#but she is gonna keep trying anyway because it's either that or lose herself I AM FEELING SOOO NORMAL

[infinitelystrangemachinex]

Mel is alive because this is a parallel and Ambessa is pointing out that she was right all along to her daughter

I feel very normal about this

[slickfordain]

POOKS I HAVE AN IDEA

Ahem...yandere aiden, logan, tyler n ash or whoever u want w WEAK READER N YK THEY R PRETTY OVERPROTECTIVD OF HER WHY? bc she is fragile af-- always manage to get herself injured in the most dunb ways possible n how tf is she gonna manage to survive in this realm? She needs them ‼️‼️

𝕭𝖗𝖚𝖙𝖆𝖑 𝖗𝖊𝖆𝖑𝖎𝖙𝖞 // School Bus Graveyard

TW: Yandere themed, NO NSFW, gore/injuries mentioned, fragile!female!reader who is paranoid and anxious, AU explanation-wise writing? It’s kind of short but it’s like an explanation what my SBG x reader AU is;;u ;

You don’t know how you even ended up here in this situation…. Restless sleep, insomnia, hallucinations,— Ah… Who am I kidding? You knew exactly what was happening and it all started way back when you were ordered to tutor around the new students. Being the one who wasn’t new, it was hard to keep a conversation with them because….. One would keep her distance away, one would be thrilled to nag the girl who distanced away, the twins didn’t give a damn, and… Ben and Logan were probably the only ones who ever offered to listen to you.

However despite those hours you eventually got to bond with them, all because of… Well…. You tripping down the stairs all of the sudden until Ashlyn caught you. And that’s where the spark happened… That’s what clicked in Ashlyn’s mind to suddenly want to protect you, with you in her arms looking hopeless and defenseless. The group claimed you as their pink princess but, you didn’t thought much of it….

And why they even bother to call you that, you still felt loved at least by your friends.

But… Every time you walk home after hanging out with them, especially on that trip, your hands wouldn’t stop shaking. The thought of that hideous creature behind Ashlyn…. You haven’t left your house since then, and gave excuses to your teacher even for him to understand.

You’ve never felt anything weird like this before… The ones you are looking to avoid were mostly creepy men, or just in general a group of people who you think could possibly bully you, or take advantage.

So why? Why did you suddenly have to endure horror?

❝[NAME]!!!❞

You’ve impaled yourself on accident by trying to get away from a monster, you’ve tripped and fallen into a dark void where you died by the fall, you even somehow died by trying to save Tyler, but you ended up dying anyways! It was getting so… So much harder…

You’ve gotten injured. Over, and over, and over again. It’s pissing Ashlyn, Aiden, Tyler— everyone off. It was as if they saw life flash before their eyes…. And while you’re alive in the real world, with no scratches or injuries, they couldn’t afford to lose you again. To make you hopeless, to make you unable to walk.

It was another dream, another dream where suddenly you’re locked in the bird cage Aiden had somehow decided to buy… You stared confused, yearning for an explanation…. But the boys and girls wouldn’t give you any.

❝Guys..? Please… I thought we were a team..❞

❝Princess… We are! We swear…! Please don’t take it badly! We’re doing this for your own good…❞

You couldn’t really argue with them. You’re just tired and you have been unable to get proper sleep… You suppose it’s okay but… It wasn’t getting better as you thought it would. Despite dreams having you only locked up every now and then, in the morning in reality- you are FOLLOWED constantly by either the twins, Ashlyn, Aiden, or Ben… Logan? Probably cameras in your house (not your bedroom or bathroom) to ensure you made it home safely.

It’s getting out of hand. It’s going bizarre, but are you doing something about it? NO! Their parents scares you! You don’t want to break your friendship either… You knew how easily broken they’d be… And… You don’t want to handle or deal with Aiden’s family, nor do you wanna karate with Ashlyn’s mother. You can’t even fight!

So the only thing you could do was just… Accept it as it is. And let it be… Although you probably aren’t aware that the parents adores you, finding you so sweet and matchable for their little children. You don’t pay attention to that, all you could focus on were your eyebags and your injured body…. There wasn’t anything, reality-wise, but God it stung that you could barely make it through school. Even though I kind of said you give excuses…. You still had to do exams for at least collage….

Don’t take them wrong, they’d love for you to stay safe and to not join the horror attraction… But also, after the reveal when the parents could also see the demonic creatures, it instantly clicks that you weren’t safe. Nor were your parents. (Don’t give a damn about your parents, they don’t like them)

They need you. They constantly need you. They can’t have you out of your cage, but they can’t have you out of the dreams as well…. Which considers leading it to having you as some sort of a motivation. They need you to support them for everything they do.

So when the parents are going into that situation, it’s best to believe they NEED you with them so nobody in reality can kidnap you while they’re asleep…. Fighting off monsters, you know?

And the shady guys? Do not worry a single thing about them at all.

I mean, what more could you possibly do than to be stuck in your own bedroom or classroom? You’re going nowhere near the stores or arcade. Not after that Logan incident, that is….

[ma1dita]

crazy little thing

a ‘partners in crime’ installment - luke castellan x dionysus!reader

words: 3.4k

summary: (pre-established relationship) The one where he spends all his drachmas to make you smile. Sometimes, the Apollo kids are better matchmakers than Aphrodite herself. Everyone’s tired of you two dancing around each other. Luke Castellan x fem!Dionysus!reader

a/n: lil valentines day special though im working on more est. relationship fluff after this!! happy season 2 renewal babies

(posted 2/9/24 unbetaed)

—

“Come on, you gotta admit—it’s kinda funny!” 

Luke is met with blank stares at the camp store after he places a few drachmas onto the folding table in front of the Apollo kids. They’re not sure if he’s trying to convince them, or himself.

Because yeah, that’s the excuse he goes for, wanting to spend his savings on having them sing to a certain head counselor instead of admitting his blatantly obvious feelings, so if you ask Lee Fletcher and his half-siblings, it’s kind of pathetic.

“What do we look like, a traveling mariachi band, Castellan?” he deadpans, watching the usually confident boy scratch the back of his neck with his face red like someone who’s been sitting out in the sun for too long. 

“I’m not saying to follow her around all day or whatever, just pick a random time to sing a song and catch her off-guard,” he insists, before meeting the judgmental look of one of Lee’s younger siblings.

Lee chuckles, ruffling his sister’s hair before looking at Luke quite seriously, “She’s a good friend. You’re gonna have to pay us more than that. Special song for a special lady after all.”

The son of Hermes knows he’s gonna regret this sooner or later, but proceeds to throw the rest of his meager earnings onto the table. He has other ways of being resourceful anyway, the box of chocolates he nicked from behind the store counter feeling heavy in his jacket pocket.

“Right… she’s just a friend.”

Luke’s hands fidget at his sides as he stands there, feeling a little stupid.

Lee’s little sister scoops up the coins from the table, her raised eyebrows and light aura mirroring that of her older brother. 

“What song were you thinking?” she asks, “Gotta make sure I know it if I’m singing it to your…friend.”

The 18-year-old boy tugs at his dark curls, getting more embarrassed and wanting to retreat with every minute that passes, but he’s never been one to back down from anything–swordfights, monsters, capture the flag, but this—trying to impress you...is a whole different story somehow.

Why are feelings so damn complicated? 

It feels like being at the butt of a joke, or more accurately—at the sharp edge of a sword, and Luke never lets his fights end in a draw.

“You guys got it covered. Just…surprise me too, I guess,” he sighs, walking off without finishing his sentence. He wishes he could pray a little harder to his dad for luck, even if he’s unsure of what exactly he’s wishing for (or if his dad will even listen).

“Castellan’s hopeless. You think he knows it yet?” the girl asks her brother, to which Lee laughs.

“I don’t think she does either, even though everyone else can see right through them. The new bets are on who’s gonna break first. Chiron’s been keeping track, but don’t tell Mr. D.”

If Luke wants a show, they’ll make sure he’ll get his money’s worth—and hopefully, it’ll push you two along faster. Lee bet on you two getting together before the summer after all, and he’ll be damned if he loses to Clarisse.

—

Valentine’s Day might be the day of love, but for you, someone who’s single (not by choice), and heavily busy with making sure people aren’t so���enamored in public (you’ve lost count of the reports you’ve written out due to indecent behavior this morning alone)---this just feels like another Wednesday, except with more hormonal teenagers with uncontrollable urges than usual. 

Oh, the joys of being the daughter of the camp director, also known as everyone’s favorite narc.

Honestly, love can suck it. With this much love in the air, you can feel it suffocating you like a plastic bag over your head. 

That’s an uncontrollable urge. Too much?

Maybe Silena was right, you do need to open yourself up more to romantic opportunities. But if you have to watch another person swap spit and get pawed at like they’re the last dinner roll at the table…. You might commit arson and set this place ablaze.

You just didn’t understand why people had to go all out today of all days. Shouldn’t love be shown year-round? Though you were a person of theatrics and enjoy a good show, it is amazing how much grandiose displays of affection make you cringe. It felt very performative, instead of genuine, and you would know, you’re the best actress at camp. You’ve acted out stories before, knowing all of the greatest romances and tragedies by heart. And you pride yourself on being a decent teacher to the campers, but for some of them, love still translates to a bad rendition of a ballad they heard on the radio.

Nothing gets past you at this point.

But that sucks too sometimes, you know?

Multiple failed flings and a heartbreak or two weigh down on you on days like this one, as you’re stuck being a bystander to outlandish displays put on by the Aphrodite kids being put to work. Love is their domain anyway, and yours…makes you feel a little less undesirable. Each demigod has their own strengths and weaknesses, but perhaps in the name of love, some of them don’t know how to take a hint. Several forgettable prose readings, a Sparknotes version of Eros and Psyche, and too many red roses to count have you reeling from exhaustion and a bit of disgust—-and it’s only lunchtime. 

So yeah, maybe you’re a little jealous; they could call you Nemesis at this point.

The only flowers you got today were from the little kids from along the path to the strawberry orchard, and though it’s sweet—the human side of you misses affection. 

Devotion. 

To be a daughter of Dionysus meant to deal in extremes, obsession or nothing, and there are very few people who can handle that. Always being too much to handle, or uninterested as a defense mechanism. Perhaps that’s what scares admirers away. 

That, or the fact that Luke Castellan is always attached to your hip. To be honest, you’ve always preferred it that way—the both of you working as a pair always gets things done faster around camp and he brightens your mood, whether you admit it or not. 

But you two are just friends. 

Really good friends who look for each other in crowded rooms, hands constantly brushing against the other for comfort, and able to pick up where the other one leaves off. Usually he’s the first person you see in the morning, and the last person you say goodnight to. You know how he likes his coffee and he cuts your apples for you as you two sit together in your unassigned seats in the dining pavilion. You watch each other’s workshops and if one of you is missing, everyone knows to ask the other to get an answer.

Right? That’s totally normal coworker/friend behavior.

If you were ever given immortality, perhaps they’d make you the goddess of denial.

You’re sweeping up confetti from the dining hall floor after an uncoordinated excuse of a flash mob was performed for one of the Demeter kids… and not to sound like a heinous bitch, but maybe next time they should use something biodegradable… or less messy. Sighing deeply, you feel someone’s eyes on you, and when you look up, Luke’s standing there with two full plates of food.

“Take a break, Trouble. No one’s paying you overtime,” he jokes, and you roll your eyes as you put the broom aside.

“No one’s paying me at all…” you groan, before taking the plate out of his hands and knocking your head against his shoulder in thanks. He snickers as his hand brushes the small of your back, tickling your spine as he leads you to sit at a table.

“Just another holiday. You know how it is.”

“It’d be nice to have a night off though. Sometimes I regret taking up the position,” you mumble through spoonfuls of soup. He throws his large hand over your shoulder, kneading some tension from your trapezius. Head jerking along with the movements, you giggle as soup dribbles off your spoon, which makes his lips quirk into a small smile. Being around you felt so thoughtless and easy that if you told him to jump off a bridge he’d do it without question, which should be more concerning—the hold you have on him is irrevocable. Feelings are way too difficult for his teenage brain to comprehend at this stage. It’s easier to wash dishes with lava or fight off a dragon (bad example, he knows, but there’s something about you that already makes him feel like he’s losing before anything’s even happened).

Luke is someone who fights until the end, a soldier who’s always trained and so ready for anything that sometimes it makes you wonder what war he’s preparing for. Infatuation, or the scarier, four-letter word was not something he was ever briefed on.

“No, you don’t. You’re a control freak,” he says with a grin. 

Luke watches you play with the pendant on your necklace, the dragon scale he fashioned into your favorite accessory glinting in your hand. Running your fingers back and forth over the smooth surface, your other hand puts the spoon down and you place your head on his shoulder. He thinks if he had to describe the four-letter word on the tip of his tongue, he’d tell whoever’s asking about the way you kissed his healing cheek after you both left the Garden of Hesperides. More than a year later, Luke is still unable to find the right words even if the weakness has made a home in his heart with your name written all over it.

“I swear if I have to hear another person croak out a lovesong I might just drown myself in the Long Island Sound,” you scoff as his fingers trace circles onto your waist.

