#i will say it does feel forced how everyone is just conveniently together but at least its fun this time

[c6jpg]

sucrose and collei are so fucking cute together i can't do this you guys i'm just banging my fists on the table this entire event THEY'RE SO AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHASDFJK

[hunny-bean]

Hello, I have a Matt x reader x Frank castle smut request. Frank tells Matt what he does with you after his patrol, how tight you are and how good your pussy tastes. Frank takes Matt to his apartment and the two have a lot of fun with the reader. They use the reader like a sex doll. Despite the years with Frank, the reader is too tight and Matt is too big.

In High Demand

Pairing: Frank Castle x Matt Murdock x F!Reader

Summary: Matt's been overworking himself. Frank knows someone who can help him relax.

Word Count: 8.2k

Warnings: 18+ (Minors DNI), Explicit Sexual Content, Threesome, Oral Sex (M and F Receiving), Unprotected P in V, Praise and Degradation, An Obscene Amount of Dialogue, The Reader is Very Slutty (I'm Sorry. . . No I'm Not).

A/N: Well, I'm officially out of the frying pan and into the fire. Of course, by fire, I mean threesome. I'm sorry this took so long for me to finish. I'm a bit of a slow editor. If you have any constructive criticism, I will absorb ALL of it happily. I'm trying to improve my writing skills as much as I can. Also, I'm always taking requests! XOXO.

Read on AO3

｡ﾟ•┈୨♡୧┈• ｡ﾟ

"I really appreciate you helping me out with this, Frank."

Frank looked up from where he was sitting with his back against the brick barrier. "Yeah, well, I owed you one," he replied, "and I'm not a huge fan of being in debt."

The two vigilantes were resting on a vacant rooftop, listening closely for any signs of danger. Hearing nothing, Matt figured the "Devil of Hell's Kitchen" had driven everyone with something to fear from him back inside. He declared his nightly patrol a success. As soon as he switched off attack mode, he felt the exhaustion hit him, and he slumped down on the wall next to Frank.

"So, you're saying you did all this to balance the scales?" Matt asked incredulously.

"Just about," Frank muttered, scratching a little blood stain off the knife Matt let him borrow. "And I only beat up one guy, so it's not like I actually had to work for it."

"I'd say you worked hard enough. I mean, you did make it all night without killing anyone."

"There you go again with that self-righteous bullshit," Frank groaned. "What I don't get is why you would ask someone you constantly feel the need to babysit for help."

Taking a deep breath in, Matt forced himself to stand, getting ready for the walk back to his apartment.

"You were convenient," he explained. "I knew your skills and I knew where to find you. Also, you're not nearly as lethal without all your guns."

"Well, fuck you too," Frank grumbled. He waited for Matt to take a few steps towards the ladder before chucking the knife he was holding directly at the back of his head. He watched it spiral through the air, perfectly on course, only to land gingerly in Matt's hand. It was almost like the knife changed its trajectory at the last second, but Frank knew that wasn't the case. Besides, it's not like he actually wanted to hit him. He didn't even think that was possible.

Matt turned back in his direction. Even through the mask, Frank could feel the raised eyebrow. He ignored it. Hopping up, he made his way over so the two of them could walk together.

"Okay, but why ask for help at all?" Frank pressured. "It's obvious you can handle yourself, and you've never asked before."

"You know as well as anyone how unpredictable these streets can be," Matt began. "You're right, most nights I can handle myself, but. . . I wasn't so sure about tonight. I wanted someone there, just in case."

He was about to start climbing down the ladder, but Frank's voice stopped him before he could.

"Something tells me you're not gonna be so sure about tomorrow, either."

"What?"

"Come on, Red. Look at yourself. You're practically dead on your feet," Frank pointed out. "It's three in the goddamn morning, you just fought like fourteen people, and now, what? You're going home to get your two hours of sleep before work?"

"Four."

"That's still not enough, and you know it."

"I'll be fine," Matt asserted.

"No one can do that every night and be fine."

"Why do you care?"

"Because unlike some people, I actually respect what you do around here, and I don't wanna find out what this shithole would look like without you," Frank raved. There was a long silence after that, both men startled by the declaration.

"You won't."

Matt began his descent, ready to end their conversation. Frank, it seemed, had other plans.

"If you were fine, you wouldn't be taking the ladder," he called down after him.

Matt paused, resting his head against the metal rung in front of him. He was really starting to get aggravated by Frank's incessant concerns. The most annoying part was that he was right. Matt would usually make it home from patrol in two minutes flat, his feet touching nothing but rooftops. He picked a shorter building with a ladder tonight because he feared his body was too sore to make the jumps. To say it had been a rough week would be an understatement.

'You have nothing to prove,' he repeated in his head like a mantra. It worked at first; he made it another three steps down, but then he heard Frank's stupid voice again.

"Why won't you just admit that you're burnt out?"

Matt gritted his teeth, unable to hide his frustration any longer. He gave up on avoiding conflict and began climbing back up to the roof to be on the same level as Frank.

"I am not burnt out," he growled.

There was an awkward pause as Frank looked Matt up and down, thinking. He carefully considered his slumped posture and his shoulders racked with tension. Matt couldn't see him, but he could feel Frank's eyes examining him, and it made him uncomfortable. He was about to say something, but Frank broke the silence before he could.

"When's the last time you got laid?" he asked, sounding genuinely curious.

"I'm sorry-"

"You're not a virgin, are you?"

"What? No!"

"So how long's it been?"

Matt wasn't sure how to feel about the sudden shift in the argument. he kinda felt like he was in a train headed towards a cliff that suddenly veered off course. He was safe from the fall, but who knew what lay ahead of him now?

"Why the hell would you want to know that?" he asked.

"Just answer the question."

"Uhh, a few months? I don't kn-"

He was interrupted again by Frank letting out a low, impressed whistle.

"That's even worse than I thought," Frank said.

"You've thought about this?" Matt asked, horrified.

"No, jesus christ, man, it's obvious. You're all tense 'n shit. You look like you haven't relaxed in a while, that's all."

Matt sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose through his mask. "I think we should go," he mumbled.

"I think you should get some."

"Ok, well it's not like you've got someone waiting for you at home either," Matt snapped.

Frank looked at Matt quizzically, letting out a surprised chuckle.

"What?" Matt asked, exasperated.

"Nothing," Frank responded. "It's just that you really are off your game."

"What are you talking about?"

"There is someone waiting for me at home right now."

"Bullshit."

"I thought you could, like, smell it on me or something," Frank speculated.

Now that he mentioned it, Matt did notice something different about Frank's unique smell. There was a slightly sweeter scent intertwined with his typical smoke and rosewood. He knew Frank wasn't lying, but for some reason he didn't want to believe it.

"I didn't hear anyone else inside when I came to get you," he added.

"She was out with some friends. She should be home by now."

"You realize how made up that sounds, right?"

"Cut the crap. You know it's true."

"Yeah, I know," Matt conceded. "She your girlfriend?"

"Yeah. . . At least, I think she is."

"Do you go out on dates often?" Matt supplied. He made a 'come on' gesture to encourage Frank to follow as he started down the ladder once more.

"I don't exactly know what counts as a date in your world, but I think we do." Frank inhaled sharply as he almost lost his footing on a loose bar.

"Wait, does she know who you are? The terms of your agreement-"

"I remember all the terms, thanks," Frank muttered. "I didn't tell her. She figured it out pretty quick though. Maybe I should grow a beard or somethin'."

"Do you love her?" Matt asked when they reached the bottom. The two of them started off in the same direction for their homes, taking only the deserted back alleys they were all too familiar with.

"Well I've only known her for three months," Frank answered, dusting little flakes of rust off his black jacket, "but I think I'm really starting to. She might just be the prettiest, sweetest girl I've ever known."

"That's a good sign. Okay, one last thing: Does she sleep with other people?"

Frank suddenly looked like he was remembering something funny. "Only if I ask her to," he smirked.

Matt was pretty sure his brain short-circuited, and he stopped dead in his tracks. "The correct answer would have been no," he deadpanned. "Why the hell would you ask someone to do that?"

"Well, Red, there's this thing you should know about my girl. I know she seems all cute and innocent at first, but she's actually the biggest slut I've ever met."

"Okay, TMI," Matt complained. Naturally, Frank ignored him. They began walking again, talking more about Frank's secret girlfriend.

"I'm telling you, man, she's perfect," he bragged. The night we met, I found her blowing some guy behind a bar."

Matt had to admit, that was a little amusing. "And what?" he asked, "you just went up to them and started hitting on her?"

"Not exactly," Frank laughed. "I was just walking home, and the guy she was with thought I said somethin' to him or some shit, 'cause he came over to me and started tryin' to pick a fight, right? Well, anyway, I knocked him out cold. Save the lecture, he was a dick wad and he wasn't even that drunk. But this girl, she thought it was hot, can you believe that? So, she starts hitting on me, saying I look strong and dangerous, 'cause apparently she's into that. She kept asking me to take her back to my place, and she was obviously hammered, so I did, just to keep her safe, you know? Almost immediately, she passes out on my bed, too tired to even try to fuck me anymore. Luckily, when she woke up, she remembered everything that happened, and I gave her my number in case she ever needed me to punch somebody else for her."

"And did she?" Matt prompted. He didn't actually care that much, but it was a decent story and it was definitely helping him keep his mind off his injuries.

"Yeah, two days later," Frank grinned. "She wasn't calling for a bodyguard, though. When I picked up, she told me she hadn't been able to stop thinking about me and was wondering if we could talk for a while so she could 'satisfy her curiosity'."

"She sounds very forward."

"You've got no idea. She's absolutely shameless, especially when she's drunk. You know, when she called me, she spent the whole conversation trying to pretend like she wasn't getting herself off."

"Wait, what?!"

"So, I had to sit there for an hour and listen to her try not to moan, and she's usually pretty good at staying quiet, but sometimes she gets so fuckin' wet that she just can't."

"That's disturbing," Matt lied, and was once again ignored.

"It's real easy for her to cover up the noises coming from her mouth, right? But the other ones. . . not so much. So, the whole time, I was just on my couch talking to her, and I was going absolutely insane 'cause I could hear what she was doing. After a little while, I just snapped and I told her if she wanted to hear my voice that badly, she could come over and I'd help her out."

"And?. . ."

"And she did."

"You slept with her the second time you met?"

"Yep. And the third, and the forth. . . probably the first eight times we got together. I mean, we were just goin' at it like every single night. It was amazing. She's so fuckin' tight, like tighter than most virgins. And she's damn good with her mouth. Like, the first time she sucked me off I almost saw your God. I don't think there's a single thing she can't do. Not much she won't do either."

"Really, dude. Stop."

"Whatever, man. I realized I actually liked her when she spent a full weekend at my place. We went out for lunch and played cards and watched a movie. She was just so smart and funny and I couldn't stand the thought of her leaving," Frank reminisced.

"So, is that when you asked her out?"

"No, that was when I asked her to move in with me."

Matt didn't even know where to start unpacking that. Before he could say anything, Frank stopped walking in front of a tall staircase behind a brick building.

"This is me," he announced.

"Hold on, you still haven't answered my question," Matt reminded him. "Why did you ask her to sleep with someone else?"

"Oh, yeah," Frank mused. "About a month ago, I went out for drinks with this old friend of mine, and was going on and on about how he hadn't gotten laid since his divorce. He seemed about her type, so I took him back to our place and had her take care of him for me."

"And she did it, just like that?"

"I told you she was great, didn't I?" Frank beamed.

"And neither of you cared?" That was something Matt was having trouble comprehending. He'd always been pretty possessive in his relationships, and the thought of sharing his partner was completely foreign to him.

"I am not a selfish man, Red. Anyone who dies without experiencing that pussy has never truly lived."

"Good to know."

Frank leaned casually against the wall behind him, crossing his arms over his chest.

"So, uh. . . you interested?"

It look Matt a moment to process what he was being asked, and when he did, he didn't know how to feel. On the one hand, he didn't want to take any more help from Frank, especially not for something like this. He didn't want to come between a happy couple, either, even by invite. On the other hand, it had been a while, and the girl that had been described to him sounded remarkably satisfying. He began to realize that Frank was right: He seriously needed to get laid.

Frank decided Matt had been thinking a little too long.

"Do you like eating pussy?"

Matt was startled out of his inner turmoil. "You can't just fucking ask someone that," he hissed.

"Why not? You seem like you would," Frank stated nonchalantly.

"Fine. Yes, I do."

"Good. I'm tellin' you right now, there ain't a woman in all of New York that tastes sweeter than my baby. You get between her legs, you come out knowing things you didn't think were possible, swear to God."

"I find that hard to believe," Matt scoffed.

"I mean it. I could spend hours down there. I did once, actually, 'till we both passed out. . . But I guess you'll just have to find out for yourself, won't you? Come on, man. You really need this."

"I don't know, it just doesn't sound like such a good idea."

Frank rolled his eyes. "We're all adults, we can have a little fun. If you want, you can come up to get your dick sucked and then head home. It doesn't have to be a big thing."

"You seem very adamant about this," Matt noted.

"Well, I do aim to please," Frank quipped. "I'm talking about you and her. I think my girl would have a lot of fun with you."

"What makes you say that?"

"You're pretty easy on the eyes, you know. Also, she seems to have a thing for jaded middle-aged vigilantes. So, what do you say? This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, Murdock."

Matt sighed, and reached up to rub the back of his neck. For the life of him, he couldn't seem to remember any of his reasons for saying no.

"Alright," he decided.

Frank's face broke into a wolfish grin, and he began ascending the staircase towards the window at the very top of the building. Matt followed close behind him, wincing at the pain in his sides as he climbed. When the two men got to the top, Frank knocked four times at the glass.

｡ﾟ•┈୨♡୧┈• ｡ﾟ

You had just finished changing into one of Frank's old t-shirts when you heard the familiar rattling of the window pane. You dried your hands on the bathroom towel and smiled as you went to let your boyfriend back inside.

Using that word was strange to you, but still it made you giddy with excitement. You never thought you would meet someone wonderful enough to settle down with, but finally you had. Frank was the most perfect man you'd ever known. He understood you in ways no one else could, and with him, you were satisfied. That was a miracle in and of itself.

You slid open the creaky window with a hard push, and watched as Frank hopped through it with a gracefulness that contrasted sharply with his bulky exterior. He seemed completely unharmed, as per usual, but you had still been worried about him. There was always that small chance he would come home covered in his own blood and full of broken bones. You were about to tear into him for not leaving a note when you noticed the red figure slipping in behind him.

"Hey, sweetheart, you remember me telling you about Matt, don't you?" Frank asked, cradling your face in his hands and giving you a sweet hello kiss.

"Is this him?" you responded, giving the new arrival a once-over.

"Yeah, this is him. Hey, Red, why don't you introduce yourself."

Matt stepped up to you and offered his hand for you to shake.

"Hi, I'm Matt. Frank's already told me all about you," he said cheerfully, almost like he knew something you didn't.

Frank stepped up behind you, resting his hand on your lower back and leaning in to tell you something.

"If you're up for it, I'm gonna need you to do me a favor, alright?" he mumbled. You could tell Matt heard everything. You remembered what Frank had told you about him and his unique talents.

You turned towards Frank, sliding your hands under his jacket and leaning in close.

"By that, do you mean you're gonna need me to do him a favor?" you wondered. Frank tucked your hair behind your ear and twirled it idly around his fingers.

"He's pretty high strung right now. I figured he might need a little somethin' special to relax."

"I'm perfectly capable of getting laid on my own, Frank," Matt butted in. Frank ignored him.

"Have I told you how beautiful you look today?"

You laughed. "Yes, about twelve times this morning. You don't need to flatter me, I'll do it."

"You're amazing," Frank marveled, giving you another chaste kiss before turning to address Matt.

"How about you start by taking that stupid helmet off. Let my baby see what she's working with."

A small thrill ran through you when you heard Frank address you as his. You watched as Matt pulled his mask off, revealing the rest of his face. He looked a little nervous but you couldn't see why. He was absolutely gorgeous. His messy hair from the suit only added to the effects of his boyish charm. You noticed he did look rather tired, but that did nothing to dull his handsome features. You could tell you were gonna have a lot of fun with this one.

