#stop giving money to a woman that has shown she will do whatever she can with her platform to take away trans rights
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“I don’t support JK Rowling’s views! I just really like Harry Potter!” She just donated £70,000 to a TERF charity, that’s what she’s doing with your money. Every time you buy a “Harry-Potter-something” that money is being used to take away trans rights. But go Griffindoor, I guess!
#if that fkn boy wizard means so much to you pirate the movies#pirate the books or the audio books or get them from your library or a charity store#stop giving money to a woman that has shown she will do whatever she can with her platform to take away trans rights#human rights#trans rights#tw terf
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Kinktober: Jonathan Crane
Pair: Jonathan Crane x fem!reader
Summary: Gotham's more of a nightmare than it used to be and Crane has his sights on you.
Warnings: On the tin. NON-CON (Kidnapping/Restraints/Leashes/Collars/Breeding)
You poured a fresh whiskey into a short glass over ice cubes, then pushed it to another faceless man sitting at the bar. Lights were flashing and the music was a bit too loud for your liking, but money was money and the protection that the job gave you was probably the only reason you were still a free woman.
The knock on the counter brought you from your serving-induced stupor. Oswald Cobblepot. “Hey, sweetheart. Need you to work a double tonight.” He pushed aside the man drinking the whiskey.
“Tonight? Isn’t Stacey scheduled after me?” You washed the shaker cup and placed it upside down to dry. As much as you needed the money, you’d much rather get home before it got too dark and monumentally more dangerous for you.
He sighed, reaching over the counter and pouring some of the whiskey into a free glass. “Got collared. Don’t know when or if she’ll come back.” Of course, the number one reason for the girls leaving the job. Two weeks ago, the bar staff and performers totaled 50. It was now 27.
You instinctively pursed your lips and took a deep breath. The thought of what she might’ve been going through was bad enough, but the reality was the truly horrifying part. Your freedom was slightly stealth, but mostly luck. “By who?”
“Firefly. I should have you all escorted home before these schlemiels steal all my girls.” He finished his drink and slammed it against the counter. “Eh, too much money.”
A few more men sat around the bar while he walked away. Of course he was not one to waste his money on something that actually protects his staff. Too busy spending it on drops and whatever other drugs that he can sell to his customers. Asshole.
Acts as if he doesn’t have a girl collared in his house. You’ve seen her once or twice. She’s pretty, but it was clear that he did a number on her before parading her around the club. “What the hell is wrong with this city?” One of the men finally asked as you handed him a dry martini.
“What isn’t wrong with it?” You grumbled under your breath, starting on the Manhattan for another one of the men.
They laugh, a bit too loud. Clearly, this wasn’t the first bar they’d been to tonight. “No, seriously. Got mugged twice and we’ve only been here two days. All the women are on fucking leashes. Or people fucking out in the open.” He took a long sip of his drink, looking around at the debauchery still happening around the bar.
“You know how most cities have a hero? Ours was killed. Chaos ensued.” You mixed the drink, shaking the bottle. “Basically, they made a whole set of rules that give absolute control to those who fought Batman. Territory, people…you get it.”
The day that the Batman died was something you’d never forget, as if it was your life stopped at that moment the news broadcast was shown on every screen in the city. Nobody thought the Joker would be able to do it. Both Batman and the Joker were natural enemies, bound never to end their feud.
Some say it was a mistake. But the second it happened, he had his plan to create chaos and eventually, everyone else followed suit. Just as his (somewhat) partner in crime, Harley Quinn, was planning on leaving him, he locked her onto him. With the same collar she used for her pets.
He let all of the inmates of Arkham escape, taught them the new rules, and everybody else had to play catch up or try to get out of the city as fast as possible. Especially after the mayor fell. Bella Reál was ambushed in her office by the newly escaped Riddler. Nobody has seen her since.
It felt like the shift lasted forever, but you appreciated the extra tips from the more drunken customers wishing they could fuck you and knowing they couldn’t. It was raining when you stepped outside, through the back where nobody could see. You threw your hood over your head and ran in the direction of your apartment.
It was well known that it was more dangerous than normal for a woman to be out at night. More likely to get caught by a man with a little bit of power under his belt. You were cutting through the alley right outside of your apartment when someone grabbed your arm.
The man yanked you back and pushed you against the wall. “Well, well, well. It’s been a while since I saw a free woman that was this gorgeous.”
His face was familiar, but you couldn’t put your finger on it. Your panicked state overrides facial recognition. “Who the fuck do you think you are? I have nothing to give you.”
He clicked his tongue, shaking his head as if you told a joke. “Let me tell you a bit about me. I fought the Bat more than you can imagine, which gives me more than enough of a right to pin you down and take what I want." His hand cupped your cheek and a finger glided across your quivering lips. "I pride myself as a man with class, so I'm going to take you home, give you a nice meal, then I'm going to shove my dick in you."
You fought against him, though he barely showed his struggle to keep you still. "You're really going to make me do this?" He rolled his eyes and reached into the briefcase-like bag around his shoulder. He pulled out a small leather collar, swiftly bringing it over your head and slipping it onto your neck.
The tightness of the collar restricted your breathing enough to stop you from struggling to save air and he wrapped the connecting leather strap around his hand. "There you go. Now you're on a leash. Happy?"
You spat at him. "No! I'm not fucking happy!"
He tugged at the leash, effectively pulling you to the black car that waited on the curb right outside of the alleyway's opening. You wondered how long he'd been preparing for this moment. How long he knew who you were.
~~
In the defense of Jonathan Crane, he did try to give you a nice dinner. The man cuffed you to a chair and made small talk as he cooked, then fed the meal to you. Of course, you refused it. Nothing could get you to accept this life, no matter how legal it was now.
His rough hands dragged you from the chair to the neatly made bed and he pushed you on your stomach, climbing on top of you.
"Don't make this harder than it needs to be, slut." He whispered hoarsely into your ear as he pulled the clothes from your body. The fabric of his pants dragged against your skin and the outline of his erection was unavoidable. "Get on your fucking hands and knees."
You had no choice but to obey, afraid of whatever he could do. Other than the obvious. He teased your opening with his leaking tip, then pushed into you without warning. His groans of pleasure drowned out the whimpers and cries coming from you.
He wasted no time in fucking you, taking what he wanted as he called it. His thrusts were hard and full of need. When was the last time he'd done something like this with someone else? Had he ever?
He wrapped the leash around his hand and pulled so that your head was up and facing the headboard. You choked, not that he showed any concern. "Bet you're used to this, huh? Leaving that club every day?"
He slapped your ass with his free hand. "Those days are over. You'll be my little housewife. Cook my meals. Wet my cock. Have my children."
He sped up, desperately chasing his high. He whimpered and laid his chest against your back, pushing himself as far as he possibly could. That's when you felt it. That overwhelming warmth inside of you that you knew could only be one thing.
"Don't think it's over now. Still have to make sure it sticks."
#jonathan crane x reader#jonathan crane#cillian murphy x reader#cillian murphy#odiesdayoff#kinktober
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Nesta being a big public Cassian stan! Like maybe he has some work thing he’s nervous about because it’s a big public speaking type of thing. He doesn’t expect her to come because she is so busy slaying her own job etc, but she surprises him! 🤗
oh this is adorable 🥹 idk if teachers actually have to do this but let’s just go with it for the sake of the story
Cassian took a deep breath as he paced in a circle, his nerves getting to him in a way he didn’t want to admit. Tonight was one of the most important presentations he’d have to give all year, and he didn’t want to fuck it up. His school needed more money from the district, and for whatever reason, his principal had suggested he be the one to give the presentation.
Cassian had been stressing about it for weeks, drafting and redrafting speeches and making sure his slides were perfect, and Nesta had been more than patient with helping him with this on top of everything else she had going on. After all that preparation, the only hiccup tonight was that she couldn’t be there to help him calm down, but he’d have to get his act together on his own.
As much as he wanted her to be there, his wife had plenty of things on her plate with her fancy lawyer job and all the usual Archeron family drama. He knew she’d wanted to be there to support him, so between that and all the nice texts she’d sent him, it would have to be enough.
Cassian continued his pacing as he tried to get a handle on his emotions. Tonight’s meeting was taking place at one of the local high schools, and he’d been shown into an empty classroom to wait until it was his turn. He hadn’t been the only teacher to give a presentation tonight, but he was one of the last ones to go, so the room had steadily emptied out until he was one of the few teachers left.
He was just about to try and make awkward small talk with one of the other guys when a familiar face opened the door, making him blink in total surprise.
“Nesta?” Cassian said, completely caught off guard at seeing his wife. As far as he’d known, she’d had some work thing herself, so he hadn’t been expecting to see her tonight. “What are you doing here?”
“Hi to you too,” Nesta replied dryly. “I can’t come support my husband?”
“I thought you had your work thing,” he responded, immediately opening his arms so she could settle underneath them. He already felt so much better having her with him, the surprise of seeing her quickly fading away in favor of reassurance at her presence.
“I got out of it,” she told him with a shrug. She wrapped her arms around him before reaching up onto her toes to give him a kiss. “You doing okay, baby?”
“Better, now that you’re here,” he answered honestly. He leaned down to steal another kiss before leaning back to look at her with a happy little smile, completely uncaring if any of the few teachers were watching them. “How did you even get back here?”
As far as Cassian knew, they weren’t letting anyone back here unless they were affiliated with the district somehow. Nesta very much wasn’t employed by the school district, so he had no clue how she’d managed to weasel her way back here, but he appreciated her doing it nonetheless.
“I used my feminine wiles,” Nesta said, completely deadpan. She waited for him to stop laughing before adding, “I actually just told the woman at the front that my husband needed me and she let me in.”
He just nodded and squeezed her tighter against him, burying his face in the top of her hair. “Thank you for coming, sweetheart. I needed this.”
“You’ve got this,” she mumbled against his chest. “You’ve been practicing for forever. You’re gonna kick ass in there, and then we can order food and take a bath after. Okay?”
“Okay,” he agreed softly.
Nesta wasn’t allowed to come with Cassian when it was his turn to present, but that was okay. She listened from outside the auditorium as he gave, according to her, the best damn presentation out of anyone, Cassian, I’m serious, and after they picked up pizza so they could relax at home. The bath was just as good as she promised, and despite being so nervous about this presentation, he managed to sleep like a baby afterwards.
When Cassian’s middle school got the extra funding they were looking for, Nesta shared the link in their big group chat with a bunch of !!!!! and other emojis. She was so proud of him that it made his heart want to burst, but he knew he couldn’t have done it without his good luck charm.
tag list: @perseusannabeth | @bookstantrash | @charming-butt-insane | @oversizedbats | @melphss | @sv0430 | @podemechamardek | @autumnbabylon | @live-the-fangirl-life | @julemmaes | @that-little-red-head | @jmoonjones | @sayosdreams | @thewayshedreamed | @hiimheresworld | @brieq | @pearlfortears | @swankii-art-teacher | @nerdperson524 | @snickerdoodlechittybangbang | @imsointobooks | @nesquik-arccheron | @sweet-pea1 | @champanheandluxxury | @dustjacketmusings | @mrs-shadowsinger04 | @unlikelypersonalknight1 | @goddess-aelin | @arinbelle | @talkfantasytome | @simpingfornestaarcheron | @duskandstarlight | @letstakethedawn | @vidalinav | @c-e-d-dreamer | @dealfea | @katekatpattywack | @burningsnowleopard
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If I don’t get my signature for bottom surgery from my psychiatrist next week before she closes her practice I’m detransitioning. I give up.
I give up trying to convince myself and the world that I’m a woman.
It’s back to the bottom of the waiting list for a psychiatrist, who may or may not be authorized to give their approval anyways, so no point holding my breath.
If I cant get her approval next week, I’m not wasting my time trying to convince whatever random quack I get paired with to approve me.
I’m done being delusional.
3.5 years on HRT and I have zero chance of ever being passable.
I realize that now.
May as well give up sooner rather than later.
Sunk cost fallacy.
Stay delusional and waste my money on HRT, or accept that I wasted everyone’s time and that someone should have talked me out of it.
My entire life was wiped out while I was treated like a criminal for showing up at at the hospital and begging for help while my mental health crumbled and I ended up homeless and had to walk away from everything I’ve ever care about.
It’s been nothing but loss and heartbreak since I came out. I can’t take it anymore. I get the hint.
My transition never even had a possibility of being successful.
All I have to do is stop taking my meds. My testosterone levels will go back up, and other than the tits, which suit the fat gut my SSRIs have gifted me quite well, everything will go back to (similar to) how it was before.
Then I can go back to being a worthless, unremarkable nobody who stupidly believed they were worthy of transitioning.
Give up on my transition the same way an entire healthcare system the same way it abandoned me when I needed it the most.
I’m not humiliating myself at ER begging for help again. I was straight up told “getting in isn’t an option for you, there’s nothing the ward can do for you anyways”.
Point taken. Glad to know I’m not worth an entire healthcare systems time.
Next time I go anywhere near a hospital, I intend to be the morgues problem, not the ERs.
The ER straight up told me they had zero intentions of lifting a finger to help me.
I’m debating even showing up for my last appointment with my psychiatrist next week.
I know I’m not getting her signature anyways.
How do I know that? Because the system has shown me that it has zero intentions of helping me or making my life better in any way whatsoever.
I’m already 4 days cold turkey off HRT anyways.
I can’t bring myself to take them anymore.
I resent being trans too much.
All the pain.
All the loss.
It hasn’t been worth it.
Any of it.
5 years of my life wasted.
3.5 years of wasted HRT.
Worst part?
I don’t even have an “old” life to go back to.
I lost everything.
I wish I’d never came out…
#personal#me#trans girl#transgender#detransition#detrans#detransitioners#i give the fuck up#tw sucidal ideation#can’t take it anymore
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—an eyebrow arches at her as she responds mimicking his tone. fingertips press lightly against her jawline as he pushes her face to the side a little, mutters a “smartass…” looks at her for a moment longer as she speaks again, then his gaze drifts back to the twins; it seems one cannot take their eyes off them for longer than two seconds (and even that is too much, at times). they sure have a lot of energy. a ghost of a smirk forms on his lips when she teases him and he glances at her; she seems to be in a good mood. sometimes he forgets that she is so young. no wonder she still is so bubbly, and energetic from time to time; it’s endearing, not that he would ever admit that. and then his attention shifts back to the scrapbook in his hands, the memories accompanying the photos that she had taken the time to put in this as a gift for him —not all the money in the world could ever be better than this. It’s like he has the chance to get a glimpse into their lives as they were growing up.
“sure…” he responds, agreeing in a nonchalant tone when she tells him how he could thank her, but the truth is he is not fond of the sea. not the sea, in particular, he is not fond of any large body of water, not after one had claimed his brother’s life. there was no fear accompanying the feeling, it was…a dislike, more like. some type of odd resentment, in a sense. perhaps his babies do like the water, and swimming; perhaps she has already shown them how to keep afloat and swim, wearing their floaties, of course. water is a treacherous thing, after all. he is still too engrossed in the gift she has given him, and only gives her a look when she messes with him again. my favorite, she says, and he already knew that she liked it too, besides his daughter. oh, alright, unicorn thing, he will remember what it's called —kinda. bur before he can say anything, she reaches out to ruffle his hair. “someone is in the mood for trouble,” it’s more like a statement, with the faintest hint of a smile tugging on the corner of his lips, and he slaps the back of her thigh as she walks away. goddamn, this woman.
their first word, he remembers, she had told him was mate; and man does he not like it when she calls him that.
after a moment of watching her walk into the sea, he moves a little closer to the twins. they have been messing with the sand, and their toys, laughing between them with whatever gibberish only these two understand. it pulls at the heartstrings though, the mere sight of them so giddy and happy with just…sand. he fixes Lilou’s hair, before getting them to get over to start building a sandcastle, so they will stop looking after where Liz went for a swim. and he, somehow, manages to distract them, gets them to gather some seashells, watching them as they hunt for pretty sea treasures, idly busying himself making a cat sand sculpture. when he notices Liz coming back, watches her for a second as she comes to sit down beside him, and hands her a towel.
⏤ Sometimes Elizabeth forgets that Alex isn't a person of words, perhaps this is why their body talked more than the words that came out from his mouth. Somehow, she knew how to use words around him to make everything sound more natural not a forced small-talk. ❛ Good. ❜ A small smile crept on her rosy lips, her tone mimicking his, then she scrunched her nose, in a funny face. ❛ Just a little tired. ❜ In reality, she is always tired. Her twins tired her. And this time it was them to blame, per usual… She didn't sleep well, so they all went to her bed, and she didn't have a comfortable position, apart from suffering insomnia. ❛ And he smiles… ❜ Liz teased him when he chuckled about the 'briefcase' comment. She watched Alex unwrapping his gift, and her eyes drifted to the twins, to see what they were up to. They are a ball of energy.
❛ You're welcome, Alex. Maybe you can thank me, by joining me in the water with them later. ❜ Elizabeth was just letting the twins get all the dirt of sand on them because she wouldn't stress about it now. ⎯ It took her a moment to gather all the twin's pictures, but she tried to do everything as if he hadn't missed any steps of their lives. She was proud of the result. ❛ Ah, the unicorn flavor? That's my favorite. She also adores this one too. ❜ She looked at Alexander and poked his waist playfully. The Aussie was kind of melting, and she took off her sunnies and removed her white shorts, only in a bikini. Upon his question… ❛ Ahhh, never. I see you finally understand why I'm always tired. ❜ She ruffles Alex's hair.
❛ Watch the kids, mate. While I go for a swim. ❜ She tells him, and makes her way towards them, talking in French by telling them in 5 minutes they'll have to join the water with her and re-touch the sunscreen. 'Mamaaaa' they both whine. ❛ Do not 'Mammaa' me. Listen to 'Daddy', while I'm out. ❜ Her last words while Alex was with his gift and well… The twins. ⏤ After a moment of cooling down on the water, she came, dripping wet literally, and went to sit on the towel, by Alex's side, and put her sunnies on. The twins remained playing with themselves.
#— the torture of small talk ;; interactions —#long post //#— elizabeth beaufort ;; interactions —#— elizabeaufort ;; —
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hopelessly devoted [1]
Pairing : Sebastian Stan x reader│regency au
Summary : When Y/N Brighton finds herself suddenly married to a strange older man, she thinks her life is completely derailed. Wha happens when she starts to get close to him?
Warnings : slow burn, age gap, fluff, a tad bit of angst, a little injury but not much Word Count : 3.6k
Notes : I'm sorry it took so long for me to get this out! I hope y'all like it! I rewrote it twice just so I could get it as perfect as I could. Constructive criticism is very much appreciated! I didn't expect to be writing a Part 2 BUT it should be up very soon :)
Also let me know if you want to be added to the taglist!
here's what I listened to while I wrote :)
find part 2 here!
As a young child, Y/N Brighton had imagined that she would have the most lavish of weddings. She had imagined walking down the aisle in the arms of her father, smiling at relatives as they watched her join her husband to be. She had hoped for a grand exchange of vows with him, ones that would leave the crowd in tears. She had even hoped for a choir to sing her in and hoped for petals to be showered on her and her beau as they left the chapel for their extravagant and much needed honeymoon. What she hadn’t imagined was this.
Y/N slowly walked down the aisle, with no one by her side. The chapel she was in was dark and the seats, instead of being filled with family, stood empty. There were no flowers in sight and the mood in the room was of sadness and melancholy. Her hands were clasped around nothing, a bouquet she had desired being absent. She quietly stood still in front of the man she was to marry, seeing but a stranger and not someone she had grown to love.
Viscount Brighton was a man of many flaws, just as any other human being. He loved to drink, he loved to smoke but most of all he loved to gamble. Many times he had won money, bringing it home to spend on his daughter and wife but many more times, he had lost and come home significantly more empty handed than he had been when he left. Viscountess Brighton had found herself one night, sitting in the seat of her husband’s desk. It felt as if smoke was steaming out of her ears as frustration built up inside of her. In front of her, there were piles of paper and in her hands she clutched the newest additions of the pile. There were bills upon bills upon bills, her eyes nearly popping out of her head as she added up the amount of money that her husband owed. What they had left in their accounts was almost nothing. Even the dowry belonging to their only daughter was gone.
She pressed the heels of her hands into her eyes, as if to stop the tears from flowing out.
“What have you done?” She seethed at her husband, who stood guilt ridden at the door of his own office.
“No w-worries dearest,” he began. “We can always sell a few things and we’ll be fine!” If looks could kill, the poor man would have been 6 feet deep in the ground.
“With the amount of money we have due, we’ll have to sell the house and everything in it!” The viscountess cried. Shaking her head, she dropped the pieces of paper on the desk and stormed out.
“How could you?” She asked once they were laying in bed. The lights were blown out as they both lay with their backs to the other. He could not answer her question. How could he? That’s the thing, he didn’t. He clutched onto the sheets of the bed as tears threatened to spill from his eyes, the guilt was beginning to feel heavy on his chest. He prayed for a miracle, he prayed for someone to come pull them out of the hole he had pushed his family into.
Y/N didn’t really know why there had been visits from a stranger to her house. She had been introduced to him briefly. His eyes were electric blue and he had a beard that was full but not too big or fluffy. His hair was a beautiful shade of brown and was always brushed to perfection. He always gave her tight lipped smiles and there was an eery feeling of pity behind each one. She couldn't help but feel attracted to him, despite him being almost the same age as her father. It was a little innocent crush. It didn’t really mean anything.
Lord Sebastian Stan was in search of a wife. He was the most eligible bachelor on the market, though he was quite older than most of the girls in age of marriage. He had never really planned to marry. He had gotten close many times but had never found the right woman to fill the seemingly gaping hole in his heart. If it hadn’t been for a trip to his native Romania, he wouldn’t have bothered to begin a search. He had gone to visit his grandmother, she was very much expecting he would finally have a maiden at his side. She had explained that if he didn’t marry, there was a possibility that his title and home would be stripped from him. He remembered how he panicked, not so much for the loss of his title but where would he go without his home? Where would he live then? It was as if fate was on his side when he had run into the hysterical Viscount Brighton. The poor man was desperate, searching for anything that would help him with the sinking boat he found himself on. Sebastian didn’t jump at the deal immediately. He couldn’t help but feel for the young girl who was essentially being sold away. But after much thought, he spoke to the older man and agreed to marry his daughter.
“Lord Stan has agreed on marrying you.” The viscount said to Y/N. It had been days after the agreement was finally settled.
“He needs a bride in order to keep his estate and seeing as how you are in the age of marriage, he has agreed to marry you even though you are without a dowry.” Her mother said, trying to be gentle with the words she said to her daughter.
Y/N simply looked at them with tears in her eyes. They had sat her down in the office where her mother had been sitting only a few nights ago.
“He said he will help the family with whatever we need in exchange for your hand in marriage.”
And that was that. Now Y/N found herself standing face to face to Sebastian as he whispered the words of I do. She watched as he stood there expressionless, staring down at the floor. His eyebrows were furrowed, as the priest recited the marital words to her. She was so caught up in his features that she almost missed her cue to agree to the marriage and echo him with the words of I do. Each slipped on a simple wedding band on their ring finger. There was a sigh of relief ringing out behind her as her family officially joined with him. Now they would not have to live out on the street, they were saved.
The ride to Sebastian’s estate was quiet. The only sound that was heard was the crunch of carriage’s wheel on the ground and the subtle sound of the pairs breathing. As she had expected, there was no celebration of the marriage after the ceremony, no shower of wedding rice or petals on them. There was only the silent signing of papers and the quiet goodbyes from her family. Here Y/N took the time to really look at him. He had a slight crease etched between his eyebrows. He had a mole on the left side of his forehead and his lashes didn’t quite curl up but still had a slight wisp to them. His eyes looked darker, they were like the deep colour of the ocean. They were a pool that, in a different circumstance, she would be more than willing to swim in.
