#to be fair the show does not offer an accurate definition

[therowdymagpie]

Arcana M6 and Halloween Headcanons

A/N: Basically small 5min. headcanons about how the main 6 and other characters would celebrate Halloween if it was a thing in Vesuvia.

Julian:

OK so we all know he is spending his day at the clinic because most accidents always happen on seasonal holidays.

That won't deter him from being the most thematically accurate person in the room. The man already has a getup perfect for the day and the Drama for it, but he's just going to play it up even more adding more things.

Tries especially hard to cheer up or make his child patients smile on the day putting a funny accent or being generous with the treats.(Throwing caution not to eat too many)

We all know his pumpkin carving skills are canonically atrocious (sorry but it's true) so you'll have to take over for the decor.

Will most definitely take you out to the Raven to celebrate and have fun.

Asra:

First thing's first: They Live for the mischief and the scares.

He plays extremely into the TRICK part of the trick or treat tradition. For him it might as well be a second April Fools honestly with the pranks he might pull on less than pleasant customers or people who sour the holiday.

They make sure that no matter how busy the day is, they go to the docks and try to find kids who need some cheering up or someone to take them trick or treating. It doesn't matter if the kid doesn't have a costume. They can make one for them!

Faust is rocking an amazing handmade costume Asra knitted for her and she is living for it, going about and spooking people (WITH her knife, Julian beware).

Muriel:

Doesn't really get affected by the spooky vibes and he's pretty indifferent to the dressing up part.

This would be prime time for people to be out and about so, predictably perhaps, you two spend the day quietly in the hut with warm drinks and plenty of furs.

He doesn't really like to take part in the festivities but he does do Pumpkin carving and you realise that regardless of material, his carvings are always extremely elegant and detailed(It's almost sad that the pumpkins will rot and the designs won't last...).

Of course some kids venture out into the woods to get candy or because they want to see if there's a witch living in the hut ;). Regardless, you two give them candy and they are on their way, Inanna making sure they make it back home safely.

Nadia:

Unexpectedly enough she makes it her business to have the Palace doors open for the kids during the holiday (with parental supervision obviously). She feels like they should get to have enough fun and plans all sorts of entertainment for them.

Also makes sure there's a party for the actual adults themselves on the after hours.

Dresses immaculately obviously and has the best and most elegant costumes. For the ones closest to her, just in case.

Please, please, please take the opportunity to bring her to town festivals and taverns to have a first hand experience to celebrate and cut loose like everyone else.

Portia:

HALLOWEEN Baking Time Baby!!! This woman will not let ANY PUMPKIN parts go unused. Whether she'll use the carved ones as fertilizer or the extra pieces and insides to make pie or cookies, she is not throwing anything away.

You two are wearing costumes and going out to celebrate…no she won't take "No" for an answer.

Do you remember the PSL Tale? This woman lives for haunted houses and spooky fun so prepare for a LOT of fairs.

Kids somehow find out that she has the best treats to offer and just pile up in front of her cottage (she somehow never runs out of candy to give them, she has too much power).

Lucio:

-> Count Hcs:

Oh HECK YES, this is his second favourite time of year aside from his birthday.

He just plans an essentially a Bigger And Better version of the Masquerade open to everyone.

Loves the costume aspect and he's going to show up in something revealing, over-the-top and vain with a BUNCH of glitter.

Holds a costume contest which he rigs just to give a himself an award and show off to everyone else(input sound of Nadia pinching her nose in the corner sighing)

-> Upright ending Hcs:

It can be SUCH a fun time with him when you two travel and pass through multiple towns and go through the many ways people celebrate.

Not to mention the festivals and parties and fun times that honestly give him a glimpse of his old life, but better now since he feels an actual connection with the people he meets and well...having you around to celebrate.

You WILL, however, have to look out for his sweet tooth and restrain him from taking too much candy.

and make sure he doesn't sass little kids' costumes

That is all, Happy Boop season everyone!

[neil-neil-orange-peel]

loved the rik and ade fest you arranged with @/xgardensinspace recently! it made me curious, if you would rank your favorite rik and ade projects how would you rank them? :)

Aw thank you! I'm glad you liked it. The fest is always fun to run. ❤️

Now that's a tricky question! I'm very bad at ranking my favourite funny shows at the best of times. 😂 A lot of it just depends on my mood in the moment. Here's an attempt:

Joint first - The Young Ones and Bottom - sorry! Far too difficult to decide which of these beats the other for me. They're both brilliant and changed my world. While containing obvious similarities, they both also offer differences. So, yeah, really depends on my mood. The world of TYO is certainly more raw and surreal, which I think makes sense as it was the gang's first proper foray into television and sitcom, but that's part of what I love about it. And, perhaps because of that factor, it captures something true about youth, which is why multiple generations of young people have found it resonating with them. It's very exciting and angry and just, bloody hell, so entirely accurate. Richie and Eddie, on the other hand, have more depth and emotional realism as characters (feels insane to say that about Bottom, but still 😂). You can feel Samuel Beckett oozing out of the mouldy walls of their flat. The situation in Bottom should be extraordinarily depressing - a warning, even, about what happens if you just let life happen to you - but instead it's brilliant and hilarious and full of pervy, disgusting joy. That's the magic of sitcoms.

Third - The Comic Strip Presents... - I really like anthologies. It's a shame they're so rare these days, given recent examples like Inside Number 9 and Black Mirror have been so successful, though I get that they're generally more expensive and more of a gamble as far as viewing figures are concerned. I love the world of the Comic Strip. The series just felt really creatively inspirational to me when I first watched it. I love the idea of a gang of mates all writing and producing stories. How insanely cool? That said, it's not got the top spot for me because not every Comic Strip is gold standard. There are definitely a few I've only seen once. There are some with flaws that I still love, but there are also a fair few (of the later series, perhaps when the magic was wearing off) that just don't cut the mustard for me. But there are some truly great offerings: both Bad News episodes, Mr Jolly Lives Next Door, the Famous Five parodies, Consuela (my fave ❤️), Dirty Movie, A Fistful of Travellers' Cheques, The Strike, Red Nose of Courage, Demonella, Gregory: Diary of a Nutcase, the list goes on. For the most part, the imperfections and rough and ready style are part of the various Comic Strips' charm.

Fourth - The Dangerous Brothers - I absolutely love this double act. This is where it all started for Rik and Ade, after all! Richard being the dominant one is also an interesting twist on their usual dynamic - they're basically Laurel and Hardy but more violent and a lot ruder. 😂 But seriously, you can tell Ade takes a lot of inspiration from Stan Laurel. There's this specific face he does. The only reason they're fourth here is because, as sketch characters, I suppose there was only so far they could go with them. That's not to shit on sketch characters! A good sketch character is gold dust, just check out Harry Enfield's repertoire. And it's not as if sketch characters can't grow into something more versatile Alan Partridge Alan Partridge Alan Partridge since that's arguably what Richie and Eddie of Bottom were (the pinnacle of an ever deepening progression of Rik and Ade's dynamic). The Dangerous Brothers are mad fun, but with so many other Rik and Ades on offer, I've had to be harsh. Sorry lads. 😂

Fifth - Kevin Turvey - Ade appears in The Man Behind the Green Door, so it counts! I have a lot of love for Kevin Turvey; compared to most of Rik's characters, he's a sweetheart. I also really like it when comedians have a character inspired by the place they grew up in. The world of Kevin Turvey still has the anger and surrealism we'd expect from Rik Mayall projects, but it's much more toned down. This was very early Rik, so Kevin is just very interesting, in that respect. I'm sure he'd appreciate that. The fact Rik let him write a chapter of his autobiography says a lot about his relationship with him, even if he was ultimately superceded by a bunch of other bastards called Richard. 😂 The main reason he's so low down on this particular list is just because Ade doesn't feature much, so it's not super reflective of their double act.

Sixth - Filthy, Rich & Catflap - Look, I'm not here to contribute to the FR&C hate in the world. 😂 I don't think it's as bad as people at the time made out, but I'd also be lying if I said it's their best work. Richie and Eddie are important as a crossroads point between Rick & Vyvyan and Richie & Eddie of Bottom, and Nigel is amazing as Filthy, but they're never gonna be as beloved as those who came before and after them. Also, Richie Rich's hair is worse than Richard Dangerous' to me. 😂 I think it was a mistake, though I understand why it was done, to advertise FR&C as the successor to TYO. Of course, in comparison, it was going to fall flat. Although it's satirising the old British showbiz world, why on earth would the young audience they picked up from TYO - who didn't necessarily feel enamoured by that - want to watch their favourite characters morph into people from that world? It's similar in tone to TYO, but the world it inhabits just doesn't come alive in the same way. FR&C is also very wordy - which, kudos to Rik and Ade primarily for remembering all those lines, and to Ben for writing them - but, in the first episode especially, this definitely slows the pacing down. Rip.

I've only included stuff with Rik AND Ade, hence the absence of The New Statesman etc. Apologies if I've missed anything!

Thanks for the ask! ❤️

[bluegekk0]

I imagine if Quirrel showed up it would be oddly the opposite to lemme interactions after all he probably knows a thing or two about life changing and not really being the same person anymore however I definitely think he would be very interested in pks biology which could be useful for pk given that you said that he doesn't really remember how Wyrm biology works fully

yeah, that's something along the lines of what i imagine quirrel's interactions being like. unlike lemm, he's a lot more understanding, so i do think he would respect fpk's boundaries, even if he's just as curious about everything. funnily enough, i also imagine him being on friendly terms with lemm, so perhaps he could nudge him a bit towards giving fpk a break hahah

and that is a very interesting idea, i do think he would find fpk quite fascinating. i mean, it's not everyday that you meet someone who used magic to reduce their form like that. now, whether he could actually help fpk remember the things he forgot about himself and his species, i'm not sure. even if he read about wyrms in monomon's archives (since i view wyrms as an ancient, dinosaur-esque species, i reckon there were some records about them), he lost most of his memories, so i don't think he could offer a lot of knowledge. though on the other hand, he does have access to said archives, so perhaps he could search for those records and share his findings with fpk? that could be a fun interaction

as for the last part i'm actually not quite sure how much fpk remembers, to be honest. i'm guessing the wyrm biology part is referencing an older ask (since i noticed you went through my asks, i appreciate that very much btw), and i won't deny that the au has changed quite a bit since then. or, i guess, it just evolved. i'm kind of making it all up as i go, i don't have a fanfic or a comic in mind, so this is all in my head. it's inevitable that things will change

but i do think he forgot most of his childhood. maybe even all of it, and alongside it, he forgot what it was like to be a giant wyrm. it was so long ago, and he rarely thought about it throughout his life. for... obvious reasons, it wasn't very pleasant. and you'd think losing memory of all of his traumatic experiences would be a good thing, right? but unfortunately, the trauma had such an effect on him, that perhaps he's simply just not aware of what caused it. he's suffering, and he doesn't know why. what a frustrating situation to be in

but i got a little carried away. my point was, i do think reading about his species could help him fill in the blanks in his memory that he has, and consequently, remember more about his biology. though to be fair, he did change forms. so would that even still be accurate? since he's basically a completely different creature now. well, either way, it would certainly help him remember some things

now, whether he would actually want to remember them is a different story. he made a conscious decision to leave his wyrm life behind when he changed forms, so would he want to be reminded of it? i'm not sure, honestly. but with quirrel's more understanding nature, perhaps he could convince fpk to give it a try. maybe it would help him process some of his trauma. maybe it would make it worse. it's interesting to think about

[jtownraindancer]

hello! i would LOVE to watch jamestown but am a little apprehensive because of possible triggers? so i thought i'd ask! is there anything i should watch out for? in the vein of like... sexual assault, hate crimes (tho this is a given bc period piece but like. how violent would it get?), and frequency of character death? thank you!

​ Hello Anon!

Absolutely a fair question, and one I'm very happy to answer! I'll address each of these one-by-one, and if there are any other possible triggers you're wondering about, please feel free to ask~

This is going to spoil some of the show, so I'm putting my full reply below the cut.

​Sexual Assault:

Right off the top of my head, there is one very distinct instance of sexual assault, right in the beginnings of Season 1 (may even be Episode 1 if memory serves). The rape itself is not graphic- there's a build up, but the scene ends before anything is actually shown. However! The attack is a defining moment for quite a few of the main cast- relationships are formed based on reactions to it (all resoundingly in the victim's corner!), and it is mentioned off-and-on again throughout the series.

Hate Crimes:

I don't… I can't quite say there are many hate crimes as we would know them, but some general things to look out for…

There is a very tentative relationship between the Colonists & the Pamunkey Tribe, a tension which builds up into the final episode where a lot of characters are killed on screen- mostly background. (Season 3 was arguably the most graphic of the lot, starting with the private execution of an alleged "traitor" to the governor.)

​The slave trade hangs heavily over the series starting at the end of Season 1, an introduction that tastes even more bitter when it's discovered that they were acquired illegally (and against the wishes of a majority of the colonists). I… I have much I'd like to say about it, but to do so would spoil a lot of plot points later. I will say however that there's nothing particularly graphic in this end (and Pedro and Marie alone are worth watching the show for!)

