#so I hate to see people call her mean when SHE ISN'T SHE'S SO NICE ALL THE TIME
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andorerso · 2 days ago
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I'm sorry for coming onto your blog to rant but I feel silly for being upset about it and it's nice to kinda vent with people who feel the same so I hope you don't mind <3
Because it's the final arc of Andor tonight obviously a bunch of interviews are coming out etc and Diego Luna in one of them called Bix and Cassian's relationship "Everything! They're each other's home and family and their relationship is every possible angle of love" and I don't know if I've just been watching every episode with my eyes closed but huh?!?!?
With my rebelcaptain goggles on and off this makes no sense to me. Like the "family" part i can completely understand, they've know each other for a large part of their lives, she (as shown in season 1) was very close with Maarva so yeah they're relationship being classed as family and that aspect of love i agree with, I also understand the romantic love aspect, in this season they were together for years BUT it was barely explored or given time to let us really feel it, bix and cassian were pretty much only on screen together when bix was in distress in some capacity and they were making andor play the knight in shining armour and then she took such a monumental choice from him and left. I know that they were going for "wow so tragic and beautiful" but like sorry they weren't successful and that's not really giving "every possible angle of love"
The main issue I think, which I know a bunch of people have spoken about here, is that they shot themselves in the foot withe the window of time they played this relationship out, if Cassian was younger you could understand him feeling like this was his one big true love, his first love, he'd "saved" her etc etc typical teen young adult feelings when it comes to love and relationships but to have this happen 1 year before Rogue One??? eh
It just feels like they're really trying to rewrite what we all saw in Rogue One between Cassian and Jyn, making it so that Bix was "waiting" for him and he could never love someone else when him and Bix are "Everything! They're each other's home and family and their relationship is every possible angle of love" it just stings idk why I'm feeling it so personally but ugh :(
well, this was sent before the release of the last arc and now with all that.... yeah. I agree. I already did but this last arc really solidifies it. like I'm not gonna change my mind about rebelcaptain but I kinda feel like that was Gilroy's intention. he seems very resentful of Rogue One in general, doesn't seem to care about Jyn, nor Cassian for that matter to mischaracterize him so badly. I think he wanted to take this story and make it his own. I'm not sure what his problem is, and I don't even mean to sound like a crazy conspiracy theorist shipper, but I genuinely do feel like he has a problem with people shipping rebelcaptain and did everything in his power to try and undo their connection. like I'm not even saying everyone has to see it as romantic or whatever!! but it was AMBIGUOUS, and that was the POINT. you could interpret them however you wanted to. now (and again, personally, it changes nothing for me and I know for many of us) but it feels like he's trying to discourage people from seeing it as romantic. look, Bix promised him they'd find each other! they have a baby! he hints at the fact that he may find her later! isn't this the ultimate doomed love story? don't you think he would have found her if he lived? don't you think they would have been together? doesn't this change how you see Jyn and Cassian??
like Jesus Christ, Gilroy, what's your issue?! I'm not at all against Cassian having a relationship (though I don't think it makes sense this close to R1 but that's another issue), but this feels actively malicious to me. like he's trying to say we're stupid for ever thinking there was something romantic between Jyn and Cassian because he was meant to end up with Bix. I hate it. I hate that we're apparently supposed to see them differently now.
well, I don't. you fucking failed.
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lastoneout · 2 years ago
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"We need more imperfect female characters!" Y'all can't even talk about Nami without describing her as "mean" despite the fact that the entire crux of her first character arc is her caring about her village so much she tolerates torture and misery for years just for a chance to save it, and after that becomes one of the most kind and selfless characters in the entire main cast.
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pencil-n-pen · 2 months ago
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REDUCED TO SKIN AND BONE
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. ݁₊ ♡ . ݁˖
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buck x people pleaser! fem! reader
masterlist | kofi
summary: Pathological People Pleaser- capital P. That’s you. Life is a helluva lot easier when no one can hurt you- not if you never give anyone substantial pieces of yourself. Too bad Evan “Buck” Buckley takes issue with this.
cw: reader is a grade A pathological people pleaser so all the angst and issues that come with that, canon-typical gore/violence (they are firefighters/paramedics)
tags/tropes: coworkers to lovers (hr HATES these two) bobby knowing everything about these two but letting them work it out anyway, team as a family, BUCK IS BOBBY’S KID IDC WHAT ANYONE SAYS, also Buck being really sweet and nice (and reader having no idea what to do with this)
a/n: tbh this reader is really just a girl. this fic is extremely inspired by Love Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood, which, my dear followers, if you'll recall, is my favorite romance book ever (!!!!!) also no one say reader isn't realistic bc i based her internal dialogue and worries off of my real life experiences as a recovered people pleaser (there is hope for us)
credit to @bookshelf-dust for the in house arson investigator idea !! super brilliant and perfect !! go read their stuff !!
title taken from Goddess from Laufey!
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‘Who could ever leave me darling, but who could stay?
Cause they see right through me//Can you see right through me?
-The Archer, Taylor Swift
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₊˚⊹♡
Firefighter Evan “Buck” Buckley confuses you.
You’ve only been with the 118 for about two months. You’d be lying if you said the action and excitement of actually working with the firefighters on calls didn’t excite you to come to work— something you thought you’d never say.
And the team is great. You were nervous as hell at first. Suddenly being out on calls is exciting now, but scary as shit at first. You were much too used to your boring desk job. Plus, the firefighters were all intimidating in their own ways- Hen and Bobby the most.
Hen, because you totally look up to her and admire her ability to just… do whatever and say whatever and not worry what other people think. She holds her head high, and you’re more than a little envious.
Bobby, because he’s your captain, and you need to prove your worth as an addition to the team.
Slowly but surely, you began to solidify your presence as a team member. You aren’t sensitive to the blood and gore they see on calls which definitely won you points with Hen and Chimney, and you aren’t a pushover- you’re willing to put your foot down when push comes to shove. Plus, not to brag, but you’re damn good at your job.
After a month, you’d gotten everything down pat. What’s the right thing to say, what isn’t the right thing to say. What to do so the team trusts you, what to do so they don’t ask too many questions, how to correctly come across to them as a capable person. How to seem normal and well-adjusted and fine. What normal looks like to them.
With the exception of Evan Buckley.
You just… can’t get a read on him. Ever. He’s nice and smart and funny (and ridiculously attractive, like seriously, it’s not even fair) but no one is that nice and smart and funny (and ridiculously attractive.)
You don’t like talking to him because he’s been more than a little sweet on you since day one. And obviously it's not serious and he doesn't mean it, just friendly camaraderie, but. But but but but but. It catches you off guard without fail every single time. Because every single time you talk to him, you get the very distinct sense that he’s looking right though you. That when you’re talking to the rest of the team, perfect smile in place, he can see through you.
It’s more than a little unnerving. It leaves you unsteady and wrong-footed. Like you’re never sure what exactly to say or how to act.
So you mostly just avoid him. You’re thankful that you’re only the arson investigator, because if you’d actually been a real firefighter, avoiding him would be a million times harder. As it stands, it’s fairly easy to do it without being obvious.
Or so you think.
“Is something wrong Captain Nash?” You ask, shutting the door behind you in his office.
Bobby rolls his eyes. “I’ve told you to just call me Bobby.”
“I think the second I do, my parents will appear in the room and lecture me about respect and manners.”
You sit as he gestures, watching with almost perfectly concealed apprehension as he laces his fingers.
“Did Buck say something to you?”
What.
“What?”
“Firefighter Buckley,” Bobby clarifies, as if that was the part of the question that needed specification. “I’ve noticed that you tend to avoid him when possible. You’re good at it, I’ll give you that. No one else has noticed.”
Heat rushes to your cheeks at the admission of being caught.
“How could you tell?” You ask instead of answering his question.
Bobby just shrugs. “I have three kids. This isn’t my first rodeo. Now, you mind telling me what exactly is going on here?”
You’re not really sure you can explain this to him without one, sounding like a crazy person, and two, having him lose all the respect you’ve worked hard to build with him.
You settle for the super abridged version.
“Buck… makes me nervous. I’ve had some bad experiences with men that acted like him before, so. I’m over it, of course, I’m fine he just… sets me on edge a little. I’m not like, afraid of him or anything.”
You are actually afraid of him a little. Because if he really does see through you then what’s stopping him from ripping the current back? Giving everyone a good look into your ugly and raw? What’s stopping him from leaving you exposed?
Bobby hums, contemplating.
“You don’t trust him.”
“I wouldn’t say that,” You rush to amend, heart starting to race. Fix it fix it fix it fix it— “I do trust him. I know he’d never hurt me, or anyone else for that matter, he’s a great guy—“
Bobby leans back in his seat. “He’s a genuinely nice guy, and you don’t know how to deal with that, so you avoid him. You don’t trust that he’s genuine.”
Too close too close too close too close—
Smile. Laugh. Look down for a few seconds. Raise head, hold eye-contact. Speak.
“Nothing like that,” Smile. “Just takes some time for a girl to get used to all the facts that tend to come with him. I could’ve done without the one about heart worms before lunch.”
Laugh.
“Oh, you have no idea. Imagine being present when he actually got to assist on a tapeworm removal. I was put off noodles entirely for months.”
Now Bobby laughs, a real one, so you laugh with him, and you feel a little safer, the conversation back in your control.
“I promise, there’s nothing between me and Buck. Just new-girl nerves.”
Flash a smile, appease the man.
“If that’s all, then you’re free to go. Keep up the good work.”
You stand, one hand on the edge of the armrest of the chair to hide the minute tremors in your hand. You hold your breath as you leave Bobby’s office, breathing tiny, quick breaths through your nose until you make it to the safety of your office, closing the door behind you and all but collapsing into your chair.
That was… close. You must’ve let your guard down around Bobby. His personality and dad-aura are so disarming. You hadn’t even realized he’d been watching you that close. He read you a little too easily and a little too quickly. That was too close. What if he had—
A knock on your door snaps you ramrod straight, posture perfect and easy expression snapped into place in seconds.
It takes everything in you not to deflate when you see who walks through the door.
“Buck?”
“Sorry, sorry,” He raises his hands in mock surrender, “I know you don’t like me in here, I’ll be quick. I just need that file from that warehouse fire case?”
You frown as you search your filing cabinet for the case file. “I’ve never said I didn’t like you in here.”
“Yeah, not as much as said as implied.”
“I don’t mind you in here. It’s just an office.”
You’re not sure what he wants you to say. Does he want you to agree with him, tell him you don’t want him in here, make him right? Does he want you to tell him that he’s welcome in your office?
What does he want?
He shrugs in the corner of your eye, hands in his pockets, and you honestly have to physically restrain yourself from staring at the muscles of his arms as they move and tense with the motion. It’s very conflicting: him being the unending source of the late-night fantasies you pretend not to indulge in to fall asleep, hugging a pillow, and the fact that he’s the reason you’ve considered going on anxiety medication.
“…Are you okay?”
You’re abruptly reminded that he’s still in your office and you’re still having a conversation and your grip has at some point turned crushing on the case file.
“Oh, yeah,” Smile, look down, laugh. Look up(?) “Long night last night. Didn’t get much sleep.”
He cocks his head, the action reminiscent of a dog. He really is a golden retriever. You should really stop thinking about Buck so much.
“I thought you went home early last night?”
Your smile wavers.
Laugh(?) put the case file down. Take a sip of coffee, smile(?)
“You know how it is. Work never quite ends at work.”
He doesn’t skip a beat before speaking.
“Why do you do that?”
Something cold starts to drip down your neck. An icy chill of dread.
“Do what?”
“That lying thing.”
Smile? Laugh? Sit down?
Your other hand comes up to cup your coffee. “As far as I know, I don’t have a lying thing.” You huff a breathy laugh, but it comes out wrong. More wheezing and choked than a laugh.
He leans back against the wall of your office, crossing his arms. “Yeah you do. Like, sure, maybe you did have a late night, but none of those expressions or smiles were real. You like, lie with your face.”
You feel cold and hot at the same time. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. Do you want this case file?”
“No, you know what I’m talking about. Is it conscious? Is it like code-switching? Nah, this is too—“
“Buck!” You snap, skin crawling, “Would you please just take this file and go?”
He snaps his fingers, pointing at you. “There! That’s real. That was a real expression.”
You forcibly smooth your face out, trying to project the calm you don’t feel. “Me getting annoyed with you?”
“Yeah,” He chuckles a little, a small smile on his face. “Just for a second, you looked real.”
You blink. Pause. Turn his words over in your head.
“You don’t really need this case file, do you?”
“Nope.”
You set the mug down, ignoring the way your tremors increased at your little outburst. “So you just came to what? Get under my skin? Disturb me while I’m working?”
He taps a boot on the floor. “Kind of. It’s my turn to be the man behind, and this beats mopping.”
This time, the flat glare you send him is intentional. “You really know how to make a girl feel special.”
“I don’t know. You don’t seem as rigid as you did a few minutes ago.”
You stiffen your posture on instinct. “It’s called posture.”
“That’s not posture. That’s fear.”
His tone is light and joking, but his words hit their mark. Or maybe there isn’t a mark, and he just stabs your metaphorical bullseye anyway.
You shuffle in place, skin prickling under his gaze. “Is there a reason we’re having this conversation?”
“Is there a reason we shouldn’t?”
You stare at your shoes, face hot. This is uncharted territory. The end-all-be-all of terrible conversations.
“Well for one, it’s terribly awkward, and two, I don’t see why you felt the need to call me a liar to my face.”
Buck pushes off the wall. “Okay, that’s not what I meant by that—“
“No, I think you meant what you said.”
He sighs. “Can we start over?”
“Why?”
“Because I feel like you have this misconception about me, and it would really suck if a pretty girl didn’t like me just because we got off on the wrong foot.”
PRETTY?
“You think I’m pretty?”
You slap a hand over your mouth. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to say that.”
He smirks, a mischievous thing pulling at his lips. “No, I think you meant what you said.” He says, mimicking your earlier words.
You press your hands into your face, exhaling hard.
“Well, if your goal was to make me uncomfortable, you’ve definitely succeeded.”
“Aw, that’s no good. That’s the opposite of what I wanted.”
The gears in your brain turn.
“You came here… because you wanted me to be more comfortable around you?”
He snaps his fingers. “Ding ding ding!”
