#and when i say married i mean in the legal sense. not even a wedding. maybe a small pizza party at best. but the divorce happens the sameday | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

motorsportbarbie13 · 2 months ago

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The Yapping Hour Is Upon Us - The Royal Wedding

In which you and Max tie the knot.

Warnings: just fluff. a bit of anxiety talk but nothing Max can't fix. Pairing: Max Verstappen x Podcaster!Reader Word Count: 5k

- The Yapping Hour is Upon Us - The Yapping Hour is Upon Us - Part 2 - The Yapping Hour is Upon Us - Part 3 - The Yapping Hour is Upon Us - Part 4 - The Yapping Hour is Upon Us - Bonus Sessions - Master List

After getting engaged, there were two things that you and Max almost immediately agreed upon: first, because so much of both of your lives were already available for public consumption, you wanted to protect the peace and privacy of your wedding as much as possible. And second, you didn’t want to wait until the next summer break to get married.

Growing up, it was a cliche fact but a fact all the same, that you often thought of what you wanted your wedding to be like. You were even very much guilty of having secret wedding Pinterest boards set up all through high school and college. But the moment the even presented itself in real life, you suddenly felt choked by the weight of what a big wedding could entail.

It had been Max that had suggested the solution in the end, his idea passed by you casually one night as you walked hand in hand back to your hotel after dinner before the race in Italy. He had sensed your hesitation around hosting such a big, over the top wedding that everyone seemed to assume you wanted. The spark in your eye faded just a bit when Alex and Carmen had started talking about wedding venues and guest lists and he hadn’t missed the way your shoulders hitched up a bit more towards your ears as you listened to your friends ramble.

“What if we just eloped?” He works to keep his tone causal, not wanting to give away how appealing that idea sounds to him. He wants you to choose the kind and scale of wedding you want all on your own because he knows you’d do anything for him, right down to agreeing to plan a wedding that doesn’t suit you at all.

You stop dead in your tracks, Birkin bag swinging wildly at your elbow from the sudden halt. “What?”

Max sticks his hands deep in the pockets of his khakis, giving you a knowing smile. “You heard me. What if we just said ‘fuck this’ and ran off to the beach and got married by some old fishing captain. Captains can legally marry people, right? That’s a thing?”

Not for the first time in your relationship, you’re stunned into silence at something your soon-to-be husband says. For a moment all you can do is blink at him, trying to figure out if he’s fucking with you or not. “You’d…you’d want that?”

Max steps forward, earnest look on his handsome face. “Baby,” He murmurs, framing both sides of your face with his strong hands. “Baby, I’d marry you in an alley way in the middle of New York City. I don’t care where or how, all I care about is that we come out at the end of this married and tied together for life. I don’t care about the wedding, I care about the marriage.”

Max watches as your pupils blow wide, shy smile tugging at your lips. “That might be the most romantic thing you’ve ever said to me.”

Max’s forehead rests on yours and he lets out a breathy chuckle. “Well, it’s true. I want you to have the wedding of your dreams because I know that will make you happy but other than that, I don’t care.”

He’d do anything to make sure you were happy, knowing it was just this side of obsessive the way he took you into consideration with every decision he made. Standing opposite of the man who consumed your entire soul, your stomach dipped low, the pleasant swooping sensation something you’ve become accustomed to over the last year. “I just feel so overwhelmed. Both of our lives are already so public and under scrutiny. I want this to be something that we can cherish without any of the potential tarnish of what it means to be so public.”

You shake your head, feeling a little silly and what you’re feeling. “I love our lives and know we’re privileged to live like this but sometimes I just want to have something that’s just ours. I want to share our love and relationship with everyone but maybe we could just shield some of it from the world?”

An idea forms in Max’s head then. “What if we eloped somewhere just the two of us and then have a party to celebrate with everyone after?”

You nod, “Have is quietly ours for a while before sharing the news with everyone?”

Max reaches for you, enjoying the way you press against him with ease. It’s a warm Italian summer night, the scent of perfumed flowers and left over sunshine hung heavy in the air and you wanted to snap this moment into something that stayed with you forever. Max’s hands heavy on your hips, digging into the flesh there as if he can’t get enough of you despite not leaving your side for the last 24 hours.

Ever since getting engaged, you’d hated spending any length of time away from Max, almost like your soul had already started to twin itself to him. It made leaving difficult but returning was always so sweet. You had this weekend in Italy before you had to leave on another trip but you’d been considering ramping down your travel over the next few months. But, that was another conversation for another day.

“Where would we go? And when?” The more you thought bout it, the more the thought of what Max was suggesting appealed to you.

Max releases you before taking your hand as you two start back towards your hotel, feeling a bit lighter at seemingly solving the problem that had been weighing on you for a few days.

“We could do it this winter? There’s always a total shut down of everything that week between Christmas and New Years. We’d see our families for Christmas and escape saying we were just taking a trip the two of us.”

You grin up at him, liking where he was going with this.

yourpersonalinsta posted

129,938 likes liked by yourdad, assistantshannon, maxverstappen1, and others yourpersonalisnta sun, sand, and a very cute finace kikagomes is this that place in Mexico you were talking about?! It looks so pretty! >>>yourpersonalinsta yes!!! it is gorgeous. you and P need to come here some day. alexandrasaintmleux gorgeous gorgeous girl >>>yourpersonalinsta love you bby user029 dream life fr user0092 looks like paradise! tell max congrats on his 5th title for us!!

December, 2025

The warm ocean breeze fluttered through the wide open doors of the villa behind you as the bright December sun heated your skin where you laid on a lounge chair. Next to you, Max was sprawled out on on the chair next to you, snoring softly as he took what you thought might just be his third nap of the day.

Ever since the pair of you had arrived in Mexico a few days ago, you hand’t done much beyond sleep, eat, and fuck. The 2025 season had been the most stressful, chaotic, out of control season Max had ever had and while he had managed to clinch the championship on in Abu Dhabi from Lando, but it had been a difficult ride to get there. So when Christmas had been celebrated and you had jumped on the jet to fly from Monaco over to Mexico, you couldn’t help but continually breathe a sigh of relief.

The fight had truly weighed on Max, the hollows underneath his eyes growing more and more prominent as the race weeks ticked by. The only relief he had gotten had been your midseason trip to Thailand when he had proposed. When Jensen had asked him what had gotten him through the difficult second half of the season during an interview after he won the championship, his immediate answer had simply been you.

Much to the disappointment of your fans, you had decided to really ramp down the amount of travel and work you had done following the summer break. Max had been resident at first, not even wanting to entertain he conversation at first when you had brought it up shortly after it had been decided you were going to elope. He didn’t want to even think of you putting your career on hold for him, to take care of him, to follow him. Not because he didn’t want you around. It was the exact opposite. Just the thought of you spending more time traveling with him instead of the insane schedule you’d been keeping over the last year had relief flooding through him. While he was tired from his schedule and the pressure of winning a 5th consecutive world title, he knew you were tired too. There were many times you both went weeks without setting foot in your shared apartment and sometimes you’d go weeks between seeing each other too.

No, it wasn’t because he didn’t want you around. It was because he didn’t want you to resent him one day down the line that you had given up your career for him. He couldn’t bare the thought of being the cause of any resentment or heartache for you and despite how much he wanted you by his side every possible moment.

In the end, reason had won out as you had explained that you weren’t taking a break because of him. He was certainly part of it, but like him, you were exhausted. You reminded Max of Brazil last year, how you had slept for so long the day after the race there that Max had postponed your flights home for another week he was so worried about you getting sick.

You had done a few interviews since the engagement, mostly with people in the motorsport world: Susie and Toto Wolff, Natalie Pinkham, and of course Lewis being your biggest interviews. In addition, you had done some post race interviews and coverage for F1TV, which allowed you to have even more of a reason to be in the paddock week in and week out. You weren’t sure where your podcast was going in the future, but for now, you were content with the schedule and where you were professionally, despite what some of your critics might be whispering.

All of this works through your mind as Max begins to stir beside you. His eyes blink open eventually and when they do, they immediately find you. “Hi baby.” He whispers, voice rough with sleep.

“Good morning, sleepy head.” You grin, setting your book down beside you as Max rolls over onto his side, creating some space for you on the oversized lounge chair, beckoning you to join him.

As you snuggle deeper into his chest, Max slots his thigh between your legs and slips his top arm over your waist, pulling you closer. “You looked deep in thought. Everything okay?” He murmurs before his lips ghost over your cheek.

“Hmmm, of course. Just thinking about this year and how good it feels to just breathe.”

Max could tell when you got in one of your thinking moods just by the way your body language shifted. In those few moments between when he had woken up and you had noticed his eyes open, he had watched you staring out over the villa’s lawn. Your shoulders were relaxed, the usual pinch between your brows completely absent and with legs crossed at your ankles as you read your book, you had looked the picture of relaxed.

“You still feeling okay about tomorrow?”

Just the thought of what tomorrow would bring made your heart rate pitch up a bit. The first morning after your arrival, you and Max had gone over to the concierge in the main reception building to tell them of your plans for an elopement. They had, of course, been ecstatic and ready to help you in whatever way you wanted. After a few hours of discussion, you had everything planned and the concierge snapped into action.

“I am…unless you’re not?” It occurs to you that Max has been awfully quiet this morning, a soft reflective mood taking over his usual energetic attitude and suddenly, anxiety pinches in your chest. You desperately search Max’s face for any sign of hesitation or regret, not knowing what you’d do if he suddenly got cold feet before tomorrow.

Max shakes his head before pulling you even closer, fingers digging into the bare flesh of your hip, covered only by the little string of your bikini that you’ve been living in since you got here. “Lifeje, stop that. You know I would have married you the moment after I proposed to you months ago.”

Something settles in you at his words, having just needed that little bit of reassurance from him. As hard as you tired and as much as Max made sure to never leave any doubt in your mind that he was all in with you, you sometimes still found your anxiety getting the best of you. Scenarios about how Max was having second thoughts, how he didn’t really want to marry you, how this was all in your head sometimes ran rampant in your head. You were getting better at controlling them, especially after he had proposed but that was the funny thing about anxiety, you couldn’t always control it.

“I know.” You whisper, fingers trailing up and down his toned arm that was wrapped around you tightly.

“Anxiety?” It was almost spooky how well Max could read you from just a shift in your tone of voice. All you could do was nod, suddenly feeling silly. Max rolled his hips into yours, pulling your lower half closer. “Do you feel what you do to me?” He asked, pressing his already half hard cock into your center. “Do you feel what you do to me just laying here? All you have to do is look at me and I’m a goner. There isn’t a single second thought in my mind, love.”

“I’m sorry I’m hard to love sometimes.” Tears prick at the corner of your eyes as Max lifts your chin so he can have a better look at you. “I’m sorry you have to constantly reassure me despite not giving me any reason to doubt you. I know it can’t be easy.”

You had spent most of your adult life being told how difficult you were to love. How hard it was to deal with the constant reassurance you needed when the anxiety crept in, telling you you weren’t good enough. It was unnerving sometimes when Max loved you so easily and effortlessly because how did he find it so easy to do when no one else before him had?

Max pulls back so he can get a good look in those pretty eyes of yours. It made him rage internally knowing how insecure you were. Not because he faulted you. Oh, absolutely not. He raged at the people that made you feel like you were inferior and hard to love because that was something that he simply didn’t see. Loving you and being with you was the easiest thing he’d ever done in his life.

“I want you to listen to me, okay?” He waits, brows raised, until you nod. “I will gladly spend the rest of my life telling you how much I worship you whenever and however you need or want me to. When I take those vows tomorrow, I mean it with every bit of my soul, schatje. For worse or better, you’re mine and I’m yours from tomorrow on, okay? You are not hard to love and I am so lucky I get the privilege of telling you every single day how much I love you.”

Your mind settles a bit at his words as you let the sensation of having Max so close to you wash over your anxious nerves. “How did I get so lucky to have you?”

“Oh, sweet girl it’s not you that’s lucky.” Max leans in, pressing a kiss to your lips as you sigh into him. “I’m the lucky one that somehow coincided you to love me back.”

There were only two people in your lives besides you and Max that knew what you two were really doing in Mexico. GP because Max was physically incapable of keeping anything from his race engineer and your assistant Shannon. GP had called Max out on his sudden change in demeanor in Italy after the decision to elope had been made, asking Max what had happened in the previous 12 hours to make him not so grumpy when he showed up to the track that morning. Max being a terrible liar when it came to GP had been unable to think quick enough to come up with an excuse and when he had simply looked at GP with a deer in the headlights look, he had fessed up and spilled the beans. When you had found out that Max had told GP you had sworn the race engineer to total secrecy, telling him you’d cut off a very important body part of his if it got leaked.

Shannon was the other person that knew and it was only because you had needed help with choosing and figuring out how to sneakily order, tailor, and pack a wedding gown without anyone getting wind of it. You knew if the paparazzi had caught sight of you leaving a bridal boutique with a dress in hand nearly a year before you had told everyone else that you were planning on getting married, people would talk. So, with Max’s approval, you had enlisted the help of your personal assistant who had honestly turned into one of your closest friends over the time that she had worked with you.

It had been Shannon that helped you choose the dress that you wore the morning you married Max, the white lace clinging to every curve and valley of your body. It was just going to be the two of you, the officiant, and the photographer there and the utter quiet and simplicity of getting ready in complete silence and peace was something you would cherish for the rest of your life. Max had left the villa about an hour ago, telling you he had a few errands to run before the officiant would turn up for the ceremony. What kind of errands could he be doing in the middle of a luxury resort in the middle of the Mexican jungle, you had no idea but you hadn’t asked any questions because you wanted the time alone to get ready.

You’re just slipping on the second thin strap up over your shoulder when there’s a knock at the villa door moments before it swings open. Max comes bustling in, wearing the khaki pants and white linen shirt you had chosen for the beach nuptials. He’s got a fresh haircut and shaved face, his bright blue eyes looking for you the moment he walks in the door. In his hand dangles a little black bag with silver ties that doesn’t look big enough to hold much more than a small box or two.

“Lifeje, where are -” Max stops in his tracks when you round the corner out of the bedroom and he sees you for the first time. His hand goes straight to his sternum, rubbing at the place that is suddenly aching at the mere sight of you. He had thought he’d been prepared to see you in your wedding dress but what he saw in front of him made every coherent thought tumble right out of his head. If he had thought you were the prettiest woman he’d ever seen before, seeing you standing there before him in the white lace dress with it’s plunging neckline and fabric clinging to your every curve, just confirmed that he was the luckiest person in the entire world. “Christ.” He whispers, unable to move from the spot he’s rooted to.

You let out a little uncertain giggle, tucking a piece of hair that you had left out of the sleek low bun you had styled your hair in for the day behind your ear. “Do I look okay?”

Max finds the ability to move then, crossing the room in just a few strides, suddenly needing nothing more than to touch you. He had to know what that lace felt like under his fingers, had to know if your skin looked as radiant up close as it did when he had first walked into the villa.

“I am so glad I wrote my vows down because there is no way I’m remembering anything while I look at you.” He croaks, voice becoming totally unreliable with emotion just seeing you dressed like this solely for him brings up. “I’ve never seen anyone more beautiful in my entire life, schatje. ”

And it was the truth. Max had never seen anyone as gorgeous as you were standing there in that white dress, veil tucked into the top of your bun so it cascaded down over your shoulders. The dress pools at your feet and dips low in the back, showing off the tanned and toned body you work so hard for. At your ears wink the diamonds Max had gotten you for Christmas just a week earlier. A diamond and sapphire necklace set in platinum sits at your throat, also a gift from Max for your one year anniversary earlier in the year. Seeing you wearing the jewels that he’s bought for you does something to Max, a possessive streak proudly zipping through him at the thought of you dripping in expensive baubles that he’s bought you.

“What’s in the bag?” You ask as Max settles his hands low on your hips, still checking you out with absolutely no shame whatsoever.

He seems to remember that there’s something else in the room other than you then, holding the bag out to you with a sly grin on his face. “I know we said our wedding bands were going to be our presents to each other but I saw this the other day when we were out shopping in that little jewelry store and had to go back to get it.”

You raise a brow but know better than to argue about Max spoiling you. It’s a lost cause at this point and you settled for just accepting the pretty things he liked to give you simply because he loved seeing you in them a long time ago. You take the bag from his hands and reaching in, you pull out a long, slender velvet box.

When you open the box, you barely stifle a gasp at the delicate bracelet sitting on the black satin. It’s the diamond and pearl tennis bracelet set in platinum that you had casually looked at yesterday when you and Max had gone into town to do some shopping and had mentioned in an off handed comment that you had liked how the pearls and diamonds worked so well together, although you had ultimately decided not to get it because of the price tag and the fact that you thought you’d never have anywhere to wear it.

“Max.” You whisper, gaze darting up from the box to Max’s own eager look. “It’s…it’s so pretty I don’t have the words. You spoil me.”

“And I’m going to continue to spoil you for the rest of our lives, lifeje. Now, can I put it on you so you can be dripping in diamonds for our wedding day, please?”

You laugh a little, somehow unsure of how you got this lucky to be here in Mexico marrying the man that literally worships the ground you walk on.

“Now, I understand that you both have written your vows for each other. Max, would you like to go first?”

Later that afternoon, the two of you stand barefoot on the beach, a gentle breeze teasing the veil at the back of your head, while the officiant the hotel recommended stands before you. The atmosphere could not be more perfect. The sun hangs low in the sky, sunset just an hour or two away so the golden rays cascade over you and Max. Behind you, the photographer you hired snaps discreetly away. The fact that it’s just the four of you on the beach witnessing this could not have been more perfect.

Max stands opposite you, large hands swallowing your smaller ones, and takes a deep breath. You can see the emotion playing plainly on his face and know he’s going to have a hard time getting through these words. For the outside world, Max Verstappen is a hardened competitor that takes no shit and will do anything to win. But here? On the beach with just you and 2 others as he professes his love and adoration to you, he’s as soft as kitten and almost more emotional than you are.

He couldn’t have been happier at his decision to write down the words to his vows because the emotions that swirled in him then, as he stands there looking at you in your wedding dress is so overwhelming he can barely put together a coherent thought. Here he was, the man that has won five world championships and zips around a race track at 200 miles per hour regularly, completely unable to speak he’s so happy.

The paper is a bit crumpled when he pulls it out of the pocket of his khakis but it’s fine all the same. He clears his throat nervously and then begins. “When Melissa suggested I go on your podcast, she said it would be an amazing PR opportunity for me. I think I told her no five times but on that sixth time, I agreed because GP said he thought I’d like you and then he sent me that interview. And then I walked into that studio on that cold, rainy April and have never thanked GP and Melissa so fast. That first time I saw you, I felt my entire world shift beneath my feet. Having the childhood I did ruined the idea of love for me for most of my life but the moment you waltzed into my life, schatje, I knew that you were going to show me how wrong I’d been. I love you endlessly and will forever be thankful that you’ve shown me what the meaning of real, true, unconditional love is.” Max takes a breath, swiping at an errant tear that falls down his cheek.