"He's even prettier than you," you joked.

Frank swatted you lightly on the ass and pushed you in Matt's direction. "Watch it," he growled playfully.

You stalked over to Matt and kissed him lightly on the cheek before pulling him over to the couch.

"Are you sure you're okay with this?" you asked gently.

Matt swallowed thickly, trying to adjust to his situation. "Yeah, I'm okay," he responded. You hoped he'd settle in soon. There was something about him that told you he could be a lot of fun when he warmed up. Then again, that was what you were there for.

"What do you want?"

"I'm not exactly sure. Really, I can just go if-"

"No!" you interrupted. "I don't want you to go, I want to make you feel better. I'm okay with whatever you want, promise."

Matt seemed to be struggling to come up with what to say. Honestly, you were feeling a little nervous too, even though there was no reason to be. Suddenly, you realized what the issue was.

"Hey, Frank?" you called out. He came over to the two of you holding a couple of beers in one hand. He passed one to Matt, who accepted it gratefully.

You waited until he was next to you before admitting your problem to him. "I think we feel a little weird because we don't have any rules. Could you maybe. . . tell us what to do?" you asked.

Frank nodded, sitting down in the ratty old armchair next to the couch.

"Why don't you ask me what you wanna do with him, and I'll give you the go-ahead. Sound good, baby?"

You looked over at Matt who seemed to have relaxed some. You definitely found the source of the problem. All you needed was permission.

"Can I kiss him?" you asked.

Frank's eyes were sparkling with his newfound control. "You can kiss him all you want, sugar."

You slid closer to Matt, turning his head towards yours. "Stop me if you get uncomfortable," you whispered, and then leaned in to press your lips to his. Matt groaned and immediately deepened the kiss, eagerly exploring your mouth with his tongue. It was obvious now how much he needed this.

He tasted good in a way you couldn't explain, and you didn't want to pull away until you'd figured out what it was. You could feel the throbbing in your core picking up with every passing moment. Your breath caught when you felt Matt reach up to run his fingers through your hair. Wanting to move things along, you climbed into his lap so you could be pressed against him, chest-to-chest.

"Pull her hair. She likes that," Frank suggested.

Matt complied, tugging gently, then harder when he felt you shiver against him. Leave it to Frank to know exactly what you want and when you want it. You pulled back from the kiss to look at your moderator, rolling your hips hesitantly to gauge his reaction. He nodded, and you watched him palm himself roughly through his pants. That was all the encouragement you needed.

Returning to the kiss, you began grinding down hard against him, hoping that he could feel your movements through his thick suit. Matt reacted in a way that showed you he certainly could, gasping and grabbing onto your hips to push up against you. You moaned when one particularly hard thrust allowed you to feel the outline of his cock through your clothes.

"Oh, what the fuck," you breathed, pulling away from the kiss in shock. There was no way in hell he was that big. You settled your weight fully on his lap, gently rocking back in forth to feel more of him. You had to make sure that you weren't just imagining things. You weren't. He was absolutely fucking huge. You weren't sure how he was supposed to fit inside you, but dammit if you weren't excited to find out.

Matt seemed amused by your reaction to your recent discovery. He could smell the sudden increase in your arousal that accompanied the feeling of you getting wetter. You felt his hands tighten on your hips, holding you still as he grinded up against you. Every thrust was deep and dirty, inciting the growing heartbeat between your legs. It felt like he was showing off, or using his knowledge of a secret you had to tease you.

"Feel something you like, baby?" Frank asked from the sidelines.

"Uh-huh," You responded inattentively. You were too focused on the feeling of Matt's bulge rubbing against you to say much more than that.

"Why don't you head on down to the bedroom, alright sweetheart? We'll meet you there in a minute," Frank urged.

Reluctantly, Matt released you and you wandered down the hall to wait for the two men to come join you.

Frank waited for you to be out of earshot before moving to the couch next to Matt. They sat for a second, sipping at their drinks before Frank spoke.

"I know you have a fuck ton of ideas about how you should treat a woman, but I'm gonna need you to forget that shit before I take you back there, okay? I'm doing this for you, but if you don't make this good for her, I will kick you out, got it? She's not interested in your kindness tonight. She wants you to treat her like an object. Like a dumb whore you're just using to get off. I know you've got a dark side in there somewhere, Red. I need you to tell me right now if you think you can use it."

Matt never expected that to be something that would intrigue him. It had always seemed so cruel and taboo. . . but if it was what you wanted. . .

"I can."

"Good." Frank stood up and began walking towards the bedroom. After a few steps, he remembered something and turned back around. "Also, what the hell, man? I'm not letting you fuck her without stretching her out first. I know I said you could hurt her, but I don't want you to make her bleed."

When they made it to the bedroom, they found you laying back against the pillows, gently teasing your clit through your panties. When they came through the doorway, you pulled your hand away, looking up at Frank shyly. He raised an eyebrow at you, scoffing at your innocent expression.

"You couldn't wait two minutes?" He sighed. "I'm not gonna embarrass you in front of our guest, baby, but next time you might not be so lucky."

"I'm sorry," you whined.

"No you're not." Frank came around the bed to sit next to you and directed Matt to sit down on your other side. "I think it's about time to take this off, what do you think?" Frank asked, tugging on the hem of your (his) shirt. You nodded, and he pulled it over your head, leaving you completely naked save for your soft cotton panties.

"What do you want right now, baby? His mouth or his fingers?" Frank offered, turning your head towards him. You were a little confused that those were your only options. Weren't you supposed to be making Matt feel good? Confusion aside, you still couldn't choose. They both sounded very appealing.

"Damn, Red. You must've done a good job back there. She's already having trouble thinking," he teased, flicking you gently on the forehead. "Why don't you use both?" he suggested.

Matt smiled, beginning to understand how Frank expected him to treat you. "If she's all fuzzy from a little kiss, are you sure she'd be able to handle both?"

"I guess we'll just have to find out, won't we?"

You weren't sure what it was, but when Frank talked about you like you weren't there, a combination of arousal and safety washed over you. It always seemed to put you in a different headspace.

Matt climbed on top of you, finding your lips again as he slid your underwear down past your knees for you to kick off. He pulled your legs apart and began tracing your folds gently with his fingertips. Every touch was a completely new sensation. Matt was experimenting, figuring out where you were most sensitive, which motions you preferred and how hard he had to rub your clit to make you whimper.

He circled his fingers around your entrance, dipping into you just enough to feel you pulse and tighten around him, trying to pull him deeper. Right before you started begging, he pushed two of his fingers all the way in, curling them to explore your soft walls. It didn't take long for you to gasp and melt into the pillows as he brushed against your sweet spot. You hid your face in his neck, whining as he assaulted it over and over while bringing his thumb up to massage your clit.

Frank shushed you gently from his spot on the bed, reaching over to stroke your hair as you shook from the intense stimulation. You felt yourself dripping down Matt's fingers, and you could hear the wet sounds you were making as he fucked them in and out of your tight heat.

He pulled you right up to the edge before you heard Frank tell him to stop.

"Not yet," he muttered. "She'll get worn out after the third one, so you should probably make 'em count."

You huffed as Matt pulled his fingers out, earning you a proud and dangerous smirk. He gave you another sweet kiss as an apology.

"Sorry, angel. I don't make the rules," he reminded you.

Any disappointment you felt was soon replaced by the image of Matt sliding down the bed to get between your legs and pull them over his shoulders. Almost as an afterthought, he brought his hand up to his mouth to taste the palm you had drenched. As soon as his tongue touched his skin, you saw a muscle in his jaw twitch. His eyes darkened to look almost predatory, and he tightened his grip on your thighs. He glanced in Frank's direction, silently begging for his permission to proceed.

You didn't see Frank's approval, but you knew exactly when Matt got it because he dove into your cunt like it was a fucking desert oasis. In a lot of ways, it was. He wasted no time with teasing, instead shoving his tongue inside of you as deep as he could get it. Your vision went blurry as your eyes rolled back in your head. Grasping desperately at his hair, you pulled him harder against you until you were worried you would hurt him, but he barely seemed to notice.

He drew his tongue out to give your soaked pussy a few hungry licks, drinking up everything that dripped out of you. The wet noises he created with every suck or swipe of his tongue were enough to have your face flushed with embarrassment and excitement.

Feeling ignored, Frank grabbed your jaw, pulling you into a fervent kiss. He dislodged one of your hands from Matt's hair, guiding it over to rub at his clothed erection. You squeezed him through his pants, humming happily when you felt him twitch and grind up into your palm. Deftly, you undid his button and zipper, tugging his pants down just enough to slip your fingers under the waistband of his underwear. You didn't do anything else until he said it was okay.

"You want it, baby?" he murmured against your lips. You nodded, pushing your hand farther in, but you just barely managed to brush against it before he grabbed your wrist. He broke the kiss to look you in the eye, moving his hand from your jaw to gently hold your neck.

"You gotta use your words, sweetheart. You know that," he crooned.

"Please, can I touch it?" you sighed, moaning when Matt started stroking your clit again. Frank used his grip on your wrist to pull your hand deeper in until you could firmly grab his aching cock. You began tugging it slowly as it pulsed and hardened further in your grasp. You swiped the pad of your thumb over his slit and felt him drip onto your fingers, easing the glide of your palm.

You felt yourself getting close again when Matt stuffed his fingers back inside you and sucked hard at your clit. This time, no one stopped you from falling over the edge. You sobbed as your release rushed through you, tightening your thighs around Matt's head and your hand around Frank's cock. Matt groaned against you, savoring the scent and the taste of your satisfaction. Frank hissed at the added pressure, thrusting up into your fist which was slick with his precum.

The two men reluctantly pulled away from you as you came down from your high, giving you time to catch your breath. They returned to their positions on either side of you, stroking your hair or your shoulders as you refocused on reality.

"You were right," Matt announced, breathing almost as heavily as you were.

Frank smirked, looking over you to assess Matt's disheveled state. "Yeah? 'Bout what, exactly?" he asked.

"Everything," He admitted dreamily. To anyone who didn't know the effect you had on fortunate men, he might seem drunk or high. You supposed he kinda was.

"You were talking about me?" you whispered, hiding your face in Frank's neck. He wrapped an arm around your shoulders, pulling you closer to him.

"I was just braggin' about how good you are, baby," he promised.

Matt laughed quietly at Frank's statement like it was an inside joke no one else would understand.

"He said a lot more than that," Matt disclosed to you. "He said you were the biggest slut he'd ever met. Honestly, he would not shut up about how tight you were, or how good you tasted. I thought he was exaggerating, but I think you just proved me wrong."

You smiled into Frank's shoulder, enjoying the attention. He tapped you lightly on the hip to get you to focus on him.

"I believe you were just given a compliment," he signaled.

Taking the hint, you rolled over to face Matt, angling his face towards you to give him a soft kiss as a thank you.

You looked down to where he was straining against the fabric of his suit. A small wet spot was becoming more visible at the tip of his swollen bulge. You caught yourself before you stared for too long, worried you might start salivating if you let your mind wander far enough.

"That looks uncomfortable," you pointed out. "You should probably take it off before it starts hurting you."

Matt agreed, standing up beside the bed to start stripping off his clothes. If he were dressed normally, you would offer to help, but you didn't even know where to begin with that thing.

"I'm sure she wants to return the favor," Frank advised Matt. "I'll go ahead get her stretched out while you use her mouth, alright?"

When Matt was in just his boxers, you tugged him back down to take your spot in the middle and climbed on top of him. Frank had stood up to finish taking off his own clothes, and when he was done, he kneeled behind you on the bed to get you in the right position.

You found yourself face-to-face with Matt's thinly veiled hard-on and your ass up high for Frank to take you from behind. He slid three of his fingers inside you, pumping them in and out a few times to see how relaxed you already were. As soon as you had freed Matt from his final barricade, Frank pulled his fingers out and shoved his cock inside you in one smooth thrust. You moaned loudly at the sudden intrusion, wincing at the stretch but enjoying it nonetheless. Frank gave you a moment to gather your bearings before he began to move.

"Focus on him, baby. He's the one you're supposed to be paying attention to," Frank directed. That was easier said than done when you were being relentlessly fucked from behind, but you had been wanting to get your mouth on him for a while now, and you weren't gonna pass up the opportunity.

Now that you were seeing him in person, Matt's size was almost intimidating. You were glad Frank took it upon himself to stretch you out first, because you were sure you'd be feeling it in your stomach when it was time to switch. His head looked tight and angry, and you watched as a small bead of clear fluid welled out of the tip and ran down the side. You leaned in to catch it with your tongue, whining softly at the taste.

"There you go, sweetheart," Frank praised.

You licked a long stripe up the underside, stopping when you got to the top to suckle gently at the head. You wrapped your hand around the base to stroke him firmly as you focused on taking the first few inches comfortably. It was already stretching your mouth quite a bit and your jaw was aching from trying to force yourself down on it. Before long, your spit was dripping onto your fingers and sliding down to settle at the base, creating slick sounds as you tugged at his length.

You moaned around him when Frank gave a particularly pointed thrust, nailing your spot dead-on. Provoked by your reaction, he repeated the same motion until your eyes rolled back in your head and you could no longer focus on the task at hand.

"Come on, pretty girl. You can take more than that," Frank fussed. "If you want his help, you can ask for it. Don't be shy, baby."

You were reluctant to ask because you wanted to prove yourself to Matt, but you didn't think you would be able to take more on your own. Usually, you were pretty good relaxing your throat, but there was no way you could swallow even half of him without choking. If you wanted to make him feel good, you would need him to take over and force you to blow as much of him as he wanted.

You pulled off of his cock teasingly, hollowing out your cheeks on the way up and swirling your tongue around the tip. You gave it one more little kiss before resuming your strokes, looking up at him to see which motions garnered the best reactions.

"Please," you whined, using your other hand to guide his to your hair.

"Please what, sweet girl?" Matt asked, petting you gently where you placed his hand. You swallowed your pride, giving in completely to both of them. You no longer had anything to prove. You were ready to be used however they saw fit, not caring about anything except making them feel good.

"Please, fuck my mouth."

"Aww, is it too big for you?" Matt consoled, his voice dripping with false sympathy. "Do you need my help, angel? You're already being fucked on one end, is that not enough?" he mocked, tightening his grip on your hair.

He knocked your hand away from his cock, replacing it with his own so he could rub it across your lips. You opened your mouth for him, and he slowly pulled your head down, forcing you to take him in until you choked. He held you there for a moment, groaning and thrusting up into the wet heat of your mouth before letting you take a breath. He continued like that for a while, guiding your head up and down, forcing you to go deeper each time until you couldn't take anymore.

Behind you, Frank wedged a finger in beside his cock, grunting at the added friction. You gasped at the new stretch, your release slamming into you unexpectedly. You arched your back and pushed into the feeling as he deftly attacked your sweet spot. Frank grinned at your reaction, smacking your ass once to watch you jump and hear your muffled yelp.

"I'm just tryin' to get you loosened up. I didn't mean for you to like it that much, you slut," he teased affectionately. He slipped in another finger, curling them to tug gently at your entrance until he felt that you were ready.

He took his fingers away, giving you a few more hard thrusts before he slid his cock out too, leaving you completely empty. He left a sweet kiss at the base of your spine, letting you know you had done a good job, and moved around you to talk to Matt.

"She's ready for you, if you're interested," Frank informed cockily. He watched how Matt was thoroughly fucking your mouth, hitting the back of your throat with every thrust, pulling you down to meet him half-way. You were doing much better than Frank had expected you to. It looked like your mind was somewhere far away, and you were just letting Matt use your mouth as a cocksleeve.

He started slowing down his movements, letting you up further and further, until you were back to just sucking at his head while he gently stroked your cheek with his thumb. Finally, he pulled you off of him with a soft, wet pop, edging out from under you so he could switch places with Frank. You whined at your sudden emptiness, burying your face in Frank's stomach as he took Matt's vacant spot.

"Is she always this desperate?" Matt asked, replacing Frank behind you. Frank laughed, caressing your head softly as you began mouthing and licking at his abs.

