#also if anybody has ideas on how to continue this story i'm all hears

[luckynumber-8]

♡ ~ HOBBIT TRAUMAS (AND HOW YOU TAKE CARE OF THEM) ~ ♡ (4 Hobbits X Reader Preference)

a/n: No one would escape an adventure like the Fellowship had unscathed, especially not if you were an innocent, good-hearted, fun-loving hobbit.

My take on the traumas the 4 hobbits would have after the adventure, and how you, reader, help them deal with that.

P.S. -This is my first-ever writing post in Tumblr... and also my first-ever posted fanfic-type-thing! It's just a bunch of headcanons right now - maybe I'll take one of the ideas and turn it into a drabble or something later. Feedback is the best thing ever, and I would love to get any that anybody has!

P.P.S. - Shoutout to @wordbunch, who's LOTR writings I absolutely adore, and whose post formatting I basically used as a cheat sheet, because I'm a totally clueless newbie. So thank you! I hope that wasn't out of line for me to borrow 😕

Frodo

Sometimes he can still feel the crushing weight of the ring pulling on his neck or weighing on his chest, and you catch him absentmindedly rubbing one of these spots

So you, you special person, find some excuse to give him a neck rub or a back rub

Because you absolutely cannot stand seeing him trying to hide his discomfort like this

You know openly calling him out on it will just remind him of all that happened to him, so you have become a Master of Subtlety and Distraction

Whenever you catch him staring into the distance, you know it is Time to Remove Frodo From His Own Head

So

Distractions ensue 

Namely:

Surprise hugs

Randomly launching into stories or rants that you know he won't be able to help listening to 

(Because the sound of your voice is not-so-secretly one of his favorite things and he will listen forever)

Offering to read to him (we all know this is Book Boy, so what better than having his favorite tales read aloud by you?? His favorite narrator??)

You make him cups of tea as he writes his book

When he sees you smiling in the doorway with a mug in one hand and the scent of his favorite leafy brew drifting out of it, it just makes his day because…well, you.

You just think of him too much and he can't handle it lol

Sam

Never

Ever 

Ever

Try to put this poor boy around spiders

Ever

(yes I love this HC, idk who came up with it and I can’t remember where I saw it but it’s basically canon in my bran now)

He cannot stand them, not even in the garden anymore. You can see how he stiffens and twitches every time one of those ugly eight-leggers scuttles across his path and instantly know how much restraint he's using not to kill it on the spot.

Spider in the house? It's all you, Y/N

You know he would try to face it down for you and you alone

But you can't stand seeing him go all cold and shaky at a little garden spider 

So you often remove them before he can even notice because peace in the house is a nice thing to have

He also has alarming levels of self-doubt sometimes because of how he thinks he's misjudged things in the past

But luckily for him, he has you

You are there to support him and are always advocating that he is strong and makes solidly good choices

And you know what? You are his world, so he believes your every word. 

He drinks those affirmations up like there is no tomorrow

And you are happy to continue on as his supplier till the end of days

Merry

Personal HC that when his arm is burned after stabbing the Witch-King, he gets phantom pains not dissimilar to Frodo's

It's almost like nerve damage - he'll be fine one minute and drop whatever he was holding the next, or his hand will start twitching in weird and sometimes disturbing (to him) ways

This is Mr. "Nothing-Bothers-Me-And-I'm-Fine", so naturally, it bothers him quite a bit that one of his appendages refuses to follow orders on a regular basis

It's something that he tries to hide from you - pretends it's not there, BARELY jokes about it.

If Merry Brandybuck ain't joking about it, you aren't either.

Sometimes you hear villagers mentioning it in hushed whispers, and you (badass) shut them up before a single one makes it back to Merry

Because you know that's what he'd do for you, so you absolutely do it for him.

And you know he secretly appreciates that you don't fuss over it, because he doesn't want to feel different or incapable. It helps, for him, that you treat him like just the same person he was before (because he is duh) and nothing has changed and he doesn't want or need to be coddled.

Not saying you do, but you might sometimes give this particular arm a little extra love and affection. Massaging his hand, tracing circles on his wrist, and just letting him know how dead cool you think his scar is.

Because, really…how many people have changed the fate of Middle Earth and have something to prove it?

Your Merry does, that's who. And you'll never let him forget how amazing and brave he is.

Pippin

Pippin is constantly awake in the dead of night

Because he's haunted by wild nightmares 

And you're the first and probably one of the only people he would turn to for comfort

So guess what? You're up too, holding him close to you in the dead of night while he tries to calm down

Sometimes he tells you what the night mare was, sometimes he keeps silent and just wants to lay next to you. You know he'll tell you in his own time if it's right to.

This little hobbit is such an empath, he really took to heart EVERYTHING that happened on his journey

And he thinks that way too many things were exclusively his fault 

Gandalf's death? His fault.

Merry getting hurt (because he got them separated and wasn't there)? His fault.

Boromir's death (because he didn't know how to fight)? His fault.

Again, you know better than to push, but you know the content of a lot of his nightmares revolves around his contributions being insignificant, his actions causing people's injury (or death), and how badly things could have played out because of him. It worries you, how much brainspace he gives to these things.

So you keep him close to you. I mean that both literally and figuratively. He's not shy about taking the physical comfort he needs (honestly I don't think he's aware of the concept of personal space), but he gets tripped up trying to talk about his own feelings

So you just give him his space, all the time he needs, and bottomless snuggles 

Because contrary to what he thinks, a lot of things went right because of him, and you can't tell him enough how much he means to everyone (and you. most importantly, definitely you.)

Thank you for reading, if you made it down this far! I hope to post some actual writing soon, if I can find the time to sit down and put my Writer's Cap on. I am considering opening requests! At this point I don't know who will see this r how it's going to do, so we'll see how things work out :)

[piglet26]

Reylo Scenes: TLJ

Rian Johnson gets loud vocal dislike for trying to make part 2 to JJ Adams film and his treatment of Luke Skywalker. Now I'm going to be honest..... Star Wars fans complain. That's part of the passion of it all. I guess. One area that he did succeed in was Reylo. He dealt with it with complete mastery. His invention of the forceskype or forcetime which allowed the protagonist and antagonist to actually talk was genius.

To add, I read the novelization which does expand on the story overall and it's great to read. There are comics as well. All which expand on the story.

Rian Johnson also is due a thank you for this moment.

We'll call this no-more-daddies-Ren. That face should not be covered up.

Romance has always been apart of Star Wars. Yet, in the sequel trilogy there was this hyper paranoia of anything feminine and so anyone who sensed a romance happening I guess was just an unhealthy fool.

From a pure storytelling stand point, the dynamic between the hero and the villain is genuinely interesting. The fact that they are Ying Yang, alike but different, bonded yet on opposing sides and they attracted to one another only adds to the drama. It's the richest dynamic of the sequel trilogy.

So to all the Reylo haters

In the first forcetime scene the rules of the forcetime get established. Rey can't hurt him physically (yet) and Ren can't jedi mind trick her.

The production team continued to show their balance yet opposition. When Rey wakes up the warm sunlight is on her face and her smooth cheek. In Ren's scene the light on his cheek is mechanical and the skin is scarred. Rey is surrounded by nature. Ren is surrounded by technology. They both have a childlike innocence to them. Something is happening to them that had never happened before. Something unique even amongst force users. Ren is curious. Rey is just pissed off.

Ren is a man who feels very let down/betrayed by everyone in his life so by the time we meet him in The Force Awakens he doesn't want or need anybody. Within his comic Ben Solo is described as someone that everyone, including his peers, watched for signs of darkness. He's a bitter, hurt and jaded young man.

Rey is the denial queen. She has a childlike way of thinking that is purely optimistic. She latches onto people very quickly Finn, Han Solo, Chewie, Leia, Luke on and on. She understand the stories of the resistance, Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader, but doesn't understand any of the complexities. She's a very 'this is the truth as I know it so it must be the truth' kind of person.

When we arrive at the second Forcetime.

Rey overlooking the ocean. Ren overlooking the first order. Ren begins hearing the ocean waves. Rey begins to hear the snap of electricity. Ren sensing her turns and Rey, sensing him, adjusts and there they are.

Rey, understand that she can't physically act out her anger against, verbalizes it. She's angry, but she wants the anger to be simple and it's not. He is tied to her in a way in some way.

What's interesting is Ren is very open to her in wondering why the force is connecting them. In the book Rey describes his eyes as hungry. Also, Ren wants to be understood by her. He uses this moment to reach her and get someone to understand a portion of how he became the man he is. The audience sees him approach her, get into her space, challenging her emotionally, physically and her ideas about him.

"ah, you do" if it's possible to verbally create a orgasm....Adam driver accomplished it for women. It doesn't hurt that these two seem to always be eye fucking each other. The intensity in which they lock onto each other and don't pay much around them any mind. The actors writers dream of.

The scenes serves a purpose though. Kylo is once again shift from simple bad guy to complicated bad guy/human being. She doesn't know everything. In the mix of all of this is her experience with Luke. She disillusioned and she's disappointed with Luke. Her experience is shifting her to understand Kylo's position more.

Which leads to their third forceskype aka shirtless Ben

Rey, girl, you're not asexual. It's the first where we see she does have a reaction to him physically. She opens herself to understanding. She wants to know if he had a good reason for killing his father. She also expresses her jealousy of him. He has a family, he had a father who loved him. She would give anything for that. Kylo is also expressing his pain and how relates to her. They both feel abandoned by their parents. Kylo wasn't abandoned in the way Rey was, but he feels abandoned. Kylo looks at Rey like 'hey you don't see the similarities between us?". You also being to understand Kylo Ren's need to embrace the dark side because everyone on the light side failed him.

Part of her journey in The Last Jedi is about embracing her womanhood. After the force bond with the shirtless Kylo Ren. She goes to the dark sided vagina cave. She jumps in and when she emerges her childhood hair buns are gone. Rey enters in this vision and looks for answers as to who/where her parents are. Nothing is revealed to her. She didn't find the answers she was looking for and the hope that she will find them goes out of her. In this moment she's desperately lonely. Here our hero spiritually seeks out through the force bond the one individual she feels will relate to her, our villain.

Why do people call this scene "The Finger Touch Love Scene"

Cause the level of intimacy these characters reach without many words and without being lewd. Rian Johnson, bravo!

The way Kylo Ren is just present, reassuring and nurturing as Rey relays her trip into the dark cave. This is a moment where he could stoke her negative emotions to the dark side. He doesn't though. He's completely emotionally present for her. Kylo Ren sits within his ship in a area that's lit with a soft blue light as he reaches towards her he's in the warm of the firelight. Now he is physically present for her.

Rey is completely raw. She's allowing herself to be seen emotionally naked. This is the first scene where she gives him something with free will. She gives him union.

She reaches out from underneath the blanket. He takes his glove off and they slowly, innocently, reach for each other. The eye contact they maintain as the force theme begins, we as the audience understand something profound is happening. Within them, in this moment, there is a balance in the force.

They both have a vision of one another. Ren sees her past. Rey sees a glimpse of his future. This is the moment for Reylo, they both said to themselves "we're never letting this go". Rian Johnson confirmed it's from this moment that Ren decides to kill Snoke because that's the only way to protect Rey from him. Rey shift her belief system to complete Team Ben. She doesn't have a plan when she goes to meet Ben within the First Order. She just has complete faith in him that when the moment matters he'll stand by her.

We arrive at the elevator scene and just prior when she arrive onboard the supreme in a coffin from the Falcon that has his calligraphy on it. It's their first interaction after that intense force bond.

She expresses her faith in him and the possibility of a future. This is the first scene where she walks up on him. She wants that closeness and connection now. He's closed off we come to understand later, he's become he's protecting his mind from Snoke understanding his true intentions. They both express what they saw in their vision and conviction that one will join the other. It's canon that in this moment Kylo Ren wanted to kiss Rey.

Snoke - It's not his story. Kylo Ren looked like a badass killing him. That's all we needed you for boo. However, I did enjoy the internal dialogue of Snoke that the novelization affords. Through the force Snoke can feel Kylo Ren's need for approval which is something that frustrates him. He can feel his conflicted nature for Rey and for the light. He can feel his pain and confusion when Snoke says he bridged their minds (he didn't). That was enlightening.

My favorite moment is right after Kylo kills Snoke and Rey and Kylo looks at each like

"You with me?"

"Yeah, I'm with you"

And they turn to face the pretorian guards. They are with each other, but they do have a misunderstanding on what that means.

The fight scene is great and beautiful. Kylo Ren is a supportive partner to her and she to him. Kylo support her body with his and he takes on the majority of the Pretorian guards. He has a moment when he checks in on her, she get's hurt, he's upset and scared but then centers himself. When he's in trouble she supports him. It's described in the novel that they can feel each other's emotions through the force.

(Couldn't find the gif of her getting cut)

[artemismoorea03]

I heard you were continuing MAA on ao3 and was shocked! It's been so long that I honestly need a refresher. I wanna re read it, but there's sm going on in life and not exactly mentally ok and so I'm lowkey scared to re read 😭

Also where do you get your inspection? And why do you put the lmk crew through sm 🍇 and SA 😭 /genq/nm/nf

But yeah

I LOOOOOOVE your work

It was a surprise to hear the series is STILL going after like 2 years /pos

Yep! MAA is going strong again, though it may be on another hiatus soon due to the fact that my spouse and I are going to be moving here very soon! Honestly, I would suggest reading it again if/when your mental health is better because it is heavy but some edits have been made on previous parts and some other parts - specifically Kids Aren't Alright - has been deleted to help the canon of MAA flow better. Some parts of that will come back but for the most part we're going in with a clean slate.

As for the inspiration behind MAA and the stuff that's all complicated but to sum it up a lot of it was inspired by personal experiences. I'm not entirely comfortable going more into detail than that on the inspiration for those certain situations but other inspirations also included; animes, books, cartoons, my friends, and just ideas that I thought would help the story flow better! Which is a lot more fun than the other stuff.

Now, onto the big and heavier aspect of your question the SA and other dark topics. As my spouse put it I am a "Gray Writer". I do not shy away form the dark topics but I also don't make it as simple as "good" and "evil" either. Good people can do bad things and evil characters can do good things.

Prime examples of this in MAA is Guanyin who did a bad thing not because she was a bad guy but because she felt she didn't have another choice. Then there's Tu who was - in the majority of the story - was a bad guy who ended up surrendering which was a good thing because he realized the error of his ways.

Other examples are Changpu, Ironhide, and Birdbrain.

This is similar with the SA situation in MAA. Situations like the ones that the characters find themselves in are ones that happen can happen to anybody. And as one very pissed off commenter pointed out once "Nezha is one of the strongest Gods, this would never happen to him" well that was one of the exact points I was trying to make with it. Yes, Nezha is one of the most powerful Gods but he's still a person and being strong doesn't mean that they can't be hurt.

Macaque has been assaulted multiple times since he was a teenager to the point where he almost expects it now whenever he faces a villain and often doesn't see it as an issue - which happens with people in those situations. Those things still bother him, of course, but he thinks it's more of an issue he brought on himself rather than a horrible thing that happened to him.

MK had never been exposed to something like that before and had no idea what to expect and was thrown for a loop. He didn't know what to do or how to process it but was saved so that makes him assume that it "wasn't as traumatic" for him or that his trauma isn't as valid. Which it is. It is completely valid and he went through hell. His assault is just as valid as Macaque's and Nezha's even if it didn't go as far as theirs did.

Then there's Nezha, who as I previous said is very strong. It was that strength that made him think he was protected from that kind of thing and that same reason that kept him from returning to the Celestial Realm for so long. Because, just like that commenter, he assumed most of the Celestial Realm would immediately assume that it was 'farfetched' or 'ridiculous' because of how strong he was.

These are three very real scenarios that people all around the world face and topics that many people ignore and avoid talking about. Trauma's are messy, uncomfortable, and complicated. They're not something that most people want to touch which is exactly why I do cover them.

I refuse to shy away from those dark topics because in the same way I write to process I know there are people out there who read those dark topics to process their own emotions.

I will continue to write as long and far as I can on this series and any other series and I'm excited to see people are excited for the return again! I have a lot planned and I also have a goal (a couple of them) but the one I'm currently talking about is to reach 1 Million words on MAA and if/when I do I'm going to treat myself with a new tattoo. I'm thinking an A03 tattoo but I might also commission somebody who's read the series to design me a tattoo inspired by MAA but we'll have to see on my money situation at that point :3 /gen /pos

Anyways, thanks so much for the comment, it made my day to read it! And thank you for using tone tags! You're amazing! /gen

I hope things get better for you <3

Ari

[missjoolee]

📗

Lookit you! Hallo and welcome to the book exchange! (you exchange one book for one of my ideas i probably will never get around to writing) I've been holding onto this ask for a good one though. something unique! and recently i watched a video on the internet (:P) that prompted a few versions of "make it juke" and idk. i'm pleased with them but honestly i don't have it in me to continue any of my wips at the moment, let alone start something new, so here you go!

(Thanks to @preoccupied-educator and @story-courty for helping me fine tune these a bit.)

(Happy Juke Jeudi!)

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

College au. it's a college town and so a lot of houses are rented to students. The guys have a gig at a house party and after the set, a lot of the partygoers decided to play a neighborhood-wide game of hide and seek. So you have a rowdy group of drunk people running all over the place. (i don't know much about the traditional college experience but I feel like this could happen lol)

In one round, Reggie is one of seeker's and found Alex pretty quickly. but they've been wandering around for awhile and haven't seen anybody new and Luke isn't back with the group gathered in front of the party house. Seeing one of the houses has a camera doorbell, they decide to knock and see if the residents might be able to help them out.

Julie had been at the library studying when her phone started going insane with alerts about movement outside her house. then she gets the alert that someone is at the door so she moves to the stairwell to look at the live feed at the door. Seeing two guys around her age looking around, she turns the mic on just as they begin to walk away. They explain whats going on and ask if she can review the video footage and look for a guy in a cutoff shirt. They were polite so she chooses to help out. she reviews the footage from the timestamps of the original movement alerts. sure enough, she sees a guy in a cutoff and jeans running around the house and climbing into the recycle bin. Laughing, she lets the guys know and decides to sit and watch to see how this pans out, already formulating her story for Flynn later.

When she sees them open the lid, their friend is no longer running and he looks kind of grumpy as he stumbles out of the bin. but he's also kind of cute and now she feels kind of bad. as they walk past the front door again and she hears them telling him how they found him, and he walks up to the camera all "Not cool!" and now she has a real good view of him and before she can think it through she offers to make it up to him by buying him a milkshake or something.

He pauses before he accepts the offer because he recognizes her voice from a class he shares with her. a class that he constantly gets distracted in because of her.

OR

Same situation, but Reggie is the one hiding and Luke is the seeker. and he gets a bit distracted just hearing her speaking voice through the speaker and tries to hold a conversation instead of look for Reggie, but Alex keeps him on track. And in this one, he offers her a milkshake as thanks for helping out.

OR OR

HS au where the guys play at a party that gets the cops called on it. everyone SCATTERS and Luke gets separated from Alex and Reggie. Julie wasn't really doing the party scene ever since her mom died and was home alone, and when the cops come knocking, she doesn't feel like dealing with it directly so she talks to them through the doorbell.

but when they ask to see if she could see where one of the kids went, she looks and recognizes Luke. Not being a snitch, knowing he probably was just there as another opportunity for his band and not because of the underage drinking or drugs, she tells the cops she didn't see where he went. but now she is very alert and paranoid because she just lied to freaking cops! she keeps watching the live doorbell feed as the cops slowly move on.

eventually she notices Luke's friends and she wants to tell them but she is also rooted to her bed. (what if the cops come back and realize she was home the whole time?) so she "pssst" into the mic trying to get the boy's attention without being so loud it attracts the cops back, and it takes a few tries but eventually they cautiously walk up to the door. and Julie kind of knows them from school and does the unthinkable and gives her phone number and says "text me. it's about luke". Alex immediately is on his phone and texts her and she's like "he's in my recycling bin. get him out and lay low in the garage. it's unlocked"

and then she grabs one of Carlos' bats and moves through the dark house to sneak out the back to confront them and make sure she shouldn't actually call the cops. they scream at being approached with a weapon which causes her to scream and then they are all shushing each other because COPS, and then the rest is history?

(Send me a book emoji and I'll share the plot of a fic I'll probably never get around to writing. No time frame on this. I will answer any that show up in my inbox so long as I still have ideas!)

[ububunes]

Anyways I finished psychedelicha of the black butterfly... Like a week ago? Man I'm slow...

Anyways. Spoilers if... Literally anybody cares about this game. It was truly mid up until the very end but I have to give it some credit for that. Content warning for child death, attempted SA, some baked in misogyny (from the game), and gaslighting (from Karasuba). Now time for:

Basic character info

Beniyuri/MC/Ai

She's the heroine and because of that, she's kind of lacking in personality. Maybe. I'm sorry, at a certain point I started skipping through the side stories... But in the main story she's mostly defined by her willingness to help, her honesty, gullibility, and her fear. She's got some trauma and is fairly stuck in the past.

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

Yamato/Takuya

If you went to his TV tropes page, I'm 95% sure he would have something like "Needs a hug". They aren't wrong, honestly. He's got a short temper and is almost always fighting with Karasuba. His favorite sport is soccer and when he was a kid he would "tease" (frankly, semi-bully at times) MC because he had a crush on her. Don't do that in real life. Monshiro's twin brother.

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

Karasuba/Aki(to?)

My least favorite! He just keeps finding new ways to try and get MC to himself, and will not stop making very uncomfortable advances before calling them jokes. He is the character who figured out Hikage first though, and by his good ending he decides to work on himself and improve with MC. Still not redeemed but congrats! He would get upset if you followed any other dudes on social media, get anxious if you make even a slightly too long phone call or look at your texts too long. Would also beg for your PIN and get sad if he wasn't your lock screen AND homescreen. No thaaaanks.

