#but when it was JUST the world's most traumatized man learning to trust and let himself care and love y'all pitched a fit

[aces-to-apples]

It's very nice that Lucanis's writer intended him to be on the ace spectrum, I'm happy so many people are thrilled and feel validated by that. Not me though, that's not gonna affect my writing of him in the slightest lol

[fucktoyfelix]

This is actually a useful thing to understand how to spell out. What exactly is wrong with puritanical attitudes towards sexuality? TW: Discusses body image issues, suicide, STIs, sexual assault etc

1. It fosters fear, disgust and loathing of our bodies. By hiding the human body as soon as we are born, and treating it as an object of inherent shame: THAT creates trauma. Shame is one of the primary sources of trauma, its the fuel and lets trauma burn. Those raised in nudist societies, and children raised in households where nudity is treated in a neutral and non-sexual tend to have a much more positive relationship with their bodies as adults. This makes complete sense when you think about it. Going through puberty not knowing if your body is "normal" terrifies children in ways that stick with them for life. In fact, most cultures outside of the Unites States aren't as strange about non-sexual nudity actually...and are healthier for it. We can't have body positivity as long as we are literally criminalized for having an uncovered body. 2. It creates fear, shame and disgust about sex. Most people have sex at some point in their lives. No one would be here at all without it. Most people have sexual desires which lie outside their control. When people are ashamed of those desires, it leads to self hatred, and depression and anxiety. This shame is just as traumatic as bodily shame. When sex is normalized, and treated with the same candor as any other hobby: it becomes less apt to traumatize people.

3. Puritanical attitudes towards sex limit sex education. When people are too ashamed to talk about sex, people don't learn about pregnancy, stis, or consent. All of these things can and do kill people when they aren't addressed with an open dialogue.

Sexual shame leads to people too ashamed to buy condoms, to talk to their doctor about birth control, to ask their partner to use protection, to get tested...the negative health impacts of sexual puritanism have a massive negative effect on society.

4. Sexual shame leads to poorer communication in relationships. Ohh if I had a dime for every person i knew who ruined their relationship because they felt too guilty to talk to their partner about their sexual feelings...Not just that, but the general body shame that comes with puritanism blocks people from connecting to one another too. Have you ever avoided getting close to someone because you were ashamed of your body? If not, I guarantee you know someone who has.

5. Misogyny! Puritanical sexual believes hold that women are not capable of sexual agency. That only men should initiate sex. That women should only ever want babies and not pleasure from sex. All of this rolls right into the next one:

6. Victim blaming in sexual assault. When women are the gatekeepers of sex, its easy to blame them when they 'fail' to protect their chastity when someone violates their trust. This isn't something that just effects women: as the same attitudes hold that men are not capable of experiencing sexual assault. The lack of education and discussion about sex in a sex-negative world inherently prevent the open dialogues necessary for creating and maintaining consent culture.

7. Suppression and marginalization of the queer community. If we're too ashamed to talk about sex, we'll be too ashamed to talk about sexuality. Puritans can't accept any deviation from gender norms either. Anything other than sex between a cis man and a cis woman for the purpose of making a baby is a deviant kink, a mental illness, and needs to be wiped out. Its important to point out that many queer people hold puritanical values about sex: believing that they can achieve sex negativity and queer liberation at the same time. However, sex negative movements always rise with censorship and discrimination of queer people...because queer people are inherently considered deviant by the vast majority of sex negative "allies". It's very dangerous to forget this.

8. Censorship of art. Who decides what is sexual and what is not? Its easy to agree that sex needs to be hidden...but it never takes long before the definition of what is "sexual" expands. Even women's breasts are considered sexual in the United States. Its so normal for Americans to think of them that way that women can't feed their children in public. Drag queens face violence for reading at libraries. Books get taken off the shelves. Artists are bullied offline.

9. Censorship of scientific exploration. Scientific research into reproductive health, sexual behavior, gender identity and more are often hindered due to the "moral objections" of puritans, delaying progress and understanding. That's just off the top of my head. I think its time for people to take how problematic 'puritanism' is more seriously. As we see fascism rear its ugly head all over the world, we're going to see a lot more talk about 'degenerates'...and we know where that kind of talk leads.

[spider-chris06]

Do you know why Spider-Verse Miles is my favorite Spider-Man?

He, without having a choice, had to do in two days, what took all the other Spider-Sonas in the multiverse weeks, become Spider-Man, all under the unimaginable pressure of being the successor to the previous Spider-Man of his universe, which left the bar too high, having to meet everyone else's expectations, and having to go through a tortuous journey while learning from his mentor.

Even when the spider-gang not only didn't trust him but even seemed to dislike Miles at first (Except, of course, Gwen and Peter B, who are very special cases)

And pressing him to see if he was ready and treating him like just a kid (Even Peni).

All so that he then went to his uncle, who was like a second father to him and someone who truly understood Miles, only to find out that he had always been a hitman, going so far as to almost end with the life of his nephew, until he realizes what he was about to do and... well, tragedy happens.

The death of Uncle Aaron, due to the depth and history behind it, remains the most tragic "death of Uncle Ben" in all of cinema... ever.

Miles stopped being the same since then, and even when a hurricane of emotions possessed him, he learned that no matter what, Spider-Man always gets up and keeps going, at the same time he learned to take his leap of faith. Before becoming Spider-Man he had a normal and happy life, but after being bitten by that spider his whole life fell apart, but of course, Miles is someone truly strong and full of determination thanks to the people close to him.

In two days, he surpassed almost the entire Spider-gang, and in a year and a half he become almost a professional as Spider-Man, even giving lessons to everyone else, and making it clear to Gwen and the others what truly means being Spider-Man, not standing by crossed arms while someone is in danger, but trying to do everything you can to save everyone, doing both things, even when it seems impossible, Spider-Man should always try, because everything it's possible.

At the same time that Miles felt stabbed in the back by the same people to whom he wanted to dedicate his entire future just to see them again since he felt alone and sad inside in the world without them, and, specially, without Gwen.

And let me remind something, Miles actually thinks she doesn't even love him and only sees him as a friend, but he still wants to see her

On the ATSV betrayal, he release all that hurricane of emotions that he had to swallow and accumulate inside during ITSV and during that entire year and a half for not having time for ALL those things said before, leading him to have anxiety and panic attacks (Something confirmed in the synopsis of the short "The Spider Within")

All so that they later reveal to him that he was a mistake, an anomaly, that he should never have been Spider-Man, that he killed the Peter of his universe, causing everything that gave MEANING to his life fell down in just a few minutes, leaving Miles more traumatized, mortified and with more trust issues than he already had before.

He really became one of the most tragic character of all the saga (Along with Peter B and, put it in some way, Miguel O' Hara)

And just because Miles looks with a cool and chill personality doesn't mean he's any less traumatized and mortified on the inside (An example is Andrew Garfield's Spider-Man).

Even though in the comics that nickname is only used because that is what his universe is called, in the movies, on the other hand, even though there are people on the internet who deny the fact that he is currently becoming an unstoppable phenomenon that is marking an entire generation and will mark future generations, Miles Morales proved to be, without a doubt, the Ultimate Spider-Man.

As a bonus, even though she always screwed up with everyone around her, both the living and the dead, Gwen showed that she really loves Miles and that he truly is the love of her life, however, needless to say, she has a lot of work to do in her redemption arc to be able to fix things with Miles, which will be very difficult but not impossible, even more so taking into account all the hate she received for everything that happened in ATSV.

Now she has to PROVE not only to him, but to all of us viewers, that she truly deserves to be with Miles, that they can have a life together by her own merit, and that all the hate towards her after the ATSV release it's truly unfair.

However, I have to be realistic, there are characters like Peni or even Peter B who should not be anything more than simple 'acquaintances' or 'partners' for Miles, since, with what they did, the term "Friend" It's too big for them.

In any case, Miles has the last word.

[most-datable-datable-bracket]

ROUND 3 MATCH 28

Seteth propaganda:

“Mmm green dilf”

“Now he may just seem like a typical vice principal at catholic school for war criminals. But in reality he’s way more than that. He is really nice, and at sometimes overprotective over his daughter Flayn but he has a good reason for it. But in supports with other students he serves as a father figure to a bunch of traumatized teens. While being a traumatized dad himself. You may ask “how is he dateable?” Well Dilf. A man who’s a good dad is a man you can trust. And he enjoys writing stories too.”

"

The man literally looks at your character, who has been continually manipulated by almost everyone around them and had absolutely zero control over the course their life has taken and in his A support scene says "where I go and what I do will depend wholly on you" and "our future is yours to determine" AND HE MEANS IT and for a person who has so so little control over their whole life it just really hits home how much he cares about them to let them drive their own future. Like this man is willing to turn his back on his own family member for them after he learns how much said family member has manipulated the MC's life and I just 🤌🤌🤌 we love someone willing to stand up to their own toxic family members and tell them that what they've done is wrong

And when he proposes he says "But there is one thing I want to make sure you understand beyond any doubt… I am not proposing to you out of a sense of duty, nor a desire to perpetuate our bloodline. I want this because I am in love with you. I cannot conceive of a world without you in it." (because he and the MC are two of the last remaining people of their species, which was a part of the manipulation from his family member, so he just continues to reassure the MC that he just wants them not what they could give him) AND I JUST LOVE THIS MAN SO MUCH IT'S SO IMPORTANT TO HIM THAT THE MC KNOWS EXACTLY HOW HE FEELS AND WHY AND HE'S NEVER HAD ULTERIOR MOTIVES TO GETTING TO KNOW THEM UNLIKE LITERALLY ALMOST EVERYONE ELSE IN THEIR LIFE 😭😭😭"

Emperor propaganda:

"- has tentacles ;)

- I like him 🥺"

[loggiepj]

FORBIDDEN

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Part 4

Warnings: Violence, Blood

Y/n had no idea how things escalated so quickly. It was supposed to be an easy rescue mission. Since it was already late, they could use the darkness as an advantage.

