#I do think ultimately it is just a jealousy/pride thing though

[isbelevans]

It would honestly be such a plot twist if it turned out that Boston was also in love with Mew and that is why he is so obsessed with him

[cheegu3]

Maybe whenever you can no rush! If u can do a Yandere ENHYPEN hyung line where the reader maybe has a pregnancy scare it’s up to you if the reader actually is or isn’t pregnant:)

tw / trigger warning; yandere themes, NSFW, mentions of sex, unhealthy relationships, talks of abortion, forced abortion, murder, pregnancy, possessiveness, jealousy, pregnancy scare, breeding/preg kink

this is heavy so don't read if it makes u uncomfortable !!

note; I could NOT find a matching pic for heeseung 💀💀

Enhypen - reaction to s/o having a pregnancy scare

Heeseung

Probably has a breeding kink and has waited a long time to get you pregnant. Heeseung believes it's the ultimate way to be connected to you forever, which is all that he has ever wanted.

If you were on birth control, he'd hide them from you or purposefully try to make you forget to take them by distracting you.

Therefor he won't let you have an abortion even if you wanted to. He'll prevent you from leaving his house; putting up cameras and asking for help from the people around him to watch you.

It's also to make sure you won't have an '' accident ''. If he's watching you 24/7 no such thing will ever happen, and it puts his mind at ease.

You told him before even taking a pregnancy test that you thought you might be pregnant. The early symptoms were there - nausea, fatigue and light cramps, as well as a missed period.

You dreaded his reaction, just because you knew exactly what it'd be like. Your boyfriend might've thought you didn't hear what he said while he was fucking you, but you did. After some time, you realised he was trying to get you pregnant by interfering with you taking the pill, it seemed that you had only realised it too late.

The door opened and you blurted it out without wasting much time as soon as he stepped in.

'' Hee, I think I'm pregnant. ''

His movements stopped, and slowly his lit up eyes met your sad ones.

'' Fuck, I've been waiting so long for this. '' he whispered, almost eerily obsessive.

Jay

Doesn't want it at all and there will be no arguments about it. When you told him about your missed period, he felt sick to his stomach.

Knowing the decision was ultimately up to him however made him feel a little better. But he hesitated to force you to get an abortion. Jay wanted you to think he was the perfect boyfriend, that manipulated you into thinking you had a choice at all times, giving you a sense of control.

In reality, if you didn't want to get one after he'd gently bring it up as a suggestion, then it would disappear one way or another. Carefully he'd research how to get rid of it at home.

Your food would be tampered with and not long after, he would have to comfort you as you mysteriously started bleeding.

Of course, it was only a scare though. So thankfully he didn't have to put you or him through that. But still, there were a lot of things you weren't aware of what he was capable of doing just yet.

'' What does it say? ''

You both held your breaths.

'' Negative, '' you murmured, feeling your face drop.

You were trying to control your disappointment, not wanting it to show to your boyfriend who must be devastated. But when you saw him in the corner of your eye, your mouth fell open.

'' You're...happy? ''

His smirk that was spreading quickly turned into irritation as your sniffles filled the small bathroom.

Jake

He's fine with whatever you want to do. If he was being honest with himself, the thought of you being pregnant with his child made his chest swell with pride and turned him on at the same time.

It would be a definite way to make less men flirt with you. In Jake's sick head, that child would be proof to those men that he was the one who was fucking you and finishing inside you. He wanted them to know that so that they'd keep their eyes off of what was his.

Having his arm stuck around your waist wasn't enough. He needed them to see that you were a happy family and he was the man of your life that would always be there.

If it was just a scare however, he'd be disappointed, having already imagined himself as a dad and doting husband and fantasizing about it whenever he was alone. But he was also okay with it, knowing it was coming soon anyway.

'' I think it's real this time. '' you groaned, slowly turning the pregnancy test around.

Jake was grinning, he already had a feeling that it wasn't a scare this time as well.

Positive

You barely had time to react before he threw himself into your arms, kissing you and mumbling over and over how much he loved you.

The hands that hovered over his back, slowly fell down. Your mood was way different than his. You didn't want a lovesick freak to be the father of your kid, that's no way to live.

Sunghoon

He didn't want a baby but for different reasons. Firstly - the thought of having to share you with someone else made him feel hot with anger. He believed your attention should be on him all the time and you should only love him.

Second of all he was a bit scared of the complications that could come with you being pregnant. Although he was rich and had access to the best care in the world, he was terrified of any possibility that involved losing you.

If you died in childbirth, he knew he'd forever hate that kid for taking away the one thing he loved - and that was also another thing, he wouldn't love the child even if it was his own. He only loved you, and that's how it would always be.

'' Thank god. I don't want any kids. ''

Your forehead furrowed as you glowered at him.

'' I do, '' his head snapped towards you, looking angry now too. '' At some point. ''

'' No. ''

You scoffed at his stern and short tone.

'' What? What do you mean no? ''

'' I don't want any kids, you only need me. ''

'' But- ''

'' Do you want to get punished? '' he growled, voice growing dangerously low.

[dreamyrat]

now that i’ve written about sappy functional middle aged labru i’m thinking about more realistic and sad scenarios…

kabru who gets married young and has children because HEAR ME OUT he believes it makes him more trustworthy than being a bachelor… not quite aware of why he feels the need to appear as normal as possible around others and encouraging laios to do the same… continuing to be unaware of his feelings for laios, writing it off as purely sexual and therefore easy to deny and ignore, despite the fact that he’s closer to laios than anyone.

laios never marrying because the idea of disrupting the status quo is uncomfortable, since he just got used to being king and kabru’s family. also fundamentally disagreeing with kabru’s opinion on needing to get married just for the sake of others, by extension never having to confront his attraction to kabru, even being afraid to get near it mentally. thinking that his jealousy and insecurity stems purely from the threat of losing his closest friend and confidant, DEFINITELY no other reason.

I think kabru would marry a working class woman rather than nobility because they can relate to each other better, the idea they both have to serve people in some capacity, and all the turmoil and triumph that comes with that. I imagine kabru performing the role of doting father and husband very well. his wife loves how attentive he is and how he notices things about her no one else ever has. he’s patient but stern with the kids and earnestly connects with them. until he ultimately burns out and his wife realizes he can’t be honest with her, despite years of trying to get him to open up. up until that point his romantic relationships had all been fun and non committal, and she took pride in the fact she made him want to settle. she never could fully explain what was off about their relationship, because he really was very kind and loving, until she realizes how deeply kabru has repressed his emotions and cant help but question everything and feel she fundamentally misunderstood kabru as a person…

maybe a near death experience with laios triggers it, and kabru’s unable to take care of himself completely, he can’t mask his fear and neurosis and rage anymore, he can’t eat or sleep until he’s okay. he throws himself into his work and refuses to acknowledge that he is struggling when she asks him about it. her realizing that despite kabru’s best efforts to love her and care for her, his relationship with laios is more emotionally intimate than theirs, will always be what drives him and centers him, and she shouldn’t have to compete with that… she obviously mourns what she thought their marriage was, and can’t help but feel betrayed, but overtime starts to feel a deep empathy for him.

I guess I want to explore how kabru’s social dexterity has the potential to be just as destructive as laios’ social ignorance… even though they both have the best intentions and care about others.

when his wife divorces him, he is forced to be honest with laios about why she left, and he has immense guilt over not being able to love her correctly, about being fundamentally flawed and strange, the child that was raised to be a perfect doll, the monster kid no one wanted to play with, how his efforts to compensate for his innate wrongness blew up in his face anyway, which obviously laios can relate to better than anyone.

I think they would dance around each other after that, both now fully aware of the attraction but being so practiced in the art of denial they dont know what to do. It just feels so good to have it out in the open, they forgot that they can actually do something about it. Also kabru feeling like he shouldn’t be allowed to indulge after causing so much pain.

when they finally do get together, it’s surprisingly shy and chaste at first, like they are scared to face the depth of their desire and the years they wasted. it’s slow until it’s not, and everything bubbles to the surface, and they have mind blowing autistic sex. lol.

as for his children i think laios always really liked them as their weird uncle and since he has no heirs, he’d leave his kingdom to them. I’m not sure if kabru’s ex wife would be able to have a relationship with kabru after they get together, but maybe… maybe they could be friends.

[anonzentimes]

hiya zen ! i'm sorry if this has been asked before but it just seemed like such a fun concept to explore.

on to the question, which of the seven deadly sins do you think fits nagito best ? honestly, he's so complex and putting him into a small box is already difficult enough as it is, but combined with the fact that... pretty much none of them are accurate to his character, it's pretty difficult to tell.

i've seen people (on r/danganronpa, so not too surprising) say he's wrath, which feels ,,, iffy to me. that doesn't feel like it fits him at all. his desire of wanting the very best for others seems to contrast with wrath. honestly, willing to bet those people just went "oh evil person who does bad things bc it's fun ok must be wrath then".

one i have mixed feelings about is envy, which... fits hajime better than nagito imo. sure, his entire worldview is kind of based around talent, but it doesn't feel like jealousy to me. the core of his character is that: due to trauma and the talent-obsessed society around him, he starts to hate himself... and instead of trying to desperately give everything away to change that like hajime , he just... accepts it. he accepts it as a part of himself, or hell, as the entirety of himself, as if that was all there was to him. hell, he even states *twice* that he doesn't envy the ultimates. once in the beginning of chapter 2 during his monologue, where he states that:

"Ah, just so you know, what I feel is different from admiration."

"Admiration is... wishing you could be like the object of your admiration."

"But, what I feel is more... pure. More like a selfless love that wants nothing in return."

And, once at... the beginning of the OVA i think ??? it's been a long time since i rewatched it so I don't really remember but he says something about how... the star of the show is such a demanding role, and how he'd rather remain as he is or something ???

pride is crossed off for obvious reasons LMFAO.

greed isn't accurate to him either. his only motivations are for others, not for himself. and even then, he wishes for an " absolute hope that can overcome any despair " . he doesn't even wish for an material possessions, if that makes sense. can hope be found through those material possessions ? i mean , probably. but like... what he wishes for is.. not only selfless , but also... so abstract ? i don't think he'd be a big fan of the idea that you could achieve pure hope through something material. he views it as absolute good, an absolute good like that would usually be found in other things than just something so limiting as material possessions. I'm pretty unsure about this part though.

lust is... eh. lust is almost always interpreted in a sexual sense, but it can also work in other contexts, though i'm not sure what definition would be in that case. i guess he's lustful for wanting the best for people LOL ??? that sounds so weird.

the people who say nagito is horny all the time would argue nagito is lustful in the sexual sense, and i mean , maybe but not really ? we know he compares hope to sex in one of the songs written by megumi ogata (which i'll consider canon), but he we also know that he absolutely isn't a sex freak by any means and in the games and anime, is actually pretty chaste. he also views sex as something intimate to share with a person he loves. something to share with a person who loves him enough to be intimate with him as well, and pretty much just... mutual expression of trust and intimacy ? i'd interpret lust to be like.. sex obsessed, pretty much. which, of course, kind of contradicts nagito.

anyway, i briefly considered sloth for him, in the sense that he doesn't want to put in effort to achieve something great for himself. it's all for others. he's never going to put in effort for something if it is self-serving, and... even though he ends up significantly influencing other people's lives, he plays a much more passive role in his own life if that makes any sense ????? oh, and it could also be telling of his luck in a way, in the sense that he's kind of... bound to it and can't escape it ? i have no idea 😭 to be honest, this one is atleast slightly understandable, unlike all the others which are just blatantly inaccurate to his character LMFAO.

i don't know, those are just my thoughts. what do you think ?

