#bonus points if it’s because he hasn’t got protection >>>>

[kingkatsuki]

“Just the tip” and then him not being able to hold back because the pussy is just too good is one of the hottest things ever — I will die on this hill.

[zegrasdrysdale]

Could you write some thigh riding smut with Ethan Edwards? Reader and Ethan are just friends when it happens so maybe they’re hanging out and it somehow leads to sex. Bonus points if there’s jealousy and dirty talk lol

[ that way ] e. edwards

paring : Ethan Edwards x fem!reader

summary : jealousy gets the best of Ethan's best friend when she comes into town to watch him play some hockey

warning(s) : smut ! spoilers for "my best friend's wedding" (1997 movie), jealousy, dirty talk, thigh riding, multiple orgasms, p in v penetrative sex, protected sex

author’s note : you asked, i rewrote multiple times bc i wasn't happy w it, it deleted itself once, then i delivered (i hope). enjoy <3

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The puck finds the back of the net. The lamp lights up and the horn goes off. Everyone that’s wearing a yellow and blue jersey in Yost Arena is on their feet immediately. (Y/N) celebrates with the crowd in her borrowed jersey. She smiles and cheers while all the Michigan boys come out onto the ice to celebrate their overtime win right in front of her.

Ethan looks up into the stands right at his best friend. He points at her with a smile on his face even though she’s about six rows off the glass. She waves at him before he goes back to celebrating with his team. He gives helmet taps and he gets helmet taps.

He looks good in full gear on the ice. She may have to come to Michigan more often to come watch him play. It's very rare that she gets to come out to watch Ethan play for Michigan. It's not like she hasn’t been watching him play their entire lives. Even when she wasn’t allowed to go out and watch him play.

One time when she was grounded at 13, she snuck out of the house to go watch him play despite knowing both of Ethan’s parents were at the game. They didn’t snitch on her though. She was thankful because she got to watch him score two goals and get an assist on the game winner. She's been like a daughter to them since she and Ethan met in preschool.

Slowly, the players make their way off the ice and she finds her way to the hallway with the door that leads to the locker rooms. She leans against the wall outside the door because she doesn’t want to see something that would scar her for life.

She shoots Ethan a text so he knows she’s waiting for him. He doesn’t respond so she assumes he’s either talking to his coach or taking his postgame shower.

To keep busy, she scrolls through her social media and likes a few posts. She tweets pictures of Ethan on the ice when he was warming up and when he scored a goal in the second period. They quickly begin to circulate on Twitter and Instagram.

The door opens and some of Ethan’s teammates begin to start walking out with their wet hair and casual clothes on. Some of them say hi and that it's nice to see her as they walk past. Rutger tells her that Ethan is coming out “soon”. Soon for Ethan Edwards is either five minutes or a half an hour.

“Soon” this time means ten minutes. Ethan comes out in a button up, his letter jacket, nice dress pants, and a Michigan beanie. “Hey,” he says. “Glad you could make it. Sorry I didn’t get to see you before the game started.”

She smiles and gives him a side hug. One of his arms drapes over her shoulders and her arm wraps around his waist. “I’m here for a few days so you can make it up to me,” she tells him. “What do you think of the jersey? Stole it from your closet after Seamus let me into the house.”

Ethan backs away and looks at (Y/N) in his jersey. She turns in a slow circle so he can get a good look at her in the jersey. “Looks better on you than it does on me,” he admits. “Good to know that you still rock my name and number on your back.”

(Y/N) laughs but she wishes she could rock his name in another way. “So what’s the plan for tonight?” she asks. “Just hang out? Watch a movie? Show me around Ann Arbor?”

Before he can respond, a girl comes running up from behind Ethan and jumps on his back. She wraps herself around him. “That was a sexy goal you scored tonight, Eddy,” she says into his ear. “Looked good doing it too.”

Ethan smiles and turns his head to look at the girl in the Michigan hockey hoodie. “You think so?”

“Know so,” she giggles. “You’re so hot when you put the puck in the back of the net.” The girl begins pressing kisses against his jaw. He laughs and (Y/N) bites her bottom lip so she doesn’t say anything. It takes everything not to say some snarky comment.

She knows girls constantly throw themselves at him. Ethan isn't afraid to call her after one of his one night stands. He is one of the most attractive guys she knows, he’s super smart, and one of the most talented hockey players that she's ever seen play. He knows it too and doesn't shy away from the attention.

It isn’t a secret that girls on this campus want to hook up with him or be with him.

What is a secret is her feelings for her best friend. She is no better than the girls that throw themselves at Ethan. If she could then she would, but they’re friends and that would be crossing a line that shouldn’t be crossed. There's no going back if that line gets crossed.

And she's terrified of crossing that line. It doesn't mean she doesn't get jealous of other girls that tell Ethan how sexy he is and how good he looks when he scores goals without crossing that line. She wishes she could be one of those girls that gets to throw herself at him.

"You and your teammates should come to the party that happening at the house tonight," she suggests. "I think it would be super fun to hang out with the hockey team. To hang out with you. You can even bring your little friend here. She looks like she could use a good party." The girl looks her up and down in Ethan's jersey.

That last comment really pisses her off though. She completely loses her filter, and she's not even sorry.

"Who do you think you're talking to?" she asks, eyes boring into the girl on Ethan's back. "You can hop right off my boy's back now and find someone else to fuck tonight because I promise you that he isn't interested in fucking you. Bye bye." She waves goodbye to put some emphasis on her words.

The girl lowers herself back to the ground with a roll of her eyes. Ethan looks between the nameless girl and (Y/N) as the nameless girl shoulder tackles her. She resists every urge to punch this girl in the face despite the pain in her shoulder as she walks away.

She looks back at Ethan when the nameless girl leaves the arena. She follows her outside so they can go home after a minute. He blinks at her when they get in his car before he says, "I don't think I have ever seen you get like that."

"Like what?"

"So possessive," Ethan tells her as he starts his car. He pulls out of the parking spot and heads toward the house he lives in with Dylan, Tyler, and Luca. "Almost like you were jealous of her."

Her head snaps in his direction to look at him. "I wasn't jealous of her," she lies. "I was protecting you. The amount of calls I've gotten at two in the morning because you're upset that another girl left you in your bed is a little ridiculous."

"You're not wrong about that," he comments. "I guess it is ridiculous."

Every time Ethan's girl of the night leaves him after a party or bringing a girl back after a game, he calls his best friend and she gets to hear all about the sex or how he thought she was the one that wasn't going to leave him.

She's gotten very tired of it so she's taking a stand for him.

"So, you never told me what the plan was for the night since it's my first night in Ann Arbor," she says as Ethan turns out of the parking lot. "We could go to that party she was talking about if you want, or I'm perfectly okay with staying in tonight since you have another game tomorrow."

Ethan glances at her as she drives. "Is there something you'd like to do?" he asks. "You're here for a week so I'm also okay if you don't want to go out tonight. There will be parties during the week we can go to if you're okay with snacks and a movie or two. I'm pretty sure my roommates are going out tonight anyway so we'll have the house to ourselves to catch up."

Ideas flow through her head. She wants to do a lot in the next seven days that she's in Michigan before she heads back to Alberta.

Tonight though, she just wants to spend time with Ethan without worrying about which girl is going to throw herself at him next.

"Movie night with snacks sounds really nice," she eventually tells him.

He smiles and makes a turn. "You can look through my Netflix when we get back to the house," he tell her. "I need to take a longer shower when we get back so while I'm in the bathroom, you can find a movie that we can watch."

She nods and scrolls through her phone while Ethan drives. It's not a long drive from Yost to the house he shares with three of his closest friends and teammates. It's maybe ten minutes before Ethan pulls into the driveway. There are no other cars in the driveway so he was right about them having the house to themselves tonight.

A very excited (Y/N) gets out of the car and Ethan is quick to follow her. She has an idea of what movie she wants to watch but she has to check to make sure it's on Netflix before she gets too excited about it.

Ethan disappears into the bathroom that's attached to his bedroom. She disappears into the kitchen to gather some snacks for them to eat while they have their movie night.

She makes some popcorn but also puts together a candy bowl filled with M&Ms, Reese's Cups, mini Twix, and Hershey Kisses. Sweet and savory choices for them. She even grabs two cans of soda that are in the fridge so they have something to drink.

When she walks into Ethan's room with the bowls of snacks and cans of soda, he is walking out of the bathroom with nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist. She has to look away before she stares at the water droplets rolling down his chest.

"Jesus, E," she gasps. She almost drops the snacks and drinks so she can cover her eyes. Ethan uses his hands to cover his crotch like she can see through the towel around his waist. "You couldn't have brought clothes into the bathroom with you?"

"I did," Ethan replies. "I forgot underwear. I opened the door so see if you were in here and you weren't so I wrapped a towel around myself. You were in here when I came out to put on underwear."

She glances at Ethan as he pulls up the pair of boxers over his waist. His back is to her so she admires him from behind for a second. His thighs are insane and every single back muscle works as he dresses himself. He turns his head to look at her as soon as he's wearing a shirt again. She quickly looks at the snacks in her hands to act like she wasn't watching him get dressed.

"Warn a girl before you walk into a room with nothing but a towel on, Ethan," she tells him as she sets the bowls and cans down on the table next to his bed. She crawls onto the mattress and grabs the TV remote.

"It's not like you haven't seen me naked before," he says.

"It has been literally like fifteen years since I saw you naked," she retorts. "It's your fault we were even in that situation because you decided to cover both of us in mud. Your mother decided that it would be funny to bathe us together."

Ethan laughs and crawls onto his bed next to her. "My bad," he says. "Anyway. Did you find a movie to watch or are we winging it?"

She loads his Netflix account and replies, "I think I know what I want to watch but I have to make sure it's still on here. If it's not then we'll wing it."

"Okay," he slowly says. "What movie?"

As soon as he asks, My Best Friend's Wedding pops up when she goes into the romance movies section. Ethan raises his eyebrows and looks over at her when she clicks it. "Seriously?"

"What?" she asks. "It's a romcom. I know you don't watch many of those so I thought we could watch one of my favorite ones." Ethan frowns. "Come on, E. You'll love it. I promise."

He sighs as the movie begins to play. “If I hate it then we are going to watch Miracle or Mighty Ducks,” he tells her. Sounds like a plan to her so she nods in agreement.

She hands Ethan his soda and he cracks it open.

Picking My Best Friend's Wedding was kind of a hint in a way since Julia Roberts' character is in love with her best friend, who is marrying someone else. She didn't lie when she said it's one of her favorite romcoms though. She adores this movie and loves Julia Roberts.

He seems very into the movie though. Not once does he complain about how stupid it is. It's throwing her off a little bit.

Ethan reaches over her to grab one of the snack bowls around what she thinks is the halfway point of the movie. "I could've given it to you, asshole," she tells him. "You didn't have to reach over me when I'm trying to watch the movie."

"I just wanted some candy," he replies with a mouthful of chocolate. "I need to munch while watching the movie, (Y/N)."

She laughs and looks over at him as he stuffs a Reese's Cup in his mouth. She steals one of the Hershey Kisses out of the bowl and tosses it into her mouth. Ethan smiles and does the same. She shakes her head and goes back to watching the movie.

As she watches one of her favorite scenes toward the end of the movie, she's slightly on edge. She's very still the entire time. It's the scene where Julia Roberts' character Jules tells her best friend Michael, played by Dermot Mulroney, that she is in love with him and they share a kiss.

When she quickly glances beside her at Ethan, she finds him already looking at her. She quickly turns her head and looks away from him. Her cheeks begin to heat up like she’s embarrassed that he caught her looking at him.

He catches her chin and turns her head back so she’s looking at him again before she’s fulling facing the movie.

“Eth-”

“Please don’t say anything or else I won’t be able to do this,” he says to interrupt her.

She raises her eyebrows in confusion as Ethan’s thumb brushes over her bottom lip. His eyes flicker down to her lips before moving back up to her eyes. The eye contact they’re holding makes her entire body shake with excitement and anticipation.

Ethan doesn’t make any moves. His eyes float and study every part of her face, taking in every detail that he can see in the mostly dark room.

Very hesitantly, she throws a leg over one of his thighs and she straddles his leg. Ethan pushes her hair behind her ear and cups her jaw.

The entire time, they hold each other’s eyes. The tips of their noses touch every time Ethan moves in then backs away like he’s unsure.

“Do something,” she whispers, desperate. Her hands rest on his chest. “Ethan. Kiss me.”

He wastes no time.

Ethan sits up and wraps his arms around her waist to pull her closer to him. He crashes his lips to hers like he’s done holding back. She leans into him and deepens the kiss, pushing him back until he’s sitting up against the headboard.

The movie is soon forgotten about behind her. All she can hear is her own heart pounding in her ears. She no longer had any idea of what is going on behind her because she’s so focused on what’s in front of her.

She feels Ethan’s hands slither up the back of the jersey she’s still wearing. She never took it off and switched to a pair of black Lululemon shorts after she took off her leggings. A smile forms on Ethan’s lips when he realizes that she still has on his jersey.

