#because someone wanted to prove she's not a chicken

[ccsainzleclerc5516]

Just Like His Father

Pairing: Lewis Hamilton x reader

Warnings: none, pure fluff, I actually saw this on tiktok and thought it'd be cute to make sth out of it

You were in the kitchen finishing making dinner when your husband returned from a business meeting.

"Hey, love" Lewis greeted you as he entered the kitchen.

"Hey, baby" You smiled as he stood behind you and wrapped his arms around you leaving a kiss on your cheek. "You tired?"

"No, but I am starving." He sighed. "What's for dinner?"

"Curry chicken and rice. It'll be ready in a minute, you can sit at the table"

"Oh, yes, please.." He groaned. "Where's Marlo?"

"He should be in his room doing his homework. The young gentleman didn't have lunch today so he has to eat dinner" You chuckled remembering the talk you had with your son earlier today. Marlo was 5 years old and in preschool. He was the smartest, most lovable, but also unintentionally the funniest kid ever.

"Marlo, daddy's home!" You shouted. "Wash your hands and come sit at the table"

"Why were you laughing when you said he didn't have lunch today?" Lewis asked curiously.

"Oh you just wait till you hear it from him" You giggled taking the dish and walking with it over to the table.

When Marlo washed his hands, he ran into the kitchen extending his arms towards Lewis. "Daddy!" He screamed with joy seeing him.

"Buddy" Lewis softened, picking him up in his arms and hugging him tightly. "I missed you. Did you have a good day at school?" He asked.

"Yup" Marlo nodded.

"Tell daddy what happened at school today" You said trying to refrain from laughing so that Marlo doesn't think you're making fun of him.

"What happened at school?" Lewis was still confused. "Did someone mess with you? Did someone touch you? Y/n?" He was already visibly upset and paternal protective instincts kicked in within seconds.

"No, no-"

"Mom did.." Marlo blurted out and his gaze shifted to you. “Mom messed with me..”

"What do you mean?"

"Marlo, did you eat your lunch at school today?" You asked crossing your arms and leaning your elbows onto the table waiting for his response.

"I didn't actually" He said turning to Lewis.

"And why is that?" Lewis asked.

"Because my girlfriend was sat right across from me and you put a note that said I love you babe" Marlo explained pointing his finger at you.

Lewis paused for a second, blinking a couple of times before bursting into laughter. "Your girlfriend, buddy? You have a girlfriend?"

"I'm not sure if I still have one after today" He sighed.

"Oh, your girlfriend didn't like mom's note?"

"No! She got mad!"

You chuckled again remembering how upset he was about it earlier today when he first told you the story. You felt bad for him, but you couldn't help but laugh at the kid stuff that was concerning him.

"And what did you do after that?" Lewis listened intently as you put food on the plates for both of them.

"Nothing, I explained to her that she's married to my dad and I said that my dad is Lewis Hamilton."

"You hear how beautifully he emphasized that my husband is none other than Lewis Hamilton" You joked as Lewis held his head laughing.

"What? I didn't say anything wrong?" Marlo shrugged his shoulders. Love problems were clearly too much for the young man.

"Baby, no girl will ever love you as much as your mom loves you, remember that." You stood up from your chair and walked over to him placing his small face between your hands and kissing his forehead.

"Well, she doesn't have to know that!" Marlo defended.

"Okay, okay. No more notes in lunch boxes just so that your girlfriend doesn't feel like I'm a threat to her apparently" You playfully rolled your eyes going back to your seat. "Now, please start eating your dinner"

"But I still don't understand, regardless of the note, why didn't you eat your lunch?" Lewis asked him.

"Because I wanted to prove her how much I loved her." He sighed before continuing "Dad once told me how he proves his love for you by eating everything you cook even though sometimes he may not like it, but he eats everything because he loves you. I just did the opposite."

Your and Lewis' hearts melted when you hear him say it. You were so proud of your little boy who was too young to know what love was but he learned it so well from his daddy. you knew that one day he would make some girl the happiest girl in the world, just like his father made you and continues to do so day after day.

After dinner was over, both you and Lewis wanted to get Marlo ready for bed. After you gave him a shower and Lewis helped him brush his teeth, you read him a bedtime story and cuddled him before saying goodnight. You also made pinky promises that there would be no more "embarrassing" notes from mom in the lunchbox, and that Marlo would eat his lunch every day.

After that you and Lewis decided to relax on the couch in front of the TV in each other's arms.

"If one day we have a daughter and she comes to me at the age of 5 and says she has a boyfriend, I swear, I will lose my mind" Lewis said jokingly even though you knew he meant it.

"Yeah, we'll homeschool her so she doesn't have any contact with the boys" You said sarcastically rolling your eyes at him.

"Exactly! That's a great idea actually!" He seemed to love it of course.

"Oh stop it!"

"As you told our son today, so I will tell our daughter, no man in her life will ever love her more than me. That's a fact. I already love her."

"Baby, we don't even have a daughter...yet"

"Then I better get to work, no?" He smirked rolling you over and nuzzling his head into your neck making you giggle.

"Well, you better, Lewis Hamilton."

[backwardsbread]

Hazbin Hotel Characters:

~Marriage proposals~

Warnings‼️: genderneutral!reader, established relationship, characterxreader, lots of fluff, Valentino existing, mentions of cannibals/cannibalism, possessive behavior, pet names used, mentions of divorce, some swearing.

A/N: How would the Hazbin hotel characters propose! I might do a vise versa, where reader proposes. But this one is the characters proposing to YOU. Enjoy~!

This is pretty long- I don’t know how to find word count, but if anyone wants more, drop a request :))

?Semi proofread?

Lucifer:

This man is a NERVOUS WRECK.

When he realizes he wants to marry you, he lowkey panics. Starts acting like you guys just now started dating.

He’s super anxious, trying to impress you, and prove that he’s good enough for you.

(Whether he’s trying to prove that to you, or himself, is up for debate.)

The two of you met on a whim. You didn’t really know it was the king of hell you were talking to when you first met.

How could this be the king?? He was so goofy. His playful demeanor immediately drew you in.

With even learning about how Lucifer was, it didn’t stop those fuzzy feelings towards him that bubbled in your chest.

It took him a long time to even get into a relationship with you, due to him being caught up in his past with Lillith.

But overtime, your affection is what gets him through the tough days.

He gets all flustered and embarrassed at your sweet gestures, trying to hide the fact that he’s realizing he wants you to always only be his.

As we know, he had a previous marriage and that commitment failed him before. He had a right to feel nervous of the subject that once bruised his soul.

But in his heart, he truly knows this is what he wants. He wants to spend his eternity with you if you allowed him to.

When the thought has finally settled, and he knows he’s ready to try marriage again, it doesn’t settle his nerves.

This has to be PERFECT-

He needs the perfect ring, the perfect setting, the perfect outfit. All of which he had easy access to, he is the king afterall.

Yet, nothing seems to be perfect enough. Nothing is enough, nothing he can think of matches how strong his feelings are for you.

Once he thinks he’s decided on what will be perfect, he ditches the idea to try and come up with something better.

He consults Charlie on this issue a lot. Including her in this is very important to him. He makes sure she’s comfortable with the idea of him being married to someone who wasn’t her mother.

Charlie is a bit put off by the idea, it’s strange to think about. She never thought of her father getting remarried, but the thought doesn’t necessary upset her. She’s more worried about history repeating itself.

Overall, she wants her father to be happy, and helps him prepare for the proposal in any way she can.

(Mostly moral support because this guy is in emotional turmoil over this.)

He’s in a constant inbetween of if this was the right thing to do. Was it too soon in your guys relationship? Was it too soon after his divorce? Would you even want to spend the rest of your damnation with the one who started it all?

With heavy encouragement and reassurance from Charlie, he finally has the guts to ask you the big question.

But….. when he takes you out on the date where he meant to propose…

He chickens out. (Or ducks out haha)

“It is quite beautiful tonight.. you know I love you, right?……. Good! Yeah-! U-Uh-.. oh my golly! Look at the time! How that darn old thing does fly-Haha! W-We should head home!- boy am I tired-!”

Rinse and repeat this process a handful of times.

You do start to get a bit skeptical of your partners behavior. You guys had been going on extremely fancy dates at least once a week.

And while you had no complaints on spending time with Lucifer, you did notice his strange behavior.

The way his mood would incline before your guys’ date, and then suddenly decline when it was over. Then having to take the rest of the week to heal his pride.

It was just a big rollercoaster of emotions. You were starting to worry you were the cause of his stress.

(I mean. Technically you were)

During one of his many attempts in asking you, he had already internally given up when he stumbled over his words in the middle of dinner.

Your date was coming to a close, and like clockwork, Lucifer’s chipper mood deteriorated.

His shoulders slumped, he was pouty, and dragging his feet on the way back to the castle.

Before the two of you can enter, you grab Lucifer’s hand, stopping him. He gives you a confused look, posture straightening to look at you.

You give him small pecks all over his face, in hopes to cheer him up from whatever was troubling him.

Your actions have the affect you were hoping for, as he laughs and steals your lips into his own, a wide smile on his face as he rests his hands on your waist.

His nerves seemed to dissipate as he felt an overwhelming sense of security and love for you.

His body was moving before his mind could keep up. The moment just felt right.

He pulls away from your shared embrace, reaching into his pocket, and getting down on one knee. He opens the ring box, revealing the glimmering jewelry within it.

You look at him in shock and he returns the same look, surprised at his own actions. Well there was no backing out of it now- (saY SOMETHING LUCIFER-)

It takes him a few seconds to recover from the shock and he’s tempted to just pretend to tie his shoe. But you knew his intentions and watched the nerves wrack their way up his body once again.

Before he can even speak, give a speech he had rehearsed probably a hundred times in front of his mirror, you say yes.

And the relief that washes over this man— the weight that lifted off his shoulders in that moment— felt amazing.

You bend down with him, smiling ear to ear and chuckling as you realized this is why he was so worked up the past couple months.

Tears fill Lucifer’s eyes as he slides the piece of jewelry onto your ring finger.

You kiss away the tears that slip down his face and he wraps his arms around you, pulling you into a hug.

His tattered heart feeling stitched back together that day.

Alastor:

We all know Alastor isn’t the biggest on romance.

He’s a true gentleman, of course, but public displays of affection and intimate relationships weren’t his cup of tea.

The two of you had know each other for years in the afterlife, yet it was only recently you had put a label on your relationship.

Falling for you was never part of his plan.

He first saw you as an prey, only a possible soul he could claim for his ongoing collection.

But your sickening sweetness unfortunately grew on him over time. He once wanted to take advantage of it, but he became too fond of you to corrupt it.

You moved from his prey to his acquaintance.

You lived in cannibal town where he would frequently visit.

You join the gossip sessions with him and Rosie, indulging in their banter. It starts by you just walking by and throwing a comment towards their conversation you were listening in to. Eventually you had your own designated seat at their table.

Rosie definitely saw the potential the connection you and Alastor had, so she subtly pushes the two of you to hang out more.

This leads to your relationship advancing from mere acquaintances to good friends. The transition quick due to Rosie’s persistence.

Anytime Alastor would visit cannibal town, he would make effort to pay you a visit. He just felt so drawn to your company.

His smile felt less strained, his body would relax, and he could do what he wanted while you served up some fresh pinkie fingers.

There would be occasions of Alastor realizing he’s dropped his guard around you, and he would be snippy and aggressive those days. In fear of going soft and losing his mojo.

The first time he did this scared you,

(I mean obviously, the mans body grows two-ten times in his demon form)

But after a talk with Rosie about it, you tried to be understanding. Instead of falling away or distant with Alastor after his little tantrums, you simply waited it out. When he was back to normal asking softly if he wanted to talk about it or move on.

It wasn’t clear to you when you guys really started being affectionate towards one another. It just kind of happened.

You knew Alastor to be a gentleman before formally meeting him. So him linking arms with you, kissing your knuckles, holding open doors was nothing new.

It seemed like everyone besides the two of you knew the true feelings you two had for each other before you guys did.

You were holding hands, seeing each other everyday, Alastor would give you his coat to borrow on colder days, etc. Just small sweet gestures the two of you would share.

It took an incredible amount of time for Alastor to come to terms with his feelings. He hadn’t done this before and had no control of what his heart wanted. It was scary.

Putting a label on what you guys had didn’t seem necessary. The two of you knew what you meant to each other in an unspoken agreement.

(Rosie did eventually pressure him to actually ask you out however. It was the gentleman’s thing to do)

(But enough backstory)

More often than not, Alastor found himself spending his nights with you. Not to leave until the morning or midday after.

The two of you practically lived together when the overlord wasn’t too busy with other matters.

We already went over how the two of you weren’t big on labels. It wasn’t until Rosie asked that Alastor had even thought about marriage.

“Sooo… when are you going to put a rock on your pretty thang’s finger?”

“Hm? I don’t think it’s necessary.”

“What?? You’re kidding right? That darling and you have been together ages! You wouldn’t want someone else swiping them away from you, right?”

“Hah! Never going to happen. Who in their right mind would try that?”

“…”

“You do know where we are, right?”

It had never occurred to the Radio demon before. You guys had made your relationship official of course. Anyone else who would try and court you and take you away from him would be simply insane.

But the thought wormed itself into his brain and flourished.

The thought of not knowing what you were doing 24/7. The thought of someone possibly stealing you away without his knowledge.

The thought of some undeserving sinner having their hands on what belonged to him.

It irked him.

After that conversation with Rosie, say goodbye to your privacy. You’re not going anywhere alone. He can’t risk someone even attempting to steal you away.

It was irritating how he was always tracking you, keeping a shadow with you at all times.

If someone even dared to hold open a door for you that wasn’t him or his shadow, he’d show up at your side in an instant.

It made you anxious and overall, you felt your partner didn’t trust you.

You did express these feelings to Alastor, but your words seemed to phase right through him. You had no idea what had gotten into him to make him (even more) protective.

You joined him in bed one night, as he was stilling up, enjoying a book with jazz music emitting from his aura.

You cuddle close to him, the feeling of fuzzy static that enveloped you a comforter for your slumber.

Before you can let yourself drift off to sleep, your partner closes his book with one hand, the loud thump making you jolt.

��Say darling, what do you think of marriage?”

The sudden ask has you dumbfounded, giving him a deer in headlights stare. (Hah-)

He had never even mentioned marriage before yet here he was now, smiling at you as he waited for your response.

You give honesty, telling him you never really thought of it yourself and you were surprised to hear the idea from him.