There’s a low strum of a guitar that reaches your ears and your forehead meets the cool surface of the table as you shut your eyes and grumble. It’s Lee and his half-siblings, beginning to walk through the hall seconds away from singing until they see Luke shaking his head and dragging his finger across his throat to please, gods, stop. The Apollo kids swivel and 180, walking out of the hall as the music stops dissonantly, rolling their eyes and dragging their feet.

“That was quick,” you say inquisitively as your head pops up from the table to see Luke looking off in the distance.

“Heh… I think they were just practicing or something…”

He then had to run off and pay them more drachmas for the inconvenience. 

Fucking hustlers.

—

The sun sets quickly on Camp Half-Blood since it’s mid-February, and Luke finds you trying to calm your nerves as you look at the mess of glitter and paper mache that covers the arts and crafts hall from floor to ceiling.

“I can’t believe this!” you say in disbelief as you look at Luke, and he takes the can of Redbull out of your shaking hand.  

“There’s just no fucking way everyone decided to use glitter. It’s everywhere! I’m—CONNOR, PUT THE SCISSORS DOWN!”

Luke sighs as he holds his hand out for his younger brother to give up the craft scissors, which he relinquishes with a mischievous grin. 

“Guys, go find trouble somewhere else,” Luke mutters, pushing his head away, and where Connor goes, Travis quickly follows, tossing a canister of glitter back at him and not knowing it was still open.

“Oops.” 

Immediately, the both of you are showered in iridescent particles, floating over your heads and stuck in your hair as the older Stoll brother looks at the two of you wide-eyed.

“You've already got Trouble anyway,” he says teasingly, and this asshole winks at Luke before bolting out the door.

The room is silent now, and you pinch the bridge of your nose, before speaking, “I don’t care if he’s your brother, Luke. I might just fucking kill him.” You'd say more but your eyes are shut as you try not to breathe in glitter, and then the sound of the doorknob rattling catches your attention. Luke is standing there, finally faced with a door he can’t open, his eyebrows furrowed in annoyance–but the effect isn’t as menacing as it should be when he’s covered in red and pink sparkles.

“Not if I get to him first, the little bastard.”

“Just open the door,” you say panicked, running over and forcing his hands off the doorknob.

“I can’t if you won’t let me do it!” He grits, elbowing you and trying to unlock the door with both his inherited gift and brute strength.

“What kind of demigod even are you? Lockpicking is supposed to be your thing!”

“Well OBVIOUSLY, but it’s not working, now is it, Trouble?”

Luke finishes off the rest of your energy drink before throwing the can over his shoulder and he swears he can hear you cuss at him under your breath as you berate him about the mess, so he chooses to focus on busting the door down instead of looking at the glitter stuck in your eyelashes and thinking about how the idea of being stuck in a room with you makes him feel weak at the knees.

Through the window, his eyes meet the group of Apollo kids staring at the predicament you two are in (and the barricade of chairs the Stolls put in front of the door). He sighs, and Lee’s little sister flips him off as they start to walk away again, instruments in tow.

“You gonna charge him again?”

A tiny Will Solace looks at his elders for guidance as they walk along the path. As one of the youngest in the bunch, he especially idolizes anything his half-siblings do, going along with whatever they see fit.

“No, but we’re close enough to the archery range that I might just shoot them through their hearts myself. Eros and Aphrodite themselves are pretty much begging us to,” Lee grumbles.

“Why are we doing this again?” Will babbles, and his half-sister grabs his hand to help him walk faster.

“A crazy little thing called love. You’ll understand it better someday, kid.”

—

Thankfully, it all starts winding down after dinner. Luke finds you leaning against a tree flipping through your clipboard during the camp sing-along, so he tugs at your elbow to get your attention.

“Wanna get out of here?”

You look at him, slotting your pen behind your ear as you notice faint glitter particles still dotted along his cheeks. As your lips pull into a small smile, you say, "I still have a few things to do after this, don't you?"

"Cleared your schedule for the night," he mumbles, and whether it's the glow of the bonfire or he's actually blushing, a teasing expression crosses your face as you step closer and cross your arms at him.

"You cleared my schedule for the night. How on earth did you do that?"

Instead of a proper reply, he grabs your hand, tugging you out to the docks near the lake.

"Don't worry about it."

He's not going to tell you that he owes Chris and Annie a few favors before the end of the month to make up for the night shift they ended up taking. Instead, you both sit cross-legged at the edge of the dock, a gentle breeze brushing at your clothes and for the first time today, you're able to just exist.

"I hate Valentine's Day," you suddenly say, looking up at the night sky, and he's watching you closely as the gentle shine of the moon casts a cool glow on your face. Luke cringes at your statement, thinking he's already thrown away his shot.

"Why's that?"

"Tell me something Luke, am I unlikable? Like, is there anything wrong with me?"

He looks at you like you've told him you’re secretly a cyclops.

“The fuck? How many times do I have to tell you that everyone thinks you’re great?"

You don't even give him a chance to finish his sentence before you blurt, "I don’t want to be great, I want to be loved!" Reeling back a little, you lean back on your hands to create some distance.

 “Sorry... that was a lot, and I’m just...wanting to be noticed. It's nice to have people's attention sometimes, you know?”

You’ve got all of mine, he thinks, realizing he never stood a chance at fighting it—this four-letter feeling you give him is the first and only battle he’ll back down from, and you're the only person he’ll wholeheartedly surrender to.

In short, he’s fucked.

"I always notice you." He pulls out a dented box of chocolates from his jacket pocket, opening it up for the both of you to share, and the look of amusement on your face makes him glad that at least one thing somewhat went to plan today, even if the chocolate truffles are a bit smushed. You’re popping one into your mouth and his dark eyes follow the trail of your fingers to your mouth, feeling his heart beat a bit faster.

But then you both hear the soft strum of a guitar from near the trees, and the two of you turn to hear some of the Apollo kids singing beautifully along the coastline.

I'll be seeing you, in all the old, familiar places... That this heart of mine embraces...

You gasp, grabbing Luke’s arm to push yourself up so that the both of you can turn and face a small group of your closest Apollo friends singing to the both of you. Luke’s eyes soften further when he feels you grab his hand and squeeze, leaning against his shoulder as you listen.

“Did you do this?” you mumble, still entranced by the performance.

“Only if it makes you laugh.”

And you do, in the way that he loves—a bit crazy and too loud, and it’s perfect.

I’ll always think of you that way… I’ll find you in the morning sun….

Whether it’s fireflies or Will bouncing light off the water to look like small, glowing candles, Luke can’t tell—he’s too busy watching your lips pull into a smile so confectionery his sweet tooth starts to ache. The little kid was never good at archery like his other half-siblings, but as your eyes shimmer under the ambient lights, you think his added romantic gesture shot you straight through the heart.

“You know, sometimes I really do hate you, Luke Castellan,” you whisper, and it couldn’t be more far from the truth.

“No, you don’t.”

His eyes flicker to you again, but you’re already looking back at him.

“I don’t.”

And when the night is new, I’ll be looking at the moon… but I’ll be seeing you…

It’s quiet now, and you’re unsure of where the Apollonian ensemble disappeared to but instead of worrying about if they’ll make it back before curfew, you stand there in front of Luke with your guard down.

Getting a little closer than he expected, your noses brush before you pull the slightly crushed wildflowers from your jean pocket, the only physical reminder you’ve kept from today, and tuck them into his jacket pocket, sitting right above his heart. 

“Thank you.”

Luke doesn’t realize he’s holding his breath until he feels your lips gently kiss the marred skin on his right cheek, the blemish having an uncanny resemblance to a stroke of lightning; it serves as a reminder of his weakness. The lines blur as his eyes close to savor it and he doesn’t know if weakness is your kisses or his scar—but he is vulnerable to it all the same, realizing there’s a crack in the otherwise perfect persona that he’s worked so hard on.

When his eyes open again, his Achilles’ heel has taken human form.

—

“This has got to be cheating,” Clarisse grumbles as she watches from the distance, hidden behind the trees.

“It’s not cheating if I’m winning. Silena’s gonna get a kick out of this,” Lee chuckles, ushering everyone back towards the cabins. It’s a bit harder to do this in the dark as they try to be quiet and not interrupt whatever will happen next between their favorite counselors.

“Well lucky for you, your gifts are cute and romantic, what am I supposed to do? They fight enough!”

“That’s what got them into this mess in the first place. Come on, curfew’s in 10. We’ll find out which of us wins the bet soon enough,” Chris mutters, pushing them along back onto the main path.

“Easy for you to say, Rodriguez, you live with Luke!”

“Would I ever lie to you, La Rue?” he says with a mischievous grin, and the Apollo kids giggle at the irony.

—

“My body ages,

my anger burns into a seam.

I am so annoyed by love

and still it comes.”

-Kate Baer

ask to be added to luke/general taglists!

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[dollycxre]

Fem Mortal Reader x Yandere Hestia, but the reader isn't a pushover.

:)

yandere! Hestia x fem! mortal! Reader - ♡ general hcs

warnings -> none....it's hestia...actually, slight clinginess??

paring/s -> yandere! Hestia x mortal! fem! reader (gender of the reader isn't mentioned or relevant tbh)

a/n -> rising from my grave to finish this

————————————————————

-> meeting her as a mortal means that you're probably gonna meet her in your fireplace

-> the most likely scenario is that you had just faced one of the worst heartbreaks in your life— losing a family member, a regular breakup, whatever

-> Hestia, being who she is, would probably not be able to bear the sight of someone in pain, guiding the fire to warm you up, flames flickering up towards you as if in a comforting manner

-> her presence is a very comforting and homely feeling and when she concentrates on a particular hearth, her power increases tenfold

-> probably resulting in you dozing off in a cozy armchair, fast asleep like your world hadn't just come crashing down around you

-> she watches you sleep so peacefully (but like- in a non creepy way)

-> she keeps on at it for a while, watching you do your daily chores for a while, admiring you from a safe distance and slowly falling for you

-> I don't think Hestia would even bother trying to disguise herself as a regular human to you, she just pops up in your fireplace one day and shyly starts a conversation

-> Depending on your reaction, she'd either cool you down or happily continue your conversation like literally nothing ever happened

-> I'm not gonna go into details but she'd win you over pretty damn quickly and starts dating you as soon as possible

(now for some domestic fluff...cuz it's hestia)

-> I have this headcanon that because Hestia is the goddess of family, she'd know all the best picnic spots

-> like you cannot tell me that she wouldn't know the most gorgeous cliffside overlooking a sea view in the world and take you there as a date

-> she likes baking for you because she adores how your face lights up when she makes you those cookies you love so much

-> she already knows your allergies and taste in food so don't even bother telling her, she's already got the best recipes she has set in mind :)

-> she likes taking you on peaceful walks with her while she's disguised as a human

-> watching all the different people walk by with their dogs, significant others, etc, etc makes her very happy

-> she'll point out to you all the small, gorgeous details your eyes might've missed

->she wants to show you the beauty of the world you live in!

-> definitely takes you to visit her favourite places in greece

->dresses up like a local that the people know well by now and takes you to her favourite parts of her homeland <3

->wants you to try all the native food, 100%

->when it comes to the issue of her being an immortal goddess and you being a regular ol mortal with a short life span (compared to her anyway), she'll try to convince you to let her feed you nectar

->obviously, you say something along the lines of 'fuck no'

->she's devastated when you abandon her at the table in the restaurant she took you to, to run away

->keeps popping up in the hearth whenever you light your fire (only for you to extinguish the flames with water)

->she finally gets you to have a normal, healthy conversation with her when she catches you off guard while you're napping by the fireplace

->would probably end with a compromise (somehow) that she'd make your closest friends and family immortal with you so that you'd all be able to live together

->after that, your relationship is pretty much smooth sailing

->Hestia isn't a very possessive or jealous person and she usually communicates that she's uncomfortable when she is

->cuz, y'know...she's actually sane (unlike the rest of her siblings and nephews and nieces)

->adopts an animal with you, a hundred percent <3

->likes cuddling you in her hearth, because it's so warm and cozy that you always end up falling asleep on her chest

->and she likes that :)

->takes you up to Olympus because she isn't scared of someone else taking you away

->none of the gods would even try because who would want to make Hestia upset? (especially cause it's mostly out of fondness, rather than terror *cough cough* Athena *cough cough*)

->anyway, she's probably one of the best girlfriends in the world <3

->can't and doesn't marry you because of her vow, but gives you a promise ring and lets you give her one if you really wanted to <3

->mostly just overly clingy, staying by your side whenever she can and hearth-hopping to wherever you go— work, out with friends, etc

BONUS!

-> she leaves you with Aphrodite if she's busy, because Aphrodite thinks you're adorable and always spends her time with you helping her doves make you all pretty for Hestia, Cinderella's fairy godmother style :)

[callsign-rogueone]

resson (garrick's version)

Garrick Tavis x reader a Garrick and Angel chapter! I need to re-number these at some point, but this happens between 1 and 2 — some of the events at Resson, and them going back to Aretia. written in Garrick’s pov, since Angel isn’t exactly conscious at the moment... words: 2.9k 🏷️: fourth wing spoilers, major character death, canon injury, allusions to hypothermia, writing as Garrick is hard but I tried, poor boy isn’t sure she’s gonna survive this (we know she does, since I wrote this out of order, but still), he takes good care of his girl, Sweetheart makes an appearance along with Darling Spark and Love, somewhat proofread but not really. I’m sorry this took me so long, but here it is. better late than never?

