#/i love my girl when she lets her inner fire and real self show. she's in her most beautiful form if you ask me

[sokkastyles]

I Read Azula in the Spirit Temple

And here are my thoughts:

Azula and Ty Lee's interactions are the best part of this comic. I generally don't like Tyzula but see why it exists. Azula's most compelling actions are with her female friends. And this comic builds a compelling foundation for Tyzula because Ty Lee is actually in a position of power here, as the one who understands What is Going On whereas Azula is still in denial about everything. There's a reason here that she appears in the temple but appears to be the only thing that's real. They have a nice Batman/Catwoman dynamic here.

I was right when I said Azula was using the Fire Warriors, and here she tries to use the fact that she broke them out of the institution to keep them loyal to her, but the point, that we see over and over again in Azula's story, is that you can't win loyalty and love through fear. The other girls have become fed up with Azula and leave her, and by the end of the comic, Azula also realizes that it was her own actions that drove them away, which is why I think she decides not to pursue them. The shot at the end of her watching them together is sad because we know Azula really does want friendship and love, but she still can't let herself admit this. Instead she declares that she will find her own followers again, because "I always do." I'm actually quite fond of this ending. Azula gonna Azula.

On that note, one of the central themes of this comic is Azula's awareness that she is responsible for driving the people closest to her away. The gist of this comic is that Azula essentially finds herself in a lotus eater's dream, but rejects it because she knows it's not real. Azula's main conflict is her desire for recognition and love from the people she cares about warring with not just her feelings of her own self importance, but her desire for the truth. Even when the spirit gives her what she wants, she doesn't accept it because she knows it's a lie. This actually is a really good insight into Azula's character because we know Azula before the series finale was content with the lie, she was able to convince herself that fear is the only way. But now she's getting to the point where she can't do that anymore, even at the expense of her own happiness.

Azula repeating in her sleep how she will make the fire warriors pay like a madness mantra is hilarious, and the comic intentionally plays up her pathetic self-delusions of grandeur in a way that is reminiscent of Zuko yelling at peasants to step aside in the show while he himself is reduced to a beggar.

The spirit does seem to want to help her, but since what it shows is controlled by Azula's own mind, it can't settle peacefully, because Azula can't find peace within her own mind. Everything the spirit shows her is really a reflection of her own inner conflict.

There's an interesting bit where Azula calls the spirit out and says something like "do you really think what I want is lies and manipulations?" The ironic thing is that Azula has built relationships on lies and manipulations in the past. Ty Lee at one point says that they were never friends, and that she was happiest without Azula.

At one point, Azula blames Mai for "breaking up the team for a stupid boy who didn't even want her" Zutara supremacy!

Azula wants the people she cares about to acknowledge how they hurt her and seek forgiveness, but she can't make the connection that she needs to acknowledge how she hurt others and seek forgiveness. Azula convinces herself that people can't live without her because she's afraid to be alone.

I've talked a lot already about Azula's visions of her family and the memory of the first time her parents see her firebend. I don't have much else to add here that wasn't said before.

There's a particularly interesting part where Azula destroys the spirit's monstrous vision of Zuko (who tells her that she needs to seek forgiveness from the people she's hurt) and the vision of her mother responds with a horrified "Azula, what did you do?" as Azula is standing over the spirit vision of her brother, dead from her lightning. Azula quickly dismisses this as the illusion that it is, but it's an interesting image and calls to mind how Azula did strike her brother with lightning and nearly killed him. Since we know that the things the spirit shows Azula are from her own subconscious, could this be an echo of Azula feeling guilty for how she's hurt Zuko?

Azula says that everyone turned against her except her father, and he's now "a pathetic shadow" without his bending. This is interesting because it's the first time Azula has acknowledged any fault with her father. This comic is also the first time she acknowledges that her father made her into a weapon. She says that she's the only one left to carry on her family's legacy. She's clearly conflicted about these two thoughts and even when she gets close to acknowledging that her father was abusive, she then turns it around and blames her mother and everyone else for "abandoning" her, and won't acknowledge that Ozai lost his bending as a result of his own actions, and instead sees herself as the only one left of any worth.

Azula's mother keeps telling her that she loves her, and since we know that what the spirit shows Azula comes from her own mind, we know Azula knows this deep down. Even in the moments when she admits that her mother was not happy, she knows her mother was scared for her and that she did care about her.

Overall, Azula is compelling in this comic because she's a villain who doesn't know what she wants, and is very close to having that "I'm the bad guy," moment, but still resisting change. And I kind of love it, to be honest.

I may post some more coherent thoughts later, but I just wanted to get this down for now!

[mayamidnightmelody]

Salma Hayek

Salma Hayek. Just saying her name conjures up images that make your phone wanna overheat . This Mexican goddess isn't just about the looks though (although girl, those LOOKS!), she's got an acting fire that burns brighter than habanero hot sauce on taco Tuesday ️. But let's be real, there's a reason she's been slaying the screen for decades - it's that killer confidence that has her rocking everything from teeny bikinis to birthday suits with a smile that says "I woke up like this" ‍♀️.

Society's still tripping about women owning their bodies, but Salma? She's like "yeah, I got curves, what?". Whether it's a sizzling red dress that hugs her like a favorite teddy bear or a movie scene where she's, well, letting it all hang out, she pulls it off with a self-assuredness that's, dare we say, inspiring? Like, girl, you do you, boo!

Now, some might raise an eyebrow at her willingness to bare it all on screen. Take her role in "Ask the Dust," for example. There's a scene where she appears completely unclothed. But here's the thing: it's not gratuitous or exploitative. Salma approaches nudity with the same confidence she brings to everything else. It's part of the character, a vulnerable moment that unfolds naturally within the story. There's no sense of titillation, just a raw honesty that makes the scene even more powerful. It's a testament to her dedication as an actress, a willingness to push boundaries and tell stories that are real and impactful. And let's be honest, it's pretty darn unforgettable too.

Of course, there's always gonna be haters gonna hate. But Salma shuts down the body-shamers with the fierceness of a mama bear protecting her cubs . She's all about celebrating what she's got, and that includes those assets that make jaws drop faster than your phone does when you accidentally swipe left on a total cutie .

Let's talk about those assets for a sec, because, well, HELLO ! Salma's never been shy about her chest. She's rocked iconic dresses that, let's just say, leave little to the imagination . And guess what? She looks phenomenal! It's not about flaunting, it's about owning. It's about saying "This is my body, and I love it" .

Society loves to obsess over chest size, and Salma's always been one to break the mold. She's never been shy about curves, rocking dresses that proudly showcase her figure. But here's the thing: it's not about having the biggest chest in the room, it's about rocking what you've got with confidence. Salma carries herself with such a powerful presence that her chest becomes just one alluring detail in the masterpiece that is her.

And let's be honest, there's a certain liberation that comes with owning your body, all of it. In a world that constantly tries to dictate what's "sexy," Salma flips the script. She shows us that sensuality isn't about conforming to some airbrushed ideal, it's about embracing your unique form and radiating confidence from the inside out. That's the true magic of Salma Hayek: she's comfortable enough in her own skin to turn heads without even trying, and that's a kind of sexy that never goes out of style.

And that confidence is what makes her so darn sexy. It's not just about what she wears, it's the way she wears it. She's got this inner glow that shines brighter than any highlighter ✨. It's a reminder that true beauty comes from feeling good in your own skin, no matter what size or shape you are .

So next time you're feeling insecure about your bod, channel your inner Salma. Rock that outfit that makes you feel like a million bucks . Strut your stuff with your head held high . Because honey, you are a baddie, and the world needs to see your light ✨.

Remember, confidence is the sexiest outfit you can wear . And trust Salma Hayek on this one, she knows what she's talking about ;) :*

[andromerot]

eleanor vance moments from my reread that are scarily andycore: a way to show the most inner parts of myself without actually being vulnerable on the internet?? (part one)

"Without ever wanting to become reserved and shy, she had spent so long alone, with no one to love, that it was difficult for her to talk, even casually, to another person without self-consciousness and an awkward inability to find words."

"Eleanor had held fast to the belief that someday something would happen."

"She had taken to wondering lately, during these swift-counted years, what had been done with all those wasted summer days; how could she have spent them so wantonly? I am foolish, she told herself every early summer, I am very foolish; I am grown up now and know the values of things. Nothing is ever really wasted, she believed sensibly, even one's childhood, and then each year, one summer morning, the warm wind would come down the city street where she walked and she would be touched with the little cold thought: I have let more time go by."

"Don't do it, Eleanor told the little girl; insist on your cup of stars; once they have trapped you into being like everyone else you will never see your cup of stars again; don't do it; and the little girl glanced at her, and smiled a little subtle, dimpling, wholly comprehending smile, and shook her head stubbornly at the glass. Brave girl, Eleanor thought; wise, brave girl.

"I will stop at Hillsdale for a minute, just for a cup of coffee, because I cannot bear to have my long trip end so soon (...) There seemed to be only one place to stop for coffee, and that was an unattractive diner, but Eleanor was bound to stop at Hillsdale and so she brought her car to the broken curb in front of the diner and got out (...) I will have to drink this coffee because I said I was going to, Eleanor told herself sternly, but next time I will listen to Dr. Montague."

"Eleanor, wondering if she were really here at all, and not dreaming of Hill House from some safe spot impossibly remote, looked slowly and carefully around the room, telling herself that this was real, these things existed, from the tiles around there fireplace to the marble cupid; these people were going to be their friends (...) I am the fourth person in this room; I am one of them; I belong (...) An Eleanor, she told herself triumphantly, who belongs, who is talking easily, who is sitting by the fire with her friends."

"Theodora had abandoned any attempt at a chair and had put herself down on the hearthrug, cross-legged and drowsy. Eleanor, wanting to sit on the hearthrug beside her, had not thought of it in time and had condemned herself to one of the slippery chairs, unwilling now to attract attention by moving and getting herself awkwardly down onto the floor."

"...what a complete and separate thing I am, she thought, going from my red toes to the top of my head, individually an I, possessed of attributes belonging only to me. I have red shoes, she thought - that goes with being Eleanor; I dislike lobster and sleep on my left side and crack my knuckles when I am nervous and save buttons. I am holding a brandy glass which is mine because I am here and I am using it and I have a place in this room. I have red shoes and tomorrow I will wake up and I will still be here."

"I have a little place of my own," she said slowly. "An apartment, like yours, only I live alone. Smaller than yours, I'm sure. I'm still furnishing it - buying one thing at a time, you know, to make sure I get everything absolutely right. White curtains. I had to look for weeks before I found my little stone lions on each corner of the mantel, and I have a white cat and my books and records and pictures. Everything has to be exactly the way I want it, because there's only me to use it; once I had a blue cup with stars painted on the inside; when you looked down into a cup of tea it was full of stars. I want a cup like that."

"They all saw that I was afraid."

"What did I do; did I make a fool of myself? Were they laughing at me?"

"They have started without me, Eleanor thought; tomorrow I will wake up earlier and be there to talk from the window too."

"Is she laughing at me? Eleanor wondered; has she decided that I am not fit to stay?"

"Looking at herself in the mirror, with the bright morning sunlight freshening even the blue room of Hill House, Eleanor thought, It is my second morning in Hill House, and I am unbelievably happy. Journeys end in lovers meeting; I have spent an all but sleepless night, I have told lies and made a fool of myself, and the very air tastes like wine. I have been frightened half out of my foolish wits, but I have somehow earned this joy; I have been waiting for it for so long. Abandoning a lifelong belief that to name happiness is to dissipate it, she smiled at herself in the mirror and told herself silently, You are happy, Eleanor, you have finally been given a part of your measure of happiness. Looking away from her own face in the mirror, she thought blindly, Journeys end in lovers meeting, lovers meeting."

"Why me, she wondered, why me? Am I the public conscience? Expected always to say in cold words what the rest of them are top arrogant to recognize? Am I supposed to be the weakest, weaker than Theodora? Of all of us, she thought, I am surely the one least likely to turn against the others."

"One of these times, she thought, one of us is going to put her head back and really howl, and I hope it won't be me, because I'm trying to guard against it; it will be Theodora who... And then, cold, she asked, 'Is that more writing on the wall? - and heard Theodora's wild laugh, and thought, Maybe it will be me, after all, and I can't afford to. I must be steady, and she closed her eyes and found herself saying silently, O stay and hear, your true love's coming, that can sing both high and low. Trip no further, pretty sweeting, journeys end in lovers meeting..."

"'I am always afraid of being alone,' Eleanor said, and wondered, Am I talking like this? Am I saying something I will regret bitterly tomorrow? Am I making more guilt for myself?"

"There's only one of me, and it's all I've got. I hate seeing myself dissolve and slip and separate so that I’m living in one half my mind, and I see the other half of me helpless and frantic and driven and I can’t stop it, but I know I’m not really going to be hurt and yet time is so long and even a second goes on and on and I could stand any of it if I could only surrender-"

"Obediently Eleanor sipped at her brandy, feeling clearly its sharp burn, and then said to the doctor, 'I must have said something silly, from the way you’re all staring at me.' The doctor laughed. 'Stop trying to be the centre of attention.' 'Vanity,' Luke said serenely. 'Have to be in the limelight,' Theodora said, and they smiled fondly, all looking at Eleanor."

"I am learning the pathways of the heart, Eleanor thought quite seriously, and then wondered what she could have meant by thinking any such thing. It was afternoon, and she sat in the sunlight on the steps of the summerhouse beside Luke; these are the silent pathways of the heart, she thought. She knew that she was pale, and still shaken, with dark circles under her eyes, but the sun was warm and the leaves moved gently overhead, and Luke beside her lay lazily against the step. 'Luke,' she asked, going slowly for fear of ridicule, 'why do people want to talk to each other? I mean, what are the things people always want to find out about other people?'"

"No, she thought, you are not going to catch me so cheaply; I do not understand words and will not accept them in trade for my feelings; this man is a parrot. I will tell him that I can never understand such a thing, that maudlin self pity does not move directly at my heart; I will not make a fool of myself by encouraging him to mock me. 'I understand, yes,' she said."

"All I want is to be cherished, she thought, and here I am talking gibberish with a selfish man."

[thedetectiveofinaba]

Naoto calling out her friend/relative on having a crush.exe is probably the best thing she’s done this year and I can’t stop laughing at it :’D 

[gatorprompts]

𝐒𝐎𝐋𝐀𝐑 𝐏𝐎𝐖𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐒 .

from  the  2021  album  by  lorde .  drinking  &  drug  references  present .  please  amend  wording  where  required !

THE  PATH .

“ now  i’m  alone  on  a  windswept  island . ” “ if  you’re  looking  for  a  saviour ,  well  that’s  not  me . ” “ you  need  someone  to  take  your  pain  for   you ? ” “ we’re  all  broken  and  sad . ” “ where  are  the  dreams  that  we  had ? ” “ can’t  find  the  dreams  that  we  had . ” “ let’s  hope  the  sun  will  show  us  the  path . ” “ saviour  is  not  me . ” “ i  just  hope  the  sun  will  show  us  the  path . ”

SOLAR  POWER .

“ i  hate  the  winter ,  can’t  stand  the  cold . ” “ i  tend  to  cancel  all  the  plans . ” “ but  when  the  heat  comes ,  something  takes  a  hold . ” “ can  i  kick  it ? ” “ my  boy  behind  me ,  he’s  taking  pictures . ” “ come  one ,  come  all .  i’ll  tell  you  my  secrets . ” “ forget  all  of  the  tears  that  you’ve  cried . ” “ it’s  over . ” “ it’s  a  new  state  of  mind . ” “ are  you  coming ,  my  baby ? ” “ i  throw  my  cellular  device  in  the  water . ” “ can  you  reach  me ? ” “ come  on  and  let  the  bliss  begin . ” “ blink  three  times  when  you  feel  it  kicking  in . ” “ that  solar  power . ”

CALIFORNIA .

“ i  knew  that’s  it ;  i’ll  never  be  the  same . ” “ now  i’ve  spent  thousands  on  you ,  darling . ” “ oh ,  the  hotels  and  jets ,  and  i’d  pay  it  again  to  have  your  golden  body  back  in  my  bed . ” “ i  don’t  miss  the  poison  arrows  aimed  directly  at  my  head . ” “ don’t  want  that  california  love .” “ it  got  hard  to  grow  up  with  your  cool  hand  around  my  neck . ” “ but  every  time  i  smell  tequila ,  god ,  it  goes  up  in  my  mind  again . ” “ it’s  just  a  dream . ” “ i  wanna  wake  up . ”

STONED  AT  THE  NAIL  SALON .

“ i  love  this  life  that  i  have . ” “ i  wonder  sometimes  what  i’m  missing .”  “ ‘cause  all  the  beautiful  girls ,  they  will  fade  like  the  roses . ” “ maybe  i’m  just  stoned  at  the  nail  salon . ” “ got  a  memory  of  waiting  in  your  bed  wearing  only  my  earrings . ” “ we’d  go  dancing  all  over  the  landmines  under  our  town . ” “ but  the  sun  has  to  rise . ” “ i’m  still  crazy  for  you ,  babe . ” “ and  all  the  times  they  will  change ;  it’ll  all  come  around . ” “ oh ,  make  it  good . ” “ spend  all  the  evenings  you  can  with  the  people  who  raised  you . ”

FALLEN  FRUIT .

“ we  had  no  idea  the  dreams  we  had  were  far  too  big . ” “ we  will  walk  together . ” “ you’ll  leave  us  dancing  on  the  fallen  fruit . ” “ we’ll  disappear  in  the  cover  of  the  rain . ” “ took  the  great  minds  and  the  vapers  and  a  pocketful  of  seed . ” “ it’s  time  for  us  to  leave . ” “ how  can  i   love  what  i  know  i  am  gonna  lose ? ” “ don’t  make  me  choose . ”

SECRETS  FROM  A  GIRL  ( WHO’S  SEEN  IT  ALL ) 

“ only  having  two  drinks  then  leaving . ” “ it’s  a  funny  thing . ” “ thought  you’d  never  gain  self  control . ” “ guess  it’s  been  a  while  since  you  last  said  sorry . ” “ crying  in  the  dark  at  your  best  friend’s  party . ” “ growing  up  a  little  at  a  time ,  then  all  at  once . ” “ everyone  wants  the  best  for  you ,  but  you’ve  gotta  want  it  for  yourself . ” “ you  can  take  ‘em  if  you  want  ‘em . ” “ these  are  just  secrets  from  a  girl  who’s  seen  it  all . ” “ remember  all  the  hurt  you  would  feel  when  you  weren’t  desired ? ” “ remember  what  you  thought  was  grief  before  you  god  the  call ? ” “ no  one’s  gonna  feel  the  pain  for  you . ” “ you’re  gonna  love  again ,  so  just  try  staying  open . ” “ and  when  the  time  comes ,  you’ll  fall . ” “ your  dreams  and  inner  visions ,  all  your  mystical  ambitions ;  they  won’t  let  you  down . ” “ do  your  best  to  trust  all  the  rays  of  light . ” “ welcome  to  sadness ;  the  temperature  is  unbearable  until  you  face  it . ” “ your  emotional  baggage  can  be  picked  up  at  carousel  number  two . ” “ please  be  careful ,  so  it  doesn’t  fall  onto  someone  you  love . ” “ you’ll  be  fine . ” “ you  can  stay  as  long  as  you  need  to  get  familiar  with  the  feeling . ”

THE  MAN  WITH  THE  AXE .

“ if  i  had  to  break  it  down ,  i’d  say  it’s  the  way  you  love  to  down . ” “ our  shapes  in  the  dark  are  the  reason  i’ve  stayed . ” “ i  thought  i  was  a  genius . ” “ it’s  starting  to  feel  like  all  i  know  how  to  do  is  put  on  a  suit  and  take  it  away . ” “ they  fill  up  my  nights  and  then  they  float  away . ” “ i  guess  i’ll  always  be  this  way . ” “ swallowed  up  by  the  words  and  halfway  to  space . ” “ but  there ,  by  the  fire ,  you  offered  your  hand .  and  as  i  took  it ,  i  loved  you . ” “ the  man  with  the  axe  and  the  look  in  his  eyes . ” “ we’ve  been  through  so  many  hard  times . ” “ i’m  writing  a  love  song  for  you ,  baby . ”

DOMINOES . 

