#He's only ever drawn to the concept of gardening being a Thing He can Do because it was originally one of Cecil's things.....

[miisfits-toys]

A little vignette of a "current times" Cecil and Emil, engaging in their usual Let's Get Into A Feedback Loop/Tangent Indefinitely Over Subject

[thrashkink-coven]

I saw someone make a post a little bit ago about kids leaving fandom spaces and entering into religious/ devotional spaces with the same attitudes. The kids who think you can disrespect a God like Zeus because he’s problematic in some of his myths. I couldn’t agree more.

and i got to talking to Lucifer about it because I was chatting with someone who came from the Hazbin Hotel fandom (I’ve only ever seen the pilot). Lol

They were talking about giving Lucifer ducks and I was like ??? ducks? does Lucifer have a thing with ducks??? I had no idea???? Which grimoire does that come from ?

And then I go to try and research it and I’m like oh? lmfao okay. Not my Lucifer.

When I asked him, his attitude was very 🤷‍♂️

he said something along the lines of:

“whenever a person makes an attempt to contact a deity for the first time, always, their expectations and understandings are projected onto the spirit. This applies to you too. I appear to you in the way that makes the most sense to your brain and senses. But through this form, I still communicate the truth to you. I appear to you as an older man, older and wiser than you, because that’s how your brain rationalizes my ancient nature. My eyes are the color of the hottest shade of fire because that’s how your brain understands my energy. My hair is an inky black void or blonde strands of light. A morning or evening star. My voice is gentle, my hands are delicate because I embrace you tenderly. You think my light is beautiful, so I appear to you as a beautiful man. I appear to you as a planet because that’s how your brain rationalizes how much larger I am than you.

The funny thing about these people, usually children, is that there’s very little room for me to shine through because that “Lucifer” is a very large character. He’s zainy, he’s entertaining, of course. He’s a cartoon character. They aren’t interested in me or my gnosis, they’re interested in that character. Which is fine, it doesn’t bother me. I like when my name is used in art. Better to have my name said than forgotten. It happens often. Recently, they made a tv show under my name, so those people expected me to be British and cocky. They put Lord Paimon in a horror movie. He had edgy teens contacting him for months.

(he seemed to find that very funny)

Those who are genuinely willing and ready to walk the path will find us regardless of what face or appearance we use or how we are introduced. Most of these people are not occultists. They don’t wish to do the Great Work or know me as a God, so they don’t. In these cases, these people are irrelevant to me.”

so you’re okay with oblivious kids offering you ducks to invoke a cartoon character?

He found that funny too.

“Lucifer has been so many things in so many stories. Some of these portrayals are closer or further from the truth, but they are all caricatures. None of them are truly me. I may use a form that is familiar to someone who is contacting me for the first time. Maybe I’ll be the Lucifer from Hazbin Hotel to make them feel more comfortable. But when the practitioner wishes to know me, the “character” is shed in favour of a truer connection. When we first met I came to you as a light, as an enchanted garden, a serpent, a crow. You did not seek me as a character, you sought me as a concept, Enlightenment. I could take any form, either beautiful or terrible, and you would accept me. You would find value in it. I am not your favourite character, I am your favourite God. These so called “oblivious kids” aren’t offering me anything. They don’t know me, so their actions do not mean anything to me, neither positive or negative. I will always be happy to see people engaging with art, being inspired and understood by it. My name being used in media only presents more opportunities for more people to find me. If people feel drawn to that character, then that is good… that’s fine. But you know that I am so much more than just a character.”

you don’t find it disrespectful at all?

He laughed at that as well.

“I must be among the most disrespected spirits to have ever had his name known by man. I’ve had my name cursed and banished, I’ve been hated, cast away, bastardized and demonized. These people, just enjoying their characters and media, are the very least of my concerns.”

Fair enough.

[strangestcase]

Tell me about your ghosts?

cracks knuckles and grins evilly

Here the ghosts are... not really the people they used to be. They're basically like the leftover stains of the people they were before they died; being a consciousness without a human brain left to its own devices for eternity will do that to you.

Ghosts don't have bodies- or actually they do, but they're confined to the weird ercheresque topsy-turvy "dimension" misplaced souls end up at. These bodies don't follow human anatomy or physiology, and can only interact with physical objects in very specific circumstances

Usually ghosts have a Pathos (a reason they can't move on) and an Anchor (something, like a place, an object, or a concept that allows them to interact with the physical world), but not always.

Some of my 13 ghosts are based off famous ghosts from around the world, and some are original-ish.

Speed Demon- a drag racer who took their daredevil tendencies to the grave after dying in a fatal crash. They challenge living speedsters to a race, promising them great things- before revealing their ghostly nature. These unfortunate souls rarely survive, and their deaths fuel their hot rod.  

Video Nasty- a mad programmer who, obsessed with creating the perfect game, killed themselves with pills. He haunts this last game of his. Some players dismiss it as buggy, but others, curious, investigate and find a glitched out side quest that saps their sanity and eventually drives them to destruction. 

Handsome Gentleman- a model who killed the artist who painted him, and then himself. The painting is now haunted by his ghost. It will subtly move when you aren’t looking, the garden behind him might change, and some even say that it becomes a monstrous portrait when the ghost is mad. 

Unlucky Joe- a clumsy construction worker that died in a preventable accident, now an invisible wandering ghost that brings bad luck and increasingly dangerous accidents wherever he goes. He only actively haunts someone if they first blame their own clumsiness on his presence. Nobody will believe them if that ever happens.

Bloody Vanity- a vain noblewoman who was killed by an angry mob. She hasn’t forgotten her vanity, and haunts mirrors. Your reflection might move on its own, or even reach out to strangle you with a wicked grin. If she thinks you’re prettier than her, she emerges from the mirror, caked in blood. 

Cuddle Bug- a serial killer who was gunned down by police. Now a ghost, she tries to circumvent her new existence to find and murder more victims. She has possessed a porcelain doll, and anybody who is near it will be drawn to it. The doll moves on its own when you aren’t looking and is said to talk.

Grave Mistake- a grave robber that got too greedy and begun killing to make up for a lack of fresh bodies. For their crimes they were executed and then, parts of their body were turned into various objects. If any of them comes into your possession, they will take the equivalent part of yours to make up for it. 

Masked Maw- a woman that was mutilated and killed by her jealous husband and now wanders the streets, covering her disfigured face-turned-monstrous maws with a mask. Every now and then she will take it off. If you ever comment on it, she’ll make your face like hers with a pair of scissors, cursing you forever. 

Bog Snatcher- a biologist that drowned in the bog she was studying. Her body and mind became one with it. Her obsession with keeping it alive has taken her to lure people deep into the bog, where they get irreparably lost. She can haunt any body of water as long as it’s surrounded by plants. 

Doctor Grime- a quack that died due to their own faulty treatments. They appear to be a person in a historically inaccurate plague doctor costume, but the mask is part of their body, and they’re really a slender bird-like monster. It causes people to fall ill with some mysterious, unspecified weird disease. 

Requiem Peace- a pianist who perished of a heart attack while he played. He plays the piano, but remains invisible. His beautiful music imbues people with sadness, but he is full of rage and will cause a powerful supernatural storm indoors if interrupted, wrecking the house with wind and rain. 

Party Goer- a bon-vivant yuppie who died in their sleep after a wild party. They have long forgotten their human life, and look like a children’s book illustration come to life. They possess living humans, who slowly begin to resemble the ghost in body and mind, a giggly trickster always chasing new highs. 

Hook Sinker- a mysterious sea apparition that resembles a corpse with hooks for hands. It appears only on boats, and it slaughters the crew one by one. There never are witnesses. Once the whole crew is dead, the boat sinks to the depths of the ocean. It can be staved off if you sacrifice one hand to it. 

One is based off a certain literary character <3 tee hee hee

[morningstar-chronicles]

hii! i’m p ♎️, could i pls know how s.b ♋️ feels ab me romantically? tysm 🫶🫶

HELLO deeply sorry this took me like sixty thousand days to answer! i'm here!!

so, here was your spread:

is the number 7 by chance important to you? like a birthday or something? i was specifically getting the number 7 pointed out to me and the cards wanted 7 cards drawn (i was only intending to draw 5). the seven of swords was also drawn (albeit in reverse) so it just felt like something i should mention.

also. um. heads up? this reading is probably not going to be what you want to hear, so uh... make sure your ready for it if you end up reading it. i've enclosed my interpretation below the read more in case you decide you don't actually want to see it.

here are your cards from left to right:

tarot

wheel of fortune

3 of cups

page of swords in reverse

death

7 of swords in reverse

high priestess in reverse

3 of swords

oracle

queen of hearts

spirit essence

garden of eden

wheel of fortune

this card is about a change for the better. the wheel of fortune reminds us that sometimes things are left up to fate and are out of our hands, but that this is not always a bad thing. in context, this could mean that this person has developed feelings for you, or their opinion if you has somehow changed for the better. after interpreting the whole spread, i think maybe this is more symbolic of a past event, like this card is meant to represent the moment that either you developed feelings for this person, or this person developed feelings for you.

three of cups

this card symbolizes togetherness, committment, and abundance. this could be a prediction into the future for you two, or this could be symbolic of one or both of you daydreaming about the idea of marriage, kids, pets (i'm seeing specifically a calico cat for some reason? do you or your person really like cats lmao?), etc. either way, this card represents a happily ever after, whether that is real or imagined. after reading the rest of the pile, i'm going to assume imagined (you'll see what i mean in a bit).

page of swords (reversed)

hm. okay. going downhill here. the page of swords in reverse talks about gossip, haste, and personal insecurity. one or both of you has a need for validation that is not being met, whether that's within the relationship you have with each other, or outside of it. i'm getting the feeling that maybe your friends don't like this person, or maybe their friends don't like you, or maybe the friends just specifically don't like the idea of you two together. i feel like i'm getting the feeling it's more your friends who are saying they don't like your person, and that your person maybe hasn't brought it up with their friends that you've caught their eye. i think you both are being a bit too dependent on outside sources for validation in your feelings for each other, particularly on friends.

death

good news is that in all likelihood, no one is going to literally die. this card scares a lot of people, but it's not meant to represent actual human death, but more death as a concept. this card represents a loss or an end of some kind. to me, this means that either you or he is going to move on from this connection very shortly, or maybe that you already have.

seven of swords (reversed)

in reverse, the seven of swords represents abandonment or running away. it can also represent coming back after an abandonment of some kind, but in context with the rest of the reading, i'm leaning towards the former. i'm going to guess that someone got flightly or intimidated and walked away (or has yet to walk away) from this connection. there is an imbalance of energy in here somewhere that needs to be filled, either on your end or theirs, and it's going to be met with some kind of temporary but unstable fix. i'm not sure whether this is something that will occur before a relationship can form between you, or an issue that comes from the lack of romantic relationship between you two, but it seems like things are kind of going awry.

high priestess (reversed)

in context, this card is both good and bad. someone's intuition is awakening, but not in a way that will be positive for the relationship. it is my interpretation that this is what causes this romantic connection to end. it seems almost like it's an instantaneous thing where either you or them suddenly realizes that maybe this isn't really what they want, or at least not right now. i'm getting that maybe they do like you, but they're more in love with the idea of you than you as a person, but it is also possible that this is applicable to you and not your person.

three of swords

babes. i am so sorry. i literally could not make this up, but this is a card of, and i quote (from my tarot guide) "heartbreak", "war", and "pain". this could stem from a sudden abandonment, rejection, or some other form of heartache, but the gist of it is pretty negative. on the bright side, this is going to be a main character moment for you. take some time to focus on healing and self-improvement for future prospects and relationships, and everything will work out exactly as it was meant to.

queen of hearts

okay this is straight up a warning about your person. the cards are telling me that your higher self absolutely does not want a connection with this person, and that it's time to step away. it may seem like what you want in the moment, but i can assure you that if you were to pursue a relationship with this person, the outcome would not be as you expect.

spirit essence

this card tells you to "be fair in your self-judgement". what i'm getting is that perhaps you are subconsciously settling for this person because you don't believe that anything better will come around. but i can promise you from the bottom of my heart that better days are on the horizon ml 🩷

garden of eden

finally, this card encourages self-love, nourishment, and care. it is time for you to focus on finding yourself and giving yourself love. do the things you enjoy and continue to move forward on your spiritual journey.

thank you so much for requesting a reading, bby. i'm sorry if it wasn't exactly what you wanted to hear, but i always try not to lie to people in readings, and i give it to you as straight as possible. i am still just starting out with divination as a whole, so please forgive any possible inaccuracies. thanks again, and i hope you find what's best for you in this seemingly trying situation 🩷🌸🌺

[translationandbetrayals]

The Secret World of Arrietty: A Lesson in Beauty and Human Awareness

Today, I spent an afternoon in the midst of a story with tiny beings, a child with a heart condition, the precious details of a cottage in the countryside, and the extraordinary tenderness with which Ghibli usually seals its works. I'm referring to "The Secret World of Arrietty", a movie based on the beloved classic "The Borrowers” by Mary Norton, which narrates the story of Arrietty, a fourteen-year-old teenager who lives with her parents beneath a cottage in the countryside.

    Arrietty, like her parents, measures approximately 10 centimeters. They hide carefully from human eyes because it is implicitly expressed that sometimes, out of curiosity, humans can be very destructive, like a child who finds an ant nest and tries to flush them out with a lot of water.

Our protagonist spends her days peacefully. Sometimes, she steals leaves from the huge garden to decorate her room and stock her mother's kitchen. However, something excites her deeply: she will finally make her first borrowing. But what is a borrowing? Well, it means she will enter the human house to take provisions like sugar, handkerchiefs, napkins, or even a small needle lying around, which in her hands can become a sharp sword.

The day of her borrowing coincides with the arrival of another teenager at the big house. His name is Sho, and he visits the house because he needs to rest for his upcoming heart surgery.

    As soon as the movie begins, it is indisputable how impeccable and full of beauty each drawn scene is. You can pause the feature film at any second, and you will find beautiful compositions. In each scene, you can see how beautiful the aesthetic details of such common things as furniture or a cup can be. This is probably due to Hayao Miyazaki's very humanistic approach to valuing the smallest details of life.

It is argued that the protagonists of Miyazaki's films are often described by him as "heroines capable of fighting, who do not require a protector but an ally". On one hand, our protagonist, as always, possesses the strengths that Miyazaki typically grants to his heroines: in this case, she is a teenager who wants to explore the world and understands that there are many things outside that she has not seen, and they are (literally) gigantic. On the other hand, her ally is a teenager with a delicate health condition who only wants to protect her to the best of his abilities, expressing a vulnerability that makes him stronger than ever.

The conversations that Sho and Arrietty have in the meadow about the survival of species and evolution are moving, while also serving as a clear reprimand to us as a species. This is because humans tend to abuse their position of power in the world, often ignoring harmonious coexistence with other creatures. Examples of this include the scene where Arrietty's mother is cruelly trapped in a glass jar out of sheer curiosity and the scenes where the elderly woman in charge of the human house only seeks to satisfy her desire to be right about the existence of the "Borrowers," without considering that they are living beings who can be harmed. In this sense, humanity is depicted as inhumane.

It is precisely this particular concept of the "tiny" that fascinates me most about this film. It's not that we receive "enormous" messages of protection for the various beings we coexist with in the world, but these messages are conveyed through small details that, when noticed, leave you thinking about how much we have to progress as a society and as humanity.

For this reason, whenever I watch a Ghibli film, I am always amazed because the narrative it employs efficiently combines "children's tales" and "adult issues," highlighting the meaning of humanity. Each character is memorable as they go through various struggles that result in personal growth, struggles closely related to social situations such as armed conflicts, environmental destruction, old age, beauty, freedom, and many others.

Paullette Pomar Torres

[ddarker-dreams]

yandere. feitan.😳 HWR. reader.😳CHROLLO. what a sexy dynamic. those are my two fav phantom troupe members, and to have a darling that’s on par w them is such an interesting twist. what do you think fietan is like in regards to sharing? do you think they actually could “punish” darling for things she does that they don’t like, i.e escaping, etc. what a cool concept!!! declawed took my BREATHE away!! ty!!🤍🤍

i couldn't humanly find a way to make a short answer to this, so i decided to split it into headcanons JGKEMR thank you so much for your interest in the story and it's dynamic, i cannot tell you how much joy it brings to me wrote for <3333

(for anyone curious, the story in question that this expands on is here! warnings for yandere themes, unhealthy relationships, and mild not sfw implications)

Chrollo

Chrollo is almost infuriating in a way, since he acts like nothing is wrong. He speaks to you as he used to, casual as ever, as if you weren’t a prisoner with him as your warden. This isn’t intended to be insulting, he genuinely thinks you’ll adjust to your new situation better this way. While he does find it regrettable, there’s no remorse on his part. He believes if you simply acted in accordance to his wishes, nothing dramatic would’ve been necessary. You forced his hand, is all. It’s a shame, truly, but that’s it all is. A shame. He intends to make the most out of it, regardless. 

