#I just cannot imagine her with anyone else except for him

[lizard-speed]

see like, i know that realistically tasha probably *would* be gay but in my heart she and data are in love and i can't deny that to myself

[hanniesbrat]

the boy is mine | k.mg

pet play w mingyu

pairing: kim mingyu x reader, reader’s best friend is yuqi! ((g)i-dle) also cheol lol

wc: 5.6k (can you believe i cut it down?)

genre: strangers -> fucking, smut, little cracky at some parts

synopsis: when one of your best friends (who also happens to be a frat bro), seungcheol, invites you to his halloween party, you hesitantly accept. you were never really the party type… but one guy, one of his new friends to be exact, might single handedly change that.

!other kinktober fics!

a/n: ......heyyyyy... no one hate me. i know im almost a whole month late ): prepping for the svt concert took more time than i anticipated, i live in america so... yeah all that happened, work got in the way, i had a lot of yap days with my wife @jenoslutie which has been so nice!! <3 and i JUST (literally today) got back from visiting my bestie @goblynnrockz for their birthday :p BUT in between all that, i managed to finish this bitch. (pun intended) ALL OF THAT BEING SAID, i really hope you guys enjoy this as much as i enjoyed writing it. and if it seems like its eluding to there being a potential relationship between mc and gyu, well... maybe there will be in the future ;p

(P.S. you must picture long, wavy haired mingyu in this :3 more like the pic on the right. i just put the lolla pic bc it fits the vibe you CANNOT argue w that lol okay imma stop yapping now. ENJOY LUVLIES!!!!)

you weren’t the party type, but when one of your best friends, seungcheol, invited you to his frat’s halloween party with a nearly quivering bottom lip, you couldn’t say no.

“you have to let me bring whoever i want as my plus one.” you deadpanned while crossing your arms. 

“so you’ll go?!” he nearly squealed. 

you sighed before nodding with an annoyed, “yes.”

“fuck yeah!” he yelled before swooping you up in a big hug. you couldn’t help the laughter that erupted from your chest. 

you loved when cheol got all giddy. it was such a silly contrast to his wide, strong build, and that’s always been so enduring yet hilarious to you. you didn’t think anyone else like him existed in real life. 

until you met him. 

“remind me again why you are dragging me to a party?” your best friend, yuqi, chuckled out from the passenger’s seat of your car. 

you took the last right before reaching the house. “cheol asked nicely and… i’ve been needing an excuse to wear these boots,” you smiled, looking for a parking spot.

yuqi silently pointed to a spot on the street, and as you parked, she went on. “i just can’t help but wonder why cheol wanted you to go so bad like… he knows you’re not a partier.”

“he wants me to get out of my shell more.” you shrugged, getting out of the car. 

“well you’re definitely out of your shell, fucking look at you. a full latex outfit and tits out? girl…” yuqi gawked at you for a moment.

dressing as blackcat was far out of your costume comfort zone. normally you went the horror route. billy the puppet, jennifer check (in the prom dress with the contacts, blood and all), freddy krueger, etc. so, wearing a latex set that left nothing to the imagination except for any ink you may have on your skin was out of character, but you wanted to spice it up this year.

“i think the little mask helps be feel a bit hidden,” you giggled seen as it’s a thin black eye mask, not hiding who is under it at all. yuqi jokingly scoffed and you then took the attention off yourself. “look at you, catwoman. you look devious with that whip,” you cooed, then took her hand in yours and gave her a spin on the sidewalk.

“oh stop it,” she blushed. “let’s get inside before it starts getting too crazy.”

you two walked in practically attached at the hip. you scanned the front room for cheol, yuqi doing the same. “ah! there he is,” she pointed toward the kitchen.

you looked over, immediately making eye contact with him. he waved you guys over to stand with him and some frat bro you didn’t recognize. 

“y/n!” he greeted you with a bear hug, unfazed by your tits practically spilling from your top. “and yuqi! hey long time no see!” he said sweetly, giving her a side hug.

“hi! it’s good to see you, cheol,” she giggled. 

“are you gonna introduce us?” you motioned to his friend beside him and smiled. 

the friend smiled and reached a hand out, “hey, i’m chan! nice to meet you both.” after shaking both of your hands, a warm smile across his face, he turned around to finish concocting a drink for himself. 

“you know we have a spare room. if you guys want, you can have some drinks! chan makes a mean lemon drop.” cheol offered you both. 

yuqi got a devilish smile on her face, “don’t mind if i do, fred. one lemon drop, please, daphne!” she giggled leaning backwards on the counter next to chan, watching what he was doing over her shoulder. she faced forward after a moment and motioned her head toward you. “what about you miss latex?” she smirked giving you a once over. the girl wasn’t even drinking yet and she was already getting flirty. typical. (<3)

“don’t even let her answer that,” seungcheol quickly intervened. “make blackcat a drink, please. the pretty lady deserves it,” he grinned, wrapping an arm around you. 

“well thank you, cheolie… but deserve it? for what?” you asked cutely, looking up at him. 

“putting up with my bitchass. thank you for coming tonight. i’m glad you did,” he stated sweetly, giving you a kiss atop your head. you just leaned into him, silently telling him “you’re welcome” and “me too”. 

“what’s up?” you look over at chan who’s finishing your drink up, and he’s got his phone between his ear and shoulder. “oh shit okay! we’ll be right out!” he hung up, sliding the phone in his pocket, then turned around handing you your drink. “pretty lady,” he smiled. “cheol lets go. that was vernon, they’re outside.” he said, patting cheol on the shoulder, making his way out of the kitchen hurriedly. 

“okay! you two wait right here, i’ll be back.” seungcheol requested, then ran after chan. 

“oh god,” you walked forward to the counter and turned so your back was leaning on it with yuqi. you two looked out from the kitchen, into the crowd of people that had seemingly gotten significantly larger since you’d arrived minutes ago. “they’ve all gotta be members of the mystery inc huh…” you trailed off.

“i wonder what poor guy they got to be scooby,” yuqi empathized. 

“i bet it’s soonyoung.”

“be so fucking for real, y/n. he’s a fucking tiger every year,” yuqi said pointedly. she was right. 

just then, the room got significantly more quiet meaning- oh those boys and their group entrances…

it was never anything elaborate, but they did have to make their presence known. cheol almost always walking in first as the rest of the boys followed. 

you and yuqi made your way out of the kitchen to the living room, disregarding cheol’s words from earlier. you two managed to push toward the front of the swarm of people that were gathered near the door. shouts then could be heard from all over, praising the commitment of all the boys. first was cheol as fred, then chan as daphne walking alongside wonwoo as velma, and last but not least vernon as shaggy with… not soonyoung as scooby. “who the fuck is that?” you nearly drooled leaning over into yuqi’s ear. 

“wonwoo?” she suggested. 

“no, dumbass, obviously i know wonwoo… who’s scooby?” your voice dropping a cool octave or two in curiosity. 

“i don’t know but… fuck is he fine,” she said bluntly. 

you both had your eyes locked on him until yuqi’s gaze redirected to wonwoo… her main interest right now and always. “if you’ll excuse me,” she hummed, grazing a hand across your shoulder and handing you her whip as she strolled forward toward the tall boy wearing thicker framed glasses than normal.

you made your way back to the kitchen to wait for one of your friends to come back, knowing one of them would find their way to you. 

or so you thought. 

someone did definitely make their way to you, but it wasn’t cheol, yuqi, or even chan. 

“i didn’t know blackcat carried around a whip,” scooby shot you a cheeky smile while reaching beside you on the counter for a drink. 

you smiled, leaning your hip on the counter to face him. “she doesn’t, but cat woman does and she needed me to hold it for her.”

“well… i’m glad she needed you to because it gave me an excuse to talk to you.” you both chuckled, your face getting flushed. he turned, mirroring your position against the counter. “i’m mingyu. i just joined the frat,” he explained rather shy in comparison to his confident demeanor that he approached you with. it was charming. 

“well hello mingyu,” you chuckled, chugging the rest of your lemon drop. “i’m y/n. i’m friends with cheol.”

“oh no way! you’re like… his best friend,” he laughs trying his drink. you giggled watching his face contort at the potency of the alcohol. “hey don’t laugh! bleh! but it’s nice to finally meet you.” 

“it’s nice to meet you too,” you covered your mouth to snicker a bit more as if that makes it any less “mean”. 

once he recovered a moment later, he sat his cup down and spoke up again. “you know, y/n, you make a beautiful blackcat,” he complimented, giving you a once over as respectfully as he could. from the minute he laid eyes on you when yuqi had walked way from you, he knew he had to talk to you. your little whip that didn’t go with your costume was his perfect excuse, and… you looked amazing. that could’ve even been enough of an excuse on its own. 

your cheeks grew warm at the compliment with his demeanor and tone. it’d shifted to something more sensual than before. his eyes getting darker, but still soft. 

“thank you,” you smiled before reaching up to play with one of his ears. “and you make an adorable puppy.” 

his body stiffened, but it was so subtle you almost didn’t notice. you chose to ignore it, moving to his collar. “did minghao make this?” you asked, tilting your head admiring the well recreated scooby dog tag. you pulled on it a little, as if to test its durability, but really you wanted to see if this was doing something to the tall man before you. sure enough, you watched as he swallowed rather hard under your touch. you wouldn’t have noticed had you not been staring at his throat already. 

“y-yeah he did. he’s really talented,” he said softly, slightly tilting his head back as you took your finger from the collar, and slowly traced it down his chest that was only covered by a thin, tight brown t-shirt. 

“what’s the matter, scooby? cat got your tongue?” you asked in a very playful way, not wanting to come off too strong too fast as you were already mere centimeters away from his body now. 

when he looked down at you, his eyes were pleading. desperate. like he was silently begging for you to do something more. he couldn’t find the words to answer your silly question. instead he sent his eyes to scan your face, lingering longer over your lips. 

“gyu!” you both jumped back from each other. up pranced soonyoung, but he wasn’t a tiger. “and y/n? hey!” he gave you a hug and you squeezed him back. 

“hey soonyoung!” you gathered your composure far quicker than mingyu who was still trying to comprehend what the fuck just happened. “a cowboy this year?” you motioned your hands to his costume. 

“had to change it up,” he shrugged. “still got my date, though,” he grinned. you knew it was the stupid plastic skeleton he dragged along every year in the spirit of the holiday. 

“well, wherever you set her down, i can imagine she goes way better with this outfit than the tiger onesie,” you both laugh.

“girl… a whip? i don’t think blackcat-“

“shutup, i know. it’s yuqi’s. she’s catwoman.” you deadpanned. 

he put his hands up as if to surrender, “got it, no need to use it on me.” you two laughed together again.

mingyu wasn’t enjoying this conversation like you and soonyoung were, however. 

he gently grabbed your wrist while patting soonyoung on the shoulder. “excuse us,” were the first words to come out of his mouth in the past couple minutes. it came out low and demanding, an extreme contrast from the state you had him in before soonyoung showed up. 

you looked at soonyoung then shrugged your shoulders in confusion and blew him a quick kiss, whip in hand as mingyu pulled you away. “have fun!” he yelled after you both. 

“mingyu, where the fuck are we going?” you finally ask as he's pulling you up the stairs.

“my room,” he states bluntly. 

“your room? why didn’t you just get ready here then?” your genuine curiosity taking over. 

mingyu stopped you both in front of his door. “except for cheol and chan, we all got ready at vernon’s,” he answered very matter of fact, then his eyebrows furrowed remembering what he was doing. 

he opened his door, pulling you in with him. once he closed the door, he grabbed you and pushed you against it, hands cupping your face, instantly attacking your lips with his own. your hand naturally found its way to his long, wavy hair while your other rested on his chest. you slightly tugged at his hair, a groan escaping his lips. you smiled and chuckled against his mouth, knowing exactly how this was gonna end, despite his attempts at taking control of the situation. 

he ignored your cockiness, moving a hand to the zipper of your top, toying with it just to be a dick. after about 10 seconds of that, you decided it was enough. 

“why don’t you be a good puppy and unzip me already,” you pull on his hair hard enough to pull him away this time. his eyes desperately searched yours, not understanding, himself, why every time you called him that, it made him feel weak in his knees. 

“o-okay,” he stuttered before unzipping your top the rest of the way. his mouth hung open at the way your tits broke free from the tight latex. “god..” he whispered. eyes still locked on your chest, he tried to speak, “c-can i please-”

“yes,” you breathed, not letting him finish his sentence, knowing exactly what he wanted. 

mingyu wasted no time, latching his mouth onto one of your nipples, desperately sucking on the skin as if his life depended on it. a low groan escaped your lips as you finally dropped the whip on the floor, and moved that hand to his back, lightly scratching at him through the thin fabric of his shirt. he moaned against your chest, sending a chill down your spine.

“on your knees,” you demanded. he pulled away from your chest with a rather puzzled expression on his face. “don’t make me say it again,” and with that, he practically dropped to the floor, looking up at you with the most beautiful eyes you’d ever seen. “good boy,” you praised, petting his head between his ears. you walked over to his bed, sitting yourself down at the edge of it. 

“come,” you said gently. mingyu started to stand up. “nuh uh,” you stopped him. “on all fours.”

“i- but i-,” he tried to protest, stumbling over his words.

“crawl. or i’ll walk out that door right now,” you threatened. 

he immediately got back on his knees, then bent forward, using his arms to help him crawl over to you. he didn’t break eye contact as he made his way to where you sat on his bed, your legs slightly opened. you leaned down, reaching in between your legs for his collar. you hooked two fingers underneath it and pulled him forward. he wrapped his arms around your waist, knees still planted on the floor as he looked at you longingly. 

“what a good puppy,” you cooed, moving your hand from his collar to his hair along with your other hand. you petted him right next to his ears on either side of his head. he hummed, tilting his head to the side, you moving your hand so he could rest his face on it. you thought this was just gonna be a typical dom/sub dynamic, but you quickly started realizing that it was far more than that. 

you leaned down giving him a soft kiss to his lips, making him crave more. he moved his hands up to your face, pulling you back down. you both hungrily attacked each others lips, breathing in every bit of the other. “what the fuck are you doing to me,” he growled between kisses. to be quite honest, you had no idea either. you didn’t even know this man, really. 

