#and Slanderer. to me at least i read that as she hates how much her relationships w Mami/Kyoko/Sayaka have deteriorated

[whimsicalcotton]

i think the Clara Dolls that hurt me the most are Slanderer and Laziness

[babyonboard]

Ultraviolence | part 2

Bradley Bradshaw x F!Reader x Jake Seresin

click here to read part 1!

Summary: You and Bradley loved each other, and Jake Seresin was just your old friend from high school who you tried to pay no kind to. At least that’s how it used to be.

Word Count: 8.9k

Warnings/tags: 18+ MDNI, infidelity, Bradley sucks, angst, smut, oral, choking, Jake Seresin has a praise kink because I said so, a little redhead slander (I am so sorry if you’re ginger).

Announcement: Yes I know part one came out a year ago. Yes I know nobody cares anymore. I want to get back into writing again and this has been sitting in my drafts for so long.

It had been 2 weeks, and you hadn’t confronted Bradley. But, in terms of how he’s been treating you, it’s been paradise. Things were back to how they used to be, or at least that's how it looked on the surface. You wondered if the girl he was cheating with is still in the picture or not. You wondered about her a lot. It was really hard to not think about her. In fact, you thought about her so much that you had a clear picture of what you thought she looked like in your mind. Of course, she’s blonde. Shiny, silky, long blonde hair. She’s slightly shorter than you, with a slightly better figure. Her tits were bigger than yours, and her stomach is flatter. She had a bright white smile and a bubbly personality. 

You hated her. But you also felt sorry for her. 

Jake had been literally blowing up your phone. He called and texted you so many times. You responded at first, saying you hadn’t confronted Bradley yet, but you were going to. He asked you every day after that if you had done it yet, and you never responded. The only other text you responded to was when he said he was worried that something happened and you needed help. It was embarrassing, that’s the real reason you didn’t want to talk to him. It was embarrassing that you were prioritizing guilty attention over your own self respect. 

One day when Bradley got home from work, he was pissed. “What’s wrong, baby?” You asked from the couch as he kicked his shoes off. 

“Hangman’s just the same fucking dick he’s always been.” He mumbled.

At this point, you were all ears. “What’d he do?” You set your book down on your chest..

He shook his head. “Always in everyones fucking business.” He grumbled and went into the kitchen.

Interesting. You pulled your phone out and went to text Jake to ask him what he did, but when you opened his contact, you saw that he had texted you this morning and you didn’t see it.

Since you’re not gonna call him on it, I will.

On your day off, Bradley asked if you could bring his laptop to work because he forgot it. Of course, you eagerly got in the car and drove it to him. When you entered the office building on the base, you tried to remember your way around. And because you fucking deserve it, because of some kind of weird karma from the universe, Jake was the first person you saw.

“Hey.” He said slowly, his eyebrows furrowed. You half smiled and gave him a nod, hoping that was the end of the interaction. It wasn’t.

He came closer to you, ducking his head like he was trying to be secretive. “Can I talk to you?” He said softly. His presence made you want to break down crying in his arms. It made you resent Bradley in a way that was unlike you.

“Jake, no. Not now.” You shook your head, trying to move around him. He blocked you and you gave up all too easily. 

His hand came up to your shoulder, resting it softly on you. He towered over you, but he was still so gentle. “I’ve been trying to get a hold of you but you never answer. Me and Nat saw that girl with Bradley again, they were in his car, and we were able to find her on facebook. Her names Clara and-”

“God, you're a lifesaver.” Bradley groaned in delight, entering the lobby. Both of your heads whipped in that direction. You forced a smile and laughed, shrugging Jake’s hand off of your shoulder. As Bradley walked closer, you and Jake looked at each other. His eyes had sympathy and a little bit of anger, and yours said don’t-say-another-fucking-word. You could tell it made Bradley physically uncomfortable that you and Jake were talking to each other. Actually, the energy in that room made all three of you uncomfortable. It also made him uncomfortable that neither of you were saying anything. “Did I miss something?” 

“No! No, here you go.” You held his laptop out to him, forcing a smile. He wrapped his arm around your shoulder and kissed your forehead. You were so embarrassed you almost recoiled when he touched you. 

“I was just gonna show her where your office was. She looked lost.” Jake’s voice was noticeably different. It's almost like it went back to normal, he sounded so much softer when he talked to you.

The tension between Bradley and Jake was intense. They both had an obvious dislike for each other that was never there before.

“You wanna see my office, babe?” He looked down at you. You nodded enthusiastically. 

“See ya Hangman.” He said, pulling you away from the magnetic force of a man that is Jake Seresin. 

Back in Bradley’s office, you felt sick to your stomach. From the little information you were able to hear, he is not done with that girl. And now, you have a name to put to that stupid fucking face that you can’t stop thinking about. Leaning against Bradleys desk, you couldn’t help but stare at the picture of the two of you that sat front and center. It was from your wedding. You were both laughing, wrapped completely around each other. The happiness that you had in that picture, the happiness that was in endless supply, surrounding you every second of every day, was nowhere to be found now. You haven’t seen it for a while. 

It was different this time. When you first found out he cheated, you were sad. Cried whenever he wasn’t around, threw up, the whole nine yards. Now, just finding out that it is still going on, you were mad. So mad it was almost funny. For some strange reason, you wanted to laugh. An anger unlike anything you have ever felt in your entire life brewed in each and every cell of your body. It was white hot and it was making you sweat.

Sitting down at his desk, Bradley’s eyes were on you. “Are you okay?” His voice was worried, like he might be in trouble if you’re not. “You look sick.”

You nodded. “Yeah. I’m fine” You smiled. The familiar feeling in your stomach, the same one you got when Jake had first told you, started crawling up your throat. You were absolutely disgusted by him and it was making you sick to look at him. 

He reached out and touched your leg. “Come here.” He spoke softly.

You pushed off of the desk and away from his hand. “I have to go. I have a call- a work call- in a little bit.” You scrambled for an excuse. 

“Oh.” He said.

Backing up towards the door, he looked increasingly worried with each step you took. “Bye, see you at home.” You said, giving him no time to respond or question as you walked out. Out in the hallway, you could finally breathe. You stood still for a few moments, the cool air conditioning of the building filling your lungs as you took long, deep breaths. This time is different. He knows what he’s doing to you and he’s happily letting it happen. You were fucking done with him. Your legs started working again and you made your way down the eerily quiet hallway. That place feels like a museum, everything looks clean and untouched. 

As you were inspecting the cleanliness while you walked, you stopped in your tracks when you read “Lt. Jacob ‘Hangman’ Seresin”. This was his office. You looked around the hallway, saw nobody, then knocked lightly. “Come in.” You heard his muffled voice say on the other side. The door clicked as you opened it, peaking your head inside like you thought you would be bothering him if you came in. He was standing behind his desk with papers in his hands. When he saw you, his posture and his eyes softened. He dropped the papers onto his desk.

“Hey.” You said, still not fully stepping into the room. 

“Come sit.” He said. You shut the door behind you and you were finally able to let your guard down. You took a shaky breath and walked over to his desk. Not wanting to intrude, not wanting to make yourself at home, you stayed standing. 

You cleared your throat. More than anything, you wanted answers. “Can I see a picture of her?” 

He started walking around to meet you on the other side of his desk. His desk was much more neat than Bradley’s. Bradley’s was littered with pictures and trinkets and notes. Jake had a couple of awards on display off to the side, and that was mostly it. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Jake. Please.” You pleaded, trying to be as stern as you could even though your voice shook.

He looked down to the ground. Without a word, he pulled his phone out of his back pocket. It was silent as he typed a few words and your stomach started to twist again. 

He cleared his throat. “Here.” He had her facebook page pulled up.

To your surprise, she was not blonde. Well at least not all the way. She had strawberry blonde hair and dark eyes. And of fucking course, she had dimples. But the biggest thing that stood out was how young she looked. With a second more of scrolling, you saw “UCLA class of 21” in her bio. “Class of 21?” You gasped. You and Bradley were both 30. She was 22 at most. That pissed you off even more, you felt like you couldn’t even see straight. 

Jake grabbed the phone out of your hands. “That’s enough.” He said, putting it back in his pocket. You saw her full name, it’s burned into the back of your eyelids, you could look her up later. 

It was quiet again. Jake didn’t know what to say. He had a million things he wanted to say, but none of them were a good idea right now. 

“I’m sorry you got dragged into this.” You admitted shamefully.

“Y/N.” He sighed “Don’t say you’re sorry, none of this is your fault.”

Looking down at the ground, you were unable to meet his eyes. “I don’t know. She’s so pretty and she-”

“Hey.” His voice was stern, it made you flinch. His hand came up to your chin and lifted your head to look at him. “This was not about you. This is about Bradley being selfish. You are prettier than her. You understand me?” His hand was still gripping your chin. You nodded, eyes locked in his. “You are so god damn beautiful, and Bradley is fucking crazy for not giving you the world.” His grip got softer as he spoke that sentence, but he didn’t move his hand. “Got it?” He asked.

“Yes.” You agree softly. He was breathing hard and his jaw clenched like he was mad. Not that you would ever admit it, but it was sexy. Your knees started to feel weak. Jake has an effect on you that Bradley never did. Right now, it felt like Jake knew that. That he knew he had some otherworldly effect on you and your knees were getting weaker by the millisecond. 

“You promise?” He spoke, almost in a whisper. You realized he had dipped his head down at some point, and you tilted yours up. 

“Yes, Jake.” You whispered back. You could feel his breath on your lips, making your eyes flicker down at his. Now you couldn’t look up. 

Within seconds, everything that Bradley had done to you flashed through your mind in a blur. The most prominent image was him with that 22 year old fucking ginger underneath him. It only made sense to tip your head up further to kiss Jake. 

When Jake first found out about the other woman, he knew this day would come, and he swore he wouldn’t take it too far when it did. But right now, now that your warm lips were touching his and he could taste the toothpaste on your tongue and it felt like his whole body was completely lit up, he didn’t know if he could stop himself.

It felt good in so many different ways. It felt good, like a sort of revenge against Bradley. It felt good to be kissed by someone who actually wanted you. And it felt so good because it was Jake. 

His hand on your jaw threaded back through your hair, his other pulled you fully against him. He kissed you eagerly, like he couldn’t get enough. Your heart was pounding so hard that it felt like it was about to explode out of your chest, like your whole body was struck by lightning and each one of your nerve endings was on fire. It was feverish and nerve wracking and wrong but so fucking right. He backed you up until the back of your thighs hit the edge of his desk, making the desk shift slightly on the floor. Both of his large hands cupped your face, his fingers reaching to the back of your neck. 

His hips pushed yours back even further; he wanted you on his desk. Of course, you complied. His big, shiny desk creaked as you adjusted yourself on it and opened your legs to let him stand in between them. Your shorts rode up your thighs and his hands were on that exposed skin immediately. The only sound in the room was both of your heavy breathing. Your tongue swiped along his bottom lip, which he took as a green light to stick his tongue in your mouth. This was the most exhilarated you had felt in years. It was different from the many make out sessions you had with Bradley throughout your life, it was so much more intense. There was so much more meaning behind it, so much fire. 

It’s obvious to anyone with a brain that Jake is rough in nature, especially in bed. Oddly enough, he was taking it easy on you thus far. That is until you felt his fingers graze against your neck, seemingly testing the waters. You tried to kiss him harder, tried to say yes without actually saying it. He must’ve got the message, his huge hand covered your throat, his fingers wrapping around it. It wasn’t choking as much as it was holding you in place. His teeth pulling your lip made a short whine come from the back of your throat, completely unintentionally. This made him rip his lips away from yours, his hand still holding your throat. 

He held your face an inch away from his. “Did you lock the door?” He sounded so different, his voice was so much deeper, so much darker than normal.

You managed to shake your head within his grasp. The door isn’t locked, there is no way you could have predicted this was going to happen when you walked in 10 minutes ago. It was logical to assume he was going to go lock it, your husband was literally two doors away. Jake Seresin is anything but logical, you should know this by now. He kissed you again, so much dirtier this time. Wasting zero time, his hands were back on your thighs. Unexpectedly, your legs were lifted off the desk and pulled forward, leaving you laying on the desk. Jake pulling your shorts and underwear down your legs, kneeling as he did so, was a sight to fucking behold. 

A loud sigh left his mouth as he set his gaze on your pussy. It was nothing short of heavenly, celestial even. For the last 8 years, you were forbidden fruit, and now he’s on his knees right in front of you, ready to taste you, ready to sin. 

Stopping didn’t cross your mind once. Actually the only thing on your mind the whole time was more. It wasn’t even revenge at this point, it was desire in its purest form. Papers on his desk shifted under your hair, a few of them slipping onto the floor, not that you noticed. 

Slowly, almost experimentally, he runs a single finger through your slit. It struck you that it was gonna be really hard to stay quiet. “You this wet for me?” He faked flattery, pulling his finger away. 

“Jake, please.” You whined. Trying to get him to do something, you lifted your legs up so your calves rested on your shoulders. 

“I wanna take my time with you.” He pressed a kiss to your clit, the light touch sending jolts throughout your whole body. “Give you what you deserve.”

Apparently, ‘taking his time with you’ meant diving into you and going absolutely feral. It was feverish, the way he licked and sucked you was so greedy. There was no time for you to feel bad about squeezing his head between your thighs, but you suspected he liked it anyway. He does. His nails dug into your thighs so he could hold onto you for leverage. There was no way of telling if he was sucking or biting your clit, but whatever it was, it made your vision blurry and your thoughts completely disappear. It was necessary for one of your hands to cover your mouth or else this whole office would know how good Jake is. 

All this time, his cockiness was not for nothing. You understood why he had girls obsessed and delusional, you would do the same for this treatment. Maybe he’s had a lot of practice, but there is no way he is this fierce with every other girl. He was making you feel like you were the only girl in the world, like your head was spinning. He didn’t use his fingers, he really didn’t need to, his mouth already had you fighting to not cum so quickly. Ever intuitive, the only time he broke away from you was to say “Give it to me” against you. His deep voice sent vibrations through your core to your fingertips. The bright fluorescent light above you seemed to expand as your vision went white. The air left your lungs, your head spun, every muscle in your body tensed. His tongue worked you through your orgasm perfectly, and he let you grind against him as you hit your peak. “Good fucking girl.” He moaned against you.

Once he was positive you were done, he reluctantly pulled away. If he had it his way, he would keep you just like this all day. You couldn’t sit up yet, all you could do was lay there and catch your breath. 

Jake knew this was bad. Not because you were his best friend's wife, but because now he had a taste and he knows he won’t be able to stop any time soon. He picked your underwear up off of the floor and gently slid them onto your shaky legs. You let him dress you again, eyes still closed. When he was done, you sat up and the look he gave you was nothing short of sinister. 

He leaned his hands on the desk on either side of you, looking at you like he wanted you to say something. You brought your hands up to either side of his face and kissed him in response, words could not do what he just did to you justice. This kiss was much slower than the rest, he let you taste yourself on his lips. 

Two voices talking in the hallway passed his door, making the two of you jump apart. The voices faded down the hallway, leaving the two of you tensed. For a second, the only thing either of you could do was look at each other. Every emotion possible coursed through your body, and you didn’t know whether to smile or cry or laugh or kiss him again. 

“Jesus, Y/N.” He finally spoke, stunned and shakily. “I didn’t think that was actually ever gonna happen.”

That made you smile. He had thought about it before, which came as no surprise. The cold air of the office washed over you, bringing you back into reality. “You are…” Words failed you, nothing could describe how you felt. “So good.”

Of course, his cocky smile made an appearance. You could no longer judge him for it, he has every right in the world to be cocky. “You better leave before your husband sees you here.” He backed up to let you get off his desk. 

“Yeah.” You agreed begrudgingly, looking down at the ground. You got a sight of your legs, your thighs were glistening and there were nail marks in them. 

As you stepped away from him, he grabbed your arm. “This isn’t a one time thing. At least not for me.” He spoke inches from your ear. “And lock the door next time.”

You swallowed. “Okay.” 

Back at home, you had 2 hours before Bradley got back. You had done your mourning of the relationship, you had spent your time wishing Bradley was different for weeks. Wishing he was sorry. But he’s not. And he’s never going to be. You could continue to be sad, continue to be a victim, continue to cry every day. But there were some other options.

A quick google search of the name that was burned into the back of your eyelids; Clara Bitner, you found her facebook. There was a time where you felt sorry for her. Bradley had obviously lied to her and she got caught up in something she didn’t even understand, so she was probably hurt too. But now that you know she has chosen to continue seeing your husband when she knows he’s married, you hate her. It’s so unfortunate that she was pretty. It would help if you could look at her pictures and say she was ugly, but that wasn’t an option. She had long strawberry blonde hair with deep brown eyes and classic southern charm. She was from Tennessee, but she went to UCLA, and now she’s a kindergarten teacher. “Of fucking course.” You scoffed at her occupation. Is there anything bad about this girl? She had a lot of friends and she lived in a beach condo maybe 20 minutes from here. You had been scrolling for a while, and a certain picture made you stop in your fucking tracks. It was a picture from her 22nd birthday dinner, all of her friends sitting around the table smiling, and there was Bradley. He was sitting next to her with his hand resting on her leg, with a huge fucking smile on his face. It was posted 4 months ago. If he was important to her enough to go to her birthday dinner four months ago, you didn’t want to know how long they had been seeing each other. 

How did he have time for this? This wasn’t a hook up, it wasn’t an affair, it was a second life. You began to think about all of the flight tours, weekend trips, and week long missions he had gone on in the past year. How many of those were lies?

Your marriage is completely ruined, 100% done. You could mope about it. Or you could keep having fun of your own.

By the time you heard the garage door opening, you were in the kitchen making dinner. You played the song “Jolene” by Dolly Parton because it was ironic and weirdly specific to your life right now. And it was just plain funny. 

 The front door opened and you turned the volume up. “Hey baby!” He shouted from the front of the house.

“Hi!” You said. Acting normal was going to be harder than you thought. You heard him playing with the dogs for a moment, baby talking and petting them. 

His footsteps approached the kitchen and you took a deep breath. “God, you look sexy.” He said.

You were wearing shorts and a t-shirt and no makeup. You brushed off his comment as guilty flattery.

He came up and you had to brace yourself. He wrapped his arms around your waist and kissed the side of your neck. It made you fucking sick. 

Not replying, you started humming along to the music. He swayed with you for a moment so you started singing.

You’re beauty is beyond compare,

With flaming locks of auburn hair,

Ivory skin, and eyes of emerald green.

“I love this song.” You stated. 

“Mhm. Dolly’s the best.” He unwrapped his arms from you.

Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene

I'm begging of you please don't take my man.

He side eyed you and you stared right back at him. Yet, in perfect Bradley nature, he played it cool, walking to the other side of the counter.

“Poor Dolly.” You sighed. “Especially since that bitch Jolene is ginger. That just plain sucks, getting cheated on with a red head.” Trying to focus on the pot you were stirring, you couldn’t help but look up at him. His tongue was in his cheek and he had a terrified glint in his eyes.

“What?” You asked innocently.

“Nothin’.” He shook his head and walked away. 

This was kinda fun.

“You have any plans tonight?” You asked Bradley over dinner. It was a Friday, so you figured he was going somewhere, be it with Clara or not.

“Eh, Jake and Javy wanna go watch the game at a bar, I’ll probably go.” He said. “D’ you?”

That was probably a lie. “I think Jenna wants me to come meet her baby, so I’ll probably go over there. Plus she said she needs a wine night.” Jenna was your coworker, and she hasn’t even had her baby yet. It was so empowering to lie back.

While Bradley did the dishes, you got out your phone to clear some things up.

Are you hanging out with Bradley tonight?

“What time do you think you’re gonna go?” You asked from the table. His eyes were on the dishes and it was incredible how he lied so often without flinching while it made your adrenaline rush and your heart pound. 

“7:30, 8?” He said. 

No? Is he saying I am?

The feeling you got was the perfect definition of disappointed but not surprised. It’s a confirmed lie now. “Okay, that’s probably what time I’ll leave too.”

Yes. He’s leaving at 8. Can I come over then?

Of course.

Were you doing this purely to get back at Bradley? No, not entirely. That was a huge driving factor in your actual actions towards Jake, but you’ve always wanted to, so part of it is something you’ve always wanted. 

