#you want to kill them for what they did to you or rather what your circumstances made you do to each other

[multific]

Long Live The Empress of Rome

Emperor Geta x Sorceress!Reader

Summary: You promised to keep him safe. It was part of your job as his wife. And in return, you received his heart and the power you always wanted. 

A/N: This contains spoilers for the movie! This is also an AU fiction.

Ever since you were little you had powers.

One might think you were a Goddess. And they wouldn't be far off.

You could hear people's thoughts and control the elements.

Throughout your life, you have perfected these powers.

You hid them well from most people. 

But you were unable to hide it from The Emperor.

While you were rather calm, a storm raged inside you. Behind your calm and collected demeanour, you were actually quite the opposite.

Emperor Geta was not like that.

He mostly pretended to be sane, but he truly had no reason to.

He and his brother led an empire that wasn't kind.

But you enjoyed it.

Sometimes, Rome was exactly how you felt on the side.

Rotten to the core.

You liked it.

And you liked the Emperors.

Mostly Emperor Geta.

Who was not shy about showing you just how much he liked you. 

His interest in you was beyond interesting. 

Of course, he was used to having women around, but you, you were different.

And soon, you became his biggest obsession.

A simple woman he thought you were, but your beauty and wit were undeniable. 

It came to you as no surprise that he took a liking to you. What did surprise you, however, was that you also felt the same way.

It's not like you weren't interested in men before, and sometimes even women. But Geta was different.

So different from everyone.

You liked that.

He matched you perfectly.

He claimed you to be his wife the second time you met him.

Your wedding was just as grand as the crowning of the Emperors. 

"My Beautiful Empress," he whispered as the priest declared you wife and husband in front of the Gods.

And so, you became the Empress to Emperor Geta.

Emperor Caracalla on the other hand was not as fond of you. He often claimed a dark and cold chill running down his spine whenever he saw you. Little did he know the truth.

Geta fell in love with you.

He liked your cold demeanour and your hidden rage.

He liked you for you.

Not your powers or beauty. Although beauty was a major factor in getting your hand in marriage.

Later on, he found out about your powers when you were attacked one night.

Even his soldiers couldn't stop the angry people who wanted nothing more than to kill.

Geta watched as you murdered them all, with a simple move of your finger all of them fell to the ground.

Your husband found out your true self.

"The Gods sent me a Goddess. A Goddess of my own, My Wife." 

Rumours of a Dark Empress began to spread, but that is all they were in the eyes of most, rumours.

There you were, sitting next to him in the Colosseum. 

Enjoying the blood and games.

Some gladiators were more promising than the next.

The Emperors enjoyed the games and so did you.

Macrinus sat right behind you, you heard whispers from his thoughts.

A plan.

A sinister plan to overthrow your husband and his brother.

But you smirked, knowing he was not aware of your full potential.

Macrinus truly thought you were going to be the easiest to take out from the bunch. He formed a very complicated plan for the overthrow of the Emperors while he hired men to kill you. 

You slightly turned your head and offered him a look. He nodded his head, thinking you were praising him for his newest Gladiator.

You watched as the rhino ran into the wall, grabbing your husband's hand you turned to whisper into his ear.

"I wish to heal the animal."

"Whatever My Sweet Wife wishes." he kissed the back of your hand.

Even if you didn't like people, you loved animals.

After the games, you retrieved into your home, back to your room.

"Crimes are being committed against us. Right in front of our eyes," you said as Geta closed the door behind himself.

"What did you hear?"

"Macrinus has a plot. A sinister and twisted plot. He wishes to rule."

"Treason!"

"I will deal with him. Do not worry yourself with peasants like him, My Love."

"What would I do without you?"

"You would be beheaded." you smiled and he wanted to laugh but the seriousness of your tone changed his mind very fast.

"Will there be blood?" he asked, hope-filled in his voice.

You nodded, and his smile grew. 

"Lots of blood. But not ours, nor your brother's." 

"Long live the Empress," he said as he leaned in to kiss you, but just as he was about to, you spoke.

"Long live us," you replied before pulling him in for a kiss.

---

The next morning you woke up, and your husband was still asleep.

You headed to the balcony, taking in the smell of smoke.

You grabbed onto the railings, everyone's thoughts filled your mind, and you often found it to be overwhelming.

Hearing everyone's thoughts, some people were louder while others were quieter.

You weren't sure why that was, it was all you ever knew. 

Geta's thoughts were usually silent, even his most wicked ones, you used to struggle to be able to read his thoughts until you gave up. It was rare but it did happen from time to time in the past. 

You can sometimes hear words from him but not full sentences. 

But you didn’t have to hear them to know what he was thinking. 

A word you constantly heard was “Beautiful.”

Simple. 

Kind. 

You love him. 

But even with powers like Gods, it could become too much to handle. In those moments, Geta was always there by your side.

As if he knew you needed some reassurance.

And this time was no different. 

He soon pulled you close and hugged you from behind.

"Is My Wife happy?" 

"I am." you truly were.

"What will you do with Macrinus?"

"I spoke with your brother, and warned him of the plan, I suspect he was too drunk to remember so I sent him a dream. I'm sure he understands, he usually does."

"And what about the Poet Gladiator?"

"Lucius? He claims he wants to free Rome." you turned around in his arms. "But Rome will never be free. During the games today, I have a special plan for the lost prince of Rome." you lifted your hand and ran it through his hair. "I'm sure you will like it."

And he did.

Killing four birds with one stone.

Lucius, his mother, Acacius and Macrinus. 

What a delight it truly was.

Unfortunately, the tiger seemed too big of a task for the men, trying to save Lucilla. 

A completely normal tiger at that... of course, you had no hand in the matter. 

And Macrinus? 

For being a traitor, his head was placed by the walls of Rome. Setting an example to all who dare even think about overthrowing the Emperors.

"My Love. My Beautiful Wife." as he stood in front of you, out on your balcony, the moon lit the night as you heard the people or Rome riot, all you could think of was how beautiful his eyes were.

As he looked at you with the most love.

Taglist: 

@castellandiangelo @imagines-by-a-typical-fangirl @manduse @jacalineiscomingforyou 

@mandoloriancookie @deliciousfestsalad @lilliumrorum @asgards-princess-of-mischief 

@fallout-girl219 @dracaryxzs @snowtargaryen 

~Masterlist~

ˇAO3ˇ

/YOU DO NOT HAVE PERMISSION TO TRANSLATE, TO STEAL OR TO REUPLOAD ANY OF MY WORKS TO THIS OR OTHER PLATFORMS/

[hedwig221b]

Witch or magical Stiles recs..?

Hi! I did magical!Stiles fic recs here! This time, let's focus on witch!Stiles (my beloved)

A Thousand Fiery Suns of Angst - Just Press Play by apocryphal

All Stiles wants from life is to learn to control his magic, keep his grades up, and not die horribly while saving Beacon Hills from supernatural threats. It's all going pretty well until Derek Hale, werewolf extraordinaire, has to go and ask him on a date. That asshole.

The Wolf in the Tower by exclamation

Too many people are scared of witches so when Stiles accidentally sets a building on fire with magic, he is taken prisoner and dragged before Lord Hale. Rather than leave an untrained magic user free, Peter Hale thinks he might be able to make use of Stiles' skills and hands Stiles over to his sorceror Deaton to be trained. Stiles is still unsure about his future, but he's even more confused when he finds out that one of his new duties involves feeding the black wolf imprisoned at the top of one of the towers. There's something very strange about this wolf and Stiles can't help wondering if magic might be involved.

Dead Things by standinginanicedress

Derek blows some more smoke out. He chooses to look at Stiles’ mouth instead of in his eyes, again. “I need you to bring someone back.” “Back.” “From the dead.” “Absolutely not,” Stiles scoffs, shaking his head. “Not for you, not for all the money in the world.” Derek looks at him, just looks. He is not going to accept no for an answer, and Stiles knows it, but it doesn’t matter, because Stiles will not do that. He cannot do that, not again. “Why not for me in specific?”

For My Flesh Had Turned to Fur, and My Thoughts Had Turned to You by literaryoblivion

They’ve known about the other pack for quite some time now. They know the pack is young and small, formed together more by accident and necessity than anything else. But, they haven’t done anything about them because they’ve been fairly quiet, kept to themselves, and haven’t caused any trouble. That is until the Hales start hearing rumors about the McCall pack acquiring a very young and inexperienced but powerful witch. So Alpha Hale sends her eldest son, Derek, for all intents and purposes, to spy on the McCall pack and their so-called witch, to see what the truth of the situation is.

The Ink Under My Skin by rainsoakedshoes

Derek is looking for an Emissary. What he finds is Stiles Stilinski; resident witch. Stiles would do whatever it takes to protect the Hale pack and his Alpha. “I want to protect my pack as well as I can,” Derek continued. “Emissaries traditionally keep balance, having someone who wants to tip the odds in our favour may come in handy.”

Destiny is the Rising Sun by asswords

Stiles and Derek are best at keeping secrets – the biggest one being the fact that they knew each other long before Scott had to go and become a werewolf. (The second biggest secret belongs to Stiles, something about how he’s not allowed to tell Derek he’s the trusted advisor and kind of a witch.)

your fangs against my skin (the sound of your bones)

This was it, then, huh? It was that easy for Derek to invite someone to his den. Someone other than Stiles. He healed the wolf. Stiles killed his tormentor, mended his blood and bones, and let him sleep beside him. But none of it was enough. He wasn’t a spark, after all, but a witch — evil and alone, locked up in his tower. Witches didn’t get happy endings.

What I Did On My Summer Vacation by grimm

There's something weird about Beacon Hills that Stiles can't quite put his finger on. The way everyone in town knows his name the day he arrives. The way they insist the melancholic howling that echoes through the forest every night is just a dog. The way his dad denies getting a dog, even though Stiles comes home to find one sprawled across his bed, some big black thing whose eyes gleam red in the right light. The way that massive oak tree out in the woods vibrates under his touch, pulsing with sickly life. There's something weird going on in this town, and Stiles is determined to get to the bottom of it.

These Scars Tell A Story (But It’s Not Mine) by HappyJuicyfruit

Derek’s eyes widened in confusion as Stiles babbled at him. “I know it’s not up to you, but you’re like, my guard, right? You’ve been keeping an eye on me? Tell your mom I wouldn’t lie about this, my dad deserves to stay here. He’s happy here, please let him stay!” Guard? Keeping an eye on him? “Stiles, I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Stiles face crumpled, his hands clung to Derek’s shirt tighter as tears and snot dripped off his chin. Derek frantically tries to think of the right thing to say. “You think- you think I’m your guard? That I’ve been watching you to, what, make sure you don’t do any magic? Stiles, that’s ridiculous. Beacon Hills is a sanctuary for supernaturals. We allow people to use their magic. I was just trying to be your friend.” Stiles breath hitched. “My friend?”

Other fic recs: pack mom!Stiles | angsty fics | historical AU | baby/mpreg | outsider POV | possessive Derek | smut | hurt/comfort | Stiles gets kicked out of the pack | mafia | BAMF!Stiles | omegaverse

[lichenes]

I heard you were begging for Silco asks and I will take literally anything.

Jealous Silco or Jealous Reader (bonus points if Silco doesn't notice that someone is hitting on him)

I also feel like Silco would be an amazing dance partner/classical waltz style or some intimate partner dance but would only ever do it in private.

Silco with a reader who is maternal with Jinx ❤️

Smut or fluff, whatever you feel like writing I just want to treat that man right 👍

To all the anons that requested Silco i will be getting on that soon!! Now I present to you: Silco looking for a mum for Jinx, any takers?

This gif has such a fucking GRIP on me it's driving me insane. How can pixels be SO F I N E. Anyway per your request anon this is Silco x reader x (kinda) platonic!Jinx :D!! SILCO DESERVES SO MUCH LOVEEEE. I don't care if he commited like... actual war crimes, what does AIR mean to my LUNGS. CW: brief cursing!! not much besides that, pretty tame, kinda ooc.... sorri... wc: 1261 .  * 　　 ✦ . 　⁺ 　 .⁺ 　　 ˚ .  * 　　 ✦ . 　⁺ 　 .⁺ 　　 ˚.  * 　　 ✦ . 　⁺ 　 .⁺ 　　 ˚.  * 　　 ✦ . 　⁺ 　 .⁺ 　　 ˚.  * 　　 ✦ . 　⁺ 　 .⁺ 　　 ˚

The Zaunite air was filled with an unrelenting heaviness. Each day, despite Silcos best efforts, the food was getting scarcer and people were more and more scared. It wasn’t ever too much. He could handle it no doubt. Right?