The biggest punishment is being in Chrollo’s presence honestly. When you’re mentally worn out, sometimes it does almost feel tempting to play pretend for a brief respite. Act as if everything was normal, your relationship was loving and healthy like it used to be; except it isn’t. You curse yourself whenever you think you’re growing complacent. Hatred is a tiring emotion to maintain, you find. Draining in its very nature. He’s worse than the serpent in the garden, whispering sweet yet hollow promises of what could be if you only gave in. It could be like it used to be, he’ll say. You were happy then, he’ll remind you. And I can make you happy still, should you allow me, dearest. 

Yes, being with Chrollo is a punishment. Because if you’re not careful, you start to believe what he wants is what you want too.

Feitan

There’s a great deal about you that makes him curious. The unique properties of your blood, for instance — Corruption, he thinks he’s heard it called in the common tongue. Unlike Chrollo, who looks at things from a more antiquarian perspective, Feitan fancies himself a simple man. He wonders if it influences your sense of touch. Specifically, your pain and pleasure. Feitan finds it thrilling that he can’t let his guard down too much in your presence. At the same time, it’s amusing to taunt you by pretending to lower his guard. Rarely do you fall for such simple traps, but seeing the frustration you work so hard to hide on your otherwise indifferent features really gets him going. 

As for punishments, his preference errs toward psychological. He’ll take away one of your senses — sight, normally — leaving you in a more helpless state which he admires from afar. Over the course of hours, even days, he’ll attempt to whittle you down. He enjoys running his cold fingers over the expanse of your exposed skin, though he’s most drawn to the muscles on your back. Watching them flex and contract beneath your skin is fascinating. He lives for the power rush it gives him. He can never leave you blindfolded for long, though, it becomes more of a punishment for himself. Your eyes are his favorite feature. While you maintain respectable control over your body language and voice, your eyes aren’t as eager to obey. They betray your inner resentment and he basks in it as if it were ambrosia. 

[dixbolik-lovers]

in the age au, after regressing for the first time and remembering some stuff they did like try to cuddle and cling, how long do you think it would take some of them to be able to talk to you properly again? and this is just for anyone, be it the sakamakis or the mukamis or even karlheinz and richter. your choice

Mmmm.... I really want to answer this for everyone, but tumblr tag limits suck. >.> I guess I'll just go for it and not put it any particular character tags.....

. . .

Shuu — Yeah, he's ignoring you for a while. He won't avoid you (that would show that he cares), but every time you're nearby, his music is up as loud as he can stand it and/or he's so "asleep" that nothing will make him budge, all while desperately hoping you'll leave him alone. Unfortunately, blocking out his problems will only work for so long.

Reiji — His pride means he can't change his behavior to avoid you, but Reiji is going to be noticeably tense around you for the foreseeable future. The other stress factors in his life determine the exact amount of time until he breaks, but before that point, he's just taking out his shame on you and being a jerk out of spite.

Ayato — He's an absolute child about it. He's grouchy, pouty, and mad, but instead of keeping his distance, Ayato winds up drawn to you in a way that's almost self-destructive. He wants your attention so badly, but with his pride in the way, that manifests as playground bully-like attempts to get a rise out of you that he'll never admit to.

Kanato — He can't decide if he wants to strangle you with his bare hands and burn the corpse, or never leave your side again. The regression scrambled him up bad. He can't make himself avoid you, but every time you interact, his emotional control is at an all-time low. Tantrums, tears, and threats are the only defenses he has.

Laito — His options are "try to make it a horny thing" and "never let himself be that vulnerable again", and neither one is great for his sanity. Laito's first instinct is to forcefully turn the regression into something sexual and safe, but the idea of it is almost unbearable. It's a fifty-fifty chance of which unwise coping strategy will win.

Subaru — He's drowning in his shame so badly, even his brothers won't see him out of his room for at least a week. Probably more. Subaru can't so much as look at you without getting agitated after that. Household destruction rates skyrocket, his temper is shorter than ever, and the intensity of his response just humiliates him more.

Kino — Regardless of how upset he is, Kino can't make himself stay away from you. He's notably more flustered and irritable than usual, and he almost seems clingy now. It'll appear that he bounces back to normal within a few days, but that's more of an attempt to convince himself he's unaffected than a reflection of his actual feelings.

Ruki — At this level of disgusted with himself, Ruki is seriously considering if he can dispose of you and cut the problem off before it can do any more damage to his pride. Outwardly, he can face you just fine, but on the inside, he's miserable. It's starting to seem like he can't get his advantage over you back no matter what he does.

Kou — He'll spend a week or so finding many convenient reasons to never be in the same place as you, but after that, it seems like nothing's changed at all. The reality is that Kou is a very good actor, and he's bottling up all kinds of frantic, panicky feelings— feelings that he's trying very hard to deny are only getting worse over time.

Yuuma — After a few days of angrily working his garden and getting his feelings out, Yuuma more or less goes back to normal. He's still all kinds of embarrassed on the inside, but being weird about it will only make him look pathetic. He's determined to put the incident behind him as soon as possible. It's not like it'll ever happen again, right?

Azusa — His recovery time is basically non-existent. Azusa is so detached from the concept of shame that, if anything, he's even clingier in the aftermath. Just like with his pain-related tendencies, he's not shy about how badly he wants the regression to happen again. It doesn't occur to him that he should be more hesitant.

Carla — It'll be a while before he can make himself talk to you again, so prepare to spend a lot of time with Shin. He knows it's pathetic for a king to flee from a challenge, but with his pride in pieces and while feeling this horrifically vulnerable, there's not much of a choice. Showing weakness in front of you now would be far worse.

Shin — He takes a day or two to wallow in his shame, but then, Shin gets just plain aggressive. It's even more humiliating to run away from you like he's scared, so he forces himself to interact... even though all that does is make him agitated and angry. The one he's really avoiding is Carla— his brother would know something is wrong.

Karlheinz — There's a good chance he'll vanish for weeks. Karlheinz is dealing with a whole lot of new, uncomfortable feelings thanks to the regression incident, and he's going to need quite a bit of time to figure them out. He's determined to convince himself the incident was no more than an experiment, and that it means nothing.

Richter — He may be horrified with his behavior on a level like never before, but Richter is a pathetic, pathetic man, and the prospect of your attention wins out over whatever dignity he has left. He's visibly more nervous and moody than usual, but at this point, what does he have left to lose? At the very least, you aren't mocking him for it.

[forever-rogue]

In Name Only - Part 19

A/N: Hello, my loves! I hope you enjoy this next little part of our story! We are slowly, but surely coming to an end! I’m going to miss this fools so much when it’s time to say goodbye! As always, feedback and comments are welcome, and if you’d like to be tagged, let me know. xx

Pairing: Oberyn Martell x Fem!Reader

Word Count: 5k

Warnings: mentions of death, slight language

IN NAME ONLY SERIES MASTERLIST

MASTERLIST

»»————-　♡　————-««

"What are you thinking about, my love?" your head rested on Oberyn’s chest as you slowly woke up to face the day. An arm was draped over your waist as he gently traced aimless shapes all over your bare skin. He huffed lightly before kissing the top of your head, prompting you to press a few kisses to the warm golden skin of his chest. 

“So many things and yet nothing of import all at once,” he admitted as you turned to look at him. Soft brown eyes met yours as you reached up and touched his cheek, “thinking about how glad I am nothing happened to you - that I came just in time. About how headstrong and fierce my sunshine is. About how I can’t wait to get home and get past this, and that from now on we’ll figure things out together.”

“I like the sound of all of that,” you agreed with a wistful sigh, “I’m glad and lucky, to have a husband like you that will always love me and protect me, no matter how silly or foolish I am. You saved me, Oberyn, in more ways than I can count.”

“I’ll always be there,” he promised, “I will never, ever, leave. You know that, silly girl.”

“A silly girl with the best husband,” shifting so you were lying on top of him, you clung onto his warm body as tightly as you could, “I must ask, or I am sure I will surely perish of curiosity - how did I know where I was...what I was doing?”

“You may have thought you were being sneaky, my dear wife, but you were utterly not. I got it out of Asha fairly quickly,” he confessed and you almost huffed with laughter, “I wasn’t fair behind, and I took the fastest steed in Dorne. Your mare is lovely, but she’s not very fast, and neither were you. It wasn’t hard to catch up.”

“Just in time,” you pressed a kiss to his lips, “how utterly perfect. Thank you, my Prince. I could not imagine a fate where I had a husband other than you-”

“I would imagine that if you had a husband other than me, than we would never have fallen into such a predicament,” he reminded you as you gently scoffed at him, “I fear your life might have been utterly more predictable-”

“It would have been a life of boredom and without love.”

“You would have been safe and led a life of quiet calm-”

“I would have hated it. Loathed it,” you reminded him with insistence, “I have everything with you. Love, a family, adventure...happiness. That’s all I’ve ever wanted.”

“I will always give that to you,” he promised; some days he still found it hard to believe that you were actually his wife. This was his fortunate reality, “I love you, my sunshine.”

“I love you, my moon and stars.”

»»————-　♡　————-««

“Are you ready to go, Oberyn?” you called you into the adjoining dressing chambers as you studied yourself in the gilded mirror, straightening down your dress. Your hands trembled as you reached for the bracelet Arianne had gifted you when you’d joined the Martell family; you tried to clasp it around your wrist unsuccessfully several times before you were ready to give up on it. Your husband was faster, however, and he took your wrist in his hand, gently taking the bracelet from you as he clasped it around your wrist. Letting go, he made a small sound of satisfaction as a small smile spread across your features, “thank you, my love.”

“Of course,” he moved to stand behind you in the mirror, his hands on your shoulders as he looked you over. Leaning into his touch, your heart practically leapt in your chest at the tender embrace, “you look beautiful as ever, Sunshine. I’m ready to go if you are.”

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” you offered your golden prince a firm nod before turning around and pressing a gentle kiss onto his plush lips, “you look very handsome, yourself. A regal sight if I may say so myself.”

“And yet I still pale in comparison to my queen,” he took your hand in his as he pulled moved towards the door, “you’re nervous. Tell me - what’s wrong?”

“I’m just...I am anxious,” you admitted with a heavy sigh, your shoulders slumping slightly as you studied the floor, “I just - I want to do this, I do not hold any doubt in my heart about this. But I am nervous...what if the children do not want us for parents? What if they do not want to join our family? What if I’m a bad mother-”

“I won’t hear a word of this negativity,” he quickly cut you off by pressing his index finger to your lips, “you are a wonderful mother already, and I won’t hear a word otherwise and I have at least eight young women that agree with me. Those children absolutely adore you, it’s easy for anyone to see, including me. I know nothing I say will ease your nerves or worries, but please know that you have nothing to fear. I am always by your side, and you will always have my support. We’re a team, and we can get through anything.”

“You just always know what to say, don’t you, Oberyn Martell?” your worries eased up ever so slightly as a weak smile pulled on your lips. He put a finger under your chin and tilted your face up towards him, “you really think they’ll be okay with this? What if...what if they say no?”

“They will not,” he promised, “I swear it.”

“One day I will have your confidence,” you huffed in jest as he laughed lightly before pulling you towards the door. 

“It comes with age, Sunshine,” he insisted, “but for now, you’ll just have to take my word for it. Come on - let’s go and fetch our children.”

As soon as you heard the words our children, you stopped in your tracks and gave him a soft, hopeful little smile. The whole concept of motherhood and having children was something that was still often on your mind. Some days were worse than others, but it was slowly getting better each day. You were slowly coming to terms with the idea that being a mother meant so many different things. It wasn’t just about sharing blood with someone, it wasn’t just about giving birth to someone, it was about love. And that was all that mattered in the end. 

“I like the sound of that,” you whispered gently as a wide grin stretched across his handsome features, “our children.”

“Of course,” he agreed, “if you ever have a moment of doubt, a moment of worry or anything, you have me. Just say the word, and I will do whatever it takes to help you. I love you; that’s something you know you never have to worry about.”

“And I love you,” you promised, “I...I think I’m ready - let’s do this.”

“As you wish,” you took his hand and slowly started to walk out of your chambers and into the long hallway. The door at the other end of the hall, the one that had once led to your separate chambers was wide open. You’d taken care along with Asha to set everything up and prepare for your new family members. You hoped the twins would like their room; and if not, you’d do whatever it would take until they did, “away we go.”

»»————-　♡　————-««

“Hi Saria. Hi Alistair,” you found your favorite twins playing outside in the gardens of the orphanage that had become like a second home to you. As soon as they spied the two of you, they’d stopped chasing each other and shrieking, and bounded over to you instead. The young twins wrapped their arms around you as they hugged onto your waist; you couldn’t help but lean down and hugged them back, “I’ve missed you two.”

“You’ve only been gone a few days,” Saria laughed as she reached for your hand. Alistar followed suit and grabbed Oberyn’s hand, “but we missed you too. No one plays with us like you do.”

“Saria, my little love,” you turned to Oberyn and he gave you a small nod, “Alistar, there’s something we would like to talk to you two about. Something very important.”

“A-are we in trouble?” Alistar’s little eyebrows knitted together as he looked nervous between the two of you, “we’ve been good!”

“No, no, no,” you promised before ruffling his dark hair, “well, I guess I’ll just tell you right now. I hope you both know that Oberyn and I love you two very, very much. We’ve been thinking a lot about this and well.. if you guys would agree to it, we would like for the two of you to join our family - to come live with us at the Watergardens.”

The twins' eyes widened as they looked at each other before they turned to look at the two of you with excited expressions on their faces. Your stomach was full of butterflies and your heart threatened to burst out of your chest as you anticipated their response. At least they hadn’t turned down your offer immediately and they appeared to be enthusiastic. 

“Does that mean...would you be our mother?” Saria asked you softly, her little features drawn into a curious expression, “would you be our parents?”

Your mouth opened and closed a few times as you looked over at Oberyn. A big smile was on his face as his arm wrapped around your waist before he gave you a supportive nod, “we would like to be - we want to be your parents if you’ll have us.”

“We’d get to come and live with you all the time?” Alistar was practically beaming as he nudged his sister in the ribs, “you’d be our family! We’ve never had a family before...”

“Yes,” Oberyn promised him, “you’d come and live with us, and have a big, large family, with lots of sisters and cousins and aunts and uncles, and so many more. Whatever you could want, we want to be able to give it to you. How does that sound to the two of you?”

Saria almost threw herself into your arms as she nodded eagerly, her eyes glistening with tears. You quickly met her efforts and picked her up, balancing her on your hip as she buried her face into your shoulder and put her arms around your neck, “we’ve never had a mother before - or a father.”

Squeezing her back tightly, Oberyn picked up the young boy and clutched onto him just as fiercely. At that moment, you weren’t sure who needed the hug more, the Prince or his newly anointed son. 

“Now and forever more, you have a Mother and a Father,” your husband promised them, brushing the young girl’s stray curls out of her face, before giving each of them a kiss on their chubby little cheeks, “we love you both, very, very much.”

“We do,” you agreed, your heart fit to bursting as you basked in the glow of your little family. The feeling was almost overwhelming; this was everything you could have ever wanted, even if you hadn’t known it, “what do you two say? Shall we go home and you can see your new rooms and meet some more of your family?”

“Can we still come back here and see our friends?” Alistar asked, “we like them a lot.”

“Of course, my love,” you promised, “we can come back whenever you want and see your friends. We’ll make sure they know they’re not forgotten and that we love them too.”

“Then let’s go home!” Saria chirped excitedly, “we can come back later and tell them everything! I want to go see everything. Do you think there will be berries in the kitchens?”

“As the Prince, I require that there are always fresh berries at my disposal,” Oberyn promised her with a serious expression on his face, causing you to giggle at his silliness. He really was an amazing father - there was no other man that you would want as the father of your children, “and now you, as the daughter of the prince, you will have all the berries you could ever want and then some. How does that sound?”

“Perfect!”

»»————-　♡　————-««

The twins were fast asleep almost as soon as their heads hit the soft pillows of their new beds. They’d been running around all day, getting acquainted with their new home and the new members of their family and household. They were most excited to see the younger girls again - their new sisters, Oberyn had gently, but enthusiastically, reminded them several times. After dinner, a meal with the entirety of the household, they’d started to yawn and nod off, despite their best efforts. But the large meal had led to full bellies and their energy was quickly drained. 

You’d each taken one of them in your arms as you carried them to bed, taking turns to tuck them both in, bundled them up in their velvety soft blankets. There were sleepy little smiles on their faces as you kissed their foreheads and wished them a good night. 

Before you could blow out the last candle and leave them for the evening, Saria had reached for your hand and softly asked for a bedtime story. Your features softened as you agreed to tell her one; you’d cast a look at Oberyn and he had quietly promised you that he’d be waiting in your chambers for you. 