There’s a red dragon lying on the ground, wounded. It’s either Cosa or Deigh, but I can’t tell from this far out. Deigh, I realize when I’m close enough to see his horns, and he isn’t moving. If he’s dead, then Liam only has a few minutes left.

I make the jump too quickly, scrambling to get my feet underneath me, but I’m too late. Liam’s gone. His girlfriend is sobbing into his shoulder, Bodhi attempting to soothe her through his own tears. He has one arm held to his chest, the other rubbing her back gently. 

But there’s a second body slumped against Deigh’s side, and my heart nearly stops when I realize who it is. 

“Angel,” I breathe, kneeling down beside her, brushing my hands over her cheeks. She’s cold to the touch even in the July heat, her head lolled down onto her chest and her body completely limp, but she’s still breathing, thank the gods. I couldn’t bear to lose both her and Liam on the same day. It would destroy me. 

A quick inspection and confirmation from Tab tell me that she’s not wounded — a few scratches here and there, and some tender points that will be bruised tomorrow, but nothing major.

“She tried,” Bodhi tells me quietly. “There was nothing she could do, but she tried anyway, and…” He doesn’t finish the sentence, knowing that I can see it as well as he can.

I’ve seen her drained before, completely exhausted after a long day mending in the infirmary, unsteady on her feet and ready to flop facedown onto my bed and sleep it off, but this is several steps past that. It’s clear that she’d used absolutely everything she had in trying to keep Liam and Deigh alive, and I don’t know how long it will take her to recover. 

If she does recover, I think for a single second before crumpling the thought up like a piece of parchment and shoving it deep, deep down. She’s going to live. She’s going to recover. She has to. There is no way that the two of us could ever be separated like that. 

I have to do something, but what? Is sleeping it off followed by a giant bowl of pasta going to be enough this time, or does she need to see a healer? Could the healers even fix this? Is there a cure for burnout other than rest?

“The Lieutenant Colonel would know. He’s a mender as well.” 

Brennan would know. Him or Colonel Colbersy would be the best bets — but the idea of taking her back to that hellhole school right now is enough to light my blood on fire. Graduation is in less than a week, and I know they aren’t going to give her any time to recover before they transfer her across the continent to gods-know-where and expect her to start working.

I hook an arm under her knees, another behind her back, lifting her up from the dirt and gathering her into my lap. She’s too drained to speak, to open her eyes, but I feel a little flare of recognition from her as she leans into my chest — she knows it’s me. She’s still in there. 

I tuck her head into my shoulder, stroking a hand over her disheveled braids, because that’s all I can do right now.

Our little sister has silently slotted herself between me and Bodhi. She leans her head against my shoulder, sniffling quietly. She looks unharmed, but there’s dried blood coating her nose and upper lip, and her cuticles are shredded; she’s been peeling them since we left the school, as a nervous habit. Something’s bothering her, but I haven’t had time to ask what — though I have a suspicion that it has something to do with that little joker in Violet’s squad.

And now this. Liam had become her best friend, the first person her age that she was truly comfortable with, and now… I put my other arm around her, squeezing gently. She’s trembling, crying as quietly as possible — even in a situation like this, she doesn’t want to make a sound.

“I’m so sorry, kid,” I say softly, as if that will make it hurt any less.

She leans into me a little further. “Is she going to be okay?”

“Yeah,” I promise her, “She’s gonna be fine in a day or two. She just needs rest — you know how it is.”

I pray to every higher power that exists that I’m right — that Angel will be fine, that our sister won’t lose yet another loved one. She’s finally coming out of her shell, starting to let people in, but I’m afraid that losing Liam might send her right back to square one: the girl I’d met six years ago, who was too scared to speak. I didn’t hear her voice for a week and a half — only timid nods or shakes of the head for yes or no questions.

My eyes widen as I see Xaden approach, a limp-looking Violet in his arms. She’s wheezing, black blood trickling from a wound in her side.

“It has to be poison,” Imogen reasons, sounding more torn up about this than I thought she’d ever be. “Look at it! We have to get her back to Basgiath. Nolon might be able to help.”

“That’s a twelve-hour flight.” Xaden’s voice rises. “And I’m pretty sure her arm is broken.”

Is she going to make it that long?

“There’s somewhere closer,” he says quietly.

“You can’t be serious,” Ciaran interrupts.

“You’ll put everything at risk,” I warn.

Tairn roars in dissent.

“I wouldn’t say that again,” Imogen mutters, “or he’ll probably eat you. And don’t forget, if she dies, there’s a damn good chance Xaden does, too.”

“I’m not saying he shouldn’t, just reminding him what the stakes are.”

“I don’t give a fuck what happens to me!” Xaden yells. “We’re going, and that’s an order.”

Bodhi agrees without protest. “No need for orders, man. We’ll save her.” 

“You’re sure about this?” Imogen asks.

“Stop fucking asking him that,” I snap without thinking. “He made his decision. Support him or get the fuck out, Imogen.”

“And it’s a bad one.”

Bodhi turns his head to glare at him. “When you have a hundred and seven scars on your back, then you get to make the fucking decisions, Ciaran.”

Rocks crunch under a pair of boots as another of our friends approaches. She looks utterly defeated — her face, neck, and hair are splattered with wyvern blood, and the makeup she’d so carefully applied for the Reunification Day party is running in dark trails down her cheeks, her eyes swollen and red from crying. She’s unusually quiet as she speaks. “X is right. We need to lie low for a few days — get our wounded help, and…”

And bury Liam. Her little brother. 

A wave of guilt floods through me. I had been too focused on Angel to fully process the fact that Liam, Xaden’s little brother, who may as well be mine too, is gone forever. We have to bury him tomorrow. I’ll never hear him laugh again, never receive another one of his little wood carvings… Oh, fuck. Sloane. She’d been counting down until her conscription day, when she could see him again, but now she never will. 

“It’s settled, then,” another soft voice says — Bodhi’s wife. “We’re going home.”

Nobody dares to disagree with her.

I give our sister one last gentle squeeze before I rise from the ground, Angel in my arms, and carry her the hundred yards to the rest of the riot, who have been keeping watch over us.

Tab lowers his head, mournful and dejected. He must regret not cutting her off, blocking her out from his magic before she overdid it. She’d never forgive him if he had interfered with her efforts to save Liam, but if he had, she might still be lucid. 

It’s absolutely terrifying seeing her like this. 

Chradh nods in understanding before I can ask, lowering himself flat to the ground so I can climb up while still holding her. I know it’s a major no-no for a dragon to bear anyone but their rider, but all of ours understand the gravity of the situation — a few of us aren’t in condition to fly, and will need to double up with someone who is.

She’s still freezing cold, and I know that the altitude and wind on our flight home won’t help. I sit her up in front of me, removing my flight jacket one sleeve at a time. 

It’s like dressing a doll — she’s completely pliant in my arms, and I have to keep moving her to get the jacket on, guiding her hands through the sleeves and buttoning it closed on top of her own. I pull her goggles up so the wind won’t hurt her eyes, and turn her head to tuck her face into my neck. 

Chradh wraps an invisible band of power around us to help keep her in place. 

“Just hang on for me, Angel,” I murmur, my lips brushing her hairline. “We’re taking you home.”

———————————————

Every step up the staircase sends a wave of pain up my left leg. I fucked up my knee in my running landing, too panicked to think straight once I realized that one of the dragons was wounded so severely.

I can worry about myself later. Right now I need to get her in bed, and prepare her for Brennan’s assessment.

My magic works to open the doors here, too, so I don’t have to worry about dropping her while I get us inside. I sit in my desk chair and prop her up in my lap, the wood creaking under our combined weight. 

I get her out of my flight jacket, then hers, and assess the state of her base layers. I decide to get her out of her leathers, at least — those are terrible to sleep in, and she’s always been picky about “outside clothes” on the bed. 

She was cold to the touch even with the extra layers, but without them I realize exactly how icy her skin is. I leave her with shorts and a tank top, but I pull back the bed covers with one hand and lay her down, piling her with blankets to make up for the loss. As soon as I drape them over her body, I’m rewarded with a small sign of life — she burrows deeper into the covers, seeking warmth.

Maybe warming her back up will be enough to get her lucid again, like this is some kind of hypothermia. But how did that happen? It’s July, the warmest part of the year across the whole continent.

I drag my desk chair over to the edge of the bed, taking a seat. It’ll be a while yet before Brennan can check on her — it’s going to take a small miracle for him to get the poison out of Violet’s system. 

She’s turned her head away from me, so I occupy myself with fixing her braids. They’re undone in places, big strands pulled out by the wind. I untie the leather band at the bottom, setting it on the nightstand and gently undoing the plaits. 

I’ve been practicing, but I’m not skilled enough to do the style she usually wears. I settle for detangling as best I can with just my fingers, and gathering it all into a low ponytail. It’s a small comfort to see her looking less disheveled. This way I can almost pretend that there’s nothing wrong, that she’s just taking a nap in my bed on a winter afternoon, piled up with blankets. 

“Can you ask Tab to keep an eye on her while I shower?”

“He won’t be taking his eye off of her anytime soon.”

If Tab can still feel her, that’s a good sign, I guess. I’ll take anything normal as a good sign right now. I cast one last long glance at her before I slip into the bathroom, keeping the door open just in case.

I look like shit after nearly two full days of flight and combat, but a shower and some real sleep should help. The water here is warmer than at Basgiath — though that’s a very low bar — and the pressure isn’t terrible. It’s almost nice. It would be a welcome reprieve, if I wasn’t so worried about her and Violet and all of our friends. I’m pretty sure Bodhi broke an arm back there, and our sister looked so shaken… she’d disappeared as soon as we got home. I need to check on her in the morning.

I haven’t heard anything from the bedroom, which is either a good sign or a bad one, but when I peek my head out, I can see the pile of blankets still rising and falling with her slow breaths. I dry off as quickly as I can and begin the search for clean clothes.

My old pajama pants are loose enough to accommodate the extra inches I’ve put on my thighs in three years as a dragon rider, but I can’t fit my arms through the sleeves of the first shirt I find. I make a quick modification with one of my smaller knives before tugging it over my head and settling back down beside her.

There’s a soft knock on the door.

Brennan looks absolutely exhausted, but he waves a hand at me in dismissal as I rise from the creaking desk chair and offer it to him. Stubborn fucking Sorrengails. 

He examines her for a minute, his eyebrows drawn together the way I’ve seen them when he’s looking over a battle map as he checks her pulse. Her breaths become even slower as he wraps his hand around her wrist, her body relaxing. 

“How long has she been like this?”

“Since we left Resson,” I answer. “She didn’t wake up on the flight.”

He blows out a breath. “I can fix the smaller stuff, but I don’t know what made her this way. I’ve seen burnout before, but this isn’t it.” He pauses, and his voice is strained as he continues. “It’s like she siphoned half her life away to try to save him.”

I can’t help but wince, knowing how his friend had done just that in the battle of Aretia five years ago — only Naolin had given up not just half his life, but the whole of it. And him being reminded of that on the day that he’d finally reunited with his little sister, who is currently residing on Malek’s doormat… 

I break the silence after a moment. “She’s not a siphoner, though. She’s a mender, like you.”

“That explains it, I guess. The loss of Deigh’s power is what ended Liam’s life, but we can’t mend magic. There’s nothing she could have done, but she kept trying anyway, and it was too much for her.”

Again, he sounds pained. 

I tread carefully with my next question. “Have you seen it happen before? A rider lose their dragon?”

“Yes. I tried as hard as I could to save her, but it was futile. I felt utterly useless.”

“How long did it take you to recover?”

He shakes his head. “I didn’t need to. I was fine, just a little shaken.”

I exhale. “She’s always had issues with her signet. It’s easy for her to overwork herself, but I’ve never seen it this bad.”

He lets go of her wrist, setting her arm down gently, and I hear a soft sound of discomfort leave her lips. Why is she in pain? He’d just mended all of her visible injuries away, and I didn’t see anything under her clothes when I’d gotten her into bed. Maybe it’s the sudden cold — being mended always feels warm, and she’s still freezing.

“I’ll keep an eye on her,” I say softly. “Thank you.”

He nods, looking ready to head up a flight to his own room and collapse.

The sun has set, the warm dusk we’d landed in now replaced with dark night, and I’m absolutely exhausted. I lift up a few of the half dozen blankets, slotting myself in next to her. My entire body relaxes as soon as I’m horizontal on a real mattress, the pressure taken off of my legs. 

She curls into me with a soft sigh, and it takes an effort not to flinch at how cold she still is even through the layers of blankets, but I wrap my arms around her, trying to warm her up. “Angel?” I ask softly.

No response — not even a hum. How long is she going to be like this?

“I love you,” I say quietly, even though it’s doubtful she can hear me. “Get some rest, okay? You need to recover. You have to recover. I need you. We all need you.”

Another sleepy sigh as she shifts over a little, resting her head over my heart like she always does. It’s probably just muscle memory from sleeping like this every night for years, but part of me wonders if it’s her telling me that she loves me too, and that she’ll be okay.

“Sleep,” Chradh encourages. “We’ll watch her.”

I don’t respond, my eyes already closing. Shitty circumstances aside, it’s nice to be home again, curled up with her in my — our — own bed, away from the demands of that infernal school. 

