#could be taken as ship or friendship

[artcompany1]

If, for whatever reason, Chell willingly came back to aperture, Glados would be super happy about it, but she'd pretend she hated it.

Glados would go on about how she wished Chell stayed away but would never try and force her out or hint at an exit. She would conveniently lose the ability to summon a lift to the surface in an update.

She'd do things like give Chell the non-lethal test, or as non-lethal as aperture gets, but she'd go off about how Atlas and P-body are better equipped to do the dangerous test then Chell's fragile human body allows. She would also make comments about Chell's intelligence and how dumb she is.

She'd make Chell the nicest bedroom out of whatever she could fine. She'd also give her whatever human entertainment was still left. Stuff to entertain Chell while she was on her breaks, cause Glados is also giving her breaks now. She would, of course, justify this by talking about how her inferior human mind needs this to be a better test subject.

Chell would also coincidentally find tasty food lying around when she gets hungry. And, after all this time, she finally gets that cake. Glados only makes comments on her weight when she's eating unhealthy.

Glados would show Chell her growing bird army, to brag, of course. Occasionally, she would even let Chell play with them, obviously only to show her how much better they are than humans.

She would talk to Chell even when they weren't testing. She'd say that humans need one hour of conversation a day, but she'd talk to Chell way longer than that. And maybe, sometimes, Chell would feel comfortable talking back.

[deus-ex-mona]

me rn:

[beast-of-mosss]

In the whole Solavellan romance. Solas was selfish in it. He wants to feel love, to feel care for-and at that point, it had been many years since he felt actually seen by someone. This could also work with high approval friendship bc I think the friendship is very important as well-and thr concept of being seen, being respected and that emotional connection-warmth is just very important to Solas. Solas, despite how he may try to portray himself, is a deeply emotional person.

That's why he falls in love with the Inquisitor, not just romantically.

In this essay, I will-

[linkcharacter]

I feel like many people are too focused on what Curly could've 'done' instead of what he 'thought' about it, how he saw and processed it in his head. As I see it, the point isn't that he did nothing, it's that he keeps shoving away and downplaying Jimmy's bullshit in his perception, which would then lead to inaction from Curly's side. That if he could've, we don't know if he would've. Action is very much needed in cases like Anya's, though it wouldn't make things better in the Tulpar situation, BUT that's just the horror of it and it doesn't remove Curly's faults outside of that. The point is that Curly is human and isn't exempt from trying to avoid the issue at hand in his head because of who he is as a person and the environment they're in, the condition Curly's in. He knows it's BAD with Jimmy, yet due to either or both, prolonged conditioning of their toxic friendship and Curly's stunted mental state, it doesn't click in his head properly.

If Anya didn't end up pregnant, if Jimmy didn't crash the ship, would Curly have seriously contemplated about Jimmy or rethought their friendship after finding out he's a rapist? Would anything have changed between them? I would imagine if Curly want half-delirious half-conscious and not going through an existential crisis, then I would give it a very stretched "maybe", and it still would've taken time to detach yourself from a close friend (with possible emotional abuse benefits). But we don't know what COULD'VE been, we just know he DIDN'T. And that is behavior of an enabler, not ill-willed or inconsiderate, but it's human to be afraid of change and be attached. Still ended in upkeeping his friend's harmful behaviors, not due to lack of wanting him to change but that's just how things are. It's realistic, there's no inherent 'morality' attached to Curly's actions, they were simply actions, what matters is the result. Good intentions don't mean much in face of a horrific outcome.

Would Curly keep attempting to give Jimmy help to be better, in vain like he was suggested to have done before? Very possible. "We said tomorrow will be different. Today would be the last day."

Would Curly report Jimmy to the authorities if he could? We don't know (I'm leaning towards a no though). It's not a bad thing to want your friends to be better and believe in them, nor do I think cutting them off is always the best course of action. Rehabilitation is a good thing (though we don't know exactly how Curly tried to help Jim) and having a support system as friends can make it more effective especially if it's a person struggling financially and mentally in life like Jimmy. Yet Jimmy still has to take accountability and be handled in a proper manner for what he did, not just be let go off the hook, only hoping he will improve like Curly does. At some point Curly had to stop making Jimmy's actions his responsibility but never did, until the end.

The conditions of the Tulpar themselves are very lackluster, the system is unfair and harsh with what we know about Mouthwashing's world. The companies are uncaring and scummy as they are in real life, Pony Express especially being cheap and has no regard for the safety and well being of their employees. It all creates a systematic environment for the worst human traits to fester in unchecked, no one single individual could've "fixed it".

So realistically I don't see much that could've been done in the environment they were in and no matter what Curly did, the outcome would never be good. In any course of action Curly could've gone with, the situation isn't changing, Anya was assaulted, Jimmy is the Co-pilot, the duration of the flight is more than the pregnancy term, conflict within the crew will be punished financially by the HR, they were fired. It's horrible and irreparable no matter what. That is the situation.

But

Curly still downplayed it, that's the point. It's not about the potential actions we imagine he could've taken, it's about all the things he didn't take into account and lacked proper judgement towards his friend, which ended up festering a destructive parasite called Jimmy.

Not to mention that Mouthwashing is such a multifaceted game in terms of its themes, it cannot be defined by ONLY this one Curly idea. There's so much more to the story.

[red-riot-unbreakable-heart]

Shoto Todoroki x Reader | First Kiss ❄️🔥💋

Fandom: My Hero Academia

Ship: Shoto Todoroki x Fem Reader! 💋

Note: The fic gets a bit saucy, so A18+ ONLY just to be safe!

Genre: Fluff, Romance, S*xual Tension, Making Out

CW: MDNI!, kissing, making out, boobs, fondling, romance, sexual tension, semi-spicy scenes, lemon

Link to My Master List

Its mid-afternoon in the UA library. The early Spring sunlight is streaming through the tall windows and across the sci-fi novel you're flipping through. You sigh; content to finally have a Saturday off after a grueling few weeks of classes, training and internship activities.

You think back to a particularly tough training session that had taken place the day before - you had finally kicked Shoto Todoroki's ass in front of the whole class. You smile as you remember the shocked look on his face as you reached down to help him back to his feet.

"You had it coming, hot stuff." You winked as he grabbed your hand and let you pull him back to standing position. His face had flushed red in humiliation at the loss.

You're suddenly jerked out of your reverie when a figure looms over you, casting a long shadow on the desk before you. You turn, startled. As if pulled from your daydream, Shoto Todoroki has materialized before you – tall and handsome. You look up at him in surprise, mouth half open.

"I think we should kiss." Shoto's deep voice says above you, his tone neutral.

"Huh?" Your mouth drops fully open. Shoto is looking down at you with eyes alight with determination. That cute blush is back - splashed across his pale cheeks and across his aristocratic nose.

"I was thinking back to our fight yesterday, and the reason why I lost. It was because I was thinking about kissing you the whole time. I let myself get distracted. I think that if we kissed, I could get over it and refocus on training." So matter-of-fact! That was one thing you liked about Shoto - he was straightforward.

"Um...okay." With an effort, you close your gaping mouth. You’re absolutely dumbfounded. Shoto has never shown any romantic interest in you before. You’ve never caught wandering eyes on you in class, he’s never stashed a love note in your locker. None of the typical school love tropes have been leveraged here. If anything, the two of you are loose acquaintances on the cusp of being friends. Maybe a few more months of class and group activities together would have helped you bridge the gap and fully form a decent friendship.

You wonder if he’s been into you all this time, or if this is just a whim he’s exploring. Either way - who are you to let an opportunity to kiss a hot guy go by the wayside? You snap your book shut and stand. "You want to do this right now?"

Shoto nods, and turns to walk away with the expectation that you’ll follow. You get up and sweep your things into your bag, heart beating double time. You quickly jog to catch up with Shoto – he’s already out the door. The two of you walk across the UA grounds in silence, your footsteps falling into a soft rhythm.  Your mind is going at a million miles per minute – could this all be an elaborate prank? Shoto has never struck you as the type to play a cruel joke on a classmate. Quite the opposite – when he’s not training he seems so soft and sweet. He strikes you as more of an introvert than anything else. He keeps people at a safe distance. You’ve always been under the impression that when it comes to Shoto, trust is earned, not freely given.

You wonder if this kissing business means that you’ve earned a bit of that trust? Who’s to say.

“So…” you say, attempting to break the tension. “Where are we going?” 

Shoto looks back at you, confused. “Isn’t it obvious? We’re going to my dorm room.”

“Oh.” You pause. “Wouldn’t that be a bit inappropriate? Like, what if someone catches us kissing in your dorm room? Won’t we get in trouble?”

“I’ll lock the door.” He says sensibly. “It’s no one’s business but ours.”

“Huh.”

“Oh – I think I understand what you’re getting at.” He runs a hand through his hair reflexively. “It’s no wonder you’re one of the top members of the class. A good hero always has a strategy. So we should come up with an alibi.” He brings his thumb to his chin as he stares into space, pondering.

“If someone catches us, I can say that I experimentally froze my lips with my power and that I asked you to help me warm them up. Naturally, the best way to do so was with your lips.” He turns to you expectantly to gauge your reaction.

What the actual hell, Shoto.                                                          

“You’re um…you’re fucking with me, right?” You look at him uncertainly. Shoto’s unusually harsh upbringing has caused him to be shockingly literal at times. Your eyes scan his face until the corner of his mouth quirks upwards into a small smile.

“Yes, I am.”

You burst out laughing at the unexpected joke, and his tiny smile grows into a full grin. He likes making you laugh.

“Listen…” He says reassuringly, “No one is going to bother us – it’s such a nice day. I overheard some of the girls saying they were going to take pictures near the campus cherry blossom trees. They roped Midoriya, Ida and a few other classmates into the activity as well. Bakugo, Kirishima and Sero are all training across campus in the gym. We should have at least an hour or two before anyone comes seriously looking for us.”

Wow. That must be the longest group of sentences he’s ever said to you directly.

“You’ve really thought this through.” You say, following him across the threshold of Class 1A’s dorm complex.

He smirks. “I’m strategic.”

You look at him appraisingly. He looks clean and trim in his tailored UA uniform. Aside from the scar surrounding his eye, he has the most perfect skin of anyone in your class. While the rest of your classmates have been stressing about moisturizer and SPF and acne treatments, you’ve watched Shoto sail through his hormonal teens without a skincare care in the world. The skin of his cheeks is the color of porcelain and looks so, so soft and deliciously kissable. His face holds a mixture of determination and apprehension.

You enter the kitchen and common room area of your dorm and see that it’s completely, blessedly empty - odd for a Saturday. Shoto is right - it is one of the first nice spring days on campus. You assume everyone is out enjoying the nice weather as he said. This is a good thing – it means your clandestine meeting with Shoto can stay secret. Everyone in Class 1A can be so nosy sometimes. You’re determined to keep this juicy little secret between the two of you.

He leads you up towards one of the hallways that encompasses the boy’s dorms, pausing in front of his door to fiddle with his key. His usually steady hands are shaking a bit as he turns the lock and pushes open the door to reveal his immaculately clean bedroom with it’s traditional Japanese décor.

You step inside and slide off your shoes, letting your bag drop to the floor.

“I forgot how traditional your space is, Shoto.”

He closes the door behind you and clicks the lock into place before discarding his keys on his desktop. He looks around the dorm room thoughtfully.

“It’s how I grew up. I never really had the chance to develop my own taste or style.”

“Maybe now that you have your own space, you finally can!” You say enthusiastically. “If you’d ever like to go shopping or want help putting together a Pinterest board, Mina and I can definitely help you find some inspiration.”

His flat line of a mouth quirks up into another small smile. “I haven’t really had the time to think about anything other than school work and the L.o.V. since we moved into the dorms. Maybe you’re right – this could be an opportunity to broaden my horizons. See what I like.”

“Yeah! There are so many fun ways you can bring more of yourself into this space. We can start with a throw pillow.” You say knowledgably, pulling up the Pinterest app on your phone. “What’s your favorite color?”

“Blue.”

You type the color into the search bar, and immediately the screen is flooded with hundreds of different shades of blue throw pillows – all kinds of patterns and sayings and beading and embroidery. You hand him your phone and encourage him to scroll through the options.

“I’m sure we can find something that makes you feel like you.”

His eyes soften a bit as he takes the phone from you, intrigued. He scrolls through the colorful images, overwhelmed by the options. After a few minutes of careful deliberation, he finally stops and double taps a picture, hyperlinking to a website.

“This. This feels like it could be me.” He sends himself the link so he can purchase the pillow later. He hands back your phone and you take a curious look – the image he’s drawn to is a long rectangle of fabric shaped like a whale. It has navy blue stripes along with a small curved tale and button eyes sewn on. You look up and see that the tips of Shoto’s ears are bright red.

“This isn’t what I was expecting – but I see now that it suits you perfectly.” You say, picturing the whale pillow in his room – a dash of whimsy against the otherwise stuffy outdated décor.  He practically glows at the compliment. You realize that this is likely one of the first times someone is validating a choice he has made for himself. You cough and toss your phone into your discarded bag – the moment feels oddly intimate.

Shoto’s eyes scan across your face and he speaks his next words slowly, almost deliberately. “This is what I’ve always liked about you, y/n. You always seem to know what to say to get someone to smile or to open up. Admirable traits in a future hero.” You feel your own face heating up at the sweet compliment. Shoto has never given you so much direct attention outside of class, and it’s exciting and almost unnerving to have those two intense eyes focused in entirely on you.

“Thank you Shoto, that’s a very kind thing to say.” You suddenly realize how very close Shoto’s face is to your own. He’s only a few breaths away. Shoto is a few inches taller than you, so you need to crane your neck in order to get the full picture of his beautiful face. You wonder nervously if he expects you to initiate – should you reach out and grab his face? Your heart starts beating much too fast and you see his intense eyes dart down to your lips, wanting. You take a step closer to him, leaning up to meet his face, and…

“Let’s get started.” He says abruptly, breaking the moment. He walks over to his closet and pulls out his bedroll, hastily moving to set up his sleeping space so that you’ll have a comfortable place to sit. Once he sets up the space, he takes a seat on the soft mattress and motions for you to join him. This wasn’t really what you were expecting, but you remember that Shoto is pretty sheltered. He clearly has a plan in mind here, so you decide to let him take the lead.

“Alright, before we start – I just want you to know that we can stop at any point you’d like. I want you to be comfortable here, so please let me know if at any time you feel like you don’t want to continue. Ok?”

You nod, appreciating the dialogue and Shoto’s forethought surrounding consent.

He takes a deep breath and closes his eyes. Leaning his head back, he exhales slowly through his nostrils. After a moment of deep breathing, his eyes flutter open. “It’s an exercise my father taught me for clearing my nerves before a battle.” He explains as he runs a nervous hand through his two-toned hair.

“Are you anticipating a battle here?” You tease, reaching over to place your hand on his thigh. Shoto eyes the hand curiously before matching your gaze.

“Of course not. But surprisingly – I have the same feeling of anxiety now that I usually have right before a sparring match.” His expression is stone cold serious, not even the hint of a joke this time.

“I understand that. It’s nerve wracking to kiss a person for the first time.” You quickly double back on your words. “N-not that I’m implying that this is your first kiss or anything, I-”

Shoto blinks. “Oh – this is my first kiss. I thought it was fairly obvious.”

“Oh! Oh, Todoroki – I didn’t realize!” You trip over your words a bit and it brings out a soft smile in Shoto.

“I think that’s why I’ve been so distracted lately. Once I know how it feels, maybe then I can move on and focus back on my training and studies. Is this not your first kiss?” He tilts his head to the side, questioning. You see no hint of jealousy in his eyes – he’s legitimately curious.

“N-no. I’ve kissed a few people before. Never anything serious! Just here and there at summer camp.” You smile weakly, face burning. Shoto nods appreciatively at your candid answer.

“That makes sense – you’re very competent at everything you do. And very attractive.” This last part brings a blush across Shoto’s pale cheeks. “I had assumed there were plenty of people who have wanted to be kissed by you.” The compliment is unexpected and it makes a laugh bubble up your throat. You start giggling and Shoto seems taken by surprise.

“Did I say something funny?”

“No – no! You’re just so sincere and sweet and I am so nervous right now. Shoto you’re competent and attractive, too. I hope that you know that!” This brings his smile back out again, like the sunshine after a long rainstorm.

“Why don’t we just get it over with, then? I’ve read a few articles and studied some movies and…well, I think I’m as prepared as I can be.” Shoto’s face is so open and earnest your heart squeezes in your chest. He studied for this??

Slowly, carefully, Shoto reaches out a delicate hand to cradle the side of your face. He scoots somewhat awkwardly closer to you, but the rest of his movements hold his typical grace. He leans forward, eyes half closed, and brings his lips to your own.

You dip your head to receive the kiss, and you feel his soft lips melt against yours. You close your eyes and revel in the feeling of his mouth. Everything about him is soft and electric at the same time – the points where your bodies are connected feel charged with some kind of buzzing energy that leaves your breathless. And just as soon as it’s begun – it’s over. A brief peck, a stolen moment in time. Shoto pulls away from you, eyes wide, as he catches his breath.

“So?” You ask, trying for nonchalance but failing when you realize your voice is just a hoarse whisper. “What did you think?”

“It’s…” Shoto looks at you thoughtfully, touching his fingers to his tingling lips. “It wasn’t what I was expecting. I just feel like I want to do it more – like I need to keep going.”

You laugh – “Did you really think you’d want to stop after your first kiss?” Shoto shrugs, unwilling to answer the question.

“Can we kiss again? Please. If you’d like to, that is?” He asks, and you note the want in his voice. You’ve never heard Shoto Todoroki sound desperate for anything in his life before this moment. You’re surprised at how he sounds fairly desperate for you.

You smile at him and lean in close, bringing your foreheads together. You can feel different temperatures playing across his skin as he works to keep his quirk in check as excitement roars across his body.

“Follow my lead, lover-boy.” You whisper, before crashing your lips together. You move at a faster pace this time, showing him how to slide his mouth against yours to have a proper make out. He picks it up quickly and absolutely relishes in it. His eyes are closed and his hands find either side of your face again. You let him hold you like that for a few minutes before you decide to take the reigns a bit more. You reach out to place a hand on his chest and softly push him away from you.

“Here – this will make things a lot easier.” You stand up and move to straddle him, slowly sliding into his lap and wrapping your legs around his back. You place his hands on your waist and wind your arms around his neck. “Comfortable?” He nods, his eyes blown wide and almost glassy with lust.

“This is okay?” He asks, looking down at the way his hands grip your hips.

“Absolutely. You’re going to want them there for leverage.”

“Leverage?” He asks weakly, his eyes trained on your lips.

“You’ll see.” You smile deviously as you take in how absolutely undone Shoto looks. “Okay, next step – have you done any research on French kissing?”

Shoto nods again, looking a bit uncertain. “I watched a romantic comedy online and at the end the main couple kissed that way.”

“Well it’s super easy – I’ll walk you through it.” You tilt your head towards his and melt your lips back together, starting out with a slow and soft kiss. As he begins to get comfortable with the pace of your kissing, you move to deepen it – running the tip of your tongue across his lips. He naturally opens his mouth to you, and you move so that your tongues meet. You guide him into a light dance, your kisses becoming more frantic as your mouths and tongues collide. This brings out a ferocity in Shoto that you hadn’t expected, and you feel his hands grip your hips with almost bruising force. You groan, turned on by the contact. You automatically rock your hips into his and he stills at the motion. You blush as you realize that you can feel Shoto’s dick becoming hard beneath you. Shit.

His hands fly off of your hips and he sits back, mortified.

“I’m so sorry-” you start to say as he runs his hand anxiously through his hair again. Shoto takes a deep breath and looks at you, eyes still fuzzy.

“Don’t be sorry! That was amazing, I just…didn’t want to make you uncomfortable.” He looks down between you pointedly. He doesn’t want you to get freaked out by the fact that he’s got a boner.

“Oh I’m not uncomfortable at all! Actually, quite the opposite.” This answer makes Shoto’s sculpted eyebrows fly up into his hair.

“Really?” He whispers.

“Yeah. It’s actually really hot.” You reach down and take his hands in yours, moving them back to your hips. You make piercing eye contact with Shoto as you roll your hips experimentally again – feeling his hardness even through your clothes. He groans at the contact this time, a soft sound that is just: So. Goddamn. Hot.

You grind against him again, picking up a steady rhythm as Shoto enthusiastically moves your hips. Struck by sudden inspiration, you lean forward to kiss a sloppy line up his neck. This draws a moan from Shoto that you weren’t expecting – low and sweet. You smile as you continue to kiss his neck, using your tongue when you find a particularly sensitive spot beneath his ear.

Shoto grabs your face with one hand and tilts your head up before crashing his lips back into yours. His kisses are heated and passionate as he bounces you on his lap, making you both see stars. You’re so wet you can feel yourself soaking through your panties. You pray that your school uniform pants won’t get damp beneath you – how embarrassing would that be?! At the same time - you don’t give a damn; Shoto’s mouth and his hands and his dick feel far too good. At the moment kissing Shoto Todoroki feels like the only thing you were put on this goddamn earth to do.

Tentatively, you feel Shoto’s hands wander up from your hips. You moan into his mouth as his hands find your breasts. “How is this?” He whispers hoarsely, running delicate fingertips across the peaks of your breasts. “Is this okay? I can stop if you want me to.” You moan your consent enthusiastically, and when he begins to softly knead your boobs over your shirt, your hormones fully take the wheel.

You hop off your classmate so you can quickly unbutton your shirt – your tie flying off as you work. Shoto remains sitting on the floor and does the same with his own uniform. In a moment he is sitting shirtless and beautiful before you, chest heaving as he works to catch his breath. He stares at you with bright eyes as you stand above him in nothing but a bra and UA’s uniform slacks. He has never seen a woman with so little clothing on before, and he is in awe.

You kneel down beside him on the bedroll and reach out to touch his perfect body. Your hand hovers above his perfectly sculpted abs and you look up at him, eyes asking permission. He nods, giving you his blessing to touch. You smooth your fingertips lightly across the defined planes of his chest and abs, marveling in all that he is. Your palm comes to rest against his chest and you feel his heartbeat – a quick staccato beneath your delicate hand. You push him lightly so that he moves to lie on the ground before you.

“You alright with all this?” You whisper, moving slowly to straddle him on the ground.

“If I get to have you on top of me again – absolutely.” And he grins – a genuine smile that radiates comfort. You’ve never seen a look like that before on Shoto’s face and it stops you in your tracks. You just want to bask in the glow of the rare gift of his beaming face.