For queerphobia, there… wasn't much? The most that comes of it are a few instances where Thomas & Jocelyn both make jabs at Nicholas for his 'tastes,' though in the end it's clear they both really do care for him. Also in regards to an intersex character, the only fault found in her is the deception that allowed him to come to Jamestown to begin with. There's also the strong implication that not only does another character remain open-minded about folks pursuing certain 'bedfellows,' but the possibility that he himself may be queer. (Kind of a blink-and-you-miss-it moment, but definitely there.)

Religion-wise, there is definitely a period-accurate bias towards Protestantism (and a hatred/suspicion of Catholics which will come up several times), and references are made about wanting to "convert" the indigenous population, but that's about the extent of it? Some characters do use ''Christianity'' as a cover, but uh… Spoilers on that end. Put succinctly… In spite of a period-accurate lean towards Protestantism, there are still a few characters who definitely are not of the same mind. In the main cast alone, I can think of at least three Jamestown residents who stand apart from the others in terms of spirituality (or lack thereof).

Violence:

While there's not a lot of gore in this show, there are certain scenes that can seem gruesome in the context. As I found this show through PBS, I wasn't expecting a lot of gore itself, but the implications involved, and the very rare, rare moments where things are actually shown, carry enough weight on their own. (There is one scene that comes to mind with a smuggler and some molten metal, but I couldn't seem to look away; Farlow was fucking terrifying. 💀)

Character Death:

Some great news! Most of the characters survive this series!

Bad news! The characters who do leave will probably hurt!

Would like to again offer a warning for the finale of Season 3, which leads into the very real beginnings of the Indian Massacre of 1622, a slaughter that took out nearly 1/4 of the Virginian colonists. The show does not get graphic, but the implications, and the brief hints we're shown on screen do plenty of damage.

Overall:

There were quite a few liberties taken with this show, and at times it feels vaguely soap opera-esque in the writing choices. But overall I did enjoy this one, and I would recommend it! Even if you decide to watch just for Alice, Verity, and Jocelyn, I would still ask you to give it a try because there are so many interesting characters to meet in this series, and it does offer a decent (if over-exaggerated) glimpse into life in Jamestown.

If you're still interested in giving Jamestown a whirl, I hope you enjoy it! (And please feel free to scream in my inbox and/or DMs about it.)

Thanks for the ask friend; I hope this helped, and if not, please don't hesitate to reach out. Love and light!

[fardell24b]

Brittany - Cafe of Contention - Part 2

“So, what’s this about fundraising?” Donna Bolton asked.

 Daria explained what she had told Brittany earlier.

 “So, it’s because of your parents?” Andrea asked.

 “Yes,” Daria answered.

 “That is definitely unfair,” Andrea complained.

 ‘So, I brought it up with Brittany,” Daria explained.

 “And I decided to bring you two in and get Kevvie to do it with Mack,” Brittany explained.

 “But wouldn’t Mack want to do it with Jodie?” Donna asked.

 “Probably,” Brittany admitted.

 “In any case, it would depend on what we’re selling,” Andrea said.

 “I agree,” Daria said.

 “But we probably won’t know until Mr. O’Neill tells us,” Brittany said.

 They talked about it for a while, but all they agreed on was to talk to O’Neill in the morning.

  Daria arrived at school early with Donna. She still wasn’t sure about the fundraising. “So, we’re going to the office?” Donna asked.

 “Yes,” Daria answered. “We’re meeting Brittany and Andrea there before talking to O’Neill.”

 “Of course,” Donna said with a smile.

  Brittany saw Daria and Donna enter the office. “You’ve made a decision?”

 Daria nodded.

 “Andrea should be here shortly,” Brittany said.

 Andrea then showed up. “Hi!”

 “Have you made a decision?” Donna asked.

 “We shall do it!” Andrea declared.

 “Are you sure?” Brittany asked.

 “Yes,” Andrea answered.

 “Then we shall do the fundraising together,” Daria said.

 Brittany smiled. “Cool.”

They had soon signed up.

  “Chocolate?” Daria asked.

 “What’s wrong with that?” Mr. O’Neill asked.

 “I didn’t expect it, that’s all.”

  Daria wasn’t sure she wanted to sell chocolate. “It won’t be bad,” Brittany said.

 “I hope not,” Daria said.

 “Wait and see.”

  They walked for a while before finding someone who was at home.

 “Mr. DeMartino!” Brittany said.

 “Hello, Ms. Taylor, Ms. Morgendorffer, Ms. Hecuba. Ms. Bolton. What a delightful surprise.”

 “We're raising money for the new Lawndale young adult's coffee house!’ Brittany said.

 “We’re selling holiday wrapping paper and chocolates,” Daria added. “I would suggest the former.”

 “What an attractive offer. Ms Morgendorffer,” DeMartino considered. “Too bad the holidays aren't for months!”

 “Then there are the chocolates,” Daria said.

 “Or a magazine subscription,” Donna added.

 “You could join a CD or cassette club?” Andrea said as she leafed through the pamphlets.

 “It's good to see you all enterprising.” DeMartino “But I could make a trite observation about wishing that some of you would put more effort into your school work. But am I the sort of man who engages in trite observations, Brittany?”

 “No?”

 “Excellent, Brittany. Now, while you're on a roll, am I the sort of man who you suppose believes in underwriting the indolence of students who already display the work habits of garden slugs?”

 “That’s not fair,” Donna said.

 “Be as that may be, Ms. Bolton, you don’t deny that is an accurate description of most at Lawndale High.”

 Donna looked Brittany and shrugged. “Most of the football team, certainly. But don’t tar us four with the same brush.”

 “Really? I know for a fact that Ms. Taylor here has a C average. Whereas yours is a B-.”

 “I’m sure they’re learning,” Daria interjected.

 “That isn’t the point. Ms. Morgendorffer.”

 “And your point is?”

 “The point is. I simply can’t afford to waste my meagre funds on Ms. Li’s latest scheme to increase her visibility in the local educational arena.”

 “You mean, her scheme to gain extra funds of her own,” Daria added.

 “How astute of you. Miss Morgendorffer.”

 “That makes sense,” Brittany murmured.

 “Of course, she’s only taking some of it,” Andrea added. “The Coffee House does need money to run.”

 “That’s right,” Brittany said with a twirl of a pigtail. “I mean, it’s wrong she’s doing that, but Andrea’s right.”

 “I see you are more astute than I have given you credit for, but the answer is still ‘no’.”

 “Sorry for wasting your time,” Donna said.

 “Not really. I needed the break from the monotony of lesson planning.”

 Daria nodded. She understood what DeMartino meant. “We’ll be off now.”

 “You can go bother that weak-hearted sap of a Language Arts Teacher.”

[feyzakeskin]

feyza tilted her head to catch a glimpse of the offending criminals: unsurprisingly, aria's shoes were g-o-r-g-e-o-u-s. feyza nodded approvingly. " to be fair, i think you can blame the quietness here in the office. half of the people are spending their vacation days and it's so eery here. " she sort of missed the constant background nose that came from phone calls, co-workers chit-chatting with each other, and the pings from notifications. " huh ? " feyza pointed at herself and arched a brow. " for me ? " acting normally was a secondary issue, she needed to concentrate on breathing normally. keep her focus on vitals and then she could think about how to act cool. " damn. you came prepared. " a breathy laugh escaped her and bought her a few seconds to process the information properly. " i definitely won't say no to pizza. i'm sort of starving too. thank you, seriously, thank you. " she needed an assistant. not that she was equating aria to one, but if getting food could be this quick and easy, she needed to give the idea of an assistant another chance. " wait, whoa, wait ! who was the guest ? i swear it was going to be sabrina carpenter but that... doesn't... well, i've seen you drink. like a lot of times. she doesn't give off the right kind of a vibe. " she shot an apologetic look to the woman, quickening her pace to get in sync with aria. " well ! to be honest my life isn't that exciting ? i go to work, i walk my dog, i have dinner with whoever's available that evening. i started the new season of the bear though — maybe you should get that guy on your show. people are, or were, so obsessed with him just a year ago or something. " aria and her team probably had a long list of candidates but it never hurt to offer suggestions ! " i think the most exciting thing to happen to be was the industry awards gala last month. and i swear ! oh i swear ! i heard at least ten people say it's stuffy and dull. what does that make me ? kinda sad, no ? but at least i got to talk to people. i chatted with the bernard alderidge. it was a bit weird. he was nicer than i expected. i sorta expected him to be snotty and annoying. like most eton boys. you know the type. annoying. " she wasn't sure if the man was an eton boy but feyza believed the term described his upbringing accurately enough.

"  well  ⸺  it  was  supposed  to  be  a  surprise  but  i  forgot  the  shoes  would  give  me  away  ,  "  she  chuckles  ,  right  foot  kicking  up  to  show  off  the  red  kitten  heels  who's  clack  against  the  wood  floor  completely  blew  up  the  entirety  of  her  plan  .  aria  wasn't  usually  one  to  spend  too  much  time  in  the  office  if  she  didn't  have  to  ,  much  preferred  writing  and  editing  in  the  comfort  of  her  own  home  or  favorite  cafe  rather  than  the  fluorescent  lights  that  constantly  remained  on  over  app  -  h's  headquarters  even  though  the  natural  sunlight  was  more  than  enough  during  the  day  .  "  i've  been  saving  my  lunch  appetite  for  you  ,  i  ordered  us  some  takeaway  from  that  pizza  place  a  down  the  road  ⸺  i  was  hoping  to  steal  you  away  for  a  lunch  date  ,  we  can  go  eat  in  the  park  ,  yea  ?  "  she  smiles  ,  head  already  nodding  towards  the  door  .  "  god  ,  i  would  love  to  talk  about  anything  other  than  what  i've  been  up  to  ,  we  filmed  the  season  finale  for  pub  crawl  a  few  days  ago  and  i  swear  to  god  i've  had  a  hangover  for  the  last  ,  like  ,  three  days  ⸺  i  think  for  the  first  time  in  my  life  i  got  out-drank  on  my  own  show  ,  "  she  can  still  feel  the  vodka  burning  down  her  throat  ,  gross  .  "  besides  ,  i  came  because  i  wanted  to  know  what  you've  been  up  to  .  .  .  "  she  starts  ,  waiting  for  feyza  to  catch  up  before  she  opens  the  door  and  leads  them  out  ,  "  i  feel  like  the  last  few  times  we've  seen  each  other  we've  only  talked  about  work  ,  i  wanna  know  what's  really  going  on  .  "

[dykevillanelle]

i love and respect many of you all in my killing eve family but the way y'all think psychopathy works is absolutely nuts

[hamliet]

Hi! What do you think of how Yang's PTSD has been handled in the story? I read some people think it was solved too easily and I wanted your opinion about it!

Well, as someone with diagnosed PTSD... I personally love it. I think it’s a very solid portrayal. 

Of course, it won’t ring home for everyone--no one’s experiences are exactly the same. And it’s not that there are no critiques. But, I think CRWBY has done a pretty good job of portraying it for two reasons:

Yang’s trauma is both a part of her and yet does not encapsulate the whole of who she is; and

Its portrayal of what flashbacks and anxiety look like, on a personal level, made me feel seen. 

A lot of stories, when using the trauma/PTSD angle, have a bad habit of either portraying the inciting incident of trauma as the defining moment in the character’s existence, or acting as if it’s no big deal. 

Ruby: I'm so glad you're okay!

Yang: But I'm not.

For the latter, I've seen so many portrayals that just gloss PTSD over as an inconvenience, or as something that someone magically gets over. This isn’t Yang’s story, and I’ll explain why later.

The reality is that PTSD isn’t always something people get over so much as many learn to live with it. (And, in general, I do not like the current move towards pushing language that implies people aren’t suffering from certain mental illnesses. “A person with PTSD” is often preferred over “a person who suffers from PTSD” and sorry, no, PTSD by its definition is characterized by suffering. Negating that is not woke or pro-inclusion; it’s insulting by making yourself feel comfortable about inclusion while ignoring the thorny part that having PTSD fucking sucks. (I know many may disagree; that's fair. On my blog I get to say what I think, though, and I personally find it offensive.))

How does this connect to Yang? Well, RWBY displays Yang suffering. The everyday reminds her of what she lost in her arm, and of the experience losing it. Trauma healing involves grieving, and grief comes stages. Even when you arrive at "acceptance," you still have a loss.

Yang: everyone keeps talking about me getting back to normal. But this is normal now.

Yang: Do you want me to just pretend it didn’t happen? I lost a part of me. A piece of me is gone, and it's never coming back.

Yang's trauma is literally a part of her, with her arm always being gone. The mechanical one isn’t the same, even if it is functionally awesome. I know people like to harp on this and I’m not saying the portrayal is accurate to an amputee’s, because I can’t speak to that, but as a metaphor within the story itself I personally think it works. The mechanical arm can be a weakness in some situations and even a strength in others, as trauma can be, but it's clear Yang would still prefer her arm back even if that won't happen, and that's just--honest, imo.