Deviants were slightly dimwitted, but they were known to have the best and strongest weapons the community could ever have. The Avengers used to steal from their weaponries during rescue missions until one of the first Avengers, Tony, learned the art of being a Blacksmith, and had by far crafted weapons that stood equally against Deviants' own.

The temporary camp the enemies had set up was already quiet, snorings and the crackling of fire filling the air. Bottles of  rum were strewn on the ground, giving the conclusion that they just did a whole night of celebration.

The Avengers that were captured by the Deviants earlier were placed inside man-made cells along with the witches.

Before infiltrating the site, Y/n learned that the Deviants had once again attacked a nearby village who had witches residing — witches who had disguised themselves as humans for years. Apparently, Deviants had begun sending out assets just to spy every village, pretending to be a citizen, be it a lone stranger looking for a place to sleep, or a group of individuals introducing themselves as a family.

Clint, the leader of the assigned Avengers sent for the mission, and a lot of others failed to evacuate the people during the attack when one of the witches hesitated to cooperate. They were short in arms when the battle started earlier. Some Avengers had managed to escape and brought the news back to the camp. Henceforth, backup was urgently requested — backup in which Y/n, her best friend Yelena, Pietro and some other volunteers joined.

"And there goes the last Deviant," Yelena whispered with a soft chuckle, watching the Deviant taking the nightwatch fall unconscious to the ground, the empty pint of beer slipping from his hands. "I think we're clear to go."

The blonde stood up from her crouching position and began her descent towards the camp. But before she could leave, Y/n held her wrist.

"Be careful," Y/n said, concerned for her best friend's safety.

"You be careful. Don't forget, I am better than you in real combat," Yelena replied, a smug smile on her face.

Shaking her head while laughing softly, Y/n let the blonde go.

"I'll signal you once done."

Y/n nodded, watching Yelena go forth. The human had her hands ready on her bow and arrow, ready to shoot if ever things go wrong.

Yelena was assigned to steal most of the Deviants' weapons within reach just to bide time in case all hell breaks loose. The blonde was an expert at being stealthy, quiet as a mouse.

"I'm sorry about my sister," Pietro spoke beside Y/n, making the human lose her focus. "W-Wanda can be stubborn when she wanted to be . . . But I swear she didn't mean to say those things to you earlier—"

"There's really no need for you to apologize on her behalf," Y/n cut him off, her eyes directed at Yelena picking up the fallen swords from the sleeping Deviants. "She has a right to her own opinion, to whom she'll give her trust. And if I'm not that person or any human for that matter, well, it's okay."

Pietro let out a sigh, loosening his hold around his sword. "Wanda has a traumatic past as much as me, with what happened to our parents and all. But she never got to go outside her own world, she never got to meet and know good humans like you and the Avengers growing up, so she pretty believed that all humans are Deviants in nature."

Y/n pursed her lips, remembering the witch that has been consuming most of her thoughts for the past few days. In all honesty, she had given up trying to make amends with Wanda the second she said those harsh things about her earlier. If the witch didn't want anything to do with Y/n, so be it.

She had other important things to worry about, such as the current mission.

Y/n was about to reply to Pietro when the first torch was put out by Yelena. Then the next, and the next, until the last one where Yelena finally gave her the look — the signal.

Clint was still wide awake when he noticed the torches suddenly went out. He was in one of the nearest cells from the entrance.

He could see Y/n and the others began creeping their way into the camp. He waved towards them, then gestured a hand signal warning that there were two sleeping Deviants guarding beside the cell.

Y/n immediately began to work, tiptoeing across sleeping Deviants just to get to the cells. And when she had finally reached where Clint was situated, she began to silently pick the lock to his cell.

One thing Y/n was also good at besides archery was picking at locks. She actually learned on her own when she was just a kid, what with a lot of experience being locked up in her bedroom by none other than her own brother whenever she wanted to go out with her friends for late night mischiefs.

Once opened, Clint nodded in gratitude towards her before he led the witches out the cell in an orderly quiet fashion.

Y/n moved towards the next man-made cells, carefully opening the locks without making any noise. The other Avengers assisted the rescued ones after the cells were opened. Terrified witches followed with haste, wanting to get away from the awful place.

Everything was going well so far. They had somehow managed to evacuate most of the captured until in one last remaining cell, Y/n was immediately attacked by one male witch who jumped and strangled her the moment she managed to open the doors.

"You normies are the reason for all this," he spat, nostrils flaring as he gripped Y/n's neck tight. "We were just peacefully going through our day and you humans came along and destroyed it, destroyed our homes."

Y/n held the witch's wrists, conserving oxygen. "S-Sir, this is certainly not the time for an argument, w-we're actually here to save all of you—"

"Why should I believe any lie coming of your mouth, human?"

"Vision, what the hell?" Pietro silently hissed behind them.

The male witch named Vision let Y/n go when Pietro pushed him off her. "Piet? You're one of them?"

"We've got to hurry—"

"Avengers!" Someone shouted through the air, causing a loud commotion as Deviants had awaken.

Y/n immediately ducked the three of them when three flying daggers almost hit their heads, going through the tree trunks behind of them instead. "Stay low and get the others to safety, Piet," Y/n ordered.

Pietro nodded as he led the other witches out from their cells, Vision following him behind with hesitation. Hopefully, he wouldn't cause any more trouble to the group.

Yelena hiding the enemies' weapons bought the Avengers some time for the others to escape and for Y/n to get to the best hiding spot where she could cover for them.

It didn't even take that long when the Deviants had already managed to get their weapons back or they seemed to have backups in hand.

Fighting then ensued.

Avengers fought against the Deviants, steel clashing against steel. Y/n stayed behind a bush as she helped. Arrows were quickly reloaded from her quiver, making its way to the targets in front of her. It was so easy, Y/n could literally smell victory when she had managed to shoot Deviants without them knowing where she was.

One of the Avengers was cornered when his sword was sent flying to the air, but Y/n was quick to hit the attacking enemy. It seemed all too good to be true.

Unaware that one of the Deviants had already found her hiding place, Y/n was not fast to avoid the dagger that went to her sides.

The human staggered backwards as she looked at the weapon lodged into her, slowly getting away from the enemy. Her only weapon fell from her clutch. But the Deviant only laughed, managing to corner her before taking the dagger off from her body. Like a wine bottle being unscrewed open, blood erupted from her skin, the blinding pain shooting through Y/n's entire body almost instantly.

That's a weird sensation, Y/n thought, her hand gripping the wound tight as she eventually fell to the ground.

Down her mask went and the Deviant abruptly stopped on his tracks, as if suddenly consumed with fear upon recognizing her face.

Another Deviant made an appearance behind him, wondering what was taking him so long.

"What have you done?" the man asked in disbelief.

"I didn't know it was her!" the attacker argued, his voice breaking.

After a moment, the man began shouting to the group, "Fall back! Deviants, fall back!"

Avengers were left in confusion as the retreating Deviants hurriedly left the area.

Pietro immediately went looking for Y/n, who he found already sprawling on the ground just a minute later, bleeding to death.

Kneeling before her, his hand instinctively went to put pressure on her wound as he tried to stop the bleeding. It was as if she was cut open for the amount of blood coming out of her.

"Y/n, hey, look at me," Pietro slapped her face, the human already losing consciousness. "Wake up, Y/n!"

With wide eyes upon seeing his friend sputtering blood from her mouth, he then began screaming for help.

WANDA hadn't slept since her brother left, waiting anxiously at the camp's entrance or in her brother's tent for their return. When one of humans suggested for her to get some sleep, she finally relented. She also couldn't handle another minute listening to Layla gossip about how Y/n courted her.

However, sleep didn't come naturally. Tossing and turning on her bed, she groaned in frustration, her mind filled with fake scenarios of Pietro getting hurt. Then came Y/n's face — her annoyingly adorable pretty face.

When Pietro told her about Y/n's family and that they were killed by witches like her, she couldn't extinguish the guilt she felt. Y/n was no different than Wanda and Pietro, yet Y/n was still nice to her. And if something happened to her during the mission, Wanda wouldn't be able to forgive herself.

Wanda didn't mean anything she had said to the human. Of course, Y/n was capable to fight and defend herself and the group. But why was Wanda still worried?

Wanda was able to get probably half an hour of sleep when she woke up suddenly to the sound of a commotion outside her tent.

When she hurriedly barged outside, Pietro was about to enter his own tent.

"Piet!" she called, making the twin look at her. She immediately ran towards him, arms looping around for a hug.

It was early dawn when the Avengers had returned safely to the camp. Or so Wanda thought before she pulled away from the hug and noticed the blood on her brother's tunic.

"Are you okay? You're bleeding." Wanda further checked to assess the damage but Pietro wasn't flinching at all. He held Wanda's wrists to stop her.

"It's not mine, sis," was all he said, his voice deflated.

"What do you mean it's not yours?"

Pietro hesitated for a moment, but Wanda knew her brother as if she could read his mind.

"Where's Y/n?"

"Wands, she's—"

But Wanda was already making her way towards the nurse's tent without waiting for a reply, Pietro calling and running after her.

The moment Wanda saw Y/n being tended by Pepper inside the tent, which was also filled with other injured individuals, she felt like fainting on the spot. She didn't know why a human could affect her this much.

Maybe Y/n had warmed her way into the witch's heart after all.

Wanda released a breath she didn't realize she was holding when she saw Y/n's chest rise and fall. Relief flooded her.

The witch instinctively went inside, just to be there for the normie, only to be stopped by someone with blonde hair she recognized as one of Y/n's friends or girlfriends.

"Visitors are not allowed inside while Pepper is at work," she warned.

"Is she going to be okay?" Wanda asked, worried.

"Y/n is a tough one," she replied, her voice softening. "Yeah, I think she'll be just fine. Your name's Wanda, right?"

Wanda could only nod, her eyes not straying away from you.

"I'm Yelena, Y/n's best friend. She told me a lot about you."

Her eyes averted to the blonde. "She did?"

