#and am pretty convinced that she’d get a lot of hate.

[serpentface]

Oh yeah I meant to ask, to what extent does social paranoia/self-surveillance/Complexes/etc. affect Janeys & Brakul’s relationship, or their attitudes toward one another/themselves? I remember something written about them not engaging in penetrative sex in relation to Wardi taboos on bodily integrity, which, if not just happening to coincide with personal preference, sounds potentially pretty fraught. (Maybe excessively paranoid, but I want to clarify that this isn’t necessarily a Horny Question)

Not a horny question but as usual my answer is going to be excessively long and detailed so get ready.

Anyway yeahhhh it’s pretty fraught. The bottom line is that they love each other and are also mad horny about it with only a limited number of outlets, which only adds stress to an already stressful situation. They are fully aware that they love each other and there's no 'no homo'ing their way out of this one, but ARE kind of in denial about there being a sexual component to their relationship (which is partly bolstered by the Wardi view on sexuality only considering Full Penetration to actually be 'sex', and they aren't doing that, sooooo....).

With regards to paranoia/self surveillance....

Both of them share a fairly equal concern about status and honor. They are both fully in agreement that many aspects of their relationship have to be secret and that both need to uphold a normative life for high status individuals. The threat of public shaming is a very real concern, and they have killed people over it (duels over slander and impugned honor are legal in some contexts, Brakul extralegally beat a guy to death for it once).

Brakul personally most concerned about other people, and is compelled to avoid doing anything in public that could even be construed as romantic in nature. Wardi cultural norms permit men to be physically affectionate with male friends (kissing on the cheek is a common greeting) but Brakul is pretty hardline Bro Do Not Even Touch Me In Public. He has very few compunctions about anything done in private so long as he doesn't specifically feel emasculated by it.

Janeys is heavily religious and strongly concerned about curses and spiritual pollution (all believers in this faith share this basic tendency, but it tends to be of more pressing psychological concern to the upper classes via impact on social status and honor). His core personal concerns are on the spiritual end of things- belief in curses and spiritual pollution is a very real motivating factor in this culture. Anything he does that is conventionally understood as emasculating or spiritually violating, he has to rationalize and self-justify away.

There’s a tendency among the upper class to imagine the Commoner having a poor, uneducated, and superficial understanding of the religion, and philosophical debates on the nuances of religion is considered an ideal leisure pastime among the educated upper class. So part of Janeys’ self-justification cycle is usually like “I am very smart and knowledgeable, and now that I’m thinking about it the idea that [xyz gay as shit behavior] is spiritually polluting is superstition of the common rabble and missing all the Subtle Nuances”.

It’s kind of like Janeys will laboriously mental gymnastics his way through his various concerns and eventually be like “I Have Discovered That Giving Blowjobs Is Not Spiritually Polluting, (And In Fact Is Very Masculine???) I Will Analyze This Further” and Brakul is like “Ok cool not polluting okay awesome that’s great ok let’s go let's go letsgoletsgoletsgo”

This is a long, slow process. They have been in a relationship where they both want to fuck each other stupid for over a decade without any of that happening, instead just very slowly escalating while being very frustrated about it the whole time.

Sworn brotherhoods such as theirs are upheld by an annual ritual involving bloodletting (the palms are cut, blood drained into wine and mutually imbibed, other stuff happens). It’s a lengthy ceremony and partly supervised by a priest. The first escalation is they started doing this like, monthly on their own. It feels intimate and scratches an itch for physical and psychological closeness.

This escalated into performing a ‘’’condensed’’’ version of the ritual, which is really just them sitting around and cutting each other with a razor and licking up the blood (while perhaps half-assedly reciting the associated prayers). The underlying factor is they always need to have some excuse that does not ‘shame’ them- in this case, they have decided that their frequent exchange of blood keeps their bond soooo strong and powerful and that they're like, the best sworn brothers ever.

This blood shit is UNQUESTIONABLY sexual for them and is a physical outlet for sexual frustration. And it does eventually escalate to them finally getting off (‘weird blood shit’ was their first base, ‘doing weird blood shit and frantically dry humping to completion and then not talking about it’ was their second, ‘kissing on the mouth’ was like, 6th)

This all was worsened by the genius decision of having Brakul knock up Hibrides, who is Janeys’ wife. Janeys has no attraction to women (and also probable fertility issues) so he never succeeded himself. She had passed the expected childbearing age and is utterly miserable in this relationship and was kinda like “uhhh if you won’t let me fucking DIVORCE YOUR ASS you’d better figure something out because you’re shaming ME”, and since sworn brothers effectively ‘share’ wives (IN THEORY this is just a commitment to support your brothers’ wife and children in the case of his death) they came to an agreement that this was NOT Janeys being cuckolded and shamed, as long as no one else finds out.

The lingering after effects of this decision are one of the primary strains on their relationship on a whole number of levels, one of which is Janeys now being intensely jealous of Hibrides for ‘getting to’ fuck Brakul, and that she has had a form of closeness with him that Janeys can never have (not even just the sex but like, conception itself). The feeling of having a metaphysical bond with someone who he sees as stronger than himself makes him feel more secure, and the sense that someone has gotten in the way of that and experienced something 'deeper' is very distressing for him. Brakul also kind of wants to be a father and really, really, really wants a relationship with his bastard children (something which both Janeys and Hibrides prevent him from doing) which really wears on him.

On a personal level, Janeys swings between feeling smugly justified about everything (he's only hiding it because everyone around him is stupid and wouldn't get The Nuances) and like, Oh God I've fucked up so bad I am shamed beyond recognition. Why did you let me do this to myself, this is your fault, you made me like this, etc etc etc. (This is especially the case when he suffers any unusual misfortune, seeing it as signs of a curse).

Brakul can usually weather this out (and is also very good at logically assuaging his concerns), but it's very draining on him. He shares the core belief in spiritual pollution, but he doesn't share the experience of actually Feeling dirty or shamed by things only they know about. They get into a lot of fights (not necessarily explicitly about all this, but it's an underlying tension) and Brakul often just deals with it by up and leaving for days on end until Janeys is miserable enough to not be upset. Brakul also has some alcohol abuse issues and could be diagnosed with clinical depression (not entirely because of this, but it doesn't help).

Another bottom line is just like, after over a decade in vehement denial that they are fucking each other, the notion of 'actually fucking each other' has kind of an outsized weight to it. Objectively (BY WARDI CULTURAL STANDARDS) they have ENTIRELY and thoroughly shamed each other and are riddled with spiritual pollution, and taking it up the ass couldn't make it any worse so might as well. But they haven't quite got there.

So yeah this is kind of all over the place but I think this answers the question???????

[fingertipsmp3]

Guys I want to knit and/or crochet my grandma something for her birthday but I can’t work out what she would want. What would you want if you were my grandma

[kujousgf]

ANDROMEDA. mdni. 18+.

pairing: wanda maximoff + stepdaughter!reader

summary: all wanda wants is to relax, why does that seem so hard?

warnings: implied cheating, stepcest, no explicit sexual content, mommy kink, age gap, alcohol consumption, implied sexual content

wc: 2.1kish

It didn't start out like this, you swear. You didn't start out wanting to ruin your own father's marriage so that you could be with your new step mother. You used to feel bad about it, really, you did, but it's been about a year now and it's not like your father deserves Wanda anyway. They’d been married for about a year and a half and you swear you’ve never even seen them hold hands. He was always on business trips, you rarely saw him. It used to make you sad, never seeing your father, but distance creates disdain.

That’s pretty much how you found yourself in your best friend, Kate’s, bedroom, laying on the bed with your head hanging off and staring at the, upside down from your point of view, poster of some celebrity Kate was obsessed with. You think her name is Hailee? You don't know, but anyway, you were thinking about how you were going to convince Wanda to stay at home with you while your father was on yet another trip. Usually Wanda wouldn’t go with your father, but apparently he’s going to Milan and she really wants to go shopping there. And aside from the obvious reason you didn’t want Wansa to go, you really did hate being in that big house alone.

“I don’t know, man. Maybe you should just let her go on the trip, the woman never gets to see her husband, she probably misses him.” Kate shrugs, looking away from her phone to see your reaction. “Ughh, I just don’t understand what she sees in him, I’m obviously better and right here.” You sit up from your position on Kate’s bed and turn towards Kate, sitting cross-legged. Kate sighs in response, “Y/N, you know I love you, but I hate to break it to you, as hot of a milf as she is, and she is believe me, you are still her step daughter and she can’t exactly just… divorce your father to be with you. I mean, I totally get where you’re coming from and I am not gonna stop you from fucking her, but you’ve gotta be realistic here.”

She would be all for this relationship if it weren’t for the very simple and very messy fact that Wanda was married to your father. It was either going to end in heartbreak for you or you completely severing ties with your father to be with Wanda. And while the latter wouldn’t be awful, it’s not like your father was the most present, it just kind of counted on you and Wanda staying together which, as much as she wanted to believe it would, Kate was unsure would happen.

And it’s not that Kate didn’t think it was possible for you to have a long lasting relationship, it’s just that she was afraid lust was clouding your judgment and she’s not sure you actually have any sort of emotional connection…. Ah, but that’s enough worrying, it wasn’t exactly Kate’s strong suit and it was unlikely that you would be successful in your mission to woo Wanda… As if you hadn’t already been messing around with each other, but that didn’t really matter right now.

“Maybe you’re right… I don’t know. I just know that she’d be better off here with me. It’s not like she’d even get to see him a lot while they’re there. He’ll be in meetings or whatever.” You roll your eyes, already annoyed at the thought of Wanda thinking she’d get to have a nice trip and it being ruined by your father. You know you could treat Wanda better than him. “And hey,” Kate perks up, her eyes twinkling and a smile sneaking onto her lips, “If they’re both gone you can throw a party.”

—

Wanda was annoyed. Extremely annoyed, actually. Maybe even a little bit angry, but she wasn’t going to dwell on that feeling. This was supposed to be a nice trip for her, a vacation of sorts, but no, of course it wasn’t. Nothing was ever a nice vacation in the presence of Mr. Bigshot CEO Jarvis. It’s her fault, really, falling for his charming little facade and then for some god forsaken reason deciding to marry him. It’s not like she can go back in time to change it though, so she better not think about it too much, and he’s rich so that’s a plus she supposes.

At least he had a cute daughter, but that’s besides the point, she’s letting her mind drift again.

She’d been waiting for him to get back from whatever the hell kind of meeting he was at, she didn’t care, so that they could go get dinner at the restaurant down the street from the condo they were staying at. But as always, he texted her to say he’d be running a little bit late. That text was sent two hours ago and she’s not sure how much waiting she has left in her. She’d give him five more minutes before she got on a plane and left without a word.

She had just finished zipping up her suitcase when she heard the door open, what impeccable timing that stupid man had. Sighing and looking towards the door, Wanda attempted to give a somewhat genuine smile. “Sweetheart!!” Slurred the clearly drunk man as he stumbled into the room, he reeked of alcohol and it almost made Wanda gag. “You’re late. Extremely late. Again.” She crossed her arms over her chest as she stared at him, clearly unimpressed. “Oh, come on. Me and the boys just went out for a few drinks after retro… retrofits!”

He meant retrospectives.

“Yeah, I’m sure you did. Well, you can have a nice time here in Milan, I am going home.” Wanda could put up with a lot of things, but this was just ridiculous. He had never been punctual, but it had usually been because his meetings actually were running late, not whatever this was. “Home? No, it’s called Seta.” He clearly thought she meant the restaurant which she was no longer planning on going to. “No. I am getting on a plane and I am going home. But please, don’t let that stop you from enjoying your time here.” She laughed, mostly at how pathetic she thought it was that she expected this trip to be any different than how it was at home. And with that, she was out the door and walking down to the lobby to try and figure out what the best way to the airport was and if she could just take some sort of personal jet of her husband’s to get home.

—

The party was in full swing, music blasting, drunk 20 somethings everywhere and you were in the center of it. You always did like attention. It took you and Kate about two days to plan and figure out who to invite, but it went about as well as you had expected. Instead of having a somewhat laid back party, Kate decided at the last minute that she would text out an invite to all of their friends and then also let them text their friends about it. So now there were about 100 people in your house and backyard.

Unfortunately, Kate was just about the most social person you have ever met. Somehow, though, nothing has been broken yet, but there are way too many red plastic cups on the ground. Kate is less drunk than you are, but by no means sober and you have… well… had enough alcohol to stop you from drinking for at least the next two weeks. Waking up tomorrow would not be pleasant.

“Hey Y/N!” Kate is practically shouting over the music, “Are we expecting anyone else? A car just pulled up!” She’s pretty sure everyone is here, even Nico had somehow convinced Illyana to take a break from studying (brooding in her room) to come to the party. Which is a miracle in itself. Speaking of those two, she hasn’t seen them in a while, she hopes for your sake they aren’t fucking somewhere in the house. “I don’t think so, but I’ll go greet them anyway!!” You slur, smiling excitedly. “Y/N I don’t think-” Kate doesn’t get to finish her sentence before you’re skipping away towards the front door. “Okay.” Kate nods to herself before walking away to go find wherever Peter was, the last time she saw her she was playing beer pong with the other Peter, Gamora’s boyfriend Peter. Something about battle of the Peters.

You stumble out the front door, squinting to try and see who just pulled up. It was dark out and you weren't wearing your glasses. Oh, and being incredibly drunk didn’t help. You gasp when you see who it is. “Wands!!” Your eyes widen in excitement and you run towards her, tripping over your own feet in the process. You didn’t usually call Wanda by the nickname, but you didn’t really care right now. Wanda is quick to stop you from falling, cursing under her breath when she realizes how drunk you are. You would be a handful in the morning.

And then she finally hears the loud music and the voices and slowly looks around to see all of the clearly drunk people currently on her, well, your father's property. “Y/F/N.” Her voice is stern and it catches you so off guard you almost stumble backwards, your eyes wide. You pout, upset that the first thing Wanda does when she sees you when she gets home is be upset with you. You probably would have fallen if it weren’t for Wanda’s grip on your arms.

“What the hell is this?” She’s not sure why you throwing a party makes her so angry, it usually wouldn’t. Maybe it’s the built up anger from your father bailing on their dinner date to get drunk and the assumption that she’d be able to come home and relax with you. Or maybe it’s the thought of you throwing this big of a party while she’s not even in the country and something bad happening to you. You never did handle alcohol very well, despite drinking like there’s no tomorrow. In any case, she was quite angry.

“It’s a party, silly. Can’t you tell?” You giggle as your sadness melts away, leaning back into Wanda’s hold. “Yes, I know what a party–” Wanda stops herself, sighing, it didn’t matter anyway, You clearly weren't understanding why or that she was upset. She thinks for a couple of seconds and instead she changes tactics, it wouldn’t do any good to make you upset with everyone around and no one would remember any behavior that seemed odd for a step mother and her step daughter, they were all too drunk.