Not long after dinner was cleaned up, Bradley was kissing your forehead and heading out the door. You watched out the window as his car pulled out of the driveway, and once it disappeared down the street, you rushed up to your room. There was a lacy black bra and thong set you had just bought waiting for you in your closet. Once you pulled it on, you admired yourself in the mirror. If Bradley won’t appreciate it, Jake sure will. You exchanged your t-shirt for a sweatshirt, you didn’t want to look like you were trying. Obviously, you were. 

After spraying yourself with perfume and taking too long to decide what scent of lotion you wanted to use, you nearly ran down stairs and slipped your shoes on. A quick goodbye to the dogs and you were out the door. It seemed that every time you drove to Jake’s you were rushing. While you were driving you thought about what you were going to do when you got there, fully intending to be bold and get straight to it. The fluttering nervousness in your stomach made you feel like you were a teenager again, you hadn’t been nervous to see a boy in years. When you pulled in the driveway, the boldness started to fade out, and you almost felt shy. There was a split second where you felt guilty, your conscience waved a huge red flag and your brain told you this was wrong. One thought about where Bradley actually was right now, and you swung the car door open and got out. The thought that Bradley probably just got to Clara’s fueled your steps, and by the time you made it to the front door, you were seething. Hopefully Bradley has fun tonight, because you sure will.

Despite the vengeance coursing through your body, you knocked lightly on the door. All too quickly, the lock clicked and the door opened. “Hey, Y/N.” Jake said casually, like you weren’t his best friend's wife. He was freshly showered, his hair was still a little damp. He wore gray sweatpants and a white shirt that was entirely too tight around his biceps. 

“Hi.” You said simply. He stepped back, allowing you to come in. It was quiet, and when he turned around to face you, there was an unmistakable anticipation present. It made a shiver run up your spine and goosebumps breakout on your arms. He nodded his head as a way to say ‘follow me’, and started leading you through the house. Silence still hung in the air. It felt like a volcano waiting to explode, like the calm before a storm. 

You made it to his room, and your heartbeat started to speed up. It was getting real now. You had never seen his room before, but it’s just as nice as you expected. Jake has expensive taste, and his whole house reflects that. His bed was lazily made, but the rest of the room was spotless. 

He reached his bed and sat down on the end of it. The way his hooded eyelids cast a shadow over his eyes made you notice how dark the lighting was in there. Unsure of what to do, you just stood and looked at him. He led you here without a word, he should know what to do now. 

“Come here.” He said darkly, the voice you heard in his office earlier that day made a return. He spread his legs open so you could stand between them, a complete contrast to what happened on his desk. You still hadn’t said a word since you walked in the house, but you didn’t need to, your body said it all. The back of your thighs fit perfectly in his hands, and his shoulders fit perfectly in yours. His huge warm hands on the back of your legs made you want to melt into the floor. “Do you want this?” He asked, looking up at you. 

Bradleys face flashed in your mind. So did Clara’s. You nodded.

“Say it.” His grip tightened on your thighs. 

“I want it.”

“You want what?” He was really making you work for it, apparently.

You went to say it, but you hesitated. It sounded worse out loud. “I want you to fuck me.”

You swear his eyes changed in that instant. He let go of your thighs and pushed you back lightly, confusing you for a moment. “Strip.” He said. Heart in your throat, your jaw could’ve dropped to the floor. This was a lot. But you liked it. 

Taking a deep breath, you started by kicking your shoes off. It only felt right to tease him, so you toyed with the rim of your sweatshirt for a moment. You slowly lifted it over your head, taking your sweet time. When you finally got it off, you heard him exhale. You secretly thanked yourself for wearing such a nice bra. The dim lighting made his face darker, but you could still see the pure lust in his eyes. Next, you hooked your finger in your shorts and pulled them down, revealing the underwear you picked out just for him. Once you kicked your shorts off of your feet, you reached your hand behind your back to unclip your bra.

“Leave it.” He said. You dropped your hands and let him look at you. He reached his hand out to you, making you step forward and grab it. As he was pulling you towards him, his eyes moved all over your body. “You pick these out for me or for him?” 

Your face grew hot. “You.” You replied softly, your hand still in his. He used his grip on your hand to pull you down to kiss him. It was searing, and for a second, both of you reveled in the feeling. Without him having to ask, you climbed on top of him, stradling your legs on either side of him. When your core felt how hard he was under his sweatpants, it made your whole body twitch. If that’s what simply feeling him through his clothes felt like, you had no idea what was going to happen when he actually fucked you. He must have felt it too, his hands gripped your ass and pulled you closer to him. 

Things were moving quickly, but it was still entirely too slow. He flipped you over onto your back and sat up to take his shirt off. This was by far not the first time you had seen Jake with his shirt off, but by god, it was the best. Maybe he was flexing, but you didn't care. He was sculpted like an angel, like there wasn’t a single flaw about his body. His hair got messed up when his shirt was pulled over it, it ruffled the top. It only made him look hotter. It was hard to not notice his dick through his gray sweatpants, and simply the size of his bulge made you nervous. When he bent back down to meet your lips, you kissed him in a rushed manner. It was beyond the point of wanting him, you needed him. “You want my mouth again?” He asked against your lips.

The thought made your eyes roll back in your head. Yes, you undoubtedly wanted his mouth, but you needed him inside you more. You hooked your fingers in his waistband and shook your head. He got the message, but that didn’t mean he was going to give you what you wanted right away. He used both of his hands to pull your underwear down. “Slutty fuckin’ panties.” He mumbled. Your lips met again and it felt like you couldn’t spread your legs any wider for him. Without warning, without a single preliminary touch, he stuck two of his fingers inside of you. This earned a theatrical reaction from you, like it was the first time someone has touched you that way. While it wasn’t the first time by a long shot, it somehow felt like it was, you had never been touched like this. 

“Jake” Was the only thing you could get out of your mouth as he pumped his fingers in and out of you. When you tilted your head back to moan, he took the opportunity to kiss your neck. He felt like he wanted to moan more than you did. His mouth sloppily worked its way down your neck and onto your chest. It would have been smart to ask him not to leave any marks on you, but you didn’t care one bit anymore. Not while his teeth were pulling your bra down. He sucked one of your nipples into your mouth, his fingers were still moving in and out of you. 

“You’re so perfect” He mumbled against your chest. You had never felt a complement that sounded so sincere, just the sound of him saying that made you feel perfect. Under his touch, under his body, under his lips, you were perfect. His fingers curled inside you and your back couldn’t arch any higher, your whimpers couldn’t get any more desperate. He used his arm next to your head to sit up, looking you up and down. His eyes roaming your body didn’t make you insecure or shy, they just riled you up even more. 

His fingers were amazing, but they could only do so much. You both knew what you really wanted. “Please Jake. Please fuck me.” You cried. With one last particularly harsh curl of his fingers, he pulled his fingers out of you. He brought his fingers up to your lips, only having to brush your wetness onto your lips for a second before you sucked them into your mouth without thinking. A low groan came from the back of his throat when you gagged on his fingers, licking your own slick off of him. 

He let his fingers stay in your mouth for longer than they needed to be, purely for the way you looked while taking them. Your eyes bore into his the whole time, and you thought that if he was going to humor himself with this for any longer, you were going to take matters into your own hands. The tips of your nails dragged down his chest, over his stomach, and to the waist of his sweatpants. Teasing was an option, but you couldn’t anymore, your hands gripped his sweats as you pulled them down. While doing so, a realization crossed your mind; he isn’t wearing any underwear. That’s Jake, ever classy. 

He enjoyed letting you do the work, so he leaned down to taste your wetness on your lips. His tongue licked into your mouth, trying to collect anything that was left; the taste of you was addicting, he had gotten a taste in his office earlier, and he knew he was already addicted. You didn’t see his dick right away, but you felt it when you wrapped your hand around it. When you realized how thick he was, your heart fluttered. He was thicker than anything you had ever taken, thicker than your husband. A moan slipped from your mouth into his, and that was his tipping point. Before you could make any further moves, both of your hands were pinned above your head with only one of his. He used the other to pull his sweatpants down further, then line himself up with you. The sound of his breathing was loud as he slid his tip up and down your slit, making you squirm. “God,” he shook his head, his eyes glued to your pussy “you are so fucking wet.”

“Because I’m with you.” You said. It sounded like a simple observation to you, but to Jake it meant that you wanted him, you have always wanted him, the way that he has always wanted you. It meant that you were this wet every time you were around him, the way that he was rock solid every time he was around you. That thought was his breaking point, there was no teasing left that he could do, he slid himself inside of you. You knew that he would stretch you, but the feeling still surprised you. 

“Oh my god.” You whined as he bottomed out. He stopped all of the way inside of you, partially to let you adjust, and partially to revel in the feeling of being inside you. Everything was hazy, his vision, his mind, but he still was able to think about how long he had wanted this. Just the thought of seeing you with Bradley at the bars every weekend, and the fact that you were now underneath him, was enough to make him want to cum. Sweat started to bead on his forehead, and he decided to wait a little longer to start moving, his hand came up to hold your jaw, making you look at him. “You’re so big.” You croaked under his touch. 

His lips were an inch from yours, you could feel his breath. “Take it.” He spat. With that, he started to move. Even with your head against his pillows, you felt lightheaded and your eyes fluttered closed as he pulled all of the way out and went slowly back in. From there, he was no longer slow. It only took seconds for his pace to quicken, until his skin was slapping into yours and the sound was infiltrating your ears. The stretch definitely hurt, but the pain was mixed with the most mouthwatering pleasure. Without even trying, he was hitting the perfect spot deep inside you, and soon the sound of skin slapping was overtaken by your high pitched moans. Without realizing it, he screwed his eyes shut and clenched his jaw, making this last as long as he wanted was going to be a lot harder than normal. You felt his lips against your neck and with his face closer to your ears, you could hear his grunts every time he thrust inside of you. 

His hand was still on your jaw, and even though your wrists had been freed above your head, you hadn’t even noticed. His other hand grabbed onto your hair for leverage. It seemed like his thrusts got harder each time he entered you. “Talk to me, pretty girl. Tell me how you feel.” His tongue swirled behind your ear. 

“So good.” You choked out. “You’re so good, Jake. So, so, so good.” Rambles fell out of your mouth as your arms wrapped around his back. The feeling of nails scratching down his back was one of Jake’s favorite things in the world, so when your long nails stroked all the way from his shoulders to his tailbone, he threw his head back. He sat up so his face was above you again, and slid his hand from your jaw to your neck.

Your eyes found his, and the sight of his tanned, sweaty, toned body above yours made you throb around him. His pace was insane, the pain of him slamming into you was drowned out by the tip of his dick hitting your g-spot with every single thrust. The sight of him, the power behind his thrusts, his size, it was all too much. The tears that had been stinging your eyes for the past 5 minutes started to fall. The throbbing of your pussy and the tightening of your stomach told you that you were close. “J-Jake…” You stuttered. “I’m… I…”

“Beg.” He squeezed your throat. 

“P-Please.” You said the word that you felt like you had already said 50 times tonight. “Please, I’ve waited so long. Please, please, please please please” You rambled, more tears falling. 

“Fuuuck, give it to me.” He groaned and dropped his head, the sight of your doe eyes and tears were going to make him cum himself if he didn’t look away. It didn’t take long after his demand for you to let the wave of pleasure consume you. Mouth falling open, your whole body pulsed and your mind went completely blank. More tears welled in your eyes and the only sensation your body could make out was the feeling of his lips on your jaw. It lasted long and it was powerful, and when you were finally coherent again, there was a noticeable wet spot underneath you. “Good job, sweet girl.” He praised, his sweetness making your stomach flutter. 

Coming back up to hover over you, he kissed you. Believe it or not, Jake is not a complete and total dick, despite popular belief. He had told himself he would not ask you this question, that it would be crossing a line and it could upset you. But, when he pulled away and he saw how fucked-out you looked, and the feeling of your pussy clenching around him clouded his mind, he couldn’t help himself. “Does he fuck you like this?” He asked darkly, his face close to yours.

There was a clear answer. It was staring you right in the face. But saying it out loud just felt wrong. Even more wrong than what you were already doing. “Jake…” You breathed as a surrender. 

“Tell me.” He said. Your mouth opened to answer, then closed again. He raised his eyebrows, his cockiness reflecting in his eyes. To his defense, he had absolutely every right to be cocky about this. You shook your head. “No. Say it.” He said through gritted teeth. 

“No. No he doesn’t.” It came out as almost a laugh. “Nobody ever has.”

“Yeah?” His arms flexed underneath your fingernails that were digging into them. You nodded. 

His energy had an obvious change, the admission had done something sinister to him. He sat fully up and pulled out, earning a loud wince from you. All at once, he grabbed your waist and flipped you over onto your stomach. With one hand, he reached under your stomach to pull you onto your hands and knees. Only having been out of you for seconds, he slammed himself back in. You were already sore, and he wasn’t even done yet. 

Now that your big, tear-filled eyes weren’t staring into his, he was able to start really talking. “Y/N,” one of his huge hands gripped your ass, the other held onto your waist. “I don’t even want to tell you how many times I’ve thought about this.” The only response he got from you was a high pitched whine. “I felt disgusting for thinking about you like that, but I couldn’t help it. It drove me fucking crazy, having to imagine taking you like this every night, my best friends wife.” That probably wasn’t the best thing for him to say right now, but he couldn’t control the words coming out of his mouth anymore. Unbeknownst to him, it just turned you on even more. His thrusts started to lose rhythm, and as much as he would like to keep this going all night, he was coming unraveled. “I always knew I would take better care of you.” He spoke through gritted teeth. “I knew he couldn’t fuck you the way I could. The way you deserve.” 

It felt almost like you were going in and out of consciousness, like you could barely even process his words. Without warning to him or yourself, you pulsed around him and another orgasm poured over your body. No words came from your mouth, and by the end of the second-most powerful orgasm of your life, your body was nearly limp and your face fell to press against the mattress. “Jesus, baby.” Jake breathed. “You just… so much… fuck, where do you want my cum?” he asked, almost rhetorically because of how little time you had to answer. He pulled out at the exact last moment, and you felt his warm cum start to run down your back. He collapsed, trapping your body underneath him as his armed caged around your sides. 

Time felt different, and your hazy mind didn’t know how long the two of you laid there, breathless. Finally, gaining full consciousness, you felt Jake get off of you and walk out of the room. You were smart enough not to turn over, his bedsheets were already wet enough. The feeling of a cold wet towel against your core made your whole body jolt. “Relax, relax.” Jake said, his voice completely different than just a few minutes ago. As he gently wiped your back with the towel, his other hand came to brush hair out of your face, noticing your completely blank expression. “Are you okay?” He asked.

A smile cracked through your lips. You could say the smile was sinister, a I-just-fucked-my-husbands-best-friend smile, or you could say it was pure bliss, a I-just-had-the-best-sex-of-my-life smile. You preferred the latter. “Yeah.” You giggled “You could say that.”

His shoulders relaxed, and a very similar smile spread across his face. While he was putting his sweatpants back on, you glanced at his alarm clock. Nine o clock, it had only been an hour since you left your house. You sunk into the bed with the realization that you had all of the time in the world. Unintentionally, the math of where Bradley is calculated itself in your head. Clara lives further north, on the coast, about 25 minutes from here. Bradley has just gotten started there. 

When Jake climbed in bed next to you, the thought of cuddling made a chill crawl up your spine. For some reason, that felt like crossing a line. It felt more intimate than anything else that had happened in this bed tonight. But, Jake didn’t seem to think twice about it. When his strong arms wrapped around you, and you pressed your cheek against his warm chest, all of your inhibitions melted away. His hand rubbed up and down your back, and your eyes fluttered closed. The feeling of your eyelashes closing against his chest made Jake’s heart swell. Fuck.

-

When you walked up the stairs to your bedroom, the house felt eerily silent. It was unsettling. The stairs didn’t even creek as you walked up them, and your dogs were nowhere to be seen. You started to move quicker towards your bedroom, and you flipped the light on right away when you opened the door.

The sight of strawberry blonde hair splayed across your pillow reflected the overhead light. Your mouth fell open, and you tried to talk, but nothing would come out. Furthermore, you tried to yell, but it felt like you couldn’t even get a breath in to do so. You couldn’t even move your feet. 

Clara’s eyes opened, and she didn’t look shocked to see you. She sat up and met your eyes. A smile spread across her lips. 

Your whole body flinched and your eyes shot open. When you realized you were laying in Jake's bed, you were finally able to take a breath in. The realization made you relax into his arms for a moment, closing your eyes again. When the clouds in your mind started to clear, and you finally had a coherent thought, you realized that you were just asleep. In Jake’s bed. Your eyes shot open again, and your head whipped around to look at his alarm clock. It was 12:30. “Shit.” You gasped. Moving on pure instinct, you rolled out of his bed and started to gather your clothes. By the time your shorts were on, Jake woke up. 

“What’s wrong?” He groggily spoke. 

“We fell asleep. It’s 12:30.” You pulled your sweatshirt over your head. “I have to go home.”

“Oh.” He said. He was obviously not as freaked out as you were, but he wasn’t the one going home to his spouse. The room was quiet while you put your shoes on, and in the darkness you were able to make out Jake’s figure standing up and rubbing his eyes. 

“I’m sorry.” You turned your head to say as you walked out of his room. Fully intending to book it to your car, your rushed movements were stopped by Jake grabbing your wrist right before you reached the front door. He pulled you to his chest and kissed you. His lips were soft, and his hands held your hips gently. Only letting the kiss last a few seconds, you pulled away. You could feel your heartbeat in your ears and you wondered if Bradley had tried calling you, if he was worried about you. Just past his shoulder, you saw Jake's couch, the one you were sitting on when he had originally told you about Bradley’s affair. Just the sight made your blood start to boil. 

You kissed him again. “Goodnight Jake.”

“Goodnight.” His hands left your hips and one last glance was shared between the two of you before you were out the front door. No promises of this happening again, no ‘text me when you get home’, just a pit in both of your stomachs that said this was wrong, but there is no way we are stopping. The air was chilly as you walked to your car and you didn’t have it in yourself to speed home this time. You didn’t care. Driving slowly, you let the radio play softly in the background and when you turned the corner to your street and saw Bradley’s car in the driveway, you hardly reacted. The lights were still on, and with a glance at your phone let you know that he still hadn’t texted or called. 

It was 12:45 and Bradley was on the couch watching TV. Not unusual, but you were still quiet when you walked in. “How’s Jenna?” He didn’t take his eyes away from the TV.

“Good.” You kicked off your shoes. “Her baby is so cute.” While you hoped the questions would stop there, you knew it would be suspicious to just go upstairs right away. How does Bradley do this every day?

He lifted the blanket he was using up so you could crawl under it. His warm skin felt safe and familiar. As usual, his hand fell to your hair to pet it. Closing your eyes, you could already feel the guilt seeping through your skin and crawling up to form a lump in your throat. “How was the game?” You faked curiosity. 

“Mm.” He grumbled. “Philly lost. Per usual.”

You began to wonder if he actually watched it. “How’s Jake?” 

His chest rose under your cheek as he took a breath in. “Good, I think. Same old same old.”

“Mhm.” You agreed. Fucking liar.

An overwhelming feeling of disgust overtook you. He was lying, but so were you. You were just as bad as him. You thought back to the early days of your relationship, when you said you would do anything for each other, you would never leave each other, that you loved each other more than anything in the world. What happened? Where did you go wrong?

Tears stung your eyes and nausea crept up your throat. "I'm gonna go to bed." You sprung off the couch and booked it towards the stairs.

Bradley didn't flinch. "Goodnight." He spoke, eyes glued to the TV "I love you."

You glanced back at him, and maybe if he was looking at you he would see the disturbance of disgust and infidelity on your face. Regardless, you said nothing in response and walked up the stairs silently.

[xxsp3llb0undxx]

The Pack Imprint

Fem!Reader x Uley Pack {2.9k}

Requested - Unknown

DO NOT POST MY WORK TO OTHER SITES OR CLAIM AS YOUR OWN. I DO NOT OWN THE CHARACTERS OF TWILIGHT.

