#it can be so hard to remember that we didn't have ANY inkling of her bigotry in this regard until 2018

[ofstarsandvibranium]

Sink to Swim

Fandom: The Pitt - Undeserving Universe

Pairing: Dr. Jack Abbot x F!Reader

As requested by @ahopelessromanticwritersworld : For Jack realizing his feelings, how conflicted would he be? Maybe we could see some of his therapy sessions where he reconciles these new emotions and the therapist reassures him that it’s ok.

Undeserving | Star A New (Final) | The Pitt Masterlist

Jack tried to deny it for a long time—his feelings for you. It had been building up. After the accident that killed your husband and his wife, you two depended on each other. You were each other's life lines. Then you had Evie and things started changing for Jack. He started seeing you differently. You were a wonderful mom, despite you always saying you didn't know what you were doing. You were funny, kind, sassy, witty. Jack always had inklings of thoughts: what if he did have feelings for you? What if he could really be a dad to Evie? What if?

But then he’d remember his wife. He’d remember your husband, Andrew. And the feelings and thoughts he’d have would be pushed down deep inside until he couldn't take it any longer.

_____________________________

It'd been almost three years since the accident and Evie was now two. The past few years had been a whirlwind. Jack had you move in with him so he could help you with Evie. It felt so...domestic. Every day, he'd wake up to you and Evie. He'd greet you with a smile and greet Evie with a kiss to her head. You both would smile at him and there was always a fluttering in his chest.

You'd make him his lunch, even though you knew he probably wouldn't have time to eat it and then wish him good luck on his shift.

He started really loving the domesticity...then came the guilt.

It started eating away at him so he eventually brought it up to his therapist.

“So last week you mentioned you felt guilty about your growing feelings for Y/N. Let’s unpack that more.”

Jack squirmed in his seat across his therapist, Diane. She was ten years older than Jack, but had experience working with people who had served in the military. She took no shit and could see right through Jack.

He clears his throat, “Well, I mean, she was my wife’s best friend, someone close to her. And she had a husband, has her daughter now from that husband. I just-it feels wrong to have feelings for her. To be living this life that her husband should be living.”

“Don’t you think your wife would want you to be happy?”

“Yeah, but…it’s too soon.”

Diane sighs, “And how long are you gonna keep using that excuse, Jack?”

He swallows hard, “There’s a lot going on. I-I can’t add more to her plate. She lost her husband, has a kid. She’s having a hard time. It took me a while to get her to move in with me so I can help her take care of Evie.”

“That so?”

He clenches his jaw, “I promised I’d be there for her no matter what. If she’s struggling and I can do something about it, then I will.”

“And you know you can’t just bury these feelings.”

“I’ll tell her, when it’s a good time. But right now, she’s still figuring out how to be a mother. I just wanna make sure her and her daughter are taken care of.”

Diane leans in, "Jack, grief isn't a linear process. It has it's ups and downs. So it's okay for you to be feeling this way, however, you can't let it get in the way of you moving on. You have a tendency to self-sabotage when things start looking good. You relish too much in that dark cloud of yours."

He clenches jaw in frustration. He knows what Diane is saying is true, but still. He's always been a stubborn bastard.

"When things aren't as hectic, I'll tell her."

Diane hums, seemingly unconvinced of Jack's reasoning.

_________________________

Jack hears you scream in the living room and he rushes out of his room, "What happened?! Are you okay?!"

You look up at him from your spot on the floor. Your eyes are red and watery, "She walked to me."

His fight mode diminished immediately, "She-She walked?"

You sniffle at him and smile, "Yeah. Here. Sit over there," you point to the opposite side of the carpet.

Jack does as you say and he smiles at Evie, "Hi, honey! Come here! Come to Uncle Jack Jack!"

Evie breaks out into a smile and you have your hands hovering around her waist as she takes steps towards him.

"That's it! Come on! Almost there, sweetheart!"

Evie giggles as she topples over into Jack's lap and Jack pulls her into his arms, "Oh my God! You're walking!"

You crouch beside him and he pulls you into his arms as well, "She's walking!"

"My sweet girl," you kiss your daughter's head, "You're growing up too fast!" You press kisses all over her face and Evie's laughter fills Jack's ears.

He watches you two with a soft smile on his face, that fluttering and sense of yearning filling his chest.

He almost tells you right then and there. He almost confesses that he loves you, but he stops himself.

Flashes of Andrew and his wife, Anna, fill his head and he buries down the feelings again.

______________________________

"I almost told her a few weeks ago," it's the first thing he says as soon as Diane shuts the door.

"Who? Y/N?"

His leg is bouncing after he settles into the sofa chair across from Diane's, "Evie learned how to walk. She walked to me and Y/N and I were cheering. She was in my arms and I was just watching her shower praise and kisses to Evie. I felt that...that feeling in my chest again and I almost told her that I love her. But I didn't."

"What stopped you?"

"Images of her husband and wife flashing in my head." he leans in the chair and sighs, "I'm trying not to feel guilty. I don't want my love for Y/N be associated with guilt. I want it to be associated with sunshine and light. She's brought light back into my life. Her and Evie. But...But I'm scared that if I say those words, I'll lose them. And I can't lose them. I fucking can't. I don't know what I'll do if I lose them."

Diane shakes her head, "You won't, Jack. It's clear that you and Y/N are very important to each other. If anything, you two just want the best for one another. So whatever happens, it's because it's what best for you."

Jack just sits there and nods, taking in Diane's words. He hopes she's right. He lost his wife and broke him. If he lost you and Evie...he doesn't know what he'll do...

[atoltia]

We all make our choices (don't go too far)

Eiland finds the farmer injured and bleeding at the entrance of the mines.

TW: blood, panic attack

Tags: angst with good ending

Eiland x gender neutral farmer

-0-

It was his fault.

He didn't know it would come down to something like this, didn't really think about the consequences of his decisions.

It was just so exciting at first. They'd finally have a chance to open the mines again. It just made sense in his mind. Despite the destruction the earthquake caused, it also shifted the land so much that artifacts and hidden ruins that were once completely hidden were much easier to find.

And that was great, no? Their museum needed that, needed new things to make it a place where people all around Aldaria would come to visit and be happy. Mistria definitely needed it, needed that sort of attention since he knew how much of a challenge it was just to get some of the scraps from the Capital, even with their mother and father's influence.

He just wanted what was best for Mistria, wanted what he knew would bolster their renown tenfold. It was for knowledge, it was for truth. It was selfless.

He was selfish.

He should've known, should've known, should've known. Should have listened to Errol when the man aired his concerns. Should have done more research about the mines that they had. Should have asked Olric about the things that lurked there.

But he didn't.

And you had to pay for it.

-0-

It was like any other day for you.

You did your morning chores, did your daily greetings, did your daily deliveries. You remembered spending a few minutes hanging out with Reina at the inn, with her talking about the latest recipe she was developing.

She gave you some, of course. She always made sure to save you a serving to take to the mines since it wouldn't do anyone good if you went hungry there.

And it wasn't like you'd ever refuse, even though you did think it was unnecessary. You know that you have a good head on your shoulders and wouldn't put yourself in any needless risk. Yes, accidents can happen but you've assured Dr. Valen multiple times that you'd get out of the mines the moment you get into trouble.

Yeah, you were in big trouble this time.

You remembered a rather peculiar mound of dirt at the thirty-fifth floor of the mines the last time you were there. It wasn't like you didn't see mounds of dirt anywhere else, but you knew, just knew it in your gut that there was something special there.

An artifact, maybe? It's been a while since you've gotten a legitimate artifact. The Caldosian sword that you've given to the museum was the last one and it's already been several months since you've found another one like it.

You hoped to find another one, even if it was a small piece of pottery or a broken stone tablet. You like seeing the museum fill up with artifacts from a different time, a different age. It was wonderful.

(And it also didn't hurt that it made Eiland ridiculously happy.)

It took a while for you to admit it. You didn't even want to think of it the first time you had the smallest inkling of it. You didn't come here for romance, not really. Retirement. That was the plan. To have a place to call your own, to earn an honest living without the stress and dangers of mercenary life. The mines provided enough thrill for when you needed it, anyway.

But there was something, a tiny little thing, whenever you see Eiland smile. There was that shine in his eyes that just blew away all the shadows that lodged in your heart. There was a melody to his laugh that you found you couldn't get enough of, couldn't get out of your mind. It made you go insane.

And you tried, didn't you? Tried so damn hard to just forget it, forget him, and just focus on your damn self.

Of course, we both know just how weak you are to such things.

He was just so goddamned earnest whenever he talked to you, whenever he rambled on about the history of an artifact that you've brought, of the history of this place, of the several nuances in the transitions from age to age - you didn't stand a chance.

So there you were, deep into the mines with a shovel and brush in hand, carefully extracting a broken piece of pottery engraved with words that you didn't understand.

Really, it was your fault for not fully clearing the area before you decided to dig.

You barely noticed it, barely heard the sound of the... blob? slime? heading straight towards you as you still had both hands deep into the dirt. But you felt it, though. You sure as hell felt it when a projectile the size of a fist hit you straight in the chest, hurting like a bitch.

Your sword was in your hand, quickly parrying the projectiles to send them back as you know it to be the most effective way to kill those blobs. But the throbbing at your chest distracted you too much, the blinding white of the pain making you blind.

You didn't see the other one.

It happened so fast you barely even felt it. You just knew that you fell back into the rocks, knew that you couldn't see a damned thing, and knew you had to get the fuck away.

The handles for the elevator levers were slick. It took several tries, several pulls before you were able to jumpstart the mechanism, wincing as several more projectiles hurled at your already battered body.

It took a minute. Sixty agonizing seconds before you finally reached the top of the mineshaft. Just get out, just get out, just get the fuck out and get some help.

You made it a few steps, one foot after the other, which in itself was a testament to your strength of will. Breathing was difficult and you could barely see as the world kept spinning, swaying, doubling and tripling.

You swore as your leg gave way, and once again you fell down, down to the ground as the cavern kept moving under your gaze, your hand the only thing to catch your fall. Just needed to get back, needed to get help, needed to -

The sight of your hand perplexed you.

It was like as it was normally, more scratched, dirt underneath your fingernails. But there was a slick to it, trailing down, down, dripping onto the floor.

You didn't realize your breath pick up, didn't realize the way your heart started beating wildly as you turned your eyes from your hand to your waist.

And then you saw nothing else.

-0-

He didn't know what he would have done if he didn't convince Errol to take that walk with him.

It was a cool night, the crisp autumn air a refreshing sensation against their skin as it blew away the slight inebriation they had after a few glasses of wine at the inn.

It wasn't all that late into the evening. The other townspeople would most likely still be at it for a few more hours yet. He knew that Adeline wanted him to take another hour more to just enjoy the merriment of the place, but he was just so ecstatic at the find he and Errol unearthed at the Western dig site.

Errol humored him, as he always did, and he did admit that he also wanted to get in a few more hours of work on the thing before heading to bed.

"I can't believe winter's coming around." The wind blew at Eiland's cape, rustling against his covered body. His soft, bubblegum pink hair dancing amidst the evening chill. "Adeline's already started with the logistics for this year winter festival with Nora, so we'll probably gonna be busy in the next couple of months."

He laughed, playfully nudging Errol at the next gust of wind when he stopped, raised a brow.

Eiland looked around, his brows furrowing as he turned. Errol stopped along with him, frowned as his companion did.

"Is there something wrong?"

"I think I saw something." Eiland kept turning, looking, his hands now pulling his cape closer to his body. "I think-"

He gasped, blinked, when he thought he saw the wind and leaves assemble themselves into the visage of a dragon. It held his gaze for a heartbeat, and then another, before rushing into the cave entrance.

Eiland followed without a moment's hesitation.

And almost gagged.

He saw you on the ground, eyes turning glassy as you weakly attempted to staunch your own wound.

There was blood, there was blood, there was so much blood as he stood there, eyes wide, body frozen. It was so dark, so dark and yet he could still see the glint of the one eye that peaked out from beneath your hair, the shine of it dulling by the second.

He didn't know what to do, he didn't know what to do, didn't know what to do please someone help, he didn't know what to do-

Eiland was pushed aside rather harshly as Errol stepped into the entrance, already pulling out a clean kerchief from his coat pocket. "Pull yourself together, Eiland!"

Dazed, still confused, Eiland stumbled forward to where you laid, choking in a sob when those blinking eyes of yours focused slightly the moment he got into your space, your bruised and bleeding lips quirking upwards into a soft, somewhat cocky smile at the mere sight of him.

"Don't look too good there, Pink."

"Don't talk," Eiland whispered as he desperately tried to apply pressure onto your wound. "Please." He tried hard to concentrate on the task at hand, pointedly ignored the heat of your blood on his hands. "Please just don't talk."

"Let's get them to Valen." And in one swift motion, Errol muscled you onto his wide, wide shoulders, marching as fast as he could towards town.

And still, the thick scent of iron never left his senses.

-0-

It was close to dawn when Eiland came back to the manor.

Yet the sun hasn't peaked through the horizon yet, hasn't broken the tight clutches of the night.

There were bags underneath his eyes, a paleness to his otherwise rich brown skin. His soft, pink hair mussed from being tugged at too many times that night.

The usual bounce that pepped his step was gone. That bright, enigmatic energy that bounded with him whenever he walked was nowhere to be seen.

It was touch and go, the doctor said. Minutes. It all came down to minutes. If he and Errol were a mere five minutes too late...

His legs buckled, his exhausted body hitting the wall with a loud thud, his elbow rapping against the stone when his hand wasn't fast enough to brace him.

The sharpness of the pain jolted him, woke him, pulled him back to reality as he felt the burn of the bile that he's been holding all night tickle at the back of his throat.

You almost died. He saw it clearly on Valen's face when she tended to you, saw the way her eyes turned stony when those deft hands of hers worked on you.

There was a grimness to it. Those first two hours were the slowest of his life as he waited for Valen's word. As he waited with baited breath, waited, prayed to the dragon that oversaw the ancient people of the land from a time long gone.

The dragon was there. He saw it. So he prayed to just- please, please, please wherever it was, he just pleaded for it to watch over you.

He clutched his chest, those long fingers of his tugging, his hands pushing at his chest with the heel of his palm as he just couldn't breathe, couldn't breathe, couldn't breathe-

Eyes, bright with panic, looked around desperately, looking for something to hold on to, something to help, someone to help. But there wasn't. He was alone, he was alone, he was alone and there was no one else there everyone else was already asleep he had no one there at the time oh god please please please just help him up just help him up please it was his fault it was his fault it was his fault he knew that it was his fault that you almost died please it hurts it hurts it hurts so much please-

"Eiland!"

