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angel-of-hunky-doryness · 4 months ago

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Disney's Hercules: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Inaccuracies

Ah Disney's Hercules.

Now I'm sure I've made it no secret that this is one of my all time favorite movies. Both for it's witty charm and impressive character design, there is something to be said about this film that makes it stand out among the line-up of Disney's Renaissance films. It's not one of it's finest, nor is it your classic fairy tale movie up there with the likes of Beauty and the Beast or Aladdin, but just like Lion King, Hercules takes a unique spin on a timeless tale for a more modern audience.

Perhaps my love of this movie and other Disney films are biased. We had quite a lot of these movies on VHS and since I was still learning english, they were a great introduction before I started kindergarten.

Now as I watch these movies again I'm still surprised how well these movies have aged. I recently rewatched B&B with my dad the other day from flipping channels and even he was blown away with how good these movies really are after nearly 2 decades of not seeing them. It's astounding especially now in an age where we have started to see a decline in the quality of Disney movies. Back when there was a greater focus on art instead of profit.

While there was a rise in harsh criticism on Disney movies and their protagonists(like Snow White, Cinderella, etc) primarily in the 2010's that was perpetuated by internet culture (i.e. memes, Youtube critics, pick your poison) I am glad to see that we are starting to dial it down again and see just how progressive many of these movies were for their day and age.

Now this post isn't about any of that.

There are much better blogs here on tumblr that go into that, so I highly recommend @marciabrady, @artist-issues for their look at early Disney princesses and other similar blogs I will hopefully tag before I post this.

There is one movie though that kinda got the worst treatment and that is, to no one's surprise, Disney's Hercules.

And it's kind of deserved.

Now I'm not here to cast stones. Like I said in the preamble, it's one of my favorite movies and I've written quite a bit of fanfiction in this fandom. So I've done it dirty quite a lot. Sorry HS me, we need to talk a bit.

So instead, we will be going over why the inconsistent depiction of the Greek Mythology presented in this film had to be done and some small examples. Nothing too deep. The Mythology Guy on YouTube made a great video going over all the inaccuracies in the film and I highly recommend giving it a watch if you are interested in learning more about the Greek myth of Herakles.

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With that out of the way, let's get started.

Part I: Child-Proofing

As I've mentioned before in one of my earlier posts, Disney films are made for children. Now that doesn't mean adults can't enjoy it, but the content within the films are primarily so children can watch and enjoy. Sure there are adult jokes and themes that will go over kid's heads, but they are generally pretty minor or toned down enough that can pass the films off as rated G/PG.

After all, Disney films have very easy and digestible morals: true beauty lies on the inside, don't judge people on their background, follow your dreams but don't lose sight on what's important, don't talk to strangers unless they're hot, invite everyone to the christening- things like that.

Disney films for the longest time have been a sort of moral standard since they have such a big influence on Western culture. Because of that, many fairy tales they have made films about tend to throw out some of the more grim and dark details attached to these tales.

Take Cinderella.

In the original Grimm's Fairy Tale, the happy couple ride off into the sunset while her step-sisters get their eyes plucked out by Cinderella's birds. In fact, before that, the step-sister's lopped off bits of their foot to try and fit into the glass slipper, only to be found out as the slipper gets soaked in blood.

Now I don't know about y'all, but I don't see anyone complaining that Disney left out those details. Okay, well the general consensus, at least.

But Cinderella is a classic fairy tale that had many adaptations and versions from across the world that allowed Disney to pull inspiration from, so who cares that they didn't follow the Brothers Grimm line-by-line?

And that's a good point.

There are versions where Cinderella isn't as gruesome. Charles Perrault, another very famous fairy tale author, had his own version of Cinderella where her step-sisters are fully intact by the end of the story. So it's quite obvious Disney was more attached to this version since it was much more decent.

Just like Cinderella, Greek Mythology has hundreds of different versions about just a single myth. You have Hesiod, Homer, Apollodorus, Ovid and those are just the writers from thousands of years ago. Nowadays, we have thousands of modern adaptations, translations, and rewrites of Greek myth to comb through.

There's just so much to choose from! And that's not even considering how interchangeable Greek myth is with its Roman counterpart.

What that means is you're never going to be able to get everyone to agree on one myth. Sure we can agree on certain details, but just like Ancient Greece, every city state had it's own version of a myth.

Herakles or Hercules was no exception.

Yet it's like I alluded to as well. There are some certain details that remain consistent from myth to myth.

Now let's look at a story that doesn't have a lot of versions to pull from, and just like Disney Hercules, it was heavily toned down: The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

This Disney film is arguable the most sanitized of the animated adaptations. A personal favorite of mine that far outranks Hercules in every way, but it was a huge hurdle to adapt.

From Esmeralda's attempted SA and death, racism, Quasi being bound and abused in jail, Phoebus' less than honorable pursuit of Esmeralda, Frollo's creepy obsession and his horrific control over Quasimodo, the religious themes and motifs, it's crazy how Disney was able to adapt it at all.

While it is pulling from Victor Hugo's original novel, there were a dozen films made before it that also tried to adapt this famous tale. The 1939 version of this film starring Maureen O'Hara is one of the greatest films ever made. For it's time, it made an incredible movie that sanitized many of the darker aspects in a way that cemented this classic tale into a more modern audience.

So is it any surprise that a lot was dialed down in Disney's version so children could also understand the message Victor Hugo was trying to tell? That the deformity Quasimodo was born with unfortunately led him to have a very harsh life- not because his disability affected his quality of life, but because of how society viewed/treated him. Their own perception led him to be isolated, ostracized, abused, and pitied. Likewise with beauty and race in Esmeralda's case.

They are different sides to the same coin.

I have a lot to talk about with Quasimodo. The next disney movie I will begin analyzing will be Hunchback, so prepare yourselves as I wrap up on Hercules.

But I digress.

Because Disney films are catered towards children, is it any wonder Hercules got the same treatment?

Part II: Greek Myths for Dummies

Greek Mythology is not an easy thing to adapt for a single film. Disney films, especially animated ones, are gonna get you at most a 90 minute timeslot and that's already a lot to ask for a highly-trained team of animators, musicians, writers, actors, artists, etc.

There are a lot of bases to cover.

Especially since this may very well be a kid's first introduction into Greek mythology. So we have a lot to answer

Like...

Why is Zeus king of the gods? Why does he have so many kids? How does the afterlife work? Why do I have to pay a man to get into hell? Are winged horses normal here? Why are the Titans bad? What goddess is that with the funny flower headband? Why won't they name all the background gods- are they important in the world? Is being compared to Aphrodite a good thing? Why doesn't Zeus realize his brother is trying to kill him? Why can't I have hubris as a treat?

All good questions, dear reader. And with a limited timeslot, there's not a lot they can talk about, so animators are throwing as much visual exposition as possible.

But who is this glittering assemblage?

That's why to understand what's going on you have to have prior knowledge to get what's going on in the background.

Like Lord of the Rings. Big world, lots of story to tell. The Silmarillion will help, but that's already a lot for a first time fan.

And since Hercules is written with kids in mind, it has to be rewritten some. So the established canon is kind of being thrown out the window, rearranged, and patched up like an old man who threw off an emperor's groove.

But Gerald Scarfe and a team of Disney animators managed to combine the former's caricature design style to the Disney standard to create Disney Hercules' unique style.

These gods aren't given the background character design treatment you'll find in other Disney movies, they are very stylized and exaggerated to visually convey their personality, their role in this universe, and if they're good or bad.

And the nice thing is, Greek mythology has an extensive list of symbols associated with each god that allowed Disney's own technicolor pantheon to reflect the very same icons.

Look at Athena above. There's her war helm, her breastplate, a cute little owl. She screams war goddess, but look how gentle she is with the bird. Her glass of nectar is a prop to show off her generosity, her self-restraint, and her desire to keep the peace.

But on the flip side, Ares is in the same get-up as her, war helm, breastplate, but his sword is drawn and his stance is one of action. We can see both these war gods are similar, but their temperaments and approach to war (same as their personalities) are so drastically different, and their color scheme helps so much as well.

It's incredible how much detail was poured into this and while I can go on gushing about the designs, we must push on.

Say what you want about how accurate the greek mythos is shown downgrades the overall movie, but the background story is lining up with a lot of the context we would lose were this in any other medium. The gods, how they look, their personalities- it's there.

It's accurate.

Sure the same cannot be said about the gods and mortals who have a role in the overall story they made, but that's the last issue this post will hopefully tackle.

Part III: A Hero's Journey

While Disney had already dipped their toes into Greek mythology with the likes of Fantasia and Goddess of Spring, Hercules was the first try to make it more than just a short.

So the myth they chose to adapt had to be iconic. They couldn't do it about the gods- that's just too much drama. They needed a hero, someone who struggled and fought and had a support group comprising of supernatural beings. And who is the most famous hero of Greek Myth?

Herakles.

There's just a few slight issues with that, heh...

Herakles is a really rough story.

To summarize, Zeus magics up a disguise to look like the mortal Amphitryon to woo the guy's wife, Alcmene. She gets preggers, Hera finds out and naturally goes ballistic. So Zeus pulls a fast one on his wife to save his kid, and thus Hera nurses baby Herk giving him god-like strength. A few assassination attempts later, Herakles grows up, marries, and has kids. Despite this, Hera isn't done, but she doesn't target the H man anymore, oh no, she sends him into a fit of madness whereby he decimates his entire family. Once it passes he works for a king, like his distant cousin, and he does 12 increasingly intense labors as a sort of penance and at the end of it, he's promised immortality or an indefinite Hera leaves him alone pass. Wonder Boy finishes that, but then he gets infected with centaur blood after taking on his dad's worst personality trait (adultery), he dies via his own funeral pyre, but at the last second his dad saves him and he becomes a god.

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And Disney is gonna try adapting that???

That's about a dozen labors in itself, so how are they gonna do it?

To summarize here are the elements Herakles has going on that can be adapted to your standard Disney film:

Protagonist: Hercules (b/c the Roman version is much more popular)

Damsel in Distress: Megara or Deianeira (most notable love interests in myth)

Side-kicks: Iolaus (Hmm those undertones, huh)

Antagonist: Hera

Flaw: wrath / impetuous/ salacious

Unique ability / quirk: super strength

We have a pretty solid line-up for a story here. But at the time in the 90's, there is already another adaptation of Hercules going on strong: Hercules: The Legendary Journeys.

This show first came out in the mid-90's and ended a couple years after Disney's Hercules dropped.

So how are they going to make it distinct from that?

It's really easy actually.

Super easy.

Disney's Hercules got a lot of inspiration from Superman (Christopher Reeves version).

Hercules is literally an innocent farm boy (mild-mannered Clark Kent), Meg is your hotshot spitfire Lois Lane, and Hades is your bald megalomaniac investing millions of dollars trying to axe one guy - Lex Luthor.

And let's be honest, the myth of Herakles reads like a modern superhero. He has super strength, he fights monsters, there's a damsel in distress every now and then- he fits the bill!

At this point in time, Disney didn't have a superhero and since that started to be a bigger appeal as the 90's marched on (*laughs in Marvel*)

It was a smart choice to bridge this tale to the modern time.

So for that reason, if they were going to make Hercules a super hero-esque character. He needed a villain and Hera wasn't going to cut it.

Part IV: A Hera-Shaped Hole

Hera was absolutely vicious in myth. This lady orchestrated the entire demise of Herk's family, his sanity, and his freedom. She wanted him to suffer just so Zeus could see how betrayed she felt every time he had a dalliance with a mortal.

Zeus never learned, but Hera's tactics did. And it was by her hand that sent Hercules into servitude under his cousin, the king. A title Herakles should've had had Hera not intervened.

And while wicked step-mothers are abundant in Disney's canon, it wasn't going to work because she's Zeus' wife. Yes, Hera received repercussions for starting a coup against her husband once in myth, but it was a brief punishment. Most of the time this couple can't stand each other, but they are what's keeping the pantheon together. And Hestia's cooking.

But here's the thing, Hera may be a bad person in this myth and others involving sons of Zeus, but she's a good person in other myths. Even at the beginning of this one, Hera found an abandoned baby and nursed him because he was all alone and crying out of hunger. She has her virtue, she's a good queen.

Yet with her iconography of peacocks, marriage, family, cows, and queen of the heavens and gods, she gives off very ethereal imagery.

This was the lady sending monsters and horrors of Typhon and Echidna's brood- that's her?

It can be done, I'm sure someone will do it better than Blood of Zeus, but it's much harder to adapt, especially with Treasure Planet on the duo of director's mind.

Just see Lindsey Ellis' Disney Hercules video, you'll understand.

But y'know that thing with the monsters.... Kinda cool. Monsters coming in from the pits of hell- pretty rad i guess. Well who else could throw a litany of monsters at our little hero?

Oh.

Yeah, okay, fine.

Hades, you're hired.

Yeah, the direction of this movie absolutely did a backflip the second the writers wanted Hades as their villain.

However, based on concept art, this was something they wanted from the very start and I'm sure we can all see the appeal.

I mean as soon as this movie came out so many other greek myth adaptations jumped to make Hades a bad guy, and like kudos to y'all, but this really is the easiest god you can paint as a villain. Home boy literally is dark and dank and emo as can be. Congrats we found another goblin sewer man to dress up as the mustache twirling evil-doer!

Like... This writes itself.

And pitting a god of the dead vs a mortal who's striving for immortality? It's poetry. It's an on the nose symbolism. I can't make it any clearer.

There's even an excerpt in Revelations that Disney references:

"Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire." 20:14 (NIV)

Hades is written as a Devil character. He's a deal maker, soul stealer. There's so much you can do with a Mephistopheles archetype. It's always a show stopper, I mean Ursula did it with extra steps.

Hera is a goddess of the heavens. Hercules is fighting the heavens to get into Heaven(TM). That's all kinds of complicated to simplify in a kid's film.

We want a villain to be scary, to be mean, and unjustified in their cruelty.

Hera wasn't going to work since Herakles' mother (though unwillingly) is the other woman. It would paint Zeus as another morally bad person. Why on earth would Herc look up to that guy? In fact, why would he want to join a band of morally corrupt people?

So let's make a new villain.

We can have the hero endure a different kind of pain.

The damsel's story doesn't have to end tragically because of a betrayal.

Make the story relevant and simple.

What archetypes can we match up to make this ancient myth fit into the modern day?

Make it clean, and make it understandable for kids. Throw in as many myths as possible so kids can see how big this world is.

The mythology is wrong, sure, but we'll spark that interest. We can make mythology fun. It'll make kids curious to learn more about them.

It certainly worked for me, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Part V: Conclusion

This movie is an absolute blast. I think many fans can agree and though the story does have its issues (See Conflicts series), it did it's job. With such a fun and memorable cast, lovingly animated characters, and mind-melting musical numbers, it stands uniquely among the other adaptations of Greek Mythology and perhaps it's why there was a bit of a resurgence in it's popularity as time marched on.

Herakles is a tale of struggle, sacrifice, and courage. One man battled and fought to achieve the divine, but at the end of his life, he did what few other mortals were ever able to do.

And Disney's Hercules took that character and developed him in such a loving way. To see his struggle both internal and external, it's a beautiful circle when he accepts his mortality and gives up his greatest dream for love. He didn't belong anywhere, caught between heaven and earth. Yet somehow he found it with someone who had been through hell and was hungry for heaven.

And just remember.

Not every work of fiction has to adhere to these magical bylaws that dictate how your Greek Myth AU must follow. However, I would like to softly counter-point my own point and say if you are going to make interpretations of greek mythology, be they musicals, video games, fanfics, or modern retellings, one must include the soul of the character they are based on. Hadestown, Hades(the game), Percy Jackson (most of the time), and the God of War franchise being prime examples.

Disney's Hercules took these characters and made them more exaggerated and updated to fit modern archetypes that are prominent in a Western Christian based-society. To me, I still see the soul of what these characters represent, even if some things were heavily condensed or rewritten.

Stories evolve. As is the nature of living things.

Till next time, Dear Readers.

#disney #disney hercules #disney hades #hercules #disney megara #disney villains #my rambles #greek myth #greek mythology #zeus #hermes #hades #Youtube #superman #dc #dc comics #dcu

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destiny-in-the-universe · 5 months ago

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Information for the new Ask Blog

Alright, good timezone, my lovely readers!

I'm writing this partially because today is my birthday and also because it just now hit me I'm almost at 100 followers, so this is a present for all of you as well!

As most of you already know, I have brainrot and a never-ending hyperfixation on superhero cartoons at the moment- and in honor of that, I wanted to make a collaborative blog! Now, it is going to be multi-muse which means I would be playing more than one character because yes, it is an ask blog. However, this is where you come in and I'm hoping I can get enough people interested in the day.

The plan is for some of you to come up with your own ask blogs that fit the theme and it's a joint project. I could also technically allow you to co-write on the blog, but I don't know if I'm comfortable with it. Instead, as part of the rules I plan on making, I do plan on following anyone who makes a blog as part of a crossover I'm working on, but also- I just want to do something fun.