I just need you to know what I was giggling and kicking my feet over how much of a Nagito understander you are,,, this is such an interesting question it absolutely has not been asked before!!!

That being said, I’m honestly on the same page as you are. I’m a little stumped since none of them really describe Nagito properly? Sloth is the closest one that you could twist into a way of it fitting him, but otherwise most of the others are blatantly inaccurate to important aspects of his character??? I know that isn’t really helpful, but man is it hard to assign him one when he’s so unique. Nagito and Hajime are different sides of the same coin, and I don’t think Nagito’s selfless love, “envy,” or “admiration,” fits into any of the boxes that are provided. The end result feels like he doesn’t fit any of them, but the goal here is to assign him at least one of them right? So I guess Sloth in this situation is the best option, supposedly reflecting specific aspects of him and how he basically never does anything self serving. I mean, at the end of the day I’d like to have slightly understandable over blatant mischaracterization LMAO. So yeah, I think I would agree with Sloth over the others.

Thank you for your ask, this was so interesting to think about!! It made me so happy to read how thoroughly you thought about this, and how much you understand his character <3

[zenkindoflove]

Elucien Parallels: Eddard and Catelyn Stark's Arranged Marriage/Marriage of Convenience Trope

I'm back again with more ACOTAR and ASOIAF/GOT parallels. You can go read this post where I breakdown my thoughts on comparing Elain Archeron and Sansa Stark as representing similar character archetypes in fantasy.

Today I want to talk about one of my favorite ASOIAF/GOT ships - Ned and Cat. What I want to do with this post is sort of breakdown the dynamics of their relationship and story arc and apply it to some common criticisms of Elucien and why in order to get the kind of tension Elucien have in canon, you need to have an understanding of how this particular trope works and the way these types of characters inhabit it.

So, a quick rundown on Ned and Cat and their relationship, just to get anyone reading this up to speed. Catelyn Tully was betrothed to Brandon Stark, Ned's older brother. Their betrothal represented a political alliance between the Starks of Winterfell and the Tullys of Riverrun - the liege lords of their respective regions. Despite being betrothed for political reasons, Catelyn fell deeply in love with Brandon anyways. And when he was tragically murdered by the Mad King, alongside his father, she was heart broken. Enters Ned, now the Lord of Winterfell, who has to secure this political alliance because he is about to wage a rebellion alongside his friend Robert Baratheon against the Targaryens. It makes perfect sense for him to marry his brother's betrothed. Ned and Cat get married quickly and off to war he went. When he returned a year later, he brought home his bastard, Jon Snow. He and Cat now have to figure out their marriage on top of not only being effectively strangers, but also with this betrayal looming over their relationship. When we enter the story of Game of Thrones, they have 5 children, the oldest Robb who was conceived just before Ned left for war, is 16. Cat and Ned are very much in love, showing open affection and devotion to each other. Cat is quoted later in the series telling her son Robb (show canon):

"Love didn't just happen to us. We built it slowly over the years, stone by stone, for you, for your brothers and sisters, for all of us. It's not as exciting as secret passion in the woods, but it is stronger."

Okay, so where does Elucien come into all of this and why should you care if you ship them?

Well, I think Cat and Ned's story illustrates a lot of things and disproves many doubts that are thrown at Elucien being endgame.

Betrayal

First is this issue of betrayal - that Lucien's involvement with Tamlin and his inevitable association with the situation in Hybern (though he did not know the extent of the deal with Hybern nor at all that Feyre's sisters had been kidnapped) will be such a huge breach of trust that Elain will never be able to get over it. That the relationship is dead before it even started.

Ned and Cat are a perfect example of how many anti-Eluciens are wrong when they think that Elucien are essentially dead before they start. By bringing home Jon Snow and raising him in his home amongst his trueborn children, Ned inflicted a huge betrayal onto his wife before they ever truly started their relationship. Although, at least in show canon, we know this ends up being quite a noble lie by Ned, this is never something that he reveals to Cat. So, Cat must swallow her pride and her jealousy and continue to be Ned's wife. This does not mean she has to fall in love with him, as it is not expected of her to, but she does all the same. Why? Because of Ned's inherent goodness and devotion to her. Cat sees that Ned is a good, honorable man - which is why she ultimately believes the rumors that Jon must be Ashara Dayne's son and that he is a love-child that Ned cannot bear to abandon. Because as she comes to know Ned, she sees his heart and his moral standing.

Which is all to say, that regardless of whether Elain begins her journey angry and blaming Lucien for association with her being Made and the end of her engagement, by getting to know him and spending time with him, she too will be able to see Lucien's inherent goodness. It is unavoidable and undeniable. Lucien, much like Ned, is honorable, loyal, and stands up to the face of evil, even if it will stupidly get him killed. He takes ownership over the people in the lands he runs and cares for that responsibility and their well being deeply. He commits violence when he must but he does not enjoy it. These are all traits that suited Cat well and why she ended up having such a loving marriage to Ned through many, many years. And likewise, suit Elain well and why she and Lucien will have a healthy and loving mating bond.

Reluctant Tension

Many anti-Eluciens do not understand the romantic tension presented in their situation. They see their distance, polite exchanges, and reactions as a sign of indifference or discomfort. It is a far cry from the explosive anger and deliberate pushing away that Nesta displayed with Cassian. Sometimes it's easier to understand Nessian's romantic tension because passion can exist both in anger and desire. But what about the stilted interactions of Elucien?

This is also where I will draw parallels to Ned and Cat. Ned and Cat did not go to the alter kicking and screaming. They were not political rivals or enemies. Catelyn did her duty with her head held high, living her house words (Family, Duty, Honor). Catelyn is often described as the picture of a noble lady - well-mannered, kind, diligent, dutiful, and respected. She held a high place of honor at Riverrun, effectively serving as Lady of the house after her mother's passing at a young age, and then taking over the role of Lady of Winterfell. She earned loyalty and respect amongst her subjects. We don't know much about the dynamic of Ned and Cat at the early days of their relationship. But what we can infer based on how Cat describes this time period, is that Cat hid her reluctance and anger behind silent pride. It was over time, as she grew to know Ned that this distrust and distance was thawed and she fell in love with him.

Similarly, Ned is not a hot head. He is grounded and stone-faced, a trait that Cat actually did not like initially because it was so different from his brother who she was in passionate love with. Brandon was a hot-head, charming, and funny. He was a showboat and is basically how he came to duel Petyr Baelish in the first place. But Catelyn eventually realizes the wisdom in loving a man like Ned, rather than the girlish love she had for Brandon.

Now Elain and Lucien are not mirror images of this. Lucien is certainly much more savvy and charming than Ned. And Elain is not forced into a romantic relationship with Lucien at all even with the mating bond. She has been given total freedom to choose, unlike Cat. But, my point here is that the presentation of their romantic tension, which is more quiet and understated and can confuse some readers who have a preference for the more passionate displays of tension, is very similar to Ned and Cat in the beginning of their relationship.

Now, as we learn both in the books and the show, Cat and Ned at the start of the series are well into their 16+ year marriage and are quite passionate now. They have many loving physical displays with one another, often passionately kissing or referencing passionate lovemaking they just had. They speak to each other with such warm affection others have to look away. It is clear they have deep love for each other that goes beyond duty. The passion certainly developed between them along the way. With Elucien I'm sure this will play out much differently given the presentation of the mating bond and how we know it affects people. It's very likely both of them are deeply desiring each other already, and very likely that they will have some dramatic rows between them, as it is likely Ned and Cat had as well, once they start really talking about the hard topics. But the point is that passion and the potential for passion does not have to be readily observable right from the start. If anything, there is something very delicious in the steady build-up to it through many of the tropes we see in historical romances where there are rules and etiquette to courtship (which many suspect Elucien will play with some regency era tropes).

Conclusion:

I really love finding parallels between ships of my favorite series, and there is of course a lot to draw from when its two fantasy series. In the end, my bigger point is that great love can come from Arranged Marriage/Marriage of Convenience Tropes which Elucien inhabit with the nature of their bond snapping right when they met. It's not for everyone, but for those of us who get it... we really get it. Fortunately for us, Elucien exist in a romance with HEAs and not the world of ASOIAF/GOT so they won't meet the same tragic fates as Ned and Cat *sobs*.

[fadelbison]

I really love Joe as a character. And I think the reason why he does in fact complement Ming so well is because he’s just as delightfully illogical. In many ways he’s quite similar to Ming in his approach to things but the praxis that drives his decision making comes from kindness rather than rich boy narcissism.

The entirety of episode 6 I’m looking at him and he’s made no growth from before his death. Sir PLEASE. you died entangled in the mess of your ex and ex’s married crush’s weird jealousy, Wut is trying to buy you some time so you can avoid it. But no somehow his dignity is more important than self preservation in this moment.

And yet when it comes to Ming and Sol (more about his past relationship with Sol) dignity is nowhere to be found. He doesn’t so much as want an apology when Sol had returned from Korea in life 1??? Like he’s broken every resolve of self preservation, diving headfirst into his past life for who? That woman isn’t his mother?????

And yes, while there would be a number of justifications behind still sacrificing yourself for a woman who’s been your mother for a short while, Joe is doing it because he loves her. There’s no resentment, no regrets, whining or complaining, he loves her so once more his dignity has no bearings on his decision making.

Joe is poor yes and he has setbacks but I think the narrative shows again and again that he’s not helpless. He stands up for himself when he needs to, he fights when he needs to and he also picks up Sol’s call in the middle of a fight with Ming because he’s not actually unaware of the status of his dignity around Ming as one might be at first led to believe. He becomes an actor when he needs to - in BOTH lives.

The state of his life and the states of his relationships have this element of choice to them that is so delightfully ???????? And I think the reason why there’s such a thriller like element to this story, even though the foul play around Joe’s death hasn’t made itself known in any big way yet, is because of this dichotomy in how he values his own dignity.

It’s always all or nothing with this man and ultimately I think that’s exactly what it’s like for Ming. If there’s a sin they ascribe to both of theirs is Pride…until it isn’t I guess 😂

[icedragonlizard]

Susie and Francisca friendship headcanons

This is one of the things I mentioned in my yesterday post going over major headcanon changes I've made, as I now headcanon Francisca being the mage sister that Susie is closest to.

