#idk if my father almost killed me and then I was forced to marry the oldest man ever id probably be a little unhinged too

[wokedragon]

Lyanna Stark is one of my favourite character from Asoiaf…it’s hard to explain but I love her like a small scale Gotham villain loves his fridged wife and children. I understand her more than anyone and I hope to learn more about her in twow but I also want her to be left alone PLEASE 🙏🏾

[angel-sweets666]

stuck together

Barbarian bakugo x princess! Reader

Your parents arranged you to the brash and rude prince of the barbarians to save their own skin. CHAPTER TWO HERE

warnings and stuff inside of the story: talks of virginity, talks of a virginity check (its accurate to the time period ok?) a/n should I make this a series? I think it’d be fun but idk ur rich btw so just like there’s rich stuff.

THE FULL VERSION IS OUTTT, truely ask and you shall receive. Anyways this is the full edited and lengthened part one I hope it’s better then the sneak peak I gave you guys

AGED UP

Mitsuki leaned back, her piercing gaze fixed on your parents. "So, what do you say? You give us your daughter, and we'll form an alliance," she proposed, pausing for their response. "It would offer protection from the Todoroki kingdom Flamoria, no?" The blonde woman smiled at your father, trying to sway him.

Flamoria had a habit of attacking your home kingdom, however in recent years the bakugos have managed to not only defeat the todorokis but make their kingdom subservient to them.

Your mother hesitated. "I mean, I dunno…"

"We'll do it," he interrupted, cutting off your mother.

"Huh?!" Your mother turned to him, shock evident on her face.

"Perfect. Sign here," Mitsuki said smoothly, handing them a piece of paper which already had both mitsuki and masarus names written down. It was a betrothal agreement, arranging the marriage between you and her hot-tempered son, Bakugo.

Your father reached for the pen, the gravity of the situation pressing down on him. "This will secure our safety and ensure a powerful ally," he murmured, almost convincing himself as much as anyone else.

"But our daughter…" your mother started, her voice filled with concern and disbelief. She looked at Mitsuki, then back at your father, torn between the political necessity and the love for her child.

"We don't have a choice," your father replied firmly, signing the paper. "This alliance is crucial for our kingdom's survival. The Empyrean empire is strong.”

Mitsuki's smile widened as she took the signed document. "Excellent. You won't regret this. Bakugo will make a fine husband, many heirs will come from this, she is a virgin right?” The blonde asks “we can get her checked for it, *name* was very sheltered growing up so we can assure you she’s a virgin.” Your father explains, leaning back in his own squeaky wooden chair. His gaze turns to your mother, who seems distraught about marrying off her child to the barbarian prince. Someone famous for being a violent person.

at 17 years old bakugo had brought back the head of a powerful tribe leader and put it on a stick for everyone to see, at 18 years old he had gathered a small army of men and defeated the midoriya kingdom and had a bloody cloak from the one of the dead soilders to prove it. Then at 20 years old bakugo had forced izuku, the Feywood king to surrender his crown. Which put feywood in the empyrean empire. No one knows where izuku midoriya currently is, all the people know is that he was last scene getting dragged by his green locks by bakugo and was never seen again.

Later on

“YOU ARRANGED ME TO WHO!?” You screamed, staring at your parents in complete horror. How could they do this to you? You make one wrong move and your own husband would order your death! “Look it’s not so bad..” “NOT SO BAD? HES KILLED HUNDREDS! THOUSANDS EVEN” “He won’t kill you though!” Your father exclaimed, An attempt to calm you. “Look, bakugo may seem like a man killing war machine of a prince but his parents assured us that he’s very gentle with women.” You scoffed, leaning your weight to one hip “bullshit. He’s gonna kill me. Brutally, he’s gonna hack off my head just you watch”

Over the next few weeks, you tried everything to call off the arrangement. You attempted to run away before the virginity check, faked illness, and came up elaborate excuses. Nothing seemed to work. Your parents were stubborn, insisting that you marry Katsuki Bakugo for the strength of their own kingdom.

Lying in bed, you tossed and turned, unable to escape the looming dread of marrying the great, scary barbarian prince, soon to be barbarian king. What if he rips your head off just because you refuse to give him a kiss? The thought made your heart race with fear.

Suddenly, a knock on the door snapped you out of your spiraling thoughts. A maid entered, her eyes gloomy with pity . "Your Highness? Tomorrow we will wake you early to help you begin packing for the travel to the Empyrean Kingdom," she said softly, her voice trembling as she tried to avoid any kind of trouble.

You groaned and turned your head toward her. "When am I being sent to them?" you asked

"U-uh, most likely the day after tomorrow," the maid stammered, clearly uneasy with your distress.

You sighed deeply, feeling the weight of your impending fate settle even heavier on your shoulders. "I see… thank you," you muttered.

You looked back at the red headed maid “How far is the journey?” You asked her softly, she fidgeted with her fingers “a-about two days, they live f-far from our kingdom your highness” she stammered. You smiled to the red head and dismissed her.

As she left you stared at the ceiling, your mind racing. The thought of being married off to someone you had never met, someone with a terrifying reputation, filled you with a sense of dread and hopelessness. Your parents decision felt like a betrayal, a sacrifice of your happiness for the supposed greater good of the kingdom

You stood in the corner of your large room, watching as numerous servants took gowns, corsets, shoes, and other clothing items, placing them into bags. "U-uh, don’t barbarians wear less formal clothes? Shouldn’t I bring less?" you asked the maids. All of them turned to look at you, a hint of surprise on their faces.

"Her Highness makes a point," the same red-headed maid from the night before whispered to an older maid. The older maid, seemingly more experienced, turned toward you with a thoughtful expression.

"You're right, Your Royal Highness. They would probably end up burning these clothes or turning them into barbarian-styled garments," she conceded.

You sighed, your shoulders dropping in resignation. "What do barbarian women wear?" you asked the older maid, hoping for some clarity.

"Hm… flowy skirts, I’ve seen a few wear headdresses," she replied, as some of the gowns were hung back up in the closet. The maids began to sift through your belongings, selecting items that might be more appropriate for your new life.

As you watched the process, you couldn’t help but glance out the window. Your mother and father were walking in the garden, deep in conversation. They seemed so in love, so perfectly matched, yet they were throwing you into a marriage that promised nothing but misery. The contrast between their happiness and your dread was almost unbearable.

"Your Highness, we’ll pack lighter, more practical clothing for your journey," the older maid reassured.

"Thank you," you murmured, though your heart wasn't in it. The thought of being dressed in unfamiliar clothes, adapting to an unknown culture, and being wed to a man you feared only added to your anxiety.

As the servants continued their work, you wandered over to your bed, sinking down onto the edge. The weight of your impending departure pressed down on you, making it hard to breathe. You had grown up surrounded by luxury and love, and now you were being sent away, to marry probably the most violent man you’ve ever heard of

Tears welled up in your eyes as you thought about the future that awaited you. Would you ever find happiness in the Empyrean Kingdom? Would Katsuki Bakugo, the fierce and terrifying prince, ever come to care for you, or would you be nothing more than a means to an end?

"Your Highness, is there anything else you would like us to pack?" one of the younger maids asked, her voice gentle.

You shook your head, wiping away a stray tear. "No, just… make sure to leave out a few comfortable things for me to wear until we leave."

"Of course, Your Highness," she replied, her expression sympathetic.

As the maids continued their preparations, you lay back on your bed, staring up at the white ceiling. You tried to find comfort in the familiar surroundings, knowing that soon you would be leaving them behind.

"So, what's the barbarian kingdom like?" you asked, looking over to the maids. The older maid once again turned her head to look at you.

"Most of the people live in either big wooden houses with all sorts of weapons around or in these hut-like tent things. Either way, they have all these symbols painted on them," she described, clearly having been to the Empyrean Kingdom before.

"And what about the Bakugos? Where do they live? You asked

"They live in a stone castle with intricate paintings on it, and there's a lot of security. The last time I was there, they had spikes on the bridge leading to the castle, with people's heads mounted on them," the old maid replied,

"How long ago were you there?" you asked, feeling a chill run down your spine at the gruesome detail.

"When the young prince was about fifteen, so around five years ago," she said, placing one last corset into a bag.

You glanced at the six bags of items packed for your journey, feeling a mix of relief and trepidation. It was a smaller amount than you had anticipated, yet it seemed to signify the end of one life and the beginning of another.

"Did you meet the prince?" you asked, trying to glean any information that might help you understand the man you were to marry.

"Briefly," she replied, her expression softening. "He was intense, even as a teenager. Always training, always pushing himself. But there was a sadness in his eyes, a loneliness."

You sighed, trying to reconcile the image of the fierce, terrifying prince with the glimpses of vulnerability the maid described. "And the people there? How are they?"

"Fierce, proud, and loyal," the older maid said. "They value strength above all else, but they also have a deep sense of honor and community. If you earn their respect, they'll defend you with their lives."

The more you learned, the more daunting your future seemed. Yet, there was a strange comfort in knowing that the barbarian kingdom, despite its harsh exterior, had its own codes and values.

As the maids continued their work, you tried to imagine what life in the Empyrean Kingdom would be like

"Is there anything else I should know?" you asked, your voice softer, almost hesitant.

The older maid paused, considering your question. "Just remember, Your Highness, that if you respect them and they’ll respect you."

Her words resonated with you, giving you a small but vital sense of empowerment. You nodded “alright, seems easy enough..”

The day that you needed to travel to the empyrean kingdom came, your parents watched you walk to the carriage by the gate as your mother sobbed into your fathers chest.

The ride to the Empyrean Kingdom was grueling. As the carriage rattled over uneven roads, you gazed out the window, the lush greenery of your homeland gradually giving way to the rugged, bushy but covered in tall trees landscape of the barbarian territory. The closer you got, the more your anxiety grew, each kilometre bringing you closer to the empyrean land

When you finally arrived at the castle, you were struck by its threatening look. The stone walls were decorated with weird red painted symbols, and the spiked bridge, as described by the maid, loomed menacingly ahead. Your heart pounded as you stepped out of the carriage, taking in the harsh surroundings.

A group of stern-faced and very attractive guards escorted you inside. The castle's interior was as intimidating as its exterior—dimly lit, with weapons and trophies of past battles displayed prominently on the walls. You felt a shiver run down your spine as you were led through the cold halls. You swore that if you listened close enough you could hear peoples screams in the dungeons below. Fuck was this hell with its 7 rings?

Finally, you were brought to a large chamber where a tall, muscular figure stood with his back to you. His spiky blonde hair was unmistakable. He was busy looking at a sheet of paper, the one oddly similar to the ones your parents shown you when they first announced your betrothal to bakugo. As he slowly turned to face you, his piercing red eyes locked onto yours with an intensity that made you want to look away. He looked almost angry at you, furious even. Which was confusing because you’ve known this man for a whole 10 seconds

he was tall and about 6ft with messy blonde hair, scars all over his body and face, and piercings on his ears and lip.

"So, you're the princess they sent," Katsuki said, his voice dripping with disdain. He crossed his arms over his broad chest, his expression one of barely concealed annoyance. Katsuki had a deep voice that you couldn’t tell if you found attractive or if you wanted to run away and hide.

You straightened your back, meeting his gaze with as much confidence as you could muster. "I am," you replied, trying to keep your voice steady but it ended up sounding shaky.

Bakugo scoffed, looking you up and down as if to check if you were just a weak small baby or strong enough to be a wife and a queen “Great. Another weakling to babysit," he muttered under his breath.

Anger formed within you at his dismissive attitude. "I am not a weakling," you snapped. "And I am certainly not here to be babysat."

He raised an eyebrow, clearly unimpressed. "We'll see about that," he said, turning away from you. "Follow me. There's no point in wasting time."

You clenched your fists, biting back a come back to insult him with as you followed him through the castle. Every step echoed in the vast, cold corridors. His steps much louder then yours due to his much larger frame

Bakugo led you to a large hall where a group of people—presumably his advisors and some of the castle staff—were gathered. He introduced you curtly, barely sparing you a glance as he did so. The looks you received ranged from curiosity to outright hostility, they clearly didn’t want you here. Just like the old maid back had home had warned, these people hated the weak.

After the introductions, Bakugo dismissed everyone, including you. "You'll be shown to your chambers. Don't get in my way or else," he said, theblonde clearly trying to end the conversation between you two before he could get sucked into some conversation he didn’t waht

You followed a servant to your chambers, a mix of anger and sadness within you. The room was surprisingly comfortable, a stark contrast to the rest of the castle, but it did little to lift your spirits. You sat on the edge of the bed, feeling the weight of your new reality settle over you.

Over the next few days, you tried to find your place in the castle. The people were distant and wary, their lack of trust clear in their every interaction with you. And Bakugo… he was even worse than most . He ignored you most of the time, and when he did speak to you, it was with a cold, dismissive tone that made your blood boil. He always had a tone of sass, trying to get under your skin constantly.

as the days grew closer and closer to your wedding date he seemed to just get more and more annoying, constantly having some tone of sass. Never wanting to talk to you and constantly flirting with your maids, you even went the effort to fire atleast 4 of them to keep their grotty hands to themselves.

“you done firing my staff now?” Bakugo grumbled as he caught up with you in the stone candle lit halls “your staff? You mean my staff? My staff who you seem to love flirting with” you corrected him, looking over your shoulder at him. The blonde furrowed his eyebrows and scoffed “I pay for them there for their my staff.” He growled, asking faster in an attempt to intimate you “actually, your parents pay for the staff.” “Hah?” “Your parent pay for the staff so their not your staff, their the palaces staff.” You said ignorantly as you played with the lace of your dress. “You gonna get out of that frill fest you call a gown?” He asked, again trying to insult you “if I do I’m gonna shove it up your ass” “excuse me?”

“Want me to say it slower? I—WILL—SHOVE—MY—GOW”

“OKAY OKAY SHUT UP WOMAN” he growled at you and walked off in spite “THATS WHAT WHAT I THOUGHT. THATS WHAT I THOUGHT.” You angrily yelled back to him, which in real aspect you were yelling at the back of his ignorant head. You huffed and stormed away in the opposite direction as you wanted nothing more then to get away from that man. As you stomped down the halls, footsteps echoing with each step; you heard a male voice call out to you

“Princess.”

you looked over, a certain brown haired man similar looking to katsuki stared back at you. It was king Masaru “I was looking for you” he says, walking towards you. You quickly curtsied to the king “About what?” You asked “we have a wedding date for you and my son” he smiled warmly as if this was a good thing “o-oh.. and when may that be..?” Your eyebrows furrowed with frustration “a month from now, they will date you to get your gown fitted this week” he seemed overly happy about something neither you or his temperamental son wanted.

“Will I wear a wedding dress from my country or your country?” You asked softly, trying to keep your cool “uh.. our country.” He informed you “I’d rather wear my own wedding gown though, your majesty” “well.. you belong to our kingdom now. We can give you a dress that’s a mix of the two if you’d rather” he compromised, trying to keep with both your and his kingdom. Letting out a sigh your shoulders dropped “I suppose that be okay…” a look of mild disappointment on your face “wonderful, I’m glad we could come to a compromise” he smiled and walked off, an electric blonde guard following close behind him who you earlier learned his name was kaminari. The blonde goofily smiled to you, he seemed like a character. The two men walked off as they chatted, rolling your eyes you too began to walk in the direction of your bedroom chambers.

you couldn’t sleep that night, you tried changing your nightgown, exercising, reading a book, meditating, everything! nothing would help you sleep this night, you wondered if it was the weird interaction with king Masaru or the fact your own fiance was when you think about it was cheating on you with your own staff members. you slowly slid out of bed and out of your silk sheets, rubbing your face up and down with your hands with frustration. Looking down at your feet you sighed, looking out of the window. the night sky was so peaceful unlike your mind which was running with less the pleasant thoughts. How could you get Katsuki to like you? or at least tolerate you in some way so he wouldn't be the most annoying little shit.

The creak of the door hinges squeaks as you pushed the heavy wooden door open, wincing at the high pitch noise. Slowly but quietly gou walked towards the chambers of your future husband. As you approached the door you hear two voices come from the inside

“you’ll need to learn to cherish and care for her eventually”

“why would I do that?” “She is your fiancé! Your future wife! Future mother of your heirs!”

