#he wanted to clear up a pretty serious misunderstanding and didn't want to do it through text

[icouldbeyourprettygirl]

You guys!! He called me today 🥹 To be sitting in my room and hearing his voice at the same time was certainly an experience

[meet-you-at-the-north-star]

Save the Last Dance For Me

Summary: you and Dick have been dating in secret, until at a party he’s forced by circumstances (coff George Luz coff) to set things straight

Notes: fluff, jealousy

Word count: 1068

“I don't believe you actually have a boyfriend. You were saying that just to throw me off” The brown-eyed soldier insisted in a mocking way.

I smiled to myself and glanced furtively behind me, more or less where I knew the man I was secretely dating must have been.

“Oh you better believe it, George” I crossed my arms and leaned against the wall, looking at him quite amused.

“Then who is it? Why is it such a secret?” He asked rolling his eyes.

“I'm really not sure you want to know” I smirked, and that was certainly no lie.

“Alright, alright” he raised his arms in surrender. “Tell you what, let's make a deal: I stop asking about this mysterious guy if you agree to dance with me.” The tone was hopeful: “Just one song” He specified, noticing my raised eyebrow.

I didn't see anything wrong with giving him one dance, so I agreed: “Okay, but I don't want to hear another word about it.” I warned him.

He flashed a toothy smile and offered me his hand, in such a funny and theatrical way that it made me burst out laughing. "You're an idiot"

“I know” He winked.

We began to move to the center of the wide room, where other couples were already dancing. He wasn't exactly a talented dancer and kept tripping over my feet, making us both laugh.

About a minute and a half into the song, we managed to find a slightly more synchronized rhythm. I looked up at his face and little by little his usual playful smile had disappeared, his eyes instead fixed on me with an unusually serious and intense look that left little room for misunderstandings.

Uh oh, I thought. This wasn’t good news. I had been too naive to think that accepting to dance with him wouldn’t send involuntary mixed signals.

“George…” I said, instinctively moving away to leave more space between our bodies.

The song we were dancing to came to an end just then. “One more song?” He half pleaded, his expression so hopeful that it broke my heart a little. I didn’t want to be the one to do this to him.

I looked at him gently. “I'm sorry, I can't” I started to take a step back, but he didn't let go of my left hand, still intertwined with his, almost as if he was struggling and fighting the urge to draw me back to him.

“George” I repeated, voice calm but with a hint of warning.

Before I could do or say anything else, I felt a slight shift of air and then a hand coming to rest lightly on my side. I didn't need to look to know who it belonged to.

George’s eyes widened and he immediately let go of my hand. “Major Winters!” He almost stood at attention. “I-I didn't see you there”

I finally allowed myself to shift my attention to Dick. His gaze was firmly fixated on George and he was barely blinking. I saw no trace of anger or irritation in it (though I knew he was quite good at disguising those), but a clear determination that spoke much louder than words.

“No need for formalities, private, this is a party. I trust that you're having fun?” His tone was calm and polite as usual, but for once almost unnaturally so. As a consequence, it came across as slightly menacing.

George must have sensed the trap, because he soon started babbling: “Yes, sir! I mean…a normal, regular amount of fun. Nothing special going on here. Just one dance” He really stressed the word one.

“I'm glad to hear that” Dick smiled, at last turning his attention towards me. “Because I was really looking forward to this next one. Can I have the honor, miss?”

My heart skipped a beat at that. Jealousy was a new but certainly rather good look on him.

“Of course you can, major” I decided to play along even though it was pretty clear, what he was doing.

When I looked to the side, George had already vanished into thin air. I gave a small chuckle. “You didn't need to terrorize him like that”

“I did no such thing” he said with a smirk, quickly intertwining our fingers, while his other hand was still firmly resting on my right side. The band began playing a slower tempo, romantic song and I gladly let him lead me into the music. He was a pretty good dancer. Then again, I was yet to find anything he couldn’t do well.

Both of my eyebrows shot up. “Are you sure? What happened to keeping secrecy above all?” I teased him.

“Well, it felt like the situation required that I come clean.” He whispered very close to my ear. “Besides, you didn't seem to mind all that much”

I felt a warm rush of adrenaline going through my body, and hoped I wasn't blushing outwardly as I was on the inside.

I recognized it as the effect only he had on me. Being in his arms felt so natural and right, it left no space for doubt in regards to my feelings for this man, and his for me. And I really didn't mind one bit.

“Who are you and what have you done to Dick Winters” I shook my head in disbelief, laughing.

“Does that mean that I should stop?” He inquired.

Without interrupting our slow swaying back and forth to the rhytmn, I placed both of my hands around his neck, bringing him closer, allowing myself to stare straight into his eyes. “Don't you dare”

I saw a brief flash of hesitation passing through those blue eyes, like an implicit request for permission, and I nodded, smiling.

“I've been waiting to do this all night” He gently cupped my face in his hands and kissed me, slowly but ardently, in front of everyone.

I could hear a few gasps and cheers in the background over the sound of the music playing, but when we turned around everybody had gone back to the party acting as if nothing happened.

“You know, major, your men will definitely talk after this” I jokingly protested.

I could feel his smile on my lips as he kissed me again: “Let them”

[thebonggirll]

chapter five

< previous: chapter four

That night after dinner, Quintus had the campers suit up in combat armor like they were getting ready for capture the flag, but the mood among the campers was a lot more serious.

"Right," Quintus said, standing on the head dining table. "Gather 'round."

He was dressed in black leather and bronze. In the torchlight, his gray hair made him look like a ghost. Mrs. O'Leary bounded happily around him, foraging for dinner scraps.

"You will be in teams of two," Quintus announced. When everybody started talking and trying to grab their friends, he yelled: "Which have already been chosen!"

"AWWWWW!" everybody complained.

"Your goal is simple: collect the gold laurels without dying. The wreath is wrapped in a silk package, tied to the back of one of the monsters. There are six monsters. Each has a silk package. Only one holds the laurels. You must find the wreath before the other teams. And, of course...you will have to slay the monster to get it, and stay alive."

Y/N could already sense a bit who she was about to be paired up with. "Hey beautiful," Harris walked towards her smiling. She clicked her tongue at the cringy nickname and said, "Thank god you're with me. I can't handle the stares anymore."

He chuckled and put an arm around her shoulder, slowly pulling her closer. "And does that include him?"

Y/N looked into his eyes, followed the direction he was looking in, and saw the obvious pair of eyes looking at them. "No, we are just friends now. And have decided to start over, forgetting everything," she said and smiled at Percy, who seemed to be in a trance. Was he even looking at them or was he just zoned out? It was surprising how he can be zoned out with a partner like Annabeth, who wants her plans to be perfect and win the game. But well, it's Percy.

While Y/N started chatting with Harris, holding his hand that was hanging over her shoulder, Percy was busy glarin- ahem, observing them. He couldn't just smile back at her at the moment when he was too focused on how close they were standing. Y/N's face was literally inches away from Harris's face. One accidental push from someone and they would literally kiss each other.

Although that won't be required going by the way Harris is eyeing her.

"You look constipated seaweed brain," Annabeth said, "Can you stop being so embarrassing and quit staring at them like an idiot?"

He could sense the disgust in her voice. Well, he knew how embarassing he was being and in any other normal situation, he wouldn't even think about looking at them this way after being discovered by them...or anyone. But somehow...he just didn't care.

Let them look. Let them know how he's irritated.

"You're being creepy," Annabeth sighed, "I get you find him annoying but you can't be possessive about someone who isn't yours in the first place."

This seemed to get his attention, finally breaking away from the trance he was in. "Don't be ridiculous. You act like you're not possessive of her."

"I am, but I know my limits."

"Oh yeah, sure you do," Percy scoffed. It was pretty annoying to think about how he now has to spend time obeying all of Annabeth's orders.

Well, that wasn't the worst part either. It felt like the whole world was against the idea of clearing out the misunderstanding Y/N had with Annabeth and him.

Well, he was certainly right about the world being against him.

The roof slid open and Percy saw the night sky, stars blazing. It was a lot darker than it should've been. Metal ladder rungs appeared on the side of the wall, leading up, and he could hear people yelling their names.

"Percy! Annabeth!" Tyson's voice bellowed the loudest, but others were calling out too.

He looked nervously at Annabeth. Then they began to climb and made their way around the rocks. They ran into Clarisse and a bunch of other campers carrying torches, including Y/N. She looked distressed.

"Where have you two been?" Clarisse demanded.

"We've been looking forever," Y/N said.

"But we were gone only a few minutes," Percy said.

Chiron trotted up, followed by Tyson and Grover.

"Percy!" Tyson said. "You are okay?"

"We're fine," he said. "We fell in a hole."

The others looked at him skeptically, then at Annabeth. 

Shit.

It looked like something else. Like he wandered off with Annabeth to spend some time alone or something. He looked at Y/N immediately to observe her reaction. Thankfully....she wasn't eyeing them suspiciously like the rest of them.

"Honest!" he clarified. "There were three scorpions after us, so we ran and hid in the rocks. But we were only gone a minute."

"You've been missing for almost an hour," Chiron said. "The game is over."

"Yeah," Grover muttered. "We would've won, but a Cyclops sat on me."

"Was an accident!" Tyson protested, and then he sneezed.

Clarisse was wearing the gold laurels, but she didn't even brag about winning them, which wasn't like her. "A hole?" she said suspiciously.

Annabeth took a deep breath. She looked around at the other campers. "Chiron...maybe we should talk about this at the Big House."

Clarisse gasped. "You found it, didn't you?"

Annabeth bit her lip. "I—Yeah. Yeah, we did."

A bunch of campers started asking questions, looking about as confused as Percy, but Chiron raised his hand for silence. "Tonight is not the right time, and this is not the right place." He stared at the boulders as if he'd just noticed how dangerous they were. "All of you, back to your cabins. Get some sleep. A game well played, but curfew is past!"

There was a lot of mumbling and complaints, but the campers drifted off, talking among themselves and giving Percy suspicious looks.

"This explains a lot," Clarisse said. "It explains what Luke is after."

"Wait a second," Percy said. "What do you mean? What did we find?"

Annabeth turned toward him, her eyes dark with worry. "An entrance to the Labyrinth. An invasion route straight into the heart of the camp." 

After the explanation, the rest of them started going back to their cabins as well.

Y/N turned around to leave along with Harris when she felt a tug on her arm. This was happening way too often. 

"What?" she asked, trying to put her best smile.

"It wasn't intentional," Percy said.

"You don't need to explain it to me," Y/N said.

Percy looked at Harris who was still standing close to her. 

Annoying.

He pulled her arm to bring her closer to himself, eyes fixed on Harris, he said, "We need to talk. I have to tell you about the dreams I've been having. Just us. No outsiders."

Y/N felt embarrassed. Harris shouldn't have to deal with this situation. She tried to free her hand from his grip but heard him say, "Well, you can take your time Y/N. It's getting late anyway." She watched him walk away to his cabin. It felt like someone placed a rock in her heart. 

Snatching her arm away, she asked, "Why do you act like an asshole with him?"

"I don't know," Percy tried to calm his nerves but failed, "His face just manages to bring out the worst in me."

"Shut up," she asked, "What did you wanna talk about?"

Oh. Right. The dream. He filled in the details and watched her reaction.

"So...that's the same Labyrinth Nico was talking about right?" Y/N asked.

"Yes," Percy said. He was trying his best to be decent but these days, especially today, he was way too tired to force himself to be decent. Maybe it was how just when he was about to enjoy her attention, Harris seemed to crawl and snatch it away like a little bug. So he blurted out the first question pestering his mind.

"Are you and Harris a thing now?"

next: chapter six >

book four: the battle of labyrinth

percy jackson x reader series

MASTERLIST

[mermaidsirennikita]

ARC Review: Never Met a Duke Like You by Amalie Howard

4.25/5. Releases 11/14/2023.

Vibes: childhood best friends to enemies (Iite) to lovers, nerd in the streets freak in the sheets, actual factual social issues, and a very good cat/kitty joke.

This is a retelling of Clueless, which is a retelling of Emma, which in theory sounds very messy but ultimately worked out in a historical romcom I really liked. It touches on some serious problems of the time (heads up: a lot of discussion of asylums and their abuses) and there's a great chemistry between our leads. She's a flighty eye-catching popular type, he wants to hunt for dinosaur bones, and they haven't seen each other for years but have been building up to this since childhood. It's a good mix.

Quick Takes:

--I was honestly a little "why do we need this" when I first understood the concept. Yes, the previous book in the series, Always Be My Duchess, is a retelling of Pretty Woman, which is a retelling of My Fairy Lady (and MFL is a retelling of Pygmalion). But Emma is an Austen novel, and such a clear precursor to historical romance subgenre of today. I was a little worried about how that would work.

But here's the thing. Clueless is very much not a direct retelling of Emma, and you change a lot in the Emma/Knightley dynamic when you switch it up from a girl and her neighbor/friend who's like 17 years her senior and held her when she was a baby, to a girl and her somewhat older former stepbrother (no shade, Emma is my favorite Austen and I adore Clueless). If you like Cher and Josh, that's the sweet spot Vesper and Aspen hit. It's very much that sequence in The Swan Princess wherein Derek and Odette bug each other as kids, then realize as adults that they wanna bang it out--but with a bit more of a friendship slant. In the childhood days. When they're adults, there's an edge added by their years of separation and misunderstandings. And I'll admit, I eat a "childhood friends separated and reunited as adults" dynamic right up. If that's your itch, this book will definitely scratch it.

--Aspen is really into DINOSAURS, and I personally loved that angle. He was nerdy enough for me to call him a nerdy hero (and Vesper does love his glasses) but he wasn't a cliche nerdy hero. Yes, he loves to look at fossils and discourse over prehistoric creatures, but he's also confident, snarky, and quite prone to putting it down. Honestly, I arguably could've used more dinosaur content (though Howard definitely uses it at just the right moment).