Ethan’s fingers run up and down her back at the same time hers find their way under Ethan’s Michigan hockey t-shirt. She presses her fingers into his abs and sighs. All she has wanted to do since Ethan built up the muscles he has now is touch them.

Now she can.

“Take it off,” Ethan mumbles into a kiss as he pulls at the jersey. “I love seeing you in it but it needs to come off right now."

She reaches down between them and pulls the jersey over her head, breaking the kiss in the process. When she gets the jersey off, she sees Ethan’s eyes are on her body. She bites her bottom lip and grabs the bottom of Ethan’s shirt.

Might as well get it off now before they get distracted again.

Ethan gets the cue and sits up. She pulls the thin fabric off of him and tosses it to the floor with the jersey. Her eyes meet his and she finds a hunger in them that she's never seen before.

Friends definitely don't look at friends that way so something is changing between them. Goosebumps form on her exposed skin as she realizes that this could be the beginning of something new. Their whole relationship is changing with every second and every touch.

He cups her jaw with both his hands and runs his thumbs over her cheekbones.

"You have no idea how much I've wanted you like this," Ethan softly confesses, looking between her eyes.

"I think I have an idea," she whispers as she leans in to connect their lips again.

Their lips make contact with each other and she presses her chest flush against his. In the process, she rolls her hips and grinds her clothed core on his thigh. She gasps at the pressure and Ethan's hands fly to her waist.

She tries it again and lets out a soft whine. She's surprised at how good it feels. Ethan smiles into the kiss as she begins to use his thigh to get off.

It makes sense to her that she would like this. She was just thinking about his thighs earlier when he was getting dressed.

The kiss breaks and she rests her forehead against Ethan's. Soft pants pass her swollen lips and Ethan smiles. "Gonna use my thigh to come?" he asks. "You gonna get off using my thigh, baby?"

"Mhm," she hums. "Feels good. Kind of in love with your thighs, E."

He laughs and helps her move her hips.

She can feel how muscular his thighs are through her shorts and his sweatpants. Just like she thought earlier - his thighs are insane.

A knot already forms in the pit of her belly. Her breathing has gotten very labored and she claws at Ethan's chest, definitely leaving behind some scratch marks he'll get teased for later by his teammates.

"Ethan," she breathes out. "Fuck."

He presses kisses to her jaw. "I got you," he tells her. "Go ahead. Come."

Almost like she was waiting for his permission, she comes with a cry. She ruins her panties and probably her shorts at the same time. Her fingers find Ethan's hair and she lightly grips his locks because she needs something to hold onto.

Ethan peppers her jaw and cheek with light kisses as she lays her head on his shoulder while she comes down from her high. He lightly brushes her hair out of her face and she hums a little "thank you".

"Feel better?" he asks. "Got it out of your system?"

She rolls her eyes and lifts her head as soon as she has enough strength to. "For now," she retorts. "Right now though, I need you to get inside of me because it's all I've been thinking about for years."

He smiles and quickly rolls them over so she's on her back. "Your wish is my command," he says as he hooks his fingers into the waistband of her ruined shorts and panties. "Hope you don't need to walk in the morning."

Her eyes widen as he pulls off the shorts and panties in one go. She lifts her hips off the bed to help him out. She's completely exposed to him now since she went without a bra under the jersey. She crosses her arms over her chest.

Ethan is quick to grab her hands and uncover her body. "Don't hide from me, baby," he tells her. "You're beautiful. I've always thought you were beautiful. You never have to hide from me."

She nods and Ethan gets on his knees between her legs. She watches as he pushes off his boxers and sweats. His dick pops out of his boxers and she bites her bottom lip.

Yeah, she’s not going to be able to walk in the morning. It really is a good thing she doesn’t have to go anywhere.

He leans over and reaches into his bedside table. He had a tiny silver package between his fingers when he comes back to hover over her.

“I need to make sure you are absolutely okay with this,” he says. “You aren’t going to regret this or anything like that. I don’t want you to think that I’m pressuring you-”

“Ethan, if you don’t fuck me in the next two seconds, I am going to get up and go find someone who will,” she interrupts.

His eyes darken when he makes the comment about going to find someone that will fuck her. “Oh hell no,” he mumbles before he tears the condom package open with his teeth. She smiles as he slides the condom onto himself.

Her fingers find a home in Ethan’s hair when he leans over her. She holds his locks from falling into his face since he does have longer hair. He lines himself up with her and meets her eyes. “I trust you, E,” she tells him. “I have always trusted you.” I love you.

With her reassurance, Ethan slowly pushes into her. She gasps and bites her lip. “Fuck, (Y/N),” he breathes out. “So tight. God.”

Being tired of hearing him talk, she leans up and presses her lips to his. She wraps her arms around his neck as he bottoms out in her. Ethan presses his hands into the pillows on either side of her head so he doesn’t crush her.

She rolls her hips so she feels Ethan move inside of her. A soft sigh passes her lips into the kiss. Ethan leans into her and deepens the kiss. Her fingers drag down his back as he finally begins to roll his hips so he moves in and out of her.

The sound of soft whines and moans fill the room until the sound of the bed creaking follows when Ethan speeds up his movements. She breaks the kiss and arches her back off the bed and Ethan kisses her chest.

“Such a good girl for me,” Ethan pants. “Making these pretty noises. Does my cock feel good inside you, baby?”

“S’ good,” she breathes out. “Feels so good, E. You make me feel so good. Fuck.”

He smiles against her skin. He pushes one of her legs up and lets it hook around his arm, and he’s able to move even deeper inside of her. She cries out in pleasure and her head begins to spin.

It’s been years since she realized that she was in love with her best friend. He is all she has wanted since they went to prom together in their senior year of high school.

Even if he doesn’t love her, the fact that he is on top of her means that he has to feel something for her.

Right?

This is a welcomed change in their relationship. Going from friends to this is welcomed.

Her legs begin to shake as her second orgasm of the night starts to build in her belly. Ethan changes his pace every so often but continuously moves deep into her so he’s completely inside of her.

She’s pretty sure her breasts are marked up because of the way Ethan keeps nipping and sucking at the skin. It doesn’t bother her.

Getting marked by Ethan is never going to bother her.

Ethan pulls out then slams into her. “Holy fuck,” she cries out. “Shit, E.”

“Just wanna make my girl feel good,” Ethan pants.

He does it again and she clenches around him. She comes without warning and with Ethan’s name on her lips. Her entire body shakes and her vision goes white.

It’s probably the hardest she has ever come in her life. No one has made her feel as good as Ethan has.

It must be a minute before she comes to because he has a cloth in his hand and is cleaning her up. Her breathing is extremely labored and her entire body feels heavy. He tosses the cloth to the floor with their clothes and she looks at the TV.

‘Are you still watching’ lights up the screen and she can’t help but smile at the realization of what just happened.

Ethan pulls the blankets over their naked bodies and asks, “What’s with the smile?”

She looks up at him and says, “I really liked it. I liked being able to touch and kiss you.”

“So, what I’m hearing is that you wouldn’t mind doing it again?” he questions.

“Absolutely not.”

A loud knock rings out throughout the room and Luca is on the other side as he says, “Walls are thin! I don’t feel like buying ear plugs so please keep it down! Also, it’s about damn time.”

She covers her mouth and laughs. Ethan rolls his eyes and gets comfortable. “I need to move out and get my own place.”

“I second that.”

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[kayakima]

IM BACK WITH MORE HEADCANONS

What the 104th Cadet Corps keeps for pets (or not)

(Plus bonus Porco and Pieck)

Eren: Unfortunately developed SEVERE allergies to anything with dander when he was younger, to the point where if he visits a friend with a pet, they have to put them in a separate room and vacuum and disinfect before he comes over. Yes he still aggressively loves dogs, yes he feels terrible about it. Mikasa started getting him plants so he feels like he still gets to care for a creature and he gets wildly protective over his carnivorous plants (they all have names and his favorite is his pitcher plant named Lucifer). Tried a cockatiel but it was WAY too loud and messy for him so he re-homed it to Hange.

Mikasa: Mikasa is a plant mom through and through. Since Eren is allergic to pets, she decides that the only logical response to that predicament is to turn their apartment into a jungle. They have over 50 plants and her favorite is her variegated Thai Constellation monstera that she’s raised for eight years and is taller than Eren. It’s her prized possession and her name is Artemis. Worth several hundred dollars. One may gently caress her leaves in appreciation.

Armin: LOVES animals and happily rescues them off the streets to send to the humane society. He started with a lazy tuxedo cat named Binx but recently got very into fish keeping and has a half-moon betta named Leo. Freaks out when Mikasa gifts him a plant without researching if it’s toxic to pets (it never is and she knows this)

Annie: Didn’t originally like pets because she never had any as a kid but Binx grew on her and now they’re inseparable. One can find her constantly grooming him and complimenting his dashing formalwear. Lets him sleep in the bed with her.

Reiner: GUINEA PIGS!!!! He has a pair of piggies named Bonnie and Clyde and he lets them crawl on top of him when he’s home alone. He likes how quiet and cuddly they are with him and they give him something to love and take care of, as well as a sense of uniqueness because they’re a bit less common than dogs or cats and guests love to meet them. Mikasa is obsessed with them and Eren fights his allergies like his life depends on it to be around them.

Bertholdt: Has a poodle named Pixie that serves as his emotional support pet. She’s very quiet and friendly and everyone teases Bert because Pixie looks just as lanky as he does. Jean mentions that the rumors are true that pet owners look like their pets and Bert fully agrees. Pixie loves the park and knows a ton of tricks. She can play tug of war like nobody’s business and weirdly always smells like lavender.

Historia: Has a bunny that Ymir tolerates. The bunny doesn’t care to be handled and so Historia prefers to tell people “Stella prefers to be observed and worshipped.” She emphasizes her disdain for people who get bunnies as Easter gifts. Likes dogs and would like a Border Collie someday but doesn’t want Stella to feel replaced or be in any danger.

Ymir: Does not have pets. Doesn’t really like pets because the commitment is exhausting. Cannot keep plants alive if the world depended on it after Mikasa tried several times with beginner-level plants. OCCASIONALLY cleans Stella’s cage when Historia is busy but generally leaves her to do it because she’s so particular. Would never admit that she does enjoy the sound of Stella eating hay every once in a while.

Marco: Used to have a mutt as a kid but it passed away and he had a really hard time dealing with it and hasn’t had any desire to get another dog. Has a little gerbil though named Herbie and he lets him run around on his stuff in his bedroom.

Jean: Has a Blue Heeler named Max that he would take a bullet for. Takes Max to the park to play with Pixie and swore up and down that he didn’t like cats until this pitiful little tuxedo-tabby kitten showed up in the dumpster behind his apartment that melted his heart within seconds. He named her Bojangle (Boji for short) because he found her eating scraps of chicken out of a Bojangle’s takeout container. Boji and Max became inseparable after a couple of months and sleep together in the living room on a heated pet bed.

Connie: Has a bearded dragon named Drogon, a Ball Python named Jörmugand, and a Tarantula named Shelob. Everyone likes the lizard and snake but everyone’s scared of Shelob, even Pieck is only comfortable watching her through her enclosure. Connie always asks if people want to feed Drogon his mealworms and Sasha, though she participates, told Connie that he CANNOT be buying roaches for the thing and that mealworms and crickets are objectively less disgusting.

Sasha: Has an ancient Cavalier in her apartment named Cookie and her parents have two horses, with her own pinto mare named Macaroni that she grew up riding. When Sasha and Jean and Connie come to visit the farm, Cookie and Max have the time of their lives bothering the horses, as well as the barn cat, Dolly, and her four kittens. Her parents also have a donkey, two goats, six chickens, three ducks, and a singular goose that tries and fails to fit in. Sasha’s got a whole petting zoo when she’s not living in the city and everyone swings by for the annual Fourth of July bonfire.

Pieck: Took Mikasa’s jungle inspiration to a new level and made a miniature terrarium of rare rainforest plants where she houses two White Tree Frogs named Cha-Cha and Bugs. Boji sits and watches the frogs all the time and likes to sniff them if Pieck takes them out of their enclosure. Max, however, was banned from getting anywhere near the tank.

Porco: Keeps a geriatric Labrador named Mollie that sleeps all day, is half-blind, and everyone is secretly wondering when she’ll cross the rainbow bridge because Porco is well into his 20’s now and that dog has been around since he was seven. He plays with her in the park and hypes her up like she just won the Purina dog show Fetch Competition even though it takes her four minutes to return the tennis ball he tossed twenty feet away.

