#annika sucks in it

[ink-flavored]

it's possible i screwed myself over with how i intended to have 4 poetry collections. Fear, Me is pretty contained to a single topic, i'm not too worried about that one. but The Theory of Love and SIN QUEERLY YOURS definitely overlap in places, and that's all fine and dandy until i have to decide which poems go in which collection

and honestly everything that was supposed to go in Life, Death, and Other Mild Topics could be split among the other three if i really wanted to do it like that. why must i love organizing so much that i organize Too much

[solitary-witch-murmurings]

If you think I’m such a dick

Suck it

[livinginshambles]

But what about me | James Potter

Pairing: James Potter x Fem!Reader

Word Count: 5.1k

Summary: Established relationship - You're jealous of the new girl but are mature about it, James is oblivious, and he also forgets your birthday and anniversary.

Notes: So here it is, a new version. I'm not going to continue the taglist, because it is kind of a hassle to take care of. Lily is our friend. OC Rosalie sucks. James is stupid. Spelling mistakes, grammar mistakes, probably a happy ending, you know the drill.

Masterlist

“What’s on your mind?”

_________________________

You stared at James from a distance.

You shot up, your eyes widened in an alarmed manner before your posture relaxed when you saw it was Annabelle. She was a Hufflepuff ghost, a student who had tragically died during a Triwizard tournament, a few decades ago.

You shook your head in reassurance. “Nothing’s on my mind-“

“-So, the usual then?” Sirius’ voice popped up behind you and you wasted no time in elbowing him in the ribs, causing him to let out an “oomph”. You quickly waved at Annabelle who floated off.

“Watch it Padfoot,” you sternly told him, and you tried your best to give him a reprimanding look. By the laughing sound of his reaction, you failed in appearing intimidating.

“So,” Sirius began. “Big day tomorrow ey?” He wiggled his eyes suggestively. You laughed and rolled your eyes. “Yeah, my birthday. Stop making it sound weird,” you huffed, and you shook your head.

“Totally worth it, Annika just walked past us with a beet red face,” Sirius defended with a mischievous grin.

“You should stop your inappropriate comments, I mean you are literally my cousin,” you stated loudly, and Sirius earned a disgusted look from another student passing by.

Sirius’ mouth hung open and then he scrambled to defend himself. “So, we’re not related at all, she was kidding!” His voice and pitch raised by the end of the sentence as he called out to the student who’d given him a not-so-subtle side eye.

You gave him a smug look. “Fine,” Sirius relented. “Truce?” You two shook hands.

“You’re not trying to steal my girl, are you Pads?” Two arms found their way around your waist, followed by a kiss to your cheek.

Sirius let go of your hand to hold them up in surrender. “I wouldn’t dare, Prongs, just chatting because she seemed lonely,” he shrugged. You shot him a glare.

“Lonely?” James’ attention immediately zoned in on you.

“He’s just talking out of his ass, Jamie,” you waved it off.

Sirius raised his eyebrows. “Oh, because you were definitely not longingly looking at Prongs here, talking to that gir-“ This time, you kicked his shins.

“Nah, I’m just pranking you, mate,” Sirius nonchalantly changed course and patted James on the shoulder while he passed him. James ignored him and focused on you.

He spun you around by one arm, held above your head like you were doing a ballroom dance. His hands quickly settled on your sides when you faced him, and he leaned over to pepper your face full of pecks. You grinned up at him and he fondly looked back before pulling you in again for a deeper kiss.

“Really?” A portrait next to you spoke up snorted. “Right in front of my salad?” He gestured to the painted salad on the dinner table in front of him.

James pointedly ignored him and instead tried to pull you a little bit closer. Not that that was possible.

“Oh, now you’re just doing it on purpose,” The man in the painting complained, and you would imagine the grimace on his face if you weren’t too preoccupied with James, who was leaving small pecks against your lips.

“Don’t like what you see, look away,” James murmured against you.  

“Disrespectful cretin these days. I would look away, but you are right in my sight,” The portrait huffed dramatically. You softly pushed James away to offer the poor man a sheepish look but found that he’d already escaped to a neighboring painting.

“So tomorrow,” James started, and you couldn’t help but get excited at the prospect of a date with James. That giddy feeling sank very quickly when James finished his sentence.

“I’ll be training our newest Chaser for the day. That’s the girl I was talking to before,” he explained. “Her name’s Rosalie James, isn’t that funny? Like her last name is James, it confused me a lot during today’s practice,” James continued, not noticing that your mind had wandered of the brunette girl.

“She even joked that if we’d get married, I could change my name to James James,” he laughed. You didn’t particularly see the humor in that.

“Anyway,” he continued, “I know I said that we would study together in the library tomorrow, but I think we should move that to Sunday.”

You frowned, “can we not just move it to the evening then?” you asked, wondering if James was really planning on spending the entirety of your birthday with someone else.

“Well, it’s from 9 o’clock until 7 o’clock in the evening, and we have a Quidditch party thing afterwards, but it’s more of a teambuilding thing. I can ask them if you can join though?” James offered.

You blinked at him in confusion before offering him a smile in return. “What, no- I wouldn’t want to intrude,” you denied. You assumed that he’d find some time to squeeze in a birthday celebration.

James shrugged. “Suit it yourself, love.”

You didn’t actually think James would forget your birthday. After all, James was literally the perfect boyfriend. He was proud to show you off to people, always ready to lend an ear when you needed to, and most of all showering you with love, any chance he gets.

But we’re all still humans after all, today was very busy so it probably just slipped his mind. That’s completely okay, you told yourself. And so, you tried to push away your thoughts, wanting to enjoy the cake that you and the girls had snuck from the kitchen as a late-night snack.

“Red velvet is the best, I swear,” Lily laughed with a sigh as she let herself fall flat on her back in satisfaction. Marlene agreed wordlessly, preoccupied with stuffing more cake in her mouth.

“Happy birthday again,” Alice smiled kindly at you, and you beamed at her. “Thank you, guys, for today, you shouldn’t have bought me the expensive painting equipment,” you said as you motioned towards the brand-new canvasses, brushes, primer, and oil paint.

“Nonsense,” Marlene replied in mock offense. “But you will paint me one day, right?” She batted her eyelashes at you. You pretended to think about it. “I mean, for 15 galleons?” you joked and then had to rush to take your words back when Marlene agreed without hesitance.

“I was only joking,” you laughed and swatted her lightly.

“Eh, leave the joking to your boyfriend and the other marauders,” Lily teased you. “Speaking of them,” she started, and you looked down, knowing the follow up question. “What did they get you for your birthday?

“Well,” you recalled your day so far. “Peter, Remus and Sirius gifted me an expandable suitcase, so I can put all my collectables in there.”

“Damn,” Alice whispered. You sheepishly scratched your head. “Yeah, it took me by surprise too. Last I checked, it cost way too much. I sure hope they acquired it in a legal manner,” you joked.

“I mean, both Sirius and James are well off, so maybe they could afford it and actually bought it,” Alice joked along.

You shrugged. “Oh, James didn’t pitch in for the suitcase. Remus said that he’d told them he was getting something more personal for me,” you said.

“Ugh, what a sap,” Lily commented lightheartedly, and you agreed with a chuckle. “So, what did he get you then?” Lily asked exasperatedly, already expecting something ridiculously grand.

There was a beat of silence.

“Uh, I’m not sure, we didn’t get around to celebrating my birthday together,” you settled on answering.

“What?” Marlene, Lily, and Alice asked in chorus.

“He was busy,” you defended James.

“The entire day?” Marlene squinted her eyes, absolutely seeing through your bullshit excuse. You shrugged in response but nodded your head. “The entire day?” She repeated in disbelief. “Like he couldn’t pop in in the morning or during breakfast?” You shrugged again.

“I guess he forgot,” you mumbled, starting to feel down again. Alice quickly caught on to that and decided to change the subject, trying to cheer you up. “Anyway, should we picnic tomorrow by the lake?”

You exhaled in relief. “I would love that.”

Sirius and James entered their dorms and greeted the other two marauders. “And? Did she like the suitcase?” Sirius immediately asked while he made himself at home on the foot end of Remus’ bed.

“Definitely, like she couldn’t believe it. She even did the happy wiggly dance,” Peter and Remus laughed at the memory. Sirius held his hand up to high five them and grinned in victory. “I told you guys, she needed someplace to put all that stuff she collects.”

James had been utterly confused since he stepped into the room and was not at all following the conversation. It was definitely about you, he figured that much from the wiggly happy dance. But what on earth were they buying you stuff for?

“You guys gave Y/N a suitcase?” He asked cluelessly.

“Yeah, why?” Remus inquired, eyebrows raised. “Is that not up to standard to the great James Potter?” He sarcastically asked, already expecting James to start gloating about whatever he got as a present for you.

“Well, if you guys have that much money in abundance to spend, save some for great pranks too,” James complained jokingly.

Sirius stared at James in confusion. “Huh?”

Peter tilted his head while examining James’ facial expression of confusion and then hesitantly asked. “James, did you forget about Y/N’s birthday?”

Time stopped for James, and he could hear his heart beat loudly, blood rushing to his ears as realization dawned on him, entirely to slowly.

“Merlin!” he loudly cursed, wide-eyed.

At his confession, Remus and Sirius’ jaws slacked. “You forgot!?” They shouted in unison.

Peter covered his ears at their yelling.

“Y/N!”

You turned your head, trying to find the source and halted in your step when your eyes landed on James who was frantically making his way through the hordes of students, crowding the corridor. He had been trying to find you since breakfast.

“Yes?”

James stopped in front of you, out of breath, a little flushed in the face and an apologetic expression adorned his face. You already knew what he was going to say and held up your hand to stop him in advance.

“I don’t need your apology,” you sighed out. James words died in his throat, and it took a moment for him to break out of it. “Love, I’m a right twit, I know.” He unintentionally shot you a defeated look with puppy eyes that you couldn’t help but melt for.

“How was your day yesterday?” was all you ended up asking as you continued making your way towards the library. You motioned with your head for him to follow you.

“I missed you,” James sincerely answered. He still pouted, seemingly upset, but all directed at himself of course. “I can���t believe I forgot,” he frowned. “I’ll work to be the greatest boyfriend again, I promise.” His eyes sparkled with determination, and you couldn’t suppress your amusement anymore, a smile lifting the corners of your lips.

“Well, you’re not off the hook yet, Potter.”

“Not the last name,” James whined. You shot him an unimpressed look that had him accept defeat.

“So, no kisses for you anymore,” you huffed for extra measure, in retaliation to his complaint.

“Wait what? You can’t do that, that’s so mean,” James immediately protested.

“For a week,” you added. “Forgetting about me yesterday was mean to me too.”

James’ hand made its way to intertwine with yours. “Fine,” he grumbled. “But this is still okay, right?”

You squeezed his hand. “It’s twelve o’clock right now. Do you want to have lunch first or study a little bit in the library?”

James gave you a bright smile. “Whatever you want.”

“I want you to choose,” you retorted.

“Lunch, please.”

James spent the following week almost draped over you. His entire body leaned into you, your hands always together, and every time he came in for a kiss, he reminded himself to respect your wishes, which left him burying his face in your neck instead.

It was Sunday and you hummed peacefully to yourself while you were sketching in the boys’ dorms, on James’ bed. You sat in the middle of his crossed legs, his arms were wrapped around your middle. His chin was rested on your shoulder which left him with the perfect view on your drawing in progress.

“I love you,” he quietly mumbled.

“I know, Jamie. I love you too,” you nudged him. James’ arms slipped away, and he moved away from you, you frowned at the loss of contact and warmth, leaning into the pillows behind you instead. “What are you-?”