Jinx was sitting on his desk and talking his ear off.

She was enjoying her time with him while Silco was quietly taking care of some documents. Spending time together with Jinx was one of the few things he enjoyed in life. Sure, his unique appearance made many women drawn to him and most people in Zaun felt nothing but respect for the man but he never developed anything meaningful, anything… tangible. Aside from Jinx he had no one. 

The stream of words being let out of Jinx at, at least, 200 words per minute stopped when there was a knock at the door. “Come in.” Said Silco with his usual sombre tone. He always filled the room with a certain coldness few were able to tolerate or enjoy, for that matter. Sevika entered the room. “Someone wants to talk to you.” 

He nodded, giving her permission to let them in. 

During the conversation with whoever was sitting on the other side of the desk Jinx kept returning to the thought that brushed by her mind that morning. Shouldn’t someone as undoing as a daughter have a mother by her side? Jinx was good. Good at what she did, good at killing and even better at creation. She lacked the maternal hand that was supposed to lead her through life even if she wasn’t exactly aware of what she was looking for she needed someone to guide her through her life. 

On the other hand, Silco, the effective ruler of Zaun, didn’t have anyone to share the parental burdens of life with. The swooning crowd of power-hungry women in the city weren’t a good choice for a mother. Not for someone as unpredictable as Jinx. 

Jinx was convinced you fell from heaven for her, how could he not see it? A godsend perfect for what she needed.

The Last Drop was busy. People talking, the air stuffy with Zaunite tensions, dilemmas and the smoke being extruded out of the lungs of many. He noticed you before, an everyday woman, providing her parents with whatever they needed in their old age. He didn’t do many of the job interviews himself, his lesser henchmen took care of that, but the barkeep of The Last Drop was the person he came to care for. 

“You’re hired.” He said at the end of your chat.

You were used to people chatting you up while you were behind the bar, an additional drink, boredom or true infatuation were all at play here. Never… this. “What can I get you?” You said when someone took the only free stool at the bar. When they didn’t answer you so you turned around to check them out. If they were a danger to the well being of the people inside or the bar itself you’d rather they threatened the guards than you. 

What transpired was truly bizarre. You expected to see anyone here, Sevika in a foul mood, Jinx with a gun to your head or even one of the lesser lackeys of the many people running this city. Silco? Silco was last on your list.

You froze in place almost dropping the pint you were holding. Quickly you put it on the counter in front of the person who ordered it and turned your attention to him. He looked at you with an unusual intent, normally when you’d look over to his usual spot he’d be smoking and surveying the room with his ice-cold vision, today there was… need. 

You were stuck in place not being able to even utter a word in such presence. After a moment more of scaring you into an early grave he spoke. “Come to the back, someone will take your place for tonight.” Suddenly terror turned into anxiety. “Am I being replaced?” He only stood up and went around the bar to presumably accompany you there. 

Your heart was pounding and your hands were sweaty, this could be your execution you realised. Your mind was going a million miles a minute, combing through all your wrongdoings and if you were eligible for any pardon. 

He didn’t enjoy that scared expression on your face, he enjoyed them on most people with exception to Jinx and well… you. “Nothing to be afraid of, lady.” Said Jinx toying with her gun. That definitely didn’t mitigate your concerns. “She’s right.” Said Silco somehow appearing behind you. You jumped at his sudden intrusion into your personal space. 

Explaining what they wanted was certainly difficult. You had a lot of questions regarding your new position as a… babysitter for Jinx? You’d never say that out loud for fear of swift death. The payment was lucrative as well so you decided on accepting the offer. At the end of the talk you were more or less familiarised with what this job entailed, along with being a co-parent to Silco, you were to be on their beck and call, still you retained the position of the barkeep. 

As all people you were a bit afraid of Jinx. Looking at her she was inconspicuous, the braids giving her a child-like wonder look to her. Underneath you could feel a profound sadness sitting inside of her and you were determined to make this weird little fucked up family a happy one at least. 

You were happy to tend to wounds, look after The Last Drop when needed and listen to Jinx talk for hours. With time, Silco grew fond of you. Your mannerisms of a caring and doting parental figure, despite all which burdened you, would soon make him swoon. 

One night after closing when you were wiping down tables Silco walked in, in an unusually good mood. He leaned on one of the clean tables. “Hello. How was your day?” You asked mindlessly, not noticing him inching closer and closer to your figure. Nobody else was in the room when it all happened. 

You weren’t the best at concealing your growing affection towards Silco. The longing stares weren’t doing you any good and the fact that somehow he kept catching you was even worse. You were sure your position was soon to be terminated. 

He spun you around and caged your body between his own. His breath was warm and falling just over your chest. “Silco?” You dared. 

“You make me sick with worry sometimes.” He was… smiling? Silco was smiling? You couldn’t make anything out, your head was spinning from the proximity and his cologne. “Look at me.” He demanded grabbing your chin and tilting it upwards. “I’ve got a question.” You nodded. “Do you want to dance?” You were stunned.

The tables were moved to the sides as Silco put a few coins into the jukebox and began striding towards you with the delicacy and grace of a cat. You put your arm on his shoulder and grasped his other one. He led you around the room to the song being played and amidst the growing tension, brought his lips to yours, hesitantly. The kiss was magical, you could feel yourself rising above the roof when he finally closed the gap. You reciprocated the kiss and as the song faded away he put his hands on your cheeks trying to get as close to you as possible.

He thought he’d lost the spark and now, here you were. 

.  * 　　 ✦ . 　⁺ 　 .⁺ 　　 ˚ .  * 　　 ✦ . 　⁺ 　 .⁺ 　　 ˚.  * 　　 ✦ . 　⁺ 　 .⁺ 　　 ˚.  * 　　 ✦ . 　⁺ 　 .⁺ 　　 ˚.  * 　　 ✦ . 　⁺ 　 .⁺ 　　 ˚ masterlist

[save-the-villainous-cat]

“You’re awfully cheerful.” The villain leaned back on the hero’s couch and cocked their head. There was only a hint of a smirk but the hero didn’t need more than that to determine their nemesis’ mood.

It was all about the subtle movements.

A twitching eyebrow. A look at their own shoes. A breath taken in a little too quickly.

The hero knew the villain - knew every little detail about their behaviour, knew what they were feeling. Feelings were one thing, facts on the other hand…the hero didn’t know what their nemesis was planning, nor what their next move was. They could tell when the villain was angry, disappointed, amused. But why…?

Nevertheless, the hero smiled and lounged in their armchair, making themselves as comfortable as possible in their own home.

“I’m trying this new thing…having a positive mindset and all. You know, not taking everything so serious.”

“Someone blew up your car today,” the villain pointed out. They stared at the bottle of wine the hero had opened an hour ago. Half finished. “You must be quite upset.”

“I’m kind of grateful, actually.”

“Grateful?” The villain raised a brow and the hero tilted their head. It must have looked rather confident. Cocky, almost. Whether it was the little bit of alcohol or the situation in general - the hero did feel a bit cocky.

“Yeah, I mean. I’m glad I wasn’t in the car when it exploded. That’s a reason to celebrate.”

“Someone knows you’re involved with me,” the villain said.

“We don’t know that for sure,” the hero answered.

“Evidence suggests it, though.”

The hero whistled, impressed. Their eyes widened and something inside them wanted this to be their fault.

“What else is the evidence suggesting, Detective?” The hero let their eyebrows wiggle and took a sip of the wine. They liked to think that not only the villain was changing the hero but that the hero was also influencing their nemesis.

Detective. The villain was definitely smart enough to be one and, Lord, the hero would have loved to see that brilliant mind work on cases with them.

The hero smiled to themselves. Fantasising about the villain being their partner wasn’t new. But it was entertaining. Over and over again.

“That you’re not careful enough.”

“Hm?”

“You got into a fight again. Your knuckles are bruised. Someone blew up your car today. And all you do is sit here and drink,” the villain said. A twitching eyebrow. “You’ll get yourself killed.”

“Aww, are you worried about me?” The hero’s eyes narrowed. “Scared your favourite hero will end up dead?”

The villain’s face didn’t change and at first, they didn’t say anything.

So, the hero observed them carefully.

Their relationship was at a point that suggested they were either hooking up or just really good friends. For the neighbours, it was normal to let the villain in. And for the hero, it was normal to visit the villain in their lair.

Quite risky. Quite rewarding, too.

Exchanging information was crucial to the both of them.

Additionally, the hero kind of liked them.

“I would get you a bodyguard but as of right now, I can’t guarantee that whoever wanted to kill you today isn’t one of my men.” A look at the ground and the hero had to frown. “I’ll take care of that, obviously.”

“You want to hire a bodyguard? For me?” the hero asked. They chuckled into their wineglass.

“No, I won’t hire anyone. I’ll be your bodyguard.”

“Huh?!” The hero’s grip around the glass tightened.

“You’re irreplaceable as informant and in case you die, all your secrets which means all my secrets are very likely to see the light of day. The files on your computer won’t stay hidden forever. I’d like to avoid that.”

“I think I can take care of myself.” The hero looked at the wine. Did that mean the villain wanted to move into this apartment?

The hero blushed softly.

More reasons for the neighbours to gossip about a possible relationship. Jeez.

“I don’t think so,” the villain said. “I haven’t threatened you in weeks, so don’t make me do it. I won’t debate this. I need you alive and I don’t trust anyone enough to do this job right now. I’ll take the couch.”

“I don’t get a say in this?” the hero asked. They laughed at the absurdity.

“No.” The villain’s voice was stern now.

“Hm.” Slowly, the hero finished the glass and set it down on the little table between them and the villain. “Maybe it’ll be fun to watch you follow me around like a dog.”

A blush.

“Call it whatever you want.”

And that’s how the both of them became roommates.

[biapascal]

I have a request pretty pls 🙏 could you maybe write a lil sumn about the reader/oc being married to acacius in a diplomatic marriage to prevent war and show that her country surrenders and they sent her as like a prisoner of war/hostage princess situation. the reader/oc loves Marcus but doesn't think he'd choose to love her over roman beauties and Marcus doesn't want to force her into anything bc of the politics. With like whole lots of yearning, jealousy, angst and oh, more yearning, and the delicious most happiest of endings pls pls pls

Hi honey! 🫶🏻✨ I hope this is enough 🪶

Duties

Tw: forced marriage, loss of virginity mentioned.

First, they killed your soldiers while destroying your city. You saw the streets you walked in your childhood reduced to ruins. The houses were graveyards. They have taken everything and everyone away from you, even from your family. When they brought you to Rome, you were apparently too pretty to be killed. You could have been a slave, but the emperors had other plans for you. You became the general's wife. As your husband, your life was his property as well as your body. In Rome, before the wedding, the girl is supposed to leave everything from her childhood home behind. You couldn't do that because you had nothing left. They took care of you on your wedding day. You had to be a pretty thing for your future husband, nothing more than a doll, like one of those you used to play with as a child. During the ceremony, Acacius was stoic. You were forced to smile and had the impression that he knew this, but couldn't tell what he thought about it. It was almost as if marriage to a beautiful woman was a duty and not a gift from the gods. You were then taken to the house of Marcus for the last rites that would lead to the loss of your dignity. Paradoxically, your husband should have cleansed you with spring water. Meanwhile, the thalamus was prepared. Crocus flowers, considered by the Romans to be a powerful aphrodisiac, were scattered on it. After these rites, you were undressed by an older maid, who also removed ornaments and jewelry that could be dangerous to your husband. you were naked, shivering, your eyes colder than your body. Your sight was blurry and you tried not to look at him. "Can we blow out the candles?" you asked the maid. She shook her head. "You have to see him, now I'll leave you two alone." You finally looked at Marcus and you didn't care that he was a trained general, you would never let that man deflower you. You would rather be killed than to have to carry his child. "Just kill me already, because you are not taking me tonight" you spat. He didn't react. You reached for something to cover your shaking body and jumped when you felt his hand on your arm. "I'm not going to take your virginity tonight." Your expression hardened. "Be a good wife, do as I say, go where I suggest, but know that I won't rape you.” He seemed so serious, you almost couldn't believe it. Then he also covered himself. "Now lie down” he ordered. You slowly did as he said. "Tomorrow they will ask you what happened tonight. Lie, tell them it was painful" you nodded, holding your breath. You fell asleep crying, but you were glad he didn't touch you. The next day, as expected, everyone asked about the first night of marriage. Lying wasn't hard, the other women believed you right away. Life in Rome was depressing. You missed your hometown, the way your people used to act, the typical food. You missed your family, the laughter of the children, your own laughter. Every night Marcus was aware of it and heard you sobbing. He knew it was his fault. The emperors wanted a Roman world, without borders. He was forced to kill and take things from people, but he was not used to it. With you he was gentle, you found yourself searching for him more than once, and you hated yourself for it. "Can I talk to you?" You were in the garden, praying to your ancestors. You nodded and he sat down. "The Romans are greedy. We don't want freedom, we want power."