She smiles sweetly, reaching up to stroke your cheek, “Why don’t you go tell everyone to go home, the party is over, okay?” You pout in response, looking up slightly at the older woman, “But I don’t want them to go home.” You practically whine, slumping in Wanda’s arms. Of course this wasn’t going to be easy, you always did love a party. “I know you don’t, but it’s time for everyone to go home, sweetheart. Don't you want to spend some time with me now that I’m home?” Wanda fakes a pout, looking down at you.

Well, you did want to spend time with Wanda…

“But can't you just have fun at the party with me? We can have fun at the party together!!” You beam, no longer upset. Wanda was going to have whiplash with the way alcohol affected your emotions. “Sweet girl, you're so cute, but Mommy wants to spend some time with just the two of us.” She moves her thumb to tug at your bottom lip. “Wouldn't you like that?”

Your cheeks heat up and you feel a familiar heat in your stomach, suddenly feeling a little shy in front of Wanda. She doesn't usually call herself that unless you're alone. “Mhm… I can tell everyone to go home. I’ll get Kate to help and I’ll be so quick, I promise.” Wanda surprises you by leaning down to press a soft kiss against your lips. “Be quick, sweetheart. I’ve missed you.”

“So quick!!” And you almost trip over your feet with how quickly you run to go get Kate. Wanda watches fondly, a small smile on her lips. You're so cute, hopefully you won't get all upset in the morning when she makes you clean everything up.

[musicalmoritz]

any Tsukasa headcanons? I feel like everyone sees him as this demon monster who has no personality aside from murder :/

Tsukasa is an interesting character for me because he’s actually my favorite Yugi twin but I hate when ppl try to justify his actions…however some people go the opposite way and treat him like he’s a heartless villain with no depth so I end up defending him. Ppl get weirdly ableist abt it too it’s crazy. Tsukasa Yugi they could never make me hate you.

Now onto the headcanons

• I’m a firm believer that Tsukasa is adhd coded (I have adhd and I recognize my own kind)

• Specifically bcuz of the scene where child Amane said smth to Nene abt how Tsukasa would lose it if they didn’t play his favorite game at the festival, and due to the way he acts in movie theaters

• There’s room for debate over whether or not it can be called “coding” but you’ll never convince me that boy was intended to be neurotypical (autistic Tsukasa truthers are also valid)

• Since Sakura compares him to a cat I like to imagine he gets really clingy and cuddly with ppl for like 30 mins and then flips a switch and tries to bite them like cats do

• From “somebody hug me rn” to “touch me and I’ll kill you” within the span of a few minutes

• He takes a very “when I’m bored but then I remember I have a sibling” approach to bonding with Hanako. If the Broadcasting Crew and Mitsuba aren’t interesting him, he’ll pop over to Hanako’s bathroom and annoy him

• Not the kind of torment we see in the series though, he’ll just make annoying noises or keep asking Hanako to play games with him

• He likes animals but he’s terrible with them. Too aggressive, think of those poor fish

• I’m an aroace Tsukasa intellectual. I cannot see him caring abt romance beyond mild curiosity and his perverted behavior in the series seems to just be to mess with people/get reactions out of them as he’s known to enjoy doing (as opposed to Hanako’s pervert behavior which is pretty genuine, albeit comedic)

• His favorite subject in school was geography

• He doesn’t genuinely like many people besides Amane. He has a soft spot for Sakura and Natsuhiko though

• This is so far from canon but I think it’s funny to imagine that the entity inside of him is the TBHK equivalent of Venom. There’s still some debate over whether the current Tsukasa is entirely the entity or whether they share one being and I lean towards the later but I have this crack au/concept where the entity is like a little devil on his shoulder

• Sakura: What would you like to eat?

The Entity: The souls of the innocent👹

Tsukasa: A bagel

The Entity: Nooooooooo👹

Tsukasa: Two bagels

• Again, definitely not how it works in canon but it makes me giggle

• He really likes pumpkins and pumpkin flavored things

• FNAF kid

• He’s a massive extrovert in the sense that he gets his energy from being around other people, and he much prefers to be in a group than alone

• If he’s alone for too long he gets bored and agitated so he can usually be found in the presence of Sakura, Natsuhiko, Mitsuba, Amane, Mei, etc.

• Sometimes he’ll even hang out with Yako (I feel like they’d get along seeing as they both have rather sharp personalities, and I don’t think she’d judge him for his violent tendencies the way others do)

• When he was alive he had a lot of friends, pretty much the polar opposite of his brother

• He doesn’t feel guilty often but when he wants someone to forgive them, he’ll bring them a gift like a cat bringing someone a dead mouse

• Sometimes the gifts are morbid, sometimes they’re normal

• He was closer with his dad than his mom, because while both of them were creeped out by him his dad tried to assume the best

• He’s very creative and likes to invent things. In another life he’d kill it on Shark Tank

• Because of this he really enjoys cooking! He’s surprisingly good at it when he’s not just making the most appalling thing he can think of

• He enjoys soccer (in a human au I like to imagine him, Amane, Kou, and Yokoo would all be on the soccer team together)

• Supernaturals don’t need to sleep but Tsukasa is the only one who doesn’t bother sleeping at all. Most of the others enjoy having some time to rest but he likes to remain alert 24/7

• He likes to play red light/green light but he says red light crazy fast to scare ppl

• If you were ever on a long drive with him he would 100% start singing “One Hundred Bottles Of Milk On The Wall” and not stop until you reached your destination

That’s all I’ve got for now, thank you for the ask!! I love Tsukasa sm

[eribeen]

°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･UNSPOKEN FEELINGS °❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

A/N: hi! This is Eribin. I am not a real writer, doing this as my past time. English is not my first language so bear with my English. There’s a lot of grammatical and typographical errors. This is just a fiction from my delusions 😆

NOTES: ITALIZED MEANS FLASHBACKS

Warning: drinking, angst

Words: 1800+

CAST:

Ryuta Hidaka BBZ as himself

Miku Fukahori BBZ as himself

Y/N

Ryuta's POV

Y/N was a mess when she arrived at my apartment, tears streaming down her face. She didn’t say a word as soon as I opened the door; she just threw herself into my arms, crying. I had no idea what had happened, but she soon began to tell me how she had caught Miku, her boyfriend, kissing another girl. She couldn’t stop sobbing as she described the scene. From the way she described the girl, I suspected it might be Kaede, Miku’s ex—tall, fair-skinned, with short hair. Kaede had left Miku to chase her dreams of becoming a model, and from what I knew, she had become one of the most successful models out there. I hated the thought of Miku still being stuck on her, but I never thought it would lead to something like this.

I felt guilty. I’m friends with both Y/N and Miku, though they’ve never met. I always thought they’d make the perfect couple. I’ve known Miku the longest, and he’s always been a stand-up guy—loyal, caring, funny, and ambitious. I thought he was exactly what Y/N needed. As for Y/N, we met through my work at LDH, where we collaborated on music projects. She has great taste in pop music, and we worked together a lot. I thought they’d be a great match, so I pushed them to meet. At first, Y/N wasn’t interested, but eventually, I convinced her. They hit it off, and before I knew it, they were officially together. I was happy for them, really, but deep down, I regretted setting them up. I wished I were the one she’d chosen, but I didn’t have the courage to tell her how I really felt.

"You know what, I have a friend. He's single. You want me to introduce you to him?" I asked her, trying to distract her from her while working on a project.

She paused for a second, then smiled weakly.

"Nahh.. I'm too busy. No time for that!" she said, brushing off my suggestion.

But I didn’t give up. I kept pushing until she agreed, and when they met, it was like they’d known each other forever. They clicked. They started dating. And just like that, I felt a pang of jealousy, though I kept it to myself. I was glad for them, but at the same time, I couldn’t help wishing things were different. I was too much of a coward to confess my feelings. I couldn’t tell her that I had wanted to be the one by her side.

"Tell me, Ryuta, what's wrong with me? I know that I am pretty. Have a decent job that pays me well, I am kind, I am lovable, I am--"

I interrupted before she could continue because I knew what she was going to say. There was nothing wrong with her. She was everything anyone could want.

"There's nothing wrong with you, Y/N. You know what, rest. And tomorrow you two talk."

But she wasn’t listening. She poured herself another drink, her voice shaky as she continued, "He didn't pick up my calls. He really abandoned me and our relationship."

I knew she was getting drunk, and I needed to keep an eye on her, but I didn’t know how to make her feel better. It killed me to see her in so much pain.

"I am sorry, Y/N. This is my fault. I should've seen what was happening with Miku. If only I--"

She cut me off by pressing her finger to my lips.

"Shhhhh... it’s not your fault, Ryuta. If there's anyone to blame here, it's me. Probably I was not a good girlfriend at all. I am not the one he's looking for." She said, and her tears started to fall again. It broke my heart. How could Miku do this to her? Y/N was everything good and kind, and she deserved so much better.

As the night dragged on, Y/N’s tears slowly stopped, and the silence between us grew. I watched her as she stared blankly at her empty glass, her red-rimmed eyes hollow with sadness. I sat beside her, my heart aching, unsure of what to say or do.

"You know what, Ryuta," she whispered, her voice barely audible, "If you were probably the one I dated, I wouldn't be hurting like this."

I froze, my heart skipping a beat. Was she serious? Or was it just the alcohol talking? I turned to look at her, but she was staring down at the glass in her hands, too drunk to meet my gaze.

"Y/N..." I managed to say, my voice barely above a whisper.

"I know I can't change what happened, Ryuta," she continued, her voice fragile, "But I'm grateful for your friendship. You've always been there for me."

I nodded, my throat tight. "I'm always here for you, Y/N. No matter what." I wanted to say more, but the words caught in my chest. I wanted to tell her I cared for her, that I had always cared for her, but I couldn’t. I was scared. Scared that maybe she didn’t feel the same. That maybe I wasn’t enough.

The silence between us stretched, heavy with the things I couldn’t say. Y/N’s words echoed in my mind: "If you were probably the one I dated, I wouldn't be hurting like this." I wondered if she meant it, or if it was just something she said out of frustration and pain. But maybe, just maybe, she did.

"I don't deserve this pain," she said after a long pause, her voice trembling, "I don’t deserve someone who would make me feel this way, you know? I gave him everything. I thought he was different. I thought he was the one."

I took her hand without thinking, my fingers brushing hers. Her hand was cold, and I could feel her trembling, but she didn’t pull away. She didn’t say anything either, but we both understood what the silence meant.

"Y/N," I began softly, squeezing her hand, "You deserve someone who sees you for everything you are. Someone who never doubts you, someone who never makes you feel less than amazing." I paused, my heart pounding. "And I promise you, I will always see you that way."

"You're such a good friend, Ryuta," she said, her voice still soft but full of gratitude. "But... I don’t know if I can trust anyone anymore. I don’t know if I can even trust myself."

"I’m not asking you to trust anyone right now," I said, my heart aching. "I just need you to know that I’m here for you. Always. Whether it’s to listen, or to just sit here with you in silence. You don’t have to face this alone."

The weight of my unspoken feelings was suffocating, but I couldn’t bring myself to tell her how I felt. She wasn’t ready for that.

She looked up at me, her eyes softening, and for a brief moment, I thought I saw something in her eyes—something that made my heart race. She leaned in, almost as if she were going to say something, but she stopped herself.

"Maybe... maybe you’re right. Maybe I do deserve better." She met my eyes, her gaze searching mine, looking for something I wasn’t sure how to give.

I didn’t pull away, but I didn’t say anything more. I just smiled at her, offering the support she needed. It wasn’t much, but it was all I could give for now.

"Get some sleep, Y/N," I said gently, guiding her back onto the couch. "Tomorrow will be better. You’ll feel better."

She nodded, closing her eyes as she drifted into sleep. I stayed beside her, my mind racing with everything I hadn’t said.

But for tonight, it wasn’t the right time. Not yet.

(Ryuta and Miku, AAAAACCCCKKKK!! ❤️❤️❤️)

The end~ THANK YOU SM FOR READING MY STORY 😘

[yelenabelovasbxtch]

Crush On An Archer PT. 2

A/N: Can you believe I actually managed to get out another part in a timely matter without making you wait 5 months in between? I think we're getting to the good part soon so stay tuned.

Kate Bishop X f!reader

Word Count: 2.3k

Warnings: Not proofread

The next few days went by fast, you had a couple more practices but didn’t see Kate again and you flew home without even getting to say goodbye. 

As soon as your plane landed and you turned off airplane mode, your text notifications binged with Kate’s name on your screen. 

“Hey Y/L/N, want to grab a drink tonight?” *Sent 2 hours ago*

“Hey Kate, sorry I didn’t respond sooner, my plane just landed and I’m back in Mississippi now :( I would have loved to though.”

“Damn, didn’t even say goodbye?”

Did she want you to say goodbye? Were you at that level of friendship? 

“Yeah, sorry, I had an early flight out this morning.”

“Damn, oh well…all my friends left too so I’m going back to being bored as fuck again. This summer honestly blows.”

“Yeah, I hear that. Trust me, I would much rather be there, than here.”

“How come you didn’t want to stick around a little longer? The semester does start in like only two weeks.”

“I’m not technically “paying” my rent over the summer so I can’t really stay there or else I’d have to put out the money to my landlord and also pay all the other bills that come with it.”

“Ah yeah that makes sense. Too bad you couldn't have stuck around though.”

“Yeah I agree, I am very bored here.” 

The two of you continued to talk every day, your friendship grew over text and Snapchat, pretty much the only way it could at this point. You are pretty notorious for sleeping in and every morning you wake up to see Kate’s text message and Snapchat notification pop up on your phone. You get your daily dose of Kate and get to see her beautiful face everyday whenever she’d respond to your snaps or post her BeReals when they went off. They always made you smile, sometimes they made you feel a little more than just a smile… but every morning without fail it was usually a Snap of her in bed and fuck did she look hot. Like who wakes up just naturally looking that good? You could swear it looked like she was “trying or posing” a little in the pics she sent to you but also you wouldn’t put it past her for just looking that good anytime her photo was taken. Honestly, there were some times where she would text you for an hour straight and the two of you would have the most amazing conversations but then other times where she would be MIA for most of the day and you feel like maybe you said the wrong thing. You noticed that she would always come back though. You learned to realize that it was just your anxiety speaking loudly when she didn’t respond and she couldn’t hate you, she barely even knew you. She just was busy and didn’t respond for that moment. Or maybe she was having a hard day but she always ended up coming back and talking to you about it. 