“We don’t have to lay together,” Sebastian began, breaking the silence along with her long stare. “We each have our own rooms, so you don’t have to worry about anything. The maids will have everything ready by the time we get home.” Y/N nodded, taking in the information. Part of her knew he wouldn’t force her to consummate the wedding, he didn’t seem like that type of person but part of her still wanted the chance to sleep next to him, to get to know the person she was to spend the rest of her life with.
They soon arrived. The night was warm and the stars shone brightly above them. If they had wanted, a stroll through his vast gardens wouldn't have been a very romantic way to start the night. The mansion was lit up from the inside and Y/N couldn't help but find herself in awe of it. They had come through a gate and down a long road in order to reach the house. It had three towers with the rest of the building having been built around them. There was a grand balcony right above the main entrance. It was all very green, trees and bushes surrounding the mansion.
“Welcome Home, Lord and Lady Stan” The head housekeeper said, ushering them in from the night. Many of the staff stood on the stairs leading up to the front doors of the home. They kindly nodded at them as they slowly walked in. Y/N was shown to her room, just across the hall from Sebastian’s.
“If you need anything, don’t be scared to give us a shout.” The housekeeper told Y/N. Sebastian had followed behind, making his way to his room. He nodded politely in her direction before he slipped through his door, closing it behind him.
Y/N stood there for a second before letting out a breath she didn’t know she was holding in. She made her way into her room. It was big. Bigger than the one at her family home. The walls were a pale blue and the room had golden accents, with more variations of blue scattered around. There was a small table on one side of the room with a single armchair. On the table was the most elegant and beautiful tea set she had ever seen. When she went to grab it, it was warm. She poured herself a cup of tea and sat down. She blew on it as steam came up from the cup. She stared at the wall just above her large bed, reflecting once again on how fast the days changed.
It took her a while to acclimate. Sebastian had mostly left her to her own devices, leaving her to roam around the mansion alone. She would get lost every once in a while, asking maids to help her find her way back to her room. She wasn’t prohibited from going anywhere, Sebastian had made that clear to her. This was her home now and he wasn’t going to keep anything from her. She ate breakfast with him every morning, sitting across from him at a long dinner table. He would always mumble a quiet good morning, taking her hand and gently pressing a kiss to it. He couldn't bring himself to ever look into her eyes.
One afternoon, she stumbled upon the library. As a little girl, she would spend her time reading the day away. She never tired of the smell of old books. Her eyes widened when she pushed open the double doors of the library. She hadn't ever seen such a grand collection. There were many many rows of shelves and a flight of stairs that led to a landing where she could sit, surrounded by a few more shelves and a grand window. She spent the next hours exploring the rows, climbing high onto the ladders to reach the books on the highest shelves. She took her time, taking deep breaths and inhaling the comforting smell of the pages. She didn’t recognize many of the books, a lot of them being in Romanian or French. She delicately dragged her fingers on the spines of the books, careful when pulling them out to examine them.
She was searching the shelves for something familiar, when a book caught her eye. The title on the spine was one that she had heard of before but couldn’t quite remember what the story was about. It was high up, too high for her to reach on her own. She looked around the library, seeing if there was anyone that could help her reach the book. She sighed as she realized she was completely alone and would have to climb the ladder that was placed on a set of railings on the front of the shelves. She huffed as she hiked her dress up as much as she could, sticking her feet out to climb onto the first rung of the ladder. She grabbed on tight as she ascended higher and higher. She heaved slightly as she reached the right shelf, only to realize that the book was just barely within her reach. She frowned, trying to pull the book out with the tips of her fingers. Feeling her fingers slip slightly, she moved to the edge of the rung she stood on. A loud creek sounded through the library as she started to feel the ladder tip to the side. Finally grabbing the book, she tried to push herself back onto the ladder, only to jerk farther away from the wall. She felt her feet slip from under her, a panicked squeal coming from her lips. Her eyes squeezed shut as she waited for her body to fall and hit the ground with a painful thud.
Sebastian sat at his desk, looking through his small collection of books, in search for one in particular. His head was full of thoughts, not a single instance of silence. He had also needed time to acclimate to his new housemate. He tried his best to interact with her and to be civil but part of him felt like he was doing it all wrong. He remembered when he had first seen her, roaming her old home. He remembered the cream coloured dress she wore when her father first introduced them, before she was told of her fate. She seemed happier. He tried to make her happy but no matter what he instructed her handmaiden to give her, she still didn’t seem as joyful as she used to be.
In a way, he understood her. She was now living in a house with a strange man that she had only known for a very short time. She had left behind her family and her friends and with no official duties, she spent most of her time by herself. She was alone. He had tried to be husbandly, eating meals with her and bringing her along for strolls in the garden but still even then, she would not come out of her shell.
Over the weeks, he had grown used to hearing her steps through the halls. He had learned to enjoy the little songs she hummed when she accompanied him on walks in the garden. He had started to pick up on her small habits. She would always put her pinky finger under her glass before placing it on the table. She would tug at her left earlobe when she was in deep thought or when she was reading. He usually found himself scolding himself when he watched her walk about the mansion. He couldn’t help but feel like a villain who took any plans for her future away.
He resigned his search, deciding to make his way down to the library. He was in for a long hunt. He walked the empty halls, the only sounds being the clicks of his shoes against the stone floors. He came upon the doors of the library to find them open and saw his wife begin to climb on the many ladders in the library.
He watched as she began to shuffle to the edge of the ladder. Knowing fully well how this would end, he made his way up to her. His heart began to race as the ladder began to creak and tip. With a few long strides, he was at her side. He heard as she held her breath, waiting for the floor to come at her. He grunted as he slid under her, managing to catch her before she collided with the wooden floors.
Before this, he had never touched her before. He hadn’t really taken the time to look at her face. The skin of her bare arms felt smooth against his, the fullness of it feeling soothing. Her chest was heaving, just as his. The adrenaline was coursing fast through their veins. His eyes wandered her face, taking in each freckle and scar. He even noted the lone eyelash that lay on her cheek.
“Sebastian,” She cried, completely surprised. She pulled herself to her feet and out of his arms. She still held tightly to the book in her hand. Sebastian’s hand lingered on her shoulder, a small sign of affection. He looked over her, checking for any afflictions.
“Are you alright?” he asked her. She nodded, catching her breath. She had placed one hand on the shelf, wincing slightly. Her knuckle had bruised, hitting it on the ladder as she fell. Sebastian pulled it from the shelf, cradling it gently.
“You must be more careful,” he warned. She felt her stomach flutter as he stretched her fingers out in his hand. It almost felt like what she was doing was wrong, forbidden.
“I know, I’m sorry.” She mumbled.
“Let’s get you some ice for your hand.” He said and led her to the kitchens. It was only when he sat her down that she realized how dark it had turned outside. It was nearly nightfall. How long had she been in the library? She pulled a face when she felt the coolness of the ice hit her skin. Sebastian was kneeling in front of her, tending at her hand. She watched as he masterfully soothed her wound, even though her pain was almost gone.
“Thank you,” She told him when he looked up at her. “For everything.”
She said everything and she really meant it. Even though she didn’t have the life she expected, her family was being taken care of and that’s really what mattered. He nodded, smiling briefly before standing up. He held his hand out towards her, helping her up to her feet. They then walked up the stairs to their rooms. Stopping, Y/N turned around before opening her door.
“Sebastian” She called out to him, hand on her doorknob. He turned back to her. “Goodnight.” He smiled, his teeth coming into view.
“Goodnight, Y/N.”
They were to attend their first party together. The most elite were going to be in attendance, most of which Sebastian knew. They rode in the carriage in almost complete silence and then proceeded to walk in together. When she let go of his arm, he hadn’t exactly expected her to go to the big group of ladies that stood ion the far side of the room. It had seemed like she recognized some of the ladies waiting there. He stood at the entrance of the ballroom, watching as she interacted with them. She was laughing and smiling. Something he didn’t see often. He admired how the dress she wore clung to her frame. It was a gown he had tailored just for her, and now he couldn't seem to take his eyes off of her. Ever since the incident in the library, he couldn't get her out of his head. Something was blooming in the back of his mind. As music started to play, couples started to make their way to the dance floor.
Y/N watched as the girls from her old friend group excused themselves to dance with their husbands and fiancées. For s second, she had felt like she was still living her old life. She had caught up with her friends for a couple of minutes, the feeling of happiness returning and the sound of laughter escaping her. She wasn’t ungrateful for the grand favour Sebastian was doing in helping her family in return for her hand. She really wasn’t but she felt lonely and as her friends took their leave into the arms of their lovers, she felt the loneliness settle back into her bones. From across the room, her eyes met Sebastian’s. His eyes were more blue than ever. They sent chills down her spine. With a nod, he signalled to her. They met at the edge of the dance floor, joining the rest of the dancers. The tempo of the music was slower and the people around them were moving slowly to the same beat.
Y/N felt her breath hitch in the back of her throat as she locked eyes once again with Sebastian as they danced around each other. She couldn’t put her finger on whatever was growing in the air around them. The movements in the dance had them inches away from each other, never touching but always close. They twirled around the dance floor for what seemed like hours, narrowly missing each other. As songs came and went, Y/N found herself smiling and making jests at her distant husband. It felt like progress from where they had been just nights before.
For a single moment, time felt like it had slowed. Sebastian felt his heart race as he gave Y/N a last twirl and brought her to his chest. She looked up at him with sparkles in her eyes, a smile adorning her face. Many times he had stopped to admire her face but here under the chandelier, surrounded by music he felt like the luckiest man in the world. He felt himself lean down, just barely brushing his lips over hers. But then as quick as their moment had begun, it ended. He felt a bubble pop inside his head as he pulled away from her. Guilt had filled his mind once again as he grumbled and motioned her that it was time to leave. Y/N watched in disbelief as he stormed out of the room and out to the carriages. He had been so close and now he felt miles away.
tags: @lharrietg @carleywhittaker @tonystankschild@headheartbellarke @baebee35 @lady-loki-ren
#sebastian stan#sebastian stan imagine#sebastian stan x reader#sebastian stan smut#bucky barnes smut#bucky barnes x reader#bucky imagine
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Taking Chances Ch. 19: Lack of Communication (Wayne Gala)
AO3
Prev
The shrill ringing of her phone tugs Marinette from her sewing machine. Glancing at the caller ID, she grins widely.
“Hey Uncle Jagged.” She says, pushing her chair away from her desk. It’d been a couple weeks since she last heard from the man as his tour had really picked up at the end. It was practically back to back concerts, so that didn’t leave a lot of time for phone calls or face times.
“Little Rocker! Glad I caught you. I have an event next week and I was hoping I could drop by the bakery so you could fix a tear in one of my suits.” He says. Marinette winces. That’s what she was supposed to do. Tell Uncle Jagged about...well, everything.
“Yeah, about that…” She trails off, wishing she’d thought to tell him about the whole ‘adopted’ thing the last time she’d seen him in person. “I’m actually not in Paris right now. I’m in Gotham spending the summer with my birth father.” She says, deciding to just rip the bandaid off. There’s silence for a minute. Then two. She looks down at the phone, frowning. Did he hang up?
“You’re in Gotham?” He finally says.
“Yup.” She says, sighing. “I’m really sorry I won’t be able to fix your suit.”
“What, no, this is great! See the event is in Gotham! It’s just a bunch of rich people and- hold on. Penny!” He yells. She catches bits and pieces of their conversation, Penny agreeing wholeheartedly with whatever it is Jagged has suddenly decided. “I have a rocking idea.” He adds.
“Okay? I’m listening.” She says, glancing at the new dress she’d started that was pinned on her dress form. She was having trouble with the shape and was quickly getting frustrated with her struggles.
“You could come with! As MDC, of course. You could wear one of your designs and get known in Gotham. The event is supposed to be highly publicized. Penny thinks it’d be a good way to get known in the US. So, whatdya say?” Jagged asks, and Marinette can just tell that he’s grinning widely, can hear it in his voice. She thinks for a minute, glancing at the dress form with a new sense of determination.
“I’ll have to double check with my dad.” She says, trying to think if they had any plans for next week.
“Of course! Let me know soon, okay? Penny says she wants to start publicizing MDC’s appearance if you’re gonna come.” Jagged says. Marinette agrees before hanging up, thinking. Would her dad let her go alone? Or would he insist on coming with? She knew Gotham was dangerous, it’s why she hadn’t gone anywhere by herself despite being a hero herself. She didn’t want to risk her Miraculous falling into the wrong hands, even if the person didn’t realize what they had. Making up her mind, she sets off to find her dad and ask about the event. She still wasn’t quite sure what it was, just that there would be plenty of big names and plenty of journalists- the perfect opportunity to build up a clientele outside of France. Checking his study first, she’s unsurprised to see he’s not there. Knowing chances were good that he was in the cave, she pulls a domino mask out of her purse. Her dad had asked her a couple days ago to wear one in the cave just in case they had unexpected visitors. Kinda like how her and Chat Noir had shown up unexpectedly that one time. Complete accident. Changing the time on the clock, she presses the button that opens the entrance, sliding in and walking through the passage. Glancing into the cave, she grins when she sees her dad, in costume, sitting at the computer.
“Hey B!” She says, knowing not to call him Dad while he was in the cowl. Something about it making him seem less intimidating, or something.
“Ladybird.” He nods. She frowns, glancing at the computer screen and wincing when she sees Superman on screen.
“Sorry, I didn’t know you were busy.” She apologizes, waving awkwardly at the man on the screen. He quirks an eyebrow.
“Hello. Ladybird, was it?” He asks and she nods.
“Er, yeah. Ladybird. Nice to meet you.” She says, rocking back and forth on her heels, eyes darting around the cave. Maybe she should just leave and ask later.
“Is everything alright?” Her dad asks, obviously confused at her presence in the cave. Not that she wasn’t allowed, she just didn’t spend a lot of time there.
“I was just wondering if I could go to an event next week with my Uncle.” She says, trying to stay vague. He’s silent for a moment before nodding.
“We can discuss details later, but that should be fine.” He says. Marinette grins, bouncing up and down in excitement.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” She cheers, resisting the urge to hug him. “Bye Mr. Superman!” She adds, waving before running back through the passage to work on her dress some more. This was going to be amazing!
---
Penny had picked Marinette up early the morning of the Gala. She still wasn’t sure what it was for, but that didn’t bother her. She was just excited that she had finally finished her newest dress in time for the Gala. Penny had insisted on her coming over early so that she could help Marinette do her hair and makeup, which she was thankful for. Selina apparently had something to do tonight and couldn’t help her, and she would’ve definitely been her first choice. Smiling down at her dress, Marinette looks at Penny with a grin.
“Could you take a picture for me without my face covering so I can show my parents later?” She asks. Penny nods, smiling back.
“That dress is amazing, Marinette. Truly one of your best designs.” She says. Marinette blushes at the compliment before smiling at the camera. She thanks Penny and takes her phone back, sending the picture to her Maman and Papa as well as her dad and Selina. She was extremely proud of the dress and wanted them to see her in it before she added her ‘disguise’ to protect her identity.
“Hey, Aunt Penny?” Marinette says, looking up at the woman. Penny hums, putting on lipstick. “What is the event for? All Jagged said was that it’s a Gala.” She says, Penny huffs.
“Of course that man didn’t give you any other information. Honestly, sometimes- you agreed without knowing what the event was?” She says, eyebrows raised. Marinette shrugs.
“Uncle Jagged said that it’d be fun. I trust him.” She says. Penny sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose.
“Remind me to read any contracts before you sign them, okay sweetie?” She says. Marinette nods and Penny smiles. “Good. Anyway, it’s a Wayne Gala. The family hosts several every year to help raise money for the Wayne foundation.” Penny says and Marinette freezes. Wayne Gala? As in, her father? Her family? Were they really having a Gala tonight without telling her? Or inviting her? Were they….were they embarrassed by her?
“Like, Bruce Wayne?” Marinette manages to ask, trying hard to ignore the way her heart breaks when Penny nods. That was why Selina couldn’t help her. She had to get ready for the Gala. And if she had to guess, the rest of her family was also going. What would they have done with her if she hadn’t had plans? Would they have told her then? Or would they have acted like nothing was happening. Where even was the Gala? Oh my god. It was at the Manor, wasn’t it. The thought strikes her and she winces, giving Penny a small, tense smile.
“Are you okay?” She asks, obviously concerned. Marinette nods sharply.
“Yes, one last question. Where is it?” She asks. Penny frowns, obviously not believing that Marinette was okay, but luckily not pushing it.
“Wayne Manor. The Galas are the only time the manor is opened to other celebrities. The family is usually very private.” Penny says. Marinette huffs out a puff of air, working hard to ignore the hurt in her chest. The feeling that she wasn’t enough. That they didn’t need her. Suddenly, she wasn’t excited anymore. She really wished she would have asked Jagged for more details last week, because now she was stuck going. And it was going to suck.
---
Feeling confident in her design and disguise, Marinette walks through the wall of journalists with Penny and Jagged at her sides. She was working hard to push down the intrusive thoughts that were threatening to take over. Instead, she tried to focus on the questions being called out by the journalists.
“Jagged! Jagged Stone, is this really MDC?” One of them asks. Jagged immediately stopping and shooting the reporter a wide smile.
“Of course it is! She designed all three of these outfits.” He says, gesturing between the trio. “Isn’t she rocking!”
“MDC, why did you pick the Wayne gala to make your first public appearance?” Another journalist asks. Marinette turns to Penny, trusting her to answer the question. They’d agreed before leaving the car that it was best if Marinette didn’t speak directly to any journalists. It would make it easier for them to place her age and where she’s from, given her accent.
“She was in the area and Mr. Stone insisted his favorite designer needed a chance to flaunt her skills in America.” Penny says, flashing the journalist a wide smile before gently pushing Marinette along down the line of journalists. Marinette nods to the man who’d asked the question before following Jagged and Penny closely, her stomach churning as they walk up the front steps of the manor. Of the place she’d been living since summer started. Where apparently they didn’t care to tell her about one of the biggest family events of the year. No big deal. She thought they were accepting her, that they were all getting closer. But maybe not. Her dad not telling her didn’t hurt nearly as much as her brothers not telling her. That felt like a knife in her chest. Trying hard to move gracefully instead of tensely, she follows Jagged into the manor and into the ballroom. Her jaw clenches as she spots her family across the room.
“Mr. Stone, I’m Clark Kent. Nice to meet you.” A man with a notebook and camera says, walking over and extending a hand. Marinette narrows her eyes. She thought the journalists were supposed to stay outside. And this man looked oddly familiar….
“Rocking meeting you man! You a journalist?” He asks, his calculating look hidden by a wide grin. Mr. Kent chuckles.
“Yes, sorry for being so forward. Mr. Wayne and I are friends, so he lets my wife and I have an exclusive pass to come inside the Galas.” He says, glancing at Marinette over his glasses. She watches as his eyes widen slightly before he schools his features back into a neutral expression.
“That’s pretty rock n roll of him!” Jagged says, clapping Mr. Kent on the shoulder.
“It is. Pardon me, but are you MDC?” He asks, turning to look at Marinette once again. She glances at Penny, shaking her head to let her know that she’ll speak for herself for this one. As upset as she was with her dad, he obviously trusted this man. So she would as well.
“I am. Pleasure to meet you, Monsieur Kent.” She says, extending her hand. He smiles, shaking her hand.
“And you, ma’am. I must say, I was not expecting to see you here. I was under the impression that in person events weren’t your forte.” He says, clearly fishing for something. She knew how journalists worked, she’d seen Alya at work enough times to understand that the man in front of her was looking for a story. One she wouldn’t be giving, no matter how much her father trusted the man.
“I like to occasionally surprise people.” She says, waving her hand in a noncommittal way. “Keep them on their toes.”
“I can respect that. Well, I’ll let you all get back to your evening. Nice to meet you all.” He says. She nods back at him, not missing the way he immediately darts off to her dad. She watches as the two start talking, a surprised look on her dad’s face before he turns and sees her. She knows he recognizes the dress. Knows that he knows as well who is underneath the veil. She turns, deciding to ignore him. He didn’t want her here, fine. She’d make sure she stayed out of his way.
---
Clark Kent was confused. He’d known that Bruce must have another kid, adopted in some way. He didn’t just work with random vigilantes, especially not in his city. So knowing that Gotham had a new vigilante named Ladybird, he put two and two together. Didn’t take the world’s greatest detective. But what was confusing was the fact that no new faces showed up with the Waynes as they walked into the ballroom for the Gala. Making a note to ask him about it later, Clark makes his way around the room, talking to familiar faces and names, writing things down that would help the story he was being forced to write on the Gala. These events were not his favorite to cover, hardly anything ever happened. Until he heard the commotion outside, other journalists calling out to MDC. He blinks in surprise. MDC had never made a public appearance before. This was an odd one to choose. Preparing himself to confront the designer, he’s surprised as she walks in behind Jagged Stone. He’s even more surprised when he realizes she had to be a teenager. He chats with the girl and Jagged, glancing down at her over the top of his glasses, shock immediately flooding him. The girl had injuries. Hundreds of them. Bones fused back together haphazardly. Quickly excusing himself, he rushes over to Bruce.
“Do you know who MDC is? Because that girl is definitely younger than Tim. And she has hundreds of injuries, Bruce. Hundreds.” He says quietly, watching as Bruce turns and glances at the girl, his eyes widening slightly.
“Shit.” He mutters.
“What?” Clark asks, trying to figure out if he should also be concerned. Bruce smiles, but it's tense.
“That is my daughter.” He says. Clark blinks.
“That’s the new one? Why didn’t she show up with the rest of the family?” He asks.
“I knew she had plans for tonight, so I didn’t tell her about the Gala. I was going to warn her about it, if she didn’t have plans. So she knew to stay in her room.” Bruce explains. Clark frowns.
“You were going to keep her locked up?” He asks incredulously. Not even the least social Wayne was kept locked away for the Galas.
“Of course not. It’s just- she hasn’t said she wants to be announced yet. She hasn’t even said anything about being MDC because she hates the spotlight. I couldn’t just throw her to the sharks. I’m just trying to do what’s best for her.” Bruce says, standing up straighter. Clark sighs.
“Did you actually talk to her about it? Or did you just assume?” He asks, Bruce huffs.
“I think I know my daughter a little more than you do, Kent.” He says.
“Really? Because from here it sounds like she’s about two breaths away from a panic attack. And Penny Rolling keeps reassuring her that they don’t have to stay long. Oh- and now she’s apologizing for not telling her it was a Wayne Gala until today, but she’s also clearly confused as to why it’s upsetting her. And now-”
“Okay, I get it.” Bruce snaps, cutting him off. Clark raises an eyebrow.
“I’m not sure what happened, but you should fix this.” He says with a pointed look before walking away. God knows the Bats all need a push in the right direction every now and again.
---
Jason frowns as he looks around the room for Marinette. He knew that she hadn’t come with the family, B hadn’t explained that one. But he had heard that MDC was there. And he wanted to talk to her, make sure she was doing okay. These things were annoying as hell and he knew he wouldn’t get through it if he didn’t have his brothers (even if they were little shits). He finally spots her near a wall, clearly trying to disappear. He grins widely, walking over and grinning at her.
“Well, MDC, fancy seeing you here.” He teases with a wink. He watches her for some kind of reaction, frowning when he doesn’t get one. “Pix?” He says, softer this time as he looks at his baby sister.
“Oh, that’s right, I wasn’t supposed to be here, was I? Well, sorry to disappoint.” She snaps bitterly. Jason flinches back, surprised at her tone.
“What’re you talking about?” He asks, eyebrows furrowed. Why did she sound so hurt? Why did she think they didn’t want her there?
“Clearly I’m not as much of the family as I thought I was.” She hisses under her breath. He starts to deny that, but she cuts him off with a humorless laugh. “Bruce didn’t even tell me that there was a Gala. None of you did either. A Wayne family Gala and I wasn’t told. I should’ve known better.” She says, turning to walk away. He grabs her wrist gently, stopping her.