"We?" you caught him off guard. "No, actually I don't care about power, but I don't expect you to believe me" you gave him a lame smile. "I have to do what the emperors want, and what they wanted back then was your city.” He apologized and you couldn't forgive him. But you felt he was being honest.

February came, the month of rebirth, the Romans had to pay homage to the god Lupercus, and you were still a virgin. the passage to adulthood and the fertility of women was celebrated. Rome was chaotic and several women and men approached you. It was clear that you wanted Marcus to be with you. You couldn't find him and were pulled into the middle of the crowd. He had always given you the impression of being a man true to his own integrity. But you did not know if he was in a brothel on this occasion. "The General's wife!" Two men grabbed your hand and you tried to free yourself. "Come on" they dragged you away from the crowd, and you begged them to let you go. "You should be used to this" one of them said. They were beginning to get irritated with your stubbornness. They were in a hurry to have a look at you and consume you. “Let me enjoy my wife” Marcus arrived. “Won’t you share her with us?” He kissed your cheek and shook his head. "No, I won't share my treasure." You felt strange, you really enjoyed that touch. After that night, you began to soften and you began to know your husband more and more. He was tired, he didn't care about expanding the empire, he just wanted to rest. He was kind to almost everyone, except the emperors. He was wise. He taught you about his ancestors, and you gained the courage to tell him about yours. The nights became your favorite time, you spent hours talking and learning from each other. This was your yearning for intimacy. One night you felt like there were other things you wanted to know, other ways to know him. "I have to be honest with you, Marcus" he nodded. "I'm glad you're my husband. You told me to follow your instructions, but what you have done these months is let me grieve, you have even protected me. Am I still a gift of war or something else?" He approached, his face dangerously close to yours. You felt your cheeks burn crimson. "No” he looked at your lips. "If I may, I'd like to kiss you." You nodded and then felt it. The fear was gone, the mourning was done.

[4ngelsstar]

Imagine:

A Yandere!Jinx breaking into your house immediately after finding out you’d stolen something from her during a time when you were being.. intimate, to say the least. She’d been smitten with you, but upon figuring this out? She was completely enraged. She didn’t know exactly what she was going to do, but she was going to do SOMETHING!

Maybe she would kill you, but perhaps she was too infatuated?..

She still has to think about it.

After all, she’d killed people for you just because they flirted with you or looked at you in a way she particularly didn’t like. She’d spent so many of her moments with you, practically groveling at your feet. She’d begged for you to stay with her, to love her. And you said you did!

Maybe that was a lie.

And upon arriving in your room, pistol in hand, she finds you sound asleep. But, looks like you left a small hatch beneath the rug open.

She scoffs, thinking this is way too easy. After stashing her gun away, she begins to descend down the ladder, Jinx glances back up at your sleeping form as you stir. She.. honestly doesn’t know how to feel, she doesn’t even wanna look at you right now until she figures what to do next about all of this, given the fact Sevika’s on her BACK about this being an important plan they need to execute. Something he would’ve done as well.

A huff escapes her and finally goes all the way down, being sure to close the hatch quietly before fully getting down. She was now a rather dark and dusty room. She waved her hand in front of her mouth and nose, wanting to cough.

But who’d know if that’d wake you.

So, Jinx restrains it and decides to start searching around for a light source, given she didn’t bring one of her own.

It doesn’t take her long until her hand feels up a string connected to, what she suspects, to be a light source. Quickly, she pulls on it, and light illuminates the room. To her amusement, she grinned in delight.

Though upon inspecting the room?

She’s met by practically an entire SHRINE dedicated to her, and her alone.

Various photographs with the banal hearts surrounding her, scribbling out anyone else if there even was.. you seemed to have just cut that part off. Most of those photos are connected with more papers, reading out dates in red ink with little notes talking about what she was doing, how pretty she looked, and so on. But, there were some that were pinned to the walls around. There were dozens upon dozens of crumpled papers littered around, a bunch of her possessions now prized in this room like they were crafted by a god themself.

Not only that, but there’s a small journal on a nearby desk, along with writing which has been obsessively scribbled upon the walls of the hidden room.

And she began to read them..:

‘I love her so much.’

‘She’s mine.’

‘So pretty.’

‘♡’

…

She stands there, completely dumbfounded upon what she’s found.

Her mouth remains agape.

..So that’s why you took those plans from her: because you thought she wouldn’t notice, thinking that they weren’t going to cause that much of a deal, and henceforth - allow you to continue indulging in your obsession with..

Her.

And that’s when she hears the creaking of the hatch opening once more.

.

.

.

Dividers: @cafekitsune & @strangergraphics-archive

[the-gay-trashmouth]

I think something that's bothers me about how folks talk about mouthwashing is how they talk about Swansea. It's either "Swansea would have killed Jimmy immediately if Anya had told him" or "he knew and he did nothing just like curly." because, to me at least it leaves out a lot of nuance to his character and situation. Curly and Swansea are really good foils to each other, one who's got a reputation for being the kind and helpful captain but in the end does nothing to truly protect the crew from Jimmy, and one who's gruff, harsh, and cruel but genuinely tries to help in the background, the reliable mechanic.

(read more for a long Mouthwashing character ramble tw for unwanted pregnancy and SA)

Because Curly is the one with the power. He doesn't take what Jimmy did seriously enough. And you can say that he might not have known fully what Jimmy did, but I think the "I told you" pregnancy conversation and his reaction to Jimmy right before the crash ("come on we'll get through this together. We'll figure it out, you've had hard times before-") are indicators that he knew, but he still chose to stick by his friend and treat it like a "mistake" rather than what it really was.

Now that's my own personal speculation of course, there's no outright scene of her telling him "your best friend assaulted me", but I think there's enough evidence in game through Anya and Curlys interactions to say that he knew, and he knew before Anaya knew she was pregnant. He had a fully functioning ship and four fully functional cryo-pods. He could have at least given Anya more security, kept her far away from him, and at most forced him into the cryopod until they got back to earth. Jimmy STILL had full, uncontrolled access to the cockpit AFTER his freakout with curly. AFTER Anya tells curly she doesn't feel safe with him. AFTER Curly finds out he raped Anya. He's so focused on seeing the good in his friend that he does NOTHING to protect Anya, doesn't strip away not one of Jimmy powers as copilot and consequently endangers her and the rest of the crew.

Curly was the captain, he had the power to relegate Jimmy to the fucking storage closet if he really wanted, at least put him in the cryopod until they got back to earth. In fact, he was the only person above Jimmy in terms of rank on the ship, but he chose to do nothing. He chose to let Jimmy continue as acting co-pilot, chose to comfort him rather than actually confront him. Slides off his weird sexual comments as jokes "So what's this about horses?"

Now let's compare that to Swansea, the mechanic.

We don't have any evidence that Swansea knew about what Jimmy did until after the crash ("it's been her telling me things") where they were trapped with no captain, barely any rations, and a single cryopod that he kept hidden away in the one room he had the key too (and the only room that could lead into medbay). He didn't use it for himself, he makes it clear he didn't intend on getting off this hunk of metal in his last few conversations with Jimmy.

Swansea as the ship's mechanic, was used to fixing things in the background. He didn't need to get along with anyone to keep the ship running, he didn't need people to like him to keep them safe. We see that with Daisuke. He's harsh on him, for sure, but he leaves constant notes to help him learn. Genuinely tries to keep him out of harm's way when it comes to more dangerous jobs. We know Anya was scared of Jimmy getting a weapon, she hid the gun case in the medical bay even knowing she would never get it open. We can see Swansea and Anya off on their own towards the first days after the crash, and Swansea still has a tight grip of the axe weeks and months later.

I personally think that was him trying to keep Jimmy from having access to a weapon. The only time Jimmy gets the axe while Swansea is alive is when Anya Specifically asks him to use it to get medical supplies. I don't think that's a coincidence.

Swansea, like any good mechanic, was quietly trying to keep things running out of Jimmy's sight. It's not until everyone is dead or dying that he snaps, that he finally takes direct action. But it was too little too late.

Both Curly and Swansea thought they were doing the right thing, helping in their own way. Curly genuinely wanted to see the good in Jimmy, wanted it to just be some challenge they could overcome, but in doing so he failed to see the monster right in front of him. He had all the power (in context of the crew, the company is a whole other can of worms I have so many other thoughts on), but he was too afraid to use it. Hell, he was DISCOURAGED to use it if the memo about HR complaints are anything to go by. Swansea, on the other hand, never trusted Jimmy, never even really liked him, but he didn't want to make anything worse either. He didn't know what would actually set Jimmy off, or what he was capable of, and aside from just straight up killing him what else could he do that wouldn't just push Jimmy further off the edge? Like with the foam. "One wrong move and you'll rip this ship a new asshole", he worked carefully, hiding the last pod from Jimmy, keeping the only other weapon on himself, guarding the only other entrance into Medbay, but Jimmy was escalating quickly. He underestimated how far Jimmy was willing to go, just like Curly had, and in the end suffered the consequences.

The only character who actually understood how dangerous and unstable Jimmy was is Anya. She knew the moment she found out she was pregnant he would hurt her ("you won't let me protect myself"). He wouldn't be able to take it, he would do something drastic. She knew he was escalating the longer they were stranded. Anya is the only crew member who truly understood how dangerous Jimmy was and took direct action.

And interesting thing to me is that she doesn't just kill herself. She locks herself in the medbay. She could have waited for Jimmy to sleep, or locked herself in the cockpit, but she locked herself in the medbay with Curly. She knows that with her gone there would be no one left to take care of him, she knew Jimmy would continue to escalate his abuse, and with her gone all of his anger and fear and guilt would turn on Curly.

And wouldn't you know it? She was right. Without Anya to stop him, he takes curly out of the bed, forces him upright into the cryopod, and forces a man with no skin, no arms, no legs, and infected tissues to be frozen for 20 years while the rest of his crew Rot. And that's only what we know to be reality- if any of his delusions had some basis in reality he could have done so so much more. Anya is the Only one to take reasonable, direct action to keep herself, and then Curly, safe.

But she didn't have enough power over Jimmy to truly protect herself. She didn't have the code to the gun case, she didn't have a weapon or a rank to fall back on. She was outnumbered by men who she knew from experience either wouldn't or couldn't keep her safe, and she was heavily pregnant with a baby she didn't want and most likely couldn't even get enough nutrients to sustain either her or the fetus. She was physically weakened and trapped in a stranded ship with her abuser with no way home and a medical miracle (curse) in Curly.

This game is a really good reflection of reality, in my opinion as an abuse survivor. Some people will see them as "one of the boys" and constantly excuse or downplay their actions (Curly), some people will do small things in the background, recognize the abuse and disprove, but don't want to get in the way or make things worse (Swansea), and some people are just straight up oblivious/naive (Daisuke). But in the end, it's the system that allows abuse and incentives coverups to keep peace or save face that really allows abuse to fester and escalate.

Which is why I personally have a problem with the idea that Anya should have just Told A Different Man because it ignores the very real chain of power and her own agency in her story, AS WELL AS the idea that Swansea and Diasuke knew but didn't care because that's just not reflective of real life. Not every man is some rapist apologist who doesn't care what abusers do until it happens to them, some people just don't know what to do, or don't have any good options that wouldn't result in further abuse. Hell some people just don't even fucking notice! Not everyone has had exposure to the signs or knows what to look for.

It's easy when looking at fictional depictions of abuse to say "well if I was there I would have just punched him/killed him/called the police" but real life, in that moment, its never going to be clear cut. You can call out abuse, but that might just lead to that abuser taking it out on their abuse victim later. They could even start to target you for daring to speak out, or try to hurt you and cut you off from the person being abused. You can know all the right steps and the right programs, but in the moment, when faced with a real situation where someone could get hurt or even killed? You stumble. You think things over, you don't try and make any direct moves that would set their abusers off. Sometimes that's a good instinct, and sometimes that just lets abuse escalate. It's never a good situation, and it's never actually anyone's fault but the abusers. And this way of thinking also conveniently leaves out the survivor of this abuse, and portrays them as someone who needs to be saved, rather than someone who needs support and resources to save themselves. It also very conveniently lets the company that Put Anya in this situation in the first place get off Scott free.