You were excited but also really terrified about moving back to school. You and Kate had learned what each other's interests were and talked a lot about certain things you wanted to do together when you moved back. You discussed everything, going to the movies, cooking together, practicing together and you managed to convince her to try building LEGO with you. 

I mean, who doesn’t like LEGO?

The text messages between the two of you were often pretty friendly but from time to time she teased you, loved to call you a nerd for all your interests like Star Wars and Harry Potter but you knew she secretly liked them too. 

Although she seemed like she was flirting, there were times where she’d talk about guys who were hitting on her and her ex-boyfriends and it just made you feel like there was no chance in hell she would ever be into you. Based on her track record alone, you weren’t exactly her type. Mainly just because everyone she has ever mentioned is a man. Obviously, you can’t read a person off of just that information because you never know. But, it didn’t exactly feel like it was going your way. Anytime she would do or say something that maybe led you to believe she had feelings for you it was almost immediately squashed by another comment or story about a guy.

“So what are you up to today?”

“Not much, probably going to go practice my shot a bit.”

“I feel like all you ever do is practice”

“Well yeah, best archer in the world title has to be honored ;)” 

“Haha. I am almost 100% certain the only person who calls you that, is you.”

“Not trueee”

“Your mom doesn’t count…” “Or your dog.”

“Well. I am sure someone else has said it. Besides, practice isn’t allll I do. I’m going to the gym after. Probably hitting arms and a bit of chest today.”

“Okay Bishop, I see you, I didn’t know you took lifting seriously and stuff.”

“Well obviously, gotta make sure I’m in better shape than all the other archers. Especially when you are on the senior team next year.”

“Worried you’re going to be beat out for world's best archer or something?”

“Haha. Very funny. I don’t think I have anything to worry about ;)”

Your conversations were often short like that one but something else always ended up coming up later on. About an hour and a half later your phone bings with a text message from Kate. 

*Attachment: 1 Image*

Fuck you mumble under your breath. 

She doesn’t do it often, but sometimes she’ll send you a picture of herself over imessage where there isn’t a 10 second expiry like on Snap and every time she does it makes you smile. It feels like this one was taken specifically for you. She wanted you to see this now and she wanted you to remember what this photo looked like. Kate always works out in sports bras, making you think about how you’d kill to get in the gym with her just to see what would happen between the two of you in the locker room afterwards. You have been staring at this picture for way too long, it’s time to respond. How do you even answer a text like that? A compliment? No, she might think you’re into her and take it the wrong way. Flirty banter? As long as it’s dialed back I'm sure it’ll be fine. 

“I think I can see a little bit of muscle there on your arms.”

“Oh shut up, you love it and we both know it.”

W-What? Fuck. 

“Yeah you wish Bishop.” Good response. Friendly banter right? 

She didn’t respond to that last text, you just assumed she went on with her workout. About an hour later you get a snap notification across your screen from her. You may have waited a couple minutes to open it just to not make it seem obvious that you were practically waiting for her name to pop up. 

You opened the snap and your jaw practically had to be picked up off the floor. 

Sweaty Kate, hovering over her phone for the pic, in a sports bra, sex eyes, thin silver chain dangling. 

Fuck. You wanted this picture seared into your brain. The one you received over text was hot but this one was even hotter. It was sexy, it was all you wanted and more and fuck did you want to tell her that. 

One thing you noticed while staring at this photo is how long you got to look at how hot she was. She changed her settings for the picture to be set to infinity from 10 seconds. She wanted you to know how hot she looked and she wanted you to take your time admiring her. The only acceptable response back had to be a picture of you acting nonchalant about what you just saw. The last thing you wanted to do was make her think you were ogling over her. 

Later that night you were laying in bed scrolling TikTok when her contact popped up at the top of your screen. 

“Men are so fucking shit sometimes.”

“What happened?” 

Yeah…you will always be an outlet for her even if it’s the worst friend zone of friend zones you’ve ever been stuck in. 

“Nothing. Just stupid boys making shit comments.”

“Do I need to knock some heads?”

“Haha I wish. But no, I just can’t deal with my ex and his friends. They’re all privileged assholes anyways.”

“Yuck hate a privileged asshole.”

“Yeah, I met him through this stupid rich people dinner event my mom made me go to awhile ago and I should have known that he wasn’t any different and just as snobby as the rest of them.”

Doesn’t really sound like the ex is much competition if that’s the case. 

“Yeah I can imagine that wouldn’t make the best partner. It’s good he at least isn’t a part of your life anymore right?”

“Yes going forward he won’t be. I told him there will be no contact between us again. It just really fucking sucks you know? He was this amazing really sweet guy who I grew to care for and love deeply and then out of nowhere it was like a switch flipped. And the toughest part is that sometimes I feel like I still care for him but then I remember what he’s actually like.”

If she still has feelings this is not good.

“I get it, breakups of course are tough and you just need to take your time to really get back to being you and no longer thinking about this guy.”

“Well said Y/L/N. Enough about me and my issues though. What about you? You got your eye on anyone or with anyone?”

Ah. Fuck it. It’s late, let’s have a little fun. 

“Uhh yeah I guess there’s one person but it’ll prob never work out so I gotta move on.”

“Ouuuu omg okay who are they, do they go to our school?”

“Yes and I will not be disclosing that information because I really do not need it getting out haha”

“Boooo, c'mon you can trust me.”

“Oh my god is it because it’s someone I know?”

“Maybe.”

“How well do I know them?”

“Hmmmm I’d say pretty well but I’m not going to tell you who it is so I wouldn’t bother guessing.”

“Boring. I’ll get it out of you when we move back to school.”

“Haha sure you will.”

“Speaking of, there’s this bar down the street from where my place is, my friends told me the team and a few others are going out on the Friday before the new semester starts. Are you going to be back by then?”

“Yeah, I should be. If not, I can always try to change my flight to come in a little earlier.”

“Yeah I think you should. It sounds like fun.”

“I just checked and my flight lands at JFK later in the day on Thursday so once I find a ride to campus I’ll be there probably late Thursday night.”

“Oh you’re flying in and out of JFK? I can give you a ride if you want. I’ve been staying at my apartment in the city for the summer so I can pick you up on my way to campus and save you a few bucks on transportation.” “That’s really nice but you don’t have to do that.”

“Y/n, I insist, it’s no big deal.”

“Okay well thank you, let me at least pay you some money for gas.”

“Don’t sweat it. If you really want to repay me you can help eye my shot next week. I’ve been having some issues with my arrows going a little left and can’t figure out why.”

“Wow, is the best archer in the world asking me for archery advice?”

“Ha. ha.”

“Hehe sorry you know I couldn’t resist.

The next week or so went by unbelievably slowly. The contact between you and Kate was still there but not as much and the fact that she was picking you up from the airport had your mind spinning in circles. You were so unbelievably nervous to see her and be with her, just the two of you again…sober this time. The tension that was created the last time you two were alone felt like it was tearing through you. Everyone knows that things are a little more awkward when you’re sober though. You don’t feel as invincible as when you’re drunk. Whenever you drink, you feel like you have the guts to say whatever you want to. Who knows, maybe the Friday night plans will grow into something more, maybe they won’t. 

The morning of your flight you wake up to a message from Kate,

“Hey y/n! Text me when you land and tell me which terminal to pull up to today. Have a safe flight <3, I’m looking forward to seeing you”

The second half of that message gave you butterflies in your stomach. You wanted to be there now, in her arms. Oh god, are you guys at the point in your friendship where you hug when you see each other?

I guess we’ll see. 

– End of PT. 2 –

Taglist: @yelenaslyubov @youreatotalposer @jeyramarie @flosbelova @bridgecitybrad @justthis-stuff @chloe7076 @ailenepuff @ravenclawbitch426 @mellowladyangel @amcg0605-blog @kassies-take @yelenaswife1996 @wandanatchick @lilroachsworld @inluvwithfictionalwomen @x666hours @natashaswife4125 @onetruwhore @karmasgxrl @hopelesslyfallenninlove @setsuna1415 @swiftdazer @imobsessedwithmilfss @madamevirgo @louisprettybab @splatalia-jumpanova @jediluka @t00manyfand0ms @oohlala666 @kates-abs-slay @scmg11

[qprstobin]

Different first meeting post-s1 Stobin AU (that sort of turned into Fruity Four) I was tossing around for myself to write but am going to put it out into the world because I’m not sure I’ll ever get to it.

It’s the Spring of 1984, and Nancy is looking for a way to help Steve pad his college application after seeing him struggle with his essay writing for the past few months. Somehow, this leads to her convincing him to join the Spring play, Romeo and Juliet. Not only will it look good on his application to add another extra curricular, but the English teacher always gives extra credit for drama participation, especially the annual Shakespeare play.

Steve, of course, ends up getting the lead role, much to his chagrin, and he turns out to be a pretty good actor. This should all be smooth sailing, a way for him to get an easy add on to his apps, if it wasn’t for who was playing Juliet.

Band Geek Buckley.

She isn’t the worst choice - they have pretty good stage chemistry, and she’s funny in a mean way (in a way he’s kind of missed now that he no longer is talking to Carol and Tommy) but she hates his guts. He honestly didn’t even really know who she was before this, but he could feel her glaring at the back of his head in first period every day.

Honestly, they would be fast friends if both of them weren’t trying their hardest to make sure the other knows no showmances will be happening between them. (Robin for obvious reasons, and Steve because he is very much in love with Nancy at this point and would not ever cheat on her.)

Steve at one point tells her that she isn’t his type (which actually, is kind of a lie but it doesn’t matter because it would never happen), and Robin is just, so fucking offended. She would never want to date him (he’s a man AND an asshole), but where does he get off saying shit like that?? Robin in turn, nearly outs herself at one point by claiming she’d rather kiss his girlfriend than him.

(Nancy on the other hand… spends the entire play very confused, because despite the disgust that both of them express during the (rather chaste) kiss scenes, Nancy thinks it’s kind of hot. She has a lot to think about.)

Even before they become actual, spill your secrets on the bathroom floor friends, they get into so much chaos together. Definitely the type to be bickering with each other but then team up to turn on someone else when they are being rude or creepy. Even though there are no Russian Spies to bond them together for life (yet), they probably go through some harrowing night together that leaves them with something of a headache.

Maybe they accidentally eat too many weed brownies together at a cast party, maybe they get locked in the prop closet for several hours, maybe they get stranded at a gas station outside of town when their director sent them on what was both a “you are going to work your shit out TONIGHT for the sake of the play” and “y’all are the only ones available” emergency prop run. Either way it ends in tears and laughter and bathroom (or closet) floor confessions and a rock solid friendship.

Nancy is happy that Steve has a friend that isn’t just her or Jonathan, and is happy to have a new friend herself, especially a female one.

Tammy Thompson is less happy that Steve’s attention is on Robin, which is unfortunate, as this is Robin’s peak Tammy Thompson era, and Tammy gets mean. Nancy definitely tries to fight her at some point for how rude she’s being to all of them (Tammy didn’t like Nancy much either, she just didn’t honestly care much about Tammy saying rude shit to her, but she isn’t gonna let someone be a bitch to her friend like that). Steve was just going to ruin her reputation, but honestly, he didn’t even need to with how hard Nancy went in on her.

(Nancy trying to fight Tammy is also how Robin moves on from her “god what a priss” mindset regarding her. A minor crush may also blossom. Steve is happy to commiserate over being clocked in the head emotionally by Nancy Wheeler, he made t-shirts.)

Their odd friend group gets rounded out to four (five if you include Jonathan, who does eat lunch with them everyday but who thinks that Stobin are a bit too loud for him in anything other than small doses) by another cast member - the drug dealer Eddie Munson.

This is Eddie’s first try at senior year but his prospects aren’t looking great. English isn’t the only class he’s doing poorly in, but it is one of the main ones, and his English teacher has offered him a boon - get a speaking role in the spring play and he’ll get enough extra credit to pass the class, as long as he makes an actual effort to turn in his work for the rest of the year. He thinks fuck it! Might as well, this is the only deal the hag is going to give me, and ends up landing the role for Mercutio.

His start with the group isn’t as tumultuous as the Stobin friendship starts out, though there definitely isn’t any love lost between them. Steve may have dropped Hagan and Perkins earlier in the year, but he’s still a jock, and his prissy, perfect girlfriend isn’t much better. Eddie doesn’t have any personal issues with Robin, but Robin definitely isn’t a fan of his, not with how loud the other man is.

There isn’t any real dramatic moment that adds him to the group, at least not as dramatic as what finally solidifies the Stobin bond, but spend enough time running lines together and he sort of realizes that maybe they aren’t as bad as all that.

(Really Eddie is just there to cause chaos, and try to pass Senior English. Falling into the weirdest friend group known to Hawkins High is just a bonus.)

Honestly, I came up with this idea because I just wanted more Stobin dif first meetings, and thought the idea of Stobin having to play romantic leads opposite each other in a play was hilarious. It ended up becoming Fruity Four just because Stancy is still happening here, and Eddie was perfect for the role of Mercutio. I didn’t even have set ideas on how I want this to end shipping wise. Just wanted to get it out of my misc WIP document <3

[romanticatheartt]

I’m pretty new to the fandom but am I the only one who doesn’t think Feyre’s been sidelined? We had 4 books of her as the only or main POV where the series very obviously resolved around her then one spinoff book where she’s not the main character but feysand are clearly the next most prominent characters in the book after nessian and even though the pregnancy plot isn’t well liked, it doesn’t change the fact that so much of nesta’s healing arc and the kickoff of her journey, the rock bottom, and climax of it in book revolve around her relationship with feyre. We even see feyre having so high lady moments even though nesta is avoiding her for parts.

And then I thought given the story that sjm ended up writing for CC3, it’s obvious why feyre isn’t there- she wanted Bryce to use the mask and needed nesta to give it to her and for Bryce to be skeptical of prythian. Feyre is not born fae, ruler of NC, and less prickly then both Az and Nesta (and Amren and Rhys even), she’d hurt the distrusting conflict and wouldn’t give the mask like nesta without getting more involved (at least involving Rhys). I suspect sjm wanted a different plot at first but decided to change it and maybe it’s because she didn’t want the acotar side to take over (Bryce even considers asking Rhys for help because he’s so strong but decides against it because she can’t trust him not to become a conqueror). I thought it was purposeful that the friendliest members of the IC were basically absent. She may even be saving aspects of that original plot for a larger team up later, maybe in an acotar book since prythian’s (and Feyre/Rhys/the high lord’s) power is given such focus. It’s not even an acotar book, like should Az’s greater presence in it be seen as a sign that he’s more important than Rhys in acotar?

If the next book comes out and feyre is just not a factor, I’d get it more. But I just don’t see what’s got everyone convinced sjm isn’t interested in feyre or whatever.