“ i  heard  that  you  were  doing  yoga . ” “ just  another  phase  you’re  rushing  on  through . ” “ go  all  new  age ,  outrunning  your  blues . ” “ fifty  gleaming  chances  in  a  row ,  then  i  watch  you  flick  them  down  like  dominoes . ” “ must  feel  good  being  mister-start-again . ” “ i  know  a  girl  who  knows  another  girl  who  knows  the  woman  that  you  hurt . ” “ the  whole  world  changes  right  around you . ”

BIG  STAR .

“ everyone  knows  that  you’re  too  good  for  me ,  don’t  they ? ” “ i’m  a  cheater .  i  lie ,  and  i’m  shy . ” “ but  you  like  to  say  hello  to  total  strangers . ” “ i  can’t  believe  i  used  to  stay  inside . ” “ but  every  perfect  summer’s  gotta  say  goodnight . ” “ i  used  to  love  the  party ,  now  i’m  not  alright . ” “ drinking  in  the  dark ,  take  me  home  tonight . ” “ baby  you’re  a  big  star . ” “ wanna  take  your  picture . ” “ i  toss  up  if  it’s  worth  it  now  every  time  i  get  on  a  plane . ” “ i’ve  got  so  much  to  tell  you  and  not  enough  time  to  do  it  in . ” “ i’ll  still  watch  you  run  through  the  winter  light . ”

LEADER  OF  A  NEW  REGIME .

“ wearing  spf  3000  for  the  ultraviolet  rays . ” “ made  it  to  the  island  on  the  last  of  the  outbound  planes . ” “ got  a  trunk  full  of  simone  and  céline ,  and  of  course  my  magazines . ” “ i’m  gonna  live  out  my  days . ” “ won’t  somebody ,  anybody ,  be  the  leader  of  a  new  regime ? ” “ we  need  the  leader  of  a  new  regime . ”

MOOD  RING .

“ can’t  seem  to  fix  my  mood . ” “ today  it’s  as  dark  as  my  roots . ” “ can’t  seem  to  find  what’s  wrong . ”  “ the  whole  world  is  letting  me  down . ” “ don’t  you  think  the  early  2000′s  seem  so  far  away ?”  “ i  can’t  feel  a  thing . ” “ i  keep  looking  at  my  mood  ring . ” “ i’m  tryna  get  well  from  the  inside . ” “ they’ll  have  what  i  need . ” “ we’ll  keep  dancing  till  the  mood  rings  tell  us  how  we’re  feeling . ” “ take  me  to  some  kinda  place ,  anywhere . ” “ watch  the  sun  set ,  look  back  on  my  life . ” “ i  just  wanna  know ,  will  it  be  alright ? ”

OCEANIC  FEELING .

“ it’s  a  blue  day . ” “ when  i  hit  that  water ,  when  it  holds  me ,  i  think  about  my  father  doing  the  same  thing  when  he  was  a  boy . ” “ we  could  go  fishing . ” “ i  think  you’re  an  angel . ” “ you’re  super  cool . ”  “ i  know  you’re  scared . ” “ but  all  will  be  revealed  in  time . ” “ oh ,  look .  the  rays  are  in  the  bay  now . ” “ can  you  hear  the  waves  and  cicadas  all  around ? ” “ i  can  make  anything  real . ” “ brain  so  hot ,  it’s  a  summer  body . ” “ every  day  is  blue  and  never  cloudy . ” “ don’t  look  down . ” “ will  she  split  a  tab  with  her  lover  and  laugh  at  the  stars  like  her  mother ? ” “ i  don’t  need  her  anymore . ” “ i  got  this  power . ” “ i  just  had  to  breathe  out  and  tune  in . ” “ i  know  you’ll  show  me  how . ” “ i’ll  know  when   it’s  time . ”

[loveatfirstwriteblog]

A Complete Analysis of Harry Potter

Like a lot of kids, we probably grew up on Harry potter. We were obsessed and rightly so. The universe created in the world of Harry Potter was, and is, a hugely successful one because of the fact it gave kids a world where magic exists! It seemed to be a great world to live in and it made even better with the fact that it included elements of empowerment, Whether it be showing girls can be just as successful if not more in various pursuits(Hermione), or the fact that even if you have a history of bad events, you can have a good heart(Hagrid), Harry Potter teaches us a lot.

JKR has written a mind-blowing plot in a world of magic, wizards, witches, wands, potions, friendship, love. Our inner-five-year olds--and actually most of our young adult selves too--jumps around excitedly at the beautifully penned words that creates an exit out of this world and into one where magic does exist. 

As you get older, though, you begin to think of Harry Potter in a more critical fashion. The thought of “oh my god, it’s magic” no longer completely overrides my mind, but more of “but what are the laws regarding this? Can people just do this whenever they want? Are there no ethics?” 

No matter how much we’re going to expose the flaws and plot holes in HP now, we’ll always love the books--we grew up on them! But some things just niggle you as you get older, and that’s what we’re going to be focusing on in this post.

Something I adore about the HP books is that everyone, including the “good guys”, has flaws. Harry has a “save the world alone, do first, think later” complex, a driving force that makes him go save Sirius, Ron is very, very insecure to a point where he ditches Harry twice, probably when Harry needed him the most, Hermione is a judgemental, narrow-minded nag (her thoughts on Luna, divination, Trelawney, basically anything that doesn’t fit her black and white world), Molly Weasley is misogynistic and blatantly favourites her children—probably being one of the main factors behind Ron’s insecurities, Arthur is condescending towards Muggles and makes several comments you cringe at while reading the books as a young adult/adult, Sirius, Snape, and Lupin still haven’t let go of their childhood grudges and hatred, etc etc etc. 

These flaws are what make these characters so three-dimensional, so layered, so human. But the problem was, most of these flaws are never intentionally acknowledged. And honestly, that could have been such a good character arc, because the main characters are mostly students. No student is the same through their teenage years—they change, they evolve, they get over their flaws, they try to better themselves. I would have loved to see Ron becoming his own person, Hermione opening her mind up a little, etc. 

Neville is not one of my favourites, but I love his growth and development, from someone who was scared of his potions professor to a man who faced down Lord Voldemort. Ginny Weasley could have had character development, from the trauma she went through in second year, but that was never written in.  She went through this terrifying ordeal when she was only twelve years old, and jump to a year or two later and she’s absolutely fine, with no transition from her trauma whatsoever.

Some of JKR’s characters are brilliantly written and fleshed out, but some of her others lack the structure and complexity that usually comes with being vital to the plot—Ginny Weasley for one. Her internalised misogyny also plays a huge part in the way her female characters are written. We see this again in the case of how she wrote the character of Ginny. 

Ginny Weasley is not a favourite of ours (if you don’t know that by now). She feels a lot like a convenient male daydream—when she waits for Harry to notice her by dating other guys, gets annoyed by Hermione “not knowing quidditch”, etc etc—and fits the “not like other girls” archetype too much, almost like she was made for it (hint hint). She’s portrayed to be strong-willed, spunky, and independent, and I love the idea, but I really don’t see it. To me, she’s a very shallow character, the least fleshed out one. 

Just like James Potter wasn’t necessarily redeemed just because JKR said he was, and Ginny isn’t interesting just because JKR writes that she is. 

Hermione also fits the archetype, but she’s JKR’s self-insert, so we really can’t say much about that. 

To make things worse, Ginny and Hermione are pitted against each other in a very subtle way. Ginny is the sporty, pretty, flirty girl who’s never single from book 4. Hermione is the not-conventionally-attractive, nerdy girl who’s had a few dates here and there but never a relationship. They’re very different characters (the only thing they have in common is the archetype) but they’re against each other in the defence of Harry. 

Another place where JKR’s misogyny shows up is the way other girls are written. Lavender Brown is shown as vapid and immature, just because she likes clothes and boys and didn’t know how to handle her first relationship. Cho Chang is perceived as shallow because she’s emotional. Pansy Parkinson is seen to be throwing herself at Draco Malfoy. The Weasleys hated Fleur because she was beautiful and sexy and French, and that was ever really resolved in the end (Molly accepted her, but we never got Ginny’s and Hermione’s opinions again). You see where we’re getting at? The typical “girly girls” are portrayed as insipid, shallow, emotional, and boring, while girls like Hermione and Ginny are seen to be fun and multilayered. 

The problems with Harry Potter don’t just stop with non-fleshed out characters. There are plot devices that go unacknowledged, issues like blood purity—which is the basis of Voldemort’s tyranny—are never really resolved, huge Chekhov’s guns that aren’t fired. 

A common misconception, which if cleared up could probably expose a load of problems in wizarding society by itself, is that the wizarding world is racist. It’s not racist. Muggles and Muggleborns are not a different race, they’re a different class, at least according to pureblood wizards. Mudblood is a classist insult (a direct reference to nobility blueblood and aristocracy).

Another factor that wasn’t talked about but made the HP world so complex and realistic is the inherent classism in every single pureblooded wizard, including the Weasleys.

 The “Light” wizards all operate on the notion “at least I don’t kill or torture Muggles”. The Weasleys refuse to talk about Molly’s squib cousin who’s an accountant, the Longbottoms were so desperate for Neville to not be a squib they nearly killed him trying to force magic out of him, Ron makes fun of Filch for being a squib, thinks house-elves are beneath him, and confounds his driving instructor in his mid-thirties, the ministry workers kept obliviating that muggle at the quidditch World Cup, etc. 

This could have been a metaphor for how small prejudices and microaggressions (kind of the wizarding equivalent of white privilege) enable discrimination and murder, if JKR had actually acknowledged it. 

The parallel to Nazi Germany is very twisted and definitely shouldn’t be taken too far, but the Nazi ideology grew on the basis of everyday antisemitism, “that’s not that bad” little things. Voldemort’s circle and army grew because the wizard superiority complex festered and blew up in some people, egged on by a deeply classist society. 

Ultimately, Harry Potter has very, very shoddy worldbuilding, the kind of worldbuilding that’s obsessed with answering the “what” of the wizarding world, rather than the “how” or the “why”, which is strange, considering that fantasy or dystopian-era novels’ driving plots and conflicts are usually answering the questions the worldbuilding raises--The Hunger Games and The Shadowhunter Chronicles are two of the best examples of brilliantly written YA fantasy and dystopian novels. 

In HP, however, the main plot just avoids the questions the worldbuilding brings up like the bubonic plague. 

Voldemort’s agenda is built on prejudice towards Muggles and Muggleborns, but the plot just validates the negative perception of them—at the end of the day, being a wizard is what’s special. The Statute of Secrecy is the foundation of the main concept—blood supremacists believe wizards shouldn’t be hidden away—but only vague, barely-there answers are given to why it exists (a Chekhov’s gun that was never fired). 

There are love potions that function like date rape drugs (even Harry was given one by a girl who wanted him to ask her out), potions that force people to tell the truth, potions that literally let you disguise yourself as another person, but the ethics are never talked about, and the laws are so lax that three twelve-year-olds broke them and were never caught. 

But at the same time, the worldbuilding is so authentic, because it transforms the wizarding world into straight-up fridge horror. The everyday horrors are just accepted and rolled with. A corrupt government, constant obliviation of Muggles, slavery that isn’t even talked about. These things aren’t obvious to us as readers, or to the wizards as characters, because they match up to the real world, which is filled with things that are horrifying if you dig deeper. The multiple, normalised forms of abuse, police brutality, the violence in prisons that nothing is done about, the glaringly obvious cultural problems we have with consent, etc. 

The abusive authoritative figures in HP, like Rufus Scrimgeour, Cornelius Fudge, Dumbledore, Umbridge, etc, are so authentic because real-life politicians and people in high places of power behave that way, and their abuse is excused. 

The wizarding world is just like the real world. Corrupt, prejudiced, messed up, but if you’re privileged, or at least have certain privileges, you’re probably not going to notice. The ultimate problem is that the plot doesn’t acknowledge a lot of fridge horror things are messed up either, which is why it miserably fails. 

[supercorp-hosie]

Josie and Lizzie personality, dynamics and popularity in reality

I've kind of done this before, like in my thoughts for 315. Now, I've made some additions to them, so I think why not start a new post? There are some points that remained the same with my thoughts for 315 and I've integrated some points from my rating of the writing of Legacies characters too.

Starting from Alaric being an absent father since the twins were 11. Caroline wasn’t there either. What’s left for Lizzie? Josie.

Josie had to handle herself and Lizzie alone. Sure Alaric might not always be absent, but the intensity of Lizzie’s perspective begs to differ. Josie had to understand Bipolar at a very young age; be there when Lizzie had her outburst; constantly checks on Lizzie to take her meds; digest the emotion impacts after the outburst; understand how Lizzie functions when she was down. None of that are easy. No one asks about how Josie feels. How she pent out? What does she need? Josie might feel the need to be not needing things and always be good so that she can get the love and attention from Alaric (in s1, Josie felt the need to lose the game to get on Alaric good side). As results, she just started to suppress her voice and her needs, because Lizzie needed them the most. Over time or years of suppressing in front of her dearest family, she most likely felt unneeded by her parents, and forgettable to her parents (the girl so quiet that her parents forget about her, the girl that Penelope won’t fight for anymore). She needed to feel needed, so she just let Lizzie take all of her, from whom she felt needed the most. It started a vicious cycle for the twins, shaped their dynamics and how Josie is in present days. Unfortunately, her problems were never solved, they accumulated, leaving the good and dark side from Josie being so separated and unbalanced, as no one has helped her to sort them out. The inner turmoil is always there, leading to the extreme polarity of Josie’s good and bad side.When she’s doing bad, she would be especially aggressive than she needed to be because that’s an instinct to compensate the lack of action before. After long suppression, once being released, the instinct would be stronger than usual and more uncontrollable. Under the influence of dark magic, Dark Josie felt like another personality taking over the whole Josie and protect their interests that true Josie are neglecting. Kind of like dissociative identity disorder but not really it? Fear the dog that doesn't bark.

From Lizzie perspective, we can see how she perceived Josie when they were little. Like Lizzie being princess but Josie being her android, personal valet? It just showed that after what Josie had endured and done, Lizzie thought of herself being princess but didn’t think Josie as her equal? Like Josie was programmed to bow to Lizzie. That’s the twins dynamic showing, partly Josie's mistake, but Josie deserved more than that, even when she’s derogatory to herself, Lizzie should uphold that for her. What really warms me from the Android situation, is that from how Josie is the combination of two Androids, showing that Lizzie actually looked up to Josie. For Lizzie, Josie can really take care of her so well that Lizzie can count Josie as her personal valet. Derogatory, yes, but that place is also very important to prince and princess. Remember that Lizzie can’t cook but Josie is like expert in cooking or baking? The knowledge for Android part means that in Lizzie’s mind, Josie actually is like the person who knows everything. Usually that figure should be our parents, but for Lizzie, Josie knows the answer to all. The fact that the special sword was in Josie’s thigh the whole time, just show the trust that Lizzie had in Josie. The security of her needs that Lizzie got from Josie and the validation Josie got from Lizzie, it’s kind of how the codependency between them works. Lizzie voices, Josie listens; Lizzie wants, Josie gives.

About Lizzie mental illness, after my research, I think that Lizzie situation is more like borderline personality disorder rather than bipolar. Lizzie has this low self-esteem issue, she sees herself lowly sometimes. Evidently, she always thinks that she had to better herself more, even in 310 where she misjudged Finch, she forgot the fact that she had improved a lot along the seasons and just go straight to a retreat, because she thinks she’s still a very bad person. A second before she saw herself like holy almighty, the next second she saw herself so bad that she was like the person in season one (and even in season one she wasn’t that bad). However, we can also see Lizzie thinks very highly of herself sometimes, or uses a narcissistic attitude to cover up her insecurities regarding her self-image, they just doesn't match with people's view of it. The most alarming one must be the whole thing about her funeral. It's clear that she hasn’t had a stable self-image of herself, which is more of a personality disorder rather than Bipolar, a mood disorder. About Lizzie’s mood swings, they are too sudden, abrupt, it triggers by events and the outcome of the trigger is quite immediate. As for Bipolar, the mood swing is more of a consistent cycle, not abrupt. Yes, events might trigger something, but they take time to set in. Patients will be overly energetic during maniac while feeling overly fatigue during the depression state. They can’t actually control their mood, it’s a mood disorder.

Tbh, the twins really have their personality issues to deal with. I totally agree with other about them being each other's foil. Like Lizzie being the one in between, while Josie being the one in extreme. Turning out that under the mean girl cover, Lizzie has such big heart; while Josie being the model sister on the extremely good side, turning out that she can be extremely dark. For real, they had like six personalities as a whole. The polarity in Josie; the polarity of Lizzie's self-image; plus the twins themselves being the foil and mirage to each other. They both have serious mental problems, Lizzie's apparent, Josie's invisible.

How does these reflect on their relationship? People would choose to get along with someone like Josie, they benefit from her habit of caring, listening, giving, and she doesn’t seem to have serious problem. As for Lizzie, people mostly like to be heard and to not be covered by another voice, they would want enough reciprocation, a habit which Lizzie is not that familiar. Not to mention, having a mental condition being well-known is not the best trait for strangers to start a new friendship or relationship. Moreover, when people observe their dynamic, they jump to conclusion rather quickly, that Lizzie is always taking things from Josie; she doesn’t care for Josie, etc. It doesn’t help Lizzie much as Josie tends to hide under that too, as being quiet is kind of a routine for her. She wants the spotlight but habitual instincts make her tend to hide from the spotlight. Therefore, as for popularity,Josie is definitely at the top, adored dearly by her peers, thus won an election herself wasn’t even running; while Lizzie, you know. Between a dog that always barks and one that doesn't bark, which will you choose? (not derogatory) However, if someone attack Lizzie, Josie will still protect her, like she did tell Penelope to leave Lizzie alone.

To shed light on Josie’s jealousy, it rooted from the abandonment issues of the twins. It is a consequence of them being Alaric’s second choice and the absence of Caroline. For Lizzie, the issue remains with only Hope, Alaric’s betrayal for Hope in her fanfics; in 314, people prioritising Hope over her is very triggering; even in 316, the heavenly state she’s in because Ethan asked her out after the whole "Hope is perfect" speech, indicate that how she can’t believe someone would choose her over Hope. As she never thinks that she can hold a competition against Hope and win. Lizzie’s abandonment issue is minimal because of the presence of Josie, it provides the security in Lizzie’s life, as she is the first choice for Josie.

The abandonment issue is worse for Josie. Even if Josie is Lizzie blind spot, this part of Lizzie is not usually make known of. Josie would feel that she is second choice to everyone, including Lizzie. Like the personal valet that has no needs? Lizzie is just 11, but 11 is an important age in shaping people’s security in a relationship. Josie couldn’t have got much security from all her important relationship, hence the abandonment issues. She always feels helpless in them, afraid to voice her needs, desperately needed recognition from her parents which is probably very few. She needs control but she didn’t know the way to get it, so she got none. The insecurities heighten when it comes to her love life, making her easily provoked if she saw something she didn’t like. Results from the habitual quietness, her way of defending herself and gaining control is to lower her competition, like hurting the girl hitting on Landon, being hostile to Hope. She hated Penelope for abandoning her, she remained control mostly, when provoked, Josie’s abandonment issues and the insecurities in being the second choice were triggered so badly that she set her on fire. The time she did what she need to do, she overdid it, because her dark side needs to compensate what hadn't been done to protect oneself and tend to the needs – to balance out the imbalance. As she loses more control over the issue while desperately wants to suppress the need of control, the polarity in her keeps worsening and the dark side of her keeps surfacing.

This is why Josie is written to embrace and take care of herself, tend to her needs, like her never need to better herself. Lizzie is written to constantly better herself when she seems like a better person than Josie. Josie’s issues root from years of neglecting her needs, while Lizzie has years of habit of ignorance on how to care when she does care. Therefore, Josie taking care of herself = bettering herself, providing a balance in her so her mental can be stable even when provoke. If Lizzie cannot construct a good self-image, while getting positive feedback to reassure her self-image disparity, she can never overcome her personality disorder. Hence bettering herself to meet her own needs.

Their behaviours as presented are cultivated and shaped by each other under the unhealthy circumstances of their household. It is not logical to only accuse of one twin regarding their behaviours to each other without bringing the other twin and their parents into consideration.

@legacies-supremacy I still remember our twins dynamic discussion, I hope this bring my response as a whole. Btw, you kind of said that in 106, Josie tell Lizzie to go to their party without her several times and Lizzie waited for her? It's not true.

