#like their relationship is the foundation of the plot and everything else happening is in parallel/connected to what’s going on between them

[desaturate-worlds]

i was so excited for venom 3 and was so unimpressed 😭 when it ended i was just like “…oh” and i have so many thoughts but i need to watch it again before i fully form them

[lukesaprince]

Rich Part 23

Summary: Harry and y/n deal with the aftermath of y/n's panic attack and do some retail therapy to prepare for their trip.

Warning: Smut, public bj & masturbation, exhibitionism, daddy!kink. Mention of panic attacks, Ethan and illegal dealings.

Word count: 10k+

Author's note: This chapter isn't as long as I hoped it would be and I wasn't able to get a lot of the Pleasing scene complete. I haven't been in a good writing space recently and I really want to make sure it's all planned out properly but I wanted to post something in the mean time for you! Enjoyy

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Harry’s stomach was in knots. It had been twisted since the moment he let you walk away from him at his office. His head was in a constant state of nausea and the very thought of you being so far from him had his body aching. Your trip was coming up so quickly, two weeks exactly now and things had taken such a sudden switch he was dizzy. 

He hadn’t seen you for a couple of days, or spoken to you properly either. For anyone else that would be normal. Seeing your partner every day wasn’t a prerequisite to having a happy relationship, but to Harry it was torture. Other than your text message when you got home Wednesday, you hadn’t spoken to him. He sent his usual good morning text Thursday morning and was only met with silence. He worked through his lunch that day so he couldn’t call you like usual, but if that ever happened he expected you to call him first. You never did. 

He tried to call you that night, then again Friday morning but you ignored him both times. He was starting to panic, starting to fear that you were seriously not okay or that he had done something to fuck everything up even if he didn’t realise it. He knew you two could communicate if that was the case, that your relationship was strong enough for you to speak to him if he did something wrong. After everything you two had been through, your foundation was strong. At least Harry believed so. 

But knowing it could be the former option and you could be at home in an unstable mental state was far worse than the possibility of him doing something that warranted you ignoring him. Harry didn’t want to push you, but he also couldn’t handle the unknown. 

He was meant to spend Saturday with you. You were going to meet him in the city to get as much shopping done for your trip as possible then he would spend the night. It was your last free day before locking down for studying and Harry wanted to make it something stress-free and enjoyable to give you a mental break. You only had a couple of free days after your exams before you both flew out so there wasn’t a lot of time to get the key essentials once your semester was over. Mostly you just wanted new clothes and wanted to pick things out for Harry as well. He was happy to oblige. 

But now… he didn’t even know if you two were okay. 

So he decided that he needed to see you. You could turn him away and tell him that you needed space or hated him or preferably that you loved him. Whatever you wanted. Harry didn’t care what you said, as long as he found you alive and okay. 

Early Saturday morning Harry was driving to your place with a bouquet of fresh lilies, a large oat latte and a croissant from your favourite local bakery. He didn’t have your keycard anymore so he couldn’t let himself in… but Harry was creative. It felt a bit reckless and immature actually, calling your best friend to let him in like it was some plot for forgiveness, especially when he was just checking up on you. But Harry didn’t want to risk you coming downstairs and turning away without seeing him or worse, just plain ignoring him.

“Hey, Harry.” Maeve greeted, smiling at the man as she held open the entrance door for him. It was especially cold outside now, so he was quick to rush inside and let the door close before he hugged her quickly as a hello. 

“Hey, Maeve. Thanks for doing this.” 

“It’s fine. You’re lucky I like you.” She teased, bumping his shoulder while they walked towards the elevator. 

Harry was fortunate enough to spend more time with your friends. As were you to spend more time with Niall and Jed. Since Harry was mostly spending time at your place, he had spent time with Maeve and Jay, even Dakari. Usually, it was just your neighbour and coworker, but there was a double date situation where Harry became aware of the ‘older guy’ Maeve was dating. 

Dakari and Harry knew each other through golf and Pleasing. They weren’t exceptionally close, but they got on well enough to treat their beautiful girlfriends to an expensive dinner in the city. Dakari was actually interested in investing in Pleasing, but Harry didn’t particularly like the way he conducted business and would’ve rather owned a third of the club than share a sixth with a man he didn’t want to associate with. Harry was glad for that decision now, since his once silent investment turned into him having a say in business decisions and provided perks that he loved to use. 

He hadn’t really used them since he met you but he hoped one day he would. With you. 

“Yeah, well, I appreciate it… Have you seen her? I haven’t spoken to her since Wednesday and I’m really fucking worried.” Harry admitted, holding the door of the elevator open for Maeve. 

“Yeah, I have.” She nodded, “she told me what happened... It’s pretty fucked up. I hope you’ve dealt with that asshole.”

Harry assumed that meant everything. 

“I have. I mean, I will.” That still didn’t mean he was going to elaborate. The plan he had set in place to deal with Ethan was one for the inner circle only. The original, small, tightly-knit circle. It was illegal after all. To frame a man for stealing $250,000. “Is she okay?”

“She’s okay… I think she just needed space, that’s all. I wouldn’t take it personally, Harry. She loves you.”

“I know and I don’t. Well, I’m trying not to, anyway.”

The rest of the ride was full of polite small talk. Maeve complimented the flowers and the croissant, but Harry didn’t need her approval to know you loved them. He knew you would because he knew everything about you. Everything except how you were feeling right now. 

Harry made sure Maeve went back to her apartment before he knocked on your door. He was nervous, he couldn’t lie, but he was hoping that you two could talk about your panic attack and hopefully end up having a nice day together. He just wanted to hold you and see you smile. 

The door swung open barely ten seconds after Harry knocked and there you were. And you looked… okay. Thank God, you looked okay. He could see the tiredness in your eyes and body by the droop of your shoulders and bags under your eyes. You hadn’t changed out of your plaid pyjamas yet but that was normal. Aside from your clear exhaustion, you looked well. 

“Hi…” Harry breathed, smiling softly. “I wanted to check up on you. You haven’t answered my calls or texts…”

Your eyes softened and it took a moment before you said or did anything. Without saying anything, you pulled him inside by his nice vest and wrapped your arms around his body, pressing yourself against him. He reciprocated the best he could with his hands full and loosely wrapped his arms around your shoulders, breathing out a huge sigh of relief.

There was a flood of instant relief through Harry just at your tight hug. Like a heavy weight dropped from his shoulders the moment you buried your face into the light blue checks of his vest. God was he fucking ecstatic. Just having your body in his arms was euphoric and there was no feeling quite like the comfortable intimacy of a hug. 

“I’m sorry, Harry. I’m so sorry.” 

He could barely understand you with how your face was pressed against him, but he made out the words and was immediately taken aback. 

“What? Baby, why are you sorry?” He soothed, now desperate to free his hands so he could take care of you properly. 

“I didn’t mean to ignore you, I was just…” you sighed and pressed your cheek to him instead, sliding your hands beneath his vest and shirt to feel his warm skin. It was like a clutch for normalcy, a tie to feeling okay again. The last few days had been so murky and unsettling. All you wanted was to feel safe again. Harry never failed to make you feel safe and yet you pushed him away. It wasn’t fair to him and it went against everything you two tried so hard to build. “The panic attack freaked me out and I needed time to sort my feelings out… I shouldn’t have ignored you, H. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t spologise baby, please…” Harry paused, “just-let me put these down, okay? Then we can talk properly?” 

You pulled back and looked up at him, reluctantly releasing him from the hug. It was barely a minute before he was on you again. All he did was set the three items on your little table before he wrapped his arms around you properly and squeezed you tight against his body, rocking you slightly from side to side. You gladly inhaled his masculine scent, finding comfort in the rich, sexiness. It was unfair that he always smelt so good. Even after the gym he still smelt like a sexy, clean wealthy man. 

“You don’t need to apologise, y/n. I know it freaked you out.” Harry soothed, pressing his lips against the crown of your head, “I was just really fucking worried. You scared the hell out of me.”

“I know. I just wasn’t expecting it to happen at all and once it did I just kept thinking and thinking and I was just so angry and exhausted. It was a lot.”  

“I know. Trust me I get it. They can be the most debilitating thing in the entire world…” Harry soothed, pulling back from you. “Do you want to go sit down and talk about it?” 

With a nod, Harry guided you to sit down on your bed with him. It was still unmade, but Harry didn’t care. You took it a step further and crawled back towards your pillows to lie down on it instead before patting the spot beside you so Harry would join you. He shoved his shoes off then shuffled in beside you, adjusting himself so you were cuddled into his chest.

It was all done in comfortable silence and once you were settled in, Harry decided to speak first. 

“They can be traumatic.” Harry murmured, “I spent nearly five hours in the gym after one of my panic attacks.” At his words, you untucked your face from his chest and looked up at him to watch him speak. He smiled down at you, stroking his fingers across your cheek like his words weren’t deeply personal and from a dark period of his life. “I worked my body so hard and wrecked myself because I was trying to deal with my emotions. Or trying not to deal, more like it. I definitely paid for it afterwards but at the time it was the only thing I knew would get my mind off it.”

“I came home Wednesday and cried,” You whispered, watching his eyes sadden. It killed him that he wasn’t there to help you. “Then I went and bought Red Bulls and chips and pulled an all-nighter to finish off an assignment like it was nothing. I was so… I don’t even know how to describe it. I was angry, yeah, but I was also so far out of my head that I just wanted to distract myself.” 

“We all do unhealthy things to cope sometimes, y/n. There’s no one way to deal with things. Pulling an all nighter might not be the best way but you were doing the best you could to cope.”

“It didn’t help.” You frowned, tracing the checks on his vest with your nail.

“I can’t imagine it did.” He chuckled softly, sighing when you didn’t look up at him. “Don’t beat yourself up for it, baby... Maeve told me you spoke to her about it. Did that help?”

So that’s how he got in. You couldn’t really be upset by it. Maeve wouldn’t have done it if you didn’t want to see him. You were just… a bit nervous to make the first move. 

“It did. It was good to rant about it with someone who didn’t really know anyone involved.”

“Do you want to talk to me about it?” 

Harry hoped you would. After hearing nothing for days he just wanted an insight into your head. 

“You don’t have to.” He continued softly, prompting you to look up at him, “I’m happy to just be here with you if that’s what you need.” He cupped your face, stroking your cheek with his thumb, “I would’ve been here when it happened too. I hope you know that. You don’t have to go through these things alone if you don’t want to.”

“I know but I was just so overstimulated I think and… I didn’t want to say anything I regretted,” an unreadable look flashed through Harry’s eyes, like he wasn’t exactly sure how to take what you were saying. You sighed, looking back down at the same quad of checks you had been tracing with your finger during this entire conversation, “I don’t think I ever really processed what happened with Ethan and… your part in it, I guess. There’s been so much going on that I just kept ignoring it and ignoring his existence completely. Seeing him really triggered me and the more I thought about it…” you sighed again, “the more I was angry at you too, not just Ethan.” 

“You were?”

“I know you’ve only done what you thought the right thing to do was. But I just don’t get how you can work with him every day. He hurt me so fucking badly Harry…” you could feel your throat starting to get scratchy and your eyes prickling with tears. The stinging forced you to turn from him and close your eyes momentarily, but it did nothing to conceal how you were feeling. The sight practically broke Harry’s heart. “I don’t get how you can even be in the same building as him. It doesn’t make sense to me.”

“I feel sick every day I have to see him, y/n. I’ve done everything I can to make sure we never cross paths but sometimes it’s inevitable. He was never meant to be on my floor on Wednesday and I never would’ve let him come anywhere near you if I knew.”

“But you still work with him, Harry!” You sat up abruptly, looking down at him. “It doesn’t make sense. He’s getting no consequences for what he put us through. I get you couldn’t go to the police because there was no evidence, I get it. But I need to do something. I need you to do something.”

“I am.” He didn’t want to get frustrated at you, not when you were hurting but he was hurting too. This wasn’t fucking easy for him and if the law meant nothing he would’ve gone after Ethan himself and made sure he never bothered you or anyone else again. But he couldn’t exactly do that, could he? He sat up as well, nudging backwards until his back was against your headboard. “Y/n I’ve been dealing with him at work the last couple of months because I had to for my plan to work. I couldn’t do anything out of the ordinary because I didn’t want to bring any attention to myself, but I have a plan. It’s just one of those things you have to wait for.”

“What is it? This plan?” You crossed your arms over your chest, looking at him expectantly. 

“I can’t tell you.” Harry almost seemed reluctant to say the words, but it wasn’t because he was apprehensive about his decision to keep it a secret from you, it was because he wasn’t sure how you’d react. He didn’t want you to be mad at him, but at the same time he wasn’t going to compromise your safety and your future. 

Because that’s what it came down to. If everything went to shit and you knew even one single detail about it, you were done. 

He wasn’t going to let that happen but he also wasn’t going to sit here and lie and pretend that nothing was going on behind the scenes. That’s something he would’ve done at the beginning of your relationship, but he knew that this was just as much your fight as his and lying wasn’t the right thing to do. He could be honest and keep you safe at the same time. 

“What do you mean? Why?” 

You were immediately jumping to many conclusions, all Harry wanted to settle. He just wasn’t sure how. 

“Because it’s not exactly legal, y/n and while it’s pretty fucking foolproof I can’t risk anything. If the whole thing comes crashing down I don’t want you knowing a single bit of it.”

“But that’s-” 

“You will find out. I promise.” He interrupted, “just not until it’s over. I’m not budging on this.”

