#said it before and i'll say it again i'm not here to influence or anything

[ophernelia]

one thing i ask of you guys is to never call yourself a fan of mine. you're not a fan, you just enjoy lykaia. (and i love that lol) also i am no sort of entity to be a fan of. i just write a story and share it. a creative, sure, but not a creator in that sense. and i don't want that to sound like i don't appreciate the support because i do! just understand we're on equal footing. we've got a shared interest, that's all!

[dragonnarrative-writes]

Transferrable Skills Part 1

Transferrable Skills Masterlist

Your therapist warned you about superstitious thinking. You've been working on it. In fact, you've been very good at catching it, challenging yourself to relax, and letting things go. Even before this big work trip, you consciously avoided the "unhelpful" rituals and reminded yourself that the little ones were just to make you feel secure, not to actually influence the future across an ocean.

"I'm very nervous," you had told Señor Snuggly two weeks ago. Your worn out stuffed lizard hadn't said anything back, of course. "That's normal, because it’s an international flight. So I'm going to give you a hug good-bye, and you're gonna stay here to watch the house. I know it's not going to change anything, but I'll feel better knowing you're here."

At the airport, you realized that you had forgotten your toothbrush. It had satisfied the part of your brain that was looking for one (1) thing to go wrong. Superstitious thinking, but the kind that helped you to relax and listen to music until you boarded.

Now, forced to sit on the floor, surrounded by shouting men with guns, your brain is stuck on your lopsided stuffed animal and blue toothbrush. Of all the things that could pop into your head, why those?

You almost let out a nervous giggle at the mental image of Señor Snuggly using your toothbrush as a shiv to save the day. And then the idea of what would happen if you started laughing right now almost startles you into another burst of giggles. You clap your hands over your mouth and curl into yourself a little bit more.

Next to you, your boss throws you a sympathetic look. "You okay?"

"No talking!" The nearest assailant yells in heavily accented English. You're pretty sure the attackers have been speaking Russian, but you could be mistaken. He brandishes his gun. "You want to die?"

"She needs to go to the restroom," your boss answers.

"No, I don't," you protest. You really, really do, and have for the last two hours. But being escorted out of the room alone seems like enough of a Bad Idea that your bladder can wait.

"No, she does not," the man confirms. "Shut up. Do not talk."

You meet your boss's eyes and try to silently convey, Why are you trying to get me killed?

His doughy face says back, I am a white man who goes to the gym once a week, and I really like the John Wick movies. I have delusions of being a hero. If one man takes you to the bathroom I have the mistaken belief that I can overpower two men with guns to save everyone. Also you're a black woman, so don't you have super powers? I believe in you, queen.

You may be projecting.

Ten minutes later, just as you're wondering if you should suggest a group field trip down the hall to the bathrooms, a series of gunshots rings through the building. The energy in the room goes from nervous to frantic in an instant. Your bladder shuts up. The Russian men start shouting and waving their guns, apparently too agitated to speak English. Two hostages start crying because no one else speaks Russian, just English, French and your half-forgotten, informal, Mexican Spanish.

Another three Russians come bursting in the room, snarling something you can’t understand. They grab at a couple of people, force them to stand at gunpoint and gesture to the rest of you. And then everyone is up and kind of moving in the direction of the door. But you can’t get out of the door because they’re blocking it, but they’re really agitated that the room is still full of hostages. And then some people are being pushed back down to the floor. Your boss ends up sitting back down again. A hard hand closes on your arm before you can get down, and you and four others are dragged out.

The leader says, “You all are dignitaries, yes? Your embassies will send money or they will watch you die.”

This is, potentially, the worst possible scenario. None of the five of you are even remotely important, let alone dignitaries. You’re not 100% sure about most of the others, but you’re an aid. An aid to an aid, really. The blonde woman with the remarkably sharp bob is a personal assistant. Today’s conference was about health data management, of all things.

You decide you’re not going to die with a full bladder. You look to the man holding your arm in an iron grip and point to the upcoming door on the right. “Can I please go to the restroom? I’ll be quick.”

He asks the leader something in Russian, and then you’re being shoved through the bathroom door. He doesn’t follow you into the stall, but it’s still so awkward to pee knowing that there’s a man with a gun waiting for you. You’re so glad you aren’t on your period - opening the wrapper on anything right now would feel louder than it has since middle school.

The door to the restroom opens just as the toilet finishes flushing. You hear a scuffle, an aborted shout, and then something heavy hits the floor. You freeze, heart racing. But then there’s no more sound.

You wait for what feels like an hour but must only be a minute before calling, “H-hello?”

You don’t get an answer. Unlocking the door and easing it open, you peek out and stifle a gasp. The man who had escorted you is on the ground, a pool of blood growing around him. His gun is gone.

You’re halfway through washing your hands before you realize you’re on autopilot.

It takes everything in you to fight down the urge to freeze in place and make yourself inch around the body to the door. When you poke your head out, the hall looks so normal that it makes you dizzy for a second. You try to decide what to do through the anxiety fog. You can’t hide in the bathroom with a dead body, and you probably can’t go back to the big room with everyone without getting shot. You have no idea where the other faux-dignitaries were taken. Apparently, there’s at least one person going around killing people in bathrooms.

You try to think of what your therapist would say in this situation. All of the options feel bad, she would say. So you can’t not do anything because it feels bad. Thank the anxiety for trying to keep you safe, then try to pick the least awful course of action.

“Fight, flight, freeze, fawn,” you whisper to yourself. Fighting is right out. “Flight, freeze, fawn.” There’s a body pouring blood right behind you. “Flight, fawn.” No one is around to appease. “Flight.”

Another gunshot and shouting. It sounds like it’s coming from the left, so you head right.

You shuck off your sensible kitten heels and fervently wish your otherwise sensible pantsuit wasn’t pastel purple in this very beige hallway. Not that a thicker-than-European-average black woman mincing around in a Swiss hotel and conference center would be inconspicuous in a black suit, your mind counters itself. You try to force your brain to shut up, with mixed success.

You wander a good five minutes, reminding yourself not to panic at every locked door you try. The halls are so quiet that you half convince yourself that you’ve gotten out of immediate danger. So of course, right as you’re about the round the next corner, one of the Russians appears, reeling backwards. And then he collapses, a knife sticking out of his neck.

You can’t really worry about that, though, because right after him comes one of the largest men you’ve ever seen. He must catch sight of you out of the corner of his eye, because his head snaps to look at you. You barely register the assault rifle in his hands because his eyes bore into you through the top half of a human skull.

Oh, I’m glad I already peed, you think, staring into the eyes of Death.

“Fuckin’ ‘ell,” the man says, growls really. “What are you doing here?”

“I… bathroom? Please don’t kill me. I’ll cooperate.” you squeak out. Oh, fawning! Cool.

“Price, I’ve got one of the hostages,” he says, nonsensically. “I’ve cleared the east wing.”

You jump when his walkie-talkie - of course it’s a walkie-talkie - squawks back an “Affirmative. Status?”

“She’s up and walking,” the man says, not taking his eyes from yours. “Seems uninjured.”

“Stow her somewhere safe.”

“Negative,” Death says. Before you can panic because what the fuck does that mean? he says, “Bringing her back with me.”

“Copy.”

When he takes a step toward you, you stop breathing. Everything in you is screaming RUN and DON’T MOVE at the same time. His second step in your direction results in a full body twitch. You get the impression that the gun is pointed at the ground, but the only thing you can really see is bone white over a black mask and what might be really pretty brown eyes, but the shadow from the overhead light really makes it hard to tell and your vision is going a bit darkaroundtheedgesandohI’mstillnotbreathingthat’snotgreat.

You’re shocked into gasping when a gloved palm touches the side of your face. The rough material helps you settle into your body, just in time to start hyperventilating.

And that’s when things get weird, because Death says, “Easy, lovie. Settle, f’ me, yeah? Deep breaths, like we’ve practiced.”

Your brain latches on to the familiar command to settle before you can even question why it’s familiar. The way the man makes a long, low shushing noise makes you so suddenly weak in the knees that you stagger where you stand.

And then it clicks. Holy shit. You know this voice. You know these commands. You’ve been listening to and learning them at least once a week for the last six months. He doesn’t even sound that different from over the phone or on a video call.

“There you go, that’s good,” Simon, the dominant you’ve been seeing online, tells you through his skull mask. “Keep breathin’. In through the nose, out through the mouth.”

It’s the second time in your life you’ve been surprised out of a panic attack. “W-what the fuck? Si?” you gasp. “What are you doing here? Did you kill that guy?”

“Questions are gonna have to wait,” he says. “Keep breathing. In for four, hold for two. In for two, out for eight. Can you do that?”

“Why are you in Switzerland?”

“Breathe,” he rumbles. “Settle.”

“No,” you hiss, even as your shoulders relax another fraction. The corners of your eyes start prickling with tears.

“This is a double red light situation,” Si says, staring into your eyes. “I know you’re scared, but I’m going to get you out of here. You trust me?”

“You are wearing a skull on your face.”

“And you’re wearing a purple suit,” he answers. “There are people who want to shoot both of us. You get one more outburst, then you’re breathing and following me. Acknowledge.”

What the fuck? “This isn’t a scene!”

His eyes bore into yours. “Might surprise you, but I’m aware. Acknowledge.”

A distant shout makes you flinch. You relent. “Acknowledged. Four in, hold two, two in, out eight. Follow.”

“Good girl,” he says, patting your cheek once. “Stay behind me.”

[skele-bunny]

Thinking about Daddy Kink Dew/Phantom again...

I'm so insane about them.....

CW for daddy kink and "baby boy"/"Daddy's good boy" used, spanking

(but this is NOT DD/LB that is a no go for me. I just like the name usage)

Super long post!

It was a joke when Phantom used it first, the entire pack cuddled in the common room when Dew came out holding plates with the help of Mountain.

"Don't be up too late tonight, we have practice in the morning."

Phantom had just chirped, thanking him and he's gotten a little sassy thanks to Swiss and Rain! "Yeah, yeah, whatever you say dad."

"See? It's things like that, that makes me think you're a dumb kit."

"Oh, sorry, lemme- wha'ever say daddy." He's mocking a baby voice, flicking Dew off while munching on his garlic bread with such a shit eating grin.

Swiss is losing his shit, the girls giggling in return. But Dew? He's just staring at Phantom before he scoffs, waving his hand away as he goes to his room to eat in silence.

Second time, Dew is yelling about something in the practice room. Something-something-cant find the strings he put away.

"You aren't being helpful right now!" Dew just hisses at Aurora.

Phantom, again, "Careful Rory! Daddy ang'y."

Once again laughter but now Dew is just hard fucking glaring Phantom, to the point the newly summon just slowly shrinks and hides behind Swiss. He and Dew don't talk the entire practice anymore, but Phantom can feel the glare and burning eyes. They're worried they honestly upset Dew, but too nervous to say anything with the potential he may be angry at them.

It's when they get back to the den, Phantom slinking to his room, going to close the door before it's caught and Dew pushes his way in, locking it and grabbing Phantom by his collar.

"Think you're fucking funny, huh?"

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry, I was just trying to play! I'm sorry!"

Poor bat can only yelp as he's forced onto the bed, feeling Dew bite his bond mark and keep his wrists down. "Pissing me off every fucking time you open your mouth." Goes right up to his ear, voice low. "Guess daddy needs to teach respect again, doesn't he?"

Oh....

Oh.

Phantom just shivers, his face already so warm with blush it doesn't help that Dew is literally heating up. Dew goes straight to his hair, yanking their head back and slowly starts grinding on their uniform pants. The sheer amount of force Dewdrop uses to yank Phantom's clothes off is insane, then moving the quint over his lap. There's one hand on Phantom's neck to keep him down, the other slowly rubbing over Phantom's curved ass. Dew hasn't stop growling the entire time, his body heat practically making Phantom get a sun tan if it could.

"I'm sorry, Dew, I-"

SMACK!

"What was that?"

"I-I said I'm sorry Dew!"

SMACK! SMACK!

The hand holding his neck squeezes, Dew just smiling so wide and Phantom can feel his chubbed cock against his stomach.

"I'll give you one last chance, Phantom. What did you say?"

Their breath is shaking, tail around their thigh. "I'm sorry..." He can feel Dew's hand twitch on his ass. "...Daddy."

"There we go."

The fire ghoul just rubbing his hand over Phantom's ass again before finally stopping his growls. He brings his hand back and another impact is made, Phantom yelling as more and more are brought down. His claws are digging into Dew's pants, tears streaming but his cunt is getting wetter by the second. The position is so... Embarrassing, exposing. Here he is literally being spanked like a rowdy kit. It's ridiculous!

"Do you know how long I've waited to do this to you? Huh?" Dew is purring now. "Bend you over my lap and spank that attitude out? Everyone's been an awful influence on you lately... You're not my good boy anymore."

"I... I am! I'm a good boy..."

Dew shakes his head, fingers massaging into the red handprints he left. "Tsk, no... You're not! But that's my fault, isn't it? I've neglected you. Let you get away with too much."

