#nothing in the story suggests this

[mxtxfanatic]

If you don't mind me asking, could you explain more about your thoughts regarding JC and LWJ's actions re: the Wens? I think that part was the span of a year, right?. Seeing Kim's post about the actions, those are within his control but he can't do much outside of that related to the Lans. I remember Ava (@/jiangwanyinscatmom) taking about Clan positions and how little power LWJ would have held regardless if people saw him as Hanguangjun or the Second Master.

I feel conflicted about JC because he's in a similar position where those in power are telling him what is good and what should be done. How can he speak out against it? But isn't that what LWJ and WWX do? Albeit LWJ acts late in taking a stand against his clan, he does so knowing the consequences. He doesn't repent though. I think there's a fundamental difference between JC and LWJ here but I'm not sure how to conceptualize it.

Alright, so my take on this will likely differ in small ways from the other two’s, but the gist will be the same: Jiang Cheng abandoned Wei Wuxian to the mob that he also had a hand in creating, while Lan Wangji had always tried in his own ways to defend wwx and defuse the volatile situation.

For Jiang Cheng, no one was “telling him” what’s right from wrong; he already knows that he would be wrong to persecute the Wen remnants and is also even close to admitting he owed the Wen siblings a life debt. Plus, even if he didn’t, he’s a whole sect leader by this point and could’ve done whatever he wanted unchallenged, just as the Jin did. There’s a reason the clans keep calling conference after conference when shit goes down, even when it only affects one of them; they are not yet powerful enough to act alone with impunity like the former Wen clan was.

What ultimately gets jc to betray any moral uprightness he may have had is petty jealousy and resentment. Jc’s greatest weakness is allowing his inferiority complex to override his logic, making him a perfect puppet for the actually politically savvy characters. We see this when Madam Yu weaponizes jc’s fear that his father doesn’t love him in order to get jc to stand on her side against his own father. We see this when the Jin purposely spread rumors about how all of the Jiang glory is (rightfully) due to wwx’s actions in the sunshot campaign and jc’s hearing these rumors causes him to lash out against wwx as the Jin want. And we see this when, just as jc is about to explain why he owes the Wen siblings a debt, Nie Mingjue interrupts to say that the Wen killed his parents, reminding jc of his resentment and causing him to fall silent, never revealing the debt that could maybe have saved the Wen remnants lives. Jc had the power to protect the Wen remnants and wwx; he chose to give in to resentment instead and led the charge to murder them all.

Lan Wangji is in a similar position of power (clan heir to jc’s clan leader) but takes a completely different course of action pertaining to wwx. When everyone gathers to hear what happened at the Jin flower banquet, lwj publicly calls out Jin Guangyao and Jin Guangshan for lying about wwx’s words and actions to try and paint wwx as rebelling against the Jiang. He only falls back when his brother, knowing that the Jin are lying, steps in to side with them in their smear campaign. Lwj alone goes to check on Mianmian after she leaves from the slander against her for sticking up for wwx. As I’ve mentioned before, lwj was likely the only who inadvertently got the Ghost General rumors spreading by trying to reason with his brother and/or uncle about the truth of the Burial Mounds settlement, as he was the only one not of the settlement who had seen the newly awakened Wen Ning before the rumors spread. And let us not forget that lwj spoke up for the Wen siblings before their “deaths,” before rescuing wwx from Nightless City and fighting his own clan’s disciples to protect him.

I think in wwx’s first life, lwj did hold back on ways he could have helped, but whereas jc’s inaction was due to resentment at wwx, lwj’s lack of strong action came from a myriad of sources: not knowing what wwx needed/fearing rejection from him, his sense of duty to his clan (who he never had to go against before) vs. his morality, and just his personality. We see his conflict of wanting to help wwx vs. wwx’s boundaries and “clear” distrust of him when we get lwj’s convo with lxc before the fated flower banquet: lwj tells his brother that he wants to bring wwx back to cloud recesses, but wwx is unwilling. Lwj knows that something is wrong with wwx even if he doesn’t know what, but his wish to respect wwx and his choices is stronger than his wish to protect him at the expense of wwx’s boundaries. We get this same melancholic acceptance at the Yiling reunion parting, where lwj accepts wwx’s words that there is no other course for him regardless of his actions, as wwx would not (and morally should not) return the Wen or give up his yin tiger tally. For the duty to clan: lwj had never had to stand against his clan on anything, but the wwx/Wen remnants issue actually tested his sense of morality against his family. Yes, lwj was a clan heir and still beholden to his clan leader, but lxc never commanded lwj as a clan leader, only as an older brother. When lxc sides with jgy in his slander against wwx rather than siding with lwj calling out the lie, lwj is hurt by this. Just to make jgy’s life slightly easier, lxc was willing to forsake clan rules and his own brother to put the man he knows his brother loves on the path to destruction, and lwj knows this. But there’s still an issue that comes with this second conflict: his personality.

