#never been one to support age gaps but i feel with both potential couples their situations can grant them the right to be exceptions

[the-siren-queens-lover]

Remembered that Renee turned 24 in September in Neil's first year. I have never seen any hate towards her for her age gap with Jean (5 yrs) Especially with us finding out Jean's age in tsc this year.

Hmmm same age gap with Kevin and Thea

Don't feel like starting fights over my girl Thea again but I wanted to point this out anyway

[igotanidea]

More than blood: batboys x bat!sister

Dick was not the first one who was adopted by Bruce.

Y/N was.

And if you talk about the eldest daughter complex she was the perfect example of it.

Y/N was so much like her adoptive father. Quiet, observant, seemingly emotionally cold yet charming and enticing when circumstances called for it. Smart like hell. She knew exactly how to take care of herself, and yet, Bruce being himself was always hesitant to let her out into the streets of Gotham at night. But she fought for it. Hard. She had no natural talent for fight, but she was fast, flexible and imperceptible in the shadows. Slowly, but steadfastly she gathered enough strength and skills to become the very first Batman’s sidekick. She was not a fan of a traditional way of training. Boxing, weight lifting and throwing punches wasn’t exactly her style, but she was extremely good with skates and rollerblades and all the moves that involved a bit of dance-like moves. So that was how Bruce trained her. Three-turns, brackets and rockers just came naturally to her, both on ice on the ground and she was soon the best of the best. When she was ready to come on patrol,  Bruce created the most cliche name for her.

Batgirl.

Which she instantly refused, instead choosing to go by the name of Cover. After all, that was what she was doing. Covering.

At first, it was only Bruce and Alfred she was taking care of.  Never pushing anything but always finding a way to make sure they did the right thing. Listening carefully to their every word, getting her head around any possible situation and just being there when they needed her. She was not a people pleaser and definitely wasn’t going out of her own way for them (and that was the hot spot between her and Bruce), but in times of need and crisis she was the best possible support. Unwavering. Strong. Persistent.

And then, Dick came in. Of course, having younger brother (even if there was barely half a year age gap) put a lot more pressure on her shoulder. So she did her best to connect with him. It was hard, no denying. Dick has just lost his parents and he was harsh and murky and  a bit unpredictable. But she did not give up making sure he will finally warm up to her. And maybe Bruce.

“What are you doing?” one day, after particularly rough training with Bruce he came across her while she was working out

“Oh, you know. I was never good with all those flips” she lowly lifted herself from the floor, rubbing sweat from her forehead, her hair being a total mess. “Bruce insisted I learned some, but I was always better with my speed, skate figures and fast-thinking than actual acrobatics. However” she raised an eyebrow at the boy “I heard you are the master in the field. Care to show me a few tricks? Unless you prefer to sulk in the corner….” She smirked

And so they connected. Creating a lot of inside jokes during the year, being the support for each other. Of course, as older sister Y/N had no problem in literally smacking his head when he did something stupid and as younger brother he had no inhibitions in scaring her potential boyfriends away, but yes, they were close.

And then, Jason came in. The rowdy kid from the Crime Alley and she had to figure out another way to reach him. It didn’t take a lot of time to notice he was interested in literature, so she started leaving books around in the manor. Mostly classics, like Jane Austen and Shakespeare, but from time to time she risked more modern writers. He always took them from the place they were and returned a couple days later. He was a fast reader. One night, when he returned from patrol, all fuming and on the verge of breaking, he noticed a light coming out of her room and due to some crazy feelings took a few steps towards there.

“Hello, Jason” he might have been quiet, but she was the first trained by Bruce, so the poor boy has no chance not to be noticed.  She turned in her chair and smiled lightly “It’s good to see you.  So it happens I got tickets for a midsummer night’s dream. Two tickets. Would you maybe ….”

“Yes. Yes, please, take me with you.” his eyes was glistening with so much hope she would choose him, it made her want to cry and laugh at the same time. Pushing aside the urge to hug Jason (it was too early for that and he would not appreciate) she just nodded. And there was the connection.

And then, there was Tim. The Brainiac. Coffee addict. Sleep deprived. Constantly working, cracking cases. And being quite successful at it, even if sometimes he took the long road instead of connecting the dots to create the shortcuts.

“How’s the case going?” she asked at breakfast one time, noticing Tim’s tired eyes and disheveled hair. He wasn’t sleeping well that night, but what’s new.

“It’s not.” he groaned pecking at his food not really eating any of it “and stop making fun out of me because of it!”

“Fun?” she almost choked on her toast “Really, Tim? I’m not happy at all that you are missing the most obvious piece of the puzzle.”

“The most ob….? You were compromising my work?!”

“I was …. Checking your work” now, she had to be extremely careful with words “And what I found out is that you definitely have a criminal mind. But” she raised a hand stopping him before he could say a thing “you are also awfully messy, Tim. You splattered some coffee on the sheets and blurred the numbers. And that is why you couldn’t reach the conclusion.”

“I…. What!?”

“Hate to break it to you, champ.” She shrugged taking a sip of her own coffee “but apart from that, you did a really good job with the task.”

And with a couple more cases like this they got into real sibling relationship.

Damian was the hardest one. Trained by the assassin, treated like a threat and a menace, far more tough than Jason, cruel and with no moral compass. Not by his fault. He was the one who needed some soft care most of them all, but would never accept. So there were two options, get to him with fighting skills or by using his art adoration. She couldn’t just leave art supplies for him like she did with Jason and books, but she got one more idea, which required a bit of Alfred’s help.

‘Rough night miss y/n?” the butler asked when the girl emerged from the batcave, covered in bandages and patches.

“You have no idea, Alfred” she yawned “At first B had me running around the streets creating some sort of diversion for him, since none of the Robins where available “ a quick glance towards her three brothers “and when I got back I got lost into my latest painting…..” she trailed waiting for Damian’s reaction. Seemingly nothing has changed, but she looked carefully enough to notice his eyebrows lifting slightly and his body shift towards her to hear better. Gotcha!

“The castle?” Alfred asked, curiosity in his voice

“Yes. I’m almost finished  and I think I will need some help in hanging it in the living room soon. Will you be so kind with it Alfred?”

“Of course, miss Y/N.”

A couple days later, the painting did hang on the wall and some Sunday afternoon she found Damian standing in front of it and looking it up and down.

“I could have used a bit more blue on the edges.” She said stopping by his right side.

“Not just blue.” He retorted

“Nighttime blue?” she asked

“Nighttime blue” he said at the same time and their gazes met.  She tilted her head slightly while Damian’s face showed a bit of surprise. He was so young and so wrongly treated it was almost unfair.

“I know, but it’s too close to the color of Dick’s suit. He would never let me live it through.” She let out a laugh and Damian smirked.

“I got an idea of how we can improve your next painting if you ever were to create another.”

“Oh, you think you are better than me in the art field?” she gasped grabbing her heart in fake hurt

“I know I am.”

“Wanna bet?”

And so he warmed up to her as well. It seemed like all of the batboys were prone to her silent charm. But obviously there were times when she had bad days. Being the one with the longest training, seeing most of the violent things and crimes and living thought her own tragic events sometimes, in the times of greatest stress she was just becoming completely silent. Not able to say a word, getting through the days like a ghost, wanting to disappear, getting lost inside her own head. Usually, it lasted up to four or five days, and it was normal. Just a sign for Bruce to put her off the patrol so she can get through whatever was going on inside her head. He wasn’t the one to actually talk a lot about feelings and emotions, but even Batman had to be alerted after two weeks of radio silence on her part.

From the little intel he had on her since she left the manor he learned that for the last days she wasn’t eating properly, struggling with her work, looking tired and worn out even though she was sleeping a lot. Something was off and the only people who could actually be of help would be her brothers.  Dick was in Bludhaven, Jason was running around the Crime Alley, Tim was busy with work for Wayne Enterprises and Damian, well…there was no way of figuring out what he was up to. Bruce groaned not really sure how to call the boys for rescue but it was about Y/N so he just used the unofficial channel and simply called all of them. He did not expect that they would gang up and show at the manor at the exact same time. Those stone walls haven’t; heard that much of a banter and silly fights for a while and despite everything, deep, deep inside Bruce was glad they came.

“Let’s be clear. I’m here only because of Y/n.” Jason stated bluntly “nothing more”

“thank god, I thought Red Hood was getting soft” Dick punched his arm playfully and was surprised with how hard his little brother’s muscle were.

“If you want me to show you…..”

“Where exactly is Y/N?” Tim interrupted his brothers fight, focusing on the most important matter

“And where are her paintings?” Damian frowned looking around.

“She moved out some time ago and took her works with her.” Bruce hissed. It was somewhat …. painful to admit that she left.

“Where?” Jason hissed

None of them cared that it was the middle of the day and their sister was probably at work. They had their own methods of getting inside the building unnoticed and years of training came extremely useful in that case.

Poor Y/N. Work was hard, as usual during the last couple days, she was tired and sad and dealing with a lot of thoughts. Even her usual way of blowing steam off while skating or rollerblading wasn’t helping.  She might have left her vigilante persona behind, but old habits die hard and when she climbed up the step to her apartment she could not fail to notice shadows on the floor and almost inaudible voices coming from the inside. Her instincts immediately kicked in when she put the bag down, bracing herself and busted through the door. Her first, perfectly aimed punch met with Tim’s stomach and the half-turn kick got Damian falling onto the ground. It took both Dick and Jason to stop her from making any more damage.

“Calm down Y/N! It’s just us” Jason calmed her down smirking, surprised with her skills that wasn’t gone.

“Will you behave?” Dick added making sure she wasn’t going to attack them again and only then letting her go

“What the hell?!” she hissed getting free of her brother’s grip “what are you four doing here?!”

“since when do you know how to punch?” Tim groaned “I thought that wasn’t your style?”

“I expanded my skill set. Out of everyone here you should be the one to appreciate it, Tim.”

“I would esteem it better if it wasn’t aimed at me.”

“Right. Sorry. But the question remains. What the hell are you doing here?! You know, I;m used to one Robin, or former Robin, come around from time to time, but this?”

“Father called upon us. He was worried something was off with you.” Damian spat getting off the floor, embarrassment visible on his face.

“Bruce was worried?” she laughed ironically “Right. Sure. He was the reason I left the manor. Should have taken example from you Dick and run the hell away ten years ago.”

“It was five….” Dick tried to chime in but she did not let him

“And now he’s so worried he won’t even visit me by himself. Instead he just send a rescue party?” she turned around and  slumped on the couch

“Y/N…..” Jason tried to reason with her “come on, tell your favorite brother what happened”

“For once I agree with Todd. Tell your favorite brother what is wrong. I mean, me, of course in case someone does not get the clue” Damian hissed taking a spot next to Y/N before anyone else could do it.

“Cut it guys, everyone knows I’m her favorite. I know her the longest of us all and I know everything about her.” Dick objected, crossing his arms with a wide smile, being so sure no one could threaten his position

“Everything?” Tim scoffed “You have no idea about half of the things she likes. I learned them. By myself.”

“Yeah, by spying on her. You call that a good relationship?”

“I do not spy!”

“Cut it, replacement. We all know the most bonding thing are inside jokes. And we have plenty since we read the same books. You wouldn’t even get half of our quotes!”

“Let me get my gear and I’ll show you how half of a quote look like. Art is what connects people and you all are just nonentity in that area. Not like me. Besides, I was training with her the most, so…..” Damian interrupted and at this moment all four boys were just shouting at each other while their sister was sitting on the sofa watching the scene in front of her eyes without any word.

“Get out.” She finally said. Quietly, but they heard her and stopped immediately “All of you. Get out. Now. “

“Y/n….” Dick was first to notice his sister’s pale skin and shaking hands “Please….”

“No.” she shook her head “I;ve had enough. This is exactly why I was always making sure you won’t show up at my place at once. You just can’t seem to fight who’s better or stronger or smarter or more skilled. It’s been like that all our time together. You just try so hard to outdo one another. “

“Well, I mean, she’s not wrong” Jason smirked running a hand through his hair and was instantly met with four pairs of reproachfully eyes “sorry….”

“Is that what bothers you?” Tim asked silently bending down to look into her eyes.

“What? No. Hell no. Why do you think something bothers me?” she stood up abruptly heading to the kitchen to grab herself a glass of water. Shit, Tim was always the one to crack her faster than others.

“You have cuts on your forearms.” Red Robin pointed and she tried to cover them quickly

“And a bruise on the neck.” Damian added following her

“Those kind of traces that does not come from skating.” Jason poked at her skates thrown on the floor in the corridor

“And that means you….I mean, Cover, has been active again.” Dick finalized. “Why?”

“Oh, come in….” she was getting more and more nervous with every minute “is this an interrogation now?”

“No. This are four brothers concerned about their sister well-being.  Does that sound better.”

“Vaguely.”

“Why did you put on the suit again?”

“Because I wasn’t feeling enough!” she spat and immediately covered her mouth to stop the sob coming next

“What?!” Jason hissed and grabbed her hand which made her flinch “oh, so you hurt your hands as well.  Not so much about expanding your skills in punching, hm?”

“Shut up.” She hissed back at him, sticking her tongue out

“That’s a very mature behavior for the oldest one” Damian pointed “but Grayson’s question is still on. Why did you pick up the mantle again? You said you were done?”

“I was. Until one night I heard the weeps and screams of my neighbor being beaten by her boyfriend.”

“Y/N….”

“And the other time, when I heard on the news how Nightwing got beaten while protecting people who were trapped in the fire….”

“I did not…..”

“Oh, and that one time when some little bird brought the news about Red Hood getting in trouble in the Crime Alley and almost dying? Again.”

“ok, it wasn’t even half as bad…..” Jason tried to defend himself

“And then, Red Robin and Robin. Running loose without batman. Dealing with criminals on their own accords and getting involved in the shooting?”

“It was Drake’s fault!” Damian cried out and Tim just punched him lightly

“Stop it.” Red Robin hissed at his younger brother “let her make a point, because it’s not it.”

“Then what is?”

“Come on, sis, tell us” Jason crouched next to her and squeezed her hands lightly

“I…. I can’t”

“Of course you can. There’s no shame in anything. Safe space. And as your big brother, I have duty to make sure you are all right.”

“You are younger than me, Dick.”

“Barely younger. And still, the oldest brother. “

“Come on, Y/N. Just spit it out.”

“Fine. Fine. Just quit looking at me like that. It’s creepy. I… I might have gotten into a bad relationship…..

“WHAT?!”

“Calm down, Damian. It wasn’t that serious. I kicked his butt first time he came at me….”

“WHAT?! I’m gonna find him. I’m gonna find him and…..” Dick caught his younger brother before he could get out and really find and eliminate the guy.

“It’s in the past. But you know, all that got me thinking. About who I was in the past. The cover. And how you guys were always out there, putting your lives at risk while I was just sitting at home, watching and doing nothing…..”

“so you thought it would be good idea to just go out on patrol by yourself.” Tim threw his arms in the air in frustration “Y/N, you know better than that.”

“Come on, what was I supposed to do?”

“I don’t know. Call me….” Jason said, but corrected himself due to Damian poking him in the ribs “I mean…. Us.”

“How could I?” she rolled her eyes.  “You guys have enough on your plates without me.”

“This is unbelievable” Tim scoffed

“You never patrol alone and we would never let you do it” Damian added

“What do you mean without you?” Dick narrowed his eyes at their sister “do you think you are some sort of burden?”

“Well…. I…. um…..”

“Are you insane?” Jason was the first one to burst. “Are you insane?”

“You do realize we are family, right?”

“This is a pretty crazy family.”

“Sure, but at the end of the day we watch each other’s back and that’s why we are all….alive.”

“Ekhem….”

“Sorry, Jayson, but we are alive. Some of us get to be alive more than once, but still.”

“I hate you, Dickhead”

“Look Y/N, no matter what you need to know you are important. You were the one to always take care of all of us, so, just for once, let us do the same.”

“But isn’t that what the eldest sibling of the family is supposed to do?”

“Since when do you care about supposed to do?”

“Never did. But I care about you guys and…..”

“Let us help Y/N. You are not alone. “

“I know. “

“So why are you crying?”

“I’m not crying!”

“You are!”

“Stop it! It’s just …. Nice, to know someone cares about you, all right? That is… new.”

“Come here, you silly one.” Dick crushed her in a bear hug to the point where it was nearly impossible to breathe “you’re not doing it again alone, you hear me?”

“So, what are you suggesting?”

“I’m thinking.….. just for the sake of all times…. A little night patrol with all your crazy brothers?”

“Dunno. Is Red Hood ready to work with the bats?” she smirked at Jason.

“Just this once. And we stay out of the Crime Alley.” He shook his head in disapproval but his words were contradiction to his action.

“How about our little Robins?”

“I’m not little!” Damian yelled

“Neither am I, but still I’m down. It’s been a while and I’m wondering if you really did enhanced your fighting skills.” Tim smiled

“So, it’s settled. Everyone meet me here at the dawn?”

“You sure you can handle four vigilantes in your tiny apartment?”

“I’ve been doing it my whole life. And I can always ground you. Big sister privilege.”

She smiled at her brothers and despite their protests she was now feeling so much better. Just knowing that she had someone (more than one) to rely on made her feel valued and cared for. This family was more than blood and they were protectors of each other as much as of Gotham.

[littlestarbigsky]

inflicting paul with an older sister (who i have named penelope) to further my peril angst potential in my foster ponyboy au

- so i absolutely see penelope and paul as age gap siblings, so paul was born when penny was 16 and a junior in high school

(a bunch more under the cut ;)

- penelope was 100% the golden child for her whole life. the whole nine yards, she did track, swimming, and cheerleading, she was valedictorian, truly every parent’s dream child

- she had such a good relationship with her parents, too, man they ADORED her, mr. holden was always bragging on the golf course about his brilliant baby girl was gonna go to stanford or columbia (bc she had the grades to get in anywhere and tbh they could afford to send her anywhere she wanted to go) and mrs. holden was constantly taking her on little girls dates and just spoiling the hell out of her

- not gonna lie, her parents having paul her junior year kinda messed with her.. she was well on her way to a full ride to whatever college she wanted with her grades and her athletics but she really took it hard when paul was born and she lost her relationship with both of her parents

- all this is NOT to say that she didn’t like paul bc man she loved this baby boy SO MUCH and she was seriously the best big sister… but paul doesn’t remember that, just growing up in her shadow but never even really knowing her *tear*

- with nobody really pushing her to go to college on a scholarship or pressuring her into going to law school, she kinda figured out that she really.. hated the idea?

- she eventually decided to start saving up her allowance (which let’s be honest, it’s probably way too much) and after she graduated, she took her car and headed west until she hit the ocean and just,, never came back

- she def kept in contact with the family, only really came back to visit for christmas and maybe once in the summer if california was realllly hot (tulsa wasn’t much better but at least it rained god damn) but other than that she doesn’t really ever see them

- paul does NOT like to admit it,, but he misses her :( obviously his parents are very supportive of him in football and whatever else, but he wishes she wanted to see him more, especially because their mom talks ALL THE TIME about how great of a big sister was when he was little before she left

- penny and paul have a lot of unresolved resentment towards each other (penny bc when paul was born he ruined her relationship with her parents and paul bc he’s been compared to her for his whole life) which SUCKS bc they really kinda need each other bc they’re not really mad at each other their parents just didn’t know how to have two kids

- so naturally, when ponyboy comes into the picture and paul is already trying to navigate *this* dynamic change and how he feels about it (*cough* darry *cough*) of fucking course that’s when penelope decides to come back home for a couple of months

- she bonds with ponyboy pretty much right away, even though she’s like almost 30 and pony is still 13, they just get each other. don’t ask him about it bc he might punch a wall but paul is SO jealous of it

- not that hippies are a thing in tulsa but my god she’s well on her way lol which i think blends realllllly well with pony’s sunset-poetry-head-in-the-clouds vibe

- on the hippie note: she absolutely gives pony a blunt at some point thinking he’s older than 13 and he tells her EVERYTHING, literally nothing is off the table; his parents, his brothers, HIS BROTHER AND HER BROTHER

- so yea that’s how penny found out about paul and darry lol

- and like the big sister that she is, she obviously is gonna invite darry and soda over for dinner one night just to watch the two of them go insane (and also pony gets to see his brothers so, win-win)

[greenerteacups]

oooh (hello, sorry, hello), quick question, since I saw you mentionned Tonks, via Lupin. What are your thoughts on Tonks/Lupin? :3

Hello! I wrote about them a long time ago in this post, which I don't fully stand by, since I've reflected on it some since. I think my stance on age gaps has changed a bit since then, and I'm more interested in the potential of Tonks/Lupin to be a ship that's not (as I sort of assume in the post) purporting to be an idealized "healthy" couple, but rather is a realistic relationship between two people with similar trauma in an ongoing war. They're not a ship of mine, but I can see what would be fun and interesting about them.

Specifically, I think it makes a lot of sense for Tonks to be attracted to Remus, who is one of the few eligible bachelors available to her (being a guerrilla warrior seriously narrows the dating pool) and also happens to be a grizzled soulful war veteran with a lively sense of humor. That's a pretty normal and predictable crush for her to have, actually. It's also pretty normal for Remus to become attracted to a hot, funny, capable woman who's showing romantic interest in him. But that's where a lot of people run into the squick, which is fair — 23 and 35 is a large gap, and it's early enough that it could be Tonks's first relationship, which would make it more uncomfortable.

That being said, although I remember going ??? when I first read the Remus/Tonks arc, it never occurred to me that it might reflect poorly on Remus. (I was a child when I read these books for the first time, but even so, I definitely could tell when there was something up with, say, Slughorn, who creeped me out for reasons I wouldn't identify for a long, long time.) For one thing, 23 and 35, while not being a dynamic I would support for my friends, is still a consenting relationship between adults. For another, the text is pretty clear that Tonks has been aggressively pursuing Remus for a while. We can litigate how likely that is to be true in any given IRL case, but in the text, it's unambiguously Tonks's passionate and enduring conviction that they should be together, and Remus agrees only after both primary female figures of authority in the series (Molly and McGonagall, respectively) give him their blessing.

My main regret is I wish it was used as a springboard to explore more about Tonks. She was a character with a ton of potential (metamorphmagus! auror! spy! daughter of a disinherited Black! cousin of Draco, niece of Bellatrix and Narcissa, second cousin to Sirius! went to Hogwarts alongside Bill and Charlie Weasley!) and I feel like her love story didn't give her anything all that interesting to do; Remus was the main point of conflict, and even then, we didn't see him get over it, we just saw Molly and McGonagall telling him what to do. This isn't about wanting better writing, it's about wanting any writing for him, man. His scene about Tonks with Harry in the beginning of Deathly Hallows is great, notwithstanding it has the misfortune of existing in the context of Deathly Hallows; but again, this is Tonks being used as a vehicle of character development for two men, and not explored in her own right. So that, if anything, my bone to pick with the two of them.

[lokiskitten]

hiii can you please do tom as dad's best friend/co-worker where they finally meet each other in her dad's office? and that y/n dad have to take an urgen flight trip thats why he needed tom to look after y/n for a couple of days. lots of sexual tension and dirty talk! (also age gap if that's alright with you?) 😌 make it real smutty and kinky u know the drill :) ty!!

Tom Hiddleston | unique babysitter

Tom Hiddleston x fem!reader

plot : being a single father, your dad has no choice but to leave you at home with a friend after he has been called for an urgent business travel. Surprisingly enough, you manage to end up enjoying Tom’s exhilarating company.

warnings : smut, age gap, dirty talking, slight dub/con, virgin!reader, innocence kink, dry humping, unprotected sex, slight after care and cuddling.

Around a week ago, your dad had finally agreed to take you to his office in order for you to discover his job. You had never really understood the way he made a living, and it had therefore been the occasion for you to get to learn more about his work whilst earning the chance to spend some extra time with him. Ever since your mom had left, you had allowed yourself to drift away from your father- an unwilling habit which had brought harm to the two of you throughout the years. But now was your chance to do better by supporting the older man through his daily life and by letting him know that he was not alone. Though, your little trip to his office had allowed you to meet with one of his closest coworkers : a so called Tom Hiddleston.