Phantom just keens, his ears twitching as the hand on his neck let's go and he's adjusted again, now his back to Dew's chest. Their legs are forced open by his arms, one hand grabbing his tit, the other quickly rubbing his clit.

"Daddy will get you back in shape, don't you worry, baby boy."

The voidling is a mess, feeling Dew pinch his nipple while circling that sensitive bundle of nerves. He can feel Dew sucking on their neck, Phantom's moans vibrating on Dew's lips, his hands never once stopping--even as Phantom tilts his head back with a loud cry, thighs shaking as he squirts on both Dew's lap and reaching the floor. Yet... Dew doesn't stop his fingers.

Rather, the pack leader keeps going. He's at the same pace, but the hand on his chest moves down to his cunt as well, finger fucking him too. Their wings are fluttering, pushing against Dew as much as they can, moans free falling as their body racks with shivers and pleasure.

He doesn't know how long it goes own for, or how many times he's came (enough for Dew's lap to be a small puddle), but now it's gotten to oversensitivity and borderline painful.

"Daddy- Daddy, please! I can't- I can't cum anymore-"

"Awhh, just two more, baby. Don't you wanna be daddy's good boy?" Dew is whining, nipping Phantom's jaw.

"Please."

His attempt to plead is ignored as another orgasm is forced out, but Dew's hands are moved away which Phantom's body is grateful for. His fingers are covered in slick and cum, sticky and white as he brings one hand to Phantom's mouth and the other to his. They open obediently and licking at their own mess, sucking Dew's fingers clean with another whine.

Once Dew pulls his hand away and is satisfied with the cleanup, he rolls them over, Phantom pressed down in the bed. He can hear Dew undressing himself and only moving back to shake his pants off. He's right on top of them again, kissing and licking up Phantom's back before pushing in, and those purrs are back to growls.

"Always so fucking tight."

Poor bat is crying again, eyes rolling back as he adjusts to Dew, his cunt welcoming him despite the strain. His moans are so choppy, high pitched little un-un-un, but occasionally he'll slip out a "da-ddyyyy-" in between. They're fucked with little to no care, Dew's claws dug into their hips and chasing his own orgasm.

Another slap against Phantom's ass makes him howl, lifting his head some while Dew's voice rings out again. "You're gonna be good for daddy from now on, aren't you?"

When he can't respond, the hand goes to his hair and lifts, Dew hissing in his ear. "Aren't you?!"

"Yes!!" God, his poor cunt is tired yet yearning for more. "Yes, yes daddy! Gonna be good for daddy forever!!"

His ear is nipped at, and he's shoved back down. Dew loses any control he had, just railing into Phantom's tight and slick heat like a rabid ghoul in a rut. His knot latching and dragging Phantom back, hand against the arch his spine is in.

Just like before, another orgasm is ripped through Phantom once Dew's knot locks in, sobbing as his mate is rutting against him before it pops, flooding his insides with more warmth. They dead weight, Dew following with a tight grip still. He nuzzles himself against Phantom's sweaty neck, inhaling his scent and catching his breath.

"Gonna be daddy's good boy..." He gives another hump and Phantom can't even open his eyes again. "So fucking delicious, baby."

Phantom is covered in marks and the whole damn pack has heard him, but doesn't dare say a word as Dew is lingering right next to him; Petting through his hair and whispering sweetly to him. The leader moves for just a second and comes back with a sandwich, Phantom sitting on his lap and absentmindedly purring.

"Open."

A little 'ahh' and Phantom bites down, his tail wagging and nuzzling into Dew's shoulder. "Thank you, daddy."

Dew has the biggest shit eating grin, kissing Phantom's cheek before he hold the food up once more.

[squoxle]

✏ TNAIT 003: Do. Not. Get. Attached l.at fanfic

✰ pairing: nerdy!bandboy!anton x cheerleader!fem!reader| ✰ wc: 2.9k | ✰ cw: profanity, angst, sexual themes, kissing | ✰ plot: your friends catch on to the fact that you might actually be falling for this nerd, but their reaction to it sends you on a wild mission to try and convince them otherwise... [Series Masterlist]

"So...how'd everything go with Ponytail?" Dongmin asked Chanyoung at the cafe, after his shift.

"It actually went alright. That cheerleader isn't too bad," he shrugged as he sat in the chair across from him.

"Did you make any progress?"

"With her assignments? Not really. We had a little incident and just ended up hanging out for a bit after that."

"Well, don't get too cozy, alright."

"What do you mean? You're the one who got me hooked up with her in the first place."

"I know man, but just be careful. Remember that we're a part of different worlds."

"So what? Are you trying to say she's out of my league?"

"I-I just don't want you to get your heart broken again..."

"What are you talking about. We literally just met."

"I know but--"

"You're acting like I proposed to her. We're just friends. Relax," he said before taking a bite of pizza. He picked some up for the two of them to eat here.

For the next few weeks, you continued to see him. First, it was only 3 days out of the week, but by now it had escalated to 5 days. Your feelings for him grew, but you had to keep your little crush a secret, at least for now.

"I'm telling you right now. Do. Not. Get. Attached," Xoey said. She decided to join you at the cafe today. "I can see it in your eyes that you like him more than you're letting on."

"Let's just say I do like him. Is it really that big of a deal?"

"Are you insane? You're literally just using him to get your grades up. Any type of romance is out of the question," Xoey snapped.

"Can you believe she hasn't given him anything to help her?" Abigail chimed in.

"Nothing?" her eyes widened. "Hmm...interesting. Do you think he likes her back?"

"Eww. He better fucking not," Abigail rolled her eyes. "I swear if these two ever start dating, I'd actually vomit..."

"He's really not that bad," you shrugged.

"They have so many hot guys on the football team that you could easily pull. Don't settle for that dork," Abigail spat. You knew very well that she meant every word she said.

"Relax! I don't even like him like that. I already told you, I'm just being his friend so he can pull my grades up," you spat.

"Wait, wait, wait! So let me get one thing straight," Xoey interjected. "You two have just been buddy-buddy this whole time? You've never slept with him? Not even once?"

"Nope."

"Anything sexual at all? Maybe even a kiss?"

"She hasn't opened anything but her laptop for that geek," Abigail sighed as you shook your head.

"Okay, well if you really don't like him and it's all about the grades how about you prove it to us by kissing Nicholas," Xoey smirked.

"Omg, he is so fine," Abigail nearly moaned at the meer thought of him.

"Yeah, I know. And a little birdie told me that he's been looking at our girl. So this is gonna be a piece of cake," she grinned folding her hands together.

"Oh and to make it even better, you have to tell him that you've liked him forever," Abigail added.

"In front of sweet little Channie," Xoey spat.

"Girls, this is ridiculous," you wailed. "I already said I don't like him. I'm just using him for my grades. I seriously only see him as a friend," you lied.

"Do it and we won't hunt down your fanboy and tell him that you couldn't care less about him," Xoey raised an eyebrow as she leaned over the table, lowering her voice.

"And that you're just using him for the semester," Abigail added. "You've already told us how you're just gonna drop him anyway. So why not rip off the band-aid now?"

"Fine, fine! I'll do it," you exclaimed. "But not in front of him...that'll be too awkward."

Maybe it was the peer pressure of wanting to be accepted that influenced your decision. But whatever it was, there was some damage control you had to do first.

"So, what are we working on today," Chanyoung smiled as you sat down next to him.

"Hmm... well I finished writing one of my English assignments last night. Maybe you could just look over it for me first and then we can work on something else."

"Alright," he nodded as you slid your computer over to him and began scrolling through the contents of your essay.

“Umm…Chanyoung?”

“You can just call me Chan. It sounds less…formal,” he smiled.

“Okay. Well, do you have anything planned this weekend?”

“No, not really. Why?” He asked, turning away from the screen to look at you.

“I was wondering if maybe…you wanted to go out with me. N-not like a date or anything,” you chuckled. “Just as friends.”

“Yeah sure. It’s not like I’m doing anything anyway.”

“Great!” You smiled. “How do you feel about a movie at…I don’t know…6?”

“Yeah, 6 sounds good,” he laughed, admiring how sweet you were with him. Even though you said this would be a friendly date, you wanted to be more than that with him.

So what if your friends don’t like him. They’ll just have to get over it. After all, you just had to kiss Nicholas one time. It's not like you were signing yourself over in marriage, right?

"Well, umm...let's get back to studying and maybe we can hang out before you go to practice," he said, returning to the screen.

After cheer practice, Abigail dropped you off at home as usual. You waved to your parents and went straight to your room to clean yourself up for the night.

"Honey," your mom's voice called when you were in the bathroom. "When you're finished, your father and I would like to have a talk with you."

"Okay, I'm almost finished," you replied, before you heard her footsteps trail down the hall.

You had a very good feeling about what this conversation would be about. Lucky for you, you had the right answer.

"How are your grades looking?" your father asked as you sat on the couch.

"I'm actually doing a lot better," you nodded.

"Can you go get your laptop so I can see how they've improved?" he asked.

"Sure," you said before leaving the room. This conversation was just about as stale as you expected it to be. "Here it is," you turned the laptop to him, revealing your grades.

Politics — 85.97%

English — 94.81%

Math — 78.12%

Geography — 89.54%

"I have a few more assignments due this week that should bring my grades up even more," you smiled.

"This is great!" you mother chimed.

"I know we put a lot of pressure on you, but it's because we want you to succeed. I'm just glad to see that you're taking action on your own," your father began. "Without a tutor," he added.

You knew that wasn't completely true, but it's the lie you had to tell to keep everyone happy.

"Thanks," you said, closing the computer.

"Oh, before you go I wanted to address an issue," your father said as you were about to walk away. "I'm sure you've noticed by now that I froze your cards. Well, since you're obviously doing better I think you've earned that privilege back."

"Wow...I've never seen my dad so proud of me," you thought to yourself. "Then again, I've never let my grades drop like this."

"Goodnight, honey and keep up the good work," your parents smiled before you walked back to your room.

You wished that Chan was in your room right now so you could hug him. He's taken so much pressure off that you've even completed some of the assignments on your own. Meeting up with him has forced you to delegate time to your studies and giving him your login information was one of the best choices you made.

The next day at practice, you walked in to see one of your cheer mates in tears.

"What's going on?" you whispered to Janice. Abigail and the other girls were busy trying to console her.

"Word got out that Reina had been sleeping with another student to help her pass classes. Which is obviously a breach of the student code of conduct," she sighed leaning against one of the red lockers.

"So what's gonna happen to her?"

"Well, she's being suspended for the rest of the semester and will have a zero in all her courses, effective immediately. On top of that, she'll be on academic probation. Meaning, she'll be kicked from the cheer squad until she can complete a semester on her own with a GPA of 2.5 or higher."

You thought about the situation you were in right now. "That could've easily been me," you thought to yourself as you looked down at your feet. "If my parents ever found out about my little rendevous with Chanyoung they'd never trust me again..."

"Chanyoung," you gasped as you bumped into him in the halls.

"Heh, I didn't expect to see you here," he smiled.

"Well, it was nice seeing you Ponytail. But we kinda got somewhere to be," Dongmin spat as he grabbed onto Chanyoung's arm.

"Oh sorry, I wasn't trying to hold you up," you replied.

"No, it's alright. We were just going to grab something to eat before heading over to my place," Chanyoung said, turning back to you. "You can join us if you want."

"No, she can't," Dongmin interjected. "I'm sure she has something else to do."

"Dude--"

"No, he's right," you smiled, cutting him off. "I was just on my way to meet up with the girls. But maybe next time?"

"Yeah, definitely," he smiled, which just made Dongmin roll his eyes. "Oh, we're still on for this weekend right?"

"Yeah, totally," you chimed before jogging off to catch up with your friends.

"Eh hm? This weekend? What are you doing with her this weekend?"

"None of your business," Chan teased.

"What do you mean none of my business? You wouldn't even be talking to her if it weren't for me."

"Okay? I don't even see how that matters right now," Chan scoffed.

"Because you're falling for Ponytail and I can tell. I thought you didn't like cheerleaders. I guess everything's different now that you're holding hands with one?"

"Pft, what!?"

"Don't start playing dumb. It's written all over your stupid ass face. Every time she comes around and every time you talk about her you have that dumbass grin."

"Okay? So, what?"

"So you admit it? You do like her?"

"Yeah, I do. What's wrong with that?"

"She's so out of your league it isn't even funny."

"We're not in high school anymore. We can date whoever we want. Cliques don't exist here."

"Yes, they fucking do, but ever since you've been working for that high-strung cheering ditz you haven't been able to think straight."

"This is so fucking stupid. I'm not doing this with you, okay."

"The old you would've never been so blind."

"What are you talking about?"

"That bitch is two-faced as fuck," Dongmin spat.

"Whatever, man. You're just saying that because you're jealous."

"Jealous? God, you sound so much like those cock sucking sluts," Dongmin shook his head. "Wait, I just remembered that you're not even getting that from her, huh?" he chuckled. "She's just using you. She can't even bring herself to have romantic feelings for you. She's just pretending to be your friend so you can keep being her lovestruck slave."