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

Hikage

Look. This image just goes so hard I HAVE to show it in it's full unaltered glory. He's the evil big bad and tricked the entire cast blah blah yeah he's basic as hell. He's also misogynistic! If I hear him talk about how all women are weak one more time, I frankly might just break down. He's like. So generic anime bad guy that I can't hate them for it, they're just following the assignment.

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

Kagiha/Natsuki

This dudes dead! He's been dead since he was like, eight actually. I'm not sure how ethical it truly is to date him but I also am too tired to care. He's another of the least favs anyways. He made a promise to marry MC when they were kids and man is this dude taking it way too far. I have no idea what his plan is if he 'comes back to life' like Hikage promised since he's been presumed dead for ten years... He's also working with Hikage.

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

Monshiro/Kazuya

Again I'm frankly not too sure on how ethical it would be to date him. He's been in a coma for ten years, since AROUND age 7. He leans on MC for comfort and has been wandering the mansion for ten years waiting to give MC her ribbon back. I don't know what else to say about him, he's not that fleshed out imo... Yamato's twin brother

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

Usagi

Truly the most underdeveloped character. She's Hikage's little sister and the reason he's insane. I would ask her to get him to therapy or to be his therapist but there aren't any therapists here and if he saw her face he would genuinely lose it.

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

The story is honestly pretty much summed up as "repressed memory trauma with otome game action and shooting segments." I'm sure it can be explained better than that but if I'm being honest I'm already starting to forget details. Whoops.

My favorite endings have to be the Yamato true end, the best ending/common route ending (it's literally just called "best end" on the flowchart, I don't know what to tell you), and the secret ending. I find it kind of strange that Hikage and Kagiha (whose names I continually mix up. I'm not very good with names) only have one ending each. I guess you could could the singular bad ending, which is also an honorable mention just for being there and being kind of awful if you accidentally trigger it, as an ending for Hikage since it's (probably) his book, but that sounds lame and doesn't completely check out. I guess you can also count the best ending as Kagiha's true ending but again, seems cheap? But also way better than his default ending where you seemingly lose your mind in the mansion and live in "happy married bliss" with Kagiha.

Probably also a good time to mention that Hikage and Kagiha are both dead.

Basically the whole story goes as follows

The main characters (minus Hikage) go to a summer camp at around ages 6-8. They get warned not to go to the lake because weather changes quickly in the mountains (where the summer camp was, I guess.) They go to the lake, find an abandoned mansion and start exploring, find some glass shards that ARE lore important, just ten years from now. Anyways it starts to rain incredibly hard and the kids desperately try to get to the shore and back to camp. Unfortunately MC and Monshiro both get swept under the water. Kagiha rescues MC first, then Monshiro who is still comatose from the accident ten or so years later. Kagiha ends up drowning and his body is never found*

(*His body is found in the common route ending, but I don't remember any mentions of it in any other endings.)

Ten or so years later, Karasuba, Yamato, and MC meet again after Karasuba and Yamato moved, following the accident. MC is still pretty torn up about Kagiha's death, partially from guilt, and semi-refuses to talk about it. Yamato has been visiting his brother in the hospital every day, also from guilt. Karasuba moved on, and was more concerned with becoming stronger since he could only stand and stare as MC and Monshiro drowned. They go on a Fun Bus Ride!™️ And plummet off the side of a cliff after the driver... Falls asleep? Gets hit by mother nature? I dunno.

They end up comatose and in a mansion that's in a place between life and death. They have to find the shards of a magical kaleidoscope so they can return to earth and Hikage can get his wish fulfilled. Frankly uninteresting romance happens. Yamato turns into a monster and then partially back. This all sounds cool when simply laid out but when you're playing the game multiple times and the slowness of the max speed of the skip button starts to hit? Maaaaaan it sucks. It also makes some sections of the game unintentionally funny because while voices don't play during skip mode, sfx do and it's kind of hard to take Hikage seriously when he's in his evil mode but his walking sounds like someone chopping veggies really fast.

One aspect that really disappointed me was that there was only one real (labeled) bad ending. There are no endings where you all end up trapped in the psychedelicha forever because you can't find the last shard, there's no ending where you give up, no ending where, in a mansion with deadly and aggressive monsters in it, you get killed. That might sound weird and honestly maybe it is but the one bad ending simply being a choice of whether you open a book (bad end) or not (you get to continue playing) feels out of place. Yes some of the characters endings can absolutely be counted as bad ends but... They don't get you the achievement that triggers when you get the 'Bud' ending. (I am unsure as to why it is called that.)

The true endings are all nice. Again Yamato's feels the nicest simply because he gets to apologize to his brother and make amends. He also gets reassurance that no, he isn't an awful person just because he made an admittedly very awful decision as a child.

Karasuba gets shown that he's kind of awful and gets to grow into a better person with MC. Good luck with the relationship.

Monshiro gets to give MC her ribbon back and also gets told that no, you didn't deserve to die instead of Kagiha. Good for him. I'm still conflicted.

The additional scenes unlocked after certain endings were nice too. Seeing Karasuba confront Hikage about his identity was honestly really cool. Seeing what Hikage was up to scheming before the games events was nice. Seeing Kagiha and Monshiro interact was neat, especially since they don't really do that very much. Plus it adds lore.

And finally... The secret ending. You get to make the choice of actually staying in the mansion during the summer camp, keeping everyone safe and alive. It's definitely a nice addition after spending this whole game in danger and having to deal with issues. I honestly had started to wonder why they didn't do that. Like yes they're kids but... None of them had thought of it? Damn. Being able to not traumatize MC was great. Having to deal with four clingy guys? Not so much.

Here's the complete in game flowchart if anybody was curious as to what it looked like!

In conclusion.... Yeah no I can't completely recommend this game. It kind of sucks, it's vita exclusive (I think?), and one of the mechanics forced on you (the butterfly hunt mini games) are kind of jank and annoying to replay and replay for points. And again this game is exceptionally mid. Not good mid, not bad mid, just true neutral mid. Anyways, remember: hooray! Hooray! Beniyuri-chan! Hooray! Hooray! Kagiha-kun!

[marinerainbow]

First of all, Poppy would be so so so happy if you did! She will crouch down to the ground, her pupils wide in awe as she happily listens... Honestly Dragon!Poppy is turning out to be more like a puppy trapped in an overgrown lizard body XD

Second of all- I LOVE THAT IDEA SO MUCH YOU HAVE NO IDEA!!!! It's not going to be canon, but it can be a side AU!!!!

For starters, pleeeease tell me you also thought of Dragon!Stupid being Donkey like I did the second I saw this XD

Stupid: *screaming in terror* BOOOOOSS!!!! THE PRINCESS IS GONE AND THERE'S A STRANGER IN THE CASTLE!!!

Poppy: *now in her cursed form, trying to calm Stupid down* Shhh! It's ok!

Stupid: WHAT DID YOU DO TO THE PRINCESS!?

Poppy: *fricken climbs Stupid just to grab his face* No no! Stu, it's me! I'm the princess! In this body.

Stupid: Oh my god, YOU ATE THE PRINCESS!?

Bro I just want to draw Dragon!Stupid screaming at Dragon!Poppy's belly "Poppy! Can you hear me!?" While Poppy looks at the viewer like she's in The Office so badly right now XDDD

All comedy aside, I am loving the potential angst in this AU. For Poppy, of course 😅 because at least Fionna's parents did genuinely love their daughter, and their hearts were in the right place as they did what they thought was best for her (not that it takes back all of Fionna's lonely years and thinking she was hideous). Poppy's parents on the other hand... I don't see them being that way.

Major trigger warning for family neglect/abuse and implied domestic abuse. It's not overly detailed, but it does have a focus for Poppy's story in this timeline.

~

When Poppy was cursed, probably when she was a child, all her parents had seen was a monster. That there was something wrong with their child, rather than an unfortunate fate befell her. And by now, they didn't want word to get out that the king and queen had a 'devil child'. What would the neighboring kingdoms and their allies think? But everyone already knows they have a princess, so it's not like they could just disown her, or send her away. That would bring up too many questions. So they did the next 'best' thing. In the day, the princess is allowed to wander the castle. She follows her lessons, prepares for her future... But when the sun starts to set, she's escorted to the dungeons and locked up in one of the cells before she transforms, where she has to remain until sunrise. And this continued on for years, even as an adult and her dragon body becomes cramped in the cell (she doesn't tell her parents, or anybody else, that she needs more space. She knows they don't want to talk about her 'beastly side').

When her parents were told that this curse could be broken by 'true love' they twisted that in their heads and thought Poppy needed to be married off right away. So they found the best bachelor they could approve of, the prince Ben who was going to be crowned king, and sent Poppy away as fast as they could. With orders that she had to find a way to hide herself at night without causing suspicion.

Poppy and Ben are wedded not long after. She's not really happy, but she tells herself she is because supposedly, Ben is the one that can make her 'normal'. But on their wedding night, when she feels the familiar shifting beneath her skin, she runs away and barely manages to hide in the gardens before Ben saw her. All Poppy can think about is how the curse hasn't been lifted, and wondering what the hell is she doing wrong??

So yeah, unlike Fionna, Poppy wound up marrying Ben before meeting the Dragon Patrol. And she does everything she can to hide her curse from her husband- which only makes Ben even more suspect of her loyalty. In the original Timeline, all Ben had were his paranoia, and all the times he saw Poppy was unhappy (at least he got that part right; she was unhappy with him). Here though, he's 100% convinced she has a secret lover. Why else would his wife disappear into the night with no trace, only to be found in the morning exhausted and ashamed?

So I'm thinking, since he is certain she's a harlot, in this timeline Ben might not even bother trying to rescue Poppy. Why should he save her when she's a disloyal tramp?? At least that'd be his line of thinking. Poppy doesn't want to think that he's going to just abandon her. He's supposed to be the key to her spell being broken... Though she knows that Ben thinks so lowly of her (he isn't exactly one to keep his opinion to himself when he's drunk). But she still tries to desperately cling onto her marriage. Maybe even more so in this AU because Ben is supposed to break her curse.

Even when she starts to truly fall in love, she tells herself that she can't be in love with them. She is a married woman and has to be loyal, even if her husband couldn't care less about her. Besides, if her own family sees her as a monster and her husband doesn't even want her, why would her own captors want her?

Meanwhile, the Dragon Patrol are very suspicious of this mysterious princess. She's stronger than any human they've seen, her senses aren't as dull as ones either. Not to mention how she always finds a way to disappear from their sight all night, and act like nothing was out of the ordinary in the morning... Something is definitely off about her. And Smartass is determined to find out what.

~

So that's the story. Poppy here is waaaaay more messed up than OG Poppy because of all that. And guess what? That's not the end of her problems 🙃

Since her parents kept her locked up at night, Poppy has never been able to learn how to work her dragon form. Her wings, claws, and bite are weak, having never been able to use them, and is constantly tripping on her own tail. She swallows down her flames, not even knowing how to shoot it out (which means either her fire is going to be very weak, or the first time she uses it, it will be extremely intense after brewing for so many years). She always instinctively curls up in a tight ball because of the cramped living conditions, and out of shame towards herself. Basically, Poppy in a Shrek AU would be a dragon that doesn't know how to dragon. And that's how she and the Dragon Patrol bond. Especially Psycho, who is able to relate to her past the most (I'm thinking maybe he was imprisoned at some point? To mirror his weasel self being stuck in an asylum).

Before I end this post, here's a fluffy imagine for you. Remember when I suggested the Childhood Friends AU for Dragon!Psycho and Princess!Poppy? Imagine it in this AU instead! Maybe baby dragon Poppy somehow managed to sneak out of her cell one night, or this was even before her parents found out about her dragon side. But Poppy as a dragon is outside, and she sees baby dragon Psycho sneaking into the gardens! She's happy because she thinks she's found someone like her, and Psycho is confused; he didn't think there was going to be another dragon here... Oh well! She seems nice. She could be a fun playmate ^^

Poppy is still going to be a princess in the Dragon AU... But I couldn't help myself and started imagining her as a dragon too and I have to share XD

So this probably goes without saying, but Poppy would be adorable as a dragon ^^ (at least I think so). Smartass can recover some of his bruised ego because she'd be smaller than him (still bigger than a human, but still. I've gotta work on their heights, so I can't give an exact measurement right now). She's got grey horns that curl backward like a ram, so they'd be better used for smashing or shoving than stabbing. She's got snow-white scales with some black spots dotting along her back, shoulders, and tail. Which could be good for blending in with the winter, but not for much else. I'm debating on whether or not she'd be insecure about her not having colorful scales like other dragons. She can still fly, though the membrane of her wings are actually a bit thicker than the others, allowing her to better use it to shield or defend, and they can't get torn as easily. She's got a bit of a sleek body, but it's not long and lithe like Psycho's. And she's actually got a strong bite, too. But it's not really noticeable unless she's eating. Or the rare cases she gets into fights. So although she can't hide in the wild, at least Poppy has plenty of ways to defend herself.

I'm thinking Poppy could be a burrowing dragon similar to Shiny. Though while Shiny found a crystal cave to call home, Poppy actually dug herself a nice, snug home that literally only she can fit in. She hopes someday she can make it bigger for a potential mate, or even just a close friend, but so far she's had no luck.

Also, she will never go on raides. She's actually pretty curious about humans, and during a snowy day, she'll try sneaking into a village to learn more about them ^^ she... May or may not snatch a few things she finds. Not personal belongings! Mainly yummy foods that the humans make ^^ if this girl did find a public library though, and knew that it was allowed to take books as long as you gave them back, she'd absolutely try to take some. She has a hard time reading the human writing, but she's trying! She loves their stories ^^

So I guess Poppy would be kind of like Stupid with how friendly and easy it would be to get along with her. Offer her some books, cooking, or little facts about your kind, and you've got a dragon who will share her wing shield with you anytime ^^

When word got around that the Dragon Patrol were wreaking havoc all over the land, Poppy was scared of them; she knows that she's not the strongest dragon (it's part of why she hides). But she did actually try to find them and ask them if they could stop. The humans did nothing to them! And they were making them afraid of their kind, and that would mean other dragons would get targeted and killed! This just wasn't good for anyone involved, not now or the long run. But as one might suspect, she wouldn't have the best luck :(

!! First of all she sounds so sweet (Of course) and I want to sit and read her and Stupid as many stories as she wants ^^

Second of all... imagine a Shrek au. Yes. Like Poppy is actually a princess, but she was cursed to be a dragon after sun down. And of course- Ben is lord Farquaad.

[seanwinchester]

Curiosity Blessed the Cat

Got inspired to write a little something on the way back from my trip. You can take this as either weirdcest or wincest, what happens next is up to interpretation <3

"You've- you've kissed guys before?"

"Well... yeah." He said, matter-of-factly.

"When?"

"At Stanford." Before Dean's stunned face he felt compelled to develop some more. "I mean, you know how college in California is, two guys or gals together is not the rarest thing you'll see. I just thought I should... try it, I guess."

"Try it?"

"I did think I was straight, it was more out of curiosity than anything. Only happened a handful of times anyway, and we just kissed."

"Hm."

Sam paused and looked Dean in the eye.

"And hey, you know, it's not that different."

"Different from what?"

"Kissing girls."

"It's not?"

"No, not really." He made a dismissive gesture with his hand. "I mean, a mouth is a mouth, you know, that sort of thing."

"Hm."

Dean seemed lost in thought for a moment, his fingers subconsciously gliding up and down through the condensation on his beer bottle. He was surprisingly calm in Sam's opinion, considering what his brother just confessed. Not that he expected anger from him, but at least a frown or a funny face, something.

"Would you kiss me?"

Sam choked on air. It was so unexpected, he was suddenly greatful he'd finished the rest of his own beer a couple minutes ago, or else he's sure everything would have ended up on his jeans.

"What?"

"You said it's not that different, I wanna see if you're right."

"With me?"

"Who else?"

Sam's eyes were like saucers.

"Oh don't chicken out now, you're the one who just told me about this stuff! Besides, we're like the only two guys for the next 500 miles."

Sam doesn't know if it's the booze, the boredom, or the sheer confidence with which Dean said it, but he put down his empty bottle and nodded.

"Ok."

He slowly got up on his knees and slid closer to Dean on the sleeping bag.

Dean's face was red and hot when he got to him, his body perfectly still.

"Don't think about it too much." Sam whispered.

And then he kissed his brother.

[moxleys-darlin]

Mirror Images

Pairings: Seth Rollins/Wheeler Yuta, Seth Rollins/William Regal, Seth Rollins/Jon Moxley, Seth Rollins/Jon Moxley/Wheeler Yuta, implied Shield/BCC/Renee

Summary: Seth remembers the Betrayal storyline, the way his in-ring persona betrayed his brothers, he can see the hurt and anger in Yuta’s eyes, a mirror image of what Seth saw in his own eyes all those years ago. He hopes he hasn’t lost his younger lover before he’s gotten the chance to truly love him.

Continuation of Enough is Enough

Disclaimer: I don't claim anything but the idea; characters (unfortunately) and gifs aren't mine.

(Gifs not mine)

Seth hears Roman sigh on the phone as Seth describes why he has to make the trip home. He knows Roman doesn't understand why he's so concerned, but Seth is truly scared.

"Babe, I just think you're overthinking this. Yuta is fine, we talked when. I was there a few weeks ago, remember?"

"Yeah, but I also know that he is having. a hard time forgiving and trusting Bryan again, especially since the BCC is still fighting the JAS. I just-" Seth stops and sadly sighs, tugging on his hair. "I remember how this goes, this anger."

"Babe-"

"That storyline wasn't entirely fictional, and you know it, Ro! That story almost broke us before it even played out. I can't lose him; it feels like we just got him. Please let me do this, if I'm wrong and being dumb you can laugh at me later, all of you can, but if I'm right, I gotta try and fix this Ro."

"No one is going to laugh at you Seth, you're doing this for all of us. If anybody knows what happens traveling down this road, it's us. If you're wrong, great, but if you're right? If you're right and he leaves, I don't know what would happen to all of us. Just text me when you get there and keep me updated. I know Yuta misses you, so he'll be happy to see you early."

"I love you, Big Dog, I'll let you know how this all goes."

"Love you too baby. Be safe."

Seth hangs up the phone with a sigh and grabs his bag, heading out of the hotel and into his car. Shooting a text to Regal, Mox, and Renee, he puts the address into the GPS and heads home.

The drive goes faster than he thought, partly because he knows he's overthinking and partly because, being so late, there's no traffic. When he pulls up to the huge house (he'd call it a mansion, but Regal always rolls his eyes), he sends a text to Roman, letting him know he's safe, and to Regal, who he knows he's probably still awake. Getting out of the car, he stretches his legs and back out, groaning at the twinge in his knee. He had refused to stop on the way, wanting to get here as quickly as possible.

Unlocking and relocking the door, he quietly goes up the stairs, first stopping by Regal's room. Entering the room quietly, he sees Regal still awake and reading a book. He stops by his older lover's side of the bed to give him a kiss, trying not to wake up Bryan.

"Welcome home Seth. I hope your drive was pleasant enough?"

"Definitely don't recommend doing the drive all in one sitting, but I'm happy to be home." Seth knows he's anxiously rubbing his wrist.

"Oh petal, you really are worried about this situation, aren't you?" Regal grabs his hand, pulling it from his wrist. "Roman called, darling. Explained how you predict this going in your eyes. I spoke to Moxley so I could understand your stance and worries, and I can see why you're so upset."

"I just- I almost lost Mox in 2014 because of a storyline, I can't lose Yuta because of this feud between the BCC and JAS." Seth lets Regal pull him down gently so he's sitting on the side of the bed, and groans lightly when Regal scratches down his back, letting his head drop forward.

"Seth, your worries are justified, my dear boy. You should go and see Yuta, even if it's just to sleep." Seth leans over and kisses him again and stands up. "Go on dear, get some rest. I'll see you in the morning."

"Goodnight William."

He closes the door quietly behind him and immediately runs into Mox, who wraps his arms around Seth's waist and kisses the breath out of him. When Mox pulls back, Seth puts his face in his lover's neck and breathes him in, calming himself down.

"I love you, my beautiful Hound, always remember that." Mox runs one hand through Seth's hair and clenches the other arm harder around him, hugging Seth tightly. "I know what you're thinking about, I fucked up in 2014, and I know that I can never take that shit back. I let my goddamn anger get the better of me, but Yuta's not me, baby," Mox can hear Seth's small sniffles and feels him shift his head into Mox's shoulder.

"When we were on FaceTime the other day, he was talking about how he's trying to forgive Bryan, but the feud is making him paranoid and making it hard to put this all behind him. He's so afraid that Bryan will turn back around and treat him shitty all over again, and it makes him angry." Seth's voice is watery and muffled, getting quieter toward the end of his statement. Mox sighs and rubs his tired Hound's back, trying to comfort him, wishing Renee was out here to help.

"Go lay with the Pup, baby, get some rest, and tomorrow we'll all have. a talk, okay? We'll put it all on the table." He steps back slightly so Seth will bring his head up, and Mox grabs his face, kissing him softly. "We'll get it all fixed up, okay?" Seth nods tiredly, and Mox chuckles. "Good, now go lay down, I gotta go chop some damn wood or something so I can feel like a badass again and not some softie. Got me feeling things." Mox shudders and starts to walk toward the stairs.

"Hey Moxie?" His lover turns around. "I like it when you're soft, you're still my badass no matter what." Mox rolls his eyes and starts walking again. "Love you, Mox" He starts walking toward Yuta's room, smiling at the quiet love you too from behind him.