The solution isn't "oh one of the men on board should have personally killed Jimbo and saved Anya all by himself" its "Anya deserved the support of her crewmates instead of being forced into close proximity with her rapist and also maybe Jimmy shouldn't have access to the fucking controls or medbay or any weapons- AND ALSO the crew shouldn't have financial incentives not to report things to HR"

[saintsenara]

thank you very much for this, anon!

the diadem is probably the most interesting horcrux narratively, because it's the only one which doesn't connect to the narrative arc of one of the series' main characters, which is also why it's the only one which is destroyed indirectly - as collateral to goyle burning down the room of requirement, which means there's fiendfyre present for it to be yeeted into - rather than by somebody directly.

as i've said above, the the trio each destroys a horcrux which they have a particular narrative connection to. the same is true of the other three horcruxes which are actively destroyed.

the ring

dumbledore - whose narrative role is to teach harry about understanding what is true [which is what the series thinks the power of love is - love is the universe's one great truth] - destroys the ring, which serves, across all of its canon appearances, as a metaphor for the corrosive power of wishful thinking, seeing what you want to see, and refusing to accept the truth.

in the tale of three brothers, the resurrection stone drives the second brother - who has refused to accept the truth that his lover's death is permanent and she won't come back - mad with grief, causing him to take his own life. marvolo clings on to his ring as a symbol of the gaunts' former grandeur and influence, using it to claim that bob ogden should regard him as his superior, even though he's a violent, squalid man living in a rotting shack. dumbledore puts on the ring in a desperate attempt to apologise to his sister, convincing himself that - unlike the second brother - he'll meet the real ariana, that his desire to use a hallow in this case isn't connected to his and grindelwald's earlier obsession with them, and that voldemort won't have left anything nasty on the ring which might kill him.

harry - who internalises the lesson that "it does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live", who is remarkably free of the shackles of his past, who doesn't tend to get bound up in trying to reclaim things which are lost - drops the stone in the forest, causing it to be lost forever.

the ring-horcrux's creation is also connected to this corrosive wishful thinking. voldemort clearly travels to little hangleton expecting to find his maternal line living in ancient luxury - harry hones in right away on the fact that he looks "disappointed" to find morfin living in filth. voldemort also undoubtedly believes - since his view, expressed in his first meeting with dumbledore, is that a parent who doesn't matter would be dead - that his irrelevant muggle father isn't alive, and he's not pleased to hear morfin reveal otherwise.

[since - of course - this hammers home that his dad abandoned his mother, never wanted him, and never tried to find him.]

he's also not pleased to hear morfin say that he looks near-identical to tom riddle sr. - which is another way that the books, which tend to have all members of pureblood nuclear family units look alike [hence why narcissa malfoy is blond while her sisters aren't - it's to emphasise her connection to lucius and draco], show voldemort's inescapable connection to the muggle world.

and so he wipes out his paternal line, sheds any connection with or affection for his identity as "tom riddle", and vanishes behind the mask of "lord voldemort" who is free from such messy human experiences as "wanting to be loved by your father".

but the entire arc of the series is about how he can't outrun his humanity, his heritage, or his former identity. just as dumbledore can't outrun his past mistakes, he can only seek to be forgiven for them. in destroying the ring-horcrux - and then passing the resurrection stone over to harry - dumbledore is doing what voldemort never does, and recognising that the things he did in the past were wrong and he's sorry for them, but that they nonetheless shaped who he was and he should acknowledge them, instead of trying to suppress them.

the snake

neville destroys nagini, who demonstrates voldemort's descent from slytherin [since the locket, as noted above, is primarily about his grief over his mother - and his immediate heritage - rather than his distant ancestry].

nagini is made a horcrux after the adult voldemort - in a frightening, inhuman form - returns to his father's house, with his relationship to it completely recontextualised. any grief, humiliation, or anger he felt towards tom riddle sr. when the ring was created is now completely irrelevant to him - the riddle line has been eradicated, the riddle house is rotting from the ground up, frank bryce's loyalty to the riddles means nothing to him. voldemort takes over it by force - he's not the son and heir coming to meet his father, he's a superhuman stranger, who has no emotional connection to the riddle family whatsoever.

[this is why he's happy to use his father's bones in his resurrection ritual - he no longer thinks of them as related by anything other than a technicality, his dad's grave is nothing to him except a tool.]

nagini is destroyed - just after voldemort has announced that the house system will be disbanded and all students forced to be in slytherin - by neville pulling the sword of gryffindor from the sorting hat. this proves him to be - along with harry - the series' "true gryffindor", which transforms him from someone who spends the earlier books as comic relief [awkward and a bit cowardly, unlike the trio; a character the child-reader is supposed to see themselves as braver, smarter, and cooler than] into a chivalric figure, who encapsulates all the virtues [courage, loyalty, steadfastness, faith, defence of the lowly, purity of heart, and so on] which the doylist text values above all others.

and which it exclusively associates with gryffindor and gryffindors, [hence dumbledore claiming that snape demonstrating courage is evidence "we sort too soon", rather than assuming that sytherins could be courageous as well...] - in destroying nagini, neville destroys voldemort's belief [which the doylist text regards as empirically wrong] that slytherin is the superior house.

the boy

voldemort himself destroys harry, thus allowing the prophecy - and, especially, its line that "the dark lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the dark lord knows not" - to be fulfilled, via his failure to acknowledge and respect the power of love [which saves harry from death but condemns him to it], the thing he has spent his entire life committing evil in an attempt to outrun.

the diadem

the diadem, in contrast, is associated by the text with independence and solitude.

[hence why it's the only horcrux which dumbledore doesn't identify.]

voldemort learns of its existence by getting close enough to helena ravenclaw to manipulate her - which is presented in canon as no mean feat, since she keeps apart from all the other ghosts, is clearly disinclined to chat to students, and isn't particularly visible within hogwarts as a social structure.

he then travels to retrieve it alone - and he does this after he's also separated himself off from society by leaving his job, fleeing the country, and [presumably] abandoning his social circle - and we know nothing from canon about what he does during the ten years he spends away from britain.

we don't know when he finds the diadem or who was killed to create it [as with the locket, jkr has said that he used a random murder - that of a family of albanian peasants - to make it, which again contradicts dumbledore's statement that he tends to use murders which are significant to him].

voldemort brings the diadem to hogwarts on the night of his job interview, when he definitively rejects any alternative path [and, in canon's eyes, rejects any chance of doing "good", since he rejects dumbledore's way] and strikes out alone as the singular embodiment of evil. his separation from group society is heavily emphasised throughout this scene - dumbledore calls him a liar for claiming the death eaters are his friends ["i was under the impression that they are more in the order of servants"], his appearance is starting to become inhuman ["he was no longer handsome tom riddle"], and he no longer wishes to be known as tom riddle [and, as i've said before, we do need to recognise that what dumbledore does is deadnaming... especially given who jkr is...].

and he hides it in the room of requirement, which is similarly a place of separation and solitude - it's where things which aren't wanted or needed are hidden away - and which he believes [nonsensically] he is the only person to have discovered.

[although it is worth saying that dumbledore doesn't know the room exists - voldemort's belief that he alone knows about it is basically canon, pretty clumsily, drawing this distinction between someone who's part of society and someone who's separate from it: the castle's headmaster, who is integral to its functioning as a social system, doesn't know something which the self-made outcast does.]

and on the basis of this, i suppose we could say that the diadem is the least social horcrux - the version of voldemort least interested in exploiting the human desire for socialisation, the object which would be the least successful at manipulating somebody who comes into contact with it. which would even make it possible to say that the diadem is the least dangerous horcrux, on account of lacking that desire to take advantage of people.

we could also say that the diadem is the horcrux voldemort thinks of as least important to him - he lacks any personal connection to it, chooses it as an object primarily for completionist reasons, checks on it last when he works out that harry is destroying his hoard, and doesn't hide it somewhere of any real significance to him.

[because - yes - he hides it at hogwarts, his beloved castle, but if he'd wanted to create somewhere elaborate and special to hide it, as he does with his mother's locket, i can see no reason why he wouldn't have put it in the chamber of secrets.]

but i think we can say something much more interesting about it...

that it doesn't represent freely-chosen independence, separation, and solitude. it represents unwilling isolation.

after all, the initial presentation of helena ravenclaw's separation from the rest of the castle as being because she's a bit up herself is revealed to be wrong. she refuses to answer questions about the diadem because she's ashamed of stealing it. she doesn't like socialising with the castle's other ghosts because the man who murdered her is one of them.

and she also says that her separation from society in life wasn't a deliberate choice. she is forced into hiding because the baron is hunting her down. when she attempts to refuse him - to make a free choice either to be alone or to form other relationships in which he doesn't feature - he kills her. while the mechanics of where ghosts spawn isn't entirely clear - my assumption is that she ends up back at hogwarts because she has so much unfinished business with her mam - her death also separates her, against her will, from something which is precious to her: the diadem.

while i don't think we need to throw the baby out with the bathwater - i never think, for example, that the teenage voldemort was bullied by his fellow slytherins - we also know that he stood out from the crowd the second he arrived at hogwarts, for both positive [his looks, his talent] and negative [his secondhand possessions] reasons. the text is explicit that he never had any relationships with his cohort which were equal, and while it presents this as a deliberate choice on voldemort's part, since he understood himself as superior to everyone else - dumbledore's description of him as a "gang leader", or harry's observation that he "was by no means the eldest of the group of boys [at the slug club], but they all seemed to look to him as their leader" - we don't have to take this as fact.

indeed, despite dumbledore's insistence that voldemort has never wanted a friend, he does seem - throughout canon - to be someone who's quite lonely, and who would value a relationship which provided him with some sort of peer experience. it is entirely plausible, then, to imagine that he manages to worm his way into helena ravenclaw's confidences because they have a shared experience of being separated - against their will - from something they desire.

similarly, while we know nothing of voldemort's first time in albania, we know something significant about the second one - that he thinks about it as a miserable period of isolation, spent hiding from social connection ["i dared not go where other humans were plentiful, for i knew that the aurors were still abroad and searching for me"] which took place very much against his will, after his death eaters abandoned him:

"I remember only forcing myself, sleeplessly, endlessly, second by second, to exist... I settled in a faraway place, in a forest, and I waited... Surely, one of my faithful Death Eaters would try and find me... one of them would come and perform the magic I could not, to restore me to a body... but I waited in vain..."

and - therefore - perhaps his first stay in albania was somewhere "other humans were plentiful". perhaps he had connections there which he valued, but which aren't important to the narrative of the doylist text and therefore aren't mentioned.

after he turns the diadem into a horcrux, voldemort then brings it "home" - he reunites it with hogwarts. i don't think for a second that he did this for helena ravenclaw, but i do think he did it because he would understand the founders' relics as being pair-bonded to the castle [with himself, or possibly the basilisk, standing in for the locket as slytherin's relic]. in bringing it to his job interview - which, i think it's worth emphasising, he really does seem to think is genuine [however ridiculous that is] - he's involving it in his long-awaited homecoming.

the fact that he places it in the room of requirement lends credence to this. after all, the diadem-horcrux is almost always mentioned - in both half-blood prince and deathly hallows - alongside something else: the broken vanishing cabinet.

and what is the entire point of the vanishing cabinet in the latter books of the series?

to be reunited with its pair.

and so the diadem should have a mirror-character, like all the rest of the horcruxes.

and this mirror-character should be someone whose separation from the narrative arc of the horcruxes' destruction initially appears to their choice, but is then revealed to be something imposed upon them against their will.

someone who's lonely; who is - perhaps - popular but doesn't seem to have any actual close friends.

someone who has spent years wanting to be perceived as an equal by a specific person - and who longed for that person to recognise that they'd changed from the person they were as a child.

someone who was excited to go to hogwarts, only to discover that they stood out from their peers because of their secondhand possessions.

someone who had a formative relationship which was entirely transactional - even if they were the person being manipulated, while the pre-teen voldemort's experience is as the person doing the manipulating.

someone who, like helena ravenclaw, attempted to flee the person hunting them down - and nearly died as a result.

someone who panics at the thought of being separated from a precious object.

someone whom the text understands as part of a pair, but who is still kept at arm's length by their other half for the vast majority of the series.

someone who bravely accepts the ending of a relationship, even though they're not given a choice in the matter, so that the more important narrative of the horcrux hunt can begin.

someone who's not only excluded from the horcrux hunt [and, indeed, isn't told anything about the horcruxes full-stop], but is excluded from the fighting when the battle of hogwarts begins [the only main character this happens to].

someone who is excluded from the fighting by being told to stay - on their own - in the room of requirement.

someone who - therefore - is kept so separate from the narrative of voldemort's destruction that they don't even get a chance to destroy their horcrux-mirror.

that is to say...

ginny.