We can sleep as late as we want tomorrow morning.

[wake-me-up-inside-imagines]

Could I possibly request a bit of angst like maybe Teruko, Xander, Whit, and one other drdt character that I can’t think of (all of them separate of course) finding their s/o injured and bleeding out from an ambush and how they couldn’t tell who did it from how fast it happened while they’re being patched up ? Hopefully this is cool with you :)

Don’t worry, I’m cool with this! I wrote this so the ambush takes place during the killing game, I hope that’s ok! Also I have no idea which other character you were referring to so I added Veronika because I thought it would be fun to add her! Hope you enjoy!

Teruko, Xander, and Whit with an S/O who was injured in an ambush

Gn! Reader

Warnings: blood, injury, mentions of death but no actual death occurs, mentions of torture in Veronica’s part, mentions of drugging, mentions of the movie Hostel in Veronika’s part (it’s horror movie about torture so I figured it deserved a warning)

-Knowing her luck, she was most likely the one to find you, and surprisingly, she’s not as hysterical as you might think she would be. I mean, she’s still pretty freaked out, but she knows that right now her main priority is getting you medical attention, and focusing on her emotions might get in the way of helping you

-Her first step is to get you to the infirmary before you bleed out, she’s surprisingly strong so she can carry you there just fine. On her way she questions you on who attacked you and if you were hurt anywhere she couldn’t see, once she gets an answer to those questions her main priority becomes keeping you awake

-It wouldn’t be until you fully lost consciousness that she begins to freak out, she was distracting herself by distracting you, but now that you’re out she has no way to keep herself from acknowledging how dire the situation is

-She doesn’t trust herself enough to try to heal you on her own (bad luck and all that), so she either forces Arturo to do it or she forces Monotv to do it, although since you don’t know who attacked you, he’s reluctant to let a potential murder go to waste. Considering how badly you were injured, it takes awhile to heal you, and nobody’s sure if you’ll even make it.

-Through it all, Teruko seems to have completely shut down her emotions. She refuses to cry or show fear in front of the others, not now, not after how they’ve treated her. She won’t show weakness, especially since the person who tried to kill you is still alive and free.

-Inside however, she’s a wreck. She’s lost the few people she allowed herself to get close to in the past, if she loses you she doesn’t know what she’ll do. Probably kill whoever killed you before Monotv can get his paws on them, it’s not like she was ever going to escape this place anyway.

-She doesn’t leave the infirmary area until she here’s news about your condition, good or bad. If you’re gonna go, she’s going to be there with you, she won’t let you die alone.

-Once she gets the news that you’ll live, she breathes the biggest sigh of relief anyone could possibly imagine. She stays by your side until you wake up, but when you do she has no idea what to say. I mean, what are you supposed to say to someone who’s had a near death experience? So she opts to stay silent, instead hugging you carefully until you say something

-Once she’s sure you’ll be alright, she makes it her life’s mission to find out who hurt you. She’s not above getting aggressive with the others if they refuse to cooperate with her search, especially since it comes down to your safety. She most likely won’t pick a physical fight with whoever did it if she find out, but she will make sure they can’t come within 30 yards of you ever again, and she makes sure everybody else knows what they’ve done too.

-There’s no way in hell Teruko is gonna let you out of her sight for the rest of the game, even with those who she knows didn’t attack you. She was already pretty protective of you given the circumstances, but your near death experience has increased her protectiveness ten-fold. Nobody except her is allowed near you anymore, no matter how much you protest. Call her overprotective all you like, but she’s not playing when it comes to your safety.

-She won’t tell you how scared she is of you dying or getting attacked again, not unless she’s on the verge of sleep when you ask her about it. But it’s easy to tell how scared she is from the way she grips you in her sleep, or how she pulls you closer whenever anyone passes you two by

-Just…stay alive for her, ok? She can’t afford to lose another person she loves, not like this.

-Veronika could tell something was wrong long before she found you, call it a sixth sense or something. She’s very perceptive so I think she could guess that someone was going to try to kill, she just didn’t realize you’d be the victim

-When she does find you, she is scarily calm. Like, there is not a single ounce of emotion showing on her face. You couldn’t begin to guess what she’s thinking right now.

-Without hesitation, she picks you up and books it for the infirmary a lot faster than you would imagine someone carrying a limp body would be able to run. Veronika knows better than anyone how quickly a person can bleed out, so all she’s focusing on is keeping you conscious until she can get you medical help. She doesn’t bother asking you who did it, she doesn’t want to upset you any further and besides, she could figure it out on her own later. Instead, she tries to engage in some regular conversation to help try keeping you calm but awake.

-You best believe Monotv is fixing you up, Veronika has no way of confirming Arturo’s innocence in this moment so she won’t allow him near you, and she’s scary enough that even Monotv can’t deny her request.

-Now that you’re unconscious, she knows that she won’t be of any help to you. So while Monotv is trying to save you, she goes on a witch hunt for your assailant.

-Nobody, and I mean nobody, is safe from her wrath. She’s gone back to acting like her regular, bubbly (disturbing) self, but anyone within a ten mile radius of her can feel the stone cold rage that’s radiating off of her. Nobody bothers lying to her when she questions them, they know she would know if they lied, and they aren’t stupid enough to risk feeling her wrath over a silly lie, even if they’re innocent. Of course, the person responsible lies right to her face, but she knows. And she’ll be damned if they get away with it

-Veronika doesn’t wait to hear if you’ll live before enacting her vengeance on whoever attacked you, if she waited and you did die then she won’t have time to mess with the killer before the trial begins.

-It’s not hard for her to get her hands on the would-be-killer, all she had to do is drug the water they’re drinking without them noticing (Monotv was more than happy to supply her with the pills) , and drag them back to her room. And oh boy, does she go to town on them.

-You ever seen hostel? Yeah it’s kinda like that except she keeps the attacker alive. She will not hold back, she will go as far as she can without outright killing the perpetrator

-She might let them go after their “punishment” is over, or she might keep them tied up in her room somewhere, who knows! It all depends on if she feels bothered enough to feed and water them

-She’ll then check up on you, hoping that you’re still alive. Fear and concern begin to eat her alive now that she got all the murderous rage out of her system. She’ll stay with your unconscious body as long as she can, only leaving to grab food or use the bathroom.

-When you finally wake up, she’s ecstatic! She’ll hug you and kiss you and wait on your every request. She basically treats you like royalty

-She won’t tell you about how she handled your attacker, she doesn’t need you worrying about her safety or thinking about that gruesome scene

-She doesn’t worry about it happening again since she took care of your assailant , but obviously you might, so she’ll do her best to reassure you. Anything that’ll make you feel safer, she’ll do. She comes with you everywhere if you’d like (it gives her a little piece of mind too), and she does her best to distract you by any means necessary to keep you from spiraling into terror

-Eventually your fears will dissipate, nothing bad has happened to you when Veronika’s by your side, so there’s nothing to fear anymore. She makes sure of it.

-Afraid, very afraid

-He wasn’t the one to find you, Teruko was. He found out after a very concerned David saw her carry your limp and bloody body to the infirmary

-He immediately rushes to the infirmary, terrified that you might be dead. He’s relieved to see you still alive, but also extremely worried when he sees the extent of your injuries. With no way of knowing if you’ll pull through, he stays by your side, constantly watching to make sure you’re still breathing

-He blames himself for your attack. If he had been there with you, if he hadn’t left you alone, then maybe he could have stopped your assailant from nearly killing you. At the very least he could have been there to defend you, most of Xanders classmates wouldn’t anywhere near strong enough to face him.

-Teruko informs him that before you passed out, you told her that the attack was too quick for you to identify the assailant. He thinks briefly of trying to find out who did it, but he won’t leave you in the condition you’re in by yourself, no way.

-He keeps an eye on whoever’s healing you, even if it’s just MonoTv. He’s not risking your safety, especially after he failed to keep you out of harms way the first time.

-Once you regain consciousness, he’ll be all over you. No one in the school can rip you from his arms, he refuses to let you go (unless he’s hurting you, in which case he’ll refrain from intense physical contact.) He asks you a ton of questions, mostly along the lines of “are you in any pain? or “can I get you anything?” Anything you want, he’ll get. He’s at your beck and call

-He refuses to leave you by yourself after that. The only other person he feels he can trust around you is Teruko, anyone else can only interact with you when he’s in the room. He hates being overbearing, but the fear that you’ll get attacked again is far greater than his dislike of hovering.

-If he gets any indication of who the attacker was, he is on them so quickly it’s not even funny. He doesn’t care who’s around to see it (except you) or what the consequences will be for him, he’s pounding their face in. He won’t stop until his victim is either unconscious or on the verge of dying, as much as he wants them dead he doesn’t want to get executed. He also makes sure everyone else is aware of what they’ve done so nobody else falls victim to that person

-He’s also not leaving you alone ever again (unless Teruko’s with you). As the game progresses his trust in the rest of the group goes down astronomically, he can’t afford to risk leaving you with everyone when anybody could kill next.

-Still, it eases your worry to have him around. He’s the strongest out of everybody there so as long as you stick with him, you know you’ll be fine

-Oh he’s an absolute w r e c k

-He’s likely to find you first as well, he’s extremely clingy and was probably looking for you when he found your unconscious body.

-He’s terrified, he has no idea if you’re even still alive or not, he’s just trying to get you to help as soon as possible. He screams for help until someone shows up, helping him carry you to the infirmary while he sobs

-He’s not leaving your side, he refuses to. Even when Monotv is patching you up, even the smell and sight of blood become too much to bear for him, he’s still there, watching your every move (or lack thereof). He stays at your side all night, sleeping next to your unconscious body

-Whit has no idea what to do. He doesn’t know who did this, he doesn’t know how to help you, he doesn’t even know how to help himself. He can’t dark humor his way out of this one, not while you’re actively hurting. He knows he can’t really do anything to find the perpetrator, so at your side he remains, waiting for you to wake up

-Once you do, he’s immediately peppering your face with kisses, beyond relieved that you finally woke up. He was afraid you would fall into a coma and never come back to him, but you’re here now, alive and conscious.

-Anything you need, he'll get. He waits on you hand and foot, anything to make your recovery easier. He doesn't want to overwhelm you, but he will ask if you remember who attacked you. While he's disappointed that you didn't get to see them, he won't push it any further. He's just glad you're safe.

-He doesn't stop you from seeing the others once you've recovered enough, but he will be watching over you like a HAWK whenever you're with anyone else. The only person he even remotely trusts around you is Charles, solely because he knows Charles couldn't hurt you without passing out.

-If he gets any indication of who did it he will make their life a living hell. He won't hurt them physically, but he will make sure they're ostracised from the group. He'll also bully them horrendously, making it his mission in life to annoy the attacker any chance he gets.

-He won't tell you worried he is, and it may be hard to tell, but don't be fooled. He's so scared you'll get hurt again. He tries to hide his feelings from you, but you can hear him crying himself to sleep sometimes when it all gets to be too much. He feels like it's his fault, like he didn't do enough to protect you.

-Please comfort him, he needs a reminder that it's not his fault and that you're still here, safe with him.

I hope you enjoyed!

[multifandombullshitbabes]

It makes me so mad seeing people genuinely believe that Alicent is just sacrificing Aegon just because. Like no!!! Fuck, did y'all watch that scene with your eyes closed??

Leading up to that scene, we have Alicent that knows there's abt to be a war, she started it (it was gonna happen anyway but whatever), but she tried to stave off the guilt of it by believing that she was doing her dying husband's a favor. She thought she was doing good even if i caused so much pain.

Then, she learns it was a complete misunderstanding already too late: the first big event of the war has happened, and it was only a taste of what's to come. Even then, it already brought so much grief, not even talking abt the grief from the first episode. And before that convo with Rhaenyra, Alicent could lie to herself and think that it was all for something, it was all meant to be just like Viserys said (even though she had her doubts, but who was she to refuse his dying wish?). Now? She doesn't have that anymore, and she is now scrambling and improvising, just keeping it going cuz wtf else is she supposed to do.

But her tipping point? When she realized that the one true innocent in all of this, Halaena, would not be spared in this war, no matter how much she tried to not think about it. That scene where they both run away from their hungry and angry subjects, that's when Alicent realizes, in a kind of foolish way, that she as well was going to suffer, not just Aegon or Aemond, but Halaena and herself as well: that even though they wouldn't go into battle themselves, they wouldn't be spared.

Honestly, she already knew this of course, she just didn't want to think about it too much: that in a war its not only those who battle who die, but also everyone else. It is here that Alicent realizes the true point of war: nothing. It is only death and casualties, no winners.

This is WHY she has that scene of running away and swimming into the lake. She cannot bear to think that she's doomed so many innocents to die, something she was aware of before but now has lived the reality of it firsthand with her own sweet daughter. She understands the futility in her actions, in her petty schemes, in following her fathers footsteps, in trying to be a good Christian girl in a society that hates women, etc. She understands that nothing fucking matters. So, she might as well save her daughter and granddaughter this fate of death if she can; especially because she KNOWS she cannot save either of her sons.