After a moment, you collect yourself and move so that you’re on all fours and hovering over him. You shiver – you’ve never been so close to someone in this way before. He seems to notice your hesitation.

“You look cold – do you want to grab a blanket?” He reaches up and runs his hands up and down your arms, giving you more goose bumps. You nod, and he reaches to grab a thick grey knit blanket that’s folded neatly to your left. He pulls you down to lay on top of him and easily casts the blanked across your intertwined bodies. The knit feels luxurious and expensive – and it smells deliciously like Shoto. A scent that’s a mixture of sandalwood and fresh sheets wafts around you. It’s comfortable and warm and you feel so, so happy to be sharing this moment with Shoto.

He wraps his arms around you and feels himself get hard again at the delicate feeling of your bare skin against his own. He pulls you in for a kiss – and this time the passion is slow, sensual. You’ve never kissed someone like this before – like you have all the time in the world. He moves his hands up and down your bare back beneath the blanket – warming you up. He’s keeping his ice quirk at bay – both of his hands are the perfect temperature as they run across your soft, supple skin. His hands come to rest on your lower back as he moves to experimentally kiss down your collarbone.

“Oh! Oh, Shoto, yes.” Is all you can say. The use of his given name seems to turn him on even more, because his kisses become sloppier and he runs the edge of his teeth against your skin. He continues to kiss down your shoulder, pausing for only a moment in order to roll you both over so that he can have a turn on top. You gasp at the sudden movement – the dynamics have unexpectedly shifted and Shoto is in total control.

He gazes down at you, shifting the blanket so that it doesn’t get tangled between your bodies.

“You’re so beautiful.” He says, a note of wonder in his voice. “Your skin is so soft…I never realized how great it would be to touch you.” He runs a light fingertip across the delicate skin of your neck and across the expanse of your collarbone. He watches as he runs his finger down the slope of one of your breasts, stopping when he meets the soft cotton of your bra.

“Can we take this off?” He whispers, moving to palm your breast over the delicate white material. You nod, and prop yourself up so you can reach behind yourself to unclip the clothing. With a light “pop!” the bra clip comes undone and Shoto helps you discard the item. He takes in your breasts with a look of absolute amazement and cautiously reaches out to touch them. He gently runs the palm of his hand across your right breast experimentally. You gasp at the contact, and he nervously glances at your face to make sure you’re not in any discomfort. You smile at him, encouraging him to keep going. He kneads the breast in his strong hand a few times before experimentally rolling his thumb over your nipple. You gasp at the contact as pleasure surges through you – you had no idea you were so sensitive. Shoto repeats the motion, earning a soft moan. He smiles at the praise – unexpectedly mischievous as he moves so that he’s kneeling over you, able to tackle a breast with each hand. He goes to work pinching and massaging and rolling your breasts between deft fingers, drawing the sweetest sounds from your mouth.

“Shoto!” You cry out as he moves to spread more kisses across your neck as his left hand plays with one of your breasts. You reach down and squeeze the muscular plane of his ass, begging him to grind into you. He gets the message loud and clear – moving against you gently so that you can feel his hardness graze against you.

He’s causing so many delicious sensations across your body with his lips, hands, hips, groin – it’s almost too much. You feel like you might drown in him when suddenly –

A knock on the door causes you both to still.

“Todoroki?” Mr. Aizawa’s voice is muffled behind the door. You’re both rigid with fear. Shoto’s lips are at your neck and his breath tickles your bare skin. Your fist is tightly squeezed around his left ass cheek. You stare at the ceiling as you start to panic, wondering wildly what you’re supposed to do in this situation. Oh shit oh shit oh shit.

Mr. Aizawa knocks on the door again. “Todoroki – your father is here to see you.”

“My father?!” Shoto blurts out before he can stop himself. He scrambles off of you and looks around in a panic. “Why’s my father here?”

The walls seem to be thinner than you thought, because Mr. Aizawa supplies an answer from the other side of the locked door.

“Endeavor had a press conference at a hotel down the road this morning. He wanted to check in and discuss internships. I left him waiting in the common area. I’ll be in my office if you want to grab any internship paperwork while he’s here. I wouldn’t keep him waiting, kid.”

“Of course – thank you Mr. Aizawa!” Todoroki calls through the door awkwardly, listening as your teacher’s footsteps recede into the distance.

You and Shoto stare at each other in absolute horror.

“Do you think he heard us? Do you think h-he knows?” You whisper, panic lacing your voice.

Shoto shakes his head no as he gathers up his shirt and shakily tries to re-button it. “No – I don’t think he was out there long enough to hear anything incriminating.”

You let out a breath of anxious air, reaching for your discarded bra. “Thank goodness.” You re-clip your bra and shrug on your shirt.

“Endeavor is here?” You eye Shoto with concern as he dawns his tie and straightens his hair in a wall mirror on the back of his door.

“My old man likes to pop up at inconvenient times.” Content with his hair, he looks down at you. You’ve started to fold up his blanked and bedroll, patting down your own hair along the way.

“We should probably talk about what just happened…” He starts to say, but you shush him as you hear heavy footsteps coming from down the hall.

“Shoto!” A booming voice rings through the hallway, sending shivers up your spine. The heavy footsteps come to a stop right outside Shoto’s dorm door. The doorknob rattles as someone tries the lock. “How dare you keep me waiting!”

“I’ll be out in a minute, old man!” Shoto calls back bitingly. He glares at the door, thankful for the meager lock. He turns to look at you, and his eyes fill with panic. You scan the room for a place to hide – there is absolutely nowhere to conceal yourself in Shoto’s sparse, plain room.

Suddenly, you’re struck with inspiration – you point to the window. Shoto nods in agreement, dashing to grab your things from where they lay abandoned at the threshold of the door.

Quietly, you pad over to the window and pull back the curtains by a foot. You unlatch the window and slide it softly open before hoisting yourself into the wide window frame. It’s lucky you’re not afraid of heights – because Todoroki’s room is on the fifth floor. There is a small escape ladder for fire emergencies (you smile at the irony of Endeavor being the fire emergency in this case). You move to settle your feet on the top rung of the ladder, with plans to climb your way back to the ground so you can re-enter the dorm building from the back.

Shoto leans out the window and hangs your messenger bag around your shoulder.

“Find me later so we can discuss this.” He says, looking apprehensively over his shoulder as his father continues to bang on the door and callout his name. “I’m sorry this ended with you having to sneak out the window like some sort of criminal.”

“Ah, it’s no big deal! Makes it more exciting.” You grin and he smiles back. He leans forward and presses a small kiss to the corner of your mouth before moving back to close the window.

As he slides the glass closed, he says to you “I don’t think this is going to help me refocus. If anything, I’m more distracted than ever.” You give him a wink as he shuts the window soundly, drawing the curtains to cover your escape.

Hastily, you climb down 5 stories worth of thin metal ladder, landing gracefully in the soft spring grass. You walk to the dorm’s back entrance and let yourself in, walking past the laundry room and up towards the common area. Mina waves at you as she tosses some clothes into the washing machine, and you say a silent prayer thanking the powers that be that none of your friends had come looking for you while you spent your blissful hour hidden away, half-naked and moaning, in Shoto Todoroki’s room.

You climb the stairs two at a time until you hear the voice of the Number 2 Hero grumbling in the common area. Curious, you peak around the corner to see Shoto and his father seated on one of the couches, sorting through paperwork. Shoto has a dead look behind his eyes as his father lectured him about the importance of networking. He nods blankly a few times before his eyes catch sight of your small frame hiding around the corner. His entire face softens at the sight of you. Endeavor notices and turns to see what’s captured his son’s attention.

“You there! Are you a member of Class 1A?” He booms out, almost polite in his delivery. You walk out into the room, drawing yourself up to your full height.

“Dad – this is my classmate Y/N. She lives on the girl’s side of the dorm. Her quirk is extremely powerful.”

“It’s nice to meet you Mr. Endeavor.” You say, trying not to blush at Shoto’s compliment. Endeavor waves you off with a fiery hand.

“Ah, that’s right. I recognize you from the Sport’s Festival. Your quirk and fighting style were both quite impressive.” He looks at you appraisingly. “Are you a close friend of Shoto’s?” 

“She is.” Shoto answers smoothly. “Actually, she’s been tutoring me a bit lately on some techniques I’m not familiar with. She’s a greatteacher.” The subtext is not lost on you.

“Surely you don’t need help in your studies, Shoto. You’re at the top of your class.” Endeavor says gruffly, looking to his son for further explanation.

“Just showing him a few moves I picked up in one of my martial arts classes, sir! Shoto picks up new techniques like a Pro.”

Endeavor seems mollified by this answer. “Of course he does. He’s on track to become the best of the best.” The hero claps his hand on Shoto’s shoulder proudly, and you smile weakly at the discomfort that flashes across Shoto’s eyes.

“Well – I’ll let you both get back to your work! Shoto – if you want to practice those techniques again later, I’ll be in the library until 8 tonight.”

You see Shoto ever so slightly lick his bottom lip. His face is tinged with the lightest of blushes.

“Got it. I’ll see you there, Y/N.”

You have a feeling that Shoto isn’t going to be able to focus on his studies for quite some time.

----------------------------------

Here are all the currently released chapters of Shoto's First Kiss!

Shoto's First Kiss Series:

Part 1: Shoto Todoroki x Reader | First Kiss ❄️🔥💋

Part 2: Shoto Todoroki x Reader | First Kiss ❄️🔥💋 PART 2

Part 3: Shoto Todoroki x Reader | First Kiss ❄️🔥💋 PART 3

Part 4: Shoto Todoroki x Reader | First Kiss ❄️🔥💋 PART 4

Part 5: Shoto Todoroki x Reader | First Kiss ❄️🔥💋 PART 5

Part 6: Shoto Todoroki x Reader | First Kiss ❄️🔥💋 PART 6

🔥 Link to My Master List 🔥

[alonetimelover]

pairing: Ginger Spice's daughter!reader x Max Verstappen (ex-Harry Styles)

fc: Sabrina Carpenter

summary: After getting over her fear of getting into a relationship, YN started to 'soft launch' her new partner. Of course everybody knew who it was, but she wanted her fun. Harry didn't like it and still was petty. Max had had enough.

warnings: swearing, some suggestive comments, talk about verbal assault and not-so-great fist fight

masterlist part 1

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maxverstappen1 and yourinstagram added to their IG story!

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formula1gossip

liked by formula1fan84 and 200 383 others

formula1gossip With the one week break between Italian and Singapore Grand Prix, the two-time World Champion - Max Verstappen - was seen cozing up with a mysterious woman on his yacht near the Amalfi Coast. Any ideas who could that be?

view all 10 394 comments

maxfan94 my man is gone

maxfan958 making out on a yacht in a bright day? who is this man?

landofan48 not to be bold but i think i know exactly who that is

ynsmymama GUYS GUYS GUYS Ma'x story from yesterday and YN's were definitely one photo!

⤷ maxfan67 how?

⤷ ynsmybestie YN's story was the cropped version of Max's

ynsmybestie this is YN YSN, no thank you, i don't need confirmation - I KNOW

landonorris interesting

⤷ landofan49 WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE ?!

⤷ landonorris I LIKE GOSSIP

⤷ danielricciardo he's gonna kill you! prepare to end up in the wall on sunday, lando! nice knowing you!

⤷ landonorris mclaren i need new insurance

⤷ mclaren Fight your wars, Lando. Fight your own wars.

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yourinstagram

liked by landonorris, maxverstappen1 and 3 011 393 others

yourinstagram life lately has been exciting 💛

view all 99 202 comments

landonorris you rehearsing???

⤷ yourinstagram shhh, im making new music

landonorris will you be my photographer forever??

⤷ yourinstagram you only like the photo cause it's a thirst trap

⤷ landonorris shhhh, don't tell people

danielricciardo was the restaurant worth it?

⤷ yourinstagram you know it, dan

maxverstappen1 💛💛

carlossainz55 i like the fourth photo

⤷ yourinstagram I LIKE YOUUUUUUU

ynsmybestie WHAT IS THIS

ynsmybestie lando thirst trap???????

⤷ user84 he's not without a shirt though?

⤷ ynsmybestie HE DOESN'T NEED TO, HE'S STILL HOT

ynsmymama not only showing us that she's making new music but SOFT LAUNCHING ??? like if we didn't know already who that is

⤷ ynshands let's just pretend and see what happens

comment liked by yourinstagram and maxverstappen1

ynxmax no way that my ship has sailed no way

ynupdates new music when???

⤷ yourinstagram sooner than you think 🫣

user92 she already has a new boyfriend?

⤷ ynsmybestie already? it's been 6 months since it was made public that yn and harry broke up. and considering all the interviews and songs, they'd been broken up longer than that

⤷ ynsmymama you can say that or just shut your mouth user92

ynshands i just know that the last photo was taken after Singapore... that man was furious

⤷ maxandyn don't even... i'm blushing

⤷ ynsmybestie they all said that lando would end up in the wall and here he was on the 2nd place

⤷ ynsmymama the way that YN was cheering for Lando, knowing that Max had no chance anymore. this is a true friendship. and her jumping up and down at the podium ceremony????? I LOVE HER

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yourinstagram

liked by maxverstappen1, landonorris, danielricciardo and 3 383 032 others

yourinstagram got a man and here's the aftermath... NONSENSE EP is all yours to listen right now!

view all 42 394 comments

landonorris no problem yn for contributing to your cover photo! i am very thankful for the credit!

⤷ yourinstagram you know damn well why that credit is not there

⤷ landonorris but he took the photo with MY camera!

⤷ yourinstagram so i guess it's not my album because my pen wrote down the words

⤷ landonorris well, when you put it like that...

maxverstappen1 💛💛

⤷ ynsmybestie love me some man that comments same thing under my posts

danielricciardo STREAMING IT RIGHT NOW - KEEP YOU UPDATED

⤷ danielricciardo call it what you want - fit like a daydream? build a fire? starry eyes? yeah, he has those. you already wear that necklace he got you, don't you?

⤷ danielricciardo slut! - tangerine? what were you doing in the mclaren paddock, hmm?

⤷ danielricciardo bad for business - you've gone crazy, that's right. i've never seen you this crazily happy.

⤷ danielricciardo you are in love - i'll never forget the look in his eyes when he said "you are my best friend". and the photo on the desk is absolutely adorable (i'm going to be sick)

⤷ danielricciardo i think he knows - boyish look??? did you hear his jokes? he IS a boy! 26 yo and still a child. you'll drive? if he trusts you with the car you might as well get married, no kidding.

⤷ danielricciardo nonsense - WHY WOULD YOU RELEASE IT? WHY WHY WHY... I NEED TO BLEACH MY EYES AND DO SOMETHING MY MEMORY AND FORGET THIS SONGS EXIST. I WON'T BE ABLE TO LOOK BOTH OF YOU IN THE EYES NOW.

⤷ yourinstagram have you consider a career in doing yt reaction videos? you'd be gold

ynupdates i can't wait for twitter to react to all of these...

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danielricciardo, landonorris and maxverstappen1 added to their IG story!

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www.dailymail.com/harry_styles_confronted_max_verstappen

Harry Styles confronted Max Verstappen

Just last night after YN YSN's secret concert in Las Vegas, her ex-boyfriend, Mr Treat People With Kindness (Harry Styles) decided to 'bump into' his ex-lover and 'talk'. According to the fans on scene - it was aggressive, blatant and simply sad how Harry supposedly treated YSN.

When the concert ended and the lights went out, fans started to exit the venue and making their way home. Some of them decided to move to the back and patiently wait for the VIP people leaving. VIP list for that concert consisted of two World Champions - Lewis Hamilton and apparent new boyfriend of YN's - Max Verstappen, plus some of other F1 drivers. In the attendance were also YN's mum - Geri Horner and step-dad - Christian Horner.

Finally, YN went out first, but no one could even start asking anything when from thin air appeared Harry Styles - drunk and rocky. The yelling match started, which caught the attention of more people, but especially the said VIPs.

"Max literally flew from the doors and stood between Harry and YN. By that time, YN was crying and shaking from all the insults and swears that were spoken to her. Harry tried to move past Max, but he held him in place, placing a hand on Harry's chest. The singer didn't like it and pushed the driver. Now, the other drivers had also gone out and surrounded the trio. Two of them took care of YN and others were in place to eventually stop the fight. They couldn't. Harry took the first swing, but considering that he was drunk, Max could easily duck and wait for his turn. At the end, Max just went up to Harry and said something - looking him directly in the eyes, knuckles white and all that. Finally, they all left, leaving Harry there, sitting by the door. Max was holding YN so she wouldn't fall from all the shaking," said one of the witnesses.

Do you think that YN or Max will report an assault?

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yourinstagram added to her IG story!

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daniel3.jpg

liked by yourinstagram, maxverstappen1 and 1 004 931 others

daniel3.jpg yn and her nonsense boy whenever they're within half a meter radius

view all 84 493 comments

yourinstagram DANIEL JOSEPH RICCIARDO

yourinstagram what in the hell are you doing??

⤷ danielricciardo i'm soft launching

⤷ yourinstagram my relationship?

⤷ danielricciardo YOU SAID YOURSELF THAT YOU WANTED TO DO IT

⤷ yourinstagram YEAH ME! and there's nothing 'soft' about it

⤷ danielricciardo maybe i chose some risky photos

⤷ yourinstagram too late. he just left to give you a visit :))

⤷ landonorris pray for daniel people! the man may have a boyish look but his a mad man!

⤷ yourinstagram and then he's visiting you, lan

ynupdates that is max verstappen. if i ever saw max verstappen that's him

ynsmymama nonsense making sense know

ynsmybestie I love that they still play the 'soft launching' game when just few days ago she was singing about Max's BDE

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yourinstagram added to her IG story!

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yourinstagram

liked by maxvertsappen1, danielricciardo and 5 003 238 others

yourinstagram win, party, afterparty

SCREW SOFT LAUNCHING - MY BOYFRIEND IS A 3 TIME WORLD CHAMPION, WHAT ABOUT YOURS??

view all 339 492 comments

maxvertsappen1 MY GIRLFRIEND IS A NATIONAL TRESSURE

⤷ maxverstappen1 Did I do it right, yourinstagram?

⤷ yourinstagram YES YOU DID MY LOVE

maxverstappen1 I love you

⤷ yourinstagram I LOVE YOU

danielricciardo who are you and what have you done with yn?

⤷ yourinstagram that's the thing - I'm finally me, unapologetically

⤷ danielricciardo I couldn't be happier for my best friend for finding someone that makes her the best version of herself

⤷ yourinstagram you sap! love you, riccy ric

danielricciardo I thank heavens that Geri or Christian are not looking at you account

⤷ yourinstagram oh she does "dad's rethinking the christmas dinner invitation" was her text

landonorris got (love)sick all over my bed from this content

landonorris congratulations Max, you champ! and congrats yn for making it through the night

⤷ maxverstappen1 Thanks, Lando. And she did really good.

⤷ landonorris keep it in you pants, will you?

⤷ yourinstagram I'm done.

charles_leclerc Congratulations!

ynupdates daddy max??? what in the hell

ynsmymama all those photos scream: I HAD A NIGHT TO REMMEBER

⤷ yourinstagram i did.

maxfan49 i've never seen him happier

maxfan93 rue when was this?

⤷ maxverstappen1 Last night / this morning?

⤷ maxfan98 what. in. the. hell.

ynsfan49 they really said: i'm in love, i have great nights and i'm gonna make that everybody problem

liked by yourinstagram and maxverstappen1

ynsfan95 my boyfriend is graduating tomorrow with an engineer degree!

⤷ yourinstagram SLAYYY

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maxverstappen1

liked by yourinstagram, landonorris, danielricciardo and 2 002 182 others

maxverstappen1 You're my best friend. 💛💛

view all 200 385 comments

landonorris say thank you to the third wheel of the year, max

⤷ maxverstappen1 stop flirting with my girlfriend then

⤷ landonorris i know you're thankful

⤷ danielricciardo leave him, max. it's the only thing that was left for him - hopeless flirting

⤷ landonorris do you know the sentence that starts with f and ends with u and has uck yo in the middle?

danielricciardo mama y papa

⤷ yourinstagram someone take that phone away from you

⤷ maxverstappen1 You're older than us

yourinstagram got my heartbeat skipping down 16th avenue

⤷ danielricciardo are you quoting your own song?

⤷ yourinstagram no, i'm quoting words i said to him last night before falling asleep in his arms

liked by maxverstappen1 and 502 392 others

⤷ danielricciardo damn

charles_leclerc finally! i wouldn't be able to keep it a secret anymore

⤷ yourinstagram you spilled the beans to your engineers twenty minutes after we had told you

⤷ charles_leclerc but i didn't tell anybody else

⤷ pierregasly you told me!

⤷ georgerussell63 me too!

ynupdates SHE IS MY ROMAN EMPIRE TOO. YOU'RE NOT SPECIAL MAXIMUS

⤷ maxverstappen1 That's not my name!

⤷ yourinstagram Maximus??? i love it

ynsmybestie screw soft launching, leave it for Max to HARD launch

⤷ yourinstagram I thought I "hard" launched???

⤷ ynsmymama double meaning queen

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a/n: do we move on from this pair or crave some more drama?

[myladysapphire]

The Dragon and the Wolf (II)

You had been betrothed to Cregan stark at the start of the war. He was the noble and honourable stark that he was he supported your mother claim without restraint. So much so your mother saw it fit to betroth the two of you. So when disaster strikes and you and your younger brother are the only two survivors, you a shipped of north in your grief, leaving only Cregan to heal your wounds.

word count: 3,384

CW: MDI, 18+, SMUT, loss of viriginity, p in v, oral (f reciving), fluff, slight angst, depression, dependancy. not proofread!

Cregan Strak x Veleryon(strong)!reader

Masterlist | series masterlist | previous part | next part

(smut between the dividers by @zaldritzosrose)

“I have to go to kings landing” you started as you walked into Cregan’s’ solar. It had been a week since the letter announcing your younger brother Viserys return, and you had not stopped asking to go.

“And you shall” Cregan spoke, looking up from his papers, “but after we are wed”

You were set to marry in a matter of days. You understood the need to be wed before leaving and yet waiting to see your brother after believing he was dead was pure torture.

You were desperate to see him, all you wanted was to hug him once more and tell him how sorry you were.

But duty came first.

The lords of the north were growing angsty with how long it was taking for you and Cregan to marry.

The alliance between your houses was sure to benefit the north, and until you were married, said agreements and benefits had yet to happen. And with the winter approaching the lords were growing antsy.