Now, I did have two interested parties-

@oceandirtcountry and @sharperthewriter

I honestly do not mind which characters you guys write as long as it's another superhero cartoon; this can be anything from Ben 10 to Kim Possible (to me, it counts-) to Danny Phantom. Go wild, it can be villains and/or heroes. The sky's not even the limit. Now I do not have the whole scope of the plot so to speak figured out but it is going under the pretense that the superheroes are at least aware of one another, or will be aware of one another during the course of the blog.

Some Thoughts I Already Had

Hero Districts refers to the different cities that heroes reside in. As per old customary rules, the districts were meant to be kept separate so as not to get involved with other affairs and well, since not all of them were always districts (such as in Danny Phantom's case), there wasn't always need to enter those cities.

I know at least two of us are adults and despite my passive enjoyment for spiciness, this is not going to be the blog for that. One, it just wouldn't fit the theme I aim for and for another- my followers are mixed ages and I'd just rather keep some of my more mature content separately (unless it's angst and some forms of violence, but that's different-).

Due to some event, the heroes of certain districts end up meeting and it begins defying the original laws set in place by the very old school Dragon Council, but of course- it's eventually going to catch the attention of certain foes.

I do plan on keeping a masterlist of all the muses and universes that take place within the joint crossover. You are given free range to choose whoever you want, in whichever fandom as long as it's superheroes. I. guess even Rwby counts but I've never seen it- so, I'll leave that for you to decide.

The blogs are of course, a combination of character asks and for roleplay purposes. I know this is a lot to read, so I'll add more later- but if you're still interested, just tell me the name of your muse(s) and the fandoms they're a part of in the comments and we can go from there.

~ Mod Destiny (They/Them)

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thewalrus-said · 5 months ago

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2 and 25 for the fic writer ask game, please! I don't think I actually know any of your fics, so I would love if you picked your favourite(s).

Hello! Thank you for this delightful open-ended prompt *rubs hands together*

I looked at your blog and I saw that you are a Good Omens Fan (much like myself), so I went with two of my shorter GO fics from the post-s2 frenzy.

i did it to myself (i did it to you)

i think the first image i had from this fic is the quote I used for the summary:

The Supreme Archangel of Heaven, the angel Aziraphale, formerly Guardian of the Eastern Gate, requests parlay with the demon Crowley.

“Does he now.”

He does.

“...Better come in, then.”

i really just wanted Supreme Archangel Aziraphale, taking the first step, approaching Crowley to undo what he did, and to talk about it. a lot of my immediately-post-s2 fics were an attempt to sort through my headcanons for Oh No Azi Why Did You Do That, and this story is one of the options i came up with and liked.

another very early image i had for this fic is also the answer to question 25, my favorite line:

When Crowley speaks again, his voice is rough, ragged, like he’s been swallowing glass. “I have gone,” he says quietly, “as slowly as I possibly can for you, angel. I gave you every second I could. It turns out that six thousand twenty-seven years is as slow as I can go.” Now it’s Crowley’s turn to pause until Aziraphale meets his gaze, and then he says, as earnest as Aziraphale has ever known him, “Now I need you to speed up, angel."

i could just hear it in david tennant's crowley voice, "now i need you to speed up," and i wanted that callback to the s1 60s scene, with "you go too fast for me," and crowley just going, i tried to go slower, for you, but i hit my limit

i know we made fires (if you're noticing a Theme Here, it is entirely because carly rae jepsen's latest album dropped The Same Day as s2, and i chose to watch GO first and listen to the album the next day, and that was the right choice, and The Loveliest Time SLAPS as an album and my brain fitted all the lyrics to be about the ineffable husbands)

the first spark of this fic was that immediately after finishing GO2, i reeeeeeeeeeally wanted (and still want now) muriel to Fall in s3, and this fic sort of explores what that might be like, although muriel isn't in it, just mentioned.

my favorite line (points if you can spot the carly rae reference):

“Don’t say you’re sorry,” Crowley says sharply. Aziraphale’s mouth snaps shut. “Say you understand, instead,” his demon, the dear, too-kind, serpentine love of Aziraphale’s existence goes on. “I’m not going to forgive you, angel. Forgiveness won’t change anything, not between us, there’s no room for it. I just want to know you understand.”

thank you for the ask!

#i feel like i need to caveat that i know what's going on re: neil right now #i did not choose good omens fics as any sort of Statement in re: that situation. i just like and am proud of the fics #anyway!#ask me anything #ask meme answers

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chyornaya-koshka · 1 year ago

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I'm not the person who sent the ask, but I want to chime in with my personal takeaway. I used to follow you on my other blog and would frequently check on your new posts because they offered me either great insight or, in case of difference of opinion, an interesting perspective to ponder. As anon says, your ability to articulate things on your mind is impressive, but what's more is that the topics you choose to tackle are at the top of the food chain. One thing is to pick the low-hanging fruit and cry about male degeneracy for the hundredth time, another thing entirely is to address the issues within the in-group (radical feminists, in this case) that get tucked under the rug as if they're insignificant.

Your understanding of underlying trauma behind emotional outbursts immediately caught my interest, because it was pitiful to watch radfem blog #1 have a shit flinging session with radfem blog #2 because one of them used a negative word to describe the other. The outrage you received for calling a certain group of women 'pigs' and your honest response to it went a long way in helping me form my own stance on the topic. Most people are myopic and struggle to see what lies behind emotion-driven actions of others or the consequences of said actions, thus these people are paralyzed when it comes to actually solving the issue at hand.

Another thing I want to mention is that your words reach more women than you would think. Due to how helpful your - especially older - posts were in my own journey, I didn't want to withhold that information from other communities, so I played the role of the messenger and carried your words over on several occasions. The right people were very receptive to hearing your musings. Actually, not only were they receptive, they were HUNGRY to have their suspicions validated. Here's a piece of the feedback that this post of yours received:

I also remember I paraphrased this post and left a comment under a Youtube video because it fit the general theme. People were leaving likes in the hundreds and commenting their "thank you"s to me (by proxy to you), so that should about tell you everything you need to know in regards to whether or not your work is worthy of someone else's time. Sometimes all it takes is to have one person point out a certain fallacy and it all clicks.

I take a risk every time I choose not to dilute my complicated speech, like right now, because it does come off as pretentious, although no one has complained so far

What you consider pretentiousness is actually charm by definition. It makes a far less compelling point to say, "male bad, female good" rather than spinning something that is both intellectually stimulating and sophisticated like, "the concept of maleness is what harms the female". I think it's easy to conclude which of these statements has depth and would be carried over to an actual discussion instead of being hung up as a placard in the circus. Even on the off-chance that I am mistaken and it is perceived as pretentiousness… well, Valerie is celebrating in her grave:

"The conflict, therefore, is not between females and males, but between SCUM -- dominant, secure, self-confident, nasty, violent, selfish, independent, proud, thrill-seeking, free-wheeling, arrogant females, who consider themselves fit to rule the universe, who have free-wheeled to the limits of this society' and are ready to wheel on to something far beyond what it has to offer -- and nice, passive, acceptingcultivated', polite, dignified, subdued, dependent, scared, mindless, insecure, approval-seeking Daddy's Girls."

Anyway, your blog, alongside a couple other blogs that dragged me out of my mental hell, has served its purpose beyond what you can imagine, and I am glad that something pushed me to check back in because the lovely anon and your answer inspired me to write this mini love letter, which I've been meaning to do eventually anyway.

Thank you for sharing what goes on behind the scenes. This was a great read and I loved comparing notes between your methodology and my own.

If you don’t mind me asking, how old are you? I get the sense that you’re older based on your posts, but going by your most recent post, you seem to imply that you’re still a teenager. If that’s true, I am very impressed by how knowledgeable you are at such a young age.

How did you get so articulate? What did you read? Did you take classes in high school? Did you have a mentor? did you have a life-changing conversation with somebody? I would love to know more about your process of getting to where you are now.

Hey :) I'm kind of surprised that people choose to compliment me at all since I'm calling people names on here and such, I think I'm a nasty person overall... I'm in my early twenties currently, so I'm certainly not a teenager, but I'm still at an age where my opinions get dismissed and it has taken me significant effort to start taking my concerns seriously. In the post you are referring to, I was talking about people who equate polarizing opinions to those of an immature teenager, which hints at the fact that people grow out of their rebellious phase and expect others to become just as compliant with age… I don't consider my opinions (especially on pregnancy) to be rebellious in the first place, to me they are common sense and I'm genuinely disgusted by the fact that many adult women continue to perpetuate the same rhetoric that has harmed me as a teenager.

I've never received any higher education, and I barely ever attended high school, so if you find my writing skill compelling it can be the proof that all you need is yourself and a willingness to learn. I'm not sure if I what I have is innate talent because I did read a lot as a child, which probably explains my vocabulary, and I'm not exactly a prodigy since my early writing is still as primitive as it gets for someone who is just starting out. My writing process is not effortless either and I go through a lot of drafts or even variations of the same sentence until I'm satisfied with it. What I know to be innate to myself is my overall interest in reading and writing, it is something I spend a lot of time doing and my proficiency makes sense to me that way. I suppose, I'm still not at my fullest potential because I limit myself to mentally taxing topics... Much of the difficulty I encounter comes down to the fact that the things I talk about are extremely personal and often require more reflection from me than I'm ready for; this is the reason I'm yet to post some of the questions I promised to answer. When it comes to my writing skill, I would be lying if I said that public education did nothing for it because it did lie down the foundation, just that I draw my understanding from other subjects and cannot recommend a reading list because I was taught them in person. My approach to writing is based on my knowledge of cognitive reframing and I would have to write a book myself to explain how I apply it. Weirdly enough, I attribute my eloquence to fanfiction since it's what I used to read the most of, and some of it is genuinely high quality — for example, I think this story is very poetic, especially the last paragraph. The same can be said about fantasy games where I would pay attention to the flowery language in quest text and dialogue; my learning experience has been unconventional at best.

I thought it would be helpful if I recited what I do directly... My writing process is as follows:

Receive a question or get interested in an idea, draft the first thing that comes to mind. Write until I don't feel like it anymore. Usually this is no longer than one sentence.

Come back to the draft when I feel like it and let my imagination run its course while I look at the prompt. At this point, the draft is a mixture of coherent ideas and incoherent sentence stumps I then proceed to flesh out within the confines of the main topic. This is the stage where I figure out the structure and the general theme of whatever I'm writing. I narrow down the essence of what I'm being asked about, write until I figure out the closing paragraph, break down the draft into connected sub-topics and come up with a title for each paragraph as well as the entire piece. For this answer, I titled the first paragraph "Why I wrote what I did and my attitude towards it", the second & third paragraph "My education and writing process" and the fourth paragraph "My advice and why I haven't given up yet". I titled the answer as a whole "My age and my writing process" which is kind of odd, it probably means there's something I have to reflect on in regards to my age... While drawing up a plan like that is common writing advice I would give regardless, grounding myself with a simplified idea is even more important to me because I do not write sentences consecutively. The first draft of the previous sentence quite literally was "is important to me because I do not write sentences consecutively." with the dot, meaning that I knew it would be the last part of the sentence and that there was something I was supposed to trace it back to before I could finish it. This goes for the entirety of my writing process and I will often start a sentence from the middle, write different paragraphs one sentence at a time or even write an entire paragraph backwards. It can be hard to keep track of the structure when you write the way I do, so having a grounded idea I can always refer back to is the solution for me.

Continue to refine the draft along the guidelines I established until I'm satisfied with it — this doesn't mean that it's perfect even by my own standards, I often leave awkward wording as is because I know when to move on from a creative block. What matters to me is that it communicates the ideas of the sub-topics and fully conveys my point.

The most important thing I've learned ever since I committed to writing is that I am at my best when I write for myself. I would go as far as to say that I'm at my best when I write about myself, that way I absolve myself of the responsibility that accompanies external topics. I no longer burden myself with articles and statistics which may or may not be inaccurate, I talk about my own improvement and I know what it has been well enough to not be bothered by people disputing it. Even as I'm answering this question, my focus is on my personal enjoyment so that it remains the motivation I can look back at; I don't believe it to be remotely unfair, it is reliable. People move on and people get disinterested, my audience could leave due to personal circumstances and it would be no one's fault. By being my own standard of quality, I get to be consistent with my work and both me and the reader benefit that way. Other than that, my straightforward advice is to trust the process and to not be afraid to take risks with your writing. Stylistically, the list I made has to be limited to impersonal descriptions to be consistent, but I went on a personal tangent in the second point anyway — so what? Taking this liberty was what inspired me to finish the list at all, which I'm not going to complain about. I take a risk every time I choose not to dilute my complicated speech, like right now, because it does come off as pretentious, although no one has complained so far. Generally speaking, there are no real social risks to take with writing because intelligence is already hard to come by, the people who value it will appreciate the effort regardless and the people who don't could never be catered to in the first place. The only "risk" I can imagine anyone taking is the risk of being disappointed in one's abilities and the fear of never amounting to one's aspirations, but even that is temporary because creative skills always improve so long as you practice. I'm personally well past the point of doubt because people have seen me at my worst too many times by now, that ship has sailed for me... My aspirations rely on my ability to articulate myself, so I don't lack motivation when it comes to improvement. The enjoyment I get from completing a piece allows me to persevere through the many challenges the writing process entails.

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theforgottenmcrmy · 2 years ago

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From This Day, Part 2/2 (Ser Harwin Strong x Reader)

᯽ Please note that this is a Part 2/2, and an overall Part 5 of an ongoing series. Part 1-4 can be found on the "Growing Strong” Masterlist, which is pinned on my blog. For some reason, my public tags aren’t working today when I try to link those two posts here. ᯽

Pairing: Ser Harwin Strong x Tyrell! Female Reader

Warnings: PLEASE READ. In addition to the GOT typical sexism, canon divergence, violence, and references to the death of parent(s), there is also a scene that gets a bit 🔥 . No explicit language or descriptions are used, but it’s also pretty clear on what’s about to go down, so... fair warning. Honestly, I think it’s kinda tasteful 🔥 that fits the language and themes of the story so far, but I didn’t want to not say anything about it either, just in case.

Word Count: N/A because I get in my head about it and it makes me self conscious.

A/N: Part 2! Why do I find the damn GOT Faith of the Seven Vows so romantic? Like😅... I HIGHLY recommend listening to the I Am Hers, She Is Mine score while reading this, especially after the first scene. I’d link it, but then my public tags wouldn’t work, so😢

Anyways, thank you all for the support🖤 I hope you enjoy, and that you have a great rest of the week!

“What in the gods’ name is the meaning of this?!”

In the blink of an eye, the young lord was quickly yanked away from you and shoved up against the wall beside you instead. Lord Loreon groaned in protest to the swift action.

“Tyrell!”

“You dare try to stake a claim on my sister?!”

“Lady Y/N!”

Before you could begin to make sense of what was happening, Harwin was before you. Though seeing him usually brought you great comfort, he looked deeply troubled, and there was anger in his eyes that you had yet to witness personally.

“Did he lay a hand on you?” he asked you directly.

Lord Loreon scoffed, “I most certainly did not!”

“Silence!” your brother barked at him.

You were stunned into a momentary silence, but when you realized that Ser Harwin would not make a further move until you responded, you did so. “No, no. He didn’t.”

Ser Harwin looked as though he wanted to say more, but he relented, either accepting your statement as truth, or simply not wishing to argue. The anger in his eyes began to fade, leaving only concern.

“Y/N!” Princess Rhaenyra exclaimed, pulling you to her side and away from the wall. She looked you over, rapidly searching for any physical signs of distress. “Are you alright?”

It was then that you realized the presence of Lord Jason.

“Tyrell, you get your hands off my son, now!” he snarled.

You turned your attention to his line of sight, and were shocked by the scene before you.

Your brother had Loreon pinned up against the wall, with his forearm pressing tightly against his throat. Ser Harwin purposefully placed himself between Lord Jason and Derron, preventing the former from intervening in any sort of way. His position also put a sizable barrier between you and the squirming Lannister boy… perhaps that was also an intention of his, you supposed.

Regardless, even off the tourney field, it seemed as though the alliance between your brother and your betrothed was one that would be long-lasting.

Derron ignored Lord Jason’s order, and instead, gave one of his own to his captive. “Now you may speak, My Lord. Explain yourself, so that I may decide how best to deal with you.”

“She approached me!” Lord Loreon squealed. To your brother’s credit, the young lord did not appear to be struggling for air… but he wasn’t able to move, either. “I only met her here upon her request!”

Insulted most deeply, you snapped, “That is a gross lie!”

The Princess shushed you, but you were too impassioned to stop now. You would not let your name and reputation be soiled by the likes of Loreon Lannister- especially not in front of Ser Harwin.

“I was informed that the Princess wanted to speak with me privately, and that I was to meet her at once,” you explained. “I waited for her here for quite some time, until he approached me!”

“She’s lying!” Lord Loreon fumed, his rage rampant. “You little-”

“Mind your tongue!” Ser Harwin ordered him threateningly in a low voice. “Or else you’ll lose it.”

Loreon gasped.