As much as you wanted Ethan to pay, you didn’t want it like this. You always knew he covered his tracks well but you hoped that by now there’d be some loose thread. Someone with hard evidence to be able to get him punished and that clearly wasn’t the case. But that didn’t mean you wanted Harry risking everything, either. It was exactly how you felt when you first met Niall and Jed and learnt about how they were blackmailing Ethan into handing over the photos. It was reckless and a huge fucking crime. You prayed that it wasn’t the same plan because nothing on this fucking planet was worth Harry going to jail and you losing him. You couldn’t even bare the thought.

“I don’t want you doing anything illegal Harry. It’s stupid!” Your voice broke in your distress, shooting Harry right in the heart like a goddamn bullet. “I’d rather him get away with everything than have you risk yourself. What if you go to jail or what if it doesn’t work? I can’t… I can’t lose you.” 

“You won’t lose me.” His eyes softened and he reached forward to cup your cheek, “You won’t.” his thumb traced over your cheek and he couldn’t help but kiss you gently before pressing his forehead against yours. “I understand you’re scared, y/n but I have to do this not only for you but for me too… I have no choice but to go down this route because he left nothing for me to work with. Fucking nothing. If there was another way, I would do it. But this is it.” 

“And you can’t tell me?” you whispered, wishing you could pry the whole truth from his mouth. 

“No.” He shook his head, leaning back just a tad so he could see your whole face at once. “But I’ve done all my due diligence, baby, I promise and I’m as far removed from it as I possibly can be. So please, just, let this one go. For now.”

“I’ll try…” you settled on, unable to promise anything more. “How long am I letting this go though? A couple of weeks? A month?” 

Harry sighed and leaned back against your headboard, “I don’t know. Could be while we’re on holiday, could be in a couple months. When I know, you know.”

“And in the meantime you’re just going to keep working with him? That doesn’t seem fair” You didn’t particularly like that idea. If it were up to you, you wouldn’t want him stepping foot into that office again while that asshole was walking around free and triggering panic attacks left right and centre. 

“Well…” His lip quirked up in a smile, “I was hoping we’d enjoy our holiday together and then who knows… maybe I won’t go back to work once we’re home. I haven’t decided yet but I’ve wanted to do something different for a while now. Just not sure what.” 

“I didn't know you were thinking of changing jobs.”

He shrugged, tracing random patterns on your back through your pyjama shirt. “I haven’t been planning anything per say, but I’m a bit bored. Seeing that asshole around doesn’t make it any easier. It doesn’t seem worth it anymore, not when I can do anything else and be happier for it.”

“A career change at your ripe age? That’s ballsy.” You mused, squealing and jumping slightly when he pinched your ass. 

“Well I haven’t decided anything yet, just considering my options. At my ripe age I’ve done quite well for myself so I wouldn’t mind a bit of time off. Maybe be a stay at home boyfriend while you study your pretty little ass off in your final semester.” He reached up to fiddle with the ends of your hair, twirling a strand around his finger.

“A stay at home boyfriend?” You scoffed, laughing loudly. “Stop.”

“What?” He laughed, amusement laced in his widened eyes, “we’ve got a son and two households to run, someone has to be around to cook and take care of the place.”

A son. There was something so heartwarming about Archie being referred to as your son, especially when Harry was being so casual about it. Like it was normal. Put the son reference and conjoining your two houses as one and well… that was about as committed as you could be without moving in together. Not that you were anywhere near that stage yet. 

“One of those households has a maid, a gardener and a dog walker, I’m sure it’s just fine.” You rolled your eyes, “But if you want to take care of this place and feed me I won’t complain.” 

“I’d be more than happy to feed you and fulfill any other needs you have.” He announced proudly, squeezing your hip before reaching in to peck you quickly. “Which reminds me-” he got out of bed, going to your table where your coffee and sweet treat were still waiting for you. “I got you these.” You shuffled up into a cross legged position, happily grabbing the two items when Harry sat back down on your bed. 

“Thank you.” You sipped your drink, loving the sweet taste of it. “And thank you for driving all the way down here. It means a lot.” You tore open the paper bag, ripping off a small piece of the croissant and offering it to Harry. 

“No no. It’s yours.” He declined, happy when you didn’t argue and at the piece. “And you don’t need to thank me. I love you, y/n and I wanted to see you. I always do” He smiled, tucking your hair behind your ear. 

“I love you too.” You pressed your hand on his knee and reached in to kiss him quickly, loving the way his hand returned to your back to trace random shapes over it. “I love this by the way. I never thought I’d find a vest sexy but you look really good.” You traced over the v-neck of his checkered vest with your clean hand, looking up at him. You really missed him. 

“Thanks darling. It’s vintage.” He smirked, wrapping his arm around your hip to drag you back to sit properly beside him. You felt a little dirty compared to him in his nice outfit, especially since you had been wearing the same clothes for days and desperately needed to wash your hair. Harry didn’t seem to care though and you really appreciated that. Washing your hair was a mission by itself. Add a panic attack and assignment stress and you couldn’t think of anything worse, even if the thought of a long hot shower did sound quite nice. 

“I like it.” You took a big bite of your croissant this time, moaning at the taste of the chocolate filling. You slumped against Harry, happily chewing it while he rubbed your hip and kissed your head. 

“Good?” He mused, sliding his hand just underneath your pyjama top to feel your soft skin. 

“So good.” You nodded enthusiastically. 

“I’m glad.” He laughed. A comfortable silence fell over you two, with small comments and conversation here and there. It was nice to just spend time with Harry, even if you weren’t doing much of anything. “Would you still be interested in going shopping?”

“Today?” You sat up properly and looked at him, both your coffee and croisssnt long gone and in your stomach. 

“If you’re up for it. We did plan for today but there’s no pressure. I’m more than happy to change into comfortable clothes and watch Netflix all day. Truly.” 

“No no. I could go shopping. We need to get ready for our trip, right?” You grinned, getting excited at the thought of a day walking around the shops and buying so many cute outfits for your trip. Secretly though, you liked the idea of Harry going with you more than the shopping itself. 

“We do. Yes.” He smiled, happy that you had a bit more energy. Harry hated seeing you down. Any emotion except pleasure and happiness had him determined to fix whatever the issue was. “Are you sure you’re okay, though?”

“Yep.” You climbed over him to get out of bed, stopping when you were straddling him. His hands found your hips immediately, unable to keep them off you. “I need to wash my hair though, so can you wait an hour? I’ll try and be quick.”

An hour. By that calculation you were doing your ‘everything shower’ and a full face of makeup. Harry now knew what that meant, but he was happy to sit around and keep himself occupied if that meant you were taking care of yourself. The concept wasn’t as relaxing as he thought it would be. It was more of a frustrating marathon of events where each one presented its own challenge. He made the mistake of wanting to join you for one of them, thinking it would be fun and you ended up kicking him out because you didn’t have enough space to shave the back of your leg. 

If there was one shower he let you have alone, it was that one. 

Harry chuckled and nodded, squeezing your hips then helping you climb the rest of the way off the bed. “Take your time, y/n. We’ve got all day.” 

You managed to get everything done in just over an hour and then you and Harry were on your way to the city. You grabbed another coffee as soon as you made it into the shopping centre, then the shop-to-shop walking began. There were a few items you had on your list that you were aiming to buy, but for the most part you just wanted to try a bunch of stuff on and see what you liked. Harry of course was happy to offer his suggestions and his wallet which only seemed to get him more excited to pick things out for you. 

“I was thinking…”

“Mh?” You hummed, buckling up the buckle on a pair of baby pink suede platform heels. They definitely weren’t Europe-appropriate, but you got a little sidetracked and with Harry encouraging you to try on everything you so much as looked at, it was easy to get distracted by anything that looked pretty.

“After your assignment is submitted Friday, why don’t we pack up your place and you can stay with me until we leave for our trip?”

“Harry I still have to study for two exams. As much as I love that idea, you don’t want me taking over your house.” You responded, standing up from the couch to test the comfort of the shoes. You stepped around them a little, walking to the closest mirror to have a look at them properly. “And I’m sure my parents would hate that I’m spending a week at yours instead of going home.”

“But you weren’t meant to go home at all, remember? Not until your exams were finished.” Harry coaxed, standing up from the couch to step behind you in the mirror and wrap his arms around your waist. You shivered slightly against him, still focusing on looking at the heels on your feet. “This time you’re close to home, close to Archie…” He hummed, sliding his nose up the side of your neck. This time you really shivered and your focus was taken completely away from your shoes. Not that you were thinking of buying them anyway. They were way too expensive but the allure of trying on Prada shoes alongside a man who already put aside a pair of sunglasses and a belt for himself was way too strong. “Close to me…” this time his lips brushed against your skin, leaving a trail right underneath your ear. 

Your breath hitched ever so slightly, making Harry smirk at you in the mirror. Oh he had you now. Your body was becoming more pliant in his arms and you were leaning against him more and more with every passing second. 

“You could study during the day and have Archie keep you company then at night I could feed you and help you… relax,” his hand flattened against your belly, causing the bold rings on his fingers to twinkle in the lighting. You had a sudden craving for those fingers to be in your mouth or further down south where he actually could make you relax. 

“I’ll be studying all the time, Harry.” You weren’t sure why you were protesting it so much, not when the thought of a quick orgasm as your 15-minute study break sounded so delicious. 

“And I’ll be right there beside you, working or reading or providing you with a quick… study break. Whatever you need, hm.” He drawled, kissing your cheek. All you could do was nod because you were so fucking dazed and way too horny in the middle of a store you couldn’t afford. “Do you like the shoes?”

“What?” 

You didn’t even hear what he said.

“The shoes.” He tapped your belly, looking down at your feet. “Are they comfortable?”

“Oh…” You tried to snap out of it and stepped a little in place, feeling the shoes mould perfectly to your feet. God, why did you have to love something so expensive? “Yeah, they’re comfy but I don’t need them.”

“Nonsense. They’re baby pink, your favourite colour.” Harry grinned, pulling back to step in front of you instead. The fact that he called it ‘baby pink’ and not ‘light pink’ had you screaming on the inside. He grabbed onto one of your hands, holding it out between you. “Do a spin.”

You did as told and did a 360 spin for him, liking how your heights were a bit more even with the tall heel. Without saying anything more to you, he turned to the sales associate who was waiting patiently beside the couch Harry was just sitting on. “Do you have a matching bag to these? In a baby pink?”

“Yes, sir. We have a cross body and a shoulder bag.”

“Perfect. Bring them both, please.” Harry turned back to you, then suddenly whipped his head around to the woman before she could step away, “Oh, and please bring some sunglasses too. Anything you think might suit her. Thanks, love.”

“Harry, what are you doing?” You hissed, “I’m not buying anything.”

“No, I am. I like you in pink. Besides, isn’t a shoulder bag and sunglasses a necessity for a holiday?” He mused, squeezing your hips. “Let me spoil you, darling. For doing so well on your exams.”

“I haven’t even done them yet.” You blushed, protesting slightly while threading your fingers behind his neck. “You don’t have to buy me such expensive things, H. You’ve already gotten me so much today.”

“And? You deserve it.” Harry assured you, reaching forward to kiss you gently. The lipstick you applied before you left was almost gone by now. Harry could barely keep his hands off you and you didn’t really want him to. These quick, casual pecks and signs of affection meant so much more to you than anything he could buy. 

“Thank you.” You whispered, threading your fingers softly into the hair at the nape of his neck to kiss him again. “Really. Thank you.”

“You’re more than welcome, baby.” He kissed you again and then sealed it with another quick peck before using his grip on your hips to turn you back towards the mirror. “Now tell me you don’t love the shoes. I know you can’t.”

It was store after store of shopping. You tried to keep things concise to the list you brought of things you wanted to get, but just like the Prada shoes… and bag… and sunglasses, you were both easily distracted. You had more fun dressing Harry up more than anything. Seeing him try on complete outfits you picked out for him just hit the spot for you. You loved it.

And it had nothing to do with him looking absolutely delicious in every fucking thing. You picked out a bit of a joke outfit in one of the ‘younger’ stores as Harry liked to call it, styling him in something more skater boy than his usual refined, delicious European style and he still looked hot as anything. 

Harry hated it of course, but he did like the graphic t-shirt and managed to style it in his own way with the pair of dress pants he had on. God, he was just so fucking hot. By the third men's store you brought him into, you were sweating. You couldn’t explain why it was such a turn-on to watch him open and close a curtain and show off different outfits or why a linen button-up much like everything else he has riled you up until you were clenching your thighs, but it just did. 

You finally truly understood why he liked buying you things so much. 

“Alright, last one then I need food. It’s practically dinner time and there’s a sushi train near here. I could demolish like twenty of those little plates.” Harry chuckled to himself and opened the door of the fitting room he was in. Upon revealing himself, your mouth properly dropped. 

It was another button-up style top but this time it was entirely made out of white crochet squares. The design was fine and perfect beyond perfect and had so many little holes throughout the design, that you could see slivers of skin everywhere. Then there was the obvious sliver of skin. The top three undone buttons that Harry had purposefully left open to expose his cross necklace and littered chest hairs. The tails of his swallows were peaking past the edges and with particular movements, the moth became more visible.

Jesus fucking Christ. 

“Not sure about this one, love. ‘Dunno why.” Harry ran his hands down the fabric, looking at his shirt until he realised you hadn’t said anything. “Y/n?” 

Seeing the look at your face, Harry could see exactly what your opinion was on his shirt. 

