#stole his family and they didn’t get to mourn the real man they loved and lost

[ndplatypus]

This is a Miguel O’Hara hate account.

Peter B you are on thin ice.

Gwen Stacy you made mistakes but are a child who was held at gun point by her own father and was essentially homeless and was doing what she thought would keep her safe.

There are levels to these characters and their mistakes vs their intentions.

But only one of these characters is an adult man who choke slammed a 15 year old into a train calling him a mistake. Blaming him for everything wrong in the multiverse. As if he wasn’t a kid who just happened to be bit by a radioactive spider brought to his universe by the collider.

Like sir, you, an entire adult man, purposely jumped Universe, and slipped your way into a family that wasn’t yours and collapsed the universe but you gonna project that onto a teenager? Chill the fuck out you creep I’m sorry but that wasn’t your family??? Like the fuck what you did was actually insane. You fucking hypocrite.

Fuck Miguel O’Hara

[kirain]

I started playing rdr2 but stopped because like idk but I can't seem to get over the fact that all the women are prostitutes and they don't really have any important roles. Like what's Abigail do? Ooh she's a mother who's always mad? What do the other women do? Oooh they sleep with the gang. What's Sadie do? Oooh she becomes a badly written femme fetale who suddenly becomes a flawless killer. The women are just so badly represented.

I get the feeling you didn't play the game naturally or see any random encounters, because none of what you said is true. There's a lot to unpack here, so let's start with the "all the women are prostitutes" comment.

First of all, none of the women are prostitutes, a fact that deeply irritates Micah. During a coach robbery where he rides with Arthur and Bill, he even says, “Why the hell do we need a gaggle of girls who won’t even fuck you if you put a gun to their head? Is it too much to ask considering they get a piece of every damn dollar I bring in?” Poor baby. He even tries to proposition all of the women (Grimshaw included), but they all insult him and send him running with his tail between his legs. It’s hilarious and I love it. Arthur also responds to Micah with, “Everyone does their share. I don’t see you lifting a finger around camp.”

Now a bit about the girls:

Mary-Beth was a skilled pickpocket, but she ended up being caught by a group of her victims. She mentions this during a conversation with Arthur, where she points out how hard it was for women who came from nothing, and the inequality of it all. RDR2 actually regularly highlights how difficult frontier/outlaw life was for women back then, often pulling zero punches. While fleeing her pursuers, Mary-Beth luckily ran into Hosea, who helped her escape and welcomed her to the gang. You can see Dutch lusting after her a few times, because he's an old pervert, but she always shuns his advances. She was never a prostitute and she was actually underage when she joined.

Tilly was a child outlaw and a member of the Forman gang from the age of twelve. She ended up killing the leader's cousin because he [as is heavily implied] tried to rape her. She was around sixteen at the time and tried to return to her mother after the ordeal, but she unfortunately passed away while Tilly was running with the Formans. Out of options, she eventually joined the van der Linde gang after Dutch saved her from some unspecified trouble. You can find most of this out during one of my favourite side missions, where she gets kidnapped by Anthony Foreman in retaliation for killing his cousin. With Grimshaw’s help, you can rescue Tilly and put an end to it once and for all. She was never a prostitute and was also underage when taken in.

Susan Grimshaw was one of the original members of the gang and one of Dutch's first lovers. They parted amicably and both fell in love with other people (Dutch with Annabelle, and Susan with a doctor who sadly ended up dying), but she stayed with the gang because of their mutual respect for each other. She later became the arbiter of the camp and a kind of surrogate mother to Arthur, John, and the other girls. She was never a prostitute, but rather a rough-and-tumble outlaw.

Karen is a little more complicated. Overall, she was a scam artist (Hosea even called her an “actress”) who sometimes lured men into brothels, then stole from them or picked their brains for leads. That doesn't necessarily mean she was a prostitute; however, it just means she used sex as a manipulation tactic. Out of all the women in the group, she was the freest and most unconventional. She also stood on guard duty and participated in heists. The only man she ever slept with in game was Sean, and his death absolutely devastated her. If you talk to her or observe her interactions, you also discover she’s a raging alcoholic suffering from some very deep-seated issues. She likely did have to do things she wasn’t proud of in order to survive, but in my opinion that makes her one of the most realistic members of the group. She was never described as a prostitute.

Molly was an aristocrat who left her family to be with Dutch. His abusive treatment eventually led her to suffer an identity crisis, where she ended up hysterical and heartbroken. Her story is sad, but she was never a prostitute. If anything, Molly is the best example we have that Dutch views people as items, not human beings.

Abigail is the only prostitute in the game, but by the events of RDR2 she's an ex-prostitute. To say she's nothing more than "a mother who's always mad", I feel, does her character a great disservice. First of all, she left that profession behind to raise her son, to give him a decent chance in life. Unlike John, she stepped up immediately to become a responsible adult. I don't think people realise how impressive that is because, one, she could've easily abandoned Jack at the roadside (which was common back then), two, she could've induced an abortion, and three, she was quite young when she had him; around nineteen years old.

You say the women are "poorly represented", but they're stronger, smarter, and more mature than most of the men. A few of them even become self-sufficient in the turn of the century, something dear old Dutch couldn't even do/accept. Abigail in particular helps Sadie mourn her husband and the two grow very close. Their interactions are both grounded and heartwarming, with Abigail telling Sadie she’ll suffer the loss of her husband, but that it’ll get better if she keeps on living. She takes care of her, and Sadie later returns that kindness. These women are so full of quirks and humour and personality, I don’t know how you missed it.

As for Sadie ... where do I even begin? Badly written? Femme fatale? Flawless killer? Sadie is one of the best written characters. She's not flawless, she's exceptionally flawed, temperamental, and traumatised. It's never expressly stated, but it's implied at several points throughout the game that she was repeatedly assaulted while the O'Driscolls kept her captive. At first, she's petrified and miserable, to the point that all she does is cry and express suicidal ideation. Then, she gets angry. Very angry. Having nothing left to live for, her home and husband torn from her grasp, she throws herself headfirst into danger, which almost gets her killed on a number of occasions.

She's not a "flawless killer", she's a messy killer. She's not an expert death-dealer, and that's made evident from the start -- but she was a hunter who shared the workload with her husband, so it's not as if her skills just magically appeared. You do see how much it weighs on her, however, near the end of chapter six. If you help her kill the rest of the O'Driscolls, she laments what she's become because she thinks her husband would be horrified. She’s extremely complex and struggles between mourning and moving on.

I also can't help but laugh at the "femme fatale" accusation, because Sadie actually defeminises herself, which is understandable considering the hell she’s suffered. She even wears men's clothing, which wasn't illegal [anymore] back then, but it was openly frowned upon. Femme fatales use their beauty and sexuality to their advantage, ensnaring men with their feminine wiles. Sadie never does that and fights side-by-side with the boys. Interestingly enough, that's partially why Calamity Jane, an actual historical figure, garnered so much attention, because of how she behaved/dressed. It’s pretty clear to me that Rockstar might’ve used her as inspiration for Sadie. This was a real woman who lived from 1852 to 1903.

In addition, Sadie plays one of the most important roles, yet she does so without falling into the category of a Mary-Sue. She saves the gang and moves them to a new location when the Pinkertons attack Shady Belle. She hatches the plan that frees John from prison. She helps Arthur rescue Abigail after she gets kidnapped. She tracks down Micah and puts an end to his reign of terror. But most of what she does she accomplishes with a partner--Arthur or John--both of whom she respects immensely. No one, not even Arthur, does everything alone, and when they do there’s usually negative consequences. It's the camaraderie and shared experiences that make these characters successful, and aside from Charles and Hosea, I’d even argue that the women are more well-rounded and fleshed out than the men.

I gather from for comments that you didn't finish the game, so I hate to spoil it, but I kind of have to if you walked away with this mindset. The women of RDR2 are a force to be reckoned with.

[flowerflamestars]

i remember that you once said something about privateer nesta could you elaborate? please? *shrek cat eyes*

WHO TOLD YOU I AM COMPLETELY VULNERABLE TO THE CAT EYES??

okay, so admittedly I don't remember the context in which I said this?? But I still SUPER super love the idea

and it matches with what we'll call the Dream ACOTAR Extended Universe Plot, almost canon.

We begin with the final battle against Hybern. Tamlin dies, closing the loop of his tragic, misspent life. Amren stays dead, a magical being on to the next adventure.

Rhysand stays dead.

He functionally (magically) threw himself on a bomb, and took the whole blast. He's not the Cauldron- and no one man could repair what it once was, but he could contain the fatal, drastic implosion of an object that was meant to endure forever, fractured into more and more peices.

Why is this important?

Because it leaves a world where Feyre Archeron- twenty-ish, romantic hero, prop, prisoner- becomes High Lady in her own, true right.

(I don't think she's necessarily good at this job, because why would she be? It's not even her fault- Feyre has no idea about how faery politics work, no real tangible knowledge of her own inherited kingdom.)

But both the men who stole her and defined her and loved her and hurt her are dead.

And it not only sets her on a journey to become, on her own, an actual character in her own life, but it galvanizes the Archeron sisters.

Feyre's basically fucking comatose after the battle. Elain has been a mess this entire time, but after that last fight with Grayson, walking into the war and stabbing a king in the throat- she is as vital and herself as Nesta has seen her in years.

Nesta just watched her father die and felt nothing- and she hates herself for it. She and Elain had taken the head of the man who stole everything from them- and she doesn't have a single regret.

Feyre screamed until she could no longer- there's so much magic seething out her it hurts to look at-

There's a dark well inside herself that could rise. But why should Nesta let it? So what, if she doesn't mourn her father? He'd never cared about her and Elain- not when they were young, too busy and important to even speak to his own children. Not when they lost everything, and he'd tried one last time to sell them both into marriages to recoup the family loss. Not after, in the starving cold, no matter what she'd tried to force him into action.

Nesta had been mourning all along a human girls human life- what is an absent, neglectful, shitty in the most ordinary of ways human parent if not a part of that lost future?

Their sister owns a fucking country- their sister is, at this minute so hemmed in by her followers no one can see her, much less comfort her- there's a war camp falling apart around them- there's Nesta, Elain, and Azriel, unhurt, upright, alive.

(she does not let herself think that an hour before she'd been ready to die and thought it right, the ending the meant to be conclusion of her story. she does not think about how she'd wished Cassian healed beneath her hands and that he had healed, that she'd wept to learn she could do more than destroy.

that she'd still been weeping, her mouth bright with his blood, when he'd pulled away, dragged himself to Morrigan's waiting arms)

Nesta Archeron is alive. Her sisters are alive. They're free, and she'll be fucking damned if this all falls apart before Feyre can heal.

Nesta turns to Azriel and asks if he can take control of the legions.

She has no time for his blank, angry eyes- she knows he's hurt, he's mourning, he's lost- but she needs him. Cassian's...down. Rhys is dead. Feyre and Morrigan are not coming out of that tent.

And he just listens. Thoughtfully. Asks what Nesta intends to do.

And Nesta looks at Elain- soft, kind, gentle Elain who'd never once wavered now when life was on the line. Who hadn't cried a tear for their father, or for the man who'd kidnapped and then married their baby sister.

The danger wasn't over- and neither had the steel faded from Elain's spine.

Nesta tells Azriel she's going to find Keir.

Nesta isn't blind- she's walked the Hewn City, spoken to the eldest darkness. She was also at the joke of a Summit- Autumn wants new territory, Keir wants to rule Night. And here Night is, weakened, a lamb to slaughter.

Nesta's not going to lose again- she's not going to give these ancient, cruel lords another chance.

Elain grabbed her hand and squeezed- the one person, always, who Nesta never need explain herself to.

Aren't the High Fae technically Morrigan's Elain asked, a bare whisper as they walked through the camp.

It went without saying yes, but Nesta had never seen any indication they respected her enough to listen to her. She made a face, and Elain made one right back, rueful. She had eyes too, after all.

They're not going to listen to us in these clothes, Elain also told her.

She was right, of course. They were High Fae, and that mattered to those vile pricks, but they'd been outfitted for flight. She would do almost anything, actually, to be free of leather pants.

Which Elain, a gleam in her eye that Nesta was learning meant magic, dreamy and happy- led her precisely to a gold topped tent, stepped inside, bowed, and asked without a trace of hesitation if Helion Spellcleaver, Lord of Day, would perhaps do them the favor of loaning them some garments.

Solid gold eyes gleaming against blood and smoke tinged dark skin, beautiful, glorious Helion, smiled.

Day-white against Night- but also, Nesta knew, taking care with her crown of a braid, the splatter of blood left on her throat, her mouth, her cheeks like fine paint- white was the color of death.

Elain covered herself completely- shawl wrapped over her hair, tucked around her neck, breathing easier now, in human modesty- but hung from a golden belt that Helion, with the clear air of someone who knew something about seers, had found, metal hammered with stars and flames, was Truthteller, the long blade without a sheathe, black metal swallowing up light.

Keir was easy to find, and in fine form, surrounded by Darkbringers, who looped back behind the sisters the second they were close.

Nesta was not afraid- she'd thrown power into the sky and it had hurt. Not in depth, but because she was still holding on- it wanted out-it wanted to devour-

Elain dipped a flagrantly rude, swallow bob of a curtsey. Nesta didn't even bother- just let Keir hail them, royal family that they were. He liked the sound of his own voice, but he was also clever- they'd come here of their own volition and now they were trapped.

She could smell the reinforcements, the utter Autumn reek.

Nesta interrupted, and asked Keir to come and swear fealty to her sister.

It was never going to get the right answer, but it had to be said. It had to be heard.

She'd been right- they'd been right- Keir enjoyed the cruelty of getting close to Nesta, denying straight to her Archeron face that no, Rhysand's bloodline was ended. It was time, it was right, for the House of Truth to once more hold their throne.

He spoke his treason aloud, looming over Nesta- close enough to touch.

So Nesta did.

She'd willed Cassian alive and whole. It was so, so much easier to remember fire, death, drowning, to push and want the revolting man's destruction.

And when he fell, silvered fire that had filled his lungs spilling from his throat, Nesta did not flinch. She looked to the next lieutenant, a frankly indistinguishable golden haired pale-eyed blandly handsome man in black armor, and asked, if he, as the new commander of the Darkbringers, would like to give a different answer.

He did.

Azriel met them halfway back to Feyre, grim mouth flickering for a second at the sight of Elain, before looking, stone-faced, at Nesta beside her, leading a crowd of the highest ranked Night Court faeries she could find.

Keir? He asked.

Dead, Elain answered, and that was that.

The Shadowsinger fell in step with the Seer, a threatening shadow to two pale beacons.

It was Azriel who actually went inside the tent. Who said what needed to said, what made Morrigan splutter loudly enough to be heard outside, before she burst out the tent in a whorl of hair, before blanching.

Nesta had just enough control not to roll her eyes. They come to swear fealty.

And Morrigan, chewing her lip with all the dignity of a child- Elain and Nesta had been trained out of such gestures at eight, what did she think was happening here? - shook her head. She's not well, it can wait.

No, Azriel said, from behind her, it can't.

He was supporting what looked like the entirety of Feyre's weight. Dead-white, blue eyes a blaze, Feyre looked blearily out at all of them like she recognized no one.

Elain, treasure that she was, came forward to take her sister's other hand, whispering both condolence and explanation.

And so the High Houses of Night knelt in battlefield mud, and swore eternal loyalty to the youngest Archeron.

It was only after they were gone that Nesta hugged her sister- hard enough Feyre protested, a fresh batch of tears soaking Nesta's shoulder even before Elain joined them.

It's Azriel, voice a little less like a phantom, who tells Feyre they're handling things. That if she wants to rest more, that's fine.

She was so clearly shattered- Nesta half wondered how much of that Azriel can literally feel/hear with his shadow...things.

Feyre protests that there's things to do- Feyre makes it halfway through a sentence about plans before she says Rhysand's name like he's still alive and collapses in on herself like a wave crashing.

Nesta and Elain tuck Feyre back into the blanket pile. Nesta manages to kiss her forehead before Morrigan is there, hugging Feyre putting herself bodily between the sisters.

They leave, and outside, Azriel is waiting.

To hand Nesta a gaudy, enormous platinum ring. The seal of the Night Court- Nesta recognizes it from shipping manifests, but she'd never actually seen it as an adult. Here, as a faery.

Her thoughts on Azriel's powers hold true, as he answers the dismay: Rhys only used it when he had to. It had passed between the whole Court of Dreams hands, there had not been a vizier, a lord of stars, since the time of Rhysand's father.

Nesta puts on the hideous ring, barely flinching at the brush of magic, it resizing to her hand.

Elain grasps her other, squeezing, and asks Azriel who is next.

They work ceaselessly, pausing only to sleep. Azriel, Nesta is quite sure, isn't sleeping at all- until she goes looking for him with a question and finds him finally, finally out cold, face tucked in Lucien Vanserra's neck.

In silence and gestures, they come to something of an agreement- and when the Night Court comes to the table to talk peace, it's with Lucien. Jurian, who Nesta immediately liked.

By the time they return to the North, there is not a Lord one who does not know the names and nightmarish qualities of all three Archeron sisters.

Feyre mourns, and learns to govern slow. Cassian goes back to Illyria and does not return for a long, long time. Morrigan becomes Feyre's second- Nesta laughs, not altogether kind, when Lucien tells her this. No one has been able to answer her as to why, if Morrigan is so powerful, why did she not fight? what does she actually do?

What answers to her questions she does find are appalling. Why does Winter block our every turn? oh, Rhysand killed more than a dozen children. Why is Summer refusing our trade? Well, Rhysand stole their ancestral pride. Why is the Hewn City so wrathful at even the slightest form of intervention? Because Rhysand had left Keir to rule alone.

Nesta doesn't want to rule the fucking court. She thinks she could leave all of these politicians to rot- but she won't let Feyre misstep her way to death, shouldering a burden of her dead mate.

There's nothing they can give Winter but apology and so that's what Nesta does. On her knees, in a gilded palace of ice, stars caught in her hair and the seal on her. Kallias, bright and young, seems to know something about inherited problems- he does not ever forget, but he forgives, at least, the Archerons.

Summer is more complicated- but Nesta does what she can. Gives them every melted, ruined piece of the Book. Offers reparations for the next millennia. Ends up paying for what she is appalled and embarrassed to learn is a two hundred year old debt for a building the head of the Night Court's armed forces- Cassian, fucking Cassian the ghost haunting Nesta- had destroyed. During a brawl. At a solstice party.

She deals only with Cressieda, and they come to understand each other very well.

Nesta was not raised for politics and bullshit- her mother wanted her to marry a crown, but Nesta wanted the family empire. Trade. The Archeron legacy, denied to a girl. She likes Summer more than any place in Prythian, and she doesn't hide that. She relearns old lessons of tide and routes in secret, before Cressieda reveals that of course, she knows who the Archerons were.

It goes well, until Morrigan finds out what she's been doing, and tells Feyre.

The youngest Archeron had been doing better. Morrigan has been right by her side, through everything. Cassian is in Illyria, and Feyre understands why, writing him letters. She writes letters to Rhys too, if only to have a way to direct the words.

Azriel, spectral and busy she sees the least of, but Feyre never doubts his presence, keeping her safe. Elain comes, drags her out into sunlight, brings Lucien and it makes Feyre happy to see them together. Nesta comes too, with them both and alone, with papers from Feyre to sign, with affection sharp-edged but true.

Feyre knows she owes them all more than can be said- she's not stupid, she knows they're keeping Night together. That slowly those responsibilities will fall to her, when she's ready.

She does not think about how much of those responsibilities is cleaning up the tangled mess of betrayal Rhysand left behind. In her head, there is only Rhys- beloved and shadowed, kind and tortured.

Until Morrigan tells her that it's been acknowledged, in public, by Night, that Rhysand was a thief, and a murder of children.

Feyre loses her shit.

Rhysand had done what he had to. Who was Nesta, to say such things? She'd always hated Rhys. Rhys had always hated her, maybe he was right- the children. Rhys had mourned them in screaming nightmares, but he hadn't hurt them-

(Feyre does not stop to think it strange, that Rhys could have nightmares of memories not his own. That he might have fractured just a bit, under Amarantha. That the Red Lady had no daemati- that was why she'd kept Rhys all along.)

The fight is as ugly as can be imagined. And what proceeds is of course, worse. Feyre says terrible things she will ultimately regret and apologize for, but what becomes clear is that Morrigan thinks that Nesta means to hold power forever.

That she's taken advantage.

And Cassian, called home by rage, believes her.

That is, more than her ungrateful sister, more than the ongoing weight of cleaning up after a man she despised for good reason, the end of Nesta Archeron's Night Court career.

She'd thought she loved him- she'd been willing to die with him- but they'd lived. This was the life, the next life, and what did he think of her? That Nesta was a power hungry snob. That she was paying too much heed to politics.

That Nesta belonged quietly at home. That she should have learned to fight somewhere along that way- a point so convoluted it made Lucien laugh- that she hadn't learned anything that mattered.

That she had no right to kill Keir, because it had hurt Morrigan.

Had he ever, Nesta would wonder later, even liked her? Enjoyed anything about her but for that magical tether, telling him he was blessed with something special?

Nesta was something special, and she knew it.

And so she returned the ring to Azriel, packed up her possessions, and left.

First to Day, where Elain had bought a house. Fury and tears both met the explanation of what happened- fury and tears that turned to getting inadvisably drunk in sunlight, when Lucien and Azriel snuck away to join them.

For the first time in Nesta's adult life, she had no obligations. Magic, money, freedom- the whole world was out there.

She stopped wearing black. Learned pants where actually lovely, when they fit correctly and weren't made of leather. Learned Azriel could laugh, and Lucien was as clever as she'd always thought.

She read books, she ate fruit, she took Helion up on several of his more lascivious offers.

She thought of Cassian, and it ached, but not enough to go backward.

Elain's house was by the sea, right on the water. The scent of salt reminded Nesta of Summer- but also of her oldest, most secret dreams. The warehouses of goods, like mysteries to solve. The account books she stole, learning by candlelight the trade in her blood.

Ten years after the war, Nesta bought a ship.

She set out to be a merchant, use what she knew, but what happened was this: Nesta Archeron did not care anymore for rules. And so when she came upon Hybernian remnants-for they were an island kingdom, even more one with the water than Prythian- pillaging a Summer town, she destroyed them.

She stole their treasure, gave much of it back to the people.

Found, unexpected, that she had much more of a taste for marauding than she would have expected. There was still trade of course- proft made and shared- but Summer needed someone willing to do some destroying out on the sea.

Twelve years after the war, Nesta Archeron became a privateer under the Summer flag, pearls in her hair and a true smile on her lips.

Things grew, as all things do. Feyre wrestled herself the reins of government, stymied by the councils Nesta and Azriel set up as much as she often was by Azriel himself out of truly petulant action. Morrigan remained second, golden blades bright as her gowns within reach. Cassian became a sort of seneschal, reigning over Illyria in Feyre's name cold and alone as the wind through the mountains.

(Feyre thought he might never get over the war, but Azriel knew the truth.)

Elain took herself wherever the future led, a sort of mediator and councilor, walking in all Courts- but always back to home, that isolated green, green cove, where Nesta would land.

When war came again, there was no great Lordly alliance, no cut-throat summit. There was a fleet of ships whose sails where edged in purple, whose announcement across the water was silver fire, whose accompaniment were monsters of old.

Violence did not touch Prythians human shore, because Nesta Archeron did not let it.

She was death on the tide, and she remembered what shores had borne her.

She had a home in Summer, a place in Day, her family across the continent- she had her ships, full of faeries from every walk of life, who wanted as she did the freedom as much as the profit, the endless, endless blue, where sea meets sky.

It was eternity, and the Archeron sisters, free, had made it their own.

[themaribatpit]

Jasonette July Day 19: Mistakes

Written by: The Maribat Pit  Prompt: Mistakes Rating: T 

Soulmate AU - red string of fate around the ankles, references to other versions of the myth

A/N: This might become a mult-chap, we’re not entirely sure.  Comment on this post if you want to see this story continue.  There will be some Adrien/Chat Noir salt.