People talking about Feyre being sidelined in acosf are just looking for something to hate lol because even I knew Feyre wasn't going to be the main character when sjm made pretty clear this is Nesta's/Nessian's book. Feyre doesn't even have a pov in acosf ffs (except that bonus chapter) and still, she has an important role in Nesta's book because she's the biggest part of Nesta's guilt and self-hatred. And yes in my recent semi-reread of acosf there are so many times that we see Feyre as High Lady (and I absolutely love those!!)

Like you said I'm not too fond of Feyre's pregnancy plot either and I think it shouldn't have been in Nesta's book and it definitely shouldn't have been used as a redemption arc for Nesta. In other words, both Nesta and Feyre deserved better than this. Feyre deserved a beautiful pregnancy after all she's been through and Nesta deserved a better journey where other characters weren't used for her, the focus should've been on her and her relationship with others.

Now about CC I was one of those people who wanted to see more Feyre and were disappointed. Not because I think she was sidelined, no. But because I expected to see her at least in one scene? I mean it could be totally because of my love Feyre that I wanted to see her again, that's my only disappointment and not because I think she should've had a big role or something.

I expected Nesta to have some major role in CC (not this much tho) and for Azriel, I fully anticipated him to be an important character because of Truthteller and Bryce bringing Starsword with her. I still think sjm focused on these two a lot because even after CC people are more focused on acotar characters than the CC characters. And if Feyre had joined the focus of readers would've completely been on acotar so now after 7 months I think sjm did the right thing. Feyre being a mother is a nasty way for the fandom to talk about their displeasure and bring down Feyre for being a mother which isn't surprising at all since everyone thinks she's now "less cool" because of it.

Now about Azriel, I don't think he's more important than Rhys (call me biased idc lmao😭 and my beef with him) I think the reason why he's so focused on, is because he's going to have the next book. We're going to see his back story and how he's possessing TT and who is going to possess Starsword (and as I said before I think it's going to be Gwyn and she's going to be a Starborn because we have no idea who her father is so sjm can put anyone as her father) and I know some think Azriel is the Starborn and I THINK NOT!!! Idk how to explain it, I just know he's not hehe :D

I think Feyre is still going to be in the next books because she's the main character of the series and she's still a high lady after all, but it will be something like acosf. And I think she's going to have a same amount of page time (lol) in Elucien book like she had in acosf.

[hirikka]

find me somebody to love (1/7)

Part 2

For Steddie Week Day 1: Hunger / Pining / Somebody to Love by Queen @steddie-week​

Eddie is avoiding Steve to try to get over his crush, Steve thinks Eddie hates him, and Robin is suffering

The door swings open as Steve arrives for his shift. Eddie knocks his hand on the counter twice. "That's my cue to leave." He clearly means to say it quietly enough that Steve won’t hear him, but Robin doesn’t think Eddie’s ever heard of an inside voice and she can see by the way Steve’s face falls that he definitely heard.

Robin rolls her eyes but doesn't protest as Eddie makes his way towards the exit, trying to look casual and completely failing to do so. She watches as Steve tries to start a conversation, and Eddie makes a half-hearted excuse about being late for band practice and speedwalks out of the store.

Steve looks so dejected Robin is pretty sure even his hair droops a little. It would be tragic if it weren't so funny—or maybe it's the other way around, she really hasn't decided yet. Steve slumps his way over and lets himself behind the counter, pulling his vest on before he trudges over with his head on the counter.

"He hates me," Steve mutters.

"What?"

"Eddie—he hates me," Steve says. "Do you know why? Did I do something?"

"He doesn't hate you," Robin says. She really honestly cannot believe that either of them are actually this stupid.

Steve sits up to stare at her incredulously, and oh no, this was a lot easier when she couldn't see his pathetic kicked puppy expression. "Then why is he avoiding me?"

And because Robin has never been great at keeping her mouth shut and because she really, really doesn't like seeing her friend this miserable, she blurts out, "He has a crush."

Steve blinks at her for several long moments where Robin screams internally because she just betrayed Eddie's trust and also because Steve does not look as happy as she’d expected, and she was so sure she was right about this and that he would be happy and—

"On who?" Steve asks. He's still got the kicked puppy look, and it might have actually gotten worse?

How could this happen to us? Steve's droopy hair seems to be saying. Was I not pretty enough? Fluffy enough?

"Uh." Robin wracks her brain, trying to figure out what she should do here because she shouldn't actually tell Steve, but also she has a feeling lying would really not help the situation. "I really shouldn't be getting involved in this," she tries. "You could, like, ask him, maybe?"

Steve sighs with all the tragedy of, like, a pining heroine in a Bronte novel, and Robin really doesn't understand how he'd managed to convince so many people he was cool for so many years. "How am I supposed to do that if he avoids me all the time?"

Robin really, really doesn't know what to tell him because, like, he has a point and it’s not like she can come out and say why Eddie has been avoiding him, but she would very much like her friends to be happy. Part of her wants to encourage him to go and talk to Eddie but she’s worried that might make things worse, somehow, since the chances of either of them admitting to their actual feelings seems vanishingly small. "Maybe just give him some time?"

"Time to do what, though?" Steve frowns. "Is he hanging out with his crush right now?"

"I'm not sure?"

Steve taps his fingers on the counter. "So, you're saying he's not avoiding me specifically? He's just trying to find a way to, like, ask his crush out or something?"

"Or something," Robin agrees. Honestly, how is this boy so clueless?

"Maybe I can be his wingman?" Steve suggests in a tone that implies he would very much like to do basically anything other than that. "Then I could hang out with him, at least..."

Jesus Christ. "Yeah, that might be good."

Steve nods. "Alright. I can do that. I can help him with his crush."

"I bet you can," Robin mutters.

"Hm?"

"Just, like, get to work dingus. Enough obsessing over Eddie."

"I'm not obsessing over Eddie," Steve protests. Robin just raises her eyebrows and waits for Steve to admit defeat. "Alright, fine, maybe a little."

"Yeah, that's what I thought."

[lonesome-witching]

Dial Drunk

People apparently like drunk Nancy. I tried to make it different enough from Do You Think I'm Pretty? which was the previous drunk Nancy ficlet. I hope you guys like this one too.

You can send me prompts here or read some of the previous prompts here.

Robin had her own landline. She had gotten it right after the end of the world part 2. At least part 2 for her, part 4 for most of the people she now considered her closest friends. The reason was plain and simple, Steve, Nancy and most of the party would not stop calling her house phone at the most ungodly hours. Unfortunately for them the landline had been connected to a phone on her parents’ bedside table. Meaning that every single time one of her friends called at 2:41 am or some other variation of an inappropriate hour to call, her parents would be awoken by the incessant ringing that wouldn’t stop until they called their daughter over to pick up the phone. 

Ergo why her parents had invested in a separate landline for their only daughter. 

It was a pink fluffy thing that they had been able to get at a discount. Robin hated how it looked. She had tried to rip the fur off the receiver several times which just caused some horrendous bald spots that somehow made it worse. 

The first time Nancy had come over she had laughed at the sight for over 10 minutes. And she started giggling again every time her eyes caught the device. 

That was two days after their first kiss. 

“Well it might be an atrocious thing but it will permit me to talk to you whenever I want.” Robin had said before pecking Nancy’s lips. 

“In that case, I love it.” Nancy had replied, kissing Robin after every word. 

Now it was ringing loudly, echoing through the room. Robin groaned as she turned toward it, sleepily picking up the receiver and pressing it to her ear. 

“Hello?” She slurred out. 

“Robin! Robin, thank God!! I need you.” Nancy shouted from the other side of the line. 

“Nancy? Are you okay?” Robin sat up on the bed, her mind suddenly awake and spiraling. 

“Me? I’m good! I’m perfect. I just need you!!” 

“What do you need me for?” Robin slid her hand over her face. 

“You know.” Nancy lowered her voice to her whisper. “I just need you.” 

“I’ll come over.” Robin conceded easily. She never needed a lot of convincing. It didn’t matter that it was nearly 3 a.m. 

“No!” Nancy yelled loud enough to make Robin’s ear ring. “I’m not home.” 

“Where are you then?” 

“Steve.” A hiccup. “There was a party and Steve asked me to go.” A laugh. “I’m at a party.” 

“You went to a party with Steve?” And she just couldn’t keep the hurt out of her voice. It didn’t matter that they went to a party without her. She was fine with that, she didn’t even want to go to any parties. What hurt was that she didn’t know. Neither of them had bothered to tell her. 

“Yes. It’s at Andr- Andy- Andrew’s house.” 

“Andrew Hickins?” 

“That one!” 

“Okay, I’m on my way.” 

She threw the receiver down before Nancy could reply in any way. She didn’t have a car, still didn’t have a license although Nancy was teaching her. That was why she felt the cold night air attack her bare ankles and arms. She should have grabbed her jacket on the way, should have changed into jeans. 

But Nancy had said she needed her. And so Robin rushed to the scene. 

Nancy was sitting on the porch, next to Steve, her head resting on his shoulder. A small bug started forming in the pit of her stomach at the sight. But before it could take flight, Steve jumped up. 

“Robin! You’re here.” He looked as if he just saw a ghost. 

“I told you she’d be here. Robin never disappoints.” Nancy hopped towards her girlfriend. She stayed two steps away. “Do you want a drink, Robbie?” 

“I want to take you home, Nance.” Robin grabbed Nancy’s arm, pulling her closer. 

“Oh, yes, Robbie, take me!” Nancy moaned. She goddamned moaned while they were standing outside a bustling high school party with Steve Harrington standing next to them, mouth agape. “Take me right here.” Nancy whispered, leaning even closer. 

“Nance, let’s get you home.” 

“I’ll drop you off. You can put the bike in the back.” Steve muttered. 

Nancy ran off toward his car. “I remember where it is! Follow me!” She shouted. 

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Steve whispered, walking next to his best friend. 

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Robin responded, grabbing her bike from the sidewalk and dragging it along. 

Steve opened the trunk of the car, pushing the bike in. The handles hung over the backseat, one of the wheels sticking out prohibiting the car from closing. 

Despite the backseat being halfway blocked, Nancy still dragged Robin to sit next to her. Robin could feel the brakes of her bike poking into the back of her head. But Nancy was hugging her arm close and breathing into Robin’s neck and it was enough to forget the discomfort. 

Steve drove in silence, Robin stroked Nancy’s arm and Nancy simply got as close to her girlfriend as she could, a soft smile on her face. The car stopped in front of the Wheeler house. Nancy crawled out, pulling Robin along. 

She stumbled, having trouble finding her footing, nearly falling to the ground and pulling Robin on top of her. For once it was Robin who stabilized her girlfriend. 

“You okay?” 

Nancy nodded, her eyes closed as she breathed in the scent of the girl in front of her. 

“We should go inside.” 

“Are you going to take care of me, Robin?” Nancy asked, looking more sober as she opened her eyes and looked at Robin through her lashes. 

“Always.”

[acacia-may]

Acacia's Definitive Defense of Langris x Finesse

No one asked about this pairing, but I'm going to ramble about them anyway... especially since I realized I don't think I've ever actually written a proper post about them as this has been sitting in my drafts for over a year (A/N: Yikes! Sorry friends. I completely forgot I wrote this until today when I tried to find that post I was absolutely certain I had made about Langris x Finesse only to find it buried in my unposted drafts 😅🙈 But I'm posting it now to coincide with the ship ask game so it kind of works...? Maybe? I have no excuses...).

Anyways, dear goodness do I have thoughts about this ship. I’m not sure I can even wrangle them all, but I am going to try my best.

I’m sure it’s pretty clear from my blog that I have a deep love for my spatial mage boys and want good things for them which is one of the main reasons why I have a lot of concerns about the whole House Vaude soap opera. A friend of mine (irl) and I once discussed that plotline for literally 6 hours so I could go on and on about this for ages, but I have tried my best to be brief. That didn't really happen so I apologize in advance for all of the rambling.

I've tried to keep the focus of this post on Langris and Finesse's relationship, so please check out this post if you want to hear my many thoughts on the House Vaude succession drama as whole and in general. To keep things organized, I've divided this discussion into 2 main subsections for clarity under the cut!

(Warnings: Black Clover spoilers and discussion of some heavier topics such as childhood trauma and abuse. Arranged marriage is also mentioned)

Why I Think Langris and Finesse Genuinely Love Each Other (not necessarily in a romantic way but definitely in a selfless care and concern kind of way)

One of my most basic premises for my personal interpretation of Langris' character really comes down to the fact that I think what Langris actually wants more than anything else is unconditional love and to be accepted for who he is (rather than what he does/his accomplishments). He wants to have people who love him, a family—but he'd never admit this because he is convinced he'll never get it. He is convinced that love needs to be earned and he can't earn it, and his relationship with Lady Finesse is a perfect example of this, I think.

It hurts Langris that she is just the kindest person ever and she doesn't like/love him (or such is the reality in Langris' mind anyway given the fact that he has carried around that one time she complimented Finral as "she hates me" for literal years in the canon. But I digress). Langris doesn't like games he can't see a possibility of winning. He closes himself off from love and building meaningful relationships because he doesn't think he'll "win" people's love in the end. He's very cynical and jaded in this way, but more than that, he's wounded. It comes from a place of being denied love without strings attached, without conditions for his entire life and of being told his by his parents that love has to be earned and being convinced that he can't earn it, that nothing he does will ever be good enough and that he will never deserve the love he so desperately craves. And in that way, it comes from a fear of being hurt and rejected. When you care about someone, you give them the power to hurt you—and Langris doesn't want that kind of vulnerability. So I think he just completely counts himself out of the running when it comes to Finesse and defers to his brother—assuming (probably correctly) that she’d choose Finral if she was given a choice between the two of them.

All of that said, he can't quite stop himself from caring for her with a genuine love and respect (not necessarily in a romantic sense but he does care for her)—it’s just sealed off somewhere and not something he really thinks about or allows himself to feel (let alone label) until his brother "declaring war" on him brings all of that to the surface and he kind of has to reconcile how much he wants to be the Head of House Vaude (what he’s worked for his entire life) with how much he wants Lady Finesse to be happy. I love how in that scene there is actually a moment (at least in the anime) in which "the camera" turns and we're watching the scene unfold from Langris' eyes/perspective immediately before he gets involved and tells Finral to clean up his act.

(A/N: If you listen very carefully you can hear the sound of Langris' entire world falling apart...)

