#You can pry enemies and lovers out of my cold dead hand

[r0-boat]

Villain submas head cannons

I have priorities

CW: degrading and dirty talk are mentioned, it gets kinky, but everything is a consensual relationship between two villains and their beloved hero.

Sfw

World info:

World leaders, governments, and other higher up hire Heroes to combat world threats. What they don't know is that some of the heroes are villains and are dating each other. ( or they know and don't care, as long as they are stopping the problem, even if it's temporarily, LOL)

Villains doing their villain things is their actual job, and they have work hours off hours, vacations, and weekends, just like Heroes. Their main bases are not only their homes but their place of work when they are not being super villains; they're basically living like normal people.

Emmet

Alignment: chaotic evil

Emmet's evil schemes are like his art don't diss his art. He spends years perfecting each evil plan. Just to be foiled by the hero(you), hehe; it's not like he minds, though.

Once he's done with his evil scheme, he sends it to his brother

He crafts each evil scheme with your weaknesses and likeness in mind to show how much he loves you. Pretty much, he sees it like a date.

Has a minion Army of jail text each one has their own names, like Giovanni, he sits on a chair petting his galventula

Unlike ingo he likes causing chaos because he's bored.

Nothing Else Matters except his brother his Hero, and his army of joltics.

Unironically agrees with Megamind the presentation makes you a supervillain.

If he plans a juicy take over the world evil plan just to see some fucking hero that isn't you walking through his base, he just says screw it and throws the plans away for another day, making sure to kill the No Name hero in the process.

Emmet: "You like me, and you like that I'm evil" and you're angry because it's true

Ingo

Alignment: lawful evil

Some villains just don't have class, no dirty tricks and is willing to negotiate.

"I got to get ready. I'm supposed to face the hero in an epic battle; I hope they think I'm cool."

"Brother please stop antagonizing the citizens further we've already made our point"

Emmet may have planned this, but ingo is a force to be reckoned with; ingo not only knows and is responsible for executing the plans,

Ingo and Emmet plan together, but Emmet is usually seen on the front lines because Ingo has a nasty habit of doing villain monologues where he Reveals their entire project. So Ingo Works within the Shadows, ensuring everything goes according to plan.

Other villains are jealous of their relationship with their arch nemesis

Vilain: I'm so jealous of your relationship with your hero; mine is usually too tired for cuddle time afterward. They don't even come over on our days off.

Ingo: well... anyone would be tired after a long day of work Please make sure your hero gets plenty of rest time before you execute your plan. A key to any good relationship is communication. Do you have your hero's private number... No?... Oh, dear... If you want to have a special relationship with your Nemesis, make sure they know that they're special. I hope that helps

Villain: * writing on a notepad* yes! Thank you!

He will always leave you snacks in secret places for you to find just in case you get hungry trying to find him.

And always leaves at least some videotape or message praising you for getting out of a trap.

He's still working on his evil laugh.

Steals precious material just to make you jewelry you thank and kiss him but then threatened him to put it back.

Nsfw

Never opposed to railing you on the job. They always has condoms on them because of it.

Emmet absolutely loves taking you after he captures you. Watching you struggle against the shackles as he explains his plans with his cock deep inside of you.

No matter during work or in the bed you will always have a safe word.

Ingo drools at your hero costume wishing that you could step on him just once.

Emmet made executed his plan just for you to find rose petals leading to the bedroom yes this actually happened; you're starting to think he makes some of these just to get your attention, then yes, yes, he does...

They Always always asks for your consent before doing any darker role-play kinks.

Don't mind Emmet's harsher degrading and dirty talk he'll never actually mean it, he likes the immersion.

They almost had a sex dungeon they only didn't do it because they would have a lot of explaining to do if, someone other than you raids their main base.

Emmet may or may not have a collar made with (insert your Heroes weakness here)

During after work hours or on their days off they still hit you up for you to come over and have couple time ; )

[mayhasopinions]

old man yaoi (kitty cat edition)

[hwangyeddeongie]

top 5 ryeji fics? 👀

hello anon!

okay so this is kind of an impossible question but I'll do my best to answer 🫡

(not in any particular order)

1. there's a demon in my home (and it's here to stay) by qaisal

i wanted to put more fics by qaisal here, but I’ll keep it at one lol. all I’ll say is that there’s a reason this person has the top 3 fics in the ryeji tag! the witch school setting, the shapeshifting, the enemies to lovers….i love this fic so much

2. among the sea’s salt by ForTheFlowers

I remember this being one of the first long ryeji fic I read and I was just completely blown away by first, the amount of research put into it to make it a believable historical fiction, second, the amazing set up and characterisation, third, the perfect evolution of an enemies to lovers arc, and fourth, just the sheer quality of writing. this is definitely one of THE best ryeji fics on ao3

3. what’s in a name? by snowandwolves

I don’t have a single bad thing to say about this fic. the worldbuilding is absolutely PHENOMENAL, the writing is superb, the angst and ensuing fluff (and smut) WILL make you cry. I have it downloaded so y’all will have to pry it out of my cold, dead hands

4. indigo by khevzs

I cried more than once reading indigo and I am NOT ashamed to admit it. literally the slowest of burns and yet IT’S DONE SO WELL. parent ryeji my loves…..the perfect balance of angst and fluff is 👩‍🍳💋

5. champion of the geunhwayang by khevzs

THE ryeji fic of all time. like cmon. once again, im a sucker for historical fiction and khevzs pulled this off so well!! the setting, the cultural undertones and traditions displayed, like this fic should make the list for just the research put into it alone. would have paid a LOT more attention in school when learning about this time period if it was done in this format. also, the characterisation is just perfect. the transitions into different phases of ryeji’s relationship is so believable and done perfectly. we can only pray khevzs will come back to finish this masterpiece

HONORABLE MENTIONS

made for loving you by gazwashere — actress yeji I will always love you

when she looks at me by snowddeong — I revisit this one so much….RYU FRECKLES

the face poets always talk about by khevzs — yes khevzs is in this list 3 times what about it

unfinished business by ddeongies — choreo my beloved…HOT STUFF WITH (eventual) FLUFF + the perfect amount of friends to strangers/enemies to lovers angst, literal perfection

wheel, snipe, celly by lonewolflink — I cannot wait for link to give us more of hockey ryeji because I am OBSESSED

take a chance on us unfortunately orphaned 😭 — once again, parent ryeji….i love them

믿어 trust by haegum — not for the faint of heart! this fic is on the darker side, but the world building and quality of writing is a 10/10

love in the modern day (the modern way) by westhyo — so hot and so funny! this is just smut but it’s super well written and I love ryeji’s dynamic here and the ending always cracks me up ++we love traumatising chaeryeong in this house

[darkcrowprincess]

i saw this rec from the threads app on my insta and i just had to share 😭😭

i think it's fairly accurate considering everything HRJFKDKD

other than fighting rick on a daily basis i also dabble in shipping certain things out of spite which i love that you do as well HHAHA they can pry my ships and hcs from my cold, dead hands-

im curious! what's your go-to trope/au when it comes to your fave ships? im personally a sucker for soulmate aus or anything with angst FJGKDK

I'm going to separate my favorite tropes/aus into normal and problematic/unhingedv

Normal tropes : fake dating, soulmates, forbidden lovers, best friends to lovers, enemies to lovers, friends to enemies to lovers, 7 minutes in heaven, fake out makeouts, kissing to distract the other person and being into it, sword training, secret identities shenanigans, bad boy/punk and nerd/sunshine, friends with benefits that gets real real quick,hand holding(its more sexy that kissing at times), showering a person with kisses, taking your time kissing everywhere but the lips to build anticipation, girly girl characters, nerdy bookworm girl characters(not Bella Swan, hate her) weird girl characters. Rich person x broke person, meeting at a bookstore(hate coffeshop tropes). Couples who have the same humor. Using humor to cope. Found family(but no one calls each other siblings. Hate that new trend) squads, squad are idiots, hot boys, love letters, diary stories, texting fics(to a point, hate it when it gets dumb). Saving person from drowning/fire/falling to there death/just saving someone in general. Protectiveness. Battles couple, power couple.