Allow me to elaborate my new take on the dynamic for these two!

How these two first became friends is... uh, gonna be honest, it's actually a little bit humorous as to how they first became friends.

Because here's the thing: Susie initially wasn't interested in befriending the mage sisters. After HiAD, she became jealous of the fact that the mage sisters still have an alive father while she doesn't. Francisca was the one that she actually felt the MOST jealousy towards, because she was ALSO afraid that the icy blue mage was going to steal "cute woman" spotlight away from her.

For those reasons, it seemed inevitable that there was going to be some serious beef between these two.

But something happens that diffuses the bomb of potential strife. At one point, Francisca quite literally comes up to Susie and says "Ohhh.... you're so pretty and cute! ^^" and then Susie just MELTS as she's shocked and flattered. It doesn't even stop there, as Francisca then talks about how she always saw her as a beautiful and cute woman.

Susie, having a sense of pride, always considered herself to be cute. To suddenly be called so cute by another woman that she was afraid was gonna steal cuteness spotlight away from her... that elicited a massive emotional reaction out of her. She MELTED. She then thanked Francisca so much for the compliments.

That's what marked the beginning of their friendship. It was then shortly followed by Susie befriending the other two mage sisters afterwards, but Francisca stays as the one she's by far the closest to.

They've bonded over a few things: daddy issues, that they're able to share "cute and beautiful woman" spotlight together, and also over the fact that they're both also really unhinged and twisted despite being so cutesy. Even though Hyness is still alive, Francisca (and Flamberge) still has many hang-ups with him, meaning that she still ultimately has daddy issues. This is something she talked to Susie about as she was sympathetic to the former secretary's horrific backstory.

The other two mage sisters have a tendency to lightheartedly "bully" Susie sometimes despite also being friends with her. Flamberge has a tendency to tease her a lot, and Zan Partizanne often calls her embarrassing nicknames. In fact, Susie and Zan even have a "friendly, but a little rough" rivalry going on where they commonly butt heads and even make each other frustrated, although it's basically became their thing.

Flamberge and Zan aren't the first friends Susie made that like to clown on her a lot. Magolor and Marx were already doing it before them. Hahahaha. For some reason, Susie just has many friends that like to tease her. She's bold enough to deliberately clown on them right back, though. She's grown used to doing it.

Francisca, on the other hand, treats Susie more sweetly than the other two mages do, allowing Susie to have a nicer and more laidback time with Francisca than she does with the other two mages. Francisca joins Taranza in being a friend for Susie that she has a nicer dynamic with. Another person she can just totally relax with.

It's funny because Francisca is, in fact, NOT the nicest mage sister overall despite her outward demeanor... the REAL nicest mage overall is Flamberge as she's ONLY truly angry when you mess with her family and is rather compassionate otherwise, while Francisca is deep down an actually psychotic bitch that can and has made trophies out of people. But in terms of which mage sister is the nicest TO SUSIE, it's Francisca. She has a soft spot for Susie as she just thinks Susie is really cute and pretty, so she's sincerely nice to her.

And because of that, Susie is sincerely nice to Francisca back despite being pretty cold herself. One could say that these two cold bitches are not so cold to each other.

They do some fun things together. They do cute things AND do really unhinged things together. Just like Susie, Francisca also really likes ice cream and is a fan of cute things, so expect that to be in their dynamic.

They've collaborated in some freaky inventions of both the technological and frosty sorts, as Susie's been helping Francisca become more an inventor. In fact... Francisca even starts making silly weird Furby toys on her own because Susie got her into doing it.

It's also worth mentioning that Susie likes the winter. There have been times where Francisca has taken her to a heavily snow-covered planet and then they both just make snow angels.

These two giggle cutely together A LOT. For various reasons. Sometimes they're just giggling over something adorable, but other times they're giggling while plotting some very frightening hijinks to cause. It can be... scary to see these two women giggle together sometimes.

Francisca calls Susie "Ms. Susie".

All in all, these two are buddies. While Taranza is the one that claims the title of Susie's best friend, Francisca might be in 3rd or even 2nd place for her (she contends with Magolor for 2nd place, who Susie highly enjoys the tech expertise of despite her cain instinct relationship with him). On the other hand, Susie is one of Francisca's closest non-cult friends alongside Marx.

----

That's practically all I have to say here! Back then, I used to headcanon Zan Partizanne to be the mage sister that Susie is closest to, but I've changed that now. As time went on, I've grown more and more partial to the idea of Susie and Francisca being buddies. In fact, I'd say Zan is the mage that Susie is the most DISTANT from in my headcanons now, as Zan can sometimes be insufferable in Susie's mind with all the embarrassing nicknames.

LMAO, what a contrast from what I had before. Doesn't say a ton though because they're still friends, just a bit more contentious now.

Shoutout to people who do Fransusie. My favorite Susie ship is still Taransusie, but Fransusie is easily close second for me now.

[egg-emperor]

I'm planning on making a much more in depth post about Eggman and Gerald in the future because I have WAY more to say but I just wanna compile the instances of this certain funny fact about it that I absolutely love.

Even though Gerald was Eggman's idol and he was inspired by him and he had all these great things to say about him, he can't ever mention/praise him without praising himself/flexing that he's related to him in at least some way.

He calls Gerald the greatest scientific genius in the HISTORY of the world, and adds "that's my grandpa" like "not everyone gets to say that, how cool am I for that haha." Love how you can hear the pride in the tone of his voice too.

But he also calls himself the greatest scientific genius of the world as the opening for every journal entry and says he'll mark his own place in history as the ULTIMATE genius.

Because Gerald had his time with the title and status when he was alive but it's his time now.

He also literally says this word for word on the subject of Gerald again in Shadow 2005 btw, as a way to say he had his turn and now it's time for him to do whatever he wants with what he left behind as he pleases. Another selfish move.

Pointing at himself with the Egg Dealer's limb for emphasis lol

He also refers to Gerald as "one of the greatest scientific minds", the specification makes me think it's in a like “but don’t forget about meee, I am too~” kind of way lol

And with the proud "and my grandfather" again added on right after the fact, it's like he's like "AND he’s also the grandfather of the best person and greatest scientific genius in the fucking universe and that’s even cooler baby!!!" ahfjhkafhsfgh he’s so funny 🥰

And then in TailsTube, he couldn't mention Shadow being created by Gerald without bragging about being related to him again, as a way to praise himself for his genius by being related to him so it's like it runs in the family. Anything to give himself some of that praise.

(Also damn, the way he scoffs and says his grandfather's creation is the "SO CALLED ultimate life form" like that. 💀 Mans still thinks he can do better!)

It's literally just like Eggman with Sage. LITERALLY just like it. It's super funny how the way he talks about both further proves that he can't value/respect/praise anyone without making it about himself as the massive fucking egotist he is, it's 100% never genuine and selfless and I believe he's incapable of that.

That's why I headcanon that another part of why Eggman was inspired so much by Gerald is that being related to him also helped with his hope to accomplish his own dreams and always fed his ego to take pride in even back as a child. Because judging by the jealousy and selfish egotistical entitlement he says he's always had in the Egg Memos, nothing has changed.

Along with how it seems he only praises him from an academic perspective in genius and science instead, as his good deeds never factored in the reasons. I think a huge part of his admiration for Gerald was always about seeing himself in him for his genius and science and the pride he felt and it's why he felt so entitled to attention and power.

Eggman's narcissism, egotism, selfishness, and pride always factors into literally everything he does. He is the epitome of self-centered. I love how it shows in everything he does. Even with the closest he gets to admiring and valuing anyone like Sage or even Gerald in any way, it's for the pride he can have in being related to them in any way and the ways he can benefit.

This also goes back to how I said it's different when it comes to Maria because not only did he not create her like Sage, he also can't relate to her like he could with Gerald to any degree, so he couldn't take pride in her for the same way. And that's why he hates the attention she got- because he can't have a piece of that pie.

Also speaking of Eggman feeling entitled to attention, power, and anything else he wants, he uses his relation to Gerald to say that he's entitled to doing whatever he pleases with any of Gerald's creations as his grandson, including Shadow himself, which he uses as a way to demand him to obey him. This level of entitlement and selfishness isn't very respecting of his idol's memory, huh?

I bring this up in this post because along with the entitlement and selfishness, there's actually also some pride in there with the "it was MY grandfather who created you"

I'm gonna get into this part and more about how Eggman talks about Gerald much deeper in a bigger analysis post in the future though because I have WAY more to say.

But yeah god I just want you to know how much I love this asset of it for now, how he can't genuinely praise anyone selflessly and always has to use it to praise himself, even when it comes to Gerald and Sage.

But in Generations even when he has the power to travel through time and fuck with the past it's just like "fuck Gerald the only person as smart as me is myself" jhsdjkdjkghfdbskfj

Nobody will ever be as great as he is or matter as much to him as he does to himself! XD 💜💕

[from-the-coffee-shop-in-edoras]

Would you mind talking a bit more about Theodred in your story? Is he a jealous person? How would he react to someone hitting on his beloved? Say, some poor sod didn’t know Eadlin and Theodred were an item and decided to hit on her? What would Theodred do?

Unlike his cousins, I don’t think Théodred has a big problem with jealousy. My main reasons for that are:

He’s pretty calm and level headed by nature. He likes to give people the benefit of the doubt, and he’s slow to anger. So I think he’d be pretty unlikely to fly off the handle about something like this. (He’s also in his 40s now, so he’s Seen Some Things and learned quite a bit about the best, most mature ways to be in a relationship that his younger self might not have known.)

He has ultimate confidence that he can trust Eadlin entirely. She’s 100% committed to Théodred, to the extent that she’d shank a guy in a back alley for him if he really needed it. So he’s comfortable that she’s not going to go weak in the knees for some hot himbo who rides into town and starts making eyes at her.

In the scenario where someone *did* happen to hit on Eadlin in his presence, I think he’d be pretty chill about it. He’d keep half an eye on the guy from wherever he is, just in case it starts to look like Eadlin wants or needs him to intervene, but his first instinct is to just let her handle it. He knows she’ll shut it down and so he doesn’t have to get involved and make it A Thing. (Also, as long as it seems like harmless flirting that’s not bothering her, he actually kind of likes it. It’s not his most enlightened instinct, but he’s proud of Eadlin and it stokes his pride to see that other guys are into her, too. If she spends all night with dudes falling all over her and then she leaves with him, it makes him feel like the biggest man in Middle Earth.)

If it ever seemed like she wanted or needed his help to get a guy away from her, though, he’d be right there. But I don’t think he’d actually have to do much to scare another guy off — no big shows of machismo or jealous outbursts. That’s not his style, and it’s not necessary when you’re the prince and heir to the throne. At least within the borders of Rohan, people are going to know who he is and know that you can’t push him around. He’s powerful in his own right, and he’s usually traveling with a pack of guards who wouldn’t let anything happen to him or to Eadlin. So I think he could just saunter over, put a casual arm around her shoulders, and that’d likely be the end of the whole thing. Being the royal heir is often a burden to him and, on balance, he’d probably rather just be a regular man, but this is one instance where it’s awfully nice to be on top!

