#to save 2 people who have treated him so terribly

[praetorqueenreyna]

You're telling me that Tamlin showed up and saved Feyre's raggedy traitor ass completely unprompted midway through ACOWAR and ppl still have the NERVE to say he is irredeemable???

[charlotteking23]

The Lion's Lamb - Chapter 5 - MV1/33

Max Verstappen x reader

The Lion's Lamb Series: Aesthetics, Ch.1, Ch.2, Ch.3, Ch.4, Ch.6, Ch.7

You were not the one to complain.

You knew the life you lived was one many dreams of having. As an American, you grew up hearing stories about the American Dream, but your dreams lay elsewhere.

The United States had beautiful places, cities, and people, but you felt your inspiration was elsewhere. So you left.

Your family wasn't happy about your plan, but if leaving was what made you happy, who were they to stop you?

For a year, you traveled around Europe, taking in the art and culture at every stop. Once you saw Monaco for the first time, you knew it would become your new home.

Moving there would cost money, and it was not in the price range of a struggling, traveling artist.

You had saved up as much money as possible, yet you still couldn't afford to buy, let alone rent an apartment.

You stayed not far outside the city-state and would often travel into Monaco when your work required it.

In doing so, you meet your saving grace and your worst nightmare: Amelia.

Amelia is your roommate. You often like to believe she is the devil reincarnated, but never voice your opinion because of what the girl's father is doing for you.

Amelia came from a prominent British family and her father, Michael, was a financial genius, making her more than well-off in life.

But the girl herself knew nothing of hard work, having had everything handed to her on a silver platter.

This caused her to become poisoned to the core in your opinion. She was a gorgeous girl, but her personality was nothing but ugly.

Many ask the young American girl, Why? Why would you live with someone you thought was terrible?

Getting a decent price rental in Monaco isn't the easiest. Most places are not affordable for a person in your income bracket, and the apartment complexes you could afford were designated for Monegasque citizens only.

And you haven't yet met the requirements to become a citizen. The young American girl met Amelia at an art show where she was being featured in Monaco.

Well, you had initially met the British girl's father, Michael, when he bought one of her pieces being displayed that night.

The two had immediately hit it off and it wasn't long until he offered you a room in his flat in Monaco.

They had developed a relationship, but not one many would expect from an older man and a younger girl.

He had seen you as a daughter and had hoped that in offering you a place to stay, your hardworking and sweet nature would rub off on his daughter.

Once you had moved in, Amelia immediately started bullying and belittling you. You couldn't figure out why you were being treated this way, but the British girl held a slight jealousy towards the younger girl.

Her father gave you a lot of attention and she knew that he wished you were his daughter rather than her.

You put up with her terrible behavior because her father was doing you a favor out of the goodness of his heart.

You had tried to make herself feel better about being there for free and tried to reduce the British girl's attitude towards you by cooking and cleaning, but that made it seem like you were the older girl's maid, and so you were treated as such.

Max had arrived home in the early hours of Monday morning. Usually, he would have gone out and celebrated his win with his team, but not this time.

Getting back to you, which was stuck in his mind, has become the most important thing to him.

Those around him didn't think twice about Dutchman, not attending the after-party, knowing, that even though he won, he always thought he could do better. This is mainly just due to his father. 

Jos Verstappen wasn't a good man and everyone knew that. He was an even worse father.

At a young age, he had drilled the idea into his son's head that there would always be someone better. 

"You will never be good enough," were the words that echoed through Max's head. 

He'd never been praised by his father, even after he won his first world championship. There was never a good job out of his father's mouth.

Because of this, the young driver had pushed himself. Not take a break, rarely celebrated, and devoted all of his attention to racing. Until now at least. 

Christian Horner knew the Dutchman better than most. He knew Max's parents and knew that the lack of childhood the boy had, had affected him greatly.

Don't get it twisted, most F1 drivers never had a normal childhood like everyone else, but Max's was much more extreme.

While the younger driver's father was present in his life, he still lacked the paternal figure he needed, and Christian filled that void. 

While it wasn't obvious to anyone else, the Redbull principal knew there was a certain pep in the driver's step after the race.

Usually after a race, Max is often seen with his head, buried in screens, analyzing every turn, every overtake, just trying to see what he needed to do to improve.

This time, that wasn't the case. Instead of immediately analyzing his race, he instead called someone.

No one had ever been able to take the driver's attention away from his job.

This immediately caught the attention of the British man.

He had seen the slight smile and the way his eyes lit up when speaking on the phone from across the paddock. He figured this wasn't just anyone Max was talking to, he knew this person had to be special.

The team principal knew how much stress his driver had been under recently, so to see him smile, even just a small one, made him extremely happy.

With how quickly the driver took off after their meetings, Christian knew there was a special someone in the young man's life.

The only hope was that this unknown girl brought the Dutch driver, the happiness he truly deserved. 

Early Monday afternoon, you received a text from your blue-eyed man.

7 PM dinner. I'll pick you up.

The text itself was straightforward and assertive, causing you to bite your lip and nervousness and excitement.

You were happy, though that he was true to his word about seeing you again. You just didn't expect it to be the day he came back home from a work trip.

You quickly responded with your address. You weren't the type to send your address to someone you had just met, especially someone she didn't know well, but this was different. Max was different

6:45 PM, and the knockhead resonated throughout the large apartment.

You quickly raced over to the front door, not only to keep your roommate away from the man who had caused your heart to skip a beat but also because you had missed him and couldn't wait to see him.

It was a strange feeling for you to miss someone, you barely knew, but you couldn't help it.

You knew he had been waiting on the other side of the door and you needed a moment to completely gather yourself. Your heart was racing as you wiped your clammy palms on the side of your dress.

You threw open your front door without a second thought, afraid that if you stood there any longer without opening the door, he would leave.

There he stood, on the other side of the door the most beautiful man, in your opinion, you have ever seen. He was wearing a white button-up, a simple blue blazer, and black slacks.

He emanated old money, and it wasn't a bad look on him at all. In his hands though, was a bouquet for the beautiful pink tulips.

You couldn't believe this man wanted to go out on a date with you.

"Hi," Max breathed out, holding out the flowers towards the girl in front of him, "these are for you."

In the blink of an eye, you had thrown yourself into the Dutchman's arms. He was surprised at this but responded to the hug almost instantly. Burring his face in your neck, feeling like, for the first time, he had finally found a home in your arms.

"I've missed you," the muffled voice said as your face was still buried in the driver's chest.

Chuckling, he pulled away regretfully and grabbed your chin tilted up towards him, "I've missed you, too, a little lamb."

Grinning, you looked down at the flowers in Max's hand before taking them, "these are beautiful."

A smile was plastered on your face as you walked inside to put the flowers in the vase. Max, followed after you but continued to linger in the entranceway, not wanting to intrude.

He watched as you continued to rummage through every single cabinet, trying to find a vase, or anything similar, so you could display the beautiful flowers.

You had been through all the cabinets before you finally sighed, realizing you'd have to go ask Amelia where they were. 

"Sorry," You had told the man in your doorway with an apologetic smile, "I have to ask my roommate where we keep the vases". 

Max had smiled back at you, reassuringly, not minding all as you walked down the visible hall before turning to face a closed door. Curiosity filled the man's mind as he watched his little lamb's entire body change.

Your shoulders had dropped, your steps had slowed, and the excitement you had held in your body just moments ago had completely evaporated.

He had found the answers he needed when he had overheard the conversation between you and your roommate. 

"Amelia," You said softly while knocking on the older girl's door.

"What!" the older girl responded with such harshness, that you were questioning how badly you needed the vase. 

"Do you know where the vases are?"

"God," the girl said exasperated and her words dripping with disgust, "How a

re you so fucking stupid that you can't find a simple thing like a vase?!"

"Sorry," you said meekly and started to turn away before you heard a voice that stopped you. 

"They're on top shelf in the cabinet above the fridge," Amelia stated. 

With a quick thanks, you quickly walked back to the kitchen, found the vase, and displayed the flowers, before telling Max you were ready to go. They left quickly after that. 

The ride to their date location was quiet. Usually, there was never any awkward tension between the two, but now, the car was filled with it.

You couldn't stop your hands from fidgeting, especially after noticing Max's hands white-knuckling the steering wheel as he drove. 

"We don't have to go on this date if you don't want to," You had finally broken the silence, not being able to sit there anymore, "I'm sorry if I did something wrong. I understand if you don't want to be around me anymore, you can just drop me back off if you'd like."

Before you could get another word out, Max quickly pulled the car over to the side of the road.

You thought that he didn't want to see you anymore, and he had pulled the car over as an indication that you should get out. Your eyes had started to water and your heart started to break. 

The Dutchman's head had whipped around to look at you so quickly, you were surprised he didn't get whiplash, "What are you talking about? Why would I want to drop you back off?"

"Well," You had started to play with your hands again, " you seem mad at me for some reason."

"Why would I ever be mad at you?" Max questioned with a soft voice. 

"Because I made you wait while I found a vase."

"Little Lamb," he had taken your hand in his, causing you to look up at him with those gorgeous eyes he adored, "I could never be mad at you."

"You're not mad?" You asked.

"I am mad, but not at you. Your roommate. The way she spoke to you had pissed me off. You never should be spoken to that way, no matter what."

Max had reached his hand up to caress your cheek softly. He wanted to make sure you knew that his anger wasn't directed at you.

He had been so upset with the way your roommate spoke to you, that he chose to keep his anger to himself instead of lashing out at you and possibly scaring his little lamb. In doing so, he hadn't realized that his sweet girl thought he had been upset with you.  

"You're beautiful, my little lamb," Max says, "Both inside and out. Please don't ever doubt yourself or my feelings towards you. 

A blush had erupted across your face, along with a shy smile. His words were nothing but sincere and you knew that. He quickly pulled you closer and left a quick kiss on your forehead, before turning back to the front of the car and continuing on their way. 