Regarding the whole situation, Josie spent all her time helping Lizzie get ready. When Lizzie is done, she said, "You’re not even dressed, I don’t want to be late on my own party." Josie said, "I’m done, I’ll catch up with you, okay?" Then Lizzie take off to the party and enter without Josie without question. After wearing the talisman, Penelope appeared. She expresses her desire to continue to make Lizzie uncomfortable or unhappy or angry. Josie wanted Penelope to ease up on Lizzie. Penelope said, "You have crawled so far down the codependence rabbit hole that you think taking care of yourself is selfish. Party starts in five. It’s a shame you spent all of that time helping Lizzie get ready." When Josie was dressed, she needed someone to help her braid, so for once she try something out of desire, she goes to Josette Laughlin. When Josette asked her whether Josie will be late to her own party, Josie said, "no one will notice". She expressed her thought that if Lizzie knew about her crush on Rafael too, the situation will look bad, so she kept silent.

During the party, Lizzie immediately enjoyed herself with MG. They had flirty moves with each other (i think). Once the soft music set in, she immediately changed partner. Penelope was the only one that notice Josie was no where to be seen (meanwhile Josie was getting buried alive). While Alaric encountered Hope to save Josie, Penelope is still the only one actively searching for Josie without request. After Hope met with MG and Penelope, the three of them started saving Josie together. Meanwhile Rafael told Lizzie the truth that he still hadn't moved on. Lizzie seemed like she was starting to melt down, and started asking for Josie. Hope, Penelope and MG saved Josie without Lizzie.

It is what it is, and I'm not blaming Lizzie. The whole getting buried alive thing just kind of enhanced Josie's feeling bad of getting what she desired. I kind of remember that she said that for once she listened to people urging her to pursue her desires and it ended up getting herself buried. Then Penelope like rewarded her with a kiss.

[twiceinadream]

“First time.”

Requested: Nope

Prompt: Alpha! Sana and Omega! Jihyo have their first time (G!P Sana). [High School AU]

a/u: So this is a bit of self-indulgent story so I hope you all enjoy! I love you all!

Category: NSFW and Fluff

Word Count: 4k

Jihyo breathed out a relieved sigh as she spotted her girlfriend at the end of the hall, skipping over to the older girl as she wrapped her in a back hug, “Hi, baby.” A smile grew in Sana’s face as she turned in the shorter Korean’s arms. Placing a kiss on her head.

“Hey, Hyo. I didn’t see you there.” Jihyo huffed out a laugh as she pulled away from the hug.

“Clearly.” They shared a smile as one of Sana’s hands subconsciously reached out to hold Jihyo’s as they stood facing each other, “I have something to tell you.”

The younger girl smiled brightly as Sana responded, “Is it that you love me?” There was a playful smile on her lips as Jihyo rolled her eyes.

“I do love you, but no.” The Omega quieted down a little as she whispered into the Japanese girl’s ear, “My parents will be out of town this weekend. Maybe we could…” Her voice trailed off at the end, too shy to finish. But Sana seemed to read her loud and clear.

“Oh,” A small gasp left the Alpha’s lips as her cheeks reddened slightly, “Oh!” A shy chuckle sounded as she took in her girlfriend’s even brighter face. “Ji, I’d love to! Friday night sound good for you?”

Her girlfriend nodded in agreement as the sound of a bell sounded again. “Oh, shit. I’m gonna be late,” Jihyo placed a quick peck to Sana’s lips as she began running off, “I love you!”

A small smile graced the Japanese girl’s lips as well. Watching her girlfriend’s retreating figure as she muttered to herself, “I love you too.” 

-Friday Night-

Sana waited anxiously outside the Park residence as she built up the courage to knock on her girlfriend’s front door. She held her duffle closer to her, trying to forget the box of condoms she had bought earlier this week in preparation for this night. Finally building up the courage to knock, it didn’t take more than a minute for the door to open and Jihyo to greet her Alpha.

A bright smile adorning the Omega’s face as she grabbed the Japanese girl’s hand and began leading her up the stairs and into her bedroom. A quiet calm surrounding the couple as the door closed behind them. A nervous breath falling from Sana’s lips as she eyes her girlfriend.

“C-can I kiss you? Now. This minute.” Sana suddenly said, sounding more like a command than a question. She didn’t mean to sound like she was ordering Jihyo but it came out that way. A faint blush covered Jihyo’s cheek, making Sana feel even more nervous than before. God, Sana. Calm down. Jihyo’s your girlfriend so stop sounding like a general or something. “I mean...please? Is that okay? To...kiss you?”

I sound like an idiot, Sana thought, biting her lower lips. Jihyo just made her head grow fuzzy and unclear. She never really had this much of a problem speaking. Yet the soft chuckle from Jihyo only lightened her mood. Looking up, Jihyo had such a soft smile on her full lips. The dark red color was alluring for Sana’s eyes. She loved how it fitted Jihyo’s style and Sana imagined kissing those lips already. Brown eyes seemed to glow a bit brighter as Jihyo stepped up to Sana, whispering, “Of course you can, Sana. I am your girlfriend, right?”

“Y-yeah.” Sana nodded, stepping up to Jihyo. Looking up into brown eyes, Sana felt an overwhelming need to protect Jihyo. In response, she wraps her arms around Jihyo’s waist, letting Jihyo rest her forehead against her. Bringing their bodies close, Sana slowly rocked their bodies in a slow and swaying dance. She didn’t even realize what she was doing. The Japanese girl was letting her body make the decisions and Jihyo didn’t mind the contact.

“Sana?” Jihyo says, sighing as her hands felt up Sana’s shoulders. Her inner omega was saying, Yes. That’s a real Alpha you’re holding. Sana’s a strong and worthy Alpha for you. “Do you love me?”

“Of course I love you, Jihyo.” Sana replies. Her hands linger around the small area of Jihyo’s back, her finger itching to massage Jihyo’s skin, yet she holds back. Jihyo was too overwhelming for her. Her nose smelled Jihyo’s scent, her touch felt like it was on fire every time she made contact with Jihyo, and her eyes could only soak up the vision of Jihyo. “I’m so happy to be able to have this time alone with you.”

“Me too, Sana.” Jihyo hummed, reaching up to cup Sana’s face. Their breaths mingled together, their faces growing closer. Their lips hover a bit. Lost in this silent word, the couple rocked against each other to silent music, content in their private world. The mess happening outside their world was nothing but a blur to their minds.

Sana stopped to whisper, “I wish I can show you off to the world.”

“I know you do.” Jihyo whispered back, her lips gently kissing on the outer corners of Sana’s lips, sighing into the heated contact.

Sana tightened her grip around Jihyo’s waist. “I just want to scream that you’re mine.”

“Don’t.” Jihyo whimpered, kissing Sana’s cheek as she pushed her body closer to the Alpha. “Not yet, Sana. Please? I just want to enjoy our little world with just us, for a little longer. No one knows except us, our little secret.”

“I know.” Sana groaned, hitching her breath as Jihyo’s hands roamed across her upper back. She lets out a soft, low growl. “I just need someone to know you belong to me. I want someone to know they can’t look at you the way I do.”

“I want no one but you.” Jihyo sighs, kissing along Sana’s jawline. As she kissed, she continued to mumble her words. “I only want you.”

Sana lets out a ragged whine, pushing her head to the side so she can kiss Jihyo’s exposed neck. When she does, Jihyo tilts her head so Sana can have more access to her neck. The Japanese girl moans, “It’s so hard. With everything that is going on, I can barely contain myself. You’re always on my mind. I just want everything to stop so we can be alone.”

“We are alone.” Jihyo reminded her. “Right now. It’s just you and me right now.” Jihyo leaned back to look into soulful brown eyes. “Me.” A small peck on Sana’s lips. “You.” Another peck on the lips. “No one else but us.”

Jihyo crashed her lips against Sana, moaning into the taste of her Alpha. Sana happily purred, feeling Jihyo’s passion through the kiss. Their lips rocked against each other, creating a symphony of music with their voices as they held themselves to each other. Jihyo palmed Sana’s blue top, ruffling it as it rose up the Japanese girl’s body. Sana found herself rocking into Jihyo, wanting more of the Omega’s touch and body heat. It was addicting. They were like a drug for each other and they ravished it with their lips.

Deciding to be more bold, Sana slipped her tongue out into Jihyo’s mouth, earning a whimper. It sent a spark of pleasure to shoot down Jihyo’s core as she welcomed Sana’s tongue. The invading tongue explored Jihyo’s cavern, dancing with her tongue as well. All that came out of Jihyo’s mouth was gasps and groans, followed by a string of needy whimpers.

They didn’t realize that their bodies stumbled near the bed. Jihyo fell back, followed by Sana landing on top of her. The impact broke the kiss. When Sana realized the position she was in, the reality of the situation started to hit her. She panicked, Oh my God, are we going to do it? Oh God, it looks like it. Jihyo is under me. Oh God, can I touch her? Should we keep going? Can I keep going? Should I ask? Is Jihyo even ready? Should I let Jihyo lead? Am I ready? Of course, I am. I wanted this for so long. Oh God, I should ask if we can keep going.

“Jihyo?” Sana began, looking into heavily aroused brown eyes. Meanwhile, Jihyo was thinking, Oh God, I should've showered before we did this. Should I ask her if I can shower before we start? Or will that ruin the moment? I mean we have been stuck in the desert for days so surely she’ll let me? Wait. Are we going to do it? Or are we going to stop? I don’t even know if Sana is ready. I should ask.

“Sana.” Jihyo says, looking up to big brown eyes. They stared at each other, lost in their own minds. Jihyo forgot what she was going to ask, as well as Sana. The idea of being in this position was mind-blanking to them. It was overwhelming. They were just stuck, unsure of who should start first.

Finally, after what seem to be a few minutes, Jihyo shyly looks away. She mumbles, “You can touch me, Sana.”

brown eyes linger at the loose jacket that Jihyo wore. Sana’s mind was already undressing her but her hands hover over it like she was scared she was going to hurt the jacket. Sana stutters, “A-A-Are you su-sure?”

“Only if you want to.” Jihyo answered, her eyes glancing at the nightstand besides the bed, a pack of condoms she had shyly bought at the conscience store.

“I mean...I’m not complaining.” Jihyo purred, feeling slightly shy as she pats Sana’s cheek so she would look at her.

“Me too.” Sana softly replied. Her hands still hovered over Jihyo, a bit nervous to begin any form of touching. The Japanese girl even started to shake a bit and Sana had to get off of Jihyo to calm her nerves.

This alerted Jihyo, who got up to wrap her arms around Sana’s shoulders. With a gentle voice, she says,“Hey, it’s okay to stop. We don’t have to do anything. I know you have a lot on your plate so don’t force yourself for me.”

“No, it’s not that I don’t want to do it. It’s just that I’m really nervous.” Sana admitted, pouting her lips. Jihyo resisted the urge to capture those lips again, feeling her heart melt at her adorable Alpha. “I never really had done anything like this. So...I guess I’m just nervous.”

Jihyo leans in to kiss Sana on the cheek, smiling into it. “Well, if it makes you feel better, I’ve never really done too much so it’s a first for me as well. I’m nervous too. I want our first time to be special and it already is.”

“Really?” Sana asked, looking a bit more hopeful.

“Really.” Jihyo confirmed, kissing Sana’s forehead.

“Then...can I touch you?”

The Omega lets out a small chuckle at the obvious, but considerate, questions Sana has been asking. Taking the Japanese girl’s hand and placing it on her chest, Jihyo purred, “You already are.”

Sana felt her mind go blank. Her hand palmed Jihyo’s chest through the jacket. Even though the fabric acted like a barrier, Sana could already feel how plump and perky Jihyo’s chest was. It was warm. It felt so real in Sana’s hand that she wondered if she was dreaming. Her hand wrapped perfectly around a breast and Sana wondered if it was bigger than what she thought, since she felt a bit of the fleshy mound spill out of her hand. It was hard to tell through the jacket but Sana was, nevertheless, more than excited.

Meanwhile, Jihyo started to unbutton her jacket, letting it fall off her slender shoulders where she wore a simple red tank under it. Sana’s eyes widen as the layers of clothing slowly fall off, like letting the petals fall off of a withering flower. Soon, Jihyo had her tank off, leaving her in her black bra. Before Sana knew it, in a flash that was off as well. Now Sana was staring at her half naked girlfriend. Her eyes linger on Jihyo’s chest where her predictions about how perky they must be came true, dotted with pink hardened nubs on the tips. Sana felt an ache in her core and something starting to strain against her pants.

Jihyo gently pulled Sana back on top of her, sighing as she felt the weight of the Alpha. She lets out a small whimper when she felt a harder pressure near her groin, smiling at the fact that Sana was having a reaction to seeing her bare. Shyly, she asked, “Do you like what you see?”

Sana swallowed a dry gasp, shaking her head, a bit eagerly. Her hands were squeezing and pinching the soft mounds, relishing how soft Jihyo’s skin was. Careful thumbs quickly flick the hardened nubs, earning a slight whimper from Jihyo. Her eyes watched Jihyo become undone under her, her brown eyes grew blank with arousal and her mouth parted a bit. Her lips looked more swollen from the kissing, pouting as Jihyo flinched with each twist of her nipples that Sana performed. Sana thought, If this is how she reacts to her breast being touched, I wonder how she reacts when I’m…

There was a sharp twitch of her now hardening cock. It roared, trying to alert the Japanese girl of its presence. Sana hissed at it, finding her hips already rocking forward. The bulge thumped against Jihyo’s groin, earning a slight whimper from red lips. Jihyo purred, biting her lower lips as she smiled. Sana felt her heart pumped out more blood to darken the blush on her cheeks. Seeing Jihyo like this was truly too much for Sana. Jihyo was like a goddess and Sana found it hard to believe that she was able to pleasure this goddess.

Feeling a bit bolder, Sana unbuttoned Jihyo’s pants and started to tug them down her legs. Jihyo lifted her hips to let Sana take them off. The entire time, Sana’s heart was drumming like crazy. She ate up every single detail of Jihyo’s skin and the curves of her waist, all the way to the dark curls that hid pink, succulent lips under it. Jihyo’s scent was overpowering her nose and Sana felt like she couldn’t get enough. Her hands slowly trailed down, rubbing against Jihyo’s toned stomach and along her thighs.

Jihyo began to tug Sana’s top off, in which the Japanese girl got up to help. She practically rip the top off, revealing her bare upper half. Jihyo’s eyes widened as she finally got to see her girlfriend fully bare for the first time. Sana was packing in muscle but she still had such a beautiful dip in her hips, smooth skin that highlighted against the somewhat dim lighting of the room, and a nice curve on the outline of her breast. Jihyo smiled to help make Sana feel more comfortable, knowing the Japanese girl must be feeling nervous for being bare for the first time. Jihyo’s hand began to undo the bindings of Sana’s pants, with some help. Sana, feeling more confident and comfortable, swiftly tugged her pants down, letting her cock spring forward. She heard a gasp from Jihyo, making the Japanese girl smile in triumph.

Crawling on top of Jihyo like a panther, Sana nestled herself in between Jihyo’s legs, sighing at the heat that emanated from her sex. Her hips gently rocked against Jihyo, the full length of her shaft rubbed against her inner thigh.

Shit, I’m so comfortable here but I forgot to grab a condom. Sana whipped her head to the night stand. She wondered if she would look stupid going back up and down on Jihyo. Perhaps she was overthinking it. Jihyo sensed the sudden tenseness of Sana’s body. She rested herself on her elbows, kissing along Sana’s jawline. She whispered, “You’re doing fine, Sana. Just relax.”

The soft kisses and the gentles touches helped ease Sana down as she quickly reached over to grab a condom. Tearing the package and pulling it out, Sana fumbled with it as she pulled it over her aching cock. Jihyo calmly helped Sana out. When her fingers touched the shaft, Sana felt her desires spike up. Jihyo’s touch was like electricity and Sana wanted more. Her eyes wander to the wet folds of Jihyo’s sex, imagining her cock thrusting into it. The image only fueled Sana on and she barely registered that Jihyo has been patiently waiting for her to continue after putting on the condom.

Wait, Sana thought as she tried to ignore the instinct to just rut or something. I have to prepare her, right? Yeah, it might hurt if I just put it in. Should...I? Um? Do I just touch her or push in a finger?

Jihyo finally took the lead after watching Sana seem to freak out by herself for a few minutes. Seeing Sana so fluster was one of Jihyo’s favorite looks and that’s why she didn’t help out sooner. She enjoyed what she made Sana feel and Jihyo started to take pity after watching her suffer a bit longer. Her hand swiftly grabbed Sana’s length, lining it up with her entrance. She let the tip rub against her sex, eliciting a moan from Sana.

“Shouldn’t I help you prepare?” Sana asked, whimpering at how possibly tight Jihyo was going to feel.

Jihyo shushed Sana, leading the tip of the cock. What help was how lubricated the condom was, rubbing against her entrance, making sure she was wet enough. Sure, she would have like to have been prepared first but with how nervous Sana was, Jihyo wanted to speed things up. If she got Sana through the motions, instead of explaining it to her, she had faith that the Alpha will learn quicker. “Just take it slow and listen to my voice.”

Sana nodded her head, sighing as the tip of her cock slightly sunk into the quivering hole. Jihyo lined Sana up and, with a light tap of her heel on Sana’s back, gently urged the Alpha to push in.

What followed was a loud moan from Jihyo, making Sana look up to watch. Her body strained against the immense heat that coated the tip of her shaft and Sana watched as Jihyo’s face became distorted in both pain and pleasure.

“Are you okay?” Sana asked. Jihyo nodded her head, even though she winced. “Are you sure?”

“It only hurts a bit but I’m fine, Sana.” Jihyo answered, reaching up to cup Sana’s cheek. Using the heel of her foot, Jihyo urged Sana to keep pushing, stretching her walls and bringing her a mind-blowing pleasure, tinted with a bit of pain. The pain subsided as Sana was carefully slow. She can see the Japanese girl visibly flinch, as if trying to resist going faster. When half of Sana’s shaft was inside, it seemed as if the worst was over. With a buck of Jihyo’s hips, Sana was able to slide the rest of her cock inside. They both moan out loud as they completely became one.

“A-a-are…” Sana stuttered, unable to finish her sentence as the white hot heat felt amazing. Jihyo’s walls flutter and tighten around her, making her almost bottom out.

“It’s good, Sana. I’m okay.” Jihyo whimpered. Her body felt like it was on fire. She felt so full yet unsatisfied. There was a different sort of pain now. Her walls seem to loosen and tighten, wanting some sort of friction. “Please move, it hurts more now than you’re so still.”

Sana nodded her head. Her hand on Jihyo’s hips, she watch as her cock became unsheathed from the tight cavern, leaving only the tip inside. Then her hips bucked forward, pushing into inviting walls. Jihyo lets out a wail, not in pain but in pure ecstasy. The pain was faint but Jihyo felt the friction elicit a mind-numbing pleasure that shook her core. Her hands dug into Sana’s upper arms, holding herself from losing her sanity into this sea of heat. Her walls tighten and clenched around Sana, beckoning to move.

The sight of Jihyo under her, her mouth open with heavy pants, her legs spread to accommodate Sana, and the subtle juices that dripped from her cunt in response to the pounding shaft inside of her; all of it was a sight that Sana imprinted on her mind. Her hips began to move again, watching every inch of her cock slid out. Sana watch Jihyo’s swollen lips cling onto her retreating shaft. She licked her lips at the sight. Her ears was filled with Jihyo’s whimpering at being empty. When she thrusted inside, Jihyo’s whimpering turned into heavy moans. Her sex welcomed her cock, sucking it back inside. This kept on. In and out, in and out, in and out until Sana found herself at a rhythm.

Sana’s hands roamed across Jihyo’s body, exploring new areas she hasn’t touched. Across her collarbone, fluttering around her waist, and gripping into her thighs, Sana found her hands touching along the folds of Jihyo’s sex. Her fingers trail over a hooded clit. Pulling it back, Sana watched an angry red clit twitch as her cock rammed inside. The tip of her fingers rubbed against it, making Jihyo squeal and buck her hips.

She felt Jihyo’s walls tighten so harshly that it slowed her pace. It felt like her cock was being swirled and sucked inside, leaving Sana to hang onto the bed sheets as it milked her cock. She could hear Jihyo saying her name like a chant, over and over. Jihyo’s legs tighten around her waist, pushing her closer to the Omega. Sana leaned down to suckle on the pale flesh of Jihyo’s neck, hissing when a rough contraction overcame Jihyo before she fell limp. When her lips left Jihyo’s neck, there was a light red mark.

