#its really important that she’s pale btw

[chalkeater]

they;re some sort of cousins. sorry

[funficwriter]

Fontaine Characters with Violinist Reader!

A/N: This disappearing thing of mine is annoying, I'm trying to stop it. However, I finally got a bit of spare time to play Genshin and I am so, so in love with Fontaine. I think it's gonna be a wonderful arc. I haven't felt this much jubilation since Liyue or Inazuma!

Warnings; None, really.

Lyney, Lynette, Neuvillette, Navia, Furina, Wriothesley (no particular order)

Lyney

First off, this boy is no stranger to performing, an activity he loves. Naturally, he's going to be most interested in fellow performers, including you!

If you're the type to get anxious before, or even during a performance, say goodbye to that with him. He'll guide you through plenty of destressing rituals to help you relax beforehand.

(This included, but wasn't limited to; Taking deep breaths, doing tongue twisters, asking you to play meme songs on your violin, or tickling your sides because 'laughing is a great way to be loose'.)

Even during, should you freeze up and he's in the audience, he'll do a quick but loud magic trick to get everyone's eyes off you. Even one that makes him look like a fool, so long as you have time to put yourself together.

He'd LOVE to have you on stage with him! He adores your music and would ask you to sync it up with dramatic moments in his magic.

If you compose you own stuff, he's pretty much your biggest fan. The guy who never misses a concert. The loudest clapper. The biggest braggart.

"That gorgeous, graceful violinist we had the pleasure of watching? What if I told you that they're coupled up with an equally electric performer? That is, me~."

Lynette

It's easy to think that her brother outdoes her in terms of being your fan, but quietness hides a lot. If you think she doesn't care as much, you're so, so wrong.

She learned several music skills just to be closer to you, including sight-reading. BTW, she's got a killer voice and loves to sing out your compositions. Sometimes it helps you come up with alternative movements within them.

She can also play piano, to a good level of accompaniment. With time, one would think she is also a music assistant; It's not uncommon for her to be on your stage.

Lynette is VERY attentive to your instrument. Does it need rosin? A new bow, perhaps a re-hair? You just say the word, and she'll happily take it to the repair workshop if you have no time.

"By the way, Y/N prefers real horse hair, the thinnest you have. Don't worry. They're talented enough to thrive on it.".

She makes it a point to let you know how much she loves what you do: "All other music in Fontaine pales in its beauty next to yours. Please, keep playing.".

Neuvillette

You play the violin? (he crosses his legs and assumes his royal position). So when are you going to get married? Will you be okay playing a few pieces, even while being the spouse? /Half-joking, tbh.

For him to say that he is the lover of a music pioneer as important as you... Will never not be a moment of joy for him.

First off, what a sugar daddy. I hope you made a list of the expensive violins you wanted but couldn't afford. Because now, it's yours, never mind the Mora. Your very case may as well be coated with gold.

He won't die on this hill, but he would love it if you could play a bit during the parties he hosts. He loves live music to begin with, but after hearing you, it feels like no other pro could hope to sound as good as you.

(And side note, he likes how mesmerized everyone is with you lol)

If you're the type to remember your patron's personal preferences, and compose/play in accordance to that, just for him? Put hearts in his eyes. He's no longer joking about the wedding thing.

While he loves showing you off, he'll never force you if you're shy/nervous. If anything, he would also feel very special if he got to heard songs not out yet, compositions just for him...

"Perhaps this is Lady Furina's way of rewarding me for my years of service. Bless our Archon for giving me such a talented, show and heart-stopping partner.".

Navia

She likes that the Spina del Rosula is represented by passionate, talented people!

If you like sweets, I say just join her team. It's guaranteed pastries after each request lol.

Her detective work is cool, but can get a bit drab after a while. She likes asking you to play some violin ambiance, partly because it makes her feel cool, and partly because your music changes the atmosphere for much better.

Navia is a woman of decorum, but she'll often have trouble staying still during your concerts. It doesn't matter if there are rules to how loud a woman can cheer, she's happy for you and will make sure you know that.

She becomes even more proactive than usual. If a concert of yours falls on the same time as her work, she'll scour the ends of Teyvat for its solution, so she can see you.

With time, she might request you to play pieces that her father loved. Once they're brought back to life, through your own strings, she can't help but be a little emotional. She must have done something wonderful to have you.

"How beautiful, how poignant as you, my dear Y/N! This calls for macaroons! Which flavor would you like today?".

Furina

"Yes, Neuvillette, I know they perform and all, but why can't I keep them to myself! They're so darn great, I want that everyday!"

Of course, she's not gonna stop you, but beware; I feel like Furina would almost turn you into her own personal violinist lol.

She'd keep requesting your presence over her other personal entertainment and somewhat bombard you with song requests. Buuut if you're looking for a varied repertoire, she's your gal!

One reason she requests so much is because she so impressed with how you not only fulfill them all, you do it so creatively and beautifully. You don't just follow the note as it is... Once you're acquainted with what she likes, you modify the tune a bit to be more her taste.

She's so cute when she claps; The way her hands go so fast and she's about to get up from the seat, the huge eye and smile... Why, you might start reconsidering her offer.

"Bravooooo, Y/N!! Bravo! That was everything, I can't go on without an encore!"

If the tune is more happy-go-lucky, she will get up and dance along. Will also do it in circles around you because she's your little orb :3

Wriothesley

"Forgive me for intruding... But I was overhearing, and your playing is terrific. Electrifying. Do you happen to perform on Saturday nights? That's when I can leave the Fortress for a bit.".

Of all your fans, Wrio is one of the quieter ones, but not so much that no one knows it. For one, he's a Duke, he's bound to enjoy good music. And heavens knows he needs some fun in his life.

Here's a fun thing (ngl this is what I was excited to write): At first, it doesn't sound like he can make it to your recital. You see him on his desk, surrounded by paper mountains that only ever seem to grow. He doesn't want to make you sad, but his remark lets you know that he's not coming: "Would it kill some of these people to tone it down for a bit so I can go see my partner perform?".

So imagine your shock when you step on stage, and see him on the first row, sitting tall and handsome, shit-eating grin on his face and waving. You really bought it for a moment.

"Hehe... Did you really think I can't even make a bit of time to see Fontaine's best violinist in action? You actually bought that?".

I HC that he has insomnia, and has tried any things to cure it, but to no avail. It's rumored in Fontaine that his is incurable, but little do they know about how he lays down next to your sitting form. Little do they know of the soft lullabies you composed just for him, or how peacefully he dreams afterwards 💜

[daisymylove]

Sword catcher spoilers, speculations and theories about "Ragpicker King" and some ramblings ahead, proceed at your own discretion.

So I'm 90% sure Vienne is alive and we will find it out when lin comes to the palace to treat her

She has an official art and there was a whole snippet about her, I don't see the point of making all that fuss about a character that was going to have three interactions with Kel (speaking of which, I kind of shipped them even tho I know ana will be his end game 👉🏻👈🏻 am I the only one?), kill some random guys and bite the dust. On top of that her arc was about to get so interesting. She is a trained assassin, oath bound to protect this little girl, whom she loves deeply, until she dies, but then her charge was murdered, and her life's mission came crashing down on her. The angst, the potential.Her dying would be a huge waste.

I don't question Jolivet's loyalty, at least not now, but Markus is not a mentally stable person (btw whats up with him? does anyone have a theory?).I think he lied she was dead bc markus may have killed her otherwise and, as dangerous as she is, Vienne may be more useful to them alive than dead with the possibility of a war looming over.I also don't discard the possibility that he may have personal ties to vienne and/or her family. The whole covering her with his cape could have been a show of respect for the black guard if she's really dead, like kel thought, but compounding with the fact that, even tho she charged on conor, jolivet did nothing to either stop or harm her, it struck me as oddly affectionate. Anyone can correct me if im wrong, but I dont remember kel mentioning anything about an accent, which makes me assume she speaks their language on a native level, so there's that

One thing I didn't like was that this trained bad ass assassin was completely unarmed during such an important event.Kel is always armed, even when impersonating conor he had a dagger on his person. Granted, it's easier to conceal weapons on male attire, but it would've been more realistic if she'd had at least one dagger, had been forced to use it and thus was left unarmed. Its not enough to tackle all those guys, as kel himself thought, but she wouldn't have been helpless.

I'm also 90% sure Lin and conor are going to have sex on a beach, I'm willing to bet money on it.I've read way too many books by Cc to not recognize her foreshadowing. Besides, she's fond of writing sex scenes on peculiar locations.

The "yes I'm the goddess come back" may have been scheming on Lin's part (loved that btw) but I'm sure she actually is the goddess come back. She will also be queen, as the prophecy foretells. Charlon saying to luisa "dance for your future court", but Lin ending up being the one to actually dance also reeks of foreshadow.

Now to the ragpicker king, we know almost nothing about andreyen and I have a lot of speculations. First I thought he was the Makabi, what about the ragpicker being a figure that has always existed in Castellane, his symbol being a bird and his having a bowl that allegedly belongs to makabi's lineage. But when he said ragpicker king is a title, which he inherited from another, I put it in the back burner (it hasn't been discarded tho, im not discarding anything for now and he would hardly tell kel "yo I'm this immortal entity and have been forging my death over and over for centuries" if that were the case) in favour of thinking he's the Maharam's exiled son. He's the right age and it makes sense for a boy that has been shunned by everyone and left to fend for himself to turn to crime.

What has been nagging at me, on the other hand, is that he matches Lin's vision of Suleman from her dreams. Pale, tall, handsome, long black hair and when his eyes were going to be described the dream was conveniently interrupted. I'm not saying he is suleman for sure, idk how that would work in practical terms -- is he an immortal and suleman never actually died at the sundering? unlikely, considering Lins dream and how vivid it was. Is he a reincarnation? Under that line of thinking he could be both the exiled boy AND suleman on a single person -- and he could have no relation to him whatsoever, the physical resemblance being just a coincidence (but really?) and I'm just crazy.His interest in the stone and magic in general checks out for both suleman and exiled son, so it isn't really an indicator.

I rather liked andreyen, merren and Ji an, tho, I really don't want him to be the bad guy, but as previously said I'm not discarding anything.It seems pretty obvious to me that he wants to use lin and her abilities in some way, much like he has a use for kel, but that doesn't necessarily mean he has nefarious goals or anything

I think Anjelica, Aimada, the malgasi princess whose name I don't remember now and the prince with the huge bank account will make appearances, they have been mentioned way too much to not feature at all

and what was that dream kel had with fire and phoenixes? There's something there, I can feel it

anyway, that's what I have so far

as a side note, I'm a bit drunk and haven't proofread this properly (i never do when writing on this blog tho, sorry lol), hope its coherent enough

[kerubimcrepin]

Episode 21 - A Bow Meow on the Moon

If you notice a dip in quality of my screenshots, it's because this liveblog is being written from my phone, and wifi was Bad while I was writing the first half.

I am very excited to finally watch this one.

For a variety of reasons, its one of my favorites in this show. And, it is also, coincidentally, one of the most important episodes of the show. Both thematically, and to me, personally.

I know that often, the writers use Joris for exposition, but I love how this implies that Kerubim took him here as a surprise, and now Joris is asking questions.

Though I guess that taking kids out in the middle of the night for some random stuff is just a Dad thing in general.

I'm pretty sure this is the first time so far that Joris has really went "you're Lying papycha!" at Kerubim in the series, which is a far call from the first episodes, where he was, quite literally, amazed over a clothespin because of him.

