#it’s just his emphasis on it the past couple months has been strong

[pinkfey]

fellas, is it platonic to keep wearing your ex girlfriend’s hair tie on your wrist five months after you broke up?

[technowoah]

Can I request a prompt #37 with Karl Jacobs? I love your writing btw :)

Ring(s)

The four times Karl tried to propose and the one time he actually did.

- Karl Jacobs x gen!neutral reader!

- Prompts: 37) "Are you proposing?!"

⚠︎ swearing, fluff, angst if you squint and a rushed ending. I didn't proofread either

an// TYSM FOR LIKING MY WORK 😭ALSO Thanks for requesting and sorry this came out so late! Hope you enjoy :)

To say that Karl loved you was an understatement. He adored you and practically worshipped the ground you stood on. He is so respectful, which is a major upgrade from your other boyfriends, and loves you for who you are. You didn't have to put on a facadè at all during the 3 years you two have dated.

This love wasn't a one way thing. You loved him just as much, or even more, than he did. Everything he did you supported, you were always cheering him on from wherever you were. You were here for the good and the bad, and he was too. You two never shyed away from admiting your love and support. You could write a essay on each thing you love about Karl.

The idea of marriage came up during a late night dinner at Denny's. The idea came so naturally to you, so it surprised Karl that you didn't tense up. Karl was tense when bringing up the topic of marriage, so when you said "Yeah, I wanna get married to you one day." so casually it caught him off gaurd.

You two had already talked about marriage time and time again, but this time Karl wanted to take the initiative. He was ready to get married and since the marriage talk was just a few months ago it was fresh in his mind. Karl could vividly imagine you walking down the aisle towards him looking angelic. He could see everything now and he wanted those daydreams to become a reality. He wanted to physically feel your hands against his as you two say "I do" to one another.

He couldn't stop thinking about settling down in a nice house with you. Karl already bought a ring for you and always has it with him. Now he justs needs to figure out how to tell you.

1st proposal: Fireworks

"THIS IS THE MOST EXPENSIVE FIREWORK IN THE ENTIRE WORLD-"

You blocked out Jimmy's yelling as you sat in a lawn chair in the middle of the woods. Karl had invited you to a MrBeast video shoot because he thought it would be a great early 4th of July. It was late at night and slightly cool outside, so you were wearing a MrBeast hoodie Karl was wearing earlier. You zoned out as the boys talked to the camera over and over again, taking multiple shots.

You found yourself looking at Karl most of the time you sat there and you always caught his gaze towards you. Every time you caught him looking at you, you sent him a small wave or blow him a kiss and every time he sent a shy wave back or sent a more exaggerated kiss back.

During halfway through the shooting you begrudgingly had to move your lawn chair further and further away from your original spot. Karl always checked up on you before and after each firework set were blown up. He has been acting fidgety around you and you didnt know why. When you tried to confront him about it he would always turn away and go back to the boys without a glance back, and his hands in his pockets.

You loved watching the guys play with so many different types of fireworks, this was a great 4th of July for you, but you wished that Karl was sitting next to you feeling the bliss that you were.

You were currently sitting behind bulletproof glass while the guys had a control panel on their lap. Karl kept sending glances towards you and you looked at him and smiled whishing he was next to you and not over by the guys. You knew it was selfish, but he invited you here.

Karl kept bouncing his leg, he kept his hand in his pocket which held the ring. He kept sending glances towards you, knowing he should be on one knee right about now. Jimmy was about to fire off the last rocket of the night and Karl couldn't seem to go over and ask you to marry him. He knew he was hilding himself back which made him hate himself. You deserved a good night and he hoped you enjoyed the fireworks, but he knew on the ride back he would have to apologize.

He stayed with the boys as they went to go see the fireworks they would be setting off soon. Once they came back they were all about to press the button to set off the expensive fireworks they counted down from 5 and he looked towards you. You were standing up with your arms crossed, hopefully shielding yourself from the cold, and looking towards the fireworks that were going to burst. They finally pressed the button the fireworks went off.

Each burst of light in the air sent a glow onto your smiling face. Karl sent a somber glace and marveled in how the explosion of the fireworks sent a beautiful glow around you.

This wasnt the right time. Next time.

2nd proposal: Donuts

"Im sorry for last night." Karl apologized as you both took a seat at a booth by the window at the small coffee and donut shop.

This was supposed to be an apology for the last failed proposal. Instead of spending time with you, he kept his distance which was the opposite of what he really wanted to do. This was a way to spend much needed time with eachother, but this was also another attempt at a proposal.

Karl wanted to hide the ring in the middle of a donut so when you inevitably look at it when he hands it to you, you'll see the ring and then he'll propose right there. To him it seemed flawless.

You never wanted a huge proposal. You didnt want that much attention on you when your future significant other would propose. Something simple would be the ideal proposal and you've hinted that many times to Karl and right now he was listening. There were only two other couples in the small diner because others were picking up donuts and leaving. If he decided to get down on one knee it would cause a scene.

You stayed silent for a moment looking at Karl before deciding to speak.

"It's no problem. Please dont stress out about it." You smiled softly and he smiled back at you. "I mean the fireworks were beautiful, but you all were screaming too much."

You both laughed as you both recalled that night in the desert.

"Yeah I just didn't..I didn't really talk to you all night. I feel bad." Karl said fiddling with his hands.

"Its in the past Karl. And I still know you love me." You reached out to grab both of his hands and hold his cool hands in yours.

"I do love you." He whispered for only you to hear leaving both of you smiling ear to ear.

"What kind of donuts you want?" Karl asked looking into your eyes carefully.

You thought about it for a while before speaking up. "I'll keep it simple. Icing with sprinkles. Surprise me with the icing color!" You exclaimed while letting go of his hands for a second.

Once you two let go of eachothers hands he immediately went to his pocket and played with the velvet box. He nodded his head and without a word he stood up to meet the cashier behind the display box of donuts. He ordered only one donut as you said with orange icing this time.

He paid for the food and stayed at the counter where he paid. Karl looked back to see if you were paying attention to him only to see you looking out the window at the people passing by. Karl smiled at the sight knowing he really wants to marry you one day and then he looked down at the glistening ring inside of the box.

Karl was supposed to put the ring in the middle of the donut that was laying alone on a napkin on the counter. He started to think of the possibilities of what could happen. What if you didn't see the ring and crumble the ring with the napkin and throw it away? What if you accidentally put the ring in your mouth? What if you weren't hungry anymore?

He looked over again to where you were looking at him giving him the same smile you gave during the fireworks. Karl sighed and once again closed the box with the ring. He was a coward and he knew that.

Karl picked up the donut from the counter and made his way over to you.

"Here's your donut with sprinkles and orange icing!" Karl exclaimed putting emphasis on the 'orange' part.

"Thanks babe!" You smiled as he sat down across from you. "Wait, you didn't get anything for yourself?"

Karl sighed again for what seemed like the 100th time today and put on a smile. "I ended up not being as hungry as I thought I was."

"Well I could always share!" You started to eat your donut as Karl ended up looking outside.

Unbeknownst to you he was thinking of another way to propose without himself getting in his own head.

He'll find a time.

3rd proposal: Livestream

"Chat! As you can see I have my significant other here with me!" Karl exclaimed to his Twitch following.

You were sat next to him in another one of his office chairs with a blanket across your lap. You loved to join Karl's streams, the last couple of time you two played minecraft, gang beats, played on the nitendo switch for a while, but this time he didn't tell you what games you two would be playing. Karl just told you to come over tonight and ended up asking to join him for a stream last minute.

Now you are here next to him as Karl glows with excitement as he streams to his growing followers. You loved how he interacted with his fans and had a genuine connection with them, but sometimes that strong connection can, and has led to some nights where you had to stay the night and comfort him from his inner demons and the internet. Those nights made you love him even more, the vulnerability he gave to you made you comfortable with him.

It seems like the more time you spend eith him the more you want to officially get married. You didn't want to rush him because you soon figured out for yourself that there is no rush to express your love, which you two do everyday day. You two can get eloped in Vegas and you'll be happy, as long as you can spend the rest of your life with the man you love.

Karl kept sending glances towards you throughout the stream hoping you were having fun with the chill, q and a stream. Again he wanted to propose to you tonight during the stream. He loved showing your relationship whenever he could and whenever you would allow him to. His community also loved you the moment you became his significant other, so hopefully this will be a beautiful moment.

You talked to his chat as he contemplated, again, about whether to propose tonight. It wasn't infront of people, it was infront of a screen and it would be on Twitter in less than a week. This would be a good moment, but then again he wanted this moment to be between you two and he couldn't find the right time nor the right "moment".

As the stream continues you ended up wrapping yourself fully in the blanket and lying your head on his shoulder. You both cuddled eachother while you two answered questions. Karl kissed the top of your head and finally collected all of his thoughts.

He didn't need to propose to officially claim his love to you. Karl knew you both loved eachother to the ends of the Earth and back. There's no need for ceremony and the one day he will propose, he know it will come naturally. There is no need to force it, and now he wont.

Only time will tell.

4th proposal: spongebob

"Are you ready, kids?

Aye, aye, Captain!

I can't hear you!

Aye, aye, captain!

Oh!"

The TV illuminated the comfortable, dark room you two were in. You were lying on the couch with Karl with the blanket you had while streaming. It was late at night after the stream and you two ended up watching re-runs of spongebob. Karl sang along to the theme song softly while you hummed along. This was the 4th episode you both watched this night and it was a great way to end the week.

"Do you want to stay over tonight?" Karl asked softly with tiredness in his voice.

"Of couse. Im too tired to move, so thanks for offering." You chuckled.

"You're welcome here anytime." Karl yawned and squeezed your sides. "Do you want popcorn?"

"Hell yeah." You got off of Karl as he walked to the kitchen.

He put the bag into the microwave and leaned back onto the kitchen counter as he waited. Karl looked over to the side and saw a empty vase which was next to the velvet box he was carrying with him this whole week. He shook his head and laughed to himself before getting the popcorn out of the microwave, dumping it in a bowl and walking back to see you taking up the whole couch.

"Move over or I'll sit on you." Karl said standing above her.

"Is that a promise?" You teased.

"Okay then!" He turned around and began to slowly and dramatically fake sitting ontop of you.

You began to laugh and try to push him off of you. You successfully got him to sit down and returned to your previous position, but this time with popcorn.

"I love you, you know that?" You hummed into his chest.

"Yeah, and I love you more."

"I love you most."

"I love you mostest." Karl laughed.

"That's not a word." You smiled.

"I love you so much I made up a word for ya." Karl kissed you head and you hugged him tighter.

"You know what?" Karl chuckled. "I love you so much that I tried to propose to you 3 times this week."

Karl finished and you sat up from your spot looking surprised. Karl sat up as well thinking he made a mistake telling you. He was abkut to apologize, but you beat him to speak.

"Oh my gosh!" You exhaled.

"Look, I'm sorr-"

"Are you proposing?!" You exclaimed with a smile on your face.

"Huh-?"

Karl was surprised just like you were before. He remembered that he wanted the Maybe this was the moment he needed this week.

Karl grabbed both of your hands and caressed them both, looking into your eyes. "I was planning to all week. But now I think this is a good moment. So Y/N? Will you marry me?"

"Of course I will!" You enveloped him into a tight hug and peppered his face with kisses. He finally found his moment and he couldn't be happier.

"You said you tried to propose three other times?" You questioned. "When was that?"

"Its a long story."

[fabricated-misslieness]

 ♡〜could i req flirting with kaeya or childe? maybe a bit dirty jokes and just flirting/teasing (playfully) with them to try to get them flustered or something.... i love them, thats it thats the statement-anon〜♡

Kaeya Alberich x Knight of Favonius male reader

I don’t actually if that’s a corset or not.

Requested: Yes

Word Count: 962

Warnings: one moan, suggested nsfw

Over the past few months, you trained to become a Knight of Favonius. 

You were strong, confident, vigilant and polite; although you were also older, garnering more experience than others.

It was safe to say you were better than the other candidates, even surpassing the maid knight Noelle, and it was quite obvious you were to be chosen at the next recruitment.

It was no surprise when you became an official knight.

The only thing somewhat shocking about your recruitment was that Kaeya was not allowed to give his own feedback on you. You didn’t dwell on it at the moment, but you had a feeling it was because of your extensive, for lack of better terms, relationship with the Cavalry Captain.

How such information had become public - or knight knowledge, you didn’t know. Kaeya wasn’t one to run his mouth on his personal secrets.

As a consolation for not being able to praise you, something quite silly to console, but the quartermaster only wanted time with you, Kaeya was taking you out to buy your first corset.

“You see, corsets are not only for beauty.” The captain would remind you. “They provide support, if tightened properly.”

In order to convince you, he had to assure that no, the corset would not cut off your respiration or circulation; and yes, his claims were correct. After all, many knights wore corsets of their own. Doubting was normal and natural, but the amount of times he had to reassure you were countless.

The shop had provided you with a dressing room. It was a big, private, and enclosed area; you could do many things here that included the opposite of the room’s actual purpose.

“And you’re sure I’ll be fine?” You call out from behind the room divider.

“Extremely sure.” He replies confidently. “So much so, that I can tell you confidently that I fight worse without one.”

“The Cavalry Captain, Kaeya, worse without a simple item of clothing?” You laugh audibly.

He replies with a laugh of his own, “Believe it or not, they serve a purpose.”

You don’t give him a response for a couple seconds. He presumes it’s because you’re struggling with your corset, so he takes the opportunity to tease you about it.

"How hard could it be to tighten a corset?"

His jest almost gets to your head until you realize he's only trying to fluster you. "Says the person who's been wearing a corset every day for years."

"Touche. Even so, I don't recall spending hours trying."

He may not be able to see your eye roll, but he can certainly sense it. "It has not been hours."

He drops that subject, opting for another. "Even if it hasn't, would you like a bit of help?"

"You insisted I do it on my own, plus you only want to share a few kisses before leaving me to do it alone." Some other times he promised to help you dress, but the next second you were making out and slowly undressing again. He was not to be trusted in a situation like this.

"I'm offering my help now."

"No need."

It was a little hard to tighten your corset, especially since Kaeya insisted you do it without guidance as you would every consequent morning, but you’d managed. As you stepped out of the small room divider, your lover looked you up and down.

You could see a small, playful smirk on his lips and a familiar attraction in his eyes. “What do you think?”

He whistles in awe, continuing to admire your figure. “The corset’s beautiful.” He doesn’t mention the lack of shirt - perhaps ignoring it on purpose.

You roll your eyes, “This was for support, was it not?” 

Kaeya nods, standing up from the waiting chair. He makes his way over to you, closing in on you almost like prey. If it weren’t for your past intimate experiences together, it would’ve been a little intimidating.

Now in front of each other, a small distance apart, he reaches out a hand to touch your corset. However, his fingers trail down from your bicep, their destination still being the item of clothing itself. He meant to do that on purpose, you were sure, and the path his fingers followed seemed to burn your bare skin in their wake. 

The moment is over in an instant, which is slightly disappointing.

“Firm boning.” He squeezes a part of the skeleton between his grip, somehow slipping a finger on the side pressed to your body. While feeling the middle to be tight enough, you’d forgotten the upper and lower parts.

“Not tight enough, though, see?” He wiggles the finger between the corset and your body for emphasis, but all you can focus on is him. He looks up at you, catching your eyes.

“Something you’re seeing on me, recruit?”

“Just your beauty.”

The cavalry captain bites his lips, eyes suddenly half-lidded clouded with lust as they stare at your lips. “I promised myself we would buy your corset without any distractions.”

“What sort of distractions?” You had to hold back from kissing him right then and there, for the sake of flirty banter.

“I’m sure many things come to mind.” He finally looks at you, eyes intense and piercing. “Don’t they?”

“Oh, plenty of things come to mind.” You agree, hands landing on his hips and slowly moving to hook together around them. Kaeya moans quietly when a lost finger presses against his ass a little, it’s not loud enough for you but you can hear it again later. “I just want you to be more specific.”

The Cavalry Captain went on to list many, many things which he wants to do. Needless to say, you might have done a few.

[tinisprout]

No Doubt in Us

Chapter Twelve - What I Want *written section below*

Fiance!Haknyeon x Fem!reader

Masterlist | Prev | Next

a/n: first time writting a make out scene so sorry if it sucks

Synopsis: Life is great, you have your dream job, you finally got your first big break, and you are now engaged to the love of your life. Happier than you’ve ever been, you live life one day at a time. Then one day a terrible accident happens leaving you in a coma. Where you finally awake, everything is not as you remember. Amnesia takes away 3 years of your memory, forgetting your beloved Fiance. Faced with a reality that seems unreal, as your mind is stuck in a past with uncomfortable memories, your future with him is uncertain.

Send me an ask if you want to be put on the taglist for this series

Taglist:@my-summer-night @deputyjuyeon @juhaktheoneforme @sunqnew @givememunjang

Word count: 2.9k+

Warnings: make out session, Hak gets blue balled :)

Things have been going pretty smoothly between you and Haknyeon since the date. You even had a small in-home date the week after, you were content but not satisfied. The romantic tension has been building up in the house, for you at least. You couldn’t tell what exactly Haknyeon was thinking or feeling. There were a collection of moments where something could have happened between the two of you, but Haknyeon always backed away first.

You figured he was just trying to be respectful towards your feelings, except you were feeling that you two should have at least kissed a long time ago. Your attraction towards Haknyeon grew each day, finding out more about him and his little oddities. You found out while going through your recent books how much Haknyeon influenced your writing, you could see it wasn’t a coincidence that the male lead in your sixth book was so similar to him. This only made you feel more drawn to him. The most you had done was hold hands, and that was on the first date, at this rate if you didn’t do or say something kissing would be about six months away.

You sighed as you were trying to work on your latest work, it would go smoothly till your mind drifted to Haknyeon. You get up from your desk seat stretching your body, you go grab your phone from the bed. You send a message to him asking when he is coming home. He responds quickly and you smile. After finding out he’ll be home soon you think about how to move things along.

Going back to your laptop you save the document you were working on, deciding that you did enough for today. You walk downstairs to the kitchen looking for what you can make for dinner. You realize out of all the times you cooked it never seemed to be enough for Haknyeon. When he cooked there was considerably more food compared to your meals, he never complained, but you could tell he was used to eating more than what you made. You decided to try making more food from now on.

Almost an hour has passed and the food is almost done. You just let it simmer. You cleaned up the mess you made while you waited, it was all short work now so you also set the table while you waited. Just in time, you hear the door unlocking and opening as you set the bowls down.

“I’m home!” Haknyeon calls out from the entranceway while taking off his shoes. You came to greet him, poking your head into the entranceway.

“Welcome back.” Haknyeon smiles at your greeting. “You’re just in time, I just finished making dinner, so I hope you’re hungry.”

“I always have room for food.” He follows you back to the kitchen, watching you turn off the burner.

“You can put your stuff away first, I’m still setting up.” Haknyeon just drops his duffle bag in the living room before coming back to you looking eager to help.

“I can help too.” Add that to the list of things you find attractive about him, always so helpful and caring.

“Okay, take these to the table then,” you hand him the rice bowls and he happily complies. Dinner starts as it normally does and you ask each other the usual question of how was your day. He compliments the food joyfully eating to his heart’s content, which makes you happy. There wasn’t much to say, but it was very natural for the two of you to fall into silence while eating, focusing on the food.

You finished eating before Haknyeon, but you still sat at the table letting the food settle a little. You were glad that you made more seeing how well he is eating everything.

“You are really cute, you know that?” You suddenly speak up and he freezes at your statement.

“...Thank you?” He was flattered but confused as to why you said that out of the blue.

“I just wanted you to know what I think.” He nods accepting your answer and continues to eat for a bit more trying to play it cool while having a freak out on the inside. When he finally sets his utensils down you speak once more. “Now that you’re done, there is something I want to talk to you about.”

“Is that what your texts were about?”

“Yes, but like I said it’s nothing bad, actually it should be pretty good for the both of us.” he gives you a curious look.

“I’m all ears.”

“So you know how we’ve been sleeping downstairs since that one time? Well, I’m kinda tired of sleeping on the floor.”

“I already told you, you didn’t have to stay with me. You can go back.”

“I know, I thought instead of going back by myself you could join me back.” You wait for his reaction which seemed delayed.

“...You mean you want to sleep in our bed, together,” Haknyeon says, putting emphasis on the last word.

“Yeah, I don’t see the problem. You have my full trust that you won’t try anything if I’m not ready.”

“I didn’t say it was a problem, just… are you sure? You’re not saying this because you feel bad or something?”

“Honestly I do feel a bit bad, but this is something that I want to do as well,” you place a hand over your heart showing your sincerity. Haknyeon is silent for a moment searching you for any hint of hesitation, but there is none.

“Okay then, thank you for trusting me.” You both smile at each other and start to clean up the table together. Very slowly, the two of you were making progress in your relationship. After the clean-up was done, Haknyeon went to properly put his duffle bag away and you went to do your evening ritual of watering the plants in your yard. Although it wasn’t much of a yard to speak of seeing how small the space was, it was still enough for you to have a variety of potted plants large and small.

You took your time caring for each plant and cleaning the fallen leaves and petals off the ground from the flowering tree that was in between yours and your neighbor’s house. You finally get to the hydrangea plant and see that there is a small odd-looking cluster, you realize that it's the bud and get excited. Looking around the hydrangea you see a few other buds, you crouch next to it, praising the plant and asking it to continue growing well. You were excited to see them bloom, you had asked Haknyeon before if you had grown these flowers before and he answered that you tried last year but they didn’t bloom at all. This made you more excited to see them, it wasn’t like you had never seen Hydrangea before, but it was different when you grow the plant yourself.

“Haknyeon?!” you call out to him hoping he can hear you through the small crack you left in the sliding door.

“Did you call me?” you hear his voice shout from in the house.

“Yeah. Can you come out here and look at this, please?”

“I’m coming.” He comes out soon after and slips on his outdoor slippers walking next to you, raising his eyebrows asking what’s up.

“Look, they have started to bud.” You beam a smile at him while pointing at one of the buds. He looks at it, noticing all the buds giving it a curious glance crouching next to you.

“I’ve never seen them as buds before…,” he smirks. “It looks a little weird.” you chuckle nodding in agreement.

“What color do you think they’ll be?”

“Hmm, I don’t know. I think blue would be a nice color though.”

“I hope it’s purple. Maybe it will have both colors.”

“Fingers crossed,” you say and the both of you cross your fingers. The wind blows a particularly strong breeze knocking off dozens of petals off the tree, annoyingly landing into your yard again making you sigh, which Haknyeon laughed at. You decided to look at the bigger picture, at least it made a beautiful scene like in those anime. “Well, at least it's pretty.” Your back faced the setting sun while streaks of light shone on Haknyeon's face painting him an alluring golden color.