--A big part of this book is mental illness and the absolutely horrible was in which it was addressed at this point in time. Aspen's father was confined to an asylum and abused in that asylum--exactly how that happened is a major point in the book. Additionally, its specter hangs over Aspen's head, his father's "diagnosis" (I hesitate to call it legitimate) a potential means through which his own committal could be justified. It's rough, dude.

And I will say, I suspect that some readers will be dissatisfied with the comeuppance the villain of this book receives. For me, it worked--because it was realistic, and because I really couldn't think of any way through which the issue could be resolved without taking away from Aspen and Vesper's relationship. The point of this story isn't really punishing the bad guy--it's making it so Aspen and Vesper can have a healthy relationship without this threat in the midst of it all.

As an added note, Vesper has ADHD, which isn't a massive part of the novel but does figure into her character and journey. I thought it was a nice touch--people with ADHD didn't just suddenly pop into existence in the twentieth century, and the rep is good to see.

--The thing I really liked about Aspen and Vesper's dynamic is that there really was this undercurrent of childlike... knowledge, and playfulness. They've changed a lot, and there are a lot of confused feelings between them; but you still get the sense that at one point, these people really knew each other. And that sense of knowing and affection remains.

I also really loved the moments when the childhood besties jumped out--there's a teasing vibe to the relationship, this sense that they kind of want to kiss each other and kind of want to poke each other (non-sexually). It makes the tone of the book a bit bubblier, which is key, I think, when you're dealing with subject matter as dark as Aspen's backstory could be.

The Sex:

It's hot. These two have a very clear physical connection, and it's immediately noticeable. You get a lot of double entendres in this book, a lot of teasing that goes just over the line--like when Aspen casually tells Vesper she looks like she's just had an orgasm in public. Very normal thing to say to the former childhood friend you're not interested in! At all!

One sex scene in particular was so delightful--the perfect mixture of hot and funny, which sums up the tone of the book pretty well. I mean, this dude is really about his fossils, and they definitely play into the... plot. More than you might think. (Not in that way, in THAT way. Don't worry about it. Read the book.)

Frothy yet not without substance, Never Met a Duke Like You is another enjoyable entry from Amalie Howard. If I'm being real, I think I liked it a bit more than Always Be My Duchess (also a good book). Would recommend!

Thanks to Netgalley and Forever for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[having-conniptions]

Love In The Air episode 12 live reaction under the cut (long post)

I can't believe there's only one more episode left after this one (and then I'll move on to The Wedding Plan for their cameos obviously)

Awww Prapai is helping Sky again <3

"I'm not worried" baby you can drop the tsundere act fr

Sky getting startled and then annoyed every time Pai says "ouch" hahahaha

"You've become sillier since I last saw you" lmao

"He's a gentleboy in the streets, but a freak in the sheets" GENTLEBOY LMAO BYE

AAAWWW PRAPAI IS SO LOVESTRUCK (and Sky is being sneaky about how much he loves Pai but Pai notices awwwww)

Hahaha birthday immediately canceled bc baby wanna go shopping

THIS EPISODE IS CALLED WHEN THE SKY SURRENDERS TO THE WIND aaaaa will Sky finally admit his feelings??

Sky is such a sugar baby fr

Sky smiling like an idiot when Prapai is talking about couples t shirts but telling him "I think there's something wrong with your brain" hahahaha god I love him so much my sassy boiii

He's trying his best to be a tsundere

"People will misunderstand that you're my boyfriend" IS HE NOT?? SKY WTF ARE YOU ON ABOUT smh Mr Emotionally Unavailable better make up his mind

"This guy's my wife not my boyfriend" PAI PLEASE I'M WHEEZING

Aaaaa he brought Sky to his place and he's gonna bring him to the party Prapai is so ready to go official but Sky is not

Also can I just say PRAPAI IN THOSE PANTS

PAI'S CONFESSION 😭❤️😭❤️😭❤️ "When you tell me to stay away, I want you to admit that you want me to stay close. Or when you tell me to get bored, I wanna tell you that I won't." It captured their dynamic so perfectly - here's how I see it: Sky still doesn't believe this thing with Prapai is serious and long-term but he still gave in to his own feelings and desires. He doesn't see a point in going official and he can't admit his true feelings, maybe because if they're not together there won't be a breakup when things "inevitably" end and it won't hurt as much? He's trying to keep a bit of a barrier to protect himself while still indulging in this relationship. But Prapai knows what's behind that barrier and he's breaking it down with earnest feelings and a good amount of cheekiness. In conclusion: AAAAAAAAA

I'M GONNA COUNT THIS AS THEIR FIRST REAL ROMANTIC KISS I'm pretty sure this is the first time they kissed without a sexual context or the "excuse" of it being some sort of "payment". It's the first kiss that's honest and open, all cards on the table, no excuses or facades, no (faked) reluctance, just pure earnest emotion.

Not the mic making fart noises during the kiss tho omg talk about ruining the mood lol

Just rewinded... Sky's hopeful look before the kiss is everything 😭❤️😭❤️

"I want you to kiss me too. I want you to like me." HE SAID IT HE GOT OVER HIS TSUNDERE ACT AND ADMITTED IT AAAAAAA I LOVE THIS FOR THEM

I mean of course it was gonna lead to sex but still the kiss was not about that at all. THAT KISS. WAS EVERYTHING. THAT KISS WAS THE REAL VERSION OF THE ONE PRAPAI HAD IMAGINED. ROMANTIC. EARNEST. AAAAA IT WAS PERFECT

Huh I didn't expect them to actually make it to the party after Sky said he could skip morning classes lmao

The little peck aaaa so casual so sweet Sky still isn't used to this but he loves it

Oh no now he's freaking out about his own feelings again NO BABY DON'T OVERTHINK IT YOU WERE DOING AMAZING

Oh no ex-hookups and new boyfriends do not mix

The way Sky immediately forgot about having to pee lmao

Oh no what is he seeing- OH. The ex-hookup. SKY IS ALREADY TRAUMATIZED THIS HAS GOT TO HURT SO MUCH JUST AFTER HE FINALLY GAVE IN FUUUUUCKKKK

Oh no not another flashback NOT ANOTHER FLASHBACK NOT SKY CRYING MY HEART CAN'T TAKE THIS IT'S SHATTERING INTO A MILLION PIECES MY POOR BABY SKY

Meanwhile Pai is actually doing his best to get rid of the random boy clinging to him

Prapai is so smooth even when rejecting someone

Why is Sky not confronting him THEY NEED TO CLEAR THIS UP, COMMUNICATE YOU IDIOTS

"I saw your boy. The one you let me borrow. The one who said he loved you so much" FUCKKKK NOOOOO FUCKKKKKK and I can't believe I called that guy pretty, what a fucking asshole FUCK THE FUCK OFF

Meanwhile Sky is having a fucking breakdown in the car while trying to hide it from Pai

AND NOW HE KEEPS BRUSHING HIM OFF AND MAKING EXCUSES NOT TO SEE HIM THIS FUCKING HURTS SO MUCH DO YOU UNDERSTAND HOW MUCH THIS SHIT HURTS WHAT THE FUCKKKKK

Poor Pai poor Sky my poor babiesssss

Everyone is scared of Prapai lmao

TWO WEEKS????? Christ on a bicycle shoot me now I will never recover from this

And Sky's "I don't even like you" act is back up to 200% AND IT'S FUCKING HEARTBREAKING BECAUSE SKY IS BEING SO FUCKING HURTFUL AND MEAN BELIEVING IT'S JUSTIFIED AND PRAPAI IS HAVING HIS HEART SHATTERED INTO A MILLION PIECES WITH EVERY WORD I CAN'T KEEP WATCHING THIS just the thought of hearing that from someone you love - or saying that to someone you love(d) - freaking KILLS me

At least Pai doesn't really believe it. Though it hurts, he knows in his heart it's not true.

Sig is the fucking MVP

Sky is even gonna move dorms?? MY BABY IS HURTING SO MUCH I CAN'T FVKNG BREATHE OMG THE MEMORIES OF PAI WHEN HE GETS BACK TO HIS OLD DORM

Why did I kinda expect Prapai to be waiting in his room omg THE ANGST I'M GONNA IMPLODE

It's the book with all the notes he took 😭❤️ PROOF to Pai that Sky loves him

Which I guess is good for Pai but rn it's just making things worse for Sky because he still thinks Pai lied to him and used him and now that guy has proof that Sky loved him DID I MENTION THAT THIS HURTS??? BECAUSE IT SURE FUCKING DOES

Omg all of Sky's thoughts during their arc being revealed BUT AT WHAT COST aaaaa why couldn't they just have COMMUNICATED?!?! RIGHT AFTER THE FUCKING PARTY?!?!

"Can you not look for someone else? Can I be the only one for you?" 😭😭😭😭 SKYYYY BABYYYY he really wrote that aaaaa my heart

SKY WAS SO IN LOVE 😭❤️

In Pai's eyes he's proving to Sky there was no reason to break up. In Sky's eyes he's adding insult to injury and humiliating him for being stupid enough to fall for Pai. ARE YOU UNDERSTANDING I WANT TO SCRATCH MY EYES OUT

Ok what I don't like about the love confession is that it happens before they've talked it out so in that moment Sky still feels pathetic for admitting his feelings to a guy who has hurt him and will probably do so again

FINALLY they talked it out. I hope Prapai understands that Sky was not overreacting but actually acting the way anyone with that kind of trauma would act after getting triggered.

"I wonder where you get this idea that I'd get tired of you some day" *panicked look* oh no

But at least Sky is finally talking about it

"You can tell me when you're ready" PRAPAI MY LOVE LEMME GIVE YOU A BIG KISS FOR SAYING THAT MWAH

"Cause love makes me blind" AAAAAAA

Rain's reaction to PrapaiSky dating hahahaha

Sky's reaction to Rain calling Pai shameless ayyyyyy

"Can I kiss you?" PRAPAI DO YOU UNDERSTAND HOW MUCH YOU MEAN TO ME RIGHT NOW

Bonus scene: WHY U GOTTA HURT ME LIKE THAT AGAIN --- HE WROTE THAT AFTER THE PARTY???? FUUUUCKKKKKK

[xcruelprincessx]

I've seen this question so many times and I have posted about it before here, but I want to do it again, cuz it frustrates me when people claim Cardan isn't loyal to Jude just because he's a faerie. If he had other lovers while being with Jude, Holly would have definitely made it very clear. But she not only didn't, but made sure to point out that Locke hooking up around while being with Taryn is considered a very bad thing and Cardan isn't like this.

First of all, everything Cardan wanted during his whole life is love and affection. Not just romantically, but in general. This is what Madoc has to say about him:

The guy would do ANYTHING to be loved. And when he finally has even the tiniest bit of affection from Nicasia, he wasn't going to let it go away. He was faithful to her too and expected the same loyalty from her too, as it's very much obvious by his reaction to her betrayal.

Besides that, it's true that most fae have multiple partners and that's the exact reason most of them never marry. For example Eldred had only consorts and a lot of lovers and flings. He never was married. For the fae marriage is just as monogamous as it is for humans. As we can see with Madoc who was married to Eva and literally murdered her and the man she left him for. After Eva he got married to Oriana and even though it started simply because of Oak's safety, they don't have other lovers.

Something more. Here is a scene Cardan basically called out Locke on being unfaithful to Taryn:

Then in the queen of nothing he states that love never was a game for him. And when Jude mentions that he didn't come to bed last night, he looks at her as he didn't really understand what she was implying or at least thought he was misunderstanding her, because the thought about being with someone else didn't even pass his brain.

It's important to remember what happened right before that moment. The previous day they talked in the gardens and she slapped him, because of the exile and the riddle she couldn't solve. Something about Cardan is that he would never go somewhere he thinks he's unwanted. In HTHKOELTHS it's said that he would often sleep in the stables, because his mother didn't want him in her rooms or in the palace at all. And after that fight they just had, and Jude healings from her wounds, he might have thought that she would be more comfortable if he's not there. Then he even proceeds to ask her if she's sure she wants to spend the night with him at least 10 times before they do the deed

Anyways, about the courtiers around him, that's pretty much just them being asskissers as my mutual said in her post and it's not really his fault. He did have multiple lovers during the cruel prince and the first half of the wicked king, but he was single at that time so he can do whatever he wants with whoever he wants. I believe he stopped after what happens in chapter 15, because he was suddenly stopped being seen with others after that. Jude even multiple times states he's alone in his chambers and his bed is free from couriers and she doesn't know what to think or do with this information. He tried to talk with her about that night and was very disappointed when she said he was out of her system, cuz he probably thought they were getting serious.

At that time he was fully aware he wanted her and what he feels isn't just lust.

He was obviously upset when she commanded him not to be alone the night of Taryn's wedding. He looked offended by her request and mockingly said he will do whatever she commands. However not being alone doesn't necessarily mean sleeping with someone else. That night Jude was kidnapped so he surely didn't have time for intimate actions AND probably wasn't alone cuz his guards, the rest of the court of shadows and Madoc were all there. When she returns from the undersea and sneaks into his room, he's very much alone in there even though she's been missing for months.

In conclusion, Cardan is definitely monogamous when it comes to a romantic relationship. And while fae are known for having multiple partners and love is commonly considered a sport and many of them are exactly like Locke, it doesn't mean they all are like this. They're all different and there are many of them that prefer being with one person (like Cardan, Madoc and Oriana, Oak and Wren, Kaye and Roiben etc)

I just finished Elfhame series and came across your tumblr and your post about "Cardan just wanting love" and your analysis was enjoyable to read.

However, after finishing books 1, 2, and 3, I get the feeling that Cardan isn’t... faithful to Jude. Fae are very poly, and Cardan was/is definitely a thot, and Jude's insecurities over that never go away.

Do you believe Cardan is monogamous after The Wicked King?

Will cardan stay loyal to jude? / cardans views of faith / his love for jude

😭😭no hate to anon but i can’t ever picture cardan NOT being faithful to jude. Also anon did you read “how the king of elfhame learned to hate stories”

btw I’ve made posts like this before(regarding his faith) and they dive into other aspects of why i think he was faithful: this one!!!

he singled jude out from the very beginning during palace school, he fell for jude WHILE he was with nicasia, for so many reasons.

he at first found her infuriating and frustrating for her advantages that she had and he didn’t, despite being raised on the idea that humans were garbage.

then he fell for her determination and audacity, her cunning and strength. even as jude made him look weak, he wanted her and only her.