He choked, tears falling down his face like a violent torrent as slender arms reached over, encircling them around his waist. Smaller, firmer hands pulling him into a comforting embrace as the other rubbed at his back.

"A-adeline?"

"I've got you."

She lowered his head onto her shoulders and just rocked him, rocked him until his body unclenched, until his breathing evened out. It didn't matter how long. Didn't matter how hard he clawed at the carpet. Her brother was in trouble. That was the only thing that she needed to know.

She smelled like the plum blossom perfume that she loved, the sweetness of his evident on her being. And yet it couldn't replace smell of iron on his nose, couldn't distract him from the shaking of his hands as he remembered your blood, slick and hot, painting them with a horrifying red.

It was there, it was there, it was still there no matter how hard he scrubbed them away to the point where his hands were rubbed raw.

Not even the visage of his beloved sister could take away the image of your broken body laying just a few feet away from the mines elevator, your blood pooling around your body as your one visible eye stared at him as if it was you who came to save him instead.

It was his fault, it was his fault, it was his fault.

"No," Adeline said as she shushed him, maneuvering his body into a more comfortable position while they sat on the floor, the light of dawn slowly breaking through the massive windows. "No, it's not."

"I pushed for the mines to open, it was my fault. I almost killed-"

"You did no such thing!"

"How do you know?" His voice was barely a whisper, a pathetic blow of air as he drenched his sister's shoulder with his tears. The hands that were clawing at the carpet, now ruined with his own blood, gripped at Adeline's dress. "How do you know?"

"I just do." The way his brother cried devastated her. In all the years that they've lived together, in the years that they grew up together, she's never seen him this way and it just tore her to shred.

She tugged him up. "You need sleep."

He didn't resist. Not even when she hauled him to his bedroom, not when she removed his cape, not when she urged him to take his boots off, not when she tucked him under the covers.

"I'll be here, " she assured him as she pulled a chair over. "Just go to sleep."

He fell asleep in seconds.

-0-

Eiland sprinted to the clinic by mid afternoon.

He just woke up and without any other thought, just bolted out of bed to go to you. He didn't know what time it was, found that he didn't care. He just knew that he needed to get to you.

He quickly rapped at the door, his bandaged fingers stinging, as he looked around the window, trying to see if he could get a glimpse of you.

Valen opened the door, and Eiland noted the bags under her eyes, but she smiled at him as she let him in, chuckling as he headed straight towards the single private room she had at the clinic.

He did his best to be quiet as he peered through the door, fully expecting you to be fast asleep.

You weren't, to his dismay, if the flutter to your eyes at the sound of his footsteps was an indication.

You've been in and out of sleep for the past few hours. Doctor Valen assured you that everything was going well, though you weren't sure if that was the truth or if she just didn't want to scare you any further.

There was barely any memory of that night. You remembered that you were getting artifacts, remembered that you got attacked. But other than that? Nothing.

So to wake up at the clinic was a surprise, if a little terrifying. You weren't really the type to be fond of clinics and hospitals, even though you should have been used to it given the requirement of it ordered by your guild.

You just had to suck it up since you were already there. You weren't stubborn enough to ignore an injury, especially when said injury left you bedridden for the whole damned day.

It was boring here, too. Maybe you could borrow a book from Valen later, but other than that, there was nothing else that you could do except for maybe sleeping another ten hours away.

So to have Eiland peep through the door was a welcome distraction.

And yet you frowned. His hair was in disarray. Exhaustion was evident on his face and there was a hollowness to his expression that upset you.

You didn't like that expression on his. Didn't like it one bit.

"How are you?"

There was a smile on that tired face, and you were a little relieved to see that it reached Eiland's eyes.

"I wanna go home," you said a little cheekily. "I hurt like hell and I wanna sleep on my own bed."

The chuckle that Eiland gave was all the lift you needed, ecstatic that it seemed to push the dark cloud over the man's head away. But it seemed to have come back just as quickly.

Eiland tried to hold it together, did his best to not show you just how terrified he was. But seeing you on the bed, with flecks of dried blood on your face and fingers, with bruises that littered your body, was very close to breaking him.

He sucked in a breath, closed his eyes as his fingers clutched at your bedsheets. His lips trembled so much that he bit it. Hard. But still it didn't stop the tears from flowing.

"I'm sorry."

You frowned. "What for?"

"It's just-" he looked away, tried to reach for the composure that was ingrained in him since a very young age. "I'll talk about it later, okay? After you've been discharged."

It upset you to not know what was hurting him like this, but seeing how he seemed like he was only being held together by a single thread, you let it go.

"Come here," you said when Eiland kept quiet. You took his hand when he reached over, tugged him closer to you, holding his trembling hand in yours.

"I was so scared," Eiland murmured as he massaged the back of your hand. "I was so scared that I-" He caught himself, inhaled. Looked away.

"I thought I was going to lose you."

You blinked at him. And it clicked.

You smiled.

"You won't. I promise."

And you held each other's hand even though the day grew long, even when Valen asked if Eiland would stay the night.

He did, of course. He wasn't going to leave you anytime soon.

---

Check out my masterlist! and feel free to send requests in if you like haha

So I thoroughly enjoyed writing the entirety of this lmao

angst is just so fun to write.

[practically-an-x-man]

I'm having a scatterbrained day, so for talk shop Tue, can I get a commentary reel/directors cut style talk about how WWFA came about? How you got the idea, how Kat was developed and how you decided to insert your plot into the movie canon?

Oooh man, great question!! Thank you!!

So first things first... there were absolutely elements of Katherine and her story that were logically chosen for a specific position, and as with all of my stories, I did have the plot in place before I started writing, but there was a lot of this story in particular that evolved as I wrote it.

So WWFA? first came about after I went through a huge NATM hyperfixation in late 2021. The movies have always been really comforting and close to my heart, especially as a history and mythology buff, but there was something about that time rewatching it that just sent me headfirst into it. I don't remember how specifically I came up with Katherine as a character, but the first little inkling of plot came from the idea of an artist leaving sketches for the night guards and janitors to discover, not knowing that it was the exhibits themselves who ended up appreciating them.

So that's where I started the story: Katherine, leaving her drawings, simple and sweet. I had my point A (her leaving the drawings), my point B (following the third movie, the tablet dying and being restored), and my point C (hush now, we haven't gotten to that yet), but hadn't quite gotten all the details of how I was going to work Katherine into the story. I always had her coming along for the ride, but it's safe to say that the original concept did not have her nearly as deeply woven into the story as her final version does. She brought her drawings to life, building off the idea of the tablet bringing museum artworks and exhibits to life, but at that point I didn't have much of an explanation as to why her.

And then I started college. I'd always been a history nerd and had a good base of knowledge to start the story, but then I was a history nerd taking various college-level anthropology, history, and archaeology classes, and it took my knowledge to a whole new level. I've said this before, but I nearly wrote a paper on how I believed the Egyptian god Tutu was borrowed from the Babylonian god of the same name (though that fizzled when the Egyptologist I tried to contact never emailed me back, and he was the only expert in that particular god I could find). I love that sort of thing, and if college had been a better fit for me it might've ended up being my lasting career. My knowledge skyrocketed, so did my inspiration, and that's what springboarded the fic into its present mythology-heavy form.

As for how Kat was developed... it was a lot of those more spur-of-the-moment decisions. She became descended from Bastet on a whim, and that ended up being a driving force that worked so well for the rest of the story. Her name, Katherine Johnson, is a reference to the NASA scientist who contributed to the moon landing, but that reference itself was just sparked from the fact that I couldn't decide on a name at first. Her physical appearance, her backstory, whatever else? I just wanted to create a fun, dynamic character, someone who really felt like a real person rather than a plot device - and part of how I do that is just to stop thinking too hard about it and let things just flow.

Idk, it's kind of hard to describe. I don't want to say I was flying blind at any point, but there were a lot of areas in which the story just fell together as I wrote it. Most of my work came from creating Katherine and establishing her within the first few chapters - after that, she just seemed to fall into the story.

[demon-country]

You know, given what little we know about her, it's extremely likely that Octavia has just as strong, if not stronger, implicit racial and class biases as Stolas. This is absolutely not to say she's not a good person or that she cannot overcome those biases, just look at how she interacted with Loona! I love her a lot and she has so much potential going forward.

That being said, Octavia and Stolas had radically different upbringings. Stolas was raised by imps almost exclusively it seems, because it appears he was largely isolated as a child and Paimon sure wasn't doing any parenting if he couldn't even remember Stolas' name. He appears to have had a good relationship with his butler, and respected Blitz right from the get-go, as shown by how he immediately bowed to him. He takes direction from both of them very readily and is happy to follow their lead, never once acting as though he feels superior to them in those scenes.

He's a sweet, but also very lonely child who craves love and validation. There's no way he didn't attempt to form relationships with his staff, seeing as they were his primary caregivers and there literally wasn't anyone else around much. Whether they let that go any further than employer and employee is impossible to say, but we clearly see that he respected imps throughout many of his formative years.

And yet, he still committed a number of microaggressions in his adulthood that we see, and he hurt his bulter at one point (in distracted anger, but that doesn't excuse it or make it less abusive), so clearly some of the Goetia's racism/classism seeped in at some point (Paimon literally tried to beat it into him when he bowed to Blitz, and given how unsurprised he was to be hit, that likely wasn't the first or last time Paimon did that to "correct" him). Although Stolas is well intentioned and most of his bullshit that we see was just an act he put on because he genuinely thought it was something Blitz was into and was attempting to be flirty and cute with him - which we can tell because he immediately cut it out as soon as he realized how much it was hurting Blitz - he's still completely oblivious and ignorant as to how demeaning it is to call imps tiny, little ones, little creatures, itty-bitty, etc. He still hurt his butler without even noticing, because he was so blinded by anger at Stella, and we don't know if he ever apologized for it.

Which is bad - especially his abuse towards his butler - and he needs to unlearn that shit and be more conscientious of the way he talks to people, but despite that, given his upbringing it's highly unlikely that he doesn't still respect imps as people. He gets things wrong and clearly doesn't have even the slightest inkling that his experience as a prince and imps' experiences at the bottom of the social ladder are vastly different, but again, he was raised by imps basically in isolation and has had positive relationships with them throughout his formative years. That stuff sticks with you, and it'll make it easier for Stolas to unlearn his implicit anti-imp biases as he continues down that path.

Meanwhile, poor Octavia had to grow up with Stella as a mother, and unlike Paimon, she was a very prominent fixture in Octavia's life. We see in Loo Loo Land that Stella is very abusive towards the imps in their staff, and Octavia doesn't bat an eye when she throws their butler at Stolas or when Stolas starts squeezing their butler too hard in Seeing Stars. This is very likely behavior she has witnessed a lot before, primarily from Stella, because Stella is very prone to getting angry and destructive, and until very recently Stolas wasn't, because he was instead prone to shrinking away and trying to appease her.

So witnessing violence towards imps was normalized for her from an early age (which is child abuse, as is witnessing one parent abusing the other), as well as any other dismissive and demeaning things Stella and/or Stolas (not to mention all the other Goetias) did towards the imps in their staff. Unlearning those biases introduced in her very early childhood and reinforced throughout her entire adolescence would have to be a lengthy and deliberate effort on her part. And given the fact that Octavia was oblivious to the way her parents weren't fighting in Loo Loo Land, Stella was abusing Stolas while he tried to de-escalate the situation, it's highly unlikely that she has done so yet.

Stolas antis like to hold Stolas up as a pillar of extreme anti-imp racism while claiming Octavia is perfect and innocent, but the fact of the matter is that there's no way Octavia isn't racist. Which, you know, is just something they're both going to have to unlearn as part of their character arc. Everyone holds implicit biases of various kinds that we need to unlearn, we even see it in other main characters like how Millie introduced Loona as "Blitz's hellhound", and it does Octavia no favors to ignore the fact that she must have them too.

The writers have been very good at making these characters feel like real people, including all the ugliness that comes with that. They've also been very good about showing how abuse and racism/classism affect the characters who experience them, and are now starting to explicitly get into how wrong it is of the characters who perpetuate them. If Octavia's character gets explored in more depth, it's likely this is going to come up for her, and honestly I'm dreading the response it'd get from both her stans and her antis.

I saw someone make a headcanon about Striker kidnapping Via and ranting about class struggles because she’d listen to his grievances unlike Stolas and I’m so obsessed with the delusion. First of all, what makes everyone so certain that Octavia is any different from Stolas

The way these people treat Via is no different from how they treat Stolas, except on the opposite extreme.

They made a version of Stolas in their head they hate and a version of Via in their head that's an innocent perfect little baby who can do no wrong and will do anything they headcanon her to do. Meanwhile the canon Via is too underdeveloped to fully support their ideas, at most what they're claiming is theorizing and wishful thinking.

Bonus points for how these haters are the loudest about how underdeveloped Via is, but then still act like she's a fully developed character only they can magically understand.

I swear, being a Stolas fan AND Via fan at the same time is not easy with people like that around.

[sevasey51]

This is a heavy one so please if any of theses warning make you uncomfortable please don't read, if it affects you in anyway :)

The past always comes back to haunt us

Paring: Chris x teen! reader

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Warnings: mentions of past trauma, anxiety, panic attacks, mentions of medication and just Chris fluff

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Summary: you are working on set with everyone for CA:TWS, when a fight scene brings up past trauma of your childhood and Chris bring you're 'adoptive dad' on set helps you out knowing exactly how to help.

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Any requests are welcome my list of what i can do is pinned on my profile :)

Lastly any constructive feedback is welcome and reposting is welcome

*please DO NOT under any circumstances share this as your own or on any other platform unless shared by myself*

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So like any day on set it starts with the dreaded wake up call of the ungodly hour of 6am to start filming most of the action packed fight scenes that were fun to do don't get me wrong but they were so dangerous.

Y/N's POV

We were all called on to set hours ago starting the smaller fight scene to build up to the iconic highway fight when mine character, Steve and Sam finally see the winter solider for the first time, doing that scene was amazing from everyone working together but the only downside was the impending doom of anxiety that i felt because i just knew that it would bring up the past since, i don't do very well on highways with type of fight sequence that was happening. 

I'd slipped away when i though no one was looking to go have a moment to try and prevent the panic attack that i felt coming on.

Little did i know that Chris saw when i thought the coast was clear to sneak away. I had an inkling that he knew what was going on because he knew me better than myself most of the time because he understood and was there to listen and comfort me when i needed it. 

He was the father figure i never had..

Chris' POV

I knew something was off with y/n as soon as i had seen her this morning on set, she looked really on edge and wary of what was going on around her. 

Knowing her tendencies to hide things i knew it was either a bad day for her getting in her head or it was her anxiety or pstd. When she disappeared off set earlier without anyone noticing or at least that what she thought.