Seth makes it to Yuta's room and quietly enters, hoping that, if the boy is asleep, he won't wake him. He places his bag in the chair that's in the corner of the room and decides to just take his shirt off and sleep in the pants he drove in. Climbing into bed, he's startled when Yuta turns over, puts an arm on his chest, and props himself up, smiling in excitement.

"You're here!" Yuta kisses over his heartbeat and Seth falls in love a little more. "Are you okay? I thought you were coming this weekend."

"I was, but I decided to come early, I wanted to come home and see my family." Yuta blushes slightly and sits up with his back against the headboard, grabbing Seth's hand when he copies Yuta's position. "I really wanted to see you and check in with you, especially after our video call." Seth adds quietly, looking down at his lap.

"Hey," Yuta uses his other hand to bring Seth's face up to look at him. "what's wrong? I know I've been stressed out about this Bryan/JAS stuff, but Bryan really is trying to make it up to me and he's checking in before and after we do segments with JAS. I think was just being paranoid, but Renee and Regal have been helping me and Bryan talk through things." Seth sighs in relief.

"So you're okay? We- you and Bryan are okay?" Seth catches the slip and hopes Yuta didn't, but his baby is more perceptive than he thinks.

"Yeah Seth, we're okay, all of us are okay." Yuta squeezes his hand and uses the other hand on Seth's face to stroke his cheek. "Ya know, Roman called me on your way here and told me to talk to Mox, don't be mad at him, he was really worried about you. Mox told me about what happened in 2014 during the betrayal storyline, about how y'all almost broke up and he thought you wanted the storyline to happen." Yuta hears the small whimper that escapes Seth without his permission.

"Yeah, it was a bad few weeks after that, Mox was refusing to talk to me, and I told Roman not to get in the middle of it. Triple H finally was able to get through to him and explain that it was his idea. Mox and I were pretty tense still even after Mox apologized because I was mad that it had even come to that. I was angry that someone else had to step in to make him see what he was doing was wrong."

"Kind of like how Roman had to get Bryan to see what he was doing to me, right? Mirror images almost, and that's what scares you, huh?"

Seth sighs and nods slowly, and Yuta gives in to the urge to try and kiss the sad look off his face. When Yuta pulls away, he lays back and pulls Seth down to lie on his chest, playing with Seth's long hair.

"I was scared that I would lose you just as I was beginning to truly love you, so I needed to see you, in case this was the last time I would." Seth kisses Yuta's chest, running his fingers over Yuta's stomach, enjoying the way it clenches when he hits certain spots.

"I was mad at Bryan, I was mad that Roman had to intervene to make him see that what he was doing was wrong, but I know Bryan isn't perfect, none of us are." Yuta tugs on the end of Seth's hair and makes him look Yuta in the face. "I'm not going anywhere Seth, I love y'all, I love you, and that won't change. Will we get into fights? Sure, but we'll talk it out and makeup. Bryan is still making things up to me and I'm still working on trusting him, but we'll get there eventually, and we're both patient enough to put the work in. We're okay though, all of us, and especially you and me. You drove all night to come see me, babe and make sure I was okay. My own Prince Charming, I'm the luckiest man in the world."

"Yeah, Prince Charming, sure. I love you too, Yoots. I'm sorry I doubted that." Yuta kisses Seth again and pulls the covers over the both of them, gently pushing Seth's head to his chest.

"Not doubt, Charming, concern. Now let's get some sleep, I have a feeling Mox is gonna come jump on the bed to wake us up in the morning and Roman will want a phone call."

Yuta runs his fingertips up and down Seth's back, enjoying the shudders going through his lover. He can feel Seth calm down and fall asleep, tightening the arm across Yuta's waist and nuzzling his head further into his chest. Yuta looks up when he hears the door open, seeing Mox looking in on them.

"How is he?" Mox whispers when he sees Seth asleep.

"I think he's okay now, but he'll probably be better when he can see Bryan and I interact together tomorrow." He can see a look in Mox's eyes when he looks at Seth, a mixture of guilt and love. "Come sleep with us, you know he gets cold if he's not sandwiched in."

"Already learned that, huh?" Mox doesn't argue, just climbs in bed on the other side of Seth, propping himself up to stare at Yuta and Seth together.

Yuta watches as Mox moves the hair away from Seth's cheek, kissing it gently, and moving to his ear to whisper something that sounded like softie. He then leans over carefully and kisses Yuta goodnight, then lays down and throws his arm over both Yuta and Seth, falling asleep quickly. He stays awake a little longer to think about the conversations he had with both Mox and Seth. Yuta knows that he truly loves all of his lovers and there was no way he'd give any of this up. He'll make sure he squashes Seth's fear tomorrow, but tonight he's going to enjoy sleeping next to very loving Hounds of Justice.

I 100% blame @sarahcakes613 and her "Yuta reminds Moxley of someone else"

This was also supposed to focus solely on Yuta and Seth, but apparently, Mox and his Lordship wanted some Seth loving too, so *waves hand* here we are.

Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy! Much love! Also! You don't have to read Enough is Enough to understand any of this story! ❤️

[helloalycia]

secret relationship // wanda maximoff

summary: you're the daughter of the famous Black Widow, which comes with its own set of hurdles such as revealing to her that you're dating the newest Avenger that she also happens to be mentoring – Wanda Maximoff. What could go wrong?

warning/s: minor (implied) violence and injury

author's note: okay so the request was the reader is Natasha's daughter and is struggling to tell Natasha that she's dating Wanda. All I know is I got excited (as usual) and this happened so yeah, enjoy! Also, Wanda’s age is always a mystery to me since it’s interpreted differently with everyone, so I tried my best to explain the age gap between you and natasha so things made sense.

masterlist | wattpad

"Did you know red onion and red cabbage is called 'red' instead of 'purple' because back in the old days, they didn't have enough words for colours so anything purple was defined as red?"

"The mission, Y/N," my mum, Natasha Romanoff, AKA Black Widow, scolded.

I sighed, my attention still focused on my surroundings and my gun directed ahead. "I know, I know. But did you know that the most common internet password is '123456'?"

"Y/N," Wanda, my girlfriend and teammate said with a laugh. "Stop it."

"Yeah, please, quit it," my mum added with an eye roll.

I smiled at Wanda, admiring how beautiful she looked when she hid her laugh. My mum wasn't aware we were dating, so I settled for sending her a playful wink before looking ahead.

I knew I had to focus on the mission – scouting out this abandoned HYDRA den – but it was boring. And it was obviously empty of any threats, so talking was my only pastime.

"Did you know the inventor of Pringles is buried in a Pringles can?" I said after a moment of silence, making my mum stop walking abruptly.

"Okay, you know what? New plan," she said, looking between Wanda and I. "Everyone split up. Take a look around. Stay alert. Keep in contact. Sound good?"

I quirked a brow. "You trying to get rid of me?"

She narrowed her eyes my way. "Yes."

I frowned, making Wanda crack a smile and nudge me in the shoulder.

"You need to learn to have an off button sometimes," she joked, her Sokovian accent shining through despite the voice lessons my mum was giving her. Honestly, I preferred her Sokovian accent to her American one.

"You love it," I teased, giving her a knowing smile, my mother completely unaware of the double meaning.

"Just do as I said," my mum said, already shooing me away. "Wanda, you know what to do. If you see or hear anything suspicious, use your comms."

"Yes, Miss Romanoff," Wanda said obediently, and I tried so hard to hold in laughter at her seriousness. I mean, it was great that she was respectful of my mother and her mentor, but God it was funny to witness.

"Once again, Wanda, you can just call me Nat," my mum said with a wince, trying to be polite. "Go on."

Wanda nodded and walked off, her gun raised as she'd practiced. I grinned at my mum, noticing the way she massaged her temple with mild agitation before her gaze fell to mine.

"Go. Now." She pointed behind me, and I stifled a laugh.

"Bet you love babysitting duty," I joked.

"It's not babysitting if I'm your mother," she pointed out. "Though sometimes, you make me regret not picking the baby instead of you."

"That baby would have been six years old now," I informed her. "If anything, I spared you the whole diaper thing and the outgrowing clothes thing and the– oh yeah! Not being able to speak thing!"

"At least they wouldn't be annoying me with stupid facts," she retorted, hand on her hip. "Now be a good agent and do your job."

I rolled my eyes playfully, knowing she was kidding. Whenever I annoyed her, she'd bring up the story of how it was between twelve year old me and a six-month old baby at the adoption centre. She was worried I'd view her as an older sister or something, hence her choice of adopting the baby instead. But I never did, as she was always way more mature than any twenty-seven year old I'd met or seen at the time. And maybe, I guess, I was really desperate to have a motherly figure, and she just happened to fit the bill.

"Aye, aye, Miss Romanoff," I saluted, making her raise an eyebrow threateningly. "Okay, geez, I'm going."

I wandered off, exploring the dishevelled HYDRA den with full focus. The brief clearly stated it was an abandoned site, but I stayed on alert anyway in case there were stragglers. As usual, I only got given half the facts because of my clearance level, so I knew we were looking for a hard drive, but I had no idea what was on it.

Being a seventeen year old working in S.H.I.E.L.D. wasn't exactly how I saw my life going when I grew up in an orphanage. I honestly never thought I'd get adopted, as rumours spread quite quickly through the orphanage that once you hit double digits, nobody wanted you. So, when the beautiful, red-headed Natasha Romanoff came in, looking for an addition to her family, I felt like the luckiest kid in the world because she chose me of all the kids there.

I definitely didn't expect her to be the Black Widow, nor to teach me everything she knew about espionage, stealth, hand-to-hand combat and much more. She ensured I was multi-lingual like her, preparing me for the many S.H.I.E.L.D. missions I would have to go on. There were times when I absolutely despised her, particularly when she overtrained me or stopped me from seeing my friends. And there were times when I wished she'd never adopted me, hating that I couldn't have a normal teenage experience.

But when it came down to it, I knew I couldn't have asked for a more caring, considerate and compassionate mother. I learnt early on into our relationship that she was unable to have kids of her own, hence her interest in adoption. And honestly speaking? That was probably the worst thing in the world because if anybody deserved a child of their own, it was Natasha Romanoff. I guess, in that sense, I was lucky to have all of her love to myself.

Now that I was older, I came to appreciate how awesome she was, especially when we got to go on missions together and I saw her awesomeness upfront. The only thing was, she was extremely overprotective, so it was difficult to get sent on the dangerous missions. Though, I guess, whenever I did, she was always there to have my back and I wouldn't have wanted it any other way.

Her overprotectiveness was also a reason why she didn't know about Wanda and I's relationship. Wanda had joined the Avengers a year ago after losing her brother in the battle against Ultron. She was a year older than me, so naturally we were drawn to each other, and before I knew it, our friendship became more. But of course, my mother could never know that. At least not yet.

"Empty here," I mumbled, rounding a corner into an empty room. As I looked through the rubbish on the desk, I continued, "Empty here... and here... and oh, look, here, too. What a surprise!"

"Y/N, I love you, but God help me I will kill you if you don't turn your damn mic off," my mother's voice came through my comms piece in my ear.

For once, I wasn't trying to piss her off, so I smiled sheepishly to myself and replied, "Sorry. Love you."

I could imagine the eye roll she was giving me in response, so continued to look around for the hard drive I saw on the brief. Still, there was nothing here.

My searching was interrupted when I heard a loud crash from a nearby room, like the sound of bricks tumbling against one another. I spun around, eyes widening with concern.

"Y/N? Wanda? What happened?" my mum's voice came through my ear, slightly reassuring me as it wasn't her who was caught up in anything. But then that meant–

"Wanda! What happened?" I replied worriedly, already rushing out of the room and to the source of the sound.

"I'm okay," Wanda's shaky voice came through my ear, which did nothing to ease my concern.

I found the room Wanda was in quite quickly, seeing her sat on the floor as if she'd been pushed. She had a deep cut on her forehead and looked visibly distressed. Running to her side, I kneeled down beside her and cupped her face, studying her head.

"Oh my God, are you okay?" The words tumbled from my mouth so quickly I wasn't sure if it was understandable.

She nodded slowly, accepting my hand and holding it for reassurance. I followed her gaze, seeing a hole in the wall ahead, bricks crumbling and dust beginning to settle. Laying on the floor through the hole and into the next room was a HYDRA soldier, clearly dead from the impact of hitting the bricks.

Wanda's power was magnificent, but hard to control. A year later and she was still learning its limits, but sometimes slip-ups like this happened. I was, admittedly, in awe of her actions.

"I'm sorry, I should have kept him alive like Miss Ro– Nat said," Wanda apologised suddenly, and I looked back at her to see her shaking her head. "He just– he startled me and I didn't know what I was doing until it happened. I thought–"

"Don't apologise," I cut her off, squeezing her hand gently, before looking back to the cut on her forehead. "I'm just glad you're okay. You did good."

Despite my words, I bit my lower lip to contain a frown, worried about her cut.

"Damn."

Wanda and I both turned to the doorway to see my mum, who stopped and took in the sight of the hole in the wall with partial surprise and partial amazement.

"Mum, we need to get her back to the quinjet," I said, pulling her attention away from the wall. She approached me as I said, "She needs medical assistance."

I didn't let go of Wanda's hand as I moved to the side for my mum to take a look. Gently guiding Wanda's chin to the side, she took a closer look at the gash on her forehead, expression showing nothing as usual.

"You'll be okay, honey," she reassured, letting go. Her eyes drifted to our connected hands briefly, but I figured she wouldn't piece anything together, so I didn't let go. She continued, "Let's get out of here. There's no hard drive anyway."

Wanda nodded and my mum and I helped her to stand up, me still not letting go of her hand.

"The hard drive is on him," Wanda spoke suddenly, nodding to the dead HYDRA agent. "I heard his thoughts before I– yeah."

My mum raised her brows with surprise. "Oh. Perfect. Y/N get the drive and let's go."

I pursed my lips, glancing at Wanda with concerned eyes. She gave me a small, reassuring smile, squeezing my hand subtly before letting go.

"Right, yeah," I said, swallowing hard.

I looked back to my mum, who seemed to be studying my expression, so I cleared my throat and left to get the drive. When I retrieved it, I jogged after Wanda and my mum, checking in on her with a small smile, before leading the way to the quinjet.

When we boarded the plane, I hung around Wanda and my mum as she helped the brunette to take a seat in the back. I noticed Wanda's momentary dizziness as she sat down and felt my chest tighten.

"Hey, you okay?" I asked, kneeling before her as my mum got the first aid kit.

Wanda gave me an endearing smile as I swiped at the blood dripping down her forehead.

"I'll be alright," she said, holding my gaze with comforting green eyes before they flickered to behind me.

"Okay, Y/N, stop hanging about and start the plane whilst I stitch Wanda up," my mum said, appearing from behind me and kneeling beside me.

I nodded, glancing between the needle, thread and disinfectant in her hands and Wanda's head. Reluctantly, I got up and left them both to it as I started up the plane and got us in the air. Once we were in the clear, I flicked on autopilot before heading back to Wanda and my mum to see how things were going.

"We'll have someone look at it properly when we get back to the tower," my mum was saying to Wanda, who was now stitched up and wearing a small bandage, "but it'll hold up for now." With a playful smile, she added, "You're not dying on me just yet."

Wanda cracked a smile and whilst I appreciated how lovely it was to see their closeness in a way I never usually saw, I was still troubled by her injury. Logically, I knew she'd be okay, but it never felt good to see her injured.

"Plane is on autopilot," I announced, making my presence known. My eyes never left Wanda's bandage as I asked, "Everything okay here?"

"You need to calm down," my mum joked, making me look her way. "It's not that serious. Just some stitches."

I smiled awkwardly, but I knew it was much more than that.

"Yeah, relax, it's not a big deal," Wanda added playfully.

Her eyes met mine and I knew she was communicating the same thing through her gaze, holding a seriousness that wasn't able to be shared verbally because of my mum's presence. I tilted my head, giving her a knowing look; she knew I was aware of how big a deal it was. All I wanted to do was give her a hug and kiss and not leave her side until she felt better. And she knew that.

"I'm gonna go fly the plane," my mum said suddenly, and I almost forgot she was standing there until she spoke up. "We'll get back to base quicker..."

I glanced at her, mildly confused at her sudden change of expression. She headed to the front of the quinjet, leaving Wanda and I alone.

"Seriously though, you should relax," Wanda said, sounding like she did when it was just her and I and nobody else. She had an amused smile on her lips as she watched me worry. "I'm fine. All stitched up."

I licked my lips, sulking, as I dragged myself over to the seat beside her. She laced our fingers together, pressing a kiss to the top of my hand before facing me with an easygoing smile.

"I'm fine," she repeated gently, lovingly, sweetly.

I offered her a small smile, before leaning forward to press a kiss to her bandage. "I know. Just don't worry me like that. Especially in front of my mum. I can't take it."

"It's cute," she noted, amusement returning. "It means a lot to know someone cares."

My shoulders relaxed. "I care too much. So, please don't test that."

She laughed and I felt my heart flutter in my chest, never getting used to the sound.

"I promise not to," she said, looking up at me through her lashes.

I leaned my head on her shoulder and kept ahold of her hand, staying with her until we arrived back at base. My mum flew us the whole way back, only coming to get us once we landed. I knew I should have left Wanda's side as to not raise suspicion with my mum, but I couldn't find it in myself to do so. I just hoped she would interpret it as two concerned friends rather than her daughter having a secret girlfriend.

"You should head to the medical wing to get checked out properly," my mum said once we were back at the tower, looking to Wanda.

"Yeah," I agreed a little too eagerly. "I'll go with you."

My mum gave me a curious look. "I mean, that's not necessary."

Wanda must have sensed my eagerness, as she said, "I'd appreciate the company, actually. I don't mind."

She shot me a subtle smile, eyes bright with reassurance.

"I'm happy to accompany you, Wanda," my mum offered, and I felt my mouth go dry.

"It's okay, mum," I said suddenly, making her look to me with pursed lips. "You can go debrief and I'll make sure Wanda is cool with everything."

Glancing between us, my mum finally nodded. "I see. I guess I'll see you both later then." She paused, looking between us once more, before adding, "You did good today. Both of you."

I looked down to my shoes as Wanda shot her a grateful smile. She walked away, leaving us be, and I immediately intertwined my fingers with Wanda's as the two of us headed to the medical wing.

"You may as well write desperate on your forehead," she teased with a beautiful smile.

"So funny," I said sarcastically, though a smile of my own was present. "Let's just get you checked out."

"If it means you'll stop pouting, then sure."

"Real jokester you are. Hilarious, honestly."

Her laughter surrounded me like a warm hug and I could have listened to it forever.

—

Since our mission together, I noticed the distance my mum was putting between her and I, and I had no idea why. I thought I was overthinking it and seeing things that weren't there, so I didn't follow up with it until one evening.

It was a rare occurrence for all of the Avengers to be at the tower at once, so when they were, we'd all have a 'family' dinner for some normalcy. Only, this time, I noticed how strange my mum was acting whenever I spoke to her. She'd either act super dismissive or give one word answers to my questions – once again, I wasn't sure if I was seeing things.

After dinner, everyone went their separate ways and Wanda and I stayed in the living-area to watch some TV. Though it was playing, the volume was lowered and neither of us were watching it. We were just talking about random stuff and enjoying each other's company.

"Okay, how about this one?" I said to Wanda, turning so I was facing her, a grin on my lips. "What did the clock do when it was hungry?"

As with all of my other attempts at making Wanda laugh, she stared at me with an amused smile and a quirked brow.

"Say it...," I encouraged, motioning for her to speak with my hand.

She sighed. "Okay, what did the clock do when it was hungry?" Mumbling, she added, "Even though clocks don't eat..."

I slapped her leg playfully. "Sshhh, you'll ruin the joke. And the answer is, they go back four seconds!"

Wanda didn't laugh, but she seemed entertained as she hid a smile. "Seriously?"

"Because of the number 'four' and the word 'for'," I explained. "C'mon, that's a good one!"

"D'you think you're funny?" she asked, eyeing me playfully. "Because you're not."

I shrugged, playing it off like I wasn't fussed. "I mean, I don't know about that... how about now?"

Before she could question me, I moved forward and began to tickle her sides, watching as she squirmed with laughter.

"Stop it!" she shouted, but her smile was as wide as ever as she was unable to stifle her laughter. "P-please! Y/N!"

"But you said I wasn't funny!" I retorted with a grin, practically straddling her as she attempted to push me off her. "I'm just checking if you still think that!"

Wanda was crying now, tears escaping the corners of her eyes as she continued to laugh. "I'm s-sorry! Y/N, stop!"

Before I could think how to respond, the doors to the living-area opened and in walked Steve Rogers AKA Captain America, a confused expression on his face as he saw me sat on Wanda.

"Hey, ladies," he greeted, raising an eyebrow. "You both good?"

I pulled my hands away from Wanda and breathed out, still smiling as I glanced down at her. She blew a strand of hair from her eyes and glared at me playfully.

"Yeah, just talking," I answered Steve, before being thrown off Wanda and to the floor with a thud.

"Just Y/N harassing me as usual," Wanda corrected, and I sat up to see her sitting up, too, fixing her hair.

Steve chuckled as he headed to the fridge in the connected kitchen. Wanda helped me back onto the couch, nudging me in the side as a response to the tickle fest, before leaning on me and stretching her legs across the couch.

"So, hey, what's up with you and your mum?" Steve asked as I continued to annoy Wanda by flicking her face.

"What do you mean?" I asked, not looking up as I grinned down at Wanda, watching as her eyes glowed red threateningly.

"Don't make me hurt you," she said teasingly, lifting a hand and summoning her powers, red wisps of energy becoming present.

I stopped flicking her and intertwined her hand in mine, watching as her eyes faded to its usual colour.