Across from him, you grip at his hands, desperately trying to commit this entire moment to memory. You’re endlessly glad you both had written your vows so you’d be able to look back and remember what was said today on this beach.

“I promise to love, honor, cherish, and spoil you,” He pauses when you chuckle and roll your eyes, but just squeezes your hand before continuing on. “Whatever you need, you’ll have. Whatever you want, it’s yours. I promise to spend the rest of my life making sure you never want for anything ever again, both material wants but also emotional wants. You are my number one priority from here on out and I vow to never ever stop living up to these promises. I never believed in soulmates until I saw you for the first time and words can’t accurately describe how much I love you. Having the title of your husband is worth a million and one world champion titles and I promise to spend the rest of my days proving that to you.”

The emotions ripple over you as Max concludes his vows. The officiant turns to you, dipping his head to let you know it’s now your turn. Max squeezes your hands together and you drown in the watercolor blue eyes looking back at you for a moment.

“I stopped believing in soulmates a long time ago. That is until you walked into that recording studio and looked at me like you’d known me for our entire lives. I tried so hard not to get ahead of myself for so long, but it was that first time you flew me down to Miami two weeks after meeting you that I knew. I knew that you were it for me, that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you. We’ve been through so much in such a short time and I know there are so many people that are going to think we’re criminally insane for doing this. But it’s nearly impossible to put into words what you’ve done to my soul in such a short time, Max. I know it’s beyond cliche but you’ve altered who I am at my very core. I’ve never been with someone so unwaveringly supportive of everything that I am and everything that I do.” You draw in a shaky breath then, needing a moment before you can make the rest of your words materialize.

“I promise to love you so unconditionally and strongly for the rest of my life. I promise to be by your side during the highs and lows of your career, on and off the track. The life we live is so fast and so difficult sometimes but just knowing that you’re on the other side of that plane ride, waiting for me to come home to you, makes everything we do worth it. I promise to give you whatever you need no matter how difficult it may be. You are my life now and I will spend the rest of my life showing up for you. Soulmates are real and you’re mine. I’m so thankful that I found you, Max. I love you.”

A quiet settles between you and Max then, the vows cementing the bond you’ve been building since that first day in the recording studio. The officiant and photographer seem to sense it too, their soft smiles playing on their lips as they give the vows that were just exchanged a chance to sink in for each of you.

Rings are exchanged and before you’re able to get a handle on things, the officiant declares you and Max husband and wife. The feeling of sheer relief and excitement washes over both you and Max as you’re told to seal the vows with a kiss. And what a kiss it is. Max pours his entire soul into the first kiss he shares with you as your husband. Everything he said in his vows being repeated by the way his lips cover yours, working over your mouth in such a way that has your knees buckling.

“I love you so much, wife.” Max murmurs against your lips just before breaking the first of many kisses between husband and wife.

maxverstappen1 posted

1,309,292 likes liked by yourpersonalinsta, redbullracing, assistant shannon, and others maxverstappen1 she's stuck with me forever now danielricciardo EXCUSE ME BUT WHAT THE FUCK user028 did they ELOPE??? Without telling ANYONE??? OH MY GOD??? HELLO??? user448 somehow, this feels very on brand for the both of them >>>user432 i was just thinking the same thing. charlesleclerc I'm sorry, WHAT??? yourpersonalinsta love you, husband >>>user0299 oh my god, i cannot be normal about this landonorris kinda heartbroken I didn't get to be the flower boy, ngl >>>user998 this is such a lando comment oscarpiastri wow! didn't even know you were engaged! congrats. man! >>>user332 why is this the most Oscar Piastri comment I've ever read??? >>>user948 HAHA OSCAR

yourpersonalinsta posted

1,029,398 likes liked by yourdad, maxverstappen1, assistantshannon, and others yourpersonalinsta wife>>>fiance user0298 the HAND PLACEMENT in that last photo. Max, my maaaan. user918 they eloped and didn't tell a single soul. i fucking love this so hard. kikagomes OH. MY. GOD. Congratulations gorgeous girl!!! >>>yourpersonalinsta love you pretty girl! user8892 my man wins his 5th world championship and then gets married in secret, max is winning at life rn assistantshannon so happy for you boss lady. you and max deserve the world. love you!!! >>>yourpersonalinsa so thankful i had your help with this, sweet girl. user827 are we just going to ignore the TATTOO on Max's wrist??? HER??? >>>user0291 oh my god oh my god

tag list: @shelbyteller @formulaal @martygraciesversion381 @longhairkoo @samantha-chicago @dark-night-sky-99 @luckylampzonkland

#f1 #formula 1 #max verstappen #f1 fanfic #f1 imagine #f1 x reader #max verstappen x reader #max verstappen x you #max verstappen fic #max verstappen fanfic #max verstappen imagine #max verstappen fluff

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elftwink · 6 months ago

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going to say something about writing that is not a complaint and i know it sounds exactly like someone complaining but the conclusion i have drawn is that this rules. preface over am currently "working on" (in the most generous, nebulous sense possible) an original fantasy story & i just keep finding more stuff about the world i need to decide because it feels extremely formative to me even though it will barely appear on the page, if at all

but like... just the sheer volume of communication irl that happens symbolically that you never question becomes so apparent when you try to create a world that doesn't have those things or doesn't have the conditions for such a thing to be created. writing a character wearing a wedding ring and then going wait a minute— would these people communicate marital status via ring placement? why do we do that irl? when did we start? surely thats not the only way people ever communicate marriage— what does everyone else do? and really, come to think of it, what does it mean to be 'married' in this fictional world i'm creating? is there a legal component or just a social one? should it have all the same connotations/obligations as the real world (e.g. monogamy, having children, romantic love, impact on finances, etc)?

you can do this with literally Everything In The World. what language is everyone speaking? is it the same one? how many languages are there in the region i'm writing about? is the language we're speaking anyone's second language? when did they learn? is bilingualism common? and where does everyone here live? speaking of living, is that a permanent dwelling situation or are people nomadic? what's the climate like? are all the characters here used to the climate or is someone used to ten degrees cooler and kind of short tempered because of it? the clothes are probably impacted by the weather, what's everyone wearing? what's it made out of? what would be around here that could be used for dye? help me i have a case of worldbuilders disease and its incurable. these motherfuckers are never going to finish this journey because i cant even get them on the page long enough to pack a cart. also would they use carts? when did we start having cart and carriages pulled on roads irl? if there's roads, who's maintaining them— or is it just the path from years of people travelling that way? does the terrain allow for wheeled vehicles or would some other way be better?

anyway. you may call all this a waste of time and "not technically writing" since i "havent written any prose". i think im just slow cooking this novel. oooooh im thinking about it so much. you just wait when im like 56 im going to knock your socks right off with my intricate detailed world where i thought about everything except whatever element of society you understand most deeply. that part i fucked up and clearly didn't know anything about. sorry

#trying to make a couple basic words so i can derive names from them. so hard. SO hard. extremely doesnt matter #but also l*ghtlark has now turned me deeply against the 'generic noun' sort of fantasy naming conventions #[muttering under my breath] starstick... wildlings... moonling. sunling. the fuckin... bondbreaker #so i have to do SOMETHING. some effort into fantasy naming. things i actually thought about and didnt use a random generator for lol #good idea generator

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fanfic-obsessed · 1 year ago

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Fundemental Cultural Misunderstanding

Can I just say that there is so much humor potential in Star as far as cultural misunderstandings go.

Try this AU on for size.

-Note:Though it is not necessary for this idea, it is important to me for you to know that in this world Anakin did not slaughter the Tuskens. He reached Shimi in time to save her and his focus was getting her to safety. Thus his relationship with Padme is much healthier.-

Anakin on a fundamental, and somewhat deliberate, level misunderstands some parts of Jedi culture. He believes that Jedi cannot get married. In this world, this is not true.

Marriage in this Jedi culture includes a marriage bond between all parties that, if not set up correctly, can do a fair amount of damage (and even when set up correctly doesn’t provide more than a sense of the other person's physical condition and emotions; rarely bonded might be compatible enough that that they can track each other through the bond). This is particularly true if one of the parties is not Force sensitive, or one of the parties is particularly Force Sensitive. So there is a lot of pomp and ceremony around getting married in the Jedi tradition to make sure the bond is correctly set up. Also consent is such a large portion of Jedi culture, so extra pains are taken to make sure non force sensitives understand what such a bond might mean…to the point where it freaks out most non force sensitives. This all culminates in, by the time of the prequels, most Jedi just don’t get married.

-It should also be noted that marriage as a legal institution and marriage as a cultural institution are actually two very different things, though they are often conflated. Marriage as a legal institution means absolutely nothing to Jedi, and in fact many cultures, because the rights granted by the legal institution of marriage either don’t apply to Jedi or are covered by other Jedi related laws.-

This is also misunderstood by the Galaxy at large. Also, because of this misunderstanding most cultures do not discuss their marriage customs with Jedi, sure it might come up organically but no one thinks that this is a cultural norm that the Jedi need to know. Which means as much as the Galaxy misunderstands the Jedi’s marriage customs, the Jedi misunderstand most other cultures' marriage customs as well. In fact the Jedi, through generations of a benign misunderstanding, believe that most cultures will not discuss their marriage customs with Jedi, so all they can go on is their own observations.

Picture if you will, little padawans vibrating their way into the Archives, up to the nearest archivist, who drops everything because the little Padawan wants to report that they ATTENDED A WEDDING.

This leads to the archives being chock full of conflicting information about the various marriage customs throughout the galaxy, because anything that happens at a wedding now becomes a TRADITION of that planet, even things might be just a preference of the people marrying, or even a happenstance. The Jedi have all collectively agreed that they are just gonna roll with it, no matter how strange the custom or if it contradicts anything else (It is not like they can get information directly from the source after all).

Now when Anakin got married to Padme, he thought that Jedi cannot marry. He thinks that his elopement would have to be a secret. He does not realize that he broadcasted his joy at marrying Padme to every Force Sensitive in the galaxy (no seriously, there are Force Sensitives on planets that don’t even have space flight yet, on the other side of the galaxy that felt an abrupt and incomprehensible wave of utter joy-some of those were physiologically incapable of feeling joy like near humans and had to lay down for a while). Also, not that he realized it, the part of his Force Signature (which Jedi are taught in the creche how to read) that deals with identity flashed with the equivalent neon lighted dashboard in Times Square that he was ‘Mr. Padme Naberrie’ from that point forward.

So when Anakin leaves on a mission, unmarried, and comes back very married, but clearly hiding it, it is quickly noticed. But no one thinks that it is Anakin who does not trust them. Of course not, he is family. They decide that this must be some heretofore unknown Naboo marriage TRADITION, elopement followed by hiding the marriage.

No one, not a single jedi in 10,000, thought to ask Anakin directly.

Several Archivists promptly write some very well written papers on this tradition, and how it fits into their other knowledge, basically filling in the gaps to create a tradition out of whole cloth (even though they are acting in earnest).

The war still starts, with all that entrails. But every Jedi knows about Anakin’s ‘secret’ marriage. The little ones all giggle about it. Most are eagerly waiting for the tradition of hiding to be complete, because surely ‘The Man Without Fear’ and his wife would also want to marry in the Jedi tradition. There was so little to be excited about these days that everyone bought into this notion, even those that had long decided they would not go through the process of the Jedi Marriage.

The children in the creche insist on making decorations for the eventual Jedi Wedding. In fact there were multiple sets of decorations, depending on where the happy couple wanted the ceremony performed. Just rooms and rooms of decorations and drawings and artwork of all kinds.

The High Council, including Obi wan, started researching to make sure they knew all the steps and traditions for the Wedding backwards and forwards whenever they had the chance. The last time a Jedi Wedding had been performed was 200 years earlier and enough had happened since that even those who were alive during that time were a bit fuzzy on the details. They wanted to be ready to support Anakin and Padme in any way possible. Padme’s biometrics are quietly added to the Temple’s banks; ready to be activated as soon as the couple is ready. A plan is put together so that Padme can be quickly evacuated if there was an active threat against Anakin specifically, or Jedi adjacent beings in general.

And the Archivists are practically having duels to see who would get to speak to the happy couple once the period of hiding is done. There is hope throughout the archives that maybe, if they ask really nicely, Padme would be willing to answer a few questions on Naboo marriage traditions (All the Archivists want to learn so badly, all they want to do is be able to learn. Can they please learn).

Perhaps if it had gone on much longer someone would have cottoned on to how stressed this secret was making Anakin. Maybe not. Perhaps this world still could have ended in unimaginable tragedy.

Perhaps in another world like this. In this world, we look to humor instead of horror.

A little over a year into the war several of the youngling clans, ages ranging from about 4-6, got to go on a tour of the Senate. One of the younglings (Age 4, species was Sabetue and was genderless) got separated and couldn’t find a clone guard or anyone they recognized. They were wandering and scared, but somehow made it up to the level where Padme’s office is. And the Youngling recognized Padme’s Force signature as Master Skywalker’s wife, so they knew they would be safe with her.

So now Padme has a small Jedi child in her office. Thankfully she was not in a meeting. She manages to get a hold of the Guard, who send up two of creche masters, who had been beside themselves with worry. While in her office the child said things that made it clear that the child knew about Padme’s marriage to Anakin and how they couldn’t wait to see how pretty she would be in the Jedi Wedding. One of the Crechemasters very gently reminded the child that Anakin and Padme might decide not to get married in the Jedi Tradition, that it had to be their choice and followed up with:

“And if we forced them…”

The child piped back with a solemn “we would be meanies”

One of the creche masters brought the child back down to the group while the other remained behind. First to thank Padme for finding their lost child. Then also to apologize for the child breaking the Hiding Tradition, expressing a hope that this would not have any negative impact on Padme’s marriage.

The Crechmaster seemed so proud at saying ‘Hiding Tradition’ that Padme did not have the heart to tell them that she had no idea what they were talking about (they are very proud of remembering what the Archivists were calling this tradition). They continue to have a brief conversation where Padme learned a number of things:

The Jedi, every single one of them, knew about Padme’s marriage.

They are all, every single one of them, actively supportive instead of the at best disapproving she thought they would be.

The Jedi somehow believe that Padme and Anakin are hiding their marriage over a Naboo Tradition

There are rooms full of crafts created specifically to decorate for her wedding in the Jedi Tradition created by hordes of earnest younglings.

The Jedi are very into consent.

Anakin is not due back on Coruscant for another week, and during that week Padme made discrete inquiries (oddly enough these are actually discrete) that told her nothing important about what was going on and driving her to distraction. So Anakin comes back to Padme nearly screaming at him ‘Why do the Jedi think we are hiding our marriage over a Naboo tradition?’

Anakin very much does not know but suggests that they ask the Chancellor (Anakin has very much been conditioned by the Chancellor to turn to him first in any instance of confusion).

Padme stares at him for a moment, tells him that is a stupid idea and to call Obi Wan.

Anakin does not want to call Obi Wan. He does not want to tell Obi Wan about their marriage and get in trouble.

Padme stares at him with the dead eyes of someone dealing with too much ridiculous information at once, then says ‘Call Kenobi’.

Anakin obeys.

Obi Wan comes over, they all sit down and Padme very calmly tells Obi Wan that she and Anakin are married. Obi Wan immediately begins radiating blinding excitement. He congratulates them and starts to ask about having a Jedi wedding before deflating again and asking if not pretending he was surprised would ruin anything. He offers to go out and they can do it again, he can pretend to be shocked.

Padme reassures him. Anakin starts to express his surprised (in a way that would have made it really clear about why he was hiding his marriage) but Padme quickly interrupts him, asking about Jedi Wedding traditions and lets Obi Wan ramble really happily about the research that the High Council had been doing to make sure they can recreate those traditions if Padme and Anakin want.

Obi Wan leaves with a promise that Padme and Anakin would come to speak with the High Council to make sure all the legalities (making sure everything is set up so that Padme can come and go as she pleases at the temple, and have a login to access the Archives, and would it be possible for her to come in for a baseline check up so that medical their records are up to date) are taken care of. As soon he is gone Padme grabs Anakin by the collar and goes ‘we can never tell them’

Anakin goes ‘what?’

‘We can never tell the Jedi why we were hiding our marriage. I’ll contact my parents as soon as it is morning on Naboo. They can back us up. We can say it is an old family tradition to hide the marriage for the first year. It isn’t used much, but after being in the public eye and with the War I was feeling superstitious, ok?’

Anakin goes ‘What, Why?’

Padme shakes at the arm in her hand, ‘telling the other Jedi that you didn’t trust them with your marriage would break their hearts. Do you want to be the reason small children are crying?’

Anakin looked far too considering for Padme's piece of mind, and what little sanity she had left.

‘Let me put it this way, do you want to be what finally break’s Obi wan’s heart? That man was vibrating with excitement to celebrate our wedding so hard I could feel in the Force.’

Anakin deflated, ‘Oh. No.’

Padme’s parents laugh their ass off that she needs to create a long held family tradition because she doesn’t want to admit to the Jedi that she had thought they would react badly to her marriage. They agree to do it.

Twenty four years later Obi Wan helps Leia Naberrie meet up with Han Solo in order to Elope in the long held family tradition (Bringing with them only R2 to follow the actual tradition closer than they realize). Obi Wan very carefully leaves before Han arrives, so that he can truthfully say he does not know that they eloped.

Leia’s twin Luke does not need to elope, as he followed his Uncle Obi Wan into the Jedi (an unrelated note he also followed Obi Wan into the mindset of ‘Why Monogamy when Harems naturally occur’-From that day the war ends Obi Wan has no less than three clones with him at all times; he also appears to have a lover, a friend, or an antagonist that he has weirdly sexual dialogue with on every planet he visits. Or Hondo Ohnaka, who has a category all his own. The years that Boba Fett comes to the holiday meals as one of Luke’s plus 6’s-He couldn't choose just one and no one would think of making him- are among the most awkward of most of their lives.)

#star wars #star wars the clone wars #fanfiction prompt #star wars au #obi wan kenobi #anakin skywalker #codywan #bamf obi wan #no order 66 #Obi Wan has a Harem #the clone wars #The Clones Love Obi WAn #anidala #Anakin does not go to the Darkside #elopement

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georgiapeach30513 · 1 year ago

Text

Much Too Fast, Part 2

Summary: Curtis explains everything, but that doesn't mean it changes anything

Pairings: Curtis Everett X Reader

Rating: mature

Warnings: explicit language, mentions of divorce, mentions of abortion, mentions of sex, 18+ ONLY

Word Count: 4K

Series Masterlist

*dividers created by @firefly-graphics

“Thatta girl,” Curtis repeats. His voice sounds as smooth as he did last night as he kissed over your shoulders. You tap your fingers on your arm aggressively, just to show him how irritated you are, but he grins. An irritatingly sexy grin. He is married. And you’re not falling for his mysterious charm. Nope. Already made that mistake once.