Lwj is a doer, not a talker. The moments he speaks up for wwx in wwx’s first life are shocking for the people present, but also easily diverted from by people who do not want others to realize the truth of his words. Lwj also doesn’t press what he is saying when he is diverted, giving people the chance to just condescendingly chalk his words up to “lwj is a nice guy so of course he’d speak up, but he’d never really side with someone we all ‘know’ is bad!” The most crucial moment that he should have pressed should have been that very first moment after the flower banquet, but the fact that his own brother sided against him hurt him into silence. All the other moments were a little too late until Nightless City, where it was a fight for wwx’s life. There he is able to show unambiguously whose side he’s on, as you can’t really say that someone only accidentally drew a sword against you or unintentionally injured 33 senior disciples of your clan. This is the moment where his clan realizes that he is serious about standing with wwx, though again by then it is much too late.

Lwj and jc in wwx’s first life aren’t being constrained by the hierarchy, they are being constrained by their own personal struggles: jc and his resentment and lwj his list of reasons. That’s why in wwx’s second life, jc has leaned fully into his resentment to the point of completely deforming all of wwx’s actions to poison Jin Ling’s understanding of his circumstances, while lwj has raised wwx’s son with love and respect and physically stands by wwx’s side in his second life.

[chrliekclly]

[fatedtime]

I know there’s a lot of people talking about the culture conflict between Toshiro and Laios, but I think it’s important to acknowledge the class conflict between them too. Mayor’s child or not, Laios is still from the boonies, while Toshiro is waited on hand and foot by a flock of women his family employs to serve his needs. This has 100% stifled Toshiro’s ability to communicate with others, to the point where acknowledging his retainers and thanking them for their efforts is shown as a huge point of growth.

Meanwhile, Laios’s bumbling nature towards Toshiro’s boundaries is very much informed by his lack of knowledge of other people and places. He knows how much it hurt him to see his sister rejected by people whose insular attitudes made her powers frightening to them, so he tries to express overtures of friendship towards Toshiro by being so interested in him that it comes off as frightening instead. While he means well, his lack of knowledge on how to interact with people who are different from him puts Toshiro in a weird spot, and this lack of knowledge isn’t just the autism — it’s where he was born and raised. And it’s something real kids from rural areas go through when they enter more urban spaces. The sorts of social manners that are appropriate there aren’t appropriate elsewhere, and they get seen as… well. Inelegant. Pushy.

If Laios had gotten Hien’s name wrong, she would have decked him. But because it was Toshiro, whose upbringing didn’t give him any conflict resolution skills (because he’s around people who have to bend to his needs*) he doesn’t know how to sort things out with Laios, and grows to resent him. It’s not just the culture, it’s the place he occupies class-wise.

That’s part of why I love Toshiro’s arc — if this was just a culture conflict where Laios commits microagressions against him, as I’ve mostly seen it put, him ultimately learning a lesson would be pretty weird. But it’s not. His upbringing as a noble lord’s son in a BONKERS family has given him certain issues… and Laios helps him confront that, so he can live without regrets.

(*please note, this is a massive oversimplification of what the hell is going on with Toshiro Nakamoto. i just didn't want to write a book.)

[joshuamj]

been scribbling out some little comics for my EoW!Zelda Impersonates Link AU!

[the-wizard-dipper]

Masters' Academy AU: Environment Concept Art (and some lore)

"There's no such thing as ghosts." - Unofficial motto of Master's Academy.

