#and she told me that it was so i didn't explicitly say that she shouldn't have told anyone

[kingslionheart]

QUICK QUESTION if before saying something very private someone asks you if that's a safe space would you connect the words "safe space" to "do not tell this to anyone"

[hgfictionwriter]

Revelations: Part Three

Jessie Fleming x Reader

Summary: If you are going to be with Jessie, then you need to accept that her daughter - and this ex - are now a part of her life. You meet them for the first time and try to determine if this is something you can endure.

Warnings: Angst. Language

A/N: Rest of series is here.

Jessie's phone lit up as a text came in and your eye was immediately drawn to it. While she had kept her phone on her at all times the past few weeks, she now kept it out in the open - perhaps some unspoken gesture to show that she had nothing further to hide.

Still, seeing Sara's name come up on her phone sent a sharp pain through your chest.

Jessie cleared her throat uncomfortably and shot you a fleeting look as she leaned forward on the couch to grab it. She opened the message in such a way that you could easily see it if you so chose to read it.

It was upsetting one way or another for you, so you might as well know exactly what was being discussed. You feigned indifference, pretending to continue watching TV, but you fully read the message.

"Hi. There's a fair this weekend with kids entertainment and stuff. I was thinking of taking Zoie. Do you want to come?"

"And, if you think Y/N is ready or wants to come, you can bring her and she can meet Zoie."

"I know she just found out and you said she's struggling a bit, but I think it's okay for her to meet Zoie at this point. Just let me know and I'll tell Zoie she's going to meet Y/N."

Jessie fidgeted as she read the message and clicked her screen off hurriedly and set the phone back down on the coffee table. You scoffed bitterly.

"Oh good. You've been talking to her about me behind my back. That's amazing, Jess," you said with a false smile and an empty laugh. "And so good to know I have permission to show up."

Jessie took a steadying breath and turned to you with a pleading look.

"I know that looks bad," she said. You sat back and gave her an even stare, inviting her to offer an explanation. She sighed heavily. "I mean, it's a lot for a young kid to suddenly meet this parent she didn't know existed and then to add another person to the mix right away, so..."

Your teeth clenched together. Though the logic stood, what spoke louder to you, whether she was saying it explicitly or not, was her defending this woman over you. It was your worst fears about this whole situation coming true.

She mattered more than you. You were an outsider.

You clicked your tongue as your anger and resentment - things you'd tried to cap since this all came to light - began to froth and boil over.

"Well forgive me for not knowing how to navigate this and knowing what's fair and right. I can't say that I've ever encountered this," you said curtly. "Everything's just so fucking complicated now."

"I know," she agreed with a heavy sigh.

Her reaction did nothing to satiate you. Instead, your frustration with everything - with her; with her choices - continued to amplify. Accusations that had flit about in your mind now bled out onto your tongue.

"Well maybe you shouldn't have been so fucking stupid."

Your words hung in the air.

"I'm sorry," she said tentatively after a beat. "I basically just told her that you knew now and-"

"That's not what I'm talking about!" You exclaimed and she was silenced into submission. "I'm talking about this whole fucking situation!"

She sat meekly, looking at you out of the corner of her eye. Your chest felt tight and tears began to burn behind your eyes. You stared hard at her, silently challenging her to offer a rebuttal, some consolation, anything, but she sat wordlessly and eventually your face screwed up with grief.

"I'm so fucking mad at you," you cried. You wanted to spit the words, show how upset and outraged you were, but instead your voice was shaky and small. You sniffled. "I know you didn't mean for this to happen. I know you don't want to hurt me. But everything's fucking different now. Everything I had planned - we had planned - it might as well not exist anymore.

"I'm so upset, and this all your fault. You didn't even care about this girl! And you got her fucking pregnant? Are you stupid?! What's wrong with you!"

Jessie winced at your reproach. Your shoulders hitched with a suppressed sob while you stared her down. She quietly took your beratement.

"I know you know how to use a fucking condom. You haven't even cummed inside me for God's sake. But you'll risk fucking her? Was her pussy that fucking good?! What the FUCK, Jessie! Now you've ruined both our lives!"

The words were out of your mouth long before your mind could properly process - and vet - them.

She sat up straight, her eyes shimmering with tears now as she looked at you.

"I know I fucked up," she said with a strangled voice. "I know it was stupid. And irresponsible. I had one stupid moment where I wasn't The Responsible One, The Mature One - always worried about the future. I was just having fun. And yes, yes," her voice broke, "now there are consequences. And I'm so sorry they're affecting you. But," she swallowed hard, "they've affected me too, you know. And, yes, it's my fault, but the future - as we both planned it - I've had to grieve it, too. And I feel so fucking horrible for doing this to us, but, if you give it space, there's good here. I've ruined your life? It's different, but it's not ruined."

She gave a laugh that was sad and bewildered all at the same time.

"When I found out, I thought the same. I was beside myself and terrified. I was just praying that this would all go away. So much regret. But once I met Zoie?" Jessie's mannerisms changed, her expression grew lighter and softer. "I didn't feel that way anymore. How could I look at her and feel like my life is ruined? And I'm really hopeful that you'll feel similar when you meet her."

Anger and resentment still swirled inside your chest. Now she was trying to make you feel like a bad person? Probably not her intention, but it felt like a criticism. You blinked through your tears.

"I'm glad you can feel that way," you told Jessie, an edge in your voice. "I don't know how I'll feel. All I know is that right now, it all feels so unfair." Your lip trembled and you hated that you couldn't control it. "And it feels like you've left me behind." More tears fell and you hugged yourself tightly. "It feels like you have a whole new life and you built it entirely without me. I just blinked and you're gone. And now it's on me to try to catch up."

"Baby," Jessie said with a mix of love and regret as she pulled you into a hug. You resisted momentarily before allowing her to embrace you. Your emotional resolved failed as well and you began to sob in her arms. She rubbed your back and held you tightly while she kissed your head. "That's not the case at all. And I'm so, so sorry that I've made you feel that way. I know it's been so much, but you are the most important person to me.-"

Lies. You couldn't be anymore.

"-I want you by my side. There's no one else I want to build a life with. And I'm sorry that I've made it feel otherwise. I love you so much."

Your body shook as she hugged you. There was so much to mourn, but most prominent right now was this realization that this was the first period in your whole relationship where you haven’t felt content in her arms; where she wasn't the solution. Your safety.

You felt conflicted. A large part of you still desperately wanted her. You still loved her to your core. But part of you was desperate to escape.

"I don't need to go this weekend," Jessie said softly as she kissed your head.

Your stomach twisted in knots.

If you wanted a future with Jessie, you needed to get onboard. You couldn't stand on the sidelines. You couldn't hold her back. She was never yours alone, a thing to possess and keep, and this was a good reminder of that.

You had to integrate yourself and be a part of this, as uncomfortable and intimidating as it felt. Maybe things would be easier if you just dove head first.

You relented.

"Let's go."

She pulled back slowly to eye you skeptically. She tucked your hair behind your ear. "We really don't have to," she assured you. "I don't want to rush you. There's plenty of time."

"I want to meet her," you affirmed.

Jessie continued to study you, but her face slowly lit up and she laughed quietly. "Thank you. Honestly. This means so much. I really think you'll fall in love with her. I want us to do this together." She tamped her burgeoning excitement and spoke in earnest. "You sure? Because I also fully understand if you're not at this point yet."

You didn't break your gaze.

"I'm fine, Jess. I'll be okay."

----

"Are you ready?"

You weren't.

"Yeah," you said with as reassuring a smile as you could conjure.

"I love you more than anything. You know that right?" Jessie said as she leaned over the center console in your car and gave you a sweet kiss. You nodded. "Okay," she said softly as she grabbed the keys. "And nudge me and text me if you get overwhelmed and want to leave at any point. Okay?"

"Yes," you breathed as patiently as you could. Her offer was considerate, but it seemed to just emphasize that you were fragile and that - as she'd told her ex - you were struggling. You'd be damned if you gave an admission of weakness today.

You two got out of the car and Jessie held your hand as you made your way to the entrance of the pop-up fair. You looked idly around and tried to take deep, but subtle breaths, as your heart steadily began to pound louder and faster in your chest.

You watched Jessie out of the corner of your eye and saw when a small smile crossed her face. She began to wave.

You followed her gaze to see a woman and a young child standing alongside the path. Your eyes fell to who must've been Sara. She was unfortunately beautiful and it made your insides churn. Between Jessie's good looks and this woman's, no wonder Zoie was so cute.

You hated it. And you hated yourself for even thinking it.

Soon your eyes fell to Zoie. She smiled ear to ear upon seeing Jessie and looked up to Sara for silent permission before running towards Jessie.

You made sure to smile, but beyond that you weren't really aware of what you were doing or how you were acting. You were so transfixed on how Jessie shot you a quick smile and squeezed your hand before releasing you and embracing Zoie, lifting her up with an exaggerated groan and placing her on her hip.

"Oh my gosh, are you taller than last week? You seem it," Jessie joked as she kissed Zoie's cheek, pulling a laugh out of the little girl. "You must've been eating your veggies all week, then."

"Ew," Zoie laughed as she turned back to Sara.

"She hasn't been so bad," Sara said conspiratorially as she approached, pinching Zoie's cheek playfully as she spoke to her daughter. "Hey honey? Not since I told you you need to eat your veggies if you want to be big and strong like mama Jessie."

You almost fucking choked.

'Mama'? 'Mama Jessie'? Jessie had severely neglected to tell you she held such titles already and it made you sick to your stomach.

"Hey, Zo, I have someone that I'm really excited for you to meet," Jessie cut in with a broad smile as she angled her body towards you. "Zoie, this is my fiancée, Y/N."

You tried to rally and refocus. You smiled and gave her a wave.

"Hi Zoie, it's so nice to meet you," you greeted. She tucked her head into Jessie a bit and gave you a shy smile and raised her hand in a small wave. "I really like your shirt," you offered warmly as you pointed to it. She laughed shyly, her cheeks growing pink so much like Jessie's would.

"Oh yeah, cute puppies," Jessie agreed as she gave a gentle poke on the cartoon image on her daughter's shirt.

"Mommy got it for me yesterday because she said we can't have a real puppy," Zoie explained with a bit of a pout.

"Yeah?" Jessie laughed. "Were you asking for one?"

"Our neighbour got a new puppy and I got to play with him. I really want one," she answered.

"Well, listen to your mom for now. A puppy's a lot of responsibility. Maybe someday you can have one," Jessie replied.

