howta use their legs they’re all over the place. She’s a mighty brave little lady you’ve got there, askin’ a stranger for help.”

The woman’s brow furrowed. “Actually, Lottie’s rather shy. She came up to you, you said?” She looked down at her daughter with a gentle smile. “Did you make a friend, Lottie?”

“Is that right?” He grinned, sticking his hands in his pockets. “Well I’d be mighty pleased to be friends with such a pretty young lady.” His eyes flicked back up to the woman’s face. “Or her momma, for that matter.”

The woman’s eyes widened, and a shy smile played at her lips. “O-oh, why thank you, sir.”

“The name’s Boothill. Pleasure to make yer acquaintance.” He took his hand out of his pocket and held it out towards her.

She took his hand and shook it. Damn, her hands were soft. Slightly calloused, but that was kind of nice too. He was glad he’d had those touch receptors installed. “Y/N,” she said. “Nice to meet you too. And this—” She bounced her daughter on her hip, causing her to giggle. “Is Charlotte.” Y/N looked back up at him, her eyes shining with gratitude. “Really, thank you so much for finding her. She doesn’t usually like new people, she doesn’t even like the daycare workers, and she sees them almost every day. You must be some kind of toddler-whisperer or something. Do you have one of your own?”

His servers stalled. “…No.” It wasn’t a lie, he didn’t have a child. Not anymore.

He pushed the thought out of his mind, plastering a grin on his face. “But I’ll take that as a compliment. I quite liked little Lottie’s company as well.”

If Y/N noticed his hesitancy, she made no indication of it. She just smiled at him, those pretty eyes of hers crinkling at the edges. “Well, you’re just a natural then.” She was quiet for a moment, and he could practically see the gears turning in her head. “Hey, I, um, I know I have no right to ask you for anything more than you’ve already done, but I was wondering… would you maybe be willing to babysit Lottie sometime? She just seems so taken with you, and it’s been so hard to find a babysitter she isn’t shy or nervous around. I can pay you too! You absolutely don’t have to, I know we just met and everything, but I thought I’d ask.”

Boothill blinked. Him, babysit? It was true he liked being around the little tyke for the short time they were together, but was he really cut out to babysit? On the other hand, he was somewhat touched that she’d trust him enough to look after her child, as ill-placed as that trust might have been.

But as he looked down at Charlotte, with her dark curls and bright eyes and his hat perched precariously on her head… something in his chest stirred. And even though it might’ve been a bad decision, he’d made a lot bad decisions in his life, and it couldn’t possibly be any worse than those.

He flashed her a grin. “I wouldn’t be opposed to the idea. An’ ya don’t gotta pay me. I’d be happy enough just to see this pretty little lady again.” He took his hat off Charlotte’s head and ruffled her hair, making her let out a torrent of giggles. He placed the hat back on his head and tipped it at Y/N, giving her a little wink. “And her pretty momma too.”

Y/N’s cheeks flushed red. He could’ve laughed at the way she blinked rapidly, obviously flustered. “O-oh, um… thank you. I’d… be glad to see you again too.”

His grin widened. “Well ain’t that just peachy, then. I travel around a lot for work, but if you need someone to watch the young’un when I’m in town, I’d be happy to help.

The smile she gave him could’ve powered thirty starships. “Thank you, Boothill. Here.” She pulled out a scrap of paper from her purse and scribbled something down on it, handing it to him. The fans in his chest whirred loudly. It was her phone number. “So we can get in contact with each other. Maybe we could do a test drive first—you can come over and I can show you around the place and everything. And we can get to know each other better, you know?”

“Sounds like a plan.” He took out a napkin from his pocket and scribbled down his own phone number before handing it to her.

She folded it up delicately and tucked it away in her purse. “Alright then, we won’t take up any more of your time. It was nice meeting you, I’ll shoot you a text. Say ‘bye bye,’ Lottie!” she cooed down at Charlotte.

Charlotte waved her hand enthusiastically. “Bye bye!”

Boothill raised his hand in a wave. Then they turned and left, leaving him alone to marvel at what the heck just happened.

He whipped out his phone and added a new contact called ‘Hot Momma.’ He’d be looking forward to that text.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Boothill had half expected to never hear from Y/N again, but to his surprise he received a text from her about a week later. And lo and behold, she actually did invite him over to her apartment. Either she was just the most trusting woman in the whole galaxy, or he must’ve left a really good impression during their brief meeting. He didn’t leave those very often.

No sooner than he’d knocked on the door did it open, and he was met with Y/N’s bright smile and slightly flushed cheeks. “You’re here! I was just making lunch, come on in! Would you like something to drink?”

As she ushered him into the apartment, he took in the sight of the living space. Small, but cozy. He decided he liked it There were a few framed photos sitting on the mantel, and he took note that there wasn’t a man in any of them. “Nah, I’m all good. Thank you, though.”

Y/N scurried into the kitchen and stirred a pot of something. He smiled at the sight of Charlotte sitting in a highchair at the kitchen table, light blue bows dotted across her dark hair. She clapped her hands and babbled happily at the sight of him. “Hat! Hat!”

Y/N laughed, peering at them from over the counter. “Lottie’s been so excited to see you, Mr. Boothill.”

“Eh, none of that ‘Mister’ crap, just ‘Boothill’ is fine.” He leaned down to Charlotte’s level. Immediately, she reached out and grabbed ahold of one of his fingers, her eyes wide with wonder as she watched the way the light glinted off of his metal hand. He chuckled, his chest warming at the sweet sight. “I’ve been real excited to see her too.”

Y/N came out of the kitchen, balancing three plates of pasta, one significantly smaller than the others. “Please, come eat with us. Oh, um, if you can eat, that is. I made plenty for all of us.”

He didn’t have to eat, but he knew better than to turn down a pretty lady. He tipped his hat at her. “Aw shucks, ya didn’t haveta do that for little ol’ me. But thank you kindly.”

She sat one of the larger plates down in front of him, a bright smile on her face. “Of course I did! You’re doing me a huge favor by offering to watch Lottie, it’s the least I can do.” She sat down on the other side of Charlotte, stabbing a piece of pasta with a fork and offering it to her.

“It’s no problem, really. She’s a sweet little lady.” The sight of Y/N feeding her daughter like that made his chest constrict painfully. It reminded him all too much of evenings at the dinner table with his own little rascal, where she’d end up with her face and hands all covered in sauce.

He pulled himself out of the memory before he could get too wrapped up in it. “How old is she, by the way?” he asked.

“She’s two and a half,” Y/N said proudly, feeding Charlotte another couple forkfuls of pasta. She sighed wistfully. “She’s already growing up so fast.”

He chuckled. “Yeah, they do that. Best to cherish ‘em while they’re cute an’ little like this.”

“Very right you are. But she’ll always be my little Lottie, no matter how big she gets, won’t you, sweetheart?” she cooed at Charlotte, to which she babbled happily.

Boothill took a couple bites of the meal she’d prepared for him. His sense of taste wasn’t quite as good as it had been when he was fully human, but he could still tell that it was delicious. “Dang, darlin’, this is really good. You a chef or somethin’?”

She laughed, a pink flush dusted across her cheek bones. She waved her hand dismissively. “Oh no, nothing like that. That’s very sweet of you to say, though, I’m glad you like it.”

They finished up their lunch, and Y/N stood up to collect the dishes. Boothill stopped her with a raised hand. “Lemme take care of it, sugar. Can’t let a pretty little thing like you runnin’ yerself ragged on my account.”

Her cheeks turned rosy again as he stood and took the plates from her. “O-oh, um… Thank you.”

“No problem, doll.” He winked at her before heading into the kitchen and washing the dishes. He may have been laying the charm on a little thick, but what could he say? He liked her. And he knew how touch it was raising a kid, especially if she didn’t have anyone to help her.

Once the dishes were all washed and on the drying race, he returned to the dining room, finding that Y/N had picked Charlotte up out of her highchair and perched her on her hip. Her cheeks were still a little pink, but she flashed him a sweet smile. “So, would you like a tour?”

He nodded his head, and she showed him around her small home. There were a couple more photos in her bedroom, once again with a distinct lack of an adult male. She told him everything he might need to know if he were to watch Charlotte: her bedtime, how she liked to take her baths, emergency contacts, the whole shebang. A part of him couldn’t believe he’d actually agreed to this, but he couldn’t deny that the thought of getting to spend time with a child again made him feel… something. He didn’t quite have the words to describe it, but it was soft and warm and healing somehow.

And it also didn’t hurt that her mom was such a cutie.

When they got to the end of the tour, Boothill leaned up against the wall and put his hands in his pockets, trying to look casual as he searched for the words to ask what’d been on his mind since the moment he saw her. “So… You have a… a partner? A husband or a boyfriend or somethin’?”

Y/N stilled, a shy smile on her face. “Ah… no. I don’t.” But before he could celebrate, her smile turned somber. “Charlotte’s father… isn’t in the picture anymore. When I told him I was pregnant, he packed his things and left. I haven’t seen him since.”

Boothill’s smile fell. So she was a single mom. He placed his hand on her shoulder, suddenly serious. “That ain’t no man, darlin’. Those there’re the actions of a boy, who ain’t willin’ to take responsibility for what he’s done. An’ he’s a damn fool for lettin’ a sweet little thing like you go.” He smiled down at Charlotte, who just looked up at him with big doe eyes. “An’ he’s missin’ out on seein’ this pretty little lady grow up. He’ll regret it one day.”

He heard Y/N take in a shaky breath, and he noticed her eyes were a little misty. “…Th-thank you, Boothill. That means a lot to me to hear that.”

“I’m just sayin’ the truth.” He gave her shoulder a quick squeeze before letting his hand fall back down to his side. His regular cheeky grin made its way back onto his face. Now, when can I start watchin’ this little cutie?” He tickled Charlotte’s tummy, causing her to squeal in delight.

