#she's one of those people who is very easy to talk to and likeable

[faerune]

🖊 + tess. i’d love to hear about her platonic relationships with the other survivors <3

Tess has a pretty close relationship with all of the survivors and no matter the individual differences really considers them family. She'd do anything for them.

Glenn: Like I mentioned before, the pair of them are incredibly close! Tess considers him like a little brother and they are honestly best friends. His death absolutely devastates Tess and she feels like she failed him.

Michonne: I feel like the two of them have similar temperaments though Michonne sometimes has to ground her especially during moments where Tess' drive to protect those around her leads her into some pretty bad places. They're both intelligent well-educated women and they both have a similar sense of humor too!

Rick: These two are super close! They're around the same age (I believe if my memory serves me) and both kind of start the apocalypse with the okay this isn't going to break me or make me into a different person mindset. Meanwhile like nine seasons later lmao...(they still keep their core values I think, they just moreso adjusted to a different world to keep the people they love alive). Alongside Daryl and Michonne, Tess is one of the people who Rick would entrust the group with if he was gone. He also is incredibly grateful to her as Tess is separated with Judith during S4 and she did everything she could to keep the little girl alive.

Carol: They both struggle with the same sort of violence and anger towards those who threaten the group. And they both deal with the morality of it in similar ways. They regret, they're in pain but Carol isolates herself and tries to stop it while Tess accepts it as something she needs to do. These two are really close tbh.

Maggie: Isn't as close to Maggie initially as some of the others but Tess really likes her and thinks she's good for Glenn. Eventually, the pair form their own kind of familial love towards each other particularly after Glenn is killed. Tess is incredibly protective over both Maggie and Hershel as she feels she owes it to Glenn.

Carl: He calls her Aunt Tess eventually. Tess would do anything to protect that little man.

Judith: See above, also calls her Aunt Tess. They have a special bond.

Rosita: They don't have too much in common with each other but they quite like each other. It's one of those things where I don't think they'd be friends in a non-outbreak AU but being thrown together made them realize they like each other.

Negan: Hates him. Will never forgive him. Forbids him from coming anywhere close to her children.

[secretninjadonut]

| Average Group |

Masterlist

A/N:This is for my smau I’m making it fem reader x Yu Jimin (Karina) so stay tuned if you want to see also I will most likely do updates asap so yeah byeee.

Also I was going to add Eunchae but there’s no more colours 😰 Ik it sounds stupid but I NEED THE COLOURS 😭😭.

Your friendgroup consisted of 7 people you, Kim Chaewon, Miyawaki Sakura, Huh Yunjin, Nakamura Kazuha, Jang Wonyoung and Shin Ryujin.

Each one of you had different qualities for your friend group for example you were the more introverted person and mainly focused on studies rather than popularity or gaining more friends over the two terms you’d already had at school however Ryujin was the complete opposite to you, she had lots of popularity and was friends or knew basically everyone in the school which was daunting to you at first but she had always been in your friend group so it’s not like she just left you all.

Well those were both of your opposing personalities but the rest of your group have their own personalities so we’ll get into that now:

Chaewon

Chaewon is more of a leader type in your friend group she isn’t controlling or believing that she owns the friend group or anything but she’s someone that your friends and you have all found comfort in relying on or always being there for you all to go to her for advice and also she was genuinely a caring person.

People know her because of her spot in student council and her fiery personality really points her out to people making her more noticeable but she’s never scared to talk about what she thinks is right and stick to it (P.S high key gets her friends out of trouble a lot)

She has her anger issues but she is a very caring person overall when she gets angry though it’s quite scary the only person to really calm her down was her closest friend that she had known since childhood, Sakura she had to admit she was attracted to her just a bit but we won’t get into that for now just give her some time and she’ll open up more to the thought of liking her best friend.

Sakura

Sakura was a Japanese girl who had moved to Korea at a very young age, she was about 5 when she had moved here and went into nursery being a bit wary but Chaewon had helped her through it and they became best friends after that never being separated from eachother, now Sakura tried to get thoughts of liking her best friend away from her head but she just couldn’t especially not after her hair cut to a Bob it really made her realise how inlove she was with her (ME TO ME TO GIRL) but she still can’t come to terms with it.

She is more like a mother figure in the group obviously being in the same year as you all but she’s somebody who can comfort and calm your friends and you easily and she is always able to help in a situation whenever as she is known to be a kind person everybody knows she is very kind she is well known but not popular like that.

Yunjin

Yunjin is a American girl who had moved here when she was about 11 which was where she had met you and Kazuha, Kazuha and you were friends with Sakura and Chaewon but weren’t exactly a friend group at that point to be honest Yunjin was the one who brought you together to be a friend group and with her extroverted personality it was easy for her.

Yunjin is likeable and her outgoing personality definitely makes it easy for her to make friends anywhere she goes so she is quite popular but she isn’t as popular as her other friend Ryujin she’s just Someone people will easily go and befriend but don’t get her wrong if you have any problems or do anything to her friends she will cut you off or just be really rude towards you.

Kazuha

Kazuha is also a Japanese Girl however she moved a lot later in life than Sakura and she struggled with Korean however you were her first friend, you had learnt Japanese from your father as he was a traveler and knew many different languages before hand so he taught you many as well, you and Kazuha conversed in Japanese however you did help teach her Korean from time to time but she did study at home so you grew hopeful for her.

She had moved to your school about a month before Yunjin came to the school and you instantly clicked having matching personalities and both being introverted and quiet, you bonded over small things and because you could speak to her in Japanese she was a lot more comfortable talking to you rather than other students, after she had spoken to Sakura as well she was comfortable with her but she normally just stayed with you.

Wonyoung

Wonyoung is like the it Girl of the friend group she is from a rich family and is literally loaded but she cares more for small details and being perfect, wonyoung doesn’t spend thousands each day like you’d expect someone like her to but she prefers to perfect everything before she goes to buy anything new.

She has a specific aesthetic where only people that eye details can actually notice the difference between her clipping her hair the same way with a different clip and saying her outfit looks so much better so she likes to make sure that the people she hangs out with acknowledges her slight changes over all.

Although she seems like she’d be popular she actually has a specific circle she stays in and it includes your friend group and a few of her cheerleader friends from her cheer team (she’s captain) but she also keeps on trying to “fix” herself because of her blatantly obvious attraction to her co-captain Yujin.

[ginnsbaker]

OH MY GOD

I KNEW I NEVER LIKED DANNY FOR A REASON

The ending this guy i swear to god idk who leigh is gonna kill first reader or him or should i say “nick”

I was wondering in the flashback who this nick guy was that got a number for matt uno a married man

The kiss on the cheek the flowing conversation over breakfast all progress gone

I see the seeds being planted with the dog not gonna like i can see leigh with either a husky german shepherd or golden retriever. Golden retriever cos its the opposite to her and kind of mellows her out a little. Or husky because with how active they are they would make an excellent running companion they’re stubborn but loyal and very intelligent (basically leigh if she was a dog) and german shepherd for similar reasons. But i just have a soft spot for these breeds huskies in particular so its just me 😂

Im so mad at danny knowing full well matt was married ik he has feelings for Leigh so i wonder if it was sabotage for selfish reasons or maybe he thought it was the right thing to do cos matt wasn’t happy or something either way he is gonna get his ass kicked by one of these two or possibly both

Once again you did a fantastic job (you always do) leigh is not easy ti capture she’s incredibly complex she’s not even that likeable on paper shes angry and bitter and snarky but i think thats why i like her so much shes so different to any other portrayal of grief especially for a woman ive ever seen and she has so many good qualities that okay maybe don’t come across as much as the bad but id love to see how you deal with these like her sarcasm and snark can be genuinely funny she obviously loves very fiercely and cares about people she’s stubborn and not afraid to speak her mind and the list goes on

Thank you for writing these masterpieces and as always i look forward to the next one

-🧃

Re: dog breed - haha! yeah, i bet. she'll probably get one more after we give her the shih tzu and she'll go for a larger breed. for now, let me satisfy my need to write about shih tzus as an ode to my own dog who is my baby forever :)) I have a soft spot for retrievers and the bernese mountain dog, but i also love huskies! those goddamn beautiful eyes!

re: danny - ohhhh we're going to talk about that in the next chapter. of course it's a mixture of both. i won't say more but we'll definitely address that.

re: leigh - she can be really mean and she gets away with it because she's conventional pretty and she has this no-nonsense attitude that challenges you. she doesn't pretend to be nice because she doesn't care about what people think, or if people will like her, etc.

you're welcome! thank you (as always) for reading my works :) take care!

[f0point5]

i’m new on the formula one world and idk too much about it but i always see people talking about lando and not wanting him as a winner. can you explain me what’s the deal with that?

Well, I can only speak for myself.

There’s a lot of reasons people dislike Lando and personally I feel lately it’s become a bit of witch hunt and people are looking for reasons to hate him. That’s just how it goes sometimes.

Also, in my view, he’s very inarticulate and he doesn’t express himself well, which means it’s easy to take things he says out of context or misconstrue them if you’re already looking to not like him. He also doesn’t seem to think before he speaks and amongst a group of people who are expected to be a bit more measured in their responses, he stands out as someone who says some very out of pocket things.

However, speaking for myself, I really used to like Lando back when he was in the upper midfield. He still said some silly stuff and he was a bit petulant when things didn’t go his way but that’s who he is, and you don’t want to see 20 drivers with the same personality. He was also very talented, very funny, and seemed like a really sweet person. Since about the middle of last year when McLaren’s car actually got good, he got a bit of an attitude. All drivers have egos, and they need them, but Lando’s manifests in a way that I find distinctly unlikeable. And towards the end of last year he got a bit annoying. Then this year, it’s got worse. He plays the “woulda, shoulda, coulda” card constantly. “Should have won”, “should have got pole”…but didn’t. If my grandmother had wheels she would have been a bike. What is the use of saying you think you should have won? His air of entitlement is not a good combination with failing to capitalise on having the fastest car on the grid. I maintain that he’s probably a really sweet guy irl but I don’t think success brings out the best in him, or at least, not what I would consider to be his most likeable traits. And the more success he gets, the more unlikeable he becomes (to a subsection of people, not to everyone obviously). So I would just rather he not win.

But there’s more reasons that have nothing to do with Lando. Zak Brown is the whingiest, skeeviest, just all round ick of a butterball and I don’t want anything associated with him to succeed ever (his creepy obsession with Red Bull is weirded and sad, I don’t like how he talks about people, I don’t like how he talks to people, it doesn’t seem like he fosters positive working culture, and his vibes are just off).

But generally McLaren have not been gracious about their success so naturally people don’t want to see them keep succeeding.

Again, this is all just my opinion, but this the general gist of why people would prefer Lando didn’t win. (As I said, there’s other people who just hate him because he’s rich or he dares some girl they don’t like or whatever but those people are Parasocial crazies)

[harrykim]

Books read this week

I've been reading a lot so I felt like doing a small breakdown for the books I've read in the past week:

Don't Want You Like a Best Friend by Emma R. Alban: F/F victorian romance, sweet but nothing special. Chapters flip between the two girls, Beth and Gwen; Gwen is the far more interesting one but Beth is likeable enough (just not that interesting); Beth's mother and Gwen's father are also more interesting — they were previously interested in each other, back before they both married, though they're now both widowed. Beth and her mother are on a time limit to have Beth married as they're losing their home to Beth's uncle and don't have much wealth. Gwen on the other hand has pretty much no interest in marriage. Predictably the girls fall for each other. Doesn't get that deep on social commentary but it isn't devoid of it either. As said, it's sweet, and the epilogue even sets up the M/M romance sequel, which I probably won't read but who knows. 3/5.