'Mom'. When Jessie said that to her kid, it was supposed to be about you. That was supposed to be your kid on her hip that she was looking at so adoringly. But it wasn't.

Your eyes flicked over to Sara who was laughing at the whole exchange and you just felt like your chest was turning inside out. You tried to ignore your pulse pounding in your head.

Zoie still looked disappointed, but less so and eventually hope filled her eyes.

"Can you get one? Then maybe that means I can play with it too," she asked Jessie with a grin. Jessie laughed and looked at you; you immediately caught yourself and slapped a smile on your face.

"I'm afraid not," she replied, amused. "A puppy's too much responsibility even for us."

Zoie was watching you curiously now.

"I like your hair," she said quietly.

"Oh," you said in surprise, your hand coming up and tucking it behind your ear self-consciously. "Thank you. That's very kind of you. I bet you get compliments on your hair all the time. It's very nice." You steeled yourself. "Just like your mama's."

She giggled, burying herself further into Jessie's arms.

"She's been so excited to meet you," Sara said as she walked around and held out her hand with a smile. "I'm Sara. It's really nice to meet you."

You smiled at the woman who was stealing your future wife away from you. Someone who Jessie chose to fuck freely - recklessly, irresponsibly - and knocked up, forever skewing your paths forward.

You shook her hand.

"Hi. I'm Y/N. Nice to meet you, too."

"So. Want to head in?" Jessie asked as she set Zoie down. The girl nodded enthusiastically. Jessie gave an exaggerated gesture of her head towards the gates. "Let's get going then."

Jessie looked at you, smiling affectionately as she took your hand. Still, you could see the way she keenly gauged you despite her easy going air. She was nervous about you. What you were thinking, what you were feeling.

Rightfully so. Because right now you just wanted to grab the keys out of her pocket and drive as far away from here as you could.

Instead, you held her hand and walked alongside her.

As the four of you explored the grounds and activities, it became obvious to you how comfortable the three of them were together. Sure, Sara and Jessie were a bit awkward, but much more comfortable than you'd expected. It had only been a couple of months, but the three of them - in your opinion - looked like an honest to God family.

And it fucking hurt.

You tried to stay engaged and to be open and positive, but you couldn't help but feel so...other. Like a spare. You felt out of place. Like you were intruding. It's like you were suddenly transplanted into another life or reality. This couldn't possibly be your life.

You could see how Jessie tried to involve you. You'd wondered if she'd behave differently with Sara there, but she didn't. She was affectionate and sweet and it was one small reprieve in this sea of hurt and uncertainty.

Hell, as much as you wanted to despise Sara, you couldn't deny she was open and inviting towards you.

Although, you guess you'd be feeling pretty confident too if you swooped in and usurped a five-year relationship.

Despite your efforts, a cloud of realization fell further and further over you that this was some kind of newly restored natural order. If Sara had realized sooner that she was pregnant, maybe Jessie wouldn't have gone to London. Or even if she went, maybe Sara would've gone with her and, maybe, in time, they would've fallen in love.

Regardless, this - two parents enjoying a local fair with their kid - is exactly what their life would've been. You, on the other hand, wouldn't be here.

The only reason you were in Portland was because of Jessie. Because she came to London you met and fell in love. The way your love had grown and how your relationship has deepened, it felt too good to be true.

Well. Maybe it was. Maybe it was never truly meant to be.

At some point, Sara was in the washroom and Jessie was retrieving an order of food from a kiosk, leaving you and Zoie sitting together, holding the table.

"Do you have kids?" Zoie asked as she swung her legs back and forth on the bench seat. You blinked momentarily in confusion, but smiled out of habit.

"Me? No," you said, hating how your tone dipped in disappointment. You cleared your throat. "No kids." Zoie seemed to contemplate this.

"Okay. Mommy said you didn't. So, I guess I don't have any siblings. But I didn't think I had a mama and now I do. But if you and mama have a kid then I'll have a sister or brother, right?" She asked, looking up at you with her big, dark eyes. You forced yourself to maintain your smile and banish any waves of sadness that threatened you.

"That's right, sweetie," you said softly. She smiled quietly.

"I think I'd really like to have a little brother or sister someday."

Your smile cracked momentarily and you found yourself looking over your shoulder to seek out Jessie. You found her easily; you always did. But when you'd normally smile subconsciously just at the mere sighting of her, now your stomach felt heavy with uncertainty.

You smiled at Zoie again.

"We'll see, I guess."

It felt like a lie. Jessie and you had always agreed that you'd have kids together someday, but it felt like that had been ripped out from beneath your feet. It was like she'd jumped ahead, leagues ahead of you and you were now all alone with this empty dream.

In time, you and Jessie bid Sara and Zoie goodbye, the little girl even giving you a quick hug around your legs before returning to her mother's side.

Jessie tried valiantly to not push too much on the drive home, but she couldn't hide her keen interest in deciphering your takeaways and feelings. She was so hopeful and earnest and, well, you felt ashamed for being anything less than happy.

Zoie was legitimately sweet and so cute. She was lovely. And above all, was clearly thrilled to have a new parent in her life. Who wouldn't be thrilled to have Jessie in their life?

And try as you might to detest Sara, there was nothing outwardly horrible about her. You know, other than she held the space and role in Jessie's life that should've been yours. You had to fend off a pang of jealousy any time she smiled and laughed with Jessie over Zoie.

Truth was, you felt conflicted. Out of sorts. It wasn't that you didn't like Zoie. You did. It was just...everything. And at some point, Jessie's eagerness felt oppressive and smothering. Like today was supposed to be some magical moment that would resolve and rectify everything. It felt like you weren't allowed to still feel upset.

Eventually, your lack of enthusiastic validation got to her and soon you were on the couch with a show on, but with neither of you paying attention. Now you were both sullen and withdrawn.

Jessie fidgeted on the couch and was texting rapidly back and forth with someone. You could see out of the corner of your eye it was Janine. You couldn't help yourself.

"Talking about me?" You challenged.

Jessie took a calming breath and gave you a slow stare.

"Go on. Tell me what you're saying to her about me," you pushed, voice prim and hoity.

She exhaled. "I'm just telling her how the day went."

You chuckled dryly. "I bet your recollection to her is different than what you told me," you said with a grin that didn't reach your eyes.

"Why are you being like this?" Jessie asked, frustration creeping into her voice.

"I just want to know what you really thought," you carried on undeterred. You held out your hand for her phone. "Let's see."

You never demanded things like this before. You didn't used to be distrustful or hostile either. But, everything was different now.

"Oh my God," she muttered irritably under her breath as she discretely rolled her eyes and pushed her phone into your hand rather firmly. She sank deeper into the couch and crossed her arms. "Go ahead," she said in a flat tone.

You smirked smugly, though you felt unhappy. You scrolled up to the start of their conversation and took a deep breath as you started to read.

While you felt self-righteous moments before, as you read through their conversation, that too-familiar pit in your stomach grew heavier.

You weren't sure why you were expecting to see negative messages from Jessie about you - she'd never said bad things about you before. And sure enough, she placed no blame on you. Instead, you saw her talk about how great you were today. How sweet you were to Zoie. That Zoie was shy at first, but took a liking to you and even asked her when she could come visit you two at the apartment.

Instead, you saw her express disappointment in herself because despite all of that, you were hurting. She just couldn't seem to manage to do anything other than hurt you lately. Her disappointment in how she failed to navigate this better. To make it easier for you.

Then, worse, her own upset. That she felt helpless in a way. She told Janine how you said she ruined your life, and when she sees you hurting she can't help but wonder if maybe she did. It's difficult and confusing hating herself for that, but at the same time loving Zoie and hating feeling like she needs to apologize for having her. She didn't want to feel guilty or ashamed of having her. It felt like she needed to apologize for Zoie's existence, but she doesn't want to do that. And she can't tell you any of this because you've already supported her so much and made so many concessions for her. You had enough to worry about and to manage. You didn't need to worry about her too.

You looked over at her with misty eyes.

"You didn't ruin my life, Jess," you said quietly.

She looked at you, but didn't respond. You carried on.

"And you shouldn't feel guilty or ashamed of Zoie. She doesn't deserve that at all," you added. Jessie simply gave a nod of acceptance.

"I'm angry about things and I'm hurt, but, none of this is directed at her. Please. It's just been...a lot for me to adjust to."

"I know, baby," Jessie said as she took your hand and kissed the back of it. "I appreciate everything you're doing more than you'll ever know."

A heavy silence fell over you two. Jessie's head was down and she stroked the back of your hand as she held it in both of hers. When she spoke, her voice was small and she was too afraid to meet your gaze.

"Do you still love me?"

Love wasn't the question. Love wasn't the issue. The question was, is love enough? And to that, you didn't know the answer.

Still. You squeezed her hand.

"Of course."

A/N: Tag request - @valuyhh

[paulyenvol6]

Byka Atroksia (Chapter 21)

Contains: mentions of smut, angst

Wordcount: ~4.33k

Masterlist of this story

You woke up the next morning by the sun and needed a moment to remember where you were.

You smiled when you saw Daemon's body next to you, he was laying on his stomach and his hair was a mess. You decided not to get up yet and rather enjoy the beautiful morning so you closed your eyes again and let your thoughts drift away. Soon you sensed that your uncle started to wake up as well and he yawned loudly while turning on his back.

"Good morrow.", you smiled and  his eyes fluttered.

"How can you always be in such a good mood that early?"

"It's not that early.", you said and Daemon abruptly reached out to grab the back of your neck and pulled you towards him.

He kissed you and then grabbed the side of your face. You smiled and played with the loose strands of hair hanging in his face while he caressed your cheek. But soon you thought that it would be wise to get up, find some servants and see how things were at Dragonstone so you told him.

"Shouldn't we find a servant and reveal our presence?"

Your uncle hummed but nodded and you rolled off of him. The two of you left the bed, put on some clothes and then walked out of the room. Once you were outside you looked around in the corridor but there wasn't anyone. But you could hear voices and as you followed them you were led to the throne room of Dragonstone. Three maidens and two men that looked like guards stood there but shut up when Daemon and you approached. They widened their eyes but got on their knees at once.

"Prince Daemon. Princess Vhaela.", one of the men spoke and Daemon smirked smugly. "Rise."

They obeyed him and watched him tensely.

"I've come to claim Dragonstone.", he said calmly.

"B-But my Prince. We didn't expect you to arrive until… We stand under the King's command and he…"

"What did he do? What did he tell you?", Daemon said quietly and took a step towards the man.