Y/N smiled at the sight. “Actually, I have this important work conference out of town Sunday night. I know it’s kind of last minute, but I’d really appreciate it if you could watch her while I’m gone. I’ll be back on Monday morning, so it’d just be for that evening and night. I don’t have a guest room, but you’d be welcome to sleep in my room!”

He chuckled. “Ya don’t gotta sell it so hard, I’d be happy to help. You’ve got my number, just let me know when to be here.”

She let out a long, relieved sigh. “Really? Thank you so much, you have no idea how much I’ve been stressing trying to find a sitter for her. You’re a life saver.” That might’ve been the first time Boothill had been called that, and he’d been called a lot of things. Typically, he was said to be the opposite. But the way Y/N smiled up at him really made him feel like a hero, even though it was really no skin off his nose. It was a nice feeling

[possessionisamyth]

Look, listen to me, come closer. Nope, too close, take one step back. Okay, thank you. Now open your ears and hear what I'm saying.

Whole Cake but sanuso, BUT Sanji has fully transitioned via Ivankov and her poster has not been changed from the bad drawing yet. This means when they go to pick up Sanji, the disowned son, they are meeting Sanji the trans woman who cannot marry another woman ala Pudding. Not because of the gay thing, but because Charlotte Linlin expects babies from all her married kids.

Hold on, I'm not done. There's more, but it's below the cut cause I'm nice.

Okay so clown 1 and clown 2 arrive with their convincing arguments or alternative threats ready to go only to see Sanji and immediately call Judge so they can check. Is this the right person? Judge said a son didn't he?

Vito: "You have two daughters?"

Judge: "No. One daughter."

Vito: "There is a woman here calling herself Sanji."

Judge: "Sanji is my bastard son. He has the same eyebrows as the others, and he's blonde."

Both of the retrievers look at Sanji who fits the bill except for being a pissed off looking woman.

Vito: "Uh, you know what. We'll just bring 'Sanji' to you and you can make your best judgement."

Judge: "You'd better."

Sanji arrives. Reiju is doing her absolute best to remain appearing emotionless, but the giggles are being held at bay by a thread because this was the best possible way to get out of this marriage. Sanji the escape artist wins again in her eyes. The tri color brothers? They immediately start laying on the mockery and sexist comments of which Sanji is Not A Fan, but they threatened Zeff, and she needs to see how this is going to play out before doing anything. Judge? Absolutely pissed. He cannot give any of his other sons to Charlotte Linlin because they have actual value in his eyes. He was supposed to be giving the trash away, and the one thing Linlin needs out of any marriage deal is grandchildren. Grandchildren Sanji cannot provide with the one kid Linlin planned to give up ala Pudding.

Judge will either have to figure out a magical de-transition method that is instant (not possible in the time they have left). Give up one of his valuable sons (extremely not wanted). Or lie about Sanji's gender and go through the deal hoping they can get out unscathed until this is "fixed".

They opt to lie. Sanji who kept her hair short, only because longer hair was too much of a hassle in the kitchen, doesn't even have the option to be dysphoric due to the lengths the Vinsmokes are going through to pass her off as a man. Like. It's extremely pathetic. It's sad. It's one of Usopp's "I can't do X disease" level of awful and bad except Usopp's little lies were at least coming from someone cute.

They put a fake beard on her. Reiju is responsible for her make up. Clothes are tailored to hide the obvious curves. Sanji is making every step of this process as difficult as possible. There's nothing no one can do about her voice, though it's only slightly pitched up from before her transition. They tell her not to talk and slap the exploding handcuffs on her to make sure she doesn't. They say she's half mute or something, and Linlin says something like husbands are best seen and not heard. They buy it. They fucking buy it. Sanji isn't sure who's more stupid, the Vinsmokes for putting her through this fluke, or the Charlottes because they fall for it hook line and sinker. Her beard starts to fall off halfway through a meal and they rush her back to her room.

There are multiple mishaps where she's almost "caught", and her brothers are annoyed because they have to put in effort to cover for her unless they want to be auctioned off. Reiju is putting in a lot less effort to cover for her. But Sanji is tired. She is angry. She wants to go home. The fake beard is itchy. The clothes aren't her style. She misses her cute stilettos that Usopp lovingly sharpened the heels on. She is getting some entertainment from making trouble by nearly exposing her 'secret', but it does nothing to ease her worry of the ticking time clock to this farce of a wedding.

Pudding is nice at least. A little touchy, but nice. Sanji is so tempted to compliment the young girl, but the bracelets around her wrists are a very cold reminder not to.

Usually I have more to write where I go over the whole arc with this kind of headcanon, but I don't. Have some snippet ideas.

Usopp yelling out, "What did they do to my babygirl!" in earshot and Sanji giving him the wettest most pathetic sad cat eyes because she loves when Usopp calls her that and she wants TO LEAVE.

Sanji revealing her gender at the altar, and Pudding having a lesbian awakening.

Sanji actually taunting her brothers with a reversal of the sexist commentary they were throwing at her and then saving them.

Hearing multiple Charlotte kids question why Judge lied about having another son, and that they would've accepted a daughter to marry into the family. Some even say a daughter offering might've even prevented the whole assassination attempt thing.

Usopp gently putting Sanji's spiky stilettos on her feet like Cinderella and her prince, and she gets a horrible nosebleed. This happens moments before she's being dragged off to remake the wedding cake.

Pudding is still having the split genuine thirst and fake angry reactions to Sanji where she's just like (thumbs up emoji) in response.

Multiple cut scene styled flashbacks where random Charlotte kids realize Sanji was very obviously a woman, and they'd been too stupid in the moment to pay real attention to her slip ups.

Injured Sanji giving the double middle finger to the Vinsmokes as they part ways.

Luffy seriously asking Sanji why they didn't put her in a wedding dress. Were they too stupid to see she's a girl? He could tell it was really obvious so why didn't they?

Sanji in an irritated voice explaining to Luffy what they put her through, and then placing her hands on her blushing cheeks as she explains she only wants to wear a wedding dress once. She pointedly looks at Usopp and flutters her lashes. Usopp gets all bashful and smiley and starts a whole spiel about how if they got married it'd be way grander than what the Charlottes could come up with. Sanji is swooning. Nami is moments from throwing them both overboard for being way too mushy.

You got that right? Okay, good. Have a nice evening!

[bizarrebazaar13]

FL-inspired book recs!

brought to you by hotel wi-fi

Locations

The Royal Bethlehem: “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and “The Room in the Tower” by E.F. Benson. these are short stories, not novels, but they are fairly quick reads and are about locations where reality becomes twisted. the yellow wallpaper deals with mental illness and medical neglect, while the room in the tower is more about the overlap between dreams and the real world.

Port Carnelian: Mycroft Holmes by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. ok, hear me out on this one. if you’ve ever thought port carnelian would be great if it actually dealt with British colonialism and racism in a meaningful way and also had a murder mystery, you might like this book. a much younger Mycroft Holmes goes with his friend Cyrus Douglas to Douglas’s home in Trinidad to investigate a series of mysterious deaths.

Ladybones Road: The Watchmaker of Filigree Street by Natasha Pulley. Nathaniel Steepleton finds a gold pocket watch in his bedroom one day, but he cannot open it or even hear it ticking. six months later, it opens on its own, and an alarm goes off at the precise time that a bomb explodes in Scotland Yard. he then goes in search of its maker, Keita Mori, who claims the watch was stolen from his shop. Mori has a gift for elaborate clockwork, and though he seems kind and relatively harmless, Nathaniel is sure he is hiding something.

Ambitions/Major Storylines

Early Light Fingers: The House of Silk by Anthony Horowitz. it’s a Sherlock Holmes pastiche, but it can still be understood and enjoyed even if you don’t share my Sherlock Holmes autism. I specified early light fingers, because the mystery of what exactly the house of silk is, and the theme of corruption in highest levels of society, reminds me a lot of exploring and learning about the orphanage. just a heads up, this book is centered around a murdered child, and deals with the systemic abuse and neglect of children in victorian london. its biggest content warning is also its biggest spoiler, so I won’t give it here, but feel free to ask me. I had it spoiled for me on accident and still liked the book a lot.

Late-game Nemesis: “The Moonlit Road” by Ambrose Pierce. another short story, it recounts in three parts the murder of Julia Hetman, as told by her son, her husband, and Julia herself. it specifically reminds me of the dreams of the dead section of nemesis.

Evolution: Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant. Tory Stewart becomes obsessed with mermaids after her sister Anne’s disappearance. Anne was filming a mockumentary about mermaids in the Mariana Trench, but the ship she was on disappeared, and was recovered weeks later with no trace of the crew. footage was found that appeared to show the crew being murdered by mermaids, but it’s largely believed to be for the movie, not real. seven years later, Theodore Blackwell recruits Tory as part of his mission to return to the Mariana Trench and capture a live mermaid. it hits sort of the same spot for undersea survival horror that the diving bell section of evolution did for me.

Exceptional Stories

The Bloody Wallpaper: Sign Here by Claudia Lux. hell is an office. literally. Peyote Trip sold his soul while he was alive, and now works in hell, convincing other people to do the same. he’s one deal away from a big promotion, and all he needs is the soul of one last member of the Harrison family. normal laws of space and time don’t apply, the real hellscape is capitalism, and secrets don’t stay hidden forever… sound familiar? in terms of violence and body horror, I don’t think it gets much worse than the text of the bloody wallpaper. one of the main characters does have a pretty brutal backstory involving christianity-related child abuse though.

Totentanz: Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. set in late 1920s Mexico, the story follows Casiopea Tun and the Mayan death god Hun-Kamé on a journey across Mexico and eventually into the underworld. Casiopea finds Hun-Kamé’s bones in a chest in her grandfather’s house, and when she cuts her finger on one of the bone shards, Hun-Kamé becomes bound to her. together, they must find the rest of his body, which has been scattered around Mexico by Hun-Kamé’s brother Vucub-Kamé, who took over control of Xibalba from him. Hun-Kamé intends to retake Xibalba, but he and Casiopea must face sorcerers, demons, and twisted family dynamics- and that’s before they even get to the underworld.