You did mention how the subject didn’t draw you away. You knew you loved Alastor with your entire soul. Your heart and soul were his without one of his binding contracts.

Once he hears your approval he snaps his fingers making one of his shadows appear, holding out his signature red coat to him. He reaches into the pocket of his jacket, fishing out what he desired.

He pulled out a small box and handed it to you, his shadow dismissing itself from the scene.

You give him a confused look, before gently opening the box. Your eyes meeting the small band inside.

Oh- he was serious?????

You give him a puzzled look, while he just tilts his head at you, silently asking ‘too soon?’

Your eyes continue to track from the ring, to him, back to the ring, then back to him.

Your hesitation comes off as denial to Alastor, so he reaches out to take the box back. Before he can even lay a finger on it, you pull it to your chest protectively.

You give him a glare for even having the audacity to try and take this away from you. Your actions make him chuckle and hold his hands up defensively.

You slip the band onto your ring finger. Once it’s perfectly snug onto your digit, you pull your partner close to you, peppering his lips with small pecks. Scolding him in between your kisses for being so nonchalant.

He simply chuckles against your affections, telling you the ring will be a reminder you are always his.

And you wouldn’t have had it any other way.

Vox:

Vox is not one for settling down. No shot in hell.

Have you seen this man?? Holy hell take a chill pill.

A lot of Vox’s priorities lie with his work. He’s always pushing the boundaries of tech, eager to create something new and be on the face of it.

He never thought of dating. Being tied down to one person made him cringe. So the thought of marriage never even entered his system.

Then there was you of course. Messing up his plans.

How could he not fall for you? You were charming, beautiful, and down right too good for him.

(According to him.)

Your presence and the feelings you gave him made him feel threatened. He tried to put him a wall between the two of you, avoiding you at all costs.

But when he would look at his phone, seeing your icon pop up with messages to him. His fans would kick into gear, his cold heart ticking rapidly in his chest.

Yeah he had it BAD.

When you became a priority to him as well, it kind of threw a wrench in the balance of his schedule.

Yes he loves you but that fact scares him. He wasn’t exactly the safest demon to be around.

So he found it better that the two of you keep your relationship secret. Mostly spending early mornings and late nights with you.

It was difficult to manage. You wanted nothing more than to try hang out with your partner all day but he was always busy.

You would visit him at work, but on very rare occasion. You still owned your soul, which meant Valentino saw it as up for grabs, despite Vox’s warnings (threats) to not lay a finger on you.

As much as you enjoyed visiting your partner at work, you understood his reasonings for being uncomfortable with it.

Besides that, the chance of others seeing the two of you in public was way too high. You guys didn’t usually go on dates.

Your partner was more comfortable having you stay at home, having a double life without him. You lived with Vox, but outside of the time you two spent together, you had your own things going on.

Vox knew about it of course, he cares about you more than anything. He needs to know what’s going on at all times. And what you had going on outside of him was important to him.

He always has a screen pulled up in his monitor room while working. Just to see what you were up to.

The screen usually tracked a camera on you whenever you went out, it displayed your phone screen whenever it was in use, and showed your vitals on the bottom corner of the screen.

He didn’t trust the sinners that roamed these streets, rightfully so. Being able to track you gave him a source of comfort when he couldn’t always be around.

As mentioned before, going out on dates wasn’t really a thing. But Vox would usually clear up one day a month in his schedule. Just to spend the entire day with you.

(Of course he occasionally shuts down, checking how everything is going at V headquarters while he’s not around. Cant take this man entirely away from his work)

You’d spend those days cuddling, ordering in some takeout, and just catching up with each other. Getting in as much affection as you could.

The nights were soft and intimate. It was what you always looked forward to.

Vox had some things to do early morning on the day designated for the two of you. You did pout and complain to him, but he promised to be back as soon as he could.

Hours passed and you started to get a little bit peeved that your partner had yet to return home. Checking the time, you decide to take matters into your own hands.

You get dolled up, pack up a small container of snacks, and head to V’s headquarters.

Making your way through the crowd of demons and sinners. You head up the elevator, but it stops on Valentinos floor.

And with just your luck, the lustful demon is standing there, waiting to get on. When he sees your face, he grins wide and enters the elevator. Standing uncomfortably close.

He blows out his pink slut smoke into the small space, making you cringe and try to waft the stench away from you.

Valentino is touchy and that’s an understatement.

So when he bends down at your level, once again offering a job to you, your heart rate spikes.

Meanwhile, Vox is having a one sided argument with Velvette, the young overlord scolding him as she changed his outfit several times.

It wasn’t often Vox was used as a model for Velvette, but he had actually asked her ahead of time to design something special for you and him.

By ahead of time, he asked yesterday, not giving Velvette nearly enough time.

While he tuned out of his teammate reprimanding him, his watch buzzed, alerting him of your abnormal heart rate.

He gives a confused look, his screen going black for a second as he brought up his home security camera on his screen. When seeing you weren’t at the house, his eye twitched.

Where the hell did you go??

He was brought back, his face glitching in and out as he pulled out his phone, bringing up your location.

He saw how close you were and immediately thought the worst.

He zaps himself into the nearest camera, zipping through the electronics to find where you are.

Within a minute, he’s found you in the elevator, practically cornered by Valentino who was literally drooling on you.

The lights flicker in the elevator as it comes to a screeching halt. Cue your partner showing up with a crack of blue electricity, yanking Valentino away from you by the moth’s wing.

He puts himself in front of you, acting as a shield so you don’t have to be near Valentino’s poison.

“W̵̰̻͍̉̔̅̀̐͐͒͆̒̚ḥ̸̨̧̗̮̖̽̂̓̀̍̋͋́̅̃͘͜͝ǎ̴̯̀͠t̸̫̫̤͕̳̻̰̣̭́̌̉͝ͅ t̸̫̫̤͕̳̻̰̣̭́̌̉͝ͅḥ̸̨̧̗̮̖̽̂̓̀̍̋͋́̅̃͘͜͝ë̸͓̮͉͈͇͍̖͎̩̞͈́́́̋̇̾͋̈́̾͆͑͘͘͜͠͝ f̵̢̻͈̫̬̻͔̘̞͈̆̇̍̈̌͊ͅu̷̬̩̰̫͕̘͎̔́̃̄̍͋̓c̵̛̥͊k̵̘̺̦͉͖̪̪͖͉͊̆̔́̈́̍̃̈́͒̂̑̀̚͜͝ d̶̡̲̗̼̮̤̤̳̲͖͓͍͔͓̓̎̽́̽̏̐͂̆͆͘͘͘ŏ̸̡̼̺̫̥̻͈̞̍͆̏̓́͜͝ͅ y̶͔͗ŏ̸̡̼̺̫̥̻͈̞̍͆̏̓́͜͝ͅu̷̬̩̰̫͕̘͎̔́̃̄̍͋̓ t̸̫̫̤͕̳̻̰̣̭́̌̉͝ͅḥ̸̨̧̗̮̖̽̂̓̀̍̋͋́̅̃͘͜͝i̶̡̹͈͎̳̞͙͖̾̂̀͑̀͆̑̓̽̉͐͘͘ͅǹ̷̨͍̮̥̹̘͙̗̻̬̬̜̥̮̃̒̈́̽͗̿̍̄̂̏͆͠͝k̵̘̺̦͉͖̪̪͖͉͊̆̔́̈́̍̃̈́͒̂̑̀̚͜͝ y̶͔͗ŏ̸̡̼̺̫̥̻͈̞̍͆̏̓́͜͝ͅu̷̬̩̰̫͕̘͎̔́̃̄̍͋̓’r̵̡͕͈͚͍͍̼͕̍̀̈́̽̎̍͗̍́̏̚͜͠ë̸͓̮͉͈͇͍̖͎̩̞͈́́́̋̇̾͋̈́̾͆͑͘͘͜͠͝ d̶̡̲̗̼̮̤̤̳̲͖͓͍͔͓̓̎̽́̽̏̐͂̆͆͘͘͘ŏ̸̡̼̺̫̥̻͈̞̍͆̏̓́͜͝ͅi̶̡̹͈͎̳̞͙͖̾̂̀͑̀͆̑̓̽̉͐͘͘ͅǹ̷̨͍̮̥̹̘͙̗̻̬̬̜̥̮̃̒̈́̽͗̿̍̄̂̏͆͠͝ǧ̷̡̟̲̹̩̱͉̮̭͇͚̮̖̟̽̓͊̔̓̕??”

(What the fuck do you think you’re doing??)

Vox’s voice glitched out, muted TV static layering his voice as the fans whirled in the back of his head. In a desperate attempt to cool him down.

Valentino doesn’t give much of a reaction, putting his hands up in feigned innocence.

“𝒟𝑜𝓃’𝓉 𝓌𝑜𝓇𝓇𝓎 𝒱𝑜𝓍𝓍𝒾𝑒! 𝐼 𝓌𝒶𝓈 𝒿𝓊𝓈𝓉 𝑜𝒻𝒻𝑒𝓇𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝓁𝒶𝓈𝓉 𝓉𝒾𝓂𝑒 𝒷𝑒𝒻𝑜𝓇𝑒 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓉𝒶𝓀𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓂 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇𝓈𝑒𝓁𝒻-“

“You better watch your mouth.”

“𝒪𝒽𝒽, 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒𝓃’𝓉 𝒶𝓈𝓀𝑒𝒹 𝓎𝑒𝓉. 𝒲𝑒𝓁𝓁 𝓂𝓎 𝒷𝒶𝒹 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓈𝓅𝑜𝒾𝓁𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒷𝒾𝑔 𝓈𝓊𝓇𝓅𝓇𝒾𝓈𝑒.”

Valentino speaks with sickening sarcasm. You look between the two, incredibly confused. Vox looks like he’s about to explode.

The lights flicker back on, and the door opens, Vox demanding his business partner leave.

The moth scowls at the both of you, before putting one set of hands on his hips, the other set of arms crossing across his chest. In the most sassy way possibly leave the two of you behind.

Vox waits for the elevator door to close before he can breath again. He’s muttering angrily to himself, one hand on either side of his screen as he tries not to blue screen.

You put your hand over his, his cold hand giving you a subtle shock of electricity as you touched him. You give him a concerned gaze, silently asking if he was okay.

Vox looks at you, shoulders relaxing just looking into your comforting eyes. Little bolts of electricity shoot out from the side of his screen as he tries to calm himself, his fans working overtime.

You set down the bag of treats you were bringing for him to hold his hands in your own. You give him a bright smile, concern not leaving your eyes.

You reassure him that whatever he had planned isn’t ruined. You could just pretend you didn’t know! You didn’t want this little run in to ruin your guys’ day.

You ramble on as he just stares at you, almost blankly, his screen fading from blue to a baby pink as he listened to you.

As you’re apologizing for causing trouble, he puts a hand up to stop your little speech.

He reaches into his pant pocket, pulling out a small halo shaped piece of jewelry. He holds your left hand in his own as he gets down on one knee in front of you.

I mean.. you knew he had a surprise planned, but seeing his actions didn’t fail to shock you.

He gives a little speech to you, stuttering and glitching over his words as he tries to explain himself.

For being a perfectionist overlord, this was one hell of a show.

He’s a blushing glitching mess, cursing to himself when he couldn’t find the exact words he wanted to say.

You grab the sides of his screen, looking him in the eyes and forcing him to meet your gaze. You’re saying yes before he can embarrass himself anymore.

He looks a bit shocked by your response, he can’t believe you said yes after that display he just put on. Before he can get the ring on your finger, he blue screens from shock and embarrassment.

You kind of chuckle and sit down beside your partner while you wait for him to reboot. Not like you could go anywhere with the elevator being stuck with the two of you inside. You do gently take the piece of jewlry, sliding it onto your finger and admiring its design.

Cuddling into Vox’s arm, you can’t help but smile brightly at the decorative piece snug on your ring finger.

It was perfect.

[xoluvx]

all the ways i love you; b. eilish

Request: OK SO UMMMM I HAVE THIS IDEA BILLIE BROUGHT READER TO THE CHICKEN SHOP DATE INTERVIEW nowww reader got HELLA jealous on the way home (or the hotel?) they got into a heated argument bcs reader didn’t want to admit she’s jealous SO WHEN THEY GOT HOME OR HOTEL BILLIE PROVED HER THAT SHES THE ONLY GIRL SHE LOVES AND WANTS ‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️ a/n: i adore this request. it took a softish smut turn? idc i love it.

“Just admit it, you’re jealous,” Billie hung her head back on the seat. She was staring at you through those hooded lids. She was doing that annoying thing where she licks her lips like she wants to eat you whole, but right now was not the time and you hated her for it.

“I’m not jealous,” you uncrossed your arms slamming your hands on your lap sighing heavily. You inhaled deeply before exhaling. She was pushing your buttons. You turned to look out the window to cool down. The situation had escalated as soon as you’d set foot in the car. Poor driver. He hadn’t dared look back once, but you knew he’d heard the whole altercation.

Billie’s hand rubbed your thigh soothing the area where you’d smacked. Then it rested there for the duration of the ride. Even when you tried scooting away, still staring out the window replaying the way she looked at Amelia like she was you. God, why was your girlfriend cursed with such good looks and charm?

You fumbled for the keycard searching through your purse. You cursed under your breath remembering you’d slipped it into your wallet on the car ride to the interview. When you finally retrieved it, you screamed quietly when it didn’t scan.

Billie was standing behind you, hands in her pockets. You hadn’t uttered a word to her since the whole ‘I’m not jealous’ remark and when you sped walk in front of her towards the elevator, she just hung behind you.

“Do you need me to call someone to get us a new key?” Billie asked.

You groaned trying again and this time you heard the little ring letting you know it’d unlock.

“Ha,” you smiled triumphantly opening the door. Billie quickly walked in after you afraid that you would let the door slam on her face.

And you probably would have because sharing a hotel room right now sounded like a horrible idea. Not while your blood was still boiling and your stupid stupid brain couldn’t get rid of the snide comments Billie had made. Like the one about her boobs? Oh my god, did those windows open so you could jump out of them?

“I know you said you’re not jealous-“ Billie started speaking and you turned to look at her with daggers. Your lips formed a straight line as you dropped your purse on the dresser.

“Watch your words, Eilish.” You threatened removing your shoes searching for your slippers.

“You know what, no.” Billie’s voice was pissed.

Your feet slid into the slippers. Ignoring her, you searched through your suitcase for a pair of clothes to wear after the much needed shower that would hopefully wash away all your anger.