I walked over to her trailer with the things i know that comfort her like one of my hoodies, and a bag of stuff that helps a lot when she's like this as being 'set dad' i've been here one too many times more than i want to but its hard for her, its unfair but i'm so proud of her for how far she'd come even with the looming past of her childhood still only years fresh in her head.

I knocked on her trailer door and didn't hear a reply, so i walked and saw her sat on the floor by the couch staring in to space with tear stained cheeks. 

"Hey bug, are you okay?" i asked trying to get some form of reply out of her, whilst she was just visually  making herself smaller and smaller out of the sheer panic and empty look that was present on her face.

that's when i knew it was a bad day.

Y/N's POV

There i was sat in my trailer on the floor, trying not to remember anything. trying so hard not to remember how my parents left me the way they did and how they mentally and emotionally hurt me. 

All the noises around me jumbled together like it was a ringing in my ears that i couldn't cope with it, all i heard once i was slightly more aware, Chris was all i heard that was when i knew i was in someone's presence that i trusted.

I was safe.

"Hey bug, are you okay?" he asked whilst sitting down in front of me slowly trying not to scare me.

"I- don't I-" said trying to make sense of what was happening with the now ever present pressure now on my chest with tears streaming down my face.

****TIME SKIP****

Chris' POV

After an hour of sitting on the floor next to y/n she leaned in to me because she needed comfort after i talked her though two panic attacks because of how it took effect on her body with the stress and the trigger of the fight scene which i finally figured after calming her down. 

Still visually on edge she went to go take some of her medication that she'd had prescribed for times like this but only could be taken with someone she trusted around her due to the side effects that y/n experienced which pulled on the heart strings, nevertheless it doesn't take away the heart ache seeing her like this. I said before i've been here more times than i'd like.

"Sweetheart how about after you've taken those meds we sit and watch Y/F/M (your favourite movie) and just relax. hm?"

"yeah i'm okay with that, i- didn't mean for this to happen. Sorry for dragging you in to this " i say shyly 

"Bug it's okay not  to be okay and you know i'm always here for you though thick and thin even if i'm not you're real dad i still see a need to protect you and comfort you if you need me." i said sternly with sense of calm in my voice since she didn't need to feel guilty about something that is her idiotic parents fault

"I know, thank you for that Chrissie." she said whilst giving me a massive hug which happily reciprocated.

**** TIME SKIP ****

After 3 Disney movies later, a load of snacks and cuddles later. y/n was finally fully relaxed and to be honest after all she'd been though in the last couple of hours and the early call times, long unforgiving days. we both just decided to fall asleep and plus y/n needed it. The Russo's knew what was going on so they were okay with it.

So that was that and it was day that came more often than not but i'm glad shes comfortable with someone who understands and treats me like her actual father even if i'm not.

FIN

A/N: personally i feel like this was a hit and miss, the idea as there but it is what it is. it comes in at just over 1k words. Hopefully you guys like it, i'm still toying with ideas and how to write them : ) 

enjoy!

[weepinglevi]

patience is a virtue

summary: college!au. all aged up. eren and reader continue with their sexual escapades. find part one here! warnings: 18+ minors dni. dirty text messages, dirty talk. dom!eren and bratty reader (i suppose?). throat fucking and semi-public sex. (no p in v tho) word count: around 3.5k A/N: i have a love/hate relationship with this eren ahaha, he's been ruling my brainrot ever since the last part so i hope you enjoy! there will be a part three eventually, so be on the lookout for that! enjoy your read and feedback is greatly appreciated! xx

you awake to your phone vibrating somewhere next to you. the hope of it only being a one-time occurrence quickly proven to be false as it just wouldn't stop. brr-brr. a second of silence. brr-brr. pause. brr-brr.

taking a mental note to never go to sleep again without turning off your phone, you roll over to your other side and try to ignore it. you could simply answer the texts, but that meant you'd have to open your eyes. and that whoever was texting you would win this weird battle you've just come up with in your head.

"if you don't pick up your goddamn phone, i'll smack you over the head with it," sasha groans from the other side of your shared dorm, words coming slurry with her tiredness.

brr-brr.

"i could also stick it up your ass, your decision," a pillow comes flying to your head, serving as enough of a warning for you to sit up in your bed, rubbing the sleep from your eyes.

"quit moaning, i'll turn it off now," you yawn, feeling around your bed for your phone, "you never hear me complaining about the shit you do in the middle of the night."

"that's because my shit is funny and not fucking annoying," she scoffs, followed by a muted thump as she is sinking back down into her pillows. sasha's way of ending the conversation.

you find your phone half-tucked underneath your pillow, the display already lighting up again. someone is desperate for attention, you think to yourself and unlock your phone with an annoyed sigh. the messages were coming from an unknown number.

thinking about your wet pussy. this is eren, btw. historia gave me your number. i told her you wouldn't mind you don't mind, do you?

in a matter of seconds, your heart is beating in your throat once more, just like this afternoon in that godforsaken computer lab. ears growing hot at his words, you could almost imagine the sound of him laughing at you again. with trembling fingers, you scroll down further.

anyway, let's do it again sometime i told you. i'll never let you forget about how you moaned my name i'm also not forgetting about how badly i want to fuck that pretty mouth of yours, so it's a win-win see ya, then

staring down at your phone, you don't know if you should answer him. and even if you would answer his texts, what the hell should you say? "fucking bastard," the words escaping your mouth before even realizing that you'd better keep quiet. the only thing that could make this situation any worse was if sasha were to wake up again.

scratch that, you think as you see eren's new messages.

how badly do you want to suck my cock? you looked really hot today, covered in my cum what, you're shy again?

there are two ways this could go: either you stand up, put on some clothes, and then go to eren's dorm to let hell rain upon him - or simply mute your phone and ignore him. deciding to go with the latter, you lie back down and save his number as "fuckhead", a small grin forming on your face. if he wants to be childish, then you can be, too.

the display still lighting up at a steady pace, you have to fight the urge to open his other messages. to physically prevent yourself from grabbing your phone again, you put your hands between your thighs and sigh. what the hell have i gotten myself into?

"so, who am i gonna have to teach some manners today?", sasha asks in the morning, "because there are only two valid reasons for sending that many texts in the middle of the night," she sits up in her bed and bends over to reach for her phone, "either someone's dead or there's a food sale."

cringing at the thought of having to read the countless other messages eren has sent throughout the night, you try to laugh at her comment, "of course, when there's food involved, you're all for it."

"girl's gotta eat," she claims, thankfully being too distracted by something on her phone to notice your strange behavior, "i'm gonna be back later than usual today, connie wants me to be his wingman again."

starting to go off on a tangent about how connie should just get a dating app already, sasha's words become more of background noise to you. you want to know what he wrote. what he has in store for you. at the same time, you curse yourself out. you're turning into a headless chicken and all of it because of eren fucking yeager?

you nod here and there, offering her a "yes" at what you believe to be fitting moments, desperately hoping she doesn't catch up on your restlessness. all the while the two of you are getting ready for the day. this goes on for a few more minutes and you have no clue what she's talking about now, so you decide to grab your phone and stand up.

"i'm gonna go for a run around campus, you want coffee?" you blurt out, interrupting her monologue. the device in your hand feels as if it's burning through your skin. slipping into your trainers, you're already halfway out the room, her perplexed "uh- yes, please," being muffled by the door closing behind you.

it's still warm outside - not as hot as yesterday, but warm enough for you to be glad to have forgotten your cardigan earlier. you let out a deep breath, trying to clear your mind. even though you told sasha you'd be out for a run, you walk at a slow pace.

some people are already wandering around campus, most of them on their way to a lecture. at this time in the morning, everyone has their heads full with their own worries so no one notices you slowly making your way off-campus.

arriving at a little park surrounded by trees, you sit down on the bench farest off. you notice your heart fluttering like the wings of a hummingbird when pulling the phone out of your back pocket. fuck him, you think once again while typing in your code. fuck him for making me feel this way.

12 unread messages.

didn't seem all too shy when i had my hand wrapped around your throat no need to play hard to get when i already had you if that makes sense? haven't fucked you yet doesn't mean i won't get to fuck you

all you want is to feel appalled by these messages. to screenshot them and send them to the dean. maybe even to his mother. sickened with yourself though, you already feel the familiar warmth creeping up your body, curling up in your abdomen.

i know you want it, too how fucking needy you were for me getting yourself off in public to the thought of me maybe you can tell me what exactly you were thinking of? gonna make sure to let your dreams come true, princess

pet names? you clench your fist at the thought of eren leaning over you, breathing the word princess into your ear. you have an inkling that he'd say it mockingly; spitting it out whilst gathering your hair in a ponytail, arching your back forcefully, and slamming his length into you without mercy.

no. you hate pet names. at least, you've always hated them.

i'm gonna find out if you're ignoring me right now remember, you're not the best actress. fucking suck at it, actually wouldn't want to be punished now, would we?

his last message echoed in your head. still coming to terms with the fact of what happened yesterday, now you have to deal with a whole new revelation: eren yeager being a cocky motherfucker pushing all the right buttons for you. even though you want to blast his ass for this, the mere thought of him being near you again is too sweet of an imagination.

you want to play this game, too. for whatever reason keep on riding this high, and you just know that no one could do it quite as well as eren can. somehow you can only imagine taking him on this ride with you, no one else.

so, in that manner you decide to ignore his messages. if he's desperate enough to keep on sending them in the middle of the night, you're sure it won't be long until he sends another text. and it would give him enough reason to try and punish you, whatever that might entail – you're excited to find out. fucking nervous, too. but then again, who wouldn't be?

you stand up and put your phone in your back pocket, a sense of excitement surrounding your steps as you turn left to make your way to the nearest coffee shop.

"something tells me you're ignoring me," of course, the moment eren's voice comes up behind you, you fucking flinch like a little bird that's been scared away, "mostly because i've seen you reading the messages, but what do i know?"

you turn to see him clutching his heart dramatically, "don't play with my feelings like this," he swoons, bringing one hand to his forehead. he's laughing again, all white teeth and bright smiles – you realize this is the kind of eren you rarely get to see. not the cocky bastard he normally portrays; right now, he seems to be a happy-go-lucky kind of guy, just enjoying himself. still, you want to show him that you can play just as well as he can.

crossing your arms in front of your chest, you slightly raise a brow, trying your hardest to not look as nervous as you feel. it's a lost cause though because you can already feel the tips of your ears glowing with heat again. can't things go my way for once? just once? you think and chew the inside of your cheek. you felt so sure of yourself just moments ago. how the hell can he have this sort of effect on you?

suddenly, his whole demeanor changes. before, he seemed laid-back, entertained by the game he played with you. now he leans forward, hands in the pockets of his jacket and an almost cruel smile forming on his lips, "don't try to challenge me in this. you'll lose."

you know that you should feel frightened. terrified, even. he's looking like a lion preparing to jump the antelope, a sense of alarming calmness around him that's causing the small hairs on your neck to stand up. but alas, the way he's looking at you seems to have the same effect on you his scent has.

"i told you not to ignore me," eren says and takes a few steps closer to you, "yet here you are, doing it again." the chuckle leaving his lips a stark contrast to his stern gaze, still trained on you. somehow, you feel awfully small again - still not frightened, though. you stare right back at him, tilting your head slightly as if you wanted to say "so what?"

"are you seriously that desperate to be punished?"

better now than never, you think and once again place a courtly smile on your lips, "seems like it."

for a split second, you see eren's smug look turn into a genuine smile. realizing that you're up for his game, he lets out a smooth whistle, "you do surprise me."

"if you wouldn't always be so full of yourself, i'm sure you'd have recognized this sooner," you can feel the confidence growing in yourself again. clinging on to it, you take a step toward him, "i'm full of surprises."

"oh, yeah? i bet you are," from the corner of your eye, you can see him lifting his hand. before thinking twice about it, you bat it away, "i'm not one for public displays of affection."

oh, it is on– eren's smirk turns into a full-fledged grin as he takes a grip of your wrist, "you sure about that?" lifting your hand to his face, for a short moment you think he's going to suck on your fingers again. but all he does is place a faint kiss on the back of your hand, "didn't seem like it yesterday."

"you weren't supposed to see."

"but i'm so glad i did," he leans forward, the two of you standing so close you can feel his breath on your face, "or else we wouldn't have this kind of fun right now."

still having a hold of your hand, he lifts his other to your jaw, gently tracing his thumb across your lower lip, "you looked so pretty in your skirt yesterday."

taking a leap of faith, you grab his hand, holding it in place and letting your tongue run across the tip of his thumb before biting down playfully. there's a hiss and then eren pulls away and grabs your arm, "come with me."

finally, you think and let him guide you to wherever he wants, let's have some fun, then.

on your way out of the park, you pass jean and marco. even though they stand to greet eren, he just raises his hand whilst not breaking his pace, "gotta go, have an assignment to work on."

"never seen you that determined, but go off," jean laughs.

before you know it, you're inside one of the countless maintenance sheds. pushing you against the wall, eren's movements seem to become more and more erratic by the second. pinning your arms over your head, he's looking down at you, breathing heavily. "you have no idea what you just got yourself into," licking his lips, he chuckles.

"oh, but i think i actually do," you smile innocently, fucking glad to have found your normal self again. admittedly, eren threw you off your game since yesterday – but it's just going to play into your hands now. he won't see it coming until it's hitting him straight in the face; that you're just as messed up as he seems to be.

"then prove it," he breathes against your ear, "tell me how badly you want it."

the stuffy air inside the dimly lit shed doesn't help with keeping eren's scent away from you. being so close to him, looking up into his shadowed face and right into his dilated eyes; you're like putty in his hands. you try to move forward, to touch him in some way because you just know that he'll feel so good under your skin.

"now now, princess," he moves even closer, wedging you between himself and the wall, "how about we learn some patience, first?"

you nod, but then grind up against his thigh, hissing through your teeth, "i worry i'll be a real handful." you know you could very well move your hands, too – eren seems to still be testing the waters as to how far he can go with you. but with him actually letting you grind on him; you decide to play into his hands.

your breaths grow quicker as you keep on, pace becoming erratic. all you want is to get rid of your track pants – come to think of it, what you actually want is eren under you whilst you continuously bounce on his cock. you want to hear him call you princess and immediately after call you his little whore because that's exactly what you are.

eren has a little smile on his lips and you know you should ask yourself why – because you're doing exactly what he has forbidden you to do – but you're too far gone. the heat growing, you feel your knees buckle but he's holding you up; one hand now resting on your waist for support. you're so close –

and then he pulls away from you, nearly causing you to topple over. chest heaving, you place your hands on your knees for balance, "what the fuck was – "

"patience is a virtue," interrupting you with a laugh, but his voice heavy with lust, "thought i might give you a lesson you're ought to remember."

you look up to see eren palming his erection through his pants, standing about an arm's length away from you, "but i have to admit, hearing you getting yourself off is fucking hot."

biting your teeth together, you straighten up and take a step toward him – only for him to click his tongue in disapproval, "you're gonna stay right there," tugging at his pants he raises his eyebrow, "i told you what i want, get on your knees for me."