“I promise you, we want you here. Dick, Damian, Tim, me- we all want you here. I can’t speak for B, I’ll definitely be having words with the son of a bitch later, but we want you here.” He says, frowning as he listens to her sniffle under her veil. “Pixie, we thought you knew. He told us you weren’t ready to come to this. I swear to you, we would have told you if we knew. I swear.” He adds. His heart breaks as he hears a hiccupped sob break free from her. He wants nothing more than to wrap his baby sister in a hug, but he knows he can’t. Media’d have a field day.
“Really?” She asks in a small voice. Jason nods.
“Hell yeah Pix. Tell ya what, I’m gonna go get the others and then we’re all gonna sneak out. Take one of the old man’s cars and get some garbage fast food. Who needs this lameass party anyway.” He says, hoping she’ll agree. He’ll let himself be mad at Bruce later. And boy was he gonna be mad. The old man had really fucked up this time. It was one thing to ask Mari to not go to the Gala, or to think she wasn’t ready for it. It was a completely other thing to not even give her the chance to decide, or tell her at all. Cause now she was hurt and thinking everyone hated her. Well, he wasn’t gonna let that happen. Not on his watch.
“Lemme just go tell Jagged and Penny real quick.��� She agrees, scurrying off. The second she walks away Jason lets his smile drop into a scowl. That son of a bitch. Storming over to his brothers, he tugs them over to the wall. Better not to let B get word of where they’re going.
“What is the meaning of this?” Damian asks with a scowl.
“Pixie’s gonna tell her Aunt and Uncle that she’s leaving and then we’re stealing one of B’s cars to go to McDonalds.” He says simply. Tim frowns.
“And we’re doing this because?” He prompts.
“Because B apparently didn’t tell the kid about the Gala. And she assumed we knew, and that we all hate her.” Jason explains with a frown.
“Father said she didn’t want to attend.” Damian says, and Jason huffs.
“Yeah, well apparently he lied. She had no clue that the event she was going to as MDC was a Wayne Gala.” He says.
“I’ll go get the car and pull it up front.” Dick says, a determined look on his face. Sometimes his ‘we’re a family and we stick together’ shit annoyed the hell outta Jason, but he was thankful for it today.
“I’m gonna go grab Selina’s coat for her to put on. I saw her dress, and if any MDC fan sees her leaving with us it’s gonna start a media circus.” Tim says, walking away to the coat room. Jason sighs, watching Marinette from across the room. A cleared throat beside him tugs his attention back to his youngest brother.
“What?” He asks, pushing his frustration down. He’d go shoot something later, but right now he was determined to not take his frustration at Bruce out on his siblings.
“Why would Father intentionally keep her from the Gala? She is far more adept at social interaction than I am.” Damian says with a frown. Jason sighs, shrugging.
“No clue. But I’m not about to let her push herself away from the rest of us just because B fucked up.” He says, watching as she walks over to the wall, almost disappearing in the shadows. He nods towards her, making sure Damian follows. The second Tim has Selina’s coat, their small group is off, sneaking out one of the side doors and walking past the journalists, sprinting to Dick and the waiting car. They all jump in and she tears the veil off her face, making Jason wince slightly at her red, puffy eyes. Dick slams on the gas, eliciting a curse from Jason and a squeal of surprise from Marinette.
“So! We broke out of that stuffy party. Where are we headed?” Dick asks, glancing in the rearview mirror to make eye contact with Jason. Jason grins.
“We go get a shit ton of junk food from McDonalds and eat it in the car. Give it the old, fast food smell that B loves oh so much.” He says. Marinette snorts, and Jason grins at her. He’d give B hell later, but for now, he was going to enjoy spending time with his siblings.
---
Bruce frowns as he glances around the Gala, not seeing his daughter. Or any of his other children. He made a mental note to talk to them later. Perhaps keeping the Gala from Marinette wasn’t his best decision.
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Part 1 Here! / Part 2 Here! / Part 3 Here! / Part 4 Here! / Part 5 Here! / Part 6 Here! / Part 7 Here! / Part 8 Here! / Part 9 Here! / Part 10 Here! / Part 11 Here! / Part 12 Here! / Part 13 Here! / Part 14 Here!
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* “Everyone in school thought you were dead.”
* Jessica says bluntly as you walk down the pink streamer filled hallway
* you offer her a fake yawn and a smile.
* “My dad came by for a surprise visit.” She looks confused before her expression smooths
* “Oh your real dad, not Carlisle”
* Carlisle contacted his counterpart, Eleazer to tell him you were running away with a man 300 years your senior
* So of course Eleazer came running -after he probably had a spat with Carmen about who would handle this situation better- to Forks on the first flight he found
* Only to burst through the door to see you and Emmett playing kingdom hearts in the living room
* “Oh, I see the rumors have been vastly exaggerated.”
* Cue -figuratively- sweating Carlisle who takes a sip from his mug
* Since he was already here you figured you would take a few days off from school and show him around
* “Is there anything in particular you might want to see?”
* Edward and Carlisle are looking pretty smug thinking that they’ve already shown you everything of note in the area.
* “I’ve always wanted to see the space needle in Seattle.”
* They both falter when they hear that. All the things they’ve shown you are things humans wouldn’t be able to see, hidden meadows, waterfalls, underwater caverns
* They never thought to show you human landmarks. Eleazer nods a growing smile on his face
* “Seattle has a lot of museums that I’ve wanted to visit as well”
* Carlisle let’s out a sigh of relief, none of his kids would be caught dead at a museum outside of a field trip
* To their dismay and Eleazer’s delight your eyes sparkle
* “Can we go to the pop culture museum and the arboretum too?”
* You don’t even pack, Eleazer tells you you can just buy whatever you need when you get there. You do take a duffel bag full of blood bags though
* And then you’re gone, you leave care instructions for your animals with Edward and you and Eleazer drive off towards Seattle in the rented Mercedes he got at the airport
* “Is it just me... or do they look happier with Eleazer than they are with us.” Edward’s only talking to himself, but Carlisle hears and the oncoming doting parent verbal and mental sputter makes him regret saying anything at all
* “it’s okay Carlisle, I’m sure they’re happy here with us too.”
* You guys stay at a pretty upscale hotel downtown, in the penthouse
* “Are you here on a trip with your boyfriend?” The receptionist asks, and Eleazar straight up starts laughing
* “This is my dad.” You say with a straight face and you can tell the receptionist wants to die
* “I-I’m so sorry, we usually get couples this time of year.” Right, it’s almost Valentine’s Day. Makes sense.
* Still there’s something super gross about people thinking you’re romantically linked to Eleazer
* The penthouse is very nice. There’s an infinity pool on your balcony, and three different bedrooms.
* The trip is really fun, you have a -pretend- meal at the revolving restraint at the needle, and spend the rest of the week museum hopping
* “She feels so familiar....” you mumble to yourself as you gaze at a portrait of a woman with long dark hair
* “That’s Carmen” Eleazer tells you
* “What?!?”
* “She was popular with artists even before she turned, it’s always been a hobby of hers to model” You’re just glad it’s not a nude portrait
* You take super cheesy pictures at the natural history museum, and even better pics at the pop culture museum
* On one of your last nights in the city Eleazer took you to a laundromat
* “I know we’ve been running out of clothes, but I’m sure the hotel has a laundry service”
* Eleazer just grins, talking to the attendant, who takes him to a hidden door.
* Well this isn’t sketchy at all
* Eleazer takes your hand in his as he leads you down a long narrow hallway. When you teach the end there’s a pretty nice bar and what appears to be a jazz club
* “It’s a speakeasy, I thought it might be a little fun for our last day”
* Being beautiful has its perks because the waiter doesn’t even card you, just brings you your dink
* “So...Garrett huh?” You groan, and Eleazer smiles
* You knew this was coming
* “Don’t worry, I’m not like Carlisle, if you like someone I like them too.”
* Well at least he isn’t acting like a total freak about the whole thing
* “I am surprised someone like Garrett is more your flavor though” you raise an eyebrow.
* “In comparison to who?” Eleazer gives you a funny look
* “Edward of course”
* You almost spit out your drink
* “Oh, is this one of those situations where the three of you are a couple together?”
* You start coughing and the waiter brings you a glass of water
* “We’re not together!”
* “Well of course you and Garrett aren’t together yet-“
* “Edward and I aren’t dating.”
* Eleazer just looks at you like you told him you’re pregnant
* “That can’t be right” he mumbles and you sigh
* “Why would you think we were dating?” The jazz singer belts out a high note and Eleazer patiently waits for her to be done so he can talk again
* “Well you went with them to Forks, and when you came to visit last year with him we all just figured it had happened naturally”
* Besides, Eleazer see’s the way he looks at you.
* Like you’re the epitome of your gender, like there’s never been anyone like you and there never will be again
* “We all? The entire coven thinks that?” Your fingers thread through your hair.
* What does Tanya think about that? She must be feeling pretty smug what with that talk she gave you all those years ago about how you would eventually date Edward
* Edward probably knows and just doesn’t even care, the criminal probably thinks it’s funny
* Eleazar watches you have a breakdown, taking a small sip of his brandy. It looks like you haven’t realized the way you look at Edward yet
* You look at him like you don’t have a single doubt. You trust him unconditionally, you know exactly who he is and where he will be.
* You look at him like he’s home
* “This is so embarrassing” you mumble and Eleazer smiles
* He guesses it’s not time yet for you to realize your feelings. Maybe it’s for the best, he’s not as bad as Carlisle, but the thought of giving you away at your wedding makes his heart ache.
* “The best cure for embarrassment is alcohol, drink up.” He grins when you clink your glass against his before gulping down the contents of your drink.
* Who knows, maybe in a few years someone completely different will show up and sweep you off your feet.
* You do talk about something really important with Eleazer though
* “Eleazer when do you think Aro will send for me?”
* Eleazer stops mid motion, his glass halted halfway between the table and his mouth
* “If I’m being honest, I don’t think he will for many years” Eleazer has an awkward expression on his face. “I think he’s afraid of you”
* You sputter
* The great and powerful Aro?! Alive for 1000’s of years. AFRAID OF YOU?!?
* “Oh don’t look at me like that, try and think about it from his perspective.”
* Your power is on par with Janes, but unlike her over the decade you’ve been a vampire your power has only gotten stronger. Your body’s natural despair and your desire to be human feed off of each other, compounding on each other to make your power that much more potent
* The only difference is that now you’ve learned to hide it, keeping your emotions in check so others aren’t hurt
* There isn’t a person alive that stands a chance against you at your full potential. You’re the strongest known vampire
* “Chelsea can’t bind you to coven with her loyalty like she does the others,” Eleazer takes a sip of his drink. “his only choice is to let you come back on your own volition, otherwise he risks a war.”
* A war he wouldn’t win, on your own it was dicey, all of them against just you could go either way
* But you weren’t alone anymore, now you have Tanya, Kate, Irina, Carmen, Eleazer
* And Edward. You know without a second thought Edward would follow you into hell if you asked.
* “Saving any discovery of remarkable talent”
* A discovery like Bella
* You’re not 100% certain, but you’re pretty sure your powers don’t work on Bella, the same way Edward, Jane and Alec’s powers won’t work on her
* And if she can really spread her shield to others-
* You’re f*cked
* “but the chances of that are slim to none.” Eleazer reassures you
* You give him a reassuring smile
* “Salud” you raise you glass and he smiles
* “Salud” he grins as your glass clinks
* You weren’t expecting the week to go by so fast, or to be having as much fun as you did.
* You were pretty sad when the end of the week rolled around and Eleazer dropped you off home
* “He’ll be back before you know it” Edward says, his arm over your shoulders, giving your arm a comforting squeeze
* “Yeah I know, it still feels bad though”
* Edward doesn’t say anything, he just holds you a little closer
* You’re thankful to the Cullen’s for taking you in and giving you an opportunity you might not have had otherwise
* But they’re not your coven, they’re not really your family
* And so now you’re here, walking in a bright pink and red construction paper covered hallway next to Jessica who’s talking about Valentine’s Day
* Ah right, today’s Valentine’s Day
* “Do you think maybe...Mike bought me a carnation?” She asks twirling a strand of hair around her finger
* “I’m sure he did”
* You’re actually sure he bought one for Bella, but you’re hoping the courtesy extends to the whole friend group
* You bought all your friends valentines, and that includes the Cullen’s and everyone on the cheer team
* The money wasn’t the worst part, they were only a dollar each, the worst part was having to write notes for all of them, it wouldn’t have been so bad if the girl at the table wasn’t giving you a dirty look as you pretended to struggle through writing 30 cards
* “How much do you want to bet Bella gets the most flowers out of all of us?”
* You would bet the entire contents of your bank account, but you’re pretty sure Jess can’t match your bet
* “Well, she’s something new to look at, and boys are dumb”
* Jessica blows a strand of hair out of her face. You know she’s probably a bit bitter since she’s started to notice Mike is interested in Bella and not her
* But you kind of get it
* Bella’s cute, but she’s no Cindy Crawford. And to add...she’s really shy, not exactly someone with a charismatic personality.
* The attention she’s garnered will fade in due time, Edward had told you as much
* “It’s the same thing as when we moved to town, most of these kids have gone to school together since childhood, so when someone new gets here it’s all they can think about. They don’t really like her, they just like the idea of her. The illusion of a choice”
* It made you a little sad to be honest, even worse was that Bella didn’t seem to enjoy the attention. She seemed uncomfortable every time a boy flirted with her
* “I almost feel bad for her, I get the feeling she’s not really into any of these guys that are chasing her” Jessica says, so you’re not the only one that’s noticed
* You’re a little surprised that when the student comes by with carnations you get two entire bouquets worth
* And then they come back the next period and give you another bouquet
* “Oooo someone’s popular!” Angela teases and you shrug. Most of these are from Alice and Rosalie, they each bought you three each
* You got a whopping 12 from Conner which feels a bit surprising
* You knew he was going after it, but you didn’t think he would bother to actually put any effort into his attraction outside of flirting with you
* You’ve got one from everyone in your friend group, a handful from others on the cheer team, Emmett and Jasper both bought you one
* The only person who didn’t get you one was Edward
* You wonder if he got Bella one? The thought seems unlikely since they were basically at each others throat the last time they were together
* So imagine your surprise when you walk into the hall to see Bella and Edward talking
* You’re gone for a week and it’s like they’re suddenly insta-friends
* In fact, Bella’s actually blushing, a carnation twirling between her fingers
* A light red carnation
* So he did buy carnations after all, just not for you
* And Edward...his eyes are sparkling as he looks down at her. A lopsided grin curling onto his face
* Oh, there’s that smile
* He says something to her and she pouts, slapping him lightly with the carnation
* They’re getting along just fine without your matchmaking efforts
* So you were the problem
* You should be happy, relieved even-
* But all you can feel is the sharp twist in the bottom of your stomach
* “Hey (Y/N/N), I see you got my flowers”
* You turn around to see Conner who’s looking at your half zipped bag, 3 bouquets of flowers popping out of the top
* “Oh, yeah thanks they’re beautiful.”
* “I’m glad you got them, I noticed you weren’t at school and for a second I was worried you wouldn’t be here today too.”
* He really is cute. He’s got chocolate brown hair and clear blue eyes, a splatter of freckles across the bridge of his nose. He plays tennis or baseball or some other irrelevant sport.
* He’s popular with the girls too, he dated Lauren a few times, and Jessica admitted she had a crush on him freshman year.
* “Are you feeling better now?” He asks, he looks genuinely concerned and it takes you back a bit
* “Yeah, my dad came for a surprise visit so we went to Seattle”
* “Oh that’s cool, what did you guys do?”
* You’re a little surprised that Conner O’Malley, f*ckboy extraordinaire, is Trying to engage you in an honest conversation
* “We just did all the tourist stuff, space needle, museums, food, the usual.”
* Conner smiles at you, hands fidgeting together
* “That’s cool, did you um-did you read the note with the bouquet?
* You didn’t notice there was a note, you swing you backpack around, picking out his bright red bouquet with ease.
* You hadn’t paid attention to the note attached than reading the name on the front to see who they were from.
* “Will you be my valentine” you read the note out loud, feeling confused. What does that mean
* He fidgets in front of you, from here you can see his ears are bright red
* “So would you want to go out sometime?”
* He’s asking you out? On a proper date????
* “We could go watch a movie, or um I know you like to ride those bikes in Port A-“ you do like to ride those bikes in port a
* You watch the his human boy fumble over himself. There’s no future with this boy, one day he’ll grow old and want things you won’t be able to give him.
* “I have a ton of homework to catch up on-“
* “Oh, yeah no, I get that”
* But maybe... maybe it’s okay just to pretend and let yourself be entertained by the experience
* “Would you want to come with me to the library? I’m totally lost on Trig”
* You know it’s not the most romantic place, but that’s part of the reason you suggested it. You want to give him an out
* He looks a little surprised but recovers quickly.
* “I’ll meet you after school then, we can drive to the library together”
* You don’t bother telling Edward, you just look to the spot where he’s with Bella, he must have heard
* His eyes meet yours, his mouth pinches into a slight smile and he gives you a nod before turning back to Bella
* What so just because he’s got a new friend you’re invisible now?
* Stupid Edward. Not like you care, you just wanted him to know he’d have to ride home with the others
* Maybe his new best friend Bella can give him a ride home
* “So you’re going out with Conner tonight huh?” Mike asks when you take your seat in biology
* Edward doesn’t so much as spare you a glance
* “He’s just helping me catch up on school work.” You shrug, pulling out your biology homework
* “I bet he’ll help you catch up on-“
* “You’re going out with Conner?” Bella interrupts, you’re grateful for it but at the same time: those doe eyes and innocent face irritate you
* “He’s just helping me catch up on homework I missed”
* “Couldn’t Edward hell you do that?”
* You try to not look at Edward
* But what the f*ck?!?
* Last week the two of them couldn’t even sit in a car together for a short ten minute drive, and now all of a sudden she’s asking why you’re NOT spending time with Edward?
* It’s so... irritating
* You feel a tap on your arm, and turn to look at Edward
* “Control yourself”
* Oh great so the one time he decides to acknowledge your presence is to tell you to control your powers because he’s worried about his little human girlfriend getting the whiplash?!?
* Seriously, f*ck off Edward
* “Mr. Barnes I have to go to the nurse.”
* You don’t even wait to hear his answer, you just grab your bag and walk out
* You keep walking, practically fuming until you get to the parking lot
* Well you can’t leave, you already told Conner you’re going with him to the library after school
* Not to add it’s going to look real weird if you don’t go the nurses office eventually after storming off like that
* But you don’t want to go there yet
* Queue you discretely crouching under a window, lightly tapping the glass
* “Rosalie, Rosalie can you hear me?” You whisper
* Rosalie head turns to the window, her eyebrows threaded together, you poke your head just slightly above the ledge and give her a small smile and a wave
* Well at least it’s always interesting with you around
* “What are you doing?” Rosalie asks when she meets you under the school staircase
* You give her a nervous smile before collapsing onto the floor
* She gives you a knowing look before sitting beside you
* “So what did king Brood do now?”
* Queue the Edward rant
* “I leave for one week and all of a sudden he’s besties with some human, when just last week he told me not to get to close to her”
* “That’s Edward for you, king of the brood and hypocrisy.” Rosalie leans her head back against the wall
* “You know he didn’t even get me a carnation?”
* Rosalie rolls her eyes
* “That sounds like him, if it helps he didn’t buy me a carnation either, he just doesn’t think things like this are important”
* “He bought Bella one.”
* Rosalie sputters at that, so you retell her all about the flirting you had to watch
* “What color was the carnation?” Rosalie asks, and your eyebrows thread together
* Why is that important right now?
* “Um I don’t know, not quite pink, not quite red, something in between.”
* Rosalie’s expression smooths
* So that’s his game
* “Don’t worry about it too much as long as it’s not a deep red it doesn’t mean love”
* Now it’s your turn to sputter
* “W-what why would I be worried? Edward can do whatever he wants, even if it is with some human”
* Rosalie gives you a knowing look, and you avert your eyes
* If Rosalie were cruel she might ask why you’re sitting out here with her instead of in class, if you don’t care about what Edward does
* But Rosalie isn’t cruel, at least not to you
* She pats your shoulder, and you sigh
* “Come on let’s go to the nurse so you can pretend you have cramps or something” you nod
* “Besides don’t you have a date with the hottest human boy at our school?” You groan and a teasing smile curls onto her lips
* “Not you too.”
* The date is over hyped for sure, it’s mostly you and Conner sitting at the end of a small table asking each other questions about the trig homework
* “So...are you supposed to use the radical formula for this one?”
* “I think so..do you remember the formula?” Conner scratches his head
* “Um I remember there was a story about a mixed up guy going to a party that’s supposed to help”
* Basically it’s more like you’re helping Conner with home work than him helping you Totally underwhelming
* “Sorry, I bet there are better ways to spend your Valentine’s Day” Conner scoffs
* “Are you kidding? I’m spending it with the hottest person at Forks HS, as far as I’m concerned this is a win” he grins and you smile back
* Well, it wasn’t completely a waste
* You roll around back home around 11:30, everyone’s gone, on with their own Valentine’s Day plans.
* You’re not surprised to see Edward’s not in his room either He’s probably out watching Bella or doing god knows what
* You know this is the way it supposed to be, it’s the best thing for you too, you know even with Bella in the mix Edward would never betray you
* Once she’s on your side you don’t have to worry about the Volturi. But still, there a twist in your stomach You don’t like this new Edward, even if it is who he really is.
* You want your Edward back
* You sigh as you walk down the hall and into your room Stopping in the doorway when you flick on the lights
* There on your desk is a bouquet of roses
* You have half a mind to think they’re from Eleazer or Garrett or something
* So imagine when you pull off the card to see Edward’s name attached
* “Glad to have you home, happy Valentine’s Day” - Edward
* You toy with the card, a small smile curling onto your lips
* Maybe he’s still your Edward
* Your Edward just more anti-social
Tags: @moonlights27 @thebluetint @the100thtwilight @awesomebooklover17 @oneofthepotterheads @smileygirl08 @imdoingathingmom @iconicgguk @yrawn @alyciaswhore @little-horror-show @wicked-watering-can @lazydreamers @ xxxmuxxx @ideas-for-you-to-adopt @poisoinedhope @maryleigh8796 @moose-squirrel-asstiel @hotmessgoodness @jaimewho @corabmarie @what-am-i-doing10
#twilight#twilight imagines#twilight reader insert#twilight headcanons#waking up in twilight#edward cullen headcanon#edward cullen x reader#edward cullen imagine#edward cullen#Conner twilight imagine#Conner x reader#Edward Cullen x bella swan#Volturi imagine#superhero—imagines
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🔥You Are Human, And Damn It, You Are An Important One!🔥
A/N: Hey everyone! I’m back! It looks like my tags finally decided to sort themselves out so I wanted to (finally) post a new story! I’m still working on requests though, so don’t worry, those are coming soon! I just wanted to post this in the mean time while I edit those and test if my tags are really fixed on one of my originals so that any requested fics will actually be seen later should an error occur. Thank you so much for your continued support and patience, you guys are so amazing! I hope this makes up for my temporary hiatus! This one actually has a bit of a heavier tone to it but I think I’m finally happy with it! Thanks again for the support, and don’t be afraid to talk to me! Shoot me a message or just spew random bullshit and I’ll still respond 😂. Enjoy!
(Warning: themes of non-con & abuse. This is set in a brothel, but there’s nothing explicit, it’s just mentioned or implied. Just wanted to put it out there! Viewer discretion advised!)
🐉Song Recommendation: “The Gardener” By: Sarah Sparks 🐉
Word Count: ~7k
~~~
It was that time of year. The time of year that Levi hated the most. The Underground Market Festival. It was the time of year in which merchants from all around would come down to the Underground City, away from the prying eyes of the Military Police, and sell anything and everything to the nobles who weren’t exactly looking for orthodox materials. The normally filthy, mostly empty streets would be filled with members of the wealthy, dripping in jewelry, cash, and lavish clothing as they paraded around the sorry excuse for a city, boasting of their wealth and privilege as they bought enough food and luxurious goods to feed three times the number of people in the Underground while sharing none of it.