“get on the bed,” you demanded, out of breath. he mumbled, “okay,” then stood up and sat in the middle of his bed. “lay down, obviously,” you deadpanned. he felt like an idiot as he laid himself down. he watched you with big eyes as you crawled up his body. you sat yourself on top of him and reached to hook your fingers under his collar again. you used it to pull him up to your level. 

“take your stupid shirt off.” he fumbled with the hem of his shirt, lifting it up and over his head. you ripped it from his hands and threw it across the room to god knows where. you pushed him back down, diving after his neck with your mouth. his back arched slightly from the bed as a whimper escaped his lips. as your teeth sunk into his skin, beginning to suck, his chest pressed against yours.

he knew it wasn’t physically possible for him to get closer to your body, but he could try. he was desperate. he craved your warmth. he craved you. a complete stranger. “y/n, please,” he whined.

“please what?” you whispered into his ear, then proceeded to kiss down his neck to his chest. all he could do was make pathetic little noises in response. “cmon, use your words like a good boy, huh?” you cooed looking up at him. you traced your fingers over his large pecs sending chills through his whole body.

“f-fuck,” he threw his head back into the pillow. “fuck me, y/n, please!” he panted, grabbing at the sheets beneath him.

“you’d like that, wouldn’t you?” you teased as you slipped a hand under his pants, grabbing him through his boxers. you couldn’t help the sigh that escaped your mouth when you felt how big he was. he looked down at you with flushed cheeks, embarrassed at how easily he was being turned on by your words alone. 

“i- i would love that, y/n,” his eyes were so desperate, so needy. “c-can i take my pants off?” god, he was so obedient. it excited you beyond your own comprehension. before you could even think about it, you hooked your fingers under the waistband of his pants and started shimmying them down his thick, muscular thighs. 

“fuck,” you mumbled under your breath. the tent in his boxers was intimidating to say the least. you sat on his thighs as you pulled his cock out, admiring the way it grew even more at your direct touch. mingyu was panting like a bitch underneath you and you hadn't even started stroking him yet. “easy there, big boy,” you giggled at his uneasiness. as you started pumping him with one hand, you used the other to stabilize yourself above him.

a deep groan ripped from his throat as he screwed his eyes shut at the sensation. “does that feel good, puppy?” you asked innocently. mingyu whimpered and looked into your eyes again, mere inches away. he used all his extra strength to push his head up to capture your lips with his. this kiss was far deeper than the others. it felt… more intimate than before.

“please y/n i need you,” he whispered against your lips. honestly, you needed him too, so instead of continuing the torture any longer, you got off the bed to remove your top completely, and took your pants off. before getting back on top of him, you pulled his pants the rest of the way down, then stood at the edge of the bed, gawking.

this man’s body was godly. skin the perfect shade of gold, soft muscle curves, the slight glisten on his skin as the moonlight from the window reflects off of his sweat. and his face… fuck, his face. the way his eyes glisten with lust and need, his lips swollen and slightly parted as he’s nearly drooling, waiting for you to do something, and to top it all off, his puppy ears on his head with the collar on his neck making him all the more irresistible. 

you climbed back on top of him, his eyes not leaving yours, whether you were looking back at him or not. he only looked away when you started grinding your soaked cunt against his cock. he watched intensely as your slick coated him from top to bottom, his tip leaking precum each time you slid forward. “ready for me to fuck you, gyu?” you nearly whined out, your hands firmly placed on his chest to balance yourself.

“b-been ready, mo-” he stopped himself. “fuuuck please, y/n, please.” he begged. 

“what a good fucking boy you are. don’t even have to ask you to beg.” you lifted yourself, and as if there was a form of telepathy happening, he reached down to lift his cock straight up, ready for you to do nothing but line yourself up and sink down in him. however… you both knew that was going to be painful for you. your nails began to dig lightly into his chest as you slowly sunk yourself down on him. a long string of whimpers falling from your lips while he gripped your hips, helping you steady yourself as you now sat all the way down on his cock. you swiveled your hips a couple times before slowly lifting them and slamming back down onto him without warning. a gasp escaping your own lips.

“ah! Fuck!” mingyu cried out, throwing his head back into the pillows again. the grip he had on your hips only tightened.

you moved your hands to his neck, applying only slight pressure as you started moving up and down on his cock. his breathing became sporadic, and you could feel his veins on his neck starting to bulge under your fingers as you started to pick up your pace. “collar getting too tight?” you breathed. 

“n-no,” mingyu choked out. “mmmph~ i like it,” his voice was hoarse, but soft. his hands finally moved from your hips to roam your body. he dragged them up your waist until he was cupping your tits. he started kneading the flesh, licking his lips as he watched your face start to contort with pleasure. you let go of his neck and put your hands on top of his, over your chest. 

the scene was so beautiful before him, he was growing more and more impatient, needing to chase his high. you threw your head back crying out a “fuck!” as mingyu started meeting each bounce of yours with a sharp thrust. 

“a-am i doing a good job?” he whined, “does it feel good?” all he wanted was your validation and praise. 

“y-yes~ fuck- such a good boy for me,” you cooed as stable as possible. you brought a hand down and combed your fingers through his hair right below his puppy ears. his thrusts slowed and so did you. you hadn’t realized how much of the “fucking” was being done by him now instead of you. he hummed and closed his eyes while you ran your fingers through his hair again. both of your movements came to a complete stop. nothing but cockwarming and heavy breaths while you petted the pretty boy beneath you. 

once he opened his eyes, you gave him a soft smile and he nestled his face into your hand. looking up at you with those puppy eyes, the next words that came out of his mouth were jarring to say the least. “w-will you sit on my face? please?” you could’ve sworn he batted his lashes too. 

you giggled before teasing him, “are you seriously asking to pleasure me right now?” 

“no im fucking begging, y/n please.” he whined. 

“well, when you beg like such a good boy, how could i tell you no, hm?” you hummed before moving your hands to his headboard, climbing up his body, stabilizing yourself over his face. 

he wasted no time trying to attack your core with his tongue, but you didn’t want to let him have it that easily. you moved a hand down to tug at his hair, pulling him off of you. “nuh uh. stick out your tongue,” you demanded. 

“w-what?” his eyes were big with uncertainty. 

“did i stutter? stick out your tongue and stay like a good puppy.” you spit at him, no patience left in your voice. 

so, mingyu did just that. slowly but surely he opened his mouth wide, laying his tongue out for you like the good boy he was. 

you lowered yourself back down onto his tongue, slowly moving your soaked cunt back and forth. he just looked up at you with such adoration in his eyes, but tongue out like an absolute idiot. it was driving you crazy. 

mingyu was going arguably more crazy, though. he wanted to devour you. taste every single inch of you, and lap up every last drop of your arousal like there was no tomorrow. 

you let out a whimper that drove him over the edge, and he couldn’t contain himself anymore. he brought his strong arms up, wrapping them around your thighs, locking you in place on his face. you gripped onto his bed frame tighter as he began to suck on your clit with such vigor, you almost came on the spot. 

fuck he’s good at this. 

he then started fucking his tongue in and out of you, using his own strength alone to bounce you up and down slightly on the muscle. 

“mmph~ fuuuck~ mingyu please, don’t stop,” you pleaded, knuckles white from holding onto his headboard for dear life. who was he to deny you? he moved one of his hands from your thigh to the bundle of nerves above where his tongue was fucking in and out of you. as soon as he started rubbing gentle but fast circles on your clit, you knew you weren’t gonna last long. the familiar knot in your tummy forming far faster than you’d like to admit. 

“p-puppy i’m c-close. gonna make me cum,” you half panted, half wailed. 

he moved his mouth away to talk, fingers still working on your clit. 

“cum for me please baby, cum all over my tongue,” his voice had dropped to a dangerously low tone. he went back to tongue fucking you and your grip on his headboard became so tight you thought you might break it. 

“gyu! fuck! i’m- fuck!” a wave of pure euphoria flooded your whole body faster than you could comprehend. mingyu lapped up every last bit of cum dripping from your cunt.

“jesus christ,” you panted.

“okay y/n, all fours.”

“what?” you looked down at mingyu’s big brown eyes in complete shock.

“i- i’m sorry please can i fuck you on all fours?”

“mingyu i’m not worried about how you wanna fuck me-”

“then, please? can i? I’ve been a good boy…”

“you definitely have,” you reassured, moving a piece of his hair out of his face. “i just don’t know if i have the energy for that right now.”

“you don’t have to do anything, just- y/n just let me take care of you…” his voice was so soft and genuine. nothing like you were used to from a hookup.

“fine… then can i just lay on my back?” you both chuckled.

“whatever you want.”

once you guys repositioned yourselves, mingyu on top of you for the first time tonight, you couldn’t help but let your mind race. i could get used to this view… y/n stop it’s just a fucking hookup, you’ll only ever see him again in passing. but his voice… the way he’s speaking to me is so… sweet… so? he’s probably just fucking pussy whipped. and pussy whipped he was, but it wasn’t that simple.

“are you ready, baby?” his eyes scanning yours intently as if to catch any trace of uncertainty that may reside in your eyes.

“y-yes. at least i hope,” you giggled. a fangy smile gracing his face. fuck, his smile.

as mingyu started to push himself into you, you winced at the stretch. it was almost like he’d gotten bigger since you were on top of him earlier. “ah~ fuck gyu,” you whined.

“too much? do you want me to stop?”

“no, no please don’t stop,” you just gripped onto his arms and closed your eyes.

a couple seconds later and he finally bottomed out, causing both of you to let out a string of low moans as you both adjusted to the feeling of his rather fucking huge dick inside of you. (how else was i supposed to word that like c’mon now)

within a minute mingyu was drilling into you at an animalistic pace. the grip you had on his biceps probably close to breaking skin with your nails. your back arched at its limit. both of you sounding like you're in one of the most hardcore pornos ever filmed. the bed creaking, slamming into the wall… you get it.

the rest of the world had completely withered away at this point when suddenly… 

BANG BANG BANG! “jesus christ, mingyu! that you in there?” seungcheol… fuck.

mingyu stilled all movement, “uhhh yeah… what do you want?” he dropped his head onto the pillow right next to your head. you couldn’t help but giggle.

“Sorry.. just uh… have you seen y/n?!” he yelled from the other side of the door. mingyu’s head shot up, both of you looking at each other with complete panic in your eyes.

“you could… you could say that i’ve seen her… yeah?” mingyu yelled back, wincing as he awaited his response.

when seuncheol didn’t answer right away, you decided to speak up. “hi cheol…” you said softly but loud enough for him to hear you.

“you’re fucking kidding,” seungcheol scoffed before walking away yelling, “you two fuckbirds have fun!”

you and mingyu just laid there for a second before bursting out laughing.

“okay that was embarrassing,” you covered your face.

“oh don’t act like you didn’t like it,” he grinned, leaning down to start kissing on your neck. “you think i can’t feel how much wetter you got?” he bucked his hips into you without warning, making you yelp. he just chuckled, lifting his head up to look at you again.

your mouth was hung open like an idiot, unsure of how to respond, actually embarrassed now.

“look who’s the tough guy now, huh?” he taunted, beginning to slowly pump in and out of you again. your eyes rolled back into your head and your hands reached for his hair. sensing that the puppy fun would be ending now, you tried to focus your vision enough to unclip the ears from his hair and throw them elsewhere in his room. “oh, are we done with those now?” he asked in such a bitchy tone, you could’ve slapped him back into his submissive state, but you were over the playing now.

“mingyu, just fuck me,” you panted now able to put your hands in his hair how you please.

“that’s no way to get what you want now, gorgeous.”

“mingyu, please just fuck me already!” you whined, wrapping your legs around his torso. 

the groan that escaped his lips at that action was inhuman as he sped back up to his pace from before, however, far harder. 

“fuck! Mingyu!” you cried out, unable to do or say anything else.

“what? wanted me to f-fuck you, no?” he teased, stopping to lift one of your legs over his shoulder, then removing your mask in one quick motion before pounding into you again. the new angle pushed you to your limit once again, far too fast for your own sanity. “let go for me again baby, i can feel it. you’re c-close aren’t you?” he cooed softly in contrast to his brutal movements. “touch yourself for me,” he breathed. 

you moved a hand down to your clit, rubbing away at the bud while your other arm moved to his back, pulling his body closer to yours as you reached your high. the close proximity bringing his clingy self closer to his own breaking point. 

now forehead to forehead, the knot in your stomach about to snap, you moved your other hand up to his back, fingertips lightly pressing into the skin. mingyu brought a hand to your neck, holding it gently, but firm as he railed into you for the last few times. 

“-m cumming!” you cried, now digging your nails into his back. 

“fuck!” he growled at the lovely sting of the scratches you were leaving. your cunt fluttering around his cock however was the final straw. “ah~ baby~” he groaned before crashing his lips into yours as his orgasm hit. 

“so… you always have wipes conveniently available on your nightstand?” you giggled, curled up in his arms under his blankets. 

“you know, it was actually pure luck,” he started. “cheol did a grocery run today and when he brought me my bag there were a couple of our toiletries and i was gonna go put them in the bathroom bu-”

“hey, gyu?” you looked up at him. 

“yeah?”

“shhhhh…” you smiled, placing a soft kiss to his lips before laying your head back down on his chest.

he kissed the top of your head and whispered with a chuckle, “sorry. i talk too much.”

“uh uh just… sleepy,” you yawned. 

how you two managed to tune out the party is beyond anyone’s guess. he didn’t have to run his fingers in your hair for a full minute before you knocked out, but he did anyway until he fell asleep himself. 

tag list: @skzooluvr @jenoslutie @iluvhoshi @goblynnrockz @map0fthes0ul7 @unlikelysublimekryptonite @actuallynarii @glttrlix @ninigyuuu @starcandybby (i hope that was everyone! i feel like my list got messed up but hopefully it's right!)