Normal aus: Period drama aus, Fantasy aus, sci fi aus, pirate aus, fairy tale aus, cowboy aus, ancient times aus(Egypt, Greek, roman, China, Korea, Middle ages), mythology au, reincarnation aus, time travel au, time loop aus, fix it fics, 80s 90s au. Hate anything high school or modern times(unless it's teen wolf, or dear Evan Hansen), road trip aus, running away aus, royalty aus, multiverse aus

Ok now for my unhinged/problematic faves. Stop reading if this makes you uncomfortable

Problematic tropes: Kidnapping, Monster fucking, age difference, student teacher/mentor and mentie romance, sugar daddy and sugar baby, ice play, knife play, some pain play, bdsm but not too much hate name calling, choking kink, prasie kink, possessiveness to the point of craziness, finding someone killing for you hot, abo, bandage, rape fantasy, dubious consent, extremely dubious consent, captor and captive, stolchm syndrome, secret relationships, dark romance to a point, villians getting the girl/guy, hot villians, evil female villians, evil queen, evil female characters, evil female characters winning, bad guys kidnapping kids and being good parents(but they were still kidnapped) evil found family, villian x female character, villian x hero, villans winning, killing abusers,killing horrible guys, gray mentality

Unhinged aus: beauty and the beasts au emphasize on the beast and kidnapping and captor and captive au, the lives and drama of the rich, dirty secrets(pretty little liars level, vc andrews level), arranged marriage, monsters, falling in love with monsters,evil queens conquering and being happy and in love,royals conquering, daddy issues, abusive parents, abo au, war bride/husband, men(mainly straight) being evil and getting what the deserve, werewolves, mates, gothic romance aus, gothic horror au, teacher and student/mentor and mentie. Gotham like or purge like world aus. Zombie world aus where there's just no laws. Supernatural type au with emphasis of the monster and dark. Romeo and Juliet aus. Jail aus.

[daincrediblegg]

💛🖤💕

💛: What is a popular ship you just can't get behind, and why? Ah there it is. Pandora's box. The Atom Bomb. It's Fitzier. You know it's Fitzier, I know it's Fitzier, we all know it's Fitzier. So here I will air my grievances. Because listen. Canon stuff? I love that shit. I eat that subtext up for breakfast. I cry about the cairn scene just like anyone else and it really is such a sacred scene to the show and I'm always going to be in love with it. It's really wonderful how well Francis and James' relationship holds up a mirror and a beautiful foil to Hickey and Gibson and in more of a queerplatonic way that I really deeply admire David Kajganish for putting all of this thought work into this series because it is so vital to the deconstruction of colonialist ideas that the historical event represents, not to mention the modern day implications on masculinity, and really pays homage to the gothic literary subtextual queer men who came before them. My main issues with it are how fanon has spun it into the end-all be-all of queer romance (which I've always been chronically allergic to since. forever), and admittedly (obviously) I'm a little bit more biased towards Francis in a way that is against a lot of the tropes that folks tend to spin in fitzier fics and art that I just can't get behind.

And before I go further, I want to preface the rest of what I'm about to say with this, because I know I have a lot of friends, mutuals, and followers who do ship it and I want them to know that this isn't reflective of them and that what I say I should hope to only be taken as pissing in the wind : because the world is hard enough to fucking live through right now as it is, and finding joy in anything they can is what I want for everyone. This one just isn't for me tho, and that's ok. But I've been given the opportunity to be a hater publicly and you will pry that out of my cold dead hands. Like ok. The main issue I have though is that I just want nice things for Francis, ok? James always gets all the emotional attention in this pairing and I'm sat here like... Emotional support for Francis, king? Mutual love and support during the breakdown of identity for Francis? Attentions to Francis' oppression as an irish man living in victorian england tonite??? Like. Call me crazy but I think he deserves to be with someone who doesn't fundamentally misunderstand him from the outset, someone who can still challenge him of course, and can challenge him in a lot of ways that he hasn't considered being challenged before, but still with an undercurrent of love beneath it, and someone he can be outwardly affectionate with as a result (because I KNOW he's capable of that). Like fighting for each other with love, rather than being outright antagonistic the way James is with him (and then subsequently the way it is woobified into enemies to lovers hate sex tropes. which again, sure. fine. can be fun sometimes. but. I'm sorry I have more wholesome gothic romance tastes in my own writing I guess. and that I also want better things for Francis. like. having sex with someone who isn't going to call him daddy or hates him. Like sorry has anyone -other than blanky of course- made him guffaw with laughter? made him comfortable enough to be truly honest with himself and raw and emotionally vulnerable? where he's not *just* giving someone else space to do that? that's what he deserves to me, and this ship just ain't hitting. case closed.)

🖤: Which character is not as morally good as everyone else seems to think? Edward Little. he's got that racial panic rizz that everyone else but me seems to like, but I haven't forgotten about the whole 'but what if they seek retribution' shtick that he had going on that contributes to why he lets toze get away with handing out arms later in terror camp. (I say this fully aware that my own blorbo has his own issues regarding the inuit folks that they interact with, but also he has a much more nuanced position in the narrative that makes it fun to get introspective about and it's much more complicated than just a flat line of typical time period shit. Ed is just. a bloke in an un-fun way. who needs to quit his job and go home. and also I would really like to think the real guy was much less of a wet rag irl than he was in the show (and from what I've read from may we be spared to meet on earth crozier actually respected him lmao). All this to say, it just doesn't turn me on)

💕: What is an unpopular ship that you like? Oh I have a lot of niche bastards that I really enjoy. Idk if we would call it super niche but Francis/Blanky I enjoy a lot. And there are TONS of others, a lot of which were pondered at the behest of the no longer with us kittensmctavish (RIP, but their fics are still on ao3 and I cannot recommend them enough), but we were talking a lot about a really cool Irving/Gibson canon re-write concept at one point that I thought was really neat and I still think about it every now and again. Also Irving/Koveyook. I think that it's really class.

ASK GAME: UNPOPULAR OPINON EDITION

[noblehcart]

because its my blog and i can post what I want and so here's ZARA'S TOP TEN LIST OF FAVORITE BOOKS below the cut and with a very brief discussion on why.

Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux This book was one of the first books that really truly catapulted me back into reading as a young adult (the first being A Winter's Tale) and I remember sitting up and crying at 2am in my bed as I finished this book just sobbing and if i'm honest ? Feeling so ashamed that I take my normal life for granted. I have never had such a reaction to a book before and honestly I don't think I ever will again in such a resounding way. For me this is not a love story its a story about humanity and our relationships with each other.

Phantom by Susan Kay This book comes second because I don't have the same emotional connection as I do to the original but hands down in reading a book cover to cover and returning to reread snippets I have read this book so MANY times my god. I always go back to this book when I'm bored or need to revisit a friend. This book is definitely flawed and its got its issues but its one of my all time favorites and I'm so glad to have like three copies (hardcover, pdf and kindle) so its always on hand. I love the depth and exploration for Erik and what shaped him and his life and the people around him and how they were affected by him. Like wow. Its just a book I will always have on my shelf forever till I die.

The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy Its just so good and I don't know why more people haven't read it. Its the beginning of the creation of superheroes and double identities and it has a FEMALE LEAD. The entire book is in the POV of the brilliant and beautiful Marguerite and honestly if I had known years back that it was from a female pov I'd have gotten into it much MUCH sooner. Its dynamic, the characters are so good and the villain is so deliciously good at being bad. I loved the movie, but the book just captured my heart because Margot is this wonderfully clever but soft heroine that just speaks to me.

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo WHAT can I even say about this duology other than the characters are flawless and by that i mean they are so flawed and relatable and complex. Its a wonderful book of found family and slow burns and enemies to lovers with fantastic representation. I absolutely couldn't make myself get into S&B but you can pry the crows from my cold dead hands because I adore them and go back to reread this series all the time!

