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meekmedea · 9 months

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brain rot - dis aliter visum au rambles

ugh I have so many random thoughts about this AU that my mind feels like it will explode if I don't type it out.

so this au I had where Clemensia manages to mentor Reaper (successfully)

Reaper knew full well what he was doing during that interview when he 'confessed' his love for his mentor

it's even more scandalous now that he's survived and they have to stick to the story - but mentor and tribute duo manage to make it work

Read the AU here on AO3

SPOILERS below (these are things I mostly imagined happening in this AU - some are more background things)

CLEMENSIA & REAPER

it took them a while to be close - it was like begrudging allies (on Reaper's part) to wariness, then neutral feelings - then hmm maybe we are somewhat friends - to friends - to whatever this relationship we have with each other is

they are close enough that he tells her of District 11, of his and her political leanings (they were young and drunk)

in a way, Clemensia is trapped in the Capitol, he has freedoms that she cannot (travelling between district 11 and the Capitol)- he is her only window out. Clemensia never tells him that, of course. But she also misses him a lot when he's away.

Reaper never tells her that because of his flag stunt - his family was killed. He figures out pretty quickly that she has no idea of it either.

He's very lucky that the 10th games weren't that well advertised in the districts. Because otherwise, people might have mixed feelings about him - whether that be seeing him as a suck-up to the Capitol or just doing what he did to survive. Especially with how Clemensia and him have tied their fates together so publicly with the whole 'knight/lady' role they've played up.

while he was in the Capitol, he attended many events with Clemensia - mainly because she is part of the elite, and also he will only attend if she goes with him.

but even at these events, he is pretty closed off. Uninterested for the most part to talking to just about anyone else. If anything, she gains a menacing/brooding bodyguard who just glares at anyone who just as much speaks a word that rubs him wrong about Clemensia.

There's a reason why people thought Clemensia and Reaper were lovers - and that was one of them. Their game plan when he'd been a tribute also contributes to things too.

TBH I considered making their constant appearances together is where the idea of having a Capitol escort to keep the victor in line/show them around coming from

the years where they were apart because of his 'betrayal' was hard on both of them. Clemensia refused to speak of Reaper to anyone. Reaper, on the other hand, had nobody he could speak to about her. It doesn't help that in the early years after his betrayal Clemensia remains one of the 'elite' and known as part of President Snow's close circle.

Reaper writes letters. Many letters, but never has the courage to send them out to her. Eventually when he meets Clemensia's son, he decides to give some of them to him.

both Clemensia and Coriolanus married in their late 20s, and rather close to one another. So when news comes that Clemensia is married - for a moment, he does fear very briefly that it was to Snow.

He's in his late 40s when the ribbon is sent to him from Tigris - it's the same burgundy that Clemensia tied around his wrist when they were 18. And while there's no note, he just KNOWS its from her.

there's a deleted line where Reaper tells Clemensia once they remeet after the districts have successfully rebelled, "I'd have named my son Clementine if he wasn't born a boy."

because yes, Clemensia and Reaper both have grandchildren that are meant to remind themselves of the other. Clementine (Reaper's granddaughter) is more obvious in name, but Rhea's name (Clemensia's granddaughter) is based off the greek myths and is a nod to D11's agriculture. Rhea is said to be derived from the word meaning 'earth'

CORIOLANUS VS REAPER

the beef between them

and YES, every time Reaper mentioned that Clemensia's friend was strange (pre and post games)- he was referring to Coriolanus.

Coriolanus: You are NOT good enough for my best friend, and I don't want you around her. END OF STORY.

Reaper, immediately going to look for Clemensia: Hey Clemmie!

the fact that Coriolanus despises how Clemensia allows Reaper to call her 'Clemmie' - Reaper knows it and calls her that, mostly to piss him off. Also, because he's grown fond enough of her to call her that now.

Coriolanus sort of gives off she was my friend first vibes. And he is like classist too...

to be honest, I considered both as possible/potential love interests for her, but ultimately, I decided against it. But you do see hints of where Coriolanus' route may have gone in the dis aliter visum AU

if these 2 were left alone in a room, it's not a pretty scene for long. The only thing keeping each other from killing the other is Clemensia.

CLEMENSIA & CORIOLANUS

these two could have gone in so many directions, I have to admit that my drafts had quite some variety: from love interest, to former lovers, to being in-laws. But they would have never had a happy ending

regardless, they stayed pretty close friends for quite some time. Enough that Tigris worried whether Clemensia would ever see Coriolanus for what he was

they did hook up (sort of) in their 20s - they were drunk, and both were attracted to one another - but it never went anywhere

she did have a crush on him at one point - her father admits that he thought she'd marry someone else (Coriolanus) when she announces her plan to marry Felix - I like to imagine Coriolanus and her had this sort of are they/are they not dating vibe to them when they'd been younger

Coriolanus keeps her around for a variety of reasons - 1) friendship 2) attraction (since she was never bit, she remains the prettiest in his eyes, and like most of society's eyes) 3) she's a victor 4) their little lie to Dr Gaul, if they are close, there's no reason either will betray the other --- there's more reasons, I'm sure, but I can't remember them all at the moment haha

they drifted apart with their respective marriages to others - one of those things, you know? But their children were close so they remained in contact with one another.

haha there's this whole alt scene where I imagined how their respective children were: Selene (Clemensia's daughter with Felix) + Lucius (Coriolanus' son with Livia[?])

much like Coryo + Clemmie, Selene + Lucius were good friends. Except where their parents remained friends, they did not.

Livia is livid when Lucius spurned his arranged match (she set up the match), in favour of Selene. Coriolanus is annoyed, but more so that it causes a scandal, and not much else.

the two go to Clemensia to ask for her blessing & because they know that she (and Felix) are the only who could really argue in their favour.

ultimately it is Clemensia who convinces Coriolanus to agree to it.

TBH these 2 were potential parents of Snow's granddaughter that he asks Clemensia about. but in the end, I scrapped that idea. Snow's granddaughter is just related to Coriolanus, and has no blood relation with Clemensia.

What really sealed the coffin in Coryo and Clemmie's deterioating friendship was her daughter dying because of his orders.

there was this deleted line from the scene where Coriolanus and Clemensia are arguing over her daughter's death and his son's death (since the 2 were rebels) - in this deleted scene, he says Clemensia should be grateful he kept her name/rest of her family out of this. Furious - Clemensia screams back that he might as well kill her too - for being the mother of a rebel.

had I gone down the route where Selene and Lucius having a child left behind - you can bet Coriolanus and Clemensia would have fought tooth and nail over custody for the granddaughter. Coriolanus would have won eventually - but would have yielded to the occasional visit to Clemensia.

I can't find the line anymore, but to show he bears no (little) ill-will, he would have allowed their shared granddaughter to visit. And on that first visit, the granddaughter brings along a bouquet of red roses.

the 2 former friends have this strange understanding near the end of the AU

It's kind of like how Reaper and Clemensia have this relationship at the end that there can't quite be defined by anything. But Coriolanus and Clemensia's at this point, is far more twisted, and there's no way the two would ever fully be able to reconcile.

there's an understanding at the very least- and perhaps for Coriolanus, no matter how their relationship turns out, he has this soft spot/degree of affection for her.

SHORT callout to FELIX RAVINSTILL

he is such a minor character, but in the end, Clemensia chooses him, and he is the one that she sticks with

it's such a small thing, but if you keep an eye out on the clementines in the fic, he is the first to 'give' them to her - granted he is sending them to Reaper, but he is the one who donates them to her

in all other cases, Clemensia is the one to give them out - she gives them out to Reaper, to Coriolanus - and they are never given in return to her

while she's in the hospital, though she gives clementines to Felix, it's more reciprocal by this point.

In return he brings her orange blossoms, clementine inspired desserts, dedicates his writings to a 'Miss Clementine' that later becomes 'Lady Clementine'. And even in their marriage, he ends up being the one giving them to her all the time

#tbosas au #hunger games au #reaper ash #clemensia dovecote #au where clemmie doesn't get bit by the snakes #and manages to be a decent mentor #reaper is as much as a player in the games as the mentors are/were #felix ravinstill #coriolanus snow #dis aliter visum

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lightneverfades · 3 years

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Hunger Games / Lokius AU | Soundtrack

What if the TVA puts all their captured variants in the Hunger Games, because this is their way of getting rid of the multiplying number of variants? And each variant is subjected to play their cruel game in the hopes of winning their survival and spot to live in a new timeline?

Mobius had been selected as a Mentor for a specific variant: Loki Laufeyson (aka Variant L1130). As soon as he hears that a Loki had been captured by the TVA agents, Mobius goes to greet him.

Unbeknownst to Loki, Mobius had met thousand other variants of Loki since the day he had been in service with the TVA. As a new Mentor trainee, he had tried his damndest to keep Loki alive, even though in many timelines all Lokis were considered a ‘villain’. But he sympathized with Loki, especially after Mobius started to understand Loki from his life tapes. This Loki was his 113th variant he was assigned to mentor, all of whom before him had died under his watch. But even after all this, Mobius is determined to keep Loki alive.

When Loki finds out the truth about his previous variants and current predicament, he is horrified and distrustful of Mobius, especially because he thinks Mobius will end up failing him again. He doesn’t have a choice but to trust Mobius however as he is prepared to attend the various talk shows and game training for the entertainment of the people living in the Time Variance community. There is only three more days to go before he steps into the Game Arena.

Day One

Mobius doesn’t quite tell Loki that he’d fallen for one particular Loki before, and that he’d lost him in one of the games. He knows he shouldn’t let emotions cloud his judgement, but he can’t help it when the pain of seeing his Loki, the one he’d gotten so close to in the last 73rd Hunger Games, had been killed before his very eyes. When Loki figures this out, he is even more convinced he can’t trust Mobius because his judgement is shrouded, but also considers this an advantage. He decides to use this to his advantage.

Day Two

Prepped for his debut on the talk show, Loki had been dressed in a sharp, immaculate black suit, a single TVA logo pin carrying the orange color tones is the only contrast between the darkness of his clothes as he steps onto the stage. Mobius can’t help but stare, but proceeds to watch from one of the backstage screens.

What Mobius hadn’t expected at all was for Loki to ‘confess’ to the eager crowd that he, a villain of all people, had someone close to his heart. He announces he is in love with Mobius M. Mobius to the whole audience and all hell break’s loose. Mobius is furious with Loki, not only for putting his position in the TVA in jeopardy but also using him like that in public. Loki is amused by all the chaos he’d caused. Mobius is nervous, thinking that Loki had put his position at risk by ruining their chances of getting sponsors.

Judge Renslayer, who hears about this scandal, is not amused with Mobius. She informs him that the Time Keepers will be forced to take drastic measures should any more mishaps come up again, and Mobius assures her that it won’t happen. He is left off with a severe warning.

Mobius is still angry with Loki, but he goes to Loki’s room to create a game plan because he cares about Loki staying alive. Unable to find him there, he goes to the training room and is met with a brooding Loki, who had been training non-stop according to the timer set in the room. Loki had gotten rid of his shirt and Mobius immediately is flustered by the sight of Loki. He tries to act like he isn’t affected as he attempts to get Loki to listen to him, seeing as they only had only one more day to really come up with a good plan but Loki isn’t interested in talking. He ignores Mobius, until Mobius comes directly in front of the target practice, at which point Loki has to rear his hand back just in time before he accidentally killed the man.

Loki tells Mobius that there was no way his previous variant was ever in love with a man like him, much less a TVA agent like Mobius, just to spite him. But Mobius isn’t affected by this; he’s used to Loki’s many insults. He tells Loki the one thing the god always wanted but never admitted to needing- a willingness to understand Loki and accept him, no matter what horrible things he’d done in the past, because Mobius knows that he is also no innocent, for letting these Hunger Games go on for so long. Loki finally agrees to trust Mobius with his life.

Day Three

Mobius wakes up to find that he’d been gifted at least a dozen Sponsor items for Loki, and he is shocked to find that his ‘scandalous love affair’ with a variant had actually amused many a citizen of the TVA enough to gain him some Sponsors. He is overjoyed by this and rushes to tell Loki. Loki cracks a rare smile at Mobius when he hears this and the two continue to talk about how to fight against every possible scenario that might occur in the Games arena, including Mobius’s vast notes on Loki’s many weaknesses and strengths. Loki is somewhat surprised by these observations, even flattered that someone had been watching him so closely, but doesn’t share it with Mobius. He also notices that he likes the way Mobius smiles or the way he chuckles even to his sarcastic remarks, as if Mobius was a close friend he didn’t know had. He is determined to find a way to survive, and maybe find some way to continue this friendship after he earns his freedom.

Games Day

The day of the games is finally here, and Mobius and Loki ready themselves as they are brought up to the entrance of the games arena, where Loki will face the rest of the variant contestants. He hadn’t been allowed to meet any of them, but he briefly saw some of them through the talk show and through Mobius’s information files. There were only a handful that he considered to be threats, but he was hopeful that perhaps this time he will finally be victorious.

Mobius is pretty confident about Loki’s survival chances as well, and he does his best to stay positive as he says his farewells to Loki. Before Loki steps through the arena door, Mobius gives him a dagger, which Loki immediately recognizes as his own. Loki thanks Mobius for the gift, seeing as this is the only gift a variant is allowed to take with them to the games. He jokes that he’ll come back to ‘burn this place to the ground’, to which Mobius chuckles. Loki then sets out to go against the rest of the variants in the arena.

Loki is immediately aware that his arena was a forest landscape. The moment the countdown stops, he fights his way towards the Cornucopia in the middle of the arena in the hopes of gaining supplies and food. When he is wounded by a cut, Loki instinctively tries to heal himself and realizes that magic doesn’t work. He barely escapes with enough food and weapons before he runs off. On the first few days during his stay in the arena, he sees many canons signifying the death of the variants that had been in the arena with him. He pities them but finds his survival more paramount, and is almost relieved when he finds that there is only seven more variants left for him to kill before he was free.

As Mobius tries to help get Loki some more sponsors, he is summoned to Renslayer’s office. He is informed that Loki may not be allowed to survive the games even if he wins. Mobius is horrified and demands to know why, at which point Renslayer simply tells him that the Time Keepers is considering it because Loki is a ‘high threat’. She tries to assure Mobius that his efforts will be well compensated, seeing as he had put so much time into finding ways to help his variant subject win. It takes Mobius every ounce of control not to burst into the Time Keepers chambers; instead, he steals Renslayer’s tempad when she isn’t looking to find out the real reason why Loki is condemned to death. But he finds something he hadn’t been prepared to find.

Meanwhile, Loki is winning, finding cunning ways to kill each variant in his path. Each kill fills him with a sense of remorse, but he shuts it away, because he has no luxury nor time to feel these emotions. He is not prepared, however, when he hears an announcement that new variant had been entered into the arena. He doesn’t know who he is, but when he does find out, it was in the nick of time.

Mobius had been dumped unconscious near where Loki had been hiding, and Loki immediately rushes to him, conflicted and aghast by why his Mentor was in the same arena as him. He takes Mobius to his hiding space, and he finds out that Mobius was a variant himself, and that was the reason why Mobius was put in the arena. Loki is beyond angry, but his fury gives way to another realization. Mobius gives him a knowing, weak smile, and Loki comes to the devastating conclusion that he will need to kill Mobius in order to gain his freedom.

Loki doesn’t have a lot of time to think about this new situation, however, when they are attacked by two variants who had teamed up to go against them. He is surprised when Mobius comes between Loki and the variant’s weapon, causing Mobius to get injured trying to save Loki from a blow. Loki kills the variants and furious with Mobius for doing something so foolish like that. But Mobius tells him that he doesn’t care anymore if he dies; he just wants Loki to survive, because he does love him. The wound quickly gets infected, something in the edge of the blade having accelerated Mobius’s body from fighting against it. Loki is determined to keep Mobius alive and remembers that there was a section in the Cornucopia where there were healing items that could heal almost any ailments or wounds. Although reluctant to leave Mobius, Loki heads for the Cornucopia, intent on getting those antidotes to save Mobius’s life.

Loki manages to get one of the antidotes, in the process killing one of the few remaining variants and saves Mobius. Mobius asks him why Loki had saved him. Loki tells him that he needs him if they were going to burn the TVA to the ground. It’s in this moment that Mobius tells him what Renslayer had told him. Loki is filled with rage at hearing that he was going to be eliminated. But then Mobius tells him what one of the Time Keepers had told just before he was taken away and put into the games.

If Loki killed Mobius, then the games will be finished, regardless whether the other variants survived or not. This was the only way Loki was allowed to go back to his new timeline. Mobius tells Loki that this had happened before, a long time ago, when the first variant L1130 and the younger Mobius M. Mobius had been pitted against each other in this very arena. It ended with a tragedy, where L1130 did kill Mobius. Loki held the key to whether or not the Multiverse was allowed to happen or not.

Loki thinks the Time Keepers could be lying, but then he hears a familiar voice from one of the arena screens and he is shocked to find his own face starring back at him. This is the very first variant L1130 who had killed the first variant Mobius and had claimed his position as He Who Remains.

Loki refuses to kill Mobius however, and he finds that the arena begins to splinter, the walls cracking and breaking. He Who Remains is furious, trying to persuade Loki that his survival depended on him finishing Mobius off and that empathy was his enemy. But the more He Who Remains continues to urge him to kill, the further Loki is deterred.

The timelines quickly start to deteriorate, at which point even Mobius is worried, but Loki reassures him that he has a plan; one he had been working on ever since he stepped foot into the arena. Mobius asks him what his game plan was and Loki tells him that he had disabled the runes that prevented magic from flowing through the arena.

Mobius is shocked when Loki marks a tree with a rune symbol using the dagger he’d given him. The last rune symbol that Loki had chiseled throughout the arena did its work, causing its defenses to go down. Loki’s magic comes back to him, enough to conjure a portal, and Mobius and Loki escape while the TVA burned behind them, bracing themselves for the Multiverse.

#lokius #hunger games #hunger games au #my lokius #my graphics #heh #this kind of came up yesterday when I was thinking about a what if scenario where #all the variants are put in the Hunger Games #cause in this timeline of the TVA they think the best way to appease the breaking of the universe #is to make sure all the variants die but not in a humane way #i know i have no idea why my brain thought of this #anyways #almost new year's!!!!#Ahhhh #what if loki series

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startanewdream · 4 years

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Teenage behaviour

For @sweeethinny ‘s amazing prompt: ‘Instead of Harry seeing Molly's boggart, he sees Lily's, and faces him and his father dead on the floor, while his mother panics’.

Thanks again for this prompt! I always love to explore Lily and Harry’s relationship!

Read on AO3 or below the cut:

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Harry's smile doesn't reach his eyes.

Lily has been stealing glances in his direction all night, ever since she got home from her shift, and even though he is talking and eating and acting normal, she can see there is something restrained about him.

She looks around, trying to understand what is dampening his mood - not that it would need much lately, but still, he should be more thrilled about returning to Hogwarts tomorrow, especially considering their fear that he would be expelled. Everything seems normal, though. The kitchen is full of people talking and drinking, enjoying that last-minute party, and everyone's mood seems better than usual. She sees Ron listing the qualities of his new broom to Tonks, while Hermione is talking with Remus about her project of rights for house-elves. Both Ron and Hermione are still beaming because of today’s news.

She raises her eyes to the banner Molly hanged over the dinner table. That brings a warm smile to her lips; Molly had sounded more cheerful than Lily had seen her all summer when she had told proudly of Ron being made a prefect.

Then her eyes fall on Harry again. He is looking wistfully at the banner, with just a hint of guilt shining in his eyes.

Understanding hits her.

He wanted to be a prefect.

That doesn't make much sense for her, considering how Harry always inspired himself in James and how much Harry doesn’t seem to particularly care for authority figures, but there is disappointment and hurt in his eyes, no matter how much he tries to hide it.

Maybe it was some expectation that Dumbledore would choose him? Or he feels that people don’t trust him anymore? Or maybe he is feeling like he let his parents down for not being a prefect?

Whatever it is, she will have to do something about it. This would be easier if James was there that night - Harry does have a tendency to always hear whatever his dad says -, but since he is away on Order duty tonight, Lily will handle it alone.

She looks around once more before locating Sirius and Ginny talking animatedly to each other; they are close enough to Harry so he will be able to hear them talking, so she approaches them.

‘Aubrey’s head was twice the normal size’, Sirius is saying, opening his hands to emphasize it, almost hitting Lily. ‘Oh, sorry, Lily’.

‘No harm done’, she says lightly. ‘Are you telling the infamous balloon head prank?’

‘I will let you know it’s one of the best Marauders pranks to date’, Sirius replies, seeming very proud of himself.

‘Don’t believe him, they originally wanted Aubrey’s head to shrink’, she tells Ginny conspiringly, making Ginny smirk. ‘And they didn’t even try to hide it, it led them directly into detention. No wonder you never made prefect’.

She knows Harry is looking in their direction, but she pretends to not notice.

‘Can you imagine, you and James as prefects?’

Sirius shudders, putting his hands over his heart and looking properly scandalous, just as Lily knew he would be.

‘We would never! Plus we would have to give ourselves detentions on a daily basis’.

‘Like Remus ever gave you any’, she scoffs playfully.

‘Well, he could turn a blind eye on us sometimes. Ok, most of the time’, Sirius concedes when Lily just raises her eyebrows. ‘But I remember a certain Head Girl doing the same’.

Lily laughs shamelessly.

‘If I didn’t catch you, how could I do anything? And with James as Head Boy, you certainly learned to avoid being caught’.

‘It sure helps when your best friend is Head Boy and decides the patrolling routes’, Sirius agrees, grinning.

‘Hang on’, Ginny says, frowning. ‘James was a Head Boy? Your James?’

Lily sees Harry joining their circle and she smiles to herself.

‘Yeah, we were as shocked as you when we found out’, says Sirius dramatically.

‘But he wasn’t a prefect -’

‘Head Boy and Head Girl may have been prefects, but if the headmaster thinks someone else should be, he can choose’, Lily explains. ‘It doesn’t matter whether you were a prefect or not, as long as you are responsible and trusting, really’.

‘You know, that was the only time I really considered telling Dumbledore we were animagi - we couldn’t let him think James was responsible -’

‘Come on’, Lily says fairly. ‘He had improved a lot by our seventh year, it made sense he would be a Head Boy’.

‘Oh, don’t tell my mum that’, Ginny pleads in a hushed whisper. ‘There is no way I will be a prefect next year, but then she might hope I get sense enough to be a Head Girl’. Ginny turns to Harry, shaking her head in fake panic, and Harry lets out an amused laugh.

They all laugh then, and Lily feels good when she sees Harry is more relaxed now as if remembering his father wasn’t prefect either is enough to raise his spirits.

She doesn’t say it and she doesn’t really mind, but she thinks Harry could be a Head Boy in a couple of years. Harry does have the leadership she saw in James in their last year at Hogwarts, even if he doesn’t mind breaking the rules now and then. But if he is not chosen, that will be fine for her too.

Lily hopes Harry understands this.

She shares a drink with Sirius, who is still telling adventures of the Marauders to Ginny, while keeping an eye on Harry. He drifts off to talk with Fred and George and Mundungus - a trio that speaks of trouble for her -, then he leaves them to sit on a chair, pretending to be busy drinking a butterbeer. His face is troubled once more and Lily resists the urge to sigh.