Thanks for asking! I always love a chance to think about Théodred!!! ❤️🐎🗡️👑

[magistralucis]

Hello! How are you Magistralucis? I hope you are doing well! So sorry to bother you but I've been thing about this since viridian came out and I HAVE to ask your genuine opinion about this;

How do you think Unravel gang , Nox Orikan , OG timeline Trazyn and Orikan and finally Viridian Orikan and Trazyn would react to one another? I see a LOT of jealousy and heartbreak from all non Viridian Orikans and Imotekh while Trazyn...cannot say really? What do you think? Sorry for the weird ask its just been a brainworm for a while 🙇‍♀️🙇‍♀️

Good to see you, @beril66! My dear, you can bother me any time 😂 Now what an interesting question this is! My answer draws on a loose comparison of each story, not just in terms of their relationship but narrative. It got longer than expected so I've put it under a cut. Spoilers for every mentioned fanfic, and a few aspects of The Infinite and Divine ahead.

-----

1) I think everyone would be baffled by V!Orizyn, and that the reverse would be just as true. While I hope their shared history (and the process of them falling in love) is believable within the text, it's also true that the Trazyn and Orikan of Viridian are different, so much that compared to the canon pair and Nox!Orikan they're extremely OOC. Viridian is a non-biotransference AU, too, so they fundamentally can't share the same paths the robotic necrons have tread. The canon characters and N!Orikan would probably find Viridian too weird to dwell on - they just can't remember the past enough to accept that they could've been in love like that, or that necrontyr society could ever have been so tender and adoring. Canon/N!Trazyn might be able to entertain the thought, but Orikan could never. Likewise, I think V!Orizyn would be horrified at the sheer length of cruelty the necrons put each other through. All necrontyr societies are fucked in every written medium, but at least in a non-biotransference AU there's an end to the evils, you know? 😰

Unravel, though… that's a different story. Viridian is basically Unravel!Orikan's forbidden fantasies about Trazyn, notably in the line where he's gazing longingly at the archivist after he and Imotekh have already entered a sexual relationship. He's not made of stone - he's a terribly lonely person, just like in Viridian, and he is intensely attracted to Trazyn, except his pride makes him hideously mad about the whole situation. If he ever saw himself in Viridian he might well lose his mind. But it's not like he has no excuse for doing himself no favours, since Unravel must contend with a world post-biotransference: Orikan saw that Imotekh possessed a noble and cosmic fate, thought his own survival should tie with it, and ultimately he kept to his investment.* In terms of characterization I thought it very reasonable, since the canon Orikan is spiteful and calculating, and Unravel was intended to be canon-compliant. U!Orikan would never ever go back on his word, yet spend eternity fantasizing about a Trazyn like the one in Viridian, and he'd be rotting with jealousy for it.

U!Trazyn would have no such reaction. He wouldn't be sold on life events as they happened in Viridian (U!Trazyn is even less invested in Orikan as a person than in canon, at least while they are necrontyr, because he has so many different investments with so many other characters), but he wouldn't find it unpleasant or anything. He'd probably be amused at the thought of Orikan being so soft towards him, but like most other Trazyns, he could take it or leave it as long as his own interests are fulfilled. He'll have sticky fingers, no matter what, he'll be rich and a venerable scribe no matter what, and he'll always get away with every god damn thing no matter what any Orikan feels about it 🤪

*. Imotekh is a curious one. Somewhat problematic, because I can't talk about him in any other context than Unravel just yet, and the Imotekh of that fic has some yandere fuckery going on. He would be extremely jealous of what Trazyn and Orikan have in Viridian… but since Imotekh is the victor of Unravel, it's not like he can have more hope than what that universe afforded him. He won. He's the king and he owns Orikan. He's not happy, but Orikan isn't happy either, and he's content to marinate together in their misery.

As for Viridian!Imotekh (yes, he does have a cameo in the last chapter 😳)… well, I guess we'll have to see.

2) Nox was written to fit into canon as a midquel, so I'd hope the canon characters would find less to quarrel with re: their characterization. N!Trazyn is definitely more of a romantic than canon, but we don't really see him as much as we see his memories; N!Orikan is extremely realistic about their relationship, which aligns with his headspace around the time of the final battle. I note the admission that he will eventually forget the goodwill he developed for Trazyn, and that he knows the cycle of their hatred will begin again. Their relationship in Viridian is too OOC for the Trazyn and Orikan of Nox to entertain seriously, but Trazyn might enjoy the lushness of Viridian's universe, given the whole opera sequence thing.

V!Orizyn would probably have a better impression of N!Orizyn's future than the text suggests. They'd probably find the whole situation permanently hopeful, like this is the upward turn in Nox!Orizyn's story, just like V!Orikan came around to Trazyn and will remain so forever. It's not like, a bad assumption or anything… it's just that the characters of Viridian are not equipped for millions of years of murderdere samsara hell to grasp what Orikan's realizations about death mean within Nox. I haven't even really shown Trazyn angsting in any of those stories about anything, let alone death… oh boy that will be one hell of a bonus to consider 🙃

As for Unravel, probably a complex matter, yet again. The Orikan of Nox would have almost no patience for U!Orikan as necrontyr, all bound up in his worldly cares and his self-dishonesty - but as a necron, N!Orikan would actually admire him, I reckon. The Orikan of Unravel sticks to his goals, at great expense to himself and others, purely because it's what he has seen and needs. The fact that he's a gaslighting user is irrelevant to N!Orikan, because that kind of thing is how a true cryptek gets ahead. He'd approve of U!Orikan's sidequest to annoy Trazyn, too, though he'd also prefer that Orikan to be a little less precious about his hatecrush. U!Orikan would envy the understanding N!Orikan reaches in his tale, but it'd be a more muted jealously. After all, the two Orikans go through the same event, i.e. being crushed under a mountain and fighting a god - they just return to different people afterwards. U!Orikan would envy that N!Orikan gets to go back to Trazyn. Trazyn is having a great time stealing and existing in either universe. It's all good.

-----

Some of this will have to be revised as the last chapter of Viridian is updated, and future projects reveal more about my Trazyns' and Orikans' mindscapes. Every time they're written it's never quite the same, I can't wait to show them off 🥰 I hope this is helpful, and thanks for stopping by 💖💖

[cozycheeto]

Pic of the Day #6 | little cutie tattoos

sucha dreamer for fine line tattoos. i love the daintiness so so so much. oof. even though they're tiny, it still makes a cute little impact. i sometimes forget about the tattoos on my body but when i see it in the mirror, i like the special reminders of them.

the dream though is to get my hands pretty coveredschmothered in fine line tattoos (sorry mom and dad.) it reminds me of dainty jewelry pieces that i can wear in the shower and won't get rusty. kek. + each serves as a special little place for my mental.

"peace be with you"

grief, anger, and rage are homies. pride is another emotion that becomes the catalyst for the other three. the entire event of which it all stems from is what i think is trauma. this is a reminder for me to watch inside out again cause i love how they broke down emotions and showcase how little kids manage old and new emotions. this process will never be perfect for me. it's ongoing + something i needa work on for the rest of my life. but i promised myself to not turn cynical. and while all these emotions co-exist, i'm trying to put peace on top of the pile. i'm an imperfect person constantly being changed by God and TRYING to emit gratefulness because of it. (hence this daily journal.) buuut, peace be with you is a reminder of 2 things:

i talked about low maintenance friends recently because friendship circles change and mold. some stay or leave for a season/reason. friendship breakups also are a thing. they hurt and it's not great hiigh feelings but they happen. what i've come to remind myself is while it's easier for me to talk smack and remove people i don't think are necessarily easy to be with (or what my pride likes to say deserve my attention), that doesn't mean less respect or love for them. in every relationship and friendship break up, i always end it with this truth: while we can't be in each other's lives, this sendoff still means wanting what's best for that other person and sending love from afar. so peace be with you - no matter who that person is - is wishing anyone that peace. everyone is loved. any person i encounter, i wish them more than just happiness but a reminder of peace.

it also stands as a reminder for me. i can get caught up in those emotions like grief, anger, or rage but it doesn't serve me in ultimate healing. if i depend on those emotions -it just makes me more secluded and resentful. it births other emotions like hate, jealousy, and sadness. whenever i feel those feelings, i can feel it in my throat and stomach - my body tenses up and i can feel my temper shoot up. peace be with you is something i can look at and remind myself "okay breathe, these other emotions while familiar and sometimes uncomfortable - give it its space, recognize it and go for a walk." i have to calm my ass down and let em run its course. but again, rewiring my brain to remember i am loved, and i have His peace.

you're doing great, Kristine. everybody is a bit complicated. our Creator knows that. But you have His peace.

peace out!

[soleminisanction]

What kind of Lanterns do you think the Batfam are? I would pin most of them as Green lanterns but I'm curious about what you think

Green Lanterns is a good fit for any of them, I agree. You don't work your way into fighting toe-to-toe with the superpowered types without some serious willpower. Bruce, Babs and Duke I think fit that ring best out of all of them, though.

Outside of that, Dick would also be the perfect fit as a Blue Lantern -- preferably with the awkward "holiest beings in the universe" caveat ignored like they did with Barry Allen, although I could absolutely see circumstances coming together to make him a literal martyr. I honestly think he's the only one in the family who 100% suits the role as a symbol of hope and inspiration, and anyone who says otherwise is frankly just lying, to either themselves or to you.

Jason as a Red Lantern is kind of an obvious cliche but it really does suit him, given how much his struggle with anger issues has played into his character over the years. But I could also see him as a very effective Yellow Lantern, as he's probably the protoge who most often makes use of the "Put fear into the hearts of criminals" side of their arsenal.

Likewise, Cass would make a very talented Yellow Lantern, as she can be terrifying... but it would make her miserable, she'd absolutely hate it. If we ignore the What the Fuck is Your Problem Geoff Johns aspects of the Indigo Tribe, she'd be much happier and a much better fit drawing on compassion with them.

Ditto Tim, who I personally would peg for compassion before willpower if, again, the Indigo Tribe wasn't weird for no reason. (Seriously Johns, did you really need to add a mind control/brainwashing aspect to both the love and the compassion corps??) You could also make a decent case for him falling in with the Star Sapphires, especially a lot of them are specifically motivated by lost love and if a ring happened to be looking, say, around the time he'd lost a half-dozen loved ones in rapid succession and was desperately trying to clone Kon back to life... it could work.