When Sana got up, Jihyo was whimpering as it caused the shaft inside of her to shift a bit. Her body felt hyper sensitive and Jihyo could barely say anything to encourage Sana to let herself go. Her hazy brown eyes look up at Sana, hoping her silent message would reach the Alpha. Sana felt Jihyo’s walls purposely clench around her and she hissed as it drew a slithering spark to travel down her spine.

It seems that Sana got the message. She wrapped her arms around Jihyo’s waist and thrusted inside with a quicker speed. Jihyo lets out a whine as she clung onto Sana, feeling a numbing pleasure in between her legs. She could hear Sana grunting on top of her and Jihyo whimpered when Sana’s teeth roughly grazed against her neck again.

“N-No-No mate mark, S-Sana.” Jihyo reminded, knowing she still wanted to keep their relationship a secret.

Sana lets out a low groan but she nodded her head. Her mouth sucked onto Jihyo’s collarbone as her body shuddered with an orgasm that ripped through Sana’s core. Her body shivered and shook and Sana came, relishing in the pleasure. Deep inside, Sana wishes she was filling Jihyo up but with the busy events in their lives, Jihyo hasn’t had the time to take the routine of proper birth control pills. So this will have to do. Making sweet love with Jihyo was more than enough.

Meanwhile, the sensitivity from her first orgasm rocked Jihyo into her second one. Her body felt like it was melting and Jihyo held onto Sana as a lifeline. The Omega muffled her whines and whimpers by kissing along Sana’s neck. The Alpha’s cock twitched and shook before falling limp. Sana huffed as she rested on Jihyo, fully spent from her orgasm. Their panting filled the room, and it sounded so comforting to both girls. Sana kissed along Jihyo’s jawline before capturing her lips, making her moan.

Jihyo whimpered as Sana pulled out, sighing at the desirable stretched out feeling. She lets out a low hum in approval as Sana pulls the condom off, flinging it into the empty basket next to the bed.

“Are you alright?” Sana asked as she slipped onto her side, spooning Jihyo.

“Of course, I am.” Jihyo answered, purring into Sana’s embrace. “I love you, Sana.”

“I love you too, Jihyo.” Sana purred before drifting off to sleep.

[100hearteyes]

Part 2 of Clarke And Lexa Make a Porno, because why the fuck not.

Part 1.

"No. Absolutely not."

Anya's wolfish grin is no good omen. Lexa feels a sense of dread wash over her and tries in vain to assuage her nerves by holding her friend's gaze. Anya wouldn't look this sure if she didn't have some card up her sleeve.

Lexa throws a furtive glance around, checks that her co-workers are still focused on the German porn telenovela. It's only when she's sure that the action on-screen will keep them rooted for a while that she turns back to Anya, trying but failing to meet her eyes.

She overcompensates with another glance around the room and a low hiss. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but am I not too," she licks her lips, gathering the courage, "'vanilla' to do it?"

Anya shrugs like it's a no-brainer; crosses her arms and props her booted feet on Lexa's desk. "That's exactly the point. You're a lesbian Disney princess. Pretty sure if you started singing the whole fucking fauna of Capitola would follow you around."

Lexa levels Anya with a glare and tries to push her feet off the desk, to no avail.

(Seriously, what's it worth being editor if she can't even have her subjects' respect? She wishes this job was less about the headaches and more about the self-indulgent moments of microscopic tyranny.)

The feet might not budge, but Anya will. Lexa is sure of it. She draws herself taller and tucks on her most authoritative scowl. "I won't do it."

Anya plucks an imaginary cigarette from her mouth and throws it away without a care in the world. She reaches behind her and drags forth a heavy wooden box, filled to the brim with—

"My vinyls."

Lexa is in a daze.

She thought she'd lost all her vinyls to time and moving. She mourned each one of them for at least a year, cried many a night away clutching her record player to dear life, lamenting their shared loss.

They had a real connection.

But it turns out her vinyls weren't lost after all, and her tears were for naught. They were safe all along, albeit in different hands, and she'd known nothing of it, like a mother who lets her children wander about without aim nor authority.

How can she ever have kids if she can't even take care of her prized vinyls?

Lexa feels a prick of self-righteous indignation at the betrayal and puffs out her chest. "Why do you have all my vinyls?"

"I think you mean all my vinyls," Anya corrects with a lazy flurry of one hand towards the box.

"You don't even own a record player."

"How the fuck would you know?"

Lexa raises an eyebrow at her friend. "I come over all the time?"

"I could hide it while you're there."

"And then you'd never find it again, because that's what happens every time you try to hide something from me."

Anya shrugs and watches as Lexa picks one of the vinyls and turns it over in her hands, reading the track list on the back with the reverence one would a millennium-old parchment. Then she looks up at Anya with a stern glare.

"Over half of these were stolen from my house."

Anya shrugs again with infuriating nonchalance and Lexa wishes she had a pencil nearby just so she could snap it in two with one hand. Or stab one of Anya's eyes with it.

"Maybe I just rescued them from the actual malefactor," drawls Anya.

"We both know the real culprit sits across from me and has been wearing the same socks for the past three weeks."

Nailed it.

When she looks at her friend, however, all she sees is that same old resting bitch face that never seems to go away.

"Wow, Lexa," Anya deadpans. "Now you've really hurt my feelings."

Sometimes, Lexa wonders if Anya really has a rock where her heart should be. A supernatural, blood-pumping rock, of course, but a rock nonetheless. Or, maybe, Anya is a psychopath. Maybe the blood money theory wasn't so far-fetched after all. That would explain the brazen lack of empathy for everyone else's feelings, most of all Lexa's. What does it say about Lexa that her one true friend is someone who sneezes literally every time Lexa says 'I love you'?

Not that Lexa says it a lot. Only once or twice every few years.

Just enough to have noticed the pattern.

"Are you really trying to blackmail me with vinyls?"

Anya fakes an affronted gasp, laying a hand on her heart. "Would I ever. Think of it as... an incentive."

Lexa really does love Anya, despite her friend's... unique demeanor. Anya helps her come out of her shell — by taking up all the space and forcing her out of her own metaphorical home — and every once in a while she likes to make sure Anya is aware of her gratitude. Sometimes, though, things get really fucking weird.

Lexa would still do anything for her best friend.

"Let's imagine, hypothetically - very hypothetically," she stresses, although Anya's burgeoning smirk tells Lexa she isn't so easily fooled, "that I agreed. What would happen next?"

Anya takes her feet off Lexa's desk and sits up straighter, perhaps aware of the importance of this moment. This, Lexa decides, will determine her answer.

"Well first, I'd have to get you a costar. Then we'd sign some legally binding shit, find a crew, and make the damn movie. Simple as that."

Anya leans forward, looking into her eyes. In Anya's, she sees honesty and a pressing need to reassure. It takes some of the pressure off her shoulders right away.

"Look, Lexa, you can say no. But your name won't be on anything related to the movie and I promise no one in this shitty town will ever find out you did this."

This is why Anya is Lexa's best friend. And it's why Lexa would do anything for her.

Even star in a porno.

"Okay."

Anya's inner smile must be really, really big, because Lexa knows how hard she tries to tamper its outward expression — and still her lips manage to lift into a grotesque grimace. Coming from Anya, it's the equivalent of a blissful grin.

"Okay?"

Lexa nods and closes her eyes, bracing herself for a bone-crushing hug. It never comes. When she opens her eyes, Anya's resting bitch face is back on.

"What, did you want a fucking hug?"

It's a blessing to have her rude friend back, Lexa guesses, because seeing Anya almost smile is fifty shades of unsettling. So she rolls her eyes and rolls with it.

Her next question demands her full focus, lest she makes an even bigger fool of herself than usual.

Lexa breathes in, makes sure all her co-workers are still otherwise entertained, breathes out. Smooths out a non-existent wrinkle in her pants, wets her lips for courage.

"Anyway," she treads with caution, "do you have someone in mind for the other main role?"

It's fitting that Harper McIntyre's hit song One More Betyreyal (one of her less inspired titles, if Lexa may say so) starts playing in that moment, for the look in Anya's eyes speaks of nothing but danger. Lexa wonders how much planning went into this conversation, so Anya could plan all her gut punches in advance.

"Clarke Griffin."

No. No. Anyone but her.

Clarke Griffin is the new recruit, although Lexa hardly understands how there can be someone new considering the station is broke and they’re already overstaffed — and none of them make nearly enough money for how much they laze around all day.

Clarke came from out of town with a fancy degree and was directly hired as an editor. She voices the early afternoon newscasts and Lexa curses the one-hour period during which she's forced to cohabitate with Clarke every day.

Apparently, Clarke had taken a liking to unnerving her, be it by smirking at her every time she catches Lexa staring or by making all sorts of inappropriate comments — to her ear. Lexa hates how much it affects her, but how can she possibly focus on reporting about Lionel "Real Sight" Foster swallowing his own wooden eye or how Jasper Jordan rescued his own private parts from the jaws of two slats of an unassuming park bench if someone keeps doing everything in their power to distract her?

Lexa has a theory (an iron-clad theory, if she may say so herself), and it's that Clarke is trying to get her fired so she can take her shift. It's the best shift of the day. There is no other possible explanation.

"You know what, I take it back. Now you need to convince two people to star in your porno."

"Oh, there's no need." Anya waves her argument away with staggering nonchalance. "Clarke's already said yes."

Wait, what? "But you told me we'd need to get me a costar."

Anya shrugs and Lexa is now seriously considering revisiting her psychopath theory. "I lied."

"You conniving, lying b—"

"Careful," Anya cuts in with a raised eyebrow. "I am under protection of the Capitola Astrologers Union."

"Of which you are president, treasurer, and the only legal member," Lexa reminds her. "And I think any upstanding judge would love to know how exactly every other name on the list has joined said union posthumously."

"I am an astrologer, Lexa. I can communicate with the dead. It's in my job description."

"It scares me that you're not even aware you're describing an entirely different profession."

Lexa sits back, staring at the ceiling (and the chewing gum Murphy glued there a year ago — he could've been an Olympic jumper if he committed to work the way he does to being an asshole), trying to come to terms with a single, harrowing probability: she's going to star in a porno with Clarke Griffin.

"l don't understand why it has to be Clarke."

Anya leans forward, propping her elbows on her knees, expression serious and ready to talk shop. The last time Lexa saw her like this was— actually, Lexa doesn't think she's ever seen Anya like this.

"Look, I've done some market analysis and most girl on girl pairings are a blonde and a brunette." Anya raises both her hands and starts counting off fingers, "Brittana, Petramos, Holstein, Wayhaught, Supercorp, Joanarty, Choni, the inaptly named Shoni, Deanoru, Dana and Alice, Bette and Tina, Catradora, Villaneve, Clexa—"

"What's Clexa?"

"I don't know, some chicks from this fucking terrible CW show."

"Do you like it?"

"Do I like what?"

"Clexa."

"Dude, I don't even know their fucking names!" Anya exclaims, exasperated. As if she's the victim here. "The only Clexa I ship is you and Blondie. Naked. On my porno. Clarke and Lexa. Clexa. Havin' very hot sexa."

"Smart," Lexa deadpans.

"I know."

"Why can't it be Niylah? She's blonde, too."

Anya's smirk is five hundred shades of gross. "I know you'd love to get up close and personal with Niylah's knick-knacks, but no."

Lexa decides to let the comment fly for the sake of her own sanity.

"Why Clarke, though?"

"Because you two have chemistry, you fucking dimwit."

Lexa snorts. Chemistry. Lexa has never heard of something so absurd. She and Clarke have as much chemistry as Harper McIntyre and any semblance of originality.

Which is to say, none at all.

"She makes very inappropriate comments," she argues instead, knowing full well that pressing on the topic of chemistry will only open way for some trademark crass joke from Anya.

"Yeah," her friend agrees, like it's obvious. "Because she knows you love them."

She most certainly does not.

"I most certainly do not."

"You do. Your freakishly tiny ears go red whenever she flirts with you. Your step falters when she makes one of those comments, for fuck's sake," Anya observes, pointing in Lexa's general direction, before leaving forward and laying a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry to tell you this, but you, my friend, are a walking lesbian cliché."

Lexa takes Anya's hand off her shoulder. "Can you please stop insulting my tragically conspicuous homosexuality?"

"Oh please," Anya scoffs. "I'm bisexual, I can say whatever I want."

"If my step actually faltered - which they don't - it would be because her comments are annoying, off-putting, unprofessional, inopportune, and... and inappropriate", she finishes lamely.

"And you fucking love them."

"I don't."

Anya leans back on her chair with an evil smirk, propping her feet on the table and crossing them at the ankles. Lexa tries to push them off to no avail.

"Legalities aside, it's very simple. Clarke has already said yes. I just recorded you saying yes."

Lexa sputters, "You what--"

"You're both legally bound now." Anya shrugs. "Look at it this way: it will be very educational. You'll finally learn how to make a girl come, and get paid for it. Sort of."

A beat of silence.

"Anya, are you aware that you say something at least vaguely criminal every five sentences? Something that could actually put you in prison?"

Anya clicks her tongue, sinking farther into her chair, and lowers her sunglasses to her eyes.

"I've got friends everywhere, Lex. Let's just say I've dipped more than my fingers in my fair share of pies, if you catch my drift." A second later, she lowers her sunglasses just enough to reveal her eyes. "That means my tongue. My tongue's been in a lot of pies, too."

Lexa doesn't doubt that for a second.

"What I need to know is," Anya adds, taking off her sunglasses and throwing them across the room, "will you dip your fingers in the porn pie?"

Like this conversation hasn't caused enough trauma for thirty lifetimes.

"If I say no, will you still give me back my vinyls?"

"Absolutely fucking not."

Lexa swallows, clenches her jaw, and thinks of all those lonely nights spent in the couch clutching her record player and sharing cookie dough ice cream with it, longing for long-gone times when she'd dance to the mellow voices of the likes Billy Ocean and Ella Fitzgerald.

"My answer is yes."

[lil-pine-mha-drabbles]

Can u please write a Shoto fanfic (or could be for multiple characters) inspired by Murders by Miracle Musical? 😭😭😭 The line "all for nothing at all" hits very VERY hard for me. Can u make it as angst as possible too?

Todoroki Shoto x Murderer Reader

I listened to that song a bunch and still my brain didn’t process all of the story in that song, I hope that you will still enjoy this. I did work hard and I think I did ok, but I put my own spin on it.

TW: A LOT of blood, a few swear words, and heavy(ish) angst.

I got too into the storyline I forgot all the actual angst I was supposed to put in.

Here are some people that inspire me, @alpha-bnha-boys and @random-mha-thoughts

There are 2567 words to read below the line!

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Were the woods always this scary?

The leaves rustled and the wind whistled as it sifted through the dark branches. It would have been a peaceful day if it weren’t for the darkness that had been put over the woods. You looked up through the cracks in the leaves to see that the sky was beginning to darken as well. You picked up your axe and wiped of the blood of the animal laying dead on the ground, the blood pooling around your feet. The smell was enticingly sweet, the scent of blood always fascinated you. As you grew older you figured out your favorite type of blood was human, there was something about the fact that there was no fur to get matted when the liquid gushed out leaving you in excitement to see the beautiful color on the white or chocolate skin.

You may be a murderer but you didn’t discriminate. You hoped desperately to find another human in these woods to harvest but you would wait and kill others patiently. The hunt is what you enjoyed; the feeling of raw adrenaline as you ran after your prey.

You had a quirk, and that quirk was a shifting quirk. You could change into any animal; real or fantasy that you could think of, but... whatever you choose you keep the appetite and diet of that chosen creature for a week.

If say, you wanted to be a horse, you would eat grass for a week, even after shifting back, if you wanted to be a dragon, you would be eating meat and spewing fire all week.

But, if you shifted into a herbivore then into a carnivore, you would not only be eating meat AND plants, you would have double the hunger for blood. To most people that would horrify them, but since you drank blood like apple juice, you had no problem going on a killing spree to sedate your desire.

You picked up the blood in the buckets you brought and rang out the already mangled body over the container. Finally you grabbed your shovel and dug by a dried tree. Soil that has a calcium deficiency ate up bodies quickly. If you buried and animal under a tree, the roots would wrap around the white bones in haste to receive their needed vitamin.

After the burial was complete you picked up the two buckets and walked to your cabin.

Now, these woods were special. There was a fountain of mirrors which showed your true inner self but only few have seen it. Those who have are trapped in the woods forever to guard the fountain from others who wish to see themselves.

You sniffed the air and quietly put down your buckets when you smelled it. Fresh prey.

Someone was in the woods whether they’re lost or they’re looking for the fountain, you don’t care, you’ll drink them up either way and leave their bones to the trees of the forest.

You turned into a bunny and jumped over boulders and bushes to reach the heavenly smell. It was sweeter then any human you have ever smelled, but it was surrounded by two other people. Well, you could eat two and save the sweetest for later, like a dessert.

There was a girl and two boys walking with picnic baskets through your woods. The girl was wearing bright pink, easy to spot. One boy had green hair that just made you want to rip out and watch the blood fall from the open scalp.

The last was the sweetest one. His hair was red and white, he would be easy to track down. If he ran you could sniff him out, or look through the darkness for his bright self.

The girl would be easiest to lure, you thought. She would like to chase the cute little bunny, but would ultimately get eaten by the big bad wolf.

You hopped out in front of the girl and her eyes went wide as she squealed to the boys next her how cute you were.

“Hoe, I am gorgeous, not cute.” You thought to yourself bitterly.

You hopped a little father away and the white and red haired boy tried to stop her.

“Uraraka, it’s dangerous in these woods, I wouldn’t recommend chasing the bunny.” He looked through you like he knew everything about you and you shook with anticipation.

Oh, this would be fun.

“Look, it’s cold. It’s shaking so much... please, I gotta help it.” You rolled your eyes and hopped away looking like you were limping. Your sweetest prey just sighed and waved her off like he knew she would be killed by you. The girl smiled and ran after you while the boys waited on the path for her.

When you lead her far enough that the boys wouldn’t see your smallest dragon form, you changed rapidly, stretching over her, your head curled around to the other side so she couldn’t run. You let her scream and then bit.

The blood squelched in your mouth as the neck snapped and your eyes rolled back at how good the flavor was. You sucked and sucked until she was nothing but a dried carcass on the floor.

You flew to the trees in your terrifying black creature form. “The Black Chaos.” The only way to describe this form is it looks like the chupacabra. Black fur that looked like porcupine quills, tail covered in spikes, claws as thin and as sharp as the sharpest knife, and wings that could cut through the thickest tree trunks in your way.

The two boys ran as fast as they could to where they heard the scream only for the green one to start bawling about his love, and your sweet, sweet prey looked around to assess the situation. He looked at all the trees till he locked eyes with you. His left side covered it self in flames and his right put a field of ice around his now screaming friend. You smiled at him, teeth glistening with the blood of the girl. Your eyes stayed on him as you flew up and over the trees.

He breathed a small sigh of relief, thinking you had left until he heard his ice shatter and you fly out, holding his last friend’s neck between your teeth. He was paralyzed with fear while sucked all of the blood from his friend while you locked eyes.

He couldn’t maintain eye contact much longer and turned to the side to throw up. You changed your form into your human body and watched from a distance curiously. Why did he feel sick? You were only eating a meal. Did he dislike you?

You had never felt this feeling before. It was one of dread and confusion, maybe, guilt. You watched him spill his guts for a bit more before he wiped his mouth and looked at you sitting on the ground, legs crossed, head tilted like a confused child.

“Why do you come to my woods, red one?” You asked.

“Why did you eat my friends?!”

“I was just having dinner, what’s the big deal? I’d rather have meals then friends.” You stated to him plainly.

He looked at you funny.

“I’m not afraid of death. When will you kill me?”

“Rather bold of you to think I was going to eat my dessert on a full stomach.” You looked at your black claw-like nails in thought.

“Dessert?”

“Dessert, your starting to get on my nerves. I might just keep you as punishment.”

“Is this some kind of sick twisted flirting?!” Tears streamed down his face, his eyes puffy red, and the darkness around him made you almost purr he looked so gorgeous.

“Is it working?” This time you did purr, your words surprised the boy as he flopped down onto the floor in defeat. “Well?” You asked again.

“Maybe you should have come up like a normal person and asked me on a date instead of EATING MY FRIENDS!?”

“I can see why you’re mad, but what is ‘date’?”

“A date, like where you take someone you might want to marry out to dinner or something.”

“Like a courtship then?”

“How old are you?” He asked curiosity lacing his voice as you purred because of the lovely sound.

“I was born in 1823. Lovely time I must admit, until they tried to burn me at the stake because I was the only person with a quirk.” You rolled your eyes then smile suddenly at the boy in front of you.