"Pretty much. Actually, she's doing better than she usually is. I think she's just upset that she didn't get you to finish."

"Really? She likes that part?"

"Oh, she loves it. Some days, she even asks me to pull out so I can come in her mouth. Ain't that right, baby?"

You nodded into his hip, sucking a dark bruise into his v-line.

"Why don't you go ahead and finish me off," Frank suggested to you. "I'm sure it'll make you feel better."

He grabbed himself around the base, enticingly pressing the wet head against the seam of your lips. Without hesitation, you took him into your mouth and swallowed him all the way down. You moaned lowly, purring at the feeling of being able to take him comfortably down your throat. He wasn't small by any means, but he was more familiar and significantly less jaw-breaking that Matt.

"Fuck, baby," Frank groaned, tugging at your hair. You were content just to stay like that for a while, holding his heavy length on your tongue and feeling him subtly grind his tip against the back of your throat. With your head still, you could feel every little twitch and taste yourself in every drop that leaked down your throat.

"You wanna move at all?" Frank asked, his muscles tight with restraint. In response, you nuzzled your nose against his skin, swallowing around him in the hopes that he'd let you stay there.

"No? You just like having your sweet little holes filled, huh? That's fine, sugar. You don't have to move an inch, but I'm gonna need more than that if you wanna make me come. Do you wanna make me come, baby?"

You hummed your assent, the vibrations sending a shiver up Frank's spine.

"Then suck," he commanded, and you obeyed. You used as much suction as you could manage, creating a satisfying friction without all the typical motions. You teased the underside of his cock with the flat of your tongue, listening to his quiet grunts as you drew him closer to the edge.

Behind you, Matt was listening to the sound of your wet cunt dripping onto the bedsheets. He kneaded your ass and thighs in his hands, ensuring that you were fully relaxed before trying to fuck you. Soon, he was nestling his cock between your soaked folds, lining himself up with your tight entrance.

He rubbed the small of your back as he began pushing himself in. He was met with an alarming amount of resistance, and he didn't even get the first inch in before you were clenching down around him and letting out a pained whimper. He pulled back, afraid he would tear something if he carried on.

"Frank, it's not gonna fit," Matt told him. Frank huffed, too busy chasing his own pleasure to think about problem-solving.

"It'll fit, just keep going," he reassured. "She likes the stretch. Hurry up and fuck her already."

"If I tried, I would break her," Matt warned. "Why don't we test out a different position?"

"Fine. Hang on for just a second."

Frank tightened his grip on your hair, whispering a quick apology before pulling you halfway off of him. He gave you no warning before he was slamming back in, forcing a surprised squeak out of your chest as he ruthlessly fucked your mouth. Barely a minute passed before Frank's thrusts grew sloppy and more desperate. His cock pulsed wildly against your tongue, and he let out a guttural groan as he came hard down your throat. You eagerly swallowed every drop that spilled out of him, waiting for him to soften a bit before releasing him from your mouth. Laving sweetly at the sides, you cleaned him up as best you could before he pushed your head away from oversensitivity.

"Alright," Frank mumbled, scooting over so you could take his spot in the middle. "On your back, baby."

You flipped over to face Matt, opening your legs so he could settle in between them.

"Pretty slut," he commended, leaning in to kiss you as he lined up with your needy hole once more. "We're gonna make it fit, alright? Don't you worry your cute little head about it."

As soon as the words left his mouth, he began pushing his hips towards yours, his thick cockhead stretching you out obscenely. You winced at the pain, trying to force yourself to relax, but it wasn't working. Matt grunted at the vice grip you had on him, but he didn't advance further until he felt you could handle more.

From beside you, Frank played with your hair and kissed your neck in all your favorite spots until he had taken your mind off the pain. When Matt felt you unclench, he gave you another inch, once again stopping to allow you time to adjust. He continued on like that for a while, feeding his cock into your pussy in small increments until he was completely buried inside you.

As soon as the pain subsided, feeling something that deep was absolutely incredible. You felt yourself get wetter when you realized you could just barely make out the outline of his length poking through your tummy. It was evident to both of you from the very start that this wasn't gonna last long.

"Holy shit, you're squeezing me so tight," Matt groaned, starting a series of very shallow thrusts to get you used to the feeling. "This is what you were made for, sweetheart. You feel so fuckin' good," he praised. Slowly, he began picking up speed, fucking you harder and deeper like he couldn't control it anymore. You felt so full, you figured it was a miracle that he was even able to get half-way in. You couldn't stop the noises that Matt punched out of you with every heightened thrust. Because of his immense size, there was never a moment when he wasn't rubbing directly against your most sensitive areas.

Matt could sense that you were getting close, and he knew he wouldn't be far behind you. He started snapping his hips into yours impossibly harder, spurred on by the prospect of your impending release.

"You gonna come on my cock, angel? It's okay, you can come," Matt encouraged. He heard you cry out and smelled the sudden spike in your arousal. He knew he had you right on the edge. "Come for me sweetheart," he breathed.

You almost screamed as you came, your body arching up off the bed, every muscle tightening and trembling as your pleasure coursed through them. Matt cursed at the feeling of your walls clenching and fluttering around him. He let out a subdued moan as he fucked into you three more times before coming deep inside you. You felt the comforting warmth dripping down your thighs when he slipped out and collapsed on the bed beside you.

When you came down from your high, the night's exertion finally caught up with you. You cuddled into Frank's chest, and he pulled you closer, murmuring to you about how good you were for them. Matt slotted his body into place behind yours, leaving kisses on the back of your neck and stroking your side gently.

"Thank you," he whispered, and before you could respond, he was already asleep. You were about to follow suit, but a thought popped into your head, keeping you awake.

"Is this gonna be a one-time-thing?" you asked Frank, opening your eyes to see his face. He didn't seem surprised by your question. Honestly, he seemed like he'd been expecting it.

"It doesn't have to be," he responded. "If he's ever up for it again, I'd be fine with it."

You nodded, closing your eyes again and starting to drift off to sleep. You passed out in less than a minute, but not before you heard Frank say something that, in the morning, you thought must have been a dream. Nevertheless, it was nice to pretend it was real.

"I love you, baby."

｡ﾟ•┈୨♡୧┈• ｡ﾟ

[hiraya-rawr]

so i betrayed you, my love– (2/5)

Xiao Version || Childe Version || Thoma Version || Gorou Version || Ayato Version

synopsis !! Part 2 of “You Were The Enemy All Along” featuring the aftermath of betrayal and confrontation, with more depth to their stories! (Part 1 of each character was also included to make reading convenient.)

contains !! some character lore spoilers / a little violence / dialogue heavy in some scenes / reconciliation but also complicated relationships mending together / cameos of other characters! / might be easier to understand if you knew the lore of the characters 

notes !! This was commissioned by the wonderful @mh8 who allowed this to be posted in public for everyone to enjoy! and honestly childe scares me to write bc I've barely written anything for him but I tried to bring out his charm? idk 😭

CHILDE

wc !! 2.4k

The noisiest of them all. He doesn't understand at first, tries to deny it by making jokes. The prank is up, what are you still doing? It's only when your betrayal becomes painfully obvious does he allow himself to laugh. It's ironic to be surprised coming from his line of work. He should really be used to these things.

"If you're this desperate for a fight, you could have just said so," He laughs, "Though, I warn you comrade, I won't hold back this time." It's so easy to drown in the adrenaline of battle and if he doesn't think hard enough, it feels no different than any of your usual spars together. There's a battle crazed look in his eyes at the thought of not holding back with you, but it's odd how numb he feels as Foul Legacy takes over. 

Whether or not he wins the fight, the result remains the same; with him lying in the middle of the battlefield, mask still on, staring blankly upwards. He thinks of the abyss he fell into as a child, and briefly wonders when did it all go wrong.

— Before Him

You sighed in relief, a long day of training was finally coming to an end. Dottore was not an easy harbinger to be a rookie under; aside from the harsh training requirements of a Fatui Agent, you also had to deal with a lunatic scientist for a mentor. You were lucky enough to have the doctor more distracted on conducting his experiments rather than training fresh meat like you. 

You leaned against a wall. You were in an isolated, snowy village, a mile away from the nearest Fatui training ground. It existed quietly, the villagers were as cold as Snezhnaya in that barren wasteland. You knocked twice on the concrete behind you, then an additional four times, then once more.

“Agent (Name), report.” A voice muffles from behind the wall, a figure you can't see.

“Pulcinella adopted a strange boy. . . He's coded as Childe. They say he fell into the abyss. He's quite strong, we've only sparred once but I know there's something off with him.” 

“Hmm. A peculiar new recruit. I've heard from the other agents.” Muttered the figure of the shadows. He doesn't talk much. You know it's to keep identities hidden and to avoid letting you know too much lest you get caught and the information forced out of you (and believe me, the information will be forced out of you).

“You think he could rise in the ranks? Perhaps become a general or diplomat?” You question quietly.

“I think he could be the next Harbinger.”

A sharp intake of breath, surprised. A Harbinger. The next and possibly youngest one after so long.

“Continue your work. Do what you believe is best for our organization. Leave any files you found useful under the gap.” Were his last orders before hearing the footsteps walk away. Work was never easy; you dealt with loneliness most of the time. The only comfort was when an ill-reputed plan of the Fatui failed, knowing it was only possible through your contributions and warnings. For every plan you thwarted was a step closer to revealing your identity and getting killed for it.

Yes, you're prepared. You've been preparing for it ever since you joined the Fatui.

With a sigh, you went back to the training grounds. 

— With Him

There’s a reason why Diluc Ragnvindr survived the hunt by the Harbingers when he sought out revenge in Snezhnaya. That should have been the first red flag for Childe. You were transferred early under his platoon, just when he was solidifying his position as a Harbinger. You were the subordinate he sent out to represent the 11th and, having the approval of Dottore (The old geezer, what a wack. Should he really be trusting a mad scientist? Childe questions this everyday) he trusted you enough to do your job.

Yet, the winery-heir-slash-fatui-serial-murderer escaped Snezhnaya with the help of those damned underground pests they've been trying to get rid of. Honestly, Childe could care less about the guy— if anything, he was immensely excited to try and pick a fight with him! But it still hurt his pride that one of his early missions as a Harbinger didn't turn out well. He needed to prove himself to the Tsaritsa after all! If not to at least make Pulcinella proud.

Going back to you.

It was always him and you; you and him ever since you transferred; sparring blade against blade. It was easy to get along when you were one of the only trainees close to his age, even easier when you managed to keep up with him in everything, bloodlust and all. 

You were his match and he was yours, or so he believed.

“Say, why did Dottore transfer you anyway? Did you get kicked out, pissed him off somehow?” Childe once asked, boots scraping the ground as he dodges an attack from you flawlessly. Despite Dottore’s rather crazed way of managing his platoon, agents were given a handful of benefits for being under a high ranking Harbinger with a budget larger than the others (Experiments don't pay themselves, you know!).

You huff, a little tired from the onslaught of keeping him entertained in battle, “No, didn't he tell you? I requested for transfer.”

“Oh really? What, did the good looks of a new Harbinger catch your eye?” He teases, going on the offensive once more as he sprints to slash his blade. You block it with yours, trying to push him back with force. When he does pull back, getting pushed a few meters away as hir boots skid on snow, you scoff.

“Good looks? If that were the case, I would have transferred to–”

He immediately sprints ahead again, blade nearly catching you off guard as you block the attack.

“Aww come-” Slash. Block. “-on! Don't tell me you're not-” Kick. Jump. “-even a little bit enraptured by-” Hit. Block. “-me?” He huffs heavily, finally catching your eye as your blade stays on his, pushing each other back with all your strength.

“Hmp. Must you be so arrogant?” You strain out, matching his force before– “Maybe. . . maybe just a little bit.” You avert your gaze at the very moment he catches sunlight in your eyes. Childe pauses, his grip on the blade loosens momentarily at your admittance. You take the chance��� kicking his stomach back with force as he skids across the training ground, the sword clattering on the ground.

“Does this mean I won?” You giggle, your weapon still in your hand as he looks at you from where he crouches, a smile on your face.

Maybe it's the butterflies that erupted in his stomach, but he laughs out loud. Childe wonders to himself; Is this the thrill of battle? Or something else? You tilt your head in confusion.

“As if! I haven't even gone all out yet!” He yells enthusiastically, “Agent (Ņ̸̛͕͔̏̓ͅa̶͍͊m̸̲̫̄͝ȩ̴̹̙̄̀ͅ.)”

Your smile tenses. Your heart beats. Pensively, you also wonder to yourself; Is this the success of a mission? Or . . . something else?

— After Him .

You should've known.

You should've known, you should've known, you should've known that the Fatui would never have let a betrayal such as yours go so easily. The past few months after him was spent laying low, hiding from daylight and any chance that you could be recognized. A large bounty was on your head and the Fatui weren't cheap by any means. The organization shielded you as much as they could but even you had missions you had to continue fulfilling. You’d gladly risk your life for the better good; after all, if you didn't, you wouldn't have went undercover in the Fatui anyway. 

But now, he was chasing you.

It's back to the snowy forests of Snezhnaya, sprinting and dodging all the tall pines in your way. You hear him gaining speed from behind you, hydro blades swishing as they cut through branches, unbothered to waste energy on dodging. Distantly, the sound of a Fatui gunner prepares his shot. You immediately switch directions, a pyro blast landing inches from where you once were. It’s followed by more blasts, each hitting a little closer to you until—

“Ah!”

It grazes your shoulder, blood escaping the wound and soaking your clothes. You don't stop running, adrenaline keeping you alive and conscious. Childe barks something out in Snezhnayan. You’re too distracted with running to understand what he said, but the Pyro Gunner stops shooting and soon enough you focus on escaping.

A clearing appears in your line of sight. A field of snow and endless white and—

Crash! You're knocked off your feet, landing on the snow. You feel him on your back as you quickly force him away, rolling to the side and kicking. It's a blur from there on— a flurry of kicks, punches, scratches, the snow around you forming the most unrecognizable snow angel.

Until his hydro blade was on your neck as he keeps you pinned underneath him. No amount of sparring could've prepared you for a battle to the death with a harbinger. Your breaths fog together with every exhale, the proximity feels bad for your heart but finally, you get a clear view of the face you haven't seen for months.

“I win,” He says, an ever-so-childish grin on his lips, “Any last words?”

It astounds you how casual he is, as if you weren't running for your life just moments ago. Sparring had always been his favorite game but this wasn't like the other times. You do as you were trained (by both the Fatui and your organization)— you keep your mouth shut. Last words are worthless in the face of the enemy, you’d rather bite your tongue off.

“Hmm. . . the (Ņ̸̛͕͔̏̓ͅa̶͍͊m̸̲̫̄͝ȩ̴̹̙̄̀ͅ) I know would have barked back some words. You would've scoffed.” Childe says, the blade pressing deeper onto your neck, drawing beads of blood to the surface. “Or was that some personality you made up? Was it fun for you?” 

Silence.

The smile falls off his face. Something darkens in his eyes. “Alright. You won't talk, that's okay. Anyone who would dedicate their lives living undercover naturally wouldn't respond. I can respect that.” He starts, the blade doesn't move an inch on your skin, the snow numbing more of your back, “But at least answer me this. Not for your organization, not for you. . . answer it for me; was I ever anything to you?”

Silence. Keep quiet.

Something unrecognizable crosses his face. There’s a smile on his lips, but his eyes are pained.

“You know,”  He whispers, leaning down closer to you. “Whenever we sparred, did you feel anything? Anything at all?” His face contorts to a mix of frustration, “Because I sure as hell knew I loved you. I can differentiate things, (Ņ̸̛͕͔̏̓ͅa̶͍͊m̸̲̫̄͝ȩ̴̹̙̄̀ͅ.)! I knew what was bloodlust, it wasn't just me being battle hungry. I’m not dumb! I knew— know I love you!”

As if wanting to hide from your gaze, he hides his face on the crook of your neck. Forehead to the snow, blade stilling on your skin. Despite how cold everything is, the warmth of him seems enough to coax you in.