Marinette often heard stories about the ‘red string of fate’, the idea that there was a soulmate out there who was chosen just for her.  No one believed her when she told them she could see a red thread looped around her ankle. No one really explained what it meant, they would just tell her that she would grow out of that silly superstition.  She would look down at the floor, towards her ankle, where she could clearly see the red string tied around it.  Maybe they couldn’t see it, but she could, clear as day. When she became Ladybug and fought alongside Chat Noir, he would go on and on about how they were soulmates and destined for each other.  When she became Master Fu’s pupil, she asked him if he knew anything about it. “What brought this on?” he asked curiously. “I see this red string around my ankle, I’ve known about it ever since I was little. Everyone says it’s just a legend or a silly superstition.” she explained. “Around the ankle is a new one, but it’s also the oldest version of the legend,” Master Fu explained, “most prefer the version where it’s around the little finger, or a woman’s little finger and a man’s thumb.” “What does it mean?” she asked, “no one will tell me.” “It means the string will lead you to the person you are destined to be with,” he explained, “it may stretch and tangle, but it will never break.” For many years, she brushed aside other boys and their advances, much to the chagrin of anyone who knew the real reason why.    Whenever Chat Noir rambled on about them being soulmates, she knew it wasn’t true. It was infuriating, really, as she would look down at the red string leading away from him.  She would tell him that she was in love with someone else, because someone else was out there waiting for her.   Not that he would listen to her, but still she always kept him at arm’s length.  Some might say that her standards were too high, never mind that some boys just could not take “no” for an answer.   She thought about using Kaalki to find her soulmate, opening a portal directly to them.  The only problem was she only knew which direction the string was pointing, and not having a clear idea of where she was going could lead to complications. Marinette kept her head held high through Lila and Chloe bullying her, and the teachers doing very little to stop them.  She didn’t hate Adrien as much as she did on that first day of school, but he had done very little to stop his childhood friend from bullying people.  Marinette had been humiliated, insulted, and almost kicked out of school on multiple occasions.   Chat Noir, on the other hand, was only in love with the idea of her.   He had absolutely no clue who she was under the mask, and vice versa.  There were times when Marinette felt like she couldn’t step one toe out of line without someone breathing down her neck about being the bigger person.  She felt like she was the only one bearing the heavy burden of carrying the Ladybug mantle.  She took being a heroine seriously, but she knew that she couldn’t do everything perfectly.  Sometimes Chat Noir was more of a hindrance than a help, and this continued for many years. When days felt tough for Marinette, she only needed to look down at the string around her ankle and remind herself of what it meant.  It meant that someone out there was waiting for her, destined to love her with all their heart and she would love them in turn.  So Marinette kept her head down by day, and as Ladybug she would fight to bring an end to Hawk Moth’s reign of terror. Whoever her soulmate was, they would know the truth about her, they would love and accept her.  Sometimes she would wonder if Master Fu had chosen wrong when he decided that she should be the next Guardian of the Miraculous.  The red string on the other hand would stretch or tangle, but never break.  She could be certain that her soulmate was one choice that couldn’t be a mistake. Most of Jason’s earliest living memories were spent in hiding.  He would hide under the table with the family dog in his arms, while the adults around him argued.  When he got older, he would scurry back to the crevices in Gotham’s streets, hiding from whoever he just stole from.   All the time he’d worry they could see the glowing red thread wrapped around his ankle.  He could never understand what it meant, he assumed everyone had one at the time.   When his questions were met with mockery or indifference, he stopped sharing his curiosity about it.  It would always be glowing in the corner of his eye, like a bright light on a summer’s day.   One day he wandered into a bakery inside Gotham’s Chinatown.  He was waiting for the shopkeeper to look away so that he could grab a pastry without them noticing.  Their topic of conversation turned to a ‘red string of fate’ and Jason was intrigued.  Supposedly, the thread around his ankle bound him to someone. That someone was the person he was destined to be with forever, his soulmate.  He left the shop empty handed, hoping to try his luck finding food elsewhere.  If his soulmate was out there, whoever they were, they were going to be sorely disappointed.  He remembered thinking, whoever decided to pair him up with someone had made a terrible mistake.   If his soulmate could see him now, they would probably think so too. When he encountered Batman that fateful night in Crime Alley, his whole world had drastically changed from that night forth.  As Bruce Wayne took him under his wing and as he took on the Robin mantle, a secret part of him had hoped that he was becoming someone his soulmate could be proud of.  Still he kept it to himself, Alfred would occasionally find him staring off into space whenever he was alone.  If Jason asked Bruce about it, he would probably tell him that he needed to focus on other things. The glowing red string was the last thing he would see at night before letting sleep take him, this time, he wasn’t afraid. When she was 15, Marinette woke up one morning to find the string no longer glowed bright red.  Instead it was grey and limp, and she was desperate to know what this meant.  At the first opportunity, she ran to Master Fu, he was the only one she could confide in about this.  He lowered his head, almost unwilling to tell Marinette what it meant for fear of how she would react.  He told her solemnly, it meant that her soulmate had died… Elsewhere, a bomb was counting down the seconds until it could go off.  Jason had been battered, bruised and broken, but as long as his heart was still beating he still had a chance. Ten… He pushed against the locked door.  That damned clown had locked him in, probably for the sheer delight of it. Nine… He had only just noticed the bomb, he had to find a way out of the building and fast.  Bruce, Alfred, Barbara, Dick and...he looked down at his ankle, his soulmate...they were all waiting for him.  Eight… This was all a mistake, he had been led into a trap.  He hoped that Batman would arrive just in time to save him.  He would probably slap him upside the head after he had recovered, and lecture him about being far too reckless, but at least he’d be alive. Seven… Strength was leaving his body, most of which was probably beaten out of him moments earlier.  The fighting spirit that always burned like a raging inferno inside of him was dimming.   Six… In those last few seconds, all he had left in him was a silent apology.   Wherever his soulmate was, he wished them nothing but happiness.  He was sorry that he couldn’t meet them for the first time.  He wanted to tell them that the mere idea of them gave him hope.  Hope that quite literally hung by a very thin thread, but it was what kept him going all these years.  It kept him going through living on the street, through pushing himself to meet Bruce’s expectations, even through the ordeal he had just endured.  All he needed to do was look down and remind himself that whoever chose him to be someone’s soulmate hadn’t made a mistake.  The reason he wouldn’t get to meet them was because of his mistake. Five...four...three..two...one. Marinette didn’t know how to mourn someone she had never seen, met, or even spoken to.  All she knew was that for the next three years, the string around her ankle was limp and grey.  The legend said that it would tangle, it would stretch, but it would never break.  Sometimes she would lay awake at night and wonder what could have possibly happened to her soulmate.  Had they even noticed the red string around their ankle? Did they even care about what it meant?  How did they die? Was it an accident or did someone kill them? These were questions that kept Marinette up at night as she gazed up at her bedroom ceiling.  She didn’t notice that the string was slowly starting to regain it’s glow, though it remained very dim.  She barely paid any attention to it anymore, and thought the faint red glow was just a trick of the eye.  It was a cruel reminder of what that thread meant and what she looked forward to. By the time she was 18, Marinette decided she needed to get out of Paris.  She wanted to be a designer, but she also thought a change of scenery would be good for her.  She kept the Miracle Box with her when she moved to Gotham City,  to keep the rest of the Miraculous from falling into the wrong hands.  Around this time, the thread around her ankle began to glow bright red, just as it had done a few years ago.  She was honestly curious to follow the thread and see where it led, but Plagg and Tikki were unsure about it.  They could sense that something was amiss with the thread reignighting, and they had a bad feeling that the forces of creation and destruction were involved. That’s how Marinette found herself pacing around her dorm room, trying to think of an explanation.  “How can you tell?” she asked them, “Maybe whoever did this chose someone else to be my soulmate? Someone who wasn’t dead.” “That’s not really how this works, Marinette.” Tikki told her. “Well, not according to Master Fu anyway,” said Plagg, “if the string is turning red again, that means whoever it is was brought back to life.” “But that’s impossible...is it?” Marinette looked at them,  not that long ago she had fought a man who wanted to use them to bring his comatose wife back.  Was it really so impossible? “Long ago, we were forced to grant such a wish.” Plagg confessed. “Plagg!” Tikki hissed, “you’re not suggesting that maybe…” “I am,” Plagg told her, “and she needs to know if she’s going to go herring off looking for someone who might be dead.”  Plagg turned his attention back to Marinette, “long ago, someone did acquire the Miraculous and they did use it to grant one wish…to make them young and strong forever.” “How did they do it?” Marinette asked, a little afraid of their answer. “We created what humans call ‘The Lazarus Pits’.  Anyone who bathed in its waters would be healed, rejuvenated, even snatched from the jaws of death.” he explained “Tikki’s healing magic is infused in the waters, that’s the healing part.” Marinette looked over at Tikki, “So what’s the catch? It can’t be that easy, can it?” “Well, the more they bathe in them, the more it destroys their mind,” she explains before giving Plagg a pointed look.  “It heals them on the outside, while their mind is slowly destroyed.” Marinette is slightly horrified by the thought.   “Can it bring someone back to life?” She asked, they exchanged worried glances. “Yes, but...Marinette, the person they were could have easily eroded away.” Tikki explained, but Marinette was growing tired of imagining and daydreaming.  She had to see for herself the person that her soulmate had become, so that’s how Ladybug set off to see where the red string led.

[supercorp-hosie]

My thoughts for Legacies 316: (here we go again😂)

(I’m combining after thoughts with live thoughts)

1) The soundtracks for this episode are amazing, they fit very well even for Finsie that I heard that a lot of people were complaining on Reddit.

2) I finally get my team Sowanby! I just feel so much from them! They kind of make a great team, but please, do not go on another heist again. You both sucks at that! The holes are, the museum don’t have a fucking alarm for Leonardo DaVinci’s work? Are you kidding me? And Landon beating the shit out of the guard but not putting him out first is so dumb. The worst is Cleo calling Landon’s name so loud, I can’t😂😂😂😂😂😂 you don’t want people to be on your back when you have the Malivore threat going on guys! And ha! You guys are on the headline! That’s why I really feel like these supernaturals are so outdated and solidified from modern technology, even in 2030! Are you going to tell me everything technology will still be the same like now?? Come on, there’ll be cameras watching everywhere. Like they can see Cleo using magic! I need my Trimini (or bridge) coven and Hope starting to integrate the supernatural world with the modern world. About Trimini and Hope future career, click here.

3) the line about “many who shaped it are never acknowledged” I stand! After that, about the key card my random thoughts were about Landon being the one that stole the key card😂 just out of the blue and I’m proven wrong though.

4) Landon bonding with Cleo!!!! They thought the same way, and “I can promise that anyone that have to get to you, they have to get to me” is so strong! But the scene after, is the moment I started really doubting Landon, the look is too alarming. But there are still Sowanby scenes😭😭😭 and the melted heart mud... I mean I genuinely believed that the spell didn’t work because Landon is also mud himself. But in hindsight it is horrific, like the serial killer is just standing next to you but and the signs are right in front of you.

5) Malivore mud being artistically friendly! I can’t haha! Oh and when Holarke walked on Sowanby inspiring moment🤣🤣🤣I can’t, they act like both of them are cheating on one another it’s hilarious. Thank you for acknowledging each other Holarke and Sowanby🤣. By now, I should have known that’s MaliLandon. It’s humiliating because Holarke and Sowanby got me so happy that I didn’t see the clues lmao! Because there’s this line: “Following the footstep of the Renaissance greatest man? ” but this thing, Cleo only did it with Leonardo, with whom she slept with......

6) And damn, after that, I felt like a FOOL, CLOWN, WHATEVER after that! All I have for team Sowanby is fake 🙃🙃🙃🤡🤡🤡 Anyway we still have to admit that the promise still stand true right, cuz it’s literal.🤣🤣🤣 MaliLandon fulfills his promise by eating Cleo. TYPICAL.

7) Holarke! Clarke is still handsome as ever😍. We can see his presence is clearly affecting Josie and making Hope giving him information. Can we talk about how cute is he sleeping soundly here?

8) Lizzie being the only unaffected queen here. AND IT’S FINALLY LIZZIE’S TURN FOR “AD SONNUM” I can totally see her pleasantness in doing that to somebody after being on the receiving end🤣🤣🤣 Josie and Hope had done it before so now we actually see her doing it. I somehow feel completed.

9) The look Hope and Josie shared. Hosie!

10) Josie is going to be the death of me! I like her look. And how the camera moving upward gosh! And I’m totally digressing here, what is a razzleberry? And what is a slush? I have no idea what they are, I just feel like tasting what she tasting now. Lizzie’s line, crashing and splashing😂 Am I colour blind? Cuz I really can’t tell whether Hope is wearing dark blue or dark green 😅 if it’s green, then the traffic lights colour are back again lol. If blue, then Hosie matching clothes! Did Finsie ever have matching colours? I’m just wondering.

11) Hosie scene! They talked about how seeing Clarke traumatised Josie~~ damn and Josie says traumatised is her permanent resting state. I mean even on her birthday she was buried alive lmao. And Hope wants to help Josie stop the traumas by sacrificing herself to defeat Malivore, like by literally dying. Which she didn’t want because she didn’t want to live forever.

12) Holarke scene again! I love all those banters and their dynamics😂😂 how Hope is the only one that trusts Clarke now. The mimic spell! It’s their thing😍😍. Oh it totally surprised me that Clarke isn’t mud man anymore. I’m really happy for him, because he finally break himself out of the abuse! It seems like triad is totally gone?? But I still kind of think that there may be something more? And Clarke’s reaction to Hope opening the artefact! 🤣🤣🤣 and the way that Clarke sensed the familiarity with Cleo! Yea boy, she’s the inspiration to the creation of you.

13) Clarke keeps calling Hope and Landon kids🤣 how’s the feeling of getting kid!Hope kicking your ass and saving you😂😂😂 oh she’s totally your equal. Frenemies at best! YES! I love Holarke bonding. And the fact that Clarke being Hope inspiration to believe in friendship and her family now can help her to defeat Malivore, I Stan! Don’t lose sight of the corner! Josie! Lizzie! Clarke! Yes you have them! I’m glad that Clarke didn’t die, I’ll be so mad because the writer would be bringing him back for nothing. Oh the incendia is painful, affecting me more than the fake looking MaliLandon eating Cleo. The height difference again🤣 with Holarke this time.

14) I love Maleb clothes, not really shipping them just short form for their bromance😂 but I do enjoy if there suggests shipping cuz it’s fun! Love that them being supportive of each other, superheroing, and the hero name🤣🤣they’re clueless too. Poor Kaleb and Cleo. I really need his backstory 😫

15) about hero names, I’m still having playback of “blursome and essential” in my mind. MG is looking at the mask longer than Kaleb, I feel like he’s missing Ethan, like a lot. Another thing is, since we see the effect of someone else being compelled so clearly, but we never seen Ethan’s compelling effects. Or it’s a budget matter? They must be kidding right? So maybe Ethan is really faking it? So that leads us to Lethan....

16) if my suspicion is true, then damn, Ethan is using Lizzie to get into SBS? I’m worried for Lizzie’s wellbeing. Also the look on Josie when Ethan drives near tight after she said like some eligible will fall out of the sky🤣🤣🤣 the timing is impeccable lmao. For real, Lizzie wanting Ethan to be Hope’s rebound after her kiss with him in the trio imagination, is ....so the trio is now sharing guys now? Jandon is still there in the history! It’ll be like a very messing love multi-triangle😌😌😌

17) the way Lizzie talked about how Hope is perfect the whole way and judging by the day when they arrived at SBS? That’s very long! Lmao, Lizzie are you sure you’re not in love with Hope? Hizzie rights! (I don’t even know when I started to ship Hizzie, it’s a mystery🤣) I think I can only talk like that about my love. Why don’t you make you and your sister Hope’s rebound? I’ll be happy with what I get🤣

18) The decision to bring Ethan on a tour, is so bad. What if ethan ended up enrolling SBS and Alaric can’t deny the application? Did she ever think of that?? And Josie and Mg is going to face the consequences in the near future🤣 dreadful! From there I already felt the cliche sweetness that when you’re trying to be a wingwoman and ended up “selling” yourself out🤣🤣 fuck CW for cutting the scenes of Lizzie’s epic facial expression when she was slapped with her own words😂😂😂anyway, it’s no way she can refuse the ask out after 315 where Lizzie still thinks that she can’t be the chosen one when Hope is there, but someone actually chooses her even after all the Hope is perfect speech. As much as I mourn for Methan and Mizzie, I’m happy that she got someone to tell her that. But I think they’re destined to backfire😅

19) so does the Mizzie “will they won’t they?” officially end here? I’m confused. Btw it’s really a way to mention Sebastian’s death being relocated permanently 🤣 oh wait...she knew that that prison world is destroyed forever right????? Someone save me.

20) okay I have to go back before Ethan picked the twins up: while Lizzie is actually worrying about themselves being stranded, Josie is just more concerned about Hope? Hosie! Poor Josie, she never sees that she is Hope soft spot and can totally make Hope happy too. Look at your dumb joke at 103, Hope’s laugh is magnificent too. It’s because of you. And yes I’m with Josie, I just ship Hope with herself and her axe right now, don’t put her with anyone for at least 5 more episode please.

21) The one that doesn’t dissolve into goo! Now is Clarke! And the both of you my dear twins. Btw, the dna thing, where Clarke confirms that dna is still toxic... so it applies to Landon too right? And it’s now just more overwhelmingly apparent that handon sex is without protection. Yea so much for epic love. And this is about the possibility where (hopefully) it’s not MaliLandon when the sex scene happened.

22) Finsie time! I got to say, it’s really improving. Their scene is beautiful, finally. That feeling that they’re nice together is now going on continuous for me. I’m happy for them! They are now stepping up on Hosie, not derogatory, I’m just seeing some parallels from hosie here. The disclose of Ethan broken arm, where Hosie has done, before that there’s Clarke’s traumatising Josie thing with Hosie. Next, the focus on the hand holding, I’m thinking of 207 and others. The “me being here with you”, with hosie 308 “then I’ll be here with you”. The whole thing is very comforting for Josie. The hug is good too. We can see that they finally have some nice scene and the bgm is good for them.

23) I have no idea what is magical agronomy, so I look it up. Again, that shows how Josie love plants, like someone in Reddit said they observed that Josie’s side of room has several plants. And in 307, the herbs, that she remembers. I think it can help a lot if Hope is starting a magical technology company. Josie’s interest in that can come in handy. They’ll make a great team. About TRIMINI INDUSTRIES tap here.

24) we are still missing Jed here. Justice for Jed. We need Jed real first name. Did anyone notice when the super squad faces MaliLandon there’s no werewolf present? They’re really downplaying that huh? But maybe I can be satisfied that they are not making Finch being there but not Jed.

25) We need to address this thing about Handon. It’s like one and a half time that Hope couldn’t recognise that Landon is not Landon right? We still have to give credits to her memories shared with Cleo actually make Cleo kind of recognise the difference? So half a time. I agree with Josie’s words that Landon makes Hope happy. I mean, yes, most of the time they failed in working but there’s still sweet scenes between them. So that’s actually what makes Handon tolerable. They are what makes me only do facepalm rather than skipping them. So yes of course Hope has happy moments with Landon. Just that it doesn’t mean that they’re good together.

26) it’s always Landon’s bros that first find out Landon wasn’t Landon😂 this time is Clarke. It’s Clarke that tell Hope, “Landon will never leave you”. That’s the inconsistency of the writers, not counting MaliLandon’s time, it’s still two times. And there’s time that some will argue that Landon’s feet literally walk away from Hope. So...that’s not true, do not stuff that in our throat anymore. “I always thought you two are destined to be together” is this the writer way of saying they’re not doing Handon anymore or otherwise? Cuz “thought” is past tense and “are” is present tense. I’m tired. It’s normal that Hope still wants Landon to be happy and still love him. But after the breakup, when she still doesn’t know that it’s MaliLandon, the “still dying to get Landon again” is obsession. Girl, it’s derogatory to your self-esteem. “If a mud man like me can beat his fate, maybe you kids can too” yea that’s Handon going on.

27) we shouldn’t need to be told that Handon is epic love multiple times. We should be able to feel them, see them ourselves. Why did I start approving Finsie now, because instead of them being only all talking and no showing, now we see them working well (until now). I have been widely accepting to any other legacies ships and why I never ship Handon? So really these multiple telling us that how good is Landon to Hope, is not working. I’ve never been so frustrated.

28) Let’s appreciate the Handon parallel with 101. It’s interesting that how Landon is inside the cage and Hope is outside the cage again. The meaning of the cage has deep meaning here. Handon first kiss is in the cage, that kind of mean that their love is trapped there. Like how their relationship being so troublesome and bound by these fateful encounters. The lights are quite similar, handon always has this blue lighting for them, which sometimes it’s kind of weird. The first time it is Hope decorating the ceiling with stars for Landon. It’s sweet, but also implying that what Handon has is the false beauty of them and not keeping the cage symbolism in mind. In other way of interpreting it, this is the writer foreshadowing their endgame. Cuz they’re trapped there, no way in no way out.

29) I think I’m not the only one bothered by the mostly lack of real Landon appearance in s3. As we can see how MaliLandon words sits so right about, Landon not belonging to SBS if it weren’t Hope. Then he leaves with Cleo, that’s a thing for Sowanby too, they still don’t have roots with the school, and it’s a great bonding between them, friendship or not. It’s the bond between them that matter. In 314 315, we always see that the students were totally fine without Landon. Like the three trios paralleling? It’s sad that Landon is like bouncing here and there in SBS but never really belong. And now the writers kind of ripped his personal development. So now he has neither his pheonix powers nor fighting skills, great? And even Hope’s growth too. We are seeing her moving to a good direction and the writers have to drag her back in the hell hole. Hope needs to not always looking at Landon for her happiness, it’s not good for the both of them. Like MG said, be your own person.

30) THEORIES regarding Landon: a) It’s MaliLandon all the way? I hope not, it’s reminding me of Lost Girl that one of the characters slept with the father personating the person she loves, and got pregnant. Tell you what was more alarming? When the episode ended, I was recommended to move on to Lost Girl on CW seed. It’s disgusting! Why do you want to help make me hate Handon? I don’t even hate them initially! I’m like struggling to be logical and lean on the positive side here. Why I can’t move on from this possibility: first, I’ve always headcannon that Malivore has partial control over Landon. Like how Landon actually wasn’t lying in 102 103? That’s Malivore. And Handon, as genius as always, doesn’t talk about it. Second, the way that Landon dissolved, he was human back then, but he turns into goo? how does it even work? If he is human, toxic to dna will make him die, not become goo, right? Even if that wasn’t a problem, it can also be MaliLandon trying his luck. Third, Malivore purpose is to make the perfect legacy, he will totally give it a try to make tribrid-Malivore babies. Fourth, during the inspiration from Cleo, MaliLandon has Landon’s memories, enhancing the theories that Malivore has partial control over Landon, so even if it wasn’t MaliLandon, it’s still partial-MaliLandon. Fifth, after the inspiration, MaliLandon said that he doesn’t need Hope to tackle his problem or for his purposes, which means he initially wanted Hope, thinking getting to Hope can help with his purposes. It’s really not a far-fetched.

31) THEORIES regarding Landon: b) it’s real Landon during sex, but Malivore got him in the prison world. While having Landon’s personal growth ripped and Handon still dragging out are not pleasant at all, this is still a more pleasant theory for me. At least Landon did start fighting for himself after sometime, and while the sex is still partial-MaliLandon, at least it’s not MaliLandon. (I’m always using at least for Handon 🙃) maybe we can still have Landon fighting skills? Cuz I was happy for him about this though. But I just don’t think so. The evidence for this theory is, my feeling about Landon in 306 is that it kind of fits Landon personality, but he did start his violence there. Another thing is the letter. There’s care in “to whom it may concern”. However, that can be just me being simp. And there’s also possibilities that the partial control from Malivore is cultivating Landon’s behaviour starting there and slowly taking control. Because making a deal with the devil always has its consequences. It’s either that or Landon was taken after the letter.