Finally, and this is going to be controversial, but while Damian is ultimately another of the ones who favors Green over all the rest, I think he'd be at real risk, in his darkest moments, of falling victim to the Orange Lantern Corps. Because while he can be short-tempered, anger isn't really what drives him. Pride is, and jealousy, and the iron-hard belief that certain things are his by right. It's not enough for him to be a Robin, he has to be the Robin. It's not enough for Bruce to be Damian's father, he has to be only Damian's father, no adoptions allowed. Gotham and Robin and being a Bat all only matter to him because, in his mind, they're his legacy. Even the way he loves can be greedy -- the way he collects pet after after pet after pet just because he wants them, the way he needs Dick to reassure that he'll always be his Batman, and on, and on.

You get my point. It'd definitely be a fall to the dark side for Damian and, like I said, I think he's ultimately a Green at heart, but the potential is there.

[kotokos-cafe]

Yandere Junko x GN!S/O Who Won't Let Her Spread Despair

You won't let her spread despair? Oh, but honey, the whole reason she wants to spread despair is to make you safe from the rest of the world by making it too chaotic to focus on hurting you!

Occasionally, she pokes at you with her "cute" persona in an attempt to beg you to let her spread some despair.

"S/OOOOOOO~! C'mon, just a littttlllleee~? Pleeeeeease~?"

"No, Junko. I love you with all my heart and I'm willing to be with you, but you can't make innocent people suffer just to demonstrate that you love me."

"Aww, you're no fun~!"

Cue a pouty Junko for the rest of the day.

However! She does other things in place of it. For example, she developed a compulsive shopping addiction thanks to trying to distract herself from wanting to feel and cause despair. Luckily, Junko is a model, and can easily afford said shopping addiction.

She also developed an addiction to unhealthy food, with McDonald's being her personal favorite.

"Puhuhuhuhu~! Wouldn't it be despair-inducing if I got sick from such unhealthy food?"

That doesn't stop her from threatening the life of anyone who she thinks may make you happier than she does, though. Even Junko Enoshima gets insecure that you may leave her.

"Junko, Love, I assure you, I don't want anyone but you. You're My Queen, you're the one I love."

Comfort her. Please. Please comfort her. Otherwise you'll have your very sad, very upset, binge-eating model girlfriend helping herself to everything in your pantry. If you want to save your snacks and your girlfriend's mental wellbeing, just tell her you don't want anyone else but her.

She often acts very prideful to everyone else, trying to present herself as perfect and the only one for you, even when she doesn't always feel like that, herself, bless her heart.

"Puhuhuhuhu~! We are S/O's most beloved person, and you shall find yourself unable to take our place as the love of their life! And should you try, execution via decapitation will follow! So says the queen!"

She persuades you to let her keep her Monokuma, anyway, and the result is nothing short of adorable.

"S/O... S/O, look... Look at our baby... He's skinning the salmon with just his claws... Isn't he adorable...?"

Cue a shocked and horrified expression from you. But you take a deep breath and remember that he was programmed with the habits of a bear cub, so this is normal behavior.

Wait until she convinces you to let her make the Monokubs-

You even manage to convince Junko to treat her sister more kindly! But she'll never let Mukuro get too close to you, for fear of losing you to the comparably sweeter, shier Mukuro.

Still, at least she's not actively abusing her twin sister just for fun anymore, and that's a start.

Jealousy, jealousy, jealousy all around!

Don't let Junko Enoshima remain jealous for too long. Said jealousy tends to turn deadly if left to fester.

She's definitely killed people behind your back before, or used brainwashed thralls to do so on her behalf. She hasn't been caught yet, but if she were, she would try to justify it with the fact that she wasn't using them for despair purposes, so she must be okay! :D

"No, Junko, no. Brainwashing and murder is still wrong."

"I'm shorry, bushzkill! I did it jusht to protect you!"

And if she can't kill, herself, or get someone else to do it? Well, the solution is quite simple for this Ultimate Analyst: have them remove themselves from the picture.

She'll take to social media backup accounts, word of mouth via Mukuro, or just outright bullying, pushing them until they inevitably kill themselves in their anguish.

But she won't tell you that!

She'll never tell you that.

Ever.

Some secrets are better left unshared.

And because it's all out of love...

Because she just wants to keep you safe...

Because she wants you all to herself...

It's not a crime...

Right?

She's pardoned for her sins...

Right?

[parkersroses]

stupid boy. | harry styles.

summary: Harry comes to his senses and realises it's been you all this time. a continuation of stupid girl.

wc: 4.1k

warning(s): minor angst and some fluff!

a/n: (disclaimer: gif belongs to @oneandonlycheshirecat​) ahhh i hope you guys like this as much as the first part! do lmk what you think of it, reblog (!!) & comment, let's talk about it! here's my ko-fi if you consider donating and supporting me more. all my love to you all <3

Harry finds himself staring down at his black coffee, watching it swirl as he stirs his spoon around. The spoon makes clinking sounds as it moves against the rim of the cup and he hears it scraping against the bottom of it.

It’s generally calm in the coffee shop he’s in. The baristas are bustling around behind the counter and sounds of the coffee machines being used are elicited. He hears the sound of the register as the customers pay and the cashier thanking them, proceeding to greet the next customer. People are sat in their own spaces, minding their own things like gossip or struggling to finish up an assignment.

Harry sat in a booth next to the glass window of the shop. He finds himself not paying that much attention to the world around him, instead just staring out through the window he sits next to. His mind is a blur and he sort of forgets why he was out in the first place.

He gently sips on his hot black coffee. The warm bitter taste sitting on his taste buds. You once told him what a monster he was when he told you it’s the only way to drink coffee. You disagree because you couldn’t handle the taste, opting for steamed milk in your coffee. He smiles at the memory of the little things you both would disagree on.

He hasn’t seen you or spoken to you in a while. In fact, he doesn’t know if he should. He doesn’t know if you would want to see him or talk to him. He wonders what are you doing at the moment.

He’s been thinking about everything that has happened between the two of you since that night. How he believes it may have been his fault that the friendship is possibly ruined.

What is he supposed to say anyway? What should he say? He’s never realised how his own best friend was in love with him. He realises now of how stupid and selfish he was to not even consider her feelings when he first suggested they would start fake dating.

He convinces himself that he is still hopelessly in love with Amber. Well, at least he thinks he is. He’s not even sure of his own feelings anymore.

At first, he was so sure about his feelings for Amber. He thought of the plan going so well, convincing everyone including her that you both are in love, that maybe some jealousy might spark from her and tell him ‘Hey, I still love you too.’ Then, that night happened and everything about winning Amber back went out of the window.

He thinks about you a lot and sometimes wonders if you do the same. And he misses you. He really misses you.

He misses the way you tease him for even the smallest things. He misses talking to you about writing music because you are usually his confidant who always motivated him to write what he likes. He misses your laughter and how you throw your head back like a little kid, how you’d even apologise for having an ugly laugh when he always thought it was adorable.

Yeah, he misses you a lot. He asks himself whether she feels the same. Whether she too is somehow feeling alone, not knowing if the other wants anything to do with you or even speak to you at all. He hopes that you don’t think it’s all your fault.

After all, he was the selfish, blind and stupid one.

“Harry,” a soft-spoken voice pulls him out of his thoughts. He looks up and smiles at the person he’s been meaning to talk to. Maybe she could somehow help him figure out his feelings.

“Amber, hi.” He stands from his seat, giving her a small hug. He gestures to her the seat in front of him and she gladly sits. It doesn’t seem as awkward as he expected.

“Quite surprised you wanted to meet, actually,” she confesses to him, chuckling a bit. He rubs the back of his head in a nervous manner. A waiter comes by to take her order and she politely asks for a latte.

Funny, you like lattes. No wonder you got along with her, he guesses.

“Yeah. I’m sorry for calling you out of the blue like this,” he apologises. She waves her hand in front of him, telling him it’s all good. “It’s fine. It’s great seeing you again,” she tells him.

“So, how’ve you been since I last saw you?” He enquires.

“Oh, I’ve been alright. Work has been good. Nothing major goes on, unlike you, superstar,” she jokes and they both laugh at this. “That’s great to hear. I’m really happy for you.” She smiles to thank him and the waiter comes back again with her drink.

He is itching to ask her this and hopes it doesn’t come out as too forward or invasive. “Um, what about your friend? The one you brought with you the other week we met?” He asks, his head is slightly tilted down as if he’s scared to make eye contact with her after that question.

“Oh, yeah! He’s great! He really enjoyed meeting you guys, by the way!” Her face lights up when she talks about him and it doesn’t go unnoticed by Harry. “Never asked this then, but how did you guys meet?” He curiously asks.

Her face blushes at this. “Um, we met at work actually. Met him on my first day and taught me some things here and there about the place. We have become quite close since then.” She tells him, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. “We, uh, have been on a couple dates. So yeah, that’s something that’s been going on.”

Naturally, Harry would ultimately feel jealous that the girl he still loves has her eye and heart on another man. But it doesn’t feel that way. He didn’t feel jealousy running through his veins at this. He didn’t feel sadness at the fact that she’s probably moved on.

“That’s great, Am. M’happy for you,” he tells her. And he genuinely means it now.

She thanks him and sips on her drink. “What about you and Y/N? How’s the love life going on with you two?” She teases, wiggling her eyebrows at him. He lets out a sad laugh at this. “Yeah, um. Not that great at the moment.”

“Oh?” She frowns at this.

“We, um, I guess we sort of broke up.” He says unsurely.

“You guess?”

He sighs. “We had an argument over something. We both got upset. Haven’t seen or even talked to her for a while now.”

His gaze is averted down at the table where his black coffee is at. It seems that even talking about brings feelings of guilt filling up his body.

“I’m sorry about that, Harry.” Amber looks at him, seeing how small and sad he looks. It’s clear for her to see how he regrets the argument.

“I just don’t know what to say to make things better. Feel like I might say something wrong again.” He sighs, feeling frustrated with himself.

Amber thinks for a moment on how to help him. “Well, what do you feel right now?”

Harry’s eyebrows furrow for a second. “I’m upset. Upset that I haven’t spoken to her. Upset that I don’t know what she’s feeling right now or how she's doing. Upset that everything is my fault. I don’t know how to help or fix us.” He breathes out.

“And you haven’t reached out to her yet?”

He shakes his head, almost feeling ashamed that he hasn’t. “No. Don’t know what I’d say if she would listen to me.”

Frustration is building up and his emotions are going haywire. He’s mad at how he’s ruined things with his best friend and how his own selfishness was the root of it.

Amber is quiet for a moment. She feels sad for him that he’s feeling this way. She thinks of how much he really cares for you, loves you even. And that he’ll do anything to fix whatever that’s left between you two. But one thing she knows about Harry is that he doesn’t give up easily on the people he really loves.

“Well, do you love her?” She asks. Harry lifts his head up so fast at the question.

“What?”

“Harry, do you love her?”

Harry has to pause and think. Of course, he loves you. You’re his best friend, his confidant for nearly everything he does.

He loves you even though you drink your tea with milk sometimes. He loves you even when you buy books despite not yet finishing the ones you have on your shelf. He loves you even when you sometimes put him before you for everything.