“. . . At least tell me how much of it was real. Please.” He mumbles slowly. Did you mean to cause this much anguish? Did you have to go fall for someone like him? 

The words fall from your tongue before you could even catch them. The lack of hesitation, the urge to come clean; “Everything. . . everything was fake. Even my name. (Ņ̸̛͕͔̏̓ͅa̶͍͊m̸̲̫̄͝ȩ̴̹̙̄̀ͅ.). It's fake.”

He freezes over you, listening intently. Snow falls quietly into the ground, you wonder if you'll be buried in— caved to become timeless underneath the ice. Briefly, you think it would be fine if it happens if it's with Childe.

“I know it's hard to trust me, but please— loving you,” Pause. You feel tears well up in your eyes, blinding your vision of the descending snowflakes. “Loving you was real. Is real. It was the realest thing I had in that life under the Fatui. I’m so sorry, Childe, I’m really sorry. And I’m sorry we have to end like this.”

“You mean it?” He asks, hushed.

“Yes, yes, archons I mean it.”

“Then what's your real name?”

Your breath hitches, “(Name).”

“(Name).” He repeats.

The awareness of the metal on your throat becomes all too obvious. Breathing too hard would cause it to press more against your skin. You try to calm down, trying to accept the falling of the snow (the fall of you) as the end of your life nears and suddenly—

the blade is retrieved. You hear the shuffle of leather as it's placed back into its holder. Blinking, bewildered, you glanced up at him only to see his boyish grin.

“You honestly didn't think I'd kill you, right?”

Your mouth falls open. You want to hit him.

“You're going to let me go?”

“I mean, I did kind of let the traveler go back in Liyue.”

“The senior Harbingers reprimanded you for that!” You sit uo, hands flailing as you grab a handful of snow to throw at him. He lets it hit his stomach, laughing.

“It's fine, it's fine! The higher ups don't really care about me as much as they do the others anyway,” He shrugs nonchalantly, “It gives me a whole lot of leeway. If I say I don't want to kill you, they'll just nod along.”

You stare at him longer than you mean to, holding his cheery gaze as the snow continues to settle around you. How quiet and peaceful to exist with him in that space. 

“Is this really okay?” You ask and he falls silent with you.

He looks away to the white horizon, speaking in a softer voice, “Well, of course not. You still betrayed me, I still got hurt,” He inhales, “But you love me. I think that's all that really matters, no?”

Tears well up in your eyes. You can't bear to think how close you were to losing your life (losing him) and how easily he pushes your lifelong conflicts aside. So who cares if you played for the opposing organization? Who cares if you struggled with love and truth?

You've faked yourself for so long but Childe would still embrace you, lies and all.

“Come on, the snow must be cold.” He extends his hand, gesturing for you to take it, “Sooner or later the other scouts would be arriving. You should keep running east.”

“Ajax–” You start but he hushes you gently.

“We won't be seeing each other for a while. I don't know when we’d meet again but. . . you know, I’m sure it'll work out if it's us. So don't cry anymore, (Name).”

Stiffly, you nod. It was this moment that you tried to memorize everything about him— his eyes, his ginger hair, the way your name -your real name- falls off his tongue. You replay every sound he made to say such a name, just for the sake of remembering.

“Now go—” He pushes you to the direction, “Don't worry! I won't let them catch the love of my life!” He grins widely, hydro blades appearing in his hands once more as you nod towards him, tear stained smile in response. Your feet take you away, further and further away as you hear the familiar sounds of his blades against his own agents. Icy wind whipping against your face. You can't help the laugh that escapes you, surely the agents would think their blood-crazed superior is in another one of his impulsive moods. 

You pity them and envy them all the same.

~

notes !! thoma is up next, featuring some of our fav inazuma characters <3 ill edit it into a post once my finals settle down (currently cramming in a cafe) I hope you guys liked this one

childe // i really tried to fulfill that he's the more talkative of the bunch! and honestly with childe’s history of forgive and forget, i dont think it's a surprise that he’d easily forgive MC and brush everything under the rug. if anything, he kind of likes the complexity as far as i could tell! by the way, did you like the inclusion of “before him, with him, and after him”? i think it was a poem or a dedication in some book. I really like the thought of it since it's a good way to divide timelines. BY THE WAY do you like the parallels? In part 1, he was left on the snow looking up at the sky. Now in part 2, ur the one on the snow looking up at him :D

[nrilliree]

Why is it always “Rhaenyra should’ve been a better friend to Alicent” and not the other way around? Have people forgotten how friendships work? It’s a two way street and it was Alicent who betrayed Rhaneyra not the other way around.

Everyone seems to conveniently forget that Rhaenyra was confiding in Alicent about her concerns regarding the council plotting to remarry Viserys so soon after her mother’s death so there’ll be a male heir and what does Alicent do? She dismisses Rhaenyra’s concerns, tells her it’s not for them to worry about and “what if your father were to marry?” (which is rich of her to say considering her own father hasn’t and doesn’t remarry). Alicent doesn’t say these things out of naivety or ‘girlish’ innocence, she says them because she knows she’s apart of the plot to get Viserys to remarry - she IS the plot.

God. I’m so sick of people acting as if she was an innocent bystander. She had HALF A YEAR to tell Rhaenyra about her talks with Viserys. Viserys doesn’t raise the question of whether Alicent tells Rhaenyra until half a year into it. She had ample opportunity to say something and she chose not to because she knew what she was doing and the way her and her father were going about it was cunning and conniving and wrong.

And then people are mad at Rhaenyra for not being more understanding of Alicent and the position Alicent was put in when it’s revealed that she’s to marry Viserys - Rhaneyra put two and two together and realised Alicent was scheming just as much as the council was. But yeah, she totally should’ve welcomed Alicent with open arms.

It’s not out of the ordinary for a child to be mistrusting of a step-parent in today’s world - IN REALITY - so, I’m not sure why people act as if it’s so weird or out of the ordinary or like Rhaenyra is overreacting about being mistrusting of Alicent after she becomes her step mother ESPECIALLY given everything above.

But yeah blah blah Alicent the eternal victim, nothing is ever her fault, she can never ever bear responsibility for her actions because she’s ALWAYS the victim first blah blah 🙄

I wrote this a moment ago, but I deleted the post because some anonymous person was making a mess again. Alicent, in Rhaenyra's eyes, lied to her and betrayed her. Alicent, as a young woman of marriageable age (not a child, as some say, because it was not the 21st century), secretly met in the evenings with a single man whom everyone knew was looking for a wife. She went to his chambers alone. She had dinner with him. She gave him gifts. To ANYONE looking at it from the side, it would look like Alicent WANTED to be queen. What do you think the servants who took two meals to the king's chambers and saw Alicent there thought? "Oh, what a poor girl, I feel sorry for her" or rather "she seduces the king"? Because that's what it looked like. And this is the version Rhaenyra knows, because for several months Alicent didn't say "my father forced me, I didn't want it." After half a year, Viserys asked if Alicent wasn't telling Rhaenyra about it, and he didn't forbid her from talking about it. After half a year.

Why did Alicent expect Rhaenyra to confide in her about bed matters when Alicent hadn't told her for half a year that she was meeting her father in the evenings? Especially since she knew Otto wanted to destroy her and Alicent was secretly trying to become queen (according to what Rhaenyra knows). And seriously, what girl would want to continue to be happily friends with a girl who has sex with her father? Honestly. Rhaenyra stopped trying for this friendship, but that's not surprising. Because Rhaenyra doesn't know about the "Otto forced me" version. But she still managed to show some sympathy towards Alicent - when she accidentally offended her with a comment about being locked in a tower, she apologized. During the last dinner, she said that she appreciated Alicent for taking care of her father. And Alicent? She declared open war on Rhaenyra at her wedding, and then spent a dozen years trying to ruin her life.

[thecleverqueer]

I really hate that folks use the Wrong Jedi as an excuse to hate the Jedi order. There really was A LOT going on with that, and if looked at through a neutral lens, neither the Jedi nor Ahsoka were really to blame. They both just made some questionable decisions that they felt were right in the moment, and they ended up making things worse. Let me explain:

First, as an audience, we’re following Ahsoka’s POV. Because of this, we’re seeing her side unfold. That’s important. We’re seeing what she is going through. We know she didn’t bomb the temple, and the Jedi council knew this as well. After all, the council did entrust Anakin and Ahsoka to investigate the bombing initially, and trusted no other Jedi to get involved because they were sure that neither Anakin nor Ahsoka were the perpetrators while everyone else remained suspect. They were, after all, off-world when the bombing happened.

Then, things get a little hairy with the death of Letta in the cell. We know Ahsoka didn’t do it. We were in the room with her when Letta died. However, in prior scenes, Ahsoka is going off the rails about Letta “paying” or “being dealt with” for bombing the temple. Letta dying by force choke while Ahsoka happened to be talking to her alone in a cell was convenient (and I would argue that was either set up by Tarkin via Palpatine, or we could argue that Barriss wanked off so hard about how amazing Ahsoka was that Letta felt compelled to reach out her for help at the wrong moment, but either way, too convenient).

At this point, the council’s hands are tied, but I feel like they would still want to get more information before throwing the book at Ahsoka. I feel like they would have proceeded with caution, but would have probably been able to ultimately work it all out in Ahsoka’s favor. A video with no audio would not be enough evidence to convince them that Ahsoka was responsible for BOTH Letta’s death AND the bombing (especially since the Jedi were already convinced she had nothing to do with the bombing to begin with).

Then, Ahsoka does something monumentally stupid. She breaks out of her cell and tries to make a break for it. I get why she does it. First off, she was young. Second, she’d always escaped situations exactly like the one she was in when in trouble and ran away (just not when a literal system of justice was involved). Third, she was scared. And finally, she didn’t trust the process. I blame Anakin’s training primarily for her lack of trust in the process. Throughout their time together, we see them breaking rules, not placing trust in the council’s judgement (which was fair sometimes in their defense, but set a bad precedent).

Running was still a VERY BAD LOOK. And, it’s funny, because Ahsoka LITERALLY SAYS in the PRIOR episode that “running means you know more than you’re telling us” to Letta when Letta tries to make a break for it after she was caught for bombing the temple. Ahsoka KNOWS running makes one look guilty, and still… had she just kept her ass planted in that cell, it would have been fine, but… Yeah. All those dead clones between her and that door. We still know that it wasn’t Ahsoka. We were with Ahsoka on this journey. The members of the Jedi council were not. At this point, they had to look at the evidence that was in front of them. From outside of Ahsoka’s POV, it doesn’t look good. Ahsoka said it herself. Anakin tried to tell her as much too before she fled to the under-city, but at that point, she was definitely in over her head.

The council had no other options honestly. They explain this to the audience. Tarkin refused to allow the council to deal with the matter internally as the Jedi Council requested. Tarkin demanded she be sent to face justice by military tribunal. The council bent. Standing by Ahsoka would be an open act of defiance against the senate which would cause chaos for the order both politically and judicially. While a dark sense clouded the entire situation, they could do nothing. The temple had been bombed. People died. Letta was dead. Ahsoka ran. Clones died in that incident. Then, Ahsoka ended up getting apprehended right by the nano droid explosives. We know Ahsoka didn’t do it as we were with her the whole time, but that’s A LOT of evidence stacked against her if you didn’t know any better.

Anakin worked tirelessly to clear Ahsoka’s name, and succeeded. The council, realizing that they’d had a lapse in judgement, offered Ahsoka an invitation to return to the order. They half-ass apologized as they realized they were wrong, and they offered Ahsoka knighthood for what she’d gone through. She refused.

Ahsoka’s reason for leaving wasn’t that she “hated the council” or that she thought they were innately bad or wrong. She left because she’d lost all sense of trust, including trust in herself (and I won’t make this about the Barriss and Ahsoka dynamic, but that was part of it too). She knew something was off, and couldn’t place it. She had to go sort everything out on her own for a bit. Ultimately, if not for Order 66, she would have gone back to the Jedi after the war was over. Hell, she is still a Jedi now (in her show), just leery as fuck of organizations as a whole because of *gestures vaguely* everything.

So, yeah. In closing, the Jedi had flaws. They owned them. Ahsoka had flaws. The situation with the bombing was impossible. It doesn’t make either party bad, dumb or hate-worthy. It just wasn’t working out at that moment… and due to galactic events, it was never really resolved.

[hourcat]

Piarles + 21. Accidental pregnancy 😳 (anonymous bc I've got shy about the prompt dkdjkdj:')

21. Accidental Pregnancy

(everyone please be nice to me this is my first a/b/o)

Charles thought the hardest part would be saying it out loud.

Well, actually, he thought the hardest part would be actually accepting it himself. There’d been a stomach bug going around campus, students and fellow professors alike, and he’s not exactly known for having the strongest immune system in the first place. But his doctor had recommended it as a precaution—Omega biology is funny when it comes to viral infections, he’d said, and really, it’s just better to be safe than sorry. The university covers testing costs, anyway, so it’s not like he’s going to be paying out of pocket.

That night, he’d stared at the stick for hours, the little positive line so front-and-center before his eyes it’d become burned into his eyelids. There’s no way, he’d repeated like a mantra. I can’t be pregnant. I can’t. It's not like—he hasn't been mated, hasn't even really had a true alpha to go running to, although that's definitely been less than true the last few months. But he and Pierre…it's casual. The university they work at is strict about Heat Maintenance, especially since they're exposed to so many young Alphas and Omegas each day from class to class: Pierre is the literature department co-chair, and Charles has spent plenty of time with him over their overlapping tenure, so it'd felt like a comfortable enough ask when the new compliance policies were rolled out at the start of last semester.

Omega professors cannot skip heats. So Charles had asked Pierre, the Alpha he's got the best relationship with, to help out from time to time. Pierre had graciously agreed, and since August, they've been doing this—working through Charles' cycles together.

(An understatement, he knows: sometimes he swears the thought of Pierre's knot inside him triggers his heat days before it's supposed to hit in the first place.)

But the word casual is how Charles has been describing it since the start, alongside maybe convenient, and being pregnant with Pierre's pup is neither casual nor convenient. Because it is Pierre's, Charles has no doubt: he hasn't slept with anyone else since the start of the academic year, even when Pierre's schedule means he can't be there. Truth be told, at this point, he'd rather spend it alone than with anyone else. Charles has only given himself to one Alpha, out of convenience that's turned into something more, and now he's being reminded of the consequences of that.

He doesn't sleep a wink the night he finds out, and when he goes back to the school's doctor the next day and gets it confirmed, he doesn't sleep the night after, either.

Pierre finds him in his office later the following afternoon, the cup of decaf coffee he'd been reluctantly sipping on to keep from falling asleep now cold and even more undesirable. "You look like hell, Charlie," he chuckles, inviting himself in and dropping into one of the chairs in front of his desk. "Were you up grading papers too?"

He's so casual. Charles feels a wave of nausea wash over him at the knowledge that he'll have to tell the truth before his body does it for him. He grips the edge of his desk. This will be the hardest part, he tells himself silently. He'll lose his Alpha (because at this point, that's who Pierre is—no one else will ever be him) and their maintenance agreement, which means he'll be forced to find something else, which means this job he loves so much will be gone in a matter of months. Fuck.

"I…" he starts, but his throat closes around the words I'm pregnant. Hot tears burn at the corners of his eyes.

Pierre notices. Of course he notices, he's Pierre: Charles can smell it on him, the way his sweet amusement harshens into a bitter concern at the sight. "Charles," he murmurs lowly, scooting the chair so close that he can practically drape himself across Charles' desk to hold him, "what is wrong?" He reeks of concern. Charles' stomach turns again. "Charles, please, tell me. What's the matter?"

Charles takes a slow, shuddering breath, swallows thickly, then tries again: "Pierre, I…" fuck, just say it, "I'm pregnant."

And there it is. He's exhausted just from saying it, the words now breathing with life between them: he can't repeat himself, can't elaborate, can only watch as his coworker, his friend, his Alpha registers what he's just said. This is the end, Charles knows. He'll have to schedule his office hours on another day, when he won't bump into Pierre passing through the narrow hallways of their building.