[dontbesoweirdkira]

Okay, so, the ask about yandere platonic dick cheating and how the reader would react has me wondering; what would happen if the reader somehow found out that Dick didn't actually change and decided to go no contact, because they couldn't trust him or maybe because they just don't want to be around someone like that? Would that cause Dick to spiral more? What exactly would be the consequences of going no contact? (Like a complete cut off, although it'd be a bit hard to do that since they live in the same house)

(I was a bit disappointed to read that he probably wouldn't change, but it seemed realistic to me because habits are hard to break and everyone in the batfam is messed up. Although, I imagine after years of therapy or something similar there might be some sort of change. But, I doubt anyone in the batfam is getting therapy... except maybe reader)

Sorry yeah, i don't like to think Dick is actually a cheater or this shitty. I just like to humor different scenarios i get requested. But you cannot deny that this man is a messy whore. THIS IS THE FACE OF EVILLL

context

Look, cheaters are so sloppy. Even the ones who put the most effort into it are always bound to slip up. I imagine batsis isn't a fool. Like Richard...no way did you just go from being a serial cheater to suddenly being completely cleansed. You're an addict baby boy.

Like i said at first he's actually wanting to get clean for his baby sis and to be a good role model. I think it'd be very obvious to you that he's actually trying. He's irritable and really struggling to cope with the fact he has to put the phone down. You can see him obsessively checking his phone for what you'd assume to be a message or notification from one of his hookups. You can tell he's torn up about loosing his partners because he came clean about his unethical practices....

There's no hiding. This is such a deep seeded issue and it is really taking a toll on him. This is something like you said will need YEARS of therapy to fix.

So now Dick is trying to bullshit you a few days later...right in front of your salad! He's just sooo happy and he's proud about this new leaf turned????? Yesterday he looked like he was about to breakdown in tears because he'd been abstinent for just 48 hrs...and now he's glowing???

Dick, your patrol ended at 2 am last night...you came home at 6 am...please don't play with me rn.

not me getting heated. lol

He doesn't explicitly tell you he's back to his old ways. He's willing to keep lying his way into keeping you and this habit but it's undeniable. You know that his gf only forgave him because he lied to her too. It makes you sick when you saw the text of him telling her that he's busy with family and then left out for the rest of the day to go be with someone else.

Maybe you explode on him about it? Last time you were as nice as you could be about it but you cannot deal with the games anymore.

I liked to think in this scenario you're yelling at him and he's just still gas-lighting you, He throws every card to make you feel bad for accusing him. It absolute drives you mad. He's just so calm while you're are trying not to strangle him.

"Baby bat, i love you. I think you're just tired and are imagining things. You're convincing yourself that i'm still the old Dick because you're hurting...i understand and I forgive you. Maybe we should set up therapy sessions to help you let go of the past? Hmm?"

"YOU MOTHER FU-"

Ugh but i love him he's so fucked

The irony of him suggesting you therapy when he's the one riddles with mommy issues and the most insane coping mechanisms...

Dick isn't going to allow you to go no contact. You cannot go no contact with someone you live in the same house with. You are bound to interact and when you are dealing with someone like dick...it just won't work. The bat kids are extremely resilient and are well versed in making someone crack. You wouldn't be the exception.

More realistically you'd probably just be cold towards Dick. That's the best you can do. Not really responding to him and basically stone walling...

But i imagine this version of Dick to be much more forceful. He's done with your self righteousness. How dare you suggest moving out. That isn't an option because he needs to see his baby sister everyday. You are breaking up the family over this. You cannot cut him off because he's flawed...it's not that serious y/n. None of the other siblings are breathing down his neck. Maybe if you weren't so frustrating..he could actually become a better person. You are the one that is preventing him from being better with all your pressure!!

You packed your bags and are fully ready to walk out of this family for good because there's just too many wrong doings swept under the rug and here comes dick who is FUMING... He's trying to rip your bags out of your hands and grab you up..

You are not doing this to him. Stop being so-

Maybe your siblings step in and help you to leave. They help Dick calm down because they respect that it's your choice to live how you'd life.

Dick isn't stopping once you're gone. Especially if you're still in Gotham. There's a shadow that follows you where you go. Tons of messages and calls from unknown numbers. Even scarily enough..a blue toy bird left at your door with a small note that read

"Missed me, my little birdie? We'll be seeing each other again soon."

[undertheorangetree]

Pomegranate Seeds

Summary- A retelling of the abduction of Persephone.

Warnings- MDNI 18+ NSFW. Female reader. Hades and Persephone AU. Star-crossed lovers vibes. Uncle/niece incest. Making out. Angst. Fluff. Titty sucking. Handjob. Cunnilingus. Vaginal fingering. Soft smut. Mild praise kink. Mildly OOC Aemond.

Author's Notes- Yeah I was a Percy Jackson/Greek mythology kid, thank you for noticing. I'm still playing incredibly fast and loose with the mythology tho so we're gonna have to make our peace with that. This is a beast btw, it's like 9.6K and you can find the rest on AO3 with the link below :)

divider created by @firefly-graphics

It is moments like these, she thinks, that she loves most.

Alone in the meadow, surrounded by wildflowers, the babbling of the creek as it flows over the rocks. Everything green with the exception of the purple, white, and yellow flowerheads but lush and everbearing and alive, the sun little more than a hazy warm glow, not yet hot enough to be overbearing. It is peaceful here, so much more than she is used to. She had come to an agreement with her step sisters, Baela and Rhaena, that they allow her a few hours on her own in this meadow, undisturbed by anyone else. Though her mother much preferred to that she remain alongside her sisters whenever she is out of sight, she, Baela, and Rhaena had come to an agreement that what her mother didn’t know couldn’t hurt her. And besides, they were never too far away from her. Being water nymphs, they could be by her side in less than a moment if she really needed them, so long as she doe does not stray too far from the river. And she has never been more grateful for it than she is right now.

Stretching her arms high above her head, she stretches out along the grass, enjoying the feeling of every blade of grass, the sweet smell of the blooms wafting on the breeze. Admittedly, this meadow had not been quite so plentiful when they had found it, following along the winding river, but she is the goddess of spring. Flowers bloom at her word and sun shines with her will. It had not been too difficult to turn this meadow into her own personal paradise, away from the chaos often wrought by her mother and brothers and stepfather.

There is a sudden change in the wind that causes her to sit up. Colder than it had been before, something more akin to winter than spring. The ground seems to rumble beneath her, shaking as if the sudden cold has sent it to shiver. Curiously, she turns her head toward the tree line, where the birches and willows keep the meadow shielded from view, only to find a man standing among them. Dressed in all black- breeches, cloak, and the shred of his tunic she can see beneath it- his platinum hair is almost jarring in contrast. He is not a big man, long and lithe, but there is an air to him that feels dangerous, dangerous enough to give her pause. He has not noticed her yet, face turned away, but she can see the long, stern plains of his face from where she sits, looking incredibly serious. That seriousness is only exacerbated by the dark leather eyepatch covering the eye closest to her, a deep red scar carved beneath it.

She does not think she has ever seen anyone here before, not outside of Baela, Rhaena, and herself, and his presence here is almost incongruous. Still, there is an air about him, one that makes it clear that he is a god just as she is, and that alone should make his surprise appearance less shocking.

“Hello.”

The sound of her voice seems to catch him off guard. Quickly, he turns toward her, shoulders tense, but they relax when he takes her in. She cannot imagine that she is intimidating, sitting flat in the grass all alone. “Hello.”

But it is that reminder of the grass that brings her pause. What is this man doing here? Where had he come from? It is not as if this meadow is easy to find, hidden amongst the trees as it is. She feels her brows furrow, head cocking in question. “How did you find this place?”

She had not put a glamour over this meadow, but she did not feel she had too. The forest, though light and airy, was a labyrinth of trees that seemed deterrent enough to keep any unwanted guests away. They were incredibly difficult to find your way through and she had been convinced it would be impossible to try- for God or mortal.

Near impossible, it seemed then.

His eye darts back to the treeline, taking half a step back. “If I am intruding, I can leave.”

“No.” She says it far too quickly and she can see the way his eyebrows raise in response to it, but she can’t find it in her to be ashamed. She is intrigued by this man, more so than she likely should be, and finds she wants to know more. To learn how he came to find this place. “Just because this place is unknown does not mean it is mine alone. You may stay. Beauty like this should be enjoyed.”

“Wise words,” he agrees, coming toward her. He hesitates at the end, torn on whether or not to truly join her, but it seems courtesy wins out as he lowers himself to the ground, joining her amongst the flowers. He looks entirely out of place, black against the blooms, but she says nothing, keeping her observation to herself.

They sit in absolute silence but she does not mind. He sits stiffly, as if uncomfortable, while she continues to take in all that is around her. From here, she can see the way the willows sway with the wind, the white puffy clouds floating by in the soft blue sky.

“I did not mean to,” he says. She looks at him, head tilted once again. “To find this place. It was not my intention. Though I admit I have never seen anything quite like it.”

She smiles, though he could not possibly know that he had complimented her. “It is a rare thing.”

“It feels almost as if it were from a painting,” he adds, looking around the meadow to take it in further.

She joins him in it, finding no shame in admiring her own work. It is a pretty place, though that had always been her intention. Olympus was beautiful in and of itself, but it was stark in that way. Ethereal and otherworldly, but cosmopolitan. Bright white marble, painted statues, stained glass. Everything beautiful, to be sure, but not in the untamed way that she seemed to crave. She preferred the beauty that was found in nature, in heavy branches filled with green leaves, tall grasses and wildflowers and crystalline waters.

“Do you know much about art?” she asks to fill the silence.

He seems caught off guard again from her question, but answers it anyway. “Not as much as I would like, but I can appreciate the beauty in something as well as any man. Though do not tell anyone. It would ruin my reputation.”

She laughs. “You needn’t worry. Your secret is safe with me. Which periods do you prefer?”

They talk for hours, the conversation unfurling as naturally as a bird’s wing. Art, history, philosophy. There is no subject they do not indulge in. He becomes less awkward with time as he grows more comfortable around her and she almost pulls a laugh from him not once, but twice. It seems quite the feat, for a man as serious as this one seems to be, though she does not let her pride get the better of her. When she asks him how she managed to find her well kept secret, he had simply said that one always finds the best things when you are not looking for them. A non answer, but that was alright. She was sure she could coax the answer from him eventually.

“Forgive me, I never asked you your name,” she says after what must have been hours, half appalled by her lack of manners.

He does not seem to mind, a good natured half smile making its way onto his face. “My friends call me Aemond. You may as well.”

It is not uncommon, for Gods to prefer more earthly names. She is often the same. There is power within a name and for such an innocent encounter, she does not feel the need to have him call her Persephone or Kore or any of those that strike some rumination of power and fear. So she gives him her common name, the one she feels is more true to who she is, and he smiles in response to it, repeating it back to her as if to test it. She likes the way it sounds when he says it, the way each letter seems to roll off him tongue, and somehow hearing him say the word alone is enough to make her flush.

She turns her head to hide it and only then notices that the sun has dipped below the trees, leaving the sky a hazy orange. Her mother will be expecting her home soon and there is no telling how poorly she will react if Rhaena and Baela return home without her. She doesn’t doubt that Rhaenyra will send her great serpent Syrax after her should she be even a moment late.

“I have to go,” she says, unable to keep the apologetic tone from her voice.

Reluctantly, she stands, brushing the dirt from her skirts. His lips had parted at her announcement, but now he ducks his head in an understanding nod. She smiles at him, not truly wanting to go yet, and makes her way toward the creek to call upon her sisters to come and fetch her. She does not make it two steps before he is calling after her.

“Can I see you again?”

She turns back to look at him. The insecurity on his face does not seem to match his features, looking almost out of place there. Still, she finds it entirely endearing and she realizes that she would absolutely like to see him again.

“Yes,” she agrees softly.

“Tomorrow?”

She does not bother to fight the smile itching its way onto her face. “Yes.”

He matches her smile then before standing. He comes forward and takes her hand, bringing her knuckles to his lips and placing a chaste kiss there. “Then I shall see you on the morrow, my lady.”

She can do nothing but hope he does not notice how hot her face has become.

“On the morrow.”

Read the rest here

[fdeegbffi]

Sukuna x female reader.

Summary:

Sukuna was always a cold hearted king. However meeting you revealed his vulnerable side. He loves you, he really does, but he cannot let his people know he has a soft spot for a woman so he replaces you. Heartbroken you flee. What will he do next?

Inspiration from this girlie❤️:

Really loved this idea and I wanted to recreate it with a little twist.

The Cursed King’s Regret (Pt1)

I think

In a world steeped in darkness, Ryomen Sukuna ruled as an unforgiving king. His name alone was enough to send tremors through the hearts of even the bravest souls, and his power, feared and unchallenged, was the stuff of legend. But hidden away in the shadows of his imposing castle was a secret he kept from everyone—even from the woman who unknowingly held his heart.

You were that woman, a gentle presence in the cursed king's life. Sukuna had never intended to care for anyone, let alone fall in love. His life had always been one of darkness and control, his emotions buried deep hidden from the eyes of the living. But there was something about you that slipped past his defenses, capturing his attention and, eventually, his heart. He loved you with an intensity that scared him, a possessiveness that he couldn’t fully understand. Yet he never let you see how deeply his feelings ran. He wore his cruelty like a shield, hiding his vulnerability behind harsh words and a cold demeanor. Still, you could sense his vulnerability in his gaze and how you were treated slightly different from everybody else

As the months went by, you found yourself falling for Sukuna. You began to see the man behind the mask, and you hoped that one day, he would let down his guard and show his true feelings for you like you did to him. But then, something changed. Sukuna started visiting you less often. When he did, his gaze was distant, his mind elsewhere. Eventually, you discovered the reason why: he had taken in another woman. She looked so much like you that it was almost as if she were your twin. At first, you tried to brush it off, telling yourself you were imagining things, that you were being irrational. But as time passed, the truth became impossible to ignore. He WAS replacing you.

You felt your heart shatter, and the realization that you were just a stand-in for someone else made you sink in desperation. The depression settled in slowly, until the castle that had once felt like a strange kind of home became a prison. You couldn’t bear to stay in a place where you were no longer wanted, where your presence had become invisible.

So, one night, while Sukuna was away, you made your escape. You took nothing with you except some food and the memories that haunted you. Slipping through the castle’s shadows, you disappeared into the darkened forest beyond, determined to find a life far away from the man who had unknowingly broken your heart.