The man worked at the desk next to your dad’s, which allowed you to get a good view of his friend whilst they both worked. The room remained silent- the sounds of the keyboards being put to good use offering a pretty symphony. Your orbs would sometimes divert towards the infamous older man, feeling your cheeks heat up whenever his blue eyes would take notice of your stares and look up at you- leading your embarrassed self to look away. From the corner of your eyes, you could tell that this gesture had amused him due to the way his lips seemed to curl up whilst his chest bobbed upwards gently. Your hands fidgeted together, this little game lasting through the entire afternoon until it was finally time for you and your father to go home. But even after disappearing from one another’s sight, none of you appeared to forget about the other.

The next day, your dad had announced to you that he would be forced to leave for a couple of days due to an important business offer he simply couldn’t push away. At first, you felt okay with it... until this one added up that his coworker and friend, Tom, would be in charge of taking care of you for the few upcoming days. This stroke anxiety within your heart. The man you had desperately stared at for hours yesterday would now be assigned as your babysitter? The thought of getting to spend time alone with him was surely exciting, but also intimidating. Therefore, you decided to use arguments in order to dodge your father’s announcement, and potentially call off this whole babysitter issue which you believed was unnecessary for a girl such as you.

The first argument you decide to pull up was the fact that you were eighteen, and therefore not in need of a babysitter anymore. You could take care of yourself, which you did whenever your father was at work. But to the older man, this wasn’t the issue. He felt pleased to remind you what had happened the last time he had trusted you to be alone for a couple of days, and you had no choice but to remain silent face to his prominent argument, and your lack of snap back. Even though you could’ve probably explained that this event took place a couple of years back, and that you were now a legal adult to society, you decided to submit to your father’s announcement and decision.

Coming back to the present, you were currently sat in the living room whilst waiting for Tom to arrive. Your father had left a couple of minutes ago already, as he didn’t wish to miss his plane due to his coworker being late- who he trusted in taking good care of you. But little did he know, the older man would do much more than simply cook dinner for the two of you before tucking you in for a good night of sleep. When the bell finally rang, your head diverted towards the door in a hurry before your whole silhouette made an effort to get up from the sofa in order to reach for the entry of your home. Nervously, your hand took ahold of the handle before twisting it and allowing the door to open, revealing your dad’s smily coworker. “Good evening, Princess. I’m sorry I’m late.” He affirmed as your eyes slowly slid down towards the postman bag he carried on his right shoulder.

Face to your prolonged silence, he decided to step in one more time. “May I come in?” Tom asked, hoping that this sentence would manage to pull you out of your thoughts. And it did. “Oh yes, sure. I’m sorry...” You responded, an awkward chuckle escaping your lips as you moved to the side in order to let the older man step inside of your house. As soon as Tom laid a foot of onto the floor of your home, you felt a rather uncomfortable sensation take over your organism. It was a mix of excitement- that due to his handsomeness and attractive aura- and anxiety. A single pressure applied on the door was enough to have it close, trapping the two of you inside of the construction. And from that point, things progressively started to get more risky.

If Tom had agreed to sit down at the living room’s table to work at first, he soon caught interest in your silhouette and the things your curves could potentially offer him. During the first evening you spent together, things remained rather quiet and calm. All he did was look at you from the corner of his eye once in a while, and so did you whenever you felt like allowing your hormones to win over your good sense. You had been the one to cook dinner, and the older man hadn’t stopped praising the meal you had taken time to prepare whilst he worked. You got the chance to listen to a few of his personal informations- such as his nice lifestyle as a single man who enjoyed cooking for himself, as a hobby. Tom even promised to be the chief tomorrow evening, a bargain which led you to feel more comfortable in his presence.

The next day was when you finally started to feel more comfortable about your father’s coworker living in your house. You didn’t get to see him during the day due to college, but coming back in the evening knowing you would be able to spend time with the older man never failed to make you feel excited. Tom had progressively let go of his work, claiming he had taken a one week remunerated break in order to spend some extra time with you. The days went along, and you found yourself skipping class as well to attend the man’s offers about going out to various places. Calling your dad to check up on him wasn’t a priority anymore, which easily led you to bump into multiple missed calls when you finally made your way back up to your room after spending a day with his friend.

On this delightful Friday evening, you had been given the honor to taste Tom’s most famous recipe : bolognese. The dinner went on wonderfully, and you soon found yourself bloated with sauce and pasta- a visual proof that you had indeed enjoyed the meal he had prepared. Wiping the corner of his mouth with a napkin, Tom’s blue orbs stared at your exhausted self who still tried to recover from the amount of food you had previously ingested. It had exhaust you. “I guess I won’t be asking you how it went, seeing the emptiness of your plate.” He affirmed with a chuckle before reaching out for both of your stained yet empty plates in order to carry them until the sink. Shifting in your seat, you allowed your vision to divert away from your guest for a moment- which Tom didn’t fail to notice.

With a smirk appearing on the corner of his lips, the man proceeded to rest the plates down on the workspace before silently making his way back to you, sitting down in the chair which was positioned next to yours before leaning in and allowing his lips to collide with your neck. You obviously reacted face to this unexpected sensation, body shaking just so slightly as you tiredly leant backwards in order to break the contact. “What? What are you doing?” You asked awkwardly, earning an amused smile from the older man. His hand travelled up to your hair, blue orbs following his own gesture as he brushed a strand behind your ear. “Just treating you the way you deserve. You’re a grown woman after all, aren’t you? And adults communicate with one another.” He purred seductively, those few words sending chills down your spine.

“So I’m letting you know... I want you.” He finished, hand still toying with your hair as both your heart and mind fell apart on the instant. Had you heard that right? Was your father’s friend truly offering you to hookup under his coworker’s own roof- a man who had given him his trust to look after his only daughter? But the will to rebel and prove to the world that you weren’t a child anymore turned out to be stronger then your good sense and the respect you held for your dad. Your cheeks heated up as you made eye contact with Tom again, a welcoming smile appearing his lips which led you to fall for him even more. “Okay...” you responded to his previous statement in an awkward manner, leading the adult’s smile to intensify. “Okay.” He repeated happily, hand sliding down to your thigh in order to take ahold of yours.

Tom easily managed to get you to stand up, leading you out of the kitchen and upstairs as his thumb gently rubbed against the back of your hand. Again, you felt excited yet anxious- still questioning whether yes or not you should give in his certainly appetizing offer. But before you knew it, the older man had managed to reach your father’s room- the room Tom had been occupying throughout the journey- which possessed a bigger bed for the two of you to enjoy. His first reflex was to turn on the lights before closing the door, those two gestures requiring for him to let go of your hand which allowed you to move closer to the bed without his help. “Ever done this before?” Tom asked empathetically as his silhouette turned towards yours, both his hands resting on his hips as if he was trying to contain certain pulsions.

Even if you felt ashamed of the answer you were about to give, you still trusted the man enough not to make fun of you nor make any degrading remarks about your sexual life. “Not really.” You answered as he moved closer to you, head bowed down to be able to make proper eye contact. “That’s okay.” He reassured, his hand moving up to your shoulder which he squeezed gently. “I’ll make sure to take good care of you.” Finished the male, his fingers now taking ahold of your chin only to lead your head to look up. Your lips aligned with his, his head slowly moving down towards yours until your closed mouths finally pressed against one another. This was the chastest kiss anyone had ever given you- which reinforced the feeling of safety you felt whenever it came to Tom. Though he quickly ended up softly breaking the contact in order to make sure you were okay.

You silently sucked in your bottom lip, as if you wanted to get some extra taste of his lips even after he had decided to break the kiss. Allowing your lower piece of rosy flesh to go, your orbs finally diverted upwards in order to make eye contact with the man who had just filled you with bliss. “I liked this.” You admitted, earning a smile from your partner. His hands travelled up to the first button of his shirt, progressively undoing the links until his bellybutton and abdominals were revealed to your innocent sight. Those assets made you shiver, and Tom could easily tell that you were too shy to step forward and lay your pretty hands onto his flesh. Smirking, the man dodged your silhouette in order to reach for the bed, removing his shirt through the process before allowing it to drop to the floor.

You watched silently as he sat down on the edge of the furniture, inviting you to take place beside him by laying gentle taps on the spot next to his thigh. Your submitted self obeyed, feet leading you towards your master until you finally took place beside him. “You’re such an obedient girl.” Tom praised, seemingly enjoying the way you agreed to follow all of his commands. An intimidated chuckle escaped your lips as his hand once again traveled up to your face, caressing your facial features and brushing your hair back in the loveliest manner. You couldn’t help but stare at his crouched abdominals, the way his skin formed muscular rolls for you to appreciate and praise. After all, it was the first time you ever saw a grown man bare chested in such an intimate situation.

“You want to remove a couple of layers? It’s the least we could do.” Tom offered gently, making sure to use the proper tone in order not to scare you off- and mostly in order to lead you to accept his proposition. Again, you agreed, standing up from the bed before removing your sweatshirt by pulling it over your head. Your bare breasts were revealed to his sight, though his blue orbs remained mainly focused on the skin of your waist and stomach. He found the bellybutton and stomach as a very attractive part of the female anatomy, and couldn’t potentially get enough of staring at this area of your body. Of course the grown man also felt grateful to be able to get a peak of your breasts- which he would make sure to cherish and praise later on.

His hands bluntly moved up to your waist as you took place between his legs, blue orbs still looking up at you before Tom allowed himself to lay a kiss onto your stomach. You abdominals contracted due to the small tingle you felt within you skin as the older man now took care of laying trails of gentle kisses down your belly. Looking down at him, you allowed your digits to travel up to his perfectly groomed hair before passing your fingers through the strands, messing up his mane in the softest manner. You were able to feel his lips perk upwards, indicating that your gestures were visibly making him smile. It reassured you to be aware of such a positive reaction.

After reaching the waistband of your joggers, Tom stopped himself through his track in order to take another look at your facial features- which in his humble opinion were perfect. Besides, spending time with someone who was younger than him somewhat sent the man back to his youthful days as well; which provided Tom a very blissful feeling. Without breaking eye contact, he began to unbuckle his belt before undoing the button of his jeans without even taking care of sliding the leather material out of the confines of his pants. Though he unfortunately found himself forced to look away after struggling to undo his button, your orbs still staring down towards his veiny hands which worked hard to reach their goal.

Once this step was finally over with, Tom placed a hand on your hip in order to gently move you backwards so that he could stand up from the bed. You could tell by his frustrated appearance that he seemingly couldn’t wait to end up in bed and fully naked with you. Though he always kept a reassuring smile on his face, even whilst pulling his jeans down to his ankle before stepping out of the piece of clothing. The grown man now stood in his briefs, feeling no form of shame nor embarrassment face to your younger self. Besides, there simply was nothing he could’ve potentially feel ashamed of. His body was perfect. A chuckle escaped his lips upon witnessing how clueless you appeared, a sight which could only make him feel more confident through the overall process.

“Well, kitten... there’s nothing you should be ashamed of. Real men are nothing like the boys you see at school.” He insisted, referring to how male teenagers often found many reasons to criticize the female anatomy and make young girls feel insecure. And his tone sounded extremely genuine- which was what led you to finally unleash your silhouette from all these pieces of clothings. You nodded silently, hands moving down to the waistband of your joggers before you slid the material down to your ankles. Sitting back down on the edge of the bed, you proceeded to remove the cloth from your ankles, now revealing your underwear to a rather eager Tom.

He jumped on this handy occasion to gracefully climb on the bed and lay down on the spot where he usually slept, waiting for you to be done and hand out the green flag like the gentleman that he is. Looking back at him, you once again felt your cheeks heat up due to crossing another line of the process. He smiled. “Don’t be shy. I want you.” Tom begged, arm extending towards your chest as an invitation for you to get closer- which you did. Now laying down next to each other, your hands rested against his chest as your bodies faced one another, feeling the warmth which emitted from his skin. He looked down at you, head leaning down and once again seeking for your lips before he was finally able to press them against yours.

You kissed back, now feeling more comfortable as his arms wrapped around your back in order to gently get himself on top of your body. You were consensually overcome by his much larger silhouette, one of your hands moving up to his shoulders as you carried on giving back what the man was generously offering you. As soon as grunts and low moans began to escape his lips, you could tell that things were about to move faster from this moment- legs spreading a little bit wider as you allowed the man to grind his hips against yours. You were able to feel his hardening member collide with and rub against your own clothed genitals- movements which soon led your entrance to leak juices and stains your panties.

“Look at you..” Tom began, breaking the kiss for a few seconds in order to catch his breath and finish his sentence. He was panting. “Legs already spread wide open for me.” The man stated, speaking nothing but obvious facts. You blushed. No one had ever spoken to you in such a way, and especially not on that specific tone which turned out to be quite exhilarating. Now moving his head down against the crook of your neck, you were able to feel warmth take over both your chest and crotch due to Tom still grinding his hips against yours. The movements stimulated your clit, sending chills down your spine and leading more love juice to leak out of your throbbing core. And even if the older man appeared more eager about the situation when it came to visuals, your soul was definitely suffocating with pleasure even if you remained slightly motionless and silent.

Sitting up on his knees, a smirking Tom made eye contact with you as he allowed himself to slide off your panties; taking them off your legs before carelessly dropping them to the side. Such a small piece of clothing certainly wouldn’t be a bother through your shared intercourse, which was the reason to why he decided not to pay much attention to where it landed. Besides, your father’s coworker felt too excited about what was to come to even care about such an irrelevant detail. You were panting, still trying to recover from this first contact which had left you damaged with pleasure and excitement. Though, little did you know, the real fun was only about to begin.

“My pretty girl’s got a pretty little cunt.” He praised, his fingers sticking together as he brought his hand down between your legs. You shivered, sucking in your bottom lip in anticipation to his upcoming touch. It would be the first time you would get touched by a man, by someone else than your own self. A part of you wondered how it was going to feel, though the second one couldn’t help but grow anxious and worried. However, before you could even think any further, you felt Tom’s fingertips collide with your sensitive core- sending chills down your spine and easily leading your hole to squeeze and contract. He chuckled, appreciating his good work and feeling satisfied about the way he managed to make you feel. Though, it wasn’t like Tom had ever disappointed a woman in bed before.

One of the older man’s hands landed beside your face, Tom holding himself up with the help of his left arm whilst his other hand took care of pleasing your core. His fingertips rubbed up and down your clit, sometimes pinching the hardened bud and manhandling it perfectly. His aim was to get your entrance to loosen up for him; and that especially after he took notice that you were a virgin. Tom wanted this intercourse to be pleasing for you too, and he was willing to use any tactic in order to help you to relax. His lips landed against yours again, trapping your moan within his cavity and pushing it back inside of your mouth with the help of his tongue penetrating your moist entry.

Once your moans began to get progressively higher pitched, Tom felt like it was now the right time to initiate you to the pleasures he was certainly going to provide you. Taking his soaked fingertips up to his lips, he allowed his tongue to taste the sweet juices before both his hands took ahold of the waistband of his briefs which was soon to be slid down to his mid thighs. You didn’t dare to look, eyes still staring at the ceiling until your view was blocked by your partner’s facial features. He smiled and you smiled back. “Well hello.” Teased the older man, a few words which easily led you to chuckle. In the position you two had adopted, you were able to feel his rocking hard shaft press against your clit- a sensation that didn’t fail to make you feel nervous.

“You ready, Princess?” Questioned your dad’s coworker, your legs immediately spreading a tad wider upon hearing those few words. Another kiss was laid on your lips, probably in order to distract you from the slight pain which was about to follow. And before you could know it, a warm mass was pressed against your cavity, soon penetrating your entrance and pushing past your hymen that broke on the instant. A high pitched groan escaped your lips which led Tom to intensify the kiss, his hips jumping on the occasion to move closer to yours until his cock had reached balls deep. Slowly pulling away from your face, his ocean blue orbs made eye contact with yours, analyzing your facial features in order to find out whether you were truly suffering or not.

“This is just temporary.” Promised the man, your entrance unwillingly clenching around his shaft which led him to let out a guttural moan. Taking his attention off you for a minute, Tom’s face looked down at your rubbing crotches- as if he wanted to make sure he was properly inside- before his head tilted upwards again. Noticing how you now appeared more relaxed, he was soon to begin the thrusting process- slow movements at first which progressively increased in pace with time. The friction created by the intercourse felt absolutely blissful- filling your soul with excitement and leading your heart to race. You were able to feel the muscle pump blood through your entire system as Tom continued to grind his hips against yours, happy grunts escaping his lips.

Both his arms slid underneath your shoulders, taking ahold of them in order to keep you more still through the pleasant process- and make it easier for him to thrust. Tom felt entirely satisfied with the situation that had taken place- taking notice of how you appeared to enjoy it too which could only make his member throb out of pleasure. Though his masculine ego still pushed him to check in order to receive a verbal confirmation. “You enjoyin’ this?” The man asked breathlessly, earning a single moan and nod from your exhilarated self. The man then proceeded to unexpectedly pull out, offering you no time to understand before you were flipped over onto your stomach. This once his hands landed on your bum, spreading your cheeks apart and admiring the way your entrance leaked with love juice. It looked extremely welcoming, and Tom was soon to step inside of your intimate home for the second time.

Feeling his cock penetrate you again brushed all of your worries away, eyelids shutting close as you began to be rocked back and forth against the bedsheets. Even without being able to see his face, you still managed to enjoy everything that Tom was providing you with on the instant. You could feel his pubic bone collide with your skin of your bum, your nipples perking up against the confines of the bedsheets. “Fuck baby.. So tight and juicy for me.” He praised, leaning down in order to offer your neck rough kisses and gentle bites. You moaned tiredly, rubbing your cheek against his like a cat would do against his owner’s legs. He had managed to take possession of your soul, and there was now only one way out.

Time passed, and Tom’s thrusts progressively began to grow sloppier. Being inexperienced, you couldn’t exactly tell that this indicated he was about to reach his high, though the way he appeared more tired and less energetic than before certainly gave you a clue regarding his state. Frowning out of exhaussement, the grown man was finally filled with temporary satisfaction upon sensing his shaft throb and pump semen out of his testicles in order to have the liquid spray out of his sensitive urethra. His semence stained your walls, giving no chance to the flesh of your cervix which was drowned in the thick liquid. You two moaned in harmony- this warm sensation providing you with one last bit of pleasure before your dad’s coworker agreed to pull out of you.

He collapsed on the bedsheets next to you, hand resting on his chest as he panted in order to recover from this intense moment. With the bit of energy that you had left, you managed to crawl until his silhouette in order to offer him a well needed hug, your arms burying against his ribcage as Tom was soon to turn to his side and secure your naked self with his large and muscular members. Feeling the warmth of his flesh in a whole other way still felt as satisfying as before, this cuddle providing you with as much happiness and bliss than the previous intercourse had.

Hullo thanks for reading! Thank you for liking and supporting my work. I genuinely hope you’re doing well! Take care.

Taglist : @theaudacitytowrite @bucky-soldat @winteralpine @fa-me @ineffablefanic @rosie-posie08 @marygut1407 @wildxwidow @tabea3 @delightfulheartdream @arzennn @sweetiepiexox-blog1 @alicegrayson @cherrygeek86 @lokilaufeysonicon @pescadoavocado

[firelxdykatara]

Katara x Aang :3c

are you trying to get me in trouble

-cough-

no but in all honesty, my genuine feelings about kataang boil down to three major points: 1. it's boring, and does not jive thematically with either of their character arcs, to the point of, 2. actively hampering character development on both sides, and 3. katara deserved better.

points expanded under the cut. (please, if you're a kataang shipper and you see this, just keep scrolling. i've tagged it appropriately and put the bulk under a cut and at this point that's literally all i can do lmfao.)

send me a ship and get my (brutally) honest opinion!

1. It's Boring: This is the most subjective point on the list (I mean, in fairness, it's all subjective, but I have evidence from the show and post-canonical materials to support my other points; this one is just preference), but there's just... nothing to kataang. It's cute (when it's not actively aggravating), and... that's about it. It's not even that I dislike friends-to-lovers as a shipping trope (though it's not my overall preference), because there are a lot of friends-to-lovers couples that I do ship (kanej comes to mind, also will/elizabeth from potc, karolsen from supergirl, romione and hinny from hp, among others), but one thing that I think all of those couples have that kataang doesn't is that both sides of the pairing are teens or adults when they get together, with teen/adult dynamics and issues and stories to deal with, rather than one half being a teenager and the other being literally prepubescent.

And don't get me wrong, I have no problem with age gap ships in general. And as far as atla goes, Katara, at 14, has the same age difference from Zuko (16) as Aang has from her, and it's never stopped me--because both Katara and Zuko are well into puberty when they meet and I have no problem picturing them being into one another and growing together as they enter adulthood. Aang, on the other hand, is a child. And he acts like it. Which wouldn't be a problem, if the show weren't expecting me to believe he is a) ready for a romantic relationship, and b) ready for one specifically with Katara, who is not only older and far more mature but is specifically cast as his caretaker in a very maternal role for the entire show's run.

This show asks me to believe that a teenage girl well into adolescence is going to be attracted to and develop romantic feelings for a pre-adolescent child--and it asks me to believe this while showing us otherwise that Katara's type is actually older boys with fabulous hair and angsty pasts in all of her other potential romantic dalliances--and then enter into a relationship with him, all while ignoring the elephant in the room that is the fact that she was basically acting like his mother for the entire series to that point. (Something that is heavily lampshaded earlier in the very same season.) That just stretches the bounds of credulity way too far for me, especially when there's no evidence that Katara herself would get anything out of their romantic relationship.

There's nothing there for me to sink my teeth into. No delicious development, no parallels where they help each other grow, no internal conflicts that they have to work through together, nothing. Certainly no reason for me to actually believe Katara feels (or would grow to feel) anything for him other than the platonic affection of a caretaker. I can easily believe she loves him dearly, as a friend and quasi-little-brother, but I just can't see that developing naturally into romantic love--not the way it's presented in the show.

And even if they did manage to at least make the development of Katara's feelings believable, unless they changed something fundamental about the nature of their relationship, it'd still be boring, so.

2. It Actively Hampers Their Character Development--On Both Sides: I've written before (extensively lol im so sorry) about how kataang is actively detrimental to Katara and to Aang. In short (because ye gods this post is already getting long enough), Katara is narratively harmed by being shoved into a relationship that completely ignores her stated feelings--a relationship that had been presented as a one-sided puppylove crush for the vast majority of the series--and it inhibits her growth as a character in ways that become far more obvious in the comics and lok, where the very same creative forces that lead to her beginning a relationship with Aang in the first place reduce her to 'the Avatar's girl' and very little else, all the way through to the end of LoK (where she is a Healer and the Avatar's wife and, again, very little else).

As for Aang:

As to how this relationship is detrimental to Aang (other than the comics and LoK nonsense)? Just take a look at book 2, when he’s trying to learn Earthbending from Toph. Katara constantly coddles him. Much of the time, she’s afraid to be anything other than gentle and understanding with Aang--partly because of her fear that if she pushes him too far, he’ll run away. (Which he does, several times.) But sometimes, what Aang needs to grow is a sharp kick in the slats, which Toph was more than willing to provide--and which worked. Katara was great for teaching Aang to waterbend, but he needed more than that to grow as a person. And he can’t get that while he’s in a relationship with someone who will apologize for getting upset when he was very explicitly neglecting her.

In addition, it is pointed out by Guru Pathik at the end of Book 2 that one of Aang's chakras is blocked by his attachment to Katara. Aang takes this to mean (incorrectly) that he has to stop loving her in order to become fully realized as an Avatar, but this is actually part of the problem--because the issue isn't that he is in love with Katara, it's that he's possessively attached to her. He believes himself entitled to her love in return, rather than selflessly loving someone regardless of whether or not they return that affection. (This is obvious come the EIP episode, where Aang demands to know why he and Katara aren't in a relationship already--because he kissed her without asking [or even checking to see if she'd be ok with kissing him], which he phrases as mutual even though it very much was not, and he gets angry and violates her boundaries when she says that she is confused and doesn't want to think about it right then.)