"You're…" Pierre's voice is a whisper, still smelling of concern but with something else that Charles is too distraught to pick out. He looks Charles up and down. "With…with my…?"

Charles can't speak. He just nods. I'm sorry, he wants to say, I'm sorry I let this happen, but nothing will come out.

There's a long beat of silence between them. Pierre just…stares.

He's so beautiful, is the thing: Charles knows their baby would be the most perfect baby to have ever been born, knows it would have his impossible blue eyes and big, toothy smile. It would be Charles' happiest dream—raising a family with Pierre, the perfect Alpha-Omega household.

He'll never have it, of course, but the fantasy of it plays out before his eyes all the same. Charles is sick with want. Hell, maybe it's just sickness from the baby. He's just…too hot in here, Pierre's hands too warm on his body, he needs this to be over. He needs Pierre to just walk away.

"Charles," Pierre says. His voice is still low, still hard to read. "Are you going to…" he swallows, and he looks nervous. "Are you going to…the baby, are you, ah."

Oh. "Keep it?" His voice finally returns. "I, um, I have not really thought about it." The truth. He hadn't thought about anything beyond this moment. "I—"

"You should," Pierre blurts, fingers digging into his arm. "I mean, if you—if you wanted to, I would." He swallows again, exaggerated.

It hits Charles, all of a sudden, what that unidentified scent is.

Love.

[hello-nichya-here]

Would only having daughters made Viserys and Alicent's marriage better since there'd be no conflict with Rhaenyra?

No, because their marriage's biggest problem was not the inevitable power struggle between the blacks and greens, or even their age gap, or that for most of their relationship the dude was a walking rotting corpse (though obviously none of that helped), but the fact that Viserys was objectively a terrible husband (and father and king).

When they are sort of courting each other, it is all about how Alicent makes dealing with his grief easier since she's always keeping him company, giving him emotional support, engaging with his interests, trying to bridge the gap between him and Rhaenyra, etc.

Meanwhile we don't get a single scene of Viserys trying to do something Alicent would like to do, and, more importantly, we never see him offering her any sympathy over her mom's death, even though the first thing Alicent ever said to him was how sorry she was for his loss, and how she knew how horrible it was to constantly be given advice but not genuine comfort.

Alicent spent years being basically Viserys's nurse as his health got worse and worse - to the point that even Rhaenyra recognized all the devotion her father was shown by her. Yet on the hunt to celebrate Aegon's second name day, Viserys has that same wife travel while heavily pregnant, which was obviously incredibly uncomfortable for her, and could have even offered potential risks for her and their baby.

When Alicent manages to patch things up with Rhaenyra for the first time, aka the thing Viserys wanted the most, and then goes with her to try and be all polite and gracious towards her husband's beloved brother, how does he repay her? By immediately humiliating her in front of said brother, because he's just that much of a dick.

Alicent's life revolves around being a good wife to the husband she doesn't even love, and to the kids that she clearly struggles to properly raise without help. Viserys repays that devotion by calling her by his first wife's name and saying Rhaenyra is his ONLY child. The one "duty" he happily complies to, is having sex with Alicent - even when she's clearly not enjoying herself and only saying yes to it because she has no other choice.

And like I said, while the power struggle between Rhaenyra and Aegon is not what made their marriage horrible, it also didn't help - and Viserys is to blame for that, because he went from a king with no heirs, to one with too many, as he named his daughter heir yet STILL got himself a second wife to give him a male heir, which would naturally create conflict even if the kids got along.

Alicent did her duty. She gave this man she did not love and was not attracted to three children, two of which were sons like he so desperately wanted. She gave a male heir to the king, like everyone, including him, wanted her to. Yet she's still a queen that would NEVER see her eldest child become ruler if her husband had his way. Even as someone who is very firmly Team Black, I say that is unbelievably unfair.

For fuck's sake, look at what Viserys did with Aemma, the woman he actually loved: he forced her to get pregnant over and over again even though she was constantly in physical and emotional anguish because of all the stillbirths and miscarriages, and then had her be murdered to get a baby out.

THIS is the guy Alicent is married to. Someone who ALWAYS puts his own needs and desires first, without so much as a second thought to anyone else, even those he feels genuine affection for.

They were NEVER going to be happy, or even just be a functional pair that is together out of duty/convenience instead of love, because Viserys is a weak, cowardly man that uses his own vulnerability as sword and shield to be unfair to others. Viserys is honestly just as bad as Daemon at having healthy relationships, if not worse.

[taleasnewastime]

Dating advice | Part ten

Summary: It’s been months – ok, it’s been years – since you last went on a date. And you’re sick of it. Sick of seeing couples kissing and holding hands in the street. Sick of your friends settling down. Sick of everyone buying houses and having families. You’re going to do something about it. You’re going to snap up a man, you’re going to tie someone down, you’re going to finally commit, you’re going to – you’re going to need a bit of advice.

Pairing: Yoongi x reader

Genre: fluff; angst; smut

Word count: 3.1k

Warnings: Alcohol consumption, reader gets angry, swearing, low self-esteem, angst, awkwardness.

Authors Note: … It’s a big turning point …

Previous | Next | Series masterlist

“And then she leaned over and said that’s never happened before.”

Erik lets out a massive belly laugh, his eyes closing, his head flopping back. You can see his whole chest rising and falling through his shirt.

You don’t find it as funny, but you still force out a small laugh. The sound so low over Erik’s laugh and the background noise in the bar that he probably doesn’t even hear it. By the time he’s looking at you again you’re sipping your drink, he doesn’t seem to read the fact you didn’t find the story funny, or at least doesn’t care.

“How’s the drink? Better than your last?”

His smile is large, kind, makes him look incredibly handsome and yet even while it’s all directed at you, it does nothing to you. Not flutter in your chest, no heating of your face, no desire to shy away from him. Still, you smile back, look down at the half gone pink drink in front of you. It’s your second drink, a French martini.

“It’s my favourite drink, and they haven’t disappointed.”

“Your favourite, huh? I’ll have to make a note.”

You give him another small smile. There’s a beat of silence, not awkward, but you realise he’s leaving it open for you to say something.

“Oh, what’s yours?”

“Probably whiskey.”

Of course. “Ever been to a distillery?”

“No, can’t say I have. Would love to though.”

“Yeah, I’d recommend. Some of the good ones are expensive but you walk out feeling tipsy after all the samples. Plus, you get great discount on bottles at the end.”

His lip curls at the edge as if impressed. “Well, maybe an idea for another date?”

“Yeah,” you say lightly.

Why doesn’t the idea excite you? If this was before you would have been jumping in your seat at the prospect. But now, somethings changed. Maybe the fact he ghosted you and is now acting like nothing’s wrong, like that never happened. But you also know it’s something else, because when he mentioned alcohol all you could think of was the pub and when he said it would be a good date, that you should go together, all you could think about was how much Yoongi would love it. About how much you would love to go with Yoongi.

Yoongi. He's getting in your head. He’s ruining your date.

“Anyway,” you try to steer conversation onto something safer. “I was listening to a podcast about this Wagatha Christie case on the way here. Are you following it?”

“Oh my god. Who’s not?”

You smile, genuine this time. The way his eyes brighten at the thought of two footballers wives suing each other is a sight to see.

“They were saying Rebekah’s agent lost her phone at sea so they couldn’t search it for evidence. I mean how convenient it that?” You carry on, glad to be on a topic you can both get behind.

“It’s ridiculous. The amount they’re spending on legal fees just because of a tweet.”

“Footballers get paid too much.”

“I always wanted to be a footballer growing up.”

You laugh and Eriks smile brightens at the sound. “Come on. Every boy wants to grow up to be a footballer.”

“Yeah, well, like you said it’s the money and fame. For literally kicking a ball around.”

“Yeah, can’t argue with that logic.”

You finally relax back into your seat, take another sip of your drink before smiling at him.

“Come on then,” you say. “Millions of pounds a week, what would you do with it all?”

“Firstly, take you somewhere better than this shit hole.”

You laugh, roll your eyes. “Real smooth.”

He takes a sip of his drink, his eyes dark as he looks at you. Still nothing stirs inside you. The conversation is easy, you like him enough, he’s hot, maybe you just need a little more time.

The conversation carries on for a couple more drinks before you head home. There’s a couple of awkward pauses at times, but nothing major. It feels the same as the first time you met up with him. Fun and you had a laugh, a nice date.

You both head the same way when you get outside, end up chatting and walking. You don’t think too hard about it, end up subconsciously walking towards your house and Erik just follows along. But as soon as you indicate your place and pause by the door you can’t stop thinking about it. Is it weird he didn’t ask to walk you home, just did?

You stand in silence for a bit, Erik trying not to show that he’s fidgeting on the spot, you trying not to overthink this too much. When you don’t open the door or say anything he speaks up.

“So,” he pauses, looks from you to your door.

“It was a nice night. Thanks for asking me out again. And for the drinks.”

“You know,” his voice has dropped, he leans in a centimetre and your eyes naturally fall to his lips. “It doesn’t have to end here.”

“Oh,” you quickly look back to his eyes then over his shoulder, you don’t want to give him the wrong impression.

Your thoughts immediately go to Yoongi, the fact you never invited him back to yours after your date even though you wanted to, the fact that he warned you not to invite men back inside. And then you catch yourself before you can keep thinking down that trail. It’s not the first time you’ve thought of him tonight, and it annoys you that even when on a date with another man, another very attractive man, you still can’t stop thinking about Yoongi.

Your fingers twitch at your side, your jaw working as you grit your teeth.

“It’s alright,” Erik obviously gets the wrong impression, and when you look back at him, he’s already starting to draw away. “If you’re busy we can do it another time.”

He’s giving you an out, you know. He’s misread your annoyance for nerves and has taken it upon himself to retract the invite. Even though he’s got the wrong reason, you gratefully leap on the excuse.

“Sorry, I’m just tired.”

He smiles, nods, and you don’t miss the way his eyes flick to your lips. More annoyance flares within you, a perfectly hot man, clearly wanting to kiss you and yet you’re pushing him away.

“I’ll text you,” he says.

You don’t even make a joke about how that’s what he said last time and yet it took him weeks to do just that. Just wave him off, mind slowly whirling with anger, building up and up into a storm.

It’s ever since you went on that date with Yoongi, he was supposed to be doing it to help you and yet he’s seemed to make you more undatable. He’s constantly on your mind, even when you’re with someone else you can’t stop thinking of him, comparing your date to his. And then that piece of advice, don’t invite any men back to your place, why did he have to plant that in your mind? Why did you have to follow it?

You become more and more irrational until you decide that the only thing to do is go and have it out with him. As if he’s personally sabotaged your date. As if by going and shouting at him will make anything better.

You don’t care. Reason doesn’t come into it. You need to let this anger out at something.

You storm into the pub, are a little annoyed that the door has one of the jams on it which means you can’t slam it shut. But never mind, because as soon as you spot Yoongi your gaze becomes like a tunnel.

He spots you when you’re halfway too him and despite the fact that you must have a face like thunder, he still smiles. You try not to let the way his eyes brighten at seeing you stop your anger. But it’s tough. That cute round face, those dark eyes, his cheeks lifting as his lips curl up. The pure delight in his face at seeing you. And then the realisation that you don’t look happy, that you are in fact storming towards him. His smiles dips and something flashes in his eyes.

“Hey, everything –”

“Your advice is shit,” you cut him off.

“Ok,” he elongates the word, clearly confused.

“Did you say it because you knew it would get in my head? Is that why you did all of this? Am I joke to you?”

“I’m not –”

“It’s that, isn’t it? You saw me that first day and thought you could have some fun.”

“I don’t know what you’re –”

“It wasn’t pity at all was it? Have you been mocking me this entire time?”

“Y/N.”

“Having a good laugh behind my back?”

“Y/N,” he repeats your name, his voice level, his face flat. But you’re on a roll, are deaf to what he’s trying to say. You don’t even fully know what you’re saying, are so worked up that you’re just spouting whatever words come out of your mouth, half of it rubbish, most of it you don’t believe.

“I mean, I don’t know why I listened to you in the first place. I’m a grown woman, I should be able to make my own decisions not just listen to yours. I just can’t believe –”

You finally pause when Yoongi takes a step away from you. You look at his retreating figure about to shout after him before he speaks.

“Priya, you alright to cover me for a bit?”

Your eyes glance to Priya and your heart drops, you’ve never seen the look on her face. Sadness and then such anger when she looks at you. You look back at Yoongi and watch as he continues to walk away. When you speak again your words come out softer and less sure.

“Hey, where are you going?”

He pauses, back still to you and then twists. His features are dark, his mouth a tight line. He doesn’t look happy.

“Believe it or not, I’m not about to stand around in my own pub and be shouted at,” he turns back away from you. “Now, you can either come with me or get out.”

You glance back to Priya who gives you the barest hint that she thinks you should follow him, even then she rolls her eyes at the idiot you are.

As Yoongi slips through the door to the back you make your decision and slip behind the bar. Half jog to follow him, eyes doing a quick glance of the room realising that though it’s not busy, everyone has just watched what’s unfolded.

Ducking your head in shame you head into the back. Think you hear Priya mutter something about how you should be treating him how he deserves and not abusing him. Your shame only deepens. Part of you wants to run away, but you continue to follow; you’re not about to run away from this colossal mess you’ve created.

You’ve never been back here before. A hall with doors leading off, you’re sure one’s to the cellar he took a picture of for you and as you head down the hall you see that the one that’s been left a jar has stairs. You catch Yoongi at the top just before he disappears behind another door at the top.

His flat is not what you expected. You expected dark and moody colours, little to no decorations. But what you find is a bright space, a large comfy sofa facing a large TV. Walls of bookshelves, littered with photo frames and well-read books. There’s a small kitchen at the back of the room, partitioned off by a breakfast island. The space is homely, lived in while also being incredibly clean, not a thing out of place, and not a spot of dust.

And then there’s Yoongi. Stood in the middle of the room, arms crossed, face broody as he watches you take in his home.

Even if it wasn’t for the shock of coming up here and seeing all of this, the fight would have already seeped out of you. The short walk here and the looks of disapproval from everyone doing enough to make you realise what a mistake you’ve made.

It’s not Yoongi you’re annoyed at, it’s yourself. And yet you were so caught up in yourself that you came here and took it all out on him.

You are well and truly messing this up.

“I’m sorry,” you start. “I – that – downstairs.”

You take a breath. Yoongi lets you have the time to stop and start again.

“My heads all over the place, and that’s not an excuse. But, I went on a date today and I couldn’t even invite the guy inside my house. He obviously wanted to come in and I said no.”

“And that’s my fault?”

“You told me not to invite anyone back to mine.”

He rolls his eyes, this apology isn’t going very well. His arms remain crossed over his chest, his stance defensive, but he seems to relax a little, as if amused by what you’re saying. It only irks you more.

“It’s not like I forced you. I didn’t stand guard outside your house stopping rouge men from coming in.”

“No,” you huff. “You didn’t”

“So you’re pissed I recommended you do something, and because you did what I suggested?”

You work your jaw, unable to meet his eyes, especially now he has a wider, more obvious, smile on his face.

“You’re right,” you say feeling completely deflated. “I shouldn’t have come.”

Still, you don’t move and Yoongi doesn’t confirm that he agrees with what you’ve said, that he too thinks you should go. You both just stay standing facing each other.

“I’m sorry,” you repeat.

“It was pretty shitty.”

“More really shitty,” you correct him.

“In my own pub too,” he continues to dig, the smile still on his face despite his words.

“I’m so, so sorry. I don’t know what came over me.”

You do. It was him, in your mind, which is why you took it out on him. And staring at him now, you feel like you’re cracking at the seams. All this built-up emotion starting to spill out at the seams.

“Maybe I should leave,” your voice comes out hoarser now, the smile dipping on Yoongi’s face. “I mean, I’ve been a complete bitch, treated you like shit – I can’t just stand here, in your flat and pretend it’s ok.”

“Hey,” Yoongi takes a step towards you, his arms dropping to his side. “You’ve apologised.”

“And yet it doesn’t feel like that’s enough.”

“I accept it.”

You pause. He sounds genuine, looks genuine. Yet you still feel so guilty.