[headfullof-ideas]

Rivalries (at least ones that aren’t in the pre-existing lore, Ala Viggo and riders, Alpheus and Ant, so on and so forth…)

I genuinely don’t really see Snotlout and Alpheus getting along. Their personalities clash too much, and Snotlout just gets beef with anyone new in this story, due to trying to protect the other riders. Alpheus being a little pompous and cocky and ‘so this is the brainless muscle-head?’ Upon first meeting didn’t really help either. Lots of petty pranks and fights between these two, with poor Ant playing mediator, albeit reluctantly due to not knowing Alpheus too well himself, he just knows Snotlout. Honestly I’m not sure about Alpheus and Dagur either, i don’t know if Alpheus would play nice with someone named Deranged, though I do see Dagur enjoying messing with him, but that’s neither here nor there-

Kaiko and Viggo have had beef for longer than Fontaine has been alive, so Viggo starts sweating when he realizes that Ant is Kaikos kid. She also scares him a little bit…or a lot a bit. Assassination attempts have been had, on both sides. As well as petty smack downs with whatever they can get their hands on. Like the drawing above, where little-sibling-extraordinaire Viggo (not to be confused to these two being siblings, just that their fights can resemble sibling fights sometimes) is utterly losing.

Camicazi and Mad Madeline are a case of thief meets thief, but Madeline is better at it than Camicazi, with the additional bonus of being a sea-faring pirate, and also being nearly five to six years younger than Camicazi. And Camicazi HATES someone being better at something than she is, especially something she insists on being so good at. So naturally they clash. Maddie spends most of it just messing with Camicazi, much to the older girls infuriation.

I would like to clarify that Astrid and Fontaine’s rivalry has nothing to do with race, though Astrid has never really interacted with a person of color due to the overall whiteness of the Archipelago, Ant being the only person with darker skin she’s ever met till she leaves the Archipelago. No, it’s because they’re both stubborn, Astrid hates being called out on her not-so-great actions, and being held responsible for those actions, and Fontaine loves pointing this out and poking the metaphorical sleeping bear that is an easy-to-piss-off Astrid Hofferson. There may be a bit of petty grudge-holding due to what Fontaine has heard about stuff that happened between Astrid and Ant too, which also pisses Astrid off. Fontaine has the same flaw of being incapable of acknowledging her own mistakes though, so Astrid makes plenty of jabs in her direction too with the same effectiveness.

Heather is obsessed with Kari’s dragon Ardyn, and Kari is mad about the time she straight up tried to run off with Ardyn. This is probably the pettiest of rivalries here, next to Camicazi and Madeline anyways. Heather pretty much just pulled an Alpheus and started having beef with a thirteen year old for no real reason beyond spite and petty rage. Granted, little Kari is a menace who is not above biting, and has bitten Heather, so there’s some of a reasonable grudge there. (Especially not helped by Heathers older brother teaching the little brat how to shoot a crossbow-) It’s hard to feel justified venting to someone about it though when you’re reminded you’re getting into squabbles with a tweenager a head and a half shorter than you who hasn’t even started puberty yet. Heather’s younger than Alpheus is in the show, so it’s a little less embarrassing when she loses, especially when it’s over something wildly different

These are the ones I can think of, and I’ve got doodles i want to draw to further elaborate on these dynamics, that might not come to light in the actual story itself. I dunno yet, we’ll see. I’m juggling a couple of things irl at the moment, so new stuff might be a bit scarce, but i’m hoping to send chapter three to my beta in a few days! So hopefully chapter three comes out sometime in the next few weeks

[sad-scarred-sassy]

So yesterday I saw one E/riel post (I have them filtered out but somehow that one slipped my ward) and it was about how Nesta somehow knows Azriel is “in love” with Elain because she tells him she knows why he doesn’t go near the fireplace in ACOSF.

When literally who is described to be near the fireplace?

Now. I know Azriel was actually referring to Elain and Lucien’s mating bond (and we will come back to that in a second) but Nesta doesn’t know that, she has no way of knowing he feels that way towards the bond. Not even his own brothers know until Rhys catches him having those horny thoughts about Elain and almost kissing her.

And Azriel never talks about Mor, thats why she says his secret, not because its actually a secret. But I know that even though Nesta may not be aware, I agree that this could be a wink at his bonus chapter that is set to happen that same night.

So I wanna thank the elriel creator for making me read this scene because I think it ties up with what I believe about Azriel’s problem with Lucien.

(And also, I love how Azriel says the flame 🔥 and we know he is referring to the bond between Elain and Lucien. Is this foreshadowing of what we will get with Elucien? I will bet 😙)

The “fire” is mentioned a lot here as being what he cannot stand. Azriel mentions it explicitly saying “My shadows don’t like the flames” and my mind was blown. This symbolism just screams to me as a foreshadow of how they may behave in the future, but it also confirms to me how the fire is representing Elain’s bond with Lucien, as we know this is what is actually keeping him away in this setting. But the bond is not exactly the problem, at least not the whole problem.

I believe Azriel’s problem with the Elucien bond comes from his insecurity around Lucien taking his “place”, its not about Elain at all.

He does not understand why his two brothers got their mates and “the third” did not naturally go to him. This in itself is separating him from Rhys and Cassian.

Azriel is feeling like he’s being replaced in his own home and even in his duties. Lucien is somehow fitting in with the IC (more than before at least) and Azriel is threatened.

What little we know about Az is that he needs to feel needed, his self worth comes from being the savior, the protector. We see this time and time again and it is worsened by how he sees Elain as someone to be protected all the time. We see him suddenly wanting to be the one who protects her when he notices Lucien worrying about her in ACOWAR and he shuts him off.

He is undeniably loyal to his duties and needs to feel seen as a useful member of his court as well. Lucien is in his eyes also taking that away from him by being their direct connection to the human lands and a big part of Prythian, playing the spymaster and emissary, bringing crucial information, something that once was entirely Azriel’s job.

And now he also goes along with his family. He’s even got what Az has always wanted, he was given his bond. So of course he is channeling this threat into his mating bond with Elain, the only thing Azriel still holds over Lucien.

I think all the clues are there, and the way Azriel’s whole focus is on the mating bond and not actually Elain.

He even thinks about how she gifted him two things and nothing to Lucien, to her mate. He doesn’t think about how it made him feel beyond the arrogance that he is the object of her affections and not her own mate.

He is using Elain as his last straw at validation, if Elain is choosing to give him gifts and not Lucien, then he hasn’t taken everything away from him, if she wants to kiss him instead of her mate, then he may be worthy still.

So, my point here can be summarized to this:

“My shadows dont like the flames so much”

Shadows = Himself.

Flames = Lucien.

This jealousy is actually his secret, not Elain, not Mor.

Yes, he is referring to the bond, but his problem is actually with Lucien. The symbols are there.

“the flame, the surprising dominance within it” - Cassian speaking about Lucien’s inner power.

Anyway I’m convinced Azriel is not in love with Elain, but he is threatened by the flaming hot red head with one eye and broad shoulders that happens to be her mate, and I can’t blame him.

[gaefandomlover]

1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 10, if that's okay?

Of course, it's okay!! - you literally just made my day! - A lot of these: the ones not published need major editing but I hope you enjoy!

Original Post

—

I Will Be By Your Side Theo hadn’t realized he’d been subconsciously watching Liam this whole time until their eyes met, and Liam blushed. Theo moved his head away from Liam’s gaze sheepishly but couldn’t help but draw his eyes back to him.

“What is it? Do I have something on my face?” Liam asked,

“No, you’re good. I think the bond is trying to pull us closer.”

“Really? How so?”

“Every time I look away, my eyes can’t help but fall back on you.”

Liam blushed for a moment before gathering his thoughts. We're Singing Louder Than Ever

“How about Spraystian,” Michael suggested, Dylan groaned, hiding his face in his hands. He couldn’t believe his friends were coming up with ship names when he had just met Cody yesterday.

Khylin grimaced and shook his head, “How about Spraybistian?” he suggested,

Michael and Froy weighed the name but then shook their heads.

“Christberry?” Froy suggested,

Dylan sat up when a thought ran through his mind. "Chrisberry." He liked the sound of it for some reason.

“How about Chrisberry?” Dylan suggested before he could stop himself,

Michael, Khylin, and Froy looked at him and then smiled. Dylan knew it was too late to take it back now.

Hero/Villain Prompt - (Thiam) AU The Chimera is no ordinary villain, he’s a part of the notorious group called The Dread Doctors. He was taken in by them at the age of nine and manipulated into being their perfect villain; it became all he knew. He’s only known as The Chimera, he hasn’t heard his real name in years. As he sat against the wall of his cell. He had been in there for a few days, starved for all the mistakes he’d made on his jobs. Punishment for failing a job for The Dread Doctors was equivalent to solitary confinement with the added bonus of being starved for any number of days.

But if you fail multiple, the punishment is worse. You can either be beaten, exiled, tortured to death, or even all of the above. The Chimera expected the worst since he’s been here the longest. As he sat in the cell with the only noise coming from his growling stomach and the sound from the nearby pipes, he curled into himself hugging his knees.

Mike Fukanaga/Flint Forester Standing there was Flint Forester, bloodied and bruised, his face a mask of terror.

“Please,” he choked out, “Please help me. You can do whatever you want—I don't care—just protect me from them.”

Mike’s mind swirled with emotions—confusion, concern, and skepticism. He and Flint weren’t exactly friends; they were more like frenemies. So why was Flint here? Mike considered slamming the door in Flint’s face but knew Amanda would scold him for not helping...

I'd Kiss You with People Watching - Jasher (Dialogue)

“That was only part one,” Jordan replied,

“How many parts are there?” Asher asked,

“That’s a secret.” Jordan smirked, “But I can give you a hint if you want.”

Asher tilted his head curiously as he nodded.

“It’s enough to keep you from doing anything all day.”

Asher blushed, “That sounds like a lot.”

“Maybe, but it’s more than enough to keep you from doing anything. Just relax and let me take care of you.” Jordan replied

“What are you going to do if I don’t?” Asher asked,

Jordan smirked, “I’ll find something to keep you relaxed.”

Nerd/Jock - Jasher Surprisingly I don't have much - actually anything but the summary LMAO

Asher wasn’t really popular as far as friends go In Beverly Hills. He mainly kept to himself until students started realizing that he was smart and wanted him to do their homework or at least do the framework of it. It got to the point that Asher started charging a small fee. He tried to avoid the jocks for the potential fear of being bullied. Then there was Jordan Baker, QB of the Beverly Eagles. He is well known because his dad is Billy Baker. This will have Elements of Spousal & Son Abuse from Asher's Dad, Bullying, and Homophobia

Sthiam - (Stiles/Liam/Theo)

You're in luck I just wrote something for this from another ask! So I'm going to continue from where I left off... -- Theo missed the way Stiles's eyes lingered on him when he was told what he had missed and who had remembered him while he was gone. Theo missed how since then Stiles's eyes focused on the details of Theo's complexion, like how Theo's addicting green eyes were dull, and how Theo's shoulders appeared to have thousands of pounds worth of baggage that he believed didn't need to be there.

Stiles paid extra attention to Theo, but not because he was suspicious of him - far from it. It was because He was starting to see the old Theo, the one he knew when they were kids. Stiles couldn't stop the guilt, for what the pack had done. While, Skinwalker prison was the best thing for Theo at the time, looking at the shell of the chimera made his heart ache and his magic glow with the urge to protect Theo from the horrors that have haunted his mind.

Meanwhile, Liam focused on the little things, like the way Theo's hair blew in the wind or how his eyes illuminated as the sun set over the preserve on patrol. Liam also noticed how tired Theo had been but always told people he was fine.

Liam knows he's lying, as he's seen it before in the hospital. He saw Theo frozen as he stared at the empty hallway like he was waiting for something - someone to crawl up to him. Liam never said anything because a part of him secretly hoped Theo would be the one who said something first.

[britcision]

I mean hear me out: we like a “things work out for Danny AU”

I like a “chaos reigns AU”

Danny declares a dramatic “well FUCK YOU I’m going on vacation!”

The other ghosts, whose primary motivation for wrecking shop is to throw down with Phantom more than half the time… no longer have that motivation

Amity Park quiets down for months

The Box Ghost is still wandering through and unleashing temporary boxy mayhem, but Val’s got this on lock. She can handle him any day of the week, twice on Sundays

No Skulker, no Johnny and Kitty, no Cujo, no Plasmius, no Youngblood or Spectra coming through

This is the most normal the city has been in years

(Mayor Vlad Masters hasn’t been seen in a while because he’s in preemptive soup time out but that’s fine there’s no disasters to need a mayor)

Danny, on his way to Io with Dani, doesn’t know to care except that occasionally Skulker is still showing up in space to try and hunt him and will tell him how Val’s doing

The Justice League aren’t sure why everything is so quiet, but they’re so proud of new member Red Huntress who is holding it together So Well. So Well she deserves a break and a retreat with the Teen Titans to bond with other young heroes!

Red Huntress, who knows full fucking well she did not do anything to scare anyone off, is suspicious as shit

Phantom left her a communicator to call if she needs him (whether they’re officially allies or not) but this much quiet? This can only mean one thing

Cuz see… the usual rogue’s gallery show up to fuck with Danny specifically. He staked a claim over the whole city that basically said “come on if you think you’re hard enough” and has been throwing down since

(And ghost socialization is all about punch punch anyway they’re just being polite by raising the stakes)

You know who doesn’t show up to fuck with just Danny, who tend to have their own plans and motivations?