"the fuck i will," you spit out and make a move again, grasping for his waistband. but eren is quick to take a hold of your hand and pushes you back to the wall, "come on, now, princess," he chuckles but his eyes are concentrated at you, "you want this, don't you?". he's asking for permission, the thought feeling very comforting to you. and also, very excited for what's about to come.

"of course, i do," you answer him earnestly, resting the back of your head against the wall, "or else i wouldn't be here."

"fantastic," he breathes, a little smile playing in the corners of his mouth, "then get down on your knees," placing his hands on your shoulders, weighing you down, "i won't ask again."

the change of tone in his voice has you nodding, slowly sinking onto your knees, you're bursting in anticipation. one hand finally pulling down his pants, he runs his other through your hair, then down your jaw until it comes to rest on your chin.

thumbing at your lower lip, he groans "do i have to be careful?"

you just shake your head no. then you break away from his gaze, fixing your eyes on the bobbing cock in front of you. it's tip leaking with precum already, you remember how badly you wanted to lick it away yesterday.

taking his cock at its base, you bend forward and slide your tongue around its head. the salty taste sending shudders down your spine, you make sure to lift your eyes again once you prepare to take it all down your throat. your other hand snakes up to his balls, slightly tugging them which earns you a moan from eren, and fuck, you're so wet at the sound alone, you let go of his cock and slide one hand down to your own center.

he gathers your hair in one hand, taking the base of his throbbing cock in the other, "bet this is what you thought of yesterday," he slowly but surely pulls your head in closer, "of how i fuck the words right out of you."

bucking your hips into your own hand, you can do nothing but whimper at his words. because yes, this is exactly what you imagined. he's only halfway in and you're already struggling to breathe, but not wanting him to stop you hold your breath and push down even further; trying desperately not to moan.

the tears in your eyes causing your vision to be blurry, you attempt to blink them away.

"shit – ", he's pumping into you now, rubbing the tears from your cheeks and then placing both his hands on your head, "you're doing so well – "

getting lost in his words, the fear of being caught is so far away; you finally moan around his cock. saliva soaking the hem of his shirt, you can't seem to take his whole length, no matter how hard you try. you're a fucking mess under him and the thought alone is nearly sending you over the edge.

he's trying to pull away now and you know he's close, so you snake your hand around his hip, hoping this is enough of a sign to him that if he dared to cum anywhere else than down your throat, you'd bite him.

"you really – " his voice is hoarse, "fuck – this is fucking perfect," he moans as he comes to the realization. leaning his arm against the wall behind you, he's fucking himself into your mouth, his panting and the sound of your choking filling the room.

you close your eyes to blink the tears away again, but eren pulls on your hair, "no – look at me."

with this the knot in your belly explodes, leaving you holding on to eren's hip as you ride the waves of electricity that are running through your body like lava.

"such a good little whore – " he's gone as well, holding your head in place as he's pumping his load down your throat, leaving you no other option than to swallow – which you eagerly do. you feel his legs shaking under your hands.

once again, eren hands you his shirt to clean your face. this time, you take it with a smile, noting that, "i still have your other one."

"don't worry, i'll come get it sometime when sasha's away," the two of you know exactly what this means – neither of you are planning on this to be over anytime soon.

"i'll let you know, then," you nod and stand up, hoping you don't look as well-fucked as you feel, and make your way to the door, "she's gone most of the time."

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[definitely-not-captain-america]

I feel like I should preface with this: I stand with victims of sexual assault, and in any case, I'm inclined to believe the victim over the accused assaulter. I know how hard it can be for people to come forward with this kind of thing, and how oppressing and silencing it can be from the accused. That being said, I have some devil's advocate things to say about ATL's allegations that started I think in 2021.

I was aware of the allegations when they first came out (I'm not on Twitter, so I found out through ATL's post refusing the claims on Instagram), and I basically just took a personal hiatus from the band without doing much research. I just read the Rolling Stones article about it, written in February of 2022 (I think), and they've covered all of what's happening, including ATL taking this to court. I recommend reading the article yourself, I found it to be very enlightening and interesting.

My first thing to say, which apparently lots of people have said, is the issue about there being 97 accusations. I'm torn between that being a ridiculous number, and the fact that this band has been around for a long time, and they have a lot of reach. Regardless, it's highly unlikely that every single accusation is false, so even if 97 is an exaggerated number, that doesn't mean it's okay to disregard this entirely. The odds of some of them being true are pretty high.

Also, there's no denying the band has been raunchy/creepy (their bra collection a wonderful example from a predominantly young and female audience), and Jack has been the biggest contributor to that. He's been the most inappropriate for the longest time, and I'm not sure how much he's outgrown that, simply because I haven't been keeping up with that much.

Now, I think it's worth pointing out that these guys formed this band while they were still in high school. They were teenagers when this started, and growing up like they have can't have been easy. If the allegations are false, it's easy to see how they might've had a difficult time growing up, and from what I know of men, childish humor can linger for a while (not saying this as a bad thing). I'm not stating this as fact because I simply don't know if this is the case or not.

If you read the Rolling Stones article, there was a Twitter poster who mentioned how Jack had signed his name on her boobs when she was 14 (he was an adult but I don't remember how old). She recalled how creepy this is, and how girls in the scene community are oversexualized, and I saw somewhere else mention all the mysoginistic lyrics songs in this community have. The poster I mentioned said she doesn't have personal feelings about what happened, just that it isn't okay. She also said she wishes the band made a statement of how they were young too, and reckless, and they may have harmed their fans in ways they didn't mean to, as opposed to what they're doing now, which is acting as if they've never done anything remotely controversial (which I think we can all agree isn't true). I agree with her on that, but it's also easy for me to do so.

Now, if even one of the allegations is true, that's one too many. The fact that these allegations are occurring at all is a red flag for me, because I find it unlikely that ATL fans would make these accusations without any inkling of truth - though I guess you never can tell with people. The Rolling Stones article mentioned one of the accusers essentially taking back what they said as they were just being petty with a peer (I think in the accuser's own words) and the accusations were false. For the person who said there are 97 allegations, I haven't seen any proof of there actually being this many, and no evidence brought up by the person who said this. It could be people went back on their word because they felt threatened or were attacked by fans, which we know is very likely. Again, I think this is something to consider.

Until we get the results of this court case, I'll probably keep my distance. I love this band, but I'm uncomfortable with all of this, and I just can't bring myself to support them in case any of this is true. They seem confident that every allegation is false, and I hope they are, but I also can't ignore potential victims, so this is the best I can do. If anyone else is on the fence, this is my advice to you - keep updated, trust the victims, and be open-minded.

For those of you who have written off this band entirely, that's valid. If you don't care about a single word I wrote, okay. I'm in a place, after much consideration, to take the stance I've taken here, and I might be wrong, and I'm fine with that. If you don't have any tolerance for this, that's totally fair, and I'm not trying to change your mind. Just please don't attack me for that, because I think about this a lot and I struggle with it just fine without some random people I'll never meet calling me horrible or an apologist for it. Do what you gotta do in the wake of all this.

[msmarvelwrites]

Season Of The Witch

Summary: Your witchy abilities get you in quite a bit of trouble from time to time… But this time you don’t mind so much. 

Pairing: Bucky x reader 

Warnings: Swearing, fluff, honestly i think that’s it. Just soft boy Bucky.

Word Count: 2k

Author's Note: I had a lot of fun writing this one. Little bit of a witchy- halloween vibe for ya guys… Honestly I’m really in love with this idea, so who knows- if you like it I might write a part 2! 

Huge Thank you to @cutie1365 for editing this mess! Couldnt have done it without her!

“Okay, okay. What colour am I thinking of now.” Peter squealed, plopping himself down on your bed, staring at you like a kid on christmas. 

Being the Avengers personal psychic has its benefits, but this was certainly not one of them. You thought your party-trick of a superpower would have grown old on your friends, and yet it always seemed to draw a crowd of non-believers. You weren't the toughest or the strongest by any means, but you sure knew your way around a person's thoughts, which proved to be an advantage to the team. Mostly you were in charge of recon, but that didn't stop Natasha from dragging you to the gym every weekend and torturing you with super hero level workouts. 

“How many more times are we going to do this, Peter?” You sighed, but soon realised he wasnt caving. “Blue. Just like last time it was orange and the time before that thirteen. Can we please stop.” 

Peter scanned you over for a moment, before relaxing back on your headboard. 

Fine, but only because Mr. Stark said he was ordering Chinese and it's probably here by now. His voice echoed through your mind. 

“Actually, I heard Wanda say he’s getting pizza.” You corrected.

“How did you-?” He paused, eyes agape as your words registered. “That is seriously cool, you know that? I mean, I hang from the walls but that- that is cool! I can see why they coined you The Witch now,” Peter playfully shouted. “Can you do that with anyone, at any time?” 

You smiled sheepishly, remembering the times your wandering mind had gotten you in some pretty uncomfortable situations. You tried your very best to stay out of your friends heads, but sometimes that was easier said than done. Especially when it came to the former Hydra assassin. His thoughts seemed to creep into your mind, seeping through the cracks unbidden. Sometimes his mind would wander aimlessly, but that wasn't always the case. You knew about Bucky’s dark past, however hearing it in his own cruel words was something else entirely. Though he would never utter the words allowed they were seared into your mind. You had every sense to avoid the man and yet his voice, like gravel and smoke, drew you in, intoxicated on his every word as it clouded around your subconscious.

“Unfortunately” You sighed, easing back into the mattress and unconsciously biting at the corner of your mouth. Your gift didnt make you very popular when you were younger. You were honestly surprised it was so welcomed here. Most people consider you an invasion of privacy...  But Peter was different from the highschool kids you grew up with. Maybe it was due to the fact he was different too, but something about the way his mind wandered made you believe that radio-active spider or not, Peter would always be Peter. 

“What does Bucky think about?” 

That knocked you out of your thoughts. You snapped your head up and looked at Peter, who only seemed to have a curious look in his eyes. 

He’s so broody and mysterious. Guy gives me the creeps. 

“Bucky is a sweetheart deep down.” You faked a smile, concerned as to why you felt the need to defend him. From an outside perspective, it was possible to fear the former Winter Soldier. However, knowing what you did haunted your nerves. 

“I’m sure very, very deep down.” Peter chuckled. “I’m going to go grab some pizza before Sam eats it all. Are you coming?” 

You smiled softly, preparing yourself for the dinner with your friends. Though you enjoyed having a sort of family, dinners together would often grow overwhelming in your mind, voices colliding though your head, brewing into a storm in your thoughts. 

“I’ll be down in a few.” With that, Peter stumbled out of your room and down the hallway leaving you with your thoughts. You closed your eyes, concentrating on the many different voices faintly echoing around you. You could only make out bits and pieces as they vibrated through the walls and all around you. At first, it was hard to identify whose voice belonged to who, but soon after you moved into the compound it became easy. 

Natasha thought in poems. Her brain was always working on the next solution- the next verse. Her mind wandered in and out of trains of thought like a dancer, drifting back and forth with ease. It was always relaxing listening in. 

Tony was constantly listening to his music wherever he went. You had an inkling it was because he knew how powerful you were. ‘Like built-in surveillance,’ he’d often say. Though, you’d never deflate his ego in letting him know you could still hear his thoughts clear as day. 

But then there was Bucky. It took you a while to understand his thoughts. They always seemed erratic and chased- never one thought all at once, but it soon became clear why. Bucky was constantly correcting himself. When his mind began to tiptoe into the darkest corners, he’d change the conversation, ushering it back to what he thought was right. Listening to his internal debates became a favourite pastime of yours. He often reminisced about his time in the forties. You liked how easy it was, listening to him think. Though you had never said more than five words to him allowed, you were content with this little part of him. Pieces only you both knew. Like the beautiful woman he would lose himself daydreaming about. The way he described her made you feel flush all over. He never thought her name, and yet it stung all the more knowing his heart was stolen. His beautiful ‘ведьма’. Not that you stood a fighting chance. Not to mention the impending age gape you both shared. Often he would find you staring and a string of curses would follow as he realised he’d be caught. You never meant to intrude, but then again, that wasn't entirely true. 

With a huff, you swung your legs off the bed letting your feet hit the cold wooden floors, but before you could even open the door, you heard him. His voice was so loud you almost didn't know if he was speaking aloud or not. 

Just do it, you punk. Walk up there and ask her. What’s the worst that could happen?.... She could plunge a knife into your back- no…. She wouldn't do that and you know it. If you ask her, she might say yes… Honestly that might he worse than- 

You swing the door open, startling Bucky back a few paces as your eyes might his. Instantly his face blooms with pink as his mind races- his thoughts an incoherent mess. 

“Hi Bucky.” You spoke only above a whisper. 

“Oh jesus! I didn't know you were right there.” He mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck trying to steady his breathing. 

“Sorry…” You mumbled, breaking eye contact and suddenly finding the floor very interesting. “I didn mean to scare you-”

“You don’t- I mean, you didn't scare me.” He chuckled, his mind suddenly blank. “It doesn't matter right now because I, uh… I was wondering if you're coming for dinner.” 

You nodded your head, “Yeah, on my way now.” You smiled softly. 

“Great,” Bucky grinned, running his hand through his cropped hair and stepping aside. “I can walk with you.” 

You nodded, swallowing hard as you swung the door shut and began walking side by side with Bucky in heavy silence. 

“Know what’s for dinner?” Bucky finally spoke. 

“Pizza. Your favourite.” You affirmed, meeting his curious eyes. His strides slowed until he was at a full stop. 

“I never told you that.” He pried, looking at your in question. 

You froze, suddenly aware of what you had just said. There was nothing more you wanted than to sink into the floor and let the earth swallow you whole. 

“Uh,” You nervously laughed, “You must have at some point. Yeah, I remember now, it was-”

“How often do you listen?” he interrupted, making your mouth clamp shut. 

You thought about lying, though it didn't seem right. You knew all his secrets and all he asked was this one. Surely you could grant him that even if it cost a punch to the ego.

“All the time,” You started, your eyes never leaving the floor. “I don’t mean to. At least that’s the way it started. I really try to put you guys all on ‘mute’ when we're together, but your voice always comes through. I don't know what it is, but I like the way you think.” You admitted, feeling heat rising from your chest.