"If you're gonna keep acting like that, I'd rather you just shut the fuck up."

"What? You don't believe me?"

"Fuck no and I'm honestly tired of hearing you bitch."

"Fine, you can go back to living out your little fantasy, but don't come crying to me when you find out I'm right."

"I think I'm gonna go home on my own tonight," Chan shook his head before walking off, leaving Dongmin behind. "See ya tomorrow, man."

"Yeah...later..."

Remembering the dare from yesterday you decided to go find Nicholas and "confess" to him. This really just meant setting up a situation where a kiss wouldn't seem so awkward. You just weren't really the type to randomly put your lips on someone.

"Hey, Nick," you smiled as you approached him in the hallway.

"Yeah? What's up?"

"Well...I heard from someone that you've been looking at me," he smirked as he anticipated the next thing you were gonna say. "So..."

"So?"

"So, I was wondering if maybe you wanted to go out this weekend?"

"Umm lemme just check my schedule real quick," he chuckled, pulling out his phone to swipe his thumb across the screen. "Yep, this weekend sounds perfect. I'll pick you up at 5, okay."

"5?"

"Yeah, I have football practice until 3:45 and I still gotta shower and stuff."

"Oh...okay. Well, 5 sounds good," you smiled feinly.

"Alright, well I'll have to catch up with you later. I think you already have my number so if you wanna talk tonight we can," he smirked before pulling you in for a hug.

"Okay, I'll try to call you tonight if I'm not too busy," you said as he hugged you one more time before jogging to high-five the group of boys that waited at the other end of the hall.

As much as you wanted to see Chanyoung today, he was busy taking care of something with his brother. This gave you a little more time to bond with Nicholas...or Nick as you liked to call him.

"Hey, ____," Nicholas waved as he walked into the courtyard. "I got out of practice early today. If you're not busy did you wanna catch up a bit now?"

"Yeah, sure," you smiled.

One thing your friends didn't know was that you had a past with Nicholas. The two of you went to school together from Pre-K to 5th grade--middle school is when you both went your separate ways.

Though you never moved, Nicholas' father was stationed outside of the country. Fate had it that the two of you reconnected.

You thought back to the time he gave you a candy ring for your "wedding" in 1st grade. Even though you were just kids, it still felt so special.

It really sucked when he moved away that summer, but he made sure to send you a card on your birthday every year.

"Okay, so I have one question," he began as he walked beside you.

"What's that?"

"Did you really wanna go out with me? Or is this part of some master plan?"

"Uhh, why would you think that?" you scoffed.

"Come on, ____. I'm not stupid. I know when someone's trying to jerk me around."

"He always was quick," you thought to yourself. "Okay, fine."

"Yup, I knew it," he chuckled. "So what was it? A dare? A competition?"

"It was a dare...some of the girls from my squad think I like this guy--"

"Well are they right?"

"Yeah, but they don't really approve of him."

"So what? If you like him and he's a great guy who cares what your friends think?"

"Hmm...yeah I guess you're right."

"Ooooof course I am."

"Well, I still gotta do the dare...I already agreed to it."

"Okay," he laughed. "But what exactly do you have to do?"

"You're not gonna like this...."

"Just tell me."

"I have to kiss you..."

"That's it?"

"And tell you that I've liked you forever," though you were dared to say this, at one point (before you got to know Chanyoung) that was true.

"Easy-peasy," he smiled before pulling your in by your waist for a kiss.

"Nick!" you exclaimed as he burst out into laughter.

"Relax, I just wanted to get a reaction out of you," he smiled. "Here, I'll do it properly this time," he leaned in before gently placing a kiss on your lips. "How's that," he asked.

"Much better, but you can do it on my cheek next time," you tapped the plush of your cheek.

"Like this?" he playfully pecked your cheek.

"Yes!" you laughed. "You're enjoying the hell out of this and I know it," you smiled as he wrapped his arm around you.

"I'll drop you off at home tonight."

"Hmm? Why?"

"Well I kinda wanna go raid the gas station and I think I'd like you to be my partner in crime. I mean it's only fair. After all you're just using me to complete a dare."

"Hmm, okay. Well, let's get started now," you smiled as he walked you to his car.

"Hey," Chanyoung said dryly.

"Look, I know you don't wanna hear this, but there's something you gotta know about Ponytail."

"What is it now," he sighed.

"Earlier today, I saw her getting all gushy over this jock. And I don't mean some silly conversation. I saw them kissing. She's duping you, man."

Chanyoung sat in silence for a short while before finally speaking again. "You're not gonna stop, are you?"

"What are you talking about, Chan? I just gave you proof."

"No, what you gave me was some more bullshit stories you sat around concocting all day."

"Dude, I--"

"I don't wanna argue about this again, okay. Just drop it already."

"Chan..."

"Forget it...I'm going to sleep."

Later that night, after Nicholas dropped you off, you laid across your bed, staring up at the ceiling as you though to yourself...

"How the hell am I gonna be in two places at once?"

Thanks for reading the second episode of my series. [Series Masterlist]

Click this link to go to my main masterlist and stay tuned for the next episodes.

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[rorywritesjunk]

best be prepared to get all that you bargained for

Buggy isn't used to the gentle touch you give him since you joined his crew three months ago. Rating: PG to PG-13 maybe? Warnings: Buggy isn't used to the gentle touch of a partner. Abuse never mentioned but mistreatment is hinted at, not necessarily by a romantic partner, just the world in general. There's injuries and blood mentioned, as well as alcohol. A/N: It took a few tries to write this but I like how it turned out. I had to think of the show "Leverage" to get some of the juices flowing. This came from a combined suggestion by @nerium-lil and @gabegade for Buggy love at first sight and him not knowing how to deal with affection. Thank you both! Title comes from "Carousel" by Tricky Pixie.

It definitely took Buggy some getting used to having a partner as gentle as you. He was used to living on the edge, looking over his shoulder for trouble while running head long into it. He didn't necessarily seek out trouble as he would trip, stumble, and fall into it.

Literally.

He literally tripped on a tree root and fell, smashing his face hard into another root while you two were out on a stroll. 

He expected to hear you laughing at him while imagining some non-existent bystanders saying Oh, that Buggy can't even take his love out on a walk without making himself look like a fool. So he was surprised when you were immediately at his side, helping him sit up before touching his face gently. He jerked away from you, not actually expecting the gentle touches on his face. He was used to force, roughness when it came to injuries. 

He barely felt your touches, you were so careful.

“You're bleeding.” You said with a sigh. “Let's get back to the ship. I'll get you cleaned up.”

“I'm fine.” He snapped, pulling away from you as his face burned with embarrassment. You weren't deterred by his gruff reaction. You got to your feet and held your hand out to help him up but he slapped it away before getting up. “Let's go.”

You followed after him, placing your hand in the small of his back to steady him just in case. He shook your hand off, glancing back at you, wondering why you were doing this. He didn't need someone to be soft around him; gentle wasn't even in his vocabulary. Yet you kept close to him, hand out, ready to catch him if he stumbled again.

When you got back to the ship, he tried to get away from you, he could clean himself up without your pity. He didn't want you to think less of him for tripping like that in front of you. Except you grabbed the back of his jacket, pulling him along with you as you took him to his room. 

“I'm fine!” He growled.

“Wait here. I'll get some bandages and towels.” You told him. “You have a cut on your cheek, and your nose is bleeding.”

“Don’t bother, I’ll live.” Buggy grumbled, but you were already walking out of the room to grab the items. He sat down at the foot of the bed, arms crossed as he glared down at his feet. He was a fool, tripping like that. Why didn’t he watch where he was going? Oh, because you laughed at something he said, but in a genuine way, not mocking or anything and he couldn’t help but do a double take. That’s when he tripped, fell, and smashed his face. 

It was like when you first met, face to face when you both tried to rob the same person. Both of you grabbed onto the vase worth more than Buggy’s bounty, and when you both locked eyes it was like butterflies exploded around you while birds sang the loveliest tune. Would he admit it was love at first sight? Only under the influence of a lot of alcohol. You, however, would giggle and say of course it was. You looked into his beautiful eyes and were captivated in that moment.

In that same moment he dropped the vase on his foot while you slipped out of your aerial silks, managing to avoid the shattered pottery.

You joined his crew before he finished asking, knowing the client the vase had been for would no doubt come after you for losing such a worthy item, not to mention the actual owner would be quite upset. That was only three months ago and you were already enjoying life in the tent. While you sometimes missed working alone, being able to enjoy the spoils of a theft without others nearby, you came to appreciate having people who had your back. Having an extra set of eyes to tell you which way to go made it easier to avoid trouble, and several of the crew were quite strong, able to pull you up by the silks faster than you could climb up in case of an issue. Not to mention just having help getting things set up and carried from location to location was a load off your shoulders. 

Buggy looked up when you returned, nudging the door closed with your foot as your arms were full of towels, a basket with a first aid kit, and a large bottle of rum for him. He made a face when he saw what you had. What the hell were you getting at? 

“I grabbed you something to drink while I fix you up.” You told him as you set the basket down and handed him the bottle. He took it from you and removed the cork, immediately raising the bottle to his lips to have a drink while you held up a towel. He flinched when you raised a corner of the towel to his face, leaning away from your touch. You frowned.

“You okay?” 

“I don’t need help with this!” He snapped. “I can take care of myself, you know!”

You didn’t say anything as you leaned your face towards his; he swallowed nervously, wondering what you were going to do, when your hand moved to the back of his head, holding it in place as you started cleaning the blood from his nose. Thankfully he didn’t bleed too much, just banged it a little and scratched the top of it. He stiffened when you did that, the bottle slipping from his fingers, but you were quicker, catching it and setting it on the floor.

“I know you can, Buggy.” You murmured as you adjusted the towel in your hand, using a clean edge to wipe away the blood. “But let me take care of you, okay? You don’t have to do it yourself.”

He didn’t actually know how to respond to that. Before you came along, whenever he’d get any kind of injury he’d just take care of it himself. A bottle of rum or whiskey and a needle and thread usually did the trick, but you were there now, cleaning the blood from his nose before moving to the one on his face. The cut was a little more serious, so you made sure it was cleaned properly before grabbing some bandages to help the skin heal. 

“I’m almost done.” You told him as you placed the first bandage, smoothing it over his cheek before readying the second one. He leaned back when you did that and you frowned. “What?”

“You really don’t have to do this.” He insisted. You raised an eyebrow before quickly applying the second one before he could pull back again. “Hey!”

“And I just told you that I would take care of you.” You replied firmly. “It’s okay to be taken care of, Buggy. You don’t have to do it alone.”

“Yea, but-”

“Buggy, I worked alone for the last seven years.” You told him as you held his face in your hands, inspecting him for any other injury. “And while I sometimes miss just having alone time, I’m happy to be here, knowing there’s others who have my back no matter what.” You leaned forward, bumping your forehead against his gently. “And I want you to know I have your back, sweetheart. I’ll clean all your wounds, no matter how big or small.”

He crossed his arms and looked away from you, cheeks pink as he took in your words. His eyes started to burn, tears threatening to spill. He was not into lovey dovey words or anything like that, so for you to say that to him had him feeling a little unsure. He didn’t want to be, he wanted to be confident around you, and he often was, but when he was vulnerable like this it was different. You weren’t going to take advantage of him, hurt him, or anything. You were going to make sure he was taken care of.

“You want me to bring you a snack or something?” You asked him as you collected the towels and clutter into the basket. He shook his head and sniffled loudly, refusing to look at you. You shrugged and reached for the basket but he grabbed you by the wrist. 

“I skinned my knees.” He muttered, glancing at you while gesturing to the dirty spots on the knees of his pants. He hastily wiped at his eyes with the sleeve of his jacket. “When I fell, that is. And they’ve been bleeding.”

“Oh.” You smiled at him and grabbed one of the extra towels you brought. “Well, let’s get those pants off so I can get you cleaned up, Buggy.” You picked the rum bottle up and had a sip before handing it back to him with a wink. “I’ll be gentle, don’t worry.”

[oddballwriter]

Reader fangirling over moon knight not knowing it was steven/marc/Jake? 🎃

Under Your Nose

Warnings: Not much other than the moon boys lying to you and keeping a secret from you. Also the idea of walking alone at night while drunk. 

Author’s Snip: I am so sorry, I literally forgot that this was in my inbox. Sorry for the long wait.

I’ll shut up now. Enjoy! And don’t be afraid to request.

Word Count: 764

They found it kind of funny. In a sense. You had no idea that the vigilante that you've been fixating on is actually your boyfriends. You didn't live with them so you wouldn't know that them leaving for something was actually them going on a mission. It also kept you from connecting the dots that whenever they leave, Moon Knight's out and about.

They liked to hear your praise. In a way, you not knowing that it's them made your positive comments more genuine because, to you, Moon Knight was just a crime fighter that you would hear about, and so the influence of them being your boyfriends didn't make way for a bias. There were, however, sometimes there were cases where they barely managed to keep the secret.