Meanwhile, cardan hates ass-kissers, which is nicasia, and the rest of the court. He hates that courtiers will allow him to slap and use them, all while going home to people that actually loved them. This is stated in his novella.

Cardan is brought up on the idea that he is a prince that has nothing, that he is worthless despite his title, and he hates it. And that’s how the people treat him, adored and petted on for short times (mostly for favor), but ultimately abandoned and unloved.

Yes, cardan has had lovers, as seen in tcp, in twk, but never after the beggining of the wicked king when he’s shot at. of course courtiers drape themselves on him, but he is aware that they do not love him and that he does not love them, he has only grown not to lash out at them, at which i imagine was based on the fact that he was no longer under balekins suffrance (his beatings) and because he now had jude (even if they weren’t really allies at this point, he still craves Jude’s favor and acts accordingly, as seen as when he gives Taryn his army bc he thinks she’s jude, as seen as him trying time and time again to gain her favor in twk)

Because he wants jude to trust him. Even in the first book, even BEFORE the first book, in his novella, cardan WANTS jude to admire him. he wants jude to see him as he wishes to be seen, princely and powerful, i will attach a pic below from his novella:

(Honestly this pic ALONE pretty much seals the deal for me that he wouldn’t so much as look at another, let alone cheat on jude)

now, onto monogamy and fae standards:

Cardan has shown a clear dislike for many fae standards and cultures.

He sees humans differently from others, he sees life as precious and as something to hold onto, (I’m talking about his morals and his unwillingness to kill even someone that another faerie would consider beneath him), he is unlike his brothers in the power-hungry sense, he likes taking the easy way out, and he craves true love above all.

Jude’s monologue once said that faeries view lovemaking as a sport, as a game. But cardan also said that he never saw love as a game. And he cannot lie.

Add on: bro LITERALLY called jude his GOD. and he cannot lie… so why would he ever have anyone else? exactly!

Another thing, his view of human culture. We know he read Alice in wonderland. We also know that to humans, exchanging rings is commonly our wedding/marital tradition. It it not a fae tradition, for a bride and groom to give each other rings.

Cardan went out of his way to learn about Jude’s culture when proposing to her, and he also stole her ring very early on in the wicked king, so i can imagine that he was planning to propose for a while. To make her his queen.

It is also human culture to remain loyal and monogamous.

Then, when she left during the exile. he was devastated, and begged her to come home in letters that his mother did not send.

In twk, cardan learns, slowly but surely, how to be good. How to be a good king, a good person. For Jude. He learns that he doesn’t have to resort to drinking himself sick to avoid all the misery he endures, but to overcome those miseries and become a good man. and he does it partly for jude and also of course-for himself.

Cardan never knew he could be good, he could be loved. But jude taught him that. (If that isn’t enough to think that he wouldn’t remain monogamous then damn)

Then of COURSE there’s the fact that jude is human. there aren’t many unglamoured humans in elfhame, and obviously Jude’s body is different from a faerie. i like to think that cardan has a specific attraction to Jude’s human body, rather than the same old faerie bodies he’s seen. (I get it king)

LASTLY, i just want to remind us all of how cardan reacted when he found nicasia (of whom he was in a royal relationship with, like him and Jude) with Locke. the photos from his novella are below:

He views nicasias little fling with Locke as excruciating, as a horrible painful betrayal, and he trusted her not to hurt him. (Similar to him and jude, how they trust each other by the end of it, not to hurt one another)

and also, i highlighted “pretend” because although it is faerie standard to be poly in many relationships, cardan STILL is pained by her actions and his dignity and heart are both in shreds. he will pretend to love her after, if the opportunity arises and nicasia doesn’t love him, if it turns out to be just a fling, but he would still be pained by being with her.

if that is how cardan feels about being with lovers, about jude being poly or him being poly, why would he go and inflict that on jude?? he wouldn’t. what him and jude have is much more real than what he and nicasia had because it wasn’t built on obligation (and also the idea that nicasia was going to eventually murder him and steal his throne)

Moral of the story, cardan would not be with other lovers for these reasons: he loves her and he loves to be loved by her, he has learned human cultures to make himself a better husband for her and he follows those traditions, he is heavily distrustful and he dislikes courtiers. also him and jude are MARRIED ROYALTY, at which they are bound by the throne and the land to be together or whatever

anyway thanks for coming to my Ted talk! it shocks me that anyone would think that he would be with others, even if it is faerie culture, cardan is absolutely DEVOTED to that woman (i understand you king)

add on: also ofc jude is scared to get her heart hurt, she guards her heart the ENTIRE series until the end w cardan- and she’s sad when she sees him w nicasia when she asks cardan to get w her in twk. also he’s smoking hot and the king so yeah i would be thinking abt his sex life too lol. also- bro doesn’t even consider the thought that she thinks he may have been w another lover (in qon when they are about to bang) like he is so madly in love w her and she doesn’t even see it, they’re so cute! ALSO cardan has finally found love w jude so it doesn’t make sense for him to go and seek out another, especially since he’s distrusting and hates boot lickers lol

sorry for being so dead on here, I’m from the US so i was saving this last week for rotting my brain on TikTok for the last few days !! I’m working on more asks and ily 🫶 also feel free to add anything i probably missed!! This was messy and lmk if there are any typos!! ok bye

[yaz-the-spaz]

so i finally got around to watching that impaulsive interview/podcast and man hearing it in context makes SUCH a big difference because when you hear it all together you can actually see so much more clearly how liam didn't even actually say anything that bad about ANY of the boys

like literally nothing he even said was as bad as people (who probably only saw the clips or came into the video with biased views anyway) are making it out to be…

now.

good.

so first off, on the question of the boys, liam literally praised louis for his value to the band, for taking charge, and finding his voice and his worth, etc. he said nothing specific (bad or otherwise) about harry or niall that i can recall. and even the comment about zayn’s family was literally just him talking about how zayn had a different upbringing, which really isn’t anything all that bad. now ppl can debate about whether or not it was liam’s place to mention it, but in the end if you listen to that whole segment of the interview it becomes pretty clear that all he was really trying to do is explain why people might misunderstand who zayn is/why he the way he is, which to me shows more of an understanding than some sort of bitter rivalry or jealousy. outside of that there was the comment about g’s tweet not aging well, but what was most interesting to me about that is that he literally grimaces the SECOND after it’s out of his mouth and tries to hide it with his hand and his entire facial expression just looks extremely uncomfortable and cringy for a good few seconds before the camera cuts away. 

moving on to the re-hashing of the band’s formation, his comments about his own role in the band were nothing new or particularly salacious either to anyone who's been a long time fan of the band from the early days. it was a KNOWN FACT that he and louis did not get along in the early days of their time on the txf  and that they butt heads quite a bit about who was gonna be the de facto “leader” (literally anyone who's watched the video diaries or became a fan anytime between 2010-2012 knows this, it is NOT news, and it does not mean that he in any way hates or is jealous of louis especially given that he followed it up by praising louis for his leadership choices and contribution to the band). it was a KNOWN FACT that the people supervising them on the show (and, later on, management) leaned more on liam to keep the boys in line and give the others a bit more professional/musical guidance because of his more serious/driven personality and the fact that he had more experience in the industry from his previous time on the show. even the comment about him starting all their songs literally became a joke among the band (in fact, i think it was even louis himself who used to make the joke that liam couldn't ever leave the band/go solo because if he did they’d have no one to start all their songs for them). None of that was new information (except maybe to newer and/or more casual fans) and does not in any way come off as a slight to harry or louis or niall’s solo careers if you actually listen to what he says.

probably the only thing that was news to me (and probably a lot of the fandom) was that simon and the showrunners possibly initially formed the band around liam because they saw his talent and wanted to keep him in the competition, but honestly even that isn't all that surprising or salacious to me because that's just a smart move business wise when you have someone who's already been on the show, and who you already know clearly has the talent and the drive/ambition to make a serious career out of this, versus four unknowns (the other boys) who may or may not take things seriously.

what truly baffles me though is people somehow taking his comments to mean that the band or the other boys couldn't have made it anywhere or been at all successful without him when him saying all this was literally just him describing his experience and memories of the formation of the band. but of course like often happens weird louis and harry stans took it upon themselves to somehow make it all about liam trying to pump himself up and make 1d’s success all about him when he said nothing of the sort and when all he was even doing was talking about his own experience (though of course the man can't even hardly breathe without someone trying to make it about him being anti ‘insert any of the other boys names here’ so I guess I shouldn't even be all that surprised)

anyway that's my recount of all the important bits, the rest was mostly just weird fighting party boy narrative bs in my opinion (along with a couple of cute celebrity impressions). so in conclusion even though i know some people still will anyway, all i mainly have to say is please don't trust the frankly misleading, out-of-context clips making the rounds on sm or make any concrete judgements until you’ve watched the whole interview (or at least the whole piece of one of the individual segments in question, since they are at least neatly labeled for you to skip right to them)

what you come away with/get out of it after that is up to you obvi, but most importantly i just really need people to think critically about the fact that liam went to a business conference for NFT’s, and in the middle of that conference, (inexplicably) did an interview with a man literally known for doing egregious things just for clickbait wherein liam spent a grand total of approximately 5 minutes total out of a 75 minute long interview talking about his NFT’s (i.e. what he was actually there for) and his current music career, and most of the rest of the 70 minutes randomly rehashing old 1D drama, old relationship drama, and talking about who he wants to fight (or talking about all the apparently multiple various times he's been drunk off his ass at a bar/club/event with his shirt off for some odd reason picking fights with people??)…all of which goes right in line with so much of the negative content we've been getting almost constantly bombarded with lately about liam being a problematic, drunk, fighting party boy

you sit and think about that for a minute and do the math, because all I know is the math ain’t mathing and i'm just constantly like

there were literally so many red flags abound, the whole interview literally had no purpose other than to dredge up old wounds/drama and for what? in what world does a decent mgmt team approve this? in what world do people who actually care about their client OR his image sit back and watch and approve/enable all this irrelevant old ass drama and problematic behavior being brought up that has nothing to do with liam’s actual current career? for what? just so liam could sit around talking about constantly being drunk, getting violent while drunk, saying or doing rude/cruel/idiotic things that he regrets while completely trashed off his ass, all of which he mentioned WHILE constantly drinking literally only a year after admitting he has a drinking problem? or naming all the various celebrities he wants to fight? or repeatedly mentioning how scary a place it is to be inside his head? or talking about having to pretend he’s a different person/that he hides behind other identities like a mask and changes his personality to fit the situation and/or people he’s around? or that he STILL doesn’t really know who he is or what he likes to do outside of work even after all these years cause he feels like he's never had the chance to find out?

everyone, and i mean EVERYONE, including his team, should be way WAY more concerned about his frankly worrying behavior and current mental state than about him apparently trash talking the other boys (especially when, newsflash: he didn't.)

out of all the comments (and there were some pretty gross ones), this was honestly the most salient and self-aware one I came across to sum-up all the extremely concerning things hashed out in that interview that should've been much more of a priority for the fandom than the bs they *claim* liam said about the other boys (that he didn't even actually say) and from the most unexpected of usernames to boot

anyway, in summation, me @ liam's team

ALSO GIVE THIS MAN A LONG FUCKING REST

(and a new team. and a chance to get some therapy/work on himself while we're at it cause my poor lima needs to get farrrrr away from these asshats who clearly don't give a shit about him like YESTERDAY)

[prettywon]

(17) MAiL : Sunwon temporary truce.. maybe

You haven't sent Sunghoon a letter of admiration in two years, thinking that he didn't care much about it. Little do you know, it's quite the opposite. But Sunghoon might not be waiting for a letter for much longer if your love for him sparks up once again. (spoiler: it does)

wc: 0.5k

warnings: none that I can think of, please let me know if there is one !!

a/n: Sunwon feat. Sana 😍

Watching Sunoo walk up to him with a close eye, Jungwon was shocked when Sunoo didn't immediately start swinging at him. He was confused. Why did Kim Sunoo want to talk to him all of the sudden, didn't they have a rivalry?

"I know you don't want to have a civil conversation with me, but it's about Sunghoon and Ghost, I just want a truce for 5 minutes maximum" those words alone were enough to convince Jungwon. He may appear to hate Sunghoon, but he knows how much he cares for Ghost. He also knows how much Sunghoon was hurt during those two years Ghost was gone.

He was there when Sunghoon came to his house, wondering what he did wrong. He was the first to figure out that Sunghoon had fallen for Ghost, and Jungwon was there when Sunghoon got the very first letter. Jungwon was willing to put aside a petty grudge to help out Sunghoon.

Stepping outside, Jungwon couldn't hold back the sigh bubbling at the back of his throat. "What did you want to tell me" Jungwon tried holding back his distaste towards Sunoo but it was inevitable. "I need to tell you something about Ghost" Sunoo's eyes were filled with something that was out-of-character for him. They were serious and stern, and it was very clear that Sunoo wasn't kidding.

The ringing of bells were heard and Sana joined the two. "Ghost? God that name only reminds me of Jake and his stupid questions" Sana held back an eyeroll as Sunoo continued the conversation without her. "Ghost isn't Y/N, please don't push the topic onto her" Sunoo hoped that Jungwon would believe his words, and that Sana wouldn't screw him over.

"So.. it's Sana is what you're saying" Jungwon spared a glance at Sana, who was quick to shake her head no. "It's neither of us, Ghost isn't me or Y/N, I've been saying this from the start. Honestly Y/N is getting pretty annoyed" Sana mentally congratulated herself for her superb acting.

"We don't want there to be any misunderstandings about who Ghost is so we wanted to clarify that that's it" Jungwon appeared to be fooled by their words, and Sunoo couldn't help but be glad for Sana, she really solidified the improv story. Jungwon nodded in understanding, "I'll try to avoid mentioning Y/N when Sunghoon talks about Ghost, but it'll be difficult considering-" Jungwon paused, if it wasn't Sana or Y/N, he probably shouldn't spill Sunghoons long time crush on Ghost.