“You like the way I think?” He pried, taking a few steps closer to you. You could feel the tension buzzing around the hallway, ricocheting off the walls and exploding all around you. 

“I’m sorry, I’m so embarrassed. It's such an invasion of privacy. You must hate me. I promise I won't tell anyone about the things I hear. Especially her.” 

“Her?” He chuckled, taking another step toward you leaving only a few tiles between the two of you. 

“Ведьма.” You choked out. “You think about her all the time. She sounds beautiful, by the way. I’m sorry, that's overstepping… I just, I’m sorry. Really I’ll just go-”

Before you could turn on your heel and run for the hills, Bucky's hands were around your wrists, holding you still. His eyes were pleading as he opened he opened and shut his mouth trying to find the right words to say. 

“For a witch, you sure aren’t very intuitive.” Bucky signed, your eyes finally landing on his.  “My beautiful witch, don’t know by now?” 

You blinked at him, your mouth suddenly dry and words caught in your throat. Before you could speak, his thoughts broke through the air, tumbling around you. 

Are you listening, doll? His voice echoed around you sending a shiver down your spine. You nodded your head, watching as his eyes crinkled up as he a lopsided grin formed on his pink lips. 

It’s you. It’s always you. I've tried to stop, trust me. I just can’t seem to shake it.

You almost didn't notice the smile that began to pull at the corners of your mouth as you took in his words. They drifted in the air around you, echoing through your mind as Bucky’s thumbs rubbed circles into your skin. 

“Ask me.” You spoke up, a sudden confidence serging through your core. Bucky raised a brow, scanning you over until your words resonated with him. 

“Right, of course.” He cleared his throat, letting go of your hands and intertwining his own nervously. “Would you ever consider letting me take you out. To dinner, maybe?”

You bit down on your bottom lip to stop yourself from giggling as you listened to his internal monologue of nerves that followed his question. 

“Took you long enough.” You chuckled, watching as his smile lit up the room around you. Before you could stop yourself you closed the distance between you, draping your arms around his shoulders and crashing your lips onto his. Bucky froze, but almost as instantly melted into you, his hands finding their home on your hips as he pulled you in. You wanted nothing more than to melt into him but his racing thoughts swirled around you, causing a giggle to fall from your lips. 

Holy Shit. Kiss her back, you moron. Oh god she smells so good. What is that? Cinnamon? Citrus? Shit, she's so close to me. Don't panic. Don't panic. Fuck she feels good. Just relax, and- Oh shit. Can you hear me? 

You couldn't help but throw your head back, laughter bubbling out of your chest as his thoughts raced through his head. 

“I can tell you're going to be a lot of fun, Barnes” You mumbled against his lips.

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A/n: Nervous Bucky is my favourite can you tell? I loved this one, show some love if you felt the same! 

@cutie1365    @whateveriwant

@projectcampbell    @kalesrebellion

@calwitch     @hpandmcu177a

[vmeemo]

7

7 (inches)

When it comes to Jackie's relationship with Ahato, aka dedf1sh, it was... Unique to say the least. They got together a few years back and for the most part dating was fine. It was mostly awkward but they loved each other regardless. It wasn't very overt like some other couples but that was fine with them.

What wasn't fine however, was when Ahato went missing. She didn't really show it but Jackie was worried about her. She got out of Kamabo and now suddenly she was missing again? Not great.

And her hands were tied due to work, so the inktoling couldn't actively look for her. She had to rely on whoever the new agent was over in the Splatlands, and Celia, who was now promoted to captain. She trusted Celia so she knew that if Ahato would be found, it would likely be sooner or later. Or maybe she escaped on her own.

But when she got the call about her being found, Jackie immediately took time off and rushed over to Splatsville. It was only a few hours drive but to Jackie it felt like forever. What didn't help was how vague Celia was being about Ahato's condition. She said she was fine but that was normal. It was everything else that was omitted that concerned her.

When she arrived at Splatsville, Jackie strolls over to the meeting place, which was behind the studio of the newest idols there. Deep Cut she thinks they were called? Not that it matters to her. Seeing Celia there alone there was good at the very least. She is not in the mood for new people, not when her girlfriend just came up not missing anymore.

"Jackie." Celia says, straight to the point.

"Celia. You said you found Ahato?"

"Yeah I did." A grimace forms on her face before letting out air. "There's just something you need to know first. It involves the report I gave you, about the fuzzy ooze."

Jackie holds back her feelings on the report. She needed to lay down after the absolute nonsense she had read about what happened down in Alterna. Instead, she takes a guess as to what might have happened. "Is Ahato..."

"Yep." Celia says, confirming Jackie's hunch, "She is in fact fuzzy. Though that's not the only thing that I needed you here for. There was something else as well."

Jackie watches as Celia digs into a bag that she somehow didn't notice, and pulls out a 7 inch figure. Though it quickly became apparent as to what, or rather, who this figure was.

"Ahato?"

In Celia's hands, was a 7 inch, fuzzy Ahato. Due to the new size of her girlfriend, she couldn't see the expression she was making. What she did notice however was the fur on Ahato's tentacles. And the pattern printed shirt she was wearing that Jackie vaguely remembered was cheetah.

"We don't know how or why it happened." Celia says, bringing Jackie back to reality, "But from what we can gather, she's about the same as she was prior to being missing. Just... More fuzzy. So..."

Celia holds out the fuzzy octoling out to Jackie, "I'll let you two catch up. I'll let you know if there's any information about why this happened and whether or not we can reverse it." A smile forms on the inklings face as the inktoling takes Ahato from her hands, "She's missed you too you know."

And just like that, Celia walks away, leaving Jackie and the 7 inch octoling alone in an alleyway. Looking down at the fuzzy octo she doesn't know what to say at first. Though her thoughts abruptly take a hard stop once Ahato gives her a little kiss on the corner of her lip.

"...Been wanting to do that for awhile. But Celia was there so."

A faint blue blush forms on Jackie's face before she returns it by kissing the top of her tentacles. Before spitting out some of the hairs out from her lips. "Bleh."

"Probably should've stopped you there. It gets everywhere. Not good for kissing."

Jackie lets out a small chuckle, "Would've been nice to know that in advance. Still though..." She brings Ahato closer to her face, "I missed you."

"..I missed you too."

[sweetestlamb]

The Greatest Show

Summary: Come on, get into it. 

Author's note: I haven’t been inspired to write for this fandom in a while because honestly the writers are doing amazing, everything I think of is pure filth because I am eagerly awaiting their next kiss. But episode 17 broke my brain with their squash the rumor scene, the growling and grunting that So-Bong was so unaffected by. These two need a tent, desperately. Enjoy my royal pervs, here is my offering. 

p.s. picture borrowed from @tomorrowsdrama- thank you for the screenshots of this amazing moment! 

He's doing what he must to survive, that's all. End of sentence. He takes no pleasure in slamming the King into the closest surface and rubbing their body against him like a cat in heat, not in the slightest. Rumors are weeds, you have to rip them out for flowers and crops to flourish. That's all they're doing, weeding the garden of Joseon so it can flourish for their future child. 

That's what he tells himself as they cross paths in the royal hall, the King is flagged by the entire royal court animatedly discussing something of seemingly vast importance if their volume suggests anything. As he takes a step forward, Court Lady Choi seizes their hand halting them in place.

"Your highness you just not approach the King when he is with the Royal court. It is not proper. We just simply bow as they walk by."

But he doesn't care about propriety or appearing decent and well-behaved in front of these corrupt old bags, they are simply larger weeds that need to be disposed of. Smirking at their potential outrage, he grins evilly letting that fuel him even more before pulling up their dress to run over to their Cheoljongie. He looks bored out of his mind so it can also be considered a good deed, he's such a giving wife.

"My King!" Her voice rings out as he calls to his husband, who immediately looks over at them warmth filling those expressive eyes. Without hesitation the King bounds over to them happily, his movement only slightly faster than his usual glide ever the diligent King.

"My Queen, I have missed you."

The members of the backstabbing clan look disgruntled at the King's sudden departure, grumbling and pointing at them as if they have committed the highest crime.

If they think this is inappropriate then they're in for a huge surprise.

Looking down demurely, he thinks of his younger days when he was a junior understudy for the school play his acting prowess would come in handy now.

"Not as much as I have missed you, my love." He whispers the word of affection, reaching up to caress the King's cheeks softly making sure to appear infatuated. He has to force that after all because he doesn't do that naturally, despite what the royal maids claim. They are just confused, So-yong has a soft face that appears adoring at time despite his true emotions. 

With a soft whimper he throws himself into the King's arm, feeling those strong arms encircle her small waist, lightning zips through their veins but he ignores her bodily reaction.

We're just acting, take the memo! He internally berates the other inhabitant of this hormonally charged body.

But when Cheoljong strokes their neck and easily lifts them off their feet, he gasps loudly clinging to him harder for balance and because her knees suddenly feel weak.

"Your majesty, we do not have time for such....improper dalliance. You must not do this in such a public venue." One of the old farts stage whispers sounding positively scandalized and it revs him up even further. As he feels the King starting to retreat he jumps forward, wrapping their body around the King's like a limpet.

Cheoljong's eyes sparks to life the new position placing them eye to eye, panting softly onto each other. The air between them is charged and thick like a bowl of porridge. 

"Your highness, I agree you mustn't do this." Court lady Choi pleads with her, averting her eyes away from the tangled couple. 

He looks over Cheoljong's wide shoulders to see the Royal court affronted and wide eyed and Court Lady Choi with a similar expression, Hong Yeon is trying desperately to smother her smile as she averts her eyes. Sending her a secret wink, he pulls the King's head forward staring hungrily at his lips.

"I cannot resist, seeing him awakens such deep passion inside of me. Just one?"

He looks at her dazed, as if he's forgotten everyone surrounding them.

"Just...one?" He questions, confusion morphing into sudden realization as he watches them slide their tongue across plush lips.

"Oh."

Ignoring the cacophony of voices around them, he closes the miniscule space between them puckering up and kissing the soft skin of the King's cheek. Cheoljong tries blindly to catch her lips when they retract but he places a slim finger on his pursed lips.

Shaking their head lightly, he starts to slide down the King's hard body feeling the tight muscles even through the layers of fabric.

"We must save the rest for later, my heart. Come and visit us soon." He rubs at his stomach fondly, staring up into Cheoljong’s red face, he looks good enough to eat.

Wait what. Who thought that? No, it's the baby talking I'm just hungry, that's enough of a show.

Bowing deeply at the men, he steps around the King who is still frozen in his spot. Gathering himself he turns to the royal court with an innocent smile, "I apologize, I could not control myself. I will take a long walk to reflect on my behavior."

They collectively stare at her with gaped mouths as she walks off regally, shoulders straight as if nothing happened. After a few steps he turns around, calling over their shoulder, "Don't keep me waiting!" And then to add the proverbial cherry on top, he curls their finger before letting out a roar to which everyone jumps looking bewildered, except the King whose eyes could pierce a hole through their face.

He looks like a starved man. Maybe they should make him some more ramyeon?

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

To say he's flustered is a bit of an understatement considered the problem in his pants. Logically he understands the Queen's actions earlier, she'd merely been doing what they had both agreed to feigning affection to dissolve those erroneous rumors that were circulating the kingdom. But he would be lying if he said he wasn't enjoying this immensely.

His Queen was an enigma he had even up on fully understanding, instead choosing to accept her and all that came with her. And her feelings for him were part of his confusion, she seemed to fluctuate between her emotions without rhyme or reason. He never knew which version of her he would be receiving at any given moment. So having her acting the way he'd only imagined in his dreams was both satisfying and unsettling.

It would be most difficult to go back to their normal, he wanted her in his arms always. Desperately yearned for intimacy that didn't dissipate when the sun peeked over the horizon.

Pushing his work to the side of the table he sighs leaning back into his seat thinking about his Queen.

"Why must she be so confusing?" He groans to myself thinking about their first night together, how passionate she'd been his ears burn remembering the sharp pain of her teeth sinking it. He had bite marks in... interesting places from that heated encounter but her behavior after had been consistent only in it's in inconsistency.

Running away from him, even going as far as hiding. Then just as suddenly she stopped avoiding him and they settled into comfortable nights together. However, they hadn't been intimate since despite his many efforts, he just wanted a kiss those plush pink lips were so tempting and today they'd been so very close. He needed that kiss like he needed air, he didn't care who was around. If she had kissed him he wouldn't have controlled himself, he would have hungrily devoured.

"Your majesty it is getting late, we must leave now if you wish to see the Queen." The head eunuch interrupts his inklings, bowing low in respect.

Is he ready for this? His control feels paper thin at the moment. But he did promise and they have an image to uphold.

Gathering his strength he rises, "Alright, let us take over leave. I shouldn't keep my Queen waiting."

The walk to Daejeon Hall is short but it feels like he's traversing miles, despite his previous concerns he is now eager to see the Queen. Her face is gorgeous at all hours but there's something about her face lit with candlelight, knowing he's the only one who is allowed to see her at such hours.

Accelerating his feet, he almost races to her ignoring cries from the head eunuch in the distance. Every second not spent in her company is a second wasted.

The Queen's Court lady announces his arrival before they all bow walking backwards out of the room before sliding the doors shut.

"You took your sweet time, I told you not to keep me waiting." She glares at him, pouting slightly bringing all his attention to her mouth.

"I apologize my Queen there were pressing matters to deal with." He lies easily no attention of clarifying his meaning, she doesn't need to know that dousing his arousal was the pressing matter at hand.

"Whatever. What's more important than me?" She scoffs looking offended turning away from him.

He lowers down into a crouch, crawling across the room until they are side by side. The Queen gasps at his unexpected closeness, staring at him with wide eyes and open lips.

Grasping at her hands he stares deeply into her gorgeous eyes solemnly with no humor in his voice, "Nothing. You are most important to me, both of you." Reverently he reaches out a hand to palm at her still small belly, impatient to see her round with his seed.

Her face slowly softens as he rubs her stomach and then she places her hand atop his, no longer resistant to these fleeting moments of intimacy.

Instinctively he starts to lean forward, laser focus on her lips as he inches closer to her. When he's close enough to breath into her mouth she snaps from her haze, moving back marginally he almost growls at her he's so frustrated, he's barely able to swallow the sound.

"What are you doing? There's no one to put on a show for."

He peers at her searching her face, her pupils are dilated and he can feel how fast she's breathing each puff landing on his face, her expression near identical to their last night together. But she's stopping him. Even though she clearly desires this too.

He thinks back to her behavior earlier too, she was brazen then comfortable climbing him in front of so many others all in the name of squashing the rumors.

She needs an excuse to do this.

He should feel offended by this epiphany but instead it brings him resolve, she clearly still hasn't fully let him into her heart but she feels something for him she's more than proven that to him. If she needs to draw a line to be with him then so be it for now, he will prove himself to her everyday.