You wandered for days, finding temporary refuge in the solitude of the wilderness and the anonymity of small villages where no one knew your story. You tried to rebuild your life, but the ache of what you had lost stayed with you. It was a wound that refused to heal, a scar that remained tender to the touch.

Back at the castle, Sukuna returned to find your chambers empty. At first, he dismissed your absence, thinking you were simply avoiding him. But as the days passed without a word from you, a feeling of unease began to gnaw at him. It wasn’t long before he realized with a sinking dread that you were gone.

The woman who resembled you so closely brought him no comfort. In fact, her presence only served to remind him of what he had lost. Sukuna, the feared king who had never known fear himself, felt panic rising within him for the first time. He himself searched the castle, the grounds, and the surrounding lands, but there was no trace of you.

When his own efforts failed, he sent out troops to scour the kingdom, ordering them to find you and bring you back at any cost. Days turned into weeks, and still, there was no sign of you. The possibility that he had lost you forever began to weigh heavily on him.

He had been a fool, and now he knew it. His pride, his fear of showing vulnerability, had driven you away, and now the thought of you out there somewhere, heartbroken and alone, tormented him. Sukuna cursed himself for his arrogance, for his failure to show you what you truly meant to him. He would tear the world apart to find you, and when he did, he would do everything in his power to make things right—if you would let him. For the first time, he understood that all the power and fear in the world meant nothing if they couldn’t bring you back to his side.

In the quiet of your new life, you tried to move on, to forget the cursed king who had broken your heart. But deep down, a part of you still longed for him, still wondered if he had ever truly cared. As you lived day by day, unaware of the chaos your absence had unleashed, the world seemed to hold its breath, waiting for the moment when Sukuna would finally find you.

Because when he did, nothing would ever be the same.

[pushpressure]

Reorganizing the Konoha teams

I know this is an old discussion that doesn't matter anymore, but I got back into Naruto and watched a video rearranging the teams, and it was weirdly bias for Sasusaku and added team 3/team Guy which was weird. So I decided to try my hand at it for fun:

So here are our teams

Okay to start with, we have to acknowledge the purpose of why they're together.

Team 7 is together because they're meant to help Naruto become a better ninja. Kakashi was Minato's student so there's the whole vow of protecting your master's son thing going on. Sasuke is there because he was the second top student in the academy (Ino being the first) and Kakashi has the sharingan, and Sakura was placed there because of her intelligence and chakra control. On paper, the combination made sense, but when you look at their grades on cooperation...

Putting two of the least cooperative people together with Kakashi as a sensei in a 4 man team was not a great move. I'm guessing they were hoping that Sakura could pull the team together, but did not take into account of her crush on Sasuke which set this team up for failure. Also, Kakashi's teaching method to solely use real life missions and his tardiness was not effective. These kids needed a more hands-on strict approach. Team practices back-to-back as if they're trying for the Olympics.

Team 8 is together because they're meant to be the manhunt team. They all have abilities to track people and take them down. With a sensei who doesn't play favorites, they're very effective as a group and as individuals unlike team 7.

Team 10 are together because of the Ino-shika-cho tradition which are absolutely perfect balance for reconnaissance missions.

If we had to choose which team is the best between Team 8 and Team 10, it naturally has to go to Team 10.

With 15 generations of team work perfected with the help of the Sarutobi clan who carries the Will of Fire, they have every angle of their team work covered. Yes, Team 8, is an effective team, but their skills are too similar that they don't blend well together on the battlefield and work better as individuals.

So taking that into consideration, we're going to have to permanently split the ino-shika-cho trio.

Because in all honesty, you can take out Choji and replace him with anyone else except maybe Shino. I'm sorry! I know Choji is a good boy, but as unique as his attacks are, he's just the muscle. And in all honesty, Naruto being in Team 10 would've helped him a 100 times more than team 7 because Shikamaru is a genius and actually likes Naruto, so he can help Naruto utilize his shadow clones better, and Ino actually cares about cooperation and her abilities that leave her vulnerable will give Naruto a sense of responsibility.

But we want Team 10's skills to be shared with everyone, so they cannot be together. In order for that to make sense, I guess imagine that they have older siblings who is already upholding the tradition as the 16th generation.

Moving forward, naturally one student on each team cannot leave their appointed sensei because they're compatible:

Team 7: Sasuke has to remain with Kakashi because of the sharingan, the lightning jutsu and their similar personalities. Yes, Kurenai uses genjutsu, but it's not a genjutsu at Itachi's level, and can't provide much more than that on the matter of skills. She may be able to provide a more motherly support, but taking Sasuke's background into consideration, I think a male role model similar to Itachi is more effective.

Team 8: Hinata has to stay with Kurenai because I can't imagine the other two giving Hinata the much needed attention and confidence she needs, especially from one female to another.

Team 10: Shikamaru obviously needs to stay with Asuma because they have that special bond as if Asuma is a second father to him.

Now we move on to the student who actually needs this sensei to help enhance their skills:

Team 7: Kiba would do better under Kakashi because the man uses dogs who he personally raised as his main summoning animal. Kakashi could've had Pakkun or his other dogs help train Akamaru with Kiba as his partner.

Team 8: Sakura is supposed be talented with genjutsu so naturally she should've gone with Kurenai in the first place in order to tap into that talent. I also think Sakura would've also seen a role model in Kurenai as a kunoichi.

Team 10: Naruto naturally has to be teammates with Shikamaru, but also because Naruto has a natural affinity for wind chakra, Asuma would've been perfect in training Naruto to wield it just as Kakashi taught Sasuke to use light chakra. It also helps that Asuma is the son of the hokage, so he can help Naruto on that as well.

And so we move on to the last three students:

Who I honestly struggled to place since again, Choji is a close-combat person which the other teams already have covered. So I had to consider where he would be the most useful.

I wanted to make an all-girl group with a flower-theme going on:

Hinata being the Sunflower, Sakura the cherry blossom and Ino the florist and they have a teacher who uses floral genjutsu. It was perfect! But then I thought about how they would actually perform starting out, and while Hinata does know some taijutsu, she's not very proficient at it, and the girls can't really help her in that department early on in this teamwork.

So here we go:

Team 7: I placed Ino under Kakashi more for Kakashi's sake than Ino's because the man would be inspired to actually train them as a team in order to take Ino's skills into consideration. Ino is a Sasuke fangirl like Sakura, but Ino is the heiress of the Yamanaka clan so she has more important responsibilities, and has applied herself in the academy to become its top student and likes to take the lead. She won't let her feelings for Sasuke get in the way of making everyone work together.

Team 8: I placed Choji in this team to provide some muscle, and be the training partner she needs to put more oomf in her strikes.

Team 10: I placed Shino in this team in order to do Sasuke's job and that was to cover Naruto's weaknesses and act as the tactician to Shikamaru's strategies. The poor boy also needs the spotlight, and the gags would be funny.

With all these teams covered, how would they work:

Team 7 (The Cool Group): The show makes it seem like Kiba is a copy of Naruto, but honestly, he's a lot more chilled (granted he's not a hated orphaned boy with a demonic animal inside), so with Sasuke, I can only see them having a friendly rivalry if not at all. If anything, even on different teams, Naruto would still declare himself as Sasuke's rival, and the chunin exams would alight that intensity. But even before that, it's not like they won't see each other and fight on sight so the bond is still there. Other than that, Kakashi would train them each separately (not just Sasuke) and together to help Ino use her jutsu which will instill that necessary teamwork. And with Ino's assertive attitude and Akamaru being everyone's support animal, they would have them eat meals together, and won't let Sasuke or Kakashi get out of it if they didn't have something urgent going on. Is it wrong to say this is the more functional version of team 7? Of course, shit hits the fan when Orochimaru attacks, and I'll leave how that turns out for others to imagine. Comment cuz that'd be interesting.

Team 8 (The Gentle Group): I believe Kurenai would've trained Sakura in not only genjutsu but on how to be the team leader in order to fully use her intelligence. She would have Sakura on mock survival trainings in the forest in order to not crumble under pressure, and use her team effectively. Kurenai would have Choji and Hinata train together to strengthen their taijutsu and their confidence.

Team 10 (The Weirdo Group): I believe Asuma, Shikamaru and Shino would collab together to help Naruto become a respectable ninja. Asuma would help Naruto learn taijutsu before introducing him to wind chakra. Shino would help teach Naruto what should've been drilled into him in the academy and under Asuma's observation, help Naruto on his tactics which Naruto is pretty good at since he's a clever prankster, but Shino helps him refine it. Naruto respects Shino for that, but is incredibly weirded out by his attempts to become friends and doesn't know how to break Asuma to do as he wants since the sexy jutsu doesn't work on a womanizer like him. As for Shikamaru, he's more involved in Naruto's training when actual missions are involved since he actually has to use his brain for them.

I could say more, but that's all I should say.

[she-posts-nerdy-stuff]

I so often think about what the tone of scene with the backless book would have looked like in the Six of Crows spin off.

In Six of Crows, when the crew arrive in Djerholm they go to an Inn and sit on the terrace to give them a clear, if distant, view of the road that leads to the Ice Court, and Kaz uses a device he calls a 'backless book' to see the prison wagon on the road with perfect clarity - it looks like a perfeclty normal book until you hold it open on a specific page at a specific angle. He passes the book around without telling anyone that it is actually a mirrored lens so that no-one else on the terrace will know what they're talking about, and when Wylan is offered the book by Jesper he initially refuses to take it. He asks 'What does it say?' and Jesper replies 'Just look'. In this scene everyone, including the reader, is yet to learn that Wylan cannot read and therefore this line doesn't have any particular impact on us in the moment, except as a continuation of the idea that Wylan feels uncomfortable and that the others tend to be impatient with him for the way he doesn't fit into their world. But imagine what this scene would look like with the added subtext that Jesper already knows he can't read but the others don't! AND the added subtext they already have an established relationship!!

Imagine the panic in Wylan's eyes slowly growing as the book moves round the group, imagine the hesitation in his voice as he asks Jesper what it says, imagine Jesper softening his voice to reassure him as he gently tells him that he just has to look.

And on this same vein, imagine Jesper beginning to piece together why Wylan 'left' his father's house early on. Imagine Jesper standing on the deck of the Ferolind with Inej as she quietly tells him that Van Eck writes to Wylan every week and Wylan doesn't even open the letters, the way she'd study him as she noticed that he knew something more than her but would never pry. Imagine the way the tone would change for when Wylan is drawing the maps of the Ice Court and says he hasn’t labelled anything because he doesn’t know Fjerdan, despite the fact that he’s already revealed he speaks Fjerdan - in the book no-one questions it and I think that’s partly due to Jesper mocking him and saying that he probably doesn’t speak it well (it’s confirmed later that he does) and partly due to the way he doesn’t fit in and the others aren’t really paying him much attention; it’s a brief moment the reader doesn’t put much stock into until they find out that Wylan can’t read at the end of the book. The added dimension of us already having that subtext would have been absolutely fascinating and I am so so upset we don’t get to see it play out, especially since we would probably have a lot of Wesper angst going on as well - I’m imaging the way Wylan would fear Jesper ratting him out or turning on him because he lied to him and being so shocked that he doesn’t and just not understanding the way he still cares about him or that he would still protect him because he doesn’t know what it feels like to be loved I’m gonna cry

[vigilskeep]

Do you have any thoughts on the differences (or similarities!) between Sol’s relationship with Viago and Lucanis’ relationship with Caterina? In a mentor/protege sense, I mean

Viago clearly cares about Crow!Rook and worries about their safety so it’s hard for me to imagine him being as cruel as Caterina was, even if it is the norm for the Crows. Then again, Caterina is a prime example that you can love someone and still hurt them

i think the different age gaps are one main difference on a basic level!!

viago is in his like late thirties maybe early forties currently, and probably only became talon after most rooks were finished with training. i can’t imagine anyone is going for more than a 20yr age gap tops, and for my rook i usually hc a 5-10yr age gap. he might have mentored them a little and seen potential in them, but it’s still closer to growing up together than being raised together. he’s not responsible for their situation in the same way, he’s just someone ahead of you going through the same situation. the previous talon would have been in power, so they would have had a “shared enemy” to blame for the hardships in both their training. also, viago is so all bark no bite with rook that personally i truly cannot imagine him being cruel in the direct way caterina was. he doesn’t have that in him imo

(does any of this make rook feel better about the fact that, now he is talon, he must be putting more kids through what they went through together back then? well that’s a different question!)

anyway, my point is that caterina is lucanis’ grandmother and was afaik already first talon. she had all the power in the house and was singularly responsible for raising him. there’s no-one for either of them to blame but herself!

also, you have to remember where viago and caterina were coming from and the effect those differences probably had. caterina had spent a long life in the crows, watching all her family members die and determining it was because they hadn’t been pushed hard enough. viago spent at least the first decade of his life outside the crows, in at least superficial comfort, and probably compared to almost any crow isn’t quite hardened to how their children are treated

caterina devoted a lot of her own energy to her remaining grandchildren (or, you know, to lucanis, and illario was also there) and seems to have been personally training them day to day. whereas i would not be surprised if the worst things that happened to rook were because the person they had latched onto/earned favour with was just a young assassin answering to somebody else and couldn’t be there all or even most of the time. if viago was planning some kind of takeover and that is how he became talon, as i like to hc, it might even have been a bad idea for rook’s safety and a liability for himself for him to be too overtly invested and always intervene when they were having a bad time. which is a hell of a way to justify letting a kid you care about get hurt but that’s the crows for you

to summariseeee i don’t want to completely soften the rook viago dynamic and make them the “exception” to how i read the crows but as i see them as kids who ended up in a survival horror together, i think they basically did the best anyone could’ve expected? whereas caterina was a grown powerful woman fully responsible for her grandchildren, and because she let her own trauma and ambition rule her, she chose to hurt them like that. i think those are quite different setups

[suzukiblu]

Ko-fi thank-you sentences for Plot Bunny; den mom Black Zero.

“You’re Kon-El’s age?” Wonder Woman says, looking thoughtful. 