I also think it works as a symbol of and a parallel to Yang's relationships with her mother and with Blake. Her mother--well. While Raven may sacrifice herself in the end for Yang (imo, she should), Yang and Raven are never going to have a normal mother/daughter relationship. Raven left her for no good reason, and she's not coming back.

However, Blake does come back. Not just physically (in which they both end up going to the same place and meeting), but emotionally. That won't like, replace her mother's abandonment, but it does at least offer Yang unconditional love and acceptance, and shows her that even if some people won't change, some can. 

Like Ruby says to end Volume 4: 

You told me once that bad things just happen. You were angry when you said it, and I didn't want to listen. But you were right. Bad things do happen, all the time, every day. Which is why I'm out here, to do whatever I can, wherever I can, and hopefully do some good... We've all lost something, and I've seen what loss can do to people. But if we gave up every time we lost, then we'd never be able to move forward.

I appreciate this because Ruby shows empathy towards Yang, while also asking her to keep growing--because they need her, given the terrible circumstances of their world. It contrasts a bit with what Tai said--and here’s where I’ll say I have an issue with the portrayal: I don’t like Tai’s advice to Yang at times in volume 4. I do think he pressures her to grow when she has explicitly said she isn’t ready, and the idea that she should be grateful for the mechanical arm is--yeah, but it’s not empathetic. I also don’t think this is framed awesomely.

About the symptoms of PTSD... PTSD is an anxiety disorder. Flashbacks are not always literally disorienting or hallucinations, although they may be. Most stories portray them almost exclusively as hallucinations; while I understand why hallucinations work best for stories in a lot of ways, it’s not really accurate to my experience, so I appreciated seeing something that was more along the lines of what I live with. For a long time I didn’t realize I was having flashbacks until my therapist explained that it doesn’t mean a hallucination; I find them disorienting but I'm very aware of where I am and that I'm not in the situation during one; it just feels like I am. They are moments when you are triggered to the extent where you absolutely cannot resist the terror you felt during the trauma storming your mind, and it feels emotionally as if you’re reliving it at the moment. This may include a hallucination. It also may not. 

Yang's flashbacks (like when she drops the glass in the kitchen) were clearly her experiencing anxiety, but not full hallucinations. Yang’s nightmares were also very accurate to what PTSD is like in my experience: they’re not always (if ever) exact recountings of what happened (though again, I see why stories often portray them this way). They’re similar situations, where you do relive the trauma, but like any dream they blend facts and ideas across time. 

I don’t think Yang’s PTSD is depicted as being over--it’s more just that Yang has mostly completed her arc and we have other characters to focus on. It’s also likely to come up a bit again whenever Raven reappears. Possibly in Volume 9. I also think this argument misses the complex factor: Yang’s trauma does not begin and end with Adam. She’s been traumatized since she was a kid, since Raven abandoned her, and Adam was a sudden inciting incident that brought a lot of issues to the surface. But it wasn’t the sole cause. Yang’s been struggling to cope with trauma since Season 1 (or even since the “Yellow” trailer). She’s still learning. 

And that is how PTSD recovery goes: you learn better coping mechanisms. Yang has learned better coping mechanisms, and having a partner in Blake is actually very much a realistic portrayal of something that can help alleviate PTSD symptoms. Again, I don’t think Yang has gotten over it, but she’s learned to live with it. Her arm is always gone. Adam is gone. Her mother is not the mother she deserves. But she has Blake, and Ruby, and Weiss, and Qrow, and others. 

And isn’t that what RWBY’s about: continuing on in the face of loss, when things will never be the same, because some things can still be better? 

[aziraphales-library]

just finished reading the false and the fair, do you have any recs where aziraphale and crowley are reunited exes?

love what you do here :)

Hello! We've recced reunion fics here, here, here and here.

All's Fair in Love, War, and Show Business by sapphose [T], WIP

Crowley is given one last chance to save his floundering acting career when he is offered a role in a new musical adaptation of the beloved book, "The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch." Unfortunately, he'll be acting opposite Aziraphale, the ex he hasn't spoken to in over a decade and with whom he is definitely not still in love. When Crowley's past comes back to haunt him, he and Aziraphale must decide whether to repeat their actions from years prior, or to take their unexpected second chance and try again.

Stronger Than Hurt by TawnyOwl95 [E]

Everything changed the summer that Crowley fell off the Eastgate's garage roof and broke his arm.

Fourteen years later he stood outside a tattoo shop with a picture of the drawing Aziraphale Eastgate had done on his cast, and hoped for a second chance.

New Approaches by FeralTuxedo [M]

Aziraphale Fell, Professor of Creative Writing at Tadfield University, welcomes the attendees of the First Conference on New Approaches to Genre Fiction. Among them is keynote speaker and best-selling thriller author Anthony J. Crowley. Aziraphale has not seen him for twenty-five years.

Sometimes, he can still feel the ghost of their parting kiss on his lips.

Or: Exes reunite at academic conference. A Human University Professor/Author AU.

Running in the Shadows (Damn Your Love, Damn Your Lies) by soft_october [M]

"In plain terms, Mr. A. Fell was a man of impeccable conduct and unusual habits, and in a similar manner to many of whom bore the first two traits, he must also take up the third: dire loneliness. Yet it had not always been thus. Indeed, there once was a time when it seemed as if he should never know solitude or want of suitable company for the rest of his days, but the circumstances by which Aziraphale might have unwound the knot that now bound up his heart had long since dragged themselves, mortally wounded, to die in the shades of regret. Their ghosts hung in his past, growing in consequence with the singular passing of each year until they eclipsed even the death of those who had the foremost hand in their making, and had the effect of separating the sequence of his days of into a gentle, blooming Before, whose painful beauty made the egregious scars of the After that much more appalling."

What Aziraphale does not know is that, from across the ocean, Mr. Anthony J. Crowley is returning to England with his newly aquired wealth, wanting nothing more than to rebuild his life after a terrible shock and, perhaps, discover why he had been abandoned by his fiancé ten long years ago.

Shine by TawnyOwl95 [E]

A hook-up at Pride turns into a mutually beneficially arrangement.

~Mod N

[elysianslove]

secrets that you keep; iwaizumi hajime 

synopsis; in which his best friend is secretly a camgirl. part 1, part 2 

pairings; iwaizumi hajime x fem!reader

genre; smut

trigger warnings; i highly recommend reading the first two parts before this. they’re only drabbles that introduce everything! anyways, this is absolute filth. don’t read this if any of the stuff mentioned could trigger you, please! masturbation, camgirl stuff, one mention of the word ‘daddy,’ self choking, degradation, humiliation, dacryphilia, unprotected sex, creampie, a lot of choking, accidental breathplay, not proofread unfortunately 

she knows. 

does she? 

it’s an ongoing inner battle he’s been having for weeks now, ever since he’d been directed to that trending video of yours. he sees you in his dreams, hears you loud and clear, moaning and crying for him, and worst of all, he feels you, so perfectly, against his, around him, and it’s overwhelming in the worst way possible. even maintaining eye contact is tiresome at this point. 

but he does wonder whether you know or not, more often than he should— were you deliberately calling out for him, in hopes that he’d find this video somehow? or had you said it because you’d assumed this is your safe place, that there’s no way he’d be able to find these videos? had it been a slip up? or, more accurately, multiple slip ups? what were the chances anyways, that it had been an accident, or unintentional, or intentional and he had been losing sleep over it, or that he wasn’t the hajime you were crying out for? 

his heard hurt. awfully. there’s already the constant worry of regulating his breathing around you and cleansing his thoughts of anything he’d seen of you the moment you meet, but this added dilemma is in no way helping. every day that you text him for a coffee date, or a night out after a rather stressful week, or a night in at your apartment, and he agrees, his mind diverts immediately to where it shouldn’t as soon as he lays eyes on you. and the worst part of it all is how aware he is of how wrong this is. he knows it’s wrong to choose the revealing shirt over the other when you ask him for his opinion, just because he wants that effortless glance at your cleavage. it’s also so wrong of him to give a higher rating to that obscenely short dress than that other, knee length one because of the way your thighs squeeze when you sit. it’s definitely wrong of him to offer clasping your anklet, the one he’d gotten for you, the one that had been the dead giveaway to your secret online persona, just because your legs feel so soft against the rough pads of his fingers, when he resists the urge to trail upwards, upwards, upwards—

it’s fucking ridiculous. 

he can’t believe just how deep of a rabbit hole finding one of your videos is, how it’s impossible to climb out and away, and even worse, how he keeps falling deeper. the one time he decides to jerk off to porn. it’s really ridiculous. 

about a week ago, three weeks after finding that video of yours someone had uploaded— which had been taken down because of copyright, and hajime personally thinks that’s fair, considering there’s a reason you pay people to watch your videos and look through your photos, otherwise you would’ve taken the liberty to post everything for free yourself— hajime gives in, and subscribes to you. it’s with a randomized account name, something he tried his very best to make as anonymous as possible, so that it would in no way lead back to him. he doesn’t check in on your account as often, also having taken the time to turn off notifications and not have anything sent to his email, and it’s mostly out of shame. he already feels dirty enough having seen this much of you, even more that he’s fantasized about you. he’s not about to make it worse for himself.

every once in a while, though, especially days where he’s sure he’s completely free of responsibilities, he logs on, and finds your page. it just so happens that tonight, you’re hosting a live stream. swallowing his pride and shame, literally so, he shifts on his bed, sitting up straighter, and clicks to join. 

he’d been a little late apparently, because you’re already bare, sitting on a chair. your legs are lifted up, knees bent and hooked over the chair’s arms, the camera angled to show everything, from your cute eyes to the flesh of your ass. there’s a vibrator in your hand, buzzing lightly as it hovers by your clit, dipping between your folds, sliding back up again to rub lazily at your clit. beneath you, on the chair, is a small damp spot, leaking from your cunt. hajime stops himself before his jaw falls slack at the sight of you, and instead, he clears his throat, gritting his teeth and watching carefully. 

you’re not so talkative during your videos, just exclamations of pleasure and (the most beautiful of) noises, so he hadn’t expected you to be during your lives. to his surprise, you are, and it’s filthy. 

whimpering lightly, you press the vibrator harsher on your clit, your other hand traveling up to squeeze at your breast. “m’so needy,” you admit with a soft pout, adding, “want you to tell me what to do, mmh.”

he’s assuming the ‘you’ is the audience, whoever’s willing to speak up, and it’s then that he notices the chat option. his eyes flicker curiously to it, hands twitching where they sit fisted at his lap as he sees the chat explode with orders and commands and suggestions for you. 

one writes, stuff urself full, and hajime gapes. 

another commands, wanna see u cry tn, and hajime privately agrees. 

someone else writes, gonna squirt princess? 

hajime’s hands twitch again, and he frowns, digging his nails into his palms. you’re ignoring all the suggestions, and it’s obvious because you’re reading through them, mouthing some of them, giggling at some, curiously gasping, ‘oh,’ at others, eyebrow quirking. the vibrator trails down to your hole again, and you experimentally dip it inside slightly, shivering visibly as the vibrations rush through you, and the moment he hears you moan so loud, he thinks, fuck it, and his hands reach for his keyboard. 

choke yourself. 

fuck, fuck, fuck, he did not just do that. 

his heart is racing embarrassingly fast beneath his ribcage, loud and pathetically deafening in his ears as he watches your eyes read through the rest of the messages, and you’ve stopped mouthing them, your eyes are widening— which one are you at now? are you just going to ignore him? why wouldn’t you? of course you—

“you’d like that, huh?” you teasingly slur, a lazy, cheeky grin painting your lips, your teeth biting down on your lower lip and your hand— your hand— 

it’s trailing upwards, upwards, upwards, until it finds its way around your throat, resting lightly, and just as he sees your fingers squeeze at the sides of your neck slightly, carefully, you pout at the camera, looking straight at him, and asking, “like this, daddy?” 

a low fuck wheezes past his lungs, and his hand quickly presses down at the bulge in his sweatpants, squeezing and rubbing at his clothed dick as he watches you, entranced. people watching you with him have taken to thanking him for the idea, and to praising you, calling you a good girl, cursing, rapidly typing out something along the lines of you’re so hot i wanna fuck you so bad, and god, hajime hates that he relates to something as stupid as that. 

your hips roll and your head falls back, hand not once leaving your throat. if anything, your grip tightens. you click on the vibrator, and the buzzing becomes louder, your moans with it, as if you were competing. you cry and gasp and sob, writhing in your own hold, your thighs tensing and your hole clenching around nothing as you harshly rub the vibrator against your clit. your cunt gushes and drips as you bring yourself closer to your orgasm, as you cry out a string of, “m’gonna cum, so close, so close!” and a mixture of lewd curses, until finally, you cum. you’re sent over the edge, legs swinging on the chair, high pitched squeals falling from your lips— which hajime can’t decide are real or not, or whether he wants them to be or not. you thrash and cry, tears, as promised to some other watcher, dripping down your cheeks. 

the last straw however, is your comedown from your high, sobs hiccuping and muscles twitching, eyes half closed and body limp as you mewl out, “hajime, hajime, hajime,” like you’re not even aware you’re doing it. like it’s subconscious. 

hajime swears again, a deep, low, “fuck,” and looks down to find a damp spot on his lap. he really came from barely any friction, all because of you. this really is as ridiculous as it gets. 

the next time he sees you, there are the faintest of bruises on your neck. it’s not so obvious that just anyone would notice, but ever since becoming hyperaware of everything that is you and everything that you do, it’s hard not to have them be the first thing he sees. to ensure that the atmosphere between the two of you remains easy, he flicks at your neck and tuts with a smirk, asking you jokingly if you were in your hoe phase. 