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova This is also a big reread for me, but mostly I go back and reread sections that interest me most but the entire book is just gold. Its just MINDBLOWING that we never know the main heroine's name which is just shocking, but we never needed it or would've noticed if it wasn't pointed out. Its this complex beautifully woven story with history, globetrotting, mystery, suspense and some thrilling aspects that I just love love about it. This is the book that sent me down the Dark Academia rabbit hole guys.

The Golem & Jinni by Helene Wecker This book honestly is on par with The Historian for me because the pacing is very much the same and it took me a bit to read it as did the The Historian, but man am I glad that I did because its complex, its such a human story told in such a supernatural fun way that's just thrilling in a slow build sort of way that ends beautifully and I can't wait to start on the second book soon! The character development and the world building just really draws you in and makes you forget your current time to be absorbed into theirs and its brilliant.

The Invisible Life of Addie Larue by V.E Schwab I'll be honest and say that this book almost didn't make the list because at first I didn't think the book was as good as the hype, but upon looking back and rereading snippets again and rereading the ending more thoroughly- my god, this book is definitely going to be a CLASSIC. Its beautifully written and one of the books I made myself slow and savor each word and sentence as it wove the magic over the years of addie's life. Its a VERY good book that I'd definitely recommend to anyone and everyone. Addie has grown on me in such a different way and I love love her.

Entwined by Heather Dixon THIS is one of my all time childhood/youth/teen favorites. Yes its YA and yes it might be a little boring to the adult reader, but its one of my absolute favorite retellings of the 12 Dancing Princesses. I still go back and reread it because its that good and has a special place for me. The villain and world building is so good and easy to follow along. Its fantastic and I'd go back and reread this book over and over again. Its great if you love magic, sisters, princesses, unexpected love, dancing and magical objects.

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte This is on the list because I remember loving reading the story in highschool and feeling so connected to Jane and now as an adult I love her even more for her actions and choices. Its one of the first classic books I ever bonded over with my brother on and so that in itself is a miracle. Jane just has a special place in my heart for the romance, the mystery, the dynamics and the characters and their development is just absolutely wonderful with a fantastic ending. Can't really ask for more.

The Book of Esther I have done and read and watched nearly everything I can find on the book of Esther, which is kinda the oddball on this list because its a book in the Bible, but its still a book in my definition. Its just such a beautiful story of overcoming oppression, tragedy, fear, genocide and this beautiful painting of faith in terrifying times. The twists and turns and thrills and complexities that come with this story before and after if you know the history and its setting- Persia (-gestures to Kay's Phantom-) just absolutely has me fascinated. There's also the aspect that just maybe the 1001 Nights are inspired or based off the story of Esther just absolutely delights me with its fantastic similarities because I adore that story just as much as this one. I love Esther's bravery, courage, wisdom and discernment and she's absolutely one of my heroines IRL that I look to.

Honorable mentions:

I, Strahd by P. N. Elrod - The only reason this isn't in the top ten is because it reads sO MUCH like Kay's Phantom that if I had to chose one of these it'd be Phantom, but this book was so good and really helped get me back into reading during one of my many many slumps. It was a great blend of myth, royalty, supernatural and tragedy that I've reread it a few times already recommended it to a LOT of my friends.

Wintersong by S Jae-Jones- The only reason why THIS one didn't make the ten list is simply because I already have ten and because it would be between this and Jane Eyre and lbh Jane Eyre is almost the perfect book. It was a toss up of faerie girls and Miss Eyre won it because she really was my first classical book love.

Wildwood Dancing by Juliet Marillier THIS BOOK omg its another 12 Dancing Princesses retelling and its so beautifully and wonderfully crafted in its world building and the magic and the everything of it. ITS SO GOOD and tbh I'd definitely recommend this book more to the adult reader than I would Entwined, but- BUT it didn't make the list because I would personally pick up Entwined far more often and remember the characters far more than I did in this book. It is a very very good book and I also highly recommend you read it if you like retellings, vampires, fae complexities and a blending of fairytales.

ACOTAR by SJ Maas- I did really enjoy reading this series but it is definitely not one of my top faves because its really only the last two books (not the novella) that I actually devoured. Its a good series and I def recommend reading it because its almost worth the hype but my quibble here is that I could EASILY slip out of that world/the books never absorbed me like others have. Also I didn't care for the main heroine shhh don't come after me guys.

A Voice in the Wind by Francine Rivers So this book was a toss up between it and Esther and it was a TOUGH one because I do go back and reread this trilogy at least 2-3x a year, but I do reread and study and think a lot more about Esther so it lost out in that competition spot. But its an excellent series and the first two books just have my heart for the romance and the intrigue going on during this time period. Its a wonderful slow burn though I'll admit the third book is slightly out of pocket, but still so good that I had to make pinterest boards about this series.

Eye of the Red Tsar by Sam Eastland THIS book is so so SO GOOD if you're into reading about the Romanovs and Russia shortly after that. The entire series is so so good and I normally don't like mystery and thriller plots but this book does have a special place for me, but was beat out by the golemn & the jinni. Pekkala is fascinating and the people and cast he meets along the way just build up in such a delightful way.

The Holy Thief by William Ryan Again this only got beat out by The Historian by a margin because vampires, but The Holy Thief oh my god is very much on par with the Eye of the Red Tsar because its the same time period and magnetic energy. I was so invested in this book and its characterse and it might be due to my love of all things Romanov/Anastasia musical wise, but it was so good and I highly recommend it. I wept, I laughed, I sat on the edge of my seat it was a great read.

The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran This is a recent read and like wow...it just really blew my mind and touched me in a way I don't usually get outside of my belief system and IDK but this book is everything and more than the hype and the only reason its not on the list is because it didn't quite beat out Esther for me but its such a good book.

Tagging you because I would love to see everyone's Top 5 or 10 favorites : @walkingshcdow, @myhiraeth, @kingmakercastle, @demonstigma, @historiavn, @swede, @lordofthestrix, @fasciinating, @reverdies, @ensnchekov, @malka-lisitsa, @paramounticebound , @delanuit, @starlsssankt, @aigonakru

[brooklynislandgirl]

Stolen from: @meaningful-negativity Stolen by: Anyone who wants it. ~*~ 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐎𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓 - 𝐅𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐎𝐌 𝐓𝐑𝐎𝐏𝐄𝐒 𝐄𝐃𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 slow-burn or love at first sight fake dating or secret dating enemies to lovers or best friends to lovers oh no there’s only one bed or long-distance correspondence hurt/comfort or amnesia fantasy au or modern au mutual pining or domestic bliss smut or fluff {or a third, secret thing I like to call angst} canon-compliant or fix-it one-shot or multi-chapters reincarnation or character death kid fic or road trip fic arranged marriage or accidental marriage college romance or middle-aged romance time travel or isolated together neighbors or roommates sci-fi au or magic au angst or crack apocalyptic or mundane ~*~ Secret dating would ruin Beth’s already fragile sense of self confidence. long distance correspondence is a gorgeous concept and can truly be a showcase rp I love fantasy aus for my modern verses and modern aus for my fantasy rps Multiple Chapters...dude, at least two mutuals know what it’s like for us to have 2+ generations of muses spanned across literally hundreds of years and crossing over several disparate fandoms. I will always take magick au over scifi....except you can have Star Wars/Firefly when you pry them out of my cold dead hands. Also I LOVE WESTERNS.

[atherix]

🫂 💭 ⚠️ and💡(hehe) for either the Rapunzel au or the Parent trap au... if not a carrot on a stick, i WILL throw breadcrumbs :]

-🍂

Hehehehehe

🫂 (I have no idea if this is a rectangle or an emoji I can't see but-) "Have you, or will you, confer with anyone over the writing?"

for Rapunzel- I basically scream at @stitchthesewords every time I get a new thought and talk to them a lot about my ideas while trying to avoid giving away everything lol. In fact they were the first person to hear about the Rapunzel idea when I very jokingly suggested it, and then they ended up getting me invested jhkgfldkgfdkj As for Parent Trap I don't think I've talked about it at length with anyone except you, actually, lol :) I think I jokingly suggested it on tumblr and you came into my inbox like "what if it wasn't a joke >:3" and then I got brainworms <3

💭"Is there a line or scene you can see clearly already?"

