#this idea of the charming clever interrogator

[sapphosewrites]

AUGUSTO BOAL Give us back our torture house

In a successful plea to the Rio Chamber of Deputies, Brazil's most famous agit-prop dramatist called for the conservation of the apparatus of torment

...

Among these seven mastodons, there was one who tried to justify everything with bureaucratic arguments. While he was giving me electric shocks on the pau-de-amra, from which I hung naked, upside down, he said: 'You will forgive me, yeah? But I am torturing you because it's on my schedule, see? I don't have anything personal against you, honest. I'm even a fan of your plays. I haven't seen any, but I like them all, see? You know how it is, yeah? Here you do what you're told to, see? Now, you know, it's a funny old world, things change. One day it might be you who's on top and me underneath, yeah? Now if it came to that, right, you're obviously not about to forget that I tortured you, fair enough, but it was just the luck of the draw, see? I tortured you because it was on my schedule.'

...

The leader of the team, for instance, did not know why I was there, as the team that did the torturing was not the same as the team that did the kidnapping. They were specialised: each knew how to carry out his own particular crafts. Some made instruments of torture; others paid our country's foreign debt. All were acting in concert against a single victim — the Brazilian people.

It was then, when the pain was most intense, that I tried to engineer a break in the torment and I asked: 'What is it that you want me to confess?' I wanted a break but I had decided never to confess anything - and I never did. But I wanted to buy time, so I asked him: 'What is it you want me to confess?'

At first the dinosaur did not know what to answer. He didn't know why he was torturing me -just that it was on his schedule. But the leader of the kidnap team had given him a list of accusations, written on a scrap of paper. He scanned the piece of paper and read out the first accusation: 'Boal, when you go abroad, you defame Brazil!' Me, defame Brazil! When I never tire of extolling the natural beauties of Baia da Guanabara. 'In what way do I defame Brazil?' I asked, hanging naked on the pau-da-arara. Reading on, the boor answered: 'You defame it because, when you travel, you tell people abroad that there is torture in Brazil.'

It did not register with the blockhead that he was doing just that, he was torturing me. The situation was so unreal, so funambulatory, that I laughed. When he saw me laughing, at first, he could not believe it — no-one laughs when they are hanging from the pau-da-arara. Then he became indignant, and turned the crank to increase the electric charge and asked why I was laughing. I answered that his present activity justified my past statements: in Brazil people are tortured, methodically and cruelly, and I was the living proof of it, strung up by my ankles, there, at that very moment. In one of the few moments of lucidity of his entire life, he thought, he thought very hard and ended up agreeing: 'You're right. I am torturing you. But since you are an artist, since you are well-known and you appear on television from time to time, I am torturing you, I give you that, but I am torturing you with respect.'

This episode in my life is part of me. I would like to go back to that cellar, where my only companion was a mouse, who was even more frightened than I was; I would like to see those instruments of torture again, those deadly but efficient tools. To revisit that building. I would like to re-see my past, to re-feel it, to re-live it. But the building, where episodes such as this took place has been destroyed. In its place, in Sao Paulo, they have constructed a supermarket. They have destroyed the memory. And without memory, imagination is impossible - without remembering, one does not imagine!

Without the past, the future would not exist and we would live like animals, ruminating on the present like cows. Let us not be cows. In Sao Paulo, because the memory of past atrocities has been destroyed, prisoners were cruelly and premeditatedly cut down in Carandiru. The prisoners launched a revolt, the chief of police gave them an ultimatum, and then ordered the raid on the prison and the slaughter which resulted, coldly conscious of the crime he was committing. On a lovely Sunday evening, the horrors of the dictatorship came back to haunt us.

I appeal to my colleagues who are, like me, involved in the business of making laws, just as I used to make bread. I appeal to them to allow me to continue existing, so that a part of myself survives my death. The Vila Isabel house holds the memories of hundreds of men and women, it holds many stories, it holds History. Living History. Many of the men and women who were imprisoned there are today in these galleries watching us, just as I am on this platform looking at you. Those who are here today, they and I, we remember, and the past lives in our memory, which is part of our being.

[writersfantacy]

POTENTIAL GROOM (PART 3)

Continuing the third part of the serious "POTENTIAL GROOM (part3)" :-

Mina couldn’t help but marvel at the beauty of the uzumaki palace, as Mikito was talking on about its ancient history. Mina barely registered Tobirama’s voice, as he walked beside her and tried to catch her attention. “Are you even listening, Uchiha?” he asked, sounding annoyed. “Yeah, yeah, give me a summary later on.” she said, looking around and sneaking through the gardens, as if searching for something. “What are you looking for?” Tobirama asked, his voice laced with suspicion, but he received no answer. He could tell that Mina was hiding something, but he had no idea what. Mikito was far ahead of them, so Tobirama seized the opportunity and grabbed Mina’s hand, pulling her to a secluded corner. He pinned her to a red wall, his eyes piercing into hers. “Uchiha, don’t try anything funny. We’re here for something important. What are you even looking for? Didn’t you ask for this trip?” He bombarded her with questions, his tone stern and serious. “Senju, I’m not doing anything funny. But don’t you think people walking past us will find this position of ours a little too…inviting?” She retorted, referring to his hold on her. As soon as she said that, both of them felt a flush of heat on their cheeks. They were so close, their breaths mingling. Tobirama had no ill intention; he was just used to interrogating people in an intimidating manner. His head was only a few inches away from hers.

He cleared his throat and let go of her, averting his gaze to regain his composure. He couldn’t help but think about her beautiful face that he had seen so many times and even studied it, but being so close to her again made his heart race. This had happened quite a few times, and he hated himself for letting it affect him. But he was a man of reason, so he recovered his mind as soon as it was lost in her eyes. “What were you looking for?” he asked again, with a softer voice, still not looking directly at her. “I was looking for the famous Uzumaki lotus that grows in this palace,” she said, looking around as well, trying to conceal her flustered tone. “It has amazing medical properties, I wanted to see it but Mikito won’t tell me,” then an idea flashed in her mind. She looked at Tobirama with a wide smile, he was amused to see her smile again but he knew something was up. “Why don’t you ask for it? I mean she has a crush on you, maybe she’ll tell you.” Mina clasped her hands while pondering on her brilliant idea and getting glares and disgusted expressions from Tobirama.

He shook his head I'm not getting into your stupid idea" and glared at her for suggesting such a foolish idea. But Mina’s charm was stronger than Tobirama’s resistance. “Aww… You won’t do it? Then I’ll have to explore this place alone and if I get caught, we’ll both be in trouble since we were together.” she said with a sweet smile, that she used whenever she wanted to tease him. Tobirama had no choice, he sighed “Uchihas are truly wicked” he muttered under his breath and approached Mikito. Mina was ecstatic, smiling at her own scheme. “So, he would actually do this for me…or for his pride, same thing.” “Princess Mikito, what is this Uzumaki lotus we’ve heard of?” he asked confidently, without any hesitation. It might seem suspicious to ask it directly, but his tone and manner made it more appealing. Mikito was delighted that Tobirama actually asked something or even spoke to her. “Yes, yes… It’s actually one of our specialties. It’s a medicinal flower with incredible healing powers. It was given to us by our ancestor” she beamed with joy while telling its history. Tobirama listened carefully, while keeping an eye on Mina so she wouldn’t do anything reckless. Mina wasn’t a child to do something as stupid as that, She wasn’t called clever for nothing. “I can show you if you want, I mean it’s in my room only. But it should be a secret” Mikito said, Tobirama agreed to the idea followed by Mina.

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Dear Readers,

I'll post other parts as soon as possible. Thank you for reading. please comment about next series or any other idea that you might want me to write about.

:) byee

[mydarllinglover]

Alone || Fearless

Previous

Carols whisperer wouldn't crack, they were nowhere near finding out where Alpha's horde was, and Carol knew that if anyone could get someone to croak, it was Natalia.

But she had only agreed to talk to him, if Carol were to babysit the kids, as well as making a special remedy for Bambi and Archie, the woman could work miracles with a pan and a few ingredients.

Daryl insisted that he had to go with Natalia, he didn't want her alone with the freak, he didn't like it.

Lydia had been removed from the holding cell, Daryl had personally kicked her out, Natalia hadn't known this, and she didn't know where the girl had disappeared to, either, or where her eldest daughter had gone, for a matter of fact, but apparently seducing a mind-fucked freak-show was more important than tracking down two teenage girls, according to Carol.

"This is a bad idea." Father Gabriel gave his opinion."

"Shut up, Gabe." Daryl answered, fluffing out Natalia's hair, he liked her curly hair, it made her seem happier, more free-spirited, easier to open up to.

"I'm just being honest, here, this is no offence to you, Natalia, but you are a hothead, where is the logic in sending her in there, she'll just kill him in a matter of seconds." The priest carried on. "What's the point of having a dead, captured whisperer, with no results.”

"I'm not gonna kill him." Natalia rolled her eyes.

"Natalia-"

"Gabriel! I'm not!, Daryl, you tryna pimp me out or let me interrogate a man?" Natalia removed her husbands hands from tugging down her top, exposing more of her cleavage.

"We need results." He explained himself.

"We'll get results, and no one's dying today." She turned to the priest. "Anything that's gonna take Carol off her warpath, so you can stop chasing after her like a lost puppy." She turned back to Daryl. "Are we ready, or not?"

"Yeah, uhm, yes, yeah, I think so." Gabriel turned to the other man.

"Yup." He nodded.

"Perfect."

Her so-called hostage looked to be an middle-aged man, with greying and receding hair, matching his thick moustache and short trimmed beard, he was also quite thin in statue.

His face seemed to be caked in dirt, but it also looked slightly red, maybe sun burnt? But how would he manage that when he apparently was always sporting one of the hideously gruesome masks. He had an bandage taped to his left side, interesting.

He let out an unimpressed scoff when he layed eyes on her.

"My names Nat." She layed on the southern charm, thickly. "A lil birdy told me you got some pretty clever intel that I wanna know, we can either do this the easy way, or the hard way." She scanned him with fake interest, "Somin tells me you like things hard, though, ain't that right?" She smirked.

"Must be a busy day, up there, if they got a lil thing like you down here." He laughed to himself. "We don't see much of your kind, anymore."

"My kind?" She raised a brow.

"Hunting season came and went a long time ago, all the prizes went the quickest, now, its just what's left, the last thing you can get your hands on, that ain't just about animals, lady."

"I don't know what you’re talking about, we only have the best around here." She shared. "No fighting for scraps. But you know I'm not down here to promote this place. Where is the horde?"

Suddenly the cat got his tongue.

"Hard way it is." She sighed, standing up and leaning towards him, she watched with an impressed grin as his eyes shamelessly looked down her top, she let him, only for a second, before she jammed her thumb into his injury, letting it bleed through the bandage, she pushed deeper as he cried out, attempting to nudge her away. "I'll stop, all you have to do is give me a place, then it'll stop."

"Lady, you ain't the prized prey, you the hunter." He told her.

Natalia looked over he shoulder, an amused glint in her eyes as she met blue iris's, that didn't share her sense of humour.

"But, if we were out there, I would take you like a bitch in heat." The man finished.

Gabriel was quick to move himself in front of Daryl, seemingly "accidently" purposely block his movement, as Natalia sat back, lifting up her left hand, taking in the rings on her finger, before taking them off. "You like?" She asked her victim, switching hands. "They're from my husband, just too bad I'm right handed." She then threw all her force into throwing a punch that would break his nose, and the satisfying crack that followed, confirmed that.

"Ugnh!" The sound that came as he smacked the concrete floor, then, as he gathered the strength to try and sit back up, she threw another, into his cheek, and then another.

"I have daughters, four, that live around here, so you understand why I can't tolerate that sorta language, have some respect." She told him, gently. "Babe, hand me that knife." She layed her hand out, her fingers than wrapped around the weight.

"I would never betray Alpha." The man started speaking. "She rescued me. She protects me. She loves me. She loves us all."

"But she's not gonna come looking for you, is she?" Natalia asked. "That's part of the rules, you separate from the pack, the pack move on, and you'll just be forgotten. I mean, that is what she did for her own daughter, right? Until she waged a war to come back and get her, seems like someone has a hierarchy."

"She sacrificed her own daughter for us." He shook his head.

"She killed Lydia?" Natalia whipped round at the voice of Carol, behind them, not at her house, with her kids.

"Uh huh." He nodded.

"Oh."

"She did." He "Confirmed.” "And I am willing to give my life for her."

Natalia watched the lightbulb go off in the woman's mind, before she darted off.

She rushed forward, handing the knife back to Daryl, before going after the woman, herself.

"Carol." She hissed, as they reached the stairs of their home. "Stop it."

"This ends now." Carol replied.

"You are not involving Lydia! You may have my husband at your beck and call, but you are gonna leave that girl the hell alone."

"He swallowed every ounce of Alpha's bullshit." Carol aggressively pointed at the jailcell door. "Every ounce."

"And I couldn't care less." Natalia shrugged.

"If he sees that Lydia's alive and well, and gets it that his great leader lied to him, then maybe that changes something." Her voice turned desperate.

"Please, Carol. Don't, just leave Lydia out of this, she is in my care, and just like my children, I'm going to do everything in my power to protect her and let her live a childhood, or what little she has left of it."

"Let her make up her own mind." Carol decided. "She's not your kid. This is the only way, and you know it." She sprinted up.

"Hey, you can't go in my house! That's breaking and entering, Carol!" She yelled, as she ran. How did Carol even know she was home?

Natalia had lost, Lydia decided to talk to the whisperer, show her face, for Henry, she had said, before sending Evie, who had also appeared, an apologetic look.

Except, when they had got back to the cell, Daryl was trying to usher them back out, they were only able to catch a glimpse of the two doctors sat behind the unmoving body of the whisperer, he was dead.

"I didn't do it." She called, as she was pushed out. "I gotta go check on my kids." She grumbled, stomping towards her house.

"Should clean up your hand, too." Carol called after her.

"Two birds, one stone, Carol." She replied, entering her house.

The kids were sat at the table, Evie was with them.

"Hey, Mom. Kid's fevers came down, so thought Bambi would enjoy sitting at a real table to eat dinner." Evie smiled at her, but then her eyes bulged at the bloody mess that was her mothers knuckles.

"Mommy! You're hurt!" Daisy gasped.

"What happened?" Bambi asked.

"Oh, just work." She shrugged. "Are my babies feeling better?"

"Yeah, Aunt Carol made us drink a red tea, it wasn't very nice, but she said we would die if we didn't drink it."

"She said that to you?" Natalia asked, anger flooding into her tone, as she walked towards the sink, to wash off the blood from her hand. "Where's Archie?"

"Carol dropped him off with Rosita, she's feeling better too, so thought she might want the company, and so he wasn't stuck with us."

"Carol has some serious nerve." Natalia muttered under her breathe. “Eve's you busy." She gestured to her hand, but the teenager was already up searching for the supplies to properly treat it.

"Mom, come sit down, the girls can learn a thing or two." She ushed her mother to sit at the table, as the six year olds watched eagerly. "Y'know, the first medical treatment I gave, was to Dad." She smirked, looking at her younger sisters.

"Our Dad?" Daisy asked, her eyes swam with wonder, the same as her twins.

"Yeah, gave him stitches, and I was around your age, too."

"Cooool." The kids oohed.

“Eves, what happened to your own hand?” Natalia asked, looking at the girls knuckles, which looked a bit sore, themselves.

“Oh! Nothing, don’t worry about it.” Evie brushed off, pulling the sleeve of her sweatshirt down, covering her hand.

In the night, Siddiq was unfortunately the one to discover the mole inside the walls of Alexandria, it had been Dante, and upon this discovery, the man had killed him, to keep the secret, though Rosita hadn't known this, not until she walked in on the scene with a one year old in her arms.

She almost broke down in tears as she explained to the parents of Archie, how she fought, not just for her life, but for their son's, against Dante and an reanimated Siddiq, and how she hadn't let anything harm him.

And in other news, Carol had led Lydia out of Alexandria deep into the woods, where they had ran into Aaron, that was before a whisperer had spotted the girl, realising the truth of her existence, fleeing the scene, and it was at that moment Lydia had connected the dots on what her place was in Carols scheme, the “help” she needed, causing the girl into also leaving, refusing to not come back.

Natalia bounced her baby on her hip, reassuring her friend, as Daryl beat the ex-doctor, who was actually an whisperer.

"Hope that hurts." He spat, shaking his hand, moving to stand beside Natalia.

"It doesn't matter." Dante said, spitting out blood onto the infirmary floor. "None of this matters. Watch enough people get incinerated, devoured alive, you see how ridiculous it is getting attached to ourselves. But knowing that sets you free." He smiled.

"Is that what you're doing? Setting us free?" Carol entertained him.

"If you learn that lesson, it'll only help you."

"What, so we can be more like you?" Daryl asked.

"Accept the future." He raised a brow, smiling at the man, as he stepped away from his wife and child, lighting an cigarette.

"Why put him through all that hell in the barn just to kill him months later? I-I can't see an ideology behind that." Gabriel pressed.

"I liked Siddiq. "

"Oh, you liked him?" Rosita scoffed.

"He wasn't part of the plan." Dante whispered. "But he found out who I was, so I had no choice."

"What plan?" Carol asked him.

"Encourage your paranoia about us... which will push you into bad decisions. Places like this are cruel promises to their people and they crumble at the smallest nick. Hell, I'm gonna enjoy watching you rip each other apart over what to do with me. Just like with Negan." He winked at the Dixons.

"Easy, we're gonna kill you." Natalia spoke up for the first time. "You ain't no Negan, honey, and there ain't no one around who's gonna sympathise with you, not a single soul, after what you've done, you're the enemy, and now, we have a face to put to the hysteria."

"We helped you." Rosita was still trying to wrap her head around the betrayal.

"Why?" Dante asked. "'Cause you wanted another doctor around? You got something from me, too. Don't pretend you didn't." He grinned, shaking his head.

Rosita begun cursing in Spanish, pacing behind him.

"No one is actually kind. We are selfish. We are brutal. Come on, that's why she's been using her time popping out all these kids, during all this, I was trying to do the both of y'all a favour, I hear boys are always the hardest to raise." He nodded at Archie, but Rosita had kicked him to the ground, hard, ending his monologue about the near murder of Archie Dixon.

She then stormed out of the door that Aaron had just happened to be walking through.

"He's been here four months." Aaron had reminded, during their debriefing on what to do about the situation. "How didn't I know?"

"None of us did." Daryl said, his way of trying to comfort the man.

"We all ate together. Talked about training the militia. He treated Gracie." He choked up.

"You can't do that to yourself." Carol told him.

"Hey." Natalia layed an hand over his. "He treated mine, too, I sat with him, had conversations, you're not the only person who could've or should've spotted him, We especially can't do anything about it now, we do not cause or fault ourselves for other people's actions, we can't do that, it is not our responsibility."