You frown. “So your plan to make me more comfortable around you was to call me a liar and purposefully get under my skin?”
Your words hang in silence for a moment.
“Well when you put it like that—“
“Is there another way to put it?”
“The plan was to get you to see that nothing bad is gonna happen if you stop doing that face-lying-thing. I mean, you haven’t been doing it for the duration of this conversation and the world hasn’t ended, right?”
You look away. “That’s because I can’t pretend with you. It always falls apart. You freak me out.”
His brows furrow. “I freak you out?”
“Yes!” You snap whipping your head back to face him, “Other people put out, like, signals, you know. What kind of people they like and dislike, and I pick up on them, and avoid the parts they don’t like and play up the parts they do like. But you don’t put out anything! I don’t know what you want.”
Buck is silent for several moments. It’s unnerving.
“Have you ever considered that maybe I just like you?”
You blink. Look away. Cross your arms.
“You know,” He continues, voice a little softer, “I have a habit of liking people just as they are. Bobby tells me it’s one of my better qualities.”
“Is planning difficult conversations one of your lesser qualities?”
“You’re not going to let that go, are you?”
“No.”
It’s easier to focus and talk about the less serious parts of this entire situation than even think about what he just said.
“How about this,” He says after you don’t speak again. “If you’re gonna fake something, or pretend you feel one way about something, you have to come tell me the truth about how you really feel.”
“Well that sounds terrible. What do you get out of it?”
He smiles, folding his hands behind his back. “You agree to let me take you on a date.”
Your face is practically on fire. Evan Buckley is asking you on a date. Buck is asking you on a date.
“Oh.”
That’s all you manage to get out. Oh.
He frowns. “Are you oka—“
You smash your face into your hands, hiding your flushed and flustered face from view. “Just— just give me a second.”
You attempt to slow your racing heart, all to aware of the fact that Buck is still in the room, still looking at you.
“…Can you turn around?”
You hear a quiet little huff, then the shuffling of footsteps, signifying he is in fact no longer looking at you.
“If I’d known you’d be this excited at the idea—“
“Shut up or I’ll say no.”
He just hums, voice teasing. “I don’t think you will.”
“I might.”
“Mm. Nope.”
“I could.”
“You won’t.”
“I won’t,” You grumble, dropping your hands. “Okay fine, I’ll do it, but when I tell you… stuff, you don’t get to make fun of me for whatever it is.”
“I really think you have the wrong idea of who I am as a person.”
“I’ve seen how you make fun of Eddie.”
“Well, that’s Eddie. It’s like, bro code.”
“Ew.”
“Having friends is gross?”
“Yes. Get out of my office.”
He turns around, grabbing his chest, feigning pain. “Oh the hurt. The pain.”
“You’ll survive, I’m sure. You’re a big boy.”
Okay what the fuck are you saying right now. Can’t god just strike you down? Can’t some old water damage cause the ceiling to come down on you?
Buck takes it in stride, laughing loudly, though if you look close, you can see a pink tinge to his cheeks.
“So when are you free for our date?”
He waggles his eyebrows suggestively over the word date, and you despise the flush it brings to your face. And ears. And neck.
“Um. Saturday?”
“Cool. You have my number, right?”
You nod.
“I’ll text you the details later this week. And hey, look at me.”
He waits until you look up. “You aren’t allowed to spend the rest of this week stressing about it, okay? It’s gonna be fun, and nice."
He opens the door to your office, ducking half out before turning around. “Remember: fun and nice.”
And then he’s gone. Then you’re just an idiot standing in your office, face hot and tingling.
He called you pretty.
Buck's request is difficult to follow through on. Like, sure, you agreed to it, but you still don't really understand why he wants to know this. The things that go on in your head that you don't tell anyone about. He said he got a date out of (a date, you're going on a date with Evan Buckley--) but is that really... anything?
Is it a real date? Or just some little fling? And why, exactly, is the date something he considers a fair trade? Like sure, he's hot -incredibly so- and every time you think about the date your heart speeds up and million questions run through your head, like will he pick you up, is he the type to bring flowers, where are you going for the date, all of those things.
You wince from your spot on the couch upstairs, papers strewn across the table in front of you.
"Dammit," You mutter, holding a finger up to the lip that you've chewed to shreds, now bleeding steadily, blood beginning to trickle down your chin.
A napkin appears in your line of sight, and you take it from Hen gratefully.
"Thanks."
She just nods. "Something on your mind?"
You blink, a little questioning.
"Your lip," She gestures to it. "You always chew it when you're thinking about something troubling. Is this about that new case?"
"Ah," You breathe, a small shiver running down your spine at her words. Being perceived is weird. "No actually. It's..."
You decide to be honest. News will get out anyway, and Hen appreciates truthfullness. "It's about Buck."
She raises an eyebrow. "Oh?"
You shuffle the papers in front of you, hands itching for something to do, "We're going on a date on Saturday."
"Oh!" She exclaims, settling on the couch across from you. "That's... surprising. I was under the impression you didn't really care for him."
Your face heats. "That's kind of why we're going on the date. He wants to... make me more comfortable. Those were his words."
"Interesting method."
You shrug. "It's Buck."
Hen nods, a chuckle escaping her lips. "I'm guessing you're not so sure about it?"
"It's not that. I just," you debate your next words carefully, weighing the options, wondering if you should even say them, but Hen's face is open and non-judgmental, and she knows when not to gossip.
"I haven't been on a date in awhile," You admit, "Or many at all, really. I don't know what to expect."
Your hands still on the papers. "I... don't do well when I don't know what to expect."
Hen nods. "I get it. But I can tell you with absolute certainty that Buck will do everything in his power to make the date as 'comfortable'," She does finger quotes around the word, "As possible. It took him a couple tries to get here, but. He's got a good heart."
You can't help the small frown at her words. "I know."
Hen tilts her head, squinting. "Do you? Cause it seems like you aren't so sure."
Smile. Laugh.
"Well," You laugh a small, breathy thing. "In my experience, no one is that nice."
Hen snorts. "Okay, true. But Buck's been through a lot. What he may lack in tact he makes up for in earnest effort."
She stands, and levels you with a look you try hard not to whither behind. "Give him a chance. And try not to break his heart."
You smile, hoping it doesn't look as brittle as it feels. "I'll try not to."
Though I'm not sure he'll be the one getting his heart broken.
--
Buck is careful not to bother you too much at work. He still sets you on edge in that "I see through you" way of his, but he's right- nothing terrible has happened since your conversation. If anything, he's almost... gentler, in his good natured ribbing and such. He's actually rather attentive.
"Okay," He murmurs next to you at the table, most of the others finished with their food , plates cleared and being washed. "You've got your fake smile on, so spill."
You elbow him. "Cool it, Buckley."
"Great meal, Cap!" You call out to the Captain, who sends you a quick smile from the sink.
You spear a stem of asparagus prepared honestly perfectly by Bobby, and lean over to Buck. "Fine. You really wanna know?"
"Uh, yeah."
You take a huge bite, smiling as you swallow. "I hate asparagus."
Buck's eyebrows shoot up. "Are you serious? That's such a small thing to care about."
You glance up to ensure nobody's eavesdropping. "Bobby works really hard on everything he makes! I don't want any of it to go to waste or to seem unappreciative."
"Okay, we're really going to have to have a talk about your perception of everyone," He elbows you back, "Come on. Bobby would not be offended if you don't eat the vegetables because you don't like asparagus period. It's not like you're even saying you don't like his cooking!"
You take another bite. Only A few left. "Better safe than sorry."
"Stop eating them--"
"I have to finish them!"
"Something wrong over there?" Bobby's voice rings out over the kitchen.
"Nope!" You call back.
"Actually," Buck starts, ignoring your furious elbowing, "Our little investigator over here doesn't like asparagus."
Bobby tilts his head with a smile. "Why didn't you say something?"
Your stomach lurches. Oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god-- "I... didn't want you to be offended?"
"Why would I be offended that you don't like asparagus?"
"Because you cooked it?"
He shakes his head. "Not how things work around here. If you don't like something, you don't have to eat it."
Your face feels like it's on fire and your palms are sweating and you kind of feel a little nauseous. But that might be the asparagus. "Right. Okay. Thanks."
Bobby goes back to loading the dishwasher, and the others are no longer paying attention, so you lower your forehead to the table, grateful that Buck moves your plate away before your head can meet your now unfinished vegetables.
"Why did you do that?"
"Because asparagus is a dumb thing to be worried about," He says, voice light and cheery.
"It was a valid concern," You mumble.
"Maybe in your head. But not quite in reality," He rubs your back consolingly a few times, though all the action does is rile you up more. You're suddenly hyper-aware of the fact that you're still sitting here and you actually can't see if the others are still looking and oh god maybe Bobby is upset because you're an adult, you should've known that and--
"I can physically feel how tense you just got."
Oh. Right. His hand is still on your back.
"Relax," He drags out the word, his voice low and deep, "No one is going to spontaneously hate you. I sure don't."
"You don't count."
"Mm, how come?"
You're glad your face is currently hidden by the table, because you flush when you mumble the next words.
"Cause you think I'm pretty."
"I do," He amends, "But I'm not sure that discounts my opinion. IF anything, it doubles it."
"That's not how that works."
"It's not?"
"No."
He leans in, his breath tickling your ear. "Prove me wrong, then."
--
Saturday approaches and your anxiety increases. Buck had in deed texted you the details -which did, actually, make you feel better, knowing a bit of what to expect and having it in writing.
When Saturday arrives and the clock inches closer to the time he said he'd pick you up, you start to question if any of this was a good idea.
Everything collapses when you have to pick an outfit. Nothing seems right- everything is either too much or not enough. You blink the tears out of your eyes because you spent too long on your makeup to ruin it, and Buck's gonna be here soon and you need to just pick something--
A knock sounds at your door and you gasp. Shit.
You rush to the front door, and wrench it open.
"Hi I'm so sorry I'm not ready yet- oh my god are those flowers?"
Buck takes the rush of words in stride, smiling and holding the bouquet out to you. "They are."
You take the flowers with reverence, the gentle, floral aroma soothing your senses.
"Are... you okay?"
You blink, not realizing that tears had begun to well up in your eyes again. "What? Oh, yeah. Sorry. I'm a little... frazzled."
His gaze darts down. "Is that why you don't have pants on?"
You're almost one hundred percent sure you burst into flames right then and there. And if you don't, you seriously hope you do.
"Oh my god- don't look, I'll be right back, uh, please come inside and close the door!"
You race back into your room and shut the door, throwing on the closest pair of pants- which happen to be the fuzzy, old, candy heart-print pajama pants you took on three hours ago when you started getting ready.
You step back out, now sporting a wonderful outfit consisting of your black, rather nicely fitting going out top and fluffy pajama pants.
"I'll be ready in about fifteen minutes, sorry about the," You pause, swallowing your embarrassment, "Lack of pants."
He chuckles, laughing that nice little Buck laugh that settles your nerves a bit. "Hey, I wasn't complaining. I asked for the real you and this has all been very real."
Your never-ending flush revives itself as he speaks. "I"m really sorry, I'm usually more put together than this, I promise."
He takes a step toward you. "Remember why we're going on this date?"
A beat passes.
Buck takes another step. "To make you more comfortable with me. And the team, but mostly me."
You laugh a little, a nervous thing.
"But you don't seem very comfortable right now." His hands rise to the your waist, sliding down to your hips.
"Sorry," You say on instinct.
He huffs. "Still don't think you're getting the point of this. Okay, what was the big stressor of tonight, besides the actual date part?"
You look down at your feet. "My outfit."
"Well," He says, squeezing your waist and very clearly enjoying the little squeak you let out at the action, "Then why don't we sollve that by..."
Your heart siezes. Oh god, you're not ready to sleep with him, you haven't had your everything shower because it was only the first date and you didn't think--
"...Staying in tonight? I can order some takeout and we can watch a movie."
Oh.
"But your reservation--"
"Can be called and cancelled," He soothes. "I only want to do things you're comfortable with. That was the whole point of this date."
Later, after you both stuffed your faces with takeout graciously ordered by Buck, and both of you cuddled up on the couch (!) you let yourself speak.
"Buck?"
"Hmm?"
"Sorry for freaking out earlier," You curl your arm around his bicep, face smashed into the side of it while you (pretend) to watch the movie. "Thanks for... this. And the flowers."
"You really like those flowers, huh?"
"Mhm. They're really pretty. No one's ever gotten me flowers before."
"What? No way."
"Well. I haven't ever gotten flowers from a date or boyfriend," You stumble over the word boyfriend, "But like, you know. Graduations and stuff."
"Guess we're going to have to fix that, then."
"We are?"
He raises a brow. "You didn't think I was gonna stop at one date, did you?"
"Well it was kind of a mess."
He shrugs. "On one of my first dates, I choked on bread and my date at the time had to perform a tracheotomy with a ballpoint pen."
You gape at him. "Those are real?"
He traces a finger over the thin, silver scar on his throat. "Yep. So trust me, this date turned out fine. I actually uh,"
He flushes a little, a dusting of red on his cheeks. "I actually really enjoyed tonight."
You chew your lip, nervous and scared but all the sudden deciding that you're going to get over yourself and do something. No matter how small.
You stare at the end credits. "You wanna watch another movie?"
"Absolutely. More takeout?"
"I don't know how you can even think about eating more. But I do have popcorn in the pantry."
He presses a quick, soft little kiss to your cheek. "Perfect."
₊˚⊹♡
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yuujispinkhair · 1 year ago
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Bad Boy - Good Toy
Sukuna is used to girls throwing themselves at him, begging him to dominate them. He never met any resistance. He never met any challenge. Until he meets you, and suddenly, the bad boy becomes nothing but a willing fucktoy.
