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tokiro07 · 4 months

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Undead Unluck ch.196 thoughts

[Lucky Number Seven]

(Contents: speculation - power system/lore)

"I'll talk about Unbreakable vs. Unbreakable next week," I said, "surely it'll wrap up then," I said...I say it every few weeks, but I really need to stop trying to predict what's going to happen next...ah, am I Untrust?

Funny thing about this week's chapter: last week, I had the thought completely unprompted:

"Huh. y'know, even with their Rules, there isn't any good reason that the Negators are superhumans most of the time. Like just because Andy can't die, that's no reason he should be able to control the flow of his blood. Shen and Feng's martial prowess and inhuman strength are completely unrelated to their Rules, same with Billy's trick shots. I wonder if maybe their non-Negator abilities are somehow tied to their souls"

And I considered bringing it up last week, but it didn't really seem super relevant to what was going on, so I omitted that section cus I didn't want to get super sidetracked, especially with something that was just a wild shot in the dark

AND NOW IT LOOKS LIKE I'M JUST TAKING CREDIT FOR A PREDICTION I NEVER MADE!!! TOZUKA, YOU'RE MAKING ME LOOK LIKE A JACKASS FROM ALL DIRECTIONS!!!

Anyway...this is such a sick development!!! It's a subtle change, but the difference between using one's will to activate their abilities and using one's soul carries such a significant implication for how the power system will develop going forward

For one, the ability to manipulate, shape and project the soul changes the meta drastically since it adds a completely new wrinkle to how battles are fought, basically adding a new tool to everyone's kit in addition to things like Artifacts and teaming up with UMAs while also adding a potential new weakness to every encounter

I get the impression that souls are meant to be immortal since people get reincarnated between loops, but Ruin said that anyone he kills as a Regulator is removed from the loop, implying he can completely kill souls. But is this a unique trait to him, or is it something that anyone can do if they're able to target souls and he's just familiar with the technique?

Then there's the fact that Fuuko was able to impart Unluck without any tools, simply using her raw soul to go straight to meteoric levels. What can everyone else do to augment or circumvent their Rules? Could Chikara project his vision through his soul to lock down enemies from multiple angles without needing to worry about his eyes drying out? Or could he see a target's soul and prevent them from using their powers entirely?

Can Rip damage souls directly and keep them from recovering? Can Billy learn how to copy Rules better by witnessing them directly? Can Shen get a better read on his opponent by seeing their soul's intentions? Can Haruka harden her soul into armor OR harden her body since it's technically external to her soul? Can Sean make his soul Unseen or project parts of his soul to turn others invisible at a distance?

It'd be pretty boring if everyone just started generically making soul chains and soul guns, but if everyone is able to level up their Rules in unique ways, that'd be a great way to further develop the power system beyond what we've seen so far! I honestly wouldn't be surprised if we found out that Juiz has been using her soul to read peoples' visions of justice this whole time, and we'll probably see that in more detail when Julia gains Unjustice

As fun as it is to develop the power system, though, the real question for this chapter is who were those souls with Fuuko? I think it's fair to say that most if not all of us have concluded already that they're the previous holders of Unluck, who have presumably followed Fuuko to watch over her, but that raises a bunch of questions in and of itself

We know that Juiz and Victor never had families, so their continued existence between loops changed nothing (side note: this is a good indicator that Ruin has in fact been present since Loop 1 since he claims to have been created by God directly, which just further goes to show how hard he sucks as a villain), and that Juiz's eventual death led to her soul being incarnated as the child of a childless couple. From this, we can conclude that because Fuuko did not die in L100, her parents didn't have children in L101 as her soul was not present to be born. If these other six Unlucks have been staying with Fuuko this entire time, then that means that none of them were born in L101, as the chain of succession for Unluck could not be reset. How sad! Their ultimate fate was to not be able to live the lives they wanted even in the final "perfect" world! I guess that's still true of any given Negator prior to the current lineup, though, but still, that's tragic in and of itself, isn't it??

Secondly, though, what do they mean they chose Fuuko? All this time, I thought God picked the Negators based on what would cause the biggest tragedy for them: the world's greatest doctor inflicts irreparable wounds, the world's greatest psychic can only tell lies, the world champion ends his career by killing his opponent, a child drops his only living family from a cliff, a husband's only memory of his wife is her death...you can't tell me that these are because of the previous Negators!!! The Gods making those choices makes sense because they're both sadists, but the Negators themselves??? No, there's something more going on here

The Isshin family makes sense, at least, since their ability doesn't carry tragedy in and of itself, though it's possible that they're just maximizing its effectiveness by keeping it exclusive to smiths. I suppose the previous Untrust going for Latla also makes sense in that regard since giving it to someone with inaccurate predictions wouldn't change the trustworthiness of their conclusions. Unrepair is best used in the hands of someone with an understanding of anatomy, Unstoppable is best used by someone with good reaction time, Unchange is best used by someone with a strong desire for consistency, etc.

I think what it might be is that the previous users are also trying to find who can best make use of their powers in the interest of defeating God in the long term, it's just that God still decides when the power is transferred. I don't know what the previous Unlucks saw in Fuuko, but I highly doubt they said "that girl sure loves her parents; wonder how good she'll get with Unluck if we kill them." No, they probably heard her say or saw her do something that implied an interpretation of luck that they saw potential in, and didn't anticipate just how much destruction that she'd be able to cause

Bear in mind, there's no indication that Juiz ever executed any of the previous Unlucks, nor was she particularly worried about who would get it next after Fuuko. This implies that Fuuko's potential for Unluck is uniquely dangerous; the ability isn't a threat, she is, and whatever it is that made her that way is what made the Unlucks choose her

This brings us to the matter of the loop itself: why do the same people get the same abilities every time? My original thought was that either A) God designed the system that way for consistency so the looper would be able to make decisions based on experience, or B) once someone became a Vessel, the Rule was inextricably tied to their soul, so it would be drawn to them specifically if they were available when the ability next transferred. There may still be some truth to these ideas, but with the understanding that the previous Vessels have at least some say in the line of succession, it seems likely that upon reset, the first user gets it back and then deliberately passes it on to their chosen successor upon their death because they know it'll eventually lead where they want it to

This in turn further suggests that memories are carried in the soul. We've seen this multiple times, with Julia remembering Juiz's life and Sean/others choosing to be born earlier/later, but for the Vessels to consistently choose the same successors, it gives the impression that once they revert to being souls they remember everything and know what they need to do next. I wonder if they communicate with each other at all to coordinate their reincarnations and selections?

If nothing else, we can conclude that Remember probably accesses the memories present within the soul rather than psychometrically reading their past or storing the memories itself like other Artifacts do. I wonder if Remember's reverse ability actually erases memories or just suppresses them? I'm inclined to the latter, since one could feasibly use the obverse in a later loop and get erased memories back as well, and Victor's memories weren't actually erased. That said, Victor may be a fringe case since losing his memories completely could be a form of ego death, and therefore would be negated by Undead. Victor's not a very good sample for understanding the mechanics of Remember, is the point

I won't guess how long it will be before Tozuka revisits this concept and explains it in more detail, since again, I'm always wrong in these things, but I'm very excited for when he does! I've seen a lot of people concerned about the implications that the Vessels are responsible for the tragedies, and I would like that misunderstanding cleared up ASAP

Until next time, let's enjoy life!

#undead unluck #fouryearsandananime #4y1a reviews

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raviposting · 11 months

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Created for @singledarkshade's Dream TV Show Challenge.

Presenting RECURSION, a new three-season time travel series.

RECURSION follows six ordinary individuals stuck in the monotony of their charming, but boring towns. That is, until some of them begin to notice things...out of place, causing them to question their lives and sense of reality.

TW: suicide and other death mentions in the story arc. Under the cut you'll find the:

Cast

Series synopses

Soundtrack + scenes

Extra details and easter eggs

Two brief dialogue scenes

CAST LIST:

DANIELLE PINNOCK AS GABRIELLE WILLIAMS

Gabrielle will tell you who she is when she's well and ready.

STEVE MARTIN AS GEORGE RAYMOND GOLDBLATT

George Raymond Goldblatt used to be a fairly well-known physicist who decided to retire to his childhood town. Now, he is struggling with three things: his recent dementia diagnosis, his new grandchild, and the eerie feeling that he's been through this day before.

BELLA RAMSEY AS PARKER LIVINGSTON (ALSO FEATURING: ELLIOT PAGE AS FUTURE PARKER LIVINGSTON)

Parker is a nonbinary teenager on the cusp of adulthood, living a boring but average life - until their parents tragically die and they are sent to live with their grandfather in a dead-end town. They are quiet and may seem standoffish to the unobservant, but they’re shy and still figuring out where they fit in this world. Parker is also incredibly observant, often noticing what other people wish they wouldn’t - including when they notice their grandfather beginning to act stranger than ever.

Note: Future Parker is seen in a few episodes (recurring in seasons 2-3). They are still quiet, but there's clear confidence in them. They interact with the other cast with reserved familiarity.

KENNETH CHOI AS KEVIN KO

Kevin is preparing to be spontaneous. An incredibly serious and melancholy person ("uptight broodster" as the love of his life, Vidya, likes to tease him), after a life-threatening accident, Kevin is now trying to be lighter, spontaneous, and enjoy life to the fullest. Which is why when he got the opportunity to move, he took it...even if the town is in the middle of nowhere and he feels more downtrodden and restricted than ever.

RANI MUKERJI AS VIDYA DEVGAN

Vidya is a bright, bubbly woman who loves her long-time partner and was all in on quitting their high-profile jobs and moving to a new town. Kevin tells her that she's adjusted to the town perfectly, not knowing that Vidya is spiraling, been second-guessing their decision to move the second they came, and has a secret that she desperately doesn't want Kevin to find out.

OSCAR ISAAC AS MICHAEL COSTELLO

Michael always lived an average life, up until the point he met his wife Sarah. Thrust from a middle-class life to one where he's rich beyond his wildest dreams is an adjustment for him, one that he thinks he's never going to quite get used to. Michael doesn't have family or even any real friends - besides Sarah - but he always tells her that she's more than enough.

SARAH SNOOK AS SARAH MITCHELL

Sarah is a lawyer tortured by the outcome of her most recent case when a client she was attached to ended up killing himself. She lives with her husband Michael in an upscale penthouse - something that used to fill Sarah with pride but now nags at her. She is smart, calculating, and pragmatic, but her usual confidence has been shaken by this case.

Each season has its own theme and tone - season one is more of a psychological thriller/mystery, season two centers on themes of horror and love, and season three on grief and hope.

SEASON RUNTHROUGH:

SEASON ONE (six episodes): This is a dual-setting season, where George and Michael separately begin to notice abnormalities in their day. Michael wonders if it is the monotony of being stuck in his apartment, while George wonders if it is symptoms of his dementia rapidly progressing. By the finale, the two end up getting out of their time loops in the climax of the episode, and end up meeting each other - but not quite in the way that you would think.

EPISODE ONE: TURTLES ALL THE WAY DOWN. The opening song to the series plays, and shots of the town are shown (more details can be found under soundtrack). We are introduced to Parker, George, Vidya, and Kevin. The middle of the episode introduces Michael and Sarah, a husband and wife duo in the city. They skirt around each other - there's clear affection, but whenever the two try to leave the apartment the other reminds them that they can't, for reasons yet unknown to the audience. The episode also introduces the time loop - but only to the audience. The conversations are different (ex. George remembers Parker's name this time, so their conversation never happens, but breakfast still burns) but there are little hints - such as their morning clothes being the same every day, and a focus on the newspaper on George's table being labeled June 1, 2022, etc., while George is mainly unsettled by things disappearing before his eyes.

END SCENE -- George notices a dark silhouette in the yard, staring at the house, the music grows more ominous to the point of being overwhelming. George sees the figure walk towards the run-down museum in town and follows after them. Michael hears something drop in the room over and gets out of bed to investigate. He opens the door to see that something has dropped in front of a painting, Michael can't help but feel like something is unsettling - the paperweight that was in the middle of the table is now halfway across the room. Just as George reaches the door to the museum and Michael goes to pick up the paperweight, the clock hits twelve, and it cuts to them waking up in bed respectively, realizing that something very wrong has just happened.

EPISODE TWO: STEFANESCHI TRIPTYCH George and Michael realize that they're stuck in a time loop. We follow the two as they try to figure out how this happened. George attempts to bond with Parker, and we explore flashbacks of George with his son (Parker's father) and their eventual estrangement. George also takes a visit to the art museum.

EPISODE THREE: MATRYOSHKA George has decided to stick with Kevin in this episode, while Michael keeps a closer eye on Sarah, convinced that she's hiding something.

EPISODE FOUR: ROMANESCO BROCCOLI George switches tactics and spends the day at Mickey's Diner with Vidya, hoping to find more clues. Michael tries to leave the apartment.

EPISODE FIVE: SPIEGEL IM SPIEGEL Michael feels lost and reflects on what's led him to this point. George tries to prove the time loop to Parker with dire consequences. This episode gets significantly darker, as George and Michael get more reckless in their time loops (even dying multiple times), knowing it will all reset. At the end, George ends up dying in front of Parker in this time loop - however, instead of waking up with George, the camera stays on Parker, who sits with the body, traumatized.

EPISODE SIX: MISE EN ABYME Vowing to not traumatize Parker further, George keeps the rest of his findings to himself. Michael hyperfixates on the paperweight. By the end of the episode, George heads off to the art museum for a final clue, while Michael comes close to cracking the case. The scene is further expanded under soundtracks, but in short, George and Michael finally find the source of the time loop. Their scenes are shown cut between each other, and they find themselves in a place out of time, with Gabrielle (Danielle Pinnock) in front of them. She addresses them both, the camera focusing on one person at a time, and it is revealed that this scene is not happening at the same time when she introduces Michael to her boss - George, who greets Michael and says they have a lot of work to do.

SEASON TWO (ten episodes). This season has a horror and romance theme prevalent, and focuses largely on Kevin and Vidya. We delve into the trauma that brought them to the town, flashbacks on how they met, and learn that their time loop is no longer sustainable.

EPISODE ONE: THE LEIDENFROST EFFECT This confirms that George and Michael were in two different time loops, at different points in time. George explains that from time to time, the universe folds in on itself, and that they follow two theories - the Droste Effect and the Leidenfrost Effect. Time loops can continue on forever in theory, but in reality, it's only so much as the resolution (the universe) allows. The time commission was able to condense time loops into small areas (a portion of the town, the apartment) that hover over reality rather than actually making contact, so that when the loop eventually fails and implodes, the damage is minimal. George reveals that the town's time loop is breaking down and that he needs Michael's help getting Vidya and Kevin out, and that in turn, he, Parker, and Gabrielle will help get Sarah out.

EPISODE TWO: MICHAEL STROGOFF, COURIER OF THE CZAR Gabrielle, Parker, and Michael try to enter the time loop to get Vidya and Kevin out. We learn a little bit more about Gabrielle - she's funny but gets the job done, and she seems maternally protective of Parker (something Michael initially finds odd, as Parker is played by Elliot Page in this scene and the two seem the same age). Parker is familiar with Michael - which Michael also questions, and Parker explains that while they can't go into detail, time travel makes it so that their relationships don't follow a straight line - Michael doesn't get the implication: it's Michael's first time meeting Parker, but Parker already has a dynamic with him.

EPISODE THREE: THE UPSIDE DOWN, PT I: Time loop day, Kevin's perspective + flashbacks.

EPISODE FOUR: THE UPSIDE DOWN, PT II: Time loop day, Vidya's perspective + flashbacks.

EPISODE FIVE: PRINT GALLERY Older Parker and George inform Michael that they are needed at a different event, but when he questions how they'll help him with Sarah, they say they'll see him again soon. Young Parker and George learn about the time commission, and how there are people assigned to specific things per department (time loops, paradoxes, anomalies, etc.). Parker wants to try and save their parents but is told it isn't allowed. The two end up teaming up again with Michael and Gabrielle by the end (though to them this is the first time meeting them).

EPISODE SIX: WHO YA GONNA CALL? The group struggles to work together and deal with the time rules that they still don't fully understand. Gabrielle takes the lead.

EPISODE SEVEN: THE GOOD PLACE This episode ends with Sarah revealing that she knows that she's in a time loop, and that she doesn't want to leave. She feels guilt over how the trial ended and thinks this should be her punishment.

EPISODE EIGHT: GROUNDHOG DAY Kevin and Vidya's universe gets worse. This episode goes all in on the horror vibes, with their memories fading in and out of reality, settings changing abruptly - Kevin and Vidya themselves disappearing from time to time. The episode ends on a cliffhanger, as they try to find the way out but discover that the museum has disappeared.

EPISODE NINE: DROSTE Michael tries one last time to convince Sarah to leave the time loop. This is a bottle episode entirely focused on Sarah and Michael's relationship, and by the end of the episode Sarah acknowledges that she doesn't want to die but still believes she deserves it, and Michael says that he'll stay with her, whichever choice she makes. The episode ends with them sitting on the floor of their completely dark penthouse, Michael holding out his hand to Sarah, who hesitates. The episode ends as we see Sarah hold his hand, without knowing what their choice is.

EPISODE TEN: MINI MYTH MAYHEM Kevin and Vidya try to escape before it's too late. In this episode, Sarah has already escape the loop and is with the others helping to get Kevin and Vidya out. In the finale, they all get out, but Sarah and young Parker slip off to an unknown, different time loop.

SEASON THREE (twelve episodes): This season goes into trying to find Sarah and Parker. Sarah is trying to self-impose punishment and Parker wants to find a way to bide time so they can figure out how to save their parents. Parker and Sarah move from time loop to time loop as the group tries to find them. Each episode takes place in a different time loop, and some of the people stuck are helped, and in some episodes, they tragically get erased when the loop implodes.

This season also goes into more depth on Gabrielle and provides her full length backstory, as well as shows more fleshed out interactions between all of our mains now that they're free from and aware of time loops. Vidya and Gabrielle spend time with each other and meet up with Parker and Sarah at one point, helping them through a particularly difficult time loop. Standout episodes:

EPISODE FOUR: HOW IT FEELS TO FLOAT Full Gabrielle backstory episode leading up to and after joining the commission. The episode works with color -- Gabrielle's life is surrounded by color but it's muted and desaturated, but in the commission, despite the cool tones and bland setting, the saturation is back, reflecting how Gabrielle feels more fulfilled.

EPISODE TEN: OUR LIVING FUNERAL Parker tries to save their parents and it doesn't end well. Each time Parker attempts to save them, their parents die, and Parker accidentally creates a time loop centered on their parent's death. Parker eventually comes to the conclusion that they're condemning their parents in the attempt to save them, and breaks the loop by letting their story play out. Young and Future Parker are both featured heavily in this episode, and the episode focuses heavily on grief, trusting in yourself, and letting go.

EPISODE TWELVE: INVERSION Series finale. Sarah is brought back by the entire family, with the knowledge that they can't change their pasts but hope that they can build a better future. We see the team finally close their loop when Michael and George enter a remnant of their loops. George knocks off a paperweight and Michael leads loop-George back to the museum, ensuring their fates. The team decides they want to break more of these time loops and help others instead of continuing the commission's goal to simply condense the areas.

SOUNDTRACK (soundtrack found here):

LONESOME TOWN BY RICKY NELSON: Opening shot of the show; dust town scenes are pictured. There's a bus that stops at the bus stop before driving away, the windows covered with dust, too dirty to actually see through. There's a shot of a diner with nobody in it except for VIDYA and KEVIN, their backs turned to the camera. VIDYA pours coffee and gently puts it in front of KEVIN, and you see them lean in for a kiss, and Vidya smiles and boops his nose. She moves away to put the coffee pot back, her smile slowly fading, and there's a close-up of the coffee machine next to a DROSTE COCOA CAN. The next camera shot stays on the pot, but the hand that pulls out the coffee is an older, white hand, and we see that we have moved into GEORGE RAYMOND GOLDBLATT'S home. He's pouring his coffee and trying to fix breakfast, but he hesitates before pouring the second cup and grabs the DROSTE COCOA CAN instead. We see something sizzling on the frying pan behind him. Pan to the radio in the kitchen. As the song goes into the final "I can learn to forget-" a younger hand reaches and turns the knob off, stopping the song before it ends. PARKER is there, and the dialogue begins.