“I love it.” You finally said, walking towards him so you could feel the soft lace across his chest. He smirked and placed his hands on your waist. “It’s soft.”

Just the feeling of the soft lace against his warm body was driving you crazy. His body heat was radiating against your hands and you suddenly craved it against your body. All this talk about ‘study breaks’ and being in the same house as him for an entire week had your head in a spin. You couldn’t stop thinking about having constant sex and how tempting it would be to have so much privacy for so long.

And this was before you two were going to have an entire month together. God, the thought of that… your vagina would never be the same, you knew that for sure.

“Mh. Comfy too.” He commented, shivering when you dug your nails through the lace holes to scratch at his chest. “So y’like it?” Harry’s head cocked a little as the attraction in your eyes quickly started to reflect in his own. 

“Uhuh.”

You peeked around quickly to make sure you were alone and when the coast was clear you made the quick decision to walk him backwards back into the fitting room. Harry was happy to follow along with you, barely being able to ask what you were doing before you locked the door behind you and grabbed onto his face to kiss him.

Harry squeezed your waist and chuckled into your mouth, sighing softly against your lips while he kissed back. His arms started to wrap tightly around you and he was trying so hard to not moan at how eager you were pressing yourself against him and nibbling on his lip and tugging on his hair and fucking hell he was going dizzy. 

You weren’t one to start things like this and Harry was enjoying every fucking moment.

“What are you doing, darling? Hm?” Harry mused, eyes fluttering shut as you tugged his head back by his hair to gain easier access to his neck. His fingers dug deeper into the small of your back in an attempt to ground himself. He had to be quiet.

“I need your cock in my mouth,” You whispered against his skin while sliding your hand down his chest towards his dress pants. Harry tensed immediately beneath you, nearly groaning loudly when your hand landed on his cock. “Please, Daddy.” 

You started to palm over his half-hard cock which was very quickly hardening properly beneath your hand. Harry’s head tipped back against the wall and his jaw went slack. He could barely fucking believe what was happening right now.

What you were doing was reckless. Inappropriate and very much illegal. Giving head on a yacht in the open ocean didn’t exactly compare to giving head in a small enclosed fitting room where there were many more people around and any small noise would give you away.

To be honest though, you didn’t really give a fuck. You could tell Harry liked that.

You pulled back from his skin and made eye contact with him while squeezing him through his pants hard enough to make his eyes flutter. Reaching forward, you kissed him softly and spoke through soft kisses until he verbally agreed to have you on your knees before him. “Let me say thank you… please… I need it so bad, Daddy.”

Harry breathed heavily against your mouth and threaded his fingers through the hair at the nape of your neck to tighten them in an almost warning way. “You’ve got to be quick, y/n. Unless you want to be caught.”

Something told you Harry wouldn’t have any issues being caught with his cock in your mouth. 

With a quick nod from Harry, you began the descent onto your knees. But before they even bent, he stopped you. “Wait.” He murmured, grabbing his expensive vest that was hanging on the back of the door and then folding it in half so it was thicker. “For your knees.” 

“I thought you liked it when they bruised.” You grinned, taking the vest nonetheless and putting it on the carpet in front of his feet. You slowly got down on your knees, looking back at the lock for a second just to double-check it was actually locked. It was thrilling to be in such a compromising position, but that didn’t mean you actually wanted someone to walk in on you two. 

“Only when I can take care of you after.” Harry sighed, the sight of you before him enough to make him breathless. He tried to relax against the wall separating your fitting room from the one next door. It thankfully went floor to ceiling, so you hoped that would muffle most of the noise. As much as you could try to keep quiet, Harry was quite terrible at it and it was hard to give a proper satisfying blowjob without making some sort of noise. 

Hopefully, the store’s music would cover it.

“You always take care of me. Now it’s my turn.” You looked up at him with a smile, sliding your hands over his thighs. He looked down at you, sliding his hand through your hair to push it back from your face so he could watch your facial expressions and every move you made. 

“You look so hot in this” You complimented, pushing his button-up top up his stomach to expose his belly button and below. “You better buy it.” you leaned forward and licked a stripe from the button of his pants to his belly button, making sure to do it once more while you undid his pants. 

“I will…” Harry assured, sighing out like a pretty angel just at the feeling of your mouth on his lower belly. “You like it so I have to buy it.”

“Mhmm. Y’gonna look so good, Daddy…” 

Harry’s pants easily fell to his ankles once the button came undone. They were straight-legged and with his tight briefs pressing his cock down, they slid right down. Of course, the briefs didn’t last very long either and they soon joined Harry’s pants at his ankles.

You had no time to tease or kiss every inch of exposed skin like you wanted to. This had to be quick which was a shame when he looked so fucking hot standing there naked aside from the pretty lace button-up you wanted to keep on him. It was like sexy lingerie and it messed with your head much more than you would’ve liked. 

“I only look good for you, darling. You’re the only one I want to… shit…” 

Harry couldn’t even finish his words, not when you spat on your hand, wrapped it around him and brought him to your mouth without any fucking warning. You jerked him slowly with your hand, focusing on the base while you slid his head against your tongue. His hips bucked against your mouth at the feeling, causing you to choke a little on his cock and force yourself to pull back from him. 

“You’ve got to relax.” You licked your tongue slowly against his slit, savouring the taste of his precum. You made a show of it too and closed your eyes to hum gently once it collected on your tongue. “As much as I love choking on your cock, it’s too loud.” 

You were almost scolding him, reprimanding him for not being good and staying pressed against the wall. It was reminiscent of the first time you figured out you loved him, not that Harry knew it like that. Harry remembered the first shower blowjob he got from you as a bold move, not the craving for control that you desperately wanted at the time.

Now… you’d give up any and all control to Harry, knowing that you were really the one in charge. That’s how you two worked. You both had your limits and while Harry hadn’t really pushed them to the limits very often, he had the power to do so because you gave it to him.

And how he was putty in your hands. 

“Don’t think I won’t get you back for this…” he shuddered, fisting your hair tighter when you brought him back into your mouth, wrapping your lips around him perfectly. All you did was smile around his cock while pressing the vein underneath his length back and forth on your tongue. 

You were looking forward to the payback. 

The longer you had him in your mouth, the less you started to care about how loud you were being. Harry was doing well to keep still, albeit practically trembling against you, but his hands were tugging on your hair roughly and he couldn’t stop the string of curses in place of loud moans he wanted make for you. 

There was just nothing like the sound of male pleasure. Deep, guttural groans and whimpers, hushed lines of praise and degradation and pleads of your name. A loud curse when you clenched around him or a whimpered one when you swallowed around him like you were doing now. 

Your hand was still wrapped around his base, fingers reached further back to press against his frenulum and apply pressure to his balls at the same time. You kept moving your mouth quickly and sloppily over his tip, swirling your tongue around his head where he was most sensitive.

“Jesus fucking Christ, y/n. God… your mouth.” 

It was borderline blasphemy the way he used God’s name. The way he cursed and moaned it out because you were giving him one of the most insane blowjobs of his entire life. There was pleasure in all types of blowjob, but there was nothing quite toe-curling like having his tip sucked and flicked at so fucking harshly. Harry almost felt like he needed to squeal like a little girl.

And you were eating it up. Literally. 

Sucking Harry off just turned you on to level 100. There was something about the shape of his cock… the weight of it on your tongue… his scent and soft skin, the way he was so incredibly hard for you and yet so sensitive and dainty at the same time. All of it. Add the dirty talk and the hair pulling and his nails scratching at your head like he wanted to force your head closer so you’d choke on him and you were practically a puddle in your jeans.

You wanted to touch yourself. To just dip your fingers in your underwear and touch the pain away. Just a little.

“Can I touch myself, Daddy? I’ll be quick, I promise.” You whispered, pulling off him to speak and catch your breath while you continued jerking him off. 

Even on your knees with all the power in this situation, you still asked permission to touch yourself. Harry had to force his mind elsewhere to not prematurely cum all over your nice outfit. 

“Do it. Make yourself cum f’me, baby. You’ve been sucking me so fucking good.” He praised, rubbing his thumb over your messy mouth. Your once perfect lipliner was all smudged now, leaving behind your pretty swollen lips for Harry to trace. He had a sudden craving to kiss you silly, but with your manicured fingers wrapped around him, his cock’s craving was stronger. Hungrier. 

You nodded, bringing his cock to your mouth and bopping against it while you undid your jeans so you could slide your hand into your underwear. It was like instant relief the moment your fingers met your clit. You were soaked and slippery and so fucking horny you knew it wouldn’t take long for you to finish yourself off. 

Harry was close too. You could tell by his heavier breathing and the slight twitching in his cock. You kept your lips wrapped around his tip and focused your attention there while you used one hand on his balls and the other to touch yourself. 

The closer both of you got to finishing, the louder your noises became. You tried so hard to hide it, to keep your noises reduced to a sigh especially when you could hear people talking all around you, but it was pretty damn hard. Your one saving grace was the music echoing through the speakers, but you were getting so lost in the pleasure you didn’t know or care whether it was loud enough to cover what you two were doing.

“Shit, y/n. ‘M close. ‘M getting so close…” 

Keeping your lips wrapped around him, you took his warning as a sign to jerk him faster and time your own circles on your clit with every movement you made on his cock. And it wasn’t long after his warning when you felt his whole body tremble against you. His thighs tensed and his abs clenched, his fingers stilled in your hair.

Harry had to bite down on his own fist to try and muffle the noise he let out when he finally came in your mouth, letting ribbons and ribbons of cum fill your throat until you had to swallow to make more room. He wanted to watch you take all of it and make yourself finish, but he could barely stand up straight let alone keep his eyes open to see the way you shook and squeezed your eyes shut when your own orgasm rushed over you. 

When he nudged your head away due to sensitivity, you both seemed to collapse in your own positions to try and calm down from your highs. Your head tilted against his thigh and you just sat there for a moment collecting yourself before deciding to redress Harry. You two had been in the dressing room for way too long now and the post-orgasm clarity was starting to make you freak out about what you had just done.

You only got his button done up before Harry was picking you up off the floor and drawing you in for a heated kiss.

“God I fucking love you.” He murmured, kissing you over and over again while you giggled into his mouth. “Thank you.”

“Thank you.” You smiled, poking his chest. “We should do that again sometime.” You breathed through a laugh while zipping up his pants for him. You were a little in disbelief at what just happened. 

“We should,” Harry smirked, reaching between you to zip up your jeans and do the button for you. “Though next time it’ll be you trying to keep quiet and we both know you have a harder time keeping your noises to yourself.”

“That’s so not true!” you scoffed, turning to the mirror so you could fix your hair. “I can keep completely silent thank you very much,” you couldn’t, not when you were with Harry anyway. 

“You’re such a liar.” He laughed, shaking his head while taking the lace shirt off so he could put his own clothes back on. You watched him through the mirror, still overly horny and unsatisfied. Seeing his bare chest just made you want his cock in your mouth again. Or better and far more satisfying, inside you. “I can very easily prove you wrong though, I hope you know that.” 

“Whatever.” You rolled your eyes and then without any warning felt Harry press his chest into your back while he wrapped his hand around your neck. Your eyes widened and you felt your head go dizzy when he applied pressure just in the right spots. 

“I’ve been very generous to you today, baby, and while having my cock in y’mouth is a very nice thank you, I don’t think it warrants attitude, does it?” he murmured, making eye contact with you in the mirror while running his nose up the length of your neck. 

Fuck me. 

God, you wished he would. 

You swallowed thickly, a little overwhelmed at how dominant he became in a flash. You had almost forgotten what it was like to have him so in control and so powerful. Since you got together he had been so soft and loving. The parts of him that would correct you and reprimand you when you broke eye contact or showed a hint of attitude had significantly softened. They hadn’t disappeared altogether, your sex and your life together was still playful and Harry was most definitely in charge, but with your lives being so busy and having so many things to work through, it was clear to both of you that things had changed. 

You just hadn’t really spoken about it. 

But you didn’t want to forget. You didn’t want Harry to think that he couldn’t push boundaries anymore or be rough with you just because you two were in a relationship. In the beginning you knew he didn’t want to overstep because things were so emotionally raw still, but now that things were good between you two… 

You put it down to not having time, which was a big part of the problem. Still, you missed it.

“N-no…” You breathed, sliding your hand to cover the one he had around your neck, “No, it doesn’t.”

“Exactly. So?” He prompted with a raised brow, caressing his fingers up and down the sides of your neck with little pressure. 

“‘M sorry, Daddy.” 

The title slipped out easily, naturally. It was never going to be part of your lives 24/7 because that wasn’t your dynamic, but you two were clearly still playing and you were still in the high of sucking him off. It was just so easy to let go of all thoughts and issues when he took control like this. 

“Good girl, angel.” He smiled, manoeuvring your face to the side so he could kiss you and look at you directly. You savoured the kiss, craving that closeness even when he pulled away to run his thumb over your lips. “Are you still hungry?”

You nodded. “Very.”

“Good.” His eyes softened and he couldn’t resist kissing you again. “Wait outside then, okay? I’ll get dressed then we’ll drop our bags to the car and go get dinner.” 

“Okay.” You nodded again, wanting nothing more than to just cling to him and never let you go. Still, you did what he asked and cautiously slipped out of the room, thankful that the one person standing out there paid no attention to you or even Harry when he exited his fitting room a minute later.

It was decided during your dinner together that you’d go back with Harry to his house. After spending such a nice day together, you didn’t really want to go home. You knew you should’ve, especially since you still had one assignment to go before you could focus on studying for your exams, but you knew that you wouldn’t get anything done after the week you’ve had whether you were with Harry or without him.