32) regarding the picture above, i just want to point out about another interesting point about the structure of the scene, if you scroll back and see sowanby picture with the door and another bonding talk, you can se that there’s always pillar and frames that’s framing or trapping them together. Like Handon. I mean that’s totally MaliLandon, so this pointing out is not mean to be romantic. It’s just a thought about how devastating that Cleo is stuck in something her whole life, especially the picture structure that implies that she’s stuck with MaliLandon again.

33) overall I’m thinking this is a good and disgusting episode. With all the unexpected twist, it’s really good, there’s actually layers in showing us that Landon is not Landon every time. Then those bonding. The soundtrack, the scenes. Disgusting, is about the theory, and how we are all tangled back to Handon again after we finally have some fresh air. Not to mention the always surprisingly convenient that Landon always has an excuse when we see Landon did something bad to Hope. Like he can never be making big mistake while only having little questionable doings that can’t possible tarnish him being the perfect person in the show. The first time he lies, Malivore controlled him. During the pageant competition, he is justified to walk away when he totally chose the wrong timing to ask that question, leaving Hope alone breaking in front of such important event. 207, monsters are coming for him, he’s protecting people by leaving. Musical episode, he needs to cross boundaries because it’s bound to be, without further reasoning it with Hope, when Hope specifically was very respectful of him in 111 about his songs. And now, this. That’s not him, we can’t blame him. He will never be blame for something big because the writers is biased. Very biased in making that Landon is better than anyone else in the show, so he’s the perfect guy for Hope. Like no one can compare with him. He’s almost perfect. Perfect than Hope.

34) Reflect on what Hope did in 308, MG is kind of right, she shouldn’t have touched it without fully prepared. Because it totally let Malivore running out free instead of him being an originally contained problem. It’s for the good view in whole. Heroes make hard decisions. There’s still the hair thing cut from Hope and Golem!Landon.

These pictures is my work, while it’s easy to get it yourself, and not that I’m professional in doing this. But I still did screenshot them one by one and did some editing. So please like or label the sources when you save or use it. ♥️

[ourloveisforthelovely]

A Perfect Storm Part 2

Harry Potter Marauders Era-Post Hogwarts 

Link to Part 1 

Pairings: Regulus Black x Reader 

Rating: M

Songs in chapter: Little Lion Man by Mumford and Sons. Mr. Brightside by The Killers

______

Weep for yourself, my man. You'll never be what is in your heart. Weep, little lion man. You're not as brave as you were at the start. Rate yourself and rake yourself. Take all the courage you have left. And waste it on fixing all the problems. That you made in your own head. But it was not your fault but mine. And it was your heart on the line. I really fucked it up this time, didn't I, my dear?

Evan lightly elbowed Regulus in the side before stepping into the room. You didn’t look up right away. It was clear that you were used to Evan just coming in whenever the hell he wanted. Knowing the sounds of your brother’s footsteps, you most likely felt no need to see who was coming into the room.

“Y/n, we need to talk.”

Evan started. Your face immediately looked up from the sheet music that you were so closely studying. The moment that you met Regulus’ gaze, your mouth dropped. Over the past few years, you had been playing this moment out in your head.

And he was there...as he always should have been.

You didn’t move or make any facial expressions. Regulus looked just as he always did only a bit more exhausted and done with everyone’s shit. He was still the handsome man that you had fallen in love with.

You have to stop. You have to protect yourself.

The “strong” voice in your head spoke warily. As much as you wanted to run to him and throw your arms around him, you weren't about to. Because of him, you had fallen into a soul-sucking depression that you almost didn’t make it out of. He hurt you. Regulus was the one person that wasn’t supposed to hurt you.

“Wow, Evan you were right. That didn’t take long.”

Evan winced as Regulus shot him a scowl.

“I kind of told her that we should expect to see you soon and well...here you are.”

Evan explained before going to the couch and sitting down. Regulus kept his attention on his best friend.

“Evan, leave us. This is about to be awkward enough.”

Evan shook his head. He didn’t plan on leaving the two of you alone only to come back to see the two of you screwing each other. The older brother in Evan wouldn’t let him.

“I have been waiting for this moment a long time and I won’t be robbed of it.”

Regulus shrugged before turning back to you, his princess. You hadn’t changed at all.

She’s only grown more lovely…

Regulus thought as you stood up and crossed your arms over your chest. You weren't happy with him and Regulus could see it. If you started throwing things at him he wouldn’t be the least bit surprised. You were hurt and it was all because of him (well, Ambrosia but Regulus would forever blame himself). The two of you were supposed to be married by now. You were both supposed to be happy with each other and have your own family. Regulus wasn’t supposed to be here begging for forgiveness for having a child with some horrible bitch that ruined your life.

“It didn’t take you long to come. One would think that as much as you claimed to love your wife that you would be home mourning her loss. Do me a favor, Regulus, go back home and be a good father to your daughter. Leave me out of it.”

Your words hurt worse than if you had given him the middle finger. Regulus blinked a few times before remembering that he could talk. He was not about to put up with this.

“You have to listen to me, Y/n. It was a love potion. She has been slipping me a love potion for the past five years.”

You started laughing hard at that before turning to Evan who was smirking as he lit a cigarette.

“Evan, you literally just said that.”

Evan shrugged.

“He’s telling the truth, sister. You know that, given the past few years, I wouldn’t take his side but Regulus drank veritaserum right in front of me. He isn’t lying.”

Your mouth dropped as it all made sense. Regulus’ sudden and complete infatuation with Ambrosia, the way that he just walked away out of the blue, everything. The knowledge didn’t stop the hurt though. Knowing that Ambrosia literally stole Regulus (with no input of his own) made you angrier.

That horrible bitch of a woman has literally ruined my life! She stole what was supposed to be both mine and Regulus’ future! I hope that she is burning in hell right now.

You knew that the thought was cold and if your mother heard it there would be the very real chance that she would smack you.

There was also the realization of just what Regulus was going through. Mad at him or not, you felt immense pity for your love. Your love...you could admit that. Regulus would always be your love. It didn’t matter how many men you went on dates with...none of them would be able to compare to the feelings that you felt for him. You could only imagine how he felt “waking up” from the effects of a love potion to find his life completely out of order and ruined. It was no wonder that he looked so exhausted and confused.

You didn’t know how to process all of the thoughts in your head at the moment. After spending so many years angry and bitter at Regulus, you didn’t know how to emotionally handle what you were hearing.

Moving to the window, you had to think about what to say. Regulus, meanwhile, moved closer to you. He was partially afraid that you would smack him but it was a risk that he was willing to take. Regulus was even willing to fight Evan if he needed to.

Regulus turned to his friend for a moment to see Evan’s reaction to everything. Evan was sitting with a burning cigarette in his hand as he watched like a hawk. His blue eyes were hyper-focused on his sister ready to jump in and protect you at any given time. Regulus gave him a simple nod. Had things been different, Regulus would have approved of Evan’s behavior. Today, however, Regulus wanted to tell him to take a pill and relax.

“Princess, I’m sorry for everything. You know that I would never do anything to intentionally hurt you. I really fucked it up this time, didn’t I my dear?”

Regulus’ hand was on yours as you finally turned to look at him. It didn’t matter how nice it felt with him touching you again, you weren't sure where everything stood. Regulus didn’t seem to understand your confusion. Yes, he was apologizing, and that in itself was nice but were you mentally able to handle an apology and “everything would be okay?”

Your mind went to his daughter. Would you be able to look at this child? What if every time you looked at the kid you saw Ambrosia? It wasn’t the child’s fault, you knew this but that didn’t stop the pain of knowing Regulus’ daughter wasn’t yours. Would Regulus expect you to step in and love the child as if she was your own? The better question was did you think that you would be able to? You didn’t know. What if you did love the child? What if you fell in love with the little girl and something happened between Regulus and yourself? You would lose two people this time.

What did you know about being a mother anyway? Your mother was no pristine example of what a mother should be. She would shove Evan, Felix, and yourself off on nannies all the time. She only wanted to deal with the lot of you when it came time to show off how “good” the Rosier family was. How were you supposed to know what to do with Regulus’ daughter?

Pulling yourself from your thoughts, you turned to face Regulus. His eyes were locked on your face.

Merlin, he is still so intense...

“Do you not realize how difficult this is for me? Everything about you has changed.”

Regulus shook his head. Nothing about him had changed. He just had a few added bonuses that he didn’t have before.

“Nothing about me has changed. It's like I just woke up and missed a few years of my life. I’m standing here apologizing for everything. You’ve changed too but I’m willing to accept some of the new changes. How do you think it is for me to see what you do for a living?”

You figured the modeling would come up.

“I make good money and I am really good at my job.”

Regulus’ face was dark. He hated the thought of people, like his brother, seeing you nearly naked in magazines. Regulus was immediately jealous. Those “beauties” were meant for Regulus to only look at.

“You show people your tits and ass. You’re supposed to be mine.”

Regulus didn’t mean for the comment to come out as cold as it did but it happened. Your mouth dropped, noticing Evan in the corner of the room putting a hand over his mouth.

“It was nice knowing you, Regulus.”

Evan muttered under his breath as you turned back to Regulus.

“You lost the privilege of putting your thoughts in when you married that bitch! You were supposed to be my husband!”

“Well, fuck Y/n, I am standing here trying to fix it and you are bitting my head off.”

You threw down the teacup that you were holding. The house-elf, Curly, came running in with her dustpan and little broom ready to sweep the mess up. She had become accustomed to you throwing things and needing to clean it up.

Evan jumped up. He knew that this conversation was going south quickly.

“Okay, time for a breather. Regulus, what did you expect? Do you think that Y/n is going to run off to play house with you? Y/n is heartbroken over this whole thing and you are foolish if you expect her to just get over it and take you back as if nothing has changed. Y/n, he is honestly apologizing but, as I said, you don’t have to just get over it. You need to heal.”

You nodded, silently thanking your brother. Regulus, meanwhile, was scowling at Evan.

“I don’t expect her to come and play house with me. I am trying to fix what I destroyed!”

Evan nodded.

“Now that we all understand each other...Y/n, what do you have to say?”

You opened and closed your hands a few times.

“I think we are all bat shit fucking insane is what I think. Regulus, I can’t talk to you right now. I need some time.”

You snapped before turning and storming out of the room.

You had been in your room for around 15 minutes when there was a soft knock on the door. Not moving from your place on your bed, you waited until the door opened and closed.

“Y/n, we need to talk.”

You internally groaned hearing your mother’s voice. She sat down on the bed beside you and gently stroked her hands through your hair.

“Yes, mother?”

You replied.

“Evan told me about Regulus Black coming to see you. There is something that I would like to say about that.”

You rolled your eyes, knowing where this was going.

“Let me guess, you want me to accept his apology and forgive him. If he asks me to marry him, I need to say yes because this is a smart match and you know that I still love him so very much.”

You didn’t see the annoyed expression on your mother’s face.

“Well, now I don’t have to say it.”

You sat up and shoved your now messy hair from your face.

“Mother, he left me for another woman. I don’t care if it was under a love potion or not. He also has a child with this woman. Do you realize how hard this is for me? Do you honestly expect me to love something that came out of that woman? How could you?”

Your mother rolled her eyes.

“Y/n, you can be so dramatic. You have both the king and queen of chess in your hands and do not seem to realize it. This child is a girl and essentially has nothing to offer the Black family. You, my dear, can give Regulus a son. The Black family needs an heir to continue alone. We both know that Sirius and the werewolf won’t be able to produce that..unless something extremely unusual happens. Everything is on Regulus. No matter how adorable the little girl is, a daughter’s only real purpose is to be married into a well-to-do family.”

“Way to make me feel special, mum.”

You muttered as your mother gave you a displeased scowl. The last thing that you really wanted to think about was how sexist the pureblood world could be but here it was thrown in your face again. You knew what was expected of you and so did Evan (even though he didn’t seem in too big of a hurry to do anything.) You had it in your mind the Felix would be the one that would continue the Rosier bloodline. Evan was too busy and proud being a death eater. He didn’t even seem interested in any woman or man that came his way.

“You know that I am right, Y/n. As I said, you hold both the king and queen of chess in your pretty little hands. Maybe you should put them to use.”

(meanwhile)

Regulus stormed back into Grimmauld Place ready to kill some poor unfortunate soul should they get in his way. Walburga sat in her reading room and looked up when Regulus dropped onto the couch across from her.

“Well?”

Regulus was fuming. He had expected the conversation with you to go better than what it did. You essentially telling him to fuck off, was the last thing that he expected. Had it been years ago, Regulus would have been able to charm you with a few bats of his eyes. Today, however, there was no such thing.

“What do you mean, well?”

Regulus snapped in his mother’s direction. Walburga put down the book that she was holding.

“You know perfectly well what I mean, Regulus. How did it go with Y/n?”

Regulus snorted.

“A fucking disaster of epic proportions.”

“Mind your language in this house, son. Now, what happened?”

Regulus groaned. He really didn’t want to think of what happened again. All that he wanted to do at the moment was find a bottle of fire whiskey and go the fuck to sleep.

“She hates me.”

Walburga rolled her eyes.

“You’re so dramatic, Regulus.”

Regulus sat up straight. The rage that was going through him over the lingerie modeling was about to come flowing out like a volcano and his mother was going to be the innocent villager that was in the way of the lava.

“She’s a lingerie model now. Mum, she is showing off things that only I am supposed to see. Do you think that I enjoy knowing that other men are looking at her breasts? The answer is no. I begged her to forgive me and she said she needed time to think.”

Regulus jumped up and started pacing the room.

“Why would she want to get back with me? I hurt her and not to mention I have a child with the girl that made her life miserable. Why would any woman in the right mind want to take that back?”

Walburga knew well about your new career. While it wasn’t something that she would do herself, clearly you were doing well. It wasn’t like you were a pornographic film actress or a stripper. A model was a perfectly fine career and you were lovely enough for it.

“I don’t know what it is with the men in this family being so weak.”

Walburga replied. Regulus stopped and glared at her.

“I am not weak, mother! I can assure you that if you were in my shoes, with your world falling apart, you would be freaking out too.”

Walburga rolled her eyes again.

“Give Y/n some time to process everything that she has heard. This is a lot to one’s system. Look at your father, for example, he hasn’t said a word in three days...not that I am complaining. Try wooing Y/n a little better? I swear men are horrible at it.”

Regulus was silent for a moment as he considered his mother’s words. He was good at wooing you before. Why would he be able to do it again now?

“Wooing...great idea. Excuse me, mother. I have some things to do.”

Walburga held a hand up.

“Regulus?”

“Yes?”

Walburga looked up with an almost bored expression.

“Don’t buy her a lot of flowers, my son. No woman enjoys their home looking like a funeral parlor. Another word of mother's advice, you are the heir to this family. While I love Phoebe very much we do need a male heir. Things are upon your shoulders to keep our noble family going.”

Regulus didn’t let Walburga see the cold expression on his face. Of course, this is what Walburga would be concerned about. She wasn’t worried about Regulus’ happiness. So what if her son was a depressed angry mess as long as the family line was saved then nothing else mattered.

“Yes, mother.”

(the next day)

You sat at the table beside Evan. Your brother’s eyes were locked on the Daily Prophet on an article about “suspected death eater activity.” He looked up at you with a grin as you stirred your tea.

“I did this.”

He said with a grin. You raised an eyebrow and didn't speak for a moment. Even though being a death eater was perfectly normal in your family, you still worried about your brother.

“How surprising.”

You commented as an owl landed on the windowsill and started knocking on the glass. Evan stood up with a frown.

“Are you expecting anything?”

You shook your head as he went to retrieve the package that the owl was so eagerly showing off.

“Little show off.”

Evan commented before giving the bird a treat and taking the package away from its foot.

“I’ll be damned.”

You looked up as he came back to the table. Your mother shot Evan a disapproving scowl.

“Language, Evan.”

Evan smirked.

“This time it's excusable, mum. Y/n, Regulus sent you something.”

Your mouth dropped as you took the box from your brother. This was the last thing that you expected. You expected Regulus to remain in the shadows until you sent for him. Regulus would typically revert back to his introverted nature and not want to make the first move...but here you were.

“What is it, sweetheart?”

Your mother questioned as you tore into the box and a small velvet box landed in your hand.

Oh hell

You thought. If his crazy ass sent you an engagement ring, you would die right here at the breakfast table then haunt Regulus for the rest of forever for killing you. Looking up, you met Evan’s wide eyes.

“I swear to Merlin if that is a…”

Evan started but stopped when his mother pinched his hand. You, meanwhile, took a breath and opened the box to see a pair of emerald earrings in the box...a very pretty obviously expensive pair of earrings.

“Those are lovely.”

Your mother exclaimed with a happy smile. They were pretty. Pretty wasn’t giving them enough justice. Regulus always picked out the best jewelry to give you and this was no exception.

Evan looked relieved as well to see no engagement ring. This meant that he didn’t have to go into big brother mode and ask Regulus if he was bat shit insane.

“They are nice.”

Evan agreed. Your mother stood up to take her plate to the kitchen because Curly the elf vanished.

“Y/n, I want you to talk to Regulus when he comes back again for you. I am not saying rush to marry him but for the love of God hear him out. Remember what I said about chess pieces.”

Evan turned to you with a curious frown. You shook your head.

“Just a bunch of pureblood sexist garbage that we have heard all of our lives.”

Evan nodded going back to the article about himself.

(later that afternoon)

You sat in a cafe with one of your friends and Evan having lunch. When Sam, who was also one of the designers that you modeled for, called asking if you wanted to go to lunch you were thrilled. You asked Evan to tag along because he looked like he needed to get away from your mother as well.

“So, he gave you earrings? Fascinating. At least he didn’t send you some generic version of a rose bouquet.”

Sam commented, taking a sip of his martini. You nodded.

“I don’t want my room looking like a mortuary.”

Sam and Evan both smiled at that.

“If a man sends me flowers there is no second date. I don’t have time to be watering plants on top of my job.”

Sam added as Evan nodded.

“If I had any interest in dating anyone and I did something Regulus’ level of insane I think that I would go to the level of precious gems and jewelry too. I may make something with my two little hands.”

You snorted at your brother’s comment. Evan was making it very clear that he blamed Regulus for everything. Sure, Ambrosia smuggled him a love potion but Regulus should have never drunk anything that she gave him. That was asking for it.

“Evan, you don’t need to make anything. The last time that you made me a bracelet it was oozing hot glue from broken beads.”

Evan shrugged.

“I tried and you said it was beautiful.”

Sam was laughing hard by this point.

“Clearly, she lied.”

Before Sam could add more, you looked up to see Walburga walking over.

Fuck

You thought as your eyes landed on the little girl who had her hand wrapped around Walburga’s wrist. Evan muttered “fuck” under his breath as he clearly saw everything too. You were unable to look away from the child. Holy fuck, did this child look like her father. This provided some relief. You were thrilled to say that you didn’t see one trace of Ambrosia Parkinson in her. Everything about her screamed Regulus Black. From her curly long hair to her icy grey eyes. She was also dressed neat as a pin You had a feeling that Walburga was behind a lot of that.

“Y/n.”

Walburga said your name with her usual haughty smile. You forced a smile before getting up to hug her.

“Walburga, it's nice to see you.”

“Likewise, dear. I heard that you were back from Paris. Regulus asked me to send you his regards. He’s out of town for the next few days.”

Walburga had noticed the stranger sitting beside Evan so she decided to keep information at a minimum in case this person was an “undesirable.” She also watched as an expression of hurt at Regulus’ name crossed your face before you returned to your normally calm disposition. Walburga had always considered you a ray of sunshine for Regulus and she was not about to let this chance of a “relationship” go unmended.

“I see. Tell him that I said thank you for the earrings. I sent a letter yesterday.”

Walburga nodded, with a smile.

“It's waiting for him at home. We have to be going. I hope to see you soon, darling.”

Walburga gently nudged her granddaughter along. The little girl’s eyes were locked on you the whole time but you tried to ignore it. At the moment, you were trying to appear brave and put together in front of Walburga. You weren't about to let her see how internally you were feeling like a wildfire about to spread.

As they walked away, you heard the little girl as Walbura who you were. Your stomach almost hit your ankles at Walburga’s response…

“Hopefully soon to be your father's girlfriend.”

Both Evan and yourself gapped at each other as you managed to sit back down. Sam didn’t say anything. He knew well about Regulus and at the moment you looked like you needed some “quiet time.”

“Sissy…”

Evan started as the song on the cafe’s radio caught your attention….

Coming out of my cage and I've been doing just fine. Gotta gotta be down because I want it all. It started out with a kiss. How did it end up like this? .It was only a kiss, it was only a kiss. Now I'm falling asleep and she's calling a cab. While he's having a smoke and she's taking a drag. Now they're going to bed and my stomach is sick and it's all in my head. But she's touching his chest now. He takes off her dress now. Let me go and I just can't look, it's killing me. And taking control. Jealousy, turning saints into the sea. Swimming through sick lullabies. Choking on your alibis. But it's just the price I pay. Destiny is calling me. Open up my eager eyes. 'Cause I'm Mr. Brightside

You quickly picked up your handbag, not looking at Sam or Evan.

“I have to get out of here.”

__________

@amelie-black @regulusslut @truly-insatiable @fandomsxxregulus @realgaytrash @lucasfilms77 @exhsle @quuenofblacks @jessyballet @knreidy1 @teletubiswszpilkach @mimisparkle12 @hazncalsgal @acciosiriusblack @whymyparentscheckmyphone @criminalyetminimal @bennyberry @rubyroscoe1 @fific7 @spiderxalmighty @brokencasbutt67-writer @authoressskr @fandom-trash-worth-it @hankypranky @summer-novak @emiwrites3reads @shaylybaby2032 @marichromatic @shadows-and-padlocked-hearts @knight-of-gleefulness @stuckinsaudi1 @deanwherescas @sprnaturallover @untoldshortsofthefandoms @shitfaceddaniel @wontlookaway @mycuddlycorner

[red-jaebyrd]

Desolation

Whumptober #19 Mourning a Loved One

“What’s this shit about you not wanting to be Robin anymore?”

“Dude,” Tim scolded. “That’s not how we discussed we were going to do this.”

Hearing Todd say it out loud just made the decision to quit more real. It had been building for a while, the need to step away from Robin, from his family, from this life of fighting crime. By now, Damian was quite numb and detached from the concept of Robin. In all honesty he never felt it was willingly given to him. He stole it from Drake and manipulated Grayson into giving it to him claiming it as his birthright as ‘the blood son’.

Jason glared. “There’s no time for bullshitting. The kid’s obviously making a run for it.”

“What’s it to you, Todd?” Damian spat, haphazardly shoving clothes into a duffle. “Grayson only gave it to me because I made him. I no longer have use for it. Drake can have it back.”

Tim scoffed. “Who says I want it back?”

“Robin was never really ours either, D.” Jason cut in. “I took it from Dick, he didn’t give it to me and Tim weaseled his way into the role to replace me.”

“Hey!”

“Well you did with the whole, ‘Batman needs a Robin’ spiel.”

“He doesn’t need me, not anymore.” Damian said, grabbing an armful of socks from a drawer. “I don’t think he ever needed me. I was never the light to the darkness that he needed.”

Damian piled the socks into the bag and crossed the room to his closet to grab shirts, yanking them unceremoniously off their hangers chucking them into the bag.

“Dick wouldn’t want you to give up the mantle.” Tim said, picking up a stray shirt off the floor. “He made you Robin. It was his legacy to give that to you.”

Damian’s heart clenched. Why did they have to bring up Grayson? He didn’t want to talk about Richard, or Robin. He just wanted to be left alone to pack his stuff, so he could get out of his Father’s house.

“Yeah, well Grayson isn’t here anymore, is he?” Damian bristled, yanking a shirt out of Tim’s grip and dumping it into the bag. “No, he’s someone else now, and he cannot be bothered to care about me, Robin, or this family!”

“He may not be here, but we are.” Jason reasoned, taking the remaining clothes from Damian and setting them on the bed. “Talk to us, Lil’ D.”