“you except me to fuck her too? Shit.”

“Yes obviously! Your gonna need heirs for our kingdom!”

“fine. Before or after this whole wedding?”

“well In her kingdom, you two do that on the wedding night but to be honest I don’t really care when you do her”

“Too easy”

safe to say your whole face was pink, with either anger or arousal but you couldn’t tell

Tag list!

@sagejin @teeesthings @hiimsaraandyou

@peachysuguru @luvgumii

@v3n7s @iangeeluv

[bravo4iscool]

task force 141 x modern!military!vikings!AU

(idk what possessed me to write this🧍🏼)

(also i don’t really know anything about the norwegian army so… this is probably very inaccurate💀)

tag list - @bumblebeesfromvenus @yazt09 @blackhawkfanatic @hatterripper31

(masterlist overview | vikings masterlist | call of duty masterlist | join my tag list!)

they weren’t a normal task force. they were anything but normal. yet, they were dangerous. more dangerous that one might like.

captain price was surprised when he was told he would work together with them. he’d heard about them. they were the pinnacle of the european task forces, just behind the 141.

but he didn’t know anything about them. no one did. they were a tale, a faint whisper in the wind. they came and they went with the shadows, another body added to their count.

price had briefed his boys on that task force—they didn’t even know its name—and now he was keen on meeting them. the mission must be hard if they needed the 141 and them.

he’s standing on the tarmac, waiting for their guests to arrive. simon is standing beside him, his hand resting on his vest. they didn’t even had time to properly change into their uniform before he’s been told their guests would arrive.

a few minutes later a chopper touched down and price straightened his back. here they’d come. there was a slight frown on his face as he took in the men (and a woman) who walked towards him.

they were tall, as tall as simon at least, and they were broad. strong shoulders and big arms. almost every single one of them had a heavy beard. probably normal in norway, price thought.

they came to a hold in front of price and simon and one of them extended his hand. “captain price, i’m captain lothbrok.” price nodded and shook lothbrok’s hand.

“a pleasure to finally meet you,” price smiles before he looks at simon. “this is my lieutenant, simon riley.” simon let out a small grunt and nodded at the soldiers in front of him. they looked good, skilled.

lothbrok nodded and started to introduce his people. “my ex-wife, lagertha, she’s my lieutenant,” he starts and price’s eyes widen. ex-wife? “that’s my second lieutenant, bjorn, he’s my oldest son.” son? “and those are my other sons, and sargeants. ubbe, hvitserk and sigurd.“ other sons?

price can’t help but notice the one man—he looked very young—in the wheelchair. lothbrok notices the captain’s gaze. “oh, that is my youngest, ivar, he’s our strategist and tech guy,” he explains, resting his hands on his own vest.

simon grunts again, “you’re all family?” he couldn’t really believe it. what kind of family managed to form a task force on their own. how did they all pass training?

lothbrok grins. “we are. hard to believe, huh,” he laughs.

“johnny’s gonna have a field day with this,” price mumbles before he shows his guests inside.

-

“okay, let me get this straight,” johnny looks at bjorn. “your father and your mother were married and had you and your sister, then he cheated and your parents broke up and your father married the woman he cheated with and now you have four half brother?”

bjorn shrugs and looks at the chicken wing in his hand. “pretty much. it’s a long story.”

“and your mother and father like, don’t want to kill each other?” johnny couldn’t quite grasp the history that surrounded this task force. how did it came to be and how was it allowed?

bjorn shrugs again, “ivar and my mother clash from time to time but that’s it.” he looks up from his chicken wing. “but that’s not why we’re here. we have a russian to capture and that’s what we should focus on.”

johnny nods and takes a bite off his own chicken wing. “what do you know about your target?” there hasn’t been an official briefing yet but johnny was eager to know who they were dealing with.

“i’ve heard a lot about you lieutenant riley,” lothbrok says at another table while he takes a sip of water. “you’re famous among the norwegian army.”

simon purses his lips beneath the mask. “is that a compliment, sir?” he wants to know and lothbroks laugh.

“it is a compliment lieutenant,” he muses. “there aren’t many people with a record like yours. captain price must be proud to have you.”

price quietly grunts, “i am proud. simon is an important asset to our team,” he explains. “and please, call me john. everyone does.”

lothbrok nods. “then call me ragnar.”

-

“if you take advantage of this hill here and charger from on top, rather than from the side, you’ll have a significant advantage,” ivan explains while he points to the map on the screen. “if anything they’ll expect you to enter from this side—“ he rolls his wheelchair to the other side of the screen. “—but if it’s as it looks they barely have any security here—“ he moves his wheelchair again, pointing to a different entry. “—so you could technically just walk in there:”

once he stops talking he looks at the others, waiting for an answer. bjorn purses his lips and walks towards the screen. “what about those woods here? what if they have reinforcements there?” he looks at his youngest brother, a slight scowl on his face.

“good question bjorn,” ivar mumbles before he rolls towards his laptop to zoom in on the woods. “i tried to find out if they have any secondary bases in the woods but it’s practically impossible…” he sighs. “we could send in a drone before we charge though.”

“how close do we need to get you?” ragnar asks, scratching his beard.

ivar types a few things in his laptop before he looks at his father. “a few clicks, not too close.” he goes back to typing and ragnar steps in front of the screen.

“what do you think john?” he asks and turns around. “you will be leading after all.” he crosses his arms in front of his chest, waiting for price to speak up.

the captain purses his lips and steps beside ragnar. “it’s a good plan. ivar thought it through perfectly.” price looks at simon johnny and gaz. “what do you think? simon, will you be able to cover us?”

simon nods. “will be possible, yes.”

“sounds like a solid plan,” gaz approves, his arms crossed in front of his chest.

johnny purses his lips before he nods too. “what could go wrong?” he smirks.

-

ragnar walks through the plane, checking with lagertha and his sons. “hvitserk, sigurd, you will go with ivar,” he instructs his son, clasping their shoulders. “once he’s done you’ll join us.”

hvitserk stretches his neck and flexes his fingers around his gun. “copy that.” sigurd confirms his fathers commands with a subtle nod.

simon follows those interactions with watchful eyes, curious of how the mission would play out. ivar clearly was a strategic genius and if his family was as good in the field as he was told this mission could only go easy.

“ubbe, you’ll go with lieutenant riley. you’ll both cover us.” ubbe shoots simon a look and the lieutenant nods. ubbe seemed like a calm soldier. should be easy.

once everyone knew their role they got their green light and jumped out of the plane, even ivar. he had his crutches on his and was strapped to hvitserk’s back.

this has potential for a pt.2🧍🏼

[nikethestatue]

Afternoon! I’ve a question about mates/the world building behind it. Tamlin says most high fae marry, basically because mating bonds are so rare. This confuses me though because the fae are immortal so they could find their mate at any time. What if rhys decided after 300 years he wanted to marry, because 300 years is a long time, but then came feyre his mate 2 centuries later? I have to believe that if most high fae marry, this scenario has to have happened to others. So why would marriage be in the fae culture at all?

Also, I’m wondering if it’s possible the bonds aren’t actually that rare, it’s just that because of the immortality thing, it seems like it. Like, is it really true to say someone doesn’t have a mate? Their mate could’ve died 1000 years ago, or be born 1000 years from now. And on this note, my reading of the text is that mates are predetermined outside of the realm of time, like the mother or cauldron always knew rhys and feyre would be mates, even though they’re 500 years apart. But I’m wondering if mates are actually determined at the time of conception? Like, if Cassian had died 300 years ago, would Nesta be mateless because he was her mate and she’d never know? Or would she be given a different mate? Can fae have mating bonds with humans, or was it just because the mother/cauldron knew the sisters would become fae?

Idk this is just something I’m curious about. We’re told bonds are rare, but it seems like everyone has one. Do you think it’s a fail on SJM or something else?

These are all excellent questions. Especially in a species that technically lives forever. So for example, Rhys's parents--the father was 900!! and the mother 18?!? He was an immensely powerful High Lord. Yet it never occurred to him to marry someone in almost a 1000 years? Ensure that he has children? That his line is continuing. In 900 years a LOT can happen.

In context: the first Crusade was in 1099. The 3rd/4th Crusade was in 1140-1180. That's 900-1000 years ago. Basically, most of Western European history that we know now took place in the last 1000 years.

That's how long Rhys's father was alive before he found his mate.

Of course it makes no sense at all.

Rhys also stated that 'Azriel was wondering why the Moriel bond hasn't snapped' up until now, with Moriel both being in their mid-550s, and Cassian also said that that's what he was hoping for for himself--the mate bond.

So considering that these mate bonds are supposedly rare WHY is everyone hoping for it? And waiting for it? None of these people are willing to take the plunge? Marry? Love? because they keep thinking 'this isn't it' since no mate bond?

It absolutely makes no sense, other than that SJM wanted to make everyone have extra super special celestially-approved relationships.

I always wondered what was the point of the Rowaelin bond? He didn't even know about it. And he loved Aelin madly. They already shared the bond of power--why the need for a mate bond? He skinned someone alive for her. Is that not enough?

Same with Kallias and Viviane. He was UTM. She was taking care of his court, hiding it, sustaining it, working for it. They already loved each other before. What did the bond add to their relationship? Would he not have married her after he returned because there was no bond? Would he just be like, thanks for the sacrifice Viv. You did good. Now I am gonna go and date, to see if I click with anyone.

Also, what about free choice? If it's all preordained, then there is no choice. As you mentioned--was it all meant to be? Were Rhys and Feyre always meant to be? Even when they were a different species?And he was immortal and she'd have a lifespan of maybe 60?

Also, if there are so many bad bonds, where people don't like each other, are forced to stay with one another, women are attempting to run away, men kill rivals not because of love, but because of bonds--then why would anyone want it?? Like, why would Azriel want a bond, when the only example of a mated couple he saw were Rhys's parents? And apparently that was pretty disastrous.

Wouldn't people not want to be bonded? And if it snaps, they'd be like, fuck, now what?? And for a species that live forever, what is this week-long Frenzy? What's a week in a lifespan of ...immortality? Because it's not like it's mentioned that they live in some state of heightened sexuality, or understanding, or just, anything. Nessian, for example, didn't even have this Frenzy time, because Cassian left. So now what? Are they just simply married? Then what's the point of the bond?

There are many reasons why I don't like the mate bond trope, especially how SJM wrote it, because it makes so little sense and has holes that I can drive a truck through.

[flameontheotherside]

I can't anymore...

Maybe it's postpartum depression. Idk...Rick and I talked about our relationship. It doesn't seem like we are engaged anymore. For 1) We are both on disability and if we get married, because he's on SSI he loses his benefits. 2) It feels like I'm pushing for something just for the sake of having it because I lost my chance with Erik.

It feels pointless. Our relationship to us feels like we are just together because we don't want to be alone. Rick wanted me from the day we met, almost a year after Erik's death. At that time I didn't want a serious relationship, drinking an partying was more important to me as means of escaping my grief, and I didn't really like Rick. He was a different person and so was I.

I gave him a chance ten years later

...Or I gave myself a chance. My relationships since Erik's death were never based on love. I took a logical stand point in relationships; for security, because at the time we matched and got along, and because I saw it as the only way to forget and move on from Erik. It wasn't just Erik's death that screwed me. It was every relationship I had before. Men either didn't reciprocate, or I was rejected or cheated on in a fucked up way. From being dumped on my birthday to David being the worst. Basically a predator who saw me as high school bait, and disappeared after he visited me from Texas.

Erik's death was just basically the nail on my emotional coffin. I thought I loved Matt but I didn't. With him it was trauma bonding. But then he hurt me pretty bad too in the same ways most men did. He would act like he didn't know me around certain people and used me to get back to Texas only to ditch me several times in the middle of nowhere. Before Matt died he admitted to being an asshole and I agreed that he was but I've not forgiven him. I don't know if I care enough to. My only faults with Matt was that I constantly compared him with Erik and caring too much about him allowing him to use me in the end.

So I gave Rick a shot after being fucked over so much only to realize after 3 years our relationship has suffered mostly because of the fucked up things that happened to me. I haven't talked about it. It goes beyond Erik although he's still part of it but a big chunk is the overall emotional abuse I suffered while looking for Erik. Long distance relationships still can hurt and they did more than the ones I had locally because in those long distance relationships, on a subconscious level I thought I had found Erik at one point or another with the time ticking all the way to spring of 2009 with the constant gut feeling that something was going to happen if I didn't find him. Sure enough that spring a psychic confirmed by saying that there was nothing I could have done. Those words often said when you find out someone killed the selves. I cried so much that day.

There's no logical reason to be engaged.

We have a kid. It doesn't mean we have to get married but we're remaining together. We remain dating on technicality. My heart isn't anywhere anymore. It left so long ago that I just can't give anymore. I've been sucked completely dry. Rick loves me but I can't love him the same way he loves me. He doesn't seem to care but I told him that it's unfair to him. He still doesn't care. Idk what Rick sees in me or what he expects.

I don't regret having a kid with him. There's no doubt he's a good father. I always knew he'd be. I wouldn't have it any other way besides the sort of obvious. I can't force myself to have what I missed out on. Maybe I'm meant to be this way; alone while everyone else is married to their person and living the lives I'll never have because mine is dead.

[forever-rogue]

I’ve been listening to ‘tis the damn season far too many times to be healthy and idk about the end of the year, it’s always so depressive? So I’m thinking... how would Marcus Moreno comfort a girl in this situation? But they’re not officially together yet 😶💕

Perhaps some heartbreak? Perhaps some soft Marcus fluff? Both? Both!

Marcus Moreno x Fem!Reader ; warnings: slight language

Pedro Characters Masterlist

»»————-　♡　————-««

The rain was falling down in absolute buckets and it was nearing one in the morning, and it was dark and freezing and... you shouldn't have been there, you shouldn’t have come, you shouldn’t have done a lot of things, but you couldn’t stop yourself. 

You’d hastily thrown your things in the old, worn suitcase and gotten the soonest flight home. Home - your real home, the one you enjoyed being in, the one where you felt you alive and loved. Your parents’ home wasn’t home - not anymore anyway. It hadn’t been for a long time, and you should have realized that. Going back was a mistake; you should have stayed back and home and spent the holidays with Marcus and Missy, just how he had asked - insisted even. But no; you’d been stubborn and insisted that you hadn’t wanted to intrude on his celebration with his daughter, his family. You are family, Marcus promised sincerely, those chocolate brown eyes crinkling in the corners and that singular dimple proudly on display. 

You panicked; your heart constricted and clenching as you listened to his words. And gods, you’d wanted to stay, wanted to say yes. But you couldn’t - couldn’t do it to your heart. You’d loved him so much it hurt, physically ached, sometimes, but you couldn’t tell him. What if he didn’t feel the same, what if he saw you as just a friend, a neighbor, something? You weren’t about to set yourself up for failure and a broken heart.

And yet...here you were, pounding on his door in the middle of the night, tears running down your cheeks as they mixed in with the fat, cold drops of rain. Heartbroken. 

Joke was on you; you’d ended up in pain either way.

Tis the damn season, you’d scoff at yourself. 

“Fuck,” you whispered to yourself as you lowered your hand from the door. You couldn’t be doing - showing up at his door in the middle of the night and waking him up. It wasn’t fair to him; he was such a good man, and he didn’t deserve to be forced to deal with you in this state and to pick up the pieces. It would be cruel; he was much more than just a shoulder to cry and he didn’t need to do this for you. No, you’d go home and cry it out and pick yourself up by the bootstraps just like you’d done before, “fuck.”

You wiped at your wet eyes with your even wetter sleeve, bitterly laughing at your idiotic move and turning to walk back home. Maybe the walk in the cold rain would work to bring some sort of clarity to your mind or...something. It was almost cathartic in a way; to be forced to come to terms with the choices of your actions, and inactions, as you walked home in the silence of the wee morning hours. 