THE FUNERAL BY YUNGBLUD plays on Parker's headphones in a scene in season one.

THE DRAMA BY KESHA: Closing scene of the first season, when George and Michael break their loops. The beginning of the song corresponds with Parker following George, who's sneaking out of the house and heading towards the museum. Meanwhile, Michael is looking around the penthouse trying to figure out the answer. As the music ramps up (:40-:46 sec, then cuts to the build me up line at 1:52 and plays until 2:55), he looks at the door where he first heard the sound. Michael and George enter their respective room/building and search for the answer. Sarah follows Michael into the room, but unlike Parker, who continues moving into the museum, Sarah shakes her head and sighs, leaving the room and Michael alone. On oh, the drama of it all, both men notice have noticed paintings that seem out of place. On the second all, when the music ramps up, both men have reached out and made contact with the painting. The time loop breaks for them, we intersperse between them both in the same room (close-up shots of both of them). Gabrielle is introduced, seemingly introducing herself to both of them, but then moves, introducing George (in a different outfit), who says he's excited to see Michael (are we having fun yet? plays after he says this as the shot lingers on George's face). Episode ends, the remainder of the song plays over the credits.

FIND SOMEONE LIKE YOU BY SNOH AALEGRA: Plays during a montage for Vidya/Kevin and Michael/Sarah during season two.

PRETTY & AFRAID BY JIDENNA: Plays during Kevin's time loop episode in season two. The song twists and turns and gets distorted the more Kevin's loop starts to unfold.

WISHFUL THINKING BY LEON: Plays in the background for Kevin and Vidya in 2x08 as they try to break their loop together. They go to the museum to find the painting that will get them out, and the music gets an ominous tone to it as they realize that it's gone and glitched out.

RUIN BY THE AMAZING DEVIL: Plays in the final scene of 2x09 as Michael waits with Sarah in a collapsing loop.

ONE LAST TIME BY LP: Plays in the finale as Kevin and Vidya break their loop.

OK ON YOUR OWN BY MXMTMOON & CARLY RAE JEPSON: Closing scene of the season two finale when Sarah and Parker leave.

JOSHUA TREE BY ROZZI: Sung by Gabrielle in a flashback scene that opens up season three. The song cuts off before the end as Gabrielle wakes up.

STARCHILD BY GHOST QUARTET: Plays in 3x03, focuses mainly on Sarah, Parker (both), and Gabrielle. Includes a visual effect that shows them older and younger, includes hints to Gabrielle's past.

DAYDREAM BELIEVER BY THE MONKEES: Opening to 3x09. The lighting is bright and saturated, and we follow a man (Jeremy Strong) as he gets up, picks out his clothes, eats breakfast, etc. He walks to the roof of his apartment and closes his eyes, ready to jump, before the music abruptly cuts off with a record scratch and we hear Sarah's voice, making a sarcastic comment about how many times she's seen him jump since she's gotten there. He startles and falls, and the opening credits play. The next scene picks up with him at the next loop getting to actually talk to Sarah.

BLACK MUD BY LAYLA: Plays in 3x11 in a Sarah-focused scene.

ANCIENT DREAMS IN A MODERN LAND BY MARINA: A slowed down version of this song plays in the final scene, as the group goes into other time loops, ready to help other people escape their own loops.

The remaining songs are songs that play throughout the series, particularly in season three for other loops. In some special episodes, the group is in very old time loops, allowing for classic songs from the time period to be played.

DETAILS/EASTER EGGS/NOTES:

There are Droste cocoa tins that repeatedly appear in the series, particularly season one. Different recursive examples show up in the series.

The dual settings in season one take place in different years - the dust town with George/Parker/Vidya/Kevin takes place in 2022, while Sarah and Michael's takes place in 2020. Some hints: Parker listening to a song that came out in 2022, Sarah and Michael insisting they can't leave their apartment, etc.

Character arcs: Parker: their grief and struggling to come into their own, Michael: relationship/love can't be the solution for problems, Sarah: guilt and depression, Vidya: allows herself to be angry and acknowledge the negative parts of her life, Kevin: becomes more comfortable in who he is instead of trying to force an image, Gabrielle: finds fulfillment in doing something she enjoys with people she enjoys, George: previously struggled with how much time he has left and felt trapped, now has the ability to experience more during that time.

Every grouping in this show has interactions with each other, but some prominent dynamics that grow and develop are: Parker & Sarah in their time loop jumps, Michael/Kevin, and Vidya/Sarah.

Time isn't linear in this series, and these characters grow and develop their relationship with each other in a unique way as they may see each other in different points through time. Future Parker/George recur throughout the series, and in one episode in season three, Vidya talks to Sarah and lets her slip away. When Sarah mentions it to Vidya, Vidya looks confused before moving on, indicating that it may have been a future version of her.

Parker's relationships with the adults is of parental figures/child. Almost all the characters meet each other at some point by season two and various duos or trios are shown throughout season three. The series explores how the love between our main couples are strong and real, but may rely too much on romantic love fixing their problems (Michael trying to get Sarah to leave her time loops for him, for example). Each time loop has to be broken by an individual, and our characters go through that journey on their own with the knowledge that there's family waiting on the other side.

Canonically mentioned: Gabrielle - lesbian, Michael & Sarah - bisexual. Vidya and Kevin's sexualities aren't specified, but we see hints that there's a polyamorous relationship in the group that develops at some point, though who it involves is up to the viewer.

The episode where Sarah interacts with a person who doesn't want to leave their time loop will have Jeremy Strong as the featured guest. Because I say so.

Vidya's secret is only ever alluded to, not revealed. Viewers are free to guess her secret through the details provided, but the secret is Vidya’s to share. In the season 2 finale, Kevin reveals to Vidya that he knows Vidya's secret and doesn't care (beyond how it affects her). This knowledge helps the two of them break out of their loop definitively.

There is a musical special between seasons 2 and 3.

Season one's episode titles are all based off of different recursive examples. Season two is a mix of different recursive/leidenfrost & pop culture references - the finale episode is both, referring to a Myth Busters episode that explores the effect. Season three has a different book title for each episode, and viewers can see the books (either front and center or hidden in the background) in each episode!

SCENES:

After Parker turns off the song in the first scene:

GEORGE: Oh hello, ah, - [he falters, suddenly uncertain of their name]. Breakfast is on the stove. I wasn't sure if you drank coffee, but there's hot cocoa if you want. PARKER: Coffee's fine. [The two pause, the awkward silence creeping up between them. They have only known each other for a few days and have nothing to really talk about besides what has brought them together, which Parker thinks would be immensely depressing. Parker clears their throat and tries an olive branch.] PARKER: My mom always tried to give me decaf and I always complained, but you know dad. One day he said Parker, if you think you're grown up enough for coffee then you're getting real coffee. [they smile, lost in a memory] I think he thought I would hate the taste of it, but I loved it. GEORGE: [George has noticed how Parker stressed their name, and he shoots them a sheepish, but fond smile for reminding him without embarrassing him.] He was like that, even as a little boy. Always - [He turns as he speaks, ready to re-cap the cocoa tin and trails off as he sees that it's missing, and that there's no lid in his hand. He frowns but pours a second cup of coffee.] Where did I put that? Anyway. Carson. Whenever he got something in his head, he'd convince himself it was going to work out. And it would always fail. [His smile fades as they remember the context of his death, and George sets the coffee cups on the table. The breakfast burns, and George rushes to salvage it. By the end of the scene, Parker has announced they're going to get food from the diner. They head out and the camera pans, briefly showing the cocoa tin is back on the counter.]

2x09 end scene:

[RUIN plays as the penthouse turns dark, darker than it ever has, with the moonlight that generally shines through the scenes dimming. Items shake throughout the apartment, ever so slightly. SARAH has sunk to the floor, tired, and MICHAEL looks on, concerned.] SARAH: He was so good. He trusted me. I looked into his eyes and I told him that it would all be okay and it - [her voice breaks and she looks away, overcome with emotion. She sighs, and looks up at MICHAEL, though she avoids his eyes. Tears are prevalent in her eyes but she refuses to cry.] You know, at first I thought this was Hell? I thought this is my punishment, being stuck here. But I realized it wasn't, you know why? [She looks MICHAEL in the eyes this time.] You were there. You were there, going through every day with me, loving me, trying to help me, every day. And Hell could never have you. Never. And I thought, maybe I could make the best of things. Maybe if I just - maybe if I could sit here and work on myself, work on the numbness, this heavy, unbearable numbness, that I could break this, that I could get you out, that I could help you the way I couldn't help him. [At this, a tear leaks out, and she wipes it away roughly. She composes herself, and looks away from MICHAEL again.] But I couldn't. I tried so many times, and one day I realized that I could never help you. I could never help you, or myself, or anyone. And then you woke up and you realized the same. You realized something was wrong. With our lives, with the day, with me. And I was happy, Michael I was so happy when you left, because even if this isn't Hell it's one for me and I deserve to be here but you don't. You can't convince me that I don't deserve this. I love you, but I can't. I can't.

[the piano in the song plays, and at that the items in the apartment begin to dislodge, but instead of falling, they slowly start to float upwards. MICHAEL looks at the items in wonder while SARAH stares at the floor, not noticing - or caring - how the world is collapsing. He looks at SARAH for a long time, and looks down at her wedding ring. SARAH'S hand (wedding ring visible) is on the floor. As the male portion of the song starts, MICHAEL speaks, softly.] MICHAEL: Here's the thing. I kind of promised something ten years ago, a major vow. I believe they included for richer or poorer, in sickness, in health, in time loops and worlds collapsing. [SARAH chuckles, but doesn't interrupt, and MICHAEL's smile fades into a small half-smile.] And it ended with till death do us part. I didn't know I'd end up leaving, I thought I'd be getting us both out of here. I know you believe you deserve this but you don't, Sarah. You don't. You're emphatic, you're kind, you love so much. What happened was horrible but [The female voice sings "I'll sing silence" as the camera close-ups on SARAH's face] it's not your fault. You don't need to punish yourself. But if you do...[MICHAEL sits down, and places his own hand on the floor, his wedding ring parallel to SARAH'S, their hands close but not touching. SARAH looks at him, surprise clear on her face.] I don't agree, Sarah. I don't think this is what he would have wanted. I don't think self-imposed punishment is the answer. You opened up my life when we met, you changed everything for me. Everything. I know there's more that you can do. I think if you let us, we can fix this. We can make this work. The two of us, we can do anything together. I know it. I know it. And if you don't believe in yourself right now, I believe in you. I believe in us. And I wish, I hope it means you'll get up and go with me, but if not, that's fine too. Because I also know we'll make it through anything. Anything. We can make it through the entire universe imploding if we need to. Whatever you choose, I choose. Just whatever you choose... [He flips his hand, still not coming near SARAH'S hand but keeping it open.] Whatever it is, I'll hold your hand through it.

[SARAH looks back down at his hand, the uncertainty clear on her face and the genuine emotion clear on MICHAEL'S. She looks up, as if noticing the broken world around them for the first time, and we see shots of the items that have floated high to the ceiling at this rate, including a close-up the ring that belonged to SARAH's client. The ceiling is slowly crumbling away, and the pieces move upwards as well, into a darkness. SARAH looks back down at MICHAEL'S hand, and we see her finger twitch. The camera moves to a pan of them sitting in the deconstructing room, slowly panning out, and in the darkness, we see SARAH reach for his hand right before the episode ends.]

#rcabl dream show #dream show challenge #janie writes stuff #glitching tw

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bells-of-black-sunday · 1 year

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@axewhirl replied to your post “//literally do not mention t.arhos around me I...”:

tarhos.

I'm pulling out my pepe silvia board, but it's fine: I honestly think the main reason Tarhos and Vittorio are so hated as characters is just because of click bait youtube videos that proclaimed he could stall out the game until the servers timed when realistically that never happened. I remember one morning playing 10 games against knights back to back and honestly he's not any worse than any other anti-loop killer in the game, I hated playing against Nemesis and Twins far more, he has very clear indications of what you're supposed to do in certain situations we can even see that in the showcase done by a beloved streamer between a top knight player and a top skull merchant player.

I also think the fact that really the only lore channel in the community called Tarhos and Vittorio's lore "boring" also played a role in it, but what is their lore really? Tarhos fundamentally is a deconstruction of the Edwardian romanticism of the renaissance that led to what we see of knights saving princesses and being generally forces of good when at most points in history knights were just glorified gangs to the point where tournaments had to be made and organized to stop them from killing people.

He is a child slave, he's not some noble man who went to go protect the holy land or save people, he's a man whose lived all his life being treated like nothing more than a dog on a leash. He is not rich. He is not pious. Even though he's been groomed into that lifestyle even he sees through the churches bullshit, to him there is no sin there is no right or wrong it's just some big mix of cosmic mud he'll never care to make sense of.

Either all of it is good or none of it is in his eyes. To him the only thing that separates him from other people is he doesn't lie to himself about what he's doing. He is hurting people not that he has or ever had a choice in the matter, he's just grown to cope in a way that he enjoys it. As we can see in his tome he talks about everything that's happened to him like it happened to someone else an example being:

""There was a village quite far from here. A small army advanced on this village on a mission, I suppose, to butcher the barbarians… to make this world a better place. Rather than be killed by a stranger or be taken as a slave these villagers had chosen to die by their own accord."

Tarhos scoops a few more maggots and tosses them into the mouth.

"I remember one mother had poisoned her family without hesitation or remorse. The love and strength of will it must have taken to do that is something I’ve yet to see in all my experiences on the battlefield and off. I have been around nobles and knights my whole life and all I’ve seen is cowardice steeped in the rotten stew of lies and hypocrisy.""

He is very clearly talking about when he was a child and his mother poisoning his family to try and avoid exactly what he's been through. On the other hand you have Vittorio, the survivor he came with, a 13th century Italian lord whose a pacifist who tried to find the fog, because he was told it was a paradise without violence or death. And debatably there could be a part of the entity like that, but that's not what either of them found.

Tarhos didn't even care about what Vittorio was doing until whatever happened over the course of the months they had been traveling together made one simple order, "Find another way", piss him off enough to kill and claim all of Vittorio's land for himself. Granted, could be entity influence after all Tarhos did carry the paradise stone out of those catacombs and it's what Vittorio's been unwittingly searching for the entire time, but Tarhos still makes a comment about how Vittorio only wants him to not be violent so he can sleep well at night.

That he doesn't deserve to hold such ideals Vittorio's entire fortune was secured with nothing but violence and stepping on others to secure such a petty need. He's a coward. The most cowardly lord he ever had served. Yet even in his tome, Tarhos doesn't hate him as much as he pretends to. Not only does he not kill Vittorio, he actively talks to him and thinks aloud telling him war stories and asking if he thinks he's mad, but especially so when other lords take notice of what Vittorio was studying.

That becomes the only reason why Tarhos is keeping him alive, because suddenly this idea of paradise is a much bigger deal than he thought. He's offered money, land, etc. to the people that want him dead, but the only thing they want is what Vittorio has on paradise. Which honestly could be the founding of the Black Veil for all we know. So of course when he gets pulled into the fog with the only 3 people he trusts he's going to see the entity as paradise.

And I can only imagine what he thinks when he sees Vittorio again.

#ooc #a path of destruction (knight)#-strangles him- i just think hes neat and makes me read student papers and studies id never normally read before #I'm so normal about him :)#this is so long though HERWHWEH

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morganwrites-starwars · 2 years

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Tome tug'yc pt. 1

6 months ago Cody and Luke were freed from the Empire and reunited with Obi-wan on Tatooine. They have been settling in as a family, but their peace can't last forever. Because Cody's brothers and Leia are coming for a visit, bringing a surprise visitor. It should be a fun visit, as long as Obi-wan's heart doesn't give out from stress.

A/N: This was written before the release of Kenobi, so (spoilers?) Leia and Obi-wan haven't met previously.

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Luke was practically vibrating in place as he ran around the house. Cody was sitting on the couch, watching him amusedly. Cody could understand his nervousness- Cody’s vode and Leia were coming to visit. Service was spotty on Tatooine, especially since they were in the middle of nowhere. So messages were infrequent over the past six months.

Obi-wan had cleaned their homestead as much as possible. The sand never entirely went away. Obi-wan was fretting over everything, ensuring there was enough food and water (despite the group bringing their supplies). Obi-wan had also redirected Luke’s excitement into cleaning, which Luke took too quickly. Cody had helped, of course, but he decidedly had less of a need to impress his vode and Leia. His vode had seen Cody at various levels of put together- a particular memory involving Helix, a pair of too-tight syn-leather pants, and too much whiskey came to mind- so no amount of cleaning would really matter.

But Cody knows Obi-wan was anxious about seeing men he hadn’t seen in years. Obi-wan had confessed to Cody, in the dim light of twilight, that he was worried that now that he and Cody were officially married, his vode would view him differently and not like him. Cody had assured his riduur that while his vode were di’kute they weren’t that bad of people. He then cheered Obi-wan up by telling him about the crush Rex had had on Obi-wan for the first few months of the war.

That was a week ago, and while Obi-wan had calmed down some, Luke’s excitement and nervousness had ramped Obi-wan back up. Cody wasn’t sure that there wasn’t some type of Force feedback loop. But no one was crying or close to it, so Cody was content to let them run around.

But Luke was looking flushed, so Cody got up and poured a small glass of water, and sat back down.

“Ad’ika,” Cody called gently. Luke paused his movement and looked at Cody. “Come here, please.”

Luke walked over and sat on the couch next to Cody. Cody handed him the glass and watched as Luke drank it. Luke was trying not to drink it too fast, clearly thirsty. Luke wiped his face when he was done and smiled at Cody.

“Thanks,��buir,” Luke said, getting up to quickly dry and put away the glass. Luke came back and slumped into the seat. Cody messed up Luke’s hair affectionately, causing Luke to whine, “Buir!”

“Your pacing was making me dizzy, ad’ika,” Cody told him. “Take a second. Rest. You don’t have to stand around and wait.”

Luke sighed. “I know. I’m just excited to see Leia and my bavodu’e! It’s been so long!”

“I know, and I’m excited too,” Cody told him. Cody leaned close and, in a stage whisper, told Luke, “But I think you’ll cause O’buir’s heart to give out with worry.”

Luke chuckled, and loudly from the other room, Obi-wan announced, “I am not that old!”

Luke dissolved into laughter, leaning on Cody. Cody smiled widely at Obi-wan when he walked into the room. Obi-wan shot a fond look back.

“I’m not that old,” Obi-wan repeated as Luke’s laughter faded a bit. “But maybe I should sit down.”

Obi-wan collapsed dramatically into the plush chair next to the couch and groaned loudly, prompting more laughter from everyone.

“If you die before Helix can get a look at you, he’ll just resurrect you to kill you himself,” Cody said. “I think he has dibs on it.”

Obi-wan grimaced and rubbed his beard. “Ah, yes. That would be fair, I suppose.”

“Yeah,” Luke chirped, “Ba’vodu Helix told me that you once tried to escape the medbay with broken ribs by getting through the vents!”

Obi-wan sighed. “Not my finest moment.”

“You were on the good meds,” Cody added. “It was pretty funny. Kept confessing your love of everyone and started crying when I told you we would have to rain-check a date.”

Obi-wan sniffed and sat up straighter, much to Luke’s amusement. “Well, you said it quite rudely, my dear. And you were the third person to reject me at that point. I was hurt.”

Luke was laughing again, and Obi-wan and Cody shared a fond look. Cody smiled down at Luke as Luke fell over and rested his head on Cody’s lap. Luke’s laughs began to fade after a few moments, and he looked lost in thought.

Cody gently rasped his knuckles on Luke’s forehead to get his attention. “What are you thinking so hard about, ad’ika?”

“Do you think Leia will still be excited to see me?” Luke asked after a brief pause.

Cody felt his heart clench at Luke’s distraught expression. Cody took a second to gather his thoughts, but before he could respond, Obi-wan spoke, “Of course, she will, dear one. You only had a short time together, so I imagine she is eager to get to spend more time with you.”