Damian gritted his teeth at hearing the nickname Grayson had insisted upon calling him. At first it had grated on Damian’s nerves as he mistook the moniker as a lack of respect instead of embracing it as affection. Grayson had said Damian could call him ‘Big’D’ if he wanted, but Damian had thought the name was absurd and had never got around to doing it. ‘Lil’ D’ had been given to him by Grayson and no one else. Hearing Todd say the name just reminded him that Grayson wasn’t here anymore.

“Don’t call me – you don’t get to call me that!

“Please Damian, you can talk to us.” Tim said calmly, raising his hands in a placating manner.

“Can I, because it sure did not feel that way back at the memorial service. All of you still blame me for what happened to Alfred.” Damian blurted, tears starting to sting his eyes. “I can see it in your faces every time you look at me. You don’t think I blame myself for what happened to him? You don’t think I wish I could have done something to prevent his death? I do, but I can’t and now you want to hear the truth. Now you want me to talk? Well fuck you!”

Silence fell between them. Damian pushed down the lump in his throat and turned his back on them to finish packing his stuff. He didn’t want to talk about it, what good would it do? There was no changing what had happened to Alfred or Damian’s involvement in his death. Talking about it wouldn’t bring Alfred back. Truthfully, all Damian wanted to do right now was punch something or someone, and Todd and Drake were getting dangerously close to getting a fist to the face. There was nothing to talk about with them. They wouldn’t understand. It was too late.

“Damian,” Jason said, placing a hand on his shoulder.

Damian shrugged the hand off his shoulder, turned and swung a punch at Todd that didn’t connect, but was instead lazily blocked. The blocked strike only spurred Damian further and he swung again in frustration, this time a left cross, but Todd blocked it too.

The anger in him was bubbling up to the surface and tears spilled down his face with each missed punch. It was like Todd was taunting Damian to hit him, or maybe he saw what he wanted to see. Todd didn’t say a word; instead he kept his focus on Damian. Palms up and flat inviting the punches to come.

“Alfred lied to me!” Damian punched again and wasn’t stopping. “He was still in the house!”

Todd continued to block the hits. It felt like such a betrayal to Alfred to finally say such a thing out loud, but Damian couldn’t keep the grief and anger in any longer. It was eating away at him.

Each punch Damian attempted to connect was meant with either a counter block by Todd or a push. The overexertion began to make Damian’s punches sloppier further fueling his temper. Todd kept his arms up, body loose and face neutral. He kept his eyes on Damian, which continued to unnerve him. Todd was just taking the hits without a word.

Damian aimed another hit at Todd, but Jason moved before it connected. “He told Father he was safe, so Father had me reenter Gotham. But it was a lie. And then I got him killed.”  

He charged at Todd one more time taking the chance at a punch to the abdomen, but Todd instead wrapped his arms around Damian pinning his arms to his side. Damian struggled against the contact still trying to get his punches to connect. His chest heaved and more tears streamed down his face. Strong arms repositioned around Damian’s shoulders and he slowly started to process that Todd was hugging him and rubbing his back.

Damian allowed himself to give into the hug and fully gave into the tears. He hated crying, especially in front of Todd and Drake, but he couldn’t rein them in any longer. The dam broke and before Damian knew it, he was sobbing. Todd continued to hold him rubbing small circles on his back. The hug was stiff and awkward, but he could hear Todd telling him it was okay and to let it out. The hug was nothing like a Grayson hug, which was all warmth and arms encompassing every part of him. Todd held him so gently it was almost like he wasn’t hugging Damian at all. Still, Damian found comfort in the closeness.

“Why would he do that? Why would he lie to me?” Damian hiccupped into Todd’s chest. He knew he sounded like a petulant child. He knew an explanation for Alfred’s actions likely didn’t exist. He just couldn’t wrap his brain around the simple fact that Alfred had betrayed his trust.

Todd and Drake said nothing. Todd continued to rub gentle circles on his back, so Damian continued.

“And now everyone hates me, for something I had no say in,” he sniffed.  “I was following orders, Father’s orders, and those orders got Alfred killed. And the one person who would have believed me without question refuses to acknowledge my existence. Is that what you wanted to hear?”

“Yes,” both Jason and Tim replied.

Damian broke away from the embrace and just stared at both of them shaking his head. He wrapped his arms around himself protectively.

“I should have seen right through the lie, but I didn’t,” Damian said, wiping his eyes with his sleeve. “I should have known it was too easy. I was so blind to think that Father had this all under control.”

“Stop, you couldn’t have foreseen any of this, Damian.” Tim interjected. “We all trusted Alfred, but he had his own plans. In his mind I think he thought that what he was doing was for a greater good. None of this is your fault.”

“But it is my fault. I was the one –“

“No, Tim’s right.” Jason interrupted. “This wasn’t your fault. We can’t answer for Alfred, or explain why he did what he did. We can’t fix what has already been done, but we can fix us. We’re…we’re your brothers, whether you wish to claim us or not. We’re in this together and we’ll get through this together.”

“There’s more…” Damian hesitated not sure if what he was about to say would be well received, but he was done keeping things to himself.

“The truth is I do not feel as if I can be Robin anymore,” Damian confessed, moving toward the duffle putting stray socks in the bag. It was easier to say what he had to say if his back was to them. “I have made so many mistakes, long before Richard’s shooting and Alfred’s death. I tried to do what Father would never do when it came to fixing crime and it backfired. I drove away my team and now I feel like I have driven away the only family I have ever had.”

“You didn’t drive us away,” Tim insisted, sitting on the bed to face Damian. “We pulled away from you and that was wrong. I’m sorry, Damian.”

“I’m sorry too,” Jason added, putting his hand on Damian’s shoulder.

Damian nodded.  “I still do not wish to be Robin.”

“Alright, but make sure you’re stepping away from it for the right reasons and not because you think you are the problem.” Jason advised. “We all made mistakes wearing the ‘R’. We learned from these mistakes and moved on. You earned the mantle. Regardless of the how and why, Dick gave it to you.”

“Maybe stepping away from it for now is the best thing,” Tim added. “And if in a few weeks or months you still don’t want it back, we’ll help you pick a new identity that fits you, okay?”

“Those are all agreeable terms, Drake. Thank you.”

Jason wrapped his arms around Damian. The hug this time felt a little more natural and a little less awkward.

“Look kid, I know I’m not Dick, and I know things are tough and all right now…Man, I suck at this.”

“Shut up, Todd, you’re doing fine.”

“Like I said before, kid, we’ll get through this together.”

[silveanna]

Hello World

Na jaemin x fem!reader, Feat. 00 liners

Summary: Wait, humans suddenly disappeared? well isn’t it fun? you get to do whatever you want now but no one will be there for you anymore. You’re completely alone in a world that seems to be dead but is that Really it?

It’s been hours since you woke up, you’ve been wandering around the city but you haven’t met a single person yet. You also checked your phone but all your contacts, photos and all the files in it are gone, there is also no signal. It was quiet, too quiet it was hurting your ears. There’s no wind or any birds chirping and especially, the people are gone, it feels like the world isn’t alive at all. “i swear if i’m in Alice in borderland, im going to kill myself” you said.

You went to the mall market but the food seems to be expired already, seriously for how long did they disappeared? but at the fruit aisle there were still a few fresh fruits, you weren’t a big fan of fruits, you hate it but you have no other choice, all the foods are expired even if it isn’t you don’t know how to cook at all. Well, you can cook instant noodles and eggs but that’s all.

And of course because you’re alone, you jump on the beds at the furniture aisle while singing “five little monkeys jumping on the beds” not until you heard a loud thud nearby, you quickly hide under the blanket. Minutes passed nothing happened, maybe something just accidentally fell.  Yeah ACCIDENTALLY

Months have passed, everyday feels the same, like you’re on a loop it’s sickening, are you really alone? or maybe your just dreaming. You tried pinching your arm, it hurts but nothing changed the world is still empty... dead. You’re running out of food, Your gonna die alone, no one is going to mourn your death. “Oh god oh god..” you pulled your hair and cried.

“I don’t want this, i didn’t ask for this.. I miss everyone” you said and hugged your knees.

.

.

.

.

.

“Here”

“Huh?” you immediately looked up, a guy with jet black hair beside you is offering you a handkerchief, you ignored it and wiped your tears with your hands, he looks away and puts the handkerchief back in his pocket. There’s a lot of stuff running in your mind right now, you feel happiness, sadness, and anger at the same time. You snapped out of your thoughts when he waved his hand in-front of your face. “I think they forgot us and went to mars” he joked but it didn’t move you.

You were too busy scanning every inch of his face, why the fuck he looks so healthy compared to me.. maybe he’s a robot?

He was in the middle of talking when you suddenly poked his cheek, “oh wow you’re real” you said, he laughed and removes your finger away form his face. “Yes I am real”

You keep asking him about everything, he tries his best to answer your questions. “Before all of this, i like being alone, it relaxes me, you know just vibing with myself but not this alone” he explained.

“I know, waking up thinking it was another normal day and the next thing you knew the people are gone, I might have you now but you might suddenly disappear too or me. Back then I’m scared to die, cause when you die you can’t do anything you want anymore, it’s just like dreaming forever, but for me this is worse” You said.

He took your hands and looked at you in the eyes, it was beautiful but the person who have it is sad. He wanted to changed that “Let’s make the most of it while we still have each other, I’m Jaemin by the way you?” He smiled.

His smile was beautiful and calming, almost like a free therapy, it made your heart skipped a beat “I’m y/n” . And so you two did, you shared each other’s favorite stuffs, read books together, danced in an empty street while raining, watched the sunset, played board games, and put on some expensive clothes and pretended like you guys are in a fashion runaway.

“You see that three stars together? My mom said those are the three Kings, oh there’s the orion!” You said pointing in the starry sky, you and jaemin are stargazing on top of a hill. He stares at you lovingly while you keep telling him about the meanings of each constellation you point out in the night sky. “I love you” he said out of nowhere causing you to stop.

You looked at him, his eyes sparkling “I love you too you know that” you said.

“No like LOVE love” he clear up.

Jaemin looked away, “It’s fine I can wait, I have all the time in the world”

Silence..

“It’s not like there’s someone who’s going to stole yo-“ when he looks back at your spot you were gone, it was as if you had suddenly disappeared like a bubble. “Y/n?” He stands up and starts looking around for you, his breath getting heavy, his vision starts to get blurry as tears formed on his eyes. Jaemin dropped on his knees and looked down. Just when things started to be fun, one had to disappear. Now he’s all alone again.

•••

You slowly opened your eyes, your vision cleared up and a white ceiling is the first one that greeted you. You felt a dextrose which is injected into your right hand. Wait, what are you doing in a hospital? you were like fine seconds ago.. and where’s Jaemin?

A woman entered the room, she looked middle aged based on her hair which has a few white strands. You were surprised when she suddenly jumped in joy when she saw you were awake, she fishes her phone out of her pocket and dials someone’s number. “Honey come here! our daughter is finally awake!” after that she cuts the line and hugged you. “Mom?” you said. She cares your hair softly “Im glad you can still remember me, i’ll go get the doctor wait here okay?” you nodded.

Your mom leaves the room, you sat there in silence. Was is it all a dream or am i in another dream right now? what about Jaemin? 

Soon the doctor arrived with your mom, no, with your whole family. The doctor asked you a few question and you answered them effortlessly, “Your daughter is doing fine now, we can arrange her documents so she can leave in few days, and i recommend to let her rest for three days before going back to business.” the doctor explained.“Thanks doc” you heard your dad said, the doctor nodded and leaves the room along with their nurse.

“I don’t remember what happened, how did I ended up here?”you asked, they all sat beside your bed. Your mom held out your hand and rubs it with her thumb. “You got hit by Car, you were comatose for 8 months we thought we were going to lose you” Your dad explained. You forced a smile, you don’t know what to do in this kind of situation so you just looked down.

You looked up after you felt your stomach growl, “can i go to the cafeteria? im hungry”you requested.

Your mom accompanied you to the cafeteria while your dad and older brother decided to stay in your room, you were surrounded by a lot of people you felt different. You want to tell your family about what happened and especially Jaemin but they might think your silly. While your mom is ordering food, you are looking for an empty seat. You weren’t paying much attention infront of you and bump into someone, luckily they catches you before you kiss the floor.

“sorry i’m so sorry i wasn’t looking” you apologized.

“no no it’s fine i wasn’t either” the guy smiled, he felt familiar, it feels like you already met him but where? “oh wait y/n? it’s you, glad you already woke up!” he said and hugged you.

“i’m sorry you are?”

“i’m Jeno, we’re classmates remember?, i came here to visit you and visit my friend jaemin also-”

“Jaemin? did you just say Jaemin? where is he? is he okay? wait is he here? please tell me it’s just high fever or he works here?”you asked.

“Oh Y/n there you are, let’s eat?” Your mom interprets the conversation, “he’s in room 25, 10th floor meet me there” Jeno said and left.

“So Jeno’s here too?” Your mom asked.

“Yeah he’s supposed to visit me but we met here so he’s off to his friend now” you explained, you were happy to hear that Jaemin’s here but felt guilty after you remembered you suddenly left him at the hill.

After you finished eating with your mom, you told her you’re going to room 25, she still accompanied you there but she just waited outside the room. When you got inside you immediately saw Jaemin sleeping peacefully in his hospital bed with his life support. He’s sleeping, does that mean he’s still in that world? Alone?

There are tears trailing down from your cheeks as you approach his unconscious body, “h-how long has he been like this?” you asked Jeno, he stood beside you and pats your back even though he has no idea how you knew his bestfriend. “3 years, brain infection”

That night you prayed a thousand times, hoping that in your sleep you would return to that world to be with Jaemin again and tell him you love him too. Eventually you got there, to the place where you guys usually hang out but you didn’t met him, you looked around for him but you couldn’t even see his shadow. Or any trails he left behind. He just disappeared like you did before. Morning came, afternoon, evening, a day, and a week. You didn’t woke up. You were trapped in there again.

Kicking a can out of your way as you took a road to god knows where, you lost count on how long you’ve been trapped but it almost felt like a year or more “I wonder if Jaemin already woke up”

“He hasn’t” you turned around and saw a very tall figure of a man wearing black suit, “But he will, just not now. I believe your time is up miss” you took a few steps back away from the man. “Haha very funny, I know you’re just trapped here just like me” you said and started to walk again. “What you call ‘here’ is where lost souls go who still have a chance to live but you don’t, your brain is starting to shut down and the doctors back in the real world are trying to save you with a defibrillator” he explained. You stopped in your tracks. So now you’re dying? you haven’t pretty much done all your goals in life yet.

“I-I’ll go back! I will woke up!”

“Haha we’ll see miss, three days, I will give you three days, if i still spot you wandering around here you have no choice but to come with me” he smirked, he snapped his fingers and poof! he was nowhere to be seen.

•••

“You seriously don’t remember her?”

“No... why? Do I have to?” Jaemin sipped his black coffee.

“I don’t know, it’s just that after she woke up she went to see you, she was crying it’s kinda...unfair”Jeno explained, ever since Jaemin woke up Jeno’s been trying to tell everything about you but it doesn’t ring any bell to him. “Unfair? What? It’s my fault if i can’t remember her? I’ve been asleep for 5 years and so is she, how the hell— argh nevermind” Jaemin face palms himself.

“C’mon Jeno don’t force him to this, he can’t be stressed” Renjun said.

“Yeah yeah right sorry” Jeno apologized.

They all went back to their business, silence filled the room. Renjun and Haechan are focused on their phones, Jeno looking outside the window, and Jaemin drinking his favorite drink. Jaemin was dozing off until a certain memory from his dream played in his mind. He was in an empty grocery store with a girl, everything was clear except her face, her voice was also mute. “I like canned bread, it’s kinda good” Jaemin said out of nowhere.

His friends looked at each other in confusion and back at Jaemin, Haechan scoffs “since when have you eaten canned bread?”

Jaemin’s unable to answer, he swear he have. Jaemin shruggs “Nevermind”.

12:30 pm, Renjun and Haechan already left since they still had school tomorrow. Same as for Jeno, he’s just waiting for Jaemin’s mom to arrive so he could go home, he didn’t want to leave his dear friend alone. The Tv is on shopping channel, the air conditioner was off but it’s still cold. They couldn’t sleep. As Jaemin spaces out, he hears this familiar voice of that girl again, she was singing. It was annoying and relaxing him at the same time, he couldn’t understand why he feels such feeling towards a girl who only lives inside his head or is she really? Her face is still blurry but he can finally hear her voice loud and clear. “Hey little train we are all jumping on..the train that goes to the kingdom...” Jaemin sang quietly.

“Where did you heard that?” Jeno ask.

“Someone... I don’t know” Jaemin replied, Jeno shook his head and puts his attention back to his phone. It keeps happening, Jaemin saying things out of nowhere, facts about him that sounds fake but aren’t , its just that, it didn’t happened in reality. “I used to hear y/n sing that a lot when she still attends school, it’s kinda annoying to hear the same lines over and over again but, her voice is beautiful.” Jeno shared.

silence...

“I want to see her, that girl you keep blabbering about, I want to see her” jaemin said.

“But you’re still not allowed to leave your bed until the doctors said so?”

“Do you think I care? I’ve been in this bed for 5 years it’s time to get up” Jaemin hops down the bed and puts his slippers on, he goes at the door and peeks outside. “There’s no one around let’s go” he says. The hallway was empty and quiet, the nurse who was appointed at the receptionist desk was in deep sleep. It was so easy for the boys to wander around without staffs standing in their way.

There’s no one inside y/n’s room at the moment, she was still unconscious, a nasal cannula place around her nose as it gives her oxygen. “She got hit by car, woke up after 8 months and went to see you, she didn’t woke up again after that” Jeno explains.

Jaemin held your hand, it was cold as ice, i never met you but how come i feel like i already knew you like the back of my hand?

•••

“I can’t decide whether I should take her or not, I’m already late for my given deadline argh” the black suit guy whom you met earlier was watching you from afar kick a vending machine again and again, you weren’t hungry or anything, well you can’t feel any hunger anymore, you’re just an empty lost soul who’s not yet ready to go. “Something is holding her back, like a thin red string attached on her back that trails back to the real world” he rest his head on his palm.

He teleported right in front of you, “it’s only day one what are you doing here?” You ask him.

“Listen missy, I’m just doing my job okay? Just come with me and you’ll be at peac—“ he was cut off when he hears a heartbeat, your heart beat. It was purple and it’s glowing, “what’s happening? What’s happening?!” You shook him.

“Hold on hold on, I’ll get my handbook” he snapped his finger and an old big brown book appeared out of nowhere, he used his powers to flip the pages until it gets to the page he was looking for. He puts his glasses on and reads the text. “Well it seems like your not coming with me anymore, any moment now you’ll come back to the real word BUT you won’t remember everything” he explains.

“Is it temporary? Like after a long time I will regain my memories?”

“I’m afraid not, but at least you’re coming back” the grim reaper hears you sigh,he looks away and flicks your forehead. “ah! what was that for?” you glared at him while rubbing the spot he just flicked. “I did it so you won’t lose your memories, it’s against the rules but it’s my first time doing it so i guess i won’t get fired entirely. Maybe just a few punishments” he shruggs.

“why? why did you cross the line?”

“i want to see how it’s all going to end... don’t worry much kid, i have other back up jobs”

5 days later

“Finally! shit!” You cheered, you’ve lost count on how many tissues you used to remove the ink from your face. 3 minutes before you woke up someone’s kid got inside your ward and drew on your face. Your family was crying and laughing at you at the same time, you were confused at first until your brother handed you a mirror. You dump all the tissues at the trash and went out the bathroom, you were with your brother at the moment because your parents are still at work. 3 more days before you’ll finally be discharge and another 3 days for you to rest at home before going back in action. 

You went to the couch where your brother was peacefully sleeping, he’s pretty much also knocked out because of work. You don’t want to disturb him anymore, so you went outside to look around, it’s boring if  you just stayed in your room. You found a large garden at the ground floor and went in there, the sunlight is illuminating the whole garden, it just rained a while ago so it looks like there are crystals glued to every plant and flower. All of it shines beautifully. The place looks like those beautiful sceneries in anime’s. Back then at that world everything looks cold, lifeless, almost looks like grey. 

You went to the main spot of the garden, the wishing fountain. “Hey little train wait for me.. i was held in chains but now im free” you sang, you stare at your reflection from the water and tucked a strand behind your ear. “I’m hanging in there don’t you see?” out of nowhere, you heard someone whispered the lyrics, you got startled because of it and fell towards the fountain. What if it’s a ghost? You’re in a hospital after all. 

“Oh my god i’m so sorry! here let me help you up” 

“Good thing i have-- Jaemin?! wait, is that really you?” your eyes widen, you feel your heart beat faster and got goosebumps. He wasn’t wearing a hospital gown anymore, that means he got discharged before you did.

He giggled “why don’t you poke my cheeks again like you did last time?”

[initiumseries]

Hey! I love your thoughts on bad tv and I’d love to hear a series wrap up on CAOS if you want to make a post about it. If not no worries and thanks for posting your thoughts on the show over the last year. Loved them and love your blog too!

Thank you!! Sure I can totally do a series wrap up, pretty much right now, in response to this ask. 

So, if I had to distill my issues with this series into a few bullet points it would be: 

-plot -world building/continuity -characters

Plot

CAOS struggles with plot, and I think the biggest reason why, is they just seemed to completely lose track of what the hell they were doing lol. Season 1, ends up being the tightest season because the plot was simple: Sabrina’s dark baptism and her leaving her mortal life behind to become one with witchkind. They beat us to death with the Satan stuff, and they cram as much corny imagery as possible in, even if it doesn’t really make sense. 

why are they having class in a hallway? Do witches not use technology? Why is that blackboard so small? Why isn’t this just a normal classroom setting?

Sabrina’s Season 1 character arc is also clear: she decides, fuck the rules, she’s going to straddle both worlds and everyone’s just gonna have to accept it. It’s not good, but it’s clear. S2, 3, 4 get completely lost in all this other weird stuff. Sabrina is actually not her father’s daughter, but Satan’s, and that plotline goes absolutely nowhere when Sabrina conveniently doubles herself (and experiences 0 consequences for it) and rules hell while also staying in Greendale as herself (seriously, it’s not like satan was dying or anything, he was perfectly fine. For what reason did Sabrina need to become Queen? There’s no answer or explanation for that, she just...did. Ok :/).  Father Blackwood goes apeshit and pulls a Jonestown, for no real reason, CAOS starts leaning heavily into this white feminism stuff (for godsake, the coven kills a DEMON, with the fucking pain of childbirth?! Are you SERIOUS??) Then, s3, it’s about losing their powers because Satan is childish and petty, and a new group of spellcasters are out to kill the witches, and Prudence and Ambrose hunting Blackwood. S4, the eldritch terrors, which honestly, make so little sense, I couldn’t even be bothered. Each season, CAOs falls deeper into the trap of trying to up the ante, make the danger BIGGER, WILDER, more insurmountable, while being completely unprepared to stay consistent with their characters/motivations and undercutting their own BIG ideas with stupid, nonsensical solutions (let me trap this all powerful eldritch terror by taking it to a party, proposing and luring it into a magicked dollhouse...wtf?). 

Worldbuilding/Continuity

What I hate most about these writers for Riverdale and CAOS is that they just don’t feel beholden to being consistent in their worldbuilding and continuity. I don’t find anything cool about kids living in houses with old tvs and rotary phones, but then having a cell phones or wearing modern clothes. Historical anachronisms like that should serve a purpose. 

It COULD be interesting if the conceit is that Zelda and Hilda are OLD, so they take comfort in old things like that, but then that should be specific to the Spellman house, and it should be weird. People should take note of it when they’re there, Sabrina should be conscious of it because she grew up in a time where TVs didn’t look like they were stuck in the 50s. But instead, it’s just...a stupid mess of aesthetic anachronisms for no reason other than they can do it and I just find that to be lazier than utilizing those details in an interesting way. 