James moved in front of you and nestled himself between your own crossed legs, back to your stomach, exchanging the position you had previously been in. He slouched a bit until his head leaned against your chest.

“My, you’re putty today, love,” you teased him softly. You closed your sketchbook and started untangling his curly hair.

“I’m really sorry I missed your birthday,” James whispered. You melted.

You chuckled and shrugged. “Sometimes things slip our mind. It just made me feel a little bummed out, that’s all.”

James hummed. “Well, I can promise you that I won’t forget about our anniversary though,” he said, voice filled with determination. You laughed. “That’s still a long time from now Jamie,” you mused.

“I’m already counting down the days so that there’s absolutely no way that I’ll forget it.”

“Hey James?”

James looked up at you.

“It’s twelve o’clock.”

James blinked twice and then a wolfish grin appeared as he practically jumped up and turned to face you, tackling you to bring you in for a kiss.

You groaned at the impact of your head against the wall behind you and James grinned sheepishly in apology before grabbing your hips and pulling you further down the bed to make space so he could finally press his lips to yours, all while completely melting into you and sighing in relief at the feeling.

And for two weeks, everything seemed to be perfectly fine. Until Rosalie joined the picture again, that is.

Dorcas sat next to you in class and elbowed you softly. “What’s up with James and that girl?” she whispered. You looked up from your notes and glanced at James who was nodding enthusiastically at a drawing that Rosalie was showing James. It was a portrait of him, and you couldn’t help but feel a pit in your stomach at how well she drew him.

Features that were so on point, up to the little details like the three tiny birthmarks that seem to disappear amidst his freckles and that one freckle on his upper lip that you often pressed an extra peck to. You knew that for such a detailed, accurate and hyper realistic drawing, Rosalie had probably spent a lot of time studying him up close.

You averted your attention back to Dorcas and forced a smile. “She’s their new Chaser,” was all you replied.

Dorcas sent another skeptical look in James and Rosalie’s direction but didn’t comment on it any further.

“Guess what, love?!” James burst into the common room where you and Remus were calmly reading. James skipped over to the couch you were sitting on and pressed a kiss to your temple.

“What?” you entertained him.

“I just made a deal with the kitchen elves and they’re going to cook us a candle lit dinner for our anniversary,” James triumphantly grinned from ear to ear as if he had just won the Quidditch cup.

Your eyes widened and you jumped up in excitement and disbelief. “How did you manage to do that?” You curiously pondered.

James puffed his chest. “A magician never reveals his secrets,” he secretively replied, and you huffed and swatted him with a laugh. “We’re all magicians here, James,” you pointed out with a pout.

James leaned down to press a kiss to your pouted lips. “Just enjoy dinner with me. It’s in three weeks.” He was not about to tell you that he made a deal with the elves to go and clean the kitchen every day after supper for three weeks.

“Thank you, James,” you said, voice muffled because you had your face buried in his neck, arms around him in a tight hug.

You were incredibly excited for your anniversary, having a surprise for him as well, as you managed to get him tickets to the Quidditch world cup.

You waited for James in the changing rooms, Gryffindor had just lost an important match to Slytherin, and you knew that James would be feeling down. The Gryffindor team walked in, and you got up from the bench you were seated on. When you found James, he immediately came in for a hug.

“You did great out there, love. I’m proud of you,” you whispered.

“But it wasn’t enough,” James frowned. “They’re just always better than us, it doesn’t even matter how much we practice, because in the end, we can’t beat them.”

You stroked his hair in a consoling manner.

“And what’s the point if we can’t bloody beat Slytherin,” James spat out in frustration. You threw Sirius a look over James’ shoulder.

“Don’t say that, Jamie. You’ve won the last two games, and you don’t have to win against them,” you tried. Apparently, that was not what James wanted to hear and you would later beat yourself up for seeming to discard his feelings.

James pulled away with a frown. “But it’s not enough!” You flinched at his loud tone. “I just want-, It’s,” he let out an aggravated sound. “You don’t understand, okay. The feeling of constantly losing to the same opponent, its-“ James was struggling to find the words and you tried to apologize, alarmed, and feeling guilty.

Rosalie showed up behind James and put a hand on his shoulder. “Hey, we’ll get them next time, James. She just doesn’t get it because she’s not on the team.”

You felt hurt by her dismissive statement and wanted to retort when James agreed with her. “Exactly, Y/N, you don’t even play Quidditch, you don’t know what this feels like.”

Your heart sank in embarrassment and hurt, and your mouth formed an inaudible ‘oh’.

“Come on, Prongs. It’s not her fault we lost, don’t take it out on her,” Sirius moved to stand next to James and swatted him lightly. James sighed, closed his eyes, and pinched his nose.

“’m sorry, love. That was totally uncalled for,” he admitted, and he reached his arm for you to pull you back in for a hug. You subtly evaded his arm and swiftly moved yourself to the door.

“No, no. I actually need to go meet up with Peter, so uh. You guys have fun. And yeah,” you awkwardly did a mini wave with your hand towards the  team and fled.

Sirius leaned in towards James. “Good job, mate.”

“Sod off.” You didn’t leave his mind at all for the rest of the night.

You were about to scream bloody murder when you were shaken awake in the middle of the night, but a hand covered your mouth and when your eyes adjusted to the darkness, you could vaguely make out your boyfriend.

“James?” you incredulously whispered. “What in Merlin’s name are you doing here?”

James motioned to his invisibility cloak. “Sleep with me?” He asked and gave you a pleading look. You folded and so you tripled to the boy’s dorms under the cloak and then nestled yourself in his arms. A leg draped over his while you two fell into a peaceful slumber.

James was once again looking everywhere for you. This time with a slight sense of dread instead of the usual excitement.

When he finally found you and saw that you were laughing along with Sirius, he hesitated. He was halfway through changing his mind on addressing the issue with you when you called out to him.

“Morning!” you said, and you slid a sandwich in his direction. “You missed breakfast today, everything okay?" You asked.

James glanced at Sirius, and he excused himself and then left.

“I know we were going to go to Hogsmeade for our anniversary, but Rosalie managed to get tickets to a Quidditch game of our favourite team, and we even get to meet them afterwards. Like I can ask them for tips on playing, it’s just such an opportunity…” He trailed off when he noticed your fallen expression, which you quickly tried to cover up.

“Hey, that sounds like an amazing opportunity,” you assured him because it was true.

“We’re still on for that candle lit dinner, though?” You tried to joke, but it came off more as an insecure question.

James immediately enveloped you in a big hug. “Of course we are, 10 o’clock in the evening and I promise I’ll make it up to you afterwards.”

You laughed quietly. “You better.”

Your eyes crinkled in laughter as the kitchen elves tried their best to cheer you up and keep you occupied while James was hopefully simply running late. But by the time it was one o’clock in the morning, you decided to call it a night and thanked the elves for teaching you two new dishes and chess.

On your way to the dorms, you heard hushed whispers around the corner. When you turned it, however, you saw it was empty, but you knew better. You closed your eyes and took a deep breath, contemplating if you wanted to do this now or tomorrow.

“James,” you called out.

There was a beat of silence and then the invisibility cloak slid off to reveal James and Rosalie, sneaking back inside the castle.

“Love? What are you doing up at this hour-“ he stopped halfway through his sentence with a curse.

“Wait, Y/N, this is my fault, not James’,” Rosalie piped up, but you were done with her.

“Go.”

Rosalie shot James one last glance and when he didn’t look back at her, instead still frozen, attention focused on you, she scurried away.

“I lost track of time. We went to have drinks with the players and time flashed by so quickly and then I completely forgot. And then Rosalie got sick, so -“

“Stop talking about her for a moment.” James looked at you, confused.

“Every single time, it is always you and Rosalie. It’s always her.” You didn’t bother hiding your hurt feelings anymore.

“But what about me,” you whispered defeatedly.

James shook his head. “No, it’s not her. I swear it’s not. It’s bad timing.” he firmly stated. “This isn’t even her fault, it was me and my enthusiasm to go to the game, I-“

“Why do you keep defending her?” You cut him off, allowing tears to well up in your eyes. James bit his lower lip. “I’m sorry,’ he eventually admitted.

“Yeah,” you breathed out exhaustedly. “You always are, aren’t you? Just like you always promise to make it up to me.”

“I will,” he weakly defended. “We can go back to the kitchen right now, eat food, celebrate our anniversary,” his eyes desperately searched yours for forgiveness, but in the darkness of the castle, he couldn’t find any.

“I spent three hours in the kitchen already, I’ve eaten the great food that the elves prepared for me, and our anniversary has already passed,” you coldly stated.

James’ eyes averted to his own feet, ashamed.

You tightly shut your eyes for a moment. And basked in the silence. When you opened your eyes again, you took in James’ posture. He seemed so very small all of a sudden.

Then you walked straight past him, while he was still frozen in place. When you passed him, you halted next to him and turned your head towards him. “I really hope she’s worth it, James.”

This seemed to snap him out of it, and he turned around in a flash. “Wait!” he called out in panic and immediately lowered his voice. “You’re not breaking up with me, right?” His eyes were pleading, and he looked distraught.

You scoffed softly to yourself. “I don’t want to talk to you right now. I’m tired, so I’m going to bed, or else I actually will,” you replied shortly and retreated to your dorm.

Sirius whistled when James entered the room and unknowingly started to rub salt right in James’ well-deserved wound. “One o’clock in the morning, damn Prongs. You two must’ve had fun in the kitchen. How was the food? Did you like the present? I helped her with that,” he boasted.

James shook his head, “I messed it up again, Padfoot.”

Sirius eyes squinted ever so slightly at James. “No way,” he ended up asking in disbelief.

James didn’t answer right away, and Sirius got up out of bed and approached James. Then he shoved him. “Tell me you showed up for your anniversary, Prongs.”

James who had been looking at the ground finally met Sirius eye to eye, tears pooling in his own eyes. “We just lost track of the time, and then Ro-“

“If you finish that sentence and it’s about Rosalie, I will hurt you, James Potter.”

James helplessly looked at Sirius. “But you guys have it all wrong. It’s not her fault-“

Sirius grabbed James by the collar and shook him for good measure. “Prongs, mate. Wake the bloody hell up, would you.” His eyes bore straight through James’.

“Rosalie fancies you. It’s as clear as day. She demands your attention at all times. Asks for Quidditch practice, specifically with you, for an entire day. She diminishes our Y/N’s value in front of everyone, is pretentious and makes it seem as if you two are more compatible. She tries so hard to have so many common things with you like her last name, and she literally has a sketchbook full of portraits of you, which is rather creepy. Besides, she fully knew you were supposed to be back by ten o’clock for your date. I get it man, it’s subtle, but you’re smarter than that.”

Sirius released James and sighed. “And worst of all, Prongs, is that you let it happen. And every time you do, she wins a little more until Y/N will stop playing this stupid game for you.”

James let Sirius’ words sink in and the more he thought about it, the more he realized how right Sirius was.

“I don’t do it on purpose, Pads. Believe me. I know everything looks terrible, but I didn’t realize it.” James took off his glasses, rubbed his eyes tiredly, and pulled a hand through his locks.

“I forgot her birthday, but it was just a busy day, and I don’t really have a choice as captain but to train the new players. A-and I immediately apologized to Y/N when I realized what a twat I was in the locker room. And I didn’t miss my anniversary for a date with another girl or anything, there was a once in a lifetime opportunity to meet people I’ve looked up to, and I know it looks bad together because Rosalie was involved in all those instances, but I never meant to hurt Y/N. You know I’m in love with her.”

James started pacing through the room. It was a miracle that the others hadn’t woken up yet.