“so vulgar, hajime,” you sarcastically retort, teasing him. “you like calling me mean things?” and he has to avert eye contact because all his walls crumble so quick. 

it’s just the two of you tonight, in his apartment, all your other mutual friends having cancelled at one point or another. it’s not an unusual occurrence; more often than not, the two of you are alone. however, it’s been a while since you’d been alone, privately. a while meaning ever since hajime had discovered your side hustle of a sort. he hadn’t been purposely avoiding this— no, maybe he has, but to be fair, he’s still yet to recover from the initial shock. 

it also doesn’t help that since today had meant to be a relaxing night in, you’re dressed casual, but in the hottest fucking way possible. he hopes he hadn’t been blushing as hard as he thinks, and feels, he was, when you’d first stepped into his home. on your hips is a short, black skirt, flowing out to your upper thighs, where just above your knees start a pair of dark thigh highs, squeezing at your thighs and accentuating your legs as you strut around his apartment, feet bare of any shoes or slippers. he can’t decide whether it’s cute or just plain hot. somehow, with you, it’s both. your shirt is off the shoulder, a dark, navy blue bardot, and beneath it, peeking out to rest at your collarbones, is a black bralette. he can barely just see the intricate lace designs, but it disappears and dips beneath your shirt before he can see more of it. 

you’re spread out on the couch, laying along it on your stomach, a pillow tucked in your arms and beneath your head, your clothed legs bent and swinging up in the air. he sits right by you, thigh right by your head, his body as tense as ever. it’s impossible not to be you, not with you in such close proximity to him when only a few days ago he’d watched you make yourself cum, and had heard you whimper out his name after. who can blame him, really?

with your eyes trained on the screen, he hadn’t been expecting you to speak up. 

“iwa, what type of porn do you watch?” 

he nearly chokes, eyes widening as he spares you a glance. your legs continue to swing innocently, your eyes unmoving, your voice unwavering. the suddenness of the question certainly threw him off, but it’s your nonchalance that really shocks him. but, considering everything, it really shouldn’t have. 

“uh, what?” he offers weakly, wincing slightly at the barely there crack in his voice. 

you sigh, shifting to sit up. you plant yourself on your knees, spreading them apart slightly to get comfortable, and shrugging at him. “i’m just curious,” you say. “or,” your eyes squint cautiously, your head cocking to the side slightly, “do you not watch porn?” 

challengingly, his arms lift up to cross at his chest, and he doesn’t miss the way your eyes momentarily glance at the way his biceps bulge. it makes his confidence spike slightly, nervousness ebbing away. “what type of porn do you watch?” 

you gasp dramatically, joking, “take a girl out to dinner first, my god.” he laughs, relaxing lightly at the banter, before his eyes fall back to you. you inch forward curiously, cautiously, still on your knees. now closer to him, you ask again, “seriously, i’m really curious! confirm my suspicions for me.” 

“oh?” he quirks an eyebrow. “so you think you know?” 

at this, you offer him a knowing smile, eyes slightly half lidded. you’re somehow even closer now, leaning towards him with your hands resting on the small space between you and him in the couch, helping you in lifting yourself up slightly on your knees as you say in a low voice, “baby, i think everyone knows.” 

at the sight of you by his side, he feels himself shiver, and an idea invades his mind before he can even process it. “oh, do you now?” he’s not sure where this boldness is emerging from, especially with how cautious and shameful he’d been and felt for weeks now, but he accepts it either way, because the way you’re staring at him like that, he never wants to let it go. and although he wants to drag out this intense eye contact even longer, in order to do what he wants to do, he has to break it, reaching for his phone instead. unable to contain your curiosity, you peak over, watching with confusion as he types out a link. 

the blood drains from your face when you recognize your page on his browser, and he’s logged on— he’s subscribed. 

“what type of porn do i like to watch?” he wonders rhetorically. the phone is pushed aside, and he sits up straighter so that even on your knees, he looms over you. his eyes are skimming over you, along your body, up to your neck, to your lips, to your shocked, wide eyes. and just as his hand trails up to your throat, his palm resting at the base and one finger tapping lightly, he says, “the type where my favorite girl cries out my name when she cums for the world to see.” 

the hand around your throat—

“you,” you breathe out, and finally, finally, when your brain makes sense of everything, your body relaxes, sags against him, leaning more into him until his hand’s properly wrapped around your throat. 

with your mind hazing over, you reach over, and kiss him. 

he meets you halfway, as if having expected it, lips pressing harshly against his. his hand tightens as he pulls you closer, lifting you up slightly and bringing you closer to him as his mouth parts, breathing you in, and kissing you deeper, lewder. you shiver and gasp, hands grasping at his wrist and forearm, not to push him away but rather to urge him closer, as you kiss him back just as eagerly. it seems like hours, with his hand around your neck, tight and a daunting reassurance, and your lips wet and hot against his, but eventually, his hand slides down, the other mirroring it, finding their way to your waist, squeezing and bunching at the skirt as he, with complete and utter and shocking ease, lifts you up off the couch. 

you gasp as he stands up with you, your legs quickly wrapping around his waist as he pulls you to him. as he blindly walks the two of you to his bedroom, he breathlessly asks in between your kisses, “is this— you sure this is okay?” 

with a sharp tug at his hair, you jokingly spit out, “iwa shut up.” 

he tosses you onto the bed, allowing you a minute to strip yourself of your shirt while he slips out of his own, before quickly falling above you, caging you in with his arms as he kisses you again. “not iwa,” he quietly asks of you. 

for a moment you’re confused, before everything clicks again— your slip ups— and your legs lift up, wrapping around his waist and pulling his hips closer to yours just as you mewl out, “hajime, please.” 

god, he is way easier than he thought he was. 

his entire body shudders above you, one hand lowering to push at your skirt to grind his hips down against yours until his clothed crotch meets your bare cunt and— holy fuck, holy fuck. 

“fuck, you slut.” 

you gasp at both his words and the feel of his bulge pressing down against your clit, his lips meeting your neck instead. “you do like calling me mean things,” you say, and he scoffs, his hand traveling upwards to squeeze at your breasts instead. 

“you like me calling you mean things,” he notes, and you let out a muffled moan as he pinches at your nipples through the bralette, lips biting and sucking at your neck. 

“i do,” you pant, arching up into him. “i do, i do.” his hands are fumbling at your chest, and god, they’re so large, so big and warm and harsh, it’s fogging up your brain. 

“yeah, yeah, fucking whore,” he growls, pushing himself slightly on his knees, hands tugging at the bralette. his fingers dip past, gripping the fabric tightly, and as he says, “can’t fucking— take this shit— off,” he tears through it, knuckles whitening as he pulls it away from your body, or what’s left of it. the frills of the ruined bra fall off the edge of his bed, and he watches your wide eyes and gaping mouth follow it, so he grabs at your jaw, twisting your gaze away from it and grunting a low, “shut up.” 

you pull away from the kiss, breathing heavily as you say, “that was so fucking hot, hajime,” before kissing him again. he parts his mouth as you lead him to you again, tongue easily meeting yours. 

it’s a messy kiss as he slips himself out of his sweatpants, taking his boxers with it and discarding them somewhere in his room. his cock slaps against his stomach, a single string of precum messily staining his tan abs. your eyes are quick to gaze down, lips painted a dazzling grin as his hand finds his cock, squeezing at the head and smearing his precum along. 

“knew you were fucking big,” you gasp, eyes trained on him as he strokes himself above you, and he is. he’s so big, thick and heavy, and veiny and your mouth waters at how that’s going to feel when inside of you, stretching you out so good, so much better than any of the toys you had at home. “i thought,” a squeal hiccups out of you as both of his hands grab at your hips from beneath your skirt, one sticky and warmer than the other, “about you all the time.” 

your confession draws his attention, and when he’s pulled you close enough, two of his fingers trail to your cunt, quirking an, “oh?” just as he dips his fingers inside. the lack of resistance he’s met with is surprising, and he chokes out, “did you stretch yourself out before coming here? fuck yourself on some fake cock?” 

tightlipped, you moan, brows furrowed and back arched into him. god, his fingers were not enough. “yes, yes,” you gasp, head falling back. despite not needing to, he still fingers you, his thick digits fucking into you slowly, driving you insane by the second. “yes, i— pretended t’was you,” you whine loudly. at your words, he curls his fingers inside of you, twisting his wrist and pressing his palm directly on your clit. 

“do you always?” he lowly asks, dipping closer to you as he fucks his fingers deeper. his fingers were inside of you, the cunt he’d spent over a month marveling at through a screen, the pretty pussy his dick had drooled over for hours. you’re real, as real as ever beneath him falling apart, making a mess of your black skirt, drenching it with your arousal. 

you moan out a hum, nodding dumbly as his fingers vibrate with the intensity of speed inside of you, your toes curling in your thigh highs and face twisting to press into his mattress. “always,” you cry out, like a promise. “always think of you— hajime!”

it’s an unexpected orgasm, hitting you so fast and quick that it’s outright dizzying. it has you lifting your hips up into his fingers and palm, grinding and trembling, your legs falling and spreading open, shaking wildly by your side and above you as he fucks you through the orgasm. 

“hajime, hajime, hajime,” you chant, words trailing off into tiny sobs and shuddering breaths as your hips slowly fall back onto the bed, body still trembling with aftershocks. 

you’re fucked out beyond words already that you genuinely don’t feel a thing until he’s pressing inside of you, the fat head of his cock stretching you out. he’s really no match for your toys, and if seeing him hadn’t been enough confirmation, the feel of him pressing inside of you definitely is. he doesn’t ease himself in slowly, urgently grabbing the back of your thighs with either hand, keeping your legs spread for him as he bottoms out. 

“fuck, fuck, knew you’d feel so good,” he grunts, brows furrowed harshly as he digs his fingers deeper against the flesh of your thighs, forcing your legs closer to your chest, and somehow pushing himself even deeper within you. you whine and mewl, toes curling and uncurling and legs trembling. “knew it the moment i saw your pretty pussy creamin’ around that thick cock.” 

at the reminder that he’s watched and witnessed you, multiple times, that he’s subscribed to you willingly and curiously, you clench down around him. you feel him twitch inside of you, groaning loudly as he falls closer to you, your legs falling to his waist. 

“you like knowing i was watching you?” he sneers, his hand reaching up and gripping at your face, squishing your cheeks and forcing a pout on your lips. your eyes nearly fucking cross as he rams into you, his fingers digging into your jaw. “you like that i fucked my fist every night to you? to your pretty cunt and your pretty noises and your pretty face— yes, good girl, that one.” 

your eyes do cross this time, spurred on by his words, your tongue peaking out through the small gap he allows with how harsh he’s gripping your face. he’s pushing out little mewls and cries from you, but otherwise, you quite honestly feel braindead. 

“fuck, you’re a gorgeous little slut,” he gasps. “all mine to fuck and use.”

you’re quick to nod rapidly, whining and moaning for him as you grip at his biceps. you’re choking on your breath as you struggle to keep up with him while he fucks you into the mattress, so fucking hard and rough that you’re sure there’ll be an indentation of you once you leave. you can feel your cunt gushing, and you can hear it too, squelching loudly with every thrust of his hips, every time his cock fucks into you. your skirt feels sticky and gross, and so does the rest of you, but you’ve never, never, felt this euphoric, this blissed out. 

your stomach tightens impossibly, the tension gradually increasing as your walls tightly squeeze and clench at his cock. slowly and surely, the pressure within you increases, your hands flying to hajime’s arm, the arm whose hand grips your face, which quickly moves to your throat at your simple gasping warning that you were close. 

“gonna cum, gonna cum, hajime, fuck!” 

he tightens his grip, pressing harsher on the sides of your neck as your eyes shut tightly, your head falling back once more. 

“yeah, come on, show me how pretty you look cumming on a real cock,” he whispers by your ear, using the hand that’s around your throat to lift up your head, before roughly pushing it back down, squeezing tighter. “you like it this rough?— shit, shit, you’re tightening.” 

you scream, voice cracking and broken as he slams into you again, his hips grinding against yours momentarily, pelvis hitting your clit— and you’re gone, thrashing in his hold, fat tears streaming down your cheeks as you sob and heave, your body shaking uncontrollably beneath him, hips shaking as your orgasm rocks through you. it’s not a few seconds later that he’s spilling inside of you, accidentally pressing his palm down against your throat as he cums, blocking your airway momentarily. 