Joris's growth is subtle due to his age, but it is present. His relationship with Kerubim has matured enough for him to understand that Kerubim might lie to him.

Though it's easy for Kerubim to make Joris doubt his own hunch, even before telling the story.

Btw its funny to see The Lying Guy be like "me?? Lying?? Never!".

Never change, Keke.

This is a very beautiful render of the World of Twelve. Hnn.

...I am not going to survive this episode, emotionally speaking.

I don't really know how to explain the way this episode gets to me.

In a way, it reflects the show, and the franchise in general.

In Wakfu, the night sky, and space itself, often symbolizes the wild yonder, longing for something.

New experiences, a safe place, a home, a place of freedom.

The pain of desires unfulfilled.

...I don't like going ahead, and talking about Dofus Aux Tresors as a part of a larger whole. Because it deserves to be discussed as a standalone work of fiction, like all other parts of Krosmoz. But it is time to address the elephant in the room at least a little bit. (Picture me putting on a tinfoil hat.)

All of these themes are especially sharp when coupled with immortality.

And Krosmoz is, in a lot of ways, a franchise-wide study of immortality and family. How these two concepts intertwine, how immortal characters cope, or fail to. (Especially in Wakfu.)

Sure, there is a lot to be said about the longing that is inherently intertwined with immortality, but there is even more to be said about immortality as a type of longing for the unfathomable, a wild yonder in on itself. How standing at its threshold is similar to stargazing.

Kerubim is a character who wants, deeply. And he wants a lot of different things. As an old man, he longs for his youth, the relationships he lost, and the freedom of adventure. As a young man, he longs for pure human connection, being liked and wanted. He is a perpetual motion machine, even if by the time of the series, he has mostly stopped going.

But he, just like Joris, is a perpetual motion machine. Even if he has seventy, eighty, ninety, or a hundred years behind him, there are hundreds more to come.

That's what makes this show special to me. It is a single step away from the wild yonder of immortality. Just for a second, we can know Kerubim and Joris as an old man and a child, characters we can relate to and understand. But in a minute, they will be moving endlessly, farther and farther away.

Somewhere we can't ever truly follow.

And compared to their lives, this show will end up feeling like a grain of sand. A small snapshot into what they were before life truly began, a pale shadow of the people they will become and the experiences they will have.

It is a show about longing and anticipation. The wild yonder of the future, and the things that aren't meant to be.

It's a show about endings. And it's a show that rejects their existence altogether.

I don't have much to say about the lunarians, or Diane herself, outside what she represents, — so this liveblog came out a bit different from usual, but I hope it was enjoyable regardless.

[calilk]

hiiiii!!!!

do you have any headcanons about hermits??

hello hello!!!!

i’m honestly not really much of a headcannon guy, i normally just follow whatever generally accepted fanon is ksjhdhdhdhhd.

i haven’t thought much about many, but here are a few, some come up on the fly.

mumbo is pathetic. he always has patches of stubble and cuts on his face because he’s just kind of bad at it. also anytime he has to do something important he ENCASES his hair in hair gel until its flat to his head. he just looks kind of bald but he thinks it’s the peak of smartness.

also when he did his whole peace love and plants shebang he developed anemia because he didn’t know a proper balanced vegetarian diet. because of this, he was always pale, had cold hands, weak, tired, dizzy and all the other symptoms. his cold hands and pale skin and the fact he never went outside due to always being fatigued meant people theorised he was a vampire, he isn’t, just ill. he got over the anemia eventually but never shook his nocturnal habits.

pearl listens to rage against the machine while she cleans to keep control of The Demons she feels looking at how disorganised everyone is. she also has a timer every hour to remind her of the allocated ‘screaming into the corner’ time. again to offset the rAge.

joe narrates everything he does. it helps him think, especially while working on the technical side of the pinball machine.

(third life buttt) scar got really bad sunburn on his body in the desert so would wait for the dead of night once the sand cooled down and would pass the nights watching the stars and letting the cool sand and night air soothe his pain. grian noticed and kept him company. they would lie in the desert watching the stars turn above them in silence until they fell asleep. they rose with the sunrise and never acknowledged it but still found themselves side by side the next night. this is the most domestic they ever got. btw.

thanks for the ask :DDD

[stevie-petey]

hi i’m back!! first of all let me just say how mind blowing your writing is????? EVERYONE SAY THANK YOU M FOR THE AMAZING CHAPTER!!!

im so glad dear billy is ur fav ep from season four too because it’s mine too and oh my god. you did so well in making everything fit so perfectly together bc yk bug not being in st is still such a sad truth for me (and it’s shocking how you aren’t in the writers room for st s5 rn)

but anyways THERES ALOTTT TO UNPACK IN THIS CHAPTER !!

steve and bug first bc holy shiti swear i could feel my heart dropping multiple times while reading about them 

bug asking steve to choose max over her?? and steve pleading with her not to make him choose max over her and saying

“I’m choosing you, Y/N.” and adding 

“I’ll always choose you.” YK WHAT HERES THE FULL SCENE BC IT BROKE ME IN HALF.

[“I’m choosing you, Y/N.” Steve whispers, lips pressed softly against your hair. Your body stiffens, he feels it, but he holds you tighter instead. “I’ll always choose you.”

“Steve…” 

“Please don’t make me say no to you.” He pulls away, grabs your face and makes you look at him. You’re pale, tears wet your lovely face, and all Steve wants to do is fall asleep with you forever. He strokes the crest of your eyebrow, kisses your forehead. “Please don’t make me lose you.”]

PLEASE DONT MAKE ME LOSE YOU?????!?!?!?!?!!? just stab me with bugs pocketknife please.

and before that scene i remember the conversation between them about how steve recalled feeling gutted after seeing nancy and jonathan thinking his night couldn’t get any worse UNTIL HE SAW THE LOOK OF HEARTBREAK ON BUGS FACE and how it made him feel worse knowing he couldn’t have done anything to prevent her from feeling that hurt

[“But that night, it just-it really fucking hurt, you know? Thought I’d never feel anything shittier, that my night couldn’t get any worse. But then… I saw your face.”

“The heartbreak on your face, that fact that I couldn’t do anything to protect you from it. That’s what hurt me the most.”]

..AND THE MOST IMPORTANT LINE OF ALL (TO ME) [“And it’s why I won’t let anything else happen to you.”] and i know steve will try his best to protect her if it meant ensuring bugs safety in the end.

sooooooo who’s gonna tell them that they’ve been eachother’s protectors since day one without even knowing it!

these two are so special to me and it’s just so heartbreaking to see them this way, steve feeling so much fear, and anger :(

i understand his frustration with bug bc everyone can clearly see how she’s putting her own issues aside (despite her literally being cursed with the same thing as my baby max) just to save max and that’s not good bc it’s the BOTH of them that needs saving and bug being stubborn about it isn’t helping steve’s current state :( also i saw ur reply and YOU USING a beatles song is so evil and i love it so so much!!!!!

i’m not ready for bugs visions cause ik shes been carrying sm guilt…with the recent deaths of hopper and billy AND OMG THE NIGHTMARES???? dustin hearing her yell out billy’s name in the middle of the night ☹️ dustin’s being a champ rn LIKE i know he’s not showing it for the sake of his and bugs sanity but i know he’s going crazy in his head bc ITS HIS BIG SISTER?? AND HIS BEST FRIEND?? my poor baby is scared pf losing his bestest friend in the world :( i just need my Henderson siblings happy please </3

and lucas oh lucas!!!! my poor guy he’s literally never been so scared and worried in his entire life until now. THE POSSIBILITY OF LOSING BOTH THE LOVE OF HIS LIFE AND HIS BIG SISTER IS SO ☹️i need to hug him.

steve and nance r gonna be so best friends (alongside with the loml robin) and i love how they’re becoming more friendly with each other now like the playful banter im ready! (i know they were civil and were already somewhat friends but still) i didn’t particularly enjoy the love-triangle thing in s4 so i’m interested to see how you’ll be dealing with all of it 😭

btw i’m purposely ignoring jon rn. WE DONT SPEAK ABOUT HIM. (he’ll fall to his knees the minute he gets to hawkins and finds out about the curse that vecna gave bug)

ALSO SORRY THIS IS SO LONG BUT I KNOW YOU DONT LIKE TO CHANGE THE CANON TOO MUCH so idk what your plan is with max and bug…but oh my god the survivors guilt bug will carry…im not even ready. max and bug to me is like a literal reflection of each other and their relationship in this story is definitely my favorite thing ever. i don’t even wanna talk about that one scene where bug was yelling at vecna to take her instead. i don’t. i just mentioned it bc i feel so devastated and unready for what’s about to come.

i read smth about how u said there aren’t anymore disagreements between bug and steve!!! and how the rest will just be sad ones AND CUTE ONES (im holding u to that ml) 

does this mean they’ll talk 🤞🤞 i need them to have a proper conversation so i’m crossing my fingers and wishing that we’ll have that conversation alongside with the later conversation between steve and nance (and i believe that it was definitely done for good reasons!)

i listened to in my life while writing this btw and i feel so brave!! 

okay i’m done !! i’m sorry this was long but i appreciate your works and i’m in awe of you !! pls never stop being great!! i hope you’re doing well <333 sending u sm love today lovely <3 e

-🌟🍓

dear billy supremacy !!!

and the entire steve and bug i choose you scene ,,, oh boy theres so many layers to that one specific conversation that i simply cannot wait to dive into later. for now, the entire notion of their relationship is that they chose to love one another !!! bug chose to wait, steve chose to trust her, and they chose to fall in love <333 i firmly believe that true love is choosing to love your partner, not just the chemical reaction in our brains, but the act of staying and trusting to be loved in return - THATS true love.

and steve revealing hes always wanted to help/protect bug <333 i love the porch scene. i love tying things together and also just seeing their growth throughout the seasons. in season 1 the porch scene was heavy with insecurity. bug was weak, back then. she didnt want steve to see how hurt she was (but failed). now we fast forward years later for season 4 and shes actively leaning on steve !!! seeking his comfort !! yet shes also standing her ground, doing what she believes is right (even if shes wrong). and STEVE !! he failed her in season 1, he refuses to fail her again in 4 :((

now bugs whole "hey gang lets focus on max not me haha" will cause a few rifts within the group - everyone knows its unneeded, they all hate shes doing this, but they also know that they cant change bugs mind. its very bittersweet and :///

max and bug ,,, u Get It. they ARE reflections of one another. max is fifteen, same age bug was in season 1. its very very very reminiscent of how bug was back then, stubborn and slightly cold but still so full of love and concern for her friends. max is where bug was, confused and scared and unused to asking (or accepting) help. bug sees this and she also is struggling with this. theyve always had a close relationship, but billys death changed everything and brought them closer together. bug feels a kinship to max, she feels responsible for her, and max knows this and almost resents her for it. its messy and very sad and hard and me not changing canon too much will make things even MORE heartbreaking and sad :(

but on a happier note: YES STEVE AND BUG DO ACTUALLY TALK !!! they have a whole lovely conversation later (in the very last ep lmao) that resolves a Lot i promise guys theyre end game i just like drama and growth.

in my life <333

[eternalwritess]

Hii, i was wondering if i could request a romantic match up for mha! :)

My name’s Amanda but people close to me call me Ami for short. Im 5’3 and my pronouns are she/her. I dont really like using specific labels for my sexuality since it causes me to overthink (i used to think im faking being pansexual for whatever reason) So i just say that I have a preference for male however would gladly date a female.