“of course,” you looked down, nervously playing with your fingers. “I am just eager to see my brothers and with the journey set to take a month-“

“I understand, I do, but my hands are tied” he interrupted, looking at you with understanding, “I promise, the day after our wedding we will leave”

“perhaps we could take Silverwing?” you asked hopeful, the journey would take around a day, if they rode fast, at the most three days.

“i- im not-“

“I promise its safe, and you have ridden Silverwing before.” He had, on your first visit to Winterfell. He had been hesitant then too, but you had somehow manged to drag him onto Silverwing and flown around the north for hours.

“aye, but this would be different” he said rubbing the back of his neck, “your brother has sent a letter…requesting me to become hand of the king”

you smiled “so we would be staying?”

“yes…this also means I will be having to take a large number of my household, and… though Sara shall act as the lady of Winterfell in my stead, once you are with child you will…have to return…without me, and take over the ruling of Winterfell until I am released as hand”

you were at a loss for words, this past moon you had felt lighter, the days of rotting in your bed, finding no reason to get up, having no energy to eat.

The empty hollowness you had felt for months on end has been filled, all with the help of Cregan. And now to find out that the second you got pregnant you would be shipped of and most likely never be able to return to your brothers.

You knew that there should always be a stark in Winterfell, and that their children would rule it one day, but you did not want to live in Winterfell without him.

You relied on him, in a near unhealthy way. You were often with him, in the library, or in his solar. You had already taken on the duties as Lady of Winterfell. You had liked having responsibilities, found you were good at it. But the main part of it that you liked, was that it was all with him. The friendship you once had had returned, though with trepidation as you had a first still felt empty.

You still felt the loss of your twin. Your other half. Without him you feared you would always feel incomplete, and yet Cregan had somehow manged to fill the void the death of your twin, of Luke and Joffrey.

You felt like you could so easily love him, but now.  Now a part of you resented putting this off for so long, only to know discover that you time with Cregan may be a few months or stolen moments every year.

Your mind went back to last week.

You had spent the day in each other’s company, sat in his solar as he answered letters, and you had read.

The comfort you had found with him was like no other, sitting in each other’s company. Not talking for hours and yet you felt content.

And now to learn that you may not feel the presence of him for moons on end, perhaps even years.

“I would like to stay with you, stay in kings landing” you spoke in determination, “I will not become the wife of an absent husband”

“I would not be-“

“you would sent me a thousand leagues away! So yes that makes you an absent husband!” you shook your head “I-I understand how important being hand is, how much Egg looks up to you, and I will not ask you to refuse the offer but…but I need you.” you said tearily, “without you I will…I will only find that hollowness I felt for moons, the sadness will return without you to…to comfort me, to hold me and cherish me. I cannot be alone, I may rely on you a little too much, but I cannot bear to…” you were crying now, you knew in some sense it was manipulating, but everything you had said was true. The sadness would return, he offered you the perfect reasons for you to find a purpose, a reason to wake up in the morning.

A part of you hated that you relied on another for a purpose, but all the things that once filled you with joy, with purpose, now filled you with sadness and hate.

And now, Cregan had been the thing you found some sense of joy in, and you were excited to marry him, but now part of you dreaded it, not wanting to part from him.

He stood up from his desk moving around to you and pulling you into a hug.

Cregan was a very affection person, always holding your hand or pulling you into a hug away from prying eyes.

“Cregan” you mumbled into his chest, as he stroked your hair.

“i will not send you away if you truly do not want to, but…I know the pain kings landing gives you and I do not want to ask you to spend years in the place of your torment” he said, pulling back from you slight to hold your face, “but… the babe must be born and raised here”

“I know, and I love that you do not wish for me to live in the place of such pain for me, but before… before the-the war…I loved the red keep and…I love my brothers enough to stay there” you mumbled, “If you promise not to stay the hand forever then I shall go to Winterfell if I fall pregnant during your time as hand, but i- I do not wish to be apart form you for too long”

He smiled as you said that, “how about we talk about this when the times comes, hmm?” you smiled, reaching up to place a small kiss on his cheek.

You nodded your head, stepping back from him. “i-I hope you know that I do…that I” you were stumbling over your words unsure of what to say to him. You had somehow over the course of the past moon, returned to your shy nervous self, blushing in his presence, and stumbling over your words.

“yes?” he asked smiling curiously.

“I… I feel a lot better lately, and it is thanks to you…I truly care for you and I think that I might…” you looked down nervously, unsure of if you should tell him your feelings.

“I can tell” he said before you could finish your sentence “you seem to much happier, the light in your eyes has returned and i…I want you to know that I feel the same” he blushed, “I look forward to marry you, and I hope you do also”

You nodded smiling, as you stepped back and you both continued going about your own duties, enjoying the solace of each others company.

The day of the wedding had finally come. The lords of the north had all gathered at Winterfell. The halls now full of bustling bodies, the maids running about nonstop to fulfil all their duties.

You and Cregan had been forced to spend the last day and night apart, with the north believing it to be bad luck for the bride and groom to see each other the day before the wedding.

You had instead spent the day with Sara.

“I had hoped my sisters would make it” you said sadly as she laced up your dress.

“we still have time, they may yet arrive” she said, trying to build your spirits.

Your grandsire Corlys had arrived the day before, fulfilling his long-term promise to walk you down the aisle.

You had always been close to your grandsire, with him always saying how similar to his wife you had looked.

“granddaughter” you heard him say as he had entered the room, smiling as he saw the sea horses embroidered on your dress.

“grandsire” you smiled in greeting, moving over to kiss his cheek. “do you have any news on Balea or Rhaena?” you asked hopeful.

He smiled slyly, before moving aside and allowing Balea and Rhaena to walk into the room.

“you’re here!” you had said in disbelief..

“of course, we wouldn’t miss your wedding” Baele spoke pulling you into a hug.

They had both been married themselves recently, Baela to Alyn, Corlys newly appointed heir, and Rhaena to Corwyn Corbray.

“are your husbands here?”

“yes, there both with Cregan I believe,” Rhaena said, moving to take over from Sara as she finished lacing up your dress.

“you look beautiful, sister” Balea said, smiling kindly. “Are you nervous?”

“should I be?” you asked nervously.

“do you care for him?”

You looked over at sara, as she gave you a teasing smile. She knew of your feelings for Cregan, and it seemed from that look alone your sisters to know knew.

“yes”

“then you have nothing to worry about”

“what of the…”you looked over at Corlys to see his looking slightly uncomfortable, “the night” you whispered.

“you have been betrothed for years and you have never…?”

“no!” the question shocked you, your mother had always been insistent on you waiting for marriage, saying she didn’t want you to make the same choice she had.

“never even kissed?” Sara asked shocked.

You shook you head.

“no! I’ve only ever kissed….” You wouldn’t say his name, it hurt to much. The betrayal you had felt, how you had almost given him everything. Though you were glad you never had with Aemond, for you loved Cregan. At least you think you do. “ahh” Balea almost flinched.

“it hurts the first time, but after…it can be very nice” Sara spoke, whispering.

“and Cregan is a good man, he likes you…perhaps even loves you. He will be gentle” she said, though grimacing slightly at talking about her brother in such a way.

Corlys coughed awkwardly, moving to interrupt their whispered conversation.  “it is almost time” he said, softly moving towards you.

“we better hurry up then” you said, motioning for Sara to start your hair.

Balea, Rhaena and sara had all left once you were fully ready. Leaving you and Corlsys alone.

“you are a vision” he said, as you took his arm. You started to walk through the halls of Winterfell.

you wore a dress as white as snow. With a full skirt and long flowy sleeves covered in a lace pattern.

You wore you hair down, bar tow braids at the top your head that joined at the back. Though your hair was hidden behind a lace veil, lace that matched your sleeves. Your face was covered, though it wouldn’t be for long, as you soon approached the gods woods.

“who comes before the old gods this day?” asked the northern lord officiating the wedding, as you entered the gods woods.

“y/n, of house Veleryon, She comes to beg the blessing of the Gods. Who comes to claim her?”

“Creagan, of house stark, lord of Winterfell and Warden of the north. Who gives her?”

“Corlsy, of house Veleryon, lord of the tides and of Driftmark, her grandsire.”

“princess Y/n, do you take this man?”

“I take this man”

“lord Cregan, do you take this woman”

“I take this woman”

“Then I pronounce you man and wife, before the old gods and the new”

You smiled at him, before reaching up and taking his lips in yours. The kiss was short and short, but caused you both to blush as cheers resounded throughout the wedding guests.

“I believe it is time for a feast!” Cregan announced as the lords and ladies cheered in response.

The feast was grand, though much different from the ones you had grown up with. It was loud and bawdy, with the lords all drunk and even singing northern tunes.

You and Cregan had kept to yourself, eating your food and talking between one another.

You had been enjoying yourself, enjoying the first few hours of marital bliss.

And then the bedding was called.

You had forgotten about the tradition.

The bride and groom escorted to their chamber. The groom by the woman, there clothes pulled of them, the bride escorted by the men, often groped and fully naked by the time they reached their chambers.

Feared courses through you as lord Bolton declared it time for a bedding.

“there will be no bedding!” Cregan boomed, as the men started to approach you.

The room seemed to flinch as the anger in his tone, “my wife will be touched by no one bar me! Anyone who lays a hand on her against her will, will have it cut off!”

You looked at him with shock, it was, grateful he was doing the right thing and saving you from a night of groping.

He reached his hand out to you as he guided you to your now shared chambers alone.

She had never been in Cregan’s chambers before, they were large. Though not as big as her chambers had been on Dragonstone. The room was mostly bare, having been mostly packed up for their journey tomorrow. It was warm, much warmer than her room in the tower had been. With a blazing fire, and dozens of blankets. The walls were filled with tapestries and the floor with rugs. Not a single wall or part of the floor was bare, allowing the room to be encased in more warmth.

“wife” Cregan spoke, capturing your attention. He moved towards you, his eyes heated as he gazed at you.

“Husband” you breathed back as he now stood before you.

He reached up to caress your face, his lips nearing yours. You shared a breath, before you both pounced.

Your lips modelled together in a heated, passionate kiss. He pushed you on the bed, your body bouncing from impact, he quickly moved over you, connecting your lips once more as he started to take of his and your clothes, never once breaking the kiss.

“gods” he moaned at the sight of your bare tits. He kissed your lips quickly before moving down to your breasts and roughly taking them into his mouth.

You moaned as he licked and sucked at your tits. He alternated between the two, savouring in your moans and whimpers.

Your gripped his hair, tugging softly at each flick of his tongue.

“you lick that?” he asked teasingly, as he let go of your nipple with a pop.

You nodded your head, whimpering slightly at him stopping.

He chuckled, “good” he said before, moving off the bed and resting on his knees “then you’ll love this” he said, as he slid the rest of your dress of you, and buried himself between your thighs.

He teasingly licked your folds, causing you to whimper.

Your gripped his hair, grinding your thighs into his face, trying to get him to lick you more.

He chuckled at your actions, before moving to grip your thighs and pull them towards his face. He buried his tongue inside of you, savouring your taste as he moved to lick your clit.

“Cregan!” you moaned as you pulled on his hair. 

The pleasure was nothing like you had experienced before. It was overwhelming, filling your senses as he continued to lick at your clit, and slowly bring his fingers to your entrance.

He groaned as his fingers entered your, relishing in the tightness of your cunt. Gods” he moaned against your clit.

He continued to lap at your slit, tasting you as if you were his last meal.

You felt your peak fast approaching, your hands gripping and tugging his hair harder, your legs wrapping around his head in away you were sure would choke him.

“Cregan!” you screamed as your peak finally hit you.

He continued his actions, riding out your peak before finally moving himself from between your thighs.

He wiped his mouth on the bed before diving back in to kiss you.

He slowly moved you to the centre of the bed, his cock positioning itself between your thigs.

“can i?” he breathed against your lips.

“yes.” You moaned as he entered you.

You felt a wave of discomfort as he stretched you out, a slight burn at the sheer size of his cock.

He slowly rocked his hips into yours, allowing you time to adjust, before you reached up and pulled him into another kiss, motioning him to speed up.

He started thrusting into you at a faster pace. Your legs wrapping around his hips and his pace became faster and faster.

He groaned into your neck, as your cunt tightened around him.

Your second peak fast approaching.

“I’m going to cum” he moaned into you, as your cunt fluttered around his cock, your second peak taking.

Your hands scratched his back as you peaked, before collapsing backwards, as he started building up to his own peak.

His thrusts became hard and fast as he finally reached his own peak, his seed filling you as he rode out his orgasm.

“gods” he moaned, collapsing on the bed, pulling you in and holding you to him.

he kissed your shoulder, stroking your hair as you both slipped off into sleep, though you both got little sleep that night.

The next day you were awoken to maids barging in and readying the remained of Cregan’s belongings. It was dawn, and you were both tired from the nights events.

 The maids had dressed you both quickly, pushing your breakfast on the table and urging you both to eat.

Cregan laughed at your bewildered face as they all rushed you both.

“we were meant to leave a dawn” he chuckled, as your maid tugged your hair, attempting to braid it, as you ate.

“then why weren’t we woken earlier?”

He sent you a look, showing exactly why they hadn’t.

“oh…must we leave so soon?” you said as you food was taken of the table before you had even finished.

“you insisted we did.”

“I-“ you looked at his smug face as your tea was taken out of your hand mid sip. “I take it back, I miss the bed!”

“you can rest in carriage” he said, as he reached for your hand.

You made your way to the courtyard, the household lined up to say their farewells, though most were accompanying you.

Balea, Rhaena, stood by the carriage, both looking as tired as you felt.

“it is far too early for this” Rhaena groaned as you approached the carriage.

Balea laughed “I cant imagine how you feel” she said, talking at you, “how much sleep did you get last night?” she teased.

You laughed “shut up!”

Sara approached you, her eyes teary, “I’ll miss you” she said pulling you into a hug.

“and I, you” you kissed her check, pulling back.

“we are leaving Winterfell in capable hands” she heard Cregan say, announcing Sara as his regent.

“don’t be gone for too long” she whispered “I was not made to rule the north” she joked, pulling away from you as you were all motioned to enter the carriage.  

Cregan walked up to the carriage window, pulling you into a kiss.

“I shall join you soon” he promised, before mounting his horse and leading the procession to kings landing.

next part

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[wife-of-all-dilfs]

bioluminescence | b. blake

masterlist

summary: season one — you thought all bellamy blake wanted was sex and other women, but when you sneak outside of the camp walls at night, bioluminescent plants are not the only shocking discovery you make, and not everyone is happy about it.

warnings: fluff, swearing, jealousy, mention of sexual themes, (L/N) use, roma

pairing: bellamy blake x reader

word count: 4.1k

Sleep was a rare luxury after you and the other Ark prisoners were sent to Earth, especially since you were all crowded in a small camp surrounding the drop ship. Teenage hormones, anger, violence, and trauma were not a great combination for peace. So, it was either crying, fistfights, or the incessant moans of couples who couldn't keep it in their pants for more than five minutes that usually kept you awake at night.

You were certain it was Bellamy Blake and his two model-looking female companions who were often to blame for that last subject. Although to everyone in the camp, it was very obvious that their relationship was solely physical, neither Roma nor Bree seemed to appreciate when other women talked, interacted with, or even sat near him. Clarke was a heavy target because of her co-leadership with Bellamy. And so were you.

You were within the inner circle, the informal 'Earth council'. You were also handy with a rifle and knowledgeable in tracking, so it wasn't exactly surprising whenever Bellamy took you with him on various missions and hunts. Sometimes though, he would bring you with him even if the task wasn't within your skillset—those were the times you were left feeling a little confused.

Nevertheless, a small friendship sprung from it. You weren't best buddies, but you weren't opposed to each other's company either. That was a big no-no to Roma and Bree and they frequently expressed that fact through passive-aggressive tactics.

This night was no different from others. Thankfully, it was the never-ending fistfights that kept you awake instead of other's carnal endeavours. You opened the flap of your tent and stepped out into the crisp air; autumn was definitely approaching. Hugging your jacket closer to your body, you looked around the camp, unsure of where to wait out the commotion. Everywhere was taken, so you decided a brief walk in the woods wouldn't hurt. Well, you hoped it wouldn't. At least if the Grounders killed you, you would finally get some undisturbed rest.

As you made your way over to one of the fence-wall openings, you ran smack-bang into a barely dressed girl with long brown hair. Roma.

"Watch where you're going, bitch," she spat, scrutinising your appearance from top to bottom.

Ignoring her lovely remark, you eyed her jeans and the way her upper half was only covered by a grey sports bra. "Aren't you cold?"

"Not now I'm not." She smirked, eyes flickering to Bellamy's tent.

You grimaced. I so didn't need to know that.

Right on cue, Bellamy emerged from his tent, fully clothed. He scanned the surroundings before his hardened gaze briefly landed on Roma and then settled on you; it was impossible to miss the way his face softened when your eyes met. Strange.

"Jealous?" she asked, regaining your attention.

"Unlikely."

You brushed past her, though she made an effort to forcefully knock your shoulder and spit another curse at you. Classy.

Bellamy took a step toward you. "Hey—"

But you simply moved past him, continuing toward the wall and saying, "A real gem you've got yourself there."

At least Bree was all bark and no bite.

You could hear him sigh as the distance between you both grew.

Truth be told, you were a little jealous. An unfortunate truth but still a truth all the same. You knew you were beginning to feel something deeper for Bellamy and it was becoming difficult listening to other girls brag about their nights with him. Not like you would ever tell him though—he wasn't a relationship type of guy and as far as you could tell, his feelings for you were platonic.

Never mind. You could settle for his friendship... for now.

You had made it outside the camp walls. At first, you planned on circling the fence for a while, but when your eyes caught on something glowing from the opposite side of a tree, you strayed from your path. Rounding the tree's trunk, you found a glowing neon-pink flower; the species of which you were unsure, but it was beautiful. Then, in your peripheral vision, there was something else lighting up your vision, something blue this time. There was another flower just a few trees away.

And again, you walked over to the strange plant, only to find yourself now on a journey that kept leading to more and more glowing flowers the deeper into the woods you trekked. They were almost everywhere and at this point, you were practically running with an excited grin on your face. In the near distance, numerous radiant colours lit up an area covered by a thick cluster of trees. You wove yourself through branches and leaves, pushing your way into the bright section of the woods.

Once you emerged from the trees, amazement morphed into your expression. You had stepped into a small meadow filled with glowing flowers of various colours that covered the forest floor. There were countless species, but they all shared the same mesmerising radiance. Much to your disbelief, there were even electric blue luminous butterflies that concealed the tree trunks and fluttered in the air.

"Bioluminescence," you whispered to yourself.

It was so beautiful, you could have cried.

Maybe you should just leave the camp and build a hut here. It would certainly beat living with the others.

As you moved further into the small clearing, the butterflies flew closer around you. Holding out an arm, one butterfly tentatively circled your hand before landing in your palm. You laughed in amazement, watching as the small creature curiously crawled across your hand and ticked your skin. Okay, that settled it—you were definitely a Disney princess.

The sound of branches snapping and leaves rustling suddenly pulled you from your amazement; it was coming from where you had entered the clearing. You reached down to your belt only to find the knife holster on it empty. Of course, you didn't bring your knife. You had left the camp's safety and didn't even think to bring a weapon. So stupid.

Before you could reprimand yourself any further, a tall figure emerged from the tree line. The tight dark blue shirt was an easy identifier as to who the figure was. And so were those deep brown eyes.

It was Bellamy. "Woah."

You let out a sigh of relief, feeling your tensed body relax again.

His gaze swept across the vivid tree-encompassed meadow, sharing the same wonderous expression you once had. The overpowering glow from the butterflies turned his tanned skin a light blue, defining the contours of his face and arm muscles. He sort of looked otherworldly.

"What are you doing out here?" you asked.

The incident before you left camp quickly returned to mind and it was evident in the slight irritation etched on your face. He didn't need to respond for you to realise that he had followed you. Great. His little girlfriends were going to have a field day tomorrow if they saw him come after you.

Bellamy's eyes found yours, taking note of your negative reaction. His steps were cautious as he began walking towards you. "I could ask you the same thing."

He stopped in front of you, peering down through a few stray strands of dark brown hair whilst wearing his infamous lazy smirk. No wonder girls were always fawning over him; he was gorgeous, and he damn well knew it too. Even you were falling into the very same trap. Unlike them, though, it was the moments you shared with him when you were alone that conjured your attraction to him. Sure, he was easy on the eyes, but you had also learnt that he was surprisingly a decent human being. More than decent actually, despite how he presented himself to others.

He treated you with respect—a lot more than many others had ever done. You had learnt to trust each other, communicate effectively, and work as a team. Sometimes, you would even find yourselves discussing things that you both intended to keep within till the day you died, things that felt too intimate to share with anyone else.

No matter how much you hated it, you couldn't help but develop feelings for him. Even when it seemed he was preoccupied with other women.

Bellamy eyed you, waiting for the snarky retort he knew you were putting together.

You sighed and turned around, crouching on the floor to inspect one of the neon-pink flowers. "Shouldn't you be teaching Roma and Bree gun handling safety in your tent right now?"

That line was dangerously close to sounding like jealousy and you knew it. You bit your tongue because Lord knows you were most likely to expose your feelings for Bellamy through word vomit.

If only you had been facing him to witness the shame washing through his eyes.

"Funny," he said. "But no. I've got more important things to do."

"Like what? Making sure your best hunting partner doesn't get killed by glowing plants?" you joked, glancing over your shoulder to see his reaction.

It wasn't a grin or smirk like you expected. Not even a little chuckle. Instead, he simply stared at you with this intense look in his eye; it was almost sad but also like he was trying to communicate something to you telepathically.

"Something like that," he murmured.

After those words left his mouth, something about the atmosphere shifted. You suddenly felt overwhelmed with emotion and his soul-piercing stare was not helping. There wasn't a wide selection of movies on the Ark, but you had watched them all, including all the romance movies. The only thing you could compare Bellamy's gaze to was Mr. Darcy's in Pride and Prejudice. Reluctance. Longing. It was all there. Had you been completely wrong about his feelings for you? Or were you just imagining it?

The likelihood of Bellamy sharing your same feelings seemed impossible, so you chalked it up to your wishful imagination.

You stood back up, facing him but avoiding making eye contact. "Well, I—uh," you stammered. "I'm not going back. Not yet."

"I didn't come here to take you back."

That made your gaze meet his.

Why did you come then, Bellamy? you thought.

He side-stepped you and you turned to see him wandering deeper into the meadow. He began observing each and every beauty and oddity the small sanctuary held, touching the petals of every flower with a delicateness you had never witnessed before. Soon enough, you felt compelled to join him.