Just as you got to the end of the driveway, you heard the door open slowly, followed by the most reverent whisper of your name that you’d ever heard. You turned on your heel, trying to keep your lip from trembling as you looked up at Marcus. He pulled the door fully open before running over to you without a moment of hesitation, or a care in the world as he easily became soaked as well. 

“I'm sorry!" you almost yelled over the rain as he reached for your hand in order to pull you into the sanctuary of the warm house, "I didn't mean to wake you up. I-I-I should go."

"You didn't," he insisted, gently pulling you along with him, "I was in my office - I almost didn't hear you over the rain."

"Missy-"

"She's at her friend's house for the weekend," he explained as you relaxed and acquiesced to his touch and let him lead you inside, "but you are going to come in and warm up and tell me what's going on."

»»————-　♡　————-««

“Better?” Marcus’ voice was soft as you padded back into the kitchen, now in a fresh new set of clothes - his clothes. He’d been insistent that you take a hot shower to warm up and gave you a clean set of pajamas. You hadn’t been expecting for them to be the softest things you’d ever worn, or for his smell to cling onto them as much. It was enough to make you weak in the knees as you had slipped them on, smelling of his soap, shampoo, and now sporting his clothes. His eyes flicked up when he saw you come in, his lips parting slightly as his tongue darted out to wet them; he hadn’t expected to quite feel that when he took in the sight of you in his clothes...but damn. 

“Yes,” you nodded softly as you walked over to the him, pulling out one of the stools at the island and slipping onto it. Marcus had busied himself with making hot chocolate - complete with mini marshmallows, just like you loved, “thank you for everything, Marcus.”

“Don’t mention it,” he tried to play it off as cool, but relished in the small praise as he set the large mug in front of you, before grabbing his own and making his way around to you. You tried to suppress the wild beating of your heart as he took the spot next to you, his leg brushing against yours and causing a flurry of sparks to run down your spine. 

The two of you sat in contemplative silence for a few moments, nothing but the sounds of your spoons in the mugs and the sipping of cocoa sounding in the quiet space. There was an ease, an instant sense of comfort and warmth that inhibited everything when Marcus was around. It was easy to know that this was home; nothing else mattered. 

Before you could get too deeply lost in thought, Marcus gently nudged his leg against yours, capturing your attention. You turned to face, watching as he pulled off his glasses and tossed them onto the counter, pinching the bridge of his nose for a moment. He looked tired, and a sense of annoyance at yourself settled into your bones. You shouldn’t have disturbed what was likely the only bit of peace he had experienced in a while. Marcus must have been a mind reader or something because he slowly shook his head and gave your hand a gentle squeeze. 

“It’s not you, hon-” he stopped himself but his would be pet name was not lost on either of you. It wasn’t usual for him to call you something sweet; honey, sweetheart, love. You just never thought much about it, chalking it up to him being a nice man who liked to give his people pet names. But this was different - there was something much more left to be said, “will you tell me what’s going on?”

“It’s silly,” you said softly, not sure if you wanted to humiliate yourself in front of him right now. Not sure if you wanted to delve into what both of you could feel bubbling up to the surface. But you couldn’t deny it any longer, both of you had been dancing around the issue, skirting it at best, for so long. Maybe this was the push in the right direction that you both needed, maybe it was time to stop running just because you were scared, “I...ugh, I shouldn’t have gone home to my parents.”

Marcus paused for a moment, nodding slowly in a knowing manner. The two of you had been friends - foolish oblivious friends - for years, and there were no secrets at this point, he knew you inside out and you knew him just as intimately, “you saw him.”

“Yeah,” you blew a long exhale before laughing at yourself, “I should have listened to you - it was stupid to go. It’s not home, it hasn’t been for a long time. This is home  - you’re home.”

“What did he say?” Marcus’ hand closed tightly into a fist as he tried not to make his fuming too obvious, “did he-”

“No,” before you could stop yourself, you’d put your hand on his, slowly unclenching it from its closed position, inviting him to relax, “he just...nothing happened. He...he said I’d changed. That it was stupid for me to show up.”

“Why?” his breath hitched in throat as the word caught and he tried not to panic too much. Internally it was like the Kill Bill sirens were going off and his whole body was beating like his wild heart. 

“He said even though it was just a mindless fuck, he couldn’t do it,” you admitted with a shaky breath, “that I didn’t belong there - back at my parents, back in that stupid town - anymore. That I should go back to my real home with the man I loved.”

“And what did you tell him?” Marcus was positive there were only a few times in his life when he’d been this nervous before - the day he’d gotten married, the day he found out he was going to be a father, the first time he’d held Missy in arms and now...this. 

“I...I told him that it wasn’t possible,” you admitted softly, as Marcus’ eyes were glued onto yours, “because there was no way that the man I love would love me back. Because he is everything, and I am a mere...I’m just me. But I left and packed and got on the first flight back here - home.” 

“Why would you think that?”

“Think what?”

“That the man that you love doesn’t love you?” your throat felt tight as you allowed yourself to look up and met his eyes. His expression was soft - gentle - and the ghost of a smile was tugging on the corners of his mouth.

“Because you could never love me, Marcus,” you finally said it out loud, answering the silent question that had been lingering between the two of you for so long.

“And why is that?”

“Look at you,” you blinked back a few tears, “you’re amazing and wonderful and you’re perfect and I am such a mess. I couldn’t even...I show up on your doorstep, a crying pathetic mess, and here you are, amazing as always and picking up all the pieces. I - fuck - I would never flatter myself into thinking you loved me.”

“I do,” he said softly, turning to face you properly and reaching for your face to gently cradle it in his large hands. His gaze was intense as he studied you, and your stomach dropped. Did he...was he… he loved you? Marcus wiped away the single tear that had rolled down your cheek, “yeah, I do love you, honey. I have for a long time now - we both know it. I think we just got so scared, so caught up in ourselves that we never said it.”

“Oh,” you looked at him with the sweetest expression as he just beamed at you, “I...I love you, Marcus. I have wanted to say that to you forever, but I was so nervous...I just never…”

Before you could continue to ramble, Marcus leaned over and kissed you; it was soft, and gentle, sweet - but with a hint of longing as you practically melted into his touch. Kissing him was, to put it simply, utterly perfect. There was no fumbling awkwardness and no learning curve, it just was. 

When you pulled back for a breath of air, he held you close, closing his eyes as he pressed his forehead against yours, his nose nuzzled against yours. 

“I…” you sighed softly, contentedly, as you chased his lips with your own for a few more kisses, “I love you.”

“I love you,” he promised firmly, “you are home - you are family. Please don’t ever doubt that again.”

“How could I?” you whispered, “when you make me feel like this? I am never happier than when I’m with you, with Missy - never.”

“Neither are we,” he promised, “you are everything, just like you think I am. I will never let you forget that.”

»»————-　♡　————-««

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[legends-live-in-memories]

For The Love of a Father (Idea)

AYO it me! this was inspired by an idea by @1rosebyanyothername in the MGI server. (i copied this directly from the server so rip my punctuation)

“What if somehow Thomas Wayne managed to live but lost his memory, so he moved to Paris, taking on the name Thomas Dupain?

What if he then married Sabine Cheng, and then eventually had Marinette?

So Bruce would be Marinette’s half brother, around 8 years older than her.”

So this is what I came up with as a part of brainstorming for it. (again not a fic but an idea that i should not be allowed to have)

without further ado:

Okay so imagine they, Thomas and Martha, were pronounced dead on scene but when they get to the coroner's office Thomas wakes up but since this has already made big public scandal the coroner tries to be discrete and ships his unconscious body off to like Strange or someone who then confirms the memory loss or gasp does it himself and ships him off to who knows where cuz the underbelly of Gotham has plans and a living Wayne ruins that but he didnt kill him cuz the Wayne foundation funded Blackgate and Arkham so out of mercy he doesnt kill him but ships him off to Italy in the care of one (1) ☝ Gina Dupain who was all new son and rolled tf with it

now he is being careened off to Paris cuz his 'father' Roland lives there but since Thomas was already a grown man at this point he just tries to live on his own and this is where he meets Sabine and they have a lovely daughter named Marinette Martha Dupain-Cheng

he doesnt know why he chose Martha but the name comes with an intense feeling of love so of course he would name his first daughter after that name

now either this is set in like fox series Gotham where we have young pre!batman Bruce or whenever but if you choose that route then maybe immediately after the series during his sabbatical he finds himself in Paris and would you look at that his dad his sweeping floors while a girl no older than 6 is calling him papa and Bruce just fucking breaks and he doesnt know what to do cuz he thought this man was dead but no he has a new family a new wife a new kid and Bruce has spent all this time grieving this man so he walks in trying to figure out wtf is going on but then Thomas looks up at this now 18??? yr old Bruce and there's a pleasant smile and 'welcome to Tom and Sabines how can i help you' and no recognition and Bruce then realises he has truly lost his father and now when he becomes batman its not with the grief of losing his parents but with the pain of losing his father twice

so then fast forward and cue to 13 yr old Marinette and being ladybug and wonder woman tells the league of a problem in Paris and Bruce just like freezes cuz wtf and internally he's spiralling cuz he never recovered from his discovery of his father's new simple life but the mission comes first and the grieving 12 yr old inside has to take a backseat for now so he sends someone (maybe midnighter but idk much bout him so someone else like wonder woman) to find out more and get in contact with those dealing with the situation so they schedule a meeting with ladybug and chat noir and Bruce nearly swallows his tongue cuz he doesnt give a f bout magic and magic cant hide those eyes cuz he sees them every morning in the mirror the same shade of blue (idk if it was Thomas or Martha that had blue eyes and i dont think canon knows either) and Bruce just knows this is his father's daughter his sister and she's caught in the same life as he but not because she condemned herself to this life but cuz some ras al ghul wannabe forced her and now he's seeing red but he cant lose his cool cuz batman doesnt lose his cool

so they work together but this little girl no taller than his ribs is hesitant and cautious and she's cracking under the pressure cuz her partner has other responsibilities and she has to pick up the slack and she doesnt know what to do and now Bruce is this close to revealing himself to her and explaining everything so that she has a bigger shoulder to lean on but he cant cuz hawkmoth and magic and secret identities and its a whole mess

(he is absolutely ready to go apeshit during weredad but he doesnt but its a damn near thing)

NOW we cut to when Mari is like 16 and theyre closing in on hawkmoth but he cant focus too much on that cuz 38 yr old Bruce just picked up a child and holy shit how does one parent and his sister?? can he even call her that?? is handling the situation so he takes a bigger backseat on Paris and focuses more on cleaning up Gotham and training/raising robin

and now things are kinda mellowing out and everyone falls into their new routines and roles in life Bruce almost forgets that his dad is not dead and during an investigation he finds out that Hugo Strange was responsible for shipping his father off like cheap export and now he's torn because he knows Strange can undo it,,, the bastards done worse and more complicated shit over the years undoing memory loss that he caused should be piece of cake but he doesnt want to take away a father from his child cuz Bruce knows how that can absolutely ruin someone and he's grown fond of his sister even if the relationship is severely one-sided she's family and Bruce couldnt do that to family but ,,,, but he misses his father he loves Alfred truly but nothing replace the Thomas and Martha shape gape in his heart so he does nothing

NOW he does however want to bridge the gap between himself and Marinette cuz he wants to know his father's new family even if the thought of his father loving someone other than his mother and calling someone else his child makes him viscerally ill he is nothing if not addicted to self-inflicted punishment after all

so he invites her whole class over to metropolis as some scholarship trip (he'll be damned if he brings his tiny sister to gotham of all places) and tries to get to know her there but he cant do so under much professional settings so he lets it slip casually in a presentation about his parents and includes a picture of his parents and he sees the looks the girl’s classmates throw around cuz they know that man as her father not his but no one can deny the resemblance so after the presentation she discretely goes off to talk with him in private but everyone sees them and knows whats happening so there is no time for pretense but they go into a back room and they talk and talk and talk and cry a little bit maybe a lot and they make promises to get to know each other

[sweetestlamb]

Bring Me To Life

Summary: Kang Sujin has never had anyone to turn to, hiding behind a façade her entire life. Someone begins to peek behind the mask. 

Author’s note: My two favorite characters in TB are Seojun and Sujin, both characters who are honestly treated like trash by the writers. I cannot begin to tell how upsetting it was to see Sujin’s character assassination or how painful it is to watch her being physically abused knowing that the writers will not give her therapy or a true happy ending. She’s just here to be beaten and vilified. Seojun, I won’t even rant everyone knows what the problem is (idk who told them we wanted to see Start-Up the high school edition.) So I wrote this after watching the most recent episode and hating most of it for these reasons. I don’t know how far it’ll go or how often I can update, but I need my two babies to have a happy ending preferably together because the visuals are just a dreammmm. 

The rain crashes down loudly from aggrieved storm clouds bellowing above her in the sky, the chilled condensation plastering her thin satin pajamas to her trembling body. She had to get out, the pain in her cheek numbing and electrifying all at once.

How dare she tell him that she didn't want to get married, want to stand on her own two feet without a man giving her value?

His hand had flown across the room before she could sidestep the blow, the fragile glass filled with water in her hand- the very reason she'd left her room in the dead of night- shattering into jagged pieces as it collided with a greater force. Just like her.

She hadn't been trying to eavesdrop but it was hard not to hear him chuckling deeply on the phone, offering up his only child like she was an item on a menu.

"Yes we should set them up. It seems Suho isn't interested and she should marry young, that's when women are worth the most."

Nausea rolled like waves in the pits of her stomach and before she could think logically, her feet were sprinting into the living room, air barely filling her lungs as she stared at the man she'd never once thought of as a father. The last time she'd made the grave mistake of calling him daddy he'd smacked her so hard that was how she lost her first tooth. He'd been father ever since or Mr. Kang. She tried her best to avoid him at all cost, she would never be good enough and it was getting harder to hide the marks he left behind.

It was difficult to remember clearly what occurred seconds after her refusal to marry a man she didn't know left her lips, his fist connected and she was knocked back onto their coffee table the sharp edge cutting at her cheek. As she looked at him, anger painting his face a demonic red, fear crippled her and her hands twitched desperately wanting to wash them raw. Then he grabbed a thick marble ashtray from the table and her instincts took over and she was out the door, running as fast as she could, knowing her life was at stake and she couldn't afford to stop.

When the cloud in her head cleared that was when she found herself at the bus stop.

Judgmental whispers breeze by her ears as people passed by with umbrellas, shocked to see the young girl crying in her pajamas at the stop, but none stopped to offer her help or inquire about her situation, happy just to pass judgement. She ignores them all, panicking racing through her blood until she's unable to breathe, choking on nothing as she twitches in the harsh air. Her throat constricts as she screams at herself, breathe. 

Breathe.

BREATHE! 

But it's useless as her body shuts down, forgetting how to do the basic function, she sways as she starts to feel light headed from the lack of oxygen and with a final wheeze she collapses. 

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

He signs as he weaves past cars moving far too slowly, adrenaline rushing through his veins as he marginally misses nipping a car to the left of him, easily dragging his motorcycle away with the fluid movements of his body. He glares up at the sky before cursing, "Fucking weather report didn't say anything about a sudden rainstorm." If he'd known he would have stayed home, always hating the rain. It brought back bad memories.

Halting at a red light, he puts his leg down for balance bouncing slightly in place. Pulling the shield up on his helmet he glances around, recognizing the area easily, before something in his peripheral catches his attention, a lump on the ground. Tilting his head he revs his trusty iron steed to live, riding over to the direction of the mysterious mass on the wet ground. As he gets closer his heart falters, it's too evident now. 

It's a person.

Jumping off his bike and pushing out the kickstand he flings his helmet off, his hair immediately drenched under the downpour as he races over to help. As he nears the figure, it becomes clearer it's a woman wearing what looks like sleep clothes. Momentarily he wonders if this is a crazy person and if he should just mind his business but a frightening image of his little sister unconscious on the ground and no one coming to her aid flashes in his mind.

"I'll just check if she's breathing and call an ambulance. That's all, if she tries to attack me I'll just ride away." He takes a deep breath, collecting his courage before closing the gap between him and the unconscious woman.