“Okay, I believe you,” Sirius decided after consideration. “But maybe try properly explaining and apologizing to Y/N. And then confront Rosalie and tell her to sod off.”

James nodded. “Yeah, yeah okay. I’ll do that.” Sirius looked a little skeptically at James and then patted his shoulder before climbing back in bed, while James did the same.

He had almost fallen back asleep when James asked, “Do you think she’d forgive me?”

Sirius was quiet. He’d seen the hurt look on your face multiple times and had instead tried to keep your mind off of James whenever he saw you stare at James and Rosalie.

“I think she might break up with me, Sirius,” James whispered in a small voice. He couldn’t sleep, his mind was filled with guilt, distress and you.

“Go sleep James, we’ll figure it out in the morning.”

You took a deep breath before pushing through the grand doors of the Great Hall. You spotted the empty seat amongst the marauders and let your eyes slide across the Gryffindor table to look for James.

You found him talking with Rosalie, and you almost wanted to turn around and leave, when you spotted her sour face when he finally walked back to his seat. James wore a relieved expression and was greeted by the marauders with pats on the back in congratulations.

Sirius spotted you and waved you over, scooting over himself so you could squeeze in.

“Good morning,” you gratefully smiled at the boys and sat down. James absentmindedly loaded your favourite food on your plate out of habit and then hesitated. He hadn’t really dared look you in the eyes yet, still ashamed after lying awake all night, thinking of all the things he’d done.

When your stretched out hand appeared in his sight, he looked up and saw a kind expression on your face. He handed you the plate and relaxed a little.

“Sirius tells me you want to explain some things to me, so unless you have a date with Rosalie over there,” you gestured to the girl who was not looking happy. “We could talk after breakfast?”

James nodded eagerly, eyes wide. “Yes, please.” He stared at you, and almost frowned, wondering why you didn’t seem as angry as you did last night, or rather this early morning.

You noticed his stare and knew what he was thinking. “I told you; I was tired, upset and couldn’t deal with it then. But I’ve had a good night’s sleep. I have thought about everything and decided that I’m not going to rashly throw away two years of unconditional love and friendship between us, for things that I feel like you want to explain to me. It’s not so black and white in decisions when it comes to love and my love isn’t that fragile.”

“Thank you,” James breathed out, already feeling like crying.

“Don’t thank me, thank Pads, he is vouching for you,” you hummed. “But your explanation better be worth it. And that’ll be at least two weeks without kisses.”

Taglist:

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[anakinsposts]

chad meeks martin x reader

prompt: reader lives with sam and tara in new york. she’s been in the friend group for years and is very close with chad, who is extremely protective of her. he’s always had a thing for her but never brought it up due to the fear he would ruin the friendship, until one night..an innocent game of truth or dare changes things

warnings: SMUT, p in v, making out, praise kink, riding, no condom, dirty talk, kinda slowburn but not rlly?

side note: I haven’t written smut in a while so sorry if this sucks! also I did not proofread so sorry for mistakes.

———————————————————-

It was a cold October night in New York. Your friends, Tara, Sam, Mindy, Annika, Ethan and Chad were all sat around the coffee table that was covered in the condensation from each one of your drinks. The sound of the TV was playing softly in the background as you all laughed, playing a game of truth or dare.

You had successfully made it through three rounds of the game without having to do something embarrassing. Granted, you chose truth everytime, which Mindy was not pleased with.

“Come on, you HAVE to choose dare this time.” Annika and the others agreed with her. “Says who?” you asked. “It’s the rules of the game.”

“Since when?” you laughed. “Since right now, i’m making it a new rule.”

“I don’t remember taking a vote on making you game maker.” you bantered.

“Everyone in favor of making me game maker take a sip of your drink.” Mindy said, watching with anticipation as everyone took sips of their drink. “Even you, Chad? I thought you had my back,” you whined at him. He smiled.

“Normally I would be against whatever my sister says buuut, you are the only one here who hasn’t done a dare yet,” he said. “Fine, I choose dare,” you gave in despite all efforts.

You knew by the look on her face that Mindy had something up her sleeve. “I dare you…” she started, giving it thought before looking between me and Chad. “I dare you and Chad to go into the bedroom and make out.”

Chad chimed in before you could, “Mindy that is so inappropriate.” You agreed. “Give me something else.”

“Nope..sorry those are the rules and since you all voted me game maker…what I say goes.” Mindy said, visibly pleased with her dare. “Hurry along now…i’m getting impatient.” She finished. The others piped in, pushing you to do it as if there wasn’t enough pressure already.

You sighed, looking at Chad with pleading eyes, hoping for him to step in and save you. Instead, he did the opposite. “Let’s go,” he said, standing up and holding out his hand. You hesitated but ultimately grabbed his hand as he helped you stand up.

Your hands stayed connected as he led you back to your bedroom. He allowed you to go in first, shutting the door behind him once he entered and leaned against it. His tall stature was almost the same height as the door frame. You sat on the edge of the bed, heart beating a mile a minute.

This was probably the first time in all the years you’ve been friends, that you and Chad had been alone in a room before. To say there were some unsaid feelings between you to would be an understatement. You’ve always had a thing for him, you loved the way he was so caring and protective over you. He treated you like a little sister, which was another reason you felt like he would never see you in a romantic way. Strictly platonic.

But the energy in your bedroom tonight was different than anything you experienced before. There was a sexual heaviness in the air and you couldn’t explain why. Chad didn’t take his eyes off you, he could tell you were deep in thought.

“Hey…you know we don’t have to do anything, right? I just brought you in here so Mindy would shut up,” he said, walking over from the door to sit beside you on the bed.

This brought some relief— but at the same time, it made your heart sink. There was a small part of you that wanted to kiss Chad, to feel his lips move against yours, to feel his hands linger on your body, to pull you on his lap while he explored your mouth, and eventually fuck you until you were cumming on his cock.

But that was a fantasy and you knew it. A fantasy that only occurred in your dreams and would most likely never become a reality. “Well, thank you for saving me.” you smiled, turning to make eye contact with him. “Anytime,” he smiled back. Fuck, you loved that stupid smile.

“I think ‘game maker Mindy’ is going to be pissed when she finds out we didn’t do anything,” you joked. “We’ll just have to convince her that we did.”

You gave him a questionable look. “For starters..we need to mess up your hair,” he said before taking his hands and roughing up your hair. You laughed in the process.

“Perfect, now you need a hickey or something.” You questioned him again. “If you think i’m burning myself with a curling iron..think again.”

“I can just give you one,” he chuckled. Your lower stomach fluttered. “I’m pretty sure that’s more intimate that actually making out,” you told him. “No, let me show you,” he said bluntly. You said nothing, but the look in your eyes was saying something totally different and Chad noticed.

He slowly took your hair and moved it behind your ear, exposing the soft skin of your neck. He leaned over slowly. Despite both of you sitting down, the height difference was still there. You let out barely audible sigh when he lips connected with your neck.

He left soft kisses over the skin, kissing up to your ear and back down to your collarbone. You involuntarily grabbed his arm and squeezed it, before he stopped at the most visible spot on your neck and began sucking.

Somewhere along the way, his hand had rested on your mid-thigh, rubbing and squeezing here and there. He didn’t do it for long before pulling away. He admired the reddish, purple mark he left, a smirk falling upon his lips. “Now, they will believe it.”

You were speechless. How could such a little act of affection, have you so fucking feral? You’re not exactly sure what came over you in that moment. “I like when you touch me,” you said innocently, looking down at his lips. “Yeah?” his smirk grew even bigger. “I like touching you.”

You both remained silent for a few seconds, trying to comprehend what the both of you just admitted. “Do you want me to touch you again?” he asked. You nodded. “Need to hear you say it baby.” It rolled off his tongue in the most sensual way. ‘Baby.’ replayed in your head over and over.

“Please…I want you to touch me,” you didn’t care how desperate you sounded and Chad was reeling over the use of ‘Please.’ Dirty thoughts flooding his mind.

He wasted no time leaning in to actually kiss you this time. It started out slow, because he wanted to give you time to back out if you needed. But you had no plans of doing so. It wasn’t until you let out a soft moan against his lips that he deepened the kiss.

His tongue slid in your mouth, fighting for dominance and easily winning. He couldn’t get enough of you. He pulled you onto his lap, hands resting on your sides as you made out for several minutes. A pool of wetness gathered in your panties, and you grinned yourself against him for some sort of friction.

“Chad..” you whined, desperately wanted more. “Can I take these off?” he referred to your pants. You nodded before he unbuckled your pants, lifting you up slightly so he could remove them. You also removed your shirt in the process.

It was embarrassing how soaked you were. He noticed the damp part of your pink panties. He smirked. “Stop smirking.”

“I just love how wet you are for me baby,” he said, fingers trailing down your stomach before reaching the top part of your panties. He looked at you for permission and you gave him a reassuring nod. He slipped his fingers below the fabric, finding your clit with ease and rubbing slow circles on it.

You moaned, feeling some release in your core from his touch. “Please don’t stop,” you whined.

“Mm, such a good girl..always using her manners,” he praised in your ear. He continued to rub you, adding a little more pressure. “I bet I could make you cum just doing this,” Chad said. “I know you’ve always had a little crush on me..I see the way you tense up when i’m near you, how you bite your lip while you look at my muscles, how red in the face you get when you see me talking to other girls.”

You couldn’t do anything but moan in response. You were seeing stars as he picked up the pace of his fingers, rubbing your clit faster and more aggressively. “Admit it to me y/n. Tell me how you feel about me.”

“I-I’ve wanted you for s-so long,” you sigh pleasurably. “Yeah? Tell me more.” God he was being so hot.

“Sometimes I touch myself at night to the thought of you.” You knew that would boost his ego like hell, but you didn’t care at this point. “Mm, I see. You’ve thought about cumming on my cock? Screaming my name while I fuck you numb?”

“Yes..n-need more Chad,” you moaned. He removed his hand, before reaching down to remove his own pants. His cock was painfully hard at hearing your confessions. He was honestly dumbfounded by the fact that this was happening. Though he would never admit, there was not a day that went by where he didn’t think about fucking you.

You removed your panties, Chad’s eyes immediately glued to your pussy. “Fuck” he breathed out. You helped him remove his boxers, both of you now completely naked. You crashed your lips on his again, making out as you reached down to stroke his cock in your small hand, which barely wrapped around the width. The movements earning a deep groan from his lips.

“You’re so big,” you moaned into his mouth, hand moving up and down his cock faster. “Wanna feel it inside you?” he asked in between kisses. You nodded, he gave you a look of disapproval. “I wanna feel you inside me,” you told him, he was much more satisfied with that answer.

He pulled you back onto his lap, hand gripping your waist as you hovered over his cock. Chad positioned himself at your entrance and looked up at you for one last reassurance, just in case you wanted to stop.

You answered his question as you slowly slid down on his cock, just enough for the tip to go in. You could tell he was trying to keep composure. So were you.

He held your hips, guiding you down farther as you both moaned in sync at the feeling. “Oh..f-fuck,” you whine. “You’re so fucking tight baby,” he groaned. He was big, way bigger than anyone you’ve ever been with. The pain mixed with pleasure made you feel like you were going to explode.

Once every inch of him was inside you, he began moving you back and forth on his cock. Profanities spilled from both of your mouth, absolutely drunk with pleasure. You rested your hands on his shoulders for support as you rode him. “Look at me when you ride me,” he demanded.

You moaned, meeting his eyes, sending you closer to the edge. “You’re doing so good baby, taking me so good..” he moaned, throwing his head back. You both continued like this for several minutes, before he took your arms and held them behind your back, leaning back and beginning to pound into you relentlessly.