Art by @okkennymay

Something I haven't really talked about is how the rest of the school feels about all the supernatural stuff going on...

The place has been open for more than a hundred years at this point, it's hosted a few dozen magical teenagers and is actively being haunted. (among other things) So let's just say there's officially enough weird going on for the students to have noticed.

But ghosts aren't real, everyone knows that, you'd be crazy to say they did. And even if they did, no one would believe you if you saw one.

Despite these very reasonable facts the school continues to be frightening in the dark of the night and new kids look to the older ones for comfort and explanation. Their answer? Ghost Stories.

A long tradition of giving the little kids nightmares with the same scary stories that gave them nightmares their first year, where the school's secrets are passed from one generation to the next. "don't go into the chemistry classroom after midnight", "don't look for the skeletons in the basement or they'll make you join them", "carry salt if you need to use the bathroom after dark", "never turn around if you feel a cold breath on the back of your neck". Dozens of stories told with utter seriousness, but mocking laughter if you look like you might really believe it.

Believing in ghost stories makes you a dumb little kid, and everyone knows it.

Ignoring those stories is a recipe for disaster, and everyone knows it.

Because it's hard to reconcile going to a haunted school when there's no such thing as ghosts, and everyone knows it.

[gingermintpepper]

hi, i haven't read the iliad and the odyssey but want to - do u have a specific translation you recommend? the emily wilson one has been going around bc, y'know, first female translator of the iliad and odyssey into english, but i was wondering on if you had Thoughts

Hi anon! Sorry for the somewhat late response and I'm glad you trust me with recommendations! Full, disclosure, I am somewhat of a traditionalist when it comes to translations of the source text of the Iliad + Odyssey combo wombo, which means I tend to prefer closeness in literal verbiage over interpretation of the poetic form of these epics - for that reason, my personal preferred versions of the Odyssey and Iliad both are Robert Fitzgerald's. Because both of these translations (and his Aeneid!) were done some 50+ years ago (63 for his original Odyssey tl, 50 flat for his Iliad and 40 for his Aeneid) the English itself can be a bit difficult to read and the syntax can get confusing in a lot of places, so despite my personal preferences, I wouldn't recommend it for someone who is looking to experience the Iliad + Odyssey for the very first time.

For an absolute beginner, someone who has tried to read one or both of these epics but couldn't get into it or someone who has a lot of difficulty with concentrating on poetry or long, winding bits of prose, I fully and wholeheartedly recommend Wilson's translation! See, the genius of Emily Wilson's Iliad + Odyssey isn't that she's a woman who's translated these classics, it's that she's a poet who's adapted the greek traditional poetic form of dactylic hexameter into the english traditional poetic form of iambic pentameter. That alone goes a very very long way to making these poems feel more digestible and approachable - iambic pentameter is simply extremely comfortable and natural for native english speakers' brains and the general briskness of her verbiage helps a lot in getting through a lot of the problem books that people usually drop the Iliad or Odyssey in like Book 2 of the Iliad or Book 4 of the Odyssey. I think it's a wonderful starting point that allows people to familiarise themselves with the source text before deciding if they want to dig deeper - personally, researching Wilson's translation choices alone is a massive rabbit hole that is worth getting into LOL.

The happy medium between Fitzgerald's somewhat archaic but precise syntax and Wilson's comfortable meter but occasionally less detailled account is Robert Fagles' Iliad + Odyssey. Now, full disclosure, I detest how Fagles handles epithets in both of his versions, I think they're far too subtle which is something he himself has talked at length about in his translation notes, but for everything else - I'd consider his translations the most well rounded of english adaptations of this text in recent memory. They're accurate but written in plain English, they're descriptive and detailled without sacrificing a comfortable meter and, perhaps most importantly, they're very accessible for native english speaking audiences to approach and interact with. I've annotated my Fagles' volumes of these books to heaven and back because I'm deeply interested in a lot of the translation decisions made, but I also have to specifically compliment his ability to capture nuance in the characters' of these poems in a way I don't often see. He managed to adapt the ambivalence of ancient greek morality in a way I scarcely see and that probably has a hand in why I keep coming back to his translations.