Harry’s changes of mood are more erratic than she can deal with these days. She always thought Death Eaters and bigotry would be the biggest challenges in her life, but now she thinks understanding teenage behaviour is much more difficult.

She throws a sympathetic look at Molly, who is yawning now, admiring the fact that Molly dealt with that seven times.

‘Oh, sorry, Lily’, Molly says, flushing. ‘I just woke up so early today…’

Lily smiles.

‘Go get some rest, Molly. I patch things up here later’. And when Molly opens her mouth, looking worried, Lily smiles. ‘I won’t let them stay up late, I promise’.

‘Thank you, dear. I am really tired… I’ll just sort out that boggart before I turn in -’

‘No, no, let me’, Lily offers. ‘Is that thing shaking the cabinet in the drawing room?’

‘Yes, Alastor confirmed to me tonight it’s a boggart’.

‘That’s on me then. Go rest’, Lily insists. ‘You already made too much today - helping to sort out that last-minute shopping list, this nice dinner. I’ll handle the boggart later, I will have to wait for James to come home anyway’.

Molly looks at her with a knowing expression.

‘I can never sleep before Arthur returns too’, she murmurs, and Lily is familiar with the fear shining in Molly’s brown eyes.

‘Everything is going to be okay’, she says calmly, even though they both know it is an empty promise.

Molly bides her good night and Lily watches her go.

It really must be more difficult for her, Lily thinks. Seven children, one of them not talking with the family, and Molly already lost her two brothers in the first war. That makes the Weasley braver than her and James, she ponders; they aren’t hunted. They are choosing to be part of this war.

They really are the best family. She thanks silently the day Harry decided to sit together with Ron on the Hogwarts Express.

Speaking of her son, Mad-Eye is talking to him, showing him something, and even though Alastor looks as delighted as he can be, Harry seems to be sick.

Lily turns in his direction, determined to fix the situation again, but before she can reach them, Sirius distracts Mad-Eye and Harry escapes, crossing the kitchen in quick steps and slipping through the door before anyone can talk to him.

Great.

She walks to Mad-Eye and sees he is showing around an old photograph of the first Order of the Phoenix, that finally comes to her hand. Lily looks at herself, smiling hand-in-hand with James, and is startled to see how young they both look. Well, not just them. Everyone.

And those who are not here anymore look even younger.

She sees Marlene’s grin and Dorcas’s wistful smile and longing burns inside her for those evenings talking in the Common Room, for their girl’s night out after ending Hogwarts, for all the plans they made. They are so happy and hopeful in her memories, blissful to the fact Dorcas would face Voldemort alone, or that Marlene and all her family would perish in a fire.

She never said goodbye to any of them.

‘What were you talking about with Harry, Alastor?’, she asks in a quiet voice, returning the photo to him as if the distance can lessen the pain that photograph brings to her. She feels a little bit mad at him for bringing this photo to a party.

It’s not like she can or wants to forget all of those who died - it’s just she did not expect to see the reminder of all they lost so suddenly...

‘Just showing the boy the original group. Thought he might like it - so many stories to tell’.

Lily wonders if he told Harry the tragic end of most of those stories and she grimaces at the thought.

Harry doesn’t return so, after a while, Lily leaves the kitchen too. People are still talking animatedly and there are still a few minutes before she will have to break the party. But Lily doesn’t feel like chatting right now, so she may as well get things done. She considers going to see Harry, to check if his things are all packed for tomorrow, but he probably doesn’t want company. He is like her in that sense; prefers to be left alone to brood.

She enters the drawing room, looking around with mild interest. The children did make a good job cleaning everything up, but Grimmauld Place will never seem a happy place. Too many bad memories and dark thoughts, she thinks, as Kreacher passes behind herself, mumbling to himself and glaring at her.

Sirius forbade him of saying mudblood, but she only needs to look him in the eyes to feel the word.

There is nothing she can do about it and Lily prefers to fix on the problems she can solve anyway.

The cabinet close to the window is giving small jumps as if it’s alive. She walks to it, her mind already fixed on the remembrance of Aubrey with that big balloon head (he had really been a jerk and James and Sirius had pranked him for harassing first years muggle-borns, so she hadn’t mind laughing that time), and takes out her wand.

‘Alohomora!’

The cabinet opens and, appearing out of thin air, she sees James holding Harry as a baby, both lying in the ground, with eyes closed, pale and still. Dead.

They are dead.

Her heart beats faster and her mouth is suddenly dry, even as Lily knows this is just the boggart. It feels more like a dream, though, so she stays still for a few seconds, watching her husband and son’s corpses with a strange detachment. She really thought it would be just a dementor - and she would be ready for it this time.

But Lily supposes the memories that the dementor had arisen activated the true fear she had felt that night - that James and Harry would die while everything she could do was to watch hopelessly. Like she is doing now.

The fear creeps through her mind like smoke she can’t help but inhale, and that smoke makes her head light and dizzy, creating images in her head. She pictures how her life would be if that had happened, if Lily had taken Voldemort’s offer to stand aside while he murdered her husband and son and she was left alone.

And lost.

She wonders what she would have done and it’s surprisingly easy to answer. Find and kill Pettigrew, for starters, because there would be no James to hate him more than her and no son to give her other priorities. Then she would go after Voldemort; she would not rest until he was dead, no matter the cost. The boy-who-lived would be replaced by the mother-who-killed.

But then - and that is the scariest part - there would be nothing. No reason to live for. Her days would be empty and pointless, forever missing the two people she had most loved and knowing no vengeance would ever fill that hole…

‘Mum?’, she hears a voice asking, and for a moment Lily can’t really match the voice to anyone, certain she had never heard it before, that he died when he was just a baby -

She turns slowly to find Harry - her living son - at the door, looking at the dead bodies on the floor, then at her.

‘It’s a boggart’, Harry realizes. ‘Don’t - get out of here - let someone else -’

Harry looks worried for her. Somehow, this clears the smoke in her head. Lily steadies her hand and looks back at the corpses lying on the floor with nothing but determination.

‘Riddikulus!’, she says loud and clear, and the boggart turns into a man with a big blue balloon in the place of his head. Lily lets out a nervous laugh and the boggart vanishes in a puff of smoke.

Her heart is still beating faster, so Lily takes a moment to calm herself, to let all those bad feelings slip out of her; she almost jumps when she feels Harry’s hand on her shoulder. She had not heard him walking to her.

'Mum?’, he calls very quietly. ‘Are you ok?’

'It was just a stupid boggart, Harry', she says, forcing herself to smile at him. Harry is frowning, seeing through her empty smile just as she sees through his. 'Just go to bed, tomorrow is -'

'Do you always see us?', he asks in a hushed whisper, ignoring her dismissal. 'I mean - that -'

He stops, unable to continue, and Lily feels a sudden urge to just tell him it was nothing and to let it go. She knows Harry would hate it, but he also would respect her desire to be left alone with her thoughts and fears.

But since all she’s been asking of her son lately is that he talks to her, Lily supposes she has to set the example.

'Sometimes, yes’, she admits in a low voice. ‘At other times it’s a dementor. But it’s all related to the same thing, really’.

Harry looks deep in thought and he stares at the point where the bodies were.

'It was me as a baby', he says, and Lily nods. 'But - why? I mean, I lived’.

She sighs once more and sits on the couch.

'Come here', she asks, and Harry sits opposite to her on the same couch, his legs crossed just like he used to do when he was young and was listening to one of her bedtime stories, except this time most of his leg is out of the couch. That makes her feel strangely comforted, even if she feels her eyes tearing up a little. ‘You grew up so fast’.

‘Mum -’, he starts, looking half-embarrassed as he always does when James or Lily start remembering him as a kid.

‘I am saying it like a good thing’, she promises. ‘I just feel so lucky to have witnessed it all’.

Harry seems confused.

‘Lucky?’

She looks away to where the boggart was on the floor.

‘When I think about that night - the one where you got your scar - I always remember how close we were to lose everything. How you were almost… you and James…’

‘But it didn’t happen’, he says forcefully. ‘We all survived’.

‘Yes, but back then, at the time - I didn’t think we would make it. I really thought… I really lost hope for a moment. Sometimes I still dream of that night, but my worst nightmares are… of that’. She points to the floor. ‘If somehow you and James were gone and I was left alone -’

She can’t continue. Harry breathes heavily.

‘You wouldn’t be alone, I mean, you would still have Remus and Sirius, they -’

‘Harry’, she interrupts him softly, looking back at him. He already seems distraught, but she has to make him understand. ‘I love them, of course, but how would it be if I and your father had died then? If you were raised by Remus and Sirius?’

He stays silent for a moment and Lily can see him picturing all that alternative life. Lily supposes Sirius as a figure parent is an amusing idea, but Harry doesn’t smile for a second.

‘It would never be enough’, he whispers at least. ‘They would never replace you’.

‘They would never try to, I am sure, but... This is it. A life without you and your father would be just - just empty for me. And that’s what I fear the most. That I would be too weak that night and that I had to watch you both dying’.

‘You are strong’, Harry says resolutely, grabbing her hand and squeezing it, though Lily can’t tell if he is doing that for her sake or his own, to also confirm to him that everything is alright. ‘I - I heard what happened’.

‘What do you mean?’

Harry looks abashed, and he lowers his eyes.

'That’s why dementors hit me so hard. The thing I hear when they are near… It’s that night. Bits of it, but I hear... You and Voldemort. You plead for me, and he - he laughs and tells you to stand aside, but you refuse. You always refuse’.

Lily blinks, feeling the blood leaving her face.

'You never said anything’.

'I didn't want to upset you', Harry whispers. 'I know you don't like remembering it'.

She gives him a tiny smile despite everything. She never told him about her own worries, but Harry probably noticed how even though she didn't have any problem explaining about Voldemort, only James would talk to him about that Halloween night.

Harry sees more than people give him credit for.

'You could have told me', she says softly. 'It is not your job to worry about me, Harry'.

'But I do', he admits. 'I don't want anything to happen to you'.

There is a desperation in his voice now, like if he is really afraid something could happen with her and, with a jolt, Lily realizes they never really talked about what happened earlier that month, about how Harry drew away the dementors from her.

About how he needed to do it because she had frozen.

'I am sorry to have scared you', she says tenderly.

'It's not - I wasn't really scared with that boggart'.

Lily believes him. Harry seems to think his father is invincible and he is too selfless to regard his own death as something to be afraid of.

'I meant about the dementors a few weeks ago. And if somehow you thought I couldn't handle that boggart right now'.

Harry blinks.

'I didn't think that', he says slowly, and Lily knows he is considering his own feelings on the matter. 'I mean - I know what you are capable of'.

'I just don't want you thinking that you need to take care of me. I am the parent here. That's my job'.

'I don’t want to lose you’, he whispers guiltily, as if somehow even thinking about it should be wrong. ‘I wouldn’t - I don’t know how I could cope if -’

Harry looks so fragile right now that she does the simplest thing. She stretches her legs, in an offer, and Harry lies down, placing his head on her lap, allowing her to caress his hair like she used to do when he was young, until he would fall asleep.

‘I won’t live forever, Harry’, she says softly. ‘Someday you will be without me - and really, that’s what I hope for’. When he looks startled, she adds with a smile: ‘That you get to live longer than me. That you get a full happy life’.

‘It will only be happy if you are there’, he insists. ‘You and dad. You -’, he stops, closing his eyes as if he doesn’t want her to see more of his emotions than he is already letting it show on his voice. ‘You need to be careful. I know you are good, but - sometimes people are just in the wrong place in the wrong time’.

She knows what he is talking about and she remembers seeing Harry and Cedric Diggory leaving together for the Third Task of the Triwizard Tournament, both looking thrilled that it would be over soon and that one of them might win the Tournament.

And she remembers when they all noticed something was off, when there were whispers of a dead champion and how she had feared so much that it would be Harry… And the guilt she’d felt later when she was just relieved that it wasn’t him.

The good die young, her mother used to say somberly when she saw news of a tragedy.

Lily thinks about the photograph of the old Order, of hope and dreams that mattered none when the people were dead, and she finally understands what upset Harry enough to make him leave the dining party.

‘Moody told you what happened with people from the first Order of the Phoenix’, she says.

Harry bits his lips, looking away from her.

‘I can’t promise you me and your father will make it through this war, Harry’, she says slowly, wishing she could lie to him about it. ‘But I can assure you that we will make everything we can to live… and if not, we will always be with you, you do know that, right?’

She touches his chest, right above his heart, and Harry trembles.

‘I know’, he concedes at least, but there is sorrow in his eyes. Then he looks back at her. ‘Moody told me about the Prewetts and Benjy and the Longbottoms and… I recognized Marlene from that photo in your office. You never told me her whole family had died too’.

‘It was just too painful’, Lily sighs. ‘It was just after your first birthday, when we were already hiding and I remember thinking... maybe I should have done something, I should have protected her -’

‘It was not your fault!’, Harry cries, looking appalled that she feels like that.

Lily refrains herself of pointing out the irony there.

‘I know. It’s Voldemort’s fault’, she pauses, looking at the eyes that are a mirror to hers. ‘Everything that happened. Blame him, blame the people who think like him and allow him to ascend to power, but never blame anyone else’.

Harry blinks and doesn’t answer her.

‘We are better prepared this time’, she tells him, still playing with his hair gently. ‘It will not be like in the First War - we started too late then and we were too few. Now - now we have a better idea of what we need to do, of what he’s after -’

‘The weapon’, he says, and Lily remembers their first night in Grimmauld Place and what little they had told Harry. They never really said it was a weapon, but if Harry thought so, it was for the better.

He didn’t need to hear about that prophecy, not yet. It would give him the wrong ideas probably.

‘Among other things’, she says vaguely.

He sits again, looking rather upset at her.

‘You really won’t tell me?’

‘That’s not your burden to care, Harry. Not now. I know you don’t like to hear that and I know you don’t think it’s fair, but… when you are older. Of age, at least. After school. If there is still a war going on then… then we can talk about you joining the Order and knowing things’.

Harry doesn’t look like he believes her. ‘You would just not care if I joined the Order? Simple as that?’

‘I will care’, she guarantees, running a hand nervously through her hair as James would have done. ‘But I won’t forbid you. No one forbade me, it wouldn’t be fair if I tried to stop you’.

He still looks suspiciously, but Lily just returns his gaze without blinking. She is telling him the truth; sure, she will do everything she can so that Voldemort can be finished before he is of age, but if he is seventeen and the war is still happening, she knows she won’t be able to stop him.

Like her, Harry never refrains from doing the right thing and she taught him to never stand for prejudice.

‘And until then? What do I do? Just sit here waiting?’, he asks, but for once he doesn’t sound like he is fighting with her.

‘Of course not. You can study’. When Harry grimaces, she smiles. ‘Everything you do in school is important. Every lesson - yeah, even Potions, don’t give me that look. You study and you use it to prepare yourself. Not just you, but Ron and Hermione too. All of you must be ready for what happens outside. Life won’t be like in school all the time, where you know when a spell will hit you or that when the bell rings you are safe’.

Harry bits his lips, looking thoughtful.

‘I know it’s not. I mean - for the Triwizard Tournament I learned a lot of spells and how to cast them, but - when it comes to the real thing, when -’, he takes a deep breath. ‘- when I was in the graveyard with Voldemort, it’s not like in school. It’s just your guts and instinct and - and trying to survive’.

This is the most Harry has said about the night of Voldemort’s resurrection to her and, for the first time, Lily wonders if she really wants to know. Just thinking about the desperation he must have felt fighting for his life…

He survived, she tells herself. You won’t be able to keep him under your wings forever, so you give him all the skills you can. You make sure he will be ready.

‘That is it, Harry. Promise you will take your studies seriously this year. Not just because of the OWLs, but because you know what’s happening out here, even if everyone else is denying it’.

He looks solemnly as he gives a tiny nod to her.

‘I will. And I will make sure others are prepared too. I - I don’t want - what happened to Cedric - to ever happen again’.

She smiles serenely to him, even as she remembers Amos Diggory’s cries and thinks darkly he won’t be the last parent to despair for his child in this war.

The good die young.

‘Are you going to stay here?’, he asks, distracting her from her grim thoughts. Lily sighs.

‘No, I promised Molly I would make sure everyone is in their bed not too late. You know how chaotic September 1st can be. And then -’

‘Then?’

‘I will just stay up a little bit longer’.

Harry looks at her as if he can see all that she is not telling him.

‘Dad will be home late?’ he asks, though it doesn’t really seem a question. Lily just sighs, confirming it. ‘I could keep you company’.

Lily smiles more warmly now.

‘You can go rest, Harry, it’s no problem. I’ll just make myself a tea and wait in the kitchen’.

‘I’m not sleepy’, he assures her. ‘I haven’t been sleeping much. I keep having the weirdest dream, really… And, well, I thought we could make some hot chocolate’.

That brings a warmth to her that has nothing to do with the beverage. She thinks of late nights with James and Harry, especially in winter, when they would make hot chocolate and share it in front of the fireplace in their house.

That kind of silly small moments that never seem important as you are living them, but somehow they turn into your favourite memories.

‘With whipped cream?’, she asks, her voice lighter now, and Harry smirks, making his resemblance to James more evident.

‘You can even put a little bit of brandy and I won’t tell anyone’.

She blushes, getting up. ‘I have no idea what you are talking about’.

‘I’m fifteen, mum, I get it now what was the medicine in your chocolate’.

‘When did you get so smart?’, she asks playfully, taking his arm so they can descend the stairs together to the kitchen. ‘Anyway, no alcohol for you’.

‘Spoilsport’, he complains without any real malice. ‘When will I get to drink?’

‘If you are still asking me, Harry, then you are still too young, trust me’, Lily answers grinning.

Harry shakes his head, mumbling to himself almost indignantly but this is such a normal teenage behaviour that Lily will take it without complaining. That’s the kind of thing she wants him to be worried about.

She kisses him softly on the cheek before they enter the kitchen, knowing Harry would be too embarrassed to be seen receiving a kiss from his mother in front of everyone - another very usual teenage behaviour -, and smiles to herself.

‘Thanks for the company’, she says later, when they are alone in the kitchen after sending everyone to bed.

‘Anytime, mum’, he promises, filling his cup with whipped cream, while they accommodate themselves to wait for James to come home.

#Jily Lives #Jily Fanfic #Harry Potter #Lily Potter #Lily Potter is a good mother #Harry and Lily moments #angst with a happy ending #t: fanfiction #Eyes glistening

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a-libra-writes · 5 years

Text

How the GoT Characters Confess To You

Lordy, this took waaaay too long, didn’t it? That’s silly work schedules and chronic migraines for ya. Some lil drabs are a little more dramatic than others 😅

If I missed someone you love, please give tidings to my ask box and I’ll add em~

In this preference, you'll be confessed to by: Ned Stark, Robb Stark, Sansa Stark, Jon Snow, Benjen Stark, Jory Cassel, Dolorous Edd, Yara Greyjoy, Daenerys Targaryen, Jorah Mormont, Missandei, Grey Worm, Tywin Lannister, Tyrion Lannister, Jamie Lannister, Sandor Clegane, Bronn, Petyr Baelish, Stannis Baratheon, Davos Seaworth, Margaery Tyrell, Brynden Tully, Edmure Tully, Brienne of Tarth, Ramsay Bolton, Roose Bolton, Oberyn Martell, Beric Dondarrion

NED STARK

Truth be told, Ned was already catching feelings when you two were courting. It was obvious in how kindly he treated you when you visited Winterfell, how he’d light up when you both talked. You thought it was cute how he was a little red in the cheeks at your wedding ceremony, and you talked through the feast.

It was fairly obvious to everyone that you both were a good match. Ned didn’t plan to spill out his feelings right away, he was confident that you knew, but during the bedding ceremony he thought you looked absolutely beautiful against the firelight.

“What’s the matter, Ned? You’re staring,” You teased as you unlaced your dress.

He placed his hand over your’s and began unlacing it himself. “I’m happy you’re finally here with me, Y/N. … I love you.”

ROBB STARK

Honestly, Robb had been smitten with you since you first met as children. You just had such a bright personality and natural kindness, he found plenty of chances to talk with you and learn more about you. When you visited, you two would find each other right away and spend all day running around and talking. He started to hope that maybe, just maybe his parents and your's would consider a marriage offer, especially as you grew into such a beautiful lady.

When the war broke out, he knew his desires would have to be set aside, but Robb couldn't leave Winterfell until he told you how he felt. Even if you didn't see him in that way, he had to say it. Robb paced around his room a few times as he thought about what to say. He'd be riding out tomorrow; he had to tell you before he left.

Robb woke up early the next morning and beelined for you. He asked you to accompany him to the Godswood.

"What's this about, Robb?" You asked. He looked beside himself. When you reached out to take his hand, he pulled you into a tight hug and his rehearsed words went out the window.

"Y/N, I have to say it. I love you. I always have, I think, from the beginning." His cheeks were as red as his hair, but the words were all spilling out now. "When I go South, and I come back -- I want you to be my wife, if you'll have me as your husband."

SANSA STARK

You met at the tourney celebrating Ned's appointment, and you two hit it off right away. You were inseparable, and even when the worst came for her, you refused to leave Sansa's side. They'd have to imprison you along with her. Sansa was sure you were special to her, something more than just a friend or protector.

She was positive about this when you stood up for her in the middle of court, at great risk to yourself. You knew your family wouldn’t be pleased, let alone the bastard king. In her chambers, she fixed your bloody lip and your hair, looking less upset and more angry. “I can’t believe this, how could they - you’re a lady!” She fumed.

“You’re a Stark, and they’re plenty cruel to you, Sansa. I’m minor house by comparison.”

She kept talking, almost as if she didn’t hear your comments. “The Lannisters are so cruel, they take everything - my father, my sister - then they hurt the person I love…"

"What?" You blinked.

Sansa just realized what she said. She hesitated, then wrapped her arms around you in a crushing hug. "You're the most important person I have, Y/N. I can't stand the thought of them doing something to you, too."

JON SNOW

He crushed on you early into your friendship, and he only noticed it after he was way, way too far gone. Jon told himself that he’d never say anything, though - you deserved better than a bastard, and you’d probably be married off to whoever, anyway. It hurt to think about, but it was for the best, he told himself. He’d only burden you if he confessed his feelings.

Jon didn’t begin to change his mind until, like he feared, you were going to be married off to a lord you had zero interest in. You were telling him about it with tears in your eyes, and he squeezed your hands even tighter and had you sit down. He listened to you, his heart tightened with every word. When you had gotten it all out and leaned against his shoulder, Jon just had to blurt it out.

“Y/N, I know it’s stupid to say this now. I should’ve said it earlier, but ...” He pushed his doubts down and continued. “I love you, no matter what happens. I always will.”

BENJEN STARK

You always sought him out when he visited Winterfell, first out of curiosity, then out of friendship once you two began to visit and talk more. Eventually that led to much more, and you enjoyed the time you had with him. You missed him terribly when he was gone, but you knew how seriously he took his duty to the Night’s Watch, even if he loved being with you, that came first.

Benjen did have his moments of guilt. He’d try to joke and tell you to look elsewhere for a lover, but that always made him feel bitter after he said it. He always loved it when you reassured him, in fact, he loved most things you did, even the mundane things. Benjen was quite aware when his feelings got too far, and he knew it was important to tell you.