Max made sure to hold your hand the rest of the way. 

Taglist: @shelbyteller, @smithieandy, @fangirlforever2000, @herexpertcollector, @vip-access, @genevieve-blr

[nasgard]

I wouldn't have minded Viren's death the way it happened if it had occurred later. Maybe in the final season, but here it unfortunately left me feeling betrayed and disappointed.

I know the intention was to show that he was finally being completely selfless and humble, sacrificing his own life to save the people of the kingdom. But the way it happened, the journey leading up to his death, just seemed cruel and unfair to me. Especially when I think about everything that happened in his life.

First, we know that his journey to darkness began precisely because he used dark magic to save his son's life. He used dark magic to save others and to serve the king. In other words, he spent his entire life destroying his own body and soul to save other people's lives, to feed the people of two entire kingdoms because somehow their rulers were incompetent to do so in the first place. So, once again, he destroys his body and soul and ends his life to save people who are okay with dark magic being useful to them once again but still continue to hate whoever uses it.

Moreover, he is forced into this when he said he wouldn't do it anymore, when he finally felt free from it. And he dies repeating that he is a servant. Again, I understand the intention of showing that he is no longer selfish and power-hungry, but when I remember that his hunger for power came from the insecurity of being someone without importance and value, seeing him die saying that was very sad. As if he, a servant, could never be anything else.

So, no, I didn't like Viren's ending as it was done.

Honestly, I find myself wishing he had died at the end of Season 3 because it feels like all his development in the last two seasons was thrown away and served no purpose. Because if Viren remained dead and Claudia still chose to follow Aaravos, Soren doesn't discover the truth, then what was the point of bringing Viren back to life? What was the point of him being, as far as we know, the only person ever resurrected? What was the point of him being able to see a vision of himself from the future and the past? Why did he have visions of Aaravos' mirror? And his constant visions with Claudia? That obvious connection to the Star Arcanum served no purpose?

Besides, knowing the true reason for Aaravos' revenge plans simply makes the way he dealt with Viren, Claudia, and Sir Sparklepuff in the last three seasons very, very strange. And here, I'm not judging the character but the writers who crafted this confusing plot. Because noticing the similarities between Viren's and Aaravos' stories, I don't see why Aaravos didn't reveal that to Viren. I know that if he had treated Viren as he did in Seasons 2 and 3, he would have convinced Viren to stay on his side. But instead, Aaravos pushed Viren to a complete breakdown, to the point of wanting to give up dark magic.

And what was that about Lissa not wanting to shed a single damn tear to save her own son? Honestly, the revelation that Viren had to pull her hair to get the tear to save THEIR SON, when Viren had already made the greater sacrifice with his own body and soul, didn't make me mad at Viren, it made me mad at her. She even abandoned the kids afterward, and Viren is the only terrible parent here?

All that being said, Viren was my favorite character because he was the most complex, the most real, and the best written. With him dead, I've lost interest in continuing to watch the show, which is really a shame.

[snowblack-charcoalwhite]

I think the best indicator of "love" is screen time and development the characters are getting. Aemond is definitely not loved, perhaps not even liked by this team. He was sidelined in s1 after Driftmark as well, the show never explored the aftermath for him, ignored his trauma, barely showed relationship with his mother etc. But in s1 Aemond was still a compelling character who stood on his own, now in s2 they write him like an afterthought, it feels like they would have left him off screen if he wasn't needed for the plot, they don't develop him, but the audience sees him occasionally so people remember he exists. His sole reason to exist is to be a worse version of Daemon who gets the same character traits except for Daemon's depth and interactions.

It really sucks and imo it also hurts Ewan as an actor, because after all the hype and PR he got, people had their expectations only to see that he was heavily sidelined for... literally everyone else. And now people are criticising Ewan's acting, but what is he supposed to do when his appearances are so short and he isn't given any meaty scenes? Like you can't seriously compare Tom and Ewan's material yet people do this and say Ewan is a bad actor. Olivia's sad eyes are constantly on screen, it's getting tiresome and repetitive, but hey, they need her to have a chance at Emmys. Same with Emma and Matt, they'd rather show Daemon walking around for 10 minutes then give Ewan an extra second. The battle of Rooks rest could have been his moment, but no, it's Fabien who gets the spotlight out of the Greens. Anime villains can't show any emotions apparently! Aemond can only appear on screen for 2 minutes per episode max. This is downright disrespectful, HBO used Aemond and Ewan for promo, tricked fans into thinking Aemond will have a prominent role, but the show treats Aemond and Ewan terribly. People on social media say they want to watch HOTD just for Aemond because he looks cool and I almost want to say it's not worth it because he is barely on screen lmao. And the writing is awful. The showrunners and HBO had an iconic character in the making but they're boring morons.

Hello!

I have to agree on the point about the complete and utter disrespect with which HBO and the writers have dealt with Aemond and Ewan this season. Actually, basically all of the characters have been subjected to the exploitative treatment and used to either push the show's agenda in a very crude, dumbed down form or to straight out bait the audience to gain more views. Olivia plays a double part of "a terrible mother"/"a victim of patriarchy" (to make Rhaenyra look better/to hammer home the "women good men bad" point) with a default "I'm about to cry" face (she even kind of joked about it herself during one of the promo interviews). Emma so far has been playing another crying/disrespected/constantly in need of saving or standing up for victim of patriarchy. Matt this season gives a master class in playing the walking collection of psychological issues (and not in a good way) - but he at least has something to actually act out. The latter also goes for Tom though Aegon has been really dumbed down - plus sometimes it feels like his main purpose in the show is to evoke pity in viewers. Phia has been amazing with what she was given but overall storywise Helaena doesn't fare that much better than last season - she is still barely a character. Fabien has been talking a lot about Criston's loyalty to Alicent (and this loyalty was shown to us in season 1) but we have yet to see the actual proof of this loyalty in season 2.

But Aemond IMO takes the cake as far as the disrespect towards the character and the actor is concerned. It really feels like HBO after introducing this character with so much potential for development (and the coolest design to boot) played by a very talented actor with a really powerful screen presence just used Aemond for increasing the show's popularity and selling merch - and after that used Ewan during the promo campaign knowing full well that a lot of people have been intrigued by him and interested in learning more about him. Is it possible that no one at HBO had been aware about the way Condal&Co treated Aemond's storyline and how heavily he was sidelined before the season was released? I don't think so.

Anyway, even if HotD has robbed Ewan of an actual opportunity to fully show his acting abilities, at least it has brought him a certain amount of fame and popularity (including interest in his previous projects). People (directors and studio execs among them) now know who he is and what kind of range he has (based off the way he has been playing Aemond and the way he played his other characters). So, after all, some good has come of it.

[gothamite-rambler]

Jason Todd Flash Fics

*updated daily

Snowflame, again? Roy, stay away!

"I am SNOWFLAME!

1000 dollars at Barnes and Noble?

Jason you're grounded!

Contingency Plans

Thrill Seekers

Kids always know how to piss off their older sibling

"What is your father like? Um..."

Jason babysitting Damian during his 'Keep Secret Love Child a secret from Bruce' revenge plan.

The story after this is about Bruce offering Jason. $7000 a month to stop killing.

Bruce find out about Damian pt 1

"You knew this entire time?"

Bruce meeting his son Damian pt. 2

Jason may have a point here

Jason meets Damian

Jason Todd babysitting baby Damian.

Austen the cat

The batgirls on their period and how the boys handle them.

"How am I the positive influence on this child?"

Older sibling vs second oldest sibling giving you advice

Dentists seem to be their one weakness

"Who do we know that did drugs? I got it!" Batman said, calmly.

These roofs should be redone to support our weight!

Jason read the book Wicked specifically to mess with people

Flashback: Jason Todd when he discovered one of the trainers the Al Ghul's got for him is a child trafficker (based off a story from the book).

Oliver Queen to Dick Grayson and Jason Todd

Did Alfred just give Jason a gun as a gift? Aww, that's so sweet!

Jason read the book Wicked specifically to mess with people

Switching Places (Jason and Bruce mind swap)

A Phone Call from Jail - Kylar Got his Ass Beat Again

Did Alfred just give Jason a gun as a gift? Aww, that's so sweet!

Cass and Steph messing with the Robins

Pie Prank Gone Wrong

Wonder Woman and Jason Todd meeting years later

Another car bomb?!

"Do you have my charger?"

Why the batgirls don't like have their brothers around some of their friends

Two-face and Red Hood

Two-face and Red Hood pt 2

Jason being terrible at flirting

Comfort plush

"You had a bomb in what?!" Dick asked, calmly.

Jason has to make a mighty sacrifice to save Bruce.

"We could make it work," Jason said with a smirk.

"You slashed his tires?"

Jason and Roy getting out of a party

Jason and Roy having a nice family friendly convo

Jason reunites with Barbara

Roy and Jason at a Green Arrow

Jason and Roy having a nice family friendly convo

"Bath time Austen!"

He would rather do this over immediately asking Bruce for money

Jason and Roy being friends and using class of 09 characters

Flashback: Jason Todd when he discovered one of the trainers the Al Ghul's got for him is a child trafficker

Catwoman meets the Second Robin

How Catwoman treats the old Robins sometimes

Jason when he got his gun permit in New Jersey.

"Stop treating me like Gohan!"

Jason singing the best song ever

"Are you dealing drugs?"

Roy and Jason being the disgruntled couple/friends

Aww, he got him a pet!

Oliver Queen when he found out his son had remained friends with Jason Todd

The reason why the batgirls don't have always have their friends around their brothers.

Kids always know how to piss off their older sibling

The Wayne boys most days without sleep before they finally crashed (two manage to beat out Batman)

Kids always know how to piss off their older sibling

"She might have a point."

That was actually a good deed, Jason.