Haknyeon's eyes that were focused on the tree switch to you realizing you are looking at him. His eyes squint a little at the sun, he notices a couple of petals had landed on your head.

“Very pretty.” He reaches out, plucking one of them off your head and gently brushing the other ones away. He showed you the petal in his hand, tittering. For a second you thought he was talking about you and then felt mortified to realize that wasn't the case. He blows the petal away oblivious to your current emotions.

“That… were you trying to be romantic?”

“Huh?” Haknyeon questions you but then realizes what you mean. “Oh, no. Sorry, I didn’t even realize. I meant the flower. Wait no, I’m not saying you aren’t pretty. The flower is pretty, but you are prettier.” You felt a little down at first knowing he meant nothing by it, but seeing him trying hard to appease you made you laugh out loud. Hearing you he groans and mutters, “What am I even saying?”

“You’re good, I understand,” you say while trying to stifle your laughter. Now it was Haknyeon’s turn to feel mortified.

“Haha, yes, very funny.” He dramatically rolls his eyes and then stands up. He offers you a hand up, which you take, standing up as well.

“Sorry sorry. You really are cute though….”

“I won’t be able to take much more if you keep complimenting me like that,” he grabs at his heart playing up the act.

“And what would you do?” You cross your arms, tilting your head in question.

“Hmm, probably die,” he clasps his hands together over his stomach acting like he’s dead. Then I would wait for my true love to kiss me back to life.” He peeks one eye open, smirking, looking for your reaction.

“Okay, prince charming. Back into the house with you,” you say, trying to hold back your smile. You wondered what you were going to do with yourself if he kept joking like that, you might actually lose it and just kiss him. Your answer to him would have been different if you knew at the moment he was seriously testing the water to see how you felt about kissing. Haknyeon thought he had a chance of a positive answer considering how flirty you were today, but he doesn’t take your answer to heart.

“Yes ma’am.” He told himself he would try again another day. As Haknyeon went back into the house, you continued your work in the yard.

***

The rest of the evening continued as per usual. Though the real trial to come for both of you was going to sleep. After you finished preparing for bed, while you were waiting in bed for Haknyeon you made a tweet wondering if moving to the bed would have been too sudden, still, you don’t regret your decision. You see that Haknyeon replied to the tweet and you smile since he was less than 15 feet away in the bathroom. He came out of the bathroom soon after and casually took up his old spot.

“Welcome back to the room,” you say, facing him. He turns his body to the side facing you.

“Good to be back,” there is a pause with nothing much else to say.

“Goodnight, Haknyeon.”

“Goodnight, y/n.” You turn your back to him pretending the reason was to get comfortable, but really you were nervous because of how close you were this time around. Before you could sleep at the edge of the blanket but now the edges hung off the side of the bed so there was less surface area to lay on. You try to calm your mind, It’s whatever. This isn’t the first time we slept together anyway.

Your mind drifts to earlier in the evening, when Haknyeon had mentioned kissing, That was my chance, wasn’t it. Stupid. You chastise yourself for unknowingly hindering yourself. I can fix this, I just have to make the first move. I don't think I can wait for Haknyeon… forgive me for being greedy.

“Haknyeon?” You say while turning back to face him again.

“Hmm?” He hums in response, eyes still closed.

“Can the heroine revive you?” his eyebrows knit together unsure of what you are trying to say and then opens his eyes to see your sincere ones staring into him.

“What?”

“I’ve been thinking for a while now that maybe we should move things along.... I don’t know about you but I’ve been feeling some romantic tension between us for a while now and I think I might go crazy if it stays like this, and nothing happens.” Or maybe I'm already crazy for even saying all this. “Can we kiss?” He finally realizes you were referring to what he said about needing a kiss to come back to life.

“Seriously?” To Haknyeon this proposal seemed out of the blue since he thought he was rejected earlier today.

“Very serious.��

“That’s what you want?”

“Mhm.” He lifts his body, propping himself up with his forearm and you scoot a little closer to him. He cups your cheek with his other hand caressing you for a while. Your heart pounds hard then you feel his breath tickle your face as he draws closer and you close your eyes thinking this is finally it. You feel his lips press against your cheek and open your eyes when it wasn’t what you expected.

You saw his warm gaze on you before you closed your eyes again as he went back in for another kiss on your other cheek and then another. You opened your eyes once more when he pulled away once more cheeks pink, apologizing.

“Sorry, I don’t know if I can do this. I don’t want to take advantage of you.”

“Haknyeon, I need you to trust me when I say, you aren’t taking advantage of me. I know what I want. You aren’t forcing me,” you say while you reposition yourself to sit up moving closer to him again, placing your hand behind his neck. “You can’t say ‘you can’t’ after teasing me with those kisses when you knew I wanted something like this. With those words, you lean into him and he closes his eyes this time, giving him a small experimental open mouth kiss.

His lips feel soft against yours and you find yourself wanting more of the softness. You pulled away and just as quickly kissed him again, you could feel this time his hand on your cheek moved to the back of your neck, pulling you closer. Slow and gentle, you feel how he was caring for you, this only riled you up, wanting more. Your fingers found their way to his silky locks, nails scratching his scalp. A groan came from Haknyeon’s throat in response but he didn’t pull away so you pushed further.

You traced his lips agonizingly slowly seeing how far he would let you go. His eyes flew open when he felt an acute pain on his lips. You both lock eyes as you lightly pull on his lower lip with your teeth, making him let out a small gasp. You pulled away unsure if you hurt him. He fully sat up and then leaned over you, grabbing your chin.

“Be careful. I’m the type that bites back harder.” His words sent shivers down your spine. This time he moves first, pulling your shoulders, bringing you back to him. True to his words he bites your lip and you jump letting out a whimper at the sensation. As if to quell your pain he runs his tongue along your bottom lip, instinctively you open your mouth to let him.

As his tongue pushed past your lips you could feel your body get increasingly hotter by the second, slow and gentle turned into feverish and greedy as his tongue dominated your mouth. Haknyeon had to constantly remind himself to not move his hands from your shoulders. It’s just a kiss, just a kiss, he tells himself. Your hands rested on his forearms, squeezing them as you whimpered into the kiss. I’m so fucked.

Haknyeon pulled you away and pushed you down on the bed firmly. You can hear each other’s labored breathing, trying to catch your breath. He lowered his head and kissed your lips once more, but just as quickly pulled away as if that is all he would allow himself.

“Haknyeon?”

“That should be enough, for now.” you nod your head in agreement. You weren’t sure what possessed you to lose yourself like that. It was taken farther than you thought it would be, but it wasn’t bad. Actually, you really enjoyed yourself, so much so that you felt sleepiness follow after the excitement.

“I’m a little tired now.”

“That’s okay. You can go to sleep.” you move into a comfortable position facing him this time.

“Can I hold your hand?” Haknyeon was in distress but aided your request. You closed your eyes peacefully with his hand in yours. Meanwhile, Haknyeon wasn’t sure what to do. He didn’t think he would end up blue balled tonight. Would it settle itself before you fell asleep or would he suffer till you fell asleep so he could take care of himself in the bathroom?

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[chidoroki]

TPN ch181

(spoilers! AAAHHhhaha..my children!)

Okay, so remember in my last review when I said I was impressed how Ray, Gilda and Phil managed to narrow down where Emma might be in the matter of a couple months? Well, I take it back because it hasnt been just a few months, it's been two damn years! Oh my god, I can't imagine how hard it must've been for everyone, especially our two boys, to search for so long without even getting on single clue about Emma's whereabouts. Some of the children still doubt whether she's alive or actually in this world with them or not.

(image limit, so imagine the panels of the Goldy Pond kids discussing the lack of clues and Thoma and Lani doubting the reward again)

Thankfully, Gilda gets the idea to search in forbidden zones which is where we see her, Ray and Phil. Speaking of which, oh my poor boy. This is the longest Ray has been without Emma by his side. I thought the one month after Goldy Pond was hard enough on him, but two whole years? Damn, I can't imagine the stress and anxiety he's been experiencing. He's still so frustrated too and gets so close to Emma without even realizing it. Then, surprisingly, his beloved family steps in to help? The people he personally couldn't save now come together to help him save the one person who originally saved his life. Like, hello?? I love this! Conny, who was another sibling he had to use in order to put his initial escape plan in motion to save Emma and Norman's lives, is now assisting him in saving Emma from being alone. Yuugo, who knows firsthand how important Emma is to Ray and how close they are. Isabella, knowing her son kept his promise as he's always set out to do whatever it takes to protect his entire family. The fact that Ray's lost family members can feel how strong his bond with Emma is and they jump in to help reconnect the two of them again.. just, wow. It may be all the rayemma week feels getting to me but that's like a damn soulmate occurrence if i ever saw one!

The two unknowingly pass each other again but thanks to Emma conveniently losing her necklace and finding it with perfect timing, they all finally encounter each other. Everyone expresses their complete shock and relief that they had finally found Emma, and while I am happy they their search ended up a success, the mood changes fairly quickly due to our girls lost memories. She hasnt the slightest idea who "Emma" is, who these people are or why they're so excited to see her. The kids wonder if they have the right girl, as they take notice of Emma's bare neck.

One look at the necklace in her hand though and Ray finally puts the pieces together. Honestly, I'm not at all surprised he's the one to figure out the true reward, as Ray has been very perceptive since the beginning. He's also always been openly honest and blunt when things get serious, so naturally he's the one who has to let everyone know this because while it's a sad truth no one wants to hear, or even believe, they all need to realize it, including Emma. Even Ray has trouble coming to terms with the sacrifice Emma made. He understands how hard it must have been for Emma to accept the heavy price of her forgetting the family she loves so deeply and he looks so broken when he realizes that. He must be feeling so guilty that he couldn't have been there with her when she made the new promise. He still puts the blame on himself and he's so upset that his failure lead Emma to live in a world alone without the family she cares for more than anything.

I wasn't too satisfied last chapter when demon god told us the real reward and Emma's response was a simple "okay," so I'm grateful we learned more about the conversation now in this chapter. She really did want to live her family. She even knew some of them might get mad at her for keeping a secret. She says it's a selfish request, for her to place such a heavy burden on herself, but what mattered to her back then upon accepting the reward is what has always mattered to her, and that's her family's happiness and safety. It wasn't just her loved one either, but for all the demons and cattle children. This girl truly has a heart of gold and demon god himself is left surprised. Of course I wish she didn't think she was being selfish since everyone did agree to follow her as their leader but aahh.. my poor girl.

Spoiling the very end now, but we dont get one last fullscore trio hug. Of course that upsets me since I thought it would've made such a perfect ending, but it makes sense now given how everyone's reunion with Emma happened. While their happiness and relief is completely understandable after searching two years and finally finding Emma, they overreact and this visibly freaks her out. Come on guys, last time I said to gently remind her of her past, not bombard her right away. Having a ton of strangers surround you and tell you such outlandish things is quite jarring. I'm glad she takes the chance to listen to everyone, but she just doesnt know these people well enough to suddenly hug them. I imagined a hug would've happened upon her recalling some of her memories somehow and feeling relived that she met the two boys she often once dreamt about, but oh well.

Norman takes this time to step in and ease some of the tension, saying how happy he is that Emma's alive and even reiterating some of the things he said to her during his shipment scene. While this chapter soon shows how well the escapees have adapted to the human world and changed, it also puts an emphasis on the boy's true personalities that they showed since the very beginning. I've already mentioned above how Ray stayed true to himself, about him being open and honest to the others with the truth and even his own feelings. With Norman, I don't know the word for him really, but his speech about their family and his feelings remind me of ch1/ep1 where we see him trying to calm Emma down after seeing what they did at the gate. He stayed by her side and remained hopeful even though he was just as scared. Right now, I get the same vibes. He's just as upset as their family upon learning Emma lost her memories, but he still wants her to be apart of their family.

Although it seems like a very rushed way of tying up loose ends, I'm happy to hear about how well the children have been adapting in the human world. They're attending school and following their passions. They all look so happy! The entire Lambda crew is healthy and Cislo even has a prosthetic leg! The medicine made from Adam's dna was successful and also helped those children from the mass production farms. Mike Ratri and the clan are actually being helpful and trustworthy. I absolutely love Norman's comment about Ayshe not killing him! It really makes me smile and I assume that means she's forgiven him.. maybe. Her dogs were indeed able to cross over to the human world too and now there's even more! Chris is finally awake! They seriously have to fill the poor boy in on so much news though.

I get it. It took the entire story for me to understand but now I get Norman's intense feelings. He's been infatuated by this girl since childhood. He told us/Ray his feelings at age 11 then "gave his life" to give her a better chance at survival. He kept living just for the slight possibly to see her again. After almost two years, they reunite, only for about a week or two before they all cross over into the human world and Emma is no where to be seen. Another two years pass and while they all find her, she's almost a completely difference person. Yet Norman's feelings remain so sincere for her that he accepts this new Emma. He lets her know that the bright future she wished for came true. (me? speaking of noremma? even im surprised)

Her head might not have the slightest idea who these people are, but her heart surely remembers! Emma's feelings for her family were so strong that they persisted throughout these entire two years, even after she stopped having those dreams about them. Deep down, and without even realizing it, she loves them so much that it makes her cry.

“Why am I... Even though I don't know them. Though I don't know anything. Though I can't remember. Why... Does it feel warm, but also so painful in my heart? I wanted to see you.”

Seeing everyone else get emotional and expressing their feelings to her right back and having all of them accept this new Emma.. yeah, that has me in tears! Demon god truly underestimated these kids and how deep their love for each other went. Emma's family was never going to give up looking for her because, thanks to her influence, they also didn't believe anything was impossible. “Screw destiny” indeed! (also we never did learn the old dude's name or Emma's new one hm? odd.)

Did Emma get her memories back? No. Did Ray pat her head again so I could die from nostalgia? No, because I'm still here. Did we get a fullscore hug like I originally hoped? No, sadly. The ending isn't picture perfect but honestly, this is still okay. Our precious girl is finally reunited with her family again. Most importantly, they're alive. The trio are teenagers about 15/16 years old now, which amazing since they once believed they wouldn't see a day past the age of 12. Yet here they are, living happy and free in the human world without fear and killing, which is exactly what Emma wished for.

I can't believe the manga is truly finished. It feels like it all went by so quick, but perhaps that's only because I haven't been in the fandom as long as others, like if you've been here since the manga started then I applaud you and can't imagine how sad this must be after four years. The anime is what caught my attention and my love for this series only grew when I jumped into the manga right after season one ended. I must have binged all available chapters at the time in like three days, all the way up to ch129. Since then I've waited patiently week after week to see how this suspenseful story would pan out for out lovable and very large cast of characters. Each new twist and cliffhanger made my brain crazy and stressed me out but it was so great to experience them with everyone.

Also, big thanks to all of you who share your comments on these reviews of mine! Even though I started writing them pretty late into the story and at the most stressful time, it was great to hear so much feedback and experience the exciting finish with everyone. The manga may have ended, but don't let that make the fandom quiet! We still have future manga volume releases to look forward to, the live-action movie that is still set for this December along with a live-action series that was also recently announced. Most importantly, season two of the anime is still scheduled for January 2021! You can bet I'll do reactions for each episode as I normally do with other anime! The series still has so much more content to give us, especially if the anime continues to recieve future seasons over the upcoming years, so of course I'll give my thoughts on all that I can.

I give all my thanks and appreciation to Shirai & Demizu for such a wonderful and suspenseful story, for all the memorable characters and the stunning artwork. The series has truly become my favorite. That's right, I said it! My favorite. TPN has taken over Black Lagoon as my favorite series. (Revy can still keep her spot as my favorite character but I'll be damned if Ray isn't a really really close second.)

[bokunowritingacademia]

Crimson Wings and Broken Masks

AO3 Version

Relationship: Reader/Hawks

Rating: T

Summary: To most people, that’s all he was. An actor in a mask, playing his part on the greater stage. It didn’t matter who he actually was, but solely that he kept up the appearance.

But you saw the moments where the mask broke. When it shattered into nearly unsalvageable pieces, sharp and stained with old blood, scratches and dents from experiences of long years past that even you had yet to learn about.

What mattered is that you saw him as vulnerable sometimes—a person, not just a hero with a good quirk.

-

To the average viewer, fan or even tabloid-based critique, Kiego Takami—known only as Hawks to the greater public—seemed nothing more than a self-absorbed ladies’ man who cared more about mixing up the status quo than being something of a traditional pro hero. Even outside Japan, his reputation (where it wasn’t overshadowed by a country's local heroes) he was just another shallow celebrity who just happened to have a powerful quirk, and a heart half-in on using it to better the world.

To most people, that’s all he was. An actor in a mask, playing his part on the greater stage. It didn’t matter who he actually was, but solely that he kept up the appearance.

But you saw the moments where the mask broke. When it shattered into nearly unsalvageable pieces, sharp and stained with old blood, scratches and dents from experiences of long years past that even you had yet to learn about.

But what mattered is that you saw him as vulnerable sometimes—a person, not just a hero with a good quirk.

So when you find him perched upon the top of his hero agency’s building, you find yourself wholly unsurprised. Worried, as any partner would be for their emotionally enigmatic boyfriend, but unsurprised. You knew the last couple weeks had been hard on him, and that was only based on the few things he deigned worthy to burden you with (‘it isn’t a burden, Takami, I promise’)—you can only assume the water was far deeper than what it looked at the surface.

The sunset cast a soft orange glow over everything it touched, the shadows growing longer with every passing minute. You can feel it against your back, with the last warm remnants of summertime.

You approach with no attempt to hide the sounds of your footfalls on the cement, but Hawks doesn’t make a move to show he’s realized your presence. Instead, he sits, over the edge of the roof, wings expanded wide on either side of him, crimson feathers looking all the more brilliant in the deep warm glow of the fading sunlight.

The breeze, as soft as a whisper, caresses against them, each feather trembling against it. But silent does he remain, an unwavering pillar overseeing the vastness of the city below--and not a single person to realize that even now, someone watches over them.

A society where heroes can enjoy a little boredom... I'll make it happen, I promise.

“Hey.”

Though soft, the sound of his voice brings you out of your thoughts. 

A small smile starts to tug at your lips as you step closer. “Your desk secretary said you’d probably be up here.”

“Eh? Thought I told Iwata to keep my rooftop brooding on the downlow.”

You move another step closer, almost an arm’s length away from him. The view over the city is mind-bogglingly expansive, even from a few strides back from the edge. Had he been sitting here all this time, since his last patrol of the evening?

Watching?

“In fact,” you say, almost sheepishly. “he told me you’d say that too.”

The man doesn’t respond. The only indication that he might have even heard you is the gentle shuffling of his crimson wings, slowly pulling back towards his body. You can practically feel the stress echoing from his body, feel the tension he keeps bottled up somewhere so deep that not even you can scarcely reach.

But you can reach out, physically. It’s mostly just an instinct to touch him somewhere, to offer an anchor of touch so that he knows he’s not alone. You can’t quite reach his shoulders--the wings are still stretched open enough it’s nearly impossible with him facing away from you--but your fingers do manage to touch, and then card through the layers of soft red feathers that cover one of his wings.

Soft to you. You know how they can each, individually, be used as tools. 

As weapons. 

Things used to save lives as much as they likely have been to take them.

As if it stung, the wing beneath your fingertips trembles. You’re about to pull your hand back in mild alarm, thinking you’ve done something to hurt him--perhaps even aggravated a wound he’d gotten and not told you about--but the wing settles against your touch.

It’s hard to understand what’s going through Hawks’ mind at the best of times when he has such a careful control on even the smallest facial tells--

But you hear him sigh, and the comfort it brings to you is almost silly for anyone who didn’t know him as well as you do. Though it is true you have a hard time reading him physically, there is but one point of expression that seems to elude him and come easy to you: the way he sighs. 

The stilted push of air in stress, as if he’s trying to force the tension out of him.

The deep, languid exhale of peace, letting himself settle into its comfort.

The rushed, half-hidden chuckle he tries to hide.

You wonder if there’s anyone else in the world that notices it.

The gentleness of how he sighs now, with your fingers buried in the feathers of one of his wings, is the single but powerful declaration that your touch feels good to him. So you repeat the motion, over and over, slowly moving closer until you have both of your hands slowly stroking through feathers that mimic the rich, warm glow of the sun as it starts to dip below the horizon at your back.

“...it’s been a while since you’ve let me do this,” you murmur after a few moments, picking out a few feathers that seemed to have met the last of their days; color fading, as if the breeze itself would have had them flying loose and free into the evening wind.

“Yeah,” Takami agrees. “Been a rough couple of weeks.”

“You can take a day off.” Another few fading feathers fall from the rest, through your fingers and towards your feet. “-the stress is starting to take its toll. I can’t remember the last time you’ve had this many molt at once.”

“Eh.”

If the single syllable wasn’t enough to show his disinterest in being honest about his feelings, the vague shrug--or what you assume is a shrug--does plenty to send the message.

“Takami.”

Though gentle, his name on your lips still falls firm and worried. You’re about to open your mouth to say something more, but there’s no chance to do more than part your lips before his wings are stretching out, and upwards, arching so that you can see his face looking at you over his shoulder, leaning on one of his hands.

With the other, he reaches out to you, expression relatively unreadable save for the quirk at the corners of his lips.

“C’mere and sit next to me already.”

Though some part of you wants to stand firm on your concern, the rest of you knows it’s not the time for a talk like that. It knows that, in the end, you just want him to know you’re with him for everything his life and career throws--big or small.

But you don’t make it easy for him. A dramatic sigh leaves your lips as you tilt both head and eyes to the side, as if having to think about it.

“I dunno,” you bring a hand up to your chin for extra emphasis. “You did make me wait at the apartment for like, an hour, and didn’t return my call at lunch.”

Hawks purses his lips together as if pained and pouting. “Oh come on baby bird , don’t be like that.” He reaches his hand out again, expression shifting into something coy. “Just sit up here with me for a few minutes, and then I can fly us home all romantic-like, sound fair?”

Though there’s not one singular detail that acts stronger than the others, the culmination of them--the softness of his expression, the tease of his words, the honest adoration in the petname--is enough to make you drop the act like a rock into a lake.

You reach out to take his hand, letting the man pull you into his lap in one strong, careful motion. If this had happened several months earlier in your relationship, you might have worried about being so close to the edge of the roof, overlooking the steep drop down several stories onto the pavement below. But this isn’t several months before, and your mind trusts the man whose arms envelope your body and hold you tight against his chest.

Hawks perches his chin over the top of your head and, for a few seconds, the two of you simply watch the flickering landscape below. 