The fucking heavy squad

Vortex sneaks back in

Or Undergrowth makes another go at a green makeover since the mayor’s gone

Or Nocturn decides that really this Teen Titans meet and greet should really really really be a slumber party

Or, worst of all for the JL, Clockwork decides they’ve had enough fun and it’s time they appreciate just what Danny was doing for them

And suddenly Val’s going from wrangling occasional ectopusses and Boxy to a world ending level event and when the hell did a ghost get this strong, this one came by once before and it wasn’t this bad, what changed???

Did someone else stop it last time???

Sam and Tucker are more than happy to scream “yea you fuckwits, PHANTOM DID”, with recorded evidence cuz they’ve been having a very annoying few months of people suddenly unsure if the League was right and it’s good Phantom left?

The full Justice League pile in to try and help and it’s escalating and escalating and JL Dark swan in to ask where the fuck the Protection spirit went, who fucked this up, and for once Constantine gets to be the one telling everyone else off

(Cuz yeah he didn’t read the update adding Amity Park to the roster but it’s a fucking Infinite Realms site, the regular league had no goddamn business trying to categorize it at all)

Val’s communicator is taking longer and longer to reach Danny because That’s How Physics And Space Travel Work, and they’ve gotten far enough now that Danny will hear they’re in trouble in about a week - way too late

So Constantine raids the Nasty Burger, slaps out the world’s ugliest summoning circle, and summons Danny directly back to remind him once more How Physics And Space Work Why The Hell Did You Use Electronic Communication

(Bonus points if Dani is left behind and has to come back on her own with Skulker for a vengeance tour)

Danny, still salty, asks why the hell the League is asking a rogue for help

Shazam gives him an intentionally awful “We’re Sorry Our Coworkers Suck” card that he made all of the regular Justice League sign while Constantine made burger monuments (it’s almost as tall as Danny)

Danny can appreciate the bit and also another secret magical girl

Kicks some ass and reminds the ghosts exactly why he’s the most fun to fuck around with

And then someone points out that they had basically no ghost attacks while Danny was gone, if he’s not a villain then what the hell?

(Someone else points out that Batman’s rogues also usually go quiet when he’s gone, fuckface, that’s actually really normal they tend to worry shit’s gonna hit the fan)

Danny learns for the first time in his not-life that the other ghosts all thought he was in on it this whole time and negotiates for a goddamn schedule and weekends off

Happily ever after, all solved, everyone goes home…

Just in time for Johnny and Kitty’s bi-monthly break up and hey that Red Robin kid was real cute

It’s not always only about bugging Danny

Danny’s gonna let Val handle them until the JL paperwork comes through though

I'd love to see a dpxdc story where the Justice League knows about Amity Park and the Ghosts the whole time, and does think the ghosts are rogues to be addressed. Doesn't agree with the GIW, maybe doesn't even know about them? THE IMPORTANT PART.

The Red Huntress is the only active vigilante in Amity Park, according to the JL. Phantom is marked as one of her rogues. Maybe the Fentons even are marked as rogues from all the property damages and random shooting/sliming of citizens. Valarie is the only person successfully taking care of the ghosts, masking and suiting up in the classic vigilante way the whole time.

[skyguywrites]

found this bio from 2021 that i made for ellie and just dropping it for if/when i decide to bring her back 👀

her face is gabriella wilde

her name is ellie! elizabeth smith!

she had a teen pregnancy w her high school sweetheart, was 18 when she gave birth and her kid is now 9!!!!!!!!!!! basically an adult x (shes 27)

nobody believes she’s the mother x lol

she married the dad (kyle) on her 19th bday and they stayed together for a p long time but he was abusive and awful and they got a divorce when she was 23 after 4 years, their kid was 5 and she has a restraining order against her ex

she hasn’t been on a single date in those four years, hasn’t kissed anyone, had sex, even entertained the idea of Talking to guys lmao. she doesn’t go out drinking and her whole world is honestly work and her child!!!!!!!!

she’s a teacher! she teaches ages between 3 - 11 so she’s literally around children all day every day and needs a break ngl x

she’s fiercely protective and just kind of mother’s everybody that she meets lol

has no concept of self worth x literally thinks so little of herself bc she was in such an abusive relationship during such formative years of her life?

terrified of ending up alone but terrified of actually putting herself out there 🤪

loves to knit and sew and crochet and gets made fun of bc all her hobbies are nerdy and old lady hobbies x

she’s got one of those chains you attach to your glasses so they hang around your neck like an old lady would :)

bonus info because this truly was the bare bones of a bio

reid is her best friend in the whole world and has been since childhood

she’s so close to both him and his mom and they were her rock throughout her teen years as well as her pregnancy

kyle was simply not present for the birth to their son but you bet reid and his mom were!

she lived with them for a large portion of her pregnancy because her parents are on the older side (they had her late in life) and they’re quite traditional and thought she should live with kyle

she and kyle got married as soon as dylan was born and she moved in with him

she was young and blind to how awful he was and just wanted to feel loved and protected (girl reid is right there)

she had a huge crush on reid when they were teens and he had no idea/she had no idea he felt the same and eventually kyle (his nemesis/popular kid in school) took her to prom and it all fell apart

as i write this i recognise it sounds like the plot of love rosie but it isn’t at all LMAO they’re nothing like them i swear

she’s the only bitch that gets away with calling reid by his first name bc she teases him for going by ‘mac’ and thinking he’s soooooo cool

dylan regularly calls reid ‘dad’ it’s a whole thing

dylan is also a menace to society and huge prankster courtesy of reid lmao

additionally she’s making reid’s life HELLLLLL currently bc she’s tired and a bit lonely and stressed and he’s constantly telling her to put herself out there and she’s like what if i did... platonically! with you! a safe space! and reid is probably hard as a rock and crying into his weetabix

at some point he’s gonna start helping her find Boyfriends and eligible men to date so throw your best most charming boys ellie’s way if you want in on some chaos!

[eddiebillysteve]

but what if billy became bob and joyce’s adoptive son, right. and bob teaches billy all about video cameras, much like he does jonathan/will.

except billy is a sex fiend and ✨ naturally ✨ has to film a sex tape with his secret bf, steve. and it’s like the hottest sex tape ever. he’s very proud of it. maybe they did it outside by steve’s pool and there was a whole moment of him coming out of the water soaking wet and gleaming but anyway that’s beside the point.

the issue is he doesn’t remember a whole lot about the tapes itself and? he winds up breaking the camera and the video tape somehow while trying to get the tape out so he goes to bob all nervous like ‘hey, bob, can you help me fix this? i’m really sorry i don’t remember what to do’

long story short, bob catches the beginnings of the sex tape while trying to fix the tape and billy is in a huge panic bc neil was homophobic and would have beat the ever loving shit out of him for having a secret boyfriend, let alone filming them fucking (bonus points if billy’s bottoming in it)

but bob isn’t neil. bob chuckles and pats billy’s shoulder and says ‘be careful that doesn’t get into the wrong hands, bud. you’re being safe, right? because you know your mother’ll wind up buying one of every kind of condom and lubricant from Melvald’s if she hears otherwise. who is he, anyway? why hasn’t he been over for dinner yet?’

and billy just. cries. because bob is the nerdy, loving father he’s always dreamt about and he’d got a protective, fussy mother and he can be himself and he breaks down and tells bob about his sexuality and suppressing it and how horrible neil was and it ends with them hugging and bob telling him he’s safe and he never has to be anyone but his authentic self ever again (and then billy calls steve to invite him to go to a ball game with him, bob and will on saturday. triple bonus points if steve is introduced as his bf and will breaks down before they even get in the car because if billy is gay and billy is like, the coolest person ever, being gay must be okay and he’s okay)

anyways i love bob bye

[c-is-for-circinate]

As promised: let's talk Hades, and how acts of abuse can create toxic environments for everyone around them, and also how people react to those environments--and to them being disrupted.

(For reference, I have just kicked Theseus's ass for the first time, it was exactly as satisfying as it was intended to be, and then I got predictably slaughtered a couple of chambers into Styx. Spoilers for everything through that point, but please no spoilers in reblogs/comments for anything after that!) Also, TW for a whole lot of discussion of abuse, particularly verbal and emotional abuse, and abusive familyworkplace dynamics.

Okay, so. To start out with, Hades is an abusive parent. He engages in innumerable acts of verbal and emotional abuse towards his son, because yep, that's what you call it when a parent constantly berates and belittles their kid for every perceived failure, including the ones the parent themselves could have prevented. Sometimes especially the ones the parent could have prevented. Zagreus failed at his office clerk job because Hades refused to teach him how to do it and then blamed him for not already knowing how. Cerberus tore up the lounge because Hades, who was actually there, chose not to stop him. Hades created, possibly deliberately, and then took full advantage of every opportunity he saw to insult and demean his kid, and the clerk job flashback shows us that he was doing so even before the escape attempts started. I'm pretty sure we're all on the same page here, but: yep, that all constitutes abuse, even if they're gods. Even if Hades has reasons for Being Like That. Even if you think Zagreus seems okay and unharmed by it (which: repeatedly throwing yourself into a gauntlet of violence that inevitably ends in your own pain and death because you're so desperate to escape home, not actually an indicator of someone who's okay). We all good on that?

Cool. Because I'm not really here to talk about how Hades' abuse directly impacts Zagreus right now (although there's for sure an essay in that too). I'm thinking about how it impacts everybody else.

Hades isn't as obviously unreasonable with anybody else in his kingdom the way he is with his kid. When we see him lecture somebody else, it's usually for an actual failure to do their job: Hypnos for literally falling asleep on the job and not doing anything that was assigned to him, Megaera for letting us past her so many time, Orpheus for being a court bard who refuses to sing. His attitude is super confrontational and unpleasant, but on the surface it doesn't necessarily look as fucked-up. Thing is, though, whether any individual act of aggression towards an employee/family member is justified or not (I would generally argue 'not', because aggression towards employees/family members is, y'know, not justifiable)--it's not about the individual acts. It's about the entire cultivated atmosphere of toxicity and abuse.

One of the very first things Meg ever says to us is, "I'd rather be on your bad side than his." Up until that point, we've got no reason to believe Meg has any history whatsoever of fucking up at her job. In fact, we've got plenty of reason to believe she's good at it. She's fiercely proud of it, she's frequently Employee Of The [Time Period], and we've apparently never even met her sisters because she handles her shit herself. But she's still scared of Hades. Dusa, who is an anxious wreck at all times because oh god what if she gets fired what if she gets fired what if she gets fired, in spite of apparently being absolutely exemplary at her job, is scared of Hades. Every single shade in the Hall is clearly terrified of Hades, and it's not because of what he's done to each of them. It's what they've seen him do to other people.

Which is how toxic environments work, whether they're work environments or families. The Court of Hades is of course both, always, with the bonus hell layer of you can't quit even if you DIE. An abuser in authority doesn't have to target you in order to make you feel scared, cowed, and desperate to please them. Humans (and gods who are basically extra-powerful humans) are good at learning by example. The residents of the Court get the picture.

So this Court is a minefield--and everyone except Zagreus is very good at tiptoeing around mines. We see it in Meg, so desperate to do her job well. We see that Hypnos very clearly does not give a shit about anything, but he still makes sure to have a list of excuses ready if/when Hades ever confronts him about failure to do his job, just in case. We see it when Achilles tells us that my ability to help you is constrained by the authority your father gives me, or whatever the line was sixty runs ago when he couldn't let me into locked chambers. The system, such as it is, works, and if Nyx talks to Hades as little as possible, if Thanatos avoids the Court entirely, if Achilles treads very carefully and knows how to keep his head down--well that's just the system, right? That's just how things are.

Even Zagreus seems to have had a role in that system as the court fuckup. He's the kid who didn't have a real job or purpose. He could take the focus of Hades' generalized, day-to-day ire off of everyone else, without triggering some of the more direct and violent ire because the work he was doing didn't really matter (a LOT of Hades' rage-triggers seem to be related to job performance, which means that the people with real jobs are of course the most at risk). And he could do so "safely" (big emphasis on the quotation marks there) because he alone of the court is Hades' actual kid, who's Prince of the Underworld no matter how much he fucks up. If one of Nyx's other kids gets something really really wrong, she might be able to protect them from some consequences, but Hades doesn't have any layer of supposed parental affection holding him back from getting violently furious about it. Zagreus gets a nice bedroom and the abuse is limited to words rather than divine power, and Hades is a dick to everyone but he only occasionally condemns people to eternities of torture, and only for good reasons like refusing to sing when your job is to be court bard, so it's fine, everybody's fine, everything's totally fine, right?

Except it's not fine when everybody is so clearly worried about anything going wrong. And it's especially not fine for Zagreus, who's the person to finally say no. He's leaving, for his own sake, because he deserves better and he's finally convinced he can have it. And that turns the whole system into disarray.

I am endlessly fascinated by the ways this game portrays different characters reacting to this upheaval in their carefully-mapped minefield. It's different for authority figures and peers and servants, different based on how people are positioned in the house under Hades' rule, and it's so spot-on and I love it.

