"are you crying?" + blade + platonic/familial (found family father figure blade with teen!reader) please :3
"Are you crying?"
Oh no.
Blade's question - if you can even call it that, considering he says everything in that deadpan tone of his - hangs in the air for a stagnant minute and then some.
Maybe if you don't make a peep, don't move a muscle, he'll give up and go back to minding his own business. It's not too far-fetched! Despite how savage and brutal he is in combat, he's surprisingly calm (and daresay gentle at times). Maybe he'll read the room, absorbing your aura wordlessly like Kafka can.
He grunts your name, an edge present that wasn't there before.
...or maybe not.
You break your silence, whirling around to face him, plastering the hugest, most saccharine smile on your face. It doesn't matter if there are tears rolling down your cheeks and a bit of snot sticking to your upper lip (ew). You have to try to get him off your back before something worse happens.
"Crying? I'm not doing that, no, never. You see, Firefly was in here chopping onions earlier," you chirp, rattling off lies like it's your second nature. Well, it is, that's why you got roped into joining this questionable team in the first place - but that's neither here nor there!
Blade looks at you.
You look at Blade.
Deflating and dropping the act, you swallow, trying to retain some of your cheery tone while you sniffle. "Okay, you win. I just... it's been a rough day, I'm sure you know how it is."
If there's one thing you know about your ancient colleague, it's that he can't make small talk for the life of him. You don't think it's his fault, really. Silver Wolf let it slip that he's lost pieces of himself to mara over the years - some days he can't hold functionality beyond a weapon without Kafka's pacifying mind tricks.
So, trying to keep up casual conversation with Blade is akin to yapping at a brick wall. You've gotten used to it, sure, but the way he's looking at you right now - with a pinched brow and somewhat of a snarl - is starting to unnerve you.
Does crying piss him off? You understand it's not a pleasant thing to deal with (not that you expect him to). But seeing him this angry outside of battle makes you want to run and drop off the grid for the rest of your life, abandoning your very important Stellaron Hunter duties and Blade in the process.
You swallow, wiping your face with your sleeve. You can't seem to stop miffing him, because he stalks over to you completely in two strides while you freeze up in muted terror.
Is he going to execute you?! Has he decided to circumvent Elio's rules just to shut you up? Is your pathetic sniveling really going to be your undoing? Will the others have to scrape your remains off the walls and floor, your life forever immortalized as a reminder to keep the waterworks under contro--
He all but shoves something into your limp hand, closing your fingers around it a little too tenderly before sidestepping you like he's been scalded by boiling hot water.
It's soft, and you eventually realize it's a handkerchief. It's the darkest navy can pass without actually being black, embroidered with neat red stitching and obviously made with love. You don't know why he even has something like this - it's not like he ever cries - but you let the train of thought go in favor of soothing your frayed nerves.
You don't think twice before bringing the cloth to your face and wiping the remnants of your sadness away, trying to find your words in the process. Your coworker is now standing shoulder-to-shoulder with you, all traces of perceived anger gone. The foot or so between you and Blade isn't a wide berth, but it's still too far.
"Oh," you manage dumbly, now sporting a considerably drier nose.
Unimpressed, he replies. "I know."
"What?"
Okay, you sense his frustration this time. Blade sighs and wrenches his head in your direction for just a moment, exasperated and tense. "I know... how it is. Like you said."
You tighten your grip on the handkerchief wadded up in your hand. It's strange to hear him converse with you willingly, let alone try to comfort you (at least, you think that's what he's doing). Even so, his admission strikes a certain chord in your heart that's dusty from neglect. You sneak a glance at his figure, and when you meet eyes of burning coal, he returns to glowering at the wall.
Everyone on this ship has been through so much, especially him. You're certain that Blade does know what it's like to have some shitty days; he's probably had thousands of them.
You shrug. "Yeah... um, I figured. Nothing much I can do about it though. Bad stuff happens to everybody."
A lengthy pause stretches on until Blade takes up the mantle.
"You can't do anything about it," he repeats, statement curtailing into a dangerous drawl, "...but what about someone like me?"
Someone like him. Dread and something like fondness washes over you at the implication. The type of person he is - an eponymous sword and scabbard that slaughters on command - cannot fix the type of anguish you're dealing with. He's offering to help in the best way he knows how, you realize slowly.
The fact that he's even offering to shed blood in your name is a bit scary - not just because murder is wrong or whatever, but because he's actively trying to care about you.
No one's ever done that before.
"Alright, who are you and what have you done with Blade?" you joke, grinning genuinely this time, even if lingering moisture clings to your lashes. "Kidding. As nice as the offer is, I don't think your, um, solution... will help either."
You don't think it matters anymore - you're already starting to forget what got you so down in the first place. Perhaps you haven't given him enough credit, because by the way Blade's posture relaxes, he also notices this. No murder necessary tonight.