Now, I know this wasn't much of a direct recommendation but as I do not know you personally, dear anon, I can't much make a direct recommendation to a version that would best appeal to your style of reading. Ideally, I'd recommend that you read and enjoy all three! But, presuming that you are a normal person, I suggest picking which one is most applicable for you. I hope this helps! 🥰

[horsechestnut]

Villain Cass Arc bad, but I do think it's very cute that she is immediately like "I want Tim to be my partner. Surely he'll understand, he's brother shaped :)"

[maliciousalice]

Hear me out (or don't... it's fine I'm just venting and mean) yeah um I don't believe Chakotay was saved in Prod*gy s2.

[kwillow]

What are Ambroys' romantic preferences? I'm not asking for a friend, I'm asking for myself. I'm completely obsessed.

Er... romantic. Yes. Such a romantic.

In his younger days, Ambroys was an incorrigible womanizer, an impulsive rake with a bad habit of sticking that long tongue of his in places where it didn't belong - like other men's wives. He's had a long string of flings as well as torrid love affairs over the course of his life, a source of endless frustration for everyone around him (including the ladies he's entangled himself with themselves). He's a sucker for love but he'll take what he can get for as long as he can until his dreadful personality inevitably ruins things and he has to throw himself at the next girl.

When Ambroys wants something, he wants a lot of it, and women are no exception to this rule. I haven't been making those jokes about unicorns and maidens for nothing!

[bonefall]

Crap sorry for the double ask but I forgot to bunch this with the last one, do you think Petal would mother Clear Sky’s kits? Not out of any romantic affection but more out of “I’m really devoted to your cause and am willing to do anything to show that, to show how loyal I am”

I feel like Petal is the most obvious choice here... but honestly I just don't *want* that.

Petal (now Petal Claw) is so interesting in canon, with how devoted she is, but also how VICIOUS and grudge-holding she can be. She's a good mother to the children Clear Sky wanted to murder, but I really like the idea that it was just because she had to.

If she was a neglectful mother, they'd be killed for "mercy". And in BB, I like the idea that those kits were GIVEN to her as a reward for her constant loyalty. I just find it really interesting if she's a bit of a "wire mother" who keeps them alive but not coddled.

And... unfortunately, Clear Sky is going to be reducing this next mate to an object a lot. Someone he bosses around, who Thunder Storm is really going to feel like is too nice for this. Someone who spoils Tiger and Pale a lot, out of love but also because they're Clear's kids and it's the only way she has more status than others around her.

Basically I have a specific and kinda sad role in mind for this person. I feel like I'm wasting Petal if I do this to her, when someone else WITHOUT personality could use this more.

Falling Feather, maybe? Jackdaw Cry's sister?

[beevean]

Lenore: [Carmilla] showed me her maps. I made her angry, I think. She showed me maps of the world. Hector: I know, I know. A giant human pen from here to Braila. I've had the lectures. Lenore: Not anymore. Hector: She's been scheming. Lenore: And she showed me maps of the world, Hector. Hector: The world. Lenore: The pen was about securing our survival and safety for centuries to come. It was an insane idea, but we could stretch and make it work. But now she sees weakness everywhere. And we were a strong and stable community in a world that lost many of its vampire leaders at Braila. Hector: So what you're saying is if it's there, she's going to drink it. Lenore: She said she had one plan: to annex land from here to the sea. She promised me that was her plan, and then she was left alone, and then I made her angry and she showed me her maps. I think she lied to me. Hector: Just the way Dracula lied to me.

So this is another way S4 forcibly pushes a connection between Hector and Lenore for the sake of making us sympathize with her.

Lenore is panicking about Carmilla's new plan. I would say that she is worried about the kingdom's stability, or Carmilla's sanity, but as usual, she can't help showing her true self because she introduced this information by whining about herself: "But soon I'll have nothing to do. Nothing to offer. There's no diplomacy involved in making humans stand in line to be bled."

But for now this isn't really the point: the point is that Lenore, in her circular reasoning, somehow went from "we left her alone, and she started scheming beyond her original plan" to "she was lying to me, and only revealed the truth when I made her angry: if I didn't, she would have kept the lie". Now, this doesn't make sense in any way: why would Carmilla lie to one of her closest allies? Even if Lenore is useless, she is still an ally and a friend, and it would be both disadvantageous and impractical to keep her in the dark. The framing is very much that Carmilla went mad and got hungrier for power and her plan morphed in those six weeks between S3 and S4, and she just happened to choose that moment to rant.