And that's the thing: Aegon is at the center of this conflict, he is likely to die; Aemond is their biggest weapon in this war, he is very likely to die. Alicent, in a very dark way, has already resigned herself to losing both of her sons, Aegon since he was born and Aemond since the war happened. Aegon is that one death that she is constantly reminded of, every time she looks at Rhaenyra she sees the one that has the power and right to forfeit his life, as they literally say in the show multiple times. Is it logical? Not really, considering we don't have evidence of Rhaenyra herself thinking like this. But since the men think it that way, it must be the only truth ever, and so the story goes.

Could Alicent have denied Viserys wish and let things be? Sure, but then she wouldn't be Alicent, the one desperate to be seen as a dutiful wife that gave birth to the rightful heir to the throne and who should feel very bitter about and so she does (and she does, but she also admits that Rhaenyra would've made a fine queen, she knows that the world wouldn't have ended if she let things be). It is that heavy subject of her being the only witness to his last moments and so she feels naturally duty bound as his wife to carry his last message. I cannot fault her for this, no matter the consequences of it.

And when we get to that last scene, we see all of this, just as Rhaenyra says: that, per her father's wish, she should be the heir and therefore Aegon NEEDS to die. And Alicent doesn't want to accept this truth, because that is her child, but she knows it to be true. Neither woman likes this, Rhaenyra is literally shaking and crying, Alicent looks like she can barely breathe in that entire scene. They are both mothers, and one knows exactly how bad it is to lose a child and the other knows she is about to find out how it feels.

However, they both believe this is the best that they can do in this shit situation, to avoid more innocent deaths, to stop this war from moving forward, to let each other lead their own lives as they wish. Aegon has to be sacrificed in name of the Targaryen line, and it is fucked up and Alicent does not choose this willingly but only because she knows it will happen either way, since Aegon quite literally cannot defend himself right now. She knows he is going to die, so she might as well do it in a way that ensures peace to the realm if she can.

Im sorry, bit that last scene was amazingly written and so well acted and performed and it is so disappointing seeing people being fucking foolish about it. So so sick of it. Alicent loves her children despite all of them being a product os statutory rape, the reason why she lost her vest friend, the reason why she had to resort to her cruel and petty ways, just like her father. She still loves them all and it is heartbreaking to watch.

[hajihiko]

What did you make of DR3's explanation for how the characters became Despairs?

I dont like it. Here's a re-write i was thinking about

Ok note: this is what would have made the School Life thing more enjoyable TO ME. Not gonna fit for everyone obvi

Ok first of all. Junko loses most of her potential if you take away her being sneaky and manipulative, which we barely even got to see in the games, so I want that in ACTION.

Second of all, this takes time. More than just like a single moment of anime hypnotism. Junko was definitely working her suckers for at least a year. I dont know how that reflects on the timeline and I dont super care

-

Chisa's class is full of chaos, these are some of the rowdiest students you'll find. They have potential for getting along, but they're also Very Troubled, and Chisa is a kind soul who tries to help them out with various issues. Actual attention paid to these kids being, like, KIDS, but also having some major red flags in their backgrounds that could escalate out of control very fast.

Among others, she tries to get Chiaki to come out of her shell and interact with the others more. This is hard, because Chiaki is not exactly receptive to it at first, but theres a little bit of unity between all the students anyway and they slowly start becoming friends. Chiaki uses this friendship guidance to befriend a lonely boy who often stares longingly at the school, whom she's noticed by silently sticking to the background when he's around. This will come in handy later.

Until, certain students start hanging out with their junior of 1 year, who always seems to be kind of slinking around and hanging with at least one student a day. Chiaki notices this because a) shes very quiet and mostly goes unnoticed when she's in the background, and b) she only needs half her attention span to play games anyway.

The people Junko hangs around get noticeably worse, though not necessarily more divided; just sort of 10 steps backwards for every 1 step Chisa helped them take. The rude and mean ones stop trying to be kinder, the shy and meek ones retreat even more, etc. Chisa is at a complete loss with this, but Chiaki confides in her that it might be the new student making trouble. Chisa takes over, and encourages Chiaki to keep trying to make friends with the others, which Chiaki does.

(Mahiru gets scared into telling no one what happened / what she suspects happened in Natsumi's murder, and gets rid of the evidence, as advised. The evidence she throws away gets mailed to Fuyuhiko, who is encouraged to avenge his sister. Guess who orchestrated all that?)

Chiaki does not fall into Junko's claws, because she's quiet and unobtrusive and, importantly, less desperate for what Junko can give her than the rest is. Chiaki does, after all, have her teacher who took the reigns and told Chiaki to grab her own oxygen mask first, and her Lonely Boy to confide in, and whenever she starts to lose herself, he gently reminds her to stand firm. That's right, the secret weapon was the friends we made along the way, just like in the ending.

(Hajime is probably just doing things more or less like in the anime, maybe listens to Chiaki's growing worries about her semi-friends, shits getting fucked and the only conceivable way Hajime can help is by agreeing to be a lab rat obviously what else. Biggest downfall is wanting to be there for Chiaki, but not letting her be there for him in return. Because inferiority complex.)

Chisa goes to confront this troubled mystery girl; Junko catches her too and starts working her nasty magic- for example, did you know two of your students were a part of a murder? Aren't you supposed to be guiding them? Do you know what's really happening in this school? Do you wanna see the human experimentation they just started? Did you know your best friend is in love with your crush and you can't confide in either of them anymore actually? Etc.

Chiaki is all alone now. When she finally DOES confront Junko, once the whole class along with the teacher has been sort of indoctrinated and her Lonely Boy has ditched her and she's feeling a bit brave because of it all), Junko kills her horribly in front of everyone as they do nothing. Not because they were hypnotized, but because they choose to. This is what really marks the point of no return for them. Chiaki was a quiet and harmless and mostly very nice girl, and her death was pointless, and they were a part of it, and they got away with it.

Instead of being a practically perfect student council president, Chiaki has more of an NPC theme, falling into the background more but also being honest and nice and willing to work with people. Then later, obviously, she really is an NPC and repeats the process, but this time she manages to save her boy and therefore her class.

(I'm not opposed to Chiaki being JUST an AI and never a part of the class at all, but I havent thought about it as much so idk any good points)

Hajime retains the same themes, but gets to be more of a juxtaposition of Junko, sneaking into everyone's hearts by befriending them and helping them move forward instead of backwards. He wins with the power of friendship and all that jazz.

Everyone else gets way more accountability to take. No hypnotism or brain poking, just digging into the worst parts of themselves and then indulging them entirely (with the help of Ultimate Charismatic Cult Leader Junko). I think the most interesting thing about this whole narrative could be that Anyone is capable of intense cruelty, and Anyone can choose to be a better person moving forward.

anyway in my mind that's what happened differently.

[imaginespazzi]

Bestie, now you got me invested in the exes to lovers fic haha, saw some of your responses to another anon so I thought I'd tack on a few more thoughts:

Wow 9 years since they broke up, damn - the angst is really gonna ANGST huh, but also the TENSION after so many years apart oof.

Oh man, I wonder how P felt when she first heard about Azzi having a kid. Like I'm sure she would have been happy for her but also them having a family by that point in their lives is something she must have always dreamed about and aw, my heart already hurts a lil bit for P.

Also, imagine Azzi's daughter knowing who P is immediately when she first sees her and P is completely stumped by it. I feel like either Azzi or more likely Azzi's fam would still have so many pics around where P's in it so I feel like Azzi's kid would already have an inherent familiarity with her. Would be even cuter if P was kinda her favourite player (outside of her mum obvs) - I could also totally see Tim being the instigator of that, like he'd definitely be keeping track of all of P's basketball achievements and watching her games and his granddaughter's just his lil sidekick 😌

Agree with other anon that having them on the Valks would be nice haha, yk life imitating art and whatnot 😉. But also, Mystics would make a lot of sense if Azzi's a single parent, so she's close to her support system BUT Tim and Katie would also definitely be the type to move to wherever Azzi is if that's what she needed so I think GSV still works!

Also, them ending back up on the same team in the W - I'm guessing it's cause one of them gets traded or is a free agent, but then the question is did they choose the team knowing the other is there or was it out of their hands? Hmmm.

Anyway, just some food for thought, hope it helps somewhat (and apologies if it doesn't!)

In other news, what's your assessment of the W season so far? I still haven't fully immersed myself but am trying to keep up! I fear this is just how I am with basketball, even with the NBA, I don't usually pay as much attention until after the All-Star break or the playoffs 😅 I'm glad Indy's staying out of the lottery picks though (and hopefully it stays that way) 🙏

And you work with kids?? Naw love that lil piece of Nivi lore!

-🙋‍♀️

YAYYY I'm glad you're invested 😌

Then tension's gonna be interesting because even though they've been broken up for nearly a decade, they've still had to see each other a fair amount because of the W and there's just a lot of pent up tension that's going to blow up when they're on the same team

Paige definitely did not take the news the best. I haven't quite decided how this child came to be but there are definitely ways to really torture Paige with it if I choose to be sadistic about it...

Azzi's daughter definitely knows Paige, not just of her but she's met her at games before I think and she's basically awe-struck by Paige. I have so many ideas about this relationship like I think I'mma enjoy it the most to write.

I do kinda want them of the Valks cause it would just be so fun and I lowkey want to name Azzi's daughter Stephanie (after Steph) so it would just work out really lovely and then Paige would be the one who moves teams and I think that'll probably have to be a trade because Paige isn't willingly going to torture herself ya know? Which tbf I guess is kinda unrealistic because who the fuck would trade Paige but ya lose some ya win some with logistics 😭

I love my kids on most days but the bad days....oh the less said the better but it's definitely a good curveball for my baby fever lol.

[rivalkieran]

florian quintana: a lonely kid & the vast abyss (a solisverse character dissection)

there's one trait that lies at the centre of florian's character, and that's that she's devastatingly, overwhelmingly lonely.

it's something that bleeds into every other trait of hers and it even permeates the entire story of scvi. if you distilled the entire essence of florian's character into one trait, it would be this!

there's two main ways that this loneliness manifests, so I'll talk about them both

1) powerlessness & isolation

florian didn't have any friends, or atleast none that he managed to keep in any capacity. because his family moved around constantly, he never got the chance to really participate in any community. all of his time was spent exclusively as an outsider. and he stopped trying to be anything but an outsider, because all of his effort was rendered useless eventually anyway.

his parents didn't help the situation either. all of florian's feelings were constantly dismissed by them (mostly her mother, her father was seemingly always working) because, well, she should be grateful that she's in such a comfortable position because of her father's hard work. (...which, to be fair, isn't exactly wrong? I digress)

and all of that resulted in florian internalizing one lesson: nothing she does matters. she doesn't matter. he's a ghost, invisible, mindlessly drifting along.

(she tries to fill the silence in with fiction, but that might be a post for another day...)

she continues to believe that, mental state slowly deteriorating over time. that is, until something changes. something changes because of her. on his 12th birthday, florian's plight is heard by... something, something greater, much more grand than he has ever known. and suddenly, he's not so alone. he has a sister.

1.A) juliana

I'll try to make this quick since honestly I think the quintana sibling's relationship can fit into its own whole other post LOL

juliana doesn't really fix florian's loneliness problem. infact, she kind of makes it worse for him later on? she's important context to this because she's the mask that florian eventually picks up, which builds another barrier between him and the rest of the world.

juliana is everything that florian isn't, and thus she's everything that florian admires (florian doesn't like herself very much). juliana makes friends extremely easily and always brightens the mood, she's quick to take action without any hesitation, and she's entirely selfless, single-handedly 'saves' all three of the paldea rivals, and alongside them, she also saves florian.

florian vicariously lives through the actions of juliana. basking in the love she receives as if it were his own.

(but, well, it's not his. there's still a wall.)

2) godhood & self-dehumanization

well, juliana exits the story eventually at the end of the scvi plot. and florian is the one appointed to take her place as the protagonist. suddenly, the script is flipped on it's head. florian isn't just no longer powerless, she's the most powerful force within the story. she's the hero.

with juliana's exit, every action she took over the course of the story becomes florian's. florian has friends that she never had to put in the effort to make, florian has respect from authority that she never had to put in the work to earn. and in order to maintain them, florian has to build another wall between 'florian' and the world. she copies the personality and mannerisms of juliana, effectively abandoning her old self.

there's also another problem. juliana, due to circumstances like not being human, was capable of being the "perfect friend": someone that never had any issues or baggage of her own and was endlessly patient with others' problems without it ever taking a mental toll on her. florian, on the other hand, is very much human and cannot do that! but is that gonna stop her? nope! she doesn't want to lose the things juliana oh so generously gave to her.

so, florian ignores her humanity. she starts to think of herself as a god, as a savior. and because of this, the pit of loneliness continues to fester inside of her. ... really, 'florian' is still vicariously living through the vessel of 'juliana', from the other side of the wall. 'florian' was never in control, was she?

(the story doesn't end there, but I think kieran and florian's relationship DEFINITELY deserves its own post, and this is getting quite long, so...!!! I'm gonna cut myself off here!!!)

[youuuimeanmee]

Nol and Shinae's Dance Analysis.

I heard from some people, Quimchee planned the entire night sequence on December 21st to be filled with hints and set ups for events and character dynamics in the future. Though I don't know how far Quimchee is gonna put the hints since it's past Dec 21st already, but hey, Quimchee always insert some symbolisms and foreshadowings anyway so I wanna analyze this one particular scene because it has a lot of foreshadowing materials, and try to predict their dynamic in the upcoming Chess Game.