Crouching beside her, he reaches out a hand hesitating before sighing and shaking at her cold shoulder. No response. He shakes harder now, watching the motion quake through her entire body, but still she is unresponsive.

"Hey! Hey! Are you okay? Wake up, you're scaring me!" He starts to jiggle her with both hands, before he crawls into her space not caring about his safety any longer, the idea that this unknown woman might be dead is making him nauseous. People are always dying without his permission. It's so frustrating.

"Wake up! Come on!" He shouts at the figure now holding both her shoulders and turning the woman over, lifting her face from its place on the ground, cradling her limp body in his lap. After two more vicious shakes, she starts to cough and groan in his arms. Relief swims through his veins as he watches her come back to life, anxiously watching as her dewy long lashes flutter open and he's caught in a lifeless deep gaze.

"Han Seo-Jun?"

It takes a long pause for him to register that the woman has said his name and then a longer moment to recognize who she is.

"Kang Su-Jin?" He replies in genuine shock, taking in the wom--young girl in his arms. She's shivering so violently that it's becoming difficult to hold onto her, vibrating out of his hold before he grips her tighter, whipping off his jacket without second thought and wrapping it around her. Goosebumps raising on his skin as his body mentally berates his lack of survival skills.

"What are you doing here?" She looks at him bewildered as if the stranger occurrence is his presence and not her own.

He squints his eyes looking back at her, "I could ask you the same thing. I found you unconscious here. I thought you were...." He trails off unable to utter the rest of his sentence.

"You should have left me here. Maybe I would have. If I was that lucky."

"What? Are you crazy, you want to die? Did you do this to yourself, what are you on?!" He roars at her, rage flooding his system as he shouts at the stupid girl, how dare she try to kill herself and leave her body for him to find? He wishes he had taken a different route, that he'd never come across her. He was in no state to comfort someone who was suicidal, still too raw and hurt. What was so hard about living that made people want to do that? Hot tears gather in his eyes as he abruptly pulls away from Sujin, unapologetic as she tumbles to the ground without his support.

She starts at him, stunned before righteous fury twists her features and she roars back at him.

"Who are you to judge me! I didn't ask you to help me, leave me alone!"

He glares back at her ready to yank his jacket away and run away from her but a small movement stops him, as she's screaming at him a small muscle twitches in her cheek bringing his attention to said cheek. It's nearly purple, standing out obscenely on her pale skin and then he notices the split lip and the bruises on her neck and he's so ashamed of himself he could bawl.

He deflates before speaking to her, "What happened to your face? Who did this to you?"

He doesn't know what kind of look he has on his face but before his questions can even settle between them she's sneering and twisting away from him, throwing his jacket on the ground before making her escape. Unprepared for her sudden departure he reacts too late, before chasing after her. It's easy to close the distance separating them with his long legs and within seconds she's merely inches in front of him, he reaches out a large hand to grab her wrist but hesitates recalling the bruises littering her frame. Instead he races past her, blocking her with his body swerving to the left and then the right when she tries to dodge him. They play this cat and mouse game before she finally gives up, glaring up at him with moist enraged eyes.

"Why do you care? We aren't even friends!"

Her piercing shout rings in his ears as he looks down at her passively. He can't answer that question, doesn't know what brought him to this area so late and not understanding why he was the one to find her in this condition. He doesn't know why he cares. But maybe things could have been different if Se-Yeon had someone to chase him. Maybe he'd still be alive...

So he answers her honestly.

"I don't want anymore people to die."

To his complete shock she starts to cry, tears falling rapidly from her eyes before she crumples to the ground, the rain pounding on her head and he stands still unsure of what to do before he drapes the jacket he'd rescued from the ground over her head, shielding her from most of the thunderous downpour. When she looks up to see the jacket protecting her, he almost falls backwards as her head slams into his chest, her tears simmering hot on his chilled body. It's almost painfully uncomfortable but he doesn't move away. Letting her cry on his chest, his shirt is soaked anyway this makes no difference.

He doesn't know how long they are crouched there on the ground, so dark that the sidewalk is completely devoid of anyone else, it feels like they are the only two people left on Earth.

"If we stay here you're going to get a cold."

He voices his concern but the only reply he receives is a gross sounding sniffle and he grimaces, knowing that his poor shirt is probably damaged beyond repair covered in snot and tears.

Sighing he starts to repeat himself before she whispers, "I don't have anywhere to go."

"I can take you home." Her fists tighten in his drenched shirt, he can practically feel the fear wafting off her, he'd assumed the marks on her face were from a possessive unhinged boyfriend but her reaction makes him uneasy. He tries to push those unpleasant thoughts to the corner.

"What about your friends? Why don't you call Su-ah or Ju-Kyung, I’m sure they’ll help you.” 

She stiffens in his arms before shaking her head in decline.

"No. I can't let anyone else see me like this. I don't need them looking at me the way you did, like I'm a sad pitiful puppy. I never want anyone look at me like that again."

He can respect that, he never wants to appear weak in front of others. It was easier to become angry and lash out rather than showing your true heart, nobody could hurt you that way.

"Then what? Where do you want to go?"

"I have nowhere to go. I'll stay here until morning. I'll be fine, you can go."

He looks at her dumbfounded, what kind of man would leave a battered woman alone in the rain? He wasn't raised by animals, damn it.

"Let's go." He makes a point not to touch her, their only point of connection are her hands twisted in his shirt.

"What?"

He bulldozes past her confusion, looking at her with what he hopes are comforting eyes.

"I'm taking you to my house. I can't just leave you here."

"Are you crazy? Don't you live with your mother and sister, what will they say?"

He winces at the logical inquiry, he had already considered that himself, thinking of his mother's subsequent smacks and his sister's teasing once they learned what he'd done but still deciding that he has no other choice. He can't just leave her here.

He shrugs, "That's my problem to worry about. I'm not leaving you here, I'd really like to get out of his rain. Let's go." He repeats himself harder, pleading with her.

She looks away and he's prepared to throw her over his shoulders and face the consequences when he hears her response, "Okay. Let's go."

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

It's a quiet ride back, the engine rumbling through the aching bones of her frozen body. Han Seojun. The last person she ever expected to see after being roused from her panic induced collapse. Her arms tighten around his thin waist as he swerves around a car, adrenaline and fear battling for dominance in her body. When her fingers accidentally brush across wet bare skin she quickly moves her hands higher, fighting the embarrassment that washes over her.

If he notices she can't hear his reaction over the roar of the motorcycle.

When they finally pull up to a small apartment, she loosens her hold on him cracking her frozen digits.

"You didn't need to hold that tightly, I wasn't going to let anything happen to you. I ride this everyday you know."

She doesn't reply focusing on getting off the bike, swinging her leg over and hopping off not graceful but effective, a small proud smile spreads on her face before she gazes back at him.

He stares back before shaking his head, as if lost in a daze before he stomps off for her to follow.

Wordlessly she trails behind him, feeling foolish in her duck pajamas, a gift from Su-ah.

When he pushes his front door open, letting her in first she steps out of her sopping wet house slippers standing awkwardly looking around.

"Stay here. I'll get towels so we don't trail too much water."

She nods at his command, gazing at the floor and seeing how much water is already pooling around her feet.

"Here." He hands her a fluffy pink towel, she raises an eyebrow at the color.

"It's the guest towel. I wouldn't give you my towel."

That makes sense, sharing towels is far too intimate for the relationship they have. That being none. 

She rapidly towels at her hair, before running the towel down her body and wrapping it around her waist.

"You can use the bathroom. It's the second door on the right. I'll bring you dry clothes."

She steps cross the doorway, finally entering his home. Before she turns back to him staring directly into his eyes, "Than.... You didn't have to do this." She loses her confidence but his answering smirk lets her know he understood enough, with that she walks to the bathroom locking herself inside.

The sight of her bruised face in the mirror makes her pause, reaching up to finger at the stark purple mark on her cheek. She's crying before she can control her emotions, tears dripping into the sink as she remembers her night, how close she was to the end despite what she said to Seojun she wanted to live. As her father stood above her ready to snuff her out like a mere nuisance in his life, she realized with a burning passion how desperately she wanted to live.

A soft knock drags her back to reality as she rapidly wipes her tears away.

"I'm leaving clothes by the door. You can come out whenever you're ready. I'm making tea."

When she hears the light steps of his feet moving away from the door she opens the door a crack, picking up the neatly folded pile of clothes. Sending the boy a mental thank you before closing the door quietly.

It's clear that these clothes belong to Seojun, draping off her body, too large for her frame, a black T-shirt with a microphone on the center and sweatpants that cover her feet as well, he'd even remembered to bring her socks. Instantly she feels her body warming as her body temperature returns to normal. 

Folding her wet clothes and splashing water on her face then using the towel to rub it dry, she exits the bathroom walking towards the light she sees assuming that's the kitchen.

"The water's almost done boiling. Sit down."

His deep voice greets her as she follows his orders and takes a seat.

"Are these your clothes?"

"What? Oh yeah they're mine, sorry my sister locked her door. They're very old though, I haven't worn them in years I thought they would fit you better." He eyes her as he says the last sentence, "I guess it didn't make much of a difference I'm just too tall and manly for my own good."

She scoffs at his narcissistic comment rolling her eyes "Tall and manly my foot. You're so skinny I could probably pick you up with one arm."

He immediately turns at her comment, affronted look on his face, "Shut up! It's hard for me to put on weight, I'm not that skinny."

He places his hands on his hips, looking down at himself before puffing his chest out to make himself appear broader, it's so ridiculous that she can't control her reaction.

Sudden uncontrollable laughter.

She laughs breathlessly, folding onto her lap trying to contain her giggles but his scandalized look makes her laugh harder and she has to stuff her face in her elbow to prevent herself from waking his family.

After a few minutes of random spasms of laughter she finally peers back up at him.

He looks just like he did outside when she'd smiled after successively getting off his motorcycle.

"What? What are you looking at?"

"Nothing. I just never see you smile at school."

"Well you never do anything worth smiling about." She quips back, wondering if she'd gone too far but he doesn't reply beyond a slight smile that's gone too fast to even be titled that, he places her steaming cup of tea before her sipping at his own after blowing on it.

They drink in comfortable silence.

She's the first to rapture the silence, "I don't need pity."

"I don't pity yo--"

"But thank you. Thank you for stopping. Thank you for this, thank you."

He stares wordlessly before nodding, a slight blush on his cheeks before he hides his face in the cup of tea. She doesn't bring attention to it.

"You can sleep in my room. It's the door next to the bathroom."

Humming she looks up, fatigue hitting her like a brick at the mention of sleeping.

"Where will you sleep?"

"I have a perfectly good couch, don't argue you're sleeping in my room. That's final. It's better that my mother doesn't see a strange woman on the couch when she wakes up."

Well, she can't argue with that logic.

"Okay." Drinking the last of the soothing beverage, she stands up walking over to place the cup in the sink.

"Good night." She starts to walk back in the direction of the bathroom, seeing another door next to it. Seojun's room. Twisting the doorknob she pushes it open, before she hears his voice from behind her.

"If you need anything I'm right outside."

Blinking her tears away, she nods without looking back, too vulnerable with his palpable concern.

When she lays her head down on his pillow, his scent fills her senses and she falls into a deep restless slumber feeling safer than she has in long time.

Tomorrow will be horrible.

But tonight, she will allow herself to breath easy knowing that someone is on her side.

[thinkolicity]

Mia on TF Armageddon p. 5

In case you missed it (or just didn't watch 💀) Mia did nothing relevant on The Flush. She was just a tool to attract Arrow viewers and, probably, conclude the Armageddon event with a boom in ratings.

Remember when they said Larry needed her help to prevent disaster, well, in short:

She was searching for William (who's been missing for 2 years) and idk caught someone's "force signal" (Thawne's?), followed it/jumped in a "time window" (?) and ended up in 2021 Central City.

At Team Flush's headquarters they discussed how to stop Thawne. Mia wanted to kill him.

Got a condescending pep-talk from Irish about how Oliver thought the same thing, that killing was necessary to protect his city but ended up "ruining his life" and that's why Mia is afraid to go see her mom?? Like girl whaaaaaaaaat SHUT UP you're talking about the man who, among other things, died to save your pathetic brotherhusband. You know nothing. This b*tch istg. Mia told her the one who's afraid is Irish-fracking-Allen herself bc she doesn't have the balls to kill Thawne after he killed Joe, almost tricked her into marrying him etc and could possibly still ruin her life in the future if she lets him live. Queen™.

Pissed-off Mia got possessed by Despero bc he wanted to kill Thawne.

While Larry was off dealing with Despero, Mia tried to kill Irish, Frost/Caitlin & two others uknown to me. The girls managed to make Mia un-possess herself.

Larry & Co decided to defeat Despero by disconnecting him from the time-force or whatever and take away Thawne's speed to save his life. Larry did it. Thawne then went ballistic bc his speed was his life and by taking it away it's as if Larry killed him. Larry can't do nothing right.

Afterwards, they all glammed up and went to a bar (?) to celebrate Larry's accomplishment. Irish called him a hero. Obvi. Best sisterwife ever.

Now my fave bit: Damien Dahrk appeared at the bar. Mia produced a knife out of thin air, put it against his throat and said "I know what you did to L*urel L*nce" and got all vengeful about it. I was like BABY GIRL YOU DIDN'T EVEN KNOW HER how about you get mad about, idk, YOUR OWN MOTHER who got shot and ended up paralysed because of him?? My tweet lamenting this brought out the Lollies who told me I'm dumb bc Felicity's alive and LL is not and Mia knowing how close her parents and the team were to LL/read about her/was talked about her/whatever + knowing Black S*ren justified her rage. Nah. Her mother and her trauma should take precedence over her father's unknown ex gf.

After this, Irish gave the hozen back to Mia and said that her super speshul source guy had connections and was able to match one of the symbols on the hozen to a symbol...somewhere else so this can help Mia find William. Somehow. So you really want to tell me nobody on Arrow - Oliver, Felicity, William, Mia herself maybe cuz she's not stupid - never bothered all these years to decode/translate the symbols on that stone like, out of curiosity? I have to laugh. I mean think about it. Mia's had that stone for two (2) years and NEVER ONCE thought about using it to find her brother? Knowing the stone was his? 1+1? Nooo she had to wait for Irish's genius brain. Well thank gOD for her 🙄🙄 give me a breeeak.

Then I guess she went back to her own time but I don't remember. No wait she mentioned she needed a hacker and knew a pretty good one so I guess she went to visit Felicity and her 2yo self ;-; Or she could even "summon" her in the future maybe Oliver too we'll never know ;-;

That's it. Pretty underwhelming if you ask me. Plus the usual shitting on Oliver to prop up Welshalley, the wondrous couple.

Kinda frustrating how they keep portraying Oliver as a cold-blooded killer, a monster full of darkness, who always did the wrong thing by killing and brought all disgraces onto himself blah blah just to inflate the notion that Larry is the morally superior, innocent ray of sunshine, the "true hero" like Cecile I think called him. As if him messing with timelines for his own selfish reasons, erasing lives, is totes ok 🙄

Was nice seeing Mia again though, despite everything. It was like coming home :3

[pomegranates-and-blood]

Maybe Death Gives Up On Us

My Masterlist

Maybe We Meet Again (prequel to this)

Pairing: Ivar/Reader

Summary: The second and final part of the sequel of In Another Life, set in a Modern!AU.

Word Count: 3.7k

Warnings:  Mentions of death, descriptions of violence and death, major character death (past), angst (a lot of it), nothing else I can think of.

A/N: So, this is it. Idk how I feel about this tbh, but I hope you’ll like it. Thank you! Love you!!

Taglist: @youbloodymadgenius​ @xbellaxcarolinax​ @1950schick​  @heavenly1927​ @ietss​  

You haven’t seen him in two weeks. After silently dropping him off at his -yours? Is it still?- apartment, you managed to distract yourself working on the information the stone ship, and the identity of the shieldmaiden that lay buried at the center of it, provided for your university, for your investigation.