You’d wracked your brain for a story, eventually settling on telling her the age appropriate version of the tale of Nymeria, the warrior queen who united Dorne and made the land what it was today. The young girl had listened intently, an eager and curious expression on her face as Alistar snored lightly across the room. Before you could get too deep into your story, the young girl - your daughter - was sound asleep as well. 

Touching her cheek gently, you studied her for a moment before giving her one last kiss and heading back to your own chambers. Closing the door as quietly as you could, a tired, but happy sigh escaped your lips. All this bliss that you had been blessed with - and now you had the privilege of returning to your best friend, lover and husband. 

Treading lightly across the hall, you nudged open the door to your room and found Oberyn in bed, propped up against the headboard as he read a book intently. As soon as he heard you, he stopped what he was doing and set the book on the small table as his side of the bed. A sweet smile crossed your features as you closed the door behind yourself and observed him for a moment.

“To what do I owe the pleasure of such a saccharine glance?” he tilted his head to the side as he pushed back the blankets and patted your side of the bed, “I have done many things in this life, some good and some bad, but whatever I did to deserve you was the best thing ever. I’ll thank the gods, old and new, for all eternity for blessing me with my sunshine.”

“I did not know you placed such faith in the gods, my dear husband,” you laughed at his silliness as you pushed your robe off of your shoulders and let it pool on the floor at your feet, “but surely there must be something good that exists if you brought you to me. You are the best thing to happen to me, whether or not you know it.”

“I place my faith wherever it is deserved,” he held out his hand to you and you fell into an easy cadence as you slipped into the bed and sat in the open space between his legs. His hand went to your cheek as he brushed his calloused fingertips over your soft skin. It was a contrast as sharp and beautiful as the two of you; one hardened and world weary and one soft and gentle, still learning the ways of the world. Like a perfect harmony, the two of you balanced each other, just like the sun and the moon seemed to do. You wouldn’t have changed a thing, “right now, I place my faith in you, my sweetest wife.”

“And I you, dear husband,” you looked into his soft brown eyes. He hummed in content as you carded a hand though his dark curls, causing him to keen into your touch. Leaning forward, you leaned against him, cuddling up to him as much as possible, “thank you.”

“Whatever for, sunshine?”

“For loving me,” you whispered softly, “for staying by my side even when I was not the most level headed. For showing me what family really means - for making me a mother. You have given me everything I could have ever wanted, even when I did not realize I needed it or even desired it myself. You are not only my best friend, my lover, my prince, or my moon and stars. You truly are everything to me.”

He was silent for a long time, only slow, steady breathes exchanged between the two of you. Inhale - exhale as he studied you. Nothing needed to be said; not really anyway. It felt like he was gazing into the very depths of your soul, the darkest parts that you didn’t even see, and he was taking time to memorize every single last bit of you. It was strange in a way, how vulnerable and open he still managed to make you feel despite the fact that he knew you more intimately than anyone else in the world. But that was part of the illusion of being human; no matter how well you knew someone, there were always parts to them to discover.

“I wish I could accurately convey even a fraction of how much I love you,” his voice was low and raspy as he pressed his lips against the shell of your ear, “perhaps words are not sufficient, but I will spend every day showing you…”

“Oberyn-”

But before either of you could say anything else, a loud knock on the door cut you off. A small huff escaped your lips as Oberyn dramatically rolled his eyes, remembering all the could have been moments that were interrupted before the two of you had made love for the first time. At least this time you hadn’t been in the middle of anything too...intimate.

“My Prince? My Lady?” Asha sounded nervous as called to you from the other side of the door. A look of concern grossed your features at her nervous tone as you shifted out from Oberyn’s lap. It wasn’t like her to be nervous or sound so distressed, “I-I’m sorry for the interruption. I come with news.”

Oberyn offered a supportive nod as you grabbed your discarded robe and slipped it back on before opening the heavy wooden door. On the other side, Asha looked like a deer caught in lights as a worried expression was etched into her features as her dark eyes flitted from you to Oberyn. Reaching towards the young girl, you gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze, “what’s wrong, Asha? Is everything alright? Did something happen? The child-”

“They’re fine,” she reassured you as she turned to glance down the hall to ensure their door was still closed, “everyone here is fine. It’s...there’s been news, from Honeyholt.”

“News?” Oberyn was up and at your side in a flash, his hands on your waist as he raised an eyebrow at her, “what news could be coming from there?”

Your heart was beating wildly as your mind raced with every single possible thought of what it could possibly. The worst thing was that somehow you, or even worse, Oberyn, were in trouble for what had happened those long weeks ago. Surely that wouldn’t have caught up with either of you so later.

“My Lady, I...I’m afraid there’s been a murder,” she wasn’t quite upset with the news, as no one in Sunspear would be considering they knew about the tense relationship between your families, but she still seemed surprised. Your brows raised so high, almost disappearing into your hairline as you turned to look at Oberyn. He was just as perplexed as you were, “your brother - Lord Beesbury. H-he was found dead in his study this evening. News just reached us.”

“Eaton?” his name spilled from your lips, laced with venom as Oberyn’s grip on your waist tightened, “he’s dead? How...how on earth? Who did this?”

“I’m afraid I don’t know much more,” she held out her hand and offered you a sealed scroll. The golden, wax seal in the shape of a bee instantly gave away its origins, “I-I’ll leave you two alone. If I can do anything, please let me know.”

“Thank you, Asha,” you offered her a meek half smile as you  closed the door behind her and tightly clutched at the scroll. Oberyn’s face was a pointedly neutral mask as you held the scroll to him, “what news - do you think it could be true? I-it can’t be from….me.”

“Don’t be silly, sweet girl,” he almost huffed at your jest and you instantly felt a sense of relief flood your veins. You were a lot of things, but a murderer you were not, as Oberyn had reminded you, “the little bit of damage you inflicted would have long been healed by now.”

Nodding in understanding you sank back down on your soft bed and watched as he unsealed the parchment and read over it. His dark brows knitted in concentration as he read over the loopy scroll. You weren’t as familiar with it as that of other members of your family - it wasn’t your mother’s certainly. A few sounds of curiosity escaped his lips as he took it all in.

“What does it say?” you as he went over to his bureau and set it down, while leaning against the desk and letting out a long sigh, “do they know who did it - and what exactly it was?”

“The letter is from your brother, your middle one, Aeron,” he explained as you shrugged. You were never close with him, and had no real feelings one way or the other towards him, “he’s to be the new Lord. He said that they found your Eaton, by himself, slumped over at his desk. A single wound to his neck proved to be fatal. No signs of forced entry and apparently no one saw any one come and go or anything suspicious.”

“That’s suspicious enough on it’s own,” you whispered softly as he just shrugged in agreement, “I-I’d wonder who would do this to him, but it could be a multitude of people. He was not a good man and surely he made plenty of enemies.”

“He made his own bed,” Oberyn insisted, “the better question is - how do you feel?”

“I feel...nothing,” you confessed, “not one way or the other. I have never harbored any love for him, and he never did for me. We were nothing alike besides the fact that we shared the same blood. He was his own undoing; I can’t say I’m upset or surprised. All I hope is that Aeron ends up a better man than Eaton was.”

“That’s all we can do,” he cast a dismissive glance at the parchment, before walking over to you, “you’ll be alright, won’t you, Sunshine?”

“Of course,” you insisted, “like I said - they were no family of mine. But I am glad it was not by my hand. It would have been a hard thing to live with. And you were right...I wouldn’t have been able to actually do it.”

“That’s what I tried to prevent,” he kissed the top of your head as you looked over the bureau. It was then that something caught your eye; on the scroll there was something small, barely visible to the eye on the back side. He noticed you tense up and pulled back, “what’s wrong?”

“The parchment,” you slid onto your feet and siddled past Oberyn as you snatched it into your hands. A frown crossed your features as you turned it over and found a few symbols on the backside, in the lower left corner. If you hadn’t been looking for it, you almost certainly wouldn’t have noticed it; it was clearly - and cleverly - designed to go unnoticed. 

“What’s wrong?” he asked as you held it up to the light and pointed at the symbols, “it’s a message, isn’t it?” 

“I think so,” you touched over them, and tried to wrack your brain as to who it could be from him. Narrowing your brows as you studied them and then...it hit you. You knew those symbols, “this one - it’s a bee, for me, I think. I used to draw a bee like that all the time when I was a child, a horrible attempt really at trying to draw the family bee. But this other one...there’s only one person that I’ve ever known to draw this.”

“Who?”

“Sarvon,” you quickly thought of your oldest, and dearest, friend back in Honeyholt, “we’d always play together as children, including reading, writing, and drawing. He’s always liked flowers, and he’d try to draw them a lot. This is one he used to draw - a crude daisy.”

“So, they’re your personal symbols of sorts?” he took the parchment you held out to him, and thumbed over the ink that blended in almost perfectly with paper, “clever boy. He must have known, or at least hoped, you would see them.”

“I think...possibly, do you think that...he’s the one that did this?” you gave him a quizzical expression as you tried to imagine Sarvon doing something that vastly deviated from his gentle and calm nature, “do you think he’s trying to tell me that?”’

“I don’t know,” he admitted honestly as you plopped back down on the bed and let out a long sigh, “I don’t know if we’ll ever have an actual answer. I find it doubtful that he would ever admit such a truth if we were to directly confront him. It would be a large gamble to tell anyone, especially us, if that is indeed what he had. Do you think him capable of such a thing?”

“I never would have thought so,” tossing the parchment onto the bed, you threw your head back and let out a long sigh. Your mind was positively reeling with all the things it could or couldn’t have been, “but I also knew that he has always been fiercely protective of those he loves.”

“Does he love you?”

“I would wager that at least once he did,” you turned your gaze back to Oberyn who was perched at the edge of his desk, rubbing his chin in thought, “when we were young children. He was one of my only - if not my only - friends back then. My brothers never paid me much attention and the other children never seemed to like me much. He became a common theme in my life.”

“Then I do not doubt he would have done something like this for you,” Oberyn concluded as you shrugged your shoulders. Your only real worry was about him ever getting caught, if he had actually committed this crime. But he was a smart man and he’d never made it obvious, “I told you that things always right themselves.”

“What do we do, Oberyn?” you asked, a slight sense of dread seeming into your bones. At least your husband was more worldly and experienced and could provide some sort of support right now, “I don’t want anything horrible to happen.”

Your Prince strode over slowly, looking regal as ever as he picked up the parchment and held it over the flame of the candle on his bedside table. The parchment instantly caught fire and started to burn and ash away, leaving not even a trace behind, “we do and say nothing. We’ve heard of this horrible tragedy and we move on. Everyone knows our relations are tense at best, and I don’t think we must do more than that. What do you think?”

“I think you’re right,” you turned to him with a sordid expression, “I can’t say I’m horribly moved by this, but I wouldn’t say that publicly. I suppose we offer condolences and move on with our lives.”

“An excellent idea, my Sunshine,” he reached over and tenderly touched your cheek, “now, let’s get some rest. I have a feeling we have many long days ahead of us. I’m not as young as I used to be - hopefully I can still keep up with the children.”

“You have nothing to fear, my love,” you beamed at him, “we’ll manage - together. Just like always. I...I love you, Oberyn. Very, very much, and it only seems to grow by the day.”

“And I love you infinitely, Sunshine.”

»»————-　♡　————-««

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a court of golden shadows: elain archeron and azriel endgame

so this is like an 11 page paper i wrote on why i think Elain Archeron and Azriel from Sarah J. Maas’s A Court of Thorns and Roses are endgame. i made a joke on twitter that i’d write a proper MLA format styled paper on them because i love them so much and a bunch of my moots convinced me to do it so here i am.

this is for the Elriel lovers like myself. if you read it, which you don’t have to, please refrain from commenting anything negative. everyone is entitled to their own opinions, and this whole essay is just my opinion on it. so if you read, i hope you enjoy!!

keep in mind, it’s LONG.

         A Court of Golden Shadows: Elain Archeron and Azriel Endgame

Sarah J. Maas’s fantasy series A Court of Thorns and Roses displays epic, world-shattering love stories among the thrilling action and fantastical elements present throughout the novels, as seen in the romance between Feyre Archeron and Rhysand and, most recently, Nesta Archeron and Cassian. Two sisters have already accepted and embraced the (so-called) rare mating bond with their respective counterparts, yet the question remains on what is to happen with the middle sister, Elain Archeron, who apparently has a mating bond of her own with Lucien Vanserra, but has not, for two books and a novella, made any indication of accepting it. However, Elain, in her quiet, gentle way, has shown to be more attentive towards the Night Court’s resident Shadowsinger and Spymaster, Azriel. Who, in turn, has notably started to move on from a five-century long love harbored for another female and gravitating towards the last remaining Archeron sister.

It can be said that the concept of the three Archeron sisters all ending up with the three Illyrian males is a cliché, but if done right, they can capture the reader in their grasp—one that no one would want to get out of. Taking a look at the novels, particularly starting from the second book, A Court of Mist and Fury, since this is where Azriel’s character is introduced, it is difficult to ignore the fact that Maas has been laying the groundwork for Elain and Azriel—or Elriel, as I will refer to them throughout this paper—to be a couple from the moment they met, whether these hints are subtle or obvious. In chapter 24 of ACOMAF where Feyre, the Illyrian faes, and her sisters have dinner together, we see tentative interactions between Elain and Azriel, despite the two of them having just met and Elain, as a mortal who grew up with stories of the terrors of faeries, seems to look towards the spymaster more. The first glimpse of their interaction, no matter how small, is shown on pages 253-254 when “a faint smile bloomed upon Azriel’s mouth as he noticed Elain’s fingers white-knuckled on that fork”. Though this moment can be overlooked, it is only the first of many oncoming moments of Azriel noticing Elain and her actions, a subtle hint of the spymaster’s attention towards Elain. The focus of attention is returned when Elain then turns to Azriel a few pages later, wanting to know more about their ability to fly, even so far as going to say “That’s very beautiful” when Azriel describes Illyrians as being “born hearing the song of the wind” (256-257). Additionally, there are two moments in this particular chapter where Elain, in some semblance, looks towards Azriel as a way of relaxing herself. The first is noted when Azriel’s attention is said to be on Elain, and he offers her a “polite, bland smile”, and Feyre notices how Elain’s “shoulders loosened a bit” in response to it (256). Rather than looking towards Feyre for indicators during an unexpected dinner with faeries, Elain seems to be more drawn to looking at Azriel, which is shown once again in the following passage: “Rhys chuckled, Cassian’s wrath slipping enough that he grinned, and Elain, noticing Azriel’s ease as proof that things weren’t indeed about to go badly, offered one of her own as well” (258). Elain tends to check everyone’s reactions to the circumstances to determine the levels of tension in the atmosphere, but she truly seems to be put at ease when she notices Azriel’s own relaxed state, once again indicating the attention she pays to him from the moment they met.

The first three books in Maas’s series are told through Feyre’s perspective, so it can be said that our perception of and desire for Elain and Azriel getting together is skewed because of the point of view we are given. I, however, consider this to be a moot point because Feyre’s character is the type to notice everything around her. She comes to grow close to both Azriel and Cassian, and with Elain being her sister, the reader can depend on Feyre as being as much of a reliable narrator to tell us exactly what she sees and how she sees it. With this in mind, some of the examples given will be from Feyre’s own musings, but it is important to note that she, more than once, groups Elain and Azriel together. This is shown when, in chapter 49, Feyre is distracting Rhysand as she tries to take care of his wounds and muses about her sisters visiting Velaris. There, Feyre mentions to Rhysand, “I think Elain—Elain would like it, too. Though she’d probably cling to Azriel, just to have some peace and quiet”, before proceeding to think to herself—and the reader, “I smiled at the thought—at how handsome they would be together” (487). Of course, this observation is followed by the acknowledgement of Azriel quietly loving Mor, as he has for centuries, yet what we don’t know, during this, that this wouldn’t remain an issue for long.

Moving on to focus on the third installment of the series, A Court of Wings and Ruin, there is a solemnity surrounding Elain, who, at the end of the second novel, was forcefully turned into fae against her will. After the transformation, Elain has become a shell of who she used to be, trapped in a state of deep mourning of the humanity she lost, of the love of her fiancé she inevitably lost, too. She doesn’t eat nor does she speak to anyone, an empty yet no less beautiful version of herself as her Cauldron given powers, unbeknownst to everyone else, manifest. But even in her state, in her indifference towards her mate Lucien and yearning for her human fiancé Graysen, Elain managed to acknowledge Azriel. He is gentle with her, much like everyone else, as he carries her into the townhouse, smiles, inquires if she’d like for him to show her the garden. And although he stands tall, intimidating in his fighting leathers and large wings, Elain does not recoil from him in fear or shyness. Instead, she takes the arm he offers her and, although it is unsure if she is looking at his Siphon or his scarred hands, she still utters “Beautiful” in response to him (254). Even when life has unexpectedly turned bleak for Elain, even when the world loses its color in the aftermath of the trauma she suffered, in that moment, there was a glimpse of who she used to be as she found beauty in nothing but Azriel.

