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offtorivendell · 3 months

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The possible significance of Azriel and Elain Archeron, the Embrace of Solas and Cthona, the paired blades Gwydion and Truth-Teller, and thin places; a theory

Disclaimer: this is a theory that came to me while reading HOFAS, and as usual it makes absolutely no claim of being canon. It builds on past theories that my friends and I have written about Elain, Azriel, the revival of certain lands, the blades Truth-Teller and Gwydion, and brings in some new info from the latest CC book. It also won't be my best effort, as time is currently lacking. I meant to get this out for @elriel-month but yeah, that didn't happen lol. As usual, rambles and overly long sentences ahead. Sorry!

Thanks as always go out to @wingedblooms and @silverlinedeyes for listening to me rant, and believing me when I say I'll actually get around to writing out my thoughts, even though it takes me ages. I love that so many of our theories tie in well together - please check out their theories, too!

Spoilers: Maasverse spoilers ahead, please proceed with caution if you haven't finished reading.

Gwydion (aka the Starsword) and Truth-Teller; the Made blades

In CC 1 we got a brief description of the stylised version of the Embrace of Solas and Cthona as a necklace, worn by Bryce's mother, Ember:

Five minutes after Bryce got there, Jesiba’s client—a raging asshole of a leopard shifter who believed he was entitled to put his paws all over her ass—prowled in and purchased a small statue of Solas and Cthona, portrayed as a sun with male features burying his face in a pair of mountain-shaped breasts. The holy image was known simply as the Embrace. Her mother even wore its simplified symbol—a circle nestled atop two triangles—as a silver pendant. But Bryce had always found the Embrace cheesy and cliché in every incarnation. - CC HOEAB, chapter 22

Firstly, could this be the (hypothetical) wyrdmark on the left shoulder of the figure on the HOFAS cover? The two mountains are there, but the mark between them isn't exactly a circle, so it's not blatantly obvious, but it's possible (I'd love it if the marks on her arms represented the different gods, or Urd in all of her forms). Perhaps light and dark light cancel each other out in some way? And how relevant will the spiral mark be? Does it represent a vortex/portal opening? Or is it the Cauldron's swirling eddies?

Secondly, I also think the two mountains/triangles and the circle/dot in between them look a little like a basic depiction of Gwydion/the Starsword and Truth-Teller (ie. the points of two blades) with a black dot/black hole/portal to nowhere. It's not exact, because the triangles aren't meeting at the tips, so I'm not super confident in it, but I don't think it's impossible, and it could tie back into the six pointed star, and three pairs of powers gathering in the space where they meet. I promise I'm not trying to claim every little thing for Elriel, and given Nesta has her own trio of Made blades, I suspect they could also be relevant here (if Narben is also found, then there would be six blades for the six siblings and six star points), but as Azriel and Elain were the first two to use Truth-Teller (in recent history), I think it's fair to consider their specific importance here.

Elain, Azriel and the Made blades

I've previously suggested that Elain may have powered Truth-Teller with her light, in order to pierce the fabric of the universe before shadow walking to save Nesta and Cassian in ACOWAR (here and here); this is a theory which is not unique to me, as quite a few of my friends think at least some version of it may be true. However, I believe that what we learnt in HOFAS about “thin places,” and the paired blades Gwydion (the Starsword) and Truth-Teller, could take this a step or three further.

To recap as briefly as possible, Elain previously used Truth-Teller to shadow walk in ACOWAR, and we have since had hints that she may use it again in the future. There are many questions left unanswered about Elain's successful use of what we now know is a Made blade, so we'll have to wait and see.

“You honestly think he’d ever give up Truth-Teller?” “He gave it to Elain,” Mor said, admiring a moonstone necklace in the counter’s glass case. “She gave it back,” I amended, failing to block out the image of the black blade piercing through the King of Hybern’s throat. But Elain had given it back—had pressed it into Azriel’s hands after the battle, just as he had pressed it into hers before. And then walked away without looking back. Mor hummed to herself. - ACOFAS, chapter 4

As a brief aside, there are also moments tying Elain to the shadows (whether or not it ends up being Azriel's shadows specifically, her own, or the Void in general remains to be seen), and I think we could find out that the middle Archeron sister, who is canonically observant and wise, may have learnt by watching.

Behind me, Mor took Nesta and Cassian by the hand, readying to winnow them to the camp, while shadows gathered around Azriel, Elain at his side, wide-eyed at the spymaster’s display. - ACOWAR, chapter 50

Does Elain hear Azriel's shadows singing, and can she and Azriel privately communicate this way?

Did she also hear his siphon singing beautifully in ACOWAR? Perhaps as kin?

The Truth-Teller scene in ACOWAR, below, was also important enough to be included in the ACOTAR Colouring Book.

She refused the knife Cassian handed her, though. Went white as death at the sight of it. Azriel, still limping, merely nudged aside Cassian and extended another option. “This is Truth-Teller,” he told her softly. “I won’t be using it today—so I want you to.” His wings had healed—though long, thin scars now raked down them. Still not strong enough, Madja had warned him, to fly today. The argument with Rhys this morning had been swift and brutal: Azriel insisted he could fly—fight with the legions, as they’d planned. Rhys refused. Cassian refused. Azriel threatened to slip into shadow and fight anyway. Rhys merely said that if he so much as tried, he’d chain Azriel to a tree. And Azriel … It was only when Mor had entered the tent and begged him—begged him with tears in her eyes—that he relented. Agreed to be eyes and ears and nothing else. And now, standing amongst the sighing meadow grasses in his Illyrian armor, all seven Siphons gleaming … Elain’s eyes widened at the obsidian-hilted blade in Azriel’s scarred hand. The runes on the dark scabbard. “It has never failed me once,” the shadowsinger said, the midday sun devoured by the dark blade. “Some people say it is magic and will always strike true.” He gently took her hand and pressed the hilt of the legendary blade into it. “It will serve you well.” “I—I don’t know how to use it—” “I’ll make sure you don’t have to,” I said, grass crunching as I stepped closer. Elain weighed my words … and slowly closed her fingers around the blade. Cassian gawked at Azriel, and I wondered how often Azriel had lent out that blade— Never, Rhys said from where he finished buckling on his own weapons against the side of the wagon. I have never once seen Azriel let another person touch that knife. Elain looked up at Azriel, their eyes meeting, his hand still lingering on the hilt of the blade. I saw the painting in my mind: the lovely fawn, blooming spring vibrant behind her. Standing before Death, shadows and terrors lurking over his shoulder. Light and dark, the space between their bodies a blend of the two. The only bridge of connection … that knife. Paint that when we get home. Busybody. - ACOWAR, chapter 69

Firstly, @silverlinedeyes has a post that details how similar this passage is to the six pointed star scene from HOSAB, and the potential significance of it with regards to magical balance and the gathering of power(s). It's outlandish, but I think it could be important for any travels to Hel or beyond that the IC may undertake.

Secondly, I find it really interesting that Elain said to Feyre she didn't know how to "use" Truth-Teller; what if she meant she didn't know how to use it magically? I suspect it's possible that Elain didn't open a portal to nowhere (which appears to require both of the paired blades - perhaps their singing wavelengths cancel each other out?), but rather she created a portal to somewhere, and that's how she shadow walked across the battlefield in ACOWAR (aka she "slipped into shadow" and fought anyway). However, as we all heard her say that she didn't know how to use Truth-Teller, but then did, she obviously figured at least some of it out.

Alternatively, as @wingedblooms, @mrspettyferr, @cassianfanclub and myself have all wondered, did she possibly have some help?!

Was it Azriel, who told us in his ACOSF bonus chapter that he didn't need his shadows to read Elain?

Perhaps is was Nuala or Cerridwen, or maybe even Rhys?

Was it Koschei, the Mother, or a prince of Hel who gave Elain a helping hand?

Even then, how did Elain (hypothetically, of course) activate Truth-Teller? Just like Ruhn found Gwydion and Bryce accessed its magic, so I suspect Azriel found Truth-Teller, but it was Elain who first truly used its power (whereas Nesta, who was at the time full of the Cauldron's death magic, appeared to use it as a simple blade, hastening the king's death after Elain struck a fatal blow). Was it because her light stood in for Gwydion’s own magic and charged it? Is that why Azriel - who I have long thought may have Starborn heritage hidden underneath his shadows - has dark light, or shadows, instead of light? Is Truth-Teller actually devouring his light? Or - less likely - could the obsidian (wyrdstone?) blade be possessed by a Valg, or similar being? Though I'm less certain about that last point, as I wouldn't be surprised if the king of Hybern was possessed by a Valg (or similar) type creature, maybe a Daglan, and if that was the case then why would Truth-Teller decide to behave for Elain, unless the Valg* and Asteri/Daglan are enemies… anyway!

*What we learnt in HOFAS, about the blackest salt/obsidian drawing in the princes of Hel (while simultaneously repelling the Asteri/Daglan) makes me wonder about their possible ties to the Valg from TOG, who used obsidian wyrdstone rings and collars as a way to possess host bodies.

I'm not sure. I've been thinking about this a lot lately, because I think Truth-Teller and Gwydion could be stand ins for Elain and Azriel (not necessarily in that order, though I do think a dagger suits Elain better than a sword does in terms of function); a bond needing to be reforged between them has always screamed “renewed shall be blade that was broken” to me (the Ballad of Strider), and the Truth-Teller scene could be suggesting that the grey - as in the blend of light and dark - could be a thin place between them. It would follow that this imagery, albeit very loosely, could be evoking The Embrace of Solas and Cthona, which Ember wears as a necklace, and that could possibly be a wyrdmark on the cover of HOFAS.

“Light and dark, the space between their bodies a blend of the two..." Just seems so relevant here.

Cthona and Solas represent dark and light.

Gwydion/the Starsword and Truth-Teller are (bright) light and dark light.

Azriel and Elain are dark and light... or perhaps light and dark?

Are Void and Chaos (the Mother?) involved?

Is the statue of the primal goddess that Nesta notices in ACOSF another hint here?

If being carranam ties into this, would it include Feysand and Nessian?

Light and dark have grey in between them, and the thin places are described as “gray.” Elain was even engaged to a man named "Graysen" for crying out loud; his family’s colour was even cobalt. I would be so surprised if all of this ends up meaning absolutely nothing in terms of her story.

How could Elain and Azriel stand in for Cthona and Solas when Elain is light and Azriel is darkness?

I could definitely be wrong, but instead of purely life, I (and @wingedblooms) prefer to think of Elain as rebirth, which inherently straddles the murky realm between life and death - the grey between light and dark (and grey) - and beautifully fits with her role as a gardener (relevant theories are here, here, here and here), the Book of Breathings rambling about "rot and bloom and bone," her position as the middle Archeron sister, her ability to blend quietly into the background, and definitely the grey of dawn and dusk. Azriel, though? The one Feyre described as the knife in the dark? Well, he has shadows that can brighten into sunlight, and I suspect that may have been what Elain was referring to in ACOWAR, when she said she needed sunshine.

So...

Azriel's shadows lightening into sunshine: Solas.

Elain and her many ties to the earth: Cthona.

I'm unsure if this is trying to tell us that Azriel will be the stand-in for Truth-Teller, because he is "dark light"/has shadowsinging abilities, while Elain is represented by Gwydion due to her prominent (so far) association with hope or brighter light, or whether it's the other way around, and we're actually being told that, while Elain appears to be light and warmth personified, in the future she will carry Truth-Teller, the blade that is her apparent opposite, as Azriel will wield Gwydion* (if they both end up having surprise powers, being able to swap between light and dark). It's all very murky, one might say a grey area. But I do think it likely that Elain and Azriel will each end up carrying either a blade that represents themself or their partner in some way.

* Yes, I know that Bryce gave Gwydion to Nesta, but she already has her own trio of Made blades. If I'm putting money on who will wield it, I think it will be Azriel, Elain or Feyre.

Thin places and Made blades

Before HOFAS was published @cassianfanclub and I had discussed the - we thought - insane possibility of the differently coloured mountain rock in Prythian being significant in terms of their possible salt content, and that it could be no coincidence that the black and grey rock of the Hewn City was in proximity to a known appearance of one “Lord Thanatos.”