"All we can do now, is figure out what's going on." Daryl gave his opinion, seating himself on top of the counter.

"Mary, the Whisperer I've been talking to, um, told me where Alpha is keeping the herd."

Daryl and Carol both jumped at this, eager to know more, but Natalia took her hand back, placing it to her forehead as she prayed for strength, with a heavy sigh.

"Just over the border, on their side. It's this sunken field. On the edge of the natural forest."

"We can leave right after the funeral." Carol suggested.

"We?" Natalia scoffed. "He said it's on their side, not our business, not our problem. Besides, it really wouldn't hurt to have some compassion, Siddiq is dead."

"You wanna do nothing?" Carol asked.

"Lydia's still gone." Daryl reminded.

"Oh, yeah, because Carol let her go!"

"We don't even know what that means yet." Daryl continued.

"Alpha doesn't know that." Aaron whispered. "With Dante locked up in a cell, she never has to."

"We ain't gonna talk about how this is probably an ambush?" Daryl asked.

"Well, the baby that Connie rescued, apparently that's Mary's nephew. She wants to see him."

"Hell no" Natalia put her foot down.

"I don't think she's lying." Aaron told her.

"Alright. Get a group from Hilltop and meet us there. Second we're done, we're going looking for the girl." Daryl ordered.

"Yeah. I'll radio them. Maybe they can get the news to Michonne, too."

"Alright."

Aaron then left the house, and Carol followed, but Daryl stopped her.

"Hey. Why don't you stay here? I'll go." He said.

"What?" Natalia stood up, facing him.

"Why?" Carol asked.

"You gonna tell me what really happened out there?" He glanced at Natalia, before facing Carol again.

"I told you. Lydia didn't want to come back. I couldn't make her."

"Because you scared her."

"Nat, you weren't there!" Carol snapped at her.

"Hey! Her being here protects us. You know that.

"So, that's it for her now, to be our shield? Just lock her up again? I showed one of Alpha's people that their leader lied to them, and that's good for us. We can push on their wounds, too."

"Oh, of course, yeah, because keeping her behind these walls and keeping her safe is unfair to the young girl, so that she can actually have a chance of growing up, but using her as an tactic is fair game, right?" Natalia mocked.

"Bottom line is, you should have told us." Daryl moved on before the two women could get into it.

"I'll help you look for her, but I don't think she wants to be found." Carol shared.

"Are we talking about her, or are we talking about you?" Daryl pressed.

But she didn't give an response, instead left their house without another word.

"I'll go get the kids ready for the funeral, then, I'm going to take a shower, you can either help me or go chase after her." Natalia told him, heading upstairs.

It was silent for a half a minute, then the sounds of heavy steps moving towards the stairs alerted her of his decision.

The pair worked together to get the twins as well as RJ, washed, dressed, teeth and hair brushed, as well as reminding them on manners and funeral behaviour expectations, it was a lot, and it was a hard conversation on why people had suddenly begun dying so often, when neither child had experienced it since the new people had joined their lives.

Evie was already out, with no other Doctor in the community, she had volunteered to take on the rounds and to do house calls for all the people who had got sick from the infected water, most of them were already on the mend, luckily, but Carol's special tea was helping.

When they quietly opened Archies room, he was playing with his blocks, curiously, as though he was trying to work out a specific pattern for them to be stacked.

The couple leaned against the doorway as they watched, taking in their youngest child, Daryl glanced at his wife, hearing a small sniffle from her, noticing the tears that welled up in her eyes, the sad expression on her face as she watched their baby.

"He's alright." He murmured, tapping the back of her hand with his own.

"We almost lost him, Daryl, we almost-" She choked up, screwing her eyes shut, tightly. "I knew something was off about that guy, I felt it in my gut, and I just left it alone, that's not me, I never make a mistake, not like that, but-- and Henry, I saw her, I spoke to her at that fair, I knew it was her and I ignored it, now, Carol is going to get herself killed for revenge, and you, and it's all my fault" She dug her fingers through her hair, pulling at it with frustration.

"Hey, hey, come on." He grabbed her wrists, stopping her as he walked backwards, towards their room, shutting the door.

"It's all my fault, this is all my fault, Henry wouldn't be dead, Tara and Enid wouldn't be dead! And I haven't done anything to do anything! Our friends are dead and I did nothing to prevent it! Now, Archie was almost eaten, eaten alive by Siddiq, the doctor who helped me with the twins, who Carl risked his life to save, I mean, the irony in it all." She laughed with horror.

"Nat, stop, just breathe." He sat on their bed, bringing her to stand between his legs, rubbing her arms up and down, trying to get her to concentrate on him instead of breaking down and snapping. "Archie is safe, alright, he's fine and alive and I've checked him over, Rosita's checked him over, so has Evie and you've already done it about five times, he didn't get bit, he's gonna be fine, and he's too young to even remember last night."

"That's not the point, Daryl!" She raised her voice. "I could have prevented it even happening, I could have prevented all of this, but I didn't."

"You couldn't have done anything." He held her tightly, trying to get her to come off of it. "There's nothing that you could've done, you didn't know, but you know now, that's what matters."

"If,... If I never killed that guy... If I never killed those guys, that day... Glenn would still be here-"

"Nat, stop it!"

"Glenn would still be here, then Maggie wouldn't of made me distract Michonne, she wouldn't of tried to kill Negan, and the bridge never would of exploded, Rick would still be here, and none of this would happen, because Rick would've known what to do, he would've known what to do, and this wouldn't be happening, then Henry wouldn't be dead, and Carol wouldn't be going nuts, and they wouldn't all be dead, but they are, and it's because of me that they are, I can't keep anyone alive."

"Natalia, listen ta me-"

"Do you regret having the kids?" She seemed to have awoken from her self-deprivation.

"What?" He looked at her, he wasn't sure if he should be stumped or angry at her question.

"Just, our lives would be so much easier if we didn't have them, and I'm not saying that we shouldn't of had them, cause we never planned them, that was all your fault, okay, my body just bakes like it's supposed to do, but you're the one who gave it the ingredients, but I just mean, like what if there was another world in which we didn't have kids, so we could just focus on ourselves, and maybe we wouldn't be so preoccupied and less people would have died because of it, which is kinda funny if you think about it, but totally morbid, y'know, like take a life, leave a life... well, birth a life, but then there's reincarnation, we have three kids, a lot of people have died because of me, but out of those people, three of them could be our kids, but then what if it turns out that it's one of the bad people I've killed, instead of the good people, like what if one of them is Harley, now that would be bad-"

"Natalia! Shut up! Just stop talking, damn." He could barely keep up with her talking 100MPH, but he was catching bits of it here and there. "Just... just shut up, we're gonna be late for Siddiq's funeral." He slightly nudged her away from him, getting up from the bed and walking out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

Natalia look a deep breath in, then exhaled, before moving to have a quick shower, before getting ready, building herself back up.

"I remember this passage from my studies. Written by a scholar centuries ago who was trying to understand the impossible." Gabriel told the crowd at Siddiq's grave. "Let me live if life is better for me and take my life if death is better for me." He had surrendered himself to fate because his world defied logic. Defied justice." He walked towards the mound of dirt, throwing a handful on top of Siddiqs cocooned body. "We created you from it... and return you into it... and from it we will raise you a second time." With every pause, he threw another handful. "Evelyn... would you like to share some words?" Gabriel looked to the girl, who was stood with the Gage boy, who had a bruised cheek, but no one cared to ask about it. "You probably spent the most time with him, than all of us."

Evie looked around, as the people waited for her to speak, she then turned to her parents, who gave an encouraging smile along with an nod.

She then stepped forward, clearing her throat.

"Uhm... I met Siddiq when I was only seven years old, which means, Carl Grimes had risked his life ten years ago for him. And Siddiq never let himself forget it. Because since before Uncle Rick allowed him into our community, he was already pushing himself to help in any way he could, it didn't matter who you were, he just wanted to help, no matter what..." She let herself peer into the grave. "Siddiq was my mentor, but he wasn't my first mentor, no...but... he didn't even know me and he saw my potential, he never left me out despite my age, either... I mean, the man was teaching me fractions the same time he was showing me the proper way of how to amputate a limb." She laughed with watery eyes.

"Boy am I thankful you could both multi-task." Joe, the amputee from the story commented, earning a chorus of laughter.

"Then he was teaching me how to read blood, and what it could mean, that's how I found out a certain person was having twins, yet he failed to share that it was my own mother." She earned another chuckle, and a small smile from Natalia, the twins were looking up at her realising that they were their mothers twins. "Siddiq was a person who was full of light, he was a person for the people, he was fearless, he never had to prove to us that Carl Grimes sacrifice wasn't a waste, because that was just Siddiq, that was just who he was, and we dall have many thanks to give..." She then crouched down, picking up a handful of dirt. "I'm going to miss you, Siddiq." She said, lowly, before dropping the handful.

Next

[lilith-kruger]

PRINCE VISERYS TARGARYEN:His highness ordered the cremation of his mother's body, and the bones and ashes were buried next to those of the conqueror. He then sent the royal guard in search of his squire, prince viserys. 'chain him in a black cell and interrogate him without mercy,' he ordered. Ask her where her mother has gone. "' perhaps I don't know, 'I believe to be Owen bush, a knight of the royal guard from maegor. "Then let him die," was the king's famous answer. It may be that the very slut will appear for the funeral."

KING VISERYS I TARGARYEN:Viserys I targaryen was not the most willful of Kings, it is fair to say. Always friendly and eager for complacer, he relied greatly on the advice of the men around him, and did whatever was proposed to him very often. In this case, however, he had ideas of his own and no argument could dissuade him. He would marry again, yes, but not a twelve-year-old maiden, and not for reasons of state; another woman had entered his eyes. He announced his intention to venture with lady alicent of the hightower house, the clever and charming eighteen-year-old daughter of the King, the one who read to king jaehaerys on his deathbed. King viserys loved both his wife and daughter, and hated conflict and strife. All his life he strove to To keep the peace between one and the other and for pleasure to both with gifts, gold and honors; Throughout his existence and reign, he maintained balance; The feasts and tournaments continued as before, and peace prevailed throughout the kingdom. However, there were some horsemen who observed that the dragons of a party threw tarascades and spit fire on the opposition whenever they crossed.

KING VISERYS II TARGARYEN:Viserys received good treatment during his captivity. Although he was forbidden to leave the grounds of the mansion of bambarro, he had his own possessions, he ate with the master and his family, he had instructors who were in charge of seeing him in language, literature, mathematics, history and music, and he even had a master of weapons who taught him fencing, art in the That soon took off. The general belief, although there is no proof, is that bambarro intended to wait for the end of the dragon dance, either to return it to his mother in exchange for a ransom (if rhaenyra was victorious), or to sell his head to his uncle (if the victor was aegon ii).

KING VISERYS III TARGARYEN:The cream and gold will be viserion. Viserys was cruel, weak and cowardly, but he was also my brother. His dragon will do what he could not do. The crown was the only offering he wanted to keep. The rest, he sold everything, to gather the gold he had wasted with the blood. Xaro wanted him to sell the crown as well; He swore that the thirteen would see to it that he had a much better one, but dany forbade him. Viserys sold my mother's crown, and everyone called him a beggar. I will keep this one, and all shall call me queen.

[obeymeluv]

You Steal the Boys’ Clothes

Something I’ve been thinking of for a while.

Lucifer

It was rare the eldest was without his cape, as everything seemed to be a formal event and he must be dressed to impress. Being dressed to impress, however, means being clean so he gets it cleaned from time to time

Lucifer is a very organized, practical man. Constantly towing the line of obsessive for the sake of orderliness.

He knows where his cape should be, and that it’s not there

With a demon’s-only screech that warns Mammon to stretch his calves and run, Lucifer hunts down the three most likely suspects to interrogate them (Mammon, Satan, and Belphegor).

He tries to get a two-for-one by dragging Mammon into the study where Satan sits smugly with a book (because he knows he didn’t do it but MAN is he enjoying this!)

Imagine surprising not one, but THREE demons when you come shuffling down the hall with a Lucifer’s cape wrapped around you like a blanket.

It whispers and it drags and it absolutely DROWNS you.

Very charming. Ethereal, almost like some sort of wedding wear

Lucifer would’ve never imagined you’d be the culprit, and now his poor brain is trying to save and process the idea of you looking so sleepy-happy in his clothes

And the ex-angel falls all over again.

He catches the little cheek nuzzle and way you bunch it around your body, a foot poking out not to get tangled

Satan and Mammon will probably die laughing instead of at his hands, but Lucifer could really care less

Lucifer idly wonders where you’d curled up that he totally missed you, and escorts you gently but red-faced to your room

Satan and Mammon tag along, and when they see Lucifer come out with his cape they can only deduce he put you to bed.

Mammon

With no homework to do and some money in the bank, Mammon was ready to spend the weekend tearing up the town with you!

He was fresh out of the shower and mostly dressed, searching feverishly for his beloved white and brown jacket

Mammon wasn’t the cleanest person by nature (hello, money hoarder and collector of interesting/valuable things) so he tidied up as he went

As he started to suspect one of his little brothers was holding the jacket for ransom, he sent out a group text asking about it

There were several typical smart-ass responses (Lucifer, Asmo, and Satan) and he was in the middle of a snark fight when you showed up at his door somewhere between bashful and chill

In HIS jacket

Mammon’s brain shuts down.

HIS baby in HIS jacket? HELL YEAH! OH GOD, IT’S TOO PERFECT!

FIEND, TAKING HIS HEART!

“It’s kind of a human thing,” you explain. “There is a one-jacket fee among couples. Usually it’s a hoodie.” you tease, reluctant to shrug it off, “But this seems to be your only jacket so I guess I could give it back.”

It’s very subtle, but he’s worn that jacket for centuries and no amount of detergent can disguise the scent that makes his heart skip a beat

Something about the smell of your skin and a hint of his has him purring

You hold the jacket out to him. Mammon wraps his fingers around it and swings it around until he’s holding it over one shoulder

The yellow takes over in his eyes a little more. Gets a little brighter and intense.

“You want to take anything else off?” he husks playfully

Your day out turns into staying in and Mammon is happy to trade his jacket for a shirt you can sleep in (like, forever. It’s fine. Whatever, dummy.)

Leviathan

It was actually really hard to steal Levi’s clothes because he lived in his hoodie and turtleneck. His RAD uniform was really just for show and that wasn’t what you were looking for, anyways. You didn’t want to chill in uniform.

He was very particular about his merch because certain shirts were collector’s items and he didn’t like people messing with his folding patterns

You went to Asmo with your dilemma and he found it absolutely ADORABLE. It was almost enough to make him jealous, really

Somehow (Asmo being Asmo?), the fifth- born was able to swipe one of the green button-ups Levi wore under his RAD uniform

His first thought was to alter the garment to make it fit you (matching outfits? YES!) but Levi would probably kill him. His big bro hated shopping for clothes unless he HAD to have them.

Asmo gets the bright idea to magically/temporarily alter the fabric to fit you. Maybe Levi will like it so much he’ll just give you a shirt! 💖 (Or get some fucking outside time and go buy more shirts!)

Levi catches his own scent somewhere outside of the door and his brain goes off. He hits the pause button at lightning speed.

No one else smells like him! They haven’t shared bath products in centuries! He already finished his laundry so what’s happening?!

His first thought is: Mammon broke into my room while I was in the bathroom and stole something to pawn!

Levi doesn’t even think to take inventory of his stuff, barging out of his room to hunt down his big brother

He’s yelling and whining before he even sees him. Then he sees you. In his shirt.

All the angry words die in his throat as the absolute mortification and adoration sets his face on fire

SO KAWAII! It basically makes up for your normie-ness.

Levi’s stuck standing there, blushing his head off and unable to say anything as his fists shake with joy and nervousness

He gets a nosebleed. One of his brothers are laughing at him.

You guide him back to his room to take care of him, Levi lets you and becomes very fascinated with the idea of you in his clothes .Lots of petting and figuring out you look DOUBLY MEGA CUTE when the magic wears off and you’re just in a pool of fabric.

He’s totally down for matching clothes and definitely lets you keep the one you’re wearing.

Satan

His wardrobe is very...interesting...to say the least

Colors and personal combinations aside, Satan actually has a very smart wardrobe. Lots of basics and easy layers.

You can’t steal his signature green sweater or the blazer he seems to live in, so you settle for an emerald knit sweater that has a bit of a v-neck/university feel to it

It takes Satan a while to notice, as he’s buried in a book. You two tend to gravitate towards each other and just enjoy a cozy, companionable silence

He’s just finished a book and is debating cracking open one from the stack to his left when the color catches his eye

The smooth, sly comment dies on his lips when he realizes he likes the damn thing because IT’S HIS

You look very cozy and warm. It’s a very ‘cuddle me’ kind of look.

Perhaps you could warm his lap? Or give his poor hands a rest under the hem?

Very cheeky and clever. Grabs you by the sleeve of it just to ‘answer his curiosity about whether it matched his nails’.

Does he have a cute university student kink? If he didn’t, he does now?

There’s a 50-50 chance of you guys having sex.

Will definitely want to hold you and cuddle you close, petting the fabric and whispering compliments into it.

If you don’t already have a business/academic attire, Satan will definitely suggest a few pieces because YES. This is a thing he loves and it DOES things to him.

Asmodeus

He’s the type to let you think you stole something

Probably stages what he wants you to steal just so you take it

Honestly, I could just see him dumping some of his clothes on you because you’re dating now and this is a cute thing he read about!

It’s super likely he’s into couple outfits or coordinating outfits, so he’s either spent time in his closet pre-planning or asked you to try on a million things just because

This cutie pie purposely orders THE BIGGEST thing he can find so you can both fit in it at the same time

Asmo loves you to pieces no matter what, but seeing you in his clothes makes him squeal and hit a note Mammon has threatened to murder him over

Ever dramatic, this is like, THE BEST THING EVER

A MILLION Devilgram posts about it (safe ones, of course)

Do you guys spark a couple’s trend and spade of lover’s stealing each other’s clothes to snap a victory pic? Maybe

Probably fake faints at the sheer glory of you in HIS bomb ass clothes. Definitely fans himself

Spoils you rotten with compliments

This man is weak. “Gorgeous! Smother me.” as he falls back on the bed and gestures to his face

He won’t turn down the idea of sexy times (depends on your libido, comfort, etc.) but sometimes he makes raunchy jokes just to be funny. Smothering could also mean using him like a body pillow (which he’s totally okay with).

You get max cuddles and WILL be the envy of Devilgram

Beelzebub

Beel felt a little guilty for leaving you at the House of Lamentation with his brothers

You guys were supposed to hang out after school but there was an emergency practice. The coach always got pre-game jitters and demanded a few last runs. He showered and ran back to the House, hoping you still had time for him.