In season 1, we get a relatively clear idea that the witches have a certain way of life, that bleeds into season 2. It’s still very sloppy; the anti-pope, using satan where we’d use “god”, introducing the feast and other dangerous parts of being a witch, and essentially just doing the opposite of christianity (except for the racism/sexism ofc. That would require too much thinking I guess). But by season 3, essentially the witches’ way of life have been completely turned upside down. And we never...unpack that. There’s no mourning for literal millennia of supposed tradition, there’s no real floundering or struggling. There are apparently no other adults AT ALL in this magical world outside of Blackwood, Zelda and Hilda, so there’s no real way to get a sense of the REALITY of losing their way of life for these witches, or this world. Is it even a world? Or just a handful of people? Lol. What it means to have to choose a new god to pray to, and is there an divisiveness over who? In Harry Potter, the kids’ parents are tangentially involved when they start pulling their kids out of Hogwarts. Do any of these kids’ parents pull them out of the school when they start praying to Lilith and then Hecate? Do any of the boys have issues with moving from a male god to a female one? Where did all these kids come from if they didn’t have parents and families? Is this witch world just...the school? Why? It would have been interesting watching the witches struggle and scramble to regain their powers while also being hunted by this new, threatening group whose magic seems to be much older, much darker. But instead, they just pivot, and have a fucking picnic before the full moon. 

There’s nothing interesting about characters just constantly pivoting around obstacles without having any real emotional reaction, any real struggles. Obstacles like losing their powers, should be an actual obstacle. They should struggle, there should be emotional weight, and consequences. Instead, Sabrina continues to break rules to suit her agenda, put her friends and family and risk and everyone just...rolls with it. No one is angry at Sabrina for the loss of their powers? Her choice to not become Queen of hell is why they lost their powers right? No one has feelings about that? Sabrina isn’t ostracized? We never see the way these choices, or the overarching plot obstacles impact the characters emotionally. Instead, they’re doing this stuff:

Which is completely ridiculous to me. It all just...HAPPENS. Which is this entire series. Stuff happens, and the characters just, do stuff in reaction to it. Harvey, Theo and Roz are ostensibly human, living human lives. They end up getting pulled into Sabrina’s world, and no one has any strong feelings about that? Harvey’s brother is killed, Roz is turned to stone and Theo talks to his dead great aunt and none of them are haunted by any of that? No? They just decide to create a faux scooby club to fight demons?  Ok. And that cheerleading things is over as quickly as we see it. Stuff like this is insanely frustrating to watch because it makes the show a nonsensical slog to sit through. There’s nothing interesting or engaging to latch onto because they just hammer through it all and make up stupid solutions to get themselves out of the impossible stakes they threw the characters in in the first place. They introduce ideas and discard them just as quickly. An ex:angels show up, start killing people, Sabrina channels satan and kills them, and then that’s the last of those guys. Metatron (jfc even the name is stupid) shows up and is killed just as quickly.  Why bother introducing them then? Why bother do any of the things you’re currently doing in this show if you have no intention of seeing it through? 

Characters 

No one on this show gels, at all.  I don’t believe Theo/Roz/Harvey/Sabrina have been friends for ages. I don’t believe Sabrina and Nick are “end game” (why the hell do we keep saying this riverdale? It’s stupid and senseless). I don’t believe any of these relationships at all. Part of this is because the cast have no chemistry with each other:

they do not look like a friend group or couples at all, these are a bunch of people paired together.

But also because they weren’t consistent at all. 

Father Blackwood went from a witch/warlock purist, to a raging sexist, to a cult leader who killed his followers, to a raging maniac bent on hitler-esque destruction in 4 seasons...for nothing. It served no purpose. He didn’t even DO anything. He was nice to the Eldritch Terrors, and became immortal...for nothing. He killed the coven, for nothing. He killed his wife in childbirth, for nothing. Zelda stole the baby, for nothing. None of that amounted to anything worth while in the entire series. So what was the point?  Zelda marrying Faustus also made no sense and only happened to show JUST how sexist he was! But why? WHY? We don’t receive explanations for character behaviour, and when we do, it still makes no sense. 

Sabrina breaks all these rules and experiences ZERO consequences. At all times, and it makes her a terrible main character. Everyone else abides by the rules but she doesn’t and doesn’t have to pay for that? Why? She straddles both worlds instead of committing to one, and that was the closest we got to seeing consequences for her. Everyone rushes in to help Sabrina break rules instead of holding her accountable for feeling above them. Sabrina creates 2 versions of herself, and they sloppily tie in that all the realms are converging in on each other because of what she did. Except she and Sabrina Morningstar had been hanging out...ostensibly for days/weeks/months (who knows? Not this show!) before we saw any potential issues, and then we end up finding out that this is about the next eldritch terror, not about Sabrina existing as a double in 1 universe. People get upset for a second and then move on to help her. So why have rules in this world at all if it means nothing to break them? 

Nick goes through literal hell, and immediately cheats on Sabrina because of how a man made of clay looked at her. That’s laughable to me. It makes no narrative sense. Their relationship doesn’t even make sense.

Roz and Harvey spend 90% of their time almost fucking. It’s bizarre. Their getting together was random and every single scene with them alone in it is like a precursor to fucking and I don’t get why. This show does not grasp how to build up relationships. Also do these kids not have parents? Theo and Harvey stay having constant sleepovers with their respective partners, in their parents’ houses? Really? At seventeen? Lol k. 

I feel like, if CAOS were better thought out, it could have actually been interesting. But it was just a smorgasbord of stuff happening, and characters doing stuff, and none of that following in any real narrative way. Storytelling has structure for a reason, and a show with a good story structure usually yields an enjoyable watching experience. CAOS is a pretty strong example of how throwing that out and relying so heavily on aesthetics and still taking the show so seriously it’s not even fun terrible, gets you nowhere. Ultimately I’m glad it’s over.

[imagineaworlds]

I Love You (Part Thirty-Eight) -- Aaron Hotchner

Written By: @desperately-bisexual

Request: None.

Warnings: SMUT!! Cursing. Unprotected sex. Wrap it before you tap it, ladies, gentlemen, and nonbinary sibs. Dom/sub relationship. Sir kink. Impregnation kink. Soft sex. Emotional sex. The reader does go by they/them pronouns, however, Hotch refers to them as female when saying “good girl”.

Pairing: Aaron Hotchner x Greenaway!Reader

Word Count: 5731

Timeline: A week after part thirty-seven.

The house went quiet as I turned off the kitchen sink after putting all of the dishes in the dishwasher and started it up for the night. Hotch and Jack went upstairs shortly after we finished our movie, with Jack already half asleep. I told Hotch that he should tuck him in while I finished up the dishes before heading upstairs. It only took me a few minutes, and it was a relief to just get a moment after the movie to have to myself.

After drying my hands on the hand towel on the bar just under the sink, I made sure to turn off the light in the kitchen, then sighed as I turned off the lamp in the living room. When everything was closed up for the night, I headed for the stairs and slowly pulled myself up, trying to ignore the yawn that was building in my chest. I was absolutely exhausted after our long night. Between getting home somewhat late from work with Hotch, then making dinner with him and Jack, and watching a movie afterwards, I was wiped. Hotch seemed tired, too, but not to the same extent. But still.

When I finally reached the top of the steps, I let out another sigh and wiped the exhaustion from my face. I promised that I would say goodnight to Jack just after I was done, so I made my way to the left. I snuck up to his room, careful to not let the floorboards creak under me just in case Jack had already fallen asleep by some miracle. As I approached the corner, I heard whispering in the bedroom between Hotch and Jack. We were way past the age where Jack needed a bedtime story each night, so what the hell were they doing? I decided to stay just outside the doorframe to listen in. It wasn’t for the means of eavesdropping, per say… It was just for… well… memories? I don’t know. I just had a feeling I should stay hidden.

Hotch was whispering when I first started listening. “I wanna ask you something, bud. There’s something that I’ve been meaning to ask Y/N for a very long time, but I don’t want to ask them before I get your say in it. Do you have a guess as to what I want to talk to you about?”

“Is Y/N going to be my new mom?” Jack asked.

“Kinda. You know that your mom is always going to be your mom, even if she isn’t with us anymore; right?” Hotch waited a moment for Jack’s silent response before continuing. “But I want Y/N to finally join our family. Like, officially. How do you feel about that?” There was more silence as Jack silently answered. “You’d be okay with that?” More silence. “You’re sure?”

Jack started giggling. “I said, yes, Dad!”

I heard Hotch chuckle quietly. “I just want to make sure.”

My heart skipped a beat in my chest. A memory raced by me, something I forgot I had tucked away in the back of my mind. When I first met Haley, she told me that Jack loved me, and I remembered feeling so relieved because I didn’t want either of them to dislike me. Throughout the time that I knew Haley, she was always good to me. I wanted to do right by her. I wanted her son to grow up knowing that I could never replace her, and I certainly had no intention of doing so. Jack was her blood, and she did so well raising him… I owed it to her to make sure that she was remembered, but that Jack also grew up still loved. I wasn’t his blood, but… honestly, I did feel like his mother, in the oddest of ways.

Hotch was finally getting around to asking me the big question, and I was glad that he waited to ask Jack first. Originally, the plan was that he wanted to propose to me after New York, but when Foyet came into the picture, that dream was put on hold. It didn’t feel right to get engaged when our lives were spiraling, and then we didn’t want to offend Haley’s memory by jumping the gun too soon after her death. Besides, we were all still mourning her loss. What sense did it make to get engaged so soon after something like that?

But it had been about five months since then, and… yeah… it was still a bit soon, maybe; but our lives weren’t guaranteed, and I was sure that Haley only wanted the three of us to just be happy. She loved Hotch and Jack, and she made it clear that she was fine with mine and Hotch’s relationship because it made him happy. If she were still with us, Hotch likely would have asked for her thoughts, too, and there wasn’t a single doubt in my mind that she would tell Hotch to go for it.

“I love you, kiddo,” Hotch whispered. I could practically hear his smile. “And Mom loves you. Y/N loves you. You know that, right?” More silence for a response. “Alright.” I heard him kiss Jack’s forehead. “Get some sleep, my little superhero. We’ll go for a bike ride tomorrow, how about that?” More silence. “Goodnight, bud.”

I realized that I had been standing around for too long, and that I needed to either run down to our bedroom or make it seem like I had just come upstairs in order to not look conspicuous. So, I decided on making it seem like I had just come upstairs by purposefully stepping on a floorboard known to creak, then knocked on Jack’s open bedroom door.

As I stepped into the room, Hotch was pushing himself to his feet to make it look like he had just finished tucking in Jack, nothing else. I smiled at them both, ignoring how well they kept their secret. Like father, like son. Interesting.

“Why are you still up?” I squinted at Jack. He hid his face under his covers to mask his smile. “Nuh uh, let me see you.” I sat on the side of his bed and fought against him to pull the sheets off his face. “There you are,” I said as I “stole” his nose. “You’ll get it back when I get my goodnight hug.”

In an instant, Jack sat up and threw his arms around me. “I love you,” he whispered to me. I held him tight, letting his face nuzzle in the crook of my neck for a few seconds before he got antsy and needed to part from me. As he laid back down, I gave Jack his nose back, and he smiled happily. “Can we go on a bike ride tomorrow?”

It was concerning how good the two of them were at keeping a secret like this from me, and how they didn’t even need to create a plan ahead of time to do it. But I ignored knowing that I had context of their conversation to tell Jack that I thought going on a bike ride tomorrow was a good idea. I kissed him goodnight again. And then once more just for good measure. He started giggling and tried to hide under the covers again, so I gave up.

“I love you, little man.” I reached over to turn off the light on his desk, triggering his automatic night light plugged into the wall across the room. I kissed his forehead again because he had pushed the covers away from his face.

That was when I felt Hotch snake his arms around my torso and pull me off the bed and away from Jack, the three of us laughing. As I stumbled backwards with Hotch holding me steady, I grabbed ahold of the door, and slowly closed it so that the light from the hallway wouldn’t disturb Jack as he tried to sleep. When it was shut, I sighed. I spun around in Hotch’s arms. He was still holding me, and now that I was facing him, I was able to snake my arms around his chest, too. I held onto his shirt since my arms couldn’t fit all the way around him. He kissed my forehead the same way I kept kissing Jack’s.

“I love you,” I whispered to him. I wasn’t sure when or how he would go about making me a real part of the family, and it didn’t really matter to me anymore. Since Foyet put that ring on Haley’s finger, I hadn’t exactly thought about getting engaged—though I would have loved it. As long as Hotch knew that I loved him endlessly, I was content.

The sunlight peeking through the curtains coaxed me awake in the morning. It was Saturday, finally, which meant that we didn’t have to go into work unless it was an emergency—and, honestly, even then, I was sure if Hotch could pull me out of bed. After the late night we had, I was fine with just staying in bed all day, even though we promised Jack that we would go on a bike ride. I was fine right where I was. If I could have, I would have stayed glued to the bed with Hotch for the rest of my life, falling asleep in his arms, and waking up peacefully to the chirping birds and rising sun.

I rolled over after letting out a quiet sigh and stretched away my exhaustion. To my surprise, though, I was met with Hotch resting on his side, his eyes already following mine as I got comfortable. I squinted at him as I put a hand on his face. “Were you watching me?”

“I couldn’t help myself,” he admitted as a smile grew on his face.

My thumb caressed his cheek. “I like it when you look at me like that…”

“Like what?” he asked.

“Like I’m the only thing in the world that matters.”

“You are.”

My thumb stopped moving for a second before I pulled my whole hand away and I pushed myself to sit upright. “I need to tell you something.” It was eating me up to keep it a secret that I had heard him and Jack talking last night when I shouldn’t have been listening. I needed to get that off my chest.

“I need to say something, too,” he admitted, sitting up. That took me by surprise. What more could he possibly have to say? I figured I’d want to know before admitting that I had practically spied on him and our son. “I love you.” Well, that was no surprise. Why did he have to tell me that? “I... Well...” He laughed at himself. “I’m not even sure how to say this…”

“What is it?” I egged him on, my hand covering his.

“I love you so much.” He had already said that. What was wrong with him? “I have never been more incandescently happy in my life than I’m with you.” Hotch only ever used big words when he was nervous about something and didn’t want to show it.

Oh, god— This was it. I didn’t expect it to happen so soon, but there we were, and I had been so naïve to what was going on. To think that I almost told him everything before he could get a word out. The time had come so soon, catching me off guard. I thought that with Hotch’s constant need to impress me, he would want to shout it from the rooftops, but this… I stared at him and realized how much I loved him. It hit me like a train just how much I loved him. There were hundreds of thousands of words in the English language, yet there weren’t enough to describe how much I loved Aaron Hotchner. People always say that actions speak louder than words, but even then, there wasn’t enough of myself to give to him to express how desperately I loved him and needed him in my life. It felt like I suddenly knew how to breathe and see when I met him. My life had been so grey and dull, but then he started passing my office just to see me and smile in my direction, and my whole world turned upside down before I even realized it. It wasn’t even until the night when I first met Jack that I realized how fervent my love for Aaron was. Before that, I never thought in a million years that I would ever find someone who would understand me and love me zealously. But then he came along, and everything changed. I suddenly wanted to be loved, I wanted to be a part of his family, and I wanted to spend every second of my life by his side. We had our ups, we had our downs, and he had a tendency to scare the shit out of me due to the amount of danger he put himself in at work; but I loved him regardless of what was happening. There wasn’t a moment since meeting him that I didn’t think to myself that he was my everything. I loved every inch and every side of him. There was no doubt in my mind that he was the one. The only one.

All he had to do was ask, and I’d be his.

“You have always been so good with Jack, and even better with me. There aren’t many people who can go through what we’ve been through and still be together; but you have stuck by my side, nevertheless. I didn’t think that it was possible to love someone so much that it could hurt if you weren’t near them… until I met you… and, suddenly, I had to be with you or I would fall apart. I still fall apart whenever I’m not around you. I didn’t think love like that actually existed until I met you. I’ve been trying for so long to ask you this, but every time I thought the moment was coming, something got in the way…” He didn’t want to list them, but I knew what he meant. 

We had talked in New York about getting married, but everyone told us that it was too soon, and I believed them. But then the bombing happened, and I couldn’t have cared less about what everyone else thought. If he would have asked me then and there if I wanted to marry him, I would have dragged him down to the nearest chapel and done it immediately. But when he didn’t ask and things got rough with him not telling me about his health, I had forgotten all about it, but he didn’t. He told me that he went out and bought an engagement ring for me just after we drove back from Cincinnati. He told me while in the hospital after Foyet attacked him that he was going to propose to me as soon as the opportunity presented itself; but Foyet took the ring, and he put it on Haley’s body before Hotch could get the chance to propose. After that, it didn’t feel right to think about marriage for a while. It felt inconsiderate to Haley and the love Hotch had for her to suddenly get engaged just after her death. So, we waited. We waited months… then, suddenly, out of the blue, he asked Jack what he thought about us getting married, and now Hotch was sitting in bed with me, giving a whole speech about our love, and I knew that it had finally come. The waiting and the dancing around the topic had finally come to an end.

I could practically see the end of the aisle as Hotch looked me right in the eyes, taking my hands in his, and asked, “Will you marry me?”

There was no hesitancy in my answer as I smiled and nodded enthusiastically. “Yes. A million times, yes.” It felt so cliché, but… Fuck. It was perfect. “Finally,” I teased.

He let out a sigh of relief and grabbed my waist before pulling me close. He smashed his lips against mine with so much force and passion, I could feel my heart leaping out of my chest. Hotch slowly towered over me by pushing himself to his knees. His hands were on my cheeks, his lips pressed to mine until we couldn’t breathe, his eyes screwed shut. I fisted his hair in my hands as he vigilantly pushed me onto my back.

“Wait, wait, wait,” he mumbled against my lips before we could go too far, trying to pull away from me for a moment. Our hands stayed on each other as he leaned away. “What were you going to tell me?”

“Does it matter?” I asked, still smiling. I wasn’t sure if I’d ever stop smiling.

“Tell me,” he insisted.

I twisted some of his hair around my index finger. “I heard you asking Jack about me last night.” Hotch shook his head and hid his face in the crook of my neck, red with embarrassment. “You’re too cute,” I complimented, trying to lift his head back up so that I could stare into his eyes for forever. I kissed him again. “I love you so much.”

He lifted himself up again, this time pulling one hand away from my face so that he could open the drawer of his bedside table and grab something inside. “I started carrying this one around everywhere because…” He hesitated. “Well.” He didn’t have to say it because I knew what he meant. He sat on his knees between my legs and opened the classic black velvet ring box in his hands to reveal an engagement ring. It was a standard single solitaire shaped diamond on a silver band— nothing too flashy, yet still perfect in every way imaginable. Hotch pulled it out of the case and pinched the band between his fingers. “Come here,” he whispered, grabbing my hand. I watched as he slid the ring onto my finger slowly before kissing my hand. “I love you.”

I grabbed his face between my hands, pulling him back up to me. “I love you.” I smashed my lips against his.

Our hips instinctively met simultaneously, grinding against each other desperately to lead to another way for us to say, “I love you.” Hotch laced his fingers with mine and pinned them down next to my head. I moaned when I felt him hardening against me. I kissed him harder. With the escalation between us making our needs known to each other, the two of us didn’t hesitate. Hotch tried pulling his hands away from me so that he could strip off my clothes, but I only let go of his left hand because I wanted to hold his right hand with my left, the ring snug against my finger as a reminder that I was officially going to be his.

There was no way in hell that we were going to have a long engagement. Though we probably should have, we weren’t going to sit around, double guessing ourselves, or just waiting anxiously to finally call each other husband and wife. We loved each other. I didn’t think anyone doubted that. After the rollercoaster of a year we had, it made sense to finally just be in each other’s arms, claiming one another as ours. We deserved that. There was a time when I told myself that I would do whatever it would take to marry Aaron Hotchner. Whether it was a big, white wedding or a small, shotgun wedding, I was going to marry him. That was still true. Though I knew Hotch would want to have some kind of “big” wedding just to tell the whole world: “This person is finally mine, and I want everyone to know it!”, I also knew that there was no way we could pull off something elaborate in such a short time. And in such a short time, I meant a little more than a month.

Yeah. The thought hit me when Hotch used his mouth to pull down my pajama shorts. His teeth grabbed ahold of the waistband, and he slowly started sliding down, utilizing my help that I was offering by bucking my hips upward somewhat. Our three year anniversary was in exactly forty-one days. Three years of calling him mine was quickly approaching, and I wanted that day to be the first time I would call him my husband, too. So, it was either forty-one days from now or 406 days. There was no fucking way I was going to wait that long.

“Fuck me,” I begged, running my free hand through his messy, long, black hair. His breath slowly trailed up my left thigh, making its way to my hand before stopping to kiss my ring. “I love you.” He smirked and moved his attention up further to my pajama shirt. “Aaron—” I gasped as he snaked his free hand under my shirt, moving it up torturously slow, and then he pushed the scrunched fabric into my open mouth. I moaned a protest.

“Just let me please you, baby girl.” He nipped at my collarbone, leaving a hickey and making me squeeze his hand. “That was for eavesdropping last night.” I glared at him. Hotch smirked and massaged my thigh with a rough palm. “Don’t make me tie you up when we’re celebrating.”

“Please…” My plea was muffled behind my shirt, but the message was clear enough. I couldn’t wait to marry him, but I also couldn’t wait to have him inside me that morning, and I could tell he felt that same way, too. “Sir, please.”

“Shhh…” he cooed, sliding his middle finger into me slowly without warning. I gasped and arched my back. He pulled my shirt out of my mouth so that he could hear my uncontrollable sounds of pleasure. “Good girl.” He curled his finger. “I love you so much.” I swallowed his words as we kissed passionately. We both moaned. “Say yes again for me. Please.”

“Yes,” I repeated breathlessly. “Yes, I’ll marry you—” I gasped again when his index finger joined his middle finger deep inside of me. “Yes, yes, ye— Fuck.”

“I love you.”

“I love you,” I mumbled while kissing him again.

Hotch smiled against me, then added his ring finger inside of me and pressed his thumb against my clit. I moaned. As he started rubbing fast figure eights around my sensitive clit, I squeezed his hand, feeling my ring move slightly around my finger. I was going to be his. I mean, I was always his, but now I was going to be his wife. Every time the ring shifted or dug into my skin, I was reminded of that. He loved me. He wanted to marry me. We always talked about getting married, yet all it took was another year since New York for him to pluck up the courage to finally ask.

“My fiancé,” I suddenly said.

Hotch froze for a second so that he could sit back and come to terms with what I had just said. I started getting worried that I said something wrong. When I tried to backpedal, Hotch’s smile only grew, and his fingers started fucking in and out of me as fast as he could. “Mine.”

“Yours.”

He squeezed my hand tighter. “Mine,” he growled roughly.

I nodded while throwing my head back into the pillows. I was breathless and speechless now. With his pace and force, I knew that I wasn’t going to last long, especially since he then decided to start hitting my g-spot over and over again for the sole purpose of making me cum as fast and hard as possible. He threatened to tie me up, but really, he just wanted to make me feel good as a reminder that I was his, and nothing was ever going to change that. Cumming around his fingers was the truest way of my body telling him: “I love you”. As my walls clenched around him and my body shook, my free hand fisted around the sheets.

“Thank you, Sir!” I cried out.

“Shhh,” he insisted with a giggle, silencing me with a kiss. When I stopped making noise, he pulled back. My orgasm faded, my chest heaving as I tried to catch my breath. “You have to be quiet.” He curled his fingers in me.

I whimpered again. “I can’t.”

“I’ll gag you.”

“Sorry, Sir,” I apologized quietly. “I need you,” I whispered, bringing my hand from the sheets to his hair. I pulled lightly at the strands. “Please, Sir.” He slowly slid his fingers out of me, letting me adjust to the feeling of being empty.

Hotch brought his fingers to my mouth. “Maybe now you’ll stay quiet.” He pressed his fingers against my tongue gently, making my jaw go slack. “Don’t stop,” he commanded while sitting back so that he could push his pants down using his free hand—but in order to do that, he had to release my hand that had the new engagement ring hugging my finger. As his pants slid to his knees, Hotch pulled his fingers out of my mouth. “Say it again.”