I have below the shoulder length, dark brown, layered hair with curtain bangs, brown eyes and thick eyebrows. I’m Hungarian with pretty pale skin and I have a beauty mark in the middle of my right cheek and straight teeth. My eyes are my favourite part about me since they pop so much when I wear dark eyeliner. I’d say im skinny but do have big thighs and bust as well as more defined arms due to me doing weights. I wear more casual clothes with hints of y2k, i cant get a lot of unique clothing from where i live 💔 and i prefer darker colours. I wear a bunch of jewellery, especially rings (im wearing 10 atm). I have two lobe piercings on each ear, a nose ring and a belly button piercing.

My personality i’d say is very outgoing with people regardless if I know them or not, i try to be nice and polite with everyone unless they aren’t to me. Im also an Esfj. Im very understanding and I always take negative events as something to learn and grow from. I was told by someone that I was one of the most understanding and kind hearted person in their life who didnt secretly have any ill intentions towards them 🙏. I can get emotional pretty easily in sombre situations. I’m known as a pretty upfront person because when Im having issues with someone or I or the other person did something, i always go up to them and try to talk it out, communication is very important to me. Im pretty happy and smiley and laugh a lot most the time and try to see the positive in things but then theres times where I’m calm and quiet so it really depends on my mood and who im with since I dont want to be super talkative and bubbly with someone who’d prefer some peace and quiet.

I enjoy listening to music like A LOT, like I listen to music whenever and wherever I can. I also do archery and have been for over a year now so im pretty good at it imo lmao, archery is like the first thing I tell people because its the most unique trait about me. I also really enjoy working out, especially weights which I mentioned above, what motivated me to start was archery since I have to build my stamina and strength to shoot for a longer period of time, but also its just good for me and all that. I enjoy going out whether it be for a small peaceful walk in nature or out to town, I often go on the bus (since its free for me) for no reason just so I can watch the view while listening to music. My favourite colour is black (basic ik lmao) and my favourite video games are sally face and god of war. My favourite genres of music at the moment are sigilkore and dark r&b and I adore the scent of smoked vanilla and coconuts. Also this is random but I use cologne instead of perfume and everyone thinks its odd since its for men and all that ;;;

This is all, its pretty long so I apologise for that but hope u have a good day 😁

𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕓𝕖𝕖𝕟 𝕞𝕒𝕥𝕔𝕙𝕖𝕕 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙…

𝓔𝓳𝓲𝓻𝓸 𝓚𝓲𝓻𝓲𝓼𝓱𝓲𝓶𝓪!

Not gonna lie this man probably came up to you during the first day of school cause he noticed that it looked like you worked out

Not only that but your looks in general captivated him to no end and he would constantly find himself looking over to you and looking for openings to talk with you

He only got happier when he figured out how outgoing you were and friendly you were towards him. He thought you were the coolest person in that entire class

"My name is Ejiro Kirishima! You look amazing! I love your eyeliner!"

Oh yeah, he definitely approached you with a compliment in hand btw, he was prepared and ready to talk to you

He would also likely notice if you got a new ring of some sort btw and would also make an effort to get you new jewelry if he notices that you like some as he is a complete gentleman

If you told him to stop buying stuff for you he would get confused but oblige for a while, most likely toning down the gifts but still giving them to you every now and then

"I noticed you looking at this!"

He also found your mindset admirable and matching his of taking bad stuff and making something good off of it. The moment he found out that you think like that he was ecstatic about your positive attitude

He would also most likely share some of his experiences with you and say how it made him a better person, also probably ranting about how he had adapted that mindset

The moment you mentioned communication being key for you I just also thought about him. He would be more than willing to talk things out in the relationship, anything that makes you uncomfortable or etc.

He's always down for listening to you and sitting down and just talking about anything

"You look a little down... need a friend?"

Since turns out being a hero is anything but clouds and rainbows he would talk to you after anything major happens like the USJ incident, camp, and etc.

In those moments he would be a lot more calm and quiet with you, not constantly shouting or screaming like he does with Bakugo or Kaminari

He wants to show you that he cares and will do anything to do that

He'll even ask if you want to go anywhere or if you need anything to eat or drink

"I'm gonna go see if the vending machine has any water, do you need anything?"

BACK TO LIGHTHEARTED HEADCANNONS-

You two definitely work out together and he would spot you while your lifting, making sure that you don't get hurt as thats the last thing that he'd want to happen

But he wouldn't be totally overbearing either and telling you how much you could lift etc.

He would actually likely try to push you a comfortable amount into lifting more and would get excited when you did so

"Just one more rep!" "Lets add some more weights!" "Wanna see who can lift the most?"

Not only that but you would blast music when you work out and he would listen with you, humming along to the song and jumping up and down even if the songs not the most pumped up

You totally have a playlist together like... i can just see it-

Archery? He might not be that good at it or ever tried it before but I can see him trying and while it may not be his thing entirely he will always get excited if you're excited and will do it with you

"Dang it! Looks like I missed again!- You hit that!? Great job!!"

He would totally game just about anything with you but his favorite is definitely god of war for the action for all of the action and such

Also when he noticed you wore cologne instead of perfume he was gobsmacked and stared ranting about how cool and manly that it was

He also mentioned that he knew that he smelt it somewhere else briefly before laughing it off and giving you a hug

[saficswrites]

So this is something a bit different, I’ve played around with the idea of posting different Elegy of a Forgotten Heir scenes in isolation before (next chapter will be out soon hopefully btw, sorry about the monthlong wait), but never really went through with it besides the Rinnen stuff.

It’s Pride though so I wanted to post a queer scene but then encountered the problem of, genuinely what scene in this really long angsty ass depressing fic do I post?

Laura’s Jill induced bisexual awakening is incredibly short, Sothe and Petrine kinda bonding over both being queer is immediately undercut by her starting a fight to try and push him away, most of the Petrine and Micaiah scenes are well… the way they are.

(There’s actually a Petrine x Micaiah scene that would be perfect for this were it not part of the next chapter draft 😭)

Even the incredibly deep platonic love Petrine and Almedha have going on suffers a bit from happening in the background during plot important scenes and by extension don’t really work in isolation.

So uh with all that said the best and least bittersweet snippet I could think of was Petrine seeing Micaiah’s brand for the first time.

Micaiah’s golden eyes widened, almost seeming to shake slightly as she stared up at Petrine. Her bottom lip quivered slightly but no sound came out.

“You have the right hand.” She finally whispered.

Petrine ghosted her fingers up Micaiah’s arm, reaching the white collar just above the swell of her lean bicep and pausing.

“May I?” She rasped, the lump in her throat beginning to burn.

“Yes.” Micaiah murmured.

Petrine deftly undid the buckle obscured beneath the collar’s fabric before slowly peeling the glove back from the smaller woman’s skin.

The speed she moved made the process agonizing but she wanted to, no, needed to, give Micaiah every chance possible to back out if she changed her mind.

This was about trust, pulling it off in an instant would prove nothing.

Slowly but surely more pale skin was exposed until finally the beginnings of a mark began to show. Petrine paused, waiting in silence and listening to their shared breath until Micaiah nodded shakily.

She moved slightly faster now, finally removing the covering so she could see the back of the smaller woman’s hand in its entirety.

The brand was beautiful, its intricate lines almost seeming to resemble an elegant bird in different poses depending on the angle which she viewed it from.

It suited her.

Petrine took Micaiah’s hand back into her own, delicately tracing the marked skin with her thumb as she brought it to her lips, kissing it.

“Thank you.” She murmured into the smaller woman’s hand, staring up at her through half lidded eyes.

Micaiah was crying, tears running down her face as a light, but obvious blush dusted her cheeks. How long had it been since she’d opened up to someone like this, much less done so and been met with affection?

She would never let her go without it again.

[ye-local-simp]

Hellooo~ I saw u doing matchups so I thought I'd participate in this event as well! At first I wanted to wait with my request because my birthday is actually on the 5th of March, but that's when the event ends- SO HERE I AM :D I'd like to have a romantic matchup with a twst boi pls. Btw, please excuse my awkward communication skills lol

Thank youuu in advance if u accept my request.

(General stuff)

My name is Yade/Jade (the way its written changes in literally every country- not me sobbing in confusion rn), I'm female, use she/her pronouns and … I am weird. 160cm tall, (i have no frickin idea what that is in feet- I am European lol I think it's 5'2 tho), my parents are from west asia (turkey) but I was born in Austria. (Btw, idk if dis is important but zodiac is pisces and mbti is infp/intp. Its weird)

Appeareance:

I have a diamond shaped head with sharp facial features, my dark brown hair goes down to my neck but I always tie 'em up in a messy bun so that my shorter hair strands at the front can do their own thing xD Body type is hourglass and my clothing style is pretty casual held in pale/light colors.

Personality~

-Very accepting, polite and respectful. I value these three traits a lot as they are the foundation of relationships in my opinion.

- Intelligent and wise, if I do say so myself. I have gone through quite a lot of stuff so I'd say I am more mature than others my age.

-My humor is broken af but my fam and friends tell me Im funny so I'll just go with that HAHA

- Calm and Resilient. Even tho my writing style is quite chaotic and seemes energetic I am NOTHING like that in rl. I'm pretty laid-back and calm. Not shy or timid. I just like to relax xD I am pretty resilient as well- not easy to break mentally or physically.

-I tend to get defensive extremely fast and without even realizing it. Sometimes I am ignorant, other times I am stubborn. (Lazy as well but we don't talk about that HAHA)

Hobbies/Interests/Likes/Dislikes

Gardening (Nature in general), reading, listening to music (very important- my earphones are my bebes) and designing/decorating. I am also very interested in languages. I can speak 6 rn and hope to speak a lot more in the future!

Ideal date/lover~

-Okay, so first of all- I am very inexperienced when it comes to romantic relationships. The only thing I am good at is rejecting ppl LOL

-Anyways- An ideal date for me would probably be something simple and not overly extravagant. A simple picnic, a library date or just staying at home cuddling together and watching some movies. If you couldn't already tell my love language is quality time so as long as I get to spend time with them I'm happy!

-Now onto the ideal lover… the thing is, I don't really have a type. I don't care about appearance, the only thing I care about is that my partner is somebody who I can trust and feel comfortable with. Communication is also very important so maybe somebody who knows how to handle any kind of situation. I am a task-oriented person so my partner should be confident in what he does.

- Other then that I am just happy when I have somebody in my arms when I fall asleep <3

Sorry if this was too long.. i think i overdid it :,)) IM SORRY (OMG 600 WORDS- MY BAD)

You are matched with...

Riddle!!

-He will throw small teaparties for you two to enjoy, have walks around the garden and take you to see the hedgehogs

-Whatever it is , his dates with your are always unique and cute.

-Riddle believes that if you make a commitment, you should always stay true to it, including you relationship.

-He handles every situation even though most of the time he flies into rage for you.

-But at least, the work is done

[cfrog]

OC-tober Day 4: Redesign

[full prompt list]

A continuation of yesterday's, let's talk about the Sages' many redesigns! But first: some redraws :3c

[2018 -> 2023]

Full ramble under the cut. Read more at your own risk, it is long.

The Sages got their most recent redesigns in 2021. My main focus was making the Sages more unique in their looks, so it's not entirely just recolors of Sage. This is also when I made them all non-human. Lets go down the line.

[same picture as yesterday, i only have the one]

Again, theyre supposed to all be vaguely matchy. They all have bangs on the same side, they've all got some extra color at the ends of their hair, and they all have details under their eyes (freckles for Red, eyebags for Grey, scars for Yellow, blush for Blue). Aside from that, I kinda went wild with these versions.