You shake your head, eyes flick to the sofa and while you’ve said twice now that you’re going to leave, you slowly move towards it and take a seat. Your head goes into your hands, so you feel rather than see Yoongi come to sit next to you, the cushions dipping down with the extra weight.

“You’re too nice to me.”

“Maybe I’m just nice,” you can still hear the joke in his voice even though it comes out quieter, softer.

You shake your head again, still unable to look up from your hands. You flinch when a hand comes to your back, the contact so delicate you weren’t expecting it. To your relief Yoongi only draws away for a beat before placing his hand on your back just as delicately. When you don’t flinch a second time, he must decide it’s ok to keep it there.

“What’s this really about?” He asks, his hand rubbing soothingly on your back.

How is he always able to read what’s really going on? It’s like a blessing and a curse. You feel embarrassed by the reason, feel like you’ve really built it up and if you tell him the truth it’s going to make it that much more ridiculous. But you’ve never imagined Yoongi laughing when you think about telling him your feelings. He may not return them, but he wouldn’t shoot you down for your own.

You take a breath, sit up straighter so your head is no longer resting in your hands. Your heart is beating a mile a minute and with Yoongi’s hand still on your back you’re surprised he hasn’t expressed his concerns.

In the second or two it takes you to sit straight, you mentally prepare to look at Yoongi. Still the concern etched on his features doesn’t make anything better. You remind yourself of what you thought earlier; don’t run away from this problem.

“It’s not that serious,” you try to lighten the mood even though your smile is forced, and your words feel heavy. “I haven’t killed anyone or anything.”

Yoongi doesn’t crack a smile, just stares you down with those soul eating, yet still soft, eyes.

You feel sweaty, feel like you want to bolt out of this situation, feel like you would literally rather be swimming with sharks then say what you’re about to say. But you try not to overthink it, try not to think of the what ifs and buts. If you truly care about this man, if you truly have feelings for him, then you need to say something.

“I like you,” your voice husky and weak.

You clear your throat, eyes drift and snap back to Yoongi as if unsure where to look, too scared to look at him but feel like you need to say this directly at him. When you speak again it’s clearer and more convincing.

“I don’t mean in the same way I like Priya or Jimin. I mean, I like talking to you, I liked our date together, I like your smile and your hair and I don’t know, I like you. And you don’t have to say you feel the same way, I know the date wasn’t really a date, but I can’t get you out of my head and it’s driving me insane – which you clearly saw tonight.” You pause, take a breath, and then say, “I really like you, Yoongi.”

[multismileee]

after ep. 8 OF updated feelings

UPDATE AFTER EP 8:

Mew -> He needs to get himself together, the path he's going down is not good for him at all. I also think he is realizing that he doesn't love Ray, but more so the "thrill/adventure" and "difference" Ray brings. In the end he is sticking with Ray because he knows that Ray "loves" (yes I'm putting that in quotations) him and he won't get hurt like he did with Top. ALSO IDK WHO NEEDS TO HEAR THIS BUT HE IS A GROWN MAN... NO ONE IS FORCING HIM TO DO ANYTHING, HE IS CHOOSING TO DO THIS.

Top -> At first, I was like wow look at him actually being kind of decent this episode but I saw this theory, and now I just don't know. I think it just shows how I can never guess the intention of this man. The theory was that he was the one who called the cops; which would explain why the cops immediately asked about drugs, went straight upstairs and caught Ray instead of finding Mew who was also drugged out in the kitchen, how they knew Ray would have something on him, and why Top had a wad of cash ready IN AN ENVELOPE to give to a cop that just happened to be a dirty cop.... it's all way too convenient. If that is the case, and he did it to seem more trustworthy and the "hero" FRICK HIM. I also saw people be like "aw look at how he cared for Mew" AS HE SHOULD, HE SHOULD BE GROVELLING. Idk maybe it was just me but cuddling someone while they're unconscious felt kinda weird to me.

Boston -> Man was really just minding his business this episode and wow look at that, he's so much more bearable when he stops causing unnecessary drama. I think Boston was starting to feel something for Nick, like hello sir you're telling me you just stare at all your ex flings in the bar while nursing a drink??? Yeah I didn't think so. He is still messed up for what he did to Mew, and it makes sense that everyone is mad at him BUT him comforting Atom was sweet of him (Ik sue me, I found it cute... I like them as a platonic duo and i'm probably going to gauge my eyes out next ep.) and he ate Cheum up in the one scene outside, and I think that's what pushed him to say yes to Atom at the end of the episode. He must be thinking that since everyone already thinks i'm a bad guy, I might as well be the worse I can. I hope that next ep. he accidentally calls Nick's name and/or finds out about Nick and Dan. Also, I can understand why he didn't want to see Nick, he must have felt betrayed not once but twice. Not saying that he didn't do bad things, if not worse, but I can see why he said for Nick to leave him alone.

Nick -> I just don't know man. LMAO THAT"S ALL I HAVE TO SAY.

Ray -> Oh Ray. Listen I have mixed feelings for this man, I think in general, he wasn't particularly in the wrong for dancing with Mew because like I said before, him and Sand were never officially anything. Sand knows this, he knows this, so while it's not wrong, it just sucks. I liked that Sand talked to him and put up his boundaries but IT HURT... "When I'm with you, i'm so d*mn happy" like please open your eyes and realize the one you care for is Sand!!!! You can also tell how sad he was when he realized that Sand was distancing himself like UGHHHHHH. What I don't agree with is how at the party he stopped Sand from kissing that dude (he was definitely jealous, did you see the way he basically ran? But he has no right to.) and him kissing Sand while he is trying out a relationship with Mew is wrong. Mew doesn't deserve that and neither does Sand. Also I hate the way Cheum acts with Ray (we'll get to that in her part). I felt his pain when he was screaming at the party, and I truly think he needs to learn to love himself first before he can love anyone. OH AND I ALMOST FORGOT BECAUSE I BLOCKED IT OUT OF MY MEMORY, BUT HIM TELLING SAND "stop fooling yourself, Sand. You like me. You love me. You can't walk away from me." WAS SO CRUEL AND DISRESPECTFUL. He needs to start apologizing for all the out of pocket things he says to Sand, because he is starting to use him as a punching bag and I will not stand for that. The whole confrontation at the party was so uncalled for, he had absolutely no right. Also how does he not realize that Mew doesn't genuinely love him?? He kissed Ray just for vengeance in front of Top, that's all it was. #getRayglasses:(

Sand -> CONTINUES TO BE THE BEST CHARACTER TO EXIST. Okay first of all, we love a man who knows his standards, and upholds his boundaries. He was having none of it from Ray, and would keep reminding him that Ray has Mew now. I noticed this small detail and idk if anyone else saw it but when Ray asked for the lighter, Ray put the cigarette in his mouth like he did last time they were outside, probably waiting for Sand to light the cigarette in his mouth. However, Sand handed him the lighter instead AND Ray looked so freaking disappointed. (Not only am I taking this as a sign of Sand distancing himself but also how much that distance is going to effect Ray). He stood up for himself at the party, "I'm not your second option" YESSS WE LOVE KNOWING YOUR OWN SELF-WORTH. What gets me is that even after all that and the way Ray has treated him, Sand still runs to protect him when the cops came because he knew that Ray was doing dr*gs. He came to the party because he felt bad for what he did to Nick, he comforted Nick after his confrontation with Boston... everyone say it with me: SAND BEST BOY!!! If no one else gets happiness, at least Sand should. (preferably with Ray after he goes to rehab and apologizes for all he has said).

Cheum -> Listen I know I said to give her more scenes, but this is not what I meant. It was incredible that she got on my nerves so much. I can appreciate that she is trying to be a "good friend" to Mew, and she doesn't like the way his personality did a full 360, and the actions he has gone up to but blaming that on Ray??? Like girly what? Firstly, Mew is a grown adult (As April said, I love her she kept saying everything I was thinking), he makes these decisions. MEW is the one who keeps going to Ray to get this escape, he's the one who wants to try these new things. It makes me question if Cheum genuinely likes Ray, I mean it seems like she always sees the worst in him. THEN he meets with Top, and says, "who do you think made him this way" when Top said that Mew has changed... oh so it wasn't all due to Ray?? Crazy. But what's even crazier to me is that after a 2 minute talk, she instantly folded and decided to help Top. After everything Top did to Mew??? She invites him to a party without even consulting with Mew if he would be okay with his ex being at the party, and then got an attitude with Ray after he tried to kick Top out even though Mew was the one who threw the drink at him. Her saying "Or I can't because I don't own the place" LIKE GIRL WHEN DID ANYONE IMPLY ANYTHING?? It just really gets me how hypocritical she is with her response to Mew vs. Ray. With Mew she's like "Oh he's so innocent, he needs help because he's making so many bad decisions" which I'm glad because this IS out of character for him, but with Ray, she never tries to understand and instead says it in a way that sounds like she's blaming him. I mean she wasn't wrong when she told Ray to take responsibility for his actions, he was being reckless but idk the vast difference is dizzying to me. Then she interrupts Boston and her brother's conversation, and while I understand that she's protective of her brother and has bad feelings towards Boston, Boston was actually just being a good listener at the moment. HE ALSO ATE HER UP WITH THE "Consider what kind of big sister you are and why your brother is not telling you anything" like maybe just maybe instead of being in everyone's business, Cheum should focus on her girlfriend and her own family/ personal life. Idk maybe this has been building for a while because she's suddenly saying "you never cared for us". I guess I'm just confused because from ep 1, it seemed like Ray's friends only cared for him during parties/ his money.

SORRY FOR THE RANT OMG

[galactic-pirates]

Romance Tropes Bracket

@purlturtle is doing this really cool thing and they said I could ramble about it too! And how could I resist talking story? Do you know me? Hahaha.

Anyway they made this spreadsheet and screenshot and you can check them out on their post (clicky here).

So in the BLUE CORNER

Bodyguard vs Love Triangle

Workplace vs High School

Second Chances vs. Made A Bet (90s style)

Sibling's Best Friend vs Nanny/Governess

Rocking that RED we have

Grumpy/Sunshine vs Someone Else's SO

Accidental Pregnancy vs Just To Get It Out Of Our Systems

Family Feud (Romeo&Juliet style) vs Holiday Romance

Billionaire vs Soulmates

The sun shines down on YELLOW

Mistaken Identity vs Age Gap

Love Potion/Aphrodisiac vs Only One Bed

Amnesia vs Kissing Lessons

Forced Proximity (road trip etc.) vs Secretly a celeb/royal

Aaaaaand finally working that GREEN

Marriage of Convenience vs Fake Dating

Snowed In vs Friends To Lovers

Bad Boy/Girl vs Sworn Off Love

Supernatural (vampires etc.) vs Enemies To Lovers

Under the cut for my picks and rambles!

Bodyguard vs Love Triangle I don't do Love Triangle, either pick one and then let everyone move on or all be together as a trio. My very first real 'ship' had a sort of love triangle (the lady dated one guy, then the other, then back to the first etc.) but I only shipped her with the first guy (it was Jack Malone and Sam Spade from Without a Trace). So the whole 'love triangle' aspect was lost on me as I just did not care.

Bodyguard though... that has serious potential. So much so I have some vague concepts for an original novel trilogy based around it. Bodyguard is sort of what Eve Baird does on the Librarians (Guardian) but also not. I mean it can depend a little bit. I like the whole protective part to a point, but not if it takes the protectees agency away. I'm not fond of 'damsel', I would rather they kick butt together.

WINNER: Bodyguard

Workplace vs High School This one is super easy - has to be Workplace because High School = kids. I have no interest in teenagers. Teachers maybe but that would be a workplace. Even when I was a kid I didn't write about kids. I skipped the whole YA thing completely.

WINNER: Workplace

Second Chances vs. Made a Bet (90's Style) I had to ask what 'Made a Bet' was because I didn't know. @purlturtle suggested it was like a '10 things I hate about you' thing, where they date on a bet and then catch real feelings. Now catching feels - that's cool, but the whole bet thing? I don't know...

I did write a fic prompt once where they were in a bar and two characters were challenging each other to see who could pull the guy they picked out. I suppose that's ok as a concept. I didn't develop it so it clearly didn't grab me that much though.

Second Chances though - this I like. I mean I suppose there's the whole "if it didn't work out before, why would it work now?" question, as in their relationship failed for a reason. But maybe that's because they needed to work on themselves. Sometimes people are just idiots and make assumptions and don't communicate properly. I'm actually writing a serial at the moment with a second chance romance in it (divorced ex-wives have to work together). So this does grab me.

WINNER: Second Chances

Sibling's Best Friend vs Nanny/Governess Got to be honest neither of these jump out at me as being something I'm really drawn to. Although I am sniggering a little bit as I think Nanny/Governess is a favourite of Janeway's (wasn't that her preferred holonovel?). So I'm tempted to vote for Janeway but ehhh. It has a bit of a power dynamic vibe I don't like.

Sibling's Best Friend is very... cute I guess. I don't really have much to say about it to be honest. I'm going to make it win on default but meh.

WINNER: Sibling's Best Friend

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

Mistaken Identity vs Age Gap I have written Age Gap - obviously, as I wrote a hell of a lot of Rumbelle (Rumple and Belle, Once Upon a Time) back in the day. Only... I got to be honest I never really saw it as an age gap thing. It totally was and by a LOT because Rumple was semi-immortal as the dark one. He was a couple of centuries old when they met but... age gap romances usually make me uncomfortable because of the inherent power dynamic. Rumple had so little self-confidence that just wasn't an issue.

Mistaken Identity - "do you let them hate the real you, or love the fake you" - HELL YES! Quote from Sophie Devereaux there and the espionage/heist fan in me is compelled. Also superheroes I guess ala Supercorp. Give me all the stories about masks people wear and just wanting to be loved for who they really are.

WINNER: Mistaken Identity

Love Potion/Aphrodisiac vs Only One Bed *cough* show me a person who wasn't read a few sex pollen fics in their time in fandom, and I'll show you a liar. I jest, I jest but also not really. It's not a bad setup for a PWP so long as consent is clearly established and we know before they are under the influence that they are into one another. I suppose there could be a fair bit of plot in terms of consequences but I have no wish personally to write about consent issues.

Only One Bed though - CLASSIC! I mean it's iconic. It's two people pining like idiots, putting up pillow walls between them, the inevitable cuddling in the night and then awkward aroused awakenings. I wrote this in my Conspiracy Afloat fanfic and I'm sure I'll write it again. It's the classic and you can't go wrong with a classic.

WINNER: Only One Bed

Amnesia vs Kissing Lessons Kissing Lessons? This is a new one on me but not hard to figure out. It feels quite juvenile, like maybe a good match for the teenagers in High School?

Amnesia though - oh yes! I don't know if I first loved this trope when I saw the Harrison Ford movie Regarding Henry, or if I saw the trope elsewhere first, but it's very good. The "I'm sorry who are you?" "I'm your wife" and not remembering, having to fall in love again. The agony of the lost shared memories, of not recalling the life they had together, of making new memories. Hell yeah!

WINNER: Amnesia

Forced Proximity (road trip etc.) vs Secretly a celeb/royal Forced Proximity has it's place as a supplement. Like I talked earlier about the Second Chance divorced exes who had to work together. They are getting that Second Chance because of the forced proximity. As a trope on it's own though? Ehhh.

The Secretly a Celeb/Royal... depends if you can expand that. I have long loved the idea of some super rich person being incognito because 'Rich people wear expensive clothes and drive posh cars and go fancy places' and so seeing Joe or Jane Regular, they think 'oh you look like X' rather than thinking they are actually X. I planned out a Rumbelle fic to this premise that I never wrote, but I swear I will write this someway, someday. It partly goes back to the Mistaken Identity and masks, and do they love the real you. With money, meeting someone and them not knowing you are rich is perhaps one of the few ways to be sure about that. But at what point do you tell the truth? The longer it goes on the more feelings of betrayal there are - very similar trope really. Now obviously royal is a whole thing on it's own but put the 'secretly' in front of it and it becomes something else.