This same chapter is followed by an insightful conversation between Feyre and Rhysand, triggered by Feyre watching her sister and Azriel. Feyre notes how at odds Azriel looks sitting in the garden next to Elain in his armor, yet she still questions, “Why not make them mates?” (257). This spurs a significant conversation between the High Lord and High Lady, where readers are given some more history on mating bonds and introduced to the prevailing concept of rejected bonds. Rhys provides examples of ill-chosen bonds, such as his parents, who were mates yet their relationship was not ideal in the least. Here, we are told that sometimes fate, the Mother, whatever chooses two mates can be wrong in its pairings, and it is rare for the bond to bring together “true, paired souls” (258) like Feyre and Rhysand. It has been established that the female can reject the bond, and while the male may feel the tug of it, it’s their burden to push through it. Maas spends an entire page or so talking about the concept of ill-chosen or rejected bonds, so it would be naive to look over these details if they weren’t placed in the storyline for a reason. Elain and Lucien may be mates, and Azriel (at least currently within the book) may be in love with Mor, but the idea of free will is not something to be so easily dismissed. Elain already had the choice of her humanity, her mortality, ripped away from her—it’s doubtful she would let this pattern continue.

In chapter 24 of A Court of Wings and Ruin, when Elain is having her first conversation with Lucien, she states, “No one ever looked—not really” (252), and although here she is referencing Graysen, this statement comes around a few chapters later. In chapter 27, Elain walks in on a conversation amongst the Inner Circle, and Azriel was the first to step forward as he noticed something amiss. His observations and questions when he says to her, “[But] you heard something else” and “What did you see” indicate that he, unlike Feyre and Nesta, believes that Elain’s riddled musings have a deeper meaning and need to be heard. The scene ends with Feyre looking to Azriel, noticing that his “hazel eyes churned as he studied my sister, her too-thin body. And without a word, he winnowed away” (287). Azriel didn’t brush off what Elain said, because while her sisters thought Elain had gone mad, Azriel listened to her—he looked. He looked past her “too-thin body” and read between the lines of what she said, and knew there was more than what meets the eye. He looked, which was exactly what Elain had wanted.

This is repeated in chapter 32, when Elain brings up another queen and no one is quite sure what she’s talking about, except for Azriel, who steps forward and gently prods Elain to elaborate. Even Lucien watches Elain warily, questioning if they need to help her, yet Azriel is firm in his assessment that Elain doesn’t need help, that they need to be the ones who need to listen, before ultimately determining that she does, in fact, have powers and is established to be a seer. So while Lucien “stared and stared at [Elain], as if he’d never seen her before”, it was Azriel who actually looked at her and saw what no one else was seeing, whose acknowledgment of her gift and the attention he brought to it from everyone else “freed her from whatever murky realm she’d been in” (336).

The idea of Azriel truly looking at Elain transitions into him looking for her, too. But first, another example of the former is seen in chapter 63, when Feyre, Nesta, and Amren hear the call of the cauldron in the middle of the night. They wonder about it, question why they three heard it because they were Made, not noticing that another who was Made was missing from their group. That is, until, Azriel asks, “What about Elain?” (560), and he is moving alongside the sisters to inspect Elain’s tent, only to find her missing. Azriel notices Elain—whether she is present or not. And so the concept of Azriel looking for Elain is introduced when they are discussing Elain’s rescue from Hybern in the following scene:

“From the shadows near the entrance to the tent, Azriel said, as if in answer to some unspoken debate, “I’m getting her back.”

Nesta slid her gaze to the shadowsinger. Azriel’s hazel eyes glowed golden in the shadows.

Nesta said, “Then you will die.”

Azriel only repeated, rage glazing that stare, “I’m getting her back.”” (563).

There was no hesitation on Azriel’s part in being the one to get Elain back, but there was obvious rage, as noted, in his gaze at the very idea of Elain having been kidnapped. A silent, lethal aura surrounds the shadowsinger that can be so clearly picked out within that scene, showcasing Azriel’s unwavering determination in returning Elain, even if it meant slipping into the heart of enemy camps—especially if it meant that. And throughout the dangers and urgency of this particular mission, when they do reach Elain, Azriel takes a moment to be tender towards her as he “gently removed the gag from her mouth” (573) and asks if she’s hurt. Elain, in turn, is shown to be “devouring the sight of him, as if not quite believing it” before she says “You came for me” (573). Elain looks at Azriel in wonder and disbelief, and this reaction hints towards how she feels drawn towards him. In their very first meeting during the dinner in the Archeron house, Elain looks to Azriel for reassurance, for judgement of the situation, and in the event of her rescue, she finds that same kind of comfort on a far more intense level. Because here, he truly is her rescuer, appearing in front of her to save her from the dangerous hands of their enemies and bring her to safety. And Azriel, in this sense, is devoted to her, holding up his fierce promising of getting her back. Even when he was injured, Azriel held onto Elain, refusing to let her go even while getting shot at and chased, and when they landed in their own camps, the first thing he claimed was for someone to get the chains off of her, rather than even mentioning his own injuries. This just reminds us of ACOMAF when Elain was being dragged to the cauldron and Azriel wasn’t even conscious to witness it—there is no doubt that if he was awake—and uninjured—he would’ve done all he could to save her. Maas robbed us of that type of scene.

Furthermore, evolving from the concept of Azriel rescuing Elain, we get another significant scene between the two of them that displays the kind of trust these two characters smoothly and effortlessly developed. On top of Elain accepting Azriel’s offers of taking her to the garden, a silent indicator that his company was one she enjoyed, Azriel shows a great act of trust to Elain as well when, in chapter 69, he offered her the use of his beloved knife, Truth-Teller. This blade is Azriel’s most prized possession, and to offer it to Elain to bring her the same kind of comfort and safety that we have seen she finds in Azriel himself portrays the trust he has in her—and his desire to protect her. This is emphasized when Rhys tells Feyre, “Never. . . I have never once seen Azriel let another person touch that knife” (610). Even Cassian was stunned that Azriel would let someone else use Truth-Teller, which is significant to note given that he has not let even Cassian nor Rhys—his brothers he has known for centuries—even touch it. And Elain, who had refused to take the knife Cassian had offered her, ends up accepting Truth-Teller—because it’s Azriel’s, and because through the short time she’s known him, he is someone she has poured her trust into and understands he wouldn’t lead her astray. And he didn’t, for it was Elain who “stepped out of a shadow” (653) and used that very same blade to kill the King of Hybern. A temporary gift, given from Azriel, that she used to put an end to one of the greatest threats to both the human and faerie realms.

In the post-war novella A Court of Frost and Starlight, Maas furthers the Elriel endgame agenda by continuing both subtle and blatant hints in their favor—and not just through actual interactions between the two. The concept of Azriel avoiding Lucien because of his mating bond with Elain is important to remember, for it will come back around later. But in this novella, we see it when Rhysand asks Azriel if he keeps an eye on Lucien, given that he is the spymaster. Azriel, in turn, informs him that he does not track his movements, because “He is Elain’s mate” and “It would be an invasion of her privacy to track him”, which Rhysand, since this is shown from his perspective, notes is because Azriel does not want to be aware of if and when Lucien seeks out Elain, and what they do together—if they do anything at all, given Elain’s tendencies to utterly ignore Lucien (70). Rhysand questions Azriel’s motives on this, but doesn’t get a response, but there is an understanding of Azriel’s intentions behind it. Not only does he want to remain ignorant of the forced bond between Elain and Lucien, but a big motivator for him is also Elain’s privacy, which he doesn’t want to intrude on—ironic, given that he is a spy, and it’s his job to know of others’ movements and thoughts.

Another example of Azriel very subtly showing his blossoming feelings towards Elain is when he unforgivingly states that if Lucien were to kill Elain’s ex-fiancé, then “good riddance” (71). He was well aware of how Graysen treated Elain after finding out she was fae, is the one who sits with her in the gardens because he is a comforting presence for her in the face of mourning, so he understands her. This idea is repeated in Azriel’s bonus chapter in A Court of Silver Flames, when Rhysand catches Azriel almost about to kiss Elain—that is definitely to be unpacked later—and warns him that Lucien has the right to invoke a Blood Duel to defend the mating bond, and Azriel does not hesitate, is confident, when he retorts that he would easily defeat Lucien, would have no problem in pulling Elain out of a bond she doesn’t even want.

The novella also includes some more obvious, sweet moments between Elain and Azriel, ones that show Elain’s own growing interest and feelings towards Azriel. Like in chapter 12, when Feyre notes that when Azriel enters the room, she feels Elain freeze at the sight of him, and then Elain proceeds to be almost in a trance when Azriel, after she greets him, moves towards her and takes the heavy dish of potatoes from her hands and says he’ll take care of it for her (105). This scene then continues when Elain hurries off to make herself more presentable, and rather than letting others dive into the food, Azriel stops Cassian from putting food on his plate and all but commands him to “wait until everyone is seated before eating” (106). Rhysand informs Feyre that this sudden reaction from Azriel stemmed from the treatment his mother received as a near servant, but it can also be tied to how Azriel keeps aware of Elain and the recurring theme of looking after her in any way. He notices her, just as she notices him, a subtle way of this being present in Elain’s solstice gift to Azriel. She doesn’t get a gift for Lucien, her mate, but does get one for Azriel, one that makes him laugh in a way that, Feyre notes, she’s never heard before. A genuine sort of joy breaking the cold, indifferent mask of the shadowsinger as he accepts and cherishes the gift Elain gave him—the extent of which we see in his bonus chapter, where it is revealed that he looks at the small vial every night before going to sleep, a not-so-subtle showing that Elain is the last thought on his mind before he descends into slumber.

This notion of the two of them looking after one another in their own ways is again repeated in A Court of Silver Flames in the following passage on page 221:

Azriel smirked. “You and Nesta are wanted down there.”

“Because of the shit with Elain?”

Azriel stilled. “What happened to Elain?”

Cassian waved a hand. “A fight with Nesta. Don’t bring it up,” he warned when Azriel’s eyes darkened.

Throughout the friendship they have formed, Azriel becomes a kind of protector of Elain’s, deriving from her being a part of their Inner Circle as well as the notion of Azriel’s own personal feelings for her. He is so obviously shown as going on the defense at the news of Elain getting into any kind of fight, of Elain potentially being hurt. It’s repeated on page 233 when Elain and Nesta are arguing, and after Nesta utters a nasty comment that lands on Elain like a blow, there is an acknowledgement of the “shadows gathered in the corners of the room, like snakes preparing to strike”. The shadows, of course, are Azriel’s, ready to jump between the sisters and defend Elain from Nesta’s verbal attack, to once again be her protector.

Of course, we can’t forget that Elain has a mate in Lucien, and how it seems to offer the enticing forbidden love trope between her and Azriel. We see a hint of it in A Court of Wings and Ruin, when in chapter 24, Lucien can scent where Elain had gone off to and who she’d gone with, in this case having it be Azriel, and he’d nearly snarled until Rhysand assured him that Azriel wasn’t the “ravishing type” (254)—although I think we can all agree that he most likely is, but wouldn’t even dream of it in terms of the state Elain was in at the time. Maybe it is the mating bond or maybe it’s both Elain and Azriel’s quiet personalities—or perhaps a combination of the two—but the shyness that has them looking at each other and then looking away continues. On page 467 of A Court of Silver Flames, Cassian notes how Elain nods shyly towards Azriel, who in turn offers her a small smile that she quickly looked away from, prompting Cassian to be puzzled as he wondered, “Lucien was certainly not here to snarl at any male who looked at her for too long”. Elain doesn’t look away from Azriel because of the bond, but perhaps because she is well aware of her feelings for him and, for the moment, is too shy for them to be known, especially by Azriel.

The mating bond between Elain and Lucien does serve as a barrier between her and Azriel, though. This is particularly present during the Winter Solstice, when a layer of Azriel’s character specifically has been peeled back to show his feelings for Elain. Like on page 597, when Elain is laughing at Nesta, the older Archeron sister notes that “Azriel stood in the doorway, monitoring them. As if he’d heard Elain’s sharp laugh and wondered what had caused it”. And if that wasn’t enough, Nesta watches as Azriel’s “gaze shifted to Elain, and though it was utterly neutral, something charged went through it. Between them. Elain’s breath caught slightly, and she gave him a shallow nod of greeting”. This is perhaps the most prominent moment of both of their feelings being reciprocated by the other, because Nesta notices the way they look at one another, as if they both see past the person they put in front of everyone else and truly see the other. And even Nesta understands that there is something deeper between the two, even if they themselves haven’t figured it out yet, when she approaches Azriel where he stands by the doorway and, when asked why he doesn’t sit, responds with a “pretty lie” of his shadows not liking the fire. But Nesta looks to where Elain is the one sitting by the fire, and why Azriel chooses to stand as far as he can, because it is “his secret to tell. Never hers” (600). Just like that, Nesta is aware of Azriel’s feelings for her sister and, perhaps, her subtle way of comforting him was her showing her approval.

We get a deeper insight of this scene in Azriel’s bonus chapter—an entire chapter that allows readers to see exactly how he feels about Elain, and that she returns those feelings, too. It is confirmed that Azriel stands by the doorway, away from Elain, because Lucien is in the same room, and the sight and scent of their mating bond is one that Azriel cannot stand. Because the female he feels deeply for, according to fate, “belongs” to another male and he needs to put distance between himself and the two of them when they’re in the same room. Yet, the mating bond doesn’t prevent Azriel from thinking of Elain, from fantasizing about her every night. He goes from being shown as relieved when Rhys tells him he doesn’t have to buy the sisters presents for the Winter Solstice in A Court of Frost and Starlight, to actively buying her a beautiful flower necklace that she would no doubt love. Their secret exchanging of gifts leads to an epic, steamy, full-of-yearning almost first kiss that shows so clearly that Azriel’s feelings for Elain aren’t unrequited, that she, just like him, is desperate to give into what’s been brewing between them for so long. Yet it’s all cut short when Rhys interrupts Azriel, reminding him of a mating bond that Azriel’s painfully aware of—and confidently willing to pull Elain away from if Lucien decides to invoke the Blood Duel. Azriel’s questioning of the cauldron, wondering why it picked three sisters and had two of them end up with his brothers while the last remaining one was mated to another, is not him declaring that he has a right to Elain. This is him questioning the powers and forces that no one truly understands, this is him questioning from a place of heartbreak, wondering why, yet again, he was the one left behind. It happened when his father imprisoned him, forcing Azriel to delay in his training as an Illyrian, it happened when the female he spent centuries loving never once returned the same kind of love, and now it’s happening again. Azriel does not believe he deserves Elain—it goes against his character, because he is self-deprecating, does not think he truly deserves anything good and worthy. He is simply questioning why his choice doesn’t ever seem to matter, and why Elain is yet again left having her decisions being taken away from her.

Because the matter of choice is a prevalent, significant theme for the two of them. For Elain, she was never allowed to truly make a choice in her life. Her mother’s death, her family falling into poverty, turning into High Fae, losing Graysen, the mating bond, her father’s death—these were all huge, significant life changing moments that she had no say in and was forced to endure, completely upending who she was and how she lived. But there is one choice Elain can make, and that is to reject the mating bond with Lucien. There are so many examples throughout the books where Elain turns away from Lucien; she doesn’t express any interest in him—it’s like he doesn’t even exist to her. There is utter indifference on her end, despite any effort made by Lucien, and that in itself is Elain choosing to all but formally reject the bond, however that may come about. There is a moment in A Court of Wings and Ruin in chapter 54 when Elain, while pleading with Graysen, claims, “I belong to no one. My heart belongs to you” (498). Of course, Azriel has nothing to do with what Elain was saying at the time, but her declaration of this speaks to her character and how dearly she holds onto the idea of being with someone of her own choosing, with someone she loves. This can further be developed into the idea that although fate, the cauldron, the Mother may have chosen Lucien for Elain—a pairing that can, ultimately, be ill-chosen—Elain would not give it the time of day unless it’s what her heart wants. And from what we have seen so far, her heart wants Azriel. She chooses Azriel over Lucien, and that holds significant weight to her and, I imagine eventually, to Azriel as well.

Azriel, who has not been other people’s choice. Azriel, who was imprisoned by his own father, who was rejected by the Illyrians. Azriel, who has spent five centuries loving Mor, who will never love him the way he did her. And it’s saying something, isn’t it, that he has finally stopped yearning for her, and that it was Elain who he is enraptured by? Even Cassian noted that the way Azriel used to look at Mor have become few and far in between, telling the audience that the spymaster has finally begun to move on, or already has, from Mor. And Elain wanting to kiss Azriel confirms to him, in particular, that he is her choice as well. And she is his, as further confirmed when Azriel tells Rhys he has no problem engaging in the Blood Duel with Lucien if it means freeing Elain from a bond she doesn’t want, and allowing them both to dive into the choices they clearly want to make.