[miyuhpapayuh]

we're goin' out tonight.

Sitting inside of the ever bright lounge area of Tropic, the pair ogle at each other from across the table.

Both equally surprised on how good the other looks, outside of work.

“You look really pretty this evening.” Isaiah breaks the anxiety-driven silence, Mya’s brown eyes lift towards him.

“Thank you. You look really handsome, yourself.” She replies, smoothing her clammy hands over her dress.

With autumn quickly approaching and the sun's warmth wearing off, Mya decided to wear her favorite mustard toned mini dress, one last time.

Coincidentally, Isaiah's button down almost matched the color of her hair, but on a toned down level.

“Thank you for the flower, by the way.” She says as she fiddles with the orange tulip in her lap.

“My pleasure. I didn’t know if you liked tulips or not.”

“They’re actually my favorite flower, so you’re doing great,” she laughs.

His brows raise. “Are they really?”

“Yeah!” she exclaims, feeling her nerves subside, just enough for her to relax. “I’ve loved ‘em ever since I was a kid.”

“Mind if I pat myself on the back?” He jokes, his infectious smile coming out to play.

She giggles, sipping on her spiked lemonade.

“So, tell me about yourself, Isaiah.”

“What do you wanna know, Miss Mya?”

“I’ll take anything you’re willing to share with me.” She truthfully responds.

“Well,” he clears his throat, “I’ve been here for almost ten years. I moved to Charlotte for a job opportunity, but I didn’t end up getting it. So, I slept on my cousin’s couch, until I found an apartment and a new plan,” he laughs to himself, “and I landed in front of Abstraction. Place is really cool, I’ll admit.”

“Yeah, it is. Do you mind me asking how rough it was to go through that? Especially not having a place of your own?”

“It was hell, man. Absolutely. I felt like I was starting all over, again. But, I grew up in a home where you had to fight for what you wanted, so I did just that.” He smiles, but she can see the pain flicker in his eyes.

“Well, I’m glad you made it out of that. That says a lot about your character.”

“Good things?” He asks with a grin.

“Good things, yes.” She mirrors his expression.

His eyes wander around the wide area, internally grateful that the place was as great as he heard it would be.

“This place is a whole lot nicer than I thought it would be,” he remarks, drinking his own bourbon sour.

“I was just about to say, this place is so cute! They’ve even got a disco ball out there.” She points towards the dance floor.

“Let’s get out there and dance, at some point. Yeah?”

Feeling the butterflies come back, she chews on her lip.

“Yeah. I’d like that.”

“Me too.” He smiles.

“Now, it’s your turn. What do I get to know about you, besides the fact that you’re as pretty as you are?” He leans forward.

“I think your mission is to make my cheeks fall by the end of this date. Cut it out,” she laughs.

Holding a hand up in defeat, he bows out. “I quit, but I'm listening.”

“Well, I’m as boring as they come. Honestly. I’ve got an older sister. She’s a pain in the ass, but the girl can cook like our grandma, so we keep her around.”

Isaiah laughs, making Mya do the same.

“Seriously! I wanna kill her, sometimes… but then she makes apple pie and I like her again. Siblings are weird. Do you have any?”

“Two. Older sister and younger brother. Both, equally a pain in my ass, as well.”

“Oh, not the middle child!” she frowns, coyly reaching across the table for his hand. “Please don’t tell me that you guys actually get overlooked.”

“No, we don’t get overlooked,” he covers her hand with his own, patting the back of it. “If anything, we’d be the ones that you remember more.” His eyes flash to hers

Her heart thuds in her chest as she reaches for her drink, taking another sip.

“But, back to you. I’ve always been curious about something, but I don’t know how to ask you without it sounding… invasive.”

“Try me.”

“How often do you change the color of your hair?”

“That’s actually one of my favorite questions to answer,” she claps her hands, “I’m a situational type of person, when it comes to dying my hair.”

“Meaning?”

“I either need a reason to dye it or I’ll just dye it for no reason at all, other than the fact that I’m bored. It’s not like every four months or anything healthy. It’s more like every other month.” He nods at her explanation.

“How long does it take you?”

“It depends on what color I’m dying it.” She giggles.

“If you were dying it purple?” He quizzes.

“Oh! Let’s see,” she stares up at the starred ceiling, her thoughts aligning. “Since my hair is red, I could probably get away with just dumping purple dye on top of it, with some assistance of course. It’ll take me, maybe, an hour or so.”

“Impressive. What about green?”

“You know, I’ve never tried anything that wild, besides pink and that ended in a catastrophe. I wore scarves for two months.” She shakes her head.

“I’m sure it still looked great.”

“No, it was really bad. Mercedes and Taylor gave me hell for weeks!”

“Friends,” he sighs. “They push those buttons, like no one else.”

“Make you wanna commit crimes,”

His laugh rang through her ears at a louder level. “You wanna do jail time?”

“My motto is no face, no case. If they can’t identify me, they can’t catch me.” She shrugs.

Amused, he takes another swig of his drink. “That’s funny.”

“Thank you. I keep my comedic card on standby,” she jokes, twiddling her thumbs underneath the table.

“So, you got friends that get on your nerves, too, huh?” She asks.

“Oh, yeah,” he nods. “Jane— you know her, right?”

“Short hair? Nose ring? Very sarcastic?”

“Yeah, that’s her,” he grins, “she’s a handful. But, she was the first person that I met, when I got to Abstraction. She, very roughly, took me under her wing and we’ve been cool, ever since.”

“She’s very sweet, but she don’t take no shit.” She laughs, him agreeing all the same.

“That’s why I stick by her. Don’t get me wrong, I can handle my own, but it’s funny when you’ve got a mini fighter tryna handle it for you.”

“She fights you too, doesn’t she?”

“She fights everyone.” He stresses, making her laugh, once more.

“A brash friend is needed, ya know?”

“I’ll drink to that.”

He holds his glass up, as she does the same. The cliché clinking of their glasses makes her giddy, as well as the alcohol that’s flowing through her bloodstream.

“I’m such a lightweight, I should probably stop now.” She says, finishing off her drink. He gives her an incredulous look as she does so.

Reaching out for her hand as he stands from the table, Isaiah leads her down the short steps to the dance floor.

“Let's go dance, pretty.”

Jonz in my bonz by D’Angelo is the soundtrack to their first dance.

“Man, I ain’t heard this song in years,” he remarks, Wrapping his arm around her waist.

“I actually just added this to my playlist, a few days ago.” She rests her hands on his broad shoulders, fighting the urge to squeeze.

“A woman with taste! How refreshing.”

The sultry beat captures their hips, pulling them closer to one another.

She hums in response, her eyes linger on his face. “I’ve wanted to tell you this, since the day you saved me from falling on my face… you smell so good.”

Looking down at her, his grin spreads across his cheeks. “Thank you,” he leans down to her ear, talking over the music, “you always smell good.”

A chill rushes up her spine at him being so close to her, all the while giving her compliments. 

“Always?”

Still close to her ear, he continues to speak. “Yeah… kinda smells like sandalwood.”

“It is!” she playfully hits his chest, slyly copping a feel of how hard it is. “You’ve got a good nose on you, sir.”

He hums a laugh, returning to his upright position.

What I wouldn't do to get next to the things that were meant fo’ me..

Getting completely lost in the music, Isaiah's hands sit dangerously low on his backside, seconds away from copping a feel of his own.

Their eyes on each other, as they continue to sway.

The song fades into another smooth jam, giving him the courage to spin her around in his hold, smiling at her rosy cheeks.

“Havin’ fun?” He asks.

“So much fun,” she hums. “I hope you are, too.”

“Most fun I’ve had in a while.”

“A while? We gotta get you out, more.” She states.

“Yes ma’am.” He agrees.

Continuing to dance the evening away, the pair end up back at her doorstep.

“I had fun tonight.”

“Yeah, me too.”

Their fingers intertwined, the smiles on their faces are both pure, and slightly blitzed.

“Thank you, again, for allowing me to show you a good time.”

“Of course. It’s been a minute since I let my hair down.” She giggles.

“Let’s do it again, some time?”

She nods, her eyes falling to his lips.

“I’d like that.”

Having the same thought on his brain, he leans down to press his lips against hers.

A wave of relief washing over him as she kisses him back.

Mya innocently leans into him as he takes her breath away, almost pouting as he begins to pull away.

“I’m not gonna lie… I’ve been wanting to do that, since the first day I saw you.” Isaiah admits, their eyes back on each other.

“I’ve wanted you to do that, since the first day I saw you.” She breathily laughs.

Unlocking her door, they share one more kiss before departing for the evening.

“Goodnight, pretty.”

“Goodnight, pretty.”

Finally able to let out her squeal behind the closed door, she rushes to call her friends.

As the call connects, the three friends begin to greet one another, as if they haven’t seen each other in ages.

“How was your date with mister swole arms?” Taylor asks as Mercedes snickers.

“You two,” she shakes her head. “The date was great. He was such a gentleman, ugh! The drinks were great, the music was great, and he was great. I’ve never had a conversation with a man that didn’t end in me throwing a drink in his face.”

“Girl, we’ve all been there!” Mercedes laughs.

“What did y’all talk about?”

“Things.” She smirks.

“Like???” They ask in unison, making her laugh.

“Ya know, we just talked about any and everything, honestly. He’s very intelligent, and I’ve known that from working alongside him, but to just sit and listen to him was amazing.” She smiles, like she’s still on their date.

“Ew, you’re blushing!”

“You look flustered, as well. Care to tell us why?”

“We kissed.”

Their jaws drop collectively.