“Harwin!” Lord Lyonel scolded, coming to stand beside Lord Jason. You just realized his presence too, but he looked about as desperate for answers as the other men and Princess Rhaenyra. He looked at you next. “Lady Y/N- please, continue. What happened then?”

“He tried to convince me to run away with him, and said we could leave King’s Landing tonight.”

Lord Loreon fumed, “That is what you asked for!”

“It most certainly is not!”

Though he was unable to move his neck or head, Lord Loreon, with great struggle, managed to retrieve a piece of parchment from his coat. Ser Harwin stepped aside just enough for his father to reach and grab it from the young Lannister.

The entire group watched as Lord Lyonel read the letter with a blank face. After a moment, he announced, “It appears to be a rather… blunt, passionate letter, from Lady Y/N, requesting just as Lord Loreon says…”

The blood drained from your face.

“It is a farce,” Ser Harwin denounced vehemently. “I am certain of it!”

You were heartened by his quick and staunch defense of you. Most other men might have assumed the worst, but- as you were constantly forced to remind yourself- Harwin was not like most men.

“Let me see that,” Princess Rhaenyra commanded, accepting the letter from the Lord Hand and reading it herself. When she was done, she laughed shortly. “This is not even Lady Y/N’s hand!”

“What?” Lord Loreon gasped.

“Lady Y/N has been writing letters for me for the better part of a year,” Princess Rhaenyra reminded the group. She was confident, and her tone left absolutely no room for question. “I can choose it amongst others from sight alone. I assure you, this letter is not written in her hand. Nor would I ever believe her to be capable of such a thing.”

You were humbled by Princess Rhaenyra rising to your defense as well.

“May I, Your Grace?” Lord Jason asked, eyeing the parchment suspiciously. Princess Rhaenyra handed it over to him wordlessly, and his eyes rapidly scanned over the contents. When he was finished, they rolled as he groaned tiredly. “Seven Hells, Son!” he exclaimed to Loreon. “I cannot believe you fell for this, you fool! The language alone…”

Derron took the letter from Lord Jason with a flourish, though he otherwise remained still, keeping Loreon pinned to the wall. Your brother read the letter, and scoffed. To the young lord, he questioned mockingly, “You actually believed my sister would write you such a thing?!”

Derron held the letter out to Ser Harwin to take, but your betrothed made no move to do so. Instead, he looked over at you. Though he had defended you thus far, part of you expected to find disappointment lingering in his eyes. However, there simply was none to be found.

“There is no need for me to read it,” he decided out loud, his eyes never wavering from your own. “For even if it was written by Lady Y/N’s hand, I know it could not possibly be true.”

Your heart felt as though it might burst from your chest.

“Y/N?” your brother offered then.

“I have no desire to read it, either,” you said, eyes still locked with Harwin’s. “It is a complete fabrication that I wish to give no further merit to by entertaining it further.”

Ser Harwin was the one to finally break away. He turned back to your brother, and put a hand on his shoulder. Your brother huffed once more, probably out of disbelief than anything else, before begrudgingly removing his arm from Lord Loreon’s neck.

The young man scrambled away from Derron and over to his father, but the other man looked no more pleased with him.

“It would seem,” Lord Lyonel began, garnering everyone’s attention, “That someone has decided to play a cruel trick upon us this evening.”

“A trick?” Derron repeated dumbfoundedly. “It was a trick that My Lord sought to lay a hand on my sister? And on the night before her wedding, no less?”

“My son was foolish,” Lord Jason admitted, though he sounded pained in doing so. “But you are not innocent, either. You have accosted my son, without knowing the full extent of what led him here!”

Your brother ignored Lord Jason entirely. Instead, he looked at you expectantly. “It is you who was wronged, and so it shall be your decision, Sister. What would you have us do with him?”

Lord Loreon looked between your brother and Ser Harwin with a mixture of pure shock and fear. He attempted to make a small step closer towards his father subtly, as if seeking safety, but failed.

You looked at the sorry excuse for the future patriarch of House Lannister pitifully.

And that’s when it hit you.

“Let him go.”

Your brother’s eyebrows shot up. “What?!”

Harwin looked at you carefully, but it was more out of interest than protest.

“You shall do nothing to him,” you insisted firmly. “Each family has made a grievance upon the other tonight… but it shall go no further than this. Whoever devised this trick-” - plot - “-shall receive no satisfaction from their efforts whatsoever.”

It was quiet for a moment as everyone present mused over your suggestion.

“Lady Y/N is wise beyond her years,” Lord Lyonel finally declared, stepping up on your behalf. “Perhaps, given the extenuating circumstances, and the fact that both Lady Y/N and Lord Loreon appear to have suffered no serious harm… Perhaps it is best that we all return to the feast at once, and forget this entire farce ever occurred.”

You could tell your brother was not so inclined to agree, but he had little choice in the matter when the Princess offered her own opinion.

“I agree with the Lord Hand,” Princess Rhaenyra announced decisively. “None of us shall speak of this matter ever again… And, should word about any of this begin to travel, we will know whom to look to for answers. Do we have everyone’s word?”

The reasoning, from everyone who had offered it, was sound. After a few moments, everyone nodded their heads in silent agreement.

“Let us return to the feast, then,” Derron encouraged, albeit half-bitterly. “Perhaps we shall all test the limits of what memories the finest wine from the Reach can blur.”

Your brother angrily tossed the piece of parchment into a nearby hanging torch.

Later that evening, you returned to your chambers, thoroughly exhausted, emotionally and physically.

You sat upon your bed, and begrudgingly removed your shoes from your sore feet. As the shoes fell to the ground with a soft thud, light knocks rasped against the door.

You quickly strode across the room, and cracked it open.

It was Ser Harwin.

Wordlessly, you opened the door a touch wider to allow him entry. He slipped inside, and you shut the door as silently as you could manage behind him.

“You shouldn’t have come,” you told him, not yet turning to face him.

“Do you not wish to see me?”

“It is not that,” you disagreed, slowly placing your tired hands upon the wooden door. “I am only worried that someone else will have taken notice of you coming here.”

“They have yet to notice thus far,” Ser Harwin reminded you patiently, and you could practically hear the small mischievous smile playing upon his lips.

It was true. Since your betrothal was made official, Harwin had begun to visit you late at night in your chambers. At first, it only started when he was due to go off on patrol out in the city, as was one of his duties as a member of the City Watch. He would stop by, you could converse freely and openly, and then he would be on his way. The visits slowly but surely grew in frequency, and now, it was not unusual for your betrothed to pay you late night visits several days of the week.

If anyone else were to discover what was occuring, there would be serious repercussions, and both of your reputations would be tainted. Perhaps yours more so than his. Harwin had voiced this concern to you, and you heard him out when he did. But ultimately, neither of you wanted to sacrifice the time the two of you were able to share. And so, you had mutually agreed to be even more especially discreet about it.

Nothing had ever… happened, between the two of you during the late night visits, though the environment around you had gotten a bit heated on the occasion. The focus had always been the ability to be open and speak plainly with the other without an escort, and it was that intent that kept the two of you wanting to continue, despite the risks.

Besides the fact that it was the night before your wedding, you had not expected him to visit you tonight… not after everything that had happened.

When you finally turned around to face him, Ser Harwin immediately did a double take. “Were you crying, My Lady?”

Hot tears you hadn’t even realized you allowed to form fell down your cheeks. Your face heated with mild embarrassment as you swiped them away briskly. “It is nothing.”

It was a bold, blatant lie.

But Ser Harwin knew that.

There was still a bit of distance between you, closer than there normally would have been. But despite the additional leniency, Harwin still had to look down at you to see your face. When he did, you saw that his own expression was riddled with nothing but the utmost sympathy and worry.

“If you do not wish to see me, you need only say the word,” he said, politely offering to excuse himself once more. “I only wished to ensure that all was well… or rather, as well as it can be.”

You knew with complete certainty that you did not want him to leave. But after everything that had transpired that evening, when the man who claimed to love you so greatly confirmed the notion as fact by openly showing nothing but complete trust in and concern for you… It was overwhelming.

“You are… inconceivable, Ser Harwin.”

His concern was muddied by confusion. “... I beg your pardon, My Lady?”

“We have just escaped ruin by the skin of our teeth, and you are more concerned with how I am feeling than trying to discover who orchestrated the vile ‘trick’ we nearly fell prey to.”

“It is not that I do not care about that,” Ser Harwin corrected. “I simply care about your well being more.”

You sighed. Whether it was out of tiredness or frustration, you were not sure. You said nothing, and your eyes fell to the floor. The stone felt pleasantly cool beneath your feet, but it was not nearly enough to cure what ailed you.

The only thing- or someone rather- that could cure you was standing just several feet away. Close, and yet so far.

“... Y/N?”

Upon hearing your betrothed call out your name so tenderly, you had no choice but to look him in the eyes once more. Once you did, you caved.

Wordlessly, he opened his arms, holding them outwards to you. The facade of pleasant exchanges shattered, leaving nothing but raw emotion in its wake.

You rushed forward in long strides, casting aside any sense of propriety or fear of further embarrassing yourself. When you reached Ser Harwin, you threw your arms in a vice-like grip around him, and buried your face in his chest.

In response, he let out a soft grunt- but you reasoned that had more likely to do with his aches and bruises from the tourney than anything else. Your eyes widened guilty as you pulled away, apologies for causing him further discomfort already on the tip of your tongue. But before you could say a word, Harwin pressed a hand to your back, and promptly pulled you towards him and into the embrace once more.

You hid your smile by pressing your face further into his chest. With one hand remaining on the small of your back, his other hand reached up to lightly cup the back of your head. You dug your fingers into the back of his doublet as firmly as you dared.

The nearly crippling sense of overwhelmingness you felt faded into the night. Ser Harwin had the uncanny ability to bring a calmness out of you that you never would have guessed was possible… though you would always feel indebted to him for it.

After several minutes of extremely comfortable silence, Harwin was the first to pull away. He allowed himself enough room to look down at you lovingly, but his arms made no move to let you go any further out of reach than what was necessary. Not that you would have wished to leave them, anyway.

“Better?” he prodded gently.

You looked up at him, resting your chin upon his chest. “Very much so.”

The hand that rested upon the back of your head traveled, several of its fingers coming to cup your chin instead. Ser Harwin leant down slowly, and placed a ghostly trace of a kiss upon your lips.

You blinked as the gesture left you feeling a bit dazed. Before you could playfully lash at him for teasing you so, he continued.

“I hope you can forgive me for delaying your rest,” Ser Harwin apologized. “I knew that sleep would not claim me tonight, not unless I was able to speak with you first.”

“There is nothing to forgive, My Lord.”

His hand shifted to cradle the side of your face. Though Ser Harwin held you within both of his arms, everything about his facial expression and body language suggested that you were the one who had true control of the situation you two were entangled in.

“Shall I be on my way, then?” he asked of you then, uncertainly.

You reached up and tapped his chin lightly with your forefinger. “There is no need for that… unless you wish to leave.”

“I do not.”

“Very well. Stay.”

In the aftermath of your particularly serious moment, the return of your light hearted exchanges left the both of you feeling a bit out of place. Slowly, so as not to give him any cause to perceive offense, you removed yourself from Ser Harwin’s arms. He let you go without protest.

You gestured to the table and chairs at the very edge of the room, just before the balcony. The two of you seated yourselves wordlessly, and you offered him some wine.

“Lord Derron will be having an unpleasant enough time in the morning,” Ser Harwin politely declined. “I would not burden you with another charge to look after.”

Despite yourself, you laughed.

Your brother, just as he had suggested, had taken to drowning in his cups after everyone returned to the feast. You let him be at first, seeing that it was harmless enough. But when Derron attempted to make a speech- the same speech he had already made hours before, but this time with the addition of colorful inebriated musings- you were forced to ask a cousin to escort him safely to his chambers to retire for the evening.

You planned to chastise your brother in the morning for threatening to make a fool of himself at the feast. But still, you knew just how likely you were to hold your tongue. Derron had also been struggling with the passing of your father, and in addition, he had been weighed down by his new responsibilities as well. Regardless of whether you would be the one to dole it upon him, Derron would learn his lesson from this night, of that you were sure.

“Well,” you began, suppressing a smile, “I thank you for that.”

Just outside the open archways leading to the balcony in front of you, a night’s view of King’s Landing waited. Despite the lateness of the hour, plenty of lanterns and torches were lit, and the noise of the city, though fainter than it would have been underneath sunlight, was still audible. The city was very much alive. Above the city was a black sky, only interrupted by stars, cold and distant, and the morose, solitary illumination of the moon.

You peeked over at Ser Harwin through your lashes. Thankfully, his attention was still focused on the view before you. You dared to wonder if you would ever find yourself in a scene like this again… Though you could have easily lived without the troubles that had resulted later on in the feast, you wouldn’t have traded the moment you were in for anything else in the world. Is this what the future held for you? Countless evenings, spent quietly, or not, with the one man who seemed to know you better than you knew yourself at times?

You desperately hoped so.

“Are you frightened?”

Ser Harwin tore his focus away from the view of the city, and returned it to you. When you said nothing, opting to wait patiently for him to elaborate further, he did so.

“It appears that someone among these halls does not wish us to be wed.”

Not someone, but several people came to mind.

You could ascertain many reasons as to why certain people among the Red Keep, and beyond, would not wish the two of you to be wed. The potential motives were infinite, and were made even more daunting by the fact that you were likely to remain in the dark about them forever. In the morning, you and Ser Harwin would pledge yourself to the other in the Great Sept of Baelor in front of your family, friends, esteemed guests, and other less than genuine attendees. And by then, it would be made clear that whoever had orchestrated the foul plot with Lord Loreon Lannister with the intention of causing a scandal and ruining the wedding would have gone through all that work for nought.

“Does the thought of that frighten you?” Harwin pried again curiously.

Whatever your answer was to be, you knew he would accept it without question. So there was no reason why you could not speak the truth. “It did, at first… But not anymore.”

“No? What changed?”

“Being here with you,” you confessed proudly, and without any shame. Then, you wondered out loud, “Are you aware of how much you affect me? Do you know just how grounded and calmed I am whenever you’re near?”

The revelation that fell over your betrothed’s face indicated that he had an inkling of an idea, but did not know of the full extent that you had just described.

You concluded, “I find myself having very little to fear with you by my side, My Lord.”

Harwin beamed. “That is most fortunate, My Lady, as I do not intend to stray from it.”

Though someone, whose identity and motive were still very much unknown, had conspired against you earlier that evening, the feeling was simply grand when the tables finally turned. There was a new-found sense of camaraderie with Ser Harwin, as the two of you conspired with one another, together, instead.

“Do you love me?”

Visible confusion flooded his face. Still, he answered. “With everything I am, and hope to be, My Lady.”

You didn’t doubt that, but wondered, if it were even possible, if your love for him ran even deeper than that. You told him as much. Then, feeling emboldened, you declared slyly, “So, I dare say, if someone wishes to divide us: let them try.”

Ser Harwin chuckled, and shook his head.

Your confidence wavered at his peculiar reaction. “What is it?”

He settled down, and sat up straighter in his seat. There was something intense about Harwin’s eyes when they locked with yours, then… something enticing, if not downright seductive, lingered in his usually calming irises.

“Since our betrothal, several people have made jokes at my expense,” he disclosed to you. “It’s been harmless- mostly jests thrown out about the training yard. But they ask me, ‘What business does Ser Breakbones have with a Tyrell?’ They thought my father might arrange for me to marry someone from the Riverlands, or even the North… Not a ‘flower’, from the South, as they so impolitely put it.” Harwin’s eyes looked glossy, as if he was recalling the scenes vividly. Then, the veil lifted, and he looked at you with sudden resolve. “But they underestimate you. And they fail to see something I have known about you all along.”

“And what is that?” you wondered, genuinely curious.

“Despite your outward appearance, in your heart, you are a fighter. Just as I am.”

Your eyes threatened to shine with tears once more.

“Roses have thorns,” he proclaimed. “I pity the men who would dare to forget that… and I pray that I am never one of them.”

“If that happens, you’ll have plenty of years to make it up to me, good fortune permitting.”

“Trust me, My Love- I look forward to it.”

You both fell into a comfortable silence once again. In your mind’s eye, you pictured what you had just alluded to. Growing old together. Traveling from King’s Landing to Harrenhal, and even to the Reach, year after year. Would you have a family? That had yet to be seen. But, at the very least, you would have one another. A few years, decades, every single day for the rest of your life… With a strange sense of sadness, you realized that no amount of time with Harwin on this mortal earth would ever be enough.

“... I could still pummel the Lannister boy, if you wish. Merely say the word, and it shall be done.”

You were shocked by just how plainly your betrothed proposed such a thing. His tone was conversational, as though he had offered to pass you a dish whilst dining together. Not as though he had just threatened to bludgeon the oldest son and heir of the Lord of Casterly Rock.

“Harwin!”

“What?” he asked, feigning innocence. “You’re my lady wife- how could I ever forget such an atrocity that was committed against you?”