He tiptoed quietly into his shared room, unsurprised to find you waiting there for him. You’d been caught in Belphie’s sleepy little aura by the looks of it,

Beelzebub couldn’t help the grin or little hum that made it past his lips. Your eyes were open but he didn’t know if you actually saw him. You looked super cute in his humongous bed though

You were getting sleepier and sleepier, your eyelids getting heavier and heavier. Beel pulled the sheets over you and gentle untangled the arm you managed to latch on to

Maybe waking up to a bit of food would make up for everything! Beel toiled away in the kitchen, making a cute little snack tray for the two of you.

In reality, it could probably feed at least twenty, and he ate at least half of what he prepped.

Beel returned to the room with what he considered a decent amount (scraps, kind of, but enough variety! He tried! It’s the thought that counts!) and was surprised to see his sheets all tangled and half-kicked from the bed

You were wearing his jacket now, passed out and turned into the furry lining that usually went across his shoulders and neck

DId you sleep walk? He was trying to understand how you’d gotten into his jacket

Beel realized it was the first time you’d been in his clothes and it was enough to make his heart melt

Super huge on you, obviously (extra fabric everywhere), but so cute! He could basically swaddle you in his jacket

“They’re a restless sleeper,” Belphie yawned. “I thought it would help them calm down.”

It used to work on Belphie, so Beel could see why he resorted to it

Beel offered his twin some food, sitting carefully on your other side.

He shifted some of the parka fur away from your face, trying to fix your hair and nudge your chin up so your nose wasn’t buried in anything. He stroked your cheek a little, mesmerized by the sight of you and how you felt.

Belphie declined, muttering something about, ‘Stop looking like that and eat your food! Gross!’ before Beel settled for patting your head one last time and eating quietly

Belphegor

He’s another one that’s hard to steal from

You’d think it’d be easy since he sleeps all the time, but Belphie really only wears 10% of the clothes he buys

Yes, he’s a pajama snob and has all things comfy and cozy, but hardly any of them smell like him because he falls asleep anywhere with little issue (no special clothes required!)

You thought about stealing his blue cardigan with the pocket, but he’s always sleeping in it!

Belphie picks up on your train of thought, and the frustration, because you fall asleep thinking about it. Dreaming about coyly stealing his cardigan and being all cute and snuggly in bed

It’s enough to wake him up, shuffle to you, and break your sleep. He flops down on your bed with his cardigan unbuttoned and says ‘climb on’ while patting his chest

You’re obviously sleepy and confused and he loves it. Belphie slides you onto his chest and wraps his arms around you, resting bits of the fabric on your back as you settle into him

It’s not the same but it’s close enough

Would you be offended if he got you cow pajamas so he could snuggle you like his favorite pillow? He falls asleep wondering about the answer

He wakes up to see that Beel has covered the two of you with his favorite blanket.

You in his blanket? Against him? Slowly smelling of him and his clothes? It’s the best thing to fall asleep to.

Makes a joke out of your clothes-stealing quest by stripping one of his pillowcases off and putting you in it like a little sack. You have to stay on his bed now because you’re his pillow and all pillows stay on the bed.

“What? You wanted to smell like me! It’s something I use!“ Belphie defends as you wonder whether or not you like this human pillow thing while he snuggles you.

[decennia]

i give u free reign to infodump ab all of the knights and the og army bc i am vv intrigued agjgssgsh

THERE IS SO MUCH HERE OMFG MORAL OF THIS STORY NEVER ASK ME TO INFO DUMP BECAUSE I WILL TAKE FULL ADVANTAGE OF IT—

I've separated it into sections:

The Knights of Walpurgis, and the motivations for their assigned sins.

Dumbledore's First Resistance, and the motivations for their assigned virtues.

The dynamics between the opposing contenders.

Given the sheer volume of information, I've included a cut. Please enjoy this manip that I am still very proud of.

THE KNIGHTS OF WALPURGIS (later known as Death Eaters) Tom Riddle (Pride)

Pride and arrogance were very large contributing factors to Tom Riddle's downfall in the end, and honestly, the whole idea for the gifset came from Florence + The Machines' Seven Devils playing while casually thinking of Dagrim and Tom, and then about how perfectly Tom would fit as Lucifer.

Dagrim Patil (Avarice)

When questioned about what she wants, and what Riddle promised her in exchange for her unwavering loyalty, her response is, quite simply: everything. Dagrim grew up starved not for affection, but recognition. And what she was denied in childhood, she would take in adulthood by force. Her philosophy is that if something is worth wanting, it is worth taking.

Cantankerous Nott IV (Lust)

We know so little about Theodore Nott's father from the source material, other than he was elderly, and he raised Theo himself. And that he was a Death Eater, of course. His name is an ode to his ancestor, the Cantankerous Nott who created the Sacred Twenty-Eight pureblood directory. I assigned him "lust" purely for the events leading to the conception of his son (sis, it gets messy).

Abraxas Malfoy (Envy)

Abraxas Malfoy envied Tom Riddle to the point of a half attempted mutiny. He was quickly put in his place, his co-conspirators made examples of, and spared only for his close friendship with Dagrim, who pleaded for his life. Riddle, who trusted Dagrim to a fault for all she'd done to earn it, conceded. Abraxas would later prove himself to Riddle again, regaining his seat among Riddle's favoured generals. He was the one who taught Lucius to never disobey the Dark Lord, and he was not a kind teacher.

Ulysses Mulciber (Gluttony)

Indulgence and excess, spoiled rotten and filthy rich. The Mulcibers were the richest of the Sacred at one point in their lives, rivalled only by the Malfoys. Ulysses never knew the meaning of "enough," and was a glutton not only in all manners of vice, but also for cruelty, dealing it out carelessly with little to no regard for the repercussions he was well protected from by his noble standing and wealth. He was one of Riddle's greatest allies and sponsors, and instrumental in his rise to power.

Carmilla Avery (Wrath)

Carmilla was in the year above Riddle, and was quick to anger and slow to calm. Her temper was legendary, and even her younger brothers – also admitted into the Death Eater ranks – feared her. She had an untempered fury, a rage at the world for no reason at all. She developed an unhealthy codependency with Abraxas Malfoy, who served to have a soothing presence over her. People seldom survive crossing her, as her reputation dictates.

Serafine Lestrange (Sloth)

Serafine is not lazy (as the sin "sloth" would suggest), she just lacks the motivations to pursue the goals that are expected of her. A particularly bright witch, and a wealthy one too, she never applied herself at school for she didn't see the need. Instead, she fell into a fascination of the Dark Arts, where she met Riddle, perusing the Restricted Section. She is rather discontented with life, disillusioned from already such a young age. She initially joins Riddle's gang for the excitement of it all.

DUMBLEDORE'S FIRST RESISTANCE (later known as the Order of the Phoenix in its official conception in 1970)

Albus Dumbledore (Patience)

Name a man more patient than Dumbledore, I'll wait. Better yet, he'll wait, because he's patient as hell. So patient, in fact, he waited until after Harry's supposed death to come to him as a hallucination and tell him about how he was a Horcrux.

Rathin Patil (Temperance)

Temperance is abstinence, and I wanted to explore the kind of toll having his sister so far gone into the dark would have on any man, let alone one who really cared for her and wanted to do right by her. Rathin is not a perfect man, he is still fallible, and unfortunately, he develops a dependent comfort in inebriation when Dagrim disappears with Riddle. He pulls himself back together, especially when he becomes Isaiah Moody's partner at the Ministry, and he begins to pursue Miraya.

Miraya Varma (Diligence)

Methodical and persistent, Miraya Varma earned herself a position at the Ministry immediately out of Hogwarts where she would later go on to form her own task force within the Ministry specifically designed for the interrogation and recommended sentencing of dark wizards and witches. She has been known to put her duty first, up until the birth of her son, Divyansh Patil, father to Padma and Parvati.

Isaiah Moody (Humility)

For a very long time, people seldom knew the Moody name, and that was the way Isaiah liked it. He believed that his line of work would endanger his loved ones (in spite of his wife being in the same profession) and so he never took credit for the numerous arrests he made. It was Isaiah who suspected something was strange about Morfin Gaunt's arrest while investigating the Riddle Massacre, and consulted Dumbledore about it. Once his identity was discovered and he was viewed as a threat by Riddle, an attack was made on his heavily pregnant wife, jeopardizing her and his unborn boy's (Alastor) life.

Minerva McGonagall (Chastity)

Mini Minnie is seventeen, my dudes. But not only that, Minerva grew up with a religious father (he was canonically a reverend), who probably taught her his values. Also given the fact that Minerva was the first of the younger generation to participate and involve herself in the war (she sought out Dumbledore and enlisted herself into his Resistance, fearing her family would be made into another statistic if she didn't at least do something to intervene), she really didn't have much time to think about something as arbitrary as the concept of virginity. Also, it's the 1950s.

Corinne Scamander (Kindness)

Corrine is honestly the greatest. She has all of the tenacity of Tina, and the best qualities of Newt. It was Dumbledore's previous bond with Newt that encouraged him to recruit her, and she willingly accepted, because of course she would. She'd always been the soft spoken girl with a tender touch and a love for life, and she was often the advocate for hope in the resistance. She was adept in a few healing charms she'd learned from her father, and was something of a specialist in magical beings, proving herself to be highly valuable while Riddle was expanding his ranks with all manner of dark creatures.

Declan Diggory (Charity)

Sacrifice is in the Diggory blood, and Cedric's grandfather, Declan, was not the first to prove it. He also, unfortunately, wasn't the last, but he sure was one of the best. Selfless to a fault, Declan would willingly get hypothermia if it meant someone else would have warmth. Diggory's contributions to the war effort consisted of offering sanctuary and shelter to muggleborns who received death threats, and orchestrating the evacuations of targeted muggle residences. He was the leader of a small faction of the resistance, including, but not limited to: Fleamont Potter, Enoch Longbottom, Wilhelm Shacklebolt, and Ramona McKinnon.

DYNAMICS (just the contenders for now because this is hella long)

Albus Dumbledore vs. Tom Riddle

Adversaries, a fair deal of mistrust and guilt from Dumbledore's side (upon reflection, he'd been the one to introduce Tom to the wizarding world; even though he knows that if Riddle had been left unchecked, the risk of him becoming an Obscurus would've resulted in catastrophe all the same). Riddle sees Dumbledore as nothing more than a foolish old man, a pest, and an obstacle to overcome at first, but learns to begrudgingly respect Dumbledore's strength and mastery of magic (after all, Riddle only knew him as the Transfiguration teacher before, and thought the accounts of Dumbledore's victory over Grindelwald had been exaggerated to great effect). Riddle's hubris was believing he could defeat Dumbledore on his own, thinking himself already stronger than Grindelwald ever hoped to be.

Rathin Patil vs. Dagrim Patil

Rathin had always been very protective of Dagrim, and loved her dearly, although his acts of affection were often misinterpreted as pity and condescension. This only served to push them further apart. When Dagrim turned to the Dark Arts and found solace in Riddle, it revolted Rathin, as he was hugely against the corruption the Dark Arts has on the performing witch or wizard, and wouldn't wish it on his worst enemy. He still very much loves her, and it hurts him to fight her. Dagrim, on the other hand, finds catharsis in duelling her brother, believing it to be justice for the way her parents treated her and the little he did to dissuade them.

Miraya Varma vs. Cantankerous Nott

A mutual respect and an academic rivalry, Cantankerous and Miraya were not friends by any means, but not enemies, either. Cantankerous even went as far as to warn Miraya of an impending attack, allowing her to evacuate the building. But although he knows she's clever, he also knows that she's incredibly stubborn, and displayed little surprise to find her awaiting him in the now vacant building. They are equally matched, and their unique relationship spans several decades, even into Cantankerous' failed run at Minister for Magic, and Theodore and the Patil twins' time at Hogwarts. She was present at his trial following the Battle of the Department of Mysteries, and watched as he was sentenced to life in Azkaban for his crimes as a Death Eater.

Isaiah Moody vs. Abraxas Malfoy

Given his profession, Isaiah has a lot of enemies on the Sacred Twenty-Eight who are loyal to the Dark Lord. One such enemy is Abraxas Malfoy. When Tom gets word of Moody's involvement in solving the Riddle Massacre, he sends Malfoy and a newer Death Eater, Evangeline Rosier, to hinder the investigation. Abraxas and Evangeline were responsible for the attack on Isaiah's heavily pregnant wife, who, if she hadn't been an Auror herself, would've never survived. Alastor Moody was prematurely born at St. Mungo's following the attack, and all of Isaiah's efforts were turned on exacting vengeance on those responsible. Malfoy went into hiding, but Isaiah, ruthless, managed to hunt down Rosier. She died under questioning, setting in motion a vicious cycle of vengeance between the Moodys and Rosiers. Once Isaiah had been killed by Evangeline's brother (Evan [who was named after her] Rosier's father), Abraxas deemed it safe to rejoin society.

Minerva McGonagall vs. Ulysses Mulciber

On the list of things Ulysses loathes, he would put half-bloods above muggleborns (although he turns a blind eye to his Dark Lord's blood status when it conveniences him). Half-bloods only serve as a reminder of the lowest and weakest of his kind; the unworthy muggleborns, the lecherous blood traitors, the vermin muggles. Mulciber prides himself as something of a "purifier," and finds great enjoyment in pruning family trees that have been poisoned by muggle blood into purity once more. He takes a great interest in Minerva McGonagall, given that she is an incredibly powerful witch at such a young age, and he wonders how glorious she would've been had she been a pureblood (a twisted and untrue belief among the Sacred Twenty-Eight during that time). Minerva, the threat of Mulciber weighing heavily on her, places her family under Dumbledore's protection. She vows to stop Mulciber and his perverse idea of justice.

Corinne Scamander vs. Carmilla Avery

It didn't take much to enrage Carmilla Avery, and Corinne had been caught in the tempest Carmilla's fury since the day they'd met. Carmilla, who took great pleasure in picking on people she deemed lesser, made a target out of Corinne, perceiving her kindness for weakness. During their time at Hogwarts, Corinne had gained the attention of Avery for being a blood traitor and a muggle sympathizer, which only strengthened Carmilla's vindication. Corinne, who had been friends with Rubeus Hagrid prior to his expulsion, and who had almost fallen prey to the basilisk when she had heard Myrtle Warren's cries from the bathroom, never lowered herself to Carmilla's level nor did she rise to any of the challenges. This hurt Avery's ego, as she thought this was Corinne's way of claiming herself better than her. It wasn't until after Hogwarts that Carmilla's growing resentment came to a head, and, without the protection the school offered Corinne, Carmilla was looking to finally put an end to the blood traitor line of Scamander.

Declan Diggory vs. Serafine Lestrange

Declan and Serafine were childhood friends who drifted apart during their time at Hogwarts, particularly when she fell in with Riddle's crowd. She is viewed by Dumbledore as having the power to sway the entire outcome of the war, for if Serafine could be persuaded into leaving Riddle, her cousins (one of whom is the father of Rodolphus and Rabastan Lestrange) would surely comply, and the families who held the Lestranges in high regard would be inclined to follow. This makes Declan and Serafine key pieces in Dumbledore's game of strategy. However, Serafine was disowned long before she defected from the Death Eaters, leaving the Lestranges firmly in Riddle's grasp. Although Serafine claimed to feel nothing for Diggory, she still refused to deal any real harm to him when they duel, in spite of having ample opportunity to do so; something which Riddle picked up on. She was later forced to torture Declan in front of him to prove her loyalty to the Dark Lord, something which Declan permitted her to do, knowing she had very little choice in the matter. He was left for dead, but Serafine would later secretly return with Corinne to get him medical attention. She gives her son, Francis, "Declan" as a middle name.

[crossedsabers10s]

By Love Bound (Teeny Tiny Part Two)

So, uh. I doubt I’m ever going to actually continue this. But here’s what I do have written for those that want to know what happened after. 

Siegrid gets to the house—Klaus is out, Kol’s there and is surprised to see her. Siegrid—who kinda doesn’t wanna have to look at Nik’s face yet, holds up her dagger and is like. Wanna find a volcano with me?? 

So they both take off to, like, Iceland. 

While Siegrid and Kol are enchanting that dagger to holy hell so no one will ever find it, the Mystic Falls Gang and Associates are keeping v quiet about the new Original they’ve set loose. 

“I should still have a few contacts in the Old World,” Kol offers. Because Kol collected witch covens and lineages like some collected jewels. 

Siegrid tips her head in thought. “No,” she decides. 

“Ah. The less people who know the better, you’re right. But we will still need a witch to do the spells. I could find a disposable one, I suppose, but they tend to run in covens, some kind of word would get out eventually.”

And then Caroline sees Klaus and kinda just blurts out, “You’re married?!?”

Klaus thinks Rebekah told her, or Elijah, or Kol—an attempt to ruin his life, of course—and tries to charm his way out of Caroline’s accusations while also promising to dagger the person who let that slip—half because it puts a target on Siegrid, half because he has control issues.  

And Caroline says something implying that Siegrid is way too nice for him and Klaus just BSOD because, “You met?!” 

Anyways, Klaus is freaking out because his wife is missing, Caroline is freaking out because Klaus is freaking out and a freaked out Klaus wrecks havoc like woah. 

So all that’s going down while Siegrid and Kol are doing Shenanigans™. Like. First they need a shit ton of arbitrary ingredients, then a celestial event, then a witch willing to have her memories wiped—and they need to do her a favor first, maybe taking out a mini Big Bad?—then the ritual. 

“What do we need next?” Siegrid asks, wrist deep in a murderer’s chest. “The footsteps of a cat?”

Kol rolls his eyes. “Just give me the heart, sister-dear. No need to get snippy.”

So Klaus interrogates Damon, who is just. Kinda laughing at him. Because Damon knows dangerous women, okay? Legit, first Katherine when he was human, then Sage?? Dude has got to have some kind of kink. Anyways Damon knows dangerous woman and Damon knows how it is to be a lover scorned. Klaus is screwed. 

Later:

Of course it’s the giant manor with the family sigil stamped onto the gates. 

Siegrid can’t say her family doesn’t know how to make a statement. Though, she will attribute this to her husband—it’s very him, to make himself at home surrounded by enemies. 

“Husband,” Siegrid says simply.

Two months and one great spell work later and still her chest stings--the echo of a dagger she never even felt leaving its mark. Niklaus just stares at her, face stone for all that his eyes show a tempest. 

It is an uncomfortable silence, and she does not like the fact that she hasn’t any idea where to begin. Hello? It’s good to see you decades after I fell asleep trusting you? Nice to see you again, I broke your favorite weapon to use against me? There’s a half second of longing for the days where it was just them against a bright new world. And then she remembers that they have long since traded sunshine away for shadows; it had been through no fault of their own, but they had embraced it all the same.

“Wife,” he greets at last. “I hear you and my brother had a fine vacation,” his words drip poison, “while the rest of us here were fighting for our lives.”