And you’d much rather be with him. 

When you got to his home, you wanted to try everything on again just to make sure you liked what you got in case you changed your mind. Fitting room mirrors can give you the best or worst confidence in the world and you always need to see things in your own house (or Harry’s in this case) to make a final decision. While Harry didn’t quite understand your logic, he was happy to sit in his nice armchair and watch you try everything on for him. 

Harry found it quite adorable the way you analysed yourself. The look of concentration and slight furrow in your brow as you observed yourself from every angle. Harry liked everything on you of course, but he quickly learnt you still needed to hear it from him at least three times before you believed it. 

“Okay, last one.” You declared, emerging from his walk-in closet where you just looked at the dress for a solid three minutes before wanting Harry’s opinion. 

“It’s gorgeous. I love the colour on you.” Harry beamed, fingers laced together with his elbows resting on his parted knees. He scanned your body, thinking that this one was possibly his favourite dress of the day. “Makes your bum look great.”

“Stop.” You scoffed, laughing while looking back in the mirror. You were able to see it from the doorway of his walk-in robe, which was handy. “Seriously, though. You don’t think it washes me out?”

“No. I think it suits you perfectly. It’s different from other dresses you have too.” 

You didn’t quite understand how Harry had the patience to sit through a haul like this. Your dad never did, even when you forced him to at least pretend to be interested and yet Harry acted like every outfit was the newest, greatest thing he had ever seen. If it were even possible, you loved him more for it. 

“That’s what I was thinking. I wanted a few things that are a bit more unique, y’know? Even though I’ll probably end up wearing the same things all the time anyway.” You laughed to yourself, eyes focused on the dress. You tilted your body side to side, watching how the fabric flowed around you. “So you definitely like it?”

Barely a minute after his second assurance and you needed another. Harry would happily tell you how beautiful you are a million times if that made you happy. 

“Yes.” Harry nodded, “1000%”

“1000% huh?” You grinned at him. He nodded with an equally happy smile. “Okay then. I’m satisfied with my purchases now and I feel justified.” You announced it like you were proud of the outcome, even though you didn’t buy a single item of anything that you tried on for Harry. He fucking loved it though. If you ordered him to buy you a new car or a $20,000 bag he’d do so in a heartbeat then need to fuck you because of how much it turned him on.

“Good.” Harry laughed, sitting back in his chair. “C’mere, baby.” He motioned you over to him, letting you step between his parted before he wrapped his arms around your hips. You smiled down at him, slinging your arms around his neck.

“Hi.” 

“Hi.” He smiled, hugging you closer to him. “Are you feeling better after this morning?”

Your smile faltered and suddenly the happiness you got from your little shopping spree disappeared into thin air. It was nothing but a quick distraction, easily ruined by a reality check. You couldn’t blame Harry though. All he did was check in on you.

You nodded and started twirling the hair at the nape of his neck around your fingers. “Yeah… it was nice to have the distraction. There’s just been so much shit going on at the moment and I feel like I haven’t breathed properly for weeks. I just want to have a clear head for once, y’know? Just not think about anything.” you sighed, looking down for a moment.

“I can help with that,” Harry said softly, tilting your head up with his index finger so you were forced to look at him. “You know that right, y/n? I can give you anything you want…” his voice dropped an octave and you were instantly aware that he wasn’t offering a listening ear. Your breath hitched and your body completely tensed up in his arms, “...anything you need.” 

“I know…” you whispered, unable to look anywhere except right into his darkening gaze.

“So let me…” he urged, “Do you want me to clear your head for you?...” he scanned your face, sliding the tip of his index finger from your chin down to trace along your neck. It was a trail of fire. Just the path of his fingertip was making you need to claw out of your own skin and he had barely touched you. It felt like he hadn’t properly touched you for weeks. “To take away all your stress and your thoughts… let you be completely relaxed?”

You were practically trembling in his touch. One hand was squeezing your waist and the other was trailing patterns over your neck and your collarbones, down to the modest neckline of your dress. You were dying. 

“I can take full control if you want me to, y/n. You just have to say the word.” He flattened his palm against your neck, making you flutter your eyes closed as he enclosed his hand around it. He applied no pressure, just a loose hold to show you what he could do to you. For you. “I can be Harry or Daddy… whatever you need. Anything you need.”

The way his mouth moved at the two clear syllables of ‘Daddy’ had you sweating. He was giving you every choice, every option so that he knew exactly what you needed and wanted. So that he could take the reigns and let you sink into your submissive bliss. 

You needed that more than anything else in the entire world.

“I…” your words faltered, even as you forced yourself to look at him. “I need you, Daddy. Please.”

Harry nodded, scanning your face once more as the side of his mouth lifted ever so slightly in the softest smile he could muster. “I love you and I’m so proud of you for everything you’re achieving, y/n. It takes a lot of strength and endurance to be as strong as you have been.” Now it was your heart that was trembling. “Now let me do it for you. You’re gonna be a good girl for me, aren’t you, darling?”

“Yes-yes, thank you.” You nodded eagerly, wanting to sink into his arms so he could take the weight off your feet for you. If he could walk for you, you would’ve let him. 

“Good. I want to take you back to Pleasing.”

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[fatcatlittlebox]

I go back to this shot so many times because I think it captures so many themes central to this show and central to Halbrand and Galadriel's relationship. It is at once intimate but also cosmically symbolic, like so many of Tolkien's themes are. It's why it recurs so often (as I have touched upon in previous metas). They are sleeping. It's a simple but powerful image. The words Galadriel says from the beginning -- Evil does not sleep. It waits— have added meaning. Here, we see "Halbrand" sleeping. We later find out that Halbrand is actually Sauron. Does that mean he was pretending here? It's a mystery but I think there are enough visual clues to support that this was real. This was Sauron’s reset to factory settings. As I have said before, his meeting on the sea with Galadriel was baptismal. He was reborn. Which echoes the foundational Tolkien belief that "nothing is evil in the beginning." Meaning that the races of Middle Earth and humanity in ours have the potential for good. And everything that happens, with the person and identity that Sauron tries to manifest as “Halbrand” from this point forward is not a lie. But an extension of this. He's sleeping. “Halbrand” is a dream. A dream that ended when evil awoke.

And as an aside it’s worth noting these lines between Arwen and Aragorn in FOTR:

Arwen: Do you remember when we first met?

Aragorn: I thought I had wandered into a dream.

Arwen: Long years have passed. You did not have the cares you carry now. Do you remember what I told you?

Aragorn: You said you’d bind yourself to me. Forsaking the immortal life of your people.

That's why the raft scene is so important. And it’s call forward to Aragorn and Arwen. Also you never see Sauron asleep again. It could be just a throwaway coincidence if not for the fact that we actually do see Sauron awake when others are sleeping, either seething in his nefarious plots or rage-brooding throughout the night.

Even though dreams are no more real than illusions, they reveal truths, not lies. Because it is the realm of the subconscious. Our true selves as we are or who we wish to be. Our unexpressed desires or the fulfillment of unrequited hopes. In this moment, emphasized by two separate visuals, both Halbrand and Galadriel are sleeping. They are not just bound by fate and the vow they enacted in the midst of the storm. They are bound in this dream.

This idea is revisited again and again in season 2. Often I'm struck by the look on Elrond's face during this exchange. It's not the look of distrust or disappointment.

In this brief instant, Elrond is moved with sorrow for his dearest friend, for her broken heart. He cares deeply for Galadriel. You can see that he feels the depth of her pain and mourning for the love that she lost. In a way, it is a prescient moment because his own future will be marred by such bitter loss and tragic love that may or may not be the fruit of this doomed pairing. Still, Elrond's words are not judgement. Just truth. Elven memories do not dim. And so Galadriel will always be haunted by it. Which is why Elrond tells her, sadly: "He never left." In that memory of a dream, Halbrand survives. His mark is there. And when Galadriel reaches for Elrond to ground herself, he only provides a comforting pat and firmly releases her hand. I think part of it is a juxtaposition to Sauron. Where in the past, she instinctually reached for Halbrand and he grasped her in return, never intending to let go. She is brought back to the moment where they were at their closest point, where everything seemed to align perfectly. A memory perhaps tinged with the temptation and regret over having not reached for Halbrand as she may have desperately desired. And you see Elrond witness it right in front of him! When Galadriel’s mind wanders into a daydream, you can see Elrond's grief. And also, I think the other part of it is the symbolic gesture underscoring that Elrond cannot pull her from this dream. He cannot liberate her. No one else can. Because he, Halbrand, never left. So Galadriel must summon strength and clarity to let him go. To walk away.

Because I think Sauron left a part of himself in this dream. If we revisit this shot where Galadriel has fallen. Seemingly "asleep" -- you see the impression of a figure next to her. As I said before, I think this is meant to suggest that not only was someone there, but that someone is still there. In the dream world or even the unseen one. In that place where elven memory does not fade with the good borne of their shared dream: hope, loyalty, bravery and love. In contrast, you see Sauron watching. Because evil is awake. And Sauron is waiting.

[starbylers]

“Stranger Things is about supernatural stuff not romance! There’s no time for Byler or any romantic drama in season 5, they have to focus on defeating Vecna! Byler makes no sense anyway because it hasn’t been built up and it’s too late to start now!”

The truth: the reason people think this is because what they’re interpreting as "romance" is the few & far between overtly romantic scenes and nothing else, as opposed to recognising the stories of the numerous different relationships on the show as being the point. This is how we can infer that Byler is the end goal. These writers don't do fluff. They build up romances by focusing on the things that actually make a relationship strong: teamwork, emotional connection, and overcoming problems. They show "romance" in every pairing effectively working together, in how much they understand each other emotionally, and in their conflicts & how they handle them. It’s not about displaying "romantic” behaviour between characters but about the narrative of the relationships; who these people are, why they are right for each other and what they go through to be together. And all of this stuff happens alongside and intertwined with the supernatural action.

Overt romance is shied away from in the characters who are in love. For example in season 1, Janc.y are basically shown as “detective partners” with a little tension & one cheek kiss at the end. In season 2 they have the same working together plot, they just also show Jon looking after Nancy when she's drunk; that one hand touch & brief sad exchange about how she didn’t wait for him after s1; and then the (offscreen) hook up after Murray grills them, that you could call overtly romantic but even then it really doesn’t take up much time and—aside from their time at Murray’s when everything between them finally pays off—is very subtle. In season 3 they’re shown waking up together to establish that they’re dating, then I believe they kiss once a little later, and the rest of the season there’s (unpleasant) tension & arguing about work before they reconcile & fight alongside each other….and at the very end they get an affectionate goodbye with one kiss. Max 3 overt moments there (and 2/3 really are moments not even scenes). Then in season 4 their entire story is about their conflict & there’s literally no “romance” outside of them telling other people in the beginning that they love each other although they’re having issues, and then their reunion at the very end after they’ve both gone through separate journeys but again…that’s is their romance. It’s not about showing them off as "being a couple" or "being in love" (even though we know they are), it’s about telling a story grounded in reality, the story of Jonathan and Nancy and their relationship. That’s how the Duffers do it.

Then there’s Joppe.r! They don’t have any “romantic” scenes until s3, and even in s3 it’s mainly about them being friends & working together, building from that same foundation from the first two seasons. The romantic implications are just more textual at that point because of the Enzo stuff & Murray clocking them, and I believe they have one more intimate scene when they’re in the Russian base at the end but the majority of their bond is built via their teamwork and general closeness. Then in s4 same as Janc.y they’re completely separate until their reunion & long earned kisses, and the "romance" is in them fighting to get back to each other & keep their promises.

Romance is very much part of the show, it’s just mostly subtextual and focused on larger arcs. And as I said: all of this stuff happens alongside and intertwined with the supernatural action. There is absolutely always time made for it and there will continue to be in season 5. People appear to see romance as some sort of separate entity to the rest of what’s going on when it’s literally just another form of character relationship and that’s like…as important to the success of the show as the supernatural. Romance is not some superfluous unserious thing it’s a legitimate part of what often brings the necessary heart & humanity to a story (along with platonic love), otherwise it would all just be mechanical and clinical with little reason to care what happens to these people. And don’t just take my word for it:

“People talk about mythology and the Upside Down, and all that is huge, but the magic of season 5 are the characters who find a sense of belonging with each other and through that connection, become heroes.” ~ Shawn Levy

I think maybe it’s also that people don’t see how plot ≠ story. Simplistically I would say plot is the action we are seeing unfold, story is what this action is telling us (story is the "show", plot is more "tell", if you will). This is precisely why I don’t care about the fact that Mike & Will don’t have textually romantic scenes, and I don't buy into what often feels to me like Bylers warping certain moments that are about building a connection/building the storyline between Mike & Will into being romantic when—although through an analytical lens you can recognise it as build up—in-universe they’re pretty much not romantic at all yet. And they don't need to be. We don't need Byler to have been "romantic" the whole time. That’s not the Duffers M.O., they like to build relationships largely on, as I've explained: friendship, being a team, intimate conversations and hints of something more until it pays off eventually (and then even when couples start dating they introduce more conflict). They seem to be of the mind that everything else is fluff and are very sparing and intentional with it. But I concede it’s not to everyone’s taste and I can see how it might lead someone to think ST doesn’t focus much on romance. (And they don’t mind you, it’s not a romance show, but it’s inaccurate imo to claim it's not given importance. It is, just in a very show-don’t-tell manner over any cutesy stuff. In fact the tipoff is they use that stuff to demonstrate to us who the unserious couples are 👀*.)