“Nothing happened, Dearest,” you reminded him patiently. It was true; the ordeal had scared you, perhaps terribly so. But physically, you were unharmed. And yet, as much as you dreaded the thought of him causing further strife between your families and the Lannisters, the thought of Harwin willing to go such lengths for you made your heart flutter. But you would not feed into it. “And, I am not yet your lady wife, as we are not yet wed.”

“That is of little import, My Love,” Harwin dismissed briskly. “For how long you have held my heart, a ceremony feels like a simple formality at most.”

You fought the urge to smile, not wanting to encourage him further. “We cannot just go breaking the bones of the Lannister boy, especially not whilst the reason behind your assault could not be truthfully explained to the Court.”

Ser Harwin's face fell, and he pursed his lips thoughtfully. He knew you made a fair point.

After a moment, you added, “And we cannot go about breaking the bones of anyone else who wrongs us, either.”

Ser Harwin eyed you cautiously. “There will be others.”

“I know.”

Your betrothed was no fool. He was more than aware of the dangerous environment in which he lived.

Harwin was the oldest son of the Hand of the King… a position that the Queen’s father had been stripped of unceremoniously. Lord Lyonel Strong was loyal to three things: his family, the realm, and King Viserys. In that order. He could not be bought with money or promises of power, but he could be swayed by the well-being of his children. You were a lady in waiting to Princess Rhaenyra… and, dare you say it, a close friend. The Tyrells and Hightowers had struggled for power and influence in the Reach since Harlen Tyrell bent the knee to Aegon the Conqueror. When King Viserys passed, there would be little doubt as to where the support of House Tyrell would fall in the matter of succession, unless you were to sway it.

You were likely to have enemies rising against you individually. Once the two of you were wed, it would be a certainty. They’d come in troves.

“As you said earlier- ‘let them try’,” Harwin challenged. “I shall consider our wedding tomorrow the first of many victories against the shadows that work against us.”

The reaffirmation of the event that was set to begin in just a few hours brought to mind your reservations that you had discussed with Princess Rhaenyra the day before. You wondered if your love shared in your nerves. “Are you ready for it? … For the wedding, I mean.”

“In my heart, I have been ready since the day I realized you’d stolen it from me.”

You blushed.

“... In my mind, I may be a bit worried about blundering the vows in front of the High Septon.”

You laughed once, both amused and touched by his honesty.

“What about you, My Lady? Are you prepared?”

“For the vows? I believe so.”

Ser Harwin was an observant man- you’d never fault him that. He noticed the careful way you answered his question immediately, and the way at which you suddenly refused to meet his gaze.

“Something troubles you.” It was more of a statement than a question.

You bit your bottom lip gently, the nerves rushing back to you all at once. Still, you were an honest woman, and you knew Harwin deserved nothing less. “Yes.”

Your heart wrenched when a look of sadness flushed over his face. “Are you having doubts about this marriage, Lady Y/N?”

“No.” Your hand shot across the table, intertwining with one of his own to emphasize the gravity of your words. “Not at all.”

“Then what ails you, My Love?”

You struggled for a moment how to voice your concern diplomatically. But when you felt Hawin’s fingers tracing over the palm of your hand, you were hastily reminded of whom you were speaking to. His eyes held no judgment, only care.

“I do not have any doubts about marrying you,” you repeated firmly. “But I am a bit nervous as to what comes… after.”

Harwin’s face was blank. “The feast?”

“After the feast.”

“Oh.” Realization washed over his face like the incoming waves along the shoreline of Blackwater Bay. “Oh.”

You lowered your gaze bashfully. “Yes.”

Harwin’s grip on your hand tightened, encouraging you to look at him once more. “Do I make you nervous, My Love?”

Of course he did. But not in the way he was inferring about.

“I assure you, you need not worry about what will transpire tomorrow night. Nothing will happen between us that you do not wish to.”

Frustration brewed within you at his response, but you couldn’t quite figure out why. “But we have duties.”

It was expected that you would have children, so that the Strong line would be continued.

“We are young, and there is plenty of time for that yet,” Harwin reassured you. “Whether we decide to cross that path tomorrow night, or even five years from now, is no matter of concern to me.”

“And you would be happy?” you challenged playfully, though part of you feared his answer. “You would be happy with a wife of several years with whom you would not share a bed?”

“I would be happy, truly, as long as I am with you.”

…

You were taken aback. How did this man hold so much sway over you still? You had known him well for the better part of a year, and had grown even closer than you would have thought possible over the past several months. And yet, Ser Harwin still had the ability to leave you completely shocked by his openness with you. It was refreshing to see someone, especially a man, especially a man in King’s Landing, who was entirely unafraid to be vulnerable.

Perhaps there was a strength to be found in owning one’s truths, rather than hiding or denying them. Perhaps your betrothed was one of the most intelligent of them all.

“It is getting rather late,” Harwin said purposefully, having noted your prolonged silence. “I suppose I should retire, and allow you to get some rest for tomorrow.”

“If that is your wish.”

You could tell by the look on his face that it still was not.

You rose from your seat and walked over to him slowly. Harwin remained seated, though he watched you with great interest as you approached. He allowed you to place gentle hands on the sides of his head, letting out a soft sigh as you did so. You carefully tilted it slightly towards his left.

Your eyes raked over the nasty bruises that adorned the side of his neck. It was even more shocking in appearance now than it had been a few hours prior at the feast.

You felt like a spectator, lacking control of the situation as you watched your hand lower hesitantly. Careful fingers ran over the purpled skin, and the body it belonged to shivered beneath you.

“Does it hurt?” you asked worriedly, withdrawing immediately.

Ser Harwin reached out and captured your retreating hand with his own. “No,” he assured you readily. “... Not as much as it did.”

You nodded understandingly, and when he released your hand, your fingers returned to his neck. Though this time, you were more calculated with your movements. Your eyes fell to where the bruise disappeared beneath his collar. “There are others, aren’t there?”

He eyed you guardedly, unsure about your intentions. Still, he answered, “Yes.”

You weren’t sure what came over you. You had no idea what could have possibly compelled you to ask your next question. But you did. And later, you would thank yourself ten times over for your boldness.

“Can I see?”

Harwin looked at you in slight bewilderment, as if he was not sure he had heard you correctly. “You… want to see the rest of the bruises?”

“Yes.”

Harwin said nothing, his face emotionless. But his eyes were searching, seeking to discover what your motive was with your request.

“I’m sorry,” you said abruptly, having a moment of clarity. “Please, forget I said anything. I didn't mean to overstep-”

You were silenced by Harwin silently undoing the buttons of his doublet.

Taking a step back to allow him room, you watched in an entranced daze as his fingers undid each one, working with a familiar ease. Harwin’s attention was less on his work, and more on you, as he watched for your reaction. Once the garment was undone, he slipped the overcoat off his shoulders, and placed it down on the table before him. He was left in his under tunic shirt. Your eyes couldn’t help but hungrily drift towards the neck of it, where loose strings allowed even more of his skin to be exposed. Deft hands reached for the hem of that next, and a moment later, the fabric was pulled up and over his head. He slowly placed the shirt down atop of the other, while your eyes feasted.

A broad chest, and even broader shoulders, caught your attention first. From his shoulders, your eyes moved over to his arms, where muscle after muscle twitched slightly of their own accord. There was no doubt in your mind that Harwin had earned his nickname Breakbones, and the reputation of being the strongest man in all of the Seven Kingdoms, honestly and fairly. It was only just. Your eyes brazenly continued to trail downwards, where more defined muscles guarded what otherwise would be a vulnerable spot of one’s stomach for most anyone else.

Dark purple and red splotches littering his arms, chest, and even neck could do nothing to take away from his overall appearance.

You silently thanked the Gods for having been blessed with this man.

You were gawking this time- and you wouldn’t deny it even if Harwin asked.

But he didn’t. While you had been preoccupied with the view in front of your eyes, other than that of the city, you had failed to notice Harwin shifting in his seat. At first, you feared it might have been out of pain once again. But then you realized that his eyes were restless, fluttering just about everywhere else in the room but upon you. And another moment of clarity fell upon you.

He was nervous. A man blessed by the Gods in so many ways was unnerved under your perusing eyes. You had, abashedly, sent him into a similar state before. But none of those moments compared to the state he was in now. It both honored and scared you just how much power you held over the matter, but your thoughts on that could wait for a later time.

You didn’t have the heart to leave him in such a pained state any longer. Taking a step forward towards him, you closed the distance between you again. This forced him to look upwards at you. You only hoped that what he saw in your eyes was the same love and kindness which he’d always looked at you with.

Once you stood before him, you placed your hands on his neck once more. You could feel his pulse, rapid and unyielding, beneath your fingertips. In response, Harwin’s hands rose to rest gently upon either side of your waist. Feeling courageous, and perhaps a bit delirious with the lateness of the hour, you leaned downwards.

When your lips gently fell upon the bruise upon his neck, Harwin shuddered.

You proceeded to treat each bruise in this manner, trailing light fingers and leaving soft, faint wisps of kisses in their stead. As the bruises continued down his chest and arms, you calmly maneuvered to sit on Harwin’s lap, so as to make your ministrations that much easier for you. The kisses would do nothing for healing the wounds any faster physically, but perhaps they would be of benefit in spirit.

You were entirely truthful during conversation with Princess Rhaenyra at the tourney the previous morning, regarding your nervousness about the events that were to take place after your wedding. But those butterflies were long forgotten now. And the bruises littering the skin of the man you loved filled your head with images of him throughout the tourney… How was it that you had described your feelings about him then?

Desirous.

Once you had treated every bruise with the care it deserved, you sat up straight, looking deeply into Harwin’s eyes. His hands, one on the small of your back, and the other upon your knee so as to hold you securely in place, felt white hot. You were uncertain of what to do next, but he did not leave you wondering for long. He leant forward, burying his face into the side of your neck instead.

His lips attacked your neck with fervor, and you smiled upwards towards the gods. While the attention felt absolutely lovely, a tickled laugh threatened to escape from your lips. As it were, a giggle slipped out instead. “Harwin.”

Upon hearing his name, he froze, snapped out of the moment he had gotten caught up in. He pulled away from you, looking uncertain once more. “My sincerest apologies, My Lady.”

“No apologies needed, My Lord.”

The two of you sat there for several moments, but this time, the silence was not a comfortable one. Nor was it uncomfortable. It simply felt alive. The need for more hung heavily in the air, but the question of whether the need would be appeased remained unanswered.

“Perhaps we should end the night here,” Harwin said, though he sounded down-trodden.

“Perhaps,” you agreed, your mind already daring to wonder about what would happen if anyone learned of this night, even without it proceeding any further than it already had.

“... Do you wish to continue?”

“Yes,” you answered truthfully, not skipping a beat. “Do you?”

“Yes.”

You cradled the sides of his face and allowed yourself to momentarily be lost in the feeling of your fingers running through the strands of his soft curls. “You know, we are to be wed tomorrow…”

“That is right,” he considered, picking up on your hint immediately. “We are…”

There was a beat of silence.

But then you leaned in, and Harwin met you halfway. The kiss that followed was full of longing. Passion and lust needlessly fought for dominance of a battle they both could win. Harwin shot up from his seat, pulling you up and into his arms. The legs of the chair he’d been sitting in groaned in protest at the sudden movement, and you let out a surprised yelp.

He carried you across the room with ease and without a word. Another laugh escaped you as Harwin unceremoniously dropped you onto the bed. A fraction of a moment later, he joined you on the mattress, crawling on top of you in a manner that, had it been anyone else, would have left you feeling afraid. But, as it was him, you found it to be terribly seductive.

When he came face to face with you, he paused. His weight rested on his hands, which were on each side of your head. A brief flash of the scene earlier that evening crossed your mind at the familiarity of it, but you were pulled from the disturbing thoughts by Harwin’s gentle voice.

“If, at any point, you do not wish to continue-”

You placed a soft finger on his lips, silencing him. “If that is true, I will speak it at once… but only if you agree to the same.”

Harwin looked incredibly moved. In lieu of a verbal confirmation, he took your hand and pressed several soothing kisses on the palm of it.

When Harwin pressed his lips to yours once more, the nerves you felt about the evening of the following day were proven to be unnecessary. There would be a give and take- where one felt uncertain, the other would summon the courage to take the lead. But the trust you had in one another made for the best spent evening you could ever recall thus far.

Come the morrow, you would look forward to a lifetime of evenings spent the same.

Several firm knocks echoed throughout the room.

You awoke with a start, clutching the duvet to your chest.

It was daylight. A few hours into the morning, at least, from what you could tell of the sunlight streaming into the room and the birds chirping outside. The city of King’s Landing was cloaked in darkness no more.

You pulled the duvet closer to you in an effort to gather your bearings more quickly, but something about the material on your skin felt a bit off. You looked downwards with a confused frown, seeing that you were not wearing your usual shift, but something else entirely.

A chill woke you from your slumber.

“Here.”

You opened your eyes, and were immediately met with the sight of fabric. With a small, tired grumble, you mustered the strength to sit up, at least partially.

Harwin took the opportunity to swiftly slide his under tunic shirt over you. As your arms slipped into the sleeves, the scent of the fabric filled your nostrils. Unsurprisingly, it smelled overwhelmingly like him. You wanted nothing more than to burrow yourself inside of it.

Another few knocks sounded out.

“Y/N?” someone called.

“Are you awake?” called another.

The Strong sisters. They’d come to help prepare you for the wedding ceremony, as they had previously promised they would. At first, you felt touched by their offer, and were glad to be getting along well with the girls who would soon be your Good Sisters. But now, you felt horrified. They couldn’t see you in this, clothed in their brother’s shirt!

At least Harwin had had the sense to sneak out at some point… Gods know what a scene it all would have been then.

Panicked, you threw the duvet off of you, and scurried onto the floor. You scrambled around the room, this way and that, looking for your shift frantically. When you did not immediately find it, you realized why Harwin had opted to put his own shirt over you instead.

In a far corner of the room- only the gods know how it may have feasibly gotten there- you finally found it. More knocks sounded on the door as you hurriedly swapped the shirt for the light gown.

“Just a moment!” you called back, dropping the shirt to the floor beside the bed and pushing it under the frame and out of view with your foot.

You smoothed your hair over with your fingers rapidly in an attempt to tidy any out of place hairs. But you knew, at least to a certain extent, that you did not look well-rested in the slightest.

Once you were as settled as you could be, you called out, “Come in!”

Lady Lilyan and Lady Eyla opened the door to your chambers and filed in, one after the other, promptly. They both were already dressed for the ceremony, wearing lovely gowns that had been tailored specifically for the occasion. Their hair was styled carefully as well, done up in a style similar to what they usually wore, with the exception of a few intricate braids here and there. You suspected those additions had been the results of inspiration from the Princess the three of you served.

Once the door was closed, they turned to you, and their jaws dropped.

“Lady Y/N, are you feeling well?” Eyla inquired with wide eyes. “You look like you just climbed out of bed!”

Lilyan shot her a disapproving look for her unnecessary critique. “Eyla!”

Sensing a quarrel brewing between them, you quickly insisted, “She is right- I only just rose.”

Eyla frowned. “I am sorry to hear that. Was it nerves that kept you from resting?”

You cleared your throat, having never been a particularly good liar. “Something like that.”

The three of you proceeded to work in tandem to prepare you for the ceremony. Lilyan, who had been tasked with keeping your dress for safekeeping, set the garment upon your bed, while Eyla assisted you with finding the proper various underskirts.

“You were not jesting, were you?” Lilyan asked you, eyeing the significantly disheveled sheets on your bed with disbelief. “It looks like you must have tossed and turned the whole night!”

Your eyes flicked over to the bed worriedly, but Lilyan’s reaction seemed genuine, and not suspicious in the slightest.

Another comfortable silence had fallen over the pair of you, now sated mentally, emotionally, and, most recently, physically.

Your fingers tapped idly across Harwin’s bare chest. He watched the small movements of your dancing fingers with adoration.

Once you were dressed, Eyla set about finding your brush. Lilyan worked on tightening the back laces of your dress.

A few more knocks sounded on the door.

You weren’t expecting anyone else, but still, you called out, “Come in!”

The door opened, revealing none other than Princess Rhaenyra.

“My Lady!” Eyla exclaimed, displaying shock on behalf of all three of you. She moved to curtsy, but the Princess waved her off politely as she shut the door behind herself.

“Forgive me, I didn't mean to intrude.”

“You are most welcome, as always, Your Grace,” you answered.

Princess Rhaenyra still looked a little uneasy, which was out of character for her. But she pushed through it, and crossed the room to approach you. Eyla was having a bit of difficulty locating the hairbrush, and to be honest, you couldn’t entirely recall where you’d last left it. Lilyan decided to assist her sister in finding the reclusive instrument, which left you and the Princess alone for a moment.

“I remembered how nervous you were two mornings past,” Princess Rhaenyra explained, speaking in a hushed tone so as to keep the conversation as private as possible. “And, given the events of last night, I just wanted to make sure that you were-”

She paused, and her eyes dropped to the floor. You followed suit. Your gut sank as you saw Princess Rhaenyra’s shoe had made contact with the sleeve of your betrothed’s shirt. Evidently, you hadn’t kicked it underneath the bed nearly far enough. The Princess was not daft; you knew any excuse you could craft in order to explain why Ser Harwin’s shirt was in your quarters the morning before your wedding would not be believed.