You watched the scene anxiously and just hoped things would not escalate.

"He said that you would come to claim your ancestral seat in two days. A-And he said that you'd be… alone."

Your uncle's smile deepened. "And now I'm here 2 days early. Is that a problem?"

The guard lowered his head and his next words were almost a whisper. "B-But we need the King's command."

"I give you the command.", Daemon said sharply. "I am the King's Brother and I command you to serve me and my niece faithfully. It shouldn't matter to you who has come with me."

The guard didn't say anything but you could see the other servants exchange an uncertain look.

"Do you wish to say something?", Daemon asked sarcastically and the men and women lowered their heads. "No, my Prince."

"Good.", he smiled and then looked around in the hall. "The Princess wishes to take a bath, have someone prepare it for her. And so do I in half an hour.", he spoke calmly while examining the ceiling. "And we wish to eat."

"Yes, my Prince.", the guard answered and one of the maidens with thick, red hair stepped forward.

"May I escort the Princess Vhaela to the chambers that are traditionally taken by the Princess of Dragonstone?"

Daemon turned around to look at you and his eyes looked dark.

"No.", he said plainly. "Bring her to the Lady's chambers."

~~~~~~~~~~

The maid guided you through the halls and you had a little smile on your lips. You knew that his last words had been very clear for the servants. You were not here as his niece but as his… mistress? Maybe his paramour? You were obviously not married and you thought that the servants probably knew that but Daemon had just stated your role pretty explicitly. Even though they would have probably known anyway when they would hear you make love at night.

"What's your name?", you asked the red haired maid that now opened the door to the Lady's chambers. She was about your age, perhaps a few years older and you thought that she probably was from the North.

"Anicia.", she answered and stood in front of you, her eyes looking down to the floor.

"Where are you from, Anicia?", you asked trying to sound as friendly as possible and she carefully glanced at you.

"I'm from the Barrowlands, my Princess."

"Ah, I've been there once."

The maid smiled softly. "Really?"

"Yes, it's lovely. But sometimes it was a bit too cold for my taste. I'm only used to the warm weather in the capital."

Anicia nodded and then gestured to her surroundings. "These are the chambers for the Lady of Dragonstone. Which I assume… you are now."

The room's interior was less affectionate than the interior in your room in the keep and there was less attention to detail and yet you felt comfortable. The bed looked big and warm and you liked the view from the window.

"I'll have the other maidens prepare a bath for you, my Princess.", she said swiftly and you nodded.

"Thank you. Anicia."

~~~~~~~~~~

A few hours later you sat at the dining table on the opposite of Daemon with freshly washed hair and new clothes. You felt clean and comfortable while spooning up some vegetable soup.

"I've explored the castle a little.", Daemon spoke and crossed his legs. "I'd really like to go down into the caves soon. There are still three unclaimed dragons down there."

"But they are only legends, I thought.", you said and Daemon lifted his eyebrows.

"Possibly. But I'd like to get my own picture." You looked at your food again and couldn't surpress a little smile.

"What is it?", your uncle asked with small eyes.

"Nothing.", you quickly stated but he wouldn't let it go. "Tell me."

"No, really. It doesn't matter."

He still looked unconvinced but didn't demand you to tell him again because he changed the subject.

"How do you like your chambers? Do you feel comfortable?" You nodded and swallowed the food in your mouth.

"Yes. I like it."

"Good.", he snarled and poured himself another cup of wine. "You might not be staying there a lot at nights… But it's good that you like it.", he said quietly with a smirk playing around his lips.

You smiled as well and felt the blood rising in your cheeks. You glared at the guards and wondered if they had heard his words but deep down you knew that it didn't matter anyway. They were their servants and Daemon and you could do whatever with whomever you wanted at nights.

"Why did you never want to live on Dragonstone? You are the second born son.", you then asked because you genuinly wanted to know.

Daemon put his cup down again and looked at you. "I don't know. I always thought that perhaps if I had a wife some day I'd live there but as it hadn't happened…."

You quickly interrupted the eye contact and lowered your gaze. It was a bit of an uncomfortable topic to you because you remembered your past conversation all too well. When you had suggested a marriage, Daemon had denied you. With good reasons perhaps and yet you had felt rejected.

Your uncle sensed your discomfort. "Vhaela.", he spoke and you stared at your plate. "Jurnegon rȳ nyke." (Look at me.)

This time you obeyed and your eyes connected. "Nyke eptan aōha kepa. Naejot dīnagon ao naejot nyke." (I asked your father. To wed you to me.)

You widened your eyes. "Skoros? skori?" (What? When?)

"Tolī ziry gūrēntan nūmāzma ziry." (After he found out.)

He shrugged his shoulders. "Vestas kessa dōrī gaomagon ziry. Yn nyke gōntan sylugon. Nyke pendagon īles se sȳrje kȳvanon naejot pryjagon se quba." (He said he would never do it. But I did try. I thought it was the best plan to reduce the consequences.)

You nodded slowly. "Yn ziry gōntan daor jaelagon naejot…." (But he didn't want to…), you said quietly.

"No. He didn't."

Your heart was beating fast as you thought about your next words. You had to ask him, you just had to know.

"W-Would you… Would you have done it solely because you felt the need to or also because… you wanted t-to?"

You couldn't look in his eyes and didn't see the slight smirk on his lips.

"Mhmm.", he made, leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Would I also have done it because I wanted to? You know what I told you about marriage?"

You glared at him and a dissatisfied look appeared on your face.

"It's a political arrangement."

Your uncle's smirk intensed. "Yes. Exactly."

"Daemon.", you said with pleading eyes and he chuckled.

"There is also marriage for other reasons.", you continued. "I want to know if our marriage would've been plainly for political reasons."

He shook his head and lifted his eyebrows. "Definitely not. If my brother had decided to wed you to me, I still would have had this little cunt of yours as often as possible."

You exhaled annoyed and looked down to your food again.

"Don't pout, little one.", Daemon whispered and you refused to answer him.

Daemon didn't know why he had lied. Or why he couldn't bring himself to let the words that had formed inside of his mind leave his mouth. Because he wanted to say 'yes' and tell you that he would have taken your hand without a second thought. He would've taken you as his wife and honour and respect you in marriage. He wanted to tell you that he cared about you and to damn political arrangement. But he couldn't. Suddenly he stood up.

"Come.", he said and you looked up, still feeling sour. "Let's go outside and watch the sunset."

You thought about it for a moment but then decided not to sulk any longer. Things were too beautiful and perfect right now to waste your time being annoyed with Daemon so you stood up as well.

"Fine.", you whispered and he smirked satisfied.

~~~~~~~~~~

The two of you left the castle and you had your arms entangled. Slowly you strolled down until you found yourselves on the beach where you could see the sun moving closer to the horizon with every minute. No cloud was hiding the sky from your eyes and the soft breeze felt perfect on your skin. Daemon and you stood in the sand and looked at the magnificant sun.

"When I was young I always thought that the lands swallow up the sun when she hits the horizon.", you said while having your eyes on the fiery star.

"And what happens in the morrow?", he asked.

"The earth spills her out again. She is too hot and the earth burns himself on her so he spills her out again in hopes the sun will cool down the next day before the earth swallows her again. But the sun never does. She is always too hot."

Daemon watched the sunset with small eyes. "A queer picture.", he whispered.

"I think it's a little sad. Two gods, the sun and the earth who don't match each other. And it will go on like this forever. He hopes that she will change for the better but she doesn't. For the rest of their eternal lifetimes. But he doesn't accept her for what she is either."

Your eyes looked a little melancholical. "But at least he is determined. He doesn't give up on his dreams."

"Dreams are merely a reflection of our fears and worries.", Daemon spoke and you rolled your eyes.

"Dreams give you a purpose in life. What else does?"

"People you love.", he said quietly. "Protecting them."

You didn't answer him. You wanted to enjoy this moment because just at this moment the sun finally touched the land and you didn't even realise that you had held your breath. You watched the sun descend until there was only a little part of it visible and then it was gone and the night had started.

Suddenly you felt a hand on your cheek turning your head gently and then Daemon pressed his lips on yours. You kissed him back and this time he was soft and gentle. Almost careful as if he was scared to hurt you. Your eyes fluttered as it just felt so good being close to him. But then Daemon ended the kiss and stepped away from you. His eyes sparkled and he had a smug look on his face.

"Pretty.", he merely spoke.

You stood by the water for a few more minutes but then it got cold and Daemon sensed it when he saw the goosbumps on your arms.

"Let's go back in.", he said and you nodded.

You were walking back up to the castle and halfway there you swiftly took his hand which he commented with a chuckle.

Daemon felt light, happy and your presence gave him joy. He didn't really know how to describe his feelings for you and what exactly it was but he just knew that something had changed. Something had… shifted since he had bedded you after his return from the Stepstones. All he knew was that he needed you close to him, not far away in the north. He had to protect you, be with you and he most certainly couldn't live with seeing you wed to another man.

Daemon's hand felt warm and soft and you tightly held on to him. Your uncle by your side just gave you comfort and you knew you preferably would like to never let go of his hand. You did let go though when Daemon and you arrived in his chambers. When the two of you had stood in front of the door to your room he had looked at you and raised his eyebrow. You had smirked and shook your head and he had taken you to his chambers instead.

~~~~~~~~~~

The next morning you woke up in Daemon's bed, once again naked but this time your uncle was already gone. You spent a few more minutes snoozing and turning from one side to the other but then decided to get up. So you put on some clothes and felt the tension in your core after last night's wild activities. You were about to put your hair up when there was a knock on the door.

"My Princess?", a high voice said and you allowed the maid to enter.

"Yes. Come." Anicia walked in and in the reflection of the mirror you saw her balance a tea pot and a mug.

"On the Prince's order.", she said quietly and put both pots on the table. You had a strong idea what kind of tea this was and walked to the maid.

"Thank you, Anicia. Could you help me with my hair, please?", you asked and Anicia quickly stepped behind you.