“Fuck…fuck..fuck…don’t stop…please don’t stop,” you moaned louder as he thrusted like there was no tomorrow. “You’re making me feel so good y/n,” he said, “Fuck, I could do this all fucking night…make you stay on my cock forever.” His dirty words only pushed you closer and closer. He thrusted harder even though you weren’t sure how it was possible.

You core ached with the need for release. You could feel him deep in your stomach, every thrust deeper bringing you to the brink of collapse. “C-chad…g-gonna cum..”

“Me too baby, me too..” he assured you. Letting go of your arms, he reached between your bodies and began rubbing your clit. The overstimulation too much for you to handle. “Wanna feel you cum on my cock..” he said, rubbing your clit faster and fucking you harder as you came undone.

“Mm that’s right..Good girl…cum for me baby…fuck I love the way you’re squeezing me..” he talked you through the orgasm before reaching his own..

He wanted to pull out but there was a part of him, the sick, selfish and dirty part of him, that wanted to cum inside your pussy.

You knew he was on the edge, you could feel the way his cock throbbed inside you. He let out small whimpers as he felt the pleasure overtake him. Without giving it much thought, you said “Want you to cum inside me.”

He didn’t try to ask if you were sure, with the fear that you would take back what you said. Instead, his warm cum spilled inside you, coating every inch of your walls while moaning your name.

He thrusted a few more times before coming to a stop, but he didn’t pull out. You collapsed in his arms, listening to the faint sound of his rapid heartbeat that got slower as you both came down from the high.

“I can’t believe you just let me do that,” he laughs. “Honestly, me either..but it felt right,” you admit. He pulled out of you, “Spread your legs.” he told you as he sat up. You didn’t question it, you just did what he said. He watched as the white cum slowly dripped out of your hole. “Looking at my cum drip out your little pussy…yeah it was definitely the right decision.”

You blushed with embarrassment. “I never knew you were so naughty,” you laughed. “Baby, this isn’t even close to how naughty I can be,” he said with all seriousness.

A few minutes passed and you both got dressed, Chad helped you get cleaned up before leaving the room. To be honest, you had completely forgot the others still existed. Chad wrapped his arm around you as you walked back to your friends.

“Match-maker Mindy has done it again!” Mindy said, proud of herself, knowing she orchestrated this whole thing. “But I absolutely NEVER want to hear the foul and absolutely disgusting things I just heard in that bedroom.”

“Well thanks to you…you get to hear it every single night,” Chad said before both of you joined back at the coffee table for another round of truth or dare.

AU: CHAD IS DEF THE TYPE TO TALK U THROUGH IT AND I STAND BY THAT

[idontwikeit]

thanks to @weather-mood, we discovered Interview With the Vampire Season 2 Soundtrack which is yet to be released! The tracklist contains major spoilers so beware! The tracklist details and short samples for free listening is at the end of this post

Imagine Never Being Able To Dream

2. She Could Dream, Thank You

(Synchron Stage Orchestra, Bernhard Melbye Voss)

3. The Whole World Was Ready To Return

(Synchron Stage Orchestra, Bernhard Melbye Voss)

4. Paris Sucks

(Daniel Hart, Evan Smith, Synchron Stage Orchestra, Bernhard Melbye Voss)

5. Who Are The Young Men

(Daniel Hart, Evan Smith, Marc Osterer, Synchron Stage Orchestra, Bernhard Melbye Voss)

6. Armand For You

(Synchron Stage Orchestra, Bernhard Melbye Voss)

7. Raglan James

(Daniel Hart, Damir Orascanin, Synchron Stage Orchestra, Bernhard Melbye Voss)

8. The Fourth Great Law

(Synchron Stage Orchestra, Bernhard Melbye Voss)

9. A Vein Winding Through The Heart Of Paris

(Daniel Hart, Veronika Vitazkova, Anna Frisanova, Synchron Stage Orchestra, Bernhard Melbye Voss)

10. I Don't Like Windows When They're Closed

(Daniel Hart, Alina Cherone, Synchron Stage Orchestra, Bernhard Melbye Voss)

11. Amadeo

(Daniel Hart, Eleanor Tinlin)

12. Madeleine

(Shruti Kumar, Synchron Stage Orchestra, Bernhard Melbye Voss)

13. Abducted

(Synchron Stage Orchestra, Bernhard Melbye Voss)

14. Take As Many With Me As I Could

(Daniel Hart, Bobak Lotfipour, Synchron Stage Orchestra, Bernhard Melbye Voss)

15. Hello Francis, Goodbye Francis

(Daniel Hart, Evan Smith, Synchron Stage Orchestra, Bernhard Melbye Voss)

16. First Time In New Orleans

(Shruti Kumar, Synchron Stage Orchestra, Bernhard Melbye Voss

17. I Didn't Know It Was A Gift

(Synchron Stage Orchestra, Bernhard Melbye Voss)

18. Ladies And Gentlemen

(Daniel Hart, Bobak Lotfipour, Hideaki Aomori)

19. Jardin De Satan

(Daniel Hart, Hideaki Aomori)

20. Come To Me Again

(Daniel Hart, Sam Reid)

21. Annika

(Daniel Hart, Iosua Dascal, Damir Orascanin, Synchron Stage Orchestra, Bernhard Melbye Voss)

22. Le Bucheron

(Daniel Hart, Damir Orascanin, Synchron Stage Orchestra, Bernhard Melbye Voss)

23. Flirty Salesman Shuffle

(Daniel Hart, Bobak Lotfipour, Evan Smith)

24. Woodcutter

25. The Five Great Laws

26. Baby Lu

(Synchron Stage Orchestra, Bernhard Melbye Voss)

27. Je N'Aime Pas Fenêtres Quand Fermée

(Daniel Hart, Alina Cherone)

28. For A Young Violinist Again

29. Love Wronged

30. In Nomine Magni

31. Followed Closely By My Madness

(Synchron Stage Orchestra, Bernhard Melbye Voss)

32. Vien À Moi Encore

(Synchron Stage Orchestra, Bernhard Melbye Voss)

33. Come To Me On Rue Royale

Soundtrack details and samples: https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/9625720--interview-with-the-vampire-season-2-original-television-series-soundtrack

[xoxoskai]

MAYAILYA AND EVERY WHAT IF

Welcome to delusionworld, may I take your coat?

Maya first meets Ilya and recognizes him as one of the "scums" who tried to hurt Nikolai. Stomps her six-inch heel into his foot before flipping her hair and walking away.

"No, Jeremy. I don't care that he's your guard."

Notices Ilya around Cecily on Jeremy's orders and asks him if he'd bark just because Jeremy tells him to.

"Loyal dog, this one." She tells Cecily.

Ilya smirks at her, threatening and malicious before sucking in a breath and howling. Grins wider at her gritted teeth as Cecy laughs.

Maya, flustered? Since, uh, when?

Ilya is a professional Maya-ignorer first, human second.

What do you mean he can't take his eyes off her when she's in the room? He is very proficient at ignoring her.

Watches as she back pedals out of the kitchen at the Heathens mansion when she notices him there. As if remembering herself, she struts back inside and pours herself a glass of a green protein shake that exists in the refrigerator only for her.

Passes him by as he quietly eats his food before reversing her steps, sweeping the saltshaker off the tray, opening the lid and dumping it all into his pasta.

"Oops" She smiles, all teeth and no remorse.

Ilya, without breaking eye contact, digs into his pasta and takes a large bite.

Maya sucks in a sharp breath through her nose, glaring as she leaves, her glass of protein shake forgotten next to his plate.

The next time she pours herself a glass of protein shake, the Heathens are having dinner. Ilya is speaking to Jeremy inside the kitchen but watches eagerly as Maya's face blanches at the copious amounts of sugar he's added to her beverage as retaliation.

Maya glares at him, nostrils flaring, and he looks on with a face of complete innocence before focusing back on Jeremy.

She'd punch him but she is annoyed at the thought of a bruise on his pretty face.

His face is not pretty, she reminds herself.

The next time he sees Maya, she's riling Annika up.

"We'll be sisters-in-law! And we can shop together and get our nails done and grab lunch whenever! Oh, and you can be my maid-of-honor!"

Annika looks about ready to rip her hair off, but Ilya intervenes and shakes his head at her.

"You're better than this, Annika" He tells her "Don't stoop to her level. Which is lower than the basement level, by the way."

Annika giggles and Maya's back to gritting her jaw.

He watches as her gaze roves over his entire face, momentarily snagging on his white-blond hair before she smiles, feline-like

"Don't be jealous, you can be the flower boy. We have roles for everyone, even the-"

But Ilya has already turned his back to her, effectively ignoring her as he tells Annika that Jeremy is looking for her.

Annika glares at Maya once again before taking off in the other direction. Ilya waits for a moment, also deciding to leave but Maya grabs his sleeve.

"I was still talking!"

He doesn't say anything, watches her in a way that expresses his boredom and irritation at having to stand there in her presence.

It's like a punch to the gut. Maya hates that people would beg for an ounce for her attention, but Ilya always manages to make her feel like she's a speck of dirt that ought to be stepped on.

She turns around and leaves without saying anything else.

When the Heathens mansion catches fire, Maya is stuck in one of the bathrooms where the door is jammed.

Hair sticking to her back, eyes watering and body trembling, she's trying to pick the lock like her father taught her but she's too disoriented.

She is screaming for help while alternating between trying to use a hairpin to pick the lock and slam on the door for help.

When the hairpin slips from between her fingers and goes under the door, she lets out a wail and uses both fists to slam on the door and wrench the doorknob, inhaling more and more smoke, coughing violently. 

The doorknob falls to the ground and the door flings open, letting in more smoke and a frantic Ilya whose face is first drenched in relief and then in rage.

"You weren't supposed to be here today!"

"The house is on fire and now you wanna talk?!"

"God help me, Maya. If we make it out of this alive, I'm gonna fucking strangle you."

He's already putting a mask over her face, but Maya pulls back, going further inside the bathroom.

"I swear to fuck-"

She sprays him with water.

"Your shirt is on fire; do you not feel anything?!"

There's a giant hole in his back, the burn on the skin registering much later. If he hadn't been distracted by how she had been trembling and crying when he found her, he would have paid attention sooner.

Instead of saying anything else, he grabs her wrist, throws her over his shoulder and starts running.

Once out, he deposits her in one of the ambulances before taking her mask off, getting ready to leave when one of the nurses starts bandaging her arm.

"Where are you going?"

She's grabbing his arm again and before he can register the feel of her skin against his, she's taken it back, her guards back up.

"Whatever" She is picking at her cuticles "I don't care."

"Jeremy is still inside" he tells her anyway, not because he was stalling- she was family with the Heathens, she deserved to know the entire story. "Nikolai, Killian and Gareth made it out safely."

She doesn't say anything, quiet while the nurse finishes bandaging her arm and moves to the cut from a splinter on her thigh.

Maya doesn't react, doesn't even flinch when the nurse cleans the wound. It makes Ilya smile. The mafia princess was a lot tougher than she looked.

He's leaving when her quiet voice gives him pause.

"You should find Niko. He can clear a path till Jeremy."

Ilya gives no indication that he heard her.

He goes looking for Niko.

They are putting Jeremy in one of the ambulances when Ilya reveals that Maya was inside when the mansion caught fire.

Niko is already halfway to the mansion when Ilya catches up and finishes the rest of his sentence.

"I got her out. She's in that ambulance, unharmed"

The oldest Sokolov is leaving to check on his sister when he stops and makes his way back to Jeremy's guard.

"I owe you one. Next time any of my sisters are in danger, they are your first priority. Just like Annika"

Ilya didn't need him spelling out who his first priority was. Ilya was well aware.