"She just seemed distant at dinner," Steve continued.

I looked up and saw he was leaning against the counter with a water bottle in his hand. Wanda continued to stretch, practically on top of me, probably to annoy me as I had been doing with her. I moved her hands out of my face as I nodded to Steve.

"So, you saw it too? She was being off, right?" I asked him, glad I wasn't just imagining things.

He nodded, gulping his water, before saying casually, "Definitely. What did you do? Finally tell her about you and Wanda?"

It took me a second to realise what he'd said, but when I did, my eyes widened and I spluttered out a terrible response. "What– what about Wanda and I?"

I glanced at Wanda as she began to sit up properly. She looked more confused than panicked.

"You know, that you're together," Steve said like it was obvious.

I cleared my throat. "What? Why would you think that?"

Steve smiled with confusion. "Wait, so you're not? But I thought–" He paused, pulling a face. "No, you are! Everybody thinks you are!"

I shrugged it off, though inside I was panicking. "I mean, even if that was the case, why do you think my mum knows?"

Steve nodded knowingly. "She's been off with you all night. And then I caught up with her after dinner and she wasn't in a very talkative mood. Just mumbled something like 'new girl, her age, pretty, nice, should have seen it coming'. I assumed she was talking about Wanda."

Heat crept up my neck with embarrassment and when I looked to Wanda, I saw her cheeks dusting a red colour, similar to the energy she could summon. She looked as flustered as I felt.

"Has your mum been okay with you before today?" Steve asked, trying to be helpful.

I chewed on my lower lip and shook my head. "Not since we got back from our last mission..."

Steve scrunched his face with sympathy. "Oof. You should probably talk to her then. You know how much she hates secrets."

I groaned internally. "Thanks for the reminder."

He saluted playfully, his stupid smile on his stupid face, before leaving Wanda and I alone again.

"Well, looks like she knows," I said to Wanda, sinking into the couch with hopes it would swallow me forever.

"She might not," Wanda tried to make me feel better, resting a hand on my leg. "It could be something else."

I gave her a knowing look. "She has to know. It's the only thing that makes sense. You heard Steve."

Wanda sighed, sinking into the couch beside me. "Yeah..." She glanced at me and I looked at her as she said, "I did tell you to tell her."

I forced a smile. "Gee, Wanda, that was helpful. Thanks."

Wanda rolled her eyes before leaning her head on my shoulder. "Sorry..."

I rested my hand on hers. "It's okay, sorry. I just– she's gonna be really mad that I kept this from her."

"Yeah, why did you do that again?" Wanda asked questioningly.

I massaged the tension between my eyebrows. "Because she's too overprotective. It gets too much to handle sometimes... Take my last boyfriend for example. He was some tool that cheated on me and, oh boy, my mum wanted to kill him. I had to physically restrain her from doing so."

"I don't blame her," Wanda quipped, a hint of bitterness in her voice.

I smiled a little, squeezing her hand. "I know... she ended up slashing his tyres and egging his car without telling me. But instead of egging the outside, she broke into it and egged the inside. A thoughtful take on a classic, I must admit."

Wanda laughed, her whole body shaking with pure amusement as she listened to the story. I couldn't help but smile myself, remembering it like it was yesterday. Definitely a fun time.

"I appreciated it, don't get me wrong," I added, smile fading. "I just didn't want that to happen again. I wanted to enjoy our relationship without anyone spying on us, y'know? But now she's gonna be super angry."

Wanda let go of my hand and rolled on top of me, leaning down on my chest so she could look me in the eyes. I wrapped my arms loosely around her to keep her steady.

"She only wants the best for you," Wanda told me gently. "You have to tell her you're sorry. Explain why you did what you did, but hear her out, too. She's your mum. Caring too much isn't a bad thing."

I groaned, knowing she was right. She smiled reassuringly, patting my chest.

"You get the caring too much thing from her by the way," she added, before leaning forward and pressing a haste kiss to my lips. "It's okay though because I love it."

I smiled, never really seeing it like that. Raising my hand, I brushed my thumb over the small bandage on her head; her injury was still healing, but she didn't let it bother her. Very Wanda-like.

"Thanks," I mumbled, meeting her gaze. "You always say the right thing."

"Which is why I'm going to tell you to get up and go to your mum," she ordered playfully, pushing herself off me and holding out her hand.

I let her pull me up before straightening up and taking a deep breath. Wanda was right. I just needed to be open and explain my piece. It would be fine.

—

So, it wasn't fine.

When I entered my mum's living quarters, she wasn't the happiest to see me. In fact, she actively turned her body to face her TV when I came through the door.

"Hey," I started with a small smile, fighting the nerves in my stomach. "Can we, er, can we talk?"

She grabbed the cushion on the couch next to her, hugging it to her chest. Her eyes didn't leave the TV, but the space next to her was free, so I took that as an opportunity to close the door and sit beside her.

The news was playing on the TV – headlines, I think – and they were talking about a new elected congressman in New York.

"Seriously? The news? Even in your free time?" I asked playfully, hoping it would lighten the mood.

She didn't even glance my way as she muttered, "I like to know what's happening in the world."

Losing my smile, I straightened up and cleared my throat. "Right, right..."

It went quiet as the TV played in the background and my mum said absolutely nothing. I grabbed the other cushion on the couch and hugged it to my chest, similar to her. It was a nervous habit that I picked up from, well, from her.

"You said you wanted to talk?" she reminded me. "So, talk."

Having the Black Widow as your mother wasn't something anyone could get used to. She could be the most caring, loving, protective person in the world, but she could also appear quiet, intimidating and ruthless like the trained assassin she was. Not the greatest combination when trying to open up to her.

"I think I know what you're thinking," I started, pinching my hand to distract from my growing anxiety.

Without hesitation, she bent forward to grab the TV remote and turned it off before turning to me with sad eyes.

"That's where you're wrong," she said calmly, and it was way worse than her yelling. I would have preferred her yelling to be honest. The disappointment in her voice was much worse. "You always assume you know what I'm thinking. What I'm going to say or do."

I avoided her eyes guiltily. "Mum, look, I know that I should have told you the truth. And I know how angry you are, but–"

"I'm not angry, Y/N!" she shouted, finally, standing up off the couch and creating space between us.

I winced. "You sound angry."

She put her hands on her hips, looking down to her feet and taking a breath. Her voice at normal volume, she said, "I'm upset. You– you didn't trust me enough to tell me the truth. Instead, I had to put it together when you acted how you did with Wanda after that mission and..." She paused, sighing. "Forget it."

"No, keep going," I pleaded, the guilt piercing through me sharply. "You're right."

She swallowed hard, glancing at me with glassy eyes. "I wouldn't have done anything. I know I have in the past, but this is Wanda we're talking about. I've been her mentor for a year. I care about her and– and– she's good. And she's good for you."

Okay, I definitely misread this whole thing because now my mum was upset, on the verge of tears, and I was the arsehole responsible for it.

"I'm so sorry," I said, standing up and moving forward to hold her arms. "I should have trusted you. I mean, it wasn't even about trust. I was just scared you'd react badly. But it wrong of me to assume that."

She frowned, looking down to her shoes. "I know I can be tough sometimes, but it's only because I care."

I thought back to Wanda's words and gave her a small smile. "I know. I get it from you."

"I am happy for you, you know," she said, glancing at me petulantly.

My expression softened. "Thank you. That means a lot coming from you."

Without another word, she pulled me in for a motherly hug, making me close my eyes and relax in her arms. I still felt horrible for making her feel like I couldn't trust her when it was anything but that.

"I'm sorry," I repeated quietly into her shoulder.

"I forgive you," she said, before pulling away and giving me a small smile. "Now tell me. You're happy?"

The thought of being with Wanda gave me butterflies and I couldn't help but smile in response. With a nod, I said, "I am."

She nodded, squeezing my shoulders gently before fully letting go. "Good. I'm glad you've got her... I know you can take care of yourself, but she's strong, too. She can look out for you when I'm not around anymore."

I shoved her in the shoulder. "Don't joke about that. She isn't replacing you and you're not going anywhere, you hear me?"

She laughed, nodding. "Not yet anyway. But sure, okay."

I relaxed and gave her a nervous smile. "So, you wanna meet Wanda? Like, as my girlfriend and not your student?"

She rolled her eyes playfully. "If I must."

I smiled widely, grabbing her hand and leading her to the door. "She loves you a lot, y'know. She wanted me to tell you about us as soon as we got together. She hated lying to you."

"Yeah because she knows that lying is wrong," she teased me, making me groan loudly. With a chuckle, she added, "I love her, too. She's definitely something."

"Hell yeah she is," I said in agreement, grinning to my mum as I dragged her to the living-area where I last left Wanda.

On the way, we passed Steve in the hall, who took notice of the smiles on our faces and nodded knowingly.

"Glad to see you worked it out," he said supportively.

"Thanks for the heads up," I told him gratefully as we passed him.

When we reached the living-area, I saw Wanda sat on the couch watching TV. When she saw who entered, she straightened up instantly, moving to stand and unsure what else to say or do. It was cute, the respect she had for my mum.

"Did you– I– She told you?" she stumbled over her words, starting to speak to me but eventually looking to my mum.

My mum glanced at me before meeting Wanda's nervous eyes. "She did."

Wanda licked her lips anxiously. "And you're okay with it...? Angry...? Wanna kill me...?"

I watched my mum, nodding encouragingly to her. She sighed before giving Wanda a small smile.

"No killing will be necessary," she reassured my girlfriend. "Unless, of course, you break my daughter's heart. Then in which case, I may have to find you when you're sleeping."

"Mum!" I complained, face falling into my hands with embarrassment.

"I'm just being truthful," my mum said with seriousness, before looking to Wanda expectantly.

Wanda surprisingly took it well, probably used to my mum's personality after training with her for a year. "I understand completely, Nat and I'll hold you to that. I have no intention of breaking Y/N's heart."

A rare, genuine smile appeared on my mother's lips. "I know you don't. Just–" She paused, glancing at me. "Keep her safe, yeah? She's a bit stupid sometimes."

Wanda laughed as my mum smiled with amusement, like it was an inside joke.

"Right here, you know," I reminded them with a wave of my hand.

They only rolled their eyes.

"I will," Wanda promised my mum. "Thank you for being okay with this."

My mum nodded, giving us both a final smile and once over, before saying, "I'll leave you to it. Goodnight."

Wanda and I bid our goodnights, watching her leave before a giant sigh of relief escaped our lips.

"You feel better?" Wanda asked me, grabbing my hand and tugging me to the couch.

She let me fall on her chest easily, snuggling up to her as she wrapped an arm around me and held me close. I inhaled her perfume, a familiar and comforting scent, as my head rested in the crook of her neck.

"I feel better," I answered, closing my eyes and letting her intertwine our fingers.

"I believe this is the part where you say I was right," she prompted, a hint of amusement in her words.

"Don't make me hurt you," I mumbled, making her laugh quietly beneath me.

"You're lucky I love you," she said, kissing the top of my head. "I guess opposites do attract. You're the stupid one and I'm the clever one."

"Wanda?"

"Yeah?"

"Fuck off."

She laughed again, and even though it was at me, I couldn't help the content smile from spreading on my lips.

[corysmiles]

How to train your giant Pt1

——————————

Friendly Giant AU chapter 11

Notes: Uh oh manifold has been manifooled. Im so excited to continue the friendly giant story, the next part should be out in about a week. I hope you enjoy :D

CW: language

Word count: >2,700

——————————

Tubbo hadn’t been this excited for his lessons since he first joined the guard as a trainee. He remembered the bright proud smile that had graced his dad’s face when he showed up in all his gear. It was far too big on him since he was supposed to grow into it, but he never really did. The gear was dirty now, torn up and covered in grime from the years he’d been in training, so he tried his best to scrub it off before he had to leave. 

“You're taking forever,” Tommy whined from the hallway right outside their shared room, “Come on it's just your fucking cat.”

Tubbo huffed and threw the last of his gear into the old leather bag before rushing out to meet his brother. Tommy was already prepared, his clothes even more torn up than Tubbo’s own, and a sly smile spread across his face.

“You good?” Tommy grinned, bumping his shoulder into Tubbo’s side.

“Yeah just wanted to make sure everything was right,” he followed Tommy as they stepped out of the house, “Didn’t want to fuck anything up today.”

Tommy laughed as he slammed the front door shut. Even from behind the wood they could hear Wilbur’s immediate shout of disapproval. Quickly the two headed out towards the guard’s headquarters. The giant stone building connected to the town’s outer walls stood out like a sore thumb against the dull wood of the nearby houses. Meanwhile, all around them crickets the size of their feet hopped along, buzzing and chirping in the night.

“I'm so excited for this man,” Tommy broke the silence with a hushed laugh, “Jack’s gonna shit his pants I know it.”

Tubbo laughed nervously and shook his head, “Yeah I guess you’re right.”

Tommy’s smile brightened at the idea of scaring Jack, but it just made Tubbo more nervous. He knew how terrified Ranboo was of messing up in front of the guard. And he also knew that Ranboo hated the idea of scaring anybody.

“What why are you so upset?” Tommy frowned as he approached the giant gate next to the guard’s HQ. The massive wooden doors were chained up so no one but the guard could get in or out without permission. Luckily, though trainees were given a key to share between them (even though Tommy and Tubbo usually just climbed over the wall).

“Aren’t you happy?” Tommy asked as he bent down to grab the gate’s rusted key from his bag, “It’s Ranboo’s first lesson.”

Tubbo shrugged and bent down to help Tommy locate the key. His hands fumbled through the plethora of items thrown haphazardly into Tommy’s bag before he felt the dingy piece of metal.

“Yeah…” Tubbo’s eyebrows pinched with concern as he handed the key to his brother, “He’s just never been around other people before Tommy. And Jack isn’t exactly the most calm person we know.Who knows how he’s going to react?”

Tommy shrugged nonchalantly and unlocked the gate. The doors swung open with a metallic shriek that made a few of the birds resting on the wall squawk with surprise.

“What? You think Boo’s gonna go feral?” Tommy asked.

“What the fuck, of course not,” Tubbo glared earning a laugh from Tommy, “But he’s really nervous. Dad doesn’t even really trust him, and yet he’s going to be stuck in a lesson with him, Techno, and Jack.”

Tommy shook his head in disbelief and tugged at Tubbo’s sleeve, “Don’t worry so much, he’ll be fine. He’s fought several giants, he can take Jack.”

Tubbo opened his mouth to disagree but almost immediately loud footsteps came from behind them. He turned his attention back just to see Jack out of breath with his hands on his knees.

“You’re late fucker,” Tommy laughed as he jokingly threw his key at the man. The metal hit Jack’s head with a loud thump and Tubbo had to hold back his laughter as Jack shouted in protest.

“You know you’re such an asshole to me right?” Jack glared as he waved the key at Tommy.

“I’m sorry you’re just so easy to fuck with,” Tommy grinned back and Tubbo just barely stepped out of the way before the key was flung back at his brother. Tommy lunged at Jack, trying to grab his leg, but before he could another voice grabbed their attention.

“Are you ready or should I wait to let you kill each other first?”

Tubbo turned back towards the headquarters where Sam was now leaning against the stone wall. The older man had his usual black mask on to cover his tattoos, but even with half his face covered Tubbo could see his anger.

“Oh Sam,” Tommy stuttered, “Didn’t know you were coming today, thought it was just dad and techno.”

Sam frowned and shoved his hands into his pockets, “Well I didn’t plan on it. But I’m not letting you go there alone.”

“What do you mean alone,” Jack squinted, “We always do, what’s the difference.”

Tubbo’s eyes hardened as Sam glared off into space- the memories of Sam voicing his hatred for the giant in front of the whole guard vivid in his mind. He coughed to try to get the man’s attention, but all he got was a harsh look in return.

Of course, Sam wanted to go, he hated Ranboo.

“Well if you don’t mind we’re going to head out now,” Tubbo snapped as he tugged at Tommy’s sleeve. Confusion flashed across his brother's face, but he still followed Tubbo.

“No I'm going with you,” Sam said sternly, “Your father's orders.”

This time Tubbo froze. He knew his dad was still distrustful of the giant, but he thought he’d understood how nervous Ranboo was about actually being a trainee. He’d talked it out with him at dinner and thought they’d finally agreed that it would just be him and Techno…

“That’s a fucking lie,” Tommy argued, “Dad said no one else was coming today.”

“Well looks like he changed his mind,” Sam shrugged although something dark flashed across his face.

Tubbo huffed but didn’t argue more. It wasn’t like he could win against Sam anyway, at least not without some more of that tranquilizing shit Wilbur had used on him.

The four walked in a tense silence through the woods, the only sound being the occasional songs of giant hawks and leaves crunching under their boots. A couple times Jack tried to lighten the mood by hitting Tommy with sticks or tossing rocks at his back, but whenever they started giggling Sam shot them a grave look.

Luckily, it only took them a few minutes to get to the meeting spot.

The clearing was fairly small, with a couple logs cleaned up to be used as seats and leaves brushed to the side for a smoother ground. Techno and Phil were already there, both chatting while they polished their knives.

“Aye boys,” Phil smiled, standing up to greet them, “Was starting to think you weren’t coming.”

Tubbo sighed and let his dad pull him and Tommy into a hug. The pressure on the left side of his face still felt weird from where he was burned, but it was overshadowed by the warmth of his dad’s hugs. 

The older man let go with a soft smile and turned to greet Jack too. However, as soon as he looked up he froze. His eyes stayed glued to Sam who was now shifting back and forth on his heels.

“Sam,” Phil started, “Is something wrong? Why’re you here?”

Sam frowned and kicked his feet into the dirt. The steel tips of his boots sent chunks of grass flying out of the ground.

“I couldn’t let you do this alone,” he mumbled.

Phil sighed and shook his head at the other guard member, “We already told you no one else is coming today Sam. I understand your concerns but it’s all been thought through-”

“No, but-”

“Sam,” Techno growled, standing up in front of Phil, “Go.”

The masked man straightened his back and glared at Techno, but the younger  didn’t back down. After a few seconds of heavy silence, Sam huffed and turned away.

“Don’t complain to me when this all goes to shit.”

Techno raised his brows as Sam marched away, but didn’t say anything else. Within seconds they could barely hear the crunch of his boots, leaving them in the clearing.

“Well,” Phil cleared his throat, “It’s good to see you boys. As you could probably already tell by Sam’s uh…tantrum…this is going to be a little different today.”

Tubbo sat down on one of the logs and watched as his father nervously tried to explain the situation. It was strange since Jack was really the only one who didn’t know about the “surprise”, but funny nonetheless.

“Good or bad different?” Jack laughed as he sat down next to Tubbo, one leg thrown on top of the other.

“Good I hope,” Techno snorted.

Phil smiled nervously and nodded at his oldest son, “Well um I guess I just say it huh. We have a new member, a new trainee.”

Tubbo watched Jack's face intently as his dad talked. The other trainee’s expression lit up at the news of a new member, but as soon as a loud thump echoed across the clearing his smile fell. Suddenly, a gigantic shadow fell over the clearing, blocking out the dim moonlight. Even though Tubbo knew it was nothing to be afraid of, the darkness swallowed any sense of makeshift safety they had in the training grounds.

As the shadow grew, Jack yelped and jumped up in surprise. He whipped out his sword, but when he saw the other’s relatively calm expressions he paused. Phil wrung his hands nervously and Technos hand hovered over his sword, but neither moved.

“What the actual fuck,” Jack gasped as the shadow looming over them grew even wider.

With one final thump, something big became clear through the trees. Jack scrambled to escape, but Tubbo was quick to grab onto his sleeve. The man hissed and tried to pull away but before he could Techno’s hand pressed him back down.

“It’s okay,” Techno reassured, forcing Jack to sit back on the log, “He won’t hurt you.”Tubbo watched in amusement as a giant clawed hand emerged from the trees. Large fingers pushed apart the branches making them creak under his weight until the giant’s face could be seen through the leaves. Tubbo smiled up at his friend and gave him a thumbs up as two giant eyes beamed back at him.

“What the fuck do you mean he won’t hurt me!” Jack screeched as he tried to squirm his way out of Technos grip, “I don’t want to die, please. I don’t know what I did to deserve this but I’m sorry. I’m fucking sorry.”

Slowly, Ranboo pushed the rest of his body through the trees until he was completely in view. The giant's long tail wrapped around his leg nervously and for the first time ever Tubbo noted that it wasn’t wagging. In fact, it wasn’t moving at all. It was almost like the appendage was glued to his leg, completely stiff and emotionless.

Tubbo grimaced as Ranboo’s attention turned to Jack. He could see the exact moment Ranboo noticed just how terrified Jack was, and he hated it. Ranboo’s ears pulled back flat against his head and his lips pulled together into a thin line. Somehow, he pulled his head even farther down so it was squished uncomfortably against his chest. Tubbo hated how small he looked and wanted nothing more than to reassure him that he’d done nothing wrong. He itched to run up to his friend, but he had already agreed to stay “professional” for Ranboo’s sake.

“This is Ranboo,” Phil explained slowly as he joined Techno in holding Jack down, “He’s our new trainee. He saved the guard and in return, he’s going to be joining us for a while.”

Jack narrowed his eyes and shook his head frantically, “You’ve got to be kidding me- No fucking way. If this is what you want from me I’m out.”

Tubbo reached out to reassure Jack, but before he could touch him a loud voice shook the ground.

“I’m sorry,” Ranboo whispered, “It probably doesn’t mean much from me, but I won’t hurt you.”

Jack froze and stared up at Ranboo in shock. His hand still had a death grip around his sword.“It can fucking talk? What the hell kind of joke is this,” Jack spat as he slapped everyone away. 

Before anyone could hold him down again he swung his sword around making everyone back up. His eyes were wild with fear underneath his glasses.