Car lights in the street, the office lights turning on in several buildings as the sunlight fades into dusk. Even as the day winds down, the city yet remains vibrant and bustling, and it makes you vaguely grateful that Hawks doesn’t have to work as many overnights as he did when you first met him. Or, at least, you’ve managed to convince him to sleep on occasion. It doesn’t always stick.

“So,” you break the silence and reach a hand up, idly stroking a thumb over the man’s cheek. “You gonna tell me about all the shit happening with work?”

“Nah,” Hawks says as honestly as he does casually. You’re half a second away from giving him an annoyed flick before he quickly explains, “I’m still working through some case details and my brain just needs some alone time with them is all. I’ll give you all the dirty details once it’s over--just a few more days.”

“You promise?”

“Yeah.”

He tilts his head into your touch and allows a sigh to escape him. Gentle, languid--and you believe his words.

“Besides,” he continues after a moment, tone turning amused and teasing. “Nobody can keep me away from my lil’ hummingbird for too long. I’d go fucking nuts without you.”

“You can say that again, birdboy.”

“ Excuse me, ” Hawks tenses up suddenly against you, and you can hear as much as see his wings stretch out, wide and imposing--though a little less so when you’re snuggled up against his chest. “I’m a bird man , thank you very much.”

“Uh huh.” laugher bubbles up behind your tongue, spilling out when you simply can’t hide how silly--and yet how sweet--his overdramatic posturing is.

But when the laughter between both of you die back down into silence, and the sun finally settles behind the horizon to let darkness start taking over the newborn night sky, you pat a hand on Hawks’ chest.

“Alright, birdman , how ‘bout you get us home like you promised. I had dinner on and everything.”

“Dinner? Oh, now that changes everything.” He moves, lifting up to his feet even with you settled comfortably in his arms, wings outstretched. “What’cha make?”

“A surprise.”

He lifts from the roof, gradually up and into the air with just a few meaningless flaps of his brilliant crimson wings--even with nobody around, there’s still a remnant of that actor putting on a show.

“Okay then,” he says. The wind brushes over your cheeks, like an evening kiss, and you settle into his arms without a single worry for the cityscape below you. “How about we take that surprise dinner and pair it up with a movie?”

“Now you’re thinking like a man who cares about his mental health.”

“Well, I got someone like you t’help make that possible,” Hawks nuzzles his chin over the top of your head, and repeats the words of just several minutes before. “I’d go absolutely nuts if you weren’t here to help pick up all the pieces of me when I fuckin’ drop them down the stairs.”

To that, you say nothing; words aren’t needed. At that point, all that mattered was the feeling of the air rushing past the two of you, the warmth of his body, the steadfast strength of his arms holding you,

And the soft, fading sunlight, shining brilliantly on Hawks’ crimson wings.

[nanamisflowerfield]

Hiyaaa! I JUST READ MY REQUEST AND I'M IN LOOOOVEEEE💓💓🤧

SO HAPPY THAT YOU WROTE THIS BUT ALSO PLASE DON'T STRESS YOURSELF SO MUCH!

I'm a happy lil' girl rn so Can I also request a Sebastian one of the same request or maybe a second part like she starts to fix Ciel's mistakes and interacts with him and Elizabeth?( like Pluto's death or some other things? Also she teases Ciel and annoys him and Sebastian and her bond over their shared love for felines?)

I'd be delightful if you did that and again thank u so much! Take care hun muaaah

Omggg! Thank you so much for your sweet words, hun!!❤️❤️❤️ That means so much to me!

I did the Sebastian x Reader now~ I tried to pit more Ciel and Elizabeth in it and make it more fluffier but I think it isn‘t so good ;-; I also thought about making a second part, but I think Ciel had made too many mistaked maybe in his life to fix them and if reader changed them, maybe she would change her entire future too! And omg... I have a few ideas for a serie.... not good... No one would wanted to read my stuff anyway (　ﾟдﾟ)

No! I have to thank you for requesting it to me!~

Gender: I wanted to write it gender-neutral but it I wrote sometimes she/her in it.... Sorry! 

warnings: fluff? does that count?

words: 2106

Requests: Open

Other Version: Finnian

Everybody, please stay safe, take good care at you and the people around you!~

🗡  “Come on! Go and get that, stupid witch!” You yelled over to your group of colleagues and friends. You all runed as fast as possible to hunt down a strong witch, who wanted to kill the Queen of England and as a good-hearted and well paid Phantomhive, you tried to help her. Unfortunately for you, the emphasis was on the word tried, because the witch was too fast.

🗡  “Sooo…. When is going to be our wedding?” You heard a too familiar voice asking you by your side. “This is no the time to joke around, Elijah! We need to hurry!”

🗡 Thanks to the gods above, you surrendered the witch. But she started to laugh like a frickin’ maniac! “Ohh, you know why I did so many things? Hahaha… I did it for a reason! So many people did so many mistakes and nobody ever tried to help them out or to fix their big problems … So… Why don’t you be a dear and fix the mistakes your beloved ancestors did!”

🗡 Suddenly a light dazzled you and when you opened your (e/c) eyes. No! The witch can’t escape her again! So you did the only intelligent thing and killed her.

🗡 But that damn light came again and out of the sudden your group was gone…

🗡  “Wow… That was strange.” But not Elijah. Your cousin. He stood up and walked to your direction, looking over your body to see, if you have any bruises or wounds. At least one of your group members were there.

🗡  “Yes, indeed. But not as weird as this place here.” You said and looked around you. The surroundings looked like London, the city you used to live in, but everything was so… old? What’s up with the furniture and this crappy paintings? You were to 100% sure that you were in your home. The Phantomhive Manor. But everything was so… weird!!

🗡 Before you could have asked your cousin about his little wound the witch inflicted him with, knives were thrown into your direction!

🗡 Fortunately, you were a skilled fighter. You could practically use every weapon if you wanted to! So you used your great skills and blocked the attacks of some strangers.

🗡 Some of them shot at you, some threw knives but then… You saw something weird. A tree!?

🗡 Elijah pushed you away in time, but only got stretched but a branch of it.

🗡 How in the world, could somebody throw trees around!? That was not possible for any human being!

🗡 Now, when you two were on the ground, you heard footsteps.

🗡  “Who are you?” - “Uhh… If I’m not wrong, people usually introduced themselves before they asked others.” – “You are inside my home. I’m pretty sure, that you know who I am, assassin.”

🗡 Assassin? That was new…

🗡  “What the hell? Hey, kiddo. This place belongs to (y/n)! Afterall this is her home for she is a Phantomhive!”

🗡  “Phantomhive?” The young blue-haired boy raised his eyebrow and did not believed any word Elijah had said.

🗡 So, it was your turn to explain your situation. Who you are, why you are here and so on and on. But the young boy still didn’t believe a word. His household even looked at you in confusion. Until you showed them your ring. The ring of the Phantomhives.

🗡 His eyes nearly popped out of his head when he saw it and immediately glanced to his finger. It was the same one! How could it be possible? A young woman with blueish hair, the same ring as his and not to forget a similar past… Is she mayhaps from another world? But no. You retold him everything again.

🗡 When your eyes glanced around, you saw very familiar red eyes. The red eyes of a demon. Sebastian Michaelis. “Ohhh my gosh. Are you kidding me, Sebastian!? Did you really… REALLY attacked ME!? What the hell! I thought that you wouldn’t do such a thing except if we had our training sessions, but this is just…. Oh god, I am really mad right now. And what the hell is wrong with your clothes?” Sigh. “Dude… you didn’t even bother changing yourself? Unbelievable.”

🗡 Everybody was just very confused…. Even Elijah.

🗡 And who knows. Maybe you were unfortunate or maybe not, but you were stuck in the past. At first you though it was your bad luck, but now… Maybe it wasn’t so bad. Afterall… he was here. With you.

 😈 “Lady (y/n), there you are.” Said a smiling demon behind you, while you trained in the garden a little bit. The only thing that some might hear, when you are nearby, is the wind and the sword you held tightly in your hand, cutting every leaf that tried to land on the ground.

“Demon. What do you need?” You asked, still focused on your training rather of the one you had a pact with. He might sound and looked like the demon you knew, but he for sure is not the one you’ve met. He was kind of a younger version. One which never had met you. One that has to get to know you better again. It was weird, but you have to live with it until the day will come and you will be back in your time.

Just a few days and maybe you will fix the mistakes Ciel’s have done. Even though you don’t know which mistakes he has done. But even then, you will stay on his side, whenever he needs your help so you can finally be back. Back with him. The only person who knows you best…

😈 “What are you thinking about again, my lady?” He asked you, like on every other day since you have been arrived here. “About me! Who else~” Elijah said, as he approached you two, sword in hand and ready to train with you.

Sighing, you ignored them and continued.

😈 It was like back then. Elijah never stopped to be by your side, while you tried to drink you tea, shaking your cousin off of you and Sebastian smiling at you two.

😈 But now… Now it was slightly different. He wasn’t always there like your shadow. He was now by your ancestor’s side and serving him. Were you…. Jealous? No. That couldn’t be possible. You tried to shake off those strange feelings you had, but your mind always seem to wonder of to the attractive butler and demon.

😈 “Cieeeeeeel!!~ Ohhh, I missed you sooooo much!” You heard a high-pitched voice and fast footsteps rushing through the building in search of the young head of the phantomhive household.

What happened right now? It was like seeing a pink something running around. Weird.

😈 But this pink-something was actually the fiancée of Ciel. Her name was Elizabeth Midford.

😈 Unfortunate for Ciel and for you, Elizabeth and your cousin Elijah were very alike. Both loved the same things and both were nearly overprotective over you two. It was horrible. Ciel just wanted to work in silence, while you read plenty of books in hope that you might find another way to break this curse or spell or whatever this stupid witch put on you! Just be far away from this crappy place and be back… Back to the people you love and back to great technology like computers and smartphones! The internet… The Fanfictions you’ve read in secret…. All these things you loved so much were gone now….

😈 “(y/n)! That was so funny! You have to hear Lizzie’s story! It is hilarious!” – “Ohhh, El! I laughed so much thanks to your great jokes. You can be happy to have such a great fiancée, (y/n)!” Rolling your eyes didn’t help to stop them…

😈 “My lady. I think I might have found what you were looking for.” Said the one and only demon behind you, as you turned around to see a smiling Sebastian. “Mh?”

Following him, you ignored the two blondes and a deadpanned Ciel, who just wanted to flee.

😈 “So, what have you found… Sebastian?” You asked him after you two walked into another room filled with plenty of books, like many other rooms Ciel had. Sure, back in your time you had many too, but in digital form, so it was different than this.

“Oh, nothing. I thought that you needed some space.” He smiled, placing his forefinger and thump on your chin, staring into your eyes.

😈 Time to fricking blush like jfejfösdjgöajö IT’S SEBASTIAN!!!

😈 But no! You are a badass and he was just a very very very attractive butler!

😈 He served you back then! As if you could ever feel attracted to him!

😈 “Sebastian. Stop.” You said, trying to hide your face, walking away from the chuckling demon.

😈 Since then, he won’t stop teasing you. For now, he has no pact with you, so he will only listen to your ancestor and not you. You are just a sweet little being to him. A plaything some might say.

😈 But you are not the only one who got a little bit annoyed or more likely teased. Ciel too, because you are “too cruel” how he described you once. Only because you teased him a couple of times (46 times a week… Ciel counted it.) His fault if he is adorable and blushy, when you tease him.

😈 But after two months you’ve decided to finally make Sebastian, the cruel demon, blush! So he will realize how mean he is to you!

😈 Mission: Make Sebastian Blush Like A Tomato!

😈 You tried it. Many times… Wearing short clothes (Baldroy, Meyrin, Finnian, Elijah and Ciel blushed furiously and you were certain, that you saw their noses bleed…), brushing your hands with his, smiling sexy at him, bending over, touching him a lot…. And it goes and goes… But nothing happened. He just smirked and teased you back.

😈 Mission: Totally Failed.

😈 “My lady, how it seems you tried to tease me.” Sebastian smiled as he poured tea into your teacup. “Yeah… And I give up.” – “Oh, that is quite sad. I was happy to see more today.” He chuckled or more likely laughed at your attempts. “Haha… Very nice of you… No go, Sebastian….”

😈 But there was Sebastian actually speaking the truth. He was a little bit to not see you trying to attract him. He had always fun to see you like this, but now that you gave up, you had no reason to be near him again… He liked it whenever you were there, staring at him or trying to talk dirty to him (without success).

😈 When you talked later on with Ciel during your usual cup of earl grey tea about your past and what so not, he told you about his cat allergy and why he hates it that Sebastian always hides cats everywhere, because of his love for the small kittens.

😈 Wait… Right… Back then, you figured it out. There was one thing that the demon butler and you had in common! Your love for cats!

😈 So you walked to Elizabeth once and asked for a favor…

😈 “Sebastian. Could you maybe turn around? I need to show you something.”

😈 And that’s what the good butler did. He turned around and saw you. You looked the same, except for your clothes. You changed your usual attire for skintight, beautiful clothes with a cat-ear hairband and a tail. On your hands you wore paw-gloves, as you smirked at the now slightly flushing butler, who worked a few seconds ago in the kitchen.

😈 The knife he used to cut the onions, fell down and his red eyes scanned your body many times, when his mouth turned to a smirk and he walked to you.

😈 “My my~ What do we have here?~”

😈 Let’s say that many kisses were exchanged… Too many to count, when he held you tight in his arms.

😈 Maybe the reason for you to make him blush was not only to get your revenge… Maybe it was because you fell in love with him once, when you were younger and that you fell for him again.

  Bonus:

😈 “What the hell!? (y/n)!? Sebastian!? NO! Where is my sword!! Get your hands off of her, you goddamn butler!!! I never liked you!!” Elijah screamed when he tried to get his sword, ignoring the sweet words you and your beloved exchanged. The teasing kisses and the “I like you too much”s….

[silksandcravats]

Love Language Series: Words of Affirmation with Flip

masterlist

love language series masterlist

warnings: swearing, female-reader, end of friendship,

It was a nasty fight, and everyone who was in the Colorado Springs’ Howard Johnson’s that day for lunch got to witness it, including Flip. You hadn’t even expected to see her today, after all, it had been quite some time since you’ve seen her last.

One of your closest friends had recently thrown herself entirely into her new relationship and you were happy for her, at least at first. You’d found your other half in Flip, your wedding was the best day of your life and of course you’d want that for your friends! But you quickly became suspicious of the mystery man when you met him in person. You could tell by your friend’s behaviour that she wasn’t totally comfortable with him, she couldn’t be herself. You watched as she slowly shifted into someone else, just last week she’d gone dancing three times, and she hated dancing. 

Flip was just finishing up paying for the check when she came in, on the arm of the man you’d grown to hate. Immediately you knew something was wrong, she looked so...tired. He leaned in to say something in her ear and she smiled at him, but the smile didn’t quite reach her eyes. The couple moved to the corner of the counter, probably waiting for a takeaway order, and that was when you saw it. Her left hand came up to fiddle with the earrings she was wearing, and your eyes were drawn to a big shiny diamond sitting on her ring finger.

You must have made some kind of audible noise of shock because Flip’s head perked up, his brows furrowed, and then the detective followed your line of vision and seemed to catch on. No way she was engaged? She knew him for all of a month! You knew she was eager to settle down, but this was absolutely absurd. 

The waitress spoke some words to the couple, probably informing them it would be another minute or two on their order based on the current state of the restaurant. Your friend’s apparent fiance mumbled something to her, pressed a kiss to her cheek and excused himself, moving towards the mens room. The second she was alone you shot up from your seat, and before you could stop yourself you were marching up to your friend. 

“I know that’s not a fucking wedding ring?” A bold introduction to be sure, but you couldn’t help yourself.

“Well hello to you too y/n, yes, it is. Burt proposed at the country club this past weekend, pretty isn’t it?” She smiled briefly, holding it up and staring at it. For some reason it almost sounded like she was convincing herself more than you.

“Well-uh yes, it’s very pretty,” you acknowledged, fumbling for the words you were looking for. How could this have happened? “Little soon though no?”

“I don’t think so.” She shook her head quickly. “I mean I’ve been dreaming of getting married since I was a little girl. You know that y/n, I thought you’d be happy for me,” she frowned, she looked disappointed in you.

“Of course, I want you to be happy! but,” you paused, looking behind you to make sure he was still nowhere to be seen. “You’re both so different. I just don’t think he’s the one, I want better for you, that’s all.”

“Well what the hell am I supposed to do with that y/n?” she snapped. Her temper has apparently shortened greatly since you’d seen her last.

“I didn’t mean to offend you,” you backtracked quickly. “I know how important this is to you and that’s why I want you to be with someone perfect for you!”

“Alright, well why don’t you go hand this back to him!” She pulled her engagement ring off, slamming it on the counter. “Since you seem to know my life better than I do, huh?”

“No-no I didn’t mean-”

“God this is all so like you ya know?” She was basically yelling now, and you were sure more than a few eyes had turned to look at you. “You are so selfish y/n, do you know that? You claim to care about your friends so much but the second anyone else has any chance at happiness, however fleeting, you gotta go and shoot em down to make you feel better about yourself!” 

“I can’t believe you would say that,” you whispered, stepping back.

“I should have said it a long time ago!” She continued to yell, her words slicing deep. “You were always such a miserable sorry excuse for a friend, and now you’re going to act like you’re some kind of victim! You’re going to start crying like the slimy, manipulative bitch you are, because I’m the bad guy! Aren’t I y/n?”

You set your jaw, you could feel wetness collecting in your eyes but you didn’t dare let a tear slip. You were practically in a stare off as silence fell over the two of you. If the whole diner wasn’t already watching the two of you, they certainly were now.

“You know what,” you lowered your voice so only she could hear, “I hope you're happy in this trap you’ve set up for yourself. I really do.” 

You didn’t wait for a response, instead you spun on your heel, turning for the door. Flip stood from the booth to follow you, he got to the door and paused, turning to face your ex friend. There were plenty of things he’d like to say in that moment, he felt an intense need to defend you, but he refrained, shaking his head and pushing the door open, following his wife into the parking lot.

You marched towards Flips’ Chevrolet, your mind was reeling, you simply couldn’t believe the events that had just occurred. Her words stung, she must have known they would, they were meant to. You couldn’t wrap your head around how you had lost such a dear friend so suddenly, she had just slipped between your fingers. You weren’t selfish, were you? 

You approached the passenger door and tugged at the handle twice before realising it was still locked. So you crossed your arms, waiting for Flip to catch up and unlock the car.

The car ride was silent, Flip hated it. He knew you were turning those words over and over again in your head, digesting them. When he’d first pulled out of the parking lot he’d tried placing one of his big warm palms on your knee to comfort you, but you pulled away, curling up against the door and staring out the window. He’d tried speaking to you once, but you responded quickly that you didn’t want to talk about it.

When you arrived home he followed you into the house and up to your bedroom. You picked up the laundry basket that was laying at the foot of the bed, and plopped it on top of the bed. You busiest yourself folding the rest of the load you had meant to finish it before going out for lunch. Flip sat on his brown armchair in the corner of your bedroom, a few feet away from you, and you could feel his gaze on you as you worked. You folded in silence for a few minutes, still muddling in the events of earlier, and then you heard Flip let out a loud sigh.

“Alright, come here,” he called, patting his lap, nodding his head to further emphasis himself. 

“I said, I don’t want to talk about it, please Phil,” your voice came out defeated.

“Ok,” he sat for a moment. “Well can I talk to you?” You turned to stare at his face, considering him. He gestured you over again with his head and this time you gave in, tossing one of your tops to the side and walking over to him, a little smile slipping out.

You purposefully perched yourself on the very edge of his lap, teasing him, and looked at him expectantly. He rolled his eyes and grabbed your waist tightly, tugged you all the way into him until your shoulder bumped into his chest, the sudden motion causing you to squeal. He tightened his arms around you and poked his big strong nose against your cheek.

“You know I love you honey?” He kissed your jaw.

“You don’t think I’m a selfish bitch?” you forced a half laugh, trying to pretend it didn’t bother you too much. As if that would ever work with Flip.

“You know what I think of you woman?” He asked, grabbing your chin to direct your gaze to him. He has the prettiest eyes, you thought to yourself. His intense gaze was still enough make your stomach flutter even after all these years.

“What do you think of me?” You indulge him, giving another small smile.

“I think you’re too kind for your own good sweetheart.” You rolled your eyes at that, shaking your head at him, and tried to look away.

“Nuh uh, don’t roll your eyes baby, I mean it,” he said seriously pulling your face towards him again. “Don’t you be worrying about some shit somebody else said ok? You’re the farthest thing from selfish pumpkin. You’re such a good person, and you don’t even know it. I wouldn’t change a thing about you.  You're my favourite person in the whole world baby, I’m so glad you let me marry you. Don’t know what I did to deserve you gorgeous.” He leaned forward leaving a quick, sweet kiss on your lips. Then he let go of your chin and you moved forward, wrapping your arms around his neck.

“God I love you Flip,” you spoke, voice muffled as your mouth was on top of his flannel.

“I love you more baby.”

And then he’d probably fuck you into the mattress while he made you say nice things about yourself but I’ve done my very best to keep this series PG so we’ll have to address that another time.

Tags: @aloneandsleepless​ @maryforyou​ @emeraldsiren20​ @leather-flannel-liquor​ @ellenmunn​

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[itsclydebitches]

RWBY Recaps: Volume 8 “Divide”

Hello, everyone, and welcome back! It feels good to be doing some normal RWBY-ing in this strange world of ours. First, some supplementary materials.

Number One: In response to any (valid) questions along the lines of, “Hey Clyde, it’s now been a full year since Volume 7 was airing and you still haven’t answered my ask about it. Or the ones about Volume 6… what’s up with that?” I’ve created what I hope is an informative video detailing the problem:

(I assure you, the Earth, Wind & Fire was a happy accident during the screen recording.)

Needless to say, there’s a lot and I’ve known for some time now that I will LITERALLY never get through all my asks. Which doesn’t mean I don’t want you to send future thoughts in! Just know that as we head into Volume 8 territory I’ll most likely prioritize those, as well as any Volume 7 asks that aren’t woefully out of date. But I do want everyone to know that I read all the asks I receive, appreciate them immensely, and think too much about hypothetical answers, even if I don’t have time to actually write them out 💜

Number Two: There’s a bingo board this year!

Jury’s out on whether I’ll remember to update it, but at the very least this serves as a decent glimpse into my — and others’ — expectations going into this volume.

Number Three: I’ve collected a list of things I’ve heard about Volume 8 from what seem to be reputable sources. I did this because RT is developing a tendency to talk up certain points and then fail to deliver, either because something was taken out of a volume/moved to another, or because RT apparently has radically different ideas about what including something means. So this might be handy to keep on file and ask ourselves two months from now, “Did RT actually deliver on what they promised?”