Truthfully, there are many examples throughout the books where I can talk about Elain rejecting Lucien. She cringed away from the very first time he touches her in ACOMAF—though, granted, it happens right after she comes out of the cauldron. She is unsettled when Lucien tugs on their bond, saying that it felt as though he pulled on a thread connecting to a rib, which sounds painful and nothing like the comforting bond readers have seen between Feyre and Rhys. Elain doesn’t buy Lucien any presents for solstice, and the first present he got her, gardening gloves to prevent her hands from tearing, are ones she doesn’t use. Because she would much rather feel her hands get torn up while she’s working in her garden, uncaring if they scar, which in turn is a reminder of Azriel’s scarred hands and how she found them beautiful. And for those who wonder about Azriel giving the necklace he got for Elain to Gwyn, it is important to note that he tells Clotho to give it to any priestess who would want it, and merely mentions Gwyn by name because he trained her, because he was the one who rescued her after an attack, and she is the one he knows most familiarly by name because of it. At the end of it, Azriel only wanted the necklace gone because he didn’t want to see it, didn’t want to remember that the female he wants, wants him back just as much, but he was all but forbidden to pursue her. Once again, a choice that was taken away from him, and giving the necklace away is far easier than keeping it and remembering how he couldn’t be with Elain. At least for now.

Throughout the novels, there are many symbols that hint towards Elain and Azriel being together, but that is a paper for another day. This one’s goal was to simply point out the many physical and emotional indicators of the way the two of them are drawn to one another, despite the obstacles that are thrown their way—the biggest one being the mating bond no one asked for. There is comfort in the relationship they have, an ease you wouldn’t expect someone with Elain’s light to find in Azriel’s darkness. He offers her comfort in shy smiles and soft looks, and Elain does the same for him, which we see in the act of his shadows disappearing around her. These very shadows provided him comfort when he needed them, were his friends in his prison, and them leaving him when Elain is around is a sign of the contentment Azriel feels, because he doesn’t have to protect himself in her presence. Azriel loved Mor, and it has been noted that he lights up when she is around, and Elain is the only other person he reacts similarly to—because Elain is who he wants now that he has moved on from Mor. It’s important, isn’t it, that Elain is who pulls Azriel away from the centuries-long love he’d been lost in? That she is who he looks for, thinks about, wonders after?

Elain has found comfort in Azriel’s darkness, and he has found peace in her light, and so how could they not defy what’s been expected of them and rewrite fate to fit the choices they make themselves?

[miraculouswolf99]

Forest Wolf Academy Idea

I formed this idea after I read a Miraculous fanfiction where Marinette transferred to a school for magic along with Chloe, Nathaniel, Marc, and her brother. At the school already is Felix and the Quad kids. The magic schools are actually for those that are members of witch covens and you must be a member of the coven to join the school. Luke and Juleka are also witches but in a different cousin. Marinette and the other transfer because of Lila. Adrien soon joins them at the school as well. I also got inspiration from the anime Fairy Tail.

I loved the concept of it so much that it gave me my own idea. My idea if an Adrien-focused story since he is my favorite character and always will be.

My idea started after Miracle Queen. Because of Chloe working with Hawkmoth and because Lila had turned so many of Marinette's friends against her, her parents transferred her to an art school so that she can focus on her designing. The only ones that stayed her friends were Adrien, Nathaniel, Kim, Alix, and Juleka. Outside of the class, she had a lot more friends, but her parents wanted her away from Chloe and Lila.

Adrien's dad still makes him model with Lila despite how Adrien and the staff are always telling him that she is the worst model ever. She never shuts up with her lies, never poses as she is told to do, and is basically also sexually harassing Adrien as well. She drives them all crazy.

But then one day during another photoshoot, Adrien hears some music and is drawn toward it. The music is like a siren song that he does not notice that only he can hear. When he arrives at the source of the song, he finds an old friend of his, Lyon Garden. Lyon and his twin sister Vallia are friends of his that he met in Greece when their family hosted a charity fashion show at their family's nature and animal sanctuary. Adrien had gone there with his parents a year before his mom vanished and he kept in contact with them the entire time.

Lyon and Adrien are happy to see each other, Adrien spilling his guts about everything bad going on. Especially all the things with Lila and Chloe. And Lyon gives him an extraordinary opportunity. The reason why Adrien was able to hear his magical song was because he was magical as well. A fellow witch. So, he was able to offer him a place at his school, Forest Wolf Academy.

The two of them went to Gabriel and he actually let Adrien go to the magic school. It turns out that Adrien's mom had also been a witch and that was why he was allowing Adrien to go so easily. Adrien is more than happy to accept the offer.

When Adrien goes to Forest Wolf Academy, he is amazed to see such an incredible school. Forest Wolf is not the only magic school in the world. Each school is hidden in a pocket dimension where they can be entered in any place in the world through the use of a magical key. But each school still has a main magical doorway in the home of the founder of each school. Forest Wolf's main door is in Athens, Greece.

Adrien only lets his real friends know that he is transferring. He would have told Nino, but he no longer considered him his best friend since he turned against Marinette. But given that magical people can hear Lyon's magical song, there are more teen witches in Paris than Adrien knew about. So, even after he transfers, he is actually soon joined by a lot of his true friends. Luka, Kagami, Nathaniel, Marc, Juleka, Kim, and Alix. And each of them would have their own powers that Lyon and Vallia help them learn to control.

Lyon has siren song magic. He is a real-life siren with the added abilities to control sound and music, not just being able to use his voice as a weapon. Vallia has rainbow aura magic. She is also to surround herself with different color light auras that give her other abilities like how sky blue gives her flight and ruby red helps her shoot fire like a dragon.

Adrien would find out that he has light magic, being able to control all forms of light and even be able to change into it like a human shooting star. Luka would have enchanted instrument magic, being able to do all types of things by playing different instruments while still having his natural ability to hear a person's inner song. Juleka would have a similar ability called music spirit magic, where she is able to turn into magical creature spirits that are hybrids with music like harp playing fairies or werewolf drummers. Kagami would have Requip magic, where she is able to store weapons and armor in a separate dimension that only she can access. Nathaniel would have art-to-reality magic where he is able to bring his drawings to life no matter what they are. Marc would have Fairy Tale magic where he could read from a magical storybook that he has and summon any legendary or mythical creature from it. Kim would have were-beast magic where he is able to turn into any were-creature version of any animal like a werewolf or cat creature. And Alix would have time magic, where she would be able to manipulate time around her while also being able to travel through time on her own.

All of them actually have a great time at Forest Wolf Academy and learn to appreciate and covet their magical lives even if Hawkmoth is still a problem. But he would actually have become less active lately as if he is losing motivation for trying to gain the miraculous.

Vallia would actually gain a crush on Kim and the two of them would eventually start dating. The same would go for Juleka and Alix as well as Luka and Kagami. Nathaniel and Marc would be an already established couple since they are too adorable to break up. Adrien would also find himself gaining a crush on Lyon, something he never expected to have on his old friend.

But, as per all good things, their peace had to come to an end. Magic itself was not hidden, just the people that used it. It was why heroes and villains like Ladybug, Cat Noir, and Hawkmoth all had masks when they used the miraculous.

But, the schools have come under some fire with people thinking that they were secret evil cults that wanted to take over the world. So, they all had to open their doors to people. To politicians, school field trips, and even some tours of powerful world leaders just to show that they were all perfectly normal schools that just happen to teach magic to their witch students.

Only, one of the schools that request to tour Forest Wolf Academy is Dupont High, which puts the new students on edge. Especially Adrien and Juleka because of Lila and Rose. It did not help that Lyon and Alix were very protective of their partners and would hurt anyone that tries to hurt them.

But since they have to keep up appearances as a "normal" magical school, they have to accept the field trip request. Luckily, it is the whole school and not just Bustier's class. So, there are still good students like Aurore, Mireille, and Zoé. It is only Bustier's class that believes Lila, anyway.

Adrien and the others do their best to avoid Lila and her attack dogs. They have their jobs to stop the more temperamental students from attacking the annoying group with how they obviously bully almost everyone around them. Not to mention all of the lies that keep coming out of Lila's mouth that she is related to so many powerful witches, how she is a descendant of Merlin, how her grandparents run the best magic school in the world.

There are a lot of students that wanted her head. Especially since it was known through Adrien and Lyon that she had not heard Lyon's magical song, meaning that she had no magic at all. And since magic was passed down from parent to child, that also meant that no one in her family had magic either. Not unless they were one of those families that had been stripped of their magic for crimes against the magical world.

And if it wasn't Lila causing problems with her lies, Chloe was causing problems with her attitude. And how she kept trying to force the students to do as she says and make them her slaves. Like she would go to those with ice magic and demand that they get her a cold drink. Or she would go to the students with gem and crystal magic and demand that they give her the biggest diamond that they can make.

Once the former Dupont students are found by the group is when things really go downhill. There is a lot of yelling about how they abandoned their friends, that they should not be so jealous of Lila's accomplishments, how they needed to get over themselves, how they needed to stop being bullies. And the group fires back that they can not abandon friends that abandoned them first, that they can not be jealous of accomplishments that never happened, and that they never talk to Lila let alone bully her.

Meanwhile, Adrien is trying hard not to be seen by Lila or Chloe since he does not want either of them hanging off his arm like they usually do. But, Lila soon locks her eyes on him and down try and latch onto him, crying her crocodile tears about how much she missed him and how she wanted him back since he "promised to date her."

That is where Lyon steps in and would be so close to using his sonic scream on the annoying liar. Adrien uses his powers to turn into light and get back to Lyon's side. That is when the two of them go into a big "why Lila sucks" speech and reveals that the two of them were dating and that Adrien would never EVER date Lila.

She is not exposed, but a new demonstration of the more dangerous powers from the students, low key threats against the annoying class, makes them never come back after they leave.

Lila hopes to be akumatized over her rage about not being able to lie her way into dating Adrien, but she does not know that Gabriel gave Marinette the butterfly miraculous and the peacock miraculous already. He gave up once he saw how truly happy his son was and did not want the wish to change his son into any other version of him that would never be this happy. It also helps that a few witches from the school that could heal offered to help him restore his wife.

[descendantofthesparrow]

Soulmate au! tattoos - Harry Hook x Reader - Oneshot

Small spin on two soulmate au ideas that got sent in, name tattooed somewhere on the body and whatever is drawn on the skin shows up on the other, and im including tattoos (except those don’t disappear so if your soulmate get a tattoo you get one too and unless you get it removed it's there to stay)

soulmate au ideas from anon and @harryhasmehooked 

tattoo designs/ideas borrowed from @kindofchaoticgood 

=

Everyone was born with their soulmates name tattooed somewhere on their body, on their wrist, on their collarbone, on the back of the neck, anywhere really. Another thing was that whatever your soulmate had something written or drawn on their arm, it would show up on your body as well.

Many soulmates found each other by communicating with a pen and writing their information on their skin, others liked to make it a hunt and only give hints to their soulmate.

Then there were the tattoos. and not the ones that one was born with. The ones that someone got willingly inked onto their body.

If someone got a tattoo, that same tattoo would appear on their soulmate's body, but unlike when they simply wrote on their arm with a pen, it wouldn’t disappear unless they got it removed.

Sometimes, people gushed over their soulmate's tattoo and proudly wore them, others hid their tattoos away in fear they would be judged.

Usually, the ones who hid their tattoos either had a good reason to hide them or were just ashamed of their soulmate's choice of art.

You weren’t one of those people.

Around the time you were 11 or 12, small temporary tattoos began to appear on your skin, first just little inked ones that would easily wash off, but soon little stick and poke tattoos started to appear, they would fade after a while but they were cute and you retouched them on your own when you could. Some were little music notes, others resembled constellations, and one, which was your favorite, was a small hook nestled in the crook of your palm.

The first “real” tattoo showed up several months after the first poke and stick tattoos, your cousin had joked about how cliche it was and your soulmate must be a pirate or something, a skull with crossed swords on the right side of your chest.

Your parents had pretty much freaked out, you only being 12 and already having a tattoo but you brushed it off and admired it every day, writing on your arm to ask your soulmate where and how they had gotten the tattoo.

Unfortunately, you had never gotten a response.

The next tattoo to appear, on the left side of your chest this time, was a ship sailing into the horizon. Again you asked them where and how they had gotten the tattoo, along with asking the name of the ship, once again there was no response.

Only a week later a new tattoo showed up, this time on the inside of your left arm, written in slight cursive were the words “No grave can hold me down” you had traced the words the entire night into the next morning.

Soon after that, another tattoo showed up, this one on the back of your left hand, depicting three swords crossing their blades.

Your cousins always teased you about how pirate-like your soulmate's tattoos were, but you laughed at the slight irony of it since your soulmate might have been a pirate after all.

Considering their last name was “Hook” it was a pretty good chance that they had followed their dad's footsteps.

“Harry Hook” a name that drifted through your dreams, you always imagined what they would be like, hopefully, nothing like James hook.

It was years before a new tattoo showed up, when you were 16 and attending Auradon prep, after King Ben had invited four villain kids to Auradon, curling black inked words on the inside of your right arm ‘death before disloyalty’. You had no clue what it meant, but it clearly had a deeper meaning.

Throughout the years you had no luck in attempting to contact your ‘Harry Hook’, you had either sent a simple ‘hi’ or a small little note mentioning one of the tattoos. It was always no response. Though you got little notes from them that were rare and never had anything to do with what you sent him. Just little ‘hello’s and asking your name, but every time you responded, nothing came back.

you had mentioned it to Evie, who was in your art class, who said that because of the barrier, it prevented soulmate magic as well, meaning Harry hadn’t ever seen your little notes and didn’t even have your name tattooed on him somewhere.

Evie was also the only one who knew of your soulmate's name that was willing to tell you about him, being the least…biased against her fellow vk. Mal, Jay, and Carlos all seemed to have some sort of grudge against him and always badmouthed him when the topic of Harry came up.

Though thanks to Evie and her thankfully amazing art skills, she had depicted Harry for you, she had said it wasn’t perfect since she was more of a concept artist than one who practiced realism, that was more Mal’s thing, but you could tell she was just being modest.

Black fluffy hair, ocean blue eyes always lined with liner, plump lips that Evie said were always in a sharp smirk, a jaw that could cut someone. He was perfect, and you hoped you could meet him soon.

Three months after the vks had come to Auradon, a new tattoo appeared; this time of a solid black anchor on your right forearm. You traced it constantly with your finger, wondering what this one meant, just as you did with every tattoo appearance.

Soon after that, a swallow appeared just above the crook of your right elbow, and a lioness with a language you couldn’t speak written under it appearing on your left wrist.

Then a watercolor lily on the side of your right forearm, then constellations started to appear on your back, you had Evie take a picture each time one appeared, smiling as yours appeared among them (star sign, like Virgo or Capricorn)

Around April, another tattoo appeared, again on your right forearm, this time of a treble clef symbol with a series of notes within the loops. You wondered what the song was, humming it under your breath as you tapped out the notes on whatever surface your hand was resting on.

It was several months later before another tattoo appeared, and it was the most beautiful one yet. Swirling turquoise tentacles curled around and down your right arm, starting from your right shoulder and ending just below your elbow.

You had started wearing sleeveless tops more often, wanting everyone to see the masterpiece that was curled around your arm.

Once you turned 18 you started to decorate your skin as well, your first being a watercolor compass on your left bicep that melted into waves as it drew away from the middle.

Next, you got one with a moon theme on the back of your neck just below your hairline, reaching down your neck and connecting with the constellations on your back.

After that you got a skeleton hand on your right hand, then the map of Neverland on your thigh, then the north star on your ankle.

You were almost covered in tattoos, to which some people gaped and gasped, but you paid them no mind, your tattoos were your only connection to your soulmate and you couldn’t wait for the day that he would finally see your combined works.

-

Harry didn’t know if he had a soulmate or not, the barrier prevented any type of communication through writing on their skin or their names being tattooed on their body.

So Harry had gone his entire life without knowing the name of his, possibly non-existent, soulmate, and no matter how many times he had tried to talk to them, there was never any response.

He always did wonder though, if he had a soulmate, what they thought of his tattoos. Did they like them? Did they wear them proudly? Did they hide them? Did they get them removed? He would probably never know.

Until one day, only a couple days after the four traitors had invited four new vks, he was outside of the barrier.

The blank spots on his skin bloomed to life, a watercolor compass on his left bicep, a skeleton hand on his right hand, Gil told him about the moon tattoo on the back of his neck, the tingle of magic on his thigh and ankle told him there were new tattoos there was well.

He stared at the new tattoos, smiling slightly at the realization that he did have a soulmate. His smile dipped a bit as his left wrist started to burn slightly, and he ripped away the old bandage that covered his scar from years ago, eyes widening as the curving letters of his soulmates started to appear.