“Yes,” Phil placated as he held his hands out in front of him, “Now I need you to calm down. I would never willingly put you or my sons in danger. He won’t hurt you.”

Jack scoffed and tightened his grip around his sword, “Oh yeah I fucking believe that.”

Jack lunged forward at the group, but Tommy was quicker. Within seconds his blade was knocked out of his hand and he was shoved back down onto the forest floor.

“Stop being such a bitch,” Tommy growled as he kicked the sword away, “You're fine.”

Jack gulped and looked around nervously before his eyes settled back on the giant, “I can't fucking believe this. When I said we should get like dogs or some shit to help out this is not what I meant.

Phil reached down to help Jack back up but the man just waved him off. Meanwhile, the tip of Ranboo’s tail wandered over to wrap around Tubbo’s leg. Tubbo weaved his fingers through the soft fur to comfort the giant, but it didn’t seem to help much. Even when he scratched the section of muscle right under the tip of his tail, where he knew Ranboo liked it, the giant didn’t move or even look at Tubbo. Not even a purr escaped the giant.

“So…everyone ready for patrol?” Techno restlessly as Jack continued to stare daggers at the giant.

Tubbo nodded happily and looked back up to the giant. Ranboo’s eyes were still narrowed with fear, but his ears seemed more relaxed, flicking back and forth like usual. For a brief second the giant’s multicolor eyes flickered down to Tubbo, but his expression only softened for a moment before Jack practically screeched.

Tubbo turned in just enough time to see Jack’s sword be thrown back at him by Tommy. With the scowl on Jack’s face Tubbo was sure he was about to watch him try to kill his brother again.

“Alright, come on stop that,” Phil pushed his sword between the trainees. Reluctantly, both backed away but not before Tommy stuck out his tongue teasingly.

“Well...now that that’s over, welcome to your first lesson Ranboo,” Phil smirked, “We’re going on patrol. First tip, be quiet and don’t be caught by anything bad.”

[julyarchives]

In The Dark

→ Pairing: Yuto x Reader

→ Genre: fluff.

→ Words:  1.8K

→ Contains: friends to lovers; confession; pinning; song lyrics

→ A/N: This is a very soft story and we absolutely loved to write it! Hope you guys like it as well!!! Special thank you to the person who requested it <3

Laying on your bed you checked your phone for the ninth time in five minutes, it was still past 1 a.m. and Yuto still didn't write back. Sighing, you opened a game on your phone and tried to distract yourself. Of course, it only worked for a few seconds before your mind drifted back to your best friend.

You and Yuto were best friends since you met at school and the bond you shared was something else, always together and sharing everything. Everything was perfect until you noticed your stomach turning in nervousness whenever you saw him laugh at something you said when you'd find excuses to touch him and would almost squeak when he took it as an invitation to hug or cuddle on your couch.

When you finally accepted you fell for your best friend, it was scary. Obviously, Yuto could never find out, you were sure it would break a beautiful friendship and it was better to have him around as a friend than not at all. So you tried to move on. You went on dates with a few guys but of course, it never worked out perfectly. They all had a main flaw, they were not Yuto. They couldn't make you smile like him, didn't understand you like him.

As you went on dates to forget Yuto, he also went out on dates, even if they were fewer than yours. But it hurt you to know that he was just following his life, his dates were for real and not just a means to an end like yours. Tonight was his third date with this cute girl from his music course. She was a good match for him, you couldn't deny that.

That's why you couldn't stop checking your phone, as Yuto said he'd text you after he got home to tell you all about it. It'd make you hurt more but he needed your support and you couldn't deny him anything. Sighing for the millionth time, you put your phone down for a few seconds to close your eyes briefly before opening your music app and choosing a very specific song to let out your feelings.

In THE DaRk by Bobby resonated in your bedroom, your speaker doing its job perfectly. You clicked on the repeat button in the app and put down your phone. Closing your eyes, the lyrics brokenly fell from your lips as you whispered it like a prayer, the only way to let your feelings out. Even knowing you had other friends to talk to, speaking about your feelings made it even more real, meaning it'd hurt more, so you chose to keep it a secret from everyone.

The song was halfway through its second repeat when the notification sound chimed into the song. You moved a bit too fast for your liking but oh well. Of course, it was Yuto checking in, saying the date went well but he wasn't home yet. You felt sad knowing he was probably with her still and turned the sound louder getting up to move to the beat.

You focused on the lyrics, blasting out the words you wished you could tell your best friend in the same moment he was with someone else. Your body swayed as you sang all about staying up at night with him in your mind, needing him to know you loved him, wishing there was a portal between your rooms so you could be together this very moment. Your phone made a ding sound once more and you picked it up from the bed, expecting it to be Yuto once again after you told him to tell you when he got home.

🎶Are you thinking of me at this dawn?

I wish therе was a continuous portal from my room to yours🎶

You stared at it for a few seconds, alarmed and confused that he sent you the same lyrics you just sang. The phone showed he was typing and you waited, getting more and more confused.

Nice song, Y/N. But don't you think it's a bit loud for this hour?

Not knowing how to answer, you just sent a few question marks and stared at the phone. How could he know all this if he was out with the girl?

Turn around

You moved a bit too fast and you almost tripped on your feet as you saw Yuto leaning against the doorframe, a cute smile on his lips. You quickly paused the song on your phone and he chuckled at your puzzled face.

"Giving me a spare key wasn't a good choice, was it?", his deep voice sounded almost as loud as the music was a few seconds before.

"What are you doing here?", you were glued to the floor. You weren't ready to hear him speak about this date with that pretty smile and shining eyes.

"I told you the date was fine but I didn't go home… thought you'd figure I'd come see you but suddenly there was a very loud Bobby music in the house", Yuto smiled widely, stepping into the room and closing the door behind him.

"I… I thought you were still with her", your voice faltered. You were too tired, too sad about his date and truly was expecting to cry yourself to sleep when he got home while listening to the same song that was on minutes ago.

"She wasn't my best friend", he said, hands in his pocket, standing in the middle of your room. "I wanted to come to see you".

"Why?", your voice was barely a whisper. You tried to recall if you said anything out loud while in your room, now scared you said something that could compromise your feelings for him.

"Can we…?", Yuto said, pointing at your bed briefly.

You nodded, moving the covers so you could lay down and still make room for him. He moved alongside you, laying down and naturally you both moved until you laid your head on his chest, him turning slightly sideways to hug you fully, his chin resting on top of your head.

"Can you play the song again?", he asked gently. You picked up your phone, staring at your wallpaper for a second. It was a silly picture you took with Yuto and he insisted you chose it as wallpaper. "Mine is just like yours", he said after noticing you staring at the picture, "you can imagine my date wasn't very fond of it", he chuckled.

You made sure to lower the volume of the song before playing it, Bobby's voice now as a background whisper. You felt your heart tightening at the mention of Yuto's date, imagining he'd be changing his wallpaper any time now. His voice suddenly filled the room, singing along the song.

"Shine, you shine on my existence

My night keeps getting longer

At night when everyone is asleep, I think of you

At this dawn, at this dawn

Shine, you shine on my existence

Tears are erased by my emotions

Add, add color to the world"

You joined in, even if you felt like his voice was heaven and yours wasn't a match. Yuto held you tighter when you began singing, thumbs now caressing your shoulders. You stayed that way for most of the song, only moving when he moved his head and hand, gently holding your chin to make you look up to him. He smiled and gently sang while looking into your eyes. On instinct you follow, head almost spinning but too entranced on him to move.

Even if I've confessed a hundred times inside my brain

I'm invisible to you

I could do better than anybody, anything for you

If I want you to feel the same way

That must be greedy, that'd probably be a chance to peek into heaven

'Cause you are angel

Your breath caught in your throat when Yuto moved, placing his forehead against yours. Your heart was beating fast and you were sure you were dreaming, your hands finding his shirt and holding it, almost as an anchor to reality. A lot of questions were clouding your mind but you couldn't speak, scared of breaking whatever this was.

"I ditched her", Yuto whispered, "I knew something was off since the first date but I gave her a chance". You closed your eyes, too scared to look at him. "She had everything I thought I wanted, everyone said so too".

"I know", you said a bit too fast. Maybe if you answered, he'd stop talking about her while being so close to you.

"But she still missed the most important trait I've been looking for without even knowing", his hand moved, touching the side of your face so you could look at him. "She wasn't you".

You opened your eyes in shock, breathing faster without even taking notice. By now you were sure even Yuto could hear your heart beating against your chest. Your mind acted before you could even process, desperate to not let the moment go away.

"You have no idea how much it pained me to see you go on dates that weren't me. How much I listened to this very song wishing I'd tell you how much I fall for you whenever you smile", once you finished speaking, you heaved, almost felt like you ran a marathon.

"Funny. I was about to say the same to you", Yuto chuckled. His forehead was still against yours and his breath tickled your nose. You were staring into his eyes, both of you smiling shyly. "I'm going to kiss you now, ok?", he said. Your smile grew wider, his warning making you shiver in anticipation.

Yuto moved slowly, giving you plenty of time to pull back. You met him halfway, lips connecting gently. You heard him sigh and your stomach flipped, you were as happy as you were nervous. His thumb moved in circles on your face, caressing it. Your lips moved against his after a few seconds, a chaste kiss, so gently but you felt years of pinning pouring into it and hoped he felt it.

When you parted, you couldn't contain a smile, and when you opened your eyes, Yuto had the same face, smiling at you in the sweetest way. He gave you a quick peck and settled on the bed more comfortably and you followed, holding him close. It was late and you could feel how tired you were.

"We'll talk when we wake up, is that alright?", his voice sounded as sleepy as you did.

"Of course. But I have one demand", you said, lazily supporting yourself on his chest to look at his face better. He hummed in answer, fingers playing with your hair. "That song has got to be our song now". Yuto chuckled loudly and you smiled at the sound, still feeling like you were dreaming.

"Of course, princess", he kissed you briefly again before settling back on the bed, "I wouldn't have it any other way". And with that you drifted to sleep, dreaming about a future that was sure to be near with your best friend and love, that now you knew loved you back.

[writtenbymkl]

My Future || MKL

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p a i r i n g: mark lee x reader

g e n r e: angst ~ bf!mark, idol!mark

w o r d  c o u n t : 1.3k

a/n: this is my first written type of story and i’ve been interested in writing and how well i could write a short story so :( i’m so sorry if it’s bad , it’s my first time so.. and also i live for mark angst. i got the idea from listening to my future and i have sort of have an idea to continue this with a part 2 w/ try again by d.ear and jaehyun 😳 maybe... THIS WAS NOT PROOFREAD SORRY >.<

_________________________________

I can't seem to focus

And you don't seem to notice

I'm not here

I'm just a mirror

You check your complexion

To find your reflection's all alone

I had to go

 You stand in front of Mark, trying to grab his attention for the past few hours of him being in your apartment. Being the one to initiate everything is getting difficult, especially when he’s out traveling around the world, being able to only visit every once in a while. Is it that hard to give you at least one second of his day? Is it even worth trying anymore? 

“Mark, can you… um… do you want to go out for food?” You ask him while looking down at your fingers. You tuck your hair behind your ear before looking up back to him only to see that he’s still on his phone while laying on his back on your bed. You sigh. Getting up to collect your things, you grab your bag on your way towards the door of your room. Mark finally notices you get up and gets startled.

“Where are you going?” He questions. You ignore him and put your shoes on. He stares at you sitting on the couch of your bedroom. “Out.” You stated. Mark raises an eyebrow at you, completely confused on why you’re acting the way you are.

“Out where? Why didn’t you ask me?” You turn to look at him quickly, anger rising in your veins. You’ve had enough. Enough of him blaming you for the littlest things you’ve asked for him to do with you. You barely ever ask him for anything and he couldn’t do you the favor of listening to you about your need for him. 

 “Are you serious, Mark? I’m tired! I’m tired of trying to get you to listen. I’m-” You stop to look at him. His eyes are wide open, his phone no longer in his hands. 

 “I’m tired of having to try to get your attention and asking you for the smallest things that shouldn’t be a big deal. You can’t even come over without you being on your phone the second you get here! When was the last time we went out on a date?” You continue to bash him. You have never wanted to hurt him, ever. But you had enough. Maybe it’s time you focus on your future. A future without him.

 Can't you hear me?

I'm not comin' home

Do you understand?

I've changed my plans

 Mark just stares at you completely speechless. You smile distastefully, knowing he wouldn’t even open his mouth to say anything. He knows you're right, you don’t need him to open his mouth. He probably didn’t hear a single word fly out of your mouth.

 “I’m going out. When I come home, I don’t want to see you in my place anymore.” You say while tears spring in your eyes. Mark scrambles out your bed to reach towards you. Backing up to get away from him stepping closer, you hold your hand out in front of you. 

 “Y/n, please, I promise-” 

 “Mark, don’t try to make this any harder for us. Please. I can’t. I’m done being the only one to try at this point. You’re only now noticing and begging for me to not leave because I finally spoke up.” You said.

 “I swear, I’ll pay attention. I never meant for us to get this far-” He pleads.

 “Don’t you get it? I don’t want this anymore, Mark,” You raised your voice while gesturing you two with your hand. “Not now, at least.” You sighed. His doe-eyes that you love so much managed to have tears in them.

 “Please, please don’t leave me, Y/n. I love you so much, I swear.” Mark cries. He’s on the ground, on his knees holding your hands. You don’t know to feel at this point, so you step back and his hand drops yours. 

 'Cause I, I'm in love

With my future

Can't wait to meet her

And I, I'm in love

But not with anybody else

Just wanna get to know myself

 “I don’t think you love me. Maybe you just felt lonely and needed somebody to fill that space for you. That somebody was me. If you really did love me, I don’t think you would’ve put me through what led us to now.”

 Mark sniffles and gets up. You turn around to walk out to your living room and head towards the kitchen. Grabbing a cup for water, Mark needs it afterall to calm down his nerves. Maybe it was too much? But then again, when has he thought about your feelings? 

 Thinking about it now, you basically put your all into this relationship. Never thinking about what you wanted to do with your future. All you saw in your future, or did see-- was Mark. And what a dangerous thought that was for you to have. Walking back to your room, you see Mark sitting on your bed once again with his head in his hands.

 “How did we get here? How did we get to this point, Y/n? Help me understand where we went wrong-” Mark stumbles. 

 “It wasn’t me. For once, don’t put the blame on me,” You shake your head with tears in your eyes.

 I know supposedly I'm lonely now (lonely now)

Know I'm supposed to be unhappy

Without someone (someone)

But aren't I someone? (Aren't I someone? Yeah)

I'd (I'd) like to be your answer (be your answer)

'Cause you're so handsome (you're so handsome)

 Mark gets up from your bed and walks towards your door before stopping halfway to look at you looking down at your shoes while you play with your fingers. He smiles sadly knowing that it’s a habit of yours. You hear his footsteps continue till you finally hear your front door close.

 That’s when the tears finally start to pour like heavy rain and it all hits you at once. You feel relief. All the struggles are finally over. You shouldn’t be feeling like this, you should be feeling like a piece of you just died. The most important person you used to see in your future has just left and you feel relief. What a horrible person you were. 

 But I know better

Than to drive you home

'Cause you'd invite me in

And I'd be yours again

 ‘I should have driven him home’ you think. Afterall, you did just break his heart. But you knew yourself better than he did because he would’ve convinced you to stay. Sometimes, it was just so difficult to resist Mark. All those times he forgot to show up for your dates, you would be at your apartment falling asleep to the sound of Netflix playing in the back. He would apologize the next day and you never wanted to accept it so easily but somehow, you always managed to withhold that grudge.

 Your phone begins to ring and you assume it’s Mark so you decide to give him one last snippet of your voice before hearing of him again. You answer.

 “Y/n, please, please don’t give up on us,” Mark whispers. You sigh and close your eyes prepared to say your final words.

 But I, I'm in love (love, love, love, love)

With my future

And you don't know her

And I, I'm in love (love, love)

But not with anybody here

I'll see you in a couple years

 “Listen, Mark. I’m only going to say this once more. I love you, I did. I never once gave up on us, but this was the last straw. I can’t handle being in a relationship by myself. Not now. I hope you manage to find someone who will be able to handle your career and I hope you will treat them so much better than you did to me. Maybe I’ll see you in a couple years. Maybe then we can have our happy ending,” Your voice trembled.

 “Goodbye, Mark.” 

 “Y/n, no wait-” Mark tries to finish before you hang up the phone hearing the last of him.

[ordinaryschmuck]

What I Thought About "Eda's Requiem" from The Owl House

Salutations, random people on the internet who certainly won’t read this! I am an Ordinary Schmuck. I write stories and reviews and draw comics and cartoons.

...

...

...HOW IS SEASON TWO SO GOOD?! WE'VE HAD SEVEN EPISODES SO FAR, AND EACH ONE OF THEM WAS A HIT!

Take "Eda's Requiem," for example. It's yet another episode where I have NOTHING bad to say about it! That's two weeks in a row where that happened! HOW DOES THIS HAPPEN?!

HOW!

HOW!

...But anyways, "Eda's Requiem." It's another fantastic episode, and I'm about to dive into explaining how and why. Just keep in mind, it's gonna require spoilers to do so, so be wary of that as you keep reading.

Now, let's review, shall we?

WHAT I LIKED

Eda’s Checklist and Grom Photo: Within the first second, "Eda's Requiem" perfectly sets up Eda's central conflict in the episode. Despite spending years being on her own and looking after herself, she now has two kids that she's constantly caring over. Eda can try all she wants to say that she doesn't care, and I bet she has in the past. But given the hard work she's putting into getting King and Luz what they need and having a grom photo of the three of them together pinned in her mirror, it's pretty clear that those two knuckleheads wormed their way into her heart and are never getting out.

Eda’s Worried About King and Luz Leaving: And thus, that's precisely why something like this bothers her so much. Eda inadvertently adopted two rambunctious rapscallions (Yeah, I know. I'll get to it), so the idea of them not being around her anymore is going to be terrifying. That is a situation most parents, especially mothers, can identify with. It’s called empty nest syndrome and it proves just how much Eda loves Luz and King that she can't stand the thought of her babies leaving the nest. It's yet another well-made, wholesome, found-family moment that this series continues to excel at each week, making me extra excited for more like it to come...while also readying myself for heartbreak when one of them eventually does leave Eda.

Eda and Raine’s Music: Ok, I don't know the exact instruments that were played during this episode, but I also don't care because it was all (for lack of a better term) music to my ears. Every time Eda and Raine played resulted in melodies that are so beautiful and filled with so much emotion and feeling that I'm honestly tempted to listen to them again, multiple times, on repeat. Shows rarely do that for me, as background music doesn't always draw me in as much as lyrical songs do. Usually, it takes something so extraordinarily composed to give me the desire to listen again, and that's the case here. So huge congrats to Brad Breek for doing so. Seriously, the man's been killing it this season.

Eda’s Bard Magic Causing Things to Turn to Ash: This was assuredly a surprise side-effect of the curse. The fact that Eda can sort of do magic at all was its own shock. To then reveal that a specific type can do dangerous things to people and environments is...Well, it definitely brings up its own fair share of questions. Like, how can she do this? Will she do it again, one day? And are there other types of spells that can be negatively affected by Eda's curse? We don't get answers for any of these questions, and odds are, we never will. But that's alright with me. Because if a show makes me consider these many possibilities after a brief amount of time, it is a show that has to be doing something right. Even if I don't get the answers I want, the fact that it caused such a reaction makes me less willing to care.

Raine Whispers: Hey, would you look at that. Another fun, interesting, and compelling character added to the list of this shows' other fun, interesting, and compelling characters...how is this series so good at this!?

Joking aside, Raine's pretty good. I like Raine. They could have been this super serious leader who lost all their fun after years apart from Eda, but I'm glad that they're not. There are moments when Raine takes their job as leader of the BATs seriously, as one would, but I still prefer the fact that they kept a jovial nature despite how grim their situation is. It's an admirable trait to have, and it avoids the trope of making leader characters boring just because they're the ones who have to take things seriously.

Oh, and also, Raine's Disney's first non-binary character who has a stake in the plot. This is a tremendous deal, as you don't usually see that many non-binary characters in children's animation, let alone ones that hold importance to the story. So it's pretty cool for the writers to feature Raine, as it helps several kids feel as though they're finally seen and respected. And the fact that Disney of all companies gave the thumbs up is even more impressive. I hear people say that Dana Terrace should have pitched The Owl House to more progressive networks to avoid pushback, and while I absolutely see your point, I'll have to respectfully disagree. Disney is the largest entertainment industry of all time, so if you want to make LGBTQA+ representation normalized, you gotta stop making splashes and start making waves. Because if the same company that made three racist cats in the span of a few years manages to say that being gay is a-ok, then you know there's something wrong with you. Yes, Disney ended up screwing over the show anyway. But for that one moment, when kids felt pride after seeing a character like Raine, then, in the end, it's kind of worth it.

Also, if you're still having issues with more representation like this popping up in kids' shows, then allow me to redirect you to the complaint department.

...I made that post earlier today for this bit. YOU HAVE BETTER APPRECIATED IT!

Day of Unity is meant to be a Secret: At least, that's what I got when Raine stumbled over their own words. So if it's true, then I wonder why? Why does Belos want to keep the most critical change in the Boiling Isles a secret? Does he want to make it a surprise for his grateful subjects, or does he not want to spread worry and fear amongst the wild witches? It has to be something big if he doesn't want his followers to even say the words "Day of Unity." Whatever reason he has, we most likely won't know until the future. A future that I grow more and more afraid of each week.

Hooty Eating Echo Mouse: My heart sank in that brief moment when I thought that Hooty intensely screwed Luz over in getting back home. But looking back...it is pretty funny.