He loves your laughter. He loves holding your hand because of how warm and comforting it is. He loves holding you because you tend to hold him tighter, especially when he’s had a bad day and confided in you when he and Amber broke up. He loves calling you cute pet names because he enjoys seeing your cheeks heat up in embarrassment but he does it anyway as it just seems so natural to do it. And you’re beautiful. So, so beautiful. 

He thinks about the way you are and how you’ve always been the one person that always supported him. He loves you in many ways he could possibly think of. And it’s just like that, he realises he was never still in love with Amber. Even during the times where he’d want her to look at you two when you fake-dated. Even after that night, he always thought of you and never once tried to plan to pursue Amber. He never cared about that anymore. All he thought about is you. You. You. You.

He always wanted to see you, smiling and laughing. He always so naturally called you ‘baby’ and ‘love’.

He had you all this time.

He’s in love with you.

He gasps as he realises this. Amber is still staring at him, waiting for his answer. “I do,” he finally speaks. And she smiles at his answer.

“I do love her.” He says it confidently and surely.

She nods, and it’s written all over his face that he’s in love with her. “Then, you should tell her that. Swallow up your pride. Apologise. Chase after her.”

Harry swallows the lump in his throat. She grabs his hand from across the table. He used to think that sparks would fly when he’s with her. But he doesn’t feel like that with her anymore. He just wants you and only you. That is, if you’ll have him.

“Harry,” she starts. “I know she loves you too. She’ll forgive you if you talk it out.” And he believes it.

Without a moment to waste, he gets up from his table. He apologises profusely but thanks her and tells her he’ll pay for the drinks, in which she tells him not to worry so much.

As he rushes out the door, Amber watches him and smiles to herself. She hopes for the best for the two of you. Even from the look on his face, she knew.

It’s always been you.

—

Knocks on your door pull you out from your thoughts. The last couple of days had your emotions going on a rollercoaster ride. You figured it was easier to just sit and journal anything and everything your mind has to say.

To your knowledge, you weren’t really expecting anyone. Unless, it’s a package of something you might have impulsively purchased the other day to cope with your loneliness and sadness.

You often wonder whether you have ruined your friendship with Harry. You miss him, you always do. You still love him even though he can be clueless at times. But you guess that’s what makes Harry, Harry.

You wonder whether he feels the same.

You’ve been plucking up the courage to call him and ask how he's been doing, failing miserably at the thought that he might not want to talk about it. God, you really need to come through if he’s not going to, you think.

You wait for a moment to see if the knocks would continue, and they don't at first. You shrug at yourself and focus back on the journal entry you’re writing on before a couple more knocks come in.

You sigh, throwing your head back as your moment of peace is ruined. You stand and make your way to the door, not bothering to clean yourself up, though you thought you look pretty decent. Dark sweatpants and a slightly oversized graphic tee.

Yeah, not bad for someone who’s been moping about her best friend who she’s in love with and possibly ruined it.

The person is still knocking on your door and you’re getting slightly irritated. You unlock the door and open it, ready to tell the person off when you stop before the words could come out.

“Harry?”

He stands there, dressed in a vintage tee and a pair of jeans. The shirt looks a bit small on him which makes it hug his chest and biceps. His tattoos are on display as they’re scattered all over his skin. You still think he looks good and attractive. Why the hell are you so whipped for this man?

He has a bag in his hands and you notice it’s food from the Mexican restaurant you love going to together. He even has a small bouquet of your favourite flowers. His face has a small yet nervous smile etched on it. If you weren’t having such a tough exterior put up, you think you might’ve cried. Not yet, though.

“Hi,” he says. And you realise how much you miss hearing his voice in person.

“Hey.” You stare at him for a moment before realising he was probably waiting to come in.

“Please! Come in!” You politely usher him in as you open your door wider for him. He thanks you as he walks in, not forgetting to talk off his shoes by the door, arranging them neatly next to your shoes like he always does.

He looks around your place, fidgeting on his feet like it’s the first time he’s been in here. You clear your throat to catch his attention. “Um, I brought food.” He lifts the bag in front of you and you chuckle. “I can see that,” you tell him as you take the bag from his hands. Harry follows behind you as you go to set the bag on your kitchen counter.

You turn around to look around to look at him, your eyes falling on the flowers he has. “Oh, uh, for you.” He thrusts them into your hand and you smile at the gesture. “Thanks,” you say softly as you breathe in the floral scent. You turn to your kitchen to find an empty vase to put the flowers in.

He scratches the back of his head in a nervous manner. “Um, I’m sorry for just showing up like this. I just wanted to see you. And I thought we could have some lunch together so I brought food too.”

You nod at his words. He’s still fidgeting in his place, looking nervous and almost shaking. “Harry, just relax. It’s just me,” you comfort him as you lay a hand on his arm gently. He nods and lets out a breath. “Sorry, um, I was nervous that you might not want to see me again.”

You frown at this. “Harry, I’ll always want to see you,” you tell him. “Yeah, I just thought, after that night, I might’ve ruined things between us,” he breathes out.

The corner of your lips lift up slightly at the man in front of you. Your eyes avert to the floor beneath. “If it’s anything, I thought I might’ve ruined things between us.” He frowns at this.

“Hey.” He’s itching to grab your hand, wanting to feel the warmth of your touch, but he doesn’t want to scare you off. “You definitely didn’t do anything other than being honest. I promise.”

You sigh at him. “Harry, we don’t have to talk about it. We can just pretend everything is fine.”

“No!”

His sudden tone takes you by surprise and you raise an eyebrow. He almost cowers back after realising this. “I’m sorry. Shouldn't have yelled like that.” He takes in a breath. “I just feel like I should say something. I mean, I've been thinking a lot about what I was going to say when I came over, so,” he trails off, looking at you still. He takes a moment to realise how pretty and beautiful you are. He doesn’t know why it took him so long to realise how in love he is with her.

“Okay.” You tell him and you almost get deja vu from the time you agree to fake-date him.

He lets out a big breath. “Okay, uh,” he exhales. “I just want to say I’m sorry first. For not really considering how you might feel when we did what we did. I should’ve made sure you were actually okay with it. I wish I knew how you actually felt about it.”

“Harry, you couldn’t have known how I felt because I never told you anything,” you tell him. “And, it’s fine. Really. I agreed to it, anyway.”

Harry nods, but his lips are in a straight line. He expects you to tell him how upset you were, but you don’t. You’re selfless enough to put his own feelings before yours when you agree to his plan. He kicks himself internally because of it.

You sense that he’s having a battle in his mind over this, so you take his hand in yours in hopes to somewhat ease what he’s feeling. He’s shocked to say the least when you do this but he instantly tightens his grip. And God, he misses holding your hand.

You clear your throat a bit. “Um, that was the first thing you wanted to say. What is the second?” You softly question him.

“Um,” he pauses. He’s looking at you and he can’t stop looking at you. He thinks carefully on his next words, not wanting to lose you if he says what he wants to.

“I’m in love with you,” he finally blurts out. He feels a slight relief in his chest after saying that.

But it’s almost like the world froze and it has become eerily quiet as he waits for your reaction. He’s starting to think that he broke you because you're staring at him in shock. He’s starting to sweat a bit because you haven't said a word.

He opens his mouth to say something, but your free hand goes up to touch his face.

“Wha-,” He’s confused as you pat around his face, concern and slight shock still etched on your face. “I’m making sure you’re not sick or burning up,” you say to him.

“What? I’m not sick!” He grabs her hand, making her pause her actions.

“Well, you’re sweating!”

“Because I’m nervous around you and you haven’t said anything!”

“You just said you’re in love with me! Sorry if I am shocked that the man I’m in love with just confessed his love to me and that I think he’s joking!” you whine at your defense.

Harry pauses for a moment before chuckling at her. He doesn’t realise how much he misses the playful banter you both have. “You silly, stupid girl,” he says, holding both of your hands. “I’m not joking. I am really, truly, stupidly, in love with you, lovie.”

There he goes, calling you pet names that might make you melt.

“You are?” You ask softly, almost not believing the words that are coming out of his mouth.

“I am.”

“You’re not just saying this, right? I’m serious, you’re playing around with me, I will-”

“I’m serious!” He throws his hand up in defense. “I promise. I, uh, thought long and hard about it. Realised how much I missed you and how I hated being away from you. Realised how much I love and care about you more than I should and I wish I realised what I felt sooner. Every day and night since the last time we saw each other, all I could think about is you and how you were feeling. Been thinking about what I wanted to say or how I wanted to apologise. And there was never a second where you weren’t constantly on my mind."

You smile at his long confession and stifle a small laugh. “You really are something else, Styles.” You tell him. “Hated being away from you too. I felt the same way, wondering how or where you’ve been. Wondering if I still had my best friend and if he still wanted me around.”

“You know I’ll always want you around.” He tells you.

“Well, I hate you for taking so long to tell me that.” You grin at him sarcastically.

“No, you don’t. You love me,” he teases you. You groan at him.

“Don’t push it.”

You both giggle at each other, feeling as though the air is clearing between you. His smile falters a bit as he studies your face. “I’m sorry for taking so long.” He holds your hand and loves the familiar warmth it gives him.

“You’re here now. That’s all that matters.” You look at your joint hands together, loving how right it feels.

“I love you,” he tells you, gazing at you lovingly. You bring a hand up to his face and caress his cheek. He sighs at the feeling, leaning into your touch as his eyes close. “I love you, too.”

You notice his eyes averting back and forth between your eyes and lips. “Are you gonna kiss me?” You say playfully. He smirks at this. “Yeah, I am. If you’ll let me.”

���Harry, if you don’t kiss me right now, I’ll-,” You’re immediately cut off as Harry grabs your face in his large hands, pressing his lips onto yours. And it feels like, finally. You sigh into the kiss, tasting the sweetness of his lips on yours. His lips feel soft like you’ve always (embarrassingly) imagined it’d be. You let out a tiny whimper as you feel his tongue enter your mouth. You gasp at this and grip on his shirt, as if telling him to not move away from you.

He moans as he pulls away, lifting your chin up. He looks at you so in awe and in love, it sends my heart bursting with so many emotions. He leans in again to kiss you, making it longer like he’s memorising the way your lips taste.

You both pull away again to catch your breath. Harry sneaks in another peck which makes you giggle and smile. You gaze on him, eyes lingering on his swollen and extra pink lips after your kiss and it makes your heart fill with pride knowing it’s because of you. His green eyes seem to sparkle more now that you think about it.

Harry lets out a chuckle, leaning his forehead on yours. You are both smiling like idiots in love. You wrap your arms around his neck and he pulls you in by your waist. You both sway a bit in your place, the feeling of love and adoration for each other lingering on.

A rumbling noise pulls you both out of the moment. He pulls away and laughs. “Was that you?” You whine in embarrassment as you bury your head in his chest. “I’m hungry and you brought food here. I’m sorry,” you mumble onto his shirt.