Wonder Mom with Jason Todd

How Catwoman treats the old Robins sometimes

Gordon meets the second Robin

"That's a big number!"

Jason has washed his jacket in a few months due to his hectic schedule… Roy wears a trucker hat.

The biggest mystery of life: Why are cats so cute?

Another car bomb?!

[aryas-faces]

Westeros, as grrm said, is an absolute monarchy and the definition of it is =a form of monarchy in which the sovereign is the sole source of political power, unconstrained by constitutions, legislatures or other checks on their authority. Not to mention that viserys in the book made a decree where he said that rhaenyra was his heir, so it's litterally write into the law that she is the rightful heir to the throne. if aegon was the rightful ruler, i assure you that grrm "my books are full of characters that made bad things and get repaid with the saim coin like jaime loosing the hand he used to push bran or tywin being killed by the child he neglected and abused" wouldn't kill the greens entirely bloodline (on the throne). aegon himself said in the screen you posted the throne was Rhaenyra's birthright so what's the point of deny it?

and the part where alicent say she fears for the life of her children is the funniest 😂

i fear for my children so let's torment the king's heir, and put the crown on my son (that DID NOT want it) and consequently start a war where i send my teenager children to fight (daeron was litterally 13 and aegon 19) on dragonback!!! everything will go ok, cause rhaenys the conqueror wasn't killed by an arrow even tho she had a big dragon in the conquest of dorne and jaehaerys' oldest son wasn't subject to same fate! what can possible go wrong??

1) The point of the Dance is that they both have a claim. Neither can be considered the Sole heir because Viserys named Rhaenyra heir, but by every law Aegon is heir. That’s one of the reasons the Dance happens. I’m not denying Rhaenyra is Heir, I’m saying Aegon is also Heir and that’s how we got in this mess

2) The Greens are not the villains. Both sides have good and bad people on it. George said he likes that people argue and debate who are the heroes and who are the villains when it comes to the Dance because neither side is totally in the right and neither side is totally in the wrong

3) If Rhaenyra wasn’t meant to be looked at as villainous, George wouldn’t write that Aegon’s victory is bittersweet in the Princess and the Queen

This is not the writing of someone who is a villain. What happens to Aegon is a tragedy, George treats it and writes it as such. And “narrative punishment” doesn’t really work here because Aegon was doomed from the start and like I said, he is written as a walking tragedy. If you want to talk about “narrative punishment” talk about Rhaenyra getting eaten by Sunfyre and how what comes next for House Targaryen through her bloodline is near total extinction

4) Ah yes. Fearing for your family’s life is SO funny! Also, she didn’t torment Rhaenyra. The book says there was tension between them, not that Alicent was terrible to her. And no, calling bastards bastards isn’t torment. Alicent is no saint, but she was never evil like you all make her out to be. She put the crown on Aegon’s head because she thought that would save from him from Rhaenyra and Daemon’s wrath if they were to be crowned, as she says, and than is one of the people who helps write peace terms. We, as the audience, know how misguided this is, but Alicent thought she protecting her children

[another-goblin]

I like the metaphor of Dr. Ratio being a doctor who tries to cure the disease called 'foolishness'. It helps understand the character better.

First, let's not forget that he's actually a medical doctor:

But he sees himself as more than that (and Screwllum agrees):

That alone can say a lot about him, and that's why I don't agree with some of the ways some people interpret him.

Would a doctor get angry at somebody for being too ill? (they probably would for not using the medicine the doctor prescribed, or not taking their condition seriously.) Would a doctor be disgusted and abandon somebody for being too ill? Would a doctor take pride in being healthier than their patient?

......

But is this metaphor warranted? Doctors save and improve lives; what does education do?

We know how dangerous ignorance can be. Our real world gives us a lot of examples of that.

Besides, Ratio himself found a cure for some terrible disease threatening humanity and resolved "the energy crisis of the century."

So I'd say that education can save and improve a lot of lives too.

......

What exactly does he 'cure'? The words he uses, like 'foolishness', sound very vague. But if we interpret it as ignorance, then his work as a teacher makes sense. He also gives lectures seemingly outside his curriculum (remember that series of faux movie posters where he looks super excited to give a lecture about astronomy), organizes conferences (his voiceline about the Express's archives), and urges us to go to university and join some debate event. That's a lot, but these are some conventional things you'd expect from an educator.

On the other hand, this looks more like life coaching or counseling:

 It's basically the idea that humanity should start thinking by themselves and not rely on geniuses who don't care about them (btw he holds a similar position about the Aeons; people shouldn't rely on them too).

This is very different from these things I listed above.

So he sort of does both, I guess?…

......

Another thing is, there is a big difference between a physician treating an individual patient, and a researcher curing a whole disease (the way Ratio himself eliminated that actual disease). And again, he seems to do both, with both his conventional educational activity and, well, 'life coaching'.

What he did on Herta station is a good example. For the researchers on the station, he showed that despite the presence of 2 (or 3) geniuses on board the station, only our TB could help them; that they could have discovered the truth by themselves if they weren't so dependent on the geniuses.

And at the same time, it was a lesson for the TB about how if we really try, if we don't rely on people just telling us what's happening and what to do, we can make sense of a complicated situation by ourselves.

......

BTW he reminds me of Dr. House (from the show 'House, M.D.' Do people remember that show? From 20 years ago? oh god…)

I don't think they have a lot in common if you dig deeper, but there are some similarities on the surface, that can help you understand Ratio a bit better.

They don't mince their words and don't care what other people think about them.

House is dismissive of people who bother him with trivial problems. (reminds me of Ratio's "Don't ask a question if there's already an answer" and "If you have a problem, are you sure you can't solve it yourself?")

House is the most rude to other doctors for not doing enough (the same way Ratio is extremely critical of other scholars - people who are priveleged to have access to knowledge but don't do anything worthwhile with it. And, in a smaller degree, to his students - people who already have access to higher education but don't take it seriously enough, in his opinion.)

But he will cure those who really need his help, whether they want it or not.

[shadowqueenjude]

“Bitch” wow! I don’t see the reason for getting so heated over these characters. They don’t actually exist you know? You’re not defending anyone’s honour or being some saint here. I didn’t mean anything in a bad way, I was trying to have a rational conversation because I’ve never come across an IC hater and wanted to know why you didn’t like them. But obviously having a rational conversation is out of your zone of abilities since it didn’t take a lot for you to get down to name calling. My only suggestion to you because I truly wish the best for you is control that anger and learn to listen to other people before someone shows you your place. It won’t be nice. Good luck bbg 💜💜

You're the one coming in anon and shitting on characters that I like. What did you expect??? I'm going to defend my characters, obviously. You want my dissertation on why I hate each member of the Inner Circle? Let's start with captain asshole Rhysand: Rhysand: Sexually assaulted Feyre, did not apologize, licked Amarantha's boots for fifty years to "protect" no one since he only rules 1/3 of his court. He claims to be uber powerful yet he can't control misogyny within 2/3 of his court. But it's totally fine to go into Tarquin's house, steal an important possession, then act superior later when his wife's antics in Spring caused Summer to be invaded. Pretends to give his wife a "choice" while not giving her crucial information, i.e. that he wouldn't be helping her out with the Weaver at all. Locked Lucien in a house, made rape jokes about his mother, altogether treated him like shit for no reason. Then the Inner Circle acts all shocked and furious that their "masks" as "bad guys" fooled everyone and act violent towards literally everyone not Inner Circle there. Rhysand forcibly shut Tamlin's mouth, Feyre burned Lucien and Eris's innocent mother, Azriel nearly choked Eris to death. Ironically, Cassian acted the most sane here. After Tamlin saved Feyre and Rhysand's lives multiple times, Rhysand has the gall to tell Tamlin to kill himself despite knowing they'll need him as an ally, which is a terrible thing to do and also made Lucien's life harder. ACOSF he locks Nesta in a house and hides the malignant nature of his wife's pregnancy from her. That's just the gist of it. Cassian: Rhysand's dog. He need to grow a fucking spine. He never defends Nesta in front of Rhysand, and constantly abuses her physically and mentally. Won't let her eat sugar, forces her to train, tells her everyone hates her, makes her hike a fucking mountain for having the nerve to disobey rhysand and tell feyre the truth she deserved to hear. Then again in HOFAS not defending Nesta in front of Rhysand when he was screaming at her for giving away the trove and telling her she should've killed Bryce instead. THAT. IS. YOUR. MATE. He treats all the women in his life better than her, like mor and feyre. Azriel: A fucking weirdo violent creep. He needs to man tf up and admit Lucien is the superior man. His creeping on Mor for 500 years when she's clearly not interested is not cute. Nor is choking Eris to death in an important political meeting. Nor is treating Elain like a helpless object and masturbating to a gag gift he gave her. I'lL dEfEaT hIm WiTh LiTtLe EfFoRt boi stfu no you can't and Lucien has done NOTHING to you. I have absolutely ZERO respect for a character who treats the nicest guy in the series like that. Elain is not a child to be fought over. He's so pathetically jealous that Lucien is a good dude and has a mate and is better than him at everything. He needs to admit his homoerotic desire for Lucien and get it over with. Or let Eris humble him. Either way. Mor: the biggest hypocrite of all time. I aM a DrEaMeR aNd I gOt OuT so did it ever occur to you that maybe you're not the only dreamer? You're not even going to try to save good people stuck under the Court of Nightmares or ask your High Lord to? You just write them off because you're the only good one? And you want to throw Nesta into the court of nightmares? You don't do shit when Cassian is harassing Nesta? You're a bitch and not a girl's girl at all. If there's ANYTHING women should be united on, it's creepy dudes. ESPECIALLY if one of them is your best friend. Amren: this bitch should've stayed dead after ACOWAR. How dare she talk to Nesta the way she did in ACOSF? She KNEW how much Nesta was hurting and she did it anyway. She's over 15 thousand years old. What a bitch. They're all part of an elitist establishment and the epitome of modern politics that needs to be destroyed. Oh, I'm sorry? Should I apologize for saying "bitch" when you're the one coming in hot on my anons? How about you get a life besides harassing people who disagree with you first?