Just the suddenness of Hooty eating the poor creature that Luz desperately tried to earn its trust is priceless in how shocking it was. And also, Luz's expression.

That was the look of a young girl who immediately shoved her hand down an owl demon's throat the second the scene cut away. The Owl House may not always be a hit in the comedy department, but scenes like this prove that when it's funny, it is hilarious.

Luz and King Entering the Grand Prix: Not much to discuss here. It's just a cute subplot that adds frivolity to the intensity of what's going on through Eda and Raine's story. But I will say that I love how both stories occasionally interconnect with each other through the many moments of Eda being worried about King wanting to leave to find his father and avoiding any conversation about it. It helps both plotlines feel like they belong together, without being something like "Through the Looking Glass Ruins," whereas both stories could have been in their own episode. Which is neat.

How Bard Magic Works: I really love how this season is diving into how the other magic types work. More specifically, the ones that seem a little vague. I mean, stuff like healing, potions, and plants are easy to figure out, but what does it mean when a witch's talents are construction, beast keeping, and bard magic? We've been getting a lot of clearing up lately, with bard magic looking like a witch can control their environments and enemies through the power of music. Which is fair. Music is pretty powerful in the metaphorical sense, and I actually love that it's powerful in the literal sense when in the Boiling Isles.

The BATs: Not much to comment on these three either. The BATs have the potential to have an entertaining dynamic, but they do very little in this episode that I can't say much other than I hope they make a return in the future. But I will make this claim: Amber is my favorite. I'm sorry, but her screaming "You're not our mom!" to then go, "Bye, mommy Eda" is just too precious for me not to love.

I'm a simple man who falls for cute s**t. Leave me alone.

Raeda (RainexEda): Well, EdaxCamila, you were a fun crack ship while it lasted, but I'm afraid that this is now goodbye. The current canon has provided an incredibly adorable and believable relationship that I would be a monster not to support with my whole bi-heart. It's been real.

Ok, back in serious mode: I love these two together. Eda and Raine are grown-ups, and they still act all flustered near each other as if they were still Luz and Amity's age. It's definitive proof that you're never too old to get flustered near a crush, and seeing them interact adds a sense of wholesomeness when seeing them together as well as heartbreak when they're forced apart. Plus, we get confirmation that Eda's LGBTQA+! Whether she's bi, pan, or whatever, now that we know Eda can catch feelings for someone like Raine, it's yet another case that The Owl House is the most important series to the community. Because having the main character be queer is fantastic in its own right. But having the same apply to the motherly mentor figure? That's is an extra bit of normalization that anybody would be willing to appreciate.

Unique Guard Designs: Not many fans are going to appreciate this, primarily compared to everything else this episode does perfectly. For me, I actually like that you see a few Coven Guards looking differently from the others, as it helps make them less like clones and makes it seem like anybody of any body type could be a part of the coven.

Gus Looking Uninterested when Presenting Grand Prix with his Dad: I am positive that you didn't notice this (I didn't even notice it until someone else pointed it out), but there's something to dissect here. It hints that perhaps Gus isn't as interested in his father's field of work as one might think. If he did, he would look a lot less bored and much more excited to be helping Perry Porter present the race. It could just be the race itself, but judging from Gus' expression, it really seems like the kid would prefer to be anywhere but there. And why would he have that reaction to a race that his best friend is competing in? To me, this seems like an inkling of what Gus' relationship with Perry could be, which may not actually get time to shine, what with how little wiggle room the series has now (Thanks Disney). Regardless, it is interesting to notice, and it will certainly have fans thinking for a while.

Bump Being Smug of Luz Being in the Lead: That's it. Principal Bump looking smug as his human student is beating the students of his rivals is yet another moment that proves why Bump is easily the best cartoon principal.

Darius: First of all, this guy is f**king fabulous, and I love him. *Snaps*

Second, he is definitive proof that you do NOT want to f**k around with Coven Leaders. Lilith may have had her intimidating moments, but none of them compare to the guy who can turn himself into an abomination monster where only magic that hasn't existed before can take him down. It's genuinely scary to see Darius lose control, and I fear for the day when Luz inevitably ends up in his crosshairs.

With that said, Darius' still a ton of fun! He may be threatening, but he's just a flamboyant guy that hates the idea of getting his outfit the tiniest bit dirty. And I love that. I love that these Coven Heads have actual personalities instead of being generically evil. I consider it preferable to make villains entertaining rather than blatantly scary as I'll remember the personalities first and the villainous acts last.

Eberwolf: But this one's my favorite. I told you: I'm a simple man who gets easily swayed by cute s**t. And Eber? I mean, just look at her:

She's just a cute widdle rascal! I just want to pinch her cheeks, give her a belly rub, and--

...Eberwolf is not a cute widdle rascal. She is a strong, independent woman, and I will respect her as such from this moment forward...lest I feel her wrath.

That is all. Let's move on.

Eda and Raine Attempting a Final Performance: This was the best scene of the episode. It looked gorgeous, it shows the dedication Eda and Raine have for stopping Belos, and it says so much through so little. Go back and look at how Eda and Raine regard one another when performing Eda's requiem. Through their expressions and a few short words, you know they understand that if they complete the song/spell, they probably won't make it in the end. And yet, they don't care. They both know bad stuff will happen if Belos wins, so Eda and Raine put everything to the side, both their feelings for one another and the people they leave behind if it means putting an end to a tyrant. That level of dedication...Words can't fully describe how powerful that is.

Raine Sacrificing Themselves Instead: But in the end, Raine can't do it. Not when they know the life that Eda has and the people she'll be leaving behind. It's an extra bit of nobleness to the character seeing that Raine refuses to take away a woman from two kids who need her the most. A tad bit selfish, sure, knowing what Belos has planned. But when it comes to love, the romantic, familial, or platonic, the best decisions aren't always the logical ones.

Eda Crying: Luz crying tears me up, but seeing Eda cry is a whole different level of heartbreak. Like Lilith, Eda has her emotions locked up tight, with the closest she came to weeping were those two tears in "Young Blood, Old Souls." In "Eda's Requiem," she cries but almost quickly stops herself. As if she knows that doing so isn't going to save Raine. That is...even worse than seeing Luz break down after losing Eda. The fact that Eda refuses to give herself time to mourn losing someone she loved is tragic because crying is the most natural way of showing grief. Turning that off isn't healthy, and seeing her do it with little resistance is sad to me. It's sad to see a character I love can easily shut off all emotions despite how badly she may want to embrace them. It's one of those moments that, again, by doing so little, it shows so much.

“No one watches Crystal Balls anymore. It’s all about streaming.”: Oof. Even I felt that burn towards cable.

King’s Message: King's message was the pick-me-up I needed after the heart-wrenching sadness this episode put me through a few minutes ago. Seeing King say who he is and listing all the things he loves is nothing short of adorable. On top of that, I adore that Eda willingly recorded the whole thing. She may not want King to leave, but that doesn't mean she'll sabotage the one thing he wants. Especially not after Raine gave up everything so Eda could be with her kids. The opening scene may prove how much Eda cares about a rascal like King, but this heartwarmingly sweet moment reveals just how far she'll go to make him happy.

King’s Dad Reveal: ...ok, I'll be honest, I did not think we'd get that reveal this soon. Dumb of me to say, considering the number of times I've said that these writers don't waste time getting to the s**t, I know. But still, it's pretty cool knowing that King's dad is alive and well, added with the fact that we've got a fair idea of what he looks like. At this point, it's only a matter of time before we see him figure out where the Clawthorne residence is and witness the tear-jerking moments that will follow.

King Changing his Name to King Clawthorne: Not the official adoption I was expecting Eda to make...but DANG IT, is it still diabetes-inducing levels of sweetness!

Personally, I feel like the main reason why Eda breaks down this time is not only because she shouldn't be worried about King leaving her life, but also because Raine's sacrifice wasn't in vain. Her kids really do need Eda because no matter how far apart they'll be, she will always be a part of their life...dang it, I'm going to cry too!

What those Coven patches really do: Well...that was horrifying to see.

...Writers, if you kill off the best non-binary character in animation (it's a short list, I know), we are going to have PROBLEMS!

IN CONCLUSION

"Eda's Requiem" is--surprise surprise--another A+. The emotions hit hard, the representation hits harder, Raine is a fantastic addition to the cast, and it was all surprisingly cute at times. Season Two is currently on a hot streak, constantly winning with every episode that's come out so far. When a bad episode does eventually show up (IT'S GONNA HAPPEN!), I'll be sure to sing my requiem then. For now, I'm just gonna enjoy the ride.

[gra-sonas]

Roswell, New Mexico certainly knows how to raise the stakes. In the Season 3 premiere, Maria experienced a foreboding premonition that unfolded at a funeral, one that possibly placed Dr. Kyle Valenti in the casket. The Reaper came close to claiming Kyle after he was impaled and bleeding out -- until Max saved him. But then Kyle went missing.

Soon, Alex discovered Eduardo Ramos had been keeping a comatose Kyle tucked away safely, after someone had injected him with an unidentified drug. Now that Kyle is awake and back on his feet, he wants answers… but he might not like what he unearths.

Roswell, New Mexico star Michael Trevino recently spoke with CBR about Kyle's evolution, that funeral vision, the Valenti legacy and possibly directing an episode in Season 4.

CBR: After portraying a hybrid werewolf on Vampire Diaries, what was interesting about playing a normal human in Roswell, New Mexico?

Michael Trevino: It was just that. To be able to play a human, with these supernatural elements happening around you, that you are not necessarily part of, but you are there to reflect the human reaction of that. Being a part of Vampire Diaries, I was in that supernatural element. With this, I couldn't get too far away from it in my career, but it's about reacting to those things.

With Kyle Valenti, it's a role that is definitely more grounded for me, but hopefully, it is grounded for the audience. That's their character they can identify with. How would you react to being in Roswell, New Mexico, hearing about aliens, figuring out that they are around and live amongst you, and that perhaps there are more aliens out there?

Kyle could have been a local cop, a lawyer, a business owner. How happy are you that the writers have incorporated his medical/surgeon profession into the narrative?

Michael Trevino: For one, you figure with these aliens being around and anything going wrong with them, there would have to be some type of medical element. The whole lore of alien and alien autopsies, we need to have a character like that in Roswell. For me, to be a surgeon and then worked into everything that's happening with these three aliens in Roswell, it's big for Kyle.

This season, Maria experienced a funeral vision, and it seems to be Kyle's body in the casket. What were your thoughts on that development and what it meant for Kyle?

Michael Trevino: For me, Kyle seems to be the common thread throughout all the storylines. I'm really happy about that, being on this show and that the writers have done that. Although Kyle seems to be the one helping put out all the fires and he's there for everyone, being a good friend and doing whatever is asked of him, it would make sense that Maria is having these visions. Kyle might, or might not, have something to do with that. We are going to see that play out. Kyle is on everybody's minds. We are wondering what's going on with him. Where is he? That makes the most sense because he's there for everybody else.

The writers have "maliciously" teased and taunted viewers by continually putting Kyle in harm's way. Has that been part of the fun of this mystery, that "will they or won't they kill him" at any given moment?

Michael Trevino: It's safe to say that nobody is safe in Roswell. I do like that they've kept choosing Kyle to tease a bit. There's a warm spot for Kyle. He's a good guy. I watch the show and I'm like, "Damn. This guy is doing his best and trying to be there for everybody. It's a nice feeling."

Considering Kyle was painted as a dick in high school, there's been a lot of growth and evolution from him into a better person.

Michael Trevino: Yes, I believe this Episode 3.09 is a big turning point for Kyle. We find out a little bit more of his backstory. He's finding that out in real time. That can be frustrating. We see that emotion in Kyle. But this is finally where he takes a stand. He makes a hard decision. He's either going to go left or he's going to go right. He's carved out his path. "This is what I'm going to do. This is how I want things to be."

Moving forward, how focused is Kyle on uncovering the unknown assailant, who injected him with that paralytic drug, which left him bedridden?

Michael Trevino: Where we find him, he's reached his limit. He's been there for everybody, and he tries to put out fires. But, in this episode, he's really frustrated and it's kind of taken a toll on him. The last time we saw him, he was in a hospital bed in a barn. It's, "What is going on? What is happening?" He wants more answers. We are going to see him get those answers. But, then also, frustrated because, "Why me? Why is this happening?"

Kyle also learns some startling information about his father, the code that he lived by and more about that creepy little radio. How is Kyle unpacking all of this because it's a lot to take in?

Michael Trevino: He's trying his best to process everything he's discovering. But like anybody else, he has this idea of what the Valenti code is, of who Jim Valenti is, of who is his father. We are in season three. We've come to find out Kyle's father isn't who he really thought he was. That hurts. That's got to be shocking to his world. Very jarring. I feel that we see that in [Episode] 3.09. There's a bit of information that is given out that is very important and catapults Kyle for the remainder of this season.

What do you feel keeps Kyle in Roswell? He's had the opportunity to leave and work in other cities…

Michael Trevino: For Kyle, there might be some abandonment issues because of his father not being around. With that, he doesn't want to do the same thing to others. We've seen how vital he is, how important he is to what is going on in Roswell. He doesn't want to run away from that. And let's talk about the lifelong connection he has with Liz. He doesn't want to leave her not only in harm's way, but stuck with this mess. So, Kyle is choosing to stay and figure out what is really going on.

What else can you preview about what's in store for Kyle in the last block of episodes?

Michael Trevino: Kyle is going to have a lot more to do with what's going on in Deep Sky. He and Eduardo will become allies and work together, to do what they have to do, with Jones.

What was it like having original Roswell star Sherri Appleby direct some episodes, as well as Vampire Diaries creator Julie Plec and your former co-star, Paul Wesley?

Michael Trevino: Speaking to Sherri Appleby, it was nostalgic. She's one of the OGs for the original. To have her come on board and direct an episode -- even for her -- I think it's a full circle in her career. It was a blast to have her on set and be taking notes from her, just because of the connection she has to this story and these characters. Roswell is on the CW. It's on Warner Bros. television. It's a family I have been part of for over a decade. To work with Julie Plec and Paul Wesley, personally, is a great thing. As the years have gone on, our careers are expanding. It's a beautiful thing to watch. This business can be challenging. It can be tough. To see us all, striving to do the best that we can, is great.

You've aspired to step behind the camera. What's the appeal and are you going to get the chance in Season 4?

Michael Trevino: Being in this television world for so long, this is a machine. It takes so many people to produce one-hour of network-episodic television. Being on these sets as an actor has been great and a privilege, and I'm grateful for it, but I want to expand and do a bit more.

In telling these stories, I get very involved in the blocking of scenes or what's going to best service this story when we are in these scenes, doing rehearsals. I find myself figuring things out. I am interested in the camera moves. I am interested in where we are setting up lights. I am interested in everything. I want a shot at that.

After Season 3, I shot a short film in Albuquerque. That was my first time directing and it was such a great experience. I am in post-production on that. I've put it out there. I've spoken to producers. I can neither confirm nor deny if I am getting an episode this [upcoming] season. I'm hoping I will be.

You are on a superhero-heavy network. What are your thoughts on playing in that sandbox?

Michael Trevino: Marvel has obviously been top dog for some time, but DC has been doing some really great things. I feel in this world of streaming, that these television series are just as great as these big-budget feature films. What they have is they can expand on their storylines with these comic book characters. I would love to do one because of the physicality that some of those roles require. I love doing stunts and I'm very athletic. Any type of role that has that physicality to it, I really lean into that. Any type of comic book role that came my way would be a dream.

[littlestarofthewest]

Gahd I love your kinky fics!! Pls can u do one with a younger femreader & arthur? Like they like each other but she's younger so he's hesitant to start but then just shows her how a man his age gets it done *wink wink* I'm not into the daddykink but I do like an age gap haha I know youve just done creampie (it was so daamn good!!) but pls pls creampie & dirty talk 🤤 how Javier opened her up....I can imagine Arthur loving that 😂 ps. Honestly best fics out there! ♥️ Thanks for the prompts again!

Thank you for all the love, dear

Also dedicating this to @emily-strange who had a very similar request (you two should talk xD). Sorry I kept you waiting for so long (since freaking December).

Title: Young Love | Word Count: 9352 | Rating: Explicit!!! (18+)

Pairing: Arthur Morgan & female reader | Tags: angst and fluff and smut

Arthur has no idea what it is that makes you so different. Back when he and John rescued you, you were just a young girl that needed help, and by now, he wishes he would still feel about you this way. 

For months, Arthur tried to treat you like Mary-Beth or Tilly, a young girl that could very well be his sister. It’s just that you make it so hard for him. You’re not naive and silly like some 19-year-olds Arthur met, and although you’re more on the shy side, you still have a way of teasing him with winks and smiles that shouldn’t affect him as much as they do.

In the beginning, Arthur fell headfirst into your trap. He rescued you, after all, so you tended to stick to him, and Arthur let you. You were easy to talk to, with a hunger for knowledge and a good sense of humor, not easily offended when he spoke out of tune. 

When it became clear that you would stay with the gang, Arthur and John taught you how to shoot, and you went on hunts with Charles. After a while, Hosea also allowed you to take part in little heists, Arthur always by your side to make sure you were safe. 

It started then that he began to see you in a different light. You were smart and cunning, using your innocence to lure people in. Men, in particular, are unable to withstand your shy smile, and Arthur found himself to be one of them.

It’s not that you used it against him, but whenever you asked something of him, there was no way for him to say no. Soon, Hosea found bigger jobs for the two of you, calling you a great team. You ended up on the road a lot, often just the two of you.

Arthur did his best to act respectively, but you seemed so comfortable around him that you sometimes didn’t care much about decency. He got to see more of your long legs and your cleavage than was good for him, and you had no trouble touching him or sleeping closeby when sharing a tent.

Slowly but surely, Arthur got more and more enticed by you, and it got so bad that he dreamt about you in ways that were anything but decent. Soon, those dreams and reality blurred together, and Arthur found himself staring at you at the worst of times, imagining all kinds of inappropriate things.

Today, Arthur would give anything to not be in camp. It’s your 20th birthday, and since it’s your first one since you’ve joined the gang, Dutch announced a little celebration. Arthur gave you his present, a new hunting knife, early in the morning, and ever since then, he tried to stay away from you.

Now, Arthur‘s sitting on a log farthest away from the fire, nursing a beer in his hand. The others are going to town with whiskey and rum, the alcohol taking its toll. Karen is sitting on Sean’s lap, the two of them the loudest but not the best at singing along to the songs Javier plays. 

Once in a while, Uncle chimes in with the banjo, causing some laughs. Soon, most of the gang is drunk enough to dance around the fire. John and Abigail do a surprisingly decent job, not arguing for a change, while Lenny tortures your feet.

Arthur can tell that you’re soldiering on, but while Lenny is kind and wicked smart, he’s still not the most skilled when it comes to dancing. When Hosea gets up from his seat, Arthur hopes that he might release you, and he actually claps Lenny’s shoulder.

“My dear boy, I fear you need some more practice before we can let you dance with the ladies.“

Everybody laughs, and you give Lenny an apologetic smile, but he just shrugs, not taking offense. Arthur’s sure Hosea will take over now, showing Lenny how to do a better job, but instead, he turns around.

“This lady deserves a decent birthday dance,“ Hosea says. "Arthur? Would you be so kind?“

All eyes dart to Arthur, and he wishes the ground would open up and swallow him whole. He loves Hosea with all his heart, but sometimes he would like to smack him. 

"Arthur can’t dance,“ Sean blurts out, saying out loud what everybody else must be thinking. 

Dutch laughs at the heartfelt announcement. "No see, there’s a big difference between not being able to do something and deliberately denying the world your gift.“

Arthur shakes his head, ready to disappoint both Hosea and Dutch, but then Hosea points at you. "Come on, you can’t say no to a birthday dance with this lovely young lady.“

That’s exactly the problem. You’re young, way too young for Arthur, and he can’t say no to you, not ever. Looking into your curious face, Arthur puts down the bottle and gets to his feet. Hosea pats his shoulder, and Dutch applauds as if they already watched a great show.

"Now watch and learn, gentlemen,“ he cheers.

Arthur does his best to ignore everybody else, his eyes focused on you. A tingling feeling rushes through his body the second he takes your hand, and he leads you away from the fire to have more room. Besides, it will be easier to talk to you without the others hearing what he says.

"I’ll have to put my hand on your back,“ Arthur warns you, wishing he could say something that would turn you away, but you just smile at him.

"It’s alright, Arthur,“ you say, amusement in your voice, "I know how dancing works.“

Arthur swallows hard when he puts his hand in place on the small of your back. You rest your hand on his shoulder, and just like so many times before, you have no problem with being near him. Taking a step forward, you close the gap between Arthur and you, and he feels like dying when your body presses warm against his own.

Counting in a whisper, Arthur tries to give you an idea when to start, and then you’re off. Although Arthur hasn’t danced in years, it all comes back to him now. Just like shooting a gun, it’s something you do without thinking. Lead by Arthur, you have no trouble following along, and some of the gang members even whistle and cheer.

By the time the song is over, Arthur has a hard time letting you go. Still pressed against him, your chest rises and falls with the exhausted breaths you take, your face flushed, and your hair a little looser and out of place from being swirled around. You look as if you and Arthur did something way more indecent than dancing, the picture searing itself into Arthur’s brain.

To make the torture complete, you smile at him as if he just hung the moon, going on tiptoes to press a kiss on his cheek. "Thank you, Arthur.”

There’s clapping from around the campfire before Dutch and Hosea take turns telling stories about heists where their dancing skills were essential. When Arthur is sure that nobody focuses on him anymore, he takes the chance to sneak away, heading into the nearby woods.