‘(y/n) (l/n)’

Harry stared at the name, not realizing everyone was moving towards Auradon till Gil gently pushed at his shoulder to get him to move “oh” Harry muttered, catching up with Uma and smirking as she stared at the large tattoo sleeve on his right arm.

“you are such a dork” she snorted, pushing at his arm and looking at his hand “didn’t think you were one to get a skeleton tattoo”

Harry just held up his left wrist with a grin “Oh holy shit!” Uma laughed, grabbing onto his hand and examining the name “(y/n) huh?...nice name” Mal yelled at them to catch up, making Uma glare at the girl. “hold your pants princess were dealing with some shit back here!”

Uma and Harry shared a look ‘we’ll talk about this later’ and followed after the other vks, Uma continuing to poke and prod at Harry's new tattoos.

-

Harry stood awkwardly in a quiet corner at Mal and Ben's engagement party as everyone else danced in the middle of the large garden. He swirled the pink lemonade in the small glass cup and took a careful sip. He let a small smile grow on his face as Gil and Uma spun around on the dance floor.

He glanced down at his left wrist, flexing it a bit as his soulmate's name shined lightly in the sunlight. He let out a sigh and took another sip of his drink, he had no idea where his soulmate was, they could be anywhere really, in Auradon, or maybe on the other side of the world.

“I like your tattoos” a voice spoke from beside him, and Harry glanced at them for a moment before looking back at the dance floor.

“Thank yeh” he muttered back, pausing as he went to take another sip of his drink. He whirled back around, eyes widening as he really looked at the person who had complimented him.

They were covered in tattoos, ones that matched his exactly, on their right arm were turquoise tentacles, an anchor, a swallow in flight, a watercolor lily, a treble clef with music notes, and…his name on the inside of your wrist. “Harry Hook…right?” you asked nervously, tapping your foot against the ground.

Harry looked down at his wrist again and looked back at you “aye…(y/n) (l/n)?” he asked softly, smiling as you grinned and nodded.

“That would be me, it's nice to finally meet you Harry” you held out your hand, your grin widening as Harry eagerly took it. “Come on, let's talk”

“Okay,” Harry muttered, sharing a smile with Uma and Gil as they pointed at your tattoos with wide grins “let's talk.”

You tugged Harry out of the garden party, your hands tightly intertwined. Just below your intertwined hands at the wrists, the tattooed names glowed for a moment then shimmered to a shining, just visible, gold color.

A symbol that one's soulmate had been found.

-end-

 another short but sweet oneshot! probably didnt make complete sense but im just wanting to get back into writing since ive been feeling a bit of a block with my main stories, so if anybody else has anymore soulmate au ideas send em in.

permtaglist

@queer-cosette @sephiralorange

@lunanight2012 @daughter-of-the-stars11

@musicarose @remembered-license

@random-thoughts-003 @verboetoperee

@rintheemolion @jatp-rules-my-life​

@thecaptainsgingersnap​  @imtryingthisout​

[bilbobagginsbrainrotblog]

Bilbo and/or Frodo for the character ask thing bestie 💞

I'll do both! Thank you bestie!! 😘 starting with Bilbo:

My favorite thing about them:

Picking just one thing is so hard 😫 If I had to summarize, I guess, it would just be the amount of personality he has? Obviously Bilbo has a whole book to himself so we have more time to get to know him, but even in LoTR there's so much Bilbo influence spread over the world we see, and all of it ties together into this lovable multi facteted character. You've got his bacon loving, his poetry and songwriting, his rooms dedicated to clothes, his love of flowers, his work translating and being a historian and overall his patent Bilbo habit of being equally rude to everyone, elf lord or dragon or wizard or gardner adjdn what a guy!

Least Favorite Thing About Them?

....nothing? Unless you count simpering Thorin fanboy 2012 Bilbo in which case I could go on for hours.

Favorite Line?

This one is sick: “So comes snow after fire, and even dragons have their endings.” but this one is also good and it makes me irrationally sad;

"Don't adventures ever have an end? I suppose not. Someone else always has to carry on on the story."

BrOTP;

Oh man, its gotta be Elrond. I love that the 6000+ year old elf lord of Imladris thinks this rude bitch is so funny he just lets him live as a VIP in his house and write songs about his dead dad. Runners up include; Bofur, Bombur, Balin, Aragorn, Thranduil, Gaffer etc.

OTP;

None! Aro/Ace icon.

A Random Headcannon:

I've talked before about this before, but I think Bilbo getting some sick burn scars from his narrow escape from Smaug would be cool. I mocked up a concept sketch for it once and now I just envision him that way subconsciously.

Unpopular Opinion:

I think while Bilbo is attached to his Dwarven friends and to Erebor for nostalgic reasons, he's far more drawn to and fascinated by Elvish culture and history. He settles down in Rivendell and starts learning their history and languages, and is named "Elf Friend" by Thranduil, and eventually goes to Valinor (with elves). Idk if this is really unpopular but I see a lot of people headcannoning Bilbo becoming like an honorary dwarf or wearing dwarven clothes/braids after the Hobbit, and while that's cool, frankly I think he was a little done with dwarves for awhile after that whole fiasco lmao.

Song I Associate With Them?

"Come Along" by Cosmo Sheldrake is my go-to Bilbo song, but I also like "Jackrabbit" by San Fermin- it's about thrill of leaving everything behind to have an adventure 😤👌

Favorite Picture Of Them;

Tove Jansson Bilbo My Beloved 💕

And now Frodo, my poor little meow meow 😔

Favorite Thing About Them?

God this this hobbit is just,,,so kind 😭 there isn't a resentful bone in his body, after everything that's happened to him. He wants the best for everyone and that's what pushes him to do what he does.

Least Favorite Thing About Them?

Again...I'm at loss? The only thing I can think of is encouraging better communication between Sam and Gollum, but my god it's not like he didn't have anything else on his mind at the time. You know what? nevermind. The only thing any Baggins ever did wrong was being thicc af and giving their sons unfortunate names.

Favorite Line;

To illustrate my earlier point, here's one from the Scouring of the Shire that sucker punches me; “It is useless to meet revenge with revenge: it will heal nothing."

And this one, which is just, the heartbreaking distillation of his character arc;

“It must often be so, Sam, when things are in danger: some one has to give them up, lose them, so that others may keep them.”

BroTP;

Merry and Pippin and Sam, obviously 😂. Also my MAN Fredegar Bolger you are not forgotten 😤✊

OTP;

Samwise Gamgee babee 🥰

A Random Headcannon;

Have a little dump of a few; he has constantly cold hands (even pre-quest) he can't cook for shit, he went through an "artistic" phase and there's a room in Bag End full of his landscapes, he's a fantastic dancer even as far as Hobbits go, he chews his nails, one time Sam accidentally stepped on a lizard in the garden and brought it to Frodo, and Frodo nursed it back to health and named it "Smaug" and kept it a secret from Bilbo for several months before his uncle found out (Bilbo let him keep it of course).

Unpopular Opinion;

Hmm I don't I really have any, or if I do I'm not aware they're unpopular. Except for disagreeing with the ice cold "Frodo was useless" take but that goes without saying.

Song I Associate With Them:

"A Pearl" by Mitski and "Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight" by The Beatles :'-)

Favorite Picture of Them;

Baby boy. Baby.

Thank you for the ask my love sorry it took so long! 💕💕💕💕🥰

[orionsangel86]

100% agree on the selfcest, like

Marvel don't have the balls

They're don't have gay people because they're afraid of backlash, you really think selfcest is the way they're going to go????

Things I wanna know:

WHERE IS B-15 MY BELOVED

They??? Kidnapped an CHILD??? how the fuck did a child step out of your ridiculously drawn boundaries??

Of course they were androids, can't be that easy to contact them. That basically means that Ravonne(?) was in charge. Get the truth out of her, Sylvie

Actually, does this mean that "Time Keepers" don't exist at all?? And this is all a play by a mortal Man™ to keep Order™? A Thanos 2.0?

Fuckin' KNEW pruning wasn't death. Like FIRST of all - pruning? Weird name and in Gardening doesn't it mean to cut away the extra leaves to allow new growth? That doesn't mean the cut part of the plant is dead

What do you think that place is? Also, can't believe they Wandavision and didn't bhage mid credit scenes until EP 4

Ahhh I've only just seen this ask and OOooh I have sooo many of the same thoughts here!

On the selfcest - I don't think using their lack of gay people is actually a great argument against them going for it. Remember that this is selfcest between a man and a woman (well, a male presenting and female presenting Loki anyway which means straight people get to look at them and consider it "normal")

I actually totally think Marvel WOULD choose selfcest between a male and female presenting Loki over any "gay stuff" because I just think Disney are that nasty.

Remember how in Supernatural The CW signed off on Dean textually showing sexual attraction to a DOG (which was very clearly shown to be a female dog) and yet threw a MASSIVE homophobic hissy fit when the show tried to imply he reciprocated Cas's gay feelings to the extent that they totally butchered and ruined the plot of the last two episodes of the show to cover up the gay?

These networks are more willing to support the concept of bestiality between male and female presenting different species than explicitly gay scenes between two consenting men (Looking at you Beauty and the Beast)

So yeah, I would totally believe that Disney would choose the path of "heterosexual appearing" selfcest over anything remotely gay

(yes I know that Loki being attracted to women doesn't make him heterosexual yes I know bierasure is a very real problem and as an actual real life bisexual person I am well aware of this but do NOT give Disney this pass okay.)

That being said, whilst I totally think Disney WOULD choose this route over say, canon romance between Loki and Mobius, I still don't think Loki and Silvie will be a thing. Mobius even called it out in the episode as being twisted and nasty (it IS guys even if you think it's in character for Loki, it's just weird and icky...) so I think it's a misdirect. Its basically this:

"I have feelings for you!"

"I have feelings for you too!"

Narrator: "The feeling was friendship, but neither of them had ever experienced it before."

Anyways, enough about the selfcest!

1. B-15 IS GONNA KICK ASS AND BE AMAZING

2. Oh I actually think there is gonna be a good explanation for that based on Ravonna's refusal to tell Sylvie what the reason was. (Still think maybe it has something to do with the fact that Sylvie isn't actually a Loki? (Please Disney, if you are going for the Loki/Sylvie love pairing route at LEAST reveal her to NOT be a Loki but the Enchantress instead! THAT would make sense!!!)) Otherwise it's probably going to be because she was a GOOD Loki. Like, a Loki who was raised with love and knew who she was and was growing up to make good choices and be a good person and that just didn't fit the timekeepers narrative (which actually makes the whole child abduction thing even worse...)

3. Yeah the time keepers being fake seemed a bit obvious to me, but I still don't think its Ravonna who is in charge. I think it's gonna be a wizard of Oz type situation where it's just some man with an over inflated ego in charge of the whole thing. I've heard rumours about a dude called Kang? But I don't know enough about the comics to really going into any further detail about that.

4. OMG that is such a great point about pruning. You prune plants to keep them neat and growing the way you want them to rather than leaving them to just grow crazy and chaotically the way nature intended. The point is that pruning is a form of control which is technically against nature. But you're right that the pruned pieces aren't dead technically, you can prune, propagate, and regrow.

I think that place is gonna be some sort of dumping ground for all pruned things, both pruned people, and the items on the timeline that were "reset". So you know how young Sylvie was playing with the toy ship? They took Sylvie, and "reset" the timeline which caused the toys to disappear. I think the toys will also be in this place that Loki is now in with all his alternate versions. It's gonna be like a weird pocket dimension or something.

I was so annoyed about that midcredit scene lol! I wasn't expecting it so just stopped watching when the credits first rolled and didn't know Loki came back at first! It was only when I saw people talking about it on here that I was like wait a sec... and went back and watched it! Urgh! What a sneaky trick!!! Lol!

Aahh this answer got long and rambly but please let me know what you think about all this! I am still really enjoying this show even with the icky selfcest implications and can't wait to see the next episode!

[stopeatingwhales]

mirage x john taylor

i wrote this a while ago, but for some reason i didn't post it lmao, its one of my favourite things that i've ever written, so i really hoep you enjoy it! also john taylor omfgggjja

Pairing: 82! john taylor x reader

Warnings: none at all

Word count: 2.602

༉‧₊˚✧

Admiring the earth in the early hours of dawn was as if an angel had blessed you with the first sightings of heaven. It’s a glimpse of life at its true peak, demonstrating the true meaning of what living is and what it should be: beauty at its finest resort. At this hour, you’re able to catch the sight of earth in total fragility, a mere ghost-town without a soul in sight. There was little to no irritations echoing out of any residences aligned by the coast (as there usually would be until 4 in the morning), just the mere accompaniment of the exuberant sounds of eloquent waves, crashing aimlessly into the golden landscape of the beach. There was also an occasional chirp of the cicadas scattered around the atmosphere, putting my mind at ease as though I wasn’t the only person on earth awake at this celestial hour. I constantly cherished moments like these; they were, surprisingly, the only times I was able to simply breathe. No distractions, no one coming up to me questioning whether I was going to go to the amazing-party-down-town that everyone is somehow going to, it was just me. Life plays by so quickly, people seem to forget the beauty in which is constantly surrounding them. A party doesn't mean anything, a one-night-stand doesn’t mean much but a potential orgasm. This, however, being alone, admiring the world in all its might and eccentricity, produces a euphoria not even drugs can obtain a level to. This place undeniably fixated a meandering caprice on me — like a blanket of unknown being poured on each side of my body, indulging me with a time of self-discovery and meaning. There were constant thoughts echoing through my mind frivolously, so loud and so ripe, but quiet, dimmed, as if they were too loud for me to even muster, resulting in a forceful crumble of a delighted whisper. As I gazed at the land that lay ahead of me, I examined every little detail that I could set my eyes upon. Palm trees danced with the wind, cavorting in their own, personal fantasies as if they each occupied an individual mind. Their movements were graceful, almost completely orchestrated, yet sloppy, like a drunken collapse of a newly-wedded couple in the centre of the dancefloor of their service they’ve jointly paid life savings on, a moment so inebriated in love, adoration, and commitment. I envied their joy, their casual sways, their attempted defiance against the power of nature, for they probably felt contentment every single day of their existence by such an uncanny resort.

As my eyes began to slowly trail off the dazzling trees, I looked up to gawk at the alluring illustrations painted on the ceiling of the nirvana that rested forth from me. There was not a single whiff of cloud in sight, the atmosphere simply pencilling an array of warm shades, ranging from the deep, murderous blood oranges, to royal delicacies of periwinkle. The view was unfathomable. As the waves began to pick up, I felt the light gusts of wind that accompanied me previously begin to cement. The air calloused my hair, marvelling in the deeply coated locks, attempting to carry them to its next destination. It almost felt the same way as someone brushing their fingers through my roots, all the way down to the aged, lifeless tips. I felt my skin begin to draw goosebumps, an indication that it was time for me to head inside. However, I wanted to occupy the time I had. I didn’t mind painfully tormenting my body when coming into contact with such a meandering view. I was holding a moment, capturing a memory, taking panoramic snaps to engrave in my mind because I was fully aware that this would be the only chance of true life I’d have. I compelled my body to stay put, even though I was practically ice, forcing my eyes continuing their glimmer at the picturesque skies — I simply was unable to get enough of it all. Every few minutes, just when I was feeling my eyes get heavy and my eyebags pull at my face, I’d notice a new, fresh colour contrast in the empyrean, my eyes widening at the serendipity that had laid out, once again. Simply inhaling the sweet taste of purified air and having my eyes fixate on such pictorial demises, was causing me to lose my grip with reality. The oxygen, the sunlight, the entire concept of life, is all somehow always so much more tranquil yet augmented when you’re situated by the coastline.

After what felt like a million years and a million different shades of colours verging from reds, to yellows, to blues, I felt two arms slowly slider around my shoulders. Snapping me out of my trance, I felt my heart skip a beat, until I came to the rational realisation that it was him.Turning my head, I instantly came into contact with the face of a tired, smiley John, tailgated by a whiff of messy hair sloppily covering his forehead. I attempted to hold back my smile by forcing my teeth on my bottom lip, yet I was seemingly unsuccessful. Our faces were merely centimetres apart, our noses very nearly brushing against one anothers, though it felt like they already were. My eyes, which were once so focused and enthralled by the view above, were trapped in the stare that was reciprocated by the man whose arms were adorned by my torso at this moment. I studied his features intently for the short period of time our stare was consumed in, analyzing anything and everything I could identify — his perfectly shaped nose, so accurately proportionalized in all areas; his thin, flawlessly drawn eyebrows — eyebrows women would pay so much for to get done; his pink, puffy, paradisiacal lips, lips you would seemingly never get enough of; and not to forget his seraphical eyes, eyes that would draw you in instantaneously, eyes that would pierce daggers to your soul and make it ache in rapture. Whenever he would stare at me, I felt intimidated by the adoration that seeped out of his beautifully drawn pupils. His eyes were a visage to his soul, his emotions; it wasn’t hard to determine his feelings when coming into contact with his gaze. His face was a dream to look at, and sometimes I felt that he wasn’t real, just a conjured up scenario I’ve placed myself into, a product of my own fantasy, the looks in which he conveyed of pure gorgeousness and idyllicism seemed like they were sculpted in the garden of Eden. He seemed like he came from the garden of Eden. “Good morning,” he chirped, the gravelly sound exhibited from his larynx was yet to fade off, proof that he hadn’t been up for that long. “Why’re you out here?”