Summary: Reader is Bella Swan's neighbour, having lived beside the Swan's her whole life. The once close pair, now hate each other all because of the group of shifters that reside in the rainy state of Forks, Washington.

WARNINGS: BELLA SLANDER // SWEARING // NOT PROOF READ

Forks, Washington - February 19th 2005

It had been a month since Bella came back to town, she was the centre of the school gossip, everyone trying to either be her friend or get a date with her. All but one person - Y/n L/n. Bella and Y/n grew up together, they were childhood friends along side Jacob Black. But after her parents divorced and she went to live with her mom, Bella had grown distant with the young girl she once saw as a sister. Two letters a week turned into one a month, which then turned into nothing. Y/n was heartbroken, her best friend had up and left. Jacob tried to be around more often but with school on the res and his dad nagging at him to help around the house, he couldn't fit Y/n into his schedule. Which in turn, made the pair grown apart from each other as well. That was until she came back.

The last month in Forks had been hell. Everywhere Y/n went, whispers about the Swan girl being back was all she heard. Every time she would enter through the school door the chatter about her once best friend would swarm through the halls, Y/n had enough. She was sick and tired of always hearing about her, Bella this and Bella that - it was giving her a headache. Jessica and Angela had gave Y/n's seat at the lunch table away to Bella, that was until she started sitting with the Cullens. It was infuriating, she's been back a month and she's already pining after the only Cullen available, it was pathetic. Bella was like a plague coming to ruin Y/n's life all over again, but she wouldn't allow it to affect her.

When lunch came around, Y/n found an empty table near the back of the cafeteria. Jessica and Angela tried to invite her back to their table but all they were met with was Y/n's middle finger held up in front of their faces, the two girls turned and walked away but not without Jessica muttering a not so quiet 'bitch' under her breath. Y/n had enough of Jessica's shit; the sly things she'd say about everyone, how she would point out peoples insecurities and worst of all - how she victimised herself all the goddamn time. Y/n had got up out of her seat, the screech from the metal legs dragging against the floor grabbed the attention of everyone in the cafeteria. "Hey Jess?" Before the girl could respond, Y/n had grabbed a handful of her hair and yanked her back - the scream she let out was loud, almost deafening the Cullens; who were on the other side of the cafeteria. "Don't you ever call me a bitch again, do you hear me? I'm sick and tired of your bullshit. You just never learn to fucking shut up." With that said, Y/n had let go of her and walked out the double doors leading into the parking lot of the school.

The Cullens had watched the whole thing unfold, Bella clinging onto Edward's arm saying she was scared. Emmett had the biggest grin on his face, he was enjoying himself too much, quiet little Y/n had turned out to be a badass and Emmett loved it. Rose had to stop her mate from joining in, a firm grip on his bicep - enough to hurt anyone that wasn't a vampire. Alice, knowing what would happen, had excused herself before the fight broke out. She wanted to see if Y/n was alright, so the pixie like vampire had decided to wait beside Y/n's car, hoping she would show up soon. But she didn't, at least not for awhile. Alice had gotten tired of waiting, she turned to leave when she heard the car door behind her shut with a soft click. Before she could do anything, the car had reversed and turned out the parking lot - heading as far away from the gates of Forks Highschool.

March 5th 2005

It had been at least a week since the whole incident between Y/n and Jessica. No one had seen or heard off Y/n, people had started to spread rumours around saying she was expelled or she had ran away after what she had done but none of it was true, only no one would really know the truth at least not yet. Bella had rang Jacob after it had turned into two weeks of not seeing Y/n, at first the young wolf sounded unfazed, like he didn't care but in truth, it was all an act. He knew about what had happened, he heard it straight from the horses mouth the day it all occurred. Y/n had drove all the way to Jacob's house, he was in the garage when he head the screech of tires pulling up in front of his house. He had poked his head out the garage door to see who it was, not really in the mood for anyone to come rushing into his house when he was busy. The sight of a distraught Y/n had panicked the poor boy, he rushed over to her scanning her body for any signs of injury but he turned up with nothing. Y/n was on the verge of tears, he could hear her heart hammering in her chest. Jacob brought her in to his arms, the warmth radiating off of him helped calm the girl down a little though she was still shaking.

Y/n had brought Jacob up to date with what had happened, he was proud of her for finally standing up to Jessica but he was also upset that it had to get to this point for Y/n to finally step up and confront her about it. Y/n had stayed with Jacob and his dad for the last couple weeks, begging them to not send her back there. A couple weeks had then turned into a month, Jacob had started to ignore everyone and started to hang out with Sam Uley and his little pack of mutts. Y/n wasn't having it, she was sick and tired of waiting for Jacob to come home but he never did, no matter how many times Y/n had asked Billy where Jacob had disappeared to he never told her. She waited for as long as she could until it was too much, she had trekked all the way over to Sam's place; her hands clenched and face red hot with anger. She was going to get her answers one way or another.

When Y/n had made it to Sam's house, Bella just so happened to be there too. Her fiery orange truck parked in the drive. There was a indescribable feeling in the pit of Y/n's stomach, a mixture between anxiety and full blown hatred. She stomped her way over to the group, Sam was telling Bella to leave but she wasn't having any of it, like always. Paul was the first to notice Y/n, her h/l h/c whipping around with the wind. Before he could tell Sam she was here, Bella had shouted at him. "What did you do to him? He didn't want this. He just up and left without telling me anything because he's scared of you." Paul had laughed at Bella, Jacob wasn't scared of anyone and yet she still thought that. Paul was calm until Bella had gone and slapped him across the face, she clutched her hand to her chest, it was surely broken after that hit. Paul had started to shake violently, Sam had pushed Bella back telling her to back away whilst simultaneously trying to get Paul to calm down. Y/n had the dumbest idea ever, we all must admit she's not the smartest. She had slowly started to step towards Paul right as he had shifted.

Bella's screaming could be heard but that didn't bother Y/n, what did though was the huge dark silver furred wolf right in front of her. It's teeth bared, snarling at her. Though, she felt no fear. Her hand slowly reached up and gently lay upon it's muzzle. The wolf huffed, he wasn't entirely trusting the girl in front of him but he also felt no fear towards her. He looked into her e/c and everything stilled. The noise around him had calmed, all he could focus on was her. Paul felt like the centre of the earth had shifted, like he was finally where he was meant to be. Before he knew it, he had shifted back. Y/n's body flush against his own, protecting him from the eyes around them. Soon enough, a blanket had been given to him to cover up until he was able to make it back to the house and put a new set of clothes on. Paul was confused, how was he able to imprint on Y/n when he had already imprinted on Rachel, Jacob's sister?

After the events of earlier today, Bella had told Jacob to never speak to her again and she left, just like that. Jacob was sat on the steps of Sam's porch, he just wanted to be alone but he knew that was impossible. Jacob felt a shift of weight beside him, he turned his head and saw Y/n wrapped up in one of Emily's blankets, she must've given Y/n the blanket to stay warm. Jacob threw his arm over the smaller girl, the warm his body provided her, soothed the chill that made a home in her bones. "You know, Bella doesn't deserve you Jake. You're too good for her." They both sat there in silence for awhile, the soft chime of the trees rustling in the wind settling in to the comfortable silence around them. The door to Sam's house opened, revealing the older male. "Come inside, we're having a pack meeting." The pair looked at each other before Jacob got up and walked inside, leaving Y/n to sit on her own to watch the trees dance around in the soft breeze.

Inside Sam's house, the pack was all sat around in his living room. Embry, Paul, Jared and Quil were sat on the sofa, Leah and Seth took up the two arm chairs while Sam and Jacob were stood; everyone waiting for Sam to start the meeting. "We all witnessed what happened between Paul and Y/n earlier, Paul imprinted for the second time. What we need to figure out is why that happened." All eyes were on Paul, he felt smug about having two imprintee's but it felt wrong, as if he were betraying Rachel. The meeting had gone on for the last hour, the pack had decided to try and see if they would all imprint or if it was only Paul to be lucky enough to have two imprintee's. The pack had left the house, Y/n completely unaware of what was about to happen. Jacob held his hand out to Y/n, pulling her up on her feet and leading her over to the small field where Paul had initially shifted. "I need you to be as calm as possible, okay? We need to see if what happened to Paul earlier will happen to all of us, I promise I will explain it all later." Y/n only nodded her head, giving Jacob the all clear.

The pack had lined up beside each other, Paul was the first to shift. He felt all the feelings from earlier flood back, his heart pounded as he stepped closer to Y/n. She reached out to run her fingers through this fur, earning a soft grunt from the silver wolf. Next was Embry, he was scared to look up at Y/n, he felt sick to his stomach; what if he didn't imprint? Y/n took careful steps to Embry, his fur was gray with black spots; he was slightly smaller than Paul. Y/n crouched down to be eye level with the gray wolf, his eye's locked with hers and it was like his whole body was set alight. Slight tingles coursed through his bones, he felt complete. Embry nuzzled into Y/n, small giggles erupted from the girl, the sound was like wind chimes clashing together. Embry left with Paul to shift back and change back into their clothes. Quil and Jared were next, Quil's wolf had chocolate brown fur while Jared had light brown fur with black markings around his eyes. The pair had imprinted instantly, their tails wagging behind them as they accepted the affection off their imprintee. Seth had imprinted fairly easy, though he was still scared. The sandy brown furred wolf cowered at the attention of his imprint, too overwhelmed by the feelings bubbling inside him. The young wolf left as quickly as possible, wanting to shift back and put this behind him for now.

Leah imprinted soon after Seth, she finally knew what it was like to have someone meant for her. The tingling coursing through her body was welcomed, Leah stayed beside Y/n refusing to leave the girls side. She would not leave her imprint, not now - not ever. Jacob and Sam were the only ones left, they had decided to shift at the same time, afraid of being rejected. Sam was a black furred wolf, he was like a shadow while Jacob was a rusty brown colour, almost like Seth. Sam was the first to look up at Y/n, her e/c stared straight back at him. His heart was pounding in his ears, he didn't feel anything at first. He knew what it was like to imprint and yet, he felt nothing. Sam was about to give up and just walk away, until Y/n sat in front of him and ran her fingers through his fur, an electric shot went straight though him. Images flashed behind his eyes, growing old with her, having a family of their own, loving her till his very last breath. Sam now had two imprintee's, what was he going to tell Emily? The black furred wolf walked off towards the house, his ears pinned against his head.

Jacob still had his head pointed down, his eyes trained on the dirt under his paws. "Jake? Look at me, please." Her voice was soft, almost a whisper. Jacob listed his head, his pupils blew as images of them laughing together, cooking dinner together, messing around with the pack flashed before his eyes. It was like his ears were flooded with water, he knew he would do anything, be anything for her. His whole world was centred around Y/n and what their life would be like together. A blanket of warmth wrapped itself around his heart, he felt content knowing his best friend would be his forever.

Once everyone had shifted back and back in their clothes, they had all settled in to the living room. Y/n sat on the sofa, squished between Jacob and Leah, while Seth sat in front of her on the floor; his back pressed against her legs. Paul and Jared were fighting over what to watch, while Quil and Embry made popcorn for everyone. Sam was the only one missing, he was sat in his shared bedroom with Emily. They were arguing, everyone could hear it. "Is it my fault? Them fighting, I mean." Y/n felt guilty, she didn't want to tear apart Sam's relationship, she would gladly show herself out if it wasn't for Jacob and Leah physically holding her in place. Paul was the first to say anything, he had crouched in front of the sofa, his hand linked with hers. "Hey.. it's not your fault doll face, no one could've seen this happening. You are our imprint, you are what matters the most to us, it could never be your fault, okay?" Paul kissed Y/n's knuckles, his lips ever so lightly grazing her skin. She sniffled slightly as she nodded her head. Y/n couldn't have been more happy to have the pack, she finally felt loved and included for once. The rest of the night consisted of watching random movies and eating too much junk, Y/n had passed out on Leah's shoulder after the second movie had started. She was soon followed by the rest of the pack, all spread out in the living room. Seth cuddling into Y/n's leg, Jacob flung half on Y/n while Leah was now hanging off the sofa, Paul laying beside Seth on the floor; his head on Seth's arm. Jared and Embry passed out on the arm chairs, their bodies thrown across them like they were dolls tossed to the side. Quil was the only normal one out the bunch, he was cuddled into a blanket away from everyone else, a pillow under his head as he snored.

Y/n had made a family for life, she would not give this up for anything.

[reyreadersblog]

ALRIGHT Y'ALL MADE ME DO IT!!!

My unpopular tig/tgg opinions!!

FIRST!

These are MY opinions and i'm allowed to have my own thoughts on certian things, just as you are, okay..? Just wanna..get this out of way, i know everyone is respectful in this fandombut still.

1. this is something that should NOT be an upopular opinion. AVERY IS THE MAIN CHARACTER FOR A REASON. okay? She is a girlboss, and she needs more appretiation, cus literally search up tig on tt rn. Everybody and their cat named Stewie is talking about Grayson and Jameson? WHAT ABOUT MY MG AVERY? And if you see any post about her, it's probably a hate vid about how Avery should've kept the money...SHUT UP. Read what she said carefully..."no one deserves that kind of power.." and then think about it deeply.

2. I DO NOT WANT TIG TO TURN INTO A TV SERIES (or even a movie). i can't name all the reasons 'cus then the the list would be endless. First of all, i know, I JUST KNOW, they'll choose the worst cast ever. And even if they find the most accurate cast for the Hawthorne brother i will still be dissapointed, because the images of them i have in my head...THEY'LL NEVER TOP EM. second of all, they will leave out important moments, just as simple as it sounds, and trust me they will, just like they do with most of the live adaptations of books. Third of all, SHIP WARS!!! I phisically can't with ship war, like I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF EM IN THE PAST WHEN THE BOOKS WERE STILL COMING OUT. And just the thought of Averygrayson shipper saying "yeah Avery and jameson were endgame in the books but they might change it in the movie..." GIVES ME NIGHTMARES. and overall, not everything needs a live adaptation yk? sometimes things just have to stay the way they are.

3. ...this is a bit contrevertial.and i don't want to sound like a hater since i've said this a multiple times before but Rohan's pov was my least favourite in the grandest games. Purely bcs whatever Savannah and Rohan had going on...don't get me wrong, i like Savannah (even tho she did and said some fucked up things) and Rohan, SEPERATLY. But them being together...idk man, they were too..."booktokish" for my liking, yk? and i do love banter and teasing, but they were like basic "i like you but i like winning more" "couple". Not to mention they were so random...like where did they come from? I remember when we first saw Sav and Rohan having the same symbols on their cards i was very excited, i expected a different dynamic between them...PLUS THE WHOLE GAME THEY JUST WANTED TO FUCK💀

4. Hating Alisa Ortega and loving Grayson Hawthorne is CRAZYYY, and i'm saying this bcs they're pretty similar in different ways. And the thing is people are mad at Alisa for "saying mean words to Libby" (she was literally doing her job, you would understand if you were at her place) MEANWHILE GRAYSON LITERALLY THREATENED A HEIRESS! (sayin this as a Gray stan) *sigh* y'all are something else🤦🏻‍♀️.

5. Ohh...this one is risky...BUT CAN Y'ALL STOP ACTING LIKE JAMESON IS BLAMELESS?? all i see is Grayson slander, AND I UNDERSTAND, he fucked up, but saying "Jameson was so much better than Grayson" is a lie, at least for me. (He was better for Avery tho) he fs made mistakes that fandoms chooses to ignore. Like lets not act like treating Avery like a toy wasn't wrong. Lets not act like him blaming Grayson for everything wasn't wrong. Let's not act like him reminding Grayson of Emily's death wasn't wrong. And i know that later on both him and Grayson had a great character development, but still, i've never seen anyone talk about this.

6. This isn't about tig. But LIKING JLBS WORK AND BEING HER FAN DOESN'T MEAN YOU'RE GLAZING HER💀 (talking about an argument i had a while ago...) like is it so hard for your brain to understand that it's called having an opinion. Idc if it's JLB or any other author, okay? Like i've read almost every Jlb's books and i love them, AND i also publicly talk about how much iblove her work, does that mean i'm glazing her? UHM NO WTF💀.

7. LET. PEOPLE. HAVE. PREFRENCE. (I'm talking about ships btw) . Someone prefers LyraGray over Averyjameson, and that's okay. Someone loves Averyjameson the most, and that's also okay, someone likes Libbynash more then Xandermax, AND THAT IS ALSO OKAY.

I'll probably do part 2, i have more to say i'm just really tired rn.

Also it's not proof read so sorry if there are many mistakes.

[rallamajoop]

Mia Winters in Shadows of Rose

I really did think I was done talking about (read: furiously defending) Mia Winters when I made all those other posts earlier this year. I’ve even touched on the misconceptions about her in Shadows of Rose before, at least in a reblog. But someone reblogged one of those posts recently with a comment that mentioned this particular aspect of the hate she gets in passing, and I had such a strong response to it (and for what is honestly in no way that poster’s fault) that I had to accept that maybe I wasn’t as done as I thought he was.

So there’s the idea in fandom that Mia voluntarily gave up her daughter to the government after RE8. It's bullshit and obviously so, but it's still going to take me another whole post to get into why seeing this ‘fact’ parroted about her annoys me so damn much.

Because this is not an outside take. I’ve seen people claim they didn’t have any particular opinion on Mia until this was the tipping point that pushed them into hating her. I’ve seen "sympathetic" takes on Mia which suggest that really it’s not her fault at all that she couldn’t love her own daughter, because [elaborate bullshit]. "Mia abandonned Rose at the first opportunity after RE8" is one of those takes that gets repeated ad nauseum.

First question: based on what, exactly?

No really, if there’s some obscure, mistranslated press release out there as the source, please, someone point me to it, because nothing in Shadows of Rose tells us anything of the sort.

Excluding Eveline’s horrifying Mia-puppets, the real Mia is mentioned all of twice in Shadows of Rose. The first mention comes when you find young Rose’s diary, which tells us that she found regular school a bit basic, because she’d already learned all that stuff with ‘Mommy’. So we can safely assume Rose was home-schooled by Mia for much of her childhood, though now Rose is attending a regular school. "Home schooled with enough care to put her ahead of her same-age peers" sure says "abandoned" to me!

The other mention of Mia is more ambiguous, and is easily missed, heard only if you read her letter about baking a cake for Rose’s half birthday in the Winters’ home sequence. After reading it, Rose sadly says, "I haven’t seen Mom in ages." Why she hasn’t seen her mother in so long isn’t explained (though she certainly sounds like she'd like to), nor do we have any idea how long ‘ages’ really is. It’s certainly enough to make the player wonder, but no answers are ever supplied, or even really hinted at.

And that’s it. That’s everything we’ve actually got on Mia’s place in Rose’s mid-teens life. I have played this DLC multiple times and poured through the game files ‒ trust me on this.

Unlike so many other bits of slander thrown at Mia’s feet, the idea that Mia ‘gave up her daughter to the government’ sometime after that first diary was written is at least theoretically possible, given the very little we know. But why the fuck do people treat it like it’s the only possibility? Do we really have so little imagination?

The only thing we can positively say about Mia in Shadows of Rose is that she’s not in it. Mia could be in a coma for all we know! She could be in prison! The government could’ve taken Rose from her against her will! She could be deep undercover in some criminal organisation who represent a real threat to her daughter! She could be in some mental institution after the stress of losing Ethan proved too much! Those experiments Miranda performed on her could’ve had horrifying long-term side effects! ALL of these things are at least as possible as ‘Mia gave her daughter up voluntarily’. And they’re all a whole fuckload more plausible.

Because lemme tell you what we actually know about Mia's relationship with her daughter. In fact, you know what, have a whole mini gallery of what we know.

Mia ‘nothing else matters as long as my family is together’ Winters – the woman who advanced on Chris demanding where is my husband? Where is my daughter? – who positively lights up when she sees her daughter safe at the end of RE8 ‒ the one with the whole photo album full of pictures documenting her pregnancy or where she's gazing happily at her newborn daughter… you’re telling me this woman would just give Rose up? Come on.

Even Shadows of Rose contributes to this take on Mia: to get that one line from Rose about not having seen her mother, you have to read the one document in the game written from Mia’s perspective, which is full of joy about making a cake for her daughter’s half-birthday celebration.