“Did you hear me?” Billie called again. Her voice growing closer. You sighed closing the suitcase turning to her.

“I have ears,” you snarled.

“Oh I see,” Billie chuckled, her face softening as you pushed past her with your clothes in your hands. She grabbed your arm stopping you. Her fingers wrapped around your arm in a tight grip as she made you face her.

“Put that down,” she growled taking your clothes and chucking them hard to the loveseat in the room. You watched her with furrowed brows. You were about to go off when she grabbed your other arm holding you in place.

“You just need me to show you,” she whispered the last two words now bringing herself closer. She was so close you could feel her warm breath and smell the spearmint gum she’d been chewing. When she got rid of it, you hadn’t noticed but the scent lingered.

When she pressed her body on yours, crashing her lips on your mouth, you tasted it, the hint of mint. Her tongue ran along your bottom lip and you caved opening your mouth. You stifled a moan when her tongue pressed on yours. They fought for dominance as she let go of your arms to grab your face. Your own hands fisted her large white t-shirt. You pulled on it bringing her closer if that was possible.

“I’m gonna show you why it’s only you,” she groaned trailing her hands down to your ass.

“Is that what you want?” She muttered squeezing.

“Mmhm,” you mumbled nodding and allowing her to lift you so you were on your tippy toes as you continued kissing feverishly lost in the heat of the moment. You didn’t want to let go, your arms wrapped tightly around the shoulders as she walked you towards the bed.

When the back of your legs hit the mattress, your bodies tumbled on the cushioned area, limbs intertwining. Your legs wrapped around her waist still kissing. Billie was the first to pull away and you whined hating the absence of her warm mouth. She removed her shirt revealing a nude mesh bra that almost melted into the color of her skin. Her nipples were very much visible and you groaned when her tags hit her skin. The cap she’d been wearing was long gone. Her hair hung in a ponytail under her bandana. Oh my god you could cum from the sight.

You raised your chest wanting her to touch you. To undress you. But she wasn’t done. You heard the thud of her shoes on the hotel carpet. Then she fumbled with her belt still looking at you while prying off the jeans. Her underwear matched the watch on her wrist and you hummed in delight at the way she’d meticulously matched her watch.

“You’re such a nerd,” you couldn’t help but comment. Billie smiled removing the bandana but leaving her hair tied. She was going to need it out of her face for what she was about to do. She reached for the tags, but you held out your hand.

“Keep it on,” you hummed. “And that too,” you smiled deviously motioning to the watch. Billie grinned. Normally she would’ve told you to strip already so you were half naked, but she wanted to do the honors tonight.

She grabbed your arm pulling you up. Switching places with you, she sat at the edge of the bed pulling you between her legs. Her hands ran up the back of your thighs, fingers burning and slowly tracing leaving a trail of smoke.

“I love your thighs,” she exclaimed looking up at you through hooded lids. Her same ‘I want to eat you alive’ expression from earlier in the car, but this time you wanted her to. You gripped her shoulders trying to stay up as her fingers dug into your thighs before slapping your skin. She loved the way it sounded and the way your thighs moved each time. She tugged at your underwear now, pulling off the pesky fabric until it was sliding down your legs.

You stepped out of them. Billie ran a finger between your folds. You shivered. She smiled in delight.

“You’re so wet already,” she teased resting her chin on your chest as she looked up at you, her finger now teasing your entrance. You moved your hips wanting more. Billie tisked and removed her finger altogether bringing it to her mouth. She tasted you and moaned. Then she flipped your bodies swiftly so you were trapped under her once again.

“I love the way you taste,” she whispered in your ear pushing a finger into your pussy. You moaned sharply trying to toss your head back but she was holding you in place forcing you to keep eye contact.

“And the way you moan. Fuck, it’s so hot,” she moaned adding another finger and pushing them both further into your pussy. You moaned again and whimpered when her eyes widened and her lips pouted with each anticipation of your next cry.

She pushed your top up revealing your bra. She was desperate to see you and touch you with her tongue. She pulled down your bra so she could see your breasts. Your nipples were hard, goosebumps coating your skin.

“I love your amazing tits,” she moaned, maneavouring her body so her tongue could flick your nipple. You whimpered holding her head. With closed eyes she took your nipple in her mouth sucking gently. She was still pumping her fingers in your pussy and with the way her tongue was rotating on your nipple, you were quivering.

Billie desperately trailed kisses down your body, on your skin and over your clothes because she’d been too ravenous to completely undress you. She removed her fingers from your pussy and opened your legs hooking them under your thighs pulling you closer to her face.

She ravished your pussy like it was her last meal. Her tongue circling your clit, lips wet as she slurped. Her tongue pressed on your pussy as her tongue broke through your entrance. Your hips shifted pushing yourself closer to her face. She cupped your ass, tongue fucking your tight hole. Then she was stroking your pussy with her tongue as you moved up and down grinding on her face.

“Fuck Billie,” you chocked holding her head. It messy and falling out of the hair tie.

“I love the way you scream my name,” her voice tickling your sensitive bud. She sucked your clit gently and released it with a pop and loud breath. Then she dove again, her tongue flat, head moving side to side coaxing a string of curses mixed with moans.

There were so many other things she loved about you. So many she hadn’t told you yet.

She loved the way you laughed at all her jokes. The way she could be herself around you and how you weren’t afraid to call her out of her bullshit. She loved how you dropped everything when she needed you and traveled with her. Even though she’d been doing this for a long time, your company always brought her comfort.

She loved how fucking stubborn you were, but she knew it just meant you cared deeply and loved hard.

And when it came down to this moment, she loved the way you clenched around her fingers right before you’re going to cum and never fail to announce your orgasm, chanting her name through labored breath.

She just loved everything about you.

[cherry-leclerc]

thinking of her ☆ cl16

genre: angst, marriage trope

word count: 1.8k

You and Charles take a visit to marriage counseling.

inspired by this !

req!... had some free time to write so thought i would work on a request i just got! short one, but i hope you enjoy :)

“Tell me why you’re both here.”

The room is silent and slightly cold. A large canvas hangs right in front of you as you take time to pretend you care about the family painted on it. Part of you actually does.

“Well, she thought it would be a good idea to drag us into this.”

Your eyes flicker to Charles and you would only hope that he could tell that you weren’t impressed by his answer. It was true, it was your idea to go to couple’s counseling, but only because you cared. You cared a lot. Sometimes you thought for sure he didn’t anymore.

“What made you take the initiative?”

You wanted to burst with anger. To prove to her that this wasn’t completely your fault. He wasn’t perfect, he tested your patience and despite it all, you still loved him enough to try and salvage your marriage. 

Your therapist stares back, pen ready to scribble possible solutions as if her words would really make a difference. Maybe, deep down, you didn’t like being here either, but you wanted to prove to Charles how he’s been a shit husband. 

You wanted someone to back you up.

Taking a deep breath, you play with your wedding band. The one that you would normally admire, but now just felt like pure suffocation. “He’s given me plenty of reasons to not trust him the way I once did and now I sit here like a fool thinking he might change.”

The way her pen glides is something you hate. 

Looking back up, she takes a moment to analyze the couple. Charles sits with a blank expression, as if he really did have somewhere better to be. In his mind, he did. Then, there was you. Regardless of your words pouring with pure vexation, your body language displayed something else. 

Your eyes were sad and tired. She easily noticed the way your hand would want to reach out to Charles, but would quickly grip tighter to your lap.

“Please, if you don’t mind, would you care to explain.”

You press your lips together. “I first noticed a difference two years into our marriage.”

-

“Chicken or fish?” 

It was Charles’ day off from work in a long time and you were currently on a call with Pascale trying to figure out what to surprise him with. He always raved about how much he loved when you cooked for him. 

“Fish. You guys were over yesterday and I made grilled chicken, remember?”

You hum as you get into your car and start driving to the market, though the conversation is cut short when you finally reach your destination. Walking through the aisle, you decide it would be a fine idea to grab some wine you both love. 

“Charles?” The brunette looks up, red wine in his hand as you smile a bit confused. “What are you doing here? I thought you were playing padel with Lorenzo.” 

“I was! Finished the game early and thought I would grab us some, uh—” Stepping closer, he kisses you and takes the kart. “Shopping for dinner?”

“Thought it’d be nice…” You look at the bottle and yes it’s red, but it's not the kind you both like. “Honey, you got the wrong one.” A panicked look flashes his face before he lets out a nervous laugh.

Of course! I’ll change it right now.

-

“It only took a couple more slip ups for me to find out.”

The therapist nods as her attention turns to Charles, where he plays with his bracelets. “And what made you stay?” You want to laugh. Are we just going to spend time on me? She shakes her head. “We’ll get to him, I just want to hear from you first.”

“After I confronted him he swore he’d stop seeing her. I guess it was my fault for even believing him.”

-

“Amour!”

He runs into the living room, kitchen, basement, everywhere. Breathing hard, he looks around the house as if the furniture will give up and tell him where you are. A loud thud echoes from upstairs. Two steps at a time, he darts quickly to the bedroom. His heart stops when he sees you packing a suitcase.

What are you doing?

You don’t answer. Don’t even spare a passing glance. Instead, you slip the gold band off your finger as you throw it behind you. It only falls a few steps in front of him. He picks it up as he makes his way to you. “I’m so sorry.”

Your back faces him, but you don’t dare make a single sound. You curl your hand against the dress you were folding, bite hard on your lip to not let out a single sob. But your chest hurts, your tears feel like acid against your skin, and you’re almost thankful for pain like that, that way what Charles did wouldn’t be the only thing that hurt.

He makes his way to kneel down in front of you as you stare down at the carpet. You had begged him only a few days ago to put down the deposit on it and for a while he said it wouldn’t be financially responsible, but later agreed. You hated it now.

“Why? Just…why?”

He’s far too embarrassed to even come up with an answer. “I don’t know.”

When you finally look up at him, he sees what he’s caused. Your eyes are bloodshot, your nose is rosy. Cheeks are so bright pink, it almost looked as if someone pinched them. 

You let out a wet laugh as you drop your hands against your lap. “You know, when I woke up this morning and you were gone I thought to myself—Wow! What did I do to deserve a husband who wakes up early enough to get me breakfast on my birthday? And I waited. And waited. But whatever. That’s fine! He probably got busy. Then, Pascale called to confirm if we were still going out for dinner, to which I said, ‘Yes! Of course!...Yes, the gold bracelet! It was beautiful, thank you for helping him pick it out.’ I thought it was sweet, I did, but you never came. And again, the presents are not what mattered, but it was you. I texted you. I called you. I told myself you were probably too busy planning something sweet the way you always did. They all asked where you were and I had to lie and tell them you were going to be late. Do you know how stupid I felt when I saw you and her enter the restaurant holding hands? And then what did I do? I purposefully had you see me run out so you could chase after me, so that your family would never find out about your…fling.”

Charles keeps bowing his head lower and lower almost as if to hide from his mistakes.

“...So where’s my bracelet, huh? Because you got it for me for my birthday, right?” Extending your hand out hurts because you know deep down it was never for you. 

“I don’t have it…” You click your tongue as you retract your arm. Of course you don’t, you seethe. With all your strength, you stand with wobbly knees as you start to walk away. 

“Don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone.”

And he should feel relieved, but instead he feels like a complete asshole. How could he ruin things with his wife who swore to love him with all her being? He knew you well enough to know that you always will and he couldn’t let that go. He would fix this.

He runs to the door to close it. Move, you spit out. He shakes his head as he hugs you. 

“S-stop,” you say in a shaky voice as warm tears begin to flow once more. “It’s okay, just let me go…”

You go stiff when you realize he’s crying into your neck. I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry…He just keeps repeating it and you can’t stop yourself from hugging him back. He loved you and you loved him. That’s all that mattered.

“Just don’t do it again, okay?”

-

“So he cheated: you forgave him. He put her first and your marriage second.”

You flinch at her words because they only remind you how true they are. For a while, you thought you could both get over it, but you never really did. Not when you were already both standing on opposite sides of the road.

“Mom always did say I always saw the best in people.”

“And you…” Charles gulps. “What made you fall into an affair?”

Months ago, when you first found out, he didn’t have any answer to that question. But he did now.

“I wasn’t smart enough to appreciate my wife.” He looks at you as you avoid eye contact because you know the moment you looked into his eyes, you would fall all over again.

But you still did.

His eyes are sorry, you could tell, and the way his hand makes his way to you is enough for you to grow warm despite the cold room. 

“I’ve made plenty of mistakes - I know that - but none of them could compare to what I did to us. For putting you through so much doubt…For making you think I didn’t love you, but I always did.”

You're crying now as you nod because this is all you ever needed to hear.

“If this was the bump in the road that we had to overcome to grow closer then I accept it because I love you too, Charles. It’s about time you realized that.”

-

Charles feels lighter, happier. Now that he gets to hold your hand after many fights, he’s reminded about all the things he loves about you. But nothing could have prepared him for you to let go of his hand.

“I want a divorce.”

He’s stunned. W-what? We just decided that we were fine, that we were moving on…

You shake your head as you laugh. “My apologies, God, did I make you believe a lie? Feels awful, doesn’t it?”

He furrows his brows as he tries to reach out for you but you keep stepping further back. “Back there you almost had me…You said, ‘...none of them would compare to what I did to us.’ Us. Did you suffer? Did you spend countless, empty nights, crying yourself to sleep wondering what you did wrong? No, because it was all me. It wasn’t what you did to us, it's what you did to me.” You spin your ring one last time before slipping it off and placing it in his hand. He wants to say something to make you change your mind, to oversee his past mistakes one more time, because he swore to himself it would be the last time. But he could tell you’ve made up your mind. You twist your heel, ready to walk away before taking one last look into his green eyes you once loved.

“And the baby is getting my last name.”

[iris-qt]

𝚔𝚕𝚎𝚙𝚝𝚘𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚊𝚌

"Suddenly seeing you in a different light than before..."

ᴍᴀᴛᴛʜᴇᴏ ʀɪᴅᴅʟᴇ x ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ

✧ ʙɢ ᴍᴜꜱɪᴄ: ᴄʟɪᴄᴋ!