Yelena smiled. "Yeah, she said you have the most angelic voice she has ever heard, maybe you could come sing during dinner serenades at the pavilion."

Wanda's heart rate accelerated as her face blushed. She was thankful that it was still dark, for it would have been too obvious.

When Wanda saw Pepper perform something more like a spell, she gasped in wonder. "Is Pepper a—"

Yelena nodded yes without waiting for her to finish.

Wanda had no idea Pepper was a witch. And if Y/n trusted a witch to be the healer of the entire camp, Wanda should also trust that not all humans were as ruthless as the Deviants.

MEANWHILE, in one of the Deviants' headquarters, a tall man with long dark hair was found eyeing the dark forest ahead the murky vast glass window. The place had a strange aura emanating towards the surroundings, with dead trees circling outside as if the soil was cursed and anything within reach would only succumb to death. Black crows were perched on dry twigs, watching the gates before them, acting either as guards or spies.

"I'm so sorry, Master, I didn't know it was her, it was all too fast," someone behind the man spoke in a hurry. The man, master, only let out a long sigh as he finally turned to look at the source. The accused man was kneeling before him, head bowed down just to avoid his eyes.

The master only pursed his lips, looking left to right, followers standing in front of him trembling in fear. After a moment, he said, "It's okay."

All the Deviants looked at him, confused. Until he went on further, "It's not your fault you're stupid."

Then he signaled to the one beside the kneeling man to proceed. The follower didn't hesitate another second before slicing the head off the sinned man with his sword.

Taglist: @bibliophilicbi @swiftie1-0-1 @whitewidowsbite @aliherreraaa

Author's note:

Follow me on my social media accounts. Thank you. ❤ Facebook : loggiepj | https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100089779552892&mibextid=ZbWKwL Instagram : loggiepj | https://instagram.com/loggiepj?igshid=NDk5N2NlZjQ= Twitter : loggiepj | https://twitter.com/loggiepj?t=EiFoKQyY1L-HCAMkBV2qCg&s=09

[mysticstarlightduck]

OC Fun Facts Tag!

Thanks for tagging me, @thecomfywriter (here)!!!

Let's go with Aelia and Emrin from The Crystal of Ash, and Tarah & Kye from Supernova Initiative for this one!

Aelia 🍂

She is the daughter of a man who once was the most successful thief and the most wanted man on the continent across the sea. Once he amassed wealth to rival that of most, he changed his identity and moved to the main kingdom of the story, where he posed as a powerful merchant and became a very influential man. Thus, Aelia both has thief skills and knows upper-class etiquette - as she was raised in both environments.

She is a wild spirit at heart, spending most of her time sparring in the chateau's courtyard, riding horses, exploring the woods, studying secret magic, and trying to learn more about the other kingdom, where she was born.

She thinks that Declan is endearing, though at first when they met he used to be concerned, a bit creeped out by the fact that she could sneak like a spider anywhere without being noticed.

She has a flying cat (those creatures are called Gryphers in their world), who is just as much a menace to society as her, and who adores stealing tarts from the kitchen because he knows he'll get away with it.

She has shown some talent for magic, though hers is a bit foreign to the local scholars when compared to the usual magic in Callonor.

Emrin 🏹

Emrin is considered an aberration both by the humans of the continent and the Levaethia, the draconic elves from beyond the mountains because she is of half-human, half-Levaethia blood.

She was taken in by a young Levaethian outcast, who had been banished by his tribe for disagreeing with their people's Way - since he believed maintaining peace with those invading their land would only lead to their people's death. He was a leader of a rebel movement, and along with his friends - became like siblings to the young Emrin, who was an outcast too, and taught her to be a ferocious assassin to any humans who invaded their land.

She's a talented archer, who rarely - if ever - misses her mark, and has a strong tie to earth/nature sorcerer, being considered a very powerful and dangerous Caster.

When she was around twelve years old, she saved a dragon pup from a trap. Much like her, dragons were seen as murderous monsters by humans and Levaethians alike, and so, after she saved the young dragonling, they developed a close bond and friendship based on that understanding.

Emrin loves wildberry juice and has quite a sweet tooth.

She blames her human blood for her being considered an outcast, which makes her alliance with the main cast very fickle, born out more of necessity than trust.

Tarah 🪻

She loves making woven bracelets with her best friend, it's their little tradition.

She's the daughter of a genius Junction scientist who had his life's work stolen from him and then found out the corruption the Director was involved in - and made the mistake of threatening to expose it. Which got him killed.

Tarah has anxiety and does not know how to properly interact with people she doesn't know, gravitating between a people-pleasing personality and a skittish one.

She has a love and a talent for learning languages.

She likes to gift people unique gifts on their birthday but often forgets her own. Not because of any self-esteem issue. Just because she is forgetful.

Tarah loves music but hates loud noises.

She has a big dog who follows her everywhere and looks like an alien version of a pitbull.

She is actually pretty good at baking.

Kye 🐍

Kye's "weapon of choice" against his enemies is poison, and he is an expert on lethal chemicals and the deadliest poisons in the galaxy. The reason why he chooses to use poison for his enemies is that poison was the cause of the death of his Dad (something that traumatized Kye deeply) - so it's kind of a way for Kye to make his enemies "suffer like his Dad did."

Kye is incredibly sarcastic and is capable of being a sassy lil' shit when he wants to.

When he was a teenager, Kye met Artemis Zreeth and they temporarily became best friends, but after an unfortunate string of terrible circumstances and misunderstandings, they went their separate ways and became rivals.

Kye hates the smell of roses - especially the artificial ones - and one of his triggers is the sound of platform heels (because his abusive mother, Eldora, used to wear rose perfume and platform heels)

Kye loves animals, especially weird ones, but also puppies and kittens. He really has a soft spot for cuteness.

One of his hobbies is embroidering, and his favorite designs to embroider are flowers

He starts out as incredibly morally grey and ruthless, but through his friendship with the main cast, slowly learns how to be kind and honorable again, while not losing his dangerous side towards his enemies.

Tagging (gently): @sleepy-night-child, @kaylinalexanderbooks, @smol-feralgremlin, @oh-no-another-idea, @littleladymab,

@winterandwords, @eccaiia, @sarahlizziewrites, @illarian-rambling

@agirlandherquill, @anoelleart, @ray-writes-n-shit

@writernopal, @anyablackwood, @unstablewifiaccess, @forthesanityofstorytellers, @finickyfelix

@i-can-even-burn-salad, @cakeinthevoid,

@lassiesandiego, @thepeculiarbird, @clairelsonao3, @memento-morri-writes, @starlit-hopes-and-dreams and OPEN TAG

[cod-dump]

I’m Not Simon Riley, I’m Ghost

Chapter 1

SoapGhost

(Featuring eldritch monster Ghost) ___

Ghost is not Simon Riley. Simon Riley was a opportunity that Ghost took. Ghost built his walls tall and strong, he didn’t plan on letting anyone inside. But Soap manages to get in and make Ghost question everything. ___ (Eldritch Horror Ghost that no one asked for)

TW: Gore, Sexual Content, Canon Typical Violence, Slow Burn

___

When Simon Riley died, he really did die. Ghost is not Simon Riley. Sure, he has his memories, also inhabits his old body, but he isn’t Simon Riley. In the beginning, he pretended to be Simon so he could merge into the human world easier. But, he isn’t Simon Riley: He’s Ghost.

This human body was a means to an end. He has disguised himself as a human, he has successfully merged into their world. The only potential tell that he wasn’t what he seemed to be was his face. They appear to be scars, but they’re not. A glasglow smile and a split down his bottom lip and down his chin. He managed to convince Price that they were wounds from when the cartel tortured him. But, in reality, they were apart of his lips. He had to be careful when talking to someone, anyone, in the off chance he opened his mouth too wide.

He only ever had to kill one person because he accidentally revealed too much. Roach was a good man but Ghost couldn’t trust him to keep the truth a secret. So he killed him, disposed of the body (by eating it), then waited out until the investigation of Roach’s disappearance toned down. Ghost did have regrets killing Roach, he did actually like him. But he couldn’t trust him. He couldn’t.

You may be asking: Why did Ghost merge himself into Simon Riley’s life? Well, like most creatures of Ghost’s world, he came to this world to feed. Humans are delicious, but they had advanced drastically since the Dark Ages and became quite capable of killing his kind. Ghost couldn’t outright kill them in a… Average setting.

Simon Riley’s body was a opportunity. Playing soldier was the perfect disguise. He was expected to kill. Sometimes he would be expected to go dark and just disappear. As long as he returned with what Simon Riley’s superiors wanted (etc. information), they would let him do whatever. Sure, in the beginning Simon Riley wasn’t known as the infamous lieutenant; That was Ghost’s doing.

Ghost built Simon Riley up as a fearless, deadly soldier who would do anything for his cause. He was the reason Simon Riley was so feared and respected. Simon Riley was the face, but Ghost was the unstoppable force driving his reputation. Ghost doubted Simon Riley would’ve been able to make it this far himself. (He died by suffocating in that coffin). Digging himself out, hunting the cartel to be his first real meal since taking over as Simon Riley.

Ghost, in this early stage of his new life, did not have the same emotional attachments as Simon Riley. The man’s family meant nothing to him. In fact, they were a threat. They would’ve been able to figure out that he wasn’t Simon Riley, they had the potential to ruin everything. So he got rid of them. Killed them, ate parts of them, then burned everything down and blamed the cartel.

By blaming the cartel, he gave Simon Riley the motive to kill. To get more food. By the time the last of the cartel died, by the time he was found by John Price, he was written off as a very traumatized, disturbed individual suffering from PTSD and mental illness. The perfect cover.

He gained John Price’s sympathy with this cover, made him like him. Years go by building his relationship with John Price and becoming established as the Ghost; He finds himself in a perfect position to continue to feed without fear. Then that fucking Scotsman came along and flipped everything upside down.