Heck, even the Baker Incident Report makes clear that Rose is the most important thing in Mia’s life. Mia loves Rose more than anything in every other part of this canon.

And someone still went, "Oh, well Rose hasn’t seen her in a while in SoR, and the government seems to have their sticky fingers in her life, so clearly Mia just gave her up"? And the rest of fandom has been repeating it ever since? What is wrong with people?

In fact, while we’re talking the adults in Rose’s life as of SoR, why on earth does Chris get a pass? The only thing we hear about his current ‘relationship’ with Rose, a girl who’s still in high school and hasn’t even begun learning to control her powers yet, is that he’s apparently pestering her to join his para-military squad. Her first assumption when a member of his squad comes to talk to her is that this is what it’s about. I mean, that’s objectively pretty fucked up.

In all seriousness here, I’m not trying to start some #cancelchrisredfield movement, because I really doubt those lines were written with the primary goal of establishing Rose’s relationship with Chris – they’re just clunky exposition. They’re here to let us know a) Chris is still working with his Dog Dog Squad, b) Kay, the guy we’ve just met, is a member, and c) Chris is aware that Rose’s powers are going to be a big deal – and presumably he’s still as weirdly intense about everything as he is in the rest of RE8. Rose does seem happier about Chris’s role in her life in her diary, where he seems to have pulled some strings to allow her to go to a regular school (but presumably even Chris draws the line at recruiting pre-teens, so that’s yet to start), so we've got some friendly interactions between them, but Chris seems no more involved in Rose's teen life than Mia is.

I don’t know how the RE8 writers did expect us to interpret the idea that Chris is apparently trying to recruit untrained under-18s to his team, but I’m sure with enough imagination, you can come up with some way to spin it that doesn’t paint him in a completely irredeemable light (maybe he just wants her involved in training and self-defence or something, or maybe it’d give him the power to tell other government departments with an interest in her to take a hike, who knows?) What really stands out to me, however, is that I don’t have to defend Chris over how his non-part in this DLC is so under-explained. So why the hell does Mia get both barrels, when we know even less about her current relationship with Rose than for Chris?

Oh wait, I know this one. It’s because she’s a woman, and we’ve already decided she’s a bad person. Any mother whose life doesn’t seem to revolve entirely around her sad daughter is obviously an irredeemable human being, amirite? [Insert table-flip here]

As I’ve said before, I’d really like for there to be a more interesting explanation for why we hear so little about Mia in Shadows of Rose. I would love for the reason to be that they’ve got big plans for Mia in RE9, and don’t want SoR to pre-emptively spoil whatever’s going to happen to her. I would kill for a whole game about Mia, starting way back before RE7 and filling in all those big holes in her story, before picking up again post RE8 and beyond. I’m realistic enough to realise that’s not likely, but gdi, I can dream. It’s certainly possible that one of the reasons we hear so little about her in Shadows of Rose is because the writers are trying to leave their options open, just in case.

But putting all my pipe dreams for RE9 aside, I'd bet good money the main reasons why Mia has so little presence in Shadows of Rose are thematic. The whole story depends on Rose feeling isolated and lonely as motivation for why she wants to be 'normal', before she finally decides it's worth giving that up for the chance to meet her Dad properly for the first time. That all hits a lot harder on a thematic level if we downplay the few positive relationships Rose does have in her life ‒ her mother included. I mean, you may as well ask why all the teachers in any Harry Potter novel are so useless most of the time: because it’s easier to tell the story they want to tell that way. Chris’ part in Rose’s life is almost certainly downplayed for the very same reasons (plus possibly some resistance to making fans face an incarnation of Chris who might well be in his 60s by whatever year this actually is).

So, yeah. Maybe Mia as-long-as-we're-together Winters did home school her beloved daughter all through her early years, and then one day just decided "y’know what, I’m done with this" and signed Rose over to the government without a second thought. God knows I’ve heard of worse cases of random character assassination from franchises I’ve trusted. And the moment Capcom actually gives us any reason to believe that’s the intent, I’m sure someone will let me know.

But in the meantime, Jesus Christ, people – this DLC is like three hours long, and it’s all on youtube – it is not hard to check this shit, c’mon.

[autumnshighlady]

I've Always Liked to Play With Fire (part 18)

NESTA ARCHERON X ERIS VANSERRA X FEMALE!READER

summary: it's time to meet Beron

warnings: Night Court slander, anti Rhysand, MENTIONS OF R*PE/SA, BRIEF SA IMPLICATIONS (nothing graphic but it's still icky)

word count: 5.9k

DO NOT REPOST ANYWHERE

a/n: things are picking up again! more plottwists and turns hehe, i hope you enjoy this chapter!

feedback is appreciated, just no hate pls! these are just my opinions, i’m more curious to see how you all like the writing and characterization and storylines!

part 1 // part 2 / part 3 / part 4 / part 5 / part 6 / part 7 / part 8 / part 9 / part 10 / part 11 / part 12 / part 13 / part 14 / part 15 / part 16 / part 17 / 

read on ao3

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Your wrists were sweating beneath the cuffs that adorned your wrists. Every inch of your body trembled, remembering the last time you had been chained up. It was necessary, you reminded yourself. Beron had to see you as a prisoner, as much as you hated that role you needed to look the part.

The servants had put you in a tattered gown and covered your skin in smears of dirt and grime. You looked very convincing, almost too convincing. Every time you glanced down at yourself, that cold, familiar feeling washed over you - the one that made your heart stop beating for a split second and left you wondering if you were back in Rhysand’s dungeons. The servants’ eyes were sympathetic as they tied the gag around your mouth as gently as possible, quietly offering you words of comfort through your tears.

Nesta and Eris were already in the throne room with Beron. They had been in there for a few minutes, but it had felt like hours. Two of Eris’ personal guards stood on either side of you - Saeros and Ivar were their names, they had politely informed you. You wondered how many other people in the Autumn Court were secretly loyal to Eris rather than their current High Lord. At the very least, it gave you confidence that Eris’s succession would go smoothly.

Saeros, a tall male with long brown hair and a stern face gently squeezed your arm. It's time, he seemed to say. You nodded subtly, understanding. After a deep breath, you began thrashing wildly in their grip just as the heavy doors to the throne room swung open. You kicked and rocked back and forth, screaming through the gag. The guards held you firm, dragging you across the ground towards the throne. You dared not sneak a glance to the right side of the bottom steps, knowing Nesta and Eris stood there. You focused on your performance, putting up a hell of a fight. Eventually, you ended up on your knees right before the bottom of the throne stairs. You forced your eyes upwards and were met with the sneering face of Beron Vanserra.

His slender face was twisted in a mix of disgust and glee. Ageing brown hair was too slicked back, reminding you of a snakeskin. His eyes were so dark brown they were basically black - bottomless dark voids of hatred that knew new bounds. A golden crown sat upon his head, a bright red jewel in the centre of it. Bony fingers gripped the sides of his throne, knuckles white. He was sizing you up like you were his next meal, and you tried not to squirm underneath his gaze.

“Consider this your Autumn Equinox gift from me, father.” Eris’s smug voice filled the room as the guards removed your gag. “One of Rhysand’s spies, (Y/N), was found at the border. She claims she’s fleeing from him, and is seeking sanctuary.”

Beron’s eyes gleamed even more. “Is that true?”

You gulped, forcing yourself to shake slightly in fear. “Yes, my Lord.”

“And why would you be running away from your master?” The male sneered. “I don’t believe it for a second, girl. For all we know, he sent you here to spy on us.”

“He did not.” You let the tears you had summoned fall down along your cheeks. “I swear by the Mother, my Lord.”

Beron rolled his eyes and huffed. He turned to Eris as if you were no longer there. “Why did you even bother bringing her here, boy?” He growled at his son. “This is not my problem. Send her back to Rhysand, or just kill her and be done with it. I couldn’t care less.”

“I have intel.” You blurted out, remembering the angle Eris had told you to play. “Valuable intel that could change everything. I will tell you everything I know if you give me sanctuary. Please, my Lord, I beg you.”

Something in Beron’s gaze shifted, as he seemingly contemplated the weight of your words. He paused for a moment before speaking. “You’re not from the Night Court originally, are you?” You opened your mouth to speak, but the High Lord cut you off before you could form any words. “I’ve been around long enough to tell which court someone belongs to, girl. The Night Court stench that clings to you is not very strong, so you clearly haven’t been there long. You stink of flowers, so I assume it is the Spring Court you originate from?”

“Yes, my Lord.” Your eyes burned into the floor, and it took all your willpower not to glance at Eris and Nesta. They were so close, yet so far away.

“And how does a girl from the Spring Court end up as one of Rhysand’s spies, only to flee from him less than a year into the job?”

“My father was one of Tamlin’s closest advisors. When Hybern came, I was the only one of my family to survive. My entire village was gone, so I wandered until one of Rhysand’s spies found me.” You decided to leave out that it was Lucien who found you. “They took me in and kept me prisoner, my only way to have a chance at living a life was to spy for them in return for my life being saved. I trained under the Spymaster, and was sent on several small missions to Spring. I hated it, and wanted out. But one day I overheard something…” You shook your shoulders, letting your voice trail off.

“Go on.” Beron snapped with little patience.

“Apologies, my Lord.” You continued. You could feel Nesta and Eris’s gazes burning into you as you put on a performance. “The Spymaster and Rhysand spoke of a weapon, a Made weapon. One that the High Lord could use to claim the title of High King and take over all of Prythian.”

Beron’s face went red with anger, and you resisted the urge to chuckle. His hands gripped the throne so tightly you were surprised it didn’t shatter. 

“Father, if Rhysand intends to seize that title–” Eris spoke up but was cut off.

“I’d sooner spend a thousand years being tortured in Hel before I kneel to that half-breed scum!” Spit was practically flying out of the High Lord’s mouth as he yelled, outraged. “I will slaughter him and his entire court before I let him take my own!”

You finally caught a glimpse of Eris as he left Nesta’s side and walked up the steps to his father. You willed your cheeks not to flush as you caught sight of him. His deep red tunic was clinging to his frame, a pattern suited for none other than royalty. His hair was pulled back in a simple braid, with a few loose jaw-length strands framing his face. Eris whispered something in his father’s ear, but he was so quiet even your fae hearing could not make out his words. Whatever he said worked, as he retreated back to Nesta’s side and Beron began to calm down. His face returned to its normal ashy colour as he settled back into his throne. 

“Now, why would Rhysand becoming High King make you run away?” Beron asked, all too calmly. “Surely you’d benefit from it, being a member of his court after all.”

“Because when he found out I knew, he imprisoned and tortured me.” You didn’t have to fake the tremor in your voice this time as you recalled the cold dungeon.

“And yet you got out.”

“They let me out to complete a mission, and I used it as an opportunity to run.”

Beron’s eyes narrowed, and fear churned in your gut. If he did not believe you, then this was all for nothing. You silently pleaded for help, yet you weren’t even sure to whom. All you could think of was keeping your racing heart from exploding out of your chest.

“She’s telling the truth, father.” Eris piped up, as if he had heard your pleas.

“And how do you know that?” The High Lord’s voice was dry and bored, which worried you even more.

“I noticed fresh wounds on her back when I found her.”

“Show me.”

At Beron’s command, Eris stepped towards you. You met his amber gaze, which was stone cold. It lacked the warmth that had been present a few hours ago in the dining room. This was the mask that Eris had worn for centuries. You had never quite gotten used to it, to how easily he slipped in and out of his guise.

Eris nodded at the guards, who turned you around so your back was facing the throne. Before you could register what was happening, the prince’s slender hands gripped the neckline of your dress from behind and pulled. A loud ripping sound echoed throughout the room as Eris pulled your dress in half, exposing your wounded back. Shame rushed through your veins as you felt the cold air on your backside, which was clearly on display to the High Lord now.

You whimpered, not entirely for show as embarrassment flooded your cheeks. Beron stared at you for what you thought was too long before the guards turned you back to face him. “He did a number on you, girl.” Beron chuckled humourlessly. You could tell by his tone that he almost admired the bloody artwork on your back. Beron Vanserra was no stranger to amusement from torture - that you knew.

“My Lord,” Nesta’s voice spoke up like music to your ears. “You called me in here to display my powers, did you not? May I suggest we get on with it?”

You tensed at Nesta’s brazen challenge. It was stupid to speak to the male in such a tone in his own throne room, and you half expected him to simply scoff and smite Nesta to ash right there and then. But instead, Beron simply huffed. “Very well. Impress me, Nesta Archeron, and I shall allow you to marry my eldest son. If not…”

He didn’t have to finish his sentence for it to be understood that it was a threat. For the first time, you glanced at Nesta. Her hair was neatly braided as usual, and she wore a dark red gown bearing the same pattern as Eris’s tunic. It had a high neckline and long sleeves, a thousand times more modest than anything in the Night Court. Yet it suited her, and brought about an elegance that enhanced her beauty even more.

Nesta only nodded, and the guards hauled you off to the side. Nesta took your place at the bottom of the throne, smoothing her skirts. For a second, her gaze fluttered to Eris, who gave her a reassuring nod. She inhaled deeply and closed her eyes. When she opened them again they glowed silver, and you noticed Beron sitting forward in his seat. Silver flames began to whorl around her fingertips, dancing like leaves in the wind as they scattered throughout the room.

Nesta’s entire body began to glow as more and more fire poured out of her. You glanced at Beron again, seeing panic in his eyes as the flames rushed towards him. They leapt over him like a wave, and it was only a few seconds before you felt another wall of silver fire headed towards you and your guards. Yet you did not feel any fear, only a deep sense of trust that whatever happened, Nesta’s flames wouldn’t hurt you. They cocooned around you, trapping you inside them but never touching you. Through the flickers, you could just make out the same thing happening to Eris, Beron, and everyone else in the room. Nesta had bathed the entire room in her silver fire, yet did not harm a soul. It was to exemplify control, to show Beron that she could manipulate the magic to do whatever she, or Beron, wanted.

The noise of the flames was not a harsh, crackling noise like most fires. It was soothing, like the tide of the ocean or the rush of wind on a summer’s eve. The flames danced and sang to you, a force so strong you could practically hear words emitting from them in an ancient tongue.

After a few moments, the flames retreated to Nesta’s side. Like a tsunami, they pulled in behind her glowing figure and arched over fifteen feet in the air. Everyone’s mouth was agape as the flames moulded and shaped themselves into a dragon’s head identical to Athariel’s. Nesta remained glowing at the base of the dragon’s neck, its head arching above her like a protective dog. She was completely and utterly still, as if her mind was both present and relieving the memories of an ancient god from a millenia ago at the same time.

You swallowed thickly, emotion overcoming you. Months ago, Nesta had been too afraid to summon even a flame. Now, here she was, shaping her fire into majestic serpents with full control over them. You were proud, but couldn’t help the pang in your chest. Nesta had faced so many challenges while you were stuck in a cell, unable to witness her growth. It was time you could never get back.

Without struggling, the silver flames retreated, fading into Nesta’s fingertips as they went out. When she opened her eyes again, they were their normal shade of grey. You looked around, expecting to see a room scorched. But there was no damage - the flames did not burn anything.

The room is utterly silent for a few minutes, Beron’s expression unreadable. Even Eris was shuffling on his feet, nervousness apparent. Finally, the High Lord spoke. “Consider me impressed, Nesta Archeron.” His voice was suspiciously kind, and both you and Eris blinked in surprise at the same time. “And consider yourself having my blessing for this marriage with my son.”

“Thank you, my Lord.” Nesta said, bowing her head.

“Wonderful.” Beron clapped his hands together. “We shall have the wedding in two months' time, and (Y/N)’s wedding the month after.”

Every bone in your body froze. “What?” Was all you managed to stutter through your dry throat.

Beron smiled, an unsettling gesture. “I accept your request for sanctuary in exchange for information, as the intel you provided is crucial in the survival of my court.” He said smoothly. “Yet you seem to have a habit of bouncing between courts, so I will assure that you remain here where I can keep an eye on you. You shall be marrying Melgorm, my second youngest son. You are from a respectable family, are you not? You should be honoured at the chance to marry someone from a royal bloodline.”

You glanced over at Eris, whose mask had fallen entirely. His face was one of pure horror, panic settling over his amber eyes. You weren’t sure if you were still breathing, tears welling up in the corners of your eyes. You had heard stories of Eris and Lucien’s brothers, none of them good. 

“Have chambers prepared for the lady.” Beron ordered the guards. “You will all be staying here as wedding preparations are made. This meeting is over. Congratulations to the happy couples.” The High Lord’s smile was one of pure evil and gloating as he drank in your distress. 

You felt numb as the guards dragged you to your new chambers, locking the door behind you as you entered the room.

 *********************

Over the next half hour, you scrubbed the dirt off your skin in the bath and changed into a soft, gold nightgown. You had hardly felt the scalding water, nor the harsh scrapes of the brush as you tried to scrub away the memories of that entire interaction. Every time you thought about Beron’s smiling face as he announced he was marrying you off, you felt ill.

You had not been naive growing up – you knew most marriages between noble High Fae families were arranged and as a result, often loveless at best. But you remembered the haunting fear in Lucien's eyes as he cried to you over the cruel things his brothers had done. You had accepted long ago that you would likely not marry for love, but this… this would be worse than a loveless marriage. It would be a whole new kind of torture.

As you sat lifelessly on the bed, a sharp gust of air swirled behind you, causing you to spin around. You yelped in surprise as you were met with Nesta and Eris. “Dammit, don't do that,” You hissed. “You made me jump out of my skin!” 

You expected a witty comeback from Eris, but none came. His face was grave, and Nesta’s was filled with rage. They were both still dressed in their attire from the meeting. “I’m so sorry.” Eris blurted out. “I had no idea he would do that. I swear by it.”

“I believe–” You tried to speak but Eris continued rambling.

“If I had known he was going to do that I would have never–”

“Eris!” You practically yelled. “I believe you. It’s not your fault.”

The prince’s eyes were glassy as he walked around the bed and kneeled in front of you. He took your hands in his own and pressed his forehead against them. “Forgive me.” He muttered.

“Eris,” You said softly. “It’s ok.”

Amber eyes gazed up at you, even as his hands still tightly clung on to your own. He did not rise from his kneeling position. “No, it’s not.” He said. “You don’t know Malgorm. He is the worst of all my brothers. He makes my father look like a bunny rabbit.”

You felt the bed dip behind you and a familiar hand rubbed your shoulder. Nesta’s presence steadied you as she sat behind you, the warmth of her hand easing the shock from your body.

“Malgorm does not view females as people, but rather toys for his own personal amusement.” Eris continued. “None of his lovers have been his on their own free will. He does not hesitate to inflict pain on them, humiliate them, force himself…”

“Eris…” Nesta warned, her hand squeezing your shoulder even tighter.

“My point is, my father knows exactly damn well exactly what kind of monster his second youngest son is. I strongly suspect he wants to marry you to him because he hopes that he’ll kill you or just lock you away somewhere. That way he won’t have to worry about you becoming a problem.”

“So how do we stop it?” Nesta asked, her voice sharp like razors.

“We can’t.” Eris sighed, resting his chin on your knee. “Not while Beron is alive.”

“So then we kill him.” Nesta argued defiantly.

“If it was that simple don’t you think I’d have done it already? No, it takes planning. And time. Time to ensure that when I overthrow him, we for one, have a cover story; and two, have enough people on my side that there won’t instantly be a coup.”

You gently untangled one of your hands from his and then combed your fingers through his silky hair. “It’ll be ok.” You reassured him as you stroked the locks. “Plans change all the time. We just have to adapt.”

Eris sighed, closing his eyes and ever so slightly leaning into your touch. Nesta leaned forward gently and rested her head on your shoulder, sighing deeply. “This is bad.” She muttered. “This is really, really bad.”

“Yes,” You said firmly, heart fluttering at her and Eris’s closeness to you. “But we can’t change the past, so now we just have to figure out how to move forward. Eris, how much power is needed to take down a High Lord?”

“A lot.” The Prince mumbled.

“No shit.” You snorted. “Between the three of us, do you think we have enough?”

“Two of us.” Eris corrected. “You’re taking no part in this.”

You blinked. “Excuse me?”

“You haven’t trained your powers,” He said firmly. “It’s too risky to have you anywhere near this when it goes down.”