✧ ᴘᴛ. 2 ᴛᴏ ᴍɪʀʀᴏʀʙᴀʟʟ ᴍᴏᴏɴ | 1.8ᴋ

✧ ꜱʏɴᴏᴘꜱɪꜱ: ᴍᴀᴛᴛʜᴇᴏ ʀɪᴅᴅʟᴇ ᴡᴀꜱ ᴀᴅᴀᴍᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ɢᴇᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ɢɪʀʟ ᴏꜰ ʜɪꜱ ᴅʀᴇᴀᴍꜱ (ʏᴏᴜ). ᴍᴀʏʙᴇ ʜᴇ'ᴅ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴛᴜʀɴ ᴛᴏ ᴡʜᴀᴛ ʜᴇ ᴅᴏᴇꜱ ʙᴇꜱᴛ: ᴛʀɪᴄᴋᴇʀʏ ᴀɴᴅ ᴛʜᴇꜰᴛ, ᴛᴏ ᴡɪɴ ʏᴏᴜ ᴏᴠᴇʀ…

God, she’s so perfect

Mattheo Riddle seemed transfixed, practically hypnotized, by the sight of your quill brushing against your lips. The soft plumes of the feather ghosting over them as you listened intently to the Defense Against the Arts professor.

That was his favorite quill.

Although you’d never believe it if he told you. You’d never believe it was him who planted that quill in your messenger bag.

Probably because he was the one who stole your bag in the first place. Perhaps it was sick and twisted, but there was something about your flushed, angry face, brows furrowed and fists balled together, while you yelled at him in front of the entire Slytherin quidditch team that turned him on. You always knew that if something went wrong in your life, it was most definitely the doing of the “hellish toad” named Mattheo Riddle.

But he couldn’t help it.

He had noticed you’d lost your quill and had to write with a muggle contraption called a pencil. 

Barbaric.

So he took matters into his own hands.

Your bag was just lying there next to you on the stone bench while you talked animatedly with your friends. It was practically beckoning to him.

“You know they have a word for that,” you’d tell him months later, looking up with a smirk, sipping your butterbeer in the quaint restaurant Mattheo had taken you to. He had finally convinced you to go on a date with him, and he wanted to make sure it was perfect.

So he rented the whole restaurant out for the night.

Just him, you, a server, and a 5 star chef in the dimly lit building.

He leans forward, candlelight dancing in his ebony eyes.

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah,” you grin. 

“And what is it, my little dictionary?”

“Kleptomania,” you grin. “It’s where someone can’t resist the urge to steal stuff, even if they don’t need it.”

“Oh, well that’s not me.”

“Isn’t it?”

“No.”

“Why?”

Mattheo grins at you, face flickering in the romantic candlelight as he reaches out to place his rough hand on your own.

“Because I don’t steal invaluable things.”

“I’d call my bag an invaluable steal.”

“Sure, but I stole your heart. And that’s definitely something I value,” he grins, proud of himself as you roll your eyes laughing.

“You’re cheesier than this alfredo pasta, Riddle.”

“Am I as tasty as it is too?” he leans over, a cheeky smirk donning his face. One that would’ve boiled your blood just a few short weeks ago, but ever since that night at the Yule Ball, Mattheo Riddle had weaseled his way into your “cold little heart” as he teasingly called it. 

It wasn’t easy.

Mattheo Riddle had a lot of sucking up to do before you finally took mercy on him and agreed to this date. The truth is, he had already won your heart from that night of the Yule Ball. It was just far too enjoyable for you to witness his groveling.

At first he had kept it pretty subtle.

You had arrived back to your dorm after a rough quidditch practice, face streaked with dirt and sweat, when you noticed a lump under your duvet. You pull it aside to reveal the new book in your favorite romance series with a little note and a bag of your favorite wizarding candy.

Your eyes widen as you unfold a little note, a small smile dawning on your face.

You already knew who it was from, but the messy, chicken-scratch handwriting just proved your suspicions. 

Riddle.

I snuck out to Hogsmeade with the boys last night. Found these and thought of you. 

-- Matty

You snort as you read that he signed the note with the atrocious nickname you had used to belittle and demean him.

“Aw, poor Matty forgot his homework.”

“Try to keep up, Matty!”

As time went by, Mattheo progressively grew more desperate. You didn’t seem very ecstatic to agree on that date that he so desperately wanted. What could he possibly do to win your favor? What could he offer you that would make you break? He’d gotten you your favorite book, favorite candy, favorite cassettes that he drew little sharpie hearts all over. He had gotten you concert tickets to your favorite band. A little picnic for you and your friends, for he knew how much you cherished them.

What more could he give?

Or…wait…

What more could he take?

That set off a week’s worth of shenanigans that Mattheo was having way too much fun putting together.

Project 1: Steal your favorite book.

And steal it he does, right as you go to use the bathroom. He timed it perfectly: you always go during History of Magic, not like you’d be missing anything important.

He leans over expertly, and in expertly he thinks he twists a muscle in his shoulder blade, but, nonetheless, he manages to pluck the worn down copy of your favorite book from your messenger bag.

When Mattheo’s in private, he thumbs through the book, subconsciously imagining you doing the same with your soft hands. Your messy ink annotations are slightly smudged against the aging paper, and as he reads them to himself, he can’t help but imagine them in your beautiful voice…

You’d been attempting to convince him to read this book, thinking the main male character reminded you of Mattheo. You wanted to see if he agreed.

And agree he did as he spent that entire evening reading the book enveloped in the story. Perhaps it wasn’t even the story that kept him hooked. Perhaps it was how he imagined your reaction to certain scenes. The scrunch of a nose. The furrow of an eyebrow. Perhaps it was how he couldn’t wait to see your face as he added some annotations of his own next to yours. Reacting to your reactions. Perhaps you’d finally agree to go out with him, once his scratchy handwriting weasels itself into your favorite work of literature.

Or perhaps you’d just be annoyed at his theft and vandalism.

But that was the worst case scenario, for when you went to your dorm room that night, your book was there, propped up against the door. And when you saw that familiar handwriting, you felt your heart melt as quickly as a wax candle…

“I hope you know you ruined my aesthetic annotations,” you roll your eyes spooning some tiramisu, your snarky words coming out muffled by the dessert, causing the snark to diminish as Mattheo bites back a fond smile.

“Oh please, I added the much needed chaos.”

“Mm I don’t think chaos is ever a need, Riddle.”

“Well you always tell me I’m chaotic, right?”

“Right?”

“And you need me, right?”

You roll your eyes as you see where he’s going.

“Don’t flatter yourself.”

“Don’t worry, princess,” Mattheo gently dips his finger in the mascarpone cream and smears it onto your rosy nose with a cocky grin. “Your blush is proof enough.”

It took more than the annotated book to win your favor, however. You made Mattheo work for it, and he was making the most of every second. The thing is, Riddle loved to do things for you. His love language is acts of service after all. Taking time out of his busy schedule of planned pranks and mischief was only worth it for one person. You.

Growing up in a rich household, Mattheo Riddle had taken on many pretentious, cultured hobbies. One was his immense talent in ballroom dancing as you had the privilege to witness firsthand after the Yule Ball. Another is his weird proficiency in embroidery. Needlework. 

He’s aware it isn’t exactly the most flattering hobby, but he had overheard you talking about wanting to learn it to embroider those uncomfortable-looking muggle trousers of yours…jeans? Yes, jeans. 

No one knew about Riddle’s affinity for needlework and he intended to keep it that way.

But what better way to show you he’s real about you than revealing this talent of his?

So, his winning plan came together by accident when your scarf was blowing along the snowy pathway to Hogsmeade. It nearly flew into his face, which it might as well have, because when he noticed it was yours, he brought it to his face to inhale your addictive scent.

Was he creepy for that?

Probably.

Did he care?

Nope.

What’re the odds your lost scarf blows right into his welcoming arms rather than the various other Hogwarts students milling about?

To a delusional Mattheo Riddle, it was a sign from the universe.

Perhaps he should’ve paid more attention in Divination.

He doesn’t bother to return it to you when he runs across you by a cozy bookstore. Instead, he throws a snowball at you, hitting you square in the face, laughing at your face red from the cold and rage. 

Hey, he’s still Mattheo Riddle.

But he’s a very down bad Mattheo Riddle as he wordlessly wraps his own scarf around your neck, walking off before you could utter a syllable.

After the trip, he busts out his embroidery set, kept buried in a box of old cassettes under his bed. Taking your soft scarf in his hands, he embroiders a moon onto the hem of your scarf, a testimony to the dance you both had shared under the moon at the Yule Ball. 

He leaves the scarf folded on your usual seat in the library, just as you walk in. 

Nothing can compare to the look of pure joy and flustered giddiness that overcomes your complexion at the sight of the embroidery. 

“Guess we owe it all to that gust of wind that blew my scarf over to you,” you grin as you walk out of the restaurant into the chilly night air. Mattheo’s adoring gaze and strong hand are enough to keep you warm as the snowflakes begin to cover you both up.

“Oh, please, y/n. You liked me way before the embroidery.”

“No, Riddle, it was the constant theft and vandalism that made me fall for you,” you tease as you both begin the walk back to Hogwarts on this cold Saturday night.

“Hey, it's my way of showing my affection. Just like yours is rude insults,” he shoots back, nudging your shoulder gently.

“I guess we both need some help, don’t we?” you bite back a laugh squeezing his mittened hand with your own.

“Yeah…but first..” and Mattheo leans in to steal his final thing from you…

Your breath.

NO not in the killing way…

He takes your breath away as he leans in for a soft kiss, numb lips thawing as they meet.

It seems you both always have your magical moments under the mirrorball moon.

ᴛᴀɢʟɪꜱᴛ: @jennapancake @ellabellabunny123 @yearninglustfully, @littlebookbengal @helendeath @girllblogging777

[nmakii]

Hii! Hear me out on this, right, Alastor (in your current yandere husband au) has one-on-one bonding with our lovely Noah. (I have a cat named Noah...lowkey imagining him here.) Idk what dads do with kids but for the sake of plot I'm going to call it hunting. Reader is sitting quietly as Noah tells her all about his day in the forest and how he got to see his food before it was his food! She starts thinking that no amount of nurture can overpower someone's nature. Reader doesn't hate her son...but she's just worried and is trying her best, because in her mind, she's still a single mom and always will be. (Rightfully so) Alastor is egging this on and almost trying to get reader to lose it in front of Noah, to prove something. Other things ! Alastor is def not happy with one kid lmao. Seven years is a long age gap...better hurry up! He wants his Emilia....not because his mother is asking for it or anything like it! Speaking of his mother...god rest her soul man...i lowkey would just marry him for her to be my legal mother (in-law). Rip mom...fly high girl... (Ps, can i please hug you platonically, i literally love you and your writing so much. Please remember that you've made so many cool things and will continue to make cool things no matter which path you go. Love you girly (gn), a little more than Alastor's mom) - Charry Anon

WE’RE GONNA FLY AWAY FROM HERE

[before you read this, read the rest of the story!]

— the more and more alastor influences your son, the more he becomes just like his father. but, why stop at just one child?

— i love u i will make MORE yandere alastor bc hes now my fave

you hated this house. no matter how much alastor tried to hide it, the subtle scent of blood reeked from all over this house.

you oh, so desperately wanted to run away— hop on a train all the way to long island. but, it isn’t so simple anymore. you had a son to think of, a son who’s growing scarily closer to his father.

the thought of hurting noah might have never crossed alastor’s mind, but he wasn’t above threatening it to bring you back home. and above all that, you couldn’t leave him alone with this wolf.

and so, you stayed.

“and then, papa told me to stay quiet… and he shot the turkey! papa took me to his butcher room and showed how get the yummy turkey meat! y’know mama, papa has lots of meat in his butcher room.” your son rambled on, kneeling on a stool by the kitchen counter as you prepare for dinner. “lots of meat, you say?” you raised an eyebrow. “…that sounds really fun, baby.” you sighed.

it’s only been a month since he forced you back. and, noah’s already calling alastor ‘papa’. he tainted your sweet boy’s mind— ‘mama lied to you, she wanted to keep you all to herself. she’s really selfish, but then again, i can’t blame her!’

and, you couldn’t protest. if you did, if you broke the rose-tinted filter alastor created— he would hurt you. not physically, alastor is still a ‘gentleman’. he’d hurt you mentally, break your little mind until you can’t do anything but nod your head.

alastor would never strike his hand on noah. after all, deep down, there’s some part of him that’s still in love with you, albeit in his own twisted way. and, noah is apart of you, alastor couldn’t bear to hurt him, not unless he’s misbehaving…

“mama, can we have the turkey we hunted for dinner?!” noah asked excitedly, slamming his hands against the counter over and over again. “sure, baby… but, remember before..? you got in trouble with mr. yee because you released all his chickens…” you asked, quite desperate. this little boy, the one who finds hunting fun. he is nothing like the one who wanted to become vegan after he found out where chicken comes from, despite failing because of his love for chicken burgers.

“yeah, but papa showed me how fun hunting is!” he squealed. at the mention of papa, alastor laughed, carrying noah from behind, tickling his belly as he kissed your little boy’s head. “talking to mama about our little trip, huh?” alastor grinned.

“ah, alastor… dinner will be ready in a half hour.” you glared at him. “no worries, my love. it just means that i have a half hour to play with our beautiful son!” he smugly said. he saw the hatred in your eyes the moment he said ‘our’.

he was trying to make you lose your shit. make you seem like a hysterical woman. that way, if you even tried to divorce him, noah would be left in his care. now that you were older and wiser, you wouldn’t play into his little trap.

“alright, you two have fun.” you begrudgingly smiled. alastor’s eyes widened, showing his shock for just one split second. alastor nudged noah, “go on for a second. papa wants to talk with mama.”

oh god, what now?

once noah left, alastor went behind you, straddling your waist. “what is it, alastor?” you groaned. “i want another child, darling” he whispered against your ear. “i visited my mother with noah last week, she adored him, my love. she said she’d adore a granddaughter this time. she even picked out a name, emilia.” he rambled on. “as much as i love your mother, i don’t want another child, alastor.” you hissed out.

“oh, but it’s not just my mother, dear. little noah also wants a little brother or sister of his own.” at the thought of a little sister for noah, it would keep him busy, away from alastor, wouldn’t it? he’d gain those brotherly instincts that are so reminiscent of the soft hearted boy you raised.

“…alright…” you frowned. alastor’s grip on your hips tightened as he pressed kisses onto your neck. “good girl.” your head leaned back as you melted into his touch. as much as you didn’t want to, the warm sensation of his soft lips on your skin was to die for. “after dinner, darling.” he grinned, finally leaving you alone.

what had you done to be forsaken with this monster?