The primary Sage's (Red Yellow and Blue) are all supposed to look very similar to Sage. Grey is the black sheep of the group, that should be clear on first glance. Red, though, is supposed to look the Most like Sage, because they have the most in common. The two are from similar time periods and, with the addition of Red being a werewolf, similar situations of hiding themselves. Being a werewolf also draws more attention to Red's anger issues, her original defining trait. It's really easy to tell when she's angry. Because she turns into a big dog. Older Red design had a red scarf across her midsection like a belt, because that's where her killing wound was. When I moved her wound to her heart (because its more poetic <3), the scarf came with! Technically, that dangling section is supposed to always cover her left side. I don't do that tho. ALSO as you may have noticed: Red used to be continually covered in blood. Her new design is less murderous, so that got removed, but I kept a subtle reference to it in her hair. Like really subtle. Here's a close up.

[red's blood-patterned hair, usually covered up by shading]

Anne (Grey's past life) was only given a design in 2019, for the Labyrinth OCT, based off of Grey's old design. Then when I redesigned Grey, I actually based her more off of Anne. Real telephone game going on. Stuff like the wrist/ankle scars just came from Anne's design. For this version of her, I flattened out her hair near the top to better resemble Sage and the others' hairstyles. It also looks pretty :3 Her full lore about what she is is.... so complicated. It's not important. She's a special type of ghost that makes her grayscale ok. I only made her skin pale instead of pure grey because it helps her stand out from Anne. Anne for reference:

[part of Anne's transition to Grey involved cutting off those dress sleeves]

Yellow got the most emo hairstyle of them all, which I think is funny, because she's also the oldest and most well-adjusted. This is when I moved her eye injury to her right side, so I can cover it up and not draw it. I generally just had a lot of problems with Yellow's eyes. I hated drawing glasses realistically, it was the main thing that kept me from drawing Yellow more on previous designs, so I decided to go full cartoon this time. And man I love it. Yellow is an elf btw, specifically from a modern fantasy 1960s-ish. Her main design inspo has always been "librarian" and I love to lean into it, BUT. This design was where I started letting her be a badass too. Hence the mysterious scars. Plus her conspiratorial streak and her wedding ring? God I made her so cool. Best redesign of the set.

And finally, a robot!! Originally, Blue was my excuse for memes and references. They were a gamer. They were a 4th wall breaker. I changed that last one for this design, meta powers revoked. But I let them keep the gamer references by making them from the future. Blue used to be just Some Teen Ghost, which was boring and realistic. I wanted them to have a full job and backstory. So I made them a fnaf reference. To emphasize the roboticness, I started drawing their hair goofy and blocky. I also switched their method of death from hanging to gunshot, to match all the others. Plus, I don't think hanging a robot would work. This moved their wound to their head, but again, hey I don't wanna draw a fucked up eye wound all the time. Solution: robot-based memory problems! Blue already had a thing for ignoring negative emotions, so it only makes sense they'd block out their own death. Their eye's still not entirely functional, though.

Hey, they weren't in yesterday's post, but let's talk about Violet too! Violet has always been a thing with the Sages, and funny enough, their name was always Violet. What exactly they are, though, has changed so many times. With this redesign, I offically made them Blue's "alter ego" (it fit with the fnaf references). Think of it as Blue but with all of those nasty memories. That means you get to see the eye wound on this one! They're also missing their ear on that side. And a solid chunk of their head.

[this Violet is from a meme redraw but I cut out the context]

These are my oldest ocs and I care about them so much. I put so much thought into these. I'm happy I finally get to type this all out. Here's a direct comparison of their hair and skin colors, look at the detail i put into this.

Blue's is technically just desaturated cause that's what mixing blue with orange does.

[reddowind]

I want to make a request.

Kaima literally being kind and friendly and calm and all to literally everyone. (Including parents, classmate etc) Until they becoming eventually scared from it.

Sorry i just like Kaima sm 😅

Hi! Thank you for liking Kaima even he's feared by his surroundings (including his siblings and best friends, if he gets angry). Honestly as the author i feel like i still have to rewrite his character because im not satisfied yet (Including the other characters too).

Okay, enough. I have an idea where he's acting kind and friendly to his best friends and siblings. So here we go!

Also sorry for late reply, I've been busy lately. Please understand that I have many things to do in real life than in social media 😅🙏

Even If it's Just Once

This story takes place 2 years ago, when the oldest Saimatsu child, Ayame still alive and well

Today at The Momota Household, The Boys doing their usual (ruthless) training along with Keiji and Mako. Somehow Ayame also joined them. Well, more like watching and cheering for them especially for her little brother as spending her time off from her carrier.

Yeah, it's break time finally. Although it's only 10 minutes, but during those break time.. Ayame and Kaima were sitting next to each other. The two close friends discussed about something…

"You really enjoying this, Ayame nee-san.. Is it really fun to watched us training?" Kaima asked as he sat down next to Ayame.

"Yeah, it's been awhile since the last time I watched you guys! Watching something you like always managed to release your stress, don't you think so, Kaima-kun?" Ayame replied with her usual friendly smile.

"Well, you're not wrong"

"Btw, Kaima-kun…" Ayame's expression changed from happy to thinking as she said that "I've been thinking about this.. for a long time"

"….Eh?"

Ayame's face grew closer to Kaima's, making him blushed a bit "You know? I think you actually can make friendly face, like your brother and father always do"

"Huh? Why did you say that…?"

Ayame stared Kaima's eyes deeply, observing every inch of his eyes "Because.. despite of your look, you're really a kind guy and can be friendly if you want to.. Somehow I knew it, your eyes radiate a good heart" as she finished her words, The young musician's smile returned and she moved her face away from Kaima and then returning her composure.

After Ayame's action earlier the in-training soldier turned his face away from her… A bit 

"..The book cover and its contents are not necessarily the same, so that's kinda irrelevant right?"

"Hm, I agree but.. After this break ended, why don't you trying to be expressive to them? Even if it's just once?"

--Hearing that statements, Kaima turned back his face to Ayame. With surprised expression

"Huh why?"

"I'm not telling you to be always expressive, but just once. Try it, try something that you never tried before. If you wanted to continue it or not.. it's up to you. The important thing is just try it first. It's such a waste if you don't try something different while your life it's just only once, right? 😊"

=====

============

Then…

"Shinki nii-chan, are you okay? You look really pale.."

"Ah, I'm okay Keiji…"

"You can do it, Shinki nii-chan!! Fight desu!!"

"Of course we can, Keiji-chan. Can be crazy"

The three boys finished talking after Kaima approached them as he telling his next training menu…..

"All right! Let's continue now! Are you ready?!"

………….

The four of them (please don't forget that Mako also participating) successfully speechless, they even lost strength to react. They continue like this until 5 minutes…

"UWWWWOOOOOOOOHHHHH!!!????? 😱😱😱😱😱"

"What the…"

"Ka--Kai??? What's wrong with you?!"

"Kacchan has been purified??? By what and who???!!"

"YOURE NOT MY USUAL NII-CHAN RIGHT?!! YOU'RE IMPOSTER RIGHT?! CUZ HE'S LITERALLY NOT THE TYPE WHO SMILE THAT BRIGHTLY AT THE TIME LIKE THIS!! HE'S LIKE ZUUUUNGGGG AND RAWR!!! Y'KNOW????"

"…This is your real brother, Keiji"

((Mako too traumatized to react))

Hearing their various amazing reaction, Kaima exhaled his breath, even they've completely lost their will to continue the training session.

"Huh… Just as I thought, it's better if I'm not expressive like that. Ayame nee-san.. really not like me."

"Hm.. their reactions were rude.. actually, but it wasn't bad to try, right? Or you never know it"

Note : Kaima actually can be expressive, in a certain situation (And that's just a smile)

Hope you like it!!

[vanillafalvoredcoffee]

A love triangle?

First chapter

Second chapter

Third chapter

Tw: Fire, jealousy

(Y/n use She/they pronouns btw)

"Hm...hm...Almost finished!"

Ah...I can't wait to show them my present! I worked so hard for this gift! I'm quite excited!!

I just hope they like it...I don't really have a whole lot of money but I made sure to buy the right kind of gifts for them...

They said that they stays in their hotel most of the time...poor them...they must've been so lonely during those days...maybe I can ask if I can bring them breakfast...? Or something...just to get to know them better...

After finishing my last preparations, I got up from my chair and stretched out my arms...I yawned and rubbed my eyes...I looked outside the glass door where I can already see a few customers leaving...

"Its time"

I quickly went outside of the staff room, I saw that everybody already left except for one person in the back.

I instantly froze when I spotted Y/N sitting at the table in front of the counter...Y/N has their elbows rested on the counter and their head resting on her hands...they seem to be sleeping...

I took a deep breath as I walked over to them

"Y/N?"

"..."

Ah...They're probably asleep. I don't blame them, they're probably tired.

You slowly placed the present on the table beside them...you carefully took their hands in yours and rubbed their hands gently trying to wake her up

You gently shook their shoulders and whispered

"Wake up, Y/N..."

As soon as they heard your voice, they snapped awake instantly causing you both to jump slightly...

"H-huh? how long was I asleep?" They slowly turned around to look at you, You noticed there was dark circles under their eyes and their cheeks were pale...even so...they still looks gorgeous as ever

"Not long...only 10 minutes or so" You answered smiling slightly at them

"Oh...um...sorry for sleeping here without your permission..." they mumbled as they looked away from you shyly

"Don't worry about it, you're my friend after all"

"Yeah...I guess you're right"

They picked up the present, looking at it closely

"Do you want me to take you home?"

"No no!...I'll just go home by myself. It's okay..." They replied standing up

"...."

"Oh! Thank you for the delicious coffee by the way, it's a shame that you're coffee shop was not that popular..."

They chuckled softly making you blush

"Actually...could i possibly have another cup of coffee first? Just to ease my head before going home"

________

"*sigh* Finally...I can be alone with you..."

You looked at Sébastien as you skipping though the hallway

"Hahaha...you're acting so childish" He said chuckling lightly as he walked along beside you

"Well excuse me for not being able to help myself..." You pouted

"And why is that?"

"...I miss your presence..." You stated simply and seriously

"...I haven't seen you for over two years now...I don't think its fair that you just disappear like this on me..."

"Y/N..."

"Hm?"

"I know I haven't been there for you that much...but it doesn't mean I don't love you...you know that right?"

You nodded as you stopped in front of the elevator

"I know...thanks Sébastien" you smiled as you reached for his hand pulling him in and pressing the number five button...as soon as the elevator doors shut you wrapped your arm around his waist while leaning against him lovingly

"Thank you for coming over tonight...I know that you probably has some work to do but...you're still sticking with me for all this time...except the last two years ..."

"Of course Y/N, You are very important to me...I wouldn't trade our relationship to anyone..." He said as he wrapped his arms around you, placing his chin on top of your head

"Mmm~ I love you sooo much Séb"

"By the way, who gave you this?" He said pointing at the present you were clutching so tightly in your hand

"Oh! that's just my friend...he gave it to me an hour ago..."

"Right...Jacob isn't it?" His face suddenly looked serious.

"Yeah, but I don't think much about him though..." you shrugged nonchalantly

"Really?" He said with a sarcastic tone

He's usually not like this...does he feel that upset?

"C-c'mon...I really don't think about him much then a friend, besides...I have you! Don't forget that~"

He giggled lightly at your reply, he loved seeing you being playful like this

The elevator opened at the fifth floor as you let go of Sébastien...he walked over to you as you continued talking to him

"...um...I'm sorry if I upset you...anyway what did you wanna do for today?"