“I said that, yes,” Black Zero replies in annoyance. He usually has a higher estimation of Wonder Woman’s intelligence than to need the obvious restated, but it could be worse; could be Superman talking again. 

“Are you intending to repeat your crimes in this reality?” Wonder Woman says. 

“You cannot possibly be stupid enough to think I’d answer that truthfully either way,” Black Zero says, eyeing her dubiously. The corner of her mouth quirks up, just a little. 

“Perhaps,” she says. “But I imagine you’re aware that I do have a method to assure that you would.” 

Black Zero rolls his eyes, then holds out his arm in further annoyance. It’s not as if he needs to lie, much less cares enough to. If he wanted to kill them, he’d be killing them. 

“Thank you,” Wonder Woman says, because of course she’d waste time on that, and then loops her lasso around his wrist. “Your name, please?” 

“Black Zero,” Black Zero says. Wonder Woman hums consideringly. 

“What are your intentions towards this reality, Black Zero?” she says. 

“To explain to your Superboy why he’s an idiot and murder anyone between him and his brother,” Black Zero replies dryly. “Also, I might punch your Superman. He’s pissing me off and I’ve never actually gotten the chance to.” 

“Technically not true,” Superboy says. “One of the Superboys we met was actually a younger alternate of Superman, and you definitely punched him. Like, really hard. And his dog.” 

“Did I?” Black Zero feels pleased. “Good.” 

“You’re such a prick, man,” Superboy says, scowling at him. “The dog!” 

“I hate dogs,” Black Zero replies with a dismissive shrug. 

“So do I, but that is not the point!” Superboy says in exasperation, throwing his hands up. “And we’re not murdering anybody! No murder!” 

“You’re not, maybe,” Black Zero snorts. Wonder Woman watches his face, her own expression still thoughtful. 

“You want to abduct Match from the Agenda,” she says, which is again something he feels he’s made very obvious, but whatever. 

“It’s adorable that you’d describe freeing a legally-enslaved teenager as ‘abduction’,” he says. 

“Arguably, I couldn’t even describe him as a teenager, given he’s . . . how much younger than you, Kon-El?” Wonder Woman asks, glancing towards Superboy.

“Oh, uh–like a year, about?” he says. “I think about a year, anyway, I’m a little fuzzy on some of the dates, after the Wild Lands and–I think about a year, yeah.” 

“So you people left a newborn clone with an organization run by slavers,” Black Zero says. “For a year. That’s about as impressive as I’d expect from a Justice League, yes.” 

“Match has made his feelings on remaining with the Agenda clear more than once,” Superman says, narrowing his eyes at him. Black Zero gives him a dubious look. “We tried to help him. He’s made his choice."

“Yes, physiological teenagers with five minutes’ worth of life experience are notoriously adept at making informed choices with long-term consequences that involve them rejecting everything about and everyone in the only life they’ve ever known,” Black Zero drawls, rolling his eyes. “Silly me. How could I forget.” 

“Your priorities are . . . interesting,” Wonder Woman muses, still watching him thoughtfully. He doesn’t know what she thinks she’s looking for. 

“They're correct, is what they are,” he says. “No one else gives a fuck about our kind.” 

“Clones, you mean?” Wonder Woman says. 

“You keep asking me incredibly obvious questions,” Black Zero says. Who else would he mean? 

It's been made very clear to him that no one else is going to look out for any of them except each other.

[wriothesleybear]

AhH thank you so much for gifting us wriothesley content🐺🐺!!!! I really wish to see his drip marketing soon 😭🙏I cannot forget your idea of him being the big bad wolf with the little red Riding Hood fem reader ever since I saw u mention it--- it is it possible if you give us some more details on the idea? Did he want to eat her at first? Does he want to start a pack w her?? I have so many questionss

it makes me happy to know you like my headcanons🥹 same about the drip marketing. hoyoverse please give us something ! any crumbs will do😫 oh gosh i havent thought that much about the wriothesley x red riding hood! reader yet hmm but if i had to give some ideas:

headcanons below ~warning: a bit suggestive~

Pre-relationship headcanons:

the reader is this innocent little thing who is so sweet, kind, is good with animals and kids, and runs a bakery/cafe which is what caught Wriothesley's eye in the first place.

he had been at your shop before for some tea and knew you were the owner and you've seen him a few times in your shop, but you two had never really spoken.

in my headcanons, i see him as a gentleman so he's usually polite to anyone unless he knows you're a bad person/criminal

one day, he saved you from a couple of criminals who were bothering you. thats when you two finally spoke to one another. you were thanking him profusely for saving you. it would probably be too cute to him so he blushes a bit from how cute you are and gives you a slight smile saying its no big deal.

a few days pass and you find out where he works so you visit him to give him some homemade muffins as a thank you. this would cause the man to become more smitten with you.

even though I see him as not really being a sweets person, he'll eat your treats since you're the one who gave it to him. i mean, what kind of gentleman would he be if he let your treats go to waste.

after this, he would visit your shop more often just to see you and of course have some tea.

you guys would enjoy having conversations with one another and this would become a daily thing.

You would learn his order by heart, already having it ready when you knew he would show up soon. he would notice this and it would cause him to fall harder for you.

You guys would start off as friends of course but it would develop into something more as you got to know more about one another and spend more time together.

He would be the one to ask you out first and you say yes ofc. (he thought you looked so cute when you said yes and it made him happy !)

ofc it was an amazing first date ! he'd go a little bit all out. its your first date after all and its for you so he has to make a good impression ;)

Some relationship headcanons:

once this man falls for you, he falls hard (wolves mate for life)

always kisses your hand !!! he doesnt do that much pda except for that, a hand around your waist, a kiss on your head. he prefers more behind closed doors *wink wink*

When people see him showing affection towards you tho, they get shocked cuz those who don't know him think he's a bit of a scary dude based on his appearance and seeing him with an adorable, innocent s/o is surprising to them.

tea dates ofc

he's playful so playful bites/licks occur often and teases you

he loves hearing you laugh and smile. makes his heart race !

SOOO PROTECTIVE!

he has to protect his cute little innocent, kind darling, can you blame him🥺

he'd be like low-key possessive.

what i mean by that is by marking you. ofc with bite marks during your love making sessions but i could also see him gifting you a necklace with a crescent or symbol that symbolizes him.

it shows others that you're his and hands off!

or imagine its a little red hood that has his symbol on it and matches his cape ahhhh! that'd be so cute!

adding on to that, he's not really the jealous type because he knows you're his but when he sees you giving someone else more attention than him, he might get a little needy.

he just wants his little red riding hood to give him all of their attention and love

please play with his hair and give him scratchies

wouldn't be overly clingy but will hang around you a lot when he can like. like he has to be touching you in a way aka hugging you, you sitting on his lap, etc. or just having you near him while he works is enough

he's gotta make sure you are reminded daily that he loves you

he would be a little bit of a worry wart when he's not with you, always wondering if you were okay

HE IS DEVOTED TO YOU! he would do anything for you maybe even break the law for you👀 he is whipped

a family man

he would for sure want to have a family with you !

would probably want a big one (going off on the fact that wolf packs are usually around 6-10 members from what i read)

Sigewinne is already your guys' child. Its important for you two to get along and you do.

When he sees you two getting along, it makes him so happy !

his thoughts often lead to thinking about you two having a family of your own one day (sorta makes him feral🫣)

he would be the one to bring up the topic when the time is right.

if you said yes, he'd be happy and probably take you right there omg🤭

if you're not ready, he would be understanding, but if you're willing, you could always 'practice' until the time comes ;)

overall, 10/10 boyfriend

i hope i didn't ramble too much. maybe i'll make a series out of this. i hope this answers your questions anon. have a wonderful day!🥰❤️

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

Noticed something about zutarians: for people who claim to be "THE femist ship" they spend too much time praising Zuko for doing chores, being empathetic, supporting women and other stuff he didn't really do in canon all that much.

Like, feminists would consider these a basic level that any normal person, man or woman, should do for their own's sake without any praise. Oohing and aahing "look, he spends time with his own child!", "oh, you washed the dishes, my hero!", "where would I have been if you didn't do the laundry, my knight in shining armor, you really are a savior!" is... very sexist, actually! And zutarians do just that. It’s not enough for them to write him doing chores, they have to emphasize this, compare him to Aang/Sokka/anyone else who of course doesn’t do chores (because no one except Katara and Zuko ever does anything chorelike in these fics it seems), or just outright praise him for that.

Of course, zutara never was a feminist ship, so my observation doesn't add anything new. I understand that zutara kinda fits "female gaze" or whatever, though, it's a women's dream about a perfect partner, which is totally fine by itself – it just has nothing to do with Zuko (and, dare I say, Katara – I doubt she would be so ecstatic about a guy doing "women's chores", she is used to dividing the work around camp and takes it for granted). And that's why I cannot read even relatively harmless zutara fluff – it very often is very focused on this exact subject. I like Zuko for who he is and the truth is 1) he's flawed even after his redemption and 2) a huge part of how he sees himself is his prince title. Nothing of it matches zutara fantasy of a male housewife, so they have a whole other character named Zuko to fit into their imagination land, and I just have no interest in that.

I'm still impressed by that one fic (not in English) where Fantara was 100% sure that Fanfic-Firelord-Zuko will never ever "force any hapless woman" to take care of his newborn daughter (as opposed to her awful, awful husband, Fanfic-Aang who can't even feed his son, who's still eating only breast milk, for several days while Fantara decided to be away). Sure, girl, he's a fucking ruler, he has a whole country to think about, tons of very important shit to do every single day, a full palace of servants, of course he will always personally change diapers, no doubt. I bet he'll even do all the breastfeeding by himself, since his wife died at childbirth and forcing other women is out of the question.

I'm bitter now, and maybe taking it too far but what if – just "what if" – there are very few people who actually ship Katara and Zuko? Because it seems that most content creators in zutara fandom actually ship their two OCs who are very loosely based on these two characters (but don't I dare tell it to their faces, haha, they are under impression that their image of Zuko and Katara is somehow the only correct one).

Just one little disagreement: Zutara doesn't fit the Female Gaze because there's no such thing in the first place. There's not a single trope, way to direct a scene, or romance formula that universally appeals to women, and the same thing can appeal to different women for radically different reasons.

"Male Gaze" and "Female Gaze" were supposed to be a way to point out sexism (and sometimes straight up abuse) in film-making, but it honest God became some bullshit gender-essentialism nonsense REALLY fast. We gotta let that "That is for boys, this is for girls" mentality die.

Aang does chores with Katara. That is completely irrelevant to me shipping Kataang. Aang is not sexist. That doesn't even reach my top 50 reasons to love him as a character. Aang does a lot of things that don't match the idea I was raised to have of a "manly man" and I could not give less of fuck about it. It doesn't bother me, but doesn't particularly appeal to me either.

But for lots of people that is HUGE and some of the main reasons why they love his character and his romance with Katara. And notice I said people, not women.

I like plenty of enemies-to-lovers ships - I don't relate to a single meta/analysis I've ever seen of "Why women like bad boys/enemies to lovers/redeemed villains so much." It all rang hollow to me. But to plenty of women it hits the nail right on the head.

Hell, 50 Shades of Grey is a "romance/erotica" full of accidental misogyny, abuse-apologism, and slut-shaming yet the fanbase is 90% women from all kinds of demographics, and the main thing they praise about these goddamn books/movies is that it did NOT make them feel like they should be ashamed of wanting to have kinky sex with a hot guy.

The Female Gaze isn't real.

[notaspectator]

idea: Omen copies people and tries to imitate people he likes. at first, it'd be hard to tell. but he's picked up on Viper's speech, and from time to time (...as funny as all the other agents find it) he'll repeat what brimstone has said to him. little speech things. but it becomes more obvious when it comes to behaviors. like, how if someone talks to him but does the "talking with hands" thing, he'll try to copy it. except he doesn't speak, because he doesn't understand the two things are connected. it becomes an uncanny imitation that reminds everyone else that Omen is not like them, and Omen cant understand what he's doing wrong. He's doing what he's seen others do, so why do they find it so strange when he does it? When people breath in a certain, noticable way, Omen pretends he's breathing the same way. It takes time for anyone to notice, but Omen does copy it and never understands why it unnerves the others. and say, when they're on a multiple day mission, he'll copy how people prepare to sleep. because he doesn't understand, and he just wants to pretend that he is like them, even if it means laying there for hours in silence because everyone sleeps, except for him, so that must mean that sleeping is a trait of living things. now, this also comes around a LOT with specific agents. like cypher. since Cypher y'know has a mask with eyes that pretend to blink, i like to imagine he also is very expressive with his body language to make up for the fact he has a mask. and Omen would copy the way Cypher likes to tilt his head, or the eccentric way Cypher waves his hands about. Cypher finds it interesting, and would often subtly do unique things such as a certain gesture or a walking to a certain pattern just so that he could see Omen imitate it later, either with him or elsewhere. The only time these little imitations seem *real* and *lifelike* is when Omen isn't trying to do them. Like how Omen will often imitate breathing just on his own, or the way he likes to keep a hand on the wall as he walks by because it is grounding and he likes to know where he is relative to the walls around him, or how he leans toward things he finds interesting so that he can focus better and hear them clearer. Omen doesn't realize that he is trying to put together a collage of everyone's unique traits in a desperate bid to make himself seem human- he doesn't realize that the little things HE does are what make him seem alive. that those little things are proof that he is not just going through the motions and making a fake personality from bits and pieces of everyone else, because he has his own thoughts, opinions, and little quirks that no one else shares. Omen really hasn't existed very long, has he? and yet, he's already killed countless people. from copies of friends, to copies of himself. how could that not fuck somebody up? he went through unimaginable pain, and cannot even hold himself together on a bad day (quite literally), and has looked himself dead in the eye and shot a replica of himself dead. When he has only known the VALORANT protocol- has only known Viper, who isn't known for her empathy- how could he have ever figured out what makes people human? where would he have managed to come up with the idea that his emotions are his own? where does that leave time to realize that he does not have to desperately copy people so that he can be SOMEONE? or really, so he can pretend that he is alive, in some compacity? and I love the idea that Cypher, who struggled with the same problems, sees Omen struggling and he helps him. Cypher is all too familiar with thinking he is not like the others, and has already grappled with the idea that something about him is wrong. and maybe he isn't quite over that idea, yet. maybe he's just pretending he is, but he'll TRY so that he can help Omen, because he just cant let Omen struggle with those thoughts alone. and Omen realizes, that even if he might not be human nor technically alive, that it is okay because Cypher loves him either way, and thats enough for Omen to want to keep going.