"Nevermind, I'll head back in" Jungwon pointed towards the door and left, leaving the two to celebrate their small victory.

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[bowbowis]

You're not a clown, you're the entire circus. The whole reason my post was made because do you know how stupid it looks for someone who out of their own free will chooses to invade a country, kill the leader and then cry about supposedly having to kill them. If a man killed another for his wealth, the court wouldn't give a damn if he was sad about the victim "making" them murder them.

If you ignore the whole reason why Edelgard is waging a war and replace her actual motives with simple greed, then yeah, it looks pretty stupid. When you consider that she's fighting for what she believes is the greater good of all Fódlan and perceives herself as being confronted with a trolley problem where death and suffering cannot be avoided, only minimized, then it's only natural for her to be distraught when minimizing the harm involves killing someone she cares about.

Secondly, I don't know if you didn't bother to check your sources or tried to lie to my face when I have the evidence available, https://houses.fedatamine.com/en-us/scenarios/266. First of all, Dimitri makes the accusation that Lambert was killed for Edelgard, which per Thales is true, https://houses.fedatamine.com/en-us/scenarios/110. Secondly, he claims that Anselma was killed by Edelgard, which is the only dubious part because her fate is kept vague.

Ah yes, Thales, a totally trustworthy source who always has Edelgard's interests at heart. The only sense in which what Dimitri is accusing her of here could be considered true is that Anselma was motivated to participate in the Tragedy to reunite with Edelgard and died as a result. A connection Edelgard herself seems to be unaware of and is morally blameless for.

Last time I checked, giving people asylum isn't a valid Casus Belli.

What Dimitri does goes beyond granting asylum. By allowing a belligerent to use his territory as a base of operations he forfeits any claim to neutrality in the conflict. CF in particular has him outright swear fealty to Rhea, which more or less makes the Kingdom an extension of the Church.

I'm unsure if you're being obtuse on purpose, but unifying a continent through warfare is a war of conquest.

It is. But as we see she's perfectly willing to go the non-violent route when the opportunity presents itself.

Oh yes, Claude. You mean how in their meeting, https://hopes.fedatamine.com/en-us/events/639/. Edelgard outright lied to Claude's face per https://hopes.fedatamine.com/en-us/events/606/.

The way the scene is set up makes it pretty clear that this is theater, not a serious attempt to deceive Claude. Now that they're forming an alliance, it's more convenient for both parties to pretend their prior conflict was a misunderstanding. Edelgard is giving herself plausible deniability and giving Claude a way to buddy up with the nation that just invaded his own without losing face.

You actually think that someone who honestly says that there can only be one ruler of this world won't backstab Claude once his use is over? https://houses.fedatamine.com/en-us/scenarios/226#event-60

At that point it's clear that she and Dimitri are beyond reconciliation, only one of them can emerge victorious and that person will be the ruler of Fódlan. And no, I don't think she will turn on Claude as long as he holds up his end of the deal. It's repeatedly established that she wants to be a reliable ally and to minimize bloodshed where he can.

Thirdly, even before she knows where Rhea is gone, she is already preparing to launch an invasion of Faerghus and later launches an invasion of Leicester, https://hopes.fedatamine.com/en-us/events/443/#event-96. Funny how the event is called Beginning of the Conquest, almost like it's trying to tell you something.

Of course she made preparations, she'd be an idiot to think the Kingdom and Alliance would let the Church fall without resistance. It doesn't mean they didn't elect to oppose her.

You know it's really funny to me when people go around saying that Edelgard was so sad about "having" to kill Dimitri and others, when she was the one who decided to start a war and attacked his kingdom.

Oh and by the way, Edelgard wasn't made to start the war either, as Hubert all but confirms that it was Edelgard and Hubert's decision to work with Agartha, https://houses.fedatamine.com/en-us/scenarios/251, and in Hopes, Edelgard explicitly says that her goal is to conquer Fodlan, https://hopes.fedatamine.com/en-us/supports/edelgard/balthus/b/#event-68

[julemmaes]

Robyn

Rowaelin Month, Day Ten

A/N: I'd planned on posting them in order, but you get what you get. Idk when the other prompts will come tbf. I hope soon. Anyway, I managed to write over 6k words today and I'm pretty fucking proud.

This is just fluff over fluff, so yep enjoy!!

Word count: 3,047

Rowan was unbelievably late as he sped through the streets of Orynth.

So late that the school had called not only him, but also the front desk of the place where he worked when he hadn't answered the call on his personal phone. Sorscha, his assistant, had entered his office with an embarrassed smile on her lips, as if she didn't want to tell him that he had forgotten for the umpteenth time to pick up his daughter from school.

Lorcan had joined him, for some strange reason, but Rowan had stopped bothering when it came to his best friend. He'd been trying to figure out how he reasoned for years and had come to the conclusion that there was no logical sense in the actions of the man sitting next to him, who was currently singing at the top of his lungs to one of the songs on the Frozen CD - which much to the chagrin of both of them, had gotten stuck in his car radio months before, forcing them into hours of torture.

He would never deny that the songs were all quite catchy, but after the sixteenth time Rowan had had to listen to Let It Go at maximum volume, his positive opinion of the film had begun to waver.

As they pulled into the school parking lot, Rowan noticed with deep regret that the only cars still there were those of the teachers and school staff.

They both got out of the car, Rowan walking quickly towards the entrance while Lorcan dragged behind him.

He greeted the caretakers sitting at the entrance, who returned a big smile. A smile that grew even wider when his large, imposing friend entered a few moments later. He stopped to talk to the old ladies and Rowan walked down the corridor he knew led to Robyn's classroom.

He could hear muffled voices from inside the teachers' room on the left and the one he knew belonged to Miss Galathynius coming from the right. He looked out over the classroom, spotting the two people sitting at a desk.

As soon as his daughter saw him, her eyes widened and a huge smile flashed across her face.

No words. No "hello, daddy!" or "I missed you!" from the little girl.

Her teacher turned as she leapt out of her chair and ran towards him, hugging his legs and looking up at him. Rowan smiled at her in turn, running a hand over her hair that was shot in every direction.

"Hello, little bird," he murmured to her. The child's smile widened even more if that was possible.

The woman a few feet away from them pulled herself upright, crossing her arms over her chest and offering a sincere smile to the child, who hid behind his thighs.

Rowan was about to tell her that Robyn was shy with everyone like this, ready to defend his daughter's behaviour as he was used to doing in front of every adult, but he was beaten to the punch.

"It's good to see you, Mr Whitethorn," she said, extending a hand. Rowan shook it without hesitation. "Actually, I just wanted to write you a letter regarding Robyn," she continued, never taking her eyes off the little girl. "Nothing serious," she hastened to reassure him when Rowan grimaced, "quite the contrary. Robyn is remarkably good. One of the best in the class, though I shouldn't offer that information so bluntly."

Miss Galathynius winked at him, but he couldn't process what he'd just been told.

"Sorry, could you-"

The little hands clamped around his trousers tightened a fraction more and Rowan looked down, trying to figure out what was bothering his daughter, but then something happened that he hadn't even dared to dream about in recent times.

"You're here!"

The little girl broke off and ran away from him in less than the blink of an eye.

Rowan turned just in time to see Lorcan grab Robyn in mid-air, spinning her around as he brought her to his chest and showered her with kisses. The loud, incessant laughter that erupted from her seemed too much coming from that fragile little body, but he never tired of hearing it.

"Why hello baby!" said Lorcan laughing in turn, starting to tickle her until she begun to rebel and he was forced to let her slide to the floor. Robyn was still laughing at the top of her lungs and nearly fell to the ground as she squealed left and right, letting herself be pushed around by the closest thing to an uncle she had ever had.

When Rowan turned back to the woman, she was wide-eyed and her lips slightly parted as she watched the massive man dressed completely in black and the menacing face turn into a completely different person the second he had seen Robyn.

He chuckled, "I know, it's not every day you get to see a little girl be so comfortable with a brute like that."

Lorcan, who was listening to everything, looked him straight in the eye and without stopping smiling and playing with the little girl, mouthed to him to fuck off.

"Well, yeah. You caught me a little off guard." she confessed, still shocked to hear how Robyn was having a full conversation with Lorcan. They couldn't hear anything of what she was actually saying, but even just the fact she was talking to someone seemed to have Aelin unsettled.

She returned her attention to Rowan and let out a breath that sounded more like a giggle, "I've never heard her laugh before."

He nodded, blushing a little at the teacher's surprised but relieved tone.

"I'm sure the dean warned you about the problem she has," he said in a low voice. He grimaced at her poor choice of words, "I mean, not problem, but the difficulty she finds in interacting with people she doesn't know."

Liar, he told himself. Robyn hadn't spoken to anyone but him and Lorcan since the day Lyria had died. It wasn't a difficulty, but a response to the trauma that prevented her from speaking to anyone who wasn't part of her immediate family.

"I know, I know. We've been looking for solutions together." she informed him. "I give her a white board every morning. Come on, I'll show you." she turned to the desk they were sitting at earlier and raised the magnetic board, on which a few words were scribbled on. "I'll write here what she might need. Yes. No. I need to go to the bathroom. I'm thirsty. I'm hungry." she read, listing the various options. Rowan gaped. "We've only just started going over the alphabet for a second time, so she can't really read or write yet, as I imagine you know, but the little drawings next to each sentence help her."

She continued talking, but he couldn't quite follow.

The woman in front of him - aside from being breathtakingly beautiful - had done as much as she could to help her child with communication.

"Mr. Whitethorn-"

"Rowan. Please, call me Rowan." he said, clearing his throat once he realized how hoarse it sounded to his ears. Lorcan walked up to them at that point, still holding Robyn in his arms and positioned himself next to him, letting their shoulders touch in a comforting way.

"Call me Aelin, then," she smiled at them both. Then she made a small grimace, turning to Rowan, "I wanted to ask if it bothered you, that I sought a solution like that. Maybe I put her in distress, embarrassed her. I'm sorry if I gave you the impression that I wanted to solve this on my own. I really wanted to discuss it with you, with your husband too, to avoid misunderstandings. Maybe we could arrange a meeting."

He was about to tell her that she had given him the exact opposite of annoyance, that he had been more than pleased that she had helped Robyn this way, when her words finally registered.

Lorcan, beside him, had opened his mouth wide and his lips were slowly bending into a mischievous smile.

Rowan furrowed his brow, "I'm sorry, what?"

Aelin's smile seemed to falter. "A meeting? With you? To talk about how to handle the situation," then she shifted her gaze to Lorcan, "You're more than welcome to join as well. I didn't know Robyn had two dads, I apologise for assuming Robyn had a mum and dad. That was very rude of me-"

"I love this," Lorcan whispered, laughing in shock. He turned to Rowan with eyes that sparkled with amusement, "I would definitely be the top."

Rowan looked at him with an expression of complete shock on his face, "What the fuck are you talking about?"

Robyn gasped, opening her eyes wide and bringing a hand to her mouth, pointing then to Rowan's.

"Yeah, sorry, love. I shouldn't have said the bad word." he apologised, giving her a quick kiss on the forehead. He turned back to Miss Galathynius, "I'm sorry to have to disappoint you, but we're not married."

"No need to lie, sweetie. I'm sure Aelin," he gave her a knowing look, "doesn't mind at all about our relationship status."

Aelin nodded, "Well, yes. That doesn't change anything. Mr..." she turned to Lorcan, searching for a name.

"Salvaterre."

"Mr. Salvaterre can still attend. The fact that you are not yet married is no reason why you cannot both be present at the meeting. You don't have to worry, we are a very tolerant school and if anyone bothers you, you can come directly to me."

A sound of sheer glee escaped Lorcan.

Aelin continued, "I mean it. I was pleased to see both of you today. I was also pleased to see Robyn smiling so much." she concluded, looking the little one in the face.

Rowan took a deep breath, bracing himself, "No, I meant, we're not a couple. We're not gay. He's her uncle."

The woman's blonde eyebrows shot up and a second later she turned almost as red as the dress Robyn was wearing as Lorcan shook his head muttering something very much like 'you're no fun', which made Robyn giggle.

"Why did you even get off the car?" he asked him exasperated.

Lorcan shrugged, "Because I missed my little bean, you monster." he replied, clutching Robyn to his chest. The little girl clutched Lorcan's shirt in her chubby little hands and Rowan huffed, shaking his head.

Aelin brought her hands to her face, leaning against the desk behind her. She shook her head, her face still hidden, "Oh, god. I'm so sorry."

Lorcan let out a dry laugh, "Don't worry about it. It was fun while it lasted." then he turned to Rowan again, who was still trying to recover from the idea of being involved in a relationship with his friend, "You're really no fun."

"Yeah, no fun dad." repeated Robyn.

Silence fell over the class. Rowan looked at her with wide eyes and blinked once, twice. Robyn was staring at him with a sweet scowl that mimicked so much that of the man who was still holding her, but Rowan couldn't get over the fact that his daughter had spoken while Aelin was still beside them.

He was about to talk, noticing how Robyn had started squirming in Lorcan's arms, when there was a knock at the door.

They both turned, Aelin peering over Rowan's shoulder, and saw the figure of a petite girl with black hair and eyes standing in the doorway, watching them with her head slightly bent to the side. She had a tag on her t-shirt that was too colourful to belong to someone who didn't work in a school with children, so he guessed she was a teacher herself. Besides, Rowan felt like he'd seen her elsewhere. Probably every day when he picked Robyn up from school, he said to himself.

"I know you're not supposed to eavesdrop but I stopped by earlier and heard you were a couple of dads," she said by way of introduction. "I just wanted to reassure you that the school is an extremely safe place. I'm the one who did most of the interviews with the parents," that's where they had met then, "and one of the questions that is asked is just about the tolerance of the people who will be attending the school."

Aelin watched her, remaining silent the whole time and putting on an amused smile, nodded, "That's what I was telling them. How tolerant the school is. They make such a cute couple, don't you think, Elide?"