Byler have their Duffer-style build up (close friendship, teamwork, deep conversations and hints of tension), albeit less obvious/more complicated because they’re boys in the 80s and it’s meant to be a twist (and on top of that people just having a harder time seeing it due to heteronormativity). A complicated/imperfect but deep friendship, spent a season facing supernatural stuff as a pair & being there for each other emotionally, spent a season with the character-focused parts of their (California) plotline almost entirely dedicated to them having six whole different heart to hearts & emotionally supporting each other again (tied into/alongside the plot), moments of tension & feeling that anyone would recognise as potential for romance if they were straight…it’s all there. And no, it doesn't matter that Mike was caught up over El in s4 or that she was often part of their conversations. Nancy was caught up over Steve early in the show while Jonathan was there for her. The point is what these scenes show us about their relationship i.e. how much Will cares for Mike’s happiness, how he’s the only one Mike feels safe opening up to and being comforted by, and how Will makes him feel confident in himself (obviously there's much more to that storyline that points to Byler but I'm just trying to get a point across). So yeah ST has its romance, it just does it in a mostly subtle, story-focused way. And that's how we can see Byler has had build up, and why there was always going to be time for said build up to continue & culminate next season.

*Keep reading if you want to see how Mileve.n, Stanc.y & Bob/Joyce do not fit this pattern at all ⬇️

Mileve.n completely breaks these rules btw: no friendship foundation to their insta-romance, have never had a story about working as a team, have legitimately zero deep conversations after one brief exchange in s1, and there’s absolutely no subtlety with them: they constantly cling to each other & make out & go on a (very forced given the context) date & engage in showy gestures like flowers and El’s Mike shrine 😭 & have a recurrent plot point about saying ily until Mike has to give a melodramatic monologue. Same goes for Stanc.y: no friendship foundation, no teamwork, no deep talks. Just kissing/sleeping together, partying and drama about saying ily. And Bob/Joyce even though it’s a little different because they’re adults: not friends before dating, lack of teamwork because Joyce is so reluctant & refuses to fully let him in until she's forced, and a focus on couple-y stuff like making out, dates & dancing, and talk about moving in together. We know the fate of those last two couples so…

[leejenowrld]

hi im so sorry to do this u can tell me to fuck right off if u dont like but if u dont mind me asking, i just read heart to heart pt 1 and i was wondering which parts of it are from/based on the other previous stories? can i ask u to sum them up bcs i dont think i'll read the first stories but i'd just like to know the contexts before moving forward if there are anyy thank u!! sorry for bothering u!!

of course i don’t mind you asking! and i won’t tell you to “fuck right off” lmao it’s okay, i’m not rude like that and that would be a completely uncalled for reaction 😭. i get it—sometimes people just wanna jump straight to the new story, and honestly, the love & games universe is huge, so it’s a lot to tackle. but i’ll be a little bit honest: if you really want the full context, the best solution is always to actually read the previous stories (i promise, i didn’t write them for nothing 😭). there’s so much character detail, history, and emotional depth that only comes across when you experience the whole thing as it unfolds, and a summary never really hits the same.

but i can give you a rundown! i’m gonna start with summarising the two other stories and then linking it to how these stories are relevant/will become relevant to heart to heart (h2h). this ask is in two sections, you need to pay extra and close detail to the second section. h2h is the third big series in the universe, and it builds directly from back to you (bty) and love me back (lmb). all three series are set in the same world, with some overlapping characters, plots, and little easter eggs everywhere.

love me back: this one centers on mark and areum’s relationship—how they met, all the wild drama of college basketball, their strangers to lovers arc, brothers girlfriend arc, lots of angst, rivalry, friendship, and love. you get to know all the core characters, see how the group forms, and honestly, it sets up the foundation for everything that comes after. the only relevance this has to h2h is that mark and areum end up having two daughters, one of them, chaeun, will be in h2h as she’s close to haeun, she’s younger too. oh also, mark and areum’s oldest son died, and that is relevant as haeun knew and loved him and it will affect her emotionally.

back to you: the next series is all about jeno and y/n, with even higher stakes, more chaos, and a much messier, darker, sexier romance. this is where jaemin plays more of an important role, he’s a very important secondary character—he’s a bit mysterious, cold, but with a strong presence. this series really explores the group’s college years and then goes into post college, it explores trauma, death, secrets, love, sex, angst, everything. and how everyone is connected. you meet haeun and h2h! mc in this fic, you’ll understand his relationship to everyone else, and catch a ton of references that pop up again in h2h.

heart to heart: h2h picks up after the events of both stories. it centers around jaemin, sunshine (haeun), and a brand new main character (the intern you meet in the bty finale). a lot of the emotional weight and references—like who the stripper is, why certain characters behave the way they do, why jaemin is the way he is—are all directly tied to moments from lmb and bty.

this is the second section, you need to pay close attention as i go into all of the scenes that happen in bty that directly influence h2h.

• you meet him in his early 20s, jaemin is part of the basketball team during college, right in the thick of the core cast—he’s especially close with jeno, back to you! y/n, and karina (they eventually have a complicated, physical post-college thing). • his whole vibe in the earlier stories is mysterious, dark-eyed, brooding, devastatingly quiet and intense. he’s got that “says nothing, feels everything, fucks a lot” energy. during college, he definitely gets wild—parties hard, gets reckless, gets high, hooks up, but always keeps his cards (and feelings) close. • the groundwork for his entire h2h arc starts in back to you chapter eight and onwards. he goes from being background cold perfection to suddenly all eyes on him—you can literally watch the mystery start to build. • there’s a huge wedding in back to you (two main characters, iconic chapters) and jaemin attends with karina, who he’s dating at the time. plot twist—they end up having a threesome with the wedding stripper (who, it’s mentioned, looks a lotlike back to you! y/n—yes, there’s meaning behind this). • here’s the real web: jeno’s history with the stripper is there—he used to hook up with her during a rough patch with bty! y/n. at the wedding, jaemin meets the stripper through jeno (no sex at first) → meets her again at the wedding → the infamous threesome → breaks it off with karina, keeps seeing the stripper (aseul) → keeps fucking aseul → she gets pregnant → she spirals mentally, he doesn’t know she’s pregnant → h2h picks up with the aftermath, and he finds out he’s the father at the end of h2h part one. • the connection: if you’ve actually read bty, you’ve already met sunshine bubba (haeun)—and her presence is huge. i’ve written over 15k words of her with jaemin, with the whole found family, scenes of her and jaemin and other characters. these are real, canon, emotionally gutting scenes that will absolutely click with everything you read in h2h. shes introduced in bty, she’s a huge role in bty, she’s iconic. • want specifics? these are moments you shouldn’t miss:  – jaemin vanishes from the whole group (except for jeno) after becoming haeun’s father, nobody knows he’s had a baby until they all find him again (one of the best scenes in the series, makes readers sob).  – haeun at a second wedding with jaemin—peak fluff, found family vibes. she is the flower girl, and does a cute dance to a tangled song.  – there’s a devastating scene of haeun nearly dying (it hurts, but it’s stunning).  – you meet the h2h mc (intern) in the bty finale—rooftop scene with jeno, h2h mc, sunshine, and jeno’s son. this is a huge scene. she calls her ‘mama’ here. – oh and haeun is very close to jeno and bty! yn’s son too, and he’s very important in the fic. • seriously, it would be a real loss to skip these moments—there’s so much layered subtext, emotional build-up, and plot that will hit you so much harder if you read or at least locate these scenes. if you don’t want to go through the whole of bty/lmb, please let me know, send an ask, and i’ll tell you exactly where to find these scenes, or i’ll even post them for you—i don’t mind. it won’t take long. • also, this summary is barely scratching the surface. every real detail is in the fic—the writing, the heartbreak, the reveals, the connections. reading the actual stories is the only way to get the full experience, but if you need the shortcuts, i’ll help you out. just say the word!

if you really want to understand why certain scenes hit so hard or why people are obsessed with certain moments, reading the previous stories is 100% worth it. but if you don’t want to, that’s totally your choice—just know you’ll miss a lot of the subtext and slow-burn payoffs that fans scream about. so yeah, if you want a more specific summary of key scenes or want to know where a detail is from, just ask me and i’ll break it down. but seriously—give the older stories a try if you can, i promise it’s a whole world. 🫶 but yeah just ask me any questions you have, i seriously don’t mind any of them and i won’t tell you to ‘fuck off’ lol

when i first started writing h2h, i knew it would draw in a whole wave of new readers—people who hadn’t touched back to you or love me back, maybe never would, and honestly, i was ready for that. but as someone who poured their heart into those fics and watched them literally change people’s lives (not just my words—i’ve had readers send me messages about how they found hope or healing in the love and games universe, we have a whole discord community with over 80 people), i get so passionate about trying to convince everyone to give them a real shot. i know it might sound like i’m on my soapbox but it’s only because i want you to feel what hundreds of us have felt! at the same time, i’m forever grateful for h2h because it’s so much more accessible—shorter, more self-contained, a clean entry point, and easier to binge if you’re intimidated by the sprawl of the other series. so trust, i get it both ways—and if all you want is h2h, i’m still thrilled to have you here. just know there’s an entire world behind it if you ever get curious.

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

What do you think about Nathalie's original plotline of wanting to betray Gabriel after getting the Miraculous from the heroes so she can use the Wish herself in order to make Gabriel fall in love with her (according to the leaked Bible this used to be her motivation for helping Gabriel all along but it got scrapped from the show before it ever came up). Do you think this would've been a better plot for Nathalie than what we've got ?

I have extremely mixed feelings about that concept, so let's talk through them!

On the one hand, I am here for Nathalie having a motivation beyond, "I love Gabriel so much that I will do everything to make him happy, even if it means committing terrorism, supporting child abuse, and forfeiting my life!" While that kind of selfless motivation can make for an interesting character - or at least an interesting character arc - it requires a lot more character development than Nathalie was given. The way they did it in the show is just another entry in the show's troubling trend of making characters (and notably mainly female characters) do stupid stuff in the name of love.

Love making people do stupid things is a very real phenomena, so I'm not against that happening from time to time. But love can also make you do wonderful things and miraculous rarely shows us those moments. All the big, dramatic, love-based choices have been ones that lead to dire consequences and personal suffering even if the choice was framed as a loving and/or selfless act. Because of that, I'm okay with Nathalie's "sacrifice" being re-framed as a selfish act done because she thinks that she'll be able to get the miraculous and make herself healthy again.

This alternate motivation would pair well with Gabriel's motivation. I like that because they're co-conspirators, so having them share a theme of selfish love would allow for some interesting ideas. For example, what if we did something crazy and let the villains selfish love continually hurt them while the heroes' selfless love continually led to victory? I know, I'm crazy! Who would want that kind of nonsense in a show that's supposed to be all about love and friendship? (Btw, that was sarcasm)

At the same time, I'm really tired of characters being defined by their romantic interests and little else. It makes sense for Gabriel since he's our big bad who is doing everything out of love for his wife, but all of the other characters should be allowed to have more interesting, rich lives in which romance is just one of the many things that they have going on. It would make for a more interesting cast AND really highlight that Gabriel's love is unhealthy while the "true love" of our teens is healthy. A very important theme that has been painfully absent from the show even though it seemed like it was going to be a thing back in the early seasons!

Nino made movies. Marinette was super into fashion and helping her friends. Adrien liked video games and seemed to be into fencing, too. But as time has gone on, the story has become more and more focused on the romantic relationships, pushing aside plots that focus on other things and I'm not a fan.

I'm a big fan of the idea that the foundations of a good romance are a strong friendship and all members of the romantic relationship having personal lives separate from their romantic partner(s). As such, I want a show that gives friendship and romance equal billing. It can even be the friendship between the romantic leads! Episodes like Gamer and Horrificator were excellent in those regards as they allowed for some nice romantic tension while also developing the characters' interests and backstories.

In summary, if we fix canon so that the teen characters all have more healthy romantic relationships, then I'm pretty open to Nathalie keeping her original motivation as it certainly has potential. However, I'd only give it to her if Nathalie and Gabriel were going to get a lot more screen time and development as it adds a lot of complexity to their dynamic and - as I said in another recent post - you shouldn't add complexity to your story unless you're going to actually explore it.

Personally, I don't see myself ever adding this to Nathalie's character since I generally don't have much interest in developing her and Gabriel. Instead, I usually just switch Nathalie's motivation from love of Gabriel to love of Emilie and no, I don't mean romantic love. While I'm totally cool with lesbian Nathalie, I'm a massive fan of her being motivated out of platonic love simply because we don't see that often enough. It's always romance, romance, romance with a little familial love thrown in here and there for diversity and that's fine. Those are strong motivators. But platonic love can be just as powerful and Miraculous is supposed to be about romantic love AND friendship and I don't see why we need to limit the friendship angle to the teen characters. If Gabriel is our example of selfish romantic love, then let Nathalie be our example of selfish friendship.

Assuming that Emilie is some flavor of decent parent, do you really think that she's going to look at Gabriel and Nathalie's actions and be pleased by how they treated Adrien? No! She's going to be furious with both of them! Gabriel for hatching this crazy plot and Nathalie for going along with it. (Btw, this is yet another reason why I like good Emilie. Gabriel and Nathalie are so freaking selfish that I don't really see them caring if the law, the heroes, or the guardians find them guilty. They'd only care about Emilie's judgement and maybe Adrien's. I can see Gabriel going to jail unphased, but melting into a puddle when Emilie serves him with divorce papers while refusing to speak to him. I want him to get his wish - though ideally not via his own actions - but have it be a total monkey's paw!)