Emphasis on Ruby’s leadership and how Summer’s death has impacted her

Insight into Ren and Nora’s flaws

May Merigold will supposedly have a larger part

More information about The Long Memory (Ozpin’s cane)

Theme of the volume is that you can respect someone but that doesn’t necessarily mean you agree with them

Very short timeline (supposedly just two days)

Yang in particular is very suspicious and distrustful

I was also going to include a list of all the threads that need to be continued/wrapped up, but honestly that would have taken too large a chunk off my life. Let’s just throw out the highlights:

Are we really going to have Qrow gunning for Ironwood?

Clover is dead regardless. Press ‘F’ to pay respects

Oscar bb you got shot please acknowledge this

Ozpin bb you got done dirty please acknowledge this

Penny is a Maiden now. I feel like the fandom has been sleeping on this (myself included)

Queer baiting, queer baiting… you’re on thin ice at this point, RWBY. Just skate on over to the queer snack bar before you fall straight into the lake.  

Ren spill your deep dark secret already and it had better be something more than just ‘Oh no Nora might someday die :( ’

Salem is here so how the actual fuck is the cast surviving this?

Will Ironwood likewise survive his descent into antagonism? Yes or please yes no?

I think that’s all the biggies. I strive to keep lists like this in mind while analyzing, but honestly RWBY has a hundred moving parts that are abandoned or changed or simply retconned at the drop of a hat. So an attempt will be made.

Number Four (last one I promise!): Normal disclaimers and reminders for Recaps apply:

Please don’t fill up the already full inbox with flames. It’s still 2020. No one has time for that nonsense.

There will absolutely be typos and wonky parts because I try to get these out the same day an episode premieres. I have now been working on this for ten hours, nearly straight, and have no more energy for edits. Apologies in advance and RIP to my Saturdays.

I reserve the right to use stupid GIFs and memes at my discretion.

I strive to keep my focus on recapping/analyzing but salt tends to worm its way in… If you’re a die-hard RWBY fan with little patience for criticism, let alone (at times) snarky criticism, please proceed with caution.

No wait I lied, this is the last thing:

Okay, got that out of my system LET’S DO THIS!

We start not with the episode itself but rather Rooster Teeth’s (RT’s) strange non-promotion of it. If you follow my blog you may have caught the post where I pointed out that there was nothing on RT’s website to suggest that one of their most popular shows—if not the most popular show—was premiering today. Nothing on the main page. Nothing on the RWBY page either, not unless you count the Volume 8 poster background (easily mistaken for the Volume 7 poster) and the trailer buried all the way down past Episodes, past Merch, in the Bonus Features section along with videos like Live From Remnant and the volume intros. RT… the promotion of your feature show is not a bonus. This should be front and center! Honest to god, five minutes before the episode dropped I was checking the website for a Volume 8 section, a countdown, anything that would tell me the episode was imminent without relying on fans on tumblr to keep me in the loop. We got nada, zilch. I’m not sure whether that speaks more to RT’s iffy management of the series or simply the website’s horrible design—RIP losing RWBY on Youtube—but I was surprised when I saw the episode a few minutes after 11:00am. At that point I honestly expected to hear about a dely.

So that’s the mood I entered the premiere in, but truly? We start off strong. Things take a pretty severe nosedive later on, we’ll get to that, but I was impressed with our beginning and that probably has a lot to do with the fact that we start with our villains.

We open on a Cinderella character, Cinder, and thus I’m immediately pleased that we’re getting something about her backstory after all this time. Seven years! She appeared in episode one, folks! To say we’re overdue is an understatement. There isn’t a whole lot to go on, just a younger Cinder sadly scrubbing the floor, poised under a spotlight. What we learn, or potentially learn, is based far more in cultural knowledge than this scene. We know Cinderella’s story, which includes the abusive family, the longing for more, the eventual escape, and thus we’re able to read all of that in this image, despite the image itself not telling us any of this overtly. That means we could be wrong in our interpretation, but if we’re not it’s an easy shorthand in an already packed story.

What I’m really impressed with is the sound bridge between the scrubbing and her nails on the back of Neo’s chair. Fantastic way to confirm that this is Cinder as well as showcasing just how far she’s come. The sound of her labor has been replaced with the sound of her power and given that Cinder’s power is stolen, tied to a grimm arm, the property of a genocidal maniac… that’s messed up. It’s a Cinderella story gone wrong.

So yeah, Cinder tells Neo to head straight into the creepy, grimm infested blood cloud to see Salem and Neo is like, ‘Uh… no thank you?’ lol.

RT does a good job this episode with her expressions, ensuring we know exactly what she’s thinking despite an unwillingness/inability to speak.

Poor Neo might be in too deep, but I quite like the overall atmosphere of this opening. Say what we will about Salem’s awful characterization, at least she has style. This woman knows how to make an entrance and, piggybacking off of the Apathy, RT knows how to infuse horror elements into their fantasy. The red and purple coloring of the clouds, spiked whale teeth peeking through, bright orange in the background looking like explosions… that’s all 👌 Including the intro card.

The only thing I want to gripe about is this:

I’m sorry, why does the whale grimm have landing pads? Or something like it?? The whale otherwise works because it’s poised between the natural and the fantasy synthetic. It looks like a real grimm whale on the outside, but is sporting a throne room, a control panel, and other unnatural elements on the inside. It’s a visual indicator of Salem’s ability to control and change grimm. Now though, the additions are wrong, infringing on the line between organic and tech, the line between what helps the grimm individually (giving monkeys wings) and what just helps Salem. Every other aspect of the whale straddles that line wonderfully, adding to the creep factor, like a grimm version of the Uncanny Valley: it’s not quite a whale anymore… but landing pads? That looks ridiculous. Why does Salem even have that? How many ships are her people feasibly using? Why are there five?

Take it away, please.

Cinder waltzes in like this is a normal home visit, but Neo has an appropriate ‘What the actual fuck?’ face going on.

They approach Salem on her throne where Cinder immediately kneels, greeting her with, “My queen.” I mentioned during my trailer breakdown that I think Cinder is lying her ass off here, and I still think that based on a line we’ll get in a minute, but now at least we have a sense of how she can pull this off. A woman who started out as a (presumed) servant is going to know how to mimic subservience, even if her heart isn’t in it. Salem is very good at playing the girl who will still kneel and scrub the floor for you. She will scrub the floor, she’ll do everything you want, she’ll just be plotting her own rise to power while she does it.

There’s quite a bit of interesting cinematography in this episode, not all of it good, and I think one of the mistakes is here when we get a closeup on Salem’s mouth as she greets Cinder. A closeup like that should be reserved for more significant dialogue—“Rosebud”—and yet we get this shot again when Cinder tells Emerald to be quiet. It’s awkward and coupled with the numerous eye closeups we got in the trailer, I think RT is playing a little fast and loose with the camera. Each shot should add something to the scene, not distract from it. If you don’t have a reason for including a technique like that then leave it be.

Back to the actual dialogue though. We knew that Salem knew Cinder was alive and now it seems that she just expected her to come back? I’m slightly lost. It feels like we’re missing something here. Cinder goes off to secure the lamp, fails, nearly dies, wanders on her own for months, and then randomly shows back up on Salem’s whale doorstep, yet Salem isn’t angry at all? Did she have faith that Cinder would return when she has something to offer? Did she just not care about Cinder, considering her return an unnecessary but otherwise welcome surprise? That would make the least sense given that she holds the key to accessing Beacon’s relic… but that circles right back around to why Salem is seemingly indifferent to Cinder’s comings and goings. Surely she can’t actually believe that Cinder is loyal?

“So I trust you wouldn’t return to me empty handed,” she says. Yeah, trust means nothing in this show, Salem, didn’t you watch Volumes 6 and 7? Again, I simply don’t know. I suppose I’ll just chalk it up to confidence, that if Cinder did bail Salem knew she could track her down again. Deciphering her motivations and beliefs is a lost cause when the show continually gives us so little.

The important thing now is that Cinder does indeed have an offering and you can see that Salem is somewhat surprised at being handed the relic.

Cinder, of course, takes credit for the victory and we’re given another wonderful shot of Neo. ‘YOU took it?’

Oh, Neo. Best get out while you still can.

Tyrian appears having obviously made his way to Salem’s ship sometime between her arrival and now. The exchange is pretty standard for this group. He insults Cinder for failing and needing this victory to make amends, talks about how any win against Ironwood says more about his lack of intelligence than her skill, and Cinder… doesn’t have a whole lot of comebacks, actually. I’d say Tyrian won that verbal spar, enhanced by a better use of the camera when we get his tail looming menacingly towards Cinder and Neo.

He goes on to say that Watts was a “necessary sacrifice” so, uh… I’m just going to toss out the ask I answered yesterday. Based on our intro I’d say Watts is still significant to the volume—hacking Penny is my guess—but by the end? He could be in trouble.

(As a side note: I plan to analyze the intro next week. It’s just easier when it comes first.)

Tyrian also calls Neo “little one” which I just found absolutely hilarious. In an on brand creepy manner, that is. Not that Neo couldn’t kick his ass, but there’s something wonderfully chilling about having the serial killer use an endearment towards a potential victim, one that comments on her size while he’s looming.

In contrast, Cinder refers to Neo as a “valuable asset” and we get our third mood of the episode.

Who’s going to start a Neo reaction image collection?

It’s true enough on the surface—who wouldn’t want an ally who can turn into anyone else?—but we’re still bumping up against question of why Salem needs this. She’s immortal! She has an endless army! Magic! This scene works well with a villain who needs a skillset like Neo’s to succeed, but Salem doesn’t. RT is doing a great job writing a story thus far, just not the story we’ve previously been given. This isn’t the story they set up.

This will come back up when we reach the RWBYJNOR group. Just wait.

Before that though, the gang’s all here as Emerald, Mercury, and Hazel show up, all in new outfits.

I think I like everything except for the weird Xs on Emerald’s jacket—it’s way too distracting and frankly makes an otherwise good look ugly—and the fact that she’s showing her midriff in Atlas. Hazel doesn’t have any sleeves! Oh my god, why doesn’t anyone dress for the weather in this show?

Frankly, I found their reunion to be kind of lackluster. I mean, there was nothing wrong with it. Emerald does sound briefly excited, she does run, and it’s in character for Cinder to cut her off… it just didn’t resonate with me emotionally. I thought after two volumes of thinking she’s dead, then working through the knowledge that she’s alive, that I would feel Emerald’s shock and relief more, but I didn’t. And I’m not entirely sure why. I don’t want to level any accusations at the voice acting because frankly I know next to nothing about that skill (and from what I’ve seen it’s usually praised in the fandom), but I will say that throughout the premiere I was noticing it more than I ever have before. The lack of emotion here and some awkward deliveries later, like when Yang goes, “Ruby, there is no way Ironwood will cooperate with us” and I immediately thought, “Wow, that came out stilted.” These observations stick with me because, as said, voice acting usually isn’t on my radar. It’s not something I’ve studied or had practice analyzing. If you’d never told me that Ren or Qrow’s VA changed then after a year hiatus I literally wouldn’t notice… but there’s something about this episode that didn’t sit right. Anyone else get that sense, or was it just me?

Regardless, the arrival of our other three villains really doesn’t amount to much, though I’m happy for all the Emerald and Mercury fans who get to see them in new outfits. The focus is still on Cinder as she delivers a line indicative of her true motivations: “That power will be mine.” Yeah, she’s not loyal to Salem, she’s just power hungry. Of course, Salem immediately takes note of this and raises her hand, in another nice use of the foreground, reminding her that she hasn’t given that order.

Cinder is shocked, angry even, but quickly covers it up with her “Without you I am nothing” line. If I caught it right I think she also calls Salem “Ma’am”? Hilarious. Again, skilled at playing the servant.

Also, before I forget, it’s worth noting that almost everything from our trailer appeared in this episode. Yeah, there are a few details like Nora attacking some tech and the group on their bikes, but on the whole we’ve already seen the majority of our promo material and will likely get most of the rest next week. It makes me both interested and nervous for what another twelve episodes are going to hold.

Salem opens her whale, or opens a portal type view in it, something that gives us a long-distance look at Atlas. I don’t know what exactly is going on here, but it’s pretty so I’ll take it.

She also delivers the frankly badass line, “Just because you’re more valuable to me than a pawn does not make you a player.”

She waves them all away with perfect ‘You mean nothing to me’ attitude and we sadly leave our villains.

Sad not because I don’t love my farm boy, but because things are about to get a whole lot messier.

Oscar has made his way to a camp of civilian survivors… all of whom are just hanging out in the supposedly deadly cold. Yeah, there’s a single fire, but at least four of them aren’t anywhere near it. Three of them also aren’t wearing gloves. What was that survival rate again?

A nice if gruff dude gives Oscar soup—water?—while showing off his… badger claws? I don’t know what kind of faunus he’s supposed to be, but he feels like the sort of two second, minor character who could easily become a meme lol.

Oscar thanks him (my polite son!) and hands the bowl back after a single sip. Which is impressive because I would have assumed the guy was giving me the whole bowl and just taken it. Hell, I’ve done that even when I didn’t assume it’s all for me. A Starbucks barista once approached me with a tray and a plate of samples, I knew I was supposed to take just one, yet for some reason my hand went to take the whole goddamn plate. He had to tell me off, then I was trying to explain that I didn’t actually want or think I should have eight shots of cappuccino all to myself, I don’t even like coffee, he clearly didn’t believe me… it was awkward. So good job, Oscar. You’re less awkward than me (though that’s not saying much).

Now a question, Oscar. Darling. Brilliant boy who has been through too much: why the fuck aren’t you talking to Ozpin? This will be A Thing later when he presents a lack of time to talk as justification for keeping more secrets (we’ll get to that too…) yet here is time! You’re just sitting there for who knows how long, with plenty of privacy to hide a supposedly one-sided conversation so the Mantle citizens don’t get weirded out or suspicious. Talk to Ozpin. Our headmaster gets two lines in this episode, utterly inconsequential lines like his airship scene, lines that feel like they exist to say, “See? He’s still included in the story!” even though he absolutely is not. Two volumes of mostly silence, a perfect setup to start the reconciliation process, but we’re going to put it off again?

Instead Ruby randomly and conveniently appears. I want to know how she found him. Oscar isn’t wearing a tracker. He clearly didn’t call them because he’s surprised when Ruby shows up. He fell alllllllll the way back down to Mantle and then wandered to a random part of the slums. You’re telling me they flew over the entire city—after beginning this search thinking he was in Atlas—and somehow managed to spot him from up in the air? C’mon. I would have rather had a beginning where Oscar makes his way back to the group himself, giving him and Ozpin time to hash things out.

“Need a lift?” Ruby says, eliminating that potential. Sigh.

Oscar immediately starts beating himself up when he gets onboard, saying that he “was stupid to think the General would listen.” Nah, you were stupid to buy into Ruby’s nonsensical confidence and for telling Ironwood he’s as bad as Salem. Sorry, Oscar, but everyone is written badly these days. I will, however, say that I am THRILLED at the group’s reaction to his return. Ruby says that she’s “just glad you’re alright.” Nora has a wonderfully tender moment where she hugs him gently rather than her usual glomp.

That? That added a year to my life. Everyone else seems relieved that he’s okay too, so kudos there. After four years of Oscar being an outsider in the group, this is one of the few moments that feel like he’s 100% accepted. Really glad to see it.

Now let’s see if it sticks after they learn Ozpin is back...

They fly to the Happy Huntresses’ base and I again feel like I’ve missed something crucial. When did they team up? I mean, RWBYJNOR was working directly under Ironwood up until the last hour and Robyn ran off to fight Tyrian/Clover in the last couple episodes. When did she have time to explain her (briefly) changed allegiance and why would the Happy Huntresses trust the group without that? Did Robyn share that Blake and Yang went behind Ironwood’s back for her? Do the Huntresses instinctively trust them because they’re now wanted by the military? How did they even run into each other?

Again, I think we would have been better served to have an episode before all this. Let Oscar make his way back and let the group struggle with the magnitude of their situation on the airship, before they find new allies. Transferring directly to, “They have help and a secret base and a plan in the works!” makes me feel like I missed the real premiere last week. You know, the one where Salem unexpectedly arrived and we left the group like this.

This is where we’ve ended up though. The group is cozy in this hideout, getting info from Joanna, and my only other thought is, “Why is she giving all this exposition?”  

Shouldn’t it be May? I mean, we were told that she was going to play more of a role this volume, a promise that’s pretty important imo given her status as a (so far off screen) trans character, so why not put her in the role of mediator between the Happy Huntresses and RWBYJNR? Giving her that setup as a leader among her people as well as lots of lines would be meaningful. A trans character just existing and being a part of this fight! May could obviously still fill that role—I’m well aware that we’re only one episode in—but it just seems like a missed opportunity to me. Out of all the undeveloped Happy Huntresses, our premiere focuses on the one who has the least importance to the fandom.

As said, Joanna talks a fair bit but what it basically boils down to is trying to get everyone to the crater below Atlas. It’s apparently not safe, but it’s warm, which is what matters right now.

So… let me get this straight. You want to gather everyone into a not safe crater, by leading them through an army of grimm, so that they can wait there in case someone moves the Staff, thus dropping an entire city on top of their heads? That’s the plan? Which admittedly isn’t Joanna’s fault. This is another instance of RWBYJNOR having information that a leader does not and they should really consider speaking up about it. But of course they don’t.

Also, how long does everyone have in regards to the cold? Shouldn’t there be dead civilians by now? The time it would take to find the Happy Huntresses, team up with them, get settled in the base, and find Oscar says that things should be pretty grim right now (pardon the pun), yet every non-aura user in this city seems content to just hang out in the snow. Either the cold is deadly enough to justify moving everyone to the crater, or it’s mild enough to let everyone survive this long, not both.

After hugs are given everyone obviously wants to know what happened to Oscar. His response?

“It’s a… long story. I get the feeling there’s been a few of those tonight.”

That’s a check for the bingo card! We’re halfway through the first episode and we’ve already got another secret. Yes, this is a secret. Oscar actively chooses not to tell anyone that Ozpin is back—something Ozpin himself comments on—and then skillfully draws attention away from himself with “I get the feeling there’s been a few of those tonight.” Indeed, all eyes go to Penny. Oscar’s plight is forgotten, which is what he wanted. His justification?

Ozpin: “You’re not going to tell them?”

Oscar: “You and I aren’t done talking yet.”

Along with this look.

Oscar no. There’s so much wrong with this I don’t even know where to begin. Let’s create a list.

As said, you had plenty of time to talk to Ozpin and chose not to. Miss me with this excuse.

You are now doing to your friends exactly what you and your friends did to Ironwood, which in turn is what Ozpin did to you! I can’t believe we’ve got Oscar critically side-eyeing him when they are still—still—repeating the behavior they drove Ozpin away for.

What is there to even talk about now? Oscar didn’t punch himself/Ozpin (lol) but he did steal Jinn’s name from Ozpin in the first place. You got what you wanted, drove him away, and have been lying and keeping secrets ever since. The only thing they should be talking about involves apologizing. Any further criticism—which is what Oscar’s expression and curt reply suggests—is beyond hypocritical.

Seriously, what needs to be discussed? There’s no reason not to tell the group unless Oscar wants to talk about whether they should tell them. There’s no good ending here...

Don’t you think it would be nice to know that Ozpin is back and you’ve got super magic powers while making plans to save the entire world?

This is all especially stupid given Oscar’s “Salem wants to divide us” reminder to Ruby in a moment. Oscar, you are doing the most to divide the group right now. By not forgiving Ozpin. By refusing to work with him. By keeping him secret from everyone else.

This is bad, friends, I worry for what the rest of the volume will bring…

The story is done with Ozpin for now so I guess I will be too. The group continues filling Oscar in and we get some shots of the base, including a rather prominent poster of what I assume are two Happy Huntresses. Did they die in battle perhaps?

It’s a little strange.

Oscar: “Where’s Qrow?”

Me: “Likely still making bad decisions.”

No one knows so they just drop it. Which I kind of get, only so much you can do to find him if he’s not out on the streets like Oscar, but it still reads as kind of iffy that two nieces look down at the ground for a hot second and then move on with their plans, content to leave Qrow to whatever fate befell him. In a minute we’ll see Yang firmly take Ren’s side regarding helping the people they can in Mantle, which frankly comes out of nowhere for her. I think an easy motivation would have been Qrow. Ruby wants to save the world, Yang wants to find and save their uncle, and that just happens to align with Ren’s desire to save the civilians who need immediate grimm and cold help. Don’t get me wrong, I like that there’s finally some division between the sisters, I just wish it hadn’t come about so abruptly. Ren had setup for standing up to Ruby. Yang did not.

But I’m getting a little ahead of myself. Joanna lists the grimm horde and no heat as the major threats to everyone. The group agrees.

Me: What about Salem?

Joanna says that this is all doubly dangerous because there’s “no more military protection.”

Me: Oh, so now you want the military?

This is all so disjointed. Even more-so when Joanna mentions that Ironwood has stopped all evacuations to Atlas, likely due to the “hard light shields” that are the only thing standing between Salem and the city. Thing is, the show never makes this connection, I just did it myself based on this scene and the one that comes later. The show presents Joanna’s line as a pure condemnation. Ironwood won’t let more evacuees in because… he’s just evil, I guess. Yet there is a justification here, namely that continuing the evacuations even while he’s stuck without Penny leaves him wide open to a Salem attack, the death of everyone currently safe, but that argument is never presented to the viewer. I don’t need people to agree with Ironwood’s perspective, I just wish that perspective was offered as an option. The show is very good about acting like RWBYJNOR’s opinion is the only justified opinion, or simply the only opinion at all.

After everything is laid out Weiss goes, “We’re never going to sleep again, I just know it.”

I could make a crack about the lack of continuity and how the group should be collapsing right now… but that was a funny line. It can stay.

What is far more of a problem is the fact that no one is talking about Salem. Okay, that’s a lie. They do talk about her, but in a roundabout way like her presence isn’t impacting every decision they make. That’s the real issue. They’re acting as if Salem isn’t here right now, like she’s off far away, maybe approaching slowly, and they’re arguing over how best to prep the world for her eventual attack. There’s no emotion here—let alone action—to reflect that the series’ Big Bad has arrived and is poised to murder them all. Literally what is this? Ruby is yelling about warning the world and, ignoring the continued question of why that’s a good thing when the world can do nothing to stop Salem and knowledge of her continually drives people to horrible acts, she has yet to acknowledge that… she’s the world? Ruby is the world in this conflict. She, Mantle, and Atlas. Salem is here for you all. Right now. You are, this instant, in the situation you want to warn others about, so why don’t you try to do something about it? Or at least acknowledge it. Ruby wants to warn the neighborhood about a potential fire while her house is actively ablaze, and the fire could have totally killed her by now but decided not to for… reasons.