It didn’t matter how many times he needed to hear it, because I would tell him every single time. Yes, a million times, yes. Yes, until I couldn’t breathe. Yes, until it was official. Yes, every day for the rest of my life. I wasn’t going to let him go. After nearly three years of chasing this day around, of promising each other that we would finally have this moment, it had come. I’d say yes for that reason. And, in a month, when we would get married, I would say the words: “I do”, too.

“Look at me,” he said, lifting my chin with his thumb after I did as I was told. My gaze met his. “I love you, Y/N. More than anything in the world.” He hovered over me. “I don’t want to spend another day of my life without you.”

I ran both of my hands down his back, finding the bottom hem of his shirt, then sliding it up until it was at his shoulders, at which point, I needed his help getting it all the way off. Hotch sat up and eagerly tore his shirt off. Within an instant, he was hovering over me again, his thumb back on my chin. We stared at each other for another moment. His erection pressed against my wet slit, sliding up and down slowly. I dug my fingers into his shoulders in order to brace myself, which only earned a slight groan then smirk from Hotch.

“My fiancé,” he whispered to me this time while he slowly entered me. I moaned as he stretched me. No matter how many times he fucked me; no matter how hard he would fuck me; no matter what he did to me, he was always going to fit tight like that. I fucking loved it. I loved him. “Fuck,” he groaned, bottoming out inside of me. Every inch of him pulsed as I adjusted around him, giving us both time to catch our breath and find our bearings. And then he slowly slid out of me. When his tip was teasing my entrance again, he snapped his hips forward without warning, making me jolt and dig my nails into his back. “Fuck—” He was getting too loud now, so I had to make both of us stay quiet by kissing him urgently.

The faster he went, the harder and more desperate his thrusts got. As my legs wrapped around his hips to give him a better angle in order to get every inch of him inside of me, Hotch took my hands off of his back and pinned them over my head to show his dominance once more. For us, this sex was pretty vanilla. I mean, I don’t think the two of us ever had plain, old, missionary, boring, no spice sex. That just wasn’t for us. Even when we were trying to be cliché and disgustingly in love in moments like these, there still had to be a chance for Hotch to physically tell me that I was his, and there was nothing I could do about it. Normally, restraints did the trick. Losing all control so that Hotch could do with me as he pleased was the best way to say to each other that I belonged to him. Most people didn’t understand that. In fact, most people disliked the idea of a woman submitting entirely for a man for his pleasure—but it wasn’t really all about that. Giving myself to him wholly was for my benefit, too. There wasn’t anything Hotch and I did that we didn’t both agree to and like. I knew that I trusted, understood, and loved him enough to know that I wanted to spend the rest of my life like this. Everything from our definition of vanilla to the kinkiest, dirtiest things we had ever done were free reign. And they made me happy.

When I struggled against his hold, Hotch was only encouraged to pin me with more force. “Stop,” he demanded gruffly between kisses. I moaned into his mouth. “Be a good girl and keep your hands there.” When he was sure that I understood his command, he slowly started releasing my wrists, just to test the waters and make sure I wouldn’t be a brat and try to move anyways. I kept still, though. I held my hands together, my fingers fiddling with the engagement ring that felt so foreign. “So good for me.” He moved his hands to my breasts and squeezed them gently, which also happened to help brace him so that he could maintain his power and speed.

“Sir… Please…”

He pinched my nipples as punishment for speaking out of turn. As I thrashed under him, he smirked, and pulled gently at the sensitive nubs. He knew what I wanted. He knew that I needed him to touch my clit to help tip me over the edge, but he wasn’t there yet. He wasn’t ready to have me break for him yet. Whenever we were more “vanilla” like this, he always valued climaxing at the same time as me. When he was buried inside of me, I came when he came. That was the silent rule. That was how it had always been, and that was how it would always be.

I clenched around him to encourage his orgasm. He groaned and fell forward involuntarily. “Baby girl,” he growled into my ear, “if you keep doing that, I’ll—” His breath sputtered when I did it again. “Fuck…” Ignoring his command to hold my hands above my head, I reached out to touch his abs. He removed his hands from my breast. Before I could reach him, Hotch gripped my wrists as hard as he could. “Stop—” he thrusted into me. “Stop being a brat.”

“That’s not fun, though,” I pouted, trying to fight against him.

He squinted at me. Pinning my hands above my head again, he towered over me and fucked into me as hard as he could, only this time, he didn’t stop. He just kept going. No matter how much I fought against him, or squeezed my walls around his length, he didn’t stop. I leaned up to kiss his lips. Giving into that one show of affection, Hotch kissed me back, moaning into my mouth as he got closer.

“Cum in me,” I mumbled between kisses. Really, it was to say, mark me as yours in one extra way. Love me. Fuck me. Make me yours. “Sir, please.” One of his hands gave up on pinning me so that he could start rubbing my clit. The second I felt the stimulation, I arched my back, our stomachs pressing against each other. He was close now. He wasn’t on the brink yet because that tell hadn’t approached yet, but he was making his way there, which was why he was suddenly giving me the pleasure I desperately needed.

“I love you, baby.” He leaned down a little further so that he could start nipping at my neck, leaving an obvious hickey. Yet another way of marking me. The ring, the hickey, his cum—I was his. “Fuck… Shit…” He was breathless now, his thrusts getting increasingly sloppy, the endless curse words falling from his lips like a mindless prayer. There was his tell. That was how I knew he was finally on the brink. So, as my own orgasm started to reach its peak, I clenched around him again. Hotch moved his fingers faster since he couldn’t fuck me at a sustained pace anymore. “Fuck!” He slumped forward as his cock twitched inside of me. “Fuck—”

“I’m gonna—” My hips wriggled around helplessly as I came. I tightened around him, pulsing, clenching and releasing, gushing. Hotch was pressed into me as far as physically possible. He stilled as he came, too. He squeezed my hand to keep him steady as he pushed through the sensitivity of my warmth and softness. I whined when his thumb didn’t move away from me. “Aaron, I can’t…” He understood. He took his thumb away, but he still didn’t pull out of me. His orgasm had passed, every drop of him sitting deep inside of me, his length slowly softening. But he didn’t move. “Aaron.”

“I just want to savor it a little longer…” he whispered into my ear. I felt him start to turn my engagement ring over and over on my finger. “Thank you, baby.”

My free hand found its way to his hair. I tangled my fingers around the long strands. I knew why he was saying thank you, even though he certainly didn’t have to; but I still appreciated it, and I wanted him to know it. “Yes,” I repeated for him. “Yes, I’ll marry you.”

Hotch chuckled. “Good.” He finally sat up and slid out of me carefully. “I love you.” He brought my hand to his lips, kissing the ring again. “I love you so much.”

I sat up, too. “I love you. My fiancé,” I teased.

---------

criminal minds family: @peggy1999 @gorgeousdarkangel @alex--awesome--22​ @oceaneblu​ @brithedemonspawn​ @absolutemarveltrash​ @bshelley322​ @rousethemouse​ @sunshinepower17​ @weexinling​ @pettttyyyc​

[cadykeus-clay]

Would you mind sharing your thoughts about vex and Beau being cross campaign foils?

so!!!! first things first: apologies for taking weeks to answer this, finals + having adhd sometimes makes my brain turn to mush and forget every ask ive ever recieved. second of all, i’m assuming you sent me this bc of what i said in my vm vs. m9 how they view the world meta. and i’ll be real with you. i have exactly 0 memory of what was going through my head when i wrote that line, so i am simply going to type out a bunch of thoughts that i have on the similarities and differences between beau and vex and i hope that lives up to what you were expecting jsdflksjdksld

I'll detail some specifics in a moment, but overall, I think beau and vex share a very similar kind of trauma of exclusion in their formative years, that's caused them to have a lot of similar traits that manifest in different ways - for vex, she maintains control through her material posessions and beau finds an emotional control in her asshole-ness. I've broken this down into 5 points on which I think comparing the two really emphasizes that claim:

1. daddy issues: both beau and vex have awful no good terrible very bad dads. both syldor and thoreau can suck my ass. they both raised their kids with little love and impossible-to-meet expectations, alientating them and leaving them with lifelong feelings of inferiority and unbelonging. If beau and vex were to meet, i think they would have a very friendly toast to shitty dads, and then have a good drunk vent about it an hour later.

but, at the same time, the actual minutae of their trauma and the ways it manifests are nearly polar opposites. syldor wanted nothing to do with vex, or else wanted her to somehow become a full elf. her issue was that she would never be able to belong, despite her desire to, and as she grew up it lead to her being overly protective and even possessive of the people she found who DID accept her as she was. 

With beau, rather than exclusion, her father created an environment of toxic inclusion. He created a role for beau to belong in, disregarding her distate for actually fulfilling it. And, as such, she ended up making herself into someone who could have no expectations and pushed away anyone who tried to set them up for her. In the end, they both came to love themselves by abandoning the woman their father wanted them to be but for vex it was the laying down of an impossible dream and for beau it was the picking up of a mantle she had feared to wear.

2. brothers: now, on the topic of family, I also think its really interesting how their interactions with their brothers play out. We've got vex and vax, tied at the hip til the very end and then some; and then we've got beau and TJ - decades apart and with beau barely acknolwedging TJ's existence. But, even that distance between beau and TJ didn't stop her caring for him when they actually met. She gave him lucky Jade, and she entertained the idea of kidnapping him to get him away from her stinko dad. 

And I'd espeically like to talk about what she said outside the hag's hut - "I think Luc and TJ could be best friends", in comparison to the way Vex reacted when Vax told her was going to Zephrah with Keyleth for the year break. There's an aspect to the way they interact with their brothers that lets them slip back into those bad habits they formed growing up (NOT that i'm claiming vex and vax were like toxic for each other. but even good relationships can have unhealthy moments). 

With Beau, when she offers to give her happiness so TJ can grow up safe, she's trying to take on the role she's ""supposed"" to fill - the big sister, the protector - because she failed to fill the one her father set out. And with Vex, when she grows jealous of Vax, it's because she's afraid that his leaving with keyleth is a sign that she no longer belongs in his inner circle, and she falls back on that childish, desperate desire to do anything to be accepted unconditionally. 

3. romance: spoilers for 5 or so most recent m9 eps (115-120)  if you haven't watched them ahead!!!! at this point, both vex and beau have an endgame romance - percy and yasha respectively. Obviously as the m9's campaign is still playing out, that could change, but like. yasha wrote her a love letter and they're officially going on a date so i'm counting that as at least endgame-track rather than just random flirting. What's interesting to me is that they both seem to flip between the SAME roles between their (in-game) general perception and their actual pursual of romance. 

Vex gets characterized as a pretty big flirt, right? She's got the winks, the casual "darling". She's flashed grog her boobs on multiple instances with little prompting. Beau, similarly, has easily the most game out of anyone in the m9. She's slept with two guest characters and at least one more npc in the events of the game. Caleb made her a fuck mirror in her room in the mansion. And yet, in both of their actual romantic endeavors, they became the shy, uncertain type. 

Vex only confessed her feelings when Percy was laying dead before her, and not an hour of game play before percy kissed her in the woods, she had a talk with vax about how she was pretty sure he didn't like her that way and she didn't want to pursue it. Beau, similarly, spent a very long time convinced that yasha wasn't looking for love after zuala, especially not in anyone like her, asked everyone in the party if they thought yasha ACTUALLY liked her, just to be safe, and then still terrified to ask her out after recieving a literal love letter. I'd argue this shift comes from that same sense of unbelonging - they're very good at pretending they fit a role but doubt their actual right to take it when the opportunity is presented. This time, the role is the lover rather than the daughter.

4. authority: Both vex and beau grew up shunned by the upper crust of society, and grew to mistrust those kinds of people. And yet, both of their arcs result in them assuming such a position. Vex, thrown out of high society gets her place as a baronness, and Beau, running from leadership of her father's business ends up a top member of the Cobalt Soul. There's not a lot here, but I find it interesting how both of their stories involve them shedding their baggage regarding authority and power and assuming it in a way that they feel comfortable in - invitation by someone she trusts for vex, and a promise of freedom of will and control for beau.

5. their deadliest sins: this is the point at which their similarities culminate and transform to a fundamental difference. despite everything they share - shitty childhoods, the small piece of family that's still good, flirtiness masking shy love, and a mistrust of those in power - vex and beau are such different characters because of their biggest vices. Vex, both in game and out, is "the greedy one". She's stingy with money, she haggles for everything, she mourns the loss of physical objects. Beau is "the mean one". She cares little for people's feelings if they're not in her immediate circle, she focuses on her tough guy image, she laughs at things she knows she shouldn't. 

And, over the course of the campaign, as they find unconditional acceptance, they grow away from these traits (I won't say they grow out of them) because they heal from the things causing these vices to begin with. I've always been vocal about vex's greed being a manifestation of her class insecurity, and beau's asshole-ness stemming from her fear of being forced back into another position of complacency. And I stand by that now - all the similarities in their backstories are what tally up to these different women.

Despite her careful tally of party funds and her reflexive bargaining, vex is not cruel. she is not angry on her own behalf. She saves two boys from the market in the city of brass at great personal cost, she relinquishes an entire dragon's hoard to the devastated city of Westruun, she took the time to save a baby bear from a cage when she could have just cut and run after escaping her own. She's the first one most people go to when they need a shoulder to cry on, and she's devastated when they don't (thinkin about when Scanlan left). She carved "forgiveness" into the bow she stole from a man after killing him by proclaiming how much she loved someone, because she knew anger had no place in her heart.

And Beau, Beau is a bitch and she's harsh, but she doesn't hoard or protect like vex did. she spends her money without much of a second thought. She pitches in to help her friends buy a ton of glowsticks, and she loves to indulge in material desires like drink and good food and the nicer inn room. She's a member of an organization that's about making knowledge public rather than guarding it. And, though this may be controversial, I think her position with bowlgate of "its not our problem what cali wants to do with it", her long-standing mistrust of their alliance with the bright queen and  and more recently with the tomb takers of "i want to go in and talk, rather than assuming they're antagonistic, even if it puts us at a disadvantage" are both examples of this non-possessiveness too - she has no need or desire to get involved in controlling what other people are doing.

so, i guess the general conclusion here is: vex struggles to let go of things, of money, of people. beau struggles to let herself be known in case she gets wrongly interpreted again. they both fight feelings of inadequacy, they both fight the feelings of not belonging, of 'doing it wrong', they fight the perception of them as shitty people because of the shells they hide in despite their absolute hearts of gold.  but at the end of the day, vex's story is one of having to lay down what could never be hers so she can carry what is, and beau's story is one of allowing herself to be known so a place can be made for her.

[d-p-f-m]

Obey me: Asmodeus x fem!MC | Imagine

Genre: Fluff, (slight) Angst

Trigger warning: mentions of minor character death/suicide

Word count: 1820

Author's note:

I don't even write for Obey me or anything otome related at the moment, but I just had to get this idea out of my system so I can sleep peacefully and thought I'd share it here, because there's not nearly enough Asmo content out there and some of my fellow Asmodeus stans might appreciate it. This man deserves more love!

Anyway, hope you enjoy!💞

♠️♥️♣️♦️♠️♥️♣️♦️♠️♥️♣️♦️

▪Imagine a universe where it's canon that every brother owns a ring with their sin's symbol engraved in it, but Asmo's ring has been missing for a very long time without anyone knowing what happened with it because he never gives a straight answer when confronted about it

▪when MC first arrives in devildom for the exchange program, she wears the ring on a necklace around her neck, seeing as it was passed down from mother to daughter as her family's heirloom through generations

▪with six of the brothers owning a similar ring to hers, it doesn't take her very long to put two and two together. Although, once she finds out it's in fact Asmo's ring, she doesn't tell him right away, because he's not particulary responsive as she subtly questions him about the whereabouts of his ring and she's scared of the real reason why it could be in her possession

▪Maybe one of her ancestors stole it from him? Maybe it's a sign to signal that her bloodline is indepted to the avatar of lust due to some deal someone made with him eons ago? Honestly, it could have so many reasons and a lot of them make her worry that it would have negative consequences for her, if anyone found out

▪Asmo simply tells her, that he lost the ring to a woman who died before he could take it back from her and for some reason, his words make her think of the recurring nightmare that would often cause her to startle awake growing up. Anxiously, MC asks him if the woman drowned before she can think better of it

▪eyeing her warily, he confirms her suspicion, asking her how she could have randomly guessed it right. Although, unable to grasp the weird feeling that overcame her while talking about the long deceased woman, she just brushes it off as a strange coincidence

▪she starts to wear the ring less while she's around Asmo, to hide it from him until she knows she can fully trust the demon brothers

▪one time, as she stays over at his room for a sleep-over, he almost gets a glimpse at it when it slips out from the collar of her loose pajama shirt and she doesn't want to risk him seeing it again. Because for all she knows, he could get mad at her for having it. Even though she can't really understand why she has it herself

▪over time, MC and Asmo gradually grow closer

▪they don't have any kind of sexual relationship, because MC wants to genuinely love and be loved by someone before giving all of herself to them

▪while Asmo respects her decision, it obviously doesn't stop him from playfully flirting with her and due to both their affectionate natures, they develop a close friendship that involves constant casual touches and cuddling

▪every time Asmo does try to initiate anything sexual between them out of habit -since it's the only outcome people usually seek from interactions with the avatar of lust and he's not used to someone actually enjoying his company for just his company alone- MC stops him gently and tells him she'd much rather just cuddle or spend time with him in general

▪Asmo appreciates and looks forward to their shared quality time a lot and he slowly starts to accept the fact that, yes, MC's not out there to use him in any way but instead actually cares for him and his feelings

▪it shows in little, almost insignificant gestures. Like her going out of her way to do favors for him, or how she always asks if he's comfortable with the smallest of things, or even how she makes sure to get his opinion on matters where people would usually just assume they know what he thinks, according to his sin and self-imposed image

▪from time to time he even prioritizes MC's innocent, loving touches over the pleasure his usual hook-ups could bring, staying in and spending his nights cuddled up to her instead of going out to party more often than not as the months pass by

▪without neither of them really acknowledging it, they both develop deeper, romantic feelings for each other over the course of the exchange period

▪one day, as MC cleans her room, (that Mammon wrecked while searching for something to sell lol), she realizes the small casket with Asmo's ring is missing from where she had put it and she immediately rushes after the second-born, who had just left her bedroom before she came in, in case he took it. As it turns out, he did

▪when Mammon realizes how important the casket is to her, he remorsefully gives it back and she returns to her room to hide it again but just as she's about to put it away, Asmo comes strolling in

▪seeing the fancy box, he grabs it from her to take a look inside out of curiosity and when he recognizes his ring, he freezes

▪feeling guilty about keeping the ring a secret for so long, MC calmly asks Asmo to let her explain

▪she tells him that her mother gave it to her once she had turned sixteen, but she hadn't been able to teach MC anything about its origins besides that it had been passed down between family members for centuries

▪after listening to her, Asmodeus grows quiet for a while, before finally opening up a little about how he lost the ring

▪a few millennia prior to the present events with MC, while Diavolo's father was still actively ruling and it was allowed for higher-ranking demons to freely roam between the human realm and devildom, Asmo would often times visit the humans to play with people's hearts and desires

▪one day, as he was passing through a small village, he met a young woman who didn't succumb to his charms

▪she was nice and courteous towards him while they interacted, but his powers never had any actual effect and determined to defile her someday, he payed the village more visits any chance he got

▪seeing as it was one of the rare times during the day where he would get her alone, he would often join her as she spent her evenings sitting at her favorite place on the edge of a cliff, located just outside the village

▪while he tried to find a way to get the frustratingly untainted woman to give in to her deepest desires, they would talk about anything that came to their minds and over time, Asmodeus had to admit he quite enjoyed her presence

▪slowly but surely, he came to care for her once he realized that she genuinely cared for him and even though he never admitted it out loud, her friendship was something he secretly cherished

▪as they were sitting side by side one night, like many times before, the woman suddenly admitted to him that she always feared he would stop visiting her someday. That he would find someone who was willing to indulge in him in more ways than she could allow herself to and that he would eventually get tired of her company

▪while she didn't know about his true demonic nature, she had always been aware that he wasn't exactly human per se and it was only natural for her to believe that he was simply playing with her to fight the boredom that overcame him occasionally. Which, initially, had been true

▪that's when he decided to give her his ring.

▪uncharacteristically keen to reassure her he would keep visiting, unless she told him to stop, he slid the ring from his finger and onto hers instead, telling her to guard it until he'd demand it back one day

▪from this day on, she would often times invite him into her home to talk in the comfort of her bedroom instead of at the cliff and Asmodeus would rest his head in her lap while she went on about a new topic every time, gently caressing his hair or playing with the fabric of his clothes in the process

▪when she told him one night, that her father was in desperate need for money and therefore planned to marry her off to a wealthy merchant with a reputation to be cruel and violent towards women, Asmo felt a strange and long forgotten urge to protect her

▪the last person that had made him feel this way was Lilith and without really thinking it through, he offered to take her away with him

▪although, she declined his offer with a mournful smile, explaining how, even though she cared for Asmodeus deeply and wanted nothing more than to stay with him, she could never live with herself if she left her family behind for her own benefit and that she still had time to convince her father to drop his idea, before the merchant would come to take her with him

▪Asmo didn't want to upset her, by ignoring her wishes and taking her away by force, so he reluctantly accepted her decision, thinking he still had time to convince her to run away, but when he came by to check on her a few days later, she was nowhere to be found

▪it turned out she had committed suicide by jumping off the cliff and drowning herself, the morning after Asmodeus had last visited her

▪he always thought that his ring had been buried with her (let's just pretend she had a proper burial, even though at that time, suicide was probably considered a sin and not excepted by society. Maybe her family buried her in secret) and that's why he never found it, when in reality, her brother had taken it, to later give it to his own daughter in memory of his lost sister

▪after Asmo finishes with the story behind his ring's disappearance, MC quickly realizes that she has to be a descendant of the woman's bloodline (which is also Lilith's human bloodline, hence why both of them are immune to Asmo's powers)

▪she attempts to give the ring back to him, because, surely, that's what both the woman and Asmo would want. But he stops her and puts the necklace the ring is attached to around her neck, before explaining that he wants her to keep it, since his promise to someday return to claim it back still stands and he doesn't plan on leaving MC's side any time soon, anyway

▪if anything, MC finding her way to him after so many centuries just means their encounter was predetermined all along and he made the right choice by entrusting his ring to her ancestor all those years ago

▪(maybe he even thinks that him finding genuine love for the first time with MC was fate as well, but he'll have a lot of time to entertain this line thought in the future.)

🦂🦂🦂🦂🦂🦂🦂🦂🦂🦂🦂🦂

Additional note:

Damn, I want to see a full version of this, but with life butting in every 5 seconds, I don't really have the time or energy for it. So, if there's a talented writer out there who loves this idea as much as I do and wants to turn it into an endlessly ongoing, multi-chaptered slow burn, pls (PLS!!!) do and mention me in your post, so I can read it!! I could really need this story right now.

Alright, Imma go to sleep now. Bye guys🔥

*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*

[anika-ann]

Errare Humanum Est - Pt.22

What Happens After 2 AM... Doesn’t Hate To Be a Disaster

Type: series, soulmate AU series  (part 1, part 2)  x Supernatural

Pairing: Steve Rogers x reader    Word count: 4420

Summary: Celebrations are in order! And when it comes to the Avengers, it’s always ‘the more the merrier’.

Warnings: swearing, brief angst, nightmares, guilt trips, attempt at humour, fluff

Story masterlist ༻༺༻༺༻ღ༺༻༺༻༺

Tony took off, too eager to try and get in touch with his friend via intergalactical channel. You almost felt sorry for not witnessing it, but as the biggest excitement tuned down, everyone once more invested in their own business, you and Steve were the only ones left in the kitchen – and were approached by Natasha.

If you didn’t know better, you’d say the spy even looked shy in her supposedly casual stance.

“Hey, uhm… you guys mind if I ask someone to tag along?” she threw to the open as if it wasn’t a big deal. Her plan didn’t work, because you nearly fell off of the stool with how quickly you spun to her fully.

One corner of her lips twitched at your clumsiness, but then she casted her gaze down, only making your eyebrow rise.