It is his attachment to Katara--the need for her to return his love, the belief that she will and it is only a matter of time before he gets what he wants--that he was supposed to let go of, not his feelings for her in general. Unfortunately, while he pays lipservice to doing this (far too late for it to be useful--if he'd stayed with the Guru for five more minutes and unlocked his chakra there, that battle would've gone very differently), he almost immediately backtracks on that development come book 3, and there isn't another single whisper of Aang maybe growing up and moving past his one-sided and possessive crush and realizing that even if Katara doesn't feel the same way, it doesn't mean she loves him less or that their friendship is less important.

What really needed to happen, for Aang to grow as a person and become fully realized as an Avatar, was for him to grow up. To realize that his feelings were not of paramount importance, and that even if he was in love with Katara, he was not entitled to her love in return. He should have been able to move past his need for her to love him back, in order to get past that stumbling block, unlock his chakras, and regain the Avatar State in time to face the Firelord. But he didn't. As a result, they had to find some other way to just give him the Avatar State (a well-placed rock) and the means to defeat Ozai without killing him (the deus ex lionturtle) and his entire character arc just fell apart in the third act rather than reaching a satisfying conclusion.

3. Katara Deserved Better: This really ties into how her romantic relationship with Aang hampered her own development, but I'm still bitter enough about it that it gets its own bullet-point. And the biggest single reason I could never ship kataang--the thing that would've turned me off even if there were substance and a halfway decent storyline for them--is the fact that Aang kisses her without her consent (for the second time) in Ember Island Players, Katara gets angry at him and storms off, and then..... she walks out onto the balcony to make out with him.

With nothing to bridge that gap.

It's bad enough that a show aimed at children had a scene where the child protagonist kissed the object of his affections without her consent when she didn't want him to (made explicit by her angry reaction)--and this is absolutely an issue when the show is aimed at children and it may well be the first experience they've had with consent issues portrayed in media--but this moment is never addressed again. Katara just decides--completely off-screen--that she does love him Really and walks out to make out with him in the epilogue. There's no conversation, no apology for violating her boundaries, no discussion of why that was wrong or any indication that Aang understands what he did and why it upset her. They don't have a single one-on-one interaction between that kiss and the epilogue, and the only other time they are on screen together, Aang yells at her and storms off.

So, even leaving the comics and lok aside, Katara deserved much better from her own romantic plotline. In fact, she deserved to have one, rather than simply being the oblivious object of Aang's affections, given a couple moments where she blushes but otherwise remains completely ignorant of his feelings (she looks shocked and upset when he kisses her prior to the invasion, and then she completely forgets that even happened because she's confused as to what Aang is even talking about during EIP until he brings it up; that's not the behavior of a fourteen-year-old girl who was kissed by someone she was developing romantic feelings for), before the epilogue where it becomes clear that she figured all of that out off-screen and had feelings for him after all.

She's a main character, not a side-character written in solely to give one of the mains a love interest. She deserved a romantic plotline of her own. (She could have had one with someone else, with very few changes made to what was actually on-screen prior to the epilogue, but that's another conversation entirely.) She deserved to have her feelings considered at all important by the person she was going to be paired with in the end, rather than having him just assume she felt the same way and then get mad at her for never giving any indication of it when he'd never asked about her feelings to begin with. She deseserved agency in her own romantic narrative, and she just didn't get that with Aang.

So yeah, at the end of the day, my biggest issue with kataang is that it involved doing Katara dirty, and she's my favorite character and she deserved so much better damnit.

[reidgraygubler]

handsome enough to tempt me (spencer reid/reader)

Title: Handsome Enough To Tempt Me

Request: kinda, not really

Couple: Spencer Reid/Fem!reader

Category: fluff/angst (Kinda slow-burn, enemies/rivals to lovers)

Content Warning: period piece, regency au, maybe the slightest bit of angst, a teeny-tiny bit of slut-shaming, age gap (note: i think gap relationships were a thing in the 1800s, so I’m not super worried. I don’t have a defined age, but it isn’t 37 year old Spencer, it’s younger), marriage/proposals, ooc characters (JJ and Spencer), i don’t really know what else to tag, this is mostly fluff and, like 1800s dancing and talking, so if I missed anything please let me know.

Word Count: 8,822

Summary: Reader meets Spencer Reid at a well-known estate ball. The pair learn to love each other, even when they hate each other.

A/N: this was written for @imagining-in-the-margins fic swap! this was written for the lovely @omgbigfluffwriting​! i took a couple of the prompts and aus (royal au/historical au) she likes and came up with this. i kinda based it around pride and prejudice. please bear with me, this is the first time i’ve ever written a period piece/royal au... so it’s not perfect. but, i hope you all enjoy it!!! Thanks for all the love and support! check out my masterlist!

{***}{***}{***}

It was officially the start of Social Season. The most terrifying time of the season, if I’ll be honest with you. My mother had insisted that it’s time I put myself out there, claiming time is wasting away and I should get married sooner rather than later. I couldn’t even begin to wonder why she’s so worried about me attending social events… Must be because she wants me to be like a bunny and have children by the litter… Like her and my father.

So, that would be why I’m at the first social gathering of the season, wearing the absolute best I had, looking around at all the potential suitors. It was rather stressful. Having to be the very best for all the men.

That was until my eye caught the attention of Sir Luke Alvez. He was busy with people on his arms and people behind him. Everyone was trying to win his attention, but he was trying to get everyone’s attention. And it would seem like he’d won it from everyone.

“Sir Luke,” I smiled at the familiar man as he walked by me. I’d only ever been to one event before with his attendance. He always seemed too busy with others to know what was happening around him. I honestly couldn’t blame him. There’s always too much going on around to know what was happening.

“Save me a dance,” Luke looked at me with a smile. I looked up at him with pure astonishment, feeling the shock of him wanting to dance with me. Typically higher class people don’t dance with the lower class. This is quite a scene for most people. I could sense a large commotion coming from him. 

“Of course,” I returned his smile before curtsying. I looked back at him, again, as he walked away from me. That was the end of our conversation as he continued walking away. The rest of his party walked past me. Well, I’d call it his party, but I wasn’t so sure how many of them were with him. The number of people (men and women both) following after him was intriguing. Something was telling me to keep my hopes low, and that dancing with him will most likely not happen.

After a few moments, a familiar woman stepped up to me. Her gown was intriguing, as was her hair, jewelry, and makeup. But, she always dressed to impress. With her lilac dress, and beautiful golden hair pinned to frame her face. I was always envious when I saw her, and she knew that too. Which was why we were still friends. She also helped me when I needed it, like at events like this. Where all the single men and women were around, and all the women tried to swoon the men. Who knows if it’ll work though, she’s been married for years.  

“Mrs Jareau,” I smiled at her and nodded my head. Jennifer smiled at me before inviting me into a hug. I enveloped my arms around her to graciously accept her hug. 

“Have you been in good health?” Jennifer asked as she backed away from me a step. I smiled and nodded.

“Of course,” I looked around the room at all the people, “My parents aren’t here, but they sent me off with one mission, and one mission only,” I laughed as I looked back at her. 

“I’d keep away from Luke Alvez then,” she laughed as she looked over at the man in question. I followed her gaze and noticed that he already had two new ladies on his arms. So much for saving a dance with him. “Something of a man whore,” she looked back at me and laughed, again. I looked at her and shrugged.

“Better to find out now I suppose, instead of later," I whispered as she looked over at her friend. I looked around the room, looking at the other people who weren’t dancing. 

“Do you want to meet Mister Reid? Surely he’ll dance with you,” Jennifer looked at me with a smile. I looked back at her and raised an eyebrow. 

“Surely? And if he doesn’t?” I asked, looking down at her hand as she offered it to me. I stared at it for a moment before gently placing my hand on top of hers. And with that, she guided me towards her friend.

“Trust me, he’ll want to dance with you,” she looked over at me. She had a very reassuring look in her eyes, silently telling me that everything will be okay. How am I supposed to trust her? I’ve never met Mister Reid before, how am I supposed to know that he’ll dance with me? 

“If you say so, Mrs Jareau,” I laughed lightly. She guided me towards the back of the room, where the rest of her party was. Of course, everyone she’s with is some level of class, while I’m just middle class. How is she, my friend? I do not know. But I’m grateful to have a friend like her. She can tell me all of the secrets of her friends, and the people they follow. 

The closer we got to her small circle of friends, the more I realized just how real this was about to be. At least three of her gentlemen friends had a woman or two around them, but the one we were walking towards had several women around him. He looked mildly annoyed with the number of people around him. Maybe even more uncomfortable than anything else. Jennifer was probably the one who looked more annoyed.

“Is this usual for him?” I looked over at my friend. She looked back at me and nodded. “How come I’ve never seen him at any balls? I figured you’d bring all of your friends to events like this,” I laughed lightly. 

“Usually, women flock to him, because he’s one of the most eligible suitors. He’s smart, has money, has the looks, people love him… Especially mothers with eligible daughters,” Jennifer explained as we got closer to her friend. She looked over at me and flashed me a smile. I glared at her. Her smile grew playful as she looked back at her friend.

“Why does he not have a wife then?” I looked back at her as I pulled my hand away from her. I held my hands in front of my body and stood closer to Jennifer. 

“He just hasn’t found the woman he likes yet,” she whispered. We were still several feet away. I was confident that he couldn’t hear our conversations, considering he still had a hoard of women around him. They were all trying to impress him, or trying to get him to take their next dance. I was just impressed by him not paying attention to anyone around him. “Let's hope that changes tonight,” Jennifer whispered close to my ear. I looked at her with wide eyes and obvious shock on my face.

“Jennifer,” I whispered, hoping to stop her before we got any further. Unfortunately for me, she didn’t hear a word I said as she still dragged me closer and closer to her friend. I silently prayed that from this moment on would be nothing but smooth sailing. 

“Excuse me, ladies!” Jennifer shouted over the clammer. I looked up at her and held back my laughter. My laughter paired with Jennifer’s shouting would probably have had everyone deem us as unladylike. Good thing my parents already think that of me.

All the ladies scurried away from Mister Reid, they glared at me and Jennifer. I’m sure it had everything to do with us interrupting their flirting with a man who’s never seemed interested in them in the first place. I placed my hand over my mouth to hold back my inexcusable laughter. Why was I suddenly so giggly?

“Mister Reid,” Jennifer curtsied once we were standing in front of the somewhat familiar-looking man. He stood on a platform with a certain stature that compared to no other man in the room. And there was a level of attractiveness. I mean, I suppose out of everyone in the room, he was one of the most attractive. It made sense why men envied him and wanted to be him, and why women wanted to be with him.

 I’ve only ever seen him once before. At an event, sort of like this one. Jennifer was standing with him, chatting about something. I never went to talk to him, mostly because I had caught Jennifer’s eye and she wanted to be with me instead of him. If she wasn’t already married and had two children, I’d be sure that she’d be courting him.

Jennifer saying my name is what grabbed my attention. I was just too involved with my thoughts to listen to “She’s been to many of these dances, but is officially putting herself out,” 

“Mister Reid,” I looked up at him as I curtsied. 

Much like any other single man at this stupid ball, he seemed too preoccupied with the people around. Granted, he looked like the type of person to enjoy his personal space, and here it’s near impossible. And, with a man like Mister Reid, having a crowd of women at your feet takes away all sense of personal space. I could tell he was over and done with all and any events from now till the end of time. 

“Seems like her head is somewhere else and in the clouds, Mrs Jareau,” Mister Reid looked over at me, then at Jennifer with a sort of pretentious snare in his eye. I widened my eyes and stared at him, feeling a fluster blaze on my skin. Jennifer looked over at me with her mouth agape before looking up at her friend. “Doesn’t seem like it’s your coming out time. Maybe you should go back home,” he kept his eyes on me and nodded. 

“Spencer,” her words were nearly breathless as she spoke. The disbelief in her voice nearly shook me to the core. Why? I couldn’t tell you. Mostly because I was also in disbelief. I honestly wasn’t sure what I was expecting him to say, but it was in no way something like that. If I wasn’t raised the way I was… I would have met my fist with his face. 

“I-I’m sorry,” I kept my eyes on him, mostly because I wasn’t entirely too sure what I should have said in response. Spencer, because he no longer deserves the title of ‘Mister Reid’, looked down at me with a sly smirk. “I was trying to place how I knew you, Mister Reid, and if I’ve seen you at any other dances,” I almost scoffed, but I decided it wasn’t exactly worth the breath of air. 

“Well, while Mrs Jareau was introducing us, you were too busy looking around the room, not even listening. You didn’t even have the sense of introducing yourself to me,” he started to explain my inability to pay attention for a span of time. I dropped my shoulders as I stared at him. “Something of a halfwit,” he added under his breath. It was just loud enough for Jennifer and I to react with a gasp.

“Spencer,” Jennifer stepped in again before I had the audacity to suddenly jump down his throat and start something with a man of higher repertoire than someone like myself, or my family. He probably had the power to ruin my family if he wanted to. “What has gotten into you,” she whispered as she stepped closer to her friend. 

“No, no, he’s right… If I’m incapable to introduce myself to someone like himself, then I am in no way ready to be out looking for marriage,” I looked at Jennifer before giving her a sad smile. Jennifer looked up at Spencer with a glare in her eye. Spencer looked back at Jennifer, silently telling her that this would be the end of our interaction. 

“Let’s take a turn about the room,” Jennifer looked back at me and smiled. I looked back at her before down at her hand. I gently rested my hand on hers before looking back at Spencer.

“It was a pleasure, Mister Reid,” I spoke as I looked right at his eyes. He looked back at me with a coolness in his eye. I could feel an angered heat coming from my body as Jennifer and I walked away from her friend. 

“I’m so sorry about him. He’s never like that,” she whispered as we walked back towards the front of the room. It took everything in my body to not want to shout.

“It seemed like he doesn’t like social events,” I laughed somewhat coolly. Jennifer looked over at me and joined my laughter. 

“That would be correct. He’s not very much a social person, despite having a social title,” she chuckled. We stopped by the drinks table, taking a glass of lemonade for ourselves.

“Arrogant bastard, that’s what seems correct,” I cleared my throat. My eyes scanned the room, landing on Spencer on the far side. He looked back at me, clearly trying to act like this was not happening. The air in the room was suddenly suffocating me and the walls themselves were closing in on me. 

Jennifer was going on and on about Spencer, and the other eligible men she knows. I honestly couldn’t hear anything she was saying. My head was slightly getting dizzy.

“Arrogant bastard… I do agree he can be like-”

“I’m so sorry, Mrs Jareau, but I must retire for the night,” I looked at her as I lowered my glass to the table. Jennifer raised an eyebrow.

“But the night is still young,” She gestured to the rest of the party. My heart sank as I gazed around the room, it only sank further when my eyes landed on Spencer. 

“Yes, but I fear I am coming down with something,” I murmured as I looked back at her. Jennifer’s eyes grew worried. “Until next time, Mrs Jareau,” I nodded and curtsied before turning to leave the ball and room altogether.

{***}{***}{***}

“I told you, Mama, I just don’t think now is my time,” I looked at her reflection in the mirror as one of the housemaids brushed through my hair. Mother scowled as she thought about her argument back.

“Times-”

“Running out! I know, Mama. I just… I just don’t think now is the right time,” I turned and watched as she shoved my second youngest sibling out of the room. I stifled my laughter as she looked back at me. “I’m still young,” I stood up and walked over to her. I rested my hands on her shoulders, feeling a certain anxiety bubble in my stomach. “It won’t be the end of the world. I’m 21, Mama, not an old maid. Please do not worry,” I smiled at her. Mother sighed before looking over at the dress set out for me to wear.

“Please, just promise me you’ll keep your options open. Do not let one man ruin this all for you,” she spoke softly. I sighed deeply, trying to find my words.

“I will not let one man ruin all this for me. Do not worry,” I laughed softly. 

“I best let you finish getting ready. Your siblings are nearly finished. We don’t want to be waiting on you,” she shot me a glare before leaving me at once. I sighed before turning back to the maid.

“Shall we?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. The maid laughed before going over to the bed.

“What was it that Mister Reid had said to you, Miss? You’ve always been so excited for such events, but after the most recent one… You seem… less than thrilled by them.” The maid asked as she helped me step into the dress. I took a deep breath as she began buttoning up the buttons.

“He called me a halfwit,” I rolled my eyes and shook my head. “Something of a halfwit is what he said… It was because I was distracted by, well, by him. He just had a crowd of women around him, and he seemed so put-off by them. Most men, and women, my age… They’re looking for the next eligible... person. And there he had the pick of the lot, and he didn’t want anything to do with them,” I cocked my head to my shoulder as I looked at my reflection, “But after Mrs Jareau introduced us, and even after he insulted me… In fact, up until I left the ball, I could just feel his eyes on me. As if he was watching me.” I brought a hand to my lips once I finished my statement.

“I think I’m still in shock about him calling you a halfwit,” the maid came around to stand in front of me. I laughed as I looked up at her. “Why do you think he was watching you?”

“To be honest… I have no idea. He made it clear that he was in no way interested in me,” I shrugged as she cinched my dress. A breath of air was forced from my lungs. I nearly fell over from how much force she used to pull the corset tight. “Careful,” I looked over at her.

“Sorry, Miss.” The maid looked at my reflection. 

“It’s alright,” I chuckled as I watched as she picked up the dress I’d be wearing to the dance, “I think I’d rather have you put me out of my misery instead of attending this stupid event,” I muttered and stepped closer to her. She carefully (but quickly) helped me into the dress.

“It’ll be over before you know it. And, who knows, maybe Mister Reid will even leave you, and Mrs Jareau alone,” she smiled as she added some finishing touches. “You’re in the best years of your life. Don’t let a silly man ruin them,” she held both my cheeks. I smiled at her and nodded.

“You always give the best advice,” I whispered as I rested my hands on top of hers.

“Well, I’m happy someone listens to my advice,” she laughed with a smile, “Promise me you’ll have a good night,” she asked as she went back to helping me get ready.

“Just for you, I’ll have a great night,” I smiled and cocked my head. I suppose I looked great. My anxiety was just getting out of control because of Mister Reid. Hopefully, he’ll leave me be.

{***}{***}{***}

Oh, how I wished my maid was a prophet, and how I wished for her to be right. Because then her prophecy of Mister Reid leaving us alone would be real, and I could just get on with my life. However, we were all wrong. Because, as Jennifer and I stood at the punch table, in the crowd, I could see Mister Reid making his way towards Jennifer and me. Maybe he’ll pretend I don’t exist, and just greet Jennifer.

“Mrs Jareau,” Spencer stopped right in front of the two of us. I glanced at Jennifer and bit my lips back. 

“Mister Reid,” Jennifer returned with a curtsied. I looked around the room, expecting Spencer to ignore me. 

However, much to my surprise, and Jennifer’s, Spencer bowed in front of me and greeted me for the night. I looked over at Jennifer with shock on my face before looking back at him. I wasn’t expecting him to greet me at all, to be honest. Considering how our last meeting went. This was the last thing I was expecting. Halfwit. It took everything in me not to scoff.

“Mister Reid,” I rolled my shoulders and readjusted my posture as I looked at him. I could feel Jennifer’s eyes on me as I curtsied to the man in front of us. “How are you this evening?” I asked, holding my hands together in front of my body. 

“I’m doing just fine, thank you,” he nodded before looking over at Jennifer. Part of me wondered if she told him to relax, and not to be so arrogant. “And yourself?” he cocked his head to his shoulder as he looked back at me. 

“I’m excellent, thank you,” I bowed my head again. Jennifer wrapped an arm around my back and gently shoved me towards Spencer. I grunted as I nearly fell into his frame. I almost, nearly, glared at her.

“Something tells me Mrs Jareau wants us to dance,” Spencer spoke quietly, not wanting anyone else to hear his words. I glanced over my shoulder, searching for Jennifer. But to my surprise, she was gone, leaving me to my own devices, abandoning me with a man who hates me.

“My dance card is full,” I lied, I cringed as I told the lie. Spencer raised an eyebrow as he looked towards the blank dance card in my hand. I looked down at it, silently cursing for being so obvious with my lies. 

“Just one dance,” Spencer’s eyes shifted to my face. If it weren’t for the necklace I was forced to wear (by my mother, of course), I’d probably be able to breathe just fine. But I felt like I was suffocating. “Please,” he lifted a hand, offering it for me to take. I stared at it. Just one dance and we can get it over with. That’s it.

“If it’ll make you leave me alone for the rest of the night, Mister Reid, then I’ll dance with you,” I spoke, my voice shaky, as I hesitantly placed my hand over his. He latched his thumb over my hand before guiding me towards the dance floor. Murmurs came from women as we passed by them. That made me feel good, but the only thing that didn’t make me feel good was dancing with the man I was with. 

I’m sure they were all thinking ‘Well, why would she dance with him? She hates him.’ It’s not that I hated him… Okay, yeah I did. But, I’d honestly do anything just to make those other girls jealous. They all knew that too. I think even Spencer knew that too.

He had one hand rested low on my back, while the other held one of my hands. My free hand rested on his shoulder. The music started, and we started off our dance. I could feel people's eyes on us, watching as we went perfectly with the music. Like, it was a match that was meant to happen. Match made in heaven and in hell. My mother will surely have a fit about this once we returned home.

His touch felt like fire against my skin. The way his thumb brushed against the back of my hand, and his fingers interlocked with mine, made me want to melt. Part of me sensed that he could read my thoughts. I know how absurd that must sound. But, that was a fear that I currently had. If he could hear what I was thinking, I would surely die. 

So I quickly looked up at him, nearly breaking my neck at the speed. Spencer was looking around the room, probably for one of his friends. Or, even better, a way of escape. Despite my current thoughts, I didn’t blame him. 

“Are you alright, Mister Reid,” I whispered, looking up at his face. He blinked before looking down at me. He looked… bored. Which was unfortunate, because these balls were always a grandiose event. Maybe that’s just how he is, bored of anything and anyone. Oh, he’s probably bored of me.

“Mhm, what was that?” He looked back down at me. The way he asked his question told me that if I had had a whole conversation with him, he hadn’t heard a thing. So, I suppose it’s a good thing that I was having conversations with myself, not with him. I didn’t keep my eyes on his face, my anxiety was acting up. If my anxiety wasn’t so bad, I’m sure I would have looked right at him. So, I looked away from him. That was until I looked right at him, and he was looking back at me. My breath hitched in my throat once my eyes locked with his.

I was grateful when the song came to an end, Spencer and I froze on the middle of the floor, eyes still on each other while the people around us stared at us. My chest heaved as I stared at him. His hand was still firmly placed on my back, holding me close to him. I swallowed roughly, suddenly feeling very exposed, for no reason whatsoever. 

“I have… I have to go,” I muttered before pulling my hands away from his body. I stared at him for a moment before finally turning away, leaving him and the room altogether. I let out a sigh of relief when I finally made it outside. I walked back and forth in front of the busy building. 

“What was that? Are you okay?” Jennnifer’s voice came from behind me. I turned around and looked at her. My breathing was still hard, it felt impossible to catch. 

“What was that? You’re asking me what that was? You left me,” I looked at her with wide eyes. I felt a little bad for shouting at her. It’s true though, had she not left me alone with Spencer, I probably wouldn’t have danced with him.

“I didn’t put him up to that. That was all on his own,” Jennifer stepped closer to me, reaching a hand out to hold one of mine. I took a deep breath and shook my head. 

“Oh, I’m positive that’s what he did,” I folded my arms over my chest as I looked at her. Jennifer looked at me with a semi-apologetic look in her eye.

“Okay, I’m sorry I left you with him. But, Will called for me, and I just had to go see him,” she explained softly. I looked at her and dropped my shoulders.

“Should you know, I hated every moment of that,” I watched as she came closer to me. Jennifer smiled before resting her hands on my shoulders. “I just keep thinking about our first interaction… A halfwit!” I exclaimed as I looked at her. She looked taken back with me exclaiming and shouting. But to be fair, it was her friend that was being arrogant to me after she promised that he would want to dance.