Analysis

1. Nol with the blindfold. He is hiding his eyes from crying so much. But why is he crying in the first place? One can only guess the reason, but we know the phrase: Eyes are the window of the soul. It immediately reflects our emotions, our fears, and our deepest emotive shades. Nol is hiding his true feelings (whatever it is: love, relieve, heartbreak, fear, anxiety) from Shinae. He is closing his eyes, ignoring whatever reality in front of him, and chooses to live in the moment with her --regardless of the consequences that might come after.

2. The head band covering Shinae's neck --or the delicate part of the body that must be protected, as Nessa once stated. Nol took it away from her. He also told her to take off her shoes earlier. Combine these two, and you have Nol basically rendering Shinae naked vulnerable in front of him. She believes Nol's excuse to play things fair without question; even without the blindfold, Shinae is pretty blind herself, because she couldn't see he's not fine at all.

3. Their outfits. They're both vulnerable in their own ways; Shinae without her shoes and her headband, and Nol in hospital gown with the bandages that covered his wounds. But, while Shinae's neck is out in the open (completely open with her feelings), Nol's neck is wrapped in bandages (hiding his feelings completely). They're not seeing eye to eye; it's not fair.

4. The dance movement. Nol is twirling Shinae around. Even in blindness, he had Shinae dancing at the palm of his hand. By lying and hiding behind a mask, he had her under his control. (Not that he has any malice --he just wants to make happy memories with Shinae before he's gone, but from here, we get a glimpse that Nol is capable of manipulating his partner to move like he wants to.)

5. The color. Rand said he has faith in his team. His words are in red in black, signifying power. He has conviction they won't lose to Yui. And sure enough, the duo is dancing without a care, they're building their team play. But notice the background color when they danced; they're not in the light (hope), but it's not completely dark either. It's basically grey. Despite Rand's hope, the situation seems bleak.

Nol who is blind, is guiding Shinae who is blind. You know what could happen?

This is the worst scenario though, I hope it won't happen.

The blind is leading the blind. One of them has to open their blindfold if they don't want to fall together. Fortunately, Shinae is quick to open her eyes from Nol's tricks. She saw Nol's tear stains and she immediately took the rein; she stopped their dance. Once it stops, we can see the light returns (even if it's not as bright as before).

Discussion

Nol and Shinae's dance has been teased for a long time, and we finally get to see it now. It's been teased from episode 5, when Nol proposed Shinae to be his partner. There has been many hurdles, but now that Shinae has fully accepted Nol's hand, they finally embark on a new journey as partners. Their dance represents their new partnership and how they work together as a team. And of course, being their first time, it's not all smooth sailing.

Nol and Shinae is a unique pair. They're almost like a mirror. Whatever Nol do that night, Shinae is able to keep up with him.

Nol and Shinae have the potential to be impeccable liars. They both can make nasty jokes that can cut their opponents deep. Like Nol's prank that reminded Shinae of her father in-coma, and Shinae's prank that reminded Nol of his abused days in the Hirahara Hospital.

They are capable of stealing. Nol stole the yearbook to investigate Alyssa to give Shinae the justice she deserves. Shinae stole some balloons from the poor, tired man to give Nol a happy birthday he deserves.

They both can equally be manipulative if they want to. Shinae doesn't want Nol to bolt from her since he seemed ready to do it anytime, so she lured him out using sweet words, shared her painful past to try to relate to him, and asked him to dance in Min-Hyuk's room so she could be with him longer. Nol doesn't want Shinae to bolt from him again since she seemed ready to do it anytime, so he listened to her music together, played around with her finger dance, asked her to dance --even taking away her shoes, and smile as Yeong-Gi so she won't run away from him anymore.

Whatever wholesome or nasty things, they could do it together. They'd be such a great partners-in-crime. But sometimes, because they're so matching, they often find themselves in unfavourable condition when they're not in synch. For example, like the first time they meet. Both of them were riled up by the mean guy's mockery; they stood up to teach him a lesson at the same time. But, because they had different idea on how to do it and they're not aware of each other's presence, Shinae ended up hindering Nol by spilling the juice on him --or Nol hindered Shinae by getting in the way, whatever floats your boat. Yes, it is an accident, but I believe Quimchee has been setting up their dynamic from the very start.

You get the gist. For the upcoming chess game, they need to fix their teamwork. And to get a nice teamwork, they need to be in synch. They already prove themselves they're capable of doing that, like their first prank and their tag team against Sang-Chul. But if they want to win against Yui, they have to do better. It's clear they're not there yet, because Nol is hiding too much from her. In fact, Nol is too smart for his own good and he hates putting his loved ones in dangerous or uncomfortable situation, it's possible he would "manipulate" Shinae in their partnership; he'd let her help him enough, but not enough to drag her into the mud with him.

I found this comment and I agree with this, though realistically, I'm not too hopeful Shinae could turn things around so quickly when this is just the very beginning of Nol-Shinae's partnership.

It's been hinted no matter how much Shinae is seem to be able to catch up to Nol, Nol is always one step ahead from her.

On their first "dance" in the Arcade Arc, what Shinae lacked is stamina. Right now what she lack is knowledge. Knowledge about Nol's past and the sticky situation surrounding Hirahara. Unfortunately, Nol is not ready to share it yet. Not at all.

Nol has always been in constant survival mode. Years of being preyed by Yui has build him to never show his weakness to anyone. Not to his friends, not even Nana --to some extent. Today, he just made a huge leap by crying on his loved one's shoulder instead of crying alone, but he's not ready to reveal it to Shinae. He has yet to process his feelings. It takes time. Things are gonna get complicated, especially when it's been foreshadowed that Nol is going to leave for a long time. If he does leave, it'll be a challenge to stay in contact and get close to him. And in the future, there will be much more things that Nol is keeping secret from Shinae. We already have Nol's investigation on Alyssa, for starters. Shinae has stated she doesn't like surprises and she doesn't like it when someone is going overboard for her sake. If she find out Nol has been manipulating her, doing all sort of things behind her back, and shouldering everything alone.... Welp. And she is capable of hurting Nol too, so... Yikes. I pray things won't get that far, I hope they won't hurt each other too much in the process.

I do hope we'll get a parallel of episode 65 on the next episode --Nol admitted to Shinae he's not fine at all, but since Nol is hard-headed, I don't dare to hope too much.

On (un)related topic, Rand, the Black King, has ordered Shinae, his Black Pawn, to inflitrate the opponent's den. Well, even though I said ordered, it's more of an advice on how to play the game. Shinae has the right to decide whether she chose to involve herself in this game or not. To make the decision, she needs to know what is exactly she's up against, and for who she's fighting for. And for that, she has to be aware of Nol's circumstances. Once she heard everything about Nol, there's no going back.

If Nol won't talk to her, I hope she can talk to Nana; I hope the two of them will meet. Yujing is currently brewing her article. If Shinae could learn about Nol's past from Yujing, it'll sting since she didn't learn it from Nol himself, but at least it'll start some conversation with him. Hell, she could even try to ask Rand if she's desperate enough. Nol is the same. If he wants to stand on equal footing with Shinae in the chess game, he needs to face himself, take a leap of faith and try to open up to her, little by little. He needs to believe Shinae is not as fragile as she seemed; she can take his burden and she won't leave him either.

If, in the future, Nol ever find himself immersed in his Antihero role for too long, or he's into his revenge plot too deep, Shinae needs to stop him from hurting himself. Maybe she even have to resort to some brute force if he keeps being stubborn.

Shinae and Nol have different stats in nature, so she has to get creative and proactive with her ways to make up for her weakness, if she wants to stand by Nol's side equally.

Just like Nol who has the capability to manipulate anyone -- including his partner -- if he wanted to, Shinae is just as capable to take the rein of their relationship, like the way she accepting and stopping their dance when she found something wrong. It's up to her if she want to continue the dance --letting her partner be blind, or stopping the dance completely if it means she could get him to open his eyes (come in terms with his feelings).

...

Maybe this is why Rand has so much faith in Nol and Shinae (especially the latter). Despite their flaws, despite their bleak situation, they can overcome anything as long as they're together. In due time, of course.

[raainberry]

Keep It Down

« silly series - 1 »

Yeji x gn!reader

Fluff

synopsis - you’ve been dating Yeji for a few weeks and spend most of your time together sneaking around in her dorm.

wordcount - 1.2K

T/W - mention of food

A/N - back in my yeji era✨ (its 24/7)

“That looks so delicious.”

“Oh my—“ Yeji jumped, startled out of her mind, heart racing as she sat up to look at you.

Giving your girlfriend a heart attack wasn’t something you expected to do today, especially not this way. All you wanted was to give your opinion on the food that appeared on her screen as she mindlessly scrolled.

She was sitting in between your legs with her back resting against your chest for the past hour or so. She liked cuddling this way. Your arms wrapped securely around her waist, soft kisses on the top of her head as she brushes her fingers against the back of your hands… There‘s something so wonderfully lazy about it all, a kind of comfort you could only find with each other.

You spent every day counting down the hours until you could sneak into her dorm and have her in your arms again.

“You scared me so bad, I thought you were asleep!” She whined, landing a playful slap on your thigh.

It was adorable, you could only laugh at her reaction, struggling to keep it down as it was getting pretty late and you weren’t alone in this dorm.

“You’re gonna wake up the girls.” She shushed, covering your giggles with her hand over your mouth, only for you to mumble something into it.

“What?” She whispered, furrowing her eyebrows.

You sighed through your nose, and looked into her eyes for a while to show her you’d calmed down. It should have been enough for her to remove her hand, but for some reason she didn’t.

Instead she focused on the door, her body as still as ever as she tried to make out any sign of the girls outside her bedroom.

You were patient for about six seconds. Then you bit her finger in order for her to let go of your mouth.

Freedom tasted wonderful to your lips, but actions had consequences, and she let out a yelp in surprise.

“Shhh!”

Yeji scoffed at the sight of your index on your lips, but she couldn’t do anything about it as the sound of someone knocking on her door resonated in the room.

“Hey, are you okay in there?” Yuna’s chuckle reached you from the other side.

Yeji’s eyes threw you a glare in which you could very clearly make out the words “see what you did?” before she turned to the door.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I’m just— I just bumped into my desk, don’t worry.” She said, trying to sound as natural as possible.

You made a face at the weak excuse, and got ready to bolt under the bed as soon as you heard it. Thankfully, though, Yuna seemed to have bought it and left just as quick as she had come. Their day’s schedule must have been too tiring for her to look further. Or she just didn’t care at all.

Either way was great to you.

Yeji sighed in relief, letting herself fall back against the mattress.

“Apparently they’re already awake.” You whispered, making her glare at you once more.

“Why are you looking at me like that, you were so much more loud than I was.” You argued.

“And who’s fault is that?” She spat back, brushing a hand in her hair as if to soothe herself.

“Why are you awake anyway?”

“Because I woke up.” You answered, earning one of her stuffed animals in the face.

“You fell asleep like twenty minutes ago, I heard you snoring.” She teased as you grabbed the stuffed animal from your lap.

It was a small axolotl you’d won for her after having spent half an hour fighting with a claw machine a couple months ago. You lost a lot of money that day, and she scolded you for it, but you couldn’t be happier.

As much as she said she didn’t care whether you won it or not, that smile on her face said otherwise. She probably really didn’t care, but seeing her happy mattered to you. It was worth it. (losing two days’ worth of pay).

“It was a power nap.” You smiled, hovering her to place a kiss on her cheek. She looked too cute, you couldn’t help but be drawn to her.

“It’s almost one in the morning.”

You frowned at her words and burried your face in her neck. That meant you had to leave soon.

“Why did you say it, now I’m gonna have to leave.” You whined.

If she hadn’t maybe you could have stayed a little longer, acting as though you hadn’t seen the time pass.

“I mean… Yuna is still up…” She mumbled, and her words were interesting enough to get you to lift your head up and see what she had in mind.

“It might be a little too risky for you to escape by then.”

“I like the way you think.” You smiled.

“Stay a little more?” She pouted as if you hadn’t made up your mind as soon as she’d mentioned Yuna not being asleep.

“I guess I can stay the night, yeah.” You joked, making her roll her eyes.

Staying the night was impossible, no matter how much you wanted to. Too many risks.

“2 am?” She proposed, and you nodded, taking out your phone. “What are you doing?”

“I’m setting an alarm.” You said, focusing on putting the right time into the app.

“Are you serious? You’re gonna sleep the whole time?”

“Who said anything about sleeping?” You smirked, putting your phone away to focus on her again.

Her cheeks heated up, and she tried to cover it up by bringing her sleeved hands up to the reddened skin.

“I saw that.” You teased with a grin showing her just how much the sight amused you.

“No, you didn’t.”

You snickered before pecking her lips a couple times, which only really worsened things for her.

“You’re very cute.” You smiled innocently, but she just stared at you in return.

“We’re not making out, I don’t feel like explaining what mom and dad were doing when we get caught.” She said, pushing you away from her so you laughed as you rolled onto your back to lay next to her.

“Fine. What do you want to do then?” You asked, grabbing her hand in yours to play with.

She didn’t say anything. Instead of answering your question with words, she simply used her body, and turned on her side in order to cuddle into yours.