“Oh?”

“It’s just… a friend.”

Riiight. She was so full of shit. A teasing smile slowly spread on your face and you exchanged a meaningful wordless conversation with Steve who had insisted on him cleaning up.

“A friend, you say?” you pried, unable to hide the suggestive tone – and not even trying. She shrugged it off, clearly downplaying it once again.

“For now. A little flirting here and there maybe…”

She fooled no one, but you were in too much of a light mood to torture her and actually call her out on the fact that unless she was thinking about getting serious, she wouldn’t have wanted to introduce the mystery person to the team.

“Good for you, Natasha,” you noted instead and you might have imagined it only, but her ‘casual stance’ eased for real. “As for me, I’m all for it. I might be glad to take some attention off me.”

“And vice versa,” she pointed out and it dawned to you just how sneaky her planning was. It shouldn’t surprise you – she was a spy after all and one brilliant woman to begin with.

“Smart. I’d love to meet them.”

“I’m sure he will be too. Thanks. Uhm… Steve?” she hummed in his direction, just to make sure he was alright with it too.

The man in question raised his hands as if he wanted to say it was not his decision to make – and sent a spray of tiny drops of water your general direction with that movement. You snorted at that unattractively.

“I think it’s safe to say it’s her party, so it’s her call,” he stated with a grin and dried his hands.

“Then I say yes, of course he can come, Nat-- I meant-“ not Nat. You wanted to bit your cheek at the silly slip, probably caused by hearing the name so often, but the redhead smirked.

“Nat’s fine. I’m still honoured, by the way. Naming yourself after me...”

“Would have done it again in a heartbeat,” you reassured her with a matching smirk, relieved. She winked at you and at Steve, spinning on her heels and walking away. It was the spur of the moment what you blurted out before she could leave. “And Nat? He’s a really lucky guy. I hope he knows that.”

“Thanks,” she threw over her shoulder almost carelessly, but once again, you knew better. Natasha Romanoff felt like any other human being, only she didn’t show it as often as you for instance.

You glanced at Steve as he circled the bar and you exchanged a brief smile with him. You simply couldn’t stop smiling today. You couldn’t say you minded.

Steve’s fingers found your face and hair, caressing softly and his lips brushed yours. It seemed he couldn’t stop touching you today. Once again, you couldn’t say you minded.

༻༺༻༺༻ღ༺༻༺༻༺

You were purposely postponing the inevitable question of what was coming next; and Steve didn’t push you. It was as if the two of you had made a deal about working out worries and obstacles later, except you hadn’t.

Chances were that Steve was avoiding the topic, because there was so much to go over and you couldn’t quite blame him. Should you go public with your resurrection? Or was it safer and overall better to keep you hidden? Perhaps you should tell at least your family and friends? What about you having a job – you couldn’t exactly sit around all days long doing nothing. The paperwork if you officially came back. The scandal. Were you even allowed to tell anyone about such thing as coming back from the dead?

Oh yeah, you were very much happy that Steve was ignoring the obvious problems in making as expertly as you were.

So, you idled. You cuddled, you watched movies, stole kisses, you spied on him while he trained with his teammates (after you spent about twenty minutes on a treadmill and decided you had to either focus on running or on ogling Steve, choosing the latter, obviously) and momentarily was searching for recipe for the best cookies, because why the hell not bake when having the time on your hands.

Relaxing for the whole day, you did not expect the sudden burst of thunderclap and lightning that followed. You jumped in your seat nearly falling off of the bar stool for the second time that day and shot Steve, who was sitting on a couch with an actual cookbook, a puzzled look.

He sighed when Tony passed the room, a grin plastered on his face.

Right. Calling Thor. God of thunder. Apparently, it worked.

“Brother Anthony. Where is the fight?” the thunderous voice demanded from the hall, your chest vibrating with the decibels of it.

“There’s no fight,” Tony responded light-heartedly. “Party is in order.”

“A party?”

“Yep,” Tony hummed, clearly amused by the shock he had caused his friend.

“You’re… you’re doing well then?” the god lowered his voice a fraction, but still was loud enough for you to hear him clearly despite the pair not being in the room with you. “How is the Captain? I requested of Heimdall to watch over him, but Loki orchestrated an escape from his prison, so I was too preoccupied to visit sooner.”

Oh. Oh. Even Thor knew just how harsh life had been to Steve lately. Also, you forgot how strangely he spoke – orchestrated, who did ever say the word orchestrated in a casual converstion?

You spared a glance at the Steve, not surprised he didn’t meet your gaze, truly engrossed in the book all of sudden. His skin paled a little, besides his ears that turned an uncomfortable shade of red as if they were on fire.

You bit your lip and decided to say nothing. What was there to say, really? He had been mourning; you wouldn’t exactly expect to find out he had been playing the welcome committee during Thor’s last visit, whenever that had been.

“See for yourself, Point Break.”

You rolled your eyes at Tony’s dramatics, and watched the God of Thunder himself, the walking rock he was, basically tiptoe into the room, eyes instantly focused on Steve. You remained graciously unnoticed. It was almost as endearing as hilarious.

Steve lowered his book (laying it down without bothering to mark the page he had been ‘reading’, while avoiding your gaze really) and stood up, offering a short hug to the God, who was adorably perplexed at such behaviour.

“Hello, Thor. It’s good to see you,” Steve welcomed him warmly, lightly patting his friend on his back. Tony watched amusedly as the men retreated, one of them utterly confused, shooting him a not-so-subtle puzzled look.

“Brother Steven, you-- look well! I am pleased to see that you are feeling better…”

“Use that famous beyond-eyes eyes of yours, Thor,” Tony snorted in laughter, gesturing vaguely around his own face. “I imagine you’ll be surprised at what you’ll see.”

To your surprise, Thor actually examined Steve with an absent gaze, blinking after few seconds, understanding mixing with confusion on his face now.

“Oh… you are… bonded,” he let out in disbelief, quickly switching to warmer voice. And nope, he still hadn’t noticed you. The corner of your lips twitched. “I am happy for you, brother. I could sense your sorrow for your soulmate during my last visit here without taking as much as a glance at you. You deserve another soulmate, one that can make your heart equally happy. I hope you do not feel unfaithful for you love again – I believe you still carry your love for your past partner in your heart and her soul knows that even in afterlife.”

Steve smiled at him, sad tones in the otherwise wide smile. “More than you know, Thor. But thank you. Would you like to meet her? She’s why we are celebrating and why we invited you to join us.”

“Of course. I’d be honoured to meet your lady-“

“You can,” you made your presence known at last, causing the God to snap his head to you at instant. You offered a grin and a tiny wave. “Hey, Thor. Long time, no see.”

The poor Asgardian stared at you incredulously, his eyes wider than Steve’s and Tony’s smiles. Then he shook his head, joining all of you in the lifted spirits.

“…now I understand why Heimdall had that secretive smile on his face when I was leaving… my lady! I am delighted to see you alive!”

He crossed the room in swift strides, nearly making you back out with how fierce he looked at the moment. But he wouldn’t punch you, right?

Nope, he wouldn’t.

Instead, he pulled you into his strong arms, lifting you a foot above the ground, squeezing you in a bone-crushing hug that brushed your tender ribs. You were so surprised you didn’t even hiss in pain. He released you as quickly as he embraced you, greeting you with his typical kiss on the back of your hand. Was there a hint of red in his cheeks as if he was embarrassed at the open display of friendly affection that preceded his gentleman’s manners?

You shook off the thought quickly, dropping a little curtsy to entertain your company. You met Steve’s eyes behind Thor’s enormous shoulder and he squinted at you playfully as if he was warning you to stop what could be considered flirtation. You winked at him, earning a gape from him and a chuckle from Tony.

“But… how?” Thor’s voice brought your attention back to him and you saw nothing but wonder on his face. “I can see your spirit, it is still glowing magnificently, clear of dark forces that could have tried to bring you back to life despite the natural order. This must have happened differently… how?”

“It’s a long story, Thor. Can you stay?” you asked hopefully, pleased by the warmth in his eyes when he nodded.

“To celebrate your return, the reunion of soulmates with one of the strongest bonds I have ever had the chance to witness? ...with pleasure, my lady.”

༻༺༻༺༻ღ༺༻༺༻༺

Asking Thor to join was a good plan. The Avengers had introduced some of the board games they knew to him, highly amused by his frustration during monopoly; to be fair, everyone but Tony was frustrated, so no one was mad when the game ended; with the billionaire’s victory, naturally. But it wasn’t just that; he also got Steve tipsy thanks to some special liquor that was meant for ‘no mere mortals’ and Steve with his cheeks red and a smile more relaxed than you had ever witnessed was a sight to behold.

Also, Thor wasn’t the only special guest. Sam had joined you; Natasha’s special friend. It was very much clear he was special and not only because of their body language. He proved to be worthy of being her man by surviving the grilling he was put through; you didn’t blame Natasha that she had chosen this occasion of all to introduce him, because naturally, there were enough distractions… like you coming back from dead… and such.

You came to like Sam immediately. He was another person to join your verbal combat with Clint and Tony, he was funny, but somehow knowing the limits of everyone despite barely meeting them and he was another person who was giving away the friendly vibe that was impossible not to love. He was an amazing match to Natasha, who was used to hiding her feelings, making her crawl from her tough shell. Match made in Heaven. He was a therapist, a former soldier and apparently their encounter was a story they wouldn’t share until they were completely trashed. You couldn’t wait.

The family-feels-filled party was officially ending at two a.m. You were dead on your feet by then, which resulted in Steve nearly carrying you to your common suite, earning a streak of ‘awww’ that registered even in your sleepy brain. You had no care in the world, curling in Steve’s embrace on the bed and falling asleep as soon as you felt his arms relax around you.

You didn’t quite count on the retelling your story about what preceded the re-encounter with your soulmate to cause your dreams going off rails; again. Snapping your eyes into the dark, your heart was hammering in your ribcage, the remnants of a nightmare slowly leaving your mind.  Sparing once glance at Steve’s fast asleep face, you carefully wiggled away and went to brush your teeth. Instantly recognizing you wouldn’t fall asleep any time soon, you decided to wander the Tower in your pyjama, a thin sweater over your shoulders.

Maybe a tea would make you good, calm your restless brain?

Heading for the kitchen and common area, you didn’t expect to find the light on; and you sure as hell didn’t expect Samuel Wilson being the person occupying it.

“Hey,” he greeted you in low voice and a tired smile on his own. “Can’t sleep?”

You couldn’t help the sigh that was drawn to your lips. “Nope. I didn’t want to wake up Steve, he could use a few hours extra, not less.”

“I bet,” the man hummed thoughtfully, motioning for you to sit in a kind offer. You shook your head and gestured towards the kettle.

“Tea?”

“Nah. Thanks.”

You went to make a cup for yourself only then, keeping the talk up. “What about you?”

“Nat’s in the shower. Woke me up.”

“Then what are you doing here?” you teased him with a chuckle and his face scrunched as if he tasted lemon and was not expecting the taste.

“Nightmares are kind of a moodkiller.”

“Ah,” escaped your lips intelligently as you sat beside him, placing the tea on the table. Honestly, you weren’t surprised at how brusque he was after the evening you spent together, but at the same time, you were – a little. You offered him a half smile. “She looks happy though. You do that.”

He smiled a tiny smile back, but his crinkling eyes said more than the curl of his lips. “I hope so, ‘cause I’m trying. Nat’s amazing. She could have anyone, but deserves the best. For some reason, the Universe seems to think it’s me.”

“Yeah, I know the feeling,“ you hummed, recalling the feeling way too clearly. Sam’s eyes bulged then, guilt and shock and only then you realized what he said. Oh. Oh.  The Universe. Natasha was Sam’s soulmate. Now you understood why they ended up not sharing their meet-cute yet. “Your secret is safe with me, just in case you wonder. And I can see the two of you being soulmates. I mean… at least you used to be a soldier, like her. And you still help people.”

You could feel his relief rolling off in waves. It was quite funny how afraid he was, probably having been promised death delivered by Black Widow if he shared. Then, his eyes turned curious, gentle brown wondering.

“You’re still self-conscious about your soulmate?”

���No!” you blurted out automatically, hesitating when his eyebrow rose, calling you out on your bullshit without words. You huffed. “Yes? I mean… no. It’s just-- sometimes… I guess it was just being confronted with it again when I met him for the second time… like, second time, the first time. It kinda hit me again. That our worlds are so different, mine’s so… plain and normal., while his… well.”

Getting it out felt good, but your admission sent the room into heavy silence, soaking through your skin, making you question whether you had told him too much. Why did you even say that? To Sam, of all people? You had just met him tonight!

You must have scared him off. Freaked him out. Now he was about to leave and tell on you and he would never talk to you-

“Did Natasha tell you what kind of therapy I do?” he asked kindly instead, causing you to release the breath you didn’t realize you were holding.

You shook your head, intrigued, happy to learn more about him and ignore the silly overshare slip you had managed.

“Soulmates,” he said simply, your heart stopping at the single word. What? … like… what exactly was he doing? Huh? “I deal with people who lost their soulmates. And I spent a good portion of time digging into relationships, soulmates-related or not… and I can tell you that sometimes when people are exactly the same, they are a disaster in making.”

Well. That was loop that returned to your case faster than expected. “What… uhm, what do you mean?”

“I mean that I’m not in the battlefield anymore, but maybe… I could be good for Nat. Grounding. Just like you can be good for Steve, be exactly what he needs,” he explained, his eyes locked with yours, not releasing you; yet, you didn’t feel trapped. Damn, he was good. “Do you feel that you two… work?”

You blinked at the sudden stupid question. “Of course I do.”

He grinned victoriously and you realized you just proved his point, so you chuckled self-depreciatingly.

“That’s because it’s not always about being the same in every aspect of your lives. It’s not about similarity – it’s about completion. About two people who simply fit. From what I saw so far, from what you told me, you two fit. That’s what’s important.”

Yeah, it seemed the Universe’s choices in soulmates were pretty swell; Sam was one of the kindest and most amiable people you had ever met and Natasha deserved nothing less.

But now, it wasn’t about Nat and Sam; no, Sam had spoken to you about this for your benefit. You smiled at him softly, reaching out and squeezing his hand for a short second. He returned the courtesy, letting your mouth speak your mind.

“Thank you. I… I think you two do as well. I guess it was just heavy dreams and everything that happened…” you shrugged, already feeling calmer. You couldn’t recall what particular dream was making you lose sleep tonight, but it left you with a strange feeling in your stomach that now seemed to resolve into nothing.

Sam shrugged, huffing with an undertone of bitterness that quickly disappeared.

“Well, we sit here at four a.m. Both of us. Every single person in this building has shit to deal with. You’ve been blown up – you came back from death, much like Steve did, in a way. He’s seen you die on top of that. Nat’s past is a case of its own and… and I saw my soulmate fall from the sky and for some reason I’m blessed with another… I’m just a firm believer in handling that kind of things together, that’s why I lead group sessions rather than individual ones.”

Your lips parted at his admission. He had lost his soulmate? For real? And he found the strength to deal and to help others? Yeah, Nat definitely deserved this guy. You just hoped neither of them would have to go through losing one another – in battlefield or anywhere else.

“Nat… is your second?” you pried carefully, only making certain.

Judging by how absent his gaze grow for few moments, she was.  

“Yeah.”

As if talking about her summoned her, she appeared in the door behind Sam’s back, observing silently and motioning for you not to babble out on her when you noticed her.

“Oh. Uhm… I’m sorry for your loss,” you whispered honestly and Sam smiled at you sadly, but undeniably grateful for such simple words.

“Thank you. I guess… the Universe does have a strange sense of humour. She came to me to help Steve, because she knew I lost my own and could relate and that’s how we found each other. It clicks in a weird way and I’m glad it seems to be working out so far.”

No way. Shit. Natasha had been… looking for a therapist for Steve? Just how bad Steve had been? The icy fist squeezing your heart gave you enough of an answer. Bad enough. You tried to silence the irrational guilt that gnawed at your stomach; it wasn’t exactly your fault, was it?

Curiosity was also knocking at your door, but you repressed it as well. As much as you’d like to ask whether Sam ended up having a session with Steve despite usually doing group ones, it felt wrong. Not to mention that Sam was a respectful and respecting man, who probably wouldn’t answer anyway.

“Yeah, it does,” you agreed with his musing instead, your own mind set off. “I thought it was rare to have two soulmarks and here we are.”

He snorted in an unattractive amusement. “Well, I have thought the same as you. And yet here we are. With you, coming back from the death as if two marks weren’t rare enough on their own.”

“That’s fair. But I suppose that… who else than people who spent smaller or larger part of their life saving the world deserves more than one chance at happiness?”

“True that,” he said with a light curl to his lips despite his eyes flickering behind you for a fraction of a second.

Letting your mind wander, you continued speaking, paying no mind you must bore him. “Or maybe it’s getting less rare. Maybe it’s part of something bigger, what we have yet to understand. Something… something might be changing. Cosmic…or maybe I’m just babbling. It’s just a feeling, something is in the air. A change.”

“That’s some heavy conversation to handle at four a.m,” a new voice spoke to the silence that had settled after your monologue and you whirled around, nearly jumping out of your skin.

“Steve!” you yelped, shocked and embarrassed. How much had he heard? Oh god…

Steve only shrugged and exchanged a look with Natasha, standing in the other doorway, which caused Sam to turn to his soulmate as well.

“Yeah, no shit,” Nat agreed, smirking.

“Hey, Nat,” Sam hummed, clearly less embarrassed at being eavesdropped on than you were.

“How about we cut this short and actually try to get some sleep?” she offered, carefree.

“Yeah, try,” you mimicked wryly with a sigh.

“We can try together,” Steve coaxed as he walked to you, running his hand through your hair tenderly. “Come with me, doll?”

How could a girl resist a sleepy supersoldier, when he combined his puppy eyes with being shirtless and inviting her back to his bed?

Couldn’t. The answer was: she couldn’t. You were a girl; hence you stood no chance.

“Sure,” you mumbled in a slight haze, before you managed to look back at your loyal listener. Sam had a smirk on his face, seeing what a goner you were for Steve, but his eyes were still kind.  ”Thank you, Sam. Must be that face of yours, making me verbally vomit my emotions.”

“Did you just compliment my face?” he asked, fake-shocked and turned to his own soulmate, scandalized. “Nat, watch out! She might wanna steal me.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t do that if I were her,” Natasha grinned at him and he chuckled, comeback prepared.

“And why is that?”

She rolled her eyes, but her smile turned fond and you felt like you were missing something. Ah, private joke perhaps?

Not that you cared much as Steve squeezed your shoulder lightly, his thumb slipping under the sweater you hadn’t bothered buttoning up, caressing your bare arm.

“You’re so corny,” the spy snickered.

Sam stuck out tongue in response, at which Nat placed a palm over her chest in theatrics. You chuckled and rose to your feet.

“Well, this looks like the right time to leave. Night, guys!”

“Please, as if you are about to sleep! You fool no one!” Sam called after you and you would swear you heard a slap after that, making you giggle.

Steve wrapped his arm around your shoulder, pulling you to his side and pressing a kiss to your temple, his lips lingering in your hair then.

“I thought we agreed that we fit perfectly,” he hummed, only a trace of accusation in his warm timbre.

You sighed and curled up to him as close as it was possible while walking.

“We do. I… it really was just a strange dream, I guess, and this… whole thing. I saw it from a new perspective, you know? Basically an outsider who had no clue how soulmates worked at first. I went through the shock of you being my soulmate twice.”

“Ah, so you thought I was too handsome-“

You slapped his chest playfully as it instantly started shaking with hushed laughter, showing you he was only joking. You snuggled into his warmth, hoping your face didn’t quite had on display that yeah, he wasn’t that wrong. It was exactly that and like twenty other things about him and that was before you even met him. You didn’t expect him to ever understand that, not really, but Sam was right; you worked as a couple, or you liked to think so. Nothing else mattered.

Reaching your room, he released you from his embrace only to keep his hand on your shoulder to spin you, making you face him. You reluctantly raised your gaze, meeting his soft smile.

“I love you. You’re my everything and we are meant to be. Well, at least I believe that,” he mused, a fraction of doubt flashing in his eyes until you shook your head and planted a kiss right to his lips, feeling the smile widen. “If you’re not convinced… well. I’m making it my newest personal mission to prove it to you.”

Your eyebrow rose in challenge at his suggestive tone. “Are you, now?”

You couldn’t imagine saying no to that, but truth to be told, you were getting tired again; after spilling the beans to Sam, sharing your worries and getting them out of your chest, you felt like you would be able to actually fall asleep again.

“Yeah, doll. And I think I’ll start right in the morning after we get some sleep.”

༻༺༻༺༻ღ༺༻༺༻༺

Epilogue

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Thank you for reading! (Potentially for leaving likes and reblogging)

There’s an epilogue left (full chapter-length), but you know me – I’m considering a short bonus chapter that I’m not sure will fit into the timeline – just something for fun, I guess. We’ll see.