"The next time you "accidentally" touch her, she's going to sever your hand from your body before ripping out your favorite organ and chopping it in biteable sizes for dogs."

Ilya does a double take when he hears the bored voice with which Maya is delivering gruesome threats.

He pokes his head around the corner at university when he notices a furious Mia signing at God-speed as Maya translates what she's saying.

Noticing that the guy is one of the Serpents, Ilya is making his way toward the trio when Maya snaps her fingers in front of the guy's face.

"My eyes are up here, asshole."

"They are not nearly as pretty as what's down here" The Serpent replies without missing a beat, openly ogling her breasts from the deep V-neck blouse she was wearing.

Fists clenched; Ilya is about to drive one of his fists into his face, but Maya is quicker.

Knee-raised, she brings his face down by tugging at his collar and gets him right in the nose, a satisfying crunch following.

The guy drops to his knees, clutching his nose and wailing as the Sokolov twins stand over him, undeterred.

Mia notices him first, paused in the act of approaching them and she waves at him, grabbing Maya's attention as well.

She crosses her arms, unaware that she's pushing her breasts up even further, making Ilya close his eyes and pray for strength from greater forces.

Mia signs something at him and turns to Maya for translation but Maya keeps studying her nails, making no attempt to do so. 

When Mia signs more furiously, Maya lets out an exasperated sigh before turning her irritated look at Ilya.

“She’s asking when are you going to drop off the face of the Earth?” 

Mia swats her sister’s arm before moving toward Ilya, pulling out her phone and typing in it. Her text reads,

Heard about last night. Are you okay?

Ilya decides he now knows which Sokolov twin he likes better. He nods.

“I’m good, thanks.” 

While Mia types more, Ilya slants a look toward her twin who is already scrolling through her phone. Her blouse was long-sleeved, and she was wearing skinny jeans and boots for a change. To hide all the bandages, he was sure.

Thank you for helping Maya yesterday. We owe you one.

Ilya smiles at her “She can thank me herself” is on the tip of his tongue when he looks at Maya and she’s glaring now. 

If her eyes could kill, she’d have stabbed him a hundred times-no, a thousand times by now.

“Mia, I have class” she says before turning and leaving. 

“You hang around Brandon King too much.”

Nikolai is telling Mia that same afternoon while Ilya supervises Annika’s cooking, who has been on house arrest since the fire.

“This much salt?” 

Ilya internally cringes as Annika holds up a tablespoon of salt before shaking his head and finding a teaspoon for her. 

When he returns his attention back toward the Sokolov siblings, they are engaged in a heated, glaring contest. 

It reminds him of the Sokolov who is missing. 

She remains AWOL for a while after that. 

He only catches glimpses of her at university in passing and she’s always standing too far from him. 

In every scenario. 

Not like it should matter though, right? 

When he finally finds her in the Heathens mansion, she’s at the door, talking to Gareth. 

“I’ll RSVP for the party but tell Uncle Asher I can’t guarantee that Niko will make it.” 

Ilya is on his way inside and deliberately slows down. He can’t remember how long it has been since he’s heard her voice in person. 

“Jeremy is out with Niko.”

Gareth, who notices Ilya first, informs him while successfully bringing the attention of his cousin toward the outsider. 

Of course, Ilya knows Jeremy is out with Niko. But he’s been making excuses to drop by more and more. Stopping by the mansion to inform Jeremy of things he could tell him over a phone call. Volunteering to teach Annika how to cook (because unlike her family, he didn’t know he couldn’t reveal that cooking wasn’t her strongest suit and openly balked when he first tasted it). Following Niko on his bike rides. Learning the basics of sign language for Mia. 

Maya has already turned away and focused her attention back on Gareth. She’s touching his sleeve in a familiar manner and Ilya has to remind himself they’re cousins and grew up together. 

“I’ll see you later” she’s saying, descending the steps, her plaid skirt swishing. 

He’s watching her go and he wants to say something but he’s not sure what. 

He’s not sure why. 

Her birthday comes around and of course the Heathens are throwing a full-fledged party.

Jeremy assigns Ilya to buy an appropriate gift for the twins because he’s obliged to give one, not that he particularly cares. 

Ilya shows his displeasure by buying atrocious matching little Bo Peep costumes that make Nikolai and Killian’s eyes water from laughing too hard when they catch Ilya gift wrapping them and writing-

I took lots of time to handpick these,

Jeremy

-on the card. 

Ilya gets Mia a tiny plant that is easy to grow and doesn’t require a lot of watering. 

Maya watches him give it to her, her eyes pinging between the gift, Mia’s reaction to it as she thanked him, and he signed back “Welcome” and finally at Ilya himself who she pinned in place with a blank look before she moved on and opened her own gifts.

If she’s disappointed that he didn’t get her anything, she surely doesn’t show it. 

She stopped showing her displeasure a while back and Ilya is not aware of what changed. Earlier she used to deliberately mess with him or pick fights but now she’d removed herself completely and started to make him feel exactly what she used to call him. 

A dog. Begging for attention from an owner who didn’t care. 

He watches from afar as she sits in the middle of all her friends, looking lonely despite all the 200 odd people who’d shown up for her.

Maya hates her birthday. The only way to get through it, she realized long ago, was pretending she loves it.

She notices Ilya detaching himself from Jeremy’s side for the first time since the night began and making his way upstairs and she is glaring at his back. 

She didn’t care if anyone saw. Did the infuriating man not know it was her birthday too? 

She was so furious that he’d bought such a thoughtful gift only for Mia that she almost- almost dug her heel into his foot again. 

Screw it, she had a bone to pick with him. Coming to a birthday party without a gift for the birthday girl should certainly be considered blasphemy- she decided as she stomped upstairs to look for him. 

After fifteen minutes of fruitless snooping through all the Heathens’ rooms, she’s about to leave when she takes on toward the east wing on a whim. 

Most of the repair work is still ongoing and Maya is about to check in Jeremy’s old room when she passes by the bathroom she was stuck in. 

The doorknob is missing, and she realizes she never found out how Ilya knew she was in there or how he even got the door to open.

She pushes the door open and sure enough, Ilya is sitting on the counter, twirling a very familiar hairpin between his fingers. 

“What do you want, Princess?” 

Maya stubbornly keeps her mouth shut, remembering that this man didn’t care about what she wanted at all. He cared about everyone but her. He cared about her freaking sister more. 

A sister he had smiled at. 

Maya had only ever been the recipient of his glares, but it had taken one conversation with Mia for him to smile at her like they were long lost best friends. 

“My hairpin” 

Ilya laughs when she even holds her hand out, gaze fixated on the pin caught between two of his fingers. 

God, those fingers. 

“Give it” she says when he makes no further move. 

“Why?” He asks, resuming twirling the hairpin between his fingers, taunting her with it and watching her face turn more and more irritated. 

“Because it was gifted it to me and it’s of a lot of value to me.” 

Partly, it was true. Her father had gifted it to her, but Maya had a million of such hairpins. She hadn’t even remembered losing this one until a minute ago.

“Bad girls who tell lies don’t get birthday presents.” 

Sure enough, he procured a tiny box out of his jacket that barely fit into his hand and was wrapped in floral wrapping paper. 

He had gotten her a gift too. 

No, she wasn’t sure she was the one he meant. He was going to pull the rug off her feet and laugh as she fell.

“Oh good, Mia is safe then.”

Refusing to see him agree with her, she starts checking her nails, but his silence makes her look back at him. 

He looked…angry.

What right did he have to be angry?

“Do you really not know that your sister fancies Landon King or are you really that ignorant?” 

Maya forces herself not to snarl and instead smile at him, sickly sweet and fake.

“Why would I care? I’m gonna marry Jeremy, make Nika my maid-of-honor and you can be the ring-bearer. It’s trendy to have the dog trail down the aisle with the rings these days.” 

Eyes ablaze, Ilya tells her in a deathly calm,

“Get out, Maya” 

“Or what, you’re gonna hurt your master’s future wife?” 

“I’m gonna fuck her in her wedding dress and then she’ll walk down the aisle with my cum dried between her legs and take her vows knowing her husband wasn’t the one who fucked her on their wedding day.” 

Ilya catches the exact moment his words settle deep into her bones because she sucks in a breath and turns to leave but he’s faster, banging the door close above her head when she attempts to open it. 

“No more wedding plans to make?” 

“Let me go, Ilya.” 

He’s so close, her hair is tickling his nose, and he can smell her shampoo. Roses and vanilla. She even smells like his darkest temptation. 

“Didn’t you want me to get out? I’m going” 

“Open your present first.” 

“I don’t want it.” 

“Take it or I won’t wait till your wedding day to make good on my promise.” 

Maya takes the present. 

She turns toward him, glaring at him and the stupid height advantage he has over her, but Ilya remains standing close, hand still above her head. 

Aware that commenting on his closeness will only make him cockier, Maya focuses on ripping off the delicately wrapped box, trying to showcase how much she didn’t care.

She opens the velvet box and, on the cushion, lies a delicate piece with tiny sapphires embedded into gold. 

Maya thinks it’s one of the most beautiful pieces she’s ever laid eyes on. Not too gaudy and flashy, just the right amount.

Unclasping it, she begins putting it on around her wrist seeing as it is too small to be a necklace or even a choker, but Ilya tuts, takes it away from her and leads her toward the counter he had been sitting on. 

He lays his jacket down and before she can even comprehend what his next move is, he’s already lifting her onto the counter, settling her down on his jacket so she doesn’t dirty her white birthday dress. 

Maya bites back her thanks even though she feels a little overwhelmed at the prospect of him doing this knowing she’s a germaphobe and not out of the goodness of his heart.

“It’s not a bracelet” He tells her, stepping back before grabbing her stiletto pumps and slowly raising her foot “It’s an anklet.” 

“Oh” 

He’s smirking while she waits with bated breath as he sets her heel on his stomach, clasping the anklet around it. He doesn’t make contact with her skin a single time except lightly brushing her ankle with his knuckles before pulling his hands away. Maya almost mourns their loss. 

She’s aware he’s waiting for her to drop her leg but she’s thinking of a different scenario with lesser clothes and more skin. 

Ilya can tell. 

“It’s pretty” She finally says.

“Yes” He agrees “It is.” 

But he’s looking at her and Maya can’t look away. 

Before anything transpires, Maya snaps out of her reverie first.

“I should g-”

“Why are you avoiding me?” 

His question doesn’t catch her off-guard. The fact that he noticed she’s been going out of her way to avoid him does. 

“We always avoid each other” 

His brows draw together “Not this way..we don’t.” 

“We’re not friends, Ilya.”

“I know. I’m a dog” 

Maya is rolling her eyes when he smirks at her.

“And you’re a bitch.”

She swats his shoulder “I may be a bitch, but I do have manners, I’ll return the favor on your birthday.” 

“Do you even know when my birthday is?” 

“14th February” At his raised eyebrows, she’s smiling “What, you think you’re the only one who knows everything?” 

“No” He's stroking her calf now, making her breath hitch “I didn't get you this-” He hooks his pinky finger into the anklet “-just so you could return the favor. I had ulterior motives.” 

“Like what?” 

He's not saying anything, watching her in that contemplative manner that puts her on the spot “Like what?” She repeats and this time he grabs her foot and pulls her forward till she is half hanging off the counter. 

Leaning one hand on the counter near her, his mouth is directly above her when he reveals his real purpose. 

“When I saw it in the store, I couldn't stop picturing what it would look like around your ankle when it's dangling off my shoulder.”