Black salts were used for summoning demons directly—bypassing the Northern Rift entirely—or for various dark spellwork. A salt that went beyond black, a salt like the obsidian … It could summon something big. - CC HOEAB, chapter 18

Bryce stiffened at the moldy, rotten earth scent that crept from the bundle as he unfolded the fabric to reveal a handful of rust-colored salt. “What the fuck is that?” Ithan asked. “Bloodsalt,” Bryce breathed. Tharion looked to her in question, but she didn’t bother to explain more. Blood for life, blood for death—it was summoning salt infused with the blood from a laboring mother’s sex and blood from a dying male’s throat. The two great transitions of a soul in and out of this world. But to use it here … “You can’t mean to add that to their water,” Bryce said to the Astronomer. The old male hobbled back down the ramp. “Their tanks already contain white salts. The bloodsalt will merely pinpoint their search.” - CC HOSAB, chapter 38

Mor went right up to the obsidian dais, and I halted at the foot of the steps as she took up a place beside the throne and said to the crowd in a voice that was clear and cruel and cunning, “Your High Lord approaches. He is in a foul mood, so I suggest being on your best behavior—unless you wish to be the evening entertainment.” - ACOMAF, chapter 42

The mountain underneath the House of Wind - the one that houses the library in which I think a certain cat-like darkness could be a prince of Hel - contains both red stone and obsidian doors, with veins of silver running throughout (which reads like hope in the void, like the Velaris Weaver's tapestry, and I suspect may be important for Elain's journey, given she is frequently associated with hope).

Rhys stepped into a hall at the foot of the stairs, revealing a wide passageway of carved red stone and a sealed set of obsidian doors, veins of silver running throughout. Beautiful—terrifying. Like some great beast was kept behind them. - ACOWAR, chapter 20

If @silverlinedeyes, @wingedblooms, @ladynightcourt, @cassianfanclub, @psychologynerd and I are right that Clotho and some of her priestesses are involved in something massive, and have been contacting at least one of the princes of Hel, this would make sense! Black salt to summon something big, and red salt to pinpoint their search. And obsidian doors?!

We then learnt the following in CC HOFAS:

“The black salt, in such high quantity, keeps them away. They never realized that its presence drew us as much as it repelled them,” Apollion said with satisfaction. “It has the same properties that made us immune to the thrall of their black crowns.” - CC HOFAS, chapter

“The black salt only repels the Asteri; the mists repel everyone else. But certain people, with certain gifts, can access the power of thin places—on any world. World-walkers.” Aidas gestured gracefully to Bryce. “You are one of them. So were Helena and Theia. Their natural abilities lent themselves to moving through the mists.” - CC HOFAS, chapter

Elain is almost certainly a world walker - doe eyes searching across the world! - and Azriel may be one as well, but what if it is everyone who can winnow? Or just those like them, with a deeper affinity to the Void? And are they walking thin places themselves/as a partnership (remember the charged glance they shared last winter solstice), or do they just have a natural ability to make use of those which exist in the wild? Or is it some combination of the above?

Additionally, the obsidian hilts of Truth-Teller and Gwydion appear to be incredibly important here. In addition to the possibility that the Illyrian runes Truth-Teller carries on its scabbard may in reality be wyrdmarks, what if the obsidian hilts both summon the bearer in a way that allows them to access the void/murky realm and provides protection from any prying Asteri/Daglan eyes? Are the hilts made from wyrdstone? What about Koschei? Is Truth-Teller the reason his magic captured Cassian instead of Azriel in ACOSF?

There are so many possibilities beyond shipping, though given this is romantasy we know the relationships are more important to the story than your average romantic side plot, so we really can't separate the two while theorising. But either way, I'm so excited to see where this leads, and if we'll finally get detailed information about the gods in each or SJM's worlds, and how they may function throughout her extensive literary universe.

If you've made it this far, thank you for reading!

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crescentmel · 20 days

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ok i’m about to go on an x-men (movies) rant lmfao

preface: idk anything about the x-men universe, comics included, these are just my thoughts on the movies so far so don’t come at me

so basically before watching deadpool & wolverine my coworker suggested i watch logan first, so i did. one of the best marvel films of all time like holy fuck it’s SO GOOD !!!! LIKE IN MY TOP 5 MARVEL FILMS NOW I LOVED IT SM ;____; (i love logan lol)

so that inspired me to watch the x-men movies for the first time, i’ve never seen them and idk too much about the x-men really. so far i’ve finished the original trilogy, x-men first class, and i finished wolverine origins & am now starting the second wolverine movie

and yeah they’re not like, the best movies of all time (idk how comic accurate they are that’s a whole other story) but like they’re still good in their own way

but i just have to say, it’s been on my mind since the finishing the original trilogy, that logan & jean’s “romance” makes no fucking sense to me. like it genuinely pisses me off lmfao. while watching the first three movies, i kinda played it off as like oh logan’s just a flirt, he knows jean & scott are in love, SURELY he’ll back off right?

LIKE IT JUST KEEPS GOING?? and i read up about it afterwards and i guess they are supposed to have like a “love triangle” of sorts but i genuinely felt no chemistry between jean & logan at all.

like in the first film, right at the end, it feels like logan just decides that he’s in love with jean, not that he falls in love with jean yknow? idk if that makes sense

but also the third movie was just a shit show and the biggest fuck you to scott i felt to bad for him, also annoyed that yeah jean would tell logan she’s in love with scott, but she still would like invite his flirting? idkkk i don’t wanna be a hater but jean & logan makes no sense to me and i think they should have further developed jean & scott’s relationship ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

#x-men #x men movies #logan howlett #jean grey #scott summers #x men #logan 2017 #wolverine #deadpool & wolverine

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gregorio-makes-art · 1 year

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My thoughts on ninjago ships!

Just finished dragons rising and wanted to give my thoughts on the ships cuz that’s what holds my attention the most lol. I have both canon ships and fanon ships that i see a lot.

Nya/Jay

I literally love them with all my heart! They work so well together! All of their little interactions just make my heart happy. Their dancing in prime empire, their fist date in season 1, Jay’s proposal, and every other little thing. They are the the best ninjago ship in my opinion, but they are not perfect. I fucking hate the love triangle in season 3! It is so stupid. It comes out of nowhere! I, in general, hate love triangles but this is the worst. Not only was it entirely unnecessary, but it makes all three characters look bad. It makes Nya look indecisive, jay look hella whiny, and Cole look like a jack ass who only wants Nya so that Jay can’t have her. Back to the positives tho. I think the shows writing is at its best when their ship is a focal point. For a long time, sky bound was my favorite season( I know I know). It often gets a lot of flack for the ending, but that is one of my favorite parts. The idea that after all is said and done, only the two of them get to remember this massive Journey makes it all the more special. It’s about them, for them, and only they get to remember it. Seabound quickly took the top spot as soon as I started it(I honestly don’t know if this is a hot take or not, but Nya’s character arc was just so good!). The finale made me sob so uncontrollably, it was a little scary. Jay not getting a real goodbye was so heartbreaking. Seeing how content Jay was after they saved her despite the fact that he was actively being sent to prison is the kind of love I want!

Zane/Pixal

What can I say other than the fact that they are perfect. I mean they literally share a heart for Christ’s sake! If anything, they are to perfect and can be a bit boring, but that is barely a complaint. I will say that I didn’t like how long Pixal was trapped in Zane’s head, but other than that I love them. That scene in Compatible was so unnecessary but so fucking good!

Kai/Skylor

I really like them together. They don’t have enough screen time together which makes it heard for their relationship to develop. Honestly, Skylor in general is underdeveloped. She should have just joined the main cast after season 4. They have good chemistry, have cute little interactions, and are adorable to watch. I just wish she was around more. I was hoping that something more would happen with them by the end of crystallized but nothing really happened. I hope she comes back for dragons rising and has a good storyline, and hopefully some resolution with Kai.

Lloyd/Harumi

No. Fucking no. I hate Harumi. This ship is so dumb in the context of the show. Let me stop now before this turns into a whole rant ( a Harumi rant is for another day).

Lloyd/Akita

I’m actually very fond of these two. I will admit that they don’t get to spend enough time together, but it is still really cute! I hope they find each other again in dragons rising.

Cole/Vania

While I think Cole is definitely queer coded, still find these two cute. Maybe Cole is bi? I also like the idea that Vania is non-binary. Very cute together and I hope that they are endgame

Misako/Garmadon

What can I say? I’m a sucker for these two. They are cute old people who admittedly have a LOT of issues to work through.

Misako/Wu

No. Just no. I honestly hate wu and the idea of him and Misako being a thing is weird. It is wrong on both parts. Just all around stop.

Non/Questionably Canon

Any combo of Kai/Jay/Zane/Cole/Lloyd

While there is nothing inherently wrong with shipping these characters, it just gives me the ick. The fact that they all call each other brothers makes it weird. And it’s different with Nya cuz it’s not like Jay calls her his sister. And shipping any of them with Lloyd is icky for the obvious age reasons, I mean they literally knew him as a 10 year old. But while I don’t like any of these ships, Cole/Kai is the least upsetting.

Pythor/Aspheera

They are funny I guess, but pythor is def gay.

Pythor/Skales

Skales is an honest man and a loving husband who would never cheat on Selma thank you very much!

Wu/Faith

I can 100% see it. There is obviously an age difference. But maybe if faith comes back as an older women after some weird time thing related to the merge or something, then it could definitely work.

Dareth/Gayle Gossip

They are cute I guess, but they are beyond an afterthought

Ronin/Nya

Gross. Just stop

Dareth/Ronin

I can’t explain it, but I love them so much! It’s just hilarious and makes me laugh. It’s cute too.

Kruncha/Nuckal

They have been a married couple for 1000 years. They know each other so we’ll and complete each other. Perfect. 100%

That’s all I have. If you have any other ships that I didn’t mention or a ship you would like me to expand on them let me no.

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greypetrel · 10 months

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Would you ever:

-write another crossover (aside from the Dark Lady crossover)

-(to mirror the one you asked me lol) write your own least favorite trope? (To explore/deconstruct it, etc.)

Hi Mo! :3 Thank you for asking!!

Absolutely yes. I loved comparate literatures and finding links between different medias, see what inspired what and how a certain theme was twisted in the later work. So, crossovers and finding common grounds are really my jam. I most definitely would write another crossover! If the XVII century was my preferred period to research and read about, Monster fic would have actually been a Three Musketeers crossover. (I started the first chapter, then realised the level of research I needed... and since it was an artistic project I could manage while busy with my family, and since I still have a lot to research and read for my original work, I decided to spare myself another rabbit-hole of endless research and write a retelling instead. Also I don't like baroque and rococo in fashion so I spared myself having to draw fashion I dislike in drawings. uwu" Sorry Dumas.

Mh. Yes if I found a way to twist it and bend it so it'll be palatable to me. Otherwise I know I'll get bored and never finish. I need to find the right kick for it, and the right way to tackle it, and here having another person to rant about with and keep me hyped may be needed. I started to write a third chapter for that old LavellanxFenris thing... I never finished it and I don't think I ever would, because it was falling rovinously to a love triangle which wouldn't have ended in an OT3. And that kicked all my interest in writing it away. (I am VERY difficult with love triangles and that one wasn't one of my liking. There are examples of triangles I liked, but I need more justification for it rather than, say, a "and there was only one bed") (I'm a sucker for the last bed left.)(I blame Melville for it.)

Tis the ask

#ask game #petrel replies #writer would you ever

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chutkiandchotte · 1 year

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Rant time!!!!!!!!!

Can anyone explain to me why the cheating trope is so popular in current Indian/desi television? WHAT is the freaking appeal of it for mass audiences that practically every tv show sooner or later launches into this storyline IRRESPECTIVE of what their original show plot was???

And the thing about a cheating storyline is, when it is treated with nuance and respect, it can actually be very compelling. Like, on a personal, totally subjective level, I am NOT a fan of this trope. But, I will get into a love triangle, give it a fair chance, if I see a storyline with three fully fleshed out characters with distinct motivations related to their psychology, their personality, their desires. The angst of falling in love with another person while in a committed relationship, if explored without letting people off the hook for immoral actions, can actually be a very interesting. Duty/responsibility vs love/lust. What does it take to make an angel fall. Etc.