The two of you must have spent an hour in that meadow, inspecting each species of flora, hovering your fingertips through the glowing cusp of each plant as if you could feel its light on your skin, laughing together when a butterfly landed on the tip of your nose. Sometimes you caught Bellamy watching whenever your face lit up with excitement as you discovered something new. He never really looked at what you had found; he just looked at you, but you were too overjoyed to even contemplate why.

You felt like you had entered a dream, protected from the outside world where there were Grounders, war, and bitchy brown-haired girls. Everything real was forgotten, even your unrequited feelings for Bellamy. You just enjoyed his company in this dream and pretended it would last forever.

Somehow, you had both ended up lying on the forest floor side-by-side, surrounded by flowers as you stared up at the starry night sky through the tree crowns. It wasn't as cold as before; you guessed it was because of Bellamy's close proximity to you. One of his hands was behind his head, the other on his stomach. His warmth was radiating off his skin and onto your own.

You could have fallen asleep if you closed your eyes. Probably not the most logical idea though.

Bellamy's quiet, yet deep voice disrupted the silence. "It's just a distraction, you know?"

"Hm?"

"Those girls," he clarified, and you watched as his words turned to mist, carrying into the black sky. "If I focus too much on the fact that I have to control an entire camp of teenagers, fight a war against the Grounders, while taking care of Octavia and y—" he cut himself off, closing his eyes with a sigh. "I just feel like I start to lose myself."

Your focus shifted from the sky to him. Even he didn't seem to be looking at the sky anymore, despite his gaze still being pointed straight upward. He looked lost in his own thoughts. Serious and sombre—much different compared to how they had been just a short while ago.

"Well," you began softly. "We can't have that. You already seem a little rough around the edges, Blake."

A grin slowly formed across his lips and he shook his head. He turned his head to the side, looking down at your smiling expression from where he lay. The weightiness from before had melted from his demeanour. Because of a little distraction.

You had thought those two girls he spent most nights with were there purely for his own physical needs or because his attraction to them was greater than his self-control. Never had you contemplated the fact that it might have been because he was mentally struggling with the hardships of being a leader. Of course, how could you have? He had never told you before now.

Your brows furrowed. "Why tell me?"

The muscles in his jaw clenched and the grin fell from his lips. A sense of seriousness returned but this time it was less heavy. It seemed more like a weight was lifting from his shoulders. Like a declaration. Like a long-awaited confession.

You felt something warm brush against your hand; it gently grazed over your knuckles, lighting a fire beneath your skin. In Bellamy's dark eyes, you could see the reflection of his hand caressing your own and your heart leapt to your throat.

"Why do you think?" he murmured, his eyes flickering between your own, urging you to connect the dots instead of making him say it aloud.

Your lips parted and the crease between your eyebrows deepened. 

Every time he picked you first to be his partner on a mission, every deep conversation you shared when no one else was around—they all had a hidden meaning. All the times his hand brushed against yours as you walked in sync side-by-side, the times you caught him staring at you through a one-hundred-person dense crowd, or the way he would step in front of you as if to shield you whenever there was even a hint of danger—it was all because...

"Oh," you whispered.

"Yeah." His eyes flickered between yours before he turned back to the stars. "And I—I understand if you don't feel the same way; I know I haven't given you much reason to. From those girls to the... the radio, and the culling on the Ark. If I could take—"

His sentence was cut short as you leaned over him, pressing your lips to his. You could feel his pulse racing in his lips. Or was it your own? Probably both. Your hair fell to the side and his mouth started to move against your own. He began to rise, moving you up along with him until you were both kissing in a sitting position.

Bellamy's hand moved to cradle your jaw, his lips slow and tender. Everything felt like it had fallen into place, like this was exactly how things were supposed to be, with his lips on yours in the middle of a fairy-tale-like meadow whilst surrounded by a field of glowing flowers and beautiful winged creatures.

The butterflies weren't just circling you now, they were somehow fluttering around in your stomach too and it felt exhilarating.

Unfortunately, the kiss did have to come to an end at some point. Even so, the warm fluttering in your stomach never ceased. Bellamy had pulled away first, his hands gently falling from your jaw and back into his lap. He was looking at you and at first, you were afraid he would get up and leave, or tell you he had changed his mind. But he didn't. A smile crept across his lips—not a self-satisfied smirk or a tantalising grin, but a genuine smile.

Forget the butterflies; your stomach was doing somersaults now. He found your hand once more and interlocked it with his own in your lap. His thumb drew small circles on the side of your palm almost as if he knew you needed a reminder that this moment was really happening.

"That was my first kiss," you admitted.

His smile became a little nervous. "Was it okay?"

Was it okay? This boy was a little clueless if he couldn't tell that you thoroughly enjoyed having his lips on yours. So, you answered him with another soft peck to his lips, then pulled back again to see his reaction. He chuckled, nodding his head to say he understood.

"We can always come out here to practice if you want," he said, this time with a smirk.

You laughed. "I think that's a good idea."

He tucked a lock behind your ear and gently brushed pieces of hair away from your face. You could feel warmth creeping into your cheeks, turning them a rosy pink. Well, it was probably more of a violet hue due to the intense blue glow from the plants and butterflies. Either way, it still revealed how nervous he made you feel.

"It's getting late. We should probably head back and sleep," you said. Bellamy raised an eyebrow, creating his own little innuendo with your words and your eyes widened. "Not together! Alone, I mean. In separate tents. With clothes... on..." you trailed off, realising you were only digging yourself a deeper hole.

You sighed, pinching the bridge of your nose in embarrassment.

He just chuckled and rose to his feet. "Come on, (L/N). Let's go sleep."

You rolled your eyes with a smile as he helped you stand up with him.

For a brief moment, you gave the area one last look, imprinting the memory into your mind. Who could have guessed that when you left the camp walls you would enter a fairy tale of vivid colours and electric butterflies? Or, even more surprising, that Bellamy Blake would later confess his feelings for you? All you had wanted was an escape; instead, you got a dream come true.

Bellamy pressed a hand to your lower back, guiding you with him towards the tree line in comfortable silence.

The walk back to the drop ship was pretty quiet. No more words needed to be said; a conversation that clarified what you two were now could wait for tomorrow when your brains weren't clouded by fatigue and the fresh excitement from confession. Some things hadn't changed though. Bellamy still stole glances at you every now and then, as you did him, earning a nervous smile and blush each time either of you got caught. Your hands alternated from brushing against one another to ever-so-slightly linking pinkies.

Okay, maybe things had changed a little.

You passed each flower that had led you to the meadow and this time, they became less and less as you grew closer to the drop ship. As you came up on the camp walls, the sound of fighting and conversations had died down and was replaced by the faint crackling of dying fires.

Finally, you both stepped through one of the openings and were within the camp. There didn't seem to be anyone awake; with the way the moon was shining down straight overhead, it was clear why. 

Your pinkie fell from Bellamy's and you moved in front of him, taking a few slow steps backwards. "Uh, that's my tent over there," you said, gesturing behind you.

His eyes never left yours as he continued to walk toward you. "Yeah, I know."

"Oh, you know, do you?"

A grin stretched across his lips as he hummed and reached for your waist, pulling you against his body. Your hands wound around his neck, a smile present on your face as he leaned in, his lips mere inches from your own. His lips had just brushed against your own when someone behind you cleared their throat and you both jumped apart.

Bellamy peered beside your head, semi-glaring at the interrupter behind you.

What a surprise it was when you turned around to see Roma, arms crossed—clothes on, thankfully—and looking severely unhappy.

"You have got to be kidding me," she said with a scowl.

Perfect. Great. Absolutely fantastic. Looks like her field day had come early.

No way. You were too tired to deal with this. You gave Bellamy an apologetic glance before attempting to slip away through the gaps between tents. Unfortunately, it wasn't in Roma's best interest to let you off so easily. She caught your wrist and jerked you back toward her.

Bellamy looked like he was about to step in, but you beat him to it.

You tore your wrist from her grasp, words dripping with bitterness as you said, "Never do that again."

For a split second, she looked the slightest bit intimidated, but then quickly covered it up with disdain. Her gaze flickered from you to Bellamy; it was hard to miss the way she straightened her posture and tried to look more presentable for him.

And for a split second of your own, you felt the slightest twinge of fear that Bellamy would change his mind about you and leave with her again. But at that very same moment, he gently grabbed your hand and guided you back to his side, dissipating all your previous worries.

Both you and Roma looked down at your interlocked hands in disbelief.

"Listen, Roma." He sighed, sounding like he was desperately trying to keep his cool. "I think it's best if you and Bree find another tent to sleep in from now on."

Her disbelief turned into pure astonishment. "What? Are you serious?"

Bellamy lightly squeezed your hand.

God, he was putting this girl through the five stages of grief. You almost felt bad. Then you remembered the daily torment she had been putting you through just for existing and the remorse immediately washed away.

"Because of her? She's not even—"

"Choose your next words very carefully," he warned in a dangerously low voice.

Her mouth opened and shut a few times before she realised any insult thrown at you would end badly for her. It's not like Bellamy would hurt her, but he did have power over the camp, so he would probably force her to share a tent with Myles or something. His non-stop babbling would drive her to insanity.

She gave him a defiant look. "What if we don't want to leave?"

"I'll take the tent down and move it somewhere else."

"Then Bree and I will make both your lives a living Hell."

You could hear Bellamy suppress a laugh. "Unlikely," he echoed your previous words.

Roma looked to you as if you could help her case—the audacity. You gave her a sarcastic 'what-can-you-do?' shrug which just enhanced her seething temper. It was obvious that she was getting nowhere and the moment she realised, you swore you could see her ego literally deflating.

She made a short high-pitched noise of frustration and spun around, her hair whipping melodramatically through the air as she practically stomped back to Bellamy's tent. You could hear her call out to the other girl inside, telling her to 'pack her shit' and that they were moving tents. Not long after, the blonde-haired girl emerged from the tent flap holding a bundle of clothes. Roma must have explained to her what happened because they both shot a venomous glare in your direction and then walked off in search of another tent.

You sighed in relief as they disappeared out of sight. You were about to walk back to your own tent, but Bellamy tugged you back to him once more, his arms wrapping around your torso as your hands fell on his chest.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I thought she'd handle it better."

You fiddled with the material of his shirt, half-smiling. "I told you she was a gem."

"Yeah." He chuckled. "My taste of women has been a little... questionable."

Your hands moved up to his shoulders, pulling your body up against his. His fingertips grazed the exposed skin of your waist, sending a wave of goosebumps across your body.

"You should really try breaking that trend."

He had that same intense look in his eye as when you were both in the meadow. This time it didn't hold any sadness or longing, but rather a sense of finality and affection, like his greatest wish had finally come true—that would make two of you. One of his hands moved to cup your cheek, stroking your cheekbone with his thumb as his face grew closer to yours.

The heart thumping in your chest almost gave out as you reflexively leaned further into his warm embrace.

"I already have," he murmured before his soft lips descended upon yours.

And the butterflies returned.

[im-subtextsexual]

I’m glad so many people picked up on the vibes between Eloise and Cressida. Not a ship I ever considered before, but the tension was palpable. I’ve been a Queer Eloise truther since reading the books. Her portrayal on the show only made it more obvious in my mind. I didn’t think the writers would ever go there, but the set up is just so explicit, now I’m not sure. I don’t think they’d actually make Eloise / Cressida canon, but I do think they’re testing the waters for wlw Eloise. And it makes perfect sense. 

First off, the character is queer (I’ll hold off from labeling her a lesbian outright, because there’s definitely room for other identities like bi, demi, ace…. etc.) Even in the books. I legitimately think Julia Quinn accidentally wrote a sapphic character and then didn’t know what to do with her. So what we got is “To Sir Phillip, With Love”, widely considered to be one of the worst in the series. Believe me, if there’s any story that could stand to deviate from the books, it’s this one. And the story could so easily be adapted to a wlw romance, it would be a wasted opportunity not to do it. Like… the story would be better if they tweaked it to fit a queer canon. AND it could be done in a historically accurate way to shut up the naysayers that “a lesbian storyline wouldn’t fit in this universe.” How? Allow me to explain.

*SPOILERS FOR BRIDGERTON SERIES BOOK 5*

In the book, Eloise strikes up a correspondence with Sir Phillip Crane. Yes, THAT Phillip, the one currently married to Marina from season 1&2. Marina kills herself because she can’t stand to be married to Phillip and deal with their children in the wake of her lover / his brother’s death. His initial interest in Eloise is to find a mother for his children. She is intrigued by his intelligence and decides she doesn't want to be alone, but isn’t necessarily eager to marry or have a family. Due to romance novel shenanigans, she runs away to Phillip's house and is forced to marry him. Even as they grow to kind of love each other, it's far from some grand romance. It’s the very definition of “settling”. The most interesting part is the narrative structure of their story being told through letters in the beginning. We could keep all that, but make it gay. 

*Imagine*

Eloise meets some dapper gentlemen new to the marriage mart. We’ll call him Emmett. Very little is known about Emmett and his family as they keep largely to themselves at their estate in the countryside. The only thing that’s widely known is the family suffered a tragic accident where the man of the house and his oldest daughter died, leaving his son (the other twin) to take on the responsibility of rank and title very early. Emmet is making a rare appearance in London to find a wife (there are rumors of stipulations in his inheritance requiring a match). ALL the debutantes are fawning over him because he’s mysterious and extraordinarily good-looking. One might even say “pretty”… To everyone’s great surprise the season’s most eligible bachelor takes a special interest in Eloise after overhearing her talking about her disdain for the social convention of marriage, and how she would only consider it if it were an in-name-only, marriage of convenience. Emmett strikes up a conversation with Eloise and she is taken by his humor, wit and shockingly deep empathy for the limitations society puts on women. They continue to gravitate to each other through the first few events of the season, but Emmett has to return home suddenly because of a family emergency. Eloise is shocked to find herself disappointed, but they promise to write. Cue the correspondence romance.

Eloise grows more and more smitten with Emmett every letter she receives, but still has the same reservations about marriage especially when she thinks of the intimacy a relationship like that would require. When Emmett hints that he may want more than friendship, Eloise's feelings get the better of her and she goes to visit Emmett unannounced. He is shocked to see her, but let's her stay and she gets to know his mother and two younger sisters. The Bridgertons go looking for Eloise, worried something has happened to her. When she is found to have been staying for days in an unwed man's home without a chaperone, the potential scandal causes Anthony to force Eloise and Emmett to marry. Surprisingly, Emmett actually agrees so Eloise does too (all of this is essentially what happens in the book).

Eloise confesses to Emmett that she's nervous/resistant to physical intimacy, but he assures her they never have to be together that way. In fact, he would prefer the marriage of convenience they always talked about. Eloise is relieved until their kiss at the wedding sparks an attraction she wasn't expecting. They spend the first month or so of their marriage sleeping in separate rooms, enjoying each other's company, and letting the tension build. One night, Eloise's control and curiosity finally snaps and she goes to Emmett's room to initiate a physical relationship. She catches Emmett off guard in his sleeping clothes which makes it VERY clear... Emmett is a woman (cliffhanger of episode 4, and where we deviate from book canon to make it queer).

After the initial shock, Eloise allows her new "husband" to explain. Emmett is really Emma, the daughter believed to have died in a carriage accident with her father so many years ago. It was her twin brother that actually died, but since there were no other male heirs, Emma's family fortune would have gone to a distant uncle who is cruel and abusive. To save them of that fate, Emma's mother conspired with the local coroner to make it look like Emma was the one who died, so "Emmett" could inherit everything. Emma has been living as Emmett ever since, successfully keeping up the deception by keeping a low profile in society. The only reason Emma came to London that year is because her uncle died, and a cousin had come around asking questions hoping to inherit. She thought getting married would help secure her identity as Emmett and the cousin would back off. At first Eloise is outraged. She feels betrayed by Emma's duplicity, and is terrified if any of this ever got out everyone they know would be ruined forever. She agrees to keep the secret to save her family's reputation, but shuns Emma. Eventually, Emma (already aware that she's in love with Eloise) attempts to make amends and Eloise is charmed enough that she relaxes back into the relationship they had before the Big Reveal. The only problem is the attraction is still there, even more so now that Eloise knows the truth. Things come to a head, and they go at it Bridgerton style.

Emma and Eloise live happily in a true marriage for a bit until Cressida and Penelope come for a visit. They both find out about Emma, but are sworn to secrecy. Pen easily swears her loyalty (having already suspected Eloise), but Cressida is sickened. In a rage, she threatens to out them all, and storms back to London. Eloise follows her and begs Cressida to keep the secret, and tries to explain why the "wrong" feelings she has for Emma are very right for her. To Eloise's surprise, Cressida isn't upset about what she's doing with Emma, but who she's doing it with. She didn't know what they're doing was an option; that she was an option. Cressida confesses that if she'd known a life with Eloise was a choice she could make, it's the life she would have chosen. Eloise lets Cressida down easy by explaining they didn't have that choice. Everyone in the ton knows who they are. The only reason her relationship with Emma works is because of the ruse that allows Emma to be Emmett. Cressida takes this in stride, and vows to keep the secret, but her mother overhears and causes the biggest scandal London Society has ever seen.

The Bridgertons and a few friends (like Lady Danbury) are as understanding as possible, but the rest of the ton is rabid. Things escalate to the point where Emma and Eloise have to appear before the Queen. Emma pleads her case about pretending to save her family, and insists that Eloise didn't know until well after they were married so she's innocent. Eloise can't help herself and gets on her soapbox about the way society limits women, and that the Queen should understand their plight. Shockingly, she does. She annuls their "marriage" (because they didn't consummate anything... RIGHT?!) but she agrees to let Emma control her family's estate until one of her sisters produces a male heir. After that, she and Eloise will receive a pension from the Crown so they can live independently (the real Queen Charlotte actually did this for suspected historical sapphic couple The Ladies of Llangollen). Since Emma and Eloise would never be able to find husbands now, they decide that they'll just be two spinsters growing old together in their house in the countryside. You know... just two gal pals. No one believes that shit, but they rarely interact with the ton, so they're largely left alone to live as they please.

Happy ending, close to canon, historically accurate, and super gay. It's not that hard. You're welcome.

[justaparsec94]

Sniper

Summary: You're a civilian medic assigned to The Bad Batch, during a mission you are injured and Crosshair has to get you to safety. Seeing you hurt has him struggling to come to terms with his feelings for you.

Pairing: Crosshair x fem!reader

Word Count: 6,599

Warnings: Description of Injury, Blood, Gore, Broken Bones, Needles

Authors Note: I've been watching too many medical shows lately and this is the result.

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When GAR High Command had decided to assign a civilian medic to Clone Force 99 Crosshair had completely baulked at the idea. They didn’t need some medic, especially a civ tagging along with them and upsetting the balance they had achieved as a team. Tech had always been considered their resident medic and Crosshair and the rest of his brothers had enough basic medical training to get by in the event Tech wasn’t around. In Crosshair's opinion that was good enough. But his protests had gone largely ignored and within days you had shown up at their ship with bright eyes and a warm smile and that had been it. 

It hadn’t taken long for you to find your place amongst the squad, you seemed to get along well with everyone, even despite Crosshair’s initial attempts to scare you off. His brothers had all accepted you quickly and even though he would never admit it to anyone it hadn't taken long for your charms to work on him too. There was just something about you that drew him in. You just had an easygoing way about you, always ready with a smile or joke, or an encouraging comment. You were smart and competent, never a liability in the field. And your bedside manner was impeccable, they all knew they were in good hands any time you had to work on them. Even Crosshair could admit that you were a good addition to the team. And as Tech liked to point out, their efficiency had improved with your presence as they no longer had to make trips back and forth to Kamino for every medical need. 

It wasn’t just your professionalism that drew him in though. He had spent many hours in hyperspace sitting silently at your side while he cleaned the Firepuncher and you idly chatted about whatever facts you had learned about the planets your missions had taken you to, or whatever recent medical journal you had read. He just liked spending time with you, which until you had come into his life was a completely foreign feeling for him. He didn’t like people. But you seemed to be the exception. It also didn’t hurt that you were beautiful. Warm and radiant in a way that made his heart pound if he stared at you too long.  He ached for you in a way that was decidedly unprofessional but he kept those feelings locked up tight. He knew there was no chance that someone as bright and beautiful as you would fall for someone, well, someone like him. Asshole wasn’t his nickname for no reason at all. 

His feelings weren’t helped by the fact that the two of you were often paired on missions. You could handle yourself and knew how to use a blaster if needed but as a medic, your job was to stay out of the fight while still being close enough that you could  get to them quickly if needed. As the squad's sharpshooter, he often was separate from his brothers, finding the spot that would give him the best advantage. It only made sense that on the missions where you couldn’t hang back close enough on The Marauder, you would join him instead. He wouldn’t admit that he enjoyed the times the two of you spent together, holed up in some spot keeping a close eye on your squad, but he did. Crosshair wasn’t soft, he was harsh and unyielding but that didn’t ever seem to bother you. He gave little but you took and gave right back. Never with frustration or annoyance. He knew he didn’t always deserve your kindness but you gave it anyway, without fail. You just seemed to understand him in a way that very few others did. 

As much as he believed that you couldn’t possibly have any feelings beyond friendship towards him there were times, as the two of you lay side by side in the dirt when you would look at him just so, that he couldn’t help but wonder if maybe his feelings weren’t so one-sided. It was dangerous, this line that the two of you toed. You were dangerous. Because he knew that if he let himself he could get completely lost in you. 

Currently, the two of you were staked out at the top of a rocky cliff on some backwater planet he didn’t care enough about to remember the name of. The plan was relatively simple, his brothers would storm the village where the Seppies had dug in while he provided covering fire. In and out if everything went according to plan. 

“Did you know that the residents of this planet worship the god of the moon? They believe he brings them good fortune. Each full moon they throw a festival and offer up gifts as a thank you,” You said suddenly breaking the relative silence between the two of you. It was a habit of yours that he liked, a way to break the pre-battle tension. 

“Hm,” Crosshair mused as he looked through his scope. He could see his brothers getting into position as the squad of clankers cleared the ridge just in front of the village. A series of small, calculated explosions set up by Wrecker had drawn them out and hopefully in doing so would reduce the risk of the planet's inhabitants being harmed in the ensuing fight. From this current vantage point, Crosshair would have no problem picking them off as they approached the rest of his squad, “That sounds like a lot of work.” 

“Especially when you consider that full moons occur twice a month on this planet,” You added as you peered through your own scopes to watch the battle unfold. 