Their lives? He means his schemes. His plans and plots and tricks that she had once thought so clever. As if any regard for life had factored into his machinations. 

“You didn’t trust me,” she accuses, and instantly regrets the heat in her words. Still, she repeats them, slightly calmer, “You didn’t trust me, or you [thought me too weak to help you]”

“[I love you,]” he avoids the accusation, “[I married you, didn't I?”]

“We were very different people a thousand years ago.”

“[So what if I’ve lost a little weakness. I’m stronger! Better!]

“I’m not.”

He stops. 

Siegrid continues, voice soft, “My love, if you had done this to me a millennia ago, I would have plunged that same dagger into your eye.”

He says nothing, can say nothing, to that. 

“And now I won’t—I cannot. It would hurt me more than any dagger to the chest.” There’s something hopeful in Niklaus’ eyes at that—like her being unable to stand against him is proof that she loves him. 

“And it is… pathetic,” she says. That hope shatters, the broken pieces of it slicing them both open. “I am pathetic. The woman I was a millennia ago would be disgusted with how far I’ve fallen, how many times I’ve forgiven you. Time and time and time again I’ve let you betray me, hurt those dear to me—to us both! And I have done nothing. Fed myself platitudes about loyalty and devotion until I choked on them.”

“My love—“

“Yours,” Siegrid agrees, voice sharp as the jagged edges of her heart. “Always. But I am my-own as well and I have forgotten that.”

Yeah, she’s pissed. ANyways, that’s that, hope y’all like it.

[thecatchat]

@inkytrinket-irii it's a thing I thought up. Hope you like it!

Group of people hanging out and gossiping at the Casino about ksq. Two viper ladies, a husky dude, a bat man, and fox lady.

Viper lady 1 (Lindie) - knows about relationship rumors, speaks negatively, is a nurse or doctor, gossipy,

Viper lady 2 (Lynda) - knows about relationship rumors, speaks positively, is an artist,

Husk dude (Buck/Viktor) - knows about power rumors, interested in Sapnap or cop rumors, has a husky voice, seems gruff and intimidating, is actually quite friendly, protective, large, does manual labor for the local orphanage,

Bat man (Buddy) - knows about none of the rumors, just curious about the darker side of life, kinda shy, "blind" to the dark stuff going on around him, very social, touch as a love language, the "mom" of the group, is a news reporter (economy),

Fox lady (Vos) - knows about rumors about their appearance, cunning, "foxy", mischievous, charming, clever, trickster, wears lots of fluffy coats, works as a fashion designer,

Vos pulls Buddy over to the table where the other three are at, greetings and happy birthdays are shared around, going over stuff going on in their lives (Lindie noticed a reduction of mob related injuries lately, Viktor noticed some older kids seem to be getting into worse trouble, etc.), Buddy notices a man with his wings wrapped around two people (ksq), he points them out as looking cute, Lindie and Lynda start talking about the rumors about ksq relationship, Lindie thinks it's weird and keeps trying to figure out who's the main couple, Lynda thinks it's cute and keeps talking about how they are practically attached at the hip, Vos points out Sapnap's tail and they get on the topic of what type of hybrid the two are, they are tossing around a few ideas until Lindie asks what type of hybrid Karl is, The main rumor is humming bird that lost his wings or were born without them, Buddy mentions how they seem like a lovely couple, Viktor reminds him that Quackity is regarded as one of the most powerful people in the city for a reason and his boyfriends are no different, rumors about powers and strange stuff going on around them, Lindie actually finds them partially believable due to the increase of burn wounds, Lynda thinks it's absolutely fake and changes the topic to Buddy getting his story in the paper, Kid is at the table when this is brought up and does his little interrogation, the group decides to take the party to Buddy's house, maybe little Epilogue with ksq?

"You're a reporter." "Yes! I am. Why do you ask?" "Bat, think about where we are." ".... THE ECONOMY DIVISION!!! NOT NOT THIS!!!" "You do any reports lately?" "Um, yes actually. This morning on [paper] I think my story was supposed to be up." "The one about [close but has one detail wrong]?" "Um actually it was about [correct headline]. You got [detail] wrong." "Ah! *flicks butterfly knife closed skillfully* You might not want to be so public about your occupation in places like this. People can make some pretty bed decisions. Have a nice evening!" "I think it's time to retire for the night."

The group is there to celebrate someone's birthday (bat man?) And while they are talking one of them spots Quackity talking to someone (Sapnap) across the room. Topic of the conversation becomes all the different rumors about Quackity and his two boyfriend's. Kid is their server for the night? (He doesn't usually but they were short staffed for the day.) End because Bat mentions in front of Kid that he's a reporter and quickly assures that he's the economy division, Kid believes him and flicks a butterfly knife closed in front of everyone with a grin,

-----------------------------------------------------

"Welcome to The Vidrio Chip Casino. Enjoy your night."

Buddy thanked the tired looking goat man as they trailed behind their friend into the hidden part of the casino. They tried their best to hide their anxiety at being in such a place. They'd heard that speakeasy's were popular with people in the city but they had never been to one until now. They didn't even know they were going to one when their work friend, Vos, dragged them out of their apartment for a 'birthday celebration'.

"Here's the birthday bat!"

Buddy was shaken out of their thoughts by Vos presenting them to a small table with three strangers already sat at it. The three all congratulated them on before Vos did quick introductions.

Lindie and Lynda were twin vipers that looked nearly identical, right down to the dotted green scales on their faces. Even their voices sounded similar. The two seemed to embrace it as they wore similar looking flapper dresses and matching hats. The saving grace was that they each wore completely different colors, Lindie wore red and Lynda wore teal.

Viktor was a Husky guy, in every sense of the word. From the thick fur tail and the pointed ears to the gravelly voice and worn out clothes. He stuck out quite a bit in the room filled with people dressed in their best. He was wearing a faded and scuffed dress shirt with no suit jacket and a well worn cap.

Vos quickly pushed Buddy into the booth and slid next to him after they were done with introductions. She quickly got comfortable and snuggled into her fluffy coat that complemented the fox hybrids fluffy tail and feathered boa.

"So Buddy," Viktor rumbled, "you work with Vos at a paper?"

"I do! We're in different departments though. She's in entertainment and I'm in finance." Buddy explained as they adjusted to the loud chatter and strong smell of alcohol. They shifted their leathery wings to wrap around their shoulders like a blanket.

"Well if we're sharing," Lynda joined in, "I'm an artist! There's a gallery featuring some of my art next Tuesday night if you're looking for something to do."

"Normally I'd show up in support but I'm scheduled for a night shift that day." Lindie grumbled, "Instead of snack trays and fancy dresses I'm going to be stitching up wounds at the hospital."

"You work at a hospital and you don't like helping people?" Viktor rumbled confused.

"No, I love helping people," she grimised, "I just hate having a front row seat to all the gang related gore. The amount of people coming in with mob related injuries has gone down recently, thankfully."

Viktor hummed in agreement, "Hmm, I fix things at a home for street kids. I have noticed some of the older ones are getting more and more interested in joining the mob."

“Has anyone gotten injured?“

“No, thankfully. They all have more money and are carrying knives around. But no one has been injured. Yet.“

The others went onto a new topic of conversation as Buddy tuned them out. They weren’t the most social person at the best of times so they started looking around the casino to see if they could spot anyone that looked interesting.

A winged figure caught their eye from across the casino. Their feathers were a golden yellow.

[bvccy]

Tenderness and Ferocity | 2. The Second Day

Pairing: Winter Soldier!Bucky Barnes x Hydra!Reader Fic Synopsis: The Winter Soldier is starting to make stupid mistakes in the field, which is Bucky's way of trying to wrest back control and sabotage his handlers. Hydra brings a new doctor to figure out what's wrong with him and fix it. As she spends time with him, she becomes fond of the Winter Soldier, and he becomes fond of her. Bucky has other ideas. Or, a fic in which the Winter Soldier is the good guy and Bucky is actually the bad guy. Warnings for this chapter: Angst Word count: 1488 Read on AO3: [link] [Previous Chapter] [Fic Masterlist] [Next Chapter]

"Human perfection and technical perfection are incompatible. if we strive for one, we must sacrifice the other… Technical perfection strives toward the calculable, human perfection toward the incalculable." �� Ernst Jünger

"Tell me about your last mission. Why did it fail?"

"It didn't."

"Why did it almost fail." Excuse me.

"First shot missed the target."

"Mhmm... Did something get in the way?"

"No."

"Do you think it was a miscalculation on your part?"

"I don't know."

"I... See, I have no idea how shooting works." she laughed. "Did you misjudge the distance, maybe? The wind, the... trajectory?"

"No."

"So why do you think the first shot failed?"

"The shot didn't fail. I failed. And I don't know."

"But you got him the second time. So what went differently?"

"I don't know."

She thought she knew, but she needed to work him through it. A lot depended on it, and it wasn't just her dedication to her career, but to the whole Winter Soldier program. None of the other recruits were remotely as promising, their minds unhinged or too far gone, hours wasted into them and all that brilliant work. If she got it right just this once, they could do so much more, so much...

Hydra's reach tended to exceed their grasp. This led them to be overly ambitious and fail — painfully, and often. She had to remind herself that it led to growth, that perseverance in the face of your own failures was what growth was. But if she could contribute to a move in a new direction, a right direction, she will have accomplished something with her life. Even if she didn't get any credit and was never remembered, as many of the staff often weren't, at least she could have that small knowledge for herself. She certainly didn't have much else: just her job, and distant family, and colleagues that passed for friends.

"I'm going to say three words. Try to remember them: glass, gecko, charity. Say them back."

"Glass. Gecko. Charity."

"Good. And three things you can see in this room. How about... the lightbulb, that metronome over there, and the sink in the corner. Name them."

"The lightbulb. The metronome. The sink."

"Very good. Now I'm going to get you some paper and a pen." She paused mid-way from getting up to ask "Promise you won't stab me with it?"

He stopped to think, and said "I won't. ...Stab you, that is."

With a wry smile, she went to the little table on the other side of the room.

The Director agreed to give the Soldier a cell with a bunk to sleep in, some bare amenities, and now he spent his time there when he wasn't in session with her, or training (which was most of the time) . She couldn't tell if the change in environment or sleeping made any difference. But as the fabric of his speech got looser every time she plucked at it with a barbed question, she was convinced it had to matter.

They had their meetings in a completely different room, with no bars or windows, and no cameras either. It would have been intimidating to anyone else, that sort of consummate interrogation room lifted out of a dystopia, but anything was better than the sterile stench of the lab where they killed him over and over only to start him up again.

And she wasn't afraid that he would hurt her anyway, not when she reminded herself he physically couldn't disobey. The moments when she forgot about that, however...

Nevertheless, he kept almost as still as he had when he was strapped down. He didn't move more than he needed to, and didn't say more than he needed to. But in spite of everything, she felt herself slip into seeing him as just another person, as a man.

Big mistake. He's a machine, a machine, a machine.

But when she turned around and saw him waiting quietly, the body at ease, the mouth sad but relaxed, those large grey eyes tracking her, and behind them a mind so clever, so curious... When she saw him like that, she felt dirty to have ever dehumanised him.

"I want you to draw a clock for me." she said as she placed the paper before him. "Just a circle, with the hours and everything... Set the hands of the clock at sixteen past two."

She sat back down and watched him, looking at how he held her pen — how long had it been? it's not like Hydra needed him to sign any documents, so this was probably the first time he held one since... — how he drew the circle: strong, steady, with almost an artist's precision — how he set the numbers: 12, 6, 3, 9, methodical. He finished in short order and slid the paper back.

"Good." she smiled. "Very good. Now, let's turn it over and..." giving it back to him, blank face up, "let's imagine that's a map of Europe, west to east. Could you point out where Portugal would be? Where do you think... Good. And Iceland? ...Yes. How about Greece? So the Bosphorus runs where?... Good, and where's Sweden? Yes... And do you think you can point where Belarus is? Very good... Can you name their capitals for me?"

"Lisbon. Reykjavik. Athens. Stockholm. Minsk."

"Excellent." she beamed at him for one unguarded second before she looked back down and missed his school-boy smile. "What about those words from before, do you remember what they were? The words I told you to remember?"

"Glass. Gecko. And charity."

"And the things in the room?"

"The lightbulb. The metronome. The sink."

"Very good." Then she took the paper from him, put it in her folder on top of all the other notes, and tucked the pen back in.

"Did you sleep last night?" she asked pointedly, looking him straight in the eyes.

The suddenness of her question didn't seem to put him off, at first. "Yes."

"Did you dream of anything?"

"Y-yes."

"Do you remember what it was about?" Silence. "Soldier, do you remember what it was about?"

"No."

She noticed with a shudder of excitement that he just lied to her — a fraction-of-a-second twitch at the corner of his left eye gave him away. Or maybe she just imagined it...? After all, he shouldn't be able to lie. Right?

"There's nothing wrong with dreaming, you know." she prodded with deliberate sweetness, the same sort she used with the Director, he noticed with displeasure. "Even if it's about bad things... it's a sign of improvement." Silence. "And I won't tell anyone, I promise. This is just between us." Silence. "Alright, well... That's good too."

She made no effort to hide her disappointment, and the Soldier swallowed while he kept the coolth of his eyes on her. He knew she was trying to charm it out of him — and what's more, she wanted him to know she was trying. Just like he wanted her to know that he wanted bitterly, ardently to tell her.

But she either didn't notice or didn't care, and she changed her tone to that of punishing reserve. "Right then, as there's nothing left to our session today, I can let you go."

She got up briskly and gathered her things without looking directly at him, sipping glances from the corner of her eye to his right arm as it rested on the table, pale and muscular and chiselled smooth, up to the round shoulder which disappeared under the t-shirt. A glimpse, further down, of his thick legs in the black combat fatigues.

He got up and followed her as she started walking. She unlocked the room and directed him out with a nudge of her head. They went out together, the Soldier following behind her clipped steps with his particular gait, heavy boots echoing through the corridor in a strut that lilted under the odd weight of his metal arm.

As they approached the T-section of the hallway with the two guardsmen standing ready for him, another man noticed her and stopped to wait, smiling politely. He wore the same lab coat, but with an amalgam of comfy grey sweater and jeans underneath.

"Hello, Kai." she called as they got closer, a genuine smile in her voice.

"Got that report you wanted."

"It finally finished downloading? Thought it was stuck."

"Nah, it was just too big. Maybe we can apply more filters next time."

"Narrow it down, yes..."

She turned to walk with her colleague toward their offices without so much as a parting word while the two guardsmen walked him in the other direction, toward the training facilities. He spared one longing look back, and as if sensing him she turned her head and caught his eyes for one moment, before turning back to the limp-wrist scrag who had her attention.

"How's the test subject?" Kai asked with a knowing smile.

"Fine. He has... excellent neuroplasticity."

"Wow. That good, huh?"

"By the way, did your girlfriend finish her forensics dissertation yet, or...?"

"Such threats are completely unnecessary."

[mlm-writer]

Curing Cullen (Cullen x M!Reader)

Kinktober Day 22: Sex Pollen

Pairing: Bottom Cullen Rutherford (Inquisition ver.) x  Top Qunari Male Reader (NOT trans-friendly) Rating: Explicit Words: 1798 Summary: Cullen accidentally gets a dosage of interrogation drugs, of which the only cure is Qunari semen or death. Fucking the inquisitor beats death any day. Note: This mf got such a fuckin glow up and I am so fuckin gay for him why is he straight this is an atrocity. LOOK HOW FUCKIN PRETTY HE IS I AM IN LOVE Tags: Action, canon-typical violence, no beta we die like men, beign liberal with canon, anal fingering, anal sex, creampie, dubious consent (because he is drugged ya know), bit fluffy, riding and did you know bulls have a dick of 30-40 inch? That’s dick the size of a child wtf. 

A quick favour, that was all it was supposed to be. The cargo was apparently very precious and no one was told what it was. You never wanted to get involved with the Ben-Hassrath, but with Bull at your side there was little choice, not that you wanted him gone. On the contrary, having another Qunari around was a great help on some days. 

Things went south, however, as you got ambushed by an unforeseen force. The human bandits were oddly organised and in an awfully great number. You casted a wall of ice to slow them down, but they came from all sides. You decided to give up the cargo and save both your and Bull’s men. You fade stepped towards Cullen, the commander assisting to tag along since it was a sensitive mission. “Commander, we need to go.” Cullen showed you a displeased look, but he nodded, agreeing with your assessment. 

“We can take at least one of the boxes with us. Save some of the cargo,” he insisted, “cover me.” You wanted to protest, but he was already dashing towards the cart. You casted a barrier around him as he left, followed by a lighting chain, stunning the enemies around him. Cullen came running back with a box that sounded like it contained potions. It was a clever choice. You basically lifted him up and ordered your people to retreat as you summoned some mist to cover your paths. 

An arrow grazed your leg as you ran. You slipped in your step and you dropped both yourself and Cullen to the ground. There was the sound of wood breaking and glass shattering, before you hit your head on a rock and the scenery went dark. 

You shock awake, getting a feeling of deja vu. You recognised your bedroom at Skyhold. You rubbed your forehead, feeling a bandage right below your horns. You climbed out, wobbling down the many, many stairs to the main hall. Your mind was on Cullen. It was known amongst the inner circle that you two had a… thing... Going on. It was complicated, but that didn’t stop you from worrying. Varric saw you emerge from your room and rushed to your side. “Hey, you gave us quite the shock there.” 

You forced a chuckle out. “After all I have been through, one fall on the head isn’t going to do me in.” Varric nodded, looking at you with those eyes that looked for more. “Really, I am fine. Where is Cullen? He was with me.” Varric gave you an even worse look and dragged you to Solas’ room. He looked at you as he always did. It was hard to read him, most of the time. 

“Good, you’re here. My potion is keeping Cullen alive right now, but he needs you, were he to survive.” At least you could adore his bedside manners. You wanted to ask him more, but he handed you a paper and walked away to have another look at one of the shards you found. The paper was an itinerary of what was in the box you tried to save. With red encircled there was a concoction of concentrated Qunari pheromones, Witherstalk and Felandaris, used in several torture techniques, since the only thing that got it out of your system was rectically administrated Qunari sperm.

“Please, don’t tell me that Cullen got any of this stuff on him.” Solas said nothing. 

“Well then I won’t tell you, but he still needs your help,” Varric cut in when Solas remained quiet. It suddenly dawned on you why Cullen would need you specifically. When it came to healing magic, you were not the expert, but when it came to a source of Qunari sperm, the options were you and Bull. The thought of Bull doing it made you cringe and you put the paper back on the table, before running out the door. You runned over the bridge and slammed the door to Cullen’s room open. You heard pained moans at the left, where Cullen laid on a mattress they had dragged from somewhere to here. Probably no one could get him up the ladder to his bed. 