“I am waiting,” you spit out, and Curtis looks over to his daughter, and the baby gives him a snaggle toothed grin. Her chubby cheeks push against her eyes as she gazes up at her daddy. This shouldn’t be cute, but it is. It’s adorable. Even Curtis’ lines on his forehead as he gives her a sweet smile back. He loved being a father.

Looking away didn’t fare well either. Pictures of him and the baby were everywhere. She wasn’t even a year old, but Tati and Curtis made sure that at least the living room was decorated in pictures of him and Poet. Most didn’t have Tati in them, and that strikes you as odd. He loves that baby girl, but Tati wasn’t present. Looking around there was not a single picture of her. It was all Curtis and his daughter.

“Didn’t take you long,” he mumbles, playing with a faint tan line of his missing wedding band. “Tati and I are complicated.”

“Well, since I’ve had you inside of me I think I deserve some explanation,” you didn’t care that things were complicated. Legally he was in fact married.

Curtis knows you’re right. But saying it out loud confirms what he knew when he found out about the pregnancy. There was only one person he was candid with this about, and it wasn’t Tati.

“So…she’s your sugar mama?” Curtis cocks up his eyebrow as he looks at you, and you hear a whispered cadence of mama from Poet. “I mean she’s the one that’s running a business. And she hired me, you’re a mechanic,” flicking your eyes up, you look around the immaculate living room. “There’s a pool house. So…you…you were her breeding tool?”

“My daughter’s in the room,” Curtis chuckles at your low blow. You are making excuses to not like him.

“I’m sorry, Poe,” the baby crawls over to the end of the fence, standing up to gnaw on the edge. “I’m just trying to understand.”

“I get it. You think I’m a poor mechanic, and that my ‘wife’ paid for this house because I agreed to knock her up.”

“Why are you doing that?” You put up your own air quote, scowling at him, “Your ‘wife’. What does that even mean? You were inside me!”

“Yes, we’ve established that I was giving it to you good. She’s my wife by marriage only.”

“I hate you. I’m leaving. I’m sorry,” of course she was his wife by marriage. What the fuck did that even mean? They were married, therefore she was the wife. He was over complicating something, and it pissed you off.

“Sit down,” his voice changes. Softening, pleading you to hear him out, but he was going nowhere. “Please. I know this doesn’t make sense. Tati was my best friend. My best…friend with benefits.”

“Oh god. You’re….all you care about is sex.”

“I have been friends with her since grade school. Rich girl and the boy from the wrong side of the tracks. But we just got each other. She…there’s things I can’t talk about because I’m not even sure. But we got careless, and she got pregnant. Her parents are stupid religious, and she was…sh-sh-she wanted to abort our baby, and not tell her parents. I always wanted to be a dad. And I would have supported her, but…Poet is my life.”

“Dada,” the baby whispers. Crawling over to a stuffed teddy bear before lifting it up for Curtis. She adored him as much as he did her. He takes the bear, holding it in his lap before his daughter smiles, and crawls off again.

“Her parents would have never accepted a baby out of wedlock, so…marriage. We were best friends to fuck buddies, and now parents, so it seemed like the logical step. Things immediately changed. I could see her regretting every decision that led up to that point. And then Poet was born, and I fell immediately. She was everything to me, and Tati loved her enough.”

You gulp. Shaking your head because it just seemed so bizarre. This man who you know would strike fear into someone in a twinkle of the eye was so soft for this tiny little angel that kept looking at him as if to check and see if he was okay. She could sense his distress. They were kindred spirits.

“The older Poet got the more I realized Tati loved her just enough. But she wasn’t her life like she was mine. Tati has never hurt her, and she's never done without, but being a mother I don’t think is for her. I don’t regret asking her to keep Poet. I couldn’t imagine my life without her, but I hate that Tati has to pretend in front of people. Puts on a smile and her bubbliest of bubbly voices. Lying to herself and the world that she wants a baby. And that’s why a nanny was brought up.”

“A babysitter.”

“Sweetheart, she wants you to live in the pool house. She wants you to be the mother figure that she just doesn’t believe she can be, or take the time to be. She’s always busy, and always off.”

“But you’re married,” you felt sympathy about his odd predicament, but the fact of the matter was he was still married, and he had committed adultery.

“Only legally. Tati and I have been separated since Poe was four months old. I moved out of her bedroom, and into the one beside the nursery. I have an apartment, too. I just don’t like being away from this sweet face,” as if on cue, Poet looks up at her daddy giving him a big grin. “We can’t get divorced just yet.”

“Can’t? Or won’t? Curtis, you were…”

“Yes, yes…I was inside of you. You weren’t supposed to be the nanny. You weren’t supposed to meet my daughter. I didn’t even know if I would ever see you again, and if I did I thought I was going to have the chance to explain myself and Tati.”

“When was the last time you had sex with her?” Curtis rolls his eyes. His attention was back on the baby. “That short of a time ago, huh? Great. You’re the man that promises to leave his wife. But really you’re sneaking down the hallway to her bedroom.”

“No, I’m not. Most of the time Poet sleeps with me. I haven’t slept with Tati since before she was born. Things got too real after we got married. And then she was born, and I loved someone more than Tati. She’s not used to that. She’s used to being the center of attention, and I have never made her my priority.”

“So…you don’t love her?”

“I’ve never loved Tati like that, no. I guess it was a means to an end. She’s got her secrets, and she’s not ready to tell her parents. She just continues living her life. She loves Poet. Just — I don’t think she loves her the way she should. She doesn’t want to be a mother.”

“I’m not doing this,” you declare. He is sex on legs. You could still feel the stretch he gave you. But this couldn’t happen. Wouldn’t happen. You had standards, and they were not sleeping with a married man.

“I am asking you to be my daughter’s nanny.”

“Da-da,” Poet draws out. Making grabby hands towards him. She was done with playing, and just wanted him. “Da-da,” when he turns to look at her, she gets the biggest smile. Extending a look over to you, cheesing when her daddy picks her up to sit in his lap.

Poet partially covers her face, still with the sweetest smile, “Pee pie!”

“She’s playing peekaboo with you,” god, why was he sexier with a baby in his lap? Why was this man that was carved by the gods, and every inch of him was all man, and pure sin. But this dainty little baby playing peekaboo with you while her daddy squeezes her squishy feet was doing much more than making you want to say aww.

“Please, be my saving grace again. My daughter needs someone to give her the soft love a mom can.”

“And us?”

“You’re an employee. But…there is a door from my room that walks right to the pool, and the pool house,” you shake your head no. This wasn’t going to work. “Grace? What? Saving Grace, it fits. Why are you being like this?”

“You’re married.”

“Legally. And you’re the one that brought us up. I’m just saying that it doesn’t take long to get to the pool house from my room. And Poe only gets in the bed with me around two in the morning.”

He was serious. Legally. What the fuck did that even mean? You heard his words, but you had standards. You had to stay away from him. “Dada,” Poet looks up at him, and points over to you. “Dada,” making sure that her daddy knew that she was aware of you.

“You can go see her,” sick bastard using a baby to soften your heart, and make you stay. It was working. He smirks as Poet’s chubby little legs scoot her towards you, and crawls into your lap with a smile, and clap before calling out his name again. “You can’t say no to her.”

“But I can say no to you. What happened last night was a mistake. If I stay here this is professional. And you’re just my employer. This is your space when I’m off work. And my space is the pool house. During the day you’re at work, and then I am here. Have I made myself clear?”

“Crystal clear,” his voice almost moans as his eyes look you up and down. You became even more attractive holding his daughter. He is shameless checking you out. You could almost hear the filthy things he was whispering in your ear. Pressing your shoulders down, and face into the mattress as he was fucking you so hard from behind. “And once the divorce is final.”

“You’re still my employer,” you are being bold today. You are pissed. Felt jilted and lied to by Curtis. He could have been honest with you from the beginning. But then you wouldn’t have had the best sex of your life. You wouldn’t have handprint bruises on your legs, and a tender ass. Wouldn’t have your core on fire with every step you make. Your body still could feel him, and was still craving him. It was mean. But you couldn’t go there. Not anymore.

“I need to get some groceries for the house. Poe, do you want to stay with daddy?”

“Yeah. Dada, yeah,” the fact she was a baby, and knew very little words could be dangerous. But no matter what, you weren’t going to fuck Curtis Everett.

“Poet and I could go with you.”

“No. You stay here.”

“I’ll…make us some lunch.”

“I’ll grab some when I’m out.”

“Then I’ll make us some dinner.”

“You can make you and Poet some dinner. I will be eating in the pool house alone. What time do you go to work, Curtis? I’ll make sure I’m over here before you need to leave to take care of the baby,” Curtis’ face falls flat, but he answers you. “If you want to help, you can take my luggage to the pool house.”

That’s not what he wanted to take to the pool house. He wanted to take you from behind. This was cruel. You are being mean. This was going to be a hard arrangement. But it was something he was just going to have to live with. Have to stare at you taking care of his daughter when all he can think about is the honey between your legs.

“Poe?”

“Dada!”

“Daddy needs a hobby. You want to start painting?”

“Aye!” She claps her hands, and Curtis leans down kissing her adorable face. “Dada!”

“I know. Daddy has got himself into trouble. I think with the wrong head.”

“Yep. Ugh,” she grunts, crawling out of his lap.

“You’re not supposed to agree with me, or even know what that means.”

“Yep. Dada.”

“I can wear her down.”

“Nono.”

His face drains of color as he stares at his miniature daughter. She claps her hands again starting to giggle. “Voice of reason, huh?” Curtis should listen to his daughter. Poet was trying to keep him out of trouble. But…she wasn’t even a year old yet.

“Yup.”

“Here, let me help you with that,” a hand grabs the items that you were putting into the back of your car, starting to help you load it. You look up at him, and quickly back into the trunk. No.

Your pussy has already gotten you in trouble once. You would not look at another man lustfully. It didn’t matter if he had striking blue eyes, it was your favorite color. Or the fact that he had tattoos on his hands, you always loved a bad boy. And rings. Those rings would look beautiful covered in your essence. But no. You wouldn’t fall. You just got here, and you wouldn’t look at him or entertain him.

“I don’t think I’ve seen you around. I see everyone,” he sighs, closing your trunk, and noticing the license plate immediately. “Visiting or staying?”

“Currently staying. Thank you for your help. I should really go. I’ve got some unpacking to do,” his fingers tap along the back of your trunk, and you give him a shrug. What was he wanting to ask or get to? Because you preferred someone to the point. Like Curtis. Except the marriage thing.

“Your tires are looking a bit worn.”

“Oh…oh yeah. I just got here this morning. Listen, it’s been a long day,” you gulp feeling Curtis’ breath on your body. Couldn’t believe the prickles moving along your skin remembering his touch. “A long night, and weird morning, and I’ve got to pack up…”

“Don’t ride on those tires too long. If it rains, it may be a bit slick,” clicking his mouth, he gives you a wink, turning to walk away. “The name is Jax by the way,” that name sounds vaguely familiar.

“Listen, you’re new in town, and I don’t want to sound too forward, but you don’t want to start off with just sitting at home. We could hang out.”

“Like a date? And you don’t even know my name.”

“Darling,” stop it. No! “I said hang out. Doesn’t have to be so formal. Just…think about it.”

“How will I get in touch with you?”

“Hand me your phone. I’ll put my name in it,” you are too trusting and you know it, but you hand him your phone anyways. He doesn’t take long to put in his number, making sure to call himself from your phone. “There, you have a good one, darling. Hopefully I’ll hear from you soon.”

“Yeah,” you squeak out. That didn’t sound convincing. You watch him walk through the parking lot enough before getting into your car. “Breathe. You can’t do this. You can not go into old patterns. Looking down at your pants, you give you’re pussy a pep talk; we’re not sleeping with this man. You can go out with him, but you are going to keep your legs closed.”

“Yeah, you’re in some deep shit,” Jax smiles over at Curtis, who continues to work on the car. “You’ve got this fine as hell girl that you fucked hard one night. And now you’ve got her living with Tati. And your breeding kink gets to watch this fine piece of ass hold your daughter. Had Tati even shown even a slightest bit of mothering towards Poet, you wouldn’t be getting a divorce.”

“Yeah, I would,” Jax raises an eyebrow, but Curtis shakes his head. “Forget about it.”

“So what are you going to do with your problem?”

“It’s not a problem,” he grunts, wiping his hands off on a rag. “She’s scared. Rightfully so. I show up as Tati’s husband with a kid I failed to mention.”

“You were just fucking. Why would you bring up a kid or your wife that you haven’t had sex with in over a year? Literally papers are drawn up, you’re just waiting on her to admit to her parents that the marriage was a mistake, and she only got married because she got pregnant out of wedlock, and you wanted the baby, and she can’t stand to disappoint you. Now she feels smothered and trapped for being a mother, and being married to you. To the point you two are no longer friends. You’re roommates that shares a crotch goblin.”

Curtis throws a tool at Jax, and his friend grabs his arm where it hit, “This isn’t therapy, and Poet isn’t a crotch goblin. Even you say she’s the most beautiful baby you’ve ever seen.”

“You’re too damn soft. Poe Poe is adorable. Your relationship with her is precious, and while I get what you’re doing with Tati and giving her time to deal with things, remember she’s out there living her life. Traveling while you’re stuck here playing house with the babysitter who made it very clear that you’re not going to get to taste her anymore. All the while you get to watch with a hard cock as she sings to your daughter.”

“I hate you so much,” it was not fun watching you interact with Poet. And even worse was Poet smiling at you. Giggling with you, and ignoring him.

“And I love you, my sweet little ‘Daddy’,” Jax moans, faking an orgasm with a high pitch voice. “You just need that sweet girl to wake you up by bobbing on your dick again.”

“She was a freak, and the…Jax I can’t handle this. I just want to fuck my hand every time I see her. And Poe loves her.”

“Yeah, she probably smelled you on her, and that girl on you. I’m surprised Tati didn’t take note of the smile on your face. I knew that morning when I picked you up that you got to fuck something extra sweet and hard. You, my friend, are predictable. Pussy is pussy.”

“No. Not when you have a kid. Pussy means a potential mother to my baby. What about you, you act like you get laid every night,” Tati did notice. Even congratulated him for finally getting it in with someone.

“I don’t,” Jax walks out of the garage, grabbing a pack of cigarettes, “I did meet a fine piece of ass, and did my helping her put in her groceries bit. She fell for it, and I have a date. Maybe I’ll get to break a bed.”

“I don’t want to hear about it. I don’t want to hear if you got laid, or a kiss or anything else.”

Jax stares at his phone looking at the address that you gave him, shaking his head. “Mother fucker,” he grunts. This night was not going to end the way he hoped. The address was all he needed to know who you were. Curtis’ saving Grace. The same woman his best friend was hung up on.

He wasn’t going to deny you a night out, but he wouldn’t be getting a kiss. Wouldn’t dare think about having sex with you. Curtis meant more to him than some broad, but…he was going to torture Curtis for as long as it took.

His friend had been delaying this divorce for too long. Had been keeping up a friendly face, and hiding something about Tati, Jax just knew it. He didn’t know what it was, probably Tati was already in a steady relationship. Curtis was too old to be this dumb.

He can’t wait to see Curtis’ face though. Jax had already talked up that he could be getting lucky, and now it was you he was picking up. He didn’t know if he needed to head to the main entrance or the pool house. He’d spent his fair share in that house.

The hopes of seeing Curtis were much too high though, and he just has to go to the front door. Has to see the look of his face. Make him wonder and question things. Stew as he takes care of his daughter. Tati’s trip of course had gone longer than two days, and he wonders just how the two of you are navigating the relationship, or lack thereof.

He cracks his knuckles before giving the door a hard knock. Waiting on the glare from Curtis, but instead it’s you with such a pretty smile. Poet on your hip. He isn’t the most interested in this domestic shit, but he gets it. You are radiant. Smiling so big, and then talk to Poet, “We have got to find daddy, because I got to go out for a bit.”

“Nono,” the baby pouts, slapping at your chest softly. Her bottom lip puckers out before she lays her head on your chest, “Nono me.”

“I know. Curtis! Date’s here.”

“I’ll be right — there,” that’s what Jax was looking for. Curtis’ face draining, and his mouth setting in a straight line as he glares at Jax. “Really? This is your date?”

“Well, I’ll see you in the morning. Poe bear, good night sweet baby.”

“Nono. Dada,” yep. Curtis was predictable. Three days. Three days of you keeping things professional, and tending to his daughter, and Curtis was a goner. Any woman that showed Poet the love of a mother would have Curtis eating out of the palm of their hand. But knowing that you could take him so well added to his admiration.

“Dada, Nono.”

“Grace is going out for a bit, baby,” Poet sniffles a bit, and Jax wants to roll his eyes. He could practically see Curtis’ cock twitching in his pants as the baby holds on tighter to you. “Grace will be back. She’s got her a special friend.”

“Dada!” It was cruel. You want to change your mind, and just hold the little baby close to you. She was a doll. The happiest baby you had ever met, and was smart. She had very few words, but you could tell she understood. And right now she was clinging to you.

“Dada, Nono.”

“Curtis,” you pout looking at him. She didn’t understand. She had increasingly become more needy with each day her mother hadn’t returned. You had to make a clean break. It’s what your mother told you was the easiest. Don’t make promises, and extend the goodbye.

“Poet, you want daddy to give you ice cream?”

“Nono!”

“Ice cream with chocolate,” she sniffles, loosening up her grip, and looks over at her daddy. “Come here. Let’s go see daddy, and you and him are going to have ice cream, okay?” She nods her head, but you repeat it again, “Okay?”

“Tay,” her sweet self whispers, reaching for her daddy.

“I guess…” she wasn’t your child so to offer up coming home early if he needed you was silly. The baby needed you, but you needed away from Curtis. “I’ll see you in the morning,” Jax nods his head toward Curtis with a devilish smirk as he leads you to his bike.

Not at all what you were prepared for. Before you can offer to take your car, he looks down at his phone, and you swear you hear him chuckle. “Let’s go, Grace? Where did that come from?”

“It’s silly. He calls me his saving Grace because I rescued him from the side of the road. It’s nothing,” Jax didn’t hear much. But he was going to enjoy torturing his friend.

Even with the threat of, ‘You touch her, and I’ll fucking cut your dick off’ he doens’t care. Curtis is going to have to learn to go after what he wants. Even if Jax has to make him. And a little jealousy might give you a fun time. Time will tell.

Masterlist

Taglist: @tis-thedamn-season @marveloustaylortot @pono-pura-vida @sstan-hoe @missusbarnes-rogers @peaches1958 @seitmai @smile1318 @andydrysdalerogers @cjand10 @midnightramyeoncravings @donutloverxo @whiskeytangofoxtrot555 @bambamwolf87 @kandis-mom @awkwardgiraffe726 @kmc1989

#Much too fast #curtis everett x reader x ari levinson #curtis everett x fem!reader #curtis Everett x y/n #curtis Everett x you #curtis Everett fanfiction #curtis Everett fics #curtis Everett fic #mechanic au #mechanic!curtis everett

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hinacu-arts · 1 year ago

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I made this post almost exactly a year go. Have a sequel

R! Donnie: at least i didn't marry a boy i'd only known for two days

12! April: *snorts sprite out her nose in surprise*

12! Raph: LEO DID WHAT?