[archive245]

Random rinaverse hc

- Remi cried when he overheard the girls talking about star signs because he thought anni had cancer

- Niko wanted to be a power ranger growing up, gareth wanted to be spiderman, killian wanted to be superman, jeremy wanted to be batman

- Ronan the typa guy to be like “i got it, i got it, i don’t got it” while trying to catch a ball

- Moreover good thing this man plays soccer be hes horrible at catching things

- Kimberly has an upside down smile and Xander has an eye smile (like the ones where your whole closes yk??)

- Glyns favourite barbie movie was princess charm school and annikas was barbie and the 13 dancing princesses

- Gareth cannot do anything without airpods

- Glyndon doodles all over her homework and occasionally draws on kills arm with a pen while he focusing on something

- Kimberly says “well my dad said” atleast once a day

- Kirill and adrian like going to museums and art galleries, damien gets dragged along because if he doesn’t he gets all petty that they didn’t invite him even tho he complains the entire time their there

- Maya has a severe friendship jealousy issues when it comes to her friends having other friends (mood girl same)

- Reina loved going out to celebrate no matter how small the matter was killian got 100 on his spelling test? celebration, Asher won a court case? celebration, gareth got first place in track and field? celebration

- Ava always had her nails done with long acrylics and likes to just click them around to tell people she just got them done

- Once Xander and Ronan got arrested and they used their one free call on Cole and said your mom and hung up

- Nikolai sucks at spelling and texting example

- Killian drinks a whole pack of cola in a week

- I honestly think Jeremy was scared of girls as a child and when he first met Maya and Mia he was so scared of them he constantly hid from them but to them they just thought Jeremy was ignoring them bc hes a bitch

- Ronan is actually really smart but doesnt like showing it, so instead he acted like the dumb cluless one and people believe it

- Teal actually is a marvel nerd and forces ronan to binge watch the entire series with her

- Cecily started to wear glasses in grade 6, because 1 she thought they made her look like a nerd and 2 because she thought everyone viewed the world as blurry

- When ever Elsa would go on vacation she would buy small trinkets thats reminded her of them for everyone

- When ever anni sees a cat she ll take a picture of it and send it to creigh

- Nikolai consistently looses things, even things that were in his hand, looks away from one second BOOM missing

- Eli got tattoos to try and piss off Aiden little did he know Aiden also has tattoos so he was chill about it

- Creighton was scared if loud noises for a long time, and once Eli scared Creighton by like sneaking up behind him and he had a panic attack and since then Eli payed extra attention to his well being

- Xander is aggressive drunk loves fighting or arguing people, Coles definitely horny drunk disappears minutes after getting drunk, aiden doesnt get drunk, and ronans giggly drunk

- bonus knox is the type you would put on a lease drunk because he runs around and falls alot, definitely wakes up with bruises everywhere

- Teal turns soft and adorable when drunk so she doesnt drink infront of people, Kims also giggley drunk (ronan and kim can be seen just laughing and giggling with eachother on a sofa), elsa is sleepy drunk and silver is definitely the all in or none (she gets blackout drunk or sober no in between)

- Ava always plays a princess peach during mario kart and mia always plays as shyguy

- Gareth was the type ti start assignment weeks in advance, while nikolai started them the night before

-Lan was definitely a kid who needed to be on a leash because he would run around everywhere and get lost, “astrid or levi king please come to the front desk we have your son” was heard every time on the loud speakers every time they went out for a family gathering

[funtheysaid]

IWTV 2x02 Initial Thoughts (Stream Of Consciousness)

- ooh the title card changed! I’ve been wanting to see the Eiffel Tower as a “fang” since season two was announced. WE IN PARIS BABY!

- ayooo three-way (interview) incoming

- Daniel’s “Paris sucks” aka “Paris is where my ex-bf is from and he sucks (dick), but not mine anymore, and no, I’m not bitter abt that, his city just fucking stinks (literally)”

- not two minutes in and Devil’s Minion is already flirting bickering

- ALICE MENTION alice!armand truthers are gon love that shit i just know

- “I’ll tell you what a woman is” That’s my sapphic-coded queen!!! 🕯️ pls S2 give me claudeleine 🕯️

- “Gauche” well, yes.

- Loumand: 🥰🥰 Daniel: 🙄 he‘s so second-hand embarrassed for them I can’t

- I mean, it’s crazy. What? We finish each other’s- I WAS WITH HIM FOR LONGER THAN LESTAT WAS WITH HIM WRITE THAT DOWN WRITE THAT DOWN DANIEL PUT IT ON RECORD WEVE BEEN FUCKING FOR LIKE DOUBLE THE TIME …that’s what i…was….gonna say?

- Louis would be that faux-intellectual hipster who has his own darkroom full of overexposed and blurry, unfocused photos that are his “art” bc he took them on film (affectionate)

- Not claudia calling him out on it in the next scene “let me think I’m deeper than I am” okay honey you do you

- “She’s miserable but she doesn’t want to fuck with your too delusional left bank dilettante vibes” ahh the narrative foils are foiling, I see

- The show: Alice was pregnant, My dumb ass: OMEGAVERSE DEVILS MINION !?!?

- “joyfully joyless” MOOD.

- Claudia looking at Madeleine like “I don’t know if I want to be her or be with her” Dw babe it’s a rite of passage for all of us you’ll figure it out

- “Your French is ugly” 🥹👉👈 weally?

- “the dress for my body” LOOK I know what she meant, but I can’t help it that my mind is perverted

- LMFAO NOT GLORYHOLE PARK

- okay why Loumand playing with my heart “I will never harm you. And I never have” wtf wtf wtf

-Oh no the ole business card trick! we all know that’s Louis’ kryptonite he loves a man with credentials

- i like girls, but why is santiago kinda…

- Woah the Annika scene was really hard to watch which I think was the point but goddamn idk if I’ll be able to rewatch that part

- Estelle is my self-insert. I’m claiming her.

- “You both fucked Lestat!?!” HOW DID THEY KNOW WE WANTED HIM TO SAY THAT!?

- “He tasted of vermouth and annihilation” We both know you have no earthly idea what that man tastes like, Armand. Be so fucking fr right now.

- Did Armand just casually drop that he had a threesome with a father and son? I’m sorry, sir????

- “Now I know what two blood fat cocks slapping hands feel like” When I tell you my spirit left my body

- oh shit here we go. I’m a caged animal and it’s time for my weekly enrichment. give me my loustat.

- there’s a letter !?!? Wait wait I wasn’t ready for something like this wait stop stop please

- “all my love belongs to you. you are its keeper” just take me out back and shoot me at this point

- “it is a thin veil” fucking fuck why was that so romantic??

- the blood tears welling up in Lestat’s eyes I’m-

- “Rebound of my life” and in that moment, he spoke for the people

- WHAT IS HAPPENING???? Jesus Christ, they were talking about Alice and then it cuts to FUCKING ARMAND!?! This is not a drill. Everyone to your stations, this is not a drill.

- “You sold your Dad’s playboy magazines at recess” Hmmm? You’re telling me a “straight” teenage boy sold porno mags instead of keeping them for himself??? Yeah, I call gay on that one

- “she wanted to say yes” you motherfuckers.

- Oh shit Louis is pissy tonight rawr kitty got claws

- Devils minion girlies are thriving, skin glowing, hair silky, breath minty, pillow cold, stomach full, dreams sweet, and by Jove, we fucking deserve it !!!!

- daniel’s shaky “um- gulp” …….guys this is gonna sound crazy but i think there might actually be a god

- ooh the camera/photography being like a divide or barrier between Louis and his present situation. Like he wants to capture the moments, but only as if an onlooker and not a participant… interesting!

- “Who?” will never not be funny

- “Mon ami” in the same episode as “Mon Cher” FUCK ME GENTLY WITH A CHAINSAW

- “Armand for you” nah nah nah i changed my mind, you can do like Leatherface and shove that chainsaw in rough and hard

- Close up on Louis’ conflicted face, fire blazing behind him…. That’s not foreboding in any way. I’m sure they’ll all live happily ever after from now on :D

What a ride! Until next week! 🧛‍♂️🩸

[goblins-riddles-or-frocks]

Do you think Aleksander managing to find companionship in any long living sibling would have changed anything at all? Eg Ulla lives for a long time.

Hmm hard to say because I think it would hinge on what his dynamic would be with the sibling and how that does or does not shake up his dynamic with Baghra.

Ulla is interesting because she didn’t grow up with Baghra, so she has wildly different values, which might be good! But also growing up separately means they don’t have much of a formative bond, and from what little of her personality we know about from the Language of Thorns, she seems prickly and independent. And she certainly didn’t jump at the chance of going with Aleksander when he offered! Therefore, even in a scenario where they interact as family, I think it’s just as likely they just randomly come across each other like once every couple decades lol so it’s not going to be much in the way of companionship. So I feel like he’d probably eventually wind up in the same place in that scenario?

Generally I don’t think he’s the sort of person where a single positive relationship would fix him. Both because Baghra already exists, and that didn’t solve anything at all, but also because he already has a pretty firmly entrenched “us unique few who matter vs those statistics on a page who’ll be dead in the blink of an eye” mindset. So a single sibling wouldn’t really alter that worldview, unless like very unique circumstance where they’re both older, and have had the opportunity to develop values outside of Baghra’s perspective, and they’re present during his formative years. And that’s still a toss up imo! But anyone who’s younger, also isolated, and either only has Baghra’s perspective, or like Ulla shows up way later, just isn’t going to meaningfully change his worldview, and therefore how things eventually end up.

(Unless you mean changing things in terms of him having an additional enemy or ally during the canon era, which, again, too many variables to even begin to consider.)

I’m very much not a Baghra hater, and I think Darkling stans get really weird about her! But it is true that pretty much most of his Problems (i.e. his personality) stem from how she raised him, what values she instilled in him, and the formative circumstances of them being so isolated and afraid of everything and everyone all the time. So I really think the only sort of relationship that would fix him is one found outside of his family unit, and preferably before he’s had centuries to calcify into uh… who he is.

Which makes the KoS introduction of other Saints really interesting! Because you’d think they would offer any sort of community for him. But a) KoS is not real to me, B) seems highly likely that the Saints were so fucked up and also so wildly uninterested in the rest of the world/the plight of Grisha that he eventually found them repellant.

Anyway, I think any sort of formative, actual community could’ve fixed him… DitW where Annika doesn’t try to kill him lmao. But also his character hinges on the concept of continued isolation, betrayal, and loneliness leading to insane ruthlessness of centuries. So like he’d need a string of good luck with people who might die eventually anyway, or at least some immortals that both don’t suck and aren’t Morozovas.

[crazykuroneko]

IWTV S2 OST's appearances in the show

So, here is the list of the tracks on the IWTV S2 OST album and when they appear in the show so far. Gonna redo it with the scenes after the season ends, so this is all just episode numbers.

For S1 OST, the list is already available on Wikipedia

-- : hasn't been featured yet

Disk 1

1. Imagine E08

2. She Could E08

3. The Whole E08

4. Paris Sucks E09

5. Who Are E09

6. They Invited E09

7. Armand For You E09

8. Raglan James E10

9. The Fourth Great E10

10. A Vein E10

11. I don't like E11

12. Amadeo E11

13. Abducted --

14. Take As Many --

15. Hello Francis E10

16. First Time E08

17. Idk it's a gift --

Disc 2

1. Ladies E09

2. Jardin E09

3. Come to Me Again E10

4. Annika E09

5. Le Bucheron E10: TdV in Armand's retelling

6. Flirty Salesman ???

7. Woodcutter E09

8. Five Great Laws E10

9. Baby Lu E11

10. Je N'Aime E11

11. For Young Violinist Again -- (piano/violin ver. of E6)

12. Love Wronged -- 

13. In Nomine E10: Children of Darkness

14. Followed Closely E11??

15. Vien A Moi  S1 Recap

16. Come to Me Rue Royale E7

[indianariesolive]

My Unpopular(ish) opinions/takes on Legacy of the Gods series by Rina Kent

Contains spoilers ⚠️

Starting off strong, let me just get this off my chest, I really dislike God of Malice. This is mainly due to the insufferable MCs; Killian & Glyndon.