Rowan turned to her, arching an eyebrow, silently asking her what she was doing. The woman, as if she could truly understand what he was trying to convey to her, nodded her head towards Lorcan, who Rowan only then noticed was standing weirdly, his eyes fixed on the woman in the doorway.

He grinned, deciding to take his revenge right away. "Oh, yes. Thank you so much for the reassurance," Rowan began to play along as well. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Lorcan turn towards him, dropping Robyn to the floor, who made a disapproving noise at being dumped so suddenly. "We are happy to know that this school is a safe place for our daughter. And for us."

Elide offered him a blinding smile, "Good. I'm happy to hear that you are pleased so far. And I am happy that Aelin is the one who is taking your daughter's class. She's the best one here."

Rowan didn't know her yet, but he knew the thing Elide had just said could only be true.

"Well," she said again, giving them an apologetic smile, "I really must go now, but if you need anything, you can find all my contact details on the website. Have a nice day!"

Aelin and Rowan said their goodbyes, thanking her. Lorcan took a while to recover, but when he realised he was staring into empty space he ran towards the door, almost stepping on little Robyn, who was moved by Aelin.

"We are very much not gay, miss!" he shouted into the hallway. Aelin, now beside him and with a hand on Robyn's shoulder, cackled. With Lorcan's infinite luck, someone walked by just then and gave him a stern look. "Oh, shut up ma'am. I'm an ally. The best ally."

Rowan shook his head as Lorcan launched himself in pursuit of the poor teacher and burst out laughing when he heard him shout, "I'm not homophobic! I'm willing to suck someone's cock if I have to prove it to you!"

Aelin opened her mouth wide before bursting out laughing in turn.

Robyn, seeing both adults so happy, giggled too and Rowan bent down to pick her up. The little girl laid her full head of white-light hair on his shoulder and closed her eyes.

She was tired and Rowan really needed to get her home to sleep.

He glanced at Aelin and reduced his lips to a thin line, "I'm sorry about the commotion, I'll try not to bring him into the building again. Even if it means tying him to the seat."

The soft laugh she gave made something tighten in his chest. He frowned.

Aelin didn't seem to notice the effect she had on him, "Don't worry, Elide is crazy about fools like him. If he says the right things, we might start seeing each other outside of school too."

Rowan nodded, now too caught up in the thought of having to take Robyn home to focus on anything else.

They agreed on when to hold the parent-teacher meeting and then he grabbed Robyn's backpack, walking towards the exit.

He was thoughtless as he reached into his pocket for his keys and balanced everything else - including the girl - on his other arm, but when Robyn's hand brushed his cheek, he looked down and his eyes met their twins. Green against green.

"What is it?"

The little girl's voice never stopped making him smile. Each time was like the first time she had said dada.

"I really like her."

Rowan frowned, "Who?"

"Miss Aelin." she whispered, almost as if she was afraid they might hear her.

He smiled at her, "Yeah? You like her?"

"She's nice to me."

Rowan had to put her down as he opened the door and let her get into the back seats by herself.

"I'm glad she's treating you well, love," he let her know, buckling her in.

He hoped she'd tell him more about her new teacher, but like any kid her age, the topic of conversation couldn't last for more than four lines apiece, "Where's Uncle Lorcan?"

Rowan snorted, "No idea, little bird."

Robyn nodded, "Elide is pretty too."

And as if those words had summoned him, Lorcan appeared beside the car, making them both scream. He entered the car in a heartbeat and turned to his daughter, who was still settling into the seat. "Do you know Miss Lochan?"

But before she could answer him, Rowan had entered the car in turn and smacked the back of his head, which made the Robyn giggle, "You're not using my daughter as your wingman. Now stop it and buckle up."

Lorcan gave him a gentle push, before doing as he was told and for once he was happy he'd convinced him to do something.

Or at least, Rowan thought he had convinced him.

"What if I left you a note to deliver to Miss Lochan, Rob? Would you be up for it?"

Rowan knew, even without looking at her, that she was nodding emphatically.

Keeping his eyes on the road, he murmured, "Could you stop calling my daughter Rob, please? You'll give her an existential crisis."

Lorcan clicked his tongue against his palate, "Rowan, I'm not giving her a damn thing. We live in this new world, okay? Your daughter could be called Simon and still be a beautiful princess. Grow up and educate yourself before you talk shit."

"Aaaah!" shouted Robyn, "Bad word!"

Rowan sighed and shook his head, but still he was smiling.

This was his life. Had been for the past two years.

And he wouldn't change it for the world.

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[wildflowertips]

I LOVE your pro nba Aomine with Kuroko. Can I request a fic where they’ve been dating a while and Aomine purposes during one of his games or maybe after winning an important one?? I just love Aomine being in love.

Let’s start with forever

✎ author notes: this one fic was requested various times in my inbox! I had around six inboxes about pro-NBA Aomine proposing to kuroko. I appreciate the eagerness ❥ I know that a tip-off is usually between the tallest player of each team. For story purposes, aomine and Kagami will be doing the tip-off. Also, I know NOTHING about basketball. (:

✎ pairing: aomine daiki x kuroko tetsuya // aokuro

✎ content warning: cursing, implied sexual activity.

✎ word count: 2676 words

Aomine Daiki was a blessed man.

After the basketball game against Jabberwock, many American basketball scouts had approached him.

Initially, Kagami was supposed to leave for America to play basketball for respected high schools, but Aomine had also caught their eyes. How could the scouts leave such raw talent behind?

They couldn't.

After a long talk with his parents, he kissed Japan goodbye and left with Kagami to pursue their dreams as NBA players.

He never regretted leaving Japan, but he sure as hell regretted leaving Tetsu behind.

So after a year or two went by, Aomine (19) flew back to Japan to win over the man of his dreams.

After a long road of persistence and dedication, Kuroko's walls tumbled down and accepted the fine man that was Aomine Daiki as his boyfriend.

The beginning of their relationship was a nightmare.

Long-distance dragged them through hell and back. Kuroko was a freshman at the University of Tokyo pursuing a degree in early childhood education, while Aomine joined the Cleveland Cavaliers as their newly signed player.

The time zones never matched, and therefore, it was either early morning conversations or late night calls.

Pictures of Aomine seen with various women at clubs made Kuroko insecure, but Aomine would always call and clear up misunderstandings.

"I went out with my team," Aomine's voice carried over through the phone. "Sure, they're beautiful women, but I'm in love with you. I would never do that to you, Tetsu."

"I know you wouldn't," Kuroko softly sniffed, "It's hard reading the headlines of your next potential romance or if you're having a fling with some model. You're so far away, Daiki. And I can't do anything about it. All I want is to be with you."

"You know what they say; distance makes the heart grow fonder, no?" Aomine lightly joked before affirming, "I know. I want you here with me too. Do you know how much I think about you? A lot. No one's ever loved anyone as much as I love you."

And when the public found out that Aomine Daiki was dating a man, homophobic slurs and comments flooded Aomine's socials.

The couple received support and hate.

The fans of Aomine had an unspoken law between them: Kuroko Tetsuya is an angel, and no harm shall come to him.

Although haters expressed their dislike towards Aomine's private life,  Aomine didn't care. How could he ever try and deny his love for Tetsu? They could eat shit for all he cares.

Five years later, Aomine (24) was living his dreams as a young pro-NBA Allstar- dominating the court with 82 points on average.

He carried his team to the NBA championships, landing the Cleveland Cavaliers in the final match-up with the Chicago Bulls.

At the same time, Kuroko Tetsuya (24) had finished his university career and decided to visit his boyfriend in America for a while.

Daiki was close to winning his first championship, and he had his beautiful boyfriend by his side. What else could he want?

* ≿━━━━༺❀༻━━━━≾ * ≿━━━━༺❀༻━━━━≾

It was a beautiful sunny morning in Los Angeles, California. The two love birds were lying in bed together, chatting their morning away.

"'m serious, Tetsu," Aomine had one arm wrapped around Kuroko's waist, "Say the word, and I'll give you anything your pretty heart desires."

Kuroko had his head on Aomine's shoulder; his body turned to his boyfriend as his fingers drew light circles on Aomine's bare chest. "So if I say I want to go to Paris?"

"Two tickets to first class."

"If I want an expensive car?"

"It's yours."

"Wanted you to rent out a movie theater just for us?" Kuroko challenged.

"What movie are we watching?" Aomine smirked. Kuroko playfully rolled his eyes, a small affectionate smile on his face.

Aomine grabbed the hands at his chest, playing with Kuroko's slender fingers, "So, who are you gonna be rooting for at the championship tomorrow?"

"Both of you," Kuroko replied, watching Aomine intertwine their fingers. "Kagami-kun is a fantastic player, and he worked just as hard as you. I'm excited to see my boyfriend and my best friend on the court."

Aomine clicked his tongue, "Wrong answer." He flipped over, pinning Kuroko to their bed. "You were supposed to pick me, Tetsu." Aomine pressed small pecks on Kuroko's cheeks before gradually moving down to his jaw.

A burst of laughter tore through Kuroko's chest as he squirmed under Aomine's lips. "Stop it! You need to shave- that tickles."

Aomine pulled back, "Whaaat? You don't like the stubble?" He said before rubbing his chin on Kuroko's cheek.

"Daiki!" Kuroko tittered, desperately trying to pull away. "No, I don't like the stubble!"

Aomine stopped his attack. "Oh, really?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Either shave or grow it out." Kuroko huffed, laying his hand on the back of Aomine's neck.

"You weren't saying that last night," Aomine hummed, "In fact, I recall your thighs squeezing tightly around my head--"

Kuroko cut him off with a short kiss. When he pulled away, he whispered, "You're the worst."

"You love me nonetheless," Aomine mumbled and leaned down to kiss him, lips nipping Kuroko's before sliding his tongue between them.

A repeat of last night was an excellent way to start their day.

* ≿━━━━༺❀༻━━━━≾ * ≿━━━━༺❀༻━━━━≾

"Fans are going wild in the crowd this evening!" A sports commentator ecstatically shouts to his partner. "Do you hear those roars?"

"Absolutely, Ryan!" The other matched his partner's energy. "This game has been highly anticipated since the preliminaries! Both teams have strong aces!"

"Chicago Bulls' Taiga Kagami versus Cleveland Cavaliers' Daiki Aomine! Both have one of the most famous beef in NBA history!"

"That's right, Chad! Both are known to call each other out on Twitter, and let's not forget that New York scandal where they got into a physical confrontation!"

"How can we forget, Ryan? Daiki is a powerhouse- scoring 82 points on average. He's confident, and his standoff-ish arrogance makes him stick out. Love him or hate him; he's the best of the best!"

"Exactly! But you also forget the beast that is Taiga! He's also on par with Daiki- scoring 80 points on average. He's got the talent and height power! His drive to be the best pays off because that's exactly what he is!"

"What you said is why the stadium is crowded tonight! Everyone wants to know; who is the best? Who will take home the win and ring tonight! Will it be Chicago Bull's Taiga Kagami? Or Cleveland Cavaliers' Daiki Aomine!"

"And look who we have in the crowd tonight!" The cameras pan to Kuroko, who waves when he sees himself on the big screen. "It's Aomine's long-term boyfriend, Kuroko Tetsuya! That's so sweet, Ryan! He's out here supporting both his boyfriend and Taiga."

"Isn't he adorable?" Ryan cooed, "Oh! And here they come, Chad!" The commentator exclaims as the cameras pan over to the Cleveland Cavaliers and Chicago Bulls entering the court.

Kuroko had a good seat- courtesy of Aomine and Kagami. He could see the court and the players nicely.

He cheers when he sees Kagami on the big screen. Kagami gives the camera a thumbs up.

He smiled widely and cheered a bit louder when Aomine appeared on the big screen next.

Aomine notices the camera and winks.

"Here we go, Chad!" The crowd roars, "It's the tip-off between Daiki and Taiga! This could tilt the scales for both teams!"

"I'm gonna beat your ass, Kagami," Aomine smirked when he stepped into the center. "You'll be crying while Tetsu and I celebrate."

"Nah, you're the one that's losing," Kagami gave a sly grin. "After you lose, Kuroko can lend you a shoulder to cry on after he's done celebrating with me."

"Ha, ha. You fucker."

"Asshole," Kagami jabbed back.

The referee blows her whistle, "Language." She warned, "Ready?"

The two aces nod, an intense aura fills the court.

When the ref throws the ball into the air, the game begins.

* ≿━━━━༺❀༻━━━━≾ * ≿━━━━༺❀༻━━━━≾

"AND HE DOES IT! DAIKI AOMINE BRINGS THE CLEVELAND CAVALIERS TO VICTORY!"

The crowd is mixed with whoops and hollers and boos.

Aomine can't register any of it.

He won.

101 - 100.

He fucking won.

His teammates were huddling him- jumping and grabbing onto him excitedly.

"Daiki, you wonderful, cocky bastard!" "I can't believe you got that buzzer-beater in!" "For a second, I thought Taiga had the ball!" "Daiki, you beautiful son of a bitch! You won us rings!"

Aomine has high off his victory.

He can already picture the 'World Champions' engraving on his ring.

He's on cloud-fucking-9, and all he can think about was celebrating with Tetsu.

"Where are you going?!"

Aomine tore away from his team, not bothering to answer their questions.

He ran towards the seats he gave his beautiful supporting boyfriend.

"Tetsu!"

His eyes landed on Kuroko, who had the biggest grin on his face.

And at that moment, time collapses into one speck.

All the noise and people disappear

And it's just them.

Aomine & Tetsu.

And he wouldn't want it any other way.

He wants to share his victories with Tetsu.

His achievements and failures.

His lows and highs.

His whole life with Tetsu.

And only Tetsu.

Kuroko Tetsuya had loved him when he had nothing. And now that he has everything, Kuroko loves him just the same.

His entire universe is within his grasp.

And he'd be stupid not to hold onto that forever.

* ≿━━━━༺❀༻━━━━≾ * ≿━━━━༺❀༻━━━━≾

"I can't believe you're making me wear this fucking trench coat!" Kagami sneered when he met up with Aomine in front of the ring store.