“Must be nice to get so many gifts,” Crosshair replied as the first shots sounded. He took aim with ease, picking off droids one by one as his brothers got to work. 

“Must be,” You said, your tone considering, “Though if I were a god I don’t know if I’d be all that excited about a bunch of pickled vegetables.” 

“So ungrateful,” Crosshair tsked as he picked off another super battle droid. You laughed at his reply and he gave himself a mental pat on the back at his ability to not get distracted by such a lovely sound. 

He fell into an easy rhythm, picking off droids, calling out their movements and targets to his brothers. It was all second nature to him, as easy as breathing. However, from past experience, he should have known it couldn’t be that easy. 

“I think they might have spotted you,” You said suddenly, a quick glance over at you showed you were still peering intently through your own scopes. Sure enough, the cliff shook as a blast hit about 30 feet below their position. 

Crosshair hissed as small rocks and debris rained down from the impact, he immediately scanned the field, looking for the source of the blast. His heart kicked up a notch as he found the barrel of a tank aimed directly at him. 

“Crosshair, look out!” You cried, panic lacing your tone as you scrambled to your feet. He was moving without even thinking, just catching a glimpse of the blast of energy headed straight for them as you both threw yourselves from your positions. 

“No!” Was all Crosshair was able to shout as he looked back towards you before the earth between you exploded. He saw your body tumbling through the air momentarily before he too was launched by the blast. The world became a blur as he was thrown head over heels, tumbling through space before he landed with a hard crunch against the rocks. The air completely left his lungs as he landed in a heap. His head spun as he wheezed, trying to pull in a full breath. The pain from the rocks around him bit through him even with his armour on. He was definitely going to feel this one later. 

With a pain-filled groan, he rolled over, pulling himself up into sitting. It took another long moment but finally, his lungs found their normal rhythm again as he surveyed the scene around him. The spot he had been perched on had been obliterated, a pile of rubble all that was left of his sniper's nest. A sort of numb shock washed through him as he realized that without your warning he likely would have been blown to pieces too. 

Suddenly a loud and agonized cry caught his attention. His blood ran cold as he looked at the place where you had once stood. He was on his feet before his mind could fully comprehend it, any aches he had been feeling completely forgotten about as he rushed to the edge of the cliff. 

His heart was pounding in his chest, terrified of what he might find, as he reached the edge and he took in the sight below him. You’d been thrown clear off the cliff by the blast, landing on a ledge nearly 10 feet below. Even from this distance a quick scan of you was all it took for him to figure out what had you crying out in such agony. You were in a contorted seated position, hands grasping at your leg. It appeared as though you had tried to right yourself in the air and had likely landed on your feet but the impact had been too severe as now the sole of your right foot completely everted, twisted unnaturally and offset from your leg.  

Crosshair felt as though he were going to be sick as he half slid then jumped down the cliff side to land at your side. Agony was written clearly across your face as you looked up at him. A white knuckle grip on your injured leg told him just how badly you were hurting. 

“Get my kit,” you managed to ground out between your teeth before you let out another soft cry of pain. 

Your gear had been separated from you during the blast but thankfully it was intact only a few feet away. Crosshair grabbed it and was back at your side in an instant. His heart was still pounding painfully against his ribs as he looked at you. On top of the obvious leg injury, you were also covered in scrapes, likely from the flying debris, having not had any armour to protect you like he had. 

“What do you need me to do?” He asked, trying to remain stoic as you took the bag from him, unzipping it with shaking hands. 

“I need pain meds. And then I’m going to need you to cut off my boot. We need to straighten it,” you hissed between clenched teeth as you pulled a hypo-needle from your bag. 

If Crosshair had thought he was going to be sick before it was nothing compared to how he felt now. The thought of laying his hands on you and causing you more pain was unthinkable. He watched in painful silence as a tear slid down your face, your hands still shaking slightly as you drew up the medication from the vial. 

“Can you administer this?” You asked, holding the needle out to him, “My hands are shaking too much, I’ll probably miss the vein.” 

Wordlessly he took it from you, all of the training he had received taking over and putting him on autopilot. He had done this countless times for his brothers before, he could do it now too. But that fact that it was you made it different. You should be the one helping him, not the other way around. You should have never been put in such a dangerous position. You could have died…he could have lost you. 

You let out a soft hiss of air as he administered the shot into the crook of your arm. He was about to say something to you, what he wasn’t sure, provide reassurance maybe, but he was cut off by his comm pinging. 

“Crosshair, come in,” Hunter’s voice filtered in through his helmet, “Are you alright? We saw that blast.” 

Crosshair looked up briefly towards the battle, it was clear the number of droids was diminishing but the firefight was still intense. He lifted his hand to his earpiece to answer his brother, “I’m fine. Doc took a hit. Working on her now.”

“Keep us updated,” Straight to the point but the concern in Hunter’s voice was clear. 

Crosshair didn’t bother with a response to that, simply turned his attention back to you. You were quickly beginning to look worse by the minute. 

“There’s a pair of shears in my bag that’ll cut through my boot,” you said, taking the needle from him and dumping it back in your bag. With that done you leaned back slightly propping yourself on your hands as you let out another shaky breath. 

“We should just get you out of here,” Crosshair said, he would never admit out loud the amount of fear that was lacing through him at the thought of causing you more pain, even if it was to help you in the long run. 

“We need to stabilize my leg first. It will only get worse if we leave it,” You replied in the same professional air as always, as though you were talking about a patient and not your own injury. 

Shears in hand Crosshair moved down towards your leg. Up close it was even worse, the unnatural angle of it made his stomach roll. Blood was leaking out between the bottom of your pants and the high top of your combat boot, staining the ground below. 

“It’s fine Cross,” You said, clearly noticing the discomfort he was trying hard to conceal. Normally he would have warmed at the gentle way you always said the shortened version of his name but right now the only thing he felt was dread, “Just do it.” 

He let out a breath he hadn’t realized he had been holding before pulling off his helmet and setting it beside him on the ground. As advanced as his HUD was he needed an unobstructed view of what he was about to do. 

At first, you were silent as he started cutting, your leg shaking slightly the only sign of your discomfort. But as he began to peel away the layers of bloodied boot and sock a string of curses so impressive that it had him looking up at you in surprise flew from your mouth. 

He couldn’t stop the small smirk that made its way onto his face, “Who knew you had such a mouth on you Sunshine.” 

“Just take my kriffing boot off,” you hissed. Even from where he was sitting he could see the way your shoulders heaved with each painful breath. 

He did as he was told, his entire body tensed as you let out a painful howl as he pulled your boot away from your foot. A cold sweat broke out on the back of his neck as he looked at your mangled ankle. Blood was flowing from the opening where the bones of your leg were clearly visible, your foot off centre and from the looks of it hanging on by nothing more than skin and tendon. He'd seen hundreds of horrible injuries throughout the war, many worse than this, but the fact that it was you rattled him to his very core.  

His eyes strayed back up to you as he tried to hide the horror he felt at the sight of your leg. Your eyes were shut as you took a few deep, shuddering breaths and he could see a clammy sheen on your skin that hadn’t been there before. He knew he would have to hurry before shock set in fully. 

Your eyes blinked open again and he knew the look you were giving him was meant to be reassuring, “You have to move my foot back into place, it’ll help restore circulation.”

“But the pain-“ Crosshair started but you cut him off with a shake of your head. 

“I’ve taken enough pain medication to sedate a bantha. I’m not even going to remember any of this has happened within the next few minutes. You have to do it, Cross, please.” 

The words in his head slipped out before he could stop them, “I don’t want to hurt you.” 

“You could never,” You said softly, reaching out to put a hand on his arm, “this is helping me.” 

He took a deep breath, “On three?”

You nodded, pain and fear mixing in your eyes as he grasped your foot, “Do it.” 

“One… two… three,” He tried to think of anything else as he pulled on your foot, attempting to realign it with the rest of your leg. 

The cries you let out would haunt him for the rest of his life. He stopped once your voice croaked out and when it felt as if he couldn’t budge it anymore. It was definitely straighter and the amount of blood flowing had lessened but the bone was still exposed. 

Content that he had done what he could and anxious to get you off this kriffing cliff he looked back up at you for his next directions. All the blood had drained from your face and his heart rate kicked up a notch as he watched your chin dip down towards your chest. Your entire upper body suddenly sagged back down towards the ground. He managed to move in time to catch you by the shoulders, lowering you down softly to the ground as you let out a weak and pained moan. 

“Look at me,” he demanded, his hands firmly on your shoulders. Your eyes opened at his command, staring blankly up at the sky first before sluggishly finding their way to his face, “focus on me.” 

“I am,” you replied weakly as he gently mopped at the cold sweat on your forehead. You let out another groan before you seemed to pull your thoughts back together, “there’s dressings and an air cast in the bag. Put the dressing over the open wound and then put on the splint, there’s a valve on the side to inflate it. It’ll keep it stable and put pressure on the wound.” 

He quickly went about doing as he was told, his anxiety was amping up with each passing minute. He needed to get you to safety. You let out a few more painful cries as he applied the dressing and the splint but they were weak, your voice hoarse from your earlier screams. 

“Antibiotics,” you mumbled once he had finished and moved back up towards your head. You gestured with a flailing hand towards your bag. He wasn’t sure if it was the medications kicking in, the pain, or a combination of both but you were clearly becoming weaker and more out of it by the minute. 

He was thankful that you were so meticulous about your kit as he dug through the bag and quickly located the vial of antibiotics. You didn’t even flinch as this needle went it, simply blinked up at him sluggishly as he went about cleaning and getting everything stored away. 

“You did good,” you said weakly, your words beginning to slur together. Your hand waved towards him and on instinct he reached out to grab it, lacing your fingers together and giving you a reassuring squeeze. 

“We have to get you out of here,” he replied tersely as he surveyed the area around them. It wouldn’t be an easy journey down the cliff. He would have to fully support you over the rough terrain, if not carry you completely. The only saving grace was that likely thinking the blast had destroyed you both the clankers were no longer firing on your position. But the sounds and sights of an ongoing firefight in the direction he knew his brothers were meant a pickup would be unlikely at this time. 

He looked down at your prone form again, some of the colour had returned to your face but not enough to ease his nerves, “Can you sit up?” 

You groaned but managed to pull your upper body back up into sitting without his help. You seemed to wobble slightly before righting yourself and looking up at him, “m’ok.” 

“Clearly,” he scoffed before he could stop himself. He grabbed his helmet and put it back on, activating his comm as he kept a close eye on you. 

“Hunter," He barked over his comm, "I’m moving Doc now. We’ll rendezvous at The Marauder.”

“Copy that. We’ve got things under control here,” Hunter replied instantly, the slight breathlessness in his voice over the comm the only sign that he was in the midst of battle. 

Crosshair wanted to snark out that from the sights of the explosions in the distance, it didn’t look like they did but he let the moment pass. You were more important than getting under his eldest brother's skin at the moment. 

Disconnecting his comm he stood, he looked down at you for a moment, weighing his options before he stooped and wrapped his arms underneath your own, hands resting on your shoulder blades. He didn’t give you any warning before he pulled you up onto your good foot, hoping the lack of warning would cut down on anticipation pain but you still moaned with the movement. He had to steady you as you swayed like a tree in the breeze once fully upright. 

“Do you think you can try walking?” He asked after you had stilled. He didn’t miss the white knuckle grip you had on his armoured arms, your face pale and clammy once more as he helped take most of the weight of your injured right leg as you held it up off the ground. 

“Gotta try,” you mumbled. He gave a stiff nod and then maneuvered himself to your side, his arm going around your waist as you slipped an arm over his shoulders. He pressed his hip into you to take the brunt of your weight, your injured leg sandwiched between you both. It was awkward due to your major height difference but it would have to do. He managed to grab your kit with his free hand, slinging the bag over his shoulder before he helped you hop forward on your uninjured leg.

It was instantly apparent that this wasn’t going to work as you let out another horrible cry that cleaved his heart from his chest. The vibrations from his and your own movements were likely too much for your injured leg and you crumbled against him. 

With a single smooth motion, he hooked his arm under your knees and around your back, scooping you up into his arms. In the past when he had pictured you in his arms thousands of times before this situation had never even been considered and he desperately hoped it would never happen again. 

Your head lolled against his chest as he took a moment to adjust to your weight, the rest of your body was essentially limp in his arms. You weren’t heavy by any means but it was an adjustment to rebalance himself with the added weight, especially on such rough terrain and with your kit and the Firepuncher slung across his back. 

You were mostly silent as he began making his way down the cliff side but every once in a while a soft moan would escape your lips. He tried his best not to jostle you too much but thankfully by your lack of protest, it seemed like the pain medication had fully kicked in. 

The dissent was slow and Crosshair couldn’t help but now curse his decision to chose this spot for his sniper's nest. You wouldn’t even be in this situation if he had chosen somewhere else. He sighed, desperately trying to keep his feet underneath the shifting rock as he picked his way down the cliffside. 

He had made it about halfway down the cliff without any sound from you, the gentle puff of your breath against the sliver of exposed skin between his helmet and the neck of his blacks the only sign you were still with him.

He was about to duck his head to check you were still awake when a sudden soft mumble caught his attention, “You’re my favourite, you know.”

He scoffed, tilting his head down as best as he could to try and get a better look at your face, “You really overdid it on the drugs.” 

You tipped your head up to look at him, shaking it slightly in disagreement “No is true,” you slurred before your head lolled back onto his shoulder 

Your next words were so quiet we wouldn’t have heard them had you not been so close but as it was they made his insides freeze, “Sexy sniper.” 

He let out a sound that was half scoff, half chuckle, “You’re delirious.” You couldn’t possibly feel the same way about him that he felt about you. It just had to be the drugs talking. 

“No m’not,” You protested again as your one hand came up to wrap weakly around his neck, “You’re s’handsome.” 

“Stop,” he hissed. He couldn’t stand it. Couldn’t stand the way your words, addled by medication or not, were getting his hopes up. 

“Ok,” You mumbled but your hand stayed laced around his neck, “S’ok if you don’t like me back. Just thought you should know.”

His entire body felt as if it were on fire as he gazed down at you. Your words reverberated around his skull, solidifying something in his very soul. He was so bloody kriffed. You had your eyes closed, head resting gently on his shoulder, looking for all the galaxy as if you hadn’t just said something that had completely ruined him.  

He couldn’t even begin to think of what to say back to you. A part of him was convinced the words out of your mouth were completely drug-fueled nonsense, but the other part wanted to hold onto them and on to you and never let go.

His comm blaring in his ear cut off any sort of response he could have come up with. 

“Crosshair!” Tech’s voice vibrated through his helmet, “You have droid starfighters headed your way!”

Crosshair cursed as he looked up and sure enough, he spotted two blips in the sky growing bigger by the moment. 

“Cross?” You asked weakly from his arms, sensing his distress. 

There was no time to answer you though, he moved back towards the centre of the cliff, as far from the edge as he could get as the fighters roared overhead. The cliff shook, debris raining down around them as hyena droid bombers dropped their load. Crosshair cursed again as his feet slid beneath him, he held you as close to his body as possible as the cliff continued to crumble around you both. He wouldn’t drop you, he couldn’t.  

You both let out a cry as he slid further down the cliff, feet scrambling as he desperately tried to maintain his balance. You cried out in agony at the shifting and jostling as Crosshair slipped once more, going down to his knees as the ground beneath him gave way. He managed to keep you in his arms but the pained noises you made as the earth below you both finally settled indicated that more damage had been done. 

“Put me down,” You cried out, writhing in his arms, “Put me down. Put me down.” 

It was the last thing he wanted to do, he just needed to get you to the ship. But as he watched all of the remaining colour drain from your face he knew he didn’t have much of a choice. 

You screamed in pain as he placed you down on the ground again, hands clawing at his chest plate as you screwed your eyes shut. Even through the filters in his helmet, he could smell fresh blood. He risked a look at the splint and while it still looked intact clearly the past few minutes had not done you any favours. 

“Easy,” He said softly as he moved his hands to your shoulders in an attempt to steady you, “We need to get you back to the ship.”

“No, no, no,” You chanted as your bloodshot and glassy eyes popped open momentarily, “I can’t.”

“You have to,” Crosshair barked out, his tone harsher than he intended. The stress of the situation was eating away at him. He just wanted to get you to safety. He knew that between the pain and the medication you weren’t in the right state of mind. Knew that had the situation been reversed you would have been hauling his shebs back to the ship no matter how much he protested but he just couldn’t bear the thought of causing you so much pain. He’d do it, but it would kill him every step of the way.  

Your eyes had slipped closed once more and your voice was weak as you spoke, “Just leave me. I’m no use to you guys anyways.” 

“Now you’re just being dramatic,” Crosshair hissed and rolled his eyes even though he knew you couldn’t see his expression. 

You didn’t say anything, but he watched you for a moment, the way your chest was rising and falling raggedly. You needed more help than he could give. 

A sudden explosion off in the distance, likely Wrecker’s doing, caught his attention. He watched the cloud settle before he reached up to activate his comm. 

“Tech we’re going to need a pickup,” Crosshair barked, “Doc is fading fast.”

“Copy,” Tech replied, “ETA 10 minutes.” 

Clearly whatever the explosion had been had been an end to the firefight. He transmitted his location to Tech and then he waited. 

It was one of the longest 10 minutes of his life as he kneeled over you, one of your hands clasped between both of his as it shook. Your eyes had slipped closed again but he could tell by the way you were breathing that you weren’t asleep. He wasn’t even fully aware of the words that were leaving his mouth but he just felt the overwhelming need to reassure you in some way. It’s what you would have done for him or any of his brothers in the same situation. 

He finally let out a breath of his own as the familiar sounds of The Marauder's engines filled the air around them. Your eyes popped open as it came into position, hovering beside the cliff edge. 

Wrecker came barreling down the ramp, jumping onto the ledge with ease and quickly covering the distance. His eyes widened slightly at the sight of you but he didn’t falter in his movements. 

“Hang in there, doc,” He said as he kneeled down, “we got ya!” 

You let out another painful moan as he lifted you up and into his arms. The lack of volume and fight from you worried Crosshair immensely but he didn’t hesitate. He grabbed your kit and followed quickly after Wrecker as he carried you onto the ship. 

Tech was at your side in an instant, directing Wrecker to lay you down on the middle bunk in the back of the ship. You groaned again as Wrecker gently laid you down but it seemed that all of the energy had been sucked right out of you. You were so pale and weak that Crosshair felt almost feral with the amount of fear that was coursing through him. You needed to be ok. Anything else was not an option. 

He couldn’t bring himself to leave your side, even as Wrecker left and Hunter appeared in his place. Tech ignored you all, the medscanner passing over you as he worked. His brow was furrowed beneath his goggles in concentration as he assessed your condition. All the while you remained still and silent, your eyes only opening for brief moments. 

“This is beyond my skill level, she has suffered a severely displaced compound fracture. She will require surgical repair of this,” Tech replied matter of factly before he turned to look at Hunter, “Set course to Kamino, it is the closest medical facility to our current location.”

“On it,” Hunter replied moving instantly off towards the cockpit. Technically as a civilian member of the GAR, they should have been taking you to the medical base on Coruscant but that would add days to their travel, time they did not have. 

“Will she be ok?” Crosshair asked, tension evident in his voice. 

Tech looked at him briefly before his eyes returned to the medscanner in his hands, “She is stable for now. It is a serious injury but I am hopeful she will make a full recovery once in the proper hands. You did a good job stabilizing her in the field.”

“I just followed her instructions,” He grumbled. 

“In any case, a good job,” Tech repeated, “I will do my best to make her comfortable for the journey and ensure she remains stable.”

Tech became a flurry of movement as he bent over you, checking your vitals and looking for any other injuries. Crosshair couldn’t bring himself to leave your side. Not when you were like this. Instinctually he kept creeping forward, the distance between the two of you unbearable. He just wanted to touch you, to feel that you were still with them, still alright. 

“Crosshair!” Tech snapped, pausing in his work drawing up more pain meds for you, “Your hovering is distracting and not helpful. Go clean yourself up. You are covered in blood.”

Crosshair growled at his brother, unwilling to part from your side when you were in such a state. A biting response was on his tongue but Tech didn’t let him speak, “You know she would say the same if she were not so out of it.”

As if sensing you were being spoken about you perked slightly, eyes opening as you turned your head towards the sounds of their voices, “Cross,” You called out again softly.

He shouldered past Tech, who tsked in annoyance, and kneeled down beside your head, reaching for the hand you held out towards him, “What is it, mesh’la?” 

“Did you know that on this moon they worship the gods?” Your eyes were big and glassy as you looked up at him. Your tone was completely serious, as though this was the most important information you had ever told him. 

He scoffed and ignored the jumbled way your sentence had come out, “Yeah, I even hear they give gifts to their god every full moon.”

Your eyes widened even more, comically so, “Wow. Who told you that?”

“I must have read it somewhere,” He replied with a soft smirk as he squeezed your hand once more. 

“Crosshair,” Tech’s annoyance at the continued interruptions was evident as he spoke, “You. Are. In. The. Way.”

He hissed, glaring up at his brother briefly but he stood, pulling away from you slightly. He looked back down at where you were still gazing up at him dreamily, “I have to go clean up, you got blood all over me, Sunshine.” 

“Whoops,” You replied with a delirious giggle, “My bad.”

An actual chuckle left Crosshair at that as he pulled his hand from yours, “Don’t cause too much trouble for Tech while I’m gone.”

“You’ll come back?” You asked, concern suddenly written all over your face. 

“In a flash,” He replied, and suddenly as though he were possessed he stooped, pressing a soft kiss to your forehead. As he pulled away he didn’t know what had come over him, or when he had grown so soft. But he found he didn’t care as he noticed the content look that had replaced the worry on your face. He waited for your eyes to slip close once more before he turned away from you. 

He instantly froze, bristling as he noticed the smug look on Tech’s face. He had clearly paused whatever he was doing to watch the interaction. 

“If you mention this to anyone I will put a blaster bolt between your eyes,” Crosshair hissed venomously. 

If anything, Tech only looked more smug at Crosshair’s response, “It is amusing that you think your affections for her are a secret,” He replied, “However, I do promise that I will not mention what I have observed here today to anyone else.”

“You better not,” Crosshair growled, unable to think of anything better to say before he once again shouldered past his brother as he headed off to change out of his gear and clean himself up. He chose to ignore the embarrassment that was burning through him at Tech’s words.  

He had never gotten out of his gear and cleaned himself so quickly. He returned to your side in under half a standard hour, clean from the small sonic shower on board and a fresh pair of blacks covering his body. 

Tech didn’t even look up as he approached, “She’s stable. All we can do right now is let her rest,” he explained as Crosshair returned to bunks. 