R! Donnie: in VEGAS

R! Leo: i dont know why you say it like that, you knew that was on my bucketlist

12! Mikey: you put "marry someone you've known for two days" on your bucketlist?

R! Leo: no! It was "get married in Vegas"

12! Mikey: ohhh

12! Splinter: *puts his head in his hands*

12! Raph, poking 12! Leo: really Leo! I didn't think you had that in you!

12! Leo: i don't! I mean that its not on my list, i could totally do it!

12! Raph: sure

12! Casey: oh thats on my list too!

R! Leo: nice

12! Casey and R! Leo: *fist bump*

R! Donnie: you didn't even get married in Vegas proper! They got married in the Yokai sector

R! Leo: because the Yokai age of adulthood is 16. Duh. We're too young to get married in human Vegas

R! Donnie: neither of you legally exist in either domain!

R! Leo: which is why Vegas was the clear choice for venue!

12! April: why'd you marry someone you'd only known two days?

R! Leo: when you spend 47 hours and 52 minutes straight with a stranger, you really get to know each other

12! April: okay? But still why MARRIAGE

R! Leo: uh, because he's pretty and amazing and likes me back?

12! Donnie: *nods in understanding*

R! Mikey, whispering: he's from a different dimension. He had to go back ASAP

2012: ohhhh

R! Raph: They decided to spend his last few hours in our dimension getting married. They're both sappy lovesick fools and that last hour would not come quick enough. The first half hour was cute but after that it-

R! Leo: ANYWAYS thats the story of how i married Usagi last year!

12! Turtles: USAGI?

12! Mikey, shaking 12! Leo: YOU HAVE A THING FOR USAGI?

12! Leo: NO!

12! Raph: I THOUGHT YOU TWO JUST TOLERATED EACH OTHER

12! Casey: what are we talking about?

12! April: i have no idea

12! Leo: WE DO!

12! Donnie: no no this actually kinda makes sense

12! Turtles: WHAT

R! Leo: its because we're soulmates! A fourtune teller verified it-

R! Donnie: she stole your money is what she did

R! Leo: you're just salty i had the wedding without you guys

R! Donnie: I DESERVED THE BEST MAN SPOT!

R! Leo: I ALREADY PROMISED IT TO APRIL!

R! Donnie: WHEN YOU WERE SIX!

R! Leo: AND I KEEP MY PROMISES!

R! Donnie: YOU WAITED FOR BIG MAMA!

R! Leo: SHE INTRODUCED US! WE HAD TO INVITE HER!

#hinacu tmnt #rottmnt #tmnt 2012 #tmnt crossover #leosagi #leoichi

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me-saw-hoo-dini · 13 days ago

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Okay so some background info on why I made this account to begin with. I started watching the Banana Bus Squad/Vanoss Crew back in 2012 when they were playing Black Ops 2 and then I stopped watching them sometime in 2018 because I had simply lost interest. I still kept up with them when I would hear things (drama, allegations, relationships, children, etc) and then I actually started watching them again in 2023.

I blame Nogla for this because I stg he literally did start all of this (unless I dreamt it. If so I blame dream Nogla CUZ IT WAS SOME NOGLA) but back when I was first watching them there was some early GTA 5 video (IF ANYONE CAN FIND AND LINK ME THIS VIDEO with timestamp if you would be so kind I WILL LITERALLY BE FOREVER GRATEFUL) and Vanoss and Delirious were doing something stupid. From what I remember they were in a yellow industrial vehicle like a cherry picker basket and they were like falling over each other and laughing and in the background you can hear nogla repeatedly calling them gay. Not too long after that Nogla made that fucking “New YouTube Couple: H2OVanoss” skit (https://youtu.be/bT_tq_Xkg34?feature=shared) and I really started thinking about it and ya! Noglas right! These mfers are gay (not fr I’ll get into it at the end)! Anyways that delved into me “pairing” them up with each other and reading fanfics (H2OVanoss, Terrorsnuckel, DathiDeCalibre, and MiniCat. I no longer ship MiniCat ofc cuz MiniLadd can rot in hell and honestly DathiDeCalibre is alright but just kind of fell off for me after lui’s accusations and the 12 years it took for me to find out if they were true or false) I had an account on instagram where I would post about bbs/vc and I made friends with people who also watched them AND also shipped them. Eventually we all grew apart and then like a year after that I stopped watching bbs/vanoss crew.

In March of 2023 I had stopped watching another group of YouTubers I had been watching since 2020 when a Vanoss video was recommended to me. I watched it cuz “holy shit how are these guys doing?” And they were still hilarious like I remembered them to be and I’ve been watching them again since. That also means that I’m back into “haha silly ship” but I thought that the shipping side of this fandom had died cuz if I did see any fanart or fanfics they were from 2015-2020 but then Vanoss uploads his 2024 Christmas GTA 5 video (https://youtu.be/O5QusxUHZ6k?feature=shared) and BAM H2OVanoss moment, the comment section starts freaking out, and I check ao3 later to see if anyone is fast to write a fanfic and my god y’all ARE still writing fanfics! I didn’t see one last night about that video BUT YALL ARE STILL AROUND?? Not only that but one of the fic authors (I didn’t even read it yet I just really like the description and disclaimer) has a tumblr account (WHERE THEY ALSO POST FANART AND VIDEOS) and YOU GUYS ARE ALIVE IVE BEEN LOOKING EVERYWHERE FOR YALL BUT IN THE WRONG PLACES

IVE MISSED BEING HERE I AM SO BACK BABEYYY HIIIII

——————————————————————————

I just wanna clarify the basics before I go since this post and account is mainly going to be about shipping and even tho I’m crazy I’m not THAT crazy. It goes for all irl ships but I’ll mainly be talking about it as if it’s just bbs/vc

1) People ship different things and as long as it’s legal and or isn’t against someone involved’s boundaries idgaf what you ship. There are totally ships that I hate/don’t like of course but I know to avoid them/keep scrolling without saying anything.

2) If the people I ship together are in their own relationships irl I can not stress to you enough how happy I am for them. I love literally everyone’s irl partners like if they’re happy I’m pretty much overjoyed! I LOVE LOVE! If it makes sense to ship a literal irl relationship I do. I cried at Wildcat and Kelly’s wedding photos because I was/am so happy for them and I need Terroriser and Lanai to get married NEOOOOWW!!! (No actual pressure). Even with Delirious and Liz I, once again and even tho I wasn’t even watching him at the time, cried when Delirious announce they were going to have a kid; BOTH TIMES because I was/am so excited and happy for them and even tho they aren’t together anymore I still wish Liz nothing but the best and hope she is doing well. I am never gonna be one of those weirdos going “their irl partner is in the way of my ship” or “how dare you break whoever’s heart” cuz wtf is wrong with you that fucking WEIRD?? These are irl people and they’re happy and I’m not one of those freaks getting reality and fiction confused. And course break ups suck ya but that’s not anyone’s business to make their own; that’s between the people who were in the relationship!

3) If ever any of these guys come out and say they are uncomfortable being shipped, having shipping fanart of them, or any anything specific they do not like I will stop. Once again I’m not going to get reality and and fiction confused

4) I AM going to make some batshit parasocial (if I’m using that word correctly) posts like “I truly do believe that Vanoss does have a soft spot for Delirious” or like “Vanoss’s best friend (in the group) is probably either Lui, Terroriser, or Delirious” or stuff along those lines were I’m doing like a deep dive analysis and even tho YES I believe that I don’t really mean anything by it? I am DELUSIONAL and I like playing with and organizing my delusions. It’s more of probably going to be something that explains why I ship something like the first example I gave. It’s never gonna be like drama starting like “I believe the reason so and so and so and so don’t do this anymore is because so and so did this and-“ like nah nothing like that. I might talk about my personal feelings on some of them but I’m never going to make a random ass “call out post” unless there’s legitimately a serious problem ya know. If you ever see a deep dive know it’s all for the sillies and that I know that I’m being delusional and reading too much into things that aren’t there (“struck by a flying ice cream truck— AND LIVE” head ass)

#I’m new in town :D #h20vanoss #I LOVE RPF #it’s so fun #but it’s also not serious #BUT IT IS #but it’s not

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seungkwansphd · 2 years ago

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room for interpretation - 3

pairing: lawyer!jeonghan x lawyer!YN word count: 9.9K synopsis: as top of class, you and jeonghan had been many things to each other. enthusiastic rivals, begrudging allies, and…parties to a jokingly written (but legally binding) marriage contingency contract? this piece of paper would’ve been long forgotten had an unexpected merger not thrown you back into each others’ lives. themes: fluff, rivals to coworkers to tentative friends to lovers, “if we’re both single by X age” marriage contract, IDIOTS2lovers, fake dating, miscommunication. this is just a romcom.

You must be losing your mind at least a little. This was the conclusion you’d come to over the weekend. You’d spent the better part of Sunday thinking about Jeonghan, the contract, and your feelings. You’d basically said that you wouldn’t mind being married to him, but that didn’t mean you actively liked him, right? So now you were slightly panicked that you’d maybe confessed something to him that you hadn’t meant to.

“How’d it go?” Maja burst into your office, demanding an update.

“Good!” you spun around to face her, eager to think about something other than Jeonghan. “They treat prospective clients the exact same way that Jillian said they treated employees. The whole place stank of elitism!”

“What did they say?”

“A lot of veiled language around ‘clients have to match the image of the brand’ and how they ‘look for a certain type and demographic of people’.”

“Yuck,” Maja blew a raspberry and gave a thumbs down. You agreed.

“And Jeonghan did a good job at playing fake fiance?” Maja couldn’t help but pry. She’d been wondering all weekend about that.

“Weirdly, yes,” you shrugged, “He’s surprisingly attentive.

“Huh,” Maja, “Surprisingly?”

“He remembers little things that I wouldn’t have guessed he would remember.”

“I mean, you guys are friends,” Maja felt the need to remind you. Even if you didn’t accept it or realize it, your relationship with Jeonghan was in fact quite close.

“Yes! Everyone and their mother would like me to admit that I like Jeonghan. I’m friends with Jeonghan!” you threw your arms up suddenly, startling Maja.

Her eyes bugged out of her head at ‘I like Jeonghan’. Did you mean like…romantically? Or more as an extension of ‘I’m friends with Jeonghan’? She had a feeling that the question would be poorly received, so she withheld it for now.

“Sorry, it was just kind of weird. Pretending to be engaged, and then remembering the marriage contract, and then pretending to be married. I might still be processing.”

“Marriage contract? And why did you have to pretend to be married?”

“So,” you pointed at her, “When the person at the wedding venue asked us how we met, Jeonghan brought up the fact that we signed a marriage contingency contract in law school. In this fake world, of course, we realized we liked each other before the contract had to be enforced.”

Maja blinked. She was barely keeping up.

“So honestly, I had forgotten about that until he brought it up! But yeah, we did sign that, which was silly. But then we got food after the consultation and the waitress kept making eyes at him. Apparently he didn’t like that, so he kept referring to me as his wife, because we were wearing rings.”

Maja’s head spun.

“Hold on, let’s back up a second. You two signed a marriage contingency contract? What the hell does that even mean?”

“Okay, so,” you inhaled before launching into the full backstory for Maja.

You did your best to explain the context of Peter’s divorce, his declaration that law was for lonely losers, and your subsequent insistence that that didn’t apply to you. She nodded as you explained how smugly sure Jeonghan had been that you couldn’t get married and make partner before thirty and the resultant bet and contract.

She wasn’t nodding because it was reasonable, by any means. No, the whole arrangement was unhinged. She nodded because it could maybe make sense if there were repressed feelings on both sides. And even then, it was a stretch.

“Why would you sign that?” she found herself asking indignantly. Even as a non-lawyer, it seemed ill advised.

“I mean I was such a hothead in law school. I couldn’t stand it when Jeonghan called me chicken. The other thing I realized, like literally this weekend, is that it would be okay if I were contractually obligated to marry Jeonghan. Now that things with Flynn are over, I’m not gonna make the thirty year cut anyways!” you shrugged and laughed.

Maja squeezed her eyelids together. You were being an idiot of grander scale than she could’ve ever anticipated, it seemed. Maybe more than her gentle nudges were needed. Perhaps it required an actual act of God.

“You know what?” you pointed an accusatory finger at her. You had meant to stop thinking about Jeonghan! “I’ve spilled a lot of beans just now while your beans have stayed in their container. What the heck is going on with you and Harris?!”

“Ah,” Maja scratched the back of her neck. “You’re right, I’ve been keeping that to myself. Why don’t we do something fun this weekend and I can catch you up?”

“Yes!”

Maja shot you a quick thumbs up before returning to her desk. Her eyes flitted to Jeonghan’s closed office door. She wondered how much information she could get out of him if she tried.

…

Maja checked that the coast was clear as soon as Jeonghan left his office. She’d been snooping on calendars and seen that he had the next two hours blocked off. He’d taken his laptop with him, so she was confident that she could snoop freely for the next bit. Trying to appear as nonchalant as possible, she ducked into his office and started peering around. She didn’t honestly know what she was hoping to find. She doubted that Jeonghan kept a journal full of his secret feelings about you, but she would settle for something…anything!

“What’re you doing?” Peter appeared suddenly in the doorway.

“Nothing! Um…helping Jeonghan sort his paperwork,” she shuffled piles of papers haphazardly together on his desk.

“You never help with administrative tasks,” Peter narrowed his eyes at her. “What’s really going on?”

“I…, uh,” she floundered for a moment before giving up the charade completely, “I’m snooping. I think something’s going on between Jeonghan and YN.”

“Oh!” Peter’s eyebrows raised with surprise, “Like…in a good way or a bad way?”

“Like…I think they liked each other. And maybe still like each other.”

“Love!” Peter gasped, clapping his hands together. “Let me help. What are you looking for?”

Maja rolled her eyes. She should’ve known this would be Peter’s response.

“Honestly, I don’t even know what I’m doing here. It’s not like it’s the Victorian era and they keep secret correspondence or something,” she shook her head, ready to give up.

“Ow, shoot!” Peter whisper-shouted as his shoulder brushed against Jeonghan’s diploma, knocking it off the wall. The loud crash that accompanied it made Maja want to melt into the floor.

“How did it not break?” she marveled with wonder before realizing it was plexiglass. She flipped it over to put the diploma back in place and was surprised when multiple sheets of paper emerged. “What in the world…,” she murmured. Peter had made himself scarce after the ruckus, so she was able to read in peace.

“I, the undersigned, consent to…,” she read the text and realized that this was the contract. It was a fairly short document and while no judge in their right mind would enforce this, it was technically binding. She set it aside before fixing Jeonghan’s diploma and hanging it back on the wall. Maja thought briefly about what to do with the contract, but ultimately settled on leaving it on Jeonghan’s desk. She’d thoroughly undone whatever organization system he used to separate his papers, so she could at least make this easy for him.

…

Jeonghan let out another long exhale. He’d blocked off a few hours in the law library so he could work without being distracted by the view of you through the window. He’d also spent his Sunday thinking of you. He’d have no way of knowing it, but he was far less conflicted than you were. He liked you, was attracted to you, and would be happy to date you. After all this time, both apart and together, he just…enjoyed you. Whether you were making his blood boil while butting heads or making his heart flip flop as his fake fiancee, he liked you.

He knew he likely had some work to do in order to show himself to you in that light, but he was willing. You already spent an atypical amount of time with him, so really there were more than enough opportunities. He typed up a few more sentences before someone burst into the office unceremoniously.

You’d jumped when your phone had started ringing in your hands. Flynn was calling weeks after your break up, so you’d panicked and ducked into the law library.

“Hello?” Jeonghan’s eyes widened when it was your voice that answered. Your phone wasn’t on speaker, but the volume was high enough that he could also hear the person on the line.

“Hello? YN?”

“Flynn, is everything okay?” you asked.

“Yeah, yeah, everything’s okay, thanks for asking,” he chuckled and you smiled reflexively. It was easy to relax into his laugh.

“Um, so why are you calling?” you asked, slightly awkward.

“Right to business as usual,” Flynn laughed again.

Jeonghan’s pulse raced. You were still facing the door, so he felt like he was eavesdropping, but it also didn’t seem right to speak up, so he just sat in this one-sidedly tense situation, frozen.

“Listen, I’m calling, um. Because I’ve been thinking…I just miss you. Uh, I know I struggled with your lack of work life balance, but…I’ve been wondering if we should give it another try?”

Your eyebrows shot up with surprise at the same time Jeonghan’s furrowed. You’d been thinking maybe he’d left something at your apartment and wanted to pick it up. You exhaled sharply and turned, pressing your back to the door.

“Flynn, I-,” your eyes met Jeonghan’s. You hadn’t realized he was there.

His eyes pinned you against the door and the words caught in your throat. Heat crept up your neck and the room suddenly felt foggy. You tried to form words that wouldn’t come.

Jeonghan tried to keep from frowning. Your ex wanted to reconcile, which made him want to throw your phone out of the window, but he refrained from showing this. He tried not to react in any way because he needed to understand more of where you stood and what you wanted. His wants regardless.

You blinked at Jeonghan, eyes searching his irritatingly placid face. You were surprised when you realized you were looking for some sort of indication or tell from him. In the past he’d been quite clear that he didn't care for Flynn. Why did it frustrate you that he wasn’t showing that to you again? Now?

“YN?” Flynn’s tinny voice shook you both out of your reverie. Jeonghan held your gaze, nodding as if reminding you that you needed to answer.

“I-,” you closed your eyes for a moment to filter through your thoughts and decide what you wanted. “Flynn, it’s so kind of you to call. I…don’t think we should give it another try. I actually feel really good about our split,” you answered honestly, eyes opening again.

“Ah,” Flynn was clearly surprised. “Well, thank you for being honest. I, uh, wish you the best!”

“Thank you,” you said as you met Jeonghan’s eyes again. Your heart pounded wildly as you ended the call and excused yourself from the library.

Jeonghan’s hand rose to his mouth to cover a wide smile of relief. He spent the next minutes trying and failing to focus and smiling into his palm. After accepting that he wasn’t going to get any more work done, he returned to his office. He cocked his head when he noticed the papers on his desk. This was definitely not how he had left them, but he found he didn’t really care.

The only document of note was the one he’d set his laptop on top of. Furrowing his brow as he pulled it out, his eyes scanned through it until he realized what it was: The ContractTM. Where had this come from?

With revived focus and interest, he reread the pages in their entirety. He found himself chuckling at his past self as he did so. Maybe it was just that hindsight is twenty-twenty, but Jeonghan found himself truly marveling at the document. While on its surface it was just an oddly written contract, it could also be read as a love letter to you from an emotionally constipated idiot. All this time, you’d been someone very special to him and it had taken him all this time to realize it.