Since Roach, Ghost did well not to let anyone get too close to him. He didn’t want to risk exposing himself and ruining this life that the rest of his kind envy. The humans around him learned not to bother trying to befriend him; It was pointless. It was like a unspoken law amongst all of them that Ghost was not looking for friends. But John “Soap” MacTavish apparently didn’t get the memo.

From the start he was smiling, joking, annoying. He was actually charming and Ghost hated it with all his being. Soap (What the fuck kind of name is Soap?) seemingly was determined to become Ghost’s friend. And no matter how Ghost pushed and built up walls, Soap pushed back and climbed. Ghost was glad that he made the decision long ago to wear a mask, because he knows Soap would’ve made him slip up by this point. Soap would’ve become another Roach if he didn’t have a mask to hide behind.

No one said anything about how Soap seemingly outright ignored Ghost’s hostility. Well… Except for Phillip Graves. Ghost overheard him talking with Soap about him. It was easy to do considering Ghost had excellent hearing (it paid off being able to hear your prey’s heartbeat while it tried to hide from you). He was able to listen in on their conversation when they were loading up.

“Doesn’t he feel off to you?”

“Eh? What do you mean?”

“Don’t tell me you don’t get the heebie jeebies around that guy. Something isn’t right about him.”

Soap looked over at Ghost and Ghost pretended he was busy checking his gun and that he didn’t notice. Soap never answered Graves. Meeting Alejandro and Rodolfo went smooth. Though Rodolfo eyed him in a similar manner to what Graves did upon their first meeting. It was like they could feel that Ghost wasn’t human but had nothing to back it. Humans here and there were able to feel Ghost’s true nature, but they are almost always unable to immediately pinpoint what he is without seeing him open his mouth a tad bit too wide.

While in Las Almas, Soap persisted as a menace to Ghost’s cover. Even after Alejandro and Rodolfo attempted to be friendly with him and quickly discovered that it would get them no where, Soap still kept up the friendly banter. Ghost found himself being… Charmed? Ghost could try to compare Soap to Roach but in truth they weren’t that much alike.

Roach would’ve backed off after the first time Ghost gave him the cold shoulder. He wouldn’t have joked like he had known Ghost, like they were the best of friends, after the first glare. Soap was fearless, brave. It was like he saw Ghost’s walls as a challenge and started to climb even as Ghost continued to build them up. When Graves betrayed them, when Ghost had gotten separated from Soap. He panicked.

Not once during his time as Simon Riley has he ever panicked over something. He wasn’t afraid of a Shadow offing him. He could handle them easily. He was actually worried about Soap. And when he noticed that he was worried as he made his way to the church, as he continued to radio to Soap and do everything but beg that he confirm that he was still alive, the realization had hit him. He kept telling himself he was building his walls up and up, that he was alone within them. But Soap had managed to slip away inside already, somehow.

”Fuck.”

Ghost actually felt joy for the first time by someone being alive. Soap being alive actually gave him joy! He never had such a attachment to a human before. Not even John Price was so highly regarded and Ghost tolerated him the most. Or so he thought. 

Ghost knew that Soap was hurt. Knew that he could easily be killed (and for once he cared whether or not a human died) and did his best to keep him alive from afar. As Soap fought and made his way through Las Almas, Ghost ate. He was good at leaving no trace, but he didn’t have the time or luxury of making a whole body disappear. But he was too hungry to just not take something from each body.

As he tore off a arm of a Shadow and feasted on the flesh, his mask tucked into his waistband. He let his guard down for a moment. A shot to the shoulder made him drop his snack, his arm going limp. He quickly turned and hissed, sharp teeth bares and eyes completely black, jaws spread wide to reveal how far down his throat his teeth went. The Shadow that shot him screamed and shot again and again as Ghost lunged at him. Ghost tore through his neck, drinking blood as the Shadow drowned on his very life force.

Ghost dragged the latest body into a supply closest to hopefully feast on without further interruptions. He also took the time to fix out the bullets out of his shoulder. The feeling was slowly returning in his arm but it wasn’t pretty much useless at the moment. Not that it hindered Ghost too much, he was still quite capable of killing any Shadow that crossed his path. But it was still an annoyance to be down a arm. So he focused on healing by eating every bit of the Shadow that shared the closet with him.

”Are you ugly?”

”Quite the opposite.”

Ghost made the habit to rarely show his face to anyone for the past several years since Roach. He hasn’t had anyone comment on his appearance for years, he wasn’t sure how Simon Riley’s face was perceived. What humans found attractive tended to slip past his understanding considering what Ghost’s kind found attractive always related to what they were capable of, their rank, territory, and, yes, personality. He never went off if someone was attractive or not by their appearance. If his kind did that, no one would be making babies.

Giving Soap the idea that he was attractive didn’t hurt considering he never planned on showing the man his face. Never. He would sooner tear the man apart and eat him like he did Roach rather than bare himself to him.

After several bad jokes shared between him and Soap, Ghost was back on his feet. He continued making his way to the church, and when he got there, a realization came to him. 

Soap was bound to find a body.

Ghost was sloppy. He did get radioed from Soap about finding one of his knives. He expected something indicating about the state of the body he found the knife in. But he didn’t say a word. Ghost tried to brush off his worry and tell himself that Soap found the knife in one of the very few bodies that Ghost didn’t eat from. He was clueless, he didn’t know.

When they finally regrouped, Soap just smiled as they jumped in the truck and drove to Alejandro’s safe house. Soap did notice Ghost’s shoulder which was bloody and his sleeve torn.

”You didn’t tell me you got hit.”

”I’ve had worse. It’s no worse than the one you have.”

But it was worse. Soap was still using his arm much more than what Ghost would’ve been able to if he was human. They got to the safe house and secured the area before settling and patch their wounds. Ghost helped Soap with his. And when Soap wasn’t looking, he tasted the man’s blood that had gotten on his fingers. Ghost had to restrain himself from moaning at the absolutely delicious flavor of Soap. The man was a literal beam of sunshine, inside and out.

Ghost regretted tasting Soap almost as soon as his blood touched his tongue. It felt like he was violating Soap. And he never had such feelings before. He felt ashamed for tasting him. As he felt this shame, he then felt horror. What the fuck was wrong with him? Since when did fucking Ghost ever feel ashamed about violating a human? Since when did Ghost care about such a thing? He, a force that had consumed entire human villages. He who killed and ate Simon Riley’s family whilst masquerading as the man. He who killed and ate someone who considered him a friend after seeing his face.

Ghost had to push away his thoughts and focus on the task at hand. He had a mission to complete if he wanted to keep his comfortable life. He wasn’t sure how long he had been sitting there thinking about his changing nature, but it was apparently long enough for Soap to pass out from blood loss and pure exhaustion and lean against Ghost. Ghost almost freaked before he reasoned with himself. Soap wasn’t at risk of bleeding out. The wound had been secured and was now on the path to recovery.  Ghost went to shove off Soap when he stopped at the look at Soap’s face. The look was calm, full of trust. Ghost remembered one time someone looked at him with complete trust, and he had killed him. Ghost decided after several minutes of staring that they could rest for a couple hours before heading out.

Ghost didn’t sleep often. It was one of the few times he became vulnerable. He wasn’t a light sleeper by any means. When he did sleep, it was near impossible to wake him up without resorting to physical violence. He picked up the reputation of being a light sleeper because he would pretend to sleep around the human soldiers to keep up appearances of being human himself. Price once told him he woke up like he was prepared to start fighting right there. Ghost told him he simply couldn’t sleep soundly without being behind a heavily locked door.

With this being said, somehow Ghost managed to fall asleep here. Here in unfamiliar territory, exposed, with a man leaning (cuddling) against him who could wake up any moment and attack him. Ghost fell asleep faster than he ever did in his own room despite the obvious discomfort of being on a not so comfortable couch and with a hole in his shoulder that still hurt like a bitch. Ghost fell asleep, and he briefly remembered resting his head on top of Soap’s before lights went out.

He woke with a start, almost like his body realized he fell asleep like an idiot. His hand goes to his gun as he looks around, discovering that Soap wasn’t beside him anymore. Instead, he was at the kitchen table eating something. The man took notice and after they stared at each other for a solid thirty seconds Soap offered what he was eating to Ghost.

”Biscuit? It’s only hard as a rock.”

Ghost shakes his head and stands. His arm was practically healed thanks to his unexpected nap.

”C’mon, LT. Gotta eat something.”

”I’m good. I’ll eat later.”

Soap shakes his head, “You’ll need your strength considering we’re just getting started with this shit. Actually, don’t think I’ve seen you eat once since we got here.”

Ghost never ate in front of anyone. Mostly because there was no appeal to human food and he rather not show anyone his face. Price chalked it up to Ghost not liking anyone seeing his scars. Ghost went along with it.

”Not hungry. Get ready to leave.”

Ghost sees Soap fucking pout and that strikes him right in his black heart. Ghost leaves to check on the truck before Soap could protest further. Once he was outside, he groans. Fuck fuck fuck. He slams his fist into the door of the truck, leaving a dent. He breathes for a moment before he straightens himself out and starts to prepare to go free Alejandro, get in contact with Price, and make Graves pay for his betrayal.

[triflesandparsnips]

I've spent a couple days now trying to find the right words for this, and I still don't know if it's quite right, but-- well, fuck it. I need to tell it in three parts, because I'm not sure it breaks down more easily than that, so let's start with:

Stede knew.

...that is to say: The more I think about it, and in light of what we're seeing so far in season 2 (though hey, the new episode drops tonight, who knows, who knows, but--)

--but the more I think about it, the more sure I am that Stede has always known that he's attracted to men-- and he definitely knew, all along, that he was attracted to Ed in particular.

It's been a popular (and very entertaining) theory that maybe he didn't know. There was certainly a lot of static on the line whenever the topic came up in season 1. He seemed to need help identifying "love"; he didn't respond to Ed's flirting or half-attempted moonlight kiss; he didn't, in fact, try anything that wasn't obscured behind ten thousand layers of plausible deniability to the degree that it was reasonable to interpret him as naive or innocent or completely unaware of his own queerness.