[fragileruns]

fake dating with james? major angst end with fluff?

okay, to be completely candid with you guys, this is my first time writing like this. i’ve never really done fics or even small drabbles before, so i deeply apologize if this is the worst thing you’ve ever read. i promise i’m trying to get better. this has also been sitting in my drafts for so long, since i couldn’t decide how to end it.

summary: you fell in love with your fake boyfriend. he fell in love with you, too.

warning: not as much angst, sorry </3. fluff, horrible writing, a lot of rushing. james rants ab his love for you

Dating James was like a dream, truly. Even though it was fake, meant to just be a ruse to make Lily jealous, he made it seem like it was perfectly real. He walked you to every class, offered you his jumper the moment you shook in the slightest, gave you his breakfast if you were still hungry. He even made sure to throw in a grand gesture every once in a while — a large bouquet of flowers, buying you a nice outfit or that expensive perfume you wanted but couldn’t afford. Anything he could do.

The only problem was how much you liked dating him. It was hard to remind yourself that it was all fake — that it was all happening just to make another girl jealous, because that’s who he was in love with. Lily. Not you. And it broke your heart every time you were reminded of that. Every time he’d kiss your cheek and murmur something about Lily watching, whenever he’d come to you with so much excitement over the plan working, whenever he’d immediately pull away as soon as you two were alone. It all hurt.

And that was why you had to end it. Today, before you could chicken out and let yourself get lost in something that’s not real.

“James? Can we talk?” You questioned softly once you found him in his dorm room, Remus and Sirius studying something on one of the beds, and Peter trying to make light conversation. “Um — somewhere private.”

“Yeah, of course.” The bespectacled boy gave you a grin, quickly slapping Sirius lightly on top of the head to signal for him and Remus to leave, before nodding his head for Peter to do the same. After a few grumbles, the three eventually left the room, leaving both you and James alone. “Hey, did you see Lily at breakfast today? Marls said she was ‘bout ready to stab someone, must mean the plan’s working.”

“Right, yeah, that’s great, James.” You murmured distantly, almost as if you weren’t really listening, which was what caught James attention. A frown came over his face and he took a step closer to you, tilting his head slightly in confusion.

“Is something wrong? What did you want to talk about?”

“Us. I mean — this whole dating thing. Fake dating thing.” You clarified, mentally sighing at how nervous you already were. It was already proving to be more difficult than you could handle.

“I think we should end this.”

“This? The plan? No. Why would we do that?” James questioned frantically, his frown only growing. Truly, he didn’t know if he was upset because he didn’t want to backtrack with Lily, or if it was because he didn’t want to stop being with you.

“Because, it ran it’s course. It worked, it did what it was supposed to do. I think going on any longer would just be beating a dead horse, y’know? And you can’t exactly get with Lily if you have a girlfriend, even if it’s fake.”

“No — No, we have to keep going. We’re not done yet,” James was trying to come up with a reason. He didn’t know why, you did have a point. But the idea of ending things caused a feeling in his gut, and he didn’t like it. “There — there’s the Yule Ball. We can’t break up before the Yule Ball.”

“Ask Lily. I overheard her talking with Marlene and Mary about how she wished she could go with you.”

“Then I’d just seem like an asshole who left his girlfriend for another girl.”

“James,” you sighed. He was making it more difficult than you thought he would. You almost thought he’d be happy, that it had worked well enough he could be with Lily now. “It won’t seem that way. Ask Lily to the Yule Ball. This has to be over, okay? I just — it has to be, I’m sorry.”

You left before he could come up with another reply, leaving both yourself and James completely devastated and wishing for something that never really existed.

Two weeks and some moping later, it was finally time for the Yule Ball. Something that you should be excited for — all of your friends were.

But, it was hard to be excited when you knew the person you were in love with would be going with another girl. Sirius had offered to go with you, as friends, of course. You had updated him on why you ended things with James and you figured he wanted to distract you from it all. However, you declined — you knew he wanted to go with Remus and you didn’t want to stand in the way of their night.

Amos Diggory had asked you as well — you thought about saying yes at first, not wanting to be the only person without a date, but it would be cruel to lead him on, so you simply said you wanted to go alone.

It hurt, hearing Lily gush over James as she got ready. You were so used to hearing her complain about his antics and gestures, and now she was swooning and you didn’t think you could bear it. Mary kept sending you sympathetic glances — clearly your moping hadn’t been as subtle as you thought.

It even hurt when you were there, surrounded by friends. James avoided eye contact, always either making an excuse of getting drinks for him and Lily or simply staying silent — something very rare for him.

A slow song eventually came on, all of your friends rushing off with their dates to get the first dance of the night, all of them blushing and giggling. And you were happy for them, you were. You just wished you could join in the feeling, rather than sitting alone to the sidelines.

The even was going by dreadfully slow, and you were beginning to contemplate just leaving early — making an excuse that your head hurt, or you were sick — whenever Amos came up to you.

“Hey — I know you didn’t want to come with anyone. Or with me, at least. But you seem lonely,” he started, before plopping down on the seat next to you. “Do you want to dance? No strings attached.”

“I — that would be lovely, actually.”

He grabbed your hand, pulling you up and over to the “dance floor,” which was really just the middle of the Great Hall. You immediately felt less awkward than you had before — even if it wasn’t James, at least you weren’t sitting by yourself.

“Did you say no to me because of James?”

“What?”

“Did you not want to come with me because you’re still hung up on James? You two seemed really… happy, together. I guess I should’ve figured you weren’t over him.”

“Oh, we were never actually —” You were cut off, both yours and Amos’ heads looking up to the figure who interrupted you. James.

“Sorry, mate, do you mind if I steal her for a moment? Thanks.” James didn’t wait for either of you to respond, instead pulling you to the complete opposite side of the room.

He avoided making eye contact with you, leaving you more confused than you were two seconds ago. What was the point of pulling you over here if he didn’t have anything to say?

“It looked like you and Lily were having fun,” you decided to speak, hoping to ease whatever tension was building between the two of you.

“What? Oh yeah, sure. I guess,” he said, practically waving you off. It was as if he wasn’t even listening, his mind in a totally different world. “I need to say something. And I need you to not interrupt me. Okay?”

You nodded, part of you terrified for what was about to come. You couldn’t think of anything you had done to him recently. You hadn’t even spoken to him, how could you have possibly upset him? What could he possibly need to talk about?

“I’ve always been in love with Lily. Since as long as I can remember, it’s been her. I didn’t even give anyone else a chance, because she had to be the one.”

“Gee. Thanks for the reminder, James.”

“Wait. I’m not done. I never gave anyone a chance. Not a serious one, at least. And — and then you showed up. And I know it was supposed to be fake, and it was supposed to just make Lily jealous. But, somewhere I think… I think I realized that maybe she’s not the one. Because whenever you ended things, it felt like — I don’t know, it sort of felt like my heart was missing.”

He kept rambling, and you opened your mouth to interrupt. To ask if he was saying what you thought he was. But, he quickly shushed you, holding a finger up to signal he was still talking.

“And, I thought maybe I just liked the attention. Liked being in a relationship. But, I’m here with Lily and it’s not the same. It doesn’t feel the same. I don’t feel the same. I just, I guess what I’m trying to say is, you’re the only person who made me feel so seen, so… so me. Does that make sense? I just, I think I might be in love with you.” He finally finished up, letting his eyes fall to your face, his eyes wide as if he had just confessed to murder.

You could tell he was nervous, but you stayed silent, blinking slowly as you processed his words. “You can — you can say something now. Please say something.”

“I think I may be in love with you, too, Potter.” You finally spoke, watching the grin that slowly took over his face once he realized what you said.

“Really?” He tried not to show how giddy he was, tried not to seem too much like a child who was just told they could get ice cream. But how was he supposed to contain himself when you just told him you loved him, too? How was he supposed to pretend like he wasn’t on cloud fucking nine?

“Yes. Now, are you gonna kiss me, or do I have to do it myself?”

[sorry-not-feeling-it-right-now]

Do you have any headcanons for the Smiling Critters?

Oh I do actually! Many of which that I was planning on making a comic on, but never really had the motivation to draw them ^^;

I will talk about them here as a post of all my HCs for them, however (that’s all for now, anyway)

Bobby Bearhug

-Has a collection of plush toys that she likes to cuddle with

-Has a hobby on photography. Loves taking photos of her friends smiling and having fun together

-Has a photo book created by Crafty as a gift. Keeps her collection of photos in there and would flip through it whenever she feels nostalgic or misses her friends

-Has a honey farm

-Because of this she’s also a pretty good gardener. Has a beautiful garden in her backyard

-Can’t cook for sh!t, but she’s good at brewing tea with her signature honey mixed into it

-Haven’t really decided on whether I want this, but despite being a bear she is vegan

-Touch is her love language, so whenever she wants to reassure her friends when they’re in distress she’d squeeze their hand slightly and be as close to them as possible

-Sometimes gets involved in things that she really shouldn’t be involved in

-Really strong

Dogday

-Dangerously selfless. Would die protecting his friends

-Has an ego on being “the leader” of the group, and is hesitant on giving that role to someone else due to his insecurity on him not having a specific specialty that makes him unique from the others (his friends loves him regardless, but he doesn’t know that until it was explicitly told to him)

-Later grew to have an interest on rock music

-Despite wearing a smile on his face, he hides his emotions deep deep down in order to not worry anyone

-A fast runner rivalling Hoppy

-Doesn’t really like sitting alone with his thoughts. Often seen doing something

-Has an older brother whom he looks up to. He’s the only family member he knows of

-Has a strong moral compass

-Can be really intimidating if he has to be

-Doesn’t bark often, his bite can really hurt though

-Self care? What self care?

Kickin Chicken

-Fashion king

-Can sew

-Has two sisters. One younger one older

-Because of this he knows how to braid and take care of longer hair

-Actually looks up to Bubba and thinks he’s cool due to how knowledgeable he is

-He is slow, but not an idiot. He is insecure about this

-Unspoken mutual rivalry with Hoppy

-Street smart

-Saves money due to his home environment

-Does skateboarding. Has repaired his skateboard many times

Hoppy Hopscotch

-Very self-critical

-Can be really competitive

-One of the early birds alongside Dogday and Picky

-Often use that energy in the early mornings for morning runs. Sometimes accompanied with Picky

-When she’s really excited she’d be too excited too sleep that day

-Same goes with stress

-Has an interest towards space, only amplified by Bubba being supportive of her interest

-Star gazes with Bubba and Catnap

-Stargazing is pretty much one of the only quiet activities she enjoys

CraftyCorn

-Often seen being in her own little world of imagination

-Has a bug collection

-Has a book club with Bubba sharing their favourite books

-Often gives her unfinished beta writings to Bubba to prove read

-Keeps a diary to collect her thoughts on that day

-Looks up to Dogday

-Plays dress up with Bobby (Sometimes the rest would join in)

-Wasn’t able to do magic with her horn

-Collects trash from the other critters and turns it into something beautiful

-Struggles academically

Bubba Bubbaphant

-Keeps Dogday and his friends from doing something stupid and killing themself

-Has a book club with Crafty sharing their favourite books

-Discusses different theories with Crafty

-Loves loves LOVES info dumping. He’s like that excited kid telling you about all the things he has learned that day

-Keeps a journal of all the things he has learned about the world

-Loves learning about his friends and keeping notes of it

-Made a calendar for Hoppy and Kickin when they had requested a billboard for their achievements

-Has a deep fear of not being heard, something he relates with Crafty (and eventually Kickin)

-Not the best artistically

-Loves a good mystery

-Not afraid of ghosts, but is afraid of mice

Catnap

-Also keeps Dogday from killing himself

-Appeared in the town one day and asserted himself. Lived there ever since

-He and Crafty have this kinship between them, being the two more introverted ones of the friend group

-Good listener

-Very clingy, especially towards Dogday

-Can literally fall asleep anywhere

-Despite not having much to say he emotes a lot

-He can speak, but he prefers not speaking at all. Often meows or uses sign language to communicate

-His friends learned to read sign because of this

-Loves and cares about his friends dearly and sees them as family. Will hurt others for them

-Keeps his fur tidy despite being lazy

Picky Piggy

-Bubbly, hardworking and can be really sassy

-Usually the one with common sense in the room alongside Bubba

-Owns a family farm

-Wakes up early to take care of the farm

-Sometimes have morning runs with Hoppy

-Despite having a farm she knows how to save money, often going for the cheaper option

-Would rather cook her own meals then to buy take ins

-Really big family. She’s one of the older middle kids

-Self-care girlie

-A generous soul

That’s all of them for now! I might add more of them if I remember any more of them or when more stuff comes out naturally

[sarnai4]

Opening Up

About opening up...Dagur kinda doesn't. (Spoilers ahead)

This is something I've seen some fans talk about where they say Dagur would reveal personal information easily. I see where they're coming from with this. Looking at Dagur, I'd expect that too. He's outspoken, emotional, unrestrained, etc. He seems like someone who could randomly say, "I had a good cry today," and it wouldn't be anything surprising. HOWEVER, that changes for me when I look at the proof from the show. If Dagur was half as open about things as this would imply, then we wouldn't be forced to speculate so much about his past and the things that have happened to him. In another case of me spending too much time studying Dragons (probably. Still worth it), I tried to collect all the examples of Dagur sharing information. They have something in common. Each time, there's a specific reason. I'll go in chronological order.

In "Enemy of My Enemy," Dagur tells Hiccup how revenge can make you do things you didn't think you were capable. This was an interesting moment of really getting to see how the villain we saw Dagur be wasn't who he always was. It even shocked him how extreme his actions became. This has the potential to be some heavy stuff, but he didn't just outright say it for fun. He said it because he saw Hiccup going down that same path. This isn't, "I can't believe the things I've done and really need someone to talk to." It's, "I see you following in my footsteps and they led me in a terrible direction. I don't want that for you."

It takes Dagur F.O.R.E.V.E.R. to admit he didn't kill Oswald. Even as a good guy, he doesn't say it easily. In "Family on the Edge," he implies that something Heather said out of the sent her adrift, killed their dad, and tried to kill them list wasn't true, but he doesn't just say it. He writes it in the letter, admitting that and how he was worried that the other Berserkers wouldn't follow him otherwise. If he wanted to do it for emotional release reasons, he could've just said the first time or even told her way back when he thought they were on the same side. Rather than that, he puts it in a letter so that her final relative won't be quite as bad as she thinks he is.