[goodolddumbbanana]

This episode made me realise how jerk Old Moon was and reminded me how I didn't like Old Moon. Sure this Alternative Old Moon says 'love you' with Sun, but it didn't ignore the fact that he is still killing people (in jail) and Sun can't do anything to stop him.

Sun has said with Puppet that things were good between them when nothing happened, and I bet that is how nothing happened. This Old Moon still has higher power on Sun, (when Old Moon made Sun stop by telling Him about the deal, I bet that deal is, either Old Moon kill innocent people or lash out on Sun, or kill sinners), still think Sun lower than him (instead of thinking Sun a coward and a idiot, he just thinks Sun is a coward, guess that what Moon learns after 2 years.).

I also see that Old Moon has a lot of characteristics of Creator. Want to observe instead of interact, cold and still have the biggest centric egoism. And something about the obsession. With old moon, was his self hated. He hated that he left a piece of KC inside Sun, and blamed victim Sun because of that. With New moon, it is saving and protecting the family. With the alternative Old Moon, it is the portal. It was his fault there was a lot of drama crap coming out of the ball pit, and he decided it was his fault and his obsession.

And I really hated how Sun was getting treated. It was terrible, both this Sun and alternative Sun (wtf you should be happier and don't give up on saving new moon???) (and everyone keeps saying This Alternative versions say love to each other, but please don't forget the old moon just the same. It never stops him from hurting Sun more.)

Side notes, seems like, Suns have portals are the common knowledge on some Moons. We know from Puppet that Sun and Moon have a tendency to kill each other. And Moon didn't surprise one bit when Sun said He killed Moon, so I guess Cain instinct happened in various Universe and There are a lot of evil Suns who just eat his Moon and live a luxurious life in private.

So because of Sun personality, wanting to stay alone and wanting nothing more than peace, we don't see much of Evil Suns across the universes. (And I bet that after they kill moons, their mental health downgrades pretty quickly after that. Who knows if they kill themselves faster or just live until the day they get scrapped faster?)

[im-goofball]

rubs hands together. do the gorosei have families in your lore? if so I'd like to see their parents [or hear about them], what did they look like in their youth? Do they have devil fruits or are they yokai? PLEASE 🙏

OMG IT'S CHRISTMAS!!

The Gorosei during the Void century, art by my co-lore creator @genri-o

Warcury-Born in the Year of Sun 595 AF

(48 y.o. in 643 AF when it all begun)

-Born as a middle-class noble, but family died in a tragic shipwreck when he was just a baby

-Was took into the Saint Vlad's Orphanage when he was just one year old by an unknown person

-After leaving the Orphanage at 16, he started studying law in the prestige Royal Law Academy that he has been saving for his whole life

-At twenty he graduated with honours and became a judge, aspiring himself to climb the hierarchy to get the highest position in Slaviugia Kingdom

-He became the Supreme Judge of Slaviugia at 35, recorded in the Year of Sun 630 AF, the second youngest person to get this job in history

-Was elected as the Chief of Royal Court in the Year of Sun 633 AF and became one of Tsar's advisor's year after

Ethan-Born in the Year of Sun 596 AF

(47 y.o. in 643 AF when it all begun)

-Born as an orphan in the land of Wano

-At 5, he was found starving in the streets by shogun Kozuki Saisho and his men, who then took him in as his son.

-For the next twelve years he was trained by the greatest blade master in that time, Lunarian named Andaiell Daerlion, with his younger brother Sutara (who he greatly envied due to the fact that he was Saisho's biological son, and therefore was shown more love then Ethan recieved)

-At age 18, he became one of the Moon Guards, elite group of twenty samurai directly operating under Shogun and protecting his and his family's life.

-Ethan had medicore education, despite being adopted into the royal family he never recieved any royal title nor any proper education as he should have (Wano still had strict rules when it came in their 4 Classes: 1. Royal family, 2. The Church of Moon, 3. Nobles, 4. Commoners) and so he is terrible at math and had to hone his reading skills by reading many books and poems. He was naturaly skilled in caligraphy though

-He adopted the name Ethanbaron after the creation of the WG, and he still mostly responds if people call him Nusjuro since he lived with that name most of his life

Saturn-Born in the Year of Sun 598 AF

(45 y.o. in 643 AF when it all begun)

-Born as the only child of royal Jay Garcia bloodline, son of king Methone and queen Anthea of the Greecion Kingdom

-Lost his mother at the early age of four as she died of miscarriage and then his father at the age of twelve after he died of an unknown illness

-Became the king month after, recorded in the Royal Cronicles: Year of Sun 610 AF

-He was spoiled a lot when he was a child, especially by his father who taught him a lot about politics. Most nobles and members of Grecion Royal Court tried to manipulate him and treated him like a snobby child, which of course he was, but he was much more dangerous and smarter then they thought and quickly got rid of oposition whilst he grew in power

-When he grew older, the passion he and his mother had for science grew larger and at the age of fourteen he atended the Academy of Sciences and graduated at the age of seventeen with honourifics

-In the Year of Sun 620 he was wedded to princess Tethys Saerlios, who was still eighteen at the time

-He was opposed to this at first, he had never met her after all, and had no idea what she was like

-The first time they met was in a lab Saturn thought belonged to one of the Royal physicians, but was surprised to find a young woman fixing a star-ship's motor. Not realizing it was Tethys , since she was dressed in an engineer's clothes stained with oil and lab glasses he came closer

-The first thing Tethys said to him and she was still with her back turned to him was: "Could you hand me that screwdriver over there?"

-Saturn was dead set on marrying that woman

-At the dinner table Saturn realized that the princess he was supposed to marry and that messy engineer from the lab before were the same person

-They married after a year, recorded in tue Royal Cronicles: Year of Sun 621 AF

-After 6 years, they had their first child and heir to the Greecion Kingdom, Jay Garcia Dione and 3 years later they had daughter, princess Jay Garcia Rhea

-Saturn and Tethys became one of the most influencial people of their time with their inventionsa and scientifical/engineering knowledge aslo the fourth wealthiest in the All Blue

Mars-Born in the Year of Sun 589

(54 y.o. in 643 AF when it all begun)

-Born as the third son of the royal Mars bloodline of Aurelion Kingdom, son of King Deimos III. and queen Aurelia

-His older brothers, Feobos and Sandos died in hunting "accident" in 598 AF and his mother, Aurelia commited suicide three months after

-Mars became king at the age of eighteen after his father, who grew mad with grief died in Trail of Sun by Mars' hand as he was unfit to rule and almost brough Aurelion to ruin, recorded in Sun's Cronicles of Aurelion; the Year of Sun 607 AF

-At the age of 35 he went to war with the ruler of Themisto Isles, the King of Storms, Shepherd Ju Krono, after the man invaded one of Mars' allied kingdoms for the goal of conquest

-The war was known as The Falcon War and took three years till Mars defeated Krono on battlefield, killing him with his own sword the Stormfeather. The end of the war was recorded to be established in 627 AF

-Since Krono died, Mars was debating on the peace treaty with Krono's only son and the Crown Prince, Shepherd Ju Peter who became the new king of Themisto islands at the young age of 13

-He took the boy as his son two years after, since it was discovered Mars was unable to have children so his bloodline would die there. (And he seemed rather fond of the sassy child)

Peter-Born on the Year of Sun 614 AF

(29 y.o. in 643 AF when it all begun)

-Born as a child out of wedlock of king Shepherd Ju Krono and unknown woman, theorised to have been a commoner

-Since Krono had no other child and never married due to his how shall I say... flirty personality, he had no other choice but to legitimize Peter and name him his heir and Crown Prince

-Whilst growing up, Peter was mostly looked down upon due to his "stained blood-status" and never had any great relationship with his father, but he still loved him nonetheless

-He became king after his father Krono died at the age of 47 by the hand of an enemy, king Marcus Mars

-He became fondof the man after meeting him, as he was the only person who took him seriously despite his young age an little of experience as a ruler

-They became rather close for the next two years and Peter was not really surprised when Mars offered an allience and then proposed the Rite of Two (a ritual with sake cups, bur much mire complicated then the one origanting from Wano)

-Despite The Falcon War and the tragic death of his biological father, Peter never felt any hate or negative emotion towards Mars, as he understood that it was Krono who was the agressor

-Peter even offered to adopt Mars' name, but the king refused.

They are not eaxctly devil fruit users, because they never eaten the fruits containing their yokai powers, rather they were given to it by Mu (details for later asks).

I will show you Jay Garcia family, also @genri-o 's artworks, later on in the ask (if you ask for them of course)

[devilheartsblog]

Here’s my very delayed World of Winx Season 2 review

Ok so it’s been like a few weeks since I watched it so I won’t have too many complaints, I’ll just list the major ones I have.

Firstly the episodes were super boring and felt dragged out. In season 1 the side plot of finding the talents was entertaining and honestly I miss the WoW show as it was fun and Ace despite being a dick, was neat. Now there’s this Neverland bullshit which makes even less sense with Captain Hook’s mega forehead and Peter Pan actually growing up, or implied to. And the Evil Queen being Tinkerbelle feels wrong especially with the romance with Matt (Peter Pan’s son)

Now, the Nemesis. Most of them were disappointing and the worst offender was Bloom’s. I didn’t vibe with the clown aesthetic. Despite being the worst one at least her creation made sense, with the shadows stealing part of her magic to corrupt. The other Nemesis just…spawn. Otherwise Virus and Banshee were my favorites and Eclipsa was alright. I liked Stella’s backstory but it contradicts things like them being on Earth for a few months. Sinka also felt she should have come before Matt’s character growth. Speaking of Matt…

I was expecting to absolutely hate him but no Sky is still the worst by a long shot. Matt is very annoying with his “I’m know more than you” attitude when he a LOSER, but at least everyone hates him for it until he gets turned to stone. Other than that I enjoyed his character and how he’s incorporated into the Winx group like when they disguise as art enthusiasts. He’s also one of the only non-villain dudes in the series to use magic, yay! However, the fact he suddenly gets better at sword fighting by acquiring a fairy blade despite pro warrior Tiger Lily saying he sucks ass at it is just plot convenient, I instead prefer his deception and acting skills which do come back when he deceives the mermaids. Another is I wish Matt got involved in Hook’s defeat, like some on. He made a great point about trusting Hook and Hook’s the one who sent Smee to kidnap him.