Floating Hotel by Grace Curtis; loved it. Scifi about a fancy spaceship hotel called the Abeona, though by the time of the story it's seen better days. If you're here for fast paced, action focused plot you should skip this one, but that doesn't mean there's nothing to say. Takes place over a pretty short but unspecified period of time. The chapters are each focused on a character, either a staff member or guest of the hotel, as the storyline happens usually in the background. Each chapter typically goes through a small period of time on the ships journey and flashbacks to their lives. Each chapter is interspersed with 'Lamplighter Dispatches'; the Lamplighter is an anonymous figure sending out criticism and even secrets of the Empire, including the secret to the Emperors 500 year lifespan; both the anti imperial movement and the government have tracked the Lamplighter to the Abeona. The Abeona is a ship that typically the not truly wealthy, but those who wish to seem so patronise, a false luxury seen in the wear on the ship from it's heyday decades ago, and the staff are often people who have left their old lives behind; their flashbacks typically show issues within the Empire, justifying why they end up where they have. The time passage does jump around a little though I didn't find it remotely confusing frankly, it was easy to follow and very clear when things took place in a sequential order from a previous chapter; though this could've been strengthened as the chapters of part 3 do make it feel like the passage of time is something to keep an eye on, whereas previous do not. So again, personally loved it but obviously it won't be for everyone. Could do with a better title, also I don't think the goodreads summary is that good, but it's not a big deal to me. 5/5.

Accidentally in Love with my Best Friend's Brother by Abby Greyson: Romance. In name only because it's fucking terrible don't waste your time even if you like the tropes, those being; fake dating, best friends brother (duh), bullshit nothing rivalry, uh football?, rip off gossip girl with an 'everyone in the whole town ships it but they're oblivious'. I don't understand that last one at all, she's a fucking primary school teacher why would anyone give a fuck about her. None of the characters exist outside the romance in any way. Now this is typical of many romances but it was particularly bad here because it tried to pretend any of them had lives. Their character traits were Smart and Orphan for her and Football for him. Not even going to dignify them with their names. They also just develop whole complexes that never before and never truly will affect their character or personality in any way. Horrific and overly repeated jokes, like I'm talking 5 times a chapter, and the chapters are SHORT. The book literally ends with an 'and everyone clapped' part. Well, before the married with 2 kids epilogue. The writing is also just not good lol. Minus one million/5.

Love, Lies, and Cherry Pie by Jackie Lau: Cute, sweet. Fake dating that doesn't feel drawn out and fanfictiony. Emily is great, and her relationship with Mark is nice; he could be more developed but honestly the best part of the book is Emily's relationship to her mother, who's been trying to set her up with Mark for years; this is why the fake dating happens. Emily feels guilt over not living up to her parents expectations, while also feeling disrespected as an adult, being a published author who also works as a barista and tutor to pay the bills, and lives with a roommate, all at 33. Meanwhile her 4 sisters are all married and have more 'respectable' and stable professions, and children too. The writing does feel a bit... it falls into making Emily a bit too 'relatable' with how often she gets mad at bait twitter articles about millennials being entitled or whatever, which is fine a few times but would feel more justified if it leaned into the authors needing a social media presence to sell their books, but Emily only really occasionally takes photos of her food to post and that's about it, which is fine on it's own but I do think it could've made the aforementioned social media reflections work better. 4/5.

[ultimateinferno]

One thing I think some manga readers need to chill out on is the compulsive need to point out that Makima is the villain, especially when talking to anime-onlies and those who've fallen for her shit. Like, maybe you were able to catch on from the word go, but not everyone will and the way the narrative treats her, it's certainly intended to be a plot twist.

I also think by just painting her in broadstrokes as evil through and through with no reason to be likeable ultimately detracts from her character and the narrative of CSM. Makima is a manipulator. Making people like her is her whole thing and it works. With only what was shown of her in the anime adaptation, she has a lot going for her. In other stories, she would have been the polite but haughty kuudere love interest.

Within the episodes shown her most in-your-face negative trait is threatening to kill Denji. However, even when it's written out explicitly, she does it in such a manner that makes it easy for those who've already fallen for her shtick to write off. She always separates the action from her, or uses innuendo when talking about it. Like it's a bureaucratic decision made by her bosses, or some advice from the vets, or how she's never the one who would go through with it, but one of her subordinates. She says it in such a tongue and cheek manner that she has the plausible deniability that she's joking even when she isn't. This isn't to mention that every named character has threatened Denji's life from Aki to Power to Kobeni to Himeno. Threatening to kill Denji is just what people do apparently, not to excuse her but to just point out that it's not the most effective litmus on good vs evil in this setting.

Everything she does is laced with formality and delicacy. From genuinely harmless actions to straight up sexually assaulting Denji. What makes this so effective is how little effort or threats it takes to get people to do what she wants.

Which brings me to the big thing about her character: She is very rarely wrong. The entire speech about sexual intimacy having a greater impact when you're close to your partner and know them on a deep, personal level? She's correct about that! Or maybe when she helps Denji after he got drunk on Himeno vomit by giving him the candy, telling him that even if bad things happen, he will experience so much that they'll ultimately become footnotes in his life. Genuine wisdom. There's even her conversation with the Yakuza about how they're so far up their own ass as they rule Japan's underground while self absorbed that they're the "necessary evil," which albeit hypocritical still isn't wrong. Her little convo on the train about preferring to eat alone and hating dealing with her bosses. The movie date where she says that even if you find only one good movie, it makes watching all of the bads one worth it.

She's not never wrong, but the best lies are built on truths. As one of the few characters in the cast who has any semblance of understanding what the fuck is going on and as practically human pure devil, this all comes together to make it her the perfect manipulator. Anime-onlies will fall for it. When I read the manga, I fell for it. Even after I was clocked in on her doing something terrible from a random redditor's comment on fanart.

What makes Makima such a good villain and such a good representation for abusers is that she makes it very easy for many people to like her. Maybe not everyone, but more than enough. Many abusers aren't some shriveled bitter curs that release nonstop toxicity, they'd fool far less people that way. The best ones are those that make people go "How could they be abusive, they're so nice?"

You don't have to like her. It's probably a good thing you don't actually. She's not a good person, and if people are clearly excusing her bullshit even after reading the manga, go ahead and call it out, but also, let new viewers be wrong. Let them be tricked. Maybe it will reveal some things to them about themselves.

[alwaysspeakshermind]

What do you think about Star Crossed Lover strategy on 74th The Hunger Games?

Who did invent it?

Who benefited from it?

Thank you

@curiousnonny

As a reader who couldn't help strategizing along with Katniss the second I started reading, the SCL strategy wasn't an idea that even crossed my mind, but I personally think it's brilliant. Like Haymitch kept trying to explain to Katniss, the point of the interviews are basically to sell yourself to the crowd...yes, the scores are a big deal, but since nobody except the Gamemakers knows WHY the tributes are getting those scores, the audience's first chance to get a feel for who they want to bet on happens when they "meet" the tributes. And as everyone who's ever watched a reality show knows, the way you set yourself apart from the competition is by being memorable...not necessarily skilled, not necessarily likeable, not necessarily enviable, but MEMORABLE.

(Ex.: whether we're talking The Bachelor, American Idol, The Voice, X Factor, Top Model, Survivor etc., there's always those contestants who you meet in the first round and then promptly forget about, because there's nothing about them that sticks out...you don't love them, you don't hate them, you don't think "Oh wow, he's really handsome" or "Oh wow, her voice is incredible" or "OH, she's the girl who showed up in the unicorn head/that's the guy who brought the creepy puppet," or "Oh, she's the one who wants to win for her grandmother." You just...forget them. They blend in. And while that's not a huge thing in a tv show that gives you the chance to come back, in a televised fight to the death where a sponsor's gift can literally make or break your survival, blending in is NOT the route you want to go.)

The SCL strategy is great because it makes K&P instantly relatable, it makes them tragic figures rather than just two more tributes headed to their probable deaths (something the Capitol crowd is all too accustomed to seeing), and it's new. They haven't seen that before, and it makes a buzz (think about how people react nowadays to the announcement that two celebrities they already were interested in are dating, and multiply that by about a thousand). Katniss and Peeta can't both win, but their lives/chances to be together can be prolonged with...*trumpet fanfare* SPONSOR GIFTS! WOOHOO! And in the Capitol, where life is a lot easier than anywhere else in the world, it's an easy enough story to believe, so it practically guarantees extra sponsors.

Now, in terms of who invented it/benefitted from it? I submit below this particular passage from one of my favorite scenes that I wish the film had portrayed more accurately:

Peeta has only just stepped from his car when I slam my palms into his chest. He loses his balance and crashes into an ugly urn filled with fake flowers. The urn tips and shatters into hundreds of tiny pieces. Peeta lands in the shards, and blood immediately flows from his hands.

"What was that for?" he says, aghast.

"You had no right! No right to go saying those things about me!" I shout at him.

"What's going on?" says Effie, a note of hysteria in her voice. "Did you fall?"

"After she shoved me," says Peeta as Effie and Cinna help him up.

Haymitch turns on me. "Shoved him?"

"This was your idea, wasn't it? Turning me into some kind of fool in front of the entire country?" I answer.

"It was my idea," says Peeta, wincing as he pulls spikes of pottery from his palms. "Haymitch just helped me with it."

"Yes, Haymitch is very helpful. To you!" I say.

"You are a fool," Haymitch says in disgust. "Do you think he hurt you? That boy just gave you something you could never achieve on your own."

"He made me look weak!" I say.

"He made you look desirable! And let's face it, you can use all the help you can get in that department. You were about as romantic as dirt until he said he wanted you. Now they all do. You're all they're talking about. The star-crossed lovers from District Twelve!" says Haymitch.

"But we're not star-crossed lovers!" I say.

Haymitch grabs my shoulders and pins me against the wall. "Who cares? It's all a big show. It's all how you're perceived. The most I could say about you after your interview was that you were nice enough, although that in itself was a small miracle. Now I can say you're a heartbreaker. Oh, oh, oh, how the boys back home fall longingly at your feet. Which do you think will get you more sponsors?"

The mastermind? Peeta.

But the aider and abettor? Definitely Haymitch.

And in terms of beneficiaries, it's both Katniss and Peeta, because even though the strategy causes them a lot of issues later on, it's ultimately the thing that helps them survive, whether you're looking at it from the angle of the Games or afterward, when the Capitol becomes the immediate threat but they at least are able to face it together.