In "Searching for Oswald...And Chicken," Dagur has two moments. First, he tells Heather how he's spent most of his life in varying stages of existential crisis. (Just wow for that. Wish we had heard more about it because that is quite the emotional load he nonchalantly dropped) Again, this clearly isn't to get something off his chest because it's not even something he brings up again. He just tells her so that she'll have proof he knows what is meaningless, hopefully getting her to stop throwing herself in harm's way to find Oswald. Later, he tells Hiccup he keeps anger, frustration, and rage to himself. This also isn't to share so much as to prove he can keep secrets and deserves to be trusted with the location of Vanaheim.

Then, we have "In Plain Sight." There, we find out he used to get bullied. He waited until as much of the last moment as possible to tell Fishlegs and Snotlout this. They had already flown from the Edge to Berserker Island and were literally walking down to meet Ansson. So, I don't think it's him wanting to share sensitive information. It's him knowing they're about to be there with the bully and since Ansson doesn't care about playing nice, it's going to be obvious that he used to bully him. This is just softening the blow a little by telling them first. Didn't really help, though, since they still laughed at him being called "Dainty." (Not cool even though I get how weird it would be to hear someone call him that)

Unless I'm mistaken, that's everything. I don't think there's another time when Dagur reveals something personal. Each of these had some deeper purpose. This is why I don't believe Dagur would start speaking about his past traumas without a prompt. Now, I'll say I do enjoy having him talk about this in stories and I support other writers who do. I just believe it takes a little nudge. He's not going to sit down next to someone and talk about his time in jail. He has literally never spoken about his time in jail in the entire show except the first RTTE episode to say that he spent 3 years thinking about Hiccup. So, it actually leaves a lot of room to be creative with what his past even has first, then what situation would get him to spill the beans.

[random-imagines-blog]

Imagine Arthur Curry inadvertently hurting your feelings.

Earlier that week, he was at it again. Arthur, with his constant talk about how Atlantis is so full of adventure and excitement, when he’s not sitting on the throne anyway, so many different stories about a whole separate life that he lived down there. “You don’t get it - they almost started taking me too seriously down there!” Which sounded like the truth, because the council was always pulling him away from his fun and games - but most importantly, you. So it hurt when he would stay down there for longer than he needed, just to ride Storm around and try to race other creatures.

Yes, Arthur was the King of Atlantis, but as a human woman, you would never get to be the Queen, therefore half of his life was separated from you. He didn’t have to keep reminding you of it though - the empty bed in the morning, the dishes left in the sink, the stories he’d tell while drinking beer after beer on your couch - they did that for him.

Arthur, though he hadn’t meant to, hurt you whenever he forced you to remember that you weren’t ever going to be a part of every facet of his life, like you had invited him to be in yours.

The final blow was when he had come in three hours late for your anniversary dinner, and seemed like he had entirely forgotten about it. You had already eaten the nice dinner that you had made, changed out of the dress that you bought for this occasion into your pajamas, and were laying out by the television, watching Legally Blonde and totally agreeing with the scene where she throws the chocolates at her own television, claiming men are liars. In came Arthur, proving that point.

If the neighbors didn’t call the cops, you would be lucky at that point, because you sat up with tear tracks running down your face, and you let him have it. “Arthur, I get it, okay, you’re the King and you have all of these responsibilities and I’m so proud of you, really, I am. Your accomplishments are great, but - do you know how much it just hurts me, exhausts me, to know that … that you don’t belong with me up here, that you’ll probably fall in love with someone down there who can experience all of those things that you love and .. one day you’ll just leave me here, all alone?”

From the look on his face, he really hadn’t known a thing about how you were feeling.

“And another thing! Arthur, you missed our anniversary, to do .. what? You better have a good reason for it, for not even trying to call me because … because it broke my heart tonight,” You said, letting out a deep breath that it felt like you had been holding onto for ages. He looked surprised, and then he looked guilty and ashamed of himself, which - as bad as it sounded, made you feel validated.

“I’m sorry. Your night was wasted and - I’m really sorry for that.” Arthur hung his head down, his bushy brown hair creating a curtain around his head. Then he knelt down in front of the couch, taking both of your hands in his, stroking the back of them. When he finally looked at you, there was only apologies and love in there, and it made your heart beat faster, the sensation of what his presence had always done to you taking over again.

Arthur’s eyes were so light right then, like the ocean on a sunny day. “If there’s anything that I can do to make it up to you…”

Secretly, you had a whole list of things in your head that he could do. Arthur could get on his knees and beg your forgiveness, or he could make you dinner instead of you doing it for him, or he could bring you to the old dance-hall and give you a twirl on the dance floor like he had on one of your dates, but at the same time, you wanted him to come to these realizations on his own.

He looked so earnestly at you. He looked so ready to do anything that you would ask of him, even if it was something silly like do the chicken dance or run to the only open store on the other side of town and get your favorite snacks. For you, anything.

“Oh, I’m sure you’ll figure something out,” You sighed, bringing his hand up to your cheek and nuzzling it softly - almost using him as a tissue to get rid of the last of your tears. He didn’t seem to mind this either, his thumb grazing under your eye to catch the smudged mascara. “Some of me wants to know what you were doing out so late, should I even ask?”

“Shit, I was being an idiot,” He admitted, looking away bashfully. “You said you might have had to work today so I spent most of the night preparing for us to celebrate tomorrow…”

Your eyes went wide as you remembered that you had told him that. That you hadn’t told him you took the night off, because you were hoping that this was going to be a surprise. He continued on. “I don’t know much beyond burgers and beers but I was at that new place downtown, the fancy one - I had to go there and talk them into giving me a reservation for tomorrow night - apparently they were booked up but for me, they’ll put in an extra table.”

Oh, you felt the love then, how could you not? You let go of his hands and flung your arms around him, holding him tight after cursing him all evening, mentally chiding yourself for doubting this amazing man for even a moment.

Requested by: Anonymous

[spacingoutforever]

PLOT THEORY FOR S2 - Fallout

**MANY FALLOUT SPOILERS AHEAD - read at your own risk**

i have this weird theory that the juxtaposition we see between Cooper's outwardly grim appearance vs his morals being intact, and then Max's outwardly normal appearance vs his morally neutral choices, might be a way of telling us more about looks being deceiving for future developments.

hear me out.

Max is knocked out as soon as he finds out about Shady Sands, but he was definitely intending to do some damage, revenge had its hooks in him from the beginning. it was always there, whether it be to regain the honor the Brotherhood took away from him, then evolving into being part of the trio that was now after Hank. the man who robbed him of his home, family and hope for the future.

i saw a video essay discussing the moral choices of Lucy and Cooper's characters and i really liked the criteria they created for measuring it - ill link it below.

she says there's 2 main parts:

1. loss of control

2. being unrecognizable after enduring hardship

whether you agree with this criteria or think there's more to be added, i like how simple of a base it provides, when approaching these complex characters.

so if we then apply this to Max, he is the only member of our main cast who exhibits both points.

1. loss of control:

this is distinct to me in the Philly shoot-up, where he isn't able to control the T-60 power armor enough to put up a fair fight against The Ghoul. literally crash-lands it and then gets flung into the atmosphere LIKE PLS

he mistakenly attacks the people of Vault 4, once again losing control of his power.

the chicken-guy .... trying to derail that argument but saving the wrong person ><

Note: it's FASCINATING if you look at his character metaphorically, because the power armor is someone having the means for good but not having the understanding of what true 'good' means to them, yet. the power armor is LITERALLY his OUTWARD POWER like who is he really, underneath it??!!!!

we don't have this problem with Cooper and Lucy right now, their power is shown to be INWARD. the Ghoul's experience/connection to the beginning, and hers is her obvious moral strength and perseverance. they overlap.

i feel that his character is supposed to lean into the apprentice archetype, where he is currently lacking a proper teacher to show him the ropes. at first we expected Lucy to fit this role because of her inexperience on the surface, and yet when given a 'mentor' she not only challenges him but proves she can handle herself. ruling that one out, and leading us to believe the fate-intertwined aspect of ghoulcy has a touch more to it. implicit rather than explicit.

2. being unrecognizable after enduring hardship

Max to me fits this point too, because we still don't get a glimpse into who he truly is, besides knowing his past. from the beginning, his goal is to be a Knight of the Brotherhood, that's how he defines himself currently.

when he fights off the gulper, he reiterates this line to himself: "i am a Knight of the Brotherhood of Steel".

he says it AGAIN in response to Lucy's advances in the vault. which is a clue into how much he relies on it for his moral code, to the point where it crosses into his personal decisions. not just for 'missions' or survival.

this is like foreshadowing a tipping point for me, because without the Brotherhood, what does he want? he's acting in alignment of the code that was pushed on him, but it always feels like he has to remind himself to BE that.

that it doesn't come naturally, the way the other characters' do. we see this at the start where he gets the answer wrong in class, he's bullied, an 'outcast' within his own community (for lack of a better term).

by comparison, the Ghoul isn't even a real 'outcast' in the way cowboys are stereotypically portrayed, because he fits in the wasteland better than anyone.

so point 2. becomes relevant when he gets the armor and is unrecognizable from where he started. this is a point he never thought he'd get to, but he sacrifices his real identity to get there.

SO ALL THIS TO SAYYYY...... that's where i feel his character will be vulnerable to a villain-arc!

in the ending, he gets accepted as a Knight, but his expression betrays him. there is a continuous inner conflict within Maximus that is SO SUBTLE and its written so beautifully. i think we're going to see ghoulcy pushing each other in the right direction. their shared journey seems to be about regaining HOPE.

but for Max, i feel in my bones that something darker is coming for his arc, it feels like revenge. the goofy, lovable boy in the clunky armor, may very well end up having the darkest battle to face. and it's because he's alone in doing it.

this was a lot to digest, so if you made it this far i thank you from the bottom of my heart!!!!!!!

AND if you have anything to add i would love to hear it :) !!!!

[pikapeppa]

Rolan/Tav romance: Someone Great

In sum: a friends-to-lovers Rolan/f!Tav fic from Rolan's POV, with eventual rated E smut and mild angst with a happy ending.

Current word count: 36k words across 4 chapters, likely 7 in total.

First chapter (prologue) is below; you can find the rest here on AO3. ❤

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

For as long as Rolan could remember, what he wanted most in the world was to be a great wizard.

It started when he was eight, with a dusty and faded book he found under a bed while his mother was cleaning someone’s house. He brought the book home with them that day; it didn’t look like anyone wanted it, and Rolan had never heard of ‘transmutation’ before, and it sounded neat. His mother threw the fit of all fits when she realized that he’d stolen from a client, but she allowed him to keep the book — it wasn’t like she could return it without looking like a bloody thief, she complained — and as Rolan painstakingly worked his way through the tome, he realized what he wanted to be when he grew up: he wanted to be a wizard. Not just any wizard, but a wizard great enough to perform every single spell in this book. He wanted to be able to pull on the Weave with the ease of tugging a loose thread on the cuff of a shirt. He wanted to be able to do amazing feats of magic, amazing enough that Mother wouldn’t be so mad at him anymore.

So he started learning. He read that book cover to cover until he had most of it memorized. He practiced from it faithfully, working his way from the easy spells to the trickier ones. And on the day when he succeeded at turning a jug of water into wine, the smile on his mother’s face made it clear that this was his destiny. He was meant to be a great wizard, a wizard whose feats of magic made him useful and impressive, and from that moment on, he knew that a great wizard was exactly what he was meant to be.

Then Mother disappeared.

Rolan never did find out what happened to her, exactly. Ran away because she got sick of him, the kids at school would say, but he overheard a couple of the teachers whispering a rumour that her body was found in the alley next to a pub in the Dock District. Either way, Mother was gone, Mister Matheson who owned the house said Rolan couldn’t live there anymore, and all he had was that book. That book of magic, the book that he believed would lead him to greatness: it became the only thing standing between him and starvation.

Instead of practicing the more complicated spells after school, he used the simpler ones to put on street-shows for coin, and he used the coin he got to fill his belly as best as he could. As he sat on the curb eating runny vegetable soup and scraps of bread, he would remind himself that one day, when he was grown, he would be great. He would learn every spell in his book of transmutation, and he would find the best archmage in the city and become their apprentice. And then, with a real teacher to look after him and a whole entire library at his disposal, he would become the great wizard he was meant to be — great enough to prove to this whole city that he was more than just a show-offy street rat with a few cute tricks up his sleeve.

Then he met Cal and Lia.

He was ten when it happened. They were new to Elturel, and they loved his magic show. Little Cal gasped with delight and clapped at his every trick, and Lia beamed at him and called for an encore when his show was done. At the end of the show, they gave him enough coin that he was able to buy some stew with actual meat in it, and when he curled up in an alley with his threadbare blanket that night, his stomach wasn’t cramping with hunger for once.

The next day, Cal and Lia came back to see his show again, and they brought their mother Lana with them. Lana gave him so much coin that he was able to treat himself to a roast chicken dinner that night, complete with mashed potatoes and roasted vegetables and a loaf of fresh-baked bread: a meal so rich that he threw up half of it within ten minutes of scarfing it down.

The day after that, they came to see his show again, and Lana asked if he wanted to join them for dinner at their house that night. Despite his nagging feeling of too-good-to-be-true, he cautiously agreed. The shepherd’s pie Lana made was the best food he had ever eaten in his life, and the grown-up’s sweater they lent him was the coziest thing he’d ever worn. And right there, at the dinner table, with a full belly and Cal and Lia chattering beside him, Rolan fell asleep.

The visits went on like this for some time: daily visits from Lana and Lia and Cal followed by dinners at their home, which became the shining moments of his days. Then, after a few weeks, something wonderful happened: Lana invited him to come home with them and stay.

For the first time in over a year, Rolan had a home — a new home and a family, a mum and a brother and sister. And he knew why he’d been gifted with these things: it was because he had the makings of a great wizard. He was talented and bright, smart enough to manipulate the Weave with only the guidance of his treasured book of transmutation, and that was why they’d taken him in. That was why Cal and Lia liked him, and that was why Lana — Mum — had invited him to stay. They could see that he was going to be great, and there was no way he was going to disappoint them by being anything less. He would be a great wizard someday, as great as Elminster himself, and he would prove to them that they hadn’t made a mistake by bringing him home and calling him ‘big brother’ and ‘son’.