"Hmm..." He crossed his arms while thinking, then he smirked

"You'll see soon enough~" he chuckled as he ruffled your hair playfully

"Pffft...sure..." Your face lit up once again, you sure miss this feeling around him

You walked towards your room...524...and unlocked the door

When you pushed it opened you noticed that the bed sheets are neatly folded and a note lying on it

"Happy valentines day♡"

You smiled a bit at the sight of the handwriting and smiled even brighter when you read the note

"Surprise! I know this isn't much but...you deserve it!"

"Aw...you didn't have to do any of this. Oh...and thanks for paying for my bills too..."

"It's nothing...you know I'm rich! That shouldn't make a difference for me. And remember, I told you I love you."

You blushed as you looked away from him

"Séb..."

He smiled softly at you as he sat down on the edge of your bed and pulled you into his embrace

_______

"Hm..." Sébastien looks at your sleeping form, his fingers softly caressing your skin as he smiled at you...

He couldn't help himself but smile at you every time he sees you like this, so peaceful and cute. He can't believe how lucky he is to have met you and fell deeply in love with you...you always know just what to say to calm his nerves or ease his stress...

...

But just as he looks at the present Jacob gave you he felt a wave of emotions washing over him...

how long has it been since he last talked to his...best friend? he's not sure if he can call him that...maybe an old partner will suit him better...

They used to work for each other and made a lot of money...

....

it's a shame that Jacob wasn't loyal to him back then...if he did join him back then, maybe they could work together...but instead they decided to fight each other over everything and anything...

But then again, that doesn't matter. What matters now is that he found someone new...a beautiful person that makes him happier than anyone else...

"I love you, Y/N..."

He kissed your forehead softly before standing up and walks towards Jacob's present

He held the present in his hands with an empty expression

He then smiles as he opens it with a pair of scissors . The moment he unwrapped the paper he immediately started laughing...the contents inside of the box is nothing but a black sweater which was clearly handmade...

he chuckled silently at the small gift...he didn't expect his friend to give her such a wonderful gift...

He took out a lighter from his pocket and turned the lighter on, the flame flickered for a second before he...well I don't need to describe it to you...you probably know what happens

But don't worry! He'll replace it with a better one when you wake up :)

×_____________________________________________________×

[kingsmoot]

none of this is inaccurate and i don't disagree with any of your response but i think we're talking about two different things

you're explaining why robb didn't bring his army to kl and take sansa back by force, which isn't what i was taking issue with

my little side quest has been about exactly what your last paragraph is talking about:

otoh, the lady hornwood saga is really in a league of its own. most weddings use quiet, emotional coercion if any is needed. ramsay literally had the bride at swordpoint. he raped her to consummate the marriage, but without even the pretense of babymaking, since he just tortured her and left her to starve to death afterward. so the idea that he could somehow have any claim to the hornwood titles after fucking murdering their lady is just beyond me. ramsay takes anyone else's westerosi violations of others and just dials it up to 111.

i understand that tyrion's marriage to sansa isn't actually that far off from how most arranged marriage works in westeros, which i made a post about here:

i’m fully aware no one else cares about this btw it’s just my personal bone to pick. so far my working theory is that if we (noble lords of westeros) admitted that kidnapping a woman and marrying her by force meant her vows were not binding, it would mean that we’d have to reevaluate the legal legitimacy of all our own marriages, all arranged to young noble girls a third our age to advance their father’s political interests

but you're right that ramsay's marriage to lady hornwood is beyond the pale. she ate her own fingers. and while it is recognized as a crime to kidnap a woman, rape her, then wall her up in a tower to starve to death, none of this de-legitimizes their marriage. ser rodrik even says "like it or no, he made her say the vows before the heart tree and bedded her that very night"

so even though ser rodrik was literally going to go off and arrest ramsay and sentence him to beheading for the crimes of kidnapping, rape, and murder, his marriage to lady hornwood is still considered legally binding, and the document she signed (with a knife at her throat) that made him heir to hornwood is still legitimate

so in the same vein, it doesn't make sense to me how or why robb is concerned about tyrion being the legal heir to winterfell since he forcibly married sansa (without either of her parents' consent) while she was a prisoner of war being held hostage in king's landing

obviously tyrion didn't not kidnap sansa, nor rape her, nor lock her in a tower to starve to death, but i don't see the lannisters forcibly marrying tyrion and sansa as any more or less legitimate than ramsay kidnapping lady hornwood

it is clearly established in-world though that these unions are legally binding despite the obvious and agreed-upon coercion (wow what an understatement) involved in each one

it's somewhat of a convincing argument to me that robb wants to honor the vows that sansa and tyrion swore before the septon because that's how Vows work in westeros and it's more important that you say the words than what it means to enforce those words (queue jaime's lovely monologue about the vows they make you swear and swear and swear)

but it still makes no sense to me at all that ramsay's marriage to lady hornwood has legal weight and merit, especially since he has not been legitimized by royal decree so he wouldn't even legally be able to inherit hornwood in the first place, regardless of what documents lady hornwood was forced to sign.

as far as worldbuilding goes, if we accept that ramsay's marriage to lady hornwood was legally binding, then we would have to accept that tyrion's marriage to sansa is as well, and it makes him the legal heir to winterfell

but even then, my issue with the legality of sansa and tyrion's marriage is that robb is claiming that he is the king of a sovereign kingdom apart from westeros, and his little sister sansa is now his direct heir since bran and rickon are presumed dead, so why would he recognize the legitimacy of sansa's forced marriage? it happened in another country at the hands of a foreign power that he is actively at war with

to some degree this is all sort of useless because there are no westerosi legal documents that i can look up on casetext.com but to me both these marriages (tyrion & sansa and ramsay & lady hornwood) feel particularly frustrating because they are both described as and agreed to be hostage situations while also both being recognized as legally binding

that doesn't make sense to me, how can both of those things be true? y'know?

Regarding the sham marriage thing, I very much do believe that it's a matter of illustrating both the difference between the rights of a lord and those of a woman - and moreover, that they're both pretty well setup. The fact that the sham marriage thing is first mentioned in A Game of Thrones and consistently upheld as a worldbuilding point is, in my opinion, pretty decent worldbuilding. Moreover, it seems to be repeated across several plotlines in the service of this framing of Westerosi marriage as both repressive and violent - and, of course, to me seems to serve the purpose of having us question even structures that appear familiar as tools of feudalism.

could you remind me where it's mentioned in agot? the two examples i have noticed are ramsay's kidnapping of lady hornwood in acok and sansa's forced marriage to tyrion in asos

looking at these examples as an illustration of the differences in rights of lords and ladies though is a compelling argument, because even robb (good sweet young just king robb) says in the same conversation with cat that sansa is lost to them and tyrion is the legal heir to winterfell BUT we can figure something out to free jon from his vows as a man of the night's watch and legitimize him as a stark by my royal decree

i think it's still shaky that robb would extend this established northern custom to southron lords who are his direct rivals in an ongoing war

but it is illustrative of the general gender dynamics of westeros that jon can be given his inheritance rights and freed from his freely-given lifelong vows via on-a-dime royal decree but lady sansa is in some sort of iron clad unbreakable bond sworn before southern gods that establishes tyrion as direct heir to winterfell

because at that point it doesn't matter that everything supporting the legitimacy of sansa's marriage is a load of bullshit and everything that could possibly free jon from his vows and legitimize him as heir is more or less made up on the spot. it matters that jon is a man and sansa is a woman.

[babyboibucky]

The Match - Part 5

Pairing: CEO!Bucky Barnes x Reader

Summary: You find yourself in the middle of a predicament.

Word Count: 2.3k

Warnings: SMUT as always, sort of public sex??? Unprotected sexy times, emotional damage lmao

A/N: Buckle up, babies!!! You’re in for a rollercoaster ride for this chapter ajckjasncjak I apologize in advance and please don’t hate me

AND BTW if you guys haven’t seen, I found the perfect playlist for this series lmao I saw the title and I was like HOLD UP this is perfect https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3Eg5ZH6wMq4iocF5fWSesb?si=aff157a6198a4446

The Match Masterlist || MAIN MASTERLIST

Still awake, baby?

Fuck.

You screamed into your pillow upon reading Bucky’s text. It was quarter to midnight and you couldn’t sleep, especially not after Bucky told you that he wanted to make the relationship official.

It’d only been three months and you felt like he was moving too fast. And when he promised that he would find a way to snatch your heart the old-fashioned way? You wanted to explode because obviously, he already did.

But you weren’t going to say that to someone who already had a huge ego (and cock, too).

You composed yourself and typed in your reply, throwing your phone to your side after sending it.

Yeah. Why are you still up tho?

Not even a minute later and your phone began to ring. You sat up on your bed and squeezed your pillow, hating how Bucky had such an effect on you. Jesus, what are you, a high school student?!

You stared at his name on your screen before swiping and accepting the call.

“What’s up?” You answered as calmly as you could.

Bucky’s low chuckle sounded so fucking sexy that you had to bite your lower lip to prevent a moan from escaping.

“Still working. Can’t concentrate though, I keep remembering how you looked like with my cock in your mouth.”

You exhaled through your nose, “Jesus, you’re insatiable.” You said.

“Only for you, baby. You know that.” He said and your heart did a little somersault inside your chest.

“Don’t stay up too late, you have an early meeting tomorrow, right?” You asked, trying to change the topic because if you didn’t, you were sure how things would go.

Bucky let out another chuckle, “Yeah, yeah. I’ll just finish signing some papers and then I’m off to bed.”

You hummed and laid back down on the bed. It was completely silent but it wasn’t awkward. You heard the shuffling of paper on Bucky’s end, followed by the squeaking of a chair.

“You still there?” Bucky asked.

“Mhmm, you done?” You asked back.

“A few more papers left, baby. Can you wait ‘til I finish?”

There was something about talking to Bucky on the phone like this, so casual and so...mundane. It felt natural and comfortable, to think that this was the first phone conversation you had with him. He only sent you texts previously so this was new, but you had to admit, you loved it.

Bucky heard you yawning and let out a soft laugh. He sounded sleepy too when he spoke, “Almost done.” He reassured.

“Let’s have dinner tomorrow.” He added.

“Yeah, okay. As long as it’s not in the same restaurant we went to after my promotion.” You groaned at the memory.

Bucky snorted, “We’re banned there, babe. Even if I wanted to go back there, they wouldn’t allow it.” He said.

“No shit, Sherlock. We got caught in their bathroom, of course they’ll ban us.” You huffed out.

“I was looking forward to dessert, you know.” You pouted.

“I got my dessert though.” You could hear Bucky’s smug smirk through the phone.

“Are you done?” Bucky whispered into your ear as he placed an arm on the back of the booth.

You shivered at his voice and nodded, grabbing your champagne and drinking it in one go.

“I promised you something, didn’t I? That I’ll give you something right before dessert? Meet me in the bathroom in five. Again, don’t be late.”

And with that, Bucky slid out of the booth and adjusted his suit before leaving for the bathroom. You clutched your heart and waved at the waiter who passed by, requesting for a refill and downing it before following Bucky.

You adjusted the black dress that Bucky bought you, you were surprised at how perfect the fit was. The lovely dress though, made you uncomfortable because of its length and the fact that Bucky still had your panties with him was making you feel even more conscious.

You were immediately pulled into the men’s bathroom as soon as you got there. Bucky tugged you into one of the cubicles and wasted no time to bend you over, lifting your skirt up to squeeze your ass.

“I knew I picked the right dress, you look good enough to eat.” Bucky grunted as he unbuckled his belt.