He curled you into his arms, burying his face in your hair as he ran his hands down your bare back. “Are you asleep? Stay with me a little longer, Y/N. I want to tell you how much I love you. I want you to know that before I go.”

JORY CASSEL

Jory met you by chance in King’s Landing, when he got … a little turned around in the Red Keep, and happened to stumble upon you being harrassed by some man. You insisted to repay the favor by helping him find his destination. You thought it was cute how flustered he was around you, and you began to seek him out. As much as you enjoyed his company and your feelings for each other grew, there was always a dark cloud hanging over. You were above him in status, and your father expected you to marry some Crownslander, once he found someone suitable.

Your hand was tight over Jory’s as you both walked along the beach. The sea air was cool in the evening, and as scandalous as your father would find it, this was your favorite place to meet Jory. He was unusually quiet tonight.

Finally, he said, “Y/N. I heard about … I heard rumors your father was looking for a husband.”

“Yes. He wants someone close, preferably.” Your shoulder brushed his. “I wouldn’t mind going somewhere farther, though.”

Jory’s light chuckle didn’t sound right. “Even the North, my lady?”

“Why, are you offering?” You tried to joke, to ease the knot in your stomach.

He stopped, and took your other hand in his. “... I know it’ll just cause trouble to say this, but I love you, Y/N. It may not ever be possible, but if there’s even a chance… I’d want to take you back to North with me."

EDD TOLLETT

It was a cruel irony that the girl who seemed to light up this bleak place was also of the Watch, and only came to Castle Black a few times out of the month from Eastwatch. You two quickly made friends and sought each other out, and you were one of the few things he looked forward to in this bleak place.

He didn’t think you’d find him this early in the morning, especially since you didn’t often climb to the top of the wall. “Edd,” You called him, and it made his heart jump at once. “You’re looking at the wrong side.”

You grabbed his shoulders and he really thought he was on fire, even under all his layers and fur. You turned him toward the other side of the Wall, away from Castle Black. “If you want to brood and squint into nothing, do it where there’s actually nothing.”

Edd just sighed and you were actually worried. “What is it? Did something happen?”

“Aye, I was trying to decide if the gods have continued their spiteful campaign against me, or if they’ve actually thrown me a scrap and I’m too stupid to pick it up.” He turned to you and casually said, “Which is to say, I’m in love with you.”

YARA GREYJOY

Yara was not a woman of wordy sentiment, you knew this. It was just her way, and you were sure of her feelings by the way she protected you and kept you so close. It wasn’t just in bed, if you were within arm’s length and she wasn’t working on her ship or tending to whatever duties her father threw at her, she had you with her. Sometimes she’d pull you right in her lap, sometimes it was just an arm around your waist, sometimes it was a firm kiss to your neck before she left. You noticed she was spending less and less time with other men and women, until you were positive she was only seeing you.

“What’s with that look?” She asked as she walked into her cabin. She began pulling off her leather and smirked, looking you up and down. “Something on your mind?”

“You could say that.” You were dressed for bed, which meant you stole her shirt again. “I was just thinking about you.”

“What a coincidence.” Yara didn’t wait to remove everything. She already had you in her lap, and was pulling your collar lower. “I was thinking about you, too.”

“I’d be willing to bet I’m the only woman on your mind as of late,” You grinned. “I was thinking you’re very fond of me.”

The way the candlelight flickered in the cabin, you were allllmost sure she had a blush to her cheeks. Yara didn’t immediately respond, pushing you on your back and hovering over you. “Cheeky today, are we? How about I show you what I think of that?”

DAENERYS TARGARYEN

You had been there for Daenerys from the beginning, before she was khaleesi, and of course you supported her after, when her khalasar was at its smallest and most desperate. You weren’t Dothraki, but you believed in her and you protected her. More than that, you were her friend, someone she could trust. You may have felt deeper feelings - well, you did - but that was just another problem she didn’t need. You expected to keep it to yourself until the day you died.

That day came much, much sooner than you ever anticipated. An assassin had found its way into her palace in Meereen, and in defending her, you received a punishing stab to the abdomen.

You awoke in great pain, with Daenerys hovering above you, wiping the sweat from your brow. She helped you sit up, gave you a drink of water, and to your surprise … looked like she hadn’t slept in some time.

“How could you do something so careless?” Daenerys said, although she tried to sound angry, she just sounded tired and beside herself.

“I’m sworn to protect you, khaleesi, I was just --”

“Enough! Barristan and Jorah were there to help, but you just had to -- you just had to throw yourself in front of me.” She squeezed the rag in her hand. “Don’t ever do that again, Y/N. I won’t have the woman I love killed in front of me.”

JORAH MORMONT

Of course, it was easy to tell that Jorah was completely smitten with you, as he wears his feelings on his sleeves. You also pledged yourself to Daenerys, and as a result you and Jorah spent plenty of time together. Regardless if it was a battle or just a day at the market, there was a pretty obvious connection between you two. Jorah was pretty aware of it right away but he wanted to take his time and make sure you felt the same. Once he had his confidence, he was a bit beside himself, wanting to tell you once there was an opportunity.

Being a romantic, he had something nice planned. He knew what sorts of food and flowers you liked, so he was hoping to tell you on what was basically a date. It didn’t work out that neatly, unfortunately - an assassination attempt happened against Daenerys, and you both were quick to intercept. You took a nasty hit to the shoulder, and Jorah was the one who wanted to patch you up. He couldn’t believe you were still smiling, insisting you were fine.

Without thinking he took your hand and gave you a tired smile. “I’m glad you’re safe, Y/N. I love you … I have for some time. Please be kinder to my heart and look after yourself.”

MISSANDEI

She’d admired you and enjoyed your friendship for some time before she began to really consider telling you. Missandei knew she had strong feelings for you as soon as they happened, she was just worried what you’d think of her. Some days she was content to just be friends, but other days it was a source of anxiety.

Finally, Missandei decided to get it off her chest. She knew you were a kind person who would let her down gently - she was fairly certain you would. You both usually spent time together in the evening and you noticed she was being unusually quiet. You leaned against her shoulder. “Missy, what’s the matter?”

Why did you have to use the cute nickname now of all times? Missandei sighed and just let it out. “Y/N, I wanted to talk to you about my feelings. For some time, I’ve felt … very strongly for you. I care about you, and even if you don’t feel the same, I just wanted to tell you how much I love you.”

GREY WORM

What brought his attention to you first is how kind you were. You offered to help him speak the common tongue and adjust to a somewhat normal life, even if he was still a sworn guard to Daenerys. You began teaching him to read and showing him new things to eat and see, so it wasn’t a surprise that he was growing smitten. He just wasn’t sure what to do about his feelings, and how to express them. He ended up needing some gentle pushing and advice from Missandei before he was fully comfortable.

You both were enjoying a rare day when it was beautiful outside and the two of you had a chance to talk. You decided to walk around the gardens surrounding the Great Pyramid, and he was glad to take your hand, as he often did. The urge to tell you just came to Grey Worm - somehow, it seemed right. “Y/N, I wanted to thank you, and tell you something. I want to protect you and keep you close.”

TYWIN LANNISTER

You did not expect this marriage. The reasoning was he needed a “proper” heir, and your powerful family wouldn’t settle for a Lannister cousin. You were pleasantly surprised that he was respectful and even gentle at times, even if there were times when you two had some friction. While he recognized your wit and intelligence, especially when it came to managing Casterly Rock, he wasn’t used to someone subtly speaking against him.

After giving him a son, who you loved more than anything, he was even more caring toward you, in his own ways. Tywin was becoming fond of you, even the little verbal spats you two would have behind closed doors. You were sure of his feelings, but you didn’t anticipate him to actually say anything. That wasn’t his way, after all.

It certainly came when you weren’t expecting it. It was a rare moment when he allowed himself to you hold you in your shared marriage bed, pulling you close and even running his fingers down your hair. He was tired, and it was late. His embrace had pulled you out of sleep. Just as you were dozing back off, you heard him say it against your temple.

TYRION LANNISTER

Tyrion initially pitied you and didn’t look forward to the marriage. He was sure it was some cruel joke by his sister, and your family was glad to wed you to any Lannister, especially since Jamie was unavailable. While he appreciated your polite acceptance, he figured you were actually miserable.

He wasn’t expecting your efforts to get to know him and you both began to find things you had in common. You’d read similar books, he often had you in stitches with the snide remarks he’d whisper to you during feasts and he couldn’t deny how sweet your smile was when he found something he knew you’d like. Tyrion actually fell for you in a short time, but he did what he could to not rush all the words out. He thought you’d be more content as friends, keeping a respectful distance. It’s what he owed you, he thought, especially since the court considered the marriage a funny little joke.

A particularly stressful dinner with you and his family, filled with Cersei giving you plenty of venom, had him well into his cups. You helped him as you both walked back to your royal apartments. “Tyrion, you really went too far this time,” You sighed. “You can’t listen to those terrible things she says, and you can’t investigate you like that.”

“She insulted you, I wasn’t about to let her --”

“Yes, I know, she often does. I can handle her. Please don’t aggravate her on my account.” You offered him water. “Drink all of this, or you’ll be miserable tomorrow.”

Your caring gestures and soft voice was just too much. Tyrion drunkenly blurted out, “I love you, Y/N. You’re too good for this.”

“I love you too, Tyrion,” You said easily, and he was so relieved he completely forgot about Cersei and the water. You had to set the latter aside while he pulled you into an embrace.

JAIME LANNISTER

You were absolutely sick when Jamie was captured. It was up to the gods if he was alive or dead. You knew you weren’t getting any information from Cersei, so you just had to wait, your head swirling with grief and madness. When word of his return was finally brought to you, he’s coming home, you cried alone. No one knew of your relationship, after all, least of all his family, his sister.

You told yourself you’d meet him some days after in his chambers, no one would suspect a thing. That plan was swiftly foiled when you accidentally crossed Jamie in a hall. You both stared at each other, before he closed the gap in just a second. You felt the air squeeze out of your body as he held you harder than he ever had before.

“Jamie,” You gasped, trying to hold back tears. “Gods, I was so -- I thought -- I’m so relieved -”

He had to say it now, because it was all he could think on that horrid road, when he was at his lowest. He couldn’t stop seeing you, and now you were here. He hadn’t said it before, and that was a mistake.

Jamie pulled from you, hardly giving you a moment to recover. “I love you,” He shuddered against you, burying his face in the crook of your neck. “I love you.”

SANDOR CLEGANE

You didn’t predict your relationship with Sandor would end up like this. He tried to dissuade you from your crush, only to be more than startled when you said you meant it. Once he became comfortable, he became more protective and possessive of you. Sandor was definitely developing feelings and it wasn't sitting well with him.

The way he held you so close when you two were together in bed, and he’d grunt when you’d have to leave in the morning, and all the marks he’d leave on your body - you began to notice his behavior, so when you both were curled up in bed, your cheek resting against his chest.

“Sandor.” You looked at him. Something was obviously bothering him, and he wouldn’t meet your eyes.

“Haven’t you had enough?” He finally said. “You could be doing better than a mangy dog watching a shit of a princeling.”

"I enjoy being with you. I care about you," You said, wondering if you should just blurt out your feelings, or if it would scare him away. “I love you.”

You felt him flinch, as if the words hurt him, and his heart was pounding in his chest. You were going to say more, but suddenly you were pulled into a tight embrace. “I love you too,” He grumbled against your hair, not wanting you to see his expression.

BRONN

You knew the mercenary cared for you more than he wanted to admit to himself, and it would be almost endearing if it wasn’t also infuriating. You could tell how unsure he’d get with your softer and more affectionate gestures, he wasn’t used to something like this. He probably denied it his whole life - the fact he could love or be loved in that way, the kind of way people daydreamed and wrote songs about.

You weren’t going to force him to say anything or commit, but gods, when would he realize it? You knew when he stopped seeing the whores, when he’d stay in your modest home despite having better quarters at the Red Keep, when he’d curl his lips at any mention of someone of higher birth trying to court you. His denial was palpable, and sometimes it hurt.

For gods’ sake, you were in his lap right now, cuddling. He wasn’t even trying to get you into bed. His feet were thrown up on the table and he was telling you some funny story about the city guards, but it was hard to pay attention. Bronn finally caught on. “What?”

“I think you have something to tell me, Bronn.”

He blinked, then tried to look away. You already caught the look in his eyes. “What’re ya talkin’ about?”

“You know.” You sighed, feeling like it was a little pointless. “Just once, even if you don’t mean it.”

“Hey,” He looked you in the eyes and ran his hand down your legs. “Ya know you’re important to me. You’re the most important thing in my sorry excuse for a life.”

PETYR BAELISH

From the beginning, Petyr had presented himself as an ally to you. At first it was to for the purpose of influencing your House, which had the court’s attention, but he quickly became interested in you personally. He began to like the slight smiles you gave him when court was in process and the way you liked to sit in the garden and read, looking pretty as a picture. He had a plan in place, slowly courting you and keeping your interest in him. Your parents would never consider him for a match, but he knew they’d listen to you.

He didn’t worry until he heard word of a sudden proposal given to your family. He immediately sought you out and found you hiding from the court, trying to hide your anger.

“Petyr,” You said, and even if he didn’t like the situation, he loved the way you so desperately said his name. “My parents, they listened to that horrid lord, they’re going to accept the betrothal.

He was quick to sit very close to you, taking your hand and leaning in as he spoke lowly. He wanted to make sure you knew he was serious. “So I’ve heard. You needn’t worry, little Y/N, I’ll take care of it. I love you, after all - I’d do anything to have you happy again.”

STANNIS BARATHEON

You both had been married for a time before Stannis began catching feelings, and it was slow process that he didn’t immediately notice. He appreciated how kind you were to him, how knowledgeable you were and your level-headedness. His appreciation began turning into admiration, and soon that was a crush that he was struggling to make sense of. He’d finally realize how strong they were when he had to leave you for a time, or worse, if he noticed you were enjoying someone else’s company. He’d start feeling loneliness and doubt, and would want to be at your side again.

Truthfully, he was hoping you say it first, he was waiting for it. Even if your actions to him and your child made it obvious, he still wanted to hear it. It wouldn’t be until he was feeling especially vulnerable in your shared bed, when you were curled up next to him and discussing some matter with the small council. You reassured him of his plans and rested against his chest, and he couldn’t help but pull you a little closer and mumble that he loves you.

DAVOS SEAWORTH

Your father swears fealty to Stannis Baratheon, and you often accompanied him to important meanings. You were a clever girl and observed the meetings closely, later discussing them with your father. Ser Davos spoke to you with respect, which was much better than most men gave you, and you began talking with him after meetings. You grew quite fascinated with him, and as the war began he was a source of kindness and comfort for you.

Davos felt guilty about his crush, and he denied such a thing, but he really did enjoy your company and wit. He thought he was too old for you, and too low of status. Anytime he saw you, he found it difficult to disguise his feelings, especially when you’d be so sweet and make him laugh. You noticed he was especially troubled, and you took both of his hands and entwined his fingers with your’s. It wasn’t helping his beating heart.

“Davos, what’s the matter? You aren’t usually so nervous.” You smiled and tried to ease him, and he liked that you were comfortable just using his name. It gave him some encouragement.

“I have to tell you somethin’, Y/N, before I lose my nerve. I know you deserve better, someone with a proper family line …”

“Davos,” You pulled him closer and tried not to grin. “What are you saying?”

“I-I’m trying to say I love you, and… I’d be honored if you’d consider being my wife.”

MARGAERY TYRELL

You and Margaery hit it off quickly when you arrived at court in Highgarden. She immediately noticed your wit and beauty, and even better, you were fun to talk with at galas and feasts. More than not, she’d seek out your company when she was tired of lords fawning over her, or you both would play coy with them and snicker to yourselves afterward. It wasn’t long before she’d give you little compliments and touches that could be considered something more, and Margaery was buzzing when you did the same.

She was so sure you’d confess first. There was an obvious spark between you two, and she admittedly felt a little jealous when she’d see you be sweet to other girls. Margaery finally got tired of waiting, wanting to be something more with you. When you two were alone in her parlor, she curled right up to you like a cat. “Do you have something to tell me, sweet Y/N?”

“Hm?” You played dumb. “Oh, I found something interesting at the market the other day. I have a new dress being made. Last night, I walked outside and --”

Margaery gave a dramatic sigh as she wiggled into your lap. “You’re so mean. I’m trying to tell you how much I adore you, more than I adore anyone, and you know it, Y/N. Cheeky girl.”

BRYNDEN TULLY

He knew he was already in too deep the first night you spent together. You both had been flirting and circling around each other for months, even having a kiss or more here and there. He always had excuses to dissuade you, but they were really just him trying to keep this exact thing from happening.

As he held you in his arms and kept you there until the morning, he knew he’d have to marry you eventually. The idea of you maybe not being there in the morning, being with someone else, was too much. When Brynden caught the rumors that your parents were considering engaging you to some Vale lord, he found you right away.

“Heard about that betrothal,” He said, taking you in his arms, not even caring if someone walked into the room. “Afraid to say it can’t happen, sweet.”

“What do you mean?” You tilted your head.

“Cause I love ya too much to let some Lord whoever take ya away from me.” He’d press his face into your hair, trying to hide his burning cheeks. “Tell me ya feel the same, and I’ll take ya to Riverrun as a proper wife. I swear it.”

EDMURE TULLY

You had been married for some time, and you already knew Edmure was smitten with you. Everyone knew it, really, but you had enjoyed getting to know him in the short months you’d been together. He was just as sweet as he was during your courtship, and you were glad the matched worked out so well, but neither of you had really had the guts to admit it was any more than that.

Edmure ended up falling sick, nothing too serious, but you felt bad that he was stuck in bed and feeling miserable. When he woke up, you were at his bedside and offering him water. You helped him drink then patted his hair in place. Right when you were going to mention how flushed and feverish he was, he suddenly said, “Y/N, I love you.”

You just smiled. “I know, Edmure.”

He relented but tried to hold your hand.You let him take it, even if his grip was weak. “I thought you should know. Um, in case you didn’t. You’re so kind and considerate, and you’ve helped me so much already, and you’ll make a great mother--”

He was cut off by a bout of coughing, and you were quick to bring a rag to his mouth. You smiled and shook your head. “Thank you, Edmure. Lie down, dear, before the Maester comes for me.”

BRIENNE OF TARTH

She was initially uneasy being parted from Lady Catlyn to guard you, but you two quickly developed an easy friendship. She was very attracted to your kindness and fairness, not to mention how you'd defend her in front of anyone that dared insult her in front of you.

No surprise, she fell for you very quickly, but she was positive you wouldn't feel the same. Brienne was more than ready to keep her feelings to herself, although they always threatened to slip when you took her hands to reassure her or stayed up late joking and talking. It finally got out when you angrily stood between her and a lord - as if they both didn't tower over you - and told him, "One more word about MY knight, and you'll be leaving this keep, either through the door or out a window!"

Brienne actually had to pull you away to a secluded hall because you were fuming. “Can you believe his nerve? Saying those things to you here, of all places! Gods! You have more honor in your pinky than his whole body! Ooh, and that family of his-!”

“Now then, someone will hear,” Brienne said, holding your hand. She was trying to hide her smile, but she couldn’t keep her blush at bay. “You’re too much, my lady.”

“It’s not enough. I can’t fight like you, Brienne, I know you’ve been teaching me, but I could do so much more for you,” You said earnestly. You didn’t want her to feel those awful things she’d shared with you. You never wanted her to be anything but happy. “You deserve much more.”

The words struck her even harder, and Brienne rubbed at her eyes absently to fight off any tears. She kissed your forehead firmly, then rested her head there. It just spilled out. “Thank you, Y/N. I love you.”

RAMSAY BOLTON

You had the dubious honor of being married to newly legitimized Bolton bastard, a match arranged by your family with little concern to your wellbeing. Of course you knew what he was like, especially after you married, but Ramsay did have his odd moments of what you’d cautiously call “sentiment”. Sometimes when he almost seemed curious or in awe of you.

In spite of this, you didn’t take him seriously when he’d say he loved you. He always had that glint in his eyes when he did it, after all, you chalked it up to an attempt at swaying you. Today Ramsay was angry with one of your guards; you were positive it was just jealousy, and you wanted to save the poor man from a grisly fate. Ramsay pulled you into a crushing embrace. “Why are you defending him? He’d never love you as I do, Y/N.”

“Of course not, my lord,” You said dismissively. “Let’s assign him to another post, and someone you trust can-”

“Don’t you believe me?” He interrupted you, his eyes taking that dangerous glint you knew well.

“I do, my lord. If you don’t like the man, he can go back to his old duties.”

“Not that. You don’t think I care for you.”

Was he … sullen? His jaw was tense as though he were pouting. No, you really thought he was. Maybe it was just jealousy talking. You couldn’t be sure, and he was antsy as he waited for you to answer, leaning his head in so your foreheads touched.

ROOSE BOLTON

The truth of the matter is Roose had been interested in you for some time. When he first saw you at a feast, he was certainly taken, and he talked to you and danced when it was appropriate. Anytime there was a gathering, he’d seek you out, always trying to talk to you, trying to see what sort of person you were. After holding you in his arms for so many dances and getting you to smile several times, he admitted to himself that perhaps he really was infatuated. Of course, your parents wouldn’t agree to a marriage, so he did a variety of underhanded tricks to secure you - frightening your other suitors, subtly suggesting different matches for them to their parents - perhaps more serious methods, if he needed to.

It was worth it, he decided, when he draped the Bolton cape around you on your wedding day. His affection for you only grew as the months went by and you began to settle into your role as Lady of the Dreadfort. You were positive by his actions and words that he did love you, so it didn’t bother you so much if he didn’t say it. Truthfully, he didn’t want to admit to himself how much he cared what you thought of him. You were a definite weakness that an enemy could exploit, because he’d grown to completely, terribly love you.

You two were walking the godswood, your arms entwined, and Roose stopped under the heart tree. He brushed your hair aside. “You know I love you more than I can say, Y/N.”

You smiled and leaned into him. “I know, Roose.”

OBERYN MARTELL

His affection and love for you is obvious to anyone who watches you two. At feasts you’re practically in his lap and making him feed you, at galas you both dance until the sun is almost coming up, and at tourneys you’d be too busy grinning at his flirtations and whispers to pay attention to the lists. Honestly, it was kind of sickening, but you loved how doting and passionate Oberyn was for you. It really seemed as though you hung his moon and stars.

So naturally, he confessed to you very quickly. You remember just a month in, he told you. “I love you, my dear Y/N.”

You smiled, thinking the flamboyant Dornishman with a scandalous reputation just saw you as another flame. “That’s very nice, Oberyn.”

The months went by and it seems every other day you’d receive another declaration of love. One morning, you’d woken up to him curling around you like a cat. He said the three words again as he dozed off, pressing against your hair. He’d brought you to his family home, the Old Palace in Sunspear, and you’d spent a week meeting his family. He positively beamed as he introduced you.

Finally, you said, “I love you too.”

His arms tightened around your waist as he kissed your hair and fell back asleep with a satisfied smile.

BERIC DONDARRION

The Brotherhood Without Banners had saved you from Lannister men, and seeing as you had nowhere else to go, you began to travel with them. You started to learn how to fight, how to survive in the wild, and you began to befriend Beric. Not that it was difficult, friendly as he was, and soon your relationship turned into something much deeper.