You scoffed, furious. “So I’m just supposed to stand by while you two risk your lives killing a High Lord? No, not gonna happen.”

“Dammit, (Y/N)!” Nesta snapped, silencing the room. “We just got you back. We’re not losing you again.”

You went quiet, tears welling in your eyes. You hated feeling useless, shackled down by your inability to be like everyone else. But deep down you knew they were right. Frankly, you weren’t even sure what you could do with your powers, let alone how to wield them. All you’d done is accidentally explode a mountain cave, and you didn’t even know what you were doing. 

The Archeron sister inhaled deeply. “Eris and I will take care of Beron, end of story. Now, when we were still in the House of Wind, you said you had more planned for the Night Court.”

You nodded. “Yeah. Although frankly the rest of it was just vague ideas, I wasn’t even sure we’d make it this far to be honest.”

“Ye of little faith.” Eris chuckled, patting your hand. “So, little fox, what else is in this master revenge plan of yours? Was burning down the Inner Circle’s houses not enough?”

“No.” Your voice was firm. “That was just the beginning. I want to make sure their entire court knows how horrible they are. I want them to lose all their power.”

“And how do you plan on that?” The male beneath you asked, still resting his head in your hand.

You took a deep breath. You hadn’t uttered a word of this part of your plan to anyone, even Nesta. It had always seemed too big, too far away to be realistic. But it was here. You’d made it this far. “The women in the Night Court who don’t live in Velaris have suffered for too long.” You began. “I want to help them, to show them that just because their High Lord doesn’t care about them doesn’t mean others don’t. When Beron is overthrown, I need things in Autumn to change, Eris. I want this to become a court that’s safe for women, where they won’t have to worry about being mutilated or sold off like livestock.

“We can bring the Valkyrie training program here. Teach women how to fight and defend themselves if that’s what they wish. Create a village for females who have been traumatised by males and want to live in peace. Like the Library in the House of Wind, but less isolated. Once word gets out, we offer sanctuary to any females suffering – from Night Court or any court. Once the females start leaving Night, the males will turn on each other. The entire court will crumble.”

The room was silent for a minute before Eris spoke. “My dear, changing the ways of this court will take time…”

You cut him off. “No. That’s Rhysand’s exact excuse. You will be High Lord, Eris. Your word is law, and you can write and rewrite them as you wish. Anyone who opposes you can face the consequences. Make an example of those who oppose the loudest.”

“But then he’d be just like Beron.” Nesta protested.

“Beron used his power to enforce laws of hate,” You countered. “To make people's lives worse. You can use it to make them better, even if it's at the cost of some of the uptight males.”

You heard Eris chuckle into your leg, his amber eyes glinting. You yanked on his hair, not missing the way his throat bobbed. “What’s so funny?” You demanded.

“You’re just so sexy when you’re plotting revenge and the downfall of an enemy court.” Eris purred, rubbing your thigh ever so slightly with his hand. Your skin tingled beneath his touch, and you felt yourself heat up at the contact. Nesta chuckled, her sweet breath on your neck sending shivers down your spine. With your mate behind you, her lips so close to your skin, and the silver tongued Autumn prince still kneeling in front of you, the room suddenly felt a lot warmer.

“Speaking of sexy and plotting revenge, there’s someone who I think could be of great use to this plan.” Eris continued.

Nesta frowned. “Who?”

Eris smirked, lifting his head and nodding towards the empty corner of the room. The darkness began to shift, familiar shadows curling to the side to reveal a dark set of leathers, accompanied by a pair of leathery wings and hazel eyes. 

The Spymaster of the Night Court.

“What the fuck?” You practically yelled as Azriel stepped into the light. Nesta’s arm went in front of you protectively, her eyes smouldering.

“I’m not going to hurt you.” Azriel said quietly, his scarred hands at his sides. “I’m working with Eris.”

“You… what?” You sputtered. Nesta was utterly still, like a lioness poised to strike at any second. While Azriel had refused to kill you and disobeyed Rhysand’s orders, you couldn’t forget how he grabbed you and put you in that cell. How you’d seen that dark side of the shadowsinger that everyone in Prythian feared.

“He and I began working together right before we rescued you.” Eris explained. “He told us where you were, and we began meeting in secret after that.”

“Why?” Your answers were limited to a few words, as you reeled with shock.

“Rhysand has been very shaken up by your escape,” Azriel spoke softly, trying to appear in the least threatening manner possible. “I wanted Eris to know if he was planning retaliation, so I’ve been reporting his movements.” The same mission he gave you to do on Tamlin.

“But… why? Why go through all of this for us?”

The shadowsinger shifted on his feet, swallowing thickly. “Because what I did… what I let happen… it was wrong. All of this was wrong, handled incredibly poorly on my family’s part. I know apologising will not mean anything, and it shouldn’t. I’ve done nothing to earn your trust, but I hope I can soon. I want to help you.” He glanced between you and Nesta. “Both of you.”

“You’re committing treason, Azriel.” Nesta said lowly. “Rhysand will kill you if he finds out.”

“He won’t find out unless I want him to.” Azriel said confidently. “And I can take care of myself.”

Eris piped up. “Azzy has been very useful to me. Rhysand thinks he’s spying on me, it’s quite ironic. We’re a fantastic pair if you ask me.”

The Illyrian rolled his eyes, but didn’t snap back like you had expected. Last you checked, the pair hated each other. Their allegiance was surprising, but opened up a whole other world of possibilities for getting into Night.

“I have something for you.” Azriel reached into his pocket, pulling out two neatly folded pieces of paper. “From your friends.”

You sucked in a breath, feeling Nesta do the same. You both missed Emerie and Gwyn terribly, and you found yourself plagued by guilt of leaving them behind. You grabbed one of the letters while Nesta grabbed the other, and began to read.

Nesta, (Y/N), Azriel told Gwyn and I everything. I am so sorry we couldn’t protect you, and it makes me sick to think about what Rhysand was doing to you, (Y/N). Things are going badly here – the training sessions have mostly been disbanded, Cassian is too unhinged right now to be around the priestesses. I think Rhysand is suspicious of us too, thinking we helped you somehow. I hope you’re both safe in Autumn with Eris. Azriel says we can hopefully visit soon, maybe we can move in with you guys haha. Thinking of you both, Emerie.

Tears pricked your eyes, and you looked over and saw Nesta’s doing the same. “Emerie said Cassian is….unhinged.” You said carefully, noting the female tense behind you. “What does that mean?”

Azriel’s hazel eyes shifted to Nesta. “There’s a lot on your plates right now, we don’t need to make it worse by discussing Cassian…”

“I would like to know.” Nesta said firmly, her voice monotone. You reached down and grabbed her hand, giving it a squeeze.

Azriel took a breath before replying. “He’s angry. Murderous. He would never hurt the priestesses, but he’s surrounded by a cloud of rage that terrifies everyone around him. He’s picking fights in the war camps every day, beating asshole generals half to death to let off steam. None of us can get through to him, except Rhysand. I fear he will snap and fly to Autumn to try and take Nesta back, he’s convinced himself she’s being held here against her will.”

“He can’t do that.” You blurted out.

Eris scoffed. “He can try. My father would love that, actually. The brute would be breaking a ton of rules and would be forfeiting his life by doing so. We won’t let anything happen to you, Nesta.”

You went to speak, but Azriel quickly shushed you. The room went still as tendrils of shadows scurried back to the spymaster. “Someone’s coming.”

“Here?” You whispered, confused.

“Yes, it’s your fiancé.” Azriel hissed. “Nesta, Eris, come here.”

Without a word, your mate and the Autumn Prince scurried over to the spymaster. He held out his arms, and Eris snorted. “You want a hug right now, bat boy?”

“Shut up. My shadows can shield us. Quickly.” 

Eris rolled his eyes, but stepped into Azriel’s arm. Nesta did the same, eyes wide with panic. Shadows began to engulf them as they blended into the darkness. Within seconds, they had vanished entirely just as the doorknob began to turn.

The door swung open harshly, revealing a tall male who was unmistakably a Vanserra. He had a stocky build, a wide face with glowing amber eyes that were too close together for your liking. His red hair was short, slicked back in the exact same way Beron’s was. He wore elaborate armour that reeked with the faint stench of blood. Your blood chilled as he let out a sickly smile that reminded you of a demon. A golden tooth glinted in the candlelight, illuminating a white scar through his lip that spanned across the lower half of his face.

“Well, if it isn’t my lovely bride to be.” His voice was like a snake – smooth and charming, yet unmistakably dangerous.

“Malgorm.” You said evenly, standing up. You backed up, trying to put more space between you and the imposing male in front of you. That only egged him on more, as he took another large step towards you.

“The one and only.” He rubbed his hands together, sizing you up as if you were his next meal.

“What are you doing here?” You fought to keep the tremor out of your voice.

He shrugged. “I came to inspect my wife, of course. To see what I’m working with.”

Inspect. His choice of words chilled you. He truly saw you as an object, like you were a shiny new toy he was going to decide if he liked or not. There was a hunger in his eyes that scared you, one that looked like it was a bottomless pit, never satisfied. “I take it you’re a virgin?” He continued casually.

You lied. “Yes.”

Malgorm hummed in approval, walking around to your side of the bed. You stood your ground, despite every instinct telling you to run for the hills. When he reached you, he grabbed the neckline of your dress and pulled it towards him, eyes unabashedly going to your bare chest beneath. 

Disgusted, you slapped his hand away instinctively, not thinking of the consequences. Malgorm let out a low growl and grabbed you by the throat, slamming you into the wall. Your head screamed at the impact, but your throat was too restricted to let out a gasp. He was like a feral beast, breathing heavily in your face like a hound salivating before a piece of fresh meat. He leaned forward, dragging his crooked nose along your neck and inhaling deeply. You whimpered – not in arousal, but in fear. You wanted to kick, scream, anything, but you felt frozen.

And Malgorm knew it.

He chuckled, biting your ear hard enough to draw blood. You winced as the liquid trickled down your neck. “I’m going to have fun with you.” He purred in your bleeding ear before finally letting you go just as the edges of your vision went blurry.

You fell to the floor, gasping for air as he turned to walk away. Your entire body trembled, and you felt like you were going to be sick. 

“Until next time, my lovely.” Malgorm quipped before slamming the door behind him.

The second the male’s footsteps went out of earshot, the shadows in the corner quickly disappeared, Nesta and Eris shooting out from behind them like a rocket. Fury consumed Nesta’s features as she crouched down beside you and put a hand on your back. Her eyes glowed faintly as she spoke, and you noticed she was breathing heavily as if she had been struggling against something. “I’m going to fucking kill him.” She growled through her teeth.

Eris gently knelt on your other side and pulled a cloth from his pocket. He pressed it against your breathing ear while examining the forming bruises on your neck and the back of your head. It stung, but you barely felt it.

Azriel stepped forward, the disgust written clear as day on his face. “That’s who Beron is marrying you to?” He gaped, echoing your thoughts.

“Not if I can help it.” Nesta hissed, rubbing small circles on your back. “I don’t care what I have to do, I am not letting this marriage happen.”

“Neither am I,” Eris spoke cautiously, gently wiping the blood off your neck in soothing strokes. “But we have to be smart about this. We can’t just kill him randomly one afternoon, especially not before we deal with my father.”

You let out a sob, tears flowing down your cheeks. Nesta wiped them away with her sleeve, which only made you cry harder. Every time you thought you had escaped something bad, it only led to something worse. At this point, you were more scared of being held captive by Malgorm than Rhysand. At least you were pretty sure the High Lord of the Night Court wouldn’t rape you.

As Nesta comforted you and Eris tended to your wounds, you looked up at Azriel. You expected to see a look of disgust on his face at the sight of the three of you cuddled up together on the floor. Admittedly, you had no idea what to call whatever was going on between you all – you were mated to Nesta, who also had feelings for Eris, something you shared in common with her. Yet you felt no jealousy, no anger that your mate blushed whenever the male complimented her. You had assumed Azriel would find it strange, but there was no distaste on his features as he stared down at the three of you. There was something else behind his gaze, a mixture of regret, contentment, and something else you couldn’t place.

The shadowsinger’s deep voice filled the room, quieting your sobs. “I will help you get out of this marriage, (Y/N), if it’s the last thing I do. Whatever you need me to do, you only have to ask.”

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[ekwolfwriter-blog]

I just want to get this out but I am getting tired of people complaining about Live action Katara's lack of rage in the show. Especially because now, because it is missing from the LA show, there is a general trend of people that were annoyed with her behavior before now are defending it being part of her character. And before people think I am hating on them, no. I am not against people defending her rage, as I liked it a lot growing up and watching the show causally just as the next person. Katara was one of my favorite character of being a kind person while also taking names and kicking butt, she was that awesome. So more defense for her the better. Hell, I would say from just the interviews I have seen of Kiawentiio, she has - to me - the Katara sass and I am living for it.

What I am hating on is that the Live action Katara is getting ragged on for a lot of reasons - some valid, but other are (in my opinion) surface level stupid and not knowing of what actually might have been going on during the filming of season and probably the mindset that caused her character to be deflated. Because there is a lot to consider as to why it had to be condensed either for conveniences sake or - in my personal opinion - was done on purpose by two individuals that have a track records of curving that behavior in Katara to their desire.

Also: DON'T use this as an excuse to attack the actress! She is doing her best and giving her all! She is doing her job and any slander on her will be instantly blocked! I will not take any slander on her or any of the actors!

Also, mid spoilers so read at your own risk near the bottom

First thing we should consider: the amount of episodes. Yes, I am aware of the telling and not showing arguments that are being flown around. I get it. Normally, I am one of the biggest supporters that this show needed time to breath and let be to show than telling. If it had more time to breath, Katara's rage might have been more visible and we could have had more time for her arc to improve. And this is not to say that they could not have been able to do it, but I will say that this show NEEDED more than 8 episodes to be able to get as much in (To be clear, there are some shows that this works for - Amazon's Reacher and Legend of Zorro have short seasons and formatted for hour long content. But it makes sense for those shows because they are working within parameters of their medium and are newer (both are adaptions of older stuff but still) shows that can play around with the format better). For as ambitious as this project is, it has a lot to condense. At least that it is a show and not a movie, but still. Let's not forget that it could have been so much worst if it was a movie.

Now some people will say, "Well if they were good enough writers then they could have done more to show than tell," which fair. I will admit that there are infinite number of ways that they could handled some of the topics: such as Sokka's sexism and Katara's rage that everyone is missing. But with the landscape of media as is where you would be damned if you do damned if you don't if you so much as talk about some sensitive topic and you could be canceled for it instantly! Which leads me to the next point!

Second thing to consider: Multiple season renewal was never confirmed prior. Yes, we can all complain that the shows pacing was out of place. Yes, they cut some filler. And yes, it feels like we are getting too much of the world building through talking and now showing. But can you really blame them? To most people, if you saw the reaction of the cast before the news came out, you can see they were saddened by the fact they thought would not get a season 2. They changed their tune when season 2 and 3 was confirmed, and honestly happy for them. But again, that confirms to me that the writing had failed mostly because if they were never going to get their chance, might as well go all out. And with how easy shows can get picked up and canceled, I can see they needed to try and cram it in.

Which also plays into Katara's rage - they did not know if there was going to be a chance for her to grow and get bending abilities or go through her arc as steady as the animated. Again, I am not saying losing it was good, but that we need consider that if they were not going to get another season, they had to progress faster than usual. (Side note, while I like this show, Amazon's Hazbin Hotel has the same problem. We are steam rolling through what could be slow progression and change but can't slow because of episode constriction and no time to sit and allow the show to progress because it is so easy to drop the show for the studios, might as well end it on a note that at least can feel like it was it's own story.)

Speaking of studios, that would be my next point as well: studio and producer control. While I know directors can have a say in it, we should not forget about the studio that is allowing them to make this show in the first place and what they are asking for. As I keep saying, we don't know about what their restrictions are or if they can have more than a certain amount of episodes, and maybe that is a mandate of Netflix or something else, we as the audience don't know. We don't know what happens on set or behind the filming outside of glimpses and interviews, so for all we know, there was some changes to the script or teleplay to make it seem like they needed to cut Katara's rage to make her more meek. Which if this was the whole show, fine, that is a choice but not one I will have to like. But when watching the 3rd and 4th episodes, seeing Katara being a teenage girl and angry for once and even more open about her emotions was possible. Hell, it was the only times she was allowed to snap. And guess what people: it was because of the writing this time. That feminine rage you all wanted - while faint - was there. So clearly Netflix is not solely at fault - they have many mistakes but writing is not one of them.

But it is when you look who wrote what and where and what they were going for that - to me - puts EVERYTHING into place!

Final point: the original creators being brought on.

This might seem weird because one would think having the creators on the original show should be not as bad. The creators of the show is watching to make sure that the show is just right and that the characters feel the same or at least some of the story beats feel similar enough to enjoy. Why would them being on the set cause issues with the pacing and writing?

To a casual fan, yeah that makes sense. But to those that have been in the fandom, have see what they do post cannon to ALL of the characters - especially how they treat Katara in Legend of Korra - then anyone watching might have realized that that should have been a warning sign. Especially with how they would have wanted to depict the characters. And this is also the reason I think Katara's rage is gone: I think they wanted to make her like the comics version of her being a meek and demure girl that while caring was not getting as angry or as passionate about things because that would go against what Bryke wanted Katara to be in the show.

As I mentioned before, Katara's rage or at least genuine anger was only in for about two episodes out of the 8. And if you take out the 5th and 6th where she has been basically damseled with Sokka in the spirit world, that leaves on 4 more episodes to allow her to have her anger. Typically, one can thing, "Okay we can sprinkle it here or there in the other two and it should world". But all it takes is to see who was writing the episodes that truly not only hinder the world building of the show and breaks the rules of show don't tell or crammed it in so blatantly it feels like cringe and got rid of Katara being the one to free Aang because of her anger - was Bryke! They were the ones that were the head writers of the first episode and the 8th episode. The ones that had the most cramming down your throats dialogue, the clunky explaining of Aang's character out of now where and even curving Katara's rage or ability to be angry or snarky like she was in the show. Because Bryke wrote them, and also teleplayed a few - this being like adding notes and what the camera needs to do and how to frame scenes along side the dialogue. Meaning that they had some hand in making Live Action Katara this way.

If you notice in the episodes they didn't write: Omashu and the Cave of Two lovers - they were the only ones where Katara could be a bit more snappy and a bit more annoyed and vocal toward at least Sokka and Jet - not a lot but it was there. And oh would you look at that, the episode that they did not write had HEAVY hints for a certain firebender and waterbender being hinted at and color coded the lovers more vividly. And also, Katara getting to be empathetic while also not over explaining - which many always ragged on her for - where she could be human for once. Those episodes were the ones that they did not write and the story was somewhat better (Not better but I will take it over what we got prior)

And again, casual viewers might not know why this is a bad thing or probably wondering why I am against Bryke. But all it takes is looking at what they did to animated Katara that you all try to say "Was perfect as she was before" without considering what they did to her after the curtain fell. For any fan that has been following the show, you will find that most fans of Katara - the animated one -did not like what they did to her in the comics that continued their story and Legend of Korra, where she was a husk of a shell of her former self. And how she was all about "What Aang would have done, and what Aang did and oh how I missed Aang, he would know what to do". And yet, if she even showed any anger or negative emotions, she was painted as the bad person - easily look up Katara in the comics with a google search and you can see her being pushed around and flattened almost all the time when she is showing negative emotions that are genuine and not the funny mad in the show. Especially in the show as seen through this post, it did not always paint her anger in a natural thing for her or reinforced her angry as more comedic than actually something to consider as important until someone else stepped in to help her see it *cough* Zuko *cough*.

So to all the people that are trying to come after the live action Katara as being "Not the same energy girl power character who was expressive about her anger" you all "loved from the start'', please consider who and what was behind the scenes to make her this way. Especially since the animated show had other writers besides Bryke that understood Katara better if not more. Bryke wanted her to be more demure even in the pilot, and damsel. And yet the other writers gave her an actual story. Byrke have shown time and time again they do not want and angry passionate water bender that wants to be more active in changing the wrongs in the world, they want her to be more meek and docile and not fight back to let others save her in the comics and after. The OG had other writers that gave her her arc and Mae Whitmen give her the sass that we all love.