"Yes of course, Princess."

~~~~~~~~~~

When you entered the dining room of Dragonstone you saw Daemon sitting on one of the chairs, a piece of parchment in his hand.

"Good morrow.", you said and sat down on his opposite.

"Vhaela.", he spoke, threw the parchment on the table in front of him and crossed his legs.

"What is this?", you asked and he scoffed.

"Word from your father."

You widened your eyes. "What did he write?"

A smirk played around your uncle's lips and he definitely didn't look like he took this seriously.

"He commands me to bring you back at once."

"Which you won't do.", you smiled but there was an odd feeling in your stomach.

In any case you didn't want to go back but it still hurt you a bit to know that you not only disobeyed your father right now but the King as well. But no, you wouldn't be scared. You would do what you wanted now and follow your heart.

"No.", Daemon exhaled loudly. "Which I won't do."

"Did he write something else?", you asked.

"He called me all kinds of ugly things and… I have to admit he's gotten really creative with it since the last time I saw him. But no, nothing else really."

You nodded and grabbed an apple from the basket. "Do you think he will send men or even go himself?"

"I don't know, little owl. If it happens we'll have to come up with a plan though."

You chuckled and unconsciously scratched at your nail beds. "Don't do that, Vhaela.", Daemon said and got off his chair to walk to you. He took your hands which made you look up to him and he kissed your head.

"Don't be scared.", he whispered. "You know that I'll protect you, mhm?"

You nodded and gripped his hands tightly.

"There's no reason to worry. I'll take care of you." Daemon's eyes looked serious because he wanted you to believe him. He cared about you, more than he was able to communicate with words. By now his bond with you went way beyond animalistic lust or the anger he felt at your father. Daemon had always had a special place for you in his heart but now that the two of you had spent so much time together these past weeks, he wasn't entirely sure anymore what it was he felt for you. He only knew that it was intense and that he wanted you to be safe and protected.

Daemon's words gave you great comfort even though you knew that he also couldn't perform magic. Sometimes to you Daemon indeed seemed almost like a godly person but he wasn't a witch and couldn't make your father change his mind all of a sudden or make an army of knights disappear. He held you to his chest for a moment and then pulled away to walk back to his chair.

"Lighten up, little one. I'll take you to the caves today."

That really improved your mood and you looked at him with big eyes. "Really?"

Your uncle smirked. "Yes. If we're lucky we're gonna have an encounter with a nice dragon."

In the Red Keep

Viserys walked up and down in his room, his finger connected with his lower lip, which he massaged relentlessly. Meanwhile Rhaenyra sat in a chair, her arms crossed in front of her chest and watched her father annoyed.

"Once again, I can't believe you let this happen."

He exhaled loudly and threw his hands in the air. "How could I have stopped this, daughter? Should I have locked Vhaela in a cell?! Is this what you're suggesting?"

Stubbornly Rhaenyra raised her chin. "Perhaps you shouldn't have been so merciful and let Daemon go to Dragonstone."

Viserys laughed out. "Daemon might have taken her with him to Essos if I exiled him and that would've been even worse."

His daughter rolled her eyes. "He wouldn't have done that."

The King was upset and shook his head. "You don't know that. Daemon is… dangerous. Unpredictable. He just proved it again."

"What are you gonna do now?", Rhaenyra asked and her father sighed deeply.

"I don't know. Send an army perhaps." He laughed in disbelief. "Send an army to free my daughter from my own brother's claws."

"I don't think Daemon kidnapped her.", she hissed and Viserys scoffed.

"I know. I don't think so either."

They remained silent for a while and Rhaenyra looked down to her fingers. Then her father pushed himself away from the table he had been leaning against and walked up and down.

"I have to talk to Ellion. I need his advice."

Rhaenyra watched him with flashing eyes. "You can also ask me, you know? I know both of them pretty well."

"I know, daughter. But this is a very sensitive diplomatic dilemma. The consequences of our actions will have an impact on the realm and how the crown's image will prevail." He looked as if he was thinking and then raised his head. "Ser Lawson. Send for the hand. At once."

"Of course your grace." With these words silence fell upon the room and Rhaenyra sighed and watched the rings on her fingers.

"Do you want me to leave? Should your heir leave while you discuss this sensitive diplomatic dilemma?"

Viserys exhaled loudly and pressed his hands on his forehead. "Rhaenyra I have enough problems already, I don't need you to cause any more."

His daughter smiled wrongly and stood up. "Of course, your grace."

The King suddenly sounded sad. "Rhaenyra."

His daughter looked at him with tired eyes and then sighed after a while, clearly deciding to give up her anger.

"Forgive me. It's been a lot." Her father nodded and then walked back and forth while she made her way out of the king's chambers.

The princess passed Ellion on her way back to her room and she could see how stressed the hand was. While heavily breathing he hasted through the corridor until he found himself in Viserys' room.

"Your Grace.", he spoke when he stood in front of him with his back facing him and the king turned around.

"Ellion. Good." The two of them sat down and Viserys folded his hands on the table.

"The whereabouts of my daughter need to be discussed. I simply do not know how to act now. I can not let my brother take my daughter away and seize Dragonstone without the King's agreement."

Ellion shook his head. "No you can't, your grace."

"It makes me appear weak in front of my enemies. I have to act. Now."

"I agree, your grace."

Viserys tapped his fingers on the table. "I should send the city watch. Or even go myself. Daemon has Caraxes, so we don't want this to escalate. They have to take the castle and bring Vhaela back to the capital."

Ellion leaned forward and rested his elbows on the table. "I do not think this to be a wise idea, your grace, if I may speak freely."

Viserys watched him with small eyes. "Why?"

"This very action would make you appear weak."

Viserys shook his head and a confused smile played around his lips. "What are you speaking of, Ellion?"

"Sending the City Watch would exactly support this image of you being weak. The King, not being able to control his own baby brother to an extent where he has to send an army of trained knights to seize him. And he was also not able to guard his youngest daughter. It wouldn't look good on you, your grace."

"What are you suggesting then?"

Ellion placed his hands on the table. "Change the narrative. You are the King and you have the power to change the story. Wed your daughter to Daemon."

Viserys laughed out loudly. "What? Are you joking, Ellion?"

"I'm being serious, your grace. If you wed them you could make it appear as if all of this wasn't against the will of the crown. As if Daemon hasn't dishonoured his grace and hasn't acted without your consent. Just act like nothing has happened and there's nothing bothering you about Daemon's behaviour. Then no one can say that the King isn't tough enough on his brother. Why should he be tough on him if he isn't even mad at him?"

Viserys sank back in his chair. He exhaled loudly while rubbing his tired eyes but then put his eyes on Ellion again.

"I can not do this. Simply for Vhaela's sake."

Ellion lifted an eyebrow. "If I recall correctly this is exactly what your daughter wants. To my knowledge the Princess wasn't kidnapped from the capital but left because it was her will."

Viserys shook his head. "We don't know this for sure, Ellion. And even if we did, Vhaela is 16, she doesn't know what's good for her. Daemon most certainly is not good for her. Giving her to my brother… Gods be good, I can not do that. He is violant, evil and cruel. Vhaela is of good and kind nature. I can not do this, Ellion."

The hand nodded. "It is the King's choice. But let me plead for it one more time, your grace. Marrying them would solve a majority of our problems. The Princess' virtue would be restored, you wouldn't have to find a match for her anymore, the problem of Daemon's future whereabouts could be solved and we could let this big mess behind us without the realm's attention. Sending an army to Dragonstone… That would get the realm's eyes on this matter and perhaps even the matter of Daemon and Vhaela's sinful encounters and I do think that it would weaken your authority."

Viserys rested his forehead on his hand. "But what of my daughter? What of her future?"

"Your Grace, Daemon might be unpredictable but he is still your brother. And Vhaela's uncle. I do not believe he would deliberately try to harm her."

Viserys scoffed and then his voice got sad, almost desperate. "You have a young daughter of 17 yourself, Ellion. Elyse, is it not?" He nodded in response.

"Would you wish to see her wed to my brother?"

Ellion sighed. "Do you really demand an answer of me, your grace?"

Viserys turned away and observed the floor as if the answer to his problems was carved inside of it.

"You put me in a difficult position, Ellion.", he spoke after a while. "You sound reasonable but at the same time… ugh what you advice me is impossible."

The hand sighed. "I know this is not joyful to hear but… Perhaps his grace has to put the needs and image of the crown above his daughter for once. This is asking a lot of you, my king, but… you do understand why I have suggested it, don't you?"

Viserys chewed on his lip and then reached out to fill a cup with wine. He didn't say anything else but Ellion was wise enough to read the signs and leave Viserys with his thoughts. After a while he stood up and bowed his head.

"Your Grace"

He walked out of the room and left a desperate king and father behind.

[rewrittenmha]

I'm gonna be completely real... I feel like BNHA should've been more about the LOV fighting to change a corrupt system instead of what we got.

They're way more interesting than the cardboard heroes and that they actually had a point in how things were and wanted to change that.

And that the ending would've been something similar to the ending in the DLC We All Fall Down from We Happy Few. Where now the people hate them, with time others will start to realize that they really did the right thing.

I like the idea of them meeting somewhere in the middle.

Because when you think about it, the heroes suffer a lot of the same things the villains do. Hawks and Nagant were exploited children raised to be assassins and used to do the HPSC's dirty work. Izuku, Shoji, and Monoma faced discrimination. Shoto was abused.

Someone, forgot the name, made a good point a few weeks back. That MHA is the only series that pits victims against each other instead of the abusers. And in a lot of ways, that's right. Because other series do that, but in a way that it's obvious and supposed to be something that's called out and amended.

A great example of this being The Hunger Games. The Districts are pit against each other to keep them separated and foster animosity so that they won't rise up against The Capitol. That's why some Districts are kept in poverty while others prosper. The only way to resolve this is to unify the Districts by making them realize that the true enemy here is the corrupt system.

I was waiting for the LOV to start to actually be the ones to teach Tomura this because let's be real, he's sheltered. What he knows about heroes was a bad experience one night and everything AFO told him. The other members actually lived through and faced corruption firsthand. Tomura didn't actually have a plan in the beginning; he wanted to destroy heroes but he didn't actually know why. Not until he formed the LOV. But the majority of the LOV's goals didn't align with Tomura's in the beginning, they aligned with Stain's.

Spinner, Dabi, and Toga even explicitly state that they were only joining the League because of its (fake) connection to Stain. Spinner because he wanted a world with justice and equality. Dabi because of his detestation for false heroes. Toga because she felt a kinship with Stain due to their quirks and wanted to find people like her after being outcast and shunned for so long.

And if we take these goals/motivations for what they are, they aren't bad at all. In fact, I would even say that they're reasonable. I barely counted Spinner as a villain until the Final War because he believed in true heroes and wanted equality for people like him, he even saved Izuku from Magne. Out of all of the LOV, he would have been the easiest to redeem.