[ehlnofay]

ask meme!! (sorry these are not in list order 😭)

for Arabella: 🙂🎨🔮🧸🤝

AND. for Efri: 🐾🎁🔮♦️🍳

for arabella:

🙂: What are three of their personality traits that others would generally consider positive? this is a very interesting question, because I think generally character flaws are neutral traits gone too far and arabella doesn't do anything by halves... arabella is a very charismatic person and easy to get along with when she wants to be, which makes her likeable. she is undeniably courageous and copes well in dangerous circumstances, so she's a good person to have around in dire straits (providing she's not the thing causing them). as unreliable as she can be she is almost never motivated by malice; fundamentally she would rather help people than hurt them, and will gladly go out of her way to do so (if she feels like it; and as long as it doesn't conflict with her self-interest.) 🎨: What is their color scheme? Or at least colors you associate them with? I associate her mostly with red - I think in part because it's so bright and bold and just suits her well, and partly because I think it's one of the most accessible types of pigments in green pact valenwood. when I draw her I tend to use blue as well, for contrast, and because I think for her it represents luxury - since in valenwood it's only available as a mineral pigment, which is more expensive and difficult to acquire than animal-derived dyes like cochineal. 🔮: If they were to feature in the art of a tarot card, which one would it be and why? the tower. arabella shies away from stability; she's become most comfortable in upheaval. she is an unforeseen catastrophe. plus the imagery is cool 🧸: What was their favorite childhood toy and why? I think she had one of those whistles that's shaped and kind of sounds like a bird. carried it in her pocket everywhere for a few years. thought it was hysterical to blow it at surprising and inopportune moments 🤝: How do they express platonic affection? When does an acquaintance become a friend for them? hmm... I don't think arabella draws a great distinction between an acquaintance and a friend. she's a) a very social person, b) used to moving around a lot, and c) used to just lying about everything all the time. circumstances have not historically lent themselves to close and honest relationships, so anyone who she has fun talking to is a friend in her book. there's a much wider gap between a friend and someone she would be willing to put herself in the not-fun kind of danger for or be at all honest with (things she ranks on Exactly The Same Level) - she's very chummy with brynjolf from day one but it takes months and a strong external incentive to tell him anything about the reasons she acts like she does, and even then she can only manage it if they both pretend that's not what she's talking about. (she's ridiculous. I love her so much.) she's very physically affectionate regardless - enjoys touching her friends in the manner of a sibling trying to be irritating - but is mindful of their comfort and is rarely the first to initiate contact.

for efri:

🐾: How do they feel about animals? Do they have/want any pets? Do they have a favorite animal? efri's primary experience with animals is of course her old herd of goats. they were livestock, not pets, so she never developed any specific attachments to any one or the other of them, but she viewed the herd as a single unit as a sort of companion and still thinks of them fondly after she leaves them in a cave. she thinks animals in general are very cool but doesn't particularly want the responsibility of a pet. her favourite animal is whichever one is currently in her line of sight 🎁: If they needed to give a friend a gift, how would they go about choosing one? Would they buy it, make it, or do something else? Would others consider them good at gift-giving? she might be more likely to buy if she had money and access to more interesting shops, but generally when efri gives gifts they are found or made; she gives jouane flowers, sissel one of her twin brooches, kazari a cool blue rock (looks nice on a shelf). she is very good at gift giving if you are the kind of person who likes a cool blue rock, but as a child with no money she doesn't have any way to give you much else 🔮: If they were to feature in the art of a tarot card, which one would it be and why? knight of wands!! its associations with impulse and adventure are very fitting, efri can very easily see herself as a knight-adjacent figure, and it has a STICK ♦️: Are there any motifs you associate with them? What do those motifs represent thematically? since I'm still figuring out efri's storyline it's hard to say... one that I would say is her light. earlier on in her story there's this whole scattered narrative using magic light as representative of freedom/happiness/self-sufficiency (without the counterdepencence) which I like a lot and which might develop further as the storyline unfolds 🍳: Are they good at cooking? Do they like to? Why and how did they learn to cook, or, if they didn't, why didn't they? efri's cooked for herself for a while now. she's not good at following recipes but she enjoys improvising meals and seeing what she can come up with. when she's travelling with kazari and sissel, she's usually the one trying to figure out how to change up the fish they've caught from the creek to make it a bit more exciting; she's delighted to learn from the cooking of the khajiiti caravan afterwards

[sipsteainanxiety]

not to be dramatic but i would lay my life down for holding out (just for you), you have this habit of writing the absolute sweetest, most enthralling bakugou fics and i will never not be excited whenever you post. your writing is SO good and its even better because the reader is so well written and likeable, i can’t tell you how much i love this dragon bakugo fic. thank you for sharing your writing with us and all the effort you put into your fics, i imagine writing can be difficult but you never fail to amaze me

AWWWW NONNIE U SWEETHEART 🥹🥹🥹 im a sucker for soft bkg i admit LMFAOO he just hits so much harder than mean bkg and i KNOW he’s canonically a big marshmallow inside 😌😌 thank you for reading my fics and taking the time to send in an ask!! it means a lot to me fr! 🥹✨❤️

yeah, for reader id wanted her to be like… chill but also not afraid to stick up for herself yk? and talk back against a mfing dragon LMFAOO which i think would attract bkg in a way LOL. bc like. who the FUCK is this puny human and why is she helping me? why isn’t she running away?! poor baby is so confused lol but also kinda intrigued?? with his injuries he’s forced to spend time with her and see parts of her personality that he finds captivating. the fact that she’s so easy to talk to (or listen to in his case) just makes him more attached pfft. bc he’s someone who prefers to listen at his core.

bkg’s culture is very… mmmmmm… strong. determined. they’re dragons/dragonshifters after all, so they naturally gravitate towards ppl who are also strong and tend to see those people in a favorable light!! but there’s a difference between the strength of his kingdom’s people and the strength of someone in the human realm yk? and bkg has to deal with this difference and expectations n such. cuz like… reader isn’t as fiery or powerful as one of the warriors in the dragon kingdom. she’s softer—not a pushover but definitely not as keen to throw hands. which is what’s kinda drawing bkg in 😌

anyways yaah LMAOO thats how my train of thought runs. feel free to ask questions abt anything LOL ✨

[foxymoxynoona]

I loved that recent reader's review of Amended. I love this story so much and she did such a great job of highlighting so many of the reasons why and my favorite scenes too.

I have reread Amended dozens of times now because it is my ultimate comfort story, and I will note that one of my favorite parts about rereading it is that on second read, my perspective of Isabella's behavior in those early chapters totally changed.

On first read, I definitely struggled to understand why she was being so thorny and reluctant and why Jungkook was so patient through all of that. But after understanding the story completely and reading the two flashback chapters towards the end of the book, my mindset totally changed and I was 100% supportive of her early doubts about Jungkook and about him needing to really work to earn back her trust and love.

I also think it made me question some of my own internalized misogyny. There were definite moments at the beginning of Amended when I first read it where I was like why is she being such a bitch? Why is he putting up with this? And it's interesting that when the shoe was on the other foot in some of your other stories like Meadow and Lowlander, I thought Jungkook was being a huge dick, but it felt like okay that's a normal journey for a man to have to learn how to process his emotions and I was more forgiving and patient with his character growth. I love a story that makes me think twice about why I react to characters in certain ways too!

I definitely recommend anyone who is a fan of Amended to come back and reread the story a second time, it truly puts a fresh perspective on the story.

I love this so much because that was completely a thing I was exploring within myself when I started the story! I wanted to write a woman who I felt some discomfort with, or disagreement with about her choices, and explore that double standard with male behavior/expectations. I don't say that to mean this story is some profound ANSWER, but it was really valuable to me as a person and as a writer to not set out to make her "likeable" --but then over time she became extremely likeable to me, and it was interesting to see at what point that changed for me AND for readers, or for some readers it never did!

After I finished, I think I had put a post on here talking more in-depth about that exploration into internalized misogyny and how it played a role in Amended, and how I shifted further away from that as time went on and she became so more of a person than an idea. My own critique is that if I had really wanted that to be a defining theme of the story, I would have given her less "reason" to be the way she was, because it makes it too easy to "explain away" her struggles or the things viewed as unacceptable, rather than recognizing her as a person with her own views and beliefs and behaviors that may just not conform to society's expectation of proper behavior for a woman. But watching people compare JK's behavior and growth (which largely happened pre-story) and Isabella's was incredibly interesting for me.

Your comment comparing her to male characters in my other stories is just so astute, and it's something I have watched with interest behind the scenes. The reader response to Isabella was so interestingly different in many ways from reader response to Meadow JK or Sugar Fairy JK or Lowlander JK or even prickly puppy Sea of Indigo JK. There's overlap of course, it's not like anyone was ever like "wow Meadow JK what an angel in those early days, huh?" LOL. And also response to her was different compared to other female characters who struggle with trauma or self-doubt or prickliness, like Mishka and Sasha and even Y/N in Sea of Indigo! In a way, the growth of those jK's was all very simple and straight-forward and readers accepted it much more quickly than they did Isabella's, which was more emotional and muddled.

I just have really enjoyed watching it all, but also writing it and exploring it in myself, and I hope to continue to force myself to confront my own biases and hangup to grow both as a writer and a person.

[sansloii]

Meta + enemy (Andris)

Andris isn't someone that typically likes to make enemies, especially in the workplace. He has some bite to him but if he's being perfectly honest with himself, biting is a hassle and it can potentially lead to a lot more trouble than he's willing to deal with at a given moemnt. That, and the man is a people pleaser.... so the first instinct, for him, isn't to.... show anyone who's boss or anything like that ( because people should know that much already ). It's to make himself likeable — it's to shmooze and maybe be a bit of a kiss ass if he feels like sweetening the interaction a little more. of course, it's not like... people aren't able to see right through Andris, because those tendencies are amplified when he knows it's going to benefit him and that he's going to get something out of it. it's not overly done or saturated with fake kindness or a "customer service" act ( thought, he'll call it that ) — it's him being personable. It's him being relatable. It's him dressing down a little bit and, you know... pretending that in that moment, he isn't just doing it to make you soften up a lil bit and be a little bit more open to talking with him.

now that said, we're under no impression here that Andy's lil facade is impenetrable. it's not easy to tell when on/off but if you've got like... a seasoned bullshit detector, you should be able to tell when Andris is on/off day-to-day or at least have some idea. And you'll realize how much Andris is "on" when he's interacting with others...even with people that he gets along with ( at work and sometimes... not at work ). *That's* what usually makes people side-eye him and that constant knowledge — that constant awareness that Mr.Jansone--is just....putting this carefully curated, only slightly flawed first foot forward and nothing else :)

now... this isn't enough to make enemies out of someone and andris usually is pretty good about minimally engaging with people that *know* he's like this and will probably give him shit for it ( for example, Joseph — although Joseph is just very judgemental and doesn't really say anything ). where that rears its ugly head is Andris' penchant for being condescending and using rhetoric that intentionally can piss people off. to illustrate this easier, we're going to also use dakota's manner of being condescending because they approach it in two different ways. say we have someone who... they feel is saying things that are untrue about some sort of deal or contract or prior discussion during a meeting. it's clear that both sides are in a little bit of a disagreement of what the actual truth is and thus, we have this dilemma.

first we have dakota.

she will say something to the effect of "Actually, what we discusssed and what you're saying now are two different things. I'm not sure where your version of events are coming from but it's clear that you need something clarified for you. Isn't that right?"

next is andris. he will respond with something to the effect of "I don't recall that being apart of our previous discussions and it seems we're on two, vastly different pages. If you'd like, I'm more than willing to go over the facts of your situation with you so no one here is confused about where you stand."

dakota is very direct and speaking in general plain terms. she's not pleased, the recalled event is wrong, and she will clarify it for them. andris is still direct but the tone of his words is softer and said person must be confused, must need his "help" to fully understand things, needs him to be but a humble person guiding them... despite the fact that in both cases, they are calling the other person incompetent at best. it's that type of terminology that really needles its way under some people's skin and given that Andris has to do that anyway with his subordinates, he just keeps it on if you just so happen to be someone he really doesn't like and can probably get away with talking as such to. like dakota, he talks down to people. and, for someone in his position, that can earn him a bit of a reputation.