“How,” he coughed, “how old were you when you were killed?”

“Oh dear me, no, I wasn’t killed! I escaped into these woods, of course!!” Your smile must’ve grown larger because he looked like he became more uncomfortable. “Sorry, I smile too much.”

“No, you don’t smile too much, I just became uncomfortable because I’m sitting right next to my best friends’ corpses. No biggie.” He said with what you believed was sarcasm.

“I remember the first time I sat next to my best friend’s dead corpse, my father killed her when he found us kissing behind the barn! He wasn’t pleased that his daughter was becoming a ‘whore’. But! I showed him, after years of abuse from that bastard, I sucked his brains right out of his empty eye sockets! Good times, good times!” You laughed bitterly. “You probably think I’m some freak right? A girl can’t like girls and guys, it’s immoral.”

“Well, that’s not why I find you a freak, but you’re fine. It’s called being a bisexual. It’s not super new but it’s definitely more widely excepted now days.” He smiled at you slightly which made you smile a bit.

You two talked through the night like that. He explained that his father was emotionally and physically abusing him, and he had problems with showing emotion because of it. He wasn’t exactly “okay” with you killing his friends but he seemed more excepting then anyone you could think of.

You’d been with Shoto for months now. He was forever forced to stay in the woods. (With you not letting him leave only to go back to his father, it could be quite difficult.)

You talked about everything and anything, he taught you how to cook meat and how to prepare a meal without drinking blood. You stayed in your human form for the rest of the time he was with you and the only animals you were ever allowed to transform into were herbivores, which made sense. You hadn’t eaten raw meat in months and you thought you were doing better.

You thought.

You warned him. “Full moon is coming, stay in the cabin when I’m out, don’t leave. I won’t be able to control myself.” You told him, over, and over, and OVER. He didn’t LISTEN.

You were out in your most dangerous form, the Black Chaos. Wings spread out you hunted without being able to stop yourself. This was the only time of year you physically couldn’t restrain yourself from hurting others, and killing, and hunting.

Over the past hundreds of years that you’ve roamed these woods, this was the only time you were scared of yourself. You hated the way you couldn’t control yourself when you smell the slightest bit of sweet blood.

You had hunted ninety-nine beasts in the forest, bears, wolves, bunnies, foxes, dogs, dear, frogs, if they had meat on them, they were dead. Every time you hunt like this you count how many you kill.

It’s always a hundred. Exactly.

The moon was falling fast and you felt yourself slowly come back but something wasn’t right, you had seen a few animals pass you but you had no intention of killing them, yet you only had ninety-nine.

What was your body waiting for?

You looked out towards where the sun was rising and felt yourself stay on edge. Whatever was happening, Black Chaos still held the rains of your body.

That’s when it hit. The sweetest scent, Shoto.

He must’ve left the cabin looking for you now that the sun had risen, you wanted to call out to him, scream, “run!!! Stay away!!” But no words left your mouth as your body surged forward, bounding on all fours, not even utilizing your wings.

You saw the head of red and white hair in the distance and you finally let out and agonizing scream. “RUN!!!” That was all you could say before your eyes turned red and he turned and ran.

The chase was on.

You could hear his breathy huffs as he ran you could hear the leaves crunch under his feet, his sobs that wracked his body as his tears fell. He was terrified, of YOU.

You were screaming and crying and trying to stop this mess but the thing inside you wouldn’t stop seeking blood, his blood.

Finally after twenty minutes of running and crying on both parts, he tripped and you loomed over him, your long black tongue lolled out and touched his face, caressing it sweetly, wiping his tears as his chest rose and fell rapidly. Not only from all of the running, but also the fear of you.

He always said he wasn’t afraid of death but after looking into your eyes, your eyes that held death, he realized something. He was afraid, but he was in love with death. He loved you. YOU. The one who comforted him and joked with him and learned how to be human from him.

“I love you!” He yelled out as your long tentacle tongue wrapped around his neck, your teeth inches away from biting down.

“I love you so much it aches! I want to live with you forever! I want to teach you to be human and hug you when you’re sad!” He cried and cried and watched as your own tears fell for your eyes.

Then you bit down.

You screamed in agonizing pain as your only love was ripped from you by yourself. You did this. Your human form came back to you and you slammed you fists on Shoto’s chest.

“I love you so fucking much!”

“I’m so sorry!!! I’m so sorry!! I’m so sorry! I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry... I’m so—“ your laid your head on his chest and cried and cried and cried.

Shoto’s hands moved to your face and wiped your tears.

“I love you too. You’re wonderful.”

You hugged him tightly crying harder in relief. How was he alive?

“It’s cliché to say that your love woke me up, but look at where we are.”

You look around and a smile made it’s way to your face. You were in the Fountain of Mirrors. The water had already healed Shoto’s neck.

He had tripped into the shallow pool when you were chasing him and you were too worried about him to see that you were surrounded by the water.

“You’re a guardian now. Of the woods, I mean.” You laughed threw your sobs.

“I know. And I will be forever.”

And so, you and Shoto live in the forest of Murder for the rest of the days of the earth. You looked into the mirror to see yourself a beautiful swan, you were no longer Black Chaos, you were White Savior, helping all people away from the fountain instead of gobbling them up.

The End.

[lilyclawthorne]

Keeping Up A-fear-ance's Thoughts

I finished writing this shortly after 3 am after watching the new episode like three times because I simply had too much energy about it and I have so many thoughts because I simply live for clawthornes and also I tried to break it up with more photos this time sorry not sorry if it's a lot ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

YOUNG EDA!! let me just say I am quite a fan of opening with a flashback like we've done here and the last episode

"we have never seen a curse like this before" Lilith you had shit luck picking out curses huh

"cut it out if we have to" goddamn Gwen let'a calm the fuck down a bit.

anyways we've only really seen young Eda as a wild and confident and happy little child so I appreciate seeing this side of her with the anxiety and fear she's feeling here. I love seeing what the curse stuff was like for her as a kid

Gwen: I raised a perfectly fine kid

Me: no you didn't look at her she's got anxiety

I'm guessing this is their backyard or just some woods behind their house?? wonder if the portal was placed there by another elder family member.

lmao I can't even begin to imagine what small Eda experiencing the human realm was like for the first time

Gwens giving me "I can't accept that my child is disabled/chronically ill/etc." here. y’know the kinda parent that'll put their kid through hell over something they probably will find a way to learn to live with (which Eda did do)

ok that's it I humbly request to know the story behind the fang now (also the noise she made when she put it in was freaking cute)

new dress! new boots! new dress! new boots!

..yikes that fridge is empty

"calm down the curse acts stronger when you're stressed" Eda do you know who you're talking to here

confirmation losing limbs is in fact a side effect of the curse!! (y'know since Eda originally said it just happens when you get older)

please I love these sisters they're so sweet and make me wanna go 🥺

"suddenly curious about my past" "always. always curious" Luz says exactly what we all think

witchlet?? sweet flea?? she's got pet names for them 🥺 (although idk how much I'd like to be referred to as any kind of flea sorry Lilith)

ok Gwen is very much not close to what I expected and I'm kinda grateful for that

she's more like super caring but still managed to royally fuck up which was my original head canon for clawthorne parents so uh that's cool. but literally, look at their body language, Eda's pissed, Lilith's sad and making herself small. she's clearly messed up with her parenting on both of them along the way.

"who knows what they put in those nasty concoctions?" mama clawthorne would be a fucking anti-vaxxer wouldn't she

ok I side with Eda here more than Luz and Lilith. just because Luz misses her mother, or Lilith hasn’t seen their mom in so long doesn’t mean Eda has to feel all grateful for the presence of Gwen, especially if the woman has caused her a lot of trouble over the years

I feel like the fact that its actually both Lilith and Gwendolyn have spent their whole lives dedicated to trying to find a cure could probably have held some kind of weight on Eda at some point. Even though she shouldn't feel guilty or responsible for that, I still feel like it's gotta suck knowing these people have spent so much time on something you know is likely never gonna happen, all for you.

Lilith 😞 her mother really just didn't pay attention to her all these years

hey if this guy does some next level healing magic then why isn't he more well-known, huh? why’d it take so long to come across him?? Gwen do you know what the fuck you're doing cause I think you don't

Lilith just because you're depressed about your mom doesn't mean you have to bring king down too 😠

SUPER irrelevant but is anyone else just bothered by the way Lilith is holding her spoon?? that doesn't seem like a comfortable way to hold a spoon. also is she left handed??

"knife season came early" EDA WHAT DOES THAT MEAN. is this a boiling isles things or is this a it’s common for people to throw knives at you thing

also I want to be surprised Eda fell for the apple blood signs but I am not 😔 

Luz please trust you're gut on this one and not mama clawthorne

ok now I need to know why the fridge was empty but they had 18 cartons of ice cream this is why you guys don't have food you're wasting it all on ice cream.

wow never thought I'd see the day hooty became the voice of reason

also, night market ice cream?? are they implying this ice cream is like, edibles of some sort?? Lilith does seem kinda high here ngl. idk man but at least she wants to stand up for herself so good for her.

PLEASE kings just offering her ice cream while she transforms

"first in a series" Gwen honey oh no. you've been duped. I think we can see where Lilith got her naïveté from huh.

Also, nice snatch Luz 😊

anyways love how this show is basically making fun of moms who refuse to give their kids proper medical treatment or listen to medical professionals here

EXCUSE ME why do we know Gwen's palisman's name before we know Lilith's?????

"I am a mother who'll do anything for her daughter" you're mom who's suffocating obsession with one daughter has left the other neglected and is currently causing her to turn into a full on beast ya dummy

Eda DOES have a right to be upset. it sucks that her own valid emotions that she should get to feel will cause her while body to betray her.

PLEASE I’M SO GLAD LILITH’S BEAST DESIGN LOOKS LIKE HER AND IS NOT THE THING FROM THE TRAILER THAT IS ACTUALLY IN EDA"S HEAD WHEN SHE’S TRANSFORMED

but also why is she SO massive?? also anyone concerned that this is her first transformation and the light glyph trick wouldn't even work??

Gwen look at what you've done, you've fostered feelings of inferiority in one daughter causing her to feel the need for sibling rivalry that the pure instincts of the raven beast cannot suppress no matter how much their sisterly relationship had improved.

HOW COULD YOUR OTHER DAUGHTER ALSO BEING CURSED BE A PART OF THE PROCESS GWEN??

"after Eda was cursed, I joined the beast keeping coven" woah woah WOAH. you're telling me you only joined because of trying to help Eda. that covens existed, before Eda got cursed, and you very much weren't a part of one. combine that with "some words for belos" she has and do I smell wild witch theory still plausible???

anyways at least mama clawthorne is getting some sense into her head here

Morton c'mon help a girl out, that's some dang good art too what the heck dude

ok fine mama clawthorne to the rescue

no pls not raven beast Lilith crying im crying now

Gwen: I raised a fine and self-sufficient child

Me: no you didn't look at her. she's got, SO MUCH.

GODDAMN THATS SOME POWER. ngl this only adds fuel to the fire in my head that there was some kinda reasoning these sisters were torn apart, that someone felt they'd be too powerful together (and they were probably right)

"I heard you but I couldn't stop myself, I couldn't do anything" may be just because she's not used to the curse but again part of me is concerned that because she couldn't pull herself out of it even a little bit like Eda did that there's something wrong there. but she also could've been stressed beyond reasonably calming herself down too.

ok but this is sweet

NOOO im so sad Lilith's leaving :( I literally cried ok

"you lived here?" fine OKAY king that was hilarious even if im sad about this

"reconnect with dad" excuse me where the fuck has this man been in the middle of all of this. curse shit is going DOWN and he's just chilling at home.

I am curious about people's thoughts regarding the whole Lilith regression thing and the fact that she's literally going to be living with her parents again. I feel like it could help nurture that inner child she's been reverting back to and help her out a LOT. but I could also be concerned about it feeding into the regression and making it worse?? idk and this show probably ain't getting that actually deep into psych anyways

"some day my hair is gonna be big enough to do that too" Luz I cannot wait for the day. also mood, I wish I could do that too.

alright who's holding the fucking pen for hooty we need a volunteer RIGHT NOW so we can remain in contact with Lulu

NOT THE ONLY HUMAN? my bets on the real azura rip never mind she said he

Titan’s Blood?? interesting. If the blood of the titan is around I wonder what that means regarding the titans existence, and how long its been since the titan fell.

AHH BABY LUZ PHOTO

ALSO WHO THE FUCK IS THAT?? They're really gonna spring that on us like this??? Camila's gotta notice somethings wrong right??? Unless any differences she just chalks up to the camp?? oh god :(

well, anyways lumity shippers come get yo juice next weekend

anyways im gonna need to add a NOT canon compliant tag on that one Gwendolyn fic I wrote because it definitely do not comply anymore

[richincolor]

*As is usual with our discussions, there may be a few spoilers ahead, so beware.*

We all were incredibly excited to read Angeline Boulley's FIREKEEPER'S DAUGHTER when we first heard about it, so we decided to make it our second group discussion book for the year. Come join us!

As a biracial, unenrolled tribal member and the product of a scandal, eighteen-year-old Daunis Fontaine has never quite fit in, both in her hometown and on the nearby Ojibwe reservation. Daunis dreams of studying medicine, but when her family is struck by tragedy, she puts her future on hold to care for her fragile mother.

The only bright spot is meeting Jamie, the charming new recruit on her brother Levi’s hockey team. Yet even as Daunis falls for Jamie, certain details don’t add up and she senses the dashing hockey star is hiding something. Everything comes to light when Daunis witnesses a shocking murder, thrusting her into the heart of a criminal investigation.

Reluctantly, Daunis agrees to go undercover, but secretly pursues her own investigation, tracking down the criminals with her knowledge of chemistry and traditional medicine. But the deceptions—and deaths—keep piling up and soon the threat strikes too close to home.

Now, Daunis must learn what it means to be a strong Anishinaabe kwe (Ojibwe woman) and how far she'll go to protect her community, even if it tears apart the only world she’s ever known.

[Note: While we will not go into any great detail in this discussion, Firekeeper’s Daughter contains murder, suicide, kidnapping, sexual assault, addiction and drug use, racism, colorism, and death of parents/family members.

You can read an excerpt of the book here!]

Audrey: To get us started--let’s talk about this gorgeous cover! The cover art was created by Moses Lunham and designed by Rich Deas. The first thing I noticed when I got my copy of the book was that the two faces at the top had different skin tones. According to this interview, author Angeline Boulley says that “the different shades of the faces symbolizes Daunis claiming her biracial identity,” which is a major part of the book.

Jessica: The cover is so beautiful. It’s next to me on my desk right now and I can’t stop looking at it. Love how the cover ties into the themes of the book.

K. Imani: This cover is absolutely beautiful! I love the design of the faces looking like a butterfly as well as the bird and bear (I think) and the fire. There are so many subtle images in this cover that you can almost find something new each time. And the colors are so stunning. Like you Audrey, I noticed the faces had different skin tones which I found interesting and made me wonder what was going to happen in the book. Knowing the faces symbolize Daunis’s biracial identity now is powerful and really brings home the meaning of the book.

Crystal: I agree that the cover is gorgeous. In addition to the aspects of her physical appearance and physical identity, Daunis’ cultural identity is also displayed within the illustrations with bears representing her clan. In addition there are the birds like the one that guides her and the sun is in the background too which is from the story of the original Fire Keeper’s Daughter. The faces forming a butterfly is also just brilliant for a coming-of-age story. There’s so much to see. Each time I notice more.

Audrey: Daunis, our heroine, is on the older end of the YA protagonist spectrum at 18. She’s dealing with a lot of upheaval in her life, and things only get more complicated in short order. Something I really liked about Daunis was how often she thought about and evaluated what her responsibilities were--to her family, to her friends, to her community, and to herself. These sometimes complementary, sometimes competing, responsibilities strongly influenced her decisions.

Jessica: You mention the complementary and sometimes competing responsibilities -- that’s exactly it. I loved how her thought process was explored throughout the book in such a thorough and complex way. The way Daunis balances and reconciles the interests of her community with what the FBI wants from her and her quest for justice is laid out really clearly. Sometimes, narratives can tend toward simplistic, binary summations of the issues people, especially from marginalized communities, face -- but that’s just not the case, and Daunis really highlights that. To be honest, I was a little nervous at the introduction of law enforcement and the FBI, given the racism and oppression baked into these institutions, but the way Daunis navigates her interactions with them, plus the way other members of the community tell the truth about these institutions, really played out in such a nuanced way. (I really, really hope that the Netflix adaptation keeps these nuances and hard truths in the show, but I suspect that won’t be the case, unfortunately.)

K. Imani: I enjoyed that Daunis was 18 and on the cusp of adulthood. So many YA novels focus on the character’s high school life but a lot does happen and teens do grow and change a lot in that year after high school. Many have left home for college (that was me) or working full time and they are learning how to navigate a life that was not completely so structured. In addition to having to deal with changing friendships as people move away or just become busy. It’s a unique time and I loved that we got to spend time with Daunis as she was going through this change. She was learning how to become an adult in one of the most stressful ways possible, and sometimes I felt she was a little too idealistic, but I’m glad that she kept her truth throughout and was focused on helping her community in addition to helping the FBI. Her perspective helped keep the investigation grounded in what mattered which wouldn’t have happened if she wasn’t involved.

Crystal: Daunis balances a lot of responsibilities and really tries to follow what she’s learned from elders. She considers how her actions may affect all of her relatives within her family, clan, community, and beyond. Boulley embedded a lot of elder wisdom within Daunis’ inner dialogue such as thinking about the seventh generation when making decisions.

Audrey: One of the things that I really appreciated about Firekeeper’s Daughter was the depth of the setting and the characters in it. While Boulley says that Daunis’s tribe is fictionalized in the author note, it’s clear how much care and thought Boulley put into creating Daunis’s community. It’s filled with people who have complex histories (both within and between Native and non-Native groups), with differing opinions and prejudices and goals.

Jessica: This really highlights how important it is to have stories where cultures and communities aren’t portrayed as a monolith. It’s not just the right thing to do, it makes for a better and more accurate story. I read Firekeeper’s Daughter and watched the TV show Rutherford Falls back to back, which really drove home the power of depicting a community with nuance. (Also, sidebar: Highly recommend checking out Rutherford Falls, which does this really well.)

K. Imani: One of my favorite aspects of Firekeeper’s Daughter were the elders in Daunis’s tribe and how we got to hear many of their individual stories which showed the complexity of real life. I loved that Daunis listened to her elders, really took in their stories and learned from them. Her interactions with the elders greatly contributed to her growing sense of self and her desire to help her community. And this is where this novel being truly #ownvoices shines because of Boulley’s connection to her community that she took great care in making sure Daunis’s tribe felt real and authentic as well as culturally accurate. It was not full of stereotypes but filled with real people who had real lives and real stories. I was drawn into Daunis’s community and really cared about the people that made Daunis who she is and becomes.

Crystal: Like Jessica says, there is a lot of nuance here. When you have a wide variety of characters who are not simply good or bad, the story has more power and is definitely more believable. The people in our everyday lives are also complex and have a story if only we take the time to listen. This is what Daunis excels at with elders and others around her. She is paying attention and trying to connect with people. There is a lot of love throughout the book of many different types. The love is beautiful and yet also has some ugliness too in the betrayals. It’s not picture perfect and that makes it so much more real.

Audrey: Boulley tackles a lot of difficult topics in Firekeeper’s Daughter, especially ones that can hit hard on a community level. Much of the plot focuses on drug use and addiction, of course, but violence against Native women also has a significant impact on what happens in the book and affects multiple characters, including Daunis.

Crystal: Daunis and the other women are examples of the many, many, women who have been harmed in the past and the present. That’s not the whole story though. As Daunis is learning, there are many ways of being brave. Throughout the story, we see many women being strong and brave though at initial glance their actions may not seem to be either of those things. There is bravery in speaking out, but sometimes bravery requires something else. These women have done what they needed to do to survive or help their loved ones survive.

Audrey: Firekeeper’s Daughter has a complicated ending, and it left me thinking about two things. The first was how proud I was of Daunis and her character growth. There were a couple of times where she came across as very Not Like Other Girls (particularly with the hockey players’ girlfriends), but that changed over the course of the book. The second was grief at how many people and institutions failed Daunis and her community, both within and without. Just as one example, even though Daunis is a confidential informant for the FBI, the FBI doesn’t come out of this story as a Good Guy.