The Winx are alright eh, I mean, I wasn’t invested in any of them and they don’t have any story going on, they just stole Anabelle’s dream of being performers and this hot lady named Venomya hates them, and omg just bring Ace back please. The WoW show was fun as Bloom had arguments with Ace but now she and the others have near nothing as Venomya isn’t important until the very end. Onyrix isn’t really better than Dreamix, I can’t decide which one’s worse, but yeah they get it out of nowhere, at least let the Forest Spirit gift it to them it have them earn Onyrix after defeating their Nemesis smh. I’m also not sure what Onyrix does like…what’s the point?

Anyway let’s get to the villains now, starting with Jim and Smee. He’s on the Winx’s side but for the majority of the plot he’s not involved in anything, just tells Smee to kidnap Matt twice and that’s about it. He could have done like Valtor where he directly involves himself but nooooo, forget the Switzerland stuff, he’ll not do anything until the end. Smee is also a terrible comedic relief. However, I love Smee. The fact he was painted as the villain by Hook despite following his orders and was ultimately the one to take Jim down and save Neverland, MUAH, perfect. Onto not perfect, Tinkerbelle. So her whole motive was Peter Pan liked Wendy instead of her and now she mad I guess, then she falls in love with Matt and suddenly she’s…good..now? I mean, yeah that’s, Winx should just stick to one-dimensional villains. Not to mention her youtuber ass “I have made a severe and continuous lapse in judgement” ass apology, like I like that she acknowledges she treated the Neverland people horribly but don’t add “please forgive me” at the end it really shows her priorities. Another villain I like is Shaman. He’s the Shaman! He sounds like if Jack Black stuffed himself with brownies and got sleepy! Him being by Tinkerbelle’s side after she got weakened and even trying to save her and talking some sense in Tiger Lily made me wish he ended with Tinkerbelle instead of Matt.

And yeah the fact Tinkerbelle ends up with Matt, aka Peter Pan’s son, when her whole motive for being evil is Peter Pan didn’t love her………need I saw more? It’s just wrong. She should make out with the Shaman.

Anyway onto some other characters. I loved the zombie pirates in their spotlight episode but they went back to being evil kinda and don’t correct their mistake like Tiger Lily, so rip I enjoyed them a lot, and I miss the wizards. The sirens were annoying as FUCK. I only like their human designs augh. Alligator man was eh alright? He looks more like a crocodile and Crocodile man looks like an alligator. I wish they’d talk even if it was a Knut impression, it’d make their significance more meaningful.

And lastly, the plot twist in the final episode where Venomya’s a witch, Baba Yaga and got an old ashy granny design. God, the whiplash I got, I was so upset because the best part, aka her design, was not just an illusion Mrs Baba Yaga used. Bruuuh 😭. The idea of Witches being rivals with fairies is interesting but eh I don’t think we’re getting a season 3 anytime soon so yeah. Maybe they’d have introduced the Trix so maybe that was a bullet we dodged? The Trix are so overused. Anyways the ending was alright but that cliffhanger and Venomya being a granny ruined it.

That’s all I have to say. I’m getting a wicked headache and I’ll see you guys on the flipside.

[wifiwuxians]

Hear me out... Tokyo Mew Mew AU for the Yi City Fam

STOPPP I LITERALLY HAVE A TOKYO MEW MEW AU FOR LIKE A BUNCH OF CHARACTERS AND THEY'RE IN IT LOL BUT THIS NEEDS SOME REWORKING UH

first off, the cast. XY is Kisshu. he has to be. not because of any choice opinions on how to treat a lady or anything but because they're both the little shit who has given me gender envy. AQ is Pudding because look at them. enough said. also ever since i was a kid i was obsessed with the idea of Kisshu and Pudding having a sibling banter bond and i was robbed. i suppose XXC would be the obvious protagonist so Ichigo? I only say this bc I really REALLY WANT SL TO BE DEEP BLUE LMAOOO THAT HAIR!!!!!!! SL is in his villain era now

That aside, obviously it's not all 1:1. I still want to make AQ a monkey girl because that's too cute, but she fights with a staff! The cafe, which in this would be run by XXC himself (inherited it and the research from BSSR?) is less cutesy because they don't need to lure in teenage girls, but it's still a cozy and traditional place where you can rent out hanfu for the day or something adorable like that. Still 100% a front for a secret lab though. XXC's animal would be a great white heron, he'd get majestic wings and a flowy outfit that would still allow him to fight (and fly)! Since it's sort of lame to just have 2 animal people I sort of want SL to also be an animal person (a human-alien hybrid thing who is now also an animal person... save some for the rest of us), so he'd be a leopard >:) XY is just a cute lil alien showing his midriff and fucking around and waiting for his Great Leader to wake the fuck up so everyone can go home and he can kill every human on earth

XY's reason for hating humans, aside from the fact they stole his homeland and poisoned it, is that he was captured as an infant on a recon mission and terribly experimented on. that same recon mission resulted in the death of BSSR and SL's adoptive parents, who were working with her on her alien research. however, they were not the ones to cut this poor boy open, but it doesn't matter. All Scientists Must Die and all humans too.

XXC took AQ off the streets where she was performing for cash and had been doing so for years, he's trying to get her paperwork in order so she can go to school properly. she has no family save for him. they met on a rainy day, where XXC got in an accident trying to prevent AQ from suffering the same fate. she took him to the hospital and stayed by his side and they've been inseparable ever since. XXC never intended for her to get infused with animal DNA, as he wanted this to be a solo thing (it's XXC, he's self sacrificial to a fault), but the machine malfunctioned and she got caught in the blast. she's fine with this, as she would do anything to make XXC happy, even if she hates dealing with customers at the cafe and prefers to be the bookkeeper.

SL was also caught in the blast, as he was visiting the cafe to try and return a book to XXC. they both take the same environmentalism course at uni!! SL is unaware of his adoptive parents' work (until the story conveniently reveals it to him) and only knows they were researching the environment, so he's very studious and dedicated, serious and passionate, so their memory can live on and he can make them proud. but also he just loves nature. he's also unaware of the Darkness Inside Him though he has scary dreams sometimes. XXC is at first horrified to get him involved, but soon loves having him by his side; they train together and uncover more of their parents' research while fighting big weird aliens. XXC has been so alone ever since his mother's passing, putting on a brave face for everyone and trying to keep his spirits high, but AQ and SL becoming important parts of his life has been a balm for his soul. but then XY is there outside his window at 3 AM demanding they throw knives at each other until someone dies or some shit so his studies are falling behind a little bit lmao

as a fun extra, in the original massive AU with a bunch of non Yi City characters, XY was split into two (as i tend to do) and one was Kisshu and the other was Ichigo. think of XY in fun lil strawberry shorts and with the whole cat getup. it was great

SORRY THIS IS SO RAMBLY LMAO I LOVE TMM SM AHHH

[henrysglock]

Because they blocked me instead of taking it straight from the horse's mouth that they misinterpreted the entirety of Papa Warbucks, I'd like to deconstruct the other things that particular "critique" took issue with, which I had saved to my phone so I could address when I had time. I did that while I had them unblocked/before they blocked me, because honestly I did want them to see my explanations.

Alas, here we are.

Number 1:

This just in. No more daddy kink. Pack it up, guys...let's go home...the kink police are here...

Also, to be clear, it was Henry who did that in PW. It wasn't even something Martin suggested Henry do. Henry's just a little freak who likes to press buttons to see what they do because, in keeping with TFS, Martin refers to his father as Papa. Henry can tell Martin's got daddy issues out the wazoo, it's something they discussed not even half an hour prior, and the poor guy just. blurts it out. It's not like Martin was there rubbing his grubby hands together like "uhuhuhu can I coerce Henry into calling me Papa in bed? uhuhuh". It was very much something on Henry's end.

(However, regarding Henry's button-pushing when he's lacking inhibitions, see also: Henry addressing Martin as "Captain" as a joke, which is a play on the whole "Martin's dad wouldn't approve" thing from earlier in the night. It's a bit.)

Number 2:

Martin Brenner may have been a psychiatrist by trade, but that didn't mean he couldn't recognize a work of art when he saw one.

Martin loved his job, no doubt; the human mind was his passion.

Bro...this is what he does for a living. It's his career. He's never met a puzzle he couldn't solve. He's fascinated by Henry. What a terrible thing. A tragedy, truly, and godawful abuse towards Henry, too. /s

Also, here's the "pouncing on mommy issues and insecurities" in question:

"My mother would say it's one of those ideas that kept me out of the good schools." Oh, there's something. Martin wanted to tug on that thread. A bit daring, especially for a first (and possibly only) date, but it was worth tucking away for later. If there was something he loved, it was taking people apart like puzzles.

"I mean, it was a joke, technically...but it would be kinda interesting to find out what, collectively, is wrong with the lot of us." Martin's reply, in all its blunt, factual glory, was out before he could stop it. "Autism, primarily." The shocked blink that greeted him in the rearview narrowed into amused incredulity as they breezed through the parking lot. "Is this a dinner date or a diagnosis?" Henry snarked, the bite of his tone undermined by the teasing twist of his lips. "Did my mother put you up to this?" Nevermind. Threads exist to be pulled. The backstory lurking behind his date's doe eyes was proving to be an irresistible treat. "That's the second time you've mentioned your mother, Henry. Tell me—is she not pleased that you're attending to the best art school in the country?"