One night, there was a gang that the boys had to take care of that put up more of a fight than they thought they would and left the system sore from having to fight back and defend. When the next day came, Steven, who was fronting at the time, decided to pay you a visit. But you were able to tell that he was stiff. When you asked, Steven threw the explanation that Jake was fronting last night and he had done an intense workout. You took it and so it was left at that. "Well, then how about we lay down and watch something so you can feel better, yeah?" you recommend. Steven just nodded with a smile,

Next came the time that you had gone out with friends to a bar and had more drinks than you usually do. You decided to walk to the boys' flat since you were not sober and didn't have a ride, and it was closer to the bar than your place. Maybe you should have texted them as a heads-up to your sudden arrival, but by the time you thought of that you were already going up in the elevator.

When you knocked, there wasn't an answer. Maybe they were asleep, it was pretty late after all. After remembering that they had given you a spare key, you unlock it and let yourself in, trying to be as quiet as you can. But looking around, no one was even home. You figured that maybe Jake was cabbing around town or Marc was on a late-night walk. With that idea in mind, you shot them a text telling them that you were at their place and why before taking a quick shower. changing into some clothes you had there, and promptly falling asleep in their bed.

Marc was there in the morning making you some breakfast. He of course, just confirmed that he was out for a stroll around the block because he couldn't sleep, even though he was patrolling. If anything he seemed more concerned that you walked there alone drunk in the dead of night. "I'm fine. It was just a ten-minute walk here." you shrug off. "Still, I don't like the idea of you walking alone like that when it's dark out." Marc said. "I'm surprised we didn't run into each other to be honest." you remark.

And then there was Jake. He had to deal with getting information out of someone and he figured that the best way was the old 'talk in a chair' way. But as it turns out, that guy was more of a hassle than he thought too. He put up a good fight and actually got him good with a punch to the face that damaged his nose. But they always, lose when it's Jake so he got his way in the end. But when you came over the next day, again, you say the bandage and got worried. "It's nothing, beba. I had this guy in my cab. He was drunk off his ass and being a pain. When I looked at him to tell him to knock it off he socked me in the nose." Jake lied. He could still see the concern on your face as to gently touched his bandage. "I'll be fine." he said as he kissed you on the forehead.

It's not that the boys want to keep lying to you. If anything all three hate it. But they feel this air of worry when thinking about you knowing too. They know it's dumb. And they know that they can't keep up the secret for long since they want you to be in their lives. But they just need to think of how to bring it up to you at some point.

[lokisprettygirl]

Under his influence (Post Avengers! Loki x female reader)

Read chapter 1 here // Series Masterlist

Chapter 2

Summary : The friendship between you and Loki grows as you both learn more about each other.

Warning: Soft loki alert again, Y/n is the type of y/n that says you know after every sentence..you know?, Mention of trauma and torture, drinking, cuddle bug do do do do, 4.5 k words approx

Loki took a deep breath as soon as he got inside the bathroom. Heavens Goodness this woman was choosing to trust him for some reason and he didn't want to do anything that would jeopardize her faith in him. He looked at himself in the mirror and out of nowhere it suddenly hit him that you were the only person who had trusted him in a very long time. Nobody trusted him. He was a trickster, a liar and now he was a mass murderer.

He clicked his fingers and the armor disappeared from his body, there were millions of bruises on every inch of his skin. That Hulk smash was brutal. He got under the shower and turned it to the coldest setting, as soon as the cold water hit his skin he was finally able to relax.

You kept hearing the knock on the door and you had a strong feeling who it could be. Mrs. Geller ofcourse

"Helloooo Mrs Geller" you gave her a fake cheery smile and you could tell she was trying to peek into your apartment.

"I thought I heard ya screaming" you gulped as she said that.

"I didn't scream..ohhh i actually did ..it was a rat..I saw a rat" you blabbed nervously.

"In your apartment?" She was disgusted by the notion.

"Yeah he was huge..bigggg bigg rat"

"Umm I hear the shower running" she said and you resisted the urge to roll your eyes. Sometimes you wanted to snap at her. Badly.

"Oh I was going to take a shower but then I heard you knocking soo"

"You know if there's a man in there you can tell me, i would be happy for you.. finally right?" You chuckled as she said that.

"There's no man i promise, you can come check if you don't believe me" you told her so she shook her head.

"Was only making sure you were safe dear"

"I know..I'm grateful.. thank you" you smiled and hugged her. She was just looking out for you but it felt like having a photocopy of your own mom, you didn't need another mom in life.

"I'll set a trap at my place..you do that too" she told you so you smiled.

"I will. Thank youuuu" As she went back to her apartment you took a deep breath. Okay there was still time, you could just call the Avengers and get yourself out of this situation before it would get even messier, you didn't even know this guy. What if he was just playing with you, they didn't call him the god of tricks for shits and giggles. Right?

"Y/n" you heard your name being called so you stepped closer to the bathroom door, he was peeking at you with his head out, his naked body remained hidden behind the door. He gave you a smile and that smile was going to be the death of you. Maybe you can get to know this man, he had given you no reason to not trust him until now. Besides you had the helpline number.

"Can I please get something to dry myself with?" He asked you so you walked towards the closet and came back to him with a towel. He had clothes in his vault but he needed an excuse to talk to you. Once he came out your eyes widened for two very different reasons, first of all those deep purple bruises on his body terrified you, he must had been in alot of pain and second of all you weren't expecting to see such a chiseled lean body hiding behind all that leather and metal.

"Ummm you could have just stayed in you know..you're barely clothed" you said to him so he gave his typical teethy smile again. For a terrorist, he did smile alot.

"Oh is this a nuisance?"

"You being half naked- dripping water everywhere in my living room? No it's not a nuisance at all" you answered sarcastically.

"Well nudity is a man-made construct..in Asgard--" He noticed the deathly glares so he decided to eat the rest of his words, you passed him an another towel and he used it to dry his hair.

His hair didn't look like a tree anymore, it looked soft and smooth and–

"Earth to Madame" you snapped out of your thoughts as he clicked his fingers. Should he tell you that he had clothes of his own? Probably not. "Do you have something for me to wear?"

You stomped on your feet and looked around your closet, there was a pair of black sweatpants and the matching t-shirt you had stolen from one of your boyfriends so you passed it to him, you turned around again as he dropped the towel from his waist to change.

"Thank you lady y/n" he mumbled after he was dressed. That shirt looked indecent on him, you were able to define every muscle underneath that tight constricted fabric.

"I'm going to shower too ..no funny stuff alright?" You warned him but he only got confused, his brows furrowed again, that gesture always made him look so innocent like an infant, a baby animal, a toddler.

He sat down on that ugly sofa and then he heard you yelling at him again which made him squeeze his eyes. The water must have been too cold for you, he'd have to keep that in mind, you were allowing him to stay here so graciously, he didn't want to ruin it. As you came out you asked him to stay right where he was, you wanted to put a bra under your clothes. He might have been a terrorist trickster god but he was still a man.

Grabbing the first aid box you made your way to the sofa and sat down next to him, he looked at your attire and it made him smile, you were matching with his attire from head to toe

"Ummm your cuts..will get infected..did they not patch you up?"

"Oh yes, they definitely patched me up before they arranged a feast to celebrate my presence here" you squinted your eyes in order to avoid an insulting retort. You poured the rubbing alcohol on a cotton swab then passed it to him. Should he tell you that he'd probably be alright by tomorrow?

"What shall I do about this ?" He asked you so you huffed before you snatched it away from him and rubbed it right on the long slit over his nose. He winced so you dabbed it in a gentle manner.

"Do you guys not have doctors or medicines on your alien planet?" He chuckled as you questioned him. Adorable. He found you adorable.

"Oh we do have our mighty healers over there. But it is all purely natural"

"Like ayurveda?"

"I suppose so"

"So what is your plan here? What are you trying to do" you asked him

"You want me to be entirely truthful?"

"There shouldn't be an alternative"

"I just want to loosen myself for a moment if you'd allow me to. It's been a while since I have had the pleasure of doing absolutely nothing"

"Awnnnn it must be a tough job terrorising other planets I am assuming" you pouted at the end of your sentence but he looked down in shame and it made you purse your lips together.

"I'm sorry..I am sorry I don't mean to be so snarky all the time"

"It's alright. I deserve that" his eyes teared up and then you felt even worse.

"Maybe you don't.. I..I don't know you or what happened with you and I shouldn't be judging you like this..so I just..it's just weird for me and I'm usually not this snappy. It's just ..things like this don't happen to me, it happens to other people you know? You know what I mean?" He shook his head as you said that. You suddenly leaned into him and his heart skipped a beat "What is that smell? My body wash doesn't smell like that?" You asked him and he gulped.

"Uhhh it's a scent"

"Like a perfume?"

"Yes"

"Huhh where did you get it from?" You asked him as you crossed your arms.

"My vault "

"Your what?"

"Vault..It's similar to that of a closet like the one you have..there"

"Uhhhuhh I hear you..And where exactly is this vault of yours?"

"In the outer space somewhere" your eyes widened as he said that but you didn't want to snap at him again, especially after you noticed the way he had flinched the last time. Was he used to being yelled at a lot?

"It smells expensive" he smiled as you said that. You saw the green shimmer you had seen before whenever he did magicky stuff, he waved his hand and there it was in his hand. A delicate looking bottle with the most intricate designs you had ever seen in your life.

"You can have it"

"Oh no nooo..I can't"

"I have plenty more where that came from, please have it for me. Just a small token of appreciation for the kindness that you have bestowed –"

"Okay I'll take it" you smiled and it made him smile too.

The door buzzed so you got up. It must be the pizza guy. You gave him a piece too but he didn't really like pizza, and found it too greasy.

After dinner you looked at him curiously. Where was he going to sleep? The couch was too small for him and-- there was only one bed.

Cliche. Cliche.

"So we sleep now?" He asked you

"Yeah, where are you planning to sleep?"

He looked at your bed and you shook your head immediately,

"Is this bedding pleasant enough for you? It looks small" he walked closer to the bed to inspect it as if he was the king of beds or something.

"It's all I can afford right now, after a long day I don't really care I just want to sleep..the apartment had all the other stuff but the thing I needed the most..I bought this one..it's my baby" he smiled and sat down on the bed. Your bed.

"Would you mind me asking about your occupation?" He asked you

"Yeah I'm a prostitute" he tilted his head and thought about it, he didn't want to say something offensive.

"Uhhh it serves you well?" You chuckled as he said that. He was adorable, if you hadn't seen his face all over the news you probably wouldn't have believed that this was the same guy who had supposedly terrorized the earth yesterday.

"I'm joking. I work in a gym, it's temporary..I .. have done a lot of things and changed a lot of jobs and anyways I'll sleep on the sofa because that's even tinier than the bed I got here and you won't fit in there because heyy you're taller than some of the buildings in Minnesota" you smiled at him but his eyes teared up instead. Why were you sacrificing your comfort for him? He didn't deserve your kindness.

"I am honored but –" he waved his fingers again and you gasped as you saw a bed a few feet away from your own. It was a lavish queen sized bed taking most of the space in your apartment

"That was in your closet?"

"Vault"

"Cool cool cool ..very well then.. get on your bed"

"No it's for you.. please take that one"

"Oh no no I'm not taking your princely sophisticated bed..noo" you said to him.

"It's for you" you took a few steps back until you hit the side of the bed

"I said no..are you listening to me? It's your bed, you'd fit in there and I want you to…ohh my godddd!!!!" you exclaimed as you sat down on the softest comfiest surface your butt has ever met with. He couldn't help but smile at your reaction

"Okay maybe I'll rest here for a minute..just 60 seconds okay?" you laid down and a small gasp escaped your throat, it was like floating in the heaven itself. This must be the bed they probably provide in heaven for all the heaveners.

"You do that"

"Just a minute"

"Sure" he laid down on your bed and it smelled like you, thoughts of wanting to cuddle with you infiltrated his mind so he smacked himself mentally, he can't possibly think about a woman he just met today in this sort of way. He turned the lights off as he watched you drifting into a deeper sleep and after several months he was finally able to fall asleep with no fear or threat looming over his head.

The next few days were insane, everyone was talking about him everywhere you went to and you were just seething internally everytime someone mentioned that war criminal Avengers were looking for. You hated how people talked about him and made assumptions, you didn't blame them, people got hurt in that attack, you were doing the same thing before you got to know him a little.

You had started to see him differently when he told you about his life in Asgard, he was a prince, a literal prince living under the shadows of his older brother, you have had friends and family members who wanted to upstage you so you understood his plight. When he told you about how he was the son of the monster all the Asgard despised, your heart rendered for him, everything he thought to be true about himself just didn't exist. One day he was the prince of Asgard and then in a moment his whole world was turned upside down.

"I just don't know who I am anymore, where do I even belong?" He mumbled and your eyes teared up, you didn't understand him completely but you understood some of it. You had felt lost most of your life. You placed your hand on his so he looked at you, his eyes were moist too and the sad look on his face always made you want to wrap your arms around him and hug him as tightly as you could.