@royaletiquette | send META + a word, name, or phrase for a headcanon

[irrfahrer]

10. Have their crushes been mostly male, mostly female, or evenly split? 12. Is your muse easily flustered? Do they blush, swear, etc.?

Vanilla Sunday Meme !

10. Have their crushes been mostly male, mostly female, or evenly split? In general Ziv does not care what looks, gender, sex or species another person is and in fact feels suprisingly little attraction to looks or gender-performance. Which might be a result of her having a very bad eyesight and never seeing much of a person, unless she presses her muzzle in their face and at that moment she probably is already sitting on their lap and kissing them with their hand on her behind. However, what Ziv has a strong attraction to are scents. As she has such a bad eyesight she has a properly compensating sense of smell and very easy can figure out the Pheromones in the sweat of another person which means that if there is a person who finds her attractive enough to start throwing pheromones in her general reaction, the woman will most likely react very soon either with interest depending if she likes what she smells or with a few witty words to get rid of the unwanted attention. Accordingly the sex of her crushes is completly coincidentally and Ziv does not has a preferance herself, though she can say she "in general" likes the scent of people more with less by fur covered skin because those people she can read like an open book for those species do not use sweat for purposeful comunication like Tynnan or Wookies do (and therefor could manipulate their scents and confuse her).

Eventually Ziv is the most attracted to character and if a person is likeable in her eyes, she will enjoy her time with them.She feels drawn to people who are open with their mind and feelings as this gives her a security to know what the other person is up to and thinking.As someone with no telepathic abilitys despite her mindshield, Ziv had grown up between Telepaths without beeing able to read minds and feelings herself, so she feels very isolated and insecure when she is with a person who does not speak what is on their mind and it will end with her either withdrawing herself thinking she is not wanted around the person or asking questions non stop and both is not a base for a relationship.

12. Is your muse easily flustered? Do they blush, swear, etc.? If Ziv gets easily flustered, that soley depends on the topic she is talking about. Bodily functions, talks about Sex, talks about kinks and talks about sesxual preferences are Talks that the Tynnan will have without even batting an eye and in fact she might be even smiling doing so. After all, the Tynnan is for one a Midwife who supports people not only during their pregnacies, giving birth and taking care of the infants, but she also often helps people concieving and on the opposite, she is giving advice and treatments to prevent or end pregnancies, so it would make her work a lot of harder, if she would be flustered by talking about sex, sexual acts, biolog and attraction. On the other hand Ziv is also completly shameless in announcing her opinion , because she is a very small alien and when she is not loudly saying what she wants, then noone would notice her or even listen to her. However, while Ziv is not in the sligtst flustered by the facts of life, she will end up beeing extremly flustered by honest declarations of feelings. Its the simple effect of her not beeing able to read minds, and therefor she can never be completly sure if what the other person is saying is the truth and Ziv is not exactly a person who deals well with uncertainity. Accordingly she will usually laugh it off or make a stupif joke so ease the soituation or make the other people even angry because that emotion she can work with best.

[monasatlantis]

Fields of Mistria - Frist impression Review

So on an impuls (as per usual XD) I bought the early access Version of Fields of Mistria and played it for like 13 hours and through almost two seasons and I am quite quick in my progression thanks to... uh... some... unorthodox ways to get through the freaking mine *achem* and thus I feel like I can already write a "First impression review" for this game in its early access phase. Bear in mind that there will be a full review out eventually after the game has entered its alpha stage and is mostly complete - which will likely not be before 2025.

OBVIOUSLY, there are SPOILERS for this game, so you have been warned!

The art style is a bit old-school-Anime and people my age will likely be reminded of the Anime "Nadia the secret of Blue Water" and might be reminded of some of the Animes characters when looking at the characters of those games. Which is by no means a bad thing. I think younger players or those who have never seen the anime will obviously not notice anyway. I just found it worth mentioning. (For my personally its fun, because while I love Nadia the Anime, I hate Nadia the character and there is a character in this game that looks somewhat like her and whenever I talk to her I am torn between thinking she is pretty and wanting to say "urg" every time I interact with her XD) Overall I do think the artstyle is likeable for everyone who does not mind the Anime-Character-Look. Animals are very cute by the way ♥ (BTW... its just a small thing but it looks like the characters change their outfits every season and I think its a nice detail.)

Music is okay for a cozy farming game. Obviously, there are no banger songs, but there is also no music that gets annoying after playing on a loop for a while, as far as I can say after spending hours in the mine or on my farm or exploring the map.

The game mechanics are similar to most cozy farming games. Which makes it easy to understand and makes it so that you don't take long to get into the game. You have tutorials for almost everything which you can actually skip if you want, which I found really nice. Something that surprised me but is actually nice for quality of live is that you do not have to refill your freaking watering can. I hated this so much in previous farming games. I get that it is realistic but so damn annoying. I prefer how Fields of Mistria does it and hope they will not change it in a future update OR will make it optional. Otherwise its the usual same old, same old. Plant crops, water crops, harvest crops, sell or cook crops. Same for fruit trees and most other stuff. Animals make babies by giving a male AND a female heart cookies when they have reached at least two hearts, this way apparently you can breed unique colors. I just got my first egg for breeding, so I can not tell you the details. But what I can tell you is that you can NOT buy the pink cow from the opening-screen, so it must be one you breed. I am still working on this at the moment. What is kind of "new" or is not available in all farming games is that you can give your Animals accessories AND toys. My cows play ball in a sandpit and my chickens are going up and down a... uh... what is it called in English? I forgot. But you get my point, right? Its really cute! I hope they will add more in later releases of the game. I would love to see my chicken on a swing or something XD They do feed from grass that is growing outside. You do not have to plant it yourself. But if you feel like your running low on it, you certainly can. Food for Animals CAN be bought or be randomly obtained by cutting grass. There are different feed for the different kind of Animals. Weed, grass, stones and trees randomly reappear on your farm, so you should not run out of materials. If you do... you find plenty of tries on the map that regrow almost immediately. And if you are short on stone, you find some laying around on the map but the easiest way to get plenty of them is by getting into the mine.

The map of this game is big, but not too big. You can easily spend a day running around gathering flowers, herbs, bugs and doing some digging for artifacts and the likes. Some random fruiet trees are standing around here and there too. Some areas are only accessible with stronger tools or after finishing story-missions tho. But the map looks very fitting to the games title. It looks like there are ruins of old castles and stuff like that standing everywhere and I hope most of them will be relevant to the story eventually or give you access to new places on the map. There are also occasional springs with healing water or statues or the likes of that, that give you something after some sort of sacrifice - no your not sacrificing your chickens, don't worry, you give away money or stone or stuff like that, so don't worry! XD - like there is a well that gives you recipes if you give it some money.

Speaking of which... there is no learning by doing it seems. You need recipes to cook. Some easy ones you will get for free tho, when shipping certain ingredients. AND what I really like is, while you do not have anything at the start on your farm to cook yourself, do woodwork or smithing yourself the game allows you to use the facilities in the city. So you an cook at the inn, smith at the smithies and do woodwork in 2 possible locations, including the carpenters house. Really neat. It helps you too not feel like rushing thing so you can buy that stuff for yourself and still makes it possible to get a copper axe and an iron hoe without having to buy them for a lack of any smithing-place at your farm. And YES you can actually create the stuff yourself. And its not even an upgrade and its also not limited. You can produce like 5 copper hoes and then seel 4 of them for a very good price while also selling your old hoe as it gets not replaced. I got a shitload of money when I replayed my copper tools with iron tools and then sold the copper tools. So if you like the mine, this might be your way to gain money. There is a catch to that tho, which is that processing anything (that includes making cheese out of milk) is taking a shitload of time and when you are finished your day will be mostly over. You can shorten that time by a bit -we get to that in a moment - but it still takes quite some time. ALSO if you want to build a barn or a coop, you will only buy the blueprints and you have to buy them again and again and again whenever you want to build a new one. After having the blueprints you place them on a free space on your farm and then you gather the material until you can finish the building. It has is good sides and its bad sides, I guess. Overall I don't mind it but I was surprised at first.

There is a magical aspect in the game. You will learn spells eventually and you will earn points by doing daily farmer-stuff that will allow you to "buy" perks like that smiting doesn't take as much time anymore, or crops randomly giving you seeds when watering them. Most of it is really helpful but if you like it a bit harder you do not have to use it. But I would seriously recommend it.

Now lets talk about the plot for a moment. Obviously there is some stuff still missing but let me tell you, you will be quite busy with it for the first months. There are multiple story requests that ask you for lets say preparing a bridge or selling crops for emergency rations. As the farmer, you got your land for free, but let me tell you that you will have to pay them back a lot while fulfilling the story missions. In money and materials. However, it makes it so that you almost always have a goal in sight. I would recommend tho making sure you prioritize the right thing. There is no rush with those main story missions. Sometimes the benefits outweigh the price, like with the update for the general store, but other times you could use the money and materials for other stuff that will help you gather more income which also will help you on the long run with the story-missions. A lot of stuff by the way happens in the mines and requires you to revisit the mines a few times to get what you need to explore them further so if you are like me and not a big fan of mines in ANY farming game, you might have to rethink if you want this game OR at least how you approached the mines. You can not just get yourself a sword but also armor that helps you with the monsters in the mine. Gathering the materials for it may take a while tho, so your progress will be slower. But this IS a cozy farming game. So there is no real rush. Go at your own pace and make the best out of it. HOWEVER if you want to advance the story avoiding the mines is literally impossible. So keep that in mind, if you ever want to buy the game.

Now to the NPCs and Loveinterests. The town isn't overly big, but is filled enough to not feel empty. All characters have their own character and quirks and interests and feel alive and interesting. The bachelors and bachelorette can not be married yet. So far, you can only get them to four hearts. You get an heart event every two hearts or so. Once again, its a wild mix of different characters and you can take your pic. For some people it might also be important to know that there are people of color in this game and among the bachelors and bachelorettes. And... somehow... you maybe... can... date a Dragon? ^^' I have no idea, but there is a dragon statue on your farm that talks to you and stuff and it actually has a heart. You can not give it gifts yet or anything but as they say there are still 2 more bachelors missing (we have 10 at the moment) there is a good chance he will be one of them. We will see eventually. As there is no real progress yet for the dating part of the game I wasn't paying much attention to it but I did "accidentally" (as in I was not planning to have a heart event with that guy, but he was the first one who had two hearts by only just talking...) triggered the first (two hearts) heart event for the merchant and I can not exactly tell you what I think about it. We barely interacted with him. So... uh... we will see I guess ^^'

Thats it for now.

First impression is good. So far 8 out of 10 points and I am looking forward to the Alpha release some day.

[rusty-clock]

Rapunzel is not responsible for Varian's villain arc

Hear me out.

I'm the first person to admit Rapunzel in the show is not perfect (and lets be honest: often not even likeable) person. The show tries very hard to make her one, but fails miserably.

Let's see things in the show's point of view first.

The show admits freely that Rapunzel does some things wrong. She gives Varian a promise she can't keep. She even feels guilt because of the black rocks. The show frames it to look like she is made to do difficult but understandable choice: the promise she gave to Varian or her kingdom. It is easy to understand why she chooses the kingdom's safety . And later, when Varian asks for help, she gives it. His betrayal afterwards is his own doing and makes him a villain. And even after he kidnaps her mom and tries to destroy them all with his automatons she still shows kindness and asks her father not to be too hard on him.