You crouched down next to him. You tried to get the hair out of his face, but he moaned at the slightest touch. “There you are,” he mused as he gave you the most undignifying bedroom eyes you had ever seen. “Bull informed me of my… status,” he tried. Clearly Cullen was still Cullen, which was a good sign. Either Solas has done some outstanding magic or Cullen was really muscling through the potion well. “This was not how I expected to have sex with you for the first time, but you should take me up that ladder right now.” He was panting, covered in sweat and he looked even more tiny without his armour. 

“You know we don’t need to have sex, right? I could just…”

“I want to. I’ve thought about sex with you so many times, you have no idea.” 

You already felt sorry for him when he got his full mind back. He would be so embarrassed, but you couldn’t die of secondhand embarrassment right now. You hoisted him over your shoulder, noticing his cock poking through his breeches as you climbed the ladder. Maybe this was not the most practical interior design choice. You were glad that at least now the roof was fixed and a fireplace installed. You casted a fire there, the room feeling a little warmer immediately. Cullen was rutting against your shoulder, but you didn’t blame him. You placed him on the bed and he pulled you down. You had kissed before. Varric even ran into you two making out. You would probably have made it official then, were it not for Varric’s interruption. 

However, this was nothing like anything you’ve done before. Cullen was insistent, a desperate man. His lips moved against yours as if he was trying to eat you. A primal noise left him as he tried to rid you of your clothing as soon as possible. You didn’t know what came over you, but you ripped his shirt in half, throwing it off the bed. With a rough tug, his breeches went off and you had beautiful access to everything that was Cullen. You wanted to take your time with him, but you feared there was no time for that. You conjured a substance to provide lubrication in one hand and raised his legs with the other. You toyed with his hole, coaxing it open. 

Cullen mewled as you put his legs over your shoulders and touched his cock. You pleased him with both hands, trying to take the edge off for him. He was like a cat in heat. He was so vocal and you wondered if he was the same when he wasn’t drugged. When you could push three fingers inside, you let your breeches fall to the floor and kicked them off your feet. Your cock stood big and glistening with precum between you. It wasn’t very thick, but the length was easily 20 inch at least. Cullen stared at it with an odd mixture of dread and lust. You cursed yourself for thinking it was hot. “Don’t worry, a shallow injection will be enough. You don’t need to take my full length.” 

You moved him closer to the edge of the bed and rested his legs on your waist. The tip of your cock was pressed against his stretched hole. You looked up at him and he gave you an insistent nod. You pushed inside, careful to only go a few inches deep, but he felt so good and hot around you, it was hard to restrain yourself. Your slow fucked him with the tip, breathing heavily as it took all your self-restraint to not just plow into him until he swore he met the Maker. “Inquisitor,” Cullen moaned, really testing your self-control. Using titles in the bedroom was definitely your kink and Cullen played into it like a charm. “Can I…” 

You stopped when he didn’t finish. You bent forward, cupping his cheek to get his attention. “What do you want? Just name it, commander.” Cullen caressed your cheek and licked his dry lips. He swallowed the lump in his throat and you watched as his Adam’s apple bobbed up and down. 

“Sit on the bed. I’d… like to be on top.” You licked your lips at the thought. You gently pulled out and sat down, resting against the headboard. Culled straddled you and he was so beautiful. His scarred skin told the stories of many battles. His hands ghosted around your horns. “May I?” You usually didn’t like people touching them, since they were a little more sensitive than those of other Qunari, but with the idea in mind of what was to come, you wanted his hands on them now. You nodded and sighed in pleasure as Cullen leveraged himself on your horns as he lowered his body against the tip of your huge cock. 

Cullen hissed as you breached him again. You stared at him as he took you deeper than you thought he would. You groaned as he managed to impale himself halfway your length, before he raised up just a little. Cullen deep-fucked himself on your cock, taking half of it inside and moaning like a song that you never wanted to end. You placed your hands on his hips, helping him at first, but soon enough you lifted and lowered him like a toy on your cock. Cullen’s hands fell down to your shoulders, where his fingers dug into your skin. You growled as lust took over and you were chasing your orgasm with his hole. 

Another few thrusts and you held him in place as you spilled your seed inside him. You watched as Cullen let go with one hand and stroked himself. He spilled between your bodies, getting semen on both your torsos. When he was done, you were still pumping him full with the last bits of your load. You slid down the headboard and laid him down on your chest, cock still deep inside him as he rested on top of you, bodies sticking together with his semen. 

No words were exchanged as you let your semen do its work counteracting the potion. You stroked his back and hair, basking in the afterglow of an amazing orgasm. “Could we… switch positions next time?” You looked down and chuckled, humming affirmatively. A human topping a Qunari was a funny idea, but with Cullen, you were long happy he considered a next time and when that time would come, you wouldn’t care how it would go, as long as it was with your favourite commander. 

[boop-le-snoot]

masterpost ☀️ main masterlist ☀️ taglist

previously on...

This chapter is very dialogue heavy. Stephen Strange being a little bit of a dick and Tony being a sweetheart. No warnings here, just plot and worldbuilding. I think Tony is his own warning to be honest... Do we want fun facts before each chapter like before or nah?

Sorcerer Strange stared at me with the heat of a plasma beam after I finished stuttering throughout my story, one accurate eyebrow raised and sharp cheekbones painting him displeased and dangerous in the yellow light of the store lamps. The whole experience shook me more than I would have liked to admit to myself and his mute reaction wasn't helping matters at all.

"Hmph," he finally cleared his throat, taking a step back and casting a thoughtful look over the shelves in the store. "You did all you could. Perhaps, we owe you gratitude," his tone was far kinder than his face. "How long have you been doing... This?" He vaguely gestured with a gloved hand.

"Long enough," I replied without thinking. My stress levels urgently rose above acceptable and the feelings needed to be let out now; Wong's dismissive attitude and Strange's half-assed apology for the attitude was still fresh in my mind.

The sorcerer sighed, briefly touching the bridge of his nose. "I won't pretend to understand the reason for your hostility but I'd like to remind you we're on the same side here," his steely blue eyes attempted to peer into my soul.

"There are no sides here," whatever he was selling, I wasn't buying it. "There are just people who get hurt, either because of unstable maniacs with superpowers or aliens who think Earth is an all-you-can-kill buffet," I stuck my dirty, bloody hands in my pockets. "You do your part in mitigating the damage, I do mine. That's all there is."

"And you would be making my job expotentionally harder if you get in the way and slow down professionals, even if you mean well," the man's temper had, evidently, won over and he immediately got on the defensive, crossing his arms and trying to glare me down.

Odette's words rang true, starting a storm of hollow anger in the pit of my skull. "Now listen here, you privileged prick," the damn burst at the seams as I squared up to give him a piece of my mind. "You and your Hogwarts rejects and the merry band of billionaires may have the opportunity to 24/7 healthcare and near-instant compensation for any damages the villain of the week decides to bestow upon your shallow little heads," I advanced half a step towards Strange, hands bailed into tight fists, internally rejoicing at the way he leaned back. My blood sang with adrenaline as I breathed the exhilaration.

"But how many people do you overlook? How many children never make it because your super secret organisation gives their parents an ultimatum just because they are different? This is a safe space for the ones you pretend not to see until it's convenient and it will stay that way, over my fucking dead body, if need be," I stared at the tall man, almost physically feeling his brain halt and pause with the cartoony sound of screeching tires. Whatever he was expecting, it wasn't this.

A pregnant pause hung in the air, both of us waiting for the other to explode.

"Don't you think I am aware," Strange finally seethed through gritted teeth, alarming golden sparks shining in his eyes. "The Avengers are not under the rule of SHIELD and I, personally, have no affiliation with either. I do not condone their barbaric methods," the man was struggling to form his sentences properly but even despite that, I understood his ideas.

I desperately wanted to believe his words to be true, I really did, but... "Then do your fucking job and let me do mine. I do not go out there and intervene, I merely clean up the mess you all leave. Something that nobody wants to do do, so unless you've got any takers, I'll keep helping those you deem unfit," in a fit of muted rage, I flew my arm to point at the abandoned cars and destroyed concrete outside of the window, the empty street and the clouds of dust rising into the moody skies.

The entrance door flew open suddenly, with a force strong enough to bang the heavy, old handle against something outside, letting in the stuffy air inside the bodega. Strange jumped at the sound of the screaming hinges, my own heart skipping a beat from the startling interruption.

Visibly composing himself, the man pierced me with a final stare before starting a dangerously quiet, "Very well, goodbye," and hightailing it out of Odette's before disappearing in a golden circle just outside the front porch.

I let my shoulders sag for a brief moment of respite, feeling the tension bleed out of me and penetrate every nook and cranny in the room. My protection charms were mostly destroyed, silver dull, glass and amber crackled. Tossing them into the appropriate recycling bin, I set to clean up the shop, flying through the motions in record time and wandering home through the damaged streets on autopilot.

My anger had cost me more than a fortune in my past but no matter how much I sought to reason with myself, I couldn't bring it to justify Strange's attitude towards my choices. The more I thought about it, the less rational my guesses became; I forced myself to stop thinking about it when my brain had unhelpfully supplied an absurd notion of him being jealous of my lifestyle: he knew next to nothing of my skills and his opinion was based solely on seeing me work the store front and one cleansing spell I'd performed on Bucky. There was simply no rational explanation for his behaviour.

NYC life wasn't affected by the battle in the slightest, it seemed; a day and a half later, I was back at Jeremy's, serving overpriced hot beverages to the rich and the busy. I'd slept on the Bucky and Strange situation, got a handle on my feelings and decided to simply put it away. There were other, more pressing things to worry about than a couple of men.

I didn't expect the flood of anxiety that turned my hands to lead upon seeing Tony Stark's signature suit-and-sunglasses wearing ass waltz into the café. He flashed me his usual easy grin but didn't remove his glasses, eyes eerily blank behind them, as he motioned for his usual order before leaning on the countertop with the entirety of his upper body. "So, Starshine, what is it exactly that you do?" Came the question I was dreading. "Are you, like, a witch? The broomstick and cauldron kind?"

"Mr. Stark, I am serving you coffee and a muffin as we speak," I replied curtly, raising an eyebrow.

"Drop the act, honeybuns. I thought we were friends," if I squinted, I could see that he was genuinely hurt by my lack of desire to communicate. Or, perhaps, he simply was unused to not satisfying his curiosities immediately.

Either way, I stood no chance against Stark patented puppy eyes. "I clock out at two," a sigh of epic magnitude left my mouth against my will. "You can interrogate me then. Until that, it's lattes and cheesecakes only."

Tony narrowed his eyes, smile warming up by a smidgen. "Interrogate you? Never," he pocketed the napkin with Dr. Banner's scribbles the doc had forgotten last time. "I'm merely curious." Another flash of his teeth and he was gone, taking what little peace I had left along with him.

The hands on the clock made their hurried rounds over and over. My chest had grown it's own set of ticking, grinding, mismatched gears as the endless possibilities coursed a steady stream through my head. Tony Stark was a wild card, his struggles with authority a widely known fact, as frequent as his strange habits in just about anything. And while I doubted I would get ambushed and locked up, I had no qualms of him berating me for telling off his boyfriend. He seemed like the possessive, overprotective type, anyways.

As soon as I exited the café, surrounded by the smells of flour and coffee grounds, my eyes immediately landed on the shiny, brand new Audi illegally parked right in front of the establishment, it's owner leisurely leaning against the hood with a face of contented boredom as passerby pedestrians shamelessly ogled him and his ride. His face lit up as he noticed me, immediately rushing to hold the passenger side door open for my comfort. "M'lady," the dorky remark didn't fail to summon a smile to my face even if it was a weak shadow of my usual camaraderie.

"Mr. Stark," I greeted him as soon as he peeled off the crowded sidewalk.

The lack of joy on my face didn't go unnoticed by him and every now and then, he snuck a glance at my face. "Relax, Starshine, I won't bite."

"Well," I mumbled, remembering the vicious way I had torn into his boyfriend. "Good to know."

Seeing as that didn't do much for my nerves, he suddenly swerved right, rushing into a busy intersection with the ease of a practiced manic driver. "I'm feeling like a cheeseburger," he announced unceremoniously, pulling into a parking lot of some place I never noticed.

I doubted that I could swallow anything at all but relented, sitting down opposite him in the furthest booth from the entrance. I ordered the biggest milkshake they had as Tony grinned big at the waitress, finally taking off his sunglasses when she left for the kitchen.

I rested my elbows on the table under the scrutiny of his gaze. He kept quiet. I couldn't hold back my curiosity any more. "So?"

His sharp, clever brown eyes captured and held mine for the longest second in my life. I struggled not to break eye contact until he relented, focusing on the shine of my rings instead. "RoboCop almost died from the shit that happened to him," Tony's words were curt. I inhaled sharply, assuming he was talking about Barnes. The engineer's fingers began to fiddle with his glasses. "We couldn't figure out how you helped him. Not the medical, not Banner, not me and and not even Steph," he paused to run a hand through his hair. "Barnes was hit with a poisoned arrow. There were no toxins left in his body, not even a single inflammation marker showed up on the tests." With that, Tony expectantly turned to me.

I chewed on my lip in contemplation. "Magic," I simply answered, figuring Strange had already briefed him about my occupation.

Tony shook his head with a snort. "Magic that the Sorcerer Supreme doesn't recognize or cannot detect?" The question was saved in nature.

Stephen Strange was Sorcerer Supreme and I had pissed him off and remained alive. I couldn't believe my luck, if Odette's stories were anything to go by. Inwardly rejoicing, I nonetheless resigned to answer truthfully. "Because there is nothing to detect, no foreign energy," I tried to phrase it in a way a scientist could understand. "What I use to heal, it is given me by nature and willingly. Think of me as a... Conductor. I merely store the energy short-term and direct it where it is needed."

That sparked a visible interest in Tony. He leaned forward, running my whole form, over and over, with his sharp eyes, searching for something I knew he wouldn't find. "Like... Making a blood transfusion?" It was obvious that he was thinking hard about the subject. "Like a successful organ transplant?"

"Something like that," I agreed amicably, seeing as he was talking at himself rather than engaging in a conversation with me.

"But it doesn't come from nothing, the first law of thermodynamics..." He started off in slight confusion.

"Yes, the total amount of energy remains constant," I interrupted him, making his eyes widen. "It's all around us, Mr. Stark. You cannot see it, and most people even cannot feel it, but mother Earth supports her creations. More than we like to think," the corner of my mouth tilted upward at the memories. Working with Gaia directly was like being briefly submersed in a cocoon of pure, warm sunshine; like being held in mother's arms as a babe. "She is kind and she is merciful, especially to the ones whose suffering is unjust," I let the man mull over my words.

The waitress brought our orders; my throat was parched, I took a few haste gulps of the chocolate milkshake. Tony's burger, however, remained unnoticed and untouched.

"Earth is a sentient organism?"

The question made my eyebrows rise; I coughed slightly, meeting his confused eyes with a smirk. "Mr. Stark, keep your science headcanons to yourself," the banter came easily now that the status quo was established.

He rolled his eyes, fitfully resisting the smile tugging at his mouth. "I'm telling on you to Mean Green," there was no malice behind his words.

I doubted the shy scientist would do much more than stutter out two jumbled questions but let the topic slide in favour of closing up on the issue. "Would you call a wolf sentient? No," I shook my head. "But it is autonomous, it has free will. Think of it like that," I wasn't really up to par on explaining Tony all the ins and outs of my craft. The more I spoke, the more questions danced in his eyes. It was charming but not something I wanted to spend most of my day on.

"I won't pretend to be anything but sceptical but as it is, I happen to be dating a wizard," the engineer finally chortled, making hands for his burger. He made a vague gesture with his fork, expression still not-quite out of the thinking place.

"They say opposites attract," I shrugged.

"Romanoff keeps saying we're two sides of the same coin, so," he non-commitally shrugged in return. "Can't help but wonder what the fuck did you tell him that day. He was seething," Tony raised an eyebrow, tone teasing.

"Oh lord," I briefly palmed my face. "Here comes the shovel talk."

"No, no," a fry landed on the table in front of me. I snatched it right from under Tony's hand. He pouted. "He probably deserved it. I mean, you saved the Terminator and, honestly," he paused. "I heard about one third of his rant and I distinctly remember something about 'girls way over their heads' and whatnot," he did a poor imitation of his boyfriend's deep voice. "Now, I consider myself a feminist so, respectfully, I disagree," he finished with a self-satisfied smirk.

I blanked, trying to process the avalanche of information. "That's a lot to unpack," I acquiesced.

"It means he likes you. I would know," the man had the audacity to wink at me. And that, ladies and gentlemen, was Tony Stark.

"Are you hitting on me for your boyfriend?" I couldn't resist snarking back, briefly catching his eyes as I polished off my milkshake.

Tony looked at me through his thick, long lashes, a picture perfect visage of surprised innocence. "Maybe," his tone a little too south of friendly, the direction of his eyes a bit lower than my face.

The snort escaped me before I could put a stop to it. The banter - it was easy, comforting in this situation where I found myself to be akin a fish out of water. Like I was a slightly socially awkward witch, Tony was a genius engineer and a notorious flirt. He toed the lines of appropriate with practiced gusto and I hadn't had the heart to do anything but indulge in a little bit of harmless fun ever since he first stepped foot in the café, seeing right through his stone cold facade of an alleged womaniser. Call it a hunch, if you will.

Say what you want about Tony Stark but one thing was definite: he was a gentleman. I thoroughly enjoyed my ride home in his expensive, fast, latest model car. As the city streets zoomed by in a flurry of blurred lines and flashing colorful lights, I allowed my mind to finally calm and resume it's usual even wandering pace.

A hand loosely thrown over the steering wheel, Tony quietly hummed along to the music, playing with the hem of his tee whenever it wasn't occupied with driving the car. He looked so peaceful like that.

The sound system played some contemporary rock that blended in with the moderately busy afternoon of the NYC streets, submerging the surroundings in catharsis. Grey everything with the occasional burst of colour from a traffic light; the brief car ride lulled me into a state almost drowsy.

"You with me, Salem?" Tony's voice quietly took me out of my stupor.

I blinked, seeing the front door of my apartment building. "Yeah, yeah, thanks," I didn't resist the big, wide smile of relief and rejoiced upon seeing his face return to his normal expression, sparkling and mischievous. "That's my stop," I motioned lamely.

Something hung in the air, something unsaid. It leaked through the gaps between Tony's smile and his eyes, it filled up the car with something thick and foggy. I was powerless to stop its influence on me; the daze remained just as it was when we zoomed through city streets.

Tony's fingers twitched on the steering wheel as I exited the vehicle, giving him a short wave before he put pedal to the metal, quickly disappearing into the twilight. I watched his tail lights glow red amongst the flat blacks and greys and beiges of my surroundings, blinking away the dryness in my eyes only when the car disappeared from my view completely.