Luke shot up. “But what if she decided she didn’t actually want to get to know me! I mean, recognizing I’m her brother means she has to recognize father…”

Cody wrapped an arm around Luke and pulled him close. Obi-wan got up and sat down on Luke’s other side, squishing Luke against Cody and Cody against the side of the couch. It was not a very big couch.

“Leia, much like you, is a brilliant person,” Obi-wan said, “I believe she can separate you from your father. You are not a package deal with him.”

Cody gently shook Luke. “If anything, you and I are a package deal, ad’ika. Besides, if Leia didn’t want to see you, she just wouldn’t have gotten on the ship.”

Luke frowned. “But ba’vodu Wolffe said he’d just kidnap her.”

Obi-wan poorly hid a snort by covering his mouth with his hand. Cody rolled his eyes at his riduur. “Wolffe is a di’kut, and I would rarely take him seriously ad’ika. He wouldn’t actually force Leia to come.”

Luke huffed and thought about it. Cody felt a bit bad for Luke. Luke hadn’t grown up surrounded by people who spoke with plain sarcasm. There had been a pattern in the Empire that people had when speaking lies- thinly veiled annoyance with a down-their-nose glance. The gruff plainness of Wolffe, and other of Cody’s vode, was harder for Luke to catch. Cody knew it was frustrating to Luke, but he was handling it well. It also probably helped that Cody and Obi-wan conversed in a similar manner, minus the violence that Wolffe added.

“Besides,” Cody added jokingly, “she’d probably take a page out of his book and bite him.”

Luke’s face scrunched up. “That seems really unsanitary.”

Obi-wan nodded in agreement, and Cody shrugged. Wolffe had bitten plenty of vode and been bitten in return. Wolffe had never gotten sick from it.

When Cody pointed this out, Obi-wan countered, “The vode have enhanced immune systems. You have walked through a rain forest for days and came out of it will little more than a sniffle.”

Cody shrugged. “Not my fault you nat-borns have osik immune systems.”

“Buir’d probably be an ik’aad if he actually got sick,” Luke mused with a smile to Obi-wan. Obi-wan agreed with a hum, and Cody rolled his eyes at his aliit. At least they weren’t pacing anymore.

“I have been shot, stabbed, and blown up multiple times- I think I could handle a cold,” Cody defended himself if only to say he tried. If one thing had become evident in the past 6 months, Cody was outnumbered and could not out-argue Luke and Obi-wan.

Obi-wan raised a brow in doubt, his eyes shining with mirth. “Oh yes, my dear, I’m sure you could.” Obi-wan waved his hand. “Handle it about as well as you do a papercut.”

Luke snickered, and Cody pointed an accusatory finger at his riduur. Cody realized he didn’t have a good come back to that- he could admit papercuts made him a bit dramatic, they really stung, ok?- so he just said, “Rude.”

The conversation reached a natural lull. Obi-wan had closed his eyes, a smile on his face. Cody assumed he was feeling the Force, reveling in Cody and Luke’s presence. Luke had taken out his comm to check the time and for any messages from Leia. Cody resisted the urge to check his own comms.

Cody was getting ready to stand up and grab a snack when Luke shot up, and Obi-wan opened his eyes. They were both grinning.

“They’re here!” Luke exclaimed and rushed out the door.

Cody looked to Obi-wan as they both stood up. Cody dutifully ignored the cracking from their joints. “We don’t need to rush. They’re still heading up.”

Cody smirked. Soon after they had arrived, Obi-wan showed them the shortcut to the hut that didn’t require a hike up the canyon. Cody had decided not to share that with his vode. The exercise would do them good, and he was sure Leia would be fine.

They head outside, staying in the shade provided by the overhang. Luke was rocking on his feet as he waited. Cody heard voices in the distance.

“What the kriff-how did-kriffing jetti-.” That was Wolffe complaining. Cody snorted at his vod’s complaints. Obi-wan was smiling fondly.

“Oh shut up,” someone snapped back-Helix, Cody assumed.

“It’s not all that bad,” Leia responded, not even sounding out of breath. Cody figured the following silence was accompanied by an annoyed eye twitch from Wolffe.

“Yeah, ori’vod. I think you’re just getting old,” teased Rex. Then Cody heard Rex yelp, probably because Wolffe hit him. They sounded louder and louder. Obi-wan had covered his mouth in a poor attempt to hide his laughter. Luke was practically vibrating.

Leia’s head crested over the ridge, a broad smile on her face within seconds. Luke rushed forward with an exclamation of her name. Leia quickly ran up the last steps, just in time for Luke to stumble to a stop in front of her.

“Hi,” Luke greeted, his excitement laced with nervousness. Despite his excitement, Luke was still unsure about how to interact with Leia. Leia didn’t seem to have the same reservations.

Leia rolled her eyes, smile not fading, and hugged Luke. Cody watched as the tension released from Luke’s shoulders.

After a few moments, one of Cody’s vode cleared their throat. Helix’s head popped up over the ridge. “Can we come up, please?”

Luke and Leia parted, and Luke gave a sheepish smile to his bavodu’e. The two teens stepped away from the staircase, and Cody’s vode stepped onto the landing.

Helix reached out and pulled Luke into a side hug. Wolffe, glare still aimed at Leia, messed up Luke’s hair with an affectionate, “Luk’ika.”

Rex pulled Luke into a hug, the most affectionate of the bunch. Helix made his way over to Cody and Obi-wan. Cody pulled Helix into a hug, their foreheads touching.

“Hey vod,” Cody muttered. “Good to see you.”

“You too,” Helix said. “Glad to see you still standing.”

They pulled apart, and Obi-wan stepped next to them. Obi-wan had folded his hands into his sleeves, and he pulled them out to offer a hand to Helix. “Hello, Helix. It is so nice to see you again.”

Helix rolled his eyes and gripped Obi-wan’s hand. Helix pulled Obi-wan into a hug. “It’s good to see you too, General. And in decent health for once.”

Obi-wan chuckled as they separated. Cody watched as Wolffe, Rex, Luke, and Leia walked over. “I tried, just for you.”

Rex bounded up and pulled Cody into a hug before he could say anything.

“Ori’vod.”

“Rex’ika, still have the beard, huh?”

Rex hit his shoulder and sighed. “Yeah, I get it. You don’t like it.”

“What gave you that idea?” Cody asked, imbuing as much sarcasm into the words as possible. But Cody pulled his vod’ika into a Keldabe kiss, taking comfort in the reassuring pressure of Rex pushing back into the kiss.

Cody smiled at Rex again as they pulled apart. Cody clasped his shoulder before stepping back. Cody and Wolffe sized each other up as Obi-wan greeted Rex.

“Kot’ika.”

“Ori’vod.”

Their stare down lasted another few moments before they both smiled simultaneously. Wolffe pulled Cody into a tight hug. Cody thumped his hand on Wolffe’s back and rested his head on Wolffe’s shoulder. Cody would never admit it, but even as a cadet Wolffe’s hugs were a surefire way to calm Cody down. It felt like nothing in the glazy could hurt him while he was in his ori’vod’s hold.

When they pulled apart, Wolffe held him an arms length away and looked him up and down. When Wolffe was done, and seemingly pleased with what he found, he let Cody go with a nod.

Cody turned to Leia and had to hide his amusement because Leia actually seemed nervous to face Cody. Cody knew that when they first met, when Cody was a Purge Trooper, Leia had been wary of him. Understandable, really. But she had adjusted over the time they had been around each other. And the nervousness she had now was different. It probably had to do with the fact that their relationship was weird. Cody had no expectations from Leia as to how they had to interact. Because how would they define their relationship? ‘You’re the long-lost twin sister of the boy I’ve adopted and raised,’ and ‘You’re the adoptive father of my long-lost twin brother, and I was raised to have a healthy distrust of you and the organization you had to serve.’ Yeah, there certainly wasn’t anything on that in the parenting books Cody had read.

“Su cuy’gar, Leia,” Cody greeted her, holding out a hand, letting Leia choose what she wanted to do.

Leia took a deep breath and grasped his forearm in a traditional Mandalorian handshake. Cody raised a surprised and impressed brow. She must have been doing her research.

“Hello, commander. It is nice to see you again.”

Cody chuckled at her stiffness as they let go. “Just Cody, Leia. And it’s good to see you too.”

Leia nodded in understanding and gave him a small smile. Cody turned to Obi-wan, only to see him staring at Leia. He had the same look in his eyes from when he had first seen Luke. Leia turned and made eye contact with Obi-wan. She lit up.

“General Kenobi!” Leia chirped, stepping forward to shake his hand. “I’ve heard so much about you from my parents and all of the amazing things you did for the Republic!”

Every bit of the Negotiator had seemingly left Obi-wan. His mouth moved without words as he shook Leia’s hand. “Ah, yes, please, my dear, you can just call me Obi-wan.”

Leia was still smiling when she let go of his hand. Obi-wan was still staring at her. Cody knew what he was seeing. Leia was a near carbon copy of Senator Amidala. But Cody knew as time passed, Leia would show her full personality, which she had gotten almost completely from Skywalker.

“Are you alright, O’buir?” Luke stepped in to ask, grabbing onto Obi-wan’s sleeve.

It seemed to break Obi-wan out of his stupor. He smiled at both Luke and Leia. “Yes, yes. I am still shocked by how much you resemble your biological parents. And how much you two have grown since the first time we meet.”

Leia’s head tilted to the side. “When we first meet?”

Obi-wan put his hands back into his sleeves. “Yes, I was there when you were both born. I was actually the first person to hold you both.”

Leia’s eyes widen in awe. She went to ask another question, but both Luke and Obi-wan’s attention snapped to the staircase. They both stared at the stairs, Luke’s eyes wide with excitement and Obi-wan’s with stun. Cody could hear faint steps coming up the stairs and looked at his vode for clues.

Rex caught his eye and signed, ‘Commander,’ and Cody smiled. Ahsoka was here.

Cody gently ushered his vode, Leia, and Luke into the house. He assured Luke that he would be able to talk to Ahsoka soon. Cody knew Obi-wan would need alone time with his grand padawan. Obi-wan had cried for nearly 10 minutes when Cody had told him that Ahsoka was alive and well. This surprise visit was bound to be emotional, and Cody figured they could use the privacy.

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Next>

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spellsword177 · 2 years

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Predictions for Stranger Things Season 5

Now that the penultimate season has ended, it’s time to string together a few predictions for how it all ends in Season 5. It was always fun to do this once upon a time after every Harry Potter book and see how far off the mark I ended up. Understand, that there will be spoilers for those who haven’t watched the latest season to its conclusion and I have no special insight on what will happen.

Hawkins, IN is finished. Starting with the most obvious, there have been small signs before the community may have been struggling for survival even before Will Byers disappearance. With the town believed to be cursed and the Upside Down now bleeding through, it is unlikely the town will survive the last battle and may even be quarantined by the US Government as an unsafe location like a few communities have been in the real world. Forever is a long time, however, and things may end up better in the end.

The end fight will be between Vecna vs. Eleven and Will. Admittedly, I have seen the reports suggesting Will is going to have a major role in Season 5. This has always been Will’s story just as much as Eleven’s and Vecna just proved himself to the be at the center and the source of the evil they’re fighting. Some questions still have not been fully answered beyond believing in coincidence and sheer dumb luck. Why was Will Byers a target of the Demogorgon? How was Will able to survive when everyone else taken for an extended period died in the Upside Down? It will also be curious to see what happens when the souls of those murdered by Vecna are released.

The other parents will be brought into the loop. This will most likely be out of necessity for their safety and the fact they can no longer hide the secrets of Hawkins as easily as they could in the past. We’ve seen them band together to try and save their children when it became obvious the Hellfire Club was a target. Karen Wheeler has already shown herself to be a potentially strong ally for the fight ahead. Ted Wheeler, on the other hand, will never be ready and is likely the be least prepared to accept the truth.

The Satanic Panic group will still be around. When things go wrong, people tend to cling that much harder to the familiar shunning anything new or different. Even though Jason Carver is dead the group he founded lives on. There is always a chance they could help, but it is far more likely they could still hinder our heroes in the fight ahead.

Surviving members of the Nina Project will help against US Military. In Season 4 we had a strange situation in which the Department of Energy was at war with the Department of Defense. We know Agent Ellen Stinson is alive and free, Dr. Sam Owens is possibly alive and imprisoned, and Lt Col Jack Sullivan was temporarily stranded in Nevada. No mention has yet been made of a reconciliation leaving the possibility for future conflicts. Sullivan can either choose to be an ally or the enemy, but he will not survive if he chooses the latter.

Someone will have healing powers. Max has barely survived her encounter with Vecna, but she’s been broken, gravely injured, and beyond the ability of modern medicine to save. There is no way to save a person who is brain dead. As we’ve progressed through the series, new powers have come to light and not all of the possessed by Eleven. It is an ability she may learn, Will may possess, or someone else may bring to the table. I am confident Max will walk, see, and speak again.

Will Byers will die. As much as I long for his happiness, I see him being set up to eventually sacrifice himself in order to save his friends and family. How this will play out I cannot say. He is hopelessly devoted to Mike and views Eleven as his twin sister sacrificing his own happiness so they can be together. All I can say to will is prove me wrong and beat the odds.

#Stranger Things #Season 5 #Predictions

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imagine-turtles · 2 years

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Oooookokokokok Let's say one of their friend needs to find a new place to live and they offer to let them stay at the lair for a few months, what's it like to live here? The good stuff, the bad stuff, maybe reader gets a crush or maybe it just stays platonic, how do the boys handle it, how does splinter handles it, etc etc. Yknow, the good stuff :3

Also dude I hope you and your fam are ok!! <3

We’re all good here--just busy! I’m trying out a little change of perspective since you specifically mentioned “reader” so we’ll see how that goes.

LEONARDO

Lays down the law before agreeing to even have you stay with them. He and his brothers have rules, and he’s sure you do too, so he’d rather just make sure the living arrangement is compatible before committing.

Generally, chores are divided up among the family, but Leo is perfectly content to leave you to your own laundry, dishes, etc… so long as you don’t make too much of a mess in someone else’s jurisdiction.

(Offering to pencil yourself into the chore chart is an easy way to gain Leo’s approval, with even more brownie points if you insist after he politely refuses.)

He doesn’t want anyone in your space unless you invite them in, and makes it clear that any problems you have should go directly to him. Hates hearing about issues secondhand, even if it’s for something as little as a new lightbulb. It’s just part of how Leo thinks your living situation should work; offering the respect of keeping him in the loop.

If you’re a decent housemate, and mesh well with Leo’s personality, he’ll definitely develop a crush. He’ll try to convince himself he’s just adjusting to a new person in the house, then that he’s realized it’s possible to have a relationship, then that he likes the idea of a relationship and you just happen to be there. And of course he’s imagining you in that scenario; you’re the only person he’s ever seen in this situation. His brain is just drawing parallels the only way it knows how.

He hears Donnie’s “well, actually” tone so clearly that he decides to never commit to his theory out loud.

He’ll buckle under the weight of his own feelings if you start taking an interest in his interests, the ones he doesn't really share with his brothers.

Leo might tear up if you put in the time, trial, and error to brew tea just how he likes. Even if you don’t quite get it right every time. Or the first twenty times.

RAPHAEL

Less stressed than Leo, but just barely and for completely unrelated reasons.

Reason number one: HATES having people in the lair when he’s taking a shit. This man can destroy a toilet on a level that, considering his mutant status, could literally be classified as a BSL-4. How the hell is he supposed to shit when there’s constantly someone over?

Do not talk to him through the bathroom door unless someone's dying. Don't even acknowledge he's in there. Surefire way to piss him off.

Drags his feet cleaning his room because, duh, he’d rather die than let you just hang out in there. What would you even do, look at his stuff? Absolutely not. His brothers don’t even hang out in his room.

(The exception is if he already has a crush on you--then all he cares about is cleaning his room, despite never actually inviting you in. Might have to take a little initiative.)

Raph might swing back and forth between a ton of interaction and hardly seeing you. He’ll want to make sure you’re doing alright and that you don’t think he’s ignoring you; at the same time he’s afraid you might get tired of hanging out, and needs time to recharge.

He’ll be much more comfortable spending time with you if you let him know you’re perfectly content to just be near him while you each do your own thing. Not much conversation required.

If Raph’s desperately trying to convince himself he’s not into you, having you around the lair just about puts him in an early grave. Having you here--living in his house, with him--just makes the fantasy that much more real. This could be your life. Every day. Together.

DONATELLO

Initially offers to just put you up in an extended-stay hotel, or an apartment, and even floats the idea of having you crash at Vern’s place. It’s not that Donnie doesn’t want you around the lair--you’re welcome, of course--but he already knows it’s going to be a massive headache. Leo and Raph are going to be stressed, he’s going to have to make those repairs he’s been putting off, they’re all going to have to clean, just… ugh.

Not to mention how inconvenient it would be for you to live with them. In a sewer. What if you hurt yourself, or fall ill, or get lost in the pipes? What if you get sick of them, after being forced to spend so much time down in the lair?

He’ll make sure you have access to everything you need in your space, and even help with a few upgrades… eventually. Don’s a busy guy, and he might not find the time to help right away, but a particularly observant houseguest might figure out that trading favors for favors will bump their request to the top of the list. Especially if you at least try to put in a little effort yourself before asking him.

You might notice Donnie doing a lot of staring at you, and when questioned he simply tells you he’s zoning out. The truth of the matter is that he hasn’t had a lot of opportunity to look at many humans up close, and he’s just checking out all the body parts he doesn’t have.

Shuffles you far, far away the second Leo and Raph start to get into it. Having an audience only makes them self-conscious and exacerbates the tension; he’d hate for you to be around all that, or god forbid, try to play mediator.

Donnie knows it’s not unusual to develop a crush on people that you spend a lot of time around, but figures since he’s aware of this he’ll be immune to any proximity-based attraction.

This is not correct. In fact, he might rival Mikey in terms of how quickly he develops a crush once he realizes how easy living with you can be. It’s even worse if you start doing little things, like figuring out how he likes his coffee or texting him at the store to ask if he wants anything.

You'll know he's down bad when he lets you get into his stuff: his lab, his desk, his snacks, his room, his bed--even his computer, after he hides anything incriminating. What's his is yours.

MICHELANGELO

Tidies up as if you’re going to be hanging out exclusively in his room. He doesn’t fully clean it, mind, just kinda sorts everything into piles and makes sure it’s not gross. Howl’s Moving Castle vibes--if you know, you know.

Man shits himself to death at least once a week. Unlike Raph, he'll text you to let you know he's fighting for his life in there. Not afraid to have a conversation through the bathroom door.

Writes a HUGE list of things to do while you’re staying in the lair, makes a playlist of videos to watch, marks places to show you, the whole shebang. You might have to sit him down and explain that you don’t need to be entertained every second of every day.

Perfect opportunity to do a bunch of shit his brothers won’t do with him; not out of malice, simply because they don’t have the time, or the motivation, or the general interest.

Like Raph, he’d benefit from the reassurance that you don’t mind just existing in the same space while you each do your own activity. Otherwise, he may wear himself down being “on” all the time.

Thinks it’s sooo funny to take you out around the sewers and pretend to get lost. Does it just to see what you’ll do, and insists it’s because he’s trying to find out who would be the best partner in a survival situation. Also, he had four hours to kill.

Mikey develops crushes fairly easily, and living with you would only exacerbate an existing crush or spark a new one entirely. The novelty of seeing a human toodle around the lair doing human things (albeit the same shit they do) never gets old.

He’ll take any kind of heat for you if you do the dishes on his turn. Seriously. Clogged toilet, stained furniture, stolen leftovers, scuff marks on Raph’s bike--Mikey will own up to nearly anything for a clean sink.

SPLINTER

Totally hoping their guest hooks up with one of his sons. He’ll outright admit it, too. What better way to get closer to one of the boys and test their ability to live together?

Probably the most relaxed. Doesn’t really worry about the whole thing; he’s old, he’s done enough worrying. Figures Leo will do most of it for him, anyways.

Straight up tells the boys to lock their doors and keep it down if they’re going to be boning their guest. Chose to announce this in the middle of dinner the night before your arrival just to fuck with them. Thinks he’s hilarious.

He is.