WINNER: Secretly a celeb/royal

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

Grumpy/Sunshine vs Someone Else's SO Someone Else's SO sounds like cheating/infidelity and I'm not interested in that. Just pick a side and then be honest about it.

I think Grumpy/Sunshine... I'm trying to think of an example. I suppose perhaps I tend to interpret it more as somebody who is reserved vs. someone who is social. Or possibly someone who is cynical/snarky/sarcastic vs. someone who is optimistic/positive/kind. I have definitely written this and will definitely write more of it. It definitely has it's place but equality works too.

WINNER: Grumpy/Sunshine

Accidental Pregnancy vs Just To Get It Out Of Our Systems Honestly not a fan of either, but definitely not a fan of oops pregnancy. It's just not a conflict I am interested in. It doesn't compel me. To be honest neither does the 'Get it out of our systems' because... well it seems odd. Like if you like one another then why is it a one and done? This wins by default but meh.

WINNER: Just To Get It Out Of Our Systems

Family Feud (Romeo & Juliet style) vs Holiday Romance A feud does have potential, the whole 'forbidden love' aspect. I have written this. I have a daughter of politically powerful parents falling in love with a rebel in my Steampunk AU. That's not a family feud, more of a civil class war thing.

Holiday Romance is pretty cool. The whole 'we really click but there is a time limit on it' thing. I did write this once (a Rushbelle fic). As a standard trope it's not something that interests me that much. Now a romance developing during the holidays as like a mutually pining idiots friends to lovers type thing - that's more what I like. I planned and never wrote 2 Bering and Wells christmas fics. First was a fake dating AU where Myka claims Helena is her girlfriend to shut up her sister only to have to invite Helena for the holidays (I know, it's cliche but fun). The other was canon-divergent off season 3 I guess where Helena rejoined the Warehouse and Myka invited her as a 'friend' for Christmas so she wasn't alone at the B&B. Only there was a mix-up and they went to Myka's parents, who weren't home (at the sisters) and they get snowed in, power cuts (huddling together for warmth), only one bed - basically every trope you can think of and hey - Forced Proximity lol - and it gets them to admit feelings. The holidays can add an intensity but neither of these two were technically holiday romance.

WINNER: Holiday Romance

Billionaire vs Soulmates I wrote Soulmates!! It was a Sanctuary fic (Time Will Tell) and it started off as a thought experiment/self-challenge. I don't like the idea of fate and then everything being happy because you have found your 'one' (or in my OT3 case, two). So I really pushed hard on the 'love is a choice' angle, and that lots of soulmate relationships failed because relationships take work. The 'this could be your future but only if you choose it, only if you work for it'. Made me love it. It was fun to explore how having this ticking timer could affect people's personalities, the development of the relationship (having the certainty could be paradoxically paralysing). What that did to society and prejudices etc.

Now of course Billionaire does sort of go back to what I described earlier with the 'Secret Celeb' trope. Having money is kind of a fantasy and it makes for a fun world. You can have them sail around in a yacht, go skiing and sit by the fire in a wood lodge, private jet travel etc. but I don't know. Apart from the 'do you like me or just my money' conflict, having a ton of money is just like so what? It removes worry about paying bills and buying food and that's awesome, takes those stresses off a relationship, but if you don't have to be a billionaire for that, and that as the sole trope... where's the story?

WINNER: Soulmates

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

Marriage of Convenience vs Fake Dating OH NO YOU DIDN'T?!?! I have to choose? I suppose they are very similar. It's the pretend relationship and then the 'oh no I caught feelings' and that like Only One Bed is a complete classic.

I'm going to go with Fake Dating purely because it's likely to come up more. Although I can think of so many ideas for Marriage of Convenience. They are both so good! They are both winners in my heart.

WINNER: Fake Dating

Snowed In vs Friends To Lovers This is like a situation vs. a dynamic. Snowed In is quite specific. I talked about it earlier with the Bering and Wells christmas fic. It's not something that will happen in a lot of stories because some places don't have snow, or it's not set in winter etc.

Whereas Friends to Lovers is basically everything I write ever. How can people be lovers if they aren't friends? If they don't like one another. Friendship is the foundation. Even when I wrote Enemies to Lovers (Timeless, Flynn and Lucy) there was a loooooong stop off at friends in the middle.

WINNER: Friends to Lovers

Bad Boy/Girl vs Sworn Off Love Ok this feels like an unpopular opinion but if they are actually a 'bad boy/girl' then no, just no. If they are misunderstood, they have a heart of gold etc. then they aren't really 'bad' and so it's just aesthetics or something? Like pretending to be a rebel but not really. I don't get it to be honest.

Sworn Off Love though... so much yes. Think about Helena who didn't want to love, who intended their heart to be frozen, to no longer really beat because it belonged to Christina, their daughter who was gone. But Helena hadn't reckoned on Myka who found a way in anyway, and it was agony, but that love saved the world.

WINNER: Sworn Off Love

Supernatural (vampires etc.) vs Enemies To Lovers Ok my previous mention of Flynn and Lucy aside I really don't go in for Enemies to Lovers. If people are enemies they hate each other - hate is the opposite of love. Yes it's an extreme emotion but I don't get how it works except with a very long stop-off in friends first, and then that feels like not really Enemies to Lovers anymore.

Supernatural though can be fun. I have a long fascination with immortality. One partner living forever and the other one getting older, dying. I hate it, I hate it so much because it hurts, and yet it is compelling. I want to fix it. That's probably it. Carol and Maria from Captain Marvel. Breaks my heart :(

Doesn't just have to be immortality either. I know Harry Potter shouldn't be mentioned today but the Remus and Tonks relationship had potential as a dynamic. Remus as a werewolf saw himself as less than, as not being human - not being WORTHY. It's that kind of self-hate which makes me bond with characters (Rumple had the same thing going on). But the whole I love you, all parts of you, even the monster parts - that acceptance of the flaws. That's good stuff.

WINNER: Supernatural

I will post up the next bracket when @purlturtle does theirs! Though we did pick some different things so their bracket will look different from mine. It's going to be interesting!! :)

[anneimaginesundertale]

The Best of All Timelines -- 5 Years On!

Surprise! We're doing a time skip! The story of The Best of All Timelines (with all the skeletons who I write about on this blog) is jumping forward by five years. In this time, some of the skeletons have made big changes in their lives, and some of them are still doing the same thing they were before.

The UT, US, UF, SF, HT, G!bros, and MT bros are sticking around the area and are still available for in-character asks and story stuff. The rest of the skeletons have moved out of the area and are kinda busy. They're still around if we really need them, but they're not there every day. Below the cut are details of where everybody's at.

If a Friend of the Blog was in a relationship with a particular skeleton, they're included in those details. None of those relationships are exclusive. If you want to ask for a romantic (or platonic) relationship with a character, you feel free to ask. I'm not going to say, "No! You can't have Sweets! He has a wife and children!" We just plop you two in a relationship and it's like a little split on the timeline. In one world, he's married to me. In the other world, you're his datemate and he adores you! (Does that make sense?)

Anyways, this is long even before the cut so I shall stop blathering and let you get to the fun part. I hope you enjoy reading about where everyone is now and feel free to send asks to the lads to find out more about how they're doing after this time skip!

These skeletons still live in or around Anne's house. (A couple of the married couples have new houses. We're calling the little neighborhood we're building Skeleton Acres.)

Sans is still working at the planetarium/hands-on museum. He really enjoys his job. He also loves inviting family to come visit him at work.

Papyrus has passed most of the Ambassador duties to Frisk, who is doing a great job with it. Pap has moved on to working for social services, helping orphans find homes. He really loves this job and he's really good at it!

Blue got his teaching license! He's officially a resource teacher at Toriel's school now! Blue and @pureangleda are still married. They now have two kids: Randy Bistroke, who recently turned 5, and Cherry Swash, who is two years old.

Stretch has started a new book series in a new genre! He's left detective fiction behind (for now) and is writing a fun fantasy series based on the Enchanted Forest AU. He took @queen-lethargy with him on his last book tour and they had a lot of fun together.

Red owns his own repair shop now. He's named it I PCed It Together. (Boss hates the name but wants to promote his brother's business, so he always conveniently forgets what the place is called. "It's on Such and Such Street. You can't miss it!") @skulls-and-cypresses often comes into the shop to keep Red company and help him piece things together. The two of them are happily living together and enjoy cuddles and flying together.

Boss is now in a higher position at the big company he works for! No one really remembers what his official title is, but Red calls him the COO--chief organizing officer--because he organizes everything. (Red also pronounces that title like what a pigeon says, which drives Boss nuts!) Boss is still happily married to Trashy. They live in a fantastically Gothic house and plan to fill said house with lots of kids. Currently they have one little girl named Poppy and another baby bones on the way! Poppy is two (there’s a lot of two year olds around) and is a sweet nature loving girl whose favorite phrase is “Lookit!” (usually uttered right before she shows you whatever bug/rock/flower/piece of moss she found).

Black is still a detective on the police force. He recently solved a big case and was offered a promotion (and a big reward and a medal and everything) but he refused. He likes being a detective and moving up in the ranks would keep him from solving some of the cases he's still working on. He took the medal, but insisted that the reward be given to the police dogs' retirement fund.

Rus is very happy working at the animal shelter. He's recently also started working with retired police dogs, helping them find new homes. He and Laurel (@aizawasluckylady) got married a little while back. They live in a lovely cottage in Skeleton Acres with a lot of animals. They are tooth-rottingly sweet together and still very much in love.

Sansy has finally gone back into stand-up comedy! For real this time! He does a combination of videos and live shows, but avoids big live audiences for now. He also recently got a 3d printer and, after a lot of work, created a 3d-printed piece that fits into the hole in his skull. With that in place, he feels more comfortable going without his hat. He's working on more pieces for jokes. His favorite so far is the one that looks like he's got a rubber chicken stuck in his skull.

Sweets has his own private catering business now! He makes cakes and sweet treats and meals for all kinds of fancy parties. He likes the job because it means he can bake from home. That means he can set his own schedule and stay with the kids while I'm off teaching. That's right--we have kids! Our oldest girl is named Someday. She's four and looks a lot like her dad. She wears glasses. She loves helping her dad in the kitchen and playing with her cousin Randy. We also have two year old twins: Grace and Gideon! Grace hates the word "no" and really wants to be able to do everything her big sister does. Gideon is very quiet and shy. He loves to be read to. He brings books to any available adult and looks at them with big pleading eyes until they give in and read the book. We love all our kids so much!

G is still working as a private detective/travel writer. The travel writing is becoming more and more of a cover for the detective work.

- Jess (@isnt-that-something) is still his faithful assistant and the other half of his brain. On a recent trip to Paris, G tried to propose to Jess! Unfortunately, he picked a really bad moment to do it and they've both agreed that he gets a do-over.

-@scarletfry37 and G have a lot of fun traveling together. He often invites them to go along on his work trips (unless they’re going to be really dangerous).

Aster is still happily working at the university. He's built himself a very calm, quiet little life. He recently got a new apartment, which he is determined to fill with books.

Bones still works at the antique shop in Littleton, but he got a sudden 15 minutes of fame when a TV show came to film in the shop. The showrunners found out that he's kind of an expert on items from a certain time period and, after a lot of convincing, they hired him as a special expert for their show. Bones agreed so long as he didn't have to go on live TV again. Instead, he films segments for them (with help) and sometimes writes articles for magazines. He is finally dating Ziz (@aizawasluckylady). It took them a long time to get over the mutual fluster, but now they're very comfortable with each other. He often asks her for help with his TV segments. She might not be an expert, but compared to him, she's a technical wizard.

Lucky has opened his own law firm! He's pleased that he's getting fewer cases defending monsters against humans who were treating them badly. In his spare time, he's trying to teach all his nieces and nephews how to play the piano, with varying levels of success. He and Bones still live with Anne but they're thinking of building themselves a home in Skeleton Acres as the families continue to grow.

These skeletons have moved out of Anne's house and won't be regularly featured here on the blog. They're still around, just kind of busy.

Smiley and Grim moved back to Las Vegas to run their casino there. They brought along a couple of new family members: Bingo, the retired drug-sniffing dog, and Claws, a dainty white kitten who has Bingo wrapped around her little paw. Bingo came from Rus's retired police dog program. The Mafia boys love him and his drug-sniffing abilities come in handy. His name was always Bingo, but Smiley thinks it's really funny that the dog is named for a game. He likes to tell people they've also got dogs named Poker and Slots. Grim keeps Claws with him in his office. He says she's helping him watch the cameras. Smiley has walked in on him villain monologuing to the cat at least twice.

Comet finished his botany degree and got a job working for the new botanical gardens in Ebott City. The gardens are connected (via sky bridge) to the aquarium, which is where Captain still works. Since they're both working in the city, the Outertale boys officially moved there. They are both super happy! Comet is still dating @rainbowut. He loves showing her what he's working on at his new job, and a lot of their dates are at the botanical gardens.

Break and Tango have gone on a world dance tour again! Well, Tango is on a dance tour and Break is there supporting his brother. They also brought Roxanne and Jack (@roxanneandjackrp, @pureangleda) along with them. Tango has proposed to Roxanne multiple times, in quite dramatic fashion, and she recently finally said yes. Jack and Break are dating but taking things slow.

Sunny and Pumpkin are still out on the farm. They've expanded and added to it quite a bit, and they've gotten involved with the local 4H organization to help kids learn to care for animals. They've also got a dedicated vet for the farm (thanks, @pureangleda!) Doctor Patty (also known as Doc and Doctor Pigtails) is a very nice lady who loves all the animals and gets along well with Pumpkin and...seems to be Sunny's favorite teasing target. The two of them are in a kind of "will they/won't they" relationship where everybody else knows they like each other but they won't admit it.

Bubbles and Finn still live near Sweet Sands. Bubbles and Bailey (the owner of the local souvenir shop) finally stopped dancing around things and are officially in a relationship. Finn and Quinn (the marine biologist who was his Best Friend Only for years) are also finally together. Quinn has helped Finn set up an educational tour of the reef for anyone who wants to learn more about it.

Bailey and Quinn are both OCs of mine who are kind of up for grabs, if anybody wants to officially "play" them. Message me and we can discuss.

In addition (available for asks but not a skeleton):

Grillby still runs his bar in Littleton. He's finally gotten together with Jessa (@secretimelady) and they are preparing for her to move in with him. Grillby is enjoying spending time with Jessa to help her pack her things (and to cuddle her cat, who is also moving in). All the skeletons are really happy for Grillby and Jessa!

I think that's everything. I'm sure people will let me know if I've forgotten anything. Feel free to send asks to get more information on any of this. I'm excited to see where this goes!

[allfortzu]

An hcs request for you 😁

How would tzuyu react to dahyun's shoulder pain on their world tour?

Also, goodluck on your exam 😇

: thank you, i'm studying hard! in the meantime, i hope you enjoy this! <3

in pain, in love

-- dahyun / tzuyu. 539 - fluff - requested, hcs

how would tzuyu react to dahyun's shoulder pain on their world tour?

after finding out, tzuyu would almost never let dahyun out of her sight

she'll try to be discrete, but once you see it, you won't miss tzuyu anxiously hovering around at all times, throwing careful glances and panicked frowns whenever dahyun looks like she's doing something too strenuous

"unnie," she'll say, pretending like she was just conveniently there at the perfect time. "you don't have to do that, i'll do it for you."

it's like all her thoughts are fixed on dahyun and dahyun only – how can she make sure dahyun's okay? what's dahyun doing now? what else does dahyun need?

even though dahyun seems unaffected by it, she's also the type to keep her troubles to herself whenever they're in public, so tzuyu can't help but fret all the more

she's not good at comforting people, though, so she shows her care through any other way possible

"i bought you pain relief patches," she would say, pulling dahyun into a corner 30 minutes before they have to go on stage. "i'll help you put them on."

"tzu-ah, i'm fine."