But nuance? Who is she? Certainly nowhere to be found in these shows. They have the most basic, fucked up version of the cheating trope, cheating used for drama, cheating to generate emotional torture situations, cheating the way a 15 yr old would understand it. When handled carelessly, its so easy to slip into either a victim-blaming or other-woman shaming narrative with the cheating trope. And, OF COURSE THE MAN (USUALLY THE CHEATER) ALWAAAYS GETS OFF SCOT FREE WITH THE CLEANEST CHARACTER CERTIFICATE BC BOOHOO HIS MANLY HORMONES BOOHOO DIDN’T MEAAAANNNNN TOOOO BOOHOO HE STILL LOVES HER.

THAT is the crux of the issue: these shows want to have their cake and eat it too. They want an other woman we instantly hate, but they don’t want us to hate the man who betrays his wife for her. They want to show an epic, pure, for-the-ages love, the romance novel tropey love, where two star crossed lovers fight through a sea of problems and even with their own damn selves to find their way together. And then they insert the cheating/betrayal as simply another melodramatic obstacle that doesn’t, in any way, dint the character of the cheater or cast a negative light on their OH SO GREAT love story.

We as the audience are expected to continue rooting with all our heart for the couple to get back and stay together. We’re supposed to cheer the virtuous wife on as she “fights” to get “her man” back. Or, hate her for anything she does in anger as a response to the cheating. We’re supposed to despise the other woman for being an immoral villain, practically criminal at times, for “stealing the man”, but never hate the man for being stolen lol.

We’re supposed to ALWAYS sympathize with the cheating man, even while he is cheating with the heroine’s sister/best friend/bully/attempted murderer/all of the above; even as he dumps/or is dumped by the heroine, and even as he is “stuck” in the secondary relationship while “loyally” pining for the heroine. He is never the one to hate, even for a second!

To which I say: FUCK YOU AND NO.

/end rant

#i tried to keep the language gender neutral #but lets be real hindi tv is NOT ready for a female cheating story #at least not one where the woman is given half the grace and dignity which a cheating man is given #ive been ruminating on this for a while bc like name 1 popular hindi tv show today that DOESN'T feature a love triangle usually with cheatin #i challenge you!#tellywood

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towlerknows · 1 year

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(It’s Unusual Question time with Julie!) What is something you can talk/rant about for 10 uninterrupted minutes and still have more to say? twizzler or red vines?

LOL! These are fun :)

I frequently have rants that I subject my friends to, but today my rant is math!! Since I just figured out how to understand more advanced mathematics (fuck my geometry teacher! FUCK HER!), I can't stop marveling at how the whole world is made up of triangles! Everything is three dimensions! NUMBERS ARE UNITS!!!! Pi MAKES SENSE!

So yeah, I've been good with math my whole life, but geometry stumped me. Couldn't wrap my brain around the purpose. Now that I get it, I feel like I have to rewrite my entire brain. It's kind of awesome really. (I do know this sounds dumb to any 14 year old, but it's a big deal for me)

And now for the most important one.... (drum roll please)

Red Vines!!!

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enby-hawke · 2 years

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How did Lucky, Merrill, Isabella and Fenris get together?

I never thought anyone would ever ask this and I'm sorry it took so long to respond but I'll try to keep it short.

Basically Lucky and Merrill were the first to meet. Merrill fell in love right away and Lucky had a crush too but as soon as he saw that Carver also had a crush he decided to back off and just be friends as a good big brother is supposed to do.

Then like the very next day Lucky meets Isabela. Lucky picks a fight over the other Lucky about who gets to keep the name. And then he blacks out cause he's really drunk at that point and he wakes up handcuffed to Isabela's bed. He is very sad he cannot remember the first night with Isabela but he gets many more. But it's very clear that Isabela is not interested in relationships and every time Lucky does something couply she shuts him down. Hard. So Lucky tries to get the picture.

Enter Fenris. Punches a man's heart out and crushes it. Lucky was already in love but then he spoke and then Lucky knew he was going to marry this man. The thing is Lucky falls in love a lot. His heart's a slut as he says. He had a crush on basically the whole crew at this point, but he told himself he would try to do things right and pursue Fenris only. Though he kept fucking Isabela until Fenris and him got serious. And he kept almost kissing Merrill every time she helped him succeed in a magical experiment.

Then Lucky and Fenris after three years of bickering and awkward moments and drunken kisses and finally sober kisses, they finally decide to be serious and try for real. But Fenris isn't ready and Lucky is moving too fast. And they have sex and break up and Lucky is crushed.

Lucky internalizes it instead of realizing that Fenris wasn't ready to be in a relationship.

In a fit of ill-timed decisions he ends up listening to Isabela's advice and go after Merrill finally but he's not really over Fenris and ends up hurting Merrill because he can't bring himself to say "I love you" back.

This gets Isabela cut out of his life as he promised her he wouldn't make Merrill cry. He goes into a destructive spiral where he tries to shut everyone out cause he's tired of annoying everyone and causing them problems. The only thing that breaks him out of this is saving his Mom's life just barely.

Still Lucky is a mess. Lucky doesn't know what to do with his heart. But at this point he realizes he does love Merrill still and wants to try to make things right with her cause he knows Fenris and him are over.

So he does this big romantic gesture in the middle of the Hanged Man only to find out the Merrill and Isabela are now together lol.

So he ends up leaving with his tail between his legs but Merrill chases after him with Isabela in hand. Merrill says she still loves Lucky but she loves Isabela too, and she is the one who is like "why do I have to choose? I know you both liked each other at one point. Can't we just all be happy together?"

Act 2 events happen. Some other things happen but this is getting long but basically. Isabela runs away for three years. It's just Merrill and Lucky for awhile. But then Isabela comes back and Isabela and Fenris get together. And Lucky is super jealous and trying not to be because he's with Merrill. But Merrill can tell and she's the one that has the big brains like ya'll. C'mon let's just fuck it out already.

Anyway thanks for letting me rant about my OT4

The reason why Anders is not in this mess is because he's in a love triangle with Seb and Bethany and Carver ends up in a throuple with Sigrun and Velanna in the wardens. You know what Nathaniel is in there too. (they all make fun of Oghren)

#dragon age #lucky hawke #thanks marh sorry that took so long but that was fun

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sweetscenes · 2 years

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I find myself incredibly bored, and sleep isn’t cutting it so I’m gonna tell y’all some stories from my 10+ years of rping on various platforms! Buckle up everyone, let’s do this.

My first story comes in the form of me being involved in an ami.no rp, where I created a marvelous, detailed OC. I was really proud of this OC, and it took me several days to flesh out her character and her journey. She was a wonderful character, although I’ll never rp her again due to this incident.

One of my BIGGEST pet peeves is when someone plagarizes or copies people’s writing, art, whatever. So, you can imagine my surprise upon finding out that one group of friends copied the ENTIRE amino. Like, legit took our systems, rules, aesthetics, everything. Now as someone who helped build this platform, including writing up a fair amount of lore and fun abilities, I was a little steamed.

But NOTHING could compare to someone literally copying and pasting my OC. They literally control A control c control v my character. The same metaphors, the same expressions, the same TYPOS were on the form. They changed the face claim and the name of the OC but otherwise it was EXACTLY my form.

They tried to claim that it was their own OC. Which it was not. That was wild, let me tell you. I ended up just leaving the dm, blocking them, and moving on. They were banned from the amino they copied, so like, lol it worked out I guess.

Now let’s talk about the time I was bitched out by someone... because they liked me.

On this SAME amin.o, someone comes into my dms and starts talking with me. Chatting. We talk for a few weeks, and I noticed that she started modeling her aesthetics after mine, which, fine. Then she sought out the same abilties for her characters as mine. Which again, okay.

She’s always telling me how much she admires me, how much she looks up to me, things like that. I’m flattered, but eventually it starts getting kinda overwhelming.

Finally, one day, I wake up to this HUGE rant on how she admires me so much that she hates me. That she wishes she were me, because I have everything she wants. She ranted about how good I was at rp and creating characters and how she was so envious of my ability and said it wasn’t fair that I got everything. Like she went ON.

I think I was just like “oh sorry” before I moved on and never mentioned it again.

One last story from amin.o. Someone created an OC. A rather peculiar OC. This OC was...

A kazoo.

Yes, someone wanted to roleplay a sentient kazoo.

Forged by Hepheatus and blessed by Aphrodite, this kazoo just wanted to be played and make friends with humans. It had feelings. It had love. It was something else.

We, of course, approved the kazoo.

If that wasn’t wild enough, someone’s character had BEEF with the kazoo. Like unironically.

I think the thing was that the girl that the person’s character liked was hanging out with the kazoo more than him, so the OC. (without the muns) permission, threw the kazoo into the water and described it drowning.

People then, before the kazoo was revived, held a massive funeral for said kazoo.

So there’s that.

My final story for now relays the time I got kicked out of a roleplay because my character was causing unrest and problems.

But not for the reason anyone would think.

So I join a group of home.stuck roleplayers, we are doing a fan session. I make a human OC, and join in the rp where there are already three human characters. trolls have not be cast yet, which was fine, they wouldn’t be relevant for a while.

Anyways, I guess I made my character too likable because all of the muns of the human characters decided to have them all crushing on MY OC. My lesbian OC. It was the Wednesday love triangle before it even happened. Or i guess square? Since it was two dude ocs and one girl oc in addition to my oc.

Yep, this actually happened.

So people in OOC would get into fights about MY CHARACTER and how I should be shipping with THEIR OC. My character caused ship wars.

Eventually, the admin decided to KICK ME OUT, rather than telling the other three to get it together. Like “if you all can’t share none of you can have it” I guess?

I’ve never joined another fan.session.

I hoped you enjoyed a small taste of the wildness I’ve experienced, and let me know if you want me to share more stories including the time an online friends tried to isolate me from my irl life, someone who thought I was a kin from the same source their kin was, the time I had to deal with a server wide crisis because the other admins decided to play a nasty april fools prank while I wasn’t online, or the time I became a relationship counselor for two people in their mid 20s. I was 16. And many more!

Until next time folks.

#;ooc #pineapple story time i guess

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fbfh · 3 years

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prolonged bisexual panic - steve harrington x fem reader x billy hargrove

genre: angsty bisexual pining + smut

wc: 5k

pairing: steve x fem reader, billy wants to be in the middle, background jonathan x nancy

warnings: everyone's beat up after an ambiguous monster fight, billy has a lot of self loathing and internalized issues, you kiss billy thinking he's steve cause you're half asleep, billy is actually a good brother and not abusive in this, billy has to come to terms with the fact that he's bi and in love with you and steve, morning wood, dream that takes place in a hospital, jacking off in the shower, billy thinks about you and steve while jacking off in the shower, did I mention boners enough yet, billy cries like twice because you're both nice to him, you call yourself mommy as a joke, let me know if I missed anything I don't have any braincells rn

spoilers: billy and max (cause they're introduced in season 2), brief mention of ambiguous monsters and monster slime

summary: caught between you and steve the night after a battle, billy has nowhere to run from the warmth he feels around you two. he doesn't want to admit how badly he wants to be with both of you because he obviously doesn't stand a chance, but he doesn't really have another option at this point.

music rec: i actually made a playlist this time!! you can listen to it on shuffle if you want but it's in chronological order w the plot yk it's only a few songs so I can link them here too

arms tonight - mother mother, water fountain - alec benjamin, caught in the middle - paramore, i/me/myself - will wood, verbatim - mother mother, sudden desire - hayley williams, bizarre love triangle - new order

a/n: why did the writers do billy so dirty.... I could have made sure he was okay.... "i can fix him" yeah well I can add him to my f/o list

also I'm about to start season 3 so no spoilers lol

also also I feel like this is probs some of my best work so far so PLS let me know!!!! give me feedback and validation!!!! rant to me on anon!!!! I wanna hear it you can not possibly annoy me bc I'M the annoying one!!!!! <33

ALSO I've decided to be that bitch and start including outfits in fics again so enjoy this and follow my shoplook!!

as with all nsfw works, all participating characters (steve, billy, and reader) are aged up to 18+, minors obviously dni <3

One benefit of Steve’s parents barely ever being home is that when shit hits the fan, and you’re up late into the night fighting interdimensional monsters, everyone can crash at his place, no questions asked. The older kids - you, Steve, Nancy, Jonathan, and Billy - had gotten everyone over to Steve’s place, ordered some pizza, and set up movies and a giant pillow fort in the living room for the younger kids in hopes that it would help them sleep, and gotten to bed yourselves before three in the morning. It doesn’t sound like much, but after the night you’ve all had, you’ll consider it a victory. You told them more times than you can count, if they need anything you’ll all be right upstairs, wake someone up if you need anything. Jonathan and Nancy had taken the guest room, for obvious reasons, leaving you, Billy, and Steve to crash in Steve’s (in your opinion, garishly plaid) room.