"Stand tall," he commands, pointedly not meeting your eyes as he pats your head. Before you have any time to process that, he disappears quickly down the adjoining hallway, likely slinking off to shred some training dummies.
You fly into a double-take, jaw practically on the floor.
Seems like you'll have to interrogate the old man whenever you get a chance to wash and return his handkerchief.
As you open up your messages app to text Silver Wolf all the details (with a concerning amount of stickers), your day doesn't seem so rough anymore.
"Thanks, Bladie," you whisper secretly to no one but yourself.
🏷️: @akutasoda, @aviiarie, @lowkeyren, @https-sourlimes
a/n: i finally got it done! so psyched to work on another platonic/familial prompt and it's BLADE i'm so sick. thank you for this request! :D
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The sheriff likes how you always got a pie baking in your window. He likes that every time he sees you, you got your apron on. He likes that you smile and wave at his cruiser. He likes all the way you make him shift in his seat.
The only thing he doesn't like, is that you're not waiting at home for him.
Summary: Lee has regrets to deal with and decisions to make.
Warnings: Alcohol consumption, Depression, Thoughts of cheating, Unhappy marriage. Please let me know if I missed any!
Lee's made a lot of decisions in his life that he regrets. He'll swear up and down that he had only the best of intentions when he signed up for the police force. When he decided to become sheriff. But no one knows better than him how far his morals have fallen.
But not being your man was the biggest regret of his life.
To become sheriff, he needed financial and social support. The kind he could get from her family. He courted her, got on her father's good side, eventually marrying her. He honestly thought that's all love was, that that was the purpose of a marriage. Now he's got all the resources he needs to keep his position, barring his sister royally fucking things up for him.
But then he met you.
Him and his little family were making an appearance at the local auction to raise money for the church. People brought a bunch of homemade goods and foods. Sometimes it was simply pine cone crafts that really did look pretty. Other times it was Granny Russell's special chicken livers. Lee always thought only an idiot would turn down that specialty.
But then you showed up, with a stack of pies.
You were something to look at, Lee was sure no one could deny that. But you were also so sweet. He was certain your kindness, patience, couldn't be real. No one was that sweet all the time. You were too new to the town for him to really know well, but given how the people who did know you reacted, he could imagine you were worth knowing. He made sure to buy one of the pies you'd brought, intent to use it as an ice breaker. He'd figure out your angle, how you could play so nice.
But when he looked into your eyes, he was a goner.
He's never seen such beautiful, kind eyes. He swears they were sparkling. For the first time in his life, Lee was tongue-tied. His wife had to subtly elbow him in the ribs to stop his staring. He definitely got an earful that night before sleeping on the couch. The entire time you were talking to his wife, his kids, he felt at a loss. Like there was something more to life than status. His wife set him straight, though.
But he kept seeing you around town and the feelings kept coming back.
You were always busy with your baking. Always kind to everyone. Always waving at him and smiling. He feels in his bones that you should be his. That you could give him the actual warmth that storybooks about love had promised. Not the performative care that he and his wife did for each other. You'd genuinely enjoy spending time with him, with the kids. Not complaining about a "life wasted" like his wife.
But cheating or worse, a divorce, would kill his election odds.
Every day he can't be with you hurts him. He takes up drinking to try to ease his misery until his wife dumps all of his bottles, citing the upcoming election. The people aren't gonna vote for an angry drunk. Lee thanks her, honestly thanks her, and it catches her off guard. If he can't have you, he's gonna try to do better by his own wife. Maybe it'll help ease the pain of not having you and your natural sweetness in his life.
But then Hal Carter comes to town.
He's a tramp, everyone knows it. He's a drifter working in different towns as he tries getting to some friends of his further south. He claims to have a college degree but Lee doesn't want to believe it. Hal is young, strong and, according to all the old ladies at the church, very helpful. Everything Lee is not. Hal hasn't stopped showering you with attention, attention Lee knows you deserve.
But it should be Lee making you happy.
Holy wah, that got away from me! This was not supposed to go on so long!
Tagging: @alicedopey; @delicatebarness; @icefrozendeadlyqueen; @ronearoundblindly
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If you had the chance to change something about the dance of the dragons (TV show or book), what would it be? For example, how a character dies, which team a house is on,or an entire character personally. How would you change it to make the story better, in your opinion? 💙💚🖤♥️
JUST ONE THING. ANON U R A SADIST.
aksjdjd no okay thank you great ask. sorry if it’s a lil all over the place, i think obsessively about how i would adapt f&b and asoiaf if i was a millionaire lmao.