But I think... I think that's what it was. Obfuscation. Hiding behind the relative safety of a presumed ignorance.

Because it all comes back, over and traumatically-over, to that queer need for the language of safety.

Listen: Stede Bonnet grew up keenly aware that being the kind of person he was-- being soft, being gay, being different, being queer-- was reason enough for the world to beat the shit out of him even when he was just a socially unacceptable level of queer (picking flowers as a boy, staying unmarried as a man). In Stede's time period, being any more obviously queer than that, and being subsequently found out, could lead to literal death.

So Stede would have been aware that that sort of attraction wasn't safe-- or, at least, that acting on it wasn't safe in any but the most plausibly deniable of ways... unless, and until, he could be absolutely sure.

And that's the thing, that right there, that's the next part of this:

Stede knew, but that doesn't mean he trusted himself-- or Ed.

It's like this:

When you're somebody who's been punished before (socially and physically) for just the appearance of queerness-- god forbid the acceptance or celebration of it-- then you're going to develop a whole lot of ways to protect yourself from anyone getting proof that you're as queer as they suspect.

So if you're caught looking-- no, no, you were just thinking about a book you wanted to read, silly Stede Bonnet, head in the clouds--

--and if your hand is caught lingering too long-- no, no, that can't be right, because you don't touch anyone at all, see? Oh that Stede Bonnet, awkward as anything, barely knows where his tea cup is--

--and no, absolutely not, you can't be fooled into believing a friend might be something more, no matter how flirtatious his body, no matter how much he seems to cherish your regard-- because either he's lying to you (and you learned that one well enough as a child, didn't you), or... or worse, that's just how some men feel friendship, and you're the one making it strange, making it queer, and he wouldn't be like that anymore if you just stopped bothering him quite so much, toddle on back to your wife, Stede Bonnet, and it'll all be fine again...

The tragedy of the first season might really be, out of all that happened, that a man could kiss Stede Bonnet on the mouth and say he made him happy and ask that they plan a life together--

And Stede still doubted that Ed really meant it.

Stede knew, and he doubted Ed... but he was on the road to trusting himself.

I think Stede went to sea to come out.

I think becoming a pirate was a deliberate queering of his previous life, the first step in him trying to actually allow himself an intentional queer identity in a world where the rules, boundaries, and kinds relationships that were expected and acceptable were broad enough for him to finally exist.

And he was right! Because, like-- jfc, of all the reasons the crew wanted to mutiny, it wasn't because Stede was kinda swish. Of all the reasons Spanish Jackie was going to de-nose him, it wasn't because he was swanning around camp af. Calico Jack did some damage, sure, but he dropped it once his overall aim was achieved-- making it less about social punishment and more another way to needle Stede into responding. Hell, even Izzy's initial interactions with him (regardless of what extra ammo he brought to bear later, which tbh may need separate examination entirely once we get more of season 2) were bound up in Stede interfering in his business and somehow succeeding rather than anything having to do with Stede's queerness.

And when you consider it from that angle... my god, the man was a one-man pride parade and his love of Edward Teach was the float at the front.

He used coded language with Ed in the first five minutes he was conscious enough to fuckin do so ("Do you fancy a fine fabric?" --christ, watch Stede's eyes before he asks that question, the way he clocks Ed turning away to test the cashmere, and when Ed gives a safe response that's when Stede shares more, just watch him)--

He took Ed's silk, touched Ed's chest, complimented his looks-- and even if you trust Stede's memory of it over Ed's, where there was no half-gasp, no aborted kiss-- Stede did all that, and Ed didn't punish him for it. My god, when they went their separate ways, Stede turned back to look-- and so did Ed--

He draped his lace cuffs over Ed's bare wrists as they stood together at tea. He let himself believe Ed was committing to a life together when they agreed to co-captaincy. When he thought Ed had left permanently with Calico Jack he was explicit with Lucius about what it meant ("I think it's over")--

Look: Stede has, in comparison and in opposition to his previous life, been a reckless bolt of rainbow glory almost the entire time we've see him in season 1. It just doesn't look like it from the outside because... he's really good at the language of safety.

So all this to say:

It makes sense, Stede having no concern for telling everybody in the entire pirate world apparently about his love for Ed.

It makes sense for Stede to say "I should have told him how I feel"-- because he knew, even then, he was just afraid he was wrong.

And so it would make sense, to me, if Stede, back in proximity with Ed and with definitive proof that Ed felt the same way as Stede (or had, at least, at one point), proceeds to get absolutely weird with how much gooey queer LOVE he throws at Ed from the moment they're both coherent enough to form words.

BECAUSE:

Stede couldn't trust the straight world to be safe? Well now he's dead there, time to be queer af

AND

Stede couldn't trust that Ed wanted him the same way? Well babe just went around making the world burn and then promptly died trying because he got his heart broken by Stede, so Stede is going to be 100% insufferable about showing this very special boy just how much he is absolutely adored.

And I cannot wait to see what bullshit he comes up now that he finally feels safe.

[tinylongwing]

For the top 5/top 10 meme: top character arcs!

Oh jeez! Okay this is awesome, let me dig deep into my brain. Also there's no way I remember every character arc I've ever witnessed so this is just gonna be the first good ones that come to mind, haha.

For my Lord Huron folks, I'm going with Lee Green as one answer. Girl!! You champion! Takes off on her own to try and make a career work for herself in the big city of Los Angeles after bailing on 1960s Detroit and her loser boyfriend. Winds up hooked on vide noir while in the clutches of Z'Oiseau who basically just collects pretty girls as temporary trophies because he's some fucking cosmic horror creep I guess, but somehow she gets out of that? Kicks her addiction, takes back her stage name and releases multiple albums and lives her dreams. Lee, how did you manage this when basically every other character winds up dead or suffering or missing. Good heavens.

And no okay I can't resist, I'm putting another LH-er in here because my boy Johnnie Redmayne is too ridiculous. Is this even a character arc? Yes. Kid lives a life of joyous violence and hedonism in a gang, risk-taking coupled with a need to support his friends and family monetarily leads to his kidnapping and murder, but then he's like fuck that, death sucks! I don't want to die, that's boring and also getting murdered via cosmic horror drug overdose is a real big nightmare which probably unlocked some really terrible secrets he'd rather not reflect on. Nope, better to just come back, now undead, out of sheer stubborn refusal to accept death! That's way cooler. Party on, haunting desert travelers forever. Child, you're doing great and I support you.

Okay, One Piece is also like ridiculously chock full of amazing characters with the world's most unnecessarily fleshed out and traumatizing backstories, and everyone who knows me knows that I'm very much here for Trafalgar Law. Yeah yeah, and Rosinante, but look, Law is the actual major character here who grows so much as he sees his whole world burning down around him as a child, goes from self-destructive and nihilistic to learning to trust and love people again to the point where he will always put himself in harm's way before even letting anyone touch a hair on his crew's heads. Such a wholesome goth. So much found family.

Having relatively recently watched Twin Peaks (FINALLY I know) I have to put Dale Cooper in here. This is not a positive character arc, this is a man whose joy and brilliance and successes against some really dark forces led him to thinking he was capable of anything in the pursuit of justice and truth. Turns out that was probably wrong! Whoops! And now he's possibly doomed? Look, the ending of Twin Peaks is massively open-ended but Cooper is very much a deeply tragic character and I'm kind of obsessed with tragedy and bad endings.

And I'm going to stop at five or I'll never get any work done, so fifth here will be.... hm. You know what, Seo-bi from Netflix's Kingdom. I can't get enough of characters in a scientific or medical sort of role in period dramas, I think that's very very good (and Goodsir from The Terror was a very near fifth choice here for some similar reasons). But I love Seo-bi in particular because she has knowledge, she uses it, she perseveres despite so many challenges including politics and also literal zombies, and the show continually throws a couple of characters at her that look like they're supposed to be love interests and she's always like NO! Fuck off! I'm doing important medical work here, I have no time for kissing!!! And that's very powerful of her and I love that for her so much. I'm sad that this series appears to be on hold maybe forever now.

[creativepawsworld]

Silence - Chapter 47

Pairing = Thomas Shelby x OC

Summary = Ana convinces Tommy to give Michael a shot working for him. Tommy invites a widowed horse trainer to Small Heath without letting Ana know. 

Warnings = Sexual Intent implied...Language...Grammar... Implied cheating? Maybe...Pregnancy...

Word Count = 2542 

Note - =It’s been a hot minutes hasn’t it... But I am back and writing although a bit rusty so yeah, am slowly getting back in but you all want these two adventures to continue so let’s do that... Let me know what you think! 

It has been four days since my parents were admitted to the hospital. I had spent my days between there and home. Tommy had me guarded 24 hours a day if I wasn’t with him – I had two Peaky Blinder boys beside me and not the rookies either but the most trusted.

I found the hospital visits draining, mentally and physically being five months pregnant didn’t help either. It was hard to watch my parents being in this condition. It wasn’t easy.

My mother was constantly being sedated. Every time she woke up, she was screaming so loud she would frighten the other patients in the hospital. And anyone that came close to her was attacked. They were slapped, punched or bitten. So it was decided for the safety of everyone, that she would be sedated. The hoped outcome would be that she healed mentally and physically at the same time. But that didn’t seem like a likely scenario the longer the days went by.

My father, he was terrified the moment he woke up. I was there to witness that. The second his eyes opened he tried to sit up but couldn’t due to the wounds in his stomach and chest. Pushing the tubes off his face the alarms on the machines would go crazy. I remember him looking around, hands clutched together as fists. He was ready to fight, even in his frail state.

I remembered rushing forward taking his hands into mine, telling him he was going to be okay. The look he gave me was one of sheer terror. It sent a chill down my spine. He tried to talk to me but he couldn’t, the damage to his tongue too great.

Today I left the hospital early in the afternoon. The nurses and doctors had decided to take my mother off sedation. I wasn’t so sure but I gave my permission for them to do so when I had left. I had already witnessed my father try and learn how to speak again this morning. It broke my heart watching him try, it was traumatic. It was something I didn’t want to see.