#dianounais #tmnt #leonardo #raphael #donatello #michelangelo #tmnt bayverse #tmnt imagines #teenage mutant ninja turtles #splinter

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mercy-burning · 3 years

Text

Your Favorite — Part 1

Pairing: Spencer Reid x fem!Reader Summary: When Y/N comes home from college for the summer to meet her mom's new boyfriend, she finds herself in a rather tough spot when she can’t stop thinking about him— And it seems he feels the same... Category: SMUT (18+) Content: Adults w/ age gap, masturbation (female and male), minor exhibitionism kink, oral sex (male receiving), penetrative sex, breeding kink (kinda? i think? 😅) Word Count: 7.3k (do you see now why I had to make it a miniseries? alsdjfdk)

PART 1 | PART 2 | PART 3 | MASTERLIST

DISCLAIMER: In this story, Spencer is dating Y/N’s mom while also having a sexual relationship with the reader herself. Because of that, there are obvious undertones of cheating, alongside some perv-y tendencies when it comes to a partner’s daughter. That being said, Spencer and Y/N’s relationship is consensual. However— If any of what I just forewarned is something that you think will make you uncomfortable while reading, please do not read! If there are any more disclaimers you think I may have missed, don’t hesitate to tell me! There is another post I made HERE with some disclaimers as well if you want to know more about what this story will entail.

NOTE: This intro is already too long, so I’ll just get this out of the way: you can find visual nsfw inspirations for this story over at @mercy-midnight, I’m working on a playlist for this story on my Spotify @/mercyburning, and I don’t know when part 2 and 3 will be out, but you can assume they’ll be here within the next few weeks.

———

JUNE 5th

I hate my mom's new boyfriend.

For the past three months she'd been telling me about this new guy who's "The One" as if "The One" hasn't been like four other guys in the past two years.

And as much as I'd love for my mom to find someone to spend the rest of her life with, I don't believe she'd ever find Mr. Perfect at this rate. Unless she spent more than a few months with them at a time before dragging me home from college for a weekend to meet them, I really don't see it happening.

It just sucks. Because every time she does this, every time I return home, I see the glimmering hope in her eyes and the diminishing spark in his, and I know. I know it won't last, and her heart will be utterly broken within the span of a few months.

I always thought maybe she just had terrible taste in men.

But this time around, when I begrudgingly walk through the door of my childhood home for the summer and see my mother clinging to a man who returns that glimmer in her eyes, I know she's picked a good one.

And I hate him.

His name is Spencer Reid, and he's a retired FBI agent who teaches full time at local colleges now.

He greets me with a bona fide, radiant smile, unlike all the others before, and it sets my insides on fire. And when we sit down for dinner, he's polite (but not in a fake way,) and he seems genuinely curious about my studies and my personality and my relationship with my mother. And when dinner is finished he offers to clean up while Mom and I settle in the living room.

I see the way he looks at me as I leave, a gentle, closed-mouth smile and eyes that linger a little too long on my exposed legs before averting, a glint of shame pooling within them, and it only spreads that fire in my belly.

Maybe I'd been imagining the whole thing, because deep down I wanted him to look at me the way he had... But it's hard to tell when my brain is mostly setting off sirens, blaring "THIS IS WRONG! THIS IS WRONG!" on a loop with blinding lights.

And they're even louder when my mom wraps her arm around me and lays her head atop mine. "Well, what do you think? He's great, huh?"

She's so lovesick, it hurts. It hurts even worse knowing that all I can think about is his big hands wrapped around my throat while he fucks me into the squeaky twin-sized mattress in my bedroom upstairs.

But I can't tell her that, obviously.

And so I decidedly hate him. And I have no choice but lie to her face, embracing her joy and hoping that I'll be able to survive this summer.

"Yeah, Mom. He's really great."

JUNE 19th

It's been two weeks and I can barely stand to be in the same house anymore.

I try to keep myself busy by going outside, to the beach or for long walks in the park; but it's too hot for my liking, and our town is so small that unless I want to spend my time in the grocery store or one of the three bars on Main Street...

I'm stuck either outside where it's hot and uncomfortable, or in the house where it's also hot and uncomfortable.

We have air conditioning, of course, but that's not the problem.

It's Spencer.

I thought by now my little crush on him would have gone, but the longer he hangs around the house, the stronger my feelings for him grow. They're not romantic—nor do I think they ever could be given the fact that if anything serious really were to ever happen between us, my mom would disown me for the rest of my life and murder Spencer with her bare hands—but that doesn't make it any easier on me.

Every day he just exists, right in front of me with that tug-able mop of hair, those warm honey eyes, and his hands that never stop moving. I swear, it's like every time he breathes, his hands are breathing too, challenging me to try and stop them.

But I refuse to touch him. Because I know the moment I do, all will be lost. I won't be able to control myself anymore. And if I don't drop to my knees and try sucking his dick at the dinner table, I'm sure I'll blurt out how I can't handle it anymore and that I need him, and either way I'd be royally fucked.

Right now he's in the dining room, teaching my mom how to do a disappearing card trick. She thinks it's utterly charming that he can do it at all, but mostly that he's patient and willing enough to teach her. And normally I'd agree, but I can barely look at them without wanting to waltz over, grab his wrist, and suck his fingers into my mouth.

It's truly pathetic.

So I try to focus on the television just a few feet away. It's one of those rare instances where I wish our house was bigger, because while I don't mind having less wall-space between rooms, I do mind not being able to watch TV without the kitchen table in my periphery at a time like this. And I think about going up to my bedroom instead for a moment, but I'd have to go past the kitchen, and I just know Mom is going to ask if I'd want Spencer to teach me his magic trick.

And I most definitely do not want that.

In another life, maybe, where he isn't a hot professor and rather an average-looking dude who's way too into fantasy football... But not in this lifetime.

So there I sit, concentrating so hard on Family Feud that my face hurts.

When I hear a flutter of cards and joyous giggling from the other room, it's more than my face that hurts.

It's also my chest, churning and tensing at the hands of the green devil.

Fuck!

I barely even know this man... I haven't really talked to him because I'm afraid that if I try to hold a conversation I'll snap. He's literally just some hot older guy who's dating my mom, and still, my whole body twists and aches with envy when they do anything together, and it fucking sucks. Not only because of the jealousy, but it's also the fact that my mom deserves to be happy.

This time it's different. This time, she's really found someone who returns her every loving gaze, who makes her laugh, who's kind and genuine and not a total douche. She's happier than I've seen her in years.

And the one time she finally finds "The One", every waking second of my life is spent longing for him fuck me.

But it's only been two weeks.

And it's also been nearly two years since I got laid, so maybe that's just my issue...

I figure it can't hurt, so in a spur of the moment decision, I turn the TV off and sprint towards the stairs, right past Mom and Spencer before they can ask questions.

———

I hardly even register the dimness of the light inside the house by the time I glide up the steps, fumbling with the key and trying to make my entrance as quiet as possible. Though, because I'm so used to the dark by this point, the light—no matter how dim—nearly blinds me. The door shuts louder than I'd have liked, and I cringe inwardly, pausing as if that will keep anyone from seeing or hearing me. Not like it'll matter, considering Mom and Spencer are the only ones that are staying here and they'd also been the only ones aware of my plans for the evening.

Well, somewhat, anyway. I told them an old friend invited me out and I probably wouldn't be home until late.

Regardless, that instinct of trying not to get caught coming in late at night is stronger than common sense. Throw a little cheap beer and some shots into the mix, and it almost feels like I'm a teenager again.

The only thing different now is that I have a pool of some stranger's cum soaking my underwear and a man in front of me who stands like an angel. An exhausted, almost scruffy-looking angel more like, but my point still stands.

"You're up late," Spencer observes. It's a simple enough statement— not really judge-y, but I can tell that regardless of his knowledge of my coming home late, he seems shocked to see me coming through the front door right now.

And it's hard to look away from him. Just like it has been for the past two weeks. Still, I try, just barely avoiding his eyes as I cross my arms and fight the urge to clench my legs together. "I'm a whore. What's your excuse?"

Maybe not the best thing to say. But like I said, common sense? Gone.

"O—oh... Umm..." Spencer stumbles through his words, obviously stunned by my response, and the look in his eyes kind of makes me want to curl up in a ball and die from embarrassment. Still, I stand my ground and wait for him to continue.

He settles on a short, "I can't sleep," and then there's nothing else.

"Ah," I express. One syllable. I don't draw it out, I don't exaggerate it... This is the first real conversation I've had alone with him, and I've made it extremely awkward, so I sigh and take a few steps forward, trying to walk past him. "Okay. Goodnight."

I only make it a few steps before he stops me, his hand reaching out to tap my shoulder. "Wait—"

The touch makes me jump, and he pulls it away immediately as I turn to face him. My heart is racing at the speed of light, my panties are soaked through, and if I'm not careful that whole 'no common sense' thing is going to bite me so hard in the ass I won't have one left.

"Can I talk to you?" His voice is barely audible, and the gentle rasp it has to it seems to make me even more wet.

I nod, not trusting myself to speak.

"Look, I um... Your mom has been totally transparent with me about her relationships, so I know that she's been through a lot of them in a short amount of time... And I know that must be a little difficult for you. Especially now that I'm here... And you've been... distant. And I know that I don't know you that well, so forgive me if I'm assuming anything, but I just want you to know that I don't have any intention of making things difficult for you and your mother."

Too late, pal, I think bitterly, the gentle authority in his tone setting my insides alight. I'm positive that voice could get me to do so many things...

That's the alcohol and sex talking, Y/N, just shake it and move on...

He starts again, but I cut him off with a short wave of my hand. "Look, I... I appreciate what you're trying to do, but I had a really long night, and I'm exhausted. I just wanna shower and go to bed."

I expect more resistance, but Spencer only nods. I still can't bring myself to look him in the eye, though this time I catch his hands clenching at the bottom hem of his shirt. "I understand. Sleep well."

Without another word I turn on my heel and walk a little faster towards the stairs, and I'm about to take my first step when I realize he's followed me. His voice calls out my name softly from a few feet behind, and it stops me in my tracks regardless of my desire to get out of there as fast as I can. And then I turn around and finally look directly at his face.

Big mistake.

His eyes are on my legs again, trailing slowly upwards until he reaches my face. The light over here is dimmer, barely noticeable at all, though I swear I can see red forming on his cheeks.

"I like your dress," he says softly. It's almost meek, like he'd been afraid to say it but took a chance anyway.

It's such a random, small compliment, but with the alcohol and endorphins flowing through my body after the night I'd just had, it nearly makes me quiver.

It also makes me incredibly stupid.

An amused, almost sensual grin forms on my face as I make eye contact with him, and I feel myself throb at the way I can just barely see his throat move. He looks like a deer in headlights, afraid to make one sudden move.

"Turning to flattery to try and win me over, are we?" I say slowly.

I almost think he'll stumble over his words once more, but again he surprises me with a full answer. It's only three words but it's clear, and his voice is deep, and I want to fucking jump his bones right then and there.

"Is it working?"

This has to be the alcohol making me imagine things... I swear I didn't even drink that much tonight, but it has to be an obvious lapse in judgement. The drinking mixed with the sex mixed with the dirty thoughts I've been having about this man lately have to be what's making this feel real. It's all culminating into this one big fantasy (or delusion, more like), and all I need is to shower and sleep it off.

That has to be it.

So because there's no other reasonable explanation that my brain can conjure up, I take a chance and throw Spencer a wink before turning and sprinting up the stairs.

And it's that same seemingly undeniable reasoning for this illusion that doesn't keep my hands from wandering in the shower. Even though those warning sirens in my brain keep blaring, telling me that the common sense is still there for me to utilize, they're drowned out by my thrumming heartbeat and the repetition of Spencer's soothing, authoritative voice, guiding my movements.

Keep rubbing your clit for me, baby... Just like that, nice and slow...

Warm water cascades down the front of my body as I lean back into the wall of the shower, but that's not why I'm so warm. This heat radiates through my insides, spreading like wildfire and bringing out small whimpers and mewls that I know I'll have to contain in fear of waking my mom from her bedroom right next door.

But then the thought of her hearing me next door as I cry out her boyfriend's name only excites me more. I keep it quiet still, but just knowing that someone else is in the house while I'm having these thoughts right now (one of them being the object of said thoughts) is what finally brings me over the edge.

I finish my shower on weak legs, definitely overstimulated now, but also feeling even more tired. I know that the moment I lay down on my bed, I'll be pulled into the sweet, soft surrender of a deep sleep.

Nothing else has ever sounded so pleasant.

———

When I woke up that morning after, I was feeling surprisingly calm. Realistically I knew that my whole 'this has to be an illusion' montage had been less truth and more inebriated babble, and the longer I sat on it the more I thought it'd all turned out for the better.

Turns out, tipsily masturbating in the shower to thoughts of your mom's hot new boyfriend was a surefire way to get it out of your system, right?

Wrong.

It really had been okay at first. I thought about Spencer almost immediately, and yeah, he was still hot as fuck—But there wasn't this overwhelming desire within me to jump his bones when I saw him that morning, his hair messy and his hands clutching a cup of coffee while Mom made breakfast behind him.

But that good feeling I had about all of this? It lasts only about a split second.

Because the moment he looks up and sees me, the mug falls out of his hand and shatters to pieces. His eyes stay glued to me, even as my mother darts over to pick up the pieces of the ceramic that are scattered about the table and the floor. And when she turns back to grab a paper towel, he still stares at me, once again at my legs.

It takes me all of four seconds afterwards to remember that not only did I talk to him briefly last night, but I also flirted with him after he complimented me.

That whole part seemed to have slipped my mind when waking up, and now that his gaze is bringing me back to that moment, that 'this has to be an illusion' montage is starting to become larger than I'd remembered.

It isn't until he finally snaps out of it and starts to help my mom clean up the mess that I snap out of it, too, going back upstairs to clear my head and cool the heat radiating over my skin.

———

There's a knock at my bedroom door about an hour later, and it sounds different than my mom's usually quick two-knock succession. That means it's someone else, and unsurprisingly, my stomach tightens at the thought of seeing him again.

"Yeah?" I call out, turning in my desk chair and meeting Spencer's figure in the doorway. He's changed, a rather nice pair of slacks and a white button-up shirt clinging to his limbs.

"Can I come in?"

"Mhm," I say. I still don't know if I entirely trust myself to say anything more than a few words to him, and as he enters the room and sits on the foot of my bed, I wonder if he can tell.

He tries, really tries, to look me in the eye, but I know that it's hard. I've been in the same spot. And then he takes a deep breath before folding his hands in his lap.

"Y/N, I want to apologize... When we... talked last night... It was kind of weird, and then this morning wasn't really any better..." He can barely get out the words 'talk' and 'last night'... And then he avoids my gaze altogether, staring at the floor and trailing off, trying to put his thoughts together it seems.

And that's when it starts to click into place.

There's one thing that both last night and this morning have in common, and I've noticed it almost every time I've caught him staring at me. At my legs. It's happened almost daily since I've met him. And then, the night I come home clearly having just been fucked, waltzing past him, entertaining his fascination with my legs and then masturbating to thoughts of him in the shower, he finally starts dropping mugs.

He must also really feel something here. Something similar to my own feelings. And really, that should be a red flag, because he's my mom's boyfriend, and it's a goddamned fucking mess...

But fuck, it excites me.

I'm still wearing my pajama shorts, silky and lavender in color, and I use them to my advantage, slowly crossing one leg over the other and just barely gaining Spencer's attention back.

"Yeah, what was that, anyway?" I ask him, amusement dripping off my tongue.

I can tell from his reaction that he wasn't expecting me to ask. A few times he opens his mouth to speak and then closes it , stumbling before panicking. He's been pretty good so far at coming up with answers and explanations, so the fact that this time I finally seemed to have broken him down makes it all the more clear.

He must have heard me in the shower.

Right?

I'm almost completely positive that's what this is about. And there's one way for me to get the confirmation I'm looking for.

"So you heard me, huh?"

I try to keep my voice as plain as I can as not to give away my motives, and with my luck Spencer is so flustered that he probably wouldn't have even noticed it at all. He looks up at me, his eyes desperately trying to find something he can use to make up a lie, but in the end there's no use.

I've caught him. And he knows it.

"Yes," he whispers. He looks exhausted, guilty, and also a little like he wants to cross the barrier and kiss me.

Okay, maybe that part's just in my head. I really can't tell. But I do know that hearing me call his name out in the shower last night is what brought him to this point of severe distress. As much as that excites me, though, it also embarrasses me a little. Maybe if it hadn't happened we could have avoided further destruction.

It must read on my face, because Spencer perks a little. "Oh! Y/N, I'm not... I'm not mad or anything. I really didn't mean to overhear and invade your privacy... Really, I-I'm sorry."

The fact that he's apologizing to me right now, rather than acting all grossed out that I even did it in the first place, tells me he either feels guilty for not being able to help himself from hearing me, or he's just a good guy who loves my mom and doesn't want to ruin it because of a little mishap.

Either way, it's frustrating, because I don't know what to do.

Well, I know what I want to do, but I don't know if I should hint at it.

But then he does something. It's small, and no one would have noticed, but I've been fascinated with his hands since the moment I met him, so my eyes are instantly drawn there.

They're clenched so hard, his knuckles are nearly white.

He's nervous.

To ease his mind a bit, I hold off on poking the bear harder (though it's really tempting to see what will happen if I don't) and nod, trying to make myself look as apologetic and small as possible.

"It's okay... I... I won't make it awkward if you won't?"

His shoulders slump, and his body seems to relax. "Y–yeah. Yeah, deal."

He gets up off the bed and blurts one final apology before heading for the door, but that part of me that wants to poke the bear further makes me stand up and follow him.

"Spencer?" I call out.

He freezes and turns to face me, and I don't think he quite expected me to be as close as I am. I have to tilt my head up to look at him, and the angle gives me an added layer of this innocence I'm trying to achieve.

"I'm sorry, too..."

No the fuck I'm not.

Whether he can sense my lie or not, he doesn't show it. But I think he at least knows that I'm pitching my voice a little higher on purpose, and if that doesn't give it away, the way I'm staring at him sure should.

Still, he only nods and retreats.

All there's left to do is see what happens.

JUNE 25th

For someone who agreed not to make things awkward, Spencer sure can't keep his eyes off of me.

To be fair, I have tried to keep things fairly normal. I only really interacted with him if I had to, I kept my distance, and I saved my skimpier clothing for the strangers I was regularly going out to see almost every weekend.

My lustful feelings for him aren't as strong now that I've been getting some on a semi-regular basis and keeping myself occupied. I've been doing my part.

But I still can't shake him entirely.

Whenever he spends the night (which is surprisingly most nights), the occasional wet dream about him gets me frustrated when I know he's just down the hall and sleeping soundly next to my mom. On those days I try to cut as much interaction with him as I can, though it doesn't keep me from seeing the occasional stare he throws my way.

I wish I could say that I hate it.

But I don't, and it increasingly gets worse. It's only been a week, so there's still time, but honestly, I don't think there's any shaking him.

Today especially is one of those days where it's hard not to give into the incessant need to tease him and coax some stronger reaction out of him.

I talked to Mom earlier this morning about getting some new clothes, and she had this brilliant idea to have Spencer take me. "It would be a good chance for you two to bond a little, don't you think?" she insisted, nudging him in the side and silently pleading with her eyes for him to agree.

I could tell from the look on his face that he really wasn't ready to be alone with me again, but that only excited me.

"Yeah, I think that's a great idea," I piped up, positively beaming.

Mom was so excited for us to 'bond' and also that I was gladly inclined to go through with it that Spencer couldn't have said no to her even if he wanted to.

And I was pretty sure he didn't want to.

Yet here we are, sitting in the car, the air conditioning so strong it's blowing some of my hair into my eyes. I think it had been his way of punishing me for choosing today to wear a short skirt, something I usually refrain from nowadays unless I'm going out, and it makes me smile. I can't help it.

I also can't help the way my fingers play with my skirt, dying to tease him some more. I just want to see, to know for sure that I'm driving him mad.

"No offence, but you seem weird today... Is there something wrong?" I ask him, lifting my skirt just a smidge. The air from the car blows the fabric in waves.

"You're acting this way on purpose."