Crosshair watched him silently as he stood. Tech gave him a pointed look that he did not like but chose to ignore, “I’ll be in the cockpit if she needs anything.” 

He kneeled down beside your head once more, no longer caring what his brothers might think if they saw him with you. Your breathing had thankfully evened out and a bit of colour had returned to your face but you still looked unwell. Slowly and hesitantly he reached out his hand to brush some of the hair off your forehead. 

His touch caused you to stir and your eyes popped open, finding him instantly. A small, though decidedly hazy, smile grew on your face, “You came back.” 

He scoffed, “Of course I did.” 

“I missed you,” You said casually, clearly having no idea what effect your words were having on him. He really was so truly kriffed. 

He swallowed the emotions that were threatening to overwhelm him and settled for his usual snark instead, “You did? How touching.” 

Much to his delight that got a chuckle out of you. Clearly, you weren’t so out of it that you couldn’t still enjoy his usual quips, “That’s why you’re my favourite Cross.” 

He knew that with the drugs running through your system you wouldn’t remember much, if any of what you had said to him. But even if things between you went right back to the way they had been before he would remember them and the way you had made him feel forever. 

“Get some rest,” he replied, his voice gruff with all of the unspoken feelings bubbling inside him. 

“You’ll stay?” You asked, hand reaching out to grasp his wrist gently. Your eyes were wide, as you looked at him, the faintest line of concern creasing your brow. 

He slid his hand down to interlock his fingers with your own. He watched as a small smile bloomed on your face at the motion, “Always,” he replied. You smiled up at him before closing your eyes, pulling his hand into your chest, clearly intent on keeping him close. 

Always.  He felt the word straight down to his very bones. The first step had been to admit it to himself, just how much you had crept under his skin and how much he wanted to keep you there. Always. Now maybe one day he’d be brave enough to tell you just how much he truly meant it.

[numberoneredriotfan]

It makes me really upset that Kirishima and Bakugou's friendship wasn't highlighted too much after season 4 or the shie hassakai arc. And I don't even mean this in a shipping sense. Kirishima was a HUGE part of Bakugou's character development even if it wasn't shown that way.

At first, Kirishima is introduced as one of the only people who can handle Bakugou and all his intensity- as well as his explosive (haha get it) personality. This is showcased more clearly in the sports festival arc.

Kirishima offers to be Bakugou's horse, because he's the only one that can handle his explosions with his hardening (which is probably the only quirk in 1-A that really effectively deflect Bakugou's explosions, so nobody else could really be in that position other than Kirishima.) Also, he without hesitation called Bakugou a dumbass and told him to remember his fucking name, even after seeing how angry he can get when provoked. And this isn't even the last time Kirishima does this. So Kirishima becomes someone who can handle Bakugou, but their friendship doesn't end there.

Most this development probably happened off-screen, but overtime Bakugou started to see Kirishima as an equal. Not just someone who could handle Bakugou and put up with him, but as someone who is able to stand by his side unwavering while also understanding his perspective to some extent (which I assume is rare for Bakugou, considering most other's view of him is either "what a jackass" or "wow he's so cool").

Which is why I really love this scene they added in the anime, which shows that Kirishima understands Bakugou, even if he seems like just an arrogant asshole. I think the only other character who understands Bakugou on that level is Deku (and of course his classmates learn to understand later on, but I'm talking about early on).

Kirishima was arguably the first person who Bakugou saw as an equal. Something I noticed about early Bakugou is that he either had a superiority complex or a inferiority complex with someone, and there was really no in between lol. That was, until Kirishima. Who came in as someone who neither above or below him. While Kirishima doesn't take any of Bakugou's shit, he also doesn't treat Bakugou like just a jerk.

This is of course, showcased best in the iconic Bakugou rescue scene.

This scene was honestly just such a good show of their bond, and how Bakugou sees Kirishima. Because as Deku pointed out, Bakugou wouldn't have taken anyone else's hand. We know this for a fact, as this was the same man who would've rather been kidnapped by villains then accept Deku's help-

So yeah. I fully believe if it was anyone other than Kirishima to reach out a hand to him, he would've straight up ignored them and would've tried to fight the villains himself. (Death is one thing but his ego is another apparently-).

It would be ignorant of me to say that Kirishima was the only one who understood Bakugou, because that's just not the case. Because as we saw multiple times throughout the series, Deku (as previously stated) understands Bakugou very well from the very beginning. However, while this opens up the gateway for a reconciliation with Bakugou in the future, Bakugou's complex feelings about Deku make it impossible for them to form a relationship based on that. Kirishima came in as a breath of fresh air, in which there was no lingering resentment or complexity involved. And of course, later in the series, we see the other members of class A understand Bakugou on that level as well. But in the beginning at least, Kirishima was the only person he could sort build that bridge of understanding with.

And even if it's never stated explicitly, I truly believe Bakugou wouldn't have opened up to relationships with his other classmates if it weren't for Kirishima befriending him. Or at the very least, it would've taken him a lot longer.

And the we have to take into accountability of how much their friendship has helped KIRISHIMA develop as a a character. As we can see, from the very beginning, Kirishima has a bad habit of comparing his quirk to the others of their class.

This isn't his fault necessarily, as in their society it's probably drilled into your head from a young age that you can only be a good hero if you have a flashy quirk.

And because of this, rather than looking at his own strength, he pays a lot of attention to how he compares to others.

So clearly, he's hard on himself and has a lot of self-esteem issues. (I am him. He is me-)

And it's clear he looks up to Bakugou a lot from just...Bakugou being Bakugou. Bakugou's a very forward person who jumps in without thinking (for better or worse), which is almost everything Kirishima wants to be. I honestly think that might've been- at least partially- what drew Kirishima to Bakugou. He wanted to be more like him, even if he wouldn't admit to himself. He, in a way, was putting Bakugou on a pedestal, even if he didn't realize that Bakugou sees him as an equal.

But then, Bakugou tells him this:

Which in the end, pushes Kirishima to reach his full potential, which came in form of unbreakable. Bakugou, who was originally someone he looked up to and admired, eventually became his motivation. His drive, even. And it wasn't just Bakugou, obviously, but Bakugou still contributed a lot.

And after all this, their friendship gets pushed to the side so we can focus on Bakugou and Deku's reconciliation. Which isn't bad! I love Bakugou and Deku's friendship as well! And I will say it holds a lot more importance to the plot of the story, and it wasn't necessarily a requirement to have Bakugou and Kirishima's relationship showcased more.

But still, I feel as though one could assume that once Bakugou got his character development from Kirishima, he didn't need anymore. Like he was just a stepping stone in order to reach his redemption with Deku. Which is just a sad way to look at their relationship :( and I truthfully believe that that just isn't the case. We did get a few crumbs, but even then we never got to see them talk one-one as friends after a while.

This isn't supposed to be Kiribaku propaganda or anything like that, and some of this will probably fall into headcanon territory and is just my interpretation of their characters. This also isn't me saying that their relationship is more important than Bakugou and Deku's, or Kirishima and Mina's, this is just more of a vent on how I would've liked to see more of their friendship.

Edit: just wanted to put this here as well

(From mha ultra analysis)

[mediumsizedfountain]

It's been years, but I'm back on my Star Wars shit.

I think the thing I love most about Oshamir as a ship is how much of a female power fantasy it is, and the show unapologetically leans into that aspect.

Like, Qimir as an undeniably powerful and dangerous man, but he very rapidly started shifting into the more submissive person in the relationship.

He's not a tyrant or a fascist or a warlord or anything like that which could be triggering and icky. He's a lone wolf committed to his own freedom and making his own path as he sees fit. He's a killer, but only when those deaths either protect/defend his freedom and independence, or advance the cause of his power and his personal journey.

HOWEVER, bro is also clearly lonely and touch starved, and willing to take on fake personas in order to find something resembling friendship.

This is where the female power fantasy comes in.

The minute he meets Osha, he's so immediately taken with her that he drops his fake persona and nearly reveals himself. Then when he is ready to kill everyone else to protect himself, he goes out of his way to avoid killing Osha, flirts with her mid battle, keeps checking that she's paying attention when he's talking. The man is crushing on her big time. He even seems impressed every time she fights against him.

By the end of the battle, when he finds her unconscious in the forest, our boy is already halfway in love.

What better power fantasy could there be? Not only does the most deadly man in the galaxy not want to hurt her, but he's totally smitten when all she's done is point weapons at him.

The fantasy only gets more intoxicating from there. Not only does he tuck her into bed and tend her wound, this guy COOKS HER SOUP and respectfully sets up his makeshift bed across the room.

From the moment she picks up his lightsaber, Osha starts losing her fear of him, because it's obvious this dweeb is just peacocking by showing off his nice body and his artfully arranged tendrils of hair and flirting non stop.

The way he literally puts his life in her hands and remains unflinchingly honest and straightforward with her while helping her work through her complicated emotions is only icing on the cake. Not to mention he keeps inviting her to join him, but every time she rejects him he just quietly pouts and respectfully backs down.

I'm not going into detail about how he follows her around like a devoted puppy for the rest of the season while also respecting her personal boundaries.

The bottom line is: Leslye Headland created the ultimate female power fantasy by giving Osha an overpowered monster who instantly falls for her, willingly and eagerly defangs himself, devoted himself to her needs, and submits himself to her choices.

It's also perfectly clear that he can still transform into a monster, but now he's OSHA'S monster. And he's also Osha's biggest fanboy and her eager emotional support person.

Leslye just knows what the girlies like and served it up to us on a platter.

We are so fed. Now just hoping Disney has the guts to keep trying something new by giving us a second season.

[hyperfixatedimagines]

The Queen’s Ward (Alicent x f!reader)

Summary: Alicent and the lady (y/n) Velaryon had never seen eye to eye but as Lady (y/n) is forced to be a ward underneath the Queen’s icy gaze she finds that Alicent is not all that she seems, and that while her gaze is icy her touch is quite hot.

A/N: This is my take on book canon Alicent. Very much not canon compliant. It’s a little smutty but nothing crazy. As always, let me know what you think!

From a young age (y/n) had been the very image of elegance and grace. Her manners were impeccable and her beauty immeasurable. Princess Rhaenys had weathered a lifetime of compliments about (y/n) by the time (y/n) was ten years of age.

The dragon egg placed in her bed never hatched but (y/n) claimed Silverwing at the age of seven. The she-dragon had been spotted resting in the sand dunes of Driftmark one summer and (y/n) was determined to claim her birthright.

And claimed it she did. Silverwing bonded to her instantly.

To the world, especially to lady Alicent Hightower, it seemed as though Lady (y/n) had no flaws. She was perfect. 

While Princess Rhaenyra was dubbed the realm’s delight, young lady (y/n) was dubbed the realm’s beauty.

As (y/n) grew, so did the pressure for her to marry. Lord Corlys had been approached by many, many, suitors by the time (y/n) had her first moon blood but Rhaenys had always fought against it.

Princess Rhaenys had realized that two of her children were different. Laenor did not care for girls and (y/n) did not care for boys. (y/n) was much more skilled in disguising such a fact but Rhaenys saw through it.

Unfortunately, Rhaenys would not always be able to protect her eldest daughter from the politics of their station.

-

(y/n)’s favorite summers were the ones she spent out at sea with her father, where court graces were not expected and it mattered more that she could successfully steer a ship than if her needlework was precise. Out at sea with her father and his crew she could breathe a little easier.

But her second favorite summers were those spent with her cousin, Rhaenyra, in King’s Landing.

Princess Rhaenyra was, in many ways, what (y/n) always wished to be. Princess Rhaenyra could do as she pleased. She had no care for propriety or what others would say. She was free.

(y/n) envied that in many ways. She was always painfully aware of how she had to behave to be the very image of perfection. It was the only armor she had in a world that would see her dead if she ever revealed who she truly was.

But when (y/n) was with Rhaenyra she could be a little freer.

The only downside to spending time with her cousin was the fact that Rhaenyra was good friends with Alicent Hightower.

Alicent was four years their senior but Rhaenyra had become quite taken with her.

Rhaenyra saw Alicent much the way Laena saw (y/n). So Rhaenyra never believed (y/n) when (y/n) expressed her distrust of Alicent.

(y/n) never had proof of Alicent’s duplicitous nature but she never felt at ease near the Hightower girl. She could never name why, but eventually she would know the reason all too well.

-

All Alicent’s girlhood she had heard the many praises of (y/n) Velaryon.

(y/n) Velaryon was graceful. (y/n) Velaryon was beautiful. (y/n) Velaryon was perfect.

Alicent hated (y/n) Velaryon.

And then she actually met (y/n) Velaryon.

She met (y/n) one summer early on in her time at the Red Keep. Alicent watched (y/n) and Rhaenyra play in the gardens from afar. 

She couldn’t help but admit that (y/n) Velaryon really was beautiful.

Alicent’s stomach filled with butterflies the first time (y/n) had spoken to her.

(y/n)’s smile was bright like the sun, and just as warm.

The two girls had been friends at first. But that friendship didn’t last long.

Alicent became ambitious. Just as ambitious as her father, Otto Hightower. With that ambition came the realization that she felt something sinful towards (y/n).

Alicent felt desire. Desire for a girl.

And she would not let that desire be her ruin. She was going to be queen one day.

-

Alicent had just turned eight and ten. (y/n) was four and ten, as was Rhaenyra.

The Queen had died, and the King needed to remarry.

Many young women had been brought forth as eligible brides, including Alicent and (y/n).

Lord Corlys had never pressured his daughter or his wife on the idea of (y/n)’s marrying, until the King needed a new wife. Corlys desired nothing more than his blood on the iron throne. This was his shot.

“(y/n), it is time for you to do your duty as a lady of House Velaryon and wed,” Lord Corlys had declared.

(y/n)’s protests fell on deaf ears. Her father would not be moved, and her mother could not help her.

So (y/n) sought refuge in the many empty halls of the Red Keep. She sat behind one of the hall’s large stone pillars and cried.

She knew that Rhaenyra and Laena would be in her chambers waiting for her and she could not bear to be near them in her state.

So (y/n) brought her knees to her chest and buried her face in her legs.

“I did not think you were capable of such cries of sorrow,” a cold but alluring voice said beside her.

(y/n) lifted her face and found Alicent standing against the wall opposite her.

Lady (y/n) wiped away the remaining tears with the sleeve of her dress.

“Lady Alicent. I apologize you had to hear that.”

Alicent shrugged. “Your tears matter not to me.” She approached (y/n) and lowered her face to (y/n)’s. “Although, seeing the realm’s beauty driven to tears is a pretty sight to see,” Alicent said with a smirk.

(y/n) stood and dusted herself off. She would not let Alicent get to her.

So she smiled a tight smile. “I must be on my way. Good day Lady Alicent.”

But just as (y/n) went to walk away Alicent reached out and grabbed (y/n) by the arm.

Alicent pulled (y/n) back. “We have not seen one another in quite some time (y/n). It would be rude not to dine and catch up as old friends do.”

(y/n) clenched her jaw. Dining with Alicent was the last thing she wanted to do. Then she sighed. She would probably be queen and as such she had to embody the best of the realm’s manners.

“Perhaps we can meet for tea later this evening, but I must take my leave now. Excuse me.”

(y/n) tried to pull away but Alicent would not let go. (y/n) looked down at her arm then up at Alicent. 

This was most impolite. (y/n) couldn’t imagine what had possessed Alicent to be so rude with her.

“You’re not excused (y/n).” 

(y/n) met Alicent’s gaze. She found nothing but determination, and anger, in Alicent’s gaze. It frightened (y/n), but it also made her feel alive. 

“Lady Alicent, I ask that you please-”

Alicent stepped closer toward (y/n), their noses just a breath apart.

“I know your father wants the King to marry you, but you will never be Queen.”

(y/n) furrowed her brows. “How could you possibly know that?”

“Because I will  be Queen,” Alicent spat in response.

“I care not for the crown. I will pray the Gods grant it to you,” (y/n) replied.

Alicent’s gaze flickered down to (y/n)’s lips then back to meet (y/n)’s gaze. 

“You are a fool not to take the crown for yourself.”

(y/n) pulled out of Alicent’s grasp. She stepped away from the older girl and shrugged.

“Then I am a fool, Lady Alicent.”

Alicent watched (y/n) walk away, the daughter of the sea snake had some bite in her after all.

-

Just as Alicent had declared, the crown was hers. Everyone but Lord Corlys Velaryon was in high spirits during the King’s wedding.

But no one was more gay than Lady (y/n). She had been saved by the girl she liked the least.

(y/n) made it a point to thank the new Queen.

The young Velaryon girl watched as Queen Alicent walked out of the great hall. 

She followed her.

Once they were out in the courtyard (y/n) called out to the Queen.

“Your Grace.”

Alicent smiled at the sound of (y/n)’s voice. She quickly schooled her features into feigned annoyance as she whipped around to face (y/n).

“What is it?”

(y/n) bowed and smiled at Alicent. “I wanted to thank you.”

Alicent almost didn’t register what (y/n) had said, the sight of the realm’s beauty bowing to her occupied her sole focus. After a moment Alicent looked away from (y/n). “Thank me?”

“I am safe from being married off once again. So I wanted to thank you.”

Alicent’s gaze snapped back towards (y/n). She furrowed her brows. 

“You truly are a fool (y/n). I am the Queen of the seven kingdoms. You can’t imagine the power I have now.”

(y/n) let out a small laugh. “I don’t wish for power, your Grace. But I’m glad you have what you have always wanted.”

Alicent stared at (y/n), confused. “If you don’t wish for power, what do you wish for?”

“I don’t know,” (y/n) replied, avoiding Alicent’s gaze.

Alicent stepped towards (y/n)

“Your Queen orders you to speak the truth.”

(y/n) looked up and swallowed hard. “I want to never marry.”

(y/n) sighed loudly. She had never actually said that out loud, to anyone.

Alicent’s stomach filled with butterflies. It made her very happy to hear (y/n) had no desire for marriage. Butterflies still filled her stomach whenever (y/n) was near, and the thought of (y/n) marrying filled Alicent with dread.

“Why,” Alicent asked.

(y/n) looked taken aback by Alicent’s question. She looked away from the Queen.

“That does not matter.”

Alicent furrowed her brows once more.  “If I ask you a question lady (y/n) you answer it.”

(y/n) clenched her jaw. Only Alicent would take (y/n)’s thanks as an opportunity to debase her.

“I do not wish to leave my family to bear children for some lord and be a slave to his every whim.”

Alicent stepped closer to (y/n) once more. “A woman’s highest honor is to wed and birth a man’s children.”

(y/n) held Alicent’s gaze. “I don’t agree, your Grace.”

Alicent tilted her head slightly, appraising (y/n) in the faint moonlight of the hall. “What if you loved  him, and he loved you?”

“I don’t believe in love,” (y/n) replied.

Alicent brows raised. “The realm’s beauty doesn’t believe in love?”

“Do you?” (y/n) countered, though she knew the truth.

(y/n) knew Alicent loved power. She didn’t think the new Queen was capable of loving anyone or anything else.

Alicent’s gaze flickered to (y/n)’s lips, then (y/n)’s bosom, then back up to (y/n)’s eyes. 

“Maybe I do,” Alicent whispered. 

No one had ever looked at her that way Alicent was looking at her.

(y/n)’s heart started to race. “You do?”

Alicent raised her hand and cupped (y/n)’s face. She ran her thumb across (y/n)’s cheek.

“Of course.”

(y/n)’s skin burned under Alicent’s touch, but (y/n) liked the heat. 

She had never felt that way before. (y/n) looked down at Alicent’s lips. 

She had kissed girls before. Silly games girls played, practice for their husbands they would say as they giggled and twirled their hair in between their fingers.

(y/n) wondered if Alicent had ever played such games.

(y/n) stepped towards Alicent, their faces just a breath apart. 

Alicent smiled. 

(y/n) detected no malice in her smile. She smiled back.

“I-,” (y/n) stammered. 

The magic of the pair’s private moment burst when Princess Rhaenyra ran out of the great hall and into the corridor, screaming (y/n)’s name.

Alicent pulled away from (y/n) and cleared her throat. She started down the hall, not once looking back at (y/n).

The night’s cold breeze replaced Alicent’s hot touch and a shiver ran along (y/n)’s back.

Princess Rhaenyra reached the pair and tugged on (y/n)’s arm. “Cousin, they brought out more lemon cakes.”

(y/n) watched Alicent walk away. Rhaenyra’s pleas barely registered in (y/n)’s ears.

All she could feel was the ghost of Alicent’s thumb on her cheek.

-

Many moons passed and with them came the dawn of war. Corlys Velaryon took his son and his men and set out for war alongside Prince Daemon Targaryen. They warred to secure the islands known as the Stepstones.

While Lord Corlys warred, his wife Princess Rhaenys ruled Driftmark. At her side was her eldest daughter, Lady (y/n).

Lady (y/n) had taken to helping her mother rule Driftmark. She had even been granted the final word on a few local disputes. Her mother beamed with pride at the sight of (y/n) taking her new role seriously. (y/n) studied every book of laws in the keep’s library.

The longer the war went on the more (y/n) worried about her father and brother. Laenor had become quite the sailor and dragonrider but he was still just a boy. Lord Coryls was fierce and a brilliant strategist but (y/n) could only imagine the worst.

She tried to put on a brave face for her mother. She worried just as much, if not more, than Lady (y/n) did.

So when a messenger arrived in Driftmark with the declaration that Lady (y/n) had to be taken to King’s Landing to be ward of the King, Princess Rhaenys cried a river of tears.

Upon hearing the message (y/n) knew that Alicent was behind it. The King would never make such a declaration of his own accord. Making lady (y/n) a ward of the King would further divide their houses, not mend the rift between them that occurred when the King chose Alicent Hightower over Lady (y/n).

Still, (y/n) packed her belongings and said goodbye to her mother and sister. She made the journey to King’s Landing atop her dragon. Both she and her mother agreed she could not leave her dragon behind.

Lady (y/n)’s arrival in King’s Landing was a quiet one.

Princess Rhaenyra had met (y/n) at the dragonpit to say hello. Her cousin was eager to see her and was overjoyed that (y/n) would be staying with her. The Princess confided in (y/n) that she had been right about Alicent. She was not Rhaenyra’s true friend.

The Queen had bore a babe, a boy, for the King.

Ever since then Alicent had been nothing but cruel to Rhaenyra.

(y/n) empathized with her cousin, and promised they would be a united front against the Queen’s cruelty.

When the two returned to the Red Keep no one was there to greet (y/n). Rhaenyra led (y/n) to her chambers then excused herself as she had the duty of being her father’s cupbearer and was already late.