“That’s why you're smiling like that!” Taylor laughs.

“That god of a man put his lips on you???” Mercedes asks, her eyes wide.

She nods, the smirk never leaving her lips.

“Were they soft?” Taylor asks.

“Mmhm. Rose petal soft.”

“Mm!” Taylor exclaims.

“Was there tongue involved??” Mercedes asks.

“It was our first date, girl! No, there was no tongue.” 

Her incredulous expression didn’t sway her brash best friend from being any less than such.

“You know you wanted him to tongue you down, shut up!” Taylor laughs.

“That’s besides the point,” she playfully rolls her eyes. “If y’all are done, I’d like to get in my bed now.”

“Ooh, testy!”

“We just wanted to see how you and strong arms hit it off, heffa. We’ll get out of your hair.”

“I’ll catch up with y’all, tomorrow.”

They say their goodbyes and Mya slips out of her dress and pulls on her pjs, face planting into her soft sheets.

A notification hits her phone, causing her to lift her head up and check it.

Taylor 🤎

Have sweet dreams about ol broad arms for us! Goodnight 😂

☆: .☽ . :☆ﾟ.☆:☆: .☽ .☆: .☽ · 。ﾟ☆: .☽ . :☆ﾟ☆: .☽ . :☆

“So, how was the date?” Jane asks, spinning around in Isaiah's office chair, while he stands a foot away from her, shaking his head.

“Jane. Get out of my chair.”

“I don't wanna! Tell me about your pretty girlfriend!” She faux whines, bringing her spinning to a stop.

“Quit being a child, please. I’ll tell you about the date if you just get up.” He repeats.

Huffing, she stands to her feet and moves away from the comfy computer chair, to the blue club chair on the other side of the desk.

“I leave for one second and you start treatin’ my chair like a damn merry-go-round, Jane? Really?” The annoyed crease in his forehead makes her laugh.

“It’s not broken, Isaiah.”

“That’s not the point, Jane.”

“Okay!” she sighs. “ Are you gonna tell me what happened now or are you gonna continue being dramatic over a chair?”

“I got a mind to kick you out, but I’ll refrain.” He briefly closes his eyes, before proceeding with the much awaited news.

“Let’s see, after I left your house, I went to Fannah’s Florals and bought a tulip— turns out, they’re her favorite flower. I know, I’m good. Uh…” Jane bursts into laughter, undoubtedly making him join.

“You’re hilarious, man!” She giggles.

“I did good, though, Doe! Gimme my props.”

“You did good, bud. You did good.”

“Thank you!” he laughs. “We went to Tropic, it was very nice. The music was great, the drinks were great and man…she looked amazing.” He sighs, going into a dreamy tangent.

“Yeah?” Jane cheeses, sitting her chin in her palms. “What did she wear?”

“She had on this mini dress, it was kinda orange and yellow, at the same time.”

“That’s what the kids call mustard.”

“Maybe, honey mustard. But, it looked beautiful on her, nonetheless.” He digresses. “Her hair was all done up.”

“Did she think you looked as dreamy as you thought she looked?”

“I don’t know if dreamy is the word, but she said I looked handsome. So, you did good, friend.”

She bows from her seated position, making him chuckle and shake his head.

“Yay! So, was the conversation good?”

“It was. We’ve had brief conversations in passing, so I’ve always kind of known this about her, but she’s sweet. I just felt comfortable enough to tell her anything. We related on a couple of things, which made it even easier, cause my nerves were shot.”

“I’ve never seen you that nervous, before.” Jane agrees.

“It normally doesn’t happen.”

“You really like her!” She coos, the urge to throw her out comes back, tenfold.

Sighing, he smiles. “Yeah, she’s great. We danced for what seemed like an eternity. Just lost in the moment.. her scent is still fresh in my brain.” He laughs to himself.

“She seems like a vanilla kinda girl.” Jane comments.

He shakes his head. “Sandalwood.”

Her brows raise. “Ooh, the good shit!”

“Indeed.”

“She’s got good taste.”

“I remember telling her that, at least twice, last night.”

“How’d you bring the evening to a close?” She asks.

“I walked her to her door, we agreed to go out again, and I kissed her, goodnight.” He casually says.

Jane’s eyes grow wide. “You kissed her?? Oh my gosh! How’d that happen?”

“It honestly just happened,” he laughs. “I could tell that she was thinking about it as much as I was, and I went with my gut, and there we were.”

“Well, gimme the juicy details!”

“It wasn’t that kind of kiss, doe. It was sweet and simple. Gentle, even. She’s got soft lips.”

“When’s the wedding?”

“Get out,” he points towards the door, causing her obnoxious laugh to ring out, yet again.

Bumping into one another in the common area, Isaiah and Mya shyly glance at each other.

“Hey, pretty.” He greets.

“Hey,” she waves, smiling. “How are you?”

“Better, now.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah, you got a way of brightenin’ up the room when you step in.” He admits, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

“You’re a very sweet man.”

“And, you’re a very sweet woman.”

“So,” she begins, tossing her coffee cup in the trash. “I was thinking that I could plan our next date.”

“Yeah?” amusement colors his tone. “What did you have in mind?”

“Well, it’s a surprise—- which is code for, I haven’t figured it all out yet.”

They share a laugh.

“You’re funny.” He compliments.

“I’ve been told.” Their eyes linger on each other, an awkward sway taking over their bones.

“I know this ain’t the most appropriate time… but I feel like kissing you, again.” He admits.

Her palms turn sweaty at his confession. “Well, I can um,” she leans in to kiss his cheek.

“Just cause this ain’t the most appropriate time.” She responds. “Catch me a little later, though.”  A grin takes over his lips.

His brows slightly raise. “A little later, it is.”

Sitting around the round table, a select group of computer techs, including Isaiah and his smitten coworker, sit with Savannah for a meeting.

“Alright, so I’ve brought y’all here, because our annual Creative Edge seminar is coming up and y’all have been invited to attend the Gold Ball!” she excitedly grabs the stack of golden envelopes from her binder.

“What?”

“Really??”

“Thee Gold Ball??”

“Yeah!” Savannah laughs, holding up the envelopes. “I got ‘em all right here!”

“Oh my gosh,” Mya cups her face in shock.

“Hard work does pay off,” Isaiah hums to himself. The creative kid inside of him, jumping for joy.

Everyone opens their official invitation, as Savannah begins to give them the details.

“I’m very proud of you guys. You’ve all worked very hard to get here.” She smiles at the group, while they continue to process the news.

“The seminar is November the fifteenth and the sixteenth, and the Gold Ball is that night. The times are posted on the invitation, as well as the dress code for the ball. Focus on networking and getting your name out there, the rest will fall into place. More importantly, have fun. You guys deserve this.”

“Thank you!” the group graciously responds.

As the meeting ends and the small group files out, Mya stays behind to continue staring at her future in the form of a pretty white and gold letter.

“Wow,” she mumbles to herself.

“You didn’t think you’d get invited, either, huh?” Isaiah heads back to the table.

She briefly looks up at him, before looking back to the letter. “If I’m being honest. Not a chance.” She laughs.

“Why not?” He asks, sitting back down.

“Because.” She sighs. “This ball is for people that do more than just color code a system and make pretty signs.”

“That’s not all you do.” He says.

“And, how do you know that?”

“Because, you’re not the only one that leaves his work up on the computer.” He chuckles.

“Oh… I did?” She asks, embarrassment seeping into her tone.

“You did,” he gives a small smile.

"And your work is amazing, Mya. I feel like you know that, but you second guess yourself.”

“Hmph. I think you’re in the wrong field, ‘saiah. You sound like a therapist.” She cracks.

“I just want you to know that you deserve this. Maybe more than the rest of us.” His eyes wander over her face, a slight somber taking over her eyes as they connect to his.

“Thank you. But, I think that it’s you that deserves this more than the rest of us.” She smiles.

“I appreciate it.” He stands from his seat, once again. “I have to get back to my paperwork, but I’ll see you later, okay?”

She nods, her smile easing him.

“Alright.” Tapping the table, he heads out of the conference room.

Turning her attention back to the letter in her hand, she smiles.

“I deserve this.”

[psicheanima]

i got intrigued by the fact that you did a senior paper on the witches from madoka - can you please tell us some more about that? i love when academic work ties to personal interests.

I can do you one better. You can just read it. Screenshots as it’s from a website. This is the actual final. I can’t include my analysis portion in an image because there’s a ten image limit on mobile. So it’s under the cut. And please be gentle, because I wrote this when I was 18.

Icebox Cake

Icebox Cake is the alternate name for the pastry Charlotte. This is of course a reference to the witch Charlotte, who the poem is about. This story is a direct adaptation of Charlotte’s canon backstory as revealed in the Magia Record Game. Charlotte is the only witch in this collection with a concrete backstory, and the only one who we know the real name of — Nagisa Momoe.

Nivelles Charaxinae

Nivelles Charaxinae is a reference to both this witch’s namesake and her design. The witch this story is about is Gertrud, named after the saint of gardens, Gertrud of Nivelles. Charaxinae is a reference to the type of butterfly that is in Gertrud’s witch form. The names of her roses in her diary entries are names of saints. I wanted to give her roses human names to show they are the true ‘humans’ to her, but also maintain a degree of disconnect. I think like Gertrud’s namesake, saints are the least human human you can be.

In case your words are all that’s left of me…

In case your words are all that’s left of me… is the only poem with a completely made up title. Though I want the ending of what happened to HN Elly, the witch of this story, to be up to reader interpretation, her feelings of having no real presence besides her online one was something I wanted to make very clear, so that’s why I chose this title.

The usernames are all references to songs sung by Marguerite in Faust. Faust is a work with immense impact on Madoka, having numerous references both visually and story wise. Most notably, quotes from it are littered in every witch labyrinth. Keeping with the theme of this poem being the odd one out name wise, HN Elly actually has another name— Kirsten. This is after Dorothy Kirsten, who famously portrayed Marguerite, which is why I paid tribute to her role.