Live action Katara is no different. She has been trying to come into her own - with limited time to tell a story, limited time to get her arcs in fearful of cancellation, and with different writers, she can work, but not with Bryke. Same goes for the other characters too, not just Katara, but it seems that everyone pokes at Katara more and it is getting frustrating because some of these people just can never be happy with Katara.

Hopefully with season 2 and 3, we can have more time to flesh out the characters and maybe even have more show don't tell moments and being able to explore their feelings more. But only time will tell.

Rant over, sorry for the rambling mess.

[weirdestcornelius]

honestly i agree with the Eve slander. with how much she gets coddled in cometcare and by Eve and the fandom i think this balances everything out.

legally i have to say i don’t hate kneeby but like you said if eve is a representation of how kit acts in real life then?? that’s very wrong. excusing abuse with the explanation of trauma and using it as a shield is so wrong and eve traumatizing sly for pushing her away is just continuing the cycle of abuse, plus Eve at least has friends and a loving partner that can help her move past her issues (plus parents that at least WANT to help despite her pushing them away but that’s another issue) and sly in contrast is so disconnected from the world, seeing as the majority of her friends are online and she hides from her family for fear of being judged. that’s messed up, dude.

and not to make this about me but i have had some very very bad experiences with siblings that were younger than me who would constantly berate me and behave in ways similar to Eve, and it just sucks because it feels like the fandom sees it as “haha Eve is bullying her older sister lolol so funny” but really is it? it would be just as bad if the roles were reversed (thus we get into the discussion of who was at fault in the ally/howie/sly trauma.)

sigh

—🏴‍☠️

I can guarantee you that if this WAS the other way around Sly would be hated by the fandom and demonized by Kc. The only reason Eve gets away with what squeak does is because she's a self insert. You could literally replace Eve with any character and it wouldn't be okay. That's an obvious sign that it wasn't okay to begin with.

I've also had experiences similar to Sly, which is probably why I'm literally stealing her from the fandom and running with my tail in between my legs. I don't fucking care if the fandom is filled with queer and neurodivergent people, there is no excusing obvious abuse with the excuse that there's "reasoning behind it". There is not reasoning behind abuse. Making fun of depressed people for being stinky and gross and addicted to corn or whatever is also unforgivable.

"B-b-but we're not making fun of depressed people! Just Sly!"

Imagine what it feels to be a depressed person reading those posts. Who used to love Sly for being able to see themselves in fen until seeing how everyone treats her knowing that's how they're treated too. If you can tell me that it's still okay then I don't think you belong on this blog.

[cromearts]

so i watched interview with the vampire.

and you're gonna be like "laila, i thought you like to watch things after the hype has died down" well i thought so too but they put it on netflix and the brainworms got to me. i watched both seasons in a weekend. i'm gonna read the books next. usually i really don't like shows where the characters you follow are just "so complex!!!1!!!!1" and "hard to understand!!!1!!!!1" because a lot of the time this is just a cheap copout for people who want to fuck very surface level villains with very surface level writing (a lot of you have let fanon make you think some characters are deeper than they actually are but thats a story for another day) but i am SO happy to report that this is NOT the case for interview with the vampire. you have so many conflicting feelings for all of these characters (except claudia. i do in fact support her every decision. love that queen. my princess.) and it's just so good. this is the true drama people are looking for on tv. kind of wish it was on during the era of cable cuz you KNOW it would've been craycray. going into this, i really was expecting to completely dislike lestat but honestly i can't even say that. i love him and i hate him. the same way i love and hate louis and i love and hate armand. claudia and daniel are really the only characters that i love unconditionally. but there are so many scenes that just really pull on my heart strings. the finale where lestat says "armand called me, did you hurt yourself?" with those SAD ASS EYES. i don't know if people have already said this but whenever lestat is really sad sam reid puts on these puppy eyes that practically FORCE you to feel bad its insane. and louis.......... the man who is fumbled over and over again constantly. my favorite unreliable narrator. seeing how the "turning of claudia REALLY went down lowkey rewired some neurons. "please ill do anything ill be anything please please please." the guilt was literally eating him alive to the point of no return. that had me really gagged. jacob anderson lowkey best actor ever? like where are the awards we need them right now. and armand......... oh armand. biggest fumbler ive ever seen. its okay though cuz he's gonna fuck that old man. i know he is. but him lying over and over again to louis is actually so crazy. like bro is a pathological liar AND a gaslighter. you've been alive for over five hundred years and i can tell you havent gone to therapy not one time in your entire life. like for him to take the credit for lestat saving louis is what REALLY got me. like lowkey that's worse than the betrayal itself. like 70 years of mending back together our relationship after you killed my daughter and almost me only for me to find out MY EX SAVED ME? AND NOT YOU? like oh i would've really crashed out. and my dear claudia.... my favorite. it's so crazy like i will absolutely not allow any claudia slander because i can defend her from anything. like i genuinely do not think any "bad" thing claudia does is her fault because she literally did not ask for this. like you can argue that it made her life WORSE! instead of simply dying in that moment, she had to die later after suffering so much and THEN proceeding to experience happiness for one moment (insert the have you ever gotten everything you ever wanted? no. but i once got very close quote here). claudia did nothing but suffer, was treated seriously by NO ONE in her life, and the one time someone picks her, they both proceed to die immediately after. that genuinely upset me so much i wanted to turn the tv off. and the crazy thing is we ALL knew claudia was going to die because they talked about her in past tense THE ENTIRE INTERVIEW! LIKE I KNEW SHE WAS DEAD THE ENTIRE TIME! AND I STILL WANTED TO SMASH THE TV! it's actually insane. at least in her final moments madeleine chose her. which was done very beautifully in my opinion. "my coven is claudia." goosebumps man. because a lot of people probably would've chosen the other option but no not madeleine. she loved claudia more than she wanted to live. i love this show man.

[pjsk-headcanons]

ok welcome to today's ted talk (i am procrastinating on doing my schoolwork bc brother eughhh i am not reading a book from 1500 or smth /jk i will eventually. just let me have this for now) today's ted talk is.... what teams and drivers in f1 pjsk characters would like bc f1 and pjsk is arguably what is maintaining me sane and idk why not. if you disagree uhhh thats fine idc lol this is purely based off of vibes and cardinal directions WxS - rui: as i have mentioned in my first hc he likes a) ferrari b) red bull c) mclaren, bc every f1 fan ik is at least A BIT of a ferrari fan even if they like only one team (*cough* that fan may be me *cough* *cough*), so rui is a ferrari fan and a red bull fan, probably because he likes the crazy shit on red bull's channel (look at this for example: https://youtube.com/shorts/uf9PQT0OgUY?si=yA8NM97AJHeyf0HH). maybe he likes the drink as well, now drivers! his favorite driver is lando, bc i think he will like his streaming content (perhaps his personality and his willingness to talk abt mental health and i am not kidding, search it up!!) (i'd like to note that rui is most definitely a very avid f1 fan) - tsukasa, emu and nene: they all like ferrari and red bull, they're not avid fans but they understand what happens in the sport (mainly because of rui) and as i think they wouldn't be as big fans as rui, so they probably just follow rui's opinions LOL im sorry if it's basic, but it's imo :3 L/N - ichika: she's a casual f1 fan, so she probably likes ferrari bc it's popular and she doesnt know how much depression it causes to be a tifosi. (ps: i am not a tifosi) her favorite driver is lando yet again, because she decided to learn a bit more abt the f1 drivers and found out he can play multiple instruments, so that sparked an interest in her and yeah - saki: she probably doesn't even care but she likes to listen to ichika and shiho talk abt the races. im sorry if it sounds like saki slander, i just dont think she would really like f1 😭😭 pls forgive me saki fans - honami: the ultimate of ultimate of f1 casual fans. that's it, maybe she would like alex but that's it - shiho: the less casual f1 fan out of l/n, she likes red bull and max verstappen. arguably she doesnt even care abt the f1 teams, but she likes max for how he is(me too shiho. it's actually sad to think i didnt like him </3) extra hc: ichika and shiho most definitely talk abt f1 whenever they have time to! VBS - akito: he likes whatever team is fighting an's favorite team. if she likes red bull, he likes mclaren, etc, etc. point is, he likes what an doesnt bc he has some beef with an (i promise you it's not idk levels of genuine hate it's like uhhh i forgot the word im not sure if this is clear!!) - an: uhhh i accidently explained her in akito's part - kohane: weirdly, super into f1. she's not the "i watch f1 for the drivers!" fan, she's the "i watch f1 for the sport!" fan (<- i feel like i have to clarify that) and although that may not make sense, she roots for all the teams and drivers. (even lance.) so tbh if you asked her "kohane whats your favorite f1 team and f1 driver?" she would say "idk i just like the sport i dont really care abt who's winning" - toya: he seems like he would like f1 but he doesnt know a shit abt f1(the creative juices are almost gone now afksahsjkdgbhdg) N25 - mafuyu: i feel like she heard abt f1 at school and ended up liking instead of the sport, the aerodynamics stuff. very specific ik - kanade: she would get distracted by the f1 sounds so she wouldn't even know what's happening and somehow compose a music based off the sounds of an f1 car/f1 related - mizuki: she heard abt f1 one day from rui and ever since she talks with rui abt f1 stuff (other than the in canon stuff)!! her favorite team is whoever is cooking at the moment (she doesnt want to suffer over like. omg bad strategies and bad car) and her favorite driver is lewis (1. his fashion style 2. how good he is) - ena: tbqh the same thing as an's

MMJ - my creative juices have almost completely dried. but tbh, i dont think they would have time for f1 bc they do so much shit yknow, ik they like have managers and everything but id argue they're dedicated to what they do and they'd prefer to do other stuff than learn abt f1 stuff. im so sorry mmj fans i promise ill make a better headcanon than this one day 😭😭

oops how did it get this long? anyways, thank you for joining my ted talk! hope everyone is ok :D - papaya anon

.

[the-heart-of-a-monster]

OKAY AS PROMISED IM BACK WITH SOME GOOD OL GOVERNMENT SLANDER LETS GOOOOOOOOOOOO

And as usually I haven’t read the page in the past 5 minutes so some details are most certainly lost within the inner machinations of my mind so please don’t excuse me if I get some things wrong. I’m also a high school student so I also don’t know every little detail about how government organizations work but let’s pretend I do for the funny.

Now, what we see of GUN (Will not be using the periods because that’s too much work lmfao) is pretty antagonistic at first glance. First they won’t permit Amy to be in the base without specific permission from anyone in charge, then they see one little thing wrong with Omega and treat it like it’s the black plague or something, and then they don’t even refer to Omega as a real person, AND THEN THEY PREPARE THE GUY FOR EXECUTION????????? YEAH WHAT A NICE TRACK RECORD THEY GOT GOING ON!!!!

However, I do have the obligation to defend a majority of the things they do here. First we’ll start with Amy’s initial rejection.

Again, a ton of details about this part are lost to me as they came out nearly a year ago and I just spontaneously decided to send in this ask.

When Amy waltz’s right on into GUN’s base of operation, she does arrive with the consent of Rouge, but our badass bat queen is not the one in charge. Yes, Rouge is a very well-respected spy in the business and she is held in high regard, but she’s only one of the higher-ups. She isn’t “The Big Man” upstairs or whatever. Not only that, but she is allies with some pretty suspicious individuals, like Sonic for example, who was already on GUN’s hit list a few times now. And not to mention, she treats Omega like he’s a real person instead of just some Eggman robot that went rogue. In this context, not only do GUN have reason to be suspicious of Rouge just allowing a random girl into their top secret operations base, but they also have reason to be wary near Omega. (I’ll get into this later) And by the way, Amy is practically unheard of to GUN, at least from what I know. They have Sonic and a majority of his friends on file, but I’ve never seen Amy interact with GUN at all until this point. Even if she had, GUN would still know very little about her. So for her to just waltz right on in and claim she’s working with Rouge, the only other Mobian besides Shadow btw, it’s understandable that GUN is gonna be pretty weird about that.

Now sure, Amy did claim she was working with Rouge, but that’s just it. Rouge and Shadow are the only Mobians within a mostly human organization, Mobians who do have previous criminal records. I am honestly shocked the two were able to work with GUN in the first place. So allowing another Mobian onto the team, even temporarily, is a big deal.

Alright that’s enough of that I’ve basically sang GUN its praises from heaven and back so we’re gonna get into the nitty-gritty now muahahahahahaaaaa

Now about everyone just hating on Omega? Well, they still have some reason to do so. Before Shadow and Rouge, GUN was quite strict in who they let in, as with any scientific/military operation that’s in cahoots with the government. Oh, and they also hate Eggman. So allowing Team Dark’s third and most op member Omega to be hired was quite the stretch. In real life, allowing a robot to work at all would basically be a felony as it could lead to harmful outcomes like software malfunctions, miscalculations, harming other workers, etc. To many things can go wrong when a robot is on the clock, and in this case, the robot is also very genocidal and wants the death of anyone who gets in his way. The only attribute that GUN can have any hope in is the well-known fact that Omega despises Eggman with a passion. Ya boi hates Eggman more than the whole of GUN, which to them is saying a lot! So GUN is already taking enough risk by allowing Omega to exist within the workspace!

But that’s the thing here. Everyone is so focused on the what-ifs with Omega that they never stop to think about what he’s really like. Everyone is afraid of Omega, or at least afraid of what he is capable of, so they all avoid him like the plague. On top of all that, due to their honestly not unfounded fear, they’ve been preparing for the worst from the guy. GUN probably has a ton of unnecessary protocols now all thanks to Omega’s mere existence, and so if anything were to go even a little bit wrong… Welp. We all know what they’d have to do.

To me, this does seem slightly reasonable, at least given how Omega truly is. The guy is a loose cannon, literally and figuratively, and his rage is unmatched! So it does seem understandable to an extent as to why Omega is treated in this way.

What isn’t reasonable though is how he’s treated on the other side of things. Yes, ya boi is a hazard. Yes, he could burn the whole place to the ground and not feel an ounce of regret. Yes, Omega is very unpredictable! However, that’s just how some people are in real life too! Real people are unpredictable and violent, and yet we don’t see everyone treating them like a plaything! To GUN, Omega is seen as both a useful tool and an unpredictable hazard, just like I said, and both these qualities combined make for a very demeaning description. Because while Omega is a robot, he still can feel and have emotions similarly to, if not exactly like a regular person! (See my previous essay to get a bigger picture for what I mean by this) He acts and feels just as human as the others, and we can tell he clearly wants to be treated as such! Omega doesn’t seem to mind the over-the-top precautions necessary for his own existence, and he doesn’t care if he gets the occasional glare or two from a coworker. What he does clearly care about is being called a violent yet necessary tool, a monster, a robot, an emotionless tin can, an it…! Omega hates being undermined. He despises the fact that he’s constantly being misjudged for what he is, not because of who he is. No one treats Omega like a real living creature, and instead treats him like another tool in the shed, a faulty lawnmower or a dulled bush trimmer. Yes, he’s useful, and yeah he is on their side! But he’s also just a bunch of code and numbers, nothing but ones and zeroes, and they’re all treating him as such. Nobody really cares about him. Nobody sees Omega for who he really is. Which is why whenever he can, Omega always gravitates towards the only other oddballs in the workplace, the only Mobians, the only people who will treat him with respect.

And finally, we come to the last section of this very very VERY LONG ESSAY ABOUT A SINGLE CHARACTER, the execution. Or I guess the attempted execution.

So, like I said beforehand, Omega has a LOT of precautions on his belt, and also like I stated, one of them is his execution. If anything were to go wrong at all, if Omega were to step out of line, the guy would have to at the very least be taken apart just to see what’s wrong. If GUN were feeling nice, they wouldn’t straight up kill the guy, and at this point in time it’s clear that the higher-ups have taken a liking to Omega. So going this far was not their intention in the slightest. It would be considered though if anything like it were to happen again, but thanks to the new pages I think they’re beginning to reconsider this. Omega has now been taken over/amplified by Dark Gaia, (Also see my previous ask to know what I think on all that) and that is seen as an accident worthy of an execution in the eyes of the government. And in some cases that’d be understandable, but in this case it isn’t. GUN has been working with Omega for a while at this point, and not only that, but like I JUST SAID, they like him. Or at least they think they do. Executing Omega for something that was clearly out of his control is not necessary in the slightest and it is exactly why I did this whole thing.

okay so as you can probably tell I’m getting tired of typing on my iPad generation 10 screen keyboard so I’ll try to keep this short.

Summary: Omega is an unpredictable force of nature that GUN clearly doesn’t like. They like the concept of him being on their side and the General likes him personally, but Omega in theory and Omega in practice are two separate robots. Having robots in the workplace at all can have dire consequences, so not only have GUN taken multiple extra precautions just in case something bad happened thanks to Omega, but they also treat him like a piece of junk! It’s terrible, but at the end of the day that’s kinda just what needs to be done. GUN is a government operation that hates Eggman, so anything trouble-making within the business is seen as a liability or a hazard, which includes our favorite homicidal maniacal robot.

AND THATS IT I FINALLY DID IT I FINALLY GOT IT DONE I FINALLY WROTE THE WHOLE THING WOW THAT WAS A LOT OF GIVERNMENT SLANDER QOOOOOOOOOWWWWW

AIGHT THATS IT IM DONE IM LEAVING THANKS SO MUCH FOR READING ALL THAT AND HAVE A GREAT DAY/NIGHT

THANKS FOR SENDING IN ESSAYS LIKE THAT!!!!!!!!! very interesting read cant wait for u to see the conclusion of this arc

[accirax]

Last few greetings before the season ends, LET'S GOOOOOO!!!!

https://youtu.be/heUPDg0QLwE?si=X_q1L2dFYnHtCWsa

https://youtu.be/p31yYs7l1nY?si=gN1kUQkGTJ2kjufW (Yup. Yup. I can see why Aiden fell for him. I mean not that there weren't other obvious reasons before but.. My God those low notes-! 😳💘🙈)

https://youtu.be/BOOezXQgLTc?si=fWax5lo8nbXHgbxH (Well I still haven't forgiven Ellie but I guess I should be happy that at least Lake has, or whatever. 😒)

https://youtu.be/tMY1U6RVvtl?si=3RorOpYI_4-iMt8r

https://youtu.be/dXjo_zBpDoc?si=riEGte_iJ5Yk7JzK (so he did find out about Ellie's trick in ep6)

https://youtu.be/QHOv5gOBRp4?si=f5tS1dZjQP43psjL

https://youtu.be/I-tATYsGDyo?si=6ypPY8GCXfrA1icJ (Loved this one~ 😄)

https://youtu.be/5fL-1S_3nRQ?si=7VQauoH-shmZe6Z4

yay!!! let's see if i can actually knock these out before the episode airs, this time.

:D

wow, what a beautiful outfit! and i love the spotlight effect, too; whoever animated this greeting clearly had fun doing so. i should really listen to more Olivia Rodrigo. pretty much every song of hers i've heard snippets of sounds like a banger, i just don't listen to straight up pop that often.

Yup. Yup. I can see why Aiden fell for him. I mean not that there weren't other obvious reasons before but.. My God those low notes-! 😳💘🙈

okay, i swear when i said what i said about Olivia Rodrigo i didn't know that a Nico Collins song was going to come on next! i actually do know a couple of Nico Collins songs (Borderline, Hate Me, and Our Way Out), and i think James did a lovely rendition. it's fun that Aiden and James now both have white princely outfits, even if Aiden's is more royal while James' is admittedly a prom king fit. "God, I love my voice!" made me laugh out loud. what an icon.

Well I still haven't forgiven Ellie but I guess I should be happy that at least Lake has, or whatever. 😒

it's interesting to me that Lake expresses worries that staying in the game longer might have made her a worse person too, given that that's the moral Ellie wound up learning this season. i guess Lake is just the master of seeing herself in Season 1's most morally gray contestants. i'd say it was a redhead connection, but even in greetings i've never seen Jake with fully red hair.

oh, so Lake does canonically live with Rosa now! i thought she might've just been visiting Rosa on vacation or something. that's a pretty big move, to go from living in Germany with your family to living in Mexico with someone you only met a few weeks ago, but Lake's family sucks and Rosa is awesome, so i understand where Lake is coming from.

so he did find out about Ellie's trick in ep6

so, actually, looking at the comments section on the greeting...

the trick that Tom was referring to was actually the one that Alec and Fiore came up with in Season 1, to have Ellie lie to Jake to tear Tom and Jake apart. i actually hadn't realized myself that Jake had been told that Tom had a boyfriend other than him twice, in s1 and DCAS. if i had a nickel...

anyways, Tom's outfit is super cute! i like how it's still predominantly blue, like he was still on the Cyan team but he tried to sneak over and pretend to be Magenta instead.