Nyx, for instance, is absolutely calm about the whole thing, because Nyx has power. Hades can't hurt her. Hades can't even really do much against her children, not when Hypnos and Thanatos are gods in their own right. Yes, Hades rules the kingdom, but Nyx owns the land, and she gives no shits about his rages. And it's interesting, too, to see the lines she doesn't draw. The deal seems to be that Hades doesn't fuck with her, and doesn't outright threaten her kids (because Hypnos is bad at his job, demonstrably so, and Hades hasn't ruined him yet), and she doesn't interfere with the way he treats the people around him. She gives Zagreus advice and support and the mirror, but she also doesn't take a direct stand against Hades. He can't hurt her, but he could make life...difficult. She's protected, her position in the minefield is more of a safe viewing platform than slogging through the middle of it, but the mines are still there.

And then we have Achilles, who is one of my favorite characters in the whole game because of how he reacts to this whole situation. Achilles, like Nyx, is so supportive. Every single time you see him he has something encouraging to say. He gives us his Codex, secretly finds us weapons, trained us for years, clearly wants us to succeed. And still he's limited, not necessarily out of fear for himself (though he has to be scared for himself, he knows what Hades does to people who anger him), but out of concern that if he gives Zagreus too much help in one way, he won't be able to provide help at all later. He's still so careful.

Achilles and Nyx are so fucking important to this story because they're the only authority figures Zagreus really has in his life except for his father, and they are so supportive. They're what keep this story from being a nightmare of psychological horror and depression. They can't stop the pressure from Hades and this life in his house being miserable for Zag, but they can give us hope, remind us that Zagreus is still loved. And they have such an incredibly important role when it comes to guilt, which is one of the biggest ways toxic systems maintain themselves.

If Zagreus leaves, what happens to everybody else? Who takes Hades' wrath then? Who becomes court scapegoat if he's not there, and also, who gets punished for his escape? These questions matter, and we see him worry about it! He asks Nyx and Achilles both, is it going to be okay that you're helping me, are you going to be alright, will my father hurt you for this? And they are both so firm about telling him no. No, I will be fine. See, here's the list of reasons about why I'm going to be fine, why my position in this minefield is secure. They make a point of telling us that it's fine, that we do not need to hold ourself back from getting out of this abusive situation for their sake. That is instrumental in Zagreus's ability to keep making these escape attempts without feeling too guilty and worried and selfish to go on. (Another thing that's actually really important in setting up that dynamic--we see that Hades cares about Cerberus, even if he's using him as a pawn against us, and Cerberus seems to be the one figure in court who Hades doesn't get mad at. The dog isn't at risk, and that is really essential in keeping the story from getting too grim.) These people who we care about refuse to let themselves be held hostage to secure our good behavior.

It's also really useful for raising the stakes later in the story--we see Hades arguing with Nyx once or twice, and we see Zagreus feeling guilty about it, but it's also a sign that we're making enough progress to piss him off. After I finally made it out of Elysium on my last run, I came home to find him furious with Achilles in a way that actually makes me nervous, because Achilles does not have nearly as much security in his position as he says he does. (Achilles is such a good teacher/authority figure, because he knows goddamn well what Hades could do to him, and still refuses to let fear for his own situation stop him from helping the abused kid under his care escape his. And no, not everybody has the capacity to do that, but it matters so much coming from the guy who helped raise us. It matters so much. I do not even have the words for how much.)

It's also no mistake that many of the people we find supporting us along our journey are either the people with the most power in their immediate environment, or the least. Sisyphus helps us because what more could they do to me than this? Orpheus is a little wild around the eyes and somewhat disconnected from reality, and he wishes us the best because someone should get what they want and also he no longer gives a single fuck what happens to him. Eurydice has her own cozy little corner of Asphodel, as safe from Hades' rage as anybody anywhere in his realm because she's tucked in such an out-of-the-way middle place she's outside his notice. Dusa is so scared of everything anyway that, crush aside, she isn't any more threatened by us escaping than she is just by her everyday life here. Charon is unfathomable and unstoppable; Skelly literally exists to be a punching bag, and yet he also seems basically immune to pain, no matter what we do to him. There's no threat from Hades there.

So the people most at risk when I flip the world on its ear are the ones who have so much standing that they have something to lose, but not enough to protect them from losing it. Which of course brings us to Than and Meg--who are, of course, the two people who also seem by far the most upset by my attempts to leave.

As authority figures, Nyx and Achilles are constantly reinforcing the message that it's Hades' fault, not ours, if they or anybody else get caught in the crossfire of his wrath. I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing, and it's not my guilt to bear. From Megaera and Thanatos, we get the opposite message--I am fucking with things, I am hurting people, and I need to stop. Zagreus isn't just abandoning them, as a friend or brother or lover or all of the above they're Greek gods who even knows. He's betraying them. They were in this together, as friends or lovers or whatever, but now Zagreus is sending earthquakes through the minefield they both still have to stand in. He is about to capsize this boat in the middle of a thunderstorm, he is fucking with the system, and they're the ones who are going to get most hurt.

I'm so curious how this is going to work for Than, who out of everyone we meet holds the closest role to Nyx's in terms of being sheltered from Hades' wrath. He's the guy who gets to leave, after all, even though he always has to come back. I've seen the least of him out of anybody so far because it took forever for me to get to Elysium, but two things really stand out and I'm so interested to see where they go. One, he really genuinely does care about Zagreus. He wants us safe, he wants us unhurt, the accessory he gives us only grants its bonus if we clear a room without taking injury, he keeps showing up to help. And two, he wants us to give up and go back and recognize how good we had it. Which is SO fucking interesting, considering how miserable Zagreus so clearly was, and how legitimate his reasons for being miserable were.

It makes me wonder so much about Than's standards for comparison. Does he know something we don't about what's waiting for us on the surface, something that might theoretically hurt Zagreus even more than staying down below? Has his life, which apparently allows him more freedom than anybody else in the Court, sucked horribly in ways we haven't seen, and that's why he spends so little time there in the first place? Either of those things is plausible, both of those things are plausible, and yet either one leads to this sense of patronizing, because he refuses to simply tell us. If something terrible is awaiting us, don't give us vague warnings, tell us what it is and let us decide for ourself! If you're fucking jealous because we might get out entirely and you're still stuck coming back here, say so. If you're worried about your mom--and he does bring her up, how could Zagreus turn his back on her like that, does seem to worry for her--then let's have an actual conversation about how many times she has insisted I do this and also how much I love her.

And, right, it's clear that a lot of Thanatos being upset is simply, you were going to leave me without even saying goodbye, you want to leave ME, which is understandable! But, like, he is demonstrably the one god who gets to visit the surface. He's the one person we actually COULD expect to see again. And he is absolutely also upset because there's an Order To Things, and we're fucking it up. We used to be his careless callow reckless friend who could talk back to Hades and get away with it, and now we're not, and everything is changing and we might leave him altogether, and we might leave him alone in that court without us, and he hates it.

Is it a short-sighted, selfish fear on his part? Yes, absolutely. Even if he's not scared of Hades on his own behalf, he is still frightened by what happens if we upset this system--and maybe it's the sanctity of a much bigger system than the Underworld that he's worried about! Maybe it's the whole divine and cosmic order. Whatever system he wants so badly to protect is enabling the abuse Zagreus has been dealing with for however-long he's been alive. Whatever system he wants so badly to protect OUGHT to be overturned, or at least shaken up. But this is what toxic systems DO. They convince the people within them that they have to be maintained, that a broken system that hurts the people within it is far better than no system at all, that changing the world is too scary and too dangerous. And Thanatos wants his whatever-Zagreus-is-to-him to be there, because he loves him and also because that's how the world works, and those things are all tangled up in one another, and that is how relationships are in a messed-up family like this so therefore I love it.

And Meg. Meg, the best for last, my dear, beautiful, furious, bitter, scared angry tired girl. I adore her. I am absolutely never going to date her, because the thing Zagreus needs most in his life hurts her, more directly than anybody else in the story, and that sucks, and it's not Zag's fault but they still shouldn't be together. Meg has taken more injury from this situation than anyone, quite literally as well as metaphorically, and it's not her fault any more than it's ours, but oh boy it has made her lash out and it's awful and it's perfect.

Meg's place in the Court of Hades is unique because she's not dead, not a mortal, not anything other than a god--but she's also not family. Nyx is not her mother. She's very much part of this system, she and her two sisters belong to Hades-the-realm and therefore also Hades-the-king, she can't leave, but she also doesn't have that protection of Nyx watching out for her in the same way. She's not royalty. She and her sisters (if you ask Hesiod instead of Virgil, which seems to be the interpretation the game's going with here) sprang from the blood of maimed Uranus at the same time as Aphrodite, but fuck knows Aphrodite isn't claiming them as siblings. And she can't be fired, exactly, but she sure can be demoted, and she sure can be made miserable in her job. Meg is vulnerable in a way very few people in Hades' employ are. She's a lot harder to do away with than any one random shade, but she's also a lot harder to miss blending in with a crowd.

What's more, she's the one person in this whole mess who is specifically tasked with stopping us from leaving. Hypnos isn't ordered to put us to sleep and keep us in our room. Thanatos can't be compelled or punished if he doesn't hunt us down. Achilles isn't told to lock us up and keep the keys. Meg is the one stationed at the doorway to Tartarus to keep us in. Meg is the one who gets in trouble when we leave. Meg (who Hades knows goddamn well Zagreus cares for, or cared for, who he absolutely knows we used to date) is the one who has to fight us again and again and again. And she's the one who keeps dying.

Again, it's this incredibly fucked-up guilt/hostage situation deliberately designed to keep people from fleeing abusive situations. Meg's insistence on fighting us now puts Zagreus in the position of having to hurt her himself again and again. Now suddenly we're the ones sticking a sword in our ex-girlfriend. Now suddenly someone can point to our desire to leave, to flee, to escape, and say, how selfish. How cruel. How terrible of us to want to go, when we're even willing to hurt the people we love to do it.

Except, right: Hades is the one who demands Meg stand there and stop us. Hades is the one who puts both of us in that position. Meg is also in an abusive situation, and she's willing to hurt us to protect herself. "I'd rather be on your bad side than your father's." It's easy to blame her at the start for being complicit, for being a tool of our father's abuse, for being on his side. It gets harder as the game goes on. I've killed her so many times. There's no way for her to beat me. She knows at this point that she can't beat me. She still fights, every single time, still throws herself upon that spike, not because she thinks she has any chance of stopping me but because she is so damn scared of what will happen if she doesn't try.

In fact, Meg's the one person we have actually seen face consequences for our actions so far, instead of just facing the threat of them. Her sisters are here. Her sisters, who she clearly does not want here, who are wild and violent and who she does not want in her life or anywhere near her, let alone near the job she takes so much pride in. She gets to deal with them now. (Hades doesn't have to deal with them. They're still not allowed in his court. But Meg does.) She gets stabbed, and bludgeoned, and shot, and lightning-struck, and poisoned, and every other thing we do to her. Thanatos doesn't. Nyx and Achilles and Hypnos don't. Bug Meg? Oh yes. Meg pays.

And yes, ok, she is complicit in this system. Everybody is complicit in this system. Zagreus who's trying to escape on his own behalf instead of overthrowing his father for the sake of everyone he'd otherwise be leaving behind is complicit in this system. Pointing fingers and pulling strings of who's more at fault? and who do we blame for this? is exactly how this sort of system perpetuates itself. Your sister always talked back at the dinner table and put everyone in an even worse and more violent mood. Your coworker refuses to work more than forty hours a week so now you have to take overtime to pick up their slack. You're enabling your dad by asking your sister to shut up, you're enabling your employer by working as hard as you do so you don't get fired, everyone's at fault, everyone's to blame, everyone is--

It's not everyone. It's Hades. It's Hades at the root of everything, and probably something big and institutional and fucked-up even beyond him. But even if everyone down in this Underworld does have to be trapped here forever, even if he's trapped here forever, Hades is neither challenging the system that put them here nor trying to make that fate better for anyone else stuck with him. He's just created an entire kingdom of backbiting and misery and people who can either go along with his whims or suffer the consequences.

At this point in the game, Meg is so fucking tired. Every time we run into her in the lounge, hunched over a table, the venom in her voice when she tells us "Do I look like I have anything to say to you?" is so bitter and so exhausted. There was a system, and she knew her place in the system, and it was a system divinely ordered by the gods themselves, and sure it was cruel but that's the literal will of the universe as far as she knows it. She had a role, and her role was vengeance and punishment and violence against those who'd committed the most egregious of sins in life, and there was a point to it, she was the divine deterrent to convince people not to do those things, and that was just, and that was right. The GODS THEMSELVES said so. How do you argue with that? You can't possibly argue with that!

And Zagreus is arguing with that. In trying to leave, he's questioning the unbreakable rule that nothing in the Underworld ever gets to leave it. In disobeying his father to do so, he's questioning the unbreakable rule that what the gods say is LAW. He's breaking everything.