Okay, bad jokes aside, this is a huge moment for Langris. It takes him all of five seconds to decide that Lady Finesse's happiness is far more important to him than House Vaude, than his title, his future, his own dreams and aspirations that he has worked for literally his entire life and, ultimately, is more important than everything he has looked to for his own self-worth and fulfillment up unto that point (which causes him to have a bit of an existential crisis as he tries to figure out who he is without those things, without being the next Head of House Vaude, but I digress again). It is an incredible act of love to set aside what someone wants for themselves in order to make another person happy—to choose what is best for another person even at great personal sacrifice. Regardless of how you want to qualify that love (romantic or platonic), it does not diminish the gravity of Langris' sacrifice and the willingness he shows to choose Finesse's happiness over the things that are (seemingly) the most important to him in the world.

Up until this point, Langris is this incredibly goal-oriented character who is set on becoming the best, the strongest, and eventually the head of House Vaude which comes off as self-interested and a little ruthless in his willingness to do whatever it takes to achieve his goals, but suddenly, here he is, ready to give all of that up so that Lady Finesse can have the chance to be happy. It's almost like he is saying (honestly, far louder and clearer than any words possibly could), "I love you more than all of that."

Why else would he be helping his brother take over as heir to House Vaude when that actually seems to be something Langris wants for himself? (I know the poll I ran examined some different ideas and interpretations but that's always been my personal take on it). It’s almost like in that moment, Langris has realized that he can’t make Lady Finesse happy (even if he wants to), but he thinks that Finral can so he wants to make Finral into the best he can be for her.

Once Langris is reasonably sure that Finral is at a place that he can make Finesse happy and has become a man "worthy of her," I could definitely see him stepping aside so that his brother could take over their House and marry her—purely out of concern for Finesse’s happiness, and there is something incredibly selfless and very beautiful about that.

I think Finesse's side of things is much more practical. The fact of the matter is that Finesse is royalty in a medieval society where she will inevitably be married off for a political alliance and/or to produce children, and she has probably always known that she needs to marry out of duty/responsibility, so I can’t really see her as that much of a hopeless romantic given the circumstances. If she allows herself anything, it is the hope that she will get to spend her life with someone who does care for her and who she can be content with. I don't think throughout most of Finesse's life and certainly not throughout this whole arranged marriage business that anyone has ever really asked her what she wanted or ever really cared about her wishes before, but Langris seems to have a genuine interest in her wishes and her happiness more so than anyone else. And I think she does care for him (again, not necessarily in a romantic way but it is a genuine care and concern of at least friendship).

As I discussed in this post, when Langris has all that elf-business and the King threatens to dissolve the betrothal and punish the Vaudes, it is Finesse who comes to their defense rather than taking what is quite possibly her only chance at an "out." And it is an informed, free choice on her part. I love her line in the English dub that she "knows Lord Langris and has no misgivings about him" and therefore essentially begs her uncle not to "judge him too harshly." I think there is something very strong and very courageous in her decision to believe in the good in Langris even when he is at his worst, and her concern is truly and completely focused on what is best for him. I'm especially thinking of that moment when she begs him to stop before he does something he will regret. She's worried about him: his hurt and his guilt. She really wants what's best for him, and it's this love for him and this belief in him that really brings out the best in Langris.

My absolute favorite thing about this ship (besides how selfless they are towards each other) is really that Finesse has this way of bringing out this softer, gentler side of Langris that, I think, very few people have actually seen. Langris himself is so insistent on hiding this (probably a learned response from growing up in an environment where any hint of emotion and any sensitivity is viewed as a weakness), but really he has such a deep capacity for love and given the opportunity would be fiercely loyal.

Langris may not care about a lot of people, but the ones he chooses to care about he will love forever. He's just such a tsun about it, I think, so it can be very hard for anyone (and especially for those with preconceived notions of him as a snotty stick-in-the-mud) to see that he's really very sweet and awkward as heck about his feelings. Langris' love might be quiet—it's not very flashy and usually shows itself in doing little, everyday things for the people he loves—but still waters run very, very deep and he has shown that he would do just about anything to protect the people he loves most and make them happy, no matter what that means for himself. I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that he would die for Finesse if it came down to it.

Ultimately, I can imagine a lot of different outcomes for this relationship (some of which never, ever cross over into that romantic place). I really just want them both to be happy whether that means they end up together or not, but yes, I could see them happy with each other in a romantic sense under very specific circumstances since they do have such a selfless love for each other (but I think that is probably a discussion for another time because this is already super, super long so I'm cutting myself off in favor of the next section...).

Why I personally think Langris rather than Finral is better suited for Finesse

As much I don't like pitting ships against each other, I don't think it's avoidable in this case since she is going to be in arranged marriage with one of them. To paraphrase a favorite musical of mine, it's not a matter of "if" but which one. And I think it's best for me to just start off by saying that while I do genuinely like and appreciate Finesse and Finral as a ship as well, I personally think that Langris and Finesse are better suited for one another in the long term.

I will admit upfront that this is in part because of my own personal experiences of having a chronic illness (and needless to say that is a personal bias that colors my opinions, so please just keep that in mind), but I think it's important to talk about the fact that Finesse is chronically ill because it's not something I've ever really seen discussed when talking about ships for her and I really think it should be taken into account. Like Finesse, I have been sick for most of my life, and I can really relate to the kind of difficulties and limitations that Finesse likely experiences due to being chronically ill and the realities of the less active and much more slower-paced life she would lead and, by proxy, the life anyone who married her would have to lead. Again, I am not saying that I don’t like or couldn’t imagine her & Finral together (I do genuinely like that ship too), but I almost think Langris is better suited for her in that he actually wants (or seems to want) the slower-paced life they’d probably have together. For instance, there are likely to be frequent situations that would arise in which Finesse is too ill or too tired to go out and her husband would then be “forced” to stay home with her. With Langris, I think, there would never really need to be much of that feeling of guilt on Finesse’s part or the fear that she is taking away something from Langris or being a burden, because Langris isn’t super sociable and would just want to stay home anyway. In fact, let’s be honest here, he’d probably, actually feel kind of relieved that he has gotten out of unwanted socializing. Whereas Finral is a much more lively and sociable person (rather than an "old soul" like Langris), and though Finral would never, ever want Finesse to feel like a burden or to feel guilty about being sick, I could imagine there is more of that feeling (at least from Finesse’s side) that he has given up a lot more to be with her since his active social life would drastically change as soon as they married.

There's also the matter of the panic Finral would probably have whenever Finesse was ill or having a flare of symptoms. Of course, Langris would be worried as well, but I think because of his personality, he is better able to shelve that and help in a crisis rather than Finral who gets really worked up and then just sort of shuts down. Obviously this is something that can be learned over time, but I just worry that it would be a constant source of stress for Finral which would ultimately make Finesse very worried about him and upset that he is upset on her account. I think Finesse would have a lot of fear that the life she could give a lively, busy, & social person like Finral would be holding him back in some way. The question there is really: will what Finral wants out of life ever gel with the limitations Finesse has to live with? Whereas I don't think that question is as much of an issue with Langris since he is an old soul and incredibly steady, very unlike his more restless, adventurous, and high-energy brother.

I think Langris and Finesse are alike in this way. Though they have many differences in their personalities (and a really nice balance there), they have a lot of similarities in worldview and their attitudes towards life and their life goals—being more traditional, formal, and proper ‘old souls.' Whereas I think she and Finral have more similarities in personality (despite him being much more lively), they’re both incredibly kind, gentle & easy-going people who aren’t particularly ambitious and often make decisions based on what will make other people happy and "keep the peace." But worldview wise he seems much more modern and less traditional than her which I could see causing some tensions since I think they want different things out of life, in a way. It’s almost more important to be alike in life goals/worldview than personality, I think.

I also think Finesse and Langris share common interests and genuinely enjoy each other's company (as we get these glimpses of in the anime where they're just having a quiet, comfortable tea parties together for instance). Even if it started off as an obligation to spend time together because of this arranged marriage they were going to be in, I like to think that eventually Langris and Finesse actually became fairly good friends and came to genuinely enjoy each other's company. I guess it’s a bit unfair to Finral to bring this up since we haven’t seen him spend a lot of time with Finesse so we can't say that they don’t enjoy each other’s company but I just don’t see them having the same shared interests that she would have with Langris.

There is a lot more I could say about these two and their relationship, but I think that's enough ramblings for now. If you read this all the way through to the end, bless you. Thank you for coming to my TED Talk. Cheers!! 💖

[fourleafclovxr]

10: what it took to get here

“Yara, thank god you’re here,” Agatha sighs, slamming the doors closed behind her. “You might be the only other sane person in this entire castle.”

“That doesn’t bode very well for the future of Camelot, does it,” Yara says dubiously, hefting her bags into a corner. She can see why Agatha would say that, though. Pollux is here, and he was stupid enough to try and get Dovey, of all people, fired. It doesn’t exactly inspire confidence in the rest of the staff.

Agatha laughs, a little maniacally. “It doesn’t!” she exclaims. “But what can I do! I’m just Tedros’ princess, and girls should just shut up and listen to their betters speak, and girls shouldn’t have opinions on anything the men decide—” She breaks off, then, with a huffed exhale. “If I tell them I used to be a boy, do you think they’d shut up?”

Yara sits down on Agatha’s plush carpet, and Agatha follows suit, pulling her knees up to her chest. She doesn’t really look like a princess; she just looks tired, and annoyed, and a little scared. But, as always, she looks very much like herself. Yara has always admired her for that. And that’s the thing, isn’t it?

“You don’t change for anyone,” Yara says. “You don’t do anything for anyone other than yourself. Don’t let their biases force you into— into coming out.”

“Good thing I have you as my lady-in-waiting,” Agatha murmurs. “You’d have been wasted on Tedros.”

“Don't you know it,” Yara says lightly. Lady-in-waiting sounds much better than knight, all things considered. Sends a pleased, comfortable spark through her heart.

“S’pose it’s better that they don’t know, even if it would probably stop a couple of them in their tracks,” Agatha sighs. “They don’t deserve to, anyway. I don’t envy you. I don’t think you’re going to have it easy.”

“Trust me, I’ve heard it all before,” Yara assures her. “That it’s unnatural? That it’s freakish? That we should just stick with what we were born with? I’m over it. I really am. My family’s from Avalon Towers, remember? Even more bigoted version of Camelot, if you ask me.”

Agatha winces. “Right,” she says. “You know, I miss Gavaldon sometimes. I mean, there’s nothing there for me anymore, but at least people there didn’t care about all this. About being a girl, boy, neither, whatever. They hated you for… other things.”

“That’s the way things are, here,” Yara says wryly. “That’s the sort of division our dear Storian loves to capitalise on.”

“Like Evelyn Sader,” Agatha says quietly, lost in thought.

Yara can’t suppress the flinch that jolts through her. Oh, Sader had been a terrible Dean, and objectively an even worse person. She’d taken her idea of advocating for women to the extreme.

But she’d helped Yara. For a price, of course.

But she’d… understood, why Yara might want to be a girl. She’d smiled and nodded and said, being a Girl is a wonderous thing, my dear.

Their school. So beautiful. Yara shudders to think of it. That she would so easily forgive such Evil, if it only meant she could be herself.

She shakes her head firmly. No point in dwelling on it now. Sader is long gone. And Yara, despite everything, has lived this long without her.

This is something she’s made for herself. It was never meant to be anyone else’s.

“They keep trying to doll me up,” Agatha says abruptly, changing the subject entirely. “Make me— well. A better girl. A prettier bride. They complain about my bone structure a lot. My jaw. My shoulders.”

“You’re the prettiest girl I’ve ever met,” Yara says sincerely.

“Thanks,” Agatha mumbles, picking at a loose thread in the carpet. She sounds utterly unconvinced. “Just have to work on convincing all of Tedros’ courtiers, now.”

“Hey,” Yara frowns, “look up. Look at me.” Agatha does, blinking in confusion. “If anyone tells you you’re not pretty, I’ll screw with them so hard they come to you begging for mercy.”

“I don’t want to make things harder for Tedros,” Agatha worries.

“He wouldn’t want them to make things harder for you,” Yara points out. “He’s so in love with you it’s stupid. Anyway, you have to set a precedent. You can’t let them walk over you for things like this— what will happen when it’s something bigger? You’re just going to keep your head down?”

“Is it worth it?” Agatha sighs.

Yara stares, incredulously. “Has this castle beaten you down so much already?” she asks. Alright, it’s not particularly sensitive of her. It’s just. This isn’t the Agatha she knows; the Agatha who sat with her in the long days after Evelyn Sader and convinced her not to hate herself for it; the Agatha who was always sure of who she was, who never let anyone tell her otherwise, who never was scared of not fitting in.

“I don’t want to mess this up,” Agatha snaps, finally regaining some of the spark in her eyes. “You think any of this is easy?”

“It’s never going to be easy,” Yara says. “You might as well make it better for yourself. No one else is going to. Except maybe me, but— I’m your lady-in-waiting. I’ll do what you want.” She won’t like it, of course, but she owes Agatha that much.

“Why can’t it be easy?” Agatha says quietly. “People like us. Why don’t we ever get to have it easy?”

“Sometimes I resent it,” Yara admits. “What it took to get here.” It’s not easy. It’s never been easy. She wishes it could have been. “But I would never regret being myself.”

“Do you ever wish you didn’t have to—?” Agatha begins. Trails off. She looks a little lost, like this. A little more her age.

“Wouldn’t be like us, then, would we?” Yara asks. It’s true. It would be much, much easier to just be Tristan— Tristan, skinny and awkward and weird, but very firmly who he was supposed to be. Tristan, who’d been semi-comfortable in his own body, as far as that meant anything in Good. Tristan. Not her.

It took so much to get here, to get to where she is now. And it sucked, yeah. It sucked massively.

But where she is, right now— it feels right. It feels like home. And she would never, ever, go back.

[forlornmelody]

Outlaws Chapter 3 – Teenagers

Rating: E (language, graphic violence. Smut in other chapters.)

Fandom: Titans (2018)

Ship: Jayrose, Jayroy, Rose/Artemis, Poisonquinn, Bella Garten/Pamela Isley

AO3 Links: First Chapter. // This Chapter.

Summary:  Poison Ivy has agreed to help with the search for her copycat killer. Or is it a copycat?

Notes: Chapter title comes from the My Chemical Romance song of the same name.

----

“Where’s my cash?” She wraps her arms around her bare middle. Walking the streets and the alleys in these clothes is a lot easier in a Gotham summer. By now the trees have all but turned, and there’s frost whispering in the air. 

“It’s comin’, sweets. Things are just a little tight right now.” He’s plenty warm in his leather coat and silk scarf. And his beemer probably has seat warmers. If she plays it right, she might get to hitch a ride home. Well, part of the way home. She’d be a fucking idiot if she told this john where she lived.

“You promised me you’d have it by today.” Strangely, the plant behind them doesn’t seem to acknowledge the change of the seasons. It’s as green as spring, if not greener. It almost seems to glow. 