"Put on the sunglasses," Aomine glared behind his pair.

"No!"

"Put them on."

"No."

"Yes."

"No, they look dumb!"

"Put on the fucking goddamn sunglasses, Kagami!"

"Fuck, fine!" Kagami snaps and pulls out the black sunglasses. "Happy now, asshole?"

"Peachy."

"I can't believe I'm ring shopping with you. It looks like we're about to fucking rob the place!"

"It's the only way the paparazzi don't recognize us," Aomine looked around as if saying the 'p-word' would summon them. "I don't want Tetsu knowing I'm gonna propose because those fuckers snapped pictures."

Kagami grumbled under his breath but made no more comments.

"You're Tetsu's best friend, and I'm his boyfriend. Together we can find the perfect ring for him." Aomine pulled on the store's doors, going in after Kagami.

"Yeah, well," Kagami fixed his glasses. "I'm only doing this because Kuroko loves you, and you make him happy."

"Aw, Kagami," Aomine teased as they both walked up to the glass that showcased the rings. "Didn't know you were such a softie."

"Shut up," Kagami replied.

Aomine rubbed his hands together, and he stared down at the rings. "Now, help me find a ring for my future fiancé."

* ≿━━━━༺❀༻━━━━≾ * ≿━━━━༺❀༻━━━━≾

"Are we there yet?" Kuroko pouted, shaky hands gripping onto Aomine's as he followed his boyfriend, blindfolded.

"Almost," Aomine replies, "There's a tree root. You gotta jump over, babe."

Kuroko stops walking, "Daiki, please don't let me fall."

"I won't," Aomine reassures. "Do you trust me?"

"I do."

"Then, trust me when I say I won't let you fall."

Kuroko nods and visibly relaxes as Aomine continues to lead them.

"How about now?"

"Tetsu, you asked me that question five seconds ago."

"Yeah, but now I'm excited!"

After a few more minutes of walking, Aomine and Kuroko finally stood still.

"Okay, take them off."

Kuroko pulls at the blindfold, blinking a few times, adjusting his eyes to the light.

"Daiki," He breathes out in awe. The glowing sun almost disappeared behind the mountain tops. The sky was stretched far and wide in hues of orange and purple.

Kuroko's eyes widen further as he takes in the field before them.

An endless field of forget-me-not flowers fully bloomed tied the stunning scenery together.

"How did you find this place?" Kuroko asks, stepping forward, admiring the blue flowers that grew wildly. A sign that no human has ever disturbed their peace.

"I stumbled across this place when I first moved here," Aomine replied, coming from behind Kuroko and wrapping his arms around his boyfriend's waist. "Used to come here and think of you." He rested his chin on Kuroko's shoulder. "Always thought of you."

"Daiki, this is so beautiful."

"That's why it reminds me of you."

"Sap," Kuroko teased.

"Only for you."

"Why did you bring us here?"

Aomine nuzzled himself into the crook of Kuroko's neck. "To celebrate my big win."

"Your first ring," Kuroko smiled. "I'm so proud of you, Daiki.

"Couldn't have done it without your love and support, Tetsu."

As the evening went by and night fell, Aomine and Kuroko lay in the field, admiring the night sky.

Aomine grows nervous with each passing second. He's 99.99% sure Tetsu would say yes, but he's still anxious.

The box in his pocket weighs heavy.

"... Listening?" Kuroko sits up.

"I'm sorry, what?" Aomine shakes the thought out of his head. "What did you say?" He follows Kuroko's actions and sits up next to him.

"Are you okay?" Kuroko glanced at him, concerned. "You've been zoning out."

Aomine took the deepest breathe he's ever taken. I can do this.

"Tetsu," Aomine starts, taking another deep breath as he pulls out the black box in his pocket. Kuroko's eyes widen. "I love you. I loved you back in Teiko, loved you in Seirin, and I love you now. Loving you is the easiest thing I have ever done. I am devoted to you. You stuck with me through the bad days, and you never gave up on us. You're always willing to help everyone, and you have the kindest, purest soul. I don't know what I did to deserve you, but I am beyond grateful to have you. You have my heart in this life and the next. Wherever we are, my heart is yours. I wouldn't have come this far without you, and I can't imagine my life without you. I want forever with you. And marrying you would make me the happiest guy in the world. My love, all I am is yours. If you'd take me."

Aomine opens the small box. He doesn't know when he started crying, but they fell.

Kuroko covers his lips with his trembling fingers.

He could only look at Aomine as fat tears fell from his big blue eyes.

Aomine's voice manages not to crack, steady and sure, "Kuroko Tetsuya, will you marry me?"

Kuroko chokes out a sob of laughter. His lips spread into one of those grins that leave Aomine speechless. He nods quickly, "Yes," He chokes out before throwing himself at Aomine. Both fall back into the field, "Yes! Yes, yes, yes, oh my god, yes, I'll marry you, Daiki!

Kuroko leans down and captures Aomine in a soft, sweet kiss. When he pulls away, he scatters kisses around Aomine's face.

"Yes," kiss.

"Onehundredperecentyes," kiss.

"I'll marry you," kiss.

"I'll marry the crap out of you, Daiki!" Kiss.

"I love you so much," kiss, "love you forever." kiss.

Aomine laughs, placing his hands on Kuroko's waist. "You can't take it back, Tetsu. You've already said yes."

"Good, because I want to be stuck with you." Kuroko kissed him one last time before hopping off of Aomine. "I can't wait to tell the others!"

"Satsuki's and Kise are gonna scream," Aomine reached for the box and took out the ring. "May I?"

Kuroko nods quickly, flushed. "Yes."

Aomine slides the simple yet elegant band onto Kuroko's finger. "Kagami helped me pick it out."

"I love it," Kuroko looked at the ring that fit his finger perfectly. The gems were the slightest of blue if you looked closely. "It's perfect."

"We're getting married," Aomine whispered, an affectionate look spread crossed his face.

"We're getting married," Kuroko whispered back before tackling Aomine once again into the ground.

Aomine's too enamored with Kuroko to give two fucks about that being the cheesiest shit he's ever done.

Feeling Kuroko's wandering hands under his shirt, Aomine couldn't help but think how happy he was.

Aomine Daiki was a blessed man.

* ≿━━━━༺❀༻━━━━≾ * ≿━━━━༺❀༻━━━━≾

The headlines for the next day:

[callmekvothe]

Hi is it alright if I request jealousy/misunderstanding hcs for wu chang x s/o? Nothing angsty just fluff/comfort please,, Thank you 🤞

Jealous! Wu Chang HC's

Reader: g/n

Warnings: none

Note: I really created a whole scenario here, sorry for that– Leaving that aside, I hope you like it!

》The Guards aren't the kind of men who don't trust their s/o. They do, and they know you love them just as much as they do. However, this time the situation led to a little... misunderstanding between everyone.

》It had to do with the prospector, Norton Campbell. Everyone knew how reserved and cold he was, but it seemed different when he was with you. He would act way more kind and protective, and even be willing to talk to you for hours. Every survivor had the same in mind: he liked you. Xie and Fan found out about this, but they ignored it. It wasn't a big deal for them, because they knew you wouldn't lie or leave them.

》You were in a duo match, where Wu Chang was one of the hunters. You were very happy about it, but you still tried to take the match serious to not to annoy your teammates. Campbell was, of course, one of them.

》While decoding a cipher, you felt your heart beating faster. A hunter was close, and the first thing you saw next to you was a locker. You immediately got in, hoping for it to be a good place to hide.

》Just when you thought you could finally get out, there he was. Norton quickly opened the locker, hiding himself without even realizing you were there. But when he did, it was quite... uncomfortable for both of you due to the lack of personal space in there.

》It seemed like Norton couldn't hide his trail, because the hunter opened the locker as well, ready to balloon him. But it was Fan. At first, he just stared at you two, without any words. He looked at you, unable to believe what he was seeing, and ballooned the prospector, leaving you alone.

》After that match, Fan and Xie had a little (or maybe more) talk. Fan didn't want to believe what he was thinking about– he wanted to see that prospector in front of him again. However, Xie tried to calm him down. He took his time to calmly think and consider the possibilities.

》"Fan, come on, (y/n) wouldn't lie to us. You know they wouldn't."

》Finally, the White Guard managed to calm him down (which wasn't an easy task). Sure, he was intrigued by the Norton's behavior towards you, but instead of 'asking' him, he convinced Fan to go and talk to you. There were some things that needed to be cleared up.

》Xie would basically do most of the talking, while Fan would stare at you, trying to read the expression in your face. They were both hoping for the same thing.

》They definitely listen to what you have to say, and after you've explained yourself, the guards nod with a smile on their face.

》The Black Guard also wants to apologizes for his reaction and childish behavior, even if it isn't his thing. Xie, who did the same, was pretty surprised but glad at the same time.

》"Sorry for running into my own conclusions like that. I thought... It doesn't matter. I hope you can forgive me."

》Prepare yourself for a very long cuddling session with them after that.

》Deep inside, Norton is still scared of Fan since that day.

[yesttoheaven]

I SEE YOU – chapter II

pairing – arthur fleck x female!reader

wc – 2.4k

warnings – none, just some rude people. It's gotham.

a/n – I'm late with this chapter, I know... 🙃 but I hope you like it!

chapter one here:

English is not my first language. I am getting help from google translator and he is not always a good ally, so I apologize for any typos or grammar errors.

Y/N – your name

Y/L/N – your last name

A week has passed since Y/N met Arthur Fleck. It was a long week for her – with TV appearances, some biased rumors about a possible affair with her co-star and problems with the city's main NGO. The place was invaded and looters took what little they had to offer to the population. Gotham police were doing their best to find those responsible, but it would take some time.

Despite the problems, Y/N constantly found herself thinking about the brown-haired man. At some point he was always in her thoughts. Since the day she left him in front of a building on Winslow Avenue, they haven't seen each other anymore. Y/N would like to know what he thought of the movie, but the man never came.

Maybe he didn't like the movie, she thought. And that was totally fine. What was not right was this desire to find him again.

On Wednesday, Brian asked if 'the guy with the big shoes' had called her, but the actress confessed that she had not given him her phone number. What the young actress didn’t know, was that Arthur had crossed the city – more than once – just to tell her what he thought about the movie, but his attempts were marked by misunderstandings.

"The entrance for employees is on the other side." The receptionist informed, attracting the attention of Arthur, who was walking through the luxurious hotel lobby. He didn't know if she was talking to him directly, but he approached the counter anyway.

"Huh... Y-You talked to me?"

"You are the new janitor, right?" The woman stopped what she was doing and finally looked at him, repressing the urge to roll her eyes.

Arthur shook his head and with a small smile, he said:

"I'm looking for Y/N Y/L/N." The mere fact of saying her name made his heart run so fast. Arthur could not explain, but since he met Y/N, his days have become colorful. He still suffered from the brutality of the citizens of Gotham, but everything became more bearable.

"Y/N Y/L/N? The actress? Are you sure?" The receptionist asked incredulously and at the same time seemed to hold herself back from laughing. It really seemed like a joke to her. What could this strange man want with Gotham's Golden Star?

"I need to deliver this to her." Arthur showed the VHS tape, hoping it would guarantee his free pass. "What room is she in?"

"Listen, I don't know how you got through security... but you certainly saw all those people out there. Everyone wants to talk to Y/N or just ask for an autograph. The problem is that none of you are allowed to be here."

"Autograph? I'm not here for the autograph! She wants to know m-my opinion about her new movie."

"I'm sure the only opinion that matters to her is that of the Academy of Oscars."

"You are not understanding... We are practically friends, she saved my life in that alley! Ask her! Say that Arthur Fleck is here... S-She... She will remember me!" While Arthur was stuck in his own words, the woman called the security guards.

The moment two men approached, Arthur realized that things were going very, very badly. In his mind everything seemed easy. He found Y/N and she was happy to see him, but in practice he hadn't reached the elevator yet and the security guards were already putting him out.

"Wait! You got it wrong..." He tried to explain and get rid of the men who were holding him, but the receptionist just shook her head, telling them to get him out of the lobby before the residents showed up to see this show. This would not be good for the hotel's image. "I just want to see Y/N..."

"That's what everyone wants." One of the men said, laughing.

"And I wanted her to dance for me." The other security guard confessed, sighing sadly, while that desire would remain only in his dirty imagination.

Near the main door of the luxurious hotel, they treated Arthur like trash, throwing him on the sidewalk. The poor man managed to maintain his balance and remain standing with the little dignity that remained, but that disappeared as soon as a painful laugh cut his throat.

"Go back to your filthy home! You are too old for this fan and idol thing."

...

When the elevator doors opened, Brian left the metal box accompanied by two officers. Because of the police's satisfactory commitment in this case – obviously Y/N's status contributed to this – the actress received good news. The stolen supplies from the institution were found in a shed and a man was caught in the act. Other suspects are still being sought, but the only piece that doesn’t fit, is that the owner of this shed is Thomas Wayne, candidate for mayor and also owner of WayneCorp.

"Tell Miss. Y/L/N that we will capture the responsible."

"Or those responsible." The other officer added, reinforcing his commitment to the citizens of Gotham.

As soon as the officers left the building, Brian intended to go back to Y/N's room and check on her, mainly after receiving new information about the case, but his plans were interrupted by Susan, the receptionist. She showed a big smile, waving, and he approached the counter trying to look friendly.

"Hey, Susan! How was your day?"

"You know, check-in, check-out... The same things." She laughed, shaking her head. Her job was not exciting, but it paid her bills. That was enough. "I saw the cops... Do they have any suspects?" Curiosity was plastered on her face and Brian sighed, fully understanding why she had called for him. Gossip.

"Unfortunately I can't give too many details, but they are doing a good job." He stated, satisfied with the investigations.

"I don't know if that can help anything, but maybe he participated in the theft..." The woman murmured. The words seemed to be directed at herself, like a loud thought, but the bodyguard was unable to ignore and asked:

"What are you talking about, Susan?"

"A man was here looking for Miss. Y/L/N. His insistence scared me. He was determined to go into her room, only God knows what he intended to do, so I called the security guards, they put the man out. But Carl saw him across the street for three days straight."