…

“Mandatory happy hour,” you read the calendar invite you’d just received from Peter. You looked to Maja, who shrugged in response.

“Guess I’m busy tonight,” you gave your computer a lackluster thumbs up. Your pulse sped up slightly as you watched Jeonghan walk into his office.

You were feeling some awkwardness after he’d witnessed Flynn’s attempt to reconcile. It was your fault for barging into the library, but you wished he’d said something, cleared his throat, anything to let you know that he’d been in there! You felt vulnerable to Jeonghan in a way that made you feel shy around him now. You hated it.

After a moment or two more of consideration, you shook your head. It would be fine. It was fine!

Jeonghan ran his tongue across his teeth as he read the calendar invite from Peter. While a mandatory, company-wide hang hadn’t been his ideal next step, he supposed it was still an opportunity to spend time with you. He had been thinking, overthinking really, ways he could spend time with you that were less casual than the current post-activity meals that you often shared. Your relationship revolved heavily around work, so at some point he wanted to move away from that, but he also wanted some reassurance that you were even interested.

…

“Are you walking over now?” Jeonghan called from his office when he saw you and Maja conferring.

“Yes! Would you like to join us?” Maja invited him.

“Please,” he nodded, logging out of his laptop quickly. It was just a few minutes more before he was ready to go.

“Alright, mandatory fun!” Maja pumped a reluctant fist before leading you towards the elevator.

“Mandatory fun,” you chuckled weakly as you followed her.

“Ready for mandatory fun?” Jeonghan nudged you with his elbow as he settled in next to you.

“So ready,” you laughed.

You actually weren’t dreading it that much. Peter’s unseriousness as a boss meant that after-hours work events were often quite fun. It would be interesting to see Harris in a social situation, but you genuinely liked a lot of the associates, so honestly it would be a good time. As long as you could keep a reasonable distance between yourself and Jeonghan, you could be okay.

Jeonghan’s brow furrowed. You were being unusually quiet.

“How was your day? How’s the wrongful termination suit going?”

“Oh, um, good,” you nodded. Why was this elevator so slow?

Maja furrowed her brow. Jeonghan was trying and you were giving him absolutely nothing.

“Didn’t you say you wanted to visit the employer again? There was a coworker that could be a key witness if you could get into contact with them!”

“I-,” you glared at Maja.

“Oh, do you want to go back? I’ll go with you,” Jeonghan offered.

“For your client,” Maja implored, but you could see the mischief playing across her lips.

“Maybe, it might not be necessary,” you shrugged.

“Okay, just text me if it is. I’ll make myself available,” Jeonghan nodded.

Maja was suffering in silence. She wondered if she could have the elevator to herself for a moment while you two walked to the bar.

“YN! Jeonghan!” Peter greeted the two of you enthusiastically when you walked in.

“What about me?” Maja glared playfully at Peter.

“Maja, my favorite girl!” he folded her into a hug that she immediately pulled away from.

Harris appeared behind Peter and you tried to hide a smile. This casual check-in with Maja was obvious to you, but you knew no one else was aware of the relationship yet.

“Hi Harris,” you smiled at the other managing partner before slipping away towards the bar. Maja followed.

“You’re acting weird,” she declared, leveling you with a stare. “What gives?”

“What?”

“You are being so short with Jeonghan. Did he upset you or something?”

“I mean not specifically, but in general he is upsetting to me.”

Maja narrowed her eyes at you. You were so full of shit! Yet you had given her space about Harris when she’d needed it and so she supposed he could at least try and reciprocate.

“YN!” your junior associate, Kevin, appeared suddenly at your side. He placed his chin on your shoulder, which was silly because he was a full two heads taller than you. Kevin was like a big puppy and he looked up to you like an older sibling.

“What’s up?” you couldn’t help but laugh at his antics.

“The advice that you gave me on that fraud case totally worked!” He stood up excitedly. “As always, you are the greatest!”

You grinned up at him. Kevin was straightforward and genuine in a way that you liked. You could trust the things he said without wondering about ulterior motives.

Jeonghan’s brow furrowed as he watched you and the world’s tallest Kevin at the bar. You two seemed wildly incompatible, yet you clearly enjoyed Kevin’s company and that surprised Jeonghan. He wondered whether that was what you looked for in a partner. Someone goofy and easy?

“You are thinking very hard,” Joshua appeared suddenly, teasing him in a sing-songy voice.

“I am not,” Jeonghan found himself denying immediately.

“Lies,” Joshua’s eyebrows raised before his head snapped in the direction Jeonghan had been looking earlier. The most devious smile curled onto his lips when he saw you. Jeonghan sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Explain.” his evil twin demanded.

“There’s nothing to explain,” Jeonghan insisted. He wasn’t willing to share this with anyone yet, not even Joshua. He had just barely admitted it to himself.

“Well, I haven’t gotten to know YN at all since the merger, so now’s the perfect time,” Joshua managed to sound sweet and menacing at the same time.

“Wait,” Jeonghan called weakly. Was he ready to give this up?

Joshua turned back and looked down at him expectantly. Jeonghan glared at him for a moment before looking away and Joshua finished his beeline towards you. For all his soft smiles and sweet demeanor, he was such a little shit when he wanted to be.

“Oh, Joshua!” you were surprised when the attorney joined you at the bar. Aside from his commitment to work life balance, and also due to it, you didn’t know Joshua very well.

“You all looked like you were having too much fun for me not to join,” he smiled at you. Kevin gave him a jovial fistbump and he was folded into the group seamlessly.

You tried to ignore Jeonghan’s eyes on you, but you could feel them. You’d noticed Joshua teasing Jeonghan about something, but even before he had made his way to you, you’d felt Jeonghan’s gaze on you. You couldn’t seem to help the way it made your pulse stutter every so often. You wished it would stop.

“Joshua, you and Jeonghan are close, right?” Maja asked.

“As close as one can be with a workaholic,” he teased.

“Did you know that he and YN went to school together?”

“No, I didn’t,” Joshua shook his head. He looked at you with new appreciation. “Was he as big of a pain in law school as he is now?”

You shifted your gaze to Jeonghan and considered him. A smile lit up your face before you answered yes.

Jeonghan stood up. That was enough of standing on the sidelines.

“Talking about me?” he asked as he slipped behind you to order another drink.

“Only bad things, I promise.”

“Well, even if your attention is elsewhere, I’m glad I’m still on your mind,” he murmured for only you to hear.

You blinked, trying to keep a sheepish grin from spreading across your face. The edge of jealousy you heard was giving you major butterflies.

“YN?” you heard your name, snapping you back to reality.

“I’m so sorry, I did not hear you,” you shrugged sheepishly. Jeonghan looked down to hide a self satisfied grin.

“We were thinking of sitting outside on the patio,” Kevin repeated himself, jerking a thumb towards the door.

“Oh sure! It’s nice out,” you nodded, moving away from Jeonghan in an act of reflexive self preservation. It would be great not to be on edge all night if you could manage.

The outdoor seating was mostly picnic bench-style, so your group split in half to slot yourselves into them. You stayed close to Maja throughout the shuffle, which resulted in being sandwiched between her and Jeonghan. Wonderful.

You didn’t really absorb another word that was said the rest of the night. Every time you tuned in, the conversation had drastically changed from the last time you’d been listening. Eventually you gave up. Instead, your mind zeroed in on every shift and movement that Jeonghan made. A few minutes after sitting down, he turned to face the group more directly and his legs straddled the seat of the bench. What this meant for you was that his legs were now more or less draped around you, boxing you in.

Maja struggled to hide her giddy grin as she watched you from the corner of her eye. Whether he was aware of it or not, Jeonghan was definitely staking a claim. Most of the firm knew that you two spent a lot of time together, both professional and extracurricular, but these subtle physical proximities reinforced and cemented the closeness you shared.

“Oh? Jeonghan, is that you?” a new voice pierced the air.

“Ah?” his legs brushed against you as he turned to identify where the voice had come from. “Ah, Soonyoung?!”

“Jeonghan, it is you!” a young, vivacious man called more excitedly this time. Jeonghan stood to embrace him. “Just my luck running into you!”

“Oh, why’s that?” Jeonghan slung an arm around his shoulder, moving to catch up with him.

You exhaled a small sigh of relief as Jeonghan left to chat with his friend across the bar. You brought your chin to rest on your upturned palm as you watched them. A soft smile settled on your lips. Jeonghan’s expression was so dynamic as his friend talked. He was a much better listener than he’d been in college.

“YN,” Joshua’s voice pulled your attention away. “How is your wrongful term case going?”

“Oh! Mostly good, though I am a little worried about the jury selection. You never know what you’re going to get, right?”

“That’s true,” he laughed. “Is Jeonghan still assisting on that case?”

“Well, no. He was never formally assisting. I just needed a fake fiance for a day, so he got roped in, I suppose.”

“He volunteered!” Maja piped in unhelpfully.

“Oh, did he?” Joshua’s eyes widened with surprise. “That’s odd!”

“Is it?” your brows raised, “He loves butting into cases that aren’t his!” you laughed good naturedly.

“Hm, not the Jeonghan that I’ve come to know,” Joshua shook his head with a bemused smile. “He’s different with you though, I’ve noticed.”

You looked towards Jeonghan again. He was staring at you with an expression on his face that indicated he needed extricating from his situation. You blinked slowly before turning back to Joshua.

“I think he needs help,” you laughed. You and Joshua chatted about made up topics for a few minutes longer before you got up to retrieve him. You were delighted to learn that reveling in Jeonghan’s misery was an interest of Joshua’s as well.

“I’m so sorry to interrupt,” you cleared your throat as you approached the pair. “Can I steal him back from you…soonish?”

“Oh please! We’ve discussed what I needed to discuss. Now I’m just blabbing his ear off. I’m Hoshi, by the way. You are?” Jeonghan’s friend stood up to shake your hand.

“YN,” you smiled, “How do you two know each other?” you couldn’t resist asking. You knew you were meant to be extricating Jeonghan from the conversation, but the opportunity to learn about this person from Jeonghan’s life was simply too tempting to resist.

Hoshi launched into a long and animated story of how he and Jeonghan met on the playground at Maseok Elementary school. Hoshi was an excellent storyteller and regaled you with no shortage of entertaining stories about Jeonghan. One that particularly made you giggle was the story of Jeonghan, upset over something and trying to make a show of it, losing his balance and rolling down the stairs instead.

Jeonghan covered his face with a hand. He should’ve known that Hoshi would happily volunteer all of his most embarrassing tales. He almost stopped Hoshi from telling the snake story until he saw the smile that had lit up your face.

“Friggin’ idiot,” you laughed, covering your mouth with your hands to hide a smile of utter delight behind it.

The words were insulting, but you said them with a warmth and affection that spread through Jeonghan’s chest like fire. Damn, he really did like you didn’t he?

“Hey are you ever coming back?” Maja shouted from across the bar.

You and Jeonghan looked at each other before smiling at Hoshi sheepishly. Jeonghan ensured that he would be in touch with Hoshi soon before you returned to the remainder of the firm that was still out.

“How was your little sidebar?” Peter asked.

“That was an old friend who happens to be in need of a lawyer, so we may have a new client,” Jeonghan shrugged casually.

“Oh I could kiss you on the mouth!” Peter clapped him on the back excitedly. At your bemused glare, he added, “With your consent, of course.”

Jeonghan let out a puff of laughter. Peter had ceased to surprise him long ago.

“Okay, I’m tired, I’m ready to go home,” Maja announced after a rather spectacular yawn.

Harris stood and the rest of the associates followed.

“Hey, you’re not taking the bus home, okay?” Maja pointed a finger at you as you closed your tab. “Jeonghan, will you drive her?”

Jeonghan nodded, silently thanking Maja for her observant and protective nature.

“No, I-,” your protest died in your throat when you saw her withering stare. It was late anyways, you wouldn’t mind the ride, to be honest. “I can ask someone else, if it’s out of the way for you,” you turned to Jeonghan.

“It’s on the way,” he shook his head. He had no idea whether this was true or not, but he wasn’t going to give up this opportunity.

“Okay,” you nodded.

You felt inordinately nervous as you followed him to his car. Jeonghan had driven you places plenty of times before, but it felt a little different this late after-hours. You watched him out of the corner of your eye as he drove.

“Did you enjoy your mandatory fun?” you finally asked, unable to take the silence anymore.

“Huh?” Jeonghan was startled from his thoughts.

He’d been deeply ruminating over if, whether, and then how he was going to walk you to the door and ask you out. He wanted to wait until the Mock Trial season was over so you wouldn’t consider it another meal of convenience.

“Jeonghan?” you were confused when he didn’t answer.

“Sorry, yes, it was fun. Added bonus of running into Hoshi,” he shook his head slightly.

“I enjoyed running into him too,” you grinned cheekily at him.

“It seemed so,” Jeonghan raised an eyebrow at you, but it was good natured.

“Thanks for the ride,” you smiled at Jeonghan as he pulled into the parking area at your place.

“I’ll walk you up,” he decided as he unbuckled his seatbelt.

“You don’t have to do that,” you cocked your head at him.

“I know,” he half-smiled at you and continued anyway.

You tamped down a prickle of nerves as he followed you to the building entrance. You turned to face him because you felt like you needed to say something before going inside.

“Thank you for the ride,” you waved awkwardly at him, “I’ll see you tomorrow?”

Jeonghan nodded, feeling stuck as you turned to enter the building. At the last moment, he grabbed a hanging tie on your bag and jerked you back towards him. Now or never.

“Hey, uh…question,” he cleared his throat when you turned confused eyes towards him. “When Mock Trial season is over…would you want to go to dinner with me?”

“Oh?” your eyes widened. That prickly tingle was back again.

Jeonghan watched you think. It was like the day he’d watched you talk to your ex over the phone. It felt similarly nerve wracking waiting for you to render a decision.

“Yes, I would like that,” you finally nodded, offering him a small smile.

“Great,” he broke out into a smile and you both exhaled small breaths of relief. “How about the Friday after their final trial?”

“That works for me,” you nodded. You didn’t need to check your calendar, you never had plans.

“Okay, let’s plan for 7. I’ll work out the other details,” he nodded before releasing his hold on your bag. You exhaled loudly after you were safely inside. Was this a date?

…

Jeonghan’s brow furrowed as he stared at the casefile on his desk. He should be ecstatic. Harris and Peter had just assigned him a major Merger & Acquisition project. This was a huge step in building his corporate law portfolio, yet he couldn’t help but feel annoyed as it required him to be onsite. Your dinner date was just two weeks out and he really had no way of knowing how long he’d be required to be out of town.

“Hey, I heard you got an interesting case! What is it?” you popped your head into Jeonghan’s office. You were itching to know.

“Merger and Acquisition,” he responded blandly.

Your nose wrinkled. You had never been one for corporate law, so this was a rare case where you had no interest whatsoever. It was, however, surprising that Jeonghan wasn’t more visibly excited.

“Why do you look so un-psyched? You like this shit,” you furrowed your brows at him.

“I am, but I have to be on site for it…in Minneapolis.”

“Ah,” you nodded. You had to travel for work every so often and it was never as fun as you’d think. Staying in a hotel with an unfamiliar bed and weird pillows was just mildly annoying enough to drive you crazy. “Minneapolis is fun though!”

“There are things here I’d rather be doing,” an eyebrow jerked up with slight irritation. He hoped you would catch his drift.

“It’ll all be here when you get back,” you were trying to be encouraging.

Jeonghan tried to be reassured, but the unreasonable fear that you would change your mind about wanting to go out to dinner with him while he was gone lingered. He wondered if he could take that Friday off and fly back for the weekend.

…

You sighed as you walked back to your car. Jeonghan was out of town, which meant you were now advising both teams. You adored all of the students, but their instincts to try and weasel out information about the opposition’s strategy was making you a little crazy. You missed being a two-person team.

Your stomach grumbled as you entered a restaurant. This was your favorite place for solo dining. On top of the food being good, they had single person booths equipped with phone charging outlets where you could eat in peace. As you sat down, you realized just how long it had been since you’d stopped in. These days, more often than not, you had Jeonghan to eat with.

“Ah, YN! Where the hell have you been?” the hostess, Evan yelled excitedly when you walked in. “You finally find someone who will date you and your crazy hours?”

“Why would you think that when I’m back here to eat by myself?” you threw your hands up playfully in response. Your mind wandered to Jeonghan, but you brought it back quickly.

“I guess so, you lonely spinster,” Evan chuckled affectionately as he led you to a booth. “You know the deal, so let me know if you need anything.”

“Will do,” you nodded as you took a seat. You submitted your order through the tablet and scrolled through your phone as you waited.

Your mind inevitably wandered to Jeonghan. You wondered whether he’d gotten into Minneapolis without much hassle and how the merger seemed so far. You even went so far as to draft a text message to him, but did not actually send it. He could contact you if he wanted to. You returned to the article you’d been reading, but it wasn’t much longer before your phone rang, alerting you of an incoming video call from ‘Yoon Jeonghan’. How was that for timing?

“Hello?” you answered while fishing in your bag for headphones.

“Hey, it’s Jeonghan,” you laughed. You knew that already. “Is practice over?”

“Yes,” you replied, waiting for a moment for the audio to switch over. “What’s up?”

“Nothing,” he replied, turning his camera on. “I was just thinking of you so I thought I’d call to see how it went. Thank you for pulling double duty, by the way. I wish I could’ve been there.”

“Me too,” you chuckled, propping your phone up so you could see him. “You should’ve seen the way Farah’s eyes bugged out when I told them where you were. Yet another weirdo who likes corporate law,” you teased. Farah was wonderful, but you just truly did not understand the draw.

Jeonghan laughed before reaching offscreen to grab a pair of chopsticks. You watched as he pulled them apart and jabbed them into something in a bowl.

“Oh are you eating? Me too,” you remarked, showing him a spoon that was handy.

“Yes. It’s been a long day, I’m starving,” he nodded before shoveling noodles into his mouth.

“How has the merger been, by the way?” you

“Fairly aggressive so far,” Jeonghan shook his head. Once his immediate hunger was sated, he shared more details about his day. The timing was just as well because Evan brought you food and you could listen and eat.

Jeonghan smiled as he watched you eat dumplings rather expeditiously. While his day had been busy and consumed with the merger, he hadn’t been able to keep his mind from wandering to you. He’d finalized his plans to fly home on Friday in time for your date, which filled him with a nervous excitement. He planned to surprise you, so he didn’t share for now.

“How is Hoshi’s case?” he asked before bringing his water to his lips.

Your eyes lingered on his hand for a moment too long before you answered. Hoshi was quite the character. You weren’t exactly sure he had a solid case against his business partner, but you were still in the fact finding stage of things.

Jeonghan nodded while his server brought him the bill and informed him that he should pay at the hostess stand. As he stood, he let you know that he would be back soon and instructed you to wait for him. He knew you likely wouldn’t, but he was curious how long you might hold for. He laughed when he returned to a stern text from you asking not to waste your time. You’d waited all of two minutes before ending the call.