One thing I find really compelling about ronmort is that the horcrux which targets ron is the one most "maternal"-- tom's mother's locket, which you so cleverly pointed out was also the one which he erected a complicated defense for in a place that was meaningful to his childhood. Everything the locket says to Ron just feels so charged? Wym you've seen his heart and it's yours? Wym you've seen his dreams and his desires? The fact that Ron can hear the locket's heartbeat before anyone else... I don't know how to explain it except that the locket's antagonism of Ron feels almost intimate in a way. The shenanigans would be sexy. Not least because Ron can apparently do a passing imitation of parseltongue (hot).

that each of the trio destroys the horcrux which most connects to something fundamental about themselves is a detail which obsesses me.

the diary

harry - an orphan, desperate to meet someone else who can understand the strangeness and isolation of his experience; searching for the truth about himself, and what in his life is inherited, but unable to ever fully uncover it - destroys the diary, not only the sole horcrux which is an explicit link to lord voldemort's upbringing as an orphan in the muggle world, but also a metaphor for the state of orphanhood itself.

the diary is a quasi-palimpsest - an object which has to be written in; an object in which a layer of text is written and then overwritten by another; an object in which these layers of text can be stripped back until only the original layer remains only with extraordinary difficulty - just like the orphan's search for meaning, trying to decipher the layers of themselves which were inherited from their parents, but only ever being able to see these partially, with the text missing or corrupted.

voldemort's creation of the diary-horcrux is explicitly connected in canon to him coming to learn who about himself, his parents, and his heritage - and, connected to this, to him refusing to sit with the grief of orphanhood, refusing to understand his parents as whole, complex people, and refusing to embrace his "real" identity [which, as the text understands it, is that of a half-blood named tom marvolo riddle] by creating a fake one [that of lord voldemort].

harry destroys it after rejecting voldemort's self-constructed view of his own exceptionality - "the greatest wizard in the world is albus dumbledore" - his refusal to acknowledge the complexities of lineage and orphanhood, and his refusal to embrace his muggle heritage - "my mother died to save me. my common, muggleborn mother". he does this using a tool directly connected to voldemort's rejection of all but his slytherin heritage - the basilisk's fang - in a location similarly connected to voldemort's rejection of his muggle blood - the chamber of secrets.

the cup

hermione - an outsider, whose place in the wizarding world is unstable - destroys the cup, one of the horcruxes to which voldemort has the least personal connection, but which he selected to hide his soul because of its historical significance, anchoring him to a millennium of wizarding history and culture he was otherwise brought up disconnected from.

voldemort's creation of the cup-horcrux comes at the end of a period of his life in which he is disadvantaged in wizarding society purely on the basis of his name and background. he rejects the ministry jobs which would have made him dependent for the rest of his life on slughorn's patronage - and, therefore, pressured him to do what slughorn wanted - and ends up, as he himself puts it, as "a poor shop assistant". hepzibah smith is a pureblood, who is also descended from one of hogwarts' founders - yet she doesn't make use of this superiority ["all sorts of powers it's supposed to possess too... i just keep it nice and safe in here..."], and she doesn't realise [and he can't prove to her and hope to keep his job] that voldemort is someone she should think of as her equal [or even superior]. she - as harry observes - essentially treats voldemort as doll she can play with, posing him with her treasures and pretending his glacial politeness is really repressed affection, she speaks to him like he's an idiot, and she evidently considers him to be her social inferior.

hermione destroys the cup after seven books in which the discrimination she faces on account of being muggleborn are explicit. obviously, she's the victim of violent bigotry - she's petrified, she's called a mudblood, she's the only one of the trio who also has to worry about the muggleborn registration commission - but she's also the victim of seemingly benign, genial bigotry too - the muggle world is treated as a quaint side-show, even by characters like the weasleys; she's praised for her intelligence by slughorn, but this intelligence is still considered in some way unusual for someone with muggle heritage. she gets spoken to by many wizards in ways which aren't far removed from the way hepzibah speaks to voldemort.

as a result, she - like voldemort - spends a lot of time trying to acquire enough knowledge of the wizarding world that she appears to be native to it [this is why she's so obsessed with hogwarts: a history]. but - unlike voldemort - she then embraces her heritage and refuses to hide it - "mudblood and proud of it!".

and - shortly after this - she destroys the cup, in a place - the chamber - and using a tool - the basilisk's fang - which are both directly connected to the bigotry she experienced, since they're part of slytherin's belief that people like her should be driven out of hogwarts and out of the magical world more broadly, and therefore send a big "fuck you" to voldemort's blood-supremacy.

the locket

and ron... whose greatest desire is to be recognised for his individual achievements, who has a complex and uneasy relationship with his place in his family [simultaneously longing to be something other than "one of the weasleys" and fiercely loyal to his parents and siblings], who is the only pureblood of the trio, whose childhood we hear the most about in canon, and whose childhood appears to have been happy...

destroys the locket, which is voldemort's only link to his mother, and the only horcrux for which he constructs an elaborate defence in a place meaningful to him from childhood.

we don't actually know who voldemort kills to create the locket-horcrux [jkr has said in interviews that it was a muggle tramp, although this contradicts dumbledore's statement in half-blood prince that voldemort created his horcruxes from murders which were significant to him], which is a neat metaphor for how little he knows about merope - since he doesn't know morfin's name, for example, we can assume he doesn't know hers; everything he ever tells harry about her is something he's invented [especially his belief that his parents' marriage was consensual, and that tom riddle sr. abandoned her because she was a witch].

the horcrux attempts to torture ron with his insecurities about being a mammy's boy who's always been afraid that he's a bit of a flop at the task - especially when compared to siblings like ginny, bill, and percy. and ron is so susceptible to it because voldemort is also an inherent mammy's boy [ronmort nation, rise up] who never got a chance to have a mam, and who responded to the grief this caused him by suppressing it, pretending it never existed, and convincing himself that the only viable thing to be is unique.

ron destroys it after he returns to the trio - having attempted to strike out on his own [the thing he's wanted since philosopher's stone, when he sees himself standing alone in the mirror of erised] - and accepts his place as part of a group. he does so using the sword of gryffindor, which again represents him embracing not being exceptional - his entire family have been in gryffindor, something he's shown to feel simultaneously proud of and uneasy with right from his first appearance.

[faghubby]

More, please

I laid on my back my feet on her shoulders as she fucked me with her huge 8 inch strapon. Jen had become a pro at fucking my ass. As she pounded away driving her 8 inch fake cock in and out of my ass with such force I kept banging my head on the headboard.

"Yes, oh god yes fuck me" I cried out.

"You are such a horny little slut" Jen hissed driving deep and holding it there. She paused as she shoved a penis shaped gag into my mouth. "Maybe this will keep you quiet" she laughed and fucked me some more.

Jen had been abusing my ass for months now. It started with me asking her to try anal. She informed me only if I did first. I loved the idea. Having been a closet crossdresser since I was 12. I pretended to be hesitate. I was a bit never having more then my own fingers in my ass. Jen didn't think I was serious. But I set it all up. I bought her a strapon, shaved and dressed in sexy lingerie. As if it was all a big. Joke. When she came home she didn't laugh. Instead took me to bed and fucked me with her new toy. After she was very serious and we had a long conversation about if I was gay, where do we go from here.

Jen figured it all out rather quick. I found myself getting fucked daily. Always wearing lingerie. Jen immediately bought me my own lingerie and many more toys.

"Baby you are my lesbian lover" she would tell me. It had been a month when she suggested I start only wearing panties. It had also been a month since I had fucked her. Only being allowed to preform oral on her.

"I was wondering baby, how you play with yourself?" Jen asked one day while coming up behind me, rubbing my nipples.

"I well you know" I said hesitately

"No I don't, I saw you where looking at those horrible flashlight things on your computer" Jen teased. "Pretty sissy girls like you should just rub yourself" her hand slid down my panties and she used two fingers to rub me thru my satin panties. "Like this" she giggled in my ear.

I moaned and quickly came in my panties. She pulled out her hand and stuck her fingers in my mouth.

"Like that?" She teased as I tasted my own cum on her fingers. She grabbed my hand and led me to the bedroom. On the bed she had laid out a whole outfit.

"Get dressed" she told me. As she sat and watched me strip down. There was a bright pink thong and bra set. With lots of lace. Followed by a very short tight skirt. That rode up to show my panties whenever I moved and a tight white belly shirt that you could easily see my bra thru. To top it off she produced a pair of high heal shoes in my size. She pulled out her strapon and had me help her tighten the straps over her clothes.

"I want you to learn to suck cock baby" Jen told me. I had never worn more then panties and a nightie a few times and now. I was dressed like a slut as Jen pushed me down to my knees. I looked up at her she smiled and guided her cock into my mouth.

"Go slow, kiss it" she told me. "That's it now suck on the big mushroom head" she encouraged. For the next 30 minutes I slobbered all over her cock. As she told me how sweet I was and ran her fingers thru my hair.

"You are going to grow this out" she informed me. "And start shaving off all your body hair for me" when she let me stop sucking her cock my jaw hurt.

"Leave this outfit on, it suits you" Jen said kissing me.

I stumbled around in the 3 inch stilettos for the rest of the day. My feet and legs where killing me. But she frowned when I kicked them off when I sat down next to her. She pulled my skirt up.

"Show me how you are going to play with yourself from now on" Jen teased cuddling against me. I started to rub myself. Jen rubbed my nipples thru my bra.

"You like sucking cock and getting fucked up the ass don't you baby?" Jen teased as she nibbled on my ear. I didn't answer but kept rubbing myself harder.

"What if I found us a real cock to play with?" Jen whispered just as I came in my panties again. She had me stand and take them off right in the living room. Then sit back down next to her.

"Lick up all that nasty cum and I will lick up the rest" Jen told me pushing my panties into my mouth as she lowered her head and licked my soft dick and balls. She checked to make sure I was sucking all my sperm out of the panties before she continued. She stopped as soon as I started to get hard again.

"Go take a nice hot bath and get rid of the rest of this manly hair" Jen told me. As she got up and went outside. I did as she said. I wasn't sure about shaving my pits and legs but did it anyway. It took awhile and I thought about what was happening and what Jen had said. Is this what I wanted? Was I gay, or maybe bi? When I got out of the tub I found Jen had laid out clothes for me again. Again a thong and bra. With a pair of white shorts. Much tighter then anything I would of worn. They also seemed to sit low. Exposing the waist band of my panties. I tried to tuck in. And a polo shirt in pink. Some no show socks. And my sneakers. With a note COME HELP ME IN THE YARD

I stood at the back door scared to go outside. What if someone noticed my shaved legs? But Jen saw me and waved me out. She was bent over weeding her flower garden. I slowly made my way out to her. I was rock hard in my tight shorts. It was so exciting and terrifying to be exposed. Jen looked up and laughed noticing the bulge in my shorts. She had me help her weed. I had not thought about my thong showing until. Mr Longmere appeared by the fence.

"Beautiful day" he called out I panicked and wanted to hide. Jen laughed and took my hand and led me over to say hello. Mr longmere looked at me a bit odd, but said nothing.

"Good afternoon" Jen said kissing him on the cheek. Mr longmere was in his 60s his name was George but no one in the neighborhood called him that. "Paulie here is rediscovering himself" Jen laughed and smacked my ass.

"Is that what he is doing? I thought he was finally telling everyone he is a fairy" Mr Longmere laughed. He reached out and cupped my face.

"Is that right? Are you a little fairy?" He teased. I blushed and wanted to hide. As Jen told him how I had my first cock sucking practice today. I was harder then I had ever been as Jen held my hand tight not letting me squirm away. Mr longmere laughed and went back to his yard work and Jen led me inside.