K. Imani: I was torn by the ending too. I so wanted justice for Daunis and Lily and for others who were murdered, but on the other hand life doesn’t always have a happy ending and I recognize that Boulley gave us that horribly realistic ending because the fight for missing and murdered Indigenous women continues and the fight for justice for Indigenous peoples. It was a heartbreaking reminder of a very real issue. On the other hand, I was so proud of Daunis as well. She was able to achieve her goals of helping out the FBI while staying true to herself and her community. She grew so much as a character and really found her place in her world.

Crystal: The ending gave me much to think about too. Daunis grew a lot as she worked through this complicated puzzle in her community. She learned much about herself and some of the assumptions folks have about others. I also really, really wanted justice, but unfortunately, would be unlikely in real life with our current justice system. I also found Jamie’s growth to be interesting. He is truly struggling with his own identity as an adopted child with Cherokee roots, but no Cherokee teachings or culture to turn to. I don’t know if a sequel or companion book is planned, but I would be interested in seeing more of their journeys whether their paths cross again or not.

Jessica: Audrey, thanks so much for leading this discussion! Now I have a question for you all -- what YA books by/about BIPOC are you reading right now?

For AAPI month, I’m rereading Turtle Under Ice by Juleah del Rosario. After that, I’m planning on reading The Ones We're Meant to Find by Joan He, Apple: Skin to the Core by Eric Gansworth, and Witches Steeped in Gold by Ciannon Smart! Yes, my TBR pile is excellent. :P

Audrey: Next up on my list are The Theft of Sunlight by Intisar Khanani, Forest of Stolen Girls by June Hur, and Simone Breaks All the Rules by Debbie Rigaud. I feel like that’s a pretty good mix of genres and authors right there!

K. Imani: Since I’m needing some inspiration for my vampire manuscript, I’m re-reading and new reading some vampire novels. Currently I am reading Fledgling by Octavia Butler then up next is Renee Ahdieh’s series The Beautiful and the sequel The Damned.

Crystal: I just re-read Saints & Misfits and then dove into the sequel Misfit in Love. S.K. Ali is an author that I really enjoy and I am loving it so far. Next up is American Betiya by Anuradha D. Rajurkar along with Love & Other Natural Disasters by Misa Sugiura. I also think my TBR is pretty stellar.

If you've had the chance to read FIREKEEPER'S DAUGHTER, please join in the discussion below! We'd love to hear what you think.

[strayfreckles]

all on you.

☕︎︎ hwang hyunjin x reader (ft. ryujin, felix, & yeji); highschool au, friends-to-lovers au, barista au, bulletpoint fic.

maybe you would’ve gotten out of highschool with your emotions (and pride) unscathed if it weren’t for hwang hyunjin and his so-called romantic, obnoxious—and, in your case, unfortunately effective—antics.

includes: fluff, angst (especially in the middle), mutual pining, somewhat slow burn (?), gn!reader, barista!reader, a hefty amount of swearing, the only consistent thing you’ll see here is how utterly terrible this is, fluctuating humor

notes: this was requested by a wonderful anon! before you dive in, i’d like to inform you that this is my first fic of any kind, so please tread gently 😔✋ though constructive criticism is appreciated !! hope you enjoy (and hopefully not cringe too much sdkdnkdks) <33

wordcount: 2.8k

let me be the first to say that you absolutely abhor romance films with every existing fiber and cell in your body.

like, you cannot physically withstand the atrocity that is occurring right before your very eyes and you have to tear your gaze away before you bash your head to the nearest table.

and though you do admit that you’re overreacting sometimes

you also admit that you’re a massive dumbass for falling prey to one of the most common—and one of the most infuriating tropes—that is falling for your best friend.

yeah, hwang hyunjin? that boy holds your heart between his palms and with every smile you fall deeper and deeper

you’ve known that kid since you started eating crayons in elementary, and since then you’d been attached at the hip, clung to each other through all the clownery of middle school

finding each other in places is like a sixth sense; it only takes you both less than a minute to find the other before startling them with a quiet “hey, you”

but time is impatient, and that timid, starry-eyed boy you knew became the dimpled heartthrob come highschool—geared with the smarts and the talents and love-laced words that sent boys and girls running after him

but to you he was always just that kid who nearly consumed clay cakes because “it looked so real!”

until he wasn’t

it just came to you like a blow to the face, in the middle of sophomore year, sitting on hyunjin’s bedroom floor on a weekend trying to cram revise for your upcoming exams

you decided to take a quick break, and made the mistake of looking at hyunjin

and my oh my was he stunning

every laugh that tumbled from his lips sounded like a fucking symphony

and the bastard was just playing with kkami !!

he looked so damn soft as he planted kisses on his coat

every single constellation you knew was embedded in his irises

haha heartbeat go brrrrrrr

and maybe all you wanted was for him to never stop smiling, because he looked the most beautiful when he did, and maybe you wanted to brush his hair away from his face because you couldn’t see his eyes all that well and what the fuck—

you just malfunctioned

because that was your best friend

he noticed you staring, of course, and had the audacity to smirk, and in a second you wanted to set yourself on fire

“y/n, i know i look good, but at least try to be subtle.”

“you look like a low-budget minion, hyunjin.”

“i’d rather be a minion than a shabbier version of gru, thank you.”

(many fists were thrown that day, and hyunjin learned not to pick fun at your clothing lest that he face humiliation)

for the first few months you were in constant denial, even going so far as to blame hyunjin himself for forcing you to watch countless romcoms on your weekly sleepovers

but once you catch hyunjin staring at you with that fond look in his eyes, one he’s carried since childhood, your heart finally has the courage to murmur into the concaves of your chest, i am in love

it gets worse around senior year

the summer after junior year you land yourself a job at miroh café, a coffee shop at the heart of the town bc you’re broke as fuck and you need the cash

and, as expected, hyunjin becomes a frequent patron

he’s armed with a pickup line every single time he orders

and every single time you have to tell your heart to calm the fuck down he’s always been like this c’mon gimme a break

it’s even gone to the point where the regulars mistake him as your boyfriend

and as if your conscience nagging you 24/7 wasn’t enough mental baggage, your coworkers and fellow seniors, felix and ryujin, decided to weigh in

“if that isn’t the look of someone who’s simping over you then i don’t know what is,” ryujin nudges you, and from the repetitive force you’ve sustained from the past week you’re surprised your ribs aren’t bruised yet.

“you act like you’re not in the same dance crew,” you scoff, “ryujin, he flirts with everyone—he even had the balls to hit on chan!”

“let me remind you that denial is always the first stage of falling in love,” felix chirps, cheerful as he replenishes the pain au chocolat in the display.

“and let me remind you that i’m holding a very hot cup of coffee straight out of the machine; ‘accidents’ can happen, felix.”

of course, you weren’t in denial—you’d been past that stage long ago

it’s just that you didn’t wanna give yourself false hope

you didn’t want to lose this beautiful thing with him that’s lasted for nearly a decade because of your stupid emotions

so you’ve trained yourself to remain indifferent to the many compliments and lines he sent your way, hoping that if you could fool the others into thinking he didn’t affect you, maybe you could fool yourself, too

but oh ho ho, do i have some news for you (☞ ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)☞

you don’t know how hyunjin’s pulse speeds up whenever he sees a handwritten note on his coffee wishing him good luck

you don’t know how often he forces himself to stop staring at you whenever you’re not looking

you don’t know how stupidly happy it makes him when he sees you smile

especially when he’s the reason why.

maybe everything about you makes hwang hyunjin happy

and maybe if you weren’t so kind and gentle and considerate during the times he lost a competition then maybe he wouldn’t have fallen this hard

but you were (and still are)

during the times you cried from laughter at all his antics

or cracked a smile at one of his pickup lines

he’d think that maybe—just maybe—he could stand a chance

but every time he did, he’d spiral into self-doubt

because there’s no way you would ever fall for him

you’re the kindest, most talented person hyunjin has ever known who deserves the universe

and he’s just… him

even if he did plan to confess, he’d be putting everything at stake; you’re too important to him, losing you would be a loss too heavy for him to bear

so he’s content with playing this role

even if the idea of you being with someone else hurts him so much

he’s content with reminding you everyday—even if it isn’t direct—that your mind is like no other, and that anybody would be blessed to have you

you both think it's always going to be like this

with you struggling to keep your feelings from showing

and hyunjin battling his inner demons

and those left to perceive the “discreet” ogling across the room and the hidden yearning in your voices are none other than (you guessed it!) felix and ryujin 🤩

it was funny the first few months

but now it’s just plain frustrating and they want nothing more than to bash your two oblivious heads together because y’all !! are !! idiots !!

no matter how much they persist, they’re always met with either a sad, gentle smile with a shake of the head or a monotonous “ha. you’re really funny.”

both have considered dropping your asses but they can’t because they love y’all too much

so all they can do is hope for a change

and change does indeed arrive when september rolls around

dance practice has just ended and hyunjin feels hyped because it’s movie night and he can’t wait to cry to kimi no na wa again

and lowkey stare at you for the entirety of the film

he exits his dance crew’s studio and is about to go straight to 7/11 for snacks when he spots the team’s newest recruit by the road, waiting for a ride home

hwang yeji’s only moved here two months ago and in a short span of time she’s already become one of the well-liked kids at school

but she’s a kind & humble sweetheart who deserves all the love & attention !!

so being the good sport he is, hyunjin approaches yeji with the brightest grin, having only talked to her a few times prior

“hey, there! yeji!” when the girl turns to him, her smile looks and feels like liquid sunshine. “waiting for your date?”

yeji turns rosy when he asks, like she does when everyone teases her about her special someone, who she’s been crushing on for weeks and who she finally had the courage to ask out. “c’mon, stop that. i don’t even know if they like me like that—they probably think it’s just another friendly date.”

“they’re a fool if they don’t end up liking you after, then,” hyunjin quips, hoping the bitterness doesn’t seep into his tone and wishing he has half the luck and strength yeji has, and she laughs.

“you know them, actually.”

“oh?”

“yeah! y/n l/n?”

oh.

o h

hyunjin can only blink at her dumbly, feeling like a thousand arrows are digging into his skin

you… with hwang yeji?

is that why you asked about her the other day? because you like her back? and that her feelings are far from being one-sided?

watching a dark cloud loom over his features, yeji thinks about asking if he’s okay when he blurts out an inaudible excuse as he walks away, zooming past the convenience store when he does

when he heads off he doesn’t even look at where he’s going, relying solely on muscle memory

he feels like he wants to grow smaller, biting his lower lip and clenching his hands into fists

he doesn’t even know why he’s upset

you were never his to lose

why would he regret what couldn’t be in the first place?

when his feet instinctively halt in front of miroh café, all he can do is stare blankly at the glass doors, at your figure behind the counter

but he wills himself to move away again, and when he does he clashes with another body

“hey, watch where you’re... hyunjin?”

ryujin stares at him with her mouth half agape, and she flinches when she sees his eyes glistening, his face flushed with the shade of pure heartbreak

“did you know about them?” he’s afraid to raise his voice, because doing so would mean there’s no stopping his emotions, “about… y/n and yeji?”

the lack of response provides the answer, and hyunjin walks away from the block

that afternoon, a cup of coffee with his name scrawled on the front went forgotten on the countertop

that evening, hyunjin doesn’t show for your monthly tradition for the first time in five years

you spend the rest of your evening obsessively checking your phone for text from him, wracking your brain for reasons he couldn’t come

of course, there are multiple reasons: like schoolwork (you are seniors, after all) and the upcoming dance competition

but you know he would text you over the slightest inconvenience, so why isn’t he saying a thing?

you rack your brain for anything you might’ve done, and your chest tightens when you think that maybe—just maybe—he’s finally caught on to you

you try to distract yourself with other thoughts as you lie wide awake in your bed: like your midterm exams, the nearing debate tournament… your date with yeji

bright, splendid hwang yeji who shares the wittiest jokes in biology and has the most colorful personality around

the first time you spent time with her she made you smile so wide it made your cheeks hurt

her laugh is the loveliest one you’ve ever heard; like dewy lavender fields beneath the spring sunshine

but every time you hear it you’re reminded that it isn’t hyunjin’s laugh, that you aren’t with him and every time you realize it you wanna cry

bc yeji’s been nothing but sweet and considerate this whole time and you’re more than guilty at the fact that all her attentions will be wasted because of you and your stupidity

you barely escape the wrath of crying yourself to sleep when you finally doze off when the clock hit two am

the next day at school, you both barely even make eye-contact

even the underclassmen who’ve heard the frequent calls of your names feel uneasy when they don’t hear hyunjin’s high-pitched voice or your shrill tones

felix especially, who’s experienced the trauma of sitting in between you two at history and feeling the tension that nearly chokes him

you’re more than terrified to look at him at him in the eye, terrified that once you do you’ll realize he doesn’t gaze at you the same way anymore

something inside hyunjin aches every time he spares you a glance, because every time he does it’s painfully obvious that he’s always been hopeless

in all honesty, hyunjin wouldn’t have shown his face at all if it weren’t for the tiny thread of patience inside ryujin snapping

so here he is, inside miroh a quarter before closing time

felix’s eyes nearly bulge out of his head when he sees him, so he sends a pointed look to his coworker,

“what did you do?” he murmurs. ryujin’s eyes are sharp when she looks at him, and he feels his blood run cold.

“what i needed to.”

no, she didn’t threaten to kill his entire family, if that’s what you’re wondering

she merely gave him… a warning

so one can imagine the surprise you feel when you emerge from the staff room, and felix drags ryujin outside to give you privacy

you both remain silent once they’re gone, neither one of you moving in place

until quiet words escape your mouth, and the familiar greeting makes hyunjin’s heart clench:

“hey, you.”

he doesn’t make a sound, so you continue, the tension heavy

“you owe me three dollars, by the way. i just wasted a perfectly good iced latte with the other day when you didn’t…”

when you trail off, hyunjin opens his mouth to let out an apology, and he realizes with a start that the words tumbling out are completely different:

“why didn’t you tell me?”

“what?”

“why didn’t you tell me about yeji?” hyunjin’s eyes begin to quiver when they meet yours, “we’re best friends, aren’t we?”

your jaw tightens, i told you. best friends. nothing more. “because you worry too much about everything; if i’d told you about us then you’d—”

“y/n, we’ve been together for a decade!” hyunjin intervenes, “we’re always going to worry about each other, whether you like it or not. and this— this is… i…”

every coherent thought vanishes as hyunjin grapples for more things to say. he knows he’s being selfish, undoubtedly so, but he wants you. he wants you so, so bad. the fight in him leaves until, eventually, all that’s left to say is the truth: “please, don’t go. don’t go… with her.”

your heart is close to breaking your ribcage when you stare at his face, you wait for him to say anything, to justify why he’s said it, but when the quiet settles, all you can see is red

“this is why i don’t tell you about these things,” you grit, trembling violently. “when i do, you say— say stuff that make me believe that you feel the same way i do when you actually don’t.

“and i hate you so much but in the end it’s all my fault because i’m the idiot who caught feelings for their best friend and—”

hyunjin doesn’t let you add anything else, because his lips are on yours and you’re overwhelmed with the feeling of him, him, him

the kiss doesn’t leave any room for doubt; he’s shaking, and his legs might give out, but he wants you to know that everything he feels is real

you’re both gasping for air when you pull away, but his hands still linger on your face and he traces the edge of your mouth, and you can do nothing but pull him closer by the waist

“still hate me now?” he asks, and you chuckle breathlessly, putting your forehead on his.

“yes, very much so,” you look at him tenderly, and he yelps when you pinch him gently, “this is all on you, y’know. if it weren’t for your godforsaken romcoms, we wouldn’t have ended up like this.”

“but if it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t have ended up with a boyfriend, amirite? ow, shit— i’m kidding!”

bonus!

“oh, thank fuck,” felix exhales, looking through the windows one more time before ambling beside ryujin, who looks pleased with herself as she places her apron on the crook of her elbow. “so, spill: what did you tell hyunjin?”

she smiles, “i told him not to give up before he’s even tried anything; sometimes, there are people who are worth taking that risk for.”

just as felix is about to commend her for sounding the most wholesome he’s heard her, she adds: “and i threatened to revoke my tutelage—his ass is failing calculus so hard.”

[aj-writes-here]

may i request one where levi's s/o gets jealous over something, so they argue but end up having make up sex? i-

I just finished this one, and I hope you like how it turned out! Remember that if you have any comments, if it is too long, if you like it, if you didn’t, feel free to send anything!🤗 Also, this was the last request I had pending so if you want to request something else, go ahead. And btw I’m only doing Levi requests (HC and scenarios) at the moment, so that’s pretty much all I have to say😅

Only You (NSFW)

Who the hell had the idea of accepting the two newly transferred people? That guy Marlo seemed like a nice someone, but surprisingly the girl who arrived with him was not Hitch. And damn y/n wish it was Hitch instead of that new reckless girl. Since she arrived, her eyes were always on the Captain, and even y/n had heard her spitting some comments about 'how hot he was, with that cold stare and attitude' but for more than she wanted it, y/n couldn't answer back, in the end, her relationship with Levi was still an unknown fact for the cadets, only Hanji and Erwin were aware of that. And they were conscious of how Carla, the newly arrived cadet had her eyes laid on Levi. How could a squad leader be jealous of a younger girl who was a real headache? She was loud, annoying, narcissist and she was always saying she was better than the rest but... She was good. She had incredible skills, good with the ODM, at fighting. That's why Carla she had made it into Levi's squad.  

The truth is, that y/n was not someone jealous, she trusted Levi with her life and she knew he had no eyes for someone else. She was everything for him and he had told her that several times, but this new girl was getting on her nerves. It wasn't the first time Carla had obvious actions and everyone would notice her, that day after training was a clear example. She had 'troubles' at taking off her straps, the one on her right thigh. Or the time after an expedition when y/n saw Levi carrying her in bridal style because she had a 'sprained ankle',  or when she had stuck to him on cleaning day. Until then, she was just an annoying brat.

After an expedition, Levi's horse tripped and he ended up with slightly injured and with a discomfort feeling on his back, fortunately, nothing was broken and probably just a bruise. At the moment they were back inside the walls, y/n went to check on him to the infirmary, peaking his head just a bit, she saw  Carla was already there, using her hands to touch his back while he was trying to put his cravat back on, how was she so brave to be there, touching the Captain's back? y/n heard how he told her to go away in his style, and when Carla was out of the room, she spoke to her friend awaiting for her outside the infirmary.

—One week and the almighty Captain will be between my legs—Blinking an eye, she kept walking.

—Good luck trying—y/n answered back to herself, knowing the true meaning behind her words.  

She was trying not to even think about that girl. As said before, she was not someone jealous, but whenever she joined Levi on expeditions made her emotions react. That same day after dinner y/n went back to her room, the same room she shared with Levi. Taking a deep breath, she made her way in. Not wanting to argue, she just remained silent and went to her room to remove her straps, Levi noticed she seemed tired so he just focused on his cup of tea watching her moves. Once y/n was back where Levi was, he decided to break the silence.

—Oi, can you check my back? It feels fucking annoying—Standing up and taking his shirt off, he was surprised by his lover's words.

—Why don't you ask Carla to help you?—y/n had sworn she was not going to snap but she did. Damn her loose tongue.

—Is that why you've been acting weird all day? Don't be ridiculous, y/n.

—Ugh, come on. She's with you all day long. And if that was not enough, you ask her to join you on expeditions.

—Because she's good and she knows what she does, brat. That's the only reason.  And you know that in open fields it's better to keep the bests soldiers in different places. You're one of the bests, I need you covering other areas.

—That doesn't explain why she was touching you today—She gave him a fake smile, jealousy being more obvious than ever. y/n stood up to face Levi.

—So you were there—He lifted an eyebrow with the same boring expression on his face— At the moment I felt her filthy hand on my back, I told her to go away. And besides, I'm dating you, aren't I?

—She even told one of her friends you would be between her legs in one week—y/n rolled her eyes and walked away from Levi, she was trying to control her emotions, but it was hard to do.

—She's a brainless brat—He turned over and he was looking at her one more time—How long have you been stressing yourself out about this?

—A few weeks—She drifted her eyes away from his face, maybe she overreacted but she couldn't help it.

—Tch, you've been an idiot then. How could you think I would be interested in her?—He asked while walking towards her, leaving no space between her back and his desk—And just for your information, brat, the only legs I will be in between will be yours.