(Yes I'm still mad that Horikoshi ruined him leave me alone)

The problem is, those goals were undermined by their actions later. They were either completely disregarded (Dabi), simplified (Toga), or contradicted (Spinner). Horikoshi basically said screw their established characters, they're one dimensional mustache twirlers with no substance. Every character who points out the flaws of society is demonized to justify the status quo.

And this is actually why I take issue with the whole every character having a villain thing. Because this shouldn't be a case of Hero vs Villain. We shouldn't be looking at the LOV like obstacles to defeat, or even to save. We should be listening to them. The goal here should have been to make a better world where what happened to them doesn't happen to anyone else.

My Hero Academia should have been a story of change, not war. And I think that's going to be the heart of this rewrite

[edgarbright]

tl;dr Caleb is innocent until proven guilty + the game already told us who is responsible for the house explosion and it's not him

There's been a surge of popularity over the theory that Caleb himself staged the house explosion and it reminds me of how, for months and months, people kept accusing Rafayel of leaving MC to drown in chapter 7--despite MC immediately stating afterwards that it was Rafayel who was in danger, not her. And she also explicitly thanked him for saving her so that she didn't drown! But people still kept accusing him.

MC: "You're the idiot. The whirlpool was obviously a death trap, but you just swam right into it..."

MC, a few lines later: "Anyway, thanks... You were the one who pulled me out of the water, right? Thought I heard your voice before I blacked out..."

I'm excited to learn Caleb's POV of the house explosion incident, because it was his idea to return home and not to keep Grandma waiting! And it was MC who stated he should go inside, alone. They literally parted ways in the worst way: after an argument. Like what was going on in his head at that moment when he first felt the heat on his skin and knew MC was, blessedly, still outside?

Plus what would Caleb have to gain by killing Grandma except MC's hatred? Grandma was already dying!

And I point all of this out because the game already showed us who was responsible for the house explosion in the World Underneath, chapter 6 part 6 of Sealed in Dust: it was the rogue agents from Xavier's Backtrackers working for Ever Group!

Raincoat: "You silenced Josephine and retrieved the research material from back then. Good work."

The "You" here is to the Backtracker, the "hat-wearing man." And we know it is a Backtracker because Raincoat further says: "Your Prince Xavier has been glued to her side watching over her, right?"

And the Backtracker confirms his own association by saying: "Hmph, Xavier can only guard her for so long. He's too busy dealing with his own issues. Don't say I didn't warn you. It's not just Ever who wants her."

Plus the item exchange in this transaction is the research information taken from Grandma's house before the explosion and a drug to help the Backtracker survive longer on Earth. Ever Group, as we know, has a strong hand in the medical science.

Remember the Backtrackers are turning into Wanderers--Xavier already killed one of his men, Isaiah, and later straight-up murders another Backtracker who is in the process of turning (see below). Remember that MC on Philos was used as the fuel in the planetary machine that kept everyone and everything alive. Many of the Backtrackers want to sacrifice her again to save their lives! And Xavier tells them to back off. He's using his sword to make sure they back off. He knows his own people are a danger to her. (How tragic that he brought a danger with him on his expedition to save her...)

So in conclusion, Caleb is innocent until proven guilty, the game already told us the main people responsible for the explosion are Ever Group and the Backtracker rogue agents, and with all the trailers reminding us again and again, we really shouldn't be questioning that Caleb has only ever wanted to look after MC. Caleb wants to be with her! So you honestly can't have your LIs doing unforgivable things like murdering beloved Grandmas, like let's be real here.

Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk! We're less than 3 days until Caleb's homecoming!

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

https://www.tumblr.com/ecoterrorist-katara/754369556910309376/i-just-think-its-really-funny-that-aangs-only?source=share

Your thoughts?

"he kisses Katara at the invasion" Yes, and she kisses back, and cuddles with him at the end of the episode. Funny how they never mention that.

"When she didn't wanna talk about that kiss, he firebends at her" He firebends at her because Katara was SUPER out of character in that comic, DEMANDING him to firebend even when he was upset, which he knows he shouldn't do, and when he literally has to create a shell to keep HER away because SHE won't leave him alone despite him asking her for space several times, he finally firebends just so SHE will stop harrassing HIM.

"Aang considers Katara his girl" Really? He thinks of the girl that flirted with several times and has kissed twice already as a potential girlfriend? HOW DARE!

"Becomes furios when Actress!Katara doesn't like Actor!Aang romantically" *casually ignores Katara being jealous of all the attention Aang is getting from girls in Warriors of Kyoshi and again in The Headband, and snapping at Aang when he says he doesn't want to kiss her*

"He kisses her again, this time explicitly against her wishes" And the show punishes him for it by allowing her to snap at him, and then he keeps his distance until SHE wants to spend time together again, and SHE is the one to bring the romance talk back up by kissing him.

"Throughout the show, people reassure him that she will come around, continuously reinforcing the idea that Katara is “his” and he just has to be patient" No, they tell him to tell her how he feels and that, IF they are right for each other, things will work themselves out in the end. He's also constantly told that his fate as the Avatar might prevent that romance from ever happening, even if Katara has feelings for him too - this is literally what the Ember Island conflict is all about.

"We never hear from Katara how she feels" Again, ignores HER being angry at him for not wanting to kiss her, being jealous of other girls when they pay attention to Aang, explicitly saying "I never said I think of you as a little brother, that was an actress that doesn't know anything about me", innitiating both their first and last kiss, kissing back on the eclipse episode, etc.

"The friendship is very gendered' *blatantly lies about Aang not supporting Katara just as much as she supports him and about her being the Cinderella of the group when there are several episodes showing us the Gaang canonically splits chores*

(I won't go into the Legend of Korra stuff because I haven't watched it in years and can't remember shit because I hated that show)

"Bryke do not deserve the credit for creating a “feminist icon”" They do, you're just mad ZUKO wasn't the one "getting the girl" because YOU don't see Katara as anything more than a trophy for your favorite male character.

Also, I know this person is trying to frame this as a case of toxic masculinity (as in a guy being toxic because he's holding onto toxic ideas of what "real men" are like, not simply because he is a guy) but the wording of the post is labelling abusive behavior as being inherently a "male" trait, and that is called SEXISM. Don't use words you clearly don't understand, 'cause you'll use them wrong.

[mileven11forever]

Hi! Byler here. You seem cool, so I wanted to ask a genuine question - how much, if any, Byler analysis have you read? If you have, what parts do you disagree with?

Second question- as a Mileven, how do you justify Mike's S4 monologue where he says he loved El at first sight, but on rewatch he was more interested in finding Will and was going to have her sent back to Pennhurst until she told him her life was in danger?

If he was in love since the moment he laid eyes on her, why would he suggest sending her back to the mental institution? Shouldn't he have been more motivated to keep her close and learn more about her?

And if he lied to her when saying he knew he loved her when he first saw her, why? Why wouldn't he choose the time that he actually fell in love with her or admit he fell in love with her after he got to know her? To me, that would be more heartwarming and feel more genuine.

Thanks!

I've seen quite a bit of Byler videos and written posts, and it would be difficult to say everything I disagree with because there's just so much. We really just have an entirely different view of the show, it's crazy how one show can be interpreted in so many different ways, but it's interesting. Some major things I disagree with is Mike lying in his season 4 monologue to El, Mike's behaviour is best explained by internalized homophobia, Mike and El aren't happy together/are a toxic couple, Mike is intentionally and explicitly queercoded, etc. If you're curious about my perspectives on any of those points, I have other posts explaining some of them, or you can ask any questions.

Simple, he was a kid. Mike may have fallen in love with her and just not understood his feelings yet, and he didn't know what to do with her, so he made a plan for what he thought he should do, send her back wherever she belongs, I think that's a logical reaction even if you have feelings for someone. He was very focused on finding Will, they are best friends, but as soon as Mike realized they couldn't just get rid of El, he stood by her side and protected her. In hindsight, he realized that he did love her when they first met, he just didn't know it at the time, he didn't know what love really felt like yet. It was a complicated situation and he was a child, that's what I think about season 1. So he was telling the truth in season 4. Just because Mike as a young kid didn't know how to handle El showing up and thought the most reasonable thing would be to get her back where she came from (which is pretty reasonable), that doesn't mean he didn't love her, in my opinion.

[thecarnivorousmuffinmeta]

Is Harry not being able to talk/walk yet in TMWWBK a nod towards the ill effects his treatment has had on his development or you and Vinelle not considering child development?

The Man Who Would Be King by Me and @therealvinelle

Relevant excerpts from the fic:

Mrs. Potter was next to him, writing in a Muggle notebook and completely ignoring her son, who’d toddled off to the other side of the room where he unsuccessfully tried to open the drawers.

She sat down to resume her studies, while Mr. Black busied himself with a book, and Harry toddled happily towards the playpen, where he pulled out one of the toys You-Know-Who had enchanted for him.

Lily sat dejectedly in her chair and bounced Harry in her lap, helping him to calm down. “I hope you end up having friends when you’re bigger,” she told him. “I had Petunia growing up, she used to pull my hair. That wasn’t very nice of her,” she said, and smiled at Harry’s responding babble.

A factoid:

On average, they say their first words between 7–12 months of age and are constructing coherent sentences by 2–3 years of age. Language develops alongside other skills, such as those relating to movement. As a result, many babies say their first words close to when they start walking — at about 12 months.

From this source

Harry, within the fic, born in July of 1980 is about a year and a half when we start seeing him in December. He's walking about unaided (though not very fast and not with much coordination) and he is saying words for all we haven't put much/if any of them on the page from what I recall. He is not speaking in full sentences yet.

This is not bizarre; he is not two. He is one and a half. There is a difference.

Though it is true @therealvinelle and I don't focus on Harry at this age in this fic. I'll happily admit to that. He's in the scenes, he does things, but without being able to speak in coherent sentences or do much beyond wander about he's not that influential on the main plot. He can't be telling Alphard he's stupid and punching him in the face. At the current point, he's more a MacGuffin than an actual character. He's important, but not so much in what he says or does but in the fact that he exists and is in Location A or in Location B. He's not the point of the fic and isn't even what I'd call a tertiary character.