“Seriously?” You asked as she pulled you close with her free arm.

You looked down at her and her eyes were already closed. She had a soft smile taunting you as she snuggled even closer to you, putting a leg over yours.

“I’m sorry, laying down just made me sleepy. We had a busy day.” She mumbled against your shoulder. “Just think of it as one more big hug before you leave.”

You could feel your heart melting. Her small, tired voice along with her words filled your whole body with a warmth that barely left your brain working enough to let you smile.

You weren’t mad, you could never be mad at her for that. She worked so hard every day, you wondered how she even had the strength to stay up and talk to you until late like this so often. The least you could do was lend her your shoulder to rest on.

Late nights and sneaking around in her dorm was one of the few ways you two could love each other. A bunch of boring corporate and industry rules got in the way, but a few weeks ago, you’d both decided it would take much more to keep you apart from each other, and so far… It worked pretty well.

The two of you had your own little routine down by now, you helped each other unwind and relax before taking on the next day with a head and heart filled with enough of the other’s love to keep you going until the next.

You softly pressed your lips against her forehead, leaving a kiss that left her unable to do anything else but smile.

“Goodnight, Yeji.” You said, figuring you’d let her sleep in your arms until you left. “Hopefully you dream of me.”

A lazy chuckle escaped her lips. It felt so sweet being able to make her laugh while half asleep, it contrasted well with the unfiltered words her state caused.

“I’ve seen enough for today.”

[holdingforgeneralhugs]

Bitter Pill to Swallow

Chapter 25 (Chapter Masterlist)

Thank you as always to @tvserie-s-world for her lovely screencaps

A very special shoutout to @wecomrades for offering to be my editor❤️ Your time and skills are appreciated more than you'll ever know. This one's dedicated to you 💕

"Well, why don't you fire on them when you see them, commander?"

"Because, when we fire on them, they just fire back. Blimey, it was a nightmare the other day."

Valerie had to turn away and stifle a laugh when she saw the look of horrified disbelief on Dick's face. The 506th had been moved to Driel, relieving the British unit who'd been stationed by the riverbanks. Dick had brought Valerie and Lipton to talk to the British Commander and get an idea of what to expect.

"I see. Well, thank you for the intel, commander," Dick replied tersely. "Now, we'd better go and get ourselves set up on the bank."

"Godspeed to you, chaps," the British Commander saluted them as they left.

Dick was shaking his head in disapproval as they walked away, and Valerie could contain her laughter no longer. Dick tutted in disapproval as it bubbled out of her.

"It's not funny, Val," Dick admonished. "They've been way too relaxed in their approach to Holland since before we even got here, and it's cost us dearly."

"I know, Dick, I know. But you gotta admit, it's pretty laughable that they don't fire on the Germans because they fire back when they do. They do realise it's a war they signed up for, not a tea party, right?"

"You do have to laugh at how ridiculous it is," Lipton agreed, "but this whole thing is shaping up to be a real shitshow. I can't wait to get the hell outta Holland, and I know the rest of the men feel the same."

"Well, for now we're stuck here," Dick sighed. "We just have to make the best of it and try to push through to Arnhem. Easy is being kept on the right flank, for now. The line bends at an acute angle there, so Moose will only be able to have two platoons on the line and one in reserve. Make sure he's aware of that."

"Don't worry, Dick, Easy can handle it," Valerie assured him. "Ain't that right, Lip?"

"Absolutely," he agreed. "And we won't be too scared to fire across the river either."

Dick huffed out a small laugh at that, but his face quickly returned to the strained look Valerie had seen him sporting more often than not in the last few weeks. Desk work didn't suit him, and it was plain to be seen to anyone who knew him. She'd seen him peering out his office window when they'd been celebrating the success of Operation Pegasus. She'd been tempted to go up and check on him, but after the awkward way they'd ended things the night before, she'd thought better of it.

"Anyway, we won't get anything useful done standing around here," Dick sighed, backing away. "I need to find Nix, and you need to get yourselves set up on the line. Make sure to give 'em hell."

-----------

"I swear, if I don't get out of this foxhole, I'm gonna lose it."

"Yeah, and if I hear Arnhem Annie telling me to cross the river one more time, I'm gonna lose it."

The weather had been far from ideal the moment they'd set up in Driel. It had barely stopped raining for more than a few hours, and they were confined to their foxholes during daylight hours because the Germans had the high ground across the river. They were cold, wet, hungry, and morale was starting to wane. Valerie had taken to crawling between the foxholes, both to keep the boys' spirits up and to make sure they were alright. That was how she'd found herself tucked up between Gordon and Mellet one rainy afternoon.

"Look on the brightside, boys," Valerie chuckled, "at least they're playing American music for us in between all those surrender messages. And the supply guys have started bringing Stars and Stripes for us. We've got a regular home from home set up over here."

"Oh, yeah," Gordon snorted, "If it weren't for all the rain, we could almost pretend it was a holiday."

"Could be worse, I suppose," Mellet chimed in. "We could be snowed under. Now, that would be a nightmare."

"At least we'd be somewhat dry," Gordon groused. "I'd rather be cold and half dry than soaked to the skin in a mucky foxhole."

"Alright, I've had just about enough of you two complanin','' Valerie sighed, pulling herself over the lip of the foxhole and crouching down. "Try to stay positive boys. I know it's hard out here, but we're not the toughest damn company in the battalion for nothing."

As Valerie got back to the CP, she was stopped in her tracks by Heffron.

"Lieutenant Landry, ma'am," Heffron started, "Lieutenant Heyliger sent me to find you. He wants you back at Easy CP, quick as you can, ma'am."

Valerie thanked him and sent him back to his foxhole, before making her way to find Heyliger. She moved quickly, worried that there was something wrong. It wasn't completely out of the ordinary to be called to CP, but they didn't make a habit of calling her unless it was urgent.

"I'm here, what's happenin'? Is everythin' alright?" She called, roughly shoving the tarp door aside as she entered the CP. Heyliger was waiting for her inside, his arms crossed.

"Yeah Valerie, everything's fine, don't worry." Heyliger assured her. "But, it's been noticed that you've been refusing hot meals and I'm worried about you. You need to eat, Valerie, to keep your strength up out there."

"Is that all this is?" She sighed, exasperated. "I'll eat with my boys when the third rotates back into reserve. Until then, I'm fine. It's not fair for me to come back for a feed, while the boys are out there with nothing but soggy rations. It ain't right."

"I know, it's not right," Heyliger agreed. "If I could find a way to get hot food out to all the men, I would. But I can't. I can only get it to my officers, and it's important you take it. We may be at an impasse now, but we don't know when they'll strike. When they do, the men need you at your best, and you can't be at your best if you're not eating enough."

Valerie knew he had a point, despite how much she disagreed with him. She'd been refusing meals for days while they'd been out on the line. She'd also been offering most of her rations to some of the hungrier looking replacements. Thankfully, Heyliger didn't seem to know that, or he'd chew her out good and proper for it. All in all, she was starving, but she was willing to stick it out with her platoon for as long as it took.

"Moose, I... "

"Don't argue with me, Valerie," he cut in, shaking his head at her. "I'm ordering you to battalion CP for a hot meal. For once in your life, don't be stubborn. Just go and do it."

She rolled her eyes in exasperation, but she knew he wouldn't let it go. "Fine, fine, I'm going," she grumbled, holding her hands up in defeat. "I don't think it's fair, but if you're really gonna order me to go then I have no other choice, do I."

"No, you don't. Now, get going."

Valerie left with a sigh, trudging reluctantly to the battalion CP. She had to admit to herself, the smell of the food wafting from the mess as she approached was mouth watering. She grabbed a large serving of spaghetti, and was just about to tuck in when Dick dropped into the seat across from her.

"About time you came to get a hot meal," he commented, disapproval evident in his tone. "I haven't seen you around here once since we dug in."

"You have too much time on your hands, if you're keeping track of who comes and goes for dinner, Dick," she quipped, grinning as his cheeks turned red.

"Well... I just... I don't like the idea of you starving yourself out there on the front line. You need to keep your strength up out there," he stuttered, the pink stain on his cheeks deepening.

"I'm fine, Dick. There's no need to worry yourself over me," she assured, shaking her head. "And, my point still stands. They clearly need to give you more paperwork if you're able to track who comes and goes from the mess hall."

"Oh, paperwork is the one thing I'm not lacking in," he grumbled. Valerie paused, taking a moment to survey him. He had a furrow between his brows that seemed to have made permanent residence there lately, and his fingers were tapping an incessant rhythm on the table. In all the time Valerie had known Dick, she was sure she'd never seen him fidget.

"Is everythin' alright, Dick?" She asked gently. "You haven't really been yourself since you moved up to battalion."

"I'm fine... it's... fine," he sighed. "It's just... not what I expected it to be like."

"Well, yeah, I'm sure there's less action, but... "

"There's no action to speak of," he interrupted, shaking his head morosely. "All I do is administrative work. I miss being out there with you, making decisions and getting involved. It feels less like a promotion and more like a punishment at this point."

Valerie nodded, her eyes softening in sympathy. Dick had been in the thick of everything since Toccoa, aside from his brief stint with a clipboard back in Aldbourne. He was good at making quick decisions, and he always led from the front. She'd seen that back at Brecourt, and at the Island too. He enjoyed the satisfaction of a well executed plan, and she could see how being deprived of all that would start to wear him down.

"I get that," she agreed. "You get used to the adrenaline of bein' on the front line every day, and when that's suddenly not there anymore it can take some gettin' used to. Give it time, Dick, you'll adjust."

"Thanks, Val," he replied gratefully, his lips tilting up slightly at the corner. "It's nice to talk to someone who actually understands. Most wouldn't."

"Well," she chuckled, "I'm not most."

"No, you certainly are not."

Valerie's heart started to pound erratically from the fond look he was giving her. Her thoughts inadvertently flitted back to that moment in his office, where he'd given her a similar look and she'd been sure he was going to kiss her. Her palms clammed up as the memory resurfaced, and she could feel the heat rising up her neck.

"Well, on the brightside," she said after a beat, "at least you get to spend plenty of time with Nix."

"Yeah," Dick laughed, looking away from her, "I'm not sure yet if that's a blessing or a curse."

----------

Valerie was discussing movements with Welsh at the Easy CP when they heard the gunshot pierce through the silence of the night. Their heads snapped up in unison, and they shared a concerned look.

"Jesus, Harry, that sounded close," Valerie breathed shakily. "They've hardly decided to break the stand-off with an ambush, have they?"

"Doesn't sound like it," Harry disagreed, "there was only one shot. But, Dick and Moose said they were coming down here to do an inspection, so we better go and make sure they're not in trouble."

Valerie grabbed her rifle and swung it over her shoulder, before following Welsh out into the night. As they jogged down the narrow path, they started to hear a commotion up ahead of them. They slowed, pulling their rifles into their hands and creeping forward cautiously. The shadows started to solidify as they got closer to the noise, and it was clear that there was no enemy ambush going on.

"Dick, Moose, is that you?" Welsh murmured, swinging his rifle back onto his shoulder as they approached the pair of shadows.

"Yeah, Harry, it's us. Moose is down, some jumpy private shot him because he forgot the passphrase," Dick called back.

"Jesus, is he bad?" Valerie asked, closing the distance between them and falling to her knees beside Dick.

"His shoulder is a clean wound, but his calf is pretty cut up," Dick huffed. "We need to get him back to battalion quick, give him the best chance we can of making it."

"We gotta give him morphine, he's in agony," Welsh said as he started wrapping bandages around Heyliger's calf. "He won't make it back to battalion unless we give him some morphine to dull the pain."

Everything after that was a blur, and they were all so frantic in trying to save Heyliger that they became erratic in their actions. Valerie left Dick and Welsh as they picked Moose up to carry him, running ahead to call an ambulance and a medic.

"Gene, there's an emergency," she called loudly as she ran into the med-bay. Roe dropped the bandages he'd been carrying and ran straight over to her, worry evident in his eyes.

"What's happened, are you alright?" He asked, giving her a frantic once over.

"I'm fine, it's Moose," she replied, "he's been shot in the shoulder and the calf. His calf is pretty bad, and he's lost a lot of blood. Dick and Harry are carrying him up now but he'll need an ambulance to be evacuated."

Roe sprang into action without another word. He called for the ambulance driver to get ready to go, then went to gather the supplies he'd need for the journey. Valerie followed close behind him as he rushed out to the ambulance and jumped into the back.

"Tell the driver where they are, chérie, we'll meet them halfway. We gotta give him the best chance we can."

Valerie and Roe sat in anxious silence as the driver sped down the path. She was so caught up in her worry for Moose that she jerked violently against the back door of the ambulance when the driver stopped suddenly. Roe pushed past her and opened the door quickly, turning and pulling the stretcher out with him. Valerie jumped out behind him, searching to see where she could step in to help.

"Valerie said he's lost a lot of blood," Roe said as he grabbed Heyliger and helped the others put him on the stretcher. "You did the right thing bandaging him up to stem the blood flow. Have you given him morphine? I don't see any syringes, where are they?"

"Uh... Jesus, I... I'm not sure," Welsh stuttered.