“hngh,” he gasps deeply, cock twitching inside of you as he cums, hips barely grinding. you’re gasping, a little painfully, struggling to take in any air as he blinks dazedly, before he finally takes notice. “shit, shit, i’m sorry.” 

his hand flies away from your throat, and you inhale sharply, coughing lightly as air fills your lungs all too suddenly. the strength of this man, holy fuck. 

“i’m so sorry; are you okay?” 

chest still heaving, you fall onto the bed, body relaxing as you try and regulate your breathing. “s’okay, i’m okay,” you reassure him, hands reaching up to pat at his cheeks and comb through his messy, sweaty hair. 

he leans forward, pressing a kiss to your forehead, and it’s so endearing that you nearly forget he’s still inside of you. but you feel the shift of his cock, feel his cum slowly start to ooze out of your cunt, and he winces from the oversensitivity, shifting away to instead pull out of you. his soft cock falls from your cunt, a steady flow of his cum following. hajime has to physically resist from reaching out to fuck it back into you. 

“i’m sorry i wasn’t careful ‘nough with the—“ he makes a gesture with his hands around his neck, “—the choking.” 

you laugh lightly, tiredly, hands slowly caressing at his sweaty biceps. “stop apologizing,” you reassure him again, shrugging with a small smile as you add, “just be more careful next time.” 

his breath gets caught in his chest, and he only softly exhales when he falls on the bed, to your side, carefully repeating, “next time.” 

from beside him, you lift yourself up on your side on your elbow, palm cradling your head, trying your best not to wince in pain. “hajime?” 

he spares you a glance as he mumbles, “hm?” opting to stare at the ceiling and contemplate whether what had just happened was real life or not. 

“do you wanna do a video with me?” 

he all but chokes. 

end note; please this took me like 4+ hours. please please please don’t flop, and more importantly, i really hope i don’t disappoint. i know this has been a long awaited piece, so i’m praying and hoping you guys love it. 

love you all, mwah <3 

[hypmicdaydreams]

thank u for the answer :>

can i request fluffy snowball fight hcs with ichiro kuko and nemu plz?

Ofc! Just a heads up though, I currently don't write for Chuohku since I feel like I'm not able to portray them all too well given their very limited content, so I omitted Nemu if that's fine! I feel like I need a bit more practice on them, so I'm sorry! Regardless, tysm for the request and hope you enjoy 💕

snowball fight hcs w/ ichiro and kuko

-pairings: ichiro yamada x gn!reader, kuko harai x gn!reader

-genre: fluff

ichiro

you were certainly the one to evoke the fight in the first place, feeling rather playful and wanting to 'surprise' your boyfriend

and what better way than a face full of cold snow! fresh off the grass!!

he's surely surprised, wiping off the snow and taking a few moments to process what had just happened, though he breaks out into a grin long after

(the hearty laugh ichiro does not long after surely did warm you up on the inside)

"ah, so that's how you wanna do it"

but ichiro also wore a slightly mischievous smirk, knowing full well what this entailed. and given that you were somewhat taunting him with that smirk of yours as well, he knew he couldn't simply hold back

he's had his fair share of snowball fights, definitely, more so back when he and his brothers were younger. they always did start snowball fights unprompted, and well, not to brag or anything, but ichiro had a rather good winning streak going

he was a bit of a specialist when it came to this sort of thing, or so ichiro liked to think

wastes no time in throwing one back, forming the perfect snow ball in his hands and throwing it in a way you could only describe as an expert really

annnd a critical hit!

ichiro can't help but laugh at your startled reaction, rubbing away the snow from your eyes (even if he does ask immediately after if you were alright since, well, he can't help but worry lol)

"don't pick fights you can't win," he says teasingly, offering a piece of helpful brotherly advice

but when you attempt (and fail) at throwing another one his way, ichiro knew that it was a formal declaration of war

a poor decision on your end, really

like i said, ichiro's been in many snowball fights, so he certainly knows all the techniques and how to win

he's throwing more snowballs at you than you're able to even make them probably, scrambling to gather fistful of snow and try to at least have a chance at him

and man does he have some arm power. his throws are rather accurate and powerful. gosh, only ichiro could make something as soft and fluffy as snow hurt to an extent

though ichiro certainly does help you out, showing you how exactly to make the perfect snowball, so round and compact, and good enough to hold

lowkey is proud when you finally get the hang of it and throw one in his face afterwards lol

it continues for a while until the two of you tired yourselves out, filled with lots of warm laughter from pelting one another and fun

ah, it ends with the two of you laying in the snow and giggling, before he plants a quick and sweet kiss on your lips

y'know, sometimes it was nice to have some innocent and childish fun again

kuko

man, his reaction when you threw a snowball at him so out of the blue was the funniest you had seen

it had been a bit of a reflex honestly; there was lots of snow around as you helped kuko fix up the temple and all, and one moment you were playing with the snow, and the next you threw a handful at kuko so unexpectedly

"huh? what the hell was that for?!"

his brows are furrowed, and kuko gives a questioning (and somewhat of an irritating) look

honestly, his exclamation only makes the entire situation that much more entertaining, and you're laughing so hard right now at his glare, perhaps even throwing another one at him

and a perfect hit, right on the face!

"you look so pretty in white," you tease in between your fits of laughter as kuko wipes the snow off his face

clearly you've gotten him all riled up now, and kuko certainly wasn't going to let you just so casually pelt him with snow

this obviously meant a fight

he takes a handful of snow and just hurls it straight at you, merely cackling loudly if it hits you in the face as well, perhaps even making you stumble a little from the sheer power of his throw

ah, karma was good

(too bad it backfires as you throw another one while he's too busy laughing at you)

kuko hasn't been in too many snowball fights himself given that he often was alone at the temple and all; so he is a bit of an amateur at first

his throws, while certainly powerful, weren't all that accurate, and oftentimes, the snowball fell apart in his hands before he got a chance to throw

kuko easily gets annoyed if you keep hitting him while he was trying his hardest to form an effective enough snowball to throw at you, though as i said, he absolutely gets enjoyment out of hitting you in the face with one

there was no better sight than watching you wipe snow off your face, and kuko gets immense joy out of it lol

it goes on for a while really, and kuko is certainly having a blast, even if you were getting more hits on him than he was able to on you

it wasn't everyday he got to enjoy the snow, with you at least; and even if it was bitter and cold, his hands numb from holding the snow for too long, kuko did in fact love a good snowball fight

definitely ambushes you with one the next time around, if only to get back at you

well, kuko did enjoy seeing this playful and cheeky side of you

(if only he had got in more hits though)

[cappymightwrite]

do you think daenerys is an unreliable narrator? 

Hello!

That's an interesting question... but I think it's worthwhile setting out some definitions and requirements of the "unreliable narrator" before I get into my own opinion on the matter...

So, according to The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms, an unreliable narrator is:

A narrator whose account of events appears to be faulty, misleadingly biased, or otherwise distorted, so that it departs from the 'true' understanding of events shared between the reader and the implied author. The discrepancy between the unreliable narrator's view of events and the view that the readers suspect to be more accurate creates a sense of irony. The term does not necessarily mean that such a narrator is morally untrustworthy or a habitual liar (although this may be true in some cases), since the category also includes harmlessly naive, 'fallible', or ill-informed narrators. A classic case is Huck in Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884): this fourteen-year-old narrator does not understand the full significance of the events he is relating and commenting on. Other kinds of unreliable narrator seem to be falsifying their accounts from motives of vanity or malice. In either case, the reader is offered the pleasure of picking up 'clues' in the narrative that betray the true state of affairs. This kind of first-person narrative is particularly favoured in 20th-century fiction: a virtuoso display of its use is William Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury (1929), which employs three unreliable narrators—an imbecile, a suicidal student, and an irritable racist bigot. See also POINT OF VIEW.

It's worth pointing out that a key requirement of the unreliable narrator is that it's a first-person narration (though there's some counter-arguments that make a case for 2nd and 3rd), which asoiaf obviously doesn't fully ascribe to. So, if we're being technical — even though GRRM has used the term unreliable narrator to refer to Sansa and the 'Unkiss', for example — no-one in asoiaf can actually be viewed as such. There are internal, first-person thoughts included in GRRM's pov chapters, however, and that's where we find the possibility of an unreliable narrator and where GRRM refers to.

(Also interesting to note that William Faulkner is cited above as someone who utilises multiple unreliable narrators in The Sound and the Fury, and as we know... Faulkner is a key influence on GRRM.)

As mentioned though, Sansa Stark is a prime example that gets brought up a fair amount and interestingly her kind of unreliableness can be seen as very similar to the abovementioned example of Huck — like Huck, she's a child pov, who understandably is not equipped to fully understand the significance of her encounter with the Hound and his assault. But on the whole, is she an unreliable narrator? There's certainly aspects of her first-person narrative that are, but I think that's true of all the pov characters in general, particularly the younger ones, and falls somewhat into the oft talked about 'pov trap'.

The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms defines 'point of view' as:

The position or vantage-point from which the events of a story seem to be observed and presented to us. The chief distinction usually made between points of view is that between third-person narratives and first-person narratives. A third-person narrative may be omniscient, and therefore show an unrestricted knowledge of the story's events from outside or 'above' them; but another kind of third-person narrator may confine our knowledge of events to whatever is observed by a single character or small group of characters, this method being known as 'limited point of view' (see FOCALISATION). A first-person narrator's point of view will normally be restricted to his or her partial knowledge and experience, and therefore will not give us access to other characters' hidden thoughts. Many modern authors have also used 'multiple points of view', in which we are shown the events from the positions of two or more different characters.

From reading the above, it's clear that asoiaf uses the latter kind of third-person multiple pov approach with its characters, confining our knowledge to what they themselves know or witness, etc. This is also known as 'focalisation':

The term used in modern narratology for 'point of view'; that is, for the kind of perspective from which the events of a story are witnessed. Events observed by a traditional omniscient narrator are said to be non-focalised, whereas events witnessed within the story's world from the constrained perspective of a single character are 'internally focalised'. The nature of a given narrative's focalisation is to be distinguished from its narrative 'voice', as seeing is from speaking.

Every pov in asoiaf is a third-person 'focalised' pov, but with moments of focalised first-person narration in the form of internal thoughts. That I can say with some confidence.

But back to your question... is Dæny an 'unreliable narrator' imo? Well, are there aspects of Dæny's internal narration that are 'misleadingly biased'? Most likely, as she is a member of a certain politcal faction, but you could say the same of several characters, especially those tied to explicitly political plotlines, like Cersei for example. All the povs are biased to some degree anyway, therefore not strictly 100% reliable, such is their nature and why they work within the series.

Is she 'falsifying [her] accounts from motives of vanity or malice' though? No, I don't think so, not malice at least... exceptionalism, now that's another matter. There is a no small amount of hypocrisy to her storyline imo, but it's what makes her character compelling yet ultimately tragic. But I don't think she's an Alex DeLarge from A Clockwork Orange type of unreliable narrator by any stretch.

But you could make a case though that Dæny's view of Mirri's involvement in Rhaego's death is 'distorted' and therefore an instance where her first-person pov/internal narration is explicitly unreliable, since we hear the truth of it — that Jorah bringing her into the tent caused his death — prior to her then casting blame on Mirri. When GRRM is utilising unreliableness in his povs, I think he tends to drop the clues for his readers to pick up, add together and then come to the right conclusion... in other words, the truth will be introduced at some point, typically before, and then a character's perception, for whatever reason, will distort it, like with Sansa and her sense of self-preservation and the 'Unkiss'. Does that make sense?

So... do I think Dæny is an unreliable narrator? The ex English student in me would have to say no, because things are complicated by the presence of a third-person narrator within her pov, in addition to her internal narrative. Plus, I think she does have very powerful moments of true clarity about what she's doing and what her ultimate goals are — the gaining of and shoring up of power, the assertion and dominance of the (political) self, through conquest of the Iron Throne. Instead, like all the pov characters in asoiaf, she's someone with an 'internally focalised' point of view, but in her case, it's made all the more isolated, and therefore internal, by the fact that she rarely interacts with other pov characters.

You could actually see her hyper-focalised pov as therefore a reflection of her hyper-focalised ambition and determination, as well as her singularity, for better or worse... What will be interesting to see moving forward is how that focalised pov adapts, or reveals more about its perspective, as she comes into contact with other pov characters, such as Tyrion, and as she gets closer to Westeros.

Thanks for the ask! :)

[thefirstknife]

Help, I ran Garden of Salvation with some clan mates and i'm Experiencing Great Sadness about the Kentarch 3 again.

I haven't been following you since shadowkeep, and was wondering if you had some theories about what happened, because a lot is left unexplained, specifically about Lisbon-13's motivations. The story from Yardarm-4's perspective shows that something is influencing them before they accept power (stasis teaser?) from the darkness. Do you think they really had a choice? Do you think he was influenced in his decision to kill them? If so, why? As a test just for him? Presumably he's still out there somewhere, and I can't tell from the lorebooks whether Rekkana let him kill her first or not. I just feel so bad for them, they all loved each other. Yardarm probably took the power in the first place to help get them out safely. Do you think it'll ever get concluded? The whole lore series seems interestingly close to what happens with Shayura, just sort of in reverse.