The days were starting to blur together. Levi honestly couldn’t tell if it had been a day, a week, or a month as the drugs in his system continued to work just like the brothel owners wanted them to, rendering him practically inoperative and perfect for use. His head pounded, swimming with confused thoughts. His gaze was unfocused, warped, and his whole body felt suffocatingly hot despite his lack of cover, his legs shifting as his body instinctively searched for a relief he didn’t even want. But that was exactly how they wanted him.
The sound of his door being unlocked made him look up slowly, his eyes taking a few seconds to fully focus on the man standing in the entrance of his room, a wide, malicious grin on his face. Levi couldn’t help but wrinkle his nose in disgust. The man smelled of sweat and stale alcohol, and his unkempt appearance made Levi itch, even when drugged out of his mind.
“Oh, Levi…” the man cooed, making Levi shudder. “I have another customer for you.”
Even though Levi had been through this time and time again, even though he had been trapped in his filthy room since he was caught stealing from a merchant friend of the brothel owner at age twenty, even though the drugs in his system were making his body scream for what this new customer could give him, he still couldn’t help the wave of dread that washed through him, the fear. Levi didn’t fear much, having grown up on the streets of the Underground alone since he was abandoned by Kenny at the age of ten, but this? This he was scared of.
He thought back to the wretched old man that had abandoned him as a small child and wondered what he would think of him now. Would he be disgusted? Unsurprised? Angry? Not that it mattered. Levi knew he would never see him again. But even so, his brain couldn’t help itself from going down those roads, asking questions of “what if?” no matter how many times he reminded himself that it didn’t matter. He was just some bastard thug turned whore in the Underground. Nobody was going to even remember him, let alone care about who he was or who he may be in the future.
Levi was once again brought out of his daze when the pig in the doorway moved to the side, letting a noble woman saunter into the room. She had a wicked grin on her face as she approached him, ignoring the brothel owner as he slammed the door shut behind her, giving them some privacy. She was covered in glittering jewelry, and although the dress she wore was extravagant, it was very tight fitting and low cut, barely considered decent, her large breasts one breath away from spilling out over the top. Her hair was pinned up in a lavish braided style, twisting and coiling tightly, and held together with real gold pins that Levi knew must’ve cost a fortune.
“~Well, hello sexy,” the woman purred as she approached the raven-haired man.
Levi had to force himself not to grimace, even with the effect of the drugs, when she slithered her way over his thighs, her hands reaching up to cup his face. The smell of whatever custard perfume she had on was overwhelming, making his eyes water and his throat close up. Her hands felt clammy from all of the lotions and creams she had slathered over her skin to make it look shinier, making them feel like dead fish rubbing against his cheeks.
“Well? Aren’t you going to ask my name?” The woman demanded in a sickly sweet voice, making Levi close his eyes in barely suppressed agony.
“What is your name?” Levi asked in a low voice. He felt the woman preen above him at the sound of his voice, knowing she thought his deep tone was for setting the mood rather than the effect of his despair.
“My name is Lady Clarissa! What’s your name, hmmm?”
“Levi,” He said quietly.
“Oooh, Leevviiii, I like that,” Lady Clarissa practically moaned. “Say, Levi, you were quite expensive. That must mean you're really good at what you do. I can already tell that you fulfill my personal tastes in terms of appearance, so why don’t you convince me of the rest and give me a good time. Don’t make me regret spending my good money on you. Don’t make me punish you.”
Levi gritted his teeth when she ground her hips into him, trying his hardest not to fight back. He knew it would be difficult, the drugs making his movements and mental processes much slower, but at that moment, all he wanted to do was shove her off of him. Swallowing the bile in his throat, Levi reached for her as she leaned down to force her tongue into his mouth.
It was that time of year. The time of year that (Y/N) hated the most. The Underground Market Festival. It took everything in her to avoid groaning in annoyance as the people she was expected to call her friends dragged her down into the filthy Underground City for a day of “fun”. (Y/N) would much rather be back at home, reading a book in the library, or relaxing with the horses in the barn, or secretly practicing her sword fighting skills with the guards of their estate. But her father had forced her to go when her friends had shown up at the house, begging for her to come with them. He claimed she needed to get her priorities straight and actually present herself, show the honor and pride that came with being part of the (L/N) family. (Y/N) thought there was very little honor and pride in parading their wealth around like they owned the world, especially in front of people who constantly struggled to survive on a daily basis.
(Y/N) walked slowly down the worn cobblestone streets, suppressing the urge to gag at the sight of other nobles walking around, looking and acting as if they were rulers of the walls. She barely looked at anything, only stopping to occasionally buy food when she noticed the hungry children hanging around, looking for a scrap to steal. She could tell they were wary of her, but she never stopped trying, always offering them the food in some way, even if it meant leaving it in a secluded space for them to find later.
Her friends constantly tried to get her to engage, running up to her with crystal jewelry, silk clothing, and delectable foods, attempting to entice her, only to get pushed away. (Y/N) wanted no part in any of it. Even her attire spoke volumes about how little she wanted to be there. She knew that to the people of the Underground, the dress she wore would be considered something of utmost value, but when compared to the nobles around her, she looked underdressed and plain. She wore nothing more than a subtle red dress covered with a black leather jacket, paired with black combat boots and matching gloves, no jewelry to be found except for the simple white earrings she wore in her lobes.
Her father had been less than pleased with her appearance, but stopped arguing when she announced she was leaving, the lord just happy she had at least agreed to go to the festival. She knew he was disappointed in her, annoyed that she wasn’t like the other noble ladies who loved to flaunt their luxurious lifestyles and bend to the every whim of the lords around them, looking to marry early for money and power. (Y/N) wouldn’t be surprised if the entire reason her father wanted her here was so she could possibly win over the affections of a single lord milling about, one that was rich and influential. It was for that possibility alone that (Y/N) had originally thought to wear something that made her look underdressed, having to swallow the bile that rose in her throat at the prospect of catching some snobby noble’s attention.
“Yeah, her name is (Y/N)! She’s the one right over there, I think she could use a good time.”
(Y/N)’s head snapped up when she heard her name, her eyes shooting over to where her friends were standing in a group in front of a large building. All of them were looking at her, covering their faces with their hands to hide their giggles. Dread filled her to the brim when she saw the sign in front of the building, her face paling in horror.
“That one, eh? I think we can arrange something like that,” the brothel owner said, a smug smile on his lips as he stared at her, his grin only widening as her cheeks flushed a brilliant red. “Don’t worry, I’ve got one in particular that could give you a good ride. He’s expensive since he’s my most popular, but he’s worth it.”
(Y/N) opened her mouth to argue, her cheeks on fire as her brain fought to think of something, anything to get her out of this situation. She didn’t want to fuck some random stranger for no reason, but she especially didn’t want to have sex in a brothel. She found them vulgar, repulsive, and horrible. The way they treated their “workers” was appalling. Just as the words finally reached the tip of her tongue, one of the girls she had come to the festival with cut off her impending argument.
“Damn, I’m jealous! If he’s that good I’m almost tempted to take him myself. But she needs this. She hasn’t loosened up the entire time we’ve been here and I think this might help. She’ll take him.”
The greasy man smiled and wrote her name down, happily accepting the roll of cash her friend handed him before getting up, supposedly to let the man know that he had another customer on the way. (Y/N) tried to escape when she could, but her friends rushed up and caught her before she could slip into the shadows, dragging her over to the brothel and shoving her towards an open door where the brothel owner stood, a creepy smile still plastered on his face.
“Guys! I don’t want this!” (Y/N) whispered frantically as she was dragged towards her doom.
“It doesn’t matter if you want it or not, you need it!” One of her friends said with a laugh. “Besides, you’re going to have a fun time. Don’t make us regret spending that money for you!”
(Y/N) was practically thrown into the room, stumbling as she fought to catch her balance, before the door was slammed shut behind her, the loud sound of the lock being latched reverberating around the room with the finality of a death toll. Huffing in anger, (Y/N) stood and brushed herself off, smoothing out her dress and straightening back up to her full height, fighting off the panic slithering up her spine.
A low groan of pain coming from behind her made her whirl around in surprise, her eyes landing on a shorter, pale skinned man with stunning silver eyes and raven black hair. Gods he looked pathetic. She could definitely tell he was attractive, it made sense now as to why he was a popular choice, but he looked sickly, his cheeks hollowed out, dark circles under his eyes, and a muscled yet neglected body starting to wear thin from years of hunger and constant overuse. The sight made her want to be sick. How could anybody be cruel enough to force themselves onto this obviously abused man? How could anyone willingly pay money to fuck him rather than help him?
“Um, hello,” (Y/N) said quietly. “W-What’s your name?”
The man raised an eyebrow, not used to the soft, kind, almost shy way she asked for his name. The women and occasional men he dealt with most of the time were demanding, controlling, and sadistic, knowing they paid for a man they could use, and their voices usually projected that. Yet, this woman looked as if she had been forced to do this, further supported by the way she had been nearly thrown into the room by whom he assumed was her friends.
“Levi,” he said quietly, waiting for the usual routine to start, no matter how much his gut twisted in disgust at the thought.
“Hi, Levi, I’m (Y/N).”
“(Y/N)...” Levi murmured softly, training himself to memorize it despite his swimming brain, knowing she would want him to scream it out later. Whether in pain or in pleasure, he wasn’t sure yet.
“Um…” (Y/N) was about to speak, her mind scrambling for something to say when her eye caught sight of a large bruise on his neck. Her eyes widened and suddenly started scanning his entire body, her stomach roiling more and more the longer she stared. Now that she was really paying attention, (Y/N) could see painful bites, hickeys, and splotchy bruises littering his neck, jaw, chest, and thighs. Her eyes narrowed on the long, bloody scratches running down the length of his chest and back, and she noticed blooming red patches of skin all over him that were raw and aching from being slapped hard and rough over and over again.
He was wearing a loose pair of worn boxers as his only cover, and (Y/N) could only imagine what other horrors the thin cloth was hiding. Glancing down, she saw him shift uncomfortably, his boxers tented by his arousal. The sight made her growl in anger, knowing that to keep him going after he had already had so many customers for the day, a drug was being used to make him insatiable, forcing him past the point of pain and probably clouding his judgement and mental process as well. It made her want to go cut up the brothel owner and serve him to a pig.
Without thinking, (Y/N) rushed to him, reaching out to him, only to freeze when he flinched. She heard him curse at the involuntary movement, knowing it was his job to appear as unaffected and sexually appealing as possible, and it made her heart clench even harder, her hatred for this place and the people who ran it increasing tenfold.
Taking a deep breath, (Y/N) immediately slowed her movements, trying to appear as calm and unhurried as possible. Her gaze softened and glazed with unshed tears when he closed his eyes, his arms reaching out as he prepared for her to sit on his lap and have her way with him like she knew every other man and woman who used him did. Gritting her teeth against the fury she felt, she carefully slid her way across his thighs. She felt him force himself to relax under her as he leaned forward to let her kiss him.
When he felt nothing, and heard something click, Levi cracked open his eyes in curiosity, only to have them fly open all the way when he felt something cool and wet against his neck. Looking down at the woman in his arms, his lips parted in shock, watching in confused awe as she leaned back and soaked a small cloth in some water from a bottle, rinsing the fresh blood from the fabric. Looking to the side, he saw a small first aid kit by her feet, the container open to reveal a variety of medical tools inside.
(Y/N) leaned forward again, raising the towel to his neck to dab at his abrasions, washing them carefully, reverently, almost... lovingly. Levi opened and closed his mouth but no words came out as she continued to work on him, delicately cleaning his jaw and neck before carefully moving on to his chest. Was this some kind of strange ritual she always performed during sex? Did she just find him dirty and want to clean him up before putting her lips or her pussy on his skin? His mind was running a million miles a minute as she worked on him in silence, only pausing when he hissed quietly at the feeling of his gashes being washed.
(Y/N) frowned as she gently swiped the cloth along the red gouges in his skin. They were deep, most likely caused by the long, sharp nail extensions some ladies liked to wear, or the dull blade of a man with violent tendencies. It didn’t surprise her, a lot of the men and women who used people like this did have sadistic qualities, but it didn’t help to quell the now roaring fire in her blood, wanting nothing more than to fight against the injustice of this man.
“W-What are you doing?” Levi finally managed to ask.
“Cleaning your wounds.”
“Why? Is this some kind of-”
“Preparation? No. We aren’t going to do anything. I just want to help your injuries heal.”
Levi felt like his brain was full of static, like his mouth was stuffed with cotton. He wasn’t complaining, far from it, but he couldn’t get a reading on this woman. Why would she, a noble from the surface, want to help him, a hopeless whore from the Underground?
“Wha-”
“Before you ask what my intentions are, I’m just going to tell you that I didn’t even want to do this. I was forced to come to this festival because my father wants me to become more of a proper noble woman. But since I wasn’t too thrilled about having to be here, the people I came with thought I could use an opportunity to loosen up, and paid for me to do this with you in the hopes that I’d start having fun with them afterwards. But I have no intention of doing any of that. I hate how everyone in the Underground is treated like shit, and the last thing I want to do is take advantage of someone who obviously isn’t in control of his situation. I just want to help.”
Levi closed his mouth, all of his protests dying on his tongue. He still had questions, a lot of them, but he decided those could wait, her explanation making him feel surprisingly relaxed for someone who had trained himself to never take the word of a noble at face value. He had never met anyone like her. Even before he was forced to whore himself out, all he had ever known of nobles was their complete lack of humility and egotistical sense of self-importance.
It was silent for a moment, but this time, the silence was more comfortable, both of them starting to relax a little as (Y/N) continued to patch him up. Levi felt himself loosen up a bit, his muscles unwinding as his hands settled on her waist, keeping her securely balanced on his lap as she worked. Pride swirled in (Y/N)’s chest as she felt his tense muscles soften, her eyes sparkling as she started to work her way towards earning his trust.
“What’s your happiest memory?” (Y/N) asked suddenly.
Levi quirked an eyebrow in suspicion, “Why should I tell you, brat?”
“You don’t have to if you don’t want to,” (Y/N) said, shaking her head and stifling a giggle at the nickname. “I only asked because I figured we may as well talk while we do this. Not only that, I feel like you could use some happiness right now. But I don’t want to make you uncomfortable, so if you don’t want to talk to me, you don’t have to.���
Levi was silent for a minute, the cogs in his mind turning as he tried to make what he believed to be the right decision despite the fog clouding his judgement. Just as she had promised, (Y/N) waited patiently, not pressuring him to answer, or even bringing up another question. She merely sat in silence, her clear (e/c) eyes narrowed on his injuries as she worked to make him feel better.
“There was a time when I was with my friend Farlan, a few years back. We were doing a job, trying to get rid of a troublesome merchant for a client of ours when we found out the merchant had a cat. We were hiding around the corner, waiting to strike when that damn cat jumped up onto Farlan’s lap. I’m fine with cats, but that was the day we found out Farlan had some kind of allergy to them. He was trying to hold back his sneezes but finally lost control right when the merchant came around the corner, and Farlan ended up sneezing really violently in his face. That merchant got so scared he must’ve jumped at least three feet in the air, and even managed to piss himself before he took off. We still had to finish him off later, but in that moment, when Farlan was mortified and our target was running for the hills because of a cat induced sneeze, I couldn’t help but laugh a little.”
(Y/N) had paused in her work to listen to him, and couldn’t help but smile when he finished his story. Going back to work, (Y/N) didn’t ask what happened to Farlan, not wanting to drag him back down after she had finally gotten him to talk to her, about something so personal no less.
“What about you?” Levi asked.
“Hmm, I think I’d have to say when I got my horse for my birthday,” (Y/N) said. “I was never around the horses, wasn’t allowed to be in the barn because it wasn’t “proper for a lady”. But I loved them, loved seeing them on the streets when other nobles would come visit my father or when the soldiers from the Survey Corps would come back from a mission. I couldn’t stay away, so no matter how much my father tried to squash my love of them, it just wouldn’t happen. My mother eventually convinced him to let it go, and surprised me with a little chestnut filly that I named Sashay when I was about sixteen years old. Now, she’s my best friend. We’ve been through everything together, and she’s the only one who doesn’t try to force me to be something I’m not. Aside from the royal guards, I guess. They learned a long time ago to stop trying to get me to sit still and look pretty when I beat all of them in the sword fighting ring.”
Levi’s brows shot up into his hair at that, his lips parting in surprise. “You know how to sword fight?”
(Y/N) chuckled. “Yeah, not what you were expecting, huh?”
“No,” Levi said. “I’ve never heard of a noble woman who could fight, let alone with a blade. Are you any good?”
“I tend to think so, but that all depends on who I’m up against,” (Y/N) said with a cheeky smile.
For some reason, Levi couldn’t help but smile back for the first time in years. His lips felt chapped and strained from disuse, but it felt good, a light feeling flooding his chest with warmth. “You said earlier that your horse’s name is Sashay,” Levi said, suddenly changing the topic.
“Mm hm.”
“That’s weird.”
(Y/N) giggled at his bluntness, making another fluttering feeling swirl in his chest. He had never met anyone other than Farlan who saw his language as something other than rude.
“Yeah, I suppose so,” (Y/N) said. “But I named her that because she is a sassy chestnut mare. I like to imagine that if she were human, she’d be someone you wouldn’t want to mess with, someone who wouldn’t take shit from anyone, but would do so with a spicy attitude. So I named her accordingly.”
Levi huffed a laugh at her response but almost immediately regretted it when the movement of his chest caused the rough gauze at her fingertips to brush against his injuries a little harder than before, the stinging sensation making him hiss in pain.
“Sorry!” (Y/N) said, quickly retracting her hands and holding them up, waiting for him to give her the signal to continue.
“Not your fault,” Levi mumbled, motioning that it was alright for her to get back to work. “Thank you, by the way. I don’t think I said that before.”
(Y/N) shook her head. “You don’t have to thank me. I want to do this.”
Levi wanted to ask her why but remembered what she had told him at the start of this and decided to trust her word, swallowing the question and instead changing topics. “Why do you even have this? Do you always just carry a first aid kit around?”
“Only when I come to the Underground. I want to have it available for those who really need it.”
“You do know that at least half of the people down here would kill you without a second thought to get to that medicine. Or they’d kill you if they thought you were pitying them.”
“I know, but I’d like to think I can handle myself a bit more than the average person. Even so, I usually keep it hidden unless I really want or need to use it on someone, and it’s only for quick patch-ups anyway. I can’t really fix anything major.”
(Y/N) finally finished with his front and carefully slid off of his thighs, moving slowly to begin working on his back. She made sure he was okay with everything she was doing before settling herself down onto the edge of the bed behind him, her hands reaching up to start her work once more.
Levi wanted to know more about her. He felt as if he could talk to her for hours, as if he had known her for years. He wanted to know what made her laugh, what made her cry, what her vision was for the future. It was insane, so much so that Levi idly wondered if he’d fallen off the deep end. But he couldn’t deny it. She was just too intriguing, so surprisingly kind, so genuine.
What was your childhood like? What are your favorite things to do? Do you come down here often? When will I see you again?
The questions continued to rattle around in Levi’s head as they once again lapsed into a comfortable silence but he forced all of them back, not wanting to seem either too desperate to get to know her, or be seen as coming on too strong.
After debating with himself for a while, Levi finally settled on, “You’ve mentioned your father a lot, and how he doesn’t want you to be yourself.”
(Y/N) tensed a little, her face twisted in a grimace behind Levi’s back. “Yeah… he used to be better about it, but ever since my mother died, he’s been like a tyrant. He’s upset he didn’t get a son in the first place, but now that he’s stuck with me for a daughter, he’s even more disappointed that I’m not someone he can easily make profits off of by marrying me off to someone. Not only have I been adamant about not allowing it, but no nobleman wants a woman who can think for herself. A woman who can ride a horse, go toe to toe with her soldiers, has an opinion, and is knowledgeable about current conflicts. They want someone who will dress up all pretty for them and be in bed, ready to satisfy them when they get home from gambling and drinking all day while sitting on their parents’ money.”
Levi scoffed and (Y/N) huffed in agreement. “I’m just not that kind of person. Every suitor that has ever met me has run away from my casual attire and sailor’s mouth.”
“Your father wasn’t like this when your mother was alive?” Levi asked.
“He was, but he wasn’t as bad. My parents were in an arranged marriage, but they got along alright. At least my father loved my mother enough to listen to her most of the time when she told him to lay off of me. I honestly think she’s the reason why I have such a strong fighting spirit.”
“I’m sorry she’s gone,” Levi said awkwardly, not used to providing words of comfort.
“Thanks,” (Y/N) said genuinely, a warm smile gracing her beautiful features.
“I didn’t know my mother that well,” Levi said haltingly, still unsure why he felt comfortable telling her about things he hadn’t even talked to Farlan about. “She died of a disease when I was four years old. She was a prostitute, like me, so I never knew my father. When she died, I was picked up by a man named Kenny, who I thought might’ve been my father for a short while, but as I grew older, I realized he wasn’t. I don’t have any proof, I just know. When he abandoned me at ten, I was alone for a few years before I met Farlan.”
“So… you didn’t get stuck doing this because of your mother?” (Y/N) asked carefully, almost afraid to ask in case it made him shy away from her.
“No,” Levi said slowly. “I was twenty years old when I was caught stealing from a rich friend of this brothel owner. I had made a mistake and there was no way out. He figured out who I was, a thug who was known at the time for carrying out favors for people, whether that meant stealing or killing depended on how much they were willing to pay. Unfortunately, this led them to Farlan, and he gave me a choice. Me, or my best and only friend.”
“And you chose to save your friend at the expense of yourself,” (Y/N) finished for him in a hoarse whisper, filled with horror and unbridled fury at what this man had been through. She figured she should’ve been alarmed, he had just admitted that he had blood on his hands. He was a thief, a thug, a criminal, a murderer. But (Y/N) knew those things were nearly requirements for living in the Underground and no matter how she thought about it, she couldn’t think of anything that would make this man deserve what he was going through.
(Y/N) opened her mouth to say something just as she put the last bandage in place when a loud pounding on the door startled them both. “Time’s up, you two!” The brothel owner shouted through the door.
(Y/N) shot up from the bed and rushed around to where the water and first aid kit sat, quickly packing up the little box of supplies and splashing her face with water, trying to make herself look sweaty enough to look convincing. Once everything had been packed away, (Y/N) stood and shrugged off her leather jacket, throwing it to him.
“Here, take this, it’ll keep your boss from seeing the bandages and trying to get rid of them. It’ll also give your injuries a little more protection from the bacteria in this room.”
Levi wanted to refuse, tell her he couldn’t accept a gift like this, even if it was temporary, but no words would come out as he watched the beautiful woman in front of him mess up her hair and swipe her fingers across her lips, trying to make herself look as wrecked as possible. When she finally looked the part enough to seem convincing, (Y/N) made her way to the door, turning one last time before she opened it to throw him a wink and a sweet smile.
“~Goodbye Levi, I hope we can see each other again soon.”
The lilt in her voice was fake, an act for anyone who may be listening on the other side of the door, meant to be taken as a sickly promise of more sexual endeavors to come, but he could feel the genuine emotion in her statement.
“I hope so too,” Levi said quietly after she had already left, the once comforting quiet of his room now making him feel lonely and empty.
The sound of pounding on his door woke Levi abruptly, making the raven-haired man growl in anger and annoyance. It was rare that the poor man got to sleep, not only because customers could come in at almost any time, day or night, but also because of the horrible insomnia that often plagued him. It made him even more irritable to be woken up, his body sore and his mind groggy as another round of pounding roused him further and prompted him to swing his legs over the side of the small cot he was provided when not busy fucking, and make his way to the door.
“What?” Levi snapped when he swung open the door, genuinely surprised that the pig who owned him hadn’t just burst into his room like he always did, raving about yet another customer for Levi.
“Get your shit, you’re going to the surface.”