"Someone needs to masterbate again!" She laughed as I squeezed out of my shorts but grabbed my dick and started to jerk off.

"Stop that!" Jen scolded as she smacked my hand away. "You are awful excited by being exposed. I guess I should expose you alot more" she told me as she once again put on her cock.

"You know what to do?" She smiled I dropped to my knees and sucked her cock. She produced a thick plug.

"Sit on this while you suck my cock bitch" she ordered I quickly lubed it and slid it into my ass. And went back to sucking her toy. For the next month every weekend she would dress me up and expose me to someone. Mr longmere even saw me in a short flower print sun dress. All while she had me suck her cock more and more. Within a few weeks I could take a few inches down my throat by the end of the month Jen could throat fuck me. Only Mr Longmere knew who I was everyone else I was exposed to was a stranger. Jen also had me wearing not only panties but bras under my boy clothes.

"Paulie, I need to tell you something" Jen smiled as she walked in the door from work one night. I was in the kitchen cooking dinner. She grabbed my pink frilly apron strings. I turned off the stove and sat down at the table next to her.

"I sucked Pete's big cock today" she blurted out with a grin.

"What? Really?" I wimpered as tears rolled down my cheeks.

"Don't be lime that baby, you had to have known eventually I would need a real cock to fuck me" Jen said pulling me close.

"You are a good little sissy husband. But you wear panties and love to suck on my cock" Jen said she tossled my now long hair.

"You really need to go to the salon and get this styled" she said changing the subject. She let me go finish dinner. But came out naked a few minutes later.

"I am so horny, come eat my pussy" she told me. I dropped and did as she asked. She was so wet. I knew she was thinking about Pete's cock. After I made her cum she rushed back to the bedroom and returned with the strapon. This time with a toy shoved deep inside her she bent me over the table and drove all 8 inches deep into me with one thrust. I moaned and cried as she pounded away till I came all over the table.

"Lick it up, faggot lick up all HIS yummy cum" Jen said pushing my face into my mess.

The next day Jen was late coming home. When she did she rushed in stripping as she did. She pulled me to the floor and sat on my face. Immediately a huge glob of cum dropped into my mouth. Jen ground on my face as I consumed what I figured was Pete's load he had pumped into her. Jen never said a word. But twice a week a was fed a cream pie from her freshly fucked swollen pussy.

Jen pressed me to wear my REAL clothes whenever I was at home. My wardrobe had grown to include a dozen dress, skirts, low ride jeans and blouses. Not to mention stockings, garters, even a girdle. My hair was cut so I could curl it and it would look very femine or straight and seemed more masculine but not sure many really believed it any more. A few of the woman at work had noticed a bra strap. Or that my slacks where actually ladies.

Jen had several lovers. Over the next year. But it was our vacation to Hawaii that I really gave up any hope of being a man again.

"You are not bringing any boy clothes" Jen informed me as she showed me my new bikinis. One was hot pink the bottom a thong the top if I had tirs wouldn't of covered much. The second was bright yellow tied with strings "for easy access" Jen laughed. Jen had made all the arrangements. I was surprised to see she had booked adjoining rooms.

"You are going to want your privacy" she informed me. The first night she dolled me all up in a mini skirt and a tank top and took me to a gay bar. Immediately I had some guy buying me drinks. When he asked me to dance Jen answered for me pushing me into his arms. On the dance floor he had his hand under my skirt. I rested my head on his shoulder as he played with my dick.

"I never been with a man" I told him. He led me put of the bar I even forgot about Jen. I was sucking his cock as he drove to the hotel. I was so proud as I deep treated him and swallowed every drop of his cum. When we made it to bed I laid next him kissing him. Again he started to stroke me.

"I don't want you to" I told him. I want you to fuck me use me. But don't." He seemed to understand even if I didn't. And he did exactly that he fucked me. Twice that night and in the morning fucked my throat. But denied anything but teasing me. I did cum while he fucked me the second time. He seemed made at me and made me lick the sheets clean. After he left I went Jens room to find her on bed with two men. I quietly lifted the covers and licked her cum leaking used cumt. She rubbed my head as I did. One of the guys woke whole I was doing this.

"Just my fairy little husband" she told him and started to suck his cock. I quietly went back to my room. I went back to the same bar alone. This time I met Dean. Dean taught me about disapline. I spent the whole vacation. Learning to obey and worship him. Jen even watched as he had me suck his beautiful cock right in the open on the beach. While I wore my little pink bikini.

Jen and I are still married and I serve her however she desires. But I have Master Greg. Who I drop everything to make sure he is satisfied.

[polarisjisung]

LITTLE THINGS

synopsis: when your boyfriend climbs up the very tree you hate so much, on a stormy night, all just to see you, suddenly the big bad oak tree outside doesn't seem all that intimidating

wc: 1.2k

pairings: chenle × fem! reader, established relationship

genre: fluff

warning: mentions of a storm, uses of petnames, use of the word death

notes: HAPPY CHENLE DAY! this is a little cheesy but fuck it we ball ig

You've always hated the massive oak tree outside your bedroom window, the one that likes to play these unintentional pranks on you in the middle of the night.

Branches flying and spinning as if they're about to snap off, leaves forming shapes you didn't even know existed through the window as the wind whistled behind you.

It felt eerie, like you were in those horror movies where the main lead seemed to have no common sense and jumped at the oppurtunity at getting themselves killed, like they actively sought out death.

It made you feel like danger lurked at every corner, you were caged by nothing more than the four thin walls of your bedroom, and that the curtains that masked the outside, though not particularly well, were your only form of blissful ignorance.

On the windy, less peaceful nights as you tossed and turned in bed, you didn't appreciate that massive oak tree whatsoever. Tonight, your dislike for the thing feels amplified, and you come to the conclusion that you'll be chopping it down even if it's the last thing you do. Heck, you'd get the saw and do it yourself if you could.

You don't like it, the rumbling, those loud cracks or the booming sound followed by quick, incessant flashes across the sky.

It caused shivers to run down your spine, your pupils to dilate and your eyes to be screwed shut, your fingers curling in on themselves as you cocooned yourself in the warmth of your blanket.

Simply put you don't like thunderstorms

And that darn oak tree is of no help. Especially not when there's a rather distinct shadow slowly crawling across that of the tree, one you take peaks at and look away from in turn as you slowly sink deeper into your mattress, seeing it move towards you, getting closer by the second

You swear you'd elicit a scream had it not been the dead of the night, knowing if you did, you'd get an absolute earful about it the next morning, being such a scaredy cat at your big age

There's a knocking at your window only a few moments later. You gulp.

God you did not want to die today.

"Y/n" there's a deep, hesitant whisper of your name and you can't help but curl further into the thin duvet that rests over your shaking body, by no means was it cold, but it felt protective against the storm outside, and that was reason enough for you to wrap yourself up in the blue comforter— your life practically depended on it

You're imagining things, you convince yourself, sighing and closing your eyes in attempts to drift off to sleep.

But the light treading of footsteps that grows louder and louder has you bolting your eyes open in seconds

"Oh goody, you're awake" chenle's beaming voice in your room at 2am was not what you had been expecting, you're not quite sure where he gets this much energy from in the middle of the night either, shooting him a dark glare, between your own two sleepy eyes

"You couldn't use the damn door Zhong?" your hand plants itself against your forehead as you shoot up from your bed, quietly stomping over to him to shut the window— something you'd been meaning to do for the past few hours, but had simply been too scared to do.

"Yeah well your parents hate me and I'm not sure they'd like me making my jolly old way through the front door given the hour" he rolls his eyes, setting his wet jacket down to dry

"And you think they'll like you for sneaking in through the window instead?" you whisper yell, brows somewhat furrowed

"What they don't know won't hurt them" he shrugs, a little too casually for someone who'd just parkoured their way up a tree at 2am, you hum regardless, he wasn't wrong.

"Besides they don't hate you" he takes a seat at the edge of your bed

"Now don't lie to me princess" he chuckles low and slow "we both know they hate do, especially daddio"

"Hate is a strong word, they're just not your biggest fans" you defend, letting chenle wrap you up in the spare hoodie of his he'd bought along with him "though I can't say that you calling my father, daddio is doing much to help"

"I didn't come here to talk about whether your parents approve of me" he smiles, eyes rolling yet again as he wraps his arm around you, "that's a conversation for later— right now, I'm here for you"

"At 2am on a Monday morning? we have school Chenle"

"Well correct me if im wrong princess but I'm sure you'd rather me be here than be all alone on a night like this" he says, gesturing towards the window with a tilt of his neck

"No way" you huff "i'm a big girl, a little storm won't phase me" you say proudly with a puffed chest, not that it lasts long as you practically throw yourself into chenle's arms with a muffled screech, when another strike of lightning booms above you, heartbeat erratic

chenle chuckles to himself

"What was that, a little storm, not sure about a big girl but you sure are a big baby" he laughs again, "my big baby"

You pout, "don't tease, it's scary"

You feel his hand run across your hair in attempts to ease the racing of you heart, pulling you from his chest to take ahold of your cheeks in his hands, gently caressing them with tender eyes locked into your own

His stare is strong, unlike yours, yet there's a deep rooted gentleness to those eyes that overwhelms you with calm. Chenle always knew this fear of yours made you feel pathetic, childish in fact.

"is it still scary? even when I'm here"

You respond with a shy shaking of your head

"Nothings scary when you're here," you whisper against his hold, and chenle swears, he feels his heart swell at how sweet your words are, falling from your lips so hushed, almost like they were sacred

"Not even that big bad oak tree outside?" chenle points at the horrific outline of the tree outside, earning a quick shudder from you before you tuck yourself back into his hold

"Not funny lele" you sulk

"Come on princess, it was a little" his lips tug upwards, your own smile hidden away between the material of his black hoodie

You shake your head "hate that tree with a passion"

"even if it helped me get up here?"

You shake your head again, maybe the big bad oak tree wasn't all that bad, maybe you just had to give it a chance to prove itself

"I'm glad you came" you say, pecking his cheek to affirm your gratitude

"Of course I came princess, you know I could never leave you alone on a night like this" he holds you tight against his chest, so firm you wonder whether he too thinks the wind would break through the walls and sweep you away

"Besides, I have to make sure there's no other guys sneaking in through your window"

[raileurta]

Humans are space cats

Finally finished the 200 followers poll fic. Here's the link to the ao3 version if you want but the fic will be under the cut.

The cold rain pelted gently on his hood; it has been a rather quiet week, Bumblebee thought. Things were going smoothly with human relations and a decepticon hasn't been spotted for a month. Even if they did find one he knew they wouldn’t harm humans. Honestly, why was he even doing a patrol in the first place? Pushing air through his vents Bee let out the equivalent to a Cybertronian sigh. As he was mulling things to do through his head he heard a muffled cry. It was barely louder than the rain but could tell it was coming from the alley on his left. Quietly driving into it he came upon a rather weird sight; a human was sitting in a box curled up hugging his knees face pressed into them in the rain not trying to keep himself dry. Bumblebee knew humans didn't like getting their coverings wet and they could get sick doing this so this worried him. The boy was wearing a simple gray T-shirt and a pair of black cotton shorts. This outfit was definitely not suitable for this weather, he could even see the human was shaking. He let out another small sob, tears running down his face. Bee didn't know what to do, a lot of humans were still scared of transformers and he didn't want to upset the boy further. Then to steal a human term a lightbulb went off in his helm. He remembered something about humans he learned from Ratchet a bit ago. Pulling out quietly he reluctantly left the human to drive to the nearest grocery store.

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

Bumblebee pulled by the alleyway again and with his sensors he could tell that the human was still there. He then transformed and walked into the alley. The small organic looked up from his position startled by the noise of his loud footsteps. His eyes were puffy from his crying and tear steaks could be seen on his face. Bumblebee felt his spark ache in his chest plate. Slowly he crouched down to the ground and carefully set the “chocolate” down on the ground and pushed it towards the organic. From what he learned this was a fuel most of humanity universally loved and the chemicals in it helped calm them down. The boy looked at him skeptical then at the chocolate then turned his gaze back up to his helm again. Bumblebee let out a soothing buzz noise hoping it would relax the human more. They sat like that in the rain for a few seconds, neither of them moving a digit. Gradually the boy reached for the offering and pulled it towards his chest in a fearful burst: as if afraid the bot was going to change his mind and take it from him. Bumblebee suppressed a chuckle at the little human’s actions. The earthling inspected the chocolate looking it over to see if it had been tampered with; deeming it safe to eat he bit into it. Bumblebee watched as he ate the little treat, his cheeks adorably bulging with its contents. Once finished the boy looked up at him; he was holding another piece of chocolate. Instead of putting it on the ground he extended his hand down to the human’s height and waited for him. Shakily he walked over to me clearly hesitant. Now out of the box I could see he didn't even have any shoes on. His feet must be freezing. When the boy was in arms reach of the fuel I spoke:

“My designat- name is bumblebee. What is yours?’ Bee stated simply.