And of course he's not trying to do any of that. He's not trying to destabilize the system at all. He's just trying to get himself out of it, to a place where he feels like he belongs and maybe a parent who's slightly nicer to him than this one. But toxic systems like this one break when the people within them have access to another option. When the kids find a way to actually leave, and not answer the phone, and not come home for holidays, and not deal with it any more. When the employees have the economic freedom to quit. When opportunities granted by education, money, social support, etc etc etc, show up and give people a choice. Even if the option is only ever for Zagreus--he's demonstrating that an option exists. Which is, of course, the one thing the system cannot ever allow.

I really like this game.

[yjwhatif]

NOTES FOR YJ EPISODE 18… Spoiler

(I’m so late posting this but oh well )

First off that opening scene is really well done -I think its my favourite opening to an arc yet. There's so much depth in the character animation - you can see how the thoughts and emotions develop trough the characters body language as they react to the content of the scene. The best example of this is when Raquel tells Amistad No to finding his hat, there's a moment where he seems to accept - reluctantly - the decision by giving a small nod, but then you see his breathing increases as his anxiety and discomfort builds, which they results in the outburst. The behaviours depicted are all genuine reactions to the stimuli presented in the scene - the same goes for Raquel - you can see in her expressions how she goes from patient, to flustered, to frustrated, to assertive, to wary, to protective. There’s not a lot happening action wise - but there’s a lot being shown through the characters that will likely play a big role under the surface for Raquel as she navigates the plot.

I like that each arc starts by showing the focal characters when they're not heroring - it establishes that they are more than just the masks they wear - they have lives beyond their respective missions - lives that don't stop just because they have a lifesaving job they’re tasked with doing. It establishes that no matter how much they may speak or make reference to their civilian lives/personal situations out loud - those things still exist in their minds and will likely weigh heavily on the decisions they make - whether consciously or not. They are still someone outside of being the hero. They’re still people who feel and get distracted and can make the wrong decisions. They have their desires and they have their flaws - just like everybody else.

I do really feel for Raquel, it’s clear she’s struggling with the adaptations she needs to make to accommodate her sons autism - which I’m guessing is still a fairly recent diagnosis (in an official sense). She’s still in a transitional period and sometimes it’s hard to let go of what’s known - she’s stuck in a state of denial that Noble (Amistad’s dad) seemingly isn’t. All of which is understandable - a lot of people struggle with change, whether big or small, and the time it takes to come to terms with said change can vary from person to person. While Raquel isn’t yet fully comfortable with accepting all that comes with raising a child with autism - she’s still clearly trying to accommodate for her sons needs - she still loves and cares about him and is trying to protect him. She just hasn’t yet reached the point where she can slow herself down enough to go at the pace he needs rather than the pace she’s used to going - and being that she’s a hero likely makes her more used to a faster pace of living. She’s dealing with an adjustment and all adjustments take time for all involved - struggling with finding those adjustments doesn’t mean you’re a bad person - it just means you’ve got some internal perceptions you need to work out. I’m really interested in watching Raquel do that throughout the arc.

Ah, an old woman judging and deciding you’re a bad person because of a misunderstanding they didn’t care to actually understand before insulting you… oh, I’ve been there, had the emotional breakdown and still have the intrusive memory to go with it 👍

Moving away from my own emotional trauma…

I LOVE that we’re getting some proper Jay content with this arc - it’s something I never thought I needed but it’ll be nice to see him as his own hero self rather than an attachment to one of the other speedsters. Also I want at least one acknowledgement/reference at some point in this arc to the fact that Bart is currently home alone - we’re all aware of it and I wanna hear it said. Bonus points if Jay says something about Bart knowing not to get up to any mischief whilst he’s away - then hard cut to show Bart building a time machine in the living room.

Orion’s little exasperated sigh when he realises he’s not being translated - it makes me chuckle every time. Also, I’ve said this before, but I love how this show uses language and the effort it puts into narratively transitioning between different languages instead of just having everyone speak English or showing subtitles because that’s easier. It’s what enhances the realism of this vast universe we’re experiencing every episode.

LIGHTRAY IS AWESOME AND I LOVE HIM ALREADY - as evidenced by the fact I’ve already drawn him three times (that’s why I’m so late posting this.) Also he somehow embodies both Bart and Wally at the same time - physically, personality and costume wise — of course Jay immediately connects with him. Please give me a Jay/Solis conversation where Jay points out that Solis reminds him of Bart and/or Wally. 🙏

If anyone has seen Meet the Robinsons - then Supertown reminds me of the future architecture used in that film… if you haven’t seen Meet the Robinsons - then you totally should because it is a seriously underrated Disney film.

PURPLE FORAGER!

“Kid, you’re gonna wanna rethink that policy.” I really like this moment - instead of retaliating against Orion’s vigilance with hostility or offence - Jay simply and calmly suggest that Orion reevaluate his perception of the situation to understand that it may not be entirely appropriate for the moment they’re in. Orion isn’t intending to mean offence, but he doesn’t process how the bluntness of his tone and words can easily come across as such to someone who’s not familiar with his manner… From the look on her face Rocket definitely takes offence at his request. Orion’s being vigilant - no different to Batman or Nightwing - a trait he’s likely gained from his personal life experiences, Jay’s response remains respectful towards that and never implies that Orion is wrong for being so. He never labels Orion as anything or criticises an upbringing he knows nothing about - he simply give Orion the opportunity to reconsider his request whilst still defending his fellow teammate. The same can be said with Highmother’s response to the situation, she merely reminds Orion of Rocket being their honoured guest and allows him to make his own decision on the matter. She never takes ownership of the situation in order to ‘fix’ it herself, she never speaks for Orion or apologises for his behaviour - she shows trust in her son to make the right choice. She maintains his sense of agency. Throughout the episode she never criticises him for being the way he is or tells him he must change his ways to be better for the likes of other - she shows him respect and support - something I suspect he massively lacked in his upbringing. I’m so intrigued by Orion’s backstory.

Meanwhile Rocket is just giving Orion the death stare as she protects her tech from his confiscation. Had the situation not been diffused the way it had by Jay and Highmother, I think there’s a chance Rocket may have been a little more defensive and sharp towards Orion. He was essentially telling her she must be stripped of the thing which gives her power - which is gonna feel like a personal attack whether it was or not. A defensive response would have been an understandable one - like when she snapped at the woman on the train. The woman was wrong to label Amistad as a rude child whilst also criticising Raquel for failing to teach him manners when she had no context of their situation, especially when Raquel apologised and was clearly trying to defuse the situation respectfully. Raquel ultimately snapping did put an end to the altercation, but you can see she’s the one the background passengers remain looking on negatively - she’s the bad guy even though her defensive reaction was only fuelled by the other woman’s initial defensive reaction to a seemingly personal attack by Amistad. Things might have been avoided had Raquel explained the autism aspect, or had the woman expressed explicitly that her feelings had been hurt by his comment rather that immediately snapping back in offence. Of course, Raquel shouldn’t have to explain such personal matters to a stranger if she doesn’t want to, and the woman was minding her own business, she didn’t intend to offend Amistad’s with her perfume and definitely didn’t ask to be insulted because of it. It’s impossible to simply blame one person for a bad situation like this because when dealing with emotions it’s hard to control the direction they take things. Also you can’t know how something might trigger a person or what their personal situation is in order to keep an altercation under control. That’s why it’s easy to be defensive, to fight hate with hate - problem is, it’s not the most efficient solution and can ultimately fan the flames instead of just extinguishing them with understanding and reason.

I think it’s interesting that there’s a bit of a correlation between Raquel and the old woman from the train. Similar to that woman, Raquel seems to set her opinion of Orion - that he’s not a trustworthy person - based on her immediate reaction of his behaviour and attitude. She fails to look beyond what she sees to understand the person Orion is - to understand what may cause him to behave in such a way - just like the old woman did with Amistad. No one is the person you see, it takes time and understanding to gain a more accurate reading of any person. From to moment of hearing he’s known as the ‘Dog of War’ she’s suspicion of him, then all of his behaviour after that only confirms the validity of her distrust. She sees him try to confiscate her tech, his bluntness and being very closed off around her makes him seem cold, then she watches him ‘attack’ the Larvae and attempt to ‘attack’ her. From her perspective that makes him nothing more than a “Monster” who can never be reasoned with. It’s hard to unsee all the things we don’t like or trust about someone - Rocket’s reaction is completely understandable after witnessing Orion’s outburst - that would be a scary experience and would be hard to forget or overlook. Though in only noticing the bad things, she disregards the discomfort he presents after being trapped in the forcebubble, the respect he shows the bugs by not immediately invading their space, and the fact that he does actually apologise whilst showing genuine remorse after his outburst (an outburst technically caused by the Larvae accidentally attacking him first - another example of reacting defensively towards a misunderstanding and causing more lasting problems than you solve). She disregards it all because she’s already made up her mind. Just like the woman on the train who disregarded Raquel’s attempts to explain, defuse the situation and genuinely apologise for the misunderstanding. Despite those actions, to any onlookers all that will be remembered is Raquel snapping at the old woman.

There’s something about the way Lightray looks at Orion that reminds me of the way Wyynde would look at Kaldur whilst he’s on duty. I don’t know what the dynamic is between these two New Gods but I’m here for it in whatever direction they take it.

Listen to your mother Orion

I love Orion

I think it’s interesting seeing this Orion since our only exposure to him prior was actually M’comm in disguise trying to cause trouble. You can see the validity in Forager’s s3 belief that Orion is honourable and Bears defending of Orion’s name. Here we see that side of Orion. He shows respect towards the Bugs - he stops Jay and Lightray from invading their boundaries without permission, also he essentially shuts down Lightray’s questioning of Foragers presence at the meeting by reinforcing the fact he wasn’t the Bug who committed the crime. Though it gets a little difficult to notice at times behind his blunt manner.

BAD M’COMM!

What is it with this show and giving us cute things - the Larvae are so freaking adorable!

Jay and Lightray are great together - give me more!

I’m guessing that was M’comm messing with the Ruction cell? Time shenanigans?

It’s cool seeing the different types of Bugs - but also leaving some still identical - emphasising their argument that the New Gods think all Bugs look alike. I guess it is similar to what I said above about Raquel’s assumptions of Orion and the old woman’s assumptions of Amistad and Raquel. The New Gods assume all Bugs are the s as me because they look alike - they don’t want to put the time into seeing beyond their outer shell to understand what makes them individual. Forager is Forager, and Forager is also Forager - but they are not the same and that’s why Forager sees no confusion where the non-Bugs do.

“Forager rolls with Foragers hive” - I love how he says this line

DON’T LET GO CONNER!

I get the feeling Darkseid is manipulating M’comm with no intensions of actually giving him what he wants - there’s always gonna be one more task to complete and because M’comm is desperate for the help he’d get, he’ll probably keep doing whatever Darkseid asks.

Has this Lor Zod already ‘killed’ Conner? Or could we be seeing him out of sync with the chronology of everyone else? Time shenanigans? A part of me wonders if this M’comm could find himself being involved with that first arc troubles - like causing the cave in or being asked to help with killing Conner - but maybe can’t go through with it because of how he knows it effected M’gann? Though probably not.

I love the Orion losing control scene - seeing how Lightray truly cares about Orion’s welfare and speaking up for him when he himself can’t. Lightray’s first instinct on scene was to retrieve Orion’s Motherbox because he knows how important it is in helping Orion find comfort when stressed. Then there’s so much concern in his voice as he pleads for Rocket to release Orion as to not inflict more damage than intended — please give me the backstory of their bond — please! Then he shows how strong he is as he’s able to physically stop Orion in his tracks - this moment is so cool. I do love a duo which compliments each other but can still keep up with one another — like Ed & Bart, or Thena & Gilgamesh from Eternals. Seeing Lightray being strong enough to stop Orion with one hand, despite being such a contrast to him in many aspects, is pretty impressive - I just wanna know more about him. Also I love this shot and just had to draw it!

There’s so much shame in Orion’s voice and body language when he apologises for his outburst - my heart breaks for him - especially after his little convo with Highmother. Come on Rocket, how can you overhear that and still not feel for the guy - or at least consider there’s more to the story than realised. He’s not a “Monster” Rocket - he’s just misunderstood!

Like we didn’t already know Conner was in the Phantom Zone

TYE & ASAMI!!! They have got to be showing up at some point - also they are positioned at the most focal point of the composition - right where your eyes naturally view the image and in between BL & superman’s heads. Asami was the first person I noticed as the credits started. PLEASE GIVE US A RUNAWAYS REUNION!

So this is how superman’s been dealing with his grief - scouring the internet for decent pictures of potential heroes for his JL reserves PowerPoint. He’s certainly been busy with it.

Did he say Peacemaker?! As in the dude from The Suicide Squad who would kill anyone in the name of achieving peace - he’s on the list?! Really?? Ok… if you say so Sups.

I really loved this episode and I’m excited to explore more Fourth World content. I’m looking forward seeing Raquel’s journey and discovering more about Orion. I don’t know what expect, but since I’m so late posting this, I don’t have to wait long to find out.