There is now a Part 02
Pairing: Sub!Sukuna x Dom!Reader (female) Genre: smut, College AU Word Count: 3.5k Warnings: 18+, smut, degradation, humiliation, edging, exhibitionism, voyeurism, smoking, mentions of drugs, sharing chewing gum, facesitting, squirting, abs-riding, overstimulation, Sukuna cums untouched, piss (Reader pees on Sukuna to humiliate him, and he likes it). Reader calls Sukuna slut, fucktoy and fuckdoll. Unhealthy relationship dynamics. Reader and Sukuna don't talk about limits or safe words. Sukuna is ok with everything Reader does to him, but please be aware that this isn't the way a sub/dom relationship is supposed to be in real life. I just wanted things to be a bit fucked up in this story ;) Divider @/benkeibear
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Sukuna is bored. So fucking bored. Bored with college in general, bored of the parties that are always the same, bored of the drugs that don't give him the kick he craves anymore. Even sex is boring nowadays. He sighs as his gaze brushes over the girl kneeling between his spread legs. He didn't bother asking for her name. He thinks she might be in his history course. But it doesn't matter. Nothing matters.
He doesn't even bother to hide from view, letting her suck him off in the back of the dimly lit living room on some ratty couch, while a few meters away, people are dancing and drinking and singing along to songs that Sukuna hates. She is eager, bopping her mouth on his dick enthusiastically, humming around him, and hollowing her cheeks like a champ. But he feels nothing at all. He isn't even sure he can cum tonight. It's like he is numb to everything. The nameless girl moans around his dick, and Sukuna grabs his phone to send his brother a message.
Where are you, brat? I want to leave.
He doesn't get a reply and instead checks his group chats and e-mails while the girl between his legs slurps loudly on his tip. Sukuna huffs in annoyance and lets his bored gaze travel through the room. It lands on a girl in a red t-shirt who is looking in his direction. You are sipping your drink casually while you unashamedly watch him getting his dick sucked.
It makes him grin broadly. Finally, a little bit of entertainment. Maybe he will manage to cum just to give that little voyeur a good show. And afterward, he can take you to one of the bedrooms and fuck you. Or maybe do it right here on that couch, too.
He winks at you. A smile spreads over your face, but it's not the smile Sukuna usually sees on the faces of the girls he plans to fuck. It's the kind of smile he sees in the mirror. A smile that means trouble. His cock twitches, and he groans softly.
He doesn't break eye contact, and neither do you. Sukuna raises an eyebrow challengingly, smirking at you, daring you to come over while he gets his dick sucked. His stomach flips when you really start walking towards him.
Sukuna's pulse accelerates when you stop right next to him. You let your gaze travel from his face down to his cock, watching it bop in and out of that other girl's mouth. You chuckle. It's not a nice sound.
"Aww, do you have problems cumming, Sukuna? Is your dick not working?"
For a stunned second, Sukuna just blinks at you, mouth hanging open. The resident bad boy rendered speechless for the first time in his life. And then he throws his head back and laughs, and simultaneously, he feels his balls tighten.
"If you get on all fours, I will show you just how good my dick works, sweetheart."
You roll your eyes and cross your arms in front of your breasts, looking at him with a bored and unimpressed expression.
"What makes you think I would let you get anywhere near me with that dick of yours. I don't want dirty, good-for-nothing sluts like you."
"What did you just call me?"
But his response lacks the bite. Instead, he sounds breathless, and his hand tightens on the couch as his cock twitches in the other girl's mouth. Fuck, it feels so good all of a sudden.
You smile that dangerous smile again and lean closer, your flowery perfume filling Sukuna's nose, and you repeat your words to him, slowly, overly accentuated as if he is stupid,
"Dirty. Good-for-nothing. Slut."
A raw groan spills from Sukuna's throat, and his hips buck off the couch, making the girl between his legs choke on his cock, as he nuts so hard into her mouth that she's spluttering his cum everywhere.
He stares wide-eyed at your smug face as the gears in his mind shift at lightspeed. What the fuck just happened?
The girl between his legs climbs onto his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck, and tries to kiss him, but Sukuna turns his face to the side, looking at you instead,
"Who do you think you are to talk to me like that?"
"Why? Enjoyed it too much, and now you are scared of how your body betrayed you, little slut?"
You laugh and turn around, walking away while you lift a hand in a mocking little wave, and Sukuna stares after you with his mind whirling and his cock still throbbing.
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He wakes up the next morning with a strange feeling in his gut. Something is different.
And after a moment, he realizes what it is when the memories from last night come back, and his eyes widen, and a whispered curse falls from his lips. The encounter with you replays in his mind just like it did countless times before he managed to fall asleep last night. Your cruel smile and the sadistic glint in your eyes. The way his body reacted to it.
He is so used to everyone cowering before him. So used to everyone submitting to him so willingly. All those countless girls throwing themselves at him, begging him to please let them suck his dick, obeying his every command, asking him if they can please call him daddy during fucking.
He never met any resistance. He never met any challenge. One look from him and the girls were practically on their backs with their legs spread like some animal in heat.
No one ever talked to him the way you did. Or looked at him that way. As if he is worthless trash in your eyes. Your words resonate in his brain. "You dirty, good-for-nothing slut."
Fuck! It turns him on. It makes him achingly hard even now. He turns onto his back and shoves a hand into his pants. He jerks off so furiously that his wrist hurts, making a huge mess all over himself when he cums to the thought of you calling him a useless brat.
Sukuna isn't the same man he was 24 hours ago.
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He totally doesn't look for you on campus on Monday morning. It is totally a coincidence that he slides up to you when you pull out a package of strawberry bubble gum from the vending machine. It's definitely not like he followed you around like a puppy for a whole hour until he finally got his shit together and decided to approach you.
"Strawberry flavor, huh? Wouldn't have thought that a foul person like you would pick such a sweet flavor."
You eye him lazily, eyes never leaving his as you tear open the packaging and put one of the pastel pink bubble gums into your mouth before you grace him with a reply.
"Oh, shut up. An attitude like that doesn't fit a pretty boy like you. Learn to behave, and then we can talk again."
Sukuna feels his lips lift in his trademark smirk as that weird, exhilarating sensation fills his veins again. He is enjoying himself far too much. He braces himself against the vending machine, his large hands on both sides of your face, caging you in, towering over you, while he smirks down at you.
But you don't seem intimidated at all by his height and muscular figure and the tattoos on his face. Instead, you smile at him and cock your head to the side, eyeing him expectantly as if you are waiting for him to do something.
He leans down, bringing his face closer to yours.
"Can I have a gum too? Please? See, I can behave very well."
His voice has dropped to his usual flirty, seductive tone, which he always uses on girls. The tone that always drives them crazy and makes them drop their panties faster than they can say his name.
You flutter your lashes exaggeratedly at him, smiling a sickeningly fake angelic smile as you open your mouth and pull out your gum.
"Ok, you can have one since you asked so politely. Open up, slut."
He laughs when you push the used gum to his lips, but Sukuna isn't one to back down, so he grabs your small hand, wraps his tattooed hand around your wrist, and opens his mouth. He licks your fingers, lets his tongue-piercing glide over your fingertips, and sucks the used bubble gum into his mouth.
You gaze deeply into his eyes, looking amused.
"You didn't even say thank you, Sukuna. You are still such a useless and rude brat."
You turn on your heel and leave him standing there like some rejected loser, and he chews the gum that tastes like strawberry and your spit and feels his cock twitch against his sweatpants.
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Sukuna sees you again on Saturday at another party. Two girls danced with him and asked him if he wanted to fuck them both upstairs in one of the bedrooms, but he turned them down, not even able to grasp why.
Until he walks into the kitchen and sees you. And suddenly, things fall into place.
Why bother with those random girls when the one he really wants is you? You are the only one who poses a challenge. The only one who makes his skin tingle with excitement. The only one who makes him feel like he is still alive and not some fucking ghost.
He leans against the fridge and watches you while he lights a cigarette. He smokes it in silence, just smirking at you and hoping you will come over and call him a slut again. Or any other degrading name you can think of. Sukuna isn't picky.
You walk over to him, a few drags into his cigarette, and stop in front of him, so close that he can smell your sweet perfume again. And you smile that smile that isn't sweet at all as you reach up and take the cigarette from Sukuna's lips. Your eyes never leave his as you bring his half-smoked cigarette to your mouth, wrapping your lips with the red lipstick around the filter right where Sukuna's lips were a moment ago, and the sight is so sexy to him that Sukuna has to bite his lip not to moan.
You take a deep drag, and your eyes close for a moment as the nicotine fills your senses before they open again to gaze up at Sukuna through your long lashes, grinning as you slowly blow the smoke right into Sukuna's face.
He laughs, pushing himself off the fridge, stepping closer to you, so close that his hips brush against you,
"You know what that means, right princess? Blowing smoke in someone's face?"
"Who doesn't know that?"
You roll your eyes and look at him as if he is stupid, and he can't help but place his large hands on your waist and drawl in his best bedroom voice,
"So, you admit you want to fuck me?"
You smirk back at him as you push his hands off your waist, sounding dismissive when you shrug and say,
"You have a pretty face and a good body. And I am horny right now. So why not? And you are probably a good fuck, with all that practice you had."
"What makes you so sure I want to fuck you?"
"Oh, don't be silly. You won't say no. A slut like you never does. Everyone knows you are easy."
Sukuna doesn't bother telling you that he just turned down two hot chicks half an hour ago. He lets you grab his hand and pull him along, and he follows you with a broad smirk on his tattooed face.
His cock is already pressing against his jeans when his crotch brushes over your ass when you pull him up the stairs. His mind is hazy, thoughts clouded over by lust, finally feeling that sweet, exciting buzzing again that he missed so much.
You pull him into one of the bedrooms, yank off his t-shirt, and push him onto the bed. Or you try to. You push against his broad chest, not able to move him an inch, but he plays along and lets himself fall onto the bed, looking up at you with heavy-lidded maroon eyes and his throbbing erection leaking pre-cum into his pants like some pathetic little virgin before his first fuck.
Sukuna licks his lips when he watches you reach under your skirt and take off your panties. That's the only thing you take off before you join him on the bed, straddling his thighs, making him smirk at you like the devil that he is,
"So eager to get my cock inside you that you can't even be bothered to get naked, princess?"
"Shut up, slut. Good boys don't talk unless I allow it."
Your little hands are on his belt, opening it, unbuttoning his jeans, and pulling down the zipper, making Sukuna's hips twitch when your hand rubs over his boxer-clad erection. He knows he is acting pathetic right now, cock so eager, already staining the fabric of his boxer briefs with a ridiculously huge amount of pre-cum. But fuck it, he is finally turned on again, finally excited to fuck again after all those months of feeling bored.
He pushes his hard cock against your hand, but you pull away again, smiling that devilish smile at him as you crawl on top of him.
Sukuna laughs breathlessly when you hover above his face, letting him know what you want from him. His large hands reach out to run slowly up the back of your thighs before they cup your ass cheeks, and he pulls you down onto his face.
He groans when your hot wet pussy settles on his tattooed face. Fuck, he always heard his brother go on and on about how hot he finds it when a girl sits on his face with a skirt and no panties. Sukuna had never found it so fascinating until now. Until it is you, and you tell him in that emotionless voice,
"Get to work, my little slut. If you make me squirt, you will get a reward."
He turns his face and moans against your inner thigh, leaving a kiss there,
"And what will my reward be?"
"I'll allow you to cum."
Allow him to cum?
Fuck. The words alone make Sukuna throb in his boxer briefs, another pearl of pre-cum leaking out of him.
"Then stop acting like a squeamish virgin and sit on my face for real."
"I told you to shut up, brat."
"Then shut me up with your pussy."
Sukuna grabs your ass cheeks tightly and pulls you down further, making you sit on his face for real. He isn't just a good fuck. He is the best fuck, and he will prove it to you!
He sucks your little swollen clit into his mouth and laughs when you gasp loudly. You grab his hair, tugging on it, making him groan as the slightly painful sensation goes directly to his throbbing cock. And he spoils your pussy like the slut that he is. Teases your clit with the stiff tip of his tongue and pushes the metal ball of his tongue piercing under the hood of your clit until you tremble and moan loudly.
He gets really into it, fucks you with his tongue and sucks savagely on your clit, eats you so good that it only takes a few minutes until you let out a high-pitched squeal and buck wildly against his face.
Hot, sticky liquid gushes over his lips, and you rock against him, voice breathless but still so stern,
"Open your eyes. Watch me cum all over your pretty face. Yeah, take it all, you little slut. Drink it all up."
Sukuna's eyes meet yours, and he moans, and his hips buck involuntarily, cock so desperate that he is rutting against thin air while pulsing pre into his boxer briefs.
He drinks you up, pushes his pierced tongue deeply into your twitching pussy, and licks it all up, basking in the way you mewl his name for a split second before you regain control and run a hand through his tousled pink hair, smoothing it down again,
"You are a good little fucktoy, Sukuna. Well done."
Sukuna's cock throbs at your words, and he blinks in surprise. Ok, so it's not just degradation that gets him excited, but also praise? Well, he is so fucked. So thoroughly fucked, and he loves every second of it!
You climb off his face, kneeling on the bed beside him, and let your small hands trail down Sukuna's defined pecs and his taut abs, following his tattoos down to the hem of his boxer briefs.
"You have such a nice body, Sukuna. The perfect little fucktoy. And what about that pretty cock? Is he perfect too, hm?"
A breathy gasp falls from his lips when you run a single finger over the thick bulge in his boxer briefs, slowly running up and down his whole throbbing length. Just a light, teasing touch, but it makes his vision blurry and pulls a desperate-sounding whine from his mouth.
It's so fucking humiliating. He's making such pathetic noises. But he simply can't bring himself to care. Not when he finally feels alive again when he is with you. His low voice is thick with need when he whispers,
"You said you would make me cum."
"Uh uh, I didn't say I would make you cum, sweetheart. I said I will allow you to cum. Let's see how things will go. Let's see how excited my little fucktoy will get. Don't forget what you are here for, Sukuna, baby. You are in this bed to serve me."
"Fuck..."
It takes all of Sukuna's willpower to not shove a hand into his boxer briefs and relieve that fucking pressure.
You straddle him again, sit on his abs this time, rubbing yourself on them, making him gasp when he feels how wet and hot your pussy is and how you spread your cream all over him. It's sexy. Nasty, just as he likes it.
Sukuna can see your face now, and it makes his chest fill with elation when he sees the fucked out expression on your face as you slide over his firm abs, rubbing your little clit against his hard muscles, your eyes closing and lips hanging open dumbly when you moan so sweetly and twitch on his stomach, reaching another orgasm on him.
He could sneak a hand behind you, could jack off behind your back, but he doesn't do it. He wants to be your good little toy.