“Ruby’s right,” Nora says. They have to tell the world so “they can prepare.” How? How are they supposed to prepare for this? The story cannot continue ignoring Salem’s immortality.

“Ruby’s right,” is all Blake says and I’m starting to thinks that’s why her character exists now, to agree with Ruby. It’s great that she’s getting a little distance from Yang, but man.

As Ruby asks whether Pietro can get Amity up and running despite it not being finished (called it) we start an incredibly odd sequence of flashforwards to their individual missions. I’ve seen a lot of praise for this already and though I agree that, in theory, it’s a good way to save time, I found the actual execution to be jarring. Upon thinking back through our timeline, it became clear they were flashforwards, but while watching I thought they might be flashbacks (especially since that’s more common).

Some of the shots, like Nora’s, just look awkward when you’ve got the exact expression and pose transplanted from one scene to another, like she’s a cardboard cutout behind a green screen. To say nothing of how the flashforwards ruin any suspense (I use that word loosely) in the conversation itself. If the question is, “Will they decide to go to the military compound?” then that question is answered when we see Ruby scoping out the compound, not when the group actually decides on the course of action.

It just made an already muddled scene worse for me, so I hope this trend doesn’t continue.

And of course, Amity can be used despite all the info last volume claiming that it wasn’t finished. Pietro suddenly acts like it is finished and the only thing standing in their way is Ironwood providing access. If that were the case, he would have used Amity weeks or days ago like he wanted to! When was it finished? Not after Watts commented on how incomplete it was. When did they get back the resources they needed from Robyn? It’s as ridiculous and retcon-y as I thought it would be.

Yang points out that Ironwood will never listen to them and Ruby counters that “he doesn’t have to.” They’ll just take the access from him. Because why wouldn’t they in a series where they’ve already stolen two airships? Stealing from the super evil military that Joanna wishes were helping them right now is just the group’s go-to plan nowadays.

Pietro isn’t sold on this plan though. He lists at least three obstacles they’d need to get through “and then… oh boy, I might need to think about this some more.” “And just to clarify,” Oscar says, “This is the easy option?” Um...no it’s not? We also know there’s an access point in Ironwood’s office so… why not go there instead? They really think the Academy is less guarded than the military base? There’s a potential justification here along the lines of, “After Neo and Cinder broke into his office Ironwood will have the place on high alert,” but unless I missed it the group doesn’t assume anything like that. They just listen to Pietro point out all the ways they can’t get into the military base and jump straight to that being the best option. It feels like a transparent way to create conflict for the group. We’ll just have them taking the most dangerous route despite an easy route being offered alongside it. Why bother mentioning his office at all? Just have the access in the military base. Boom, done.

It’s that conflict and the fact that Ruby tends to hear “You can’t” and digs in her heels. You can’t go to Atlas. I’ll just steal a ship then. You can’t defeat Salem. Watch me. You can’t break into this base. Guess what I’m doing! She’s dangerous in her fairy tale, meta-driven insistence that everything will turn out her way because she wants it to.

Speaking of, we finally—FINALLY—get someone challenging Ruby. Sort of. Not actually but it’s the closest we’ve ever gotten:

Yang: “Ruby, when we came here we said we’d follow your lead… but things haven’t exactly worked out.”

Now, there are two things to take away from this moment. The first is how utterly shocked Ruby and the others are. I mean, take a look at these expressions.

Ruby straight up can’t believe what she’s hearing. Weiss put her hand to her mouth like this is the most dramatic thing to ever happen to her. Oscar looks down in a ‘Yeah, I agree but please don’t look at me and make me admit that’ way. And Nora looks indifferent in the screenshot but animated she goes sort of stern, likely pissed that Yang would dare say that given her own agreement with Ruby. This not only reiterates that Yang’s challenge came out of nowhere—seriously, how did we move from following Ruby no matter what to this? Last volume she asked a single question along the lines of, ‘You sure?’ and when Ruby said ‘Yes’ Yang was entirely on board—but also demonstrates that no one has EVER said no to her before. Ruby is amazed that someone would challenge her. The act of challenging Ruby is, in and of itself, shocking. This group has gotten so used to following Ruby blindly that the teensiest little pushback is greeted with this.

Because it is teensy. This is the second takeaway: Yang barely challenges her and that challenge leads nowhere. She doesn’t accuse Ruby of anything, she doesn’t question her continued authority, she just broadly implies that things could be better. We followed you, now things are bad, take from that what you will. It’s incredibly mild as far as criticism goes, making the shock all the more, well, shocking, but it also amounts to—wait for it—nothing! Because Yang didn’t truly challenge Ruby’s leadership. She’s still in charge, she’s still calling the shots, and they’re still listening to her. We might have gotten some change if this division had been allowed to play out, but instead Jaune comes in with a, “Let’s go for both!” solution. It let’s both groups get what they want which, in turn, releases them from the need to grapple with whether they’ll listen to Ruby when she’s advocating for something they don’t agree with. We have now lost the chance to see whether, when push comes to shove, Ren and Yang will cave to Ruby’s will or stick by their own beliefs.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s more conflict than we’ve gotten in years, but that doesn’t mean it’s particularly compelling conflict. It’s good by RWBY’s standards, which doesn’t necessarily make it good. The actual issues at hand—Ruby’s dangerous arrogance, the group’s loyalty, her choices up until now—are just swept under the rug. For all the visuals we get insisting that there’s this great divide in the group… there’s really not. Not in any way that matters.

Also, Ruby is an idiot. Okay, that was mean, but she really is in this scene. She’s actually not an idiot overall because she was written as wonderfully intelligent in the early volumes, but now? Lately? She makes me want to bang my head against a wall.

“But that’s how Salem got this far,” she cries. “By dividing us!”

Ruby… oh my god, Ruby. No one should have to explain to you that dividing people means turning them against each other, not literally dividing your team to complete separate tasks. This girl honestly thought that because there was this teensy disagreement and that half the team would complete Plan A while she and the other half completed Plan B, both of which notably work towards the goal of, “Protect people from Salem,” that this was somehow what Salem wanted. That is was dangerous. Honestly, it’s a scary look at her view of leadership too: If everyone doesn’t 100% agree with me and do what I say, that’s an objectively bad thing that the grimm queen wants, right? Does Ruby think that unification means following a single person (her) without question or variation? That would explain a lot...

The fact that Oscar needs to explain the difference to her is not good. It really doesn’t say great things about this version of Ruby. Though he was comparing Ironwood to Salem last volume, so really they should all be wearing dunce hats.

Penny offers to take the relic directly to Salem in exchange for her leaving the kingdom alone. I honestly didn’t expect that. If anyone took that risk I would have put my money on Ozpin (but of course, during all this talk of the women he knows best, he’s kept quiet). Oscar is again the voice of wisdom, pointing out that they have no reassurance that Salem will keep her word. At least Penny is thinking about Salem as a threat though, so kudos for that. When this plan is shot down she volunteers to get Ruby past the military security instead and, uh, she’s a little intense about it.

I’m not entirely sure what is going on with Penny. She disagreed with Winter but then seemed to come around to her point of view, enough to help anyway. They had another (stupid) disagreement about the value of individual lives, so that helps to explain why she’s teaming up with RWBYJNOR (if you ignore that Ironwood is also trying to save individual lives...). Did watching Fria die shake her up? Is it being the Winter Maiden that’s not sitting right? Does Penny have lingering feelings about the framing that haven’t shown up until now? Her status as a ‘real girl’? We’ve got a lot of reasons that could definitely explain this sudden need to fight, but we’re not told which—if any of these—is the driving force.  

We’re then given a lot of little details. Someone points out that if Salem gets the staff and “create[s] anything else” then Atlas will fall (so yeah, let’s move the people underneath it). We still don’t know what exactly the Staff does because “creation” is kind of broad and “powering a city to float” doesn’t seem to sit within that category at all. Pietro gives Yang the keys to his lab so they can get the bikes. We see the group dividing in the flashforwards, something I do like, especially since the show has gone out of its way to break up most of the usual duos. Nora in particular is pissed at Ren for his choice.

“Oh, I’m saving Mantle because I actually believe we can do this.”

#yikes. Well, I did say I wanted a conflict other than ‘Oh no, one of us might die’ and it looks like I got it. But Nora, the only reason you can do this is because the plot is in your corner: none of you are collapsing from two major fights, you didn’t lose your aura so the cold isn’t a danger, the military is barely a threat all of a sudden, Salem is helpfully hanging out in her whale instead of killing you, and the story decided that Amity can function so long as you all are the ones who get to use it. That’s why you can do this. Ren, who follows in-world logic and doesn’t want to risk a whole kingdom’s worth of lives on a pipe dream, thinks differently, oddly enough.

As they leave though Penny gets a call from Ironwood. I know precisely what the fandom is going to say here: “This evil man is just trying to use Penny to open the vault!” Of course he is. He needs it open to save everyone he can, Penny included. Plus the concept of “using” her is a double-edged sword. What do we think the group is doing right now? Using her to get past the security. Penny’s power is a tool any way you slice it. Granted, Penny volunteers to help the group, but notably here Ruby speaks for her. Penny seems torn and Ruby takes the scroll away with, “She’s not going anywhere until you change your mind about Mantle.”

Sorry, Ruby, but coming from you that sounds less like a reassurance for Penny and more like just an order for Ironwood. Remember Harriet? We’ll stop attacking you provided you do what we want. Ruby has yet to learn about compromises, let alone acknowledge that she might be wrong. How about you let Penny decide where she goes, especially since by all logic she should have a lot of loyalty to Ironwood. She knew him before she ever met you. She’s worked with him since she was rebuild post-Volume 3. Despite what Penny has said, if the story would just let her think about his actions for a hot second—making her the protector of Mantle, sticking up for her after the framing, sending her to the party, teaming her up with Ruby, etc.—she might realize that the ‘He doesn’t want me to have friends’ and ‘He just treats me like a tool’ assumptions are just that, unfounded assumptions. But no, Ruby speaks for them both because Ironwood is evil now.

“If she makes it through our defenses,” Ironwood says, “everything that follows will be on your hands.”

That’s true! Kind of like how it’s own Qrow’s hands that Clover died. When you insist on making a bad situation worse you hold responsibility when the shit hits the fan. You know though that Salem won’t get through their defenses now, somehow, so that there’s no chance RWBYJNOR will be blamed for it. Or, by that point Ironwood will be so crazed that anything coming out of his mouth is dismissed, no matter how accurate it might be.

We then transfer to the Ace Ops who are, despite what the fandom theorized for many months, clearly upset about Clover. Also pissed. Which they have every right to be. Their friend and leader was killed. Imagine for a moment that Ruby had been murdered by Tyrian with an allies’ help. Exactly what do you think the group would do? Swallow it quietly and get over it? Ha.

I’ve already seen some speculation that Clover survived due to details like showing us the bandage and his room being listed as for a “Patient,” but he looks pretty dead to me.

He got gutted through the chest and left out in the snow for who knows how long. We saw him slip away. Qrow screamed over his dead body. He’s not breathing now. If RWBY suddenly claims he survived this, I’m calling BS.

Most of the other visuals we get here were already dropped in the trailer. Winter is pretty injured from her encounter with Cinder, likely permanently based on her new outfit. Ironwood had to replace his arm—and I am calling BS on that “Losing his arm is reflective of him losing his humanity” commentary from RT. Please go read up on a couple decades worth of ableism in media and then get back to me.

We get Ironwood’s line about the light shields and, notably, a whole lot of empathy. Regardless of what he might want Penny for, he still called her with compassion. He’s watching the Ace Ops mourn their friend. He’s talking about protecting his kingdom. The first thing he says to Winter is, “Thank you, Winter. I don’t know what I would do without you.” Ironwood has a heart! It’s always on display, which makes this scene utterly ridiculous.

I literally don’t know how to respond to this. The gunshot made me jump, both because it’s a gunshot and because, again, what the fuck? I know I said that next volume RT might just have Ironwood descend into full villainy, shooting whoever he pleases now that he’s shot Oscar, but I didn’t actually expect them to do it. Because he never should have shot Oscar in the first place! I wanted the story to let Oscar grapple with it a bit and then quietly backtrack, acknowledging it as the mistake it was. The concept that Ironwood, empathetic Ironwood, rational Ironwood, always thinks before he acts Ironwood, let’s kids yell at him Ironwood, tried to team up with Robyn Ironwood, did everything Ruby wanted Ironwood, won’t kill Watts after he destroyed his arm Ironwood would shoot this guy just to shut him up is absurd. It was absurd then, it’s absurd now.

That being said, there’s a possibility he didn’t actually shoot the council member, but rather just (“just”) gave a warning shot down the hallway. I say this because the reactions to this are pretty tame. Everyone looks startled, yeah, but after the initial shot there’s nothing that I would expect if there was now a guy bleeding out on the floor. The council woman doesn’t scream. Winter doesn’t seem overly shocked. No one is running to try and help him. Basically, if Ironwood had just killed a political figure in front of six witnesses, entirely unprovoked, I would expect a bit more of a reaction than this. This feels far more like a, “Damn he’s not joking around, letting off warning shots to get people to leave him alone” not “WOW, our general just killed someone in cold blood!”

What I really hate though—beyond just assassinating his character—is how many fans think my friends and I are delusional for calling it character assassination at all. I hopped onto the RWBY tag for five minutes this morning and was bombarded with posts about how Ironwood needs to be murdered horrifically, anyone who likes him is sick, the Ironwood stans are as bad as Adam stans, you’re an idiot if you want him redeemed… because apparently the concept of a story writing a character badly doesn’t compute. I’m not here to argue that Ironwood didn’t do these awful things (regardless of whether he actually killed the guy or not). I’m not here to argue that they’re not awful. I’m just here to say that we never should have gotten these scenes in the first place, or if we were going to get them, we deserved an actual descent into murder at the drop of a hat territory. I’ve already explained extensively on this blog how early Ironwood was not accurate foreshadowing for this, and Volume 7 certainly wasn’t setup, but it looks like the majority of fans aren’t interested in examining whether any of this adds up. Which makes my job, as someone trying to examine this series somewhat objectively—in as much as that’s possible for any single viewer—as well as simply enjoy it as a show, really hard. It’s bad enough when a story keeps taking the characters you love and villainizing them, and doing that badly, but then when you turn to the community and see them rallying around the idea that you’re awful for being dissatisfied—you’re the bootlicker, you’re the blind stan, you can’t see what’s ‘really’ going on here… that sucks. For those of you happy and satisfied with Ironwood’s arc, that’s great! I’ve also seen a lot of posts hyping up the complexity of his character now. There’s nothing wrong with enjoying what we’ve been given and I’d never want to imply that just because it’s not what I wanted it’s somehow wrong. I’m honestly thrilled that after a year of worry so many people have adored our premiere, including this scene. I just wish that I could say RWBY had given me something I didn’t want in a persuasive manner and that the fandom as a whole was a bit more welcoming of differing criticisms.

Not that I didn’t already know the RWBY fandom had its flaws, but still lol.

That’s basically it for our premiere. Nice note to end on, huh? Our final scene is of Salem using the lamp to set her bloodhound grimm on the city. Why doesn’t she just go herself? What was she planning to do here in Atlas in the first place, considering that getting the relic was a surprise? Who knows. Little about this holds together. But we do end with another awesome shot, so small favors.

It’s always strange concluding a recap, but even more-so when it’s a premiere, during a historical moment in the U.S., amidst all the nonsense that is 2020. So for now I’ll just conclude with three quick things:

The updated bingo board will be listed at the end of each recap, provided I don’t forget about it lol. Today I’m checking off tone (not nearly enough freaking out about Salem), the team keeping secrets (Oscar), and major plot point dropped (Amity is suddenly finished). I could also probably check off the cold not killing civilians and getting Amity up and running, but we’ll see if any changes with those.

I’m including my Ko-Fi link at the end of recaps now. Not with any expectations. Not with anything resembling pressure. I thought long and hard over whether to include it at all—let alone mention it here—because I love doing these and never want anyone to feel like it comes with strings attached. But life is a little harder and weirder than it was last year, so I figure it can’t hurt. Feel free to pass on by and I won’t be bringing it up past this note.

Far more importantly: thank you for reading! :D

(Bonus 4. Editing this was an absolute nightmare — damn you, tumblr!  — so I apologize if anything is super wonky when I finally post.)

See you next week! 💜

[Ko-Fi]

[linbeifuckmeup]

The Righteous Fury of a Sibling Scorned

Pairing: Kya/Lin

Summary: She doesn’t know why her brother having a crush on her friend makes her so furious she wants to scream. She has no clue why her brother talking to Lin so much makes her want to throttle him. All she knows is that she’s angry. She’s so, so angry. With Tenzin, with herself, with Lin, with everyone. And she can only handle so much more of this before she explodes.

ao3

When Tenzin started staring at Lin all the time, Kya got irritated. She let it go though, he’s her baby brother after all, everything he does irritates her and she doesn’t even know why exactly this does. When he starts following them around, she gets frustrated. But again, little brothers. What can you do? She lets it go. Or, she tries. But then he starts...pushing. He inserts himself between Kya and Lin and talks to Lin constantly, so much that Kya has barely said more than hello to her best friend in weeks. After the second week, Kya is angry. She doesn’t know why, but she is. And she knows that everyone has noticed. Everyone, that is, except for Tenzin. He’s too busy following Lin around like a lovesick puppy. Her dad is putting emphasis on patience and her mom is regularly mentioning the strength of a bond between siblings and Kya is ready to scream.

At the rate Tenzin is going, she’s going to use that ‘strong sibling bond’ to choke him. Bumi actually has a bet going with Suyin about how long that will take. She overheard them making it and she’s going to wait until they’ve both lost just to spite them. She just needs to make it a few more days. She can do it. And then the little twerp is hers. At least until mom and dad pull her off. She needs those few days to pass quickly. She can tell Lin has noticed and is close to questioning her and Kya just, doesn’t have any answers really.

She doesn’t know why her brother having a crush on her friend makes her so furious she wants to scream. She has no clue why her brother talking to Lin so much makes her want to throttle him. All she knows is that she’s angry. She’s so, so angry. With Tenzin, with herself, with Lin, with everyone. And she can only handle so much more of this before she explodes.

“Hey, Kya.”

“Hi, Lin! I thought we could go feed the turtleducks today.”

Lin nods, “Yeah, sure. Just let me say hi to your parents first. My mom wanted me to tell them something.”

“Sure thing. I’ll grab some food for the turtle ducks and some snacks for us. Mom and dad are out in the garden.”

Kya gets two minutes of peacefully putting food into a bag before her brothers show up.

“Hey, Kya I saw Lin was here. Are you guys going somewhere?”

“Yes, Bumi. We’re going to the park. I told you earlier that’s what we would probably be doing today. What do you want?”

“Oh, well, I don’t want anything. Baby brother here had a question and was too scared to come ask alone.”

Kya scowls and turns to Tenzin, “What?”

He fidgets and glances at Bumi before speaking, “Um, I was just wondering if I could come with yo-”

“No.”

“What? Why not?”

“Because I said no, Tenzin. Hang out with Bumi and Suyin. Or Izumi, she’s here visiting with her dad isn’t she?”

She signs when Tenzin frowns and crosses his arms. He’s going to dig his heels in apparently.

“Tenzin. If you follow us to the park, and I am not exaggerating here, it will take them hours to get you out of that pond. And by the time you get home, Oogi will be purple.”

“Wh-wha- Why?!”

“Maybe because we don’t want my annoying little brother following us around every time we hang out.”

“I’m not annoyi-“

“Yes. You are. Now, I have to go. Leave me alone.”

Kya walks past Tenzin and Bumi with the bag of food thrown over her shoulder. When she steps into the hallway she sees Lin standing just outside the door.

“My mom really needs to stop asking me to tell your parents things. I did not need to know what this one meant, and yet they told me.”

“Again?”

“Yeah, it's getting pretty weird.”

Kya links her arm with Lin’s while they walk, “Well, I don’t want any details. Not after last time.”

“I don’t blame you. Now, what did Tenzin do to piss you off?”

“What?”

“It seems pretty malicious to dye Oogi purple just to keep him from coming to the park with us.”

Kya blushes and shrugs, “He’s always following us around now, I’m a little annoyed, I guess. Who wants their little brother to go everywhere with them?”

When Lin tugs her over to stand under a tree out of the way, Kya doesn’t think much of it. Lin doesn’t like being stared at. Which happens a lot when you’re the daughter of Toph Beifong or Avatar Aang and Master Katara. When Lin turns to face her and stands closer than usual, Kya takes notice. It takes everything in her not to blush bright red. She doesn’t understand why but her heart is racing.

“It's just a harmless crush, he’ll probably be over it in a month or two.”

Kya crosses her arms and glares, not pouts thank you very much Bumi, “I know that. Why would I care if Tenzin has a crush on you?”

“I don’t know,” Oh, raising that eyebrow is just not fair Lin, “You tell me.”

“I don’t.”

“You very clearly do, Kya.”

“So you’re a mind reader now?”

Lin sighs, “I wish I were, then we wouldn’t need to have this conversation.”

“If I’m too much trouble for you, feel free to leave.”

She’s about to start crying and she doesn’t even know why. Spirits, Lin is never going to want to hang out with her again.

“Kya, no. You’re not too much trouble. I just want to understand why you’ve been so upset recently. Talk to me please?”

Kya groans and hides her face in her hands, “I don’t know, Lin! If I knew why I wanted to murder Tenzin every time he so much as looked at you, it wouldn’t be a problem. Bumi’s crush on Izumi never made me this upset. I thought it was cute. They make a great couple. Why is this different? I don’t get it.“

When Lin pulls her hands away from her face Kya blinks and looks up at her, “What are-“

Kya gasps when Lin pulls her forward into a short kiss. She spends the first thirty seconds after gaping at Lin. She’s breathless when she says, “Do that again please.”

Lin grins and kisses her cheek, “Maybe later. When we’re not surrounded by strangers.”

Kya nods and smiles, “So. I guess that would be why.”

“I thought it might be. I wasn’t sure if I should let you figure it out on your own but, it didn’t seem like that was going to happen.”

“Your mom isn’t going to threaten to kill me if I hurt you right? Because she’s kind of scary.”

“My mother will probably high five you and tell me not to fuck it up. She’s a loving mom like that. If anyone is going to get a shovel talk here, it’s me. And your mom knows bloodbending.”

“What, dad being the avatar isn’t scary enough?”