[chaos0pikachu]

Top is Boring & He Didn't Have to Be

tldr: I'm stanning Top outta spite b/c the show won't develop him beyond being Mew's True Love

Hear me out, I have been on the "Top's a fuckboi" train since ep01 and while I don't think that anymore I do miss when Top had a freaking personality.

There's a separate post to make about what I consider mid writing in regards to Top and Mew's romantic relationship, but I ain't getting into all~~ that in this post. The point is, during their relationship both post and pre breakup, Mew under goes change, and is the focal character in that entire story. He's an active participant in that plot and has subplots with Boston and Ray.

Top doesn't. Top exists only to be Mew's True Love at this point. He has no story outside of that. He wanted to get with Mew for selfish reasons initially, somewhere along the line fell in love (which was majority from Mew's POV), and now just wants to win Mew back.

As a character his story has become stagnant: Top starts the series pursuing Mew, post inciting incident he's still pursuing Mew. Nothing's really changed for him as a character he's doing the same shit.

What does Top want outside of being with Mew? We don't know! It doesn't matter. That's his only motivation: to win Mew back. He character begins and ends there.

He hasn't even been given a scene to like, talk about why he loves Mew so much. Or for us as an audience to understand why he loves Mew; let's look at a counterpoint: Sand & Ray.

Textually Ray has said Sand makes him incredibly happy, we've also seen them bond over common interests like music, Sand has been a foundation for Ray's rehabilitation. We've also learned things about them via them opening up to each other. Ray has opened up to Sand about his mother, Sand has talked about his father, he's shared his dream of traveling to music festivals with Ray. I have my issues with Sand and Ray as a couple, but the narrative has made clear why they like each other at least. And been sure to have them both take an active interest in the other (even if Ray was poor touring for a bit).

We've only seen one scene where we see that Mew provided Top with a sense of comfort (with his insomnia), and then like, nothing outside of that. Everything else is from Mew's pov. Their various dates have always had Mew as the focal point, and none of them had Top opening up to Mew or Mew taking an active interest in Top as a person. So we learn nothing about Top by extension. He's just The Ideal.

I originally thought this was intentional, but apparently it was not and just meant to be viewed as straightforwardly romantic. Because they broke up and we still haven't learned anything about Top outside of: he's in love with Mew, he wants to be with Mew.

Hell during their silent dance date I woulda taken Top saying he wanted to be a disco dancer but is pursuing business instead for stability like something! Top also did coke to cope but that was dropped too and even that ended up being more about Mew than Top. We don't see Top bringing up his past coke usage even as a warning for Mew, or cautionary tale, or even like "remember when you told me to stop doing coke and now you're doing coke what the fuck happened Mew??"

All the other characters at least have interests. We know Top draws, but the show hasn't even given him a like "lemme draw Mew like one of my french girls" scene. Or a scene where he like, shows Mew his drawings of his family and talks about them.

Did Top start drawing as an outlet after the fire? Does his family support his art? Does he have any interest in like, exploring art museums, does he want to open his own art exhibit, or travel to see a specific piece or work or anything??

There coulda been a parallel with Boston/Nick where Top's other boyfriends never took an active interest in his art but Mew validates it making it hurt all the more when Mew burns it in front of him later.

Other characters are allowed interests and backstory to enrich them. Nick has an interest in tech, okay now he's interning at an animation/film studio. Ray has his alcoholism recovery storyline, Sand loves music and wants to travel festivals. Boston likes photography. They've all talked about their families at some point and we've met all of their parents at this point (including Mew's even!).

Does Top have parents/guardians or was he an egg? Is he bl baby jesus?

What does Top want? Who is he as a character?

The narrative may have no empathy for Boston as a character, but at least Boston is a fully realized one. He has motivations, a home life, he has interests, he's going to New York, he's selfish, impulsive and genuinely can be a decent person. He's got relationships with various characters that aren't about his relationship with Nick, nor is that all he discusses with them.

Top talks to Cheum, well it's about Mew. Top talks with Ray, well that's also about Mew. Top talks with Boston (post breakup), yeah, that's about Mew too. Even his conversations with Boeing are about Mew. Heck his convos with Sand are about Boeing and Mew so I guess there's at least a little variety there.

I was hoping for Top and Boeing to have like, A Conversation. Clearly Top feels safe enough to rely on Boeing to help him sleep, that would require a certain level of trust right? Or does Top have a rotating list of ex's he asks for help with this? Or not? We don't know he never discusses it! What was Top and Boeing's relationship like post-breakup? Boeing seems bitter, and yet he's also helping Top out with something super personal at the same time?

Does Top have any friends? People he can open up to about, ya know, himself?

I know that people (shippers) probably would've disliked it but I think there coulda been something if Top and Boston actually became friends post-fucked-up-hook-up.

Their consent was violated after all, what if they got to, ya know, actually talk about that? What if at the party Boston and Top didn't talk about just Mew and after Boston's bitchy comments they had a real conversation? We learned something about Top and how he's feeling outside of sad-mew-dumped-him. What if he told Boston about how he can't sleep, so he's been drawing more, and Boston sees Top as like, A Person, rather than a conquest (lord knows Boston needs new friends who won't call him a whore and say he should've never been born).

Or hell Nick?? Maybe Nick could've reached out to Top and been like "sorry I recorded you having sex without your consent bro" and Top could again, talk about what happened to him and how it effected him outside of Mew?? Nick is good at making friends, he's a good listener, he's genuinely sorry about what he did so why not? Nick could've talked to Top at the party, and it would have opened up a chance to get Top's pov on what happened. Top could've made a friend!!!

But nope! Top's only motivations is just to exist for Mew and it's so frustrating. There's a lot of opportunity to explore and expand on his character and the show hasn't given it. Top went from being fun, messy, interesting, to being dull and boring and it's so sad.

Like at this point I'ma stan b/c he deserves better as a character rip

[morrch]

okay, I want to draw a ofmd based tarot deck 😳

for now, i’m only thinking about major arcana with the main plot line. the fool’s journey where stede is the fool (respectfully)

but it would be so fun to draw all 72 cards!! with all the subplots and characters

i’ve done some rough sketches for the start, i’ll continue after season two is out. idk yet if I should wait even for season three with this project (if it’ll happen lol) maybe i’ll just redraw some cards later… who knows! I think I need to draw my ideas while they’re fresh anyway lol

so about what’s going on with the cards now

THE FOOL start of stede’s journey where he’s still hopeful and a bit naive. sign of the new beginnings

THE EMPRESS represents femininity, motherhood and creation. I think mary with her art is perfect for this card

THE EMPEROR father figure, authority and structure

THE LOVERS scene from the picnic where luscious first noticed the spark. I also like how the original card has a snake as a sign of temptation and in this scene, they also eat a snake (I wasn't planning on it when started to draw I think it’s destiny)

THE HERMIT so here is the s2 izzy where I assume he’ll get so of redemption arc and will face himself on top of everything else. also, he is almost always surrounded but the candles and has a clear attraction to the flames, I wonder how it’ll affect the symbolism. anyway this card is still a speculation, this is only my gut feeling

DEATH originally this card is not necessarily dark, it is mostly about the ending of a cycle. but in this case, I thought that this particular scene defined ed’s relationship with death and the act of killing. also, it’s kinda about ending a cycle of abuse (not sure about this one)

THE DEVIL I think it’s mostly about how ed sees himself and I wanted to draw the figurines lol (idk i’m too heartbroken about my emo baby girl I can't explain my feelings aaaaaa)

THE TOWER this is where it all started for me haha. this is the card that represents the destruction of beliefs and foundations and I think the lighthouse painting is PERFECT for it. how it all shattered and stuff (screaming)

THE MOON love this one is about anxiety and betrayal and not important about seeing the danger in the wrong things. and I like that on the original card there is a wolf and a domesticated dog and they are such a good parallel to ed and steed 😖 and izzy is the crayfish sorry not sorry (more like cryfish amIright??)

[ts-wicked-wonders]

When Your Enemies Become Friends: The Art of Letting Them Align While You Keep Thriving

One of the most interesting (and sometimes amusing) things in life is watching people who dislike you suddenly become best friends—not because they genuinely like each other, but because they share a common dislike for you. It’s almost like a strange, unspoken alliance forms among those who wouldn’t have even acknowledged each other otherwise.

At first, it might sting. You might wonder why people are joining forces against you, gossiping, or moving in ways that seem designed to bring you down. But here’s the truth: their union has nothing to do with you—and everything to do with them.

Let’s talk about why this happens, why it’s not your problem, and why the best response is simply to keep being you.

1. When People Bond Over a Common Dislike

It’s a tale as old as time—people who don’t like you suddenly find kinship in their mutual negativity. Here’s why this happens:

• Misery Loves Company – People who carry bitterness or resentment often feel validated when they find someone else who shares their feelings. They bond over complaints, feeding off each other’s negativity.

• Insecurity Finds Comfort in Numbers – Some people don’t feel confident standing alone in their opinions, so they gather others to co-sign their dislike. It makes them feel stronger, even if their alliance is weak.

• You Represent What They Can’t Be – Sometimes, your confidence, success, or just the way you carry yourself is a reminder of what they lack. Rather than working on themselves, they’d rather bond over tearing you down.

• They Need a Villain – Some people simply need someone to blame for their own problems or dissatisfaction. If you don’t fit into their expectations, they turn you into the “bad guy.”

2. What Their Union Really Means

It’s easy to take it personally when you notice people rallying against you, but the reality is their behavior says more about them than it does about you.

• It’s Not About You—It’s About Them

People who align in negativity often have unresolved issues within themselves. Instead of focusing on their growth, they get comfortable in the illusion that their shared dislike makes them powerful.

• They’re Distracted While You’re Focused

While they spend their energy talking about you, thinking about you, and plotting against you, you’re over here living your life. They are focused on you while you are focused on thriving. Who really wins in that situation?

• Temporary Alliances Don’t Last

Most of these connections are built on shaky foundations. When their shared dislike is no longer enough to sustain the relationship, their true colors will show, and they’ll turn on each other.

• You’re a Powerful Presence

If people are coming together because of you—even in negativity—it’s because you hold weight. Your presence is felt. Your energy is strong. The fact that they have to align just to try to shake you says everything.

3. What’s the Best Response?

So what do you do when you notice your “haters” forming alliances? Absolutely nothing.

• Let Them Talk. Their words don’t define you. As long as you know who you are, the opinions of people who don’t even respect you are meaningless.

• Keep Winning. The best revenge is success. Keep moving forward, growing, glowing, and being exactly who you are.

• Never Drop to Their Level. Avoid engaging in drama. If they’re plotting and gossiping, let them. You have better things to do.

• Remember, They’re Not Your People. The people meant for you—your real tribe—would never need to join forces to hate on someone else.

4. Final Thoughts: Keep Being You

At the end of the day, when people who don’t like you come together, it’s because they need each other to feel strong—while you stand strong on your own.

Their alliance isn’t a reflection of your weakness; it’s a reflection of their need for validation.

So let them have their little meetings, their group chats, their whispered conversations. While they waste time forming alliances in negativity, you’re out here growing, thriving, and living your best life.

Because at the end of the day, you don’t need a team to be powerful—you just need to be yourself.

[cloudmancy]

clone wars era obi-wan voice: well killing yourself never solved anything, now did it anakin

also what do you think of au’s where someone else ended up being the one to take on anakin as a padawan? and i guess star wars canon divergence au’s in general

clone wars era anakin later finding out about the rako hardeen mission: 🧍🧍🧍🧍🧍🧍🧍🧍

I like canon divergence aus! ppl tend to like aus where qui-gon lives and becomes anakin's master as he originally planned but can I say something? that guy would've definitely fucked him up worse than obi wan 😭😭😭😭😭 I think anakin being given to a different master is interesting but realistically I can only see it working out with like... mace windu... obiwan is so lightsider I really do think mace windu could've connected with and understood anakin on a more visceral level and got him some coping strategies. anakin getting taught vaapad is so near and dear to me.

aus in general I love when people take a canon/extended universe book or event and tweak it juuuust slightly to detangle the collision course of everything that happens later... I love interesting 'what-if' plots I love minor canon events being changed just slightly in a butterfly's wingbeat sort of way I love time travel aus. star wars prequels is one of those tragedies where it's completely preventable from the outside but utterly unavoidable from the inside and that makes it really delicious to me. and because of that I will say I cannot understand when star wars fix-its have anidala happily stay together like sorry they're actively so terrible for each other 😭😭😭 get padme a divorce and custody of the kids OR talk about how absolutely miserable they'd be without The Horrors Of War! romeo and juliet was not a romance it was a tragedy... and I think that's true here as well.

this is a tangent but I'm like... genuinely really fascinated by every author's interpretations of anidala in most of the star wars books I've read. because it's some variation of 'I CAN fix him' or 'well I don't think I can fix him but I'm too invested to stop' or 'wow. he's got nobody but me :( nobody understands him but ME.' and it's all so incredibly funny to think about long term NEITHER of them have the foundations for a stable long term relationship with each other at all. padme is at her most fascinating to me when she's treating anakin sort of like a guy who finds a beautiful baby deer covered in the blood of 50 different people on the ground and takes it home and does not call a wildlife rehab center or leave it alone and then it grows up and starts killing people. but not her. so shes like ohhh this is rather worrying but he'd never hurt me and I like that (he does. lol!) it's genuinely very fascinating to me because both padme and obi wan are anakin's biggest apologists but to obi wan that's like... a puppydog he raised. he is not threatened by it and that thing is not going to bite him. for padme it's also a puppydog she raised but that puppydog was actually a wolf cub and she knows that but she's too enamoured with it to give it up and also it's too fucked up to go back into the wild now.