“He didn’t mean it. He thinks he’s the smartest man in that room,” Jennifer laughed as she looked over her shoulder towards the building. I followed her gaze. “He’s even called me a halfwit before. And he’s the godfather to my kids,” she looked back at me and smiled.

“Well, maybe he shouldn’t have that, and included that I was not ready for marriage,” I shook my head. 

“He, himself, doesn’t think he’s exactly ready for marriage, either. He says that to anyone who merely shows him the slightest bit of interest,” she spoke. Her tone implied that I was ever interested in him. She should know that I wasn’t even interested in a man like Spencer Reid.

“Well, good for him… Someone should tell him that I’m not, nor ever was or will be, interested in him,” I scoffed and rolled my eyes.

“I’ll let you be the one to do that,” she smiled at me. I rolled my eyes again but smiled at her. “Will you come in now before you catch a cold? I don’t think your mother will want to hear you got sick because you were avoiding a man,” she laughed. I couldn’t help but laugh too because she’s never said anything truer. Jennifer lifted her hand, offering it to me to take.

“I suppose you’re right… Just, don’t make me dance with Mister Reid ever again,” I looked over at her as we walked back into the building. 

“We shall see,”

{***}{***}{***}

“Do you really have to go,” one of my siblings clung to my body as I walked down the hall, away from my room, and towards the front door.

“I really do have to go. Jennifer invited me over for a few days. I’ll be back before you even know it,” I smiled down at them before ruffling my hand through their hair. They pouted and clung to me harder. “What am I to do when I do get married? And when I move out?” I chuckled. 

“Please don’t go,” they mumbled into my dress. I frowned before lifting them onto my hip.

“I have to. You be good for Mama,” I pecked their nose before placing them back on the ground. They looked up at me, annoyed that I put them down. “I’ll be back before you know it. I promise.” I chuckled softly. They looked up at me, annoyed with the mere thought of my slightest bit of amusement. “This will be the last time I go away for a few days,” I laughed as I ruffled their hair again. 

“Fine, if you say so,” they looked up at me before sulking away. I tried to not let my amusement of leaving be too bothersome, but I honestly don’t remember the last time I had an overnight at Jennifer’s manor. It’ll be nice, get away from everyone for a few days. 

I retreated to my room, to finish packing for my journey. It was just me and my thoughts. That was until my mother stepped into my room, unannounced.

“I do hope you change your mind, Dear,” her voice came from behind me, just by the door to my room. I dropped my clothing, unfolded, into my suitcase. I tried hard not to drop my shoulders, but failed, allowing them to slouch down. “Well, don’t slouch, you know that’s bad for your posture,”

“What do you hope I change my mind on, Mother?" I muttered as I lifted my shoulders, and picked my dress back up. I carefully folded it and placed it gently in my suitcase. 

“You should be letting the maids pack for you, that’s the whole reason we have them,” she dramatically said as she sat on my bed. I looked over at her and blinked, trying to figure out the next thing that I wanted to say. I knew nothing would be right, though. Nothing would ever be right when it came to arguing with this madwoman. 

“You said I should change my mind? On what exactly?” I glanced over at her, feeling my sudden annoyance radiating off my body. Mother looked up at me, watching as I picked up another dress. 

“Oh, yes, that’s right,” a smile grew on her lips as she looked at me, “I hope you change your mind on your situation! Mister Reid is the most eligible bachelor there is, and you’re turning your nose up at such a great opportunity,” she clapped her hands together as she spoke. I sighed deeply, looking over at her with frustration. “This is your only chance!”

“Mother, I’m 21, I’ve still got time. Stop rushing me,” I laughed dryly as I closed my suitcase. “Mister Reid is a bastard. He’s the most arrogant man I’ve ever met. He’s already deemed me unworthy of marriage. So, what’s the point of getting married? Especially to him,” I snapped the locks shut as I looked over at her. 

“So you’ll never see him again?” Mother asked, clearly upset with everything I Had to say about Mister Reid. I sighed deeply and nodded.

“Not if I can help it,” I let out a small laugh through my nose. She looked even more disappointed by my laughter and truth in my words. Good, if she knows there’s true emotion in my words, then maybe she’ll stay off.  “The right man will come into my life, Mother, Mister Reid is just not that man,” I shook my head as I kept talking. I could sense Mother staring at me as I rambled on, and on. There was a certain gleam in her eyes like she knew something and wanted to keep it from me. 

“Does Mrs Jareau’s husband have a brother?” 

“Mama!” I shouted as I looked at her, “No, he does not. Okay? Please, please stop,” I dropped my shoulders again and looked at her, “I know you’re just worried about my future and everyone else’s, but I’m not too worried, okay?” I mumbled as I lugged my suitcase to the floor, “I have to go, I’ll be back in a few days. Promise,” I smiled at her as I dragged my suitcase down the stairs. With each thud, I could hear Mother’s thoughts, begging me to get a maid to carry it down the stairs. I was fully capable of carrying it myself. 

Although once I was outside I would need help getting it onto the carriage. The footmen would have to get it on properly so it wouldn’t fall off on the way. That’d be more than unfortunate for me. 

“Please do be careful,” mother was right beside me as I tried to board the carriage. I looked at her and smiled.

“Mama, I’m always careful,” I smiled before pecking her cheeks and embracing her, “I’ll be back soon, I promise. You won’t even know I’m gone,” I laughed before getting onto the carriage. I waved at mother as the driver started. 

I was very grateful that Mother allowed me to take the carriage. The journey between my home and Jennifer’s manor was bad on foot. It’s even worse when the weather was bad, thankfully the weather wasn’t too bad, and the ride there wasn’t too terribly long. I always hated the journey but loved when I got to my destination.

I nearly tumbled out of the carriage once we made it to Jennifer’s. My excitement was just a little bit embarrassing. Well, to be fair it’s been quite a while since the last time I saw her, and I was more than excited to see her. 

“Jennifer,” I exclaimed once I saw her. My feet moved on their own, carrying me fast to her. 

“Oh my goodness! It’s been far too long,” it was her turn to exclaim as she wrapped her arms around me. Her embrace was tight, and that goes to show just how long it’s been since we’d last seen each other. “You are now obligated to come here even if there is no ball. Once a month from now on until one of us dies,” she rested her hands on my shoulders and smiled. I laughed and looked at her.

“As long as you keep inviting me over, I will always come,” I placed my hands on her arms. 

“You must be famished after your journey, come,” she whispered as she grasped my hands. She pulled me into her home. Again, I nearly fell as she all but dragged me up the path towards her home. 

“Yes, I am, but is there a reason for you to drag me as if I was a cow,” I laughed once we were inside her home. I looked around and took in all the intricate decorations she had in just the front room. 

“They just finished making dinner as you pulled up. Wouldn’t want it to go cold,” Jennifer flashed me a somewhat nervous smile before leading me towards the dining room.

“What’s going on with you? You’re not ill, are you,” I asked as we entered the room. She stayed silent a moment longer, watching as I turned to face the table. “Oh,” I looked at the table and the person standing by it. Spencer was standing in front of his chair, looking between Jennifer and me. 

“I see you also invited Mister Reid,” I looked over at Jennifer with raised eyebrows, “Without telling me,” I glanced over at the man in question. He had now stepped away from the table and slowly moved towards Jennifer and me.

“I knew if I told you he’d be here, you wouldn’t have come,” Jennifer whispered as she looked at me. I took a step back as I looked at Spener. “Please, he’s not that bad,” 

“Well, I had no idea you’d be here either,” Spencer spoke with a bite in his tone. I stared at him before slowly blinking. The silence in the air was deafening, but at the same time so quiet. “In fact, had I known you were here, I certainly wouldn’t have come over,” he looked over at Jennifer. I let out a shaky breath as I looked at Jennifer too. 

“Are you two serious? You do realize you’re both adults, correct?” Jennifer looked between us and scoffed, “I’m not even sure why you two are the way you are.” She continued before pushing past Spencer and towards the table. I watched as she took a seat at the head of the table.

“After you,” Spencer stepped to the side before gesturing towards the table and final open seat. I stared at him, a little bit confused with his sudden kindness. 

“Thank you, Mister Reid,” I bowed my head before walking by him and taking the seat. Spencer walked around the table and sat at his seat. It was purely silent as the maids and butlers served dinner to Jennifer, Spencer, and me. I feared if I spoke about anything Spencer would immediately take offence to what I had said. I’m sure I could mention something about the weather, and he’d make it sound like I was an imbecile. 

“How was your journey here? I hear you live a ways away,” Spencer asked before he took a sip of his water. If he wasn’t looking right at me, I wouldn’t have known he was talking to me. I nearly choked on my food once I realized he was talking to me.

“Oh, sorry,” I swallowed roughly as I earned a few eyebrows raised from the people around me, “It was quite alright. Thankfully my mother allowed me to take the carriage, and the weather was perfect,” I smiled as I looked at him.

“I do have to agree, the weather was wonderful for travel,” Spencer nodded as he lifted his fork to his lips. I stayed silent for a minute, watching as he ate. 

“Did you have to travel at all, Mister Reid?” I asked, finally looking away from him and down at my food. Steamed vegetables and pork, with potatoes and cranberry sauce. Part of me felt terrible for Jennifer’s kids, they probably wouldn’t eat something like this. I know for sure my siblings wouldn’t dare look in the direction of steamed vegetables. 

“Just the town over, my manor is not too far from here,” Spencer looked up at me with a fake friendly smile on his lips. I copied his expression and nodded. “My mother is still there. She’s lovely,”

“Oh! How is Diana?” Jennifer finally interrupted. I sighed deeply as I dropped my gaze back down to the table. The two kept talking about Spencer’s mother, and how she was doing. And from there, it was smooth sailing.

Or, so I thought. The following day was fine. But the next day was awful. Terrible. I had spent the morning in the library, a good chunk of it in fact, and then I took a turn about the garden, only to end up back in the library. Unfortunately, for me, I didn’t realize I had forgotten some of my personal belongings in a bad place.

“Mister Reid,” I looked at him and bowed my head as I stepped back into the library. Spencer looked away from the book he was reading and greeted me. “What are you reading?”

“You left your diary here and I wanted to figure out who you were.....and when I read it....” Spencer looked down at the book in his hand. I looked down and noticed that he was, indeed, holding on to my diary. I nearly fell to the ground as I rushed to pull it from his grasp. Our fingers just barely brushed against each other, and my breathing stuttered for a moment. Spencer sensed that too, looking up at me with wide eyes and shock masking over it. 

“You idiot,” I looked up at him as I hugged my diary close to my chest. I wasn’t too sure if I was calling him an idiot, or myself for leaving my stupid diary in the library. Most likely the latter, to be honest. “You didn’t see anything, did you?” I couldn’t help but glare at him. There was just something about him that I loathed about him, I couldn’t tell you why. “You just had to be nosy,” I looked away from him before walking out of the library. I knew he would follow me before I heard his steps following me. 

I just hoped he didn’t read too much into this stupid thing. There were too many secrets for him to know, even my siblings to know. But, there were other things that Spencer Reid couldn’t know. Sure I hate him, I think it was a deep-seated part of me that hated him. But, another part, the part that’s in this stupid diary, didn’t hate him. The part that had feelings for him. I’m sure it sounds silly, being in love with a man you hardly know. But my mother hardly knew my father before they got married. And, Jennifer hardly knew her husband before they got married (granted, she had fallen pregnant with his child. Forcing them into marriage). 

“Wait,” Spencer called after me as he reached for my arm. I jerked my arm from him as I turned to face him. He was a lot closer to me than I anticipated, I nearly smashed into him. He lifted his hands and rested them on my shoulders to stop me from further falling into him. I looked up at him with wide eyes and alert on my face.

 I realized his hands were on me, on my shoulders to keep me upright. My breathing, again, picked up, and my head started getting a little dizzy. I wasn’t entirely sure if I was swaying, granted his hands were still on me. I’d be lying to everyone, including myself if I said that I didn’t enjoy his touch. And, like before, at the ball, his touch felt like flames against my skin.

“Get your hands off me,” I jerked away from him and stepped back. He looked down at me, a little bit of hurt on his face and in his eyes. “I have to go.” I looked away from him before leaving again. I sincerely hoped he didn’t follow me this time. When I glanced over my shoulder and saw him still standing in the middle of the hallway, watching as I ran away from him. 

Once I was behind the locked door to my room, I tossed the stupid book on my bed and began pacing back and forth. My arms folded across my chest, feeling my head get light headed again. But I had to keep moving to keep myself away from Spencer.

“Idiot! You….” I stopped and looked at my reflection in the mirror, “You stupid girl,” I scoffed at myself before going to lie on the bed. In fact, I pressed my face into my pillow before groaning into it.

{***}{***}{***}

“I definitely wasn't waiting around here hoping to bump into you or anything…” Spencer watched me as I re-entered the library. I looked up from the book I was holding and right at him. “Can we talk,” he asked, watching as I went to turn to leave the room. I froze as I looked at him. 

“About what, Mister Reid?” I whispered as I slowly re-entered the room. He stumbled to his feet and watched as I walked over to one of the several, fully-stocked bookshelves. I tried not to listen to his footsteps or breathing. Because if I listened to them, I’d know he’d be close behind me. 

“About what I saw in your-” He started, but stopped when I laughed lightly. I could hear the silence in his breathing, and that told me how close he was.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” I scoffed and shook my head, “I don’t know what you saw, Mister Reid, but whatever it was, was written by a childish girl who’s been conditioned to marry any gentleman who’s eligible for marriage. I had that moment of thought when I saw you at first. But then you called me a halfwit. So, whatever it was in you I saw quickly went away,” I spoke as I turned to face him. He was a lot closer to me than I had originally thought. “So, whatever you saw… Is false,” I smiled as I looked up at him. But, what he said next was something I wasn’t expecting. 

“I called you that because I am in love with you,” He spoke with a calm voice. I swallowed roughly as I stared at him. “I’ve been in love with you since I first laid eyes on you,” he whispered. I felt awful for laughing, but I honestly didn’t know how to react to this sudden confession. “Please, marry me,” he looked at me. Again, I felt awful for laughing, but I was in an incredibly awkward spot.

“You can’t possibly be in love with me. You hardly know me,” I scoffed and shook my head, “Halfwit. You even told me-”

“I know what I told you,” He cut me off. I looked at him and sighed deeply. “Please,” 

“I must go,” I answered his question with that. I turned to leave the room, forever pleased that he didn’t follow behind me this time. Tears rolled down my cheeks as I left, and I hated that I was crying.

{***}{***}{***}

“Caller for you,” the butler spoke once he entered the room. I sat up in bed and looked at him. I pointed at myself, staring at him with wide eyes. “Yes, Miss.,” I looked over at my mother, then at my siblings around me. 

“Well, send him in!” Mother shouted as she practically jumped from her seat. She rushed to stand in front of me.

“I wasn’t expecting anyone,” I looked at mother as she pulled me to my feet. She smiled as she pushed my hair away from my face. 

“This is the best thing to happen to you… To us, your sisters,” she whispered as she licked her thumb and rubbed it on my chin. I pulled my face away from her hands and looked at her. “The whole family!”

“Who could it be,” the youngest of my sisters asked as she bounced to stand beside me. I looked down at her and shrugged once mother stepped away from me. I let out a breath of air that I didn’t realize I was holding.

“No idea. The only person I’ve been talking to is Jennifer,” I looked down at my sister. She looked back at me and smiled. 

“What about that Mister Reid gentleman?” Mother asked, “He does seem lovely, Dear, I don’t quite understand your hatred towards the man,” she continued on with her love for him. And almost as on cue, Spencer Reid entered the room, his hat in hand. It left me speechless. I’d rather be speechless than have to explain my reasoning to her, again. 

I’m not sure how long it’d last been since I saw him. But, I can say that it wasn’t a pleasant interaction. It was cold and bitter. It was after his sudden proposal. No one knew about it, but we were forced to interact at the last event. No one even questioned why we were so bitter towards each other, they all just assumed it was the usual way we acted towards each other. Which was partly true. No, it was because he proposed to me, and I didn’t give him an answer. 

“Afternoon,” he looked around at each of the women, and men, in the room before finally looking at me. Keeping his eyes on me the longest. I swallowed roughly before curtsying. 

“Mister Reid, what an unexpected visit,” Mother rushed over to him and bowed slightly. Yes, what a very unexpected visit, Mister Reid. I wished I’d known you would be visiting so I could lie and say I would be out of town.

“Ah, yes, I apologize for that,” he looked at mother and smiled nervously. Nervous? What would he have to be nervous about? “Might I have a word… In private,” He was looking right at me. I froze as I looked at him. He was waiting for my answer. Words couldn’t find their way to my mouth, thus leaving me without an answer.

“Of course you can! Come along, let’s give Mister Reid and your sister a moment,” Mother looked at my siblings before ushering them out. I anxiously watched as they all left the room, leaving me alone in the room with Spencer. I silently pleaded with my youngest older sister to stay, but it was an obvious fail when mother pulled her out behind her.

“It was rather unexpected for you to stop by, Spencer,” I let out a dry laugh, “Especially after our first and last interaction,” I folded my hands in front of my body. Spencer took a cautious step closer to me. 

“And that was my fault. I regret it all,” he whispered and shook his head, “I was… I was arrogant, selfish… I don’t know what I was thinking. But, I do know now, that I missed the biggest chance to get married to the most beautiful, selfless, mindful woman I know… And I regret that more than anything in my entire life,” he whispered before lowering himself to one knee. I stared down at him with wide eyes, feeling a certain sickness rise in my throat and stomach. “Marry me,

“No,” was all I said. It was the only word that I suddenly knew. Spencer looked shocked, displeased, with my answer. “My answer is still the same, Spencer."

“We’d both be lying to ourselves, and each other, if you denied my proposal,” he looked at me as he spoke with a low tone. My eyes were wide open as I stared at him, and my silence was nearly deafening. He wasn’t lying, either. We both knew our true feelings for one another now, now that he’s read my diary and he’s proposed to me. We were both in love with each other, and we can’t lie about it now. 

“What’s that supposed to mean,” I asked, already knowing the answer to my ridiculous question. Spencer dryly laughed and shook his head.

“You know what that means,” he stepped closer to me, “I haven’t been able to get you out of my head, it’s rendered me useless. I’ve become so infatuated with you that… I’m unable to live a normal life without you by my side… Please” he shook his head and looked down at the ground. I took a shaky breath. “Please, accept my hand in marriage,” 

I watched as he knelt to the ground, holding himself up on one knee. I could tell he wanted to hold both my hands. But, my body wouldn’t let me move or react even. Maybe that the paralysis I was feeling was a reaction within itself. 

Mother’s words ran through my head. This is the best thing to happen to me, my sisters, and my whole family. Jennifer's urging for us to dance, and setting us up in her manor. And then suddenly the thoughts and memories of our interactions. I did have a valid reasoning for my hatred towards him. But to be fair, you don’t just call someone a halfwit for the joy of it. Of course, he did say he thought that way of himself, after he said it all to me. 

It’s honestly all too late now. We both already knew how we feel towards one another as well. But, can I really picture myself spending the rest of my life with someone as stuck up and arrogant as Spencer Reid? He’s already proven that he isn’t as stuck up as I thought, while we danced, and while we were at Jennifer’s manor. Time was moving quick, I’m not sure how long I’d been silently staring at him, but I knew it was a long time.

“Promise me something,” I spoke, my mouth having a mind of its own. I stared down at him with wide eyes. His eyes looking up at me, sometime over the last several silent minutes, he finally had a gentle grasp on my hands. 

“Anything… Anything for you,” 

“You call yourself a halfwit too,” I smiled at him. Spencer looked up at me, the same smile growing on his lips as he stood. 

taglist: @itsmyblogandillreblogifiwantto​ , @thebluetint​

[ianthe-is-a-bitch-and-i-love-her]

On Family

An excerpt from Memoirs of a Flesh Eater, never published

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One question that I see asked in the news a lot is why there are still any ghouls left. We have a distinctive, high-impact feeding habit that requires us to stay within human society, where we are both outnumbered and outgunned. This has essentially been the case since the development of automatic firearms, and you’ve continued to develop more and more effective methods of killing us since then. How are we not extinct?

The talking heads always have lurid theories to propose. My personal favorite one, which comes up every couple of years or so, is that the government is secretly breeding us so that they have an excuse to send secret police out into the general populace for nefarious purposes pretending to be exterminators. As if they’d need the excuse {Editing Note: I’ve gotta keep my political views out of this except where they directly pertain to ghouls. No unnecessarily alienating people}. The most commonly accepted one seems to be that we just have a lot of children to compensate for our high mortality rate. Spatha calls that an R strategy, I think. Scarlet calls it the Rabbit Theory. Whatever you call it, it’s wrong. Our species has survived off the strength and compassion of our families.

Contrary to popular impressions, our “nuclear” families are pretty small. My understanding is that 1-4 children is the typical range. I’m the only confirmed only child in my friend group. Scarlet’s the youngest of three, Scorpio’s a middle child, Spatha avoids talking about her home life, and Kestrel doesn’t know her biological parents. There’s a couple of pressures that keep our family sizes small. First, it’s challenging to feed too many ghouls at once, especially ghoul children, who we don’t want worrying about where they’re going to get their meals. Second, the majority of ghoul parents are going to end up as single parents before their kids are fully grown. Either one of them is going to get killed, or they’re going to have to separate to go on the run from the exterminators; and, of course, we do still break up and get divorced sometimes.

These pressures are exaggerated by our general lack of an extended family. It’s not that all of our aunts and uncles get hunted down - even if they did, we’d still have cousins - but it’s not safe for us to have traceable extended families. When exterminators identify a ghoul, the first thing they do is put out a bulletin for all known blood relatives. The most common tactic to avoid this is, when multiple siblings make it to adulthood, at least one of them changes their identity and moves away. This isn’t always done, but it’s done often enough that document forging is a widespread and well-respected profession in the Society. It’s useful for dodging exterminators in other circumstances too. My mom and I changed our names and moved cities after exterminators killed my dad when I was 4.

Between that and the sheer number of out-and-out orphans in our Society, it should come as no surprise that we’ve developed a new family structure to fill in the gaps. The terminology we use for this structure is variable, but the term I’ve always used is “household”. A household is a sort of adopted extended family, typically formed by and centered around one particularly resourceful ghoul called a patron. The patron takes whichever ghouls they choose under their wing, introduces them to each other, and helps them coordinate their talents and resources so that they all have everything they need. Most obviously, this means making sure they all have a supply of flesh, but there are numerous other kinds of support a household can provide. I doubt I need to emphasize again how valuable a reliable source of companionship and safety is, but patrons typically have access to connections and contacts that can help the other members of the household accomplish their goals.

My household, for example, was founded by our patron Yaga. It consists of her, her adopted daughter Kestrel, my mom and I, my friends Scarlet and Scorpio and their immediate families, and four other older ghouls. There’s also Spatha, who has been reluctant to fully join the household but acts like a member in most contexts. Three of our members have reliable flesh sources, and Yaga coordinates with other ghouls to find supplementary sources to ensure that she always has a surplus on hand. This keeps all of us well-fed and lets her distribute the rest to those in need in exchange for favors and cachet that the rest of us can use for our own advancement. In turn, the rest of us pitch in for odd jobs here and there, mostly on flesh-gathering jobs of one kind or another, and we look out for each other. I’ve done a bit of babysitting with Kestrel, for example, and Yaga was able to get me and Scarlet summer jobs to save up for college.

Babysitting, by the way, is one of the most valuable services a household can provide to a ghoul parent. Given our mortality rate, it probably isn’t a surprise that there’s a good bit of cultural pressure to have children, and have them quick. Ghoul children are… a lot. When we’re newborn, we’re pretty much like human babies. Ghoul babies can nurse from ghoul mothers for awhile, which is a relief. They need to switch to flesh before their teeth come in, though, so that means flesh slurry, which is more complicated to make than you might think. For best results, you want a mix of blood, muscle tissue, organ tissue, and bone, especially marrow. We get better at pulling all our nutrients from just flesh as we mature, but babies aren’t as developed. Getting those varied tissues is a little more complicated than just getting flesh. Bone especially is challenging - more mature ghouls have no need for it, and it’s honestly kinda gross. You just have to hope that whoever you’re getting flesh from can start holding some bones for you. Not every source has easy access to bones. 