Kentarch 3 fireteam and the whole story on the Garden of Salvation armour and the associated weapons and equipment is amazing and very interesting, I agree. I haven't talked about it before but it's a good thing to revisit every so often! I think there's still a lot we don't really understand, mostly due to not fully understanding the power of the Black Garden.

In short for the general audience, Kentarch 3 was a fireteam that consisted of Yardarm-4 (Titan), Rekkana (Warlock) and Lisbon-13 (Hunter). They went to explore the Black Garden at the behest of the Warlock order called the Cryptochrons which Rekkana was a part of. This order got exiled some time after Osiris for dabbling in prophecies. Cryptochrons were formed around a Oneiromantic Circle and led by a Sibyl (or multiple sibyls; or Sibyl was just a name of one member, it's unclear). Oneiromancy is the practice of interpreting dreams to predict the future and sibyls were ancient Greek female prophets and oracles.

I didn't think this would get long but it did so the rest under the cut:

The Cryptochron order continued operating after its exile and Rekkana received a prophecy from them that revolved around a fireteam learning about the Black Garden and retrieving from it a Vex relic of some sort. The relic is the exotic weapon Divinity and the lore tab on it details the prophecy they were chasing:

"And after any other Cryptochrons they learn of. But your path is more dangerous than most. The Circle has foreseen many fireteams following in your footsteps. You can find the knowledge the order seeks at the Tree."

"Can? Not will?" For the first time, Rekkana sounded concerned.

"The Circle has had limited success in piercing the veil that surrounds the Black Garden, so the order offers no certainties. They say that a group of Guardians will discover secrets about the origin of the Black Garden at the Tree. The Oneiromantic Circle foresees no reason why it will not be the Kentarch 3."

"Nor can I. But…?"

"There is another thread in the tapestry, entwined with this one. The Vex, or some fractal faction of them, worship or honor a… divinity there."

"The Black Heart? It was destroyed."

"Yes, but this is something different. An object. Something like a sacred relic. It is important to the Vex for reasons that we have not yet fathomed. The Circle has determined that it is dangerous—"

"A Vex weapon?"

"Perhaps," the Sybil sounded annoyed at the interruption. "Rekkana, the Circle concluded that it is a danger to you."

"To me? But then, why send me on this mission?"

"When the Circle dreamed of the object, you were beside it."

They agreed that, should they find this object, Lisbon should be the one to carry it. They did find it and he was indeed the one to carry it, as is shown later in another lore tab detailed below.

We know that Lisbon-13 killed the rest of his fireteam because they got corrupted by the Black Garden, something happened to their Ghosts (they all just dropped down and started losing their Light) and then turned on him. He was being hunted and he really had no choice. But he couldn't live with it. In Beyond Light, he's shown trying to kill his Ghost in order to stay permanently dead because he couldn't bear the burden of what he did to his fireteam, even though his actions were justified and he acted in self-defence.

But before he managed to do that, he was faced with his own doppleganger, just like the YW at the end of Shadowkeep. In the end, Lisbon didn't kill his Ghost because the doppleganger offered him power and Lisbon (presumably) chose to take it: his wish was simply to make himself forget about his fireteam (and Rekkana specifically, whom he loved). It's implied that he accepted and after that, we have no formal information what happened.

The outcome of what happened to Kentarch 3 is somewhat known, as detailed in this ship lore. The Vanguard knows Lisbon killed the other two, they're not sure when they lost their Ghosts and they have not found anyone's body, not even Lisbon's. But we know from the lore that came out after that Lisbon accepted the deal with his doppleganger and we have no idea what that entailed. Is he still in the Black Garden? Was he killed? Replaced? Just memory-wiped and sent back? Something else entirely? We'll explore at the end.

I'm pretty sure the voices they heard talking to them were also their own dopplegangers. And it's somewhat implied that they made some sort of a bargain and accepted "new powers" that came "from the wrong side." There's only one description of it:

Her fist glimmered and quaked with an unfamiliar power. She only had to release her grip, and that energy would rip through him, burning without fire.

That's Rekkana attacking Lisbon. It's never fully explained what it is, but it could very well be some sort of prototype Stasis in my opinion. Or some other Darkness power. Not sure why the Black Garden would give them this, which is why I think they simply harnessed the power of their dopplegangers. This is something that's been mentioned a few times in regards to Darkness: duplication. Same is present with the Taken as well (Taken psions duplicate). I mentioned the duplication theme being discussed in Clovis' journal before too.

Honestly, I can't make any definitive conclusion, but Kentarch 3 definitely found something horrifying in the Black Garden and fell to its influence. They also reference doing the puzzles to get Divinity, which they got and Lisbon used it to kill the other two.

Garden of Salvation raid ends with a Pyramid scale opening up and leading us down into the area with the Darkness statue. I think this could've easily been some sort of a lead into the future of Destiny and the powers of Darkness. Kentarch 3 may have accidentally received this power early on or were perhaps some sort of a test the Darkness did on Guardians before offering them Stasis for real.

It's an interesting story and yep, it does mirror Shayura's fireteam and how the story is told! Each member of the fireteam tells the same story from their own POV on armour for that class. I'll link all of them in order, roughly how I think it's best to read each POV:

Rekkana: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Yardarm-4: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Lisbon-13: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

I like how the armour follows the same name pattern: Righteousness, Exaltation, Transcendence, Ascendancy and Temptation.

Associated Garden of Salvation weapons also have some tidbits of lore that might help, namely:

Ancient Gospel Hand Cannon:

"These forces have existed forever, but only one of them speaks to us." —Rekkana, Warlock of the Kentarch 3

Sacred Provenance Pulse Rifle:

"These gifts were not made for us, but we were meant to have them." —Rekkana, Warlock of the Kentarch 3

Zealot's Reward Fusion Rifle:

"Why not use these gifts we've been given?" —Yardarm-4, Titan of the Kentarch 3

I would really like to learn more about them, and specifically Lisbon because he might be able to actually tell us what happened. He or his Ghost, Piri, who managed to survive last we've seen her. I think the Ghost might be able to give the most accurate version of events. It's interesting that Lisbon was very much against whatever power they received and that was the reason he abandoned his fireteam, which made the other two consider him a traitor to their friendship.

Very intriguing lore story that could possibly be mentioned again in some form. Also as a brighter note, yes, Yardarm literally flew into the Black Garden with an entire ship and crash landed inside. On a less brighter note, we've never seen the remains of a ship in there (to be fair, Black Garden is huge) and it's somewhat implied that they entered through the Vex Gate on Mars which puts the timeline of when they got there into question. The Vex Gate on Mars that led into the Black Garden was destroyed in the Red War. The new gate showed up on the Moon in Shadowkeep (and you can't fly a ship into it because it's in a cave).

An additional note which answers certain things when it comes to Lisbon's fate that I hinted at before: in order to acquire the quest for Divinity, you have to go to the Moon to the Vex Gate for the first time. The gate will open up and a Vex mind will come out. This giant Vex minotaur is called Zeteon, Redemptive Mind. Upon killing this minotaur, you receive "Divine Fragmentation" quest. Details of the quest here. You pick up a Vex core that has strange readings coming from it and you have to decipher it by running it through various Vex technology. Once fully completed, you have to go into Garden of Salvation, do the Divinity puzzles and the weapon will drop from the extra chest at the end.

Why am I mentioning this? Well. Zeteon, Redemptive Mind drops a core that contains information about how to get Divinity. Lisbon was the member of the fireteam that held Divinity and used it to kill his fireteam. There's a quote from Lisbon on the weapon called Accrued Redemption:

"I should never have let it come to this. Now each arrow is a penance." —Lisbon-13, Hunter of the Kentarch 3

Divinity's perks are called Judgement and Penance.

Basically, I believe that whatever deal Lisbon accepted that made him forget his fireteam, free him from the suffering and redeem him ended with him being converted into Zeteon, Redemptive Mind. It's the reason why this Vex in particular had the pieces needed to construct Divinity again. Lisbon was the last person who had it. Becoming the bearer of parts needed for Divinity was both his Judgement and his Penance.

Final note because I love ancient languages being used for the names of things in Destiny: "Zeteon" most likely comes from Greek "zeteo" which means:

to seek, search after, look for

to inquire into, examine, consider

to strive for, desire, wish

Probably tied to Lisbon's search and desire for redemption for what he's done. I think that wraps up his fate quite nicely, although tragically.

[juliabohemian]

oh dear

I have noticed a number of posts circulating which imply that ANY character being mean to Loki EVER and for ANY reason = abuse.

I will admit that I initially felt mostly irritation at what appeared, on the surface, to constitute such a complete and utter lack of critical thinking. What I’ve realized, though, is that people who make such posts definitely believe what they are saying. And like everything people do and say, there’s a deeper reason for it. The fact is, traumatized characters attract traumatized fans. And not all of those fans are in a good place, emotionally. And those people are perfectly valid, even if the conclusions they draw are not.

When it comes to fiction, good characters are complex. That means they are conflicted and flawed. They make mistakes. They lash out when they are afraid or hurting. They sometimes hurt other characters. Loki fits that bill very well. It’s one of the reasons he is so popular. Not just with traumatized people, but with people in general. He’s relatable.

The problem comes when fans relate to fictional characters, but really aren’t conscious of why, because they aren’t all that conscious of themselves. They haven’t done a whole lot of self-reflection. Maybe because they aren’t ready, because their trauma is too fresh. Or maybe they are still living in crisis and don’t have the freedom to self-reflect. Those possibilities are all valid.

But very often, when a person goes through trauma and doesn’t have the luxury (and yes, it is a luxury) of working through it, their reasoning skills can become flawed as a result. Trauma, especially childhood trauma, tends to have a negative effect on our ability to socialize and form intimate relationships, because it damages our ability to interpret the intentions of others. We call this hostile attribution bias.

The problem with hostile attribution bias, is that it makes it difficult to tell when people genuinely mean you harm. If a person’s words, actions, or facial expressions are ambiguous in any way, they will be interpreted as being hostile in nature. This keeps one on the offensive, constantly, always anticipating the next blow. Very often, no such blow is coming. But it doesn’t matter. Fear is real, and the experience of it is real.

It stands to reason that someone who struggles to interpret the intentions of real-life people would also experience the same difficulty with fictional characters. For instance, fans who identify with Loki because they perceive him as being a victim will have a hard time seeing him as anything else. Thus, anyone who harms Loki in any way is just further proof that the universe is against him and always will be.

This is referred to as an external locus of control. It means that a person sees life as something that is happening TO them, and that they are powerless to affect the outcome. It’s also important to note that people with this mentality struggle deeply to heal from their trauma. They are stuck in a sort of Groundhog Day scenario, living the same thing out over and over again. Because of their flawed perception, everything that happens to them feels like an extension of that initial trauma.

So, it would make perfect sense that a person with a history of trauma, who suffers from attribution bias, and who has an external locus of control, would be extremely uncomfortable watching anything bad happen to Loki. In fact, it would probably be traumatic for them.

And while their feelings and their experience of those feelings are 100% real, their perception of reality is not entirely accurate. In other words, what they think is happening is not necessarily what is happening.

Loki’s initial trauma, believe it or not, was just being abandoned as an infant. Even though he can’t remember it, that experience alone can result in lifelong emotional struggles. In real life, we refer to this as an attachment disorder. A person with an attachment disorder usually develops major issues with abandonment. They also suffer from (wait for it) attribution bias. And that bias absolutely affects their perception.

Loki’s next trauma was being raised in a dysfunctional family. Not only were they dysfunctional, but they weren’t a very good fit for Loki. Loki was a quiet, contemplative person. He was a thinker, an intellectual. He would rather read or do magic. So, not a good fit for Asgardian society. The combination of Loki’s initial trauma, with his inherent temperament, and his dysfunctional family is what led to the inevitable breakdown that is regarded as Loki’s “villain” arc. I’d like to point out that, in reality, such a person would have probably suffered a breakdown much sooner than that. Typically, prior to reaching adulthood.

Loki’s next trauma was encountering Thanos. Now, we have no idea exactly what happened between Loki and Thanos. We know only that it wasn’t good and that it resulted in Loki being absolutely terrified of him. Other than that, details are fuzzy. I think it’s fair to assume that whatever mistreatment Loki endured probably qualified as torture. Whether it was physical or psychological, we cannot know for sure.

While Loki’s Thanos-related trauma was NOT an extension of his family-related trauma, his decision to entangle himself with Thanos was a product of that trauma. By which I mean that his willingness to align himself with someone like Thanos came from a place of desperation, and a desire to prove himself to someone who he perceived as being qualified to validate him.

So, fast forward to the LOKI show. Our version of Loki never returned to Asgard in chains, was never told that it was his birthright to die, nor endured any gaslighting from Ragnarok-Thor. He never got his neck broken by Thanos. He never went through any of that. He arrived at the TVA, fresh off his failed attempt to take over planet Earth. He was all fired up and defensive, as anyone in his situation would probably be.