My apartment was just as I'd left it, warm and slightly messy- but a new feeling had crawled up from the very gutter of me, foreign and impending. The walls didn't breathe the comfort I had hoped I would finally find: if anything, none of what I encountered on my rapid beeline towards the couch felt real.

I'd grown accustomed to the comforts of my solitude and routine, to attached to the simplest task of being. Sorting through my dirty laundry had never been a favourable ordeal for me, I'd much rather lived in a relatively wide bubble- rationally, I knew that sooner or later, change had have to come, but there was nothing ever rational about having feelings on one matter or another.

My spirit was trying to tell me big things were coming and I had no choice but to listen and let the currents of fate and happenstance snatch me up and take me whichever way they pleased.

Taglist: @couldntbedamned @mikariell95 @letsby @sleep-i-ness @toomanyrobins @mostly-marvel-musings @persephonehemingway @schemefrenzy @lillsxd @bluecrazedandbeautiful @slothspaghettiwrites @xoxabs88xox

[enha-woodzies]

➸ CHAPTER 2 | " TEA IS SPILLED "

starring: enhypen ft. i-land daniel

pairing: jungwon x fem!reader x sunghoon

genres: royal au, romance, angst, slowburn, 18th century setting

word count: 1.8k

taglist: @serendipitysung (again, thank u for beta reading this chap) @angeljungwon @en-sun @affectionaterainoflove @renkiv @softforjungwoo @jislix @fluffi @gyeraniee @miffythoughts

[ PREV. CHAPTER ] | [ M. LIST ] | [ NEXT CHAPTER ]

In a family of four, the grand manor is typically too massive of a place to frolic about considering the children are, now more than ever, entering the wobbly world of adulthood. Lady Park isn't at all saddened, not even the slightest, of the lack of silly beings bouncing around the halls. Her three blissful children are more than enough to fulfill the abundance needed to fill up these wide walls of comfort.

With wild banters resonating from the top floors to the angry cries of frustration and bullets being fired in the grassy yard, boisterous laughters even in the parlour and magnificent tunes from the pianoforte in the lobby, who would've thought the widowed lady only has three creatures in the solace of her household?

But of course, despite the few kiddos giddily leaping around and about the toughly cemented abode, the house never once lacked a single servant happily offering their services to the ever most humble aristocratic family. They rather consider it as the greatest honor to have even worked in this clan as they, amongst the fewer fews, have exuded nothing but kindness, generosity, and upholding of such exquisite manners despite their highly-acclaimed titles and places in Northumberland’s high-class society.

It’d be a blessing to be affiliated with the three children and whoever be so lucky to earn such fortune is very favored in life indeed. One would say they and the Yang family have always been the highly influential clans even of late and who wouldn't dare say? The two rich families have been one of the greatest friends of the city. Even their children could almost pass as siblings due to the tight-knit bond they shared over the years. Kindred spirits, I dare say.

This season will duly prepare the fine and charming jewel of the family, Lady Y/n, as the debutante’s ball is coming up briefly. A day well spent in the modiste is a woman's dainty bliss as the perfectly sewn dress is finally ready for appealing suitors and the royalty herself, the Queen.

“You look nothing more than gorgeous, sister. Madame Fleur has outdone herself again with another splendid piece.” Jay, the eldest of the family, pinches the silky fabric while gently pulling it upwards to gain better access to the dress’ features.

“Thank you, Jay. Although I admit, the measurements in the waist are a bit funny.”

“I wouldn't doubt that. It is Mother’s liking to keep your corset tight and deadly.” The eldest rubs his chin in contemplation. “Rest assured if you need any assistance in loosening that wretched piece of torture, Niki and I will be of help at the ball.”

“Again, brother, thank you. And speaking of help, where's Niki? He was supposed to help me with my waltz today.”

"I have no idea. Last I saw him he was with Daniel. Shouldn't he be home by now?"

Without any warning, the youngest comes dashing into the parlour like a carefree prince who just had the best slumber of his life.

“I’m right here. Forgive me, dear sister, for my unannounced absence in today's dance practice. I shall have you know, the Duke’s son sent us an invitation this morning. One that Daniel and I,” the two eldest eye him suspiciously, awaiting a usual remark whenever the topic is about the marquess. “refused to reject… surprisingly.” Niki clicks his tongue before proceeding to join his siblings on the cushioned couch.

“Shocker. Tell me, brother, was your day positively horrific?” Jay sarcastically huffed. “Oh, you don't have the slightest idea.” The two boys joined together for a rather boisterous laugh that made the only lass cross her arms as she sits between the two brothers.

“How’s life treating Park?” Jay questions. “Oh, you know. The usual. Living in luxury as well as wasting it away. He seemed more ashen lately.” Niki downs a glass of water that was resting on the coffee table.

After a few more barbs and laughs against the Duke’s only son, Y/n decides to butt in as time’s a wastin. “Apologies for the intrusion, but it’s necessary for me to rehearse for the dances I might have in two days' time, unlike you two who are accustomed to sweeping girls off the dance floor. Come, Niki, before mother sees me to bed.”

In the middle of an exhausting rehearsal with his sister, Niki sits down on the edge of Y/n’s bed with both hands leaning on the mattress. “You could've asked Jay.” he mutters under his breath.

It's not that the boy was complaining to teach waltz, it was more of trying to keep himself away from social interactions for the time being as he felt the need to mope again after a long while.

“True, I could have. But I haven't seen you wandering about the house today. Except this morning when I was awakened by your harsh firing in the garden.” Y/n looks over her shoulders to give a playful glare at the nearly knackered, blonde-haired lad. “How was your day, Riki?”

“Don’t call me that.” He hisses.

“Must I remind you that I was the one who wiped your tushy when you were a tiny bum and I also-”

“Oh you must, mustn't you?” Niki throws his hands in the air in vexation. But his sister could only smile at him in a manner that he couldn't argue any further. “Fine. We did fencing today, with the Duke’s trophy of a son.”

“You know, I never understood your hatred towards that man. I envy Jay, honestly. He gets to listen to your burdens about the marquess and console you."

“Soon, sister. The story’s very… profound.” Niki lazily plops his body back on the fluffy mattress with both hands at the back of his head.

“You mean the feelings behind that story?”

“You're too keen on unearthing this from me, aren't you? You clever bean.” Niki smirks at his sister’s antics.

“Anything to have my little brother confess. I am your most favorite sibling after all, am I not?” Y/n intertwines her fingers with her brother’s and seals it with a comforting kiss right on his thumb.

“Whatever it is, no matter how inexpressible or profound it may be...”

“Thank you, Y/n. I’m going to miss these melodramatic moments with you.” The lass scoffs at Niki’s almost sweet words. “It's not like I’m guaranteed marriage this season.”

“Oh but mother will do anything to try and get you married. That's guaranteed right there. Although Jay will be meddling at most in choosing a husband who's fit enough for you. But whoever that lucky chap may be, as long as he makes you happy, he already has my blessing.”

“Do you think Jungwon will ask someone's hand this season?” Y/n joins her brother on the bed as they both stare at the ceiling in deep ponder. Niki gulps at the very sudden question from his sister, but he shrugs it away as he recalls a distant memory of her and Jungwon frequently fighting over twigs and branches when they were nothing but ten.

“Jay can only answer that for you. Why don’t you ask Sunoo? He never misses an opportunity to spill details about his brother to you.”

“But that would be too much, wouldn't it?” Y/n sighs in exhaustion. “I can never get that man to look in my direction.”

“He’d be damned to even try to, especially when Jay’s around. He may be his best pal but Jay has always been very protective about you.”

“Whoever’s the pretty lady to be asked by Jungwon will definitely be the luckiest girl, I bet.”

The boy has all the means to help his sister as he is deeply affiliated with Jungwon’s brother, Daniel. But Niki could only look at her in pity thinking of all the years Y/n has set her heart on the oblivious boy next door, only the latter seems to care less in bearing the lady’s genuine sentiments.

"Yang Jungwon!" A stern voice from a woman in her fifties resonates throughout the lad's powder room.

"Mother." He monotonously mumbled.

"Did I hear it correctly? You're not to dance with anyone at the ball?" With two hands on her waist, the young lord could almost see his mother's vein popping out on her wrinkled forehead.

"I suppose brother spilled the tea, huh? And yes, mother, you heard it correctly."

"Madness! If it weren't for Sunoo's knowledge of this I wouldn't have known. God knows what's going on inside of that brain of yours!"

"Mother, I am not fond of-"

"Nonsense! Not even the daughter of our dearest friend, Lady Park?"

"Most especially not her." Jungwon mutters under his breath.

"Do you even hear the absurdity of your words?"

"Certainly, I do, mother."

"Oh god, oh dear. You're giving me a headache right now." She rubs her temple in utter anxiety followed by a frustrated exhale. Lady Yang fumbles the surface of her dress until she got a handful of its fabric, gripping it upwards to free her steps from the hindrances while turning back from her son to leave him be. Until the eldest shows up from his supposedly brief reading schedule in the pantry.

“Ah! There you are. Talk some sense into your brother will you, dear? I might collapse if I bother to argue even more about his foolishness.” And Lady Yang leaves the two swiftly before they can even utter a word.

“What is it that you've done to mother now?” Sunoo, the eldest, walks slumpily towards Jungwon’s side while half-slamming the book on the marble counter.

“Shouldn't I be asking you that?” Jungwon side-eye him with a sneer.

“She was interrogating me with her unconquerable motherly vexes if you must know. Sincerely, brother, I'm not one to lie. Though, I did try my best.” The younger boy could only scoff at the sassy rebuttal from his brother.

“You could've tried harder. Or maybe, you could've just silenced yourself. Marvelous idea, isn't it?”

“Or maybe, you can put on a little effort to satisfy mother’s hopes even for one night. Brilliant, isn't it?”

Jungwon hisses as he unbotton his puff sleeves one by one with Sunoo looking at him in an almost scorn, pitying his brother for being a complete idiot, not to mention a coward too.

“I’m not a coward if that's what you're thinking. Let’s hear it, what would you have me do, brother?” The younger one looks at his brother’s reflection through the mirror like a brazen knight ready to be thrown into war. With both hands resting on the shiny countertop, he bites his bottom lip with a foreseeable answer in mind.

Sunoo taps the boy’s shoulder before heading to the door to leave him in his fickling decisions.

“Lady Y/n Park. Two dances, brother, then you can pray to spend the rest of your nights in peace.”

Jungwon gulps down followed by a deep sigh the moment Sunoo left the room, like an exhale he’s been trying to hold underwater for over a minute.

He could only hope that those two dances will be the last of it, or he could kiss his peaceful nights goodbye… forever.

*send me an ask or a message if you wish to be added on this series' taglist!

ㅡ ©ENHA-WOODZIES, 2021

[popculturebuffet]

Ducktales Lena Retrospective: The Other Bin of Scrooge McDuck! or Why Does Lena’s Darkest Hour Have a WACKKKYY Bigfoot Subplot?

Hello all you happy people and welcome back to Shadow Into Light, my look back the LIfe and Times of Lena Sabrewing. And we’re almost at the end of season 1. Woo-Ooo!. While i’ll have more season 1 episodes to cover for it’s sister arc, this is the last episode in this arc before the finale.. and i’m happy to repeat that next week will be DUCK WEEK as a result, finsihing up this arc and the Della arcs, as well as dipping into season 2 a bit for Lena’s return to celebrate the finale of this wonderful show. Full disclosure: I didn’t PLAN for it this way, I assumed the show would be ending in April, but sometimes serendipity just works out for you. So pitter pat er, let’s get at er.

 When we last left off Webby went on a wild duck chase for her grandma in England and 87!Webby befriended that version of Magica’s niece and told off a grown woman masquerading as a child because her husband likes being called “Daddy”. When we last left the plot proper though, we learned Lena just wanted to be free, and was willing to do whatever it took, and Magica was getting more abusive and more impatient. And if you thought the end to Jaw$! was pretty sad and dark.... strap in and steel yourself as we take a look at one of the darkest episodes in the series.

The opening sets the stage perfectly as we’re in Scrooge’s Room in the middle of the night, when Lena comes in.. with a knife. 

Naturally she dosen’t have baked goods, but instead is trying to cut the knife from around his neck while Magica won’t shut up while she works and keeps distracting her and BLAMING her for getting distracted. As for the knife it’s glowing and mystic because naturally, Scrooge doesn’t trust just ANY string but a magically woven one to hold his dime. Unlucky for her her girlfriend walks in at the exact moment she’s standing over her idol holding a mystical knife. I don’t think hallmark makes a card for “Sorry I was lying to you for months for my abusive aunt to earn my freedom and then looked like I was about to slit your uncle’s throat. I love you though. “ Yet. 

Scrooge starts to stir so Webby pulls Lena out of there and back to her room... and flashes a lamp on her to interrogate her. Lena is able to bounce back, asking “what were you doing there”. Which NORMALLY wouldn’t last more than two minutes.. but since Webby was there to get Drool samples, maybe she wants to clone him I mean she does know a guy I think the why is something we’d rather not know about, Webby herself was a bit suspcious and Lena uses her starkerish ways to say she’d also gotten into being a Scrooge fangirl. This also allows her to ask about the dime.. but since Scrooge never takes it off, that means they have no access and both Lena and Magica are stuck watching Webby’s long presentation on Scrooge’s life story. I mean personally i’d love to see this in it’s full probably 8 hour glory but I’m not trying to earn my freedom or stuck as a shadow monster. 

It was then when watching the episode this morning.. I was reminded it had a subplot. And the instant I saw Dewey folding Louie’s shirts... I started to piece together it was the bigfoot one. 

As you can tell i’m not a fan of this subplot. It has a good core idea, riffing on “kid takes home sasquatch films” like Cry Wilderness, Big and Harry and of course the one that started it all, Harry and the Hendersons. 

It’s just bogged down by one really obnoxious trait that trips it up and is in the wrong episode entirely. We’ll get to that first scene and the plot as a whole in a moment we just need the setup in the a-story first: Scrooge privately conferring with Beakly, which Magica snoops on. While Lena didn’t get far at all in cutting the rope of his dime, she still left a knick and the fact someone got into his house, let alone his bedroom and got THAT far, means SOMETHING bad is afoot. So while he looks for it he’s putting the dime in the Other Bin for safekeeping. We’ll find out what that is in moment. For now 

Let’s Get This Stupid Sasquatch Plot Over With

We open with Louie having conned Dewey into folding his stuff for the “world laundry folding record”. I mean.. it’s greasy but I gotta respect game here. And it’s not actively harming anyone. Though we do find out from an irate Huey he’s done far worse, if in a hilarious way with Louie’s Kids, his obviously fake charity he uses to get money out of Donald. And so far into it, as Huey hid something he had in the closet and offered to Fix Louie’s stretched out hoodie, the reason he was mad at Dewey, I didn’t get why I hated it before. I wondered why I was so annoyed. Same when Huey while carrying Louie’s hoodies hears his uncle looking for something in the mansion. 

Turns out he’s got a bigfoot hiding in their closet, that he found injured int he woods and brought back and all that good kid finding a mythical creature stuff. Dewey of course loves him on first sight and both want to keep him. But unlike most of these sorts of things where the creature’s damage to the room and what not is played off or the sibling doesn’t know, Louie does see it and isn’t happy about it and only agrees to hide the furry bastard because his brothers blackmail him with his schemes, and refuse to feel sorry for him as the creatures antics continue, including drinking Louie’s special pep and eating his snacks. 

And this is where one of the plots two major issues crops up: The way Dewey and Huey act. Both just ignore any damage wooly foot does, any discomfort to Louie and any obvious downsides of this. Now Dewey being clinginly attached to a majestic creature he found and wanting to keep it? Fits perfectly, and him being mean to louie fits because louie tricked him. Huey however.. is horribly out of character, as while I could see him being charmed at first and not wanting his uncle to hunt his new friend.. he’s not an impractical boy. He’d of tried to get his new friend to the woods first thing because it’s where he’s safest from scrooge and his foot has healed. He’s also a Woodchuck and I can’t imagine the JWG says it’s okay to keep a wild animal person as a pet basically. None of it fits him and makes him into a moron for an episode solely for the plot to work. This still could’ve worked but just have Huey and Louie BOTH get suspicious, Huey later, and find out Tenderfoot is actually Gavin, whose sapient, has a phone and simply is taking advantage of them. it would’ve gone the same way: if they told Dewey , Gavin would kill them, as he threatened to do if louie told his brothers. The Gavin part though is brilliant and a really nice twist I didn’t see coming when I first saw this.  

And it would’ve made the already great climax more interesting as Huey would’ve been forced to use the methods of Louie’s he’d derided to beat a far worse scammer. Instead it’s just Louie but he doesn’t take Gavin’s threats lying down.. and comes up with a clever way to use his scam against him. He shaves Gavin, hides the razor then claims to his brother that not being in the woods means he’s dying or some such thing. So our two idiots and our hero drag them out and while they run into scrooge, Louie still saves the idiots life by manipulating him with a schmaltzy speech and they let him go despite his best attempts to stay, with Louie getting a nice “I win in there”. Overall a bit of a mess with some good ideas, but Huey suddenly taking dum dum juice really drags it down.

So in any other episode this would’ve been fine whatever just mildly obnoxious. What makes it really,  unintentionally obnoxious.. is it’s in the middle of a tense, dark, horror story that dives into the depths of Lena’s soul and ends on a really horrifying note. Case in point Louie shaves a bigfoot and gets his victory over his nemesis.. after an utterly spellbindingly horrific nightmare by Lena, easily the most terrifying moment in the entire show. Followed up with a shaved bigfoot. 

Now I could buy Disney simply forced them to do this to keep things light... except Frank’s been pretty upfront about the production process, how Disney has treated him, what they’ve said no on. So if it had been something they were forced to do, he would’ve said it. No this is just not reading the room and not thinking things through and an otherwise stellar episode suffers for it.They could’ve waited till season 2 for it, they didn’t, and this was the result. It dosen’t ruin the rest of the episode it’s too good for it, but damn if it dosen’t create mood whiplash so severe I need a neckbrace. 

The Good Part

So back at the plot anyone actually cares about, we found out what the “other bin” is when Lena asks Webby: While the Money bin is for well, money and precious keepsakes, the other bin is the stuff too dangerous to keep out in the world. And this is the guy who kept a mystical gold eating dragon, a pirate ghost, and a medusa gauntlet in his garage, and we’ll learn after this ep also keeps a giant golden aztec golem in there. NONE of that was deemed dangerous enough to put in the other bin. So Webby is understandably hesitant.. and it gets a bit unsettling when Lena manipulates her into it. While she has in the past.. she usually just nudged Webby into something she’d do anyway at worst, or showed her an r-rated movie or something harmless. While she did use her as an in she clearly cares.. so it shows how horrifically desperate she’s got she’s willing to pressure her into going into Scrooge’s most dangerous and secure location, pointing out this may be her only chance to see the Dime. 