{Editing Note: I think I wrote bone too many times - it looks fake now. Bone. Bone.}

We get our ghoul teeth at the same time as our baby teeth. Our ghoul teeth fall out and are replaced too, but we keep growing new ones our whole lives, kinda like sharks. Funnily enough, I don’t think we grow extra human teeth, which seems like a strange way for evolution to take us, but what do I know, I’m not a biologist. At that point we can start eating regular flesh, and parents have the unenviable task of explaining to toddlers that they can’t just slide their teeth out whenever they want. Our other features come in a bit later - claws between 4 and 6, eyes with puberty. Let me tell you, the claws hurt coming in. I couldn’t hold a pencil for a month. My mom told the elementary school that I was deathly sick so she could keep me home, but I think Scarlet just pretended he’d broken both his hands and went in splints. I don’t envy him - stretching my claws did a lot to relieve the pain.

I’ll admit freely that, by our standards, I had a pretty charmed childhood. I fit into human society pretty easily, I had a mom who loved me and could provide for me, a patron and household to help pick up the slack, and ghoul friends my own age. I had the discipline to keep my true nature hidden from my human peers, and I don’t think I was even particularly traumatized by the pressure of performing humanity that much. I can safely attribute that to the fact that I had safe spaces throughout my life to let the charade drop. Most ghouls at least have that. Most, but not all.

Our integration into human society also means that we inevitably become entangled in human society. We become invested in the lives of our human peers, we befriend them, care about them. Sometimes we fall in love with them. Eating people seems like kind of a big secret to keep from a potential romantic partner - I certainly couldn’t manage it - but some ghouls form romantic relationships with humans nonetheless. Maybe some of these human partners eventually discover the truth and are willing to overlook it for the person they love, but I doubt it happens often. I’ve certainly never heard of it. I’ve heard of it going the other way, though, a human partner discovering the truth and reacting poorly. Someone always dies when that happens. I personally know a few ghouls who’ve dated humans, or are seriously involved with them. Frankly, it scares the hell out of me. I get that the heart wants what it wants, but some wants aren’t worth the risk.

{Editing Note: That last line feels… tense. Emotionally charged. Why? And should I change it?}

In my opinion, the gravest of these risks is what happens when a human and a ghoul decide they want to build a life together, but kids are already in the equation. The human-ghoul mixed family is probably the most toxic environment that a ghoul child could be raised in and conceivably survive. All that pressure of hiding your true nature from your peers as you grow up? That feeling of isolation that follows you everywhere you go among humans? All of the most crushing emotional turmoil I’ve described in this book so far? Imagine if there was no relief for that even at home with your family. I frankly have no idea how ghoul parents manage to feed themselves and their children without being caught, or how they manage to perform humanity so flawlessly and constantly that their literal immediate family never catches on. I don’t know how those children manage to survive to adulthood, but I imagine they have some seriously fucked up mental health problems by the time they do. Factor in the suspicion that they would inevitably face from our Society when they finally are able to join it properly - after all, who more likely to become a Judas or be Lost than a ghoul raised by humans? - and I’d be willing to bet most of them don’t make it out of their twenties.

Before we move on entirely from families in general and mixed families in particular, I’d like to take a quick aside to talk about “half-ghouls”. You hear about them in horror media fairly often, the biological child of a human and a ghoul. Authors love to ascribe all sorts of traits to these hypothetical creatures - greater and more monstrous than the sum of their parts, supernaturally strong and vicious, impossible to detect within human society, sometimes with traits that are blatantly impossible, like telepathy or mind control or just plain magic. All of that is obviously untrue, but it’s something of a point of contention as to whether or not a “half-ghoul” is even possible. None of the ghouls I’ve talked to seem to agree about whether it can happen, and a search of human medical literature was similarly inconclusive. Humans, at least, seem to think that it might be theoretically possible, but have never been able to verify it by observation or by medical experiment. Of the ghouls I know that have been romantically involved with humans, none of them have ever gotten a kid out of it. It’s one of those things where we just don’t know. If it were possible, I’m not even sure what the implications would be.

[andromedasstarship]

in the stars - chapter 1

photo credit: @ssahotchnerr

pairing - aaron hotchner x reader

warnings - canon-typical criminal minds violence, show rating 16+ for reference. depictions of violence, stalking, murder, angst, age gap couple, drinking, brief mention of drugs.

summary - You finally meet the BAU, little progress is made in terms of the case. 

a/n - early update yay! i take a lot of liberties with movies that reader has starred in, pls dont take irl movie release dates into consideration here lol. more notes at the end 

blog rules 

masterlist // read it on ao3 here 

prologue // next chapter 

-----

Chapter 1 

Flights to California always took an extra toll on the team. Reid had explained it once, in a too long ramble, how the wind worked against the plane lengthening the flight at least an hour longer than the trip back home. 

Hotch was finding it difficult to focus on the files in front of him. The first photo he opened was of victim #3, with her eyes closed and face turned to the side, even Hotch could’ve been fooled that it was you lying there dead. While the rest of the team was mulling over the facts of the case, he was debating whether or not to tell the team about your history. The Unit Chief in him knew this was important information that had the potential to hinder the case; his relationship to you was too personal and his withholding of information could even turn him into a suspect. If the roles had been reversed with another member of the team, he’d have concerns over their ability to even be on the case. For now, Hotch forced himself to tune into the conversation the rest of the team was having; promising himself he’d figure out what to do later. 

“Garcia, what do we know about L/N,” Emily asked, turning ever so slightly towards the screen Garcia had just popped up on. 

“I’m glad you asked my dear Emily. Y/N L/N is totally Hollywood’s It Girl right now, it’s rumored you can’t even get a meeting with her without forking over at least twenty big ones. She’s never had a bad role in her career. Personally, my favorite movie she starred in was Mamma Mia, but like I said never a bad role,” Garcia paused for a moment, the sound of her typing filling the silence, “is it inappropriate for me to ask one of you to get her signature for-”

“Garcia,” Rossi interjected, “anything else we need to know about her right now?” 

“Sorry sir, I promise to be on my best professional behavior. But come on, remember when she swept the Oscars three years-”

Hotch felt himself detach from the conversation yet again, staring out the window as memories of the two of you flooded his brain. 

Three Years Ago 

The team had just finished a grueling case in Georgia. It was long, taking nearly two weeks to catch the unsub, in which he had managed to murder three additional couples right under their noses. Inclement weather forced them to stay another night until the storm passed, leaving them all stranded by the airport. In a turnaround way, being stuck gave them the rare opportunity to relax and bond as a team. Rather than all disappear to their own rooms for the night, they all packed into one small hotel room. Boxes of Chinese takeout were littered around the room, along with various bottles of alcohol. The Oscars were on that night and Hotch knew you’d be on the screen at some point, not wanting to miss it he proposed watching it to the team and they all happily agreed. While it was difficult with their schedules to be avid movie goers, they all were relatively familiar with the contenders for big awards such as Best Picture and Best Actor. 

You were nominated for two separate awards that night, along with starring in a film nominated for Best Picture. It had been a monumental year for you, with three separate feature films hitting theaters and all becoming major successes both financially and socially. You had spent so much time jet setting for press conferences and movie tours that you rivaled Aaron in terms of suitcase living. 

“Everyone shut up! They’re about to do Best Supporting Actress, oh I just know it’s going to be Y/N. Emily agree with me! We saw her in Little Women together, I cried. Oh don’t give me that look Emily, you cried too and you know it!” Penelope said enthusiastically, waving her chopsticks around. It was rare that Garcia ever came with on a case, but the location had been in a remote part of the state and they wanted to avoid being unable to reach her and her technical wizardry; a fact she was particularly grateful for, had this watch party been happening without her, she would’ve been so jealous.  

To anyone else, the grin on Hotch’s face would have been easily equated to the bickering going on between his friends and the effects of the few drinks he had thrown back. It was all for you though, he had caught glimpses of you on screen throughout the night and had snuck more than one glance at his phone to see the pictures of your outfit you’d sent him yourself. When the presenters walked on stage, Hotch sat up a bit straighter, his body naturally inching closer to the edge of his seat. The screen set up so the faces of all nominees and their reactions could be seen, Hotch’s eyes glued to the box you were in. 

“And the winner of Best Supporting Actress goes to…,” the first presenter started, slowly opening the envelope they held, “Y/N L/N!” The crowd roared and the camera focused in on you sitting stunned in your seat, surrounded by coworkers and friends. The team was cheering too, the liquor in their system loosening everyone up. Hotch clapping uncharacteristically loud and long even went unnoticed by the others. 

“I was right, I knew it!! I should start betting on this, you know what I bet I could hack into the system-” Garcia’s voice barely even registered in Hotch’s brain as he watched you. With one hand clasped over your mouth and the other holding your dress you made your way up the stairs and to the center of the stage. 

“Wow,” you started, eyes wide as you stared down at the award in your hands, slowly you looked back up into the crowd and continued, “I really mean it when I say I wasn’t expecting this. I didn’t even prepare a speech, I’m so sorry,” you paused again, the biggest smile plastered on your face as you quickly wiped a few tears threatening to fall, “thank you all so much, for supporting me and letting me do what I love. Thank you to my fellow coworkers who pushed me in this project and thank you so much to the fans who give me the strength to do this every day. Thank you! Thank you so much!” You ended, making your way back towards your seat. Hotch grinned as you flashed a wide smile to the camera following you, throwing a flirty winky that he knew was just for him.

The rest of the night went by in a blur. When you won again for Best Actress, you were barely able to contain yourself on stage, tears flowing freely down your face as you gave your thanks. The joy you felt in that moment was unlike anything you’d ever experienced in your life. At just 24, you had become the first person ever to win both awards in the same night. Hotch had actually jumped out of his seat at your second win, a motion that confused the rest of the team, but the liquor in everyone’s system forced them to ignore it; more glad than anything to see Hotch loosening up for once. 

After the team finally retreated into their own rooms for the night, Hotch wasted no time in texting you, asking if you were free to talk on the phone. His excitement palpable when not even a minute later your contact came up on the screen. 

“Aaron,” your excited voice came through the phone, just being able to hear you eased tension he wasn’t even aware he had been carrying, “can you believe it!” 

“Congratulations, Miss Double Oscar winner.” Even after a year of being together, his voice made you giddy. “Where are you?” He asked, unable to ignore the pounding sound of music and people in the background. 

“After party, top secret location Mr. Agent. I’m in the bathroom! Am I allowed to tell you I definitely see some residue of a line on the counter,” your voice was slurred and rushed, the energy of the moment combined with the liquor in your system causing your mouth to move faster than your brain, “probably not, ignore that. Where are you?” 

Aaron relayed various info about closing the case and what the team had gotten up to that night. When you began telling him about your night, he couldn’t help but feel insecure. Where he told you about $8 takeout meals and rural Georgia, you were talking about some of the biggest names in Hollywood and the luxury treatment you’d been subject to all night. He forced himself to focus on your voice anyway; not wanting to take this time ‘with’ you for granted. The two of you could’ve talked for hours, had it not been for Hotch pushing you to go enjoy the celebrations. 

“I’m so proud of you angel,” he said softly, voice swelling with adoration, “I’ll see you soon, I promise.” 

“I love you Aaron.” 

“I love you too Y/N.” 

When he finally hung up, he leaned against the wall with a sigh, running his hands through his hair. Relationship wise, it had been a tough year for the two of you. With your schedule busier than you’d ever expected, it meant seeing each other in person was nearly impossible. In good conscience you refused to take him away from Jack on the rare weekends he had off. Instead you’d fly in whenever possible, the two of you spending low profile nights together in fancy hotels or his house if Jack was away with friends. It was excruciating maintaining a relationship like this, but something about the success of the night made the sacrifices feel worth it. 

Present Day

“Look into her dating history, any exes that would want to hurt her?” JJ asked, her question pulling Hotch back into the present. Adjusting to the constant publicity you were subject to had been a learning curve for Hotch, the first time the tabloids ran a story of you photographed with some Hollywood Hunk his bad mood had the entire team walking on eggshells for a week. 

“According to my search she hasn’t dated anyone in years, or at least not publicly. I have a theory she’s secretly dating Henry Ca-.” Hotch zoned back out before Garcia could finish, having no interest in hearing or seeing whoever the media was speculating to be involved with you this time. Willing the plane to land faster, he ignored the faint voice in the back of his head that was telling him you were free to be with whoever you wanted. 

----

“If you’d follow me Miss L/N, the BAU has set up in the back conference room, they’ve been waiting for you.” Officer Reynolds said, her back to you as you followed her down the hallway. It was nearly 9am and you had spent the better half of the morning hyping yourself up to see Aaron for the first time in nearly two years. You made last second adjustments to your outfit; an outfit you definitely hadn’t spent all of last night picking out because you definitely did not want to look good for Aaron Hotchner. As Officer Reynolds moved to open the door you held your breath, thanking the years of experience in manipulating your outward expressions. When four heads turned in unison to look at you, you let out a sigh of relief. Aaron wasn’t in the room. 

“This is Y/N L/N. Miss L/N, meet the BAU,” Officer Reynolds said, extending her arm outwards towards the rest of the room, “I’ll leave you guys to do introductions, if you need anything, find me,” and with that she exited the room. A blonde woman stepped forward first, extending her hand out to you. You knew who she was before she even said her name. 

“My name is Jennifer Jareau, I’m the media liaison with the BAU.” She said, she gave you the same smile all the other officers had been giving you, but unlike theirs that reeked of pity, something in Jennifer’s felt authentic to you. After shaking hands with her, the rest of the room took a moment to introduce themselves. You never thought you’d meet Aaron’s team like this. Over the years, he had shown you countless photos of the team, along with hundreds of stories and tidbits concerning their lives. Even though you knew they had probably spent the entire flight to LA looking at your life, it still felt as if you had some creepy advantage over the situation. 

“The rest of our team, Agents Hotchner and Morgan, are currently doing some research in the field, but until they return we’d love to brief you and ask you a few questions, is that alright?” JJ asked, stepping backwards and motioning for you to take a seat at the round table. 

“Of course,” you quickly replied, moving to take a seat; internally you were laughing at the irony of her asking if it was alright, what would you do, say no? Looking up at the other three members still standing you motioned for them to sit as well, “I don’t know if you’re doing it on purpose, but I’d prefer if you all sat down too,” you paused, before adding, “kinda makes me feel like I’m back at school.” They seemed to smile at that, everyone else moving to find a seat at the table. Before the silence could turn uncomfortable, JJ spoke up again. 

“Does anyone else in your life know about the murders?” 

You shook your head no before replying, “my agent knows just in case I have to go underground and my security guard is aware, but besides them and the police, I haven’t told anyone.” 

“Go underground?” 

“Uh yea, a few years ago I had a stalker. I went ‘underground’ for about three months and the guy seemed to give up. The police have already cleared him, he hasn’t been to LA in over a year,” you explained. 

“That’s good to know. We want to keep your involvement in the case completely out of the media. I can only imagine you want that too,” JJ started, angling her body towards you, “I know you’re probably more than well versed in dealing with the press, but if anyone comes up to you asking about the murders we want you to completely disengage. And of course, don’t tell anyone else about what’s going on.” 

“Alright, now that that’s settled, we just have a couple questions for you,” Emily asked as she stood up, opening up a file from the table, “so what can you tell us about-” 

----

The dump site wasn’t showing any promise. Situated near a highway, the field was hidden from the road, yet still accessible by car. The constant stir caused by the speeding cars meant any leftover DNA or footprints were effectively blown away. 

“Our guy’s gotta be fit. The drop into the field is just steep enough he would’ve had to carry the body at least fifty feet to get it here from the road. He could’ve rolled it, but the bodies were too pristine to have been dropped on the ground like that.” Derek said, looking over at Hotch. The two of them were standing at the edge of the road, looking down at the now empty field. “Not only that, but this is a nice spot. Normally places like this so close to a highway are filled with trash, do you think he might’ve cleaned up?” 

Hotch was silent as he considered this, before slowly nodding, “it’d make sense if he did. Everything we have concerning his treatment to the victims post mortem has been nothing but affectionate.” 

“Do you think there could be two unsubs?” Derek asked, when Hotch looked at him with mild confusion he continued, “All the victims were strangled to death, ME report assumes it was by hand. It takes a lot of strength and persistence to kill someone by hand like that, not only that but it’s intimate, he’s staring them in the face as he kills them. The level of care displayed here seems way more than just remorse.” 

Hotch took another moment to consider Derek’s proposition before shaking his head, “we’ll keep it in mind, but it’s clear whatever connection he has to L/N is personal, at least to him. These women could be failing to replicate some part of her personality and in his rage he kills them. But when they’re silent and unmoving, their likeness to L/N lets him fall back into the fantasy, hence the care.” 

“We should start heading back, Reid just texted me they’re almost done with the initial briefing with L/N, and we should meet her before she takes off for the day.” Derek said, putting his phone back in his pocket before turning on his heel to head back to the car. Hotch’s shoulders tensed at the idea of seeing you, looking back at the field once more. Giving the field one last look, he felt a shiver run up his spine at the idea of finding you in a field like this. Shaking the idea out of his, he turned to join Derek in the car. 

Hotch took the driver's seat, glad to be able to use the road as a needed distraction from the impending face to face. The drive was only twenty minutes, but Hotch didn’t think any time would truly be long enough to prepare himself to see you again. He found himself wondering if anything would be different from the last time he saw you. Did you still smell the same? You had always been quite adamant about your preference for scented lotion, rather than perfumes. What if you completely changed your hair? Were you worrying about seeing him as much as he was? 

“You think she’s gonna be easy to work with?” Derek asked, breaking Hotch out of his mental spiral. 

“What do you mean?”

“Y/N, you know, “Hollywood’s It Girl”,” Derek explained, “if she’s as in demand as Garcia said she was-”

“While we work this case Morgan, I expect you to conduct yourself appropriately,” Hotch interjected, his voice tight, “we treat Y/N the way we would anyone else, do I make myself clear?” His eyes not leaving the road at all, knuckles tight around the steering wheel. 

“Crystal,” Derek responded, raising his hands up in mock surrender. 

As they turned into the parking lot, Hotch scanned the parking lot before finally noticing your car parked in the back of the lot. You used to always park as far as you could, constantly complaining about how people in parking lots stressed you out and you wanted to be able to drive in and out as easy as possible. The corners of his lips turned up, ever so slightly, thinking maybe nothing had really changed for you, at least in that regard. 

“You go ahead, I’m just going to send a message to Jack real quick,” Hotch lied, pulling his phone from his pocket. Derek nodded and got out of the car, quickly entering the building. Hotch put his phone down in his lap and gripped the steering wheel once more. You were one of the few people to ever wind him up this way; it had been like that from the first day he met you, as if you managed to make him melt under your gaze. Five minutes, he would give himself five minutes to pull himself together before letting the Unit Chief in him take over. 

----

“I’m sorry, I just, can I take a break,” you asked, looking up at the agents who were still grilling you about facets of your life you never would’ve considered relevant, “I just need to get some air.” Without really waiting for permission, you were pushing back on your chair to stand up. Slinging on your thin jacket you exited the room, heading for the entrance of the building. The agents had been kind, but you were starting to feel a bit useless. Each time they had a new theory, you came up short in terms of material for them to actually use. They kept reassuring you that what you were able to come up with was helpful, but you weren't convinced. 

You had been in and out of this office so many times, your body went into autopilot as you made your way to the entrance, not even pausing to look up as you started to push open the door. What you missed was the distinct outline of a body pulling the door open at the same time. The added force made you stumble, nearly crashing straight into the man on the other side. Brown eyes met yours and you both froze, uncertain of what to say before speaking at the same time. 

“Y/N.”

“Agent.”

-----

a/n - wow wow! things are gonna start moving in the next chapter, i promise. the response to ‘in the stars’ so far has been so heartwarming. ive said it before, but this is my first fic and i cant even fathom that people are actually interested in what im writing. your support means the world! im trying to get stuff written before university starts up again, but i dont want to nix quality for faster updates so if updates slow down im sorry! comments always appreciated. leave a reply or ask if youd like to be added to the taglist! if you requested before but arent added, just ask again i mustve missed it on accident 

Taglist: @mac99martin​ @iwaizumiee​ @kylorendrip​ @hqtchner​ @lieswithoutfairytales​ @ssahoodrathotchner​ @midsummernightdream​ @weasleylovers​ @evans-dejong​

no permission is given to republish or upload my fics anywhere else. if you see this story not on my tumblr or ao3 it is stolen work. i do not own criminal minds or any of the characters involved

[prorevenge]

Bridezilla Karen ends up looking like a pauper at her own wedding.

I (F48) have known “Pat” (F48) for decades. As far as I can remember, she was fixated on having 5 children and a picket fence dream life. I slowly cut ties with her in college because she was an opportunist and I didn’t trust her. She is both manipulative and forceful. Her idea of cute rubs me the wrong way. Pat likes to walk like a penguin when she wants to elicit pity, and she usually does this when she wants to evoke the underdog narrative. I’ve never seen someone act so despicable and ridiculous at the same time.

I moved on with my life. Happily got rid of her for years. Pat eventually found me on facebook. I accepted her friend request out of politeness.

Pat has become the epitome of a permissive mother. Her (5) kids do as they please and she never calls them out. She tried to force a relationship between me and her daughters and made them call me Auntie. Pat tried to drop them at my house uninvited. Her phone calls were insistent, she tried to monopolize my time and she began to show up at my job. I created some boundaries so she tried to find loopholes. It was a nightmare.

My husband and I hosted a party for the community center (not the real name) new members. The community center is actually a very informal initiative and my husband and I mainly serve the homeless population. We prefer to help strangers instead of catering to potentially narcissistic acquaintances. We don't mind lending a hand but we have encountered truly dishonest choosing beggars.

There are other services, like one of the members who helps women get their wedding and prom dresses for free.The community center location “headquarters” is actually a farm owned by an elderly couple. There is a barn, a venue and a very nice green field with an artificial lake and some fowl. They charge for the use of their facilities (weddings , etc.) but not for community oriented stuff.

Pat had always been salty at her husband for demanding that she go back to work after baby #3. In the meantime, he worked three jobs. She demanded he get her pregnant to fulfill her dream of having 5 kids. He didn’t agree, because he was already nearly 45 and felt like he might never be able to retire. She got away with bringing new babies into this world anyway. Her fascination with being pregnant comes from all the attention she gets. She had at least one miscarriage in between each kid.

Pat latched on to our group. She never missed any of our activities. I hated having her in my house, but it was an open invitation that included virtually everyone and she was very active as an event organizer. I didn’t like the way her kids behaved. We have a designated area for parties and entertainment, but her kids ended up inside my bedroom. We ended up having to keep watch of them and enjoyed zero of our own party.

I called her days later to get my point across (regarding their overall behavior) but she completely cut me off and began talking about herself and said her kids wanted to come visit again and use our pool. I never answered that. I didn't want to say “no, I will not have your brats over”.

She also called me as summer was approaching specifically to let me know her middle daughter was bored and wanted to spend a WEEK at our home. I politely declined, citing that me and my husband have to work and cannot entertain guests. .

Pat paid no heed. Her kid called me on the weekend,calling me “auntie” and attempted to coax me by saying “Mom says you invited me to spend SUMMER with you”. I quickly clarified, and offered an explanation to avoid hurting a kid’s self esteem. Nevermind. Her daughter just hung up on me.

Pat’s facebook also showed some red flags. Some cryptic rants here and there were visible, along with friends’ comments and complaints on how she asked a particular person to watch her kids only for a couple of hours and ended up leaving them all day. Another of her friends criticized her “girls night out “ because Pat had just asked them to be patient and wait until she could pay back some money that she owed them, yet she had money to spend on Friday night outings. I thought those very public comments on private matters were more like a cry of lost patience.