Now, here’s where we need to put our critical thinking caps on. Because, I hate to tell you this, folks...but unlike most of the Loki content we’ve gotten prior, this content is actually well written. It’s VERY well written. And while it might be tempting to respond to it with pure emotion, it is imperative that we don’t abandon all logic and reason. This show is not an extension of the gauntlet of trauma we’ve watched Loki endure since he first appeared on screen. The creative minds involved in this venture ALL care deeply about Loki’s character and want to see him succeed (whatever that means for him).

Enter Mobius. He’s a cog in a very big machine. He likes to think of himself as being more than that. He establishes a rapport with his boss in the hopes of distinguishing himself from his peers. His interest in his work is personal. He likes what he does.

From Mobius’ point of view, Loki is an asset. He has information that could help solve the bigger puzzle. But Mobius exists in a world that affords him access to multiple realities. He has probably met dozens of Lokis. And he has probably seen hundreds of people casually pruned or executed or reset. It’s just part of the world he happens to be in. And he doesn’t question it, because he has been brainwashed.

So, does Mobius attempt to manipulate Loki? Absolutely. Just another day at the office. And it works, because he knows Loki better than Loki knows himself, has studied him and other Lokis. And it’s hard not to be mad at Mobius for causing Loki pain. Especially when that is followed up by Loki eagerly taking Mobius up on his offer to help track down the other Loki variant.

I think some people might find Loki’s enthusiasm disconcerting. And there are certainly aspects of it that can be considered such. Loki, at his core, just wants to be told that he is doing a good job, that his contributions matter. That part of him is definitely a product of trauma. But is Loki motivated entirely by his trauma? Not really. Despite his manipulations, Mobius offers Loki the closest thing to warmth and compassion that he has seen for a while. Some of that is genuine and some of that is not. And faced with the reality that everything he knows is gone, Loki does what most people in his situation would do, he tries to be productive. He gets busy. He distracts himself. Because at the moment, little else is under his control.

Despite all of that, you simply cannot have compassion for Loki and none for Mobius. Because Mobius is a victim too. He was abducted from his own reality. He is living a lie. He is part of something that, upon deeper reflection, he realizes he doesn’t agree with. He is so very much like the Loki we first met in 2011. He is such a well-written and multi-faceted character, I thoroughly enjoy his on screen time with Loki.

But I understand that there are people who are not in a place, emotionally, where they can overlook such plot devices. And I sincerely hope that those eventually people find healing. In the meantime, let’s try to remember that this is a work of fiction. And unlike real-life trauma, when it becomes upsetting, we can turn it off and walk away.

[masterhandss]

Personally I don't see what you see in Geordo. He seems like such a scumbag to me and is the least likable charater in the whole series. He is always trying to get her alone to push her into things of a sexual/ more romantic nature without taking how she really feels into consideration. Like he "really wants her" and thats enough for him without caring what she really wants. Honestly he is the borderline non-con villian in my mind.

I mean, it's okay if you feel like that. To each their own.

Hmmm when I think about Geordo being sexually aggressive towards Katarina, I only really just think of the anime. The manga is a much more moe-fied and toned down version of the novels, and the novels does an okay job at balancing his desires for Katarina in all aspects. I'm not saying he doesn't have that trait in the other two mediums, I just think that they aren't as intense as the anime, so as someone who consumes all three versions I just tilt my head and go "huh." Of course I'm sure there are people who read the manga and novels that still feel uncomfortable about his behavior and that's valid too.

-> light novel spoilers ahead <-

tldr, there is a lot more going on to him than just someone who offers sweet words and questionable invitations to Katarina's ears, this may not be noticeable or acceptable to some people but we get to know more about how he thinks whenever the novels puts us in his point of view. You're free to dislike him as much as you want, but I like him & don't see him as a scumbag; and here's why:

I at least find it okay that Geordo is very serious about his pursuits for her because he is aware that she is dense and will not get it until you spell it in the sky. Everyone is just walking eggshells around Katarina hoping that the girl would just develop feelings for one of them to win the harem olympics. He knows that being dealt with a good card isn't enough, so he's actively taking action in order to win her heart. I mean I don't always agree with his methods either, like the "fait accompli" line or constantly inviting her to his room alone, but really, how much of that is something he really means to do vs how much of that is his excessive flirting + our minds assuming that he really means to claim her in that way?

Lines like that are really popular with japanese fans because it makes Geordo look "sexy" and "forward", which they enjoy in their fictional stories. He knows that his position gives him an advantage so he'll try to play his cards right and use it to increase his chances in victory.

It actually reminds me of a scene from the Hamefura StoryMe game, (don't really know how canon it is but I remember the JP ver. was advertised by @/hamhura) where Geordo indirectly asked Katarina how to woo a girl he really likes, and Katarina thinking he was referring to Maria, gives all the things he usually does in order to win her heart (visit her home, give her gift, dance with her in parties, be really forward about your feelings etc). I'm not saying Katarina approves of the ways Geordo attempts to win her heart, but there's some hilarity in knowing that Geordo already had and is constantly trying all the known ways to win over a girl in the world from a young age, and still has nothing to show for it. Like no awareness, much less any *feelings* lmao. So trying to make it obvious that he is interested in her romantically and sexually seems like the next logical step to him. I mean if you go by Geordo's logic and considering the time period this takes place in, he's pretty confident that he can get Katarina to love him back and they are engaged anyways so in his head he's in safe waters to attempt to make teases about such advancements if it gives him the smallest chance that Katarina would become at least aware of him through it.

Of course I know that stuff like that won't fly here in the real world, but maybe that's why I'm so lenient personally when it comes to his (debatably) sexual teases and advances, because it's a fictional story for a japanese audience. Doesn't mean I would approve any advances like that if it happens to me, it's just that it's hard to take his actions seriously when Katarina or the story doesn't take them seriously. Like, the girl would be pushed down to a bed by RufuSora and gives her a hickey and she still thinks the man is out for her blood.

He wouldn't even be entirely wrong, knowing the identities of the characters who Katarina knows has romantic interest in her in the novels, actions does speak louder than words when it comes to her. Like I said, whether or not Geordo really means what he says when the story teases the readers with sexual implications in his words and action depends on the reader in my opinion. They are there, I wont pretend they don't but I'd argue about the level of intent depending on what scene you're talking about.

The only scenes on the top of my head where he is very abrasive towards Katarina is the "fait accompli" scene, the Book scene form the anime (S1 EP8), saying he wants to lock her in his room (LN6) and the multiple times Geordo had invited her in his room at night alone (LN6 and LN8, i think).

I've already explained why I am okay with both Keith and Geordo's Book scenes from episode 8 of the first season because they are accurate representations of an exaggerated and unhinged versions of their desires towards Katarina so I won't bore you with those details again.

He mentioned in Volume 6 that he wants to lock Katarina in his room forever and keep her light to himself, which alarmed a few people when the book came out, but he said that in a moment where he feels super grateful and loving towards her because she knew how tired he was despite his fake face and without even saying anything. It was a moment where he felt so infatuated towards her that he wished the moment where he gets to rest in her arms would last forever, thus he made such a comment. I make it sound more dramatic than it was in Volume 6, it was just a quick comment honestly lmao.

For people who don't read the novels, that last part looks very sus and raises a few red flags I know, but to be fair we can't definitively say what his intentions are because Katarina never commits to those visits. Katarina has actually become wary of those invitations, because Keith and Mary have warned her that Geordo's intentions are sexual, but I'm not really trusting the word of the two people who are most distrustful and antagonistic to Geordo. They could be right, of course, but who can really say? We assume that they are correct because they care about Katarina and are wary of Geordo, but hamefura('s novels) is full of unreliable narrators anyways, it's not like Keith or Mary would consider the possibility of it being anything else because when it comes to the third prince they always fear the worst case scenario.

If you think about it, Geordo is probably aware that winning her over with a "fait accompli" won't work at all because it'll put him in a position that will make other people push him for the throne (which he doesn't want) or could ruin his reputation in high society if Katarina or her family react to it negatively. I'm not Geordo though, so I can't really say if he even have such fears and doubts in the first place, that's just my assessment based on the obstacles he has. On the outside he is really sure of himself and confident (which he arguably deserves) and on the inside he is very careful and insecure when it comes to Katarina.

Also like, spoilers but for someone who is very forward when it comes to his physical advances, Geordo is super weak when he is in the receiving end of those touches. He gets super embarrassed and easily flustered when its Katarina who is touching him, as if implying that to some extent that he's all just talk lmao.

I don't really agree that Geordo doesn't care about what Katarina feels at all, in fact his inner dilemma in the novels is that he doesn't know what to do because in every step he takes he might do something that could ruin his image in Katarina's eyes, be it pursuing or abandoning the throne or looking like a monster in front of her. He even halts his plans to make advances towards her during the Keith Kidnapping Arc, but threw it away because he knows how much finding Keith means to Katarina. He puts what Katarina want and doesn't want as his priority, so when what she feels is unclear that's when he acts on his own intuition. The only reason Geordo feels so confident to advance towards her sexually is because Katarina never rejected him before (because she doesn't know what they mean, and all of this is for the sake of simply making her aware in the first place)

I'm not trying to make anyone think that one has to read all the books in order to understand him, I think the manga does okay at conveying his feelings too. The anime really prioritizes on making him look "sexy" for the japanese female audience, so anything he does is sprinkled with spice whether we like it or not.

I'm sorry if it seems like I'm overanalyzing all his actions just to justify them, everyone has the right to be uncomfortable with his advances if it seems too much for you. It's just that his actions, while over the top and unnecessary, are done to please the type of audience that hamefura caters to, and it's hard to take him completely seriously when the story doesn't either in my opinion. Doesn't mean he's right or that any of it is okay, but it's his method of trying to put a dent on Katarina's bakashield. When you're in a race versus your friends who Katarina all loves equally, he's gonna use whatever card he can get in order to win.

I like Geordo; I like how much of his feelings for Katarina forces him to reexamine himself and realize that he isn't a perfect prince at all, that he has lots of problems and flaws that he needs to work out in order to be someone worthy of her. I like the way he falls more and more in love with her in every interaction they have because he finally gets to have a genuinely and caring interaction with someone. I like how Geordo wants to do better and be better for Katarina and the people around him, and he wants to be able to thank Katarina directly for that through being able to show his love. I like that despite how much of a chad he acts in front of her, he's a blushing mess at the thought of Katarina returning his feelings. I find it funny when his "sexual advances" fails and gets thwarted because he's trying them on the densest person and most protected lady to ever live. I like how Geordo is so head-over-heals in love with her and how much comfort and warmth she brings to him by simply being her caring and bubbly self.

I guess it's just a matter of different perspectives. If you find him unlikeable or a villain, then you do you. I try to explain why I personally excuse his actions, but I know it wont fly with everyone. We all see each character differently and absorb the material in different ways. In fact it's probably a bad idea for me to defend him with material that isn't the anime nor manga yet lmao. I mean I'm not that much of a fan of Mary anymore, and I'm kinda scared and wary of her, but I know people don't see her the way I do and I'm okay with that.

Maybe its just me, who is the kind of person who just goes with the flow and doesn't think too hard because it's all fiction anyways

It's hard to tell all this from simply watching the anime, so I laid all my feelings down in hopes that someone out there would understand why I like him so much.

Thank you for the ask, you can ask more questions or call me out if I said anything insensitive or wrong, I know a lot of this is me overanalyzing things which might look like I'm jus stretching. As someone who is aware of the things to come in Hamefura X, I can say that I am both excited and nervous as to how everyone will react for the direction of Geordo's character.

[gladerwolfstarkimagines]

Tea Shop Part One - Zuko x female reader series

Imagine being an air acolyte searching for the avatar in Ba Sing Sei and instead finding yourself working beside the dragon of the west and the banished prince of the fire nation, but of course you know them as Mushi and Lee. From the start you and Zuko clash, you hate his angry rude attitude and he hates how often you call him out on his poor behaviour. Your dislike grows until it’s almost unbearable and then his life is suddenly placed in your hands. After that and things change...

Part two here

Part three here

Part four here

(Note, in the readers view Zuko = Lee and Iroh = Mushi but when it’s from Zuko’s or Iroh’s pov they will be Zuko and Iroh. Hope that’s not too confusing!