POESIE SCHMECKT GUT

I based most of my references off the real life women the witches are named after. It shows most in POESIE SCHMECKT GUT. The namesake of this story’s witch, Elsa Maria, is Elsa Asenijeff. POESIE SCHMECKT GUT was a publishing firm for one of Elsa’s books. The base storyline is based off of Elsa’s unhappy arranged marriage, and the religious and star theme was already there in Elsa Maria’s labyrinth.

Guernica

This poem is all about visual art from the point of view of a girl who doesn’t really understand it, so I was a perfect person to write this. All the references were surface level, sort of awkwardly shoved in ones to famous pieces and artists. The title is reference to one of Piccaso’s most famous pieces, an extremely meaningful and striking abstract about war. For this witch, who is named Izabel, who does nothing but copy others, I couldn’t think of anything better to name her story, because I knew she herself could never find value in Guernica.

It’s raining again today. How long will I continue to be unlucky for?

There’s not a lot to say about this one, but I think the witch that it’s about, Patricia, would like that. The story is pretty self explanatory, but it’s one of my favorites because of that. The title is reference to a line in her labyrinth.

2 parts Absinthe 1 part Brandy 1/2 part Gin 3 parts Vodka 1 part Crème de Mûres

This witch, Roberta, is pretty special. First off, she’s an adult witch, the only in the series. She’s said to be fond of alcohol, which I tried to portray in the lack of grammar and punctuation, like you’re listening to the incoherent thought stream of the intoxicated. The title is the ingredients to her namesake, the Aunt Roberta cocktail, which is the strongest drink in the world.

Source Title: Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Source Creators: Atsuhiro Shinbo & Gen Urobuchi & Shaft Productions

Year Published/Produced: 2011

Setting: The series mainly takes place in the fictional city of Mikakihara Japan, 2011. The rest of the series takes places in the otherworldly “Labyrinths”, dark mental landscapes based on the inner feelings of the witch they belong to.

Plot Summary: The series follows a middle school girl named Madoka Kaname, who is approached by a creature named Kyuubey to grant her any wish in exchange for becoming a “magical girl” and fighting against witches— supernatural creatures that kill humans. Eventually, it is revealed witches are fallen magical girls who fall into despair and that Kyuubey purposefully creates this magical girl to witch cycle to feed off their sadness, as his species uses said emotion like energy to fight otherworldly creatures far away, to prevent the destruction of the universe.

In the end, Madoka becomes a magical girl to wish for all magical girls to get happy endings— which erases witches from existence, including herself, as all Magical Girls eventually become witches. This creates a paradox through which no one remembers her anymore, except one person, the girl who had wished for her not to live a normal life more than anyone.

Key Character Descriptions

Charlotte— The witch of sweets, it is her nature to be tenacious. Charlotte used to be a ten year old girl named Momoe, who became a witch after falling in despair at the death of her mother.

H.N. Elly— The box witch, it is her nature to be covetous. Her labrynth and cards all imply that she was an internet addicted shut-in turned internet-famous idol, who cracked under the pressure of constant performance.

Elsa Maria— The shadow witch, it is her nature to be self-righteous. Due to her religious imagery, many theorize she was driven to despair after finding out the witches she slayed as a magical girl used to be fellow humans. However, I based my story on her on the life of her namesake, Elsa Asenijeff.

Gertrud— The rose garden witch, it is her nature to be distrustful. Nothing is known about her backstory, so I constructed my adaptation for her based on the info we do know about her, such as the fact that “she holds roses dearer than anything else” and that, “she loathes the thought of humans trampling her labyrinth”.

Patricia— The class representative witch, it is her nature to be an onlooker. It has been said she used to be a normal, serious girl who was overlooked by her classmates. In the show, her wish is for her school life routine to go on forever, which is what I based my adaptation for her on.

Izabel— The artist witch, it is her nature to be vain. In her prior life, she was an artist suffering from a creative block who yearned for others to notice her. It is said that every art piece she produced was something “that you have probably seen somewhere before”.

Roberta— The birdcage witch, it is her nature to rage. Before she became a witch, she was a party girl living a life of surface level relationships, specifically with men, but secretly, she was disgusted by all of them. Her wish was for friends who wouldn’t dislike her.

Cultural Themes

The fear of being alone is a major theme in Madoka Magica, as depicted through the struggles of various characters. Sayaka Miki's desire to win the affections of her crush, Kyousuke, despite his lack of care for her efforts, highlights her fear of being unloved. She becomes obsessed with trying to gain his love, ultimately leading to her downfall.

In a more subtle way, Mami Tomoe's yearning for companionship also highlights the theme of fear of being alone. Despite her cheerful and big sister-like front, Mami is revealed to be deeply lonely and craves companionship. She reaches out to other magical girls in an attempt to alleviate her loneliness, but her efforts are paid in dust.

And of course, the biggest example of this is Homura Akemi's refusal to let Madoka die. Homura goes to great lengths to protect Madoka, trapping herself in a time loop to prevent Madoka from becoming a victim of the magical girl system. Her actions are driven by her fear of losing Madoka and being left alone in a world without her, to the point where she would even let the universe itself be destroyed to save her love.

Through these characters, the series explores the visceral human need for connection, and the disastrous consequences that arise from the lengths we will go to to obtain it.

The central message I want to explore in my adaptation is the prior lives of monsters. Through these stories of monsters before they "became" monsters, I want to delve into the idea of how the creatures of Madoka Magica, framed as so inhumane the literal art style changes for them, used to lead extremely human, flawed lives before the show portrayed them. Using a simple, fairytale-like style of writing and multiple types of writing, like receipts, reviews, and diary entries, I want to portray the mundaneness of their lives, and just how involved in the world they were. That they were real little girls, with real lives that impacted the things around them.

Motifs

The most common motif in Madoka Magica is fairytale motifs, specifically Eastern European fairytales. Witches, little girls tempted by strange creatures, candy houses. One character, Sayaka Miki, even has her entire story based on the little mermaid. She loves a boy, he doesn’t love her, she sacrifices everything for him anyways and then turns into a huge, mermaid monster. I aim to invoke this through my style of writing, taking a simple yet whimsical approach.

Why Madoka?

I like almost everything about this anime. The characters, the love they have for one another, the Czech fairytale-like art style, and that despite the dark themes, the story never supports falling into the darkness yourself. One thing I dislike is that the short 12 episode length, while making the series very “complete” also serves to stunt the potential of a majority of the characters. As the series relies on the connections these characters have, it would have benefited very extremely from a longer run-time to show us the chemistry between the girls and their loved ones, as the lack of screen time can make these deep bonds seem rushed and superficial. I want to try to convey the importance of those deep bonds in my work, but like I said, it’s a matter of time, not passion, so my adaptation can’t fix this issue.

Adding sequels and prequels has, in my opinion, sullied the impact of the original work. Madoka Magica is an intensely popular brand, and thus, is extremely profitable. Making spin-offs for the short series seems obvious from a business point of view. But a majority of these spin-offs are just made simply from this business point of view, and nothing else. One example of this is the most popular spin-off series for Madoka, "Magia Record," which takes place in the same universe with a new, expansive cast of characters. The show feels like a cheap imitation of the original series. Instead of trying to explore new interesting themes or go into depth on the topics brought up in Madoka, it’s just trying to recapture what made it so special without truly understanding why it was so special in the first place.

One of the primary cultural fears explored in Madoka Magica is the fear of death, specifically the death of the ones you love. At the end of the series, it is revealed that Madoka’s aloof best friend, Homura, is actually in love with her and has been stuck in a time loop trying to prevent Madoka’s death, which proves unavoidable. The finale deals with Homura stopping the time loop and accepting her crush’s death, and that the world will move on without her, and so should she. The series tells us death is natural, it happens to all of us, and we cannot stop it. But we can honor the ones we loved and lost and step into the future as they would want.

[letsgetrowdy43]

Heartbreak Hotel—

Quinn Hughes x reader

Warnings: suggestive content (no actual sex) (it's literally only at the end), lmk if there's anything else I need to warn ppl about :)

I live for the angst of it all… I’m also ignoring the 40 requests in my inbox cause I’m lazy so here, to make up for my lack of motivation

Briggs, the Boeser family's two-year-old baby boy bounced on Y/N's knee. Small giggles erupted from him as he played with the sleeve of his favourite aunt's blouse. A smile spread across the woman's face as she placed a kiss on the crown of the baby's head, "so when are you having one of your own?" Charlotte (I did in fact make a fake wife for Brock, so what??) asked with a smug grin as she sipped her coffee.

"We've definitely talked about it," Y/N joked wiggling her eyebrows at Charlotte who let out a laugh, the woman picked up her coffee cup to hide the look of discouragement on her face from her friend.

"Hughes still having intimacy troubles? I thought it would be much easier for him once he married" Y/N's lips formed a straight line as she thought of her husband, "that's definitely not the issue, we decided that we just aren't ready yet" "Ready? Y/N/N, you've been married three years nearly" Y/N looked at her best friend with this knowing look, "I will never understand how your guy's relationship works"

The blonde let out a quiet sigh, "we are just in a strange place right now" she shrugged, bringing her hand up to remove a lock of her hair from baby's hand, "it's not that I'm not ready, I would love to be a mom, but sometimes it feels like he doesn't want to take those next steps" she said with a sad smile.

Quinn's romance and love seemed to be fleeting, his concentration landing more on his life within the hockey world, rather than on his wife. An issue that the two were tip-toeing around, sharing soft kisses and gentle words but only when he was thriving, only when he was accomplishing greatness. If he wasn't blossoming to the level that he felt was acceptable the idea of loving his wife went out the window, and his heart stayed at the rink along with his passion.