My baby kicked a lot today when I was in the hospital and I took that as a sign to spend some time with Tommy. Since the attack on my parents, we hadn’t spent much time together. I was at the hospital while he was on a manhunt. He was a one-man army trying to rid the world or at least England of all Italians. His ambition scared me. He had already made war with the Sabini gang in London. Something he almost lost his life because of. He had a baby to think about now. We both did. We couldn’t be making stupid decisions, not when it came to the Italian mafia.  

Walking to his office, I turned to his men telling them with my eyes I would be fine now but no. They wouldn’t leave until I was literally in Tommy’s care. I felt like a child sometimes but I knew it was for my safety. With a sigh I walked into the office, smiling softly at Lizzie as I passed her desk before allowing myself into his office.

He was sat hunched over his desk, eyes glued to a mountain of paperwork. For a brief second, he looked at me before back to his work, a stressed huff leaving his lips.

“I’m with Tommy now you can leave...” I smiled softly at my two bodyguards.

“Wait outside boys.” Tommy interrupted. He hadn’t looked up from his desk, just waved his men away with the swish of his hand.

I rolled my eyes at his actions, whispering an apology to his men as they walked out of his office. I closed the door behind them and walked over to Tommy’s desk taking the pen out of his hand.

“Hello love, how are you today? How’s our baby doing?” I growled slamming his pen down on his desk. I glared into his eyes as he let out a frustrated sigh at my actions.

“I’m busy Stace.” He sighed closing the file he was looking at and putting it away in his locked drawer. I noticed it had a big red private stamped on it. He was never so secretive with his paperwork before.

“What was that?”

“Nothing you have to worry about.” His emotionless eyes looked at me, looking almost bored.

“Yes of course not it’s Thomas Shelby against the world isn’t it?” I scoffed, standing tall. My bump popped out from under my dress.

I watched Tommy’s eyes glance down to my bump, a small smile pulling on his lips before he looked up and into my eyes. Leaning back on his office chair, he raised his eyebrows, a smug smirk on his face.

“You have my attention now what is it you want?” He asked linking his hands over his chest and opening his thumbs to emphasise his question.

“Good” I grinned walking around the desk, taking his tie into my hands. His hands came up to rest on my bump. The baby feeling their father’s hands on them gave an almighty kick. “Ow.” I inhaled, and Tommy laughed caressing the bump in his hands.

“That’s my boy.”

“You think it’s a boy?” I asked, leaning back against his desk. My hands left his tie to rest on top of his on my bump.

“You don’t?”

“I don’t know, maybe. It's 50/50” I bit my lip looking down at my ever-expanding stomach. “Maybe I should get Polly to read my tea leaves. She will know.”

“I thought you wanted a surprise” Tommy asked standing to his feet. His hands never left my stomach as he looked down at me.

“I do, no your right I do,” I speak looking up at him with a wide smile. “Why are you looking at me like that?” I asked, glaring softly at him. He was looking down at me, his eyes staring deeply into mine but his face remain emotionless. He was a hard man to read at the best of times.

Instead of replying, Tommy leaned down capturing my lips in his. The kiss itself was hungry. Possessive almost. His tongue claimed my mouth within seconds, I moaned pushing myself against him as best I could with a five-month pregnant belly in the way.

“Tommy” I gasped against his lips. He pulled away keeping his hands on my stomach as his lips worked their way across my cheek, down my jaw towards my neck.

“Do you know how gorgeous you look with my child inside you?” He asked nipping along the column of my neck, his hands caressing our bump.

I couldn’t respond. My mind was screaming with enjoyment. I moaned softly as he pushed me harder against the edge of his desk. I had no choice but to slip on top of it. His hands left my bump to pull up the bottom of my dress, softly ghosting over my clothed core.

“So wet for me already baby girl.” Tommy grinned pulling at my earlobe between his teeth, my head fell back as he ran the tip of his nose along my neck. It felt completely sensual. He was doing so many things to me, I couldn’t think straight.

“Oh Tommy” I moaned softly resting my hands back on his desk and pushing my hips into his.

Tommy’s hand slipped behind my neck, holding me in place as he ran the tip of his nose up along my voice box, under my chin towards my lips. Pressing another passionate, wet kiss to my lips. His tongue claimed my mouth. His hand held my neck so I couldn’t escape him.

There was a sudden knock on the door and I immediately pushed Tommy away, pushing my dress down over my legs. Standing up I noticed the annoyed look on Tommy’s face as he readjusted himself in his trousers. Within moments, Michael came through the office, holding a peaked cap and newspaper in his hands, looking nervous.

“What can I do for you, Michael?” Tommy asked with a sigh. I smiled softly at the newest member of the Shelby clan as I took a seat on the guest side of Tommy’s office watching the interaction.

“I wasn’t interrupting anything, was I?” Michael asked looking between the two of us. I could tell Tommy was ready with a response so I quickly jumped in to save his cousin any more second-hand embarrassment.

“Of course not. We were just discussing the baby.” I side-eyed Tommy who smirked at my response. His head nodded slightly, blue hawk-like eyes looking back at Michael, sucking his plump bottom lips between his teeth – his mind elsewhere.

“What is it you need young Michael?” He asked standing behind his desk with his hands behind his back.  

“I heard you were looking for an accounts clerk Tommy. I’m good with numbers.”

“The position has been filled, Michael.” Tommy answered quickly.

“Not according to this morning’s paper” Michael answered back making me laugh softly. “I was the top of my class in mathematics in school and I did a night class on accountancy at Worchester College. Mum said you had six different accounts clerks in the past six months.”

I looked between the two, Tommy had turned his back before turning back around leaning against the filling cabinet, his hands still behind his back as he leaned against the metal.

“When respectable men see all the things you do. They leave. But I, I already know what you do.” Michael continued to speak, turning rather confident for a 17-year-old. Completely different from the boy that walked in only moments before. “Mum says you want to be 80% legal within 2 years.”

“Three” Tommy answered.

“I can help,” Michael replied. “I know both sides and you know you can trust me. I want to help you, Tommy. Become legal for your family.” He looked at me, glancing down at my bump.

I bit my lip looking over at Tommy, I liked what Michael had to say. I liked it a lot, I just hoped Tommy felt the same. I could see the cogs working in his head as he thought about what Michael had to say.

“Do the right thing.” Michael pushed. “I want to be proud of this family.” I couldn’t help but smile at that part. The family was everything to the Shelby’s anyone could see that, all you had to do was spend a bit of time with them and it became glaringly obvious.  

“Does Polly know you’re here Michael?” Tommy asked, taking his eyes off Michael and looking at me. I tilted my head to the side, slowly shaking it. We both already knew the answer to that.

“I’m 18 on Friday I go where I please,” Michael responded and I sighed softly, knowing Tommy wouldn’t involve him without Polly’s saying so.

“If he is solely involved in the legal side of business Tommy what’s the problem? It’s a job. Give him a chance.” I spoke up sitting on the edge of the seat. “He is family, he wants and needs this job. Give him a chance to prove himself.”

I watched as Tommy inhaled deeply, pushing himself off the filing cabinet and towards his desk once again. Looking down at the newspaper Michael had brought with him, the job circled in red ink – he thought about what was said. Lifting the phone sitting on the right-hand side of his desk, he dropped it in front of Michael.

“You call your mother, good luck,” Tommy stated walking around the edge of his desk and towards his drinks caddy.

I looked at Michael smiling softly before patting his arm. This was his chance.

*****

A few days later I was tidying up my home after breakfast when a loud knock on the door frightened me until I heard the voice of Esme on the other side. I opened the door immediately letting her inside with a smile until I saw her face.

“Esme, what is it?” I asked instantly panicked something had happened to Tommy.

“It’s Tommy, he is… he is showing that horse trainer around.” Esme wheezed trying to catch her breath. I was confused by her confession.

“Well, he is just being chivalrous I’m sure it means nothing. The man’s probably never been to a place like this before.” I brushed off her concerns. Most people avoided the streets of Small Heath if they could.

“It’s not a man Ana. It’s a young, rich widow from London and from what our John was saying. She wants Tommy.” Esme told me. Her eyes showed nothing but worry and concern for me.

Her words began to embed themselves in my head. Why would Tommy tell me it was a male horse trainer? Why would he lie? Why would he need to show them around a dump like Small Heath? Why did she get the courtesy no one else did?

“Where is he?” I asked, my heart racing in my chest at the thought of catching him with another woman. “Esme, where is he?” I repeated, putting my coat around my shoulders and grabbing my bag.

“I don’t know” Esme shook her head, shrugging her shoulders. “They left the betting shop and I instantly came here to tell you. I knew he wouldn’t be honest with you. Fucking men think they can treat us like objects and we wouldn’t care.”

I listen to her rant as I walked down the stairs, the two Peaky Blinder bodyguards waiting for me as soon as I left.

“Have either of you seen Tommy?”

“Yeah saw him enter The Garrison, ten, fifteen minutes ago.” Harry nodded lighting up a cigarette. “Are you not going to the hospital this morning miss?”

“Not yet” I shook my head, walking towards the Garrison.

I pushed open the door, Esme right behind me – a scowl on her face as the two figures came into view.

“Would you like to fuck me, Mrs Carleton?” Tommy asked just as I walked through the door and the hit of betrayal slapped me up the face. I remained silent as I stood by the door, waiting for her answer.

I wasn’t sure if they noticed we had entered the bar or not but I was hurt and angry. A tear fell down my cheek, Esme stood glaring, I could tell she was biting her tongue, giving the woman a chance to speak.

“No, I am here for the horse Mr Shelby nothing more.” The dark-haired, posh woman sipped on the drink Tommy had made her, grimacing at the taste.

“Good cause that’s my woman there…” Tommy pointed at me, his head finally looking in my direction. “And that’s my child in her stomach. So anything other than the horse is off the table.”