for the show it’s so easy (besides just giving it like ten more episodes to cook before getting to the Dance, I mean) - lean into the dueling protagonists of alicent & rhaenyra by giving them dueling deuteragonists in aegon ii and jacaerys. i realize this would completely reframe the whole show lmao, but we can even compromise and say once they do that ten year skip, the narrative should focus in on building up the two sides through the dueling protagonists alicent & rhaenyra, and dueling deuteragonists aegon & jace. it makes way more sense to have the character they most interact with be their sons & “heirs” and contrast those relationships & all the politics that exist in how they act as mothers towards their sons. rather than focus in on daemon as the second main character for rhaenyra and…this weird fucking musical chairs male protagonist with the greens they’re doing. it doesn’t fix everything but i think shifting the focus from rhaenyra’s marriages to her as a mother and queen regnant, and from alicent’s conga line of abuses to again, an active role as a mother and queen consort/queen mother, as well as fleshing out the two men who are objectively thee most important men in their lives (argue with the wall jace & aegon haters!!!!). explaining why jace & aegon developed into the sort of men they are through how they exist in the most important relationship in their lives, literally until the day they both die. (and if you’re curious, daemon’s counterpart is aemond, they get to be number three for both their sides. viserys isn’t on a “team” but he does have a counterpart and it’s QOREN).
i think the way they did it in the show really does a disservice to the potential of aegon and especially jacaerys as characters, as well as downplaying the importance of a lot of critical relationships like rhaewin, laenyra, criston’s entire demented relationship with both women, rhaenys’ relationship with laena & rhaenyra, alicent’s whole ass relationship with her kids, AND rhaenyra’s whole ass relationship with her kids. imo they go for this kind of half in half out “we want to appeal to the insane targ stans who genuinely believe incest will save westeros” and “we want to write a story about the complexities of motherhood & sexuality in a patriarchal society” and wound up in a weird place where daemon & alicent are both bisexual but only in deleted scenes and completely drop rhaenyra’s gender fuckery the moment she’s played by an actually non-binary actor and also completely bury the other non-binary actor (rhaena’s actor, phoebe campbell) by giving their character like two fucking lines and no depth.
also better wigs jesus FUCKING christ hbo i know you have the budget!!
for the books….a lot of the problem with the dance is that f&b is so antithetical to how george writes. it’s effectively a very long and detailed outline of a plot and george doesn’t write exclusively by outline. as he says himself, he gardens - he writes and he sees where the writing takes him. if he had actually sat down and written out the dance as a series of short stories the way he does with dunk & egg, i think the plot would not only be massively different it would also be leaps and bounds better. what i want to change is to make george actually WRITE the dance and not just outline and call it a day!!!!
BUT. Okay if I can change ONE thing. fuck that’s hard.
I’d make Larys’ motivation more clear, and when i say more clear i mean my theory is that Larys just straight up hated the Targaryens and Velaryons bc he believed one of them killed Harwin, and decided to get revenge by completely fucking over the whole family tree. i get why people like his show version (I like parts of him a lot too and the actor has some galaxy brained takes!!!) but i think while Larys is well done, his character adaption & the way he’s completely unknowable in the series itself is just a rehash of Tyrion. We already have a disabled younger brother who hates his older brother for being condescending in his love & conditional acceptance, and hates his father for being a patriarchal monster, and is a sexually abusive menace to teenage girls, and I don’t think they are saying anything new or groundbreaking with Larys in the show or book. He is just there to be the evil crippled henchman, and then die.
No, what I want is a true chaos agent to rival Littlefucker, a man who becomes obsessively and uncomfortably devoted to Harwin, the only person in his entire life who ever treated him with any love or respect or care, who launches this bloody, demented quest to completely wipe out every Valyrian left alive for the misuse and murder of his brother. Willing to help kill his own nephews. Willing to burn the kingdom to the ground. Willing to destroy his own house if it means Harwin will be avenged, if it means the dragons die. All leading to Larys getting his Pyrrhic victory and choosing to die because he feels he has nothing left.
Why the extreme change? I think it fits better with a lot of the themes in F&B and the dance in particular - not just family, and “the things we do for love” but the legacy of Valyria, of the Targaryens and the dragons, the clash and growing pains of this group of interlinked cultures learning to tolerate each other’s existence on the same continent, and of course, what being told every day of your life that you’re a monster does to how you view yourself. You can keep all the rest of his weird behavior from the show and the books even - the sexual abuse of Alicent being Larys unable to stop himself from turning into the same sort of awful man his father was; of him switching sides without a care or without any seeming sense in the books, always ready to be the devil on a shoulder to Viserys, Aegon, Alicent, and Corlys - but a little bit here and there to let us know that Larys genuinely loved Harwin until the bitter end. We already have several stories about a brother who grows to resent another and lets the resentment fester until he’s willing to cross a line you can’t come back from and murder his brother for a perceived sleight. I think Larys & the dance as a whole benefit from him being a brother who romanticizes and saintifies Harwin (but not lyonel!) so much that he weaponizes his years of resentment & turns it against the entire world and damn the consequences. I think he fits in much more with Rhaenyra, Alicent, Corlys, Viserys, Daemon, and Rhaenys that way and steps away from being Tyrion but slightly to the left and into his own type of character instead.
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