The man literally just wants to know the dirt on Virginia CreeI, yes because it will tell him more about Henry, but also because he's a nosy cunt who likes knowing about the Drama. What a crime. How predatory.

Henry gives it back in kind, though ("Is this a date or a diagnosis?"), and he's very much aware of Martin's tendency to play detective. Henry's not stupid.

Rein it in, idiot. Henry's inner monologue had always been his most scathing critic; it was no different now, as he rounded the front of the town car and willed himself to stop yapping. Forget being trans, this is why no one wants to date you. Remember what Mom said about you and emotional labor? Martin's a psychiatrist, he can smell that stuff a mile away—

And regarding seeing Henry as an experiment, here's the only section where that comes up:

I wonder who made him so reluctant to let people spoil him, Martin thought as he watched the young man across from him fiddle with his napkin. No doubt it's his mother. Perhaps it was the doctor in him, but Henry's attitude towards having money spent on him only made Martin want to dote on him more, to see if he could get him to accept generosity without attaching guilt to it. What had started out as the prelude to one nice meal for a pretty, starving artist was rapidly progressing into a full-fledged experiment, and the best place to start with an experiment was questions. "So, Henry," he broke the brief silence that had fallen between them, "What area of art do you study? Animation, painting..." As expected, the open-ended question had Henry tearing his eyes off the square of maroon fabric in his lap.

The "experiment" in question:

Martin views the thing in general as "how much money can I get away with spending on a nice young man", but there's also a definite aspect of him genuinely liking Henry as a person.

Rather, it was that he had no idea how much he would enjoy Henry’s company on its own, all else aside. He was awkward, obviously, but he was also funny and almost painfully genuine; there was a charm to it all that Martin suspected most people couldn’t evade. "You know, maybe I ought to take you back to Rochester with me after all," he mused, more to himself than to Henry...

Christ. Maybe he wasn't too far off with that basement thing earlier. He shook his head, a little helpless. I met him this afternoon and I'd already like him to be a permanent fixture in my life. I need to get ahold of myself.

And yes, the secret basement laboratory is a running joke. Henry started it.

“Is that funny?” “No! No. I just…You are taking me to dinner, right? You didn’t pick me up at a con to lock me up in your secret underground asylum and study my brain or something, right?” Henry’s giggles slipped into outright laughter, the awkward tension in the car ebbing away as Martin found himself incapable of restraining a smile of his own. “No, Henry. Unfortunately,” he sincerely hoped the young man in his backseat could read the sarcasm in his tone, “I don’t have an underground asylum to lock you away in.” “Oh my God, wouldn’t that be just the thing, though.” Henry cleared his throat and adopted what Martin assumed to be his best impression of a hoity-toity doctor, “‘Longitudinal Study of Midwest Comic-Con Attendees’ Brain Abnormalities’.”

What a travesty, overall. 500 lashes for James Henrysglock.

Number 3:

Girl (gn) please.

It happens 7 times (I re-counted), and one of them was "20-something year old boy" like. That's an adult. You ever heard of older people referring to younger men as boys? People calling it "boy troubles" even when they're in college? No? Okay.

You know how many times Martin refers to Henry as a whole-ass man, though? 12 times.

There's also a whole bit about Martin sitting there worrying because he didn't double check that Henry was old enough to drink. Everyone here knows Henry's a grown ass man.

Mountain of a molehill makin' ass. Christ.

Also, Henry is not at all naive. He knows what he's about.

See:

Henry making the choice, unprompted, to bring protection

He glanced at the bedside digital clock. Seven-ten. He could feel a ball of something nervous and fluttery taking root in the pit of his stomach, the kind that made him feel the need to shake like a wet dog to shed the excess energy. Oh god. Would it be too presumptuous of me to stick a condom in my pocket? He’d never even know if we didn’t��y’know. But if we did, maybe it would come off as thoughtful? Easy? Smart? Full of myself? The clock read seven-fifteen. Henry dug around in his suitcase and produced the single little foil package he’d stuck in there just on the remote chance someone wanted to screw him. It stared him right in the face, pinched between his forefinger and thumb. Better safe than sorry. Right? I should just. Hoo-boy. I’m doing this. Seven-twenty-two. Henry shoved the condom in his front-right pocket as fast as he could, like he was ripping off a band-aid.

Henry reading Martin like a fucking BOOK

Maybe he went into psych stuff to spite his dad, or maybe to figure out what his damage was. Maybe he was an army kid, I know vets aren't always chill about psych stuff. After all, he seems about the right age to have had a dad who went to Vietnam. ... I may have been right about him being a military kid. "What, did he expect you to join the army or something?" "Navy, actually. He was a captain himself, and I suppose he expected I'd follow in his footsteps." Henry wanted to smile at the fact that he'd been right, but he figured it wouldn't exactly be appropriate for the situation and briefly sucked his lower lip into his mouth instead.

What I believe that point from the "critique" is picking up on is that Henry's inexperienced. He's a virgin. He's 21. Thus, he doesn't know how sex normally goes. He's awkward. He doesn't know jack shit about wine selections, other than "cheap and fruity is best".

Also...I'm not sure if OP missed it, but "easily flustered" is one of Henry's BIGGEST character traits. He's a nervous overthinker, a rambler, a dog in a "NERVOUS" vest. He doesn't know how to take praise gracefully. He says cringeworthy things and immediately kicks himself over it.

And yes, Martin thinks it's cute. Because it is cutesy behavior. Read any sugar mommy/daddy fic, and I guarantee they'll see a flustered sugar baby as something worth fawning over. That's part of the genre, I fear.

As for people being under the impression that they're father and son? THAT'S ANOTHER RUNNING JOKE. IT'S A BIT.

It starts in the very first section with Martin being put off by Virginia and thinking that he'd put Henry up in a nicer hotel if he were in her shoes.

“Hilton? God, no. I was lucky my dad talked my mom into putting me up at the ‘8.” If he were my son, he’d be put up in a suite on-site, Martin groused internally. Logically, he knew it was irrational to try and coerce Henry into moving rooms, and that the Hilton likely had no rooms left regardless. That didn’t mean it didn’t irk him anyway.

And then Henry jokes about their age gap re: booze

"D'you think they'll card me?" Maybe Henry wasn't over the legal drinking age, then. It wasn't unheard of for someone to be twenty years old at the end of their junior year. Perhaps Henry was born in September and would be turning twenty-one shortly after beginning his senior year...or maybe he'd graduated high school early. He was attending a prestigious school, after all. Martin swallowed down and staunchly ignored the odd gut-punch feeling that realization came with, and peeked across the table over top of the menu. "Just precautionary, nothing more." "I mean," Henry cocked a mischievous eyebrow, "you could always just say you're my dad. That makes it legal, right?" Recovering quickly from the momentary shock of hearing a statement like that come out of his date's mouth (and as if he hadn't had thoughts along the exact same lines himself just that afternoon) Martin coughed a little and shook his head. "No, no. I'm afraid Indiana is a little too...conservative for parental permission allowances." "Eugh," Henry scrunched his nose like a bunny, vague disgust playing out across his face as he dug his wallet out, "That's a bummer. It's a good thing I'm twenty-one, then, huh?"

It's the same as going "Do I still pass for 12?" about a goddamn kids menu. IT'S A BIT.

Then, the server assumes they're related because of the age gap. This is a play on married couples being mistaken for blood family.

"Is this going to be on one card, or are you splitting it with your...son?" "...One card will suffice." From across the table, he could feel Henry's eyes trained on his face as he tucked his credit card into the folder. Son. That's...hm. Well. Third time's the charm, I suppose. "Very good. I'll have this right back for you." As soon as the server was back out of range, Martin let himself look back over at Henry, who was still watching him with a sly smile. "Not gonna correct him?" "I wasn't the one who suggested that I play your father on the off chance you didn't bring your ID." Henry shrugged with his eyebrows, a quick up-down of acquiescence. "Touché. Thank you for paying."

And Martin returns the joke that Henry started. IT'S A BIT. IT'S AN INSIDE JOKE.

And when it happens a second time, but without the ability to joke about it, Henry is offended and has half a mind to correct the receptionist before deciding it's not worth the time. (Because he's wise enough to know he's never going to see this person again, so why bother?)

"Creel? Room twenty-two? That room doesn't have an outstanding balance on it." "...What?" "Yeah. A man came by and paid it. He said he knew you. Tall, about six-two, maybe six-three? Brown hair, middle aged? The last name on the card was, uh..." he tapped a few keys, and then squinted down at the computer, "Brenner." Henry's response was out before he could stop it. "You're shitting me." "Nope. I have better things to do than lie to teenagers. Take it up with yer Pop." He would have sputtered indignantly, but he thought better of it when he realized it was simpler to just nod and go on his way than try to explain to the receptionist that no, Martin wasn't his father, he was some well-off guy he'd met at a comic con who seemed to have taken a special liking to him after they'd slept together.

Also, has no one ever heard of calling someone a child to be nasty to them/to tell them that they're being annoying? That is what's happening, here.

The "son" thing was a BIT. It was a JOKE. and as soon as Henry can't joke about it, he's upset by the assumption. He's not happy people assume the two of them are father and son. Christ.

Also, parting notes:

I sure hope you didn't keep those poor people held up for over an hour. Sounds fake anyway, like one of those old tumblr posts with "and everyone in the grocery store cheered".

Also...have you ever heard of the term "hate-fucking"? It's kind of a pillar of fandom.

Okay, that's all I have to say. Cheers!