Prologue: You were descended from air benders and were one of the last air aceloytes in the world. Your family was not in the air nation when the fire nation attacked a century ago, by luck your grandfather was in Omashu. When he heard the news he was devastated but crippled with fear he stayed and hid in the Earth kingdom. He married your grandmother and tried to assimilate into the earth kingdom. Your grandparents were terrified of the fire nation and therefore keeping the air nation traditions alive was not something they were focused on. So by the time you were born only your Uncle Pathik made an effort to keep the air nation traditions alive, even becoming a monk to devote himself to the cause. Your family was under the belief if they kept quiet the fire nation wouldn’t find them but of course they did. The fire nation arrested your family for the suspicion of practicing air bending, despite the fact none of you could actual airbend. The association enough was worth a life long imprisonment and so your family we’re shipped away to the deepest prison known. Your father managed to smuggle you out of the city but he wasn’t so lucky. You were devestated but after your escape headed to the only family you had left, your eccentric uncle’s home at the eastern air temple. You managed to avoid warrants for your arrest with shows of earth bending, a skill inhertited by your grandmother. Fire nation guards couldn’t comprehend someone being an air aceloyte and an earth bender and so the gift saved your life. You finally tracked down your uncle and decided that day to dedicate yourself to the air nation in spite of the fire nation. They’d taken your family but they wouldn’t take your culture. You asked your uncle to teach you all he knew and worked hard to become an air acolyte like your grandfather. It all seemed pointless, you and your uncle against the whole fire nation and then you heard the avatar was back. You made it your mission to find him and help him rebuild the air nation. You told your uncle your plan and he told you to go to Ba Sing Sei, always allusuive, he told you nothing more than you’d find what you needed there and so you set off. You expected to find the avatar quickly but had been there a whole year with no sign of him. You we’re giving up hope you’d ever find him and you’d be stuck working as a waitress in the lower ring forever when two new staff members changed that.  

Your POV

You showed up for your shift at the tea shop to find your boss had finally hired some more staff. You were thrilled and eyed the two newcomers with interest as your boss discussed the basic tasks with them while you ran the tea shop, eventually the tour brought them to you and you were introduced. "This is my main waitress" your boss said to the two men "y/n these are your two new coworkers". You nodded looking them over, the older man smiled at you but the younger one stared at the ground, or more accurately glared. He definitely did not seem pleased to be here. "Nice to meet you" you offered and the old man smiled and told you his name. You looked to the younger one expectantly and the man nudged him. "’I’m Lee" he replied flatly barely glancing at you. “Well welcome” you smiled and Mushi smiled at you but the boy, Lee, didn’t even look at you. “Now on with the tour” your boss cried and you watched Mushi talk to him while Lee sulked. Great your new co-worker was a pouty angry teenager. He’d be fun to work with.  

1 week later

Your prediction was true, you were an easy going person who could usually get along with anyone...expect this new boy. The boy was miserable and moody. He was inconsiderate and obviously didn’t work well in teams. His customer service poor and his tea making skills only just adequate. The fact he was so rude prompted you to mess with him, rude people were fair game as far as you were concerned and so you made sure not to help him. If the waiter couldn’t show common courtesy than neither would you. This resulted in a lot of shared glares and bickering between the two of you. You knew it went against your air nomad roots to pick on people but when the person was a moody rude immature man who never got your name right, surely the monks saw that as an exception right?

You arrived at the tea shop for your afternoon shift and saw Lee was leaving. That was nice. Things between you had gotten worse over the past week and shifts with him were almost unbareable. Being mean didn’t come naturally to you but something about this man made your blood boil. Lee noticed you come into the shop and held out an apron to you. Suprised you went to take it when he dropped it on the floor with a laugh. You rolled your eyes at him and snatched it up off the floor. Lee smirked and you glared. You watched him place his belongings on the counter as he prepared to leave, something you’d told him not to do many times as it wasn’t sanitary and got an idea. A glass of water was also on the counter and you smirked, because your manager was such a cheapskate the counter was made of earth. You flicked your hand and knocked the glass over onto Lee’s stuff. Lee cried out and groaned as it soaked his bag and coat. Lee looked around and caught you smiling. “You....” he started when Mushi appeared “y/n I need three jasmine teas”. You nodded “on it” and grinned at Lee’s angry glare that was glued to you as you walked past him.

Iroh’s POV

Iroh noticed Zuko pouting about something and paused as you left to go make the tea like he’d asked. Zuko was angrily shaking his jacket and Iroh frowned “Lee are you...”. “She! She is the worst! Did you see what she just did to me” Zuko cried holding his bag out to Iroh who frowned. The bag had a tiny wet stain. “Ow yes this is very serious...the sun might not even dry it before you reach home!” Iroh cried. Zuko rolled his eyes “y/n did this! Did you know she’s an earth bender?”. “No but we are in the greatest earth city in the world...it’s not suprising”. “She can’t treat me like that” Zuko carried on ignoring Iroh’s comment “she can’t get away with this, who does she think she is?”. “Hasn’t she told you numerous times not to put your stuff on the counter?”. “She...I don’t know! I don’t listen to her! She’s always telling me how to do stuff like i’m a...”. “New employee?” Iroh asked with a smile and Zuko scoffed. “This is ridiculous i’m sick of this” and he stormed from the tea shop. Iroh laughed and glanced to where you stood serving customers, you’d certainly gotten under his nephew’s skin and it was entertaining if nothing else.

Your POV

When the afternoon rush finally died down you got a chance to chat to Mushi. Thank god he was nothing like his nephew, there was a down side though. Despite not be liked him he loved talking about his nephew and seemed to constantly mention him to you, like today. “Y/n do you think you’d be able to work the late shift with me tomorrow night?" he asked "it was supposed to be Lee’s shift but he has a date". "Really?" you asked more than fairly suprised, "is it that girl who’s always in here?". Mushi nodded "yes!" and you laughed "i knew it! She asked for Lee to serve her even though his waiter skills are awful!". Mushi laughed "love is blind, she’s hopefully seen past his moody exterior to the man he is beneath” Mushi smiled at you but his hint went right over your head. "I can cover his shift" you agreed and Mushi grinned "Thank you y/n!". You told him it was fine and smirked, just the idea of Lee on a date was enough to make you laugh.

2 days later

You probably shouldn’t have offered to work that late shift for Mushi when you were opening in the morning too but you needed the money so you dragged yourself out of bed way earlier than you would’ve liked. The idea of teasing Lee about his date motivating you and when you saw him waiting outside the tea shop you smirked. "Morning" you called loudly making him jump. He swore and you smirked unlocking the door. "It’s your shift?” he complained “why are you always here?". "Because i work here idiot" you said going to roll your eyes before you calmed yourself, Lee wouldn’t ruin your good mood...or stop you teasing him about his night out. "So how was the date?" you asked smirking. Lee didn’t look at you, he didn’t even show he’d so much as heard you. It made him so much harder to annoy when he didn’t respond so you tried again. "Hey i covered for you I expect some payment" you informed him but he just shrugged "i didn’t ask you to cover for me". "Yeah but i was still the person who did so you could run around on a date" you said annoyed. The man always managed to do this, you’d start messing with him and come off angrier than him somehow. Lee only shrugged "not my problem" and you glared. Your good mood was slipping.

All day Lee’s attitude annoyed you more and more. He was in a worse mood than ever and it showed. He was rude to customers, he mixed up orders and refused to correct them, he spoke back to you when you were only trying to help him. So by the end of your shift you were ready to strangle him. When Mushi and another worker showed up to relieve you, a sigh of relief escaped without you even realising. You let all your anger go, prepared to move...and then you turned around and tripped over the rubbish bag you’d asked Lee to take out 3 times. From your crumpled position of the floor you spotted him already ready to leave and your anger flared back up. You marched to him and pressed the bag into him “here”. “Why would I want this?” he asked and you glared “it’s the rubbish you forgot to take out”. “I didn’t forget I just didn’t want to” he shrugged and you twitched. “Wow that’s a great attitude, take it outside now”. “No, you’re not my boss, you can’t tell me what to do”. He opened the back door and sauntered out and you followed him seeing red. You threw the bag at him hitting him on the shoulder and let out an angry groan. “What’s your problem?” you cried. “What’s your problem” Lee replied squaring up to you but you wouldn’t back down. “My problem is you’re an awful waiter and an intolerable human”. “Wow that hurts me so much” Lee said sarcastically and you balled your fists. “What is wrong with you?” you called “nobodies making you work here, if it’s so awful find another job! It’s not my fault you’re miserable all the time so stop acting like it is!" you yelled "you’re mad at the world? Well get in line! Nothing gets better by you acting like a jerk but if you hate it here so much leave!" and you slammed the door in his face.

Later that day

Your day hadn’t gotten much better as it went on but the end was finally in sight. You'd just finished your shift at a nearby restaurant you also worked at when you noticed two men fighting. You frowned but turned the other way. Sure it wasn’t the noble thing to do but you'd learnt to only seek trouble in certain situations and in back alleys at night was not one of those moments. The trouble apparently didn’t want to leave you alone however and you heard sounds telling you the fighting was following you. Suddenly one of them crashed past you, the other following with a sword. You glared and then gaped to see Lee was one of the men fighting. It didn't suprise you he’d be in a street fight but to be fair he seemed to be the one getting attacked. Shocked you watched, impressed by how skilled the two men were. Lee was obviously not a tea maker and according to the other guy he was actually a fire bender.

The man managed to disarm Lee and he smirked. "you’re defence less, you’ll have to firebend to stop me doing this" and swept his sword towards Lee. Lee closed his eyes unable to get out of his grip and just accepted the swing. You couldn't. Call it the airbender roots in you but you wouldn’t watch senseless violence and just do nothing, even for someone as annoying as Lee. "No" you shouted and sent a rock hurtling towards the man. You knocked him off Lee and stepped forwards "leave him alone". "Who’s this your body guard?" the boy asked and you raised an eyebrow "actually i’m a waitress". Lee stood beside you and you both faced the attacker when you heard yelling. Suddenly two Dai Li agents arrived and looked between you and Lee to the boy. "What’s going on here?" they asked and you turned to them. You’d gotten pretty good at maniuplating the authorities in your hidden life so knew how to play the Dai Li. “Officers thank god you’re here! This man attacked me and my friend for no reason, he was going to hurt him so i had to earth bend! I didn’t mean to hurt anyone I swear". "She’s right" a man who’d been watching called and the Dai Li fixed their eyes on the other boy. He tried to resist but they forced him into a cart and it disappeared down the road. "I’m sorry this happened to you" the agent told you and Lee "please go on and enjoy your night". You and Lee nodded and turned to walk away, when you were out of ear shot Lee spoke. "You didn’t have to help me" he started and you rolled your eyes sick of this and started to walk away. "No!" he said catching you up "i didn’t mean it like that, i just meant...after today i figured you hated me". "I don’t hate anyone" you replied "but you come pretty close sometimes". You thought his mouth almost curved into a smile and he nodded. "What were you doing out here?" he asked "and are you in a uniform". "I work at a restaurant near here" you explained. "You have two jobs?". "Three" you said embarassed "rent’s hard". Lee nodded his head down and you were pleased he didn’t give you sympathy. "I’m not you know" he said suddenly and you frowned “what?”. “A firebender...i’m not one" he clarified. "I wouldn’t care if you are" you shrugged and Lee frowned "really i assumed because of your..." and he trailed off. "Because of my what?" you asked turning to face him and Lee paled. He looked to your arm without meaning to and you knew he’d seen the scar that lay there. "i didn’t mean to, your sleeve was pushed up the other day..." he rushed to explain reading your expression "’i’m sorry for mentioning it". You touched your arm self consciously, the place where your burn crisscrossed it and frowned. A fire nation solider had give it you on your trip to the eastern air temple, he was annoyed your earth bending proved you couldn’t be the run away air acolyte and so he burned you as punishment.  "It’s okay" you said after a while "but no it doesn’t change things, i don’t blame all firebenders just because one burnt me". Lee looked shocked at that and you got a feeling he didn’t have that same view about the person who burnt him. "It doesn’t matter to me if you're a fire bender or the earth king himself, we’re all just human". Lee paused suprised to hear you say something so philosophical and nodded. "’I’m sorry, for earlier not this" he said softly "i have been...difficult". "Just difficult?" you asked and he shot you a glare. "Sorry...you were saying?". He sighed and glanced back at you "i’m working on my anger" he told you "i’ll try and be less of a jerk". "I’ll believe it when i see it" you replied but smirked to let him know you were joking.

You walked the rest of the way in silence and reached the tea house quickly. Mushi was cleaning up damage that must’ve been caused by the fight but dropped his broom when he saw Lee. “Z..Lee you’re okay” he cried rushing over “what happened?”. “It was fine, y/n helped me and Jet was arrested”. “You helped him?” Mushi asked smiling between you both and you and Lee rolled your eyes simultaneously. “It was nothing” you said quickly “i’d have done it for anyone”. You thought Lee’s eyes narrowed at that comment and so quickly added “but i’m glad you’re okay”. Lee looked at you suprised but nodded “thanks”. You nodded awkwardly and turned “so i’ll be going home, see you guys tomorrow”. “Bye y/n and thanks again” Mushi called after you.

Zuko and Iroh’s POV

As soon as you were gone Iroh smirked at Zuko “so...the two of you seem to have bonded”. “Don’t” Zuko replied pushing past him. Iroh’s smirk grew as he noticed the slight blush on his nephews cheek, he knew he’d sensed chemistry there. Thank god the two of you finally were realising it too.

____

I made a new Zuko series! I always love how angsty and stroppy season 2 Zuko was so thought I’d write a series around that. Hope you like it!!!