You don't stop but keep rutting against him, your fingernails digging into the swell of Sukuna's pecs, leaving their crescent-moon-shaped marks there as you abuse your puffy clit further on his abs.
And Sukuna grabs your hips and helps you ride his abs, grinning as he hears your harsh breathing and feels you starting to tense up again. Another loud squeal tumbles out of your mouth, and Sukuna is about to taunt you for being so horny for him that you cum on him three times in a row when he feels something hot and wet on his abs, much more than during your other two orgasms.
You hum and grind against him as more wetness flows out of you and onto Sukuna's stomach, warm and sweet-smelling, and Sukuna's gaze snaps to yours in understanding.
You laugh and rub yourself against him, smiling that devilish smile as you pee on him. And he can't hold back the loud moan falling from his lips, can't stop his cock from twitching, almost cumming in his boxer briefs.
"You like that, you fucking pervert? Yeah, Sukuna? You like getting peed on? Well, I have more for you, my nasty boy."
You slide off him, hands grabbing his boxer briefs and pulling them down, finally freeing his aching cock. Sukuna groans when it springs up, bouncing lightly, rock-hard, pre-cum dripping down from it onto his abs.
You throw one leg over his thighs, kneeling over his stiff cock, and then more piss rains down from your hot cunt and onto Sukuna's cock.
And Sukuna moans and curses loudly as his back arches off the bed, and he cums all over himself, untouched, shooting hot ropes of cum out of his tip, all over his abs, and over your cunt that's hovering above him.
His vision goes black for a moment, and his breath comes out in loud, harsh huffs, his whole body shaking from the intensity of his orgasm. He thinks he never came so hard in his life.
You laugh and finally sit down on Sukuna's twitching cock, letting it glide between your wet folds, making him buck against you. But you don't let him push inside you. You just rub your wet cunt slowly over his spent length, watching with an amused smile as you milk every last spurt of cum out of Sukuna while you let more pee trickle over his cock, mixing his cum with your piss.
Sukuna's heart is beating so fast that he feels lightheaded. And the overstimulation makes him sob, makes his oversensitive cock ache and twitch, but oh, how he craves this sweet pain. He lets his head fall back on the pillow, letting more low moans spill from his lips, eyes closing as he pushes his slowly softening cock between your pussy lips, whimpering softly anytime that delicious pain pulses in his length.
He doesn't know how long it takes before you stop moving on him and slip off his lap. But he sighs when the sticky heat of your cunt leaves his cock.
The bed creaks as you crawl up to him to press a gentle kiss to his cheek, whispering in his ear,
"You are such a mess, Sukuna. Such a cute mess for me. I'm excited to see what else you can give me, my little fuckdoll."
You leave him lying there on top of the blanket, his cock pulsing hotly from the overstimulation, mind hazy with post-coital bliss, chest heaving with heavy breaths, skin sticky from his cum, and your squirt and pee.
It's disgusting, and he should feel embarrassed, but he can't help but moan softly as a small smile creeps over his face. Sukuna feels satisfied like he hasn't felt in months. He hopes you will use him again as your personal fucktoy very soon.
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FUCKTOY SUKUNA, I WANT YOU 💗💗 I wrote the first draft of this story a while ago and then thought I wouldn't dare publish it because it's too nasty, but I changed my mind, lol. I hope it was ok and that my fellow sub!Sukuna enjoyers accept this treat ;)
There will be a second part!! The story got too long, and there would have been too many sex scenes, so I decided to split it.
Thank you so much for reading 💗 Reblogs and comments would be very sweet!
HERE IS PART 02
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undreaming-fanfiction · 1 year ago
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I love a good florist Steve, but what I love even more is a good but naturally bitchy florist Steve.
He'd have his own flower shop and years of dating experience under his belt. He is not just a good boyfriend, he is THE good boyfriend. Going to his shop isn't just to buy a bouquet of flowers, oh no. It's a whole relationship coaching thing, he teaches husbands to do better, gives courage to teenagers asking their crushes out, gives advice regarding flower language to elderly ladies who just want to be slightly passive-aggressive...you know, the normal thing.
He has a catalogue with flower pictures to help people who have no idea what the flowers are called, they just know they were orange and didn't easily wilt.
He shows a local teenager the cheaper but still fancy options and throws in a bunch of free flowers that aren't really up to his standards. "Okay, you say she likes pink flowers. Does she like things to be a bit more decorated or does she prefer simplicity? You don't know? Okay, can you describe what she normally wears? No, I'm not being creepy, but you can sometimes tell the person's preferences from their clothes. Now answer or leave dateless."
He chats with the elderly ladies of Hawkins when they ask for a flower to gift to their fellow church ladies when they host their meetings. He cackles when he hears some of their orders. "Oh wow, Ethel, a yellow hyacinth? Would you like a gift card with that, something like sorry you're such a jealous hag? No? Of course I know the meaning, it's my job."
"Are you expeting her to say yes to the date with that atrocity on your face? Yes, I know it's a moustache. But it's also an atrocity. Shave it and thank me later. Now, would you like a ribbon for that bouquet?"
And most of all, he grills the unlucky conservative men in Hawkins who come to him for flowers for their wives without any idea what they like. "I see, so you want something pretty. What does your wife like? Flowers? Well, that's not specific. What kind of dresses does she wear? Expensive? Can you tell me anything about your wife's personality? ...nagging. No, I can't just mix something together, unlike you, I take pride in gift giving. Okay. I don't think this is a shop for you. Yes, that's what I'm saying, I won't play a part in your wife's disappointment. Oh sure, go take your money elsewhere, but I can give you this advice for free - you married a unique human being, so treat her like one. And if you really want a happy marriage - maybe come back when you learn something about her as a person. No need for that language, have a good day, sir."
For those that are more receptive, he goes through their partners' personalities and hobbies, suggesting date options and absolutely roasting the bad ones. "A football match. When your girlfriend hates sports. I don't care if it's your boys playing, you can try telling her that this is important to you and you'll take her out another time, but if you try to pass this as a date, you'll be single before you say "sorry". A date is for you as a pair, not for you only."
But the best thing his shop brings him is Eddie Munson, who sneaks in, absolutely ready to be roasted, and asks for a bouquet of bright colorful flowers for his best friend Chrissy. "She just got divorced from her asshole husband and I want to show her that she can have nice things. Platonically. But she deserves so much more. Uh...she really loves warm colors, so maybe yellows and oranges? What are they called...gerberas! She likes gerberas! And she likes things to be a bit messy and imperfect, so maybe some leaves there as well? A green ribbon would be nice."
And Steve just beams at him as he gets to work and says "Oh wow. Whoever your partner is, they are so lucky if you remember all of these things even for your friends. Makes a guy jealous."
Eddie just wiggles his eyebrows at Steve and mutters, "that position's sadly open. Has been for a while. Interested?" and he almost faints against the counter when Steve turns around.
Eddie is ready to run.
But Steve just fluffs his hair, reapplies his lipgloss and asks: "Where do I apply?"
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shouts-into-the-void · 2 months ago
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Montresor caring about Will didn't come out of nowhere, Lenore was just mad: a biased completely unbiased post
The thing we need to remember as a rule is that Montresor's default personality is rude and antagonistic even when he's not actively trying to be an aggressor, which means you have to look at what he means rather than necessarily the things he says. He's a clear victim of abuse, who reacts to feelings trapped, cornered, threatened, panicked, or humiliated by lashing out. From what I have gathered, it seems like his mother may have been the type of person who was nice one minute, then became abusive at the drop of a hat, and/or acted loving while claiming she "had to do this for his own good", and he was clearly raised in a very strict religious environment where he didnt have a lot of control/was punished for things he couldnt help. As a reaction, Montresor tries to force an aggressive response out of anyone he feels threatened by, because at least then it's predictable and he feels in control. Okay, great, Montresor analysis out of the way, moving on.
Our first real look at Will and Montresor as a unit is when the clusterfucks (side note: I've seen a lot of people calling them the acoleets now? Far less funny, absolutely not) are discussing their spectres. During this conversation, Montresor is actually hyping Will up, and even when he agrees with Ada that is sounds useless, he makes sure to assure him that it "looks really cool though."
We only really see Montresor become outright violent and dangerous once it's revealed that only one person can win a new life. We see him actively panic about it, and while we don't really get a lot more context for him yelling at Will in the moment, I think its relevant that this is the moment when he starts treating Will less nicely, because now it's a competition and everyone else is potentially out to get him. Hell, he even immediately begins joking around with Will after telling him to shut up, so it's clear that he's acting out of stress and fear immediately after the revelation.
The interaction that immediately follows this is the incident with Morella and Ada, and I find it notable that Montresor goes out of his way to include Will. (when he makes sure to let you get your turn humiliating a woman to prove her loyalty to the group #romantic 🤡)
Later, during the Spectre vs. Students lesson, when Berenice bites Will and he asks for help, Montresor immediately tells her to leave him alone. While he seems mildly annoyed with Will the whole time (kind of understandably, because Will keeps screwing up the plan) he only says anything particularly horrible after Berenice slashes him across the face with her knife, which clearly pisses him off in general. We see him letting Will nap on his shoulder afterwards, which isn't super important I just think it's cute.
Montresor clearly sees them as a unit, as he still involved Will with the plan despite Will messing up the previous night with Duke and stops Will from helping Annabel with Ada despite not having a real reason to do so by saying "We'll sit this one out." Like it should have gone without saying that if he's not doing it, Will isn't either. Then the next day, the fact that Montresor comes to get Will specifically so they can walk to breakfast together? Knows what his toothbrush looks like and goes out of his way to give it back? The little flick on the forehead when he calls him a churchmouse? That he picks up on Will's distress and immediately goes to collect Ada to save him? I see you, fake-ass idgafer.
Which brings me to my next point, which is that it is Lenore on her enraged, vengeful tirade who claims that Montresor hates Will. She claims it's due to his behavior towards Will when he came to get him, but I think its pretty clear she only says it to upset Will. And Will can't think of anything nice Montresor's ever done for him because he's stressed, thinks he's about to get shot, and his self-confidence is super low. He even addresses the fact later that Montresor goes out of his way to save him all the time.
I also think now is a good time to point out that Montresor only seems to physically hurt Will in any significant way when he's been having a flashback. His expression when he comes out of his death flashback to find himself attacking Will is shocked, and while he doesn't apologize, his response does come across as apologetic. He has a similar expression when he wakes up from Ada's vision choking Will, only he looks incredibly panicked that time because he'd done actual damage. The expression on his face when Lenore points out what he's done is pained. I think this runs back to Montresor telling Will not to touch him, I'm pretty sure part of his trauma revolves around physical touch and when he's having an episode of PTSD/not fully aware of his surroundings he lashes out instinctively at the person touching him, which unfortunately means Will, who is a very physically affectionate person (man has 13 siblings and it shows.) Which is unfortunate, because I think Montresor also seems to be a very tactile person, and he actually goes out of his way to be touching Will a lot.
Another interesting thing? Montresor only ever addresses Will by name, which is very significant with context. The nicknames Montresor gives people are meant to mock them, so by only using Will's name it subtlely signals that he holds him in higher respect (or at least in more genuine regard) than the others. In Will's flashback, Sally–someone who went to school with him and was in all the same classes–doesn't remember his name, only that he's one of many Wilson siblings. So for Montresor, who can't even remember his "ace in the hole" and current fling's name, to be constantly making it a point to say he knows who Will is, is a great indicator of his actual feelings. By contrast, Will calls Montresor "Monty" exclusively, the only nickname he receives that is genuinely affectionate and something he never attempts to make him stop calling him.
Which pretty much brings us back to the events of the current episodes, which I've already talked about the significance of in another post. I know this is probably insanely biased for multiple reasons and im sure theres a bunch of little tidbits I've forgotten , but do with it what you will.
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aishabbbb · 1 year ago
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You're just so cute!
Part 1 Strawhats x affectionate! reader Can be read as platonic or romantic Synopsis: You love giving out compliments, especially to your crew mates. Characters: Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, Usopp, and Nami
LUFFY
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Likes the compliments, especially after Nami berates him.
LOVES compliments on his strength the most, but will beam if you call him smart(since no one else does TT)
Call him pirate king or the greatest pirate and he'll fold immediately.
He is fine with it generally.
Except for being called cute.
Will 1000% pout about it, especially if you call him that in front of Usopp or Chopper cause he wants to be cool yk?
"I'm not cute! What type of pirate is cute!"
Eventually will come around to it begrudgingly(he secretly enjoys it), but will also say it back to you to get you annoyed.
Backfires so bad.
Will try to compliment you back but he kinda sucks.
"You smell like the best meat in the world!"
— Or he is actually very heartfelt and deep out of nowhere
"I love how your eyes dance with the stars."
ZORO
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Hates it
Ok he doesn't ACTUALLY hate it, but will act like he does
He will get all fussy about it like "Yeah, whatever." and huff off somewhere.
Will blush anytime you say anything nice about him(all the time) but NEVER lets you see it.
Actually comes to love the attention from you.
ESPECIALLY about his strength and skill.
Call him the best swordsman ever and you MIGHT see him blush since he'll be so off guard. Just might.
Will compliment you back in private, especially if you're dating.
Isn't one to focus on looks when appreciating someone, but will if you just did. Mostly points out your skills.
After some time, he won't feel embarrassed at all and will get a little cocky.
"You are so cool!" "Of course I am."
"Wow Zoro, you are strong." "Just strong? Give me more credit."
HATES if he see's you complimenting Sanji near him.
Brags to him about how cool you say he is.
NAMI
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First thinks you compliment her to get out of paying her.
"I'm not going to forgive your debt by sucking up to me."
Once she realizes it's genuine, she changes her attitude.
Feels all giddy inside whenever you say anything sweet about her.
She will smile brightly to you and say thanks whenever you do so.
Doesn't have any compliments she dislikes at all
But she appreciates complimemts on her character a lot more.
Being a (former) theif and conartist makes people have a pre conceived notion of her
So saying she's nice or kind makes her feel very happy.
Will compliment you back a lot.
Mostly on skills and character.
But she does forgive some of your debt because you are kind.
USOPP
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Flustered.
He starts stuttering before saying of course!
Tries to stay cool about it but say he is cute or hot and he disappears
With his self esteem, he feels like you don't actually mean what you say.