As time went on Y/N learned to accept that this was the love that she was going to receive for the rest of her life. She would always fall second to hockey, it was his life and his greatest aspiration, and she could live with that. But sometimes she wished he would just choose her for once.

"That's utter bullshit, he loves you, you know that," Charlotte said with a smile, Y/N just laughed and joked the agonizing conversation away, no longer wanting to speak about it if no one was going to listen to her point of view. "I know he loves me, he married me for a reason" She bitterly smiled and took another sip of her coffee.

"When is Beau supposed to stop in?" "He said he would stop in around noon, so any minute now?" both women stared at the grandfather clock in the corner of the room, eleven fifty-five.

Within a matter of seconds, a man walked through the doors and sat in the seat next to Y/N, taking the baby out of her arms and tucking him into him, "hello little man" he said squeezing Briggs' cheeks. "Look at his little smile," he said in a baby voice as he threw the baby in the air and caught him, just to listen to the little boy's addictive giggles. "You two have that same IQ," Charlotte mumbled with disgust, followed by a smirk gaining a fake scowl from the man, Briggs trying to copy the look plastered on the grown man's face.

"My beloved Y/N, where is your grumpy husband, he hasn't been answering my texts all day, I'm having withdrawals" a fake tone of desperation lacing his voice as he batted his lashes. "Both sets of in-laws are in town for my mom and Jim's birthdays this weekend, so we are hosting dinner tonight at the apartment" The woman stole the toddler right out of Tito's hold, sticking her tongue out at him as the little blondie curled up in her lap.

Her eyes wandered over to the clock again, realizing that it would be best if she left sooner than later in order to help Ellen and her mother with dinner preparations. "Speaking of dinner, I should probably head out" She smiled sweetly and placed the tiny human back into Tito's grasp. "I've barely blessed you with my presence and now you're leaving?" the woman nodded, "fake friend!"

"Bye Beau," she pushed his shoulder, ducking down to place a kiss on the toddler's forehead, "bye-bye Briggs," she waved. "No goodbye kiss for me?" Charlotte asked as the woman got up and off of the couch to place a sloppy kiss on her best friend's cheek,

Finally showing herself out as the calls from her mother already began rolling in on things to grab from the store before making her way home.

⭐︎⭐︎

"Y/N, straighten your back, your posture is horrendous" her mother scoffed from behind her as she helped pull her mother-in-law's fresh-baked apple pie out of the oven. "Sorry Mom," she said just above a whisper, adjusting her stance and placing the hot pie on the marble counter.

Quinn walked into the kitchen in search of a corkscrew, he was dressed nicely. A navy button-up shirt, sleeves rolled up to his elbows leaving his muscular forearms on display.

He was always so carelessly attractive.

His eyes met hers, taking a moment to appreciate her beauty, drinking up her silk-covered silhouette and then flashing her a soft smile. She hated how just the softest looks or gestures could flip her stomach, and wipe her memory of the past few months. Rid him of any blame for why their marriage seemed to be drowning rather than thriving.

"Mom?" he snuck up behind his wife and placed his hands on her hips to kiss her on the cheek, "Dad needs our help in the dining room," and just like that, his warmth was gone.

Quinn was always a gentleman, whether they were in a fight, or hadn't spoken to each other in days he would always greet her with kind words and treat her as if nothing was wrong between them. It was all one big mind-fuck. Although she was starting to believe that he had lost interest in her, he had made that very clear early into their marriage, she would always find things about him that she loved most about him and hold onto those feelings.

It wasn't like that in the beginning though, she didn't always feel the love slipping from between her fingers, it was intertwined in her soul, Quinn's love was her everything. He was gentle and kind, promising her the world. Reminiscing of the life that he had dreamt of with her, but with every seeming day it was as if that dream was washing away.

Y/N couldn't find it in herself to hate him. Even after the long nights of endless fighting, screaming until the only thing she could hear was her heartbeat in her temples. Opting to sleep in the spare bedroom because she couldn't look at him without feeling nauseated. Getting so close to just leaving, walking out the front door and never turning back. But after every heated fight he would come to her at the latest hours of the night and apologize, hot tears streaming down his face as he apologized for raising his voice at her, and she would do the same thing to him.

They were in a constant cycle of tearing each other into pieces and then trying to tape each other back together as if the emotional damage wasn't already in effect.

Dinner started at exactly six sharp, Quinn held Y/N's hand over the table, a small motion that hid their issues with a sweet facade.

"So Quinn, your team is really taking advantage of the playoff push, you guys are killing it" Mr Y/L/N stated, his voice raspy with old age. Quinn's face lit up at the mention of hockey, "The rebuild was really good for us, I'm just hoping to be able to contribute to the push" his wife smiled bitterly, and Ellen sat silently taking in the micro-aggressions that the couple sent each other. "He's so humble," the young woman's mom grinned at her daughter and the rest of the table "You're basically carrying the team love" she smiled sweetly as Quinn denied her claims.

Quinn squeezed Y/N's hand, making her look at him with furrowed brows, "I never got the chance to tell you that you look stunning, that dress is..." And there he was again, making soft comments that rid her of any anger or resentment she was holding against him. "Thank you, you look very handsome as well" she whispered as he leaned forward slightly to place a kiss on her bare shoulder.

The parents sitting around the table completely oblivious to suffering that was silent but present.

"So when are we expecting grandkids?" Ellen said with a grin missing the way that both you and Quinn went rigid in your seats.

There it was, the million-dollar question.

The woman smiled awkwardly and looked up at Quinn as he shrugged, "we're a little young don't you think?" he asked with an unamused expression as he watched his mom shake her head. "I would say twenty-five is a reasonable age" she shrugged and looked over to Y/L/N's mom who nodded in agreeement.

"I mean we are both busy people, and Quinn is always away for work" "You're blaming us not having kids on my lack of presence?" Quinn scoffed and took a sip of his beer. "That's not what I meant, Quinn" She took a deep breath and shook her head, "I just meant that we aren't ready, you've said it yourself it'll happen when the time is right!" she said defensively as she removed her hand from Quinn's and turned her body to face anyone else at the table other than him.

She picked her wine glass up and off the table to finish the remainder in her glass before heading to the kitchen to grab dinner from the oven, her mother-in-law following closely behind.

Ellen walked into the kitchen to see the girl leaning against the counter, her face hidden in her hands as she let the tears flow. "What did my son do now?" the older woman asked gently as she pulled her daughter in-law into her arms.

Ellen Hughes always knew how to fix a situation.

"It's not his fault," she didn't even know how to express their issue in words, sentences getting caught in her throat as she cried into her mother-in-law's arms. Ellen shook her head, "you can't carry all of that baggage sweetheart, let me try to diffuse it" she said dis-attaching herself from the young woman and grabbing a fresh bottle of Pinot Grigio from the wine fridge.

"I'm going to sound so selfish" she mumbled as she pulled the roast out from the oven, "but sometimes I just wish he would pick me, he would choose me over hockey and the team" Ellen's expression softened, "that's not selfish, you just want to be a priority, you already should be his priority," she said quietly pouring herself and her daughter-in-law a glass of wine.

"The same thing happened to Jim and I just after we moved to Toronto, he was so consumed with the Leafs and their development that I carried all of the weight of our family," she said softly, wiping away the girl's tears, "you're not selfish, I just think you need to knock some sense into my son" she smiled, "if you talk, he'll listen, it's one of his greatest attributes" she smiled and grabbed the roast from the counter before heading back into the dining room to serve dinner.

⭐︎⭐︎

Quinn stood behind Y/N in their shared closet, she held hair in her hands as he gracefully unzipped the back of her silk dress. An awkward look on his face as he tried to look anywhere but her almost naked silhouette, ignoring how the fabric pooled at her ankles and left her vulnerable.

"If I say something will you listen to me?" she asked quietly, turning around to see him in nothing but his sweatpants, a sad smile on his face, "I need you to hear me."

She watched as he nodded his head, getting slightly distracted from the way his back muscles flexed as he reached up and grabbed himself a new facecloth. His shoulders were broad and muscular, his face soft. A pair of black wire-framed reading glasses sat perfectly on his nose, his brown slightly out-grown hair messy from running his hands through it. He was so attractive, it almost made her angry how distracted she found herself.

"I want to fix this," he answered shortly with a frown, she slid on a pair of silk pyjama pants, remaining in her bra as he pulled her into his chest, "I love you."

"Do you really though?" she asked tiredly, forehead leaning against his chest as the exhaustion filled her voice. "Of course?" he pulled away, slight panic on his features as he heard the seriousness in her tone. "I feel so unimportant to you lately, I just want to feel like I mean something in your life, like the past six years of my life haven't been wasted on a man who prioritizes everything above me" she confessed.

Quinn opened his mouth to answer but was promptly silenced as she covered his mouth with her hand, "listen," she sighed, her hands now playing with the hair on the back of his neck as she made him look her in the eyes. "I don't think I could tell you the last time that I looked at you and truly felt like you still loved me, you spend all your time with the team, and I'm not mad about that, I'm so proud of all the work you're putting into your dreams," her voice cracked as tears welled in her eyes, "I just want you to make me feel seen, I feel like our dream of a life together is slowly withering away."

Quinn's brows furrowed "I don't underststand," his hands squeezed her torso lightly as he pulled away, "is this because I said I wasn't ready to have kids yet? Cause I know your'e ready, and it seems like everyone around us is ready, I'm just not there yet," a tone that resembled defensiveness laced his voice as he watched the girl wipe her eyes and shake her head. A dry laugh left the girls mouth as she sadly shook her head, "you're missing the whole point Quinn, it's not about wanting kids, I can't remember the last time we talked, or laughed together, or even the last time you genuinely touched me when it wasn't the outcome of a win and a night out with the boys!"

She watched a realization hit him, dawning on him just how much he had been taking her for granted, "I didn't- I don't know?" His face falling as he backed up against the dresser, "I don't know how to make it right" was all he said staring at his wife whose face was puffy and tear covered, wearing an old t-shirt of his and short as she hugged herself.