Well, I hadn't been expecting that answer... All this time he'd hardly been confrontative, and now he's full-on calling me out. It's plain to see that he's finally snapped, and I would have felt sorry about it if I didn't find it extremely sexy.

"What do you mean?"

"Y/N..."

My name on his lips is a warning. He's clearly annoyed, exasperated, and I'm loving every second. "Don't act oblivious. I'm not stupid, and neither are you. I don't want to make you hate me or anything, but you have to know where I'm coming from. I was willing to let the shower thing slide... And you said you were too, for that matter, so I don't know what's changed, but it has to stop now. Understood?"

Oh, all I want is to argue with him. I want to point out that none of this is really my fault because he's the one who hasn't been able to stop staring at me all summer so far. I want to tell him that if he wants this to stop he has to make it stop.

But that isn't going to give me any of the answers I'm looking for or further proof of my theory that he wants me just as badly as I want him. And I am not going to fuck this whole situation up by making a poorly-timed move on him.

I have to know for sure.

So, I fold my hands neatly in my lap, sigh, and look dead ahead. "Right... We said no awkwardness. I'm sorry."

Spencer seems to accept my apology and continues down the road.

When we make it to the mall I think he's calmed down. At least, he seems a little more comfortable around me, and honestly I'm okay with it. As much as his spiel in the car turned me on, it also exhausted me to the point of silence.

Even as we walk around each store in the mall, I just lead and he follows, not saying a word when I pick out a top or a pair of pants or whatever else I need. And when it comes time to pay, he takes the basket from me and pays for it with no question.

Near five bags of clothes later, I figure I could get used to this new dynamic.

But then we pass a lingerie store, and I remember that the main thing I'd needed was new underwear. I start to turn into the store, but stop suddenly, pausing awkwardly and deciding to go straight ahead instead.

"You don't want to go in?" Spencer asks.

I shake my head. "No, it's fine. I can just pick some up later, it's not a big deal."

He sighs then, nodding his head towards the sign. "If you need to go in, you can... I'll just wait out here if you're uncomfortable."

I really want to call him out, ask him if he's the one who should be worried about being uncomfortable. But so far this afternoon has been pretty decent, and I really don't want to make things any weirder than they have to be.

Besides... If my theory is right...

"Sure. Thanks. Uh, how am I gonna pay, though?"

"O—Oh... I'll uh... I'll just watch the counter and come in when you need me."

"Orrrr, you could just give it to me?"

This time I get a laugh out of him. "Not a chance. Go in, I'll wait."

I smile at him and hand him the bags to hold onto while I leave, and it fills me with absolute amusement that he'd just given me one more ounce of proof that I'm right.

He's gonna have to come inside and pay for what I bought. He could have just given me the card, and maybe he truly doesn't trust me with it (which I don't know why he wouldn't honestly), but he chose to come inside all the same.

I browse happily then, going through the displays and picking out things I need, but also things I know Spencer will like.

Specifically, I stumble on a pair of lavender panties, embroidered with flowery trim up top. The pattern from the outside is lace, but there's a thin layer of cotton underneath designed to be more comfortable to wear.

I've noticed that he can never seem to look away when I'm wearing anything, really, but it's more intense when I wear one of two things. Florals, and any type of purple. And these fit both of those bills perfectly.

Now there's just one more bill to take care of.

I stride over to the counter and turn around, finding that Spencer's caught my eye immediately. Either he truly had been paying attention to the counter the whole time, or he'd been watching through the glass, following me with his gaze to the best of his abilities. Either way, he blinks a few times and looks like he's gathering the courage to go in before actually taking any steps.

I laugh to myself, eager to gauge his reaction to this next step.

Surprisingly, he holds up well. The air between me, him, and the cashier is obviously awkward, but he doesn't say anything and barely looks at what she rings up. (I say barely because he tries extremely hard not to look at the purple pair I picked out, inadvertently adding another checkmark to my list of proof.) She tells him the total, he hands her the card, and within a minute, everything is in our possession and we're leaving the mall entirely.

I don't think there are any more steps to my plan today once we get in the car and I tell him thank you. (To which he responds a short and simple, Sure thing, and turns the radio on.)

But then there's a note taped to the front door, and it instantly gives me another one.

My Sweethearts,

I got called in on a work emergency and won't be back until 7. I would have called but I figured you were having a nice time and didn't want to interrupt! I'll bring home dinner, and then maybe you can tell me about how your day went. Can't wait to hear it!

XOXO,

Eve/Mom

I check my phone, seeing that it's almost 3.

Perfect.

But I don't want to give myself away too quickly, so I thank Spencer again for taking me out and tell him that I'm going upstairs to make sure everything fits right. He nods and lets me go, though not without lingering eyes. I can feel it.

The smile never leaves my face as I try all my clothes on. Once each article has been fitted, I throw it in a laundry basket and move to the next, until I get to the last piece.

The lavender panties.

As expected, they fit perfectly, and as I look at myself in the mirror I picture what Spencer would look like when he sees me wearing them.

That's right. When.

I throw back on my earlier outfit and grab the basket, acting as bored and normal as possible to find him sitting at the kitchen table, reading a book.

"Hey," I greet him, setting the basket in front of me once I reach the bottom of the stairs. "Everything fits good, I just need them washed now. Could you run these down to the laundry room for me? I think I'm gonna make something to snack on before Mom brings dinner."

It doesn't surprise me to see him look at my legs before my face, even if it is brief. I want to smile, but I hold back, watching him nod with a tight smile of his own.

"Sure."

He disappears and then I wait.

One...

Two...

Three.

I sneak as quietly as I can to the laundry room once I hear the washer door open. I hadn't specifically asked him to put them in the washer for me on purpose, and it looks like now he's doing exactly what I thought he might.

My head peeks around the corner, barely in his range of sight as I watch him empty the basket. He takes one item of clothing at a time and throws it in the washer, and halfway through the basket he stops, just to place a pair of my new underwear on the dryer beside him.

My heart races faster the more I wait for him to get to the end of the basket. Once he does, he pauses again, and I think I know exactly what he's looking for.

Still, he sets the basket aside and picks up the stray pair of underwear, a simple black cotton pair that I'd been getting for years, and drapes it over his hands. My thighs instantly clench, and I try so hard to remain where I am so I can see where he takes this.

He takes it straight to hell, apparently, tentatively pulling his dick out of his pants and gripping it firmly. I can barely see since his back is partially turned, but I see enough, and god he's so fucking pretty. My underwear dangle from his left hand while the other works slowly over his erection, a soft sigh falling from his lips.

I fight to let one of my own slip as my hand sinks down the front of my body, past the lavender cotton and lace that I know he just wishes he had right now.

And then, a few seconds later he's already coming, using my brand new underwear to catch each rope of it, and the sight nearly has me on my knees.

And because I want to catch him in the act, I quickly draw my hand away from myself and step into the room, barely giving him time to recover.

"You come fast."

Spencer looks utterly devastated when he turns to see me standing in the entryway to the laundry room, arms crossed and an amused smirk adorning my face.

"Y/N... I—I... I'm so sorry, I didn't... I..."

"Don't worry about it," I say, taking a step towards him and shrugging. "You heard me, and now I heard you... We're even. Besides, I... figured you might be looking for these."

He's still stunned, but he looks down all the same, watching my hands slip under my skirt and glide the lavender panties down my legs. I step out of them and hold the garment up on one finger, a soft smile still on my face.

"I picked 'em out just for you, you know," I tell him, tossing them past his face and into the washer. "I've noticed that you like purple."

This time he's quick to respond. "Y/N, we... We can't... This isn't right."

"Says the man holding my underwear soaked in his cum..."

He looks panicked again, extremely guilty, but if this isn't going to end in a total disaster, then I have to reassure him that I'm okay.

"Spencer, I'm not mad..." I take another step forward, and it feels much like trying to approach a wounded animal. I can see in his eyes and in his posture that this conflict is killing him, so I decide to show some rapport. "And I know... I know this is messy... I love my mom... And I'm sure you care about her a lot... But are we really going to ignore this? We tried that, remember? And now look where we are."

"I..." He swallows, shaking his head and trying to avoid my eyes. "I can't stop thinking about you... I can't..."

My hand finds his arm, and the light touch has him sighing out, an incredulous, breathy laugh escaping him. "Y/N, please... Don't."

"Don't what?" I ask softly, praying he won't turn me away. If he does, we're just back to square one, only the square is jagged, sharper than ever before, and in serious danger of injuring someone.

When he meets my eyes, I see nothing but a desire for something he knows he can't have. "Don't want me."

Now it's my turn to laugh. My knees start to wobble as I go down, keeping my eyes locked onto his, and I swear I see them dilate fully. I scoot in closer, sliding my hand up his leg and finding the words in my heart to finally say out loud.

"It's too late for that..."

My face moves closer, and the hand of his that doesn't currently hold my underwear flies down to gently tug at my hair, keeping me in place.

"If you do this... God, Y/N, I won't be able to stop myself..."

A smirk dances over my lips as I lean in, breath fanning gently over his exposed skin. "Don't."

He swallows. "Don't what?"

"Don't stop yourself."

I barely get the words out before his hand is completely pulling me towards him, and the second my lips press against the silky skin of his hard cock, he loses it completely.

His fingers thread through my hair as I kiss and lick my way softly up to the tip. Once I'm there, I swirl my tongue out and taste the small beads of cum that had remained after he came, a low, satiated hum radiating through my body and making him shiver under my touch.

And then I wrap my lips fully around the head of his dick, and there's no stopping the most beautiful sound I've ever heard come out of his mouth. It's a broken, desperate whisper of my name. The crack in his voice when he says it spurs me forward, and I take him deeper into my mouth until he hits the back of my throat.

That's when he tosses my underwear in the washer and uses both of his hands to grab my head, roughly guiding me along his cock and fully taking control of my actions.

The fire in my belly doesn't ease up, not even once he's decided that he can't take it anymore and pulls me off of him harshly.

And that's only because now he's fully turned over, finally given into these desires that have been plaguing him presumably from the moment we met.

"I want you stripped and in your bed, on your hands and knees within the next five minutes."

I get up off the floor and walk up to him until our bodies are flush, my arms reaching up to wrap around his neck.

"What are you gonna do to me, Spencer?"

He searches my eyes, and his own grow dark with the purest form of sin I'd ever seen. And when his hands come up over the back of my legs, and under my skirt to grab my ass and pull me even closer to him, I can't help the little mewl that slips past my lips.

He smiles, and if it hadn't been for the grip he held on me, I would have fallen to my knees. "Little girl, when I'm through with you, you'll have to come up with some excuse to your mom about why you can't walk straight... Is that what you want?"

The mention of my mom should send me running in the opposite direction, but his threat only prolongs that fire in my veins and makes me want him even more.

I tilt my head up and press a gentle kiss to his lips.

"Do your worst..."

———

Turns out he was very true to his word.

Sitting at the kitchen table is somewhat of a relief, but I try not to walk around as much when Mom gets home. She'd asked me almost immediately if I was okay, and I told her I was just hungry and needed to eat something.

She seemed to have bought it, rushing to the kitchen to unpack the fast food she'd ordered for us. Over her shoulder, Spencer gave me a sly smile, and it took everything I had within myself not to crumble.

Through bites of food, I only half-listen to Mom telling us about the stuff she had to do at work because most of the words I'm hearing are in my head— A loop of endless dirty talk that plants deep into the soil of my stomach and spreads out through my whole body. It infects me, like the most beautiful poison, and I never want it to stop.

"Tell me, sweetheart, you ever let a man come inside you before?"

His weight on top of me coupled together with the heft of his voice has me whining out in pleasure, each snap forward of his hips over my ass as he pounds into me from behind the most delectable burn I've ever felt.

"Uh huh," I answer happily, twisting my head to feel his cheek against my own. "That night you heard me in the shower... I walked through the door with a stranger's cum soaking my panties... And you know what?"

He grumbles, his hips hitting into me harder as he waits for me to continue.

"I wished it was yours..."

My legs clench together under the table and I take a large gulp of water.

I feel something graze over my bare shin, and I already know it's Spencer's foot, a silent reassurance of his presence and that no matter what, he'll always be here.

"Here's what's going to happen..."

He has me on my back now, my legs hoisted over his shoulders and bent back so I'm nearly folded in half. His hips are flush against mine and I can feel his cock throbbing as he comes into the condom.

"You're gonna make an appointment to make sure you're clean... You're gonna make sure you're on good birth control... And then the next time I fuck this pretty little pussy, you're gonna really know what it feels like to have a man come inside you."

Right... Like I really need a reminder of his presence.

I can practically feel it still inside me, taking up every inch of space my body could provide. And no matter how long I go without seeing him, I have no doubt that it'll always remain.

"But that's enough about me, I'm sorry." Mom's voice shifts and breaks me out of my fantasy. "So, how did your day of bonding go? You have fun?"

Spencer and I share a look, a smile spreading over his lips that makes me smile in turn.

"Yeah, Mom," I say. "It was great."

He nods in kind. "Yeah... We'll definitely have to do it again."

His foot grazing over my leg under the table cements the unwavering smile on my face, as does the way my whole body burns at the memory of him fucking me upstairs only hours before.

I don't even flinch or get sick to my stomach when Mom reaches over and gives Spencer a kiss.

———

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#spencer reid x reader #spencer reid x reader smut #spencer reid #spencer reid smut #criminal minds #spencer reid fanfiction #criminal minds fanfiction #criminal minds smut

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animeomegas · 3 years

Note

you ask for headcanons? i will deliver, lol. so in all your writing, sasuke has hated to show his more vulnerable sides. at the end of the pregnancy, he's probably about to snap too; i imagine there's more than once where he happened to accidentally kick a nurse or smt, shinobi reflexes and all. and that when the s/o has to leave the room (idk, maybe they have to pee) he literally clings to them. maybe itachi too, but itachi feels like he'd be in more pain so he'd cling in a more whiny way, if that makes sense? both of them would absolutely let nobody hold the child except for the s/o though, i think,,, or maybe itachi would let shisui and sasuke hold them for a sec before wanting them back in his arms lol (in a non-massacre au tho... otherwise not even sasuke would be allowed)

those were just some thoughts, hope you can enjoy them!

(I love this so much, thank you for sharing your thoughts with me! I'll separate it out a little for coherency!)

Sasuke -

By the end of his pregnancy, Sasuke's mental state is fluctuating wildly. He's actually induced early because he's getting so bad that the mednin are worried he'll hurt himself and his pup during a panicked episode.

So, no one is surprised when he starts lashing out at the mednin while in labour. The mednin tell you that you are not to leave his side for even a moment unless you have to, because there's no way of predicting how he'll react in this mental state. He's obviously very unsettled.

But you really have to pee... So you try to explain that to him, but all Sasuke hears is that you're leaving him. You're leaving him when he needs you to protect him the most. He won't let that happen. He can't cope if you're not there.

He latches himself onto his alpha as best as he can and starts begging them not to leave. He'll say anything he can think of to get them to stay with him. You've never seen Sasuke let go of all his pride so readily.

But of course, you have to go and use the toilet. It's attached to the room, so you run as fast as you can, leaving the door open a crack so that he can still hear you talking to him.

But it's not enough.

Sasuke freaks out badly. His scent is so panicked, it draws all the mednin into the room which only makes him more upset because he has all these unknown people with him while he's too vulnerable to protect himself and his pup, and his alpha has abandoned him.

By this point, you rush back to him, having only been gone for a minute at most, and Sasuke loops his arms around your neck and locks his fingers. He's babbling incoherently, torn between thanking you for coming back and begging you not to leave again.

The mednin try and drug him a little to get him to relax but he growls them all away. He's in self-defence mode, so he won't allow any medical personnel anywhere near him.

It makes everything a lot more difficult, but as Sasuke's pain level starts to mount, he focuses on that and starts to calm down little by little, and eventually he lets the mednin assist him.

"You came back!" Sasuke's sobs, entirely hysterical and latching himself firmly around your neck. "I'm sorry- don't- please- I'll die if y-you leave, I'll-I'll do anything, I'll be good, don't leave!"

"I didn't leave baby, I'm right here," you promise, frantically trying to soothe him by keeping him pressed firmly against your chest. "You're perfect, you didn't do anything wrong, I'll never leave you, I promise."

Sasuke didn't respond, but didn't loosen his grip either. This is going to be your first and final pup, there's no way you would ever put Sasuke through something like this again.

As far as letting other people hold the pup, Sasuke is very possessive, you're right. At first, it's a case of instincts gone wild, but once he's calmed down, he just doesn't trust anyone enough to let them hold his pup. They'll probably drop them or something. He's sort of okay with medical personnel touching and handling his pup, but only up until a certain point.

Some omegas can get possessive to the point where they don't let their mates hold the pup (although that's usually a sign of an unstable bond) but Sasuke is more than happy to have his mate hold their pup. I mean, they're basically holding Sasuke up at the moment, he trusts them explicitly.

Itachi -

Itachi is clingy, but not too much more so than an average omega. You're right, he's in a lot of pain, so he automatically reaches for his alpha to help soothe him.

He's also terrified that he'll die without ever getting to meet his pup and his alpha is keeping him grounded and focused on the job he's supposed to be doing.

Itachi likes his alpha to sit behind him while he's in labour. It feel like he's protected, and also it's very comforting to be fully in his alpha's embrace.

However, Itachi is a lot more possessive over his pup than Sasuke. It was almost lucky that Itachi passed out after giving birth because he would have fought every mednin that tried to take his child out of his arms, no matter what the reason.

But because he did collapse, he instead wakes up to his alpha sitting beside him, holding their son, and Itachi is so in love that he never wants to let anyone else even look at his child.

He lets Shisui and Sasuke and his mother sort of play with the newborn by touching his hands and stuff, but Itachi holds him the whole time.

It takes months before Itachi lets someone else other than him and his mate hold his pup, in fact, after giving birth, Itachi doesn't even leave his nest for about a fortnight because he wants to keep his pup hidden and safe.

"But, what if they want to hold him?" Itachi asks, voice quiet and weak after his traumatic birth. It had been a few hours since he had woken up and his family were now here to visit him and see the new addition to the family. "I don't think I want that yet, but would it be rude to say no to my own parents?"

You smile and scoot a bit closer to him.

"Here, I have an idea," you reach over and pull his shirt off of one of his shoulders, exposing that side of his chest. "He must be getting hungry now, let's see if we can get him to latch again."

Almost immediately, your pup latches on and starts to feed.

"There," you coo. "He's a natural. Now they can't ask to hold him, because he's feeding."

Itachi laughs softly at your plan, but its obviously feeling more at ease now. You pick up a very thin blanket and lay it over Itachi's chest to give him some privacy and then you go and fetch his family.

#itachi #sasuke #omega!itachi #omega!sasuke #naruto #headcanons #a/b/o #omegaverse #reader insert #alpha!reader #itachi x reader #sasuke x reader #pregnancy #birth

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fruitcoops · 3 years

Note

Ok so what sbout remus/sirius being too sick to go to an away game so the other one has to go alone, and then tons of facetime conversations and "get well soon" videos from the team?

This is related to this fic about Remus and Finn bonding over terrible reporters--hope you enjoy! SW credit goes to @lumosinlove, and the Loops/ Talker bonding is for @lee-1012!

TW for illness

“You don’t look so good.” Remus frowned as he held the inside of his wrist against Sirius’ forehead. “And you definitely have a fever.”

“Non.” Sirius sat up on his elbows with a groan, then almost immediately flopped back down.

“Yes.” He leaned back on his heels and checked the clock—they had two hours before they had to be at the airport. “Baby, I don’t think you should—”

“ ‘m going.”

“It’s not a good—”

“Gotta go. Games.” Sirius cracked one glassy eye open. “Two weeks away. I’ll take the first couple days off.”

Remus sighed through his nose and brushed his sweaty hair out of his eyes. “You shouldn’t go on the plane if you’re sick. Not just for your sake, but for the rest of us. We don’t need everyone to come down with this.”

He received a halfhearted glare in response, but Sirius finally huffed and curled on his side to nuzzle against his thigh. “I’m gonna miss you.”