[dangerouslysmartslime]

My Little Pony The New Generation

Seems like the things that remembering of what happened in Generation 4 waws the olden times where the pony kinds were friends and didn’t use magic against each other. IE Generation 4 of the Friendship Pope. That the main character is a girl obsessed with the era of Generation. A lighthouse and Sunny will know, you stand up for what you believe in. Show everypony that we’re friends. That maybe today is that day! A father that loves his daughter with all his heart~! And the two colts that she was playing with, one of them she will see as an adult on her adventures as shown by the trailers and the other had the depressing note of wanting to be Sheriff, and everyone knows that Police Officers are reviled for keeping people in line, especially colored by their own bigotry, so insert the “Lois and Clark” Yikes. Sunny and her father write a letter to the unicorns and pegasi only to tell the story of Generation 4 to Sunny. A friend to fly around or float things, why can’t we be friends anymore? That is a great question, but we’ll figure it out together. And the drawings that she has as well as all the things she has of Generation 4 is so adorable!! Only to flash to when she’s an adult and the movie actually starts~! Sunny gets herself dressed with the same sort of pins I use on my hat. She gets ready her bag and she looks at pictures of her father in a way that mean it seems like he’s dead… And the movie goes into the first musical number. “Canter Logic” She goes on a ice cream run for a job, only for that colt who said he’s be a Sheriff to chase after her… And steal somepony’s milkshake and cookies… She gives a balloon to someone who wanted one, only for that one colt to continue being the worst pony in the movie so far in terms of douchbaggery. She is going and showing her enthusiasm for life while the colt continues to chase after her cleaning up all the kindness she wishes to do and come to University. A squad of critters like Fluttershy only he doesn’t actually like it. Annual presentation at Canterlot. Hey, come on! Sprout was actually just doing his job when Hitch was giving him orders. “Every year you sneak in and every year you try” As a friend not as a Sheriff, don’t? Someone litters and Sprout is continuing to be an asshole so I was right. So Sunny is mischevious only to find that this is a factory much like the memed on Rainbow Factory… Canter Logic is Phyllis Clovery, the mother of Sprout, and the actual biggest asshole. Oh wait, she actually is the main antagonist because she’s a bigot. Yep, markets her products for bigotry and wha… Ant-mind reading? And keeping eye on the sky doesn’t make sense… The earth pony balloon escape pack doesn’t work. Only for Sunny to try to protest it and she does it in a dumb way and her friend who is the Sheriff stops it by pulling the plug. “Aren’t you tired of being scared all the time? The truth is, we’re not in danger! We don’t need any of this Canter Logic junk!” Just imagine if you had a friend who could fly or do magic. That everything you hear is wrong when they could be friends and still could be! And “Phyllis is still a bigot.” To uphold it? Everypony includes Pegasi and Unicorns, “Then prove it” means she’s going to be go on an adventure. And the one friend that she has is an asshole to her because due to propaganda he says that it’s just an old filly story concocted by her father. She then looks to the sky and mourns her father once again, wishing he was here. Only for… Izzy Moonbow the Unocnr meets Sunny and all the bigots (IE everyone except Sunny) panics as the bigots… Really? That seems a little harsh. Well yeah, they’re bigots, what do you expect Izzy! Izzy plays it like a game of hopscotch only to get trapped by a trap because she was looking at Terminator Judgment Day. Hitch then lectures her. So, you’re named Sunny? Bye! Nice to meet you now! Hitch acts like he’s the only sane man, but in reality Izzy is just as enthusiastic as Sunny as being a silly dork. Nooo, I can’t make it float but I can open cans! Tada! No magic…  So the bigots keep being bigots and they flee. No magic? But we did have magic and that was many moons ago and everyone is racist because the magic leaves. Unicorn with no magic and everyone is a bigot. Earth ponies have a lot of bigoted stories while only 3 stories unicorns. What if they don’t! And then there’s the musical number 2. Neat… Two folks becoming friends who are looking out for each other like Sunny is friggin friendship pope with Pinkie Pie. So they get an apple to have a snack and continue trotting along to try to get to the land of Pegasi. Hitch is the “perfect guy” in terms of taking care of himself and Sprout is now the Interim Sheriff. Still think Phyllis is the villain. Only to find that yes, everyone is bigoted against each other because they think everyone else did something bad. And… Can Pegasi not fly? No, the butch pegasus is here “there’s no way we could, there’s no way we could!” The shield is.. Can you fly to the moon? Well I do like sneakers. And then modern Americana appears in Zephyr Heights… Royal bash for Queen Haven and Princess Pip the influencer. Of course… Pip Pip Hooray? Pegasi do have a Castle, and it even looks like they stole Canterlot and renamed it. And… Both of the Pegasi are royalty. Earth Pony and Unicorn in Zephyr Heights, and no, not an attack ya silly. And Hitch goes after them and… Sprout is here but people are revolting? Wait, no they aren’t. “We need a real Sheriff!” Only for him to get all fearmongerin. I see… Whispering danger danger.. Generation 1 is shown… “Follow me mindlessly!” Angry Mob ANGRY ANGRY. Influencer advertisments and… “We haven’t seen a single pony flying except the royal family. Only for a princess to.. Just call me Zip.Izzy Moonbow. Important about magic? How does your work? The unicorns lost theirs. No magic. “Well, that changes things. Her father’s journal, and that star is actually like Twilight Sparkle’s journal. “Only royals can fly because for some reason they have magic. Nicorn hair and Pegasi! Hitch is looking for them only to find that the Pegasi captured them. When unicorns and Earth Ponies visited Zephyr Heights and the Wonderbolts were seen in a picture. The truth is they can’t fly either but just faking by… Wires and good lighting… A “ridiculous lie.” To… Soar using a fan. A bright sparkle, says Izzy. Canterlot’s old Stained Glass. It’s seen right there and now each one is placed in order, fitting. The Crystals go together united. So if they put them back together magic would return… The unicorn crystal Bridlewood is had. The Queen never takes her crown off… Swap real crown with decoy. Stealthy and stealing the crown. Paying a guest a visit and Pip is told. No one can fly, it is just a stage show… Because of course, Pip is just an influencer using a stage show and of course aother song… While Sunny and Moonbow are doing the plot~… But the dog happens, where the small dog is like a guard dog. And Hitch is also finding them, then the recording staff is like “Prisoners have escaped!” And Hitch is put on stage… “What is happening. The Royals are revealed to not be able to fly either, and they accidentally drop the Crystal… “Arresting you and saving you.” The Queen’s daughter, oh the Sheriff just became detective. The models of the characters look so much like the toys, Pip and Hitch join the party! Meanwhile… Canter Logic creates war machines complete with Sprout sounding like Vader when he’s really just drinking a milkshake. “Just make it work, okay!” “My town mommy” And that he is “Now Emperor” From Defense to Offense. “All thanks to encouragement” Hitch and Pip whining about being in the party. Look, once everyone gets magic back they’ll be heroes! Crystal clear and he deodorant have his badge. Between you an d me, the badge was creating an unhealthy power dynamic. Fair point. And they start giving up at a bridge being broken, only for Izzy opening the entrance because she knows the way. Breaking open a tree using her horn. They make a fire only for Hitch to be a whiny man lighting a fire “come on, don’t be a hero dude, just come here by the fire.” And they’re good to be a team, just like the Mane 6 of Generation 4. Only for Izzy to look down that the idea of being together is the best thing to happen, that getting friends is better than just getting magic. From Sunny there was that friends in Maritime Bay. That someday they’d prove that all ponies are meant to be friends. That Hitch wants to do his part, “what do we have to lose, right!” Not far from all the SIGNS OF DEATH LIKE THIS IS THE EVERFREE FOREST. “The Villa Izzy~” And all the silly things that she made like Izzy’s friendship bracelets and a tea set… Only for Izzy to be sad for not having a tea party and… A glow up? Although they’re difference races they should unite like the ancient politics of the Friendship Pope~! Comes another song. And it was a fun song so I sang along. Unicorns are very superstitious as to have magic, feather, wing, and mayonnaises. No forbidden words like Mayonnaise. The Unicorn Crystal is owned by Alphabettle, and he can smell fear. “Tea” Hold, the milk, quite the game player I see, why, do you play? I don’t play I win?” Just Dance! Both ponies agree, best out of three! Only need to win one out three for Sunny. Round 3… Here that sunny, feel the Rhythm take you over! I’m feeling it, go Sunny! And she wins with some hype from Pip! Only for the horn to fall off! And a Unicorn! Which you knew already! No, stop… No, don’t. It’s time to run… No pony has magic, but we’re here to bring it back! It can sound unbelievable, but trying is best.  But nooo she needs the 2 out of 3. SHE NEEDS THE 2 out of 3!!! Ye, they don’t have to fight! Sprout makes a tank and he cackles menacingly. That they can be separated by gear and distrust, or there can be friendship and love between the races, like her father. Like her loving father. SO they unite and the reincarnation of the Friendship Pope. The reincarnation of the Friendship Pope has brought the Magic of Friendship to Equestria again.

[kattahj]

Review quotes of Booboo Stewart’s performance in Let Him Go

Okay, yeah, so I totally checked over 100 reviews of Let Him Go just to see what they had to say about Booboo Stewart. Relevant quotes under the cut, but let’s just summarize first:

Apparently the film starts out as a slow drama and ends up as a bloody revenge flick, which means that there are some reviewers who go “it takes forever to get started, but once it does it’s great!” and other reviewers who go “it started out really nice, but wtf was that ending?”

Likewise, Booboo has a small role, and there are some reviewers who go “what was even the point of that character?” and others who go “I wanted the whole movie to be about that character!” Also plenty who don’t mention him at all.

The important bit: while I have seen some criticism of the writing of his character, I have not seen a single reviewer criticize his acting. Everyone who mentions his acting is praising it.

And here are the quotes (spoilers!):

"For the stunner of the film, Booboo Stewart plays Peter" (Military Press)

"The supporting cast is strong, with impressive performances from Booboo Stewart [...]  " (We Live Entertainment)

"The supporting cast presents a solid ensemble, most notably Booboo Stewart of Twilight and X-Men who plays the only ally of the Blackledge’s, the tragic and heroic Peter Dragswolf." (Republic Times)

"But it’s lesser-known actors like Kayli Carter and Booboo Stewart who really shine, making the most of smaller, quieter roles." (AZ Central)

"Booboo Stewart (from Walt Disney’s Descendants films) offers a rich turn as a young ingenious [sic!] man who ran away from a brutal “Indian School” and to whom Lane’s mourning mother implicitly looks at as a second chance."   (Forbes)

"With strong supporting roles from the likes of Booboo Stewart [...]  " (KGun9)

"We also get some strong supporting work from Booboo Stewart as a Native American loner who befriends Margaret and George." (Flickreel)

"The list of great performances in Let Him Go only grows once Margaret and George hit the road, including a nice turn from Booboo Stewart as a skittish residential school runaway who reluctantly helps the couple on their journey. " (The Gate)

"Booboo Stewart, in a sensitive and winning performance" (Chicago Sun Times)

"The Blackledges are never fleshed out beyond what they represent, but there’s another character worth caring about — a young Native American runaway (Booboo Stewart) called Peter by the people who stole him away to the Indian Residential School from which he’s just escaped. Stripped of his name, forced to forget his language, and alone in a country taken from his people, “Peter” is a poignant emblem of what people like George and Margaret are only learning in their twilight years: America has always been a country that takes without asking, and we’d sooner burn it to the ground than stop living all over each other. It’s only with Peter’s help that “Let Him Go” is able to find something worth saving in the ashes." (Indiewire)

"Booboo Stewart brings real emotion and empathy to a handful of scenes as a fugitive indigenous man who ran away from a brutal “Indian school” and provides some backup for Margaret and George." (The Wrap)

" Booboo Stewart (the Twilight saga) as a horse riding loner the couple encounter along the way is terrific, serving in a key capacity late in the film." (Deadline)

" A Native American drifter (Booboo Stewart) who befriends them and briefly recounts his traumatizing experience at a culture-crushing boarding school offers a wistful glimpse at the kind of character-driven storyline that the film deserts halfway down the road." (Slant - which hated the rest of the film)

"With powerful supporting characters such as Booboo Stewart[...]" (Eminetra)

"And then along the way the story does introduce us to some characters that have stories of their own that unfortunately aren't explored as much, and one of those characters was probably one of the more interesting parts of the story for me. It's a character played by actor Booboo Stewart, and he's really good! I don't know, there's not another word I can say without spoiling anything, but he's very, I don't know, you can tell he's carrying a lot of his past with him, and I wanted the story to almost explore more of his character, rather than anyone else's. Unfortunately, that's not the case." (Reel James - youtube video)

And the cast is rounded out with a new generation of promising performers in Brittain, the excellent Carter, and Booboo Stewart as Peter, a young Native American man who the Blackledges encounter. His personal story of being taken as a child to an abusive “Indian school” is part history lesson, part a look into Jimmy’s potential future should he stay with the sadistic Weboys. (LA Times) 

"The only time Let Him Go really comes to life is when it puts the main story aside so Margaret and George can spend time with Peter Dragswolf (Booboo Stewart), a young Indigenous horseman they meet on their journey—and who, because this is really just a pulp Western, becomes an invaluable ally in the back half of the story.

(cont.) "Bezucha treats Peter as a source of exposition and white-knighting—a chance for us to understand that George and Margaret are more evolved than the other white folk Peter has encountered in his life—but Lane and Costner don’t condescend to the material the way their director does, and they bring out a wounded, cautious quality in Stewart he doesn’t often get to show.

(cont.) "I don’t think I’ll spend much more time thinking about Let Him Go, which is ultimately just a junky revenge movie that wastes a lot of very talented actors’ time and will probably also waste yours if you let it, but I expect that from time to time I’ll think about Stewart and Lane and Costner, just sitting out in the badlands together talking about horses, and wish someone had made a whole movie about that." (Straight)

Bezucha seems compelled to accentuate more compassionate moments, such as the Blackledges’ fairly contrived but still welcome relationship with a young Native American man played by Booboo Stewart. Best known for playing Seth Clearwater in The Twilight Saga, Stewart shows nice depth here as a peaceful drifter who helps George and Margaret pull off a hard-fought family reunion. (Collider)

They also meet others along the way, including Peter (a nice turn from Booboo Stewart) (Blu-ray.com)

Among the latter: an incongruously placed but engaging young Lakota man named Peter (Booboo Stewart) (Original cin)

I definitely want to give props to Booboo Stewart, who played Peter. If I'm being honest, I would have loved to have seen a movie just based on his upbringing. I thought that that young man, Booboo Stewart as Peter in this film, kind of this outcast in a sense, hearing his story was so tragic, and again, I would have loved to dug deeper into that, but man, this guy did a really good job in the little bit of scenes that we spent with him, and the scenes that he shared with Diane Lane I thought had a lot of emotional impact, and I thought he did a really good job in this movie as well. (Movie Files - youtube video)

Booboo Stewart does a solid enough job at offering a sympathetic new take on typically well-worn character tropes. (comingsoon.net)

In the supporting cast, Carter is fine, but Stewart invests greater poignancy into Peter, a young man robbed of his birthright but retaining the nobility it confers on him. (One Guy's Opinion)

Booboo Stewart also has a nice role as a local Native American escapee of a residential school, who helps the older couple in their quest, but has enough agency to know the two are pushing things way too far with the Weboy clan. (Joblo)

 I do have to call special attention to the amazing Booboo Stewart who plays a Native American lad who helps the couple, this being his second great role/performance of the year after The Grizzlies. (The weekend warrior blog)

Booboo Stewart of “Twilight” fame has a small part but elevates a handful of scenes as an ousted Native American looking for purpose. (Galveston Daily News)

Another standout is the very quiet Booboo Stewart, who plays Peter. He's a self-sufficient loner who is really kind, despite all the terrible crap that has happened to him. (Movies and Munchies - youtube video)

Plus, there is an actor by the name of Booboo Stewart, and he plays an American Indian in the film, Peter, who befriends the couple, and he is just outstanding in this film. I really enjoyed his performance. (Jackie K Cooper - youtube video)

And the supporting work from Donovan, Stewart, and Carter are all equally excellent. (CJ at the movies)

Another character worth mentioning was Booboo Stewart as Peter Dragswolf. He didn’t have a ton of screen time but the scenes he was in were filled with so much emotion. My heart went out to his character. (Funtastic life)

 [...]Even so with Booboo Stewart's character, they're great on screen, I don't have any qualms to their performances, but because you do... especially with Booboo's character, I got really invested in his story, but there's nothing else that's really done to, like, explore his character, almost to the point where his character wasn't needed. I wanted to actually see more of that character. (Pay or Wait - youtube video) 

1: I did also want to mention Booboo Stewart [...] as this young Native American they encounter who has run away from what they used to call Indian schools, where they basically, like, force you to learn English, and you know, it's the same kind of anti-Indigenous stuff that the British used to do in Australia, and we have our own sad, awful history of that in the United States, and so, his character I think is there obviously as a plot function, but I think he brings a real humanity to the role.

2: I was going to say, I wish there was more to him, though, because he does feel like an idea, like a device, and he does very conveniently show up when he is needed to, to help make things happen, and that feels a little contrived and I wish there was more to him.

1: But not the actor's fault!

2: No no no, it's in the script! (Breakfast All Day)

Booboo Stewart of “Twilight” fame has a small part but elevates a handful of scenes as an ousted Native American looking for purpose. (The Daily News)

A side-story involving an Indigenous man, Peter Dragswolf (Booboo Stewart), is as poignant and, in certain ways, historically urgent as it is extraneous to the main thrust of the story.  (Rolling Stone)

    The hardest thing for me to deal with was that it had some slow moments that I didn’t think needed to be there.  But on the other side of that, if they weren’t there, we wouldn’t have seen the nice performance of Booboo Stewart, who ends up becoming an important fixture.  (Power 98.3)

Another underused character with a strong part is Booboo Stewart as Peter - he has some of the best lines in just three scenes.  (Oakville News)

   While their roles were smaller, both Carter and Stewart left strong impressions as Lorna and Peter, each wounded and abused in their own way. (Rick's Texan Reviews)

   Booboo Stewart is even more heartbreaking as a young man who ran away from an Indian boarding school and runs into our questing couple. While I’m not sure what his larger purpose is in the movie, he brings a healthy dose of warmth and heart every second he’s onscreen.  (Vail Daily)

 One of my favorite characters was Peter Drags wolf (Stewart) a young Native American man living out on his own. (Portsmouth Daily Times)

Delivering a poignant counterpoint to the high stakes is Booboo Stewart (the Twilight series) who plays a young Native American nomad on the plains who forges a connection with the Blackledges. (I can't unsee that movie) 

A revenge thriller that leaves no easy answers “Let Him Go” stars Kevin Costner and Diane Lane with some meaty supporting performances by Lesley Manville as a powerful matriarch and Booboo Stewart who helps navigate the Dakota landscape. (testset) 

Even cast members in smaller roles, like that of cast-out Peter Dragswolf (Booboo Stewart), are solid and make an impression. (Gallup sun) 

Other good performances include Carter, who holds the viewer’s sympathies for the entire film as a victim of domestic abuse, and Booboo Stewart, who delivers a powerful performance as Peter Dragswolf, a Native American who helps the Blackledges on their quest. (Northern star) 

[...] and Booboo Stewart are also well-cast in their respective supporting roles. (Seongyong's private place)   

[charliegreco]

( ben barnes + cis male ) — have you seen charles greco ? this thirty-eight year old is a personal financer who resides in manhattan. he has been living in nyc for thirty-eight years, and is known to be charming and confident, but can also be conniving and arrogant, if you cross them. people tend to associate them with beaten italian leather boots and smiles that never meet his eyes. @codstarters​

triggers for neglect, drug use, gambling, & personality disorders.

general information.

full name: charles greco. handle: charlie. title: n/a. age: 38. date of birth: november 12, 1983. place of birth: manhattan, new york. zodiac: scorpio. gender: cis male. nationality: italian-american. religion: atheist. orientation: greyromantic heterosexual. relationship status: single.

physical attributes.

face claim: ben barnes. height: 6'1″. weight: 170 lbs. hair color: dark brown. eye color: dark brown. tattoos: none. distinguishing marks: deep brown eyes. outfit/clothing style: beaten boots, expensive jeans, dark shirts, worn leather, fitted suits.

background information.

hometown: manhattan, new york. current residence: manhattan, new york. past residences: manhattan, new york. spoken languages: english, italian, german, russian. financial status: upper class. education level: college graduate. organization: potential illegal ties.

familial information.

mother: alessia greco. father: unknown. siblings: none. children: possibly a few bastard children.

personality.

moral alignment: chaotic neutral. mbti: estp-a - the entrepreneur. enneagram: type 9: the peacemaker. temperament: choleric.

biography.

one thing was incredibly clear to charlie greco from the moment he could comprehend the hand that life had dealt him: nothing would come easy, and nothing would be worth the time if it was.

his mother always had the means of making a decent living for her son and herself, but squandered all of her earnings on selfish means instead. she was certainly a beautiful woman: alluring both physically and with a wit sharp as a blade’s edge, but all of her attention had always been selfish. surely it was habit taught to her from a young age, something she never bothered to break before she involved herself in other human interactions. but it was likely her beauty and charm that had seduced the man who impregnated her, and the likes of his name were never so much as whispered around offspring. charlie has never known the man’s name.

babies should be a joyous occasion, and yet alessia greco found a way to make it entirely self-involved. her body had to bear the pain, her child was what made everyone so pleased, her creation. anyone who dared to involve themselves in the mess of his mother’s life was sure to see how narcissistic the beautiful italy born-and-bred woman was, and yet no one pressed a finger onto the issue.

but such is the way of the world, so often are children abandoned to their fates.

he was a beautiful baby, but grew to be an awkward toddler, an awkward little boy. alessia made no attempt to hide her disgust at how her creation could be so gangly and ungainly, could stow away for hours with quiet toys that suggested knowledge more than play with other children. but perhaps that was for the better — she couldn’t very well brag and show up with something like him, her offerings would be meager in comparison to children who were the spitting images of their beautiful parents. simple genetics, the awkward transitional period of a child, were held against a child who knew nothing of the world or such disgust from his mother. charlie was six, and alessia greco was the love of his life. all mothers should be, for little boys.

but as he grew older, as his awareness developed, and as the blinders fell from his eyes charlie became aware of his mother’s feelings. while he was utterly devoted to her, drew pictures of her at school or told stories about my mom and me, she was ashamed of his too-long legs and chubby cheeks. his loss of innocence came across the dinner table (boxed macaroni and cheese again, so mom could go out again for the night), when he told her “i love you, mommy” and alessia heaved a sigh and responded with a purfunctory, “yea.”

grades meant nothing. educational achievements meant nothing. unconditional love from a child meant nothing, and charlie began to realize that if he wanted something more than boxed macaroni and cheese for dinner every night (if alessia even bothered to make it) he would have to get it himself. however it wasn’t as simple as taking it — simply taking things earned him a swift but stern slap across the face and if he hadn’t learned in his younger years, charlie surely understood alessia’s feelings with those.

he learned his charm from her, but it wasn’t easy being the odd child he was. still, with a desire to achieve, charlie applied himself to the art of manipulation. he discovered it was simple with the charm of a child: people were more likely to assist if you added a few tears, a little naievety. his teachers began to understand his plight as home as difficult when he spun the yarn of his mother having become deathly ill. his peers found him appealing when he shared goods pilfered or traded from others (without their knowledge for the former), and the reputation he earned himself in his youth formed the personality that perfected at puberty.

while all of these tricks worked outside of the household, charlie never managed to pull the wool over his mother’s eyes. but where unconditional love once stood in tolerance for alessia and her narcissism, now contempt remained. charlie fell out of love with his mother at twelve, and never looked back.

on the summer at the end of his freshman year of high school charlie left an odd-looking boy. in the fall of his sophomore year he returned transformed, as if the summer heat had been a chrysalis and the ugly caterpillar emerged a butterfly. now if you held up a picture of alessia greco beside charlie you could see he was her child, all it took was a shot of growth hormone and the deepening of his voice. abyss-black eyes were the stark difference between the two of them (ignoring the thick black hair that sprouted from his face if he didn’t tame it back to stubble every four or so days), and alessia noted how much she despised the way he stared at her now. it made her skin crawl if only because it seemed as if he was looking through her.

and he was. now he saw her for what she was: a selfish woman who had only wanted him to brag about her own achievements. but he hadn’t been worth bragging about when he was small, and now that he towered over her she wanted him to be seen with him. but charlie refused, perhaps a little too politely for her to understand at first, and it was only in a binge of some substance abuse that he took a stern hand with her. only when she struck him first out of a dead sleep — staring at him for near twenty minutes before lashing out at him. it was the threat of never touch me again that he punctuated so perfectly, threatening to hold back no means to defend himself should she raise another hand at him.

alessia mourned for herself the loss of her baby boy. all that was left was a man who was nothing more than a reminder of her failed relationships throughout the years. you’re just like them. you’re just like them.

but he was nothing like them. perhaps the only similarity being how much he despised her, as they all did in the end.

over-achieving won him an early high school graduation by one year and excellent grades a near free-ride through college. he was always good with numbers, always good at calculations and the choice to step into the mathematical field was easy. alessia was notably absent when he gained his college diploma, if only because charlie couldn’t be bothered to let her know of the date. any by now he’d escaped the clutches of her den and made his own home somewhere on the other side of the city. he was sure he would never purposely cross paths with her, and if they did meet it was purely accidental. purely venomous.

his first steps into the world of banking began the same as any other bland story: a teller whose talent for numbers opened gateways of opportunity. charlie was twenty-two when he was offered the position of personal finance. he was twenty-four when he began taking private, rich clients, and it was only a few months into that position that he met “slick ricky” dimatteo. the meeting wound up more fateful than any singular moment he had with his mother, at least it was opportunistic. silver-tongue and charm allowed for charlie to step into the world of second set of books, illegal numbers … extra money.

now he looked exactly like the son of alessia greco. fine suits, hundred-dollar hair cut, winning smile the smiles never met his eyes — that died in his childhood, with his innocence, but he when he wagged his tongue people listened and were apt to believe the words that oozed from his lips. honest life turned to opulence … he was sure he could have had more if he wanted it, but sitting on the outskirts of a life of real crime was comfortable for him. when he stole away in the middle of the night to confirm the collection of illegal debts owed he kept his own two hands clean (so what if his command got people hospitalized, right?) and charlie prided himself on the ability to forget what he had seen. things are so often lost in the black abyss.

potential connections.

clients: charlie works as a personal financer - he cooks two sets of books. this can either be a legitimate client or one that seeks to make bets or otherwise gamble their money in some form through his other connections. 

past flings: 30+ please. charlie is a one and done kind of person. he’s not at all unfamiliar with his needs and has never expressed romantic interest in any of the women he’s slept with.

arm candy: someone who attends high-class events with him. typically someone who understands his humor, and also understands that in the world of money appearances are everything. best suited to someone he’s more friends with than a stranger. (davina yueng).

friends: legitimate or otherwise. if they aren’t connected to his illegal business, they don’t know about it. if they are friends with him through said illegal business, obviously they know. (abby rosen).

i’m open to various other connections, these are just some ideas!