Now lets look at this in different perspective.

Like its been pointed out many times, Rapunzel could have done so many things differently. Sure she couldn't have gone with Varian during the blizzard but she surely shouldn't have let him being dragged out. And after the blizzard is over her first thought is not Varian but an art block. That's not what a responsible adult does when a child has begged for their help during a deadly storm. Granted, she does think Varian, even talks about him with Eugene but she still doesn't do anything before Varian actively asks for help. Even then she only agrees to help when its Corona which is in danger, not Varian's dad.

What especially bothers me is this picture.

This is not a face of somebody who made terrible mistakes which ruined somebody's life. This is not look of sadness and remorse. It's a "I fought a villain and won and now it's time for a new adventure" face.

Maybe I'm being harsh but that look just bugs me so much. She shouldn't look like that after fighting against a friend turned to villain.

So why do I think Rapunzel is not responsible for Varian's villain arc?

This is Rapunzel's 19th birthday. She has been out of her tower a bit over an year. A bit over an year to learn how to function on society.

Most likely when Rapunzel was a child and a teenager, she spent lots of time alone with only Pascal as a company. And you know what that means?

She was never wrong.

Of course she had Gothel who belittled and insulted her, but she wasn't around so often. That meant Rapunzel never had to face the humiliating fact that she could be wrong or do mistakes so...she didn't.

Chameleons are great and all but you don't really need to care about their opinions that much.

And then Eugene and everything happened and suddenly this girl raised in isolation is a princess in a kingdom where a tailor can be thrown to stockades because ripping the king's robes.

You see where I'm going?

The only people in the show really disliking Rapunzel are Cass and Monty. Cass often defies Rapunzel but she too gets trapped to Rapunzel's manipulation and guilt-tripping in Beginnings.

Monty is surprisingly wholesome and the show rather surprisingly doesn't force him to be a part of Raps' fan club. But he is not around enough to actually make any difference.

Remembering all this, is not a miracle Rapunzel makes those mistakes she does with Varian. She has never been forced to accept responsibility, nor has she ever really been wrong and suffered consequences for that. And the worst thing is that nobody really allows her to do that.

To be honest (and this is painful to say) the persons behind Varian's downfall are Cass and Eugene.

Eugene puts Rapunzel on pedestal. He doesn't allow her any mistakes, not even when she could learn from them. When he realizes Monty doesn't like her, he immediately tries to make it look like Monty is wrong there.

When it comes to Varian, Eugene barely even glances at Quirin's paralyzed form in amber and doesn't spare any thought to Varian. Instead he focuses on comforting Rapunzel who is completely safe at that moment.

And then Cass, who is dreaming to be a guard, stands still and watches a child being dragged out by said guards -and doesn't bat an eye. Later she just like Eugene, completely forgets Varian until she gets the slightest hint he could be a threat and rushes to arrest him without any real evidence.

Cass and Eugene are both adults. They did not grow up in a tower. Unlike Rapunzel, they have no excuse for their behavior and they should face consequences for their actions. Rapunzel can be cut some slack because she really shouldn't have been in the situation where she was and she did her best with her limited experience. That doesn't mean she wasn't wrong or that she shouldn't have done more, but she wasn't the only one responsible.

So, in conclusion, the whole mess with Varian wasn't all Rapunzel's fault. The blame falls to Eugene and Cass

Thank you coming to my rant talk!

[writingfics-passingtime]

Playing the Part

~8300 words of steamy Loki tickle fluff

PG13 for this one, kids. Lots of making out.

CW: some swearing, suggestive humour, mentions of murder/death, alcohol consumption

Every job has its ups and downs, and every employee their good days and not-so-good days. You’d hardly classify yourself as an employee because you didn’t get a paycheque, your entire occupation was a hazard unto itself, human-resources was punching it out on the sparring mat and your boss was either a 100-year-old super soldier or an eccentric billionaire, depending on the day and who was wearing what suit.

Wait… should I be getting paid for this?

Looking around your room that you paid no rent on, in a multi-billion dollar superhero compound, you decided that wasn’t a question you were ever going to ask. The question of the hour was which dress would best conceal your thigh-holstered gun.

Today, your job entailed one of those tasks that could be fun if you decided it would be, or hell if you had a bad attitude about it. You prided yourself on always being up for any mission, so that answered that question, though infiltrating some black-tie gala undercover was never as exciting as fighting alien forces.

You gave up feeling guilty about being a little excited when Earth faced threats long ago; no one had to know that impending planetary destruction was your favourite kind of mission to help out on.

Selecting a red strapless dress from the middle of your mission closet (which was differentiated because most of these dresses were bulletproof) you slipped it on over your underwear and thigh holster. A knock came at your door as you were reaching behind yourself to zip it up.

“Come in!”

“Agent, we- oh… Oh.” Loki’s featured turned from surprised to playfully smug in a matter of seconds.

“Can you get this zipper?” You winced at the stuck metal. He nodded and approached, you turned and held the fabric up. Before he even made it halfway to you he gave a brief wave of his hand and used his magic to unstick the zipper, bringing it to the top.

“Thanks,” you smiled, familiar with that particular kind of help from Loki. “Can you see my gun?” You did a little spin and he shook his head. “Great. You look nice," you commented, gesturing to his impeccable black suit.

“As do you.”

“Ready?”

”I suppose there are worse charades to play on a Saturday evening. Ones that don’t include fine wine and the prospect of a tussle with a Midgardian security man.”

You shot him a look as you two walked towards the garage together. “You said no Midgardian wine could be classed as fine.”

“Save for one region in Italy, I’ve discovered.” Loki shrugged, tightening the fastener on his cuff link.

You gave him a mock look of shock. “Are you telling me… you were wrong?“

“Smugness is not becoming, Agent,” Loki playfully warned.

“Hmm,” you narrowed your eyes. “Looks like I’m spending too much time with you.”

You bickered and bantered good-naturedly as you entered the garage, which was more like a hangar but only for cars. This mission would be you, Loki, Natasha, Sam and, strangely enough, Tony wanted to drive the van. He gave some excuse about wanting to test some new equipment and spend time with his team. Though you knew it was because Pepper wanted him to attend her aunt’s seventieth birthday, and Tony had a long-standing feud with that particular aunt ever since she went on a forty-five minute tirade about how much she hated Led Zeppelin. You weren’t sure if it was the sentiment behind it, or the fact that she could talk for forty-five minutes straight without the awareness to stop. Either way, Tony was on the job tonight.

“Black Widow is already onsite,“ Tony handed you three some photos as you entered and took your seats. “Your names are on the door, fake ones obviously, here they are.” Tony pulled up some information on the screens and then commanded the self-driving van to go with a few taps at a holographic control centre.

You went over the plan, the objective, who to avoid at all costs, where the gun was supposedly hidden. There was a gun used in a murder of a journalist - the employee of an old friend of Tony's, a young guy working on an exposé of a filthy-rich family dynasty in New York City. The journalist was sure the McDane family money came from arms dealing, but he was found dead just a few short months after he started investigating. The following week, Charles, the charming and likeable newly-married eldest son of the family, announced his run for mayor.

Whether Charlie McDane ordered the murder, or if he didn't even know it happened, Tony's source said this family kept trophies of their victories and the murder weapon would most definitely still be in the house.

On the face of it, it was an unusual assignment for the Avengers. If you didn't think that hard about it, you could have just sent Nat in alone. However, the McDane family was even more powerful than they loved to show on the surface, and this wouldn't be a simple theft. Hence, a small team was going in to avenge the fallen journalist.

Natasha had been planted on the inside, posing as an event manager for a soirée the family was hosting to celebrate Charlie’s birthday and, since he’d invited everyone in the political and social scene, it was the perfect chance to enter the mansion; there’s no way he’d know who each and every person was and should be.

As you walked down the road with your arm slotted through Loki's, you eyed the metal detectors at the front entrance. You gripped his arm and slid your hand into the pocket of your dress, but the pocket was hollow and only existed as easy way to grab your gun. Wordlessly, you passed it to Loki and he concealed it with his magic in the exact same way you planned to smuggle the murder weapon out later that evening.

Maybe it was Loki's elegance or your years of training that started when you were very young, but the way you two could instinctively weave around each other's thoughts, ideas and actions without so much as a glance was something special you didn't take for granted. You both had keen senses, but there was some kind of unexplainable energy that made them align perfectly.

You never let your mind wander on nights like these. On missions. Perhaps if you were less professional you'd take a moment to fantasise about what it would actually be like to go to a party with Loki. If the way he led you through the room with a gentle hand at your waist was more than a ploy to look like an adoring couple, or if he knew your favourite wine because he cared, instead of just having heard you order it a million times before.

He kept things light with jokes and little jabs, never once crossing a boundary when fake-flirting with you, but it wasn't lost on you that it was unusual to have this kind of working relationship that had all of the chemistry with none of the awkwardness. It was almost as if it was second nature now for him to pull you a little closer when you were in a nice dress, considering you'd only worn them in front of him on missions. And so he did pull you closer as you approached the bouncer to give your names.

You spied Nat at the front, leaning around a security guard's shoulder to point to something on his list. She always played her parts so well. She stole a glance at you and Loki through her fake glasses and that was it. No indication she knew you, no special treatment, no way she'd do anything to blow this. She walked up the outdoor staircase as you gave your aliased names to the guard and flashed fake drivers licenses that were pretty much real, considering the government had created them.

Loki declined the arrival champagne for the both of you, immediately leading you to the bar. You looked at him as if to remind him that you weren't here to drink, and his subtle smirk replied that he didn't care. He ordered two glasses of a merlot from the one region in Italy that'd won his respect, passing the glass to you once it was laid on the bar.

"To the finer things," he cheers'ed your glass and you scoffed with a laugh, taking a sip of the wine. The rich flavour burst through your mouth. It was dark and deep, spiced with... with... "Cedar," he offered, reading the analysis on your face. "Rosewood, cedar and some sort of stone-fruit."

"Nectarine."

He smiled and took another sip. "We don't have that on Asgard."

"This wine is good," you nodded as you two turned and deconstructed the room and all of its guests.

It made you kind of sick seeing all of these wealthy people in one place pretending to give a damn about Charlie McDane's birthday. It's not that you liked the guy, not at all, it just felt weird to know that every person in here was the exact kind of person you hunted down. Power-hungry. This mansion may as well be a lion's den. But full of naïve lions, who had no idea two apex predators just walked in.

Just when you started wondering how many people in your line of sight had also committed murder to protect their wealth and power, you saw Natasha give a subtle signal of which way the room with the safe was. Loki saw it too.

It was upstairs, but there wasn't much cover to get upstairs. The great foyer's ceiling was three stories up, the two floors above the ground floor you were on had square balconies that let the people upstairs peer downwards into the masses. Nat's fingers adjusting her hair told you that the room was on the second floor. Thankfully, there were guests on the second floor. Under the guise of admiration for the architecture and a desire to explore the great house, you pointed out works of art to Loki as you ascended the stairs together. When you walked past Natasha she smiled politely, like a good host, and asked if you were enjoying the wine.

"It's most divine. Though, I believe my beloved may be in search of a room to powder her nose."

You would have rolled your eyes at his usual choice of asking for information if you weren't aware that security's eyes were everywhere. Even on the event manager.

"You might find what you need up the stairs, down the first hall, third door on your right."

The way her hands were motioning didn't match her hushed description, so you followed the instructions in her voice instead of the way her hands were telling you.