So she reluctantly agrees, and the two head into the garage. Turns out Scrooge keeps all his junk here for more reason than just shoving it wherever it’d go, as the entrance to the other bin is hidden here. The statue that gave Manny his head is actually a clue towards the painting hiding the second bin, which itself requires one of those things used to hold up ropes and such like you’d see at a movie theater... god I miss movie theaters.. I mean watching stuff in the comfort of home is very nice, but it was nice getting out, making a day of it. I mean their around, but I really don’t want to go till one till more vaccinations have happened and it’s a lot safer to go. Wait what were we talking about? Oh right gay ducks going into a horrifying nightmare vault. But yeah the theater thingy is the key, it unlocks the entrance and our heroines head inside. 

In contrast to the modern, buisnessy welcoming bin, the other bin is basically one giant vault/prison, with everything in it securely locked inside identical doored rooms. It’s genius as it is simple: Only 6 people have likely ever had access to this place: Scrooge, Beakly, Gyro, Duckworth and MAYBE the twins. Even Della and Donald being allowed down here is an unknown. The non-scrooge people are only because someone besides him needs to maintain it, keep any creatures fed, that sort of thing and he’d only trust his butler and his housekeeper, who are also both extraordinarily badass, to do so. Gyro is because someone needed to design the cells. I also wouldn’t be surprised if Quackfaster was a 7th since season 3 casts her as Scrooge’s magic expert and he’d likely need specific runes for specific cells. He’d want as few people down here as possible, and even fewer knowing. I’m sure Bradford knew, and i’m also certain it’s the one thing he never quibbled about the expense as while he hates what Scrooge stands for and tried to curb his “chaos” as much as possible.. this is doing exactly what Bradford likes: locking it away where it can’t hurt anybody. Plus quibbling about it might make Scrooge want to show it off to him and that’s.. that's’ a whole lotta nope in a 2 pound bag. 

So for once Webby is very hesitant and very cautious, though naturally Magica points out a door.. and Lena stupidly follows her advice as she knows her “aunt” is impulsive and has no regards for her safety. What did she think was going to happen? They instead find a unicorn.. or rather it’s angry murderous cousin the Sword Horse, which naturally tries goring them. I’d go with Spear Horse, but semantics. Point is Webby is soon tackled by the thing and Magica just wants to let her die. As seen before the tension between Magica and Lena has hit a breaking point: Magica is fed up with Lena’s clear feelings for webby and caring more about her than the mission.. while Lena is fed up with Magica not listening to her, respecting her as sentient being and dismissing her out of hand instead of listening to her often very valid criticism. So Lena naturally ignores her and throws her the knife, which Webby uses to get the Sword Horse back in it’s pen. And then wonders why her girlfriend has  glowing painstakingly crafted magic knife. Whoops. Webby also wants to leave but Lena convinces her to keep going. but it’s also very clear that Webby’s getting more and more reluctant and i’ts very hard to watch. You can’t blame Lena for wanting to be free of Magica: she dosen’t see her as a person, and dosen’t value her life. But it’s still hard to watc her have to manipulate the only person that loves her and do so so.. effectively. It’s easy to imagine Lena’s done this dozens of times to other people.. but not to someone she actually CARES about. 

Webby DOES figure out how the rooms work though: each one is labeled by the year Scrooge caught it. So she assumes one room she fine is the dime.. and Lena of course runs in and slams the door shut... they’ve found it. So we then get to the most terrifying moment of the series. With victory in her grasp magica roars for Lena to claim the dime, filling the room and Lena with shadow with Lena seemingly disolving.. until Magica is restored or at least partially, still a shadow. Magica has just one thing for her.. and Lena’s reactoin is terrified.. and says oh so much in just one expression it’s VERY clear Lena fears she’s about to die... if she’s lucky. Magica’s been so verbally abusive, tearing her down constantly, manipulating her constantly.. why WOULD Lena expect anything good? Why would she expect anything other than pain or death? So a hug is a surprise.. as is Webby who assumes she’s being attacked... and is clearly heartbroken that’s not the case and runs for Scrooge when Magica admits the truth... only for Magica to seemingly kill her, turning her into a doll resembling the original Webby

Yeah at this point it’s obvious something’s up.. but before we can get to the natural reveal at the end of this horror show, Lena demands Magica change her back... only for a fight to naturally ensue with Magica rubbing the way Lena’s treated Webby in her face: How she manipualted her, lied to her and used her. Even if it was for more noble reasons.. she never told her any of this or tried to and is now directly responsible for her death. She’s a monster.. and then Lena’s amulet activates.. and seemingly finishes the job. 

Then Lena wakes up. This was simply one of SCrooge’s artifact, one Webby mentioned earlier off hand and Webby rescues her. It was all a nightmare.. easy to see given Webby was seemingly killed or turned into a doll at points.. but besides making Lena realize how while not as bad as her aunt, she ahsn’t been great.. it also gives us a painful look into her head and how she sees both Magica and Webby. With Magica.. it’s again VERY clear Magica verbally abuses her, depersons her and is in general a horrifiingly relastic depection of a domestic abuser. But it’s also telling Magica hugs her... while Lena didn’t expect it, this is all her subconcious mixed with a magical cursed artifact, it’s clear that deep down one of the things she wants most.. is for Magica to LOVE HER. 

That is just... it hurts so much.  She just wants a Mom.. and even then her subconcious can’t give her THAT because it knows the truth. Granted the nightmare thing might of had something to do with it, but still, the fact is deep down she knows Magica dosen’t care about her but she WANTS her to. As with Webby, she fears Magica is right, that all her gaslighting has had an effect and Webby would run away the second she found out. When as we’ll learn.. that’s not true at all. She’s deeply hurt... but she still belivies in her. But Lena can’t even see that. She’s been beaten down so much by someone constnatly telling her no one will ever love her she belivies it herself and all her mind and the dreamcatcher can do is pummel her over and over again with what she feels about herself, what she’s KNOWN about how she treats webby even if she had no way out otherwise, how wrong it’s felt. Just holy shit it’s a lot to take in. 

But all this trauma has made Lena realize she truly does love Webby and this isn’t worth it.. she’ll find some other way out or figure out something, for now their leaving. She’s not dying for this.. not for her. They happen to run into Scrooge who, due to the WACKY BIGFOOT SUBPLOT THAT HAPPENED RIGHT AFTER THE ABOVE SCENE, no I will not let that go even going back to Frank’s twitter asks he outright said it was their darkest plot paired with one of their most insane, he knew what he was doing. Turns out cleverly he kept the Dime in vault one. As he puts it “They never think to check the first one”. Smart. He also keeps his worry room down here. Just a note I wanted to mention. 

He does chide them, and Lena takes the full fall.. but suprisingly he dosen’t ban her from his home or anything, he just asks they be honest and would’ve gladly showed the dime off to them both if they’d just asked. Once Scrooge and Webby walk off far enough Magica berates her again..but Lena is done. She’s realized from her own horrifying nightmares that NO amount of freedom is worth what Magica will get out of this, that her own soul isn’t worth the death of the one person she cares about: Webby will fight her and she might not make it. She loves her more than she fears Magica. And even if it means loosing Webby.. she knows who can stop him. Unfortunately.. this is not a happy ending as Magica simply takes full control. And now has Scrooge’s full trust. 

Final Thoughts: This episode is one half a masterpiece. The parts with Lena are to this day, as we approach the very last episode, some of the show’s finest writing and Lena’s nightmare is easily the darkest scene in the series, and only not the most gutwrenching.. because we’re getting to that next week. It finishes the first leg of her character arc, with her selfishness all gone, and the only thing she wants is Webby’s hapiness. Granted that leads to a whole nother character arc over her season 2 episodes, but we’ll get there. Point is she’s realized her manipulations are wrong and not worth the cost, and that she’ll never get anything good out of Magica. Freedom.. will take just a bit longer. It’s eerie to watch, uncomfortable as Lena sinks to her lowest point before climbing out of it, and with a very tense atmosphere the whole time, the bin having a smothering uncomfortableness as we know there’s tons of horrible things here.. but we don’t know what. 

So on it’s own it’d be one of the series best episodes, and the plot itself is still one fo the series best.. but it’s weighed down by one of the series worst plots. Still tame compared to a lto of other series worst moments but being paired with something so dark and excellent really shows how fucking stupid this plot was and made it that much more grating. It just clashes badly. Thankfully the crew did learn from this fiasco to the point we got one of the series best episodes “Escape from the Impossibin!”. That one seemingly has two light enough plots, Scrooge, Louie and Della escaping from the bin and Webby stalking the boys, but in a comedic ic still messed up fashion.. but both take a sharp left at just the right time as to not clash: the full implications of what Webby’s doing and her physical fight with Bentina happen around the same time Scrooge breaks down and confesses he’s scared he can’t win this time. The episode gets really dark in the second half but it eases into it and slowly makes it’s way to it, building to it with some laughts to disarm it. But stuff like robo scrooge or the timeloop room, or the timeloop room, or the timeloop room, or the oh thank god i’ts broken. That stuff isn’t SO wacky or out of place that it detracts from the other plot. They compliment each other. Here it’s just two plots that don’t work together at all joined together for some reason.  So yeah overall a very mixed bag of an episode and if you do want to watch or rewatch it.. just skip the bigfoot subplot> it’s not worth it. 

Next Time on Shadow Into Light: It’s all come down to this. Magica finally ges what she wants. The Shadow War is Night.. but before I can tell you that story we have a bit of ground to cover so..

Next on this Blog: The family minus Beakly ends up in Greece. Dewey is forced to deal with his fears about his mom, Scrooge is forced to deal with his old rival Zeus, and Donald is forced to deal with an unwanted admirerer. Spanikopita!

If you liked this review, follow for more, feel free to contribute to my patreon, and feel free to commission a review of your own. Until the next rainbow, it’s been a pleasure. 

[the-fifth-marauder03]

Teasing

Notes: hola peoples. This is my second smut so it might still suck. I hope you like it, I wrote I for your pleasure. Make sure to comment your thoughts. If you want to be in the taglist message me and ask. Also my requests are open.

Warnings: 18+, its smut so theres gonna be quite a few warnings buddy. Dirty talk, teasing, rough sex, some other stuffs. IF YOU AFE NOT 18+ THEN DO NOT FUCKING READ. DO NOT GET ME BANNED.

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Y/n was hiding. 

Natasha had been hounding her for weeks after she let it slip that she had a crush on the team. She'd done everything to catch y/n off guard. Cooking with her when it was her, movie nights with endless interrogation, Natasha even questioned her in the shower. So now y/n was going to hide until Natasha dropped it. The problem was that Natasha is a spy meaning if she wants to she will find y/n and that's exactly what she did. 

"Really y/n, the roof?" She was picking at her manicure in a bored fashion.

Y/n huffed crossing her arms, "At the time I thought it was clever."

Natasha rolled her eyes at the girl, she was once a master assassin Natasha knew y/n could do better. "You're just being lazy." 

"Yeah, yeah," Her own eyes rolling in the process, " I assume you are here to interrogate me." She glances at the redhead over her shoulder." 

"Now why would I do that when I already know who it is?" 

"Oh yeah, and who is it?" Y/n took a long pull from her water bottle. 

"Bucky." It was short, simple, and factual. 

Y/n choked mid gulp, Natasha has caught her. " I'm not even going to ask how you know because it probably involves my diary and that in itself discomforting." 

Natasha laughed, "No I didn't your diary, great idea for my next mission though. Sweetie, I'm a spy, I pay attention to body language and yours around Barnes screams crush." 

Y/n looked down sheepishly, "Is it that obvious?" 

Natasha quickly reassured her, "Well not to Barnes, he's just as oblivious as you are." 

"For James to be oblivious it would have to mean he likes me back, which he doesn't." She looked over her shoulder at the ginger in time to see her retreating smile. 

"Whatever you say y/n/n," was her departing sentence. 

Y/n huffed but figured she could go inside without being harassed. It was getting late and she had to go on a mission first thing so sleep was the top priority. But y/n wanted to stay outside for just a while longer and enjoy the weather. When she did finally trudged inside, empty water bottle in hand, y/n bumped into Bucky. He grabbed her shoulders to steady her before casually leaning on the wall.

"Oh hey, Buck, what's up?"

"Just finished my walk around the compound. Was gonna come and sit with you but you were talking to Natasha," He shrugged with a smirk on his face, "Didn't want to interrupt." 

Y/n smiled at the supersoldier and nodded her head, "Well I'm headed to bed, gotta get some sleep before tomorrow." 

Bucky grinned, he would be on that mission with her. "Save me a seat next to ya, sweetheart? I don't want Sam stealing my spot next to ya." 

Y/n's head was running a mile a minute. sweetheart, that's new. HIS spot next to her. If he was like this now he would have killed her in the forties. "Wouldn't dream of letting bird-brain steal your spot, James." She laughed nervously, sidestepping him, "I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" 

Bucky kept his charming grin on his face as she started to walk away, "See you tomorrow doll." 

Y/n had never felt the need to escape to her room so strongly in her life. She needed to calm down before this mission or she would explode. So as many girls do when frustrated she took a long hot shower and went to bed.

The next morning

Y/n woke up with a start, looking around trying to remember where she was. As she connected that she was in her room she looked at her clock, she had twenty minutes to get up and ready. She sprinted around her room collecting her things. Her small duffle rested packed at the end of her bed. It was filled with a change of clothes and so wipes to clean herself up, the mission was only one day so they didn't need much. She slipped into her tight catsuit and zipped it up before doing her hair. Y/n did a simple braid to keep her hair out her eyes in case anything went drastically wrong and then sprinted down to the quinjet launchpad. 

When she arrived she noticed the rest of her was already there and waiting. Steve was in the piolet seat next to clint, Sam was putting everyone's thing on the jet, and Bucky and Natasha were talking, suspiciously, as y/n drew closer. After handing her bag and staff to Sam she climbed the ramp and took notice that the spot Natasha had previously been occupying was now empty and being invitingly offered by Bucky. When she sat down he spoke up. 

"Doll, I thought we agreed you were going to save me a seat, not the other way around." He was smiling charmingly at her as he spoke cause a blush to rise to her cheeks. 

"I woke up late, so I didn't have time." She looked down sheepishly. 

He chuckled at her shyness, "It's okay doll, I got here early anyway. Plus I'm sitting next to pretty dame so I'm not too mad." 

Y/n looked up at him surprised, "You think I'm pretty?" Sure she had received compliments before but Bucky's felt genuine and natural. 

"Sure I do doll." He was fully grinning at her. 

"Thank you, James." She returned his smiles before looking out the window, watching the land get smaller as they ascended. 

For a long time, everything was quiet, Natasha reading a book, Sam was messing with redwing, and Steve and Clint were quietly talking about Clint's family. Y/n's suit was starting to irritate her, her chest felt suffocated, her thighs were being constricted, and with Bucky sitting next to her in his gear y/n thoughts were running wild. As her thoughts got dirtier and dirtier y/n started to fidget while still looking out the window. 

Bucky leaned into her enough for her to feel him pressing into her back, "Sweatheart, whats got you fidgeting like that? You're never nervous for a fight." 

"My suits annoying me, the leather is uncomfortable." SHe whined.

"It might be uncomfortable but it makes your body look irresistible." He punctuated his sentence by leaning forward more and lightly nipping just above the neck of her suit. Then he sat back and looked like happened, and y/n contained the whimper that bubbled her throat. Before she could reply called that they would be landing in ten and to start suiting up. Y/n stood went to the weapons rack to retrieve her guns. Once she had the first four in the holsters on either thigh and hip she looked for her favourite one. Much to her disadvantage, it was on the top shelf. As she reached up to grab it she felt a warm hard chest on her back and saw Bucky's metal hand grab the weapon for her. She turned to face him once he stepped back, he handed her the gun then spoke while leaning into her. 

"Careful doll, seeing you stretched out like that might give a man bad thoughts." His voice was calm, measure, dangerous.

Y/n bit her lip "Oh really James, and what kind of thoughts would those be?" 

Bucky growled but Steve yelled for everyone to move out before he could reply. As she walked past him y/n could have sworn she felt his hand slide up the back of her thigh. 

Not five minutes after leaving the quinjet had the fighting begun. Steve and Natasha were fighting their way to the intel room of the compound retrieve what they came for. Clint was doing what he does best from the roof, dropping enemies like flies. True to his name, Sam was picking people off like a bird of prey and dropping them from high altitudes. Bucky and y/n were fighting back to back, shooting when they could and fighting when they had to. 

One of the men knocked the gun out of y/n's hand and lounged for her. Bucky turned just in time to witness her wrapping her thighs around the man's head and using his leverage to take him down. As she raised her self and took a pistol out of the holster on her hip, he couldn't help the cheeky remark that came from him. 

"Now that was a pretty sight. You gonna do that to me when we get home sugar?" He smirked as she hesitated then regained her composure. 

"Only if you ask nicely." It's flirty and Bucky feels his cock stir in his pants.

"Promise?" He quirks a brow 

Her attention is drawn from him before she can answer as another soldier charges her. After she takes him down she sees Natasha's red hair whipping toward the jet with Steve, Clint, and Sam racing behind her waving to the pair. Y/n grabs Bucky's hand and they take off in a dead sprint. 

"Come on James, our ride is ready to go."

They climbed the ramp as the doors closed and plopped into seats. Steve turned when everyone settled, "Get some rest we're debriefing as soon as we get home." 

Sam stretched out on the floor as Natasha laid her head on Clint's lap as he reclined easily in his seat. Y/n glanced at Bucky to find him already looking at her. 

"Bucky can I lean on you? If not that's fine." She asked nervously. 

"Yeah doll, go ahead I don't mind at all," Bucky smiled easily and offered his arm. Y/n smiled back and wrapped her arms around Bucky' s

before resting her head on his shoulder. When she got comfortable she sighed contently and Bucky rested his head on top of hers before they both dosed. 

Y/n woke up with something hard and heavy enclosed around her, as she looked down she recognised Bucky's metal arm. She looked at Natasha to find her already warmly smiling at her, "We're almost back at the compound, you should wake him up soon." She nodded her head towards and when y/n turned to look at him she discovered him sleeping soundly. A brief thought crossed her mind before she decided against it. do I have t? He looks so peaceful and pretty. Gently y/n shook Bucky awake, as he came to he looked at her with a dopy little smile before she told him they were home. 

It seemed Bucky had woken up more on the short walk the briefing room because he made sure sit directly next to y/n. As Ross droned on about the importance of the mission y/n felt Bucky lean over to her and whisper, "So does the offer of you wrapping your thighs around my head still stand?" 

Y/n rolled her eyes but decided to play along just to see what James wanted, "I told you if you asked me nicely." 

"Okay doll," He smiled sweetly, "then can I pretty please have you wrap those gorgeous thighs around my head so I can tongue fuck you?" Y/n clenched her thighs and Bucky took notice of her reaction continuing to speak lowly in her ear. " I wish I could bend you over this table and fuck you right now but alas we have behave." 