Lin snorts and shakes her head, “When he’s standing next to your mother? Not a chance. Aang is like an overexcited polar bear dog. If Katara came after me, no one would find the body.”

[flightfoot]

Analyzing Reyna’s romance (or rather, lack thereof) arc and her feelings towards it throughout the series

Recently, Rick published a tweet about Reyna’s orientation, stating “Personally, I see her as romantic asexual and have written her arc with that in mind. (hence the prophecy in HoO) It’s been a struggle for her to figure that out, as she explains in Tyrant’s Tomb. But as always, interpret the text as you wish.”

After reading Tyrant’s Tomb, I figured she was somewhere around ace or aro, so it was cool to see it confirmed that he wrote her with that in mind! Especially since I’m ace myself, and we don’t get a ton of representation. It was just really neat.

In light of that, I wanted to lay out and analyze her arc as it relates to her orientation, to who she’s attracted (or moreso, not attracted) to, starting from her first appearance and continuing through to Tyrant’s Tomb.

Starting all the way from “Son of Neptune”, there’s hints and conversations about Reyna’s love life woven in, with Percy noticing how Reyna reacts to Jason being mentioned.

Reyna grimaced. Percy got the feeling this guy Jason might’ve been more to her than just a colleague. (SON 41)

 Percy doesn’t know much of anything about Jason or Reyna or the culture in Camp Jupiter, so he doesn’t have much of a bias towards thinking they’re a couple because of those factors. For Percy to still pick up on Reyna being especially close to Jason is a pretty good indicator that that wasn’t just other people reading into it, seeing what they expect to see from Reyna - something which DOES happen a lot, and that Reyna goes into in Tyrant’s Tomb.

Jason… Percy couldn’t go very far in this camp without hearing that name.

“The way you talk about him…” Percy said. “Were you two a couple?”

Reyna’s eyes bored into him – like the eyes of a hungry wolf. Percy had seen enough hungry wolves to know.

“We might have been,” Reyna said, “given time. Praetors work closely together. It’s common for them to become romantically involved. But Jason was only praetor for a few months before he disappeared. Ever since then, Octavian has been pestering me, agitating for new elections. I’ve resisted. I’ve resisted. I need a new partner in power – but I prefer someone like Jason. A warrior, not a schemer.”

She waited. Percy realized she was sending him a silent invitation.

His mouth went dry. “Oh… you mean… oh.”

“I believe the gods sent you to help me,” Reyna said. “I don’t understand where you come from, any more than I understood it four years ago. But I think your arrival is some form of repayment. You destroyed my home once. Now you’ve been sent to save my home. I don’t hold a grudge against you for the past, Percy. My sister hates you still, it’s true, but Fate brought me here to Camp Jupiter. I’ve done well. All I ask is that you work with me for the future. I intend to save this camp. (SON 181)

 Initially when she’s introduced, and in the early books especially, Reyna gives off this extremely dangerous vibe, with Percy especially being nervous about her. Her initial proposition here seems very opportunistic at first, with the emphasis being on the power that comes from being her partner first and foremost, and any more romantic (or otherwise) partnership being implied as an add-on. It isn’t really clear whether she has any actual feelings for him or not.

“The point is, Percy, you are the real power on this quest. You are a seasoned veteran. I’ve seen what you can do. A son of Neptune wouldn’t be my first choice, but if you return successfully from this mission, the legion might be saved. The praetorship will be yours for the taking. Together, you and I could expand the power of Rome. We could raise an army and find the Doors of Death, crush Gaea’s forces once and for all. You would find me a very helpful… friend.”

She said that word like it could have several meanings, and he could pick which one.

Percy’s feet started tapping on the floor, anxious to run. “Reyna… I’m honored, and all. Seriously. But I’ve got a girlfriend. And I don’t want power, or a praetorship.”

Percy was afraid he’d made her mad. Instead she just raised her eyebrows.

“A man who turns down power?” she said. “That’s not very Roman of you. Just think about it. In four days, I have to make a choice. If we are to fight off an invasion, we must have two strong praetors. I’d prefer you, but if you fail on your quest, or don’t come back, or refuse my offer… Well, I’ll work with Octavian. I mean to save this camp, Percy Jackson. Things are worse than you realize.” (SON 182-183)

 Reyna’s giving off a “together we can rule” kind of vibe, though for benevolent purposes. And the emphasis on him not being her first choice necessarily but preferring him to other options, along with the casual way she talks about him possibly failing his quest or not making it back compounds the perception that this isn’t really about Percy personally, and not about any attraction she may or may not have towards him, but just what he can offer as far as strengthening the camp goes.

He could tell the audience was over. Reyna was having trouble holding herself together, keeping up the image of the confident commander. She needed some time by herself.

But at the door of the principia, Percy couldn’t resist turning. “How did we destroy your home – that spa where you lived?”

The metal greyhounds growled. Reyna snapped her fingers to silence them.

“You destroyed the power of our mistress,” she said. “You freed some prisoners who took revenge on all of us who lived on the island. My sister and I… well, we survived. It was difficult. But in the long run, I think we are better off away from that place.”

“Still, I’m sorry,” Percy said. “If I hurt you, I’m sorry.”

Reyna gazed at him for a long time, as if trying to translate his words. “An apology? Not very Roman at all, Percy Jackson. You’d make an interesting praetor. I hope you’ll think about my offer.” (SON 184-185)

 The bit about Reyna having trouble holding herself together and keeping up this image shows a crack in her earlier portrayal, that maybe she isn’t quite as... impassive I think? As she appears while making her ‘offer’ to Percy. It does make me wonder though, how much of this portrayal of her during this scene was a deliberately planned part of her character arc since the beginning, and how much was Rick writing this in the early stages and slowly figuring out her character along the way. In later scenes, especially in later books, it seemed like less of a purely pragmatic offer, and more of one with at least some twinges of actual desire behind it, albeit only twinges (not like she knows Percy that well anyway).

She glanced up at the warship. Her expression turned a little wistful. “You say Jason is aboard… I hope that’s true. I’ve missed him.” (SON 512)

 Even here, though, at the end of SON, the stalwart commander image she tries to project softens a little, and her closeness with Jason, her desire to see him again, is emphasized. Platonic or romantic, she definitely cares for him.

“Enough,” Reyna snapped. “Annabeth is what she says. She’s here in peace. Besides…” She gave Annabeth a look of grudging respect. “Percy has spoken highly of you.”

The undertones in Reyna’s voice took Annabeth a moment to decipher. Percy looked down, suddenly interested in his cheeseburger.

Annabeth’s face felt hot. Oh gods… Reyna had tried to make a move on Percy. That explained the tinge of bitterness, maybe even envy in her words. Percy had turned her down for Annabeth. (MOA 24)

 Here’s where there starts being some pretty strong implications that Reyna did actually care about Percy more personally, her romantic offer was for more than just convenience sake. Especially with the ‘maybe even envy’ part. The bitterness could just as easily be from just the rejection, but the envy implies she actively wants what Annabeth has.

“Uh, Reyna,” Jason said. “if you don’t mind, I’d like to show Piper around before the senate meeting. She’s never seen New Rome.”

Reyna’s expression hardened.

Annabeth wondered how Jason could be so dense. Was it possible he really didn’t understand how much Reyna liked him? It was obvious enough to Annabeth. Asking to show his new girlfriend around Reyna’s city was rubbing salt in a wound.

“Of course,” Reyna said coldly.

Percy took Annabeth’s hand. “Yeah, me too, I’d like to show Annabeth-“

“No,” Reyna snapped.

Percy knit his eyebrows. “Sorry?”

“I’d like a few words with Annabeth,” Reyna said. “Alone. If you don’t mind, my fellow praetor.”

Her tone made it clear she wasn’t really asking permission.

The chill spread down Annabeth’s back. She wondered what Reyna was up to. Maybe the praetor didn’t like the idea of two guys who had rejected her giving their girlfriends tours of her city. Or maybe there was something she wanted to say in private. Either way, Annabeth was reluctant to be alone and unarmed with the Roman leader. (MOA 32)

 Reyna did have some things she wanted to go over with Annabeth privately, but with the emphasis on Annabeth being able to tell how much Reyna likes Jason, her reacting coldly to him asking to take Piper around the city, along with the way she snapped at Percy for asking to take Annabeth around instead of stating her refusal more calmly, her reactions strongly suggest that she IS hurting from seeing both Percy and Jason with their girlfriends, that she does have feelings for them somewhat, and is trying to suppress it.

“Long story,” Reyna said. “But I remember you well. You were brave. I’d never seen anyone refuse Circe’s hospitality, much less outwit her. It’s no wonder Percy cares for you.”

Her voice was wistful. Annabeth thought it might be safer not to respond. (MOA 37-38)

 I didn’t pull quotations emphasizing this specifically, but Reyna’s loneliness and the strain she’s under as a commander, especially having been the lone praetor for so long, is putting her under a lot of stress. I think at least part of the reason for her hints of envy towards Annabeth and coldness about Jason having a girlfriend, is derived from her not really having had the sort of support that Percy and Jason currently have, that intimacy, that ability to drop the walls and image she’s built up in order to lead and to protect herself.

“I wanted to hear it from you,” Reyna said.

Annabeth turned. “Hear what from me?”

“The truth,” Reyna said. “Convince me I’m not making a mistake by trusting you. Tell me about yourself. Tell me about Camp Half-Blood. Your friend Piper has sorcery in her words. I spent enough time with Circe to know charmspeak when I hear it. I can’t trust what she says. And Jason… well, he has changed. He seems distant, no longer quite Roman.”

The hurt in her voice was as sharp as broken glass. Annabeth wondered if she had sounded that way, all the months she’d been searching for Percy. At least she’d found her boyfriend. Reyna had no one. She was responsible for running an entire camp all by herself. Annabeth could sense that Reyna wanted Jason to love her. But he had disappeared, only to come back with a new girlfriend. Meanwhile, Percy had risen to praetor, but he had rebuffed Reyna too. Now Annabeth had come to take him away. Reyna would be left alone again, shouldering a job meant for two people.

When Annabeth had arrived at Camp Jupiter, she’d been prepared to negotiate with Reyna or even fight her if needed. She hadn’t been prepared to feel sorry for her.

She kept that feeling hidden. Reyna didn’t strike her as someone who would appreciate pity. (MOA 38-39)

 The loneliness is really apparent here, and very explicit. I don’t think it’s even really about ‘romantic love’, as far as the whole thing with Jason goes, exactly, but... being that high level of priority. Having someone there for you closely. I think she at least thinks that a romantic relationship with Jason, or even Percy, may provide that. And that’s something most people need, regardless of orientation. 

“You see?” Reyna said bitterly. “The spear is thrown. Our people are at war.”

“Not if I succeed,” Annabeth said.

Reyna’s expression looked the same as it had at Camp Jupiter when she realized Jason had found another girl. The praetor was too alone, too bitter and betrayed to believe anything could go right for her ever again. Annabeth waited for her to attack. (MOA 253)

 Between this sudden attack out of nowhere, Jason disappearing and returning with having bonded with these new people, especially Piper, and having ‘changed’ as she said, no longer having anyone around she’s close to... well. She’s just managing as best she can.

In the center of the line stood Reyna, her metal dogs Aurum and Argentum at her side. Upon seeing her, Jason felt an incredible pang of guilt. He’d let her believe they had a future together. He had never been in love with her, and he hadn’t led her on exactly… but he also hadn’t shut her down.

He’d disappeared, leaving her to run the camp on her own. (Okay, that hadn’t exactly been Jason’s idea, but still…) Then he had returned to Camp Jupiter with his new girlfriend Piper and a whole bunch of Greek friends in a warship. They’d fired on the Forum and run away, leaving Reyna with a war on her hands. (HOH 247)

 I couldn’t find much about Reyna’s relationships with others in HOH since she’s barely in the book. From the looks of things, he’d at least believed that Reyna wanted to be with him actively long-term, something which jives pretty well with previous passages concerning Reyna’s relationship with Jason. Makes me curious how exactly they interacted in the past, what went down between them.

Also more emphasis on Reyna being stressed and on her own. That seems to be pretty heavily associated with anything talking about her love life.

So far in the ancient lands, she’d only seen one place on her wish list: Diocletian’s Palace in Split, and even that visit had hardly gone the way she’d imagined. Reyna used to dream about going there with Jason to admire their favorite emperor’s home. She pictured romantic walks with him through the old city, sunset picnics on the parapets. (BOO 75)

 And then comes Blood of Olympus, where we actually get to see Reyna’s perspective, her thoughts, instead of having to infer them from other characters’ perceptions of her. The daydreaming about going on trips with him and explicitly ‘romantic’ walks and picnics seems like she genuinely desired that to some extent. Though I do notice those are pretty cliche desires, so that may also feed into the part of her arc with feeling pressured to perform a certain way, to ‘be’ a certain way, and believing that this is how to find happiness.

She found Thalia’s eyes distracting: electric blue, intense, and alert, so much like Jason’s. (BOO 221)

 Just wanted to note this bit, since she’s paying special attention to Thalia here, especially her eyes. Though I’m iffy about this representing attraction to Reyna, since Thalia’s eyes are often commented on (at least in their heads) and a major factor in paying attention to them seems to have to do with them being like Jason’s, which could account for the focus.

The giant’s eyes clicked and dilated. Red laser dots floated across Reyna’s breastplate. “Ah, the young praetor. I admit, I’ve been curious. Before I slay you, perhaps you’ll enlighten me. Why would a child of Rome go to such lengths to help the Greeks? You have forfeited your rank, abandoned your legion, made yourself an outlaw – and for what? Jason Grace scorned you. Percy Jackson refused you. Haven’t you been… what’s the word… dumped enough?”

Reyna’s ears buzzed. She recalled Aphrodite’s warning, two years ago in Charleston: You will not find love where you wish or where you hope. No demigod shall heal your heart.

She forced herself to meet the giant’s gaze. “I don’t define myself by the boys who may or may not like me.” (BOO 238)

 It just occurred to me that I really have no clue how Orion knows about Reyna’s love life. Like I know Python can provide some intel, but was that detail REALLY that important? 

Anyway, this statement by Reyna, “I don’t define myself by the boys who may or may not like me.”, is an important step in how she relates to romance in general, and in her portrayal in the series, particularly in the Tyrant’s Tomb. Before this a lot of emphasis was placed on her being rejected by Percy and Jason, and of at least somewhat wanting to be with them in some capacity, or at least believing that she did. After this she seems more at peace with herself and less focused on past or present pursuit of relationships for herself.

“Once in Charleston, Venus told me something. She said: You will not find love where you wish or where you hope. No demigod shall heal your heart. I- I have struggled with that for…” Her words broke. (BOO 492)

 Near the end of BOO, she finally talks to someone about this. A lot of people know, but... well, with the emphasis on how alone she is, how she has to keep up appearances, it doesn’t seem like she’s really gotten a chance to break down and talk to someone. I’m glad she got to do it with Piper. And this proclamation, this prophecy, the seeming hopelessness of it that appears to re-emphasize her being alone, along with implying that she’s broken in some way with the reference to her needing to be ‘healed’... I can only imagine how it would torment her.

Reyna rolled her eyes. “If I had a denarius for every time I got that question… Aside from the fact that Thalia is in the Hunters, and thus sworn to celibacy… why does a strong friendship always have to progress to romance? Thalia’s an excellent friend. Why would I risk messing that up?” (TTT 228)

 By TTT she’s had a lot more time to come to terms with her thoughts and feelings about relationships and romance, plus she’s not alone anymore, though the situation is still dire and stressful. While during HOO her being without support and having to manage everything by herself was interwoven with the narrative about her feelings towards Jason and Percy and her lack of romantic relationships, that’s not present here. In fact, it’s the opposite, with her having a strong friendship and having no desire to turn it into something romantic. It seems like those concepts became unbundled, with her having strong support and friendship unrelated to any romance.

Reyna broke a dry branch off a shrub and flicked it into the underbrush. “I went on that quest with Jason, what, two years ago? Venus took one look at me and decided… I don’t know. I was broken. I needed romantic healing. Whatever. I wasn’t back at camp a full day before the whispering started. Nobody would admit that they knew, but they knew. The looks I got: Oh, poor Reyna. The innocent suggestions I got about who I should date.”

She didn’t sound angry. It was more like weighed down and weary. I remembered Frank Zhang’s concern about how long Reyna had shouldered the burdens of leadership, how he wished he could do more to relieve her. Apparently, a lot of legionnaires wanted to help Reyna. Not all of that had been welcome or useful.

“The thing is,” she continued, “I’m not broken.”

“Of course not.” (TTT 233)

 This conception about “being broken” is something aces tend to end up feeling, at least without knowing more about asexuality. I didn’t get it as much since I wasn’t surrounded with as much emphasis on dating and sex as a lot of other people are, so I started figuring out maybe I was different from most other people only awhile after having run across the term; I just figured it was normal to have this attraction thing start up sometime later, like late teens or so, and that I didn’t exactly know what people were talking about anyway so maybe I just didn’t recognize it. By the time I figured out that I probably wasn’t going to develop this “sexual attraction” thing anytime soon I already knew about different sexualities and was able to research the topic to see what best description best fit my own experience. So I’m glad Rick touched on Reyna’s discomfort here. With some of the earlier passages I think she may have come to view herself the same way other people were viewing her, as needing a romantic partner to help her, but now she’s realized that was never really necessary for her; she doesn’t need that in her life.

After this, the whole scene with Lester awkwardly asking Reyna out occurs, and she figures out how ridiculous all this stress over who she should be with is, that it’s not something she needs to force herself to do, to dedicate all this time and energy too.

“My whole life, I’ve been living with other people’s expectations of what I’m supposed to be. Be this. Be that. You know?”

[…]

“But the whole time I’ve been a leader here,” she forged on, “I was looking for a partner. Praetors often partner up. In power. But also romantically, I mean. I thought Jason. Then for a hot minute, Percy Jackson. Gods help me, I even considered Octavian.” She shuddered. “Everybody was always trying to ship me with somebody. Thalia. Jason. Gwen. Even Frank. Oh, you’d be perfect together! That’s who you need! But I was never really sure if I wanted that, or if I just felt like I was supposed to want it. People, well-meaning, would be like, Oh, you poor thing. You deserve somebody in your life. Date him. Date her. Date whoever. Find your soulmate.”

She looked to me to see if I was following. Her words came out hot and fast, as if she’d been holding them in for a long time. “And that meeting with Venus. That really messed me up. No demigod will heal your heart. What was that supposed to mean? Then finally, you came along.”

“Do we have to review that part again? I am quite embarrassed enough.”

“But you showed me. When you proposed dating…”

She took a deep breath, her body shaking with silent giggles. “Oh, gods. I saw how ridiculous I’d been. How ridiculous the whole situation was. That’s what healed my heart – being able to laugh at myself again, at my stupid ideas about destiny. That allowed me to break free – just like Frank broke free of his firewood. I don’t need another person to heal my heart. I don’t need a partner… at least, not until and unless I’m ready on my own terms. I don’t need to be force-shipped with anyone or wear anyone else’s label. For the first time in a long time, I feel like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders. So thank you.” (TTT 405-406)

I understand her confusion here about whether she herself wanted to be with someone, or whether she felt like she should enough that she forced some facsimile of those feelings onto herself. I suspect that there were at least twinges of genuine romantic feelings concerning Jason at least -  a lot of the focus around romance is in regards to him, and some of her reactions regarding him appeared to be more instinctual to me, like her reaction to him suggesting showing Piper around the city. Now how strong those feelings really were and whether they’d sync up well with a romantic relationship, I’m not sure. Just because you can imagine a relationship being one way, actually experiencing it you may find it’s not for you, that conceptually it’s appealing but not when actually trying to have one.

She doesn’t seem entirely sure of her own feelings as far as dating someone goes either, but she’s letting go of the idea, of the feeling that she needs to figure it out now. She can just... be. 

When I was first trying to figure out what the heck my orientation was, I fretted about it for a bit, trying to analyze my own feelings and compulsions. I thought demisexual or asexual, and as for my romantic orientation... bi perhaps?

Eventually I just... stopped worrying over it. At least all that much. Pretty sure I’m ace, but romantic orientation I’m still unsure of, though I’m currently leaning aro. And even in my twenties, I’m not totally clear on it. And I don’t have to be. Neither does Reyna. If she ends up with feelings for someone, of whatever gender, that’s fine. If she doesn’t, that’s fine too. Maybe she’ll end up changing what she thinks of herself, what she believes her orientation is as she has more experiences. Or maybe she won’t. It’s good either way.

Joining the Hunters decoupled the themes of loneliness, of isolation from HOO with the idea of romantic relationships even more thoroughly. She has that sort of camaraderie with them. She doesn’t need to be strong for them, to be the high leader. She has that support, along with not needing to be responsible for so many people’s welfare and morale anymore, all without any romantic pressure. She can just chill. There’s a reason she regards it as a vacation. And seriously, good for her!

Side note: based on the focus Reyna has on male characters as possibly being viable partners while not seeming to consider any female characters in the same light, even listing Jason, Percy, and Octavian (though I kinda doubt that was romantic) as ones she considered, but listing Thalia, Jason, Gwen, and Frank as people she was shipped with, I suspect that she’s hetero-leaning. It’s hardly conclusive evidence though, headcanon what you like.

[i-know-you-can]

The Story of Us - It takes a village

Time flies and it’s been a little while since I added anything new to my collection of short one shots/drabbles but a few days ago a wonderful idea by @tikigoddess caught my attention and wouldn’t let me go. You can find the original post here or if you don’t want to be spoiled

Read below or on Ao3

“Are you sure you guys are gonna be fine on your own? I can just tell Veronica to reschedule. Or maybe we can stay in. I’m sure she could bring the whole spa over here if she wanted.”

“Betts,” Jughead says, placing a hand on her shoulder to stop her nervous rambling, the other hand cradling their baby daughter against his chest. “We’ll be just fine. Mia will probably sleep most of the time you’re away anyway while I’ll try to get some writing done. No need to worry about us.”

It’s been only six weeks since Mia Isabella Jones has entered their lives, causing everything they do to stop and focus on her. And while Jughead is more than willing to do that, assuming the role of a full time dad with pride, he’s also still a husband, one of his duties being that he needs to force his wife to take time for herself and relax.

“But what if...” Betty tries to protest but Jughead stops her.

“No what ifs. You’re only going to Greendale. If something were to happen, which it won’t, Veronica’s driver will have you back in no time.”

With a resigned sigh Betty nods and Jughead knows just how she feels. Every moment spent away from their daughter feels like forever. And for someone as young as her, it probably is. Even though she spends most of her day sleeping, completely unaware of her parents’ presence.

“I’ll miss this sweet face,” Betty says, her lips down-turned as she strokes Mia’s cheek, the little girl rewarding her with a toothless smile.