Rapunzel AU- Scar being in the Elven kingdom for the first time, walking around and just so happy because everyone here looks like him, with the obscenely long hair (there's a story there I can't talk about due to spoilers lmao) with elaborate hairstyles and the pointed ears and just jfdjkk for once feeling like he might be somewhere he could belong?? just. Such an excited mans- Parent Trap AU- the moment Grum and Jrum realize what they've caused, AKA when they find out Scar and Tubbo left and Mumbo is suffering because of it, because Mumbo was happy and by chasing (seemingly unsuccessfully, at this point) the past they've cost an entire future where their dad could've been happy </3 Just Grum, finding out Grian doesn't plan to stay (and he and Mumbo are reworking custody arrangements now that both kids know and they know the other kid) and finding out Scar left as well and now Mumbo is all alone again.... yes <3

⚠️ "If you had to select five tags for it, right now, what would they be?"

Rapunzel AU- "Fantasy" "Slow Burn" (but not nearly as slow burn as Midnight don't worry-) "Enemies to Friends to Lovers" (bandit and a prince and a prince's bodyguard come on) "Mutual Pining" (Prince and his bodyguard let's gooo) aaaaaand hmmmmmm.. I'm very bad at tags. "Happy Ending" I guess? Parent Trap AU- "Modern Fantasy" (it's a modern world set in a minecraft-like setting and Scar is still an Elf because you can pry Elf Scar from my cold dead hands <3 He is forever an Elf to me now deal with it <3) "Repairing Relationships" "Mutual Pining" "Miscommunication" "Everyone Needs a Hug" "Eventual Happy Ending"

💡 What inspired you to want to write it?

Rapunzel AU- Well to be HONEST I don't even know. Maybe I looked at Tangled and thought "wouldn't it have been fun if Rapunzel had been the thief instead" and just. It's not even based on Tangled tho so idk?? I just suggested it to Stitch one day and the moment the words "thief Rapunzel" were uttered they went DO IT. So. Here we are <3 Parent Trap AU- I. I don't remember. I always end up with some kind of Parent Trap AU in my fandoms tho ngl. I guess I was eying the Grumbot Twins and then looked at Tubbo as well and went "okay but. If they're ALL dads..... and they all communicate like they can't.... huh...." And then I went to tumblr like "heeeyyyyyyy" and then you came to me like "yooooooooo" and now I'm in so deep-

[enobariasdistrict2]

hope mikaelson, lizzie saltzman <333

hope mikaelson

first impression: awww a redhead bean with a martyr complex impression now: my bi werewolf princess queen of my heart klayley lovechild favorite moment: when she used her dad as basically a fetch toy and tossed him around a room to relieve her hollow anger lol idea for a story: her spending more time in nola getting to know her extended family favorite relationship: hizzie obviously!!! favorite headcanon: she's far closer to the mikaelsons than legacies made her out to be like this is the codependent original fam we're talking about here they haven't let her out of their SIGHT since she was orphaned and constantly buy her gifts and give her attention

lizzie saltzman

first impression: she's kinda cramping on josie's style and sorta celf centered :/ my impression now: you can pry this selfless bean who worked so hard to change herself and grow out of my cold dead hands!!!! and josie is the worst sibling ever favorite moment: uhm when she was wishing for an alternate reality when hope didn't exist and when she fucking stabbed landon like that was too funny idea for a story: hizzie childhood enemies to lovers or hope is a dragon lizzies a princess in a tower that saves herself and they live an epic romance together unpopular opinion: I get where lesbian lizzie came from and like that's 100 percent valid and also lbr probably veryyy true but like I still have raflizzie and mizzie and lizdon feelings oops favorite relationship: i'm a hizzie for life favorite headcanon: bibibi!!!!

[isahorcrux]

11 and 47 please!

11. Do you write scenes in order, or do you jump around?

I very rarely write scenes out of order. I might have a thought for a scene later on and might jot notes down or even a very rough sketch of the scene, but I find my writing to be very stream of consciousness so it tends to be tricky to jump around.

47. Is there a trope that you’ve written before but are now sick of?

Hmmm... this is actually a really tough question. I will say you can pry enemies to lovers from my cold dead hands. You can also pry actor aus from my cold dead hands. I feel like I don't often enjoy writing fluff as much anymore, though I've written it in the past with some hinny and scorose. Like don't get me wrong, there are fluffy moments in all of my writing and I do think I prefer to write with a happy ending in mind, but I love the DRAMA. Like the most fun for me writing is asking myself how can I mess with my two favorite beans.

[tarvastries]

enemies-to-reluctant-allies-to-wary-teammates-to-tentative-buddies-to-best-friends is my absolute favorite type of character development and nothing can ever change that

[bloody-wonder]

rating all the things lymond calls will scott by how gay and sassy they sound

let me take you on a journey of one relationship development reflected in manifold creative nicknames :D

(this got very long and the one to blame is lymond. it’s definitely him who can’t shut up, not me. bc succinctness is my middle name🙈)

classic. both gay and sassy AND refers to will’s red hair. sounds even gayer in “are you willing to be wooed, sweet marigold?” 10/10, will must have hated it except he never told us he did, did he?😏

lymond basically calling will a Baby - very sassy and hilarious given their actual age difference! i suppose one of the best ways to infantilize someone is to call them an infant. 4/10, not very gay tho

among the redhead-themed ones this one’s my least favorite. 2/10 just bc the sentence it appears in is nice

now we’re getting somewhere! his red-haired greek goddess he calls will and follows it up with a quote addressed to someone referred to as “lover”. idk sounds pretty gay to me. 6/10, could be sassier but you can pry my “lymond has a red hair fetish” hc from my cold dead hands

it’s not entirely fair to include nicknames that are parts of quotes but my game my rules. if lymond didn’t want his lines to have suggestive undertones, he should’ve quoted stuff that sounds less gay, except i’m sure this is exactly what he wanted. 7/10, will is indeed pretty but there’s conclusive evidence that he’s in fact taller than lymond - which makes this line pretty sassy as well😁

okay so this scene is extremely hot. they share a moment in the midst of their enemies and will, his lips bloody from lymond’s punch, is able to come up with a perfect riposte to his dig - in which he incidentally refers to himself as lymond’s servant. h o t. 8/10, everything said in a romance language is gay by definition or else why would it be called “romance language”

here it is! the pinnacle of all redhead-themed nicknames! lymond calls will barbarossa exactly twice - before the hume castle shebacle and right after it. the sassy vibe is immaculate bc of the irony: frederick barbarossa was ofc an accomplished military commander and that night will has shown himself as the very opposite of that - just as lymond knew he would. 8/10, while not gay per se i’m partial to this one bc it’s my absolute favorite line in gok and possibly even in the entire series

wally gowdy is a scots term of endearment meaning lovely jewel. 4/10, definitely gay but unremarkable in comparison

this is from a poem that satirizes the process of courtship, among other things, by using exaggerated terms of endearment which border on nonsense. hinnysops is supposed to mean bread soaked in honey. 7/10, very flirty and, given the context, also sassy

nice touch to bring up will’s innocence after bringing him to an inn that doubles as a bawdy house. well the things he’d imagined they were about to engage in prove that this infant is not so innocent after all. 9/10 bc lymond’s about to play the gayest of pranks on will and be very sassy about it the entire time

have you noticed how at some point lymond started adding “my” to each of the nicknames? anyways this one’s pretty meh on both scales, ig i’ll give it a 3/10 just bc will must have looked cute with a sullen pout

catharism was a religious movement whose followers believed the material world was evil and only the spiritual was good. laura caine ramsey thinks lymond is accusing will of pretending to more purity than others and i would add that, since catharism was a heretical sect, lymond is also calling will a would-be renegade, thus foreshadowing his many betrayals. 1/10, not really gay, only somewhat sassy  