You moaned and pressed your palms against the door, pushing out your ass towards Bucky until you felt him line his tip up to your entrance. In one swift move, Bucky bottomed out and didn’t give you enough time to adjust.

It was fast and violent, the way Bucky fucked you inside that stall. Both of you were too caught up in the pleasure to even hear the commotion happening outside.

“Not gonna last long, Bucky...” you whimpered, feeling your legs tremble.

You’d been on edge the entire time, having been denied your orgasm earlier. And Bucky kept on squeezing your thigh teasingly during dinner, palm always inching higher until it settled close to your bare mound.

Of course, you wouldn’t last long!

“I know, baby.” Bucky said, sucking the skin on your exposed shoulder as he continued to fuck you from behind.

Once done with the sex escapade, the both of you were welcomed by the restaurant’s manager with a disapproving (and scarred) look on his face.

You blushed at the memory, “Let’s not do that again, please?” You said.

Bucky laughed, “Fine, fine. But dinner tomorrow, okay?”

You yawned at the same time you hummed, “Just dinner.”

“Wholesome dinner.” He confirmed. “Alright, I’m done with work. Sleep now, baby.” He cooed and you nodded even though Bucky couldn’t see you.

You heard footsteps and then the sound of the door closing shut.

“Good night, baby.”

“Hmm, good night, Bucky.”

-

To say you were giddy the next day was an understatement. You were on cloud nine after having a phone conversation with Bucky last night. You even greeted Janet the snitch a very good morning when you shared the elevator with her.

You entered your floor and offered everyone a smile, but you also noticed that they seemed to be preoccupied talking to each other.

“What’s up?” You asked Martha and the other girls who were huddled together.

“Haven’t you heard?” She asked. “Sophia shared an elevator ride with Mister Barnes earlier. He called a flower shop, asked for their most expensive bouquet and then went on to make dinner reservations at an elite restaurant!”

You paled at the discovery and cleared your throat, “And that’s a big deal because?”

Martha snickered, “Girl, we’re talking about James Barnes here, a rich and eligible bachelor. It is a big deal. And ugh, I wonder who the lucky lady is! What I’d do to be her.” Martha dreamily said.

“Do you think it’s an employee here? Fuck, I’d be so envious if that girl happens to be working here!” Sophia added.

“Is that even allowed? Sounds pretty scandalous to me.” Kate chimed in.

“Oh my god. Remember the pantry incident that Janet reported? What if that was Mister Barnes and his girl? Damn, that’s juicy. It’d be horrifying if they get caught.” Kate added.

Your head felt light-headed at all the information that was going on. Hearing their conversations felt like a bucket of iced water was being poured on you. It was like a moment of a major realization.

Shit, what has gotten into you, getting all tangled up in this mess? Damn you, Tinder!

Even if Bucky agreed to take things slow, you realized that it wouldn’t really help. If news got out that you were dating the CEO of your company, you’d still receive some backlash for it.

Maybe making it official wasn’t the right thing to do. At least, not yet.

“Ladies, gossip time is over.” You announced and tried to stay calm. “And speaking of Barnes, I need to submit a report.”

-

You nervously knocked on Bucky’s door, hoping that he was back from his early morning meeting. You could hear him talking inside and thought that maybe he was busy.

“Come in.” He called before you could even turn around.

Slowly, you opened the door and slipped inside his office. Bucky was on his chair, talking to someone over the phone. When he saw that it was you, he quickly put his phone on mute and smiled.

“Yes, baby? What do you need?” He asked softly.

Goddammit! Bucky was surely getting used to that pet name. Initially, he’d only call you that in the throes of pleasure. But somehow, Bucky began to use it so casually that it made you nervous. What if he slipped and called you that during a meeting, in front of everyone?

You hated how Bucky was becoming soft and gentle around you, well, except maybe when he was in a certain mood. It was confusing the hell out of you. But you also enjoyed being the only one to witness his soft side.

Was his offer to make things official because he truly liked you or was the fucking that good to make him want to commit all of a sudden?

“I uhh, I think I’ll just come back later if you’re busy.” You stammered.

Bucky held up a finger and then unmuted his phone, “Hey, something important came up. I’ll call you again later.” He said and quickly ended the call before turning to you.

“You know I’m never too busy for you.” He said, his eyes the softest you’d ever seen.

There goes your heart.

“I think...” you trailed, not sure how you were going to say it.

Bucky raised his eyebrows at you, urging for you to continue. You heaved out a deep sigh. Your hands balled into fists at your side as you walked closer to his desk.

“Can we raincheck on the dinner tonight?” You asked.

Bucky frowned, “Why?”

You shrugged, “No reason.”

“Lie to me one more time and I’ll have you on my lap for some spanking.”

How the hell does Bucky do that? Become all sweet and soft and then rough and dominating all of a sudden?!

You squeezed your thighs together because the image of Bucky’s hand landing on your ass was doing things to you. You willed yourself not to give in, you came here for a reason.

“There are rumors about you. Someone heard you making dinner reservations and now everyone’s talking about it. I just...” you paused to check Bucky’s reaction but as usual, you couldn’t read his face.

“Maybe making this official isn’t...the right thing to do.”

Bucky pushed himself up from the chair slowly and stalked towards you. Was he mad? Fuck, you hoped he wasn’t. When he reached you, his hand came up to brush your cheek with his knuckles.

“What do you want then?” He asked.

Shit, you never actually thought about it. What do you want? Keep things casual between you and Bucky? Completely stop whatever it was that was going on between the two of you?

“I don’t know.” You shrugged.

“I like you.” Bucky stated and stepped back. “You’re intelligent and you don’t take shit from anyone, myself included. When you said you wanted to take things slow, I agreed to it. Hence, the flowers and dinner. Now that I’m giving it to you, you still don’t want it.”

Bucky’s livid. He was composed but the way his jaw tensed as he spoke was enough proof that he was mad, really mad. It’s his calm demeanor despite being angry that somehow scared you. The calm before the storm. What the storm was going to be? You didn’t know and honestly, you weren’t sure whether it was something that you even want to find out.

Maybe you were being confusing or indecisive but only because things happened too quickly for you to even properly process it. To think that you addressed your concerns last night, you actually that Bucky understood where your feelings were stemming from. However, it seemed to have gone over his head.

“Bucky, I don’t think you’re getting my point here.” You explained, tucking your hair behind your ear.

“If you heard what your employees have been saying about you and your...girl, you’d understand.” You said and placed your hands on your hips.

Bucky made a face, “Then make me understand. What did you hear?” he asked.

“We already talked about this last night! They’d think that the promotion was given to me because we fucked! That’s going to taint my image for the rest of my life.” You huffed out.

Bucky rubbed his face with his hand as he paced back and forth, “They’re idiots if they think of that. What do you want me to do? Give a detailed presentation why I decided to promote you? Go through your evaluation one by one? He sarcastically said.

“Oh my god, Bucky. You really don’t get it, do you?” You let out a humorless laugh.

He shrugged, “You’re confusing the hell out of me. Just tell me what the hell you want to happen.”

“Maybe I just want keep things professional.” You blurted out in the spur of the moment.

You didn’t mean it. You so didn’t mean it. Fuck. You word vomitted and now you were going to regret it.

Something in Bucky ticked, you saw it. He approached you until he was towering over your frame. It was intimidating to say the least, the way Bucky stared down at you with a blank expression on his face.

“What if I don’t want to?” Bucky asked, his eyes looking down at your lips for a quick second before moving back up to your eyes.

“I wasn’t asking for your permission.” you retorted and you’re not sure why.

Bucky exhaled through his nose and this time, you could read his face. He was fuming.

“I told you, you’re mine.” He said through gritted teeth.

The tension in the air was thick. The close proximity was making you dizzy, Bucky was so close that his scent was invading your senses. His jaw was clenched tightly as he looked down at you with piercing eyes and you were so tempted to just grab his face and kiss him and tell him that you liked him too.

But of course, your pride just had to be in the way.

“You don’t own me, Bucky. I am my own person.”

Another word vomit. You were Bucky’s the moment he laid his hands on you and you liked it.

Bucky inhaled and shrugged, loosening up before taking a step back. “So you want to keep it professional, huh?”

No.

“Yes.”

Bucky nodded, “You’re lying. I know you are. But okay then, professional it is. Let’s see how long you can keep lying to yourself.”

You watched Bucky walk back to his desk, sitting down on his chair with his arms crossed over his wide chest. His face was void of any emotion all of a sudden, he didn’t even look angry anymore and you hated how you couldn’t seem to figure him out.

“Anything else you’d like to discuss?” he asked, the professional tone of his voice sending chills down your spine, but not in a good way.

You slightly nodded, placing a folder on top of his desk before backing away. “It’s this month’s report.”

“Okay. You’re dismissed.” He casually said, grabbing the folder and skimming through your report as if you weren’t standing right in front of him.

You felt a pang of pain hit you right in the heart when he looked up at you questioningly, as if he was wondering why the fuck you still haven’t left his office. At that moment, you wanted to take back all the things you said and just give in to your damn feelings.

But would you really let your career nosedive just to be with Bucky? You weren’t sure if you were ready for that.

You straightened up and maintained a calm demeanor, “That’s all. Thanks, Bucky.”

“That’s Mister Barnes for you.”

-

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[noodlegirl-googlyeyes]

Hollow Knight spoilers, idk. its like a 5-year-old game so like whatevs but i will say if u wanna play it and haven't, it is best enjoyed without the kind of spoilers im gna have under the cut. gonna talk abt my thoughts on the first final boss. also its a longass post so, like. yaeh.

final bosses of games(i know HK has other final bosses lol) can have a lot of different aesthetic vibes. the way a boss looks and moves, the music and audio, the way the boss is framed within the environment, and the way it is depicted(or not depicted) prior to the fight itself all play into this 'vibe'. the thing about hollow knight and the battle against The Hollow Knight itself is, that 'vibe' is both extremely unusual on purpose, and incredibly emotionally heavy and complex in a tragically beautiful way.

the last game i beat before hollow knight was metroid dread. no spoilers for that game, but the final boss of dread had a very stereotypical 'final boss vibe'. fuckass huge and cunning, consciously villainous character at the height of their power: Samus's greatest challenge yet. at various points through the fight, i found myself alternating between thinking "oh fuck, im gonna get my ass handed to me" and "gonna fuck this fucker the fuck UP ya bastid". it's a good boss battle with a lot of emotional weight.

but THK(or The Hollow Knight, the character/boss itself) was.... i don't know what exactly i was expecting. THK is not a villain, but a victim. it's not consciously evil or at the height of its power. and i sort of knew that going into the black egg, but i was not prepared for what it would actually look like, at all.

it's hunched over, missing an arm, its legs are bowed out and bent all weird like it can barely even muster the energy to stand. over all else, it just looks so... tired. and that's not just in its first animation, the way it moves gives off that feeling of a being who is running on mere fumes and has been for a long time, exhausted beyond imagining but the job isn't done, and so it has to keep going, keep digging deep, keep fighting.

ok now im gonna reference a bunch of more commonly talked about theories, but hollow knight(the game) is ultimately full of mysteries within the lore so this is all very much subjective and open to interpretation.

the radiance infects bugs through their dreams, right? she gets in through their dreams and corrupts their thoughts and hopes, breaking down their higher willpower until all that's left is this base primal violence. in the pale kings famous speech in the abyss climb he refers to the ideal hollow vessel as having "no mind to think, no will to break, no voice to cry suffering", because a being like this has nothing for the radiance to corrupt. this is all, like, my cliffs-notes understanding btw, and isn't really the point of this post.