LB

[diavolosthots]

This got really long so i put it under a cut and I'm totally going backward with this series but i cant help myself. I HAVE to start with my husband. Most of these are my own headcanons but please read the warning.

Warning: some of these are confirmed in lessons/devilgrams. If you dont want spoilers, don't read the ones in red. (Also Note: I remember reading all of these either in the game or on the official wiki page but I could not find all the in-game sources if you asked me to. Still, they are tagged as spoilers.)

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾DIAVOLO Life Headcanons☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙

Diavolo’s dad, the Demon King (whom I Headcanon to be named Daemon. I could write headcanons on that guy too?? Lemme know what you guys want) loved Diavolo’s mom dearly and Diavolo was thus a product of pure love, not necessarily just to have an heir. That’s just a bonus. 

Sadly Diavolo’s mom died in childbirth, leaving only the Demon King and Barbatos to take care of him. 

This caused the King to begin resenting his son and Daemon grew cold. Barbatos was, more often than not, the one who took care of little Diavolo, although Diavolo tried desperately to win his dad’s affections, never truly understanding why his father would hate him. 

Diavolo was a rambunctious child and caused a lot of trouble, much to his father’s dismay, and he found himself in trouble a lot. 

On top of that, Diavolo is also highly emotional and it wasn’t until much later that he learned that tears won’t get him anywhere. Barbatos used to give him sweets and tea every time he cried, which was a lot thanks to his dad.

Although the butler did stop this at some point, that’s definitely where Diavolo’s love for tea came from

Barbatos is definitely, and has always been, someone he confided in, and he found it hard to view him as nothing but a ‘servant’, per his dad. It’s not even that his father hated Barbatos or thought of him as lesser than, he just didn’t like that Diavolo confided more in him than anyone else. 

Diavolo definitely had a rebellious phase as he grew up. The mixture of his absent-father’s non-existent love and the responsibilities put on his shoulders from a very young age got too much for him at some point and let’s just say…. Diavolo had a lot of ‘oopsies’ in his ‘teenage’ years. 

If you know, you know. They are no longer among the living. R.I.P. 

People used Diavolo a lot because of this, though. The lack of care and love at home caused a young Diavolo to be naive and trust too easily, getting hurt in the process

Which is why Barbatos now has a torture chamber for the enemies of Diavolo (or people who just want/use him for the wrong reasons)

When Diavolo didn’t try to escape the castle for some love, he found comfort in art and unbeknownst to both his father and anyone else working at the castle, Barbatos helped him build a mini art gallery up in one of the towers where Diavolo still goes for some relaxation or just to think. 

A lot of people backstabbed him as he grew up and even he himself backstabbed a lot of people as well. At some point he saw the hurt he caused and decided to never lie again, and now he’s always telling the truth, albeit he can beat around the bush a lot, and knows for certain when someone else is lying to him. 

At some point, his father forbade him to treat Barbatos as more than a trusted servant and that pretty much solidified his dislike, not hatred, for his father. 

As he grew up into the man he is now, he started to see his dad as more of an authoritarian ruler that works for his own political gain rather than the well being of everyone. The Devildom was never in shambles, or anything, but one could feel a clear hierarchy and there was definitely tension with the other two realms 

His father was actually the one is (somewhat, if not fully) started the war against heaven (not to be confused with the celestial war that the brothers were part of)

Now, he never hated his father, truly. To a certain extent, he actually understood why his father was the way he was. He lost his beloved wife for a son he had to grow a new relationship with. Diavolo never thought his father hated him, either, but one could tell that their relationship was filled with grief, heartache, and even a sense of regret. 

Diavolo never blamed his father, though, and as he grew older, he took certain aspects of his father’s character into his own: loyalty, ambition, and honesty. 

That’s why his father stepped down, but not fully since Diavolo hasn’t been crowned yet. The Demon King is tired; tired of pushing through the days, and Diavolo understands. 

The situation with his parents is also the reason why Diavolo refuses to settle down so easily. He’s scared of both A.) trusting the wrong people again, like he had many times before, and B.) of having the same fate as his father and mother. 

That and Barbatos is highly protective of him lol Good luck getting past the butler if you want to be with the future King. 

One of the main reasons Diavolo keeps up the naive and himbo attitude is also because he never got to be a kid. His father pushed him straight into royal life once he was old enough to comprehend things. 

This does not mean, though, that Diavolo is actually a himbo. He’s quite intelligent and there’s a reason for everything he does. 

Diavolo doesn’t believe in coincidences and is a firm believer in fate; that everything happens as it should and for a reason (A/N: homie is a determinist and that lowkey makes me happy lol)

That’s why he’s perfectly fine taking his time and doing his thing. He likes to have a certain sense of control, of course, but not to the extent that Lucifer does. He’s cool going with the flow as well. 

Speaking of Lucifer, the reason he views him as a best friend and even family is because Diavolo believes he can relate to the absence of a father that’s supposed to be there no matter what

That and because Lucifer is brutally honest. He doesn’t take Diavolo for granted and he certainly doesn’t want Diavolo around for the riches and fame. Diavolo appreciates that a lot. 

Diavolo gets along with pretty much everyone; he’s very adaptable because he has to be. However, that doesn’t necessarily make him an extrovert. As a matter of fact, he’s actually more of an introvert and likes to keep to himself or with a limited group of close friends

Speaking of friends, Diavolo doesn’t have a lot, if any, outside of the brothers and Barbatos. It’s hard to know who to trust when so many people just want to use him or rob him, even strip him of his title. 

Diavolo is very lonely, as a matter of fact, and he hopes, prays even, that he could find a bond with someone, anyone, like Lucifer shares with his brothers. In a sense, he may even be jealous of the seven. 

Although his life was less than peachy, even if he did have everything anyone could ever wish for, Diavolo craves true emotional connections, which is why he clings to Barbatos and Lucifer. 

This, however, doesn’t mean he is helpless. He’s very much an independent, intelligent, and ambitious man, and he is excited for the future, whatever it may hold. 

[welkinsky]

can i request kakashi with an uchiha reader? lets say she’s shisui’s younger sister and before he died, he asked itachi to protect her (which made him spare her in the massacre) and shes basically another prodigy in the clan. bonus if itachi also had feelings for her because of her strength and gentle personality (until shes in the battlefield yk)

Kakashi X Reader | Uchiha Reader

Masterlist

You were just a bit younger than Kakashi and were strong too. No cap. You could fight anyone in the village and had huge chances of winning too. Thanks to your Sharingan and your ability to pick on things quickly. And how can we forget your manipulation skills, right?

You were one of the hidden wild cards that Hidden Leaf had. Not a lot of people knew that you were an Uchiha. That was actually the best way to go about it too because considering that Donzo was always after Uchihas and would do anything to take advantage of your Sharingan.

Some of your skills were like infiltration or doing detective tasks. You were strong so you were able to save yourself but it was WHEN you got caught, which was very rare. Your brother Shisui was the one with the Ninja skills but you were the one with a sharp brain.

You always wanted to be as good as he was, so you often trained with Itachi since you two were almost the same age, him being a year younger. You two used to train a lot. You liked his company since he was quiet most of the time and you were someone who loved silence because it gave your thoughts some space to grow. Itachi and you used to have long conversations about topics that even adults didn't touch because they were too deep to answer.

But after the massacre, you felt as if it was all a lie for a few months. You knew Itachi. He was there with you when Shisui died. Even after he killed your entire family you cannot seem to hate him. You knew there was something that wasn't meeting the eye.

Before the news even broke about the massacre, you were taken to some isolated place since you cannot be associated with them or you might be the one who would be in the blame game that Donzo was going to play. 

You met Kakashi in Anbu and he got to know your truth by accident, since this one time you HAD To use your Sharingan in front of him. Kakashi never mentioned it again, as if it never happened. You two came closer mostly because you wanted to make sure that he didn't release the information.

But you two came closer to the point that you two weren't friends for sure. But you two being you two, were too ignorant to acknowledge your feelings.

You were supposed to meet Kakashi and others at the sweet shop for some tea but you got a message from Lee that all of them were headed towards the bridge so you went there.

But what you saw was something, you prayed that never happened. You saw Itachi. You still didn't know how you felt about what he did so you always avoided the topic even if Kakashi tried to talk about it.

But here he was, you didn't know how to act but when you saw Kakashi under Itachi's Genjutsu, it was as if your legs moved on their own. You attacked Itachi but obviously, he knew about you already so he defended, didn't attack, just defended. Gai was there to back you up though and you two fought him and finally as Itachi and his partner tried leaving. Guy asked you to see if Kakashi is okay or not.

You were too scared to see Kakashi like this. Itachi saw that and his expression changed for a bit. You obviously didn't see that since all your attention was on Kakashi.

As they left, you two had one last eye contact that was enough to tell you that he couldn't kill you even if Shisui hasn't asked him to protect you in the first place.

___________________________________

Thanks For Reading!

If you liked it you can check out the masterlist too!

Asks are still open if you want to submit any ;)

[intimidating-fettuccine]

Helloo! So this is for Hobo, Jeff, and Toby. I have general anxiety right? So I sometimes feel like something bad is going to happen, like the build up to jump scare that never comes. And I don’t know…it would be a lot easier if I had a strong s/o, who definitely maybe hasn’t killed people before, to make me feel safe..…this is where I stare into the camera

[Also stares into the camera, while sliding this across a table in a sealed envelope]

You get extra love for being my biggest return requester and being my main Hobo requester <3 <3

Hobo:

Hobo, being the caring birb boyfriend that he is, will be there in a minute whenever you're feeling stressed and anxious to comfort you and do his best to make you feel better. Something he often does is pull you into his lap, wrap his arms around you, and then also wrap his wings around the two of you. His wings are large enough to cover both of you, covering you in a soft, comforting embrace to help you relax. It's quite nice, and as it's something that makes HIM feel comforted when he's anxious, his first instinct is to wrap you up as well. This is something he'd only do for his romantic partner as it's a very intimate and close gesture.

Jeff:

Jeff is here to fight off your anxieties babe, you point 'em out and he's got his gloves on, ready to kick the shit out of 'em all. In all honesty, he probably does fake box away your worries and anxiety to get you laughing and smiling. He'll cuddle up to you when you're anxious, pulling you into his arms and giving you a strong, tight embrace to help calm you down. When he pulls back, the first thing you'll get is a shockingly gentle and saccharine kiss placed upon your lips, and then your face, slow and sweet and gentle. He'll also do breathing exercises with you because that's something that he finds helps him to relax whenever he's anxious. Bonus points if it's one of the days he pulls you inside his hoodie he's wearing to cuddle with him.

Toby:

Toby, being the big bottle of anxiety that he is, cannot stand to see you going through the same thing. He becomes your bodyguard of sorts, puffing himself up big and strong to try to appear firm and protective, but he looks so ridiculous that you can't help but let out a few giggles, making him break his facade and laugh in return, peppering you in happy and excited kisses. He'll snuggle up to you, pressing soft, languid kisses along your face and neck, whispering sweet words of encouragement into your ears, helping to ease you of your worries and telling you how proud he is of you, how strong you are, how much he loves you and how he'd give you the world if he could.

[the-cult-of-russo]

gotta know how u think billy would be as a dad with his kids :D

I had so many requests for Dad!Billy headcanons 😭

I hope you're ready for this chaotic ramble.

Please remember this is my Billy I'm writing

-

You know those parents who take like a million pictures of their kid and show them to everyone? The kind that talks about their kid nonstop to anyone who'll listen? Their family, friends, the poor random old lady at the store that just wants to buy some damn milk.

That's Billy.

He's such an unbelievably proud parent, his pride for his kids knows no bounds. It doesn't even need to be some kind of milestone worth celebrating, everything his kid does makes him proud. You better believe when his baby has an explosive crap and ruins their clothes, he's boasting about it the next day to Frank and the guys at Anvil.

-

He's incredibly protective. Murder is a possibility if his kids in danger. He wants nothing more than to keep his kids safe. If they're being bullied, it takes all of his willpower to stop himself from kicking the kids ass for doing that to his kid. He's not above picking a fight with the bullies dad though if they don't get their little shit head in check and also making it known to the principle that this shit won't fly with him.

~

"Mr Russo, I don't think you understand how serious this is. Your son broke a kids nose," the principle mutters with a glare.

Billy tilts his head, regarding the teacher with those unsettling eyes that has the old man squirming in his seat.

"You’re damn right he did," Billy replies seriously, a proud tone to his voice. His dark eyes cut to his left where his son is, practically his double. As Billy smirks, unable to help himself, his son wears the same one although he's lowering his head to hide his amusement.

"We don't tolerate that behaviour here, Mr Russo," the principle huffs. Billy's eyes harden then as his eyes narrow, sitting forward in his chair just the right amount to be imposing. The second the man leans back he knows it worked.

"You know what I don't tolerate? My kid bein' bullied. You assholes won't do shit to stop it, so I say let the little fucker get a taste of his own medicine. Serves him right for messin' with a Russo," he smirks wickedly.