…

Jeonghan squeezed his eyes shut. The attorney for the opposite side of the merger was driving him insane with his idiocy and dramatic flair. His eyes flitted to his phone, he wondered if you were free.

[yjh]: ‘my opposing counsel is a moron’

You laughed.

[yn]: ‘i wonder if he attended Thee Law School That Shall Not Be Named’

[yjh]: ‘i’m not even sure he’d be admitted there’

You snorted. While you knew it was unreasonable, dunking on your law school’s longest standing rival still tickled a special spot of joy in your heart.

[yn]: ‘otherwise, how’s it going?’

Jeonghan glanced up surreptitiously before responding. Things were going smoother than the first days. Leadership of the acquiree had come to terms with the transaction. At this point, the opposing counsel was more of an obstacle than anyone else.

You raised your eyebrows as you read his response. You wondered if this attorney was struggling to change mindset and was still taking an oppositional approach.

[yn]: ‘may want to reinforce that his clients have accepted the acquisition and continue to redirect/reroute to them as appropriate’

[yjh]: ‘would rather just strangle him’

[yn]: ‘i will not represent you when it inevitably goes to trial’

[yjh]: ‘but you’re the best 🥺👉👈’

[yn]: ‘i’m aware :)’

Jeonghan snorted before tucking his phone back in his pocket. Incompetent Opposition LawyerTM had returned so it was back to business.

…

[yn]: ‘you should go to the MIA!’

[yjh]: ‘what is that?”

[yn]: ‘Minneapolis Institute of Art.’

[yn]: ‘this weekend is their annual Art in Bloom event!’

[yn]: ‘your timing is perfect!’

Jeonghan was pleasantly surprised as you proceeded to blow up his phone, explaining that the Art in Bloom was an annual event where floral artists were invited to create arrangements that were inspired by or complements to art pieces that were housed at the MIA. Apparently it was a free annual event that you were very excited about.

[yjh]: ‘it’s too bad you’re not here with me.’

‘Here with me’ stuck out to you more than you cared to admit.

[yn]: ‘send me pictures if you go! plz & ty’

Part of you did wish that you were in Minneapolis with Jeonghan. As much as your friends disagreed that it was a cool city, you enjoyed it. It had so many things that you enjoyed.

[maja-stic]: ‘are you ready? i’m leaving now, be there in 15’

[yn]: ‘yes! see you soon :)’

You flipped back to Jeonghan’s messages and were delighted to see he had decided to take your advice and promised to send you pictures. You nodded happily and finished packing your bag. You and Maja had a date at the mall. You were in the market for new trousers and she was shopping for home decor items.

[maja-stic]: ‘here’

“Hello hello! I missed you,” she greeted you with a smile as you climbed into her car. Being with Harris really looked good on her, she seemed so happy these days.

“I missed you too. Freaking Harris monopolizing all of your time,” you feigned outrage.

“You’re always welcome to hang out with us,” she offered as she drove.

“I don’t think I want to third wheel my literal boss,” you chuckled.

“I-,” she glared at you, “He is also my literal boss.”

“Yes, and you chose to get involved in a sordid, workplace relationship. That’s not my fault!” you teased her and she reached over to pinch you.

“Ow! I’m gonna report you to HR!” you shouted.

You both broke out into a peal of giggles as she turned off on the exit to the mall. After completing your ritual of getting soft pretzels and bubble tea, the two of you began shopping in earnest. You alternated between clothing and home decor and as was typical, both ended up buying things you absolutely didn’t need. As time went on, Maja noticed that you were more and more wrapped up in your phone. At the beginning of the trip, you’d been invested in finding pants, but once you’d found two pairs to your liking, you’d been checking your phone like crazy. Sometimes there was nothing to respond to, but more often than not, a smile crept onto your lips and you tapped back a quick reply. Her eyebrows furrowed.

“Who do you keep texting?” she demanded, curiosity bubbling.

“Oh, my friend is at a museum and they’re sending me pictures!” you avoided answering the question directly.

“Oh? Let me see!” she poked her head over your shoulder. She had a burning gut feeling.

You flipped through the photos that Jeonghan had sent you. Maja cooed appropriately at the floral arrangements, but was disappointed that they didn’t give anything away. It had to be Jeonghan, right? You didn’t have any other friends!

“So is it a botanical garden? It seemed like flowers and also art?”

“No, it’s an art museum. They do an annual special exhibit of floral arrangements.”

“Ahh, cool,” Maja nodded before unlocking her phone to do some googling. It didn’t take much sleuthing to deduce that this was probably the Minneapolis Institute of Art’s Art in Bloom exhibit. The pieces of information puzzled themselves together in Maja’s brain and she gasped, giving you an accusatory stare.

“You lying son of a gun!”

“What?” you feigned ignorance, but you knew your goose was cooked.

“You’ve been texting Jeonghan all day! You-,” her outrage choked out the rest of her sentence. “Right?”

“No,” you denied reflexively.

“Give me your phone then,” she stood with a fist on her hip and the other hand outstretched. “If you are truly not texting Jeonghan all day on a Saturday then give me your phone.”

“I-,” you sighed, giving up the pretense, “Fine, you’re right. Sue me!”

“I will!” she replied. She was overwhelmed by a mix of indignance, vindication, and excitement that was showing up in an overly combative manner. “Sorry, I just…I am surprised! And processing.”

“We’re just talking,” you tried to play it down, but you knew it was more than that.

Over the past week, your communications with Jeonghan had grown more frequent than they’d even been with Flynn. You looked forward to his nightly calls and you’d accepted that you were feeling something for him that was more than a casual friendship. Something that made you feel nervous yet hopeful that he meant your next dinner as a date too.

“You are thinking way too hard about him for this to just be talking,” Maja shook her head firmly. “You don’t have to tell me, but…I don’t believe it’s just friendly texting.”

“It’s so embarrassing to say it out loud, but I think I like him,” you rolled your eyes at yourself. “Freaking Jeonghan.”

“Hehe,” Maja was grinning from ear to ear. “I love this. You two make sense together, like come on! I love love.”

“You sound like Peter,” you gave her a pointed look.

“In this case, I’m happy to,” she beamed at you proudly. “Do you guys have anything planned? Have you set like a date date?”

“We were supposed to get dinner next Friday, but since he’s still in Minneapolis, I’m assuming we’ll reschedule once that’s done?”

Maja nodded. That made sense. The rest of the shopping trip was filled with a peppering of questions about your newly realized feelings and fighting off Maja’s occasional offers to Facetime Jeonghan together. It was way too early for that.

…

The next time you spoke on the phone, you were the one who called Jeonghan, which made him want to kick his feet with delight and triumph. He was, however, on his way back to the hotel so that would have to wait.

“Hello?” he sandwiched the phone between his shoulder and ear as he entered his hotel room.

“Hey, do you have any experience with beverage labeling compliance?”

“What?” Jeonghan’s eyebrows furrowed. Not the greeting he expected.

“I’m at the grocery store,” you said, as if it explained anything. “I’m looking at this weird canned beverage that claims a million benefits that I find difficult to believe.”

“Hm, I wonder if it’s technically a supplement. Much more lax on that side.”

“Really?” you squawked. “Shouldn’t supplements be more tightly regulated?”

Jeonghan shook his head. This was yet another corporate law elective that you had elected to ignore.

“You’d think so, but no. FDA is dreadfully underfunded when it comes to inspection and enforcement. It’s almost a free for all unless you have significant market share.”

“Huh,” you narrowed your eyes at the can before moving down the aisle. “Well nay to that, then, I suppose. What are you up to?”

“Just got back to my room. Another long day, so I am ordering room service and not moving once I lay down.”

“Ah, I’ll let you go then.”

“No, don’t,” Jeonghan shook his head vehemently, “Stay on.”

“Do you need to at least call room service?”

“No,” Jeonghan shook his head as he toed off his shoes, “I can order online.”

“Ah,” you nodded.

You continued through the grocery aisles, plucking an assortment of items that you could throw together to make dinner. You were well aware of the differences in regulation between supplements and foods. The beverage’s nutritional claims had been a flimsy excuse to call him. It’d only been a few days since he’d left for the merger, but you felt it. The firm was quiet without him and you found yourself missing your thinking partner. Maja could only assist to a certain level before you needed someone else…well, needed Jeonghan.

“Gosh, I’m tired,” Jeonghan huffed and you heard what sounded like him flopping down into bed. There was a bit of soft rustling before he spoke again. “What should I eat?” he asked, putting you on speakerphone and pulling up the room service menu.

“I don’t know,” you rolled your eyes, “What do they have?”

Jeonghan was inordinately pleased that you were humoring him. In months past, you definitely would’ve hung up at this, admittedly, unreasonable question. He was very much reading into the fact that you hadn’t. He took his time reading the menu to you while you checked out with your groceries.

“I think…well, it’s humid today in Minneapolis, right? I don’t like heavy foods when the weather is sticky like that.”

“How do you know it’s humid?”

“I…,” you had looked it up earlier.

“Did you check?” Jeonghan’s eyes lit up. Had he been around other people, he would’ve had to cover his mouth to hide the beaming smile on his face.

“No,” you denied it too quickly.

“You were thinking about me,” he teased in a sing-songy voice followed by the sound of rustling sheets. You couldn’t see it, but he was kicking his feet like an absolute fool.

You had every plan to say something in your own defense, but you suddenly realized or remembered that he was laying in bed. This sent a jolt of heat up your neck. You really shouldn’t feel this way in a grocery store!

“Well what did you decide to eat?�� you asked as you drove your car home. You smacked yourself on the forehead. This was an incredibly inane topic for you to be entertaining, but you didn’t want to end the call either.

“Oh, I haven’t yet,” Jeonghan focused his attention again. “I do think I’ll take your advice. Something light sounds nice.”

You had finished putting away groceries by the time he’d submitted his order. It had been a long day, so you went to lay down as well. You landed with a quiet thud and you shifted slightly to get comfortable.

“What are you going to eat?” Jeonghan asked.

“I bought groceries, but now I don’t feel like cooking them,” you laughed, “I think I have some hard boiled eggs in the fridge.”

“No. Stop,” he said sternly. “That is pathetically sad. You can’t just eat eggs for dinner.”

“I mean who’s gonna stop me?” you teased.

“YN.”

You stilled. Hearing Jeonghan say your name in an admonishing, scolding tone sent a shiver down your spine. Not unpleasant by any means, but surprising. You took a few shallow breaths, forgetting to reply.

“YN?” Jeonghan his voice sounded in your ear again and you shuddered.

“Yeah?” you replied, but it was breathy. Thin. You squeezed your eyes shut.

Jeonghan swallowed. The effect that he’d heard in your voice shot through him and surprised him. He wished he was home.

“I’m gonna order you food,” he decided, clearing his throat.

“No, you don’t have to do that,” you shook your head.

“I know,” he brushed off your protest and pulled up his phone. “Ah, Krazy Bao delivers,” he thought aloud as he submitted your order.

You blinked at his memory. It still surprised you when Jeonghan was attentive like this.

“What’s your address again?”

You contemplated withholding it from him, but he promptly reminded you that he could look it up in his Google Maps search history. Damn his brain.

“Okay, ETA is forty minutes,” he confirmed, satisfied with himself.

“Thank you,” you muttered, face half buried into a pillow.

“You’re welcome,” he laughed. “Tell me about the rest of your day.”

You thought for a moment, trying to decide what to tell. Honestly the days had been boring since Jeonghan was gone. The other associates’ offices were further away from your corner and so you’d mostly been working and chatting with Maja occasionally. She and Harris were now at a point where they spent most evenings together, so you felt more alone than normal. You didn’t share all of this with him, of course, but found more than enough topics to last through both of your dinners.

“It’s getting late,” you yawned.

“It is,” Jeonghan nodded, sleep was creeping up on him as well.

“I can’t wait for you to get back,” you muttered as you dozed off, “I miss you.”

Jeonghan’s eyes snapped wide open.

‘I miss you’

“What did you just say?” he asked in disbelief.

The only answer you had for him was light snoring, so he ended the call.

‘I miss you.’

He hadn’t realized he’d been wanting to hear those words until now. The brief shock of adrenaline subsided and he laid back down. The next two days couldn’t pass quickly enough for him.

…

You felt like a chicken with its head cut off. Things had been so overwhelmingly busy for the past weeks that you felt just one very minor inconvenience from exploding. Mock Trial had finally wound down, but now you were assisting with Hoshi who was quite the handful. You probably would have fired him as a client already, but this was technically Jeonghan’s case. But he was gone and Hoshi was…a lot.

Soonyoung, who preferred his ‘Doing Business As’ name of Hoshi, was embroiled in a fairly pointless lawsuit with his business partner, Seungkwan. The pair of them were equally hotheaded and emotional and some days it felt like they were engaged in the lawsuit just so they could fight with each other on record.

“What time is the mediation for Hoshi today?” you called out of your office door to Maja.

“Six-thirty,” she replied.

“Gah!” you let out a squawk before returning to work. You needed to run over to campus to meet with your mock trial team one more time before heading to Seungkwan’s lawyer’s office for mediation. After this week was over, you could take a bit of a breather. You just had to make it until then.

As you drove to campus your mind wandered, as it usually did now, to Jeonghan. Tonight would’ve been your dinner (date?), but he was still in Minneapolis. You’d assumed it was canceled. You’d figure something out once he was back.

…

Jeonghan sighed with relief when he finally deboarded the plane. It had looked a little hairy for a moment, but he’d made it back on time. He had enough time to get home, shower, change, and meet you at the restaurant. If he didn’t hit traffic, he might even have time to pick up some flowers. Nothing showy, as that wasn’t your style, but you had so enjoyed those cabbage roses in the wedding venue garden when he’d gone undercover with you.

…

You silenced your phone before you walked into the conference room with Hoshi. You were meeting with Seungkwan and his lawyer today for another, hopefully final, mediation session.

“Are you ready?” you asked Hoshi with a hopeful smile.

“Yes! I will let you answer all of the questions even if Seungkwan goads me!” he answered you, a look of determination across his face. You hoped that would be true this time.

“I guess they really do let anyone in these days,” came Mr. Boo’s drawling voice and Hoshi looked ready to launch himself over the conference table.

You pinched the bridge of your nose. This was going to be a challenging mediation.

…

Jeonghan’s eyebrows were furrowed. You were late. It hadn’t worried him for the first few minutes, but it was now quarter past seven and you hadn’t responded to any of his texts.

“Hello sir,” a waiter dressed in all black came to check on him. It was a fancy restaurant, so the service was unfortunately attentive.

“Yes, I know. I don’t know where she is,” Jeonghan replied, clearly ticked. “Let me give her a call to see if something happened.”

“Of course,” the server ducked away to share the update with another server.

Jeonghan could feel his irritation rise with each ring of the line. He ran his tongue across his teeth with annoyance until it finally went to voicemail.

“Hello, you’ve reached YN-,” he cut off your voicemail with an irritated push of the red button.

“I guess she’s not coming,” his eyebrows flicked up with annoyance when the server came back to check in again.

“Ah, I see. Would the gentleman still like to dine with us today?”

“No, thank you. I’ll get the check and get this table cleared out for you.”

The server nodded and returned shortly with a bill. Jeonghan paid for his one cocktail and then headed out to his car. Before starting it, he tried calling you again. He tossed his phone into the passenger seat before heading home. As he got closer, the irritation subsided and was replaced by a sense of worry. Even if you were standing him up, he would’ve liked to know that you were okay.

…

“How could you possibly suggest that?” Hoshi and Seungkwan gasped in horror at both you and your opposing counsel.

You shook your head. You and your opposing counsel had just devised an ingenious way to split assets of the business quite equitably between the two partners. You’d thought they would be elated.

“What are you, King Solomon? We can’t cut our baby in half like that!”

“Absolutely not!”

“At this rate, I’m second guessing the entire lawsuit to begin with!”

“Me too!”

Your head spun. You weren’t even sure who was saying what at this point, only that your plan had backfired spectacularly. Seungkwan and Hoshi made eye contact for a few moments before launching themselves into each other’s arms for a rather spectacular hug.

“What is happening?” you whispered to Seungkwan’s lawyer.

“Lord if I know,” he wailed, looking ready to pull his own eyebrows out.

“Brothers!” Hoshi and Seungkwan pulled away triumphantly. “Cancel the lawsuit, we’ve reconciled!”

You were torn between stabbing the both of them and cry-laughing because it meant you could go home. You went with the latter. Seungkwan’s attorney had the good idea of documenting the decision signed by all parties and as soon as that was done, you were free to go.

When you pulled out your phone to check the time, your heart leapt into your throat. Three missed calls and several texts from Jeonghan. What was going on?!

Jeonghan pretended to consider not picking it up when you called, but ultimately couldn’t help himself. The curiosity had been eating at him for hours now.

“Hello?” he answered gruffly.

“Are you okay? I was in mediation with a client so I just saw your texts and calls. Are you okay?”

“Mediation? Why were you in mediation?” Jeonghan asked, his tone somewhat strained.

“Because you pawned Hoshi off on me,” you rolled your eyes.

“Did you forget what day it is?” Jeonghan inquired snippily.

“Friday?” you answered, slightly confused.

“We were supposed to have dinner!”

“But you’re still in Minneapolis?”

“Try again,” Jeonghan’s tongue clicked.

“...You’re home?” your eyes widened.

Jeonghan let out a small noise of confirmation and a mix of feelings washed over you.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were coming back? I assumed we were canceling!”

“Why would you assume that?! I didn’t tell you because I wanted to surprise you?”

“Well you were the one who saddled me with the world’s most insane client!”

“And you’re the one who stood me up on our first date!”

You stilled. You pushed your adrenaline aside and focused on what was important. Jeonghan had come back all the way from Minneapolis for your date. Which was in fact a date and not just wishful thinking on your part.

“It’s fine, we can just reschedule. Hopefully the merger will be over soon-”

“No!” you cut him off, opening your car door. “Where are you? I’ll come pick you up! It’s eight, we can still have dinner.”

“I-,” he chuckled. Within moments you were headed towards his place.

Jeonghan glanced at the clock as he waited. He couldn’t recall the last time he had been picked up for dinner and he had to laugh. His relationship to you was anything but traditional, so really it made sense for you to have accidentally stood him up and then come pick him up instead.

Despite that, he was excited to see you. The past weeks apart had cemented just how important you were to him. He missed hearing your thoughts, bouncing ideas off of you, and spending time with you. He thought about you for so long that the buzzer was what pulled him back to reality. He buzzed you up and wondered whether you’d be amenable to a simple night in.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were coming back?” you burst in unceremoniously.

“I wanted to surprise you!” came his bemused reply.

“Well I wouldn’t have scheduled mediation if I’d known you were coming back,” you fixed him with a stubborn look.

“I know,” he de-escalated the situation completely, grabbing you by the wrists and pulling you towards himself. “Hello.”

“H-hello,” you swallowed, nervous at his touch.

“I missed you,” Jeonghan smiled softly down at you. “I’m not mad. I’m glad you came.”