“I’ll miss you, too, baby,” Remus said quietly, bending to kiss his temple. They hadn’t been apart for that long since before he was a player, nearly a year prior. Hell, he had never played a game without Sirius, let alone two weeks’ worth. “Lily will check on you, okay?”

Sirius mumbled an incoherent response and cuddled closer when he began combing his fingers through his hair. The second alarm beeped, loud against the quiet of their bedroom; time to go, he thought ruefully. Sirius touched his knee as he started to stand. “Love you. Be safe.”

“Love you more.”

“Love you most.”

“Go back to sleep,” Remus said as his heart clenched. “I’ll let Coach know what happened, but you’ve got to rest and take care of yourself. Hydrate or die-drate, yeah?”

“Yeah. Love you.”

“Sleep,” he repeated, kissing his forehead once more before hauling himself out of bed and tucking the covers around Sirius’ shoulders. “I’ll be back before you know it.”

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

The clouds were a soft, pastel pink around them as the sun rose—Sirius’ favorite. If his phone was correct, Lily would be there soon to let Hattie out and make sure Sirius wasn’t pushing himself too hard. The thought brought Remus a bit of relief, but not enough to quell his concern.

Talker poked his forearm, snapping him from his reverie. “What’s going on?”

“Just worrying.”

“About Cap?”

Remus waved a hand vaguely. “And Hattie, and Lily, and whether he’s got a cold or something worse. Feels weird being here without him.”

Talker hummed his agreement and offered one of his earbuds. “Want to listen to half of Bohemian Rhapsody with me? It’ll give you five minutes and 55 seconds of relative peace.”

“It’s too quiet,” James groaned just before he pressed ‘play’.

Across the aisle, Remus saw Kasey roll his eyes. “Your husband is sick, dude, not dead. He doesn’t talk to you on planes anyway.”

“It’s the principle of the thing, Bliz.”

“Oh my god,” Kasey muttered under his breath, securing his headphones tightly over his ears.

James let his head flop to the side with a baleful look. “Loops, you’re on my side, right?”

“I’ve got you, buddy,” he assured him. Talker stifled a laugh, and the opening chords began as more clouds rolled past. Remus let himself drift with them, taking deep breaths to soothe his worries; Sirius would be fine. He had the sniffles, or at worst the flu, and he would be join them for the second week in top form. There was nothing to worry about.

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

“He’s got pneumonia,” Lily sighed.

“He what?”

“A mild case, but the doctor said it would take a week of antibiotics and rest before he’s close to a hundred percent. No hockey for about a month, too.”

Remus stared at the wall of his empty hotel room, lost for words. “Well, fuck.”

“Yeah.”

“Fuck.”

“Pretty m—absolutely not, go lay down.” There was a rustling noise and two grumbling voices. “Sorry about that.”

“Will you put me on speaker real quick?” Remus asked, pinching the bridge of his nose until he heard a faint click. “Sirius? You there?”

“Yes! I miss you, and I was just going to tell you that it’s really not that—”

“Please sit your ass down. Lily, if he tries to fuck around and find out exactly how nasty pneumonia is, you have full permission to sit on him. I miss you too, love,” he added after a short pause.

“He’s blowing you a kiss,” Lily informed him. “Oh, and he’s giving me the puppy eyes.”

“Resist if you can. Love you both. Give Hattie lots of cuddles from me.”

“We will,” she promised.

The second the call ended, Remus groaned aloud and thumped his head against the wall before padding down the hall. Just my fucking luck. The door swung open after the second knock; Arthur’s face fell. “How bad is it?”

“Mild pneumonia.”

“Fuck.”

“Yep. Doctor said he’d be out for a month.”

Arthur rubbed his eyes and nodded, motioning Remus back towards his own room. “Get some rest, then. I’ll let everyone know in the morning. Any idea how he got it?”

“Not a clue.”

“Thanks for the update, Loops. Sleep tight.”

“I will,” Remus lied as he headed back for a sleepless night between cold sheets.

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

Lily sent updates every few hours; most reported that Sirius was sleeping well and looking better with each passing day, but Remus couldn’t help but feel overwhelmingly guilty. If something happened while he was hundreds of miles away, he would never forgive himself. He had sworn in front of their closest friends and family to be there in sickness and in health—what kind of husband ditches their partner for one of a million roadies?

This one. He stabbed a piece of broccoli and shoved it in his mouth. And then he goes and makes an idiot of himself for the world to see.

The interview was supposed to be easy, but he couldn’t let it roll off anymore. Not when he couldn’t answer their questions even when he wanted to, not when he was states away from the love of his life while he was sick, not when he felt helpless and shoved aside in every current aspect of his life.

“So.” The chair next to him creaked as Talker planted his full weight in it and set his plate decisively on the table.

“What.”

“Oh, pissy Loops. Haven’t seen you in a while. Talked to Cap yet?”

“Yeah.” Another piece of broccoli fell victim to his frustration.

“How’s he sound?”

“Better.”

“Sweet.” Talker continued to munch away on his dinner. “Anyone ever told you that you have the general disposition of a wet cat when you’re upset?”

Remus tried and failed to keep down a smile. “I seem to recall you bringing it up on occasion, yes.”

His dark eyes softened and he bumped their elbows together. “He’ll be okay.”

“I know.”

“Really, Loops. Cap’s going to be just fine. Lily doesn’t sugar-coat this kind of stuff, and he’s a tough guy. Mild pneumonia doesn’t stand a chance. Besides, we’ve only got four days left and we need you to kick some ass out there.”

If Remus was a little more emotionally vulnerable, he would’ve burst into tears. Instead, he settled for leaning his temple against Talker’s with a quiet ‘thanks’ and allowed himself to be pulled into a side hug. Across the dining hall, Finn shot him a thumbs-up and a wink. “Love you, man.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Talker teased. “The internet is already coming to your aid, you know.”

“About…?”

“Not only have those asshole reporters become a new meme, you’ve also got a shit ton of people bringing up past mistreatment of athletes in the press room. You’re the face of a revolution, Loops.”

“I’ve been the face of too many revolutions for one person,” he groused, not even bothering to duck out of the way when Talker ruffled his hair.

“Well, one more won’t kill you.”

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

Remus’ heart raced as he stepped off the plane. The logical part of him knew that Sirius would be waiting outside the security gate, but everything else screamed to see him now, now, right now so he could be sure he was alright. At least he had sounded healthier on the phone the night before—Remus wasn’t sure what he would do otherwise.

“Deep breaths,” James reminded him as they walked toward the baggage claim. “I’m sure he’s—”

An excited shout broke through the thick crowds. Remus’ heart skipped a beat, and then he was running, racing through the people that parted for him as his vision tunneled. His carry-on hit the ground with a low thud that he hardly heard as Sirius lifted him straight off the ground and held him tight.

“I love you,” Remus said immediately, locking his ankles around Sirius’ lower back and squeezing his eyes shut. “Are you okay?”

In lieu of a response, Sirius pulled back and kissed him, cradling one side of his face in his warm, warm hand. Two weeks may as well have been an eternity. He broke away after a moment, searching his face for any signs of illness or pain. “I’m fine,” Sirius said softly, as if he could read his mind. “I promise. A little tired and sore, but there’s no lasting damage.”

“Don’t do that again,” Remus said into the side of his neck as he hugged him close. He smelled like home. “Not when I have to leave.”

Sirius’ arms were steady around his back. “I won’t.”

“I’m going to grill you on everything as soon as we get home.”

“I know.”

“But right now, I’m just going to hug you because I missed you and I worried myself into a hole, like, every night.”

He could feel Sirius’ smile against his shoulder. “I know.”

#remus lupin #sirius black #coops #thomas walker #talker #james potter #lily potter #sweater weather #lumosinlove #my fic #fanfic #sick fic

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yanderedbdimagines · 3 years

Text

Part 1 - Part 2

The Trapper

The Entity knows…

Everyone grew a consciousness, most of them not knowing of what to do with it other than to keep sticking to their purpose to which they were programmed to follow from the very beginning.

You could say that Dead by Daylight currently lives and exists because of you, although in a very underdeveloped state.

And the possible risk of everything to disappear from the moment that you die is just too great of a defrayal. Therefore, for you to be *sacrificed* is absolutely out of the question.

But in order to keep the game as it currently is- healthy, functioning, self-aware and breathing with new-found life; the Entity feels hell-bound to keep you in a similar condition.

Days have already passed, you see. From day one, the moment you actually went up and moved from the campfire after escaping the Trapper, the dark power had led you straight into an empty arena containing many items and resources for you to survive and to live rather comfortably from.

Of course, not an hour goes by without you trying to find a way out. The two times you did manage to do so, you were unknowingly forced to make a loop through the mist and straight back into the arena.

Perhaps you long to return to the real world. The place you were born and raised. Yet it doesn’t want you to go. It can’t let you go. This is your home now. Your purpose is here. You wouldn’t have ended up within the game if that wasn’t the case.

And then an idea pops up… Companionship… A survivor always needs one…

And then an added fact.

The Trapper…

Ever since the masked slasher has crossed paths with you, his loyalty towards the Entity has diminished almost completely within the very short span of just a few days. Currently, he’s unruly and unpredictable as he doesn’t sacrifice his victims at all anymore, preferring to kill them upright instead.

And by listening to the beat of a black heart and sensing for the sparks traveling through a twisted brain does the mighty being understand why one of its most loyal of servants acts the way he does now.

The bond between you and him is stronger than that of anyone else’s, no matter from what state of mind you approach the matter. Even the bond between the god-like entity and the slasher isn’t nearly as… intertwined. The entity knows which emotion is the culprit of this very fact. Love. Or at least, a rather deformed and more extreme form of it. It had already started to bud and blossom to what it is now from the very first day you played as him and against him through your computer/console.

Perhaps, it’d be a good idea to reach out to the killer and tell him what one of his new tasks is from here on out. One which doesn’t only benefit the Entity, but most definitely the Trapper as well. The new question now, however, is how well you’ll adjust to it and if you will accept the new situation once it sets its plan into action. Accept, and you’ll have a happy life ahead of you. Reject, and the Entity will force you to decide otherwise…

You feel frustrated. Absolutely frustrated. And not just because of the ever present darkness that’s watching you from above.

Even after these few days, you still don’t know where you are. The modest house which desperately needs a fresh coat of paint, murky pond, old and slanting shed, overgrown garden and the bit of unmaintained farmlands at the side do not look familiar to you at all.

In fact, the entirety of the map is utmost unknown to you, and it looks a tad bit better than most areas within Dead by Daylight. Almost as well-kept as Haddonfield, so to speak, just by the fact that you have a working kitchen and a warm water bathtub within that old-fashioned house…

The few hints through which you could tell that you’re still stuck in this specific game is that the night is endless within this universe- the moon forever stuck at its peak, and every time you found a way past the walled border of the area, you’d somehow end up right back at the spot where you’d previously slipped through from. It didn’t take long for you to figure out why.

You brush your fingertips alongside the cold metal bars that make up the Arena’s main gates. Then, you withdraw your hand just as quickly as black spikes suddenly spawn from the place you’ve just touched. The Entity is currently pretty desperate to keep you inside the premises, especially from the moment you’d nearly escaped a third time.

You scowl, kick the gates in a pent of aggression and retreat back into the house with a hand skimming through your hair. This is not going as planned and your emotions are reaching an all-time low. As far as you can see it, there’s not a single chance of escaping, your family might as well have called the national news for how long you may have been missing and you don’t have a single clue of what the Entity has in store for you with the way it has been treating you from the moment you had escaped your first and only trial. You’re basically a bird stuck in an impoverished golden cage.

You proceed to drag your feet upstairs after a quick raid of the kitchen’s cabinets before retreating inside of your bedroom. In the meantime, reading a book might stimulate some ideas for a future escape attempt and to give you some time to reflect for the ones that have failed in the past. It might also help you to calm down for a bit in order to tackle the problem with an overall better state of mind.

But before you could actually grab a book from the over stacked bookshelf besides the window, you incidentally saw something move from behind the window and look down to see a tall shadow stir to the right from behind the fenced border which is being overshadowed by the shed. And when you finally see it stalk into the moonlight, you felt as if the ground gave out from underneath you.

It’s the Trapper… Weaponless?

You quickly duck below the windowsill with a hand already clenched over your heaving chest.

Why is he here? Does he know that you’re here? Did the Entity send him? Is he here to kill you with his bare hands? Is this the start of some sort of a trial? Has he seen you standing here?

There are so many questions rumbling through your brain with not a single clear answer to pin them to. And frankly, you don’t plan to hang around to see them answered on their own, either.

You quickly decide to dart out of the room whilst making sure to close the door behind you, before moving over to the room located at the other side. There, you also make sure to close the door before leaping towards the window.

After another survey of the outside world, you decide that the coast’s clear and carefully slide the glass panel upward as quietly as you possibly could.

As you did so, you heard the front door open with a soft groan, indicating that the killer hasn’t only succeeded in entering the premises, but to enter this damned house as well.

You climb through the window and firmly place your feet between the slippery vines and tested your footing before starting your climb downward.

A sudden bang can be heard, and then another. He must have checked your bedroom, like you’ve suspected, and must have shut the door in irritation before slamming open the door of another room next to it.

It didn’t take long before yet another door was thrown open against a wall and heavy footsteps could be heard from above the second you’ve reached solid ground.

A chill prickles your neck and causes goosebumps to appear all over your skin, automatically forcing you to look upward.

Your eyes widen and your breathing stops for a millisecond as you do so.

The Trapper grinning mask’s staring at you from above, breathing heavily. If it’s due to him running around the house or him being irritated with you(the later most likely), you truly do not know. Maybe a combination of both, for all you care.

You move and point your body towards the direction of the main gates, waiting for him to move away from the window since it’s almost guaranteed that he won’t climb down the vines himself due to his weight. Maybe he’ll fall for your trick, and move towards the gates as quickly as he can in order to cut you off. He did just that and you quickly spun around and run towards the back of the building instead.

You already know he’s a sharp killer. The only question is, will he round the house from the right or from the left once he understands what you’re actually trying to do? The fact that you’re also trying to bluff him as if there’s another way out of the premises? Maybe he’ll cut straight through the building?

‘Wait… Damn it! Of course the backdoor isn’t locked! I didn’t expect a killer to stroll around here anytime soon!’ you remember, and quickly decide to move your point of destination towards the shed instead.

You need to move quickly before he truly does burst through the backdoor and throw himself onto you.

You stick to the wall, take a peek around the corner and confirm that he isn’t there. As a hasty distraction, you pull open the backdoor- making sure that quite a bit of noise is made before you dash straight into the shed.

Once at the front you take another look through a split in the wooden wall. He’s not at the main gates, and more importantly, the gates are gaped wide open…

But what if it’s a trap?

You could wait and observe for a little while longer before actually trying your luck… Yet you cou-

Your thought of process falls silent as heavy footfalls abruptly thunder into earshot. You turn around, only to see no one in sight, but heave out a surprised gasp instead when the shed’s rickety doors suddenly burst open and something big flies straight towards you.

Before you knew what was actually going on, you were quickly pinned against the wooden wall by a warm, big and rough-skinned hand coiled firmly around your upper arm.

You try to break free from him, but the more you struggle, the tighter his grip would be until the point it actually is starting to hurt. As result, you seize your attempt of wriggling yourself out of his iron grip before dropping your head in defeat- feeling utterly useless in your current situation.

Eventually, he slowly and reluctantly lets you go and takes a step back in order to allow you some breathing space, but still remains close enough if he’d be forced to grab you again if you’d decide to try and make a run for it.

After a moment, you finally dare to speak, fear obviously affecting your vocal cords; “W-Why… are you here…?” you ask him with a shaky voice. You can already guess the answer, considering his current behavior, but you need to hear it from him as confirmation.

He replies with a voice so dark and raspy that it forces a shiver to creep down your spine; “To keep you from running away any longer. Entity’s orders…”

Figures…

You take in a deep and shaky breath, sadly doing little to calm your fear before taking a tiny step to the right. Just so he won’t get the wrong idea, you ask him to follow you before leaving the shed, the tall man following close behind.

Many thoughts, mainly complaints, race through your head like a herd of out-of-control horses, but you won’t ever voice them out. You can’t voice them out, let alone to the slasher currently following you. The fact that the Entity decided to basically stall him with you already says a thousand words. And you hate it…

Of course, you don’t know how dependent this game’s Entity is with feeding on the mismatched hope of survivors. Before you know it, it might need you more than it needs them, in a sense.

You suddenly turn your gaze towards the man walking behind you, only to quickly turn away with your heart jumping in your chest as you noticed how close he is to you now. Still, you also saw enough of his posture and recollected enough of his behavior before all this to see what he’s approximately thinking right now.

In his own way, he seems to be attached to you in a way you never expected to happen at all. A character of a video game who’s smitten with you… A killer from Dead by Daylight… You would have laughed hysterically if someone ever told you that this would happen to you- deeming them crazy.

Your shoulders quake as a shiver runs up your spine. A shiver of fear and disgust.

You turn to him again after you suddenly heard a low grumble resonating from the giant behind you, springing away from him.

He seems overstrung and strangely out of place as your eyes land on him. He’s sensed that you’re feeling very uncomfortable in his presence.

Your eyes are wide for a second, surprised with his observation and the way he’s giving you your space as result. You then frown at him. Not out of irritation. At least, not entirely, but more so out of empathy. “I’m sorry,” is all you could whisper after a minute of silence, not even knowing yourself what you’re exactly apologizing for. For your feelings? For his? For the situation as a whole?

Of course, he seems to know you much better than he obviously seems to let on. Also, Meg did know your name without the two of you ever meeting each other before face to face during that trial. Does this mean that all of them were able to watch you in a similar way you were watching them while you played? The Trapper included?

You swallow as you turn yourself away from him before stepping into the house.

Either way, you don’t know if the survivors, the Observer or anyone else out there could ever save you from your peculiar situation. Perhaps all you can do in the meantime is to try and make the best out of it while searching for a way out... A quest now all the more difficult now that you have a love-sick killer as your unwanted bodyguard…

#dbd #dead by daylight #yandere #trapper #the trapper #evan macmillan #reader #insert

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notebooks-and-laptops · 2 years

Text

Flowers and Feelings (Or, five times Cole watched other people receive flowers, and one time he received them himself)

More cuteness from my Krem/Cole AU. You can also find the first fic in this series here and this fic itself is, as always, available on my AO3 here.

-///-

// 1 //

There were flowers on Josephine’s desk.

Purple and white, yellow, and bright. They arrived early in the morning; before she even got out of bed. A hard feat. She did not sleep well. Cole used to tell her stories, before, when he could unpick himself from her mind and leave only the comfort.

He doesn’t tell her stories anymore. People get frightened now that he has to open doors to enter rooms. Even his friends. Even Josephine.

Cole knows where the flowers on Josephine’s desk come from. He heard Blackwall think about them before Blackwall even knew he had. He had seen glimpses of gold ache in an armoured chest.

They ached worse now. But Josephine smiled more.

Complicated. It was all so…complicated.

Cole sat by the fire and stared at the flowers. He wondered if Josephine would mind if he took one—yes. Yes, they were precious to her. Precious to her like few other things. Even if the left hand worried too much over it.

“Family, family, only one I have left, would kill for her, would die for her, would protect her to my dying breath,” Cole murmured. The thoughts still wound up inside him, other peoples, too loud and too bright so that they had to come out. He’d wondered if that would stop, once. But it hadn’t. He wasn’t human enough for it to stop.

Wasn’t Spirit enough to properly help either.

“Are you alright, Cole?” Josephine glanced up from her work, though her pen kept moving across the page. She never stopped. Nobody in Skyhold ever stopped. They helped. It was why Cole was here too, to help. If he still could.

“Yes,” Cole murmured, eyes flickering back to the flowers again.

Josephine coughed politely when she saw the direction of his gaze, a small blush rising to her cheeks.

“It’s okay,” Cole said softly, “they are yours and yours alone. I will not take. You need this, need him, even if it cannot be. Why can’t it be? It would make you both happier. Blackwall is never happy. The past eats him from the inside out like pecking birds. And you work so much you barely remember to be happy. Why?”

Josephine hesitated. Put her pen down. “Sometimes…sometimes it has to be like that.”

“A letter from across the sea, a house that will rise or fall on your shoulders, a duty to be what you must,” Cole muttered, frowning, “I still don’t understand.”