“Mmm, guess we should eat then, right lovie?” He says, looking down at your figure. You hum in reply as you look up at him. “Will you stay the night?”

He grins and his heart melts at the small request. “I’ll stay as long as you’ll want me to, baby.”

“I’ll always want you,” you feel your face warm up as you say this but it’s true. He kisses your forehead and your eyes close at the feeling of his lips on yours.

You both grin stupidly at each other before he leans in again to kiss you. You’re quick to react as you pull him closer. Harry takes you by surprise as he suddenly lifts you off your feet, spinning you around as you kiss. You squeal and laugh at this, it makes Harry smile as he sees you throw your head laughing. He trails his lips down to your jaw and neck, kissing lightly on it.

There’s nothing he’d ever exchange this moment for. Your laughter and the kisses you share whilst being so madly and stupidly in love.

And it just finally feels right with you and him.

[scarlet-streak-rambles]

Yes and it’s genuinely one of my favorite broader tropes in media–though I am gonna approach talking about it in a non-ship manner to give me broader options for my other examples.

Brief Anime Tangent: In another post I wrote about MHA, I talked about how All Might and Endeavor are the first iteration of the dynamic we see between Deku and Bakugo (along with parallels between characters). Deku learns to balance being a hero and having an independent identity, Bakugo learns to rely on and openly care for people around him while also understanding that individual power isn’t the most important thing. In doing so, they also figured out how to turn animosity and jealousy into an ostensibly healthy and respectful rivalry that pushed both of them to be better heroes. It would have been so easy for them to go down the same paths as All Might and Endeavor, but they managed to learn from the mistakes of the previous generation. Another great example of this is the changes between the three (though one is really unofficial) generations of Soukoku in Bungo Stray dogs: Fukuzawa and Mori, Dazai and Chuuya, and Atsushi and Akutagawa. With each iteration, the characters get better and communicating and trusting/respecting each other, which in turn helps their teamwork and makes them more effective.

When it comes to the parallels between Viktor and Jayce and Silco and Vander, the difference mostly lies in pride and vulnerability. Season two spoilers beneath the cut!

In season two, we see an undelivered/undiscovered letter from Vander to Silco that could have potentially changed the ultimate outcome of their feud. We get to see Vander’s unvoiced remorse and his desire to make amends, and it’s all very heartbreaking and emotional. Of course, Vander never found Silco, so he just ended up leaving it somewhere where he hoped Silco would find it.

In the alternate reality, we do see that Silco and Vander were able to make amends–Silco still has his scar, so we can rule out that as the difference between that universe and the canon one. So, either Silco found the letter or something happened that forced Vander to put aside his pride and continue his search regardless of difficulty, and I think the latter is much more likely. Vi’s death, in my opinion, reinforces the importance of family and caring for those who are important to you, while also directly showing that both Silco and Vander’s methods weren’t getting anywhere. When your child dies and reality hits, ego has to take a backseat. They were more effective working as a team, and this universe showed that perfectly.

For Jayce and Viktor, I think Viktor said it best: what kept them together was affection. When push came to shove, Jayce’s pride wasn’t more important to him than his city and, with the extra information he had from that future version of Viktor, nothing was more important than saving his friend. Viktor still had his pride and an understandable wariness of vulnerability, just like Silco. In that moment, he was not going to be the one to reach out and bridge the gap. Where Vander was unable to get past his pride to do it instead, Jayce succeeded.

Quick question, has anyone talked or thought about the parallels between Jayvik and the Zaundads?

[qyllenhaal]

Good Wives Club [2]

Lee Bodecker x Reader. 3rd POV. Word Count: 4.2k.

Spin-off to American Pie

Chapter One || Chapter Three

Summary: It's been more than a year since she's escaped the ghost of her past but life is never fair to a girl like her. Lee doesn't care that she has a husband, a nice house, and sugary fake friends, he wants what's rightfully his.

Warnings (series): Cheating, smut, violence, housewife kink, period-typical misogyny, age gap (about a ten year difference), manipulation, dark themes all around.

A/N: If anyone wants to be added to future tag list just let me know!

Y/n woke up at 5am with a dry mouth and her head spinning. Her night has been plagued with restlessness and she couldn't stay still. When she did fall asleep, it was for small periods of time. Each time she woke up she was not aware of where she was for the first five seconds, panic almost setting in before she registered the sound of her husband snoring.

The end of her irregular sleep cycle ended because she saw the hallway light was on. She sighed when realized it must be time for her husband to get ready for work. She virtually got no sleep and she'll probably be tired for the rest of the day.

She gets up from their creaky bed and starts walking down the hallway. It takes a while for her eyes to adjust to the brightness as she slowly plods down the hallway. She follows the light to the bathroom where she can hear her husband getting ready for work. On the days he goes in this early Y/n is relieved that she doesn't have to get up and cook breakfast for him.

The door is cracked but she opens it to find him inside. She situates herself in the doorway, watching him shave his face through the mirror.

"Good morning," he spoke with a scratchy voice. Even though Y/n didn't marry Llewellyn for love, she's still attracted to him and likes his company most of the time. She feels an ache inside of her that wants him to take her, but after running into Lee last night she's afraid she won't be able to get Lee's face out of her mind while beneath her husband.

"Good morning. Going in early?"

"Yep. Dad wants to do inventory today since he put it off last week."

"Oh okay," she accepts quietly, ready to leave her husband alone so he can get ready in peace.

However he asks her a surprising question, "hey, did you enjoy last night?"

"Uh, it was fine I guess. Did you?" Her hope is that he at least enjoyed himself somewhat.

"You know I don't like that super fancy stuff like that, but I have to eat crow; it wasn't all that bad and Bodecker's not as bad as I thought. He's kind of a funny guy. I still think he's not as hard on crime like everyone claims he is, but personally, he's not that bad. Florence was nice too. She invited us to dinner on Wednesday night, apparently that's the only night Lee has off. I told her we'd be able to join them."

The turn of events was shocking. Y/n couldn't believe her ears and she thought maybe she indeed was still asleep. Lou was not fond of many people and his only "friends" were his two brothers so him warming up to Lee and Florence left her speechless. So speechless that she didn't register the fact that he accepted a dinner invite for them.

"What?"

"What do you mean ‘what’? You dragged me to that dinner last night and wanted me to be nice, and now you're confused when I do just that?"

"I-I'm not confused...just shocked," she admits truthfully, "I can't believe you want to go to someone’s house who isn't your mother house for dinner —are you sure you want to go?"

"We're going Y/n."

His tone of voice indicates that the conversation is done and over with and the decision has been made. Y/n didn't even get to contest his decision but Lou can tell when Y/n is in a defiant mood. Her folding her arms and walking away was confirmation for him. She stalks her way back to the bedroom where she takes to hiding under the covers.

Lee and Lou under the same roof — it makes her stomach churn just to think about it. They're wildly different from each other but the thing she hates about them is what they have in common.

All she can hope is that this nightmare ends and she wakes back up to a life without Lee's ghost lingering around.

-

She decided to go with a floral dress again. She really wanted to take out the checkerboard dress that made her legs look good and showed off her arms, but Lou would have made her change before she had the chance to step out of the house. The floral print is dizzying, but it's the kind of dress that Lou likes to see her wear.

It's just a small dinner at the Bodecker's house but Y/n opts for kitten heels instead of sensible flats. She feels obligated to look her best despite there being less people to dress for. She's never been alone with Florence save for that day at the grocery store. Florence is always dressed to the 10's and Y/n needs to look just as good, if not better. She claims to hate Lee, but it would be so satisfying if she caught Lee ogling her breasts.

"Are you ready?"

Y/n thought Lou was too dressed up for a home dinner of four. He wore a pinstriped suit and those nice leather shoes he bought himself around the holidays.

"As ready as I'll ever be," she sighs in an attempt to let off some steam.

It was a shorter drive than Y/n expected. Florence hadn't disclosed where she lived before, but Brewer Heights wasn't that for them to live at a distance. The sun was nearly dipped over the horizon and the remaining light that hits their house makes it look like a model home. Everything little aspect and detail Y/n was going to compare herself too. She lives in a nice house, but Florence lives in a nicer house. It tears her up knowing she has the ultimate upper hand over Florence in the form of her own husband and she can't even act upon it. She would royally fuck up her life and their lives too if she decide to let her jealousy get the best of her.

As she walks up their stairs as another man's wife, she accepts that she is jealous. She's always been jealous of Florence even when she didn't know her name. What made her so worthy of all of these things? Lee used to act like he hates the woman so she must be a bitch behind closed doors. It wouldn't be surprising if she is because most people in this town will smile in your face and then gossip about you a minute later.

Lou knocks on the door and only a second later Florence is opening the door with a big smile on her face and Lee right next to her. He wore his police uniform without the jacket while Florence looked like a Lilly Pulitzer catalog girl.

It only took one millisecond of their eyes locking together for Y/n to feel the electricity between her and Lee. She drags her eyes away from his, but she can bet that he has a smirk on her face. He always liked to see her squirm; in a good and bad way.

"Y/n, Llewellyn! I'm so glad you could make it! Why don't you come on in," Florence steps to the side, nudging Lee over with her, to make way for Y/n and her husband.

Her eyes scan over every inch of their house. It's warm, cozy, and oddly comforting. Everything little thing was in its place; perfectly dusted and polished. Y/n is sure that Lee had no hand in decorating this place, it screams Florence through and through.

"Dinner is almost ready. I started the scalloped potatoes a little too late, but it should be done soon! Y/n, do you want to help me set the table?"

Y/n didn't want to leave her husband alone with Lee, but she also didn't want to be in the room with just them. She nods at Florence and follows behind her to their kitchen.

The house smells like Lou's parent's house on holidays. Y/n's stomach rumbles and she doesn't realize how hungry she was. She despises herself for wanting Florence's cooking, but she barely ate today because of how nervous she was.

"I already laid out the place mates, you can place the plates and silverware."

Y/n picks up the expensive dining ware that Florence points towards. She wonders if Florence cooks like this all the time, even when Lee works well into the night.

The walls of their dining room have an awful floral pattern. Y/n is beginning to become sick at the sight of anything that pertains to flowers. The cedar table is perfect for accommodating guests and Y/n wonders how many dinner parties they had in this room. Florence seems to put a lot of stock into being a good hostess. Y/n herself has yet to throw a dinner party at her home, but setting the plates on someone else's dining room table feels like practice. She silently imagines her house filled with Lou's family as she cooks dinner for them.

Florence enters the room and starts placing the dishes in the middle of the table. Her presence takes Y/n out of her fantasy, and when she sees how Florence made a 3-course-meal she feels worse.

"Does the food look good? I tried some new recipes from Julia Child's cookbook to try to impress you and Llewellyn," she admits, "I wasn't sure what you two would like, but Lee loves when I make those recipes from Julia Child and I bet Llewellyn would love it too! I could lend you the book some time!"

"Of course. I love her work!" Y/n lies straight through her teeth. She has no clue who the hell Julia Child is.