First of all, I found Killian really difficult to empathize with. Sure, what his dad said about regretting having him sucks but that's no excuse to be an a$$hole. I'm sure that if a mid/ugly guy with no money & prestige did the same things he'd done when first meeting Glyndon (iykyk) they'd be mercilessly ripped apart by the fandom. Also that one line in his POV when he said that the main reason why he chose to be a med student was because that gave him a free pass to poke & prod into people's innards & watch them squirm in agony 🤢

Coming to the 2nd part, Glyndon. As a protagonist she was such a blank slate. Killian at least had personality! (A bad one but he had one nonetheless). Same can't be said about Glyndon with her wimpiness coupled with an absurd inferiority complex (despite being talented & surrounded by a powerful & loving family & friends) as well as her lack of a deep connection with her friend group. On a more serious note, I despise the absolute double standards with which she views Killian & her brother Landon. Both are clinically diagnosed psychopaths but she has none of the grace & understanding for her own brother but readily excuses her boyfriend's behavior even though both of them are the same person, different font. 🙄

Moving on to the 2nd book, God of Pain is one of my favorites in the series but not without its fair share of drawbacks. Even though Annika appeared to be a manic pixie dream girl at the beginning she grew on me as chapter by chapter, her POVs revealed her to be more complex & headstrong, contrasting the whimsical image she's perceived as (both by her love interest, the MMC Creighton as well as the other characters like her friends & family). She's a sweet, soft girl with a dormant badass side that can get dangerous when provoked & that's precisely what Creighton had to learn through the hard way.

Getting to the gist of my main problem, I really hated the way everyone treated Annika after the you-know-what. I mean, what else was she supposed to do, watch her beloved brother get murdered by the love of her life? Everyone cut her off 'cause 'she hurt Cray-Cray who's like our brother'. Well, SHE HAD TO DO THAT TO SAVE HER OWN BROTHER, YOU ABSOLUTE DUMBASSES!!!! Y'all brains weren't braining here. Also, that scene near the end where there's this huge confrontation Creighton has with Adrian Volkov & Annika with her quick thinking just snatches a guard's gun, negotiates & diffuses the situation without bloodshed was just chef's kiss. 😌

Also, everyone gushes over Lia & Yan's friendship but Yan's bond with Annika, how he plays the role of the fun uncle while Adrian glares & has to rein them in as the level-headed dad. 🥺

That brings me to this sidenote: Glyndon could take a page out of Annika's book & learn a lesson: How to Love Your Brother & Stand Up for Yourself.

Regarding Jeremy & Cecily, I don't have any major complaints. I like how Cecily put Jeremy in his place & made him grovel for disrespecting her with his trust issues. Putting his mommy issues aside, Jeremy was overall a good character for a dark romance. He's got the hot biker thing going.

Moving on to Landon & Mia. I have nothing against Mia per se. She's pretty cool. I only hated how the author ruined her bond with her twin Maya. Also, I'm kind of ashamed to say that I wasn't the biggest fan of Landon at first but then going through his POVs made me realize that I'd been bought into the anti-Lan propaganda by Glyndon. He actually cares for his siblings, unlike Killian. He just has an unconventional way of showing it. Plus there wasn't a huge power-gap/imbalance between him & Mia so that's another point in his favour.

Last but not the least, God of Fury featuring Nikolai & Brandon has got to be among my top favorites. I only dislike the unnecessary mud-slinging with the irrelevant ex Clara. Everything else was perfection. I never expected Nikolai to be such an adorable & funny character. Also something I find really funny was that both in this book as well as in her POV, Glyndon claimed to be the one closest to Brandon. The way she described her dynamic with her brothers was, "Bran & I are a team against Lan." And not only did Brandon shut her down in a gentle yet firm tone, also her dense arse never noticed anything wrong with Brandon like!?!?! Landon was the one who'd picked on Brandon's tendency to hide & repress his emotions & stuff, and he was the one who'd tried to help Brandon open up, even if his attempt was unsuccessful. So much for her being the one on the same team lol.

[aphroditestummyrolls]

The Jesper Honeypot Whump Oneshot (not yet finished, so not yet on ao3– snippets part 1, 2, and 3 here on tumblr)

Jesper ends up narrowly escaping a honeypot mission gone wrong. And, of course, as he’s sleeping off the drug in his and Wylan’s room, a stranger comes to call. The constabulary pointed him in the direction of the Crow Club— he’s looking for his son, Jesper? Cue a lot of very anxious crows.

Plus part 4– a snippet for @celestialcass

The actual mechanism of the job was quite simple— distraction, extraction, escape. Nothing was difficult, but some of it, according to The Bastard of the Barrel, takes time to be done properly. Stealing the laundry cart, and getting costumes as hotel security; making sure to be seen on a totally separate floor by at least three people before slipping into the service elevator and making their way up to the vaults; breaking into the right safe— it all took the better part of half past too damned long.

Long enough to have Wylan’s guts twisting in knots. Every time he dared to glance at Kaz, it was infuriatingly the same. He had his back to the door, utterly trusting Wylan to keep watch while he— at least, in theory— cracked the safe. But, he’d barely moved in what felt like hours.

He was about to whisper something harsh when, as if on cue, there was a click and the crunch of gears. The door swung open. Kaz even glanced back at him, a smirk on his face like he could hear Wylan’s thoughts.

He bit his tongue, and went back to keeping watch. It wouldn’t be long now. Just get the tiara, and let’s go.

In the lamplight of the corridor, he fidgeted, glancing this way and that, begging the universe to not have anybody walk their way. Please, please. They didn’t have the time for that.

Fiddling with the cuff of his itchy uniform, Wylan glanced down and paused. His heart clenched in his chest, and he sucked in a slow breath. Letting it out long, he watched as the two rings on his hand glittered side by side in the light.

Wylan thought this was a bad idea from the start.

Kaz had called him a jealous little boyfriend— and maybe, hopefully, he was partially right. Wylan had never wanted so badly to be wrong about a hunch. As long as Jesper was safe, it would be worth it to get another one of those I told you so smirks.

But, Wylan Van Eck was nobody’s boyfriend— jealous little fiancé, he had corrected. It made Jesper laugh. He had scooped Wylan’s hand into his, slipping his own ring onto Wylan’s middle finger, beside his own. He called it safekeeping, and kissed the spoon-made silver rings on his knuckles, one and then the other.

It’s only an hour or two, merchling, Jes had shrugged, and then I’ll be back by your side.

Now, if Wylan wasn’t mistaken, they were coming up on the end of that second hour, and Jesper Fahey was due to be back where he belonged. No worse for wear, a smile on his handsome face, and his own ring back on his hand. Wylan only saw the mark for a split second, but he didn’t like the look of him, and he—

There was a quiet whistle, and two taps of a cane against the floor.

The signal.

While I take the service elevator back down to the laundry room, you’ll take the servant’s stairs through the back of the building. Go down to the bar, he remembered Kaz delivering the plan. Your presence will warn Matthias, Nina, and Jesper that it’s time to get moving.

Then, we meet at the escape cart, and Annika drives us out the back loading dock.

Clear?

Crystal.

Every step he took brought him closer to this night being over. Inej got her ledger of slavers, Kaz got his crown, and Wylan got Jesper back. Done.

Except, when he reached the bar, Jesper was gone. He was nowhere in the whole place. Even Nina was gone. Matthias, too.

Wylan’s pulse skyrocketed in his ears. Something was very wrong.

[chicalepidopterareblogs]

Some speculation for what's to come based on the OST* and my own perception and yearning

EPISODE 1

Not so much to guess about this one. The opening track and how it is used to introduce Delainey's Claudia is one of the most spectacular pieces of cinematography that I've seen in my entire life

EPISODE 2

We know which scene Paris sucks belongs to since we've already seen it in the trailers so it makes sense for it to be at the begining of ep. 2.

I speculated that Who are the young men could be related to Lestat and Nicolas and their portraits hanging in the theatre. But it can also be about Loustat first meeting and even the brave men they met at the park (cruising-meet cute confirmed around min 21:00)

They invite us for a hunt is def the slaughter scene at the palace after the motorbikes and Armand for you could be the moment Armand finaly joins the interview (meaning, Daniel paying attention to him finally) by the end of the episode.

Included Raglan James in ep 2 cause I wanna see Justin Kirk asap but he might as well appear at the begining of ep 3.

EPISODE 3

The 1700s flashbacks are said to happen at the beginning of this ep so The fourth great law could be an introduction to Armand as a coven master in both the 1940s and 1700s and A vein winding through paris sounds like something Armand would say to describe the city and the time. This is when Arlecchinostat is supposed to happen so there should be some remarkable track that didn't make to the OST

I don't like windows when they're closed we know is Claudia's debut performance so wouldn't it be beautiful if we hear it right after Lestat's 1700s show?

Amadeo... I don't even know how to make sense out of this one. I'm just getting ready to be stabbed through the heart and that's it

EPISODE 4

This episode is when Caludia meets Madeleine so most of the tracks may have to do with it and Madeleine as a character.

Hello Francis, Goodbye Francis I think is referring to the Francis Bacon tryptic

EPISODE 5

First time in new orleans sounds like a way to introduce the first interview.

I didn't know it was a gift I don't really know how to explain it but since it's probably in episode five (unless it isn't) something about someone being too young and stupid to realise something is important and what Eric said about Daniel reading something from one of his books that didn't know what he meant when he wrote it. Something...

EPISODE 6

Most of these tracks will probably have to do with theatre performances.

Ladies And Gentlemen as in something Santigo would say; Jardin de Satan might be some of the plays Nicolas wrote.

Come To Me Again it is a performance on its own**

Annika is probably the girl they torture on the stage and Le Bucheron and Woodcutter... a lot of foreshadowing (Le bucheron could even be a pun in French although I don't know enough French to be sure). We have also seen a play about a woodcutter in one of the trailers

EPISODE 7

The Five Great Laws for this episode since it is probably going to be The Trial and we know Baby Lu is Claudia's (unfortunate?) theatre persona

My gut tells me that Je N'Aime Pas Fenêtres Quand Fermée will play at the end titles of the episode, in contrast with the atrocities that might have happened previously

EPISODE 8

We know that Nicolas should have already showed up at some point between ep1 to 6 so For A Young Violinist Again being at the bottom of the list can only mean that we will see him once again. Something tells me it will be painful and maybe the first approach to authentic Nickistat.

Love Wronged could be applied to almost every relationahip in the show

In Nomine Magni. Who could possibly say a line like this in Latin so close to end of the season?