Unpleasant things began to happen. Like the time she volunteered to wrap the Xmas presents for underprivileged kids. We all wanted to create a mix of less costly gifts with really nice ones. Surprisingly, some nice and eye-catching toys and games went missing but turned up under her Christmas Tree (courtesy of her mother in law’s FB posts). No one could prove anything but it was hate-inducing. Or the time my daughter called me in tears to pick her up after she attended Pat’s daughter’s birthday (Casey). My daughter had been ignored all night because she didn’t gift her the expensive gaming stuff Casey practically demanded. My daughter did ask, but I said no. We would buy her a very nice and thoughtful present according to her taste. So when I went to pick her up my daughter was sitting alone in the living room while Casey and her friends stayed outside.

Stories about Pat and her family multiplied. The owners at the farm (community center) decided keep their their gates locked unless they had guests or events because Pat got in the habit of driving in whenever she pleased and it was either her kids screaming and disturbing on-going weddings, throwing rocks at the koi in the lake or harassing the geese in the yard. Or how she stiffed another soccer mom with the lunch bill and then pulled the struggling financially card. Or how other parents hated her because she created unnecessary hostile competition.

When my daughter turned 13, I allowed her to wear my grandma’s ring. It's not an expensive piece of jewelry, but it's vintage and girls nowadays wanna look boho. My Granny gave it to me when I became a teenager so I passed it on to my kid so she could wear it on her birthweek.

It was weird that she became quiet and distracted after that. She also didn’t want to go to school and my husband and I became suspicious. She never opened up, and my other kids had no clue.

We went to her school but her teachers assured us nothing had changed in her environment. My husband and I suspected she was being bullied but our kid gave us no tools to support her. My kid is very sunny, and very compassionate. She has never had any problems with other kids. I called her best friend’s mom. Natalie, my kid’s BFF, told us what was going on. Casey (Pat’s eldest) and my daughter had become “close”. I knew this and wasn’t too thrilled. I found the age (Casey was 17) gap not exactly inappropriate but I’d rather see my daughter spend time with friends in the same age range. Casey is very beautiful and a gifted student. She is also very conceited. To make this story short, she asked my daughter if she could try on the ring and refused to give it back. She later claimed that she lost it but “would look for it” so my daughter was distraught. My daughter kept asking for her ring and as a result, Casey shunned her and spread the word that my kid was trying to steal HER ring. Some kids at school took Casey’s side. So now Casey just wore my kid’s jewelry to school like nothing happened. If that doesn’t qualify as taunting I don't know what does.

My guilt comes from not being able to get my daughter to open up and feel safe telling me the truth. I talked to her and she burst into tears. I was both pained as a mother and furious that some teenage b!tch was doing this under our noses.

I went straight to Pat’s car after school. I asked to talk as Casey was about to go in. So I grabbed Casey’s hand and asked to see her jewelry. Casey froze and she tried to make a fist, so I became relentless. Casey yelled “Mom!” and Pat struggled to get out of the car. I slid the ring off (Casey has tiny hands and wore the ring on her index finger). First Pat yelled at me. After I confronted her with the engraving on the band (my grandma's maiden name), she argued it was loaned to her daughter by my kid. Then she said she bought it. I paid no heed. I did warn them that I knew Casey had become an abusive friend to my daughter.

Pat called me to tell me off. She said she was trying to raise an assertive young woman and I had just messed that up by being “overbearing”. She never apologized for her thief of a child.

Pat's husband ( Hank) is what can be described as a doormat. Pat wore him down to a knob. He had no choice but to “obey” her to keep the peace. She was a bully who actively withdrew affection when he didn’t follow her wishes, even in public. So she got kids #4 and #5 after a relentless campaign that included leaving him for two months. Her pregnancies were a nuisance because she expected to be treated like the only lady who has even been pregnant. She strolled around in a wheelchair almost immediately after getting pregnant and she would “get very sick” on weekends, so her kids were often sent to friends and family so that she could “rest”.

Pat systematically bullied Hank. She would leave town and take the kids with her. Poor Hank would look distraught, drinking on his porch or just looking really lonely. This is how she got off the hook and was able to leave her job. Hank had virtually no voice, so he struggled to keep the marriage together. Everyone liked him, but hated her equally. Hank loved to talk to other people but seemed concerned that Pat would be upset. Over time, according to my husband, Hank began to show signs of depression and mental distress.

Our friend, Lenah, runs the wedding/prom dress initiative. It's not complicated. Dresses are sourced from donations, ebay, trunk shows, etc. Unusually beautiful dresses are retained so that more than one bride gets to wear them. In some cases, a bride will pay 50 bucks, but most of the time, the dresses are donated to the bride.

Pat was involved in this. Lenah kept her in because they never had any issues and her task was limited to just shipping the dresses out.

Pat decided to renew her vows and her bridezilla Karenzilla attitude became the icing on the cake. For starters, she bullied another couple into giving up their wedding date at the farm because she “needed her renewal to match her exact wedding date”. They were not impressed with her harassment, so they booked another venue. As a result, the farm owners were pissed because Pat was already costing them money after she had successfully negotiated a cut in their rate “because she couldn't afford it but will repay by doing maintenance work around the venue” (she never made good on her word).

Pat became attached to a particular dress that was already assigned to another bride. Lenah made it clear that she would need to pay for her own dress. So Pat played it cool and shipped the wrong gown instead. She was adamant that it was the right dress, despite all the notes on Leah’s agenda. The other bride was truly gracious about it. She was obviously disappointed, but never made a scene.

What bothered me most is that I picked that dress and bought it for 40 bucks at a garage sale (not my money, Leah’s money). It was a vintage dress, ankle length, white with lots of lace and a huge bargain. Again, when confronted, Pat “did a Casey” and used the “this is mine” strategy. We felt so bad for the other bride that we did our best to get her something nice to wear. The other bride was a true fighter, she had pulled out of welfare, earned her high school diploma and was working to get on her feet by trying to earn a certificate as an acrylic nail technician. So, her reward was to have some Karen steal her dress? Pat never admitted to messing up, but just by the fact that she claimed it was her dress, we knew.

Lenah never allowed her in her warehouse again. Their last phone fight ended with Pat bringing up the other bride’s past (like it mattered) and “this conversation is over, it's my dress and you are mistaken”. That was weeks before the other bride’s wedding.

Pat went all out on her wedding decor. She spent way too much. She hired a caterer for some food (mainly mimosas and appetizers), but the wedding invitation included a request for specific dishes for her Sunday brunch wedding. Either she ran out of banquet money or was on a complete moocher mode.I picture the penguin walking upon practically asking everyone to supply her wedding reception grub and I cringe.

There is nothing wrong with potluck weddings. In fact, they can be a nice addition to a very cozy and family oriented wedding reception. But, don’t you need to at least be close to your guests in order to ask for such a thing? Even I got an invitation. I told everyone I wasn’t going because I was very uncomfortable being told what to bring and was probably expected to give them a cash gift on top of that. Some of the older ladies in our group agreed. Some said they would not decline in advance because she is a bully and they didn’t want a confrontation.

Lenah called me the night before Pat’s re-wedding. Lenah was there to close the Saturday night bingo and Pat was awfully friendly, but that’s what she does whenever things are going her way. Lenah peeked into the garment bag and saw the exact same dress while Pat was caught up supervising the wedding decoration.

The thing with Karens is that they expect everyone to suck it up, or make their dreams come true, or they simply underestimate everyone and think we are all fools.

Lenah is a very straightforward person with a “so sue me” attitude. She told me she would just ruin the dress. After all, it was hers, so she could do whatever she wanted. If Pat wanted to take legal action, and should things get ugly, she needed to prove ownership. However, the dress was the same, the marks inside the hem and the tags were the same. Even the tag numbers that were punched to identify each dress for logistics purposes matched.

Pat had the dress altered, with some extra beading and dyed to a deep cream color. But it was obviously the same garment. Lenah and I snuck in before the venue was closed for the night. All brides are allowed to stay in a small bedroom for a small charge, so that they don’t need to drive in on their wedding day. Honestly, the makeshift chapel was gorgeous, I don’t know how she paid for it but it was full of flowers and presumptuous details. I naively brought in some ink to spill on the dress, but Lenah said she wanted “something more awful, like a nasty surprise”. Ink would be too obvious and if she saw it ahead, she may be able to snag another gown from somewhere. No, the ideal thing was to have her trust the dress was fine. So Lenah locked herself in a bathroom stall and completely cut out the back panel. She patiently put it back on its hanger and zipped the bag. We left through the emergency door with the back of the dress stuffed inside Lenah's purse. I completely hate people who target and steal from anyone they (Pat and her kid) calculate to be in a weaker position.

The wedding was scheduled at 9 AM. Pat called me at 7 AM, but I ignored her calls. I picked up by 8 AM, both curious and wondering if she suspected anything. Pat was frantic.She was crying that her dress was “missing by half”. I purposely made her explain, being annoyingly dense and continually interrupting like she does, and stalling the conversation. She asked me if I could lend her my wedding dress. I said no, sorry. She then asked me if I would help her get a dress. I was satisfied to remind her that the town's bridal shops were closed on Sunday and the others that would open were almost an hour away. The farm is already almost one hour away from our town.

If Pat could get a shop to rent a dress, she would need to try the dress on, and get it steamed. Even if the dress was ready to wear, it would easily take more than two hours (roundtrip). She tried to ask me to go pick a dress (who would pay for this??). Even if a shop were open and brought her a dress, it would add to the cost. Also, these shops open at 10 or 9:30 at earliest. By time they got to her, it would be time to wrap up the wedding because she needed to clear the venue by 12:00 for the next event.

She broke down and mumbled some stupid stuff I didn't understand. So Pat hung up on me and called Lenah instead.. She asked Lenah to bring her “anything she had available”. Lenah and I ended up delivering the most outdated, moss smelling, oversized dressed. Pat’s disappointment was a mix between angry and emotional. She also tried to wear her knee length silk bridal slip as a wedding dress but it was too obvious and it really looked cheap. She tried to get her daughter to give her her own dress to wear with an open back zipper (due to fitting issues) but Casey refused, asking if she was supposed to attend the wedding naked (she got a point, plus Casey is petite).

The dress needed a petticoat to plump up the skirt, which wasn’t available. So it dragged all over the floor and Pat had to keep pulling it up. Pat walked down the aisle with one hand on her bouquet and another one grabbing her dress. The dress looked limp and weird with the arrangements of pins (they didn’t show) that caused the sleeves and neckline to pucker into messy rims. She spent the ceremony looking uncomfortable and out of place. Very few people attended but that was not part of any revenge, that was just how people reacted to her entitled attitude.

The dress looked awful. The reception portion of the wedding had all this princely decoration, a very nice cake and a bridezilla with a dress from hell. I didn’t stay, but I was told, she was so disappointed she spent her wedding sulking. There was no dance, no actual speech. She had to change into a shirt and leggings because the dress was too uncomfortable. Everyone talked about how Pat put on her flip flops and walked around aimlessly until she ordered the ushers to start folding up the chairs within one hour of the reception. So she practically kicked everyone out and the cake was never cut.

Pat wasn’t the same after this.She was not as loud and avoided everyone. I think she was disappointed that nobody ran to her rescue, not even her family who came from out of town.

Her husband finally cracked under all the pressure and sought some help. He was slaving away and coming home to clean the house while Pat used her kids as an excuse to spend like crazy. Hank also had to do kid homework because Pat never had time or never had patience. She also refused to get a partime job so her kids could attend an afterschool and get help with their school stuff. Therapy seemed to help Hank because the last time Pat left with her kids, he didn't seem distraught. He would be riding his bicycle and could be seen more relaxed while mowing his lawn. Hank told my husband that he had contemplated suicide after their third kid. When Pat returned, he maintained the routine but was interested in going out by himself and doing things for himself. We began to see Pat alone all the time. Hank was seen less and less in the same car and eventually moved in with his parents. He filed for divorce on the grounds of emotional cruelty and I don't think he won. Instead (I’m not sure of this because this is what I was told) there was some sort of a settlement or agreement that she would not get close or interact with him unless it has to do with the kids).

I also don’t know if Pat even actually suspected who/what happened to her dress. She slowly pulled away from the community center and became less active in social gatherings. Pat also removed me from her facebook as well as mostly everyone else from school and the center.

TLDR

Bridezilla stole a wedding dress from an underprivileged woman. The actual dress owner destroys her big day.

(source) story by (/u/forestcabin123k)

[youngbounty]

My Issue With Narumayo and Narumitsu Shippers

Just to be clear, I have nothing against Narumayo. The only issue I have with it is that I don’t like colleague dating, especially if it is an employee hooking up with their boss. Though, this is only a pet peeve at best and it isn’t illegal. I just consider it distasteful and I feel no different about Justicykes. Though, this isn’t about that or my distaste for Narumayo. I just wanted to make it clear I don’t have anything against anyone that may like Narumayo. You can like whatever ship you want or not like whatever ship you don’t like. It’s your right. Same with Narumitsu, since I am a fan of that ship myself.

That being said, I will call out any BS claims about a ship by those that oppose it. I’m talking about both sides. Just to be clear, the “fans” of both ships that do this are a very small minority compared to the entire Narumayo/Narumitsu fan base. It just goes without saying that the more eggs you place in the carton, the more bad eggs you will find in that carton, even if it is a small percentage or number.

For the Narumayo fans, I am talking about the claim that the opposing ship fans cherry picks reasons from canon as reasons for their ship being canon, even though they’re not proof that the two parties are in love and could just as much equal a platonic relationship. I mostly see this from Narumayo fans towards Narumitsu shippers where they make fun of how Narumitsu shippers depend on the “Unnecessary feelings” line as their reason they support their ship. Point taken, except don’t Narumayo shippers do the very same thing? They depend on the words from a sheltered 8-year-old little girl that doesn’t know how to read, let alone understand what romance is. I’m not going to say we Narumitsu fans never scrape the bottom of the barrel for proof that our ship is canon, but Narumayo fans literally do the very same thing.

Other reasons Narumayo shippers claim their ship is “canon” is because Phoenix is always concerned and trying to save Maya. Again, didn’t Phoenix do the same for Miles in Turnabout Goodbyes? How is Phoenix saving Miles from having his life ruined or getting the death penalty any different from saving Maya from the hands of Shelly De Killer or the Minister of Justice in a foreign nation? What? Because Phoenix saved Maya more times than Miles? Bold excuse. If that is your argument, then I guess Phoenix loves Maya more than Trucy, because he only felt concerned for her safety during the one time she was kidnapped. Phoenix saving Maya constantly doesn’t mean he’s in love with her or cares about her more than Miles or anyone else, just like Miles saying “unnecessary feelings” doesn’t mean he’s in love with Phoenix. Even though I like Narumitsu, I am aware that they are not canonly in love, just like a majority of Narumitsu and Narumayo fans, that cherry pick excuses that probably doesn’t mean romantic, already know their ship is not canon. 

I do understand that many noncanon shippers that cherry pick reasons from canon that don’t equal their ship being canon can come off as annoying. They can get very obnoxious. Though, you cannot claim that your ship is better when it does the very same thing. You’re basically the pot calling the kettle black. The same would go for Narumitsu shippers that are calling out Narumayo shippers for the same thing. The only difference between Narumitsu and Narumayo is the sexuality and backstories of the characters involved in the ship. Though, to the Narumayo shippers’ defense, at least they don’t accuse the other ship of being a pedo ship. Get ready, because I’m about to rip the Narumitsu pedo accusers a new one.

Maya is NOT a minor. She owns her own place, works a full time job, pays the bills and even cared for a child only a year later. Also, being Ace Attorney takes place in Japan, the age of consent in that country is 13 years old, so 17-year-olds dating 23 or 24-year-olds is not considered pedo. Even if you were to call her a minor, by California’s standards, which already has BS laws about 10-year-old little girls being allowed to marry or have sex with older men with parental consent, Maya was only age 17 during the first three months she was with Phoenix. I doubt if he is going to remember Maya being a minor for those three months out of the 12 years they’ve known each other. Count the months between Turnabout Sisters to Turnabout Goodbyes, technically that is three and a half months in total. That is literally how long Maya was 17 years old hanging around with Phoenix. That’s hardly enough time to ask her out on a date, let alone falling in love with her. 

Another thing, people like Phoenix, falling in love with young people like Maya, happens more often than you think. Again, Maya lives like an adult, so it would make just as much sense for Phoenix to be attracted to Maya, especially since she looks almost like his ex girlfriend. Men fall in love with very young women. I’m not going to say it’s tasteful, but that’s how the real world works. In the real world, men like Miles Edgeworth will date young women like Ema Skye. Yes, she was a minor when he first met her. She also grew older and of consent. I’m not saying it’s right or tasteful, but that is the real world. Men love them women young and ripe. Does it make them pedophiles? No. It’s distasteful, but they’re not pedophiles. Falling in love with someone, who is an adult, you’ve only met as a minor for a few months or so before they grew into an adult, does not count. It takes more than a few months to fall in love and even attraction itself isn’t always there when you first meet the person you are dating. With every shipper, you need to think ahead. I doubt most Narumayo shippers have their ship shipped together during the time of the first game. It’s likely they’re shipped together after the trilogy or Spirit of Justice. 

In truth, both Narumayo and Narumitsu ships equally have potential. There’s no reason for either ship to go against each other. It’s petty. Neither ship is canon or makes more sense than the other. They’re equally okay, if done correctly. I’ve seen Narumayo where Miles Edgeworth is supportive of Phoenix and Maya getting together. Same with Narumitsu with Maya being highly supportive. Hell, most Narumitsu fan fictions have Maya as the one trying to pin Miles and Phoenix together like Pearl tried to do with Phoenix and Maya. Now, as I said before, I consider Narumayo distasteful, because of the employee x boss thing and the fact Maya is the younger sister of Phoenix’s dead boss. Of course, my reasons are from experiences and I know not everyone shares mine. You don’t have to like a ship and it can be for whatever reason under the sun, but that’s not a reason to accuse the opposing ship of something your ship does or of something they’re not. 

Before you are to accuse a ship of being a pedo ship, always think ahead. Is the ship of an adult having romantic feelings or doing romantic things with a child? Do the shippers ship them together when either character is a minor? If no for all of them, it’s not a pedo ship. Even if character A has known character B since character B was a minor before being shipped, that doesn’t make it pedo. It might be distasteful, due to the age gap or having known the other character since they were a minor, but it is NOT a pedo ship. It only is when either character in a ship is a minor the moment they are shipped, get together, fall in love or the older one crushes on the younger. Always. think. ahead. 

The same goes for any ship accusing the other of cherry picking reasons for their ship to be canon when it’s not. If your ship is also not canon, then why even call the other one out for cherry picking? Narumayo and Narumitsu cherry pick reasons for their ship being canon all the dang time. Narumitsu’s reasons for claiming their ship is canon are no more reasonable than Narumayo’s reasons for the same thing. I’ll even list the basic excuses Narumitsu shippers use to prove their ship is canon:

“I have been settled with unnecessary feelings,” Turnabout Goodbyes, Phoenix was angry at Miles for leaving him in Justice For All, Phoenix pined for Miles since he was a child, Phoenix became a Defense Attorney because of Miles two times, Phoenix helps Miles with cases more times than anyone else including Maya, Miles had helped Phoenix retrieve back his badge, they fight like a married couple in court, Miles helped Phoenix save Maya the two times she was kidnapped, Miles had helped Phoenix investigate in the two later games, Miles denying wishing for marriage in Turnabout Time Traveler, Miles bringing up Phoenix so many times that I could make a drinking game out of it in Miles Edgeworth Investigations 1 and 2, Phoenix calling Miles ‘Daddy’ in Dual Destinies, Miles telling Phoenix he should ‘strip naked’ in Farewell my Turnabout, the creator saying that Phoenix would find Miles ‘cute’ in a Steel Samurai costume and Miles telling Phoenix “as you wish” for anyone making a Princess Bride reference.

There is more, but those are all I could think of. If you can think of one reason for any Narumayo shipper to believe their ship is anymore reasonably canon than all of the Narumitsu excuses I’ve listed, I may reconsider, but I have found non. I’d argue that not all of these excuses are unreasonable to assume the two parties maybe in love. It still could mean something platonic, but it can easily mean something different, if they were the opposite sex. And yes, it’s the same with Narumayo; some of their excuses are reasonable, but that’s the point. Most of the excuses I listed are obviously dumb reasons like the “strip naked” part, but it’s not unreasonable to think there might be something more between them based on Phoenix pining for Miles or Miles constantly thinking or admiring Phoenix in his own games and comics. The same can be said for Phoenix and Maya. It’s not unreasonable to think Maya might have feelings for Phoenix based on the fact she talked about him a lot after leaving for the Kurain Village in Turnabout Goodbyes. Not my thing, but I can understand why people ship Phoenix and Maya, because I ship Phoenix and Miles for many of the same reasons.

Feel free to comment. What are your thoughts.

[lassieposting]

Bit late and random but it's the anon you leave food out for here to give away I am also bi and I think exactly the same as you about bi val pretty much, every time Derek offers me representation my reaction is to slowly, hesitantly take it and say "thaaaaaaaaanks..." while rolling my eyes, in much the same way one accepts their least favourite flavour of sweet from an annoyingly enthusiastic uncle-type-individual. Ironically I feel I had more in common with her before the bi shit started up.

What I find really amusing is that Landy actually did reasonably well at representation when (and only when) he wasn’t trying. 

Oh god, this got long, anon, my ass rambled.

tldr; I'm glad actual bi people dislike bi val (or how Laundry handled bi val) as much as me, this will probably offend at least one person but i don't really care, Dirty Laundry wrote better rep when he didn't mean to write rep at all, and if he ever starts trying to "represent" groups I'm part of I'll take him out back like a dying horse and shoot him.

Like, yes. He had stupid and potentially offensive shit - I say potentially because what offends one member of a group won’t necessarily offend all of them. His attitude to mentally ill people is, frankly, disgusting. We’ve had “Skulduggery can’t be abused, he doesn’t have feelings”. We’ve had “eVeRyOnE iS bI eVeNtUaLlY”. We had Ping, who seemed to be pretty much universally offensive. And that's what's always going to happen when a straight, cis, white, wealthy, male author tries to write marginalised groups he doesn't know shit about, because inevitably he's going to fall back on stereotypes.

But we also had:

SEXUALITY REP: Phase One's nonstraight characters were treated like the straight ones, and like, isn't that the whole point? There was no need for a massive Coming Out Story TM to grab for those sweet sweet Woke Points, because sexuality isn't supposed to be important to mages. I never understood why Val needed that whole Coming Out Panic storyline. Like...Des and Melissa are ridiculously supportive, encouraging, loving parents. They accepted you dating a ~19 year old when you were ~16. They accepted you revealing you could do fucking magic and that you'd been lying to them for like seven years. They took your undead buddy in stride and the most pressing question your dad had was whether magic toilets exist. There is zero reason to think that "I'm bisexual" is gonna be the thing that makes them flip and throw you into the streets in disgrace, Valkyrie. Come on.

Tanith had girlfriends and it was just mentioned casually, because it's normal.

China had massive UST with Eliza. That was an opportunity right there to not only include a f/f relationship, but also to bring back one of the few precious surviving characters from Phase One, using characters and a relationship that already had several books' worth of setup and tension and interest from fans.

The Monster Hunters have a casual conversation about which one of the Dead Men they'd date.

Ghastly has a conversation with Fletcher about the pain he's been through being in love. He never uses any pronouns.

It was confirmed at one point re: the Dead Men that at this point, after 300-odd years, everyone's been with everyone else at some point.

Thrasher is gay, and while Scapegrace's...everything...is treated as a joke/comedic relief, Thrasher's love for him isn't. He's completely devoted to Scapegrace, and that in itself is not played for laughs, even though the rest of the scene usually is. Thrasher's description of their first meeting is essentially a love-at-first-sight situation for him.