You looked back up at her with fear.

But Princess Rhaenyra was not appalled. In fact, she looked very amused.

“Are you feeling better today, Lady Y/N?” she asked pointlessly, not bothering to tame her knowing smirk.

“Dearest?”

Harwin, whose eyes had closed in content, was suddenly alert. “Hm?”

“Will you promise me something?”

“Anything.”

“Stay with me.”

His head tilted towards the side with confusion. “We are to be wed-”

“No,” you interrupted, wanting- no, needing- to get your point across. “I know we will be husband and wife. But even the bond of marriage does not guarantee those involved will love, or even care, for one another.”

Most others in either of your positions were not so fortunate as to have been arranged to marry someone they loved. You hoped the day where one of you no longer loved the other would never come… but if it did, there would be no separating you. And any enemies the two of you had would only revel in that fact.

“Promise me that you’ll stay with me.”

Harwin looked thoughtful. “Nothing, save your command, would ever part me from you.”

You smiled sadly. You wanted to believe him, and you did. But people changed. The thought of him finding comfort in the arms of another woman was almost too much to bear.

“You do not believe me.” It wasn’t a question.

“I believe that that is your truth at this moment.”

Harwin sighed, though it was not out of anger. “Very well… How about we make a vow? And if I break my promise, you shall have every right to dispose of me as you see fit,” he proposed. Then, as an afterthought, he joked, “I would not haunt you… even though the other spirits of Harrenhal might.”

You wanted to laugh at his joke, but you were far too interested in the point he was attempting to make. “And what is this ‘vow’ you suggest?”

“From this day-“

“It’s night, Dearest.”

“I believe that is the sun rising, My Love.”

You glanced over at the balcony. On the horizon, a faint ray of light lingered. He was right.

“From this day,” Harwin continued amusedly but with purpose, “until the end of my days, I am yours, and you are mine.”

“... Are those not the words we will exchange in a few hours time?”

“Yes, but those will be more for our families’ sake than our own.”

You teased, “I’m not sure the gods see it that way-”

“-These words, here at this moment, are for us.”

One look at his face told you all you needed to know. There were no witnesses, and yet, you had little doubt that Harwin meant the words as he said them now, to you and you alone.

“Yes,” you agreed, fighting to control your voice as emotions threatened to disrupt it. “I am yours, and you are mine. From this day-”

“-Until the end of our days.”

Harwin punctuated the end of your vows to one another with a kiss. Though you still felt the faintest trace of desire behind it, what was more striking to you was the sense of pure, uninhibited love it left you with.

“I am feeling much, much better, Your Grace.”

Lady Lilyan and Lady Eyla were none the wiser to the entire exchange.

Still smiling, the Princess cleared her throat. To the other ladies in the room, she said, “Now… How is it that you plan to style her hair?”

For how long your courtship and betrothal seemed to drag on, you wished the few hours leading up the ceremony had felt the same.

Unfortunately, in what seemed like little time at all, the carriage arrived before the Great Sept of Baelor. The Strong sisters exited first, before assisting you to do the same. Once you were out in the open air, you took a deep breath. The low chimes of the bells of the Sept filled the air.

You glanced behind you, aware of the commotion the carriage and escorting guards traveling through the narrow alleyways of King’s Landing must have caused.

Curious eyes of many of the city folk were upon you. It wasn’t every day a wedding took place in the Great Sept- much less one attended by King Viserys and the rest of the royal family.

Once you entered through the large doors, someone flocked to you immediately.

“You look beautiful, Sister.”

Derron looked dashing himself, but you could tell his overindulgence of wine the prior evening may have been dampening his mood. Still, he pushed through. He smiled at you warmly, taking you in for a moment.

“Just like mother,” he decided, lost in some distant memory. Then, suddenly upbeat, he added, “She would be so proud. Father would be too.”

The mention of your father made your heart wrench. In an effort to stave off tears, you grabbed his hand, and kissed his cheek.

The Strong sisters excused themselves, and wished you good fortune before heading further into the Sept. You watched them leave.

The rest of the guests were already waiting inside. You could see them quite well from where you stood. In one of the front rows, you could see the backs of the silvery blonde hair of the royal family, save the Queen, on one side. On the other, you could see the Lord Hand, standing right beside his other son. Lilyan and Eyla joined the two of them quickly. Besides the Strongs, you could see your aunt, cousin, and few other distant family members among the crowd…

As if he had read your mind, Derron said, “They are here with us.”

You knew exactly what he meant. “I know.”

…

The green and gold cloak over your shoulders felt incredibly heavy. Though you knew it to be no heavier than your gown, as you walked down the aisle, you gripped your brother’s arm tightly, fearful that the weight of it might bring you down to the floor.

You couldn’t bring yourself to look at any of the guests as you passed. There would be time to speak with them later.

At that moment, there was only one person who mattered to you. And it was him that you looked to.

Harwin stood atop the first flight of stairs at the end of the aisle. Seeing him, standing there patiently, watching your every move so diligently made you want to do little else but to run straight to him.

Alas, you could not.

When you reached the stairs, you withdrew your arm from Derron’s, and he withdrew the cloak from around your shoulders. You gave him a small smile as he retreated, backing down from the altar to stand beside Lord Lyonel.

You grabbed the arm you knew would be waiting for you, though you did not look at it. You allowed it to guide your feet forward, up a few more stairs. Then, you stopped.

With a brief flourish of fabric, a new cloak was placed over your shoulders. The fabric was of blue, red, and green; the colors of House Strong. Fingers lingered on your shoulders for just a few moments longer than they should have- but you were certain you were the only one to have noticed. Only then did you look at Harwin once more.

The look in your betrothed’s eyes made you want to melt into the floor. And you would have right then and there, had his hand not grasped yours immediately after.

Your eyes remained locked as you raised your intertwined hands, presenting them before the High Septon and the rest of the audience.

“Who has come before the eyes of the Seven?”

“Y/N of House Tyrell.”

“Harwin of House Strong.”

“Have you come before the Seven of your own fruition, without the will or force of another upon you, with the intent of pledging yourself to the other?”

“Yes.”

“Let it be known that Y/N of House Tyrell and Harwin of House Strong are of one heart, one flesh, one soul. Cursed be he who would seek to tear them asunder!”

Yes, you agreed happily. Cursed be they!

The mischievous look across Harwin’s face suggested that he must have had a similar thought. You bit your lip to stifle a laugh.

The High Septon either did not notice, or chose to pay it no mind. He proceeded to wrap your hands together with jeweled fabric used only for this purpose.

“In the sight of the Seven, I hereby seal these two souls, binding them together as one for eternity… Now, look upon the other, and say the words.”

When it came to the vows, Harwin needn’t have been so worried about forgetting them. He recalled them perfectly, as did you. It was an amazing feat, considering when you looked into his eyes, your mind was suddenly devoid of all other thoughts. In hindsight, and considering how little of the actual ceremony you were able to recall, it felt like a dream.

But, as you were in the moment, you were absolutely certain of the existence of three things: Harwin, you, and your shared future.

“Father. Smith. Warrior. Mother. Maiden. Crone. Stranger.”

“-I am hers-”

“-and he is mine-”

“-from this day-”

“-until the end of my days.”

…

Until the end of our days.

...

Whatever transpired next, whether you were to be struck by misfortune decided upon by the gods, or if you were to fall prey to wicked schemes that had not yet been devised, you and Harwin would have each other. You would face whatever came your way together, as one.

And you would both be that much stronger for it.

A/N: Thank you for reading!🖤 I only had one more part after this planned for the story originally, but now I’m thinking of at least 1-2 more chapters on top of that, just to carry out through the rest of HOTD season 1... so feel free to let me know what you think about that!

Also, I had some major problems with tagging, etc today... so I apologize about that. I’ll address it in a separate post.

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chatonnoir · 2 years ago

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hi i wanted to let you know i have been into miraculous literally since PV days but have strayed from the fandom since around season 2-3 when "salt" stuff started getting really popular. i was tired of seeing my favorites being mangled beyond recognition to fit some weird revenge fantasy, so i just stopped. recently though i missed the blorbos. its people like you who genuinely love the show and the characters that have made my more recent experiences incredibly lovely and fulfilling. thank u :]

Aw thank you honey :’) truly as someone who got a little in to ML in 2016 and enjoyed the cute fan content and saw how much fans praised it but didn't keep up with it, only to come back to it a couple of seasons later and see how insane the fandom had become over those few years .... it is truly exhausting and baffling to see what people do to the show now. Ig this is the danger of too much self-projection and a lack of critical thinking. Even people who claimed to be done with the show in season 4 continue to run blogs obsessed with """criticizing""" the show for the stupidest and most petty things possible on a daily basis, instead of just ... walking away from it if it doesn’t appeal to them anymore. It can really give you a headache.

But it all makes me think of that one quote from the end of Ratatouille (the movie which is indisputably Pixar Animation Studios' magnum opus): "the bitter truth we critics must face, is that in the grand scheme of things, the average piece of junk is probably more meaningful than our criticism designating it so." ML as a show means so much to so many people of all age groups and backgrounds across the world. ML is far more meaningful and loved and contributes far more to the world than any random schmuck's salt post/fic/comic/video essay about it on the internet. ML is a sweet show! It's a cute and fun show! It's a kind show about emotions and relationships (platonic and romantic) and the power of love but isn’t designated as a Girls Show(TM), as shows with these themes often are, so boys are watching it too! And it shows us a male superhero being soft and sensitive and a hopeless romantic and in touch with his emotions without shame and a female superhero who loves him for it! Which is so important!

Similar kids cartoons when I was growing up, things like Danny Phantom, always had the romance as not an A or B or even a C plot but basically a Z plot. Literally on the back burner. An afterthought. Not something that was created out of passion and a belief that the characters would love each other and rather just thrown in because a main heterosexual relationship for the protagonist Has to be there, for some reason. Romantic moments would be limited to The Romance Episode(TM), wherein the "romantic development" is just like ... the characters accidentally held hands or kissed or something, and would often boil down to "this boy and girl are friends so OBVIOUSLY they have to like each other," without ever really showing me why they actually love each other. And don't get me started on allll the pieces of media with a forced heterosexual romance that is little more than "this male and female character have romantic and sexual tension because they're a male and female character." Or all the pieces of animated kids media where the main male character immediately likes the main female character because she's The Pretty One (As much as I love ATLA and k/ataang, even ATLA did this in the first episode). This all always felt so lacking to me as someone who was so enamored by love even as a kid.

Then comes along ML. Chat Noir didn't fall for Ladybug because he saw her and was taken with how she was Pretty. We know he thinks she's beautiful but he was completely unaffected by this fact when he first met her!!! It wasn't until he saw her stand up to evil that he fell for her! A male character falling for a female character not because Wow She Pretty but because of her bravery and cleverness and determination to stand up to evil and do good? That shouldn't be groundbreaking but it is!!! And it's beautiful!!! And Marinette didn't fall for Adrien because he was The Hot Guy or The Cool Hero or just because he's the male character and she's the female character so she just Has To. She fell for him when she saw his vulnerability and kindness!!! I would've LOVED to have grown up with a show like ML.

God the romance? I’ve never seen so much delicious Yearning in any other western kid’s cartoon. The door scene? Hoowee.... The way each of them so desperately wants the other to see both sides of them. The ending scene of Glaciator, when Ladybug is supposed to be “rejecting” Chat Noir and Chat Noir is supposed to be giving her a platonic cheek kiss, and yet it’s one of the sweetest and most utterly romantic scenes in the show. The sad undertone of Ladynoir, of being best friends but not being able to know a single thing about each other’s lives. The pure romance of the umbrella scene. The coup de foudre.

And it doesn't matter if the episode is romance-centric or not because ML has given us a male and female hero duo with so much genuine love and affection for each other that it's palpable in every episode from the very first season (especially if you’re watching in French lmao). Just... the sweet way they talk to each other, where you can hear their fondness for each other in their voices. The way they tease and roast each other. The petnames. The way they support and protect and take care of each other in and out of battles (specific moments like Ladybug looking after and reassuring Scaredy-cat Chat Noir in Reverser and Chat Noir putting Ladybug’s yo-yo over her mouth for her so she could breathe underwater in Truth make me so insane). The whole concept of “them against the world.” The way that even while loving Ladybug, Chat Noir has no problem telling her when he disagrees with her. The way they will have disagreements/conflicts that are completely in line with their established character traits and weaknesses, but aren’t able to stay mad at each other for more than a minute because of their softness for each other, and always come back from it because above all else they care about and love each other. It’s so unmatched. That’s love bitch

Speaking of how their conflicts are completely in line with their established character traits and weaknesses - the characters are incredibly deep and human and consistently written with motivations and personalities and flaws that all make so much sense! And they’ve developed so much since the start of the show! And the two protagonists mean so much to and resonate with so many people, kids and adults alike. Plenty of people have gone in to the depth of Adrien’s character and why he’s meaningful to people for paragraphs on end so I won’t repeat that, but I rarely see people talking about the beauty of Marinette’s character so I just have to point out like... A female superhero who is not a Strong Flawless Girlboss Who Needs No Man but one who is basically a female Peter Parker? A female superhero who is awkward around her crush and kind of Ridiculous and a hopeless romantic who makes stupid lovestruck faces at pictures of said crush and likes girly things and the color pink and wants to hold her boy’s hand and barely has her shit together and sometimes makes bad choices but is ultimately trying her best to balance her Great Power and Great Responsibility with her civilian life and relationships? Like, I’m not in to comics so sorry if this is inaccurate because I’m only pulling from Spider-Verse, but even Marvel’s attempt at making a girl Spider-Man through Spider-Gwen made her this cool badass with an undercut. I don’t want another Black Widow or Captain Marvel or whatever!!!! I love that ML basically gave us a female Spider-Man who is just as much of a complete disaster as Peter Parker was (talking specifically about Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield versions). I love the way both Peter and Marinette fuck up and make mistakes and bad choices and struggle to balance their two lives and accidentally end up hurting or pushing away the people who are close to them while they’re trying so hard to do what they think is right and protect the people they love with no real guidance. The loneliness of keeping their identities a secret through all that knowing that one slip up could put everyone they love in grave danger. Not to mention Marinette’s very blatant neurodivergent coding that is so clear in everything she does? Seeing her ADHD brain basically become her strength when she’s Ladybug through the bizarre connections she can make with random objects in a split second, just like how someone with ADHD would go on seemingly bizarre and random tangents mid-conversation because their brain latched on to something and quickly made a whole bunch of connections in a short amount of time while the other person was talking? Chef’s fucking kiss baby.

And I love the episodic adventures format!!!! Lots of people do!!!! The rewatch value of every episode is so good!!! Not everything has to be a 10-ep-per-season HBO drama where each 1 hour long episode is solely focused on moving the plot? People who ask for which episodes are important and which ones are “filler” that they can skip when starting ML are so weird. The fun of ML is watching all of Ladybug and Chat Noir’s fun adventures together in every episode? I love watching them just Being Ladybug and Chat Noir while they fight bad guys and have their banter. Episodes can just be Fun!!! Episodes can just exist to BE fun and silly or to explore a specific friendship or relationship rather than being focused on the main villain plot and that’s not a flaw!!!!

tl;dr: ML is a fun and cute show with very relatable, human characters and shows a beautiful, deep, powerful loving relationship between its male and female superhero leads that a lot of similar cartoons and even movies aimed at adults can’t pull off and a lot of people genuinely love this show because of it.

#answers #ml sugar #miraculous ladybug

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summercourtship · 3 years ago

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could i get a michael, danny and frank with a s/o that has a oral fixation? like, they love to bite and have things in their mouth. sfw or nsfw is okay, ty!! good luck on ur blog!! :3c

Thank you!! I’m sorry for the slightly delayed response- I was at work for most of today but that did give me time to Think About This.

I did these with the oral fixation revolving around fingers just because I think in the Entity’s realm it’d be the most likely, given the lack of other items that would easily fit the bill. And I like hands. I didn’t mean for this to lean as heavily NSFW as it did, but we’re here now and that’s that. I’m still trying to figure out exactly how I want to do these types of posts, so please be patient with me whilst I figure it all out.

ORAL FIXATION:

Michael Myers, Danny Johnson (Ghostface), Frank Morrison (Legion) | Warnings: Mature topics, sexual themes, dom/sub dynamics, knifeplay, my stupid glove kink

MICHAEL

The least likely to actually care. He doesn’t care about anything unless it directly affects him. And even then, it takes a lot for him to truly care.

This doesn’t mean, however, that he doesn’t notice. Of course he notices- he notices everything. Especially when it comes to you.

You can’t see it, but his eyes will linger on your mouth, on whatever it is you have resting between your lips.

He’s curious about it- why you seem to constantly have something in your mouth, why you don’t even seem to really notice you do it most of the time.

It’s only when your finger finds its way between your lips that he does something about it, even acknowledges that he’s noticed that you do this. And due to the nature of the Entity’s realm and the scarcity of worldly possessions, this is more common than not.