However, anon, you are free to a) write your own fic in which it's made explicitly clear at every possible moment how much Harry is walking on his own or b) insert the following paragraph mentally between every paragraph (or if that's not enough every word) of the fic

"And then Harry ran up to his mother and said, 'Look, Mummy, I can talk!' Harry then proceeded to do a handstand and five backflips. Everyone told him how amazing he is. Harry beamed and said, 'Aw shucks, you shouldn't have. Now I am terribly embarrassed."

@therealvinelle bids me add that she didn't work for a year with two-year-olds and keep their development (and how wildly varied it is, no two children are the same) in mind when writing Harry just to be called out like this

[indi-k]

Tyler is a HUGE RED FLAG

(i already posted this in the wenclair community but im posting this on my main blog too bc i wanna see it there aswell and I DO NOT KNOW HOW TUMBLR WORKS)

Ok, so I don't find ENOUGH ppl talking about how INCREDIBLY CREEPY Tyler is to Wednesday in Ep 7 and I've already ranted like a madman to ANYONE who has come within five feet about this in the past few months.

Needless to say i have a LOT of thoughts.

First off, When Tyler brigs up the topic of rescheduling their date, Wednesday is caught off guard, like VISIBLY off guard. She then brings up two VERY VALID POINTS as to why she can't go or hasn't talked with tyler about it.

Tyler then CUTS HER OFF saying AND I QUOTE "Hey, no excuses, Figure after what happened after last time, you owe me." so not only did this man just call Wednesday's reasons for not being able to go, (a HOMOCIDAL MONSTER and her FELON UNCLE) "excuses" he also believes that Wednesday OWES HIM a DATE.

if it isn't obvious (at least not to tyler) YOU DO NOT OWE ANYONE ANYTHING!!! Regardless of romantic interest or guilt or WHATEVER. people in relationships don't OWE each other their time.

Dating someone shouldn't be out of obligation, it should be done out of mutual interest and willingness to spend time together.

Basically if someone you're interested in says they cant make it to a date you don't say they OWE YOU. LOOKIN AT YOU TYLER GALPIN!

Anyway, Wednesday then tells Tyler "I cant sneak off of campus, all eyes are on me." Its important to remember that if she's caught out, she could be EXPELLED but also, when has Wednesday Addams EVER been afraid of RULE BREAKING or getting CAUGHT, she is literally harboring a FUGITIVE on school grounds currently. All I'm sayin is if she REALLY wanted to go, she would.

SOMEHOW Tyler doesn't pickup on these very OBVIOUS HINTS and presses on, telling Wednesday that he'll come to her. Again, pretty creepy because Wednesday has done everything except explicitly saying 'No" and he is STILL pushing for her to go with him.

So why didn't she just shut down tyler? Wednesday has no real trouble voicing her thoughts with little care as to what others think, so why didn't she just say no?

this could be overthinking BUT everyone has their limit, even Wednesday. Her best friend just left her after a huge fight, her only other friend has been hospitalized for reasons that Wednesday blames herself for, and Xavier just told her that there's nothing to like about her. She probably feels isolated and unwanted, Addams or not everyone needs a friend.

TLDR: Tyler sucks and Fester should have put him in the Romanian sleeper hold. also ENID SINCLAIR WOULD NEVERRRR

[carriehobbs]

Hi ^^ I was reading your tags on the tina/verda finding out post and first of all, you are so right that not stopping verda's research is not the same as telling him.

I like that you mentioned the bobby finding out path, because that one *is* a choice we get to make, and it made me wonder: what is syd's reasoning for not wiping bobby's memory?

hi seren!! 💕💕

yeah, not stopping verda or tina from finding out =/= telling them directly!! and i think the detective should be allowed to have a variety of feelings about the fallout of tina and verda finding out (whether the detective told them directly or not), some of which may include retroactive self-blame for their situation, but it shouldn't be just written into the narrative like that (ex. if alina saw how poorly verda reacted to finding out about the supernatural and felt guilty because she could have stopped him from finding out and chose not to, that's a completely fair reaction. but it shouldn't be the only option, and it shouldn't be treated the same as if she told him explicitly).

but i digress

so, bobby (or douglas) does not find out about the supernatural in any of my detective's (current canon) worldstates. this is because all of my detectives are 1) people who take the stakes of their mission in b3 seriously and appreciate the opportunity to have backup and 2) are willing to set aside their feelings for rebecca (whatever they are) in order to get the backup they need to ensure their mission succeeds. however, as a player, i am very interested in having a subplot or character arc for bobby&douglas (depending on if the detective is on the bobby route or the douglas route. i'm going to use "bobby&douglas" as a shorthand to mean "whichever character's route the detective is on" for the rest of this post).

as wayhaven is still in development, i don't know yet if there will be alternative subplots or character arcs for bobby&douglas for detectives who did ally with rebecca at the auction (and so bobby&douglas didn't find out about the supernatural). if there aren't any further subplots/character arcs for bobby&douglas, i've seriously considered going back and having one/some of my detectives make different decisions at the auction, so at least one/some of my detectives have the opportunity to explore this subplot in their worldstates. as such, i've spent a lot of time thinking about 1) which decisions would each detective make about bobby&douglas? (lauren would wipe bobby's memories, alina would encourage douglas to work with the agency, syd would let bobby keep his memories, i waffle a bit on this but i think andy would let bobby keep her memories) and 2) which detective would, realistically, not ally with rebecca at the auction and actually unlock the supernatural subplot for bobby&douglas? all this is to say that, in syd's worldstate, bobby never learned about the supernatural, but if he had, she would have let him keep his memories.

the short answer to your question is: if bobby learned about the supernatural, syd would have let him keep his memories because she and bobby have a good relationship. the long answer is under the cut, since this is long enough as it is

(unless i'm suuuuuuper mistaken) wayhaven has 2 different stats for the detective's relationship with bobby: there's a past relationship stat, which you decide at the beginning of b1 and is on a scale of 1-4 (i don't know which numbers are which relationship off the top of my head, but let's say 1 is "everything's fine and there's no hard feelings" and 4 is "i want to hit them with my car"), and a current relationship stat, which takes into account your ongoing decisions through the books and involves adding value to your relationship stats with every decision. in terms of pure stats, syd's past relationship stat with bobby is a 2 (lauren's and alina's are at 4, andy's is at 3. bobby is the ex of all of my detectives) and her current relationship stat is fairly high (it's an invisible stat, so i don't know the numerical value).

syd's relationship with bobby is a little complicated. syd felt incredibly betrayed by the plagiarism incident and there was a lot of hurt between them after the breakup. they kind of fell out of each other's lives afterwards, during all of the messiness. however, syd managed to do something none of my other detectives have managed to do when it comes to their relationship with bobby: syd moved on. so while there is still lingering hurt and their relationship will never be quite what it was, syd doesn't hate bobby anymore an hasn't for a long time (this hurt is why their past relationship stat is a 2 and not a 1).

additionally, one thing about syd is that, if you have ever been someone important to her (even if you aren't close anymore), she will always care about you, at least a little bit. this significantly impacts her current relationship with bobby. when he comes to her and expresses concern about the murders in b1, she cares about him enough to try to assure and relate to him. when he comes by her house unexpectedly in b2, she's worried enough about his sudden and unexpected arrival that she lets him in and expresses concern for him. and, if you have a good relationship with bobby, he does express care and concern for the detective, in his own way (if you have a bad relationship with bobby, he's pretty unrepentant about fucking up your whole day; however, if you have a good relationship with him, there are moments where he does show he cares. i'd love to pull up exact lines, but i don't have any handy). syd doesn't have any lingering romantic feelings for bobby at all (she deliberately doesn't kiss bobby in b2), but she does still care about him. he's probably always going to be someone she has some kind of attachment to.

(i don't remember the exact lines here so excuse me for potentially incorrectly paraphrasing but) when bobby and syd talk at the agency after the auction, bobby says something about how he wouldn't want to lose the memories and knowledge he's just gained, and how he's wanted for a while to be able to be closer to her and hopes this will bring them closer together. at that moment, syd respects bobby's wishes regarding his autonomy and his desire to keep his memories and (perhaps inadvisably - we will see in b4!) genuinely thinks that he won't tell anyone about the supernatural (yes, he normally over-sensationalizes his papers and tends to report on anything that would make her life harder, but he might keep the knowledge of the supernatural under wraps because it's important to her, it can be a secret the two of them share, it can bring them closer, etc). ultimately, syd believes that their relationship has been positive enough after all this time that bobby won't turn around and betray her trust again. maybe this is (incredibly uncharacteristically) optimistic of her, but syd has always had a weak spot when it comes to the people she cares about, and syd does still care about bobby.

[rudnitskaia]

I'll probably regret this note later, but I need to sort my thoughts on this somehow, so let it be. It's not a review, not a feedback, it’s just a skein of thoughts.

Let me start from afar: I wasn't going to watch Joker: Folie à Deux after all the scathing reviews I've seen. But then I accidentally found out that Sylvain Chomet took part in the creation of the credits for it, and I decided: to hell with it, at least for the sake of the credits, but I have to see it. I'll watch the first part and then the sequel in a row.

And now I'm in such contradictory feelings that it's hard to describe.

Don't get me wrong: this is a really bad movie. Everything about it is broken beyond repair: the genre, the plot, the pace of the narrative, the dialogues, the characters’ development arcs. Everything that could be screwed up is screwed up…

…on purpose.

The team that made the first movie couldn't have made its sequel so exceptionally bad by accident. It's really pure sabotage.

And from that point of view, this picture is genius. Joker: Folie à Deux is the bloody Taras Bulba of the cinema world. “I gave you life, I will also kill you!” Todd Phillips says from the screen with every misplaced song, every drawn-out scene, every gratuitous feint. I know of only two precedents of this sort, and both are from the world of literature, not cinema. Burgess, who considered and told everyone that A Clockwork Orange is unworthy of attention and even dangerous to read, and Conan Doyle, who hated Sherlock Holmes so much that he tried to kill Sherlock, but had to resurrect him anyway to meet the public's desires.

Joker: Folie à Deux truly fell victim to its creator's hatred of both the character and the industry that demands to put a comma, or even never-ending ellipses, to the place where a period is unquestionably placed. I can only applaud Phillips’ courage to bring this statement to the screens so unashamedly explicitly.