WOAH, English Tom and Spanish Tom sound way more similar than i'd realized. i couldn't even tell at first when the English greeting switched to the Spanish one. his new hairstyle is very interesting, and very idol-esque. i wonder if the patches on his jacket have any meaning other than looking nice.

Loved this one~ 😄

that power scream was so funny. i know that people were (lovingly) making fun of Raitix with how hard he went on the wolf howl in the Patron name readings after he was eliminated, so i wonder if making him yell was at all inspired by that. also, i don't think i've ever heard anyone describe what Goku is wearing as "classy" before. between this and the My Hero Academia knowledge, Alec seems to be shaping up as a secret anime nerd.

"slander Jake? that's way too easy, where do i even start?" giant Fiore does sound like a gag that the show would pull that's very in-character. i wonder who in the heroes alliance would have been the best at taking her down, if you imagine that Fiore came back instead of Connor. maybe Ally, if she could stretch up close to Fiore's height? or, i guess if Aiden could, like, run through the meat of Fiore's leg like he ran through Alec's entire body, he could incapacitate her pretty easily. Aiden is kinda OP.

Oh! Forgot one more -

i... did not realize that Ashley was friends with Tess or Ellie, but, you go girl. she does seem to have the ability to be friends with anyone. i was wondering if, as an artist, Tess would pick something more along the lines of illusions or being able to bring anything she drew to life, but being a healer totally fits with her sweet personality. maybe she could have helped Ally and Connor after Yul, Grett, and Gabby got to them.

[purplink8]

It's my firm belief that Celebrity (Netflix) would go along so well with Taylor Swift's song "Look what you made me do" like:

"I don't like your little games Don't like your tilted stage The role you made me play of the fool No, I don't like you"

A-ri doesn't like the e-celebs and their petty little games on their stage (online platform). She hates how they made her out the fool (the circumstances leading to her fake-death).

"I don't like your perfect crime How you laugh when you lie You said the gun was mine Isn't cool, no, I don't like you (oh!)"

The drug case in a nutshell. The crime is "perfect" as Jin Tae-jeon is involved in effectively (until the last episode, that is) hiding it. Members of the Gabin Society (with the exception of Yoon Si-hyeon) have two faces: they live in a total lie with their personas well in place before their audience. But A-ri sees their mask and dislikes it. "You said the gun was mine": how Oh Min-hye pinned the whole drug incident onto A-ri, how the suicide of Mr. Park was blamed on A-ri; these lies & slander aren't cool and A-ri doesn't like the liars one bit.

"But I got smarter, I got harder in the nick of time Honey, I rose up from the dead, I do it all the time I got a list of names, and yours is in red, underlined I check it once, then I check it twice, oh!"

A-ri becomes smarter at the race-to-the-top games that the e-celebs play in pursuit of popularity + money. She also gets "harder" or say, a lil ruthless in that game: blackmailing other influencers with dirt on them thanks to _bbbfamous. Oh boy does she have a list of names with her right now to get sweet, sweet revenge. And you can bet that _bbbfamous's name is in red.

"Ooh, look what you made me do ... Look what you just made me do"

Her faking her death, basically.

"I (I) don't (don't) like your kingdom keys (keys) They (they) once belonged to me (me) You (you) asked me for a place to sleep Locked me out and threw a feast (what?)

The world moves on, another day another drama, drama But not for me, not for me, all I think about is karma And then the world moves on, but one thing's for sure Maybe I got mine, but you'll all get yours"

Do I even need to explain this one? It's highly obvious that we get to see what A-ri's motivations in exposing the e-celebs are. One word. Karma. As A-ri's brother says, they should get a taste of what A-ri had to go through. The world is set ablaze for a few days with the newest drama and then moves on quickly; while we have A-ri critiquing the fickle nature of the world and expressing the surety of her karma's success.

"I don't trust nobody and nobody trusts me I'll be the actress starring in your bad dreams"

Obvious meaning is obvious. After experiencing so much of back-stabbing (especially from her best friend), is it any wonder that A-ri doesn't trust anybody? The least of all: other e-celebs? And of course nobody trusts her as accusation after accusation, hate, rumors etc are piled on against her. A-ri is the actress (e-celeb) starring in her haters' (esp _bbbfamous) bad dreams as she uproots their whole reputation.

"I'm sorry But the old Taylor can't come to the phone right now Why? Oh, 'cause she's dead (oh)"

A-ri has definitely changed now, the old A-ri is dead (episode 11 is cleverly titled '#but_she's_dead') literally (her fake death) and metaphorically (her choosing not to become an influencer again despite having a significant number of supporters).

And that concludes my rambles! If you're still here, reading this, I love you and wish you a fantastic day! <3

[azumasoroshi]

minidura chapter 2 react (izaya has stopped functioning)

i already forgot what i named the last post whoops

anyway

shizuo jumpscare

as a psychology student who is also taking sociology goddamn do i love the whole community aspect of durarara and the forms. wish i could start a festival in my town just by suggesting it online somewhere. it's so cool how you have no idea of the qualifications of the people you talk to (just like on tumblr except this is all ikebukuro people. and izaya)

i wonder if izaya being the only member of the cast (afaik) to not live in ikebukuro is symbolic of how he feels has to distance himself from the chaos at least a little bit in order to not get swept up in it himself. it's like a self restraint type thing

that's probably really obvious though forgive me im still dutsing off my character analysis lack-of-skills ANYWAY

tom is such a malewife honestly

i dont think ive ever had chocolate bananas before. huh. strawberries sure bananas nah

he looks so cute in that last panel ghghghjhhrhghgghjf

i dont get to see enough of normal laid back shizuo behavior with all the shizaya art i look at lmfAOO

i swear to god if celty's in a kimono 💀 shinra is about to be the most annoying man alive

stupid puns my beloved

the way tom's eyes are drawn in that last panel reminds me of like. american cartoon but i cant put my finger on it

is it arnold from the magic school bus or is it arthur from arthur. who knows

"you absolutely cant get into a fight today" ah so the peace wont last. damn

EGGPLANTZAYA

i cant wait for izaya to show up this chapter and annoy the living hell out of shizuo

maybe i should make eggplantzaya my profile picture (i wont because im too attached to rantaro. not even him as a character just the profile picture) (also because i cant remember where i found the profile picture and im too scared to let it go)

i see that blurb with the really cute izaya picture on the left and im assuming it's just a "this is orihara izaya btw. he's really annoying and shizuo hates him for ruining his life" type thing but god i wish i could read it anyway ill take any crumbs

HERE HE COMES!!!!!!!

oh nvm he's getting shafted for now, we transition to-

WHAT DID I FUCKING TELL YOU

celty in a kimono is inevitable. you cannot escape

she is cute though <3 this might be her first festival since she's irish too damn

that just reminded me god i wish celty talked in a super thick irish accent. some people have already mentioned that but im reiterating it because maybe some abridged series will consider it

wait oh my god is this gonna be another hotpot party type "izaya organized all this because he's lonely and wants an excuse to hang out with people that tolerate him" thing. amazing wonderful i love the izaya slander going on in this manga today

and i was about to say "oh i guess that wasnt izaya's silhouette in the shizuo-tom panel" but he's holding a chocolate banana 💀rip tom's pay i guess

i can imagine how that went but i dont think ill have to imagine for much longer

oh yeah it was right in the next panel lmAO at least you got free food izaya dont complain

"he looks like he's having fun" awwwwwwwwwwwww nothing more fun than ticking off shizuo and not getting hurt in the process

just realized he has the constantly closed eyes pff gin ichimaru lookin edgy ass bitch

he opens his eyes like it's a dramatic supervillain reveal but it's really just him being lonely. thanks for always exposing him shinra mwah

WHY IS HE ACTING SO EVIL. doing the fucking arm spread like this is a bad thing what is wrong with him

i love how mikado shinra and celty are looking at each other like "this fucking guy. cant have one normal conversation"

PFFFFFFFFFFFF

i know shinra is laughing his ass off beneath those glasses rn

izaya's face is amazing actually. you know that one scene in bungou stray dogs wan where atsushi gets dazai a gift and dazai glitches out and stops processing information because he doesnt know how to handle appreciation. this is literally that scene

huh. now i understand why durarara and bsd always get recommended together

KILL HIM MIKADO!! KILL HIM WITH KINDNESS HE'S ALREADY HALFWAY TO HELL

literal proof that izaya ceases to function when someone actually likes him. idc that this isn't canon it's canon because i say so

(side note MAN did they have to give airi noticable cleavage even in her chibi form. come on. you didnt do it for celty you dont have to do it to her 😭 the amount of fanservice with her drives me nuts in the main series)

my man is BROKEN just look at him

local gay baby realizes he accidentally made everyone happy. oops

walker and erika in the background too <3 they're so cute ugh

YOU DUMBASS

i knew itd be another hotpot thing oh mygod he's so. fucking idiot you couldve just tagged along with them 😭

it's only once he imagines shizuo that he snaps too pffffffffft

also namie appearance!!!!!!! hope she appears more in future chapters

10/10 chapter would bully izaya again

oops almost missed the ending drawing!! so cuteeee <3333

[autumnshighlady]

I’ve Always Liked to Play With Fire (part 7)

NESTA ARCHERON X ERIS VANSERRA X FEMALE!READER

summary: a proper reunion and catch up with Nesta 

warnings: mention of SA, the usually IC slander

word count: 6.1k (oof)

DO NOT REPOST ANYWHERE

a/n: this is gonna be the longest slowburn fic ever i am so so sorry bless you all for your patience! I thought this fic was originally gonna be 8 parts, but now it will be 12 at the shortest but more likely around 20 depending on where I go with this. enjoy!

feedback is appreciated, just no hate pls! these are just my opinions, i’m more curious to see how you all like the writing and characterization and storylines!

part 1

part 2

part 3

part 4

part 5

part 6

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The cold air sucked the warm remnants of Spring from your skin as Cassian flew the two of you towards the Night Court. None of you spoke, and Nesta avoided your stare. You could feel your heart beating against your chest – everything had gone to plan, and you finally got to see Nesta for the first time in weeks. The very thought of it is what got you through the sleepless nights where you tossed and turned, unable to quiet your mind.

But something about her was different. You didn’t know what happened to her in the past while, since she went silent, but something had shifted. Of course, she couldn’t jump for joy when she saw you without raising suspicion – that much you knew. But you couldn’t stop replaying how Cassian’s wing curled protectively against her. And you hated the fact that it wasn’t the heights as you soared through the sky that made your stomach churn, it was jealousy.

Every day you thought of how Nesta had kissed you before you left. Like a loop, it spun around your thoughts at least once a day, how her lips were soft as rose petals against your own. You had had your share of lovers, both male and female, but none of them ignited the fire in your stomach the way Nesta did.

Talk to me. You said into her head, tapping into the power of the pointed star.

Nesta didn’t even blink, just stared blankly into the clouds as she replied, What happened? Why did you come?

What happened? I could say the same to you. Nesta, I didn’t hear from you for weeks. I know about the Bog, I felt you get dragged into the water, my tattoo glowed and I passed out. Tamlin found me and I told him everything, he’s in on our plan. He was meant to find me there so I could go back to Night.

You saw Nesta stiffen at the mention of the Bog, causing Cassian to look down at her. “You ok, Nes?” He asked.

“Just cold.” She replied before speaking to you again. You felt me in the water?

Yes, and I passed out when you put on that mask.

How do you know about that?

Eris filled me in. I stumbled across him the other week.

Did you convince him to help us like we planned?

I think so. He told me everything about his alliance with the Night Court. He got on his knees and swore to it.

He got on his knees?

Yes. Is that what you’ve been doing for Cassian? You regretted the words immediately after you thought them, noting the way Nesta’s face tensed. Nesta, I’m sorry, I–

Can we talk about this later in private? Her voice sounded far off, even though she was right next to you.

Of course. And I really am sorry.

No response came as Nesta closed her eyes and turned her head away. Cassian began his descent into a small clearing where a tall figure was standing next to a female. You groaned, noticing purple eyes and a head of blonde hair. Rhysand and Mor were the last people you felt like dealing with right now.

The wind bit at your skin as you hurtled downwards, body jolting as the Illyrian general landed on the grass. Your legs stumbled as you found your footing again, grateful to be on solid ground.

“I see you came back with an extra package.” The High Lord of the Night Court said dryly. “Care to explain?”

“She was found out.” Cassian growled before you could get a word in. “Tamlin found us all together, we had to get her out.”

You braced yourself for a verbal lashing from Rhysand, but he simply stared at you. You could tell he was trying to get into your head, but your shields were ironclad, as they had been since you were a child.

Your mother was a powerful daemati, and taught you how to shield your mind without possessing the magic from a young age. Her closest friend had been slain by Rhysand under the Mountain, and after that she used her magic to create a permanent shield around your mind so nobody could ever get in, especially Rhysand.

It took everything in you not to chuckle as his eyes narrowed, dark tendrils of power scraping against your mental shields to no avail. After a few moments, they retreated.

“We’ll discuss this back in Velaris.” He muttered, turning to Mor and nodding. The female reached out her hand and you took it, winnowing back to the city.

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

You appeared with Mor in a townhouse in the city, Rhys’ townhouse apparently. You didn’t even have time to take in the details of your surroundings before noticing that Cassian, Rhys, and Nesta were nowhere to be found.

“Where did the others go?” You asked, whirling around to face the Morrigan.

She merely snorted, readjusting the rings on her fingers. “Dropping Nesta back at the House of Wind.” Her voice was laced with fake pleasantness.

“Nesta was with Cassian when Tamlin found me,” You protested. “Don’t you think she should be here too?”

“No, I do not,” Mor quipped, brown eyes narrowed with contempt. “Cassian’s report will be enough to suffice.”

You snorted. “So she’s like your own little blade, just picked up when she’s needed then chucked away the second you don’t deem her necessary? Classy.”

“We value Nesta,” The blonde argued. “But it’s better for her to stay up there than be down here.”

You took a step closer, unafraid. You had heard stories of the Morrigan who fought in the war, but such tales did not scare you. From what you saw of her, she posed no threat, or usefulness.

“For someone whose power is supposed to be truth, whatever that means, you sure are full of shit.” You hissed at her. Mor opened her mouth to respond, but a rush of wind stopped her as Rhysand and Cassian appeared.

Cassian took one look at you and Mor and furrowed his brows. “Are we interrupting?”

“No, general.” You said sarcastically before Mor could speak.

“Good. Now come along.” Was all Rhysand said as he walked in front of you and down the hall, expecting you to follow. Sighing, you clutched your bag and obliged, noting the paintings hung up along the halls.

They were of favourious sets of scenery, as well as a few portraits. There was a red and gold forest, which you assumed was the Autumn Court, along with a shabby old cottage – the Archeron’s previous home apparently. The portraits were of the High Lady’s family, all except Nesta. To be honest, you had expected them to be better – they were not bad paintings, just not… great.

You snorted, and the Morrigan spoke up. “Something funny?”

“Nope.” Was all you responded with before entering a large living room behind Rhysand.

A noticeably pregnant High Lady was seated on the couch by the fireplace, a thick blanket pulled up around her legs. Her gold brown hair was tied into a loose bun, and she held a mug of tea in her hand. Amren was perched in an armchair across from her, scowling at you. You ignored her, glancing at Azriel instead, who was standing by the table a few feet away. His pretty face revealed nothing, no surprise that you were back.

“I take it by (Y/N)’s return that something happened and it all went to shit?” Amren quipped before anyone could speak.

“Something like that.” Cassian grumbled, leaning against one of the empty chairs and crossing his arms in annoyance.

Amren’s silver eyes were triumphant, almost glittering with excitement at the prospect of humiliating you. “What did you do, girl?”

“Enough, Amren.” Feyre spoke up. You glanced at the High Lady in surprise, not expecting her to shut her Second down. The corners of her lips pursed slightly, an attempt at a smile almost. You nodded at her, and took a seat a few feet away from Cassian.

“So,” Rhysand began, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his expensive black suit. “We’ve run into a bit of a snag with the Spring Court. Cassian already told me what happened in the clearing. (Y/N), would you care to explain the rest?”

You bit your lip, fiddling with the straps of your bag once again. All six sets of eyes honed in on you, analyzing your every movement. You took a breath, knowing your acting skills had to be top notch in order to get away with this lie.

“Things were going well at first,” You began. “Tamlin bought my story, or he didn’t care. I didn’t see much of him, he rarely left his room actually. I offered to help around the manor in exchange for being able to stay there. Aside from reconnecting with old friends, nothing happened for the first few weeks. But then I was talking to a sentry named Daeron, who knew my father. He said one of his friends in the Autumn Court had not written to him in a few days, which was unusual. He seemed worried, and must have gone to Tamlin about it.

“Tamlin left the manor for the first time I was there that evening. He went to patrol the borders, so I began to write the report to Azriel. But Tamlin put some sort of protection spell on the manor, it was heavily warded from countless forms of magic. The letter tried to send, but it didn’t work. I panicked, and tried to sneak down to the main hall to throw it into the fireplace but one of the sentries was there. I thought I had tossed it far enough into the fire when he wasn’t looking, but as I turned to leave I saw him bend down and pull out the remains of it.”

You took another breath, forcing your voice to shake. You had a role to play – one of a frightened, naive female who was scared of the big bad High Lords. For extra effect, you willed tears into your eyes, letting them fill with water.

“I didn’t know what to do,” You croaked. “The sentry who was guarding is one of the meaner, older ones. I wouldn’t have stood a chance if I went after him. I just grabbed my things and ran. And I guess Tamlin followed me.”

Rhysand’s violet eyes narrowed, and he folded his arms across his chest. “How did you just coincidentally run to the very clearing where Cassian, Nesta, and Eris were?”

Luckily, you had planned for this. On your journey out of the Spring Court, you had used Azriel’s training to go over every possible lie you would have to formulate to present a cohesive story. “I didn’t.” You said, meeting his gaze. “At first, I was blindly running through the overgrowth away from the main paths. I was actually planning on veering East and going in a different direction. But then I heard their voices in the distance – barely, but I was able to tell they were there. So I ran for them, hoping they’d help me get out.”

“So you ran like a coward instead of staying there and trying to fix things?” Amren asked pointedly. Before you could respond, Azriel spoke up.

“No, Amren.” He said, emerging from the shadows. “It was smart of her to run. While Tamlin seems more stable than we thought, he still remains unpredictable. He could have killed her, then come marching to our doorstep. She did the right thing.”

“And what’s stopping him now from marching to our doorstep?” Amren didn’t back down, refusing to shy from the dark voice of the shadowsinger. “He knows that she’s spying for us. By the law, he has every right to declare war on us.”

“He won’t.” The spymaster said coolly. “And we don’t know that for sure. (Y/N), what exactly did the remains of this letter say? Do you know?”

You were relieved Azriel was standing up for you. At least one person in the room was on your side. “Not much,” You admitted. “Just your name and a few scattered words. Not sure which ones.”

He nodded. “That’s good. He does not have enough evidence to justify a declaration of war. It’s still a problem, but we have bigger things to worry about.”

Amren snorted, but turned her attention away from Azriel and towards Cassian. “And you, dog. Is this how this happened?”

Your mouth shot open at this spiteful creature’s words. “Are you seriously questioning my honesty right now? I risked my life for your court.” You hissed, your voice low and lethal.

“Your one job was to not get found out,” Amren shot back. “And you couldn’t even do that. I have to wonder, was that on purpose, girl?”

“If you think for one moment it was on purpose–”

Azriel interrupted, hazel eyes gleaming with annoyance. “Amren, enough. It wasn’t on purpose. I couldn’t write to her on our end, either. It wasn’t her fault.”

“Quiet, dog.” Amren didn’t stop. “We risked our lives for you, getting you out of there.”