On the first day at the new campsite, Arthur found a hidden arch in between two big trees that leads to a small meadow. He leans against a tree with closed eyes, filling his lungs with fresh evening air, trying his best not to think about the dance. Of course, he ends up thinking just about that, and especially about how you looked afterward.

“Arthur?" 

Your voice draws Arthur out of his daydream. It’s not you in his imagination, but you’re really in front of him. "What?”

“I’m sorry,” you say in that timid voice you use when you think you did something wrong, “I didn’t mean to disturb you.”

“No, it’s alright.” Arthur pushes himself off of the tree. “Just didn’t think anybody knew of this place.”

“I found it a day after we made camp,” you say, twisting the fabric of your skirt with your fingers.

Arthur knows that it’s a habit of you that only shows when you’re nervous. He’s not used to seeing it when the two of you are alone.

“Is there something you need?” he asks, thinking that you might have some sort of problem.

“I wanted to ask you something,” you say, still fidgeting with your skirt. “I know you’ve already given me a great present, but there’s something else I wish for, and you’re the only one I want to ask for it.”

Arthur’s heart pounds faster. It’s as if you know that he won’t be able to say no, and since you’re asking him in the middle of the woods, it’s probably something more than just a request for more shooting lessons. Still, Arthur can’t help himself. It’s you, after all, so he has to ask. “What is it?”

“In Mary-Beth’s novels, people always have these great kisses, but all the boys I’ve met were just-” You don’t finish the sentence, but Arthur has been a 19-year-old boy himself. They often aren’t that great with romance and tenderness. 

You take a step towards Arthur, making his heart almost leap out of his chest. “I’m 20 years old now,” you continue with a sigh, looking up at him. “All I want is one real kiss. With a real man. Like you.”

Arthur can tell how hard it is for you to say this, your voice getting quieter with every word while the blood rushing through his veins becomes so loud that he can hardly hear you. Still, you manage to hold his gaze when he’s looking for words.

“Those are just books, ya know?” Arthur says.

It’s the wrong thing to say. You shrink like fruit in the hot sun, all hope draining from your face to be replaced by sadness. Arthur hates to see you like this, especially when he’s the reason for it. But what else can he say? It’s not his place to give you any kisses. The way he thinks about you is already shameful enough.

“You’re right,” you finally say, your voice near tears. “It’s stupid. I shouldn’t have asked.”

You turn around, and Arthur’s heart stands still. He failed you. After promising to protect you, he hurt you more than anybody else. And why? Because of stupid rules. It’s not like you’re asking for something terrible. Just a kiss. Just a favor from a friend.

“Wait,” Arthur says, the word barely more than a whisper.

You turn back around, and Arthur takes your hand, tugging just enough to have you come back to him. You look up to him, waiting for an explanation, but he knows he doesn’t have the words for this. Instead, Arthur cups your face with his hand, pulling you closer. 

He feels like he’s drowning in your eyes, unable to stop now, so he leans in to close the gap between you. Arthur can hear you taking a shaky breath, his own chest feeling like it’s about to burst. He’s never considered himself a great kisser, but he tries to be gentle with you, knowing all too well what novels you’ve been reading.

At first, your lips barely touch, Arthur still giving you a chance to stop. Instead, you lean into it. Arthur puts his hand onto the small of your back the same way he did during the dance, drawing you in before pressing another soft kiss to your lips. Your hands come to rest against his chest, sending waves of heat through his body.

Arthur knows that this should be it. You got your kiss after all, but something deep in his soul keeps him in place. It kept screaming and clawing at him for months, telling him how much he wanted to be with you. You mentioning other boys kissing you awakened a horrible ache in Arthur, raging like a fire that consumes him.

Despite telling himself over and over that he can’t be with you, Arthur longs to have so much more with you. The thought that someone could take you away is killing him, forcing him to hold on to you. 

Arthur teases your lip with his tongue, and you eagerly open up for him, giving him a sweet taste of what could be. His hand runs down from your face along your neck, touching soft, warm skin before it ventures deeper. Arthur caresses your side, his fingers trailing along the curve of your breast and down to your hip.

With his other hand moving down to the swell of your ass, Arthur pulls you even closer, deepening the kiss. Your hot tongue brushes against his own, the sensation so overwhelming that everything around the two of you blurs. 

Arthur gets lost in your kisses, the warmth of your body, your scent, and all the promises your body makes, pressed against him like a second skin. His fingers claw into the flesh on your hips as he rubs himself against you, lust tightening his pants.

You let out a soft moan, and from one second to the next, the world shifts back into focus. Searing pain shoots through Arthur’s body as if hit by lightning. This isn’t one of his fantasies where he’s allowed to be with you. It’s real, and it’s you. A girl who deserves so much better than him.

Arthur steps away from you in a hurry, his tone harsh as he barks at you. “Go back to camp!”

You take a step toward him, reaching out. “But Arthur-”

“Goddamn, girl! Go back to camp, right now!”

Arthur’s never thought that he’d be able to even raise his voice when talking to you, but now he shouts, making you freeze on the spot. You stare at him for a few seconds before you finally come to your senses. You turn around and rush through the trees, running from him like a startled deer.

With a growl, Arthur turns around, punching his fist against the nearest tree at full force. He’d hoped the pain would drive out the thoughts about you, but even with his knuckles bleeding, it’s not enough. Memories rush into his mind, of you looking at him, talking to him, touching him. 

Arthur remembers the dance with every detail, and even worse, the kiss you just shared. Usually, it’s a gift to see something and be able to draw it right from his memory, but now it becomes a curse. He’ll never forget the taste of your lips, the way you held on to him, how your body melted against his. In dark, lonely nights, he’ll remember that enticing sound you made when he pushed himself against you.

You didn’t shy away from his touches, and Arthur realizes with horror that you might have let him do even more. You asked him for a kiss, but that’s rarely where the stories end. Maybe, you would have wanted more. Maybe, you would have allowed him to have you, right then and there, on the forest floor.

With a grunt, Arthur frees himself from his pants, stroking his cock so hard that it’s more painful than pleasurable. The thoughts consume him, the memories of you so vivid as if you were still there. 

It doesn’t take Arthur long to reach his peak, his cock throbbing, hot spurs of come shooting against the bark of the tree in front of him. Tucking himself away, Arthur watches as it trickles down. Out of control as he is, he could have done such horrible things to you. 

Consumed by shame, Arthur walks back through the trees, a plan forming in his mind. If he wants to protect you, he can’t be near you until he’s ingrained it in himself that he can never have you. Arthur has to go - far away.

——– 

You have a hard time focusing on your work, looking up again and again to sneak a peek at Arthur across camp. If you keep going like that, the water will be ice cold until you’re done washing all the clothes, and Miss Grimshaw will have your head. Still, you can’t keep yourself from doing it, almost like you need to have your fill of Arthur before he disappears again. 

With a sigh, you remember the time after your kiss. In the morning, Arthur was gone, only Hosea knowing where he went. He didn’t come back for four weeks, and when he did, he avoided you at all costs. You barely got to see Arthur at all for about three months after that. He either was in his tent or out of camp altogether. 

Over the last month, Arthur stayed more often and didn’t leave the second you showed up. You at least got a “good morning” out of him every day, and once in a while, you had brief conversations about the weather or the latest successful jobs of the other gang members. 

You feel like it still might take quite some time before things could go back to normal, if at all. You don’t blame Arthur, though. You risked your friendship over a stupid crush, using his kindness to trick him into getting what you wanted. 

Of course, you should have known that Arthur didn’t feel the same way as you. To him, you must be nothing but a stupid little girl that needs constant supervision and help. You asked Arthur for a real kiss from a real man, ignoring that you didn’t even come close to being a real woman. 

After all this time, you still can’t forget how Arthur kissed you, giving you all that you wanted while you had nothing to offer in return. All you could do now is to apologize and beg Arthur for forgiveness. 

With another sigh, you go back to scrubbing the laundry. When you carry the basket with the wet clothes through camp to hang them up to dry, Hosea and Arthur walk past you. You give them a quick nod, keeping up appearances for Hosea’s sake. Arthur looks up, and it’s the first time that you get to hold eye contact with him for more than a second.

“Mylady,” he says, his voice soft.

The two men keep walking without pause, but you almost trip, your heart pounding. It’s been so long that Arthur had a kind word for you, but the familiar greeting brings you right back into the time before the kiss when everything was alright.

Your eyes fill with tears, and you do your best to quickly blink them away, but when you begin to hang up the clothes, Mary-Beth walks over to you.

“Are you alright?” she asks, leaning over to get a better look at your face.

“Sure,” you answer, focusing on the laundry.

From the corner of your eye, you can see Mary-Beth looking over to Arthur. “I didn’t mean to say anything. After all, it’s your business if you get along with Arthur, but this? If he makes you cry in the middle of camp, I’ll have a word with him. I mean it.”

You’ve never seen Mary-Beth talking so fiercely, and usually, she adores Arthur. That she would pick a fight with him over you makes your heart melt.

“It’s not him, it’s me,” you explain. “I did something foolish, and Arthur is right to be angry at me. I appreciate that you’re trying to help, but please don’t say anything to him.”

“But the crying,” Mary-Beth insists.

“Happy tears,” you say, giving her a big smile. “I think it’s going to be alright again.”

Mary-Beth looks back and forth between you and Arthur before pulling out a handkerchief and giving it to you. “Fine. But if there’s anything you need, please tell me.”

“I will. Thank you, Mary-Beth. You’re the best.”

She blushes a little and finally walks away, giving you another chance to look over to Arthur. You almost get caught when he and Hosea come your way.

“Can we have a word?” Hosea asks you with a smile, and you almost drop the shirt you’re holding.

You can’t believe that Arthur would tell Hosea about the kiss, but you can’t think of anything else they would want to talk about. “Sure,” you say, your fingers playing with the wet fabric in your hand while your heart pounds so hard that you wonder if they can hear it.

“I’ve got some information about a rich couple that moved from the city into a cabin up north. Really secluded, good spot if you know how to live off the land,” Hosea explains, giving you a chance to breathe again. It’s about a job. Nothing more.

“And they know how to do that?” you ask.

Hosea smiles. “Not from what I hear. I want Arthur and you to go up there and check it out. You might be able to charm them, offer your help. Maybe you can find out if they still got more riches left in the city.”

“Or we could just rob them,” Arthur says, his voice barely audible, but Hosea nudges his elbow into Arthur’s side.

“Don’t act like the brute, Arthur. We both know you’re much more than that.”

You know that to be true, but Arthur just grunts as if he doubts Hosea’s words. You wish you could tell him otherwise, but you don’t even dare to look at him.

Hosea takes a piece of paper out of his jacket and hands it to Arthur. “That’s the place.”

Arthur studies what looks like a hand-drawn map while rubbing his beard. “I say we head out right now. If we make camp when it gets dark, we should be able to reach the cabin tomorrow by noon.”

You wait for Hosea to answer, but when he stays silent, you look up to find the two men looking at you, and you realize Arthur’s talking to you, not Hosea.

“Oh, sure,” you hurry to say, “just let me finish up here, and I’ll get my things.”

“Great,” Hosea says, “glad to have the two of you on this. I was worried I’d have to send Bill.”

He winks at you and walks away, leaving you alone with Arthur. You rack your brain what to say, but Arthur beats you to it. “I was kinda planning on wearing that again.”

You stare at him, drowning in his eyes until he nods to your hands. You’ve been wringing the shirt between your fingers, only now seeing that it’s one of Arthur’s. “Oh, of course. I just-" 

You turn around on the spot, hastily going back to work. "I’ll meet you at the horses,” Arthur says behind you. His voice is warm, flowing down your back like a sweet caress. It tightens your chest how much you missed him talking to you. 

“I’ll be just a minute,” you manage to say, only able to catch your breath once you hear Arthur walking away.

After finishing the laundry, you pack what you’ll need for the trip and say goodbye to the other girls. Mary-Beth gives you a wary look when she hears that you’re riding out with Arthur, but you give her a big smile to reassure her that you’re alright.

Not that you are. On the one hand, you’re looking forward to working with Arthur again, and the trip might finally give you a chance to apologize, but on the other hand, you’re nervous as hell. It’s been so long since you’ve been alone with Arthur, and he might still be angry with you.

With your heart almost beating out of your chest, you walk over to Arthur. He already saddled up your horse, checking if everything is in place on his own mare. 

“Hey,” you say, trying to make him aware of you.

“You ready?” he asks, not looking up from what he’s doing. 

“Yes, I am,” you say, and when he stays silent, you feel the need to keep him engaged. “Where are we even going?”

Finally, Arthur looks at you before handing you the map Hosea gave him. When you reach for the paper, your fingers brush over Arthur’s skin. It’s warm and so weirdly familiar that this brief touch tightens your chest again while Arthur gets back to his work. 

You stare at the map, trying hard to level your breathing without Arthur noticing. Finally, Arthur pulls himself up on his horse. “Ready to go?” he asks, and you quickly climb onto your mare.

As you head out on the narrow path, you hold the map out to Arthur. He takes it back, his fingertips trailing over your skin this time. Arthur doesn’t react at all, but your body fills with heat, brought on by the memories that have been haunting you for months.

Your horse keeps pace with Arthur’s while your mind drifts off, remembering how everything started. At first, you were just thankful for Arthur saving you. Even in your short life, you had to learn that there were evil people in the world, especially men when faced with a young girl. Arthur was nothing like that. 

Despite his own claims to the contrary, you can’t bring yourself to think of him as bad. He might be robbing people, but he doesn’t lay a finger on them. Just like he always respected you. At first, you thought of him as a good friend, a little bitter or sarcastic at times, but also funny, kind, and awfully sweet if he wanted to be.

Your feelings for him changed one day when Arthur helped you down from one of the wagons when the gang was moving camp. He waved at you with outstretched arms before lifting you down. You held on to his broad shoulders while his large hands closed warm around your waist. He set you down on the ground and smiled, having your heart pounding like crazy.

Maybe you’ve read too many of Mary-Beth’s books, hoping for so much more than there was, but everything changed after this moment. You found yourself staring at Arthur at all times, and somehow he turned from a friend to a man. You were always aware of his body and his voice, your body reacting to him in ways that often took your breath away.

After a while, you found yourself wanting more, and when Hosea sent you on all these jobs together, you even tried to seduce Arthur. Not that you had much experience on how to do that, but usually, a little naked skin and closeness does the trick for most men. Arthur didn’t react at all, not even when sleeping with you in the same tent, making you want him even more.

And then there was your birthday. The dance put a final nail into your coffin. There was something about the way Arthur held you, how he effortlessly made you follow him, and twirled you around. You wanted for him to do more, to take you like those confident men who swept the women off their feet in the books. 

Arthur disappearing into the trees was a siren’s call to you, and when he walked to that secluded meadow, it seemed like fate. This could have been your fairytale, so you put up all your courage, offering yourself to him. You imagined it many times, but then Arthur kissed you in a way that was beyond your wildest dreams. You asked for a real kiss but never thought that it could be that good. 

Despite Arthur’s anger, you still can’t fully regret what you did. Now that Arthur showed you how he feels, you have to make your peace knowing that you’ll never be with him. But no matter if you die alone or find another man, you’ll at least have the memory of one perfect kiss.

“Are you hearing me?”

Arthur’s voice only slowly reaches your ears, stopping you from wallowing in your memories. “What?”

“Let’s head for the saloon over there. They might have rooms.”

You stare in the direction of his outstretched hand, your mind racing. You planned to apologize to Arthur once you made camp, in the silence of the night. You won’t have a chance for that in a noisy saloon. 

“But it’s still early,” you say. “We can make a few more miles until dusk.”

Arthur’s already steering his horse off the road. “We don’t have to. We already made more than half of the way. You’re better off with a real meal and a bed to sleep in.”

You bite your lip, hating that Arthur messes up your plan by looking out for you. It’s infuriating and sweet at the same time, the embodiment of Arthur. 

After hitching your horses outside, you venture into the saloon. For such a secluded place, it has quite the amount of customers, even more so considering the early hour. You walk to the bar with Arthur, where he orders two whiskeys, but before you’re able to drink, he suddenly taps your shoulder. “Excuse me for a second. I know these men over there.”

He walks over to a table where a bunch of rowdy fellers play poker, leaving you with a burning sensation where he touched you. You make up for it by downing one of the two glasses in one go, contemplating to drink the other, too. 

“Now, who would let a sweet girl like you drink alone?”

The high pitched voice behind you sends a shiver down your spine. You’ve had men talk to you like this many times, but it hasn’t happened since you’ve joined the gang. When you were out, you always had someone like Arthur or Charles with you who kept idiots at bay without even trying.

“I’m not alone,” you say, trying to spot Arthur, but you’re suddenly surrounded by four men.

The one who spoke to you before comes closer, putting an arm up on the bar to box you in. “I don’t see nobody.”

“My husband will be back any second,” you say, hating how weak your voice sounds.

The man gives you a wide grin, presenting his half-rotten teeth. “He’s not here now, missy. Only you and us.”

He trails his fingers over your hand, and you react without thinking. Using the element of surprise, you duck below his arm, sidestepping another guy before he can grab you. Basically flying through the room, you reach Arthur, immediately clinging to his arm. 

Both Arthur and the men at the table are staring at you in surprise, but nothing in this world could make you let go off Arthur now. “I missed you at the bar,” you say, trying to sound casual, but your voice is shaking a little.

Arthur takes a look at them, and his eyes narrow, a wild look appearing in them while you can see the muscles of his jaw clenching. He reaches into his pocket before turning back to the men at the table. “Anyway, I just wanted to pay back what I owe,” he says, handing a few dollars to one of the men, “no hard feelings, right?”

The man counts the money, a smile coming onto his face. “Of course, no hard feelings,” he says, sharing the money with the other men.

“Have a good day, gentlemen,” Arthur says, tipping his head. 

As Arthur turns, he pries your hand away from his arm, prompting you to protest, but then he puts his arm around you, his hand resting on your hip as you walk back to the bar. Arthur orders more drinks and keeps standing so close that you can feel his body against yours.

“So that’s your husband, missy?” the man with the high voice asks from the other end of the bar, letting your blood run cold. You forgot to mention that little detail to Arthur.

“Excuse me?” Arthur asks, an edge to his voice that you know. It never ends well for the person he’s talking to.

The man sneers at him. “I’m talking to her.”

“You don’t talk to my wife,” Arthur says, the words making you shiver. Then he steps in front of you, shielding you from view with his whole body.

The two men stare at each other in silence, and you know that something terrible is about to happen. The man moves his arm, there’s a loud bang, and then he falls backward, blood trickling down his forehead. All eyes are on him as he collides with the floor, his gun slipping out of his hand. 

Deep down, you seem to relive every lesson about shooting a gun that Arthur and John have given you. You step around Arthur, pulling his second gun out of its holster and pointing it right at the man’s face nearest to you. He stares down the barrel with wide eyes while Arthur trains his gun on one of the others. You know you’re outnumbered, but you won’t go down without a fight, and everybody in the saloon just saw that Arthur might be quicker than them.

The men look back and forth between you and Arthur, contemplating if they can take you. Before it can come to that, the poker players get to their feet, taking position behind you and Arthur. The man who took Arthur’s money rests his hand on his gun.

“The way I see it, your friend here was outta line. That’s really no way to talk to a married woman.” He looks around, and the other men in the saloon give small nods to agree with him. “I suggest you take him out of here and be on your way. We wanna play in peace, you understand?”

The men don’t move until Arthur slowly lowers his gun. You follow his lead, and the man in front of you steps back. They put their guns away to pick up the body and quickly make their way outside.

“Thank you,” Arthur says to the poker players, and the man who spoke just shrugs.

“Never liked those fellers anyway. You fancy a game?”

“No, we’ll better be on our way.”

“Suit yourself.”

The men go back to their game while Arthur puts his hand on your back, leading you outside. He unties the horses, constantly looking around. 

“Why are we going?” you say, your heart still pounding from what just happened. “Wouldn’t we be safer with these guys?”

“These guys are only friendly for a prize,” Arthur says. “And the men who left was O'Driscolls. I bet they’ll be back in numbers. We don’t want to be here when that happens.”

Arthur gets on his horse and holds out his hand to you. “Come on.”

“I have my own horse.”

“I won’t let you ride alone when those guys might come up behind us.”

Arthur just shot a guy because he didn’t like the way he talked to you. It’s probably useless to argue with him now. You take his hand, and he lifts you up with ease. “Hold on,” he says, and you happily reach around his waist, pressing yourself against his back.

Arthur spurs on his horse, quickly bringing it into a gallop, barely giving you time to whistle for your own horse to follow. You ride hard until the sun begins to go down. Arthur checks both sides of the road to find a good spot for camp, and you end up on a hilltop. A few large boulders shield you from view while the higher ground lets you see for miles in any direction. There’s no chance that anybody could sneak up on you here.

You get a fire going, and Arthur sets up a tent while you try to make a decent meal out of the provisions you brought along. When Arthur is done, he sits down on his bedroll, and you hand him a steaming bowl. 

“It’s not the decent meal you were talking about earlier,” you say, feeling guilty that Arthur’s plans got all messed up because of you.

“I’m sure it’s fine,” Arthur says, bringing the bowl closer to smell its content. “I remember the great meals you used to make on our last jobs.”

You almost joke about that being a wife’s job, but while Arthur backed up your lie in the saloon, he might not find it funny. Instead, you eat your food in silence. When Arthur’s finished, he takes out his journal and writes, leaving you to stare into the fire. Everything is so nice and peaceful, you’re not quite sure if you should apologize to Arthur at all. What if that only rips open old wounds?

Sneaking a look at Arthur, you can see the difference in how he moves his pencil. He’s no longer writing but draws something. You tell yourself that it’s none of your business, but you’ve always loved Arthur’s art, and you are one of the few people he sometimes shows it to. Hoping that this might be something you can talk about, you crawl over to Arthur.