"Ummm maybe with time everything will fall into the right place" he grabbed your digits in his large hand and then you felt his thumb rubbing against the back of your fingers, and it made your breath hitch in your chest. Everytime he touched you, you just wanted him to keep going but he never crossed that line of decency and you weren't sure if you wanted that either because you were enjoying having a friend who didn't seem completely selfish to his core.

"Time for margaritas" you got up and ruffled his hair with your hands before you moved to the kitchen. He probably wouldn't have allowed anyone to do it to him, nobody gets to touch his hair, but he owed you for literally saving his arse. Also because he enjoyed whenever you touched him like that.

"So do you have a girlfriend or something on your planet?" You asked him sheepishly as you sipped on your drink, it's been more than a week since he basically begged you to stay here and that particular curiosity has been bothering you since.

"A girlfriend?" He giggled

"Yeah like a lady friend, companion, consort sort of thing etc" That's right. You had books, you had Google on your phone.

"I do not have one at the present, ofcourse"

"But you used to?"

"I have been alive for a thousand years darling" your face flushed at the pet name. Damn!! he was a grand grand daddy.

"Yeah but not every person we are attracted to turns into a special person you know?" You asked him and he nodded.

"Well I was betrothed to the princess of Vanaheim, father - Odin wanted the alliance for political and regional purposes, safe to say I crushed all of his ambitions under my boots" he chuckled and you looked at him curiously.

"Arranged marriage? Did you like this Princess? I mean I don't know why you won't..she's a literal Princess but did you like her..like like her?" He kept staring at your face as you blabbed, his mouth curved into a smile and you just wanted to knock it off because it made you feel nervous.

"We met on every auspicious occasions, she was .. beautiful certainly " he let out a nervous laugh "Perhaps our affair would have developed further or not. Will never find out because I was thirsty for blood" he quoted his brother and even though he was smiling you could see the sadness on his features.

"Do you miss her?" You fidgeted with your fingers as you questioned.

"I only wish for her to be well. Enough of me, what about you? Are you of proper age to be wedded?" You burst out laughing as he said that

"Am I of age? I'm gonna be thirty in a week, THIRTY is like sixty for a woman here.. that's what my mom says by the way. Did you know I'm losing my eggs with time and I'll regret being alone if I don't find a guy right this moment and let him breed me so I could raise an insufferable depressed child just like me?" his brows remained furrowed as you finished your sentence.

"But you do not want to marry and have a child?" You sighed as he questioned, this was the part where it got really hard for you to explain what you wanted in life because everything you wanted was taken from you or just not meant for you. You turned your body towards him and he was looking at you with such intensity that you couldn't even maintain a proper eye contact, not for long anyways.

"I want it, I'm not against it but I want it with someone I want it with?" Your eyes teared up, you were slightly tipsy and you had someone listening to what you wanted to say, a man like him wanted to talk to you and all of it was making you emotional. He noticed the change in your mood so he scooted closer to you and placed his hand on yours again

"The first guy I ever remember liking was when I was 20, I was a late bloomer you see" you chuckled and he brought his fingers up to tuck your hair behind the ear, why would he do that? WHY WOULD HE DO THAT? God that tingled.

"What did he do?" He asked softly.

"He didn't do anything, he was just so confusing. I mean why would a guy talk to me everyday and flirt with me all the time if he didn't want to have something? One day he was into me the other day he was too broken from his past relationships, the third day he was again into me and then he'd ghost me point blank for two days and then he'd come back to repeat the cycle for months and I allowed it..it messed me up for a long time because he always made me feel as if I wasn't enough..as if I was doing something wrong and I continued to approach him even though he made it clear that he didn't want anything, because then i wondered if he'd come back in three days and change his tune again" as the tear slipped past your cheek he wiped it with his thumb, you felt his fingers running through your scalp and it calmed you down a little bit it was also making you feel several other things.

"You did nothing wrong my darling. He was a selfish,immature, pompous arse in the dire need of a distraction, i know of their kind very well" Well he grew up with their kind

"He's married now and I didn't even want to marry him because he was the least attractive man there ever could be. I don't even know why I liked him but it still hurts.. seeing people who had hurt you so much be so happy in life…it hurts" as your voice choked he instantly pulled you closer and wrapped his arms around you to hug you.

"Do you want to hear more?" You asked him between your silly cries.

"Yes" he answered instantly.

"The second guy was the guy who actually wanted to date me..I was 23, he was a year younger than me so it definitely was my fault, and it was a long distance relationship "

"Long distance?"

"Yeah like we were geographically apart?"

"So you never met each other?"

"We met twice" you facepalmed as you reeled in your stupidity "Long story short after a few months of the relationship and me not willing to put out for him, as in I didn't send nudes when he asked.."

"Nudes?" God he was so clueless about everything.

"Naked pictures of myself

"Understood"

"All of a sudden he didn't love me anymore you know and guess what? He fell for his best friend who had to be a girl of course.. you know what I ended up becoming? That girl in movies who comes between two obviously in love best friends. I got cheated on, I was led on, I got hurt and abandoned but somehow I was still the villain here..worst part is I liked him so much that even after he broke my heart we stayed friends and he'd ask me for tips so he could impress this best friend turned lover of his"

"And you gave him these tips he asked for?" He scrunched his nose

"Fucking yeahhh..I'm so stupid oh god..he broke up with me over the text, it was two days after he had told me that he loved me and saw a future with me..I'm so stupid"

"You're not stupid darling.. merely gullible"

"That doesn't make me feel any better"

He smiled as you said that but you weren't done talking. You'd talk until you'd drive this one away too. He'd probably get himself arrested after this. "Unfortunately I didn't just stop there ..i continued to befriend and get involved with selfish assholes all my life and now I'm old, I wasted my youth on those jerks and now I'm not as wanted as I was in my early 20s.. worst part is I wasn't even in love with those guys but I still allowed them to waste so much of my time and break me so much that I can't even trust anyone anymore"

"You're so far off the reality little one" he smiled so you glared at him.

"What?"

"You are ethereal, so very youthful as opposed to what you may choose to believe about yourself and you're so…" he gulped as he looked at you intently "Intriguing..any man would be fortunate to have a woman like you, but you do not deserve just any other man..you deserve the noblest of them all.. perhaps the reason you haven't found one yet " you sniffled as he finished his sentence.

"You are sweet"

"So you were not in love with them? Any of them?" He questioned so you shook your head in response. You loved some of them but you weren't in love.

"Noo..never. Maybe my perception of love has been skewed because of those romantic movies but I have never felt that intense type of love in my life..like ever. Never felt the chemistry..that bubbling scorching heat" he gulped as you said that as you got more and more animated with your hand gestures .

"Heattt?"

"Yeahhh you know when you're just so in love with someone that you just want to fuck them so hard, anywhere, everywhere..all the time.. and it doesn't matter how they look.. you just want to go wild on them because you're in loveeee"

"Perhaps you're confusing lust with love?" he blushed as he questioned so you shook your head.

"Noo the lust would mean you want to have raunchy sex with them and then go your separate ways. I don't want just thatttt..no no..i want to be there for this man..not just for the sex but for the bad and tough times..harddd hard times and for those insecure moments" you looked into his eyes and you could see his mouth open and close, because he had nothing to say. He was charmed.

"I want to treat him like he's the best thing to ever exist and I want to fuck him day and night because I'm so attracted to this gem of a man and then cuddle him until he's all happy in his head. And i want to gush about him all the time to every person i know and bite their ears off while I tell them how fucking gorgeous the love of my life is.. you knowwwww" he licked his lower lip as he looked at your heavy breaths after you finished your sentence. All of a sudden he wanted to be that man, he yearned to be the object of your fascination, he needed to be the man that you wanted to love and be in love with so deeply.

You couldn't stop staring at his lips and you kept wondering how it would be like to kiss him.

Oh god you were so very much attracted to him..oh fucking god.

Of course you were attracted to someone who you knew was way out of your league and practically non attainable. He wasn't even from this planet.

"You know if I'm ever talking too much especially after drinking margaritas you can just shut me up real quick" he chuckled as you said that.

"Pardon me for being unresponsive darling. I was just thinking about what you just said. It's uhh ..sweet and Passionate, it's alluring.. i understand now" Stop looking into his sea green eyes. Especially when he's talking.

"That's a relief..okay we should sleep" you gave him an awkward hug as you wished him good night. You could smell that cologne that you loved so much, the smell that resembled bergamot and roses.

Next morning you didn't have to work so you spent the day teaching him basic things in the kitchen, for example turning the stove on, making a nice cup of tea, or just simple eggs, he had never stepped a foot in the kitchen before but he was a fast learner. You noticed though that the heat was bothering him so after a while you threw him out of the kitchen.

That night you woke up and saw him trembling with fear on that tiny little bed, his knees were curled into his chest and he kept mumbling, asking them to not hurt him, he was begging someone to spare him today. You quickly got out of the bed and walked towards him, he always insisted on sleeping on your kiddie sized bed even though he was definitely too tall for it.

"Lokii?" You placed your palm on his forehead and he was sweating alot, you wiped the sweat beads off his skin with the sleeve of your shirt before you bent down on your knees at the edge of his bed.

"Looo? Wake up ..it's just a nightmare" god knew what he was seeing in that moment, he didn't tell you everything about him, or how much he had suffered. His eyes opened slowly and the lights were off but the window behind the bed made you able to see him.

"Are you okay?" You asked him softly and he sniffled in response then he shook his head, he sat up a little and you thought he wanted to talk to you but instead he leaned into you, wrapped his arms around your waist and pulled you on the bed next to him. God he was soo strong.

Also you didn't have a bra on.

He laid down with you, one of his arm stayed curled around your waist, you gasped a little as he hid his face between the crook of your neck, his lips too close to your cleavage but you didn't think he was even thinking about the closeness at the moment. Maybe he just wanted to hold someone and be held in return so that's what you gave him, you lifted his head up for a moment just so you could place your arm underneath, sure your nerves would be dead by tomorrow but you figured it would be worth it.

You had not even hugged him for more than a few seconds before this but then how come this didn't feel weird at all? Why did holding him so close felt so natural? You heard his little whimpers and it snapped you out of the daydreaming.

"You're okay I promise..you're okay" you mumbled softly as your fingers ran over his scalp while the other hand caressed his back, his hair was as soft as you had imagined it to be. His hand lowered down from your waist, it briefly brushed over your cheeks before he grabbed your thigh and hooked it around his waist then his arm held onto your waist again. Okay you were physically, mentally and officially turned on now, you could feel your lips quivering because of the intimate position. Both of them. You felt afraid you'd start to hump against him in the middle of the night.

He fell asleep soon after, leaving you all warm and tingly inside. You may or may not have kissed his forehead once he did.

The next morning you thought things would get awkward between you two but you had no idea that this innocuous cuddling thing was about to become an important part of your bedtime routine.

🫠🫠🫠🫠🫠🫠🫠🫠🫠🫠🫠🫠🫠🫠

Tag list (if you want to be tagged or removed let me know)

@annoyingsweetsstranger @mcufan72

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@whylokiissocute @hyperlokilover

[yazthebookish]

I posted my take on the Lightsinger theory and Gwyn's "luring" powers theory on Reddit two days ago but thought I'll reshare it here (with some additional thoughts)

The only canon information we have on Lightsingers:

Nesta winced. Cassian went on as she scanned the bog, "There are lightsingers: lovely, ethereal beings who will lure you, appearing as friendly faces when you are lost. Only when you're in their arms will you see their true faces, and they aren't fair at all. The horror of it is the last thing you see before they drown you in the bog. But they kill for sport, not food."

Does this correlate with anything Gwyn did in ACOSF? The answer is no.

I am not saying it is impossible for her to be a Lightsinger though where things stand it's unlikely in my opinion, but I'd attribute any potential powers either singing or glowing to her River Nymph heritage. We have no idea of her powers and she's also half High Fae of course she'll have powers like every other High Fae.

I think a lot of the "canon evidence" are different interpretations of the text but sometimes try to present itself as concrete evidence or proof when it isn't. Some attribute her singing during the services as the cause to Nesta having vision of the Prison and the Harp, but that also means we will have to ask what connection is there between Lightsingers and the Prison/Harp? And some believe it's the lyrics that trigger the vision as they're written in the ancient language and "Nesta saw what the song spoke of". Some believe Nesta power reacting to the crackling energy around Gwyn is a sign that she is a Lightsinger, but like... that's an indicator she has powers just like how Nesta in a later chapter felt Merrill's ornerry power. How is crackling energy means it's a Lightsinger when we never saw them? Powers recognize each other sometimes, just like how Feyre was surprised when Eris was able to detect a cold flame in the Dagger Nesta forged when it was given to him as a gift (like calls to like, Eris also has flame power).