"There are several court maids and servants outside your room, they are pretending they are not listening but they are. Sometimes your imagination can be even more powerful than reality."

She looks towards the door, eying the shadows through the thin covering before turning back to him and nodding in understanding.

"Okay. Let's give them a show."

Without warning she knocks a marble vase to the ground, the loud crash filling the room as it makes contact with the floor.

Then she moans. Loudly. A suggestive gasping moan that goes straight to his chest before zinging lower, tucking at his loins.

She pushes him when he sits silently merely staring at her, "You need to play along too. Come on, get into it."

There's it is again. That damn phrase.

Get into it.

If only she knew how into it he truly was. Grabbing at her ankle and tucking her underneath him, he slams his arms on either side of her head before groaning deeply, "My Queen, please."

Pride explodes in his chest when he sees a deep blush glide across her face. Not unaffected.

"Am I getting into it enough for you now?" He whispers darkly, itching to lower his weight and kiss that delicious look off her face.

Surprisingly she stutters out, "Ye-a-ah. You seem very into it now, nobody can see us though. We don't need to be like this." She motions between their bodies, unable to meet his gaze now. She motions between their bodies, unable to meet his gaze now. She's right but he also knows that he can't miss this chance, he has her right where he wants her and besides squirming distractedly she hasn't shown any desire for him to move away.

"Do you want me to stop?" When she doesn't immediately answer he begins to move backward giving her space but she latches onto his forearm, tight.

"Wait! Maybe we should commit even if they can't see us, it'll help us play our roles better." She reasons and he smiles, razor sharp. She wants this just as badly as he does, he's studied her long enough to read between these lines.

Swiftly he rolls them over so she's on top, pressed together from shoulders to feet her long braid swinging over and brushing against his cheek. Gently wrapping it around his hand he uses it to bring her closer, her breath hitches seductively and he whispers, "Louder. So they can hear you." Without waiting for a reply he tugs at her hair again harder this time and the sound that escapes her lips is orgasmic, a high whining moan that sets his skin on fire. Emboldened and aroused he grabs her neck, speaking into her opened mouth "Do you like that my Queen?" Her eyes are glazed over as she sways as if intoxicated by him.

"Cheoljong, kiss me."

It's too quiet for anyone's ears but his and that makes him even hotter, this wasn't part of the show. This was just for him, just for them.

Always one to seize the moment, he yanks her down to meet his eagerly waiting mouth swallowing the moan that rolls off her tongue. The kiss escalates immediately with both twisting and licking, wet sucking noises soaking the room as they bring apart to gasp for air and crash back together, chaotically and perfectly. When he feels a wondering hand graze his groin he can't resist the urge to thrust up into her touch. Wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her even closer, although there is no space between them.

When he pulls back, her eyes remain close as she licks her lips as if chasing his taste on them. His cock jumps jealously.

"I want you." He admits, wanting to make it clear if his intentions are not already crystalline to her. He wants no room for misunderstandings tonight.

She stares wordlessly before reaching across his body and then he sees the oil in her hand, he hadn't noticed its presence next to them but he eagerly takes it from her.

"Are you comfortable?"

"Don't go soft on me now, bring back the guy who was pulling my hair. Do you want me to call you Daddy too?"

His breath hitches at the word, he doesn't understand why but hearing her makes something dark coil in his belly. She lifts an eyebrow at his heavy silence, "You're so kinky."

He stares confused again, nothing new to him but he stores the word away for further inspection of its meaning. "Is kin-ky bad?" He asks reaching down to lower his pants and cover himself in the thick oil coating each inch of the hard pole.

She doesn't answer right away, avidly watching him stroke himself to fullness before rubbing at the bulbous deep scarlet head, serving to make him almost painfully turned on. "No, kinky is good. I like kinky." She tugs her skirt up and his eyes bulge when instead of seeing the various layers he should see there is only bare skin.

Had he been seduced? It feels as if he has been but he doesn't care enough to question her or pause this for a second. He would happily be her fool.

Gripping at her hips he rubs against her, groaning when her wetness smears across him obscenely. She grinds down onto him meeting him head on, they are definitely on the same page now.

Unable to wait for even another second, he envelopes her in his arms before sliding into her smoothly her natural moisture and the oil easing the way until he is completely encased. She moans long and wailing as he slides to the hilt, he groans loudly joining her as she scratches roughly down his back even through the sturdy material he can feel the burn. Absently he considers gentling his moves, she is pregnant and more fragile after all. But she must read his face and be vehemently against his plan because suddenly she rises up, slipping off his hardness before slamming back down the loud smacking of skin filling the room.

"It's time for the main event. Don’t stop now.” She challenges him, squeezing around his erection. 

Pushing his reservations to the side, he gets into it full heartedly thrusting hard before capturing her mouth in a harsh kiss, hissing when he feels her teeth tug roughly at his bottom lip, his lioness has returned. He teasingly roars into her mouth and she laughs around his tongue, breaking free only to latch on his neck sucking hard. He hopes it leaves a mark.

Her laughter causes her to tighten around him and he groans at her vice like grip on his cock, he can feel himself nearing the end. Recalling their first night he suddenly grabs her neck, squeezing lightly and when she whines in a broken gasp he tightens his hand and delights as she melts slowly limp in his hold, he supports her weight easily bucking into her tight heat. When he thrusts up a second time he feels her wetness gush around him before he loses himself, his climax tensing his body as he slowly falls apart.

The entire kingdom will surely be in an uproar tomorrow.

He's looking forward to it. That will teach them to spread rumors about their intimate affairs. 

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

In the hallway, Hong Yeon brings her hands to her hot cheeks feeling overheated from the King and Queen's boisterous gathering. Every court maid is blushing as they look discretely at the door with every moan and groan that escapes. She hopes this will qualm the rumors in the kingdom, she cannot take this for much longer. Court lady Choi had left to retrieve water after their first moans and had yet to return, she surmised if the Queen were not already with child she would have been impregnated again going by the sounds they were making. It was all too obvious to her, despite the Queen's strange behavior at times, they were desperately in love with each other. She'd never seen two people who were more crafted for the other.

Anyone who thought otherwise was a fool. 

[inkflowd]

she hadn't intended on getting angry -- she didn't WANT to. but there was a rage simmering underneath her skin that ran as hot as the wildfire that she managed to control. and it wasn't all on his shoulders. he was no ATLAS in this story -- the fault was not all with him. she had her own world on her shoulders that caused her such grief and it was one small thing after another after another until suddenly, she found herself beginning to bend and break. not that lune could -- not that she was ALLOWED to. to lose her cool out here would doom them all.

his question managed to pull a snort out of the woman, a dry laugh escaping her lips that was more deprecating than humorous. "daily deduction, actually. we don't have many WEEKS to spare." and she was trying, fuck was she TRYING, not to project this all onto him. but... lune was not a saint. and he was no MIRACLE.

"i can't SPEAK for your intentions or how information may or may not come freely from you. for all we know, you could be the greatest actor that's ever lived. a pity -- i remember the gestrals seemed to be trying to experiment with theatre." but she can hear the frustration in her voice, can feel the way her blood was beginning to speed along in her veins. merde. the others. her heart tugged almost violently as gustave's face flashed behind her eyes and god, lune wished that he didn't even mention it. she bit down on her bottom lip hard, right hand flexing. fingers moved one by one, curling and uncurling as though manipulating some unseen FORCE. it was simply her willpower.

"i think i can decide for myself what is relevant and what is irrelevant when it comes to our survival." she could hear sciel now chiding her for how she was treating verso, that she should be going easier on the man. after all, what did they know of his life and his experiences? but wasn't that the POINT? they could all be laid bare before him without receiving a scrap of real information. about HIM.

everything in lune told her to plant herself firmly where she stood, not to give him an inch or an inkling that he might have WON (this wasn't a competition, lune. and this wasn't a battle. it was a conversation. she needed to remind herself of this). eyes washed over his face, searching for any tick or twitch or slip that she might be able to use. it only grew more frustrating that he seemed almost as impenetrable as those faceless beings they kept running into. all so vague and sad and SORRY. a deep inhale through her nose. hold. a slow exhale through pursed lips.

"i..." there was so much fight in her. but there was also so much EXHAUSTION. she didn't want the battles to continue at camp, but she was also not the one who was going to back down from confrontation. a pause. arms crossed over her chest, her body language mirroring his, "we have enough surprises. we don't need MORE." it was almost a plead and she was ALMOST ashamed of it.

she wished that gustave was here. he would know what to do, what to say. she wasn't GOOD at this part, couldn't use her charisma to lead. all at once, her shoulders released the tension building in them and she sighed, ripping her eyes from the man to turn and move towards the fire. she sat, quiet, expecting him to FOLLOW. hoping that he would.

" -- i spent my entire life training for this, verso." and her voice was soft, as if on the verge of breaking. but she wouldn't. she couldn't. "but my training didn't exactly prepare me for YOU or renoir. and the more that happens, the more QUESTIONS that come rather than answers... it's..." eyes squeezed shut for a second and reopened. "sometimes it feels like we're drowning."

a dubious look courts her face and it creates restlessness in his legs and shoulders. the consequences of a disagreement always in attendance, he's almost just as tired of these spectators as he is with the interrogation. lune was sanding down on a patience already worn thin by the years.

the man palms at the knees of his pant legs before dragging the set of knuckles from his dominant hand across the canvas of his jaw, a few times. keeping it there, he glances up from his lap to the shape of her looming beyond him, leaving the whites of his eyes to fill the bottom of the expression. the skin of his nostril jumped when his mouth solidified into a grimace before flattening again. they knew setting a foot between her and all preconceived notions of the world would put them at a disadvantage with each other. it was still something he needed to accept and the process was ever ongoing.

he stands up from his seat, straightening to full height in time to watch her seal off her journal. he idles behind her.

a journal inevitably becomes an expedition's memoir. a commander's condition. they were both charged with their individual purpose and that, would eventually make things easier to forgive. “ is this your weekly deduction of me then? ”

he's still irritated enough to move closer.

he stands at the threshold of personal space and casts another look at the journals. reports.

“ did i not freely provide my insights about the quarry? did i not take you there myself? ” there's a lull where his eyebrow lifts itself high. he avoids provoking himself into saying more than what was needed. “ did i not bring you and the others back? ” this singes his tongue as he says it. memory of one never returning to camp.

his arms move to guard his chest. “ i'm sorry, for not making myself clearer to you often. i truly didn't know there was more to those woods, nor did i know that variant of nevron would be there. if i'd known i would have steered us down another path. ” that was the truth. “ as i have been doing. ”

“ look. you can have what i know, about the creatures here. about this continent. you will have it, if you don't already. ” gesturing to her and back to himself.

“ anything, and everything outside of that is irrelevant — has been irrelevant. ” and his.

[distrackles]

Resistance: Part 3

Dean Winchester x OFC

MASTERLIST

Detest /verb/: dislike intensely

- B o -

I woke up the next morning with my body completely disregarding the pillow boundary I had created the night before. My nose was smashed right up against Dean's shoulder and my hand was balled up on his chest. I slowly lifted my head, and looked at his sleeping face. Even in a deep slumber, his facial expression was troubled and guarded. The crusted blood on his temple that I somehow forgot to make him wash off did not add any softness to his hard features. As soon as I remove my forearm from his chest, his eyes blink open. I should have tried to pretend that I wasn't just studying his face, or I should have at least pretended that I had also just woken up, but I didn't. In fact, I didn't even look away or speak at first.

Dean swipes his tongue over his lips before he lazily smiles. "Mornin'."

"Morning." I breathe out and attempt to plaster the annoyed facade I have targeted towards him. A majority of the warmth leaves the bed and exposes my body briefly into the colder air when Dean leaves the bed. I remain in my spot for a few more minutes, my mind was in awe that it got a full nights sleep.

When I get downstairs, I have already gotten dressed for the day and fixed my hair. Dean is cooking breakfast as Riley sips coffee, and Sam is sitting at our kitchen table with his laptop on in front of him. I immediately go towards the steaming coffee pot which required me to squeeze myself between Dean's back and the counter. After I pour the coffee into my cup and leave it black, I make a face at the bacon that is sizzling and spewing grease in the pan.

"Oh, please don't tell me you're one of those health freaks too." Dean groans, and Riley laughs at him.

"Sorry, I would hate to die of a heart attack after all I have been through, seems a little anti-climatic." I reply and take a seat at the table across from Sam. Dean exaggeratedly rolls his eyes, making a point of stuffing bacon into his mouth in a detesting manner. Sam takes our suddenly small looking mug into his hand and downs the rest of his coffee. He proceeded to announce to his brother that he found another case not too far away. And he also adds that they'll just go ahead and head home afterwards since it is down that way.

I almost thought I might possibly feel a little bit of disappointment when he finished talking. I don't know if it was because something in me enjoyed having new faces around. Maybe it was because I was gonna miss having a chance at another full nights sleep. Or it was the gut feeling that it wasn't a good time for them to be leaving. I never voiced my thoughts that I had during this moment, because I knew they would never listen to that kind of thing. It takes them less than ten minutes for Dean to quit eating, and for Sam to pack up his computer and jackets that Riley washed for them. Riley also walks them both out to the car, I catch her kiss Sam's cheek while Dean wasn't watching before both men get into the vehicle. The pit in my stomach only grows stronger as I watch them drive away.

.

It began with the screaming of the name "Sammy" before the visual of Sam Winchester trapped with long sharp clawed fingers wrapping around his throat interrupted the blackness. The image pulsates and the fluorescent green eyes over the Winchester's shoulder become suddenly noticeable. He seemed to be out of breath and his hand is twitching against the werewolf's filthy one. Every small flinching move of Sam's finger would cause the wolf to tear his claws further into the skin of his throat.

"Dean, don't!" said Sam, trying to be stern in his breathless state. After another pulse, Dean's livid and tense face appears. I could see Dean lunging for the creature that has his little brother at his mercy. Before the older brother could play out his attack another werewolf, out of nowhere, appeared. The monster took him down from the side before Dean even saw it coming. I felt like I was there with them, I wanted to scream, run to them, do something! It felt as if Dean was staring directly at me as the wolf tore into his stomach and then his cheek. Actually he was staring directly at me, and I could honestly swear he was mouthing my name with no sound.

I spun around to see if he was looking at anything behind me, and I wanted to fall to my knees. There laid Sam, neck torn to shreds, and a gaping hole in his chest where his heart should be. It was as if someone had turned the volume back on in my ears because I could finally hear Dean yelling. He was yelling for his brother even though he was being brutally injured at the same time. I wished so badly that I was able to take a step towards either of the men, but my mind had me planted in one spot. Once I had managed to make some steps, no matter how much I quickened my pace, Dean seemed to get farther and farther away from me.