(hilariously, the dialogue is extremely contrived too: Lenore just says "Please, would Dracula have kept [Hector] around in his own castle if he were that dangerous?" and that spurns Carmilla to completely forget about the issue of Hector behaving suspiciously and talk about the castle she didn't get, which wasn't even remotely Lenore's point. yeah no she didn't reveal the plan out of anger, but out of writing convenience lmao)

Now, I could concede this as the character being wrong. Lenore is allowed to be wrong, and the bias she's expressing make sense: the situation is making her feel insecure, unneeded and perhaps unwanted. Remember: this is the same scene where she appreciates Hector for not making her feel bad about raping him into slavery "wanting to listen to her", unlike everyone else in the castle. She is lost and confused and can't trust Carmilla anymore, and as I pointed out she is incredibly self-centered, so fine, I buy that she interprets her behavior as malice against her.

But the framing is not that. Because then Hector remembers he is a human being with a brain and says the only meaningful response to Lenore's rant.

lmao i can't take that frame seriously it's literally surprisedpikachuface.jpg

And this is bullshit.

The two situations are not comparable from this angle. Carmilla is being set to be Dracula 2.0, that much is true: an insane old woman who has lost her way, consumed by pain and hatred, and is no longer thinking about the consequences of her plan, risking the safety of her underlings. But that's the extent of it. Carmilla actually cares about her sisters, in her own way, even if she makes fun of Lenore for her love for animals. Lenore perceived Carmilla as getting angry at her, but in reality she simply got worked up, and had nothing against her if not her incompetence in making Hector work, which got resolved anyway.

We don't know how the other three got roped into her council, but there is zero indication that Carmilla ever used bold-faced lies like when Dracula promised Hector that they'd work to cull mankind when in reality he wanted to exterminate everyone, something he even admitted to do because "he's easy to lie to". He did not change his plan between his hiring of Hector and his death! He deliberately lied to him from the get-go!

Hector and Lenore have the similar situation of being considered the weaklings of the group for their softness. They could bond over that. But Hector's situation was still far worse: he got taken advantage of precisely because of his softness and his pathological need to be loved, something Lenore cannot share because, even with her soft façade, she is too cunning to be tricked, lives her comfortable life as one of the queens, and she was considered integral to the group until now. Hector was betrayed by Dracula, only the first of many instances: he got convinced that Dracula planned to kill him too, and we don't know if he would have done it, but the story seems to believe so. And that's not mentioning how this betrayal was the catalyst for all the hell Hector went through, which incidentally included Lenore. We see with our own eyes that Hector's reaction to being powerless is fawning and clinging, while Lenore's reaction to feeling powerless is exerting her power over creatures beneath her.

Tell me how can Lenore compare to Hector, just because her bestie is only now starting to go crazy - which, as I pointed out earlier, only concerns Lenore because boohoo she feels useless and not out of moral convictions like when Hector shouted that he didn't want to paddle in the blood of innocents?

You don't get to pull the 🥺 face on me, Lenore. You don't get to create a "you're just like me fr fr" moment by twisting the narrative to look more of a woobie than you are. Especially not right after you shushed Hector down when he dared to complain about being raped. You are not the victim here, you can't fathom the heartbreak Hector went through because of Dracula, Carmilla and you, and the relationship between you two is built on nothing but lies, both of your telling and of the disingenuous story itself which at this point is a bigger liar than all three of those characters.