Asleep on your feet, getting ready for bed through nothing more than muscle memory, you and Steve peel off your superfluous layers, leaving you in a baggy tee shirt and sweatpants respectively, and fall into bed without a second thought, asleep within minutes. Neither of you notice the compromising position you’re in, or the intimate touches and soft breathy kisses you share out of habit.

Billy, however, does notice. Mainly because as you fell into bed with each other, he got caught in the middle. He was half asleep minutes ago, but he’s definitely awake now. He barely had time to pull off his jeans, much less put on the pajama pants Steve had tossed at him, so clad in nothing more than boxers and a tank top, you and Steve press your forms into his. Part of him wishes he'd left his jeans on, but with your hand already slipping under his shirt and Steve’s on his thigh, he doesn’t think it would have made much difference.

Steve’s arm is under Billy's head, face in his hair, his other hand sleepily caressing Billy's thigh, sending heat to his core. Warmth radiates off his bare chest, and Billy feels a part of him that was always a little annoyed that Steve was never on the skins team during basketball, one he never let himself acknowledge, flood with catharsis. Curiosity, he always told himself, a type of curiosity only satisfied by locker rooms and… whatever situation he finds himself in now.

You nuzzle your face into his neck, and he lets out a quiet, breathy sigh. He can't stop himself from resting his hand on the dip of your waist. Your shirt riding up from the curve of your hip, his hands seem to move on their own, brushing up and down your waist. He finds a subtle indent on your hip where the elastic of your underwear rests, and he traces the soft material, digging in his heels as his mind wanders places he knows it shouldn’t go.

Laying between you, touching and cuddling you both is such a bizarre sensation; as campy as it may sound, he truly never thought he’d be close to both of you like this. There’s no doubt that he’s wanted to be, desperately, for some time, but he’d always written it off as another self destructive pipe dream.

He’d tried earlier today. He really did. You had just finished patching up and settling down the kids, and were passing around first aid kits to the older siblings. One was given to Jonathan and Nancy, one to Billy, and you and Steve had used the supplies in the bathroom. He had lurked outside the bathroom door, trying to work up the nerve to join you, even just existing separately in the same space would have been enough.

He watched you two through the bathroom door, with you standing in between Steve’s legs while his hands skimmed up and down your hips, finally resting on the small of your back. Your hand under his chin, guiding his face around, you assessed his injuries. He’d gotten away with just a black eye and a busted lip, as he always seems to, and you dabbed at the skin gently with a cotton ball. Steve winced slightly at the sting, and Billy could just make out your voices, quietly floating to the doorway.

“Y’know,” Steve started, “I think I’m gonna need a lot of get better kisses to recover from this one,” he trailed off, pulling you closer to him. He just had to walk in the room. Just enter, and make conversation, and keep doing what he was doing before.

“Woah, tiger,” you said with a laugh as he leaned in, grabbing antiseptic cream from the counter, “you won’t be able to kiss anyone if you don’t let me fix your lip.”

You patted his chest, readjusting his face to get a better look. Steve’s eyes got a dreamy sort of look to them, and in that moment, anyone in the room could feel how profound and tangible his love for you is.

He couldn't do it.

Breath pulled from his lungs, Billy returned to Steve’s room, your laughter echoing down the hall at something one of you had said. Misery seemed to pump from his heart through his veins, spreading throughout his entire body.

Now he doesn’t have to wonder what your hands would feel like on his chest, or what Steve’s arms would be like loosely wrapped around him. He doesn’t have to wonder what your shampoo would smell like, or what Steve’s sleepy sighs feel like against his skin. Now, lying here with you, both of you, it’s surreal how fast the tides have turned, how fast that deep resounding sadness has turned into overwhelming warmth and fulfillment. Even if it doesn’t mean anything by sunrise, he knows it will to him.

Even still, he feels like he's being torn apart. At this point, he can’t deny how badly he wants this, how he'll take any scraps of attention, or even passive inclusion, you and Steve might throw him, but for reasons infuriatingly beyond his understanding, his instincts keep telling him to run. That this warmth he's feeling is too much and he'll get burned, or worse, accustomed to it, never able to survive in the inevitable coldness of solitude again. And then what? He just curls up and dies? He lets out an irritated sigh. Frustration, many kinds of it, continues to build.

He squeezes his eyes shut, blinking heavily as he tries to stay awake. He can’t dwell on that distress, as much as he might like to; every breath, every touch of your skin on his, the warmth radiating off of you and onto him keeps him painstakingly in the present. Touching both of you like this, soft and gentle, is so intense, a strange sort of high he’s never felt anywhere else. His long building panic begins to plateau, as he settles into the unwavering sensation of being between you like this. He finds himself blinking more and opening his eyes less, your comforting touches and his prior exhaustion finally catching up with him.

He doesn’t want to sleep. He doesn’t want to risk the miniscule chance that something might happen, and he would sleep through it. He feels you moving, heart in his throat, looking at you nervously. He doesn’t want you to wake up and be disgusted at being so close to him. You’re so kind to everyone, he knows you’d never say that, but he couldn’t live with himself if he knew he’d made you feel that way.

But you don’t wake up. You stretch, arms and legs elongating, your hand getting dangerously close to his hips, before settling back into a comfortable position. Your hips rock against his thigh a few times as you get comfortable, and he bites his lip, trying desperately not to make any noise. Your hand, no longer resting on the bare skin of his stomach, grabs onto the collar of his shirt, pulling it gently. And it stays like that. There you are again, Steve’s breath ghosting steadily over his face, you pressed into his side. In this new position, he can feel the soft flesh of your chest against his.

It’s too much. He wants to get up and leave, and he wants to stay here forever, leaning into this newfound warmth, but he does nothing. He lays there, paralized, choking on conflict. He squeezes his eyes shut, breathing growing ragged as he tries to calm himself, stay in control of his emotions. He’s really glad you’re both sound asleep and not awake to see the stray tears that slip down his cheeks.

He feels you stir again, and tries to force his breathing to slow down. Your hand leaves his chest, and rises softly to his cheek. He flinches slightly as you brush away the tears rolling down his face with the most gentle touch he thinks he’s ever felt in his life. A new wave of deep sadness hits, the tenderness of your gesture making him want to cry more. You shift, pressing a soft, sleepy kiss to his formerly tear stained cheeks. The feeling amplifies.

“Hey, it’s okay,” you murmur in his ear, emulating nothing but pure love and warmth, “I’ve got you, you’re okay…” You continue pressing soft kisses into the side of his face and neck, hand rubbing soothing circles on his chest and stomach.

“You’re okay Stevie.”

In spite of the reassuring tone of your voice, he thinks being split open and gutted with a cleaver would hurt less. He stares at the ceiling, your touch hypnotic.

“I love you.” you say into his ear, pressing a kiss into his jaw. “You’re just… the sweetest person, and I love you so much…”

Slowly, turning his head toward yours, he watches your silhouette in the dark room, moonlight illuminating everything in a surreal, blue cast. Slowly, tenderly, he leans down, pressing a kiss to the top of your head. You hum in approval, pace of your hand on his chest and stomach slowing down. He begins to get caught up in the soothing, hypnotic current of your movements, unaware that he’s even closed his eyes.

He soon finds himself in an uncomfortable plastic chair along the hall of a hospital. He’s filled with a visceral sense of disgust and sickening dread. He’s waiting, stuck stagnant on news that may or may not come. A hand comes up, and he recognizes it as Steve’s. He gently guides Billy’s head to the side, resting on his shoulder, arm around him. His free hand rests on Billy’s leg, and Billy places his own shaking hand on top of it. Soon after your hand covers his, thumb rubbing his skin reassuringly. Your free arm wraps loosely around his waist as you sit curled up in the seat next to him, resting your head on his chest.

And you stay like that.

As doctors and nurses and hospital staff rush around, completely ignoring him, he waits. He’s still full of that sickening, miserable, cold feeling, but you and Steve are completely unshaken, unbothered; still, but not stagnant. The waiting, not even bothering to beg doctors and nurses for any kind of information because he knows they won’t give him anything, is still horrible, but with you and Steve here, beacons of peace and tranquility, it’s enough to take the edge off. Enough to make it bearable. He’s not sure what happens next, as his consciousness is pulled quickly back to a waking state.

His head is turned away from you, resting on Harrington’s arm, his eyes damp again. He’s awake, Billy realizes, from the comforting shushing noises he’s making.

“It’s okay, I’m right here baby…” he mutters, voice thick with sleep, and presses a kiss to the top of Billy’s head.

“You know I love you, right?”

His words hang in the air.

Billy nods slowly in confirmation. Just to make sure he doesn’t wake up, he tells himself, nothing to do with how much time he’s spent avoiding imagining what a love confession from Harrington would be like. Even he can see how thinly veiled that load of bullshit is.

“Cause I do.” Harrington says, breaking the late night silence once again, “I love you lots.”

There might have been more, but he’s asleep again within moments. It’s not what he thought it would be like, not even close - even his wildest fantasies never would have placed him in this situation - but he’ll take what he can get. He feels his breathing fall in line with yours and Steves, eyes blinking slower and slower.

His mind is awake before his eyes open. All of the muscles in his body are relaxed, and he’s so warm. He’s hit with the distinct, resounding feeling that something really, really good has happened, but he shouldn’t question what it is, or it will just disappear from his grasp. If he plays his cards exactly right, and doesn’t move too fast, he won’t break this beautiful delicate thing he’s been given.

Someone moves behind him, and his eyes open. Your face is barely an inch away from his, his arm slung over your waist. One of your legs rests between his, his dick rock hard and cushioned by your soft thigh. Steve shifts behind him, letting out a sigh that fans over Billy’s neck as he wakes up. Face flushing, Billy realizes that he can feel Steve, who has the same problem, hard and right up against him.

You stretch, and sit up, turning to face them. As if you couldn’t get any sweeter, you very politely ignore the fact that Billy was practically just grinding into your thigh.

“Morning,” you yawn, and his chest squeezes. How are you so fucking cute? Steve rolls over, either not noticing or not caring that he’d just had his dick up against Billy’s ass. Billy’s not sure which is worse. He picks up the clock on the nightstand.

“What time is it?” he says, still obviously groggy. His hair is messy and his cheeks are flushed from sleep.

“God, I don’t even know,” you say with another stretch, your shirt riding up and exposing your hips and waist. He can handle this, he can just be normal. Act like nothing weird happened. You let out the softest, breathy little moan when you stretch.

“Last night was really something, huh?” You ask rhetorically, with the jovial, almost conspiratory look you get from sharing an inside joke or a secret with someone. Billy’s heart is pounding. He looks over at Steve, who looks between you two with the same look.

“Yeah,” he says with a chuckle. He wonders if this is it, if… he doesn’t know what would finally happen. He just knows he’ll say yes if it’s with you two. Steve continues.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen that many monsters in one place.”

Right.

The big event that happened last night was fighting a horde of monsters, not three people sharing a bed. He stands up abruptly, his flight response going into overdrive now that he’s not at risk of waking you up.

“I’m going to take a shower.” he says, quickly making his way to the door.