But each night, when you close your eyes and you still see the wide and scared eyes of the man you love looking back at you in a mix of disbelief and grief, centuries dawn on you, memories choke you, and you are forced to face the realization Ivar, the quick-witted and endearing, guarded and loving, man you’ve known and loved for almost a year was the same one you saw in your nightmares, his knife in your heart, his teary eyes on yours, his lips whispering promises of love.

And so you go to him. For your sake, but, you dare think, also for his.

When he opens the door, you are stunned into silence. Gods, the eyes are still the same, and for so long you hoped that familiarity to be a trick of Fate, and not…not the reality that his eyes were in fact those of the man in your -her?-memories.

“Why are you here?” Ivar asks, and it strikes you how much like the man in your memories he looks.

He always did, but now…now you see the cruelty, the vitriol, the resentment. They were always there, the anger and the explosiveness are still the same but…but there’s an unhinged side to it all, and it reminds you so much of…of those last days.

You close your eyes tight for a moment, clearing your throat and stepping into the apartment.

“I…wanted to see how…how you’re faring.”

“I’m losing my fucking mind, Princess,” Ivar confesses, and where you think he meant for there to be bite and anger and resentment, all you find is desperation and fear and pain. He shrugs, and his eyes cannot meet yours, “Or I’ve lost it already, I don’t know.”

“You’re not going to lose your mind, Ivar.” You point out, letting out a sigh.

“I think I did, you know,” He confesses, hesitantly, a little lost. He shakes his head, running a hand over loose hair -hair that for some reason you expected to see in braids you once knew by heart-, “After I killed Oleg. I think…I ran out of people to blame and I-…”

You interrupt him, even though a part of you clings to his words, clings to the confession like who holds their hand over a burning flame, begging to feel pain if only to make sense of the world.

“Not you. It wasn’t you.”

“Why do I remember it then, hm?” Ivar presses, anger back in his tone, “Why do I remember…remember when I almost drowned on the way to Wessex, when we took Mercia and the Isles and you promised to marry me? Why do I remember when I-…?”

His voice wavers and dies, and Ivar grits his teeth, averting his eyes from yours. It does nothing to hide the agony in his gaze, the tears in his eyes.

You try finding the calm, the certainty, that you’ve held on to ever since you found yourself remembering.

“It is not unheard of, that some people may-…”

“Are you going to start talking about reincarnation, Princess?” He chuckles, but it is watery and broken.

“All I’m saying is that there is proof that cycles repeat. The Ancient Greeks spoke of some souls that given the choice to remain in the Elysian fields, their…Valhalla,” Ivar’s eyes turn to you with sharp focus, and you know he remembers the countless conversations where she wondered on what Valhalla truly meant. Still, you continue, “or return to the living, they chose to return, to live again.”

“That’s why you-…” He takes a deep breath, before he tries finding his voice again. You’ve never seen Ivar so…fragile, with the stance of a man that’s tethered by a thin string onto the safe side of a cliff. He swallows, and meets your eyes again, “That’s why you found me? To prove reincarnation is a thing?”

You shake your head before he is even done asking the question. Because still, past everything, you cannot fathom seeing the fragility in his eyes, the fear that it was a lie.

“I didn’t know you were-…I didn’t know you also remembered.”

“But you took me to y-your grave, to that ship. A stone ship, because you died too far from the sea, from o-our seas,” He shakes his head, as if trying to fight back against the memories that flood his mind, that come pouring out of his lips. “Why did you take me there? Did you hope I would remember? Remember what I did, what it cost me?”

“No, I-…”

He gestures with his arm, interrupting you. His voice raises, his temper does as well, the fury and desperation shining clearly in his pale eyes.

“Why, then!? To torment me, for…for what I did?” He huffs a breath, running his hand through his hair, “You did that plenty, you didn’t have to find me I don’t know how many centuries later to torture me for it, Princess.”

You close your eyes tight, and your hands curl into fists, anything to keep you in one piece, anything to keep you from breaking apart at the seams.

“Stop calling me that. You remember, which means you know what it means.”

“Why do you call me that?”

“‘Princess’?”

You nod, “My father is an Earl, Ivar. You are the Prince.”

“Mhm,” He concedes, and in someone that didn’t know him like you do the way he focuses on spinning the round-handled knife in his finger would be nothing but a nonchalant gesture. But you know better, and so you stay silent. Ivar clears his throat, before he offers, “I could make you a Princess, one day. I-If you wanted.”

Your heart lurches in your chest, and the start of a wide and stupid smile spreads on your lips. Leave it to him to bring up the possibility of one day marrying you like this.

Your hands find the sides of his face, and you bring your forehead to rest against his before you whisper, as softly as you can,

“I have no interest in being a Princess, Ivar,” Before his thoughts can get ahead of him, before he can build a wall so high not a thousand years of war would make a dent on them, you press your lips against his for a moment, before whispering, “But I’d love to be your wife.”

“Do you remember all of it?” Ivar asks, and you frown.

“Why do you ask?”

“Would you have done it?” He asks, and you both pretend to ignore how his voice wavers, “If I hadn’t stopped you, would you have joined Björn against me?”

You know what the real questions are: Was the murder in vain? Was the promise of betrayal nothing but a ruse? Did she die for nothing? Did he have other choice?

You cannot give him the answer, if only because it would mean accepting that he is…him, and that you are…her. And you cannot accept that.

That certainty that it is only memories what returns is what has kept you sane for these past weeks.

“She wasn’t-…”

“Not ‘she’,” He corrects, leaning closer. His eyes burn as they meet your own, “You.”

You still shake your head, pretending to be resolute, “It is not proven that anything other than memories rema-…”

“Why do you insist on denying who you are!?”

Rough fingers trace up and down your spine, and you nestle closer to the warmth, content and sated.

“I always wonder…” Ivar starts, and you hum to signal you are listening, “Why it is you are always so calm, so…courteous with everyone else. But you are always so easy to grow angry with me.”

“You have a talent for getting under my skin,” You confess, pressing a kiss over a new mark that starts showing on his neck, a small little proof that he is yours. After a breath, your lips curve into a mischievous smile, and you drag your teeth over that same, now sensitive, spot. “And I don’t hear you complaining, my love.”

And you realize with gut-wrenching clarity that never changed. Each time his voice raises so does yours, each time his temper flares so does yours to meet it.

And so you raise your chin and square your shoulders, never missing the weight of a shield at your back as you do now.

You take a breath shaky breath before you reply, voice raised and eyes shining with more than fury, “Because if I’m her, that means you are h-him!”

There’s tears making their way down your cheeks, there’s a tremble in your hands you cannot control, there’s a brittleness to all that makes you you, but there’s steel in your spine, there’s ice in your veins, there’s an anger that has lasted centuries singing in your blood.

And so you approach him with certain strides, furious eyes set on his and breaking your own heart with the familiarity of the situation.

The memories make your head feel less clouded, less cluttered, but they make your heart feel like it will break in two inside your chest.

The distrusting edge in his eyes, the cruel twist of his mouth, the cold tone of his voice.

The loud fights where he almost dared you to admit loving him was a lie, wild eyes and demanding voice. The quiet nights where you heard the pleas that you were truly his to keep pressed against your skin in between reverent kisses.

“Means you refused to believe I loved you for years on end!”

Your fist clashes against his chest, but Ivar doesn’t react. It feels like talking to a marble statue, to a distant figure of a past not your own, to a monster you read about in books and saw in your dreams.

The smile as he approached Kattegat’s throne after so long, the way he let go of your hand when it came to view.

The silent demand you make a choice: your people, or him. The refusal to acknowledge it was a choice at all after you decided to stay by his side.

“Means you chose a fucking throne over me!”

Even if your words end in a sob, you still hold on to anger, to grief, to the always bleeding, always stinging wound of betrayal.

Pleas not to bring the Rus army to Scandinavia falling on deaf ears, promises that the Rus is only the means to an end, arrogance coating his words as he vows he can control Oleg.

“Means you trusted that Rus bastard more than your own wife!”

Your fist tightens even more, and your head bows for a moment, before you lift your gaze to find his again. To make your fury and your pain meet his regret and his mistakes.

Your head hurting from so many hours crying in silence, holding onto anger and grief and ruin. Your steps those of a woman sentenced for death when you grab your sword and go meet him, meet your Fate.

“Means I…I…I loved you, and you broke my heart!”

And your hand lets go of the tension, just as your body does, and you stand with your back curved under the pain of centuries. And now your open palm rests against his chest, right over his heart.

The heart you once thought you owned. The heart that was more than once, in more than one lifetime, your most precious possession.

There’s tears in his eyes, there’s a sob making its way past parted lips that try to whisper your name.

But there’s certainty in the sharp movement of the knife, there’s finality in the blade that pierces your heart.

“…It means you killed me, Ivar.”

And the last of your strength, of your anger, of your grief, leave you. It doesn’t feel like defeat, though, it doesn’t feel like being crushed under the weight of Fate.

It feels freeing, like relief after trying to stand under a heavy weight for such a long time. Longer than you remember, probably.

Still, maybe because you were never strong enough to hold on to these memories, to this other life; or maybe because that is what strength is when you taste your own blood in your lips, when you know what it is like to have your heart stopped by the one that owns it; you break.

And your hand on his chest is the one thing keeping you upright, before his free hand settles on your back. Where you would have expected the uncertain hold of trying to soothe you, you find Ivar grips you as tightly as he can, holding you towards him with a mix of gentleness and desperation that speaks of pain and regret and love.

You don’t know how long you cry, and scream, and beg to know why. You don’t know how long he holds you, you don’t know how long you hold him.  

He doesn’t say he is sorry, he doesn’t ask for forgiveness. You only hear him say your name, and three words you can still feel reverberating in your chest.

Says both of those things so many times your name doesn’t sound yours anymore, even though it is, it always has been. Says both of those things for so long his voice breaks and yet with each ‘I love you’ he presses against your skin you hear it louder and louder.

You don’t know when he gently pushed you to sit on the bed, but you did, and you have the strange feeling of being an intruder to the room you and he shared before…before he knew who he was, who you were; before you knew who he was.

A whisper of your name, and you lift your gaze from the comforter you were numbly tracing with shaking fingers.

His eyes are red, and you know yours are too. His breath is shaky, and you know yours is too.

“I am…angry,” You confess, absently tracing his cheek with the back of your fingers, “At you and…and at Fate. A-Aren’t you?”

“Fate brought you back to me,” He whispers, hand trapping yours and pressing a kiss to your wrist, right over your pulse, “I found you again, after all I did, after…what I did to you. I can’t think of this as anything other than…”

“A blessing?” You interrupt, a smirk pulling at your lips, “Awfully Christian of you, Ivar.”

Your tease, weak and burdened by the past as it is, manages to make a smile pull at his lips, to make life return to his eyes, to make hi huff a breath than in another life could have been a chuckle.

You smile too, because you cannot help it. Still, you move back, away from where he sits on the bed, and curl over yourself, your back to the headboard and eyes glued to the digital picture frame that loops over and over pictures of you and Ivar.

His voice startles you from comfortable numbness, “How do you…live with it?”

You frown, “Why would I have the answer?”

He shrugs, “You’ve known for months.”

You can’t keep the bite from your tone when you point out, “I didn’t kill you.”

“You did.” He sentences, voice hoarse and avoiding your gaze. You close your eyes, taking a deep breath, trying to find a center, find clarity, find anything past resentment and pain and anger.

Instead of acknowledging his words, you offer, “The theory is that we all return, but…only a few have memories of those times. I talk to some people that…that have remembered too.”

“Does it help?”

“Haven’t met anyone that was stabbed in the heart by the man they loved, so…no, they don’t help much.”

“Anyone that stabbed the woman they loved in the heart?”

“Surprisingly enough, yes,” You sigh, before swallowing past a dry throat. Even if your voice wavers, you confess, “His eyes are familiar.”

“You are a very fortunate man to have her, I hope you know that.” The Rus whispers, dark eyes leaving your husband’s to travel to you. He offers a smile, a smile that speaks of sadness and envy and pain, a smile that for once seems honest.

Ivar keeps calculating eyes on the raven-haired man, and lifts your joined hands to his lips, pressing a deliberate kiss on the inside of our wrist, right over your pulse. Were this any other situation, and it would make a rush of heat travel through you, but now you only watch frozen in your spot as the Viking smiles.

“I know.”

“But you’d do the same thing I did, wouldn’t you? If you found your sweet wife had betrayed you.”

Ivar’s answer is immediate, and the fire in his eyes speaks of anger even if his voice is certain, “She would never.”

Oleg’s eyes narrow, and the smile he offers is once again shallow, once again a lie, once again poison, “I thought so too. Now my heart is broken, and she is in a crypt.”

“My mother…” Ivar starts, a broken sort of wonder shining through his words, “Her eyes are familiar.”

The part of you that even after death refused to stop loving him smiles, and grows warm at the knowledge he now recognizes her.

“Frighteningly so.” You concede with a nod.

“Do you think…do you think she knows? That she remembers?”

“She was once one to see beyond what the rest of us can. I think…I think she still is.”

Ivar sighs, “Gods…”

“It…time makes it make more sense, trust me.” You offer, somewhat sheepishly. What can you say to someone that has just remembered a whole life before this one?

Ivar lays down on the bed, hands at his sides and gaze on the ceiling. You remain sitting, your legs folded before you, your arms holding them close to you, as if to keep you safe, together.

After a while, he breaks the silence, “We were happy, weren’t we? Before?”

You don’t ask which before he means, because the answer remains the same. Before, when he was just the son of some lost legend and you were the unruly daughter of an earl, you loved him and he loved you and you were happy.

Before, when he was leader of the greatest of armies and you were a shieldmaiden known across the land, you loved him and he loved you and you were happy.

Before, even with the weight of defeat on your shoulder and the poisonous snake of dark eyes and darker heart at your backs, you loved him and he loved you and you were happy.

And because Fate granted you another chance, or maybe because the Gods are cruel, you had a before after all those ones. Before, when he was just the man you met in a coffeeshop and you were just a student trying to unveil one of the greatest tragedies -or greatest love stories, depending on who you asked-, you loved him and he loved you and you were happy.

And so the answer is a breath on your lips, light and easy and true, “Yes.”

Problem is, you don’t know what you are supposed to do now. How you are supposed to live with all those befores, with all those afters. With all these memories, memories that make you hate him, and love him, and miss him.

A part of you wishes you would have never known of the past, that you would have never recognized him, or his eyes. But you know even in death you’d know him, you know even in another life you’d miss him.

And so you lay down on the bed next to him, and sigh.

“I never thought you’d…I didn’t take you there on purpose.”

Ivar’s smile is bitter, “Because you hoped it wasn’t me.”

“Need I remind you why, my love?” You point out without missing a beat, too late realizing that is not an endearment you usually use. No…that’s hers. Yours, from…before.

“I haven’t heard you call me that in a long time,” He chuckles. A few beats of silence, and Ivar takes a deep breath, “I’ve missed you. I-I know y-…”

“I understand,” You interrupt him, and in a moment of weakness you reach for his hand. He doesn’t hesitate to return the hold, tight and hinting at desperation. Your eyes fall closed, and you can be somewhere else, in another time, in another life, “I’ve missed you too.”

Ivar takes a breath, and lifts your hand to his lips, pressing a -reverent, familiar- kiss over your fingers, “We can do this, Princess. We can…be happy. We got another chance, I…I don’t want to lose you again.”

“You won’t,” You promise, and it comes easy to you. Many times you promised him the same, and each and every time you meant it with all that you are. “I…I love you, Ivar.”

“In the last life and this one?”

You accept his words with closed eyes and a huff of weak laughter, but the promise is still true, “And all the ones after.”

He lifts himself up on one arm, leaning over you. He is so close to you that you can feel his warmth, familiar and enthralling and his, and your heart beats so quickly in your chest you are certain he can feel it.

It feels long-overdue, it feels like nostalgia and familiarity and a past you loved; when you lean up and kiss him. But it also feels like new, it feels like hope and thrill and a future you want to discover.

It is Ivar who breaks the kiss first, yet it is him that comes back and presses his lips to yours again, stealing your breath and your heart and your sanity.

When he pulls back again and his eyes meet yours, you notice they are the same and yet so different. Yet the feeling in your chest, the smile that curves at your lips, the love you see shining in his eyes, they are all the same.