Beaming at him, I turned my head to watch the ardent waves repetitively douse themselves onto the soft ground. No matter how many times I watched it, the same feeling of relaxation and relief released itself from my veins as I had felt the very first time I held my admiration towards it. Sighing, I felt I was silenced by the grace of the water, grabbing onto one of John’s hands as a form of support to allow me to speak. “It’s so pretty out here, can’t you see?” I answered lightly with all the courage I was able to muster, feeling a sudden throb disperse itself in my heart. My eyes gazing at the view forth caused a feeling of not only elementary joy, which made me feel like a child again, but heavy nostalgia and emptiness, the type of emotion that washes over you when you’re reminiscing over memories shared with your lost ones — your facial expressions show you smiling sweetly, but inside your body is crumbling. It’s bittersweet. Clutching onto his hand made me feel secure, content, wanting to cherish this moment and hold it accountable for all its might, though I felt like a creep trying to explain myself to John. These thoughts, these emotions I cohered in my mind made me feel like I was a complete lunatic, that I was looking too in-between-the-lines, too in-depth. I couldn’t help it though, it came naturally, like how overthinking possesses one’s brain in the most cruel and unpleasant mannerisms.

I heard a small hum rumble out of John’s throat. Moving to sit beside me, I felt his arms detach themselves slowly, the slowness of his movements almost indicated that he didn’t want to move, though he was moving closer to me. I was sitting on the wooden bench situated in the centre of the medium-sized patio, and as time passed on, it began to get lonely with it just being me and the coastline. However, once he sat the closest he could without practically throwing himself on me, I felt full again. No matter what happened, no matter what I thought or felt, having him beside me as our bodies were enveloped in a cordial embrace made me realise that it’s not just the admiration of the place that put me in such a beautified mood, seeing the trueness in all that surrounded me, but it’s also the people I surround myself, my days, my life with. And I’m sure by now, by feeling this exact same feeling with John, I know I would adore spending the rest of my life with him.

“How are you?” I attempted to change the subject, turning my head to admire the side of his genial face. His right arm was now stretched out, resting on my shoulders whilst his free hand began lightly gripping the bone of my shoulder in an attempt to cold onto me, as if I was going to vanish and flutter off into the abyss of the crystal blue ocean, as if the grip I enamoured his palm in wasn’t enough. His head immediately swung to gaze at me as soon as I spoke. A small smile formed on his face, almost exact to the little smile he threw at me when he first came up to me a couple of minutes ago, portraying his deprived self. My heart felt warm staring back at John’s eyes, the simple doing birthing millions of butterflies in my stomach, though it was contrasted against an emotion of complete elation and bliss in my mind. I couldn’t help but smile back at him as he abruptly cleared his throat before speaking, the intimidation and nervousness pooled in my body now taken off guard from trying to murder my insides.

“I’m decent,” he mumbled, his fingers now relaxing on my flesh as he softly drew patterns on my shoulder. The childlike action was seemingly able to captivate my stomach with butterflies once again, a small beam creeping on my face as I felt a blush creep on my cheeks. I avoided looking at him, though I knew he knew exactly what he was doing to me; he always did. He knew me exactly like the back of his hand, hell, even better than that. “What time did you get up?”

A small laugh rang through my throat before I spoke. It almost came across as me mimicking his own throat soundings, though I wasn’t. “At the crack of dawn, my dear,” I smiled at him, my body lacking resistance to not lock eyes with the boy situated next to me any longer. His stare was infatuating, his deep, brown, ethereal orbs that somehow brought the light I never knew I needed in my life, were like the angels granting you blessings through the stairway to heaven. “You know me, I’ve always been like this.”

The everlasting stare that fell onto my face from his eyes felt like my pores being deep fried by the sun. A small smile insinuated itself onto his dishevelled face, a diligent one. “That is in fact true,” he began, moving his stare into the glamorous empyrean that laid forth the pair of us. He took my hand, the frost that formed on the outlines of my skin sending feelings of shock to my nerves as the warmth of his palm enraptured itself with mine. “I simply wonder how you do it.”

After those words easily fell from his lips, I turned my head to look at him — specifically his side profile — as he enamoured himself in the transience of the colours. I spent a few moments — moments not too long, yet not too short to make the dissonance of time to deplete — to take in the scenario playing out currently. “If I were to tell you how, I would be defying my own self.”

He turned to me, curious and confused, pulling away from our shared embrace lightly to look me deeply in the eyes. “Reiterate?”

A short laugh escaped my body at his sudden reaction. We shared a moment of complete silence, a build-up to the words that I found myself beginning to slide off my tongue. A short intake of crisp oxygen and I was off, speaking my mind out of earnest discernment. “By telling you how I do such things, it almost exposes the wirings of my mind, what makes me who I am. And perhaps it’s a self-indulged fear, like everything comes to be, of revealing too much of myself that makes me think like this, but it is always the element of mystery that draws those who are curious towards that void that is unknown, hoping they find out enough that dishevels that scarcely pit of wonder,” I began, us now sharing an intense stare with one another, the earth completely silent, as if it were listening to every word that left my lips. “Or maybe that is just my secret attempt of keeping you with me for much longer than this sunrise can elongate.” I finished, attempting to brighten the atmosphere from my mind’s most destructive and aimless thoughts.

It is true bravery, to speak your mind, more so it is to reveal your true identity, and to be able to do that, dictates the idea that the fear of living is nothing but the mind’s own manacles. We kept soft, meaningful smiles on our faces as our eyes melted together. The little grimace grew all the more wider after my little try for a joke played through. “We are who we are, having secretly decided who we’d like to be, no?” He asked, his head cocked to the side, almost mocking my words previously.

It’s an unexplainable feeling, love. It disregards all aspects of morality, for you find yourself in a want, a greed to present yourself to them in ways unexplainable. There isn’t much you can do, that is. Either let the fire in your heart, pumping twice the amount of usual speed it would do per minute, simply fade out into an abyss of your recall, or contain its cancerous feelings, for all you muster your ability to do is fall more and more in love with them each day. As cancerous as it is however, you willingly choose to delve yourself deeper, until you manage to get injured horribly, or sometimes you come to a simple jurisdiction that the water is too sour for you to swallow. My smile grew wider at the quote that rolled off so delicately off his tongue, a feeling of euphoria that clashed in unison with the tide poured over my body from head to toe. “Yes, exactly that, my love.”

[tonystarkbingo]

3 Prompt Summaries Game

reunions, masks, body worship - suggested by @polizwrites

@polizwrites - Now that Rhodey was full time military, Tony hadn’t seen him  in months.  They  made plans to meet up in Key West  during Fantasy Fest  —  wearing masks (and very little else), they could finally indulge  their own fantasy of being a couple in public.

@psychiccatpanda - Rhodey took the kids trick-or-treating on his own because Tony had been called away on business again.  When they get back, Tony's home and has set the place up for a Halloween party for the kids and their friends. When the kids' friends go home and the lights go down, Rhodey takes his time welcoming his husband home.

@somesortofitalianroast - It was 5 years since Steve Rogers had last seen Bucky Barnes, when Barnes left in the middle of the night after they had sex for the first time, leaving the country the next day for a lucrative job, and Steve heartbroken. It had been several years since Steve had thought of Barnes, though he’d recognize the man anywhere, even behind a domino mask at a masquerade ball. Just seeing Barnes made his blood boil, and he wanted to charge across the ballroom, slap the man silly, and then worship every inch of the man’s body. Too bad he was at the ball with clients and there was no way he could do that without losing a very important contract.

@darthbloodorange - (ShrunkyClunks) - He waits in the shadows of an old warehouse, a mask obscuring his identity. No one could know he was here; not only would his reputation be tarnished, but that of the Avengers as their leader. But there was something about the dark assassin that drew him in. Barnes treated him like no other in this world. Treasured him, possessed him, worshipped him. Not like a hero as the world did, but as a man and lover.

Keep reading for lots more!

cookies, mermaid, dancing - suggested by @somesortofitalianroast

@somesortofitalianroast - Darcy didn’t bake for the Avengers all the time, and she never made her mermaid cookies, since they were complicated and she needed to pay attention to the details when icing them with fancy icing. So it was a big deal when she made them, the sort of thing that made you want to dance in the kitchen.

@gavilansblog - Luca AU where Tony introduces mer-people Steve and Bucky to cookies and dancing

@deehellcat - Morgan's eighth birthday party featured a mermaid theme, cookies with sparkly decorations, and dancing.

@psychiccatpanda - Bucky Barnes never dreamed he'd ever be put in charge of kids.  Who'd want the Winter Soldier for a babysitter?  But this little girl - Tony Stark's little girl - stared up at him, waiting for a reply.

He was pretty sure the last time he'd been this nervous was when he came back to the States after Wakanda.  "Yeah, we can do that.  Sounds like fun."

Which was how he found himself not-quite elbows deep in blue-green frosting for the ocean reef cookies they had baked (that he had baked) while Morgan spun around the kitchen dancing in her mermaid costume.

@lbibliophile-mcu - Tony looks at the tray of raw cookies in dismay. Whoever had designed the mermaid cookie cutter clearly had no concept of the baking skill of the average parent. 

He had managed to press out all the pictures without causing more damage than the occasional lost arm or misshapen head (and a couple of 'defective' cookies are always required for taste-testing straight out of the oven). But the process of transferring the cookies from the bench to the tray had caused the raw dough to stretch and fold and tear; leaving figures better described as some sort of vaguely-humanoid aquatic eldritch horror... 

Impatient, Morgan clambers onto her stool and gasps in delight. "Look, Daddy! The mermaids are dancing!"

@darthbloodorange - (Thundershield) - Thor set out on his boat to the middle of the lake. A smile on his face and a song on his lips. People feared the lake and the creatures that dwelled within. He didn't see why. Peering over the edge of the boat, he watched the mermaids dance. His eyes drawn to one in particular; the blond with the silvery-blue tail. He unwraps the cookies and sets them on the edge of his boat, hoping to draw the merman close again.

picnic, dragon, promises - suggested by @psychiccatpanda

@deehellcat - Steve and Bucky slip away from the village every chance they get to spend time together. Their favorite place to picnic is perilously close to a rumored dragon's lair, but they dare it for its beauty. imagine their surprise when one night as they stargaze and promise forever to each other, a dark shadow flies overhead then lands nearby. It's the legendary dragon, who greets them and offers to witness their solemn vows. (spoiler alert, the dragon is Tony, and I'm not sure what his relationship to them would end up being.)

@psychiccatpanda - Tony hated picnics.  He'd been on so many for photo shoots with his mom and Howard, then for Stark Industries, and the occasional summer charity event.  Picnics sucked.  There was either too much sun or not enough, not to mention bugs, screaming kids, or other couples making out. 

"You promised, Tony," the love of his life reminded him.  "And I got you a surprise." The surprise was a kite in the shape of a dragon. Suddenly, the day was looking better.

@somesortofitalianroast - Steve was walking to a picnic on the beach when he found a baby dragon, abandoned on the side of the road. He picked it up, intending to take it to the local fantasy animal shelter, but as soon as he touched it, he knew he would never be able to let it go. Which is why he was standing on the dunes, murmuring promises to the dragon in his arms.

@rebelmeg -  pepper sighed.  "tony, you promised you were gonna stop doing that." pointedly looking away from her, the red and gold dragon roughly the size of a large dog pointedly opened his mouth, and stuffed the donut hooked on his claw inside.  puffs of smoke emitted from his nostrils and he chuckled in a rough, growly way when a sandwich in a baggie smacked him in the back of the head. 

"we're never going on a picnic when you're shifted again, this is ridiculous."

@darthbloodorange - (Stucky, Fantasy AU) - Steve walks up to the den of the dragon; his once best friend and lover. Baskets of meat in hand, and his heart weighted heavily in his chest. He'd kept his promise for over 70 years, and he wasn't about to break it now. "Bucky, it's me. I know you remember me. You're in there somewhere, I feel it," he says in his elvish tongue. Within the den comes a mighty roar, seeming to shake the very core of the mountain. But Steve is not dissuaded.

bread, defenestration, jingle - suggested by @rebelmeg

@rebelmeg - standing at the window and very calmly eating her sandwich, natasha watched as clint climbed out of the bushes underneath and went streaking for the street, where an ice cream truck was driving past.  the second he'd heard the jingly song, the idiot had flung his own sandwich in the air and literally dove out the window.  wondering if he'd realize he didn't have any money on him, nat smirked.

@psychiccatpanda - (WinterIronHawk implied) To be fair, Clint had not thought about 'costume integrity' or the fact that the Christmas elf pajamas did not count for much in the way of bodily protection.  On the other hand, though, he'd just been planning on eating as much of the freshly baked panettone bread as Bucky let him get away with while they waited for Tony to get home.  Getting thrown through the  window of Tony's Malibu house by some Hydra experiment had not been on his radar at all. (Not Bucky - to be completely clear, he was cute and Clint didn't think mean things about people who baked him a nigh-endless quantity of sweets.)  At least he managed to keep the hat with its little bell that jingled cheerfully as Clint sailed through the air.

@darthbloodorange - Stony (probably a 5+1 fic) - Tony frowns as the familiar jingle of his phone drew him away from kneading his sourdough. He groans when he sees who it was that was calling. He nearly doesn't answer, but Barnes almost never calls, so curiosity gets the better of him. "Stark," the man greets, voice as gruff as ever. "What do you want?" he grumbles. "Arm's acting up again. Accidently threw your husband out a window. He's hanging on about the 26th floor? Thought you should know." "Damn it!" Tony cries, armour assembling around him quickly. He wishes this was the first time Barnes' arm had thrown an Avenger out the window... but it wasn't.

@lbibliophile-mcu - Tony likes bread as much as the next guy, but he is this close to swearing off the stuff entirely. He tenses as Clint moves behind him, his humming looping into yet another round of the jingle for the local bakery. He snaps. "Clint! If I hear another note I swear I will throw you out this window! And not send the suit after you." Clint grins, opens his mouth and... shuts it again. Silent.

Werewolves, Gardening, Hurt/Comfort - suggested by @darthbloodorange​

@somesortofitalianroast - (preserum!steve/werewolf!bucky) When he moved into the house, Steve was looking forward to growing a garden, with a large vegetable patch, all the herbs, and some flowers for the colors. He wasn’t expecting to get overheated. He certainly wasn’t expecting the werewolf to bound out of the woods to take care of him. He’d think he imagined the entire thing, except the werewolf stuck around. Still taking care of him.

@tehroserose - Steve and Tony had retreated into the woods. Obadiah had taken over Tony's birthright, and Hydra had encroached on Steve's home of Brooklyn. They met there, and lived off their wits. Tony did most of the smithing for the various exiles, while Steve gardened vegetables that were rare and valuable. They were content, and while they wished they could save their homelands, there was no real hope of doing so. No hope until one night, when Steve was doing one last check of the garden before going to sleep, he found a big, bleeding wolf.

@rebelmeg - "right here, honey," pepper pointed to a spot in the dirt, and tony padded over, pawing at the spot a few times before starting to dig.  "yep, that's enough." she stopped him when the hole was deep enough, then held out a hand for the flower morgan had cupped in her hands, cradling the ball of roots and dirt with care.  "see, now it's perfect!  you wanna take a ride on daddy now, morgan?  i  think he's getting bored with gardening."

"yeah!"  morgan jumped up with a shout, and scrambled up onto the werewolf's back with no problems.  "go, daddy, go!" with a woof, tony took off at a run, morgan holding tight to his fur as she giggled, and pepper smiled as she watched them.  tony hated going through a transformation during the full moon, the pain of it pretty extreme, but they'd found a lot of ways to make up for it.

@psychiccatpanda - Tony had avoided Barnes since Steve had brought him to the compound.  The werewolf had done the same.  Howard hadn't had anything good to say about weres in general, but everyone knew wolves were the worst.  It was part of the reason that part of the Avengers had been politely asked to leave Wakanda.  Opening the door to his patio, Tony caught the shine of eyes and Barnes scrambled back from what he'd been doing.  Tony scanned the patio and only saw a trowel, some loose dirt, and a flat of plants - wolfsbane. "Doesn't that stuff give you blisters or something?" Tony asked, knowing that it was probably true.  "How about you come in and wash your hands and tell me what you're up to."