“Yeah,” Steve starts, “the bathroom’s right down the-”

He’s out the door before Steve can finish. A few feet down the hall, he hesitates, and circles back to Steve’s door, hearing your voices faintly through the small opening.

“I know, I did too! You’d think we’d be up all night from the adrenaline, but I was out like a light.”

“Yeah, maybe we should have Billy sleep with us more often…”

A fresh wave of heat hits his cheeks, and his cock is straining against his underwear. He rushes to the bathroom and closes the door firmly.

Maybe we should have Billy sleep with us more often. You don’t say shit like that unless you’re into someone, right? Maybe… maybe he wasn’t completely delusional about how he felt last night. If you didn’t want to be with him, you would have hated waking up next to him, right? God, he wants to be with you so fucking much.

He looks over at the sink and remembers you patching up Steve. He braces himself against the wall with one arm, imagining Harrington's arms around his waist. He mimes tilting Steve's head back, tending to his injuries. He can almost hear his voice asking him for get better kisses, his tone cocky in a way that makes a wistful smile ghost over his face. He sits on the closed toilet, head tilted back like Steve's had been, and imagines your soft, caring touch. He wonders what little nicknames you’d come up with for him… maybe cowboy, or hot shot. He lets out a weepy, yearning laugh rubbing his hands over his face. Whatever it is, it would sound so cute coming from you. It always does. He wonders if you’d pat his chest like you did with Harrington, or maybe run your hand through his hair a few times.

He tries to catch his breath but memories from last night won’t stop replaying in his head, and he finds himself touching all the places you did last night. His hand grips the collar of his shirt, mimicking yours, fingers trail along his thigh like Steve's did.

"You know I love you, right?"

He's palming himself, hand already sticky with precum, almost poking out of his boxers. Steve's voice echoes in his head and he feels you kissing tears off his face.

"Cause I do. I love you lots." Your hands rub soothing circles on his chest and stomach, his pace increases… He's still there mentally, lying between you, perfume and cologne mixing and mingling into something completely intoxicating that he doesn't want to stop breathing, even if he's getting high off it and- Jesus Christ, he has to get rid of this morning wood right now.

He turns the water on hot; he gave up on cold showers a while ago. They don't help him, not when it's you two he's thinking about. He strokes himself as he peels off his clothes, frustrated and desperate and heavy. He steps into the hot water, wishing his hands were yours… or maybe your mouth. Maybe Steve’s hands... your hands, Steve's mouth?

Any of it.

All of it.

He throws his head back against the tiles, cool in contrast with the water so hot it's already making his skin pink. He can't fight his mind for much longer, can't stop the torrent of images and desires, imagined touch ghosting over his skin. He pants, breath heavy with lust and steam in the air. He wishes something would happen, wishes you'd have the sudden desire to break down the door and join him. He wishes you'd barge in together, one shoving their tongue down his throat, the other sucking hickeys into his neck. He increases his pace, finally getting somewhere.

You would bang on the door before entering, tear off your clothes and squeeze into the tight space with him, because…

“Because we can’t keep our hands off you,” he imagines your voice, so breathy and cute and close to him. Your hands would touch him all over, quickly making their way to his cock.

“Besides, do we need a reason?” Harrington would ask from behind, caging you both in with his strong arms, his lips dangerously close to Billy’s ear.

God, he wants you so bad, wants your cute little body pressed up against him, wants to feel Harrington’s hands grope him, going down, down, down… he wonders if he could actually have sex with you, both of you, or if it would be too much for him.

“I guess we’ll just have to practice,” you’d say, hands in his hair, pulling him down into an open mouthed kiss.

“We’ll have you trained up in no time,” Steve would murmur into his neck before sucking another hickey. What he wouldn’t give for you to ravage his body, have your way with him. He knows he’d love it too. He never thought of himself as submissive before but…

His mind continues to wander.

Harrington, he realizes, he’s seen naked before, in the locker room. A shameful heat rises to his cheeks as he recalls every carefully stored memory, every carefully defined muscle. He can picture him here now, hair wet, strong arms glistening, hand grabbing Billy’s chin. He’d run his thumb over Billy’s lips with that fiery look in his eyes he only gets when something is really important.

You, however… he’s never seen you like that. His imagination takes off running, thinking back to how you felt pressed up against him, the soft skin of your bare legs rubbing against his.

He slides down the wall of the shower slowly, growing closer. He wonders what you’d feel like in his hands, in his arms, for real this time. He’d slide down the shower wall like he is now, you coming down with him. You’d straddle his hips, body soft in front of him against the hard wall. Your nails dragging down his chest and through his hair, you’d look up at him taking all the breath from his lungs. You’re so pretty, you’re both so pretty. He wants to be pretty. He wants to be pretty to you.

He wants both of you.

He wishes you were both in here, as desperate to be with him as he is to be with you. He wishes he was sandwiched between you again, four hands groping him, pulling at his hair, helping him out, touching him where he needs it most.

A loud knock at the door, followed by your voice snaps him out of his train of thought. He stands up, startled.

"Billy?" You call again. He freezes.

"Yeah?" His voice cracks. He can't make out what you say.

"Can we come in?" You ask again. His heart is in his throat. There is nothing he wants more than for you to come in right now. But god, he was so close. He waits, cock still hot and throbbing in his hand. He can’t keep jerking off to the thought of his friends absolutely ruining him when you’re right there, right?

“Yeah,” he says again. The door creaks open, and the temperature drops as steam billows out, your voices taking its place.

“We’re doing some laundry to get the rest of the… slime… out of our clothes,” you say, recalling how repulsive those monsters were, “so which one do you want?”

He barely processes what you’re saying, terrified you’ll somehow find out exactly what he’s doing and why he’s doing it, terrified you can somehow see through him and into his thoughts. In spite of how impossible it is, he’s terrified at the thought of either of you being… disgusted with him? With everything he's thinking about you? He's terrified, terrified you’ll hate him, cast him out like a horny lusting pariah. It’s not like you’re even that close to begin with, no matter how much he might like to be.

“What?” he asks, brain fogged with confusion and thoughts of you.

“Detergent. What are they again?” you ask the second part more quietly, and Steve’s voice now bounces against the walls, still groggy from sleep.

“Clean linen or April fresh.”

“Uh…”

“Blue or pink?” Steve asks again, simplifying the question.

“Both.” he blurts before he can think.

“Okay,” you say, “we’ll let you know when your clothes are clean.”

“I have some stuff for you to borrow until then.” Steve adds, “I’ll leave it on the counter.”

“Sounds good.” Billy says, trying not to sound snappy. He lets out a shaky, haggard breath.

“Breakfast is cereal and leftovers,” you begin.

“And a lot of coffee.” Steve interjects. You continue with a chuckle.

“You can come whenever you’re ready.”

“Right.” he can come whenever he’s ready.

“Thanks.” he blurts as an afterthought.

After what feels like an eternity (and simultaneously not nearly long enough) the door is closed and he’s once again alone with his thoughts. He braces himself against the wall, water dripping down his face, right hand lazily holding his cock, now gripping it with a newfound fervor. He pants, grinding into his hand, wishing he had something or someone - or someones - to help him out a little.

He wonders what you would do if you were getting Harrington off. Images of you pumping his cock and pulling his hair, whispering dirty shit in his ear flood Billy’s mind. For the thousandth time, he imagines being right in the middle of it. Back pressed against Steve’s broad chest, you straddling his lap, telling him how to touch himself�� Finally, it’s enough to send him over the edge. He humps into his hand, and muscles contracting, balls twitching, and climaxes hard. Riding out his high, he pumps out all the thick hot cum that’s been building up - and hopefully the feelings building up along with it.

He sinks to his knees and watches it go down the drain, panting and light headed. Once he catches his breath, he stands back up. Right as he reluctantly turns off the water, the door opens again. His stomach drops. If he had come in any sooner… he wonders if you could hear him over the running water.

“Clothes are on the counter.” Steve says, now sounding more awake, the smell of coffee wafting and mingling with the steam in the room. Billy runs a hand through his wet hair, brushing it back, and thanks him.

“Need a towel?” Steve asks.

“Yeah,” Billy says, and he watches as a moment later Steve’s hand pokes past the shower curtain, handing him the fluffy material, their fingers brushing as he takes it from him.

“Thanks,” he says, slightly breathless.

“No problem.” Steve says casually. The door opens and closes, and Billy is alone again. He wraps the towel around his waist, stepping out into the rest of the bathroom. He looks at the clothes on the counter; gray sweatpants and a led zeppelin tee shirt, knot tied in the front. He recognizes the sweatpants as Steve’s, and the shirt as yours. A soft smile kisses the corners of his lips.

Once he’s dried off and dressed, he decides to leave the shirt tied up, even though it shows a lot more of his midriff than he’s used to. He can picture you clear as day in this exact shirt, casually gathering the material and twisting it until it’s knotted up. He looks at the folds in the fabric, face warm, and is struck with the sudden realization that if this shirt ever got untied, it would never be tied in the exact same way ever again. It will always be different.

A sudden outburst of laughter from down stairs snaps him out of his train of thought. He has to face you eventually, he thinks, opening the bathroom door and beginning his descent down the stairs to rejoin everyone, he can’t put it off any longer. He heads down the stairs and into the living room, ruffling Max’s hair and exchanging good mornings.

“Did you sleep okay?” he and Max are newest to all this stuff, and he the last thing he wants is for her to be afraid of anything. He takes solace in the fact that it’s not everyone’s first time at the rodeo.

“Yeah,” she replies, seeming as normal as could be expected under the circumstances, which puts his mind at ease. “How about you?”

“I…” he trails off, knowing this is the worst possible time and place to bare his soul and confess his sins, “slept. I guess.”

“Coffee’s in the kitchen.” she replies without missing a beat.

“So I heard,” he mutters, before heading in that direction. He enters the kitchen, stopping in the doorway

Steve is smothering you in kisses, turning you into a giggling mess. You playfully smack his chest, and he barely pulls away enough to talk.

“Y’know, you really should be nicer to me. I have a booboo eye.”

“Oh, of course,” you say, feigning concern, “I’ll call an ambulance right away.”

“Y’know, a sexy nurse would probably do the job,” he says quietly, nuzzling into your neck.

“Oh… my god.” you laugh in disbelief, “You really are the worst, Harrington, you know that?”

It gets hard to breathe for a minute, as everything he felt last night, and this morning come rushing back, full force. He lets out a soft laugh at the situation. He actually thought he had all this under control for a minute. All of this is amplified as you hand him a cup of coffee.

“Morning sleepyhead,” you smile, passing by. Steve pats his chest

“Will you tell her she’d be an amazing nurse?”

Billy, too flustered to think but just fucking overjoyed to be included, scrambles for an answer.

“I mean…” he says with a smile he hopes comes across as cocky and not lovestruck.

You turn to Steve.

“You’re a terrible influence. I don’t want you around my kids.”

“Oh they’re your kids now?”

“Call me mommy!” you call over your shoulder. Steve and Billy watch you walk away, and Steve says, partially to himself, partially to Billy, “I can not get enough of her, you know?” Steve follows you back into the living room. Billy watches both of you drink coffee and eat breakfast, chatting with the kids.

“Yeah,” he breathes, once again wracked with a visceral sense of longing, a deep empty feeling, the cure for which is painfully within grasp but still intangible, in spite of how much he might try, “I do.”

tag list: @hopefullhearts

#steve harrington x reader #billy hargrove x reader #billy hargrove smut #harringrove x reader #stranger things x reader #steve x reader x billy #okay so i've been working on my script for my stranger things dr #lemme know if yall want excerpts from that #i might turn part of it into a fic actually #there's a really cute part where steve writes his number on a zippo and gives it to you #i made that up before i found out he uses a zippo on the show #so uh #psychic moment uwu #um yeah i've been daydreaming about this exact scenario since I met billy #like #brain rot city here I am #for gods sake do i think of anything else ever #the anser is not

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vidalinav · 3 years

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One of the main selling points for nessian was that cassian saw nesta so when sjm made him so obtuse to her suffering,really weakens his character imo.