My eyes flicked between the woman and Tommy, my head tilting to the side like I was trying to work him out. Esme’s hand touched my shoulder for comfort as I tried to figure out whether that was the truth leaving Tommy’s mouth or just for the benefit of me standing there. Either way, I wasn’t happy.

Taglist 

@shelbyteller @seleneshelby @forgottenpeakywriter @babayaga67 @sweetmilkshakeluminary @slutforcoffein @sydneyyyya @happysparklingshadows @margew76   @midnightmagpiemama  @pierre-gasssllyy    @duckybird101

Anyone wanting on or off just let me know I know I have been slacking and I apologise... 

[fallingskiesandrisingseas]

Still not over the Poppy War because how could I?

First it is 'you need to succeed academically or be subjected to a life of misery in a forced marriage'. Then it's 'you're worse than everyone else because you are from the South where people are stupid and you talk weird and you have no inherited arts and you're poor.' When that's finally over and Rin is getting used to being at Sinegard, when she's getting used to being taught by Ziya and enjoying being a shaman Sinegard gets attacked, her friends murdered, Nezha crippled. 'Oh by the way you are also the only other survivor of a genocide on a martial race, the only other guy is your commander'.

Before the war is well underway she gets to deal with the massacre of Golan Niis, a traumatized Kitay. 'Yeah there were sex slaves, they were seen as less than human , we threw babies into boiling cauldrons'. 'Oh yeah we are also experimenting on the poor martial special savage southeners to learn the source of their heavenly powers'

Then it's 'the only other Speerly dies, we will call you The Last Speerly as the sole survivor of your race' and immediately after it's 'trauma and the desire to win the war and protect your people will make you do unspeakable things, even commit genocide yourself.'

Second book is a liiiitle easier, but not much, because 'you are getting so addicted to opium to deal with the effects of having to call the fire that you cannot fight anymore' , 'the source of your strenght is your friend, without whom you will not be special' are very close together. Then it's 'foreign people are trying to invade your lands because they deem you inferior' and 'a scientist is abusing you solely because they can, because she doesn't see you as human. Then there is a whole ass war, just before 'you are betrayed by the ones that mean the most to you, like literally a blade in your back' and 'you are now disabled, missing the hand of your swordarm'

And then the grande finale, of course. 'Civil war against former ally' and 'Trifecta coming back to life, my teacher being a war criminal' immediately into 'the scariest one of them trying to kill me the second he wakes up, just like he did with the rest of my people'. Then that war drags on, including 'Cold marches that kill half my army' and 'going back to South to fight with the people whose roots are yours as well' and 'subjecting people to the trauma you went through yourself just to win the war'. Couple that with 'large famine and banditery terrorizing the countryside' and 'large refugee crisis' and 'i don't recognize my family anymore'. When you think it's all over you're hit with the 'no one here trusts me' and 'I thought this person was betraying me but she took an arrow to the head for me', just before 'I need to kill myself for the greater good' and 'my friend does not want to live on without me.' To top it off we need 'oppressors will try to erase us, and we need them so badly we will let them try' and 'Nezha is all alone in the world'

O and you find out as well 'he loved her but betrayed her' and 'duty trumps romance'

Man, look at that list. No wonder I was devastated after that, it's just blow after blow after blow.

[stuiie]

man i knew nat would have been absolutely mad at ducky for reaching yelena without listening, but, oh my! that was brutal. natasha is hard and i hope i’m not wrong when, in the end, even wanda was a bit skeptic about her wife’s words especially towards someone younger that is still learning her ways into life and this dynamic. ducky was wrong, that’s for sure, but how can someone be still when she’s losing the last person that could be family? wanda and natasha are her last bit of stability, kinda, but i think that being a new thing she isn’t sure of that stability as much as she had it with yelena. they don’t know much about what us reader know, but still it was brutal and thinking are going to be rocky and for ducky this will be more heavy. she will be alone, aside from kate, into a world that had abandoned her in the most hard times. felt incredibly sad reading that lines, despite the situation i think that the three of them should’ve been more united and not hurting each other like this. natasha has still some reserve, it can be seen – not letting ducky eating her out, not answering texts or being vague, detaching etc. it feels like she’s regretting it, leaving mostly to wanda to deal with their girlfriend, despite nat having her sister in mind it feels like she’s putting ducky at the end of her thoughts or reconsidering this whole thing. it’s nor fair i guess. i know this poor girl will suffer a lot tho :( as always amazing chaps, can’t wait for the next updates!

You’re absolutely right—it was brutal. This entire chapter was incredibly difficult to write, and it broke my heart for all of them. There are so many layers of complexity in what transpired. It’s easy for us to sympathize with Ducky because we’re seeing the world through her eyes—her feelings, her thoughts. We know her so intimately that we often forget the other characters don’t have that same insight. When emotions run high, it’s easy for things to spiral out of control, and many factors can trigger stronger reactions than we might expect, influenced by everything from the characters’ own feelings to the chaos of the moment.

Their relationship is still so new, and a relationship can’t become solid, strong, or nurturing without communication. Given Ducky’s traumatic past, it’s all the more challenging for her. But this chapter opened up so much, not just for Ducky, but for all of us, I think. All of a sudden, Natasha and Wanda fall off that pedestal Ducky has placed them on, where she almost worships them. But at the end of the day, they’re just as flawed as the rest of us. They’ll have bad days, they’ll have moments where we might hate them, and there will be times when we want nothing more than to be in Ducky’s shoes because they’re so amazing. But trust me, even though things seem dark and sad right now, there is light at the end of the tunnel, and I’m committed to seeing them through this with all my heart.

It’s truly wonderful and beautiful to see you so committed to the characters and the story. My heart swells with gratitude, and I treasure your perspective on the chapter. Please know that your thoughts help guide me as I continue with the story. 💗

Don’t hesitate to reach out again if you ever want to discuss this further or just chat about anything.

[spideronthesun]

💙💔❣️💝

Hello! Thank you so much!

💙: how has the idea changed between starting it and where it is now?

So, I started doing rounds of edits two months ago...

An adjustment in the overall tone of the story. Less light and more shaded. A darker element is weaved in.

It is currently a lot darker in comparison to the original draft. While the main focus of the story is still a modern mythology retelling, I’m totally loving the horror themes I’ve added.

I feel like a kid at the candy store right now with all the changes that I have come up with.

💔: give a brief character bio of your 3-5 MCs

Well, let's begin with Nikolas. He's the oldest and probably the most responsible one out of the cast. His younger brothers think of him as papa because he literally had stepped in to take care of them when their parents passed. Addictive personality but family first.

Edvardas is the black sheep of the family you either have met in one of your family reunions, or you are one yourself. Hard on the outside but squishy like cookie dough inside.

Robertas has thieving hands that also heal. No, but seriously, when he asks you to borrow stuff, don't give anything to him. You aren't ever going to give it back. But he's a massive sweetheart and has a heart of gold. A literal sunshine.

Adamas has a curious mind that goes where the winds take him. He's very caring, even if sometimes he says the wrong things at the wrong time. But if I am being honest, he's probably the only character I would trust with all my secrets and everything else.

Danielius is literally the class clown. He's very hilarious and likes the audience. But he's also very artistic, can play piano, loves to draw and take pictures, and uses his best friend as his inspiration for most part. An artistic renaissance boy in a man's body with a lot to learn still.

Medeina struggles with her identity a lot, all because she doesn't know where she fits in the most. Can talk to dandelions and wolves and has a cool spider familiar. The one with the spark and magic of the story.

❣️: which scene has been hardest to write so far?

How to answer this without spoiling too much, haha. Also I will be editing that scene soon.

It is a very traumatic experience for everyone in the family. Because it includes so many secrets being unveiled and betrayals.

But I also find battle scenes to be hardest to write for me. I am just not good at them.

💝: who has your favorite character arch? give a brief summary

Edvardas.

Inside him, there was always a voice that roared like a lion, but the world around him constantly tried to silence it, expecting more from him than he could deliver.

He's always been a rebel at heart and even as an adult he uses rebelling as a way to express his unhappiness about his situation.

But over the course of the book he learns how to open up more, and that sometimes he needs to stop fighting everything and everyone around him.

[foundfamilyarena]

Hi! I am just finishing my propaganda that I was writing on the nomination thingy but didn't have time to finish last night, sooo propaganda for Cale's family (they have no good name:()from lout of the counts family!

(btw I just copy and pasted my original description and added more)

A spoiler warning for Lout of the counts family/ trash of the counts family!

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Imma infodump here now sorry, Cale is basically one of the most important people in all of their lives, usually because he saved them in some way shape or form, for example with On and Hong he saved them off the streets from starvation starting not by just asking them to come with him when realizing their situation,  but by slowly giving them things usign the excuse it was a bribe to keep them from talking about how he was visiting the man-eating tree. He started by giving bread, then he gave them (Some random street children!) Meat and cake, and then the next day, he noticed how On was limping lightly and bought her medicine and bread, making sure she wasn't hurt. 

Now onto Choi han, he was the protag of the novel he's transmigrated into and he was soo scared of him, bcs orignally Choi han beat Cale up, but instead of just avoiding him or just throwing Ron and Beacrox at him (his chef and butler who originally joined choi han after he beat cale up) he decided to go up to him, fully aware he had broken into the territory and very angry and traumatized bcs his entire village just got massacred and he killed all the perpetrators? But he decided to go up to him, and offered him food, a place to stay, and helped him pick himself back up from the ground up and learn how to live again after his second family died, and became Choi han's own third family and sooo much more.

Onto Raon! Raon was a little black dragon that originally went berserk after being tortured for his entire life and killed a lot of the town that he was going to just be passing through, but instead of just rushing through and leaving the town to be destroyed on its own, he decided that he was going to save him from the torture, and let this young dragon choose his *own* life. He saved him and once he set him free instead of taking this strong dragon that could make him the most powerful, popular person in the *continent* he healed him, looked him in the eye and asked him what *he* wanted to do with his life, how Raon would like to live and told him to live how he wanted, he was the first person to ever tell Raon that he could live, that he could do what he wanted. And even when Raon showed up again and told Cale that he would stay with him, Cale only made sure that he was coing to be okay, that if he was going to take care of Raon he might as well make sure that he would be safe and a good guardian.