The human was startled at my voice, clearly not expecting the sudden sound.

“Sorry for scaring you, but please do not be frightened, I will not harm you.” Bumblebee said in his most soft voice he could produce.

He was so thankful that Ratchet managed to fix his voice box finally. Otherwise this would be so much more difficult.

The human still looked skeptical which was to be expected considering he's a stranger that was a giant robot that could kill him in a nanosecond. When he took the chocolate a soft voice rang.

“My name's Sam.”

Bumblebee was in awe at the voice he heard. It pleasantly strung at his audio receptors and sounded oh so sweet. A little sneeze broke him out of his cuteness induced distraction. He had to get Sam out of the rain before he became ill. He took a large towel out of his subspace that he bought from the store and draped it over the human’s figure. Sam I instantly snuggled into the new warmth.

“Sam why are you sitting in this alley with improper clothes?”

The human grimaced at his question.

“Do you have somewhere to go?

Sam didn't answer again, he just curled the towel around him tighter. Seeing as his questions were just making the boy more upset he decided to stop.

“If you are comfortable with it I can take you back to my base.”

Bumblebee internally slapped the back of his helm. Why did he say that?! Now Sam is probably thinking he's creepy. He should have offered to take him to a shelter or-

“Sure.”

The boy's answer spurred him out of his spiral. Not one to question good luck he transformed and opened the driver door. Sam stepped in and Bumblebee drove off.

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

They arrived at home base after a couple minutes. Sam throughout the journey didn't say a single word. Bee didn't want to overwhelm him so he decided to let it be. Pulling into the garage he opened his left door. The human hopped outside and started to look around marveling at the large room. Transforming he walking towards the wash racks he made a head gesture for Sam to follow him, stumbling after the mech he rushed to keep up with him. It reminded Bee of a sparkling not quite used to their peds yet.

Arriving at the wash racks he looked around for something that Sam could bathe in; after a few seconds of looking he found a container that wasn't too big for the human. He turned on a nearby sink and filled it with warm water up to around Sam’s chest. Checking to make sure the temperature is not too hot. He then grabbed some car soap, the ingredients indicating nothing in it would hurt Sam. He would have to buy human shampoo if Sam was to stay here long term. Speaking of the boy he was exploring, currently trying to see on top of a stool.

Humans were so tiny heh.

Walking over to the human he bent down to him just like he has seen Optimus has done many times.

“Sam, I have prepared you a bath. May I pick you up to take you to it?”

“Yeah.” Sam said quietly.

Carefully he scooped up Sam in his hands making sure to be extra gentle carrying him. The earthling hand held onto his thumb to support himself and oooh he's so soft and warm. His hand barely being able to reach around his thumb to hold. It took a lot of his willpower to prevent himself from just snuggling the human to his face plate.

He put Sam next to the bath, and double checking to make sure he had everything he needed bumblebee reluctantly was about to leave. He knew about humans’ displeasure for being seen unclothed. Sam unexpectedly though apparently wasn't in the norm as he just took off his clothes and hopped in. He relaxed against the metal of his makeshift tub, letting the warm water ease his stress.

Bumblebee wasn't sure what to do. He's never met a human before that willingly disrobed themselves in front of him. He looked towards the soap and wondered to himself. Most Cybertronians wash each other to show affection and considering Sam's nudeness he wondered if he wouldn't mind being washed either. Also it's not like Sam could really use anything without help. He picked up the car soap and a cloth nearby. He made a questioning noise at Sam hoping he got what his intentions were. The boy looked up at him then at the items in his hands. A lot of emotions flickered over his face before landing on neutrality.

Sam made a small nod.

Dabbing some soap on a corner piece of the rag he gently started to rub the human’s head. Bumblebee would spend the next few minutes washing hi- the human. Making sure to get all of Sam's surface clean leaving the gentila area for him to wash himself. The mech knew how much of a no no area that it was for earthlings even among the most chill ones. Sam seemed surprised when he didn't wash him there. But Bee ignored that and started getting a towel for the human. It was one of the Cybertronian ones as the one he bought earlier was still wet. He helped Sam out of the tub and after dumping the water he wrapped the boy up. Despite being a hand towel it still managed to swallow the boy up looking very much “burritoed” as the humans would say. His processors were nearly overloading at the endearing sight in front of him; Sam just looked so cute. Continuing to resist the urge to snuggle the small human he asked Sam if he wanted anything. Shyly he asked if Bee still has any more chocolate on him. Luckily he had bought three candies so he still had one left. He took out the treat from his subspace and gave it to Sam; he happily took it from him. Offering his hand again the human quickly got on it. Bee brought up the little human burrito against his chest humming slightly as he walked over to the Autobot branded couch. He sat down and looked down at Sam. He was nibbling on the chocolate, a piece stuck on one of the boy’s cheeks. He lightly dusted it off with his pointer figure and when he did Sam grabbed his hand again. Bumblebee made no move to remove the boy’s grip from his finger. As they sat there slowly but surely a smile spread upon Sam's face. It was a tiny thing barely noticeable but it was there.

Primus help him, he was in love.

Throughout their whole time together Sam had not smiled, not once but he wished he did. He wanted to see the human’s happy face. Bee didn't know why become so attached to this human so quickly but he doesn't care; not if he could be the reason Sam smiled again. It was the most beautiful thing he has ever seen in his long long life. (And he's seen the allspark) Primus he wished he had lips so he could kiss Sam's forehead. Bee will settle on pressing the human against his face plate. As Sam snuggled into him he vowed then and there that he would protect Sam with his life.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Forever.

[lilithofpenandbook]

Out of everything that traumatised Neville, Snape isn't one of them. If he is, that's not because Snape is abusive, it's because Neville is literally weak. That's not an insult, that's his flaw- being unnecessarily scared of everything. The other children are not afraid of Snape himself. They're more afraid of the consequences of angering Snape (house points lost, detentions, scoldings) rather than Snape as a person.

Neville's feelings are shockingly enough, not valid. Those feelings of fear, that cowardice? A flaw. Just as much as arrogance, spitefulness, being overly afraid is a flaw and in his case makes him a danger to others, as does his clumsiness and forgetfulness. Now, forgetfulness isn't something you can choose, I'd call it a weakness more than a flaw, but at the same time there are ways to manage it. But the cowardice? That's a flaw that needs to be corrected.

Neville's trauma comes from his family. His uncle is awful to him, as is his grandmother, and seeing his parents in such a state is enough to mess anyone up. He comes from a messed up family. It does not come from Snape.

People also like to say that "Oh look his boggart is Snape even though his parents were tortured!!!" but here's the thing: Neville was probably never even present.

He probably never ever even saw his parents tortured. He knows what happened, but was most likely never a witness. If he was present would he have actually lived? Of course not. So of course he's not going to have that as his worst fear. It's not going to come to mind in school. Not when he just got grilled by Snape.

Neville's been through traumatic events, that's undeniable. But Snape is not one of them. Snape isn't obliged to be nice to Neville. Snape's job when it's Neville is, by some point, just making sure Longbottom doesn't kill them all. Neville's cowardice and clumsiness aren't reasons to coddle him. If I was teaching Potions, I'd have kicked Neville out by second year- no way am I risking a whole class because one child can't follow basic instructions.

Neville's family is the real problem in Neville's story. They're supposed to look after him and care for him. If we're going to be talking about this boy's trauma, we need to discuss how he was more alarmed at the thought of his grandmother being his boggart than Snape was to the point that he didn't mention her, Lupin just mentioned her to give Neville an idea of how to sort out the boggart

And let's also talk about why Lupin decided to essentially completely humiliate a colleague that is already not respected by the children. Making his likeness look ridiculous is so petty and unprofessional. Lupin could have easily told Neville to do literally anything else that would have made the situation funny without making a mockery of Snape, but he didn't. He chose to suggest the grandmother's clothes to humiliate the real Snape- look at what happened at Christmas when Snape got that hat from his cracker, he was clearly upset by it, he clearly knew why the boys were laughing-and not only that, he prompted Neville through the entire thing. He didn't simply say "imagine Snape in your grandmother's clothes", he dragged out the entire thing to make it as ludicrous as possible (like, why the handbag? Why did he prompt Neville to also describe her handbag? Obviously to add to the ridiculousness). That's his colleague. He's leading the kids to disrespect his colleague, their teacher. When you read that scene, it's fairly obvious Snape was likely to be Neville's boggart due to him literally making a remark that embarrassed Neville seconds prior that Neville visibly reacted to (and in all honesty, it was a fair warning. Sarcastic, but fair- Neville should not be entrusted with anything dangerous and DADA involves doing things that could hurt others). If you want to talk about the boggart scene, acknowledge how Lupin had a full conversation with Neville to prompt him to imagine something to humiliate Snape with. "Oh, it's just a boggart" But it's not. Something like that is going to be spread, gossiped about, it will ruin whatever little respect the kids have for Snape. Lupin was behaving absolutely unprofessionally and honestly when I looked at it just now, it made me feel a little sick the way Lupin was talking.

And I'm not even going to discuss Trevor The Toad, I've already gone on about him multiple times before. It's probably the most misunderstood and misused scene against Snape. Like, it only takes two seconds to realise that if Snape's intention was to hurt or kill Trevor, he would have just squished Trevor when Trevor was reduced into a tadpole (was it a tadpole?). As it was, he didn't even leave Trevor as a tadpole and make Neville make the counter-potion, he administered it himself and was specifically mad that Hermione helped Neville after being told not to. Once again, Snape's not being abusive or a bully for the sake of it- he's trying to be a teacher. It's the kind of thing you hate as a child but grow up to realise that actually, the adult had a point. Even if it seemed unfair at that moment.

Anyway, people geniunely don't give a shit about Neville's trauma, and when they do, it's to use it against Snape without acknowledging that actually, it's far worse that his Boggart could have easily been his grandmother but Lupin didn't allow it (he didn't even question why he was so afraid of her). It's far worse that his uncle treated him so badly. It's far worse that the people who were supposed to raise Neville were cruel to him. And it's far worse that McGonagall, who IS supposed to care for Neville, is just as mean to him as Snape is.

The fact that people (Marauders Stans) only care about Neville's trauma to bash Snape. It's always Snape was his boggart never McGonagall risked him dying twice and humiliated him in front of everyone. Or his grandma treated him like shit and his great uncle nearly killed him several times. They literally don't care about Neville. It's Snape fans who actually care more about him (even if they don't care about him) because they don't treat him/his trauma like a tool (which is a very low bar). I feel really sorry for him. After everything he went through, his trauma is not talked about enough.

[lurkingshan]

Japanese QL Corner

We have officially entered another bangers only era for Japanese queer media; I am loving all of these currently airing shows. These are all streaming on Gaga or provided via fansub (feel free to ask if you don’t know where to find them).

Our Youth

This show is killing me with the quiet yearning and the push and pull and Hirukawa's whole entire deal. The way Hirukawa and Minase keep drawing closer together before stepping back. The way they have created their own little bubble in Minase's home, and how they can't be that way together in other spaces. The way Hirukawa is so desperate to be close to Minase and Minase clearly wants it too, but doesn't really understand himself yet and so keeps rejecting it. I was so sad when Hirukawa admitted he provoked his dad on purpose so that Minase would let him back in; I hope Minase will ease off on the barriers from here on out. I know something bad is coming and I just want them to have a little bit of happiness before we get there.

Love is Like a Poison

The battle couple was tested this week as we finally found out Haruto's connection to this case with an assist from the lady restaurant owner, his past as a con artist was revealed to Shiba's employer, and Shiba's boss demanded that he cut ties. I was so very proud of Shiba when he did not waver about what is most important to him, and worried when Haruto took off and left his ring behind. I'm keeping the faith, though; I don't think Haruto is leaving Shiba.