He began shaking his head as he noticed me running towards him, everything had gone silent again. It didn't make me stop moving though. The thing that did stop me had no distinct face, they were something I saw a lot. I was pinned to the endlessly ebony colored environment, Dean still feverishly shaking his head. My airway felt like it was inclosing on it's self and I began to scramble at nothing. My vision got blurrier every time I blinked, but I could tell that Dean's fighting had weakened.

The last thing I could remember was a moment of clarity when I looked at Dean's bloody, dead expression before I heard another voice scream my name.

"Bo! Wake up!" Mine and Riley's heads almost clashed into each other's when I jerked awake. She has a reflex for moments like this where she automatically moves her's away as soon as my eyes open.  "What happened this time." She asks softly.

I suck in a shaky breath, pushing my flyaway hairs off my forehead. "I don't know, I've never had them feel so real before."

"Who was it?" Riley questioned, as she rested her steady hand over my trembling ones.

"I was watching Sam and Dean get attacked by werewolves, and I just couldn't save them no matter how hard I tried." I reply, sniffling. Riley nods slowly, it sounded like a normal nightmare for someone like me to have. "Riley, this one was different...it's hard for me to even believe it didn't actually happen."

"I'm sure they are totally fine, your mind probably just turned the thought of them hunting something as simple as werewolves into a horror show from the lack of sleep."  She tries to reassure me, but I still had the inkling that something wasn't good about this. I go to protest against her claim just as she shushes me. "I'll stay in here, try and sleep again." She commands, and then get herself comfortable beside me.

I huff and lay back down, when I close my eyes all I can picture is the look on Dean's face as he yelled for me and his brother. Then the image of Sam's lifeless, and heartless, body on the ground. As I laid there and relived that horrible nightmare, I tried to have a little bit of faith in someone out there who may have been listening. I hoped that those guys actually made it out of that hunt with only a scratch, or two. The thought of calling Sam or Dean also crossed my mind, but I also had too much pride to let Dean think I cared if they, in fact, were just fine.

"I can feel you over thinking this." Riley grumbles from beside me. I roll my closed eyes and turn my back to her. Before I can even think about trying to sleep again, there is a pounding at the front door downstairs. We both sit up and make our way down there together. Riley peaks through the peephole before she curses under her breath.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me." I have never seen her whip that door open so fast, and I wish she had been able to do it faster after I see what lies on the other side.

A broken looking Sam, and a bloody and beaten Dean leaning into him. Riley quickly lets them in and gets Sam to put Dean on the couch, she then glances at me and gives me the "why are our lives like this" look. I start springing into action when Sam is slicing away at Dean's layers of clothing, as he tries to show us where he knows the injuries are. Quickly threading a needle, I get on my knees beside the couch and start stitching up his wound, as Dean goes in and out of consciousness with Riley pouring alcohol on the slashes in his stomach. I vaguely register the small trying-to-be-postive sentences that Sam is trying to convince his older brother about.

Once the stitching becomes the only job left, Riley takes the rubbing alcohol and starts assessing Sam's needs. Dean lets out a loud pained groan at one particular stitch that I put through him.

"Sorry, I'm sorry." I stumble out words, apologizing for the pain and because I never spoke up before they left for this hunt. If I could have truly just tried to stop them, I could have stopped this from happening. If me and Riley would have followed them like Riley had suggested earlier, we could have helped. But we didn't do any of those things, and now here I am sewing up a man I met just days ago, his blood all over  my hands and probably the couch.

"Okay, you're pieced back together, here is your reward." I put the bottle of whiskey that is with our first aid materials to his lips and lets him drink as much as he desires. As soon as the liquid is down his throat, I can see him use his last bit of determination as he drops his head back.

I stand up, giving Dean one last look to make sure I had not missed anything, and go to wash myself off. I shake my head and squeeze my eyes shut tight for a moment, as the nightmare scenes coming flooding back to me when I see the blood washing down the drain.

Looking at Dean's bloody, dead expression. Him yelling my name, shaking his head violently to stop me from coming to him. Seeing and hearing the pain in his voice as he screamed for his little brother to be okay. Not being able to help them. Watching the aftermath of both Winchester brothers dead, and not coming back.

"Bo. Are you done?" I snap out of my daze when Riley asks if I can get out of the way so she can get a shower set up for Sam. I nod, moving out of the way, and go to the living room. Dean is officially passed out on the couch, I take his shredded clothes and toss them away, making it so at least there was a minimal amount of blood left around him.

I take a silent seat in the recliner across from the couch, and close my eyes, feeling more relaxed, and more like I had the night before. Secure, and at a peace of mind, knowing that they were both okay without knowing why that was so important to me.  I fall asleep in a cramped balled up position on that chair, slightly registering the sound a shower starting, and a quiet snore from the man across from me.

//

Ugh, this was short, but I rather it be a quality short chapter than a long forced chapter, so oh well.

Thanks for reading!

-Sam

[littiescorp]

So @great-hero-yellow tagged me in this, so I gotta talk about my Super Smash Bros Ultimate roster. So let's go!

MAINS

1. Corrin

I'm not gonna lie, I suck at SSB. The only reason I'm any good, is this good good (broken, some would say) boy here. And my strategy with him? Button smashing and counter spam. Deadass, that's how I rock this dude. I've even beat great-hero-yellow with a well timed counter from him, it's that good. So yeah, this guy is my main and I intend to keep it that way. His only downfall is his recovery sometimes goes in the wrong direction and you can't move after using it, so I just watch him drift to his doom

2. Marth

Have you seen his white colored alt? It's gorgeous, and the reason I started using him tbh. And I'm not that bad with him either. His only downfall for me is he has no good basic down attack. I remember his counter when I accidentally trigger it, and I don't really know how to do Dancing Blade properly, but he's probably my second best character, and again, Damn that's a nice white outfit

3. Shulk

I love this picture, it's such a mood. A few months before his release trailer, I got into Xenoblade Chronicles, so I was thrilled when he joined the roster. Alas, he's a technical fighter that requires strategy and well timed movements and attacks. I'm no good at any of that. It was a rough go at first, but I slowly (very slowly) got the hang of him. When I die its most likely by spamming backslash, and then using one too close to the edge of the stage, and down he goes. But yeah, I like using him, he's alright. The Monado's defese skill is a blessing

NON-MAINS

1. It's me, bitch! (Mii Sword Fighter)

Yeah it's kinda lame, but I'm a sucker for self inserts. Also I love making Miis. So I made myself a sword fighter cause swords are cool (also the ninja outfit looked cool). They have a lot of personalization with their attack style, so it's fun to mess around with. Mine has a good recovery, a strong down attack, and even a counter. Side-b is fun, but I'm also prone to go flying off the edge of the stage towards death with it, so there's that, but otherwise I think I've built a solid Mii. If only I was good at the game to utilize it lol

2. Bayonetta

When her trailer dropped, I was enamored with her. She's beautiful, sexy, and sassy, and I love it all. Hell, Nintendo had to change the rating just to get her in the game, and her trailer had a warning for "implied sexual themes" which kills me every time I see it. And yes, I do go back and watch it every now and then to relive that glory. But again, she's a very technical character, and unlike Shulk I didn't get too good with her. I'm not terrible, and I can get off one of those long combos every now and again, and witch time is fun when I remember to use it, but her wicked weaves are hard to trigger and miss half the time so yeah. I mostly play them just to piss great-hero-yellow off because of the sleight her trailer gave to the Kid Icarus characters

3. Pikachu

Pikachu was my main in Brawl, and I was actually fairly good with him. He has a fantastic recovery, and let's be real, thunder spam does in fact work. But for some reason, I'm not too good with him in smash 4. Maybe that'll change in Ultimate, but for now I don't use him all that much, but I love him the same. Also, the emerald headband is the cutest alt, don't test me

NEW AND RETURNING CHARACTERS TO TRY

1. Snake

I played Snake a little bit in Brawl, and honestly it's mostly because of his ass (rip snakes ass in Ultimate). I don't think I was too good, but it's been so long since I've played so who knows. I'll probably try him out in Ultimate cause why not.

2. Isabelle

Look at her, she's so precious and pure. I haven't played much of the Animal Crossing games, I'm not too big a fan of real time based games, but even so I got excited when she was introduced to Smash, and I do enjoy her. Besides, who could fight this adorable face and not feel guilt? That's how I plan to play her

3. Incineroar

My boy is here. I chose Litten as my starter in the Alola games, and I truly loved Incineroar, so when I saw him kick that Ken dudes ass, I was overjoyed. He doesn't look like he'll be the best fighter tbh, with the slowest walking speed in the game, but one of his attacks does have a large smash radius, though I can't remember which at this time. But yeah, I love my buff bara cat, and I do plan on trying to use them. Besides, slow characters means I can't get too close to the edge, right? Right?

HONORABLE MENTIONS

I do wanna try playing the Inklings, they're really cute. And Chrom, I'm so glad he's got his chance. Also, I did play a bit as Robin, but I'm not too good tbh. And I may try picking up Roy and Ike, I like their characters but they have pretty bad recoveries, so idk maybe I'll try again.

Anyways, that's my Smash Roster plans. If any of you want to go ahead and do this, feel free. I don't talk to many of my mutuals here, so I'm not gonna tag anyone, sorry. But tag me if you do this, I'd love to see others players, and maybe we can trade friend codes and play together when the game comes out

[hmsannlett]

Hi, there! How are you? Anon, here! I like the new format for the asks, it's a very clean look! Before I dive in to re:re my ask can I just compliment you on chapter 5 of AEWTTS?! I remember you mentioning it was the dialogue that you wanted to iron out and it took a few drafts until you were happy with it. Your hard work paid off, my friend! 👏 TBC...

You concisely strung Anna's inner thoughts together when they meet, and it seemed so authentic to what she would think. How to address him? Not Major, but not Mr. Hewlett, either. Why did he return? Will he be staying? His gaze shifting from hollow to sympathetic. The line about nature vs. the hands of men - that was quintessential Hewlett - and her inner response to his words, which I remember you posting as a reply to an ask. given the bewilderment at seeing one another again! Bravo! 👌😁

Last but not least, Anna and Abe! As she 'crunches' down the road to his house, her inner turmoil seems very realistic. She steeled herself with the thought that it was for Selah, which I thought was very noble! Wanting to help Abe was also noble, especially after he betrayed her. But oh, when the truth is revealed! Nervously sits on the edge of my seat, hoping Anna miraculously finds a giant cabbage to hit him with! 🤕 TBC…

Abridged version: I had an inkling that "Why didn't you tell me?" was a confrontation between either Anna/Abe or Mary/Hewlett, but I'm glad it turned out to be Anna! I forgot she was completely unaware about Hewlett's return to the colonies/work in York City! If the show had given us a season 5, I truly believe that your chapter 5 would have played out seamlessly, including the dialogue between she and Abe, "I don't want your apologies, I want your honesty." I was cheering! It was superb! 👏 🙌

Anon, again! 👋 Re: the flower. Yes, that's right! She sees it and it reminds her of/links the flower to Abe! I'll gladly indulge your curiosity about "memories” - my fic is several years post-canon! 😉 At least I'm not alone in the self-imposed pressure struggle! Agreed, we all ought to give ourselves grace and take breaks, especially because of these difficult times! Oh, I didn't consciously realize Caleb/Hew had a common traumatic experience because of Simcoe! A friendship would be feasible!

Hello, anon! I’m well, how are you? Thank you very much for your kind words about Chapter 5! ❤︎ I’m so, so glad Anna and Hewlett’s meeting read as in-character for them! It took some editing and scrapping ideas to get that section to have the right tone. I love writing AUs, but it is difficult sometimes getting a feel for how characters would act in situations that are completely different to situations they’re in in canon.

And thank you re: Anna and Abe! Theirs was the dialogue that was holding me up, so I can’t tell you how happy I am that you liked it! Haha, I would have loved to have seen Anna actually throw a cabbage at Abe’s face in the show! I’m sure it could have been worked in somehow. ;)

Yay, have a virtual bouquet for being right about the conversation! 💐 I’m sure I’ve mentioned this before, but one of my enduring frustrations with the show is that Anna is never allowed to stay angry at Abe for very long. She always ends up forgiving/making up with him fairly soon after (even when he’s deeply hurt her), which would in any other narrative seem very honorable, but with Turn and Anna, it’s usually so that the will-they-won’t-they dynamic can come blazing in yet again. :/ So that scene was certainly wish fulfillment on my part! And, like I said in the chapter note, I do think if Anna had found out in canon that she would have reacted more strongly than she does in other moments because it’s a betrayal after Abe had acted like everything was mended between them. And anyways Anna verbally punching Abe in the face is always fun and deserved. :D

Re: the flower, I like that! I love reading in others' fics and writing in my own fics little links back to canon like that. And now I'm even more curious—can I ask if Hew has come back across the pond, or if Anna has ventured to Scotland?

[bsidethetrees]

About Life: Precept

Previous Chapter

"Okay, so first off, I want to be the one to name the baby."

"You're kidding, right?"

"Why is that something to kid about, Mirajane?" Laxus asked as he stood there, in the middle of his living room, glaring over at her. "I'm being very serious."

"And I'm being very serious too," she kept up as, seated on his couch, she held a pen over a notebook, waiting to write down some rules that she actually planned on following. Because that was not one of them. "You don't get to name the baby."

Another two weeks had passed in which Laxus had left on a job and Mirajane considered just what the future might hold for them. While he spent his time keeping his mind off things, Mira got inundated with Lisanna and Lucy's concerns and complaints over the whole thing as well as all their awe and mystique over Laxus Dreyar actually seriously considering having a baby with her and it was just a busy two week for Mirajane.

A very two busy week.

Then Laxus got back to town and came to the guild to inform her that he wanted her to come over to her house on her off day, so that they could get to discussing things on a more serious note. So Mira was then forced to take an off day (they were actually rare for her) and headed on over.

Laxus' apartment was...nice, to say the least, but also rather sterile. She had to imagine this was more due to him not being around often to enjoy it, but still, it just felt off. Nice still, though, which wasn't a surprise considering she more or less knew the amount of jewels he was pulling in, considering she'd taken to filing most of the jobs up all the hall in those days.

As they sat down to the write the rules and stipulations down, however, Mira and Laxus found themselves hitting a snag right out of the gate.

"I'm the father," Laxus reminded her as if that, for some reason, had anything to do with it. "I should be able to name him. Or her. It. Whatever you want to say."

"I want to say whatever name I pick out."

"Mirajane-"

"Laxus, I'm going to be the one raising this kid, remember?" she asked as she clicked the pen a few times in annoyance. "Saying that name? Constantly? For the rest of forever? And you, what? Even if you're going to be in the baby's life, still will only see it every month? Every two? In what world would you have a bigger affect from a name you don't like than I would?"