He WILL ask for assurance if your dating
After realizing you mean it, it will make him feel better about himself
Specifically about his fighting skills
He doesn't think he is that good but you think otherwise
Feels more confident the more you appreciate his talent
Brags about it to everyone
Will uplift you too
Originally to reflect your praise, but later on as actually genuine.
SANJI
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Will evaporate
This man gets soooo flustered.
If you thought Usopp was bad, he will redefine the word.
He just can't commute.
Just tries to have any response but ends up babbling.
Honestly, his flusteredness is so cute.
He will get a nosebleed and may faint depending on the type of compliment.
Call him hot or cool and he will get a nosebleed or faint.
Especially if you say he is cool.
But say he is nice—
This man will freeze.
Feels like he doesn't deserve such praise. Especially from you.
Tries to reject the compliment and compliment you back.
"B-b-but Y/N dearest, you are the most kindest, nicest person to EVER grace this earth!"
You never let him reject it.
So he just ends up accepting the praise.
May cry a little sometimes, particularly if you say he is a good person.
Man NEEDS a hug TT
Starts showing off in combat and in general so he can receive praise from you.
Will do something cool and look at you like a puppy until you notice him.
If you don't he pouts off somewhere else.
He will also brag to Zoro about how cool you think he is
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asidian · 11 months ago
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One thing I haven't seen talked about is Crystal's character arc, and specifically the way the timing of it interacts with Charles' arc. They stumble over each other in the worst possible way en route to their respective character growth, and from a narrative perspective, it's absolutely genius.
I'm going to preface all this by saying: none of this is a criticism of Crystal. Part of what makes her such a dynamic, refreshing character is that you don't get to see women in fiction written the way she's been written. You don't get to see women with her flaws that aren't throw-away mean girls or villains. You especially don't get to see women with her traits who learn and grow and become better people. So yeah, I'm going to talk about Crystal's character flaws. No, this isn't Crystal hate. We love our girl in this house. Okay? Okay. Let's start.
Crystal's character arc, at its heart, is all about her learning to be a better person because she has good influences that love and support her for the first time.
When the show starts, Crystal is not a nice person. She's abrasive in a way that's specifically designed to push people away. She's used to getting her own way, and it shows. She's used to having no meaningful connections with anyone, and it shows. She's breathtakingly selfish, in the very literal sense of the definition. She is focused on her self. Her problems are front and center to her; everything is about what she needs, and what she wants, and how she's struggling.
Jenny calls her out very early on. In episode one, Crystal is complaining about the boys, and Jenny, for all her cynicism, strikes right at the heart of the problem. She tells Crystal, "Everybody is always thinking about themselves, all the time." People only care about their own problems. And she says, correctly, that that's what Crystal is doing, too.
This moment is a revelation for Crystal. For the first time, she considers what her behavior looks like from another person's perspective. As she says, she gets mad at herself over it, and that awareness allows her to do something selfless for the first time in the series. She takes a step back and insists that instead of focusing on her problems, they go to help a little girl. It's a big moment for her.
But importantly, she's not done growing as a character here. She's only just getting started.
On my first watch through, I didn't realize how often, over the next few episodes, Crystal redirects things to her problems during conversation, but it's quite a lot. She's still focused on herself – selfish, in that most literal definition of the word. The issues most important to her are her issues. She's starting to learn to think about other people, but she's not there yet. The process is still underway.
Which brings us to Charles.
Charles' arc is a different sort of self-reflection. He's terrified that he's a bad person the way his father was and the way the boys that killed him were.
During the course of the show, he gets systematically stripped of his confidence and made to feel helpless, and just like Crystal needs outside influences to help her reach a more stable place, Charles does, too. He desperately needs reassurance that he isn't everything he's afraid he is.
But my goodness, the timing in their arcs is such a trainwreck when you put them together, and it is brilliant.
Let's start with the Devlin House.
Crystal has some amazing character growth here. She displays genuine concern about Charles, makes an attempt at comforting him, and learns to work with Edwin even though she still doesn't particularly like him at this point.
Charles, meanwhile, is beginning to fall apart. He's just had the worst night of his afterlife. He's been viscerally reminded of how helpless he is. He couldn't stop the Devlins from being killed over and over, just like he couldn't stop his own father's abuse. He messed up his attempted rescue so badly that he was completely out of commission until the case was finished. He managed to help not one single thing. He made no impact at all. He couldn't help those girls any more than he was able to help himself, while he was still alive.
So they get back to the butcher shop, and what do we see? Monty immediately coopts Edwin. Niko doesn't know what's happened because she wasn't there and Charles has been all fake smiles with her. And Crystal goes off with Niko, leaving Charles to flounder on his own in the wake of everything. She's still learning how to support other people. She isn't there yet, and it's extremely on display in this moment.
Then we get the lighthouse episode, and they both get put through the wringer here. Crystal gets her hopes and expectations jerked around by the Night Nurse in the very worst way, and Charles gets hit with a whole pile full of trauma. All that helplessness wells to the forefront again. Combined with being forced to relive some of his worst memories and the desperation to keep Edwin safe from hell, Charles lets himself act on his anger for once.
And what does he get in the aftermath? Horror.
Everyone who cares about him is horrified by what he's done. Edwin goes so far as to call it extreme. They don't know the half of it, of course; they haven't seen what the Night Nurse just put him through. But in this moment Charles is at his absolute lowest, and all he sees is confirmation that he's exactly as terrible as he thinks he is.
That's why Charles shrugs off Edwin's attempt at comfort, here. When he needed to be able to do something to protect Edwin and also himself – when he needed to believe that he could be better than what his father always was – all he sees is the confirmation from the people he cares about most that when push came to shove, he really is a bad guy.
Then comes the aftermath. And this moment is such a brilliant, awful clash of both of their character arcs. It is so delightfully messy.
Because Charles starts to open up to Crystal here. He starts to lay himself bare, the way he ends up doing with Edwin in episode 5. He's on the verge of admitting something that he's been worried about for literal decades. He tells her, "I've been angry for such a long time."
And what does Crystal do? She's still in the midst of her own character growth. She's still struggling to support other people. She's still learning how to. In a lot of ways, though she's made progress already, she's still that selfish girl that Jenny called out in the very first episode.
And she shows it here it with the absolute worst possible timing. No sooner has Charles started to talk about what's bothering him than she cuts in with her own problems. She's tired of riddles and spirits and demons and not knowing who she is. And the look on Charles' face. The moment when he visibly sets aside his own problems, because Crystal doesn't need any more disasters on her plate? It's heartbreaking. You can actually track the subtle change in his expression there. The actor does a phenomenal job.
And then comes the kiss. And what spurs it? Crystal saying she needs something real.
This moment isn't about light-hearted attraction, the way the earlier flirting is. It's Charles setting aside what he needs – comfort and reassurance and a moment to talk through the things that have been tearing him apart – to give her what she says she wants. He can't even feel it. And Crystal isn't far enough along in her character growth here to realize how selfish she's being. Like Jenny said way back in episode one, she's only thinking about herself.
And then comes the absolute unmitigated disaster of episode 5.
Straight out the gate, Charles leans in for a kiss. From his perspective, they have something together; there's affection there. Charles "I think I'd miss kissing" Rowland, who has been starved for meaningful physical contact for thirty years, is not in a hurry to give this up.
But Crystal is fresh out of a nightmare where she conflates Charles with her abusive ex. She withdraws; she calls what they had a distraction. She cuts it off almost as soon as it's started, so focused on her own worries here that she misses how damn fake Charles' smile is, to cover up that he's coming to pieces.
To be clear, she's absolutely not in the wrong here. It is 1000% her prerogative not to jump into a relationship again while she's still struggling to work through what happened with David. But the arc of her narrative is still early enough that she does it all without so much as the awareness that her focus on her own issues has hurt Charles terribly.
And then the episode really kicks off, and both of them are in shambles in very different ways.
Crystal is projecting her issues with David onto Charles. She has a lot of history, and David seems as though he's exactly the right sort of toxic to leave lasting a lasting impact. But Charles hasn't done anything to deserve her assumptions, and he takes the brunt of her temper here and throughout the episode.
Charles is desperately projecting onto the dead jocks. He very badly wants them to be good guys, because he sees himself in them and he needs himself to be a good guy. He snipes back at Crystal for the very first time in this episode, and he does it in the worst way possible, accidentally prodding her where it will do the most damage.
They're both hurting. They both say some truly painful things to one another.
She does not need to hear that she has unsorted hangups about David still plaguing her while she's unable to move past them. He desperately does not need anyone to tell him that he has rage issues while he's still struggling to think of himself as a decent person.
They apologize, in the end. They start to move past it.
But it's telling that Charles doesn't try to open up to Crystal again. He goes to Edwin instead, even though Edwin is the one who called his actions regarding the Night Nurse extreme. He gets the reassurance he needs so badly; he gets the connection he was looking for with Crystal from Edwin, instead. (I have a lot of thoughts on why Charles initially tries to open up to Crystal so quickly, but it is very much an aside, and this is already extremely long, so it will have to wait for another write-up.)
But the important thing here is, Edwin is the one to offer Charles what he needs to overcome the self-doubt eating him alive. Edwin provides the physical affection Charles was seeking in the form of that long-overdue hug. Edwin is the one who's able to reaffirm for him that he's not just a good guy, he's the best person Edwin knows.
And for all intents and purposes, Charles' major character arc ends here.
Charles has a few last little moments to go on the path to rebuilding his own self-image, after this, but for the most part his concerns have been resolved. He saves Crystal in episode 6 and Edwin in episode 7, proving to himself that he's able to make a difference in the face of overwhelming odds. He's not helpless, no matter what the Night Nurse told him; he can be a force for good in the world. By the end of the series, his crisis of self-doubt seems to have been largely overcome.
But it's the conversation with Edwin at the end of episode 5 that really allows him to work through his most pressing issues. Edwin is there to help support him when he stumbles. Edwin provides him the comfort he was looking for while Crystal was too worried about her own problems to notice how badly he needed the help.
Crystal, meanwhile, still has a ways to go after episode 5. The last three episodes are where she does her most important character growth.
In episode 6, she learns some hard lessons about keeping secrets and letting people help and appreciate you even when you can't offer them anything in return. And Charles, importantly, is there for her every step of the way. He consistently offers her physical and emotional support. He models for her, in a very real way, what it looks like to have someone prop you up when you need the help.
And in turn, Crystal steps in to save the boys. She's the big damn hero at the end of this episode.
The breakthrough continues into episode 7. She's so intent on helping to get Edwin out of hell that she literally goes to face her own demons, not for herself for once – not for her own purposes or needs or wants – but because she wants to help someone else.
And episode 8, at long last, brings her to the culmination of her character arc.
Crystal is at her absolute lowest here. Her family, the people who were supposed to love her unconditionally, didn't even realize she was gone. Her precious memories, that she's spent the entire series trying to regain, have showed her that she's not the person she hoped she would be. She's overwhelmed enough that she means to flee, to cut herself off from her new friends entirely.
Then the boys get kidnapped. And just like that, she makes up her mind.
For the first time since the start of the series, she sets aside her most important issues in order to let what other people need take precedence. She disregards all of her own personal concerns and focuses instead on others. She's finally stepped out of those selfish impulses that Jenny calls her out on, all the way back in the first episode. She's finally learned how to support other people when they need it.
Crystal has finally figured out how to be there for others, despite having troubles of her own.
It's a lovely arc, and it's beautifully done.
Charles' is just as touching.
And god damn, but it was a brilliant narrative choice to have their character arcs line up in exactly the wrong way.
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thezombieprostitute · 6 months ago
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What's Mine
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Summary: Bucky pushes you too far and decides to explain how your situation works. Or doesn't.
Word Count: ~2.3 k
Warnings: Dark Fic, Implied dub/non con, Power imbalance. Please let me know if I missed any.
Previous Part; Next Part
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It's been a few months since Bucky "claimed" you. He followed up on his promises of taking care of you. You frequently woke up to some surprise gift or another. One day it was a fully stocked kitchen. Another day it was the leak in the bathroom sink getting fixed. More than a few times it's been jewelry with his initials on it.
And all it cost was letting him use you. You swear a piece of your soul dies every time he makes you cum. Every time he coats you in his semen. Every time you match his fervor. It might not be so bad if he didn't gloat every time. That damn smirk haunted your dreams. Or was it nightmares? What was the difference anymore?
It had definitely affected your standing in the community. People were scared to interact with you. Fewer parents brought their kids to the library when you were there. Ruth and her friends had no problems calling you all sorts of degrading things under their breath. You definitely caught them giving you the evil eye more than a few times.
Part of you suspected that if you'd quit trying to fight him he'd lose interest. He liked when you were in a fiery mood. If you could just give in, give up, he'd likely stop using you. But you couldn't help yourself. You hated him. You hated yourself for enjoying the pleasure he gave. That hate needed an outlet.
You pull into your driveway, no longer surprised to see Bucky's bike there as well. You sigh, wondering if you can talk him into to leaving. You're exhausted. Walking into the house you don't even have a chance to take your jacket off before Bucky is on you.
"Bucky, please no. I'm just too tired."
He chuckles, "don't worry. I'm just really happy to see you. We're going out tonight."
You sigh, "I'd rather stay in."
"Then that means you have the energy for me all night."
"Ugh, fine. Where are we going?"
"I've got you an appointment at the tattoo parlor."
"WHAT?! I hate tattoos! I can't get any!"
He smiles as he growls at you, "you're going to get a tattoo just for me. No one else is going to be able to see it, but we'll know it's there."
"Isn't the jewelry enough of your 'ownership'? You even got me a brooch for my cardigans with your initials!"
Bucky licks his lips, "it was just the beginning, Doll. So far everything I've done to mark you are things that can wash away or heal up. This is the next step."
"I refuse," you declare, crossing your arms.
"Fuck, Doll, you're getting me riled up." He puts his arms on each side of your head, boxing you in against the wall. "And you're getting that damn tattoo. We can either go now, while you're still cleaned up, or after I've fucked your brains out and you're a cum covered mess."
"Fine," you drop your head. "Let's go to the tattoo parlor."
"Not yet." He grabs you chin and makes your look at him. "You need to thank me, first, Doll."
Bile rises at the back of your throat. "Thank you for letting me preserve my dignity."