In that very same second, y/n felt a shiver running down her spine. She didn't even have the time to think because Levi took her by her hips and sat her over his desk, starting to kiss her neck. And she was not going to deny it, she loved it when he acted like that. His lips moved to her mouth, whispering.

—I don't want anyone but you, do you get it?—Again, he kissed her deeply for a few seconds. Moving back to her sensitive neck he articulated his words one more time— You are the only one I love and the only one I want to be with, brat.

y/n felt the wetness dampening the fabric of her panties, how the fuck could he turn her on so fast? He used both of his hands to grip her shirt and tear it firmly, making the buttons jump somewhere in the room. Yes, he had just ripped her shirt with no mercy.

Holding her by the sides of her torso, he set her on the floor, so he could get rid of her pants, and after touching his thighs all the way up, y/n sat on the desk on her own, comprehending his signs. Levi moved closer to her, and when she was about to kiss her he pulled away just to tease her, and slipped one finger on her panties, smiling internally when he felt how wet she was. He left a trail of kisses from her neck to her stomach, kneeling in front of her. Using his hands to spread her legs a little more he kissed the inner part of her thigs, knowing how much that drove her crazy.  Apparently, Levi was in the mood for ripping her clothes because this time her panties were the victim. Without giving her time to think, he used his tongue to lick along her entrance, making her moan and she gripped his hair tightly in her hand, bucking up her hips against him as a reflect. Levi eating her out was complete torture and y/n knew it, the movements of his tongue were slow, tasting every single space of her.  He grabbed her by her hips and dragged her closer to his face giving complete attention to her sensitive clit, flicking his tongue against it. y/n tugged his head against her, feeling her entire body on fire because of his attentions. She laid her head back letting out a loud moan, and that response only encouraged Levi to go faster. While all of his concentration was on her clit, he decided to use two of his fingers to go inside her, moving them rapidly. Levi was already uncomfortable at the feeling of his hardened length inside his pants, henceforth he used his free hand to touch his erection over the fabric trying to relieve the sensation. A loud moan escaped y/n mouth, claiming she was close. Bad idea. Levi was a tease and he loved it, so when he felt her walls clenching around his thin fingers he took them out, also stoping the movements of his mouth.

y/n cursed him and took him by his shirt to give him a heated kiss at the same time he used his sharp hand to take off her bra, exposing her breasts.

Eagerly, y/n laid one of her hands on his crotch, moaning on his mouth when she felt how hard he was already. A gasp left Levi's lips as he spoke.

—You are the only one who can provoke this—He said harshly—

—You have no idea how happy it makes me—Smiling against his lips, she unzipped his pants so she could touch it over his boxers.

—I can tell—Levi answered with a low voice, reaching for her lips one more time.

He only stopped touching her to put his pants and underwear down, suppressing a moan when y/n grabbed his shaft on her hand, stroking him slowly. Levi moved her closer to the edge of the desk, and knowing what was next, y/n laid her hands on the piece of wood as he aligned himself on her wet entrance.

Pushing his hips forward, y/n threw her head back, closing her eyes at the feeling. Her hands left the desk and they found a place on Levi's neck and shoulders, she needed to hold on to something while he was thrusting in and out of her. The pace was slow but his lunges were hard, he kissed her jaw as he kept moving his hips against her cursing under his breath at how tight she felt around him. y/n looked for his mouth, kissing him deeply and moaning over his mouth. Her hands were moving with complete freedom on his back, digging her nails from time to time.

When their lips were far away from each other, Levi laid his forehead on her shoulder and softly grunting on her skin, he was beyond gone in pleasure. His hands were touching her thigs as he started pounding faster into her.

—Fuck, Levi—She claimed his name with no shame— Just like that, keep going.

She uttered with a hectic voice, digging her nails even harder in his back and wrapping her legs around his waist so he could go deeper into her.

Even though Levi had great self-control, right now it was hard to achieve it, and right now he didn't care. He was not teasing her, or testing her limits. He was showing her that there was no other than her, that all of his affection, love, passion, and craving belong to her. And so did he.

Levi looked at her, loving all of her expressions. Her messed hair, that thin layer of sweat that was starting to cover her forehead, all of her. Damn,  she was perfect. He felt his lower stomach starting to knot up, he dug his fingers on her skin as he was feeling closer to release. y/n was not behind either, she could feel electricity running down her spine, feeling how her walls were clenching around his dick at the same time he was twitching inside her. Accelerating the rhythm of his thrusts, y/n could feel how she was falling from heaven when her climax took over her, letting out a loud moan from her mouth. Just a few seconds later Levi's body was on complete ecstasy, meeting his end on a release that made him shiver, a strangled groan coming out of his throat. Once he stopped his now slower movements, his forehead was still laying on her shoulder as they both tried to gain their breath back. y/n hold him tightly against her naked body.

—Oi, is it clear now that I just want you, brat?—Levi asked, moving his gaze to her reddish face.

—Very much—She replied with a lazy smile, cupping his cheek with her hand and kissing him.

—I love you, idiot. Only you—Levi laid his hand on her cheek and caressed her cheekbone, kissing her again. He could never get enough of her lips.

————————————

After taking a shower together, y/n changed into her sleep clothes, her shorts and one of Levi's shirts. She was about going to bed when a knock on the door stopped her actions, and since Levi was still in the bathroom, it was her who opened the door.

—Goodnight, Capt—The provocative face the girl had, turned to one of panic at seeing y/n.

—Carla?—She asked, eyes wide open.

—Squad Leader y/n. I-I—She couldn't find the words to say, and her face turned paler when she saw Levi leaving the bathroom only with a towel around his waist.

—Cadets are supposed to be sleeping at this time—Levi spoke— Get out of here before I make you and the rest run laps before the sun comes out.

They couldn't even saw the moment the girl left, she was faster than lightning. Honestly? y/n couldn't help but smile as she was closing the door. Once it was locked, she walked towards Levi.

—Do you realize that tomorrow all of them will be talking about us?—She asked with her eyes lifted and hug him by his lower back.

—It's about time they find out—Levi replied in a relaxed way, giving her a soft gaze after she kissed him.

It was sure that the girl would be telling everyone what she saw, Squad Leader y/n wearing Captain Levi's clothes, and the Captain walking out of the bathroom only wearing a towel. They had been keeping it a secret from the cadets for a year and a half, it was not a bad thing for them to know. Maybe in this way, the rumors about them and the deliberate flirting would cease, but it was clear now for y/n and Levi. They belong to each other, today and always.

[reignstormz]

|ROMAN REIGNS & SASHA BANKS|

✨THE STORYLINE; SHORT STORY ✨

Warning; The edit above and some of the other edits apart of future chapters moving forward are made by me. I didn't find it necessary to put a watermark however I'd love credit if any of them are reposted. :)

|PART TWO|

November 27, 2020

TLC season was approaching, and the tension between Sasha and Carmella was getting stronger. Even though the blonde chick didn't make an appearance at survivor series, Sasha knew that she was around. Her energy grinded her gears so bad that Sasha could just feel her presences radiating through the building. If people honestly thought Carmella was going to get away with another low blow, then they truly didn't know the boss like they thought they did. Especially, after her encounter with the Universal Champion. A fire was lit inside of her that she couldn't put out.

As Sasha walked down the hallway with a calm, yet determined look on her face, the camera followed her every move and Kayla Braxton came up to her, making her stop.

"Sasha, can I have a word?" She asked hesitantly as she looked up at the blue haired woman. Sasha stared at her blankly before a faint smirk appeared slowly on her face, and she nodded. Kayla sensed something a little off about her, and contemplated on asking questions to begin with but did it anyway.

"It's been a week, or, to be exact, actually three in a row since Carmella has attacked you. Does this mean you have a target on your back regarding to your title?"

Sasha chuckled softly, very quietly in fact, moving half of her hair behind her shoulder and shook her head in amusement. Normally, Sasha would either laugh hysterically at the interviewer's questions or tell them off viscously, but tonight was different. She didn't have time for that like she used to.

Then, she simply looked back at her and shrugged, getting ready to walk away but Kayla quickly brought the microphone up to stop her, saying something that made Sasha stop in her tracks, "Is Roman Reigns one of your targets?"

Sasha looked down at the ground for a second until she looked ahead, licking her lips before she turned around to look at Kayla once again. Kayla stepped forward, bringing the microphone close enough to Sasha so she could speak into it, hoping anyway. Then Sasha's unreadable expression turned into a happier one, smiling at her nicely, "I guess you're going to have to find out.'

Kayla raised her eyebrow, slowly putting the microphone down to her side and watched her walk away in confusion. Sasha gave a subtle wink to the camera before the show went to commerical break. Afterwards, Sasha had finally found where Carmella had been in the building and saw the perfect opportunity to do what she's been wanting to do for the past three weeks. As Sasha quietly creeped up on her, she over heard Carmella talk a lot of shit about her, as expected. Saying how she was the most dominant woman in the Women's Division including other silly claims that went in one ear and out the other for Sasha. When Carmella was in her own world, talking to the camera, there was a random person who was prepared to hand her a glass of champagne.

Carmella payed zero attention and didn't realize that Sasha had knocked the poor guy out clean so she would be the one to hand her the champagne, revealing her boss ring and attacking her with no mercy. She held her as long as she could in the Bank Statement before she had to let go of her due to Adam Pearce and another backstage person ordering The Boss to let her go.

"Come and fight me next week, like a real woman." Sasha yelled with bass in her voice, and took some deep breaths to calm herself down from her adrenaline rush. The camera remained on her as she closed her eyes, trying to get a hold of her breath and she finally felt calm in an instant. As soon as she opened her eyes, a presence was standing before her to the left and she saw the handsome Samoan, holding her Women's title as he stared at her admiringly with a settle smirk on his face. Roman's thoughts were so loud that she could hear them, even though he wasn't talking. Some of them were sweet, a little sensuous, but the biggest thing is that he knew there was this inner tigeress inside of her that was slowly but surely coming out. He could see it in her eyes, and no one noticed but him, which made him want her by his side more than anything.

Sasha wasn't quite sure what was happening to her, something changed. She didn't feel like her natural cocky, confident self. Even if she was a bad guy, or good guy, or something in between, there was a sudden twist. A switch was clicking on and off, and ever since her last encounter with Roman, that's when it all started. She couldn't stop thinking about him, and he took control over her mind constantly. When she went to sleep, she saw him; Whenever she wakes up in the morning, or simply goes for a walk to clear her mind, he's there. However, she liked it. She liked the way he made her feel, and the feeling was mutual. The pair was extremely too dangerous to be together, but they didn't pay any attention to that idea.

Sasha grinned softly before making his way towards him. He handed the title to her and she took it into her hands slowly.

"That's my girl." Roman praised in a settle, yet proud tone. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder, and her grin turned into a shy smile as they walked off.

"Are you seeing what I'm seeing, Graves?" Michael Cole asks in disbelief. Corey stays silent, watching the segment like everyone else.

They soon came across Paul watching the nearby television. Roman furrowed his eyebrows and Paul turned his head around, with a worried expression, "You might want to see this."

Roman gently took off his arm from Sasha's shoulder and crossed both of his arms in fustration as he watched the television. Jey was currently get his ass beat by Kevin Owens, which pissed off Roman to the fullest but made it kind of hard for Sasha to watch. She's always been really cool with Jey and Jimmy, so seeing one of the people she cared about get hurt was unsettling for her. However, what made Roman more pissed is what Kevin was telling Roman through the camera.

Things like, "You want people to fear you? I fear no one." Not only that, he sits at the head of the announce table to prove his point, saying, "Where are you? I'll be waiting." Initiating that Kevin was after Roman, potentially wanting to take his title.

Paul and Sasha briefly exchanged awkward looks and Roman looked down, inhaling sharply and stared at the ground in deep thought, then SmackDown went off air for the night.

December 4, 2020

Another Friday came by, and the first thing that was shown was a backstage shot of Roman's private locker room. Two seconds later, it opened revealing Paul walking out, then Jey, Roman, and Sasha was the last one to follow. She closed the door behind her, adjusting the title on her shoulder while Roman watched her in awe. Sasha looked up at him as she snaked her arm through his, holding onto it gently while he held his title on the other.

"You look gorgeous, baby." He complimented, before kissing her temple, causing Sasha to flourish with butterflies in her stomach.

"No way," Corey Graves said in a disapproving manner, watching the segment from the announce table.

"I guess the rumors are true." Michael Cole says in a shocked, but not too shocked tone.

Roman turned his head to Paul and Jey, signaling that they could go ahead and lead the way first. While they did, Sasha and Roman exchanged looks of admiration before they followed them to the ring.

After the commerical break, the show was back just in time for Roman's entrance. His music echoed throughout the entire Thunderdome as each of them walked out. He did his usual thing, savoring the moment, holding up the title, instead Sasha was by his side to do it with him, and she felt like she was on cloud nine. When they got to the ring, Roman assisted Sasha up the steel steps to make sure she didn't trip with the heels that she wore, but also just because he wanted to, he was a gentleman. He also made sure that she was always going to be the first one to enter the ring, and of course, Paul along with Jey had to wait until Roman went into the ring after her.

Kayla Braxton was in the ring to interview Roman, coicidentally after she interviewed Sasha last Friday. It was a little awkward at first, she didn't quite know how to approach Roman but it became even more uneasy as she began to ask him questions. Questions about Kevin Owens, Jey, and other things that started to make him a little upset. Sasha contemplated on stepping in, but she remembered that Roman had it handled. Besides, she didn't feel like being bombarded with a bunch a questions from Kayla again. He told her off after each question, until she reached her last one.

"Well, let's shift gears and talk about.. you're friend, Sasha Banks." Kayla suggests, making Roman slightly raise his eyebrow at her comment. Sasha's avoided glance at Kayla finally took a look in her direction, and immediately noticed the hint of shade in her voice. She knew exactly that they were more than that, but it was just to see if either of them were going to officially admit it or not. They played replays on the screen of Roman giving Sasha advice, to him watching her matches, joining forces at Survivor Series and what happened between them last week before Kayla asked, "So..are you possibly more than friends with The Boss? What is this?"

Sasha on the inside felt extremely pissed, and wanted nothing more to get in her face for over stepping her boundaries. She bit her lip harshly in anger and got ready to walk towards her but Jey quickly stopped her, putting a hand strongly on her side. Since her movement wasn't too noticeable, Paul widened her eyes and chuckled in amusement while Roman sighed, rolling his eyes. Kayla hesitantly brought the microphone closer to him and Roman looked down at her with a bored expression, "A friend?"

Kayla nodded slightly. Roman shook his head in annoyance, and Sasha stood in place, sighing briefly, looking down. She found no point in getting involved in the interview. Jey dropped his hand from her side, hoping that she wouldn't go anywhere as she stared at the ground in thought. Before Roman could reply, Kevin's theme music stared to play and he stormed out to the ring. Kayla nervously but slowly inched towards the corner of the ring as Jey, Paul, and Roman watched him. Sasha stood in her place, also annoyed but not threatened by him at all.

"You know last week, I made it clear that I don't fear you." Kevin says into the microphone while making his way down the ramp. The Head Of The Table's protective instincts kicked in and he put his strong, tattooed arm in front of Sasha, carefully moving her behind him as Kevin got closer to the ring.

"And since we've established that you don't fear me, I don't see the point of waiting later tonight. I figured, since you didn't come to me last week, I'll come to you now and we can settle this. Right here, right now." Kevin challenges, marching into the ring. Jey and Sasha exchange glances while Roman holds his hand out for Paul to hand the microphone. Jey quicky grabs it, getting involved again. Sasha facepalms her forehead in embarrassment as Paul and Roman stares at him in confusion, so does Kevin.

Kevin disregards Jey, and continues to talk to Roman, "If not now, how about at TLC? and let's not stop there, Roman. Put that title on the line, so you and I can handle this like men. What do you say?" Kevin asks, then his eyes fall onto Sasha, making him smirk a bit. Sasha glared at Kevin before he says, "Well look who we have here, when the hell did this happen? Are you afraid to get your ass kicked in front of your girlfriend?"

Roman's lip started to twitch in anger, the one thing that he wasn't going to tolerate was anyone threatening Sasha. Paul sensed that Roman needed to say something, so he grabbed the microphone out of Jey's hand and put it in his. Before he brought the microphone to his lips, Kevin suggests, "If not, then we can handle this right now."

Kevin dropped the microphone, putting himself into a fighting stance. Sasha scoffed, resting her right hand on her hip while Roman chuckled in amusement, knowing that he wasn't going to give him the time of day.

"I bet that's what you want, huh?" Roman continues, "To fight me right now? You being on the island of relevancy is the best thing that's ever going to happen to you. But, understand this, I train my cousin well and we don't back down to no one. Neither does she." He regards to Sasha. Sasha looked at Roman as he stared at Kevin intensely, "Don't you ever, mention her again." He warns.

Sasha faintly smiles at him, finding it sweet how serious he was about defending her. She adjusts the title on her shoulder, and then looks back at Kevin.

"You're lucky, if I was the man I used to be, I would whoop your ass right now. But there's a time and a place for everything. What do I look like, a savage?" He questions with a confused look on his face, "I'm a gentleman, we have ladies in the ring."

Roman licks his lips and nods his head to Sasha and Kayla standing behind him. Kayla has a lost expression on her face, meanwhile Sasha couldn't hold back her smirk. Jey and Paul laugh, looking at Kevin like he was a fool.

"Grow up." Roman snickered, tossing the microphone to the ground. He put his hand on Sasha's lower back, insisting her to exit the ring first while he followed. Kevin stood there in fustration, watching them leave the ring in silence.

After the commerical break, it was time for Roman and Jey's match against Kevin and Otis. Sometime before that, Sasha had a battle of words with Carmella while Roman remained by her side through the entire thing. It got very heated; Carmella claimed multiple times that she was better than Sasha with half the work, while of course Sasha begged to differ. She was no where near in her league, and she was going to make sure of that when she defends her title against her at TLC. However, Carmella's jabs did get under Sasha's skin a little bit, especially when she mentioned Roman, saying that if Sasha wasn't Champion than he probably would've ended up with her. Of course, Roman reassured that what she said wasn't true at all and reminded Sasha to not let someone like Carmella get the best of her. She wasn't worth it, and she was lucky to even be considered for a title match.

Since Jey had to suffer the consequence of getting involved earlier tonight, Roman decided to show up a little late to the match. Not only to teach him a lesson, but he did what he wanted to do on his own time anyways. There was also another consequence coming, little did Jey know, including Sasha and Paul. They both followed closely behind Roman as all of three of them made their way down the ramp, hearing the programmed boos echo throughout the crowd. Sasha saw Jey nod his head in reassurance, showing relief that Roman had showed up and not left him in the dust. Once they made it to the ring, as Roman walked up the steps, he handed his universal title to her. Sasha laid her women's championship on her left shoulder, while laying his title on her right.

Roman held his hand out for Jey to tag, but after awhile, he lost his patience and jumped into the ring himself. The referee tried to stop him but it was too late before he had superman punched Otis off the ring. He then slid out the ring, and began demolishing Otis; Then he started to beat the hell out of him with the steps. Paul stood there with a scared, appalled expression while Sasha stood next to him with an evil smirk on her face, licking her lips slowly afterwards as he watched him at work. Sasha's look of proudness quickly went away when Kevin Owens attacked him from behind.

She inhaled sharply, seeing everything go down until Jey lunged from the ring and put a stop to it. The Boss cracked a small smile so it wasn't noticeable. Even though Sasha cared for Roman deeply, she still had a soft spot for Jey. Trust, she enjoyed it when Roman beat the hell out of his opponents and looked damn good while doing it, however, Jey was different.

Long story short, everyone ended back into the ring and Kevin was in control for a little bit before Roman delivered a huge close line, taking him down. After that, he tagged Jey in and he took over. Jey was doing a good job and as Kevin was in the corner, Roman took this as the opportunity to taunt him. The referee warned him to stay back and Sasha furrowed her eyebrows at him while Paul told the ref to keep his distance.

"Don't tell him what to do!" She warns the ref along with Paul. Not too long after that, Jey does his Uso chant before running to Kevin but then failed, missing him completely. Kevin got right up, ran all the way to the corner and ran back, doing a harsh forward roll onto Jey. Paul cringed, Sasha shook her head in disappointment while Roman face palmed his forehead in embarrassment. Sasha actually tried her hardest not to laugh at his reaction, she quickly wiped the small smile off of her face.