And yes, this is a lie from the story, because this feels like a deliberate retcon! Lenore in S3 was a complacent cog in the machine. She agreed to help Carmilla, she admits in that scene in S4 that she saw the original plan as a way to secure stability which is what she cares about the most, and all of her gaslighting, manipulations and sexual abuse were for the sole purpose of turning Hector into the perfect tool to proceed with that plan (the pet part was just a nice bonus). There is the theory that she didn't like the plan much based on one frame where she frowns, but as usual, other expressions of hers betray her:

She seems quite happy with it! She just apparently didn't like Carmilla's "self-replicating food" joke, for reasons I don't understand - she too treats Hector like an animal, so I don't see why she'd be miffed at the dehumanization. Or maybe it's just her being not very amused at Carmilla's sense of humor in general. the joke was pretty stupid, tbh - all organic food is "self-replicating", your evil speeches need some serious work girl

The point is, she was not tricked into it like Hector! Unlike him who apparently didn't think much about the aftermath, she was fully aware of what it entailed! Carmilla just expanded her view later on! But of course, if we now say that Carmilla lied to Lenore and the story doesn't stop to remind us of what happened one season prior, Lenore suddenly becomes innocent, because see? She's better than mean Carmilla! She only raped Hector for his own good, but she didn't mean to harm mankind! It's literally the same logic that neutered the ring: everything must be sanitized to paint Lenore as this innocent, tragic figure.

Again, what irritates me is that the parallels are there. Carmilla is going insane like Dracula, yes, and she is endangering the kingdom. Lenore feels the black sheep of the group like Hector was (although he never realized it, even though Isaac always talked to him like he itched to call him the R-slur). They have traits in common! Use them! But no, this plotline is nothing more than the writers yelling "PLEASE FEEL SOWWY FOR THE WIDDLE RAPIST SHE DID NOTHING WRONG IN HER LIFE LOOK AT HER CUTE FACE 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺 CARMILLA IS THE TRUE MEANIE HATE THAT BITCH NOT OUR LENORE WHO IS JUST A POOR GIRL AND NOBODY LOVES HER 🥺"

[telleroftime]

No no. No no no. Are you telling me there is not a single posted work on Ao3 that is either a Claudia Hodgins x Reader, a Dietfried Bougainvillea x Reader, or a Benedict Bleu x Reader? Are you telling me there is not a single self insert writer that watched Violet Evergarden and thought "you know what? I have some prime candidates to choose from."

Not a single person on Ao3? Really?? Really???

[faithfromanewperspective]

so apparently people are actually talking about the pda profile now?

[that-seems-stupid-lets-do-it]

1, 2, 3, 4, are you finished getting high to pop? Aren't you, aren't you? redraw of chimera listened to this (with captions on) and thought it fit really well with ena!! so put her on to it. hermit searcher ena's hair and horns because i thought they looked cool. im an artist i can do that yeah !! this took a while but i'm pretty happy with the results !! outfit inspired by something i saw on pinterest once unrendered version under the cut

for some reason I like this version about the same as the rendered one (well, not really rendered. more like shaded.) Maybe with the hair shaded it'd look cool but either way i love how the piece turned out overall (chimera by deco*27, link isnt embedding and i need to sleep rn so not gonna fiddle with that)

[waywardsalt]

man just about every new little bit of that new totk book i see just makes me feel more and more rabid

[amethystpath-writes]

Test Me

NOT A PR0MPT

Hi! I was wondering if u could do a bit where the hero breaks into the villains mansion/layer to get some plans or something but the plans are in the villains ✨bedroom ✨and the villain is in the ✨shower ✨ and they catch the hero. A little ✨spicy ✨ u know? If u don’t want to do this I completely understand no pressure! Thxxxxxx😁

Mm. If you were honest about wanting the spice, I promise you are going to soak this up. Not explicit, but quite easily suggestive. Hide your phones. If you think you shouldn’t read it 🤷‍♀️ then don’t.

******

A lockpick, a desk, and a disk drive. Hero’s team had gathered the information on Villain’s base; now it was up to Hero to gather the plans hidden within. It was right in front of her- a sparkling silver lock just waiting to be sprung by deft hands- her hands.

"I wish you would have broken in sooner. I would have asked you to join me."

“It’s what I was here for,” Hero blurted, and she hadn’t even bothered to look at him as she hid her hand behind her back. Looking away from the locked drawer, though, she found herself losing her breath. “I-I wanted to see you.” Not like this, she wanted to elaborate, but…hell, she couldn’t think.

Villain was in a towel- and only a towel.

Maybe if he thought she were interested in him, then she might make it out alive. Would he kill her? Hero wasn’t sure.

Regardless, this was much more of Villain than what she had wanted to see, and she didn’t know what to do.

“I have something to tell you,” she played on.