[cosmerelists]

Would Cosmere Characters Drive the Speed Limit?

You know, if cars and speed limits existed for them. (Potentially necessary context: I am a USAmerican)

For a different but hilarious take on Stormlight Characters driving, please check out this @saffronique post, which I spent forever looking for because I vaguely remembered someone else doing a driving post and wanted to make sure I hadn't copied them! Anyway it's funny; go read it: https://www.tumblr.com/saffronique/719947907049127936/was-just-struck-by-the-overwhelming-urge-to-rate?source=share

But now for a much more limited question: just, do they go the speed limit?

1. Nale: Yes but also no

As Mr. Beholden-to-All-Laws-of-the-Realm, Nale would of course drive exactly the speed limit! Except that he would also go immediately to the local jurisdiction, get deputized or whatever, and then obtain permission to speed all the time so as to Apprehend Criminals. So he'd actually be almost exclusively speeding but, like, legally.

2. Vivenna: Only at first

Vivenna does drive the speed limit when she first gets her license, because she wants to Follow the Law and be a Good Example for Siri. But, like, everyone is always so mad, and eventually she starts going just like 5 miles over the speed limit, which isn't even breaking the law, really. It's going with traffic! And then maybe 10 miles over, just occasionally 15 but only on a highway when it's safe! 

3. Siri: No

Like, going a bit faster is not a big deal, especially if all the other cars are doing the same thing. It's actually safer to go with the flow of traffic! 

4. Elend: Depends on who's in the car

Elend drives moderately above the speed limit like most people except if his dad is in the car and then he drives under the speed limit just to piss him off.

5. Vin: No

Vroom, vroom to be honest. Vin doesn't do things slow.

6. Dalinar: Yes

As a young man, Dalinar's speed demon ways led to the deaths of many people. So now he does drive the speed limit and insists that his sons do as well, whether they're in company cars or not.

7. Kelsier: No

Kelsier? Follow a law? I don't think so. He taught Vin to drive, you know.

8. Adolin: Not anymore

When his dad was really into Car Laws, Adolin did drive the speed limit per his dad's instructions. But he's since loosened up a bit. He figures he needs to find his own way to drive!

9. Shallan: No

Shallan drives the speed she needs to drive. Veil definitely drives the fastest, and Radiant is most likely to follow the speed limit. But on average...not so much.

10. Navani: No

Adolin can still remember being in the car with his aunt for the first time and being SHOCKED that she speeds. (In my head this is related to Adolin being shocked when he sees Navani wearing a glove rather than a full sleeve. This may not make sense to anyone else but it feels right to me).

11. Moash: No

Moash always wants to get to his destination as fast as possible. Also I just can't imagine him trying to follow the speed limit. 

12. Wax: Depends on the geographic location

Wax drives the speed limit in the Roughs but not in Polite Society (except in dense urban areas where he wishes to avoid, like, killing children).

13. Wayne: Does not have his driver's license

I feel this in my soul. 

14. Lirin: Yes

I think Lirin would argue that "getting to your destination thirty seconds faster is no reason to speed and put everyone else on the road in danger! Drive safe - arrive safe! That's what matters!" And then he would go exactly one mile under the speed limit at all times while everyone behind him honks. 

15. Kaladin: No

Kaladin spends three months driving very slowly after his dad shows him videos of horrific car crashes but eventually he just can't do it. He NEEDS to get there faster! People are DEPENDING on him! And he likes to feel the WIND in his HAIR as he cruises down the open highway! 

(Kaladin and his dad cannot drive together.)

[moonspirit]

Cadet!Aruani having a little dance on top of the walls at night, just being silly little lovers in a world of utter misery.

Ohhhhhh anon, this is so cute T____T!!!!

I really like the idea of the walls at night being their little meeting place. After all, they're wide enough for a small corner to be invisible to anyone looking. There's a patch of ground where the two like to sit, sometimes lay, sometimes with a bite to eat or sometimes with nothing at all except for the eagerness to linger in the warmth of the other.

Armin... he looks forward to these nights. There's something about being next to Annie and noticing all the tender pockets she holds. After a grueling day of combat training, his hands are calloused and beaten, but hers are still soft. He wonders how that is, how she can turn people inside out on the fields and yet fill him with awe at how the torchlights illuminate the angles of her face so gently.

He's never told her, but he thinks she touches him like someone does a feather falling through the sky.

And it's fall. There's a harvest festival here in Trost and all the streets have been filled with the sound of music and laughter for days now. Dusk is the time the people put on their best clothes and dancing shoes and turn to a tune in the town square. He hasn't been. Eren was moody and Mikasa lonely and he had to help with the amends.

Now he steals a glance at Annie sitting close by, her cool blue eyes so dark under the moonless night, and wonders if she likes to dance.

"Um," He begins softly, tentatively. "I was wondering if--if you'd like to--"

"Dance?" She finishes, catching him off-guard. Her face turns wry upon seeing the surprise on his face. "You've been tapping your fingers and toes for the past one hour. I noticed."

Armin laughs, half embarrassed, a blush heating up his cheeks. "Oh--is that so, I uh--I didn't think--"

"It wasn't exactly subtle," Annie says, leaning back on her palms to study him. It's what she does, he's used to it now. Anyone else would call it the look of a dangerous, soulless creature but he can't quite think of it like that anymore. The fear he felt before he knew her name and the sound of her voice is long gone - now he has only shivers.

The good kind.

"What?" He chuckles shyly, leaning back to mirror her. "Do I have something on my face?"

She doesn't say anything at first, only stares. Quietly, gently, carefully. Like she's looking at stained glass or something delicate, and unfortunately that's what he is - delicate.

But when her eyes are on him this way, he doesn't hate it.

What does she see? He wonders. Because she's silhouetted against the light, wisps of her hair going against the light breeze, and all he can think of is how she's so... otherworldly. Like she comes from somewhere beyond his reach and somewhere beyond his dreams, a place he cannot... hope to touch or see.

She's beautiful in this firelight.

Does she... see the same in me?

She gets up rather abruptly then and he blinks in surprise. "So," Annie holds out a hand. "We should dance."

Armin squawks. Oh he's good at asking questions but not at following through in action. Shit. He should've known better than to poke at something that required physical skill; something she had in abundance and he had none of.

"Oh, it was--just a question--I uh--I'm not any good at it, I don't think--" He splutters, suddenly wishing he was anywhere else so he wouldn't be making an inevitable fool of himself.

Annie shrugs, taking his hand and hauling him up to his feet. "I can't imagine it's that different from fighting," With another shrug, she adds, "A lot of footwork."

He doesn't protest as much as he should, knowing he's going to disappoint her. Standing before her now, he sees the top of her head, the colour of silver grass, and becomes acutely aware of the fact that he's grown taller... a bit.

O-Oh.

So now if he were to kiss her again--if she'd let him--then he'd have to... or-or she'd have to-

"You look like you're about to have a stroke," Annie points out dryly and he snaps out of his daze. Right. Kiss later, now he has to make sure he doesn't trip and kill them both in a 60 metre fall.

"S-sorry," He mumbles, blushing. "Uh--shall I... uh- my hand around your...your waist--that is..."

Perhaps he's mistaken though. Annie's cool facade rarely ever disappeared but sometimes, just sometimes, like now on the wall under such dark, silent nights, she'd bite her lip and blush.

He thinks he's very lucky to see it, when it happens.

Just like right now. Her cheeks are pink and she won't look him much in the eye.

"Annie?" He whispers.

She just nods.

He's touched her before, but not like this. At most her cheek or her neck or her wrist. Her waist is an expanse more intimate and more sensitive, if the sigh escaping her lips is anything to go by, but Armin finds he'd rather touch her here from now on. She's so stiff and slight in his hold that even when his fingers press between the spaces of hers, she's still not looking up.

"Ann-"

Then she touches him. Just a hand on his shoulder, but it sends sparks firing beneath his skin. She's touched him before, exactly like this, but maybe it's the view of her crown, maybe it's the space of only a few breaths between their heads, for some reason or all of them, his heart speeds up until he thinks he might just combust.

"Let's start." She says.

They dance. It's not like any of the dances in the town square, this is clumsy and graceful and shy and soft. Annie dances and Armin follows, a little this way and a little that way. They can hardly hear any music so high up, but he's got a tune stuck in his ear and hums.

He trips plenty but she holds him firm. It's a dangerous place for a dance, one wrong move and their gear wouldn't be enough. He feels sorry every time her grip tightens but there's no anger in her eyes. Only a determined set of her brows to keep him safe.

"Armin, I swear to god-"

"Sorry, sorry!"

At some point he goes out of tune and then she laughs; Annie laughs. He teases her then and she gets progressively annoyed until she steps on him quite hard and he surrenders.

There is a thought in his head when she looks into his eyes, easy and relaxed, the hint of a smile playing on her lips as they turn slowly.

It's not a thought he has often.

It's usually the opposite.

But with Annie...

Someday, he thinks, looking at her, I hope you'll catch me if I fall.

[possessiveandobsessive]

The Spirit of Determination

Nyra "Rook" Thorne is somehow responsible for the fate of all of Thedas. If she's going to pull it off, she's going to need a hell of a lot of determination. Lucky for her, she knows a guy and his demon who can help her out with that.

Part 6: The Ugly Truth Beneath The Beautiful Lie

“Failure.” “Worthless.” “Never good enough.” “You couldn’t save anyone.” “You let him down.” “You let them all down.” “It’s all your fault.” “Those deaths are your doing.”

Hateful whispers filled Rook’s ears, accompanied only by the sound of wind rushing around her as she plummeted downwards. The fall seemed never ending. There was no ground rushing up to meet her, only more grey clouds and mist. Well, that wasn’t the only thing she could see. Statues of those she had lost, the friends she had failed were littered on floating pieces of ruined stone floors. None were connected to anything, everything in the area seemed to be floating except her. She was falling. Further and further she plunged into the abyss as it swallowed her whole. It was the whispering that was hurting her the most. Hearing everything that she hated about herself or was terrified of becoming in the voices of those she cared for the most was starting to make her go crazy. Rook flinched harshly as the new wave of berating started.

“You knew it was dangerous!” Bellara accused, “And you still picked me! You chose me to DIE! 

“I would have never been in that clearing with you if you hadn’t chosen me to lead, Rook!” Harding’s usually kind tone was now one twisted with hatred and rage. “I deserved to live! I started this with Varric, and you? You’re nothing! It should have been me that he chose!”

Rook could feel the tears streaming down her face. She agreed with them both. She was the leader, she made the calls. This time, her calls had gotten the people she loved killed. Just like… Her mind blanked for a moment, whatever thought she started to have was gone now. Rook couldn’t think straight enough to find it weird. She was too busy taking hit after hit from the echoes of her friends and their bitter words.

“Poor little Da’len.” With a start, Rook realized she could hear Solas’s voice now joining Harding and Bellara’s. “You were too weak to accept the truth: You cannot win a fight against the Evanuris without paying a heavy cost. I tried to warn you…”

Rook wanted to be angry at him. She was apparently doomed to fall for eternity, surrounded by familiar voices, telling her the worst things she could imagine. Solas had the gall to scold her? He had the audacity to watch her fall and calmly explain why this fate had been inevitable. “Solas!” Rook grit out. She could see him now, the god appearing on the fragments of rock floating around her. He disappeared and reappeared again and again in order for her to be able to see him as she continued to fall helplessly. “Help me!” Rook hated the way she begged him to save her, but she didn’t know what else to do. She was scared and powerless, and he seemed to care not for any part of her suffering.

“I am truly sorry, Rook.” His voice seemed layered and it echoed loudly in her mind as the others did. “You cannot save the world, you cannot stop Elgar’nan. Surely you see this now?” He paused a moment before continuing, “It was never the plan to simply guide your hand to victory, I have always known that you were incapable. No, I molded you into someone who could take my place in this prison. I needed you to be the sacrifice that led to my escape. I will go now, and I will be the one to save the world. I’m the only one who can.”

Rook stared at him, reeling. She had told herself the whole time that she couldn’t trust the Dread Wolf. She promised herself she wouldn’t let him get into her head and manipulate her. Rook had been so sure that she had been the one in control and that he was the prisoner with no choice but to aid her cause. Throughout their time together, he had been the opposite of what he showed her. Solas didn’t care about her or her friends even a little bit. His “advice” had come with strings, and he had given her enough to turn her into nothing more than a puppet. She had only been a tool and he must have relished in her idiocy as she slowly started to believe in him as Varric had.

Rook flailed about, trying to find a way to stop falling so that she could escape with the dagger before the Dread Wolf could reach her. She managed to actually grab hold of one of the many small platforms next to her and let out a hiss of pain from between her teeth as she felt her shoulder dislocate violently. Rook groaned with effort and tried to pull herself up with her right arm alone as the lyrium dagger was still clutched tightly in her left. Before she could make any progress, Solas was suddenly standing above her. He looked down on her injured form with pity painted all over his face. She was nothing but a tragedy to him.

Solas dropped into a crouch and reached for the dagger in her hand. Rook attempted to keep it from him as she stretched her arm back as far as it would go. He sighed in annoyance the way an adult sighs at a child throwing a tantrum. “It’s pointless Rook, you’re already a prisoner.” As the words left his lips, a weight seemed to attach itself to her cloak, nearly ripping her hand from the platform. Rook looked down and was horrified to see a stone statue of Bellara holding the end of her cloak. She wore the same face she had as she had been dragged into the Eluvian by Elgar’nan and it brought tears to Rook’s eyes. 

Then, another statue caught the end of her cape as it descended with her. Harding’s empty eyes stared forward, seeming to hold no emotion at all. She wore the face of a dead woman, because she was. Rook’s fingers were barely gripping the edge of the platform now, and she couldn’t keep the dagger from Solas when he reached for it again. As it left her palm, a new weight joined the first two statues on her back. Rook slowly looked down, not really wanting to see who she had failed now. Her breath caught in her throat and she felt the remaining air flee her lungs. Varric.