I'm not sure how far into cale's camily member's I'll get but just to let you know, I am thinking for including basically *all* of his family/allies I am sorry.

Skipping a few people but onto Alberu crossman himself! Alberu was basically alone in the world with his aunt being the only person he trusted, he was paranoid and constantly faking everything about himself. Once he met Cale he slowly began to trust cale (over the vourse of like the first 100 chs?) and began showing his true self, he began to show his true self literally *and* figuratively, he shows his true self as a dark elf in a show of how he trusts cale enough to show the part of him that he's been so paranoid about hiding his entire life. He begins to speak his actual mind rather than just hiding behind fake smiles and fake words that he doesn't actually mean. he begins to let himself laugh and joke around, he begins to actually enjoy himself, laugh a genuine laugh around someone who isn't his aunt. and he gets a family out of him as much as he got one out of his mother.

Lock and the wolf children's turns! They actually came a lot earlier than alberu but ignore that, Lock was like-- 14, 15 I can't remember, and his entire tribe was killed. Rosalyn and CHoi han brought him to Cale and Cale helped him out, he taught rosalyn and Choi han how to deal with his first berserk state. Cale could have just kicked them out and left them in the dark about what to do, but instead he left behind his original plans, taught Rosalyn and Choi han how to take care of lock and made sure that he would recover. Thenn the other wolf children, lock's siblings. When Cale found out they had survived,,, he was surprised to say the least, they were originally meant to die but Cale had sent CHoi han earlier than the novel, saving them in more ways than one. He chose to take in the wolf children and brought them into his home territory, he rebuilt an entire village for them to live in and requested for his father to get them all citizenship. And even after that the continued to help them out, He got them all teachers, hilsman as a sword instructor, Beacrox to take care of them when he couldn't. A bit more on lock, when lock came to him first, Lock told Cale that he wanted to build his own knights brigade to be useful and to pay him back for taking care of him and his siblings. But Cale told him, that he was still a child ,he constantly tells him and all of the wolf children and other kids this, and has he asked his siblings this? Is there anything else you want to do? 

I'm kind of randomly switching between characters to talk about sorry.

Rosalyn! She was the crown princess of the breck kingdom but she didn't really want to be a queen, she wanted to be a mage. She was attacked in the roan kingdom by the archduke of breck. Cale sent Choi han to get her and lock like in the original story and saved the wolves. When they went to cale for healing lock, after rosalyn and choi han fought lock he passed her a potion and she said "Potions don't work on lock" and Cale's response was immediately, It's for you. Over the course of the next 100s of chapters, Rosalyn ends up beign the person who understands Cale the most, and Cale continues to sponsor her, making her stronger with gifts of magic stones, magic devices, and eventually she became the commander of the magic brigade and even the magic tower master (the symbol of mages).

Eruhaben-nim's turn! Eruhaben is an ancient dragon who at first was kind of suspicious of cale bcs, Raon a baby dragon was following him around and following his orders, but dragons are usually very proud of themselves and too proud to even talk to a human. Cale tries to get Eruhaben as Raon's teacher and eruhaben agrees. Eruhaben also kind of thinks that Cale is a dragon slayer because one of his powers was once owned by the first ever dragon slayer. Eventually over time of being together, Cale learns that eruhaben is going to die (of old age dragons will fade into nature once they reach past 1000) and so cale chose to try to find an artifact to save him. Cale goes through several tests to get the artifact and goes through a bit ( a lot) of emotional pain when getting to it. There's even one time where the main villain shows up for the first time and he threatens Cale and raon, Eruhaben attacks white star (main villain) and screams "Don't you dare touch my children" because he sees cale and raon as his children<3333. And he nicknamed Cale 'Unlucky bastard' (affectionate) and he's basically Cale's 3rd dad (he bascially has 4 dads)

Good girl Mary now! Mary is a necromancer who Cale brought out of the land of death (the dark elf city). Mary had told Cale and Raon that she dreamed of leaving the underground city one day because she wanted to see the sky, and so they brought her to their own home and let her stay with them. She becomes Raon's bff and helps save the henituse territory, and continues to help them out. One quote of her's thats really fun: "I do not need to hide. I am strong. Vice Captain Hilsman-nim told me that the words of the priest are bullshit. I also wish to be like Choi Han-nim and stand behind you, no matter what happens."

I could add an analysis on all of them but thats long and I can't even count them all, Sorry I this is bothering you!

Have a nice day/night! :)

Ayy propaganda thank you for sharing!

[most-datable-datable-bracket]

ROUND 4 MATCH 14

Lae'zel propaganda:

“Every single Baldur’s Gate companion is deeply lovable and romanceable but listen. Lae’zel is so strong and cool and powerful. She thinks you’re sexy faster than anyone else. She’s a gruff, standoffish character who you can win over. She’s so talented. She’s even an alien. Look at her pretty ears and war paint. Date Lae’zel.”

Seteth propaganda:

“Mmm green dilf”

“Now he may just seem like a typical vice principal at catholic school for war criminals. But in reality he’s way more than that. He is really nice, and at sometimes overprotective over his daughter Flayn but he has a good reason for it. But in supports with other students he serves as a father figure to a bunch of traumatized teens. While being a traumatized dad himself. You may ask “how is he dateable?” Well Dilf. A man who’s a good dad is a man you can trust. And he enjoys writing stories too.”

"The man literally looks at your character, who has been continually manipulated by almost everyone around them and had absolutely zero control over the course their life has taken and in his A support scene says "where I go and what I do will depend wholly on you" and "our future is yours to determine" AND HE MEANS IT and for a person who has so so little control over their whole life it just really hits home how much he cares about them to let them drive their own future. Like this man is willing to turn his back on his own family member for them after he learns how much said family member has manipulated the MC's life and I just 🤌🤌🤌 we love someone willing to stand up to their own toxic family members and tell them that what they've done is wrong

And when he proposes he says "But there is one thing I want to make sure you understand beyond any doubt… I am not proposing to you out of a sense of duty, nor a desire to perpetuate our bloodline. I want this because I am in love with you. I cannot conceive of a world without you in it." (because he and the MC are two of the last remaining people of their species, which was a part of the manipulation from his family member, so he just continues to reassure the MC that he just wants them not what they could give him) AND I JUST LOVE THIS MAN SO MUCH IT'S SO IMPORTANT TO HIM THAT THE MC KNOWS EXACTLY HOW HE FEELS AND WHY AND HE'S NEVER HAD ULTERIOR MOTIVES TO GETTING TO KNOW THEM UNLIKE LITERALLY ALMOST EVERYONE ELSE IN THEIR LIFE 😭😭😭"

[bouquetcfmuses]

naitfall:

❝ What's on my mind? ❞ It's been many years since anybody asked him that. Unfamiliar as he was with being on the receiving end of somebody's concern, he averted his gaze, leisurely supporting his weight with his elbow on the table, face in his hand. Petra had a habit of catching him off guard, surprising him in ways most didn't. He knew what to expect out of nearly everyone, predictable even if unique. Yet she was one of the few he still struggled to understand. Far too pure, in a world where they all drowned in filth and corruption. Her ability to sympathize, had earned his respect, even if he still wasn't in a position to respond to her kindness.

❝ Good people will always be dying. Should that stop us from continuing to fight? ❞ It was those who gave up more of themselves — their humanity, who survived, and he made the greatest example of all. That was why he couldn't understand how she was still alive. Her strength wasn't what he had doubts about. Her heart was. One wasn't meant to make it outside ( and behind ) the walls with a heart like her own. The reason he feared her time was approaching. The day when he'd carry her corpse back to the walls. Unless their roles were reversed, and he wouldn't live to see that day. He wouldn't get to witness one of the last few lights he had the chance to cross paths with, die out. In what world was he supposed to live in after all, if there was only darkness to surround him? What was he fighting for, in daylight's time? He could have stayed on the underground to rot, instead. It seemed he had been far more silent than he normally was since their last expedition — Levi having the delusion he was a talkative man, he had accidentally let her see through him, see behind his shield. Careless he had been around her, far too relaxed in her presence. ❝ This wasn't the first person we lost. And certainly not the last. ❞ He was her superior. The one she was meant to trust with her life and rely on — the chain of command clear from the start. Dependency should never come from both sides. Such bonds didn't survive the battlefields. The moment she began to view him as someone to be concerned for, someone weak, she was dead. ❝ I'm the last person you need to worry about. ❞

Her gaze carefully observed the man sitting beside her, an almost knowing look in her expression as he began speaking. She was able to understand just how shut off the captain could be from her many years of working by his side, especially whenever they would return from expeditions outside of the walls. The world they lived in was truly hell, it wasn't fair that good people died because of the monsters awaiting them outside. It was a given they would lose many good people in their short lifespans, but that didn't mean it made it any easier on them. After all, Levi was still a human being with feelings, no matter how deep he tried to bury them.

"Of course that won't stop the fight, Captain. But, that doesn't mean it's any easier when we lose comrades-- friends-- in the battle." She wore a kind smile as she rested her hands in her lap. "I don't want you to think me asking how you're feeling is me trying to call you weak or incapable in any way. I just... it's normal for someone's death to affect us. If it didn't, then we wouldn't be very human, would we?"

Petra naturally felt the utmost respect for Captain Levi, just as the rest of their squad had. But, she also understood that no one could be stoic through every traumatic event they lived through. There was so much she'd yearned to learn about the man, but she knew better than to pry so deeply into his business. She would let him tell her on his own, in his own time, and if he decided not to then she would respect that. She longed to be a shoulder he could lean on had he ever needed it, that she could be someone he trusted enough to be vulnerable near.

"I won't push further if you don't want me to, Captain. But, I did want you to at least know you have someone you can confide in should you ever chose to. No one deserves to be alone with their thoughts, it ends up destroying a person after a while."