okay so this is interesting, bear with me. this is a line from a scottish ballad about a guy named gil morrice who, as ramsey points out, resembles lymond in appearance and who, having fallen in love with a married noblewoman, wants to have his servant bring her a note inviting her to a secret rendezvous, but the servant doesn’t want to go bc he’s afraid of the lady’s husband (and also bc he thinks it’s immoral). the line lymond quotes is said by gil morrice in response to the servant, after which he also threatens to hurt him if he doesn’t do his bidding. the servant complies but makes a vow that “it shall be done for ill”. in the end, the husband captures and beheads gil morrice only to find out that he wasn’t his wife’s lover but... spoilers for the subsequent lymond books🤐 anywho, as for will, given that this quote comes at the end of their fight about christian i think it’s clearly meant to reference will’s view of the situation - bc this is when he starts seeing himself as this honest guy working for a wicked seducer who forces him to assist him in his “dealings with women” which serves as motivation to contribute to his comeuppance. interestingly, it’s not will but lymond (who knows all of this isn’t true) who quotes it which gives it an ironic, but also - since the scene is written in such a peculiar way and the reader is still supposed to be on the fence about lymond’s morals - an ominous undertone. 6/10 for metatextual richness and for the fact that will must be the only member of the gang who, when he gets grumpy and dissatisfied with his boss for one reason or another, can get a lullaby and a tucking in instead of a beating and a dismissal

the biblical cherubim mean something different but i think there’s no doubt lymond is referring to the kind of angel represented as a cute chubby child also  known as cupid who as we know symbolizes romantic love. (pointing out will’s “cherubic adolescence” was one of the first comments he made about him). 5/10, once again lymond calls will a sweet looking innocent baby but this time it’s slightly gayer than “infant”

it’s common knowledge that “my dear (sarcastic)” is one of the classic things to call your rival who you may or may not have a crush on. it’s the backbone of all the tension in hate to love stories. 9/10, gay, sassy and can be easily turned into “my dear (affectionate)”

this one’s confusing. at first i thought lymond’s referring to will punching his dad but then i found out father-lasher is a type of fish? “so called from the fact that the male guards the eggs and that it defends itself by lashing out with its tail and spines”. what’s going on here? is it gay? idk but it’s definitely sarcastic and so i’m gonna give it a 2/10 mostly bc this conversation is happening over a sword which renders it homoerotic by definition

is it just me or does this indeed sound suggestive? “wanna fight me? nah i’m so much better than you i wouldn’t even bother. besides i’m your master and you will do whatever i say, sweetheart” anyone?? well i think the power imbalance is hot, sue me. 10/10, i am once again asking where is a fic that makes this scene end in angry sex

we’re roughly 60% into the book and lymond calls will by his real name for the first time - naturally in the sassiest way possible but the development is apparent. 5/10, it is what it is

oof just the last name! lymond is Pissed. he’s very serious and not flirty or sassy at all. i’ll give it a 1/10 just for the evoked poetic imagery of them perishing together in the explosion of will’s confused feelings

the girls are fighting! the infant is about to be Spanked! fun fact: the earliest recorded use of the word “nincompoop” dates back to the 1670s so either this is one of dunnett’s little anachronisms or people had been living for centuries thinking nincompoop is a normal, ordinary word, not worth writing down at all. anyways, 3/10 bc creative insults are sassy

this one isn’t as creative bc lymond is getting progressively more pissed BUT he calls our husky boy little again and there’s a derogatory “my dear” thrown in there. 3/10, does anyone else want lymond to “uncoil like a whip” at them or is it just me

lmao so basically a disaster gay. the fight is over and lymond’s sassy again. can’t be mad at will for too long, understandable. 4/10 bc this one sounds resigned and even affectionate by comparison

(btw imo lymond never calling will something like “half-baked, clueless judas” is a gross omission. think of all the kiss jokes i could’ve made)

so in this post i decided to limit myself exclusively to things lymond calls will to his face bc there are already too damn many of those but i just had to make an exception for this one. funny how lymond’s line of defense for christian is “there was nothing but friendship between us” but for will it’s “your honor this boy is not an angsty gay. if anyone knows it’s me bc i’ve been flirting with him like all the time and have nothing to show for my efforts”. very thought-provoking indeed. 5/10 bc claiming someone’s not gay in such defensive a manner always ends up implying the opposite. it’s queer subtext 101

well well well how the turntables. in their last scene together they finally see eye to eye and speak as equals, the power imbalance and the distance are gone and lymond finally calling will by his first name, like a friend, is a cherry on top. plus, this time the subject of the irony in this line is lymond himself. 100/10, by jove their last scene together is the cutest wholsomest shit i’ve ever seen😭

[fintan-pyren]

What are some straight ships you like?

Vespintan (two of the least cishet characters in the series, but they're of opposite genders so it counts as straight)

Kenralie

Brantolie

Sophex (idc that it sunk, Sophex is a superior ship and you can pry it out of my cold, dead hands)

Keefiana (one of the most unpopular mainstream ships in the fandom, but it absolutely slaps)

Gradaline

Kesline

Destina (enemies to lovers!)

Sizel

[btsqualityy]

Assuage: Chapter 18

Yoongi x Reader

Genre: ABO (Alpha/Beta/Omega) dynamics, angst, fluff, smut, enemies to lovers

Warnings: Multiple threats of violence and threats to kill people, and heartbreak lol

Within ten minutes of Hobi coming to tell Namjoon that Seo-hyun was on his way, Namjoon was stationed near the front of your territory which was right in front of the Head Hall. You, Yoongi, Jungkook, Hobi, and several other Alphas and Omegas were standing right alongside him as well. 

“Alright, you guys will let him talk and none of you will throw any blows first,” Namjoon instructed you all.

“Oh, throwing blows isn’t all I wanna do,” Hobi scoffed.

“Agreed,” you muttered.

“I know that but this pack doesn’t start wars, we only finish them if need be,” Namjoon stated firmly and everyone knew from his tone of voice that the best thing to do was to not argue. As you all waited, you reached out and grabbed Yoongi’s hand, intertwining your fingers with his as you bounced up and down on your tip toes.

“God, I feel like vomiting,” you whispered to him.

“It’ll be ok baby, I’ll be right here with you,” he assured you. “Me and Namjoon and Taehyung too.”

“I know,” you nodded, sending him a small smile. Just then, the loud sounds of hooping and hollering made you turn your head back to face front, the frown on your face immediately appearing when you saw a large group of people walking towards the Head Hall.

“Remember what I said everyone,” Namjoon said and you all nodded. As the group got closer, you had to will yourself not to either turn and run away or try to run forward and murder the man who was leading the group. 

“Well, well, well, look’s like we have an audience waiting for us!” Seo-hyun cackled happily as he stopped to stand right in front of Namjoon, the rest of his pack standing behind him. 

“Well, when you decide to just show up on someone else’s territory, this is what you can expect,” Namjoon shrugged.

“Don’t you mean my soon to be territory, Namjoonie?” Seo-hyun smirked.

“That’s Pack Alpha Kim to you,” Hobi corrected him. “You disrespectful waste of space.”

“Aw, is this your Head Fighter?” Seo-hyun asked Namjoon before turning to look at Hobi. “You know, you are a dead ringer for your mother.” Hobi immediately tried to walk towards him but Namjoon stuck his arm out, stopping him. 

“Keep it together,” Namjoon whispered to him and after hesitating for a moment, Hobi nodded and stepped back to his original spot.

“I guess the little Alpha does have control over his pack,” Seo-hyun chuckled.

“What do you want Seo-hyun?” Namjoon questioned him firmly. 

“What do I want? Well, it’s very simple really,” Seo-hyun replied. “I want your pack and the territory that comes with it.”

“Don’t you remember what happened the last time that you decided that you wanted to take over other packs and their territories?” Namjoon asked. “Your Alpha pride caused you to lose not only the war but also your territory and most of your pack that you obviously had to spend the last seven years rebuilding. Don’t ruin your second opportunity to be a decent Pack Alpha for once in your life.”

“You know what, you don’t need to concern yourself with that because I’m a better Alpha than you’ll ever be, little pup,” Seo-hyun seethed. “You’re weak.”