You allowed Loki to lead you upstairs, down the first hall. When you two were certain there were no eyes, he concealed you two with his magic. The hallway was darkened. He pressed his hand against the lock and unfastened it with an unseen pure magic and you two slipped inside. It was a large office with grand mahogany furniture, decorated exactly as you'd expect Old Money Americans to decorate their office. Right down to the bear head above the fireplace and the first edition novels sitting proudly on the shelf, probably unread by their owners. That also made you a little sick: great words sitting unread as trophies.

Scanning the room for any obvious signs of the safe, your eyes settled on a panel in the wood on the side of the desk. There was a slightly smaller gap in the wood on one side, indicating hinges. You held your hands up to Loki and he conjured thin gloves to grace your fingers, then you pressed gently on the wood to engage the latch. The panel swung open to reveal the safe. Shifting out of the way, Loki took your place and placed a gloved hand on the dial. In less than three seconds, it spun rapidly in each direction before clicking open.

"We should really consider robbing banks," you whispered as the black metal door swung open and you were met with stacks of paper and envelopes.

"Need I remind you I am a Prince? If it's gold you want, darling, say the word."

"Eh," you shrugged, feeling around for the gun. "I meant more for the thrills."

Loki chuckled as your fingers found a familiar-feeling package. You pulled the envelope out and peered inside before showing Loki the sight of a small pistol. He nodded and took it from you carefully, then concealed it in some unknown magical space close to him.

You closed the safe carefully and then your gloves disappeared. Moving quietly back to the door, you listened for several moments to make sure no one was coming. Then, you both slid out and began walking down the hall like a loving couple.

Suddenly, a guard appeared at the end of the hallway. Thinking fast, you opened the closest door to you and pushed Loki inside. There was a shout you vaguely heard before you shut and locked the door again.

"Shit," you hissed. You were in someone's bedroom. Or maybe it was a guest room, considering how clean and un-lived-in it looked. There was a fireplace, like in the office, and a large four-poster bed against one wall. In the middle of the room were two plush couches that faced each other and were side-on to the door. You two walked over to them to get the vantage of being in the centre of the room and quickly searched for an exit.

"I'll cast an illusion," Loki whispered, ready to wave his hands and make it look as if you two weren't here.

"No!" You whispered, eyes wide. "They already saw us come in here. If we disappear, they'll know something's up and lock the place down."

"Then what do you propose?" He held his hands out, annoyingly unbothered by the prospect of blowing a mission. The doorknob twisted and you both snapped your heads towards it, then back at each other.

"Sit," you hissed and shoved him back onto the sofa right behind him. He stumbled and fell with a small indignant noise of surprise. You heard the tinkling of keys and your heart beat in your chest.

"Agent?"

Knowing the security team was about to enter, you acted fast. "I'll never hear the end of this," you mumbled before sliding forward to straddle his lap. His eyebrows shot up his forehead as you wrapped your arms around his shoulder and looked at him with nervous urgency. "Kiss me."

Loki didn't question it, and he certainly didn't need to be told twice. His hands found their place. One at the small of your back, one firmly gripping the hair at the nape of your neck. Then, he pulled you in for a fiery kiss.

You barely heard the door open as you lost yourself in the strength of his hold, the steady and eager grasp with which he held you. His hands found their places as if they'd been there a thousand times before, as if he knew exactly how you'd feel the safest, feel the most desired. You pulled him deeper by the back of his neck and could have sworn he made a small noise of satisfaction.

Oh no.

He kept kissing you, you kept kissing him, even after the head of the security team had cleared his throat a number of times. As much as you knew you'd already sold it, and boy you sold it well, you couldn't bring yourself to pull away. Were all Asgardians this good at kissing, or was it just Loki?

Oh. No.

"HEY!"

The sudden loud command pulled you away and, much to your internal mortification, you didn't need to feign how flustered you were.

"O-oh my," you squeaked and looked up at the man, blushing profusely.

Okay, the squeak was fake, but it felt almost real.

You stayed put where you were straddling Loki's lap and grimaced when you saw Natasha, still in character, entering the room. "What's going on, I need you downstairs to- oh!" She looked a little taken aback by your position atop the prince who, you were fuming to see from the corner of your eye, had the audacity to be smirking.

"My apologies," Loki drawled in his growly regal voice, trailing his hands around to your sides. "I simply couldn't control myself, seeing my queen in this dress..." He punctuated it with an "Mmph" and a firm squeeze at your hips. You flinched and squirmed a bit under the ticklish touch, trying to keep your composure but letting a small giggle slip out. Then, catching the pleased and mischievous glint in his eye, you dug your nails into the back of his shoulder to warn him off trying that again.

"This room's off limits," the guard tilted his head towards the door and you made to move your way off of Loki's lap. Instead, with his incredible strength, he stood with his hands still at your hips, lifting you to your feet before turning and wrapping an arm around your waist.

He looked the guard up and down, "Of course, good sir." You bit your lip and blushed, cowering in Loki's hold as you exited the room together. Nat smirked at you and winked before proceeding to fall back into character and tell the guards there was a belligerent drunk man downstairs needing to be kicked out. That man would be Wilson, who was playing his part as tipsy distraction.

Loki led you down the hall and you rounded a corner, then you broke off from him and held a hand to your chest. "That was too close," you breathed deeply once, then met his eye. You glared when he saw him smirking at you.

"Do I have lipstick on my face?" He asked, feigning worry.

"Oh, shut up," you swatted his shoulder. "I did what I had to do."

"I never knew you had the passion in you, Agent," Loki smirked again. You glared once more and peeked around the corner, only to jump and hold in a yelp as Loki's pinching fingers found your hip. "I also never knew you were so ticklish."

"That's not something people advertise- cut it ouhout!" You swatted his hand and squirmed away from him as he prodded his fingers into your side. "We have the gun, let's get out of here."

"Tsk, you're no fun," Loki scoffed.

You exited the party and made your way down the block towards the van, knowing that Nat's glasses had broadcast at least the last part of your little tussle with Loki. Steeling yourself as you gripped the handle, you reminded yourself that you were a professional, and this was sometimes a hazard of the job. You needed to play it cool when the eventual teasing came.

"Hey, lovebirds," Tony quipped the second he saw your faces.

"Hey," you chuckled, stepping inside and removing your heels the second you found your seat. "We got it."

"Here," Loki closed the door behind him and pulled the enveloped gun from the magical space he'd hidden it. "So you saw the Agent's display of passion, did you?"

"You wound me, Loki," you deadpanned. "I thought we had a mutual connection."

Perhaps those words were a mistake considering all the truth behind them. However, all the best lies were founded on truth, and for now you needed to convince everyone in the van that you weren't totally freaking out because you'd felt the most passionate attraction you'd had in years with a former villain. I mean... how predictable.

Loki looked at you suspiciously as he took his seat, but something in his gaze told you he wasn't going to prod deeper on this. Not right now, at least. Not in front of everyone.

Nat and Sam joined the fray five minutes later and you all got a move-on back to the Compound. Nat poked more fun at the position she'd found you two in, and you laughed good-naturedly at all their jokes. Loki was uncharacteristically silent, and seemed to always be looking at you when you laughed and instinctively checked to see if he was laughing too.

The jokes shifted to Sam and the wine he spilled down his shirt, then the conversation shifted to the next steps of what to do with the gun, then you all arrived back.

Tony got to work dismantling his rig, declining your help, and so you took your field weapons over to the cabinet to put them back in their places. As you were unclipping the magazine from your pistol, you felt a presence behind the door. You peered around to see Loki.

"What's up?" You raised your eyebrows and snapped the case shut, then closed the door.

He looked at you meaningfully, quizzically, but didn't say anything.

"Okay..." you chuckled uncomfortably and put the latch on the door in place. "I'm going to shower."

You made to walk past him but he grabbed your upper arm, stopping you by his side. Facing different ways, he leaned in a little closer and spoke quietly. "I can spot a lie from lightyears away."

Turning to look at him, you'd probably have been caught off-guard by how close his face was if it hadn't been for the events of earlier. You shrugged, pulling your arm from his grasp. "I didn't lie."

He scoffed and also turned to look at you, eyes flitting once down to your lips, then back up to pierce your gaze with his. "You know what I meant."

You were proud of how composed you kept yourself when you shrugged again and kept walking, swallowing hard.

This wasn't supposed to happen.

Never one to waste water, you took an uncharacteristically long shower. Haphazardly smearing face wash over your skin to scrub the makeup off, scrub away the flustered energy. But no amount of scrubbing could help you forget the feeling of his kiss, and shampooing the hairspray from your head only made you remember the feeling of his fingers in your hair.

You reminded yourself that it had been a very long time since you'd kissed someone. You were probably just desperate, definitely a little touch-starved in general, so the fact that it was Loki didn't matter as much as the fact that it had happened.

That's what you told yourself over and over as you threw on sweatpants and a soft long-sleeved shirt. It was cold and the marble floors could be unforgiving, so you thought it best to go for fluffy socks, but then pulled some slippered boots over the top. You didn't bother brushing your wet hair, letting it fall where it wanted as you made your way to the kitchen.

"That smells good," you commented as Nat pulled some dish out of the oven.

"Mmm," she agreed with an excited smile. "Nico is my favourite," she admitted slyly, referring to one of the chefs Pepper would call in to prepare a bunch of heatable meals during busy periods. Delivery app drivers would probably cancel the order if you tried, thinking it must be a joke that a super solider was asking for a Big Mac to be delivered to the Avengers Compound. Besides, by the time it was scanned and made sure to not contain a deadly poison, it would be cold and stale. "There's enough for you too," Nat said, pulling out another plate and serving you a steaming slice of vegetarian lasagne.

"Thanks," you smiled, still a little distracted. Of course, with someone as perceptive as Nat, that wouldn't be allowed to slip by.

She leaned against the counter and poked at her meal, not meeting your eye to keep it less direct. "You alright?"

"Hmm?" You looked up, and so did she, then you looked back down to your food and shrugged. It was no use lying to her. "I think I'm lonely," you laughed humourlessly, nervously, sadly.

"The kiss got to you," she said knowingly, placing her fork down to give you her full attention. You didn't return the favour, nervous about what you'd say if you were really talking about this. Which, as long as you were here eating dinner, you weren't really talking about it.

"It's not like I haven't kissed a fellow Agent before to keep cover," you sighed a little, shaking your head. "It's just been a while, I guess, since I've had... anything... or, someone."

"I get that," she nodded, picking up her fork again. You two ate in silence for several moments. "This is really good," she declared through an extra-large mouthful. You chuckled and nodded, swallowing another bite. After several more moments, she said quietly, "It's okay if you felt something."

That made you choke a bit. Noticeably, unfortunately. You shook your head, but didn't deny it. "No. It's not okay."

"Why not?" She asked as if you were crazy.

"It's not okay," you repeated firmly, stabbing your fork again at the lasagna. "It's not."

Before she could attempt to pry for more information, Thor and Loki entered the kitchen together. Great.

"Good evening," Thor beamed a toothless smile.

"There's more in the fridge if you're hungry," you looked up at them in an attempt to not seem as regressed in on yourself as you felt. Thor looked at your plate and nodded in approval, opening the fridge. Then you looked at Loki, fully expecting to see some kind of calculating stare as before, but his expression was soft. He looked you over, probably noticing your out-of-character hunched posture and the way your head hung a little lower than usual, and he gave you a look that was subtly laced with sympathy.