[lloydfrontera]

obsessed with this (and many others) story being so dead-set on two main guys and their just absurdly close relationship and then having the balls so say NO HOMO and being so scared of having an open end so it just had to follow the heteronormativity norms. im so sick and tired of it. it just cheapens the whole things. it cheapens whatever respect there was for female characters involved, which was already not a lot because well. lets be honest yeah. i just wish these stories were self-aware enough to leave the characters alone. no relationship is better than what usually happens in these stories :( that's why im so hesitant to read the novel because im not always able to ignore such stupid literary device. im ranting to your inbox because i think you'll get it and my god i was so bitter when i was spoiled about the story's ending and the violent need to have everyone married it's hhghgghhhnng

i get it yeah. i've been deep in fandom spaces for about ten years now, this is not my first rodeo, won't be my last and i'm already used to it. doesn't mean i'm not tired of it too tho kjasdasd

and yeah i agree, at this point i'm not even really asking for a ship to be canon, i truly do believe sometimes the better option is to just have an open ending and leaving things to the imagination, but the amount of times authors feel the need to shove a last minute het romance just so they can beat the queer allegations,,, is too many to count

i think what gets me with tged is that,,, you can really take away the canon romance and nothing changes. it adds nothing to the plot, it really was something bk moon added in the last chapters purely to make it canon at the end. you could erase those bits and the general plot and characterization remains the same. it is... bad writing to be honest. like. from a purely technical standpoint that's a bad relationship, that's not how you add a romance to your plot!

but! on the other hand! the fact that it can be erased that easily does make it very easy to ignore it and focus on the good parts of the plot which are truly worth everything else aksdhskaj

it's like,, the gay equivalent of that thing marvel does where it includes their 'diversity' moments in such a way that you can cut them off and the film is still perfectly watchable. here you can cut the straight bits and you still get an awesome novel with great characters and deeply moving relationships lmao

it cheapens whatever respect there was for female characters involved, which was already not a lot because well. lets be honest yeah.

and this. yeah. Yeah. i did my fair bit of ranting when the webcomic decided to make silurian javier's love interest, retroactively fridging her for his manpain and also straight up ignoring and erasing her arc in the novel about her not needing to marry to be made heir for the city. like. they just didn't mention it. at all. what the fuck.

and then there's alicia who. the more i think about her and the way her relationship with lloyd is handled the more upset i get. she was such a cool character, with her own thing going on, her own motivations, her own worries, her own deal. and then she becomes lloyd's love interest because. well, she's literally the only important enough female character who isn't related to lloyd or already married who can do it. like. that's it.

silurian gets an entire arc about why she doesn't need to marry lloyd, sherazade marries lloyd's brother, marbella is his mom, moira basically disappears after her introduction... and that's... it, i think?? who else?? emily? the mermaid queen? i for the longest time thought raphael was a girl and was sorely disappointed to find out he was not so. yeah.

then there's the "magentano carry" title effect thing going on and,,, that's a whole mess on its own. i hate it. there's literally an otherwordly power making alicia trust lloyd. let me rephrase that. they had to force the canon love interest into giving her full trust to the main character. the very foundation of their relationship is built on her being literally unable to mistrust him because there's an external force forcing down her suspicions and doubts about him.

and we have canon confirmation that if lloyd pushes hard enough when she's already paranoid because of other factors, that effect can break and all her mistrust and wariness about the potential danger he is to the crown come back with full force and she'll declare him a traitor and go to war against him. like. that's the state of their trust and relationship when the novel is 89% done. i'm not even slightly exaggerating i literally did the math.

it's. it's just bad. it's so bad. i'm. i don't know what else to say. she didn't deserve that. lloyd didn't deserve that. we certainly didn't deserve that either.

so like. after all of this it'll sound really hypocrite of me to tell you to read the novel but. i do think it's still worth it. everything i'm talking about is. such a small part of the entire novel. which is kind of the problem but also the very reason i still think it's worth reading it.

everything else makes up for it i promise akjshdjka

[neutrallyobsessed]

If you don't mind my asking, what is it about the enemies to lovers trope (Or people who barely tolerate each other, ala Ema and Klavier, becoming closer) that sets you off?

Well you see, enemies to lovers is not just a romance trope, but a supertrope composed of smaller tropes, character dynamics and such. all of them that I absolutely hate. like I can tolarate the individual tropes to an extent, depending on excecution and relevance to the plot/themes but I CANNOT and WILL NOT tolerate all those things at once!!

Because I avoid E2L as much as possible, I went places where its fans explain why they like it and as I read I was all the time like nope, I don't like this, don't like this at all so here's the list of me explaining why I don't like the tropes that compose this particular dynamic.

I hate that it's a long process slow burn. I dont have the patience, I read <5k words one shot smut fics primarily. If it's a show that ship teases protag/antag, then everything else better be fucking perfect or I'll drop it as soon as shit gets annoying. This usually doesn't happen (because I avoid shows with this trope and won't watch it if I know beforehand it'll have it), so it's just a matter of avoiding the fans which is no problem at all.

I don't like when characters that don't get along are forced to interact and it's treated as ship tease. The characters aren't having a "funny banter", they are mocking each other, at least that's how I see it. They are suffering with each others presence, they are making comments with the explicit purpose of hurting each other and I don't enjoy that.

Whatever romance "blooms" out of it just feels out of character, like the plot is forcing them togheter and it doesn't feel natural. Yes, even if it is well written and was meant to end like that since the thought appeared in the authors mind. You've presented them to me as enemies, nothing will change my mind.

I've read something about the sexual tension and it severely squicked me out. Sexual tension between characters that like each other? Beautiful, perfect, immaculate, my eyes and tits are paying attention. Sexual tension between characters that don't like each other? No, gross, ughhh, disgraceful, disgusting, despicable, I cover my eyes and my chest is now concave.

I hate character development and changing sides. I hate realizing of mistakes and humbling arrogants so much. but there is nothing that I despise the most than redemption arcs. No becoming good, only becoming bad here!!

Like I said, I can tolerate any of the previous points in small doses, if it's good for the plot and if it's not romance. Enemies to Lovers is all 5 points at once and meant to be romance.

I've read that see us at our worst and fall in love anyway phrase so much and it's always so funny. That's a FRIEND. a FRIEND will see you at your worst and love you anyway because that's what FRIENDS do. Nothing more frustrating than an enemy who doesn't take advantage of the protag's dire situation, yeah yeah something about honor, whatever, it's still frustrating as fuck yo!!!

I agree that love and hate are two sides of the same coin but guess what smartass, two sides of the same coin can never see each other. Love can be about protecting each other's back but it's also about meeting face to face and that can't happen between two sides of a same coin. Draw lines in front of the faces and keep them going, you'll never see them cross paths or becoming one. Good analogy for the Enemies to Lover appeal, good analogy for me to explain why I don't find it appealling

But what I truly dislike the most, what always drives me away from this trope is its past. When they finally become lovers, they'll look back to where it all began and they'll find nothing but fights, conflict, bickering, getting on each other's nerves, wishing them the worse... the very base of the relationship is hate, and no matter how good the rest of the foundations are, it will never erase that it all started with hate. Sooner or later the difference that kept them apart will rear their ugly heads again to create conflict and chaos. If they hated each other once, it'll happen again.

And I don't like break-ups either. If I wanna see incompatible people get togheter to waste their time with the wrong person and have the relationship crash and burn then I'll just go experience Real Life. My Imagination can cover my desire for characters perfect for each other getting and being togheter forever.

Yeah yeah, in the world of fiction one can also make an E2L that ends all cute and fluffy and conflict-less but refer above about the unplausibility of it all, that it doesn't change that it all started with hate, my anal attitude about canon compliancy and that if, let's say, Ema finds Klavier's personality annoying I'm not going to fucking change Klavier's personality to fit Ema or viceversa, I'll ship him Trucy instead, who doesn't find his personality annoying but charming and attractive! Because it makes fucking sense

There are very few things that can break my suspension of disbilief. The people who barely tolerate each other becoming closer thing is definitely one of them. I just cannot find any sense on the Whys or Hows would that happen :///

I get that the F2L pining can be grating but at least they enjoy each other's company, whatever they find annoying they either solve it or don't actually find it annoying at all, and it's all nice and chill, which is what I prefer. You know what's fucking grating?? Spending time with a person you don't like and/or find annoying goddammit

Now if you read all of this and thought something along the lines of "but that's what makes it good!" to that I say, yes but not exactly, because yes, those can be the elements that make a GOOD E2L, but it's not what it makes it a good trope in general, it's neutral, it makes it good TO YOU who likes it but NOT TO ME who doesn't like it! None of these tropes appeal to me, I will not argue further, do not interact to change my mind, you won't, let this be a safe space for E2L bashing and F2L praising...

Welp, that was upsetting to think about, time to think of a boy friend and a girl friend becoming boyfriend and girlfriend to be less upset

[sexybabystevie]

I agree with what you said about b/lers viewing the Duffers as their friends and allys and therefore watch the view in a different lense and make it out to be this carefully thought out masterpiece that it simply isn't. Like they forget Stranger Things was supposed to be only one season, b/ler wasn't a thing. Yeah, they queercoded Will but not with the intention to have him pine over his best friend. Plus, like you said, Will is more of a plot point than a real character, esp in s1. In s2, he also wasn't much of a character he was again a plot point, and we never saw his real personality on screen. In s3, he was almost nonexistent, and that's sad, but I genuinely don't think the Duffers know how to write him. So his stans have to rely on the crumbs they are given and then delude themselves into thinking this is all part of a big love story bc that's easier to admit than the show being not that great and Will being a flat character.

Similar with Steve, we also only get crumbs and make the best out of but we can see the Duffers as our enemy because we have no problem to admit that they are shitty writers when it comes to characters. Like we never delude ourselves into thinking he is the main character and the Duffers know what to do with him and the lack of information is this big twist we will get paid off in the last season. I don't think he will die, narratively, it doesn't make sense, especially with Dustin involved (who is arguable one of their faves) so I'm thinking we get a shitty end for him (aka St/ncy). Like I still have hope for Stobin best friend shenanigans in the big city after s5, but it's only slim. I don't trust the Duffers that much, and like you said, b/lers whorshipping them is setting them up for failure if their "clues" turn out to be false.

For b/ler to happen, m/leven had to break up for sure in s4. Like Mike's monolog is a pivotal point in s4. And even if b/lers say he was lying, well that makes it everything worse, because El thinks he loves her. M/leven breakup has to be handled with care in order for b/ler to start.

I hate when ppl say st/ncy = m/leven and j/ncy = b/ler, and they view this as something great. Objectively speaking, the st/ncy breakup was so messy and unfair to Steve that I don't get why people want El to go through the same thing. Because the foundation of j/ncy was cheating and not them being a cute sweet couple, star-crossed lovers style. Every time people joke about the Wheelers not saying I love you to their respective partners bc they fancy someone else I want to puke because it's not a cute parallel and the other person in that relationship is lied to which is horrible. Plus, it already makes b/ler about 3 completely different characters that have nothing to do with it. There should not even be the want to compare relationships because everyone is different. And I need people to realize j/ncy getting together was done in such a disastrous way you don't want that for your couple.

Sidenote people who get mad at Steve stans for giving him trust and abandonment issues after Nancy are not getting the severity of what emotionally cheating does to a person. Steve wasn't aware of problems, Nancy told him she loved him a day prior, and then it all came crashing down. Plus him not committing to anyone because he is scarred from that experience is valid and it's an explanation for his behavior in s4. It doesn't make Nancy a bad person, but her actions hurt him, and he should be allowed to feel that way, especially if she was his first love. If El went through that with Mike, I also think she would develop trust issues (on top of her already abandonment issues).