In the bonus chapter, it's described at one point that the Shadows danced with Gwyn's breath as if it heard some Silent MUSIC (emphasis on music and not song). What was referred to as Music between Souls? The mating bond. Interestingly enough it was that same night when Nessian consummated their bond and they were connected by a music between their souls. So that could be a hint, and at the end of the scene Azriel hears a distant beautiful singing and the shadows sing back, hard to tell whether if it's Gwyn, who went back to trying to cut the ribbon, starts to sing or it's also another wording for a hint at the mating bond (also called the Song of the Soul).

I'm more keen to believe it's the mating bond because there are far more parallels and similar mate language to support it across all her three series and if someone is going to tell me "but Lorcan's chest glowed after he took the blood oath from Aelin—" my love context matters in this case and it doesn't invalidate the 10+ examples I can pull out of similar mate language like in the bonus chapter.

To ADD, for Azriel to be lured to the library at 7pm because of said Lightsinger singing, he has to be able to HEAR the singing for the power to influence him and Azriel didn't hear any singing, he was conscious and aware of his actions. It was mentioned Nesta sang with Gwyn at the services frequently and she didn't make any comments on a vision being triggered or her constantly seeking out Gwyn so there are holes in those kind of conclusions—again, because we never see Lightsingers on page.

"But when he arrives to the library it chimed 7pm!! That's when they sing for the dusk service" welp that's another hole in the theory, it depends on Azriel being drawn to the library because of Gwyn's singing but if he showed up at the library and they don't sing until 7pm then before the clock chimes at 7pm, they weren't singing so... not a convincing answer. Also, Clotho is usually seen during those services and Azriel still found her at her desk.

Early on when ACOSF came out, some readers made connections between Lightsingers and Shadowsingers and made the assumption that Lightsingers are the Shadowsingers' Light counterparts. That's why you had people musing about Azriel's mate being a Lightsinger, but canonically Lightsingers are evil once we go back to the text but we don't even see them to know for sure how they wield their powers or if they even sing because Shadowsinger Azriel doesn't need to sing when he uses his power.

In an Elain book (in this scenario it's her and Azriel), I don't see any purpose of Gwyn being revealed as a Lightsinger or anything about her powers because it'll be used as a plot device for an Elain/Azriel romance rather than contribute to Gwyn's own growth and that's why I don't like it. It will have implications on Nesta and the Valkyries dynamic too. If that's the case it will mean Gwyn will need more page time in an Elain and Azriel book to tackle something like that, especially if they're going to "help" her since that's the reasoning I see often—that she's not evil but she doesn't know it and if she did they will help her but like... why? To make her realize she has been keeping them apart or that she wanted a necklace she didn't even have any clue about.

Given Gwyn's history who even at the end of the book said despite training it didn't erase the fact that she let her sister die, she is still dealing with survivor's guilt, she still refuses to wear the priestesses stone, and also her desire to leave the library and see the world (which we didn't see yet). She has a lot of promise as a character than be a plot device for someone else's relationship.

The way I see it, Gwyn's theoretical powers is used to absolve Azriel of any accountability for his actions (ala Necklacegate) because it's not a good look on him, so it's better to pin it on someone else by saying he was lured against his will (since I often see that the reasoning behind her presence in the bonus chapter is to hint at her powers).

So if I have to read about Gwyn dealing with her powers whether they're good or bad, I'd rather see it from her point of view and for it to be beneficial for her own personal arc and healing journey. My problem isn't her having questionable powers (which I don't mind because many SJM characters had questionable powers but used it for good), I don't want it to be used as a plot device for another couple just to smear her as a character and clear the actions of the other male character so his "love interest" doesn't blame him for his actions.

Whew, this was long but I adore Gwyn and I am not a fan of the current version of the Lightsinger theory. I think even if SJM makes it happen, it would probably play out way differently than the fandom expects.

Also, it's not in SJM's style to use other woman drama in her romances. The other women are often 💀 or insignificant past lovers. I don't see her taking that route with Gwyn at all.

She could be half Asteri and I would still love her and be eager to explore her powers and story, I just don't like it being used to further another couple's conflict or whatever (they already have Rhys and Lucien).

And no, I hate the idea of Gwyn being controlled by either Koschei or Merrill because it takes away her agency and the suggestion here is about her doing things that harms others, how will that not have any implications on Nesta and Emerie and the trio's healing journey? Given her own tragic history and the fact that she was helpless and powerless to help her twin sister and she's still dealing with survivor's guilt over it all.

"Why did you sign up for this, then?" Nesta drank the glass Gwyn extended. "If you already have mind-calming exercises you're accustomed to?"

"Because I don't ever want to feel powerless again," Gwyn said softly, and all those easy smiles and bright laughs were gone. Only stark, pained honesty shone in her remarkable eyes.

Her being controlled is putting her in a powerless position again because she has no choice but to do Koschei or "evil" Merrill's bidding that could potentially harm Nesta and the others. I despite it.

And if I have to read about any comparisons between Gwyn and Ianthe as proof that priestesses can be evil, I'll go insane.

Also, if Gwyn's power can influence anyone through her singing, it would've influenced every single person in the services. It would have influenced other members of the IC. This particular theory is weak and depends one interpretation of the text that tries to present itself as evidence of an evil creature that never even shows up on page.

Gwyn wasn't added in the bonus chapter by coincidence. Sarah confirmed she left crumbs all over the book and specifically his bonus chapter, and what we speculate may or may not be confirmed in the next book so you can't dismiss the bonus by saying it has no relevance when the author said she left crumbs for readers to theorize about, which leads me to believe she wants us to come up with different theories until she publishes the next book where we'll know for sure if we nailed it or not.

[sillybayo]

Bayo's Black Rose Arc Analysis

Some notes before I begin:

-This ramble/essay contains heavy discussions of CSA, general sexual themes, and incest. Also, keep in mind that the characters discussed here are 12-17. While I will be looking into how sex affects them mentally and such, I will not tolerate child sexualization here. I will block anyone who makes a single weird comment or make me uncomfortable. We'll be talking about this from a pure psychological standpoint.

-This is a thought dump rather than anything formal, so I won't be dropping episode titles or numbers. I'm also going purely off of memory, and things I said in group chats. So if things lack clarity, this is why.

-I'm not saying I "cracked the black rose arc code" or anything, this is purely my interpretation that I wish to share, due to not seeing many black rose analysis', and being displeased with what some people have said and concluded. I just want to put what I think out there for others to enjoy :3.

-To avoid being repetitive and cluttered, I'll be generally referring to any character who pulls swords out as "wielders", and any character who has had a sword pulled out of them as "sheaths". Any scene where this transpires will be called a "sheathing scene."

-Once again, due to the material of this analysis, I will be blocking anyone who sexualizes the characters in notes, or anyone who I see as creepy.

With that out of the way, let us begin :3!

So I was watching rgu video essays one day, and I stumbled across one about Miki. About halfway or late into the video, they begin talking about how Miki and Kozue had sex in the black rose arc, due to the way she touched him before the sheathing scene, and the way he turned beet red when Nanami asked how it felt for the sword to be taken out. And I thought it made sense at the time, as I was still new to utena, and I only watched it once. And the allegory is clearly there in other black rose sheathing scenes (besides with utenanthy), right?

But then I thought about it more when I rewatched the juriori black rose episode a year or so later, and caught Juri blushing when Nanami asked her the same question. And...wait. Because doesn't all of the black rose sheathing scenes look..uncomfortable? The sheath cries in pain as the sword comes out of their chest, and Wakaba even forced it out of Saionji. And this weirded me out, because why would a show thats so clearly against rape of any kind go on to write something like this? Why did Miki and Juri blush about something that was so forceful? And even if they were under a mind controlled like state, why would they write the wielders to be rapists? With the way rgu writes sex and rape, it didn't seem right, y'know?

So a few months later, when I decided to continue my rewatch and reached the Wakaba black rose arc episode, thats when I truly started to think about it more. And thats when I reached a conclusion: Miki and Juri are more influenced by Touga and Saionji than they realize. And by extension, they're all influenced by Akio.

You see, Touga and Saionji clearly view Anthy as someone to be sexualized. Shes their wife, who would fulfill their every request. Even though they might not know Anthys and Akios relationship, and/or how the latter treats her, this is an undeniable shared mindset.

Even though the boys and Utena uses Anthy as a sheath in the exact same ways on the outside, you know that when its with Touga and Saionji, its sexualized. They own her. When Touga demands Anthy to kiss his sword, it feels so off that Utena couldn't bare to watch. You could argue that its because it would hurt Anthys lips, but in later episodes its clear that it isn't the issue, as Utena uses the same powerup but in a more supportive fashion rather than sexual. So whats up with that?

I say; in (most of) the wielders view, the sword is like a penis.

I know, a very silly thing to say. But I don't mean exactly. And I, of course, don't mean literally.

Do you know that scene from the scream movie, where the two guys are stabbing each other, begging for it and all? It definitely has sexual undertones, because of the mood set by the characters, and heres where I'm getting at; the idea of a long pointed object being thrusted in you.

What I think is that Anthy is so sexualized by the student council, that the idea of a simple sword being pulled out of her 14 year old south asian brown girl chest, is arousing.

So when each of the student council members become sheaths themselves, of course they think that its one of the most sexually intimate things to experience. And its so stupid, right? Its just a sword. a SWORD.

And I shouldn't be referring to the student council so generally, because Nanami is the only one who sees through this. As far as I remember, she wasn't weird in the slightest when she was Tsuwabukis sheath. And even in the apocalypse arc, shes uncomfortable when Touga kisses her, and disturbed when walking in on Akio and Anthy (but then again I haven't rewatched that episode yet, so I could be wrong). She purely meant to ask how the sword felt, with no sexual intent. Miki and Juri were just pure idiots on that part.

So then, wait, if the sword pulling in the black rose arc wasn't a metaphor for rape, then what is it?

Well, I argue that it black rose wielders follow the same mindset as some sexual assaulters when they're under the effects of Mikages reverse therapy, in a way. Its the strong feeling of thinking the sheath owes the wielder something, and that the wielder deserves it no matter what they say.

Another reference to a different piece of media, but remember when its revealed that Pearl continued to fuse with Garnet for her own personal wants, which crossed Garnets boundaries? People interpreted that scene as Pearl raping Garnet, when....no. What? Of course she isn't. Its just the general idea of your wishes being disrespected, and boundaries ignored. Do you see where I'm going with this?

The black rose wielders see something in the sheaths that they want for themselves, whether it be their love, their attention, or some secret third thing. So with nothing but entitlement and desperation in their heart, they force the sword out of their hearts, where their desires lie.

But, wait. How about other scenes with swords? Like when Anthy is Utenas sheath, and when Anthy has a thousand swords stabbed into her? Do swords still represent desire?

Well, yes! Very easily. Utena fights for the pure sake of love and friendship. She fights Saionji when hes cruel to Wakaba, and she swears to protect Anthy with all her heart. She duels with the strongest ounce of care in her soul. Thats the desire to keep her loved ones happy.

What about when Anthy what continuously impaled? Well, that was the villages desire to get to the prince. And it was Akios desire to finally revolutionize the world after so long.

I may be missing a few scenes, but this is the general idea, and I hope I got the idea across. Thats the end of my little ramble :3. As an acespec hypersexual, I already spend a lot of time deconstructing the truth behind sexual things and feelings. So this was fun to think about. I hope y'all liked this, and understood it most importantly. Toodleeess

[oizysian]

V. WE’RE GOING SWIMMING

All Eyes on Me masterlist

Word count: 1k

•

I crept back into the hotel room as quietly as I could, sneaking into the little kitchenette so I could put the sandwich I bought for Brie away. As I was putting the bag into the small fridge, I heard something behind me. I spun around, ready to fight - or flee, really - and came face to face with Brie, who had her phone out and was smirking.

"Jesus, you scared me half to death." I let out a sigh of relief at the sight of her.

"I see that." She peeked over my shoulder and her eyes lit up. "Is that for me?"

"Yeah." I breathed, turning around and grabbing it before handing it over to her. "I hope you like it. I wasn't sure what to get so I just got something simple."

"I'll eat almost anything. I'm like a human garbage disposal."

I looked her up and down as she put her phone on the counter and dug around inside the bag.

"Where does it all go, though? You're all muscle."

"I work out a lot." She said, her face stuffed with the sandwich I had gotten for her.

I shook my head, chuckling at her, when I noticed her phone was unlocked and there was a picture on the screen.

"What's that?" I pointed to it and she let out a soft hum of questioning before her eyes followed my own to her phone.

"An iPhone."

"The picture, smart ass." I reached out and took it, my jaw dropping at what I was seeing.

"Surprise, I guess." She spoke between bites.

"This ... this isn't good. This looks not good, Brie."

It was a photo of Elizabeth and myself at lunch. We really looked like we were enjoying ourselves but it also looked like a date. We were sitting rather close and she was very animated; very touchy and it seemed as though we were more than friendly.

And they figured out who I was. Oh no.

"Your chat is gonna have a field day with you, babes."

"They're gonna eat me alive." I groaned, placing her phone back down on the counter.

"I can't wait to see that." She smiled, scarfing down the rest of her sandwich.

"Brie, this isn't funny. This looks like ..."