Y/N knew Quinn wasn't inherently bad, the look of realization on his face showing her that this absence wasn't because he was bored or that he was tired of her, he was lost.

She bent down onto her knees and kneeled in front of him, "I just need you to love me." "I do love you" he reached out and grabbed her hand, "I promise that I've never stopped loving, I never will." "You need to show me that, you need to make it right Quinn, cause I can't stay in a marriage where my husband doesn't acknowledge my existence, and I don't want a life with someone who only needs me around when he's feeling on top of the world" she whispered as she place a kiss to his knuckle.

"I want the good, the bad, and the ugly, and I want it all with you."

He reached forward and wrapped his arms around her to pull her into his frame, "I will make it right," he whispered as he sat her down on his lap, straddling him, his hands finding comfort on the soft flesh of her thighs. "I know you will" she mumbled, feeling like for the first time in a long time he was actually looking at her, actually listening to her every syllable.

His hand travelled up to her hip, nose bumping into hers as he eyed her bottom lip, "can I kiss you?" "Please," she said breathlessly as he swooped in and captured her lips on his, his hands kneading the skin of her thigh as her hands found his jaw line, holding him as close to her as humanly possible.

She pulled away first, her chest heaving, lips swollen as she looked at his hazy expression, "that was a good start," she grinned as he wrapped her body around him, getting up off of the ground and travelling into their room. "My apology hasn't even begun yet" he said smoothly, his lips making their way from her jaw down to her collarbone.

"You do have a lot of apologizing to do" she whispered into his neck as he laid her down on their bed. A small grin on his face as she innocently stared up at him, "don't worry, we have all the time in the world."

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[nicromancytarot]

DESCRIBING YOUR SOUL TRIBE

This is a general channelling based on a collective of people. Take what resonates and leave what doesn’t. If you don’t feel the pile resonates with you, don’t be scared to try another, if it still doesn’t feel right, that’s ok! Maybe our energies aren’t as connected and my readings are not for you.

I do these strictly for fun and educational purposes. I do not charge for these readings, and I do not fake these.

PICK A CARD READING

I asked my spirit guides what your soul tribe is like, pick a picture and find out what they had to say!

Pile 1 ———> Pile 2 ———> Pile 3

PILE 1

You guys are girls girls lmao, even if you do not necessarily identify as a girl, your connection is so deeply rooted in the comfortability, and trust you have for one another. These are the people you will always feel good around when telling them your most vulnerable stories and moments of your life, these are the people who will make you feel heard and seen in more than one way.

Pink can be significant, maybe the things they say make your cheeks blush, or perhaps there is a level of nostalgia in this group. You may already have these friends, or they could even be from your childhood, people who you were friends with in your early childhood, but drifted away from in your later years, perhaps due to parting ways, attending different schools, meeting new people. Even if these people aren’t directly from your past, you will feel as though they were. Sometimes you could even have a situation of “wait, were you there when this happened?” Or “omg, do you remember this?” and it’s years before you guys even met lol.

You’ll feel very much like these people are meant for your life. They may even help with healing childhood trauma, helping you grow into a better person, and I think mainly for your pile, they will help you open up about the stuff that you don’t like talking about.

I feel like you guys share an interest in something or someone, like maybe the majority of your types are the same, or you’re all obsessed over this one celebrity who’s like thirty years your senior. Some of you may even meet this group of people at a concert, perhaps you go alone and then make friends while you’re there.

Names: Sinclair, So/unny, Charlotte, Olive/r/ia, Dalton, Ghost, Gabriella/Gabriel, Florence, Danni/y, Alex/a/is.

PILE 2 18+

Firstly, I can see a common interest between you all, this could be due to the place you meet, or the shared environment you’re in, perhaps even just something that you access through social media. Some of you may find that you meet these people when you’re in trouble for something, like detention at school, or being rushed into your boss’ office for doing something you weren’t supposed to do. There may be couples within this friendship, however the couples might try and be discreet with this, making out when the others are doing something else, sneaking suggestive glances from across the room; it’s forbidden, but all so tempting. You may find that you are the one in a relationship with this, and a number of you could meet your future spouse, or at least a very important partner while in this friendship.

18+ You guys might lowkey switch partners every now and then for some freaky time, like they get with your partner, and you get with theirs while all in the same room. Also friendly foursomes could be a thing for you even if you’re not dating. Perhaps a make out sesh with one or a few of your friends.

You guys are incredibly intelligent, I’m fr getting women in STEM, so you could be doing something like that, you could meet during an important conversation you have with someone. Maybe even a science fair, your friendship revolves a lot around intellectual abilities.

People may look at the group, or you look at it and think that you make no sense together, like some of you come off super cool and extroverted, meanwhile others keep to themself, and appear introverted. However, all while their are many differences, you guys are super alike.

Names: Otis, Shelby, Shiela, Shaun, Andy/rew, Xander, Poppy, Elizabeth, Daniel/Danielle/Daniella, Bea/trice.

PILE 3

You guys are the group who pretend they party, like you and your fated friends go out of your way to make out to the rest of your audience, followers, people that you know, showing them that you can have a good time. This could be an inside joke for you guys. You’re very social media based, you could post them a lot on social media, and they do the same to you. People on the outside will look at this friendship and beg that they one day manage to meet people just like you have.

I did get the word “pot,” so either you guys are flourishing like a flower, or you’re doing pot in your bedrooms discreetly. These friends could be the only ones you feel comfortable enough around to do drugs, or alcohol, as you may worry about how you could act out, and who would be there to support you during a time where you cannot support yourself.

Physically in looks, you guys compliment each other so well, you could have a friend of each hair colour, you could all check out what each person is wearing before you go out, just to ensure that you all look good as a group.

You let them into your sacred spaces, and they let you into theirs. Your friendship, and strength thereof is so prominent, you could say a single word in a fit of rage, and the others would immediately know what to do to deal with, or deescalate the situation. They know you like a book, they analyse all you say; word and vowel.

Some of you, if not all could have some type of matching device, jewellery, something in which you share in common. This could be pictures of you all in a photobooth stuck in the back of your phone case, or a friendship bracelet you all wear, a favourite song that you share, or maybe even a shared and interactive playlist that you all love.

Names: Lola, Tina, James, Shauna/Shona, Timothy, Bianca, Celius/Cecelia, Honey, Finley/Finlay, Kyra/Kira/Kiera/Keira.

[gold-rhine]

seeing youtube videos with clickbait titles like "xilonen is better than kazuha????!!!" with comments going "i skipped kazuha bc i heard xilonen is powercreeping him" is sending me into bloodrage, so, for anyone confused: CW LEAKS

kazuha and xilonen will have SAME buffs and res shreds (with their artifact sets), but xilonen's will last 15 sec instead of 10 and will be applied to new enemies without her having to appear on field to refresh buffs. she can also heal on a team with at least two pyro, electro, cryo or hydro characters.

you know what she can't do? and whats most important part of kazuha's kit, even over his buffs? GROUPING!! best and most precise grouping in the game on 6 sec cooldown. good luck running between 10 small enemies, you will that extended 15 sec without grouping

second, kazuha's burst has element absorption and can apply whatever element you need, while also doing a lot of damage. like in aggravate teams or melt he can be doing insane amounts of dmg, bc these reactions scale on EM and his burst does a lot of hits.

tldr, in teams scaling on EM or that want element application and in situations with groups of enemies, kazuha is still untouchable.

where xilonen comes in then? xilonen is set up for teams where kazuha is not played very much already, like in teams with 2 element dps where its hard to swirl both. as a healer, she can also enable furina for these teams while keeping kazuha-level buffs, so she's in fact competing with jean and baizhu here, not kazuha. for example, hu tao double hydro where no one except sweatiest tryhards used anemo anyway, and where you had to basically waste a slot on baizhu or jean or charlotte if you wanted furina bc they didnt do anything except enable her. now you can use xilonen here and get a lot of buffs in addition to healing. xilonen doesn't buff dendro, so baizhu is still best in dendro teams, which he was clearly intended for and has buffs in his kit.

another xilonen plus is that her buffs last 15 sec and dont need to be refreshed for new wave of enemies, so its great for dps who can't swap without losing infusion.

xilonen is also competing with zhongli, bc she gives dmg buffs in addition to res shred, so again, in hu tao double hydro where zhongli was usually used as last slot, xilonen will do more. one thing zhongli has is interruption resist vis shield and thats always going to be valuable for casual or mobile players, but tbh i personally rarely play zhongli anymore, except with arle bc she gets fucking squashed like a fly.

kazuha and xilonen can also be used together, for example, neuvi furina kazuha xilonen is now calculated to be neiuvi's best team, where previously zhongli was used instead of xilonen just for res shred.

tldr 2; kazuha and xilonen are made for different niches. kazuha is a must pull as long as grouping is relevant in genshin, which is ALWAYS. xilonen is filling the niche where kazuha was already rarely used bc of how hard it was to do it, and also filling the premium furina healer niche for non-dendro and non-anemo teams.

[shadebloopnik]

"There's something else here, I just know it!"

Charlie clutches at her hair, frustration dripping as she stares down the two men before her. The others stand by the bar behind her, waiting to see how this interaction goes down. Vaggie stands by her side, her rock amidst the chaos, because she's just about had it with the two. They've met for barely a week, and yet they acted like they hated each other for decades. Each interaction conveyed a message laced with a bitter venom she could not understand, and she's just SO TIRED of all the secrets, especially ones that threatened to wreck the hotel every few hours!

"So what is it?! Why do you two hate each other so much??? You act like you've known each other for centuries and Im DONE with being kept in the dark!"

Her horns protrude, flames flaring from her hair as she levels the two with a glare. The demonic form has her girlfriend clutching tighter at her arm, and her friends backing up behind the bar.