It was a week after he’d “died” and been “revived” by Thoros. The Lord of Light was always strange to you, and now you’d seen a man you cared for fall in blood and come back as if it hadn’t happened. It was jarring, and as you stroked his hair while his head laid in your lap, you kept thinking back to it.

“You looked troubled, my Y/N,” He said suddenly.

“I’m thinking about that fight in the cave.” You said. “You told me before, but you said something about … sometimes you lose pieces.”

Beric’s light expression became more serious. He sat up and drew you into his arms. “It’s true. I feel a little less whole after it happens, a little less… me. So I should tell you, I love you, very dearly. No matter how often I come back, I know I’ll always be your’s, Y/N.”

#game of thrones #asoiaf #got #game of thrones imagine #game of thrones x reader #uhh looking back this is much longer than i thought it was LOL #enjoy friends

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punchdrunkdoc · 4 years

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Updated K-drama list (3)

4 more shows DONE and there’s been some changes to the rankings...

FAVOURITES

1. Crash Landing on You

He’s from North Korea. She’s from South Korea. They never should have met, but they’ll change each other’s lives.

This was my first K-drama, and its still my favourite. The full cast of characters is great, the lead romance is ANGSTALICIOUS and its genuinely, laugh out loud funny (when its not making you cry or swoon).

Male lead: Officially the best boyfriend ever. With added dimples.

Tear-jerk factor: 4/5

2. Healer

The lives, and pasts, of a hot shot reporter, a spunky young tabloid journalist and a mysterious thief-for-hire intersect.

This was so addictive - the plot was tight and engaging, and this is one of the few shows I’ve watched where there didn’t seem to be a lot of filler. I loved the central 3 characters, and the romance was amazing. I especially loved that the male lead started off such a brooding loner, but he became super-affectionate as soon as he admitted his feelings. So many good hugs and lots of face-cradling in this one.

Male lead: Effortlessly beats up 2 henchmen while comforting his girl over the phone. What more do you need?

Tear-jerk factor: 1/5

3. Itaewon Class

A young man’s life is forever altered when he runs afoul of a powerful family.

This felt like a big step up in quality from everything else in this list, in terms of the production, soundtrack (which was brilliant), the lack of annoying sound effects, and just the overall ‘real world’ feel of the show. All of the characters were fleshed out and 3-dimensional, and they all had their ‘moment’ to shine. The story itself was gripping and so well done - some of the twists and reveals had me gasping! And what can I say about the 2 leads? I love them, both separately, and together. He is so wise beyond his years, and his journey will break your heart and inspire you. She is borderline sociopathic, but I adore her.

Male lead: Tenacious, principled, kind, innocent, caring, driven, loyal…and he can cook!

Tear-jerk factor: 2/5

4. Descendants of the Sun

A special forces Captain meets a capable and beautiful trauma surgeon. They feel an instant bond, but their jobs and philosophy on life get in the way, threatening to tear them apart.

Halfway through this show, I seriously thought this might overtake CLOY as my No. 1 fav. I absolutely LOVE the male lead character, and the romance was beautiful…but it didn’t quite nail the angst and the last minute was a bit twee which dropped it down the rankings a bit.

Male lead: A cocky, charming, absolute BADASS with the most adorable, cheeky smile.

Tear-jerk factor: 2/5

5. My Holo Love

A lonely woman falls for a holographic AI and then meets his creator...

I love the concept of this show (I’m a big sci-fi nerd), and it was beautifully shot. The lead relationship is well developed and it doesnt fall into a typical love triangle. I’ve come to realise it utilises a lot of K-drama tropes (face-blindness! shared childhood trauma!), but it does it really well, imho.

Male lead: Tortured loner genius. My catnip.

Tear-jerk factor: 2/5

6. Goblin

A 900yr old immortal guardian finally meets the ‘bride’ who will end his existence

Once I got over the slight ick-factor of the age difference between the two characters at the beginning, I really fell for this show and it’s world. It had me in tears. And I especially loved the secondary character of the Grim Reaper.

Male lead: Surprising innocent and funny for a 900 year old

Tear-Jerk factor: 5/5

7. What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim

An personal assistant decides to quits her job in order to get a life. Her boss has other ideas.

I loved the female lead in this - I’m a sucker for uber-competent people, and the actress is STUNNING. Her boss is self-centred, entitled and vain...but over time, somehow that just becomes endearing! This show also has lots of very good kissing scenes...and when he started to unbutton her shirt during one encounter, I was SCANDALISED (did I mention these shows are usually very PG!!)

Male lead: Like I said, somehow makes vanity and narcissism endearing. Also not afraid to get his shirt off and flash his 6-pack. Bonus.

Tear-Jerk factor: 0/5

8. Legend of the Blue Sea

A mermaid comes onto land to find the man she loves

The (literal) fish-out-of-water scenes in the first half of this show were hilarious - the actress is a comic genius! The romance was nicely done, and there wasn’t a lot of extraneous plot or too many characters. I couldn’t stop watching this one!

Male lead: Cocky, arrogant conman with a soft mushy centre

Tear-Jerk factor: 1/5

9. Fight for my Way

Two life-long friends decide to go after their dreams

I found this during my Park Seo Joon binge and, even though I fast-forwarded large chunks of it (I wasn’t interested in the secondary couple at all), it still made my favourite list because I love the leads - both as separate characters and as a couple. This is one of the best friends-to-lovers stories I’ve seen, mainly because you truly buy that these 2 have known each other their entire lives (their bickering and teasing feels so natural). And then when they take the next step, they’re so affectionate and refreshingly open with their feelings.

Male lead: I love his contradictions. He’s goofy and childish…but can really turn on the sexy charm; he’s a badass MMA fighter…who loves when his girlfriend sticks up for him and protects him.

Tear-jerk factor: 0.5/5

10. Suspicious Partner

A young, hardworking lawyer has her life turned upside down when she is put on trial for murder.

This has been officially bumped up to my favourites list - partly because I’m now a massive Ji Chang Wook fan, and partly because I’ve rewatched scenes with better subtitiles and it made everything10x better. Its still overly long, but the serial killer plot had some nice twists and it was central to the story, so it didn’t feel extraneous like some of these types of plots do. I really enjoyed the central romance - the 2 characters sparked off each other well and I loved their evolution from sort-of enemies to lovers.

Male lead: Its Ji Chang Wook! He’s so good at playing serious guys who are secretly big dorks

Tear-jerk factor: 0.5/5

Notable mentions

These are shows which I completed and enjoyed but they didn’t set my world on fire. Usually because they were overly long, or the plot got in the way of the characters/love story.

1. The K2

An ex-mercenary takes a job as a bodyguard protecting the illegitimate daughter of a politician. A sort-of Snow White retelling.

This started off really well, with some amazing fight sequences (hello, shower room scene!). However, the back half became too bogged down in double crosses and manipulations, and it focussed too much on the politicians. The writers did well to give these characters some layers, but they were all essentially doing bad things for the wrong reasons, and I just didn’t care about them. The show was much better when it was following K2’s journey. The romance also started off well, but was a bit underdeveloped (mainly because they barely interacted).

2. I Am Not a Robot

A man who is allergic to human contact finds companionship with a robot…or does he?

I honestly thought I wouldn’t make it passed a couple of episodes of this - the concept was just too ridiculous. But I’m glad I perservered, because it developed some real depth and some proper good angst towards the end.

3. My Love from the Star

Alien stranded on earth meets an actress soon before he’s due to be rescued.

I finally gave this another chance, and I’m glad I did. The female lead got a LOT less irritating, and I enjoyed the present-day romance and all the flashes back to the past. However, the ending was really abrupt and disappointing (which kept it out of my favourite list). There should have been 1 less filler episode in the middle, and a decent, fleshed out finale instead.

4. Her Private Life

A talented art curator tries to keep her professional persona separate from her fangirl obsession with a pop idol.

This was cute and I loved the central relationship - he was so supportive of her, and their interactions were refreshingly mature and their banter felt really natural. Ultimately, it was a bit forgettable (I’m not dying to rewatch any of it), and the last minute tacked-on childhood trauma subplot was really unnecessary.

5. Strong Girl Bong-Soon

A woman with inherited super-strength gets a job as a bodyguard for an eccentric young CEO

The lead couple in this are AD-OR-ABLE and I loved their relationship. But there was a weird tone issue in this show. The romance is super cute...but there’s a whole dark sub plot involving multiple women being held captive by a psychopath. I ended up fast forwarding most of that, and just concentrated on the romance.

6. Touch Your Heart

Star actress rocked by scandal works at a law firm to prepare for her comeback role

This starred the secondary couple from Goblin and I really like them, even though they are playing very different characters in this (more opposites attract, than doomed lovers). At first I found this too ‘cutesy’, but I’ve since realised the sound effects/graphics are a K-drama thing and not unique to this show, so I’m not as down on it as I was. I still had to fast forward a lot of the secondary romances which I wasn’t invested in.

The others…

1. Hyde, Jekyll and Me

A woman becomes involved in the lives of 2 men, who share one body

This stars Hyun Bin from CLOY and he is sooo watchable, especially as the slick-haired, glasses-wearing, uptight Seo-Jin. And the show started well...but quickly went off the rails into a convoluted, dragged-out revenge plot.

2. Melting Me Softly

Two people are accidentally cryogenically frozen for 20 years. They have to navigate the modern world and their new lives together.

Another good concept, but it ultimately descended into little more than a light work-place romance. Had a couple of good kissing scenes, but it was overall a bit forgettable.

And the DNF:

My Secret Romance

I started watching this because I was looking for something a little less PG - the characters have a one night stand in the first episode! But I couldn’t get passed the bad acting and cheap production.

Master’s Sun

I liked the premise but the 2 leads weren’t very attractive (at least in comparison to the insanely beautiful actors/actresses in the shows listed above). Call me superficial, but I couldn’t see myself spending 17 hours watching them and willing them to kiss.

#kdrama #cloy #healer #descendants of the sun #itaewon class #suspicious partner #legend of the blue sea #fight for my way #what's wrong with secretary kim #melting me softly #hyde jekyll me #touch your heart #her private life #strong girl bong soon #i am not a rob #my love from the star

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cinema-tv-etc · 4 years

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‘Bridgerton’ Isn’t Bad Austen — It’s An Entirely Different Genre

Critics and viewers have dinged the show for being a cliché-ridden period piece or a sloppy historical drama. But it’s neither: It’s Regency romance, and it’s spectacular.

By Claire Fallon

I was deep in a Regency romance binge a few years ago when I pitched a highly self-interested piece to my editor: an investigation into why this didn’t exist onscreen.

This was a creature apart from the Jane Austen adaptations and sedate period pieces I already enjoyed, or sexy but bloody cable costume dramas. A Regency romance is set in a fantasy version of British high society in the early 19th century, and the central action revolves around the courtship between a woman (often a well-bred beauty) and a man (often a rakish peer). They consummate their attraction in improbably acrobatic sexual encounters, and then they live happily ever after.

In the post-2016 election malaise, these novels became my anxiety palliative of choice. They piled up next to my bed and in my e-reader. But sometimes I wanted more, wanted to see the gossamer petticoats and lingering glances and gently unfastened bodices. The piece I pitched never materialized, but the object of my longing did. On Christmas Day 2020, Shondaland’s “Bridgerton” arrived on Netflix.

What ensued was both somewhat exhilarating — getting to see my Regency escapism come to life — and unnerving. My private indulgence, one generally viewed with dismissiveness if not contempt by non-romance readers, had become the target of a full-blown cultural discourse. “Bridgerton” was met with valid and vital critiques, especially over its treatment of consent, but also ones that made me wince: that it was formulaic, predictable, vapid, historically inaccurate, best suited for teens.

Many of the critiques, understandably, seemed rooted in unfamiliarity with the genre’s conventions, or in the expectation that “Bridgerton,” which is based on a series of books by Julia Quinn, would resemble a “Pride and Prejudice” remake. “You don’t get it!” I wanted to shout. “That’s not what this is!” The historical romance has finally gone mainstream — and that means a whole new audience is learning how to read a genre so long relegated to the margins. Sometimes that can be a bumpy ride.

With its bounty of sherbet-hued satin gowns, scandal rags full of malicious gossip, unblinkingly earnest romance, and on-screen lovemaking, “Bridgerton” seems to defy easy categorization for many critics, journalists and viewers — and even Regé-Jean Page, who stars as the smoldering Duke of Hastings.

“It’s a little bit of Jane Austen meets ‘Gossip Girl’ with maybe ‘49 Shades [of Grey’],” he told The Wrap in a December interview. Critics and viewers, at their wits’ ends trying to make sense of this sexy, gossipy, frothy Regency costume drama, also tried to characterize it in terms of beloved on-screen classics: “Pride and Prejudice,” “Downton Abbey,” and, yes, “Gossip Girl.” These comparisons convey some bafflement, an uncertainty about how to categorize a show that isn’t really a realist historical drama, nor an edgy satire, nor a campy soap.

Though it’s true that Austen was the inspiration behind the whole subgenre — the first Regency romance novelist, Georgette Heyer, was emulating Austen’s work — it has evolved into a well-established genre with its own tropes, conventions and standards.

“There’s a way that those kinds of incredibly popular adaptations of Austen will make you, I think, expect that you’re watching a certain kind of thing, and romance novels are not trying to do the same thing at all,” critic Aaron Bady said in a phone conversation. “If you go in watching ‘Bridgerton’ and say, ‘I think I’m watching Jane Austen,’ you’re going to be disappointed. It feels a little Jane Austen-y, but it doesn’t work like a Jane Austen novel.”

Nor is period romance merely a form of realist period fiction. In her review of the show, Patricia Matthew, an associate professor of English at Montclair State University, placed it in a long artistic tradition of Black women depicted in Regency settings. But ultimately, she said in a phone interview, “Nobody’s reading Julia Quinn because they’re looking for disquisitions on historical precedent.”

Bursting though a romance novel may be with carefully researched, period-accurate details about Vauxhall entertainments, Almack’s vouchers or ribboned chemises, these novels really aren’t about the Regency era, or at least not primarily.

“Historical romance does a different kind of work than historical fiction,” Sarah MacLean, a popular historical romance author, told me during a phone call. “The work of the romance novel is not to tell the story of the past. It is to hold a mirror to the present.”

By building a love story between the primary couple, one that is guaranteed to end “happily ever after” or “happy for now,” a romance novel not only provides escapism and the heart-pounding rush of vicarious passion, but a space in which to explore how romantic relationships can and should be, and how women can find fulfillment and happiness. And that means these stories have little to do with how the marriage market of Regency high society actually functioned; they’re about what readers — predominantly women — want to see in their lives today.

“The appeal of the time period for readers is very much about being able to distance readers from certain kinds of social issues and then reframe them as a reflection of society now,” MacLean explained. In the 1970s, novels typically featured brooding alpha males who took what they wanted sexually ― a narrative device, MacLean argued, for the fictional heroines of the time to have plenty of sex without being seen as loose and deserving of punishment. Historical romance novels today often feature heroes and heroines having what seem like rather anachronistically tender exchanges about consent.

Ella Dawson, a sex and culture critic, sees period romance as a way to provide a balm — an experience in which violence and trauma are, if not absent, superseded by a reassurance of ultimate well-being — while also walking readers through more thorny questions.

“Romance as a genre is really interested in consent, in diversity representation, in political issues,” she said. “Romances are so infused with these issues that I [am] really passionate about, and they explore it through this really fun, romantic, swoony, but still very intellectual, thoughtful, accessible lens.”

As odd as it felt to see a straightforward romance adaptation dissected as if it were a failed attempt at matching Jane Austen, it makes sense. Because the genre is generally regarded with such disdain in mainstream culture, it occupies a rather marginalized niche. A non-romance reader is unlikely to have a firm grasp of many things about the genre, outside of well-worn jokes about throbbing members and Fabio’s flowing hair, and though romance is among the bestselling genres in the book industry, it’s rarely adapted for TV or film.

Why has this omission persisted for so long? “I can’t imagine that it isn’t a huge amount [due to] patriarchy, in the sense that for the same reason it gets disdained on the page, it gets disdained on the screen,” said MacLean. To this day, the people deciding which films and shows to finance are almost entirely men. Shonda Rhimes is that rare exception — a woman with creative control over a TV empire, and a fan of the Quinn series.

Practical obstacles to adapting romance also pop up. A novel stuffed with sex scenes and building toward a tidy happy ending may be tricky to adapt for network TV, which needs to keep things a bit cleaner — and keep the narrative drama going indefinitely.

And it’s not just the network TV standards and the tidy endings. The heightened reality and bodice-unclasping of the genre, Matthew said, rely on an intimacy between the reader and the page that’s difficult to translate to the screen.

“I think the plot lines are bananas. I think they’re so extreme that they strain credulity,” she said, laughing. “You have to believe that a sane man, an adult, would say, ‘Oh, I’m just not going to have children so I can spite my father.’ It only works if it’s you with a glass of wine, kind of throwing yourself over to the world of romance.” It’s awkward to sit with someone else, knowing they’re watching the same melodramatic story unfold, partaking in a pleasure that feels somewhat private, if not embarrassing. “We all have these fan worlds that when they’re exposed to other people that aren’t a part of that world we might feel protective of, or feel bashful,” she said.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/bridgerton-netflix-romance-genre_n_60086fd5c5b6ffcab969dafa?utm_source=pocket-newtab

#Bridgerton #Jane Austen

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96harmony96 · 3 years

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Chapter 6

Hey, Dad. I caught you.” I adjusted my grip on the phone receiver and pulled up a stool at the breakfast bar. I missed my father. For the last four years we’d lived close enough to see each other at least once a week. Now his home in Oceanside was the entire country away. “How are you?”

He lowered the volume on the television. “Better, now that you’ve called. How was your first week at work?”

I went over my days from Monday through Friday, skipping over all the Lauren parts. “I really like my boss, Mark,” I finished. “And the vibe of the agency is very energetic and kind of quirky. I’m happy going to work every day, and I’m bummed when it’s time to go home.”

“I hope it stays that way. But you need to make sure you have some downtime, too. Go out, be young, have fun. But not too much fun.”

“Yeah, I had a little too much last night. Cary and I went clubbing, and I woke up with a mean hangover.”

“Shit, don’t tell me that.” He groaned. “Some nights I wake up in a cold sweat thinking about you in New York. I get through it by telling myself you’re too smart to take chances, thanks to two parents who’ve drilled safety rules into your DNA.”

“Which is true,” I said, laughing. “That reminds me…I’m going to start Krav Maga training.”

“Really?” There was a thoughtful pause. “One of the guys on the force is big on it. Maybe I’ll check it out and we can compare notes when I come out to visit you.”

“You’re coming to New York?” I couldn’t hide my excitement. “Oh, Dad, I’d love it if you would. As much as I miss SoCal, Manhattan is really awesome. I think you’ll like it.”

“I’d like anyplace in the world as long as you’re there.” He waited a beat, then asked, “How’s your mom?”

“Well…she’s Mom. Beautiful, charming, and obsessive-compulsive.”

My chest hurt and I rubbed at it. I thought my dad might still love my mom. He’d never married. That was one of the reasons I never told him about what happened to me. As a cop, he would’ve insisted on pressing charges and the scandal would have destroyed my mother. I also worried that he’d lose respect for her or even blame her, and it hadn’t been her fault. As soon as she’d found out what her stepson was doing to me, she’d left a husband she was happy with and filed for divorce.

I kept talking, waving at Cary as he came rushing in with a little blue Tiffany & Co. bag. “We had a spa day today. It was a fun way to cap off the week.”

I could hear the smile in his voice when he said, “I’m glad you two are managing to spend time together. What are your plans for the rest of the weekend?”

I hedged on the subject of the charity event, knowing the whole red carpet business and astronomically-priced dinner seats would just highlight the gap between my parents’ lives. “Cary and I are going out to eat, and then I plan on staying in tomorrow. Sleeping in late, hanging out in my pajamas all day, maybe some movies and food delivery of some sort. A little vegetating before a new work week kicks off.”

“Sounds like heaven to me. I may copy you when my next day off rolls around.”

Glancing at the clock, I saw it was creeping past six. “I have to get ready now. Be careful at work, okay? I worry about you, too.”

“Will do. Bye, baby.”

The familiar sign-off had me missing him so much my throat hurt. “Oh, wait! I’m getting a new cell phone. I’ll text you the number as soon as I have it.”

“Again? You just got a new one when you moved.”

“Long, boring story.”

“Hmm…Don’t put it off. They’re good for safety as well as playing Angry Birds.”

“I’m over that game!” I laughed and warmth spread through me to hear him laughing, too. “I’ll call you in a few days. Be good.”

“That’s my line.”

We hung up. I sat for a few moments in the ensuing silence, feeling like everything was right in my world, which never lasted long. I brooded on that for minute; then Cary cranked up Hinder on his bedroom stereo and that kicked my butt into gear.

I hurried to my room to get ready for a night with Lauren.

“Necklace or no necklace?” I asked Cary, when he came into my bedroom looking seriously amazing. Dressed in his new Brioni tux, he was both debonair and dashing, and certain to attract attention.

“Hmm.” His head tilted to the side as he studied me. “Hold it up again.”

I lifted the choker of gold coins to my throat. The dress my mom had sent was fire engine red and styled for a Grecian goddess. It hung on one shoulder, cut diagonally across my cleavage, had ruching to the hip, and then split at my right upper thigh all the way down my leg. There was no back to speak of, aside from a slender strip of rhinestones that connected one side to the other to keep the front from falling off. Otherwise, the back was bared to just above the crack of my buttocks in a racy V-cut.

“Forget the necklace,” he said. “I was leaning toward gold chandeliers, but now I’m thinking diamond hoops. The biggest ones you’ve got.”

“What? Really?” I frowned at our reflections in my cheval mirror, watching as he moved to my jewelry box and dug through it.

“These.” He brought them to me and I eyed the two-inch hoops my mother had given me for my eighteenth birthday. “Trust me, Camila. Try ’em on.”

I did and found he was right. It was a very different look from the gold choker, less glam and more edgy sensuality. And the earrings went well with the diamond anklet on my right leg that I’d never think of the same way again after Lauren’s comment. With my hair swept off my face into a cascade of thick, deliberately messy curls, I had a just-screwed look that was complemented by smoky eye shadow and glossy nude lips.

“What would I do without you, Cary Taylor?”

“Baby girl”—he set his hands on my shoulders and pressed his cheek to mine—“you’ll never find out.”

“You look awesome, by the way.”

“Don’t I?” He winked and stepped back, showing off.

In his own way, Cary could give Lauren a run for her money…er, looks. Cary was more finely featured, almost pretty compared to Lauren’s savage beauty, but both were striking people that made you look twice, and then stare in greedy delight.

Cary hadn’t been quite so perfect when I met him. He’d been strung out and gaunt, his emerald eyes cloudy and lost. But I’d been drawn to him, going out of my way to sit next to him in group therapy. He’d finally propositioned me crudely, having come to believe the only reason people associated with him was because they wanted to fuck him. It was when I declined, firmly and irrevocably, that we finally connected and became best friends. He was the brother I’d never had.

The intercom buzzed and I jumped, making me realize how nervous I was. I looked at Cary. “I forgot to tell the front desk she was coming back.”

“I’ll get her.”

“Are you going to be okay riding over with Stanton and my mom?”