Yeah... I mean. I think so too. Because there’s definitely a difference between ACOMAF/ACOWAR Cassian to ACOFAS/ACOSF Cassian. It’s very odd to me.

I know someone commented on one of my posts that they didn’t think Cassian lacks emotional intelligence like I claimed and I wrote a giant analysis so to speak, about emotional intelligence and Pre-ACOFAS Cassian and Post-ACOFAS Cassian, but I never posted it because at that point I was like ehh... wtf cares. I’ve ranted enough. It doesn’t matter in the slightest. It was way too long.

But there was a time I remember before ACOFAS, where a lot of the fandom was like the IC treat Cassian like he’s dumb. Like he’s just the comedic relief, or he’s just the person who sleeps around, who would sleep with Feyre yadda yadda, who don’t really validate his own feelings either, because with Feyre he was this lovable person who was very charismatic and I dare say emotionally intelligent. But with the IC, he was set in a role. There was a good amount of dialogue in ACOMAF about how they perceived Cassian, and it could of been friends speaking to friends, but it definitely didn’t seem like it.

But in ACOFAS and beyond, it really felt like the ignorance set in. Like he was made to be the dumb character. I don’t know if that was because conflict needed to be made, because the whole of the IC was unempathetic and that was a theme. I don’t know what it was. But there are many instances that I feel ACOWAR Cassian wouldn’t have been like that. There are so many times where Nesta is so obviously hurting that I don’t see how you wouldn’t connect dots and then change your own behavior accordingly, if nothing but being more sympathetic or even pitying or considering that Nesta is a victim of circumstance. But the theme as I’ve said many times in nicer ways of ACOSF, was “we’re not going to change, you’re going to change.”

Prime examples of Cassian’s lack of emotional intelligence was “Starving won’t bring your father back to life” HHAAHA I have to laugh, and then being given the evidence in three books that Nesta is a prideful, private person and then knowing she is suffering, knowing that she has suffered some sort of assault, which he himself has acknowledged and then bringing her to train in front of a bunch of men who are misogynistic and who’s own women won’t train either, and then being like WHY NESTA? WHY AREN’T YOU TRAINING? Why sit on that rock? and then not even asking her. LOL. Stupid.

And then... the fire. He literally notes in his own POV at least twice that she stays away from it, or she asks to move away and he doesn’t connect that she has some problem with it... until she explicitly tells him. MmmK.

And then with the marriage vs. mating bond, he notes that she is uncomfortable, he says “what spooked you?” or whatever so he knows that she’s obviously troubled in some way and she’s literally trying to tell him, and he’s like.... nah, I’m going to keep pushing and then he’s like “shackled.” Oy.

And in ACOFAS, the whole scene with the present for solstice and her “bullshit behavior” when they literally didn’t talk to her the entire time. They didn’t even try, and he’s over here like “I hope you try next year” or whatever. HAHAH. Cue maniacal laughter.

Like I understand you certainly wouldn’t know what goes on in Nesta’s head, but... is he that stupid to not connect dots from what he already knows? Especially from the male who visited the families of soldiers who died, who mourned them, who felt guilty, who understood Mor’s discomfort in the triangle to be the buffer, because he explicitly says that he played the buffer in ACOSF, so he was aware of the situation, who was actually a lot nicer and sweeter and patient with Feyre, offering in turn to train with him, because he understood the poverty, what she did, the killing of the fae, how that might have affected her, who literally kept going back to Nesta even after she was like get away from me in ACOWAR, because he understood that she had been violated, and no one else validated that except him. Where was the validation in this book?

Where was that Cassian?

He was kind I admit after moments of stupidity in ACOSF, but that doesn’t make him emotionally intelligent. Caring is not the same thing as empathy. But yeah... I really don’t understand why that was his MO in ACOSF, obliviousness... I would have appreciated it more if it was Cassian showing explicitly that he cared about Nesta and understood her pain, even if he didn’t understand why she was pushing him away, if it was less of Amren telling him to keep reaching out his hand, and him just being like No I need to reach out my hand, because she’s been through a war and I have known war all of my life. I’ve been through that aftermath many times. I’ve seen what it does as any kind and charismatic general would. But unfortunately no critical thought went into this book and the Cassian in ACOWAR is no longer.

#cassian #nesta archeron #nessian #anti sjm #anti acosf

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jeanvanjer · 3 years

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thank you for the measured response to the love triangle lol. I was definitely fuming when I first read it, and am annoyed they’re unnecessarily ditching the book dynamic between Edwina and Anthony, however I honestly doubt it’ll be a full-on love triangle. I expect Edwina will “fall in love” with Anthony and then meet her true match and the love triangle will kind of just taper off…This way it adds tension and heightens the conflict in the first few episodes but resolves itself without anyone (especially Anthony) coming off looking too badly since Edwina will be over him and into whoever her actual person is.

I definitely rant first and think later so don’t thank me 😅 frankly I don’t care anymore(not that much at least). I definitely think the lack of Jimone content on the spread fueled my response than the actual article itself.

Honestly, though, the wording of the article(s) wasn’t great. I’m ignoring it now because it won’t do me or anyone any good. They’ve already shot the show. It’s done. Can’t do much about it anyway.

Edwina liked Anthony well enough and vice versa. They realize their connection is a platonic one later on. In reality, if someone like Anthony had proposed, someone in Edwinas position would have accepted. And they would have had a bland, maybe a bit happy, but otherwise typical marriage. I know a lot of people, including myself, HC that Edwina knew about Kate liking Anthony but I don’t think it’s that simple. And Anthony did, like a d*ck, “court” Edwina with not only the intention of marrying her despite lusting after Kate, but also did so just to spite Kate too. Anthony, despite being the d*ck we all love, is very charming and handsome. So I do expect some icky drama. We all should. Hopefully no jealousy or petty shit like pitting sisters against each other or one “giving up” or “moving aside” for the other sister.

We have to factor in LW and the Queen into this. With the way LW is being shoved down our throats. I think the reason why the “triangle” seems much more complicated than the book is because of those two, imo. Also with Mary’s scandalous marriage and this Indian link, I think Edwina might feel pressured to have an advantageous match to help her mum/family. I don’t think money is a factor this time around for Edwina. It’s more or less the Bridgerton name and the safety it would provide. And who is more eligible than Viscount Bridgerton. Personally I wanted a scholarly Edwina not wanting marriage, ready to fight for a woman’s right to study or better yet a gay Edwina. Unfortunately I don’t think that’s happening.

I just hope they do all three characters and their respective arcs true justice and we can all enjoy S2.

#bridgerton #asks

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firelxdykatara · 3 years

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Reader anon here with a thought!

Do you like love triangles? I personally don't, there is something about them that is incredibly frustrating lol. Same thing for harems, though there are some that do it tastefully 😌 so I can't be too upset by them.

It honestly depends on the love triangle and the way the author writes all three relationships (and, for any genuine love triangle, there should be three relationships--they don't all need to be romantic, but there needs to be an existing and strong relationship between all three points on the triangle, otherwise I'm almost certain not to be at all invested), how they are presented, and what the narrative purpose of the love triangle is.

Ironically, one of the best examples of a love triangle done well (at least... to a certain point in the story, which I'll explain in a bit) happened in a television show that is fairly notorious for turning to utter shit in the latter four seasons and alienating pretty much the entire fanbase, to the point where most of us dipped well before the end and everyone celebrated news of the show's cancellation.

I'm talking about The Vampire Diaries.

(under a cut because i went on a LOOOONG ramble about tvd and why that love triangle worked initially and then why it failed, and then i talked a bit about another love triangle that was pretty weak and failed almost from the outset in OUAT but was ultimately axed in favor of the stronger relationship and character being given focus, and what all of this means for how i feel about love triangles in general)

While this is still very much a case where I only shipped one side of the triangle, hated the other, and couldn't wait for it to be resolved so that I wouldn't have to deal with the side I disliked any longer (the writing was on the wall as far back as season 1, no matter how in denial a certain portion of the fandom remained right up until the series finale) the development of the triangle itself and how it affected all three characters and their relationships with one another was done very well for most of the first four seasons. Damon and Stefan were brothers, with a bloody and complicated history and relationship, and they both fell in love with this human girl--Stefan almost instantly, because she looked just like Katherine and he found himself... (and here I'm going to be as fair as I possibly can to him, but if you want my full anti stelena rant I have many of them prepped and ready to go) following her, at first to make sure she wasn't Katherine, and then inserting himself into her life to protect her. Damon, on the other hand, took much longer, because he was still in love with (and trying to rescue) Katherine, and so when he did fall in love with Elena, it was because of who she was, not because of some idealized 'Not Katherine' pedestal he placed her on the instant he met her.

(I swear, I swear I'm trying to be fair to Stefan, it's just very hard.)

The thing is, Elena was in love with Stefan almost from the jump. (And one of the reasons I never really shipped stelena is because that kind of insta-love with very little conflict that isn't manufactured by the plot just isn't compelling for me, and I fully jumped ship about halfway through s1 when Damon and Elena took a road trip together. It's a long story, but that remains one of my favorite episodes in the entire show and it marks the beginning of their actual journey together.) Stefan showed up at a time when she desperately needed someone, and to his credit he did help her through her early depressive spiral--in large part because Elena's recent trauma (survivor's guilt due to her parents dying in a car crash from which she was the only survivor) meant that finding out Stefan was immortal and could not die and would not leave her resulted in her getting fiercely attached.

He was safe, he was stable, she could rely on him. But she could not grow with him, because for him, she was essentially a morality pet/the anchor to his humanity, and that meant that he could not accept when she began to grow out of her need for him. The fact that this coincided with her becoming a vampire only made things worse--because she settled into being a vampire much more easily with far less strife than he'd ever managed, and an Elena who enjoyed being a vampire in ways Stefan simply couldn't could no longer function as the idealized reminder of humanity he was desperate to cling to.

Damon, on the other hand, was the one who fell in love with Elena--not Not Katherine. He never put her on a pedestal, he never asked more of her than she could give him--when he realized how deep his feelings for her ran, he made her forget his confession because he knew he did not deserve her and he didn't want her burdened with his feelings when she was still in love with his brother and was always going to be. Elena's growing feelings for Damon coincided with her growth from a depressed and suicidal teenage girl into a young woman who began to realize that it was ok to want things for herself--to be a little selfish, to take what she wanted, to admit what she wanted. And, again, the fact that this coincided with her transformation into a vampire (although her growth within her relationship with Damon began well before that), meant that Damon's reaction to Elena-as-a-vampire was thrown into sharp relief against Stefan's--because he accepted her where his brother couldn't.

Ultimately, this led to Elena fully outgrowing her feelings for Stefan, and accepting, nurturing, and reveling in her feelings for Damon. The triangle was resolved, all three characters had growth separately and in their different relationships, and they could then move on from there along their different paths. Stefan could have had some truly excellent character growth involving moving on and finally living for himself rather than trying so hard to be this perfect brooding tortured vampire because he was the Good Brother, since there was no longer any need for that Good Brother/Bad Brother dichotomy. They'd both grown past it, as characters individually and as brothers together.

Unfortunately, where TVD ultimately failed (and this coincided with the way the show utterly lost the plot in terms of storylines, character arcs and cohesiveness and became an unsalvageable mess) is in refusing to let the love triangle die.

What should have happened is that once the love triangle was resolved--Elena growing as a character and moving on from her immature first love and fully embracing her feelings, as an adult, for her much more adult relationship with Damon--they abandoned the love triangle premise and let all three characters continue to grow outside of it. Damon and Elena should have been allowed to grow together and explore their relationship, Stefan to figure out where he still fit in their lives--as Damon’s brother, and one of Elena’s closest friends who she still loved dearly even though she was no longer in love with him--and then explore relationships of his own outside their family unit as he finally began to fully move on and grow out of his own overly idealized feelings for Elena.