"You did the right thing. It's unbelievable how Gothan became a fucking asylum!"

"Do you think I don't know? Sometimes it feels like we're living in hell... But the freak left his name. Arthur Fleck. I don't know if it's real, but you should check with the police."

"I will do this... Wait! Did you say Arthur Fleck?" Brian questioned, as confusion appeared on his face. That name was familiar to him.

"It's a strange name for a strange guy."

If it were possible, a lamp would be shining next to Brian's head right now. Arthur Fleck is the name of the guy with the big shoes.

Without any explanation, Brian ran for the elevator, leaving Susan extremely confused behind. When he arrived at the actress' room, he found her talking on the phone. She didn't look happy.

"Oh, he does not want to talk to me? Very busy, huh? You know I don't like to get involved in these problems... but he started it, Alfred!" Y/N had crossed her limit. The only thing she wanted to do was talk to Thomas Wayne about the NGO supplies that magically appeared in his shed, but that would be impossible. Alfred insisted, saying that the billionaire was at an important business meeting and that he had no connection to the theft. "Okay, I will not insist. Maybe when you regain your senses, you understand my side. Have a nice day, Alfred!" She ended the call and looked at Brian.

"I can't believe you called Thomas..."

"Likewise when he called the mayor’s office trying to ban the showing of Midnight Seduction." The actress argued, showing a fake smile. "These NGOs that I help, they are hindering his path, it is not very difficult to see. You know how men like Thomas Wayne build their empires. It's not pretty."

"God, I know... but be careful what you say. It is a very serious accusation." He advised, concerned for her safety. Y/N just walked over to the table in the center of the room, picking up her glass of scotch and drinking all the amber liquid.

"Don't worry, I'm used to white-collar men."

"Oh, I can see it, but I hope you're used to clowns too, because I have news about the guy with the big shoes." Brian started, capturing her attention immediately.

"Arthur was here?" Y/N's voice took on a hopeful tone and a beautiful smile formed on her lips. For a moment it was as if all her problems were gone.

"Well..." Brian cleared his throat, choosing the right words to tell her, but deep down he knew it wouldn't work. "Arthur was committed to seeing you, but Susan did not allow his entry."

"Why she did it? Usually she talks to me first..."

"It is the protocol, but in this case she considered his behavior to be atypical. I don't know if he was nervous and had another fit of laughter in the middle of the lobby, but she believed that he could present you with some danger or even be involved in the theft of the NGO... The security guards kicked him out."

For the first time in this conversation, Y/N didn't know what to say. The words were stuck in her throat. She felt stupid for not giving Arthur her number or simply putting his name on the reception list. Any of these options would have avoided the embarrassment he went through.

"Maybe you should talk to him. Do you know where he lives." The blond-haired man suggested. It was clear as the day outside that Y/N was silently blaming herself for what happened and that was not fair to her. "What do you think?"

"Arthur possibly hates me now..." She murmured, walking across the room. First he was beaten in a dark alley and now humiliated, practically compared to a criminal. All Y/N wanted at the moment was to go down to the lobby to clarify some points with Susan, but Brian was right. Talking to Arthur is the best she could do. "Prepare the car."

"What? Now?" The surprise was tangible in his voice.

"I don't know, maybe next month?" She rolled her eyes. "You have an appointment?"

"No, but you have." Brian added, crossing his arms. It took a few minutes, but as soon as the actress finally remembered, her mouth opened in a perfect O.

"The dinner with Charles is today! I completely forgot!"

"And before that I need to get Misty. If she gets here with the makeup artist and you're on the other side of town, we'll be in big trouble."

"Maybe not." Y/N smiled.

...

"If Misty finds out where we are..."

"First: You need to calm down. Second: She will only know if you open your mouth and tell her." Y/N listed it on her fingers and then took off her sunglasses, looking at the building across Winslow Avenue. "Just trust me."

"I think I will regret this later." He whispered to himself, leaving the interior of the car and opening the door for her. Y/N accepted the help and together they went to the entrance to the building. The next step would be to find out which floor Arthur lived with his mother. "And now what do we do, genius?"

"I confess I didn't think about that part..." The actress replied, looking around curiously. The place was nothing like the luxurious buildings in downtown. There was no lobby to ask for information and the reality here was completely different.

"Do you need help?" Brian and Y/N were surprised by a female voice and found a woman near the building's front door, holding some groceries from the market.

"Oh, hi!" Y/N smiled as the woman approached where they were. "We are a little lost... Do you know which floor Arthur Fleck lives on?" After that question, a mixture of confusion and surprise appeared on the woman's face.

She didn't believe it when Arthur said that a downtown girl saved his life, especially when that girl was the Gotham's Golden Star. It seemed impossible, but now Y/N Y/L/N was here, asking to see him.

Abandoning these thoughts, Sophie smiled, agreeing immediately.

"You are lucky. Arthur and I live on the same floor, I can accompany you there."

The actress smiled appreciatively and Brian offered to help with the bags from the grocery store. As soon as they were inside the metal box, the woman pressed the number 8 button and looked at Y/N, saying:

"By the way, I’m Sophie Dumond."

"Nice to meet you, Sophie. I am..."

"Oh, I know who you are." She stated, dispensing with the introduction. "I mean... Gotham breathes you!"

"Sometimes it is strange to open the window and see your own face on a billboard or on TV." Y/N confessed. The fame was glamorous, but sometimes suffocating.

"It sure is better than opening the window and seeing a pile of garbage. This is the privileged view we have here." The woman argued, laughing at the situation and the elevator stopped on the eighth floor. "Well, Arthur lives there." After leaving the metal box, she pointed to the end of the hall and while Brian helped her with the bags from the grocery store, Y/N thanked Sophie for the information and walked to the location indicated.

Looking at the "8J" sign, she took a deep breath, wishing she had a mirror nearby to check her appearance. She wanted to be presentable to finally meet Arthur again, even though he might be mad at her. Gathering courage, Y/N knocked on the door. To her disappointment, no one came. The apartment continued in absolute silence.

"Don't tell me there is no one at home." Brian appeared beside her. Realizing that the actress was anxious, he knocked on the door again, with more insistence this time. "We can come back another day..."

Without a better option, Y/N was ready to go back to the elevator, when the door was opened unexpectedly, revealing a woman on the other side.

"Hello, you must be Arthur's mother! I'm Y/N and this is Brian, we are friends of your son."

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a/n – I really don't know if anyone is going to read this, but I would be happy to know what you think of the story :)

[bored-storyteller]

Second part of the request for @amevinil239

25- Twisted Wonderland- Kalim, Azul, Leona, Riddle x Reader

Anger and home pt. 2

Kalim Al-Asim

-I'm not sure what can get Kalim into arguing, but I'm pretty sure if you're stressed out, his behavior can be irritating sometimes.

-Mostly, Kalim will be blind to your problems. It's not that he doesn't want to see them, but he simply can't.

-And he doesn't listen. Trying to tell him with good manners that you really would need his support and not having to satisfy his whims is difficult.

-Furthermore, Kalim is a good person, perhaps a little childish, but he is not stupid or submissive. If there is a misunderstanding and he feels he is right, he is stubborn on his arguments.

-In any case, he would never intend to hurt you, ever.

-After a fight he will be the most wounded in the soul of the two, and if you run away from him the world will collapse on him.

"That's enough!"

Your voice is so high that it burns your throat as if it were sandpaper.

You never thought you would reach this level of anger and desolation, not with Kalim.

He's angry too, you've never seen him angry. His expression is serious, almost adult.

By now you are tired of making him think. He has never experienced what the suffering of people like you means. It is not his fault.

Yet you can't forgive him, you can't stop being mad at him.

"I just want to go home! Where all this doesn't exist!"

It's not so true, and you know it. You miss home, so badly. But you could never pretend again that this world doesn't exist.

You don't want to look at him again, partly for your badness, partly for shame.

You turn around and run away, hoping he won't hear your sobs. You don't see how much those words hurt him, all the realization you suddenly threw in him.

Curled up in the most hidden corner of the garden, you know he will come to you. Because Kalim is a good person, really good, and he doesn't want to make people suffer.

He knows that because of him many can suffer, you, Jamil... and he hates himself for not knowing how to protect you from this, even if he could.

Sitting next to you he is silent for a while, letting himself be hurt by your sobs.

"I know ..." he murmurs sadly "But ... I'd miss you so much ..."

Those words increase your sobs, but they push you to untie yourself from your knot and push yourself towards him. By placing your head on his lap, you let yourself be caressed by his sweet hands. He is probably crying too, but both of you have finally come close. Because you know that if you are with him, you are a little bit at home anyway.

Azul Ashengrotto

-It is not difficult for Azul to hurt people, nor is he usually too sorry about it. He has suffered so many wounds that he can no longer empathize.

-If something about you doesn't suit him, he will tell you. Usually, however, he will maintain a gentlemanlike air that will soften his criticisms and make them look like advice.

-But there may be that time he says that extra thing without even looking at you, assuming you will listen to it.

-It will probably not even be a discussion, you will lose the desire to stay in his presence before he understands how seriously you are angry.

-If the Leach twins are there, they will be the first to understand how serious the situation is and they will exchange puzzled looks, hoping that Azul will look up from his documents and look at you before it is too late.

-When Azul also realizes it will be like a bucket of ice water on his head. He can't say how bad you looked to him, but it's too late to fix it.

-He won't lose its composure, but it won't let you go anyway.

"I want to go home away from all this!"

Azul can't stop you while you rush out the door.

He just looks at the door from where you're gone out with a surprised face. He hadn't noticed that you were crying.

Jade looks at him with the worried expression of someone who knows how serious the problem is now.

"Do you want me to bring them back?"

Azul shakes his head, and clearing his throat returns to do his job.

You, locked in your room, you don't know how irritable the Octavinelle leader remains for the rest of the day.

You feel alone and abandoned. An apology would have sufficed, but not even the threat of leaving seemed to scratch his heart.

If you can't count on Azul you know that a void will open inside you that will make you feel even more out of place in that world of magic.

You are about to give in to tiredness and sadness. Now all you want to do is disappear between your sheets, but before you can go to bed someone knocks on your door.

Slowly you go to open it. Azul is in front of you, his expression is serious and composed, but in his hand he holds a small paper bag. From the good scent that comes out you know it's your favorite dessert.

"Can I come in?"

His voice is calm and diplomatic, yet it is softer than usual.

You step aside even if you try to stay hard on him. You are still angry, and he realizes it.

He doesn't know how to behave, you know, you see him as he enters your room.

"I know you want to go home."

His voice resounds after a few minutes in silence.

"But until then, please stand by me, even if I'm just a good-for-nothing octopus."

You know how much those words cost him. You don't know if you'll ever hear them again, but you know they are worth more than a million apologies.

You approach him, and slowly taking the bag he brought and you open it.

"Do we eat it together?"

Leona Kingscholar

-Arguing is tiring, it must be serious for Leona to really engage in it.

-Leona listens to the complaints by puffing, he will answer every now and then but she will drop the whole discussion, yawning and maybe giving you reason.

-If it gets serious and he gets really angry, though, you'll see his animal side. If there is an incomprehension between you two that hurts him, he will struggle to restrain himself.

-He could really say things that can hurt you.

-Leona is used to people who are afraid of him. From an early age he was considered "frightening" because of his power. He never really felt appreciated despite his efforts. If you run away from him he will feel really bad.

You exploded at his last growl.

"You know what ?! I hate this place! I want to go back to my house!"

You threw up those words on him and ran away, giving birth to your tears that fell from your cheeks.

Those words hurt you too. You missed home, it is difficult to be divided between two worlds (which you perhaps love both).

You leave a broken Leona behind. His green eyes stare at the spot where you are gone. The prince's mind is good at digging under the surface more than he wants to believe. Did you just tell him you hate him? What do you want to run away from him?

He is not stupid, he knows that you miss your home, but the malice and pain with which you spoke to him displaced him. Maybe he really went overboard with you this time.

Leona doesn't often feel the urge to do something, yet now he wants to talk to you right away. But he doesn't follow you. You would probably chase him away and it would make him and you feel worse.

He only looks for you later hoping that you have calmed down, but he finds you curled up in the greenhouse, with your face hidden in your knees tight against your chest, crying.

Carefully sit next to you, not too close or too far. He knows you know he's there, and you're not sending him away. Good.

"Do you ... really want to get away from me?"

As if he had stung you with a pin you look at him. You are certain you have not said those words but Leona's surprisingly serious (and sad) gaze stops you for a second.

"I won't stop you if that's what you want ... but ... I ..."

Even if he doesn't want to, you feel the knot in his throat from the crack in his voice that prevents him from completing the sentence. You didn't want to hurt him like that, you didn't want to leave him.

Cautiously you approach him, and silently snuggle against his shoulder.

The prince lets you act, while his tail surrounds you widely and his cheek rests on your head.

"I know you miss home ... but I'm here."

Riddle Rosehearts

-Riddle is a demanding person, you know. He is a good boy, but he can easily throw your mood under your shoes.

-For him everything he says is important, so it is often dangerous to challenge him. When it happens it's because he really hits you.

-Yet he won't understand it. He will support his views in anger without realizing how deeply he is digging inside you.

- A stupid argument can get really heavy with him if you don't give in, and sometimes you know it's okay not to give in.

-Riddle knows he has to improve himself, but only realizes it when he's done the damage. And most of the time he doesn't know how to fix it.

Riddle feels a failure when he sees you running away.

He still hears your last words inside himself: "I want to go back to my house!"

He knows everything they mean. All your pain, and all the pain he causes you.

He sighs heavily, bringing a hand to his face and hiding it against his palm.

"I did it again, didn't I?"

Trey only looks at him sympathetically, without replying. All eyes are on the leader, but he doesn't care.

He swallows that wave of impotence that overwhelms him and straightens himself, parading among the students with a determined step, to look for you.

This is no time to be a capricious child, Riddle. It must find you and support you. This is what a leader must do.

You, sitting on a bench, clasp your arms around yourself, seeking comfort in yourself, as you try to silence the tears.