So he kept learning magic. He studied on his own after school, buying more books of magic over the years and memorizing them and mastering their techniques. He researched the most famous archmages alive and decided that Lorroakan would be the ideal fit for a mentor, and he wrote Lorroakan several careful letters listing his achievements and requesting the chance to become an apprentice. He practiced his spellcasting in his spare time, abjuring and evoking and enchanting in private and showing off the flashier spells for Cal and Lia and Mum. And when Cal gasped in delight and clapped, when Lia smiled and asked for an encore, when Mum hugged him and kissed his forehead and told him she was proud, he knew he was on the right track. He was talented and special, well on his way to becoming the great wizard that his family expected him to be, and nothing was going to get in the way of his goals.

Then Mum died.

He was eighteen when it happened. Within a week of her passing, their landlord, Madame Giselle, threatened to evict them if they couldn’t make the rent, and Rolan refused to let that happen. Cal was only twelve, a mere two years older than Rolan when he’d lost his mother, and Rolan refused to see him sleeping on the street like he’d once done. Lia was fourteen, just barely old enough to leave school and start working, but Rolan refused to let her give up her education at such a young age. And so, with no small amount of bitterness, he left his last year of school and put his magical studies aside, and he found a job instead.

He went to work at a tailor’s shop, offering his magical talents for the petty purposes of sewing perfect straight seams in a fraction of the time. As he sewed seams and ironed pleats and cut lengths of fabric into the shapes of fabulous robes that he couldn’t afford, he fantasized about how someday, he would be great. He was talented and smart, a self-made wizard who had already mastered the contents of two dozen books on evocation and transmutation and even the trickier discipline of conjuration, and when the great Lorroakan finally recognized his talents, Rolan would have the tutelage and the opportunity to become a great wizard, too. He would become famous for his talents, a wizard of wide renown with such skills that people would pay thousands of gold for his magical solutions to the most esoteric problems. He would use his fortune and power to buy his family a house, a huge incredible house with three big bedrooms and all the best furnishings, and Cal and Lia would never have to worry about going homeless or hungry ever again.

Years went by. Cal and Lia finished school and started working, and Lia told Rolan to stop working and go back to his studies so he would stop moaning about being a great wizard every single day. But Rolan couldn’t just stop working. Costs of living were going up every year, and even with all three of them working, they were just making enough to be comfortable. If Rolan quit his job, they would barely make ends meet, and he refused to see Cal and Lia struggle like he once had. He was responsible for them, for making sure they had the life they would’ve had if Mum was still with them, and he couldn’t just stop working altogether, even though his job was a bloody waste of time that took him away from what really mattered: his magical studies.

After months of arguing with Lia and cajoling from Cal, Rolan finally agreed to taking one day off per week. And with the boon of that spare day, he was able to think again about his great purpose in life. He took up his self-studies once more and made inroads on the tomes he’d been forced to put aside when Mum died. He wrote to Lorroakan again and requested the chance for an apprenticeship. He kept working at the damned tailor’s shop, but for the first time in almost ten years, he had hope — real, tangible hope that he could get back on track to becoming what he was always meant to be: a great wizard who got the recognition he deserved for how talented and brilliant he was, and who could use those talents and brilliance to make sure Cal and Lia had everything they ever wanted.

Finally, when he was twenty-eight, Rolan finally got the chance he’d deserved all this time: Lorroakan wrote him back and offered him an apprenticeship. That night when Cal and Lia got home from work, he told them the incredible news, and over a celebratory meal and a couple bottles of wine, they started making plans to move to Baldur’s Gate within the month.

Then Elturel fell into Avernus, and everything literally went to hell.

Their house was destroyed in the fall, and they lost nearly everything, including Rolan’s treasured library of magic tomes. Their neighbours turned on them, calling them devilspawn and refusing them shelter, and it was all Rolan could do to use arcane shields and mage-armour and invisibility spells to get them out of Elturel alive. They ran into Zevlor, who was leading a bunch of refugees to Baldur’s Gate for a fresh start, and through chance and lack of choice, they ended up travelling with them on the way to Baldur’s Gate.

But things went from bad to worse. News trickled in about some bloody goblin army, and when they ran afoul of a scouting party of goblins, they had to beg for refuge at the Emerald Grove. The archdruid Halsin immediately gave them shelter, but then Halsin went off on some quest or other and didn’t come back, and the druids’ second-in-command Kagha started threatening to throw them out.

Rolan was furious. Just when things were starting to look up for him, just when things were starting to finally look like he could give Cal and Lia the life they deserved, things had to go to shit. He had an apprenticeship to get to, a fucking life that he’d been aiming for since he was eight years old and that he’d been forced to put off time and time again, and he was not going to let a bunch of bloody goblins get in his way of getting to Baldur’s Gate.

But Lia didn’t want to leave the refugees behind. She wanted to stay with them, to risk her life and Cal’s to protect a bunch of strangers that they didn’t even know, and Rolan lost his temper. They got into an argument, the worst they’d ever had — and that was when they met her.

Her name was Tavanah: “call me Tav,” she said. She was a half-elf rogue from Baldur’s Gate with the oddest ragtag group of companions imaginable, and Rolan did not like her.

She was nosy, stepping into his argument with Lia and making him feel like he had no choice but to stay and protect the refugees. She had an annoying calmness about her that made Rolan feel like he was being overly dramatic when he absolutely was not. And most irritatingly of all, she got things done, and she did it quickly. She made that Kagha woman let Arabella go, and she went to the goblin camp and killed the goblin pack’s leaders and got Halsin freed. And for some reason that Rolan just couldn’t put his finger on, Tav’s heroism rubbed him the wrong way. Who in the hells did she think she was, interfering with his family? They were his responsibility, not hers. He’d been protecting them and providing for them since he was eighteen years old, and he’d gotten them safely out of Elturel all on his own with only his magical talents to thank. He didn’t need the interference of some busybody rogue and her weird friends to keep his own bloody family safe and sound, thank you very much.

Then, while travelling through the shadow-cursed lands with Zevlor and the others, they ran afoul of the damned cultists, and Cal and Lia were taken.

It happened faster than he could even fathom. One second, he was throwing a shield over the kids with one hand and flinging magic missiles with the other. The next thing he knew, Lia was screaming his name while she and Cal got dragged away into the dark.

It was the last bloody straw. Rolan was supposed to protect his siblings and kept them safe; what the fuck else did he have all of these talents and power for? What use was he if he wasn’t able to protect this own fucking family? But he’d failed at protecting them, he’d failed, and now they were gone. Cal and Lia were gone, and he was alone — he was alone, all alone, and he deserved this. He’d failed them, he was no use to them, he didn’t deserve a family, and that’s why he was alone. He wasn’t great at all. He wasn’t special or talented or worthy of an apprenticeship with someone like Lorrokoan. He had failed to keep his family safe, the one singular most important thing he was meant to do, and being alone and curled up at the bottom of a bottle was exactly where he deserved to be.

Then Tav showed up at the Last Light Inn.

As soon as he saw her, Rolan realized something: this wasn’t his fault, not really. It was Tav’s. Cal and Lia were gone because of her. If she hadn’t talked them into staying with Zevlor and the others, this wouldn’t have happened. If he and Cal and Lia had left on their own, he wouldn’t have been distracted protecting the kids; he would have put all of his skills and energy into keeping Cal and Lia safe, and they would still be together now. But Tav had interfered, sticking her nose into things and talking him into playing the bloody fucking hero, and because of her, Cal and Lia were gone.

He told her as much — as least, he thought he did, though things were kind of blurry at that point. And then she had the gall to tell him he shouldn’t give up hope, and that she would go to rescue Lia and Cal with her friends.

Rolan was furious. How dare this woman, this stranger, make it seem like he was some coward who didn’t have the stones or the skills to save his siblings on his own? How dare she make it sound like he was giving up? He wasn’t giving up by sitting here drinking. He was just — he… Well, he wasn’t bloody well giving up, not on Cal and Lia, not ever. And to prove her wrong, to prove that he was worth the trust that Mum had put in him all those years ago by taking him in, he went to save Cal and Lia on his own. He was more than able to do this, after all; he was skilled and brilliant, a self-taught prodigy well on his way to becoming great, and he was more than capable of bringing Cal and Lia back all by his bloody self.

But the shadows were too much. He got overwhelmed by them within half an hour of leaving the Last Light Inn, and as the shades and the undead crept in, so too did the terror. Was this really how he was going to go down? Here in the shadows, failed by the only talents he had while Cal and Lia were in trouble somewhere: was this really how it was going to end? He couldn’t let it end this way, he couldn’t. He couldn’t — Cal and Lia, he needed them — no, they needed him, they were probably so fucking scared, and he needed to stay alive for them, for them…

Then Tav showed up with her party in tow, and they saved his life.

Again, Rolan was absolutely furious. Not only were his talents not enough to save himself, but Tav and her friends had witnessed him being… not enough. They had seen him being useless and pathetic and scared, and worst of all, he was forced to admit that he couldn’t save Lia and Cal on his own — an admission that felt worse than chewing cut glass.

At Tav’s calm suggestion, he went back to Last Light with his horns hung low to wait for news of Lia and Cal. And later that very same day, the pair of them came wandering into the inn through the back door.

Their clothes were stained, and their faces and hands were smeared with dirt, but otherwise, they were no worse for wear. And for some reason that Rolan couldn’t even understand, the sight of them both blessedly unharmed made him see red. Here he was, marinating in a horrible miasma of fear and worry and shame, and they both dared to stroll back into the inn looking grimy but unharmed?

He blew up at them. Lia exploded back at him, and Cal tried to calm them down, which just made Rolan even angrier. Then bloody Tav walked through the tavern’s back door with that irritatingly calm look on her face, and she told Cal and Lia how much of a wreck Rolan had been without them both.

For a split second, Rolan was murderously enraged. How dare this woman talk about him to his own siblings as though she knew him? How fucking dare she? But then something truly mad happened: Lia deflated like a balloon and apologized to him.

Lia actually apologized to him — something that she almost never did. And Rolan suddenly felt like he was going to burst into tears. In that moment, he realized something with crystal clarity — something he should have realized ages ago: it didn’t matter how his siblings made it to safety, just that they were safe. Being a great wizard didn’t mean shit-all without the people who made him want to be great, and those people were Lia and Cal. And as irritating as it was to admit it, the person who helped him understand all of this was Tav.

As much as it humbled him to admit, he was… grateful to Tav for the clarity that her help afforded.

Over the next week, as the Elturians waited for the all-clear to move on from Last Light, Rolan spent a lot of time thinking about Tav. She didn’t know him or his family, but she’d gone out of her way time and time again to help them — not just them, but all of the refugees, and the druids and Harpers and gnomes to boot. She’d done all of those good deeds without expecting anything in return, and she’d done them all with that cool-as-a-cucumber demeanour she had. And the more Rolan thought about her, the more he realized something rather annoying. He wasn’t just grateful to Tav; he admired her, too. There, he’d admit it: he found her impressive, almost like a role model of sorts, or like… Ugh, he couldn’t believe he was thinking about her in this way, but as a hero. Silly though it felt to be a grown man thinking of someone this way, Tav reminded him of stories about folk heroes of old, and he found himself thinking about that more and more as he, Cal, Lia, and the refugees finally left the no-longer-shadow-cursed lands behind. Tav was a person whose actions weren’t just great, but… good, too. And this was what Rolan spent a lot of time thinking about as they made their way from Last Light to Baldur’s Gate.

As they drew closer to Baldur’s Gate, though, his excitement started taking over his thoughts. He was so close now, so close to the thing he’d been waiting for his entire life: the chance to finally be what he was meant to be. Here in Baldur’s Gate, with Lorroakan’s skills and guidance, Rolan was finally going to become a great wizard. He was finally going to learn the kinds of advanced magical theory and techniques that he’d never had the time or coin to learn before. He was going to make a name for himself, to prove that he was worth the affection and trust that Mum and Cal and Lia had given him over the years, and everything would finally fall into place.

Then he actually met Lorroakan.

He couldn’t tell Cal and Lia the truth, not after everything they’d been through to get here. So he told them that Lorroakan wouldn’t allow them to stay at the tower, and he found lodgings for them at the Elfsong with Alfira and Lakrissa so they wouldn’t see what Lorroakan was doing to him. He endured the beatings and the insults and being ordered around like a whipped dog, and he told himself that if he just stuck it out and kept his head down, he would finally get his chance. He’d find a way to access the secret cellar where the rare tomes were kept, and he’d learn everything he’d been deprived of for all these damned years. He just had to endure it a little longer; he couldn’t give up. Not now, not after everything he’d done to get this far, not after dragging Cal and Lia all this way. He couldn’t let it all be in vain — he simply couldn’t. He would get his chance at greatness, he just knew he would — as long as he didn’t give up.

Then Tav and her friends showed up at Sorcerous Sundries, because of course they did. And with one look at his face, he could see the truth of his shameful situation reflected in the darkening of her jade-green eyes.

She visited Lorroakan briefly, then came back from the tower looking like thunder and stormed out of the shop. And not long after that, an actual honest-to-gods aasimar showed up.

That was how Rolan found out that Lorroakan’s coveted Nightsong was a person — not an artifact, but a living, breathing person. And Lorroakan’s plan all this time had been to imprison her forever.

There in the Tower of Ramazith, with Lorroakan on one side and Tav on the other, Rolan made his biggest realization yet: he realized who he really wanted to be. He didn’t want to be a great wizard, not if being ‘great’ meant being anything like Lorroakan. What he wanted was to be good, like Tav. He might not be great like her, but he could be good, and that had to start right now.

So he turned on Lorroakan. He fought alongside Dame Aylin and Tav and her friends, and in so doing, he helped to set himself free.

Free. Rolan was free — and he was free in every sense of the word. With Lorroakan dead, with the ownership of Ramazith’s tower and Sorcerous Sundries now in his hands, Rolan was free to have the life he had always wanted. He had a home now — a permanent home, one that really belonged to him and Lia and Cal. He had an entire wizard’s tower full of knowledge to explore. And at long last, after everything that he’d suffered and overcome, he finally had the chance to be… not great, or not just great, but the chance to be… something more. And as Rolan stood there in Ramazith’s tower, watching Tav comforting Dame Aylin while her friends chatted and cleaned off their weapons and armour, he saw the truth: Tav was a perfect example of what ‘something more’ could really be.

For as long as Rolan could remember, what he wanted most in the world was to be a great wizard. But now, he knew there was more to life than that. Life was more than being the best, and it was more than having the world recognize how great you were. Being great didn’t mean anything at all without the people who inspired you to greatness, and the ones who inspired Rolan the most were Cal, Lia — and a certain green-eyed, cool-as-a-cucumber half-elf rogue from Baldur’s Gate.