Levi blinked. This had to be some kind of joke. The brothel owner never let anyone under his foot leave the brothel, let alone the Underground. Even the highest class noble women couldn’t request for him to come to them, the old man not trusting his prostitutes to be sent back. Especially Levi.
“Oi, your ears gone to shit now? Grab your pathetic bullshit and get out of my sight,” the man snarled, his small, watery eyes narrowed on Levi like he was the scum of the world.
Shaking himself out of it, Levi didn’t hesitate for another moment, rushing back into his room to grab the pitifully few things he had with him, including the leather jacket he had gotten from (Y/N), draping it over his shoulders to hide his healing injuries just in case it was a trick. The festival was still going on afterall, this could just be some ruse the old man set up to make the experience more interesting for the men and women who paid for him.
When Levi returned, the man pulled a gun from his jacket pocket and jerked his head, signaling Levi to follow him. Levi knew better than to risk running. In his full health he could’ve easily escaped from the man’s clutches, but with little more than a half hour of rest, his injured body, weak muscles, and the remnants of the drugs still working through his system, Levi didn’t trust himself to outrun a bullet, and knew the pig wouldn’t hesitate to fire, no matter how valuable Levi was to him.
Even though Levi kept expecting the brothel owner to turn down a secluded street and lead him right into an ambush or trick of some sort, he never did, leading Levi right to the stairs exiting the Underground. When they reached the guards at the base of the stairs, the man took two slips of paper from the inner pocket of his worn brown coat and showed it to the guard. When he was cleared to continue on, the brothel owner turned and motioned for Levi to stay close as he stomped his way up the stairs, grumbling incoherently to himself all the while.
Breaching the surface, Levi brought an arm to his face, shielding his eyes from the intensity of the sun as it attacked his face with warm, bright light. He eventually got used to it, slowly lowering his arm and rushing to catch up with his boss, who was impatiently grunting for him to hurry up.
Passing through what appeared to be a busy market square, Levi followed the brothel owner along the lively cobblestone streets until they reached a quieter part of the town, stopping along the edge of a beautiful flower field, the grassy meadow filled with colorful blossoms that secretly took Levi’s breath away.
The sound of horse hooves caught his attention, and Levi looked up only to have the air fly from his lungs when (Y/N)’s bright face came into view, the stunning woman seated astride whom he assumed to be Sashay and flanked by two armed men.
“Right on time,” the brothel owner grumbled, his little pig eyes narrowing when he saw her passive aggressive smile.
“Of course I’m on time, this is my deal, remember?”
“Yeah, yeah,” the man growled. “Are you sure you want this one? He’s my most popular, I’d hate to lose him.”
“Yes, he’s the one I want. Besides, I believe the money I’ve paid you has far exceeded the profit you have earned from having him around. I’m sure you will be able to manage.”
The man sneered at her but didn’t respond, using the muzzle of the gun to push Levi forward and digging in his pocket to fish out the same pieces of paper he had shown the guards on the stairs, handing them to (Y/N).
“Thank you, sir. I believe we are done here.”
The brothel owner slunk off, casting dark looks at her but refusing to argue as he hunkered off to head back down to the Underground, where he would continue to rot like the rat he was. Levi watched him go before turning to (Y/N), surprised by the bright smile she flashed him when he met her gaze.
“(Y/N)? What’s going on?”
(Y/N) smiled even wider and held up the pieces of paper she had been handed. One of them was the file labeling him as a slave to the brothel owner, keeping him from escaping, and the other was a bill of sale. His eyes widened when he saw her signature on the bottom of both pages, officially registering her as his new owner. He opened his mouth, about to speak when she took both pages in her hands and ripped them in half, letting the torn pages float onto the street below, forgotten, useless.
“There, you’re free now.”
Levi was at a loss for words, his mouth gaping open. “(Y/N)? What-”
“Before you ask me what my intentions are, I’m just going to tell you that I couldn’t stop thinking about you. I couldn’t stop thinking about your life, your sacrifice, your pain, and I decided I could do something about it. You are human, and damn it, you are an important one! I couldn’t just leave you there. Now, you won’t have to work for anyone but yourself. You won’t have to cater to anyone else’s needs and you can fulfill whatever dreams you have.”
“But, that must’ve cost you a fortune, to cover more than the amount of money he’s made off of using me? What about-”
“You don’t have to worry about me, Levi. I want to use my funds for good, put them towards the people who need it the most. That includes you. Especially you. I couldn’t bear the thought of you having to stay in that shit hole for even a second longer than necessary.”
“What do I do now, then?” Levi asked, trying to focus on keeping his voice steady.
“Well, you can do whatever you want now. You’re a free man, you can find a house and settle down somewhere, or you can go back to the Underground and pick up your life where you left off. You can join the military, or you can start a small business here in the square. It’s anything you want. You get to choose your life now.”
“And what if I don’t want to do any of those things?”
(Y/N) couldn’t help the smile that flashed across her face then, her heart filling with warmth. “Like I said, it’s your choice, you can do whatever you want, carve your own path, but if you want to come with me, you’re always welcome to.”
Levi’s lip twitched and he took a step forward, reaching up to pat Sashay’s muzzle as he got closer. “Alright, I’ll follow you.”
(Y/N) beamed before turning around to nod at each one of her guards, dismissing them. When they had left, presumably returning to (Y/N)’s family estate, she reached down for him, her hand extended for him to take. Placing his rough palm into her warm hand, he allowed her to help him up into the saddle behind her, his arms wrapping around her waist to keep himself secure as (Y/N) kicked Sashay into an easy canter. Sighing blissfully, Levi let himself relax, his chin coming down to rest on (Y/N)’s shoulder as they made their way home, together.
Levi had never expected to see the day when he would willingly go with a noble, but then again, he never thought he’d ever meet a noble like (Y/N). Now, as he felt her warmth soak into his chest, he knew he’d made the right decision.
Levi finally felt the remnant effects of the drugs in his system fade away as the sun beams broke through the fluffy clouds in the sky, leaving his mind clear. He was making this decision all on his own, nothing left to impair his judgement, and no matter what, he knew he would never regret the path he chose to take just so long as (Y/N) stayed by his side.
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Café Food and Tattoos
Pairing: Daniela Dimitrescu x (Fem!)Reader
Summary: One small glance at each other from across the way, has Daniela Dimitrescu enticed. One post-work encounter has her walking R home and visiting R during R’s work hours. Turns out that Daniela is not only there for the café food.
Warning: None, fluff all the way :)
A/N: So, this original idea is from @su-lilly-reblogs and I really love the idea of Daniela being a tattoo artist and I just love this entire idea in general! It’s a little short but I hope this entry is a good one!
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As you were cleaning a table out on the patio, you heard a door from over next door open. Being the person to always want to see who was coming out of the tattoo place next door, you saw a strawberry-blonde woman step out. You attempt to snap your focus back on bussing tables out on the patio but when you look up at the same woman that had stepped outside, she had noticed you staring at her. The world stopped for you. She looked so enticing to you. You just wanted to drop everything and walk over to her. However, you were snapped back to reality when your elbow made contact with a glass cup. Your instincts had caught the glass just before it could make contact with the ground. You sigh when you looked back up to the tattoo place and the woman was no longer there.
When you stopped at a crosswalk, you shiver at the slight breeze of the cool evening. You regretted not bringing a jacket of some sort. However, you felt a jacket being placed upon your shoulders. You could feel the presence of another person standing next to you. You use your peripherals and from the corner of your eye, you saw a familiar strawberry-blonde hair.
"Warm now?" She asks
"Yeah," you slightly smile, "Thanks."
"Daniela Dimitrescu," she answers
"Y/n Y/l/n," you reply
When the crosswalk light had allowed you to cross you noticed that Daniela was walking alongside you.
"So," you break the silence, "How long have you've been tattooing?"
"Since my apprenticeship at 18," she answers, "I mostly tattoo in black and white. Majority of my works are botanical and anatomical."
"Has any client requested a tattoo that was out of your comfort zone?" You ask
"A couple of times," she answers you, "But, the clients loved the end products. So if one would specifically request for something I don't normally do I'll do it."
"Maybe I'll have to get a tattoo done by you one of these days," you smile
From the corner of your eye, you could see that Daniela smiled at your suggestion. What you didn't notice was how she was still be your side long after the both of you met at the crosswalk.
"Did you want someone accompanying you home?" She asks, realizing your silence
"That would be nice," you say, "We're pretty much here already."
You walk up the steps to your house and turn around. You notice that Daniela is no longer in sight.... You sighed as you were going to offer her a cup of coffee to go. Even give her jacket back to her as it was still placed on your shoulders. You couldn't help but take in the scent of herbs and citrus that lingers on her jacket. Maybe she'll stop by tomorrow... I'll give her jacket back then.
The following morning was a mess. Table after table you barely could keep yourself steady trying to wait tables, clean the tables etc. You weren't the only one on the floor however, nearly everyone requested for your presence specifically. It was hell.
"Y/n, a table is requesting for you," your coworker says
Great... Just when you were able to breathe. You compose yourself and head back out onto the floor but you freeze.
"Daniela?" You call out, walking toward her with a menu in your hands
"Hi y/n," she smiles
"Fancy seeing you here," you smile back, "What can I get you to drink?"
"Water," she says, looking up at you
When you return to her table with a glass of water, you go on to check on your other tables with the assistance of your coworker.
"Sorry about that, its been a mess all morning," you sigh, seating yourself across from Daniela
"That’s okay love," she says
"You know what you want to eat yet?" You ask, taking out your notepad
"Are you on the menu?" She flirts
Your heart skips a beat, your cheeks flush red, you look at her surprised. Daniela giggles as she watches your face.
"What’s wrong love? Cat got your tongue?" She asks, smiling menacingly
The only thing you could do was nearly choke on your own spit before Daniela actually tells you what she wants. With haste you make your way back into the kitchen to give the chef Dani's order and catch your breath.
"One of the best tattoo artists in town, enticed by the awkward café waitress," your coworker laughs
"Shut it Clarice," you sigh, "We only met last night."
"She apparently dedicates her life to tattooing," she explains, "No one to get attached to. But, you can change that, I think it's time for you to get out there. With her. Maybe even get a tattoo done by her."
"Are you crazy?!" You ask, "She's so out there and I'm me. So who am I kidding??"
"Just look through your cameral roll for some inspiration for a tattoo, I’m sure the two of you can negotiate something in the next couple of weeks," Clarice suggests, "You got your tips, hourly pay you've been saving for this tattoo haven't you?"
You nod. You only have one tattoo. You've been dreaming about getting another one but you haven't really looked into it. You didn't plan to until you had enough money to have it done. You hear the chef calling out Daniela's order and you begin reaching for it.
"I'll check on your other tables," your coworker says, "Just book that appointment with Daniela."
You nod, because your coworker will make sure you do so if she found out you chickened out.
"Took you long enough," Daniela teases
You smile as you place the plate of food in front of her and seat yourself across from her once more.
"Do you have any tattoos?" Daniela asks
You roll up your left sleeve to reveal an arrow tattoo with a color in one of the three triangles.
"I got this when I turned 18 with my older sister," you say, "I've been saving up for another tattoo. But I don't think I have saved enough yet nor have I done research on artists to do it on me."
"Hit me with the design," Daniela suggests
You open your phone to reveal a botanical anatomy piece.
Daniela looks at your phone in awe, "I'll do it."
"What?" You ask, putting your phone away
"I'll do that tattoo on you," she says
"R-really?" You ask, your mood changing
She nods happily. You sigh in relief.
"How much do you normally charge?" You ask
"For you my dear, I'll discount it," she answers, "Normally, that kind of piece would be $600-$700."
You, again almost choke on your own spit. However, re-composing yourself.
"I'll do it for $400," Daniela says
You've saved up at least $300 as of your last paycheck. However, since the tips are really piling and you look pay is tomorrow, you have hope.
"When are you free?" She asks
"I'm pretty much free Mondays and Tuesdays," you say
Daniela pulls out her phone and supposedly looks through her calendar.
"How does Tuesday at 3pm sound to you?" She asks
"Works for me," you smile brightly
You leave to get Daniela's check and pay for her food. It was the least you could do for her. She practically got to book your dream tattoo. You go on and check on your other tables, running their checks, your coworker bussing the tables for you.
"Where were we?" You ask
"My check?" Daniela asks
"Don't worry about that," you say, "It's the least I can do for you."
"Thank you y/n," she smiles, "I gotta run. Work is about to open."
She stands from her seat and walks by you. However, before she leaves she leans down to your face and places a kiss on your cheek and then walks out. You just remembered about her jacket. Damnit...
Tuesday couldn't come soon enough. You've been working your arse off at the café. Daniela would pop in during her breaks to come say hi or order some food to go. You had long sent the image you had shown Daniela on Thursday to her. She’s talked about how excited she is to do that big of a piece. You told her that you had wanted it on your right outer forearm.
"So you didn't even HAVE to ask Daniela to do that tattoo?! Man, that's golden! She's definitely into you if she had cut down the price by THAT much," your coworker states
"Is she?" You ask, blushing
"Oh come on, if I didn't see how she looks at you when you talk to her, I wouldn't be saying that she's definitely into you," she says
"You have a point," you say
"Did you get her number?" She asks
"No," you say, "We've barely had time as is. She heads straight home to work on the piece for me and I'm busy here. Only chance I get is Tuesday."
"You better girl," she says before walking off to a table
When Tuesday had finally come, you tuck the tattoo fee in one pocket and her tip mixed with your phone number in the other. You take a deep breath before opening the door to the tattoo shop next to your own work.
"Y/n!" Daniela smiles as she comes walking over to you to give you a hug
"So I just finished up your tattoo and I just wanted to run through it with you," She says
"Dani, didn't we both agree on whatever you do is fine with me?" You smile and jokingly sigh
"Yes but I just want to have your approval anyway," she smiles
She takes her iPad and opens up to her editing app and shows you. You noticed that Daniela edited the work a lot to her style of work. And you loved it.
"Lets get that bad boy tattooed on me Dani," you smile
She has you fill out paperwork as the stencil begins printing itself out. You hand back the paperwork to her and she leads you to the back of the shop, leading you into a separate room, presumably her studio.
"Welcome to my humble studio," she smiles, "Just sit your little cute butt in the big chair and give me a hot minute."
You watch her cut out the stencil and watch her concentrate on applying the stencil to your arm. You try to keep yourself as steady as possible so she wouldn't have to reapply the stencil.
"Relax love," Daniela says, as if she could feel your tension
"I don't want to accidentally move my arm," you say
Once she removes the stencil, she backs away, "Check that out and see if you like the placement."
"I love it," you almost squeal
You again watch her prep her tattoo machine and begin concentrating on you.
The pain was unbearable but it was a pretty big tattoo that you had picked out. Daniela barely talked though. But, you assumed it was because she was concentrated on your piece.
“Hey, I have your jacket and-”
“Keep it love,” She says without looking up at you
“Are-are you sure?” You ask
“You look good in it y/n,” She finally looks up at you, smiling
You smile back at her.
Once she removes the excess tattoo ink she guides you to step outside with her for her to take a picture. After the fact, you two go back into her studio to have her put saniderm on your arm.
"Now keep that on for a couple of days for me okay?" She smiles
You nod. You reach into one pocket and pull out the $400 Daniela requested for the piece and then reach into the other and hand it to her.
"Why thank you love," she smiles
"That's not all," you say
You lean forward and give her a kiss on the cheek. She somewhat gives you the same face you did when she did the same to you.
"Will I see you at the café tomorrow?" She asks
"You will," you wink at her before making your leave
She opens the piece a paper: a $40 tip and a note.
"If you want to get together sometime outside of having café food and tattoos," Daniela read aloud
At the bottom of the note, was your phone number.
#daniela dimitrescu#daniela dimitrescu x reader#female reader#modern au#tattoos#bela dimitrescu#cassandra dimitrescu#alcina dimitrescu#lady dimitrescu#resident evil village#resident evil 8
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Part 5
For once in your life, your eyes slowly open, only having been disturbed by warm morning sunlight. The soft comforter trapping your body heat and essentially you, as it pinned you to the soft mattress. You snuggle deeper into the sheets, breathing in the smell of clean linen and caramel.
Wait. Caramel?
With a jolt you jump from the bed, eyes wide as you look for the source of the scent. Patting down your jeans and shirt for at least one knife. You hardly remember what happened after dinner with his family. You remember booze, light conversation while feeling warm and floaty. Oh shit what was that passive that activated again? Rest assured?
"Info on rest assured." You grumble, voice soft from disuse. Your quirk happily pulls up a little informational box that you can see. Too sleepy to make the box private as it reads aloud to you.
"PASSIVE BUFF REST ASSURED. A newly unlocked buff that increases sleep quality and can only be activated around trusted individuals and safe places. Would you like a list?"
You stare at the question box with a flashing yes or no before you point with the tip of your knife to yes.
"Currently there is only one thing listed. Type : Individual Name: Bakugou Ka…."
"Oi." Someone calls from the front door of the apartment as you dismiss the information with a wave of your hand. He discards his boots at the door before making his way to his bedroom.
"You talking to yourself dumbass?" He says, blocking your only exit by leaning on the door jamb. He holds an iced coffee towards you, his eyes sharp as he adds.
"We need to talk about your file."
Crossing his arms you ignore his offer of iced appeasement, he sets it on the low dresser as you speak.
"It's not up for discussion."
"I'm your boss, I deserve to know."
"What you deserve to know is what's in that file. My whole life doesn't fit into a manila fucking folder. Quit asking questions."
"I'll ask what I want." He growls, "Because it's suspicious that you have this unbelievably complex quirk and yet I'm sure your top skills have nothing to do with stealing."
"If you're that concerned then ask the director of the program. I'm not the only secret 'reform'." You throw your hands into the air is exasperation
"He showed up dead shortly after you were inducted. Plus no one has any real record of what you've done. Not a single thing listed on what you've stolen."
"Talk to Deku then, he's next in line for that program, he ain't dead."
"He said he doesn't remember approving your file." He bites back and before you can retort strong fingers wrap around your wrist. His calloused pads brush over the cool metal of your bracelet.
"RECOGNIZED, BAKUGOU KATSUKI : NEW LIMITED ACCESS GRANTED. 1. Health and Condition status, upon request 2. Top five skills 3. Buffs that would benefit Bakugou Katuski. 4. Pending buffs to be activated by host. Please state a number."
"Two." "Cancel!" You try to shout over him but he beats you to it. The bracelet opens up a little box displaying your top five skills as of late.
"Stab resistance, poison resistance, what would a thief need those for? Stealth is number three and slight of hand is number five. Shit don't add up Princess." He glares while your nostrils flare, ripping your wrist away from his grip.
"You're really fucking pushing it…" He takes a step towards you while you step back as if it were part of a dance as you try so hard to keep your wrath in check.
"Am I? Like I said, shit ain't adding up. You have this bracelet that still has limited information to your quirk, support knows nothing of the recordings or god damn blocks you've placed on it and lastly…" Your knees hit the back of the back of the bed causing you to sit on the mattress. His rough palms come to lie flat against the fabric next to your thighs as he leans in. You fight to shrink back.
"Lastly, I deserve to know how an unnamed woman, who obviously knew you, turns up dead moments after I arrive on scene and then her body is gone in a matter of minutes. She poisoned you with a complex concoction that the lab in the agency has yet to figure out the formula to it and yet you knew the fucking antidote? What did you really do?"
Rage boils in your blood as you stare into his vermilion eyes. Like flipping a switch you turn ice cold, your breath mingles with his.
PASSIVE BUFF SHARP TONGUE ACTIVATED INSULTS DEALT WILL HAVE 39% MORE STING.
"You know what's funny? You don't see me asking how you became a manager with your shitty attitude. Nor do you see me asking how you manipulated and gaslit your way to the number one spot." You press your cheek against his as your lips graze his ear, "And you sure as hell don't see me asking how you're considered a hero at all after you told Izuku to kill himself in middle school."
The scars in his chest and stomach roar to life, demanding attention as his shirt scrapes against the sensitive skin. He takes a step back as if struck while the room begins to smell of smokey spiced caramel. His bones groan as his knuckles bloom white.
You smile as you stand, collecting your bag and the jacket he lent. Even grabbing the iced coffee he got you. Because why let it go to waste?
Cruelty slips onto your shoulders as nicely as his borrowed jacket while you pause at his bedroom door wanting nothing more than to leave him with terrible thoughts.
"Did you ever even apologize for that?"
Silence is your answer as you chuckle to yourself.
"Didn't think so."
You leave him with those nasty thoughts. Long gone as he still pants, pain shooting through his gut and lungs as it did all those fucking years ago.
As he moved without a second thought and placed himself in front of a stupid, dopey mop top boy who tried to hold up the weight of the world by himself.
With a guttural growl he looks over his destroyed room, as if a bomb went off.
He reaches for his phone dialing the number he never bothered to save.
"Meet me at our usual when you get off your stupid fucking shift. I know you've forgotten to eat you useless hero." The other line chimes in with a deep laugh as he adds.
"Okay Kaachan. I'll be there."
Izuku doesn't get invited out often and especially not by Bakugou. So the emerald haired boy decides to keep an eye on his oldest friend. Silently watching and not glancing too long as hot head huffs and puffs, taking another shot. The ash blonde's favorite spicy ramen goes untouched as the large man across from him slurps up his fourth bowl, covered in sweat and dirt from the day's work.
"You better get my fucking money's worth of this endless ramen bowl shit." He bites, slamming down another shot, fingers subconsciously finding the old scar on his chest. The action does not go unnoticed by his more docile friend. Izuku thanks the waiter as he starts on his fifth bowl.
"I'm starting to think you're mad about more than the endless ramen you ordered me." Bright emerald meet dark garnet eyes that glare, Bakugou's cheeks burn in his buzz.
"Fuck you. Nothin's wrong." Another deadly shot.
"That's your seventh. Kaachan you can't fool me. Your body language gives it away." Bakugou follows Izuku's eyes to his fingers. Quickly he removes his calloused pads from the divot. Angrily staring at the wall like a child who's been caught.
"Fuck you." He murmurs, silence settles over the pair in the far back corner of the restaurant. Bakugou's eyes glance over to Izuku who continues to eat, crimson bore into the scars on his arms from where the dumbass had broken them time and time again. His scars burn with your words, with the memory of what he's said in the past.
Too cruel and for what?
"You know I'm-" Bakugou starts but Izuku holds up a hand, wanting to spare his friend.
"I know, you've shown me everyday, even before you jumped in front of me, Kaachan. I've always known." He leaves it at that, in his heart he knows that Bakugou is sorry. He's seen it in every action since their first year at UA, he doesn't need to hear him say it.
What good are words when actions spoke louder?
"So what's bothering you? Worried over someone? You're dating Rogue now right?" Izuku asks, holding his chopsticks at a point while Bakugou takes another shot.
"Her file is what's bothering me. Deku, she doesn't have a fucking thing of her past. Not to mention you don't even remember signing off on her. Real responsible." Bakugou watches with a dull snarl as Izuku goes back to slurping his noodles.
"Ka...Kaachan." Izuku chokes, "Not fair. They put a lot of your desk too and I bet you don't remember half of it."
"I'd remember something like that. Just makes it that much more suspicious. Probably foraged by someone but the question is who…." Katsuki sets his head in his hand, staring at his orange broth.
"Well, did you ask her yourself?" Bakugou scoffs in response.
"Yea, and it didn't fucking turn out well." His finger finds his stomach this time, the ghastly white crater suddenly irritated by the fabric of his shirt. Izuku stops eating, he isn't stupid and easily connects the dots. The soft man thinks back a decade of his friend is the worst condition but more worried about him.
"Kaachan…" Deep jade eyes water a bit but Bakugou puts up a hand
"Don't." He barks, sighing.
"So you must really care about her if whatever she said affected you that much. You weren't even bothered when they were trying to 'cancel' you." Izuku taps Bakugou's bowl with his chopsticks, silently begging the blonde to eat. Hopping he'll take at least a bite to soak up some of that alcohol. Reluctantly deadly fingers pick up the sticks, gathering ramen between them but still undecided if he should eat.