"unnie."

all dahyun can do is giggle and let tzuyu fuss over her, if only to alleviate tzuyu's worries

after their show, tzuyu makes a beeline for dahyun before even changing

tzuyu doesn't know she's being that obvious, but everyone else definitely notices how worked up she gets over dahyun, so they try not to bother her too much when the two are together

they'll be in their own world the entire time, quiet whispers and soft coos coming from their side of the room, only a breath away from each other, until they're forced to leave for their hotel

when they're back in the privacy of their own room (after tzuyu not-so-secretly moves into dahyun's), dahyun finally admits how painful it really is

tzuyu will help dahyun remove her makeup, even if dahyun insists that she's able to do it herself

"let me take care of you, hyunnie," tzuyu whines, puppy dog eyes in full force and pouting sadly

ah, really, who was dahyun to reject her?

they'll run a bath together, after tzuyu told dahyun she'd "accidentally" picked up some lavender bath oil when she was buying the pain relief patches, so they can't just not use it

dahyun's so sore and tired that she doesn't try to put up a fight

(she's also very, very smitten)

she sighs and melts into tzuyu's front when tzuyu works gentle fingers into her scalp, their bodies comfortably warm against each other in the hot water

she doesn't know if it's the bath that soothes her pain, or tzuyu

(probably tzuyu – if the numbing buzz that seeps pleasantly into her muscles whenever tzuyu kisses her is any sign)

tzuyu will blow-dry her hair later, and dahyun will be nodding off in tzuyu's arms before she knows it

she's already forgotten about the ache in her shoulders

tzuyu will carry dahyun back to bed after she finishes drying dahyun's hair, the fondest smile tugging at her lips

she wishes she could take dahyun's pain away completely; hopes she's made dahyun feel a little better

(if you ask dahyun, of course she has)

(after all, there's no cure quite like tzuyu's love)

[lyranova]

Hi there, Lyra! Sending you lots of love and well wishes! 💖 I hope it's okay to send in more than one BC opinions ask for you, but I saw you're closing them soon so I wanted to send this one in: what are your thoughts on the "House Vaude Soap Opera/Love Drama" (or the "Langris, Finesse, Finral, Vanessa (and whoever else you might want to throw in there) love shape")? I've got a love-hate relationship with it myself because while it is probably the subplot I'm the most passionately invested in (and that I've written about at length), but it feels so unnecessarily complicated and frustratingly convoluted and makes me want to bang my head against the wall more than Finral is (which, I am sorry to say, is saying a lot...)

Apologies for the Mini-Rant, but here are some of my feelings: they really threw it in with no warning in the Royal Knights Exam Arc after the anime baited Vanessa and Finral a lot, which is an anime problem but still the emotional whiplash of throwing love interest in there after all that and not only that but then the narrative expects us to accept that Finral not only actually loved Finesse all along but also loves her so much that he is willing to return to his toxic, abusive home in order to be with her (and we're all supposed to be okay with that?) despite the fact he didn't even think about her for 80 episodes and she is basically engaged to his brother (which, how is everyone involved in this just okay with the fact that they have this arranged marriage agreement but the Lord & Lady Vaude just won't say which son Finesse is actually engaged to? Surely Finesse's parents have concerns about this at least? Regardless, it's clear this is all for Langris's benefit since they want him/have always intended for him to inherit, but seriously (and maybe I'm just old fashioned but) brothers really shouldn't share a fiancée and if you're engaged you should probably know who your fiancé actually is... Why is no one bringing this up?) And it just kept getting worse & more convoluted from there since conveniently ignoring the fact that Finesse and Langris are basically engaged, Finral then declares "war" on his brother and kind of yells at both of them while Langris is injured that he's going to be the one to make Finesse happy & win her heart in the end and Langris seems to actually be helping(?) him with this [for reasons that are still unclear...? Though I personally suspect it's because he actually loves her (not necessarily in a romantic way but enough that he's willing to give up what he's worked for his entire life for her happiness)] and okay, yes, this is a soap opera but it's fine/forgivable if they just stopped it here BUT NO...THEN Finral keeps banging his head against the wall trying convince everyone (and himself???) that she's "the only one" for him and that he can't even be in the same room as another woman and needs to go back to his abusive home just to be with her... 🙄 Bringing up so many uncomfortable questions like "does he actually love her or does he just feel like he needs to/is he forcing himself to in order to become the head of House Vaude and prove himself to his family? ect. ect. which, I'm sorry, but if a story wants to sell me on "Character A's love for Character B is so incredibly strong that they are willing to even return to their toxic home life in order for the two of them to be together" these questions should NOT exist! Don't get me wrong, I like Finral x Finesse as a ship (It's totally adorable and has so much potential--I actually really like it a lot which is why this is so frustrating), but I just feel like it could have been handled SO MUCH BETTER which is honestly kind of infuriating. Seriously it should not be this hard or this complicated!)

Anyway, I'm very curious what you think and how you'd most like to see that all shake out in the end? (I know you've paired Finral with Vanessa in COTF but what do you imagine happens to Langris? Which one takes over the estate? Do you think Finral and Finesse ever tried to make it work but it just didn't work out? ect.). This might be a big ask so please take as long as you need (and don't feel obligated to answer it at all if it's too much) and I apologize again for all the ramblings. Excited to hear your thoughts! Thank you so much, dear! 💕

------

Hiya Acacia! I'm sorry it's taken me a while to get to this 😭, I've been playing catch up on everything while also doing some IRL things 😆, but now to answering your question!

The Finral x Finesse ship was totally sudden to me, and I'll admit I was very taken aback and a bit upset about it 😆! Because the anime was leaning and hinting at Finral x Vanessa so much (I mean, when he blushed and teared up at her complimenting him during the Royal Knight Exam hello???) that I was already sold on the ship. But then...Finesse came along and kind of threw me off and made me go "wait what?"

I think Finesse, and her introduction, should/could have been handled much better then it was. If they would have hinted at him having someone else he loved back at House Vaude, or even just had him say "I want to get stronger, because I have someone waiting/depending on me" then I would have been a little more...okay with them introducing Finesse as his love interest (btw I like Finesse as a character, I'm putting all the blame on the writing and how they chose to introduce her!). But because it was just kinda thrown in there like "oh btw, we forgot to mention Finral has a love interest so all the teasing we did for Finral x Vanessa was just to misdirect you 😆!".

As you can see...I'm still pretty salty about this 😅!

Now onto the drama with House Vaude and the engagment 👀!

I personally don't like the whole "both share a fiance" thing either, it just feels...wrong 😅. I understand this used to be a thing Royal Families did in history (basically if the elder broher was dead or otherwise incapacitated then sometimes the family would have her marry the younger brother) but it still doesn't feel right 😭! I think the Vaudes probably had the engagment between Finral and Finesse planned out since they were little/babies, but then they realized Langris was more powerful and thought more like them than Finral and so they felt it was better if Finesse married Langris.

I feel like the reason Finral would want to go back to House Vaude is a lot deeper then just maybe being with Finesse. Maybe he wants to change House Vaude and make it better? Make it more accepting and less greedy? I dunno. I'll admit it does feel...like he's trying to convince himself in some instances when he's banging his head against a wall and saying that he only loves Finesse 😅, I know it's played up for laughs, but still 😅.

Finral x Finesse does have a lot of potential! I could easily see the two of them together (even though I prefer Finral x Vanessa), i just think they could have handled it a lot better then they have. I personally think Langris and Finesse are a little more suited for each other, because she softens his rough edges and makes him a better person and helps him grow, and I don't really see her doing that with Finral, but that's just me 😅!

I agree, it should have been handled a lot better, but...it is what it is (luckily we have fanon that can fix it 😌!). Now onto how I seeing it all play out!

I personally see it playing out as Finral and Finesse getting together, but they both leave the Vaude estate and let Langris have it. Why? Because Finral only ever wanted to repair his relationship with his brother and win the love of his life's heart (fairly ofc), he never wanted the house. He was willing to take it on for Finesse's sake, but it wasn't his goal if that makes sense 😆! I can see Finral and Finesse dating and it not working out, or I can see them getting married and having children! Honestly it could go either way 🤔.

In COTF I have it where Finral realizes that the love he felt for Finesse was no longer a romantic one, but more of a friend/familial love. Now she'll always have a special place in his heart as his first love, but now his heart belongs to someone else (Vanessa).

Thanks for asking Acacia, and I'm sorry this was all over the place, but I still hope you enjoyed!

[veilkeeper]

as i get towards the end of act 1 and start toeing along the act 1.5 creche/underdark stuff, i want to put down some roz/astarion thoughts because i think their dynamic is really interesting ignore that im unbelievably biased

the thing is that theyre both, in their own way, really good with navigating other people. they've both learned the scripts they need to follow to more or less walk out of any given interaction with what they want.

famously, if astarion wants something he uses 200 years of fine tuned routines to seduce and manipulate people into whatever he wants; be that a victim to lure away or a secure ally to keep him safe in uncertain times. while he latches on to roz/the PC, it's worth noting that he flirts with everyone. perhaps because he doesn't know how else to talk to people. at least, not anymore.

if roz wants something, they tend to dig into the other person's head to find what they need, or failing that, they brute force intimidate their way through. however, that doesnt really work when they want to make friends; people they see every day aren't going to appreciate either approach. so what do they do? well.... they do what they're told. every long-term relationship (of any kind) that they've ever had "worked" because they figured out what the other person wanted and they did it, to the letter. that's how they keep people close - by pleasing them.

which creates a bit of interesting feedback loop when these two are side by side, i think. roz is interested in at the very least a working relationship with astarion (and everyone in the party), so they make an effort to talk to him and take interest in him, to find out what he wants from them. astarion assumes this interest must be attraction - why else would anyone take the time of day? and, conveniently, roz is also very powerful and influential in this little ragtag band, so they make for a good person to get on his side.

astarion begins his routine. obvious flirting, everything short of eyebrow waggling. he propositions roz with the assumption that that's what they want from him. that it's how he can lure them in and thus secure some modicum of safety and power in a very uncertain time. roz says yes because... well, astarion's been pretty clear that this is what he wants, hasn't he? he wouldn't ask if this wasn't what he wanted from them. and while they don't understand his attraction, and they don't even really think he is attracted to them, there's no harm in indulging him.

they've tricked each other, a little on accident, a little on purpose. when they sleep together, the irony is that neither of them really wants it, they just both think the other does, and they both want the other to stick around.

it isn't until after that astarion feels secure enough to let his guard down the slightest bit, to show roz something genuine enough for them to actually fall for. and eventually, he sees something in them, too. something that makes them deserving of more than just... pretending.

in the meantime, they both think they've solved it - they think they've found the right mix of allowances and teeth-gritting compromises to give the other exactly what they want. and pretty soon they're going to care about each other enough that admitting what they actually want is going to be really fucking scary.

[all-hail-trash-prince]

ROTTMNT MOVIE SPOILERS

AU where Mikey can't get his portal magic to work at the conveniently right time, and Leo ends up trapped in the prison dimension for years. Kraang beats him pretty thoroughly and then fucks off, but Leo somehow manages to pull through. Most of his limbs are broken, but it's fine, gravity isn't as important here. His mind gets a little broken too, being completely alone for years on end, maybe even develops somebody in his head to talk to, Last Ronin-style, but he's alive.

Meanwhile, his family presumes him dead. Why wouldn't they? All of them together couldn't beat Kraang, just trap him again. Why would Leo, all on his own, have any chance? So they have a funeral for him. Bury his swords, since they're all that's left. Spend a long time mourning, but after many years, accept what happened and start to move past it. Maybe even start to get used to the way things are. By the time Mikey learns to make portals on command, Leo's been dead for years in his mind. Why would there be any reason to go looking for him?

But somehow, some way, Leo makes it out. I don't know how he does it, but he makes it back to his family. They're all overjoyed to see him, of course, but... shocked, to say the least. How are you supposed to feel when someone you've gone through the full grieving process for suddenly shows up on your doorstep? Not to mention that it's been so long, they're all completely different people now. They try for a little bit to fall back on the old family dynamic, but it just feels... wrong. Forced. Fake.

So they start again from scratch. Rebuild their family from the ground up. It's hard, it's awkward, and some days it feels like they'll never be as close as they once were, but the Hamatos are nothing if not determined. They tell each other about what they've been doing ever since Kraang's invasion. (Well, mostly everyone else tells Leo what they've been doing - Leo himself has done a lot of the same, being trapped in the prison dimension.) They have game nights and movie nights, long talks over tea, they comfort each other whenever one of them has a nightmare (which happens quite often, considering everything they've all been through) and slowly - agonizingly slowly - but surely, they start to heal.

[mermaidsirennikita]

ARC REVIEW: Damned If I Duke by Anna Bradley

3.75/5. Releases 3/26/2024.

Heat Index: 5.5/10.

Vibes: ballroom historical, snarky sniping, SCANDALOUS EARRINGS, and head over heels heroes who don't want to admit it

Prudence Thorne isn't happy with the rakish Duke of Montford, Jasper Vincent. Not because he's done her wrong personally--but because he won a sum from her father at cards, so massive that Prue is now forced to look for a husband to save them from ruin. A boring, staid husband. In an attempt to avoid her fate, she tries blackmailing Jasper--but when it backfires, there's the added complication of his grandfather deciding that she's EXACTLY the woman the duke needs. And pushing them inexorably towards a marriage they say they don't want.

Anna Bradley is good at writing chemistry, and you definitely feel the spark between Prue and Jasper from the start. They can't help getting their little digs in, even as their attraction to each other is very apparent. She doesn't reinvent the wheel here; it's kind of a classic ballroom historical, all about the snarking and the virgin-heroine-ing and the marriage-of-convenience-ing. However, the humor (I found several elements of this one QUITE funny) and Jasper falling pathetically in love made it entertaining, even if it didn't quite blow me away. It's definitely one for the traditional historical romance girlies.

Quick Takes:

--As I said above, a high point for me was the humor in this one. Jasper happens to have a pair of earrings he just secured from his former mistress (and I did like that he was an actual rake who'd kept actual mistresses, even if I wasn't in love with how this particular mistress was presented) which is what Prue gets a hold of for her blackmail scheme. And those earrings. Are not... normal earrings. They are earrings which teach Prue a thing or two, unintentionally. Visually.

Which leads to one of my favorite moments in this book, which is "Prue learns about things further while talking to her friend, the heroine of the previous book, who Is A Woman Now". I really wish that we had more historicals in which heroines learn about ~the marriage bed~ from previous heroines. It reminds you that, oh yeah, that last romance happened, and everyone is still AT IT. Plus, it's just a nice, authentic friendship beat for the girls.

--The physical comedy in general is really good here. Prue shoots Jasper by accident (and like, the location she shoots him in is probably one of the better locations to be shot in from a health perspective, but THE SHAME!!!). In general, you get the sense that Jasper is kind of a disaster, and he's just sort of fumbling his way through love while growing both increasingly besotted and increasingly infuriated with with her.

--I'm actually surprisingly fond of an "older person meddles in the love lives of the younger people" thing in certain historicals, and I don't think I realized this until I read this book...? Jasper's grandfather is right, and he knows he's right, and though I honestly wasn't 100% sure about how he had the clout to force Jasper to marry Prue, it worked. It's fine.

--That does lead to my critique of this one, though. The fluff and the chemistry and the romance is all good, but the plot kind of lacks? There isn't a lot of one, and that's FINE, but when you do have elements like the grandfather forcing the marriage, or Prue getting confused about her wedding night in a way that has actual ramifications... I just kind of feel like they weren't solidly tracked? Like, it sort of seemed thrown together, which is not how I felt about the previous book in the series.

However, I still had fun and I still very much want to read the next installment. So it doesn't derail the read, but it does keep it from being as strong as it could have been. I kind of felt like Prue and Jasper just sort of stumbled into love, versus falling in a way that I as the reader could track.

The Sex:

There are 2-3 sex scenes in this book, depending on how you define them (for me, it was three). I could have used one more, or more DETAIL in general. The first one in particular felt weirdly bare, as we get this pretty delightful lead up to the wedding night from Jasper's perspective. And he actually has a lot of anxiety about it, and it's charming, and I just wanted more follow-through after that.

This is a sweet romcom, which I do think could've hit harder, but was nevertheless pleasing. I think it will work very well for the Bridgerton crowd.

Thanks to Netgalley and Zebra for providing me with a copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.