Josephine picked the pen back up, “our hearts are sometimes foolish, Cole.”

Cole pondered that as he sat.

The flowers on the desk were beautiful.

He knew when they began to wilt, they’d be replaced.

// 2 //

The Herald’s Rest was bright this evening, but not so bright it hurt. It was the kind of bright that made him hang out in the rafters. The alcohol made people looser and made them happier. They laughed. They forgot, but in a human way. They sang. Cole liked the singing especially. Everything seemed brighter, with singing. It healed hurts better than a dagger ever could. Cole wished he knew how to sing too, sometimes.

Then again, not everybody knew in the Herald’s Rest, but that did not stop them from trying.

Cole liked that about humans too.

“Stupid, stupid, stupid.”

Cole paused. He’d been heading downstairs to see the Chargers. He liked spending time with the Chargers. They were easy to be around. Uncomplicated. And their hurts were soothed by each other, which meant that being around each other was soothing. Soothing for them and soothing for Cole too.

And being around the Chargers meant being around Krem, around his laugh and his affection for the Iron Bull and his ability to calm Cole’s thoughts even as he made them race. Confusing. Difficult. Unknown.

Cole wanted to be around the Chargers.

But someone was aching, an unravelling of worries and fears looped together with desire and wanting and happiness and frustration.

Sera.

Cole liked Sera. She shone with old songs and rhymes she didn’t know. Her arrows knew her better than she did. She spoke in ways that unnerved people, just like he did. But she never apologised. She was brash and beautiful and sometimes she hurt people and that was bad, but she always tried to fix it for people who couldn’t stand up for themselves. She made Cadash happy too, and Cole was incredibly fond of Cadash who had let him stay and help.

Sera did not like Cole, but that was okay. She didn’t have to.

But Cole did want to help.

He headed up to her nook. She’d made it so safe here. Covered it in cushions and blankets and stolen trinkets. Since she’d taken Cadash on the roof, it had started smelling like cookies too, fresh baked; memories yes, bad and crumbling, but being remade, rebaked, into something new.

“Hello,” he said, as he walked in. He had learnt that Sera preferred it when he announced himself. Otherwise, she got scared; scared of daggers in the dark and arrows stolen away and ghosts she couldn’t fight. Cole had tried to tell her he was none of those things, that he would protect her from those things, but it never helped.

“Piss off, Creepy.”

“Nervous, nervous, she’ll hate it, stupid, dwarfs live underground, they don’t fucking do flowers, I don’t fucking do flowers, she makes me crazy, crazy, picking flowers like a fool—”

“I said, Piss off, Creepy! Get out of my head,” Sera spat, teeth bared, tattered bunch of yellow dandelions and daises and buttercups transferred behind her back.

“Varric calls you Buttercup. When she sees them, she thinks of you, small, bright and beautiful, a reason to keep going, you don’t have to be afraid, Sera,” Cole said seriously, “she will love the flowers. Just like she loves you.”

Cole watched the tension behind Sera’s eyes unknot, the hurt healed, if briefly. But the walls went back up again; he had healed her nerves, but he could not heal her fear of him.

“Yeah, yeah, go hang out with your boyfriend and leave me alone,” Sera muttered.

Cole tilted his head. His hat slid further down on his forehead, “boyfriend?”

“Yes. Bull’s right hand whatever. You know the one.”

“Krem,” Cole smiled at the thought of him; his warm kind eyes and his want to help those who were alone, to make family where there was none, to give people what The Iron Bull had given him. But—“Krem is not my boyfriend.”

Sera snorted, “yeah, yeah, but you’ve got the hots for him. Fucking weird, Varric said there’d be side effects of the whole human thing, and now you’re a real boy with working parts I guess and you want—” Sera stopped. She did that, sometimes. Talked to him like he was a person, but then remembered where he came from and stopped herself. Cole wished she wouldn’t.

It was okay that Sera didn’t like Cole, but since becoming human sometimes Cole wanted her too. Just a little bit.

“Just. Get out.” Sera waved him towards the door.

Cole furrowed his brow but did so.

He still didn’t really understand what she meant by boyfriends.

// 3//

“Dorian, is The Iron Bull your boyfriend?”

Dorian choked on his drink.

They were sat by the camp in the Emerald Graves. Cadash was asleep, and Blackwall too. But not Dorian, not yet. Dorian liked the night, felt more awake in the darkness.

“Sorry. Sera said. She said that when you get hot with someone, they’re your boyfriend. You get hot with Bull. Often. Loudly. Beautifully. Red pain and pretty lips and affection you can’t speak in every kiss. He makes you light on fire, like your spells, but brighter, quicker, slower, perfect. Sometimes more than once a night—”

“Yes, yes, thank you, Cole, I get the picture,” Dorian looked uncomfortable. That hadn’t been Cole’s intention. Maybe he shouldn’t have brought it up. Dorian still wasn’t at peace with who he was, sometimes, when the jagged words his father thrust at him tore at his heart. But Dorian would know. And Dorian had put up with Cole’s questions before. Of everyone in the inner circle he had acclimatised to Cole very quickly. He was used to Spirits, even if they chained them back at home. Cole didn’t like that, but he appreciated that Dorian wasn’t scared of him. He didn’t want to be scary.

“So, are you? Boyfriends?”

Dorian sighed, “no. No we’re just— it’s complicated.”

“Why?”

“Because…oh, I don’t know! Bull is a brute and about as subtle as a Qunari dreadnaught, but that doesn’t mean we have to—”

“But he wants to be. He cares for you. Like the tamassrans warned him about. Like everyone warned him about. He’s scared but wants to be scared next to you.”

Dorian blinked at him, his mouth falling open into a small ‘o’.

“Oh. You didn’t know,” Cole frowned, “but it’s so clear…”

“Yes, well,” Dorian coughed, again, though Cole could feel something deep and content settle inside him. Good. A hurt healed. Something fixed, “is there a reason I’m being asked about Boyfriends? Other than Sera perhaps trying to prank me.”

Cole shook his head, “no. Her latest prank isn’t this. It involves bees. And lemons. I helped with the lemons; they were rotting, the cooks would have thrown them away.”

Dorian scrunched up his nose, “that sounds…positively sticky.”

Cole nodded, “yes.”

Dorian poked the fire with his stick. Cole could almost feel how much he missed the warmth of the fire in Skyhold, missed the warmth of an evening night in Tevinter.

“So…this doesn’t have anything to do with…you?”

Cole looked down, “maybe. I don’t know. How do you know if you like someone for their company or because you want to give them flowers? It’s so complex. Layers upon layers upon layers. Wrong way here. Wrong way there. Too much and it’s too fast, too little and it’s not enough. I want to be closer, I think, close enough to touch. He touched me once, on the battlements, on the shoulder. Warm hand on warm skin. It was solid. I liked it.”

“Well then,” Dorian’s eyes twinkled in the firelight. He wanted to help, Cole could feel it, even if amusement pressed against the corner of his lips until there was a soft smile there, “it appears you have a crush?”

“Crush?”

“Yes, a crush. It’s what happens when you fancy someone’s company, in a romantic way,” Dorian smiled, “I don’t suppose this has anything to do with my only other fellow countryman at Skyhold.”

Cole fidgeted, “How did you know? Sera knew too. But you can’t read my mind, like I can read yours.” It…worried him, for some reason, the idea that he was being too obvious. He couldn’t make it disappear, couldn’t hide these thoughts away.

What if Krem knew?

Krem was peaceful, near him. He didn’t find him creepy like everybody else. Or not as much. Not in a bad way. But then, what if that changed if he thought that Cole had a ‘crush’? People got unnerved by Cole. Krem might not like the idea of Cole being attached to him.

“You’ve spent a lot of time with him, since becoming human,” Dorian shrugged, “with all the chargers really, but I saw you watching him at training before we left.”

“He’s very fascinating when he moves,” Cole nodded.

“Well, yes, there’s another symptom of your crush,” Dorian gave a brief smile.

“How do you…fix a crush?”

Dorian laughed, “if you figure out an answer to that one, do let me know,” he stood then, moved over to pat Cole on the shoulder, “you’ll keep watch?”

Cole nodded. He didn’t need as much sleep as they did, though any sleep at all was…disconcerting now that it was somewhat necessary.

“Dorian,” Cole turned his head, “The Iron Bull likes the smell of Crystal grace. It reminds him of your perfume.”

Dorian halted, “does he now?” he murmured, but it wasn’t a real question so Cole didn’t answer. He just let Dorian retreat back to the tents.

Later, when they returned to Skyhold, Cole saw a small sprig of Crystal Grace in Bull’s pocket and smiled.

// 4//

Sometimes, Cole likes to walk the battlements with Cullen.

Cullen is angry and hurt and bottled up; a dark past eating at his insides and clouding his mind. He craves what he refuses to give himself, and his body both sings because of it and crumbles in on itself. Cole can’t fix everything, but sometimes he can fix a little.

Cullen doesn’t talk about Kinoch Hold. Not to anyone. Not to the Inquisitor beyond the fragment he let slip. It scares him. It haunts him.

Cole wonders that he doesn’t scare Cullen either, but he doesn’t. Not anymore. Not for a while.

Instead, they walk together. They walk together and sometimes Cole can hear the parts of Cullen’s past nobody else can. He can speak them when Cullen can’t. He can help.

“There was a girl once, who saved the world. You wanted to give her flowers, after the Harrowing, but you never got the chance. The harrowing came before the world saving, not after,” Cole titled his head, “the Harrowing is terrible for everyone. Why do people do it?”

Cullen chuckled, low and not actually humorous. There was something nostalgic in it though, a feeling Cullen hadn’t thought he could have about Ferelden’s Circle until recently. Cole is glad to have given him that. “I suppose we don’t anymore.”

“Vivienne thinks that’s a mistake,” even though her own had scared her so.

“Maybe it is.” Cullen shrugged.

“The girl would have accepted the flowers. Before. Before she saw you again. Before you scared her behind the barrier. When she left, she found someone else to give her flowers, roses to make her forget about the blight,” Cole swallowed, “I’m sorry she died.”

“It was a long time ago.” Cullen muttered.

“But nobody ever asked you if it hurt.”

Cullen shrugged, and they kept walking. The sky was blue above them, and the wind reached out fingers to steal Cole’s hat for itself. Cole didn’t let it. Instead, he walked beside Cullen and thought of roses and flowers and tried his best to help ease the hurt that hadn’t healed right.

// 5 //

Cole was exhausted.

He was not used to exhausted.

Exhausted ached and chaffed in uncomfortable ways. It made sensations harder to handle, made words slide off and refuse to stick.

Cole did not enjoy being exhausted.

The others were too, it seemed. Varric’s back ached where Bianca was perched. Cadash had long since stopped leading the pack and let her thoughts drift to Sera. Even Dorian was hiding yawns behind his hand.

Cole was glad they were almost home.

Home. He’d never had a home, not really. The spire hadn’t been his home. Had the fade? Maybe once. Now the memories caught on all the wrong bits of him so that it made his head ache to think of it.

But Skyhold was home. With Cadash and Varric and Solas and the Tavern with the chargers and The Iron Bull and Krem.

Cole wanted to curl up in the room he’d been given when it became apparent to everyone he needed to sleep now. He wanted to make himself small and little and drift away to the fade. But he wouldn’t. Not without seeing Dalish and Rocky and Skinner and Krem.

He felt a smile tug at his lips at the thought. Krem. Krem who had seen him off when he left Skyhold. Krem who had rung his hands awkwardly. Krem who had asked him to keep safe. Krem who had meant it. Had been worried. About Cole.

The horn blew as they got closer to the gates; the signal to all that the Inquisitor was arriving back. Cole could feel even from this distance the way Sera’s heart leaped. He could feel the Inquisitors advisor’s relief. He could feel—

“Annoyed, worried, why did Varric not send for me straight away? Eluvians whispering behind closed doors, the world depending on our culture, the expert an apostate human,” Cole frowned, “Why do the mages never get along?”

“All too arrogant, my dear,” Dorian laughed, “of course, if one of us is right, it’s me.”

“That’s what Solas thinks too. And Morrigan. And Vivienne. And Merrill.”

“Wait and who?” Varric had stopped dead in his tracks, looking at Cole like he’d seen a ghost.

There was worry unfolding in his chest, and…hope? Happiness? But it was clouded by fear. Fear and…blood? Fear of blood? No. Fear for the blood. For her. For what Cassandra or Cullen or the others might think of their sweet daisy—

“Merrill. It’s alright. She arrived with Hawke two days ago. Nobody has hurt her.”

“Hawke is alright?” Varric looked relieved at that, at least. He’d been so worried about her going to see the Wardens at Weisshaupt, he’d wanted her to stay. He’d almost asked, but Cole had seen his fears, seen Alistair left behind in the fade, seen the fear that Hawke would get herself killed if she remained with the Inquisition. So, he’d let her go.

“Merrill?” Cadash queried, “I’m meeting more of your characters, Varric?”

“If the Seeker doesn’t lock her up first,” Varric muttered.

“Cassandra wouldn’t. Couldn’t. Harsh and strict and unyielding, but caring, comforting warm. She wants you happy, Varric, but it hides away, buries underneath insults and sarcasm. She regrets she hurt you once,” Cole confirmed, but it didn’t seem like anyone was listening to him anymore.

The rush into the courtyard at Skyhold was upon them after that.

Cole couldn’t make people forget like he used to, but he could still slip away easier than most.

He was about to do just that, go back to his rooms when—

“Hey,” Krem, bright and shinning and…relieved? But the Iron Bull hadn’t gone on this mission. Why was he relieved? Cole frowned, tilted his head at Krem. Relieved…for him? For Cole coming back.

Something thick and heavy bloomed in Cole’s chest.

He had made Krem relieved.

Cole smiled, “you’re glad I am home.”

Krem coughed, rubbing the back of his neck. He looked…bashful, sweet, embarrassed. His hair was damp with sweat, he must have just come from the training ring. Cole didn’t want him to be embarrassed. Cole wanted him to be happy. Cole wanted him to smile

“Uh, yeah. It’s not the same without you. Everyone’s more angsty, without you solving all their problems in your little ways,” Krem met Cole’s gaze. He never had trouble doing that. Some people did. They thought his eyes were creepy. Not Krem though.

“I want to help,” Cole nodded, “but sometimes it’s better to help out there, with Cadash. She needs me.”

“I know she does,” Krem shrugged, “anyway, I should get back to training. Just wanted to—”

But Cole didn’t want Krem to go.

He wanted—

Cole shifted ever so slightly closer. Hesitantly, awkwardly, aware he could be shoved off, he wrapped his arms awkwardly around Krem’s shoulders. He had wanted to do this. So, he had done it. Was it okay? This is what people did with their…friends, yes? Even if friends were crushes too? When people greeted each other in the courtyard, they usually hugged to say hello.

Krem smelt of sweat from training, and of his favourite wine, and of the tavern and Skyhold and the metal of his armour and—

And his arms were around Cole too, holding tightly, “hey,” he murmured, in Cole’s ear, “what I meant to say was…I missed you.”

Cole couldn’t stop smiling.

“Easier to say it quiet, when just I can hear, want to not let go, you like hugging me, you still see me on the battlements that day, in the sunset, you’re glad you don’t forget me anymore,” the feelings were so wonderful, Cole was so happy. He could stay here forever too, and not let go, just like Krem wanted.

But then—

“Worry, worry, cloying and thick, he needs to see them,” Cole pulled back, “Varric is worried. He wants to see Merrill and Hawke. I have to go.”

“Cole,” Krem put a hand on his shoulder, “you look tired. You should sleep. You can’t fix anything if you don’t look after yourself first.”

“After I help,” Cole murmured, and then he ducked away.

He could feel Krem’s disappointment following him. It was a bitter taste at the back of his mouth.

-///-

“You brought her here, Hawke, of all places?”

“Hey!” Hawke held up her hands, “I’m not the one who decided to write and tell her I was going off on some crazy dangerous mission. She found me. And of course, I had to tell her what was going on, and of course Morrigan pissed her off, she pissed me off too, don’t tell me she doesn’t upset you and—”

“You hate it when they argue,” Cole sat down next to the girl with deep black hair who was currently tending to the herbs while Varric and Hawke spoke. The gardens always needed people to tend to the herbs. Cole did it sometimes, but the weeds always came back. But the elf looked happy to be using her hands. She smelt like the fade, and like iron and copper, cloying and hot.

“Yes,” wide green eyes met his, head tilting, taking him in, “you’re not quite human. Sorry, that was rude, wasn’t it? I just meant, you have the old ways about you, magic, and fade. You’re not human.”

“No,” Cole shook his head, “but I’m not quite a spirit anymore either. I’m Cole.”

The elf smiled, a bright smile then, “Oh! Varric’s friend. Well, son, maybe. He talks about you like a son. It’s very sweet. He writes, you know? Not often, but sometimes, about all of this. Not about the important things mind,” her eyes moved towards the other side of the courtyard to where Morrigan was also glaring right back at her. But then she shifted her gaze back to Cole, “I’m Merrill, pleasure to meet you.”

“He was scared, scared of the blood on your hands, scared of the people who would hold it against you. He didn’t tell you because he knew you’d come and he didn’t want you in danger. He never wants you in danger again – coins to this gang, coins to the guard, coins to keep you safe. He tried to keep you all safe, but he lost one of you. He’s more protective now,” Cole murmured.

Merrill’s brows were furrowed, “oh! Oh! Varric. You can read thoughts then? Or…feelings? Fascinating. What kind of Spirit are you? Were you, I mean? I only ever met Justice and he was a bit tied up with everything else.”

“I…was compassion,” it is odd to say it, to say what he was before he took on a name. Compassion. It’s what Spirits still call him. Sometimes Solas calls him that too.

“Wow,” Merrill laughed.

Cole decided that he liked her immensely.

“We shouldn’t let them argue,” Cole turned his face towards Hawke and Varric, “they care so much for each other they can’t breathe sometimes.”

Merrill nodded, “Varric’s always been like family to her,” she stood, dusted off her knees. She’d managed to weed a few bits out of the dirt, little flowers, bright and white in her hands. Weeds. But pretty. Good.

“Darling,” Merrill said softly, as she walked back to Hawke’s side, pressing a kiss to Hawke’s cheek. She threaded one of the white flowers into her hair.

Hawke…blushed. Cole tilted his head. It was not a reaction he expected from her. She was so hard, inside, had been through so much. Her words could cut like daggers when she let them. But Merrill made something else bloom in her chest, something purple and blue and not red.

“Varric, please, stop fretting, I wanted to come,” Merrill entwined her fingers with Hawke. She stood so close to her, so proud of her. Proud to call her hers.

It made Cole…want something. It made him remember arms around him, safe and strong. Krem.

“You know I couldn’t have stopped her,” Hawke said, finally.

“And they need me,” Merrill’s eyes lit up, “they need a dalish expert here. This is important Varric. You can’t hide me away because you’re worried about my magic. I escaped templar detection in Kirkwall for years, didn’t I?”

Varric pursed his lips, “you weren’t a known blood mage then,” he hissed.

“Yes, well, that’s by the by. I’m sure Hawke has enough sway here. She has enough sway everywhere. And you! I’ll be fine. Honestly,” Merrill was sure, Cole could feel it. So sure. Sure, deep in her chest. She wouldn’t leave. She didn’t want to leave. She wanted to help the inquisition. She wanted to represent her people.

He would help her do that, if needed. He could feel how important it was.

“Cassandra won’t hurt her,” Cole murmured, lingering close by again, even if he wasn’t quite part of the conversation either, “she will be wary, like she is of me, but she cares about me too, underneath it all. She could care for Merrill. She already likes you and Hawke enough.”

“Aw, the Seeker likes me,” Hawke laughed.

Varric sighed, “this is gonna be a shit show,” he murmured, “fine. But if I have to help you two climb out of here in the dead of night...”

“I’ll help too,” Cole said brightly.

Varric turned to him, something soft in his eyes, “don’t ever change, kid.”

// +1 //

Cole was worried.

He’d woken up that morning to the sun in his eyes. He had slept too late. He kept doing that. Dorian slept late too, and Cadash and Varric said it was normal, but he would rather be up early. There was so much to fix before the day began, so much help he could give.