What I can't neither understand, nor justify, on the other hand, is Phillips' apparent inability to draw the line between fiction and reality. To treat a character as a real-living person is sacrilege. A fictional character, no matter how vivid and solid this character is, is still a character who is meant to tell a story, to be a tool, a prism through which the viewer or reader perceives certain events. For some unknown reason, Phillips hates his character, or, to be more precise, his actions, as if he was a real person. And this statement he conveys through the story of Arthur Fleck in the second part in full. Phillips literally forces his character to become pathetic, so that God forbid anyone to have pity for him or desire to empathize and sympathize with him, forces the character to personally debunk the image he himself created, as if telling us from the screen: “Wake up, idiots, this is not the way it fucking happens”.

Thanks for the revelation, bro, we're aware. We're watching a movie. A fictional story about fictional people.

I can kind of understand that level of judgement from people who’re not involved into creating any fictional stories, at least it’s explainable, but from a person who is a long-term director himself? Never. That's a level of judgement like "videogames make people violent".

I'm fully convinced that if there was to be a second part of Joker, it shouldn't have been about him. Arthur Fleck's story didn't need a continuation, at least not a direct one. But the world Phillips created in the first movie still had plenty of material to explore, and Harleen Quinzel's character could have mediated that journey for us. She is a fan of a serial killer (there is a wagonload of such people in reality), a person living in illusions, a victim of a fake idol. You want a musical? Let it be. In her head. Like that very episode of Scrubs, you know which I mean. But it had to be her story. Not Joker’s/Arthur’s story. Not a love story, not at all — or rather, not a story about the romantic kind of love that Phillips mocks and makes fun of for the entire sequel. It must have been a story of love that was fanatical, sick, false a priori, doomed to shatter in the end. In this story, Joker was needed purely in the background, not as a real character, but as an image in fantasies, and then Harleen, blinded by his fame she extols over herself or anything in her dull unremarkable reality, would’ve been our guide to the world that was changed by Joker’s unintentional influence, and I think you yourself are quite capable of realizing how many subjects could’ve been explored in interesting, multifaceted ways from such a delicious starting point. Not to mention the fact that it's just one variant of the starting point, because the main character could have been someone other than Harleen, and the time period relative to the events of the original could’ve been different... well, you got it, there was plenty of material to explore and develop.

And that's a damn shame it wasn’t.

One thing I know for sure is that I will not forget this movie. It's a fascinating specimen that I'll put in my personal mental cabinet of curiosities for two reasons. Adoration for how filigree bad it is — it takes courage, ingenuity, and a lot of resilience to do so, for any creator; and frustration over the fact that a really existing potential that could’ve been perfectly brought into existence in talented hands was thrown into the trashcan because of the creator's mere lack of understanding (which is doubly ironic in the context of the movie I’m talking about) of where the line between fiction and reality lies.

[gynandromorph]

for the record i really fell off with the community largely because at my old synagogue i had an issue with a member sexually harassing me. i've probably mentioned it before. we were friends, and she moved to live 5 minutes away from me... the nearest park that i could walk my dog at was on the same street as her house. moving so many times, it doesn't leave you with a huge support network -- in-person, at least, and sometimes, problems need to be dealt with in-person. i tried to deal with it myself, i told her that i wasn't interested repeatedly. the last attempt at dealing with it myself ended with her telling me that she thought my emotional openness while telling her how uncomfortable i was with it was sexy (this specific word), while in her car with the doors locked. at that point i knew even trying to deal with it myself was making it worse, so i asked our rabbi what i should do about it. the rabbi didn't need to be told who was harassing me, she already knew from observation. i tried explicitly not to immediately point fingers and name names. i didn't like what the rabbi had to say about the issue. i can understand why -- this was a convert, and it would reflect poorly on her as the one who converted her if that convert had to be removed from the community. it was a woman doing it, so it wasn't as "big of a deal" -- not something she said, but something that i could very much tell was at play. i couldn't go to services without her being there and it put my entire body into fight or flight mode, so i just didn't go. i was going to be moving across the country and there was no point in trying to fuss about it. maybe it was just me, maybe this woman will behave the same way to future congregants. i really don't know. i didn't bother trying to get involved with a synagogue here. we've all heard stories of congregations protecting predatory members, but it is different once it's personal. it isn't so easy to forgive and assume it won't happen again when it's you it happened to. i think i was lucky that it didn't get worse in my case, but it shouldn't have had to get worse to take it seriously. it was abundantly clear to me where the road was going if i didn't stop the car.

[roguetelepaths]

memory

for @b5-minvember

content warnings: family separation, mentions of parental abandonment, implied systemic homophobia, cult indoctrination vibes (because Psi Corps)

summary: Chloe Ford dreams of her life before the Corps.

Sometimes, Chloe wakes up in the dorm blinking away tears, grasping at threads of a quickly vanishing memory. 

In her dreams, Chloe Ford— Chloe Neely— lives in a little house in the Scottish countryside, with two men whose faces are foggy and distorted, but whose voices are still perfectly clear to her even after all these years. She’s young, maybe four or five, running through the house in a sparkly green dress with iridescent stitched-on butterfly wings. One of her dads catches her, spins her around gently, and oh, she can feel his love for her, as truly as she can feel her own. 

“You're it!” he playfully shouts, squeezing her tight before setting her down. “Now, let's see how well you can find me.” 

She giggles, confident that she'll find him in no time at all. She's good at hide and seek. Really good. All she needs to do is just follow the background hum of idle thoughts he doesn't even know he's broadcasting. She counts to ten, then she's off, following the trail as best as she can, until… 

…just know they'll find any excuse to take her away from us…

She pauses. She knows her dads love her very much. She knows that they aren't able to have children of their own, so they wished for it really hard and asked the right government agencies really nicely and eventually, when she was too young to remember, she was given to them. They've told her that plenty of times. So why would anyone ever take her away? 

…there's no way the Psi Corps will ever let us see her again if they take her…

And that's when her heart drops into her feet, and she remembers that this all happened a long time ago. 

“Daddy?” Chloe calls, and suddenly she's not in her body anymore, she's watching as the hallway darkens and becomes longer, and then black-gloved hands grab her arms and pull her into the dark. Into… 

Into wakefulness. 

She sits up slowly and opens her eyes, feeling them wet with tears that she wasn't awake to remember crying. Why was she crying? She loves it here. She has a great time every day with all her friends, under the watchful and gentle eye of her cadre mother, Miss Isabela. I don't belong with them anymore, she tries to tell herself. The Corps is Mother, the Corps is Father. 

<Are you okay?>

Now everyone in the dorm can tell I was having a nightmare, she thinks to herself, concealing it carefully. Stupid. <I'm fine, Milena,> she answers. Milena is one of her best friends, even if they're technically all supposed to care about each other equally. She'd arrived and been assigned to Chloe’s cadre only a year after Chloe herself, and they'd become close friends just by virtue of being the two newest arrivals. 

<You were dreaming about your old life again, weren't you.>

Guilty as charged. <Yeah,> Chloe says. <I know I shouldn't.>

Milena projects support and something that almost feels like solidarity, which Chloe instinctively shies from before accepting it. <It's okay. I do sometimes too.> A burst of bitter laughter comes through their telepathic connection. <Which is crazy, because my birth parents didn't even want me after my telepathy came in.> 

<Yeah, well, my dads did,> Chloe replies, making it clear just how much she doesn't want to hear it. <They loved me. They wanted me, and they wouldn't have just given me up.>

<But they did.>

<Because the government made them. Something about failure to report…> Chloe feels herself beginning to cry again, and wills herself to stop. It’s unfair. Out of everyone she knows with family outside of the Corps, hers are the only ones explicitly barred from having anything to do with her. Everyone else's, like Milena’s, simply don't want to. <They're not like your birth parents. They didn't stop loving me when they found out I was a telepath.> 

There is silence for a while before Milena responds. It's clear to Chloe that she doesn't understand— that she can't. She had nothing to lose when the Corps found her. Chloe, meanwhile, lost everything. <I'm sorry,> Milena offers, <for what it's worth. They sound like great people.> 

<They were,> Chloe answers. 

<Promise me you'll tell Miss Isabela about the dreams?>

She wants to make that promise. She trusts Miss Isabela more than anyone. But she's hesitant… even more since she doesn't feel like she's allowed to be.  

<Yeah,> she agrees. <I'll do that tomorrow morning.> 

[a-url-that-exists]

okay I'm gonna whine about something petty and stupid and frankly i shouldn't even be complaining first world problems yada yada

last year i missed the crane wives concert. They were performing the same day as a band competition and i couldn't go.

This year when i got the Spotify presale, i jumped on it and bought the tickets for me and my mom. (Or rather, asked my mom to do it and paid her back.)

And then my mom got vip tickets.

And i told her that this upset me. It was so much more money, and for what?

And her answer was that i couldn't handle normal concert seats, and this would be better, and she was looking out for me. The VIP seats were isolated and you'd get to have personal space and you'd be able to see unobstructed, and get food more easily, and it even had a private bathroom right nearby. Besides, having more expensive tickets means that they'll be more eager to accommodate us and treat us better.

I reiterated that i did not like this, did not ask for this, did not want this, that it was a waste of money, and would be a worse experience. She'd already bought the tickets, she said, she couldn't go back.

So we went tonight. The vip seats were less comfortable (bar stools). Our view was obstructed by people who apparently had a higher vip level. Food was not easier to get, it was ridiculously expensive and i didn't even want to eat anyways, we'd grabbed fast food on the way there. Also, i don't use public bathrooms. Not in the way normal people do, where they don't go to the bathroom if they can avoid it/can comfortably wait. I will literally be about to piss/shit myself but i can't use a public restroom because of gender. VIP bathroom doesn't help me. It does however help her.

I got concert tickets because i wanted to go to a concert. Be around people like me, have crowd energy, be obnoxious and loud and boisterous and have a great time. She decided that instead of doing that she was going to spend stupid amounts of money, hold it over my head, and claim it was for my benefit. It wasn't. I pointed out that it was for her benefit.

She could've just admitted it. It would've been fine. She could say, "i don't like crowds, and i need easy access to a bathroom." It would be easy. But no, she has to pin it on my autism, and claim that this is what's better for me, and that i don't know what i can handle, and call me ungrateful even though i never wanted this, explicitly told her three months in advance that i didn't like this. And like, it's whatever, at the end of the day i still got to see my favorite band live, and now i know for sure that i want to actually go to a concert in a real way, but. Urgh. And she's being such a bitch about it! I pointed out that that's like the worst way to do a concert and she was like "you could've gone down there at any time" and i was like no???? That's not how that works??? There aren't seats for us down there???? Because your stupid ass bought seats in VIP? Like... be so fucking for real