“You and me, Princess, in this life and the next,” He smiles, “We will make death give up on us.”

____

So, that is it for this story! I would love to know what you think of this, of the ending, of everything really. Hope you enjoyed!!

As always, thank you so much for reading, and I hope you have a great day/night! Love ya!

[janiedean]

not to be that person but idk why everyone keeps behaving like sansa surviving KL and LF means she's smarter than every other stark like only court intrigues and politics require you to be smart?? and surviving amongst the smallfolk and assassins and night's watch and beyond the wall is all about brawn and physical strength??? that's so... classist lmfao, like surviving without revealing you're a highborn in a warzone, not starving to death, not being killed by soldiers/assassins/whatnot requires as much brains as surviving court politics. jon had to deal with politics at the NW and with Stannis. admittedly bran's story was doesn't at all in the show but he's about the only one who manages to explore his warging abilities fully it's not a piece of cake?? and arya had to escape KL, survive flea bottom, then harrenhal (under ROOSE BOLTON FFS) and the bwb and the red wedding AND get to braavos and survive the faceless men whoch is supposedly the leading assassin organization in asoiaf.

i'm not even getting into everything dany's done and survived lol. but okay samsa is the only genius in westeros, we know she is because tyrion says so i guess? not to mention show sansa's political "mentors" are possible the WORST examples of rulers we have - cersei and littlefinger. they didn't give 2 shits about ruling or the smallfolk or leadership, just about their own power. and i'd say that's important given how much time grrm spends showing us how the smallfolk suffer because of the games played by kings and queens.

this... actually requires a bit of going into it but like not counting that show sansa was a travesty and I'm choosing to not acknowledge it, and show lf was... I mean I'm not even going into how much it was a disservice to the og char whom I detest but honestly book!lf wouldn't marry sansa to anyone he didn't do research about lmfao but like not going into... those... plot holes.....

the entire point is that in the book sansa ends up under those two's tutelage anyway and... she's posed to do the contrary? what does she think looking at c.? that when she's queen she wants to be loved not feared, and like... being with lf is testing her morals but it's obvious that since she survived staying kind until now (I mean... again it's her leitmotiv she helped lancel & about everyone she could who was a jerk to her to the point it sent at least lancel into a faith crisis, she felt bad for joffrey like FOR FUCKING JOFFREY COME ON that's her selling point HER FUCKING SELLING POINT) then she'll just... gain enough political knowledge to outsmart people when she wants to but she won't use it to be a jerk she'll use it.. to.. help her family... when they're reunited which is p obvious to me but nvm

the thing is that people have decided to attach it to the underdog female character goes up the power ladder trope which.... like that's not it

also there's the part where like people are so caught up in the whole WHO HAS IT WORSE BETWEEN SANSA AND ARYA WHO IS THE BEST feud that... they don't notice that they have specular ways of dealing with trauma like arya is dealing with having to lose her identity/risking not knowing who she is anymore and she has to deal with increasing violence/ptsd-related trauma bc she's throw in the middle of everything bad she could end up in like she was almost in the red wedding I was 90% sure she also died until I saw she had a chapter after, while sansa has managed to dodge courtly poisons by being herself and by not letting it change who she is which tyrion noticed which everyone noticed which is why guess what tyrion is willing to stand up to his father and tell him no when it comes to actually having sex with her when he couldn't for the marriage and she's the only person that managed to get past sandor's trauma issues enough that he tried to actually help her for what he could, like... arya has de-personalization to overcome, sansa is holding to her guns by staying herself and she has to learn what good she can from lf before ditching him and keeping on staying herself like it's fucking specular it's not supposed to be a game of who has it worse

(wish ppl would get it also with jaime and tyrion and their coping with trauma but nvm)

the fact that ppl downplay that jon isn't politically an idiot at all irks me forever but like... bruh the dude handled being lord commander, an entire siege when he was like seventeen and was hobbling around on crutches, managed to infiltrate the wildlings without anyone finding out (and it traumatized the shit out of him but nvm) and if only he was good at PR he wouldn't have gotten juliuscaesared, like... okay X°DDD

I mean... yes it's classist but that's a dead horse to beat, if people actually took that angle into account they wouldn't write off brienne or davos chapters as BORING if only bc they're the only ones where you see how not-nobles are doing as in badly X°D

anyway like all stark kids have enough smarts to survive their storylines and robb had to be taken out with a betrayal so he wasn't being that stupid either differently from what my villain origin story thinks but again as someone said once if you hate a stark kid to prop up your fave your fave most likely would hate you so that's my stance X°D

but like... the point is that sansa was shown to gaf about others/the smallfolk/people lower than her in the food chain which dnd/half of this fandom didn't get which is why she'll be an excellent regent for bran and I'm dying on that hill but again this entire thing where you have to pit your fave against everyone else to show how much more badass/smarter they are is imvho a useless exercise because then I'll cut the gordian knot and say that if gilly managed to survive at least seventeen years with her father in that context knowing that her mother was also her sister and that she'd get the same treatment and if she had male children they'd get put out in the open and killed and then was forced to swap her own baby for another without knowing if that baby was going to die or not and she still had it in herself to not turn into a complete asshole she wins for toughest survivor in westeros at least out of the girls unless we want jeynep to give her a run for her money because like... going from lf to ramsay and not as a protegé and considering she was afraid ramsay was going to sic dogs on her when they saved her I think we can maybe ger some perspective here X°DDDD

(I'm not even going into the guys because honestly there's an amount of trauma that's not quantifiable in there X°DD)

like...... again everyone has it bad in these books and propping up your fave making the others look bad makes no sense bc if you love your fave then you have reasons to and you don't need to compare them to others to make them look as good as you think they are and that's my hill to die on X°D

[airi-p4]

Pirate Luka AU

I wrote this fic for my amazing friend @katydoodles​ Birthday. This story is based on Katy’s Pirate Luka AU (check her art if you haven’t yet because it’s amazing!), and it’s Luka/Harem (with Kagami, Chloe, Marinette and Adrien).

Beware this story may differ from Katy’s original story.

TW: mentioned violence (cut tongues / severed body parts) idk how I should tag this

Happy Birthday Katy! 💙💙💙

AO3

________________________________________

Luka admired his newly acquired prize in his ship chamber- the captain’s room. His boots were on the table, legs crossed and his back laid back, while he observed, satisfied, the jar that contained XY’s freshly cut tongue in it. His lips curled in a pleased smirk. He had been considering throwing it to feed the sharks, but the gratification the reward gave him made him glad to have dismissed the idea.

XY deserved to be silenced.

And he was now.

Once more, Luka reached where ‘justice failed’ with his law of silence.

Luka stood up to place the jar back to its place on the shelf. He took one step backwards and walked slowly around the wooden room contemplating his collection. Dozens- hundreds- of jars filled with tongues decorated the room, as if they were the displays of a museum. Each jar was completed by the owner’s name, the date, and their crime properly tagged.

All jars full- except for one.

The pirate ship’s captain teeth clenched and his black nails sank in his skin as he remembered that man- the man who betrayed his father’s tongue, the man who ruined his family. The man he swore revenge to. The man that turned him into a pirate, and the one he couldn’t wait to kill. His blood boiled at the memory of that face- that ugly face he had many ideas of how to destroy, such as-

A knock at the door distracted him from his thoughts.

“Come in” Luka ordered, releasing his anger; and his first officer obeyed, entering the room and closing the door behind her.

“Captain. Everything’s ready”

“Very well. Thank you, Kagami” he smiled, fixing one of the tags that were blurried by dust with his finger.

“Were you watching your collection again, Captain? It certainly is impressive. As expected of my Captain.”

Luka smiled proudly at his first officer. Who would have thought a noble Lady like her would fit so perfectly in his crew? He clearly remembered how grossed out she was the first time she entered his chamber. Now she was grossed out by the people those tongues belonged to: rapists, murderers, dishonorable and corrupted powerful people (such as judges or city rulers), slavers, pedophiles (the real kind, not those who draw harmless art like some people overreacting may say) and art reposters (those had all their tongues in the same jar, nameless but still punished). All of them were silenced now in Luka’s jars on the shelves.

His crewmates were mostly people saved from the hands of those men. He had let them choose if they wanted to join him or leave freely, but most of them wanted to stay to serve their savior. Nino had been one of the slaves Luka rescued. Alix was abused by her step-father, a corrupted ruler of one of the cities they stopped at. Kim was forced to hard work for stealing from a noble for the poor, and he was about to be hanged just before Luka stepped in to help. Ivan and the rest of his crewmates had similar stories to share.

Captain Luka was more than respected by all his crewmates, and he considered them friends. He trusted them blindly with his life, and it was the same for them.

“Let’s go, Kagami”

“Yes, Captain!”

Luka stepped out of his chamber followed by his first officer, who closed the door behind them. They walked upstairs to the deck.

“Land in sight!” Kim yelled from up the crow’s nest when he noticed Luka.

Luka approached the bowsprit, put one of his feet on it, and gestured to Kagami for a telescope. She immediately lent him one, and he observed the new landscape in front of him: a cliff, a lighthouse, a harbor, and a town. And more importantly: a castle up a hill.

Perfect.

“Ivan, turn 20 degrees to your right, we’re stopping behind those rocks”

“Yes, Captain!” Ivan obeyed.

“Nino, Alix, stay on your positions and take care of the sails”

“Yes Captain!” They answered in unison.

A smile formed on Luka’s lips. That’s the piracy he liked- steal treasures from the rich and punish the bad guys. That island appeared to have both. Luka licked his lips in excitement as he returned the telescope to Kagami.

“Hey!” Out of nowhere, a female voice from below yelled. “Help me up!”

Kagami’s eyes narrowed as she recognized the voice owner. She was about to draw her sword when Luka stopped her.

“It’s fine, Kagami, I’ll take care of her”

Kagami followed his instructions, but she didn’t even try to hide her disagreement. “We should sell her and she would leave us alone…” she mumbled, and Luka chuckled at her reaction. Jealous Kagami was always adorable and a delight. He couldn’t help but feel fortunate and moved for having her full attention- not that he didn’t have some worship for her too.

Luka walked towards a fishnet that rested at the side of the ship. He looked down, amused at the difficulties the person below was having to climb up. “You again, huh?” Luka asked. “Why do you keep coming back? Aren’t you scared of pirates? We could sell you, Lady Siren.”

“My name is Chloe!” her yellowish eyes glowed from below. “Hurry up and help me up! I have something to show you”

“Hmm… Those magical jewels from under the sea again, maybe? Weren’t they guarded by your other siren friend? Did you steal them?”

“Yes! I snatched a few! Now help me and let you show you!”

Luka sighed, but he couldn’t hide his curiosity as he helped her up. What he thought made him almost fall on his butt to the floor.

The siren had LEGS. Legs that still couldn’t control enough to carry her own weight, apparently, but still legs. Human legs. Luka’s breath was taken away by the sight, and even Kagami couldn’t hide her astonishment.

What was going on?

“What? Surprised?” Chloe attempted to stand up holding onto the rail, smiling triumphantly. “I told you those jewels were magical! I’m a human now! So hurry up and propose to me. Your ridiculous excuse is not valid anymore!”

Luka’s eyes started glowing in yellow, bright as the former siren’s one, but before he could open his mouth, Kagami stepped between them. “Show respect to our Captain! He would never marry someone unworthy like you!” She pointed her sword to Chloe’s throat and noticed Luka’s eyes return to his original sky blue color, freeing him from Chloe’s spell. “Try something funny and I’ll cut you,” she warned.

“How did you do that?” Luka asked, gesturing Kagami to lower her sword. “What happened to your legs? Is it the jewel’s power? What other powers do they have?”

Chloe directed a victorious smirk to Kagami from behind Luka’s shoulder. The first mate was boiling in anger, but her respect for Luka was more important to her own feelings. Loyalty was what Luka valued the most about her, her Captain had confessed to her before. She couldn’t betray his trust- not even for her jealousy.

“I told you they were amazing, didn’t I?” Chloe raised her chin proudly as she laughed hysterically. “I have this one for you too - the snake one. It has the power you just need to get your revenge. I can give it to you if you accept to marry me!”

“I’m not interested in marriage, but I’m interested in those jewels. What are their powers?” Luka asked, fascinated to see how she had indeed real feet and toes. He examined them with his hands and she giggled at the tickles.

“All of them have the ability to give legs to sirens. The Bee one, the one I have, can paralyze opponents with just one gaze. The snake one is special: can control both time and space. You can know where and when you can find whatever you’re looking for, and even predict your opponent's moves beforehand. For example... “ Chloe continued, and with a finger snap he made Kim teleport down to the deck.

“What the-!?” he yelled. “What happened? I was up the crow’s nest!”

Luka looked mesmerized at the magic he had just seen. “Kim, go back up. Sorry about that”. Kim scratched his head in confusion and started climbing up again. “How much for that jewel?”

“My Captain! You can’t accept that! That would be cheating!” Kagami shouted. “You’re better than that!”

“No, listen, Kagami. I don’t pretend to use this to take advantage of my enemies. I just want to find that man- the man who ruined my family. The man I swore revenge on. I’ll find him thanks to this jewel and I’ll finally be free from this hate that haunts me. The chase will be over”

“What about us, then, Captain!? What about this ship, our adventures!?” Kagami seemed heartbroken at the thought of her piracy story ending. And also scared to be separated from her dearest Captain. “I left everything for you and this crew! You can’t just betray us like that!”

“Oh, no, my dear Kagami. Finding that man will not change much. I want to keep sailing together with all of you, forever. You’re my family too” Kagami blushed at Luka’s unusually tender smile. “But I need to keep my promise. You know I never leave business unfinished”

“I understand, captain” Kagami used her sleeve to dry her tears. “But I still think it’s not worth it losing your freedom and marrying that- that fish for that purpose. We’ll find that man, we don’t need magic for that!”

Luka stared at Kagami, moved by her trust in him. She was really cute, wasn’t she? He almost couldn’t hold his smile back. “I know we will.  And I don’t plan to marry. I just don’t want someone else to kill him before we find him” He reassured his first officer, and she smiled fondly. That was his captain.

“Oh, no, pirate! No marriage, no deal!” Chloe rumbled under Kagami’s judging stare. “You have no idea how hard it was to get this! Not even all the gold from your world would be enough to buy it!”

“Then we just have to kill you and steal it, right?” Kagami glared, getting her sword ready causing Chloe to shriek.

“Wait, Kagami. We don’t know how to use it. We can’t kill her” That wasn’t exactly the only reason he wanted her alive. Luka couldn’t deny he felt himself… attracted to the siren’s looks. She was beautiful, even if she was somewhat noisy. And her singing voice was hypnotizing… He didn’t want her or her song to die.

“Make your decision fast, because if you don’t, I’m destroying it!” Chloe warned.

“No, no, wait!!

“Captain, no!”

“I’m going to destroy it! I’ll give you 10 seconds…! 10… 9…”

“No- wait!”

“8… 7…”

“Captain, you can’t do it!”

“6… 5… 4…”

“I know but-!”

“3… 2…1….”

"Chloe wait, I-"

“STOP WHERE YOU ARE, CHLOE!” A new voice shouted, and a new siren jumped from the sea to the deck. Her hair was long and black, and her tail was beautiful in pink.

“Argh! Not now, Marinette Dupain-Cheng!” Chloe groaned in disgust. “He was about to accept my proposal!”

Luka stared as the new siren called for some magical words and shifted his tail to legs. ‘Another magical jewel’ he realized, and was fascinated by her beauty (the fact that she was naked didn’t help either). She looked as if she had come straight out from a painting, and his heart beat fast in an unknown feeling. The most beautiful song he had ever heard: clear as a music note, sincere as a melody. He wished for that melody to last forever in his ears.

“Chloe! Give the Miraculous back!” The siren shouted in anger. “You know how dangerous they are yet you stole them!”

“Hey!” Luka snapped out at Chloe’s cry and hurried to grab a tablecloth from nearby and offer it to the naked siren, while looking the minimum as possible. “Use this”

Marinette turned to look at him confused, wondering what was supposed to do with that. She noticed how Chloe was wearing something similar to cover herself, and the blush on that unknown man made her remember being naked was a big deal in the human world. She exploded in embarrassment. “Thank you…” she hurried to snatch the clothes.