"A date?" She offered and I nodded pathetically. "It's obvious it's not a date - she's married. She would be a fool to go out on a date in public."

"We know it wasn't a date, but look how close we're sitting. Oh gosh." I rubbed my hand over my face before looking up at Brie again, who was still smiling.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"You're about to blow up, baby."

"Huh?" What was she talking about?

"You were just seen out with one of Marvel's biggest stars."

"You're one of Marvel's biggest stars." I softly reminded her.

"Yes, but she's a star right now. 'Multiverse of Madness' is a hit, Scarlet Witch is bigger now than she's ever been before - and you just had lunch with her."

My eyes widened in realization at what she was saying, shaking my head desperately in denial.

"No, no, I-I'm not -!"

"You're an influencer now! Get out there and influence!"

"Brie, I don't want this responsibility. I'm just a streamer. I sit in my room and play video games, that's it."

"You're more than that now." She grabbed me gently by the shoulders. "You can do great things. That charity stream was just the beginning. Use this publicity to do all the things you wanted to do."

"You make it sound like I should use her popularity for my own gain."

"I didn't say that." But the look in her eyes said differently. "No matter where you go from here, I know I can't wait to watch your next stream where your chat goes absolutely apeshit."

I groaned, momentarily forgetting about how they would all react. They knew about my crush on Elizabeth, but seeing me with her was a completely different story.

"I'm afraid to stream now."

"They're gonna be happy for you." She said, her smirk almost hiding a hint of emotion in her eyes, her voice laced with a slight bitterness I didn't understand. "They're gonna be proud of you for finally landing your dream girl."

"I didn't land anything." I pulled away from her and walked over to one of the chairs at the small table, sitting down in it. "I don't even know why this conversation is a thing - we're just friends. We're all just friends!"

A flash of hurt colored her face before she snapped back to the present and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Maybe so," she leaned against the counter. "But I still say you get what you can out of this."

"She's my friend. I'm not gonna do that."

She shrugged, her shoulders dropping with relaxation.

"Enough of this Lizzie talk. Let's go for a swim in the pool."

"I don't really feel like swimming." I grumbled when my phone went off, indicating I got a text.

I pulled my phone out of my pocket and checked to see who messaged me - Lizzie.

"What'd she say?" Brie asked, apparently realizing who it was at the look on my face.

"She said she's sorry."

"That's it?"

I shot Brie a look before returning my attention to my phone, typing out a response to her quickly. No, that hadn't been all. She hoped that this incident wouldn't affect our friendship and she asked if she could see me again before I left so she could apologize in person.

"So no pool?"

I sighed and looked up at her.

"Brie, I don't even have a bathing suit."

"So go out in your undies. It's the same thing."

"Elizabeth is coming to talk to me in person." I finally spoke, my eyes glued to my shoes.

It was quiet for a moment before Brie spoke again.

"Tell her to bring her bathing suit then, 'cos we're going swimming."

•

@oh-thats-cute @marvelwomen-simp

[seaofreverie]

Sparkstember Day 3: Kimono My House (Falling In Love With Myself Again)

Kimono my house, mon amour! Everyone knows how great and one of a kind this album is... So what can I even say about it that hasn't been said already? Well, I'll just plunge right into my own experience with it and go from there.

This was my first Sparks album and it definitely made a huge impression right away. While it wasn't really the album that got me hooked on Sparks, it still managed to pique my interest in this specific era especially, so my choice for the next album to go with was obvious (more on that tomorrow). And it was surely like nothing I heard before at that point... or since, really. Altough I must also admit that it was probably the furthest I went back in time listening to music at the moment, as in, I haven't even ventured much into listening to much music from the 70s on my own until that point, so I didn't even really have anything to compare it with. Still though, that doesn't change as I get into more 70s music - there's still nothing quite like Kimono.

I love how cohesive this album is, without becoming same-ish, it still has so much different stuff to offer. I really don't know how to best put it, but it's really like a huge, wonderful and whimsical journey. Just thinking about the opening and closing tracks and how well they work for their roles... It was mindblowing to hear a year and a half ago, and it still is to this day. I'm honestly suprised by how, even though I really loved KMH from the very start, I can still love it more and more.

And the most (seemingly) unforeseen of things will cause this. Like my "Kimono My House Summer", by which I mean last summer when I went on a trip and all the different songs from this album accompanied me through it and are now an integral part of my memories of that time. And how getting KMH on vinyl just last month caused my love for it to suddenly skyrocket still - it was actually just last month that I rejected one particular opinion I still held with full conviction until now regarding this album, but more on that tomorrow...

Favourite songs (and other highlights):

Okay, this is when this section actually gets kind of hard to deal with properly. Because almost every single song from this album is something I could have considered a favourite at some previous point in time. So this time I'll go about it by listing my longest-standing faves.

This Town Ain't Big Enough For Both Of Us: obviously. I remember the first time I heard this song so well because it really made such a huge impression. The day I get to hear this song live might change me forever. I'm sure there's nothing quite like experiencing it live. I also really want to learn to play this one on piano. I hope that's doable with my current skill level!

Amateur Hour: this song stands out in the sense that right away i got the impression that there's just this... sort of classic quality to it... that makes me think, wow this is one of the originals. This is one of the songs that set the standard for pop music of the following decades. Keep in mind that this was when I was only getting into Sparks and all this information I've aquired about them was very fresh in my mind, like how they were such an important influence for so many artists to come. Like, one of the biggest influences and most important figures in history of modern pop PERIOD. So indeed, with this song it truly felt like wow, I hear this, totally. Very satisfying moment (and I'm actually really curious if anyone else got this impression from THIS tracks specifically as well)

Here In Heaven: feels strange to not say anything about this one when I said so much about the previous two, so. I'll just say that I really love the guitar parts during the chorus (like when the title is said?). Also, enjoyable story in the lyrics (but that's no rare thing on this album)

Hasta Manana, Monsieur: when I think about it I start to realize I could consider this my very first Sparks fav OVERALL, I'm pretty sure that hearing this song is what convinced me to give this whole album a go! Or my memory is lying to me about this specific fact and it was actually some other song, but either way, the point still stands I think

Talent Is An Asset: going with the early impression for this one again, and I think it's one of the most important entries on the list of songs that felt like they should be newer than they are. This song did not sound 50 years old to me by any means. Very ahead of its time? That's sort of Sparks' whole thing though, isn't it?

Equator: again, not even a personal fav necessarily, or at least until very recently, but I still want to mention it because I truly think it's one of the songs of all time. It's just, so very good. And these days I can't listen to it without being reminded of the several incredible live performances of it. They're all impressive, to say the least!

[mrhowells]

Smallville 5x06

"How you ever had a crush on Richie Cunningham, I will never understand."

I'm actually so easy to please

"And Lois... *laughs* I'd do anything to get rid of Lois."

but thinking about how annoying she is makes him laugh, soooooo... she's a good influence, I rest my case😌😌

Jonathan knows too, like-

Chloe & Lois as an investigative duo are actually really fun

Lex really lives in Jonathan's head rent free💀💀

ohmygoooooddd

MOTHER.

"She's here to dance."

Chloe really threw Lois under the bus like that I'm cryingsjakjsha

the struggle is real💀

SOOOOO let's see if Jonathan actually apologizes when it turns out Lex didn't do anything

CLARKFNKLJFDISLYS

COVER YOUR EYES SWEET SUMMER CHILD

Lois x bisexual lighting I LIVEEEE

they did that for me😭😌

"I'll have a coke😇" ... "S- straight up, on the rocks.😤"

JAkhsshfdlskaBOOBOO WHAT ARE YOU-

I just choked on my ice cream

LMAOOOOOO bless his heart

THE STRUGGLE IS REAL PART 2 I'M CRYINDHSGFJFKD

I'm really not ready for what's about to go down here😭😭

🎶DON'T YOU WISH YOUR GIRLFRIEND WAS HOT LIKEEE MEEEEEEE🎶

Someone needs to go to jail for that music choice💀💀

TOM WELLING YOUR FACE JOURNEYS. LET ME SAY THANK YOU KING🙇‍♀️

this is history in the making. absolutely iconic.

🎶DON'T YOU WISH YOUR GIRLFRIEND WAS WRONG LIKE MEEEEEE🎶🎶

i do wish she was my girlfriend actually they're so right

aaand she's getting into it

ON MY FUCKING KNEES FOR HER MA'AM YOUR HAND IN MARRIAGE PLEASEEEE

he's kind of giving me:

PLEASEWSWKRJWOPQP

EVERY SINGLE FRAME OF THIS IS SO FUCKING ICONIC LIKE WHAT DO I EVEN SAY??

it's okay bb, we're all looking respectfully right now

💀💀💀THE STRUGGLE IS REAL PT.3

SOMEONE PLEASE HELP THIS BEAN

kshadjwka his fight or flight is kicking in😭😭

"What are you doing here?" "What are YOU doing here?"

story of their life fr

the struggle has never been more real, pray for Clark💀

.

they did that.

smallville writers really did that.

legend behaviour if you ask me

i would like to take this moment and say thank you.

"I've never been in a position where people look up to me."

This is such a silly statement, Jonathan is literally the person Clark looks up to the most. His bigger personality flaws clearly come from Jonathan's influence💀 (not to say he didn't also learn a lot of good traits from him -he absolutely did- but you know)

I'm really curious what Lex's (and Jonathan's) politics are actually, don't be shy writers tell me👀

SIR I NEED YOU TO STEP AWAY FROM MY WIFE IMMEDIATELY

creepy mf

"Hey 007. Nice of you to show up." "I'll start assuming that means thank you?"

giggling kicking my feet

"I can't touch him." "Well, I can."

I'VE SAID IT BEFORE AND I'LL SAY IT AGAIN, MOTHERRRR

pls his face😭

he knows he could never be as cool as her

THIS SHOT MAKES ME FERAL

my parents🥹

(listen the shit i went through to upload this last picture tho, i hit the upload limit and had to delete stuff, then i accidentally deleted the whole post for a second🤡 my whole life flashed before my eyes💀💀)

Lex talking about a guy falling in love with his best friend's wife uh oh, no thank youuuuu😬😬

He was making a good point though.

"The thing I always try to remember is, no matter how much le lays on, he never expects more than he expects from himself."

Clark really grew up didn't he😭😭

"What are you doing, you just moved back in."

from the guy who said "I'd do anything to get of Lois." at the beginning of the episode, what in the clownery🤡🤡

All men do is lie.

she's such a menace, I LOVE HER😭😭

AND HE CAN'T STAY MAD AT HER LOOK AT HIS FACEEEEE

they're secret bffs your honor😭

I LOVE THEMMM IT'S ACTUALLY SO SERIOUS

"And you didn't have to come after me but you always do. So I wanted to say thank you. You're a really good friend."

GOING INSANE ON THIS SATURDAY NIGHT

CUT IT OUT YOU ASSHOLES I'M TRYING TO STAY NORMAL UNTIL SEASON 8 QUIT EYE FUCKINGZFGDUWEOAK

well. stay normal challenge failed again but that's exactly how i thought this would go, sooo

Question for the people: should i even tag Lex in posts like this? I don't think twice about tagging characters like Jonathan because I don't expect fans to look through his tag for him specifically, but i know people do it with Lex and I feel bad at the thought of them having to scroll through me losing my mind over Clois with a few Lex mentions in between. Lex fans lemme know

[garoumylove]

The importance, influence and misunderstanding of Justice Man in Garou's narrative.

I'm writing this because I was inspired/compelled to do so by people still misunderstanding Garou and how he got into monsters etc what people get wrong about One Punch Man and I have rarely seen this discussed and I think it's an extremely important point to understanding Garou and why Garou isn't into 'monsters' but rather he's into fighting for the underdog/the outcast.

We don't have much mention of Justice Man in the manga but what we do have gives an extremely important insight into this kids show and how it influenced and reflected Garou and his peers.

So the most important insight we have is the flashback with Garou and Tacchan and his peers as small children discussing it. This is Garou at his youngest.

Tatcchan is discussing the previous day's episode with his cronies and they ***laugh:*** "Did you see Crab Demon's face when Justice Man beat him?"

Garou defends Crab Demon and says (and this is the absolute key to understanding this whole thing and why Justice Man is a piece of shit): *"Crab Demon just wanted to ocean to be clean and beautiful again. He wanted to protect the sea. One crab against a whole human army and Justice Man too!"*

This makes it clear that even though the character's name is "Crab Demon" there is actually nothing evil about him. His goal was to protect the ocean and make it clean again. Does that sound like a monstrous goal to you? And Justice Man came and kicked his ass, for what? What was the threat? Crab Demon seems like someone that just wants to protect the environment and is trying to do it singlehandedly. So Justice Man doesn't really have a legitimate reason to destroy him. It's the classic "misunderstood weirdo" trope of someone who appears bad or evil but is actually kind which is often seen in kids stories and fairy tales. But unlike those stories where people usually réalise the 'monster's true gentle nature and accept him, here they rejoice in destroying a most likely innocent being. This is what Garou ultimately finds disgusting as he gets older. This is what heroism is presented to him as and he rejects it wholeheartedly.