“I’ll miss yours too.” Jughead grins, making her chuckle. “But it’s only a few hours and you deserve time for yourself.”

Just then a car honks outside of their house, signaling Veronica’s arrival.

With dozen kisses to Mia’s face and a few spare for him, Betty is out of the door, finally leaving the father-daughter duo alone.

“It’s just you and me kiddo,” Jughead whispers and for a moment he worries Mia will feel the lack of her mother’s presence and break into tears. He sure would in her place. But instead she just lets out a quiet gurgle and snuggles into his chest.

“I know, I’ll miss mommy too,” he says, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. Not sure if more for her comfort or his. “But I promise we’ll have fun.”

Jughead may have exaggerated the term fun when twenty minutes later Mia is sleeping soundly in her crib while he stares at the blank screen of his computer, willing the words to come to him. It’s difficult to get into the zone though, as a thought in the back of his mind keeps nagging him, telling him he’s forgetting something important. He’s ran through the mental checklist of baby care twice already, making sure his daughter was safe and satisfied but the feeling doesn’t go away.

It’s only when his phone rings and a frustrated “Jones, where are you? We’ve been waiting for twenty minutes.” comes from the other end that he realizes what he’s been forgetting this whole time. The monthly Serpents’ meeting.

While the previous month, due to Mia being barely two weeks old, Toni, as his second in command, lead the meeting, this month Jughead promised to check back in himself. A thought that quickly slipped his mind in the hustle and bustle of his everyday life.

What was once a five minute bike drive now turned into half an hour as Jughead triple checked the contents of the diaper bag before loading Mia into the car seat and setting off towards the White Wyrm. By the time he arrives, the Serpents are already waiting, faces predictably twisted with annoyance that quickly dissipates and turns into smiles once they notice the sleeping baby strapped to his chest. His daughter does tend to have that sort of effect on people.

“Sorry for the delay, guys,” Jughead says as they all settle into their chairs, “but as you can see, I have a very cute excuse.”

It’s barely ten minutes later when he’s running his hand through his hair in frustration. He’s forgotten how these meetings can sometimes go, especially with new members of the gang and without Betty by his side to shut them up with a single look before they have a chance to say something stupid.

“It’s just weed. What’s the big deal?” the newest member of the gang, a self-nicknamed guy called Sniper, asks, crossing his arms. He looks like a toddler about to throw a tantrum and Jughead hoped he was at least two years away from having to deal with that.

“The Serpents don’t deal drugs. It’s one of the main rules and you know that,” Jughead says, trying to keep his tone firm and serious. He knows that the adorable baby strapped to his chest may be making it a bit more difficult to take him seriously but he tries anyway.

Sniper rolls his eyes with an exaggerated huff, muttering something about the gang being boring. Then he pulls out a pack of cigarettes but Toni slaps the lighter out of his hand before he can light one.

“Are you crazy? There is a baby here,” she says, her eyes flaming with anger.

“Yeah, and Fangs has asthma. The Wyrm is a strict no smoking zone,” Sweet Pea growls, standing up to tower over the new guy for emphasis.

Sniper takes a quick look around him, as if wondering whether anyone will back him up, but the other Serpents just shake their heads and send him disapproving looks. “What kind of stupid gang is this?” he grumbles, kicking a chair angrily.

The sudden noise startles Mia from her slumber, a loud wail piercing through the air in an instant.

“See? Now you made the baby cry. Get out of here!” Sweet Pea snarls, pushing him towards the exit.

Jughead’s hand immediately comes up to Mia’s back, trying to soothe her with gentle strokes. “It’s okay, sweetie,” he talks to her in the softest voice possible, “sorry that poopy head woke you up.” He hears a couple of people snicker at his choice of words but ignores them, bouncing lightly on his feet, hoping to quickly put her back to sleep. The first three weeks of her life, bouncing on a fitness ball was the only sure-fire way to get her to sleep but Betty and Jughead have since moved on from bringing the ball with them everywhere so this is the most he can do now.

The little girl isn’t having it though, her tiny face scrunching up and her cries growing louder. Some of the Serpents, mostly the ones who don’t have kids on their own, start looking uncomfortable, clearly not sure how to deal with the situation. A crying baby is not a common problem during gang meetings.

“Let me hold her. Maybe she’s just sick of all the testosterone in the air,” Toni says and after a moment of hesitation Jughead carefully extracts Mia from the baby carrier.

“Be careful,” he tells her and she shoots him a look that says: “ I know what I’m doing better than you do.” . He supposes she’s right. After all, she has her own tiny person at home and therefore a lot more experience than he does. Still, it doesn’t stop him from worrying whenever he hands his daughter to someone else.

Toni’s presence doesn’t seem to help though, as Mia continues to prove to everyone how strong her lungs are.

“Let me try,” an older Serpent comes up to Toni, reaching his hands out for the baby. “My girls always liked to be rocked in a specific way.”

Jughead runs his hand through his hair, wondering how the direction of the meeting changed so quickly. Ah, right, Sniper was being an idiot.

Betty often teases him about how the Serpents have hardly resembled a gang in the past half a decade. He usually tries to oppose her, saying that a gang isn’t defined by doing criminal activities or riding motorcycles (many of the Serpents have exchanged theirs for family cars). But looking at them now, all he sees is a group of dorks in leather jackets, passing along a crying baby in a poor attempt to get her to stop crying.

“Your ugly face is only making her cry more.” He hears Sweet Pea say to a Serpent called Hisser who is trying to pull funny faces at Mia, before taking the baby from him. “Babies like being sung to,” he says, taking a deep breath before a slightly husky rendition of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star reverberates through the bar.

“You’re singing it wrong,” Fangs interrupts him, starting the song again and several other Serpents start humming alongside him.

To everyone’s surprise, by the time they finish the song for the second time, the crying stops, Mia’s bright green eyes half closed and heavy with sleep.

“We did it, boss!” Fangs whisper yells in excitement as Sweet Pea continues to rock the baby in his arms until her eyes close completely.

As Jughead watches them, he realizes he could hardly ask for a better family for his daughter. Raising a child really takes a village. And sometimes that village is a group of gang member singing lullabies in a bar.

_______________

“Oh my god!” Betty exclaims with a giggle as a video of the Serpents singing to her daughter plays on her phone. Underneath a message from Toni says: "The Serpent Princess already has them wrapped around her tiny finger.”

[saturniandevil]

January 2021 & The Year Ahead

AKA my notes from The Astrology Podcast because I really appreciate these regular forecasts, supplemented with this big ephemeris.

WRAPPING UP

Going into this, Saturn & Jupiter will be conjunct in Aquarius on the solstice, December 21. (I’ve scheduled a reminder post so you can go out and see it--just after sunset!) I’ve also done a quick peek ahead and we’ve got a lot of Aquarian themes for us in January and 2021 in general--change in major cycles. Jupiter-Saturn conjunctions take place every 20 years, and this one in Aquarius shifts us to a ~200-year period where Jupiter-Saturn conjunctions will now take place in air signs, after having had them in earth signs for the past ~150 years. Air can represent information and data, and Kelly and Austin also talk about how air can also represent dispersion; you don’t see a breeze but you see the leaves or sand moving with it. We may move towards digital communication and decentralization/deconstruction of social & political institutions.

(Image of Archetypal Explorer software showing how December is the nexus of some major outer planet interactions)

HIGHLIGHTS

Saturn Square Uranus // ♄ □ ♅

Saturn has been contacting Pluto, who intensifies his structures, but this year Uranus will be challenging him. Worldwide we may see more large-scale pushes for larger change--the struggle for liberation against structures that are no longer working. Exact on: February 17 (♄♒ □ ♅♉ at 7° of each respective sign) June 14  (♄♒ □ ♅♉ at 13°) December 24 (♄♒ □ ♅♉ at 11°)

Jupiter square Uranus // ♃ □ ♅

This aspect has a shorter-term effect, but Jupiter may lend his benefic influence to this struggle and make the change easier or more constructive. Exact on: January 17 (♃♒ □ ♅♉ at 6°)

General shift from Cardinal signs to Fixed & Mutable signs

Jupiter’s and Saturn’s trips into Aquarius this week mean that 2021 will start out with a strong emphasis on early degrees of fixed signs right off the bat, and Mars will be entering Taurus soon as well. Look to the planets and houses where Aquarius and the other fixed signs fall for you to get a glimpse of where this shift may affect you on a personal level. Saturn will slowly trek through Aquarius over the next 2 years, and the nodes/eclipse axis will also shift into fixed signs in 2022.

The eclipse axis (N. and S. node) has already moved from Cancer-Capricorn to Gemini-Sagittarius, moving some personal & emotional focus to the mutable signs. (Eclipses occur when a new or full moon lines up with the nodes.) Dates: May 26 - total lunar eclipse (🌞♊ ☍ 🌙♐ at 5°) June 10 - annular solar eclipse (🌞 ☌ 🌙 at 19°♊) November 19 - partial lunar eclipse (🌞 ♏ ☍ 🌙 ♉ at 27°) December 4 - total solar eclipse (🌞 ☌ 🌙 at 12°♐)

Generally, the problems that cardinal signs have brought to attention or projects they have started will be changing for awhile--fixed signs are slow to get started but long-lasting.

Mercury retrogrades will also be taking place in air signs this year! More in-depth information below the cut (after January).

JANUARY 2021

January 6: Mars enters Taurus // ♂ ➡♉ This means he’ll be squaring Jupiter, Saturn, and conjunct Uranus--possibly igniting some of the issues they have brought forth? Mars and Uranus may prove combustible against critical Saturn, but Jupiter may be more receptive to change.

January 8: Mercury enters Aquarius, Venus enters Capricorn // ♄ ➡♒ ; ♀ ➡♑ This will put Mercury in a square to Mars--watch what you say! Our messenger will also be squaring Uranus in Taurus, which may indicate disruptive difficulties in the communication or distribution of basic material necessities, or changes in currency.

January 13: New Moon at 23° Capricorn // 🌞 ☌ 🌙 23♑

January 14: Uranus goes direct at 6° Taurus // ♅(d) 6♉

January 19: Sun enters Aquarius // 🌞➡♒

January 28: Full Moon at 9° Leo // 🌞9♒ ☍ 🌙9♌ The moon will be opposite a close Sun-Jupiter conjunction in Aquarius, as well as squaring that Mars-Uranus conjunction, forming T-square in Leo, Aquarius, and Taurus. Expect tension and outbursts--perhaps channeled unexpectedly through that empty point in Scorpio.

January 30: Mercury Retrograde at 26° Aquarius  // ☿(rx) 26♒

Rest of 2021 below the cut!

QUARTERLY BREAKDOWN

Similar to January, here are some highlights for the months ahead. (Sorry but I’m ditching the emojis now or I’d go insane trying to cut and paste them.  They’ll be back in other posts announcing sign ingresses, monthly forecasts, etc.)

Aquarius Stellium By the 10th we will have the Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn all in Aquarius---that’s every visible planet except Mars! Last time this happened was in 1961-2. Look to your chart to see where this will affect you; Feburary will show you how Aquarius is going to manifest for you.

These planets will be hidden by the sun’s light (cazimi), considered a behind-the-scenes “cycle reset” for each. As the sun moves forward, these planets will become visible again in the sky just before sunrise, literally re-emerging into our view.

Saturn Square Uranus, Jupiter Square Uranus

Mercury Retrograde in Aquarius From January 30 (26 degrees) to February 20 (11 degrees). This means he’ll be slowly moving towards a conjunction with Jupiter (visible in the morning sky).

March

March 3: Mars enters Gemini This will relieve some of the pressure on the fixed squares; things may get a little more flexible. Lots of energy, possible all over the Internet.

March 4: Jupiter conjunct Mercury in Aquarius Some ease of communications here.

March 20-26: Venus conjunct Sun in Pisces & Aries The Sun enters Pisces on the 20th with Venus following on the 21st. She’s exalted in Pisces, but hidden under the Sun’s rays. Mercury has entered Pisces just a few days earlier as well.

Mars conjunct North Node in Gemini Squaring the Sun and Venus throughout the month. Mars may indicate rashness and the North Node confusion (eclipses)--check where Gemini falls in your chart to see where things may fall off a good path.

SECOND QUARTER OF 2021

April

Venus-Sun conjunction continues She’s not to happy being burnt by the Sun or in fiery Aries, though she does enter her domicile in Taurus.

Stellium in Taurus Mercury, Venus, Sun, and Uranus will be hanging out in early-mid Taurus by the 20th, loosely squaring Saturn in Aquarius while they’re close to each other. We may find ourselves “going outside like we never have before.” We’ll be reintegrating into the physical world as an act of rebellion, or rediscovering older knowledge as something new and revolutionary.

April 23: Mars moves into Cancer Slower, more subtle and emotional than Mars in Gemini

April 26: Full Moon at 7° Scorpio Really emphasizing the Taurus Stellium & Saturn-Uranus square. In mutual reception (in each others’ domicile-similar to a conjunction) with Mars in Cancer

April 27: Pluto retrograde at 26° Capricorn Pluto is the last of those big planets to hang around here. May affect the United States’ chart (having a Pluto return.)

May

May 13: Jupiter enters Pisces At last, the major benefic in his domicile! He’s moved away from his fall this year, but was still co-present with negating Saturn up at this point--but now he’s out on his own. Aggressive hugs, chicken soup for the soul, possibly a return of travel in some places (“spring break”). In a mutable sign he can show us the new opportunities in events that have occurred. However he’ll go back to Aquarius this year--rooming with his landlord Saturn. It’s a bit of a sneak peak for 2022.

May 23: Saturn Retrograde at 13° Aquarius

May 26: Total Lunar Eclipse at 5° Sagittarius Picking up some of the themes from the eclipse we just had in December 2020 and turning them in a new direction. This eclipse’s ruler is Jupiter in Pisces, and the Sun’s ruler Mercury is also in domicile in Gemini (the Sun is opposite the Moon at all full moons, this time he’s in Gemini.)

It’s an eclipse, though--what are we not seeing, what are we missing? Our podcast hosts are predicting that perhaps travel agencies will rush forward and miss some things. December 14, the last eclipse, the US had the electoral college officially vote for Biden and the first patient to receive the vaccine--the US chart has Sag rising and Jupiter in Cancer (in the most common chart).

May 29: Mercury Retrograde at 24° Gemini Squaring Neptune in Pisces--perhaps the increased travel will be due to some illusions. He’ll be STRONG during this retrograde, so there may be some disastrous overload in travel or other Mercurian areas, such as communication.

June

June 5: Mars in Cancer opposite Pluto in Capricorn 26° cardinal signs are especially sensitive to this shift in power dynamics. This has been building since the last eclipse and precedes another one.

June 10: Solar eclipse at 19° Gemini Triple conjunction with Sun/Moon/Mercury, squaring Neptune in Pisces. A time for fantasy and illusions, not so great on the logistics.

June 11: Mars enters Leo Once again, fixed sign emphasis--this time Mars is approaching the Saturn♒-Uranus♉ square, which has been building and will go exact on the 14th. We may be headed for more social turmoil and a fire Mars will make this all louder.

June 20: Jupiter Retrograde at 21° Pisces He has unfinished business in Saturn in Aquarius. He’ll go back into Pisces when Mars, Uranus, and Saturn allow us some more optimism.

THIRD QUARTER

July

July 1: Mars opposite Saturn

July 3: Mars square Uranus This further emphasizes the stubborn tension that’s been plaguing us all year--intensifying in midsummer.

July 28: Jupiter re-enters Aquarius He may be playing a bit of peacemaker between Saturn and Uranus in the fixed signs.

July 22: Sun enters Leo The Sun generally has a stabilizing influence, especially in a fixed signs, but he’ll have to contend with Saturn (as will all planets in Leo for the next couple years.) Both planets are in their domicile for this opposition, perhaps bringing a more moderate, measured negotiation to the conflicts of Mars ☍ Saturn at the beginning of the month.

July 29: Mars enters Virgo He’ll be exiting an opposition with Jupiter, meaning he’ll no longer be aggravating the fixed outer planet struggles. Venus precedes him a week earlier; at a personal level we may be a little more calculating and flexible.

August

First week: Sun square Uranus Is over within the first seven days. A little more positive for us.

August 16: Venus enters Libra Finally, she can enjoy her domicile without Saturn squaring her in Capricorn! The benefics are more free to help us in 2021 than they were in 2020. We start reaching fair agreements, whether personally, politically or financially.

August 18: Mercury conjunct Mars at 12° Virgo Fast & Furious! An earth Mercury may push is towards a tangible solution. Mars is in fall, but is being received by Mercury (Mars is in Mercury’s domicile), and may really listen to the messenger. This also trines Uranus in Taurus, adding a distinct flavor of technological innovation here.

August 22: Venus (♎) trine Saturn (♒) Venus is in Saturn’s sign of exaltation as well--she’s got the power to make some deals with structured Saturn. Coincides with a Full Moon in Aquarius and the Sun entering Virgo.

August 30: Mercury enters Libra He’s joining Venus, and Mars is coming soon

September

September 10: Venus enters Scorpio

September 14: Mars enters Libra The accords reached during Venus in Libra may come crashing down as Mercury and Mars join her--some may stay, but some deals are OFF!

September 27: Mercury Retrograde at 25° Libra We’ll really be rethinking some of the agreements that were just made. He’ll trine Jupiter before and during this retrograde--things will feel good. But with Mars there we’ll have to face the issues.

FOURTH QUARTER

Things will really get spicy towards the end of the year.

October

October 6: Pluto goes Direct at 24° Capricorn fjdhada

October 6: New Moon in Libra Conjunct Mercury and Mars, with the planets making trines to Jupiter and Saturn as they approach and leave this lunation. May see a challenge to agreement and accord in the realms under the outer planets’ rule.

October 10: Saturn stations direct at 6°♒

October 18: Mercury stations Direct at 10 Libra, Jupiter stations Direct at 22 Aquarius

October 19: Full Moon at 27 Aries Opposite Sun-Mars conjunction in Libra. This highlights a growing square between Mars (23°♎) and Pluto (24°♑). Jupiter (22°♒) is trine the Sun & Mars, though, so he may relieve some of the pressure.

October 30: Mars enters Scorpio Once again he’ll activate that Saturn-Uranus square and add pressure to the fixed signs.

November

Mars, Sun, Mercury enter Scorpio They will each activate that outer planet square. The accords that weren’t working in October will be really apparent now.

November 19: Lunar eclipse in Taurus This is the first eclipse on the axis we’ll be seeing in 2022--a foreshadowing for the following year. And this will further aggravate some of the fixed sign tension we’ve been experiencing. It’s also squaring Jupiter at 24 Aquarius, who may ease the aspects a liiittle bit.

December

December 1: Neptune stations direct at 20° Pisces

December 4: Total solar eclipse at 12° Sagittarius The completion of the eclipse series on the Gemini-Sag axis. The nodes will change early 2022, and the themes of the eclipse cycle that started a year previous (last week at time of writing) will wrap up. Mars is still in Scorpio, and the “martial” fixed star Antares is close by to this eclipse--strong chance some of the previous contention will ignite or stay aflame.

December 19: Venus Retrograde at 26° Capricorn She’ll be leading us into 2022 with this motion. She’s conjunct Pluto during this station, slowing down almost to his pace as she prepares to change directions. Venus & Pluto may represent more obsessive love, and in Capricorn things may be melancholic and bound/restrained.

December 24: Uranus♉-Saturn♒ square exact to the minute (5°11″) This is the final, most intense culmination of the aspect that has overshadowed the year (although it will come back in ‘22 as well.)

December 28: Jupiter re-enters Pisces He’ll travel all the way through it this time! ;) From this watery domicile he may put out some of the fires that Mars started. We welcome an empowered benefic as we move on to the new year--good news for the mutable signs!

[twistedtummies2]

Ele-May-ntary - Number 13

Welcome to Ele-May-ntary! All throughout the month of May, I’m counting down my Top 31 Favorite Portrayals of Sherlock Holmes, from movies, television, radio, and video games! Last time, we talked about Nicol Williamson’s delusional detective from “The Seven Per-Cent Solution.” Today, we’ll be discussing another rather drastic reimagining, also with his own issues with drugs. Number 13 is…James D’Arcy.

In 2002, before the BBC aired their modernized “Sherlock” series, there was a TV movie also known as Sherlock, under the full title “Sherlock: Case of Evil.” At the time, the film received mixed reviews, and to this day it isn’t one that’s highly thought of. I, however, personally rather enjoy it! It’s different, but it’s an interesting kind of different. The story is somewhat similar to the plot of the by-then-80-year-old John Barrymore film, from 1922: in this TV picture, the story starts with a young Holmes, just starting to make a name for himself as a detective, on the trail of Professor Moriarty. It turns out he’s seeking revenge for what Moriarty did to his brother, Mycroft: in this universe, Mycroft has been crippled due to drug experiments Moriarty conducted on him after kidnapping him some time ago. Holmes kills Moriarty, and thus cements a dubious reputation for bringing the master criminal down…but it later turns out that the rumors of the Professor’s death have been greatly exaggerated, and Holmes thus sets out to once again track down and defeat his nemesis. What’s interesting about this 2002 feature is that it’s sort of a giant melting pot of various earlier Holmes adventures, all rolled into a new feature. In the case of D’Arcy’s Holmes, there’s a lot of stuff being mish-mashed in here. First of all, we have a younger take on the character; this was a rarity in years past, but by no means was this the first production to try this. He’s given a more romantic leaning, and part of the story is him learning to bury his emotions; again, something else a couple early versions latched onto. A lot of emphasis is put on his cocaine habit, something we got with Nicol Williamson’s portrayal in particular. He’s given a sort of action hero vibe: again, something we’d seen of other Sherlocks before, and have seen since. Even little elements of the plot and other characters feel reminiscent of earlier versions: something about Vincent D’Onofrio’s Moriarty, for example, has often reminded me of Professor Ratigan from “The Great Mouse Detective,” of all things. (The fact he and Holmes have their final, fateful duel atop Big Ben probably doesn’t help.) However, despite all this collective inspiration, the film – and D’Arcy’s performance – do have their own unique elements. D’Arcy gives us a Holmes who is somehow both vulnerable and cocksure; he’s a younger take on Sherlock, yes, but he’s still Sherlock: swaggering, conceited, a bit unhinged, and yet thoroughly brilliant, able to put together puzzle pieces that most people don’t latch onto. His relationship with Moriarty is great, too: he LOATHES the Professor, but he also seems to have a certain respect for him, the way Holmes should – recognizing Moriarty as the highest criminal of his caliber. Moriarty’s feelings are somewhat similar, in turn: he recognizes Sherlock as a young and genius fellow, but unfortunately, he’s a young genius who is constantly getting in his way. I also really love Watson in this movie, and the way he and Holmes build their relationship here. Watson is played by little-known actor Roger Morlidge. I don’t think I’ve seen Morlidge in anything EXCEPT this feature, but he’s a fine actor, and brings a new dimension to Watson. In here, instead of being a surgeon, Watson works as a pathologist, and uses methods and devices in his autopsies that other people find perplexing, to say the least. Even though he’s not a brilliant genius like Holmes, he’s inventive and clever in his own way, and because they both use concepts in their line of work that others don’t fully understand, they’re able to form a strong bond. We’ve never really seen that as the genesis of Watson and Sherlock’s relationship, but it actually makes a lot of sense to me, and it’s an interesting twist to the formula. If there is one major, MAJOR issue with “Case of Evil” in my mind – something that, above all else, I cannot forgive – it is the music. Good GOD, the music in this film is DREADFUL. It’s a bland and unpleasant garbage dump of what I can only describe as…well…“Early 2000s Music.” Hopefully you know what I mean by that. It doesn’t fit the movie’s aesthetic tone or style at all, let alone the time period, and it sucks much of the drama out of major moments. Beyond the abysmal score, however, I’ve never really understood why this film seems to be generally disliked. It’s highly underrated, in my opinion…as is its main performer. The countdown continues tomorrow! Who will be next? Check in and find out!