He laughs. "Give me another," he taunts, using the same voice as when he's telling you to give him another orgasm. You hate yourself for the involuntarily clench your pussy does.
"Thank you, Bucky, for...for introducing me to Bunny. It is nice to have a friend." A friend who understands how fucked you both are, you think.
That gets a more sincere smile on his face. "It is important to me that you know my best friend and his girl. I'm glad you're good to them. Bunny is gonna need you when she's pregnant."
"What are friends for," you dryly reply.
"That's my good girl, Doll."
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The tattoo is pretty much what you expected. His initials, right over your heart. If you wore anything low cut, it would be obvious. You were sure that was the point: can't even show a hint of skin without reminding everyone who it actually belongs to. At least it wouldn't be a problem at work, given you always dress conservatively.
By the time you're home Bucky is practically salivating at the memory of the tattoo on your chest. He might be eager to see this permanent mark of his claim on you but at least he's willing to follow instructions for proper care so it doesn't scar or make you sick. You made sure to thank him for that, knowing he likes to hear it, and he reiterates, "I take care of what's mine."
"Any chance I can just get some sleep tonight? I wasn't lying when I said I was tired."
"I'm all worked up, Doll."
"I thought you take care of what's yours," you snap back. "How is keeping me awake, not letting get good sleep, taking care of me?"
He grips your chin and gives you a thoughtful look. "I suppose you're right," he admits. "Even a vibrator's batteries gotta recharge every so often, right?" You roll your eyes and he grins. "But I'm going to hold you all night and when you wake up, it's on. I know you don't work tomorrow."
"Is that why you helped with my budget? So I'd have more free time to be your personal toy?" You can't fight the fire in your voice. You're tired, yes. Tired of being so angry all the time.
"Aww, you admit you're mine," he teases.
Unable to hold back any longer you smack his face. "I have never been so angry or tired as I have been since you showed up. You want to take care of me? You want me to be yours? Treat me like a fucking person!" Tears are pouring out of your eyes, the stress and frustration of the months finally finding a kind of release.
Bucky glowers at you and grabs your throat with his metal arm. "You shouldn't have done that, Doll."
"I don't care anymore," you croak.
That seems to catch him off guard as his hand loosens and his face softens.
"Oh, Doll," he shakes his head. "You really should've said something sooner." You squeeze your eyes shut as more tears start falling. He removes his hand from your throat and brings you in for a hug, causing you to cry even more. He pats your hair and coos, "there, there," until you can't cry any more.
"Let's get you to bed," he says quietly.
"I...I don't...I don't understand."
He gently lifts your chin, "you know, before Bunny ran, I tried to warn Steve he was being too controlling. That she was going to bolt. He didn't listen and, sure enough, she escaped. Wouldn't surprise me if she continued to try because he hasn't learned to loosen his grip. I don't plan on repeating his mistakes. Yes, you're mine and you'll never be rid of me. But that doesn't mean I can't be benevolent."
You sniffle as your brain tries to comprehend the sudden change in his demeanor.
"Now lets make sure that tattoo is properly cared for," he says with a soft kiss to your forehead.
"I...I hit you," you stammer.
"You're over-stressed and tired," he shrugs. "If I thought you were doing it just because you wanted to hurt me, yes, there would be repercussions. But I've apparently been overworking my poor Doll, so I'll forgive that one smack." His tone at that last part implies any more attempts to lash out at him will be punished.
"Thank you, Bucky," you murmur as you hang your head.
"Mmmm. That's more like it. Now let's get you to bed and tomorrow we'll work on your communication skills."
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You wake up feeling like you're hungover without having had any alcohol. The delicious smells of breakfast lure you out of the bed, even though you dread meeting the cook.
Bucky's shirtless and smiling as he works. If you were in anything close to a healthy relationship you'd smile at how happy he is. Instead you keep your head down, trying not to think about that metal hand wrapped around your neck. About how those muscles feel pressed against your back, or on top of you.
He sees you and gestures for you to sit at the table. He brings you a plate of breakfast, a mug of coffee and kisses the top of your head before sitting across from you. You don't eat right away like he does, lost in your confusion about this change in behavior.
"Eat, Doll," he orders. "I didn't stock your kitchen and cook this up just for you to let it go cold."
"What is going on?" your voice is barely above a whisper.
"I'm taking care of my girl," he answers, nonchalantly. You look at him like you've never seen him before and he sighs. "Eat, or I will force it down your throat."
You grab a slice of the toast and start chewing. "Thank you, Bucky," you grumble and he nods in his approval.
"One of the differences between me and Cap is that I know I'm a monster," he tells you between bites. "He likes to think we've done all of this to keep his girl safe and give her the life she always wanted. I know better. But we've been best friends since we were kids. Ride or die, you know? So I'm always going to have his back. I've just made peace with the fact that it means ruining lives."
"You never tried to talk him out of it? Out of taking over an entire town?"
He shakes his head. "Steve's the kind of guy who can never be talked or distracted from his goal. One of the things I find endearing about him."
"So, he gets you all to take over everything here and you, what? Enjoy the spoils?" Feeling the bile rise at the back of your throat, you go for another slice of toast to try to settle your stomach while keeping Bucky happy.
"It's a balance," he grins. "We take over and just start doing whatever the hell we want, a lot of people are going to die trying to get rid of us. So we set up some rules for our men. People will remain upset, of course, but they're less likely to 'rise up' so long as we have a level of restraint. It's, honestly, the biggest part of my job as Cap's second."
You think on this for a minute, mindlessly eating. "I get why the town, but why me?"
He shrugs, "I needed the stress relief. It ain't easy keeping a crew in line and I was initially just hoping for a quiet spot to read to calm down. Then I started watching you. Saw you expertly handle all kinds of difficulties. When you snapped at me, I figured, like me, you could use some stress relief."
"Stress relief?!" He gives you a look that has you clamming up.
"And fuck you were so good," he muses. "That first photo is still the background on my phone." Heat rushes to your face. "I decided to go ahead and keep you as mine. You're not only a good fuck, but you were quick to befriend Bunny. Everyone else who sees her with Cap has decided to avoid her. Something I know you've been experiencing, even though you haven't told me." You look down, unable to say anything. "I honestly thought you liked the rough treatment and was happy to give it, but I'm guessing we hit a limit for you."
"You branded me," you snarl.
"No, I got you a tattoo. Branding is something else and would've hurt you a lot more." His tone is stern and you return your attention to your food. "You've played a critical role in helping me keep things under control. Plus, since you're my girl, you get some privileges and protections. You think Steve would've beaten up Walker for some random librarian? No. But for his best friend's girl? That's another story."
"So, you're just going to keep using me?"
"Yes," he nods. "And now that I know more about your limits, I'm less likely to get stabbed in my sleep."
You look at him, aghast, "that's why you never stayed the night before?"
Bucky chuckles, "so smart. I love it. And now that you have more information, hopefully you're smart enough to put the rest of the pieces together."
"If I hurt you, Steve drops everything to find and kill me. Probably painfully." He nods. "If I make you angry, you're likely to take it out on someone who doesn't deserve it or you lose control of your men for long enough that they hurt someone who doesn't deserve it." He nods again, smiling at you. "And if I stop playing along like everything is okay, it's another sign to the townsfolk that might set them over the edge and have them shooting, getting hurt, or worse."
Bucky finishes his breakfast, nodding at your conclusions. "God, I love that you're so smart. Makes a lot of this so much easier." You start sniffling and he reaches across the table to gently grip your chin. "I get that this is a lot to take in, Doll. But I know you'll make the right decision. If you really didn't care about this town, you'd have left when you only had a skeleton budget. You're willing to work yourself to the bone to take care of these people, you're willing to be mine to keep them safe."
"I can't say 'no'," you whimper.
"But it doesn't have to be all bad. Remember, I take care of what's mine."
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Previous Part; Next Part
Tagging: @alicedopey; @delicatebarness; @icefrozendeadlyqueen; @lokislady82; @ronearoundblindly
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darkficsyouneveraskedfor · 22 days ago
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On Good Behaviour 7
No tag lists. Do not send asks or DMs about updates. Review my pinned post for guidelines, masterlist, etc.
Warnings: this fic will include dark content such as noncon/dubcon, threats, age gap, and possible untagged elements. My warnings are not exhaustive, enter at your own risk.
This is a dark!fic and explicit. 18+ only. Your media consumption is your own responsibility. Warnings have been given. DO NOT PROCEED if these matters upset you.
Summary: after release, you try to get on the right track but your new boss isn’t much help. (ex-con reader)
Characters: Loki
As per usual, I humbly request your thoughts! Reblogs are always appreciated and welcomed, not only do I see them easier but it lets other people see my work. I will do my best to answer all I can. I’m trying to get better at keeping up so thanks everyone for staying with me.
Your feedback will help in this and future works (and WiPs, I haven’t forgotten those!) Please do not just put ‘more’. I will block you.
I love you all immensely. Take care. 💖
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"May I get the bill?" Laufeyson inquires as he checks his watch. 
You put a finger in the air, "mine's separate, thanks." 
"Pardon you," your boss dismisses you with a flick of his fingers. "One bill is acceptable." 
Braxton nods and spins to go about his task. You stiffen in your chair. Fulla sighs. Frigga tuts. 
"How kind of you, darling," his mother intones. "Treating all of us to a pleasant lunch." 
"It is a wonder that you've not snared yourself a woman. There are those who prefer money over personality," Fulla trills. Laufeyson growls. 
"Yes, thank you, Mr. Laufeyson," you fold your hands in your lap. "And thank you two for having me. I hate to impose." 
"Hm, oh, she is a stickler for rules," Laufeyson chirps dryly. "Not a toe out of line." 
You let the comment roll off of you. You are as anxious as him to be over with this. You sense the squint in your direction from Frigga as Fulla eyes up her nephew. 
The server returns. He hands the bill to Laufeyson who returns his credit card. You wait for it to process and try not to wither away in the tension. 
Laufeyson is the first to stand. You follow suit. The older women make no move to rise. 
"We'll finish our drinks," Frigga smiles. "And I will see you at your father's event." 
He takes a deep breath and nods. He bends to kiss her cheek, "yes, mother." 
"Buh bye, Loki," Fulla wiggles her fingers. 
He sighs. He comes around and kisses her too. 
"Oh, I knew you loved Foo Foo still," she giggles. 
He stands with a roll of his eyes and gestures past his aunt, "we've work to do." 
"Yes, so important. Ta ta," Fulla calls after him. 
"Nice meeting you," you say then pivot to follow your simmering boss. 
Great. They've got him pissier than usual. You're used to the prickly demeanour. Prison is full of assholes. He's another breed. He tries to hide it behind his stiff upper lip and tailored suits. 
You go outside and approach the car. He unlocks the doors. You wait for him to get in before you do. He starts the engine as his silence persists. 
"You're not very gracious," he says at last as he reverses out of the spot. 
You frown, "I appreciate the lunch. I can reimburse--" 
"That isn't my meaning. Water?" 
"Water... I..." you swallow. "It's part of my probation." 
He snorts. "Ah, yes. No, that makes sense." 
The taunt in his voice makes you wince. You knew this was some trap from the moment he told you to make the reservation. It's not surprising. It's no different than the woman who sold you the skirt Fulla loved so much. People judge you at a glance. It almost makes you want to just go back to prison. People look at you like you belong there. 
He drives on and your eyes narrow at the road. You twist in your seat as he goes straight where he should turn. You scalp bristles like it would when Tonya would hang outside your cell a bit too long. You cross a leg over the other and grip the door. 
As the buildings grow familiar, the pavement cracks, and the brick grimier, the realisation sinks deep into your chest. This is your neighbourhood. Well out of the way of the office and surely far from his own abode. 
He pulls in at your building and you check the time. Would he really be so thoughtful as to drive you home? You look at him. He smirks. 
"I am curious to see what kind of hole a rat like you crawls back to every day," his eyes meet yours with a glimmer. 
This is your punishment. Not for anything you did. For his own embarrassment. For what he meant to do and was kept from following through on. 
"Well, aren't you excited to be home?" He slithers. 
"What are you doing?" 
"Since when--" He pokes your shoulder meanly, "do you question me? Let us remember the order of things. I am still your boss." 
"Yes, Mr. Laufeyson," you latch onto your purse and undo your seat belt. 
You open the door and get out. You look up at the apartment building with the dingy windows and chipped brick facade. You brace yourself as you start forward. Laufeyson's steps echo your own. 
You dig out your keys and unlock the grated front door. It's heavy; a deterrent for non-residents. You get to the inner door and twist the key again. As you start up the stairs, he hums. 
"Hm, that skirt is not too gauche on you," he muses and you nearly trip over the top step as he brushes your ass with his hand. He snickers at your stumble. "It would look better off." 
You blink and keep going. Your body goes rigid as you get closer to your apartment door. You stop to unlock that too and enter. He presses against you as he trails you in. You quickly move away from him. He clucks as you hang your purse and step out of your shoes. 
"Mm, shoes off in a place like this," he remarks. 
You look around. The kitchen is a part of the front room. There's only the bathroom aside from that. It's what you can afford. He tilts his head mockingly. 
"Well, I do see that you certainly are in desperate need of employment..." he removes his jacket and hangs it over your purse. "But you can show me how much you really want this job." 
You stare at him. His lips slant and he closes in. He looks you up and down. 
"I've spent my patience, so let us finish what we started." 
His intent pours over you like ice water. Bumps raise on your skin and you shudder. You clench your jaw and swallow it down. You know how to survive. That's all you're doing. 
You grab his tie, so roughly he flinches. His hands go to yours, easing your touch. 
“Do try to repress your darker tendencies. This isn’t a street brawl.” 
You stare at his throat as he drops his hands. You gently loosen the knot of his lie and unloop it from around his neck. You feel the silk then fold it neatly and set it aside. You can’t speak. You have nothing to say. You’ve always been the to do what needs to be done. 
You turn back to him. He grabs your upper arms and you inhale in surprises. He urges you deeper into the apartment. He stops you in the centre of the floor. Once more, he lets you go. 
You feel him watching you as you unbutton his shirts. His chest rises with a triumphant breath. You push the fabric back on his shoulders, his undershirts taut across his torso. You expected... less. He looks skinnier. 
You tug his shirt tails free and strip away his button-up. You take your time in folding that too. He wants it proper, so you can be diligent. 