Instead, what wound up happening is that the stelena side of the love triangle kept being teased--probably to keep the avid stelena shipping contingent invested in the story, hoping for ‘another brother swap’ as was lampshaded in one of Nina’s final episodes before she left the show (and, indeed, many of them remained utterly convinced that stelena would be endgame, right up until the series finale)--and rather than growing together, delena fans were constantly hit over the head with how ‘toxic’ Damon and Elena were for each other (even though this ran contrary to everything we’d seen in the show to that point, including having Damon regress repeatedly for, presumably, no reason other than to never let fans forget he was the Bad Brother and always would be, and Elena just couldn’t help but love him anyway), and all three characters and their relationships wound up suffering horribly for it.

That is an example of a love triangle that had a very promising foundation and development, right up through what should have been a resolution, and the reason it is generally looked on so unfavorably in fandom circles is because the show refused to move on from the triangle organically when the story needed it to, because it had already served its purpose.

For an example of a love triangle that, in my mind, simply didn’t work from the very beginning, I’d say my go-to example is from Once Upon a Time--the short-lived love triangle between Emma, Killian, and Neal. I think the first stumbling block there was that there weren’t really three relationships that mattered. Technically, Killian did have a connection to Neal--because they’d met in Neverland, prior to Neal remaining in the Land Without magic--but it functioned more as a backdrop to explain why Killian knew him when they got to Neverland again in the story, and why Neal didn’t trust him. It wasn’t actually developed as anything outside of that brief flashback, and they didn’t have any connection in the present outside of one episode where they essentially fought over Emma and she (rightly) got angry at them for it. There was no real exploration of who they were to each other outside of the fact that both of them had feelings for Emma, so it really was just one woman torn between her feelings for two different men, and with no real stakes attached to her choice.

The other problem with this particular triangle is that one side of it was... conspicuously weak. While Emma’d had a full season and a half worth of interactions and development with Killian--where they went from enemies, to grudging allies, to Killian openly acknowledging that he hadn’t ever believed he would be able to love again until he met Emma--she had... very little to support her potential relationship with Neal outside of their history. History which consisted of then-young-adult Neal knocking up underage Emma (she was 17 at the oldest because she was still in Juvie when Henry was born, and he was already ten years old the day she turned 28; so she was either 16 or very newly 17 when she got pregnant) and ensuring that she got sent to prison for his own crime, at which point he didn’t see her again until she was nearly 30. When he did see her again, he treated her incredibly poorly, up to and including getting angry at her about the fact that she didn’t tell him that Henry was his son--even though he had no right to that information, because Emma was in prison because of him at the time she found out, and she had no clue that he was in any way connected to the Fairy Tale world until she was helping Mr. Gold track down his son and it turned out to be Neal.

A big point is made, throughout the early seasons especially, about Emma’s walls and how much difficulty she has trusting people--and a great deal of that stemmed from Neal’s betrayal. This could have been the foundation for a story of healing and growth and two people coming back together--however, with the way Neal treats Emma in the present and how little closure she actually gets for what he did to her in the past, it comes across more as ‘well, she never did get over her feelings for him, so maybe he still has a shot even though she has no real reason to want to be with him now’.

Killian, on the other hand, never doubted Emma’s abilities and always had the utmost trust in and respect for her (after they became allies), and it was obvious that this is something Emma experienced very little of in her life. It’s notable that the first episode where they really interacted is the one in which Emma’s history with Neal is revealed, and it very deliberately paralleled and contrasted with her interactions with Killian. This already presented him with a leg up on the love triangle once Neal did show up, because Neal was the reason for a lot of the walls Emma had built around her heart, and it wasn’t until meeting Killian that she finally began to let some of them down.

I think that the show recognized this, and it pulled something that is actually a very frustrating pet peeve of mine--rather than write out the story that makes sense and have the main point of the love triangle make a choice and stick to it, the third point of the triad was simply written out. In this case, Neal essentially killed himself via his own stupidity, allowing Emma to angst about losing him without actually having to tell him she wasn’t in love with him and wasn’t going to choose him. (Veronica Mars pulled something very similar with the Logan/Veronica/Duncian triangle in season 2--rather than admit within the narrative that her relationship with Duncan was built on flimsy feelings of infatuation bc of their history, and a ‘stability’ that didn’t really work for who Veronica was at her core, he simply got written out of the story, running away for Plot Reasons and never forcing Veronica to confront the fact that she wasn’t actually in love with him and hadn’t been for quite some time.)

I think that in OUaT, the love triangle could have worked if a relationship between Killian and Neal was not only established in the past but developed in the present--Killian was in love with Neal’s mother centuries earlier, and something I’m actually really upset we never got is the two of them talking about Milah and maybe Neal getting some closure for his mother’s abandonment and someone apologizing to him for what they put Baelfire through as a child--giving stakes to Emma’s choice beyond ‘one of them will be all uwu sad that he wasn’t picked’. It also would have worked much better if we were given any reason for Emma to still have feelings for Neal in the present beyond the history they shared, which caused Emma nothing but pain for the last decade and change. If Neal had treated her more fairly--if he’d treated her like someone he actually cared about and even still loved, rather than blaming her for things that were his own fault and undermining her belief in her own abilities, among other things--then their relationship might have been strong enough to stand on its own opposite Emma’s relationship with Killian. I don’t think it ever would’ve been a relationship that appealed to me, personally, but then I could have at least enjoyed watching the three of them grow together and seeing all of their relationships grow and change.

So, ultimately, TL;DR: I do like love triangles, conceptually, but there are a few requirements they must meet for me to feel anything other than irritated at the inclusion. One: there must be at least three equally important relationships between the three characters. If it’s just one character torn between her (or his, but it’s usually a woman) feelings for two unrelated people, that can be compelling for a short time but ultimately I’m going to be left feeling frustrated by her refusal to just make a damn choice and put me out of my misery. Two: there should be some sort of development in each relationship which makes the presence of the triangle narratively significant. Why is it important for one character to have conflicting romantic feelings for these two other people at the same time? What purpose does it serve either their character arcs or the story as a whole? While I am both a Bangel and a Spuffy shipper, I’ve never considered Angel/Buffy/Spike to be a love triangle--they are very different relationships that she had at very different points in her life, and while her feelings for Angel never really went away (and do cause some angst for Spike near the end of btvs) they are never really competing for her affections in any meaningful sense. If that competition does exist, there needs to be a compelling reason why. And, as a further addendum to this point, I need to at least understand why the main point of the triangle is invested in each relationship, even if I don’t ship it and actively dislike or even outright hate one side of the triangle. (I loathe stelena, but I’ve always understood why Elena was in love with him in the beginning of the show, for example. And before s5/s6, I was really pleased with how the show handled her feelings for him and finally allowed her to grow and move on from them.)

And finally, three: the triangle needs to be resolved at some point--and, when it is, it needs to stay that way. Where TVD ultimately lost me (aside from the ridiculous plot contrivances and rampant character assassination) was the refusal to let the love triangle die a natural death when it is what the story called for, and all three of their characters, their relationships, and the show as a whole suffered massively for it. So, when the primary point of the triangle makes a choice--particularly if she had made one choice in the beginning of the story, but it was clear that she was ultimately moving towards choosing the other side as she grew and her feelings and relationships grew and changed with her--let that be the end of it. Move on to exploring what that choice means for the main pair and the party not chosen, sure--maybe explore their feelings about not being chosen and how that affects their relationships with both of the others afterwards--but don’t constantly tease the possibility of the ‘losing side’ getting back together just to keep shippers invested. It’s only going to hurt your show and make everyone look callous and stupid.

Alternately, a final possibility: make it an ot3 instead. But again, if the other three conditions aren’t met (particularly number two, and its addendum; if I don’t understand why the main point of the triangle is in love with both other points, an ot3 is unlikely to resolve that issue and I’m only going to wind up resenting it), then this won’t work, because it’s just going to wind up a lopsided and stilted mess of a relationship that leaves me wishing the offending point of the triangle had been killed off just so I wouldn’t have to keep hearing about them.

#tvd #delena #anti stelena #ouat #captain swan #anti swanfire #reader anon #oh man i rambled for days lmao im sorry #i hope this answered your question #on love triangles

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iseultandtristan · 4 years

Text

the gmw writers really showed their inability to think outside the box and I have gone on a million rants about this (mostly to myself in my room lol) but just to pick up one of the many things that made me roll my eyes: when Maya is asked why she likes Lucas her response is he’s a nice/good guy and that’s all she says. And while I don’t begrudge her that, I do find it a little ridiculous that that is all the writers could come up with when there are at least like 5 obvious reasons (very clear/present in canon) for why Maya likes Lucas:

1. He challenges her, and honestly as far as I can remember he is the only one that does actually go toe to toe with her. (Lucas:”You wanna tangle with me?”/ Maya: “You think you can take me?”)

2. He makes her smile and laugh despite herself. Maya enjoys interacting with him. It’s all over her face when they play their little games or she teases him. She gets a thrill from flirting with him (and, yes, it’s flirting. It’s so obviously flirting that if you look flirting up in the dictionary you’ll find a picture of the “mad dog” scene where Lucas is asking Maya “well, what do I seem like to you?”)

3. He supports her (”I don’t want that for Maya, I want her to be happy” “They’re taking away something you’re very good at”) like homeboy was actually fired up about the arts program because he knows how much it means to her and that support resonates with her (she literally can’t stop staring at him when he says that and when Riley tries to get her attention she’s in a daze)

4. He KNOWS her, arguably better than the people who have known her for a lot longer. Lucas sees Maya and her selflessness even when others don’t (“Maya did that for Riley because that’s who Maya is”).

5. He gets her! He’s been in her shoes before, making a mess of things, getting into trouble and letting his anger at the world get the best of him (This isn’t just shown in the show, I think he even straight up says this to Maya at one point) They also both see themselves as their friends’ protectors. In so many ways, they really are two sides of the same coin.

6. She is attracted to him. Body language y’all. Maya is always finding herself leaning into Lucas’s personal space, yanking him towards her, touching him unnecessarily and ya! I’ll say it! He totally turns her on. When he gets all strong angry boi she finds that shit hot. That’s literally in canon.

To conclude, when Maya is asked if she likes Lucas it’s fucking dumb that her only response is “he’s such a nice guy” when her response could have been “I can’t explain it, he makes me laugh” or “He’s the first guy in my life that’s ever been supportive and showed they cared about me” or “I feel like we just understand each other” or even “I don’t know why, but I’m drawn to him.” Literally any of those responses would have been more in line with what we are actually shown.

(also, all these things that Maya likes about Lucas are very distinct to her relationship with him- they are NOT the things Riley likes about Lucas, which does pretty much amount to “he’s a good guy.” Hence, another reason it’s total BS that Maya only likes Lucas because “she’s turned into Riley”)

Anyway, I just wanted to make this post because I’ve been thinking about season 3 a lot lately and just how messy and all over the place the writing is. I hate that the writers lost sight of the natural arc of the show, I hate how they wasted everyone’s time with the triangle arc by essentially just invalidating the feelings Maya and Lucas had for each other, having literally no one experience growth from it, and putting all the characters back to square one. And I hate that they didn’t take the great opportunity that was before them to subvert tropes/expectations. Legitimizing Lucas and Maya’s feelings for one another would have allowed all three characters in the triangle to grow, develop and be further fleshed out as characters. And, also, it would have meant that Lucas isn’t just Riley’s love interest and Maya isn’t just Riley’s unlucky sidekick. When you have a chance to give characters nuance so they can break away from 2D tropes/clichés seize on it! That’s what makes entertaining stories! The writers walked themselves into a storyline, realized that relationships were inevitably gonna change and characters were inevitably gonna get hurt (which is okay! why do the writers avoid hurting Riley at all costs? disillusionment and disappointment is simply an unavoidable part of growing up) and then turned around and ran to the exit rather than deal with the actual consequences of the story they set up/developed from (arguably) season 1. It was cowardly, lazy writing and that’s on that.

#I don't know why all my feels about gmw have returned with such a vengeance this past month #but suddenly its 2016 all over again #and I can't get over the disaster of s3 #lucaya #girl meets world #Maya hart #Lucas friar #Riley matthews #a rant

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speechlessxx · 4 years

Text

Crossing Lines. 2 (Andy Barber x Reader, Ransom Drysdale x Reader)

Summary: The line between best friend and lover is so thin... Can you choose which one to cross?