It’s not that he thinks you’re doing it on purpose to rile him up- he’s observed you enough to know that you do it even when you don’t realize he’s watching.

He will pull your hand away from your mouth, staring at it for a moment before dragging you to the nearest surface (even if that is the ground) to bend you over and fuck you.

He’s just that kinda guy- 0 to 100, always DTF, no build-up necessary for him

probably wouldn’t do anything to directly feed into your fixation.

Unless, of course, it benefits him.

DANNY

The most likely to understand (he chewed pens, remember) but still be condescending towards you for it. Aw, baby needs something to occupy their mouth, huh? I can give you something much better than your little finger.

He, unlike Michael, definitely thinks that you do it to entice him, even though he knows you do it all the time. He’s just a narcissist like that.

But it also doesn’t help that once you are aware he’s watching, you play it up a little bit. Being a bit more salacious than is necessary, doing things now for this little game you play not because of your fixation.

I’m not saying that you should totally suck on his fingers instead of your own but I am. Why else would he even wear leather gloves???

Likes to press down on your tongue every now and then to exert his control over you- you’re only allowed to enjoy yourself when he says so, got it?

The gloves taste like leather and blood, which is both disgusting and incredibly intoxicating.

Would finger you with the digits you just sucked on. It would be a waste not to, right? You got them all ready for him to use!

Would definitely suggest oral cockwarming because he’s a disgusting man.

FRANK

The most likely to make a gross joke- “haha, I can give you something nice to suck on-” you know, that kind of thing. He’s a dickhead.

But he would also try to dissuade you from putting anything dangerous or unsanitary in your mouth. And yes, that does include motor oil stained fingers from working on gens.

However, if it’s his knife and he’s doing it? Then it’s okay, no matter how bloody or dirt-encrusted the blade is. He still cares more about his gratification than your safety, just not as much as Danny.

He’ll tap the tip of the knife against your bottom lip, practically inviting you to lick or, if you’re feeling brave (reckless) enough, suck it.

But, despite thinking that this was probably one of the hottest things he’d seen in a long time, he wouldn’t do anything that could harm you too badly.

If just so that he could convince you to do this again and not worry about you mentioning “that time you cut my cheek open” or “the time you almost split my tongue in half”.

It’s not like he has to fear you dying from your injuries if that does happen- you’ll just come back anyway.

#ah my glove kink shows up once more #michael myers x reader #michael myers #danny johnson x reader #danny jed olsen johnson #ghostface x reader #ghostface dbd #frank morrison #frank morrison x reader #legion x reader #legion dbd #dbd x reader #slasher x reader #slasher x you #scenario #my writing #ask #request #bullet points

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blazehedgehog · 1 year ago

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Hey @staff if you want to make tumblr easier to browse how about you actually make search work properly

How about you stop pushing Tumblr towards needing to be logged in even to just view posts

"Oh we're making it so you have to be logged in to submit anonymous asks to a person's ask box so we can better combat harassment." Don't lie to me. Tumblr already had options to deal with this, including the fact the blog could just turn off anonymous asks if they did not want to risk being open to the public. There are more elegant ways to solve that problem and you went with the clumsy one because it aligned with where you already want to go.

How about you actually fix and improve the new post editor? How many years has that thing been in development, now? And despite it having some cool new features, the old post editor is still infinitely more reliable for things like selecting blocks of text. We've had computer text editors basically since the 1960's. What's your excuse?

How about you stop pushing people away from the public version of my blog with my customized theme and towards your generic, homogenized, one-size-fits-all, you-only-get-to-customize-two-colors, you-have-to-log-in-to-read-it internal blog view?

I literally just submitted a bug report for the Android version of Tumblr after the app failed to keep a queued post in the queue. Editing that post on my tablet caused it to instantly go public at 2am instead of at my normal queued posting time. Did you know I've never once gotten the help I needed from tumblr support? It doesn't matter if I'm reporting a real actual bug or just airing my complaints about the state of the site, nobody over there has ever understood my needs or done anything about it. Ever.

I've had this blog since 2009. I could have told you I was bleeding out on the street and the only reply your support staff would give me is "Can you send me a screenshot of what you're seeing?"

Not even nine months ago you were proud to be different from all the other social media sites. Now you want us to spend money on meme merch you didn't even invent. Including $7.99 on teeny tiny jpegs next to our usernames.

And now this. This, above everything else, was your priority. This "makes tumblr easier to use." Forgive me if I don't trust you, and have never trusted you, and will never trust you.

We're going to learn that when Elon Musk fired 99.8% of Twitter's development team, a bunch of them ended up on Tumblr @staff and are the reason we're suffering this UI redesign, aren't we.

#tumblr #twitter

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dameronscopilot · 2 years ago

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Hello, love! I'm loving all the asks on your blog today and I was wondering if you had any dad!benny hcs or ideas you'd like to share?

Hi hi hello! Thank you for coming to hang out (and I hope you're having a lovely weekend) 🥰! I was hoping somebody would ask to talk about this because my heart literally explodes at the mere thought of dad!Benny.

Dad!Benny Miller

As soon as you find out that you're pregnant, Benny would launch into full-out Dad Mode™. Like, you get home from work the next day, and he basically went out and bought every single baby-proofing item that he could possibly find at the store. (Frankie and Santi hate coming to your house now because neither of them can figure out how the fuck to open anything since the entire damn house is baby-proofed.)

Not only does Benny come to all of your prenatal classes with you, but this man takes notes.

Benny turns into a full-fledged mother hen while you're pregnant and refuses to let you do anything that's even remotely taxing on your body in any way. ("Babe, no. Let me open that banana for you.")

When you first bring her home, she's so tiny in Benny's large hands. He's so so so careful with her, and for a while, he walks around the house with his voice pitched down to a perpetual whisper.

Half the time, when you wake up in the middle of the night to feed, you find Benny passed out sleeping in the chair beside your daughter's crib.

Benny will gladly be your daughter's muse whenever she wants to have a field day doing his hair and putting makeup on his face.

He watches YouTube videos to try and learn how to put her hair in pigtails and braids. He's absolutely terrible at it. Your daughter loves it, and whenever you offer to do her hair instead, she stomps her feet and says she wants her dad to do it.

Benny definitely walks around the house singing all the silly theme songs to your daughter's favorite tv shows (even when she's at school).

He loves carrying her around on his shoulders, and she always steals his hats (even if they're huge on her little head).

Benny is literally the worst at saying no to her. The w o r s t. Like, there's no such thing as "Pick one toy" at the store for him. It's "Okay well as long as it all fits in the trunk"

He absolutely teaches her how to burp. And how to properly punch any little boys that bully her in school.

» BENNY MILLER MASTERLIST

#answers from the cockpit #copilot sleepover #benny miller #benny miller x reader #ben miller #triple frontier

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kp-alice · 3 years ago

Text

Of lace and leather.

An Ateez reaction to their s/o buying cute things for them to wear during sex

Request: I would like to request an Ateez reaction to their partner buying them cute-ish clothing (maid dress, stockings, harness, etc) to wear during sex? (This is just me thirsty for maid dress on Seonghwa)

Genre: suggestive, fluff, a bit of angst in Yeosang’s reaction

Word count: 5 907

Warnings: nsfw themes, crossdressing, collars, chokers, etc., implied fem!reader

A/N: This reaction was originally requested on my other blog, @seohwang. However, as it’s more of an nsfw sub!idol reaction, I’ve decided to put it here instead. Hope you don’t mind, anon!

A/N 2: Also, not going to lie, this got me so fucking excited, I can’t. I went onto Pinterest for some inspiration and oh god this was so much fun. Thank you for the request ♥

Disclaimer: most of these pictures include very light-skinned and skinny people. I wanted to include some more diverse models, but it seems like Pinterest just doesn’t do that. It’s the same thing as most of these clothes being worn by women, even though this is meant to be about the boys wearing them. Don’t think that these highly edited photos are what I consider to be the standard of how you or anyone should look. Clothes don’t pertain to gender, size, or race.

Hongjoong

Not to sexualize school girls (because lord knows that’s already been done enough), but Hongjoong would definitely rock the stereotypical school girl-esque outfit and just skirts in general

Now, he had definitely thought about trying on a skirt before, but he was too scared of anyone catching him or just “feeling weird”, as he put it

So, when you did bring it up one evening, he was a blushing mess

In typical Hongjoong fashion, he absolutely denied liking the idea, chuckling nervously as he tried to brush away your questions and change the topic

But you knew better than that, and if the way he suddenly got all blushy and fidgety in his seat told you something, it was that he was thinking quite the opposite of what he was telling you

And so, you decided to take matters into your own hands and just risk it

You even made sure the outfit would fit Hongjoong’s preferences in terms of colors and patterns, hoping it would help you persuade him

And my god, when the package finally came a few days later, it was absolutely perfect

You couldn’t wait to see him try it on, but you knew better than to just shove it in his face immediately

He did seem really embarrassed by your suggestion, after all, and the last thing you wanted was to scare him off even further

Which meant that, unfortunately, you’d have to wait just a little bit longer

You made sure to properly hide the clothes, putting them away in your dresser while you waited for a good moment to bring it up again

And that moment just so happened to be a romantic, stay-at-home dinner a few days later

It was mostly a spur of the moment thing, really

Hongjoong had been working insanely hard for a while now, and you wanted to help him ease his mind a bit and show him how much you appreciated all his efforts

He was finally approaching the end of his project after countless hours of work, and he couldn’t be happier

And also very tired, of course, but still extremely proud and happy about the accomplishment

So, when he called you one evening, excitedly telling you about how the last track was finally done and ready to hand in, you couldn’t help but share his happiness

And, to make things even nicer for the both of you, you decided to surprise him with his favorite food for dinner, ready for him to eat just as he got home

By the end of the night he was beaming, feeling like today couldn’t have gotten any better

If only he knew it was just the beginning...

You suddenly stood up from your chair, telling him to go to the bedroom as you collected all of the plates and cutlery from the table

Albeit a bit confused, he obeyed without a word, making his way into the bedroom

There, he sat on the bed, waiting for you to come and join him

At last, the door to the bedroom opened again, and in came you

You, with a small, mischievous smile on your lips

Hongjoong wanted to ask you what all this meant, but before he could even try, you just told him to close his eyes, effectively shutting him up

You rummaged through your clothes for a bit, making Hongjoong shuffle nervously on the bed

Just as he was about to try to speak up again, you told him he could look now, which he did immediately

What he wasn’t prepared for, however, was the sight of a pretty skirt and shirt dangling right in front of him, along with what appeared to be...stockings?

“Tada! What do you think?” You asked, watching his big eyes examine the clothes

“What do I- well, um, I think it’s nice? I-I’m sure it will look good on you, babe,” he stuttered out, knowing fully well that your intentions were a lot different

“Oh, come on now. You know this isn’t for me, don’t you? I know you want to try this as much as I do, Joongie,” you said, making Hongjoong blush

You were right

Fuck, you were so right

You always were, after all

“Be good and put this on for me, hm?” You beckoned in a sweet voice while putting the clothes into his lap, helping him hide the obvious tent in his pants

Realizing you’d definitely noticed the effect you had on him, he quietly cursed to himself, knowing he had been caught by you yet again

After a few seconds of suspenseful silence, he stood up, refusing to meet your gaze as he held the clothes in his hands

“...fine,” he muttered, clutching the fabric closer to his chest as he made his way past you and into the bathroom

He didn’t even have to look at you to know you were smiling, all too amused by his adorable embarrassment

You didn’t want to let him go that easily, however, stopping him mid-walk to press a quick kiss to his temple

“There you go, my good boy,” you whispered in his ear, letting him go with a shiver running down his spine

Seonghwa

He would definitely fit the bunny/kitten maid trope

And honestly, I think he would just love the black and white aesthetic in general

It was actually mostly his idea, since he was the one to mention it first

One night, as you were lying in bed, scrolling on your phones before going to sleep, he turned to you, calling out your name softly

You turned to him, giving him a small hum to show him you were listening

He would show you his phone screen, making you lift your eyes from your own device

And that’s when you finally registered the dozens of different maid outfits and accessories on the screen, making your cheeks turn red instantly

“Do you think any of these would look good on me?” He asked with a sly smile, watching your reaction amusedly

“Y-yeah? I think you would look great in them, why?” You managed to get out, still too taken aback by the sudden topic, especially since he brought it up with such an innocent look in his eyes

“Nothing, just wondering.”

And that was that.

Just as fast as it began, the conversation would end there, none of you elaborating further on the topic (aside from your confused chuckle as you turned back to your phone)

Until now

You stood by the bed in your shared bedroom, the freshly unpacked maid dress splayed out on the sheets, along with a pretty pair of white stockings

You smiled to yourself, already loving the mental image of Seonghwa wearing this just for you

You could already see the shy, bashful smile on his lips, along with a faint red tint on his cheeks as he would show it off to you

With that in mind, you went to the living room where Seonghwa was currently sitting on the couch, watching the TV absentmindedly

You called out his name, to which he turned his head to you, greeting you with a warm smile

Until he saw what you were holding, that is

His jaw dropped in surprise, a dark blush spreading across his cheeks up to the tips of his ears

You giggled at his expression, coming closer until you stood right in front of him, proudly showing off the outfit

“Look! It’s almost the exact same as the ones you were showing me a few weeks ago!” You exclaimed excitedly, laughing at your boyfriend’s bewildered expression

He was at a loss for words, eyes quickly flitting between you and the dress in your hands

Yes, he did show you the maid dresses back then, and yes, he did secretly hope you might buy it for him

But he never expected you to actually take him up on it

After a bit of stuttery questioning about when and why and how you got the outfit for him, you finally managed to persuade him to just shut up and put it on

And oh boy, when he did

You were sitting in his previous spot on the couch, waiting for what felt like forever

But then, at last, there was a squeak of a door opening

And out of the bedroom came Seonghwa, looking absolutely breathtaking

He shyly stepped out of the bedroom, keeping his eyes lowered on the ground as he approached you

His hands stayed by his sides, nervously twirling the hem of the skirt between his fingers

You were absolutely beaming at the sight, quickly standing up and walking over to him to get a better look

You immediately told him just how amazing he looked, to which he thanked you sheepishly, meeting your gaze for the first time with a cute smile

It was quite amusing, really

All the confidence and playfulness from before suddenly disappeared, leaving you with a blushy, cute, and absolutely stunning mess of a boyfriend

But then you suddenly paused, a grand idea coming to you

Excusing yourself, you walked away in a rush, leaving Seonghwa alone and confused in the living room

As quickly as you disappeared, though, you reappeared again, this time with a black cat ear headband in hand

You hadn’t used it all that much since you’d bought it a few months ago, but that was about to change very soon

You reached up to place the headband on his head, the sudden proximity of your bodies making Seonghwa's breath hitch

“There. Now it’s perfect,” you said, smiling as you stepped back to admire the finished outfit

“Does it look as good as you’ve hoped it would?” Seonghwa asked, silently hoping to hear more of your praises

You just grinned at his obvious attempt, bringing him closer to you by his waist before leaning in for a deep, long kiss

“Without a doubt.”

Yunho

He would fucking revel in the soft pastels, oh my god

All the pinks, blues, and much more

Definitely uses this to make himself feel as soft and small as possible, since that’s not something he can really do in his day-to-day life

Would also be one to ask you for this instead of you surprising him

He wouldn’t really know how to approach it at first, though, since he wasn’t sure how you would react to it

After some careful consideration, however, he would finally bring it up with you

What’s the worst that could happen, right?

And so, one evening, as the two of you cuddled on the couch, he asked you about it

“Hey babe?” He’d softly call out to you, watching your gaze turn to him

You hummed in response, pausing the show you were watching to focus on him fully

“Do you think we could try something new?” He asked vaguely, hoping you’d catch on

But, of course, you didn’t

“What do you mean?” You asked back, sitting up to face him properly

He couldn’t help but blush, feeling way too shy all of a sudden

You didn’t notice the red dusting his cheeks due to the darkness in the room, but you could definitely see the way he started to fidget nervously in his seat

“Yunho?” You spoke again, confused by his unusual behavior

“I-it’s nothing, really,” he started, mentally cursing himself for stuttering

“There’s just this thing that I’m kind of, um, into, and I was wondering if you’d be down to try it as well,” he finally said, letting out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding until now

You grinned at that, realizing where the conversation was probably heading

“Oh, really now? What is it that you like, baby?” You inquired further, scooching closer to him

He tensed at the sudden proximity, knowing there was no way he could back out at this point

“Well, it’s just-” he sighed, trying hard to find the right way to phrase this

“I just kind of like...dressing cute? If that makes sense?” He replied at last, watching you with wary eyes the whole time

You just smiled, resting a hand on his thigh

“Cute, huh? Like, in bed?” You pried further, only receiving a meek nod from him, eyes refusing to meet yours

You stayed silent for a moment, eyeing Yunho as different images already began flooding your thoughts

After all, you couldn’t lie - your interest was absolutely piqued

You would have never expected him to be into something like this, so this situation intrigued you quite a bit

Yunho, however, took your silence as a bad sign, beginning to internally panic

“Uh-um, b-but it’s okay if you don’t want to! Seriously! Let’s just pretend like I never said any-”

“Do you have any clothes or outfits in mind that you could show me?” You interrupted his rambling, watching your boyfriend process your words

You could see the exact moment they finally clicked in his head as his face suddenly lit up, a wide smile on his lips as he looked at you

“Wait, really? You wouldn’t mind trying it out?” He asked, still surprised at your positive response

You couldn’t help but smile, watching his eyes sparkle like you had just made his entire week

(Spoiler: you most definitely did)

“Not at all, hun. I think it would look quite nice on you, actually,” you replied with a squeeze of his thigh

“Now come on, let me buy my pretty prince something cute,” you continued, letting out a laugh as he bolted from the couch, frantically searching for his phone to show you everything

Yeosang

Okay, I don’t know why, but Yeosang really gives me that dark, red and black but cute vibe, and I have no idea why

What I do know, however, is that it would look absolutely gorgeous on him

Anyways-

So, uh, this would be a complete accident, actually

Well, not the actual buying part, but all the events that had led up to it

You see, one evening, you got to go home earlier than usual

And, being the amazing significant other you were, you decided to surprise Yeosang instead of just texting him that you were coming

You even went ahead and stopped by his favorite bakery not too far away

All for your lovely, adorable boyfriend

With the pastries in one hand and your bag in the other, you quietly entered the apartment

Only to find it completely quiet, much to your surprise

Yeosang had to be home, though, since his keys, coat, and everything else were still here

Odd.