"ABNORMAL" RELATIONSHIP REP: Age gap relationships are normal for mages. Off the top of my head, using only canon, canon-implied or almost-canon ships:

Ghastly/Tanith (~350 year age difference)

Tanith/Sanguine (~250+ year age difference)

Tanith/Saracen (~350 year age difference)

Caisson/Solace (~250 year age difference)

China/Gordon (~400 year age difference)

Kierre/Temper (~500+ year age difference)

If you include fan ships, there's also things like Mevolent/Serpine or my Mevolent/Vile, which are both ~600 year minimum age gaps based on the timeline, or Valdug (and its variations) which is ~400 years.

Now, whether you consider this kind of rep positive or negative is up to you, but it’s there.

MENTAL ILLNESS REP: more like "Which characters in this series don't have a mental illness or a personality disorder?" I have some of these issues, but not all of them, so this is just how I read it, but:

ADHD: Skulduggery

Dissociative Identity Disorder: Skulduggery & Vile

Dissociation: Skulduggery again, most notably in DD and DB

Schizophrenia (or similar): Valkyrie & Darquesse, Valkyrie "seeing" Darquesse's ghost thing in Phase Two

Impostor Syndrome: Reflectionie

Autism: Clarabelle

Trauma/PTSD/CPTSD: Skulduggery, Valkyrie, China, Ghastly, Erskine...pretty much everyone has a believable, understandable, morally grey trauma response in this series. People struggling with trauma are spoilt for choice of characters to see themselves in.

TRAUMA REP: This series is a trauma conga line, but everyone has a believable, understandable, morally grey trauma response in this series. I see little bits of myself in more than one Phase One character.

Childhood Abuse (of varying degrees & types): Skulduggery, Carol & Crystal, Omen, Fletcher, Ghastly, China, Bliss, Sanguine...

Estranged Family: Skulduggery abandoning his crest, Fergus & Gordon, China & Bliss

Bad Romantic Relationship: Skulduggery is also very clearly an abuse victim. He’s got a solid history of romantic attachments to women who manipulate, use and gaslight him for their own agendas.  There's a whole paragraph in SPX about how Abyssinia broke him down, isolated him from his friends and preyed on his desperate need to be loved, all classic abuse tactics.

And I’m personally a huge fan of this backstory for two reasons:

1) Society likes a plucky victim in media. The "My suffering made me stronger" type of victim. And it's not always like that in real life. Not all survivors come out of their abuse stronger or kinder or more understanding. Some of us come out cold and fucked up. Some of us end up as emotionally stunted, bloodied-nails-and-bared-teeth survivors, broken in ways that can't be fixed and sustained by enough rage to power a small sun. But society doesn't like to tell the story of that kind of survivor, because we're not usually a likeable protagonist. When we're shown in media, we're usually the sympathetic villain, or maybe the antihero. But Skug is someone who's done awful things and lost pretty much all his faith in humanity and been burned more times than he can count, and he still makes the conscious choice to try and be the good guy when he could so easily go Evil Supervillain on the world, and I don't know about any of y'all, but I've modelled myself on him in that. I've made the choice to do something good when all I really want to do is just become a horrible, shrivelled ball of nastiness and revenge. And that's because I saw him do it and realised that I could do that too.

Skug is an incredibly capable, strong, masculine Man's Man. He gets in fights all the time, and he usually wins. He's military, an industry that's Really Bad for stigmatizing weakness and mental illness, and he's right up at the top of the hierarchy. Almost everyone is afraid of him. He's a straight up cold-blooded killer. Skulduggery Pleasant is precisely the type of person who's not normally portrayed as a victim of anything. Nothing about him screams "victim" at all. But his abuse history is insidious. He's so conditioned to respond in a certain way to abuse from the women in his life, probably from a very young age, that despite all that strength and capability and stubbornness and ego, he just goes along with it. And it's an established pattern going back hundreds of years. He keeps going back to China, even though he knows she's bad for him and his friends keep telling him to stay away from her. Abyssinia latched onto him when he was traumatized and vulnerable and weaponized it against him to make him easier to control - and when she reappears, hundreds of years later, she jumps straight back into using, tmanipulating and gaslighting him and not only does he let her, he doesn't even seem to realise that behaviour is abusive. He thinks it's normal! That's how he's always been treated by his long-term girlfriends, with the notable exception of Wifey. Even when Val is being fucking nasty to him in the first couple books of Phase Two, sniping and lying and blaming him for everything under the sun, he just takes it. There's no attempt to tell her she's being unreasonable, no telling her to fuck right off and give her head a wobble, no defending himself even when she's bitching over something that isn't even his doing. And this is a man who has an absolutely gleaming steel spine the rest of the time; Skug has no problem saying no to anybody else, but he can't get past the way he's been taught to treat the important ladies in his life. Skug is a walking reminder that anyone can be a victim of abuse, even the ones who seem least likely to be susceptible.

GENDER REP: This one is the most iffy out of the bunch and definitely was not done very well in the eyes of the people who matter most, but I'll include it anyway because it mattered to some.

So there's Nye, who's...agender? Genderless? And uses "it" pronouns? Nye was generally considered horrible rep because it's also a war criminal and experiments on people and I've seen people say "Well I don't want to be seen like that" but? It's still possible to be a war criminal and also genderless. I never saw the two things as being related or relevant to each other.

There's also Mantis, who's in exactly the same gender/pronouns boat as Nye and always seems to be forgotten about, which sucks because Mantis is a war hero. It fought for the Sanctuary during the War and they never lost a battle when it was in command. It's called out of retirement to fight for the Supreme Council in LSODM, ends up fighting alongside Skulduggery during the Battle of Roarhaven, and ultimately dies attempting a very brave, very risky strategy. Mantis is, unreservedly, one of the good guys. It was also my introduction to sentient beings using "it" pronouns, and did it in a way that felt natural, so when I met my first person online who used "it" pronouns and hated to be referred to as he/she, it was...weird, but not as weird as it would otherwise have been, because I was like, "Oh yeah, like the Crenga. Okay."

And then there's the Scapegrace sex change plotline, which...I might have an unpopular opinion on this one. From what I’ve seen, trans people don’t seem to think was handled well or with any sensitivity at all. I’m not trans, so if the trans community says he was being offensive to them, I’m not going to claim otherwise. But...I first read the Scapegrace plotline as a young teenager in a tiny rural school with zero diversity, going through a period of being deeply confused about my own gender identity. He was more or less my first introduction to the idea that genitals =/= gender. I was relieved, at that point in my life, to read someone having a lot of the same thoughts I was having about being in the wrong body. So while it may have been badly done and yeah, the series would probably have been better without it, it did make at least one kid suspecting she might not be cis go “Huh! So there are other people who feel like this.”

Thrasher is also implied to be legitimately trans/gender-questioning, and that's not played for laughs either.

So? Phase One, while it absolutely had faults and issues and things that were just "Oh god why", was actually full of rep, at least compared to the other series that I read as a child/teen. But? As soon as Dirty Laundry started trying to be woke? He fucking sucks ass at it. Aside from confirming Phase One's hints that Skug has a background of abusive relationships, every single attempt at shoehorning rep into Phase Two is Bad.

The painfully OOC, forced, badly-written awkwardness of Val suddenly being rabidly horny for women out of fucking nowhere. The stilted, forced cringiness between her and any of the women she's flirted with - contrast that with Sorrowscorn's interactions, full of natural chemistry that had us all like 👀 I mean, I never shipped Val/Melancholia, but I could always see why people did - they had miles more chemistry than Val/anyone in Phase Two.

The fucking mess that is v*litsa, because if someone says "I'm really not interested in friendships/relationships right now", clearly the route to true love is to bulldoze their boundaries and forcibly insert yourself into their life and proceed to treat them like a delicate soft uwu flower, completely ignoring the horrible things they've done, while gleefully damning their best friend as an irredeemable monster for the exact same things, which is. You know. Gonna affect your so-called love's self-confidence and self-esteem because she knows she's no different to him. Y'all know I love an angsty ship, an unhealthy ship, a ship with fucked power dynamics, but I literally cannot roll my eyes any further back in my head at this shit. I never read Demon Road, but from what I've heard from friends who did, it does seem like every time Laundry tries to write an f/f ship, he comes up with a cringey abusive/manipulative caricature and tries to call it rep, and he needs to Stop.

Val's Mental IllnessTM arc. It's funny how he wrote Skulduggery as a wonderfully complex character with deep-rooted psychological damage and long-lasting trauma, but believes he wrote a character with "no feelings" - but when he tries to delve into the damage the world of magic has done to Val, he turned her into a weak, whiny drug addict who treats everyone around her like garbage and is so selfish and dislikeable that I? Honestly can't even reconcile Phase Two val with Phase One val. They're two completely different people. He's shown on Twitter that he doesn't have any respect for mentally ill people, and it shows. Other mentally ill people might see it differently, but the whole thing just makes me go "yikes".

Never, who has no personality outside of being genderfluid, and whose pronouns make no sense. I'm sorry, I have never met an nb person who insists that you change from male to female pronouns multiple times in a sentence, every time you refer to them. It's confusing as fuck. Now I have been told that Never has apparently received some character development in the last couple books, and if so, fair play, but I quit reading after Midnight, and Never and the rest of the personality-less new characters introduced in Phase Two who just seemed to be 2D Stereotypes to snag Woke Points were a big part of why, so. Development too late, I'm afraid.

(Now, if anyone is looking for a well-written genderfluid character, I recommend the Tawny Man trilogy by Robin Hobb. I have a lot of issues with her as a writer, and unfortunately I hate her POV character which puts me off the series as a whole, but she wrote the Fool/Amber/Lord Golden and their gender identity/approach to sexuality with so much more respect and realism. That is the kind of rep nb people should be getting: 3D, complex, realistic characters whose gender is only a tiny fragment of their personality, not the be-all-and-end-all of their existence. You know. Like cis people get. Nobody wants to be represented by a 2D cardboard cutout stereotype.)

Anyway idk how much sense this makes it just really amuses me that Laundry would include all this rep completely unintentionally and then go on Twitter and remind us all that actually he's a massive asshole via insensitive/offensive tweets about the groups he'd actually done a fair job of including (i.e. Skulduggery has no feelings, mentally ill people should find another series to read, the bullshit about Val being "heteromantic bisexual" on Twitter and then spouting all the "the woman she loved uwu" shit in the books (proving he has no idea what he's talking about), eVeRyOnE iS bI eVeNtUaLlY. He can only write half-decent rep when he's not trying and he inevitably outs himself as having a really shitty attitude towards those people anyway, proving that ultimately it's all either unintentional rep or performative wokeness.

[regrettablewritings]

Peter B. Parker Pre-Relationship Headcanons

A/N: Why? Because it’s my blog, I love Peter B. Parker, and not enough people are still writing for him.

How did they first meet?: Normally, people in apartments prefer to keep to themselves. New Yorkers are especially not an exception. But it’s a little hard to avoid meeting someone whose crying you can hear going on through the thin walls of your cheap apartment -- no matter how much you may want to. Maybe the delivery person was tired and misread the address, but they wound up delivering an extra-large pizza to your door instead of the one to the right of your place -- the one where at any given moment, you could be hearing crying, a phone alarm clock going off for way too long, or an animal documentary playing. Pettiness told you to just keep the pie for yourself as revenge for him being such a weirdass, whoever he was. But the decent person you really were reminded you that doing that wouldn’t really accomplish anything. Besides: If the dude is already crying so often, why make it even worse by stealing his pizza? Sighing heavily, you shuffled over to your mysteriously somber neighbor to try to do the right thing . . .

What was their first impression of each other?: To be perfectly frank, not good. Peter had made his first impression to you before you’d even met him -- and you thought he was a weirdass! That, or really depressed. Given the apartment building you both lived in, it could very easily have been both. But when he opened that door, revealing himself to be a very tired-looking 30-something, you knew it was probably more the latter. And even though it was technically your third impression of him, the sour expression he wore with the equally unpleasant curtness over how you weren’t the delivery kid left a bitter taste in your mouth. The aftertaste stuck with you, tainting your thoughts of him for weeks on after. So it really shocked you when he reappeared after going silent for about a week, having seemingly done a complete 180. No, not seemingly -- had! As it turned out, his time in Miles’ dimension had caused Peter to become more introspective. Both on his life, and how he wound up treating others in it. Including you. He felt pretty bad for how things had started off. In hindsight, he was coming from a pretty dark and arguably even selfish place. Heck, the first thoughts he had of you (annoying, a nuisance) weren’t even based in reality: Rather, they had been muddled by his own cynicism and depression. And he really did regret that it never transformed properly beyond that, even during the scattered few times you would see one another as you left or returned to your respective apartments. When he tried to start over, being kinder, his impression of you was someone who was guarded -- as you had every right to be. It would take some time and a lot more mellowing before he learned that you were more of a shy, concerned person at the heart of things.

Did any of their friends or family want them to get together?: Peter honestly didn’t know how much he should let the others know about when it came to you. Was it really appropriate to use the cross-dimensional communication system to reveal that he not only was no longer involved with MJ on a romantic level, but also was potentially eyeing somebody new? No, but the disturbingly insightful Noir caught on and demanded that Peter come clean after using some detective mumbo-jumbo about how his pupil dilation indicated the presence of another woman in his life. Everyone to both Peter’s relief and embarrassment is supportive of this new chapter in his life, gently jabbing at how incredible it was for such an “old-timer” to put himself back out there. Even though the usage of “leap of faith” made his cheeks burn (how dare his own protégé once again use the phrase against him), part of Peter couldn’t help but wonder where such a leap might take him. Or if this was a leap he should even take. You, on the other hand, try to keep your budding attraction to your neighbor a secret from your loved ones. Yes, you’re a grown-ass woman, but that doesn’t make it any easier that you’re crushing a little higher than you normally do, age-wise. But eventually, the strain of bottling it up (coupled with your friends’ pestering) let to you coming clean. Of course, there were a lot of initial taunts on the matter but once that had calmed down, they were surprisingly supportive. “It’s New York,” they reasoned. “We’ve got some weirdo in a red suit swinging around and shooting webs -- you getting with your older neighbor is one of the most normal things that could ever happen in this city.” A fair point. But still, you had some concerns . . .

Who felt romantic feelings first?: You did, and the realization of it made you convinced you must have Daddy Issues floating around somewhere, though it was debatable to you if Peter could even qualify as a Daddy. You don’t even know where or when it started! (And frankly, you’re not sure if you want to because the chances that it happened when he was horking down on something is just too big a risk to take.) And even though you knew stranger things have happened, this was something you never would have guessed when you once humored the idea of meeting your “one true love” in New York City.

Did either of them try to resist their feelings?: You both did, and both had a laundry list of excuses reasons as to why you did. Yours started with the age gap, continued with things such as being worried he saw you as immature, and didn’t so much end as it did thud to a conclusion at your inner conviction that his heart still belonged to his ex-wife. And Peter didn’t even know where to begin with his. Most would probably suggest the fact that he was Spider-Man, but he would beg to differ. Yeah, it was a big deal, but so was (at least to him) the idea of an age gap and coming across as a creepy old guy. And even beyond those was the fact that being a depressed 30-something living in a shoddy apartment with a newspaper job despite having a degree in physics. (So basically, he’s peak Millennial.) To him, it just wasn’t a good look. Besides, was it right of him to go after someone new? Was it fair to him or you? Or was that just intrusive thoughts doing the talking? Whatever it was, the poor fellow couldn’t help but feel he was at a bit beside himself. And at the end of it, the two of you were just overthinking things to the point of nearly exploding. 

If you had told one of them that the other would be their soulmate, what would they think?: Do you know how many strange things random people walking around New York have told the both of you? You’ve learned not to invest a whole lot of thought into it. Not gonna lie, the idea would petrify Peter on so many levels that it’s not even funny. For one, he’d spent all this time convinced that MJ was his one true love. And now the universe is telling him that there isn’t a one singular true love!? Besides, what if he messes this one up? He talked a big game about a leap of faith, but that was with familiar territory: He knew MJ and how to approach her and be with her. But you? You’re something else. Not a bad something else, but . . . not quite one he knows exactly how to approach, especially this far into the game that is his life. To be perfectly honest, he might actually try to keep some distance and hope that you aren’t aware of how the two of you are connected. He doesn’t mean to hurt you, but he doesn’t mean to hurt you, if that makes sense. Peter knows his alter ego can cause a lot of pain and strife, and it was hard enough just going through that with MJ; he doesn’t want to drag another person into that, not if he isn’t sure if they’d be ready for it. But he will keep a close eye on you. Not only because you’re a citizen of the city he swore he would protect, but now he knows you’re meant to be particularly special to him. If he can’t love you up close, then the least he can do is at least make sure you stay safe. Maybe even fed, as he sometimes knocks on your door, claiming that he ordered too much food and would like to give you some. Perhaps he leaves a bag on your doorknob full of spices you may have wanted or coupons for things he thinks you might need, knowing that you’re probably scrimping and saving just as much as he is. Just little things to assure that you’re fine, seeing as he surely couldn’t do so as yours. . . . Right? See, the funny thing about soulmates is that while it comes down to the individuals what they can try to do about it, the bond between them will always been inevitable, given the right circumstances. So it was always inevitable that the distance would be worn away by the man who put them there. It was always inevitable that Peter would enjoy your company, and you his. What wasn’t inevitable was the fact that Peter would be standing in the middle of a bodega, reaching for a pack of candy he thought you might like, pause, and then silently curse himself. Whether he knew it or not, he took a leap of faith. And now he was in far too deep to get out.

[thebluelemontree]

I don't know if you've already answered a similar question, if you have I apologize and will look better for it. But do you think Sandor and Sansa would still love each with how much they've both changed? They've almost become new people, but still the same beings.

It’s no problem. I’ve written about that here and probably touched on this in many other posts. 

I wouldn’t frame the question as would they “still love each other with how much they’ve both changed.” It implies that their feelings were already understood as love by them when they were together. What they had was a confusing mess of conflicting emotions that neither were fully capable of understanding or accepting at the time. Each had their reasons for why that was so, which goes to some of the issues that stood between them. While there is chemistry, intimacy, and empathy shown, IMO, it’s better to think of them as possessing the building blocks that can lead to love in the future.  

On the other hand, there was also:

The fact that she’s too young, immature, and unready for a consummated romance with anyone. She needs space and time to grow up and figure out what she wants. Until AFFC, she’s still only comfortable consciously fantasizing about Loras Tyrell, who is non-threatening, conventionally attractive, and uncomplicated. They are still relatively chaste/borderline erotic fantasies. The unkiss takes time for her to consciously accept and embrace as reciprocated erotic desire.  

The fact that he has no idea how to express himself without resorting to the language of violence that he understands best.

The fact that he copes with the unresolved childhood trauma and PTSD in unhealthy ways like his abrasive Hound persona, his overly-cynical worldview, and sometimes abusing alcohol when he’s under stress.

His immaturity and inability to simply ask for and accept the emotional support he wants (which she was perfectly willing to give) without freaking out over being vulnerable with someone. 

The fact that they are on opposite sides of a war where Sansa’s family is in open rebellion against her captors who Sandor owes fealty to. 

The fact that she’s the king’s betrothed. She’s his property. To explicitly act upon any romantic attraction would be considered treason, punishable by torture and death.  

The fact that there is a massive class disparity between them that overshadows the age difference in their world. That’s one reason why neither can put a name to this thing between them. A future queen / high lord’s daughter from an ancient house should not be fraternizing with a non-knight from a house only three generations old. That’s why they struggle even knowing what to call each other because using first names shows too much familiarity and intimacy. This would be true even without any of the other conflicts. Class controls everything in Westeros. 

And yes, he still owes her a big heartfelt apology for his abhorrent behavior during the Blackwater, and he should beg her forgiveness.  

Most of these points I elaborate on in more detail in the links above. If you notice, though, most of these things have either been resolved or are in the process of being resolved. None of these issues were ever insurmountable obstacles. 

The ways in which Sansa and Sandor have evolved even in their separation has been largely positive and complementary of each other. They haven’t grown apart or become incompatibly different at all. If anything, it’s pushed their feelings further along, and it’s clear they are very much on each other’s minds. Since we can see Sansa’s perspective firsthand, she’s only thought about Sandor more since he left.  

Sansa has grown and matured a lot more when we see her in the TWOW sample chapter. Had the five-year gap panned out, she would be legally an adult in Westeros; however, dropping it doesn’t seem to have affected GRRM’s intentions for any of his POVs. She’s in the company of unconventional, sexually mature women in their early twenties who can be role models in navigating adult relationships. The sassy way she takes no shit from a brutally honest Harrold Hardyng shows she has confidence and the ability to go toe-to-toe with Sandor’s gruff personality without getting flustered and running away. After she wipes the floor with him with her wit, she ends up winning Harry over to the point he’s begging for her favor. There is no point in the sample chapter where she voices any anxieties about not feeling ready for marriage, sex, or children. This no longer seems to be an issue for her, so we can assume she feels okay with having an adult relationship at this point.   

Her time as a bastard girl has made her warmer and friendlier. She was always kind, but proprieties and courtesies can also read as aloof and re-enforcing strict class boundaries. Can you imagine Kings Landing!Sansa hugging someone like Lothor Brune, a landless knight, as she does in TWOW? Or preferring the company of a sex-positive widow who enjoys taking lovers or a bastard girl over the “perfect sister” she saw in Margaery Tyrell and her cousins? Hell no. That would never happen. This new Sansa lacks those prejudices and is openly affectionate towards people she was raised to keep at arm’s length. Once she loosened up and stopped reciting courtesies, people actually got to know her and like her for who she is. That’s what Sandor always wanted from her, right? To drop the courtesies and flattering bullshit and just be a real person with him, not a talking parrot. While that criticism was harsh and rudely put, it had a lot of truth to it. It seems to have made Sansa into a happier person and more in touch with her authentic self. Now that she has accepted in Feast that she wanted Sandor like that, what is there to stop her from acting on it later?

The Quiet Isle didn’t exist before Feast. It was written for Sandor to recover and rehabilitate. Not just physically, but he’s getting what constitutes psychological counseling and a treatment plan that deals directly with his worst traits. He appears to meet with the Elder Brother often enough because the latter seems to know quite a bit about Sandor’s backstory, what his issues are, and exactly who Sansa Stark is. The rest of the time, he must observe the no talking rule and do meaningful work as a novice. This man, who once flaunted his contempt for those who couldn’t defend themselves as weak and deserving of death, is put to work digging graves for the innocent victims of violence. All day long, he has to look at the faces of men, women, and children killed by evil men with that philosophy. One brother even yells at him for carelessly tossing dirt around with the shovel, and he silently takes it. No smart ass backtalk. In the evening, he has to serve food and clear plates for men he would have once mocked. They’re men of faith, they’ve renounced violence, and Sandor sits lower in status than them. To Sandor’s credit, he humbly submits to all this in a show of respect and humility. It’s like he wants to learn these lessons they are offering and is allowing himself to be schooled. Now Sandor may always be Sandor on some level (if Stranger kicking down the stable doors and refusing to be gelded is any indication). Still, it does look like he’s become a gentler, healthier, and sober version of himself. The only part of Sandor that Sansa rejected was the Hound, and it’s both stated in the text and by George himself that the Hound is dead. Period. And yeah, it seems like Sandor is in a place where he is unlikely to backslide into old behavior, and he can make that heartfelt and necessary apology to Sansa. I don't think Sandor could ever be okay with moving their relationship forward without making amends first. It wouldn't sit right with his sense of remorse and personal responsibility, which is a good thing. 

All these changes are for the better for them as individuals and as a possible future couple. Contrary to your ask, I would say a positive, fully-fledged romance with "HEA" potential wouldn’t be possible or believable without all the growth and changes they've undergone. When they reunite, they can do so on more equal footing. 

Not that there aren’t more conflicts to overcome. They both are currently wanted fugitives for murders they didn’t commit, so they both need to clear their names and reclaim their true identities. There is still the matter of Sansa’s marital status as Tyrion isn’t dead but their marriage was also unconsummated. She could try to have her marriage officially annulled by the Faith somehow, but to do that, she’ll have to take the risk of revealing her true identity. Again, these don’t seem like plots that won’t be resolved anyway at some point. What about that class divide though? Well, the Starks aren’t like Tywin or Cersei, and they actually value things like faithful service. No reason why Sandor couldn’t be awarded a lordship and lands in gratitude for saving the lives of both Arya and Sansa. I’m just sayin’.  