“Shit happens. You know I’m always good for it.”

“I need to pay my rent, Danny.”

“And Danny says you need to shut your fucking mouth before he breaks those pretty little teeth.” He wraps his big hands around her neck, lifting her off the ground. 

“Danny! I didn’t mean it. I’m sorry,” she starts to plead.

“Maybe Danny needs to teach you a lesson, bitch.”

The vines of the plant stir from their other prey, stretching out like spider silk.

“Danny, I–” she screams as Danny’s feet are snatched from beneath him. They envelop him like a net and then they squeeze until Danny’s screams stop.

—

“You cannot be serious.” Barbara fixes him a stare before rummaging through her desk drawer. Where’s that scotch when she needs it?

“She makes a point.” Jason shrugs.

“She’s terrorized Gotham multiple times.”

“And she’s more likely to know who the copycat is.”

“If it’s a copycat.”

Jason leans against the desk. Barbara is half-convinced he’s drunk already at 10 am. Tim told Dick as much after his crash course. Can she blame him, though? It’s a miracle the kid’s alive after all this. “You got any other leads, Babs?”

Scratch scotch. She needs something stronger. “I’m telling you Jason, something’s off. Ivy can’t be trusted.”

“I know.” Jason smiles softly. “I know her better than anyone on your team. She’s my baddie, remember?”

Barbara snorts. “You’re an ex-con yourself.”

“Exactly. I know how these guys–er–gals, think. I’ve got it handled, Babs.”

She sucks on her teeth, already feeling a familiar tension in her shoulders spreading to her neck and the back of her head. “Giving Dick free reign with Crane is exactly what got you into that mess.” 

Jason flinches, just for a split second before he recovers. But the damage is done. 

“Jason–”

“I’m not Dick.” And there he is. The terrified teenager that Bruce picked up off the street, still trying to look braver than he feels. 

Barbara should say no. But it’s impossible to say no to family, isn’t it? “Fine.” Doesn’t make her hate herself any less, though.

The tension eases from Jason’s shoulders, and he sways ever so slightly before he catches himself. “Thanks, Barbara.”

“Don’t.” She wheels herself away from her desk. “This conversation never happened.”

“Never does.”

—

When Babs and Jason get to the van, the rest of the team is already there. Jason moves to get in the backseat, but the driver stops him. “Sorry. The inmate’s gonna go in the back. Arkham rules.”

Jason eyes the rest of the van while Babs maneuvers into the shotgun seat. He folds and hands over her wheelchair without a second thought. And then he sinks inside. There’s only one seat available if Pamela and her two guards are taking the backseat. And it’s next to Deathstroke’s kids. Donna meets Jason’s eyes and winks at him. Winks. Muttering under his breath, Jason settles in next to Rose, who doesn’t even seem to register that he’s there. In fact, she can’t even keep herself awake, despite the energy drink in her hand. The moment Jason buckles his seatbelt, she nods off, resting her head on her brother’s shoulder. Even though there’s at least two inches between them, Jason swears he can feel that familiar buzz of energy between them. Like sticking his finger in a socket. Fuck, this is going to be a long ride. 

“Is this really necessary?” Ivy shifts between a male and a female prison guard, flashing them her trademark smile.

“Standard procedure, Isely.” 

“But Gary, you know I’m harmless with this little accessory.” Arms bound; Ivy cranes her neck to draw attention to her inhibitor collar. 

“Rules are rules.”

“Stop flirting, Gary.”

“Just having some fun, Cheryl.” 

The guards drag Ivy to the backseat, and when her seat belt clicks into place, Ivy leans forward. “You mind?” Inexplicably, she has a tube of lipstick between her teeth. Roy shrugs and applies it to her lips with ease. Almost as if he’s done makeup before. Hm. Ivy eyes herself in the reflection of Artemis’s ax, smacking her lips with a pop. “Thank you.”

“Hey!” Babs snaps. “Give me that.” She holds out her hand until Roy and the rest pass her the stick of lipstick. 

Ivy rolls her eyes. “You know the lipstick itself isn’t toxic, right?”

“Just take us to the crime scene, Carl.”

“Yes ma’am.” The driver gives her an idle salute as the van rolls down the road. 

“You teamed up with Scarecrow!?” Ivy shrieks. The van swerves. Rose jerks awake, her arm bumping into Jason’s.

“Ivy–” Jason starts to say–

“Scarecrow!?” she says, louder this time. Before anyone can say anything, Ivy continues. “That motherfucking, narcissistic, patronizing asshole. You teamed up with him?” 

“Look, I know it was a mistake–”

She manages a sniffle. “I thought I was your favorite.” 

Jericho snorts. 

—

Jericho’s lost track of how many times he’s hit the bag. He’s barely keeping track of the Queen album blaring in the speakers. Right now, Freddie Mercury’s belting about his love for “Fat Bottom Girls,” and Jericho Wilson is trying to locate the same joy in Freddie’s voice. But all he feels at the moment is rage.

Five. Fucking. Years.

A throat clears behind him, and Jericho misses the bag completely. “Your right hook needs work.”

Jericho stops, staring at Adeline pointedly–the punching bag swaying back and forth across his face. “Do you want to talk, or watch me train? Because I can’t do both.”

“It’s been a while since we had a chat.” Adeline Kane sits down on the weight bench, placing a tray with a tea kettle and two cups on the nearby bench press. 

“What do you want?” Jericho grabs a towel, drying his face. T makes it easier to look in the mirror. But it also makes him sweat like mad. Worth it. 

“How are you feeling?” She says it sweetly, but her eyes are almost devoid of warmth. Something happened to her in those five years. Almost like she’s angry with him for dying. Like it’s his fault, and not his father’s.

His hands stop. Adeline doesn’t waste breath. Not anymore. “Takes some getting used to, I guess.”

“It’s a miracle you’re alive, you know.” Adeline pours them two cups, handing him one. “It’s not easy bringing a body out of cryostasis.”

Jericho blows on his tea, not sure where she’s going with this. “Considering all this family put me through? Yeah. A fucking miracle.”

“Language.” Ripe coming from the woman who has likely committed war crimes. 

“The words you use shouldn’t matter. It’s how you use them.”

Adeline sighs. “Just spit it out, Jericho.”

He quirks his head, holding up the cup. 

“You know what I mean.”

“Why did you lie to me about my dad?”

“I was trying to protect you.”

“Bullshit.”

“A son needs to love and respect his father.”

“You just didn't want me in the business!” Most would throw the teacup and shatter it, but even on his angriest days, Jericho prefers to avoid violence. So, he sets the cup, untouched, back on the tray, and storms out. 

—

“Have you slept?” The team medic, Doctor Maya Owens, checks the vitals of her least favorite patient. Her brow furrows skeptically as Rose yawns. 

“Nothing but, Doc.”

Dr. Owens eyes her through her glasses, pressing on Rose’s wrist for her pulse. “Have you slept well?”

Rose lifts her arm begrudgingly, so the medic can wrap the compression sleeve around it, as she considers the question. “Maybe?”

“Blood pressure’s low. How much caffeine have you had today?”

“Five cups. You think it would work better if I sweetened it with cocaine?”

“I think the cocaine would kill you.”

“You’re no fun.” 

“It’s not my job to be fun.” She sighs as she makes some notes in her chart. “Looks like you’re suffering from adrenal fatigue.”

“So, what drugs will you give me?”

Dr. Owens rubs her forehead with her thumb, swiveling her chair to face away from her. “Just lay off the caffeine and try to relax.”

Rose shifts her spinny chair in arcs from side to side. “Not my job to relax.”

“Well, my job is to keep you alive.”

She snorts. “I’m not easy to kill, remember?”

“Death comes for everyone eventually, Rose. Don’t go around tempting him, okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.”

—

“Daddy!” A five-year-old girl beams at Roy from his computer screen. 

“Hi Lian,” Roy smiles back, his hand shaking just slightly beneath his desk, where she can’t see. Damn, she looks more and more like her mother every day. 

How fucking dare you, Roy Harper.

I have to do what’s best for her, Jade. 

Taking a girl away from her mother? 

I’m taking her away from both of us. Making sure she turns out nothing like us. 

“Daddy?” Lian’s eyebrows crease. “You went away again.”

“Sorry, Lian.” Roy swallows, plastering what he hopes is a brave smile on his face. “Daddy’s just tired.”

“I love you, Daddy.”

“I love you, too.” Don’t cry. Don’t cry. Don’t– “Why don’t you show me what you made class today?”

Lian holds up a monstrosity of a construction paper creature, all clashing colors. “Look! He has five teeth!” She holds up five fingers, beaming. “I’m five, too!”

“Yes, Li. Yes, you are.”

Lian’s bedroom door opens, and an apologetic middle-aged woman gently puts a hand on her shoulder. “Sorry, Mr. Harper. But Lian’s got school in the morning.”

Roy glances at the clock. “Oh, sh–crap. Right. Sorry.”

Lian’s foster mom looks up at him. “Same time next week?”

Sooner? Roy wants to say, but he knows they’re busy. Knows he’s busy. “Yeah, that works great. Goodnight Lian. Be a good girl for me, okay? I love you.”

“I love you too, Daddy.”

—

Ah, finally. Donna’s tea has cooled enough to drink. She shouldn’t have caffeine this late at night, but the chai was calling to her. And these leads on Poison Ivy, or not Poison Ivy, as the villainess herself keeps insisting,  aren’t going to follow themselves, are they? Just a little pick me up at the ARGUS computer, and Donna will be all set to go. Just as she’s going to take her first coveted sip, Donna hears a knock at the door jamb behind her. The tea comes this close to spilling onto her lap, and it’s only her reflexes and training that land the mug right side up on the desk. 

“Yeah?” Donna calls out after she stops reeling. 

“Can I talk to you about Rose?” Artemis chews her lip. How very un-Artemis-like. 

“Shit. Did she set the kitchen on fire? Hack the computer again? Booby trap Jericho’s roo-” Artemis stops her with a hand on her shoulder, and Donna, out of habit, violently shrugs it off. She might have accepted the other Amazon as a teammate, but they sure as hell aren’t buddies. Not now, not ever.

“She hasn’t done anything wrong.” Artemis clears her throat. “That I’m aware of.” It might be the hum of the computer, but she swears she hears a crack in her voice. “This is more personal in nature.”

Donna finally turns in her chair, staring at Artemis. “You’re asking me for relationship advice?”

“Why not? You’ve had lovers before, have you not?” Artemis leans against the door frame, her head nearly bumping against the top.

“I mean, yeah, but–” Did a largely un-acted upon whirlwind romance with Garth count?

“Then you can help me.” Artemis leans on the desk, folding her arms. Donna imagines it’s supposed to look confident, if not intimidating but even with the other Amazon’s muscles, she can still see the slouch in her shoulders and the crease in her eyebrows. Now this was not a look she ever expected from Artemis of Bana Migdahl. 

“Eh–”

“How do I get Rose to–how do you say it– ”get serious” with me?”

Donna spits out her tea. “Rose? Wilson?” She sets her mug down, clearing her throat. “You’re kidding.”

Artemis, always completely centered in her gravity, shifts on her feet. “Is that one of your sayings or?”

“You know what she did to Jason, right?”

“She “fleeced” him for information, did she not?”

Donna snorts. “Mythology puns, really?”

Ah, there’s that trademark Artemis smirk. “We both know it’s not a myth.”

Donna rubs her temples. “Right. Okay. What I’m getting at is I don’t think Rose is…. all that romantic.”

“Oh.” Artemis deflates, damn her. 

“Wait, hold on. Does Artemis of Bana Mighdal want romance?”

Artemis levels her a familiar glare “Is that so surprising?”

“It’s just…. you never seemed to stick with one partner very…long.”

“Never mind.” Artemis turns to leave. Donna grabs her hand, stopping her short. She looks up at her, all that fury and resentment of all their years pitted against each other still burning in her eyes. “What?”

“Have you thought about talking to her?”

Artemis doesn’t answer–-she just slips into the hall, letting the door close behind her.

—

The van pulls up to a drainpipe, teeming with greenery. Long, white, and spidery vines crawl over every plant in sight, trapping them like a net. One net contains a distinctly human shape. 

“Oh god.” Donna covers her nose, turning a bit green about the edges. 

Barbara must have completely lost her sense of smell by now. “Fresh crime scene. Have at it.” She waves in the body’s general direction as Jason puts her wheelchair on the ground.

They fan out, and Ivy clears her throat. Jason meets Barbara’s eyes, and her lips press into a thin line. “I better not regret this.”

“Best behavior, Ivy,” Jason murmurs, as he presses the deactivator on her power-dampening collar. 

“Always.” Ivy winks, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. 

She steps forward, turning back to look at them. “Hurry up, would you? I don’t have all n–” Ivy chokes on her next word, and then she doubles over. 

“Is she–?”

And then Ivy screams. She doubles over, falling to her knees. Gasping for air, she chokes out, “I should have had more time.” Her skin pales and glimmers with sweat as she shakes. 

“Ivy?” Jason frowns steps toward her. “You okay?”

Ivy sways as she stands up directly in front of him. The plants around her writhe as she spits out. “Your seas are rising, and your forests are on fire. What is the fucking point of this? As far as I’m concerned, you’re running out of ground to stand on, Robin.” Rose pulls out her swords, Artemis her ax. Roy reaches for his quiver. Even Donna readies her lasso. 

Jason swallows. “I’m not Robin anymore.” 

“Then why are you still acting like a fucking bat?” She glares at Barbara as she gasps for air. “Why are you still running around with pigs like her?”

Jericho steps forward, his eyes losing their color. Roy stops him with a hand. 

“Ivy. I know you’re in a lot of pain. And you’re angry. As you should be.” Jason holds up both hands, his guns still in their holsters. “But right now, I need you to breathe.” He counts to four with one hand, breathing in slowly, holding it for another four, and letting it out at the same count, and holding it for another. 

Ivy’s eyes lose their glow, and the plants around her settle. “Who taught you box breathing?”

Rose looks at Jason, but he avoids her eyes. “Did you see anything we could use to find who murdered those people?”

Ivy turns back to the glowing cuscata, feeding on the basil. She shakes her head, stepping toward it. “One moment,” she says shakily. Stretching out her hand, Ivy says softly, “Hello, little one.

“She talks to them?” Donna whispers to Roy. 

He shrugs. “Don’t ask me. I’m not her bestie like Jason is.”

“Ow.”

“Something wrong?”

Ivy sucks the wound on her thumb, furrowing her brow. “I’m not sure.” 

“Aren’t plants supposed to be your thing?” Rose folds her arms.