Y/n whimper and cleared her throat before responding, "James if you aren't serious then you need to stop right now." 

"Oh sweetheart I'm dead serious and I fully intend on showing you when this meeting is over." He growled. 

Y/n nodded her head but didn't reply and Bucky said nothing more. Ross continued to bore them for another two hours before he gave then permission to leave. As everyone stood to exit the room Bucky placed his hand on y/n thigh for her to remain seated. After the last person filed out, he looked at her kindly, "Before I touch you, are you one hundred per cent certain that you want to do this? I'm not going to force you to do anything." 

"Yes I'm sure James, I've liked you for a while and I want to do this with you." And just like that his whole demeanour changed, the sincerity was still there but it was overlapped with desire. 

"Your room or mine?" It was a low growl, The man hadn't even touched her yet and she was already shaking. 

"Yours" It was breathy and desperate. They both stood and Bucky didn't even give her a chance to take a step before he was haling her over his shoulder and walking out of the room. Natasha was standing there as they exited the room, "Finally shot your shot, Barnes?" 

"No Nat I'm just practising my fireman carry" Came his snarky remark as he started to walk away. 

Natasha laughed and said, "Have fun." 

Y/n looked up from where she was looking at Bucky's backside, "I already am, I have the perfect view of his ass." 

Natasha burst into giggles as they turned the corner towards his room and Bucky smacked y/n's ass in return. 

Due to Bucky's long strides, the pair reached his room quickly. When they reached the door Bucky set her down and stared at her for a moment before kissing her. The kiss in itself was sweet but was not what you'd expect from a first kiss, it had a heat that made y/n lose her breath. Continuing to kiss her he placed his palm on the scanner, he walked her backwards through the door when it opened. As soon as the door closed he had her catsuit unzipped and was sliding her shirt over her head while she grabs at his. 

"Do you wanted me?" He licked at her lips. 

"Yes." She whimpered.

"Do you want me to touch you?" He growled.

"Yes James, please just touch me." She was begging and he liked that. 

"Okay baby, I'll touch you." With that, he released her completely going to lay on his back on the bed. She whined pathetically and shuffled around a bit before he spoke again, "You promised me you would wrap your thighs around my face and I intend to collect that right now." 

A needy whine left her lips and she made her way to the bed and stripped off the rest of her clothing and got onto the bed. Bucky must have felt she wasn't moving fast enough so he grabbed her by her hips and placed her on his waiting face. His tongue was magical. He traced around her lips to collect with juices that had already flowed from her. Suddenly he licked a broad stripe across the entirety of her. He nipped at her clit lightly before soothing with his tongue. He had barely started and y/n was already falling apart. He thrust his tongue as far as it would go inside her as curled it was if he were eating icecream. The more he did it the more y/n shook. he seemed to be a man starved because he was making almost as much noise as her. 

"James, I'm gonna come." Bucky pulled his tongue and traced his name across her clit as a final push. She came violently. No one had taken the time to make her cum the way Bucky did and it took her a minute to recover before climbing off of him. 

He wiped his chin with the back of his hand and let out a little breath. He had a goofy smile on his face when he spoke, "I've wanted to do that for so long."

"We aren't done yet." Was her breathy response. 

"Oh, I know. I just have thought about doing specifically that since Tony designed your new catsuit." He had rolled over and was kissing up and down her neck leaving marks her and there. 

"James, I need you." She wanted him no if, and, or buts about it. 

"Before we do this I need to know what this is. Is it a one and done or is it more?" He sounded uncertain now.

Y/n grabbed his face and made him look at her, "James this could never be a one and done thing, but I swear to god if you don't get naked and inside me, I will take care of myself. " 

He scurried off the bed and stripped out of his remaining clothing in record time. When he looked up at her again his pupils were wider than ever. "Babydoll can you do me a favour and get on your hands and knees for me." 

Y/n rolled and raised herself, basically presenting herself to him. "Such a good girl baby, and look at how pretty this pussy is. I bet it'll feel nice and tight around me, squeezin me, if it'll even let me in." He climbed back on the bed and positioned himself behind her.

 "You gonna let me in pretty girl?" The tip of his cock brushed against her as he waited for her reply. 

She bowed her head and spread her legs more, "Yes sir" 

Bucky entered her in one swift motion and set an easy pace. He was right she did feel good, downright heavenly. She was squeezing around him so tight he thought he was going to burst. Y/n could only let out incoherent cries as he filled her so nicely. The tip of his cock was brushing her g-spot repetitively but his pace was to slow. 

"James go faster." she needed him to pick up the pace. He'd already been teasing her all day.

"Beg me, beg me to take you like a good little girl. beg me to make you mine." His voice was deeper than ever. 

"Good god please James, please go faster. I'll be a good girl, please baby. Please, please, please stop teasing."  She was getting desperate and she knew at this pace she wouldn't. Bucky obliged and started to slam into her brutally. His pace moved her up with every thrust but she was pushing back against him to meet them. 

"Are you gonna cum for me, baby? I can feel you squeezin me. Are you gonna come on my cock like a good girl? Huh? You gonna be my good girl?" He was getting sloppy which meant he was close, his moans matching y/n's. With a final thrust, y/n was sent spiralling over the edge. 

Bucky growled as he came "Mine" and "Y/n" filled the room as he slowly came down. He rolled and landed next to her and felt her fingers intertwine with his as they cooled off. After sometime y/n spoke "That was... Wow." 

Bucky turned over and wrapped his arm around her, "I agree. I'm really glad I get to do this now." He grinned at her 

She smiled back before snuggling closer to him. "Yeah me too."

Bucky rested his head on hers and they went to sleep. 

@prettybabyboyjay

[hopesfm]

✱   ╱   charlie   hunnam   +   cis   male   +   he   /   him   ━   if   you   happen   to   find   yourself   stuck   in   tartarus,   make   sure   you   don’t   run   into   DONNY   TITAN   there.   the   FORTY   -   SIX   year   old   has   made   quite   the   reputation   for   themselves   under   their   alias   as   POSEIDON,   a   BOSS   for   THE   STALLIONS.   while   their   enemies   often   describe   them   as   tempestuous   &   brutal,   their   syndicate   would   say   that   they’re   jovial   &   clever.   they   DO   think   that   zane   was   murdered,   but   they’ll   be   keeping   that   to   themselves   for   now.   (   laughter   lines   with   bright   eyes,   the   smell   of   a   storm   on   the   water,   bones   breaking   with   one   blow,   bloody   knuckles   &   a   gentle   touch,   a   surprising   secret   cleverness   )   elodie   +   24   +   she   /   they   +   est.

STATISTICS   .

full   name   donovan   antony   titan

nickname   donny,   don,   poseidon,   tony   (   his   brothers   only   )

sexuality   bisexual

birthplace   tartarus,   california

date   of   birth   april   9,   1975

zodiac   aries

PERSONALITY   .

donny   has   always   been   known   as   a   brutal   man.   he   carries   himself   like   a   fighter,   &   he   is   one   ---   far   more   likely   to   swing   a   punch   himself   than   to   let   someone   else   do   it   for   him.   you   take   an   eye   from   him,   he’ll   take   two   from   you.   you   take   an   eye   from   his   family,   he’ll   take   your   head.   it   surprises   some   to   see   how   much   he   loves   his   family,   the   fierceness   &   the   gentleness   he   can   muster   for   them.   he’s   loyal   &   protective,   even   has   some   quiet   care   left   for   any   souls   or   titans   that   have   claim   to   the   family   name,   though   that’s   not   an   invitation   to   cross   him.   his   children   are   undeniably   his   world.

he   has   a   sense   of   humor,   loves   a   good   laugh,   &   can   be   surprisingly   friendly   &   warm,   often   considered   easy   to   talk   to.   he   can   be   the   life   of   the   party,   but   rarely   in   excess,   &   his   boisterous   spirit   &   fast   friendship   charm   many.   some   days   he   can   be   easygoing,   calm   cheer   unflappable.   but   his   temper   is   the   stuff   of   legend,   bright   features   hiding   a   mercurial,   sometimes   volatile   attitude,   largely   unpredictable.   he   can   be   reasonable   one   moment   &   vicious   the   next.   he   doesn’t   forgive   easily,   holds   a   grudge,   &   one   misstep   could   undo   years   of   trust   if   you   say   the   wrong   thing   at   the   wrong   time.

his   perceived   lack   of   subtlety,   his   pride,   his   preference   for   a   good   old   fashioned   fistfight   rather   than   passive   aggressive   jabs,   make   many   see   him   as   more   of   a   blunt   weapon,   dangerously   strong   &   ruthless   but   not   too   smart,   easy   to   trick.   they   are   wrong.   carefully   hidden   behind   his   whirlwind   of   a   persona   is   a   keen,   considering   mind.   he’s   a   fast   learner   &   very   observant,   picking   up   on   the   little   pieces   he   isn’t   expected   to   notice,   finding   the   one   thread   that   can   pull   someone   apart.   he   values   information,   the   details   that   make   people   tick.  

he   feels   most   himself,   most   at   peace,   alone   on   his   boat,   surrounded   by   deep   blue   water.

HISTORY   .

tw   :   abuse,   murder

tartarus   is   the   only   home   that   donny   has   ever   known.   the   second   of   kronos’   sons,   he   was   raised   in   a   life   of   blood   stained   luxury.   no   amount   of   money,   no   amount   of   their   mother’s   love,   would   have   been   enough   to   save   the   boys   from   their   father.   the   abuse   kronos   put   him   through   shaped   poseidon   into   the   man   he   is   today,   he   thinks,   &   that   isn’t   complimentary.   when   he   was   sixteen,   donny   had   the   bright   idea   of   hitting   back.   the   beatdown   he   received   in   return   taught   him   the   importance   of   maintaining   strength   &   the   value   of   a   killing   blow,   one   strike   &   done,   no   time   for   payback.  

kronos   recognized   his   fighting   spirit   &   made   him   his   interrogator,   his   executioner,   his   attack   dog.   donny   didn’t   go   to   college,   learned   all   that   he   needed   to   hands   on,   developed   his   own   language   of   violence.   he   found   brief   solace   in   restoring   an   old   boat,   in   the   work   that   left   his   hands   aching,   in   the   silence   out   among   the   waves.   when   he   was   made   the   underboss   after   his   father’s   retirement,   he   began   to   take   a   special   interest   in   the   docks.

whispers   that   his   father   wanted   to   retake   his   power,   overthrow   his   sons,   didn’t   sit   well   with   him.   he   was   all   too   eager   to   work   with   his   brothers   to   kill   their   old   man,   to   ensure   that   they   got   away   with   it.   consolidation   of   power   &   a   little   revenge   at   the   same   time,   it   couldn’t   be   sweeter.   he   thought   it   couldn’t   be   sweeter.   afterwards,   safely   at   home   in   his   apartment,   he   was   sick   for   the   first   &   last   time   after   a   job.   he   let   the   memory   of   his   old   man   turn   his   spine   to   steel,   &   years   later,   when   he   &   hades   tore   away   from   the   titans   in   glorious   fashion,   it   was   what   kept   him   from   looking   back.  

he’s   long   understood   crime.   marriage,   fatherhood,   divorce   ---   those   were   all   new   to   him.   he   had   no   good   example   to   follow,   but   he   certainly   had   a   bad   one   to   study.   throughout   it   all,   every   twist   &   turn   with   his   family,   donny   has   been   careful,   cautious   beyond   belief   of   any   warning   sign   that   he’s   becoming   his   father.   he   rarely   raises   his   voice   with   them,   nevermind   even   thinking   of   raising   a   hand.   he   will   not   explain   this   fear   to   anyone,   has   never   put   it   into   words,   but   his   success   so   far   means   the   world   to   him.   he   trusts   in   his   family.   he   loves   them.  

zane’s   death   ---   zane’s   murder,   he’s   convinced   ---   has   been   like   dropping   a   lit   match   in   dry   forest.   donny   is   furious,   barely   restrained,   takes   any   accusation   of   guilt   as   a   personal   insult.   he   &   zane   rarely   agreed,   tumultuous   relationship   turning   into   a   battleground   after   he   left,   but   that   was   still   his   brother.   even   when   he   hated   him,   he   loved   him.   strategically,   donny   recognizes   the   importance   of   this   moment,   the   destabilization   of   the   titans,   the   opportunity   to   strike.   he’ll   play   the   part   in   public,   vie   for   power   &   kill   or   con   anyone   in   too   his   way.   privately,   his   chief   concern   is   finding   the   killer   &   putting   their   head   on   a   pike.   maybe   he’ll   send   a   thank   you   note   to   their   widow   after,   but   right   now   ?   he   wants   blood.

[nitrateglow]

My bottom five new-to-me movies of 2020

2020 sucked. So did these movies. Before I do my customary top 20 favorite movie discoveries list, I wanted to share five very special new-to-me movies that were painful to watch. Forgive me if it all sounds like ranting. It probably is.

(And remember-- if you like any of these movies, that’s fine. I am not attacking YOU. I just didn’t like a movie. I know this is a stupid disclaimer to put on a list of opinions, but combing the venomous old IMDB message boards has me on edge a bit lol.)

Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker

Whether you love the sequel trilogy or hate it, everyone pretty much agrees this movie was a mess. I thought no movie could have a more structurally unsound screenplay than The Crimes of Grindelwald, but Rise of Skywalker gives it staunch competition. It creates a new artform from making things up as the plot requires: new powers for Rey, new Macguffins to pursue, new motivations and backstories for characters.

I admit I dislike The Last Jedi. I dislike it a lot, actually, and it appears JJ Abrams did too from the amount of retconning he does here (Rey isn’t nobody! Honest, guys!). But you can’t backtrack THAT much. Either plot out your entire trilogy before shooting the first film or play fairly with the cards you were dealt by the filmmakers of movie two.

If anything, these movies have become a cautionary tale about not having a plan when making a movie trilogy. Now, George Lucas didn’t really have one either when he was making the original trilogy, but in that case, he wasn’t even sure the first movie was going to be a modest hit, let alone the biggest movie of the 1970s. He had an excuse and did well enough finishing the trilogy. Here, Disney knew there would be sequels, they knew they had a hungry audience, but they chose to just wing it and the results are just-- so disappointing, especially given the talented young actors and lovely special effects they had at their disposal.

The more I think about it, the more poetic the image of Palpatine hooked up to a life support system/crane is. The best ROTS can do is riff on earlier, better movies and hope our affection will make us overlook the awfulness.

Artemis Fowl

Outside of Animal Crossing, Artemis Fowl might have been the only entity to benefit (if only slightly) from the pandemic. I cannot imagine it would have been anything but a box office bomb had the theaters been open.

Artemis Fowl feels like it should have come out in 2003-- not just because the books were more prominent then, but the whole style of this film in general. In 2020, it’s positively anachronistic. The whole thing is a joyless attempt at dipping from the old Harry Potter well, with a bit of Spy Kids thrown in for good measure. Beyond that, it’s so poorly done as a whole. I have never read the Artemis Fowl books, but I watched this with a friend who has and his head near caught on fire. Apparently, it cuts out everything that made the books cool, like the protagonist basically being a kid version of a Bond villain. Here, he’s anything but that: he’s the usual bland child protagonist surrounded by a cast of slightly more interesting characters. Josh Gad seems to be the only one really trying. Judi Dench shows up and somehow gives a worse performance than whatever the hell she was doing in Cats.

I was actually shocked Kenneth Branagh of all people directed this. I generally like his films, even the less successful ones like his musical adaptation of Love’s Labors Lost. Even the uninspiring live-action Cinderella remake he helmed is at least pretty to look at-- Artemis Fowl has neither brains nor beauty to recommend it.

Bloodline

This film was intended to jumpstart a career comeback for Audrey Hepburn. This decidedly did not happen. One has to wonder what she saw in this sordid material in the first place. Maybe she really just wanted to work with director Terence Young again? Or she thought this would be a good, more modern take on her screen persona? I have no clue. All I know is that Bloodline is one of the worst big-budget Hollywood movies I have ever seen.

No contest: this is Audrey Hepburn’s worst movie. Hate on Green Mansions and Paris When It Sizzles until the stars turn to ash-- at least there was some fun camp value in them. The plot in Bloodline makes no sense, going into unrelated digressions that lead nowhere (did we really need that extended flashback about the dead father? or the subplot with Omar Shariff’s two families?). Oh and then there’s the awful sleazy snuff film subplot that’s also poorly developed and goes nowhere. Hepburn is game, but she can’t save the sinking ship. The best she can do is be charming in a terrible 70s perm.

Luckily, she made the underrated They All Laughed two years after this cinematic fecal matter bombed, so at the very least, Hepburn’s big screen swan song was a film worthy of her presence. (Hint: there will be more about that movie on my top 20 of the year list!)

Halloween III: The Season of the Witch

You all have no idea how excited I was to see this. All the mentions of it on Red Letter Media made it sound like deliriously entertaining schlock. I mean, it’s a movie in which the villain sells cursed Halloween masks that turn children’s heads into bugs and snakes! That sounds awesome! Instead, the movie is badly paced and boring: the main characters are uninteresting and the plot takes an interesting premise then does.... nothing with it. Nothing whatsoever. The second act is the cinematic equivalent of treading water. In fact, so little happens, that the filmmakers squeeze in a pointless sex scene between two character who have all the chemistry of a lit match and a bag of M&M’s.

The thing that annoys me most about this film is that it killed off a great concept: that all of the future Halloween films would be standalone stories centered around the spookiest time of the year. Unfortunately, this movie botched itself so badly that people often think the absence of Michael Meyers was the problem. It wasn’t: it was the absence of a good story.

Blindsided

This is probably the most watchable movie on this list, but that’s not saying much. A bloodless ripoff of Wait Until Dark, Blindsided is an unimaginative thriller with no thrills, humor, or interesting characters whatsoever.

The whole film is just repetitive. The situation doesn’t slowly boil to something horrific, the threat presented by the villains doesn’t escalate, there are no interesting interactions between the characters: no, here the underdeveloped protagonist is interrogated, tortured and/or sexually harassed, tries to escape, is recaptured, rinse and repeat for ninety minutes. I admit there’s some clever resourcefulness on the part of the heroine in the last scene-- but it’s basically just Wait Until Dark’s climax (down to the twist with the villain finding an alternative source of illumination for crying out loud!) without the emotional payoff that comes from slow-burn pacing or the fantastic performances, so even that’s a letdown.

I thought the movie might at least be saved by Michael Keaton as the main criminal mastermind since he’s shown he can be a great villain in other movies (if they had remade Wait in the 80s, he would have been a perfect Harry Roat Jr.), but even he seems to be phoning it in here. Beyond a scene of attempted cat murder (I’m serious-- the bad guys are so incompetent they can’t even kill a cat), there’s not even anything so bad it’s good to enjoy. Blindsided is just dull and by-the-numbers.