Warnings: expected ending let’s be honest, angst, fluff, language! (this is the last part... btw)

for fic purposes, Ransom and Andy aren’t twins and their physical similarities will not be mentioned LOL

Word Count: 2.4 k

Read Part 1 Here

The rest of the night was a drunken blur. You vaguely remembered the way Andy held you in the park as you drunkenly cried into his chest. He listened attentively as you ranted and cursed Hugh Ransom Drysdale – whom he assumed was the other man on the porch. Andy put together the pieces and with your slurred confessions, he understood that the best friend of yours held a special place in your heart, but it didn’t deter Andy’s attraction or his growing feelings for you either.

You woke up in your apartment with a dull headache and fifteen missed calls – along with fifty-five messages – from Ransom. And one “have a good day :)” from Andy, but you decided to ignore and ghost both men. You were too confused to even entertain the idea – the possibility of you and Andy, especially when you were still questioning your feelings and the fate of your friendship with Ransom.

Over a week of radio silence from you left Ransom antsy. You had never iced him out like this. The longest you two had gone without speaking was three days – when he stood you up at a university gala so that he could fly out to the Victoria Secret Fashion Show and hook up with a model. You were so angry with him but forgave him all the same when he showed up to your dorm with two pints of ice cream and a smile.

It always so easy to get you to accept his apologies. He thought it was because you two were meant to be in each other’s lives. That your smiles and laughs – and even your playful jabs – were meant to brighten his day, every day for the rest of your lives. And it hurt him when his pleads and apologizes were left on read.

He blamed your absent responses to his dozens of messages and voicemails on that hotshot Assistant District Attorney. He blamed Andy Barber for turning you against him. And his anger towards – what seemed to be his rival – only heightened when both he and Andy Barber pulled up to the front of your apartment complex.

“What are you doing here?” Ransom said, accusingly, as he balanced the cookies and cream pint on top of the mint chocolate chip.

Andy didn’t even respond. Like the night the two were acquainted, he simply ignored Ransom and began to stride towards the complex’s doors. Fumbling with his keys, Ransom quickly locked the Beamer and chased after the suited lawyer.

“Did she invite you?” Ransom prodded. He felt a dull ache in his heart at the thought. Is this what you’ve been doing for the past week? Ignoring him to be around Andy?

Andy huffed, still ignoring the other man, as he pressed your apartment number’s button on the intercom systems. Ransom looked over at the takeout bag in Andy’s hands. Though he couldn’t see the contents, he recognized the logo. It was from your favorite Japanese place – the one you said had the best shrimp tempura rolls. He remembered you tried to get him to go with you, but he blew you off to go to a bar with his rich friends. Did Andy know your order? Did Andy take you there?

Ransom repeated his question and Andy just gave him a side glare as he pressed the button next to your apartment number again.

“No.” Andy finally answered. “I went by her office to see if she wanted lunch, but her co-workers said she’s been sick.”

Relief rushed through Ransom. So, you were ignoring both of them – that’s fine. Ransom smirked to himself. His years of friendship with you gave him the insight to know that whenever you were sick, you preferred hot soup as opposed to sushi – that you’d puke the raw fish right up.

“Hi, sorry, hello?” Your voice statically came over the speakers.

“Hey.” “Hi, (Y/N).” Andy and Ransom said at the same time. Andy shot a glare at Ransom.

“(Y/N),” Ransom said, pushing Andy’s hand away so that he could press the button. “It’s Ransom. I have ice cream and uh…”

“Ransom, I…” you sighed. “I’m sick.”

“I know, but I know all the best remedies.”

“Sorry.” You deadpanned. “I don’t… I don’t think you should be up here.”

Andy lightly shoved Ransom’s hand away from the button, pressing onto it firmly. “Hey, it’s Andy… Lauren and Sabine said you were under the weather, so I brought you lunch from that Japanese place you liked so much.”

“Andy, I…” You frowned as you spoke though neither could see it. Were they there together? “I’m sorry… I’m just so sick… and I tend to throw up sushi when I’m – “

“I actually bought you ramen.” Andy said, hope still in his voice. “I remember you told me you throw up sushi when you get sick, so I thought I’d better order some soup instead.” Ransom’s brows knitted together – when did you have time to tell Andy this? How long have you two known each other?

“Oh…” You facepalmed. The slap was audible and made Ransom crack a smile. “Okay fine… C’mon up, Andy.” That smile quickly dropped.

Andy smirked at Ransom as the doors buzzed and unlocked, but Ransom was not going down without a fight.

-=+=-

Several days later, it was Ransom’s turn to show up at your office, but this time you were there. Your work friends, Sabine and Lauren, were divided about the strange predicament you found yourself in. They were the ones who arranged for you and Andy to meet, but they were also the ones living vicariously through the love triangle you stumbled in.

“What are you doing here?” You groaned as Ransom showed up with two coffees in his hands. He put one cup on your desk and brought his to his lips with a smirk. “Hugh – “

“You’re ignoring my calls and texts, but you sure do love giving Andy Barber attention… Did you know he has a kid?” Ransom poked. “I know you wouldn’t date people with kids. The ex’s still in the picture y’know.”

“Considering how I haven’t dated anyone since college, I’m in no room to judge.” You frowned. “Now, unless you’re in some legal trouble, I suggest you leave.”

Ransom shook his head and pushed you back into your seat when you moved to stand. “He’s also really old…”

“Not much older than you and I.”

Ransom frowned. What did Andy Barber have that he didn’t? Why were you so intent on breaking your own dating rules for him?

“What’s it about him?” Ransom wondered aloud. “Is it his job? Dating an ADA would surely get you out of this joint… Hell, maybe you could even be a trophy wife. Stop working, drive around his Audi. You can probably even be friends with the ex-wife… Laurie, I think that’s her name. Aw, you and Barber would be so cute… Imagine him going to the country club with his pretty, young wife.” He snorted.

“Ransom!” You scolded as you glanced around at those who were listening in the conversation. You were already given flack for being friends with Harlan Thrombey’s grandson. You didn’t need your other co-workers to whisper about your attempts at social climbing by dating Andy Barber. “What is wrong with you! Andy’s a good guy. I’d date him even if he wasn’t a lawyer. Now shut up and leave.”

“No… No!” Ransom argued, lightly slapping your hands away when you tried to push him towards the doors.

“You’re making a scene at my work-place, Ransom,” you aggressively whispered.

“No!” Ransom repeated, his voice rising. Those who weren’t paying attention before were certainly now. “I just wanna know… what’s it about Andrew Stephen Barber that’s got you ignoring me? Huh?” When you didn’t respond, he grew angrier. Why weren’t you answering?! Did your ghosting also apply to real life? “(Y/N), I told you I loved you and you just got in a car with him and left me.”

You bit your lip, furrowing your brows as you glanced around. Those who were trying to discreetly listen abandoned their attempts. They watched on as if they were watching a soap.

“You sleep around.” You muttered. “You parade girl after girl around me as if it didn’t hurt, Ransom. I cancelled my date with Andy, so I could go to your mom’s party. You invited me and ditched me, so that you could go fuck some wannabe model in your grandad’s house. You only came looking for me when you needed a damn condom!” You heard some snickering in the background, but you were too focused on trying not to cry to care.

“I – “

“I’ve been at your beck and call for years. And now, I think…” you stared up at Ransom’s eyes, your own shiny with tears. “I think you only keep me in your life because I’m the only one who gives a damn about you.”

“(Y/N) – “Ransom sighed. “No… I love you, that’s why,” he tried to grab your arm, but you pulled away, shaking your head. “No guy has ever been good enough for you. That’s why I never let them date you!”

“What?” You asked in disbelief. Your tongue darted out to lick your lips as you thought about every date – every guy who came into your life who miraculously disappeared after meeting Ransom. “Son of a – “

“And Andrew Fucking Barber is definitely not good enough for you.”

“And what you are?” You prompted. Your eyes wide and with your shaky tone, Ransom knew you were on the brink of crying. “Ransom,” you shook your head, “I loved you for years. I loved you despite you constantly sleeping with other girls, despite you always ditching me, or despite your family. I loved you even though you can be heartless and insensitive. I loved you so much I put my life on pause to always help you – to always be there for you… But Ransom, I can’t do this anymore… I’m sorry. I can’t…”

“Hey pal,” the security guard finally stepped up just as the tears started to roll down your cheeks. “I think you gotta go.” When Ransom reached out to grab you, the guard quickly stood between you. “Now, Mr. Drysdale.”

Ransom stared at you as you slumped back into your seat. Lauren and Sabine immediately rushed to your side, but you waved them off as you put your head in your hands. You were embarrassed that you caused a scene. You were embarrassed that you confessed your love for Ransom. But it gave you clarity.

The love you had for Ransom was toxic.

And you needed to let it go.

Ransom allowed himself to be dragged out of the office and onto the pavement. The guard told him not to come back. “You leave Miss (Y/L) alone, alright, man?” The guard said. “I know Andy Barber… and when he finds out about this, he ain’t gonna be happy.”

“I’m not scared of Andy fucking Barber.” Ransom rolled his eyes.

“Nah, but he’s got some pull in the DA’s office. He can get a restraining order approved in minutes, pal…” The guard chuckled. “You leave Miss (Y/L) alone.”

Ransom watched as the guard hobbled back into the office, closing the doors behind him. He tried to look through the glass, to get one last glimpse of you. He always wished you’d be the first to confess your love … But he never expected it to be like that.

Now, he couldn’t help but wonder… was this your last conversation? He made you cry and he couldn’t even apologize for that … After this, are you cutting him off completely?

-=+=-

Andy Barber was attentive, observant. He was kind. Growing up with a murderer as a father, he found that his compassion was a way to compensate for his father’s sins. He strived to make a name for himself aside from being Bloody Billy’s son. He was a good man.

A man that put aside his late evening plans to drive from Newton to Boston just to pick you up. A man who put his night on pause just to spend some time with you on a whim of a phone call.

If it had been Ransom, he’d be scolding you as he drove. Blaming you for wasting his time. He’d guilt you and make you feel worse.

But Andy wasn’t Ransom.

Andy made you feel wanted.

“I’m sorry,” you muttered when you slumped into Andy’s couch. “I didn’t know where else to go… Ransom knows where I live and if I see him at my apartment, I think I’m gonna lose my shit and I’ll need a lawyer.”

Andy chuckled as he settled down next to you, handing you a cup of coffee. You smiled and thanked him as you put your head on his shoulder. “I’ll represent you, no worries. I’ll even do it pro bono.”

“I don’t think you’re allowed to,” you laughed. “Circumstantially, they say that lawyers shouldn’t represent their significant – “you bit your lip, cutting yourself off. You’re thinking too far, (Y/N), you scolded yourself.

Andy smirked. “Significant other?” He asked, bringing his cup to his lips, taking a long sip. “Taking strides now, are we?”

“Sorry…” you felt heat rise to your face.

“No, you’re fine,” Andy smiled and pressed a kiss to the top of your head. “We’ll take strides.” He muttered and nodded. “If that’s what you want?”

“Yeah, Andy… I do.” You smiled to yourself as you brought took a sip.

Your nose scrunched up. You had forgotten to tell Andy your meticulous coffee order. Whenever you were at Ransom’s, you didn’t need to tell him – he just knew. Your heart ached at the thought of losing your best friend, the one of the only people who knew you. After years of friendship, you couldn’t just burn that bridge… right?

You pulled your head from Andy’s shoulder and looked over at him. He smiled at you and you couldn’t help but smile back. This growing relationship was fresh. It was new and it felt healthy. Sure, Andy didn’t know your coffee order, but like Ransom, he could learn it. Maybe he could even memorize it by heart.

You smiled at the thought and leaned into Andy, pressing your lips onto his.

You weren’t sure what fate had in store for you and Ransom – whether that friendship ended forever or will revive itself in due time…

But you were certain about Andy…

You were certain you wanted this new beginning.

#andy barber x reader #andy barber #andy barber imagine #ransom drysdale imagine #ransom drysdale x reader #ransom drysdale #chris evans #chris evans x reader #chris evans imagine #crossing lines #angst #fluff

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