“And what would make him strong?” You spat, anger laced throughout your voice. “Starting unnecessary wars just to satisfy his own bloodlust?”

“Oh, it’s the ever elusive Prime Omega,” Seo-hyun smirked as he looked at you. “You know, since it seems like your big brother is gonna be too stupid to just give me your pack, I do hope I get the pleasure of feeling your body up against mines on the battle field. That is, before I pry it from your brother’s cold, dead hands.”

“You threaten him one more time, you’re gonna have your own cold, dead hands to worry about,” Hobi snapped.

“And you don’t fucking talk to her like that,” Yoongi spoke up, not missing how Seo-hyun’s eyes widened when he looked at him. “She’s spoken for.”

“I see you took in my weak little Prime Alpha,” Seo-hyun said. 

“Yours?” You echoed, turning to look at Yoongi. “What is he talking about?”

“Oh, don’t tell me that you didn’t do your research on a lone wolf before taking him in?” Seo-hyun cackled. “He was in my pack until I kicked him out for being a weakling. Actually, he’s just like you Namjoonie, so I can understand why you took him in.”

“What?” You whispered and Yoongi could literally hear the hurt in your voice as your hand slipped out of his. 

“Look, let’s just make this easy on everyone, huh?” Seo-hyun suggested. “Namjoon, you can just step down and give me the pack and territory, or I can kill you before taking it. Your choice.”

“I guess you’ll have to try to kill me, because I’ll be damned if you take this pack from me while I’m living and breathing,” Namjoon stated firmly. 

“It’s your death,” Seo-hyun smiled. “One week from today, I’ll be back to claim your territory.”

“Yeah, we’ll see,” Namjoon scoffed and that’s the last thing that was said before Seo-hyun turned around and walked off, his pack following closely behind him. As soon as they were out of sight, you turned and ran away, not even giving Yoongi the chance to say anything to you. Knowing that he needed to talk to you, Yoongi immediately ran after you, only hoping that you wouldn’t hate him too much.

...................................

When Yoongi finally found you after looking around almost the entire territory, you were near the stream, sitting on top of your favorite rock as you looked down at the water.

“Y/N-ah,” he called out as he walked over to you and you lifted your head, scowling when you saw him. 

“Go the fuck away Yoongi,” you grumbled. 

“I need to talk to you,” he insisted. 

“Oh, now you wanna fucking talk?!” You exploded as you sat up straight, hopping down off of the rock. “Unless you can tell me that Seo-hyun was lying just now, then I don’t want to hear it.”

“He wasn’t lying but it’s not what you think,” he tried to say. 

“It’s not what I think?” You chuckled in disbelief. “What I think is that I fucking trusted you and all this time, I’ve been sleeping next to and with someone who is from the pack that killed my parents and so many others from my pack.”

“Baby, it’s not like that,” Yoongi tried to explain and he moved forward, his hand reaching out to touch you but you quickly stepped away from him. 

“If you try to touch me right now, I can’t be held liable for what I’d do to you,” you  fumed.

“Ok, I’m sorry,” he apologized, holding his hands up in mock surrender. You then began to pace back and forth, doing your best to try and keep your anger at bay. 

“Is this what you were trying to tell me earlier?” You asked as you looked over at him. 

“Yes,” he nodded. “And I’ve been trying to figure out how to tell you for days now.”

“Obviously not hard enough,” you huffed. “I accepted your gift and let you spend my heat with me. Don’t you think this is something that I deserved to know?”

“Of course, which is why I was trying to tell you,” Yoongi repeated. “I respect you Y/N-ah, I really do and I don’t take you accepting my gift or letting me spend your heat with you lightly. You have to believe me when I say that.”

“Well, forgive me if that’s a little fucking hard right now,” you scoffed. You continued to pace, trying to work through the jumble of thoughts that were currently buzzing around in your head.

“Baby, I’m sorry,” Yoongi said. “I didn’t know.”

“You didn’t know? Then what the fuck were you trying to tell me?” You demanded to know. Before Yoongi could open his mouth to answer, you held your hand up.

“You know what, I just have one question,” you said as you stopped pacing and looked at him. “Did you know he was the one who killed my parents? Like, him specifically.”

“Y/N-ah,-”

“Don't you dare lie to me,” you ordered. “Not while I have your gift around my neck.” Yoongi then looked down at the necklace that rested against your skin, which had basically become a part of you ever since he had given it to you, and Yoongi hated himself because he knew exactly what was going to happen after he let the answer to your question slip out of his mouth.

“Yes,” he replied and the tears that had been welling up in your eyes spilled over onto your cheeks. 

“I can’t believe you,” you whimpered. 

“Y/N, I’m sorry,” he told you. 

“I’m sorry too, sorry that I fell in love with a lone wolf,” you spat, reaching up and snatching the necklace off of your neck, throwing at him afterwards. “I never wanna see you again.”

“Y/N,-” he tried to call out but you were already running away from him, back to where the cabins were. Knowing that there would be no good to come out of going after you this time, he decided to walk back towards the front of the territory. 

Just as he made it past the Head Hall, a hard punch to his jaw knocked him down onto the ground. Before he could even react, there was a body on top of his, holding him down with an elbow to his throat.

“Joon-ah, get off him!” Hobi shouted as he tried to grab Namjoon’s arm and when Yoongi was finally able to focus his eyes again, he saw Namjoon glaring down at him.

“Joon hyung, he could kill you!” Jungkook hollered as he tried to grab Namjoon’s other arm, and Namjoon turned his head to look at them over his shoulder.

“Either of you touch me again, I won’t hesitate to give you exactly what I’m going to give this dumbass,” he growled, referring to Yoongi and with a lot of hesitation, both Hobi and Jungkook slowly left him go and backed off. 

“You might want to listen to them,” Yoongi mumbled and Namjoon looked back down at him. “I could kill you.” As soon as the words had registered, Namjoon didn’t hesitate to raise his free hand and punch Yoongi dead in the eye. 

“I’d love to see you try me right now,” Namjoon snarled, putting more pressure on Yoongi’s throat and Yoongi’s eyes widened, realizing that Namjoon was deadly serious. “Now, did Seo-hyun send you here?”

“What?” Yoongi huffed. “No, he didn’t.”

“Because it’s real convenient that you were ‘kicked out’ of your old pack near our territory,” Namjoon continued. “Have you been giving him information?”

“I’d never do that,” Yoongi insisted. 

“I smell bullshit,” Namjoon hissed. 

“He beat me and left me for dead,” Yoongi reminded him. “He’s treated me just as badly as anyone else.” 

“Listen to him hyung,” Jungkook spoke up.

“Shut up and let Namjoon deal with this,” Hobi snapped at him. 

“You were just trying to get him off Yoongi a minute ago too, you know?” Jungkook pointed out.

“Because he just punched him out of nowhere and I didn’t know why he was doing it but his reasoning makes sense,” Hobi responded. 

“Let me go Namjoon,” Yoongi grumbled as he began to struggle underneath him.

“Do you realize that I could genuinely kill you right now?” Namjoon sneered. “Not only did you put my entire pack at risk, you fucking hurt my sister and betrayed the trust of both her and my brother, who’s the only reason why I even took you in to begin with.”

“I understand that.”

“Do you?” Namjoon questioned harshly as he pressed down harder on Yoongi’s throat. “I understand that coming from Seo-hyun’s pack, you probably don’t relate to the concept of loyalty but this pack lives by it and you went against that.”

“Joon hyung, you’re gonna choke him out!” Jungkook exclaimed. 

“That’s the point Jungkook-ah,” Namjoon replied. 

“Hobi hyung, don’t let him do this,” Jungkook pleaded as he turned to look at Hobi. “He’s just angry right now but he’ll hate himself for it later.”

“The kid’s right Joon-ah,” Hobi sighed as he stepped over to them, reaching down and gently setting his hand on Namjoon’s shoulder. “You shouldnt kill him, let me do it.”

“Hobi hyung!” Jungkook exclaimed. 