Rook had no time to contemplate further, as the third statue was enough to finally pry her fingers from their hold on the platform. She watched helplessly as Solas cut an opening in the Fade prison and made his exit. Rook seemed to feel a combination of everything and nothing at all. She was trapped here, in Solas’s prison made to hold gods, and had no hope of escape. Closing her eyes as she resumed her freefall, Rook had an agonizing thought: I never got to tell him… I never got to make Lucanis understand how I feel about him, and I never got to convince him that he is and will always be enough. Now, I have to sit in this prison and grieve over what I lost for an eternity, and he will never know what happened to me. 

Fresh tears fell down her cheeks again. Rook couldn’t imagine forever in this hell. She wondered briefly if this was her punishment. This awful prison was the result of her daring to believe that maybe she had a chance. Her unwarranted confidence had led to Harding’s death and Bellara’s kidnapping (and likely death) and now this was her penance. 

Rook’s wallowing was brought to a halt when her body made impact with something hard beneath her. She took a moment to try and find her bearings as she sat up and looked around. So there WAS a bottom to this pit. Joints creaked and her dislocated shoulder was enough to make her vision swim as she forced herself to stand. Rook did a quick sweep of the area, and found a gnarled, dead tree surrounded by fossilized spirits. That’ll have to do, she thought darkly as she approached the small tree. Pressing her dislocated shoulder against the tree’s trunk, Rook took a deep breath and violently jerked her body forwards. *Pop!* She suppressed a scream, and sighed with relief as her shoulder settled back into the socket. Rook had only just begun to turn around to get a sense of where she was, when a familiar voice spoke softly to her.

“Alright kid, you’ve got to get out of here. You can’t do anyone any good trapped in this prison.”

“Varric?!” Rook whipped around, trying to figure out where his voice was coming from. “What- Where are you? How are you talking to me?”

“C’mon, Rook, you know you’ve got much bigger fish to fry than my secrets.” He chuckled, “Get moving! The path ahead is filled with things you don’t want to see or hear, but you have to keep moving!”

Rook looked to the long, winding path that simply led: up. The whole island she stood on was suspended in the air with nothing supporting said path, but given that she was in the Fade, it didn’t make sense to question it. She didn’t know what she was going to find at the end, but feelings of anxiety and dread twisted her stomach already. It wasn’t as if she had any other choice though. There were no other paths on the island not covered in rubble and fallen rocks. 

Rook honestly would have preferred to just sit down and throw in the towel at this point. Solas was right, what hope did she, a mortal, have against Elgar’nan? He was also right in that she had failed her friends because of her weakness. Even IF she could escape (and she didn’t think she had great chances of that), how was she going to return to her team and look them in the eyes? Taash must hate me. The thought of the dragon hunter’s face crumpling as tears flowed from their dark eyes was haunting. Their eyes would hold an accusation she couldn’t deny and Rook was certain it would destroy her if her whole team looked at her with those eyes. Maybe it was best she just gave up, and lived out the rest of her life in this prison where her decisions couldn’t hurt anyone else.

Deep down though, Rook knew that she could never just lie down and give up. She was too damn stubborn, and cared too damn much to hide in the Fade while her team fought Elgar’nan alone. You’re a Grey Warden Nyra. You’ve been cornered more times than you can count, and you always find a way out. This isn’t any different. You’re going to do what you do best, make an unimaginably stupid and bold move to shock your adversaries into making a mistake. “Okay,” Rook muttered out loud to herself, “Pep talk is over, time to get to work.” She did what she always did then, she forced one foot in front of the other over and over as she began making her way up the path.

“That’s it kid, keep moving.” Varric’s voice echoed around her again as she walked towards the unknown. She wasn’t sure how or why she could hear him, but she was grateful all the same. He was her anchor when she started to lose sight of herself, and he believed in her more than anyone; far more than herself. She missed having him at her side in the field, and hoped that maybe upon her return he could-  Rook frowned, exactly like earlier, the thought she had been seconds from processing dissolved before she had the chance. The uneasy feeling in her gut seemed to grow, and she knew something was wrong.

Rook didn’t get the opportunity to worry further. She reached the top of the first hill of the path and froze. In front of her was a large statue of Bellara and it, she, looked at Rook with an agonized expression. Rook stared at the large replica of her bubbly friend and was horrified when her familiar voice began to emit from the statue. “You picked me to die. You sent me to an early grave, for what? So you could have your victory? Your redemption?”

Rook felt her hands start to shake a little as Bellara’s words tore into the depths of her soul. The statue seemed to give voice to everything Rook already hated herself for, and she wanted to lay down and cry. Instead, she remained on her feet and forced herself to look the copy of Bellara in the eyes. 

“I’m-” Rook’s voice shook and wavered for a second before she continued, “I’m so sorry Bellara. I’m sorry I didn’t see it in time. I wish I could have done something to stop him from taking you away.” She took a moment to find her nerve and find the words that she knew were just as true. “Bellara knew the risks. She knew how dangerous the gods were, and she knew that by volunteering to take down the wards she was putting herself in greater danger. She did that because she believed in her team, she believed in me.” Tears formed in Rook’s eyes and she had to clear her throat in order to finish. “Bellara was betrayed by her so-called gods, and she needed her own redemption the same way I do. I… I know I made the best choice I could. I didn’t make it lightly, and I considered all of our options. It wasn’t… It isn’t my fault. And Bellara would never tell me that it was.”

Silence hung in the dead air for a second before she heard Bellara’s voice again, except this time it was Bellara’s true voice and tone. “Rook, it wasn’t your fault. There are a million impossible choices you have been asked to make, and you’ve never backed down or tried to force the responsibility onto someone else. I gladly made my sacrifice to stop the gods and save innocent lives, so don’t hold onto regrets about me. I don’t regret a thing.”

Rook felt her lips form a wobbly smile at Bellara’s earnest tone, filled with nothing but  understanding and compassion. Some of the unbearable weight sitting on her shoulders seemed to lift and Rook knew it was time for her to keep moving. Thank you, Bellara, for everything. Rook’s parting words were not said aloud, but that was okay, because the statue was not Bellara. The real Bellara was out there in the physical world, and Rook hoped with all she had, that somehow Bellara would hear her grateful thoughts.

Rook reached the top of the second level on the path more quickly than she had the first. Even though she had a good idea at what would be waiting for her at the top, nothing could’ve prepared her for seeing Harding again. Lace wasn’t a statue like Bellara had been. She looked almost like the real thing, save for the grey tint to her skin and the large, bloody holes in her abdomen. Rook stood frozen in place. Overwhelming guilt swelled up like a tidal wave and threatened to pull her under. Her green eyes seemed to lose their vibrance and were filled with tears again. 

“I-I-” Rook tried to speak. She knew what she needed to do. She needed to acknowledge her pain, and also that it wasn’t her fault that her longest friend on the team was now dead. Only, it still felt like it was her fault. If I had been faster, or been able to dodge that tendril, she wouldn’t have needed to sacrifice herself. She would still be alive.

Harding’s visage began to speak then, and Rook was shocked. The scout’s words weren’t angry or bitter. They didn’t accuse her of failure or blame her. Lace Harding’s words were kind, genuine, and empathetic, just as they would have been in life. “Rook, don’t cry for me.” the dwarf began, “I made a choice. I sacrificed myself because I believed it was the right thing to do. I knew, I know that my sacrifice won’t be in vain, because you would never allow that. I did what I did because I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself if I hadn’t. Heroes don’t shy away from making sacrifices, they step up and take the hit to ensure that no one else has to. The only thing I’ve wanted to be for the last ten years, Rook, was a hero. Thanks to you, I finally got to be one.” Lace’s expression turned wistful then, “I am sorry to leave you all behind. I didn’t want to die, but to die for all of you, for all of Thedas, was an honor. Tell Taash… Tell Taash I’m sorry. And tell them that in another life, I’ll find my way to them again. Whatever it takes.”

Rook couldn’t help the sob that left her throat with Harding’s final words. It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t fair that Harding was gone before it should have been her time. But, Rook also knew that the scout was right. The same way she knew that she needed to say the words aloud. Her mind wouldn’t give her peace until she voiced the truth and made it real. “It wasn’t my failure that killed you, Harding. It’s not my fault that you’re gone. I didn’t kill you or force your hand. Holding on to that regret, it takes the meaning from your sacrifice. I’m sorry for that. Thank you, Lace Harding, for saving me. Thank you for saving the team. Thank you for your sacrifice.”

A wide smile filled with pride split Harding’s freckled face. “You’re welcome, Rook. Now, go face the last one. Remember what you’ve learned here, and go home to save the world.” With that, Rook’s friend faded away, her essence joining with the grey mist that surrounded everything in the Fade. A final tear traced its way down Rook’s cheek as she began moving forward again. Lace’s death wouldn’t stop hurting, not for a long time, and Rook knew that. But, the weight on her shoulders had lessened greatly again, and Rook tilted her chin up. Harding had told her this next obstacle was the last one, and she was determined to face it and find a way home.

                              *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

As Rook entered what she supposed was the “summit” of her climb, she was a little puzzled by the sight that greeted her. She wasn’t sure what she had been expecting to find when she finally arrived, but it wasn’t this. In front of her was the ritual site where all of this shit began. It was dark and the wind was howling as the feeling of a raw and ancient magic caressed her skin. It felt the same as that night. Rook could’ve been convinced she’d been transported back to that night, if it weren’t for the faint sound of her own voice mixing with the rushing sound of the wind. Listening harder and starting to move slowly down the path leading to the inner circle where the actual ritual had occurred, Rook could just make out what was being said.

“He’s my friend, Rook, I’ve got to try and talk him down!” Varric spoke loudly, as he had on that night, in order to be heard over the storm of magic. Rook heard her own voice then, as she responded, “I’ve got your back Varric, even if I’m not sure this is a good idea. Just be careful!”

Rook remembered what had been going through her head at that moment like it was only yesterday. She thought Varric was crazy for trying to talk the ancient elven maniac down rather than kill him or attempt to incapacitate him long enough to render him unable to fight back. That hadn’t stopped her from supporting him though. Varric was her mentor, the first person who had believed in her (even when she sounded insane), and her closest friend. There was no way Rook was going to truly doubt him when he said he had a plan. Well, until minutes later that same evening.

Rook couldn’t actually see anyone standing where she had heard the voices coming from because the thick fog surrounding her made it difficult for her to see anything at all. She continued to push her way forward, certain that whatever she needed to face was inside the perimeter of the ritual circle. Her ears perked a bit as she began to hear voices again. She may not have been able to see, but she could listen.

“Hey Chuckles, hope I’m not interrupting!” Varric had to shout for his words to reach Solas’s ears, even though Rook was pretty sure he had been standing directly behind the elf at this point.

“Varric?” came Solas’s voice, sounding incredulous, “What are- Nevermind. I don’t have time for this. I know you cannot possibly comprehend the magnitude of the suffering I caused by putting the Veil in place, and so you cannot comprehend why I must do this now.”

“How many people are going to have to die so that you can sleep better at night? Are you even thinking about the tens of thousands of lives that will be lost if you do this? What world are you fighting to save, Solas? Because it isn’t this one.” Varric started out in a tone of disbelief and ended in one bordering on anger. Rook didn’t think she had ever heard him speak with that edge to his voice. Then she got close enough to finally see the two of them at the top of the staircase. She watched, stunned as Varric readied Bianca, taking aim at Solas’s center. She hadn’t realized he had actually stayed true to his word, he planned to hurt or kill Solas if that’s what it would take. Varric spoke again, tone full of anger now, “You need to listen!”

“Enough!” Solas shouted, having seen the crossbow go up. He gestured flippantly at Bianca and Rook gasped a little at watching it (her) splinter and break. “Get out of here Varric, I don’t want to see you get hurt.” Solas said this neutrally, as if he hadn’t just broken Varric’s crossbow in a violent outburst. 

Rook just watched, unable to move from her spot at the bottom of the staircase. Varric clenched his jaw before lunging at Solas in an attempt to take the dagger from him by force. The two men struggled for the bright blue, pure lyrium blade. Anxiety started to build up within her body, why had Varric attempted to take it by force? Solas was a mage and a god, and Varric was a man. Rook knew the answer to her own question already: because Varric would always do whatever it took to get the job done.

She continued to watch them and when she saw Solas get the upper hand, time slowed down. Horror gripped her heart as she watched him turn and bury the dagger deeply in Varric’s chest, right where his heart was. Rook couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Not only had Solas just stabbed a man who he had once considered a friend, but he had only watched for a moment as Varric tumbled down the stairs before turning back to finish his ritual. Rook heard the giant statues that made up the border of the ritual circle begin to come crashing down. Then, the sound of Solas beginning to curse her in both elven and the common tongue reached her. But all of it sounded far away, as she stared down at Varric, who had landed at her feet after falling down the stairs. The knife was still in his chest, in his heart, and was glowing green and blue. Varric finally managed to get it out of his body, but he seemed to go limp immediately after. Rook watched as his lips formed her name, the name he had given to her. His eyes drifted closed then, and she saw his form relax completely.

No… No it can’t be… No he’s… NO! Rook felt her mind clear and the fog surrounding her both physically and mentally began to clear. “Varric…” she whispered, not sure what she planned to say.

“Sorry kid.” She jumped a little when his voice broke the silence. Turning slightly, she saw a grey, Fade bleached Varric stride up to stand next to her. “I didn’t mean for things to end up the way they did. Thought I had more time.” He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, “Guess not though.”

Rook could do nothing but stare at him for a moment, eyes flicking between the ghostly imitation and real Varric. The real Varric, who was lying on the ground at her feet, lifeless. She managed to find her voice again after a minute or so. “You died.” she stated, “You’re dead, you’ve been dead this whole time.” Fade-Varric just looked at her with sad eyes and nodded.

“How did- How have I been seeing you? We’ve been talking, and you talked to the others!” Rook’s head spun. It wasn’t possible, it had to be another one of Solas’s tricks. She couldn’t actually believe that pretty lie though. She remembered now. She knew the truth.