Love in the Air Koi

Okay, first of all, let me get a scream out about that sex scene, because good god did they deliver. Nagumo Shoma is a gift to us all (I will be seeing that back roll in my dreams), and I thought their chemistry now that Rei has figured himself out was fantastic. The whole sequence from the time they left the race track was beautifully shot and performed, and the intimacy felt very real. Aside from the sex, one of the things I like most about this narrative is the belief that a relationship can be the reason you get your life together rather than a distraction from your goals. Rei has all the skills, but he's been lacking focus and drive, and that's exactly what Arashi is giving him. I really liked the way this episode weaved their different subplots together to show them both working toward something, and how their success brought them together in the end. They are good for each other! I also really loved all the Rei and Kai moments in this episode, and that Kai continues to be a perceptive and supportive friend. Kai's own story is coming soon, and we got our first glimpses of it at the end of today's episode. I'm impressed with how this adaptation has streamlined the story to cover every important beat in half the time without ever short changing the relationships.

The Fragrance You Inherit

This week Sakura was reunited with her long lost love via their scheming children, and I loved every minute. My favorite thing about this drama is the relationship writing. Sakura and Toki have such a lovely bond, and I like that he realized after surprising his mom with Mone that it may have been insensitive, and that he cared enough to check in with her about it. Sakura is also a great mom, supportive of his relationship and sensitive to his feelings even as she is grappling with her own shock at this reunion. I also really love that Sakura has such a good friend in Ryosuke (who continues to flag as queer to me). I'm excited to get to know Mone better as an adult and see where the story takes us. You can find the show here, with big thanks as always to @isaksbestpillow for providing English subs.

[itssomeonetofightfor]

Things I hate about part 2 of Cobra Kai (a rant if you will)

This is an absolute deconstruction of everything that was set up for the last 6 seasons!

Johnny and Daniel STILL fighting about idiocies instead of focusing on the absolute fucking mind fuck that has just been played on both their kids ( not blaming Tory by the way) . Robby is her boyfriend and the last I knew Johnny was aware of Sam and Tory's budding friendship. They decided to best do nothing for them except blame each other. YAY! Off to a good start.

Lets follow it up with the least efficient support system in the world for your captain. Apparently Robby is not allowed to be fucking devastated by the fact that the ONLY person that he trusts fully has abandoned him . Apparently they, and by they I mean Miguel and Sam ( who should know better by now) , in spite of hearing endless Johnny sob sories of how he left his child behind, decides to chide him and undermine him about how he doesn't deserve to be captain. Even though we have had to put up with all his girlfriend drama, INCLUDING him re- dislocating Robby's shoulder to get a win in season 1 because he was jealous. You want to be a leader? Prop him up! God knows he needs it after everything, but NOO lets make him feel less than. And please, when he asks you to back him up you stay silent. Thats the way! It doesn't help whem Sam piles on with half winded information. That is enough to get the rest of the team to demoralize him some more..

Hawk and Demetri becoming the most hypocritical and spineless duo of the season, reverting all the work done in previous seasons. They were annoying as all hell and I couldn't care less if they were there or not. If I was an athlete on their team I would rather withdraw...what a draaag. How they acted about Kenny was so ludicrous that I wanted to punch them in the face. They also acted as if it was only Robby's fault they were failing FUCK OFF!! AND FUCK MIT HAHA.

That's how the writers made me feel, undoing all the greatness that these characters once were. I loved Miguels struggles and Sams defiance of her father. I loved the picked kid Eli becoming Hawk. I even loved Demetri's neurotic insecurities maqueraded in a ball of sarcasm. But what the writers did this season is make everybody useless so that one common purpose could be reached...MIGUEL AND JOHNNY! It would be beautiful if it wasn't at the expense of every single character in the show.It was built up only to be flattened down at the end. That's what pisses me off.

Daniel has all but forgotten the he had a mentee once. Let's give him a pointless kiddnapping story only for him to be off balance and be obsessed about Miyagi ( who these writers should not be messing with btw).

Let's keep Robby off balance for most of the five episodes. Which became a fucking nonsensical plot point by the 1000th time he looked at at Tory.

Yes, Miguel shines as the glue and hope of Miyagi-do..the only one who can keep it together for everyone., and it would be fine IF it wasn't at the expense of everyone else performing down and out of character.

But ALAS!! His lightbulb moment comes only after Johnny assures him that he is is top dawg even if he alludes that he supports Robby ( must have missed it, but if you SAY so) and finally he starts giving Robby some encouragement.

Only then, they let Robby have his well earnt moment, not only with his protegeé Kenny but for himself. IT. IS. GLORIOUS! But then, they undo it the next day by returning his rival to the tournament just to swiftly kill him... why all this you ask? Well to set up the next rival. Who for? Yes you guessed it it's for Miguel using Sam as bait.

My question is why the writers went this way and now unfortunately, because the internet internets I know leaks.

 Why? Why kill Cobra Kai's captain in the most idiotic way.

Why make Robby seem like the most undisciplined and unfocused member of the team?

Why make Sam the most irrelevant party in this tournament (unless it has to do with next rival drama).

Why neither Sensei is there for their kids (Except Miguel of course, how silly of me).

Why keep Tory in Cobra Kai?

Because in one season they are going to deconstruct all of this for it to fit Johnny and Miguel winning together as father and son as it was always meant to ( nevermind his own son who he hasn't had a scene with, but they are going to gaslight you into thinking they did)  All in the name of unity and family. They have done all characters dirty, including Hawk,  Demetri, Devon, Kenny and lets not forget..lets get Daniel distracted with Mr. Miyagi ( and ruin his legacy in the process) so that there can only be the sole father and son combo for the win. Why else make a fake miscarriage about if not for them to be reignited in the fight for the win. Miguel and Johnny. Our heroes!! They will never take accountability or flack for anything. Just as fan service in media loves it. Fuck the overarching story.

Don't get me wrong, I love Miguel and Johnny, I just don't love how they want to get to their endgame.

[viaviavie]

a painted white rose, still so red | extra blurbs for future exploration (?)

warning: book 7 spoilers under the cut, injuries, attempted murder(?), angst galore

I'll get the fluffier stuff out of the way before the angst hits you under the cut. SOOOOO, Ace definitely kissed you once last minute before the ending of a time loop. There were definitely some loops where Ace figures out his dreaming ability a lot faster, and handles the grief a lot better. In those loops, he's definitely found assurances in knowing that he'll probably see you again in the next loop. He has left a kiss once before the events of Book 7, and the moment he saw that his feelings were reciprocated, he cannot help but feel sad that he's going to forget about this experience.

Ace did get a few nicer daydreams of you. Preferably, he prefers the dreams where it's you and him going on dates, holding hands, or the ones where he manages to protect you. In some timelines, he reacts very badly to them and avoids you for days because he can't get those intimate images out of his head. In other loops, he's quickly makes peace with it and appreciates those images for what they were.

The other First Years get so spooked when Ace starts saying random stuff about you that a normal friend couldn't possibly know. Ace, how the hell did you know that the Prefect doesn't like sleeping near the window because it's dusty? You've never even been Ramshackle before! Grim claims that Ace is a major stalker for knowing your favorite snack, your hobbies, or those little quirks of yours that he seemed to grown accustomed to long before he met you.

Discarded concept: I considered a concept where Yuu's injuries are visible based on how they died in previous time loops. Rather than just having dreams, only Ace sees a new injury. Sometimes they are well hidden, like the briar thorns that had wrapped around your limbs or the snake bites that were easily covered up in bandages or sleeves. Sometimes, they are not so easily hidden, much like that mark on your face caused by Riddle's hand or the way your neck is covered in dry scales due to Leona's magic. You never really catch on that Ace could see them, he never says anything about it, even when you show up one day with burn marks after a bad dream regarding Book 7.

Ace dreams very frequently about Book 7. Based on deduction and observation of his dreams, Ace deduces that your chances of surviving the first six overblots are likely. However, Malleus keeps showing up in his dreams and each time he does, Ace's hope dies a bit more. The prefect is always falling asleep in those bad endings, and it gets to a point where Ace is often on edge whenever Malleus is around. The fact that Ace cannot even see beyond Malleus' overblot, which makes him want to try everything to get you as far away from Malleus as possible. It doesn't work, and it changes nothing, much to his despair.

On a darker note, Ace has considered killing the prefect out of mercy. It has been attempted in one or two time loops, but it never really happens. Ace never dreams about snuffing out the prefect's life himself, and it just shows how much he dreads losing them. I imagine it's an angsty scene where he's about to throw hands when the prefect insists on going to Lilia's farewell party, but he falters. He scolds and gets angry at the prefect for caring so much, and it kills him when you still insist to go when you have failed enough times.

Ratio-wise, the prefect in this fic had to restart at least 100 times. 45% of those deaths were due to the other six overblots, while the rest were simply because you couldn't wake up from Malleus' unique magic.

My biggest angst hitter; We are hit with that little twist that the Prefect was aware that Ace could foresee the bad endings. The Prefect did try to confront Ace about it in previous timelines, but all it did was fuel his paranoia and protectiveness to the point that he died himself in front of them. Ace never gets dreams where he dies, only the loops where the Prefect does. You never mention a word about his abilities after that incident.

Which poses the question; if Ace can only foresee the bad ends where the Prefect dies, were there any other bad ends where the Prefect had to see him, or their friends die? (possible sequel fic :0)

Ugh but the concept is so sad, even worse than this one. The Prefect probably had to force bad endings to occur if any of their friends perished first, just so that they can do things 'correctly'. Poor prefect, they must be so tired.

Overall, I found that Ace's dreams are more of a living hell for him. It's rather ironic that for all that he dreamt, he gets put to sleep by Malleus and dreams again. I do wanna explore what this implies for Ace's personal dreams while under Malleus' spell.

[iamdeltas]

#agatha is just so interesting to me because she really can justify anything to herself but you still see in small moments like this how it#hurts her to do so but she does and then she just moves on because she /has/ to because she can't dwell on it#she'd be drown from the onslaught of all she's done if she allowed herself to falter on just one thing#she has to be decisive. she has to be callous. because she can't afford to stop or look back#i also don't think agatha truly wanted to bring jen into this either#i know some ppl are thinking she purposefully bound but i truly believe she didn't know or realize who was going to be effected by it#or even after who /had/ been effected by it. i think agatha wasn't actually lying when she said that she chose to leave jen alone#I do think it didn’t give her as much of a pause as sharon and alice did because the reasons she left jen alone hasn’t been for a century#I honestly think the easiest person for her to drag into this was Lilia and then Lilia also ends up being the first she shows kindness too#and honestly that scene was so good because I think she would have shown kindness to her either way because Agatha knows death#she knows grief and how the pain lingers and burrows into your very bones#so I think no matter what she probably would’ve had the same reaction#but I also just wonder if Lilia’s comment of ‘try to save Agatha’ effected her as well#because I think Agatha gets what Lilia’s deal is or at least has an idea. and while she did pause for a second. she played it off quickly#but I wonder if that did really hit her#because Agatha is a witch killer. she has this power that she can’t totally fully control that takes and takes and she’s never once been#thought in her life to be good or kind or anything like that (except by Nicky or Rio) and it’s clear when she was with Nicky they needed to#take from the witches to hide from death to allow Nicky to live and Agatha cannot take without killing#if the witches knew what she was/how her power worked/how Nicky survived they would be killed just like her mother’s coven tried to do#no one would be willing to risk teaching her to risk sheltering them if they knew#she knows that firsthand and anyone who knows anything about Agatha Harkness would rather see her dead#and then Lilia comes in. Lilia who read her immediately. who /knows/ who she is. she says to try to save /agatha/#I don’t think Agatha would allow herself to fully believe it (which is smart because that’s not actually what she was saying)#but god. I bet that stuck with her (via @roots-symphony)

I was going through the scene where the other witches arrived in Agatha's home. And I noticed something when Alice arrived:

Agatha actually didn't look happy.

Agatha didn't think Alice would arrive—she knew what she planned to do—and she didn't think they would open the Road. Agatha was more than okay that Alice wouldn't join but Alice still arrived.

And then when she was going to recruit Sharon, Agatha paused and closed her eyes.

I thought Agatha was just gathering strength because she was not as social as she presented. But now I realize Agatha was also trying to make peace with what she was about to do.

Agatha doesn't have regrets, but that doesn't mean they don't get to her sometimes. Also, she's had three years off from killing, and even though she doesn't remember that time fully, it was still a break from her usual.

This is why she was blasé about Sharon Davis's death, she knew one way or another she was dragging poor Sharon to her doom. This was the split second beat where Agatha makes peace with the idea that she could live with this choice.