[insufferablelust]

ten. 10 meltdowns later and i have yet to be able to comprehend 261. the pain is just too much, like why? thats like 2 strong protagonist destroyed in one arc. all he ever wanted was not give in into jujutsu world, have freedom for himself and his students, friends, Suguru, people he loved.

If being a child is not a sin, then why does he need to end in such a devastating way, Gege? a bounty on his head when he was born. Treated like a prize rather than a human being. Hunted all his life. Never felt any affection from his family because they don’t value him, they value his six limitless eyes. Had to use infinity to seal his protection. Losing his friends through terrible circumstances. Watched as his only best friend, the only one who ever saw him for what he truly was, deteriorated right before his eyes. Had to end said best friend so the world will be at peace, had to do it himself, carry the burden himself. Losing a part of himself in the process.

Try to built a life on top of the tragedy, making sure his students will have the youth Suguru and himself would have deserved. Making sure his students will someday become stronger than he ever had. Take in the responsibility to train and take care of a pupil from another clan, one that doesn’t see him as human either. Having to exist in a lifetime where the king of curses thrived inside his own student’s body. Protecting him from being destroyed by the higher up because he seldom believed that the boy deserved to have a youth and that its a right not a choice.

Having to acknowledge that his high school friend had loss his life to protect the students, the most disciplined man he probably ever met, the perfect exact opposite of himself. Having to endure another devastating revelation that his person was used after his passing, brain sewed to reveal the antagonizing curse controlling Suguru. Having to endure life in a limitless prison cube, because he knew that was never Suguru that captured him. Having to face the king of curses alone, and many curses before that. Subsequently loses his own life in the most tragic painful circumstances imaginable.

After all that… all the suffering, maybe just maybe I thought he can finally rest easy. Maybe meet Suguru in a beach, talk about how nice it is to just rest, no curses, no humans, no sorcerers. Maybe hoping one day Shoko will join them so they can take a leisure time for eternity, just not too fast, since Shoko is the only one left.

But no… His body and power was used as a weapon after his passing, consented by him prior and controlled by the very student he saved. No it isn’t yuuta’s fault at all. It’s just unbearable to try and digest the fact that even after his passing, he was treated and used as a weapon not honored as a fallen sorcerer hero, or respected like a human being.

Six eyes was not a curse, its supposed to be a blessing but he was treated as the exact opposite. Limitless was not limited, its supposed to be freeing but it became the sole reason of his own demise. Infinity means forever, and he did not even reach 30.

Why?

His eyes is bright ocean blue, soul is free as wide galaxy spread, heart is big as Japanese archipelago, smile is soft as zunda kikufuku, personality is bright as the red sun, knowledge is broad as the moon surface.

Why does he have to end that way?

Isn’t he the honored one? through heaven and earth, isn’t he the only honored and strongest one?

[arliedraws]

Hello, I wanted to know your opinion on...If Dumbledore had known regulus death circumstances....would he have reconsidered his Sirius trust issues? Because I don't understand ....why he would do that to him....Harry is really a weapon to him...and still got attached to....he says so when he explains after Sirius died...can you believe this man....Harry just went through such a harrowing experience...and he says to that boy...sorry for getting attached to you...I can't...it just burns in my memory and crawls back up unexpectedly...to leave me more in melancholy. Sorry for ranting...I just thought you might have good insights into it.

PS: loving all your art btw...keep it coming.

Aw, thank you!!

Hmm. Let me piece together what I think you’re asking about.

1.) If Dumbledore had known about Regulus’s death and attempt to destroy a Horcrux, would it have changed how he saw Sirius? Would he have trusted Sirius?

The first thing to consider is that Dumbledore, like anyone who would have known both brothers, would have seen the Black brothers as two completely different people. Dumbledore’s thoughts about Regulus would not have influenced his opinions of Sirius. By the time Sirius had left Hogwarts, there is little evidence to suggest Sirius and Regulus ever saw each other again—they were done with each other. The second, I don’t think Dumbledore distrusted Sirius so much as he saw him as a liability. Sirius did everything Dumbledore asked of him and never gave Dumbledore a reason not to trust his loyalty.

2.) Here is my full disclosure: I really like Dumbledore as a character. I love that he is the other side of the good/evil coin—like Voldemort, he demands loyalty, he cannot fathom that someone would betray him, and he preys on the most vulnerable people to do what he believes is right. When I was in grad school and learning about teaching climate change literacy, I read an article that suggested that a movement of activism is most likely to succeed when the leader of the movement has great ambition and also an emotional detachment from those people that they lead. You must inspire loyalty but have the strength to carry on when your fighters are wounded or die. This is a callous, terrible way to live—but does this not sound like Dumbledore?

Dumbledore is cruel in his ability to overlook deaths caused by the Movement. For Dumbledore, when an Order member dies, he rarely needs to do more than mourn and say, “At least they died doing something noble.” Besides, Dumbledore does not fear death—this is what he sees is his advantage over Voldemort who, as we know, fears death above all things.

Suffering, however, upsets him. Why doesn’t he ever check in on Harry? Because he would have to admit that Harry was suffering. Why not tell Harry the truth? Because he cannot bear to see Harry bear that weight, and he would rather shelter Harry from the truth to spare him this suffering (and haha doesn’t he wait until he’s dead to ‘tell’ Harry that Harry must sacrifice himself?) . Dumbledore avoids seeing pain when he can because he is empathetic but cannot afford to be (at least, so he believes). Dumbledore loves Harry very much. He fights between being the leader he believes the world needs and his natural inclination to care about people.

I love when people have such personal, visceral feelings about liking and disliking characters, but your local literature teacher here really hates to designate a character as a “bad person” vs. “good person.” Dumbledore is neither. In the series, he demonstrates great kindness and great cruelty. That is the ENTIRE point of Deathly Hallows. Any single person is capable of being terrible.

We often consider Dumbledore’s cruelty because of how he treats our favorite characters, but also consider the things he did because he felt a sense of empathy—he saved Sirius even though it would have suited his cause to let the Dementors Kiss him; he even saves Buckbeak too (does he make children do it? hahaha yeah, so still a complicated thing). When we look at this action, neither Sirius nor Buckbeak’s survival serve Dumbledore—they are both, essentially, useless to him. Yet he cares for the people around them and hates to see the people who love them suffer.

Is this a Dumbledore defense post? Abso-fucking-not. He doesn’t need defending. The thing that makes him interesting is that he GENUINELY cares about people but forces himself not to. Isn’t that fucking delicious? It’s so twisted and awful and fascinating. Dumbledore fears love as much as he lauds it—love can make you lose your way; love can distract you. He loved Grindelwald. It was love that drove Harry and Sirius apart. Love is what killed James and Lily Potter. Love killed his sister. He recognizes the power of love because it is LOVE that has always been his downfall. Yikes!

Anyway, this got much longer than I anticipated. Thank you for the ask—it made me really think about why I appreciate Dumbledore as a character!

[lizamango]

Cruel World 3/? (Brainwashed HYDRA!Reader x Steve Rogers)

summary: A war between SHIELD and HYDRA rages on in the shadows of the world. You live for the kill as a Black Widow until you discover Steve Rogers, the weapon for the opposing side who makes you question the side you’ve been fighting for. (inspired by Underworld, just go with the lore on this fic pls)

Part 1 ~ Part 2

warnings: smut later, canon typical violence

word count: 2564

“This is the camp where I was trained,” Steve states as he lands the quinjet.

“Has it changed much?”

“A little,” he murmurs. I look at him as his tone changes. His eyes are distant, jaw clenched. He’s reminiscing.

“It must be tough,” I start and he looks at me to continue. “Being alive when everyone you know is gone.”

“You would know about that, wouldn’t you?” he responds with the words I used earlier.

“I guess so. One fell swoop.” A silence falls upon us and I pace through the base. An American base. I never thought I’d come here of all places, out of my own free will. “Once Dreykov wakes, he’ll set everything right.”

“You have so much faith in him,” Steve states but it was more of a question. He’s asking why.

“Wouldn’t you? If someone saved you from certain death, wouldn’t you believe in them? He has treated me like his own,” I defend.

“You say that the cycle has never been broken before. What will happen to you once all this is over?”

“I’ll be judged before our council,” I hold back.

“And then?” Steve raises a brow, sensing there was more.

“I’ll probably be executed.”

His heart drops, I can practically hear it. He turns sharply and stalks towards me. “What the fuck are you talking about?” he asks incredulously.

I shrug indifferently. “Those are our rules.”

He starts breathing heavily, shaking his head. “You can’t be okay with this? How can you just accept that? I won’t allow it-“

I chuckle. “Steve, you have no authority. This is the life I’ve chosen.”

“You haven’t chosen anything. They’ve indoctrinated you into a program, used you, all the Widows as their weapons. As if you’re not even people, just a means to their ends.” He puts his hands on my shoulders, forcing me to look into his eyes.

“You’re making grave conclusions for someone who doesn’t know our ways.”

“I don’t need a fucking handbook, I’ve seen and heard enough.”

“You’re being ignorant, Steve. Don’t forget that we are not on the same side.”

“No,” we’re not, I expect him to say. “You’re being naive.”

I roll my eyes. “If you think so terribly of our ways then-“

“I’m not going to leave.” This man just loves to interrupt.

“Why not? I don’t need you anymore, Steve. My memories have enough evidence that you are alive. I need only to wait for Dreykov’s awakening and then we can take down Schmidt.”

He says my name in an almost defeated tone. “You need me,” he says simply. “I’m the only one who has your back in all of this. Not your sisters, not your Dreykov. Not even yourself.”

I cross my arms. “And how is that?”

“There’s a knife in your back and you don’t want to pull it out. You don’t even know it’s there.” His words cut deep but I try to shrug them off. He knows nothing. I look back at him and see his eyes have shifted to something behind me. He has a frown on his face though different to the one he was sporting when he was lecturing me.

“What?”