"Get up," Roman demanded. Jey tried his best to make a comeback but he continued to get beaten up, frustrating Roman to the fullest when Kevin was so close to getting the pin. As Kevin tried standing up, himself and Roman made eye contact; Kevin tried to rile Roman up, but it didn't work seeing that Roman had shook it off with a laugh, shooing him off. Sasha stared up at him in awe, admiring his beauty. She loved it whenever he did that smug smile of his, it was so sexy to her. She snapped out of it once again, pulling herself together.

Jey got the opportunity to nail Kevin with an elbow to the face but out of nowhere, Kevin picked Jey up and did the Samoan drop. Sasha's lip curled up a little in anger, and she looked at Roman to see him pissed off as well due to the disrespect. Kevin got up and taunted Roman again, "What now, huh? Get in the ring!" He yelled intensely, and Roman didn't hesitate to do so even though he was stopped by the ref, again. Jey turned him around, Kevin elbowed him off but then as soon as he turned back around Roman smacked the taste out of his mouth. Then right after that, Jey delivered a super kick to his face.

When Roman stepped out of the ring, Jey got the opportunity to hopefully win the match for them. He prepared himself to get on the top rope, but right when he's about to take off, Roman orders him to get down.

"Get down," He barks. "Get down and tag out, this is my show, I finish the show. Get down."

Jey's confidence begins to fade once again as Roman disapproves of his actions for the hundredth time. Sasha looks down at the ground, trying to make sure her bothered facial expression wasn't noticeable as Jey comes down from the top rope. He grabs some of Kevin's hair and leans towards Roman to tag but Kevin brushes Jey off, then punches Roman in the face, knocking him off of the ring next to her. Before she could even blink, he slid back into the ring so fast, breaking the pin Kevin had on Jey.

Roman gave a harsh punch to his head before wrapping himself around Kevin's body, locking in his submission move. The bell was rung countless times to stop the match, but he didn't care, he was determined to take his last breath and make him pay. Sasha bit her lip, admiring the sight, feeling satisfied while resting her arms on the edge of ring floor. Paul side eyed her a little, and stepped away from her slowly, feeling a little disturbed about her enjoyment.

Roman let go of him, stared at his helpless body for about ten seconds before he ordered Jey to get chairs. The ref pleaded for him to stop, but got chased out like always. Sasha giggled from amusement from how fast the ref left the ring as Jey finally came back with chairs. Jey handed a chair to Roman, and they wasted no time in taking turns slamming the chair onto his back.

The sounds of Kevin's pained screams were on ten and Paul was stunned, covering his mouth, "Oh my God!" He said in shock, over and over again while Sasha stood there perfectly still, quiet with an evil grin on her face.

"Finish him," Roman said very beastly, "Make him understand!"

Jey hit him with the chair one last time before, putting the chair on him and doing his frog splash. Paul yelled, "Oh my God!" once again, covering his eyes slightly, not believing what he saw. Sash cringed, feeling Jey's pain, She knew that frog splash had to hurt. Out of nowhere, when they least expected it, Roman slammed the chair onto Jey's back. Sasha stood there, frozen in shock; She was expressionless, unsure of what to say or do.

"What do I tell you everytime, huh?!" He yelled out in fustration, slamming the chair against him again. "I have to keep repeating myself!"

The chair slams against him again, and again, and again. Each time, pieces of her heart started to shatter for Jey. She wanted to put a stop to it, but she couldn't. While Paul's mouth was covered, they both made brief eye contact in fright. Jey and Kevin were both out cold on the ground as Roman stared them down.

Roman then grabbed Jey's hair, dragging him a little to lay next to Kevin. After that, called my name, asking for his title. Sasha slid his title off of her shoulder and handed it to him, refusing to make eye contact with him because he would see the guilt in her eyes. He took the title and walked back to Kevin, dropping it on his chest and taking a handful of his beard roughly.

"You tryna' split me and my family up? Huh?! You wanted my attention?" He yelled at the top of his lungs, he looked around for a little bit before looking back down at him, "Now, we have the whole world watching. Now, they all have your attention." He punched his face in the middle of his sentence, "You're tryna' take me from the top? You're tryna' take my position, you want this title? You should've just took the title. You should of just took the title but instead you wanted to attack me and my family. You wanted to try and make me something that I'm not and make me look like a monster in front of the whole world." Roman voice shakes with anger, gripping the hell out of Kevin's beard. He inhales sharply as she watched, feeling extremely uncomfortable.

"This is only the beginning, and until you see that, I'm gonna take your manhood, I'm gonna take your lively hood and everything that you love," He promises sternly. "You and your family are going to fear me. Get use to this." Then he harshly let's go of his head, and stands back up, grabbing his title. He stands in the middle of the ring in thought for a little bit before he turned his head, making eye contact with Sasha. He stared, practically burning a hole right through her.

She stared right back at him refusing to break the eye contact or show him the fear she had deep down. Roman adjusted the title on his shoulder, and brought his hand up along with his finger, doing the "come here" motion. She stood there for a second, trying to find feeling her feet after being frozen for so long and then Sasha began to make her way to him. She handed her title to Paul, having him hold it. Since she was in heels, Sasha slowly walked up the stairs so she wouldn't fall, and thankfully Roman walked to the corner of the ring to reach out and grab her hand to assist her. He sat on the rope so she could enter the ring easily, and they were finally in the ring together.

His hand was on the small of her back as he guided Sasha gently to Kevin and Jey who were still knocked out on the ground. He bent down to the left, grabbing the chair, then got back up, handing the chair to her while she looked at Jey in pain, and it killed her inside.

"Make him understand.." He mumbled into her ear in his deep, seductive voice, but also loud enough so the cameras could hear. She clenched onto the chair, hoping that he meant Kevin but lost all of her hope when he continued to talk, "Make Jey understand never to disobey your chief, ever again."

His hand caressed the side her waist until he slowly let go of Sasha, taking a couple steps back in order to watch. She bit the inside of her cheek, holding back her tears as best as she could meanwhile her hands were shaking like an earthquake. She turned her head to look at Roman, and he nodded his head in reassurance, wanting her to do it. Sasha looked back at Jey, and a tear rolled down her face.

"I'm sorry, Jey." She says quietly, before she raises the chair and slam it onto his back harshly. Jey screamed out in agony, and rolled over. Another tear rolled down her face, and she paused, but then the switch suddenly flipped back on inside of her and her frown slowly turned into a dark smile, while a giggle escaped her lips. She lifted the chair up once more, and began to beat him up with the chair repeatedly.

One, two, three, four, five, six. She took a small break, sighing with a lazy smirk on her face before hitting him with the chair one last time. She laughed hysterically in her signature evil tone before tossing the chair away. The tears that were on her face were still evident, so she wiped them off slowly, flicking them away. She walked backwards to the rope and held her hand out, signaling for Paul to hand over her title, and he did; Meanwhile, when Sasha looked over at Roman, he just stood there with his evil smug of a smile on his face.

He walked over to her, sliding his title off of his shoulder and wrapped his arm around her waist. She looked up at him as he looked down at her, the chemistry they had was bouncing off of the walls and the dangerous feeling they had for each other grew stronger. It couldn't get any more crazier than this.

Roman kissed her forehead, then they both looked at the camera, and raised their titles together.

"What on earth has Roman done to Sasha Banks?" Corey graves asks, with a hint of fear in his voice as well. Michael Cole briefly looked at him with a bewildered expression. The vibe in the room was completely unexplainable, and even though the programmed boos were roaring, the look on everyone's faces on the screens were priceless. Everyone was so caught off guard by what they just saw, and had zero words. No one, absolutely no one saw this side of the blueprint. It was unlike anything anyone had ever seen before, and it was extremely bizarre.

After a long pause of silence, SmackDown went off air.

December 11, 2020

As Sasha walked down the hallway of the SmackDown halls, just about all of the men's and women's roster were in groups and huddles whispering, watching her walk by in silence. She tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear, and looked down, avoiding the glances she was receiving. It had been a rough week for the standard ever since last Friday, and nothing has been the same since. Sasha felt so confused, and extremely guilty about the events that had taken place. Everyone on social media, including people who were present in her life couldn't stop talking about the brutal attack she made on Jey. She refused to look at any replays of the incident, because she couldn't believe what she had done. Sasha had no idea who that woman was last Friday, and had zero idea what has gotten into her. It made no sense to the women's champion at all and she felt so lost. She put on a brave face in front of Roman ever since then and pretended like she was okay with everything, when really she wasn't.

Roman had actually been looking everywhere for her tonight, normally it would've taken a whole army to tear them apart from each other's side but Sasha needed time to collect her thoughts on her own. Besides, she had to hurry and do a contract signing with Carmella.

"Sasha, do you have a moment?" A reporter lady, who Sasha wasn't quite sure what her name was said. She sighed heavily, stopping in her tracks, letting her go ahead without saying a word.

"Um.." The reporter trailed off and pointed to the nearby television screen, "Do you care to explain your reasoning for what happened last week?" Then, television started to play replays of the attack Roman did to Jey and Kevin, and Sasha joining in, attacking Jey. Sasha looked down, feeling ashamed and the replay finished. The reporter slowly brought up the microphone to her, awaiting a response.

She lifted her head back up, and exhaled, "Listen, I gotta' go." Sasha pushed the microphone out of her face and kept walking forward until she reached the ring. She tried her best to pull herself together as she did her entrance and entered the ring, the one thing that she couldn't let happen is let Carmella see her when she felt down. Sasha refused, and she was ready to get this contract signing over with. Adam Pearce was in the ring as well, and Sasha sat down in the seat provided.

"Sasha. Last week after what it felt like a very personal war of words between you and Carmella, you issued a very confident challenge to face her at the TLC pay-per-view for that SmackDown Women's Championship. This contract signing will in fact make that match official." Adam informs, placing the contract on the table. As he continues to ramble on, Sasha wastes no time in opening it, however, there was no contract in the case. Her patience was extremely low and had zero time in playing any games.

"What the hell is this?" She pointed at the missing contract with fustration in her voice, "Are you kidding me? Is this a set up?"

Adam had no idea what was going on and also didn't know that the contract was missing. He tried his best to calm her down but it didn't work, she was upset. As Sasha continued to go off, Carmella's sneaky laugh lingered from the big screen, causing Sasha and Adam to look up.

"Looking for this, honey?" Carmella waves the contract in her hand, making Sasha's blood boil, "Sasha, don't you know by now that I make the rules, and you follow them. Don't worry though, I did sign the contract and I'll have it hand delivered to you by my somalia."

The camera backed up a little bit, revealing a dark skinned man with dreads, wearing a blue tux. Sasha rolled her eyes, watching the two of them.

"Will you take this to little miss, pretty pants over there?" She asks him nicely and he nods, taking the contract and shortly made his way over to her.

"You know, I should've know that you've been up to your dirty little tricks." Sasha says into the microphone, speaking to Carmella, "Aren't you embarrassed being you, Carmella?" She shades, looking at her with irritation.

"I'm not embarrassed at all," Carmella shrugs. "I'm proud of who I am, did you seriously think I was going to get in the ring with you tonight? After what you did to Jey Uso last week?" She scoffs. Sasha bits her lip harshly, and looks down in fustration. Then Carmella chuckles.

"Even when you try to put on this whole Boss persona and pretend like you're better than everyone else, you're not. Not even your boy toy, can do anything about that. I mean, come on, out of all people, he chooses you?" Carmella tilts her head, crossing her arms. Sasha stares at her through the screen intensely as she continues, "I'm the hot chick, I play the games, I'm playing the game of chess with your life, and I'm always four moves ahead."

Sasha felt so extremely angry that she couldn't even think straight. She didn't even realize that Carmella's Samolia made it into the ring, handing the contract Adam. Sasha's attention slowly faded over to the two of them, and Adam hesitantly put it in front of Sasha, knowing that she was pissed off. Sasha cracked a small, heated smile as she opened up the contract, stamping her name on it, making the match official. As Carmella complained to Adam how ridiculous Sasha was being in the background, Sasha completely snapped and took her anger out on Carmella's Samolia.

Adam didn't feel the need to stop her or else he knew he most likely would've gotten his ass beat too. Sasha delivered a harsh back-breaker to the Samolia, shoving the table onto him, making Carmella instantly silent and she stared at Sasha in amusement. Sasha grabbed the microphone off of the ground, putting it to her mouth, "You wanna' play games? Then you got it. Me and you, main event, tonight, for the title." She spat, throwing the microphone onto the ring floor and exited the ring, holding her title in her left hand.

After the commerical break and a couple of matches later on from other superstars, a segment showed Sasha getting ready for match with Carmella in her locker room. She was in her ring gear, and her Championship sat next to her. Sasha sat down on the couch in deep thought, and heard footsteps approach her. She looked up to see Roman with a concerned look on his face, this time he was alone. Normally, no one had natural access to her room, but he was an exception.

"We need to talk." Roman said, sending chills through her spine. Sasha sighed slightly, and got up from her seat, crossing her arms, avoiding eye contact with him. They were very close to each other, and Roman could sense the secretive energy bouncing off of her. Something was wrong.

"I've been looking everywhere for you." Roman starts, which says a lot because the head of the table never went out of his way to do such a thing like he did for her. "You haven't returned my calls or texts all night, how come you didn't tell me you had a contract signing tonight? I would've been there with you."

Sasha looked up at him, scanning his handsome face and briefly looked away at times to maintain her emotions. Roman sighed, and shook his head, knowing that she was most likely not going to answer.

"Why would you challenge Carmella for your title?" He questions in confusion, then his look falls to the floor, "And who was that guy out there?"

"No one important, okay?" Sasha quickly reassured, with a hint of impatience in her voice. Roman stared at her unconvinced as she picked up her title, getting ready to leave but he stepped in front of her, blocking her way.

"We're not finished." He warns, but with a soften face, "You can't do this."

Sasha sighed, looking down for a little bit before sliding her Championship on her shoulder. She didn't say anything but simply kiss his cheek, and caress it shortly before brushing past his shoulder lightly, walking out of the locker room. The camera shot closely on Roman's disappointed, yet worried facial expression before the show went to break.

When the show came back on, Kevin stormed backstage to find Roman. Due to the fustration that Roman felt after his conversation with Sasha, it was the icing on the cake due to the build up between him and Kevin. He had no choice but to take the opportunity but attack him backstage, and send a message to his family afterwards, a very threatening message. Roman felt no mercy whatsoever, but someone who he could not get off of his mind was Sasha.

Sasha was currently in a brutal title match against Carmella. There were moments in the match were she was so close to winning, but Carmella still somehow pulled through, especially when her sidekick came out and tried to distract her. After that, Sasha immediately saw red and attacked her, causing her to lose the match due to disqualification. The Somalia tried to pull her off, but as soon as she turned around, Roman appeared in the ring and speared him harshly, catching Sasha off guard. As Roman continued to attack Carmella's Somalia with blows to the head, Carmella took the opportunity to smash a champagne bottle to her back, causing her to scream out loud in pain.

Everyone at the announce table gasped and Roman quickly stopped beating Carmella's sidekick's ass to turn around and see her laid out on the ring floor. Carmella and Roman caught each other's eyes, he stared at her in a despising way while she smirked at him, wanting to jump his bones but decided not to. She slid out of the ring, making her way up the ramp as her Somalia limped, following her. Then, as Roman's angry stare stayed fixated on her, a bunch of referees came into the ring checking if Sasha was alright. Roman turned around and gave them a stern look, pushing one of them away, "Get your fucking hands off of her, go." He ordered loudly, causing all of them to leave the ring.

Roman bent down to her level, and saw a trickle of blood running down her back. He immediately took off his shirt, placing it on her wound. Sasha winced in pain, burying her face into the ring floor, not wanting to show her face from the embarrassment she felt.

"It's okay, babygirl. I got you." Roman whispered to her, wasting no time in picking her up from the ground, carrying her bridal style as he left the ring. As Roman walked up the ramp holding her, the big screen showed a beat up Kevin Owens, sitting down in a steel chair, holding an ice pack on his arm. Kevin looked at the camera angrily, and Roman sighed in defeat, wanting him to give up already.

"We're not done, Roman." Kevin carefully states in a shaky voice, "Watch your back."

Before the show went off air, it showed one last camera shot of Roman, staring at the screen for a couple of seconds before looking down at the beautiful woman in his arms, causing his face to soften. He hated whenever she was in pain, and the head of the table was never the type of person to be scared, but he was honestly scared about what was going through Sasha's mind, and how they were going to move forward.

➰

Tags; @haharollins @toothlesstim @sassymox @reignsbanks @wwzentertainment @darksinandmadness @reignsprint @nianotjax @cptcharisma @grandslamstandard @likesummerrainn @brookethegamer @notoriouscrown @flawlessglamazon @roderickstrong @serenityfiretrash @thandiwethagirl @zaddyreigns @kingbarrett @nathog97

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Solar Power Prompt List

a collection of prompts set to Lorde’s newest album, Solar Power — if you reblog this, please consider sending a prompt to whoever you reblog it from!

Now if you're looking for a savior, well that's not me

You need someone to take your pain for you? Well, that's not me

We're all broken and sad, where are the dreams that we had?

I just hope the sun will show us the path

My boy behind me, he's taking pictures

Come one, come all, I'll tell you my secrets, I’m kinda like a prettier Jesus

Forget all of the tears that you've cried, it’s over

It's a new state of mind, are you coming, my baby?

I don't miss the poison arrows aimed directly at my head

It got hard to grow up with your cool hand around my neck

It's all just a dream, I wanna wake up

I love this life that I have, but I wonder sometimes what I'm missing

Well, my hot blood's been burning for so many summers now, it’s time to cool it down wherever that leads

Cause all the beautiful girls, they will fade like the roses

All the times, they will change, it'll all come around

But the sun has to rise

Cause all the music you loved at sixteen, you'll grow out of

Spend all the evenings you can with the people who raised you, cause all the times they will change, it'll all come around

To the ones who came before us, all the golden ones who were lifted on a wing

We had no idea the dreams we had were far too big

But how can I love what I know I am gonna lose?

Dancing with my girls, only having two drinks then leaving

It's a funny thing, thought you'd never gain self control

Guess it's been a while since you last said sorry

Crying in the dark at your best friends' parties

You've had enough, gotta turn the lights up, go home

Couldn't wait to turn fifteen, then you blink and it's been ten years

Growing up a little at a time then all at once

Everybody wants the best for you, but you gotta want it for yourself

You can take 'em if you want 'em, these are just secrets from a girl, who's seen it all

Remember all the hurt you would feel when you weren't desired?

Remember what you thought was grief before you got the call?

Baby girl, no one's gonna feel the pain for you

You're gonna love again, so just try staying open, and when the time comes, you'll fall

Your dreams and inner visions, all your mystical ambitions, they won't let you down

Your emotional baggage can be picked up at Carousel Number 2, please be careful so that it doesn't fall onto someone you love

If I had to break it down, I'd say it's the way you love to dance

I thought I was a genius, but now I'm twenty two

It's starting to feel like all I know how to do is put on a suit and take it away

I've got hundreds of gowns, I've got paintings in frames, and a throat that fills with panic every festival day

I should've known when your favourite record was the same as my father's you'd take me down

I guess I'll always be this way, swallowed up by the words and halfway to space

There by the fire, you offered your hand, and as I took it, I loved you, the boy with the plan

You felled me clean as a pine, the man with the axe, and the light in his eyes

We've been through so many hard times, I'm writing a love song for you, baby

Just another phase you're rushing on through

Go all New Age, outrunning your blues

Fifty gleaming chances in a row, and I watch you flick them down like dominoes

I know a girl who knows another girl who knows the woman that you hurt

Just another phase you're shooting on through, the whole world changes right around you

Must feel good being Mr. Start Again

Everyone knows that you're too good for me, don't they?

I'm a cheater, I lie and I'm shy, b ut you like to say hello to total strangers

But every perfect summer's got to say goodnight

I used to love the party, now I'm not alright, drinking in the dark, take me home tonight

I've got so much to tell you and not enough time to do it in

But every perfect summer's gotta take its flight, I’ll still watch you run through the winter light

Won't somebody, anybody be the leader of a new regime?

Can't seem to find what's wrong

The whole world is letting me down

Don't you think the early 2000s seem so far away?

I can't feel a thing, I keep looking at my mood ring

Tell me how I'm feeling, floating away

Take me to some kinda place

Watch the sun set, look back on my life

I just wanna know, will it be alright?

I know you're scared, so was I, but all will be revealed in time

I can make anything real

In the future, if I have a daughter, will she have my waist or my widow's peak?  My dreamer's disposition or my wicked streak?

Like her mother when she was a girl

Was enlightenment found? No, but I'm trying

Taking it one year at a time