“I-,” your adrenaline fueled nerves melted into relief and your heart stuttered in your chest. “I missed you too.”

“Do you want to go out? Or do you want to stay in?” he asked, pushing a few stray hairs out of your face.

“I wouldn’t mind staying in, to be honest. I need to give you an earful about Hoshi,” you couldn’t help but tease.

“I’m sure you do,” he smiled at you. “Go sit down and I’ll grab you a drink.”

“Wait, before you do,” you caught him before he could step away completely. You tugged him in by the front of his shirt and pressed your lips to his. His arms folded around you and his lips curled into a smile. “I missed you beyond a reasonable doubt,” you smiled cheesily at him when you pulled away.

“My god,” Jeonghan rolled his eyes affectionately at you, “I like you so much.”

back to index

#jeonghan fanfic #svthub #jeonghan fluff #jeonghan x reader #seventeen fluff #seventeen fanfic #seventeen x reader #seungkwansphd:writes #room for interpretation

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rise-my-angel · 9 months ago

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It is much easier for me to believe that Lyanna was manipulated by Rhaegar in some way, if not outright kidnapped. You won't believe me but I have seen people argue that since we know her personality was like Arya's so how could she "allow" herself to be kidnapped 🤦🤦 as if Arya doesn't get kidnapped so many times. The biggest evidences though for Rhaegar being a sinister figure are found all over Sansa's story. Bael-ish kidnaps Sansa, Joffrey sings a song for her and Marillion offers to make a song for her, calling her a rose, and all these men sexually assaulted her. Tyrion on their wedding, wears rubies and he forcibly married her.

My best guess for what actually happened is that the only way in which Lyanna "allowed" herself to get kidnapped, was by not pulling out a sword she didn't have/was not trained to even use, and fight back against grown men trained in combat.

So, here's my theory:

What likely happened, (in my opinion just to cover my ass), is that Rhaegar at the tourney at Harrenhal gifts the crown of love and beauty to the already betrothed 14 year old Lyanna, since he likely knows that Elia will not be able to have more children after Aegon is born, considering she known to be prone to illness and was in medical distress for some months after giving birth to Rhaenys. And at this point he is obsessed with this prophecy and he thinks he needs three heads of a dragon, i.e three children born of his line. And he will need a third child from someone after Elia can't give him more. So, he chooses Lyanna and has to bide his time.

It isn't an unreasonable guess to say that it probably was becoming more well known that Lyanna didn't want to marry Robert due to his irresponsible appetite for bedding many women. It makes sense people could put that together, Lyanna is dedicated to her family and Robert would undoubtedly be unfaithful their entire marriage. If Rhaegar has developed an obsession with her being the one to provide him that third child, it makes sense he learns she is unhappy in her betrothal.

Likely somewhere around the Vale is where this happened, considering the timeline of where all of the Starks currently were at the time she disappeared. So when she is in the south, Rhaegar has a lot more resources to do this. So he waits for a time Lyanna is alone and approaches her. Now she's just a 15 year old girl now suddenly alone with the Crown Prince, likely as intimidated as she is a little star struck considering who he is. Rhaegar needs to lure her away far enough that she won't just run for help. So he promises that as the prince, he can help legally break Lyannas unhappy betrothal for her but does not tell her how.

Offer her something she wants without details and get her to come with him. By the time Lyanna likely put together this isn't what she thought it was and that she's too far away from her family to be safe, is when the actual kidnapping occurs. She goes with him willingly thinking he wants to just help her with something in her life, with no way of knowing he was about to separate her from her family.

By the time Lyanna realizes she is in a bad situation, she's too far away from anywhere she knows to get help and has no choice but to go with him. She is 15 years old, she's just a girl now fearing for her life if she tried to run or fight now. And by the time he takes her to Dorne, he keeps her in a tower with three of the best Kingsguard to ensure she does not escape and no one comes to get her out. He then stays there until he knows shes pregnant, a situation she also likely did not fight back on because of how isolated and powerless she already is here. She is all alone, fighting back could mean her life.

Then of course, word gets out of what Rhaegar has done, Brandon Stark, who has no way of knowing he's taken her to Dorne, goes to Kings Landing to try and demand his sisters return, accompanied along with their father to help and the rest is history.

Make no mistake. They never spoke before that day.

Rhaegar was the Prince and heir to the Iron Throne, who is married to a Dornish Princess and now has 2 children of his own including his own son and heir. Lyanna is a 14-15 year old girl, and the firstborn daughter of a major Northern house who live a thousand miles apart in completely different regions of the country. They would NEVER have been able to share any correspondence together and no one knew or would have found out long before that day.

Ravens dont just fly to the person the letter is for, it goes through a system of people, usually a Maester who facilitates the incoming and outgoing letters, who then either himself or a squire, hand delivers the letter to the correct person. Note most times especially in the first season, when important letters are delivered to the Starks its by either Maester Luwin or Grand Maester Pycelle, and the letters seals have already been opened, hence why they know who to deliver the letter to. Example: How would Luwin have known the letter at the start of the series was from Lysa or how would he have known it specifically was for Catelyn if he did not have to open it first to read its contents to find out.

SOMEONE in the Stark household would have realized that the 14-15 year old Lyanna was receiving letters from the Prince, if not just someone important from Kings Landing, and stepped in then and there. And if he wrote her out of the blue, the first thing Lyanna would have done was tell her family that the PRINCE had sent her a letter. We know the Starks are all very honest with each other, if he wrote her out of the blue, she would've told her brothers.

Also, there are spies everywhere in Kings Landing. If Rhaegar was sending secret letters, someone would've found that out and to whom. Note Catelyn had said she doesn't trust a raven to carry the words to Ned about the attempt on Brans life, or her saying Lysa's head would be on a spike if the wrong person read her letter about the Lannisters. Meaning even she well knows that it is very easy for letters to get into the wrong hands.

Someone (lets be real, probably Varys) would have learned Rhaegar was sending letters to Lyanna. Which in the well over a decade after her death, would have said something to SOMEONE that they were sharing correspondence. Davos line in season 2 of "Lord Varys knows what you had for breakfast three days ago. There are no secrets here." Is clear cut enough to imply that even a man who grew up in Flea Bottom, knows that if you live in Kings Landing, Lord Varys knows you and your secrets already.

Rhaegar was not sending secret letters to Lyanna and no one knew or no one said anything in the conflict that followed or in the decades since.

Lyanna did not run away nor go to him willingly, she would have no way to even communicate with the Crown Prince and heir to the Iron Throne without a single soul learning that information. Her family would have found out and the Starks would have done something about it then and there.

Lyanna likely went with him thinking that he was taking her somewhere reasonable to help her legally end a betrothal she didn't want, not knowing it meant he was taking her away from her family and by the time she realized, she was likely too powerless and in lands she's never been in before to try and run.

Also Lyanna deeply cares about her brothers. The story of the Knight of the Laughing Tree is all the evidence needed to show that she is deeply loving and loyal to her family and the people of the North. She would not run from them just beacuse of a betrothal she didn't like, she loved her brothers dearly.

She was taken from them. She was tricked into walking into a kidnapping under false pretenses. Rhaegar was a fully grown man in a position of great power who used Lyanna's young naivety and venerability to his advantage.

Lyanna did not need to be carried away kicking and screaming for it to still be a kidnapping.

Also the idea that Lyanna did not want to marry Robert because he already had bastards and slept around, would leave her entire life and family behind to run away with a man who is married with 2 children is braindead.

And if I even hear the word annulment, I will explode into rage like I'm Oberyn Martell's fucking head.

#shoutout to miniaturewizardstudentsworld for helping fill in some missing details of this theory for me #im gonna risk tagging but it if the tags suddenly disappear #it means someone happened in my inbox okay we all know the drill on this blog by now #game of thrones #a song of ice and fire #asoiaf #lyanna stark #anti rhaegar targaryen #anti rhaegar #anti rhaegar stans #anti rhaegar x lyanna #anti rhaelya #anti targ stans #long post

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acourtofquestions · 5 months ago

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*Clone Wars narrator voice* but it's really “just Chaol”: War has broken out among the Fae Civillians of Terrasen and the Witches of the Wastes *audio fades out*

Aelin & Manon make eye contact across the room, a single nod is exchanged.

… 1 day later…

Chaol *at the head of the war room council* : Now can you please explain to me why you & Manon ran away… and got married?

*Aelin & Manon sitting side by side at the opposite end of the table of advisors, seemingly unfazed & picking at their nails*

Manon: An easy alliance -

Aelin: - duh.

Manon: *flicks hair* Oh, come on, you're all just mad you didn't think of it first!

Aelin: *muttering & rolling eyes* I mean you've all been trying to marry me off since before I was born!..

Nesryn: *turns to Chaol* They have a point.

Aedion: *head desk* but why did you feel the need to adopt Lysandra?

*camera pans out to show Lysandra between them*

Lorcan: *waving hands between them* AND ELIDE!

*pans out again to further show Lys's hand holding Elide's (like children at the Principle's office) between their parents*

Manon: You really think we'd get married and not consider our children?

Aelin: I made sure everyone was taken care of in the legalities!

Yrene: You both realize though that Aedion is now Aelin's… son-in-law?

Manon: It's not that complicated! Ugh! Look: Dorian's my husband *Dorian shrugs from corner* —

Aelin: - and Rowan's mine.

Manon & Aelin: Aelin/Manon is my wife.

Aelin & Manon: *in sync* and Elide is our child!

Aelin: Lysandra is her sister -

Manon: - and Aedion's fine!

Fenrys: makes perfect sense to me EXCEPT for the fact I wasn't even INVITED? How come? Cause even Lorcan's in on it?!

Aelin: *alarmed*

Rowan: *turning to Aelin* …wait… your saying… that would make… Lorcan you son…

Aedion: *starts cackling*

Aelin: *screams*

Manon: No, no, no, no.

Aelin: Shut up and go to your rooms!

Nesryn: *smirking* It’s already happening!

Manon: *head in hands* what have we done???

Aelin: Look it's fine! It was just one of those silly fake weddings, there weren't even more than two witnesses *Rowan muttering about their wedding only having two witnesses* we can just get it erased!

Chaol & Yrene & Nesryn: not when you've advertised it for the solve to world peace!!!

Elide: Hey, I for one am happy for my mothers!

Lorcan: *muttering* suck up.

#Chaol Westfall #Manon Blackbeak #Aelin Galathynius #Nesryn Faliq #Yrene Towers #Elide Lochan #Lysandra Ennar #Aedion Ashryver #Lorcan Salvaterre #incorrect quotes #TOG LOL #TOG humor #their kinda chaos #incorrect quotes form my minds au happenings #interactions I think would happen in hypothetical war solving #me and my best friend got married my husband’s still mad we got drunk and thought it would be funny #queens #I mean they kinda already adopted Elide #sry Lorcan lol

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horizon-verizon · 10 months ago

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Isn't it like wrong to call Viserys a rapist? He groomed Aemma and Alicent but he didn't rape them in a sense he didn't go like Aegon with Dyana. There are many types of rape of course but like it seems wrong

*EDITED POST* (4/13/24)

Ask comes in response to this reblog/post. This is about the show, yes?

No this isn't like anything with Aegon raping Dyana, taking her surprise and her yelling at him to stop. BUT I'd say that seeing that your wife doesn't want you to touch her means she hasn't given consent. Alicent was very obvious in her lack of desire to have sex with Viserys.

We have no scenes of show!Viserys marrying and living life with Aemma before episode 1, right? So we have to assume that in HotD, he also married Aemma at the ages in the original story/the bks. Age is definitely a matter we can look at here to determine grooming or no grooming, but since this is a world where:

most noble marriages are arranged and those marrying often do not actually get to choose their legal partners

where the marrying AND consummating persons can be under our (American, idk abt other nations) legal age of 18

we need to see who pursued who before the betrothal (not the marriage, the betrothal) AND why they did so? Because there is a difference b/t:

someone trying to preemptively make their future spouse more comfortable with them so the eventual consummation isn't awkward or a "failure" or stressful or something else I add below about the anxiety to perform one's duty

--AND--

them claiming they are doing such only to get the target to fuck them/be more vulnerable to their influence.

There's no strong proof of him wanting a sick sense of control or influence over Aemma before they married or betrothed. There's no proof of Viserys asking or pushing for a marriage with her for the express purpose of fucking with a child, because he wanted to have that type of control over her or any child. And they were arranged to be wed. He was around 16 to Aemma's 11 when they married and they consummated their marriage when she was 13.

Under this context, the 2 years of waiting might have been seen as "too long", as much as it shouldn't have been, but for whoever were willing to marry Aemma off at her 11 yrs of age are probably those who also applied some pressure to said couple to consummate, EVEN IF the couple actually liked each other, too.

Even without some external entity actively or purposefully making that sort of pressure--either maliciously or impatiently, like ordering a consummation versus constantly asking about it--the couple themselves could have both felt anxious to perform their "duties" to & for their parents/authority figures/families. But we simply don't know for sure and it wouldn't be mutually exclusive.

The couple lived & grew up in a world with little concept of a strong "legal" age, or a boundary for girls that was also enforced by laws. A world where doing your duty to your families, to your "God", to the authority figures around, to oaths you take you were often held as higher ethical standards than doing what some of us moderns would think is an ethical duty to "humanity".

Adult!Viserys expressly chose Alicent, though. And with Alicent being very obvious, I don't see how he couldn't have seen Alicent's reluctance or hesitance in all the times they had sex (at least 4 for each child)? From what little we see, they don't seem to be a couple where they (really Viserys) at least watch for each other's cues or signs of desire in bed. AllegedlyLola on TikTok says it best of HotD!Viserys (but much can the same shoudl be said for his book version): he says he loved Aemma, that he will always love her, etc. and pedestalizes Aemma to the degree that Rhaenrya could never be Baelon, her siblings can never be her, and all to never really give us a real picture of who Aemma was so he does not have to divulge how some of his actions have ruined Aemma's life. Helaena not having kids or at least stop having them before Rhaenrya becomes Queen/he dies would have even helped Rhaenyra...smh. He doesn't ever think to not let his daughter Helaena marry at 13 & have TWINS not long after (as Aemma died in part bc she started having children WAY too early after they consummated their marriage); he forces his daughter to marry Laenor to fix a problem he created instead of actually thinking about what would be better for her claim and position--which is not to marry a gay man!, esp when everyone knows he is gay; I mention Alicent already...this is the same guy who marries a 15 year old but gets angry with Daemon for seducing his 19 year old daughter and saying she is just a "girl"...bro...Add on the fact he allowed a faction against his heir and be lead by his second obviously hostile Hand & wife exist in court instead of properly intervening and diminishing Otto and Alicent's influence over Rhaenrya so she wouldn't have to escape to Dragonstone...no self reflection, just constant deflection, ignoring, placating the wrong people, putting his foot down at the wrong moments, not pursuing certain avenues or voids of information like in the Vhagar claim incident AND allowed the same thing that happens to his first wife happen to his next wife and his two daughters...ugh.

Getting back to Alicent, remember, consent is not a one-size-fits-all. You need to constantly ask for it and confirm it.

Keep in mind that this is an HotD Watsonian reading/analysis. The writers chose to make show!Alicent so vulnerable and defenseless to introduce something that modern viewers would easier think of her with their no-under 18s (and in certain age gaps, really under 25s) rule without making them really think about what these people themselves were going through. It's easier to assess a medieval setting or circumstance with the rules of conduct that we follow and know and then apply to them as if they would 100% understand how we think INSTEAD OF us FIRST trying to understand how they would think & react to what they have had to live with or learned so that we may expose how/where the double standards are.

I'm not saying that we should go back to marrying 15 year olds, I'm saying take a breather and assess how these people will think & act and assign the "fault" of such to the world instead of just them. Where it's appropriate. I am also not saying that you shouldn't feel uncomfortable, either. I'm saying do the activity fiction requires of us and see through the characters' eyes to understand them instead of trying to enforce you own views right away and all the time to find the nuance.

Example, this Youtube commentator perfectly describes Alicent's mindset within the lens & contextual vocabulary of what the feudal world asks of its people, acknowledging her victimhood but still holding Alicent accountable/showing/implying how wrong she isr:

#viserys i #asoiaf asks to me #alicent and viserys #viserys and alicent #hotd characterization #viserys i's characterization #alicent's characterization #character ages #aemma arryn #hotd #asoiaf

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iamyoursonly · 1 year ago

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Sunsets (6/11/2023)

suddenly wanted to write this idk bro but life seems harder rn

As the remaining bit of the sunset gleamed over the horizon, after the last bit of light entered my eyes, everything seemed like it was all gone, as if all was left, but except for the street lights near where I was sitting. Looking down to my feet, I realised that the shadows on the ground weren’t plural anymore, it was just me myself and I. The other shadow was long gone…

Holding up my pen after getting home and trying to concentrate on my work was hard, especially when you somehow broke up with me out of nowhere. All those “I love you”s and “I would never leave you”s were lies, because what else could men do but lie.

Despite us going through hard times together for 14 long years, you decided the bonding wasn’t enough and left me. Where was the sense in that?! God, please let me just disappear from this world. All that loathe I have felt towards you seemed to have exploded in my thoughts, and I couldn’t help but bawl my eyes out at every thought of you.

Deep down I knew — I still loved you.

Gojo Satoru, I still remember your name. As if our breakup was yesterday, but time has passed since and it’s been almost 5 years. Our immature years were over and we were both working for our society, making money and just being alive for this sole purpose.

A chorus of delirium rushed through my head when I got accepted into my dream job — being a teacher at a high school. But life was unfair, I know, I’ve been through it all before. My delirium was destroyed when you showed up as my teacher in charge. I was basically devastated.

Maybe you were 27, but you didn’t act like it. You were just an over grown child even at work, I mean why did they accept you into the school even when you’re just a giant baby!

“Well look at that isn’t it my favourite youngster?” You’d say and look at me, I had to curse under my breath before looking at you in the face with a smile, “Mr. Gojo, may I inform you that I’m merely two years younger than you?” And when you pout and start acting childish again, the memories of us being together appeared in my mind again, it was as if fate brought back us together in this school.

My delusions were crushed when you had announced your engagement with another pretty lady, whom you apparently met a few months prior. It was almost so obvious that your mother set you up with her, but it wasn’t like you to agree without throwing a whole tantrum. But that smile you had on your face while giving me the invite to your wedding seemed genuine, and what could I do but respect your decision.

Denial is a river in Egypt, I know. But maybe it’s also what I’m feeling right now, how could you choose her over me though? I thought I had gotten over you, but all those thoughts just keep coming back to my head. “How could you do this to me, Gojo.” I mumbled, in my own house.

On the day of your wedding, it felt illegal to show up, but you sounded so anticipated to have me show up to your wedding, and have I ever said no to you? Never. So I went, in the dress that you bought me on our 4th dating anniversary. It was blue, just like your eyes. And that time of the day, was the sunset, my favourite time of the day.