Read the rest here on AO3.

[lightning-chicken]

dragons rising part 2 has left all of us with many questions. one in particular has been bugging me:

who, exactly, is the administrator?

(this is all assuming the administrator is someone we, the fans, will know and not just a new random Big Bad)

what we know about the administrator so far:

they’re the head of the administration (and depending on when the administration was formed, could potentially be its founder)

no-one knows who they are

they’ve been mentioned in a pretty ominous way, so that hints that they’re going to be important

and people are willing to devote their lives to them and the administration

another important detail to note about the administration is the weapons they’re using:

these weird taser/lightning guns. and i’ve seen a lot of people talk about how the fact that the guns are lightning-based could mean that jay is involved with them - either by making them, or (un?)willingly powering them.

and this is a good theory! i love this theory. however, jay isn’t the only master of lightning that we know of.

… there’s also the one and only libber gordon, the master of lightning with no known whereabouts and the person who might possibly be the administrator.

(yes, i know it’s unlikely, but a chicken can dream.)

given that we know next to nothing about her, there’s a fair possibility that (sometime after leaving jay) she journeyed to the realm of madness - either to test a theory, or to prove a point, or to be curious, or by complete accident; who knows!

(and there’s also the possibility that she was banished there, just like another elemental master we know.)

if we’re going by the theory that the reason why the ninja ended up separated in dr is because they were processed by the department of reassignment - libber’s role as the administrator would explain why jay was the one who was kept by the administration. because if the administrator herself wanted to keep one of the refugees behind, and give him an (undeserved, let’s be honest) promotion - well, who are the agents to say no?

maybe she kept jay because she knew he’d be useful. maybe she kept jay because she wanted to keep an eye on him. maybe she kept jay because, after all these years, she finally has a chance to get to know her son.

and maybe, if that son didn’t want to stay, she might’ve had to resort to drastic measures to keep him there. mind-altering measures.

[crappymixtape]

steve harrington • multi-part // series

( LONGER, SERIALIZED OR MULTI–PART FICS, NOTED IF COMPLETE OR IN–PROGRESS, STEVE x YOU // mature content marked appropriately )

🌘 BECAUSE OF YOU – COMPLETE ( potential for more! ) main fic -> ( part 1 ) ( part 2 ) ( part 3 ) ( part 4 ) ( part 5 ) bonus parts -> ( baby let me in ) a request for an enemies to lovers fic with Steve? 💙 maybe they have to put aside their differences to fight upside down stuff and realize they actually have a lot in common 👀 • 18+  | ( 2.1k – little bit of king!steve, mostly angst, a dash of fluff, smut at the end, enemies -> idiots in love, steve x reader )

🏘 SOFT, SWEET, SOUNDS – ONGOING? ( part 1 ) ( part 2 ) a roommate!steve series that started with one lil soft, smutty blurb and has now shifted into a whole thing – steve’s still your roommate and you’re still friends, right? or is there something more and you two are just too chicken shit to put a label on it? • 18+ | ( 1.5K – roommates -> something?, tiny fluff, medium smut, lots of idiocy, steve x you )

❄️ A VERY MERRY MIXTAPE ( HOLIDAY SERIES ) – IN-PROGRESS a series of little holiday blurbs featuring steve and eddie throughout the christmas & winter season – varies between ST canon, modern!au, and everything in between // three requests and three original prompts.

"gold & glitter" REQUEST -> ❝ i’m thinking a little rich!steve harrington, a little spicy somethin, somethin and a holiday play – spicy is right, steve takes you to see the nutcracker, but you don’t even make it to the first act • *18+  | ( 3.1k – smut with a dash of fluff, rich!steve x reader )

"baby it's cold outside" REQUEST -> ❝ what about 🎁 exchanging presents with steve?? i just know he’s a thoughtful gift giver! – it’s been snowing all day, enough to snap the power lines and make the lights go out, and when steve comes over to build you a fire you can’t think of a more perfect time to exchange gifts | ( 1.8k – just honestly pure fluff, sneaky hurt / comfort, modern!steve x reader )

"i want you the most" REQUEST -> ❝ what about caught under mistletoe at a christmas party with steve. at least fluffy, maybe a wee bit more smutty? – steve's never been kissed under the mistletoe, what kind of girlfriend would you be if you didn't make it memorable? *18+ | ( 1.8k – established relationship, tiny bit of fluff, lots of snark, sprinkle of smut, steve x reader )

🦇 COME BACK TO ME – COMPLETE ( part 1 ) ( part 2 ) ( part 3 ) REQUEST -> after steve gets his heart broken by nancy, tommy dares him to try something different as a rebound, someone who isn’t his type at all, and at first he’s doing it to prove a point, but when the upside down gets involved he realizes just how he really feels • 18+ | ( 5.4k – violence / upside down, lots of angst, some fluff, enemies to lovers-ish, steve x reader, king!steve x reader )

🧢 YOU'RE NEVER FAR BEHIND – COMPLETE ( part 1 ) ( part 2 ) // 🎶 playlist on spotify 🎶 REQUEST -> when your dad calls and needs your help at home in hawkins you can't say no, but when you arrive back in town you uncover a friendship you thought you'd lost a long time ago | ( 10.5k, angst, fluff, best friends to strangers to friends to lovers, steve x reader, steve x you )

💫 SOMETHING INFINITE – IN-PROGRESS // 🎶 playlist on spotify 🎶 your mom is out of town for the summer on business and she sends you to live with your aunt joyce and her husband jim in hawkins while she’s gone. joyce works at the library and jim is the town sheriff – the kids, will, jonathan and el slowly warm up to you and it’s after you get in with them that you really start to feel at home, but there’s one person who just annoys you to no end. one person you’d love to just boot off a cliff – steve fucking harrington.

"part one : maybe the world won't end" – steve steals a car and somehow you wind up in hawkins, indiana, a meet cute without the cute  *18+ |  ( 2.8k, angst, verbal abuse, enemies to lovers, steve x you, steve x reader )

"part two: perfect on the surface" –  you start your summer job at the library with your aunt only to find your new coworker is someone, an annoying someone, you’ve met before | ( 2k, angst, enemies to lovers, steve x you, steve x reader )

"part three: just wanna see you" –  finally a day off and you’re all heading to the lake to fish and swim and drink and it feels like summer and fresh starts and you’re surprised to find you get one of your own ( 3.3k, angst, tiny bit of fluff if you squint, enemies to lovers, steve x you, steve x reader )

"part four: the house that built me" – a history of you and steve and your families, all the broken pieces you’re both trying to gather up and put back together are more similar than you think *18+ | ( 2.3k, angst, enemies to lovers, steve x you, steve x reader ) // warning note: the themes written about in this piece can be especially triggering – brief mentions of loss of a parent, neglect, unplanned pregnancy, and other heavy content – read with caution please and be gentle with yourselves!

"part five: easier to pretend" – part five of something infinite – are you and steve finally figuring each other out? it’s obvious you drive each other crazy, but is it possible you’re starting to like it? | ( 3k, angsty fluff, enemies to lovers, steve x you, steve x reader )

"part six: and it's such a shame" – ferris wheel at 8 and another chance to see where this thing with steve is taking you, but when his friends find out will he be able to handle it?  | ( 4k, fluff, lots of angst, enemies to lovers, steve x you, steve x reader )

"part seven: i'll promise i'll pinky swear" – steve tries to decide what it is he wants, to keep burying everything down deep and keep it locked away or crack open his chest and trust you with his heart | ( 4.1k, angst, enemies to lovers, steve x you, steve x reader )

"part eight: say you'll stay" steve did what he thought was right and you're giving him a second chance, but can you both finally open up and be honest with one another? *18+ | ( 6k, smut, a little angst, a little fluff, enemies to lovers, steve x you, steve x reader ).

"part nine: you could have mine" you were unafraid to face steve head on when he fucked up, but now it’s your turn to face the music and it scares you | ( 2k, tiny angst, lil fluff, enemies to lovers, steve x you, steve x reader )

🛠 COMING SOON!

🌻 NOBODY GETS ME, YOU DO – UNDER CONSTRUCTION when steve started dating nancy and got pulled into the upside down you fell in with tommy hagan after carol leaves for college, but it sucks and tommy sucks and you hate it and you're only doing it because it makes not being with steve hurt less. a friends to lovers line filled with plenty of drama / angst / fluff and smut – smut marked appropriately

"nobody puts baby in the corner" – steve has always been your best friend, nothing more, but when you have a falling out with tommy he finally realizes what’s been there all along •  *18+ | (  3.2k, fighting / physical violence, sad, fluff, angst, friends to lovers, steve x you, steve x reader )

"this is how it ends begins" – everything between you and tommy comes to a head after you discover what he’s been doing behind your back, will steve be there to catch you? or will he just make it worse? | (  2.4k, angst, friends to lovers, steve x you, steve x reader )

[antiquepearlss]

for a boring headcanon, Eugene hates fish and seafood but he pretends to like it because Corona is an ocean country so seafood is beloved there and he doesn’t want to seem out of place, and seafood is fine dining and he wants to seem wealthy. No one else likes seafood except for Rapunzel.

Okay but Eugene faking enjoying seafood is so funny. I’m imaging his disgusted face trying to muster up eating a shrimp. He poked pathetically at his lobster and- oh my gosh I think I saw it move!!!! For real though he has champagne taste, and even after his redemption, he still needs to prove himself as a classy high society member (esp since now he is a high society member)

I think Lance canonically likes caviar, and he seems like someone who would like seafood. Varian to me will eat just about anything as long as it’s technically edible. Cass I can see her liking fish for the vitamins, and Rapunzel, I can’t explain it but she hates seafood. Can’t stand it. Give her chicken nuggets instead. (Sorry I kinda inversed the last part of your headcanon lmao)

[onhirel]

What Silence Takes

The classroom was perfect for what Akko needed. Nice and secluded, but not too secluded. If someone was looking for her, they could find her, but otherwise she should be left largely alone, which suited her just fine. Her tongue poking out from between her lips, she began to practice. Now, this took careful doing because honestly? She was pretty proud of this spell, but it wasn't doing what she needed it to. She probably spent a good forty-five minutes getting it just where she wanted, and she continued practicing. As she started approaching an hour, worry started to eat at her. Maybe she had misjudged?

Taking a breath, she called out the incantation and swished her hands, and weak and feeble lights flickered into view around her. She held them in place, sweat starting to break out on her forehead. Just... a few... minutes longer!

“What on Earth are you doing?” came the waspish voice from behind her. Akko flinched and whirled to see Diana Cavendish giving her a look that made Akko feel like a slug… especially with how the spell that she had been holding onto dissipated in wisps of magical energy. She frowned in obvious annoyance. Darn it! her expression said. She had been so close! her eyes practically shouted.

“Practicing!” she shot back as a thrill ran through her. She did oh so love a challenge! “What’s it to ya?”

Diana tsked and rolled her eyes as she walked into the room, one hand on hips that Akko wished didn’t swish as much as they did. They were so distracting! Each footstep echoed in the mostly empty room, hollow wooden thumps that almost felt like a condemnation all their own. “Let me guess, practice makes perfect?” Diana asked in a mockingly sweet voice.

Akko leered at Diana. “Yeah. Practice does make perfect and so you can take that perfection and shove it right up your-!”

“Perfect practice makes perfect.”

Akko blinked, her tirade thrown off. “What?”

“Perfect practice makes perfect. Whatever it is that you're doing isn’t going to make you perfect, it’s just going to make you a buffoon. While that may be sufficient for your home island, Luna Nova expects better of her students.”

Akko could only stare, her mouth agape. Okay, that was... wow!

Diana Cavendish smirked. “Catching flies, Akko?” she simpered, and Akko’s jaw clicked shut. Diana sighed. “A pity, too… you showed such promise after the parade.”

Akko grit her teeth together. Fine. She could give just as good as she got! “Funny,” she ground out. “I was thinking the same thing!”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. Here I was thinking that maybe you weren’t so bad, and yet here you are proving once again that the darling of Luna Nova is nothing more than a self-important bitch.”

Diana twitched, and her eyes narrowed as she took in a deep breath through the nose. “How utterly vulgar,” she said in a voice that betrayed the emotion she was trying to hide. “Someone should wash that filthy little mouth of yours out with soap.”

Akko sneered at her. “You’re welcome to try, baaaaaka!”

Diana gave her a look that could crack stone. “Don’t bloody tempt me, Kagari!”

Akko tsked, a perfect copy of the one Diana did before. “Sounds like someone is chickening out!”

Diana’s nostrils flared and she stomped forward, the alluring sway from before hidden in her rage. She reached out and seized two handfuls of Akko’s vest and jerked, lifting Akko up onto her toes.

Akko’s eyes widened in surprise. Uh-oh. Had she gone too far? Her hands curled into fists as she got ready to throw down because - as Amanda liked to say - Mama Kagari didn’t raise no bitch. That said, the absolute last thing she expected was for Diana to give her a look before she practically growled. “Gods you are so infuriating!” she snarled before she pulled Akko closer, mashing their lips together.

Akko squeaked in surprise, her eyes flaring wide open. Before she could do much of anything else, Diana pulled back and sneered at her. “Knew that would shut you up.”

Then they were kissing again, and Akko wasn’t pulling away, she was pressing into it, their mouths working together and it was amazing but Akko had a confession to make. With a yearning whimper she pulled back away from Diana's full and pouty mouth which was seriously the hardest thing Akko had done in a long time and Akko should totally get a medal for that! She wet her lips. “Daiyana,” she husked, only to lean further back as Diana tried to initiate another kiss. “Daiyana!” she repeated more insistently.

Diana gave a cross little huff as she stopped trying to kiss Akko. “What?!” she snapped.

Wetting her lips again, Akko pulled out her wand and cast the spell with any issue, dancing lights bouncing around them. Diana stared at them for a moment before she turned her now frowning gaze onto Akko, accusation clear in her beautiful blue eyes. “What?” Akko asked. “You were ignoring me!” she whined, and it was true. Diana had been giving her the cold shoulder since the parade had ended and Akko was at wit's end!

Diana incredulously gasped. “Oh you duplicitous little bi-!”

This time it was Akko's turn to shut Diana up, and oh how she took to that with relish! Needless to say, there wasn't all that much talking after that. Not that Akko was complaining, mind.

After all, if this is what silence takes, it would be a price she was willing to pay, over and over again!