Once alone (y/n) let out a deep sigh. The chambers that had once felt like a second home now felt like a gilded cage. 

(y/n) wondered why the Queen would call her to King’s Landing, after so many years apart. Her last memory of her was the ghost of her thumb on (y/n)’s cheek. Her stomach knotted, with excitement and nerves at seeing her again.

-

The Queen stormed into lady (y/n)’s chambers. 

 Lady (y/n) stood from the desk where she had sat, writing her family a letter on her arrival. “Your Grace.”

The Queen froze as she laid eyes on Lady (y/n) for the first time since their almost kiss outside the great hall. 

Lady (y/n) was even more beautiful than she remembered. 

Alicent hated her even more for it. She folded her arms across her chest as she looked around the room. 

“Lady (y/n), a shame to see you have not settled in just yet.” 

(y/n)’s head turned to the stack of unpacked trunks in the corner of her room. She had told the maids to only unpack one of them.

“I won’t be here long. There is no need to unpack everything, your Grace,” (y/n) replied with a strained smile.

The Queen pursed her lips as she tilted her head, examining lady (y/n).

“Your optimism is refreshing, Lady (y/n).”

(y/n) stood tall. She was no longer a young girl, she was a lady grown. 

“It is not optimism your Grace, but the assurance that once I have spoken with the King he will see there is no need for me to remain in King’s Landing.”

The Queen let out a huff. She walked to the table towards the far side of the room and took a seat facing (y/n).

“If that is the case then I must admit it is startling to see you have not grown any less foolish in your time away, Lady (y/n)”

(y/n) turned to look at the Queen.  “It is the truth, your Grace.”

The Queen looked over at the fruit on the table. She grabbed a few grapes and slowly brought them to her mouth. 

“Your father started a war without the King’s permission.” the Queen said in between bites of fruit. “We cannot allow for the realm to think such actions are allowed,” she finished with a small smirk. 

“Then why not impose taxes upon our lands? Why keep me as a ward while the war still rages.” (y/n) furrowed her brows. 

She did not believe Alicent’s motives were purely political. It simply didn’t make sense.

The Queen stood from her seat and walked towards lady (y/n). “That does not send a strong enough message to the other houses.”

(y/n) instinctively stepped back as the Queen continued to approach her. 

The Queen closed the gap between them and reached up to cup (y/n)’s cheek.

“Such behavior must be punished,” the Queen whispered.

(y/n)’s face flushed with pink. She looked away from the Queen’s heavy gaze but did not move away from the Queen’s grasp.

The Queen smiled. “The gossips of court spoke about how beautiful you had become in recent moons... .perhaps I brought you here to see if there was truth in their words.”

Lady (y/n)’s heart beat rang in her ears. She stepped away from Alicent and turned away from her.

The Queen watched in delight.

“I-,” (y/n) stuttered as she struggled to compose herself.

The Queen took a deep breath, schooling her features into polite indifference. 

“Or perhaps I brought you here to reveal that the realm’s beauty is nothing but a sick deviant.”

Lady (y/n) whipped around to face the Queen. “I am not a deviant.”

The Queen smirked. “Come, we must not keep the King waiting for dinner,” she said as she made her way towards the door.

Lady (y/n) clenched her jaw and followed the Queen out of her chambers.

-

The first few moons at the Red Keep were dreadful for lady (y/n). 

With no choice but to obey the Queen’s endless requests for (y/n) to wait on her every whim. 

Lady (y/n) had not yet been able to get a moment alone with the King. At the dinner welcoming her to the Keep the King made little comment to (y/n) being a ward of his or the reason why. (y/n) had not seen the king since. 

But everything would soon change for lady (y/n) and the Queen.

-

It was a night like any other.

Lady (y/n) had been called into the Queen’s chambers to prepare the Queen for sleep. 

She had helped Talia ready the Queen for bed before but this time (y/n) noticed she was alone. 

The Queen stood in front of the mirror, she stared at (y/n). 

“Well, what are you waiting for,” Alicent asked. 

Lady (y/n) stepped forward and unlaced the Queen’s dress. 

(y/n) made sure to focus only on the bodice in front of her. She could not let her mind wander, lest it go to carnal places.

Alicent watched (y/n) through the mirror. She could feel (y/n)’s fingertips leave goose pimples in their wake as (y/n) unlaced the bodice. It took all her strength not to close her eyes and savor the younger woman’s touch. 

Once the bodice was undone lady (y/n) walked around to face the Queen. Lady (y/n) avoided the Queen’s gaze as she tugged at the dress. 

Alicent’s voice caught in her throat as Lady (y/n) lowered herself to help her out of the dress. 

“You can step out of the dress now, your grace,” (y/n) said as she looked up at the Queen. 

Alicent looked down at Lady (y/n) and felt her heart thump faster in her chest. 

The realm’s beauty on her knees for me, Alicent thought. She bit her cheek. She knew better than to think like that. 

Alicent looked away from Lady (y/n) and stepped out of the dress that pooled at her feet. 

Lady (y/n) took the dress and placed it in a nearby trunk. She grabbed the Queen’s nightgown and returned to Alicent’s side. 

Alicent stepped into the nightshirt and avoided (y/n)’s gaze as the Velaryon girl fastened the buttons at the front of the shirt. 

Lady (y/n) fastened the buttons of the Queen’s nightshirt as fast as she could. She felt an overwhelming heat spread throughout her with every second she passed so close to the Queen. 

The final buttons were along the Queen’s throat. 

Lady (y/n)’s eyes briefly met the Queen’s. 

Her hands stopped. 

Alicent noticed. She swallowed hard. 

“Why did you stop,” she whispered. 

Lady (y/n) stared into the Queen’s eyes. 

Alicent hadn’t always been cruel to her, (y/n) recalled. They were friends for a time. They were closer to each other than either was to Rhaenyra. 

“You stopped first,” (y/n) replied mindlessly.

Alicent’s brow furrowed. “Excuse me?”

“You stopped being my friend first…your grace,” (y/n) said then looked away from the Queen. 

She quickly finished the last of the buttons on the nightgown then stepped away. 

Alicent turned and watched (y/n) walk across the room. 

“Why bring that up now?”

(y/n) made it to the window on the far side of the Queen’s chambers. The fresh air hit her face, a welcome respite to the blazing heat that bloomed inside her. 

The Queen stepped towards Lady (y/n). “I asked you a question lady (y/n).”

(y/n) sighed. “It was a thoughtless statement, your grace.”

Alicent frowned, she wanted to press (y/n) for the truth but she knew it would be fruitless. 

“Do not let it happen again lady (y/n),” the Queen replied. 

Lady (y/n) took a deep breath of night air then turned around. 

“If that is all your grace, I will take my leave.” Lady (y/n) curtsied and turned to leave. 

Alicent put a hand up to stop (y/n). “I have a final request for tonight lady (y/n).”

Lady (y/n) faced the Queen. “How can I be of service to your grace.”

(Alicent lays down in her bed and brings a cup of wine to her lips, watching the reader over the rim)

“I want you to read to me,” the Queen declared as she poured herself a cup of wine from the nearby table. 

“Read to you,” Lady (y/n) mused.

The Queen nodded. “Yes, now help me into my bed.”

Lady (y/n) approached the Queen’s bed and pulled back the furs and quilts so that the Queen could lay down. 

Once she was comfortable, the Queen looked up at (y/n) expectantly. 

lf a cup of wine from the nearby table then got into bed. 

“You may begin.”

Lady (y/n) furrowed her brow. “I don’t have a book, your grace.”

The Queen shrugged. “Then you can tell me a tale.”

Lady (y/n) swallowed the urge to roll her eyes. All she wanted was to retire to her own bed.

But alas, that was not an option. 

So lady (y/n) plastered on a saccharine smile and said, “As you wish your grace” as she walked to the chair by the mantle. 

“Not there,” the Queen barked. 

“Where do you wish for me to sit, your grace?” Lady (y/n) asked with a strained smile.

The Queen pointed a finger to the foot of her bed. “There.”

Lady (y/n)’s stomach dropped. But she did as she was ordered to. She walked to the foot of the Queen’s bed and sat down, her back to the Queen.

“Face me,” Alicent commanded. “I want you on your knees.”

Lady (y/n) turned to meet Alicent’s gaze. “On my knees?”

Alicent took a long drink from her goblet. “Was I not clear lady (y/n)?”

“As you wish, your grace,” (y/n) replied through gritted teeth.

(y/n) grabbed her skirts and lifted them as she knelt down on the bed. She could now hear the thrumming of her heart as it pounded in her ears. 

“What tale will you tell me tonight lady (y/n)?” The Queen asked, a devious smile on her lips. 

So pretty on her knees, Alicent thought. 

“Whatever tale you wish to hear your grace,” (y/n) replied lifelessly. 

“Tell me of your travels lady (y/n). I was told you traveled to Dorne with your father.”

“I did indeed, your grace.” (y/n) began. “Well the trip itself was quite long but we sailed and I enjoy the salt air.”

(y/n) felt herself relax as she recalled that summer she traveled with her father. She was quite young but had insisted on going. 

“Sunspear was beautiful, with water gardens and trees filled with various sweet fruits.The markets outside of the keep were lively and there was an aroma of spices that filled the air.”

(y/n) closed her eyes and almost felt the heat of the Dornish sun. 

Alicent watched with a small smile as (y/n) relaxed. The smile faded as she remembered that was the summer after she and (y/n) stopped being friends. 

“When my father took me to the market I found this emerald ring with a dove carved into the gold band.” (y/n) opened her eyes and met the Queen’s gaze. “It reminded me of you.”

Alicent’s voice caught in her throat again. 

“That was the summer after our big fight. Do you remember?” Lady (y/n) asked. Though she doubted the Queen remembered. 

Alicent looked away from (y/n). 

“You’re excused lady (y/n),” the Queen commanded. 

Lady (y/n) looked down at her hands as she got off the Queen’s bed. She turned and made her way towards the door. 

“I didn’t have a choice (y/n). I couldn’t be your friend anymore,” Alicent said as (y/n)’s hand reached for the door.

Lady (y/n) turned her head back towards the Queen but Alicent had already pulled the quilts and furs over her.

(y/n) opened the door and left for her quarters. 

-

A few weeks later Lady (y/n) entered the Queen’s chambers and walked to the bed. She knelt on the foot of the bed just as she had countless nights before. 

She had brought with her a book on the maester’s moon charts with her. She wanted to tell the Queen about how sailors used the moon charts when out on the ocean.

“What have you brought to read to me tonight lady (y/n),” the Queen asked as she emerged from the partition next to the bed. 

Lady (y/n) looked up from the charts and swallowed hard when she saw the Queen in her nightgown. It was cut quite provocatively at the chest and it was so thin (y/n) could see the outline of Alicent’s curves. 

Alicent smirked when she realized lady (y/n) was staring.  “Already kneeling at the foot of my bed, ready for me. Such a good girl.”

Lady (y/n)’s face went pink and she quickly looked down at the moon charts. 

The Queen got into her bed and settled in. “You may begin, Lady (y/n).”

(y/n) began to tell the Queen about moon charts but she was cut off my a loud knock at the Queen’s door. 

The Queen rolled her eyes. “Who calls?”

“It’s Talya, your grace,” Ser Criston’s voice boomed. 

“Let her in,” the Queen replied. 

Talya entered the Queen’s chambers and bowed. 

“The King has requested your company for the night, your grace.”

The Queen sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Alright, tell the King I am on my way.”

Talya nodded and bowed once more before leaving. 

The Queen kept her eyes closed for another moment before she got out of her bed and reached for a robe to wrap herself in.

Lady (y/n) gathered her charts and got off the bed. 

“What are you doing?” The Queen asked.

“Talya said-,” Lady (y/n) began.

The Queen cut her off. “I did not grant you leave.”

“But the King-,” Lady (y/n) argued.

The Queen cut her off once more. “Called for me, not you. You will stay put, on your knees, until I return.” Alicent bridged the gap between her and lady (y/n). “Is that understood?” She asked, their faces inches apart.

Lady (y/n) nodded. “Yes, your grace.”

A heat bloomed between (y/n)’s legs at the sound of Alicent’s commanding voice. She got back on the bed and knelt facing the bed. 

The Queen stepped closer towards lady (y/n). 

“Good girl,” she whispered in (y/n)’s ear. 

A chill ran down (y/n)’s back. She bit the inside of her cheek and closed her eyes. 

The Queen started for the door and slowly her footsteps started to fade. 

Once the Queen was gone lady (y/n) debated getting off the bed and going back to her chambers. 

She knew that Alicent would make her pay for not obeying her orders…a part of lady (y/n) wondered what that punishment would be, and a smaller part of her felt a rush of excitement at the thought of being punished by Alicent. 

Like the good girl she was, (y/n) stayed. She continued to knee at the foot of the bed. She poured over the moon charts as she waited for Alicent to return. 

Sometime after the hour of ghosts (y/n) ended up falling asleep. 

Alicent returned during the hour of the wolf, weary and spent from her time with the King.

She entered her chambers and smiled when she saw (y/n) asleep on her bed. Alicent walked over to where (y/n) lay. She reached out and slowly ran her finger across (y/n)’s cheek.

Lady (y/n) startled and quickly sat up when she realized the Queen had returned. 

“Your Grace, my apologies. I must have fallen asleep. I am so sorry your grace I-,” lady (y/n) rambled.

Alicent’s languid smile remained. She placed her finger on (y/n)’s lips. 

“Your Queen grants you leave,” she whispered. 

Then Alicent dropped her finger from (y/n)’s lips and made her way to her side of the bed. She pulled back the furs and quilts and got in. 

Too stunned to react, the lady (y/n) took a few moments to collect herself. Then she got off the Queen’s bed and made her way to the chamber door. 

Once at the door (y/n) turned back towards the Queen. 

The Queen laid in her bed, facing the window at the far end of the room and picking her nails absentmindedly. 

“I hope you sleep well, Alicent,” (y/n) said. 

Alicent snapped out of her thoughts and turned towards (y/n). She smiled softly. 

“Thank you (y/n). Sweet dreams.”

(y/n) returned Alicent’s smile then turned and left the room.

-

More moons passed.

 Lady (y/n)’s nightly visit to the Queen was now a welcome event as things had softened between them.

(y/n) entered the Queen’s chambers as she did every night. 

This night Talya was helping the Queen into her nightgown and (y/n) had walked in while the Queen was in her thin shift. 

Lady (y/n) quickly averted her gaze. “Apologies your grace. I did not see Ser Criston outside but I should have knocked.” 

Talya placed the nightgown on the Queen. The Queen smiled at lady (y/n). 

“It’s alright (y/n). We won’t be able to have our nightly reading.” Alicent stepped towards (y/n) and sighed. “The King wishes for me to stay in his chambers tonight.”

(y/n) shrugged. “I can stay if you wish. That way I can read to you when you return.”

Alicent’s smile returned. “That’s kind of you lady (y/n).” Then she let out another sigh as Talya left the room. “I won’t return until the morrow.”

“Oh,” (y/n) replied, a small frown tugged at the edge of her mouth.

“You look as though this upsets you lady (y/n),” Alicent replied with a small smirk. “I imagined you would be giddy at the news.”

(y/n)’s face warmed. She had been caught frowning. She looked away from the Queen.

Alicent stepped closer to (y/n). “Could it be that you don’t hate my presence as much as you used to?” She whispered.

“I appreciate routine, your grace,” (y/n) replied, a small smirk of her own on her face.

Alicent laughed and placed a hand on (y/n)’s arm.

“I needed something to lighten my mood. Thank you (y/n),” Alicent said and gave (y/n)’s arm a gentle squeeze.

Blush returned to (y/n)’s cheeks at the Queen’s touch. She was glad Alicent was already headed towards the door and wouldn’t notice.

The Queen walked out of her room and left (y/n) alone. (y/n) knew she could not linger so she turned to follow the Queen out the door but she stopped when she noticed the open bottle of perfume oil on the table next to the door. 

(y/n) reached for the handkerchief in her dress pocket and before she could think twice about it she dabbed a bit of oil on her cloth. She inhaled the sweet perfume of lavender and honeysuckle.

(y/n) smiled to herself and hid the handkerchief back in her pocket. Then she left the Queen’s bedchamber.

-

It was a night like any other. 

Lady (y/n) knelt in front of the Queen, reading a passage out of a book of history from Essos. 

But on this night the Queen had drunk a bit more wine than usual. And her gaze lingered on (y/n)’s lips longer than it usually did.

“Put the book down,” Alicent commanded. 

Lady (y/n) did as the Queen told her to. 

“Is there something-”

(y/n)’s words died in her throat. 

The Queen got out of her bed and crossed the room to pour herself more wine. She downed it in one gulp then turned to (y/n).

“Lay down.”

Lady (y/n) furrowed her brow. “Why?”

“You don’t need to know why. I am your Queen and I commanded you to lay down on my bed,” Alicent replied sternly. 

(y/n) was not sure where Alicent’s anger had come from. Alicent had been far more cordial to (y/n) in recent days. She wondered why the sudden change in demeanor. 

But Alicent would not give her time to wonder. 

“Now,” Alicent barked. 

(y/n) did as she was commanded to and laid down. Her heart started beating faster. 

She could not see Alicent but (y/n) could hear Alicent cross the room. 

Alicent sat in a chair opposite her bed. She had brought the pitched of wine with her and she poured herself another cup. 

“I want you to take your nightgown off.”

Lady (y/n) sat up. “Absolutely not,” she objected.

Alicent stood. “Are you defying an order from the Queen?”

(y/n) stared at Alicent, mouth agape. “No I simply don’t understand w-”

“It does not matter if you understand or not. I am the Queen,” Alicent replied. 

(y/n) swallowed hard. Her heart beat loud in her ears. She could not do what had been asked of her. 

“Fine, I’ll do it for you,” Alicent spat. 

The Queen approached lady (y/n) and reached for (y/n)’s nightgown. Lady (y/n) grabbed the Queen’s hands. 

Alicent met (y/n)’s gaze. 

“How dare you,” Alicent roared. 

“Just tell me why,” (y/n) replied. 

Alicent stared into (y/n)’s eyes. (y/n)’s eyes begged for any reason. 

(y/n) noticed how tired Alicent’s eyes looked. Then she recalled that the King had called for her many times the past couple nights.

Alicent swallowed hard. “I need it.”

(y/n) nodded slowly. “Okay.”

Alicent stepped back and watched as (y/n) stood and undressed herself. 

The nightgown pooled at (y/n)’s feet. She bent down and picked it up. (y/n) laid it down on the bed then laid back down.

“Now what,” (y/n) asked. 

The night air drove a chill down (y/n)’s body.

Alicent sat back down in the chair facing the bed. 

“Spread your legs.”

(y/n) did as she was told. She spread her legs open.

This is wrong, (y/n) thought to herself. We can’t do this. 

But desire started to pool below (y/n)’s stomach. So (y/n) quieted the voice inside her that told her to grab her nightgown and run out of the Queen’s room.

Alicent took a long drink from her goblet. 

“Have you done this before,” Alicent asked. 

(y/n) let out a laugh. “Have I ever been naked on the Queen’s bed before?”

Alicent bit her cheek to stop herself from laughing. “Have you ever touched yourself,” she reiterated. 

The smile left (y/n)’s face. She felt her face get hot. “I uhm- I,” she stammered. 

Alicent let out a chuckle. “I’ll take that as a no.”

(y/n) took a steadying breath. “I actually have,” she confessed. 

Alicent raised her brows. “Oh.”

“Do you want me to..uhm,” (y/n) started but couldn’t quite find the strength to say the words. 

Thankfully Alicent could.

“Yes, touch yourself,” Alicent commanded. 

(y/n) closed her eyes and let out a breath. She let her hands travel down her body, slowly working their way down between her legs. 

Alicent watch, rapt. She gripped the goblet of wine so hard her knuckles turned white. 

Soon (y/n)’s fingers slipped inside her. She started off slow, just like she used to back home in the comfort of her chamber. 

After a few strokes the pace of (y/n)’s fingers quickened. (y/n)’s chest heaved as her pleasure started to build.

Alicent bit her lip as (y/n) pleasured herself. The heat between her own thighs had built to an uncomfortable throbbing. 

“Say my name,” Alicent said, voice thick with want.

(y/n)’s pace quickened again, her chest heaved harder, her breaths quickened. 

“Alicent,” (y/n) breathed as she entered herself again and again. 

“Harder,” Alicent commanded. 

(y/n) slipped another finger inside herself and pushed her fingers deeper inside her. 

“Alicent,” (y/n) moaned. 

Alicent watched as the wave of (y/n)’s pleasure reached its crest. She watched as (y/n) came undone. 

“Alicent,” (y/n) moaned as she reached the peak of her pleasure. 

Alicent stood from her seat and swallowed hard as (y/n) came down from the pleasure flowing through her. 

There (y/n) lay, open and warm with a placid smile on her face. 

(y/n) looked over at Alicent. “What now Ali.”

At the sound of her childhood nickname a swell of guilt and shame washed over Alicent. She turned around and downed the last of her wine. 

“Get out,” she said. 

(y/n) sat up, confused. “But I..why?”

The Queen turned back around to face lady (y/n). 

“Leave, before I choose against mercy and drag you out of my room to expose what a filthy whore the realm’s beauty really is,” Alicent spat. 

Tears welled in (y/n)’s eyes but she would not let them fall in the Queen’s presence.

Of course it had been a trick. Everything with Alicent always revealed itself to be a trick.

(y/n) had been foolish enough to fall for one yet again. 

Lady (y/n) grabbed her nightgown and dressed herself as she made her way to the door. She left the room without another glance at the Queen. 

(y/n) wished to never see the Queen ever again.

-

Lord Corlys’ war ended with a victory for the crown but lady (y/n) remained a ward of the Queen.

(y/n) no longer read to the Queen. In fact the Queen had unknowingly granted (y/n)’s wish to never see her again. 

But in a bitter twist life not in the Queen’s gaze was cold and unforgiving. 

Lady (y/n) was practically confined to her room. She could leave to visit the Keep’s library or to see the other ladies of court for a few hours a day but the guards had been ordered to follow (y/n)’s every move and make her dine in her room alone every day. 

(y/n) was miserable, and she was sure it was exactly what Alicent had wanted. 

Lady (y/n) finally did get an audience with the King but all he did was confirm that the only way she would leave the Keep is if Alicent let her go, or if she married. 

Thankfully a celebration was upon the Keep. The King had betrothed Rhaenyra to (y/n)’s brother, Laenor. 

A tourney would be held for their nuptials. 