His silence is answer enough for Izuku.
"I know my agency started the program. I'll look into it some more tomorrow. I'll be mostly office duty since I have so much paperwork anyway. But even if her past is dark Katsuki, what are you going to do? She may not have had any say in the matter, she doesn't give me that evil vibe."
Bakugou thinks back to you. How you fight, how you hold yourself.
How cute you were sleeping on his shoulder before he eased you onto his lap. How softly you snored in his bed. His stomach twists, Izuku's words and yours floating around his head.
"I guess I'll decide once I have more answers." With that the blonde decides to bring the spicy noodles to his lips.
#bakugou x reader#bakugo x reader#bnha x reader#bnha au#bakugou katsuki#katsuki bakugo#bnha imagine#bakugou katsuki x reader#katsuki x reader#too good to be true
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Buttered Popcorn
“In the trip to Marley, I imagine Onyankopon would tell Levi and Hange to go to the movies, because he thought Hange would love it. (I imagine they would go without Onyankopon) So, in the cinema, at the beginning when the lights of the projector turn on she would be super excited and Levi would hush her. And well, the movie would begin… (I don’t care the genre) and I imagine they would get a little close, maybe arms touching? But then the typical romance scene would appear, with the actors kissing, and so they would get conscious of the situation, Levi would get awkward and separate from Hange, and I don’t know anymore. I think it can be funny, fluffy and whatever you feel like :)”
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Hi! Thank you for leaving me a submission! I altered what you said a little bit, but I hope it’s still enjoyable. Some of the movies I added are recent, so just please disregard that the movies definitely came out after their lifetime. I really enjoyed writing this, so thank you!
-
Marley was hustling and bustling. Every weekend, markets would open up and merchants would gather in the center of the city to sell their items. All sorts of items, including fruit, jewelry, books, liquor, ice cream, and even animals. Today was the day that the 104 was able to forget about Titans for a little while. Onyankapon decided to take advantage of that.
“Hey, Levi,” Onyankapon whispered, touching his upper back, gesturing for Levi to walk with him. He pulled him away from Hange for a moment. Hange was purchasing something at a stall. “The kids are going to that restaurant down the block for an early supper.” He gestured towards the road behind them. “You and Hange should go on a date.”
Levi scoffed, shoving his hands in his pockets. “Why would you ask me, specifically, to go on a date with her?”
“Cut the crap, Levi. We all know you like her,” Onyankapon said. Levi shot him a death glare, which made Onyankapon’s shoulders tense. They walked a little further while Levi contemplated his decision.
“…Fine. I’ll keep her company to make sure she doesn’t wander off,” Levi agreed. Onyankapon smiled wide.
“Great! There is a cinema down the block on the right side. You should take her there. I’m sure she’d love it.” Did he already plan our date? Levi asked himself.
“What’s a cinema?”
“It’s where you sit in a big theater and a movie is shown on the screen. You can buy all sorts of food too. There are a ton of showings. Horror, romance, comedy, action; You should go with her and decide. They’re showing movies at all times of the day.”
Levi nodded in understanding. Where was the Commander, anyways?
“The movies…” he muttered to himself. He, himself, had never seen a movie before. He figured Hange would enjoy it. Plus, he could spend some alone time with her.
Levi turned his head to look behind him. He narrowed his brows. “Where’d Hange go?” He asked aloud, noticing Onyankapon disappeared as well. He began pushing through the flow of the crowd to find her. He was starting to panic. His heart rate started to pick up, adrenaline coursing through his veins. This new city was enormous compared to their little island of Paradis. She’d be gone, forever stuck in enemy territory. It was then he suddenly noticed Onyankapon from his tall stature, who must’ve stopped walking with Levi at some moment in which he couldn’t quite remember. He was standing casually, chatting with someone. He jogged over to him and found Hange. Levi rolled his eyes.
“Hange, stay with the group,” Levi enunciated. Hange just smiled, pushing out a wafer cone with a creamy substance on top.
“Try this!” She said. Levi was confused. After a moment of him just staring at it, she took his hand, placed his fingers around the cone, and let go. “Try it. It’s good.”
Hange had a cone for herself. “It’s called ice cream. This is vanilla. It’s so sweet and creamy and cold and soooooooo good!!”
Levi bent his head down towards the cone, awkwardly opening his mouth to lick it. The woman-you’re-in-love-with’s hand touching yours can be very convincing after all. An eyebrow raised in interest.
“Mm… Not bad.” Levi noticed Onyankapon was staring at him. He kept weirdly shaking his head towards Hange and clearing his throat. Is he okay? he asked himself. Levi shook his head quickly at him, as if to ask what the fuck?
Onyankapon rolled his eyes dramatically, patting Hange’s back. “I’ve gotta use the bathroom. Levi, keep an eye on Hange.” He winked at Levi. Levi is so fucking dense, Onyankapon thought to himself, passing by them to find a bathroom. Oh. That’s why he was acting funny, Levi thought to himself.
Hange started walking next to Levi, licking her ice cream. She really likes it, Levi thought to himself. It made him happy. He figured now was the only appropriate time to ask her out… He had to make it as casual as possible. He felt his heart start to race and his hands begin to shake. It wasn’t a big deal. We are just hanging out like we usually do. Then he thought maybe he didn’t have to even say anything. He can lead them to the cinema and somehow draw her attention that she’ll ask him. Yep. That’s what he was going to do.
“Let’s go this way,” Levi said, grabbing her wrist gently. He didn’t want to lose her in the crowd, knowing how her attention span can be short at times. Hange was really grateful to be spending the day with him and that he wanted to spend it with her.
The pair got through the crowd in the center of the city. They passed some stalls on the outskirts when he finally noticed the cinema. There was a huge red and white sign at the top. There were black letter cards that read multiple movie titles, including “Psycho”, “The Wizard of Oz”, “The Godfather”, and “The Best Years of Our Lives.” There was a ticket booth in the center with glass doors on either side. Levi had finished his ice cream cone and had a wrapper remaining. Hange finished too. Great, he thought. There’s a trash can right by the cinema. I’ll go over there, draw her attention this way, and she’ll invite me to go in.
“I’ll take your wrapper,” he said, putting his hand out.
“It’s okay, I got it,” Hange replied.
“Give it to me,” he said sternly. Hange chuckled nervously.
“Okay. There’s a trash can right there on the left,” she said, pointing in the opposite way of the cinema.
“I see one over there. I’ll throw it out there.” He had already walked towards the cinema before she could respond. There weren’t many people on this street, so Hange had a clear view of Levi.
“Oh! Levi!” Hange started walking quickly over to him. “Onyankapon told me about the cinema… Let’s go watch a movie!” Levi smirked to himself.
“I guess,” he replied, being coy. My plan worked.
Hange seemed to light up once they walked in the building. It was very pretty inside. A chandelier hung from the ceiling, huge movie posters propped on easels, and there were red and yellow flashing lights around each theater room which also lined the floor. The smell of butter filled their nostrils.
“What’s that smell?” Hange asked aloud, walking towards the counter.
“Popcorn!” the employee responded. “Would you like some?” Hange looked behind the lady, noticing a huge red glass box with yellow and white kernels inside.
“Yes! Large.” The employee smiled, starting to fill a large bucket with popcorn. Hange suddenly had a burst of energy. “What movie do you want to see?” She asked Levi.
“Hmm… Half of them sound boring.”
“I’ll pick,” Hange nodded.
The employee handed them their bucket. Hange’s eyes widened and glistened. It smelt so good. There were a few wet pieces at the top, fresh with drizzled butter and the salt glistened in the light. The bucket was very warm.
“Which movie would you two like to see?” she asked.
“Hmm… Psycho,” Hange replied. “I’m not sure what it’s about, but I like the sound of it!”
The employee grinned, handing her the tickets. “I hope you enjoy!”
“Thanks!!”
Hange happily walked down the hallway with the bucket of popcorn. She offered some to Levi. He was stubborn, but Hange insisted he tried it. As it turns out, he loved it. It was salty and buttery, but a light snack. It was perfect for movies.
They found the movie theater their movie was playing. It was completely dark in the room, except for the bright screen. Hange gasped.
“Whoa!” She exclaimed. “This screen is HUGE!”
“If you eat that entire thing, something else will be huge later too.”
Hange chuckled. “Oh, Levi…” She seemed like she was gonna continue, but she didn’t. “Let’s sit up there!” Before Levi looked her way, she was already climbing the stairs up to the higher chairs. Levi passively agreed, following her. He thought she looked very handsome today. He enjoyed seeing her in a suit.
She picked a seat in the middle, weeding her way through. She finally sat down with a plop.
“I’m so excited!” Hange whispered loudly, smiling wide. Levi’s heart swelled at the sight.
“Just keep it down,” Levi said endearingly, taking the popcorn from her. Hange was staring at the screen, eyes wide in excitement. “I have no idea what it’s about!!”
Levi felt the urge to kiss her right there. After all, no one would see. It was dark and people were mumbling amongst themselves. No one would be able to see them here. He, however, held back his urge.
The small lights on the walls around them dimmed, hinting that the movie was starting. Creepy music started playing. Hange’s grin was still ear-to-ear, eyes wide. She was loudly munching on popcorn. Levi shushed her, grabbing some popcorn with his hand. It was unlike him, but he shoved it in his mouth. He wasn’t gonna tell her that he loved it (unless she asked, of course).
The movie began. It was beginning with a lady stealing money and driving away in a car, not knowing someone has been stalking her. She had bought a new car and changed her look, trying to ward the guy off. It started to get really creepy after this. She was in a motel room, beginning to strip. Hange felt extremely awkward, as did Levi. This feeling, however, quickly dissipated. She got in the shower, and the creepy man broke into her room, starting to slowly make his way to her bathroom. When they showed his dagger, Hange gasped.
“Oh my god! She’s gonna die!” Hange whispered loudly to Levi.
“No, she’s not,” Levi said, but definitely lying. He was getting nervous too.
Suddenly, it happened. The man whipped open the shower curtains, stabbing the lady in the shower to death. She screamed bloody murder, pun intended.
Levi and Hange screamed. Hange was sure that he never screamed in his life until now. A few others screamed in the audience as well. Levi unintentionally grabbed Hange’s hand, still a bit greasy from the popcorn.
“I told you she was gonna die!” Hange nagged, her voice normal now.
“Well, I didn’t expect them to show it on screen!” Levi replied whispering.
“I am NEVER showering again!” Hange whispered loudly.
“It’s not like you shower to begin with!” Levi replied back to her. Someone loudly shushed them in the audience. Hange giggled softly.
“Maybe you’ll just have to knock me out again.”
Their hands remained laced throughout the entire movie, Hange accidentally squeezing way too hard when a scary scene was shown. Levi blushed each time this happened. He really liked holding her hand. It turns out that this movie was on a whole other level of fucked up, but it was right up Hange’s alley. She loved crazy shit like this. Levi was starting to get weirded out but every time he looked at Hange, that feeling went away. Finally, the movie ended, and the credits rolled out. People in the audience were clapping. Hange made a questionable face at Levi before softly clapping her hands together. Levi placed his hand on her chin and turned her face towards him.
“You have something on your cheek,” Levi said. He grabbed a handkerchief from his pocket, inspecting her face.
“Oh, it’s probably popcorn,” Hange chuckled, her cheeks flushing red. Thank God the room was still a bit dark.
He started to smush the kerchief on her cheek, trying to rub off the butter. He was looking at her so intricately, so carefully. The lights started to brighten the room again. They were almost alone in the theater.
“There you go,” Levi said, folding his dirty kerchief and placing it in his pocket. Hange was feeling adventurous today. He got her all hot and bothered by staring so beautifully at her face.
“You’ve got something on your face, too,” Hange said nervously. Levi knitted his brows.
“Where?”
“Here,” She said, slowly leaning in. She placed a soft but sweet kiss on his beautiful lips. Levi was shocked, pleasantly shocked. He kissed her back for that brief moment. His cheeks flushed red as he tried to hide his excitement from her kiss.
When she pulled away, their eyes locked.
“I think I missed a spot,” Levi said softly, placing his hand on her cheek, kissing her softly again.
-
“So…” Levi began as they walked out of the theater. “He was the psycho the whole time? His mother wasn’t even alive…”
“Uh huh!”
“That’s a Psycho for you,” Levi added. Hange started to laugh. Levi smiled; Hange was lucky enough to catch his smile. He didn’t show his teeth, but the corners of his mouth turned up in a happy, content smile. He hadn’t felt happy (or felt this happy) in a long, long time.
“Levi,” Hange said, looking over at him. “Let’s see more movies together sometime.”
Levi smiled visibly at her. “Let’s do that.”
#levihan#levihan oneshot#levihan fic#levihan fanfic#levi ackerman#hange zoe#hange x levi#levi x hange#levi x hanji#rivahan#aot#snk#attack on titan#shingeki no kyojin#submission
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Please, give us your feelings about BNHA's female characters. Tbh, I just don't care about them? Even Toga-and I consider her the best female characters. Imho it's not that they are all bad... it's just they are so flat and who was Midnight again? The one with thi scandalous outfit that was just plain bad? Like it wasn't even funny it was just a nope for me.
Alright, here are some thoughts I have about the female characters, or rather how Horikoshi writes female characters. Disclaimer: this post is going in all sorts of directions, mainly because there are so many ways in which Horikoshi manages to write awful female characters!
The problem starts with the fact that the bar for female characters (especially in shonen) is very low. For some reason, many if not most stories seem to be unable to include female characters that are more than just fan service or just there to serve the male characters. Despite the fact that bnha does have both fan service and characters that are far too flat, some people in the fandom don’t think so?! Anyway, let’s look at some of the reasons why the female characters in bnha are not as progressive as some people claim they are (under the cut because there is just too much):
Okay so, out of all the female characters I honestly only somewhat care about Toga, Momo, and Jirou, and it’s even difficult to care about those three (minus Toga) because they just aren’t included enough in the story to leave a big enough impression or stand a chance at getting a lot of character development.
Jirou I mainly love because I love the whole rock vibe, so I’m biased with her. I do think she’s a cool character, but I also feel like a lot of her lines/appearances are tied to Kaminari. Although he is supportive of her, there is one thing that bothers me about the scene where he encourages her to perform at the festival, which I will mention a little later.
I do like that she has an interest outside of hero work (aka music) and that it stems from her parents, who are both musicians. That small scene we got of her parents showing their full, unconditional support when she tells them that she wants to be a hero is a cute scene, and I love that she is later shown to teach some of the girls how to play instruments. The problem is that those scenes are very few, and we already get so few appearances of her (won’t forgive them for not even including her in the newest OVA).
Momo is another good character - she is smart, strong, and brave. She also has the most amount of relevance out of all the female students, especially with her being involved in rescuing Bakugou. Momo has a lot of potential, but there are three main issues that I have with her character though.
One, her hero outfit. It makes zero sense. You’d think her outfit needs to show skin due to her quirk, but then we get scenes that make it even worse, like during USJ when she created that large sheet through her back, which resulted in her outfit ripping apart and almost exposing her in chapter 61:
^also it’s panels like this where some people praise Horikoshi for giving her a realistic stomach?? Please raise the bar a little bit
And in regards to her boobs... that outfit is not supporting them at all??? It would make far more sense to just give this girl a sports bra and pants. Anywayyy, let’s not forget she is a teenager so maybe also give her a shirt? Even a loose shirt would make sense, so she could have larger creations come out of her stomach/back area without ruining her clothes every time.
Two, her quirk is far too strong, but because this is a fictional story, it doesn’t get used in the most efficient way. As other people have already joked about, the story could be told in one season if Momo was the main character and just went wild with her quirk. Horikoshi doesn’t really make an effort to explain to us why Momo doesn’t just wrap this all up real quick. You can talk about how overpowered Green Ketchum trying to catch all quirks is, but he has nothing on Eri and Momo.
Three, after the sports festival, Momo had an issue with her self-confidence, similar to how Jirou didn’t feel confident enough to perform at the festival. And similar to how it was Kaminari that first made an attempt at boosting Jirou’s confidence, it was Shouto who helped out Momo. Now, I don’t have a problem with guys supporting girls - it’s just annoying when female characters aren’t allowed to be confident or find confidence on their own, or with the help of other female characters.
I get that she was comparing herself to him, so him showing her that he believes in her is the most helpful for her, but it becomes a problem when this is the biggest character development she gets. It’s almost like after this scene, she’s cured. And whenever a tiny hint at self-doubt crosses her mind, she just remembers that Shouto believes in her, and then she’s back on track. Not great.
Because of this, it’s really nice whenever we get a scene of just the girls hanging out, the problem is simply that those scenes barely exist because most of the female students are each tied to one specific male character: Jirou to Kaminari, Momo to Shouto, and Uraraka to Deku. Out of the three, Uraraka is the most unfortunate one, mainly because she is tied to the protagonist, so he’s always going to play a bigger role for her character than she will for him.
I think Uraraka, Momo, and Jirou all have a lot of potential and could be really interesting strong female characters. I even really love Uraraka’s motivation for becoming a hero, since she wants to help out her parents. This is actually a very selfless reason, despite the fact that most of the fandom constantly paints her as someone who would do anything for money. People even make it seem like her doing this for money is selfish, even though the money isn’t supposed to be for her, but for her parents?! And to be honest, even if her motivation was to get money for herself, can we please stop claiming that doing something for money is selfish?? Like hello? We all live in capitalist hell. We all have to work and make money to live, so please stop pressing that idea of everyone having to be passionate about their jobs. It’s okay if you hate your job, we can’t all get paid for things we’re passionate about. And guess what? It’s okay because you can still have things your passionate about outside of work and just do your job to afford shelter, food, and your hobbies!
Anywayyy, whenever people aren’t claiming that Uraraka is just after money, her other personality trait is Deku. This mainly started when Aoyama claims that she has a crush on Deku in chapter 67:
Ever since, whenever she looks, thinks, or mentions him, she can’t think clearly anymore. No matter what she does, she seems to always think: “What would Deku do?” - instead of just asking herself: “What would I do?” To be fair, this expands to other characters as well - Bakugou and Shouto both have that same problem of constantly bringing Deku up, so this is just a problem in general with bnha, where somehow everyone is obsessed with the protagonist. The difference is just that characters that aren’t Uraraka have more to them than just Deku (Bakugou being on thin ice though).
You know what other female character has no personality outside of Deku? His mom. I know that this one might not matter as much to other people because she is a supportive mom and we love to see supportive parents, and she just doesn’t get enough screentime to give her a personality that doesn’t revolve around Deku. And I’m not saying a woman can’t just dedicate her life to her child - but since we’re already talking about female characters in this story that fall flat, could you name me anything about her that has nothing to do with Deku? What’s her hobby? What are her dreams? Yes, she has the role of mom in this story and that is her purpose, but she would just feel a little more human if we knew a little more about her. We know more about Jirou’s, Bakugou’s, and Shouto’s parents. But what about Inko? What does she do all day long?
Also now that I mentioned mothers... a big debate in the fandom (for whatever fucking reason) is whether or not Bakugou’s mom is a good mom (she isn’t). I don’t know how Horikoshi manages to write a story where one of the character’s whole plot is all about his abusive upbringing, and then he turns around and writes Mitsuki as some sort of comedy relief??
^Here in chapter 96, we have Aizawa and All Might making the home visits because of the dorm system U.A. wants to implement. Despite these two Pro Heroes seeing her smack Bakugou and call him weak, thus blaming him for having gotten kidnapped, they don’t do anything about this. They never bring this up again, or even ask if Bakugou is okay; but that’s a topic for another day. The point is, Horikoshi doesn’t seem to put much thought into his female characters as individuals but rather writes them for the sake of one of the male characters. In this case, I assume, his thought process was: I want Bakugou to be a rough character, what could possibly be a cause for that? Oh, right, how about his mom?
How we’re supposed to view the characters just depends on what their overall role is - while the Todoroki family is all about the horrors Endeavor has done to them, Bakugou’s mom doesn’t get addressed as such in the story. The only time this sort of gets brought up is during the remedial course in chapter 165 when Bakugou says violence is okay because “that’s how I was raised” - to which Shouto responds by telling him there are better ways:
Hell, even this little Monoma lookalike can understand that Bakugou’s upbringing wasn’t normal:
But despite the fact Horikoshi brings this up here, it’s overall never mentioned and I’m not sure if that will ever play a more significant role, despite the potential.
I absolutely understand that parents that don’t play an actual role in the story, are going to be written with the characterization of their kids in mind - yet it’s not great to just include an awful mother without properly addressing this and instead, making it seem more like “Oh, that’s just how mothers are, nothing wrong here” - which is something a lot of people in the fandom say btw. Please note, it is not okay to hit your child. Bakugou easily could’ve been given overly supportive parents, and yet Horikoshi looked at his creation and thought: I’m now gonna create a horrible mother for this child.
It just shows that it doesn’t actually matter what female characters are like; they are solely an extension of a male character and thus it doesn’t matter at all what they are like, what they say, or what they do. There are no consequences for characters like Mitsuki because her only purpose is to explain to us why Bakugou is the way he is. But his character is about how his obsession with Deku negatively affects his life and so since his family problems are not the focus of his character, the story doesn’t bother telling us that she is bad or that she should apologize to Bakugou and better herself.
Aside from the female students and mothers, we get the Pro Heroes. Midnight and Mt. Lady are two of the female Pro Heroes that come to mind first. The problem? They don’t get along because women can’t ever be supportive of one another<3
Aside from that toxic stereotype that girls are always gonna be jealous of another and can’t ever be supportive, we also have their hero outfits, which are pure fan service. And if that wasn’t enough, we get panels like this one from chapter 241:
that are drawing even more attention to their boobs and butts because that is all more important than them being heroes. Could you name me a single male character that was mainly reduced to fan service? Like yes, Dabi is serving looks all the time, but he also has a personality, motivations, goals, etc.
Aside from Horikoshi deciding to objectify them most of the time, he shows us that he is a multitasking king by also making them predatory adults who should not be around kids (and with that, should also not be heroes or teachers), like later on in that same chapter when Mt. Lady is talking to Shouto:
And because we - much like Horikoshi wants us to - find Shouto’s reactions/responses so funny, it distracts from the weird comments Mt. Lady makes, like “if a looker like you suddenly showed up, I think my heart would burst out of my chest” and “he’s cute. I want him” - please stop. You are literally an adult. I get that his inability to understand social cues can make him seem really cute and funny, but there are more appropriate things to say. Or to quote Mr. Compress (once again proving that the League has more standards than the heroes): “What an odd thing to say. [He] doesn’t belong to anyone.”
Similarly, we also have this panel from chapter 67 of Midnight talking to Mineta:
Like... what the fuck?? Who thinks this is okay??
I know all of this is supposed to be for comedy purposes, but this is just outright disgusting, especially when it comes from an adult and is said to a minor.
The female characters already get treated awfully, no reason to make them weird too.
Another thing that is common in bnha in regards to female characters is how they are treated in comparison to the male characters. There is already an obvious trend of treating the villains worse than the heroes, by having villains either receive long-lasting damage (i.e. Compress losing his arm during the Overhaul arc and now losing even more of his body; Dabi’s body constantly being burned more etc.) or just get killed off altogether (i.e. Magne and Twice). The heroes, on the other hand, constantly survive everything (i.e. Twice died from being stabbed once, whereas Bakugou essentially survived the same kind of situation). That same logic also gets applied to gender: of course the male characters also get their fair share of damage, though this is more due to the fact that they make up the majority of characters and get more involved in fights than the female characters, who are usually not part of the big/boss fights. However, the women get treated a whole lot worse - out of all the heroes that got hurt during the current arc, Miruko was the most explicit one, where we get panels of her losing her limbs, whereas several chapters later when Aizawa cuts off his own leg, we only see the knife being moved toward his leg.
We also constantly get very questionable panels for the female characters, like this one of Tsuyu from chapter 66:
This panel of Toga from chapter 226:
Or him just straight-up including a panel of a naked Toga, aka a minor, earlier this arc when she met up with Uraraka.