“You want me to believe you came here to confess feelings?” Villain laughed and smiled something toothy and arrogant. “I wish I could believe you, Hero, but here’s the truth: you wouldn’t know what to do if I returned your flirtations.”

“I’m sure I would,” Hero insisted. “Test me.”

Somehow, Villain’s smile became wider, more cunning, more handsome, more capable of making Hero regret being here. “Oh, I don’t think you want that.” He spoke in a rasp, one challenging and impossible to ignore.

“What makes you think I can’t take it?” Even she noticed her own voice shake. “Is it because I’m the quiet one, only there to do everyone’s dirty work? I can’t have my own interests and explorations, Villain?” Anything to invite her stay, to give her time to initiate a plan B.

He hummed politely. “Fine, then. What would you do if I told you that that sneaky little outfit flatters you? That black exemplifies those gorgeous curves, and harshens the edges of your cheeks?”

Her cheeks, as Villain had pointed out, now grew pink, though surely in the dark he couldn’t see that. At least, she desperately hoped not.

No one ever paid her compliments. She was quiet and reserved, and she did her job. She was nothing interesting, nothing worth complimenting, and nothing to waste a breath on. That was what she told herself anyway. But here Villain was, standing half-naked with nothing but a towel, telling her how pretty she appeared to him…even if it were only a lie to toy with her.

He could say nothing else that would fluster her more. Or so she thought.

“What if I told you how badly I wanted to grab that wrist from behind your back, walk you into that wall, and pin your hands above your head? That I wanted to make you beg- not for your life, but for something better? What would you do, Hero? Would you take me up on the offer if I told you it wasn’t too late?” He stepped towards her, and she felt herself taking a step back to match.

Suddenly, Hero wasn’t afraid he might kill her. She was afraid of the tingle in her brain and the way that the lockpick in her hand felt slick in her fingers.

She needed to focus. If she wasn’t careful, she would drop the pick, and ruin any chance of getting what she needed. Not that she could open the lock in front of Villain, but maybe if she gained a say in this…this interrogation…then she could distract him. She could ask for a drink! A glass of red wine- wasn’t that a flirtatious beverage? And while he left to get her a drink, Hero would unlock the desk, take the drive, and leave.

But before she could ask, Villain continued in his taunts. “What if I told you that naked would flatter your body even more? That it’d have been stunning plastered against my shower wall? And ohh, that hair,” he sighed with closed eyes. “How beautiful it would look- dark, and damp with steam.” He took another step, then another. Before Hero could even think to count the footsteps, the cloth of her black sweater made her skin itch. Her back was against the wall. “Sweetheart, your head wouldn’t even touch the water before I ravished you.” His dry knuckles grazed against the sharp, albeit soft-skinned frame of Hero’s cheeks. “You would have chills from more than just the air. Doesn’t that sound nice?”

His voice flattered her just as much- quiet and hushed, as if this were a scandal in his own private home. It sounded thrilling. It felt thrilling. Hero’s heart thumped harder now than when she’d been caught. It shouldn’t have been possible. Never had her heart beat so hard against her ribcage, like it was trying to escape. Like it depended on Villain’s voice and commands to keep her alive.

His hand trailed down her cheek, down the centre of her chest- where she gasped, but didn’t stop him- to her stomach, then right above the waistband of her pants.

“Hand me the lockpick,” he whispered, head beside her own, “or I might pleasure you here…instead of giving you the courtesy of a warm shower.” It was no threat; it was an invitation. Hero felt his lips curl, tugging her hair ever-so-slightly away from her ear. “Either way, I’m sure you’ll enjoy yourself.”

Hero swallowed. Would it be so bad, she thought, to be taken by Villain? With his smooth talking and easy compliments, it was hard to consider walking away. Whatever she decided, she wasn’t getting the disk drive. Maybe she could have something else. Something enticing. Something fulfilling. Something she’d never had before with a man who paid no one else any attention.

She could spoil herself.

But only this once.

And never again.

At least, that’s what she told herself.

******

I have more like this if you’re looking for more: Distracted

Gasps of Air

And I have to give a shoutout to the queen and king of similar drabbles @save-the-villainous-cat and @epiclamer. They’re probably more accustomed to this sort of thing.