“Are you kidding? They love me.” His smile dimmed. “Having second thoughts about going with Jauregui?”

I took a deep breath, remembering where I’d been earlier—on my back in a multi-orgasmic daze. “Not really, no. It’s just that everything’s happening so fast and going better than I expected or realized I wanted…”

“You’re wondering what the catch is.” Reaching out, he tapped my nose with his fingertip. “she’s the catch, Camila. And you landed her. Enjoy yourself.”

“I’m trying.” I was grateful that Cary understood me and the way my mind worked. It was just so easy being with him, knowing he could fill in the blanks when I couldn’t explain something.

“I researched the hell out of her this morning and printed out the interesting recent stuff. It’s on your desk, if you decide you want to check it out.”

I remembered him printing something before we got ready for the spa. Pushing onto my tiptoes, I kissed his cheek. “You’re the best. I love you.”

“Back atcha, baby girl.” He headed out. “I’ll head down to the front desk and bring her up. Take your time. she’s ten minutes early.”

Smiling, I watched him saunter into the hallway. The door had closed behind him when I moved into the small sitting room attached to my bedroom. On the very impractical escritoire my mother had picked out, I found a folder filled with articles and printed images. I settled into the chair and got lost in Lauren Jauregui's history.

It was like watching a train wreck to read that she was the Daughter of Geoffrey Jauregui, former chairman of an investment securities firm later found to be a front for a massive Ponzi scheme. Lauren was just five years old when her dad committed suicide with a gunshot to the head rather than face prison time.

Oh, Lauren. I tried to picture her that young and imagined a handsome dark-haired girl with beautiful green eyes filled with terrible confusion and sadness. The image broke my heart. How devastating her father’s suicide—and the circumstances around it—must have been, for both her and her mother. The stress and strain at such a difficult time would’ve been enormous, especially for a child of that age.

Her mother went on to marry Christopher Vidal, a music executive, and had two more children, Christopher Vidal Jr. and Ireland Vidal, but it seemed a larger family and financial security had come too late to help Lauren stabilize after such a huge shakeup. she was too closed off not to bear some painful emotional scars.

With a critical and curious eye, I studied the women who’d been photographed with Lauren and thought about her approach to dating, socializing, and sex. I saw that my mom had been right—they were all blondes. The woman who appeared with her most often bore the hallmarks of a KaKasian heritage. she was taller than me, willowy rather than curvy.

“Magdalene Perez,” I murmured, grudgingly admitting that she was a stunner. Her posture had the kind of flamboyant confidence that I admired.

“Okay, it’s been long enough,” Cary interrupted with a soft note of amusement. He filled the doorway to my sitting room, leaning insolently into the doorjamb.

“Really?” I’d been so absorbed; I hadn’t realized how much time had passed.

“I would guess you’re about a minute away from her coming to find you. she’s barely restraining herself.”

I shut the folder and stood.

“Interesting reading, isn’t it?”

“Very.” How had lauren’s father—or more specifically, her father’s suicide—influenced her life?

I knew all the answers I wanted were waiting for me in the next room.

Leaving my bedroom, I took the hallway to the living room. I paused on the threshold, my gaze riveted to lauren’s back as she stood in front of the windows and looked out at the city. My heart rate kicked up. Her reflection revealed a contemplative mood. Her gaze was unfocused and her mouth grim. Her crossed arms betrayed an inherent unease, as if she was out of her element. she looked remote and removed, a woman who was inherently alone.

she sensed my presence or maybe he felt my yearning. she pivoted; then went very still. I took the opportunity to drink her in, my gaze sliding all over her. she looked every inch the powerful magnate. So sensually handsome my eyes burned just from looking at her. The rakish fall of black hair around her face made my fingers flex with the urge to touch it. And the way she looked at me…my pulse leaped.

“Camila.” she came toward me, her stride graceful and strong. she caught up my hand and lifted it to her mouth. Her gaze was intense—intensely hot, intensely focused.

The feel of her lips against my skin sent goose bumps racing up my arm and stirred memories of that sinful mouth on other parts of my body. I was instantly aroused. “Hi.”

Amusement warmed her eyes. “Hi, yourself. You look amazing. I can’t wait to show you off.”

I breathed through the delight I felt at the compliment. “Let’s hope I can do you justice.”

A slight frown knit the space between her brows. “Do you have everything you need?”

Cary appeared beside me, carrying my black velvet shawl and opera length gloves. “Here you go. I tucked your gloss into your clutch.”

“You’re the best, Cary.”

He winked at me—which told me he’d seen the condoms I had tucked into the small interior pocket. “I’ll head down with you two.”

Lauren took the shawl from Cary and draped it over my shoulders. she pulled my hair out from underneath it and the feel of her hands at my neck so distracted me, I barely paid attention when Cary pushed my gloves into my hands.

The elevator ride to the lobby was an exercise in surviving acute sexual tension. Not that Cary seemed to notice. He was on my left with both hands in his pockets, whistling. Lauren, on the other hand, was a tremendous force on the other side of me. Although ahe didn’t move or make a sound, I could feel the edgy energy radiating from her. My skin tingled from the magnetic pull between us, and my breath came short and fast. I was relieved when the doors opened and freed us from the enclosed space.

Two women stood waiting to get on. Their jaws dropped when they saw Lauren and Cary, and that lightened my mood and made me smile.

“Ladies,” Cary greeted them, with a smile that really wasn’t fair. I could almost see their brain cells misfiring.

In contrast, Lauren gave a curt nod and led me out with a hand at the small of my back, skin to skin. The contact was electric, sending heat pouring through me.

I squeezed Cary’s hand. “Save a dance for me.”

“Always. See you in a bit.”

A limousine was waiting at the curb, and the driver opened the door when Lauren and I stepped outside. I slid across the bench seat to the opposite side and adjusted my gown. When Lauren settled beside me and the door shut, I became highly conscious of how good she smelled. I breathed her in, telling myself to relax and enjoy her company. she took my hand and ran her fingertips over the palm, the simple touch sparking a fierce lust. I shrugged off my shawl, feeling too hot to wear it.

“Camila.” she hit a button and the privacy glass behind the driver began to slide up. The next moment I was tugged across her lap and her mouth was on mine, kissing me fiercely.

I did what I’d wanted to do since I saw hee in my living room: I shoved my hands in her hair and kissed her back. I loved the way she kissed me, as if she had to, as if she’d go crazy if she didn’t and had nearly waited too long. I sucked on her tongue, having learned how much she liked it, having learned how much I liked it, how much it made me want to suck her elsewhere with the same eagerness.

Her hands were sliding over my bare back and I moaned, feeling the prod of her erection against my hip. I shifted, moving to straddle her, shoving the skirt of my gown out of the way and making a mental note to thank my mom for the dress—which had such a convenient slit. With my knees on either side of her hips, I wrapped my arms around her shoulders and deepened the kiss. I licked into her mouth, nibbled on her lower lip, stroked my tongue along her…

Lauren gripped my waist and pushed me away. she leaned into the seat back, her neck arched to look up at my face, her chest heaving. “What are you doing to me?”

I ran my hands down her chest through her dress shirt, feeling the unforgiving hardness of her muscles. My fingers traced the ridges of her abdomen, my mind forming a picture of how she might look naked. “I’m touching you. Enjoying the hell out of you. I want you, Lauren.”

she caught my wrists, stilling my movements. “Later. We’re in the middle of Manhattan.”

“No one can see us.”

“That’s not the point. It’s not the time or place to start something we can’t finish for hours. I’m losing my mind already from this afternoon.”

“So let’s make sure we finish it now.”

Her grip tightened painfully. “We can’t do that here.”

“Why not?” Then a surprising thought struck me. “Haven’t you ever had sex in a limo?”

“No.” Her jaw hardened. “Have you?”

Looking away without answering, I saw the traffic and pedestrians surging around us. We were only inches away from hundreds of people, but the dark glass concealed us and made me feel reckless. I wanted to please her. I wanted to know I was capable of reaching into Lauren Jauregui, and there was nothing to stop me but her.

I rocked my hips against her, stroking myself with the hard length of her cock. Her breath hissed out between clenched teeth.

“I need you, Lauren,” I said breathlessly, inhaling her scent, which was richer now that she was aroused. I thought I might be slightly intoxicated, just from the enticing smell of her skin. “You drive me crazy.”

she released my wrists and cupped my face, her lips pressing hard against mine. I reached for the fly of her slacks, freeing the two buttons to access the concealed zipper. she tensed.

“I need this,” I whispered against her lips. “Give me this.”

she didn’t relax, but she made no further attempts to stop me either. When she fell heavily into my palms, she groaned, the sound both pained and erotic. I squeezed her gently, my touch deliberately tender as I sized her with my hands. she was so hard, like stone, and hot. I slid both of my fists up her length from root to tip, my breath catching when she quivered beneath me.

Lauren gripped my thighs, her hands sliding upward beneath the edges of my dress until her thumbs found the red lace of my thong. “Your cunt is so sweet,” she murmured into my mouth. “I want to spread you out and lick you ’til you beg for my cock.”

“I’ll beg now, if you want.” I stroked her with one hand and reached for my clutch with the other, snapping it open to grab a condom.

One of her thumbs slid beneath the edge of my panties, the pad sliding through the slickness of my desire. “I’ve barely touched you,” she whispered, her eyes glittering up at me in the shadows of the backseat, “and you’re ready for me.”

“I can’t help it.”

“I don’t want you to help it.” she pushed her thumb inside me, biting her lower lip when I clenched helplessly around her. “It wouldn’t be fair when I can’t stop what you do to me.”

I ripped the foil packet open with my teeth and held it out to her with the ring of the condom protruding from the tear. “I’m not good with these.”

Her hand curled around mine. “I’m breaking all my rules with you.”

The seriousness of her low tone sent a burst of warmth and confidence through me. “Rules are made to be broken.”

I saw her teeth flash white; then she hit a button on the panel beside him and said, “Drive until I say otherwise.”

My cheeks heated. Another car’s headlights pierced the dark tinted glass and slid over my face, betraying my embarrassment.

“Why, Camila,” she purred, rolling the condom on deftly. “You’ve seduced me into having sex in my limousine, but blush when I tell my driver I don’t want to be interrupted while you do it to me?”

Her sudden playfulness made me desperate to have her. Setting my hands on her shoulders for balance, I lifted onto my knees, rising to gain the height I needed to hover over the crown of Laurens thick cock. Her hands fisted at my hips and I heard a snap as she tore my panties away. The abrupt sound and the violent action behind it spurred my desire to a fever pitch.

“Go slow,” she ordered hoarsely, lifting her hips to push her pants down farther.

Her erection brushed between my legs as she moved and I whimpered, so aching and empty, as if the orgasms she’d given me earlier had only deepened my craving rather than appeased it.

she tensed when I wrapped my fingers around her and positioned her, tucking the wide crest against the saturated folds of my cleft. The scent of our lust was heavy and humid in the air, a seductive mix of need and pheromones that awakened every cell in my body. My skin was flushed and tingling, my breasts heavy and tender.

This is what I’d wanted from the moment I first saw her—to possess her, to climb up her magnificent body and take her deep inside me.

“God. Camila,” she gasped as I lowered onto her, her hands flexing restlessly on my thighs.

I closed my eyes, feeling too exposed. I’d wanted intimacy with her and yet this seemed too intimate. We were eye-to-eye, only inches apart, cocooned in a small space with the rest of the world streaming by around us. I could sense his agitation, knew she was feeling as off-center as I was.

“You’re so tight.” Her gasped words were threaded with a hint of delicious agony.

I took more of her, letting her slide deeper. I sucked in a deep breath, feeling exquisitely stretched. “You’re so big.”

Pressing her palm flat to my lower belly, she touched my throbbing clit with the pad of her thumb and began to massage it in slow, expertly soft circles. Everything in my core tightened and clenched, sucking her deeper. Opening my eyes, I looked at her from under heavy eyelids. she was so beautiful sprawled beneath me in her elegant tuxedo, her powerful body straining with the primal need to mate.

Her neck arched, her head pressing hard into the seatback as if she was struggling against invisible bonds. “Ah, Christ,” she bit out, her teeth grinding. “I’m going to come so hard.”

The dark promise excited me. Sweat misted my skin. I became so wet and hot that I slid smoothly down the length of her cock until I’d nearly sheathed her. A breathless cry escaped me before I’d taken her to the root. she was so deep I could hardly stand it, forcing me to shift from side to side, trying to ease the unexpected bite of discomfort. But my body didn’t seem to care that she was too big. It was rippling around her, squeezing, trembling on the verge of orgasm.

Lauren cursed and gripped my hip with her free hand, urging me to lean backward as her chest heaved with frantic breaths. The position altered my descent and I opened, accepting all of her. Immediately her body temperature rose, her torso radiating sultry heat through her clothes. Sweat dotted her upper lip.

Leaning forward, I slid my tongue along the sculpted curve, collecting the saltiness with a low murmur of delight. Her hips churned impatiently. I lifted carefully, sliding up a few inches before she stopped me with that ferocious grasp on my hip.

“Slow,” she warned again, with an authoritative bite that sent lust pulsing through me.

I lowered, taking her into me again, feeling an oddly luscious soreness as she pushed just past my limits. Our eyes locked on each other as the pleasure spread from the place where we connected. It struck me then that we were both fully clothed except for the most private and intimate parts of our bodies. I found that excruciatingly carnal, as were the sounds she made, as if the pleasure was as extreme for her as it was for me.

Wild for her, I pressed my mouth to her, my fingers gripping the sweat-damp roots of her hair. I kissed her as I rocked my hips, riding the maddening circling of her thumb, feeling the orgasm building with every slide of her long, thick penis into my melting core.

I lost my mind somewhere along the way, primitive instinct taking over until my body was completely in charge. I could focus on nothing but the driving urge to fuck, the ferocious need to ride her cock until the tension burst and set me free of this grinding hunger.

“It’s so good,” I sobbed, lost to her. “You feel…Ah, God, it’s too good.”

Using both hands, Lauren commanded my rhythm, tilting me into an angle that had the big crown of her cock rubbing a tender, aching spot inside me. As I tightened and shook, I realized I was going to come from that, just from the expert thrust of her inside me. “Lauren.”

she captured me by the nape as the orgasm exploded through me, starting with the ecstatic spasms of my core and radiating outward until I was trembling all over. she watched me fall apart, holding my gaze when I would’ve closed my eyes. Possessed by her stare, I moaned and came harder than I ever had, my body jerking with every pulse of pleasure.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” she growled, pounding her hips up at me, yanking my hips down to meet her punishing lunges. she hit the end of me with every deep thrust, battering into me. I could feel her growing harder and thicker.

I watched her avidly, needing to see it when she went over the edge for me. Her eyes were wild with her need, losing their focus as her control frayed, her gorgeous face ravaged by the brutal race to climax.

“Camila!” she came with an animal sound of feral ecstasy, a snarling release that riveted me with its ferocity. she shook as the orgasm tore into her, her features softening for an instant with an unexpected vulnerability.

Cupping her face, I brushed my lips across her, comforting her as the forceful bursts of her gasping breaths struck my cheeks.

“Camila.” she wrapped her arms around me and crushed me to her, pressing her damp face into the curve of my neck.

I knew just how she felt. Stripped. Laid bare.

We stayed like that for a long time, holding each other, absorbing the aftershocks. she turned her head and kissed me softly, the strokes of her tongue into my mouth soothing my ragged emotions.

“Wow,” I breathed, shaken.

Her mouth twitched. “Yeah.”

I smiled, feeling dazed and high.

Lauren brushed the damp tendrils of hair off my temples, her fingertips gliding almost reverently across my face. The way she studied me made my chest hurt. she looked stunned and…grateful, her eyes warm and tender. “I don’t want to break this moment.”

Because I could hear it hanging in the air, I filled it in. “But…?”

“But I can’t blow off this dinner. I have a speech to give.”

“Oh.” The moment was effectively broken.

I lifted gingerly off of her, biting my lip at the feel of her slipping wetly out of me. The friction was enough to make me want more. she’d barely softened.

“Damn it,” she said roughly. “I want you again.”

she caught me before I moved away, pulling a handkerchief out from somewhere and running it gently between my legs. It was a deeply intimate act, on par with the sex we’d just had.

When I was dry, I settled on the seat beside her and dug my lip gloss out of my clutch. I watched Lauren over the edge of my mirrored compact as she removed the condom and tied it off. she wrapped it in a cocktail napkin; then tossed it in a cleverly hidden trash receptacle. After restoring her appearance, she told the driver to head to our destination. Then she settled into the seat and stared out the window.

With every second that passed, I felt her withdrawing, the connection between us slipping further and further away. I found myself shrinking into the corner of the seat, away from her, mimicking the distance I felt building between us. All the warmth I’d felt receded into a marked chill, cooling me enough that I pulled my shawl around me again. she didn’t move a muscle as I shifted beside her and put my compact away, as if she wasn’t even aware I was there.

Abruptly, Lauren opened the bar and pulled out a bottle. Without looking at me, she asked, “Brandy?”

“No, thank you.” My voice was small, but she didn’t seem to notice. Or maybe she didn’t care. she poured a drink and tossed it back.

Confused and stung, I pulled on my gloves and tried to figure out what went wrong.

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pandawritesmanythings · 4 years

Text

(Loki x Reader Medieval AU)

Chapter Summary: After meeting with Frigga, you decide it's time to take matters into your own hands. Turns out a certain someone had the same idea.

Warnings: None, I think!

Word Count: 2,845k

A/N: This was actually two chapters, but I thought that a longer update was better than two shorter ones... Let me know what you thought!

Masterlist

Thor approached you after dinner. He was wearing his armor and had asked you for the first dance. You weren't sure if that was allowed, but if he was asking - and he was a prince - you had no reason to refuse.

He guided you towards the dancing couples, and despite his armor and his hulking size, he was still a very skilled dancer.

"I must apologize, m'lady."

"What for?" You asked, confused.

"For blowing up like that earlier." He referred to this morning when you had delivered the news.

"Ah. You must not worry about that. I was quite upset when I received the news."

You glided across the ballroom for a few beats before he spoke again. Not that you were drawing a comparison, but it was honestly a lot easier to dance with Loki. You couldn't imagine what dancing the more lively dances must be with Thor. Loki seemed much lighter on his feet, graceful like a cunning cat, and he seemed to guide you while at the same time give you leeway. With Thor, it felt a little more practiced, a bit stiffer.

"Has my brother spoken to you yet?"

Alright. Why this all of a sudden?

"I can't say he has."

"He mentioned he had something to speak of, with you."

So he did want to talk with you. Well, you were waiting. "He must have been busy. We do have a wedding to plan. If he wishes to do so, I must believe that he will talk to me soon."

"Ah. Yes. Your wedding. Please don't be too harsh on him. He's been through a lot in the past year."

"Has he now?"

"I mean. It's not my place to tell. But he wasn't really thrilled about the arrangement."

You shrugged, "That's understandable."

"But... This is different. My brother has changed a lot during the past year. And his brooding has only increased for the past few months."

Honestly, hearing Thor saying that his brother was brooding was probably the best thing you had ever heard. You almost wanted to laugh. But you didn't. "Well, I hope that whenever he comes to talk to me, I can help him with his- What did you call it? Brooding?" You smirked at the tall blonde man.

He boomed a laugh, attracting a couple of stares in the process. "I did say that, didn't I? Oh please forgive me. I hope you can, though." He said earnestly.

"I hope so too."

The simple dancing ended shortly afterward, and as you bowed, you felt a light tap on your shoulder. Finding Loki standing behind you may have surprised you, but you did your best to hide it.

"Your majesty," You curtsied.

"May I have this next dance?" He asked politely.

You turned to Thor as if to ask him to excuse you. He just beamed at you and signaled you to follow the dark prince. With a final goodbye, he took his leave. Silently, you took your position and placed a hand over his shoulder, holding his free hand, as the other snaked at your waist.

The music soft music began, and you proceeded to glide once more through the ballroom.

"I must say, I hadn't expected you to approach me tonight."

"I had thought that the oaf I have for a brother might have told you about my intentions."

You quickly gazed away before answering, "He may have, that does not mean that I expected you to approach me to dance."

"Ah, but I thought this was our ultimate place to communicate."

You teasingly pretended to think deeply. "No, I thought that would be our walks among nature."

You wanted to make him laugh. For some reason, it felt good when you did. But since he didn't you sighed and looked deep into his eyes.

"Look, I spoke with your mother-"

"How insightful of you." He looked... Unimpressed.

"I do not care for your approval." You said, "However, I have come to be quite fond of the queen. So I have decided to apologize."

Oh yeah. That took him by surprise. To the untrained eye, it may have not been apparent. But you had spent years under Doctor's Strange tutelage learning the art of micro expressions, and at that moment you saw the surprise in Loki Odinson's face.

"Why you?"

Why are you apologizing? Is what you thought he was trying to say.

You tilted your head. This conversation wasn't one you had gone through your head countless times. You didn't have any comment prepared, no word planned, no speech stored in your mind. You just wanted this to work. You wanted his trust. That was all. And for that, you needed to be yourself.

"Because, despite what you might believe of me, prince Loki Odinson. I still care about everything that is happening around me. And that includes you." Loki and you continued to dance for a little more.

"Won't you say something? Please-." "Not here." He interrupted you and his gaze floated momentarily to your right.

You dared to take a disguised glance and you found a couple of onlookers suddenly looking as if they totally weren't just trying to listen in to your conversation.

Oh, the game is on. "Perfect couple." You replied with confidence in your voice.

At least he wanted to try and fix things.

You had agreed to meet up with Loki after breakfast. The library was the place, and you made sure to sneak a treat from the bakery on your way there.

"Is your dog following you?" Was the first thing he said to you, not even looking up from his book.

"Please, do refrain from calling my captain of the guard a dog." You answered unamused.

"So he is here." That was a statement.

"Well, it would be against my father's and my country's interests if he wasn't."

You sat by his side and he snapped the book on his hands closed, preventing you from even taking a peek.

"Something scandalous on the pages you read?"

"Why would you ask such a thing?"

"No one closes something faster than the person who knows they are doing something that is out of their limits."

"And you speak from experience, princess?" He leaned in closer.

You place a hand between his face and yours, making him move away from your personal space. "Don't all things we say come from experience?"

You bit into the small chocolatey treat. Absolutely delightful. Cocoa might be best cultivated in Midgard, but Asgardians were masters of the craft.

Loki hummed in response to your words and sank into his seat.

"So you wanted to talk?" You asked after downing your treat.

"Hmm."

You waited for him to begin and after a beat of silence, you shrugged in confusion. "Well...?"

"They call me silver-tongued, but also a snake. Were you sufficiently gullible to believe those descriptions?"

"Silver tongue? That you are. A snake? Hard to say. But when one knows nothing of their future husband, it is hard not to listen to what the wolves spit out."

He wasn't looking at you, but you saw the ghost of a grin in his face.

"My mother has spoken to you, hasn't she?" You nodded. "She was sensible to do so."

"You believe that she turned me to your cause." You raised an eyebrow.

"I believe that she has laid out a path for a mutual understanding."

You nodded solemnly. "I think you understand that my doubts on you are not unfounded?"

"Of course," he agreed. "You would be unwise not to heed them." There was some sort of spark in his eyes that made you shiver. He was incorrigible.