~

He teaches them self defence, wanting them to be able to look after themselves if it ever came down to it. Naturally, for their 16th birthday, they're gifted with a big ass knife.

-

Billy as a dad is so stupidly soft.

We all remember the scene from the show, right? Where he's in the hospital with his mom and he says;

"Maybe you did me a solid, you know? I mean, the way I see it, you want weak kids, give 'em everything. But if you... if you want 'em strong... treat 'em hard."

When he has a kid of his own he realises just what utter garbage this is. The idea of all the shit he's been through making him into the tough son of a bitch he is today is born from trauma that he still hasn't dealt with. The way his brain tries to rationalise what he went though. To make it make sense instead of it being so goddamn senseless.

But if he's honest, more than he'd like to admit, he finds himself wondering just what his life would have been like if he grew up in a loving home. What it would be like to feel wanted and cared for. To rise to the top being helped and cheered on by others instead of clawing his way there with bloodied and dirty fingers, the weight of the world bearing down on him as he's beat down at every turn.

He never wants his kids to feel that way. Not even a fraction of how unloved and unwanted he felt. He does everything in his power to make sure they know just how much he cares about them. There's literally nothing he wouldn't do for his kids. They could turn up at home one day and confess to a murder and Billy wouldn't hesitate to ask where the body is so he can handle it for them.

-

Billy is ridiculously sentimental when it comes to his kids. Drawings go up on the fridge and when a new one takes its place, the old one goes into a box of many others that he can't seem to ever throw away. He has multiple pictures of his kids at his office, even some framed cute drawings they did for him. He's kept all the mementos from the pregnancy, birth and onwards. They're his little treasures.

-

Billy is super supportive of everything his kids do. He makes sure they get a good education but he never pushes them to do something they don't want to do. Despite the large college fund he's got for them, if they choose not to go to college, he doesn't pressure them. Instead, whatever hopes and dreams they have, he does everything in his power to support and help them. Whether that's moral and emotional support, money or even breaking a few jaws of people standing in their way.

-

Let's look a little bit at how he is throughout some of the ages of his kid.

Billy with a baby is a sight to behold. No one has ever seen Lieutenant William Russo so goddamn soft. Once he's got hold of his baby, you've got no chance of getting them back off him. You'd have to fight him. He adores holding his little one close, soaking them in. He's constantly holding them no matter what he's doing and baby carriers and wraps are a godsend to him. You'd heard about them from a friend and told Billy and you better believe by the time the baby's born that he's an expert on all things baby wearing. He's a perfectionist and carrying a baby wrong can be dangerous. He makes sure he knows how to do it right.

Just as he has little affectionate touches for you, he has the same for his baby. His large hand stroking their tiny head and little hair. His finger stroking their chubby little cheek. He's a tactile person and touch is grounding for him. It soothes him to do so with his baby and reassures him they're really there and that they're okay.

He's super attentive. Of course he works a lot but as soon as he becomes a dad, he doesn't stay late anymore and makes sure to have days off. The second he comes home, he's making a beeline for his baby, scooping them up with a grin. He loves to read to them, something that continues as they grow up. His weekends used to be restful or if he was feeling like a masochist, he'd work from home. But now weekends are his time to shine. By the time you wake up on a Saturday morning, he's already up with the baby, making you breakfast as he's got the baby attached to him via baby carrier.

As his baby grows into a toddler, each milestone makes him tearful and full of pride. He kisses any booboos that happen and he's constantly playing with his child. He has a pretty silly side to him that most don't get to see. Making his kid laugh and smile brings him the greatest joy.

He loves taking his toddler to the office with him. Everyone dotes on his kid and treats them like royalty.

When they turn into a small child, he watches with a proud smile and amusement as his kid wants to fight with his men, watching them 'beat' the shit out of them. The guys at Anvil are more than happy to very dramatically go down, and the apple doesn't fall far from the tree when the tiny Russo grins smugly at their 'win'.

Their first day at school and Billy's a mess. It's such a turning point and he doesn't know how to deal with how fast their growing up. But every achievement at school, even minor ones, and he's showering them with praise.

He encourages them to work hard and as soft as he might be, he is still the boss. He makes sure they do their homework and don't fall behind on their studies.

One thing Billy loves is teaching his kids stuff. Whether that's mundane stuff to help with school or teaching them shit he knows like survivalist things, because you can never be too prepared, right? He loves helping them with school projects and answering any questions they might have about one of the many things he's knowledgeable about.

When his kids moves onto those hard teenage years, the ones where everything feels so dramatic and world ending, he's a little tougher when it calls for it. Billy is no novice to rebellion, he has a rebellious streak of his own and marches to the beat of his own drum half the time. He respects that. What he doesn't respect or tolerate is behaviour that's going to fuck his kid over in the long run or self sabotage. He will be firm and a hard ass if he needs to be to keep his kids on a path where they don't get hurt or ruin their life.

Billy has a zero tolerance policy on drugs. After the shit with his mother, he won't budge on this. If he finds out his kid is dabbling in drugs, they're grounded until they're old enough to move out.

-

No matter what age his kids are, Billy loves them immensely. He wants to be the father he wished he'd had growing up and he pours all of his anguish and pain from his upbringing into it. Channeling it into the purest form of love for his kids. To break the curse that had hold of him. He won't perpetuate the cycle.

Being a father brings him a sense of completeness and peace he didn't think was possible for him to achieve. It fills the void that's been eating away at his soul from his lack of love as a child and he loves every second of being a parent. Even the hard moments.

-

Bonus:

The Russo's and the Castle's go on monthly camping trips together. Billy loves the outdoors, the mild survivalist feelings he gets from it without the real danger. He loves taking his kids there, teaching them everything. In his role as dad and uncle, he sits around the camp fire at night, the light of the flames dancing along his face as he very theatrically tells the kids a spooky story.

You and his kids are his immediate family but the Castle's are his family too. So he really loves it when you all get to spend time together like that.

[harrypotter-imaginess]

Etsy Store Here l Ko-Fi l Commission Info I Instagram I Zine

Part 1 Here!

A/N: I think, maybe one more part and an epilogue and it's done haha.

- “You know I love spending time with you Reg-“

- Regulus looks up from his parchment to meet your eyes

- “But do we really have to hang out here?”

- He looks around the secret chamber in the clocktower in the courtyard you two are currently situated in

- The sliver of golden light streaming in through the clock’s face practically glowing on his parchment

- “Is there something wrong with this place?”

- He used to come here all the time when he was trying to get away from his “friends”

- He thought it was pretty pleasant

- A nice quiet place to study

- You just raise an eyebrow

- “Reg, you seriously see nothing wrong with sitting in a dust-ridden chamber and doing our homework by streams of sunlight?”

- It’s almost pathetic really, you both have to sit right by the face of the clock to get even a sliver of light so you can see where you’re writing/reading

- For a second, a single moment, you wonder if Regulus is ashamed to be seen with you

- But it vanishes as soon as it appears

- No, Reg isn’t like that

- You’ve had faith in him until now, not believing the rumors but instead trusting your eyes, and you’re not going to stop

- You’ve got some regrets

- But you know choosing to trust Regulus will never be one of them

- what Regulus says knocks you off your feet though

- “ I do it all the time at home,” he says automatically with a shrug

- Three seconds later his eyes punch shut

- He shouldn’t have said that

- And sure enough, when his eyes rise to meet yours you’re looking at him with a stern expression

- “They make you study in the dark?!?” You hiss, he imagines you’re whispering so you keep yourself from yelling

- “No they make me read in the dark,” He says it like there’s some great big difference or something.

- Ever since he opened up to you about his home life, you’ve been almost protective of him

- He’s started to patch things up with Sirius, but not in the eyes of others

- Mostly in carefully concealed letters and occasionally in the dead of night in the astronomy tower

- It’s not a ton, they still have to act indifferent to the rest of the world

- For Regulus’s safety

- But it’s already better than it was

- But of course, you don’t know that, he’s been especially careful that you don’t find out because it could mean danger for you

- He’s only opened his mouth, about to tell you:

- ‘It’s not that bad, it’s just when the lights on late at night his parents get suspicious he’s doing something he shouldn’t -which he technically is since he’s mostly reading Muggle books you recommended or writing letters to you- and will warrant a search’

- When you cup his face in your hands

- “You shouldn’t have to do that Reg” your eyes seem glassy, eyebrows threaded together as your lips pull into a fine line

- Adorable really

- It’s cute how you get so upset for him

- He’d have laughed if he wasn’t so away of how soft your hands were as they touched his face

- He shuts his eyes for a moment, relishing in the gentle comfort the skinship brings

- “They’re my family” he murmurs, nuzzling his face into your touch

- He says it like there’s nothing else to say

- Like it’s an irreversible fact of life

- And maybe it is because as long as he’s alive he’ll never be able to change the fact that he and his family are connected

- That he’s a Black

- The thought makes your mouth pull a little tighter

- It makes you angry

- Because when a family is that terrible to you, well it’s nothing more than a curse

- Before you know what you’re doing you squeeze his face and say:

- “Then I’ll be your family from now on”

- .

- ..

- ...

- Regulus’s eyes are wide as he stares at you

- You feel your face grow warm, mouth opening and closing-

- Why did you say that?!?!?

- Your searching for the right words, your hands about to move from his face when his hands cover your own

- “Is that a proposal (Y/N)?”

- There’s a teasing glint in Regulus’s eyes and you feel your face grow even warmer

- You would hide your face if he weren’t holding your hands in place

- “ Regulus (L/N) does have a good ring to it don’t you think?”

- You groan pulling your hands free so you can finally hide

- “Please stop teasing me I didn’t-“

- “Who says I’m teasing?”

- You look at him and he has the most tender expression as his fingers push a strand of hair behind your ears

- “W-what do you mean?”

- His smile doesn’t dim in the slightest, his eyes warm

- He moves closer to you at an impossibly slow pace

- You wait with bated breath

- And when he’s only an inch away he whispers

- “You’re smart (Y/N), so don’t tell me you haven’t figured it out”

- And then he kisses you

- His lips brush against yours

- It’s shy of even a peck

- As he retreats back, eyes fluttering open, you move with him pressing your lips against his more forcefully

- He almost stumbles back from the movement. Catching himself with a hand placed behind his hand

- His other hand threading into your hair

- Regulus has kissed people before

- Underneath the mistletoe at Slughorns Christmas party

- In the gardens at the pureblood balls

- One in a shadow in the corridor

- But it’s never been like this

- Where one kiss turns into two

- And then two into four

- And before he knows what’s happening he’s lost track of how many kisses you’ve exchanged

- All he can think about is the taste of your mouth

- The feel of your hair, the soft skin on your face, the tender feeling of his hands on your waist

- He feels like he’s drunk, almost dizzy with joy, completely intoxicated on you

- He only comes back to his senses when you place a hand on his chest and push back slightly

- “Stop” you whisper, and the world alone is enough to make him feel stone-cold sober

- “Not here, not like this”

- You’re sprawled on the floor of the clocktower, both of your hands pressing against his chest, pressing him back

- And he’s hovering over you, one of his legs pinned on either side of you, one his hands on your face, and the other is underneath the hem of your shirt

- He jerks his hands away from your waist

- When did he get on top of you like this?

- “Sorry I didn’t realize-“ his words stutter to a stop as he moves off of you

- He doesn’t even know when the situation escalated this much

- Weren’t you just exchanging chaste kisses a second ago

- He feels awful, he hasn’t even taken you on a date and he’s already pushing past your boundaries

- But you don’t let him feel awful for too long

- You thread your fingers through his, lifting his hand so you can press kisses to it

- “It’s not that I didn’t like it,” because you did, his hands were so warm, and he smelled so good

- It felt so soft

- So comforting

- But

- “ I just didn’t want to do it here” the place is covered with dust, and you’re pretty sure you felt a spider crawl up your leg at one point

- It’s just not hygienic

- You’re a little nervous you’ve upset him, most guys would

- Most boys wouldn’t have stopped when you told them, offering reasons to keep going, pushing a little bit further than you liked before retreating

- They certainly wouldn’t have found themselves away like Regulus did

- And of course, Regulus doesn’t get upset, how could he?

- He squeezes your hand, looking down at you kindly

- “No it’s okay. I’m more than happy to wait for anything more than a kiss until I’m officially Regulus (L/N)”

- You shove him away and he starts laughing

- “You’re never going to let me live that down are you?” Your face feels like it’s burning

- He only laughs harder, following you when you gather your things and start to leave

- “Don’t tell me you’re taking it back, you’re breaking my maiden heart over here (Y/N)” he grins when he sees you even more embarrassed As you walk through an empty courtyard

- You look mad, but you intertwine your fingers with his when he reaches for your hand

- And for now, it’s enough

Bonus:

- “So does this mean I’m you’re boyfriend now?”

- “Obviously”

- You’re scribbling away into your parchment, rushing to get all the answers down, your hand firmly held in his

- You hope he doesn’t hear how quick your heart is racing

- “So should I tell all our friends were dating with the intention of making me an official (L/N) in mind?”

- “I’m breaking up with you”