“Please Namjoon,” Yoongi whispered, his breathing not coming as easily because of Namjoon’s elbow. Namjoon glared at him for a little while longer before taking his elbow away from Yoongi’s throat, standing up off of his body. Yoongi coughed as he sat up, holding onto his throat. 

“You get the fuck off of my territory and away from my pack,” Namjoon commanded. 

“N-no,” Yoongi mumbled. 

“Hyung,” Jungkook gasped but Namjoon held up his hand, silencing him. 

“He’s too close to them, so he’s untrustworthy,” Namjoon explained before looking at Yoongi again. “Get your things and go. You’re no longer welcome here.” Namjoon then turned and walked away, Hobi following behind him. Jungkook hesitated, mouthing ‘sorry’ to Yoongi before running off behind Namjoon. 

As Yoongi sat there, taking in the gravity of everything that had just happened in the last hour, his eyes widened in horror when he realized that he had just lost his family again; for the third time in his life and that realization hit him like a ton of bricks. 

...................................

Tag List: @jikook-enthusiasts @veryuniquenamegoeshere @seolarsyj @littlrmills14-blog @preciouschimine @kt-rny @copenhagenspiritQueuePost

[pleasantanathema]

Graves into Gardens | Reiner Braun x Reader | Chapter Two

Chapter Two: Sins of the Past

Pairing: Reiner Braun x Fem!Reader

Rating: Explicit (18+ only)

Warnings: Modern AU, spoilers up to season four, slight manga spoilers (only by including characters met later), captivity, mentions of violence, mentions of character death, enemies to lovers, angst, and eventual smut (don’t worry, it’ll come sooner than you think).

Word Count: 2.8k

A/N: As promised, here’s chapter two! Chapter three will take a little longer to come your way as I have a final thesis due in a few days. Also, I promise that I’ll give answers to things that have happened in the past between Reiner and reader. Just gotta wait for the right time to reveal it all. 💕

Previous Chapter | Masterlist | Next Chapter

          Reiner laid flat on his back, chest twisting with melancholy as he eyed the lazy ceiling fan. He couldn’t sleep even if he tried, not with the day’s events still so fresh in his mind. Everything happened too quickly, a whirling rush of movements and decisions that left him caught in a purgatory of past and present. When Zeke had kicked your head into the floor, Reiner instinctively put pressure on the trigger of the gun squeezed too tightly in his hand. He wondered if things would be easier if he had taken the situation into his own hands and not let you live to torment him another day.

           Though, he knew the ghost and the guilt would haunt him even more than your living presence.

           That saying was rolling around in his brain, the one his mother always used to recite whenever he’d get into mischief as a child, be sure your sins will find you out.

           Well, they had, and one of his biggest regrets was now asking him about fucking Marco Bott. How long had it been since he heard that name? The Scouts had stopped muttering it even before the boy’s blood ran cold. He still remembered the smell of gun smoke, remembered how Bertie had fallen into his chest and cried at the horror of it all.

           But there was nothing new to be said about that past, yet even still, Reiner feared that you already knew what had been left unsaid.

           He hadn’t even bothered to undress, just let his weight sink into his mattress until his restlessness got the better of him. He knew his agonies would call to be smothered, that his frustrations would lead to him marching down the same hallway to face the inquiries of an equally troubled mind.

           He debated going to Zeke first. He knew his comrades would still be up in the meeting room, sleep and disgust in their eyes. Last he checked in, the Chief had Bertie scribbling on the whiteboard as he threw out all the notions and ideas that they had on how to break you down, on what you could possibly know that would be of interest to them. Reiner hadn’t stayed long enough to watch the black ink dry—he didn’t want them to pry into his time with you. He’d told them just enough: you didn’t give him anything worthwhile other than admitting you might speak if you were fed information from their side as well. When he’d left, the last thing written out in bold letters was a list of lies to feed you.

           Reiner was going to end this shit. One way or another, you were going to disappear from his life again; he was going to throw you back into the sea of the past where you belonged, dead or alive.

           A sick pride boiled inside of him as he saw the shock and fear spread across your pretty face as he threw open the heavy metal door. Good, you should be scared of him.

           He spoke your name with a bitterness he’d become too familiar with, dragging a chair from against the wall to sit directly in front of your iron cage.

           He’d only been gone a few hours, yet you already looked more tired, a little more frail, like if he screamed too loudly you might melt into a puddle where you sat on the floor.

           Too much time alone with nasty thoughts can make you weak, that much he knew all too well.

           He cleared his throat, cracking his knuckles beneath his fist, “Listen to me. You talk now, and maybe I’ll be merciful and kill you quickly before the others get the chance to come pick at your bones.”

           “You know my stipulation, Braun,” he watched your eyes narrow, determination coating your voice, “answer my question and I’ll answer yours. Let me die knowing the truth about—”

           “There is no truth about Marco.”

           “I know you had something to do with it. I kept finding holes in your story, and now that I know who you really are, I have no doubt that there’s something you aren’t telling me.”

           An angry sigh rushed out of his nose. He didn’t know what he was thinking coming back here so soon, why did he ever suspect that you’d ease up on this issue? He should’ve known that all your disdain for him began when that idiot got himself killed.

           “Marco was cute and clumsy, you know that. He was in the wrong place at the wrong—”

           “No, he wasn’t!” you sat up on your knees, shackled hands shaking, “I trained that kid myself. I know he knew how to use his gear; I know he wouldn’t just…he couldn’t have gotten into that situation alone.”

           “You’re running out of time. Stop wasting your breath on something as useless as Marco Bott.”

           He could tell there were more words brewing in your mouth, but you were swallowing them down.

           Reiner leaned his elbows on his knees, burdensome back hunching as he debated what to do here. He watched you closely for a moment, saw how you were constantly shifting your weight, fidgeting with the cuffs around your wrists. Bruises were blooming on your skin, especially around the tender flesh of your fingers where he had crushed them earlier. A vile mixture of remorse and compassion spread down his nerves at the sight of you.

           “My friends don’t know I’m here,” he admitted, observing how your still brilliant eyes looked up at him.

           “I was once your friend, you know.”

           You spoke the words so slowly, so dolefully that he actually felt them begin to pierce at his heart.

           “We were never friends.”

           That much, he knew, was a lie.

━━━─── • ───━━━

          “Reiner,” your tongue pressed against the back of your teeth as you stared into his golden eyes. He felt dangerous, fingers mean against your flesh, digging into your thigh, petting at the column of your throat.

           But you felt protected, secure, your hands threatening to tear at the buttons of his shirt from how tightly you clung to him. You craved a comfort that you’d come to find from being pressed against his body.

           “I’d kill someone for you, I hope you know that.”

           You wondered if the same memory was playing in his mind, behind his older, more noble face. You felt them, the sins of your past, like a heavy string binding the two of you together in this cold room. You knew there were feelings you could tug on, emotions that could have you both tumbling to the floor and wishing that the past could be washed away. But there were too many scars, too many faults that bound you together, wounds that time could not heal.

           And you knew your time was running thin.

           Selfishness reared its ugly head. You wanted to live, you needed to get back to Paradis, back into the arms of the people you loved. You didn’t want to die because of your stubbornness, or out of some forged loyalty that you knew friends would even give up if it meant being together one last time.

           “We know about the arms trading,” you conceded, head hanging low.

           You heard his chair scrape against the floor as he sat to attention.

           “How?”

           You thought about all the carefully considered words that you’d played in your mind earlier. You couldn’t give too much, but you had to lay enough on the table to make yourself valuable, to perhaps make yourself trustworthy. You needed to sprinkle lies into the truth, give a little in hopes of taking a lot.

           “Not everyone knows. It has been an investigative project I’ve been working on with Erwin and Miche…” you sucked in a deep breath, eyes closing, “we only figured it out because it came up as we were inquiring into the legitimacy of the President of Paradis. We’re pretty sure he’s a pawn, that there’s some untouchable group of aristocrats pulling his strings and ruling the nation from the shadows.”

           You waited patiently to see if he had any remarks, but the brooding man before you stayed silent. You could feel the weight of his gaze, scrutinizing, curious, perhaps disappointed that you’d be willing to give away secrets so easily.