"In that case, I only wish you to know that everything I have said is true."

He was silent, considering your words for a moment. His hand was resting on his chin, eyes examining your face. Searching.

"Why be honest with me?"

Looking into his eyes was interesting. It was sort of like when you saw Bucky's eyes for the first time after you had retrieved him from the grasp of the Jotuns. Some sort of sharpness to them, yet clouded with something that went deeper than the superficial understanding you had of him.

"As I said, I want you to trust me. I believe communication is the fastest way to trust." You honestly told him. "Although I must admit I didn't want the whole, "she's in love with another man" issue to arise." You chuckled.

He looked amused, which made you weirdly proud.

A silence settled between you. You both wanted this to work. You wanted this trust. Because spending the rest of your life with someone that at the very least you didn't trust was a miserable way to live. But you both were scared. Not really sure of what... Just... Just scared.

"I won't apologize for what I said." He finally broke the silence.

"In that case, neither will I." You agreed.

There was something akin to surprise in his eyes. What, did he expect you to beg for his forgiveness? For the poor, sad, prince's ego?

"However, our cards are all on the table." You leaned forward. "I want us to be friends, Loki. I want us to be allies. I want to trust you. But I have to know if you want this too."

He seemed to consider his options. Not like he had many. And any resemblance of peace and support he could have, he would take it. Is not like your company was unbearable. You were smart and capable to care for yourself. And although he would never admit it, he was really impressed by how you had flipped his perceptions of you in less than a day.

He had seen you and only thought he saw a sheltered and perfect little princess with no backbone. Especially after seeing you just smile and wave politely all day.

But when you held your own during the signing of the alliance... He had to admit that was impressive, and your conversation at the end of the night, he had never had such an exchange with anyone.

Would he mind your company? No. In fact. In a bad situation, you seemed like the lesser of any evils that life could have thrown at him.

You were, definitely, no Sigyn, but if the love of his life was happy and secure, he would endure anything for her. And it's not like you were making it hard for him.

If anything, you had welcomed him, despite his reputation, with open arms.

"I must say that it wouldn't be... The most unbearable of ordeals." He began. "If you are willing to work alongside me, I am also willing."

You let out a breath of relief. "Good. It would have been a real disappointment if you hadn't." Your tone was teasing, so he smiled at that.

"Oh, I would hate to keep disappointing you, princess."

You chuckled at that and stared into his green eyes. "So... what now?"

He looked pensive for a moment before answering. "Well, we say that we trust in each other because we know some compromising secrets that we trust the other won't reveal or use against us. But if you allow me I would like to make a suggestion."

"Go ahead."

"So far you've made for interesting conversation. I'll give you that. But I wonder how far your knowledge of Asgard extends." He smirked.

Oh, how funny. "I must admit that it is not all that vast."

"Hmm."

He got up and walked up to one of the shelves, a long finger helping him scan the volumes of books on it. When he found what he was looking for he retrieved a copy and handed it to you.

"What is this?" You asked looking at the leather cover of the book. Intricate markings and symbols carved into the cover. It alone was a work of art. The carving of a young woman holding flowers right in the center. There was something about her expression that made her look sad, or empty and you wondered what the book was about.

Never judge a book by its cover. Yeah, that was true, but if the outside was any indicative, this was at the very least an intriguing read.

"Prose Of The Desolates."

You raised an eyebrow at him. "Cherie."

A quick chuckle left his throat before he proceeded to explain. "Written by one of our great. Snotra. I wonder what your opinion on her writing will be."

"What, are you suggesting we begin our very own and private book club?"

He scoffed at that. "Please, book clubs are for the aficionado. Fans. This would be..." He looked for a way to turn it. "Our own little wits battle."

You were surprised. "Huh, you consider me worthy of trying to battle the silver-tongued prince Loki?"

"You have outwitted me, the only thing I have left to lose is my pride."

Okay, he was charming. You had to give him that.

"Do I hold any power over you? Because I believe it would be very embarrassing if word of this were to get out. A mere Midgardian eluding the sly dark prince of Asgard?"

"That is why, if I win, you don't get to tell anyone."

"And if I do?"

"I chose my prize, you choose yours."

You thought about it for a second. If you bet in what you were thinking and you lost... You were simply at his mercy then. It was not something that you were quite happy to do, but you had to have a fighting chance.

"If I do... We become friends."

He seemed surprised. He definitely wasn't expecting that, and a slight twitch in his expression told you that.

"Sounds fair?" You extended your hand.

He hummed. "It does." He took yours and shook it.

His hand was firm if a little cold. You could feel the callousness of it, probably from years of training and battling.

You yourself were unaware of his surprise that when he held your hand, he had expected to feel the soft hand of a princess. Instead, he felt a hand that was as rough as Sif's. If not rougher. He had held your hand while dancing, but he realized then that you had been wearing gloves. Now that he held your naked hand, he felt the struggle that you had to have been through in your hardened skin.

Not that he cared.

You retreated your hand once more and held the leather-covered book to your chest.

"So, when shall we reconvene?" You asked, playful.

He breathed in, trying to suppress his racing thoughts. "Well, I am afraid that my father will have me preoccupied for the rest of the day."

"Then, what of tomorrow after breakfast?" You asked, hopeful. As much as you hated to admit it talking to him was surprisingly not as difficult as you thought it would be.

"Sounds good. I believe you must have gone through at least three chapters. We shall discuss them then."

"Only three? You continue to disappoint me, Odinson."

He raised an eyebrow. "Oh, it's not for me, I've read through this book in less than a day. I am making this concession for you."

"You wound me thinking I could only read three mere chapters in a whole day."

"With your courtly duties, and your lapdog following you around, I would believe you have time for not much else." He teased while standing up to leave.

"You underestimate my power, sir."

An amused laugh left his lips. You had never seen him smile like that. You were ashamed to say that... you might find it enjoyable.

You had always adored making people laugh but... This? Sort of like Steve, you wanted to see him smile like that, all the time. It looked good on him.

"I shall bid you farewell." He took your hand in his, delicately, as if your hand may break in under his touch, and gave it a gentle kiss. You felt strange. You hadn't actually felt his lips on your skin before, it made you really fidgety.

"I'll see you tomorrow." You said, feeling heat creep up your cheeks.

"I'll see you then."

He left the room immediately after. Seeing him leave was a contradictory feeling. On one hand, you were happy that you had gotten a good start to read more Asgardian literature. On the other... His company and talk with you filled you with excitement. You were never quite sure of what he was going to say or do next. Something you never really felt with Steve.

You could always count on him doing the right thing, but Loki? He might not. And that excited you.

And scared you at the same time.

Anyway. You had no time. You wanted to read as much as you could, so you knocked your shoes off, curled up with a cushion between your legs and your chest, and opened the first page to begin your reading.

TAG LIST:

@chxrryycola - @midnightmystic - @deathkat657 - @thatonefangirl111

#loki #loki fanfic #loki x reader #medieval!au #medieval au #loki x sigyn #loki friggason #loki odinson #Loki Laufeyson

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littleredroseonthevalley · 4 years

Text

Public Displays of Affection

Summary: Raine says something she should not, and fears Tyril’s reaction.

Rating: T - Suitable for teens, 13 years and older, with some violence, minor coarse language, and minor suggestive adult themes.

Words: 1100

Notes: Plot bunny. Yeah, I know it’s a dragon, I know it looks like it belongs at a drug dealer’s wardrobe, but signet rings are not what they used to be. Enjoy.

“Are you seriously giving me the silent treatment?”

Raine had honestly meant for her question to sound neutral, but she winces at the sad puppy tone in which it comes out instead. Yes, she was sad and confused, but she did not have to show it. No need to appear more ridiculous than she already felt.

Tyril had been eerily silent and Raine has in good authority it must be because of her. Not that it was rare for him to brood, but because timing seemed awfully convenient.

It started earlier that morning, when they were disassembling their camp tents to continue their journey. Imtura, as per usual, had thrown one of her friendly barbs at Raine.

“You know, it is sickeningly sweet it was to see you two make doe eyes at each other.” She commented. “Every time I turn my head at you, there you are, looking like a pair of characters out of Kade’s ballads!”

“Hey!” The bard complained, while folding the green kilts they used to cover the tents in rainy days. “I happen to write very tasteful romance. Nothing like the mush-mush that goes on around here.”

The orc smirked. “See? Even your own brother noticed it. So, tell me, is this some kind of woods sickness or are you actually in lurve?”

Raine could feasibly deny or ignore, as she had been known to do before, but she felt like she did not want it. She wanted to proclaim openly, as it was hardly a crime.

So, she did just that.

“Yes, I’m in love. Disgustingly so, even.” She declared, proudly.

Raine’s reply had prompted a groan from the tall woman. Tyril, on the other hand, who had been conversing with Nia on the side, suddenly fell deathly silent and had been for the entire morning they spent trudging uphill.

For the first time ever, the elven girl had spoken about her romantic relationships before thinking carefully about her statements, and it felt rather good. She enjoyed reiterating her intentions to him in case the encrusted gold loop on her right hand was not proof enough of her feelings.

Admittedly, after what Raine had started to refer to as their defining their relationship conversation at her tent a couple days back, she had thought her thoughts on the matter were clear.

No one could accuse the young girl of some sort inexperience when it came to the carnal acts, but all her previous affairs were mostly limited to them. This whole relationship thing was new and exciting for her, and she was enjoying it. She had even taken to wear a Starfury ring, as a promise of love and devotion.

She had no qualms about reiterating her feelings, just rather feared his reaction, apparently with reason.

Despite being from the same species, her upbringing was much too different from Tyril’s, and that speaking that openly might be crossing a line she did not understand it existed. That, perhaps, what she thought was quite obvious on her speech was not quite that.

She understands that should have asked him first, or at least came out and told him her intentions in so many words, and decides to apologize to him as soon as they have a moment to themselves. Looked from this perspective, her declarations could very well not only overwhelm him, but also paint a very unfavorable picture of her, as if she was needy and controlling.

Her plan of apologizing, however, is soon thwarted when it is the warrior elf who approaches her first, helping her stand straight while they were passing through a particularly rocky path of their hiking.

Raine’s attempt at reading Tyril’s schooled expression while considering what exactly to say and making sure not to trip on one of the rocks that litter the ground is met with a carefully crafted blank face, and more than one tumble.

“Are you seriously giving me the silent treatment?” She blurts out, not wanting to take all this suspense anymore, but really disliking the sound of her own needy voice. “Is this because of what I had said to Imtura?”

“I was just… surprised.” He begins, unsure and rather blushed. “It is not usual for the elves at Undermount to be so direct when they announce intentions. Up to the last minute, everything is left up in the air, as you never know when a better offer might come knocking.”

She tutted, rather scandalized by the scheming nature of their kind. She really could not get used to it.

“My bluntness… Was it a good kind of surprise or a bad kind?” She asked, with a hopeful smile.

Tyril glances at her. One corner of his mouth slowly turns up into a smile. “The good kind of surprise. You have been nothing short of a good surprise since the day I met you, my dear moonflower. I appreciate knowing where I stand with you, and I appreciate even more the fact you care so deeply about me.”

That smile reminds her of all the times she payed attention to his troubles and has tried to soothe them by showing her trust and affection for him, even back when his feelings were not clear to her yet. She knew he appreciated it, and he had shown multiple times, even if always on a private setting, and not in his words.

She does not mean to be a loud mouth, and there is no reason for jealousy or whatsoever, but this is a good thing, and good things are to be shared with the people you love.

“Well, I’m glad, then.” She hugged him tightly. “I always want to surprise you in a good way. Keep you in your toes.”

“I am sure you will keep things interesting for many, many years to come.” He responded, lovingly, his lips on her hair.

Raine had never felt this strongly for another person and she often felt like she could burst with all the love on her heart. While Tyril had been taught to suppress his feelings for a long time, being brought up in a severe political environment.

It was hard for both of them to communicate sometimes, and it was easy to forsake the other’s experience. Even by now, they were still learning how to navigate those waters together.

“I am yours.” He had told her. “I love you, Raine.”

The elf girl smiled, seeing the sunlight reflect in a piece of jewelry on her blue hand. “And I am yours.”

Raine wants everyone, and especially wants him, to know she is his as well.

#blades of light and shadow #tyril starfury

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calpalirwin · 4 years

Text

Love in a Coffee Shop

Summary: Finn starts dating again.

A/N: Y’all ever get curious what Finn gets up to during all of this? Or are we all so far up Ashton’s ass that we kinda forget Finn exists? Be honest! Well, I love Finn, so we’re gonna check up on him if that’s cool.

Word Count: 2.4k

And away, and away we go!

“You need to go out on a date,” Vanessa said with an eye roll.

If I had a dollar… “What do you think I do?” I asked.

“Work, take care of the kids, brood, visit you mom, brood some more.” She ticked each thing off on her fingers with a playful smile,

“I do not brood,” I defended while Ashton snickered into his hand. “And for the record, I have gone on dates. They just end horribly.”

“Aw,” Vanessa pouted. “Single, hot dad thing doesn’t work?”

“Oh, it works…” I shuddered. “Too well, that’s the problem.”

“Oh, boohoo, I’m Finn, and have lots of sex. Poor thing…”

I threw one of my fries at her while Ashton coughed to cover up a louder laugh. “Again, that’s not the problem, Ness.”

“Well, what is the problem then, Mr. Therapist?” she asked me in exasperation.

“Well first it was them running for the hills when I mentioned that my ex was pregnant with my second kid. That, uh.. Didn’t really sit well with women funnily enough.”

“That makes sense. But what’s the problem now?”

“The problem now is that they start planning these futures where we have kids too and…” I shuddered again. “I love my kids. I do. But one of each is enough for me. I don’t need exactly a bajillion like you do.”

Vanessa scoffed at me in offense, crossing her arms over her chest. “Wow… how did I ever let you go?” she sighed dreamily at me with a sarcastic smirk on her lips.

Ashton’s high-pitched giggle escaped despite his best efforts which set off both the couple in the booth behind us, and Mason and Bailey. “Stop!” Ashton wheezed. “Can’t breath! Couple behind us can hear!”

I was pretty sure the couple behind us was laughing far more about the grown ass man with the boyish giggle mixing with the gleeful laughter of small children than mine and Vanessa’s actual discussion. Especially when Ashton’s plea for us to drop the conversation resulted in the couple laughing even harder.

“Well,” Vanessa pressed on. “Mason starts preschool on Monday. Maybe you’ll find a cute single mom.”

“I don’t want more kids, Ness…”

“She probably won’t either! It’ll be great!”

“Yeah, minus the combined kids we have together from our exes? Pfft, perfect! What am I thinking?”

“Well what are you gonna do? Find a woman that doesn’t want kids? Women don’t admit that. You really think they’re gonna admit that to a dude with kids? Fuck no! Women get the stigma that if they don’t want kids it automatically means they hate them.”

“Okay, well I don’t think that.”

“Yeah, but they don’t know that.”

I groaned. “Ugh, I’m just gonna get a vasectomy and call it a day. Oh, you want kids? That’s cool, I can’t. Whoops…”

“That’s not a bad idea. Considering how easy it is for men to control their own reproductive rights…”

“Yeah, yeah, this country’s fuckin’ backwards. But move with my kids to Australia and… actually…”

Vanessa snorted. “I am not moving to Australia. No offense, love,” she said, patting Ashton’s hand.

“None taken.”

~~~

“Alright, Mase, I’ll pick you up in a few hours and take you to Nana’s,” I told Mason before straightening back up to my feet. I checked my watch. Perfect. Bailey was already with my mom, Mason had been dropped off at school, and I still had a half hour to make it in to work.

“Hi, I’m Mia,” a soft voice introduced and I lifted my gaze to find a woman in a knee-length patterned dress standing in front of me with her hand extended. Soft brown hair was piled on top of her head in a perfectly messy bun, escaped strands framing a set of equally soft brown eyes hidden behind black framed glasses.

“Finn,” I replied, shaking her hand.

“Finn… I don’t recall seeing you last week.” Her pink lips frowned in concern, and rightfully so. A strange man in a room full of preschoolers was mad creepy.

“Oh, yeah, my ex brought him last week. We have split custody of uh…” I looked around trying to spot Mason in a small sea of three and four year olds. “Well, he’s here somewhere… quiet one, bout this high.” I held my hand out measuring Mason’s height against my leg.

“Mmm” she hummed in response, her frown turning into a soft smile. “Well it’s nice to meet you, Finn.”

“Nice to meet you, too, Mia.” I returned her smile. Please be the teacher, and not a mom. Please be the teacher, and not a mom.

“Well, I’ll see you later for pick up then,” she nodded.

“Yeah, I’ll be here,” I answered, watching her move towards a chair in front of where all the rugrats sat cluttered on a rug decorated with the alphabet and numbers. Yes!

~~~

“So…?” Vanessa nudged my arm from across the table.

“So, what?” I asked, feigning innocence.

She rolled her eyes. “C’mon, Finn…”

“I had the kids, Ness. Didn’t exactly go on any dates.”

“Yeah, but did you see anyone you might be interested in when you dropped Mase off at school?”

“Yeah, actually.”

“Oh, my god, who?!” Vanessa pestered, her eyes lit up with excitement. “Was it Gwen’s mom, Lydia? I think she just has the one, so that wouldn’t be too bad. And she’s so cute.”

“You act like I’m picking out a puppy… and no. Not Lydia. Mia.”

“The teacher?!” Vanessa oooed, lifting her hair up off her neck and fanning herself. “The scandal!”

“Yeah… so I’m not really sure. She’s cute. She’s great with kids. But she’s his teacher for fuck’s sake.”

“Yeah, but what if she’s one of those teachers who’s a teacher because she doesn’t want her own kids?”

“What if she’s the teacher who’s a teacher because she wants kids?” I countered.

“For a therapist, you're pretty pessimistic there, Finn,” she tsked.

I rolled my eyes. “Alright. Say you’re right.”

“I usually am.”

I rolled my eyes again. “Say you’re right,” I repeated. “She’s one of those ‘I get my fulfillment by teaching other people’s children rather than having them myself’ types. Still doesn’t change the fact that she’s Mase’s teacher. That’s not like… scandalous?” I asked, stealing her word for it and waggling my fingers ominously.

She shrugged. “Maybe. But isn’t that your guys’ business to decide that for yourselves?”

I let out my next breath in a huff, running my hands through my hair. “Maybe. But I dunno if this is a risk I can take, Ness. If I ask her out and she says no, then there’s the awkwardness of having to see her twice a day. If I ask her out and things end badly, it’s the same as if she rejects me outright, but worse because we already tried something.”

“Has it been awkward between us since we broke up?”

“What? No…”

“So there ya go. It’ll only be awkward if you make it awkward. And if things potentially being awkward is what stops you from trying in the first place… well, that’s the weakest excuse I’ve ever heard.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose. “I’ll think about it, alright?”

“Good enough for me!” she chirped.

~~~

I groaned as my phone rang, telling me it was Vanessa. Why was she calling me on a Sunday morning? I checked the time and groaned again. And why so early? “Yeah?” I answered with a yawn.

“Coffee shop on the corner of Fifth. Now!”

“What?”

“Mia! She’s here at the coffee shop.” By her hushed tone, I could imagine she was whispering into her phone so Mia must have been close.

“Jesus Christ, woman…”

“Are you coming or not?”

“I don’t even like coffee.”

“Then order a fuckin’ bagel for all I care. Just get down here!”

“Alright, alright…” I grumbled, pushing myself out of bed.

Ten minutes later I pushed my way into the little shop, spotting Ashton, Vanessa, and the kids chatting quietly with Mia at a table. Vanessa caught my eye, and said something that was probably “Oh, it’s Finn!” based on the way her mouth moved before waving me over.

“Hey guys,” I said once I got closer to them.

“Oh, hi!” Mia greeted with a smile. “Your little one with their mom?” she asked offhandedly, bringing attention to the fact that I hadn’t brought the kids with me.

I tilted my head to the side in confusion. Did she not know Mason was mine? “Uh, yeah. He is,” I said, reaching out to ruffle Mason’s hair whose primary focus was on his croissant and chocolate milk.

He swatted at my hand angrily before he lifted his eyes up. “Daddy!” he beamed.

Mia’s eyes went wide. “Oh! Mason’s yours! I thought…” Her gaze fluttered over to Ashton. “Oh, my, that’s embarrassing…”

I laughed, brushing it off. “Honest mistake. But yeah, he’s mine.”

Her gaze flickered over to Bailey. “Both of them?”

I nodded. “Yep.”

“Oh, now I’m really embarrassed. I can’t believe I didn’t pay attention to the fact that I’ve seen Mason all week, but not Ashton and Vanessa here. Oh, wow…” Her glasses slid down her nose as she ducked her head down, her cheeks bright pink.

“Again, honest mistake,” I told her. “Don’t even worry about it.”

She shook her head, still wrapped up in the small mishap. “I’m, uh… gonna go get my coffee now. It was good running into you guys. Finn,” she nodded politely and excused herself to go wait in line, her arms brushing against mine as she squeezed past me.

“Well…” Vanessa prompted.

“Well, what?”

“She didn’t say my name when she said goodbye.”

“Or mine,” Ashton added.

“Just yours. Funny.”

They were right. Why had Mia just said my name? And had she brushed into my arm as she moved past me or had I made that up?

“Finn? Finn?”

“Hmm?”

“Go order your bagel.”

“Yeah, bagel,” I nodded, hurrying to go stand in line behind Mia. It took her stepping forward to place her order for me to figure out what I was doing. “And a cinnamon raisin bagel, please,” I added, stepping forward and pulling out my wallet.

“Oh, no…” Mia stammered, shaking her head at the now thoroughly confused barista. “Just the coffee, thanks,” she reiterated, flashing her card.

“Nope. Bagel too,” I spoke again, blocking the card reader from her while I handed the poor barista some cash. “Sorry for the confusion.”

Mia’s eyes narrowed at me as the cash register clanged open and I got my change, dumping it into the tip jar. “Thank you, but that was completely unnecessary,” she told me as we stepped off to the side.

“You’re right. Probably should’ve asked first. Can I buy you a coffee sometime?”

Heat rose in her still slightly tinged cheeks. “No.”

I nodded, feeling the muscles in my jaw twitch. “Alright. No worries.”

“Because you already bought me one, so the next coffee should be on me.”

“Oh? Well, uh, I don’t actually drink coffee…”

Her lips pursed together in thought as a different barista put our items on the pick up counter. She dug around her purse, pulling out a pen and scribbling something down on the bag my bagel was in “Well dinner, then,” she amended, handing me the bag with a phone number written on it in a loopy scrawl. “Or do you only eat bagels?”

~~~

“I’m really glad you agreed to this,” I said, admiring the way the candle flickering on the table between us cast her in a soft glow. “I, uh… wasn’t sure if I was crossing a line, or something.”

“Oh, this isn’t a date. This is just me returning the favor for that coffee the other day.” Her words didn’t match up to the teasing tone and playful smile.

“Mmm, right. Maybe I’ll just have to buy you more coffees then.”

“Or pluck up the courage to ask me on a real date. Whichever is easier.”

“Would you say yes if I asked.”

“Ask me and find out.”

“Two Fridays from now. Say seven?”

“Seven,” she laughed. “Two Fridays from now? Little presumptuous of you, no?”

“Or optimistic. Whichever is easier.”