He only stared, for a long moment, trying to think up something to combat this, but he was coming up blank. What she said made sense. It made perfect sense. And he hated it.

Deflating a bit, the man said, "Well…don't I get some kind of say? If I'm claiming this kid?'

"Should I put that down then?" she asked. "That you're definitely claiming the baby? Or is there some other stipulation with that?"

"What kind of stipulation could there be?" he asked knowing damn well, back at that restaurant, he'd decided that if it looked anything like Mira's doofus brother… "Mirajane?"

"I don't know," she said slowly as, thinking, she came up with a few. "I mean, if it doesn't look like you, like at all, would that bother you?"

"Is it still mine?"

"Obviously."

"Well, then that's a stupid thing to ask."

"What if it, like, decides it doesn't like magic? Later? When it grows up? Would that bother you?"

"I thought the point of me and you coming together was for it to be a powerful-"

"But if it rejected that?"

Kicking some at the floor, he only grumbled out, "I'm not some sorta dictator, you know. I'm not...Ivan. If I had a kid and it didn't… That's part of life. You don't get to control the way someone else thinks."

"Well, unless your Bickslow."

Right, because Laxus really wanted to think about him at the moment…

"Yeah," he said with a bit of a frown. "Unless you're Bickslow."

"Okay, so," Mira hummed as she thought some more. "Oh! What if it was a girl?"

"What if what was a girl?" he asked as he looked up at her. "Bickslow?"

"No, Laxus. The baby."

"Huh?"

"You said," she reminded slowly as she locked eyes with him, "That you were doing this to further your name, right? If we had a daughter, that wouldn't exactly help you any in that. So should I write down that if we do-"

"Fuck, Mira, make me sound like more of an asshole."

"You said-"

"I've been saying this whole time that if it were a boy or a girl that would be fine with me," he complained. "Or at least I've been talking about them both. So that's a pretty shitty question."

"Well, I was just wondering."

"A girl can add to a legacy, she just can't carry it," Laxus told her simply. "So whatever happens after she's here and has my last name is her problem. I've done my Dreyar civic duty. She-"

"About that-"

"You can name the damn kid whatever you want," he told her in a deadpan sorta way. "But it's getting my last name."

They glared hard at one another for a few moments over that one before, with a sigh, Mirajane moved to write it down. Before, yes, she'd had the idea to dupe him on that one, but they'd discussed beforehand that anything that gotten written on that notebook was binding and they were both going to agree to it.

"What if I cross my fingers?" Mira had asked when he present her with the notebook.

"Then I'm thinking you're too immature to have a baby in the first place."

He had her there.

And in the current moment as, early in the game, Mirajane was giving up and conceding the last name issue to Laxus.

She won on the actual name thing though so, really, they were still pretty even.

"What other things do you think we need to discuss then?" Mirajane asked after, in that pretty print of hers, she wrote down the last name rule. "Hmmm?"

"Well… I guess we should talk about pay."

Making a face, Mirajane stuck out her tongue some as she said, "You're not a...stud, Laxus. I'm not going to pay you for your-"

"What? No." And he tried not to choke. "Mirajane, I meant once the kid gets here. Paying for, you know, incidentals and life in general and-"

"Oh."

"Oh? That's all you're gonna say? Gosh, Mira."

Humming some then, she said, "Well, I guess I hadn't thought about it. You know? I planned to be the one to care for the baby. I have a lot of savings. It's not like I'm not prepared."

"Yeah, but… I mean, I could help out," he said then. "Not that I want to be, like, in the kid's life daily or anything, I'll probably be off on jobs a lot, but when I'm home… I'd bring it gifts, at least, probably. That's what I always wanted Ivan to do for me. When he went far away. And my kid can't be running around, poor as a church mouse."

"Poor as a what?"

"They'll need shoes and shirts and, I mean, I wouldn't wanna spoil the brat, but-"

"You're kinda getting ahead of yourself."

Yeah. He had that tendency.

"I'm just saying," he told her then with a frown, "that I don't want it to be an issue if I want to slide you some jewels. For taking care of my kid. Will it be?"

"So long as you don't make it an issue."

"Why don't you just write it down then?" he asked. "An amount? Can we figure one out? And I'll give it to you every-"

"Laxus-"

"I just don't want," he told her tensely then, "for this to get all mangled and twisted. If we're going to do this, let's get anything that might be a bump in the road out of the way so we don't have to cross any unknown bridges. That's what this meeting was for, right?"

She gazed at him for a long few seconds before saying, "I mean, I don't think I'll be in the position to turn down jewels, you know. When the time comes."

Nodding his own head, Laxus agreed, "When the time comes."

It was only once that was written down that Mirajane found a new thing to bring up.

"You won't throw some sort of weird fit, will you?" she asked him. "When the baby gets here and you don't, like, like the way I parent it? Or something?"

"I mean, you're not going to shove a lacrima in it because it's sickly and hope it does soon so that you can harvest it, are you?"

"Mmmm….nope."

"Alright then."

"And," Mirajane kept up, "I also was concerned about...um… You know."

"I know?"

Nodding, she said, "If… When I find someone that I...actually want to be with...romantically…after the baby is-"

"Oh, uh," Laxus stammered as he coughed into his hand a bit. "I'm not, you know, anything to you, Mira."

"Other than hopefully the father of my child."

"Right. Right," he agreed with a nod of his head. "Other than that. So…as long as they don't try to shove a lacrima down my kid's sickly throat to harvest it-"

"Laxus, if you want to talk about it-"

"It'll always be my baby though," he said then before, staring across the room at her, he asked, "Right?"

Mira didn't break his gaze as she nodded along. "Right. If that's what you want."

"And whatever...relationships I'm in-"

"I'm not in love with you, Laxus," she assured him. "And I don't plan to be."

"Well, make sure you never are, okay?" he ordered then. "This is just what it sounds like. Two people who want a baby, getting a baby."

"You're preaching to the choir."

Again, their eyes met, but that time it was Laxus who changed the subject as he asked, "So about..."

"About..."

He nodded towards a door on the other side of the room and, though Mirajane didn't know for certain what was on the other side of it, she had a good inkling.

"Oh." Finally, Mira blushed a bit and looked off before saying, "I, uh, I know when I'm… Around when we should… And I've heard of a potion you can take that makes you even more… So it shouldn't take us very long to-"

"Then there's no sorta...spell or something we can say that-"

"That magically puts a baby in my stomach? Seriously, Laxus?'

He shrugged a bit before saying, "I wanted to make sure I'm getting, you know, the full ride here."

"The full ride, huh?"

"The full ride, Mirajane."

It was such a tense moment.

Before Mirajane ruined it was giggles.

Laxus only rolled his eyes.

As he came over finally, to join her on the couch, Mirajane only sobered a bit before asking, 'Should I start finding out about any buried secrets in your family that might pop up?"

"What do you mean?"

"Like… I know that you were sick as a kid, but-"

"Not hereditary." He patted at his chest. "Dreyars are a good breed."

"And your mother?"

That got him to frown, shifting on the couch as he was already uncomfortable there. "Excuse me?"

"Is she alive?" Mira didn't look to comfortable asking. "Or-"

"No. She's not."

"Then-"

"And she won't have any affect on-"

"But she didn't die of some sort of crazy illness, did she? That the baby might-"

"No."

"So-"

"Let's move on."

"Okay," Mirajane hummed again, as to keep them both in a good place. "Well, you mentioned something about...diseases when I first asked you about-"

"I'm clean."

"But-"

"Would I have let us get this far without it?"

"I was going to say will you be between today and when we-"

"I think I can keep it in my pants till then, yeah, Mira."

"Good." Grinning over at him, she reiterated, "So no diseases or anything. Now, about your Dreyar attitude-"

"My what?"

"Do you feel like that's because of your upbringing? Both you and your grandfather? Or perhaps something subconsciously that-"

"My up- Mirajane-"

"I'm prying for a good reason this time," she insisted. "Not just to be nosy. This is for the future of my child."

Laxus considered her silently before saying simply, "I'm my own person, nothing like my father or grandfather, and my genes will only bring your child god-like qualities. Anything wrong with him would come from the stock that you bring."

It was Mira's turn, finally to say, "Excuse me?"

"You're from the boonies, aren't ya? And I've seen your brother. You, even. There's something off there. So upbringing or genetics, Mirajane?"

Making a face at him, she retorted, "Fine. I won't ask those sort of questions anymore."

"Thank you."

They both sat there then, for a few moments, before eventually Mriajane got to her feet.

"Are we done here then?" she asked, the one lording over him then. Laxus only blinked up at her though.

With a curt nod, he said, "I'll hang around until it's, you know, time for us to-"

"Good. And then, hopefully, we can go another nine months without talking?"

"Yeah," Laxus sighed as she headed to the door then. "Hopefully."

Next Chapter

FF

[sloanout]

It's so tough to approach this topic because people rightfully feel very strongly about their characters and their ships, so no matter someone's gonna get upset about it. For that reason I haven't talked about it but - yeah, I one hundred percent feel you. Me and a friend of mine have an inside joke that just boils down to "Beautiful white haired Lavellan" because there are soooo many instances of people focusing on how gorgeous and stunning their elf girl is as if that's the thing that wins over Solas. There's nothing wrong with having an attractive character, but at some point focusing so much on appearances becomes missing the poetry in their relationship and flanderizing Solas as a character.

I remember once seeing some Solavellan fanart once where the punchline was Lavellan falling asleep when Solas starting on a long tangent about the fade/spirits and I just thought like... why even ship them? It's kind of unconvincing at that point. If you've written a character that gets bored by his lectures I don't really think either of them are gonna dig each other, so why are we even here? Where's the meat? Similarly, when fic features nothing but adoration for Lavellan's beauty. Very cool that she's so attractive, but who is this woman? Where is the spirit Solas finds so compelling?

Maybe it's a heterosexual thing (or I guess a sexual thing period, seeing as I'm myself on the ace spectrum), but I can't imagine a relationship born only of captivation by beauty. Yes I see girls and sometimes get caught up in how dreamy and perfect they can be, but that's passing (and for me at least, it's usually a aesthetic appreciation rather than a sexual one, like how you admire a well fashioned piece of jewelry or a painting). It's fantastic to see a character like Solas who seems to be a person like myself, someone who is compelled to love by the essence and the content of a person rather than their appearance. And as much as I would argue that women have a sort of je ne c'est quoi, a bi/pan Solas makes the most sense. Genuinely you would be hard pressed to make me a compelling argument that he gives any sort of fuck about gender, his own or others. That did not exist for him as a spirit and boy howdy does he hold on to conceptualizing himself as a spirit more than anything else. I'm convinced her goes with he/him and all that because it's convenient and he's truly ambivalent to it.

And I absolutely agree that that self-conception and relationship to his body should have a bearing on his love for Lavellan. It's SO important to me that my girl Sloan is average in the looks department, an a-cup at best, and a tomboy that cuts her hair with a knife whenever some of it starts getting too long. Perhaps it's that dog in me (<- nonbinary/gender fluid person), but I did a lot of character work with Sloan's relationship to her own gender even before I was locked into Solas as a romance and WELL before I had any inkling of what was going on under the hood with him. I ended up with a character who was cisgender but didn't much identify with being a woman because she had failed to live up to the standards of femininity a more traditional clan expected of her. That ended up playing so interestingly off Solas - a character who only ever calls her beautiful once, and even then it's pretty explicitly for the purpose of assuring her that what she looks like isn't what matters to him.

It was fun to play a character that was finding out people could find her attractive for the first time, and in the end it was so natural that she ended up not with Cullen who got flustered by flirting or classical manly man Blackwall, but the person that genuinely did not care about her presentation or ability to embody the idea of "woman". I've talked about it a little bit before in another post, but Solas himself hardly performs gender. Take his main traits and try to assign that stereotypical genders and you end up with complete chaos - which is great, because he absolutely wouldn't care about being a "man". It's my own bias, sure, but I think Solavellan is best when it shirks the idea of gendered roles or physical beauty completely. Solas himself isn't exactly a looker in DAI, and I absolutely love how many people have fallen head over heels for him anyway. That's part of the appeal, that his heart is so compelling that people who would otherwise be put off by his physical appearance end up loving him by the strength of his heart.

Solavellan, my Solavellan at least, are not a cute couple but they are my favorite couple - all the more because neither is anywhere near a smoke show. It just feels right. Solavellan should love each other all the same even if they were completely blind. Solas is a man who can surely appreciate a body, but I don't buy that he could ever fall in love with one. A Lavellan who doesn't love Solas for his mind and spirit is missing the point completely. Idk, that's a whole lot of words to say I love enby/gnc Lavellan with Solas as well and get bored of the endless stream of unspeakably gorgeous Lavellans getting framed as the dainty pure feeble halla to his wolf.

This is going to come off as very bitchy but I feel like the more beautiful and Instagram perfect someone's Lavellan is, the less I can buy into their Solavellan stuff. I'm really sick of writing about this tbh but the issue of women being valued solely or ultimately based on their attractiveness is such a pervasive problem that, not only does it show in fictional works a lot, but even a lot of fans do it with their own works.

I wanna be clear that I don't think there's anything wrong with having that kind of Lavellan (unless you're focusing on how they look at the expense of developing their character I guess), but there's a couple of reasons why it suggests that the people behind them are missing the point

I think, while Solas appreciates beauty, he understands that who a person is is much more defined by their spirit; this is why he repeatedly says that he loves Lavellan's spirit and only comments on their appearance once. On a deeper level, it kind of leads into why I think he reads as very queer to me. I think making him heterosexual was a mistake when he consistently talks about people not being defined by their bodies. I'm not bi or pan so maybe this isn't my lane, but I think they sacrificed something that made more sense for his character to avoid playing into negative tropes. I get why they did it (despite not showing the same concern for other morally ambiguous bi/pan characters), but I do think his character suffered for it.

So while Lavellan being extremely beautiful doesn't exactly negate this, I think overemphasising their beauty is sort of pointless at best. There's something very satisfying about having an enby/gnc Lavellan, or a Lavellan who isn't stunningly beautiful, with Solas. A love story about two people who do not feel defined by their bodies, or indeed feel trapped by them, is what has always compelled me about them. It's a tale of two souls falling in love, becoming entwined in a space only they understand, a space that is very much non-physical. They relish that, because it's where they can be their truest selves without having to worry about how they look in a world that is overly focused on appearances. It's only by doing this, ironically, that they figure out how to be more complete people. Solas helps Lavellan to remember who they are in the face of their deification, and Lavellan helps Solas remember who he is after ages of being broken and used.