"Could have been two or three, we didn't... "

"Two or three?" Roe exclaimed, his nostrils flaring. "Jesus, you could've goddamn killed him. You'll be lucky if he survives as it is after that. What were you thinkin'?"

"We didn't know what to do, he was in so much pain, we... " Dick said frantically

"Well, you are grown ups! You are officers, you oughta know!" Roe shouted, glaring at them as he loaded Heyliger into the ambulance and slammed the doors closed. Valerie, Dick, and Welsh watched in astonishment as the ambulance sped up and left them there, the silence echoing in the night around them. She had never seen Roe get that angry, not in all the years she had known him.

"He's right," Dick croaked, "it was so stupid to give him that much morphine. But he was in agony, and I just... "

"It's alright, Dick," Valerie assured, placing a comforting hand on his arm. "You did your best, given the circumstances and the shock."

"It's not alright," he groaned, shaking his head in disappointment. "We could have killed him with a dose that high. I should have kept my head and handled it better."

"It's not your fault, Dick, we just panicked," Welsh sighed sadly.

"He's gonna make it," Valerie assured as confidently as she could. "Gene will take good care of him on the way to the aid station."

"If he even makes it to the aid station," Dick grumbled. "It'll be a miracle if he does."

"Dick, don't be... "

"You two better get back to Easy, tell them they've lost another CO," he cut in tersely, resentment clear in his voice and demeanour. "I'll probably need to write a report on this, so I better get back. I'll see you both tomorrow."

Valerie watched him go, his usual aura of self assurance replaced by sagging shoulders and clenched fists. If anything happened to Heyliger, he would blame himself. He always took it hard when he lost men under his command, and this would be no different. Part of her wanted to follow him, to make him see that it wasn't his fault and he'd done his best. She knew she shouldn't, though, that he'd probably prefer some time alone to process the whole ordeal.

"C'mon Val, we better head back," Welsh said quietly, breaking her from her thoughts. She took one last glance at Dick's retreating frame before turning and heading back to the Easy CP with Welsh, neither of them uttering another word.

Taglist:  @tvserie-s-world @geniedocroe @swiftwordsforwhattheyare @sofietargaryen @cagzzz107 @stolemyspoons @alejodi0nysus @sunflowerchuck @now-im-a-belieber @50svibes @eugene-emt-roe @pennyllanne @televisionboy @ask-you-what-sir @parajumpboots @mads-weasley @tetragonia

[fluffy-lovely-clouds]

LONG POST

hate to be serious for a second guys but I'm seriously thinking about leaving the hazbin hotel fandom, and its because i just cant fucking stand vivsie

i haven't supported her in any way ever since i heard about her history which was a while ago, maybe around when she finished her first season of helluva boss. well i stopped watching that, and hadnt planned to watch hazbin when it finally came out until one of my friends encouraged me to. so i had pirated all of it, that way i wouldn't support vivsie in any way, and for a while ive been okay with it, until now.

its not just the fact that i dont wanna watch a show because its by her, its because of all the messed up shit thats in the show, and plus how the fandom is (NOT pointing any of you guys out, you're all great).

For one, it feels like vivienne has such a terrible grudge on Christianity. im not Christian myself, im more or less an agnostic, but i still respect Christianity extremely, along with every other religion and belief as people should. The fact that the whole basis of her story and the way she presents it is a warped telling of Christian places (heaven and hell) and figures (angles, demons, Lucifer) is kinda disrespectful. i get that there are tons of other movies and shows that fantasize christianity and stuff, but hazbin hotel feels like vivienne is just trying and WANTING to outright insult the religion. taking such a big figure such as lucifer and making him goofy as hell, or showing that heaven is full of nothing but assholes, with ADAM being the biggest fuck of them all, just feels too far to me personally.

don't get me wrong, the chance that there are demons in hell that can redeem and be good people and that not everyone in heaven is perfect makes for a great story in my opinion, but i think that plot could be written and presented so much better than what vivsie's done

secondly, there are too many characters in the show that make me so uncomfortable and disgusted, and what's bad is these characters seem really glamorized. im talking about valentino. HE IS A LITERAL ACTIVE SEXUAL ASSUALTER WHO CONSTANTLY ABUSES ANGEL. THAT IS NOT OKAY. THAT IS A HUGE RED FLAG. but guess what, hes still fucking glamorized. not just by vivsie herself but by the fandom as well. you would think something bad would happen to him personally in the show to pay for his actions, but the worst i can remember happening to him is getting bit by fucking niffty, and angel standing up to him, BUT THAT IS NOT HIS DEFEAT. HE IS CONTINUOUSLY SHOWED THROUGHOUT THE SHOW BEING WRITTEN OFF LIKE NOTHING'S WRONG. His friendship with velvet and vox is seen as positive and even cute. i dont like vox much either because of the very fact that he makes out with valentino, and it makes me wonder if vivsie wrote vox off to know that valentino commits sexual abuse. if she did, then that means vox knows he's literally making out with a groomer and yet is okay with it. im gonna fucking explode

the fandom can be just terrible in the fact that people know all this but don't give a shit anyhow and draw/ write all the disgusting, shitty characters glamorized anyway cause they're messed up and think they're hot or whatever (VALENTINO). that's it. ive seen it in this community. there was a post about him where he teased y/n and it was meant to be seen positively. it got popular pretty fast. again, im gonna fucking explode. also, there's the deal with Alastor. IT IS CANON HE IS AROACE. But I have seen the fandom completely ignore that and sexualize him so much im starting to lose faith in humanity.

so yeah, i could keep going a bit but i think y'all get the point. i MIGHT not leave completely because i dont hate everything about the show, but by that i mean that husk and angel's relationship are like the only thing i care about. you MAY still see those two on here every once in a while, but that's it

so.. sorry guys, but i hope ive made yall understand

[the-s1lly-corner]

I keep seeing “small but fiesty” “big but kind” NO. GIVE ME BIG AND MEAN‼️‼️‼️/j anyways could you do TADC x a reader who’s much larger then everyone else and pretty mean with it? Like Jax mean but just a squeeze nicer cuz they’re not a TOTAL jerk

TADC cast x big and mean reader!!! (not platonic nor romantic youre just mean!!!!!!!!!)

RAAAAAAAAAAH i meant to get to requests earlier buuuuuut i fell asleep and i needed to go make lunch for myself hisshiss (not complaining though, i made onion rings !! yipee!) probably gonna answer this an one or two more requests, though; admins been struck with some art motivation spoiler uhuh i made the reader MEAN, like sure jax is mean but hes like prankster-mean, reader is just mean

CAINE:

he probably tries to get you to chill out and include you in IHA so you know. dont become under stimulated and slowly lose your mind. because that would be bad. honestly i think it would take a lot for caine to be pushed away; he has a high tolerance for tomfoolery and nonsense i think, and as the ringmaster he feels a responsibility to keep everyone happy. and yes that includes you. honestly not really phased by your insults and such in fact i think he might be oblivious... or maybe he just ignores them and moves on. youre gonna have to do something REAL bad to get on caines bad side, i think

POMNI:

doesnt like to be around you, and likely avoids you when she can. i mean can you blame her? youre kind of a dickweed, and that can be unpleasant to be around. like with jax at least theres some humor with it so theres some kind of exchange. but youre just. kind of a mean person. plus youre big, and thats really intimidating when its paired with your personality. add in that shes already working through enough with being new to the circus as well as trying to find an exit... shes just got a lot on her mind and she needs to preserve herself, you know?

RAGATHA:

tries her best to be nice and polite with you, and honestly you can probably see her try to force herself to remain civil and kind. like if you look at her face or listen closely to her voice you can tell that you likely make her just a smidgen uncomfortable. she wont be rude to you, nor will she exclude you.... but i do think that at some point shes going to snap and lose her patience with you.... huh... an angry ragatha losing her cool... odd thought but like everyone else, this lady would also have her limits. does try to apologize afterwards, but is firm that you need to try to clean your act

JAX:

i think he would either target you because he finds it funny when you get all riled up and he gets a thrill from it; or he might try to pair up with you.... obviously, you mention in your ask that the reader is a smidge kinder than jax, but i think the real difference is the types of mean they are. call it a failed friendship or a rivalry, jax doesnt really vibe with you regardless... at least thats my personal take. though i do think he wouldnt try to pick many fights with you depending on how large you are in comparison to him; i mean jax strikes me at the type to bolt the second theres an implication of a fight coming, at least fights that include him

KINGER:

do not the old man :( will actually get sad, but i do think like ragatha he will still try to be kind and polite to you. might even try to find out what your problem is, and try to help you through it. maybe its the dad energy thats making me think like that but. you know? that said, when you so much as furrow your brow you can guarantee that kinger is going to slink away out of sight since he doesnt want to get caught up in whatever is about to happen, correctly assuming someone had made you upset. either that, or i can see your words going right over his head and not phasing him because hes too ooooooo to really try to connect any meaning and correlation.. both work, i think. really it depends on how hes doing on a given day, i think

ZOOBLE:

sometimes you guys shit talk some of the other circus member if they were being particularly annoying that day but thats kind of it. like zooble can be a bit mean but they arent... harsh without any real prompting. whereas, for the sake of filling space and introducing new ideas, you do. i dont think zooble would really vibe well with that... whats this? zooble calling out someone for being an asshole? not as unlikely as youd think, actually.. do i think they would try to stop you? i mean theyd probably tell you to knock it off, but outside of that they would just disconnect themselves from the conversation and walk off. on good days you guys can be somewhat friendly to one another, but on others zooble just cant be bothered with your bullshit. i mean they barely seem to tolerate jax, so i think this was able to be foreseen...

GANGLE:

oh you could be having a good day and say something slightly less mean than usual and you would still make gangle feel bad. you dont even have to try, gangle is just really sensitive. actually, tying this back to ragatha i think if she were to snap it would be on someones behalf... someone like, gangle perhaps? brain stew is brewing, admin is now hcing that ragatha and gangle have a sibling like bond

anyways moving on, i think she would try to avoid you when she can just because youre so... not nice, and even when youre being neutral you can be a little much; you know? factoring in the fact youre a giant compared to her frail body... not that she thinks you would strike her, no im not at all comfy writing physical stuff in my writing, but its like a voice in the back of her head; you know? you dont even have to be violent, just verbally aggressive, you know? though, considering jax seems to push her often (as seen in the pilot and her intro short) i think thats something in the back of her mind when interacting with a lot of people

sits

yk?

[doom-dreaming]

no i lied i am going to rant because it's only tangentially-related to the essay and i can't let myself go on tangents there. but i can link this post into it. win-win.

Last Light is not a murder mystery. It has the aesthetic of a murder mystery, but it is not a murder mystery. Why? Because there's no mystery. Not for the readers, which is really what matters. We know by the first few chapters who the killer is and what her motive is. The façade of a murder mystery is blown at that point, because there's nothing for the audience to figure out.

However, it gets weird because the main character...is still (technically) in a murder mystery. She's supposed to be, anyway. She doesn't know what we know. This format can work, dramatic irony is cool and the audience seeing behind the curtain before the sleuth does is a lot of fun...as long as the person crafting the story puts in the work to make sure all the internal logic is still functioning. Denning does not do this. The individual components of a murder mystery are still there, we still have the veneer of the genre, but the sleuth isn't actively solving anything or putting pieces together in a meaningful way.

The whole reason I'm so bothered by Mark being a suspect is that it's a classic red-herring...but for who? Not for the audience, we don't need a red herring, we already know who the killer is. So he's supposed to serve as a red herring for Veta...only there's no logical reason for her to cling to this so hard. He goes from being barely mentioned to being her top suspect at the drop of a hat. Well, the drop of a boulder, really. Because she only starts to suspect the Gammas could be capable of the kind of violence inflicted on the victims once she witnesses Olivia going Hulk Smash(tm).

...but then why Mark specifically? He wasn't the one who raged out. In fact, he never gets brutally violent at all during this novel, even when he's fully off his smoothers and fucking around on his own in the caves. All his kills are clean and precise and well-planned, absolutely nothing like the other murders.

Denning wants us to buy into this so desperately without having any actual, textual support for why Veta herself would believe this. The internal logic isn't there. We don't have anything to connect the final dot from "brutality" -> "enhanced strength" -> "spartans" -> "gamma company enhancements" -> ??? -> "Mark". Why not Ash? Why not Olivia, the one we (and Veta) actually witnessed beating a Sentinel into scrap metal with her bare hands?

All Mark does is make vaguely sinister remarks and remain standoffish. That's it. That's not evidence. That's the author wanting to reinforce a paper-thin plot complication because otherwise this book would be 200 pages shorter than it is.

There's not really any procedure involved for gathering evidence, either. Information drops conveniently into Veta's lap because every other character can't keep their fucking mouth shut. She doesn't have to work for any of it. Hey Denning, if you're gonna write a detective, for the love of god, she better do some fucking detecting. We see attempts at this. But in every conversation where she attempts to """trick""" someone into divulging something, they just talk in circles for a couple lines and then *poof* suddenly they're giving up classified secrets. There's not actually any clever dialogue or process of breaking them down, just the (very poor) illusion of it.

Anyway, now I'm losing the plot. Last Light is just sci-fi action with a whisper of intrigue (and I'm using that word so loosely), dressed up like a murder mystery. Denning can't write smart characters and I feel myself getting dumber the more I try to make sense of it.