She laughed more, then sighed. “That sounds lovely…”

“I sense a ‘but’ coming…”

“However,” she said with a knowing look, and I was already in love with the way she played with words. “There’s something I should probably tell you first.”

“Oh?” I asked, trying not to let my mind take me down the rabbit hole of wildly outrageous deal breakers.

“I can’t have kids…”

“Oh?” I said again, stupidly.

She nodded slowly. “Yeah… just so you’re aware. I try to get that part done and out of the way as soon as possible. Makes it a little easier to deal with the rejection that usually follows.”

“That’s um…” I faltered and I reached for her hand. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Oh, it doesn’t bother me. I didn’t want kids even before I learned I couldn’t have them. I mean, I love children. I love my job. But having children of my own wasn’t ever something I felt I needed.”

“That’s…”

“Fucked up?” she chuckled nervously.

“Great,” I corrected.

“Really?!”

“Oh, yeah,” I nodded, with a grin. “But, I have two. That’s not a concern for you?”

“Oh, no, not at all. I’m fine with that. It’s… complicated, I guess? I don’t mind dating parents and playing a role in their children’s lives. I just biologically don’t want to be a parent.”

“That’s not complicated at all, actually. That’s…”

“Great?” she offered.

“More than great.”

~~~

“C’mon… pick up the phone, Ness,” I muttered to myself as I bounced on the balls of my feet.

“Finn?” she asked as she answered.

“SHE CAN’T HAVE KIDS!” I clapped a hand to my mouth after the outburst. I probably could have phrased that better, but I couldn’t help myself. I was fuckin’ smitten. Mia was beautiful, and smart. She was good with kids. She didn’t care that I had kids. And she couldn’t and didn’t want kids of her own! Fuck, I felt like I had hit the jackpot and I needed someone to be just as excited with me.

“And you just blurted it out to me like that?” I could imagine her eyebrows raised in question. “Finn… do better…”

“Sorry! Yep. Probably could have phrased that better. Or not told you at all… but fuck, Ness! I’m so happy! We’re going on another date in a few weeks. And just… fuck, I haven’t been this excited in a long time.”

“That’s great, Finn. I’m really happy for you.”

“Oh! You have to swear to me you won’t mention to her that I told you. She didn’t make it seem like it was a secret, but… ya know?”

“My lips are sealed. And hey, Finn?”

“Yeah?”

“I fuckin’ told ya so.”

Tag List

@frontmanash @goeatsomelife @flameraine @creator-appreciator @cxddlyash @1-irwin-94 @sparkling-calm @tea4sykes @youngblood199456 @5-seconds-of-obsession @gosh-im-short @aquarius-hood1996 @talkfastromance4 @itjustkindahappenedreally @philthepegacorn @boomerash @teenwolfss24 @karajaynetoday @myfavfanficsever @stormrider505 @cashtonisruiningmylife

#love in a coffee shop #ashton&vanessa #ash&mase #mase&bai #finn&mia #galcal irwin

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dungeons-and-divination · 4 years

Text

WARLOCK FIEND Patron - TIEFLING Baalzebub heritage - City watch (Investigator)*

I know, a tiefling with a fiend patron is kind of cliché, but that’s what my random generator gave me. I just embraced what the tarots decided later on too. I think people that like to play grayer character will like this one, because if you have to go for cliché, might as well go all in, right? (PS: anybody notices a pattern with the tarots in the photo? Or is the quality too crappy?)

Name: Djitha (28 yo)

TAROTS

Mind: Seven of swords (upright) A card about mental manipulation as “mind” is a pretty harsh introduction. But I know some players enjoy very much playing these “on the line of being a bad guy” kind of characters. Anyway, despite that first impression of lies and trickery, let’s not forget that there’s as well an undertone of adaptability and sharp wit connected to this tarot. So despite it all, Djitha is very clever in the way she deceits people. She plans, she tries to always be a step ahead of the game, which is probably how she gets away with her bad deeds.

Body: Eight of cups (reversed) I usually relate this card to a low of self-esteem, but in Djitha’s case I feel like it’s more likely that all of the manipulating she does kind of made her forget to actually focus on her own emotions. She might be the kind of person that hides behind her lies for fear of being rejected,sure that there’s nothing interesting about her true self. So, at the end of the day we actually come back to some latent self-esteem issues in a roundabout way… For some reason I also had this very strong feeling that she would be the kind of person that strongly dislikes any kind of physical contact.

Spirit: Knight of cups (reversed) And we even get an explanation for her “body” issues. A broken heart by another manipulator, someone that got her in a very unhealthy relationship and broke her “spirit” to the point that she decided that she wanted to become just like them so that nobody else would play her like that ever again. Full circle back to “mind”. This card also tells me that sometimes Djitha jumps to conclusions and has tantrums, so despite how smart she is and how much she plans… well, maybe she isn’t that wise after all.

Past: Five of pentacles (upright) Not surprising that in the past of poor Djitha there’s a tarot that is very much about hardship, bad luck and breakups. It’s pretty obvious that her life was not easy in the past but her background connected to this tarot and to her tendency to lie, made me really think that she had both a hard childhood, a nasty abusive relationship in her teen years, AND some kind of scandal related to her work when she was a grown up because of her manipulations and lies.

Present: Two of pentacles (reversed) This card just confirmed my suspicions. The poor decisions she has made in the past probably left poor Djitha in a bit of a pickle financially speaking. And for a person like her that really likes to feel like she has control of everything, even a little setback is kind of a big deal that would make her spiral even more in tantrums and uncontrollable fits of rage for the things she doesn’t know how to control. She’s probably in the “trying too hard” phase after that mess. Which would probably mean lying a lot but in a very careful way (so, not a lot of speaking, really), lots of brooding and thinking way too loud (but overall a lack of actual organisation), and maybe a short fuse on those tantrums.

Future: The Moon (reversed) Once again, full circle and right back to the top. She will get out of that funk in the future, but it kind of seems it could go in two ways: either by deceiving even herself that everything is gonna be okay because her lies have already been discovered and she can build some new one on the ashes of those, or by actually admitting the truth and living with the consequences of her actions. Still, the major point of this tarot is that she’ll soon be dealing with mental issues. And I already pointed out how many Djitha has, of course. So, my suggestion is that whatever ends up happening while playing, this decision on which path to follow should also very much be related to how much her fears and issues are explored with the other members of the party.

FULL BACKSTORY

Djitha was pretty much rejected from birth by her family. Her parents were both humans, and despite having two older sisters, Minea and Lahrysa, she was the only member of the Elair family of infernal heritage. Her father Haluk especially blamed Djitha for the sickness that made her mother Riette die prematurely when Djitha was just three years old. Haluk somehow also found a way to blame her for their life on the street, despite that being the way they always lived, dirt poor since Djitha had memory. Despite the hate she received from her family, Djitha was easily loved by others around her, especially because she quickly learned how to be a people-pleaser and how much she could gain if she just smiled a little bit even to those she didn’t necessarily like. It also helped to keep a semblance of peace with her father, who was pleased when she brought back food or some coin when she begged in front of shops. When she was around fourteen, her father pretty much abandoned her because he thought she was adult enough to feign for herself. Already used to a life of begging, Djitha was convinced that she could become a thief, but she was quickly caught red handed; like always, it was her attitude of manipulating the truth and people that got her out of the situation. She convinced the chief of the city guards that she could be more useful working for them, investigating the less reputable areas and reporting back suspicious activities, since she was so well know and loved. Because of her job and the sense of fulfillment she felt when she helped the guards to catch criminals, Djitha got involved with a man, Temithope Paquet, a bit of a celebrity of the local criminal syndicate (almost a criminal right under the nose of the guards that could not be caught because proof against him always had a way of being misplaced). He was way older than her, but Djitha was sure that she couldn’t be fooled by him. Either because Temithope was very good at persuading people, or because she was very young and lonely, Djitha actually fell for him pretty quickly and became his pawn that would give information on the guards activities so that the syndicate could do whatever they pleased. It only took a couple of months of abusive relationship filled with demeaning comments, before eavesdropping on one of his conversations with someone else from the syndicate made Djitha decide that enough was enough. Djitha finally saw how empty all of Temithope’s promises of easy riches and power were, and decided that she would no longer be his plaything. Trying to seek revenge, Djitha actually convinced the chief of the city watch that she had been trying to play the long-con with Temithope and gave them a bunch of proof of all the nasty things Temithope been doing in those months. With her abuser finally behind bars (despite him promising revenge for it), she was allowed to become officially part of the investigation team. At first Djitha thought that she would find a new purpose in her career. But she soon found out that she was still considered a nobody and that trying to do things “the right way”, by following the rules wasn’t gonna get her anything (especially nor riches neither power). Unlike breaking them, which she had somewhat positive experience with overal (she could actually order around people when she was under Temithope’s protection). So she started, once again, working with the criminals in the city. Djitha was sure she was doing alright; people in the guards were happy with her tips on meaningless goons while she protected people in high places in the criminal hierarchy. Everything was fine, and she was starting to grow a reputation again, until, during a massive investigation with people undercover, she was finally sussed out. Desperate to get out of town and find a way to keep being hidden, it was easy for Djitha to accept the offer her patron made her to give her the power she so desperately craved and that surely would keep her out of jail. She had things to do for her patron now, after all, it was in her patron’s interest to keep are hidden…

SUGGESTION CORNER

Suggested features Ability scores: High Charisma and Intelligence, Low Wisdom and Strength Skill proficiencies: Deception, Intimidation. *Instead of Insight from the Investigator Background, talk with your DM and ask if you could go for either Stealth or proficiency in thieves’ tools; I feel like it fits better with the complete story of being involved with criminals so much. Others: I suggest either pact of the Chain or pact of the Tome. I do think this character would be a very nice multiclass wizard, but spellcasting multiclass is kind of a pain, so I get why you might want to stay away from a thing like that. I decided not to go into details on the Patron. It’s very much a matter to be discussed with the DM in my opinion, so I kept as vague as possible on that matter.

Suggested Characteristics Trait: I think money is the true measure of appreciation and affection. Everything else is talk or an act. Ideal: Money and power can be gained more easily with a fake smile than a real opinion. I plan to gain as much as possible. Bond: My past mistakes cost me dearly. I’m actually, maybe, a little on the run for a crime. Flaw: People who can’t take care of themselves get what they deserve (something she actually “learned” from that abusive relationship and VERY MUCH applies to herself most of all).

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thatbangtanbloom · 5 years

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lost stars || jjk

Jeon Jungkook | lost stars

mostly angst, dash of fluff towards the end | jungkook x you

idol!jungkook, videographer!reader

Word Count: 2,728 (I got a bit carried away with this)

- “He wants the galaxy with her, but he is no bigger than a small star in the universe to her.”

She doesn't know how or why - maybe it is because the leaves crunch against the ground and gravity in the autumn or because the way he skips the sad parts in books, but she knows that the end is near and that Jeon Jungkook was not someone that her future forecasted.

She knows that when he learns the news that she has to move on, he won't understand, but it was easy to say that he rarely ever understood her. Maybe that was why she found it so hard to leave. The sun couldn't know what it meant to be the moon.

She could almost laugh, knowing that all of their actions together would be the last and he doesn't know. Silly Jungkook, barely knowing his right from left. How many lasts did she count that he did not even realize?

Their last time holding hands as he spoke animatedly about his new editing software he discovered; how he learned several new English words from his older brother, Namjoon, how for one last time he would be able to send her a cheeky bunny smile before the storm began. She knows that each second is one closer to despair and he is none the wiser. Perhaps ignorance was bliss.

She knows that this will be the last time he laughs at her as she tries to learn a new Korean word; the last time his eyes will crinkle into half-moon crescents that only Galileo could have known and she has to swallow the way her heartstrings pull. That wasn't how it was supposed to be. That wasn't what he was supposed to be.

She remembers the first time she saw him - in a mere stroke of fate from behind a screen to seeing him by mere luck a year later. She doesn't know why she is so lucky and why she is able to love a boy adored by so many but she does so happily. She is happy. She likes the way he laughs at her terrible jokes; how confused he becomes when she mentions something other than banana milk, Overwatch, or some athletic tournament.

And then she knows - she knows that something as imperfect as him and her is like a butterfly with its wings touched - a flower plucked too soon. Can't he realize how terribly imperfect they are?

“What are you thinking about?” He asks with a goofy smile as the two of them stand beside each other at the edge of the boat - only them two alone while the whole world slept - just to talk. Jungkook can not dare ignore the way his heart beats in triple time by just being near her and he knows that she is the one he wants forever with. Who else would give him the love and support he needed?

She sends him a lazy smile as she leans against the railing and shakes her head. He always asked her such simple questions - how are you? Did you eat breakfast? Were the hyungs too rough on you? You know I can take care of them if you ever ask. Questions that made her wonder if the phrase 'just friends’ applied to them.

Spoiler: It didn't.

It's something he will never admit, but it irked to him to no end that she never acknowledged him for what he was to her. He knows there is something more to them than her just informing him of his comings and goings - more than just purposely sharing food with her when he doesn't do it with anyone else - and more to them than just friends.

“I was just thinking about what I will remember when I grow older,” She replies as she taps her fingers against her cheek. She can't bare to look at him knowing that she will take the last look of him soon - to move on, not necessarily happy, but satisfied with herself for being able to leave just because she could.

“Just 'I’?” He whispers as he tucks away the camera he had been recording her with and bites on the inside of his lip. For years it had been just him in her focus, more than anything he wanted to capture every fleeting moment with her. When she talked like this - like she was moving on with no space for him to take beside her - he gripped the camera case closer.

She nods, not looking away from the moon high in the sky. She notes the way that the sun is tucked away, nowhere to be seen and she instantly wonders why Jungkook is there with her. Didn't he know better?

Jungkook bites the inside of his lip before he moves closer to her, letting his arm brush against her own as they stand side by side one another. “Do you have to be so indifferent towards me?” His intonation changes with each word and he is flustered to no end. Could she not feel the love that radiates from him?

“I'm not being indifferent… I'm being smart.” She replies as she watches the moon hover over the ocean, as though enticing the waves to pull them closer than what was gravitationally allowed. “Jungkook.. whatever this is… it isn't what is best for us. I don't want to lose myself while waiting for you to come back to me.”

Jungkook turns his head to look at her and bites down on his lip. “Are you breaking up with me?”

“Is there anything to break up?” She retorts, not able to look at him. She knows if she looks at him any longer that she will give in to his gentle gaze and soft words.

Jungkook doesn't hesitate to respond. “Yes. Ye,s there is.” He places his hand on her elbow to turn her to him and bites his lip. “I don't want you to run away from me the second I try to love you.”

Love? She nearly chokes on his words. “Jungkook..”

“I know that I'm lacking what you want.. I know I'm not brooding or strong or good with words like the guys you desire… but I love you with all my heart.” Jungkook's heart rattles against his ribcage and he wonders if he ever knew heartbreak than the look in her eyes. He hates how she could tell him to leave with tears in her eyes and his broken heart in her back pocket. “I am in love with you.. my heart bleeds just to be by your side and you pretend as though I do not understand how disappointed you look in me.” He bites down on his lip to try to settle his voice that rises in every octave.

The gentle sounds of the waves crashing against the boat is the only thing that fills the silence between the two of them. He wants her to say something - anything to reassure him that this is some cruel dream that he can wake up from.

“Do-”

“You don't love me.. you love the idea of me.” She replies as she bites down her lip. “You love the idea of someone loving you.” She whispers before closing her eyes.

“Answer me..” he whispers as he squeezes her arm gently.

She glances at him and shakes her head. “Jungkook, you can't feel that way.” She replies, ignoring his large eyes that bore into her own.

“Why not?” He asks. Jeon Jungkook hated to be told what to do, especially when it came to his emotions.

“For starters, you’re an idol.. Do you have any idea how hard it is to bounce back after a dating scandal?” She tries to reason with him, in efforts to mask her true feelings. She decides to continue, but the second reason is less effective than the first. “You only love me because I fill in the empty space of her.” She replies as she bites down on her lip. “Don't you think I realize I have feelings for someone who only likes the idea of me?” She takes in a deep breath. “You never cared about me. You only like the idea of me-”

“Isn't that the same thing as loving you? Seeing you for who you are?” Jungkook replies, feeling desperate. His lungs constricting as more time passes.

She laughed cynically and shakes her head. “That's just it… Jungkook,” She bites her lip so hard that she draws blood, tears welling up in her eyes the more time she spends with him. She hates it so much. She wants to erase. “I have always seen the way you look at her.. how happy you are just being with her.” She swallows hard, a lump filling her throat and her hands shake. She's doing it. She's pushing him away. She's moving on. “You love her so much that you never had any room for me.. so who are we kidding when I could never be her?”

Jungkook's eyes narrow at her words and his mouth falls ajar at her words. “W-what?” He stutters.

“I hope you find what you're looking in for her.” She replies in a tone barely above a whisper. “Because whatever it is.. it isn't me.” She replies - her voice barely above a whisper.

Jungkook pauses as he looks at her, eyes widening. Where was she going with this? “You're not understanding-”

“Why can't you say my name then?” She replies before raising her brows. “Why can’t you ever acknowledge me for who I am? Because you can’t. You don’t want to, and I’m not going to play second best when the guy I love is fawning over someone else. That’s not me, Jungkook, and I don’t want it to.”

And just like that, Jungkook experiences his heart break for the first time in his life. He sees it in her eyes, how tired she is of pushing away her emotions just to protect herself. He hates that he is selfish when it comes to her - that he wants her and her alone and no one else. He does not want to own her - never, that was not who Jeon Jungkook was - but he wanted her for who she was as a person in all her imperfections. He loved her for who she was, who she could be, and what she would be.

“Why is it that you make up excuses when I try to love you, Y/N? She doesn’t matter. She never did. She isn’t the one who I plan on spending the rest of my life with… she is not the one who cheers me up when I feel like the world is falling apart… She is not the one I can run to and tell my troubles. She is not the person that I trust, because the person that I trust is you, Y/N. ” He asks, glancing out to the waves that crash against the yacht. His elder members in the group now sleeping or staying late into the night to write music just as they always have. How very different their tracks of lives were, them finding their heart between the lines of sheet music and Jungkook about to have his town apart by the girl who has been by his side for the better part of five years. “Are you afraid to let me love you? Is that it?”

She looks down at her hands, how they tremble ever so slightly under the moonlight, how cold they feel against the metal railing. She contemplates what it would mean if she did listen to Jungkook, if she did consider what it meant to make that life changing cross from friendship to lovers. She wonders what it would mean to fall in love and to be loved.

But then she remembers that it will never happen, because Jungkook and her were so different. She was nothing more than a mere videographer, tasked by BigHit to record the seven members. She was meant to be behind the camera, isolated behind the lens when he was meant to be in front of it. She had plan to know her place and stay in it, but of course, it was a given that Jungkook did not care.

He dared to linger beside her as she edited videos. He asks questions, subtly staying in the contents department of BigHit for hours long after the other members have gone just to catch a glimpse of how she pouts when the editing software freezes or laughs when she adds the squeaky sound effect to Jimin when he does the slightest thing.

And Jungkook is desperate, because he is so in love with her that he can not breathe. He wants to hear her talk about her struggles after a long day of work, or how a particular class is giving her problems. He wants to be able to hold her hand when she feels like she is alone. He wants her to be the one he arm wrestles with at one in the morning just so that he can be the big spoon and nuzzle his face into the crevice of her neck. He wants the galaxy with her, but he is no bigger than a small star in the universe to her.

But he wants to be more than just the focus of a camera lens. He wants to be a part of the focus of her life, wanting to embed himself in every crevice of her life. He finds her breathtaking under the Malta moonlight, how the curve of her lips gives the slightest hint of a pout as he stares down at her. He wants to make that jump.

“Are you even listening to me?” She asks as she notices the gleam in his doe eyes. He looks hopeful, charming, every positive adjective in the English language that could illustrate his perfect simplicity.

Jungkook shakes his head. He was honest through and through. He had not been listening to her. He did not want to hear how they could not be together, a mere mess of words along the lines that he had once loved someone else, that he was an idol, and that she worked for BigHit. He wanted to risk it all if it meant being with her.

To put it simply, he was whipped.

“I want you by my side for the rest of my life. I want to wake up in the morning before you and cook you breakfast. I want to wake you up with kisses and slightly burned toast. I want to be able to kiss away all your troubles when the world seems like it is crumbling. I want to be able to run to you when I’m tired. Hell, I want you to stroke my hair and tell me I am doing okay after a long day.” Jungkook’s voice is strained, but he does not care. He feels like he is on trial and this is his last resort. He wonders if it would be too much if he dropped to his knees. He was not too proud to beg. “I want to be able to ask you to be my wife one day. I want us to have a house full of children where they all have your eyes on little me. I want us to garden together, and do scrapbooks or some shit where we look back fondly on who we used to be and smile because we never changed.Y/N… I want forever with you, by any means…. You see me for who I am, just some boy from Busan who likes banana milk and anime too much.. Please accept my love for you… because when I say I love you, I mean it.”

Silent.

She is silent throughout his entire confession. She considers the fallout this could have - how she could be risking it all for a mere boy with a bunny smile and a banana milk addiction to match… but it is hard to deny how his words and lopsided smile pull at her heartstrings. After all, everyone knows that the sun can not know what it means to be the moon. But what harm is it in trying?

Would you accept his confession? Feel free to send your reactions! Don’t be a silent reader~ :)

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themusicplayedherlife · 5 years

Text

I Know What You Did

pairings: Bruce Wayne x Reader

characters: Reader, Bruce Wayne, Dinah Laurel Lance, Diana Prince

word count: 1428

warnings: simple injury, implied sexual content (like a line or two), but just fluff, like dumb amount of fluff

a/n: @forevans and i did another fic trade/challenge and this time i got bruce wayne and the prompts: [text] I know what you did last summer… + “On a scale from, ’I can sometimes make important phone calls without crying’ to ’I have a stable job with a steady income, a spouse who loves me, a dog, and two kids who are screwed up minimally at worst’, how much of an adult are you?”

forevans prompt w/ chris evans: counting our time in dog years

Really, you shouldn’t have been surprised that after keeping what you did a secret from him, that it would come up sooner or later, especially when he enjoys the extracurricular on his off time. To your defense, he had waited a whole fucking year to bring it up and you had allowed yourself to fall into false security.

A rookie mistake.

Batty Bat 🦇: I know what you did last summer.

Batty Bat 🦇: I wasn’t going to mention it because I thought there was no reason to, but you’re doing it again, aren’t you?

Y/N ❤: Doing what? Having fun? Cause I am having fun!

Batty Bat 🦇: I can teach you better than those instructors, you know?

You look over at your companions and send them a glare that they disregard with a smile—traitors must have let it slip somehow.

Batty Bat 🦇: I’d be helping you every step of the way. My hands guiding you, pushing you.

Batty Bat 🦇: Don’t you want that?