the point is that we know that THK had failed, somewhere along the line. it's thoughts, thoughts it wasn't supposed to have, had been corrupted. to have a 'will' one must have a goal, or something to fight for. something to fight against. THK was, more or less, just supposed to be vibing, chained to the ceiling for eternity. the path of pain cutscene provides the best explanation as to why this happened, but all that is beyond the scope of this post.

then there's its 'no voice to cry suffering', which THK still doesn't have - the only sound it makes is the trademark infection roar, which, well, comes from the infection. the important part of that line is actually what it doesn't say, because it doesn't say THK does not suffer.

if you really feel like tearing your heart open with a spatula, btw, look up the Pure Vessels dream nail dialogue from the godhome fight. my heart 🥺

anyways, let me walk you through my emotional experience with THK's boss battle. first it drops down from its chains as seen above, and instantly, i'm not thinking, "oh fuck im screwed", im not thinking "gonna mess u up lol".

i see that and all i can think is, "you poor thing. i am so, so sorry."

but the madness of glorious combat overtakes me. i die a few times, then decide to go get the last nail upgrade and do other stuff around the map before beating the game for the first time. i come back eventually and... die a bunch more, mostly during phase 2. then, on a run where i'm feeling pretty confident, i get to phase 3, and i actually am getting into that mindset of "its fukin over u asshole! i got this! ur dead!"

then THK starts doing this:

its fucking. stabbing itself, over and over. this is a great opening to walk right up to it and get a massive amount of damage in on top of the damage the boss is literally doing to itself. unfortunately, i mostly missed it the first time because i was crying too hard.

theres 2 main theories for why THK does this that i've heard of; one being that its doing it to release more infection out of itself to be more powerful, the second is that The Hollow Knight, with its splintering will and thinking mind, sees and understands on some level what i, as the knight, am trying to do, and is doing what it can to help me in spite of its purpose and in spite of the radiances' influence.

i beat THK that attempt. i had maybe 5 deaths in phase one, at least 10 or 12 in phase 2, but none past that. but like, i didnt want to. all that pride i had in besting this difficult opponent evaporated. all i could think at that point was "not like this. please don't make me do this."

the first theory doesn't really resonate with me, because phase 3 only introduces one new attack, where the infection itself literally picks THK up and ragdolls it into the air, before just. brutally smashing it onto the ground a bunch to try and hit the knight. this attack does double damage, but it's also not super hard to dodge. if the infection was forcing THK to stab itself to become more powerful, it was not an effective strategy. using THK itself as a blunt weapon to beat the player character to death feels, to me, more like a wrathful punishment for THK itself. the fight gets significantly easier in other ways as well; THK's terrifying barrage of rapid-fire huge attacks is slowed by extra mini-staggers and the entire rhythm of the fight gets really thrown off.

hollow knight is a good fucking game

but i did want to beat it, also, because THK is a vessel, just like me. and it had suffered so much, for so long, and i was the only one who had any ability to do anything to help it. in my mind, as a person playing a video game, i went from "i can't look at this horrific a tragedy" to "this is terrifyingly difficult" to "i'm better and stronger than you and i will fuck you up" to "no, not like this, please stop hurting yourself, please stop helping me", and finally to "i'm so, so sorry, but it will be over soon. it wasn't your fault. i'm going to fix this, but it's too late for you and i am so sorry" in one boss battle.

[yelenasdog]

heavy is the head that wears the crown (mob!arvin russell x fem! pastor’s daughter! reader)

genre: angst+fluff

summary: arvin had always heard the saying “heavy is the head that wears the crown” but never truly understood what it meant. not until now

words: 4.06k

warnings: since this is based off of a tdatt, family death, mentions of death, mentions of mobs, kissing, marriage, murder, smoking, suicide, cancer and i think that’s it. it’s also kinda melodramatic, and i haven’t watched tdalt in a while so a lot could be plot inaccurate also idk anything abt the mob or mafia so like dont k*ll me thx i just like joe pesci

a/n: first, i owe the amazing concept of mob!arv to @kelieah ! so go follow her for more mob!arvin goodness!! basically i’m obsessed w 90s mob movies and watched goodfellas and casino and few too many times lately and oops here we r! i tried to write this from the narrator in tdatt’s view, so if u wanna read it like that then cool! btw the pic w the dress is just an idea of the dress reader is wearing not what she looks like! ok enjoy i’ll stop rambling

·。·。·。

“So, Arvin. I was told you paint houses? That true?”

Arvin hesitated, opening his mouth and closing it again. He wasn’t a painter, no, he killed people. For a price, that is.

But rather than saying no, the jab in his side from his uncle told him to answer otherwise.

“Yes, sir. It is.”

The Pastor nodded, taking a drag from his cigar, imported all the way from Cuba. He then placed what was left of the long stick in the crystal tray in front of him, the tapping of it on the reflective surface seeming almost deafening.

“Can all your family be traced down to one place, son?”

Arvin gulped, avoiding his eyes, darting his own around the heavily decorated room. Another jab to his side. He winced, meeting the older man’s eyes. He may not know much about the life he was about to enter, but he knew enough about what that meant.

“Yes, sir. They can be, minus my father and my mother. They’re gone.”

Not even a full beat of silence later, the Pastor spoke.

“How’d he die?”

Arvin was taken aback, though he knew that question was coming. His jaw clenched, as did his fist by his side. If the Pastor noticed, he didn’t speak on it, barely lifting his eyes from the document resting on his desk.

“Suicide, after the war.”

“And your mother?”

He took his lip in between his teeth, feeling the skin break, the tears well in his eyes for reasons he would excuse as the pain he was inflicting.

“Cancer. It happened when I was young, I didn’t barely even know her.”

The pastor looked up, slimming his eyes. This time he did notice the glimmering droplets, welling up in his chestnut colored eyes, threatening to fall. He appreciated the boy’s attempt to keep his emotions in check in front of his would be superior, leaning back into his chair.

“It’s alright, boy. You’re allowed to cry, it was your mother.” His southern accent was thick like molasses, his words drawing out. Arvin still felt that it wasn’t acceptable, though, so he only sniffled and directed his chin further up towards the ceiling. He stood there for a while, nerves running through his every cell. It was electric, like white lighting making its way through his veins at a painstakingly slow pace.

“Right then.”

The pastor stood, walking towards Arvin and his uncle. His expensive loafers tapped along the cold floor as he went, the sound pestering to the ears of Arvin, taunting him. He reached a soft hand out, which the boy standing opposite to him gladly took. He observed how the Pastor’s hand was without scars, calluses. Anything that would point to evidence of him being a killer, doing his own dirty work (or “the Lord’s work” as he liked to put it).

“Welcome to the family, son.”

And as Arvin smiled widely and shook his hand with an iron grip, he began to wonder what his new life would entail doing the “Lord’s work”.

He thought he had a pretty good idea, but boy, was he wrong.

“So, how’d it go?”

It was later, and Arvin was sitting with one his most favorite people, Y/n. The pair were resting in an open field, the wildflowers around her just almost competing with the beauty she held. He bashfully looked to the dirt under his shoes, noticing how only inches away, her hands picked at the damp grass.

“Went well, I think. He told me I’m ‘part of the family now’.”

She smiled at him, and in that moment with her hair so widely astray, and wearing that pale blue dress he adored so much, Arvin’s heart felt a certain emotion he hadn’t necessarily felt for someone at this multitude before. He had felt it for Lenora, his mother, his aunt and uncle. But it was different, then. Because now as he sat with her by his side, his love for her was realized at its full potential.

She began to ramble on, congratulating him on becoming a member of her father’s so called “family”, telling him how proud she was. He couldn’t keep focused on the sweet words that were falling from her lips like honey, though, as he was too caught up in his own head, his own thoughts.

“Arv?” She asked, voice laced with slight concern, but mostly with curiosity.

“Sorry, darlin’. Just thinking.”

She blushes, it’s the first time he’s called her that before. She tries to carry on conversation, though with her heart beating through that pretty dress of her’s, it was a bit difficult.

“About what?” She questioned, doing her very best not to pry too far, to be invasive in the very reserved Arvin’s mind.

Truthfully? He was promising himself that he would marry her one day, make her his wife. But telling her that he was only thinking “‘bout the future” would have to do. I mean, truthfully, he really was!

So he answered her, and she was content with said answer, abandoning the subject and returning to many praises for Arv. The standards for the “family” were high, and though she believed in him fiercely, she knew that at his core Arvin was the sweetest soul she’d ever met, and she was skeptical he could put that aside to do whatever the job would require.

“Arvin?”

He looked up, and she nearly lost her breath. It was Arvin’s sunkissed skin, tanned from working under the hot sun, the beams beating down on him. Or perhaps it was the freckles that lightly dusted his crooked nose, like a constellation from the cosmos above. Maybe even it was the mop that sat on his head, the color all the same of those sweet brown eyes of his. Whatever it was, she felt it could only mean one thing.

Y/n Y/l/n was confident she loved Arvin Russell.

“Hmm?” He asked, tilting his head like a confused canine. Adorably endearing, she thought.

And though she had much to say, she was afraid that if he were the dog in question, then the puppy had got her tongue, so to say.

“Y/n/n?” The boy said, nudging her with his elbow, making a melodious giggle erupt from her chest. “What, cat got your tongue?” Arvin teased, and she only shook her head and smiled, as he had no idea how correct he really was.

“You could say that.”

The two shared laughs over the exchange, and at some point (neither of them are quite sure when, how, or who leaned in first), their lips connected in a short and sweet kiss. It seemed that it only lasted for a moment, and as soon as they pulled apart, Arvin and Y/n both were dying for more.

But they resisted, Arvin reaching out a cautious hand to entangle with hers. She bashfully grinned, as did he (though he did his best to resist).

“Y/n, I really like you.” He had said, his thumb running small circles upon her skin. “And correct me if I’m wrong, but I think you like me too.”  He laughed, nervous notes to the sound.

“And well, I was wondering if you’d like to be my girlfr-”

And with a light groan, Y/n had wrapped her arms around his neck, pushing both of them to the ground. She connected their lips, the kiss so oddly blunt, an attack on his lips that he had no plan of fighting off. His hands found her hair, and her’s moved to the sides of his face, holding him so tightly, as if she was afraid he would let go.

“Yes.” She pulled away panting, her lips swollen, his flushed. “Yes, I’d love to be your girlfriend, Arvin.”

They smiled as bright as the setting sun above them, and Arvin pulled her close as she buried her face in the warm crook of his neck. They stayed like that ‘till the sun went down and the stars came out of hiding, the cool summer breeze blowing around them. They both still felt it, then, the love they had only just began to realize was there. And they would continue to feel it for years to come.

Like when Arvin would get back from a job, sometimes with blood splattered on his crisp white shirts, his dirty work getting, well, dirty. She would slowly peel it from his body, taking care to make sure he wasn’t hurt. She would do her best to wash the crimson stains from the fabric, sighing if it was seeming to be of no use. Arvin would come up behind her where she was working at the sink, wrapping his strong arms around her middle and resting his head on her shoulder.

“I’m sorry, Arv,” she would start, blowing a stray strand of hair out of her face, “damn thing won’t budge.” Arvin would just chuckle, reaching up a gentle hand, gentle only for her, to tuck the hair behind her ear, quietly speaking.

“Well I think it looks pretty good, darlin’. It’ll do just fine.” He would spin her around to face him, and pepper small kisses on her skin, smiling at her reaction. And if he was hurt, she would take care to use a warm washcloth, wiping the scarlet splatters from his creamy complexion. 