Speaking of Toga, she really is the most interesting out of all the female characters - she isn’t just a one-dimensional character, but one with her own deep backstory: judged for her quirk by everyone in her life, forcing her to pretend to be someone she isn’t until she couldn’t hold it in anymore. The League is her family and her home because they are the people that always accept her. She plays a big role in the League and gets plenty of action and screen time; she is significant during every part that includes the League. While Dabi, friendly as he is, calls her crazy (an attitude that isn’t just limited to her), they all respect her and never judge her for her quirk or treat her as less. Although much like Uraraka, she has an annoying obsession with Deku, she is still mostly shown to have other significant people in her life (= the League) and even earlier this arc when she wonders whether the heroes saw Twice as human or not, she wants to ask this question, which is very important to her, to Uraraka - not Deku.
To kinda sorta sum it up: Toga feels like the most realistic out of all of them because she has equal screentime to the rest of the League. She has her own reasons, ambitions, and dreams. Yes, she likes to talk about her love for Stain and Deku, and that is due to Horikoshi adding a bunch of stuff for comedic purposes, even though they do more harm than good. Toga as a character is written really well, but even she can’t escape Horikoshi’s inability to not be a creep about female characters.
As for the adult women, in cases like Mitsuki, Midnight, or Mt. Lady it’s absolutely fine apparently for them to be inappropriate with kids because those words and actions are all supposed to be funny. Even Mineta gets constantly called out for being inappropriate, but none of the female characters seem to matter enough to Horikoshi to actually put thought into them and call them out for weird behavior.
There’s probably a whole lot more I could say here, but that’s what I could think of at the top of my head (which is far too much btw).
I really wish Horikoshi would put more effort into writing layered female characters that aren’t just there for fan service, comedic purposes, or exist for the purpose of male characters and their development. I wish he would stop being creepy about them and drawing weird panels of them, or more explicit panels of them than the male characters. Yes, he draws them with slightly different body types, but that’s really not enough to claim that he is good at writing female characters, especially when there is so much evidence against it.
#i really appreciate any manga that actually has good female characters but bnha isnt one of them#meta#ask#bnha#Anonymous
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BRF Reading - 28th of July 2021
This is speculation only
Cards drawn 28th of July 2021
I am putting this reading under a cut so you can skip over it if you want. I can not emphasise enough that this is speculation only.
Question: Was Prince Charles sexually involved with Meghan Markle in any way?
I did a private draw on this this reading around November last year, and the answer I got then was that Meghan definitely offered, but I couldn't tell whether Charles had taken her up on the offer or not. Yesterday, the question and prior reading came to my mind after I read a comment on one of my other recent readings, and the question tugged at me until I drew cards on it. I was looking for further clarification on the 'did he or didn't he' aspect. I was expecting a No, he did not, but what I got was very different.
Interpretation: At the very least, there was some heavily sexually charged flirting going on. There are several indications that this went further.
Card One: The King of Swords. This is a person who is very good at strategy and cold, rational thinking uninfluenced by any emotions or even morality. The person on the card is Odysseus (Greek) or Ulysses (Roman), the King of Ithaca who spent ten years getting home after the Trojan wars because he had angered the gods. His voyage took him to many perilous situations, and he had to use all his wits and guile to get out of them, with some methods being not exactly honest. He was seen by the Greeks as a master of strategy but called 'cruel' and 'deceitful' by the Romans.
This energy from this card is that of Meghan's attitude to flirting/being sexually available to Charles. Like the two faces of Odysseus, she pursued what she saw as good strategy even though it involved being deceitful and even cruel to others. She thought that this behaviour was the best strategy to get get her what she wanted, and she went for it. The fact that Charles was married to Camilla and she was engaged/married to Harry did not bother her one bit.
Card Two: The Devil. The figure on this card is of Pan, the god of nature and of your most basic instincts. The Devil itself is a card of being bound to addictions - sex, drugs, alcohol, gambling - and/or of following your most base level desires. it can mean being in an toxic relationship, being codependent, having toxic behaviours, habits and/or thought patterns. It can represent an inordinate love of luxury.
The Devil is the card for the sign of Capricorn, and it can mean the negative Capricorn traits of social climbing, obtaining higher social status at whatever cost, flaunting brands to show wealth and prestige, and so on.
I am getting two energies from this card. The first is Meghan. She was definitely sexually available to Charles if he so wished, and I think she was hoping to get Charles dependent on her or in her control using sex. She did this for the benefits Charles could give her - money, including her in royal events she would not have otherwise attended, money, possibly access to State jewellery, money, overseas tours, and money.
The second energy is of a base level sexual desire - I see, I want, I f*ck - nothing more complicated than that. This seems to be the level at which Charles would be operating if he took Meghan up on her offers, i.e. nothing more than the desires of the moment, like a drunken fling. I think he would be ashamed of himself afterwards, but it wouldn't stop him coming back for more if he wanted to. I feel that Charles has poor control over his desire for other women, so it is hard for him to turn down offers that he finds attractive. It is coming through very strongly that this is low-level sex, the gratification of the desires of the moment that does not last beyond the act itself.
When I was shuffling the cards, I said that if Meghan and Charles were sexually involved, to give me the devil card, and it appeared in the spread. I will leave you to draw your own conclusions from that.
Card Three: The Five of Wands. This is a card of conflict. It shows Jason and Medea fighting the dragon who guarded the golden fleece. Jason was only able to complete his quest with the help of Medea. He ended up abandoning her so he could marry another King's daughter, which would help him financially and politically.
The energy from this card is one of conflict, and the conflict is between a couple who have passed through troubled times together, as Jason and Medea did. The conflict was definitely caused by Meghan's flirting (and anything else that was offered). One half of the couple was worried that the other half would neglect them and their interest in favour of Meghan - that they would end up abandoned as Medea was.
In this conflict, Meghan is the dragon, who is trying to destroy the couple. I don't think Meghan set out to destroy the relationship, but she definitely knew about the conflict she was causing (as the dragon knew who was fighting it), and I am getting that it gave her joy that she was the source of the conflict.
Card Four: The Two of Cups. This is a card about relationships, of choosing to be in a relationship, of long term, enduring romantic relationships, and of starting a new relationship, and of reconciliations in relationships. The card shows the god Eros rescuing Psyche from where she was left to be devoured by a monster, a 'knight in shining armour' act that was the start of a long journey of growing into a mature relationship.
The main energy I get from this card is that of a long term relationship, and of reconciliation - overcoming trials to be together, as happened with Eros and Psyche, with the relationship changing as a result of those trials. The clarifiers show that the relationship is Camilla's long term relationship with Charles.
As the Two of Cups comes after the Five of Wands, this tells me that the conflict of the Five of Wands has affected the relationship shown by the Two of Cups. The conflict hasn't broken up the relationship, but it has been something that called for some sort of reconciliation in this long term relationship. Camilla and Charles have had to work together to reaffirm their commitment to each other and to heal the damage caused to their relationship by the conflict shown in the Five of wands.
As a card of new relationships, this card suggests that the conflict of the Five of Wands is based on the fact that Charles did have a relationship, however fleeting, with Meghan.
I drew two clarifiers for this card:
Clarifier One: The Five of Swords. The card shows Orestes being confronted with his duty by Apollo, a duty that is an impossible choice - he must kill his mother to avenge his father, but that will mean invoking the wrath of the Furies, as matricide is a sin against the gods. The card is about a situation that means that even when you win, there is a sense of loss.
The energy I am getting from this card is one of duty. Camilla will stay with Charles, as she sees that as her duty (and she does love him), but she stays knowing that he is susceptible to advances from other women, even after all these years together. Her 'winning' by keeping her relationship with Charles is accompanied by a sense of loss, as the trust between the two of them has been damaged. They can reconcile, but the relationship will never be what it was before Meghan's flirting and whatever else happened between her and Charles.
Clarifier Two: The Queen of Cups. This is a water sign person, particularly a Cancer, and in this spread it represents Camilla, who is a sun sign Cancer and in a long term romantic relationship with Charles. The Cups suit represents feelings in the tarot, and I think Camilla definitely has Feelings about this situation.
Card Five: The Ace of Wands. This card is about an upsurge of new creative energy, and in this reading it is sexual energy. The figure on the cards is Zeus, the chief god of Olympus who was well known for not being able to keep it in his pants, and he is holding a thick wooden staff that is spurting fire/creative energy everywhere. It does not get much more sexual than that.
Zeus represents Prince Charles, as in this deck the gods usually represent members of the BRF, and Zeus is the chief god just as Prince Charles is now the top ranking male in the BRF. There was definitely sexual energy between Charles and Meghan. Whether Charles acted upon that energy - the card says yes rather than no (as per the imagery in the above paragraph), but I am having trouble believing that, so if you are as well, I do not blame you.
This card, and especially Zeus on the card, reminds me of Charles's sexual past, and the stories about him having Camilla as his girlfriend and anyone who took his fancy on the side, and later on having Diana as his wife and Camilla as his mistress. The theme of Camilla having to share him with another woman/women is what stands out to me.
Underlying Energy One: The Tower. This is the card of s sudden, shocking event that destroys part of your life and leaves you to rebuild it from rubble. The card shows the god Poseidon, the lord of the sea, destroying a tower. The sea imagery is standing out to me, and this tells me that this tower moment is all about feelings (as water represents feelings), tumultuous feelings that echo the rough sea. Poseidon was also a god known for his fertility and his rampant sexuality.
I think that Charles's actions towards Meghan have stirred up some very strong feelings in Camilla, and as a result his relationship with Camilla was badly damaged. He may also have damaged his relationship with other family members by favouring Meghan, especially in the area of money. Both he and Camilla would have to work to rebuild their relationship after the damage caused by Meghan.
Underlying Energy Two: The World. This is a card about the end of a cycle. It is time to pause, reflect on the past, celebrate the success, and then to go forward from here. The energy I am getting from this card is very much 'the end of cycle' and not 'celebrate the success (of the end of a long term project)'. With the tower moment, something in the relationship between Charles and Camilla has come to an end. The relationship will continue, but something within it is over and has moved into a new way of being. It can not go back to how it was pre-Meghan.
Confirmation Spread: After I finished this spread, I asked again if Charles was sexually involved with Meghan, and I said if he was to give me the Devil or the Lovers card. I shuffled and drew the three cards shown under the spread:
1. The King of Cups, which is a water sign card, especially a Scorpio, and here represents Prince Charles, a sun sign Scorpio
2. The Lovers - The Lovers is a card about values and choices, especially choices in love. Do we choose relationships from a mature perspective, based on our long term values and beliefs, or do we choose them from an immature perspective, according to our base desires of the moment?
3. The King of Wands, which is a fire sign person, particularly a Leo, and here stand for Meghan, a sun sign Leo.
So we have Prince Charles, The Lovers, and Meghan.
I think the conclusion is obvious.
Conclusion: From the above cards, as much as I do not want to believe it, I have to conclude that Prince Charles and Meghan most likely had one or more sexual encounters - or at the very least, that the offer was there, it was blatant, and Charles was considering taking her up on it.
Meghan was willing to make herself available to Prince Charles sexually as a matter of strategy, to get more money and benefits from him. Prince Charles considered the offer and/or took her up on the offer from a base-level sexual impulse - the satisfaction of the desire of the moment. This act caused tension and conflict between Charles and Camilla, as Camilla thought that she and her interests would be neglected in favour of Meghan. It caused a rift and a coldness in their relationship. Even if what was between Charles and Meghan was just heavy flirting with the offer of sex, it still caused a rift between Charles and Camilla. Once again, Camilla was sharing Charles with another woman.
This event/offer/situation was a Tower moment for Charles, something that damaged his marriage and while the damage could be repaired, something in the relationship has changed and/or ended. It will not be the same as it was before Meghan's advances (whether Charles succumbed to them or not).
Note: I will be revisiting this question in a few weeks, if only privately, to see if I get the same answer or not.
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Shea Longshanks – A human drug lord who has taken control of a wing of the prison and requires rent from others in his wing. He has a group of henchmen and acts as if he is a guard/warden.
Malcer Holden – A well-dressed half-elf necromancer who will not state why he is here. In return for information, he requires spoons, which he provides to his army of undead in hopes of digging his way out.
Zenbis Axor – A yellow dragonborn who will not speak to anyone she encounters. She possesses immense magical power but chooses to spend her days solitarily in her cell. Nobody knows the story behind her.
Durgar Steely – This dwarf holds an infinitely refilling beer glass and nobody in the prison has ever seen him sober. He is very friendly and can just about speak and walk normally.
Naroxius – The source of annoyance for much of the prison, Naroxius always manages to find a way to vandalize the prison. He has made clear that he will stop at nothing to escape, however all that he has managed to do is anger other inmates and staff. His current cell now consists of a wooden slab in the corner, after he fireballed his previous one
Argus Shatterhorn – A goliath and zealous follower of a crazed war god. He’s seemingly possesses an infinite trove of energy and vitality, laughing and preaching loudly despite being literally skewered to a wall in his cell. Nothing can shut him up short of magical silence, which he doesn’t seem to notice.
The Witch of Cretchreaver – A very polite sounding woman behind a foot of concrete and a metal door. She requests that you open the tiny hole so that she can get a look at you. She’s a medusa with her eyes pressed against the other side.
Slobfoot the Eloquent – An educated, well spoke goblin who tried to incite a political revolution. He gives a very deep, loquacious philosophical speech to the party.
Thaddeus Null – A blue dragonborn and self-proclaimed God. He doesn’t seem arrogant beside that, just comfortable and quiet. His followers are magically capable, morally bankrupt people who are trying to break him out as they speak.
The Rat – A wood elf who ratted out his bandit gangmates. Can’t be trusted, would sell their own brother for half a smoke. Nonetheless, they keep their eyes and ears open and know a lot about what’s happening in the prison.
Randy Shackleford- human, assailed a government agent with sand and authorities now cannot find his name on any records.
The Smuggler – A male gnome. He is the prison supplier who can find almost anything and smuggle it in the prison in exchange for the prison’s currency (smokes, food, etc.)
Daloriz – A blind vampire who overcame his sunlight sensitivity. He has blindsense, and his power is to the point where he can overwhelm most enemies. When spoken to, he is polite and mentions he has seen the future and knows he must wait here for the right time. Why is this vampire in prison? What is he waiting for? Who is coming? Up to the DM to decide.
Takaar ‘Two shields’ Alzurini – small time dwarf mob boss locked up for extortion and racketeering. He has boys on the outside planning to break him out.
Voracious Veronica – A cannibalistic human who is soft spoken. She claims she was a knight who resorted to ‘the worst sin of all’ when her position was under siege for months. Her skin is pale, her eyes are dull, and her gaze sends shivers up your spine. You’re almost certain she’s lying.
Gregor Brutalous – An imposing half-giant with jet black braided hair, dressed in clean formal clothing. He was a psychotic and incredibly powerful warlord, but years after his arrest insists he is trying to atone for his actions. He can easily escape (or so he claims) but refuses to leave as penance.
Marros Tarmikos – A merchant who was caught up in a bar fight with some religious fanatics. He knows a few secrets about the prison and seems to be a law-abiding citizen for the most part.
Gorgeous Gnurl – An orc pit fighter that lost his champion title to *insert NPC* and in a violent rage murders him and his entire team right there in front of the entire crowd.
Mordekai – Leader of a gang of wererats, he used his rats or ‘little friends’ to spy on people, and to blackmail them, or to sell their secrets to the highest buyer.
Torun Sacanti – This ex-palace guard was thrown in prison after he gave his friend a tour of the duke’s apartments. When asked why he is in prison, he will do whatever he can to distract the party from the question.
Tharon Ash – A Tiefling man who was kidnapped for a part in an infernal ritual but was arrested along with the cult when city guards caught them all. He will do anything short of murder to prove his innocence or escape.
Resh – This culinary master in orcish cuisine can barely speak a few sentences in common. Employed in the kitchen, he is known to sometimes get rowdy and confiscate the fingers of anyone who looks at him the wrong way.
Myrca Faro – Quiet and keeps to herself. She seems capable in many skills, decent in a fight, but is distant, mumbling to herself often, though what she’s saying can’t be heard. She was caught with her crew, but one of them testified against her. She doesn’t seem keen on reuniting since she doesn’t know who.
The Painted Claw – A charismatic rakshasa who enjoys gaining followers and leading them into a suicide pact. He is sending souls back to his master in the nine hells and he has been captured for now…
Habstrek the Painter – A former cart driver turned serial killer, she’s not getting out any time soon; she was captured during a time referred to in the local lore as ‘the summer of art’, in which she killed and drained the bodies of over twenty prison guards’ family members, apparently out of revenge for their extrajudicial killing of her apparently innocent husband, Algnir Half-Tusk. She’s fed via a wand charged with Create Food and Drink, as her cell door is welded shut. Guards hate her above almost all other prisoners, knowing she’d gladly turn her targets into further ‘paintings’.
Elgin Powell – charged with a dozen counts of kidnapping, he was a local mob boss’ favorite enforcer – with no bodies ever discovered, the families of his victims were denied even the peace of knowing that they were able to be contacted via necromancy. Reportedly, he kept his charges in a deep mine and they are, one and all, still alive, just shielded from scrying and blood legacy magic. Knows more about kidnappings than anyone local is likely to have ever considered.
Jimmy ‘Lumberjack’ Jackson – Woodcutter turned assassin. He was brutal, honest, and captured by the palace guards when they asked him to start signing his work; reportedly, he’s still working from inside of the prison, except his rates are infinitely more affordable. His signature weapon remains undiscovered – which is a neat trick, considering that it’s a massive war axe.
Anna – Kept in a dark room and bound with magic sigils, Anna is a deeply motivated, highly disturbed wandering killer, captured after a five-year hunt by professional adventurers; her modus operandi was to disguise herself as an orphan human child, infiltrate colonial outposts, and then systematically destroy food, water, and medical supplies, forcing the pioneers into madness, murder, and cannibalism. Rumors say that she’s responsible for the failure of two nation-states’ failure to expand their territories. She’s boasted she’d gladly take one another job, if freed.
Rankle the Bookkeeper – A master of puppeteering and palace intrigue, he went from entertainer to information broker in under a year; his spies consist of handmade puppets, each one capable of recording sights and sounds, he extorted vast amounts of funding from select projects and missions, lining his own pocket freely until he was captured under what many consider unusual circumstances. Some say that he did so to protect himself from the palace paladins and clergy, all of whom are above harming prisoners.
Coins and Pouch – Master forgers and loan sharks, these two brothers are a regular feature in the prison yard, dealing out loans with reasonable interest rates and obtaining rarities for other prisoners; it’s said that on the day they were brought into the prison, they presented a set of keys to a well-appointed cottage to the chief guard as a token of their appreciation. Ever since, they’re under protection and weekly payments continue to provide them with many creature comforts. Every year, on the anniversary of their incarceration, the guard that treats them the best receives a key to another cottage.
Aldac – Former adventurer, expedition guide, reformed arsonist, and now a leader of a prison yard ‘exercise group’, this monk is a dangerous person; some say that she’s building an army, others that it’s a cult, and nobody wants to test her in a straight fight since she crippled her last opponent in under ten seconds. Anything that requires focus and determination, she’s happy to offer her thoughts on, free of charge – provided that she’s shown proper respect first. Her sentence is for a triple life duration – tough luck for her, as her species is a long-lived one.
Thack – A monstrous human, he was a warlord by age fifteen, a respected bandit king at twenty, and captured during his attempt to seize the capital itself, turned over by his own command structure in exchange for lenient sentencing for war crimes. Passionate, charismatic, and mysteriously possessing a keen ear for music, he’s an example of what can happen to a Bard if they decide to turn war itself into a performance art. He’s making money through the writing of strategic, tactical and logistic guidebooks, periodically singing for the lost days of his misspent youth. He turns twenty-three in a month.
Rejoice-Cried-The-Kraken – Still living her best life, RJCTK is a priestess first, bandit second, and a model prisoner third, choosing to ignore her history of piracy and looting in exchange for running a small group of like-minded believers in the church she’s built in her cell; she served as a first officer on the flagship of a vast pirate fleet, choosing who lived and who was sacrificed to her deity, often by slow drowning or something that officials referred to as ‘hook dancing’. She makes a few extra coins giving nautical theme tattoos for fellow prisoners, each one a work of art worthy of a church’s stained-glass windows.
Prisoner #644 – Captured at the frontier, whatever it is, it’s only eaten six times in ten years, each time it was an unwary guard who strayed too close to the sealed cage covered in a thick burlap sheet. It hums at night, an eerie, unsettling event taking place only just before the onset of riots, uprisings, and acts of revenge on a wide scale inside of the prison. Recently, guards have reported that it has started to sing softly. Each of the Dead prisoners killed in the previous ten years are named, one by one, and it chuckled wetly when younger guards approach it.
Kishi the Kid – A 16-year-old changeling who attempted to steal the Crown Jewels. He’s stuck in solitary after using the persona of a guard to start a riot, and is well known for the many he’s started in the few months he’s been here
Cold Turquoise – The former cult leader of a Dragonborn pirate fleet. Will only talk in Draconian, and will give advice on how to operate a ship at a cost…
Henri Schum – Halfling Mafia-don. Used his resources and cutthroat approach to fund a smuggling operation on rare animals for collectors. Has 2 fingers missing on his left hand and has his ‘buddies’ rough up any new people who mention them.
Zarakos – Super beefy winged Tiefling. Brought in for attempting to rob a local bank and fly off with the loot, not accounting for the wizards that can cast Fly. Wings are always tied for obvious reasons. Not very smart, but very loyal. If you free his wings, he will follow you and your group until the end. Will carry and fly anyone that needs it
Kimnuan Shadestalker – Black kitsune assassin. She and her bard troupe would spread rumors about people so others would order hits on them. Specifically in for burning down a village after getting caught by the local authorities. If she can get access to her hands, she can summon a lute and cast spells to become invisible/incorporeal.
Binks Falkhorn- A scribe for 2 generations of very powerful wizards. Has not shown any criminal intent but is ordered to be imprisoned in solitary indefinitely after the wizard went mad and went on a killing spree, showing horrible power. His scribe is the last shred of evidence of the wizard’s work. It would be too dangerous to let the scribe roam free, but it would be foolish to kill him in case his knowledge became useful
Sparkler- A nine-year-old bronze half dragon who just wants to go home to her older brother. She was framed for a crime that she in no way could have committed. She is kept in a dark cell and is the favorite to be abused by the head guard. No knows her actual name because she rarely talks to anyone even when she is allowed.
Xnyxyh Halfheart – Channeling Chronurgy wizard without his spell book. He looks human and is locked up for various crimes. He will help anyone who can get him his spell book. However, if he gets it, he will finish becoming a lich. He does not care for anyone but himself.
Thornbull – an experimental warforged, who committed too many war crimes.
Thragg Jadewolf – half-orc spy. He looks like an ugly human. He is in prison for high treason. He infiltrated border settlements and opened the gates at night, sabotaged the defenses, etc., so the neighboring orc kingdom could conquer the settlements easily.
The masked man – this human wears a cursed mask, which he cannot take off. His crime: He is the elder brother of the current king.
The Wyrd Sisters – Three halfling sisters each identical except for different colored eyes, the Wyrd Sisters are prohibited from accessing the kitchen and mess halls, kept in solitary confinement from each other, and fed separately. This is due to their innate toxicity, their blood, saliva, and sweat producing an extremely toxic poison which when ingested, causes a terrifying and agonizing death in even small doses. They were arrested after their entire village was found rotting the next morning after drinking from the tainted well which they had poisoned. Rumors persist that their natural lethality came from a tradeoff with a powerful Demon.
Semaj Ironscreamer – An elderly Half-Orc Druid who has spent half his life in this cell. He was jailed after being involved in multiple eco-terrorist attacks on mining towns that had been dumping their industrial waste into the nearby rivers. Seen as a kindly grandfather figure by the other inmates and even some of the guards, Semaj is often the peacekeeper between those he can hear from his cell and dispenses wisdom to those who ask. Given the nature of his magic, Semaj is kept in an underground cell with no window and any visitors he receives will be checked for wooden objects and plant matter.