[kikiscastleinthesky]

THE SOKKASM ZUTARA

I’ve seen a lot of tumblr blogs that ship zutara and I decided that is time for me to open mine too. So, yes, I’m a zutara shipper. And for the time being, my posts are going to be dedicated principally to analyze the ships in ATLA. 

Disclaimer alert:  I’m not forcing anyone to ship zutara. And I won’t accept hate because I (and many others) may have a different opinion, If you are one of those persons I invite you to leave, don’t waste my time and yours, because I’m not even going to reply. Everyone has the right to ship whatever they like and want, without been mocked, harrassed and humiliated. 

Well... now that everything is settled: 3...2...1 go!

I’m starting with this small analysis, because every zutara shipper has been attacked on why zutara and zutara is horrible yada yada but, this ocassion I’m gonna use all the attacks we get and defend it. 

I. Zutara is way the worst toxic relationship:

You call Zuko the abuser, the toxic and the bad tempered? Then you     didn’t get a clue of his redemption arc.

You call zutara toxic for:

a)     giving your mother’s closure and final acceptance into the group?

b)     saving each other’s life?

c)     being the “leading co-parenting” of the group?

d)     support you when you’re about to beg for his uncle forgiveness?

II. The cave scene didn’t mean anything, and just think about it, they would never ever get along well:•      

  Of course, I misunderstood Zuko confessing his own grief, probably he just hates her.

When Katara opens to her mother sorrow like she never did with anyone was like no big deal.

 That part when she offers to heal his scar with SACRED water was totally illogical.

And being the first person who he let touch his scar really said to me that they were absolutely toxic.

 Yes, he betrayed her initial trust. And it hurt, but guess who betrayed worst? The man who for three years was his father. But nope, Iroh, should never forgive Zuko, for what he did. (Right? Katara was betrayed and she should bever have interest in him, so Iroh would never forgive his abuser, right?)

III. Zutara is about getting in love with your abuser:

The abuser love? When did Zuko abused Katara? When did he forced to do something she didn’t want? Did he ever physically abused her or sexually assaulted her? Even if he tied her to a tree, he never humiliated her, he never hurt her or overpass against her. Or are you trying to make up his whole plot to eliminate all his attacks towards team avatar only rest in the female character? (Have you forgot how he betrayed his uncle? Or even himself?)

IV. Zutara is an age gap, it would be underage thing. “You don’t like Aang because he is a child and still pair Zuko, being a minor.” You want to hypersexualize two kids (Aang and Katara) into having sexual interest.

Katara would have been dating an underage guy too. She would have been 18 and Aang 16. I know! Age gap only matter when the man’s older. Both Katara and Zuko had gone through puberty, and both were in adolescence, both shared the same maturity level. Yes dude, there a huge difference in being a CHILD and being a TEENAGER, yes, still minor, But with puberty hit already.

Actually, I still believe even being 11-12 you can get like a… spark… a hint. Even if its not a relationship whatsoever, and not having sexual interest of any kind. If you really want to see what closest we get to a “real” attraction and potential between kiddos that age, you get S1Mike and Eleven (stranger things) / you get Chihiro and Haku (Spirited away) / you get Pazu and Sheeta. (The castle in the sky) –Wooo, that really changes things right?

But yet there are people that believe shipping zutara is “pedophile” I thought in seriously not replying to this stupidities but, here I am, dismantling their theories.

So, this is real life. An adult person trying to sleep with a prepubescent kid. So… there is no support on this. Because a ship is about two fictional characters in a fictional story.

What about fictional pedophilia? Well, we can change that: Fictional pedophilia is a psychosexual disorder when you ship an adult fictional character (+18) to have a sexual interest in a fictional prepubescent child (-12) and / or attempt to engage both characters in sexual acts.

So step one… are either Zuko or Katara either an adult or prepubescent child? As you can see in the image at the right, both have gone through puberty. Step two, are you trying to a couple of minors to get sexually involved? No, this is a love story, not porn. And before you yell at me for the porn zutara comics/fics on the web, I guess you should see the porn Kataang /fics comics on the web too.

But I don’t hate any ship. So, technically, neither Kataang, nor Sukka, nor Yukka, nor Jetara, nor Maiko is pedophilia.

Ok, yeah yeah its not pedo, but is statutory rape, so yet it’s illegal.

Oh yes, if we state that 18 is the age where you are considered an adult (at least in my country) both are minors, your term is partially correct. But guess what would be statutory rape too?

Sukka (15) and Maiko (16-17), both implied to have sex relationships and canon during the series.

The episode "The Southern Raiders" became (in)famous among the fandom for what is a truly epic instance of this trope. Zuko bumps into a very flustered Suki on the way to Sokka's tent, and she hurriedly excuses herself. He walks into Sokka's tent to ask him a question and finds him pants-less and surrounded by flowers and candles. He even greets Zuko with a suggestive "Well helloooo..." before he realizes who itis. After a short talk, he rushes Zuko out and sticks his head out to call for Suki. And if there was any doubt, Sokka is shown the next morning fiddling with a flower necklace for no apparent reason... except to indicate that maybe Suki had been “deflowered”.

And yet, if Kataang had sex, it would be statutory sex at some point too: 16 and 18 -Conclusions: Statutory sex takes all ships equally.

V. Poor Aang he would be devastated.

Kid, he’s 12, in the comics he’s 13-14. Or what? Haven’t you guys had a broken heart ever? Your high school sweetie? Or Aang’s so frail to not be able to find love? To close himself for a better opportunity? Seeking your own happiness in not selfish. What is selfish is seeking your own happiness at the other expenses.

And even that, we all know what would Aang do if Katara starts a relationship with Zuko. (Even if it wasn’t Zuko, I highly doubt he would like Katara dating someone else) He would go on avatar rampage. That is NOT healthy, that is NOT romantic. That is extremely possessive and selfish to do. It’s psychotic. Because Aang cares more about himself than Katara’s feelings, even if she would be happier without him.

VI. Zutara is all about sex interest.

Well once more you mistake chemistry with sexual needs. Wanting me to sleep with my husband means I only use him for sex relief? If I find myself sexually attracted to anyone probably means I just want to sleep with that person and nothing else.

VII. A hug is all zutarians have to acknowledge zutara:

We have a complete extended analysis in all the small details, but we like to use that forgiveness hug because in that hug you have more potential that all the kataang scenes all together. We have thousands of complete analyses, pages dedicated exclusively zutara. 

VIII. Katara “fell in love with Aang” and it’s not one sided.

Uh... Nope, just because two persons are good friends it doesn’t mean they are a good couple. Yes, the way the both of them interact is absolutely beautiful, But not romantically.

Do we see Katara’s view on romantically being drawn towards Aang? Yes, we see it, and yes, unfortunately, is one sided.

How Kataangers complete this:

·       The fortune-teller: I didn’t see like “Wow omg the avatar is going to be my future husband!” But… was like “uh… really?… well, I guess it’s him” Zutarians and Aunt Wu are the base for many backs up theories. ;) Aang is not the only powerful bender you know? And actually, that episode is way trying too hard to demonstrate the crush Meng has for Aang and Aang has to Katara. How is even healthy to accept that sometimes persons don’t like you back and it’s not the end of the world.

·       The cave scene: I forgot that Katara is telling him to be her boyfriend and they will live happily ever after. And really, it all gets us to a real Oma and Shu theory. Not to mention that they were “forced” to kiss because their kids innocence believed if they kissed, they wouldn’t die, and that Aang messed up things as well. But if you see it beneath, if she was truly interested, she would have told Aang: “wow omg we kissed, ok. let’s give him a clue…” nothing, she goes back in treating him same as always.

·       The headband dance: Well that’s a fair point yes. Actually, I felt something different…unfortunately Katara later had to tell him not to kiss her.

IX. Zutara is because you projected on Katara and had a crush on Zuko, because Katara and Zuko were your favourite characters and because is the bad boy style romance.

My crush was Jet <3, and zutara was the most logical endgame for girls. Ask any girl, ANY 14 yo who would like to date: A high school, nice and handsome guy or a 7th grader that had potential to be her best friend. (See the logic) 

And nope is not like “Insert fav characters of the opposite sex to ship them” You need to see real development.

I don’t know why they stereotype Zuko as the “bad boy” – relationship archetype. Zuko is never seen to be the classic fuck boy who treats girls like shit and suddenly there comes a lady to change him. Maybe he is a “bad boy” (confused though) in S1 and S2, but his redemption arc is literally the answer of why he is not “bad boy” anymore.

If Katara was truly and really romantically interested then she wouldn’t have friendzoned Aang. Once? Nope 4 times. And also… are we forgetting kind of imagery…

Friendzoned  

 When Aang fixes her a small necklace with the fishing  thread.

 When he kissed her at the invasion. She didn’t  reciprocate it. (I’m not even mentioning the mommy proud speech)

 When he wanted to talk about the kiss in the western  air temple (Comic love is a battlefield)

 When he kissed her at the play and she had to told  him to back off.

 Strange imagery

 She was June Pippinpaddleopsokopolis (Aang’s  granddaughter)

When Aang got shot, she held his body in her arms in  the exact way Mary held Jesus in Pieta’s sculpture.

 She was Sapphire Fire. (Aang’s pregnant mother)

After they got married, in the book legacy, she said  she enjoyed most seeing Aang becoming a man. (Honestly ladies if I got a BF  the least I want is seeing how the kid transforms into a man)

I’m looking forward to watch you grow into manhood  as I did to your father (Katara’s letter to Tenzin)

 I’m really  trying to deny Oedipus complex here.

Still hard for me to track Katara’s love interest for little Aang since all we see is more a relationship mom/sister or Harry/Hermione. I have heard rumours that Bryke wanted to give the ship “mystery” and “expectation” but I think they really messed up, I didn’t see expectation or mystery, I saw a child insisting to a girl that didn’t reciprocate. It wasn’t even like she didn’t have much of a chance, because her love interests:

Was killed by Long Feng

Gave him a hideous mustache and disappeared him after Azula’s attack in the western air temple.

Forced to be attached to a toxic relationship.

Apart that all those points I’ve mentioned, Kataang is not a relationship for me. Staying in a formal relationship with the first person they met of the opposite sex at 14 -12 (guys not even Disney does that, jeez not even studio Ghibli) and not having any chance to experience any other relationship. Never experiencing a broken heart, or someone better. I think that it gives the wrong idea, telling guys that no matter how long they are placed in friendzone, eventually the girl will fall for them. They just have to keep insisting.

You could say, but what a hypocrite! Snow White was 14 years old when she went to live with that prince! Many princesses are 16! And not to mention that many men were the first they met! Like Aurora, Rapunzel, and Cinderella. Well, you are right at one point. But ... the interaction of these characters changes radically, mainly because they never "give cute kisses" to their future husbands, nor do they treat them like their brothers or their children and ... the men were never friendzoned, except for Naveen at the beginning. You see the real attraction of teenage girls with an older boy. And I'm not saying that they should never be friends or support each other. Mulan and Chang were allies, friends, they supported each other, they saved their lives. But at no time was there the kind of interaction Katara and Aang had.

If Kataang was to be endgame, we would see Katara’s reaction to Jet, totally different, THAT kind of reaction was what I was waiting. (That kind of reaction is what every princess do, at least one time)

The same chemistry we saw in Yukka / Sukka. Honestly, I saw more chemistry between Haru and Katara.

Or at least give us some character development like: Aang, I know my feelings where not as you wanted but now I decided I want to be with you because (list everything here except he being the avatar), I really like you, perhaps we can give it a shot. Or like several things that could clue us that she is interested (come on people, two persons can kiss/hug/ have sex and that doesn’t imply they will be together in a formal relationship) But all we got was: Oh, right, he’s the avatar... suddenly I fell for him and I’m gonna kiss him fully in the mouth and that’s how I’ll tell him and that all my confusion has magically disappeared.

X. I’ve never saw that kind of spark between them. Again, it was “Just a hug”

Yes! That’s initially the whole point of it, a friendship hug, the truth of why we don’t need silly blushes. Because that forgiveness hug shows their initial relationship, they are friends! All their love needs to come first from a truthful friendship, by the contrary of calling the “immediate falling” like Aang did for Katara, it shows us that friendship love can evolve into something more beautiful, and that’s why we like the ship, because all zutara shippers know Zuko and Katara wouldn’t fall in love like that all of the sudden, they have to create the romantic relationship, and that’s what we portray in the fics.

What makes Zutara exceptional is that he, sees her, he hears her, he listens what she had to do, at anytime he forced her to do something she didn’t. And before a “teenager adolescence ship” he sees her as a human, with feelings with own ideals and goals.

And there is a complete and extremely well based analysis in: The crossroads of destiny + The southern raiders + The lighting saving.

XI. The comics show us how toxic they really where.

Their interaction in the comics was something I like to call: destroying a character. Not only Katara, who turned to be that awesome badass to the submissive girlfriend. From how I see it in the series to the comics there’s all I have to say: That’s not my girl.

XII. How Katara could be queen of a country that almost aniquilates her tribe and killed her mother? It would be a betrayal.

I think this argument is out. Not valid. Is like saying a Jew can’t date a German because of the holocaust. (German doesn’t mean nazi, just as Zuko, who was from the Fire Nation and didn’t order Katara’s mother assassination, and not every citizen of the fire nation means a ruthless killer). Is like saying that a Japanese can’t date a us citizen because of the bombs in WW2. And even if we see it “political”, is like… an aphrodescendant can’t rule a country that is racist, then Mr. Obama would have never reached the presidency.

Two persons can unify them, because they can demonstrate that being from different country that initally has not good terms can reach peace. The union between those countries represents the power of maturity, of overcoming adversities and the power of forgiveness. *Our lands now connected by love* And I want her to be queen, I want her to rule, I want her in charge, I want her in power. Imagine all the potential she could have (politics, business, negotiations, rebuilding, restoration, education, public health!! ***faints***) Not only for the fire Nation but for the whole world! Imagine that once Zuko abdicated they left to the south pole and she opened a fighting school and a healing school of her own (like master Pakku, but now her students are given a medical license that acknowledges them as professional healers) And this is just an idea. Like these ideas are hundreds. It would have been the perfect feminist role model!

XIII. Since the beginning, Katara was always interested in Aang and she always supported him and was for him when he needed her. That’s proof they were meant to each other.

If a girl expresses faith in your abilities, she loves you, she hugs you, and she supports you clearly she’s completely into you. Because obviously female best friends don’t exist.

[lokiskitten]

Tom Hiddleston | nice acting skills

Pt2 : the changing room

Tom Hiddleston x fem!reader

Author’s note : I never originally planned to write a second part but I was being held at gun point so here’s pt2 of the “nice acting skills” imagine KSKSK

plot : after going through this rather peculiar moment, you unexpectedly bump into Tom in one of the changing rooms. From there, things take an unexpected turn.

warnings : smut ( with /legal/ age gap ), unprotected sex, extremely light and discreet spanking.

You were pulled out of your daydream session again by the exhaustingly familiar sound of the director throwing around new orders, setting you and Tom free from set as this scene didn’t necessarily needed to be filmed twice. You were now sent off to the makeup and costumes room which was located nowhere far from the place you currently sat. Tom wasn’t meant to be changing nor getting ready in the same room as you did, which was totally understandable due to the fact that you didn’t share the same gender nor age. He therefore took a different turn than you did, feet leading him to the left as you were accompanied on your right.

You were allowed in your personal changing room, the makeup lady arranging her stencils which laid on the table before the mirror. However, she suddenly seemed to remember about an important detail which she seemingly needed to be getting on the instant. You were therefore left alone with nothing but the costumes and cold cup of tea to keep you company. Sighing tiredly, you sat down on the chair which faced the mirror, eyes falling on your own tired reflexion. However, you were now able to hear the sound of the door opening again, a forced smile appearing on your lips as you expected this person who just walked in to be the makeup artist.

“Did you find what you’ve been looking fo-“ you began, eyes diverting upwards only to land onto Tom’s familiar yet unexpected silhouette. He closed the door behind himself, leaning against the wall as his strong arms crossed against his bare chest. You were now trapped with him. However, it was far from being a bother. But your naturally strong mindset forced you to put up a mask and pretend as if his naked upper body wasn’t something which disturbed your mind and senses. “Oh, it’s you.” You spoke bluntly, trying you best to hide any emotion which could’ve been a threaten to your reputation as a young and serious lady.

Tom smirked. “Yes, it’s me.” He answered, his deep voice which carried a beautiful British accent rolling off his tongue perfectly. It never failed to make your heart and crotch melt. Finally getting up from the door, the older man slowly moved towards your seat before his veiny hands decided to take ahold of the leather material. His ocean blue eyes stared at your reflection in the mirror, yet he wasn’t making eye contact but simply admiring how beautiful your body was. Gently, his hand moved up to your hair which he dragged back behind your ear, fully revealing your beautiful face to him.

“You’re beautiful.” He affirmed, making sure to regulate both his voice and tone in order to guarantee that he would look as attractive as he possibly could- even tho he wouldn’t have needed any of these forced artifacts to seduce you or anyone else. You had caught him red handed through his game, though- again- it was far from being a bother. In contrary, you enjoyed it. However, the little voice in your head couldn’t help but beg you to deny his offer whilst the other part of yourself desperately wanted you to give in his flirts. Your body easily became a battlefield for those two separate opinions to fight and argue endlessly.

Face to your lack of answer- and that mostly because you were lost in your thoughts- Tom tilted his head before moving his hands down to the opening of your robe, gently starting to pull on it in order to reveal your bare chest. However, your own hand was soon to move up to his wrist and take a firm hold of it, asserting dominance and stopping the older man through his track. Face to this hostile move, the actor couldn’t help but grow confused. He frowned and accepted to respectfully pull his hand away. “Do you not want this? I beg your pardon, I thought you shared those same feelings which previously took possession of my body.” Tom explained, referring to how he felt whilst shooting the infamous scene barely a couple of minutes ago.

“No no, I do.” Your responded, your main priority being to make sure that he wouldn’t feel like he was in the wrong nor inappropriate. You finally agreed to get up from the chair you have been sitting on, still unfortunately remaining shorter than your screen partner who towered above you. “But isn’t this... not such a good thing? I mean, I always hear people brag about not mixing your love life with coworkers.” You explained, remaining aware that Tom surely didn’t work that way, which was easily noticeable if you bothered to take a look at the female casts from the movies he’s played in and link it all up with his never ending list of ex romantic partners.

Upon noticing that he didn’t seem to truly pay attention to your words, but more to your face, you stopped yourself through your speech. He was adorning those flirty eyes of his, which no woman could potentially resist to. No matter how hard you fought, in the end, you’d always fall for him. “Can you- stop looking at me like that, with your eyes and.. eyebrows.. and all of it.” You ordered, hands gesturing towards his face. Hearing those satisfying words, Tom accentuated his facial features game. “Looking at you like what?” He responded, slowly moving closer to your body until his hands could finally wrap around your waist. It felt like a huge victory to him.

Before you could know it, Tom’s lips pressed against yours, the man offering you a genuine and intense kiss which honestly resembled the ones he’d give you on set. But for now, this didn’t matter. All that mattered was that you were sharing a wanted and needed moment with your screen partner. His hands moved down from your cheeks to your shoulders, pushing off your robe which fell off your body with ease. Unlike him, you didn’t adorn any form of underwear and was therefore left naked for the older man to cherish and enjoy. The kiss progressively intensified, both of your lips parting in order to allow each other’s tongue to come in.

As he embraced your figure, Tom slowly started to push you towards the nearest wall, the two of you stumbling upon a couple of objects before your back could finally collide with the hard material. You moaned against his mouth, knee moving up to his hip which allowed you to feel his hardening bulge against your sensitive core. Your clit was throbbing, begging for sexual satisfaction coming from the man. Feeling your leg suddenly raise against his hip, Tom’s hand moved underneath your thigh and made sure to hold it up there, offering you some free support so you wouldn’t have to carry the heavy member on your own.

Tom cared a lot about the feminine pleasure- probably more than he did care for his own- which would surely guarantee you a good time spent with him during this early afternoon.

Upon feeling that you were now wrapping your arms around his neck, Tom decided to take the initiative to pull his boxers down- setting free his hardening member which had yet to grow to its full size. He was now able to fully pick you up, hands wrapped underneath your thighs in a cautious manner. His tip wouldn’t stop colliding with your soaking hole, visibly begging for entrance without ever truly daring to cross the step. Thankfully, you knew that Tom had always been a very determined man who usually reached out for the stuff he wanted instead of waiting for people to give it to him.

Therefore, it didn’t take long for him to carefully sit you down on his cock, being able to feel that you were now wet enough to painlessly welcome in his prominent member. You guys moaned together, his forehead pressing against yours as his girth was progressively coated with your love juices. Once he reached balls deep, the actor decided to take a couple of seconds in order to allow you to adjust to his size, ocean blue eyes looking up at your face which he admired and praised more than anything in the world at the moment.

Kissing your lips, Tom began to move again, hips gently and cautiously thrusting forward and retracting backwards repetitively until he felt like he could now fasten his pace. Meanwhile, you found yourself lost through pleasure and bliss, forehead firmly pressed against his as you decided that it would probably be wiser for you to keep your mouth shut and avoid to attract anyone else’s attention. Besides, you only wanted and needed his. Moaning out loud would’ve been a great risk to take as the two of you remained aware that you were in a studio filled with thousands of working people. Therefore, Tom regulated his pleasure by wincing and hissing silently whilst you decided to carry on humming sensitively.

Your arms remained wrapped around his neck as he carried on pleasuring your cunt as well as his own member, lips praising your neck which in some way also helped him through the restricted moans process. His girth rubbed past every single sensitive spot of yours, g-spot going wild and swelling out of pleasure due to the man’s perfectly appropriate actions and mannerisms. However, and without giving you a warning, Tom suddenly pulled out in order to flip you around- you chest now facing the wall as you were soon to understand that your job was now to bend over for him. His arms had probably grown tired of carrying you, which you acknowledged and understood.

Before he decided to bend you over, his large hands moved up to your breasts from behind your back, caressing and squeezing them with a lot of lustful care before he retracted his hand back to your spine, pressing his palm against your flesh and forcing you to slightly bend over. There wasn’t much space between you and the wall, which therefore only allowed you to fold a little bit. Your own palms collided with the wall as Tom’s hand caressed all the way down to your bum, giving the flesh a gentle slap before allowing his digits to take ahold of his own girth. He guided his tip to your entrance again, taking time through his actions to make sure that he would execute them properly and painlessly. Even through lust, Tom remained a gentleman.

Feeling his hardness slide inside of you again made your legs tremble, yet Tom made sure to hold you up by giving your hips a gentle and reassuring squeeze. The muscles he had developed through the intense hours spent at the gym contracted as he began to move in and out of you as you tried your best to once again remain silent and discreet. Though, a couple of moans eventually had to escape your lips. Tom shushed you respectfully, giving your bum a light spank which stood as a punishment face to your risky behavior. Yet you refused to complain, smile appearing on your parted lips as the older man continued to pound your core.

Eventually, his hips began to stutter, thrusts gaining in sloppiness which was due to his nearing orgasm. This once Tom didn’t manage to hold back his own moans, hums and groans escaping his lips as he respectfully pulled out right before white strings of sperm could be projected against your cervix. Instead, the thick liquid landed on your back, staining your flesh. “Fuck..” he praised, taking a deep breath in before exhaling loudly. His hips continued to gently rock against yours, shaft rubbing against your upper bum as Tom wished to fully get over his orgasm.

You were left emotionally shattered, body still recovering from the intense amount of emotions and sensations which had previously taken possession of your body- brain still attempting to figure out wether this was right or negative for both of your careers.

Y’all asked : I deliver. I hope you managed to enjoy it! Requested tags : @lokis-leah @marianastudiesart @fa-me @lokistoriesblog @sunshineyrosie @delightfulheartdream ❤️

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