Florence grabs one last thing before calling the husbands into the dining room. She places one beer on the coasters designated for Lee and Lou. Lou has never been much of a drinker, but she knows that Lee can knock down a few beers in one sitting. He might be on his best behavior tonight in front of his wife and company.

"Dinner's ready!" Florence called out.

Y/n took her seat on the right side of the table and Florence sat opposite of her. Their husbands come walking in laughing as if they were young boys sneaking back into the house during a family get together. Y/n doesn't like it; she doesn't like it at all. They look too cheery with each other and she knows that Lee is doing it on purpose — she can see it in his eyes when he quickly glances at her. He takes pride in making her uncomfortable. Y/n wishes she had that same affect on him to scare him off a bit, but no matter how chummy she gets with Florence, Lee looks unbothered.

Florence stands up from her seat as if she's presenting the food on the table to an audience. Everything is placed perfectly with the main dish being the middle of the smaller plates.

"This looks great honey, you made a whole feast," Lee walked up to Florence's side and kissed on the cheek. Y/n's eyes are trained on his hand snaking around her waist and giving her a light squeeze before letting go. When she pulls her eyes away from his hands, she sees that Florence almost looks shocked at her husband's affection; Lee is definitely putting on a show for Y/n and it's a damn good one.

Lee sits opposite of Lou and the first thing he does is open his beer. The food isn't even on plates anymore and he's drinking.

"I hope you like Schmidt's, Llewellyn. Lee loves it so it's all we have in the house."

"I'm not one to drink beer often, but I'll try it. And call me Lou, Florence."

Lou was acting out of his normal character. Him only interacting with his family and Y/n left him a bit awkward in the presence of others, but around Florence and Lee he seems to be much...warmer. If Lee was someone else then Y/n would be over the moon, but because it's him she can't even force herself to even look happy about it.

Y/n takes note of how Florence places portions of food on Lee's plate. They were small portions too. She was always strict about what he ate and how much he drank. She's surprised Florence is letting him drink tonight, but she must be trying to look nicer in front of guests.

Y/n was not as controlling as Florence. She always let Lou fix his plate to his liking. She thought it made her a good wife for letting her husband make his own decisions. But Y/n felt a tap on her shoulder after she finished making her own plate. He looked down at his empty plate before looking back at her and nodded towards the food.

"Y/n," he tries to whisper but his tone is rather harsh.

"What?" She whispers back in true confusion.

"My plate."

He looked at her as if she was crazy, as if it was a common occurrence for her to fix his plate. She starts to scramble to save herself from further embarrassment, the sound of silverware against plates so loud. She can feel the stares coming from the other side of the table but she doesn't dare look up.

Her skin began to grow hot. Her husband had embarrassed her in front of Lee and Florence. The worst part was when Florence tried to change the subject to something lighthearted to pull the attention off of Y/n. She felt small and useless. Lou never expected her to fix his plate, but he looked at her as if she was crazy for not doing so. She didn't want to spend dinner almost in tears. This changed behavior in her husband is giving her whiplash and making her dizzy.

"So, Y/n, did you enjoy the other night?"

"It was really nice Florence," she replies sheepishly.

"Susie and I put so much work into planning it. You should join us next time! We're going to start working on the fundraising events for Lee's next campaign-"

"Let's not talk about that tonight Florence," Lee interrupts. It was a moment that would've left Y/n embarrassed if she was in Florence's shoes but Florence was much better at masking her emotions. Only for a split second can Y/n see Florence flinch at his interjection before she just smiles.

"Sorry Lee, you know how excited I get about those things," she masks her apology in a cheery voice.

Dinner basically became a probe of Y/n and Lou's relationship. Florence wanted to know how they met, when they got married, how long they had been together, and what their future plans together were. Y/n let Lou answer the last question by herself because she genuinely didn't know what their future plans were. Lou usually wakes up and decides what major life change they're going to undertake, that's what happened when he decided to move to Brewer Heights.

When the topic of work came up, Y/n thought the coast was clear. Lou talked extensively about the work he does with his father and what his plan is for the next five years regarding the business.

"Once my father retires I'll have to hire someone to do his job. I didn’t go study in school after high school so I can't take over his position, even though it would make things easier."

"I'm sure you can find someone. I know it's rare for someone to leave the city and come to this little town, but Brewer Heights is always a nice incentive!"

"It is nice here," Lou agrees, "and it's quiet. We were in Meade before which is okay-"

"But, it's nothing like Brewer Heights," Florence interjects. "So, Y/n, what did you do before meeting Lou?"

Lee had not looked her way since the plate-fixing incident but his eyes were sure on her now. If his mouth wasn't stuffed with food he'd be grinning from ear to ear waiting for her answer. He knows she's not a good liar, but she's going to have to come up with something.

"I helped my mom with her business. She used to sell fruit preserves out of the house before she passed."

It wasn't a complete lie. She did help her mother label her jars, but that became less frequent when her hours picked up at Tecumseh. Her parents didn't know about her job either; she told them she was a waitress and it was a safe lie seeing as they didn't go out to diners.

"I'm sorry for your loss, I'm sure she was a lovely woman if she raised such a lovely daughter! Have you ever thought of continuing her business?"

"Not really. It was pretty small. I still make the preserves sometimes for Lou and I."

"If you wouldn't mind, would you be interested in making some for us one day? You don't have to if you don't want to, but it's just so hard to find any good fruit preserves around town." Florence's social habits were very transparent once you were around her for long; she tends to make it impossible for people to say no to her by making them feel bad about even possibly saying no.

"I'd love to Florence. I have fresh peaches at home and I can make peach preserves."

"Oh I'd love that so much," she fawns, "a jar for me and a jar for Lee! He loves his sweets."

"I'm not too big on peaches, Flo. You know I like cherries more."

"You always have," she leans into him and pats him on the chest before straightening up again.

The audacity of Lee is astounding, however not only is he a cop, he's the sheriff. It's such a cowardly move to pick at Y/n when she can't react, but what someone would call cowardly, he'd call fun. She looks like she wants to disappear from her spot and it scratches an itch for him. He missed seeing her get flustered and if he'd known that it would be much more enjoyable to taunt her while his wife was around, he would have found a reason a long time ago to bring her around.

And as if the night couldn't be more humiliating for her, Lou finished his plate before anyone else. He devoured the food on his plate, like a starved man. Y/n felt embarrassed when her husband went for seconds. He never eats this much at home, even when she makes his favorite meals. It makes her want to reach across the dinner table and smack Florence in the face. She hates her; she hates that she has to smile in her face and be friends with her. It's her own fault for continuing this "friendship" with Florence, but her rage makes her blind to her own faults.

She could ruin Florence's life with one sentence: "I've been fucking your husband for years." She'd cause a scene but it would be so gratifying.

Instead she just shuts her mouth and lets dinner continue without anymore incidents.

-

Y/n thought it would show she was grateful for dinner if she helped Florence with the dishes. She was glad to accept Y/n's help and the two spent their time in the kitchen while Lee and Lou sat on the back porch. With Lee's influence, Lou took another drink out back with him. Y/n wondered what they had to talk about, but she would truly not like to know.

"Your wife cooks like that every night, sheriff?"

"Enough with the title. And she cooks every night, but she went a little overboard since she was happy with having guests," he tells him. If it was anybody else, Lee would just answer the questions and not have any for himself. However, he really wants to know what Y/n has been up to since she's adopted this new image. "How about Y/n? Does she cook for you like that?"

"Not at all. She tries, but she's not the good of a cook," he brings the alcohol up to his lips before pulling away and sighing, "she tries but it's just not her best."

"Her mother didn't teach her how to cook?"

"I don't know much about her family. Her mother was dead when I met her and her father doesn't seem to be doing so well. They're from the same area as my folks but moved when they had Y/n. Maybe she was just too spoiled considering she's an only child."

Y/n's past was a mystery to Lee too, but he's surprised to learn she hasn't opened up to her husband. All he knows is that whether it was her home life or not, something had messed her up and it was almost made worse by her time at Tecumseh. He isn't sure how she made it out, but so much of her old life still bleeds through.

"You know I thought I was getting a good girl. One that would clean and have dinner ready when I get home," Lou continued.

Lee wanted to laugh in his face. Lou is proof that you can come from a smart family and still be dumb as rocks. How could he not know what type of girl Y/n was when he first laid eyes on her? She'd dress just like his sister Sandy; shorts that suffered from mistreatment over the years and a sleeveless blouse that was always stained. He's sure her hair was mussed up that day too. Many people would mistake her for a whore (which many people did see her as one even though she didn't outright sell her body to anyone).

"It can't be that bad," Lee tried to vouch for his former lover. Even he can name some good qualities about her; they just don't include any wifely qualities.

"It's not, but things could be better. Anytime I tell her to shape-up she gets this timid look on her face and flinches a little bit. I try to be nice and gentle but I'm losing my patience with her. I’m not looking to leave her, but what’s the point of marrying a woman who can’t do anything? She won’t even talk to me about having kids — was Florence ever like this?”

“No. Her family is from here so she’s been primed to be a housewife. But I will say it’s not all that fun havin’ a doting wife…she’s overbearing at times and I can never unwind with her around. She’s always on my ass about somethin’.”

Lee felt the need to vouch for Y/n. Anytime he would go to Tecumseh, she would accompany out back or get into his cruiser whenever he told her to. All the gritty things he dealt with at work, everything he kept inside, he dumped it on her. Florence would never sit there to listen to his grievances. Lee would never admit it, but he was vulnerable around Y/n, he knew that she would always be there to listen and he attached himself to that. In the beginning she wasn’t willingly listening to his problems but by the end she was. She took care of him when he was too drunk to go home, or she would let him take his stress and frustration out on her body. However, it doesn’t seem as if Lou is budging; his mind is made up.

“I work long hours. My father is putting more responsibilities on me. I put Y/n in that nice home, the least she could do is not serve me burnt food. Hangin’ around Florence and that Susie woman should have at least influenced her or something,” he continued to complain.

Florence was the last person that would be able to influence a girl like Y/n. Lee didn't know why his wife was seemingly grooming that girl. If anything it was just another person for her to control since Lee started telling her to knock it off. The only time she can get away with controlling her husband is if they're in the company of others where Lee has to be on his best behavior.

Y/n is not the type to be influenced by another woman. The only woman she held in high regard was her mother. Y/n listens to male authority. She listens to a man that will rough her up a little bit but then be sweet on her afterwards. She’s a little fucked up and jaded from her former “profession.” Lee knows this, but not Lou. He seems to know nothing of her past and Lee isn’t going to snitch on her.

“I can talk to Florence and see if she can do something. I know she likes taking people under her wing and shit. She seems to really like Y/n too.”

“I’d greatly appreciate that Lee. I know I sound like I’m hard on her, but I do love her. It’s hard for me to show when she just doesn’t put any effort in.”

"Don't worry. I'll talk to Florence — I'll make everything right."