           “That’s what you can give to Yeager. Tell him that…tell him that I’m tired of working and killing for a government that I can’t trust, whose true intentions I don’t know. Tell him I’m willing to work with him.”

           “And why would he be interested in that? You’re much more valuable as an information source than an agent.”

           You finally lifted your face to him then, a bold trepidation creeping over your skin.

           It was now or never.

           “Reiner, what I have to say next is something I’ve saved only for you. You can do with it what you will, but I beg of you, be careful with it. This could hurt you as much as it could hurt me in the long run.”

           Part of you expected him to leave again, to bristle at the thought of hearing something he doesn’t want to know.

           But he stayed, brows wrinkling together as he studied you before him. You felt like a beggar at his feet, spreading out all you carried in hopes that it was enough to appease the executioner before you.

           “Tell me,” he demanded, “though I make no promises to keep it silent.”

           You felt your courage implode. You almost wanted to gobble up your information and let it rest inside you forever to be gnawed at by your conscience.

           But if there were any fragments left of the man you once knew, of the Reiner Braun who had once held you so dearly, you knew that he would latch on to your words.

           “Zeke—your war chief—is working with Paradis. He’s plotting something so devious that even Erwin can’t pinpoint what it is, but we are certain he has contacts within the government that go beyond securing weapons for Marley.”

           You took a moment to pause, to let what you were saying sink into that thick skull of his.

           “Reiner, something seriously fucked up is going to happen if we don’t figure out what’s happening. And what’s happening is bigger than us—it’s bigger than all the shit we’ve been through. Help me, or it will be more than just me dying.”

You surveyed him as he straightened his broad shoulders, rolling them like a predator who was examining his prey. You’d just offered your life to him, held it out on willing hands with perhaps irresponsible words.

           You held in a sob as he left wordlessly, leaving his empty chair behind.

━━━─── • ───━━━

           Reiner sat with his arms crossed, trying to keep his face neutral as he watched Bertie haphazardly stretch his long arms across the board to erase of their previous work, writings of threaten Erwin, reveal the past of Paradis, and remove the bucket so she can’t piss all being wiped away from thought. He wondered, for a moment, if his friends were idiots, or just wasting time because they knew he’d wander back into her orbit sooner or later.

           He’d come straight to them, of course, straight to his trusted comrades and announced he’d managed to pry your lips open.

           Sans torture, he had stressed to Galliard.  

           But he had sat on the real information you gave him, letting your confessions about Zeke fester in his mind.

          Part of him wanted to believe you; he’d always been wary of his superior officer, always knew that his cunning and depravity could lead them all down a path of no return one day. But another part of him thought you were toying with him, trying to manipulate his doubts and sow seeds of skepticism into his mind. You’d always been so capable of getting whatever you wanted, always had a charm for subtle exploitation.

          “How can we believe any of this?” Annie berated, lighting a cigarette in the room despite knowing it was against Zeke’s rules.

          “Because we know she’s close to Erwin, close to the brass that runs the Scout Police Force,” Reiner countered.

          “More like she has always been up his ass, probably in his fucking bed too.”

           Reiner didn’t like the image that flashed in his mind, didn’t like the thoughts of the Commander running his hands across your skin, of you tangled in his sheets. He chided himself, worried it was a jolt of jealousy, but at this point, he could never distinguish his emotions anymore.

          “Annie,” Zeke hushed her, finally taking a seat at the rounded table instead of pacing a hole into the floor, “everything she has said adds up. I’ve kept our arms trading as quiet as I can, but if those little rats were going around interrogating congressmen, then it’s very possible one of them squealed on our operations just to keep their puppet president in power.”

          “So, it’s true then?” Bertholdt chimed in, shaking a marker within his aching fingers as he paused from taking notes, “that the government of Paradis is basically a sham.”

          “I’m afraid so.”

          And how do you know that? Reiner wanted to question, wanted to prod at the smug man who was waving cigarette smoke from his face.

          “So, what are we going to do with her?” Reiner finally addressed the elephant in the room, pulling at the last remaining thread to this horrible game they had gotten themselves into.

          “We’ll keep using her, of course. Though I don’t think she will give anything else up so freely. We need to give her some hope that we trust her, that she’s going to live through this little nightmarish web we’ve caught her in.”

          Reiner didn’t like the tone in Zeke’s voice. He seemed too relaxed, too humored by it all.

          It was at this time that Pieck wandered into the room, carefully balancing a crutch underneath her arm. She was carrying that soft smile of hers, leaning against the wall momentarily before also settling at the table.

          “A little birdy told me what all is going on,” she turned her grin to Galliard, whose chest puffed at his recognition, “Sorry I couldn’t make the last mission, Chief, the old leg just couldn’t handle it. But, I do have a suggestion to your little, hm, captive issue here.”

          The room felt tense, everyone focusing on the small woman as her prim cheerfulness refused to fade.

          “Let her free, under supervision, of course. Turn our old reconnaissance mission on its head; watch an outsider from inside our group, see if we can get her comfortable enough to open up again.”

          “Yes, exactly, Pieck!” Zeke let out a hearty laugh as he smacked the table with an open palm, wicked delight brightening over his features. He ran his fingers through his blonde ponytail, like he was settling into relief.

          Reiner felt his heart sink into his stomach, acid tearing at its flesh.

          “And it seems we have just the man for the job, seeing that he magically got the little vexation to open her mouth.”

          “No.”

          Reiner gritted his teeth, jaw flexing at the thought of being your god damn babysitter.

          “Oh yes,” Zeke fished around in his pocket then, pulling out a set of keys and sliding them across the table. Reiner didn’t move, just let the clinking metal fall into lap and sink into his thigh.

          “Go let her out of her cage, let her know we’ve agreed to take up her offer of help, but only if she follows orders and stays in your sight.”

          “Don’t you think a woman is more suited to this?” Annie chirped, carelessly smothering her cigarette out directly onto the table, hot ash settling into the grooves of oak.

          “You already passed on this task, sweetheart. Besides, it seems she might find Braun a little more tolerable after all.”

━━━─── • ───━━━

          And all this, all these words, all this fucking time passed, led to Reiner standing before you once again. His head rested against the rusted iron; grip so tight around the metal bars he worried he might actually bend them.

          He’d relayed the messages, but ensured you that this fucking Zeke business had stayed behind tight lips.

          When he opened his eyes, his vision focused on you, still sitting, an almost dumbfounded look on your tilted, tired head.

          “Thank you,” you whispered to him, a sincerity he wasn’t used to pooling in his ears, dripping down his skin.

          “Don’t thank me yet. There are still long nights ahead of you.”

          Ahead of him, he recognized.

          All he wanted was for you to disappear, to be washed away, but it seemed you were about to become a permanent stain on his life—a living, breathing body to remind him of the past he had left in the dark depths of his mind to rot.

          Be sure your sins will find you out, he mused, looking at a sin that might be too tempting not to partake of.

Next Chapter

[mercystine]

Stealing your ask, and now asking you: what 5 books do you think describe your taste the best? :D

I feel like this is going to be concerning 😭

🔥The Poppy War - R.F. Kuang

pain? enemies? betrayal? drugs? fucked up shamanic powers? boarding school? platonic soulmates? badass female lead? ancient fire god? yes.

💉Vicious - V.E. Schwab

You can pry morally gray characters out of my cold dead hands. especially ones with the craziest homoerotic tension.

💀 If We Were Villains - M.L.Rio

it's the unreliable narration mixed with gay yearning and unique writing style but also the parallels, hidden meanings, foreshadowing and just hdhdbsbsn everyday I learn something new about this book and cry because of how brilliant the author is

🌸 Crier's War - Nina Varela

sapphic. enemies to lovers. with extreme lesbian yearning.

😣 A Little Life - Hanya Yanagihara

I just.. like difficult, heartbreaking books 😭 but also found family and beautiful platonic relationships :')

I also feel like The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and Daisy Jones and The Six should be on that list but I don't know where to fit them