Anyway, I think b/lers are in this secluded bubble, and if things don't go exactly their way, it will break them, and I'm actually scared. Like even in s4, I had witnessed complete meltdowns over b/ler, and I need everyone to chill bc we talk about two 14 year old kids. Especially when older people (mid twenties and up) are overly involved in shipping children, I get this weird feeling. There's nothing against ppl going into fan spaces, but it's weird obsessing over the love life of two children in such an intense cult-like way.

response under the cut again! <3

yeah, i honestly don't even know where this entire narrative about stranger things being a secret love story started, because the primary theme has always been friendship and the power that people have when they come together platonically. it's bizarre to me too, because i've been in this fandom for years (not always on tumblr, some on instagram or whatever) and b/ler just kind of massively grew up out of nowhere. i'd seen maybe one or two people before talking about it during previous seasons, but there was just this huge uprising of the b/ler community after s4 (which sort of makes sense but is still a little odd to me that they came up out of nowhere? i also don't remember previous b/lers being this exhausting to deal with). anyway, yeah, it all pretty much comes down to the fact that they all believe that the duffers have been hinting at this for years (which, hindsight vision is 20/20 so that's not really a valid point tbh) and fully believe that they're getting this picture perfect endgame.

honestly, i think another thing people are neglecting to think about is all of the stuff that we have to wrap up in 8-9 episodes. there is SO much going on now in this show that plot holes are pretty much guaranteed, not even considering the possibility of b/ler becoming canon. i'm honestly not really sure what they think is going to happen - the show will just take an entire shift into being solely about mike and will JUST to resolve the possibility of b/ler happening? i'm not even trying to be bitchy and put these people down or something, it's just crazy that people think that the show will take this massive shift in direction or that they'll just add in a whole new plotline when we probably won't even have enough time to satisfyingly and properly wrap up everything else.

also, there are so many characters that i think the duffers just don't know how to write or what to do with now. jonathan, will, erica, probably dmitri and murray now that they've basically joined the giant cast. and the sad thing is that fans come up with plotlines and stuff all the time for their fics or just for silly posts online, but the duffers just seem not to know what to do with most of their characters ever. (cough cough st/ncy s4 revival for NO reason).

the setup for b/ler just ISN'T there, like you said. yes, there are a few cracks in the foundation of m/leven's relationship, honestly, but that's not enough to wrap everything up and end AND start a whole new relationship in 8-9 episodes. whether b/lers want to realize it or not, b/ler is NOT the main plotline. defeating the upside down and vecna is. those are just obvious facts, and therefore this is the priority when it comes to things that have to be addressed and finished by the ending. maybe, if we have two more seasons to go instead of one, or if this was a show with 22-26 episodes per season, i could see where s4 was the setup, but it just isn't. we don't have the time to focus on it.

mike's monologue may have been a lie, who knows, but again, like you said, this is just... bad??? like why would you want that. there are already parallels between the whole st/ancy = m/leven thing at this point, but that was so messy and it's still not resolved to this day, and that was from s1!! again, we don't have the time to reenact all of st/ncy's breakup with m/leven because it was a disaster. and also no one ever knows how to hold fair accountability over people, so i'm 100% certain that that happening would lead into people shitting on el even more than they do already and blaming her for everything.

also a small point that's been in the back of my mind lately that i want to point out, as a queer woman myself, is that this ship would not be so popular if it was two girls/women instead of two boys/men (speaking in terms of actor ages since they're adults now). it's a thing that happens where everyone LOVES mlm rep and shits on anything wlw because theres always some bullshit reason to hate seeing a wlw relationship portrayed in the media. i know this isn't a primary issue but it still upsets me so much because it's so obvious, just from the treatment of robin and her literal canonical love interest vickie!! there's some fucked up misogyny in all of this, and also in the way that everyone will throw el to the side, putting this idea onto her that she either doesn't like guys so she can't possibly like mike or that she just is basically "too traumatized to know what love is" and i'm so tired of it. i'm SO tired of it.

back to the st/ncy = m/leven thing, i REALLY appreciate you pointing this out, "Every time people joke about the Wheelers not saying I love you to their respective partners bc they fancy someone else I want to puke because it's not a cute parallel and the other person in that relationship is lied to which is horrible." because that's exactly how i feel. it's not cute or funny, it's immature and deceitful. and yes, they're all children/barely adults at this point, but still. it's not some parallel that you should be happy about. i've been in that situation, i've been the steve harrington of the st/ncy & j/ncy love triangle, it's not fun. it hurts, someone is quite literally saying they don't love you (or perhaps worse when they CAN'T say they love you because they don't) and it's traumatic and everyone yet again ignores that.

j/ncy's getting together WAS chaotic and messy and honestly i'm not even surprised that they're falling apart in canon right now because you can't start out like that and then expect a good, happy, fairytale ending. it just doesn't work that way. everyone's mad about them having issues and raged about them being "couples goals" and the "best ship of the show", whatever, but honestly it was quite literally just someone cheating and lying to try and escape a relationship she didn't want instead of having proper communication. and i get it, it's hard to do that, but the show and the fandom never hold nancy accountable and always blame steve for everything, so i'm honestly annoyed with it. seeing all this mess, how could you possibly want that for your ship?

LOVE your steve sidenote there, because you're so right. everyone ignores the fact that steve has trauma, both from nancy and the upside down (seriously, how can we agree that EVERYONE ELSE except him has UD related trauma but he doesn't?? i don't get it). and i get it to an extent because the duffers ignore it just as much, but still. for some reason steve fans adding onto his character with realistic things is just a horrible thing to do, despite the fact that will fans have to do this as well and it's fine when they do it. i don't know how any of the st/ncy fallout was 100% steve's fault, and i will defend it until the very day that i die, honestly. the show has a narrative, and then it was to equate being popular and being a jock to being a villain, so they tried to make the audience take nancy's side and sympathize with her. which, again, is fine, but don't go and attack other people for wanting to see from multiple perspectives here.

i quite literally saw a post the other day that was like "the people who go and add all this stuff to steve's character are so annoying because none of that would happen in the show." well sweetheart, it's not happening in the show because the duffers don't care and also don't know what the hell they're doing lol.

"Plus him not committing to anyone because he is scarred from that experience is valid and it's an explanation for his behavior in s4." THIS. why are we all just glossing over this??? the pining after nancy again for old time's sake, the serial dating that never develops anything intimate - some people for some reason think it's just "proof" that he truly wants/belongs with nancy, but no! it's literally him being afraid to commit to anyone again, and honestly i don't blame him. and like you said, it doesn't make nancy a bad person, but honestly i just wish canon would at least have them talk about it so he can have actual closure or something for once. that's the best ending for him i can think of - st/ncy closure and stobin platonic besties forever.

absolutely agree with getting the weird feeling about shipping two children. it gives me an odd feeling too, honestly. which, i'm not taking it too seriously, it's just a little weird. other than that, they definitely are in their own little bubble of delusion and when that bubble inevitably pops, i'm not even sure what to expect, because it is a little scary. they attack anyone who disagrees and are genuinely so rude for no real reason, so who knows what they're gonna do when they realize that they don't get this happy ending that they've manufactured? honestly this is just another solid reason that i'm glad it'll take a while for s5 to come out.

[apnalandevelopers]

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[legalandnotease]

When I was talking about trauma bonding and codependency, this was in regards to an earlier part of this conversation when I stated the “found family” does not have a good foundation to start with because the TBs have not bonded on anything more than shared trauma so far but that doesn’t mean it can’t improve.

Just going to stop you right there...

I literally gave you the definition of codependency in my second screenshot. I will do so again:

Codependency is a theory that attempts to explain imbalanced relationships where one person enables another person's self-destructive behavior.

So Bucky is "enabling the self destrutive behavior" of his team mates?

He's allowing Bob to keep taking Meth, ignoring Yelena's suicidal tendencies, etc etc.

Really? You got evidence for that?

both of these posters to actually look more into what trauma bonding and codependency can look like in a friendship group because you guys do not know enough.

Well, in a broader sense it involves:

a dysfunctional relationship dynamic where one person assumes the role of “the giver,” sacrificing their own needs and well-being for the sake of the other, “the taker.

What that looks like in a friendship.... is Bucky and Sam

Bucky is consistently expected to put his own needs and wellbeing aside to "be there" for Sam. Including his liberty, personal safety, mental heath, and later his political career.

He literally got arrested because he was helping Sam find out where the serum came from. He risked his pardon to help Sam do that as well. And his life defending him from the Flag Smashers attacks several times over.

Sam never recriprocated, or even said thanks.

Man, what a way to pander to Sam fans bringing in a non plot related character that to show Sam support and highlight a bond.

Yeah, this is exactly that I said. Bucky is expected to drop everything to support Sam- but Sam is not expected to do the same for Bucky when *he* is in need. Which he was for the entirety of Falcon and the Winter Soldier.

Its one-sided and smacks of codependency.

sed on the movie, what else indicates the TBs like each other because they were arguing back and forth until that hug.

Sam and Bucky spend most of the first several episodes of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier fighting. In fact, they are shown bickering far more than the Thunderbolts are. Sam makes far more insulting remarks about Bucky than the Thunderbolts do each other.

Sam even explicitly states he never wants to see Bucky again at one point--- and yet you ignore this to say they are best buddies.

Yeah... erm. Great double standards there I guess.

If the advice was the same as Dr Raynor, why didn’t the same people talk about that as a negative.

Kid, I don't know one single person who thinks Raynor's advice was good. I can show you post after post detailing how she's a terrible therapist and her advice is terrible, so you can cut the "you don't think she's bad because you're racist!" bullcrap. Everyone thinks she's bad.

If Sam's advice is identical to hers, which it is, its also bad. Bad advice doesn't suddenly become good because a different person says it.

Staying on a team because you feel like you CONTRIBUTE to the team is not the same as staying on the team because Bucky connected to the people and care for them.

Sure, sure, there's absolutely no indication Bucky cares for any of his team-mates whatsoever.

That's why he:

Holds Alexei back when he was going to run after Yelena as she walked into the Void and what they thought to be certain death.

That's why he goes into The Void himself to find Yelena despite not not knowing what will happen or if he'll survive.

Defends Bob and encourages the other team members to help him.

That's also why he lets Bob stay with them, doesn't reveal his identity or make him use his super powers.

“But he called him the winter soldier” Sam also called Bucky “Buck” and the first time, Bucky was quick to tell him nt to call him that. Sam called Bucky “Buck” in the cameo and no pushback. Calling him Buck was on purpose to show how their relationship grew.

Thanks for outing yourself as one of those people who thinks that because a person doesn't instantly take issue at someone insulting them, it means they're fine with it.

Bucky not calling out Sam for calling him Winter Soldier does not mean he's fine with it. Any more than he's fine with Sam mocking his disability or calling him freak.

What the initial complaint was the fans saying Bucky “finally” found people he connected with as if he wasn’t able to do that before.

A friend is someone you connect with. So, by your own admission Sam Stans have been complaining because Bucky connected with someone who wasn't Sam.

Ergo, it is him having other friends that's the issue. Him forming emotional connections with people who aren't Sam. (Not that he really had much in the way of connection with Sam to begin with except that they had a friend in common. Steve)

A genuine friend would not take issue with their friend associating with, working with, or forming bonds with others. Unless the person you were forming a bond with was hurting you in some way.

The only person who takes issue with that is an abuser or an abuse apologist. Thanks for outing yourself as one.

Again.

Sam Stans just can't stop with the self owns. This one @crookedchopshopkingdom-blog tried telling me the Bucky's Thunderbolts relationship with the Thunderbolts is based on "trauma bonding".

They tried to tell an actual real living abuse survivor what trauma bonding is- and got it spectacularly wrong. They tried to say Bucky identifying with other abused and traumatised people and wanting to help them is "trauma bonding"

Trauma bonding actually refers to the relationship between a victim and abuser based on a cyclical pattern of abuse and positive reinforcement.

Bucky isn't abusing the Thunderbolts. Nor they him. It's not a trauma bond. Nor is it codependent.

Sam Stans are literally just so desperate to justify thier toxic ship and deflect attention away from the mass temper tantrum over Bucky getting his own team that they're looking for any excuse to present the team's relationship as negative.

This is literally the kind of thing my abuser did. Saying my friendships were bad for me so she could keep me socially isolated and dependent on her. It's literally what they're saying to justify thier abusive, narcissitic and possessive conception of Sam. In which Bucky isn't allowed to "stray" or have any other friendships.

It's sad. It's projection. It's insane.

Also go see Thunderbolts if you haven't already. If you have go see it again with a friend. Sam Stans are crowing about it being a flop and their favorite toxic ship winning.

[uterialmotive-blog]

Book review: Three's A Crowd

TITLE: Three's A Crowd

AUTHOR: Christy McKellen

SUMMARY:

Right guy, wrong time... Daisy’s perfectly content with her life. She’s got a job she likes, a nice enough flat, and in a relationship with childhood best friend Adam. She’s got used to the lack of fireworks – after all, you can’t put a price on friendship being the foundation of everything. But they say you never forget your first, and Daisy has never forgotten how she felt that one summer with Zach - one electrifying, yet slightly embarrassing fumble in the dark. The catch? Zach was also her and Adam's best friend growing up. Now he’s back, after making his fame in Hollywood, and he has the same to-die for smile and cheeky glint in his eye… but Daisy has made her choice and it’s Adam – right? Can Daisy follow her heart without anybody else’s hearts getting broken in the process?

REVIEW:

I really wanted to love this book but unfortunately I only seemed to come away with one main thought from this book - Adam deserved better. Admittedly, I could see the attraction to Zach but, by the time the main plot of this book was underway, they hadn't seen eachother for years and Daisy had been with Adam for several years too. When they did all meet again, Zach was actually lind of a dick for most of it. Poor Adam, basically. I'm not really sure how I felt about Daisy either. She liked Zach as a teen, kissed Adam, slept with Zach and then agreed to a date with Adam, ending up dating him for years, even though she often thought about Zach. She supposedly loved Zach the entire time but continued in her relationshop with Adam. It was difficult to tell how far apart things were supposed to be but I couldn't understand why she was choosing Zach over Adam when Zach was acting like a dick and it was obvious to literally ANYONE that Adam was acting the way he was because he had realised that there was something happening between Zach and Daisy. Poor Adam deserved better. Anyway, at the end of it all, after the drama of Adam revealing that he knew, cheating on Daisy because he was trying to move on whilst knowing she was in love with their best friend and Zach and Daisy actually ending up together, it struck me as massively unrealistic that Adam forgave them both and they all remained friends. They put that guy through so much and then he just was like yeah, OK, you guys love eachother, that's OK. NO. Zach and Daisy are shitty people and even worse friends. Adam. Deserved. Better. Tropes: - Love triangle - Childhood sweethearts - Best friends to enemies to lovers

TWO STARS.