Now that made your blood boil. Who was he to feel sorry for you?

He seemed to notice the way your jaw clenched under his gaze, and opened his mouth to say something but Thor spoke first.

"There's a film Stark wants us all to watch this evening."

Nat chuckled, finishing off her dinner. "You say that like he's showing us training videos. He's just trying to bond the team over some cheesy nineties movie." She looked at you and nodded to your clothes. "You look ready for a movie night."

Before you could explain that you'd rather go to bed, Thor beamed again. "Excellent, then! We'll all be there."

Thor was always kind to you, so you didn't want to disappoint him over something so inconsequential. You smiled warmly at him and nodded. "I'm gonna go claim a good spot," you excused yourself, aware it was almost time for it to start. You quickly did your dishes and left the kitchen, making sure to get a seat on a large armchair so you made it clear you'd rather have some personal space right now, even though it was the exact opposite of what you wanted. Maybe it would be good for you though, to remember that you were alone for a reason. That this life you chose wasn't kind too love.

Gods, love. Why did you think of that word, of all the ones out there. You were spiralling. Sentiment, you corrected yourself with a swift reprimand. Sentiment, loneliness, desperation.

You busied yourself chatting to Wanda as people filtered in, taking note of how she seamlessly wove herself in and around Vision as they sat on a two-seater next to you. Determined not to look at or think of Loki or romance or kissing or anything like that, you trained your eyes on the screen as the movie started.

But you spiralled.

There were these two main characters in the movie with this undeniable bickering co-worker chemistry that reminded you of Loki, the jokes he’d whisper into your ear during meetings, the harmless mischief he’d pull to make you laugh, the way his hand felt at your lower back- NO. You couldn’t think about that.

Wanda and Vision were in your line of sight from the corner of your eye and you saw her fingers lace through his, you then saw him place a silent kiss on the crown of her head. Biting down on your tongue, you remembered Nat and Bruce, Pepper and Tony, Thor and Jane, Clint and Laura. All those people who seemed to find love, even temporary love, in the midst of all this madness.

So maybe it wasn’t this life. Maybe it was just… you.

Biting your tongue a little harder, you reminded yourself how powerless you were compared to all these super-people. Sure, many of them were human like you, but all the other humans seemed to have someone who loved them.

It felt hopeless, knowing the only person in this room who you wanted close was so extraordinarily out of your league. He was a god. You were a human. Your life was a flicker compared to his, of course he’d never waste time indulging the likes of you.

But it felt real.

Halfway through the movie you decided you couldn’t sit there and see these buddy-cop characters fall in love. You couldn’t watch Wanda and Vision so enamoured with each other. What you needed was to hit something hard, and then go to sleep. So you excused yourself without a word or a glance at anyone. It was late, anyway. You weren’t even the first one to leave.

A turn of a black-haired form told you that Loki noticed you leaving, but the lack of footsteps behind you as you walked down the silent hall told you that he hadn’t followed you.

Slipping into your room and then into some workout clothes, you jammed your headphones into your ears and put on some classical music; you weren't sure you could stand to hear any words right now. You laced your shoes a little tighter than normal and practically sprinted to the gym, very unwilling to have anyone notice you were gone and decide to come check on you.

Hitting the bag felt good. It was the perfect consolation prize for what you'd actually prefer right now, but with every crushing of your knuckles against the thick canvas you found it easier to forget how it felt to have your fingers looped through his hair. The sweat dripping down your face replaced the feeling of his breath against your skin when you'd broken the kiss, and the aching in your obliques from your tensing and turning to hit the bag took the place of any memory of his hands at your waist. The aching was here, and he was almost gone.

After a half-hour of interval sprints, it was just past midnight and you were exhausted. Not knowing how you felt about no one coming to check on you, you traipsed back to your room in silence. The faint echoing of your footsteps through the hallways made you quiet yourself further, stepping as lightly as you could to prove to yourself that you were still a good spy. Good spies don't get caught up with feelings. Your footsteps fell, dead quiet, and you regained some confidence.

Your muscles stung the next morning but in a delightful way. You'd treated yourself to another hot shower when you got back to your room, so this morning it would probably be best to have an icy one.

As the cold water hit your skin, you felt okay again. The boxing and running last night had really shaken everything out of you, only the smallest lingering of lonely desire remained and it could easily be ignored. Of course, that was easy to say. The second you walked into the kitchen to see that Loki had heard you coming and poured you a coffee you felt a tug at your chest.

His hands closed around the mug to pass it to you and you remembered how his fingers had closed around your waist. He smiled good morning and you remembered how his lips felt against yours. Holding it all in, you smiled and took the coffee, then proceeded to have a short conversation with him like a normal person would. He made jokes about last night, but not about that, and you chuckled at them. After perhaps too short a time for how long you usually chatted, you excused yourself to go do some paperwork. You caught the way his brow furrowed a little, but he didn't question you.

The next few days were more or less like this. You'd try to engage with Loki normally but spiral a little more, convincing yourself that the more you continued like you always had, the more normal things would be again. But he was just so... beautiful. Everything about him was beautiful and now you couldn't help but notice.

One evening, nearly a week after you'd kissed, you were having a bit of a vulnerable day and you walked into the kitchen for some ice cream. Loki had just finished cleaning up after his dinner and turned to say hello, but you couldn't do it. You just turned and walked right back out again. He called after you but you didn't stop. It's not like you were going to cry in front of him, but you just couldn't do this right now.

Seeking refuge in your bedroom, you shut the door and slid down to the floor with your back against it. An immediate soft knock frustrated you, especially knowing who it probably was. You sighed and stood.

“Hey,” you greeted Loki with a nod when you opened the door, immediately turning away to make it look like you were about to do something else. “What’s up?”

Loki stepped into the room and closed the door behind him, which made you stop and give him your attention. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” you lied.

He squinted for the faintest second and smiled a little sadly. “Light years,” he reminded you how he could spot a lie without harshly calling you out. It pained you that he didn’t. That his lack of sarcasm indicated that he saw you as a bit fragile right now.

You sighed a little and ducked your head to the side, conceding the point. “I’m a little haywire,” you admitted. “I think I need to get some stress out and go to sleep.”

”What troubles you?”

Ah. What a question.

You didn’t want to shut him out, but you certainly didn’t know how to explain that one simple kiss undercover had brought a massive crashing wave of insecurity and anxiety that made you feel completely unlovable. Or... maybe you could just say that?

You were silent for so long that Loki spoke again.

“I’d like to offer my apologies,” he said very diplomatically. “If I overstepped the bounds of our relationship.”

“I’m the one that made you kiss me,” you winced. “I should be apologising.”

”I didn’t mean that,” Loki shook his head. “I meant after, when we returned. When I cornered you.”

You had to laugh. “You didn’t corner me, Loki. I appreciate you wanting to make me feel better but you have nothing to apologise for.”

”Very well. But you didn’t make me,” he replied firmly.

“I know, I know…” you rolled your eyes. “A god submits to no one, I just meant that I put you in a situation that I shouldn’t have. Believe me, I’m paying the price.”

That last part came out a little faster than you’d intended it to. In fact, you didn’t really mean to say that last part out loud at all. Or maybe you did. What a perfect Freudian Slip. Quickly collecting yourself, you spotted your headphones and went to pick them up but noticed that Loki was taking slow steps towards you.

”Paying the price?” He asked carefully. You stopped and folded your arms, shrugging.

“People poke fun, you know.” You bit your tongue. Then, you saw him smirk a little. Ah. Lightyears.

“I thought we had a mutual connection,“ he raised his eyebrows, teasing you with your joke from That Night. You gave him a firm stare, but couldn’t help but notice he wasn’t that far away now.

“Loki, that was-“

“A thinly veiled truth,” he interjected, leaving no room for debate. He also left very little room between the two of you. You opened your mouth to respond, seemed to not be able to, and he smirked at your speechlessness.

"Y-you can't." You shook your head. "There's no way."

"There's no way, what?" A smiled tugged at his lips at the way your eyes widened when he took a strand of your hair and wrapped it once around his finger.

"... Mutual?"

“Now that we won’t be interrupted…” he brought his hand up next to his face, flourished it, and you heard your door’s lock click shut. You held your breath as a mischievous grin graced his lips.

Oh gods, you were looking at his lips. You couldn't seem to look away.

He lowered his voice to a gruff whisper. “Might we finish what we started?”

With the smallest nod of your head, he immediately ducked his head to press his lips against yours. Your small noise of surprise made him pull away for a second and grin, before he playfully growled and lifted you from the ground. His eyes stayed trained on yours as he walked a few steps and firmly shoved your back against the wall. Your breath hitched as his hand found that place at the back of your neck, and this time, you kissed him. Eagerly, hungrily, feeling so overwhelmingly euphoric that this was even happening.

It had to be a dream, you thought as his lips trailed along your jawline, his hot breath hit your neck and his strong unwavering arms kept you above the ground and level with his gaze. He kissed you not just like a god or a great lover - he kissed you like he wanted you. Like he‘d also been waiting to do this for an unspeakable amount of time. It felt like relief.

Pulling you both back from the wall, Loki's lips didn’t relent as your fingers tangled once again in his hair. He walked backwards and found his seat on the end of your bed, sitting with you in his lap as he had at the party.

“Gods, you enrapture me,“ he pulled away, a little breathless. He grinned and his eyes were hazy. He looked at you intensely before looking back at your lips, subconsciously slipping out his tongue to wet his own. Before you could respond, he was kissing you again. You could have melted into his touch. In fact, you were fairly certain you just might.

He leaned back and you both fell onto the bed, you on top of him. You laughed at the sudden impact and you pulled away for a few seconds to catch your breath. You looked at his adoring gaze and blushed. “I never thought someone like you could want someone like me.”

He furrowed his brow, unsure if you were about to reference his nefarious past.

”You’re so… mighty. You’re a Prince, a god, you’re wickedly smart and powerful and… and I’m just a human.”

“Watch your tongue,” Loki scolded somewhat seriously and held you a little tighter. “Don’t speak of yourself as if you’re insignificant.”

You rolled your eyes and smiled, giving him a look. “You know what I mean.”

“Of course I do, I’m wickedly smart,” he smirked and you playfully swatted at his chest. He smiled contentedly and ran his hands firmly down your sides to settle at your hips. It was an innocent romantic gesture, one to position you for further making-out with Loki, but your eyes widened at the memory of his discovery the previous weekend and the assumption that the God of Mischief was about to turn the tables.

Unluckily for you, your flustered expression rendered it a self-fulfilling prophesy.

“Loki…” You warned as you saw the glint in his eye.

“That’s right…” His smirk widened to a devilish grin.

”How about you keep kissing me, huh?” You laughed nervously and leaned in closer. Loki laughed and nodded, bringing his hand up to cradle the back of your neck as you pressed your lips to his. Once your arms were around his neck, he deepened the kiss and rolled over, putting you underneath him. Still on the edge of the bed, your feet barely skimmed the floor. Then, he suddenly became the classic Loki you knew.

“Mmmhmhm!” You whined and giggled a little into the kiss as the fingers belonging to his arm around your waist started ever so gently scratching at your side. “Mmnnoho!” You broke away and gave him a pouting look. He lifted his head and smirked.

Gods. He’d never looked so unspeakably hot.

Messy curls framing his face, that look he gave you that said You’re In Trouble in his distinct Loki way, mixed with the desire in his piercing blue eyes; you’d gladly endure his torture if it meant he looked at you like that.