The King told (y/n) she would be allowed to attend the tourney if she wished to. (y/n) jumped at the chance to be among her family once again.

-

The day of the tourney came and (y/n) raced to her mother’s arms.

Her mother asked if all was well with the King and Queen. 

(y/n) lied and said all was going well. She did not wish to worry her mother with the truth. 

Laena and Laenor rushed to give (y/n) hugs of their own. 

Love and hope swelled inside (y/n). 

-

(y/n) sat between her sister and her brother at the tourney. 

It was Prince Daemon’s turn to joust a member of House Baratheon. 

He asked for Lady (y/n)’s favor. 

“Your favor would all but ensure my win, lady (y/n). You’ve grown more beautiful with age,��� Prince Daemon said as he held his lance up for (y/n)’s favor. 

Lady (y/n) smiled politely and stood to grab her favor from the nearby table. 

As she grabbed the wreath of flowers with her house colors she noticed the look on the Queen’s face. 

Alicent was not pleased. 

(y/n) figured it was due to Prince Daemon’s presence. 

If there was someone Alicent hated more than (y/n) it was Prince Daemon. 

Lady (y/n) placed her favor on Prince Daemon’s lance. “I wish you luck, your grace.”

Prince Daemon winked at her as he galloped away. 

Lady (y/n) turned to her family. Her father wore a pleasure smirk on his face. 

Gods, (y/n) thought, he wishes to wed two of his children off. 

Lady (y/n) excused herself and exited the stands. 

She made it past a nearby tent before she felt a pair of hands pull her inside it.

It was the Queen. She was furious.

Lady (y/n) furrowed her brow.“Your grace, what is the matter.”

The Queen tightened her grip on lady (y/n)’s arms. 

“How dare you,” Alicent spat.

Lady (y/n) tried to free herself from the Queen but her grasp was firm.

“I don’t understand, your grace.”

The Queen scoffed. “You practically threw yourself at Prince Daemon like a commonborn whore.”

“I merely gave him my favor, as he asked of me.” Lady (y/n) bristled against the Queen’s grasp once more. 

But the Queen would not let go. 

She forced lady (y/n) to look at her. 

“Do you care for him? Do you wish to wed him,” the Queen asked, a slight tremble in her voice. 

Lady (y/n) looked into Alicent’s eyes. Alicent was angry, that much was clear, but (y/n) also saw a bit of fear in the Queen’s eyes. 

“I do not wish to wed anyone.” (y/n) sighed. “You know that, your grace,” (y/n) whispered.

The Queen let go of lady (y/n). She smoothed down the skirts of her dress and looked away from lady (y/n).

“I do not want to see you near Prince Daemon for the rest of the festivities,” the Queen commanded.

Lady (y/n) frowned. “That is not something I can promise your grace. He is the Prince,” (y/n) replied, defeated.

The Queen began to speak but lady (y/n) cut her off. 

“Why do you even care? It’s not as though it is of consequence to you if the Prince seeks my company,” (y/n) countered.

Alicent avoided (y/n)’s gaze. 

“I don’t have to answer to you, I am the queen.”

Lady (y/n) let out a small scoff. “You do as you please as you always have.”

The Queen met (y/n)’s gaze with narrowed eyes. “I did not grant you permission to speak so freely to me lady (y/n).”

Lady (y/n) crossed her arms against her chest. “Perhaps I’ve grown tired of this game you play with me, your grace. I am not a doll you can cast aside when you’re done toying with her.”

The Queen took a menacing step towards lady (y/n).

“You are done being mine when I command it,” the Queen declared.

Lady (y/n) would not back down this time. She remained firm.

“I will never be yours.”

The Queen pursed her lips. She stared at (y/n) for a few moments, searching for something though (y/n) was not sure what.

“You are a fool (y/n).”

And with that the Queen turned and walked out of the tent. 

Tears welled in lady (y/n)’s eyes. She blinked them away. She would not shed another tear for Alicent Hightower.

-

Lady (y/n) managed to stay away from Prince Daemon for the rest of the tourney. 

Not because the Queen told her to but because she had a real worry that the Prince meant to make her his wife.

The only thing worse than being ward of Alicent would be marrying the Prince.

But at the wedding feast she could not avoid the Prince. 

He sat to the right of her father and she had no choice but to be near him.

As the musicians started a lively tune Prince Daemon turned to lady (y/n) and asked for a dance. 

Lady (y/n) could not say no. 

She followed the Prince onto the dance floor.

Lady (y/n) didn’t need to look at the Queen to know the Queen was not pleased. 

Alicent stared at (y/n) and the Prince.

She downed another goblet of wine.

-

The song ended and lady (y/n) tried to leave but Prince Daemon pulled her close to him.

“How about another one?” 

Lady (y/n) smiled politely. “Of course, my Prince.”

She turned towards the table at the top of the stairs and sure enough, Alicent was staring daggers at her. 

Lady (y/n) turned away from the Queen and continued another dance with the Prince.

After a second dance the Prince and lady (y/n) returned to the great table. 

Lord Corlys joked they made a lovely couple. 

Prince Daemon remarked any man that could have lady (y/n)’s hand in marriage would be lucky indeed. 

“What do you say, your grace, shall we make this wedding celebration two fold?” Lord Corlys asked and raised a cup towards the King.

The King laughed and raised his cup to Lord Corlys. “A drink for the newly wed and another for the newly betrothed.”

The men laughed and drank while lady (y/n)’s polite smile faltered. 

Lady (y/n) looked to her mother for reassurance. Surely the men were not serious.

Her mother avoided her gaze. 

A lump formed in lady (y/n)’s throat. 

The Queen stood from her seat and declared she would retire for the night. 

She called for lady (y/n)’s assistance. 

Lady (y/n) sprang from her seat. “Of course your grace.”

Lady (y/n) followed the Queen out of the great hall. 

They did not speak until they were safely inside the Queen’s bedchamber. 

Lady (y/n) entered the room and immediately felt the Queen’s hands on her. 

Alicent pinned (y/n) to the wall.

“You will reject the Prince’s proposal.”

(y/n) struggled against Alicent’s grasp. “Why should I? I would wed and leave this wretched Keep.”

Alicent grabbed (y/n)’s chin with her free hand and forced (y/n) to meet her gaze.

“I will not allow such a betrothal.”

(y/n) scoffed. “It does not matter. The king approves.”

Alicent huffed. “I care not what the King approves.” She brought her face closer to (y/n)’s. “You will not leave my keep.”

(y/n) could feel Alicent’s breath on her lips. A heat bloomed inside her. Her eyes darted to Alicent’s lips then back up to her eyes.

“Why do you insist on keeping me prisoner?”

Alicent could feel (y/n)’s heart beat faster. She let go of (y/n) and walked away. “I do not need to explain myself to you.”

“Because you are the Queen,” (y/n) argued.

Alicent did not reply. She walked across the room to the pitcher of wine. She poured herself a cup.

“How long will you keep me here? Until I am old and gray?” 

(y/n) stepped closer to Alicent, demanding an answer.

“You said you never wanted to marry. I am merely fulfilling your girlhood wish,” Alicent replied as she downed the wine.

“What a gracious queen you are,” (y/n) said with a hollow laugh.

Alicent finished the last of her wine. “Lady (y/n) is beautiful, lady (y/n) is gracious, lady (y/n) is talented beyond measure.” Alicent mocked as she turned to face (y/n).  “All my girlhood I heard court sing you praises. I hated you so much.”

Alicent scoffed then started towards (y/n). “And then one summer you came to visit Rhaenyra, and I was determined to hate you…but you were so disgustingly kind.” 

She stopped when she reached (y/n). (y/n) eyed Alicent cautiously. 

Alicent tilted her head to the side and reached out to touch a lock of (y/n)’s hair.  “And you were so damn beautiful, just like they had all said.”

(y/n) turned away from Alicent’s touch. “So you hate me because I was kind to you?”

Alicent let out another hollow laugh. “You will never understand.”

(y/n) met Alicent’s gaze. “I understand that we were friends. I understand that you were kind until you became like your father, hungry for power.”

Silence lingered between them as Alicent gazed into (y/n)’s eyes. 

“I wanted you,” Alicent whispered. “I wanted you,” she repeated, a little louder.

(y/n) blinked hard. “I don’t-,” she started but Alicent interrupted her.

“My father wanted power, and he knew I wanted you,” Alicent confessed.  “He told me if I had power I could have you.”

(y/n) swallowed hard. Alicent’s voice rang in her ears, I wanted you.

At the sigh of (y/n)’s continued silence the side of Alicent’s mouth turned upwards in a sad kind of smile. “I got power, but I never got you.”

“You did that night,” (y/n) replied mindlessly.

They had never spoken of that night in Alicent’s bed.

Silence enveloped the pair, both rendered speechless by the weight of their confessions.

Alicent looked down and reached for (y/n)’s hand. 

(y/n) let her take her hand.

Alicent laced their fingers together. 

“Don’t accept Prince Daemon’s proposal.”

(y/n) sighed loudly.  “ If it’s what my father wills, I have no choice.”

Alicent looked back up and met (y/n)’s gaze, a playful smirk on her face.

“I could betroth you to Aegon.”

A small smile spread across (y/n)’s lips. “Would that please the King?”

Alicent shrugged, her thumb caressing (y/n)’s palm. 

“It would please me.”

(y/n) let out a small laugh. Alicent returned it and together they enjoyed their brief armistice. 

-

Talya walked into the Queen’s bedchambers with another pitcher full of wine. She poured the queen another cup full. 

The Queen was in a foul mood, even for her. 

Talya excused herself and took the old empty pitcher with her. 

That morning when she broke fast with the King he informed her that Daemon’s betrothal to the lady (y/n) was all but final. 

Alicent remained in her chambers the rest of the day, drinking goblet after goblet of wine. 

Her father had tried to chastise her for acting like a petulant spoiled child but Alicent didn’t care anymore. 

It was over.

(y/n) would marry the Prince, have his children, and be his. Forever.

Alicent pulled the furs above her and buried her head in the many pillows on her bed. 

The door opened. 

“I do not wish to see anyone,” she barked. 

“Lady (y/n) is here your grace,” Ser Criston called. 

Alicent sat up, and sure enough (y/n) stood at the entrance of the room, book in hand. 

“Leave us Ser Criston,” the Queen ordered. 

Ser Criston bowed his head and left the two women alone. 

“What are you doing here,” Alicent asked. 

(y/n) smiled softly.  “I’ve come to read to you, your grace.”

Alicent scoffed then grabbed the goblet from the nightstand and downed the rest of her wine. 

“Don't you have a betrothed to read to now?” She asked bitterly.

(y/n) walked to the foot of Alicent’s bed then climbed on and knelt in front of the Queen as she had done so many nights before. 

Alicent watched her, her brows furrowed. 

(y/n) set down the book in front of her then looked back up at Alicent. 

“I spoke with my father. I informed him I wish to become a septa.”

“You wish to be a septa?” Alicent asked slowly.

(y/n) nodded. “The keep is always in need of septas is it not?”

Alicent’s brow slowly unfurrowed as she understood (y/n)’s true meaning.

“You’re staying?” She asked, tears welling in her eyes.

(y/n) had never seen Alicent cry. She gazed into Alicent’s eyes.

“Does the Queen command me to stay?” (y/n) asked.

“Only if you wish to,” Alicent replied with a tremor in her voice.

(y/n) crawled across the bed and wiped the tears from Alicent’s eyes. 

“I wish to,” she whispered. 

Alicent returned (y/n)’s smile. 

(y/n) turned to the book she brought. “I also brought the moon charts. I did not get to tell you about them the last time I read to you.”

When (y/n) turned back to face Alicent their faces were inches apart. 

Alicent took a steadying breath. 

(y/n) looked at her expectantly. 

Alicent reached up and cupped (y/n)’s face. “Don’t move,” Alicent commanded. 

(y/n) waited with bated breath as Alicent slowly closed the gap between them. 

Lady (y/n)’s eyes fluttered closed as she felt the Queen’s lip against her own. 

The moon charts next to the couple would go unexplored for the rest of the night as the Queen finally claimed what was hers and lady (y/n) realized she did believe in love after all.

[aliciavance4228]

The Odyssey: Funny Moments

Most of you liked my "The Iliad: Funny Moments" post, so I decided to make this one as well.

1. When Telemachus asks Odysseus what kind of help they have for taking down the suitors, Odysseus basically says, "We've got Zeus and Athena on our side. Are you sure that'll be enough?"

2. "Brother, who blinded you?" "Nobody! Nobody did!" "...Then we're going to go back to sleep."

Taken to the logical extreme in a comic book adaptation where Odysseus and his men gave him fake names:

"Brother, who blinded you?"

"Nobody! Idontknow! Idontcare! Or maybe... Idontremember!"

"So that's why they called him Polyfool."

3. After his crew opened the bag of winds thinking it had treasure and caused a huge storm, Odysseus briefly considers suicide as valid as an option to preserving through hardship.

4. The sheer, mind-boggling, testicle-shriveling amount of crap that Odysseus and his crew get put through when trying to get back to Ithaca can be viewed as hilarious in a cringe comedy kind of way. By the time Odysseus gets home and realizes that his wife has been badgered and harangued by suitors for a decade one could be forgiven for thinking that his wanton slaughter of them all was less about their violation of guest rights and more just blowing off some steam on a morally unambiguous target.

5. When briefly visiting the Underworld, Persephone allows Odysseus to talk with his mother and other dead people. Odysseus is absolutely terrified of her and dreads staying too long and incurring her wrath, running back to his ship fearful that she'll sic Medusa's head on him.

6. One of Odysseus's crew randomly dies by falling off a roof after a night of heavy drinking. Everyone else gets to be killed by horrible monsters and the wrath of the gods, but he instead gets to be a posthumous reminder about the dangers of alcoholism. Even better, after his death he berates Odysseus for not burying him properly when our hero goes to Hades!

7. On the way back to Ithaca, Telemachus asks a favor of Nestor's son Pisistratus, and proceeds to invoke two generations of friendship to get some help dodging Nestor's aggressive hospitality.

8. Penelope asks a disguised Odysseus to interpret a dream she had. It turns out that during the dream, one of its characters explicitly explained what it all represented, and Odysseus just repeats it back to her.

9. While disguised as a human, Athena goes to the trouble of giving a plausible explanation for her departure... then promptly blows her cover by turning into a bird and flying away in front of a boggling Nestor and Telemachus.

10. Penelope's tricks against the suitors, of which the two best known are:

At one point, she told the suitors she'd choose her next husband after she'd finish weaving a burial shroud for Odysseus's father Laërtes... And every night, she'd undo her work. She strung them along for three years and would have continued had an unfaithful maid not exposed her.

On page we see her daring them to replicate one of Odysseus's feats: she put twelve axes on the ground so that the rings in the handle would align and gave them Odysseus' unstrung bow and arrows, and told them that whoever could use that bow toshoot an arrow through all the rings would be her next husband.She also forgot to tell them it was a recurve bow that the suitors wouldn't even recognize when at rest, let alone string.

A lesser-known ploy is when she calls out the suitors for freeloading off her husband's estate instead of courting her with lavish gifts. They rush to present her with gifts, while the disguised Odysseus watches with delight.

11. Athena's response when Odysseus fails to recognize her in disguise and tells her a backstory he came up with on the spot is essentially "That's my liar! There he is!"

Credits: TV Tropes

[mockicry]

Macaques feelings towards wukong

-disclaimer this is just me rambling about something I feel is under utilised in the fandom but I am NOT putting anything else down or saying it’s bad please this just something I’ve had stuck in my head 😭.

In the shadowpeach fandom or the LMK fandom in general I often see wukong being the jealous one or the one who’s awkward and obsessed (or yandere but that’s a whole can of worms on its own) which is fine, but like even canonically in the show? Macaque is OBSESSED with wukong. (Not generally in a “positive”way.

Something happened in there friendship (probably around joining the brotherhood) where macaque stopped seeing wukong as a person and instead an IDOL and HE placed himself behind wukong (his shadow) because of it, no one else put him there and yeah there relationship in general was very much both there fault in some degree. But when you stop viewing someone as a person and instead an idea or fantasy any relationship with them is destined to fail.

When macaque revives he has neutral feelings to everyone maybe fear towards LBD at best, but realistically I don’t even think HE thinks about anyone else except wukong and even back in the brotherhood it’s just wukong not even the others call him brother because he’s not. He’s not there for them he’s there for wukong. When he revives wukong is all he thinks about, when he targets mk he doesn’t even see mk as anything but an extension of wukong just something he can use to get to WUKONG.

Am I saying macaque is a bad unfeeling guy? Well not quite (I’m not up to touching morals and good and bad with 60ft pole rn) unfeeling towards others isn’t true though. In macaques natural state of being (without wukong involved) he’s morally neutral at worst and seems to lean towards neutral good mostly but when wukong enters the picture? Nothing else matters NO ONE else matters and that’s scary.

Wukong in the show (I think this is just a narrative oversight but maybe not) doesn’t really show ANY feelings towards macaque till the later seasons, wukong fights him but only when MK is in danger he seems annoyed at macaque at best but otherwise doesn’t really seem to think about him at all, even when he “teams” up with LBD wukong pays him anymind but only because LBD is involved

[my personal head cannon is that until the defeat of LBD wukong hasn’t processed that macaque is alive and still believes it’s not really him (like he knows it’s macaque on a logical level but hasn’t processed it emotionally) (or he’s also processing that macaque is back AFTER he KILLED him if you believe he did)and that’s why he holds no emotion to him]

In conclusion macaque can be taken to ways with this like in the show he can learn to have healthy relationships and grow OR he can become so much WORSE and I think that’s what’s so fun about fandoms and shipping like yes my old gay monkeys can start to heal and move forward together healthy or they can get worse >:3

[Also wukongs lack of emotionals towards him could be explored to 🤭]

[shantechni]

Aight, so this is something I intended to make a post about eons ago before making a bunch of posts related to it, but some things happened. Anyways-

The night Leo meets Karai, or rather is ambushed by her, he's thrown for a loop by her unprecedented decision to leave before she could easily finish him off. He's almost instantly putting an unreasonable amount of trust in her after that single interaction, and you can't entirely blame the guy since she was making no attempt to kill him while exuding her mischievous nature and taunting him like they've been buddies for years. Her behavior loosened him up in a way he normally couldn't be because of his duties as a leader. Of course, the situation greatly escalates from there as one thing leads to another, and the turtles are faced with the moral dilemma of accepting Karai for their familial connection with her or shunning her like any other enemy they know as she takes almost any chance she could get to hold a tantō to their necks.

Although none were more expressive with their distrust of her than Raph, there is something interesting to take note of.

Raph is the first to find out about Karai's existence and the evidently one-sided "friendship" Leo has with her, but rather than immediately go on the offensive with Karai (extremely surprising considering she had Leo pinned to the roof right when he arrived) or accuse Leo of any wrongdoing, he simply demands an explanation from his brother. Raph observed the situation with a level head and didn't judge Leo for anything other than seeming too blasé about Karai being a Foot clan member, or for saying she wasn't intent on killing him when she threw a weapon at his head. Other than that, he kept the matter between him and Leo since it didn't seem to be a pressing issue at the moment. His trouble with Karai only really began in the next episode when he witnesses Leo needlessly showing off in front of her and even going out of his way to hide her from Splinter, Donnie, and Mikey.

Nothing's stopping Raph from telling everyone, and he certainly doesn't trust Karai enough to leave things as they are, but he puts his faith in Leo and nudges him to come clean about his new found friend twice to their brothers at least. Soon after being told that Karai was 'taken care of' (something he called total BS on), he reaches his boiling point once he discovers her following them, and his frustrations are worsened by Leo going out of his way to defend Karai when she's spelling trouble for them. As to be expected, Leo is forced to confess after she lands them in hot water and leaves them for dead while running off with a Kraang bot, but once Splinter gives him a much needed lecture, Raph forgives him and seemingly stays out of his face about the ordeal. At least until Karai approaches them with a proposition to combine their forces and fight the Kraang, something he surely would've put up more of a fight to shoot down had the others, namely Leo, not agreed to her offer after she helped them fight the Kraang stealth ship.

All of those instances, when combed through for the little things, are some of the first details the writers gave us to show a major distinction between Leo and Raph.

Raph's temper is so front and center throughout the series that the amount of patience he exercises in response to Leo's asinine decisions and trains of thought (especially early on) has a tendency of being overshadowed. He constantly, and openly, shunned the idea of Karai ever siding with them since he couldn't find it in himself to readily trust her like everyone else could, and even after learning who her real father is, he continued to question the possibility of Karai ever turning out to be good when considering her upbringing. But he still went along with Leo's wishes to help and go so far to befriend her because he knew his brother was simply trying to help someone out of the kindess of his heart at the end of the day, and Leo's only further spurred by her being their sister.

This isn't exclusive to their development with Karai, because we see later on that Raph exercised a far greater amount of that patience when Slash made his theatrical return to the team midway through S3.

One could make the argument that the writers should've had the midseason two parter focus the slightest bit more on Raph's POV since Slash used to be his pet and Leo was the only one unwilling to believe he'd changed since their last encounter, but I'd say with certainty that the minuscule amount of input we received from him is just the right amount of focus we needed. Raph doesn't blow up at Leo for his treatment of Slash because he knows his suspicions aren't baseless, and he doesn't go out of his way to prove Slash's innocence to Leo (Mikey kind of does that for him lol); he only decided to step in when the two couldn't decide on what plan to proceed with. He plainly moves aside and allows Slash to prove Leo wrong through his own efforts, all while undoubtedly believing since their last encounter that Slash isn't bad anymore and that Leo would eventually come around to make that same conclusion.

The complete opposite of Leo's stubborn behavior when it came to Karai.

Look at Leo's face, he's so silly, a goofy goober if you will

Even though she went on to turn her back on Shredder, and essentially prove that Leo was right, Raph wasn't wrong to take so much time to see Karai as a trustworthy ally. He recognized that it wasn't enough for her to just be borderline friendly and fight on the same side as them; legitimate effort needed to be put forth for them to warm up to someone like her, and her track record didn't exactly suggest that she'd readily put in that effort. Leo's fixation with turning the tables on Shredder and making things right with Splinter practically blinded him from that simple little truth though. Of course, he learned the error of his ways and clearly followed in Raph's footsteps when confronting Slash and anyone else they'd cross paths with that posed a potential threat, sometimes tending to go too deep into that mindset when he was upset with Fugitoid and Usagi.

They both learned a little bit of something from each other along the way, but the difference in how Leo and Raph grow to perceive the matter of trusting someone is so fascinating to me.