Followed Closely By My Madness has Nicolas de Lenfent written all over it again

Vien À Moi Encore sounds perfect for a dramatic clifthanger, maybe even Lestat coming back to Louis

*Considering always that the titles are in order of appearance as they were for the S1 OST

**Unlike Come To Me on Rue Royal that goes at the bottom as a bonus track, I doubt we will actualy hear it *in* the show but we will see

[thegeminisage]

STAR TREK UPDATE TIME, lest i get behind again. friday we watched voy's "dark frontier" and last night we watched voy's "the disease" and ds9's "inter arna enim silent leges." what a mouthful, and sadly not even the fun sexy kind

dark frontier:

SEVEN OF NINE MY BELOVEDDDDDD

ok, let's get it out of the way: conceptually, the borg queen doesn't make any sense. the borgs aren't individuals. that is half the point of them. (the other half of the point is brainwashed cyborgs. don't worry about it.) if the queen has goals, even something so base as "assimilate everything," that negates the point. if she plays mind games and flirts with seven of nine that is not the action of a collective but of One Borg. however, i am willing to forget about it because, and this is crucial, borg queen hot. mind games and flirting with seven hot. using janeway's words hot. 10/10

also 10/10: how freaked out seven is listening to all these people get assimilated. NEVER FORGET SHE IS FULL OF GHOSTS

not 10/10: flashing in this ep. there was so much flashing i ran out of room to write the flashing lights timestamps on my fucking gum wrapper. good lord

also, i feel like seven's parents were bad parents? they followed the borg cube's slipstream KNOWING there was little to no chance they'd ever make their way back to earth, and they were doing something totally unheard of and dangerous, and yet...they took their child with them? could they not have left her with a relative or something?? this seems like negligent parenting

also, i note that whenever little annika is like scared or having trouble sleeping her dad will only stop and comfort her if he notices it/if it interferes with his work. like, we know what his first priority is and it's not his kid. her mom was a LITTLE better, but she still was out here doing this with a baby on board

like, as adults, mom and dad can consent to being in that dangerous situation in the pursuit of science if they really believe it's worth risking their lives for. no matter if we think it's a dumb idea or a brave idea, it's their right. she didn't have a choice at all, and then the borg took even more choices from her

hence i believe her dad did kind of deserve to stay assimilated forever. on the fence about her mom. but it's fucked up that they couldn't save him - that they didn't even have time for seven to consider saying "wait take dad too" or "where's mom" or anything - and then also that she's just not gonna mention to anyone ever that she knows her parents are consigned to a near-eternity as borg (who do not die as easily as people do).

also, kind of a bad look for janeway to be like...damn who knew going through all your parents things would retraumatize you? that said, i DID like the moment where neelix gently expressed his envy over how much seven had left of her parents, because quite literally all he has left is one image of one family member. i don't think either of them are wrong for the way they feel, especially considering seven's parents let her get assimilated/failed to protect her, and the episode didn't try to push us to think one of them was.

finally, let's not forget chakotay pointing out one of janeway's tells (fiddling with her combade). she literally has two love interests.

overall, fantastic fucking time. i LOVE seven of nine

the disease (voy):

god this one sucked so bad

why are harry kim's episodes always something to do with a girl? i feel like the time travel episode is the only one who skipped this convention, and even then, they still gave a random girl to chakotay, so you have to wonder if she was originally harry's gf instead

anyway, they totally made up this "don't fuck the aliens" rule for this episode, right? riker fucks aliens all the time. you COULD say known aliens like in the alpha quadrant might have more lax rules and it's just for a first contact sitch, but...riker has fucked an alien on first contact too (albeit in a situation that was highly dubiously consensual), and of course was out here doing that right and left, though that could be excused as tos weirdness.

like you have to ask your captain AND your doctor before you fuck?? what??? what if it's just like second base???

anyway it made janeway look like a huge asshole. again.

and sorry, if the point of this episode was "love can be like a disease and people stay in relationships for bad reasons" why did seven come in in the end like "love is good thank you for showing em the truth harry kim" like what the fuck was that?

i think the point of this episode should have been "harry kim has grown up and gets to have depth now" except no he hasn't and no he doesn't and so that conversation was just a little afterthought because they'd had that exact conversation as an afterthought in harry kim episodes before. sigh.

inter arna enim silent leges (ds9):

i kinda liked the first section 31 episode, so idk why i hated this one so much

like i was all damn what are people complaining about yes this goes againstt he spirit of tos but it's good tv

maybe the difference is this wasn't good tv. it feels like a worse and more boring version of in the pale moonlight - romulans, secret dealings, assassination plots. this one just has less garak, less sisko, and more sloan

something about sloan REALLY annoys me. he's very unlikable. in the first episode this was fine because he was the bad guy but in this episode when we're kind of working with him, even if he's still the bad guy, he's on our team, and that's too much sloan. small doses, please

the twist also felt very dumb. like, they got him with a transporter before the phaser could kill him? i saw right through that one even while it was happening. the only real surprise was that that romulan was working for starfleet

it also sucks that the second most interesting character, the romulan senator or whoever, didn't have more to say or do and basically only existed to prove how shady sloan is

i liked julian yelling at him, alexander siddig CAN act, but that was one of the only interest parts of the episode. that and like the genetically enhanced mentions. the rest was saaaaur boring

TONIGHT: voy's "course: oblivion" and "the fight."

[walder-138]

Hey dear! Just wanted to pop by and say thank you for your interest in Jodie :’) your asks are appreciated!

I wanted to extend my own curiosity over to your own :0c

So, couple questions:

1. What is her life like in the aftermath of the campaign?

2. What are her feelings, in any, towards Perseus and its operators? I wondered if she had any close friendships, anyone she would have relied on more than others. Like, did she have good connections with the faction or was she more of a lone wolf?

Hey pookie! I love answering questions about my skrunkly, so tysm for the ask! I’m sorry for the long wait I’ve been busy with finals, but I finished them yesterday!

1. (a) In the true ending, assuming she lived, Annika would be BEYOND pissed. The one time in her life where she did the right thing was repaid by a gunshot to to stomach. She’d have no one, and be an official enemy of the state to both the USSR and NATO. Perseus wouldn’t take her back (and probably would want her dead) and everyone assumes she’s dead.

Instead of doing what the old her would do (show up to Adler’s house with 30 pounds of C4 strapped to her chest), Annika would reflect on herself. She’d try to jog her memory from before she became Bell, while also trying to get out of Russia and move on.

I imagine Annika leaving to Vietnam and starting a new life there. She’d be paranoid pretty much 24/7 and have a lot of traps around her house. Either she’d be a mercenary, take a long walk off a short pier, or become an English teacher.

(I didn’t actually really think about that 💀)

1. (b) If Annika lied to Adler, she’d honestly be even worse. There would be a honeymoon period (if that makes sense) where the members of Perseus would ‘congratulate’ her for coming to her senses. She’d become almost manic, thinking that she’s finally free from being controlled, when in reality she was just another pawn on the chessboard. When Annika’s episode ended, every finally clicked for her. She caused the death of millions of people, for what? Cause she was being petty? For the first time in her life, she’d have clarity. I’d imagine she would off Perseus, he’d say some bullshit, then she herself would take a long walk off a short pier.

Either way, she’d hate herself

2. Annika saw Perseus himself as a bastardized father figure, if that makes sense. She joined Perseus relatively early in her life, when she was 17. She was naive, and followed everyone’s orders as she didn’t know any better.

However, when Annika grew older. she’d realize that most of her superiors couldn’t care less if she lived or died. When that registered, she saw the other operators as coworkers rather than family, unlike how she used to.

Sorry for the short response! I suck at expressing my ideas 😭

[traxanaxanos]

Seven/Sam Wildman for the ship bingo!

Yayyy thank you!

I think about them so much, and yet it took me like three days to express anything coherently.

Really, I flip-flop on what sort of relationship between Seven and Sam is most fulfilling for me. It mainly depends on what part of Seven's actual arc in Voyager I'm most mad about that day - that the crew and the show pushes her towards romantic relationships as the end-all be-all of human relationships and necessary to being a human at all, when she's still figuring out the very basics of any sort of relationship, or that. OR. That the crew and the show pushes her towards specifically heterosexual romantic relationships as the end-all be-all of human relationships and necessary to being a human at all.

If it's the first then that justifies the "in a relationship. Not sure what the relationship is but they're in one" square, where Seven just gets absorbed into the Wildman family structure as a nebulous family member. Is she Naomi's aunt? Naomi's adopted sibling? Samantha's adopted sibling? Something unnamed and unnameable but still familial? It doesn't matter, she's just there. Samantha rolls up to Ktaris after 7 years presumed dead, and introduces her husband to their daughter and their deactivated borg drone. Don't worry about it. (Greskrendtregk is stoked on both fronts). I like this as a thematic bookend to Seven's narrative, given she pushed so hard against Icheb needing to be with his biological family who sucked and her own issues with Annika's biological family (who sucked), and the entire nature of Voyager's crew and Voyager as a show. Seven gets to find and make her own family that values her and her priorities, whether or not they are correctly "human" (read: white American nuclear family).

However, I do think I tend more towards shipping Seven and Samantha romantically, on the whole. This does still follow the trend in the above paragraph of Seven making her own way and Samantha valuing her specific choices rather than telling her they're wrong and she should really be doing x instead, only there's more kissing involved.

I like the idea that the Borg, for all their assimilation of whole cultures, are of course only interested in tech and the specific biological uniqueness of the assimilated species - information like poetic styles, linguistic uniqueness, etc, all either gets coded as junk data and retained but not prioritized, or is fully ignored/deleted. The same thing would stand for the flora and fauna of an assimilated specie's homeworld - the Borg don't care that the Brunali's homeplanet had 46 million grasshopper species or that Species 8177 had a domesticated companion animal that was some sort of native burrowing marsupial. So Seven, when she gets yanked from the hive mind, maybe retains this "junk" data, or maybe never had it, and for all she's a genius with tech and in astrometrics, life sciences don't even figure for Seven and her worldview, except as it pertains to tactical advantages.

Samantha, however, would care so much about the grasshopper species, and domesticated marsupials, and every stupid worm or ant on every Delta quadrant the Voyager has a stupid away mission to. And I like that the pairing consists of them as thematic opposites. Seven is intense and tech oriented, Samantha (from what we see of her) seems very mild-mannered and easy-going, and she's probably miserable when she has to cover a non-life sciences shift due to Voyager being understaffed. And Seven probably thinks this is odd, and an inefficient use of limited crew research for Captain Janeway to keep letting Ensign Wildman spend time documenting some weird birds they saw. But she maybe stops complaining about it, because Samantha lets her hang out with Naomi and doesn't even seem worried about her as a Borg being near her daughter, and keeps inviting her over to the Wildman quarters for dinner, and she does talk about the weird birds she's writing a report on for way too long, but Seven tracks their conversations and realizes Samantha also let her talk about a nebula they passed for about the same amount of time, and she's been tracking all her crew conversations to improve at interpersonal interactions, and the majority of the crew (96%) would have changed the subject or left at minute 13 on average, but Samantha kept prompting her about the nebula, and oh, she's looking forward to seeing her again and talking about their different interests, she even hopes Samantha will talk about the differences in feather pigmentation across bird species some more, might as well shut down that life-simulation holoprogram she's got that's not as interesting as having dinner with Samantha.

A thing I love about Seven is she hits a certain point in her development, after the Voyager keep insisting to her that non-violence should be the first step, that strangers should be met with friendliness not hostility, and the general ethical underpinnings of Starfleet, where its almost like a switch flips and Seven becomes this fairly consistent staunch defender of life (even when she's being an ass or patronizing or condescending about it). It happens with her reviving the Vaadwaur, in her hesitancy in Tsunkatse, and with Iko (albeit with some prompting). These are all obviously in relation to other people. But I like the idea of like some of this coming from her interactions with Sam who sees the value in all living things, and sees things from this big networked, ecosystem viewpoint, and extends compassion and understanding to the life of the smallest creatures, and that off-screen Seven's compassion also starts to develop more broadly due in part to her interactions with Samantha.

I think I've maybe talked around why I ship them this whole time, but to boil it down, I like that they're opposites in demeanor and interests, I like that romantic or not, it allows Seven to explore ways of being outside the priorities foisted on her by the show and its various Seven romance lines, and I like that it would mean their meet-cute is Seven barreling into Samantha having a conversation with the Doctor about Naomi's growth spurts with horrifying Borg maturation chamber facts.