god. I would've loved it too. I would've had such a good time.

[polyhexian]

Btw I do feel extremely bad for eventually!Darius. I love Darius! He's a very cool character with interesting motivations and flaws! And they're all coming to a head in this one, lol.

Darius is replaying the last time he ever saw Jasper on loop, and he's reevaluating every interaction he has ever had with Hunter, and he has realized he's fucked up. Darius has realized he's been consistantly fucking up for 16 years.

Maybe he tries to defend himself to himself. Brains tend to do that. I was grieving! Okay yeah valid but no excuse for bullying a child, actually. How was I supposed to know he was Jasper's kid? Oh come on you can't say you didn't KIND OF suspect with those eyes and that face and the hair, also it shouldn't matter WHOSE kid he was you still hurt a kid. I was subconsciously upset Jasper apparently had a kid and didn't tell me. Right but this all keeps coming back to you bullying a kid. It's not like he explicitly told me to look out for the next Golden Guard! It costs 0 snails to not be mean to the child soldier.

Darius is just…facedown on his bed, groaning. He hasn't kept up with his hair or skincare routine in two days. Eberwolf is getting worried; they've dragged MULTIPLE animal carcasses into Darius's bedroom and he hasn't complained ONCE.

Raine: We're not getting Eda involved, I refuse to put her in danger.

Darius: Sure! Of course! Perfectly understandable! I'm so glad you have the opportunity to look out for your loved one! Of course if it turns out you wildly misunderstand what she wants she may never forgive you, but hey, whatever you think is best! AHAHAHAHA.

Raine: Darius are you okay.

At some point when he's on speaking terms with Alador again, it comes up.

Darius: I've horrifically betrayed the man I love. He trusted me, and I let him down, badly. Now he hates me and he's never going to forgive me and I have to see him scowl at me from across the room and call me all sorts of horrible things and the sad truth is I deserve every single one of them.

Alador, nodding: I can tell you from experience that it's an awful thing to go through, but it is possible to eventually move on.

Darius: Are you MOCKING me??

Alador: No? I'm being genuinely sympathetic and supportive.

Idk if this is a universe where Jasper and Darius would be able to work things out between themselves - the hurt runs deep, Jasper honestly thought he could at least count on the one man who befriended HIM to look out for a kid who looked like him and was stuck in the same position, and instead Darius failed at just not being MEAN to said kid. Jasper didn't even realize the bar was so low. And Darius doesn't really have much time to fix his behavior and turn things around, and Hunter's real dad is here so there's no need for Darius to become an adopted father figure, and…yeah.

Jasper's relationship with Darius is so hostile, and once Darius realizes what's up he's just miserable and resigned and apologetic even though he knows it'll fix nothing, like a dog rolling over to show its belly. It's sad and hard to watch.

But if their relationship ever DOES progress to something less than hostile, it's entirely because Hunter's willing to forgive Darius, and Jasper can't deny Hunter anything. They can maybe work their way towards cordial neutral. Romance…romance may not work out here.

…Of course, Hunter has to tackle Luz when she catches wind of the situation. She starts rambling about the Parent Trap and Friends to Enemies to Lovers and orchestrating an Only One Bed situation and he is like NOPE, BAD IDEA, THAT IS HOW PEOPLE (mostly Darius lbr) DIE.

YEAH NO IT SUCKS TO BE DARIUS IN ALL TIMELINES HDDGJIKKIFDRH

I don't think it's.... TOTALLY unsalvageable if he plays his cards right. Like on the beach he realizes that's jasper and he's ALIVE. And jasper hisses at him like. If you ever threaten my son again I will rip you limb from limb. And he poofs and I'm sure Darius is left like SON??????? SON??????

And like back at the castle he has an existential crisis in the middle of the night before like. Oh my god. I've been bullying his son. What the fuck. Son??? He had a son???? Wh. When did he do that. And suddenly he has that same interest in hunter canon Darius has but... perhaps with a little more guilt and desperation. My dude is ALREADY planning to kidnap hunter and get out of there because holy shit??? Jasper???? Alive??????? Out of my way gayboy I have amends to make

Like... Jasper loses him after hollow mind. Hunter bolted and jasper couldn't catch him. So Hunter spends nine days homeless while jasper is having a fucking panic attack. Hunter is in so much fucking immediate danger rn. There is no more fucking around in the shadows it is GO time. Maybe he hates Darius, but Darius is strong, he knows the emperor's coven and hunter, and most importantly he fucking owes him.

Jasper has MAGIC now. He has Hunter's staff! He shows up at Darius' door like GET UP SCRUBLORD YOURE GOING TO HELP ME FIND MY FUCKING SON RIGHT NOW

Ohhhh my god the drama. The two of them working together. Darius is overwhelmed with guilt and confusion. Jasper is angry and hates him. Darius keeps asking questions like "how are you alive" "why didn't you tell me you were alive" "how do you have a son" "do you like legit hate me" and jasper is just fucking ignoring him. But then!! Labyrinth runners! Darius hears over, the like-- like the fucking coven group chat or whatever, that Adrian graye has found the fucking golden guard and jasper's like AHHHHHHHHH and so they both rush over but... it all happened so fast! They're too late! But now they get the full details of the draining spell because hunter told the kids and oh my god.... oh my goodddd. Jasper is like. I have to get hunter as far away from here as humanly possible. And Darius is like you literally don't even know if that would work. And also what about everyone else??? But obviously a worked up jasper is like fuck everybody else!! Gasp. Shock. You're mad at me for bullying you're kid when you're willing to let every kids parents die?? And he's like. Gasp. How dare you

But Hunter is already gone... and jasper is ready to go look for him, but... oh no! Did you think you could beat up a coven head and not face retribution?! There is like a whole outfit of coven soldiers on the way. Like the ones with Adrian were not like combat guys. They were just here to hassle some school kids. Now the school kids have committed fucking treason. And if Darius fights then his cover will be blown! And maybe even Belos will realize he needs to look for moles higher up! If nothing jasper does works then that is the only backup plan to stop the spell and save Hunter along with everyone else!

There's only one choice. Jasper has to stay and fight off a whole army so the kids have time to escape, and Darius has to go and find hunter. And jasper is like you fucker. You go and remember how much you fucking owe me. You remember that. And then wham! Bam! Sick moves!

And we know that hunter really wants Darius's approval... he likes him a lot. At this point we kind of lose track of them for a second because Luz and king go do the Titan trapper stuff, and then they go to the knee to hide out, then they get captured and Darius and co saves them and then the next we see hunter he shows up to say Darius told him to protect Luz so... I guess he's been staying with him? It's a little unclear. But ALSO.... where were Gus and Willow and hunter hiding??? How did they run into Darius and the CATTs?

Maybe they ALSO needed a rescue mission... maybe while fleeing from the school they got captured by a unit too, and Darius swung in and rescued them and brought them to the safehouse BUT also he got a really serious injury like stabbed or something, he's not like dying yet but OWWWWW... and no one in their crew knows healing magic!!!! He gets patched up but.... and you know. He's fretting over hunter. He's been homeless for nine days. He's hungry. He's malnourished. He's upset. Time for Darius to go dad mode for the first time but ALSO hes injured and he gets to finally have a big "I am so sorry Hunter that I let myself drown in my grief and turn into a person I never wanted to be and I'm sorry you were on the receiving end of that, and you might never forgive me but I'm going to do everything in my power to keep you safe now" and it's all very FEELINGS!!!!!!

But where is jasperrrrr???? Poor motherfucker has lost his kid AGAIN... and the thing is that from the time eda and Luz get rescued, it's only 24 hours until the draining spell!! Jasper does not fucking have a lot of time! He searches and searches but THEN.... THE SPELL... AND HUNTER IS UP THERE.... oh maybe he rescues Alador after the kids leave and he tells him they went up to the coven heads and he gets there and Darius says they went to go save Luz... and that's when he finally pops in just in time to protect the kids from a big dramatic Belos attack. And then of course he loses an arm and nearly dies and spends a week in a fever coma lol

[lyneytricks]

I can keep a secret, can you?

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ─── 

Genre ➸ Idk how to categorise this. It's like, bitter but not sad, it's. It is, I guess

Warnings ➸ "Other Layla" referred to with it/its pronouns, Scara & Layla are close, but it's not explicitly romantic. Just implied, at best. I didn't proofread this so idk. His thoughts are kinda aggressive in this

A/N ➸ Hey :P Pretend other Layla just knows that scara's a puppet. I think I made the whole puppet thing way more trans than intended, looking back at it. Man I hate this thing's ending

Pum toma 🖕 @burningst4rs pilla este fanfic mientras acabo el otro, que me da una vergüenza de la hostia acabar ese

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ─── 

"You haven't told her yet, have you?" It asks him. It's surprisingly calm, knowing who it comes from. It's voice is smooth, unwavering. It's strange to hear her voice like that. He doesn't know whether he welcomes it or finds it jarring

"Told her? What would I need to tell her? I have nothing to hide" He answers, lying through his teeth like he doesn't know how horrified she'd be if she knew what he's done. What he is.

Humming, it traces it's hand over his nape, lightly scraping the material of its 'nails' over where the electro mark he absolutely despises is. It smiles at him, taking its hands away carefully, almost as if it's trying to annoy him. Why doesn't it want to hurt me?

"This... Peculiarity of yours, she doesn't know about it, does she?"

It's voice is sweet, sweet in a way he finds mocking. It shouldn't anger him as much as it does, he tells himself. And yet, it does. It angers him because it's right in saying that. He's never told anyone about his 'true' nature, they've all found out on their own.

He's thought about telling her, though he stopped thinking about it almost as soon as he started, the thought of 'coming out' to her as scary as it is frustrating.

Why would it matter? What does that change? Will that change how she sees me, how she treats me?

It's only when he's realized he needs to answer its question that it talks again, using her scholar's determination to make his life more difficult "Hm, so I assume you'll just keep her in the dark about this, until... What? Until she finds out herself?"

He hates how easy to read he's become, so much that even something he doesn't know can see through him. Perhaps leaving the fatui, not having to conceal his every move, is what made him more vulnerable. In a way, he's more restrained, now.

That thing keeps talking endlessly, seemingly incapable of shutting up. He wants to shut it up himself, hear that thing beg for forgiveness when he wraps his hands around its neck, he wants to feel its fucking bones crack when he steps on it.

He wants to act on his thoughts, the prospect seeming more enticing by the second. He wishes he could, when he remembers that that thing he hates so much is a part of Layla, of the one he was supposed to accompany this evening, of the one he willingly came here for.

He's stupid. He must be, to form such an attachment to someone, to a human. He hates how weak he is, how weak he is for that mortal.

But, regardless of how much he hates it, he is.

So, he bites his tongue and listens to whatever's next to him as it talks, hoping that Layla would just wake up soon. As much as he wants her to sleep, (humans are fragile, after all) he'll never be next to her while she does, if this is what happens once she succumbs to slumber.