@darthbloodorange - (Ults Stony) - After Steve is infected with Lycanthropy, Tony took him to one of his parents' houses out in the country. Everyone expected Steve would get over it, given time, as he did with the vampirism. But the lycanthropy sticks, appearing to have fused with the serum. While SHIELD's scientists look into a cure, Tony stays with Steve. Growing bored of the overly-manicured, emptiness that was the green fields surrounding the country house, Steve takes up gardening as his current mission. Tony watches, completely enthralled, as Steve slowly transforms the area around the house.

letter, basket, book - suggested by @rebelmeg

@jamesbuckystark - Someone left a basket on Tony's doorstep containing a book, a map, and a magnifying glass. Inside the book was a letter dated 1942. He's curious to find out what this means

@tehroserose - Morgan put down the letter. It was the last one. Her father had written her one for every birthday and potential special occasion. This one was for when she became a mother. She couldn't have them hidden away, they were on a basket on her dresser in her room, but that didn't make them any less bittersweet. He left her behind. To save the world, but he had left her. 

 She went to sit in the rocking chair next to her child's crib and began to read the children's story her mother had allowed all those years ago. "Iron Man and the End of Thanos". Any children she had would know their grandfather.

@somesortofitalianroast - When Bucky decided to become a librarian, he thought it would give him access to all the books all the time, in exchange for maybe some shelving. He didn’t realize how much work went into collections development and management, nor how much time was spent looking books up for patrons on their own system when asked if the library had a particular book. Boring and frustrating. He just had to stick it out until he paid off the worst of his student loans. Until the day the letter arrived on his desk, sitting next to a gift basket from a local fancy food store. A letter letting him know that the gift basket was from his secret admirer.

@jacarandabanyan - After waking from the ice, Steve took to reading voraciously to catch up on what he'd missed. Despite Tony's offers, he never did come around to a screen reader, though, and instead opted to keep a pile of books on his bedside table. When the pile of books got too big, he had a whicker basket to put the overflow in. 

 Tony feels like the two of them can't have a conversation outside the heat of battle without devolving into arguments and personal attacks, so he takes to slipping notes into Steve's books. Over time, the notes get longer and longer, until it would be more proper to call them letters than notes.

@rebelmeg - tiny!tony is digging through a basket of new books the jarvises got him, a mix of kids books and textbooks and novels.  as he digs, one of the books falls open, and out falls an envelope.  the letter inside seems to be written in code... but he's also pretty sure that's his mama's handwriting.  a grin spreading across his face, he sits down next to the basket and starts working out the code.

@darthbloodorange - (Stucky? Witch/Fantasy AU?) - Steve sits in his chair by the window and opens his favourite book. With careful hands, he pulls out the letter from his mother, which he'd been using as a bookmark, and carries on where he'd left off. Library, his familiar, jumps from her basket into his lap and curls up, butting her head against his hands. Despite the warmth and happiness he felt here, it wasn't complete. A part will always be missing until Bucky returns.

@psychiccatpanda - Whoever had suggested they stay at this rickety, 'quaint' seaside hotel had apparently never seen any island murder movies ever, Tony thought with disgust.  The wood floors creaked and the building made weird noises at night.  Combined with the crashing waves, it was not what Tony called relaxing.  Somebody knocked and Tony assumed it was the room service snack he'd ordered.  Instead, he found a basket with a book tucked inside.  Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None.

"That's not ominous," Tony muttered to himself, flipping through the pages. Then he saw the letter tucked inside.

[anobscurename]

ocean eyes – chris evans

PART I | PART II | PART III

concept: a collection of happenings, but there do happen to be a lot of references to the other parts. it’s just plotless fluff at this point. the slowest of slow burns. there will be many more parts. this is your moving in – finally – and the welcome party that follows.

pairing: chris evans x reader

word count: 2.7k

warnings: a lot of teasing, ice cream, dirty thoughts, and a touch of sexual frustration.

author’s note: so this is part four, and we finally have some mackie and stan action! also, because i believe in all ice cream flavour superiority, i have left a little “choose your own response” thing. select whichever one fits you as the reader :)

“Is that the last of it?”

“I think so.” You were breathless from the move, boxes covering almost every viable flat surface of your new bedroom.

Chris had himself a rather nice house up on the Hollywood Hills, and through one of the many windows, you glimpsed the shimmering reflection of a spacious pool. The residence boasted three bedrooms, and now one was yours. It was enough to make your head spin.

“I’ll let you get settled, then,” Chris smiled, his hand finding your shoulder in a gesture that suggested nothing more than friendship – one which your body reacted to as something more. His hand was warm, and you hoped he didn’t notice the goosebumps that rose on your arms at his very touch. The scent of him invaded your nostrils, utterly intoxicating.

You folded your arms across your chest hoping to disguise the sudden gooseflesh. There was something about him that made your hair stand on end, but in a purely unadulterated good way – some kind of magnetic energy that made you want his hands encompassing every inch of your body, committing it to his memory. When he retracted his hand, you hoped he hadn’t seen the slump of your shoulders in soft disappointment.

He had.

And if you had been paying more attention to him, and not your own suddenly raging hormones, then you wouldn’t have missed the smirk that quirked his lips at the visible effect he appeared to have on you.

“Don’t take too long, though,” he added by the doorway. The mere glimpse you caught of his cheekbones in profile had your breath stuttering erratically, even more so than the weight of your neatly packed boxes ever hoped to achieve. “We have a welcome party to get to in a few hours.”

——————

The welcome party, you were to discover later, was a party of two – just you and your cab thief – to be later joined by two of his friends who happened to be in L.A.

You banished any and all thoughts of it being a date or not this time, and found yourself much more put at ease by it once you had set your resolve. You were his friend – barely even that, if you would let yourself admit it – nothing less, nothing more. And what type of date would it be with his friends there, in any case?

So outfit choice came easy. If you were to be living together, he would inevitably become accustomed to you looking borderline homeless at times, and should the occasion call for it, like an absolute goddess the next. And so your selection of clothing came effortless, settling for something in between: a homeless goddess.

You didn’t know where Chris was taking you, so the selected aesthetic happened to be minimalistic makeup and a black jumpsuit that could either be dressed up or down, but looked classy all the same. You decided to dress it down – pairing it with a pair of old worn in Docs you had on hand – and one look at him – as he waited patiently for you on the couch – you knew you had made the perfect choice.

He had his legs crossed, ankle balancing on knee as he bounced his leg subconsciously. Dodger’s head was in his lap as he absentmindedly petted him. His legs were clad in dark wash jeans, tailored to fit him perfectly, and his torso sported a dark blue button up under a brown leather jacket. His hair was slicked back – either from a shower or from styling product, only time would tell.

Hell, he’d even shaved for this, his face appearing much more boyishly charming than anything now.

It took a moment for you to register that Steve Rogers and Chris Evans were two different people, what with him sat there in an ensemble he must’ve stolen from the costume department.

It was Dodger that noticed you first. He had taken quite the liking to you when you first arrived – three hours ago, to be precise – and it had taken almost half an hour to get him to leave your room so you could begin in the tedium of unpacking. He had been practically inconsolable, and had scratched at your door for another ten minutes after until Chris eventually decided to spend some time with him out in the garden to distract him from your loss. You knew you and the boxer were going to be fast friends. Especially now that his tail was pounding furiously in its wagging, beating the couch cushions into submission. It was then that Chris noticed you, too.

He turned his head, and time seemed to slow. A second felt drawn into an hour as he took you in. There was an imperceptible, intranslatable crease in his brow before it slackened and his face broke into a soft, boyish grin. “Wow,” he said softly.

“Is it… too much? I can go change if–”

“No!” He cleared his throat, his hurried response jarring enough to make even Dodger cock his head. “No, you look perfect. Beautiful. Great.”

His smile was contagious and you found your face splitting into a delighted beam. “You’re one to talk. You clean up nice, Captain Armani.”

He rose from the couch. Dodger followed him off to bound up to you and give your hand a soft lick. Under his breath, you could hear Chris scoff at the Captain Armani tease. “You ready to go?”

“Um, yeah… What about Dodger though? Will he be alright?”

“He’ll be fine. We won’t be out long anyways,” Chris winked – more so to Dodger than you, but that did nothing to stave off the shiver that ran unbidden down your spine. “I promise.”

——————

Chris took you to a restaurant first – nothing fancy, and very clearly nothing too romantic, that was certain; corroborated by the subtle sink of your heart – before you both began your pleasant evening stroll, vaguely in the direction of the “hidden gem” dive bar him and a few of his friends had found when he’d moved to L.A.

It would be an unfaithful recounting of events if you said it hadn’t been a bit awkward at first, but soon enough, you’d both found your footing, and the quick witted teasing and fast fire rapport was almost second nature to the both of you.

“Favourite Disney character, and if you say you don’t have one, you can find somewhere else to live.”

The mirth in his eyes suggested he was joking, but there was an edge to his voice that said otherwise. He was serious to some extent, and for some unfathomable reason, you refused to let him down. Also because you really didn’t have a place to go should this all go sideways. You mentally made a reminder to have a fail safe contingency plan if things got messy – not that they would; you were insistent on that.

“It happens that I’m in luck, then,” you retorted. “Because as it so happens, I have a top five.”

You rattled off your list, loving the way Chris’ smile grew impossibly wider at each name drop.

Your conversation – more a debate on who was the badder bitch: Mulan, Moana, or Elsa – took a natural halt outside a cute hole-in-the-wall ice cream parlour. Suddenly, memories of the first time you met came flooding back.

“Cookies and cream, right?”

He arched a brow in confusion.

“Your favourite ice cream flavour. It was cookies and cream.”

“You remembered.”

It was enough to make you laugh, the surprise in his voice. “Of course I would. You tried to convince me it was the best in the world. Stupidly so, considering [I already am an avid cookies and cream worshipper] // [my allegiances lie with {insert favourite ice cream flavour here}].”

“Yeah, yeah. Do you want some? Before we go and meet Seb and Anthony?”

“Uh, sure,” you shrugged.

He gave you a playful nudge of the elbow and headed to the counter. The order came quick, and soon you were back on your slow crawl to the pub, ice cream already starting to sweat and melt in the sugarcone.

You watched in amusement as Chris all but moaned in ecstasy as he devoured the cookies and cream. The sound was enough to make you moan yourself, but the sight – well, that was a more humourous one to behold. He ate like a starving man, and some dark recess of your mind wondered what else he might be inclined to eat with such passion–

He had caught you staring, and he paused his ministrations. “What?”

“Nothing.” You had tried to stifle your giggle with ice cream, and it had turned into a cough, and now you were outright laughing at him. “Don’t stop on my account, I just think you and your dessert should find a room if you’re going to be so vocal about your pleasure.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, did you want some?” He smirked, offering you his mangled ice cream scoop, half gone already.

“I’ve got my own, I think I’ll survive.” The wink came natural with your response.

“No, really, you should try some.”

“It’s just hard to take you seriously. With all the ice cream on your face.”

He paused, confusion halting his steps. And rightfully so – he still remained immaculate, not a speck out of place. “Where?”

“Right…” – you suddenly grabbed his unsuspecting hand, still clutching his treat, and smeared the icy cold goodness on the side of his cheek – “there!”

Your howl of laughter was short lived as he slowly wiped the ice cream from his face before turning his attention to you. “Oh, you’re gonna regret that.”

It wasn’t menacing by any means, more playful, but when he came at you with his ice cream cone, every intent of menace was there. You were wearing black, after all, and a stain from that cream was going to be glaringly visible for the entire bar excursion.

Easily dodging his attack, you darted to the side and held your own ice cream out, hoping it would keep him at bay. He still advanced, and you knew you were screwed.

So you said fuck it, and ran.

Luckily, you had already been quite close to the bar, and although you wouldn’t be able to tell them where exactly it was should a stranger ask you in passing, you recognized the name on the sign easily enough. Taking one last mournful bite of ice cream, you discarded the rest in a garbage can, it proving more a hindrance to your escape than a good weapon.

Exhilaration flowing through you, peels of laughter leaving your lips, you burst into the bar, hoping you’d be safe. The patrons paid you no mind as you whipped around, eyes cautiously on the door, awaiting your doom.

Chris burst in not soon after you, both of you breathless. He had lost the ice cream along the way too, and with that immediate danger gone, you felt yourself visibly relax.

Among your panting breaths, you chuckled. “Truce?”

He nodded, swallowing thickly. “Truce.”

“Hey, Evans! Over here!”

Both of you turned your attention to the man who spoke. Sat side by side in a booth, waiting for your arrival, was the ever gorgeous Sebastian Stan and Anthony Mackie, the latter having risen to wave you over.

Your heart stuttered at the sheer bizarreness of it all.

“Holy shit,” you whispered. “How do I look?”

“You look great.” When you gazed up at Chris, there was a softness to his eyes and a gentleness to his smile. It astounded you how playful and teasing he could be one second, and how heartachingly genuine he could be the next. “Except…”

Your eyes widened. “Except?!”

He chuckled, reaching out a tentative thumb. When you didn’t pull away, he proceeded. One, large and wildly beautiful hand resting on your cheek, the thumb grazing your lip, you had to remind yourself that you had just run for your life and that was the reason for your heart threatening to break free from your chest – nothing more. But there they were again, the goddamn goosebumps. You shivered, undetectable to him, but what felt like earthquake tremors to you.

He swiped away the leftover ice cream that had been clinging to your lips, and, without a second thought, brought his thumb to those perfect lips of his. Time seemed to slow as you watched him lick and suck the ice cream off his finger, his eyelids fluttering, long lashes fanning closed.

And then the spell broke as he gave you a reassuring and completely friendly smile, unfazed at all by what had just transpired. “There. Much better.”

——————

Anthony was bewildered. “Wait, so he stole your cab?”

“And you let him?” Seb had paused while chalking his cue.

“She never let’s him forget…” Chris grumbled under his breath, taking a languid sip of his beer.

That earned him a mutual eye roll from you and Sebastian, and a look passed between you.

“What a baby,” you mouthed to him from across the pool table.

“I know!” He mouthed back with a smirk while sinking down to line up his next shot.

After an initial round of drinks, you and the boys eventually found yourselves migrating to the pool table. Anthony and Seb were the only ones playing, having gotten to the bar earlier than you and Chris and were pleasantly buzzed by the time you two had entered. Chris and you decided to sit the first round out, instead opting to drink a little more before.

“And then he followed you into an alleyway and you didn’t kick him in the dick?” Anthony gave Seb a pat on the shoulder in consolation when he missed the shot, but still had his attention focused on you, and the unravelling series of events that had led you to this moment.

Seb, still cursing from his failed shot, straightened from the table. “He would’ve been kicked in the dick the moment he tried to steal my cab, I can tell you that.”

Anthony and Sebastian found your story far more amusing than you ever did, but the more you spoke about it with them, the funnier it became.

“Well, it’s not so bad. I got to meet you guys.” You raised your beer in cheers.

Seb pressed a hand to his heart, mouthing a soft “aaw”, while Anthony, although smiling his adorable gap-toothed grin, rolled his eyes. “Man, get the hell out of here with that sappy shit.”

You laughed, hopping off your bar stool. “Alright, come on, it’s my turn. You’re all fucking it up, it really can’t be that hard…”

——————

Apparently it could be that hard. And you weren’t talking about the team of doubles pool game unfolding in front of you…

You were bent over the pool table, lining up your next shot. And Chris was…

His body was pressed against yours, leaning against you, every bit as warm as you expected, and rock hard with taut muscles that you could feel individually ripple at every movement. The smell of him – something delicious and indescribable – was all around you. Affable hands – leaving a blazing trail of goosebumps in their wake – travelled down to cover your own as he “helped you” play pool.

He was speaking low, directly into your ear, each husky word shiver inducing as every so often his lips would brush the shell of your ear as either he or you shifted.

“Nice and steady. Keep your eye on the ball,” he murmured throatily. The hand that wasn’t assiting your grip on the cue idly fell to land on the dip of your waist, travelling down to rest on the curve of your hip – searing hot through your jumpsuit. “Just like that…”

You involuntarily moved beneathe him, and you felt him stiffen. He cleared his throat, the rasp still tinted in his voice, eyes hooded with something unknown.

He drew back, leaving you cold and wanting – but much more clear headed. It wasn’t entirely lost on you, the way he shuffled uncomfortably, having to adjust his jeans – particularly around the crotch area.

“You know, Evans,” you smirked. “If I needed your help, I would’ve asked for it.”

To punctuate your point, you sank the ball you’d had your eye on, and, in quick succession, sank another.

He watched you, captivated, mouth slightly agape. “I…”

You shot Mackie a wink over the table as you missed the next shot, but managed to position the eight ball right in front of his and Seb’s most favoured pocket, effectively screwing them over. He groaned, but nodded and slow clapped in appreciation of the duplicity. You mockingly curtseyed to him, before handing the cue to Chris for his shot.

“Don’t worry,” Seb said, clapping Chris on the shoulder. “You’ll get ‘em next time, tiger.”