When I arrived, you looked so handsome in that white suit, I might just faint from looking at you, and we might have made some brief eye contact before you broke it, and that tiny blush on your face was quite visible too.

The vows. I hated it, why would you vow to love a woman you didn’t want to marry, oh how I wished you would’ve pulled me onto the stage and married me instead…

“Would you, Gojo Satoru, be the legal husband of Naoko Tsurugi and love her forever?”

“No.” You spoke. That stern look in your eyes sent shivers down my spine, but thank god you spoke up. The girl you married also opposed your marriage too, and said she had someone she wanted to marry. Your gaze looked soft, as if a stone was lifted from your heart.

I’d thank the heavens if they gave me a chance to savour your love again, and I’d never thank it enough when you pulled me on the stage and asked me to marry you instead. Naoko didn’t seem opposed at all, instead, she was the biggest supporter and told us to kiss.

“Well what do you say princess, would you like us to get married?”

“What if I say no.”

“You wouldn’t say no to me.”

What could I say, those years of bonding really made us lucky. And it seems like I could never get rid of Gojo Satoru. But I love it so much.

Only that sunset finally had two silhouettes.

master list

sunrise

#gojo satoru x reader #gojo satoru #drabble #gojo and you #satoru gojo #jujutsu kaisen #jujutsu satoru #i am not okay #jjk #a bit sad if you squint

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rebornologist · 8 months ago

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Hello I'm here for the Tea Prompts as well because I didn't know about these and reading them, I wanted more from you about our resident grumpy but mellowed cat Xanxus. May I ask for matcha tea; chai tea; hibiscus tea please? And if it's not too much trouble please english breakfast tea on the side. Thank you so much and I loved how you thought about the character. I love it when writers understand the character.

Thank you for the high praises! I really try because I adore these morally grey (honestly, terrible people) little freaks in the KHRverse and want to think of them in a multidimensional way without watering down the complexity of their character building.

♡ Xanxus + proposals, spice, fav places, family

୨୧ ⁺˳₊ matcha tea; how and when do they propose to their s/o?

✧ He doesn’t. At least, not properly. Marriage would have to be something that his s/o insists on, and he would have his mental gymnastics cut out for him in weighing the emotional costs and benefits of compromising with that request. He’s more likely to hear the suggestion to get married, not even respond, and leave them wondering if he was even listening to what they were saying. He was, for the record. He’s just taking some time to let the thoughts simmer, instead of chewing them out over bringing such an idea to the table.

Being legally tied together means absolutely nothing to this man, and the thought of it stresses him out due to his attachment wounds. He cares about them, admittedly, despite everything. Despite himself, and as much as he wants to bury those feelings.

He would begrudgingly accept any well thought out, private, intimate, [insert more synonyms for lowkey] proposal, and granted his s/o does the bulk of the wedding planning. He’s kind of babygirl for that.

୨୧ ⁺˳₊ chai tea; how do they spice up their relationship?

✧ His relationships are inherently pretty spicy (in the traditional and nontraditional sense) because he’s a mercurial man. He’s not great for anyone who doesn’t do well with reactivity. His moods can be all over the place, and that’s likely what is spicy enough for him and his relationships.

I’ve said before that his s/o is often the one to propose they do anything new, and a lot of him complying with their requests is because it pleases them (and him). He doesn’t often go out of his way to please them, but he also prides himself in keeping his s/o happy and is more easily swayed to push his comfort zones if they drive a hard bargain.

୨୧ ⁺˳₊ hibiscus tea; what’s their favourite place to take their s/o?

✧ He is not particularly adventurous in general, and while his s/o may frequent a specific spot, it would be only once in every ten visits that you’ll find Xanxus with them. He doesn’t mix well with the general public, if I’m so honest. He’s a man with a huge, intimidating, attention-drawing aura about him, and he’s easily ticked off.

No matter how good your customer service skills are, it’s unlikely that Xanxus will be pleased enough to leave a 5-star review of your cafe. He prefers spaces that require less petty social interaction. His favourite place is definitely his personal room(s) in the mansion. He unexpectedly fares well in a large dim bookstore or fancy library, granted he is just going to plop down onto the big sofa and take a nap in hopes that no one bothers him. Everyone has to be extra careful to not set him off in that space though, because that is one flammable enclosed space.

୨୧ ⁺˳₊ english breakfast tea; would they want a family?

✧ In a sense, he has a family whether he likes it or not, though not by blood. He has his assassin team, the Vongola as a whole, and of course, his baby boy Bester.

He’s surprisingly sweet with Bester, though the liger does have a similar temper like his handler. Bester is really only super soft and tolerant with Xanxus’s partner(s), and that totally annoys him, kind of like when your cat likes the s/o more than it likes the actual owner. It might be because they spoil Bester with extra treats, and they end up being the good cop to Xanxus’s bad cop in the parenting dynamic.

Anyway, I can’t imagine Xanxus wanting to have kids, aside from to feed his ego and to follow his blood family’s traditional customs and values. He doesn’t have the emotional capacity to support and raise a child healthily and is reluctant to replicate the trauma that he experienced in his upbringing.

#khr #hitman reborn #katekyo hitman reborn #khr headcanons #xanxus #xanxus varia #xanxus khr

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riding-the-sunset-bird · 3 months ago

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Wait, wait, wait. When answering the other anon, you mentioned that you can play the Wedding DLC even if you are already married?!

I always wanted to be married before Cove’s Step 4, but thought it ruined the DLC and made it unplayable. Any unique convos for being already married in the DLC?

Being already married to Cove basically makes the distinction of:

Legally, you already were married, but you'd waited to have a full-blown occasion for it, with a ceremony, reception, and everything.

The game also warns if the player is already married:

Because you're already married to Cove in this playthrough you can choose to continue your story into the wedding planning events if you accept the framing that you were legally married before and are only having the actual wedding now.

If you want to imagine that the wedding already happened when you got married before the start of Step 4, these events won't make sense for your life.

As for differences, not too many notable ones? I mean, you won't get an entire scene change over it, but the game changes a few little sentences and interactions since Cove is your MC's husband, not fiance.

For example, if it was the poppy hill engagement in Step 3 (whether Baxter was told about it or not), Baxter with react to Cove saying that he and the MC are married like, "Ah. That makes sense. Engaged and married, it's all gone by. I've missed a lot."

He also won't bother asking what they want their last names to be and will simply ask what they are, since the name change would have already happened. Cove will later express amazement that he and the MC have been married "this whole time" but are really having a wedding now.

The MC obviously won't take note of Cove's name being "Cove Holden" as "the last time he'll have it" or that they would share it with him/take it, since they've already been married.

Otherwise, most changes just swap the word "fiance" for "husband."

#type: scene help #step: 4 #olba dlc: wedding

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randomfoggytiger · 2 years ago

Text

The Mulder Family In-Depth (Part IX): Tena Mulder's Suicide and Saving Mulder from Himself

Without further ado, here we go~.

Sein und Zeit

While Mulder is investigating a child disappearance that parallels his sister's too closely, his phone rings. He springs up to answer it, vibrating with energy and ready to tackle the next lead. However, he's pulled up short when Tena answers with a soft "Fox? It's me" to his "Mulder" greeting.

His voice immediately softens (“Mom? Hi.”)

Tena launches into the purpose of her call, telling him: “I’m watching the news. That little girl in California-- you’re out there, aren’t you?” Despite the distance in their relationship, she knows her son and his mad pursuit for answers, correctly deducing Mulder would be compelled to solve this case out of a sense of empathy, absolution, or both.

He can’t deny it; though he reflexively shrinks from wanting to discuss a case so close to their pressure points.

“Yes”, he admits: a mix of trepidation, hesitation, and a little shame. “I am.”

Either as a deflection or as a gentle probe into her welfare, Mulder asks “Are you okay, Mom?”

Tena demurs: “When are you coming back here?”

Mulder snaps upright, possibly a little shocked she would care to know anything about his routines.

“Well, I’m not sure, I, y’know, I-I…I dunno.”

“Call when you get back, Fox.”

Tena is tense-- knitted brows and troubled eyes-- but doesn’t betray it in her voice as she bids her son goodbye.

Mulder promises-- “Okay, I will. Um, you take care, Mom--” and hangs up as fast as he can, gritting his jaw slightly.

It’s obvious that, while he loves his mother, the blind trust he had given her regarding his emotions has not recovered. Since Demons's separation and Amor Fati's mild reconnection, the fracture has not fully healed, or even really started to. Mulder knows that his mom loves him; but even when he was comatose, Tena never dropped her pride enough to verbally tell her son that she loved him (she didn't know he could read minds so her confession was only incidental; and while it was nice to know she loved him, Mulder probably felt more hurt that she wouldn’t say it before she signed him over to the man that cut his brain open.) And after Amor Fati it seems the gap has still not been bridged.

While this is sad, it's a huge step for Mulder. He is not letting himself be taken advantage of or duped anymore: there are firm boundaries in place, including when he schedules his life around his mom. Before he would have dropped everything in the midst of an intense and interesting case and flown immediately to her side; now, he has placed her importance firmly where she has placed his in her life. Mulder may have forgiven Tena in the wake of his enlightening experiences while trapped in his own mind, but he has not forgotten.

Tena hears his sharp disconnect,

and hangs up the phone, caught up in her own thoughts as well.

It’s revealed she has been gazing at a photo of her children--

the very same photo CSM had in Redux II--

and contemplating something that her son is not aware of (yet.)

She is also clearly wearing a wedding ring on her left ring finger,

meaning one of many options (or all of them):

1. She kept Bill Mulder’s ring and wore it anyway post divorce. This would be odd because she didn’t wear it previously.

2. She put her wedding ring back on to create a comfort zone of nostalgia: Mrs. Mulder again, with her doting son by her side-- an ode to a happier, more familial time. It would bring a little cheer to the present so that she and her son would have an easier time making peace with her approaching death.

3. She, like the Mulder men, likes to wear random wedding rings without being married to anyone (as shown in Travelers-- post here-- where Bill Mulder and Fox Mulder wear bands without documents or timelines to legally bind them to a wife.)

4. She got married again? And her husband is just some guy in the background who must've been literally shoved out of any room Mulder (and the camera) walked into. Maybe there’s a random guy named Joe who spent an afternoon being pushed around by the investigative team and ignored by everyone else.

While Tena stares at her children, she swallows before stretching her neck: steeling herself against unwanted emotion.

The next time we see Tena, she is looking at her emptied photograph frames while leaving a message on Mulder's answering machine:

“Fox, it’s your mother. I’d hoped you’d call upon your return, but I haven’t heard from you. I’m sure you’re busy. There are… so many emotions in me I wouldn’t know where to start. So much I’ve left unsaid for reasons I hope one day you’ll understand.”

As her words play overhead, Tena takes the infamous photo of her children,

plucks it from its frame,

and proceeds to burn it.

As she gazes at the disappearing photo, Tena sighs, tries the straighten-your-back-to-contain-your-emotions trick; but loses some ground to the fight (crunching her shoulders up, lowering her head, and pinching her face a bit more.)

Mulder is informed sometime soon after that his mother is dead.

Tena Mulder, even in her last moments, was a selfish woman. While Bill Mulder was cowardly and quailed under the iron fist of the Consortium, buddying up with ex-Nazis and sitting on the sidelines while his colleagues hushed up and obliterated the lives of innocent people to keep themselves from being exposed, Tena railed, raged, and finally stewed. If she couldn’t have it the way she wanted-- a happy family life, no abductions, no affairs to taint her moral code-- then she wouldn’t remember any of it. This led her to systematically cut out everyone that served as a reminder of everything she wished to forget: her CSM lover (before her daughter was even abducted, post here), her ex-husband (laying all blame at his feet and none at her own, post here), and her own son (post here.) It’s not simply a matter of burning her children’s photos, although that’s bad enough. In destroying her past, she destroyed her son’s as well; and with it destroyed any tie Mulder had to his earlier happy childhood, something he always remembered fondly and wanted to recapture through his quest to recover his sister. While Tena viewed her actions as taking control of what she was robbed of by burning up all the lies she lived in the process, she threw in the good with the bad; and cast her baggage onto Mulder, leaving him with wounds grown deeper and deeper and robbing him of the last proof of his former life, family, and sister he treasured.

Mulder and Scully drive up to Tena’s place, navigating their way through the team of investigators. As he numbly walks around the kitchen, Mulder curls in on himself; and when that doesn’t provide enough comfort, he sticks his hand into his mouth like a small, confused child trying to self-soothe.

His mother held a huge place in Mulder’s life, as evidenced by his raw anguish and vulnerability. All those years, their bond was wound tight through their mutual trauma-- but Mulder spent his childhood wrapping his mother in a metaphorical trauma blanket while punishing himself for her pain and for his sister’s abduction. He never had a chance to be taken care of or given support to process his own trauma; and, per his words, is “still walking into that room” every day of his life.

Mulder wilts even more as he’s handed Tena’s suicide pills and explained she used them in conjunction with the gas stove.

Tena left no final note.

Mulder doesn’t see the sense or logic in any of her actions; and wanders around her bedroom, lost, looking for something but not knowing what. Finally, he sits before he falls to pieces, trying to center himself and think more clearly.

As Mulder relates Tena's phone call to Scully, a new theory pops into his head-- the White Whale, the elusive and uncatchable beam of light he can forever chase to keep the ugly realities of his life at bay-- that she had been subdued and killed.

He rushes into this theory with renewed vigor. When emotions start to bubble to the surface again, almost drowning out his words, he uses his hands to demonstrate to Scully what to look for in his mother’s autopsy--

becoming insistent when Scully begs him not to ask her to perform it. His voice is deceptively upbeat, cheerful, a late-stage effect of teaching himself not to upset his mother (or anyone else) with his emotions in times of crisis. Internally, he’s bleeding; externally, he’s ignoring the wound and pursuing the chase. There’s an addictive quality to his hunt for answers: a simultaneous distraction from his needs and a focus for him to stave off discouraged apathy with life’s continual beat downs. He has yet to develop an effective coping strategy (though he has improved a lot since One Breath) since he is so used to running around, half-bandaged, shouting oaths at the world for justice (or vengeance.) As long as there is something to fight for (as his subconscious demonstrated when Amor Fati dream Scully ordered him to “Get up and fight”), Mulder will keep going. Unfortunately, this goal has driven many a more stable and healthily functioning person straight into single-minded madness.

Tena knew these things about her son and still did what she did.

The worst thing about Tena’s uncommunicated suicide is that it pushes Mulder further into unhealthy coping mechanisms: he immediately discounts the evidence,

believing it has been planted and that his mother was murdered. Mulder then jumps to conspiracies, insisting Scully prove him right by autopsying his mother.

Tena's final act put her son in a very, very precarious position: either he pursues her murderers to his grave (an expanded clause on his Samantha Recovery Pact), or folds in on himself in blame, crushed forever. Her death is an unexpected, piercing grief that only serves (despite whatever her intentions) to strengthen Mulder's one-sided purpose. Not only that, but with the case he was working on and the guilt of his mother’s death (and tangentially Samantha’s abduction) combined, Mulder would have been eaten alive with his belief that Tena's death was preventable and entirely his fault: he had driven up for his dad the night he died-- why hadn't he at least called his mom back? Especially when she had finally, finally, reached out to reconnect with him? Mulder would have concluded that his mother had died thinking that he didn't love or care about her, the ultimate stake in his heart. Always his fault. Always too late. Always a failure that loses his family and gets them killed.

The last we hear from Tena Mulder is her phone message Mulder replays over and over. His hyper-focus on trying to decode her words, find a secret somewhere between her sentences, is a failure; and before he can further lose himself in this untruth, his partner saves him. If Scully had not been someone Mulder trusted above all else, he likely would have discredited her autopsy and driven himself crazy. It’s Scully who gives him a modicum of peace about his mother’s death: having suffered a painful, deadly illness herself, she understands the muddied logic of the dying; and she uses Mulder’s trust in her to convince him that his mother committed suicide because she simply wanted the pain (all of it) to end. While that may or may not be true, Scully believed it for him, so Mulder believed in her.

With no one to blame and no other explanation out of this nightmarish reality, Mulder collapses in grief. It's here we see how devastated, helpless, and toothless Mulder is without his pursuit.

Scully saves Mulder from a fate worse than Tena's death, helping him to finally address his injury and start to heal it (and others that it was bleeding over into.) Without her, Mulder would not have been ready to accept Samantha's final gift of peace in Closure.

It’s interesting to reflect on Tena and her husband’s variations on neglect. Bill Mulder created a lot of early damage in his son by erecting immovable barriers between himself and young Mulder. While it was motivated from a deep fear of his inabilities and a cowardice of his past, Bill at least reached out when he could no longer escape from exposure. In his final hours, he tried to give his son closure, even opening himself up emotionally and revealing his pride that his son was a better man than he. In contrast, Tena was close with her son-- doting, loving, and sharing a bond with him that was layered with trauma and affection (see post here.) Her neglect was emotional: Mulder learned that he had to suppress himself emotionally to care for his broken mother. This set him up for too much reliance and dependence in relationships, leaving him to be easily exploited by others (Phoebe, Diana, Krycek, etc.) and a gun-shy attitude towards emotional vulnerability (see post here.) But, most crucially, when Mulder needed honesty from Tena about her past-- and was ready to empathetically listen and forgive-- she expunged him from her life, not reentering it for almost three years (not even for his faked suicide); and still maintained a distance that was all her own doing. Both of Mulder’s parents failed him; but in very different ways.

So ends Tena Mulder: the person who molded Fox Mulder into the man he is today with all his virtues and faults, tenderness and stubborn insistence, empathetically bleeding heart and faulty coping mechanisms. While she had been an important part to him for almost all of her son’s life, their final years were filled with too many words left unsaid.

Mentions:

Tena was mentioned once or twice more-- in Within, Mulder visits Raleigh (where she was buried) "every week" and buys a tombstone by her grave (the evidence on that is small, but was never disproven-- or thoroughly questioned-- canonically); and we are shown her grave when Mulder’s “dead” body is buried in Deadalive. (The only other reference, maybe, to Tena might be in connection to the doll Mulder gifts Scully in Empedocles: it was a family heirloom-- likely belonging to Samanatha at some point-- that was stored at the Vineyard. At least Tena didn't burn it.)

We have reached the end of the Mulder Family saga, concluding with Tena's suicide and the impact of this decision on her son. While their relationship started out strong, her excommunication completely nuked it; and her curated, preservative selfishness prevented any further reconnection that she could have had in her final years. She was a woman who adored her son, could shout down CSM and live to tell the tale (post here), and had self-preserving instincts so fierce she could cut someone from her life and never look back. A flawed, neglectful, and stunted person; but one who wasn't evil so much as complicated.

Thank you for reading~

Enjoy~

#txf #x-files #The Mulder Family In-Depth #Part VIII #meta #Tena's Suicide Could Have Destroyed Mulder Forever #the x files #xf meta #analysis #Tena #Teena Mulder #Mulder #S7 #Sein und Zeit #S8 #Within #Deadalive #Empedocles #mine

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