The juxtaposition of the shades was always bewildering for her, oddly beautiful in a way. She never said so, though, only muttering praises of how proud she was, how strong he is, things like that. And Arvin would watch her, honey colored eyes following her as she moved about to fix him right up. No pain would have any real effect on him, not when she was there to reassure him, make him whole again.

As Arvin moved up in their small town world, in the “family”, he remained just as kind, just as gentle. Nothing really changed, no, only the lines on his forehead deepening and the crows feet becoming darker when he smiled; And Y/n’s role, as well. She stopped cleaning him up, stopped trying to rid his shirts of bloody reminders of his living. Arvin seemed to no longer be “painting walls’, but rather making sure jobs were done, everyone was staying in their places.

And things led to another, and all of a sudden Y/n and Arvin were moving into a big house, bigger than Arvin had ever even been in before. Deals and arrangements were made, settlements too.

One regular Tuesday, Arvin came home from what Y/n could tell had been a long, long, day. He was exhausted, but had this unmistakable look of excitement and joy plastered to his face. He had come in bursting through the door, not even taking off his hat or overcoat before making his way over to Y/n and kissing her silly.

“Well hello to you, too, Arv.” She laughed, amusement and curiosity both equally swirling around in her brain, wondering what could possibly have inspired this behavior.

“Things are happening, sweetheart, good, good things.” He took her hands in his, briefly shaking them before planting a kiss to them and walking away, a big smile on his face. And truth be told, not that she would admit it, it scared the Hell outta her. She wasn’t quite sure as to why, but something was itching at her brain, warning her that whatever was brewing wasn't a good thing. But nevertheless, she maintained her grin, painted lips never faltering.

The next day, when the “good things” were supposed to be happening, Arvin was seriously wondering why on God’s green Earth he had expected this to be easy.

“Come again, son?”

Arvin swallowed, shifting on his feet. He mentally scolded himself for ending up in this position again, standing in front of the Pastor’s desk, all kinds of confused. But it had to be this way, it was for the best, he knew. The sun shone through the window above the desk in front of him, right into his eyes, nearly blinding him. The Pastor didn’t really care, though.

“I’m asking for your blessing to ask Y/n’s hand in marriage, sir.”

The older man slowly nodded in understanding, taking a long drag from the expensive cigar between his fat fingers, the gold ring on his pinky also shining brightly under the harsh sun’s light.

“I just thought that after our arrangement-”

“Arvin, I don’t regret making you an heir, I don’t.” He stated, blowing out a long stream of smoke. “Hell, I can feel something big and bad coming, boy, you understand? I know God’s will is holding out on us, on this family. But it’s running thin.”

The young man clenched his jaw, internally cringing on what that might mean to the family, for the family, what it meant for Y/n. He bit his tongue, feeling the iron seep onto his taste buds.

“And I know those damn Teagardins are plotting, they’re plotting for our downfall. Making you next in line is something they won’t see coming, and I trust it’ll stay that way. But I don’t quite understand

“Well I love your daughter, I love her so much that it hurts. And if worst comes to worst…” he stopped, his bottom lip wavering for a moment, trying to carefully dance around the different outcomes of this conversation. “I feel I’ll be better able to protect her if we’re married, if she’s truly mine.” That part might have been a lie. Y/n has never been his, never would be. She was her own person, outside Arvin, outside the family. It was what he loved about her above all else.

The Pastor was quiet for a moment contemplating his response, calculating it.

“Would you die for her?”

“Yes.” The answer came without thought, it was automatic for Arvin.

The Pastor smiled widely, lifting his arms.

“So, when’s the wedding, Arv?

Turns out, it was exactly a year, a month, and 6 days until Y/n and Arvin would tie the knot. Arvin had spent time, waiting to find the perfect moment to ask her the big question. He had decided on a night where the moon was bright and the sky was clear. They sat together in what they had donned “their” field, the greenery around them rustling in the wind. Though he was nervous, he had delivered a stunning speech that had taken poor Y/n’s heart by force. It ended up with both of them crying like babies and a shiny ring on Y/n’s finger.

The wedding itself had taken place on a beautiful summer’s day, and Y/n had worn a pretty white dress that had made Arvin almost faint when he saw her, standing there on her father’s arm. She was all decked out in the most expensive diamonds and pearls, courtesy of her father, making her shine like a crystal of sorts.

It was the best night of her life, Arv’s too. But the joy they had felt must have an inevitable end, as the worst night (Arvin’s too) was soon to follow.

It had been an ambush, the death of the Y/l/n family. The death toll had managed to wrack up every member immediate member of the esteemed mob family, including the Pastor, his wife, and their two sons. A bomb planted in the trunk of their Cadillac that had gone off, placed there by who knows. 

When Arvin had heard, his immediate reaction was to thank God that Y/n had decided to stay with him that day, to go lay in the fields just the two of them. Immediately after she had been told, she had fallen into Arvin, her entire body weight being put into his arms. Sobs wracked through her frame, her tears dampening Arvin’s yellow button up.

Once she had “come to”, Y/n had grown to be furious rather than sad. As when you look at the lineage of her family, look at the ranks of the mob and who’s to rise to power when the one in front of them dies, well Arvin was right after Y/n’s big brother, Jamie.

And Y/n had loved her big brother, she had loved him very much and would like to believe that Arvin, her sweet, sweet Arvin, would never do anything of that multitude just to satiate his hunger and appetite for power. The hunger for power she wasn’t even aware he possessed. But how in the Hell was she even supposed to be sure?

“I want to believe you, Arv, I do. But I can’t! It don’t make any damn sense, Arvin!”

“You really think that low of me, Y/n/n?”

Y/n had been shouting, trying to confront him for a crime he hadn’t committed. But Arvin was calm as he spoke, his eyes only watering and his voice only bordering on wavering. Y/n reached a trembling hand to her scalp, pulling lightly on her roots. The tears slipping down her face were hot and salty and she hated it so much.

“What else am I supposed to think?” She lifted an arm, sniffling before putting her other one on her waist, the blue of her dress, the same dress Arvin adored so much, just barely matching what was to become of her mood. She was started to regress, the red hot anger from before transforming to a stormy blue of unsure waters.

“My whole family is dead, and it just so happened that you asked me to stay with you the day they died! My whole family is dead!” She screamed, her voice a crescendo of sorts. “And everyone is clean, Arv, except you. You got the motive, you got the alibi, I’ll give you that much.” She paused, briefly wiping her nose and looking to the blank wall to the left of her father’s office. “It’s funny;” she dryly chuckled, and Arvin looked up.

“You went from doing my daddy’s dirty work to gettin’ some poor bastard to do your own. Ironic isn’t it?”  

Arvin stepped towards her, pain twisting his insides up to see his best girl afraid of him, cowering away from his touch.

“You still have me, Y/n. I’m your family.”

She looked to her feet and back to him, shaking her head.

“No, Arv. You’re not. And you will be sorry for what you did to him, to all of them. You will be.” She said, walking away with her heels clicking heavily on the wooden floors. Arvin stood still for a while, not quite sure where to go next. But it dawned on him as the stained glass shone down on his feet in the most poetic manner, that he was already there.

So he dragged his feet along with him, breaths ragged and short, his head slowly tilting up towards the glorious light. He only had to go a few feet, before he sat down in the old leather chair, the only emotions he felt being those of an imposter. He thought back to all the nervous conversations he’d had with the pastor while he was sitting in that chair, a trembling Arvin usually standing opposite, awaiting instruction.

He darted his eyes across the mahogany surface in front of him, looking at all the various things that he only could associate with Y/n’s father. His valued cigar box, the crystalline tray that rested next to it. (He swore he could still smell the fresh smoke, wafting from the little dish.) He opened it, the latch clinking before his hand reached in and his fingers clasped around one of the thick rolls of tobacco. Before he could light it, he felt overwhelmed all of a sudden, and dropped it back into the box, slamming the lid.

He laid back, resting his weary head. Arvin took a deep breath through his nose, exhaling through his mouth, before falling into a not so peaceful slumber.

He was only woken minutes later, Joseph, Y/n’s uncle, wanting to know if Arvin had seen her lately. He shook his head, muttering an annoyed “No”. Joseph got the idea relatively quickly, exiting the room. He heard the chapel’s doors close, taking that as his queue to leave once he saw the time. So he grabbed his hat and his coat, leaving the office and making his way through the dimly lit space. His attention was caught, though, by the cross by the front pews, so beautifully shining. Arvin put down his things, and walked over to the pew, sitting down on the uncomfortable hardwood. He bowed his head, putting his interlocked fingers utop the surface in front of him.

He hadn’t done this in awhile, this whole praying thing. It seemed naive in his way of life, with the things that happened around him, the people lost. But nonetheless, if ever, now was a good time to try.

“Heavenly Father, I, I, uh, I need to talk to you. To, uh, set the record straight.” His hands were sweaty, tears welling in his eyes.

“Y/n, she’s- well she’s the love of my life, God, and I don’t think she loves me anymore. Hell, she wants me dead. But I don’t blame her, I couldn’t ever. Not after...” he paused, his bottom lip shaking, “Not if she thinks I killed her family. But I didn’t, Father, I didn’t and I could never. But she don’t see that. I need her to see that.” He raised his voice, the bitter droplets rolling down his reddened cheeks, hitting his shoes.

“I can’t live without her, I won’t. So I guess I’m askin’ you a favor, Lord. Just… let her know I didn’t do it, that I would never hurt her.” His voice cracked, his words barely audible, not that whoever was listening cared.

“That I love her so much.”

Arvin muttered something of an “Amen”, and then just sat there for he wasn’t sure how long. His silence was interrupted by a mellow and raw voice, cutting through the silence like the sharpest dagger.

“It was the Teagardin family. I just found out.”

Arvin stood and turned so fast he dizzied himself, having to hold onto the back of the pew for stability. His bottom lip quivered, his flushed features gaining a confused look.

“Y/n/n? How long you been there?” He questioned, not bothering to wipe his eyes. She shifted from one foot to the other, fumbling with her hands.

“Long enough.”

There was a mutual understanding at her few words from the two of them, and an apology within them all the same. Her eyes were bloodshot, her nose runny and her overall appearance disheveled. Despite that, just the fact that she was there, to him, made her the most beautiful girl in the world. 

Arvin could tell she was holding herself back, her emotions, too, as she started to speak, barely able to get through a sentence as she rambled about how she shouldn’t have assumed things, and that it wasn’t right of her to accuse her beloved of something so dire. But none of it mattered to Arvin as he strode towards her, her words only ceasing when he finally wrapped his arms around her.

“I’m so sorry, Arv.” She sobbed, gripping onto him for dear life. That was all she said, repeating it over and over again with the exception of “I love you” also being reiterated. 

Her husband spoke over her hushed tone, saying “It’s alright, doll, I know. You were right to think that, it’s not your fault. It was never your fault.” They continued that way for some time until they both regained their bearings, Arvin wrapping an arm around her shoulders and walking down the front stairs of the chapel. 

“Let’s go home, sweet girl.” He had said, so they did. Arvin kissed the side of her head, regarding once more how he loved her, before starting the ride home, his hand on her thigh the whole time, not wanting to let her go for even a second.

His mind was plagued with thoughts of the past, and he remembered an old saying he had heard long ago. What was it? Ah, you know what they say.

“Heavy is the head that wears the crown.”

·。·。·。

how we feeling folks did we like? gimme feedback if u wanna! mwah love u, take care of urself

 xx hj