“Army regulations forbid storing ammunition within five hundred yards of the barracks,” he states. He walks towards a building and breaks open the lock. “This building is in the wrong place.”

We walk inside, my gun drawn. I spot the insignia painted on the wall. “This is SHIELD,” I accuse and point the gun at him. “You took me to a SHIELD facility?”

“I didn’t know, I promise you.”

“I knew not to trust you.”

“I am the only one you can trust right now,” he exclaims. “I am the only one who hasn’t lied to your face. So go ahead. Shoot me.” He steps closer so that the gun is resting right between his eyes. “If you don’t trust me, fucking shoot me. Get rid of the only person who’s trying to help you while everyone else is trying to kill you.”

I examine him.

“Kill me or believe me, that’s your choice.”

I withdraw my gun. “You’re so dramatic.”

“It worked, didn’t it?” he answers.

I clench my jaw.

We enter a room with three portraits. Heads of SHIELD, I assume.

“That’s Howard Stark,” Steve says.

“Stark Industries,” I comment. “I’ve seen that logo on weapons HYDRA uses.”

Steve frowns. “That makes no sense, Howard wouldn’t work for HYDRA.”

Are you so sure, Captain? I think to myself. “Who’s the girl?”

“Nobody,” he replies too quickly. He turns away from me and walks down the room, spotting a bookshelf. His eyes scan through each shelf. “If you’re already working in a secret office, why do you need to hide the elevator?” He pushes a shelf and they part to reveal elevator doors.

“After you,” I state.

We both descend to the only floor available and turn the lights on to find a room full of old computers.

Somehow the computers jump to life. Must all be connected to the power.

“Captain Steve Rogers,” a voice calls out.

“Who’s there?” I respond, gun drawn.

“Calm yourself, Widow.” A face appears on the screens of the computers.

“Arnim Zola,” Steve states.

“You know him?” I ask.

“Scientist who worked under Schmidt.”

“How do I not know you?” I question.

“There is much you do not know, Dreykov’s experiment.”

“And yet you know me.”

“HYDRA was founded on the belief that humanity could not be trusted with its own freedom. What we did not realize, was that if you try to take that freedom, they resist. The war taught us much. Humanity needed to surrender its freedom willingly. For seventy years HYDRA has been secretly feeding crisis, reaping war. And when history did not cooperate, history was changed.” Flashes of past news headlines and TV footage are shown on the screens as Zola speaks. Assassinations carried out by Assets or Widows. Facilities burning. “HYDRA created a world so chaotic that humanity is finally ready to sacrifice its freedom to gain its security. Once the purification process is complete, HYDRA's new world order will arise. We won, Captain. You work with one of HYDRA’s most formidable Widows, your death for naught.” Steve punches the computer screen only for Zola to appear on another. “Alas, your affiliation with Dreykov’s experiment has made her a liability, no longer to be trusted.”

I frown. Excommunication? “Why do you keep calling me that?”

Zola states my full name as he did with Steve. “Family slaughtered in Odessa, adopted by Dreykov into the Black Widow program to serve this war. You who are so special that he kept you and your abilities a secret. He read that your DNA had the key to a serum stronger than that of Erskine’s. The power to activate a dormant gene in homo superiors, millennia’s worth of evolution, cut down to mere hours.”

“That is not true.”

“Oh?”

“I think I would know if I was experimented on. I’ve never healed as fast as Steve until…”

“The serum gave you abilities while your x-gene remained dormant, until a gross traumatic injury which otherwise would have killed you activated this mutation. It’s epigenetics, Widow.”

The gunshot wound.

“Why are you telling us all of this?” Steve asks.

“Because I’m stalling.”

The ground begins to rumble and all the computer screens shut down. Steve and I look at each other. I access the quinjet’s sentry mode through my communicator which detects a person. An Asset. My blood runs cold. Fuck.

“We have to get out of here.”

Steve finds an opening in the ground and we escape from under the building. I spot the Asset as he aims for us. Steve pushes us to the ground.

“Who is that?” he grunts. I hand him a gun.

“Get to the quinjet,” I say to him. I look back and squeeze my trigger. “It’s armed with machine guns. Shoot to kill.”

I hear Steve say my name but I ignore his calls as I run towards our enemy. Once upon a time I would have seen him as my ally.

I dodge the spray of bullets and jump up on a humvee, kicking him from the chin. He stumbles back as I land, pulling a knife out of one of my holsters. I slash at him but he counters my moves, blocking them with his metal arm then flinging the knife away. I used to be glad to have that metal arm on my side. His steel fingers grasp my throat and push me until my back hits the humvee but I grab another knife and stab it into his thick thighs with enough force to penetrate his reinforced combat trousers. I hear him grunt behind his mask but I slip from under him, rolling under the humvee. As I run towards the quinjet which is now in the air I hear him kick the humvee out of his way. Fuck. A spray of bullets forms a wall between the Asset and I as I climb up the ramp of the jet but not before I shoot my handgun, the bullet ricochets from the bulletproof lens of his mask. I enter the cockpit to see the Asset remove his mask.

“Steve you have a clear shot,” I say but he stares at the Asset, now with his mask off.

“Bucky?”

The Asset points his grenade launcher at us.

“Steve if you won’t take the shot, I will.” I walk towards the trigger but Steve pulls the jet up so I stumble and the Asset misses. “What are you doing?!” I exclaim.

“We’re not killing him,” Steve says with finality. He flies the jet away from the base.

“He’ll catch up to us,” I shake my head as I sit down. “He’ll find us and he’ll kill us, Steve you don’t know him-“

“I do.”

“What do you mean?” I notice he puts the jet on autopilot.

“I’ve known him all my life,” he turns his seat around and looks up at me. How could he possibly…

“James,” I realise. I scoff at how convenient and absurd this all is. “Schmidt takes your best friend and turns him into our most formidable Asset. This is bullshit.” I start to pace. “So there’s no way you’ll kill him but he won’t stop until he kills us. Isn’t that just perfect?” I feel like I’m losing my fucking mind.

“I thought I lost him… But I’ll get him back.”

“It’s not that simple,” I tell him.

“Why? He probably just didn’t see me. Once he does, he’ll stop coming after us.”

I shake my head desperately. “No, Steve. He won’t know who you are.” I sit in the chair next to him. “Assets… have no memory of their past lives. They’re not like Widows, they come from a different kind of clean slate.”

I expect to see him looking at me with disgust. How could I be okay with this happening to people around me? But he doesn’t. Steve only looks determined. “Then we’ll find a way to get his memories back.”

“Odessa,” I say. Before explaining, I enter the coordinates . “There’s an abandoned HYDRA facility, a scientist specialising in cerebral reprogramming-“

“Brainwashing,” Steve corrects.

I nod. “Brainwashing- he was based there until SHIELD came and tried to take him away. He was labelled a traitor so he was executed. That’s our only clue.”

“How do you know about this?” Steve questions.

“Dreykov trusted me with everything… A Widow defected from us, she was the one to try to take the scientist.”

Steve frowns. “A Widow?”

“Natalia Romanova. She tried to kill Dreykov.” The thought leaves a sour taste in my mouth. Just imagining Dreykov dead along with my family… I would never have survived that night without him.

“How do… how do you know that Dreykov doesn’t have something to do with all this?”

I turn sharply to face him. “Don’t. There’s no way.”

“I’m just saying-“

“Steve, he saved my life. He took me in. He didn’t have to do that but he did.” He saved me in more ways than I can count.

“I’m not saying these things are related-“

“I’m not gonna listen to this, Steve.”

“Like you didn’t listen to me about HYDRA?”

I close my eyes and exhale shakily. “Steve, I mean it.”

“You’re only fighting me because you have doubts now too! Just face it, Dreykov is HYDRA, HYDRA feeds crises, reaps war, takes away freedom! I mean look at you!” he exclaims. “You had blind faith in this organisation, you and your Widow Sisters! They’ve got you all buying into the lie that they care about you while they send you on missions to kill innocent people all while not giving a shit about you when you’re no longer useful to them!” He stalks closer towards me.

“You’re. Wrong.” I glare at him and if looks could kill…

“I need you to face reality.” He looks at me so sincerely that my eyes sting. Why does he have to look like he cares so much? Why couldn’t he just be what I’ve been led to believe SHIELD is? It would be so much easier to hate him. I sense hesitation in his expression as tears threaten to expose how hurt I feel. He’s turned my whole world upside down in a matter of days… “I need you to…” he trails off, his eyes flickering from mine down my face to my shuddering lips.

I bite them to control the trembling but I hear Steve sigh.

“Need me to what?”

“I need you to open your mouth.” His voice is somehow deeper.

I gulp before doing as he says. His lips crash onto mine, his tongue exploring my mouth, almost fighting with mine. Our lips move in tandem, as if we didn’t even need to think about it. One of Steve’s hands rests on my cheek and I hear him inhale deeply as if taking me in. As if to devour me. I would let him.

His other hand is on my waist but it slowly snakes to the dip in my back and he presses me closer to his body. So close that I feel a hardness against my belly. I gasp and slowly pull away in surprise at the growing bulge and he sucks on my tongue as we part. The tear that had been slowly building finally fell down my cheek but he brushes it off with his thumb. He rests his forehead on mine.

“I’m sor-“

It’s my turn to interrupt him as I stop his apology with a tug on his blonde messy hair. I pull his head back with it to expose his neck and I place a gentle kiss on his pulse point. Steve sighs. I feel his heartbeat on my lips, his scent musky with sweat and smoke fills my senses. He’s all around me and all over me. He’s in me. I give his neck a long teasing lick, ending up at his ear. I tug on his lobe with my teeth and he chuckles.

“Have you ever fucked someone on a jet before?” I whisper into his ear, I just know that my voice travelled through him, gracing parts of him I could never physically touch.

He shakes his head at my question. “But I’m about to.”

🖤🖤

smut in the next chapter ✨