[blindbatalex]

a little something for the carraville royalty au; cw for referenced past character death

Gary meets Jamie for the first time in the gardens of the Mancunian palace they travelled to for their wedding.  

The sun is out in full force and around him, April is at its most violent—an explosion of birdsong and colour, leaves rustling in the breeze.    

It’s been a month since the war ended, although it could have been years or hours as far as Gary is concerned.  Such concepts have meant little to him since that day he returned late from the battlefield and was led into a tent, which held a table in its middle, and on it, David.  His David. His golden hair was a halo around his pale face.  His skin was like marble.  They had clasped his hands over his chest, and already, he wore the faint but unmistakable scent of death.

Lord C.arragher is admiring the roses in bloom when they arrive.  Although the gardens are a popular spot this time of the year, there is not a single soul around him in a 20 metre radius, people’s desire for peace eclipsed by an equally strong wariness.  He turns around when Sir S.olskjaer calls his name.

“Lord C.arragher, Lord N.eville, I will let the two of you get acquainted,” S.olskjaer says with a diplomatic smile, before he nods and leaves.

To his credit, Lord C.arragher waits until S.olskjaer is out of ear shot to say-

“I was hoping they would at least send someone who was easy on the eyes.”

Appalled, Gary almost blurts out an indignant ‘excuse me?!’.  A marriage engineered to seal the peace between lords of two warring kingdoms, following a war that left countless dead and an even larger number broken, and this is the opening gambit he is going with?

C.arragher has scrunched his face too in distaste but his smile gives it away as a ruse.

“You are one to speak,” Gary counters, with a smile that is just as easy, managing to keep most of his surprise and indignation out of his voice.  He touches the spot to the side of his own eye and traces his finger down in a bow to the middle of his cheek, mirroring the arc of the angry scar that runs across C.arragher’s face.  “You look like a…disgraced bandit.”

He hasn’t had any expectations or questions in truth when S.olskjaer first broached the idea to him, and agreed readily.  There is no joy left for him in birdsong or sunlight, and he would marry an ogre if it meant the peace treaty would be upheld.

“It adds to my looks in my opinion,” C.arragher says primly, “makes me look rugged.”

“Hm.”

Gary lets it go, considering that they have, after all, just met, and were busy killing each other’s men as early as a month ago.  Speaking of-

“Battle wound?” Gary asks gesturing to the man’s left shoulder.  He is holding his arm rather stiffly, fingers clutching his side.

C.arragher nods.  “It’s fine.”

Gary has heard that he arrived in a carriage, because he couldn’t travel on horseback—it must be true.  C.arragher starts walking, ever so slowly through the garden and Gary falls in step.  

Around them, the unbearable scent of honeysuckles. A story as old as time itself, of life persevering.  It is as loud and cruel as a battle drum.

“Alright, let’s get this out of the way now,” Gary says. “What is your worst habit?”

C.arragher winces.

“I have a bit of a temper.”

“Good thing I am not a gentle maiden.”

“I am extremely courteous towards gentle maidens.” C.arragher stops and turns to him for emphasis.  “I am not a monster, Gary.”

Gary almost succeeds in not flinching at the use of his first name.  He can count on one hand the number of people who are allowed to call him that.  Stands to reason that his husband-to-be should be one of them, though.

“Right.”

They re-start walking.

“You?”

“What about me?”

“Your worst habit, you twat.”

“Right.  Well, Becks always-”  He swallows. “I’ve been told, I don’t know how to sit still.  So I will likely…fix some inefficiencies in your castle when we arrive there.”

“Oh, you are one of those people.”

Gary can practically hear the eye roll.

“I will let you know I reduced the food waste in our kitchens by half, and servants reported increased levels of happiness and productivity.”

“Obviously, they would tell you that,” C.arragher scoffs. “You are their Lord!”

“Obviously, I use anonymous polling every six months to get around this issue.”

C.arragher raises his good arm towards the heavens, as if asking for divine support.

“It’s too late to change your mind now,” Gary points out, perhaps a tad petulant.  

C.arragher turns to him.  “It is, isn’t it?” he says, shaking his head.  His eyes are a remarkable greyish blue in the sunlight. He is maybe a couple of years younger than Gary and he wears, still, that same easy-going smile, but his eyes- in them, Gary thinks, is a story as old as time itself, of weariness and unspeakable grief.  

Perhaps it is a better match than he gave credit for, or perhaps, he is simply projecting.

[ais-for-alex]

The RIDER Nature Reserve: Chapter 2

So I’m probably just going to upload this as I edit which might end up with several chapters a day then nothing for awhile 😄

James Potter was a picture of contentment. Currently he was burrowed into one of the well-worn holes in his parents’ old loved couch, propped up by countless throw pillows and buried somewhere underneath several plush Sherpa lined blankets. Opposite him James younger sister Lily was reading a dense looking book while simultaneously trying to shove her foot into James’s face.

Within the Potter household Wednesday night dinners had become the traditional family gathering once they had all graduated from Hogwarts. Every week they would gather in their parents’ cozy home for their mum's delicious cooking, everyone throwing lighthearted jabs at each other over the dinner table. These had become James favorite night of the week. So far only James and Lily had made it back to their childhood home that night.

Ginny Potter was currently in the kitchen humming tunelessly as she banged pots and pans on the stovetop. Wednesdays were her normal days off from her job as head coach of the Holyhead Harpies, so she had been cooking when James and Lily had arrived not long before collapsing onto their respective sides of the couch.

At the sound of the flue activating James looked up from his warm bubble just in time to see his dad stumble through green flames. Still clad in his velvet Auror robes James noted that his dad seemed a bit disheveled. His dark unruly hair was more of a mess than usual like he had been running his hands through it for the past hour, and unless his eyes deceived him there was more gray shot through his beard than the last time James had seen him.

Harry sighed in relief when the green flames calmed down back to their soft yellow warmth, he paused for a moment warming his hands seemingly lost in thought. James watched his dad pull off the heavy velvet cloak and send it sailing upstairs with a quick flick of his wand. Harry was so distracted he was completely oblivious to the fact that two of his kids were sitting quietly behind him. That is until Lily let out a giant sneeze making Harry jump, his hand twitched towards the wand holstered at his thigh as he turned only to relax back to his side once he saw who it was.

“Sorry, flue powder, always makes my allergies act up,” she said mildly.

“Jeeze! You scared the crap out of me! Out of the three of you, you two are not the ones I expect to be quiet, make a noise every once and awhile, God damn!” Harry said in exasperation placing a hand on his racing heart. Finally calming down Harry sat on the arm of the couch next to Lily, “Why are you guys so quiet anyway? It’s weird.”

Lily looked up from her book for a moment before responding, “I, unlike this overexcited puppy,” she jabbed her socked foot in James’s face again for emphasis “have the capacity to be calm at any given time.”

“I’m sleeeepyyy,” James moaned, pulling a knit blanket over his head.

Harry scoffed at James’s whine, “Speaking of quiet, where’s Al? Not here yet?”

James’s muffled voice came from under the blanket, “That traitor ditched us because Scorp is off from St Mungo’s and he would rather spend the evening shagging his boyfriend rather than enjoying some wholesome family fun with us. That’s what he said right Lil’s?”

“Oh, yeah you got it verbatim, those were his exact words.”

Rolling his eyes Harry leaned over and kissed the top of Lily’s head before standing, “Mum in the kitchen?” he asked only to receive two mild affirmative answers as he headed out of the living room.

“Why are you so tired tonight you weirdo? Normally, you would be forcing us to play exploding snap until dinner, but now you’re just a quivering mass of pathetic over there.”

“Muf mnr smrm” James’s voice came, now completely muffled as he had pulled a pillow under his blankets and on top of his head.

“What?”

“Vmdf kjr fjbvd”

“Oh, for fucks sake!” she groaned, stretching her leg out and lightly kicking her brother in the head knocking the pillow and blanket to the floor.

Sighing dramatically James repeated his statement again, “I said I’m not pathetic you're pathetic.”

“Ooo, what a snappy comeback, totally worth the wait,” She said sarcastically.

“Ugg, I’m just super tired from training,” James said, finally answering her question, “I think my coach is officially trying to kill us. I don’t think I have been this sore since last season’s finals.”

“I don’t know why you guys are training so hard, I mean considering Mums team is going to whoop your arse anyway.”

“Yo! A little support here would be nice!” James cried in outrage that his sister had sided with their Mum rather than himself.

“Meh, I don’t want to inflate your ego. Not that you are short of adoring fans who will do you the honor.”

“Aw come on Lil’s you know that your support is worth what like five of theirs.”

“Only five!? James you have thousands of fans and I am only worth five! I’m your own flesh and blood for fucks sake!”

“Well I mean it is only you, Al and Dad are probably about fifty each but you, your kinda meh.” James laughed at the indignant look of outrage in his sisters’ face then promptly threw one of his pillows at her head.

“Rude!”

From the kitchen they could hear their Mum shout to them, “Offspring! Dinners ready!”

The two got up to head into the kitchen, as they walked James wrapped a strong arm around his sister catching Lily in a headlock.

“Oh, come on,” he said at her now sulking expression “you know I’m kidding.”

Rolling her eyes she replied exasperatedly, “Yeah I know, now get off me you oaf.” She punctuated this with an elbow to the side. The two were still locked in a bit of a wrestling match as they stumbled into the kitchen.

The Potters sans Albus were sitting at their dining table bickering good naturedly, wrapping up the end of their meal together, when a huge gray owl soared in through the open kitchen window and deposited himself on James’s lap. A small smile played at his lips when he noticed the familiar elegant script on the envelope, he gently removed the letter from the bird’s leg who let out a low ‘hoo’ then took off out the window once more.

“Ooo, who’s that from?” Lily asked in a faux scandalized voice, “another admirer?”

“Shut up,” he groaned at her teasing, “it’s from Teddy.”

“Oh,” she said, seeming genuinely interested now, “well go on then, what’s it say? Haven’t heard from him in ages.”

James rolled his eyes at his sister then looked down to read the front of the envelope and scoffed a bit in amusement at the words.

Jamie,

Open With Care

‘Open With Care’ had been his and James’s secret way of letting the other know that their letter was to be opened in private as it contained something sensitive or less than appropriate to read in front of other people.

“Lils, if you want to know what he has to say so badly, write him yourself you twat.” He said gently tucking the envelope into his pocket.

“Rude!” she cried.

“Well,” he said, taking a last sip of wine before getting up from the table, “I think it’s about time I head home. I have an early practice tomorrow.” Harry and Ginny looked up from the hushed conversation they had been having at the other end of the table.

“Hey Jay, wait up” Harry called out, “Before you go I wanted to talk to you all about something.” His dad's eyes darted from James over to where Lily and Ginny were still sitting at the table, his face was grim and pale. James vaguely recalled his mum mentioning his dad had been working extra hours lately on a nasty case and it looked like it was taking its toll on him.

“Alright, what’s up?” James replied sliding back down into his chair.

There was a pause as Harry took a deep breath before speaking, “Jay, I know this will sound a bit weird but I need you to start being a bit more cautious when your alone.” James blinked a bit taken aback by his dad's request but the serious tone with which he spoke made it clear he wasn’t joking. “Strictly speaking I’m not supposed to talk about this but screw it. Over the past couple months the Aurors have been looking into a sting of some pretty grizzly murders. We had another one today, and it's officially been classified as a serial killer.” Not knowing what to say James remained silent hoping his dad would continue speaking. “I don’t really want to go into details but we do know that they are targeting people who seem to have higher than average magical abilities. Now the Auror department has been keeping it under wraps to avoid panic for the moment but it won’t be long before the Profit gets ahold of it. One of the jackasses in the department as dubbed them the Wizarding Reaper.”

There was a beat of silence while Harrys words settled over the table James shot a look over to his sister who shrugged in response before turning back to their dad.

“Uh Ok, I’ll make sure to double my warding and keep an eye out for anything off,” James said, his demeanor serious.

“Thanks kid,” his dad sighed, sagging a bit in relief for a moment before he got up and wrapped James in a hug that quickly turned into a light headlock. Harry rubbed his knuckles into James’s already messy auburn hair, “Now just try not to kill yourself on the pitch and everything will be fine,” his tone had completely changed from that serious one back to his usual joking demeanor.

“Yeah, yeah alright” James said, breaking out from under his dad's arm, “I’ll see you two on Saturday,” he said to his dad and Lily. “And you,” he turned to his mum, “I’ll see you on the pitch,” his voice lowered a bit in a faux challenging tone.

Ginny, never one to be outdone, turned on her best taunting voice, “That you will baby boy, don’t forget to bring some tissues for when you're crying in the locker room after the Harpies demolish you.” His mum’s words would have been cruel but she said them in that same faux challenging tone James had used and had a teasing smile on her face. It was a little tradition of theirs before matches their teams played together, they would go back and forth with smack talk until their taunting insults turned into statements of love.

“Oh, you’re going to be the one crying, sobbing into dads’ shoulder when we put you out of the running for the world cup.”

“We are going to whip your ass, same as I did when you were a child stealing cookies from the kitchen.”

“I still steal cookies, but that’s cause you’re amazing at baking,” James said still in a taunting voice despite the complement.

“Thank you, I left a plate of them on the counter for you.”

“Thanks, love you mum.”

“You’re welcome and I love you too,” the two kept up the charade of acting the bitter rivals their teams were. James slowly crept over to the counter grabbing the plate of home baked cookies she had left all the while meeting her exaggerated glare with his own, an utterly ridiculous attempt at looking intimidating. As he backed out of the kitchen, he paused in the doorway taking two finger pointing to his eyes then pointing to his mum in the ‘I’m watching you’ gesture, he then relaxed his posture and waved them all good night before disapparating away to land in his own entryway.

James sighed in relief at finally being home after an extremely long day. His small apartment was sparse with only the essentials to live comfortably only decorated by the occasional bits of Puddlemere United paraphernalia he had picked over the years. With a couple swift wand strokes James reinforced the warding on his front door, then dropped his gym bag full of dirty practice clothes off his shoulder to the floor. Wandering into his small kitchen James slid his plate of cookies onto the counter; he would save them until after the match this weekend. Snagging a water from the fridge he made his way into the living room to flop down onto his old couch.

James pulled Teddy’s letter from his pocket, once again smiling at the familiar writing on the front, he opened the envelope and read its contents, a warm fond feeling spreading through him with every word.

Jamie,

Guess what! One of our dragons is pregnant! Or sort of, she technically incubating her eggs, but still! I am so excited! Charlie has been trying to find her a mate for ages, turns out she took a liking to that dragon I told you about, the one I went to fetch from the U.S a while back. I am so curious to see what the babies will look like, it’s an interesting cross. Anyway, I digress. It’s just so exciting I had to tell you.

So, how’s training going? Your coach still acting like a drill Sergeant? You excited for the match this weekend; I know you’ll do fantastic. I know I’m supposed to support both of you equally but honestly, I hope you beat the Harpies. You’ve been working your arse off, you deserve it. Just don’t let your mum know I said that.

On a side note I got the ‘present’ you sent me, and god damn Jamie are you trying to kill me? God you are so gorgeous I don’t even have words; I will let you know that they have officially been added to my personal spank bank so thank you.

Good luck on Saturday. I know you’ll crush it, I wish I could be there but you know how the ministry is about travel on and off the reserve. I’ll be watching on the live stream though and rooting for you.

-T

P.S. The picture of you polishing your broom was my favorite, that little wink at the end makes my blood go south just thinking about it.

James groaned at the mental image that last comment had invoked. In his last letter to Teddy, James had included a couple risqué pictures that had been taken for the Puddlemere United’s annual charity calendar. The whole team had them done and after his session with the photographer he had been sent several of the shots with instructions to choose which one he would prefer to have in the final product. James had thought he looked silly in most of them so he sent them to Teddy for a second opinion, including the one of himself in only a jockstrap in the team’s colors polishing his broom, as his hands stroked back and forth on the wood suggestively. In the picture his eyes would close as he tipped his head back, mouth open slightly, slowly he turned to the camera with a sultry look then winked as the image looped back to the beginning.

James moaned quietly turned on by the thought of Teddy getting hard and wanking to his picture, the concept was still a bit weird for him to wrap his mind around. He and Teddy had been friends for ages they had practically grown up together.

Teddy had always been James’s person, the one he could confide in or complain to about his siblings or even just hang out with and enjoy each other’s company. Through James’s last couple of years at Hogwarts Teddy had been working to finish his Auror training but just before he was due to be inducted as an official Auror Teddy decided that ultimately it just wasn’t the job for him. The constant strain of being surrounded by dark wizards, surrounded by murderers and rapists, it had worn on his mental state.

Eventually Teddy settled down in a position working at the Nature Reserve James’s uncle Charlie ran, and he absolutely loved it. That had been in the last year before James graduated, after Teddy left for Romania, they began writing to each other and they were just as they had always been, friends.

This last Christmas though Teddy had come home. He had only been back a handful of times since leaving and it had been years since James had seen his best friend face to face. That Christmas Eve though James had opened his parent’s front door and was greeted to the sight of Teddy, his turquoise hair lightly dusted in snow and smiling brighter than the sun. In a split-second James’s entire demeanor changed though normally energetic he seemed to almost start vibrating with excitement.

Teddy had the good sense to drop his duffle bag quickly as James nearly tackled him in a bearhug. The two men stumbled backwards across the Potters front deck from the momentum until they fell backwards into a snowbank. Teddy hugged back just as enthusiastically, causing them to roll in the snow until he was straddling James' hips. Both of them were laughing heartily ecstatic to finally see each other again Teddy stood up and pulled James up from the snow with enough force to lift him off his feet and spin around. James locked his arms around Teddy’s strong form not wanting to let go as they stood now completely soaked and cold from the snow.

Still in Teddys strong hold James breathing in deeply, intoxicated by the crisp smell of fresh cut pine, campfire smoke, and strong coffee that seemed to cling his skin. Suddenly the porch light flicked on making the men look up, Harry was standing in the open doorway having come to investigate to cold breeze leaking into the house as James hadn’t bothered to close the door when he tackled his best friend. The two began laughing again at the silliness of rolling around in the snow in subzero temperatures then headed back towards the house where Harry was still watching with an amused look on his face.

After the onslaught of warmth and greetings from the rest of the Potters it was like Teddy had never left at all. He effortlessly fit back into their family easily slipping into each conversation on quidditch with James and his mum, Albus and Scorpius’s deep discussions about wizarding folklore and how bits of it could fit into their D&D campaign, he talked Ministry politics with Harry and even seemed to take an interest in Lily’s newfound love of all things Muggle as she had decided to seek further education at a Muggle university. Throughout the night James could feel Teddy's eyes frequently coming to land on him, he would look up to find Teddy staring a small grin playing on his lips as he held the eye contact before turning back to his conversation leaving James feeling warm from his gaze.

Back when Teddy had left neither he nor James had anything other than friendship in mind, each was preoccupied with their own struggles. Teddy trying to make it work with the Aurors and James still in school then starting his own career in the Quidditch world after graduation. That Christmas eve though felt different somehow, their eyes seemed to always find each other, leaving behind a charged feeling in their stomachs. It was odd after being friends for forever neither was sure what to do with this new energy that seemed to be pulling them together.

Their evening was filled with friendly familiar chatter until everyone was exhausted and ready to head home into bed. Teddy was chatting with Harry and disclosed that he hadn’t really thought too much about where he would be staying while he was in England. At that exact moment James had been meandering by the couch, not eavesdropping on their conversation at all, when he plopped down and slung his arm around Teddys neck insisting he stay at his flat.

They left the holiday festivities soon after that, both collapsing into a heap on the old beaten up couch in James' sparse living room. For the first time in years they had the freedom to tell each other everything that never translated well into letters. The night wore late as they spun tales of their lives, talking animatedly about quidditch and dragons sharing the last years of their lives with one another.

Teddy had been telling a captivating tale about one of his coworkers who had gotten a bit too comfortable around one of the dragons and ended up getting his arm torn off, however, James wasn’t listening. Teddy had pushed up his shirtsleeve revealing intricate tattoos that swirled and moved with the motion of his arm and James was utterly distracted. His eyes traced the magically moving ink from where it began at the wrist up his forearm until it disappeared under the sleeve of his shirt.

Eventually Teddy stopped talking, realizing that James was no longer paying attention to his words, the silence prompted James to let his gaze wander slowly back up to Teddys face, bits of glinting metal caught in the dim light as he finally met his burning eyes. James watched in awe as Teddy’s eyes darkened from their natural hazel color to a deep midnight blue with lust. He barely had a moment to gasp at the intense look before Teddy’s mouth was on his, body pressing him back into the worn couch cushions. They moved together gasping, moaning, James whimpered at the feeling of skin on skin. Mouths sliding together, hands exploring, both trying to get as close to the other as possible. The next morning, they woke in bed Teddy had wrapped himself around James’s body every inch pressed together both filled with warmth and contentment.

Even now laying alone in his flat, if he closed his eyes James could almost still feel the tingling trails of Teddys fingers caressing his body as they talked that morning. The two ultimately deciding against starting anything more between them, after all Teddy would leave in a couple days back to Romania and James would once again throw himself into Quidditch training, there was no point. So, from that point they went back to normal, aside from the occasional salacious fantasy they were simply friends.

James had gotten caught up in the memory of that night when he looked up at the time it was nearly one in the morning and he had to get up early for practice. With another dramatic groan he pushed up from the couch and headed to bed.

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