“Solas.” Varric answered her question with a single word.

“He used blood magic on me… he used our connection to brainwash me. The others, they never actually spoke to you, did they?” “Nope.” came Varric’s reply. “Just you kid. Just you.”

“That BASTARD!” Rook seethed, “He tricked me, in the worst way possible. He KILLED you!” Rook raged, before realizing there were things she needed to say. “I still need you, Varric. I can’t do this alone. I’m not you.” The last words came out in a broken whisper: “I’m sorry Varric. I’m sorry you’re gone.”

Varric sighed and ran a hand through his long, graying hair. “Listen kid, every story has an ending. Mine came a little sooner than expected, sure, but I’ve lived a long life filled with the best friends and companions I could’ve asked for. Don’t feel bad for me, and absolutely don’t blame yourself. It was MY CHOICE to do what I did Rook. I insisted on talking him down, even knowing the risk I was taking. I had to try.”

Rook could feel tears gathering in her eyes again, but she willed them away. Varric was right of course. He had made his choice, and because she cared about him, she would respect it. She knew she needed to say it out loud still. So, with her voice strong, Rook looked Varric in the eye and said: “I am not responsible for your death. Neither of us expected it, and you insisted on talking rather than killing him. I have to respect your choices, especially when I respect you more than almost anyone else. You picked me for this position, and I’m not going to let you down now, Varric.” 

Varric grinned at her before saying, “You could never let me down, Rook. You’re a real hero. You don’t know how to give up, and you protect any and all people you can.” The dwarf took a deep breath before looking at her again, “It’s time for you to go Rook, your team needs you. The world needs you, kid.”

“What will happen to you? Where will you go?” Rook asked.

“I’ll fade away, just go back to being a memory.”

Rook wanted to protest, to tell him she didn’t want him to leave her, but he had accepted his death. It was Rook who couldn’t accept it. 

“Okay Varric, I’m ready. I can forgive myself. None of this was my fault, and even though I want to blame myself, it doesn’t help, or honor those I’ve lost. I can honor them by stopping the gods, and finishing what we started.”

“Well said, kid.” Varric gave her his crinkly-eyed smile, looking proud. “Now all that’s left is to climb that staircase.” He nodded to the one Solas had stood upon before. Rook could suddenly feel some kind of ripple in the magic of the Fade, and heard a voice. 

“ROOK!” That was Emmerich, she thought. Then a second voice joined the first, “Rook! Rook come back! Come back to us!” It was the combined voices of Lucanis and Spite, with Spite being slightly louder in the Fade. Her heart sped up and she ran several steps before turning back one last time. “Goodbye Varric, I’ll miss you.” Rook’s chest ached with grief, but getting to see that wry grin on her mentor’s face one last time, that helped.

Spinning back towards the sounds of her team’s voices, Rook raced up the staircase. She threw herself through a small gap that was forming in the Veil. She felt stuck, but she continued to struggle against the walls of the prison. I have no regrets Dread Wolf, you cannot hold me here! She screamed the words in her mind, pushing harder against the barrier. Hands reached out from the other side and grabbed hold her arms. First she was frightened at the sudden appearance and the strength of the grip, and then she realized that she recognized these hands and arms.

“Lucanis!” she cried, “Lucanis I’m here! Spite!” Rook shouted at them, praying they’d hear her and pull her out. The grip on her arms tightened and she heard a faint reply from the other side. There was a second pair of arms then. With the combined strength of three now, Rook came tumbling headfirst through the Veil and into the Lighthouse. She could feel Lucanis’s chest rise and fall underneath her. Rook had landed on top of him when they came flying out of the small hole that Emmerich and Neve had worked together to cut into the Fade. She looked up to see four more worried faces staring down at her and was filled with relief and warmth. Rook was home.

Part 7 Coming Soon!

Part 5 here

Part 4 here

Part 3 here

Part 2 here

Part 1 here

DATV Masterlist here

[flightlessfinch]

garden song by phoebe bridgers / the black brothers.

"the doctor put her hands over my liver she told me my resentment's getting smaller"

in the house of black, resentment and anger is a birthright. it's passed down from parent to child, and the only escape is estrangement. if you're disinherited, you cannot inherit your mother's rage.

this song makes me think of both of the black brothers, but especially sirius. being scapegoated for your entire life will build resentment toward the golden child whether you want the anger to be there or not. sirius loves his brother, but in childhood they were not only brothers, best friends, but rivals for their parents' love and affection. favouritism is toxic. it builds a rift between children. at ten, regulus learned that association with his own brother would sour his image in his parents' eyes. he lived in fear of becoming him. he'd been taught that he could only earn love with obedience and "goodness." sirius' abuse was a tool orion and walburga used to exert control over regulus. "if you're bad, if you're anything like your brother, this will be you. we won't love you anymore." when you are a child, losing your parents' love is the subject of nightmares.

their gentle treatment of regulus served as another tool of abuse toward sirius. "we care capable of being loving, patient, and gentle. just not to you, because you are wrong, and bad, and broken. you are a rotten child. if you were different, we would love you." they had completely different childhoods under the same roof.

children growing up in abusive households don't have a baseline for "normal." abuse is normal to them. they don't know it's abusive or bad until they are much older, and reflect on their experiences in childhood (if they even remember, which oftentimes they don't. trauma gets written over by the brain all the time). sirius likely thought he was evil, and bad, and broken when he was a kid. he was told he deserved it by his parents, and they're his parents, so he believed them. he loved his mother and father. he was hungry for their love in return, but he couldn't do anything right in their eyes.

the scapegoat cannot earn love with "goodness" or obedience. everything they do is wrong.

sirius grew up angry. he was taught his emotions weren't important, and he was punished for expressing himself, so his quiet childhood anger grew louder and louder. he was hungry for love, but he learned love was impossible for him to acquire, so he settled for attention. hatred can be a substitute for love. at least when he was hated he wasn't invisible.

"i grew up here 'til it all went up in flames except the notches in the door frame"

sirius and regulus had a complicated relationship that often toed the line between love and hatred, because every lesson they learned about love taught them that it is conditional and transactional. they loved each other but it was in a stormy, inconstant way. they fought like cats. the bond between brothers is vicious in a way a relationship with anyone else could never be. they were in each others first memories, they don't remember what it's like not to have a brother (until sirius learns, and realizes estrangement and death are more different than he imagined when he left. "you're dead to me" is one thing, death is quite another).

they are the only two people on earth who know what it was like to grow up in that house.

i don't think they ever apologized to each other for anything. they've said unforgivable things to each other over and over again, and didn't address a word of it once the anger faded, just like their parents. they were close when they were kids because sirius hadn't ruined himself in his parents' eyes yet. likely, before sirius was sorted into gryffindor he was his parents' favourite child because he was their heir.

regulus was more than likely an afterthought most of the time for the first ten years of his life. he isn't as charming, handsome, or outgoing as sirius, which probably resulted in negative comparisons. "why can't you be more like sirius? why are you so shy?" that sort of thing. he grew up hungry for love, and sirius grew up nourished by it because he was golden.

then, he revealed his "flaw" and his parents turned on him. this must have been terrifying. regulus, after being an afterthought for his entire life, was suddenly the favourite. despite sirius' suffering, regulus must have been quietly happy about this for a long time. children aren't as empathetic as adults are. they're also selfish, it's developmentally normal. regulus didn't understand why sirius couldn't just be "good" and stop making their parents angry. he didn't understand that no matter what sirius did, there would always be a fault in it.

to his parents sirius was a rotten, bad child. no matter how much you wash rotten fruit, it won't unripen. he was doomed. he probably tried to please them, especially when he was younger (first to fourth year, i'd say, before he learned that his childhood was not normal). he was clever, he probably brought home perfect marks with the hope that his parents would offer him a crumb of affection, and was left disappointed every single time. which resulted in more rebellion because if he was going to be bad in their eyes no matter what, why would he even try to make them happy?

regulus didn't have friends like james or remus to help him understand that his childhood was abusive. if you believe his friends were people like barty crouch jr and evan rosier, both of them probably had similar childhood experiences to regulus. the rosier family is also old, traditional pure-bloods. barty canonically has a horrible relationship with his dad, which his mother seemingly enabled if not normalized. she obviously loved barty a lot, but she also failed to protect him from his father's anger.

because he didn't understand how abusive his parents were to him as well as sirius, he probably blamed sirius for his own suffering. when he talked about it with his friends, barty and evan probably would have agreed with him. "they're nice to you, they'd be nice to him too if he wasn't such a shit-stirrer. he's doing it for attention." he was taught to hate his brother. his parents indirectly told him with their actions that sirius didn't deserve love, and as they grew older and grew apart, when sirius found unconditional love and acceptance outside of their family, regulus' resentment toward sirius turned into hatred.

regulus was a lonely child. he was shown over and over again that he could not be himself or he would not be loved by his family. he was taught that he couldn't be close with his own brother. as a subconscious form of self-preservation he likely distanced himself from sirius regardless, because if he knew him and loved him less it wouldn't hurt so much to inevitably see him be abused right in front of him. to survive, regulus made himself so small he hardly existed. he didn't interfere with his parents' punishments and harsh words for sirius because if he did, he would lose the only source of acceptance and love in his life.

sirius watched regulus watch him suffer and do nothing. he decided he was a coward, and he didn't love him enough to help him.

"i don't know when you got taller see our reflection in the water"

sirius waited until his sixth year to run away. i think if regulus wasn't in that house he would have ran away from home much sooner.

when you are the older sibling in an abusive household you feel a sense of responsibility to protect your younger sibling. you are automatically parentified. your parents are not to be trusted, so your little brother comes to you with the big, scary questions he has. you become independent and self-sufficient. you stand between your abusive parent and your brother because you don't want him to get hurt. you grow up fast because if you don't you'll suffer more, and your sibling will suffer more too.

sirius was taught that he deserved the hatred he experienced, and he knew if he left the hatred would have nowhere to go but his brother. the idea of leaving him alone there, and not knowing whether or not he was safe, whether or not his parents were in a rage, whether or not regulus had a question that needed answering that he couldn't bring to their parents, made sirius feel obligated to stay.

this brings us back to resentment.

regulus blamed sirius for their parents abuse. sirius blamed regulus for the abuse he experienced, because he was staying in that house for him, so every terrible thing he experienced, every harsh word, was for regulus. all of this, while regulus didn't believe they were being abused at all.

i imagine regulus wasn't grateful that sirius stayed. he probably thought he was stupid for not leaving whenever he had a chance. he probably said so every single time sirius went to him for comfort after something awful happened in that house. they had explosive fights about this, the kind of fights you can only have with your brother. this went on for two years, until something truly horrific happened and sirius had to go.

"i hopped the fence when i was 17 then i knew what i wanted"

even if you have to get out to survive, leaving an abuser is hard. sirius still loved his parents, and he loved his brother. he must have felt guilty for not being the son they wanted, despite his rage toward them. abusers are not abusive all the time. he likely has fond memories with both of his parents, as well as his brother. his mother's hands were gentle as often as they were harsh, and the emotional confusion that is created with that sort of inconsistency will result in guilt when a child thinks of their parent in a negative light.

regulus likely compounded this when they discussed it. "our parents aren't abusive. you're ungrateful. you want to be coddled. they're hard on us because they want us to be strong. you shouldn't speak that way about our mother. she says she does everything out of love for us, she's our mother, sirius, do you really think she's a monster?" sirius doesn't think she's a monster, he thinks she's cruel, and abusive, because his friends helped him to see her honestly.

in canon, when he discusses regulus' blood supremacist beliefs, sirius says: "...my idiot brother, soft enough to believe them..." (referring to their parents). i don't think that this mindset, for regulus, stopped at blood supremacy. regulus is always trapped in his parents' version of their childhood, and he is so emotionally invested in it that seeing his own childhood any other way is unthinkable to him. if his parents are abusive and unloving, and he has spent his whole life making himself small to appease them, how could he live with that reality? how could he bear it? it is a sunk-cost fallacy.

every punishment regulus was ever given, he was convinced he deserved. sirius knew it wasn't fair. they couldn't see eye to eye.

the night sirius left, i think regulus realized he was right about their parents. i think he thought they abused sirius, but not him. he realized that the way their parents treated sirius couldn't possibly be normal. i think he died believing his parents didn't abuse him. the guilt he must have felt about this is unfathomable. believing his brother was abused and for some reason he was not, when regulus was abused, is so painful.

regulus quietly resented sirius for leaving him behind. in his ugliest, most selfishly human moments he viewed it as a lack of love, not entirely self-preservation. his self-esteem was undoubtedly already terrible because of the nature of his parents inconsistent and conditional love, when sirius finally left regulus probably internalized his absence as proof that there is something fundamentally unlovable about him. they didn't speak after sirius left, even at school. if regulus spoke to sirius, he knew he might get in trouble for it. there must have been a sense of betrayal, no matter how justified sirius was for leaving. regulus doesn't seem like he would be able to handle guilt well. sirius represents a lot of unpleasant emotion for regulus. regulus represents a lot of unpleasant emotion for sirius. they probably both actively avoided each other.

it didn't help that there was another, external barrier rising between them.

they went to opposite sides of the war. regulus found community and acceptance among the death eaters. sirius found community and acceptance with the marauders and the order of the phoenix.

"no, i'm not afraid of hard work i get everything i want i have everything i wanted"

by his sixth year, regulus has everything he always wanted as a child. his parents' undivided attention and love. friends. power. it is bittersweet.

by his seventh year, sirius has everything he always wanted as a child. a home far away from his family. freedom. boundless love. it is bittersweet.

their differences are irreconcilable.

sirius heals the wound of his childhood and tries to build a life he is proud of, but it is impossible to escape the shadow of his family. they haunt him. he worries about his brother the same way he did when they were kids, but he knows he cannot stand up for him anymore. it was too much. he had to save himself. he knows the danger regulus is in, and the dark path he is walking down, but he can't help him because regulus doesn't want to be helped.

you can't save someone who doesn't want to be saved.

"everything's growing in our garden you don't have to know that it's haunted"