You quietly put away your bag and the food before making your way further into the apartment

Maybe he was taking a nap?

Or what if he wasn’t feeling well?

Either way, the silence filling room was unsettling, to say the least

Feeling a bit nervous now, you carefully made your way down the dim hallway, checking all the rooms until you finally reached the bedroom

With all the different possibilities racing through your mind, you grabbed the door handle, slowly opening the door

But the second you did, you suddenly heard a loud, surprised gasp, making you jump in surprise

“D-don’t come in!” You heard Yeosang yell, but it was already too late

You were met with the sight of your boyfriend, standing in front of the big mirror on your wall

Wearing your clothes

Your skirt and t-shirt, to be exact

There were more clothes strewn on the bed next to him, all of them different skirts, dresses, and shirts that you owned

Your wide eyes flitted between Yeosang, the bed, and the skirt he was currently wearing

He looked even more shocked than you (if that was even possible), frozen like a deer in headlights

“Yeosang, I- um, I- I didn’t-” you stammered, at a loss for words

Of all the directions you expected today to go in, this definitely wasn’t one of them

But then a loud, choked back sob made you come out of your trance

You looked into Yeosang’s eyes, watching them gloss over with unshed tears as he shakily clutched the skirt in his hands

“I- I’m sorry, Y/N. I’m so, so sorry,” he let out, voice trembling, “please don’t be mad, just- just let me explain, please.”

The desperation in his voice absolutely broke your heart, making you feel like crying as well

Before you knew it, you were rushing over to him, pulling him into your embrace

He stayed frozen in your hold, but you could feel his heart beating erratically in his chest

“Shh, it’s okay, baby, I’m not mad. Everything’s going to be alright,” you tried to soothe him, patting his back while holding him tightly

There were no words to describe the way Yeosang was feeling

A mix of utter shock, humiliation, and fear of losing you filled him in a matter of seconds, leaving him absolutely petrified with horrible thoughts racing through his mind

He knew he couldn’t hide this from you forever, but just the possibility of you breaking up with him because of this prevented him from ever telling you

Your words did eventually click in his head, though

“...wait, you’re not upset with me?” He asked, to which you shook your head

“I could never be mad at you for something like this,” you spoke softly, petting his head as you pulled away to kiss his cheek

“Besides, you look really pretty like this.”

Yeosang’s cheeks turned a deep shade of red at your words, watching you eye him up and down

“Ah, um, thank you,” he answered in an unusually small voice, making you giggle

“You’re welcome. Now come with me, I bought you those macarons you love so much.”

Eventually, you did have to buy Yeosang his own clothes to wear, since most of yours were kind of small on him

And as much as you loved how happy he looked wearing them, you didn’t want him to ruin your favorite skirt, lol

Besides, this just gave you an excuse to doll up your already beautiful boyfriend however you wanted, and just for you ~

San

Now this one would be one of the few you could actually surprise with the clothes

And for a very good reason:

He literally never locks his phone around you

Now, you can’t really consider this a bad habit, since it’s mostly harmless and he usually just has a game on pause on it or something

But then, one time, as you’re watching a movie together and he leaves to go to the bathroom, you notice something...odd, on his phone

You didn’t mean to snoop or anything, obviously

It’s just that the bright pink glow from the phone caught your eye

San had been paying barely any attention to the movie you were watching, so you were admittedly a bit curious about what had kept him so occupied

But when you lifted the device to take a closer look, you gasped at the sight

From top to bottom, his phone screen was filled with all kinds of chokers, stockings, skirts, and various accessories

Not to mention that they were all worn by male models, leaving very little room to doubt who San would want to see these on

Before you could explore the website any further, however, you heard the sound of the bathroom door opening, making you jump back into your previous position

As San came in, he just gave you a small, unassuming smile, before settling back into his own spot

And though you did manage to not get caught, just like San, you weren’t paying any attention to the movie from that point on, too preoccupied with the images you saw on his phone

Even as you lay in bed two hours later, your mind was still racing with way too many not-so-innocent thoughts about the different outfits

And, of course, how pretty San would look in them

In the end, you couldn’t resist

On one hand, you wanted to ask San about it, or maybe wait for him to tell you himself

But you also just couldn’t let such a golden opportunity to surprise him slip by like this

So, you decided to take the initiative yourself and went online to search for some pretty clothes on your own

Double-checking all of the sizing and colors to fit San’s body and preferences just right, you finally sent in the order

And now, you just had to wait

To say it felt long would be a big understatement

You were rushing to the door with every text, email, or call that you got, hoping it was the delivery man coming

Until finally, on your thirtieth or so try, he arrived, handing you an inconspicuous cardboard box

“Sannie, there’s a package for you!” You called down the hallway, listening to the sound of footsteps quickly approaching you

Just a few moments later, there he was, eyeing the box in your hands curiously

“For me? But I didn’t order anything,” he said, grabbing the package from your hands and carrying it to the living room floor

He took a knife from the kitchen before kneeling down next to the box, carefully cutting the seal at the top

You sat down next to him, watching him with bated breath

Until he suddenly gave you a small frown, which immediately made you nervous

Did he not like what he was seeing? Did you understand everything wrong somehow?

But then

“...It says here that it’s for you, though,” he muttered, picking up the small ‘Thank you for your purchase’ card at the top

You let out the breath you were subconsciously holding, snatching the card from his hand

“Ignore that! Just look at the actual package,” you huffed, still calming down from the sudden spike of anxiety just seconds ago

He obeyed with a quiet ‘okay’, unwrapping the plastic packaging to peer at the contents inside

Suddenly, he let out a gasp, looking at you with wide eyes

“Y-Y/N, is this- how?” He asked, completely taken aback

“What? Do you not like it?” You asked with a cheesy grin, taking a peek at the clothes yourself just to make sure everything was perfect

And, of course, it was

Even the cute set of hair clips you bought looked adorable

“I- I mean, of course I like it! It’s just...how did you know?” San questioned, a bright blush dusting his cheeks

You chuckled, leaning closer to pat his thigh

“You know, San, you’re not exactly slick when you leave your phone unlocked right next to me.”

You could see him thinking back to all the times he did so, groaning when he remembered the exact moment you meant

“Are you serious?! And here I thought I could trust you not to look through my things,” he whined, embarrassed as he realized what images you must have seen that night

“I didn’t mean to!” You tried to defend yourself, unable to hide the smile on your lips as you spoke

“But hey, if you don’t want to wear this, that’s fi-”

Before you could finish your sentence, however, San stood up, taking the clothes with him and marching away

“No way! These are mine now, thank you very much. Just wait ‘til you see me in them, you won’t be able to handle it!” He called out behind himself, making you laugh as you followed right after him into the bedroom

Mingi

Ohhh, Mingi definitely strikes me as someone with a very specific taste

I feel like red, expensive-looking accessories would really stand out on him

But! I can also see him being really into those see-through plastic collars and harnesses, or even the holo ones

Basically a middle ground between the classics and out-there things

But although he’d like the chokers and collars, I don’t think he’d really enjoy anything too intricate or restrictive, so he’d mostly just stick to the simpler stuff

What this also means, however, is that it would be really hard to get Mingi something that would suit his preferences perfectly

So, in the end, you’d just leave it up to him and browse different sites together

You had just finished getting ready for bed, making your way around the apartment to turn off all the lights and make sure the front door was properly locked

At last, you arrived back in your bedroom

Only to find Mingi in bed, still wide awake, with his laptop resting in his lap

His face was illuminated by the screen, and you could see the way his eyes flickered from one thing to another, completely absorbed in whatever it was he was looking at

You cleared your throat, alerting Mingi to your presence

“Oh! Hey there, babe. Didn’t see you, sorry,” he said, giving you a small smile before focusing back on the laptop

“It’s okay,” you replied before turning off the bedroom lights as well, leaving only the bedside lamp and the glow from Mingi’s screen to light up the room

Slipping under the covers, you let out a sigh, happy to finally relax after a long day

“Whatcha got there?” You asked, leaning up on your forearms to look at Mingi’s screen

Seeing your curiosity, Mingi happily turned the laptop to you, watching with a grin as your eyes widened

“What do you think?” He asked teasingly, laughing at the way your cheeks flushed almost immediately

“What the- why are you looking at collars of all things in the middle of the night?!” You asked incredulously, sitting up as well now

“I don’t know, guess I just felt like it,” he shrugged, “wanna join?”

You chuckled at the remark, still in absolute disbelief at the situation

Until you realized he was serious

“Wait, you mean it?” You asked, surprised

“Um, yeah?” Mingi asked back, looking at you as if you were the weird one here

A moment of silence passed between the two of you as you processed the situation, Mingi just staring at you the whole time

“I mean, why not? Might be fun, I guess,” you finally replied, shuffling closer to him to look at the laptop together

“Damn right it will be fun, just look at this one! It’s so pretty, isn’t it? Or this one!” He exclaimed (a bit too loudly, considering the fact it was almost three in the morning), pointing out two collars on the page

“You’re shameless, you know that?” You asked with a playful smile, amused by his excitement

“Yup,” he replied quite matter-of-factly, “it’s why you love me, after all.”

Wooyoung

Ohohoho, now THIS ONE

Wooyoung would definitely be one of those guys that wear skirts, maid outfits, etc. as a joke on TikTok

I mean, he did think it was just a funny thing to do at first

Until he’d find himself lying in your shared bed, on his back, with you kneeling between his legs and ready to devour him whole

And suddenly, he realizes it’s not “just a joke” anymore

Especially not when you notice the bulge under his pretty skirt, sneaking your way underneath the clothing to touch him

He wouldn’t even have the time to protest and pretend like he hadn’t just discovered a new kink of his

Before he could say a word against your ministrations, you’d have him whining and whimpering for you, struggling to keep himself together

It would be a strange combination of feelings for him

On one hand, he was feeling so exposed, having only a flimsy skirt to cover himself with

You didn’t even have to take it off to touch him, just slipping your hand underneath to palm at his crotch if you felt like it

It felt so vulnerable and exposing, yet he felt completely safe and cozy at the same time

The way the knee-high socks wrapped snuggly around his legs, and the comforting feeling of the warm hoodie he could tuck his blushing face into

It felt strange, but also incredibly intoxicating

Just the perfect combination of cute yet sexy, safe yet vulnerable

But what made the whole thing even better for Wooyoung was you

The hungry look in your eyes, contrasting with the soft and loving words you whispered into his ear as you gripped his thighs on either side of you

Simply put, it was perfect

And, despite the embarrassment that caught up to him after you were done with him

He knew he wanted- no, needed this again

So, after a week of working up the courage to bring it up again, he’d finally ask you about it

He already knew you’d probably be into it as well (judging by the marks he still had on his thighs), so he didn’t have much to worry about, really

It didn’t stop him from fumbling over his words at first, though

But honestly, if anything, it worked in his favor

Because let’s be honest, how could you ever turn down your boyfriend when he was being so adorable about it?

Exactly, you can’t

And so, the two of you went online, picking out new clothes for Wooyoung that you both thought would look cute on him

Before you knew it, two hours had passed, and your shopping cart was packed with all kinds of cute skirts, sweaters, and different accessories

Content with all the things you two picked, Wooyoung got up, ready to get his wallet and pay for the order, when you suddenly stopped him

Grabbing his wrist gently, you made him turn around again, watching you with curious eyes

“What is it?” He asked, stopping in his tracks

“Baby, could you bring me my purse, please?” You asked, giving him a small smile as you watched his face contort in confusion

“Um, okay, but why? I thought- wait, you’re not going to pay for this, are you?” He questioned, surprised by your offer

“Of course I’ll pay for it,” you grinned, moving your hand from his wrist to his hip, “let me treat my baby boy, hm?”

Wooyoung didn’t say anything at first, dropping his gaze to the floor as he felt the blood rushing to his cheeks, your words echoing in his mind

“A-alright, I’ll, um, I’ll go get it for you then,” he replied after a moment, feeling his heart fluttering at your gesture

You just smiled, lightly grabbing his butt as he passed you

He let out a small squeak, rushing out of the room to prevent your hand from wandering any further, making you chuckle

It was already safe to say that you wouldn’t regret your purchase in the slightest

Jongho

Alright, I’m tired of people pretending like this man is a completely innocent, nothing-but-vanilla type of person

Because frankly, Jongho screams hidden perv to me

But it’s exactly that - hidden

He just never lets this kind of information slip anywhere outside of your relationship, because he believes it isn’t anyone else’s business but yours and his

With you, however, he knows he can be completely honest and open and you would never judge him for it

And so, once you’d gotten more comfortable in your relationship and started exploring a bit

He decided that the time had finally come

He was nervous, don’t get me wrong

Extremely nervous, actually

Since, you know, this isn’t exactly the most common kink, per se

But, after a few failed attempts and countlessly rehearsed inner conversations in his head, he was finally ready

You were sitting in the study, working on a document you needed to send in by tomorrow

Fully focused on your work, you didn’t hear the office door opening, nor the muffled sound of feet approaching

Suddenly, there was a hand on your shoulder, making you jump with a startled gasp

“Jongho! You scared me, baby,” you said, startled, as you turned around in your chair to face your boyfriend

“What do you need?” You asked, taking notice of the way he was gripping his phone, eyes cast on the ground

After a moment of silence, he finally spoke

“I, uh, wanted to ask you something,” he finally said, internally cursing at himself for making this so unnecessarily awkward

“Okay? What is it?” You asked, curious as to what could have caused his strange behavior

He paused, and you could see the look of contemplation in his eyes, probably rethinking whether this was actually worth it

You sighed, grabbing his arm softly as you smiled up at him

“You know you can tell me anything, right?”

Jongho nodded at that, knowing full well he could trust you

After another moment of silence, he finally decided to just tell you

“Okay...So, um, there’s this thing I’m kind of...into? I guess?” He began, feeling his anxiety rising again

As he spoke, he crouched down next to you, pulling up his phone so you could both see the screen before unlocking it

Your eyes widened at the sight, staring at the wide array of chokers, collars, and intricate harnesses before you

“And I just- I just thought that maybe these would look nice on me?” He said, nervously eyeing your face for any kind of reaction, “what do you think? Could we- could we try this?”

You couldn’t help but chuckle, watching Jongho’s face flush in embarrassment

He fumbled with his phone to put it away again, but you quickly stopped him, grabbing his wrist and taking the phone from him

“Now, now, what are you so embarrassed about? I never said no, did I?” You asked teasingly, watching the blush on his face deepen

“I guess not,” he admitted quietly, giving you a sheepish smile

“Exactly,” you said, giving him his phone back and helping him stand back up

“I’m currently in the middle of something, so I can’t really talk about this with you right now,” you gestured to the computer screen where your work sat abandoned before continuing

“But send me some things you’d like and I’ll take a look at them later, okay?” You said, gently patting his butt with a grin

“O-okay, I will,” he replied, rushing out of your office as quickly as he came in just a few minutes ago

You just chuckled, turning back in your chair to try and resume your work again

But just as you were getting back into it, you heard a ding from your phone, the screen lighting up with a message notification

Jongho has sent you a link

Jongho: here you go

Jongho: and thank you :)

You smiled at the messages, knowing fully well that the evening was about to become a lot more interesting very soon

Thank you for reading! And remember, any feedback is always appreciated! ♥

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dylanobrienisbatman · 3 years ago

Note

The main problem with the whole mal vs the darkling thing in regards to being possessive (or really when it comes to any of their traits) is the fact that throughout, the darkling is clearly framed as the villain and his actions reflect that, whereas Mal as supposed to be the good guy and best romantic partner for Alina, and yet he has all these awful character traits and tendencies. So its less about how awful the Bad Guy is (since he's supposed to be), and more about how awful the person that we're supposed to believe is the best option for Alina is. I don't ship either, just my two cents.