Next the undershirt. He lifts his arms, gaze boring down on you like a laser. Put it with his other shirt. Then his belt. You pause, hands on the buckle, and steel yourself. 
He chuckles, “let us not pretend you are the sacred virgin--” 
You grip it tight and shove your thumb under the leather. You push free the end and unlash it, jerking him as you do. You flick open his fly and he hums.  
You want to choke him with his damn belt. He’s enjoying this too much. That’s the point, isn’t it? Keep him happy and he won’t ruin your life. 
You shove his pants down and he catches your hands. He brings them up as the fabric rumbles just along the top of his thighs. He tuts. 
“Darling, I know you must eager, especially after all those years behind bars--” 
“I’m not doing it without a condom,” you insist. 
He snickers and pokes his tongue into his cheek. He releases you and steps around you. You stare at the wall as he turns and struts to the fold out couch. He tests it with his knee. 
“In my jacket is my wallet... I do hope you can resist taking anything else,” he grabs the top of his pants as he pulls his foot back to the floor. 
You spin and go to the door. You search his jacket. You find his leather wallet and unfold it. There are four condoms inside in a short chain. The intentionality of that makes your blood boil. 
You turn back to your grim apartment. The peeling walls, the stained carpet, the emptiness of such a small space. You are at the bottom and he can see it so clearly. 
As you near the bed, he sprawls across it on his back, naked. You try not to notice his dick and how it lays rigid up his stomach. You are going to have to. There’s no avoiding it. 
You almost wish he’d done it at the office. Anywhere but your home. It’s not much but it’s what you have. It’s the seed of what you’re trying to grow. 
You get up on the bed and walk on your knees toward him, between his legs. He has his arms bent behind his head as he watches you. You peel open the condom and take him in hand. You roll the rubber down his length. He groans and twitches. 
“Darling, I said have some kindness. You needn’t rush,” he purrs, “Slow.” 
You meet his green eyes and wince. That gleam in them. He is a cruel man. Maybe he never did the things you have, but he is worse. You never enjoyed what you did. You only did it because you really believed it was your only choice. 
Just like this. 
You grip him and pull up your skirt with your other hand. You climb over him and direct him between your legs. You press his tip again your cunt, rubbing it up and down, trying to cozen yourself into this. You tilt your hips slightly as you do. 
You aim him along your entrance and hold your breath. You close your eyes and lower your head. You lower yourself, the blunt pressure forcing a whine from your throat. You put your hand flat to his stomach as you sink down. 
You grunt and bite down as your walls resist him. You lift yourself and try again. You rock on him, coaxing through the tension. Finally, you take all of him and shiver out a breath. He moans and spreads his hands across your thighs. 
A glance at his face has you horrified. His eyes are alight as he watches the intersect of your bodies. You rock slowly and slip your hand off his stomach. 
“Mmmmm,” he purrs and runs his hands over your skirt.  
He picks open the button at the bottom of your blouse; and the next; and the next; every one until it falls open. He grabs your bra and tugs it down until your tits spill over the top. He fondles you as you focus on moving your hips. 
You grind against him, the friction easing the singe in your walls. Not enough to get you off, only enough to get you through. Your breath shallows and so does his. He cups your tits and runs his thumbs around your nipples. He groans as your motion builds. 
His hands crawl back down your stomach. He frames your hips and pulls you down to your limit. You whimper as he holds you there. He bites his lip. 
“You are much more delightful than anticipated,” he snarls and drags his hands down to clutch your skirt in his fists. “Go on.” 
You lean forward and press your palms to his chest. Your pace quickens with ever tilt of your hip. He squeezes the fabric of your skirt, twisting it until it’s tight around your stomach. He keeps it wrapped around one fist as his other hand kneads your ass. 
He urges you on, rocking his hips from below. His face is flushed, his arms and chests strained, his throat constricted as he chokes on his moans. A ripple rolls through him. 
“Faster,” he hisses. You oblige. “Mm, darling, yes—oh—oh--” He sputters as his eyes roll back. “That’s-- like that--” You buck your hips, faster and faster. Finish already. “Dar-dar-darling...” he growls and snaps his mouth shut.  
His jaw clenches and he spasms. The way he quakes and tense, then whimpers, assures you that it’s done. He got what he wants and you gave it to him. He must feel like such a big man. He has to if you feel this small. 
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queenie-ofthe-void · 8 months ago
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🪱🧠Wiggly Wednesday 🧠🪱
Tagged by @wheneverfeasible 💜 I'm a week late but I got there. This is also me tagging you back!
~~~
I'm thinking about Steve Harrington growing up hating everyone.
His dad is cruel, so he hates him.
His mom tells him men are dogs. Men are pigs. Men will do or say anything to get what they want. So he hates her.
The boys at school are cruel like his dad, just like his mom warned him, so he hates them.
He starts high school. He's tall, with big eyes, thick hair, and cute lips. Girls were nice to him, he thought they were friends. But they only did what they did and said what they said to crawl under him and wield him like a trophy. So he hates them.
Hates them less when he's buried inside them. Hates them more when they leave the same night.
He's a man now, just like his dad. So he hates himself.
Carol's the same as other girls, but different. She leaves but comes back sometimes. Hangs around. She meets Tommy, and Steve likes Tommy. But they're mean to Nancy, and Nancy's the only thing Steve loves. So he hates them too.
He hates Billy. Hates him as much as he hates his father. Billy's easy to hate.
Nancy thinks he's bullshit. He tries to hate her, but it's hard.
The kids... he can't find a reason to hate them. They're loud and obnoxious and snappy, but they like him. They always come around. They call him out when he's bitchy, and he likes that. He chases after them, drives them around. Shoots hoops with Lucas, let's Max teach him how to skateboard, does most of the heavy lifting for Dustin's experiments.
There's no way he can hate them.
And that's when he realizes how fucking draining it is to hate that many people. He's exhausted. So he decides to stop.
Robin wants him to hate her. She's desperate for it because that would make everything so much easier. He doesn't hate her. And she finds she can't hate him in return.
Eddie's the first person he meets who likes him. Doesn't want anything from him, isn't using him, doesn't hate him, doesn't just see him as a protector or babysitter or a good fuck or a failure or an idiot. Eddie likes him for him, exactly the way he is.
It's easy to love Eddie.
@runninriot @carolperkinsexgirlfriend @sadisticaltarts @devondespresso @just-my-latest-hyperfixation
@strangersteddierthings
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lauramkaye · 7 months ago
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Hot take on a 200-year-old book
At the start of Pride and Prejudice, Darcy liked Caroline Bingley, and Caroline isn't completely irrational to think that she might get him to propose eventually.
Oh, he WON'T, not with her connections in TRADE, but it isn't so very wrong of her to have hopes of him. He doesn't like meeting new people and he's used to her because she's his friend's sister, he's had her to stay at Pemberley at least once and is now staying with her family so he must not have hated it! Plus, she has fashionable manners and appearance, she's generally fairly savvy and clever, and they have a great time being bitchy to each other about people they don't like. She's funny in a mean way and SO IS HE - "She a beauty? I'd as soon call her mother a wit." For Darcy, Caroline makes a fairly amusing person to trade zingers with, roast vulgar people, and probably to use as a shield against other husband hunters that he knows less well. I suspect that Caroline's plan when they come to Netherfield is to just keep being in his orbit, showing off her society hostess and witty one-liner skills, and eventually he'll realize he has to get on with producing an heir and will decide that as far as eligible known quantities go, better Caroline than Anne De Bourgh. (Which, I mean, at least Caroline brings more pleasant in-laws and you could actually have a conversation with her.) It's not a terrible strategy for somone as antisocial as Darcy, honestly, though I think that pre-book Darcy is okay with being FRIENDS with the Bingleys but wouldn't be polluting the shades of Pemberley with them, so to speak - that's a bridge too far for his sense of what is due to his family.
(In fact when you think about it, the way that Elizabeth and Wickham enjoy dishing dirt about Darcy is kind of a mirror of the way Darcy and Caroline start out!)
I think part of why Caroline gets so very desperate and blatant is that Darcy stops playing along with their usual games as he starts to fall for Elizabeth. It's not so funny when it's about his crush, and instead of giving back another quip about how inferior these country bumpkins are, he not only shuts her down but does it in a way that is complimentary to another woman. I think the first time he does this is at Lucas Lodge with the infamous "fine eyes" comment. You can SEE Caroline getting more and more frantic to re-establish their prior rapport and Darcy just doubling down on taking every one of her attempts and turning it into a way to say something nice about Elizabeth, to the point where by the end of the Netherfield trip he is deliberately fucking with Caroline and I think is kind of enjoying it in a "hah hah, you can dish it out but you can't take it" sort of way.
If Caroline was a little smarter and more devious - a bit more like Wickham - she would have eased off and focused her comments not on Elizabeth but on her family, especially Mrs. Bennet and Lydia, who DO behave in a way counter to propriety and good manners and are genuinely embarrassing to their better-mannered sisters. That way, she could have reinforced his feelings against the match. Continuing to push him and doubling down every time he pushed back activated his Lady Catherine-Tuned Stubbornness Circuits (aka "I am the master of Pemberley and you don't get to tell me who I can or cannot marry").
Caroline and Elizabeth are both witty and fun to talk to, but Elizabeth is witty in a playful and sweet way that doesn't offend people (even when she might WANT to, see pretty much every conversation they have at Rosings). And most important, in the long run, Caroline encourages Mr. Darcy to indulge in his worst self (much like Fanny Dashwood does to John Dashwood in Sense and Sensibility) while Elizabeth challenges and inspires him to become his best self, and that's the most important difference between them.
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rockrosethistle · 1 year ago
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I actually fucking hate Mr. Jägerman here's why
Mr. Jägerman is a character in the Hatchetfield universe who is never onstage and only mentioned in 1 (one) line. This was enough to ignite my rage.
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It's because in this one line, so much is revealed about Max's character. So let's dissect that.
Max is mean. We know this. The very first thing established about him is how threatening he is. But I think his character often gets lost in the 'bully' identity, because just like every other Hatchetfield character, he is layered and complex.
We also find out two other things about him pretty much immediately: He has a crush on Grace (we'll come back to that) and he needs to feel in control.
There's a lot of evidence to support this. He repeatedly refers to himself as the 'god' of Hatchetfield High. He creates arbitrary rules around who his friends can date. He creates arbitrary rules around where the nerds are 'allowed' to go. And the moment someone implies he is not as powerful as he thinks he is, he retaliates violently.
This isn't just Max being a jerk. These are all signs of someone who is almost certainly deprived of control in their home life, which forces them to find it elsewhere. Max likely has little to no say in what happens to him at home. He's clinging to a sense of control wherever he can find it. And that line basically confirms that his home isn't a safe place for him.
Back to the crush on Grace, when you look objectively at the actions Max takes in the show, you'll find that he's not really a bad person, he's a mean person. He's a little shit that processes his need for control in the entirely wrong way, but people are shaped by their surroundings. The actions that come from him are different.
His crush on Grace only supports this. Every other bully in every piece of media sees the girl they like and whistle and say "yo lemme hit that." And if the girl rejects them, they resort to "tease bitch." Not Max. The first thing he does is start a conversation with her, laughs at (what he thinks is) a joke, then offers to carry her books. Like, I wish my highschool bullies were that nice to their own girlfriends.
When she rejects him, it's true that he continues to pursue her and calls her "dirty girl," but that once again comes back to his need to feel in control. But he doesn't get aggressive, he doesn't do anything that screams 'bully.'
We don't get a lot of scenes with pre-ghost Max. But when we do, they're interesting to analyze. Like, have you ever noticed that when he finds Steph in the Waylon Place, his very first instinct is to tell her, "Get behind me, I'll protect you" from, as far as he knows, actual ghosts? He feels like his life is in danger, but he's still putting Steph's safety first, despite having no interest in her romantically. That's huge.
There's even some evidence to support that Max terrorizing the nerds is, from his perspective, not so one-sided. When he finds out they were the ones who pulled the pranks, he says "I thought you guys hated me."
And he's open to change. He's not stubborn, he's not brutal. He doesn't continue hating the nerds just because it is what it is. Moments before his death, he is showing signs of opening up to them, and actually seems like he's coming around.
And none of this is meant as trying to defend Max's actions. I know he's the antagonist. I know he treats people unfairly. But all of this has to come from somewhere. I'm trying to say that there was clearly a foundation of a good person underneath all that cruelty. So what toughened his shell?
Mr. Jägerman. Max reveals in that one line that if he were to go back home from the 'party', his dad would call him a 'little cuck.' "can't even fight off one lousy skele'uhn." In this, he reveals his dad is demeaning to him. He's the kind of man who would hear that his son was in a life-or-death situation, and instead of comforting him, he would have made fun of him.
What must that do to a person? As someone who grew up in a home where Dad wasn't always a safe person to be around, I know that when I was younger, a lot of my bad bad behaviours were something I learned from him.
The prank meant to scare Max was the nicest thing anyone's ever done for him.
I think a lot of what happens in NPMD is indirectly Mr. Jägerman's fault. "Knowledge is knowing Frankenstein is the doctor, wisdom is knowing Frankenstein is the monster" type of shit. It is directly because of his actions and the way he treated his own child that any of this happened.
or maybe I'm reading too much into this. But I fucking hate Max's dad so much.
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chiscribbs · 2 years ago
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[***NOTE: Leo's design here is no longer accurate, link to the updated version.]
I know there are already a lot of "the brothers are separated at a young age and raised by different people" AUs floating around, so this isn't especially original, but- I've yet to see one with this particular parent-child arrangement, so...
Here’s some rough concept art for what I’m calling the “Grown Apart AU”  Which I've also been affectionately referring to as the "Everyone's a Disney Protagonist" AU for quite some time... you'll see why.
Here’s the gist: Basically, Splinter is only able to save Mikey and Leo from the lab explosion - Raph is immediately picked up by Huginn and Muninn and handed back over to Draxum; Donnie is lost mid-escape and later found by Big Mama's goons, who show up for Lou but bring Don back with them instead when Lou is nowhere to be found.