He’d gone to the tavern, first, as usual. He’d been looking for The Iron Bull and perhaps for Krem. He had been thinking about getting breakfast. He had to eat now sometimes, but he found it…uncomfortable. It was easier to do in groups.

But The Iron Bull hadn’t wanted to get breakfast. In fact, he’d wanted Cole to go somewhere else entirely.

“Been told I should send you up to the battlements, someone’s waiting for you up there,” The Iron Bull said. There was…a fondness in his chest, and hope and a little bit of worry. Worry like how Varric worried over Cole. It was…confusing.

And Krem hadn’t been in his usual seat on The Iron Bull’s blind side.

So, Cole was worried, as he climbed the steps to the battlements. It was a nice day, but still cold. It was always cold in Skyhold, at least a little bit. The mountain air was crisp, and there was snow on the ground outside.

He realised when he got there that the battlements were big. Too big. He would need to walk all of them to find who was waiting for him. The Iron Bull should have been more clear, Cole didn’t want to be late. Perhaps it was Varric, or Hawke, or Merrill, or Cadash. It wasn’t likely to be Solas, Solas liked to stay in the library.

Cole wandered towards the newly renovated mage tower, keeping his eyes out. There were guards yes, but none of them paid him much mind. And then—

Worry, anxiety, nerves, excitement—

Krem.

Cole knew what Krem felt like, knew his thoughts pulled from a crowd. Krem wanted to see him up here? Why would he not just tell Cole himself? Why get the Bull to do it?

Why was he afraid?

Was he afraid of Cole?

No, no, that wasn’t it. Couldn’t be it. His thoughts were a jumble though, too fast to grip onto and--

And Krem was here. He was here, on the same part of the wall where he had come to Cole after Cole became human. The place where they had watched the sunset together. The place where he had comforted him.

He wasn’t in his regular armour, either. He was in a loose white shirt, comfortable trousers. His hair was styled nicely, more curls to it than usual. He looked…good.

Really good.

Cole paused to watch him. He liked watching him. He liked seeing him. And the outfit was…a nice change. Sometimes it still surprised Cole when people changed their clothes. He hadn’t known they came off before he’d seen it with Cullen during their round of cards.

Krem was holding something behind his back.

“Krem, The Iron Bull sent me,” Cole moved closer, so he could stand in front of Krem. Krem was ever so slightly taller than him. Cole liked that for reasons he didn’t understand. “Are you…okay? Nervous. Nervous and worried that I won’t like it. Dorian said, Chief said, but what if they were wrong. I’m so hard to read,” Cole furrowed his brow, “what did Dorian say about me?”

Krem chuckled. He wasn’t looking at Cole’s face directly. Maybe he was scared. What had Dorian and The Iron Bull said? “You know, it’s kinda nice when you do that. Pluck stuff from my head. Weird, yeah, but nice. Means I don’t gotta explain as much.”

Cole shook his head, “but I don’t understand. Krem, what is wrong? You’re worried. You’re excited. It’s overwhelming. Are you…is it me? Are you scared of me?”

“No!” Krem’s voice was solid, firm, a little too loud.

Cole felt relief move through him, “Oh, good. Good. What is wrong then? How can I help?”

Krem swallowed, “it’s…it’s a little overwhelming. Look, uh. I just. Nothing’s wrong exactly. Dorian just said that you might…like me. I didn’t know if that sort of thing was possible, for you. I mean, you’re not exactly a regular guy. But then I couldn’t stop thinking about it, and the Chargers were winding me up something fierce so I figured…” Krem sighed, pulling his hand out from behind his back, “Just…here. For you, okay?”

And in his hands were flowers.

They were beautiful flowers. Red and white. Pretty petals. Sharp thorns but wrapped up so that the stems wouldn’t hurt. Cole knew these flowers, they were like in Cassandra’s books, the one’s she sometimes read out loud to him.

They were for passion and romance and softness. They were for lovers. Lovers gave each other these flowers in stories.

“For…me,” Cole murmured, slowly, fingers reaching to take them. Precious. Precious.

He understood now, why Josephine liked hers so much. Why they were so precious.

There was heat in Cole’s face, suddenly. Why? He put his nose to the flowers, smelt them. They smelt nice. Fresh. Beautiful.

Krem had picked them.

Krem had picked them for Cole.

“They don’t have to mean anything if you’d rather they didn’t. Or they can. I know the inquisitor took you to Val Rouyeux a few weeks back, for lunch. I’m not really the sort to go in for that fancy stuff, but we could do a picnic. Or…something. If you wanted. Uh…”

“You want me,” Cole could feel it now, that overwhelming feeling, the anxiety and the nerves and the excitement and the hope. That’s what it was. “You think about me, when I’m not around. You think about my hats, and my smile and how I help. You like how I help. You wish I was around more. You want me close to you. You liked it when I hugged you, when I was in your arms, when you had me safe,” Cole was smiling. Like when they hugged, he couldn’t stop. Parts of him couldn’t believe what he was experiencing, what he knew to be true, “You want me like Josephine wants Blackwall, or like Sera wants Cadash, or like Dorian wants Bull, or like Hawke wants Merrill. You think I’m special.”

“Yeah, yes. Yes. I want that, Cole.” Krem stepped a little closer. His nerves had begun to fade slightly. There was confidence there instead, “I want to keep giving you flowers. If you’ll let me.”

Cole nodded, “can I give you flowers too?”

Krem’s face split out then into a proper smile. He was still blushing, but he no longer looked unsure at all.

“As many as you like,” Krem said gently.

“I would like that. I would like to go on a picnic. I would like to be close with you,” Cole confirmed, because Krem should hear it. It was good for humans to hear things, sometimes. They needed it voiced. That’s why Cole spoke their thoughts sometimes. So they could hear it.

Krem deserved to hear it.

Carefully making sure the flowers didn’t get crushed, Cole stepped forward into Krem’s arms.

Krem’s pulled him in, pressed his face into Cole’s hair.

It felt safe, precious.

Krem had given him flowers. Krem had given him flowers in the same place where he’d met Cole properly for the first time. Krem had planned this out, to make Cole happy.

And oh, Cole was so, so happy.

He was already starting to think about how to give Krem flowers back.

#cole/krem #cole #krem #dragon age #dai

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irishseeeker · 3 years

Note

In one of your asks you said you had a lot of thoughts about Benedict, I'm very curious about that, care to expand yourself if you have the time or you want to? ☺️

Hi Anon! Yes, I do! I love Benedict and I have a lot of thoughts about him haha. It's definitely something I plan on touching on in my fic Royal Pains and future fics.

I did love AOFAG, I just think Benedict's book let him down. The forbidden love trope and Sophie are perfect for him and Sophie is such a strong, great character.

It's just, Benedict is very different to his siblings and being the spare, the second son, that can do a lot to a person, especially in that era. The constant feeling of not being enough-he's not the Viscount, he's just the spare. It's where a lot of his insecurities stem from, like not thinking he can paint and being heavily critical of himself stems from. I know AOFAG touched on it and these insecurities but I really think it was sort of a wasted opportunity and instead made him a bit of a dick? Instead of explaining his feelings, his emotions, his anger? Letting him have his moment? Then Sophie comes into his life and she's someone who wants him for him, not because he's the spare, she doesn't even really know who Anthony is until she starts working for Violet.

He's also the most sensitive, romantic sibling, I think. He's in a role and society he isn't suited for. It's wearing him down. He puts on this front, in the show and in the books, of being the peacemaker. He doesn't get into arguments. He's reliable. He's his mother's favourite. There's no room for him to be judgemental or angry. His role is to always be there but not be seen. He's incredibly unhappy but I think he feels he isn't entitled to be unhappy or bitter and he has more freedom than Anthony but less freedom than Colin, so he's sort of stuck. Being in Anthony's shadow your entire life would make you angry and frustrated and he never really had a moment to fully express that. Instead, he blackmails Sophie to come to London to control one of the only things he can in his life even though it's incredible unfair on Sophie and the pressure he puts her under to be his mistress is unacceptable and I wish it had been written differently.

He also fixates on Sophie in masquerade because she's the one person who made him feel more than just the spare, on that one menial boring night at the ball. He's stuck in the boring, frustrating loop in his life and she was that moment of freedom and then she's gone.

Sophie is also the one person who makes him feel like he's worth something. Who sees him for who he is and not just the second Bridgerton, which is why she's perfect for him and she also takes little shit. He needs someone to show him sometimes he's worth something. That doesn't mean his family don't love or appreciate him as Anthony/Colin/Violet heavily rely on him and the show definitely has built him a strong relationship with Eloise which I LOVE, but no one really sees him and understands him to an extent.

Him acting unfair and irritational is human behaviour but it needed to be explained more about why he's acting and feeling that way. What being the spare does to a person. Like in season 1 during the duel-he's visibly terrified as his brother may die and the last thing he would ever want is to be Viscount, but he isn't happy being the spare either. The show has more room to explore him and is dealing with Ben very well so far- with his passion for art, sexuality and his role as the second & I'm excited for season 2 as he's definitely getting a big arc to build up for season 3! We already got a few Sophie hints and we'll definitely be getting a lot more!

#benedict bridgerton #bridgerton #bridgerton discussions #asks #anons #an offer from a gentleman #sophie beckett #benedict x sophie

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tuiccim · 3 years

Text

Terrigenisis (Part 17)

Pairing: Steve Rogers X Bucky Barnes X Inhuman!Reader

Words: 1700

Summary: After undergoing terrigenisis unwillingly your life is turned upside down when you are deemed too dangerous to return to life as a civilian. You are put with the Avengers team to train and rebuild. As you hone your powers and skills, you must also decide if you can find home and love again. Or is your curse to be a lonely wanderer forever?

Warnings: a god of Mischief (He’s a warning, okay?)

Terrigenisis Series Masterlist Divider by @firefly-graphics

You lounged on the lawn furniture in the back of the compound watching Dizzy run in joyful circles as Redtail made loops overhead. You had brought a tennis ball out and Dizzy was adorable as she ran around with it in her mouth. Occasionally, she’d drop it in your laugh and you’d throw it out into the expanse of lawn. You laughed as she leapt into action each time the ball was thrown. Redtail would swoop down every now and then to tease the dog.

The rest of the team was out on missions or meetings. Sam, Steve, and Bucky had been sent on a mission yesterday afternoon and you were enjoying some down time. It felt like it had been some time since it had happened. You stretched lazily, basking in the feel of the sun on your skin and the feeling of contentment.

You hear footsteps approaching and turn to see Loki walking towards you. He had been in a meeting with Thor, Tony, and Maria Hill when you had checked earlier.

“Hi. How’d the meeting go?” You greet the god.

“It went well. Nothing of grave importance,” Loki takes the chair next to you, “What are you up to?”

“Relaxing in this glorious weather,” you see his eyes take in your tank top, jean shorts, and sandals. “You know, I’ve never seen you in anything except the leather. Is there casual wear on Asgard?”

“Simple tunics and robes but, as prince and warrior, I do not wear them often.” Loki raises an eyebrow at you.

“I see. What about for Tony’s party this weekend? Will you wear this?” you motion to his attire.

“I plan to wear a suit.” Loki chuckles.

“I look forward to seeing that. Isn’t the leather hot though? It’s 80 today.”

“I could strip for you if you’d like.” Loki smirks playfully.

“That’s okay,” you hold your hands up in defeat.

“Is this better?” Loki’s form shimmers for a moment before revealing him in bermuda shorts and hawaiin shirt.

You grin, “I like it! You look ready for a beach vacation.” You stare at Loki for a moment, wondering about his personal life. He knew a lot about you but rarely revealed much about himself. “Can I ask you something?”

“Of course, darling. Anything.”

“Do you have… someone? Here or on Asgard or… somewhere?” you stammer through the question.

“Your two lovers are not enough for you?” Loki chuckles.

“They’re plenty for me. You don’t talk about yourself much, Lok. I mean, you don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to but I’m curious about you. We’re friends and so I wonder, is there someone? Are you a player? Are you a monk? You know my story. You haven’t given me much of yours. Have you ever been in love?”

Loki studies you for a moment and then nods as if deciding something to himself, “I suppose I would be what you Midgardians refer to as a player.”

“Love ‘em and leave ‘em?” you giggle.

“I suppose. There’s only ever been one person who…” Loki trails off.

“Who what?”

“Who I thought I could fall for.”

“What happened?” You question.

“She belongs to another.” Loki says as he looks away.

“She belongs only to herself.” You counter.

“Of course. She’s engaged to another.”

“I’m sorry.” You tell him.

“Thank you.” Loki pauses to contemplate before asking, “Are you happy? You’ve been through a lot in your short life.”

You smile at the statement, “I’m not that young, Loki.”

“I’m over 1000 years old.” Loki deadpans.

“True,” you laugh, amazed at the lifespan of Asgardians, “Yes. I am happy. This isn’t what I imagined my life to be. Terrigenisis tore my world apart but you make the best of what you have. I have a family in the team, lovers in Steve and Bucky, friends, a purpose. This is… home.”

“And I’m your friend?” Loki asks.

“Of course you are.”

“Aren’t you afraid I’ll betray you at some point? I mean, I am notorious.”

“I trust you, Loki. I think I know your heart, but understand that I live by the statement, ‘Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.’ I may let someone make a fool of me once but I won’t let them a second time. Once you lose my trust, it’s gone and would take a great deal to earn it back,” you explain.

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“I have to trust you. I’m letting you play with my brain.”

“Thank you.”

“For what?”

“Giving me a chance. Trusting me. Seeing me as something other than the villain that I was.”

“You’re more than your past. Oh!” you exclaim when a slobber covered ball is dropped in your lap. “Hi Dizz.” you laugh and throw the ball for her.

“She has you well trained.” Loki smirks.

“That she does. Speaking of training, are you up for another session?” you ask.

“Same time as always, darling. I’ll see you then.” Loki gets up.

“See ya later, friend,” you watch as Loki walks back to the building, dropping the glamour to reveal his normal outfit as he walks. He sends you a brief wave before walking into the building. Your attention is pulled away when Dizzy drops the ball in your lap again. Time to play.

You get to the training room early to do some climbing and ended up in the rafters as you were known to do. You were just about to climb down when Loki entered with Thor trailing behind him.

“Drop it, brother,” Loki grouses at him.

“Just tell me you aren’t playing at anything with her and I will,” Thor demands.

“Mortals are your weakness,” Loki rolls his eyes at his brother.

“Love is not weakness, Loki.”

“I do not feel that way about her. She is a friend. Much like Sif is to you.” Loki says pointedly.

“That’s all I wanted, brother,” Thor smiles.

You clear your throat loudly, “Good afternoon, gentlemen.”

Loki looks up at you in amusement, “How long have you been there?”

“Well before you came in,” you wink at him.

Thor looks at you sheepishly, “I’ll let you two get to your training.”

“Okay. See ya later,” you are holding in your giggle as you make your way to the climbing rope and jump to it. When you slide to the floor, you look into Loki’s mischievous eyes and you both burst into laughter. When it’s spent you say dramatically, “Loki! I can no longer control myself. I must swoon into your arms!” You pretend to faint against him and he catches you.

“You’re ridiculous.” Loki narrows his eyes at you.

“Yup! And you, my friend, are stuck with me!” You stand back up.

“You know that won’t be the last time someone will make the insinuation.” Loki says quietly.

“People have a hard time believing a man and woman can be just friends,” you shrug.

“That is true. Can I ask you something?” Loki asks.

“Of course.”

“Hypothetically, would you have been able to fall in love with me if…” Loki trails off.

“I don’t think I would let myself fall in love with any Asgardian,” you admit.

“Why?”

“How old are you, Loki?”

“A little over a thousand years.”

“Exactly. Asgardians live for around 5,000 years, right?”

“Yes.”

“That’s why. Humans live maybe 80 years. That’s a blink in comparison. I’ve lost a lot of people who are important to me in my life. I don’t think I could purposely put someone through that. Falling for an Asgardian, letting them fall for you, would mean making them watch you die while they live on for millenia. I don’t think I could do that to someone, ever. It’s difficult enough being friends and knowing that. Being lovers, it would be unbearable.”

Loki nods, “I couldn’t have said it better myself.”

You smile at him, glad he understands. “How about we get to work?”

“Let’s go, darling.”

Over the past week, you had worked up to slipping into Loki’s mind without the unbearable pain. It still caused a headache but you were able to see through his eyes and communicate in a similar fashion to how you did with animals. Today, you were attempting to take control of Loki’s movement. It wasn’t easy. Just lifting his hand took a toll. You drop the warg after a moment.

“What’s wrong?” Loki looks concerned.

“It’s difficult. The pain is worse,” you explain.

“Why don’t you warg and I’ll do some magic? Just play around a bit.”

“Okay. Sounds fun,” you warg back into Loki. He begins doing some simple tricks and you watch in delight. You try to concentrate on the motions he makes, the feel of the magic flowing through him, and his thought process as he works. A picture flashes in Loki’s mind and you catch a glimpse of a beautiful face before he forces it away.

“Does she know?” You ask in his head.

“What?” Loki hedges.

“Does she know?” you drop the warg.

“No.” Loki says.

“Then she’s not.”

“Not what?”

“She’s not lost to you. How do you know she doesn’t feel the same way?” you push.

“She… I… I don’t… She couldn’t-”

“Oh, I’m gonna stop you right there. She could. She really could, but if you never told her how you feel, what’s she supposed to do?”

“She’s engaged.” Loki insists.

“She’s not married, Loki. You should tell her. Wouldn’t it be better to know?”

“What?”

“At least then you’d know. Either she doesn’t and you have closure to move on. Or she does and you two can figure it out. ‘Better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all’, right? Better to say it and know than to spend the next few millennia wondering,” you needle.

“I…” Loki falters with a far away look in his eyes.

“Just promise me you’ll think about it.”

“I will.” Loki nods.

“Good,” you see Loki’s concentration is completely gone, “Why don’t we leave it for today?”

“Oh. Yes, good. I’ll see you later.” Loki walks away lost in thought.

“Later, loverboy,” you whisper with a chuckle to yourself.

Part 18

Tuiccim’s Masterlist

Permanent: @badassbaker @thefridgeismybestie @strangersstranger @cherthegoddess @sherlocksmanwatson @cap-n-stuff @finleyjayne @caplanreads @connie326 @daydreamerinadazedworld @bugsbucky @chrisevanscardigan @harrysthiccthighss @palaiasaurus64 @rebekahdawkins @tllynn15 @learisa @jelly-fishy-babie @nerdy-bookworm-1998 @liebs82 @stuckyslutt @a-really-bi-girl @saiyanprincessswanie @baddie-barnes @aikeia @marvelgirl7 @starlightcrystalline @kcd15 @slytherinambitious @sallycanwait68 @slytherdorxmd @fangirlforever2412 @rainbowkisses31 @whisperlullaby @thejemersoninferno @thehumanistsdiary @supraveng @dispatchvampire @juenenfeu @sxbby-barnes @allonszassbutt @y-napotat @is-it-madness @harold231 @buckysbaby32 @purselover2 @ene-rene @chrisevansbaby @mrsbarnes-rogers @sarahp879 @rosesanchez12298806 @xxpapasfritasxx @whiskeytangofoxtrot555 @softie-socks @bestofbucky @bella-bear03 @randomfandompenguin @jjsoccer11 @hiddles-rose @courtneychicken @pureromancebykaci @awaywithtime @automatic-tragedy @ximebebx @magnoliamermaid @milkymil-k @get-me-some-chai-bitch @freckleblaze @angrythingstarlight @unknownmystery22 @please-buckme @daddysdumbsweaterwearingtart @buckysnumberonegirl @buckyfan12 Terrigenisis: @dark-night-sky-99 @amiets2 @captain-asguard @the-soulofdevil @redbarn1995 @dottirose @fallenoutofrose

Updates and taglist: My taglist is currently closed. Updates for series will be made on Thursdays and Sundays Central Time Zone. Please follow my sideblog @tuiccimfanfiction for update notifications. All series and new stories will be reblogged to it. You will only receive notifications when a new part or story is out! Nothing else will be blogged to the page. I can’t thank you enough for your support!

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