Again Riddle swallows his anguish and approaches you. He's afraid of your reaction, but still he gives you a tissue to wipe away the tears, because that's how a leader behaves, right? He wants you to trust him. He wants to be responsible for you.

"I know you miss home ... and how difficult it is for you to settle here ..."

He begins with a gentler voice. You are not pushing him away, so he dares to sit next to you. hoping to do the right thing.

"But until ... when you can return to your world let me help you."

He doesn't see you reacting, but he feels that your sobs have stopped, maybe he is on track.

"Can you forgive me?"

Finally your hands move, and with a slight thanks you grab what he gives you, cleaning your face.

Riddle feels relieved, it would have been difficult to lose you.

You look at him, and smiling shyly you nod, sure that you forgive him. How can you not forgive such a lovable boy?

[acruska]

The huge problem I have with Ku'damm - a few words about depiction of rape

Since I’m living in Germany now, I’m trying to watch as much as possible in German. Shows, movies, romance, sci-fi, I watch it all. After all, that was how I learned most of my English.

I started watching a German show titled Ku’damm 56 on Netflix expecting it to be more or less a Dirty Dancing redo. A girl from a good family is fighting with a very proper mother and doing lots of improper dancing. That melody has been played before, but it's fun, so why not? Generally, I enjoy the show, watched all three seasons in less than a week, and cried like a baby throughout the last episode. I’ll probably share at some point all the things I love about it, but that’s a different post.

What I have a HUGE problem with, is the depiction of violence in the show, especially sexual violence and violence against women. Most of all, Ku'damm 56 is romanticizing rape. I believe that to be a pretty serious issue for an award-winning show produced by public TV.

This post will mention rape a lot and contain spoilers, so read at your own risk.

Ku'damm is narrated mostly from a female point of few, following the lives of three sisters, who are in dire need of a husband (at least according to their mother). The very premise of the show is that the 50's were a man's world where even a flawed husband was better than no husband. Because of the time the show is set in, violence against women and diffent kinds of discrimination are more or less accepted as period-appropriate and just the way things used to be. Hence, each of the husbands the three sisters end up marrying is occasionally violent, and only in one case it becomes a major plot-point. The protagonist, Monika Schöllack, is portrayed as a (growingly) strong woman, who is independent and breaks social norms and who would marry only for the deepest love. And yet her marriage is the most problematic of them all.

To put it plainly, her husband and love, Joachim Franck, is a rapist. He rapes Monika in the first half of the first episode and then victim-blames her for it, which leads to a suicide attempt (BTW, the writers also have an unhealthy relationship with suicide). And it's never mentioned afterwards and actually turns up to be the beginning of a romantic relationship that lasts throught the series and is shown as the only happy and loving marriage of a Schöllack sister.

No woman wants it. So? They all do it.

The rape scene looks like the writers were not quite certain what consitutes rape, so they pulled all the stops, just to be sure. Monika is sober and proper, says "no" loudly and clearly and tries to fight him. The situation is pretty straight-forward, but Joachim tells her that no woman wants it and all do it anyway - and procedes to do what he wants. He will later say that she asked for it, and her own mother will accept that explanation based on her earlier inappropriate behaviour.

Your daughter downright propositioned me.

In the later part of the episode we observe a wide collection of victimizing behaviors, including victim-blaming and forcing a clearly scared victim to go out with her rapist in order to orchestrate a marriage between them. Monika, who already has poor self-esteem and is bullied by her mother, attempts suicide. In the end, the traumatic experience starts her on the way towards self-acceptance and finding her inner strength.

Somehow in this turbulent aftermath it becomes clear that Joachim is going to be her love interest. He refuses to have sex with another woman (by leaving her alone in the middle of nowhere, like that's okay), admits that what happened with Monika may not have been consensual (by calling it a misunderstanding!) and all is forgiven.

About this story at the wedding... It is completely within the realm of the possiblity, that there really was a misunderstanding.

From then the show plays on a standard romantic sequence: they don't like each other - he thinks of her but she can't stand him - she starts to like him too - the are broken up by circumstances - they come together and live happily ever after (or not). This is a great recipe for a romantic story - when it's not based on sexual assault. What the creators completely miss is that Joachim raping Monika is not comparabale to Mr Darcy calling Elizabeth Bennet "barely tolerable". The gravity is just different.

The problem is, Joachim is written as a likable character. He's portrayed as a good and generous man, who tries to save the world by getting his company out of arms production (I'm looking at you, Tony). Not to mention the gift to humanity that is the lanky form and beautiful face of Sabin Tambrea.

I must admit I really like Joachim Franck of Ku'damm '59 and '63. I used to consider this whole rape sub-plot completely out-of-character for him, which is why I allowed myself to like him later on. After the third season, it all makes so much more sense. Still, that is not the last time he's violent and there is no excuse for rape.

I'd forgive those cheeckbones a lot, but maybe not rape.

According to Wikipedia, the editor-in-chief of the public TV station ZDF, which produced the show, stated: "With Ku’damm 56 we continue our tradition of narrating history in a contemporary way. […] Ku’damm 56 shows women on their path to self-determined sexuality and equal rights."

What the show really does is romanticize rape. In the character of Joachim Franck it gives us a somewhat remorseful rapist, who is otherwise a good guy. It expects us to like him and to believe in the love he shares with his victim and our protagonist, the strong girl who literally writes songs titled "Standing Tall" and "Strong Woman", as if the show was worried we wouldn't get it. The audience is asked to completely forget the rape and accept that the guilt and the fear is how a beautiful love is born.

What I find shocking is that audience did exactly that. Ku'damm '56 is critically acclaimed, it won German Television Award for best writing and was nominated for best miniseries. I found exactly one article and one tumblr post about the rape issue, and the latter was trying to justify rape romanticization with character development. Maybe there's more discussion on the German-language web (which would make sense, since I have no idea if Ku'damm is even available with English subtitles). I just wish we didn't need to have this kind of discussion about shows produced in the last decade, especially the ones centered on female-empowerement.

[blushing-titan]

Eren as a father and Ymir as a mother motives theory never made sense. They were represented as emotionally stunned children in paths doing the Rumbling, not as adults. Ymir never cared about her children, she doomed them to suffer after her VERY SHITTY AND SELFISH CHOICE TO DIE because her abuser didn't return her "love". That was clear before Eren revealed it. She saved him and abandoned her children. She never gave a single fuck about them. She was always looking at HIM. (1)

For his part, Eren reverted to a child, talked about the sights with Armin which foreshadowed his motivation was mixed with his mental fuckery and timeless perspective. Dina and bird twist were foreshadowed via memory shards earlier. Krueger went on a rant about protecting Armin and Mikasa (and the "others") to Grisha. We've always known who Eren prioritized above all. Last chapter offered no twists, only confirmations. The story was always about EMA, Historia never had a place in the climax.

Hi! Thank you very much for writing 😀 I put my reply under the cut, so people who scroll down while searching tags don’t have problems with my long post (...because I feel like, unfortunetely, it’s gonna be another stream of conciousness from me, sorry about that 😅)

I really like your take on the "emotionally stunned children in paths" imaginery - I fully agree that it's a nicely-done symbolism!

To me, the whole Ymir sacrificed herself because of her unrequited love was not at all as clear and obvious as you say - especially before Eren revealed it. I still have a lot of problems with this plot twist, and how Ymir's feelings towards Fritz were portrayed in the end.

With the amount of abuse and mistreatment the king put her through, many fans tried to come up with different theories as to why Ymir kept on serving him. The way I interpreted it, after seeing her tortured expression over and over in many panels, was that she stayed by his side because of fear and emotional damages. With the way she was living, I was not surprised that she sacrificed herself, too - I thought that she honestly had enough, which added to the tradgedy of how she still couldn't find peace after that, and kept on being enslaved in paths.

I saw many takes and theories on her motives, but I don't think I've ever seen anyone betting on she was actually in love before ch. 139. I probably didn't search good enough, but again - with what I saw in the manga, I would have never bet on that either. My point is - before ch. 139 (...and after it too, in my opinion) Ymir was a walking mystery with unclear motives, so there were a lot of theories. Therefore, I disagree that the "parents" theory could never work - it obviously doesn’t work now, after ch. 139, but before that, her motivation could be anything really. I still wish it was something else, because what we got was too vague and problematic, in my opinion. 

I simply dislike Ymir's conclusion. I feel like there was so much potential in her backstory and motives + a few different ways to tie it back with different plotpoints and characters in the end to make it more meaningful, but what we got was a brief: She was in love with the person who abused her, I know it sounds unbelievable but I couldn't look deeper into her heart, so we have to take it as it is.

In general - I can't brush it off, but to me it feels like Ymir's end goal was rushed, not explored properly, and almost pulled out of nowhere. Unfortunately, I feel the same about Mikasa's involvement in lifting the titan's curse. Don't get me wrong - I'm not at all against her becoming the hero. Quite the opposite, I was rooting for her since the beginning, and hoped to see her develop and have a big moment, but this...this honestly also felt pulled out of nowhere and, in my eyes, didn't do Mikasa justice at all. I wish there was more proper build-up and foreshadowing done so I (...and, from what I've seen, a huge portion of fans) wouldn't feel that way, but here we are.

As for the Eren/Armin conversation, I like how they got to "see" the world together, even though just as a visualisation in the paths. My problem is the [...] Eren reverted to a child, talked about the sights with Armin which foreshadowed his motivation was mixed with his mental fuckery and timeless perspective part. Again, this should have been forshadowed (...and developed in general!) much sooner - not in the final chapter, right before we learn about this controversial motivation of his.

Instead, for many chapters, we were lead to believe that Eren was acting with his original goals and personal motivations in mind; that he had some character developement which caused him to start thinking his actions through, stop acting so impulsively - and finally, that he had a plan in mind, or at least was acting out of his own free will.

If you've never seen him in this light and his motivation/behaviour seemed in character in the last chapter to you - that's fine, all power to you! But if such a big portion of the fanbase felt otherwise (me included), then it means that there were some writing issues that led to this.

The Dina situation should have been explored more, as well. It's a huuuge plot twist, which puts our MC's motovations in an entirely new light, and creates quite a few additional plot-related questions. The way we're shown the situation: Berthold couldn't die just yet, so Eren directed Dina somewhere else, which ended up being his house.

...why not anywhere else? He could literally send her back outside the wall. On top of that - did he seriously sacrifice his mother in favour of his friends? I'd really like more information on this, but the topic is cut basically as soon as it appears. I find it especially unnatural, considering the way further dialogue goes:

Eren tells Armin about how he caused his mother's demise. Armin makes a terrified face, but drops the topic, smiles and casually proceeds with: "Let's go, Eren" - like his friend didn't just reveal one of the most controversial plot twist in the series. No, who'd want to hear an elaboration on that - better talk about Mikasa, so instead we get the entire (in my eyes - really forced) Eremika-themed talk. The priorities...

About the bird thing...if I remember correctly, there were three shards revolving around this theme. Two of them just show birds flying, one of them shows Falco from bird’s perpective. Sure, now that we know that some random bird in the end pecked on Mikasa's scarf, we can kiiiiiind of connect it to the Falco's shard...but honestly, why was Eren's soul transferred into some random bird after his death? On top of that, a bird that was already existing in the world while he was still alive, as a human...did that bird’s conciousness just go poof! one day, for Eren to take the vacant spot? Should we also look for other deceased titan shifters in barns or birdhouses? 😅 I can’t believe I’m overthinking it this hard...😆

That's some three-eyed-parasitic-jeager stuff, for sure.

Jokes aside, I guess what I'm trying to say is that foreshadowing is fun and great, but it should go hand in hand with proper developement - and, in my opinion, the examples above kinda lack it (...ok, I'd let the "bird Eren" thing slide because whatever, I don't feel the need to be that serious about it, it could stay ambigous in my opinion - but I'd definitely want some more closure as for the Dina situation or Ymir’s motivations and inner thoughts)

I've always said that Armin and Mikasa were two of Eren's closest friends - or, even more, the only people he considered family. I've also never believed that he would ever willingly sacrifice them, as some people theorized (...though guess what, now that I know what happened to his mother, I have to rethink my reasoning). I understand that EMA are the main characters, and was expecting that the story's conclusion will be tied to them somehow, but definitely not at the expense of logical character and story developement (...and sorry - to me the ending just felt that way).

As for Historia: if she was never supposed to be important in the end, then, in my eyes, it's a very poorly guided plotline that only led to unecessary drama in the fanbase. Why make her situation look sus with things such us:

Incorrect conception date,

The emphasis on how she didn't marry the father of her baby (...only to reveal in ch. 139 that she, in fact, did that),

The mysterious, cloaked figure observing her talking to the farmer,

The whole talk with Eren in ch. 130, and Eren thinking back to it while talking with Zeke.

All the Historia/Ymir parallels.

Seriously, what was the point? It would be so easy to simply make the situation clear. Why not just make Historia admit to Eren in ch. 131: "yes, I'm already pregnant with the farmer's baby - I did it to save myself."? Why not cut the bs with the "she didn't marry him" - because, in all honesty, what did that information bring into the story, aside from confusion and "misunderstanding" - and just make them married, instead? Even better - why not have at least one panel showing Historia and farmer being at least somehow affectionate with each other? Why not let go of all this retconned stuff and use these panels for shelling out other plotpoints?

The theories didn't come out of nowhere - they were based on what was shown in the manga. People wouldn't be disappointed with Historia's conclusion if it was never implied that she was still somehow important. We may argue about it back and forth, but the truth is - when so many people collectively "misunderstand" a certain plotline to this extent, then it means there had to be some storytelling issues that led them to this - simple as that.

To sum it up, I'm happy that you enjoyed the chapter and found it logical and satisfying. I absolutely don't want to take that away from you, or make you change your mind, but I also can't help the fact that I don't see it in the same light as you. You say that the final chapter offered no twists, only confirmations - to me, it was pretty much the opposite. Still, I wanted to thank you for taking the time to write your thoughts, and sorry it took me so long to reply! Hope you're having a nice day 😄