She found herself staring at his relieved smile. And her heart started beating faster. Breath-taken by his handsomeness and calm. Their eyes met and time stopped, and Marinette finally understood why Chloe would wish to steal those jewels for selfish reasons. She would consider it too if she wasn’t the guardian.

“Hey! He’s mine, don’t you dare take him away from me!” Chloe hissed. She clumsily ran to Luka’s side and fell into his arms when her legs couldn’t support her any longer.

“Captain!” Kagami soon cried in worry, and approached to try to separate them.

“Chloe!” A new emotion formed in Marinette’s chest. Jealousy. “Give it back!” she jumped to pull her away from Luka.

And Luka- well, he couldn’t move. Surrounded by beautiful ladies… He had always been a heartbreaker, never a ladies man- what was wrong with him? He was enjoying that situation too much for his own sanity.

Suddenly, another siren jumped to the deck- a blond man with the most beautiful emerald colored eyes Luka had ever seen. Even Kagami seemed impressed by them, and that was new in Luka’s first officer.

“Adrien!” The mermaid called Marinette called him. “Help me!”

“Immediately, M’lady!” even his voice was cute, Luka thought. That couldn’t be healthy for his heart.

Adrien shifted to a human after calling for some magical words and Marinette tossed him a part of tablecloth she tore from hers. He looked confused at first, but imitated Marinette’s use for it.

Adrien tackled Chloe from the side, resulting in all of them falling down to the floor. Taking advantage of being on top after falling down, Luka managed to steal the snake Miraculous from Chloe. He raised up his hand… “Kagami! I’ve got it! Take it!” but… an eagle descended and took it from him in its talons and flew away from them towards the island in sight. “Ah-”

All of them observed in denial and powerless how the bird carried the powerful jewel away. Their faces turned blue out of the shock, and Marinette entered in panic.

“No no no! That can’t be happening! What are we going to do now!?” she bawled. “Chloe! This is your fault! You better help us recover it!”

“No, this is Luka’s fault! If he had agreed to marry me and didn’t try to play dirty this wouldn’t have happened!”

“Don’t you dare badmouth My Captain!”

Everyone’s eyes were on Luka, who, confused, was trying to process what had just happened. “Give me a minute”. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and waited for one minute. He came to his conclusion.

“I can’t deny this is partly my fault… So I’ll take responsibility. I’ll help you find the jewel, but with one condition: you’ll let me use it once when we find it”

“We can’t allow that!” Marinette and Adrien complained.

“Oh, and I’ll need you tell me more about these jewels in order to help you”

“Deal” Chloe quickly agreed, to Marinette and Adrien’s shock.

“Hey! You can’t decide that alone!” Marinette protested.

“You’ve seen the bird- it went into the lands. The rest of lost jewels could be on land too. What’s better than humans to help us? It would be ridiculous not to accept when all they ask in return is to use one of them just once!” Chloe exposed.

Marinette’s eyebrows frowned as she looked at Adrien, who seemed convinced with Chloe’s explanation. She couldn’t deny anything to those green eyes of him who desired to discover more from land and the human world, so she gave in, still unconvinced. “Fine”

“Great. Welcome abroad. I promise we’ll recover that jewel” Luka stood up and helped the rest of them up too, one after the other. “My name is Luka. I’m the Captain of this pirate ship. And this lovely lady is my first mate, Kagami.” She bowed despite her glare shown killing instincts towards all of them. Luka noticed and patted her back, causing her to calm down immediately. When he blinked at her with a sneaky smile she knew well, she realized his true intentions: he was going to get the jewel without having to marry the annoying mermaid. ‘As expected of my captain’, she smiled fondly.

“I’m Marinette and he is Adrien. I’m the guardian of the Miraculous and he’s my partner for this job. Nice to meet you, Captain”

Luka’s piracy adventures seemed to have just started now that 3 new unusual members joined his crew. Misunderstandings and fun seemed ensured.

What fantastic adventures lie before them? They couldn’t wait to find out.

[solastia]

Day 23

Faith, Namjoon x Reader, 8/8 Chapters, 31k words

Chapter 4 starts in the best possible way, more sexy times! But our MC has yet to gather the courage to tell Joon about the baby!!! But there’s hope building in this chapter, that maybe...just maybe, our two main characters will be able to find each other again. They really are so damn cute together, it’s disgustingly adorable!

And then you give us this line in Chapter 5:

“There’s no classy way to say it, but you love Namjoon’s dick.”

I’ve already expressed my love for Kim Line dick. I wholeheartedly agree. Thank you for this line in particular. I want to make this one of those inspirational quote pics, this is perfect!

“when you held Namjoon’s cock in your hands, you could feel every throb and twitch as you worked him over. There were no lies or hiding of emotions here. You held his pleasure in your hands, and the fact that he would twitch against your tongue whenever your eyes met brought you joy.”

FUCKING POETRY GURL!!! I HAVE RUN OUT OF WAYS TO CORRECTLY AND SUCCINCTLY EXPRESS JUST HOW MUCH I LOVE YOUR STORIES, BUT THIS HERE IS AN EXAMPLE OF WHY. AAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

“He’s wearing huge baggy overalls over a black t-shirt with a low neck, timberland boots, and a black furry Kangol hat.”

Did he ever really wear this?? If he did, I need photographic evidence, I need to add this to my photo archives!

And are we fully trusting Trey now? Idk, I’m not completely convinced about him yet. I know I wanna punch Keisha in the fucking throat, but I’m on the fence about Trey. Don’t do our girl dirty Trey!!!

And then our girl is forced to tell Joon the truth and he doesn’t take it well.

“One lie is enough to question all the truths,” Namjoon mumbles before stomping out of your apartment and slamming the door.”

AHHHH! I want them to reconcile, but Joonie is right! This one (huge) omission of truth is enough for him to question their whole relationship. I’m really rooting for them, but at this point, if Namjoon decides to never forgive her, I would totally understand.

And then the pic Keisha posted. BITCH! Seriously, I wanna punch her in the throat. Where’s MC McHaggins? In my best Matthew voice: “Punch you in the face, elbow you in the face. Neck slice!!”

And then Joonie makes the first move and this line made my heart skip a beat:

“I mean I’m as in as I ever was. I want you, all of you. I want to marry you and be a father to my child. Maybe give you a few more.”

AAAAAAHHHH!!!! He just needed a few days to process, but his love is still intact!

And Trey stepping up and taking care of the whole Keisha problem. I guess not all heroes wear capes!

“Faith is in her high chair, giggling and covered in different colored globs of food. Namjoon is sitting in front of her, also covered in food, but making up some rap about the wonders of fruits that she seems to enjoy enough to open her mouth for another bite.”

This is so damn domestic, it’s our MC’s dream come true. I’m hopeful again, are they gonna be ok?!?! I hope so!! And Joonie is so damn cute with Faith. He would make such a good dad, omg!

“Namjoon picks up Faith and comes over to kiss your cheek. The vision of two adorable dimpled smiles shining down on you with happiness fills your heart with joy.”

Don’t kill me with all this fluff. DON’T!!!!

Chapter 7 is like the culminating point of this story. There’s incredible fluff and the smut...LAAAWD!!! But the most satisfying part is seeing them heal!

“The two of you would crush each other closer after your whispered confessions, feeling like you could almost physically see the bridge between the two of you repairing itself.”

OOOH THE WHOLESOMENESS!! But enough of that, gimme my porn.

“Namjoon’s eyes flutter closed as he does a sound that could only be described as a growl. The sound went straight to your core and you shivered when he opened his eyes and pinned you with a dark glare.

“Get on your knees.”

Well dayum sir, weren’t you hinting at being a sub early in the story? And now you’re going full Neanderthal? Lol!

I actually love that you do this. I think many of your characters are more switches than complete doms or subs. It feels more realistic. I’m sure there are people out there that are more in touch with one or the other, but I believe most people are capable of taking on either role and it really just depends on how they're feeling at the time. Joonie needs to stake a claim here, but I have a feeling our girl did the same at some point!

AND THEN THE EPILOGUE!

It’s stressful, hopeful, funny, exciting. It’s everything!

“This is why you should have married my daughter instead. She would never have made you wait this long.” Namjoon’s mother says playfully, though her eyes are filled with concern.

Yes!!! Momma Kim’s got jokes!!

“Suddenly, the door to your room banged open so hard you were afraid it might have broken, and your husband came barreling into the room looking freakily similar to an angry gorilla you once saw on tv.”

I can see it in my head!!! I can see this clearly! Joon would go gorilla mode! I think that he would be a worrier in general, reading about all of the things that could go wrong during a delivery. Can you imagine it?! Lol

This story was just gorgeous. I think that there really isn’t a villain in this story, like there is in Beneath the Surface. It’s about two people who love each other and the price of fame. It’s about forgiveness and rebuilding bonds. It’s about connections that cannot be broken, even with time and distance. Thank you for this story, it was beautiful!

(and sorry for missing another day, but a bitch is tired lol)

[itachi-uchiha-deserved-better]

Ok, so I’ve had this thought stuck in my head all day. I’d love to do a proper drabble/fic for it, but idk if I can do it justice but anyway....

It’s a royalty AU. Itachi is the crown prince of the kingdom ruled by the Uchiha family. Shisui is Itachi’s personal attendant/guard. Itachi’s beauty is spoken of far and wide and that plus the political power of the Uchiha family makes Itachi an extremely desirable match for royals across the world with heirs that are of marrying age. 

Uchiha tradition dictates that the only way for a suitor to be considered is for them to best either the object of their intent or an appointed champion in combat. Because of rumors about Itachi’s frail constitution and the fact that no one has ever seen him fight or even wield a weapon means everyone assumes that Shisui (renown far and wide for his own skill) is Itachi’s champion. Plenty have challenged Shisui in the hopes of winning Itachi’s hand. 

None have succeeded. Most barely survive the encounter. 

Neji is an assassin from the neighboring kingdom. As cousin to the Hyuuga princess, he acts in some official capacities as her guard while his real service to the kingdom is in the shadows. He couldn’t care less how many people want to marry the Uchiha prince. All he knows is the blood fued between the two kingdoms and the kind of devastating blow it would deal to the Uchiha if their crown prince was killed. 

Infiltrating the nation’s borders is easy. Infiltrating the castle presents more of a challenge, but still Neji makes it in without being caught. He’s almost to Itachi’s sleeping chamber when he runs into Shisui. 

The fight feels like it lasts forever. The two are well matched. Shisui attacks with incredible speed and precision. Neji blocks just as quickly. Neji attacks Shisui’s vital points with the gentle fist. But every time his hand meets air as Shisui seems to vanish from where he stood. Sharingan versus Byakugan. Neji studies Shisui’s movements and the longer the fight goes on, the more Neji learns until he reads Shisui’s movements and manages to knock his feet out from under him, hitting several chakra points to knock him out before he can recover and flash away again. 

Neji finds Itachi sitting at a desk in his room. Itachi glances up in the mirror, but if he’s surprised or afraid, Neji doesn’t see it in his face. Neji gets close, his hands gripping a kunai with so much force his hand is shaking. Itachi is just as handsome as rumors led him to believe, but that doesn’t matter now. 

“You’re awful brave without your little guard dog to protect you, Uchiha.” Neji spits. 

Itachi smiles. A smile that makes Neji’s gut twist in a way he doesn’t quite understand. 

Neji feels himself, rooted to the spot. He meets Itachi’s gaze and he finds himself melting under Itachi’s intense red gaze. 

“Interesting.” The word is like a caress along his neck. It makes him shiver. Itachi stands up and turns and Neji finds himself glancing at the place where his robe falls across his chest, gazing at the skin of his shoulder and wondering what kind of body lay hidden beneath the elegant robe. He shakes his head and tries to clear the stupor, bringing his knife back up to face Itachi. 

But then there is a flutter of movement and Itachi is behind him, a small hidden dagger pressed against Neji’s throat. 

Itachi leans down and whispers in the would be assassin’s ear, “Did you ever stop to consider, it wasn’t me that Shisui was protecting? Perhaps he was protecting my enemies from me?” 

Neji tries to form the words to respond, but his world is spinning and the last thought he has before descending into unconsciousness is how he wants nothing more than to hear the Uchiha prince’s voice again. 

He wakes up in a cart being driven back to the Hyuuga kingdom by Shisui, who looks somewhere between annoyed and amused. 

“I have to admit, you’re a tenacious little brat. You’re lucky my cousin seems to have taken a liking to you.” 

When Neji is let go, he’s confused. He should be dead by all rights. But he isn’t. He expects there to be a declaration of war against the Hyuuga, after all he did try to murder the crown prince. But nothing happens. Life goes on as if that night never happened. 

That night eats at Neji. He throws himself back into training, pushing his body to the limits until he feels confident enough to try again. 

This time he decides not to get close. Yet as the poison arrow flies through the prince’s window, his target disappears in a burst of feathers and he feels that familiar rustle of movement behind him. He finds himself once more caught in those blazing red eyes, melting, his breath stolen away by the dangerous beauty in front of him. 

It happens over and over again. Eventually, it isn’t just about killing the Uchiha prince. Neji is just fascinated by this man. The encounters between them become almost like a dance and Neji starts to see not just the intensity and skill of Itachi, but also the softer side that he shows to the people around him, the way Itachi prickles at his father’s posturing and arrogance. The way he treats strangers he meets with kindness. Neji begins wanting not to kill Itachi, but instead to prove himself to this man, to have Itachi gaze at him with the same respect that he looks at Shisui with. 

And finally, after the dance between them becoming more and more intricate, Neji finally manages to best Itachi. He pins the now chakra exhausted prince down against his bed, Sharingan staring up into Byakugan, both men’s chests heaving as they try to catch their breath. The cold knife pressed against Itachi’s throat shaking slightly. 

Itachi lets the Sharingan fade and for the first time, Neji see’s the dark eyes like a well of ink peering up at him with a look of vulnerability that makes his body stiffen. 

The knife drops from his hands and instead he claims another prize as he captures Itachi’s lips with his own. 

[cultofbeatles]

beginners guide to the beatles

 made one of these a long time ago but i'm surprised by how short it was. so here we go again. doing it right this time lol. 

pov: you told a bad joke and now the beatles are judging you. 

john winston lennon. later in his life known as john winston ono lennon. 

born on october 9, 1940 

i believe in astrology bc how does john just happen to be a libra 

when john was four he started living with his aunt mimi who acted more as his mother figure 

his mother, julia, remarried and would visit him quite a bit.

it was julia who taught john how to play banjo and piano. and she bought his first guitar.

they both had a deep love for music and rock n roll 

he never really thought of her as his mother but more as a cool friend i suppose 

aunt mimi was more rough on him and did the disciplining 

his father was never really present growing up and his uncle passed away when he was young 

he thought he was a curse for the men in his family 

he had five half siblings. two of them, julia and jacqueline, he was pretty close to. the other three he barely knew. 

fashion icon.

hated school but loved art 

very early on he was insecure with himself 

teachers always shit on him and said he would go nowhere in life 

he met paul at a church fete on july 6, 1957 

paul taught him how to play guitar properly.

once told paul that he didnt know how paul carried on after his mother died bc he just didn't think he could do it 

john’s mother died from being hit by an off duty policemen. john was seventeen at the time. 

 he took her death really hard and became a bit of a recluse. 

first serious relationship was with cynthia (we stan her) 

once cynthia cut her hair short and he didn't talk to her for two days. 

hate men. kill all men. 

when he asked her to dance at a party she turned him down saying that she was engaged, and so he said “well i didn't ask you to fucking marry me, did i?” 

slapped her once bc he was drunk and another boy was talking to her.

only time her hit her.

read cynthia’s books about john pls. i beg. 

once a psychic told him that he would be shot in the states.

founder of the beatles and also came up with the name.

instruments he could play: guitar, harmonica, rhythm guitar, banjo, keyboard, piano, saxophone, bass guitar, and a little drums. 

main songwriter in the beatles along with paul.

was more open minded to change in the beatles music. 

was insecure in his relationship with paul after a while bc he thought he only needed him for songwriting. 

would bitch about paul all day long but the second anyone else said something about him he’d be on their ass. 

had a lot of issues and needed a good hug. 

suffered from eating disorders, drug addictions, depression, insecurities, and questioned his sexuality bc of the time. 

was super open minded and ahead of his time in many instances. 

once he was called “the fat beatle” and after that he stopped eating as much.

truly loved his first son, julian lennon, and would buy him presents all the time bc he was excited to see him play with them.