“It’s like she doesn’t recognize me,” Ivy mutters, and then jerks her head in their direction. “HEY. They’re not just my thing! I am an agent of the Green–”

The amarbel shivers.

“That isn’t funny. I’m not being funny.” Ivy turns back to the parasitic plant. “What do you mean I’ve been here before?”

Jason’s eyes widen. 

“No, I haven’t.” 

Jericho looks at him. Had Ivy told them the truth or not? Was the former Robin’s faith in her misplaced?

“FINE. Show me who you saw here this morning.”

The amarbel unfurls from its meal, twisting and turning until it takes the shape of a woman, roughly Ivy’s height. She fumes, her fists white knuckled at her sides. “I already told you. It wasn’t me!”

“You gotta admit, Ivy. The resemblance is uncanny.” Roy murmurs softly.

Jason steps forward, stopping at her side. “What’s that on her head?”

That stops Ivy short, as if she’s truly taking in the form of it for the first time. “It’s a crown.”

[lumiereandcogsworth]

that baseball ask you sent (which I'm answering rn :3) made me wonder if Belle or Adam or any of their kiddos ever play sports? or enjoy any? 👁️

FUN QUESTION YAY!!! i am going to divide it between canon and modern au because i think about BOTH.

CANON:

adam: he… does not like exercise at all. he got teased a lot as young lad for preferring to sit in the shade (or inside) and read during recreational time, rather than joining the other boys in activities. now, i did a bit of digging, and actually at this point in time, france wasn’t a very sporty place. they were much more into the ✨intellectualism✨ of it all. and sports were rough and grimy. blegh! even still, the upper class (i.e. where Prince Adam would be hanging, if you can believe it) had lots of tennis, fencing, and equestrian things. i think adam liked Watching equestrian races/obstacle courses/polo matches, (and probably(definitely) developed crushes on some jockeys) but wasn’t super interested in Doing those things. he preferred to just ride horses freely, not so much for challenge’s sake. but he loves horses a lot so watching them was fun for him :3 anyway, he hated tennis because there’s way too much running and coordination involved and you’re usually just standing directly in the sun. disgusting. even if it was indoors it’s too SWEATYYY. BUT! i do think he enjoyed fencing a lot! he sees it as less exerting (though it is) and more of an art form to master. and he was pretty good at it! which was a nice confidence boost. i have a fic that’s a few years old but it’s when adam & belle are still courting and they FENCE!! it’s incredibly adorable. here it is

belle: ACTIVE ADVENTURE GIRL WHO RAN LIKE A MILE AFTER GASTON PROPOSED TO HER????? hell yeah she sports. like i said though, “sports” weren’t much of a thing. and especially since she didn’t have any friends to play with :( BUT i absolutely think that her and maurice would toss/kick a ball back and forth of SOME kind. you can’t convince me otherwise. she always wanted to be outside!! and maurice was with her much of the time!! so i think they played catch. i also hc that he taught her how to swim in the river that flows past the village, and i think she’d enjoy swimming A LOT. when she learns about mermaids she loses her freaking mind and wishes on stars to become one. but anyway, she was as sporty as a french 18th century village girl could be!! she climbed trees constantly (definitely has lots of little scars like giselle!!) and loved to RUN ! she just had (and still has) So Much Energy. she also just made up a lot of silly games that requires running between trees and making her own obstacle courses. and as an adult, as QUEEN! i think she enjoys tennis and plays with either her kiddos or her ladies in waiting. (or just anyone. i could see her being like “hello sir we need to figure out this business thing. shall we discuss over a game of tennis?” and he’s just like ??? okay ?? your majesty ???????)

renée: SPEAKING OF ENERGY! little renée is just like her mama. loves running and jumping and climbing!!!! but a major difference is they grew up in entirely different stations!! when renée grows older she gets REALLY into polo and maybe even equestrian obstacle courses - though idk the policies on women doing that stuff at that point >:/ but she’s the princess royal so fuck you. anyway she also enjoyed fencing and tennis when she went to university. (i don’t think she was super good at either of them but… she does her best) she’s just such a horse girl !! so that’s where she shined. (her & adam sometimes go to horse races/shows together,,, bonding time. i’m sure belle joins a lot too but she’s BUSY and adam is more willing to play hooky from work, lmao)

juliette: not really a sports girlie. she loves running around and playing with her siblings !! but she wasn’t as brave in terms of climbing trees, and she was afraid of horses until she was like, 8 (and even then, she’d only ride with adam or belle). i think her favorite way to be active is either going on walks or swimming :)

maurice: little reecy is much like his mama too, just chaos and running and climbing. he has fun swimming too. he also likes to WRESTLE even though he’s not all that muscular. he and his best friend xavier, since they were toddlers, simply attack each other for fun. (maurice also likes picking play fights with adam, and adam’s always like sON PLEASE— but maurice has already tackled him onto the bed or sofa adjskd) anyway i think it would be so funny if he just absolutely DOMINATED in tennis when he goes to university. like just an absolute legend. they put his name on the plaque in the trophy hall and everything. and what’s so annoying is he doesn’t even care about it that much. he’s just having fun and making friends. he’s one of those people that is naturally good at a lot of things… very annoying but he’s so charming and sweet that you don’t even care 😮‍💨

(oh and, obviously, all the kids are WELL verses in many many many different dances. just comes with the 18th century royal territory ✨ they all took classes and they all enjoyed it to varying degrees!)

okay, MODERN AU!

adam: once again, sports were not his vibe. PE class was a damn nightmare for every possible reason. later on when he’s with belle, she Tries to take him on runs or at least to do some yoga or something. and he just hates it man😭 “why must you TORTURE ME” but then it always bites him in the ass later because he’ll be groaning from aging and being randomly sore and belle’s like “if only you stretched!😌☕️” and he’s just like 😒

belle: sooo sporty as a kid, i can’t even decide if she had a favorite. soccer basketball softball volleyball track cross country tennis lacrosse swim team ?? i think she’d enjoy basketball and soccer most, just because they’re the most stimulating and active. but she really did enjoy trying all of them!!! i think cross country was also lovely for her bc she could just run and THINK! in college she probably took a lot of fitness classes (i took kickboxing and spin, which she Definitely would too) and just be at the rec center as much as she could (which unfortunately wouldn’t be much, since she was doing two majors and So Busy). and as an adult she probably is always doing some kind of fitness class, as well as going to gyms to swim! and going on runs when the weather is nice (the runs make adam uneasy because WHAT IF SOMEONE KIDNAPS YOU!!!! so she’s like 🙄 and turns on location on her phone so he can check if it’s been Too Long. also he makes her carry pepper spray. the man worries Okay) anyway she’s always doin somethin <3

renée: again, like belle, she tried lots of sports!! not as many as her mama, but lots. she also did dance/ballet for many years. like from toddler age to maybe 10 or 11 or so. and that took a lot of her time, but she still somehow found a way to try other sports too. i think of the ones she tried she probably liked volleyball the most. and it’s the only one she did in high school. (she focused more on academic stuff anyway, so one sport was satisfactory). she’s still a horsegirl in modern au though and, given their financial capabilities, she probably did horse stuff on the side like polo. i think she always wanted her own horse but it was never realistic, she focused more on other things and couldn’t devote her time to it. but she definitely complained about it A LOT when she was younger. looking back as an adult though she’s glad she didn’t Have A Horse to care for still. she had her favorites at the ranch she’d go to and that was good enough!

juliette: still not a sports girlie! lmao. PE was Also a damn nightmare 😭 but she did ballet with renée for a handful of years as well, and i think she liked taking swim classes, so adam & belle found some kind of swim team club thing for her to join that was less intense than school competitions. (which Really helped her get a tad better at socializing !! but still always a struggle for her 😞) anyway i think she still swims sometimes in college, but is much more focused on school and being in the orchestra (we got a violin prodigy over here!!!!) so it’s less and less. but as an adult she walks and such. whenever her & renée can meet and catch up, they go on long walks together :”3 and sometimes horseback riding !

maurice: okay reecy ALSO did ballet as a kid, just like his sisters, but he only did it a few years because he got Really Into Baseball !!!!! so he traded his dancing shoes for CLEATS! i think he did other sports too, soccer, track, maybe even tennis to be reminiscent of his 18th century counterpart, but baseball is his love. he may even play in college, perhaps! as an adult i can totally see him being the baseball couch for his nieces/nephews/kids later on. i think he’d enjoy that a lot :”3 AND he’d also be really into hiking. he’d wanna be all “into the wild” and go on a solo hike somewhere lesser known but adam 1000% forbid it. “that boy was an idiot. you’re not doing that.” and maurice says “DAD! don’t speak ill of the DEAD!” and adam goes “my point entirely😮‍💨” but anyway reece obeys and only goes on hikes with groups of friends and in Relatively Known Areas🙄. he even drags his family on a hike every now and then when they’re all adults! only belle and his partner eloise really enjoy it with him 💔 reecy & belle prob do (VERY CUTE) mother-son hikes sometimes though!!!!!🥹

[sequinsmile-x]

unconsciously searching out each other’s hand while sleeping ❤️

heyyy bestie!!

Hope you enjoy this <3

Another double posting day because chapter 3 of All's Fair is coming tonight!

Details on how to submit a prompt can be found here, along with a list of ones that have already been requested

-x-

Words: 985

Warnings: brief mentions of injury

Read over on Ao3, or below the cut

Emily is grateful when Aaron falls asleep shortly after the jet takes off, the long journey home drawn out in front of them. The sun would be rising by the time they made it home, and the only reason they hadn’t stayed another night after wrapping up the case was that Aaron was insistent on it. 

He wanted to sleep in their bed. Their children just down the hall in their own rooms, a well needed reminder that there was good in the world. 

Aaron had been hurt in the takedown of the unsub. Three cracked ribs and a bruise around his eye that Emily already dreaded having to explain to their three-year-old. The little girl empathetic almost to a fault, prone to feeling the pain of those she loved just a little too sharply. 

She didn’t know if it was worse that Jack was old enough to understand it all fully. A sad glint in his eyes whenever one of them was hurt, no matter how mildly, which was enough to make her want to quit her job on her worst days. 

Aaron is next to her, his arms crossed over his chest as he slept as if he was protecting himself from getting hurt even further in his sleep. His head ends up on her shoulder. His favourite place to rest if he was hurt or sick.

One of the many things he seemed to have passed onto their children.

“Is he okay?” 

She looks up from her book to see Derek sliding into the seat opposite her and she nods as she puts the book down on the table. 

“He’s ok,” she replies quietly, “The ER doctor gave him some pretty strong painkillers,” she explains, “Flying home with cracked ribs isn’t exactly fun.”

Derek nods in agreement. They’d all done it at some point over the years for one reason or another - an unfortunate byproduct of their jobs.

“How did you convince him to take the painkillers?” 

Emily smirks, mischief sparkling in her eyes as she looks at her friend, “I made a lot of promises you definitely don’t want to hear about.” 

He grimaces, just as she knew he would and it makes her laugh, some of the tension that had taken residence in her chest as she watched her husband get hurt finally dissipating. 

“Gross, Prentiss.” 

Her smile widens, “You can’t be surprised we have sex, you bought the proof a stuffed unicorn just last week.”

He groans, “Please stop referring to my niece as proof you and Hotch have sex.”

“I will when you stop reacting.” 

Derek laughs and shakes his head at her, his eyes never leaving her face. He sobers, and she hates it, hates that he can see right through her. 

“Are you ok?” 

She sighs and bites her lip, her eyes falling to the table between them as she tries to come up with an answer. It never got any easier watching the man she loves get hurt, even if it was something minor in comparison to what they’d both survived over the years. There was always that flash of panic she had to bury deep inside of her, a momentary seizing of her chest, as she wondered if this was it. If their luck had finally run out. 

She sometimes wondered if it would be easier for one of them to leave the team, something they’d discussed when their daughter was born, but ultimately she thought it would be worse. Her imagination, the knowledge she had of what they faced every day, was her worst enemy. 

She’d never forgive herself if something happened to him and she wasn’t there to stop it. Or to at least be there with him. 

“I’m ok,” she says simply, and Derek raises an eyebrow at her, “Really. I am. I just…need to get home.” 

“And see the kids?” He asks, well aware of her and Aaron’s routine in that regard. 

“Yeah,” she replies, smiling at the thought of her children, how they’d barely have time to lay down in bed before their daughter would be awake and in there with them, “I miss them.” 

She places her hand on Aaron’s leg, needing the further connection with him as the thought of the hours they had left before they landed seems too much, and he untucks one of his arms from his chest. His hand seeks her out even in his sleep as he places it over hers. It makes her smile and she links their fingers together, forever enthralled by how they seemed to fit together perfectly. 

She looks up at Derek again and sees a mix of curiosity and amusement in his eyes. She and Aaron had always been careful to keep as much of their relationship to themselves as they could. They were both fiercely private people, and it was important to them that their marriage was the same. It meant the team always watched them carefully in moments like this. Rare glimpses into their lives that were only ever brought forward by fear. 

Or alcohol. 

“Derek?” She says, gaining his attention as he looks up from their hands to her face, he hums in response and the corner of her lips flicks up into a smile, “If you make fun of him for this, I will kill you,” he furrows his brows, looking slightly further aback, “And we both know I’d get away with it.” 

He shakes his head at her, a smile spreading across his face as he takes the threat exactly like she knew he would. 

“I’d be surprised that you managed to threaten me whilst snuggling with your husband,” he says, standing up to retreat to his quiet corner of the jet, “But you once did the exact same thing whilst holding your three-day-old baby.” 

She scoffs, narrowing her eyes at him. “That’s because you told me she looked like my mother.” 

-x-

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[pricklypear1997]

The show is awful. I recently decided to rewatch it a fourth (or fifth?) time while picking up the books again where I left off. I’m currently like 2/3rds into book 4. The show was good in season 1, but by season 2 things started to change. Even Dany is different from the book counterpart. It’s much more subtle at the beginning but it’s like she’s got this weird polarity within her… like she’s sooooo bloodthirsty one minute and then acts forgiving and peaceful the next. It’s strange. In the books she’s a traumatized 13-15 year old who’s been abused and groomed by these horrible (and even pedophilic) men around her, yet she still cares about the safety of others. To me, in the books she’s just not as blood thirsty. Yes, she kinda had her vengeance on the witch lady, (I forgot her name) because she took advantage of an already traumatized girl who actually wanted her baby to live. The show totally downplays Dany’s Stockholm syndrome as well unlike in the books. Overall her personality is less like able and less relatable to the reader in the show vs the book. It’s not just Dany though. This sexism is so rampant throughout the show. It’s a crime what they did to Arya. Making her a woman hating “oh I’m so independent and reclusive and anti social” sociopath. They completely took liberty of her character and even sexualized her in season 8. Literally made her have this weird “Dommy mommy kink” thing… it was disgusting. The last thing she’d do is just randomly have sex with some guy. Yes, she knows Gendry and I do ship them, but not like this AT ALL. Arya is a traumatized, child with depression and ptsd. She is a minor and girl, and she literally got threatened by creepy men and boys all the time… she literally had to work with and be around rapists and criminals (Roose Bolton for example 😐), and you honestly believe that you can convince me that she would all of a sudden act all sexual and dominatrix towards Gendry out of nowhere??? That was ridiculously out of character and disgusting. Arya is my fave, so yeah I got really pissed lol. The show also started to change Arya by season 2. Even when she worked with Tywin (instead of Bolton) she said some pretty sexist shit about women, even though in the books she constantly brings up the women and girls are important… the show really hates women. The show is stupid. Season 1 was great, but by season 2 it started to change. I will never be able to enjoy it again.