Azar – A former acolyte of the church who used his talents as a thief to steal back religious artifacts from wealthy aristocrats. Until one day he was set up by the Queen dowager to make it look like he was trying to assassinate her with the same knife she had killed her husband with. Is actually completely innocent of this particular crime, but with the weight of the crown bearing down on him his trial was anything but fair.
Vulmon Longroot – A 900-year-old High Elven Bard who was the very first prisoner ever put into this place. His crime? 800 years ago, he had been caught having an affair with all 11 princesses of the area and is actually the reason every member of the royal family has any access to magic.
Tybo the Mad Monk – An incredibly dangerous and violent martial artist who was known to wear the ears of his enemies that he killed in battle like a necklace. After a failed assassination attempt by one of his party members caused Tybo to go mad and kill his party, the Human Monk returned to his roots raiding ships along the coast before he was eventually captured and placed in prison.
Irving – he was just an ordinary peasant… until adventurers showed up in his life and destroyed it. After that he has dedicated his life to destroying them.
Dean Fisher – human. Scum landlord to good upstanding goblins. forgot to bribe a local official.
Greta Howitzer- A human horizon walker ranger who was once a famed demon hunter. But while hunting members of the cult of Baphomet, she lost her mind in Baphomet’s lair. She has the madness ‘The world is my hunting ground. Others are my prey.’ She now views all humanoids as demons and will go to any length to hunt them down. She was imprisoned after spending her money building a massive maze, kidnapping people, and hunting them down in the maze.
Dominic Halfcastle – Halfling, originally in jail for tax evasion, now known for being transferred due to the murder and consumption of multiple sentients, claims the ability to kill sentients with his mind, has displayed no actual psionic or magical power
Vestlev the Mad – War criminal of the highest order, he has been moved to a normal prison as a temporary holding place until a proper area is found. He looks old and disheveled but is a mastermind when it comes to the magical arts of evocation. From his cell can be heard incoherent babbling, but do not be fooled, he has escaped before.
Minkus the Feebleminded – Everyone knows it’s a mistake that he’s in the prison. He’s a real sweetheart if a bit soft in the head. Sometimes his cell glows at night though. Oh, and don’t let him tell you about his nightmares if he says you were in one…
Sir Jim Haggins – A true gentleman at heart, he wears his ragged suit proudly. He’s perfectly polite in every way. He doesn’t look kindly on the poor however, oh no. He detests the poor. So much so that his hunting lodge was full to the brim with human trophies when the authorities finally tracked down ‘the Slum-spree Killer’
Thiggund – This hairy brute is referred to by the only word he heads ever been known to utter. When the villagers of a small farming community found him by the road, surrounded by the brutalized remains of a merchant and his horses, Thiggund was arrested on the spot.
Unburned Barty – A slight man with an unassuming smile. He survived being burned at the stake without a single scar. He was moved into isolation after his cellmates kept killing themselves
Billy Pumpernickel – A gnome who is well known and loved in the prison, but actually committed a horrible crime. Everyone just goes with it, and other than the one horrible unforgivable thing, he’s just a pretty nice dude. Like ‘Hey, there’s Billy. Yeah, he mutilated a few kids, but only once. Nice guy.’ (Edit: This would just be hilarious when the players try to come to terms on how to treat him)
The Time Master – Real name, age, sex, & race unknown. (S)he exists 5 minutes in the future. The cell was locked, and an empty plate appeared with a note. The note had an explanation and instructions. ‘Please place a full plate inside the cell each time an empty plate is discovered. Failure to do so will create a paradox and subsequently release the prisoner.’
Elwe – An elf who walks through the corridors of the prison as if he was someone free, talks to the guards and other prisoners as they were friends. Says he is in prison due to stealing, is actually hiding from the king, who wants to kill him since he killed his father
Ozob – An old looking human with hair only on sides and a fire potion (Molotov) where his nose would be. Always angry. Whenever someone looks wrong at him, he says: you are so annoying I might sneeze.
Walks-Winding-Paths – A tabaxi shadow monk, she is kept in a fully lighted cell at all times, wearing glowing enchanted clothing. She is only fed by guards under a faerie fire spell, as otherwise they would cast a shadow which she could teleport into to escape. She will attempt to convince a party member to give her a cloak, bowl, or other object to block the light with.
Garth the Radiant – A paladin of the fallen angel Zariel. His guards are ordered to hit him every time they see him meditating or praying, as that would let him regain the spells, she grants him and summon his enchanted mace, Purity, to destroy his cell. If the party can bring him his weapon, or even give him ten minutes of peace, he will consider himself honor-bound to grant them a favor upon request. If their aims align with his, he might even fight alongside them.
Nibbles – Literally just a warlock cat.
Iydis Tyger-Eye – Former Guld Leader, she is high level Fighter and also a Were-Tiger. Killed the heads of other Were families, in an attempt to seize power and take control of the protection of the city, and its criminal underworld.
Rollins – Air School Elemental Wizard. Believes in Anarchy and Equality of all races. In jail for starting a revolution and killing the Queen.
Herman – Normal human who built Mythic Bracers of Shatter that are only attuned to him. Had used the Bracers to gain access and rob several small vaults. Then he was caught by an adventurer after going for heist to rob a merchant banker when he refused to harm others to escape with the goods. He refuses to teach/sell the knowledge of how to make the Bracers as he doesn’t want others to use it to harm someone.
Roscoe Tealeaf – A well-dressed halfling who smells of saffron. He brokers deals between prison factions. It’s no secret that he is trying to escape. He claims he was framed by a noble, or maybe arrested breaking into the noble’s vault. He’ll tell anyone who asks that the noble has a dangerous artifact. Roscoe is a lore bard that specializes in counter spell silence and general magic user shutdowns.
John ‘Musical Manipulator’ Green – Half-elf, in jail for making a whole court dance for hours on end to prove a philosophical point that the upper class will just do as they say to hold up appearances and are so comfortable in their wealth, they can watch it be taken away and redistributed.
Colin Green – human. John’s half-brother who supported him and helped with a second set up hands to pull off music. Tuomas Yurke – elf. the voice and magic behind all of this. Started to talk to John about these thoughts and with a few others began to flesh them out into a more concrete thought and into a sound. Loved by the low class, anticipated and loved by the upper class even though it is all a misunderstanding. The three of them are located at different corners and different levels of the prison so the music can’t come together and convince guards to open up cages. Mail comes from them from all over. 2 members of their group are still at large.
Vaelh’noo – Githyanki sorceress who once commanded a powerful fleet in the astral sea before she was captured in a botched raid. Her secret is that she allowed herself to be captured to escape the wrath of the lich queen, whom she plots to overthrow from the safety of her cell.
Quikiliar – A doppleganger (Rogue). Thrown into prison for impersonating a person of high authority, they’re known for frequently making their way into guard chambers by pretending to be one. They can get access to a lot of things if you ask for it, but almost always ask for some odd favor or trinket, usually personal, like a lock of hair or an image of someone loved.
Locke – Once a guard themselves, this warforged fighter was sent to jail after attacking someone due to a misinterpretation of their actions. Unfortunately, this was also another guard with good standing with the warden, who had them put in. They serve their time willingly but can be interrogated or otherwise convinced to disclose explicit info about the prison and its guard shifts and similar.
Breeze – An air genasi artificer, she was thrown into jail after selling several infused items for high prices and then the infusing a different item. Since then, she’s gotten in good favor with guards and other inmates by enchanting some magic items and plans to use these favors and connections to escape at some point.
Zaurok – A Goliath Barbarian, although he acts calm and meditates. Known for the rare outbursts, during which he flies into a rage after being provoked or possibly from being disturbed while meditating. The several escape attempts that’ve happened are from him simply breaking the jail bars. Since then, he’s been relocated to a cell made out of adamantine.
Slicer – Kenku cleric. Devoted to a god of trickery, they gained their name after a particular… Prank, on part of their god. Around the jail will often prank the various inmates but is also known to make distracting sounds at the guards at night. Likely to be able to convince with shiny objects to prank someone or create a distraction.
Color-of-Blood – An insane Tabaxi woman incarcerated for eviscerating several people. Can often be found singing quietly to herself songs usually about ‘meal preparation’. Is usually docile and doesn’t react to being talked to unless threatened which she may attack while loudly singing ’50 ways to skin a human.’
Reginald Mark – A mild mannered human male incarcerated for a chain of serial killings. He claims he’s possessed by a banshee, but no one believes him. His speech has a feminine undertone and his skin is cold to the touch. Those who threaten him are usually found in the morning choked to death with a horrifying look on their face.
Tee’vah – Tiefling rogue who doesn’t seem too upset to be there. If approached he will happily show off a copy of his wanted poster, listing crimes from arson to murder. Secretly a doppelgänger who is honestly just trying to provide for his family and have some fun. Can break out any time he wants.
The Dread Pirate Azuzula, Roger, and Primten – A Tiefling, an earth genasi, and an air genasi. Azuzula seems useless but the other two are competent sorcerers. Despite this they follow her words to the letter. In for piracy. Azuzula can’t spell and keeps ranting about her ship the Doom Squid. Will challenge people to fights.
Taryon Sandstone – A half-elf paladin who used to be a slave fighting in gladiator pits. After gaining his freedom, he vowed to fight for the freedom of other and became a powerful hero. After the tragic loss of a close friend, he went on an overzealous crusade against slavers, killing them and their family as well as anyone who had in any way helped them (ship captains, harbor employees, food/clothes/rope vendors, blacksmith, etc.)
Tilby Valenois – A gnome mage of sorts who has committed zero crimes besides somehow breaking into a maximum-security prison and… staying there? The security guards have tried to get him to leave numerous times but usually get charmed or subdued out of it magically. Nobody knows why the gnome wishes to be there, but he hasn’t been messing with the order of things much.
Adelai – A rather amicable young woman. Nobody knows for sure what she’s in for, but general consensus is that it involved a basilisk head and the water supply to a small town
Vass – A large orc man that was used as a phylactery for a lich. Vass has been hearing whispers of the lich in his mind and is slowly being possessed. He has started doing horrible things under the influence of the lich. Performing Magic’s that he has no right to know.
Endeer – A being that inflicts his victims with horrible nightmares in each of these nightmares a horrifying creature appears to the dreamer and offers them the opportunity to “Loose yourself from the chains of your labored slumber” if the dreamer accepts, they never sleep again as their mind descends in to horrible madness
Cultists of the Basilisk – These cultists are attempting to create the creature they worship a terrible all-knowing basilisk they know that they will be successful and that the basilisk will destroy anyone who knew about him and didn’t help create him so they only share their beliefs with those they deem helpful or worthy of death
Arnold Long – A half orc/elf, he looks like a giant of a human and seems pleasant to be around in a group of people. While it appears, he is a big stupid sweet teddy bear of a person, his record is full of brutal killings that may or may not have happened. The last killings were not too long ago after a prison gang isolated Arnold in the showers and bribed a guard to not interfere. Long story short, the gang WAS major player in the prison, now all of its muscle IS dead, and the guard went missing. Arnold is to be handled with care and kindness.
The ‘Statue of The Maiden’ – It looks like a statue of a naked elven woman that was bought by a merchant (deceased) from an artist (deceased) who sold it to a noble (deceased) for a gift to his wife (deceased) and children (deceased). All that is known is the statue moves when not observed and will eat and clean itself. It leaves flirtatious messages for the guards it likes and death threats to the guards it hates. The artist swore on their deathbed it was a mistake for them to create it but, this is the only place it has been stored where it does not kill thought it has maimed a few people who fail to respect it. Attempts to remove, destroy, or study it has been ‘unfruitful and unwise’.
Inspector Brundt – A beardless dwarf imprisoned for the crimes of tax evasion, swindling, theft, and gross debt. He knows how to get things and bribes the guards to get luxuries and messages through the prison walls.
Tur the Kobold – He seems stupid and harmless. Everyone assumes he’s just a patsy who took the fall for a bigger criminal. Occasionally, though, he lets something slip that only someone high-level in a criminal organization would know.
Axe Hands – A warforged barbarian who found great success as a military shock trooper, but also was involved in an incident where he dismembered a commanding officer. Sees prison as an ‘extended furlough” and is convinced he’ll be let out when the next war starts.
Clara – A human paladin. Recruited into the military, she was driven mad by the trauma of war and turned oathbreaker. Jailed for the same incident as Axe Hands, having used her healing abilities to keep their victim from bleeding out after being dismembered. Lives to see people suffer but remembers enough of her pre-oathbreaker life to maintain a kind, innocent facade when it suits her.
Harald Silverfinger – An elf wizard who sees humans the same way a scientist sees a bucket full of white rats; testing fodder. They’re close enough to elves to be useful for experimentation, but short-lived enough that killing them really isn’t a big deal. It’s rumored that the local guild is secretly helping him continue his work, using his fellow prisoners as test fodder.
Verdos – A dwarven female cleric. Believes she was morally just in murdering the children of a local village. Full of righteous anger. Judges everybody according to her own warped and insane moral code. Can often barely be understood. In maximum security for obvious reasons. Can offer a range of cleric services at prison prices.
Tabitha Binks – A Tabaxi Rogue. An orphan growing up on the coast, she quickly fell in with the Revelry pirates. Tabitha learned to use her claws as lockpicks and may teach other Tabaxi how to as well. She was caught at sea after ambushing a wealthy fur trader.
James the Changeling – A male changeling known for impersonating the guides and has so far escaped every prison he’s been in. He’s a new inmate already planning his escape.
??? – the cell appears empty, save for a stool. Could be they’re just using it for storage. But, then why does that stool make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up?
Ood – A very old, frail and nearly paralyzed Illithid who sits still in solitary confinement, his blind eyes wide open, and only blinks or changes his position once or twice per year. Said to have messed something up when attempting to become an Alhoon. Nobody knows why he’s there, but he occasionally sends nearly unintelligible telepathic riddles to the other prisoners. Rumor has it he has invaded the minds of everyone in the prison and lives vicariously through their dreams at night.
#d20#rpg#dnd#dungeons and dragons#fantasy#sword and sorcery#campaigns#fairy tale#mythology#fable#dungeon master#dm#game master#gm#hackmaster#magic item#magic weapon#magic ring#spell book#d12#d10#d8#d6#d4#d100#dice
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Love Languages - Straw Hats
Luffy:
• What he needs/responds best to:
I think Luffy would really need to receive gifts. The types of gifts that carry a lot of meaning and are sentimental. We've seen how he treats the Srraw Hat he was gifted by Shanks - he keeps it on him at all times, does everything in his power to make sure it doesn't go missing. Yes, the hat is part of a promise they made, but that's the whole point. That gift from Shanks inspired luffy and continues to inspire luffy. Another example is the water he receives from Toto in Alabasta. It's an important gift, something the old man worked hard to get, so to Luffy he knows and understands the effort and meaning behind it and for that he treats it carefully. That is why I believe Luffy would adore sentimental gifts like that from his significant other. It shows the thought, the energy, and the care you have for him. It's a great way to show him your love. Also, if he were to receive meat as a gift.... well lmao we already know how that would go down.
• What he gives:
There's not really any need to explain this, but Lufy gives acts of service. Luffy is for the most part, pretty selfless. He constantly helps people he just met, for absolutely nothing in return. Sometimes they don't even say anything, he just already acts. This would be how he expresses his love for you. He'd randomly share his food with you (this would be a big one), he'd ask what you want or need done and as soon as you tell him he'd go off and do it. That's just how he is.
Zoro:
• What he needs/responds best to:
Zoro is very focused on his goals. He has his daily routine - sleep, train, eat, train, drink, train, repeat. Training is such a significant part of Zoros life, it's almost nonnegotiable. We've seen him train immediately after incurring an injury, without rest or recovery. Therefore, quality time would be very important for Zoro. In particular, I think Zoro would feel most love and cared for with a partner who understands his desire and need to constantly train, and rather than telling him to stop and spend time together, they join him in his training sessions. For Zoro that is quality time. The same can be said with the other points in his routine. A significant other who spends quality time with him through drinking, eating, sleeping and training would make him feel so understood and⅕ loved. I feel like acts of service kind of go hand-in-hand with quality time for Zoro. You know Zoros routine, what he does, and so doing little things throughout the day to make it easier for him to stick to that routine and maximize his energy for training, I believe, is a good way to make the swordsman feel loved. Preparing his favourite drink (if you are on the ship, or buying his favourite drink the next time you are on land), offering him a sparring buddy. Those sorts of acts of service will really make him feel appreciated.
• What he gives:
Zoro is more of a doer rather than a talker, and while he may be an idiot (especially with directions), hes not stupid. He has a good sense of the needs and states of his crew members. Because of this, Zoros love language is most definitely acts of service, he would view the situation, gauge your current state and act accordingly without being told what you needed. He'd just know.
Sanji:
• What he needs/responds best to:
To be fair Sanji would probably respond well to any of the types of love languages LMAO, but, I personally think he'd respond best to physical touch and quality time. Sanji is a SIIIIIMP (I love the man, bless his horny little heart). Anytime a woman is even in the vicinity he gets a nosebleed and gets all love-crazy. Imagine what hes like when a girl actually touches him. Actually... we see what hes like in Dressrosa with Violet. He blushes, swoons and everything in between when she holds his hand or touches him. So making physical affection towards Sanji is definitely the best way to show him you love him. Also, I believe quality time would be a big one for Sanji. Going with him to get the groceries for the ship, spending time with while he cooks. Showing interest in his passion would without a doubt make Sanji feel all warm and fuzzy inside. He loves cooking for others, so to have his partner reciprocate that interest and share that passion with him would mean the world to the chef.
• What he gives
Like Luffy, the love languages Sanji gives are pretty self explanatory. Sanji would show his love through acts of service and words of affirmation. We already see him do this to an extent throughout the series for Nami and Robin. Sanji will make your favourite meal, your favourite drink, anything you want. He is extremely chivalrous amd takes pride in treating women correctly, so you best believe he will do everything for you so you dont have to lift a finger. He would also compliment you daily, encourage you and listen to whatever you have to say. We've seen him do this numerous times. He loves to let women know how beautiful, strong, and amazing they are.
Usopp:
• What he needs/responds best to:
This guys is so anxious and insecure. He constantly fixates on how he's weak and unworthy to be a member of the Straw Hats. It's likely that these thoughts and feelings would manifest in a relationship with him too. Therefore, Usopp is a person in desperate need of words of affirmation. He would absolutely thrive if you were to encourage, reassure and compliment him. Remind him that he is in fact a brave warrior of the sea, one you admire very much. I also just can't stop thinking that Usopp would respond really well to quality time with his partner. If his partner would just sit and listen intently to his stories (some true, some exaggerated and some entirely false) regardless if they've heard them before or not. It would make him feel so appreciated.
• What he gives:
There's not a doubt in my mind that Sogeking would show his love through words of affirmation and quality time. He knows how it feels to be anxious and insecure. To ensure you dint ever feel that way he would be constantly complimenting you, speaking words of encouragement and listening to whatever doubts you had and then instantly reminding you that you are in fact bad af and should never doubt yourself. Again, Usopp would spent so much quality time with you telling you an assortment of stories to make you smile, cry, and laugh.
Nami:
• What she needs/responds best to:
Is it a surprise that the beautiful navigator would respond best to receiving gifts? No, not at all. She's known for her love of treasure and money, AND, she epreally enjoys shopping any chance she gets. So, it's safe to say any sort of gift is a great way to make Nami feel loved. But, she wouldn't just appreciate big expensive, or really materialistic gifts, she would also respond really well to small, sentimental gifts too. She was gifted a bracelet from her sister (we see the flashback scene in Strong World). Its a really important and precious gift to her, that she wears at all times. So, receiving a gift of any kind would mean the world to Nami.
• What she gives:
Giving gifts would be Namis main love language. She's in charge of all the finances and treasure in the Straw Hats, so we see how cautious she can be with money. Therefore, if Nami were to use that treasure for a gift for her significant other, it's a really big sign, it's a giant communication of love! There is no way in hell she'd do that for just anyone. This is actually shown in the Sabaody Archipelago arc when Camie is being auctioned off and Nami says that they can use all their treasure and money to try and get her back. If Nami truly cares for someone, she'll show it through gift giving.
Chopper:
• What he needs/responds best to:
Again, Choppers is relatively self explanatory. This boy thrives when he receives compliments of any kind. So, words of affirmation are undoubtedly the love language he responds best to. There's really not much else to say about it.
• What he gives
Chopper really enjoys spending time with the crew, he's been shown to enjoy playing games with Robin, fishing off the Sunny, and goofing off with Luffy and Usoop. So, quality time is the primary way Chopper shows his love. He enjoys spending time doing anything with those he cares about, so his significant other would be no different.
Robin:
• What she needs/responds best to:
Robin has had a rough life, she may not have always been alone, but she really was alone for most of her life. She couldn't trust anyone, could 't get close to anyone, but now that she's found that person, spending quality time with them is going to be very important for her. She would really need her significant other to just be near her, even if it's in silence while she's studying, or allowing her to talk about her research. As long as the person she loves spends some quality time with her, Robin will be happy.
• What she gives
She's the intellectual of the crew. She can read people and is really good with her words. That's why I think words of affirmation are what she'll give to her partner. We've seen her calm down, reassure, and encourage some if the anxious bunch on the crew, so there's no doubt that she always knows the right thing to say.
Franky
• What he needs/responds best to:
I believe words of affirmation to be the love language Franky responds the best to. Being told how cool, strong, creative, and super he is would do wonders. You can actually see this in the way he responds to Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper's reactions to all his creations. When they go on and on spouting compliments, with every "oooh" and "ahhh" Franky gets motivated, more lively, it makes him feel great. So it stand to reason that words of affirmation is the best love language for Franky.
• What he gives
Franky is very hands on. He is a shipwright afterall. This cyborg undoubtedly shows love through acts of service. He'll make and do anything you need him to, sometimes even anticipating your future needs and having things prepared in advance. I also be,ieve receiving gifts goes hand-in-hand with Franky. He'd use his creative mind and skills to make you some outrageously super gift that you can use in battle alongside him.
Brook
• What he needs/responds best to
This poor guy spent most of his life alone, having lost all of his crew. So, Brook would require both quality time and physical touch. Physical touch would be a great reassurance, little touches here and there - physical affection - is a reminder to him that he is no longer alone. The same can be said about quality time. Doing anything in the presence of his partner is soothing to him, it removes any lingering reminders of loneliness.
• What he gives
Brook hands down shows love through acts of service. This man would learn all of your favourite songs and play them for you when he senses you're feeling a little off. That's just what he does. He's been shown to do that with the crew already, if it's too quiet, a lot of tension, or he feels the situation calls for it, he cracks a joke or plays some music for the crew. He would do the exact same for you.
Jinbei
• What he needs/responds best to:
Not gonna lie, i dont know if I have he greatest grasp on Jinbei as a character yet, so I'm not 100% sure what love language he would respond best to. However, I am leaning more towards acts of service. I just feel as though there's no better way to make Jinbei feel loved other than going out of your way to alleviate the stress in his life, even if that means talking sense into the straw hats so he doesn't have to (LMAOOOOO).
• What he gives
Like Robin, I believe Jinbei to be really good with his words making words of affirmation to be a love language he uses. He's been seen a few times trying to talk sense into Luffy, and because of this, I feel as though he'd be really good at encouraging, complimenting, and empathizing with his partner. Also, Jinbei is good at analyzing a situation, seeing what needs to be done and then doing it. It happened many times in Marineford (and I think in whole cake island). Acts of service is likely to be another love language he would use for his significant other.
#one piece#straw hats#straw hat pirates#mugiwara no luffy#roronoa zoro#vinsmoke sanji#cat burglar nami#god usopp#tony tony chopper#nico robin#cyborg franky#soul king brook#jinbei#love languages#one piece headcanons
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