Details of each turtles’ upbringings (as well as how/when they meet April) below the cut:  
RAPH
Draxum raised Raph to be everything he originally intended the turtles to be: a ruthless, obedient super soldier whose sole purpose in life is to protect the Yokai by eliminating the human threat. Draxum taught him to hate humankind and trained him up to be virtually undefeatable in battle. However...because Draxum isn't the most attentive parent, most of the caretaking for Raph was actually provided by Huginn and Muninn. And the two little well-meaning gargoyles - mostly unintentionally and outside of their master's knowledge - wound up nurturing a much softer and friendlier side to their supposedly bloodthirsty warrior-in-the-making. As a result, Raph has essentially been living a double-life under Draxum’s ownership; playing the part of a perfect soldier for his father/general, who he's determined not to disappoint, and only feeling free to be himself when he's alone (or with H&M.)
Raph has always known that there were supposed to be other mutants like himself but grew up believing that he's the only one who survived the experiment, making him the only one left in existence (until Draxum’s oozesquitos create more, that is). Even though he had H&M to keep him company, being an only child could still be pretty lonely sometimes, so Raph would often imagine what having brothers - other mutants like himself that he could have grown up alongside - would have been like.
Raph is the only one of the turtles that knows his human DNA comes from Lou Jitsu - just like Draxum, though, he has no idea that Splinter is actually Lou Jitsu.
DONNIE
Donnie had a posh and cushy upbringing in Big Mama's hotel - she raised him as her own son(unaware that he’s actually Lou’s)/apprentice and uses his technological talents to aid her multiple businesses: he supplies new weapons and battlegrounds for the Battle Nexus, as well as automated assistants and security for her hotel, and even pitches in with her more off-the-record dealings that last one being without Donnie’s knowledge. Big Mama's kept him pretty much wrapped around her little finger; praising him for his intelligence and usefulness whenever he does a good job or makes her nice things. When he hasn’t, however, she’s a less-than-affectionate mother. Donnie will do absolutely anything it takes to impress and earn approval from her.
Donnie is largely sheltered and knows very little about the world outside of the hotel - especially the human world, about which most of his knowledge comes from what he finds on the internet. He doesn't even know that he's a mutant, believing himself to be just some uncommon type of yokai, since that's all he knows. He’s not allowed to fraternize freely with the hotel guests and has a somewhat contentious relationship with Big Mama’s assistant, whom he’s always viewed as competition for her affection. The closest thing he's had to a friend is S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N, whom Donnie built to have someone to talk to (besides Big Mama's boring, no-nonsense henchmen).
Don finally met April when he was about 11 yrs old; he secretly sent one of his spy bots out to explore the human city and she intercepted it. The two have been best friends and stayed in-touch with each other online ever since - April being unaware that Donnie isn't human.
Donnie knows of Lou Jitsu purely because he was Big Mama’s favorite champion in the history of the Battle Nexus - he idolizes him, having watched recordings of many of his fights, and dreams of one day fighting in the Battle Nexus himself (if Big Mama would allow that).
Leo & Mikey
Leo and Mikey were still rescued by Lou/Splinter and brought up in the NY sewers. Splinter felt extremely guilty for not managing to save the other two baby turtles and, for the first few years following the incident, spent much of his time searching for them. Once Leo was old enough, Splinter would start leaving him and Mikey in the Lair while he searched. He eventually gave up his search, presuming them both dead or lost for good, and resigned to keeping the remaining two as safe as possible - teaching them how to defend themselves and warning them never to leave the sewers unless he was with them.
Leo and Mikey were inseparable as kids - they would do everything together, refusing to even sleep in separate rooms until they were too big to fit in one bed anymore. Leo took his job as Mikey's big brother very seriously and always tried his best to protect him, even when they were simply playing games with each other. As they got older, though, the two brothers began to drift apart - Leo started to feel a little smothered; craving more freedom to do what he wanted when he wanted, without the older sibling responsibilities hanging over him 24/7. And Mikey started feeling like he couldn't go/do anything without his brother's judgement or approval, resenting the idea that he needed constant protection.
Finally, when he was about 13, Leo secretly snuck out of the lair one night to check out the city by himself and get a little taste of independence. After that one trip, it quickly became a habit and he soon began making regular “secret” trips into the city.
Somewhere along the way, his innocent quests for freedom and fun grew into opportunities to stir up some trouble - Leo eventually met and became involved with a group of yokai teens with whom he would pull pranks and play jokes on the city's human occupants (harmless ones...usually. They just enjoy causing a little mischief.)
Mikey, having to figure out other ways to keep himself occupied since his brother is usually by himself or busy with his new friends, has picked up a multitude of different skills and hobbies, trying absolutely everything he can get his hands on. His main hobby is spray-painting, which he uses to spruce any wall he can find with his own personal touch. By the time he's 13, much of underground New York has been covered by his handiwork.  Mikey eventually finds out about Leo’s secret outings and follows him when he leaves one night - the two end up meeting April, who's never seen mutants before (having only talked to Donnie online and not seen his face) and promptly freaks out before realizing they're not dangerous. The three soon become friends, too, and April starts making plans to introduce the boys to Donnie - knowing he could use more friends besides S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N. and herself.
The four brothers' fates finally collide with one another when an escapee from Draxum's lab - Mayhem - shows up out of the blue and catapults Mikey and Leo to the Hidden City, where they have an unexpected reunion with their eldest brother.
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raven-black102 · 16 days ago
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Sorry To My Unknown Lover
Jasper x Reader
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3rd Person POV
“You go to tell her at one point Jasper.” Alice said as she watch Jasper stare at a girl who sat alone. “I can’t. I’ll just hurt her.” Jasper said softly as he looks down at his plate of food in pain. “She’s you mate Jasper.” Rosalie said even though she hates the though of the girl being human. Rosalie couldn’t help but feel drown to the girl along with the other Cullen’s.
“I can’t read her thoughts.” Edward said as Bella also looks at the girl a bit curiously. “Is she like me then?” Bella asked causing Edward to smile slightly then frown. “Yes and No. She’s blocking me out of her thoughts.” Edward said as they kept glancing at the girl.
(Y/n) stood still slightly feeling eyes on her but quickly brush it off since people are probably still not used to her being in school. ‘I wish I could just go home.’ I though sadly as I felt my bottom lip slightly quiver. That small action and feeling didn’t go unnoticed by Jasper.
(Y/n) sighed softly as She packed her stuff back into her bag only for something to catch her eye. There was a book filled with music sheets in them and a few writing here and there. (Y/n) smiled softly as she pulled it out and opened the book to some of the writing were her and her brother (B/n).
(Y/n) stood up and through away her untouched lunch away and quickly left the cafeteria to the music room. “Go get  her Jasper.” Alice said as she pushed him off his chair to follow (Y/n). Jasper didn’t say anything but followed (Y/n) as he felt the sadness swarm around her.
“Is she going to be okay?” Bella asked concern as she saw the look both Edward and Alice had. “She’s harming herself.” Alice said sadly. “If Jasper doesn’t to her now...” Edward said then looked away not wanting to finished his sentence.
(Y/n)’s POV
I smiled slightly as I saw a grand piano there in the back of the music room. “Ah (L/n)! It’s nice to see you!” The Music teacher said happily but took notice of the look I had on my face. “Are you okay?” He asked me concern as I bit my bottom lips. “No.” I said softly as I look down.
“Um... my brother... served in the Military... his not coming home.” I said softly as he looks at me. I quickly tried to whip the tears away from mt long sleeve shirt. “I’m so sorry. I’ll leave you here alone. You can stay here as long as you need okay.” He said as I gave him a small smile.
I sat on the stool as I look at the keys of the beautiful oak piano and ivy like keys. I placed my bag down and gently place the book sheet on the music desk. I looked at the keys and took a deep breath before I started to gently press agent the keys.
3rd Person POV
Jasper snick inside the music room and hide in the corner as (Y/n) sat on the stool and got ready to play. He could help but notice the peaceful yet sad look on her face.
(Sorry by Halsey)
I've missed your calls for months it seems/ Don't realize how mean I can be/ 'Cause I can sometimes treat the people/ That I love like jewelry/ 'Cause I can change my mind each day/ I didn't mean to try you on/ But I still know your birthday/ And your mother's favorite song
So I'm sorry to my unknown lover/ Sorry that I can't believe that anybody ever really/ Starts to fall in love with me/ Sorry to my unknown lover/ Sorry I could be so blind/ Didn't mean to leave you/ And all of the things that we had behind
Oh/ Oh/ Oh
I run away when things are good/ And never really understood/ The way you laid your eyes on me/ In ways that no one ever could/ And so it seems I broke your heart/ My ignorance has struck again/ I failed to see it from the start/ And tore you open 'til the end
And I'm sorry to my unknown lover/ Sorry that I can't believe that anybody ever really/ Starts to fall in love with me/ Sorry to my unknown lover/ Sorry I could be so blind/ Didn't mean to leave you/ And all of the things that we had behind
And someone will love you/ Someone will love you/ Someone will love you/ But someone isn't me/ Someone will love you/ Someone will love you/ Someone will love you/ But someone isn't me
Sorry to my unknown lover/ Sorry that I can't believe that anybody ever really/ Starts to fall in love with me/ Sorry to my unknown lover/ Sorry I could be so blind/ Didn't mean to leave you/ And all of the things that we had behind
And someone will love you/ Someone will love you/ Someone will love you/ But someone isn't me/ And someone will love you/ Someone will love you/ Someone will love you/ But someone isn't me
Jasper looked at (Y/n) in pain at the song yet it gave him some confidences. "That is beautiful." Jasper said causing (Y/n) to jump slightly in surprise. "Sorry ma'am." Jasper laughed softly as he sat next to his mate. "Didn't mean to scare you." He said as he slowly got lost in (Y/n)'s (e/c) eyes.
"You just surpise me is all." (Y/n) said with a faint blush on her cheeks. "I'm (Y/n) (L/n)." (Y/n) said with a kind smile. "I'm Jasper Hale." Jasper said as he took (Y/n)'s hand and gently press a kiss on her knuckles.
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tumblingxelian · 11 months ago
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I went and did a lil reviewing and its very interesting to look at Lila's situation regarding Catalyst and there's some fun observations to make in a vacuum.
1: This girls room has tons of masks.
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I know that isn't a major thing but given what we know of her its like, "So you just wanna shout that you have a complicated relationship with identity is that it?!"
2: Her mom does work at the embassy
On the surface she seems nice enough if maybe very busy given she says she'll "Try" and be back before dinner. One can take Lila growling once she's gone as directed at Ladybug or her mother, or both.
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But the dynamic also feels 'weird' & Lila's clearly used to instantly masking whatever she's actually feeling around her.
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Assuming a "No child is born super evil" read, I'd say that either she is like Andre in that she can performatively show affection. But is not actually there for their child when they need it. In this case likely having failed Lila at some major interval that left a deep divide.
Or that she's one of those parents who can seem very nice and reasonable but if angered or offended or disgusted react very, very badly. I'd actually say this one feels the most likely given it would contextualize Lila's deceptive habits very neatly.
3: How much did she know?
The question of if Lila was "In on it" or a willing participant in the scheme is interesting. Cos its obvious she didn't know Gabriel's identity. But more to the point, thats he clearly wasn't even expecting Hawk Moth to come for her given she was surprised.
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Like there is no one to be performing for here, that is genuine shock.
However, we all see her smirking after Hawk Moth has the Akuma leave her. But its worth noting she wasn't purified, the Butterfly just left. So while its obviously a headcanon I do feel the shift from shock and panic to stoic confidence is weird enough to thin it could mean more than just Lila is the devil.
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Also is it just me or do her eyes seem more lifeless?
We do have Gabriel's dialogue to go off:
Hawk Moth: Fly away, my little akuma and evilize the one who's been waiting your return for so long.
But we've also seen him call Chloe his favorite "Victim" and its not exactly uncommon for people taking advantage of others to frame their victim as a willing participant.
With that in mind!
4: Oh they were 100% grooming Lila, yikes
So, we know from season 3 that Gabriel & Nathalie were fine undermining Chloe's mental health to the point of sabotage, gaslighting and hostage taking.
Thus it is perhaps no surprise they were doing the same with Lila.
Don't believe me? They have literal cameras on a fourteen year old and have clearly been keeping her under observation in their own words, for months!
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Nathalie: (Hands Gabriel her tablet) Lila has been harboring her rage against Ladybug for months, and today wherever she looks, she'll see the object of her hatred, and as predicted, her anger will reach devastating heights. Your plan is perfect, sir.
But more pointedly is what is not said, or more, what is talked around, see this exchange:
Lila: (scrolls through laptop) Liar! Traitor! Coward! (comes across an interview with Gabriel Agreste and Nadja Chamack) Gabriel: (on the laptop) In honor of the wonderful Ladybug who has saved my son Adrien and myself, and who relentlessly protects all of us everyday, I have financed this tribute to Ladybug. Because Ladybug is the only true hero unlike her mediocre imitations, such as Volpina. Lila: (screams with rage and throws her laptop against a wall) I hate you, Ladybug!
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Cue laptop against wall and then crying on the floor, again there is no one to perform for here, this has to be a genuine reaction.
What stands out to me is Lila's choice of words: Liar! Traitor! Coward!
If she was just angry he praised Ladybug & insulted Volpina these words don't make any sense. But they make a ton of sense if Gabriel or someone representing her contacted Lila about her time as Volpina.
(It does not seem Paris is aware she was an Akuma)
Likely telling her about Heroes' Day or otherwise framing themselves as very interested and impressed with Volpina saving Paris from that meteor. Only so they could have Gabriel twist the knife in on an interview.
Conclusion:
That's just an assumption but if not, why not call Gabriel a jerk and a fool or something, traitor and coward have very specific connotations that don't make sense unless she'd been led to believe Gabriel thought highly of Volpina,
Hell, how would they even know she'd find the interview unless she knew to look for it?
Yes yes, story contrivances, but if we want to base out logic in universe, Nathalie & Gabriel preyed again on an isolated and to one degree or another neglected as well as troubled child. Fed into her many issues, likely helping foster her isolation & resentments, just to betray and humiliate her for the purpose of using her as a weapon.
That is deeply fucked up, especially when you consider that they were spying on her and she has no idea any of this is happening!
All in all, I think its quite reasonable to read Lila as a fourteen year old taken advantage of and steadily warped by adults' who were using her for their own gain as opposed to someone just born evil.
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