Now the subject of war. I do believe that GRRM is anti war, but even war itself is kind of a morally grey thing…. It’s very complicated. Sometimes war needs to happen in order to defend yourself and community. There are 2 criteria needed for me to defend war; as long as civilians are left out of it and it is being fought in self defense against a cruel and tyrannical ruler(s) then I do support it. I am anti war. Trust me. I hate it. I come from a war torn region that’s still going through conflicts because much more powerful foreign governments (USA, I’m looking at you specifically) are constantly interfering and causing instability and internal conflict. I will support a war if it’s against tyranny. Doesn’t mean I’m pro war. Sometimes you need to fight to protect your rights. The Boltons taking over Winterfell was bad enough (and doesn’t belong to them in the first place) that the starks needed to reclaim their home. That’s a necessary evil that needed to be done to save not only the Stark home, but the civilians of the land and getting rid of the cruelty the Boltons would inflict on others. So yes, in a way the starks are morally grey, but every time they fought was for a just cause… Martin is anti war, he’s clearly anti sexist as well, but it’s more complicated than a lot of people realize and I don’t think we should argue that someone is “evil” for fighting back against a terrible bully and abuser. I wanted to make this comment because I was a little confused by your commentary about GRRM being anti war and from what you wrote it Kind of sounded like you were implying that he’s not anti war, but I digress.

I love the books for their realistic character depth and complex story and scenarios. I think GRRM understands that we can’t 100% deal in absolutes and I also believe he understands that we live in a complex world that revolves around complex societies and people. For an American, I think he’s very well read and actually understands the functionality of ethnic states and shows a world that’s very similar to our own (outside of the US ) and I greatly appreciate it. He doesn’t think black and white, he’s not an SJW and he’s not some alt right conservative. He’s just an individual who understands that all humans are individuals and that every society is going to be different to its respective culture and instead of trying to push some kind of propaganda that only one way is the right way, he’s just showing that world (and our own) as it is. He makes extremely valued critiques and arguments about these characters, world and situations that mirror our own in a way, that he’s critiquing our world as well. He may lack in “poeticness” but his strength lies in depth, which honestly makes his books better than any other book series I’ve read. 🤷🏻‍♀️.

Hi, so I watched GoT+ am on asoiaf 1 rn and I have a Q about Dany; why is her character so divisive? I read meta by pro Dany fans and its "Dany's compassionate, self critical, a good ruler, a political reformer, frees slaves she'll be a hero at the end" and the antis "shes entitled, vengeful, profiter of slavery, a coloniser and GRRM wont validate a foreign invasion with nuclear weapons; hes anti war!!" Like, wHAt? Surely her character cant be THAT ambigious?! These are popular opposites??

Alright, I'll try to explain this from my perspective as a Jon Snow fan. However, this will be spoilery if you have read only one book. I would suggest reading all the books before joining in on discussions about the character.

It's a combination of things.

One is most definitely sexism. I don't throw that word around lightly having been constantly attacked as a ‘sexist dudebro who hates women’ for simply critiquing a female character.

Sexism in fandom is when female characters are held to different standards compared to their male counterparts. When female characters are critiqued or disliked for doing the same thing that male characters are often praised for doing. Daenerys is subjected to a lot of this which is especially evident in the books because she has a parallel arc of leadership with Jon Snow over at the Wall - the two characters at the ends of the world. 

An example is right there in your ask. GRRM is anti-war and hence why would he validate Dany's invasion - She is therefore in the wrong. Okay. In which case why not extend that argument to every other main character in the series? GRRM is anti-war and therefore Robb Stark was wrong to wage war for Northern independence. GRRM is anti-war and therefore Jon Snow is wrong to help Stannis in his battle against the Boltons. GRRM is anti-war and therefore Tyrion is wrong to use wildfire and defeat Stannis at the battle of the blackwater. GRRM is anti-war and therefore Jon Snow is the villain of the battle at Castle Black.

I think the main thesis of GRRM’s argument in regard to his protagonists has been that there is no good or bad and instead they are all morally gray? Yeah war is bad and most of our protagonists engage in war and they are therefore morally grey characters. I mean, Jon Snow is over there taking child hostages that he has promised to behead - does that make him a baddie? Ned Stark took Theon as a child hostage. Is he a baddie? Our main characters all belong to noble houses in a feudal monarchy - a system of governance that GRRM relentlessly critiques in the books. Are they all baddies?

This double standard is particularly glaring when Dany's battles in Essos is about helping the little guy - the slaves who are under the worst kind of oppression. The WOT5K (War of the 5 Kings) on the other hand was about personal power, ravaged the land and lead to much devastation and suffering. However, for some strange reason when fandom discusses the books and the author being anti-war they focus particularly on Daenerys - that strange reason is sexism.

If you have watched GOT, I am sure you would have noticed those obvious  double standards yourself.

Tyrion standing there making sad faces makes it look like Daenerys is doing something wrong when she executes the Tarlys - two treasonous traitors. However every other House does the same! Jon Snow executed the mutineers at the wall - even a child. After the battle of bastards, he mentions the Karstarks and Umbers having been killed in battle or else they would have been executed. Sansa wants to punish even their children!! But for some strange reason [(i.e) sexism] a female leader executing traitors is evil. That she does so without crying (Something the show runner David Benioff points out in an BTS interview) means she is evil. Jon not crying when killing people = badass, Dany not crying when killing people = evil.

Daenerys in battle with Jaime Lannister to get the Iron Throne = evil. Starks fighting against the Boltons to get Winterfell = Yay! Awesome. Thousands die in both battles - in one battle they die, burned by dragonfire. In the other one they are hacked to death and die with their guts hanging out. In both cases, people die.

The show quickly moves past Jaime Lannister, the Tarlys and their men massacring everyone of Olenna's men and piling their bodies high and sacking and looting the place. However, the show takes time to linger on Tyrion's sad face with the sad music and the men dying when Daenerys is attacking those same men on the battlefield.

I am not even getting into season 8 because it was so, so bad and full of puke inducing sexism that will need 10 pages to outline. I think you have got the gist of why sexism is such a large factor in how Dany's character is otherized and analyzed by fandom at large and made worse by Benioff and Weiss' rampant misogyny shining through in the show's writing.

I mentioned this in another post and I will say again - removing show Tyrion from show Daenerys' narrative would reduce the sexism in her story arc ten fold. He was D&D's mouthpiece in the series after season 5 - there to tell us that Dany was evil for doing all the things the male characters did.

And yes, Nuclear weapons are bad. Nuclear weapons can also be a deterrent and prevent war. Nuclear weapons can also be useful in a fantasy, magical world dealing with an existential apocalyptic threat. This is why I find one to one comparisons like these to be ridiculous. The Starks also have some fiercesome beasts that the author has indicated will be used in battle. Are we calling them evil?

The rest. Colonizer? They should look up what that means and whether it applies to Dany's story in Essos. Profiting off slavery? If one reads the books one knows this is blatantly untrue. Entitled and vengeful? No more than any of the other main characters who belong to noble houses in Westeros.

Daenerys has her flaws, not saying that she doesn't. That's what makes her a three-dimensional and relatable character. It's easy to criticize the character because she does self-reflect and introspect, is sometimes crippled by self-doubt and wants to do things differently and try different options - something that makes her human and real and very well written. Leadership is not easy and she’s 15 in the last book.

The other aspect is a flaw in the writing with respect to the setting of Daenerys' story in the series. She's the only main POV character in Essos until Arya and Tyrion get there in ADwD. And there is a lot of orientalism in GRRM's writing for Essos - meant to represent the East while Westeros represents the West.

There's much to say about how he writes the Dothraki as savage barbarians. While he gives POV characters for the Ironborn with Theon and Asha and characters like Mance, Tormund and Ygritte for the Freefolk, where's the equivalent of all that for the Dothraki? Oh but look, they are eating honeyed locusts! How exotic! There's lots of cartoonishly evil slavers who kill puppies! GRRM keeps otherizing their customs and culture as being savage and cruel and different - highlighted by the fact that we don't have a single Essosi POV giving us their side of things.

I do find GRRM's orientalism distasteful and off putting, especially as Essos is just a prop, a stepping stone for the characters before they move onto Westeros where the real story is happening. That is however a critique of the writing, not of the character. People tend to conflate the two. A middle aged white man writing in the nineties about a fantasy eastern world does not make Daenerys a 'white savior' or a 'colonizer' and it's clear from various interviews the author has given that this was not his intention either.

Daenerys is also the only Targaryen POV in the books. Think about that. The Starks have 6 POVs in the first book. The Lannisters get 3 by AFfC. The Greyjoys have 4, the Martells have 2. The only major house worse off than the Targaryens are the Baratheons with no POV characters.

We see Jon Snow through Arya and Bran’s POV. We see Arya through Jon’s. We get none of this for Dany. The Starks have a home and a loving family. Dany meanwhile is starting off the story at her lowest point - an abusive brother and forcefully married off to a Dothraki. While the Starks then end up losing that security, family members die, one of them is a hostage and the other is on the run - they still have memories of each other. Danerys meanwhile, slowly and painfully works her way to the top. 

Reminds me of a post I responded to the other day, where the OP said that Arya and Jon cannot be underdogs because they are winners (Whatever that means). That’s the attitude that a lot of fandom has towards Daenerys - now that she is queen and has power, she has it easy compared to the likes of Sansa and the rest of the Starks. Ignoring that when the books started Daenerys was in a way worse position than any of the Starks.

This is a fandom that thinks that Sansa Stark deserves to be Queen in the North because she’s beautiful, has good manners and is a Stark. And this is the same fandom who think that Daenerys, who worked her way to the top - with no family to help, no happy childhood, no teachers, no security of food and shelter, who were beggars and on the run at one point - the Daenerys who is currently spending an entire book ruling a city state, making trade deals, dealing with an insurgency and famine, engaging in marriage diplomacy to sue for peace for the slaves she freed, that Daenerys is entitled. Do you agree?

I am a Jon Snow fan and even I can see how utterly ridiculous the fan discourse around Daenerys is. When the show was on, I was only posting about Jon and there was so much anti Dany stuff on the Jon Snow tags I had to wade into discussion about the character. And the more I defended her, the more I ended up re-reading her chapters, the more I ended up loving the character. There’s so much hypocrisy and sexist double standards where the character is concerned.

And I have not even touched upon the obnoxiousness that is ‘Jonsa’ - group of morons who think Sansa is the main character in a book series called A Song of Sansa and Sansa and Jon is secretly in love with Sansa who is going to be Queen with executioner/personal spymaster Arya Stark and her consort Jon Snow who will sexually manipulate and murder Daenerys for his great love Sansa.

Sansa fans make up the vast majority of asoiaf fans on Tumblr and the majority of them dislike Daenerys and Arya or see Dany as Sansa’s antagonist - even though these two characters have no connection in the books and I doubt they would ever interact. If you look at most of the anti Dany posts on here, they will be made by someone with a Sansa pfp. There are posts about how Jon will kill Dany or how Arya will kill Dany, and if you look at their blogs they will be big Sansa fans.

These are the same people who write essays on how Arya is not a real girl or is ‘male-coded’ or who write essays on how Daenerys only uses ‘threats and force’ whereas Sansa is apparently a political genius who uses ‘Soft Power’ - a foreign policy concept - because she talked down 13 year old idiot Joffrey that one time. When in the actual books, it’s Daenerys who has used Soft Power in her marriage diplomacy with Hizdahr and Sansa has never engaged in any kind of politics with actual adults.

Notice that these kinds of ‘metas’ are popularized by fandom bnfs using blogs like asoiafuniversity. There’s this very popular idea that’s propagated in fandom that Sansa is kind and compassionate when in the actual books there are more instances of kindness and compassion from Arya and from Daenerys. This is once again an example of how sexism and misogyny in this fandom has worked to give the wrong impressions of these characters. Arya and Daenerys are seen as more violent compared to Sansa even though Daenerys’ entire arc for two books has been about helping an oppressed population. The mind boggles!

It’s the same when it comes to love and romance. Arya and Daenerys are not considered worthy of love, romance and marriage because they are the wrong kind of girls. And let’s not bring age into this considering Sansa is 11 at the start of the books and she is the fandom bicycle shipped with every Tom, Dick and Harry.

I am not even getting into the slut-shaming and victim blaming that Daenerys gets in the fandom. There was actual discourse in this fandom on how Dany was not a good rape victim like Sansa because she brought up her rape in conversation! Daenerys is somehow seen as less than because she can’t possibly have children - that apparently makes her less of a woman and a bad partner for Jon Snow unlike Sansa Stark who will surely have ten babies!

The worst part is that’s it women who engage in this kind of discourse and the same women who turn around and gaslight the fandom into thinking that Sansa is unfairly targeted because of sexism.

There’s also the usual dislike from the fans of other characters.

There are Jon Snow fans who see him as the prophesied hero and main protagonist, who don’t like Daenerys coming over and taking away main character status. I personally think there is no one main character. IMO, Jon, Dany, Arya, Bran and Tyrion are all tier one main characters, who will work together against the Army of the Dead. [Note: This works the other way as well. I have seen Dany fans who dislike Jon Snow as well and think he is unimportant in the grand scheme of things]

There are Stannis Baratheon stans over on the Asoiaf subreddit who will excuse everything Stannis does - including burning people alive for his God - and then nitpick every single policy decision of Dany’s in order to argue she is evil or a bad ruler. 

There are house Stark fans who hate House Targaryen and see them as in opposition to each other. There are fans who believe in Northern exceptionalism i.e the North is special and Dany is a threat to that specialness because she wants the 7K etc. etc.

This turned out to be a long post. On the whole, the answer to your question on why Daenerys is such a polarizing character is mainly because of sexism. There are other factors like the setting and isolation of her story, the lack of other POVs etc. The main reason though is sexism and ship wars.