The objects of her current irritation deflated a bit at her anger, though not without sneaking hate filled gazes at the other.

"Its nothing, Charl-"

"NO.", her voice reverberated across the walls. "Dad, I would normally not interfere with anyone's past, but not if that past hurts the hotel, hurts my people. Angel could have gotten so much more than a broken leg if I didn't step in."

Said spider flinches imperceptibly at the mention of his name. Even when he wasn't the one being scolded, Charlie could be terrifying when she wanted to be.

"You two have a past. What. Is. It."

Lucifer, for the first time since this started, visibly lost his composure, seeming at a lost for words.

"I- we.. W-we were-"

"Lovers..."

Silence, as everyone turned their gazes to the Radio Demon.

They...had to have misheard? Right?

But Alastor continued, turning his head away, smile and eyes unreadable.

"We were lovers."

Lucifer winces ever so slightly at the past tense, hurt(and guilt?) filling his eyes, before an irritated huff breaks out of his lips.

"I already told you, I-"

"It doesn't matter."

"It DOES! If you would just let me-!"

"It was all in the past, it matters not anymore, nor will it ever matter again. Apologies for the undesirable behavior, dear Charlotte, i'll try to keep damages to a minimum for the foreseeable future."

"Wait, Alastor-!"

But Alastor had already melted to the shadows, the King's black tipped claws clutching at thin air where he'd stood. His hands shook, closing into a fist as he tried to even his breathing. A frustrated sigh escaped his lips, dragging a hand down his face. Without another word, he too vanished in a swirl of red, leaving the residents of the hotel gaping at their absence.

Charlie- whose demon form long receded- stood processing what just happened. A hand made it way to her mouth, as she leaned into her girlfriend for support.

This...wasn't what she expected.

Its like she could start to see now; all the hurt buried behind each venomous gaze, all the regret laced with each bitter word. Something was broken, and they kept cutting themselves as they wielded each shard as its deadly weapon.

Oh hells, how was she supposed to fix this??

".......this is so worth getting my leg broken."

Husk turned a baleful, yet fond glare at the spider demon who chose to 'very subtly' break the silence that enveloped the room.

"What???? I live for the drama, sue me!"

[rey-jake-therapist]

I didnt realize Payne clarified that Sauron wanted Galadriel to be *his* queen. I've seen some antis insist that he wasn't attracted to her in the least so he meant to say 'I can make you A queen, but not MY queen'.

And they were also going on how there's a hierarchy in the film industry, in which certain positions hold more narrative and directional authority despite what actors and lower level exec's say. That's why they kept using this hierarchy that Payne and McKay override Charlotte's words about haladriel. But if we go by the Anti's information, then that confirms that Sauron did want Galadriel as HIS QUEEN (love or not), since its stated exactly that way by Payne himself. If not, then why didn't he say 'A queen with me', or 'A queen by my side', instead? There are other ways he could've phrased. Even if you say that he used 'basically', that still doesn't change the fact that Payne made it clear that Sauron wanted Galadriel to rule WITH him, not by some corner of ME (I know we're kind of ignoring Gal atm to dissect the wording but I see them as fictional characters not real people lol). It also kind of overrides some of Charlie's earlier remarks where he denies or subverts Sauron's intention regarding making her queen. But it echoes back to what you said though, that things change over time.

And just to make it clear, we don't need to necessarily obey what showrunners/actors have said and treat it like it's a hard rule for how we interpret these characters. This is just an interesting piece of info I think should be pointed out. Especially since haters will find anything to try to minimize and invalidate haladriel. I feel very sad (for them lol).

Well, I'll answer that by saying that first, I don't think that I can do that ignoring Gal's response, simply because what she answered is important to understand why Sauron didn't say "my" queen, imho.

I think we can't leave Galadriel outside of the loop here, because the phrasing used by Sauron is directly connected to the way she herself used. She said, "you would make me A tyrant", to which he naturally answers, "I would make you A queen". Then she's the one using the "MY" : "And you. MY king".

What I think, it's that the writers wanted to highlight the fact that them being together as king and queen/husband and wife was her idea as much as his. I think it's important for the interpretation of that scene, for the audience to realize that Galadriel wanted this.

Let's say Sauron had said, "I would make you MY queen", and she had answered, "And you would be the king" : it would have sounded like something that was forced on her : she would have been his wife in this scenario, wether she wanted it or not. It would have given "forced marriage" vibes, and would have deprived Galadriel of her agency. And believe me : if the antis are now using this scene against shippers because Sauron didn't say "my queen", you can be sure that they would have weaponized this scene even more if they could have interpreted it that way.

With Galadriel being the one who says, "And you. My king", it says that she was seeing herself ruling with him, as queen and king and as husband and wife. Notice that he didn't correct her, as it was probably what he wanted to hear.

It also kind of overrides some of Charlie's earlier remarks where he denies or subverts Sauron's intention regarding making her queen.

I mean, I don't know if it overrides it. Charlie first denied that it was a marriage proposal, but later admitted that this was "de facto" exactly that.

"Sauron, meanwhile, won’t make the mistake of connecting with someone ever again, not after Galadriel’s rejection of his de facto “marriage proposal,” as Vickers describes it, at the end of Season 1. “He’s moved on to bigger and better things” since, Vickers argues, but try as they might, there’s no denying their entwined fates.  "Galadriel and Sauron share the deepest connection to another being either of them has ever experienced, a fact that haunts them both in the new episodes. What they share “is greater than romance,” Vickers explains. “Their connection runs far deeper than anything surface level.”

Source

Now if you refer to the fact that Charlie claimed several times that if Galadriel had accepted his offer, she would have been nothing more than his secretary, another shiny ring at his hand, I also don't think that it contradicts the idea that he wanted her to be at his side as a queen. I often read that Charlie's wrong, because Sauron is a Maiar who was created to follow and serve. So by this logic, he wanted to worship Galadriel like he worshipped Morgoth.

I think it's true, for most of it, and we saw it during all season 1 : who called all the shots ? Galadriel did. Who followed her despite his initial refusal ? Sauron. She wanted him to be a king ? He made himself a king. She wanted him to go rescue the Southlands with her ? He went with her, even if first, he didn't want to ! The fact that it was in his personal interest to do that is besides the point : at no moment did he try to force her into doing anything. It's not in his nature, and being in his repetant era then, Sauron was more inclined to listen to his nature than we saw him be in season 2. In season 1, Sauron was the happiest we saw of him so far, especially when he was at the forge, doing what he was created for, but also when he followed Galadriel on the battlefield :

I mean, words have their importance especially when it comes to Sauron, who never chooses his words randomly :

She "pushed" him. He described here exactly what a leader does. After Morgoth's defeat, he found himself leaderless, and he was lost because due to his nature, what he really wants/needs is someone who takes the lead. In Galadriel, he recognized someone who had the potential to do just that. In season 2, we saw him in a position of leadership, manipulating everybody like a puppet to make them do everything he wanted, yada yada. And yet, that was his face for 99% of the season :

He seemed as alive as a dead fish.

Now, where my opinion often diverges from what seems to be this most popular opinion, is that I believe Charlie's nevertheless right regarding the turn their partnership as king and queen would have taken, had Galadriel accepted. Thousands of years ago, Mairon was corrupted by Morgoth, and as time passed, I think he developed a desire to overrule Morgoth, because that's what this kind of corruption does : it gives an hunger for power, even to beings who are not originally meant to want it. As Sauron, he was given an incommensurable power over others, and he enjoyed it. He always followed Morgoth and never betrayed him (probably because he had sworn a blood oath to him, preventing him to take any action against him), but he grew extremely frustrated of his methods, as he had a different vision.

And of course he did, because destroying was, again, not what he was created for. What Morgoth did, and asked him to do, went against his nature. As apprentice of Aulë, he became skilled at crafting and making things. When Celebrimbor told him his only craft was treachery, it must have hit HARD, because it wasn't always the case.

(Aside note : I was a bit annoyed that Celebrimbor was the one who got to hit Sauron where it hurt the most, while Galadriel only got a pathetic "heal yourself" that couldn't mean anything to him because they never had any conversation about his corruption by Melkor).

He started dreaming of the idea that if Morgoth was ever to disappear, he would take his place and rule in his stead, and that's exactly what he tried to do once Morgoth was defeated :

As we saw, it didn't turn out very well. Why ? I think, because Sauron wasn't Morgoth, he wasn't a born dictator, and he didn't manage to inspire enough fear of him to Adar and the Orcs, only resentment, so when he tried to put Morgoth's crown on his head, they betrayed him.

(idk but maybe looking like a twink didn't help. Just sayin')

But it doesn't mean that Sauron gave up on his dream of ruling, though. So I think that when he decided that he wanted Galadriel to be his queen, he was probably torn between what his nature dictated him to do (giving her all the power she needed to have to be THE queen of Middle-Earth, while he would get the follower's role he had beside Morgoth back), and the ambitions he nourished of ruling Middle-Earth himself, leaving only crumbs to Galadriel like Morgoth did to him. Even in this scenario, he would have shared his power with her, but not enough to take the reigns of the kingdom.

We can't know what would have happened, we can only speculate, but I tend to side with Charlie on this one because at the beginning, there's a clear power imbalance between them : Sauron is a powerful Maiar, a demigod, and Galadriel is just an Elf. For her to become as powerful as him and be his equal, would have required him to willingly share the entirety of his power with her. Would have he done that, while he had all these ideas about healing Middle-Earth and believed he and only he knew exactly how to do it... ?

I mean, the only thing we can be sure of, it is that it was his intention to give her plenty of power. He wanted everybody not to just respect her, but to worship her like a goddess. It's the extent of this power that we don't know about. And did he want to be worshipped too ? I'd say, probably yes, personally.

Sorry anon, I didn't start answering this ask planning to write a dissertation... I guess I can't help myself, when it comes to Sauron. He's just that interesting !