Okay well... two things. First, your comment about "its less about how awful the bad guy is, since he's supposed to be", takes every comment I've made about Darkles out of context, which seems fitting since everything Darklina's spout about Mal is out of context. Him being the Bad Guy is fine, and if you like him AS A VILLAIN, and acknowledge all the bad shit he does, then my posts aren't for you. I think he's a very interesting villain, and a lot of the terrible shit he does that I have to keep making posts about make him a good villain, the problem is when the terrible shit the "Bad Guy" does is romanticized and viewed as the reasons why Alina SHOULD have picked him. So, don't assume everyone gets that "hes supposed to be awful". The point my post was making is that Darklina's love to call Mal possessive, but then turn around and act like Darkles literally enslaving her in somehow sexy and romantic. It's fucking not, and it's transparent as hell that y'all romanticize and sexualize the actually possessive character, and then project false character traits onto Mal. It's so transparent, it's almost funny.

But, more importantly, to your second, very wrong point, I wonder how much of the narrative about Mal having "awful character traits and tendencies" is actually a commentary on Mal as a character, or is it just Darklina's lying about things Mal has done and everyone accepting that misinterpretation as canon. Because, if were making a list...

Fuck boy - False! Mal was not a fuck boy! He was an attractive teenager who hooked up with consenting girls his age when he could, and he was not in a relationship during that time. Alina had never told him how she felt, so he is not beholden to her. (Also, nobody seems to have an issue with the fact that Darkles hooked up with Zoya in the show, that doesn't make HIM a fuckboy... interesting) (also also, nobody seems to discuss Darkles literally sexually assaulting Alina, and lying and manipulating her to get her to be physically intimate with him so he can use her... double interesting).

Slut Shames Alina - FALSE! The ever favourite callout line from Darklina's "He's all over you" isn't him slut shaming her. First, he has no idea what their relationship is like at that point, but more importantly, he is making an observation of her status in the little palace and how she has become his tool. He has dressed her up in his colors, made her put on a show for his benefit, and has created a situation where Alina appears to be his. Mal is noting that after months of searching for her, believing she was being hurt, tortured, or worse, when he arrives to save her, she looks like the Darkling's pet. (and, even if he WAS angry because he perceived them to be romantically involved, boy just spent months fighting for his life, lost multiple friends, and almost died to find her, all while coming to the realisation that he was in love with her, and then he shows up, after not hearing from her for months... I'd be pissed as hell too.) Important Note: He even acknowledges that what he said was wrong and tries to apologise, before Alina tells him that he was right. (Shadow and Bone, pg. 286). He also then apologizes, completely unprompted, for what he said. (Shadow and Bone, pg. 297).

Fat Shames Alina - False! This one is particularly laughable to me, because its one of the Darklina arguments that falls apart the second you actually read the scene. They are running for their lives in the forest, and Mal has to hunt and gather to feed them. He is noting that Alina's appetite has increased since he last saw her, and he makes a joke (ya know, how you do with friends) about how it would be easier to keep her fed if she still had her more meager appetite from before. He makes no comment on her weight, or her size, and he is not actually commenting on her appetite in a negative way, he is just acknowledging that it's a lot more work for him now that she eats more. Right before he says the line, the quote even proves that he isn't shaming her or thinking badly of her: "With a bemused expression, he watched as I gobbled down my portion and then sighed, still hungry". He is noting a change in her, and complaining that its made more work for him. If you think thats the same as fat shaming, well... thats a you problem.

Hates Alina's Powers - FALSE!!!! How to begin... do we talk about it was Mal's idea to hunt the stag in S&B, because he knew she needed it to be more powerful so she could stop the darkling? Do we talk about how he vowed to find the firebird for her, even though he was terrified of what all that power would do to her? Do we talk about how he literally died so she could achieve the power she needed to save the world? Or maybe we could talk about how he believed in her power more than anyone else, like when everyone was making bets about her abilities with the Cut and he knew she'd go further and better than anyone else expected her too, or when he tells her that he was never afraid of her powers, only what seeking all that power would do to her (which is literally the theme of the books, that power corrupts and seeking unmatched power can destroy you)? Mal being afraid of what is going to happen to Alina, being protective of her and worrying over her, is not the same as him hating her powers. He exists to help remind Alina of the themes of the story, and to guide her into maintaining her humanity.

Abusive - ... Do I even need to explain this one? Must I deign an explanation as to why this favourite Darklina lie is so fucking stupid, and also totally hypocrisy? No? Because we all know Darkles is actually the abusive one and they're trying to project their own shit onto Mal to further their abuse apologist agenda? Cool. Moving on.

Possessive of Alina - False! Throughout the entire series, Mal is quite literally the opposite of possessive, but yall just cant read. Not only does he quite literally step out of the way and allow Nikolai to court Alina without argument, which is the most direct example of him not being possessive, he also spends two full books believing, and repeatedly saying over and over and over, that they can't be together because he is not good enough for her. Mal believes, fully, that Alina deserves more than him, better than him, because he's just a tracker and a soldier, just a regular man with nothing to offer her but his love and his protection, and she is a Saint and should be a Queen. Possessiveness is the wish to own and control someone, it is literally the opposite of Mal believing that he's not good enough and doing everything he can to ensure that Alina achieves everything and gets everything he believes she is owed. A possessive character would not tell her to tell him to leave because he has nothing he can offer her, no title or land or country or crown. A possessive character would not promise to be the blade in her hand, because he believed he had nothing but the blood he could spill to offer her.

Angry - True! Yeah, omg, you caught us, Mal is ANGRY! Heaven forbid a teenager who is traumatized beyond belief and has to give up everything in his life, his position in the military (he deserted for her), his friends and the job he loved (Mikhail and Dubrov died for him, and he can't be a tracker in the army... because he deserted... for Alina), and, most importantly, he has to give up Alina (she should be Queen, he believes, and he has to give up the future he imagined with the girl he loves, who he was pretty sure loved him back, because she's a saint and queen and he's just a man), and more, is ANGRY. He has to be the one to find the amplifiers that he knows will end up hurting her, because thats what she needs to save the world. He has to sit by while Nikolai treats him like the dirt on his shoe and tries to woo Alina for his own personal gain (because Nikoalai did not love Alina. Maybe he came to care for her, but he proposed and spent all of S&S trying to get her to marry him when it was obvious they were not in love. He straight up says its so that the next King of Ravka can be married to the Sun Summoner. It's a power grab.) and he can't do anything about it. So yeah, Mal is angry. And yeah, sometimes he's even angry at Alina, just like sometimes she's angry at him. But they always find their way back, always apologize and try to be better for each other, and if you think anger is a toxic trait, and not simply a natural human emotion, might I suggest touching some fucking grass?

Idk why you thought I'd stand for Mal slander on my blog, cuz I will not. So, I'm gonna stop there, because I have shit to do today, but I really do wonder how much of Mal's 'toxic' or 'terrible' traits, that make him such a 'bad' love interest for Alina, really comes from Darklina's who refuse to actually read the text critically at all, and instead take everything he does and says out of context to further their agenda that Alina should have ended up as the Darkling's fucking slave forever, because thats the "girl power feminist" ending somehow. Mal supports her, loves her, sacrifices for her at every turn, and does everything he can do, to the point of literally dying for her, to ensure that she can defeat Darkles and save the world. He protects her, and when they end up happy and safe together on the orphange that they've rebuilt to help the children that were victims of Darkles war and genocide, he spends his days bringing her tea and cakes and flowers, kissing her silly under the stairs in the view of all the teachers, and calling her names like beauty, beloved, cherished, my heart for the rest of their ordinary life together, if love can ever be called that.

#Malina #anti darklina #malyen oretsev #mal oretsev #shadow and bone #if yall could just learn to fucking read... i am begging you

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citowon · 3 years ago

Text

spring troupe and gender neutral s/o watch horror movies

about time i finally write for this blog... i was hit with the image of masumi watching a horror movie with his s/o, thought how lovely it would be if there was content of that, then realized i have that power now

word count: 1,935

tags: established relationship, non-detailed mentions of horror themes (gore, monsters, etc)

sakuya sakuma

🌸 when the topic of a horror movie date first comes up, he’s a bit scared. he’s only seen a couple, one of which was for mankai play research.

🌸 when it’s actually showing, though, he’s pretty calm! the anticipation was the worst part, and he somehow doesn’t get scared even during the most terrifying movie of the year. he’s great at reminding himself it’s just fictional in the end

🌸 vampires? not scary. aliens? he thinks they’re cute! gore? well, yeah, it’s unnerving at first but it’s all fake, and once he reminds himself of that he’s fine

🌸 he gets scared at the littlest things though. there might be a continuity error where a knife is in its holder on the counter in one shot and then removed the next, and no one in the movie acknowledges it nor is it supposed to mean anything but he can and will psych himself out thinking about just what moved it

🌸 king of predicting plot twists! he might be very good at spotting continuity errors, but he’s even better at picking out little bits of foreshadowing and putting together the mystery

🌸 gets spooked the most by jumpscares. every time he squeaks a bit (on really bad ones he might scream) and every time he always does the same embarrassed sigh afterwards and goes to squeeze your hand to calm himself

🌸 psychological horror is definitely the best pick for sakuya. he thinks a lot about what’ll happen next in the movie and loves to discuss about movies with you regardless of the genre, so with thought-provoking psychological films it fits him like a glove

🌸 and hey, if things ever get too intense he loves b-list horror movies! he thinks the bad acting is endearing and always finds something to compliment even with the trashiest, corniest flick

🌸 if you ever get uncomfortable, he might commentate in the movie and try to poke fun at it- i mean, the killer clown is kind of funny! look how bright and colorful it is compared to the rest of the set! he keeps his voice light and sunny so you have something comforting to concentrate on

masumi usui

🎧 he loves the idea of horror night. cuddling with you, holding you protectively as the suspense rises, stealing kisses to distract you from the monster and erase your fear...

🎧 he’s only seen a few horror movies in his life, less than the fingers he has on one hand, but whatever. it’s a movie. it’s not real. if he got too immersed he could just tell himself it’s fake and be done with it.

🎧 spoiler alert: he didn’t.

🎧 masumi did not, and i repeat, did NOT expect to get so invested??? even if you’re scared, he’s definitely the most terrified

🎧 that’s not to say he’ll show it. he’s doing everything to keep a neutral face, and you’ll probably assume he’s holding to you tighter during the scary parts like he’s protecting you.

🎧 (it’s actually because you’re the one [1] thing grounding him. you’re protecting him, not the other way around! in hindsight, he likes being cared for even when he thought he’d be the one spoiling you, not the other way around. he just wishes it didn’t have to be during such a scary movie, that’s all)

🎧 will take his fear to the grave... unless you ask him directly about it. please hold him and tell him the monsters aren’t real, even though he’s a heavy sleeper he will stay up until 3 am, his mind reminding him how creepy the movie was every time he’s about to drift off

🎧 so does not fuck with ghosts, if he didn’t believe in them before he certainly does now. the poor guy looks up how to ward away spirits and ends up carrying around a salt packet on him for the next two weeks

tsuzuru minagi

📖 tsuzuru’s not exactly a horror fan. he claims it’s brainless and pointless

📖 (admittedly he’s a little scared of them, but he still thinks they’re dependent on shock alone, and have zero rewatch value since the writing is more focused on in-the-moment spooks than actual plot.)

📖 he’ll roll his eyes and tease you a little but eventually he’ll go along with watching a horror movie

📖 to psych himself out of his fear tsuzuru decides to watch them critically and note what plot points to do (or more likely not to do) for future plays

📖 this works out for the beginning but by the middle of the movie he’s enraptured. he can’t tell if it’s actually good or if it’s a car wreck he can’t help but watch

📖 does the corny move where he yawns and wraps an arm around you, and you’d almost buy it from his earlier cynicism but then the killer shows their face and he tenses up like hell and you just know

📖 gets embarrassed every time he’s scared- he even turns pink, and gets even redder if you try to hold his hand or cuddle him closer (even though there’s nothing he’d want more after something that creepy)

📖 by the end he’s got a few new ideas that might go to autumn or winter troupe’s latest plays, and admits okay, fine, maybe horror isn’t so pointless after all

itaru chigasaki

🎮 screw movies, you’re playing horror games instead!

🎮 most of itaru’s horror games are single-player, so one of you takes the controller while the other sits next to the player, but itaru’ll drape his arms around you from behind in a back hug the entire time you play

🎮 he doesn’t really shut up. the entire time, he’s either cracking a joke or trying to freak you out more, if only so he doesn’t get in his head and overthink the creepy atmosphere

🎮 asshole only quiets down when the game gets tense, and then suddenly puts his hands around your shoulders or neck to scare you. regardless if you fall for it or not, he always laughs at himself and just-so-happens to break the tension as a scary cutscene plays

🎮 still commentates when he’s the player, but gasps or jumps even at small atmospheric scares

🎮 itaru definitely overthinks the game. he gets super cautious over tiny details and makes the missions way harder than they should be since he keeps overestimating the enemy line of sight and how noisy the avatar is

🎮 if you happen to be playing a co-op horror it’s a constant “no u” battle over who should do the scariest tasks

🎮 “reader, we need to cleanse the room next. you should do it” “no, you should do it. you have the quartz item remember” “i can give it to you since you have the ghost ward” “the ghost ward doesn’t apply to this quest, besides, you’re better at this ghost attack quick time event than me” “no it does, and you’re more optimized” “i can just give the items to you-“ “no you should do it” “no you” “no you” “no you” “no y-”

🎮 you both lose

citron

🍋 citron loves horror movies! he thinks they’re... comforting?

🍋 turns out he’s only seen movies about cursed dolls and b-horror, which explains a lot- he loves dolls too much to be scared by them and he thinks b-list horror is hilarious- but he’ll still proudly proclaim he’s unflappable and swear to protect you from the bad guys

🍋 when you’re actually watching the movie you can’t tell if he’s faking his reactions or not. he’s very noisy

🍋 he gets scared enough during the gruesome and horrific scenes to hold you close and tight like a teddy bear, and during the worst of it he might muffle a scream by diving into the crook of your neck, obscuring his vision until the scene changes

🍋 and yet, he laughs at the next scene’s unrealism, and manages to poke enough fun at the movie that you giggle and his terror disappears, he loves your laugh way more than he can be afraid of monsters

🍋 can’t do gore for the life of him, but when it comes to the actual plot, he’s rather critical of characters acting dumb. he catches on to nonsensical writing quick, but usually asks you to clarify the plot holes before realizing that he found a loophole in the writing

🍋 whenever you’re scared and not even his goofy reactions and commentary can help, he plants a sweet kiss on your cheek, strokes your hair, and holds you close to his chest until the fear goes away. he’s surprisingly good at protecting you from the movie

🍋 after the movie he’ll say his country has a similar legend to the movie monsters, but he claims the legends are true in zafra, and zafrans have a very specific tradition to prevent the monsters from attacking them

🍋 the movie also gave citron the idea of creepily standing behind you silently until you turn around and get startled, or occasionally chanting in a strange, cultish language and pretending he didn’t say a thing, or making a doll with the same markings as the clown puppet from the movie...

🍋 citron continues to be even scarier than the actual horror movie, but can’t wait until the next horror night! maybe watching it was a bad idea after all...

chikage utsuki

🌙 chikage just doesn’t get the appeal of horror. it’s just a fake movie, why do people get so creeped out by terrible sfx and unrealistic monsters?

🌙 he’s seen scarier things than any werewolf pack, zombie outbreak, or witch coven can throw at him. if you insist on watching a scary movie, fine, he’ll be happy to let you sit on his lap, just don’t expect to creep him out as well, or else you’ll be sorely disappointed.

🌙 he analyzes the movie more than he watches it, but doesn’t speak up even though the fight scenes look pitiful. if this were real life, he’d sweep the whole brood of shambling monstrosities in record time and be back home in time for izumi’s curry

🌙 chikage runs his hands under your shirt whenever the monster’s on screen to scare you. it’s actually really creepy- his fingers are light and quick and always makes you flinch, even if you know it’s just your boyfriend

🌙 he’ll listen to your thoughts about the movie, but doesn’t have strong opinions himself. he thinks the scares are mediocre at best, even without considering his background, but won’t mention how unrealistic it was unless you mention it first.

🌙 psychological horror, however, is a whole different story

🌙 maybe chikage can’t get scared by generic spirit halloween monsters but once you introduce thought-provoking plot, questions and dilemmas, now he’s hooked

🌙 he really likes wondering if the protagonist is actually the good guy and making theories about the origins of the monsters and why they’re so destructive, even if he forgets about them once the movie’s over.

🌙 love love looooves the “the monsters were harmless creatures before humans dished out the first blow” trope. he knows how common it is, but there’s a lot of ways to go about it, especially on a subtextual level, and he just can’t get enough

🌙 the deeper the plot is, expect a longer conversation about the ins and outs of it. they get surprisingly thoughtful and introspective, even if chikage throws in a few bullshit stories related to the movie just to watch you squirm

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