“your famous ex husband”

he enjoyed playing monopoly. 

he once claimed that he saw a ufo.

he had written three books but he always wanted to write a children's book.

 the last song he ever performed in front of a live audience was “i saw her standing there.” with elton john.

he was afraid of the dark. 

found out later in his life that he was dyslexic. 

was also legally blind without glasses.

never could catch a break huh.

said that his best lyric ever was “all you need is love” i agree.

the first time yoko and john met was not at her art exhibit but actually when she approached him about giving away songs for free.

wanted to write a musical with paul. 

once a friend dared him to masturbate ten times in one day and he managed to do it nine times.

would hold circle jerks with paul and a few other friends. 

just dudes being dudes. 

went on a holiday with brian epstein, who was gay, and told some people afterward that they did certain sexual things. but we will never know for sure.

yoko says that john was bisexual.

once in an interview he said that he would of married a rich man or woman if he wasn't in the beatles. 

hated his voice on records. would always ask for effects on his voice for final recordings. 

made a film with yoko where it was just his penis going from flaccid to erect for fifteen minutes in slow motion. 

only beatle not to of become a vegetarian while he was alive. 

murdered on december 8, 1980.

gave his autograph earlier in the day to the man who would murder him.

died at the age of 40.

“all my loving” was played while he was at the hospital.

and its spooky bc a lot of times in interviews he would say “when i'm 40..” 

and it’s sad bc he was finally becoming who he truly wanted to be. 

honorable john moments that i love:

“thanks for the purpler hearts” he says while receiving the silver heart 

“you are the first person from liverpool that i've ever seen” “great”

eric lennon on my mind today 

this come together performance where he messed up the lyrics lol

that interview where paul was sick and john keep checking on him 

john lennon speaking nothing but facts 

when he said that he could see the beatles going separate ways but that they'd always come back together.

SHUT UP 

“shut up while he’s talking..”

this interview breaks my heart sometimes 

and this interview is great as well 

sir james paul mccartney 

born on june 18, 1942

if you ever have spare time just check out this man’s natal chart. 

idk how he’s still alive with his chart tbh. 

he has a younger brother named mike and a step sister named ruth. 

his dad thought he was the ugliest baby he’d ever seen when he was born. 

when he was young paul would kill frogs in a way to prepare himself for the war if he ever was drafted. 

the first instrument he ever learned to play was the trumpet.

I don't even want to list every instrument this man can play but trust me when I say it’s a lot.

but for the beatles he mainly did bass, vocals, and piano. sometimes playing the guitar and the drums.

the beatles was just paul moving really, really fast. 

he lost his mother when he was 14 due to surgery for breast cancer.

never really learned how to cope well with loss of a loved one tbh. 

had the cutest chubby cheeks as a kid tbh 

met john and was accepted into his band 

sometimes they'd ditch school together and either work on music or would visit art galleries.

went to paris with john and john bought him all the banana milkshakes that he wanted.

connected over their love and admiration for music, and bc they had both lost their mothers. 

had a girlfriend’s mom who he would make comb his leg hairs. 

was an ass to his first girlfriend.

kill all men again. 

almost had to marry his girlfriend dot bc she was pregnant, but she ended up losing the baby.

was the one who introduced george harrison to john.

practically despised pete best and stuart stutcliffe bc they were bringing the group down. 

got arrested along with pete best bc they lit a condom on fire in hamburg.

still felt awful and a little guilty when stuart died suddenly. 

main force behind the beatles imo. 

without him we’d have not as much beatles music as we do. 

was dating jane asher throughout majority of the sixties. 

when they first met they talked about syrup and paul fell in love.

they broke things off after she walked in on him sleeping with another woman though.

directed magical mystery tour and it was amazing and I don't care what anyone says ok?

when john divorced cynthia he was the only one not scared of john and went against his wishes of not speaking to cynthia.

was a little controlling at times. 

has a good heart though. 

mal evans had to drive him home once after a beatles sessions bc he was crying so hard. 

was talking about getting the band back to touring when john said he was leaving the group. 

everyone kind of turned against him when the beatles were breaking up and i hate it.

he just wanted what was best for the band.

married linda and had a nice little farm. 

we love that story.

linda i'm free thursday if you want to hang out pls.

started up the whole “no meat monday” thing where you don't eat monday on mondays

food meat. not the other kind of meat.

children: james mccartney, stella mccartney, heather mccartney, mary mccartney, and beatrice mccartney. 

rip martha. 

WINGS!! 

he lost linda in 1998 due to cancer.

 cried for a whole year bc of it.

still has dreams about john and says they're nice.

wrote a sad song about john called “here today.”

really loved john. like..he truly, genuinely did. 

want someone to love me like paul does john. 

“think of me every now and then old friend.”

honorable paul moments:

his story about george’s dad 

“john? he was beautiful. very beautiful.”

humpty dumpty rap 

another story about him and george.

his google search video that I watch every week 

this 

george harrison 

born: February 24, 1943 

or at least we think 

bc he use to say that his birthday was february 25, but later started saying it february 24. 

why can't we change our birthdays its not like we picked it 

he was the youngest child.

baby of the family and of the beatles awwww

two older brothers named harry and peter. one older sister named louise.

when george’s mom was pregnant with him she’d play sitar music.

his mom was super supportive of his career choice 

when he was 16 he worked as an electricians apprentice.

his dad kind of hoped he would start a family business out of it.

george said nah

would ride the bus opposite way of his house just to spend time with paul 

headbutted a kid bc he didn't think they were worthy of paul’s friendship 

was brought into the band bc of paul insisting to john 

would follow john around like a lost puppy when he first met him 

once had an eight hour erection. don't ask me how idk he said it.

was 17 when he lost his virginity and the other band members were in the room watching and cheered him when he finished 

most sex craved beatle tbh 

once walked into a girls dressing room and asked if they could stand there so he could masturbate 

he was the first beatle to go to america 

got a black eye for defending ringo once 

would make john and paul take turns sharing rooms with ringo when he first joined the band so that he felt more welcomed 

when ringo left during the white album and then came back george decorated the studio with flowers for him 

during the beatles first recording session he told george martin that he didn't like his tie

became a vegetarian at 22 

favorite candy was jelly beans and purple was his favorite color 

used the phrase “grotty” in the hard days night movie, hated it, but everyone else picked up on the slang 

met his first wife, pattie boyd, on the set of a hard days night 

was turned down by her at first 

they married in 1966

wouldn't let her do modeling stuff and was kind of an ass 

a stylish couple but not the best image for a healthy relationship 

got into eastern religion around 1965 

during the Hamburg days he would eat chicken on stage 

had an affair with ringo’s first wife maureen 

got a divorce from pattie in 1977

in 1978 he married olivia who he stayed with until his death and had one son with. dhani.

was the first beatle to hit a number one single and album. 

was buddies with led zeppelin

inspired their “rain song” 

smashed a piece of cake on john bonham’s head and then was thrown into the pool by him 

he financed and produced films. had a production company.

tom petty said that george never shut up once you started talking to him 

but he was often referred to as “the quiet beatle”

formed another band called the traveling wilburys

he’d answer questions online in the 2000′s and it’s the cutest thing ever and his answers break my heart too.

“what do you miss most about john lennon?” “john lennon.”

in 1999 a schizophrenic person broke into his house and stabbed him 40 times 

thank god olivia was there bc she was the only braincell in the room 

had to get a part of his lung taken out 

died november 29, 2001 from lung cancer 

ashes were scattered into the ganges river 

honorable george moments:

this interview he did with ringo 

“i'm sad bc i can't play guitars with john anymore. but i did that...i know we’ll meet again some day.”

when he invented reaction videos 

“the wind was blowing.” “..blowing my girl?”

“what kind of girl do you like?” “john’s wife.”

sir richard starkey aka ringo starr 

born on july 7, 1940 

oldest member in the group 

has no siblings 

naturally was left handed but his grandma thought it was bad luck so he writes right handed, and plays drums with a right handed kit 

but does everything else left handed

when he was 6 he fell into a two month coma 

was a very sick child 

when he was 13 he was in the hosiptal for tuberculosis and formed a hospital band 

grew up poor 

loves and looked up to his stepfather a lot 

his step father bought him his first drum kit in 1957

wasn't that great in school bc he missed so much of it from being so sick 

he worked for a britain railway for a while 

also served drinks on a day boat for a job 

loves dancing 

Rory storm and the hurricanes 

got his nickname from all the rings he would wear

replaced pete best as the beatles drummer 

dealt with people hating him for a bit bc they liked pete more 

had to style his hair in a bowl cut to be in the band and i'm still mad at them for making him do that shit 

ringo i'm so sorry 

george martin didn't really like his drumming and had a session drummer come in for the first album 

in 1964 he had tonsillitis, pharyngitis, and high fever all at once and had to be in the hospital for a bit.

was worried the beatles would replace him for good 

he’s a cancer don't worry

was the first beatle to try weed 

drummers always go first huh 

married his first wife, maureen, in 1965 

she kissed paul, ringo, and george.

what a champ

honeymoon was ruined by reporters 

was really insecure in his relationship and needed a lot of reassurance 

had a great relationship with pretty much all the beatles 

but a great one with john 

john felt his most relaxed when he was with ringo

was once in a movie with roger daltrey 

divorced maureen in 1975 

his wife now is barbara bach who he married in 1981 

had alcohol problems 

once gotten so drunk that he beat barbara so badly that he thought he killed her 

put himself into rehab after that 

barbara lowkey looks like jan from the office 

children: zak, lee, and jason

zak is the drummer for the band the who 

peace and love 

but don't send me fan mail anymore 

peace and love 

ringo starr and the allstar band (starting 1981)

was the narrator for thomas the tank engine 

will play at paul’s concerts sometimes now for fun 

mad bc he came on stage during paul’s last concert show and it was on my birthday and I couldn't go to it 

honorable ringo moments:

“do you want me to come with you?”

stupid barbara walters 

talking about paul 

giving us a little dance 

[overgrownlive]

My first live blogged series was the Lunar Chronicles. Unfortunately, I only started blogging during Fairest, and the majority of my thoughts were from Winter. But I'm glad that I read it and shared my thoughts as I did.

That said, I wanted to share my thoughts on the series as a whole because it's been a while since I've gotten this invested in a YA series and tlc blew me away.

Spoiler warning!!!

Cinder-

My sibling recommended the book/series to me. They read it a while ago, and I was looking for some good old fashioned escapism (life is rough, yadda yadda) and I took the suggestion because I love reimagined fairy tales. I also love aliens. And cyberpunk.

So naturally I was on board from chapter one.

I actually originally thought that Cinder was gonna end up having the info on the lost princess lost in her coding. Didn't expect her to be selene bc I thought it was too obvious. I need to stop playing 5D chess with inter-dimensional time travel with YA authors.

I love Kai. I love Iko. I love(d) Peony. I have a love/hate relationship with Cinder and Torin.

Dr. Erland was my favorite character until I figured out why he started the cyborg draft bc dude there were so many better ways to do that. Like....idk you could have looked at the immigration files from Europe and found what family adopted a cyborg five years ago from Reiux France. But ...whatever. Fine.

Everyone might hate me for this opinion but I felt that the feelings that Kai had for cinder were very forced, especially at first. She barely spoke to him, she was just some girl. Idk, I didn't get it. Of course, once we get Kais perspective and he explains that he kinda asked cinder out for convenience I was like "ahh, yes...the fake dating trope. My favorite." /Gen. But then I got confused bc his feelings seemed genuine? Idk it was very confusing but tbh I didn't give a shit about their relationship, I wanted to know what was going on with Luna. I wanted to know about the plot. I wanted Cinder to save Peony and I thought she was going to.

And when she didn't

I almost cried.

I wanted Kai to save the common wealth. I didn't want him to marry Levana or make any deals with her

And when he did

I almost screamed

I understand the feelings now that I've read the whole series. I think it was more of an instinct thing. But at the time, before I knew how they fit together, I was really confused. They just seemed too different and too thrown together.

But, like I said, that didn't dissuade me from reading: the plot, the characters individually, and the world building were enough to keep me going. I'm not someone who reads YA for romance.

Scarlet-

Tbh this was my least favorite book. Again, not really interested in the romance between scar and wolf. I guess it's just that I knew they'd end up together in the end so it didn't really matter to me. I also knew wolf would betray her and I knew she'd be like "jk still love you" and he'd be like "same"

Also my grandma is fucking crazy in the bad way (I'm sorry if you love your grandma, I'm sure your grandma is very nice. Mine is not) and I would not do any of this for her so I can't relate to scarlet on that front. I like to think I'm like her in the strong, firecracker sense. But besides that, there's not a lot of relatability for me so idk

Thorne is my bestie and I love him. His friendship with Cinder got me through the book ngl. I feel bad saying this bc I really do love the series, and I like scarlet and wolf, I just wouldn't read a book about only them: if Thorne and cinder weren't in this book, I would've dropped the series.

I didn't like how wolf had to do everything for her. Like jump off the train and save her from ran and bust her out of prison and shit. Like, yeah, she shot him once but like...idk. not my fav. I think they have an interesting dynamic and I like the characters and their relationship is cute, I just was kinda like ..."okay, cool" the whole time. Not my thing I guess?

That's kinda all I have to say about this one? Idk, I still enjoyed it, I just also barely remember it and I feel like the main purpose was to set us up for angst later in winter.

Cress-

So Rapunzel is one of my favorite fairy tales and I love this retelling. The way that cress' feet get fucked up and Thorne loses his vision I was like "YES THATS SO CLEVER NFKSKRWKKA"

Also the foreshadowing abt their relationship. Thorne is one of my favs, I'm a sucker for asshole gremlins who want to be better.

The way that they kidnap Kai at the end made me laugh so hard. Torin helping melted my heart. I am now invested in cinder and Kais relationship, it doesn't feel forced anymore. It feels like they both saw something in each other that was so abstract that even the reader can't quite grasp it. Kai still has her foot. Why did he keep it? They think about each other constantly. They both have responsibilities that nobody else can understand, but at least they can both try. They want the same thing but neither can have it. They have similarities now. They fit better, now. I get it, now.

Dr erland being cress' father was something I saw coming but also didn't care about, I felt like we could've gone without that. It would be just as powerful if the DNA test came back negative. Erland was hoping, out of desperation, that his crescent moon was still alive. But he really did lose her. Idk.

I loved the desert. The symbolism.

I loved how they both had to rely on each other. I love the dynamic between cress and Thorne. How cress wanted a hero to save her, how Thorne didn't think he could be a hero ever. How they both were a hero for each other.

Thorne taught cress how to survive outside of her satellite. He taught her how to live on Earth. He was there when she took her first steps on feet that had never walked before. Not really.

And cress taught Thorne how to rely on others. She saved him from his sense of self, a view of his life that labeled him as a worthless criminal. She taught him how to care about other people. She taught him to see people, instead of look at them.

It killed me. I love them.

Fairest-

Fuck Levana

Winter-

I loved winter as a character and I really liked the way the story ended. I loved the confession scene between Thorne and cress and most of the rest of my thoughts/big takeaways and opinions can be inferred from my liveblogs.

One thing I will say, though, is I hate how Cinder plans on giving up her rule. I understand that she wants to dissolve the monarchy, but I think she should run for president or Parliament or whatever government she sets up.

Also like...if there's technology that stops lunar from abusing their power...doesn't the whole monarchy thing like...still work??? Idk

Overall this was probably the most engaging YA series I've read in a while. The characters were all diverse and individual and I loved the plot and world building. I've been done with the series for a few weeks and still think about it every day.