“Because you put me there in danger in the first place!” You roared back, fists clenching. “I trained for a few weeks at most, how did you honestly expect this to go?”

Your shoulders shook with rage. You weren’t sure how this interaction would go, but you certainly did not expect to be questioned like a criminal. Amren had nothing to contribute, you realized, and she was taking it out on you. And everyone was letting her, except for Azriel. She held no power or ability to cause harm to anyone in the room, yet the rest of the court held back as the tiny female tried to shred you apart with her words.

“We expected you to try harder.” Amren hissed, remaining seated among the plush cushions.

“Come over here and say that to my face, you spoiled cunt.” You stood up and braced yourself to leap at the creature, even though you knew it would be pointless given the amount of power in the room.

“Both of you, enough.” Rhysand growled, finally stepping in. “Arguing will not change what happened. We believe you, (Y/N). Given you only received a few weeks of training from Azriel, you did the best you could it seems. We will deal with Tamlin later. For now, you are to remain at the House.”

You stiffened. “Just like that, I’m a prisoner again?”

“No, you are not a prisoner.” Rhysand countered, fixing a stern glare at you.

“So I can leave and go for a walk in the city then?” You challenged, meeting his stare.

“No. To put it plainly, we have enough problems as it is. We cannot let you leave, as you have seen parts of our court nobody else has and we do not want that information getting out. We will decide what to do with you after other matters are dealt with.”

You cocked your head. “What other matters might those be?”

“Matters of which are none of your concern. For now, you will continue training with Azriel and learn from him.”

“Why? I already completed my spying mission.” You hadn’t anticipated this. Yes, you planned that you’d be sent back to the House and put on the back burner until Braillyn was dealt with, but you didn’t realize you’d be expected to continue training.

Every second you spent with Azriel put you more at risk of your plan falling apart. He was the one you feared most, not Rhysand – his gifts as a shadowsinger were a mystery to you, and posed a danger to everything you were working towards. He’d keep a close eye on you, for sure. You had to hope that he’d be more worried about Braillyn than you.

The High Lord merely flicked an invisible piece of lint off a cushion. “Because Azriel saw potential in you,” He said casually. “And since you cannot go back to Spring, and do not have ties to any other court, so you have nowhere to go but here. And if you are to live here, you need to have a job. Working under Azriel will grant you that.”

You gulped. “What if I don’t want to live here?”

Feyre sighed, and you glanced at her. The High Lady of the Night Court simply sat there and let her mate dictate everything. She had the potential to step up and use her voice as High Lady, something that had never been seen before, yet she remained silent. You wondered what happened to the Feyre Archeron who went under the Mountain and survived some of the most brutal challenges you had ever heard of – the female who tricked the wyrm and threw a bone at Amarantha with no fear, who freed everyone of a curse that had lasted half a century, hell even the female who took it upon herself to destroy your court single handedly. You would have understood if her lack of involvement was a response to that trauma, a way of taking a step back and letting everyone else handle things. But you found it hard to believe that a female who survived that much would give up and let a male take over so easily.

“You have two choices here,” Rhysand’s voice broke your thoughts. “You live at the House of Wind and work for us and remain in the Night Court, and once time has passed and you have proved yourself further you may find your own residence and live as you choose. Or, your second choice, we take you to the human lands and you can live there.”

“Where I’ll be persecuted for being fae,” You added, throwing out a sarcastic laugh. “Not much of a choice, is it now?”

A familiar choice as well. You mentally added, Nesta’s story flashing through your mind. Rhysand said nothing, just stared at you with an expressionless look on his face.

“I think we’re done here.” He said cooly, nodding to Cassian. The general stepped forward, but was stopped by Azriel.

“I will take her up to the House,” The shadowsinger said. “You should discuss what happened with the rest of them.”

Cassian blinked in surprise and opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but didn’t object. As he took a seat near the fireplace, Azriel motioned for you to follow him. Nobody said anything as you left the room, but you didn’t doubt for a second that there was some mental communication going on.

Azriel opened the door to the townhouse, the chilly night air rushing into the foyer as you froze. “Aren’t we winnowing?” You asked, puzzled.

“No,” He said. “I’ve done it too much today, and could use a wing stretch. Besides, I figured it may be nice to see a view of the city.”

“Is that okay with Rhysand?” You quipped, unable to keep the bite out of your voice.

“It is okay with me.” Azriel stated simply, stepping aside for you to walk past him. “You have helped us out a great deal, and deserve to see the beauty of this city before heading up to the House for the next while if you’re going to live here.”

You chewed on your lip, but stepped forward anyway. Rhysand had said you were to go straight to the house, but you knew that he likely overheard this conversation. The fact he didn’t immediately appear and reprimand Azriel showed he did not object.

As you walked through the doorway, you couldn’t help but gasp at the site before you. Long cobblestone streets were lined with beautiful lanterns, sloping up and down hills. Music flowed from the streets below, as well as the laughter of children and grown fae alike. A beautiful river glittered in the distance, and the snow-capped mountains surrounded the city like a protective wall. Your senses were alight with all kinds of smells – spices and baked goods, a crisp wind-chilled breeze among other things. It was undoubtedly beautiful, a gem of light in a place you had thought to be dark and cruel.

But your heart sank a bit as you realized this was the reason Rhysand ran his court the way he did. You knew there were more cities than this one, yet this seemed to be the only one that mattered. You couldn’t help but wonder how the lives of the Night Court’s other citizens were compared to this.

“It’s lovely, isn’t it?” Azriel muttered, closing the door behind you.

“It is,” You said, turning to meet his gaze. “Are there other cities like this one?”

“No.” The spymaster said evenly. “This is the only place in the Night Court that thrives like this. You will learn more about the other cities and regions tomorrow as part of your training, if that is what you wish.”

You smiled softly at him. “I’d like that very much.”

You weren’t lying – you did want to know about the regions of the Night Court, and how it was that the ruler only cared about the wellbeing of this one. It would give you an advantage for whatever laid ahead with Nesta and Eris, yet you couldn’t help but feel bad. Azriel had been nothing but respectful towards you, unlike the others. He defended you when nobody else had, and you were using him. Unfortunately, that flicker of doubt that crossed your face did not go unnoticed.

“What is it?” He asked, eyes narrowing a bit.

You shrugged. “Seeing all this is just making me realize I can never go back to the Spring Court. I’ll never be able to see it regrow and thrive like this one, and that makes me sad.”

A scarred hand clasped your shoulder. “I understand that,” Azriel said, voice softer than usual. “And for that I am sorry. But I hope you can find happiness here, Tamlin would slaughter you on sight if you returned to Spring.”

“I know.” Your voice was quiet. “Doesn’t mean I can’t mourn what once was.”

“No, it does not, and I would never ask that of you.” Azriel released your shoulder and wrapped his arm around your waist, the other coming under your knees and sweeping you up. “Now are you ready?”

You nodded, clutching onto him shamelessly. Cassian’s wobbly flight carrying two of you had freaked you out. “Promise not to drop me.”

Azriel chuckled darkly. “Only a fool would drop a girl like you.”

“Cassian almost did.”

“Well he was carrying two of you. It’s quite hard, you know.”

“Good to know those muscles are just for show.”

“I’ll tell him you said that.” Were Azriel’s final words before shooting into the sky. You yelped, gripping his neck so hard it had to have hurt. The bright lights of the city below you grew smaller and smaller as you flew towards the House of Wind.

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

Azriel gave you a small smile as he dropped you off on the balcony, but did not linger. He flew away as quickly as he had come, soaring into the mountains in the distance. Your legs were wobbly, not quite used to the sensation of soaring through the sky. Taking one last glance at the city below, you reached for the handle and pushed the door open, entering the House once again.

It was warm, candles glimmering with life as if it was whispering, welcome back. A spread of cheese and crackers was laid out on the table, along with a cup of peppermint tea. The decor in the room was the same as when you had left – large chairs facing each other by the elegant windows, a small table between them. Books lined the shelves of one wall, and art on the other. The vibrant purple rugs were spotless, as if no muddy boots had ever tread on them.

Your stomach growled at the sight of the cheese, reminding you it had been hours since your last meal. Taking a seat at the table, you eagerly dug in. Rich, creamy brie and sharp, smokey gouda were laid out in the shape of flowers – your two favourite cheeses. You wondered briefly who had laid this out, then remembered it was Nesta who only knew of your love for these two cheeses. Spiced meats were arranged alongside it as well as some fragrant chili jam.

“I see you found the cheese.” Came a familiar voice. You froze, mouth stuffed with a disturbing amount of food as you turned to see Nesta standing in the doorway. Her golden-brown hair was tied back in a simple braid, not in its usual crown style. Loose strands framed her sharp face, those grey eyes gleaming as she gazed upon you. She was dressed in a simple silver gown with long, loose sleeves and a white belt at the waist. The muted colours made her look like a sculpture, carved from the moon herself as an offering to the Mother.

You didn’t say anything, just swallowed your cheese and stood up. The chair scraped against the wooden floor as you shoved it aside and ran towards Nesta, throwing your arms around her neck before you could think for another moment. She did not tense, only sighed and relaxed into your embrace. Her arms came around your waist, pulling you in closer. Tears pricked your eyes as you inhaled her familiar scent, missing it more than anything in the past countless weeks. You hadn’t let yourself miss her too much, let yourself fall into the hole in your chest that ached at being apart from her. The spell imprinted on your chest hadn’t made it any easier, nor had the weeks of silence. But holding her in your arms made you realize how much you had missed the female’s presence in your life.

“I’m glad you’re back.” Nesta said quietly.

“Me too.” You murmured before you broke apart. “The cheese, was that you?”

Nesta laughed, taking your hand and leading you back to the table. “Not really,” She said. “Believe it or not, it was the House.”

You balked, sitting back down in your seat. “I’m sorry, what?”

The eldest Archeron poured herself some tea. “You heard me. While you were gone, it seemed to come alive. I would talk to it, and it has basically become my friend. I told it about you, including details like your favourite type of cheese. I told it to make you a snack when you arrived, and I guess it listened.”

A gust of warm, sweet air brushed your face, as if the House was making its presence known and confirming what Nesta had said. “Holy shit.” You muttered.

“It’s pretty neat.” Nesta remarked, spreading a piece of brie on a cracker before shoving it into her mouth. “And has good taste in cheese.”

You chuckled, taking a moment to appreciate the sight before you. It took a long time to coax food into Nesta just several months ago, and now she was openly devouring a cheese platter. She looked healthier, but something else haunted her behind her eyes. It was different from the emptiness that had been there when you first arrived.

“What is it?” Nesta asked, noticing your stare.

“It’s just…” You were unsure of how to say it without offending her. “You seem different. And I hadn’t heard from you in so long. I’m just wondering what’s been going on here, that’s all.”

Nesta’s face tensed, all relaxation gone. She stirred her tea, averting her gaze. “I figured you’d want to talk about this as soon as possible.”

“Can you blame me, Nesta?” You asked. “I didn’t hear from you for weeks. And Rhysand has ordered me to resume training with Azriel tomorrow, so I don’t know how much time we can have unmonitored before Azriel is back on my ass.”

She sighed, eyes vacant as she kept stirring her tea. “Fine.”

“I’m sorry for what I said about Cassian.” You said, chest tightening with the regret of your words from earlier. “It was uncalled for, and I shouldn’t have said it.”

“You were right,” A clink rang through the air as Nesta dropped her spoon back in the teacup. “And you deserve to know what’s been going on.”

You nodded, sitting back and watching Nesta take a shaky breath before continuing.

“When I began training with Cassian, things got flirty.” She began. “Nothing much. Just him flexing his muscles, making the occasional suggestive comment. I met a female in the library named Gwyn. She’s a priestess, they all are. Cassian said the library was built as a sanctuary for females who have survived horrible things. She joined in on the training, and eventually two or three others. They were nervous to be in the presence of males again, but Cassian and Azriel were respectful.

“Every night, I would go down the steps to see how far I could make it. One night, I got to the thousandth step, and collapsed when I got back to the top. Cassian was there, laughing at me. We argued, and I kissed him to shut him up. Things got heated, but I left. The next day we were summoned to the River House for a meeting. Azriel explained that Beron had aligned with Braillyn, and the death-God Koschei was likely involved. Amren told us they were likely after the troves, and said that Elain could scry for them. I offered in her stead.”

You exhaled sharply. “So they offered Elain knowing you wouldn’t let her anywhere near that dark magic, as a way of convincing you to do it without directly ordering it? Nice.”

“Pretty much.” Nesta continued. “And I walked right into it. That’s when we also found out Feyre was pregnant, although Rhys later told us that the pregnancy would kill her since the baby has wings. Later that night, Cassian came to my room and repaid the debt he owed me from the night before. That’s how everything between us started. More joined the training program, including an Illyrian female named Emerie. You’d like her. Of course, Rhysie assumed I would terrorize Gwyn, and he tried to give me a mental lecture about how I am to treat her with respect. He assumed the worst of me, as always.

“A couple days later, something happened. I had attempted to scry that day and thought I’d failed. But later that night, I felt this…. pull. It was ice cold and dark, and it crept up on me and wouldn’t go away. I was asleep, but I could feel its presence. I don’t remember what happened, but according to Cassian my powers exploded and the room was encased in silver fire. Rhys managed to subdue it after some effort, and said my power was pure death.”

“What was that darkness?” You asked. “The one that made you scream?”

“I don’t know,” Nesta admitted. “But whatever it was woke my powers. I’d tried so hard to suppress them, to pretend they weren’t there. I tried scrying again the next day, and it pointed us to the Bog of Oorid. I went in with Cassian and Azriel, and they set me down in a tree to look around but they disappeared. I climbed down to look for them, but then the kelpie…”

Nesta shuddered, taking a deep breath. Her knuckles were white, as if clenching at an invisible dagger to fend off the memories. The haunted look you had hoped to never see again entered her eyes, so you grabbed her hand.

“Hey,” You said softly. “You don’t have to go into detail.”

Nesta coughed, clearing her throat. “No,” She said with determination. “It’s important.”

“Ok.” You stroked the back of her hand with your thumb, waiting for her to continue.

“It grabbed me and pulled me underwater. I thought I was going to drown, but then it kissed me and my lungs were filled with air again. Its hands… they were all over me, and it spoke in an old language. According to Amren, it wanted me to be its bride. It kissed me, over and over, shoving its tongue down my throat. But as we neared the bottom, I felt a pull. It wasn’t dark and terrifying like the last one. No, this one was bright and golden. It sang to me, I heard its voice in my head so I reached out and willed it closer. Next thing you know, the Mask was in my hand so I put it on.

“While I wore the Mask, I felt nothing. No pain, no panic, but no joy. I was just there. I used it to raise the dead that infested the waters, and they ripped the kelpie apart. I took its head and rose to the surface, the army rising with me. Azriel and Cassian were there, and I don’t remember what happened after I took off the Mask. I ended up back in the House of Wind being treated. Later that night, I was taking a bath to try and wash the bog off. Cassian entered, and I don’t know what overcame me but I wanted him. He didn’t want to fuck me in my condition at first, but he caved in. Once he was done, he just left. I didn’t ask him to stay the night, but I wanted to. I couldn’t stand the thought of being alone after everything that had just happened.”

“I’m sorry but let me get this straight.” You said, anger rising. “Cassian knew you had been basically molested by the kelpie, and thought it was a good idea to bed you and then leave you alone?”

Nesta shook her head. “I asked him to, though.”

“Doesn’t matter,” You protested. “He’s a 500 year old general, he should have thought with his brains and not his cock. That was fucked up of him, Nes.”

She smiled, a single tear gleaming against the grey of her iris. You felt the urge to storm down into the city and rip Cassian a new one – he should have known Nesta was vulnerable and traumatized, and he took advantage of her to satiate his own needs.

“I didn’t realize that at first.” Nesta said, looking down at her cup. “But that night I wished more than anything. You know me well enough to not have left me like that. It was also then I realized that Cassian may have had good intentions, but they were warped by his loyalty to Rhysand. I was good enough to fuck, but not good enough to love yet. It was something I had to earn, under the Inner Circle’s conditions rather than my own. He wanted to love me, but he wanted to love a version of me that didn’t exist, one that they were trying to turn me into. But I believe that he does want to help me, in his own way. It’s just… not what I need.”

Your heart shattered at her confession, and you kicked yourself for the millionth time for your jealous comment about Cassian from earlier. You had assumed that they had kindled some kind of relationship while you were gone, the idea of which tore at your heart a little. You wanted Nesta to be happy, but she was right – to be worthy of Cassian’s love would require letting herself be molded into the perfect little soldier for the Inner Circle. And over your dead body would you let that happen to either of you.

“I get it, to some extent.” You said, holding her hand even tighter. “I mean, Azriel and I never fucked, but he has been at my side and stood up for me in some ways. I think he’s like Cassian in the sense that he genuinely wants to help, but at the end of the day he’ll always bow to Rhysand’s wishes. And that’s not a life either of us want.”

A tear slipped down Nesta’s cheek. “I’m so tired….” Her voice was a whisper. “I never asked for any of this. I like being strong, but I do not want to be a warrior. This is not a life I want. Just for once, I want to make my own decisions.”

You wiped it away, gently caressing the soft skin of her face. Nesta looked up at you, a new determination blazing in her eyes.

“We are getting out of here.” She said. “And I don’t care what we have to do.”

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[thoughtfullyrainynightmare]

I came across Fuegoleon slander again... Those people really have nothing better to do, especially since at the same time they're also so-called big fans of Mereoleona. What they don't realize that if Mereo was real would hear them talk about her brother that way, she would beat them up to hell in his defense. But at least, I'm happy to see that each Fue fan, even on twitter itself, always are proud and happy to love Fuegoleon Vermillion.

I don't see much of the hate in general, because I curate my online experience, but whenever it does cross my dash on some platform (honestly, Tumblr is the most peaceful place that I know of in terms of fandoms, but that's just my general impression from personal perspective, and what my moots have shared with me of their experiences) it usually seems like... an attempt to make another character seem better by putting down another character. And that's... the sandbox behaviour of "I need to put you down to stomp on you and make myself look taller". But the thing is, that's just feigned strength. No one I'd admire for their strength and grace would do that. As in, sure, you might not like some people (you might actually hate some people, which are other things because we, quite simply, don't like everyone, that's just a fact), but slandering them in order to boost your own image usually does the exact opposite.

I actually know someone like that irl. And he's a martial arts teacher. He puts down other people who have been training for a very long time, who are skilled, in order to make himself look even better. But the thing is... everyone hates him. Everyone sees the desperate attempt to boost his own image, and they think even less of him.

If I circle back to fandoms, and the Vermillions in this context, I think these people forget the Elf Arc where Mereo and Fue had the monologues, turned into a kind of a dialogue, about how they admire each other. Sure, Mereo's way of talking about Fue was more crude, along the lines of "he's too serious for his own good", but you need to be able to read the meaning behind the individual words said. Because what Mereo means is that "he is serious, he is responsible, and he cares about the kingdom to the point where he sleeps less than he should" for example.

Fuegoleon is what Mereo can't be, in a sense. As in, sure, Mereo could be the Wizard Queen by strength, and she's stronger in a battle than Fue (which is why she's in the front lines during the last arc), but the things that make a good King or Queen extend to more than your ability to cast powerful spells/have a lot of mana (if you believe that amount of mana alone counts, then you're an Auggie supporter in my eyes). Mereo isn't interested in pushing papers, or being around in the noble circles for that matter. And she couldn't feign wanting to do so for long, because that's not the kind of a person she is.

In that sense, Fuegoleon is doing what Mereo can't. Assume the position that requires the dry and dull aspects of being a knight, along with being a skilled fighter.

And Mereo would absolutely beat up anyone slandering her brother. Disown the people as her fans. (Or just scoff because she doesn't need to prove such senseless accusations as wrong, because they're evidently wrong.) Which is why I also find it easy to just wipe the table with such opinions. Because they're missing important parts of the narrative, trying to slander characters in order to make others look better, and aren't taking the time to really understand the characters or the story or the world in which said characters live.

Every Fue fan who love the character who he is at his very core (which is more than just the handsome MK captain with a lion thematic), will be proud to love him for who he is. And we will stay proud. Do no harm but take no shit. While also picking our battles. Some are worth it and some are not.