You feel the ghost of Bruce’s hands on your hips, caressing and teasing as they draw closer and closer to your aching—no! No. No. No! He’s playing you! Trying to psych you out and you won’t let him!

Swatting away the thought, you send him one last text and hand your phone over to Diana to start strapping yourself into the harness.

Y/N ❤ : What are you talking about, babe ?????

“Why don’t you come clean?” Laurel asks, crossing her toned arms over her chest.

“Because,” you start, grunting when you tighten the harness properly like you were taught last year, “he’ll know how much it bothers me that I can’t beat him.”

“I think he knows that already,” Laurel teases.

“I think it’s admirable that you want to better yourself,” Diana says with a smile as you make your way over to the wall with colorful handles. “But I wish you’d be doing it for yourself.”

You think back on the day Bruce first took you climbing and how horrible you were at it, and how he had found it cute that you couldn’t pull yourself up. That ass! He’s the superhero or vigilante or whatever! You’re just a regular old office worker that happens to occasionally help him and his team with their activities when you have time, and only if a computer is involved.

“I am!” You answer back, carefully placing one foot on the handle and then gripping another, pulling yourself up. “If I get better, then I beat Bruce at something for once and that—that would make me happy.”

Laurel laughs. “I just don’t understand why you only practice during the summer. If you had kept up training all of last year, this year you could’ve most likely been able to keep up with Bruce, maybe even go rope free.”

You keep yourself concentrated on the handles, only making sure to grab onto the ones that you know are sturdy enough to hold your weight, but it doesn’t stop you from answering her. “If it’s not Wayne Enterprises taking up my time, it’s the Wayne Foundation. At least during the summer I can take a couple of days off and force Bruce and Lucius to cover for me—” you squeak, losing your footing for a moment. Regaining your balance with the cheers of your friends, you let out a relieved sigh.

But your relief is short lived, another misplace and slippery hand has you pushing away from the wall and, while for a moment you might think you’re safe because of your harness, you’re coming loose from the only hold you had. Before Diana can catch you or any of the instructors can rush over and help you, you’ve already landed on the padded floor, and on your wrist.

“Are you all right?” Diana asks as soon as you sit up with a wince, checking you for injuries.

You try waving her away, but a burning pain prevents you from making any sudden movements. “I think I sprained my wrist.”

Laurel and Diana both share a look, staring at eachother for what seems like forever until Laurel backs away with a sigh. “I’ll call Bruce.”

“Did you not fasten the harness?” Diana scolds you, helping you up. She tells an attendant to call for a car, and they rush to the front to do so.

You cradle your injured hand to your chest. ”I thought I did. Guess not.” Giving Diana a cheeky smile, you say, “At least, I didn’t fall on my head, right?”

She rolls her eyes.

You’re putting on your jacket when you hear footsteps rushing into your room. Thinking it’s Diana or Laurel, you turn ready to chastise them for running, only to come short when you see it’s not either of them, but Bruce looking disheveled in a plain button up and jeans.

“What are you doing here?” you ask him, completely surprised to see him here of all places. Isn’t he supposed to be at the fundraiser you had scheduled months ago?

He takes long strides to reach your bed in record time. His dark, blue eyes aren’t on you, but on your arm that’s been wrapped up and bandaged. “You didn’t get hurt anywhere else?”

“No, I—“

“Are you sure? Did they look you over properly—“

“Bruce—“

“I can have them transfer you to a better—“

“Bruce!” He snaps his gaze away from your arm and to your face, you reach for him with your good hand and he leans down close enough for you to caress his jaw. “I’m okay, babe. I promise. In fact, I can go as soon as the nurses come back with the discharge papers.”

He sighs and leans into your touch, trapping your hand between his jaw and his larger hand, but a smile breaks through his worried expression—his radiant smile full of love and adoration that is only reserved for you in your moments of privacy. “On a scale from, ’I can sometimes make important phone calls without crying’ to ’I have a stable job with a steady income, a spouse who loves me, a dog, and two kids who are screwed up minimally at worst’, how much of an adult are you? Really?”

You know he’s only teasing, and so you let out a scandalizes gasp and twist your hand free from his hold. “Excuse you?”

He lets your hand go, but not without an affectionate squeeze. “Trying to one up me? Really?”

“Hey! It’s just not fair that you’re good at everything, Bruce. I mean look at you, Jesus,” you say, rubbing your free hand all over his well toned stomach and trail a finger up to his chest where he once again traps your hand over his heart. “Good looking, athletic, rich, and smart? Not to mention kind, generous, charismatic and brooding all in one? How is that even possible ?”

He chuckles and presses his lips to your forehead. “Only you get to see all those sides of me.”

You quirk an eyebrow and wiggle your ring finger in his hold. “I would hope so, I didn’t say yes just for you to shut me out.”

“Never,” he says, bringing your hand up to kiss your knuckles. “Now, as soon as you heal, no more sneaking off to rock climb in secret. We’re doing it together next time. Deal?”

You pretend to think about it before sending him a small smile. “Deal.”

After being discharged and saying goodbye to Diana and Laurel, who have decided to stay to enjoy the perks of a fully funded trip, you and Bruce get in a car that’ll take you home.

“How did you get here anyway?” His expression morphs into that of him wearing his dark knight mask—stoic and you know he’s hiding something. Except, what would he be—your eyes widen. “Oh my god. You followed me didn’t you? That's how you knew what I was doing last summer, isn’t it? You followed me last year too!” And here you thought he was taking care of the company! Who’s the responsible adult now?

“I didn’t mean to. The boys wanted to go on a trip and I thought coming here would be fun. You never even told me where you were going, so I was just as surprised as you when I saw you at the gym, and in the climbing area no less. Figured you were trying to keep it a secret.

You groan, throwing your head back. “I’m calling off our wedding.”

He chuckles and kisses you softly, gently. “I love you too.”

#bruce wayne x reader #bruce wayne imagine #reader insert #bruce wayne #batman imagine #bruce wayne one shot

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the-canary · 6 years

Text

Wednesdays - L.T (10/10)

Summary: Only you had the balls to deal with his outrageous order on that day. You just didn’t know how bad it would get. (Barista!Reader/Lance Tucker).

A/N: Thank you to @stanclub for inadvertently inspiriting this with her earlier writing challenge and @polaroid-idiocity for her support. Thank you for taking time to read this story all the way to the end! And yes, there will be an epilogue, hopefully out soon.

Feedback is always appreciated.

“And the most important question,” Katherine and the rest of the girls' giggles while scrolling down the questions, “ Is Coach Tucker dating someone, or even interested in that sort of thing ?”

The iPad is aimed in his direction, as blue eyes move for a second to meet with someone else’s, though she just shakes her head and moves away. The girls look at him with expectant eyes and Lance Tucker can’t help but chuckle.

“What?” Lance can’t help but start as a rueful smile blooms onto his face, though he was just as surprised and nervous as hell as you were. He was just better at hiding it in performance than you were, “ Cat got your tongue ?”

All you do is frown as Lance takes the seat across from you with Norma sitting next to him. Claire is sitting on your side next to her father, as you can’t help but feel that someone is watching you like a hawk as you put the napkin off your lap and proceed to get something from each dish set in front of you while helping the little girl as well. You had been expecting someone of a similar demeanor to Claire’s father, not the one person you had been inadvertently avoiding this entire time --Lance had always bothered you in some way, but now you were sure he was out to mock you.

I mean, why else would he be here? The man didn’t seem to do the dating scene, you were sure that he had been ready to wine and dine whoever he had met for a quick lay, regardless of what they were to little Claire. Outside himself, his gym, and a few people you doubted Lance cared for anything else -- much less you.

In all your inner turmoil, you didn’t notice the lovestruck look the man was giving you, as you helped Claire cut her chicken nuggets into smaller pieces so she could count them before eating them. Everyone was eating their meals in silence, as Claire then looked at her mom confused as to why this wasn’t working.

“So,” Norma draws out, “What do you do besides teach ballet?”

Lance already knew how hard you worked, but at the confused look of having to talk about yourself, he can’t help but chuckle. You take that laughter in a different way though. You’re sure that you aren’t normally this insecure, but Lance and all the overthinking you had done at this point made you feel all sorts of inadequate.

“I’m getting my masters in public relations,” you start off while staring at your food, “I teach ballet on the weekends, work at a Starbucks, and am doing my internship when I can.”

“Wow,” Norma sounds out, “That sounds like a lot on your plate. How do you manage?”

You blink in confusion, not understanding the question though it was something Lance often wondered about as well, not that he ever told you.

“I don’t know,” you answer with an awkward laugh, “I guess, I don’t have much time for a social life or annoying things like love and dating.”

The room silences like crickets are the only things in the air.

Lance frowns as Norma glances at him for a moment, not quite understanding the shift in her brother’s personality but he can feel it. Claire is playing with her green beans, as Richard tries to stop her, obviously trying to ignore whatever might be going on between the two of you.

“And why would you say that,” Lance’s question spills before he can stop to think, as everyone turns to look at him with a variety of emotions, “Maybe, you’re just not trying hard enough.

“Maybe,” you let out mournfully, as Lance can’t help but wonder just what exactly had made you feel such a way about the world, before taking a bite out of your salad, “There isn’t that strong worth fighting for.”

Lance gets up and excuses himself, as you keep looking at your plate a bit unsure of what had just happened. Norma gives you a shrug and exasperated look on her face before going back to eating her own meal, and you couldn’t help but wonder how often she bothered with setting up Lance -- it seemed like he had never dated, to begin with, even less with the Townsend scandal.

Why would he want to do anything with that now? Why with you of all people?

“Just once.”

You were sure he meant it in an “only once” sort of way, and you planned on keeping it that way.

Lance really doesn’t say a word to you after that, as Claire decides to take you to her room and show you around the house. The former Olympic gymnast sits on the couch, watching you and his favorite niece move from room to room while nursing a drink. Richard and Norma sitting on the larger couch at his right, unsure of why the man is suddenly so dark and brooding.

“Lance,” his sister questions as he hears you and Claire laugh, sending a chill down his spine in memory, “Are you all right?”

She laughs like that with the girls, Lance thinks bitterly. You had laughed like that with him only once and it had sent his heart racing, but outside of the drinking there really wasn’t anything connecting you and him. You had been avoiding him like the plague after your kiss, had been willing to go out with someone else after what had happened between the two of you, even if it turned out to be him at the end as well.

It was a little funny, but your attitude had been more infuriating than anything else. Lance wasn’t sure what he would do if you just kept pushing back.

Was it really all worth it?

“I’m fine, sis,” he gives her a toothy smile and Norma does her best to believe him.

It’s close to nine when you finally decide that it’s time to go, especially since it’s close to Claire’s bedtime. You thank them all for the lovely time, as to get to her level and give her one last big hug. Lance had planned on staying a while longer and soaking in his misery once more, but blue eyes look his way and he knows that he is done for.

“You should walk her to her car,” Claire lets out in a yawn as Norma tries to stop her. It doesn’t work out maybe the little girl just doesn’t read the air in the room, “Just to say goodnight.”

You want to stop and say that you don’t need help getting back to your car, but Lance steps in with that glorious smile, “That’s a great idea, peanut. Wouldn’t want anything happening to your ballet teacher.”

Claire grins at Lance and then at you, making you realize that you really can’t say no. Norma ends up giving you a to-go plate of extra food and sends you on your way with a silent Lance Tucker, which can’t be a good thing. He doesn’t say anything a good ten steps in and you’re thinking you’re in the clear, that he got tired and won’t bother with whatever is going on between you anymore. You speak too soon when you hear his voice.

“--Then, why did you come?” you don’t hear the first part of the question, as you look straight ahead for a moment. However, Lance has always been one to command whatever area he was in as he steps in front of you and you stop walking.

“Because I wanted to forget,” you state, throwing him a bone as you sidestep and continue walking towards your car.

“Forget what?” you can hear his voice behind you and you choose to ignore this question.

“This is my car,” you state, pointing at the vehicle with a weary smile, “Thank you and good night, Lance.”

“ Forget what? ” Lance yells as he comes up to stand in front of the driver’s door. He puffs out like a child throwing a tantrum, as you stand there waiting for him to continue his stupid little speech.

“You want to know why I came,” Lance explains softer than before as your eyes widen, “So maybe, I could forget that stupid smile I see every weekend, that laugh that always seems to bubble whenever someone is talking with the girls. So, I could maybe stop thinking about that stupid drunken kiss and those little noises that just frustrate me to no ends.”

You aren’t sure what to say as he keeps going, filter completely gone.

“You’re the only thing in my fuckin’ head all damn day,” Lance lets out miserably, “But, when you blatantly ignore me, it just kills me.”

“Shut up ,” you seethe out as Lance asks you to repeat it again. Now, that you’re paying attention to him after weeks and weeks of ignoring him, he’s just going to keep riling you up, “ Shut up! You don’t want me.”

“I’m pretty sure I do,” Lance lets out in a weary attempt of a laugh, unsure of what to do to make you believe him.

“No,” you breathe back in an almost heartbroken way as you push him back, “You don’t want me. You just want the chase, the conquest and then what ? Just throw me away when you’re done having your fuckin’ fun.”

“I---”

“Lance Tucker doesn’t date,” you let out hoarsely with tears ready to spill from your eyes, “Lance Tucker fucks and leaves, just like any other man.”

Lance stands there shocked for a moment, but both of you know that you aren’t lying instead you ask him to move and he does so numbly, as you fight with your bag and the tears gathering in the corners of your eyes to open the damn door and leave. You don’t say anything else as you shut the door and proceed to drive off.

Lance stands there a good while even after you’re gone before getting into his own car.

“I do.”

It’s all Lance says before the feed goes off and the girls are screaming, asking a million questions. Blue eyes go back to glancing at where you were standing, but you had already moved away having decided to start putting the equipment away instead.

In the two weeks since that disastrous dinner date, you had slowly distanced yourself even more from Lance Tucker. After the Q&A, you had put in your resignation with Madison, stating that the improved numbers within the social media needed to now be tracked by someone who was full-time staff, not just someone who came in on the weekends.

It was basically your two weeks notice, but you weren’t sure how Lance had taken it -- you hadn’t asked. You had also asked for a transfer in days at Starbucks, anything but Wednesdays, though that took a little longer to happen depending on other people’s schedules.

It was the coward’s way out, but you were okay with that. It was better than getting hurt than coming up with false delusions whenever you saw him. You were sure that he would find someone else eventually, there was always another video girl waiting in the wings.

You just didn’t know that Lance Tucker was getting tired of that as well and he was going to do something about it.

“What do you mean she’s leaving?” Katherine exclaims for the rest of the girls as Lance explains that you had turned in your tw0-weeks notice. Some are frowning and some are just livid.

“Her time with us is coming to an end, that’s all,” Lance explains as his star pupil shakes her head.

“And you’re just gonna let her leave like that,” she fires back, “Without a fight, without telling her that you’re obviously feeling something for her.”

“Girls, I-- what ?”

“We’re not blind, Coach,” Katherine answers back as most of the girls nod, “We’ve seen you guys make googly eyes at each other all the time.”

Lance stays silent, as she huffs a breath of air: “So what are you going to do about it?”

Lance Tucker isn’t sure when he became so whipped, but he knew that hi s students were right and that he had to do something about the situation before he regretted it.

He decides to do so on the last Wednesday that you are supposed to be working at Starbucks, Micah had told him you had changed your schedule and while she didn’t know exactly what was going on -- she could sense the sexual tension in the air since the last time he had shown up. You were showing the new guy how to take inventory when he had shown up -- Lance Tucker and the girls with very large bouquets of flowers.

Micah blinks at the sight before he grins at her: “I would like to order one very frustrating barista up and center, please.”

She grins and tells them all to wait. The girls take a while to look around, only just now realizing that you worked here, though it wasn’t usually when they came in. They all looked at each other in anticipation and silently vowing to make your life a living hell if you didn’t come back.

“Hello. I- -” you freeze when you see all of them there, a lost look in your eyes over the fact that the girls were glaring at you, you since had kept them in the dark about everything until Lance had told them everything, well almost everything.

“What are you guys doing here?” you manage to find your voice without breaking, as you try to ignore the soft look in Lance’s eyes.

He had realized a lot of things since talking with the girls.

“You can’t honestly think you could leave without telling us,” Katherine frowns as all the girls agree in unison, as your eyes widen. You really hadn’t told them anything because you were afraid of how they were going to react, you just didn’t expect them to go this far.

“Even if you aren’t our social media person anymore,” Katherine goes on, “I hope you keep visiting us. We all really like you there, even---”

Katherine turns around to look at Lance, as you do as well. You let out a sigh before taking all the flowers they are giving you. You smile and try not to cry, as you hear Lance softly call out to them to order something for themselves, as he pulls you to where he always sits to wait for his order -- how ironic that this is the first place where you started to annoy him and now he couldn’t let you go.

“Before you say anything,” Lance starts off, “I didn’t put them up to this. I told them about you leaving and they went all off on their own.”

You look at the bouquet in your hands and let out a tired sigh, “I know that you aren’t that type of person.”

“Then you can see it, right?” Lance asks, as blue eyes stare straight in yours and you know what he means.

The words you had spoken in the aftermath of the dinner had swirled in your mind for a long time afterward because while you knew that Lance was always going to be Lance Tucker -- he was a completely different person than the one you had researched all those months ago. He cared about his students and his family. Yes, he was still harsh and mean around the edges, but it came with the life he lived and what he was trying to make up for it for the rest of his days.

He was different and people changed all the time, but whatever he felt and had told you back at dinner felt like the god honest truth -- you just had to give him a chance to show you that you were either wrong or right. Yes, it was about your past traumas, but Lance wasn’t going to know anything about them and how you felt if you didn’t open up...even just a little.

You had to be willing to get hurt and even if Lance did break your heart, it has been an experience -- a thing that you had denied yourself for a long time because of work and school. It wasn’t the proper way to live, and maybe Lance and the girls were trying to show you that.

You look at the flowers all varying sizes and colors and then back at those blue eyes before you speak in a whisper: “One date.”

“What?”

“I am offering to go on one date with you, Lance Tucker,” you state as his eyes widen, “We can see how it goes from there.”

Confusion blooms onto his face for a second before a grin overtakes. He grabs you by the waist and whoops as he has just won the Gold all over again, as you just shake your head with laughter and not really caring who might be watching. He grabs your cheek and drags you into a quick kiss, crushing the flowers just a bit before moving away. A grin on his face, when you blink at the shortness of it all.

“You know, maybe Claire was right about us,” Lance laughs as he leans in a little.

“I’m thinking everyone was except for us,” you let out with a pout, as you are sure that everyone in the front of the store is watching your little display in some type of smug glee.

“Guess we gotta live to their expectations, huh?” Lance teases, “Go for the gold.”

“That was a horrible joke,” is all you manage to say before he grabs you by the waist once more and pulls you in for another, much longer kisses -- a much sweeter one than the first one you had shared.

The girls rejoice and Micah shakes her head before getting started on their orders. And while you weren’t sure what the future had for you -- for now you could say that Wednesdays were certainly your favorite day of the week.

You were sure that Lance would agree as well.

#lance tucker #lance x reader #lance tucker fanfiction #lance tucker x reader #lance tucker fic #lance tucker fluff #lance tucker angst #lance tucker drabble #The Bronze #the bronze fanfiction #series: Wednesday #fabiola trying to write

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punchdrunkdoc · 4 years

Text

Updated K-drama list (2)

4 more shows DONE. I’m seriously obsessed guys.

I’ve also updated the list to include some ratings - mainly how many tissues you’ll need, and how amazing the architecture/interior design is in the houses. Seriously, some shows I could barely concentrate on the subtitles because the sets were so gorgeous!

FAVOURITES

1. Crash Landing on You

He’s from North Korea. She’s from South Korea. They never should have met, but they’ll change each other’s lives.

Male lead: Officially the best boyfriend ever. With added dimples.

Tear-jerk factor: 4/5

ArchitecturePorn: 2/5

2. Descendants of the Sun

A special forces Captain meets a capable and beautiful trauma surgeon. They feel an instant bond, but their jobs and philosophy on life get in the way, threatening to tear them apart.

Halfway through this show, I seriously thought this might overtake CLOY as my No. 1 fav. I absolutely LOVE watching competent people doing their jobs really, really well - and this had it in spades. I also ADORE the male lead character, and the romance was beautiful…but it didn’t quite nail the angst, and the last minute was a bit twee, which kept it in the No.2 spot.

Male lead: A cocky, charming, absolute BADASS...with the most adorable, cheeky smile.

Tear-jerk factor: 2/5

ArchitecturePorn: 0/5 (mostly crumbling buildings and sterile hospitals!)

3. Healer

The lives, and pasts, of a hot shot reporter, a spunky young tabloid journalist and a mysterious thief-for-hire intersect.

Male lead: Effortlessly beats up 2 henchmen while comforting his girl over the phone. What’s more to add?

Tear-jerk factor: 1/5

ArchitecturePorn: 1/5

4. My Holo Love

A lonely woman falls for a holographic AI and then meets his creator...

Male lead: Tortured loner genius. My catnip.

Tear-jerk factor: 2/5

ArchitecturePorn: 2/5

5. Goblin

A 900yr old immortal guardian finally meets the ‘bride’ who will end his existence

Male lead: Surprising innocent and funny for a 900 year old

Tear-Jerk factor: 5/5

ArchitecturePorn: 3/5

6. What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim

An personal assistant decides to quits her job in order to get a life. Her boss has other ideas.

I loved the female lead in this - as I said, I’m a sucker for uber-competent people, and the actress is STUNNING. Her boss is self-centred, entitled and vain...but over time, somehow that just becomes endearing! This show also has lots of very good kissing scenes...and when he started to unbutton her shirt during one encounter, I was SCANDALISED (did I mention these shows are usually very PG!!)

Male lead: Like I said, somehow makes vanity and narcissism endearing. Also not afraid to get his shirt off and flash his 6-pack. Bonus.

Tear-Jerk factor: 0/5

ArchitecturePorn: 4/5

7. Legend of the Blue Sea

A mermaid comes onto land to find the man she loves

Male lead: Cocky, arrogant conman with a soft mushy centre

Tear-Jerk factor: 1/5

ArchitecturePorn: 3/5 (I want a hidden room!)

Notable mentions

These are shows which I completed and enjoyed but they didn’t set my world on fire. Usually because they were overly long, or the plot got in the way of the characters/love story. If I have to fast forward large chunks of side-plot and endless tertiary character interactions, its not making my favourite list

1. Suspicious Partner

A young, hardworking lawyer has her life turned upside down when she is put on trial for murder.

This was overly long, but the serial killer plot had some nice twists and it was central to the story, so it didn’t feel extraneous like some of these types of plots do. I really enjoyed the central romance - the 2 characters sparked off each other well, and the female lead actually got to kick some ass in this!

2. My Love from the Star

Alien stranded on earth meets an actress soon before he’s due to be rescued.

3. Strong Girl Bong-Soon

A woman with inherited super-strength gets a job as a bodyguard for an eccentric young CEO

4. Touch Your Heart

Star actress rocked by scandal works at a law firm to prepare for her comeback role

5. Hyde, Jekyll and Me

A woman becomes involved in the lives of 2 men, who share one body

6. Melting Me Softly

Two people are accidentally cryogenically frozen for 20 years. They have to navigate the modern world and their new lives together.

Another good concept, but it ultimately descended into little more than a light work-place romance. Had a couple of good kissing scenes, but it was overall a bit forgettable.

And the DNF:

1. My Secret Romance

2. Master’s Sun

#cloy #descendant of the sun #goblin #healer #my holo love #legend of the blue sea #kdrama #melting me softly #hyde jekyll me #touch your heart #suspicious partner #my love from the star #strong girl #whats wrong with secretary kim

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