“What are you drawing?”

Arthur puts the pages together for a moment, looking like he’s embarrassed, but then he opens the journal and hands it to you. The drawing shows a campfire with a woman sitting in front of it, staring into the flames. You.

“You’re so good at this,” you say, your eyes fixed on the page. 

“Good at something useless,” Arthur grunts.

You have to disagree. It’s still a mystery to you how someone can capture life and emotions with a pencil and paper. The woman in the drawing looks lost, though. You won’t be able to just forget what happened, you have to talk to Arthur.

Putting down the journal, you take a deep breath. “Arthur, I’m sorry.”

He studies your face for a long moment, deep in thought. “Sorry for what?”

“The kiss,” you blurt out before you lose your courage. “You’ve always been such a good friend, and I took advantage of that. I asked you because I knew that you wouldn’t say no. I shouldn’t have done that.”

“I shouldn’t have yelled at you,” Arthur says, and you feel like hitting him for taking any of the blame.

“You were right to be angry. I should have known that you’d never feel the same way about me.”

Arthur takes a deep breath as if it’s hard for him to say the following words. “If you was a little older, or I was a bit younger-”

Arthur trails off, but your heart is already pounding. You thought that Arthur doesn’t feel anything for you, but here he is, drawing your picture and worrying about your age, not angry about the kiss at all.

“I thought you didn’t like me, Arthur.”

“Jesus, girl,” Arthur huffs, almost amused, “of course I like you. You’re right out perfect. It just doesn’t matter what I feel. It’s just not right.”

“It matters to me,” you say, your voice breathless as hope blooms in your heart, “I don’t care about the age difference.”

Arthur’s lost for words for a moment, but then he shrugs. “It’s not just that. You deserve way better than me.”

Usually, you’re not one to get your way. You accept what others tell you and move on, putting their wishes above yours. This can’t be one of those times. It’s too important, and you couldn’t live with yourself if you didn’t try everything to be happy. 

“I might be young, but I’m not naive or stupid. I know that you’re not perfect, but neither are the ranchers who hurt their cattle or the merchants who draw up the prices when the poor can barely pay them,” you say, talking yourself into a frenzy. “Unlike those fancy dressed crooks in the big city, you are so much more.”

Arthur lifts his hand as if to interrupt you, but for once, you don’t let him, continuing your tirade. “I fell in love with you because you’re kind, funny, and caring. You’re not lining your own pockets, but do whatever you have to to help your family and even strangers. You don’t take pleasure from cruelty, but manage to ease other people’s misery and pain. You’re a good person, Arthur. I really don’t see how I could possibly do better.”

Staring at you out of big eyes, Arthur opens his mouth, but nothing comes out until he clears his throat, his voice still hoarse when he speaks. “In love?”

It’s unnerving that this is the one thing Arthur took from this, but you said it, and there’s no point in denying it. “Yes, I love you, Arthur,“ you say, shrugging your shoulders. "I’m old enough to know that I want to be with you. Not a better or younger version of you, but you just the way you are.“

Arthur drops his head, his eyes fixed on the flames in front of him. You would give anything to know what he’s thinking, but you won’t ask. You said everything you wanted to say, and if that’s not enough for Arthur, then there’s nothing you can do.

When Arthur looks back up at you, there’s an expression on his face you’ve never seen before. You can’t tell if it’s good or bad, your heart racing in your chest. All you know is that whatever Arthur’s about to say next will decide your future together.

——–

Everything you said to Arthur is swirling around in his head, making him dizzy. For months, he tried to get over you, and Arthur only agreed to let you come along because he was sure he finally got his feelings under control. He should have known better.

What happened in the saloon showed Arthur how afraid he was to lose you, and calling you his wife, even as a ruse, made him happier than anything in a long time. After what you just told Arthur, the two of you can’t go back to things how they were before, and he has to admit that you’re right. You’re able to make your own decisions, and if you decided – for whatever reason – that you wanted to be with him, then who is he to take that away from you? 

Arthur‘s heart sings at the mere thought of giving in. No matter his feelings of right and wrong, nobody can blame him for losing this battle, not if you’re sitting there, begging him with all that you have to allow the two of you to be happy.

When Arthur looks into your eyes, the longing in his heart grows so unbearable that he can’t take it anymore. He opens his arms, inviting you in. "Come here.“

You fly into Arthur’s arms without a second of hesitation, proving once more that he’s doing the right thing. Arthur pulls you into his lap, and you put your arms around his neck, making him look up into your beautiful face.

"I tried for so long,“ he says, defeat in his voice. "I can’t get you out of my head.“

Arthur trails his fingers along your cheek as you smile at him. "You’re not supposed to.“

He draws you in, and you follow, letting him kiss you. Arthur thought there could be nothing better than your first kiss, but nothing compares to this one. This time, there’s nothing bad or shameful about it. 

You melt against Arthur’s body, your hands running through his hair while he holds you close, not wanting to let go ever again. Arthur wouldn’t mind staying like this forever, but you roll your hips, grinding against him.

"Arthur, I want you,” you say, looking at him in a way that makes his heart miss a beat, but then you cast your eyes down as if ashamed. “If you want me, too.”

Every impure thought that Arthur had about you rushes through his mind, and he has a hard time not to throw you down to the ground and have his way with you. After all, you deserve much better than that. He’ll respect your wishes, but he still feels like it’s his responsibility to protect you.

“Of course I want you,” he says, his words getting you to look at him again, “but we have time. There’s no need to rush anything.”

“Rush?” I’ve been thinking about this for a long time.“ You let out a little laugh before running your hand over your face as if you want to hide. "I even tried seducing you when we were alone, but you never seemed to care.”

Arthur can’t help that his mouth falls open, thinking about all those times he had to hold himself back. “You did that on purpose?”

“What do you think? I don’t just undress in front of everybody,” you say, playing with the buttons on Arthur’s shirt.

“You gave me such a hard time with that,” Arthur says with a sigh. “This is already bad enough.”

He’s holding you by the hips, feeling how you begin to move on top of him. “Then maybe I should try one more time,” you whisper.

You reach down to unbutton your dress, pushing down your chemise. This time, Arthur looks without reservation before leaning in and kissing the exposed skin. You bury your fingers in his hair, still rolling your hips, and Arthur has to admit to himself that you might not be as innocent as you seem. It makes no sense to treat you like a delicate flower when you’re actually the storm.

Arthur reaches down to hike up your skirt, his fingers trailing along the soft skin of your thighs. You hold still but reach down to help him, pulling your dress up right over your head. It takes a little fumbling, but it’s worth it. Having you sit on top of him in your thin chemise brings heat to Arthur’s whole body, and he can’t help that he’s getting painfully hard in his pants.

There’s a knowing grin on your face, almost as if you’re mocking him, and Arthur can’t take it anymore. He lifts you up and leans forward, carefully putting you down on his bedroll. Without hesitation, Arthur pulls up the skirt, and you wiggle under him, letting him undress you fully.

Arthur can’t remember having seen anything so beautiful in his entire life. In the dim light of the fire, your skin has a lovely glow, your body a perfect combination of straight lines and inviting curves. If he wasn’t so desperate to touch you, Arthur would have loved to draw you like this.

With his fingers, Arthur follows a line from your cheek along your neck, tracing your collarbone and climbing up the swell of your breast. Your nipple hardens under his touch, and Arthur can’t help but lean in and suck it into his mouth. You let out a surprised gasp, soon followed by barely audible moans when Arthur keeps teasing your breasts with both lips and hands.

You reach for him, eagerly pushing down his suspenders, and Arthur comes up for a moment to let you get him out of his shirt. Your eyes roam over his naked chest while your hands massage his muscles, coming to rest on his shoulders. You draw Arthur in, letting him kiss your breasts and stomach while your fingers dig into the skin on his back. 

Arthur moves even lower, his hands closing around your thighs. You eagerly open your legs for him, giving him a first look at the sweet locks that cover your mount and lips. Arthur traces his fingers in a swirling line through them before touching your soft center. You gasp again when Arthur pushes between your folds, enticing wetness greeting him. 

He wouldn’t mind teasing you some more, but you reach for him, beckoning him to come back to you. “Arthur, please.”

Arthur follows your plea, crawling over your body, his arms propped up next to your face. You pull him in for a kiss, your tongue licking into his mouth as if you might die without his taste. You keep him close like this while your hands wander down his chest and to his pants. You pry them open, getting hot waves to roll all over Arthur’s body.

The anticipation is unbearable, and Arthur moans against your lips when you finally close your fingers around his cock to get him out of his pants. Free from the enclosure, you reward him with slow strokes along his whole lengths, making Arthur bite his lip.

You soothe him with soft kisses, but you’re just as desperate, your hips moving under him. “Take me, Arthur, please.”

Arthur wishes he could show more restraint, but he’s dreamed about this way too often in too many ways to hold back now. He runs the tip of his cock through your folds, using your wetness to get himself slick as well, and when your fingers dig into his shoulders, Arthur pushes in. 

You’re so hot and tight, he hopes he can keep this up and goes as slowly as he can. You still gasp in surprise, and more sighs and moans break out of you when Arthur conquers you inch by inch. Once he’s fully sheeted inside of you, Arthur holds still, enjoying the feeling of being close.

“You okay?” he whispers against your lips, and you take a deep breath before being able to reply.

“God, yes,” you sigh, rolling your hips again.

Arthur dares to move with you. You kiss, again and again, hands roaming over heated skin, while Arthur pushes into you at a steady pace. Your hands wander around Arthur’s neck, and soon you seem to hold on for dear life. With your breathing speeding up, Arthur knows you won’t make it much longer, and the harder he thrusts into you, the more desperate become your moans.

Leaning in to kiss and bite your neck, Arthur finally throws you over the edge. Your thighs shake as you come, your muscles clenching around Arthur’s cock. You cling to him, whispering profanities he never thought you capable of knowing, and it becomes harder and harder for him to hold back.

Still, Arthur tries not to overwhelm you, but you keep moving, spurring him on. “Please, Arthur. I want you, I want all of you.”

With your beautiful, young body moving under him in ecstasy, Arthur can’t hold back his lust. His fingers dig hard into your flesh as he buries himself deep in your hot core, filling you up with his come.

You’re both drenched in sweat and breathing heavily. Arthur wishes he could ask if you’re alright, but he doesn’t have enough air. Instead, you share a few soft kisses. Despite that first wave of satisfaction, Arthur can’t stop touching you. His fingers trace over your smooth skin, leaving goosebumps in their wake.

Arthur’s been thinking about being with you for so long, he feels as if he’s in a dream. He kisses his way down your body, and when his hands massage your thighs, you open his legs for him. Arthur trails his fingers over your soft lips, making you roll your hips.

Teased like this, Arthur can see how your muscles work, and his come is swelling out of you, trickling down. The sight steers something inside of Arthur. It’s as if he marked you, finally making you his. 

He can’t help but touch you, and the urge to taste you as well overcomes him. Arthur leans in, running his tongue over your clit, and you let out a surprised moan. With his hands on your thighs, Arthur keeps teasing you with his tongue. 

He doesn’t mind his own taste that’s soon replaced with yours, your moans and soft cries growing more urgent. The way you move under Arthur steers up his own arousal. Caught between your legs like this, he can’t hold in his own moans.

You bury your fingers in Arthur’s hair, lifting your hips and urging him on with pleas for more. He happily indulges you, teasing you with his fingers as well as his mouth until you let out a frustrated groan.

Arthur stops and looks up to you, and before he can ask if you’re alright, you already push him back by the shoulders. The second he’s on his back, you crawl on top of him, rubbing yourself against his hardening cock. 

You lean in and kiss Arthur, taking heavy breaths in between. All he can do is hold on to your hips as you lift yourself up to push him inside of you again. Trapped in your tight heat, Arthur lets his head fall back. 

He might have marked you today, but at this moment, Arthur knows that you did so long ago. Arthur’s been yours from the start, and that won’t ever change, not as long as you’ll have him.

———

You dreamed about being with Arthur many times, but none of it compares to the real thing. His every touch sets you on fire, waking a lust inside of you that you’ve never known before. Longing to be close, you keep kissing Arthur, your body pressed against his as you move your hips to feel him deep inside of you.

All of it still seems like a dream, and you have the urge to make the most of it, feeling and tasting Arthur, desperate to make as many memories of this moment as you can.

Your eager cries fill the night, mixed in with Arthur’s moans, the both of you too desperate to hold back. You claw and bite, leaving marks on each other’s skin. The thought of the other gang members seeing them turns you on more than you ever thought possible. 

Now that Arthur finally agreed to be with you, you want everybody else to know. You kiss along Arthur’s neck and suck the skin between your teeth, biting down enough to make Arthur growl. His fingers dig hard into your hips, and he holds you in place while he thrusts into you. 

Arthur’s cock hits you deeply as he slides in and out of you with lewd sounds, and from one second to the other, everything becomes too much. You bury your face against Arthur’s neck as you fall over the edge, waves of pleasure rolling all over your body.

You cling to Arthur, and he holds you tight, his hips bucking as you shake on top of him. He moans against your ear, filling you up with his come as your clenching muscles tighten around him. 

For a while, you just stay like this, enjoying the warmth of Arthur’s body against your own. His fingertips trail softly over the skin on your back, and when your eyes threaten to fall shut, Arthur gets you to move.

After helping you into your chemise, Arthur carries you into the tent, and the second he lies down, you cuddle up to him. Arthur kisses your forehead and puts his arms around you as if he never wants to let go again. 

You just lie there for a while until Arthur lets out a long sigh. “I fell in love with you, too, you know. Pretty much from the start.”

Warmth spreads in your chest, and you bury your face in the crook of Arthur’s neck. “I love you, too, Arthur.”

“Do me a favor then?” Arthur says, the words turning into a question.

“Anything.”

“Next time, just tell me right away what’s good for us. I’m an idiot most of the time.”

You laugh, but run your hand over Arthur’s chest as if to wash the thought away. “You’re my idiot now, so don’t worry, I’ll tell you.”

“Thank you, darling,” Arthur says, squeezing you slightly. 

You close your eyes, feeling safer and more comfortable than ever before in your life. Everything bad in your past just drifts away, making room for happiness and a future you only ever dared to dream about. 

“You were right,” you say. “It’s just books. This was so much better.”

Arthur chuckles, and you fall asleep to the sound of it, the first time of many over the years to come.

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Credit: Jordan J. Lloyd

I've been trying to dive deeper into politics, discover the genuine roots of our society, the origins of our beliefs, and the consequences of our economic system. It's a big, long, wide journey and through multiple sources such as articles, images, videos and multiple social media platforms, I've been trying to educate myself more on important subjects.

Communism, capitalism, libertarian, conservative, the left, the right, the history, the impact. It is scary to commit to everything because once you start, you simply cannot stop, once you start waking up your conscience about the horrible reality, the lies, the truths, you cannot put it back to sleep. You can't just ignore prejudice, especially when you're extremely conscious of it's omnipresence. I have continually tried to build my own opinions all while actively creating bullet point arguments in my mind because I just know that at some point I will have to defend my thinking, and I want to do it right.

Now, I am so far from being enlightened, I am a beginner and an amateur in all of those themes, but I am trying, which is the only way to start and grow.

So to tell you about my beliefs, I am a militant human rights activist, I believe in equal opportunities regardless of gender identity, sex, religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity, race and disability. This is a fact, not a belief, but the system was obviously not built to protect all people, its wasn't created to serve everyone equally but to grant a privilege to some and harm others. The current state of the world is not a slip, an accident or a misfunction of our brilliant system but a testament of it operating remarkably well. I believe that equity leads to equality, and I believe that we cannot "fix" methodologies that were immorally created with absolutely no honor whatsoever. I believe in reproductive rights, in legal, safe abortions for anybody who needs one. I believe in the decriminalization of marijuana. I believe that the death penalty is a despicable punition that should be banned as soon as possible. I believe in defunding the police and the military. I believe that it is a shame that I even have to talk about police brutality, I don't want to have to say that it is one of the most horrible things our world has originated, I feel extremely dense when I do because it seems like the most obvious certitude and I refuse to believe that this is a controversial statement. I believe that everything I have just stated, along with many more, isn't anything grand but the bare minimum, the bar is low, and yet, we still have the fight for basic human decency.

Humanity has become an option. We have normalized supporting people that represent everything wrong in this world under the name of tolerance. The left has never claimed to be tolerant towards hateful beings, We have never accepted homophobia, transphobia, racism, ableism and sexism. We cannot, for exemple, accept nazis, as too much tolerance inevitably leads to intolerance. This picture explains it perfectly:

I consider myself a communist/ socialist. The two terms still confuse me a little, some say they are the same, some say they differ quite a bit. What I know is that socialism is the transitional period between capitalism and communism. At the end of the day, the final result and goal is a stateless, moneyless and clasless society that will provide to each his need.

Our capitalistic society has brainwashed us way more than you may think. It is the root of so many of our issues, the underground demon of our problems. Every idea, thought, belief, and misconception of ours were all affected by our current economic system. It has sold us the billionnaire dream which is one of the most toxic things capitalism has offered. We have looked up to billionaires for way too long, why are they so idolized? Most of them come from high upper class families that can easily afford to invest in their inventions and creations. After starting up their companies and occasionnaly stealing other's people ideas to ultimately get undeserved merit, they then can start to properly exploit their hardworking employees's labour. And for unlimited hours and a minimum wage which probably won't even suffice you to survive, you will have to either pick up more shifts or a second or even third job, especially if you have a family to support. All while the CEO barely does any of the work and gets all the praise and money. So no, they don't all come from really poor families and have built everything for nothing.

The worst thing is that we've been so gaslit and brainwashed that we're proud of our own exploitation, we are wired to think that to be successful we have to suffer, work 10 jobs we all hate, constantly pick up extra hours, have 2 hours of sleep, have no free time to do anything we love, waste our entire youth, be depressed our entire adulthood, to finally have a few pennies to spend when we're eighty. We so strongly believe that this is the only right way to be successful that I don't think many of us have dared to question it's authority, and even if we do, we quickly accept that this a truth, a fact we cannot change and this is just the way things are.

We have capitalized water, food, land, forests, oceans, space, and everything in betweeen. Money is social construct and we have deliberately let it take over our lives. To think about the wasted opportunities and the misery that we have to endure so others can enjoy life truly angers me.

Also, communism is not an ideology that has every actually taken place. Despite what they say, there was never actually a communist country. However, every nation that has attempted a socialist system, for exemple Burkina Faso, has thrived. But of course, once capitalist countries noticed that, they decided to murder it's leader. So in conclusion, the only reason socialism failed is because of capitalism and it's interventions.

"As President (1983-1987), Sankara initiated economic reforms that shifted his country away from dependence on foreign aid and reduced the privileges of government officials; he cut salaries, including his own, decreed that there would be no more flying in first class or driving Mercedes as standard issue vehicles for Ministers and other government workers. He led a modest lifestyle and did not personally amass material wealth. President Sankara encouraged self-sufficiency, including the use of local resources to build clinics, schools and other needed infrastructure. [...] President Sankara promoted land reform, childhood vaccination, tree planting, communal school building, and nation-wide literacy campaigns. He was committed to gender equity and women’s rights and was the first African leader to publicly recognize the AIDS pandemic as a threat to African countries. Although Sankara became somewhat more authoritarian during his Presidency, his ideas, and the possibility that they could spread, were viewed by many as posing the greatest threat. President Sankara was assassinated during a coup led by a French-backed politician, Blaise Compaoré, in October 1987. Compaoré served as the President of Burkina Faso from October 1987 through October 2014, when he himself was overthrown."

Via:https://africandevelopmentsuccesses.wordpress.com/2015/02/28/success-story-from-burkina-faso-thomas-sankaras-legacy/

I have been reading and watching some amazing human rights activists, notably Angela Davis, Malcolm X and James Baldwin. The people that were villainized, labeled as violent and radical, when every single word that came out of their mouhs were pure facts. They are probably some of the most eloquent people I have had the pleasure of hearing. Every sentence, every argument, every single detail made so much sense and opened my mind to so many new realizations. This is the perfect exemple of how the media tarnishes the reputation of wise black women and men. I would strongly advise you to research more about them.

"Socialism & communism are demonized in the west to the point of erasing influential individuals' socialist advocacy. Heres a short list of people you may not have known were socialists/ communists:

MLK

Albert Einstein

Nelson Mandela

Frida Kahlo

Tupac Shakur

Mark Twain

Malcom X

Oscar Wilde

Bertrand Russell

Hellen Keller

Pablo Picasso

George Orwell

Shia LaBeouf

John Lennon

Woody Guthrie

Socialism & communism are not dirty words. Some of the most brilliant minds of our history were socialists and communists. Embrace it." Via @sleepisocialist on twitter

So what else can I say, capitalism has ruined our society and the way we act and think. I know a lot of people refuse to support communism because they think it's too much of a perfect ideal utopian world for it to ever actually exist. And to that I say, first of all, so you agree, it is a wonderful theory, and second of all, a world without racism, sexism, homophobia or any kind or discrimination could also be perceived as "too ideal to actually exist", but does that mean I'm giving up on talking, educating myself and others, protesting and trying to build a better future? Absolutely not. This is the objective, it would be so dumb to think that we just couldn't achieve that so let's not even try.

I want to talk more in detail about communism, theory, human rights, etc... but I don't want to make this post any longer. I will however be posting more about it soon enough.

I know this is a little different than what I usually post, but I want to speak, tell you all my own opinions, I don't want to just repost activism related stuff. I'll continue to do that, but not exclusively. I know it won't get as many interactions as my other posts, but this is what I needed at some point in my life, and if I could make understanding some basic informations easier to some people, it'll already be a great accomplishment.

Thank you for reading.