But maybe that’s because you had no idea what was coming.

“Darling,” he cocked his head and kissed your cheek before kissing just below your ear. “I am the God of Mischief….“ he kissed your neck in a way that you were sure was intended to tickle. You giggled and bit your lip. “And now that I've got my hands on you, you simply cannot expect me to not exploit this little weakness to its fullest extent.”

“L-Loki!” You blushed at the very real threat and he chuckled.

“How about you guide me, hmm? Where should I start?”

“I’m not playing this game,” you laughed nervously, squirming a bit underneath him and resting your hands on his shoulders to push away the ticklish kisses.

“Aw, come now,” he lifted his head and that same beautiful smirk made your heart beat quick. His hand behind your neck slid down under your shoulder blade until it sat at your upper ribs. You stole a glance down to where it may be, even though you couldn’t see it. He cocked his head again. “No? Alright, I’ll choose.” With a wink his thumb slipped around the side and up into the hollow under your arm.

“LOKI!” You gasped, clamped your arm down from instinct and immediately started squirming and giggling, even though his thumb wasn’t even moving. He grinned again and kissed your lips once more.

“You've been down all week, love. Let's have a bit of fun,” he whispered, then sprang his hand at your waist into action, scratching and grabbing at the soft skin hidden beneath your shirt. You gasped again and started laughing softly, then squeaked when his thumb started wiggling into the hollow under your arm.

"NOHOHO!" You shut your eyes and then squealed loudly when his fingers underneath you began clawing into the back of your uppermost ribs. Damnit, you thought he may start easy on you, not go for three different places at once. You were already in a desperate cackle, bubbling incoherent pleas spilling from your lips as you writhed underneath his amused self.

"I'm honestly delighted you're so ticklish," Loki teased with a chuckle. "It's adorable, really. So professional all the time, yet..." He finished his sentence by intensifying his touch and speed at all three sites of attack, drawing a small shriek from your laughing lips and a jolt from your body. "Has it always been this easy to undo you?"

“OHMYGOHOD!” You shrieked, throwing your head against the bed and trying to buck your upper body against him to no avail. He paused his torture and kissed you deeply again, lips curled into a smile as he pressed his lips to yours. You shook your head and broke away, still laughing. “Youhou’re ridiculous! We were hahaving such a nice moment and y-you ruined ihit,” you whimpered. He kissed to again to silence your complaints.

“What did you expect?”

“I-I expected a nice romantic moment!” You laughed and brought both arms between you and him to shove at his shoulders. “Now,” you gave him a stern look. “Do you want to tickle me, or kiss me? You can only choose one.”

He scoffed. “I don’t do ultimatums, darling.”

“You do now.”

“Bold.“ He stuck his tongue against his cheek then ducked his head to the side in consideration. He then looked at your face, which you’d been attempting to hold in some semblance of a firm glare. He lowered his lips to your ear and you heard him chuckle once. “Far too bold for someone so ticklish.”

He whipped his arms out from under you and pressed his weight down again, trapping your arms between your bodies as he clawed into the front and sides of your lowest ribs.

“NOHOAHAH!” You immediately fell into desperate belly-laughter as his fingers drilled and clawed into the spaces between your bones. Your feet kicked helplessly, merely grazing the ground as laughter kept spilling from you. “NOHO! NO! LOKIHI I CAHAN’T!” He shifted his hands further up your ribcage and snuck his fingers around to dig in at the back and, after one more shriek, your laughter went silent. It was trapped in your chest as his squeezing and vibrating fingers found every sensitive space on your ribs that made you want to melt into a little puddle. You were gasping for air by the time he halted his attack, squeaking and wheezing as you tried to regain your breath.

It was torture, but you hoped he wouldn’t ask you if it was worth enduring to have him this close. If he could spot a lie from lightyears away, how much easier could he spot it when he was close enough for you to see the flecks of green in his eyes.

”You’re… you’re gonna kill me,” you hiccoughed. He smirked and leaned in for another kiss. “Nuh-uh,” you pulled your finger up as much as you could from where your arms were trapped. “You made your choice.”

He grinned and slid his hands down your sides with a wink, "Oh? Then I'll gladly continue."

"W-w-wait! I dihidn't th-WAHAIT!"

His thumbs drilled relentlessly into your hips as Loki joined in with your loud laughter. You finally managed to wiggle your arms out from where they were trapped at your chest, shooting them down to grab at his fingers. Your feet having no traction and his near entire weight pressing you to the bed made it impossible to buck or lift any part of your torso, so you were completely trapped with nowhere to go as he gripped and grabbed at the skin of your hips, kneading at the pressure points that made you squeak and squirm beneath him.

When he tired of your fingers trying to grab his, he did a devilish swift lift of his own body and slotted his hands between the two of you, settling them palms-down over the majority of your belly. You made a huge gasping noise and started frantically giggling and squealing even before he'd moved his hands. You shook your head and begged for him to kiss you instead, nervous high-pitched giggles interlacing your words.

"N-noho, Loki just kihiss me, kiss me plehease! PLEASE!" You squeaked, cupping his cheeks and gently pulling him towards you. He chuckled and grinned, gently digging a few fingers in just once. You thrashed and renewed your struggling and squealing efforts. "Dohon't you DAHARE! I won't kiss you agahain if you do this!" You threatened. He cocked his head and leaned in a little closer to look deep into your eyes. Then, he grinned and whispered:

"Lightyears."

You thought for certain you'd pass out from laughter when Loki's fingers sprang into action and rippled against your hypersensitive stomach. You laughed loudly, completely powerless to stop his fingers from digging in wherever they pleased. After not much time at all, your laughter went silent and you weakly batted at his shoulders, sides, face, anything your hands could find for themselves since your eyes were shut so tight. Any words your brain even began to think of forming got lost as laughter ripped through your chest from the electric intensity of his fingers against your body.

When your hands finally found both sides of his face, you used all the energy you had left to press your laughing lips against his and, finally, he relented. You fell back with a loud gasp as he retracted his hands with an amused chuckle and took his weight mostly off you, propping himself up with a hand planted either side of your head.

"Alright there, darling?" He teased as you coughed weakly and wiped the tears of mirth from your cheeks. You gave him a scowl, but he found it adorable.

"Thihis isn't fair," you crossed your arms defiantly.

"No?" He smirked. "Pray tell, my love. What isn't fair?"

Oh. My love. His love.

That took any breath you'd managed to get back in your lungs.

"Y-you... you..." But your words were lost in the bliss of being his. He seemed to quickly understand how his words touched your heart, and it softened his teasing demeanour, and softened his smirk into a smile. "You found my worst spots so soon," you managed to murmur through rosy cheeks.

"Was only a matter of time."

"But now you have the upper hand."

"Dear heart, this isn't a struggle for power," he laughed heartily. "I do not seek to rule over you. Anything you ask of me, anything in the Nine Realms, I will give to you."

"Tell me where you're ticklish."

He chuckled and pressed a chaste kiss to your lips before falling down beside you. He hummed in contentment as he wrapped his arms around your waist to pull you as close as you could be.

"Anything but that."

[adelaidedrubman]

Vampire, succubus, Raven, and monster for Jessie?

THANK YOU LYDIA these were really fun ones to answer for her:3 sorry for the long answers.

VAMPIRE - Be honest, do they have any secret addictions or deeply hidden vices?

i don’t think any of jessie’s vices are particularly hidden except in as much as she’s a private person generally, and those that are hidden tend to be so more in terms of degree or specifics than the vice itself being something she doesn’t claim. she’s openly a drinker, but perhaps isn’t so forthcoming about the occasions she drinks her feelings to the point of overindulgence. she’s very open to the point of being crude about sex in the abstract, but less so about, well.

is being addicted to psychosexual mind games a thing? she should be addicted to shutting the fuck up.

SUCCUBUS - What is their best asset when it comes to manipulating other people? Money, connections, sex, words, etc?

she would very adamantly claim she’s simply not manipulative and is a very honest person. and i would say that paradoxically her greatest asset in manipulating others is her apparent blunt frankness and lack of social graces. most people tend to assume given the uh, general unpleasantness, that she certainly must not be consciously doing anything to influence others in her favor. she gives the impression that she’s incapable of filtering herself at all, let alone speaking strategically for the sake of manipulation. but contrary to what anyone in universe would think, she does pay attention to how others react to her and is actually to some degree capable of tailoring her behavior to maximize how likeable or sympathetic she is in a situation when there’s something she wants. (i would say she’s at least successfully manipulated tracey, whitehorse, and jerome before. and, well... other parties don’t really count, too easy.)

i also think a lot of her manipulation skill lies in the sort of casual, jovial attitude. girl who skirts through every situation via jester’s privilege, if she pisses you off oh hey whoa she was just joking, what you can’t take a joke? sorry she was trying to be friends, she’s just a little awkward and misses social and emotional cues. (she’s seeing she’s perceiving she knows the patterns she knows everything there is to know about them.) plus it’s one of her primary means of deflection, which she relies on a lot to control her conversations and the flow of information between her and others. (all this being said, she does also have genuine impulse control issues and manipulation is not always something she’s able to keep up even when she knows what she should be doing to accomplish it.)

so i guess tl;dr: probably words? she doesn’t hold a lot of outright social power in most situations, nothing along the lines of money or connections to help her out. but she does manage to talk (and nonverbally communicate, a lot of this relies on an intangible aura) her way through situations and control impressions. (said in understanding she doesn’t always want to be liked, necessarily.)

RAVEN - What sad song, poem or sonnet would they be associated with?

god, i would say the beast in me by johnny cash for reasons i’ve discussed somewhat at length before. (the beast in her has literally had to learn to live with pain... sad!) but for a fresh answer i would also add you’ll never leave harlan alive by darrell scott. while jessie has technically left her (harlan adjacent) hometown in eastern kentucky, she still feels unwillingly tied to it, and condemned by an inability to escape her station captured in the song. and also, equally, still surrounded by the ruin left in the wake of macrosocial forces she can’t control or always name but is intimately affected by. she’s left harlan alive but she hasn’t really left harlan alive, y’know?

MONSTER - When they look at the world what is the first thing they see and hate?

complacency towards injustice for the sake of maintaining social pleasantries and order. it’s the earliest thing she remembers feeling truly indignant about as a child: growing up in a small community that outwardly boasted its tight-knit (read: intrusive) knowledge of its members’ business and valuing of family structure was a form of kindness, and growing disillusioned at a very young age with the realization this did nothing to actually protect the vulnerable members of the community but instead lead to a valuing of social norms and the vague appearance of “nice, happy (conventional) family” that was exactly the kind of misplaced priority that allowed her father to get away with abusing her mother without consequence. she quickly intuited that everyone’s proclaimed ideals were more about maintaining an image than actually caring for the people who need it, and it made her furious. she hates phonies

she continues to feel disdain for outward niceties over substance into adulthood as a result. (hence the aforementioned unpleasantness.) which does genuinely protect her against manipulation at times — you cannot Act Nice enough for her to not see through. ...but it also puts her at risk for other forms of manipulation (john’s “stay just hostile enough she doesn’t actually realize she’s being friendly with you” advice unfortunately spot on; local man actually knows what he’s talking about for the first time in his life, heartbreaking) and makes her overcorrect so that she reads actual kindness as Some Kinda Fucked Up Love Bombing (see: her biting jerome’s head off and having a temper tantrum because he made an effort to spare her feelings).