Justice Man is not a hero. Not in the noble sense of the word. He is presented as a narcissist that loves to beat up anyone he doesn't like. It seems that Crab Demon wasn't actually doing anything wrong or threatening anyone. And if he was, it was probably because they were trying to prevent him from looking after the ocean.

(Now, granted, the Crab Demon may have done some bad things to keep the ocean beautiful and clean, **we don't know**. But it doesn't matter because that's not why Garou is rooting for Crab Demon. What he admires about this 'monster' is his protective and caring nature.)

This scene is clearly set up to show us that Justice Man is a horrible person and that Tatcchan and his friends think his actions of picking on and destroying the outcast is hilarious. It aligns Tatcchan with that narcissist and Garou with the weird but kind-hearted character.

If you think about it, a sweet kid like Garou isn't going to empathize and relate to the monster character because of its violence, destruction and bloodthirst. He relates to the monster because it is unfairly ganged up on and beaten for nothing. Why would a empathetic and kindhearted little boy like Garou look up to monsters because of the pain and destruction they cause? That's because he wouldn't. I've said it before and I'll say it again, Garou doesn't identify with monsters because they're bad and evil but because they are unfairly treated, just like in Justice Man.

What Justice Man teaches, and encourages, is that it's okay to pick and bully those who you deem unworthy or ugly or weird etc. This is what Garou hates and fights against. The reason he aligns himself as a 'monster' is because that's what the weaker, stranger creatures in Justice Man were called. It's because that's the role he was literally forced to play on the playground and get his ass beat over and over.

Garou wasn't rooting for real evil monsters. He was rooting for the underdog because of his already kindhearted and empathetic nature. He says himself that he was a gloomy loner kid and I think that really helped him feel the pain of others who were lonely and rejected. And when the popular kids did invite him into their social circle, it was just to wail on him. No wonder he doesn't trust anyone who's popular.

Garou was not rooting for evil bloodthirsty monsters. In fact, on his hero hunt, while he never dares to actually kill a human he doesn't even think twice about ruthlessly killing actual monsters. He literally views them as disgusting. He thinks he's going to be this evil destructive monster and he sort of goes that way but he is never able to kill anyone or let go of his humanity. His use of that label is inaccurate and it's just a fuck you to the people who called him a monster and treated him like one. It's like taking a negative label and owning it and reclaiming your power. You call me a monster? Then I'll be a monster.

And even when Garou does go around beating the shit out of heroes, he doesn't do it senselessly or just for the sake of violence, he does it with a very, in his mind, noble goal to set society right. Monsters, real ones, usually just rampage for pure bloodlust which he does not do.

So no, Garou is not into monsters. He is into fighting for the underdog, for getting society rid of trash like Justice Man. He calls himself a monster because that's what his childhood show called those who were different and who were outcast. But he hates actual monsters and he hates heroes.

Justice Man conflated the idea of abusive narcissist and hero for Garou and to him they became one and the same. And he goes through life with that confirmation bias, seeing evidence for this everywhere. The heroes are flawed, yes, but they're not like Justice Man. But that's not what Garou sees. He has these blinkers on and any time a hero acts in a less than noble way to him it's confirmation that all heroes are just piece of shit powertripping assholes and he ignores any good they do or any good qualities they have.

Justice Man is a very important influence in his life and serves as an explanation as to how he got to be the way he is. It's not the only influence or explanation but it's a hugely important one.

Garou didn't start out rooting for monsters for being monsters, he started out rooting for the underdog, but everywhere around him the underdogs were being called monsters and so he adopts that label too. And yet, when faced with real monsters who threaten the innocent, such as Royal Ripper and Bug God, he himself has no hesitation to savagely destroy them.

Edit: just to clarify, I don't think that Justice Man was the one and only thing that made Garou the way he is. That would be a bit absurd but it's definitely an important element that I thought was very clever of ONE to use in the narrative. Justice Man is like a parallel to what's happening in his own life and he identifies with the non-monstrous monsters in the show being beat up for no good reason. That show seems to confirm to him that as long as you're strong and popular you can do whatever the fuck you want to whoever you want and he can't accept that. Not in Justice Man and not in real life.

[melverie]

⸺ LESSON 1 ⸺

unregistered

Solomon

Solomon & Barbatos

MC's magic

situation in the Devildom

demons & angels (& humans)

strange feelings & soup

misc

- lesson 2 || all posts so far -

1. As you might have seen, I'm trying to connect some plot points atm and have decided to just go through the lessons again in hopes of untangling this mess. Depending on my motivation I might do this for all 40 lessons All of them will be tagged under #mel's descend into madness because that's honestly what it feels like lol 2. This is a mix of gathering facts from the game as well as me trying to make sense of everything. I'll add the lesson references to all things actually stated in the game. That being said, I'll only add them to moments that happen in lesson 1 since that's less work for me lol 3. I'd love to hear your thoughts!! Add stuff, dispute some of my points, theorize, bring up story points that don't make add up to you--idc what it is but I'd love to hear it all!! Either share it directly on here or send me an ask if you'd rather share them as anon 4. General spoiler warning for all of Obey Me Nightbringer, as well as for the original Obey Me

⸺ UNREGISTERED ⸺

most likely Nightbringer, so I'll just call him that -> 'Nightbringer' fits into the amount of characters in their name, and just like the unregistered number, NB later in the story talks about taking MC to a place where they will be happy [1-1//chat 'Untitled' with Unregistered; both pics below]

Fun fact: "lightbringer" (aka the meaning of Lucifer's name) also fits :)

NB knows MC's name because they told him recently from NB's perspective, and a long time ago from MC's perspective [1-1//chat 'Untitled' with Unregistered]

Nightbringer talks about how nothing remains hidden from him and that they see everything (-> Barbatos, Michael, Father?) [1-1//chat 'Untitled' with Unregistered]

this is how NB describes how he sees time [1-1//chat 'Untitled' with Unregistered; pic below]. It's similar to how Solomon claims Barbatos once described time to him

⸺ SOLOMON ⸺

definitely Solomon and not some imposter because his cooking is still the same inedible mess we know him for 💖 [1-17]

he's casting some spell when MC calls him and claims it's for jumping through spacetime [phone call 'Untitled' with Solomon] -> at the very least it doesn't have anything to do with influencing the memories of the others because they already didn't remember MC before their phone call

Solomon is the one who tells us we are in the past [1-12]. I have no reason to doubt him there -> he also says that MC "just disappeared" [1-12]. No mention of anyone's reaction to this though

Solomon is also the one that tells us that we need to reforge our pacts with the brothers if we want to make it back to the [1-12; pic below]

⸺ SOLOMON & BARBATOS ⸺

had (OG) Barbatos lend him his power to come to the past [1-12]

when choosing the option that implies that MC and Solomon are dating, Diavolo response with this [1-9; pic below]. That doesn't sound like there's any bad blood between them yet, at least not from Diavolo's point of view which, in turn, makes Barbatos' behavior toward Solomon so much stranger

⸺ MC'S MAGIC ⸺

Solomon explains that MC's magic is much weaker because their pacts with the brothers aren't functioning properly since they are in the past [1-12] -> the OG already established that MC's magic is tied to their pacts with the brothers (OG's season 2 plot literally revolved around that), so it makes sense -> since they need magic to return to the present, MC is essentially trapped in the past [1-12]

MC isn't able to use the pacts at all at first [1-2, non-amnesia route], however the pacts aren't completely severed as evidenced by MC being able to use the 'Stay!' command [1-5] -> once overcome by a warm light inside them, MC is able to use the pact commands again [1-5]. Imo it somewhat plays out similarly to MC being revived during the lesson 16 incident in the OG (which was Lilith's doing)

something about Solomon's reaction to being told MC used stay bothers me. Idk what though. Then again, maybe he was just worried about MC's safety, so it could also just be nothing [1-9; pic below]

⸺ SITUATION IN THE DEVILDOM ⸺

the Great Celestial War was about a year ago [1-2] -> Mammon mentiond that it felt more like a century to him [1-14; pic below]. Probably nothing but I'm critical of every little detail at this point lol

the demon king is already out of commission, but he was still around to give the brothers their titles as avatars [1-5]

the brothers' arrival threw the Devildom in disarray [1-7]

⸺ DEMONS & ANGELS (& HUMANS) ⸺

both Asmodeus and Diavolo talk about how angels and demons technically aren't enemies anymore, yet both parties are still clinging to what happened in the past [Asmo in 1-15, Dia in 1-18; both pics below]

Diavolo says that the goal of building the school is to bring the Devildom and the Celestial Realm closer together. He generally talks about just the "two realms", completely leaving the humans out of all this [1-18; pic below]

⸺ STRANGE FEELINGS & SOUP ⸺

Diavolo says that he feels like he and MC already share a strong bond [1-18; pic below]

Lucifer indirectly expresses his concern for MC, and is honest about his feelings and worries with them (only to immediately downplay it and snap at MC, thanks Luci 💖) [lesson 1 hard mode]

⸺ MISC ⸺

the House of Lamentation has just been rebuilt in the Devildom. They also once again tell the story of what happened in that house when it was still in the human world and say that it might be cursed [1-7]. Not really all that relevant tbh

Diavolo first talks about building a school [1-17]. RIP 'The Glory Days' devilgram ;-;

Lucifer says that he doesn't trust demons [1-18; pic below]. Will be slightly relevant again in lesson 12 iirc

[mynameisjessejk]

A Gang AU

This is entirely the fault of the Discord, because there was a video of a river otter causing Shenanigans, and it was mentioned river otters are horrible gremlins who have terrible, bloody gang wars. So, of course, here we are.

When the High King had been killed, the criminal underbelly of the city went into paroxysms, as the various small warring factions, which Ereinion had kept in comprehensive check, grappled to place themselves in a new hierarchy.

Paenvellon had drawn a hard boundary around the lower eastside docks, and held with with an iron fist. He had no interest in the drug trade that was most of the inner city, and had only a passing care about the black market. He only cared about the illegal weapons trade as far is it existed inside his very specific sphere of influence.

No, Paenvellon focused on smuggling. The tariffs on Numenorean goods made them luxury goods for the wealthy only in Lindon, unless you knew the right people. Paenvellon had made his living in being the right people.

And if there were a few strategic fishing nets draped over barrels in the corner of his headquarters, well. The warehouse was a theatre production, not his actual place of work, but it had worked very well for him so far. It wouldn't do to let anyone forget where he came from, and he found the smell of fish lent a credence to his work.

It also covered the smell of blood.

Elladan bared his bloody teeth, where he stood behind Paenvellon's shoulder. Paenvellon knew this without looking, because the small man who'd come on behalf of the ship's captain made a tiny squeaking noise of fear. Paenvellon kept his face impassive.

Elladan's leashed danger was threat enough—Paenvellon didn't need to say anything. Elladan had made himself the most terrifying person in east Lindon. A small amount of it was that he was Elladan Peredhel, son of the High King's favorite enforcer, the one the Red Eyes had nicknamed the Angel of Death. But mostly, it was just that Elladan could—and had—bring a knife to a gun fight and win.

"I'll pass the message along," the man stuttered. He was very afraid he would not pass the message along, that his body would be the message.

Paenvellon wasn't that angry yet. "See that you do," he said coolly. "Orophin, see that he gets back to his ship safely."

Orophin dropped from the rafters, landed in a roll, and popped to his feet close enough to draw back the man's chair. "Sir," he drawled softly.

The man squeaked again. Doubtlessly, he'd had no idea Orophin was in the rafters.

"Wash your face," Paenvellon ordered Elladan, once they were gone.

Elladan wiped the blood from his chin with the back of his hand. "It's fine," he said airily.

Paenvellon shot a flat look over his shoulder. "Wash your face," he said again.

Elladan rolled his eyes, but he went to the big basin-sink in the corner. It was a fish-cleaning station, but it lent a slightly menacing air to the room, as if they were always prepared to torture someone. Not that they ever had, but rumors were easy to spread. Elladan washed his face obligingly.

"And stop letting people hit you in the face," Paenvellon added once Elladan had shut the tap off again. "It makes you look unhinged."

Elladan shrugged. "Kinda the point, Boss," he said wryly.

"And he looks so good unhinged," Legolas said, climbing down from the second-story window where he'd been keeping watch.

Elladan beamed at him. "See!" he said to Paenvellon.

Paenvellon stared flatly back at him till Elladan deflated.

"Fine," Elladan sighed. "I will stop letting people hit me in the face before meetings."

"You're lucky I like you," Paenvellon said.

Elladan scoffed. "As if you liked me," he said cheerfully.

"Speaking of," Paenvellon said wryly, "If you ripped your stitches, I'm going to let him murder you." As he spoke, he gathered up the extra recording device he'd stashed under the table and the papers spread across the top of it, and stashed them in his briefcase.

Elladan and Legolas were cheerfully retrieving a slightly absurd number of weapons they'd stashed around the warehouse in case of ambush.

Legolas drove, Elladan sat shotgun—fully prepared to make that name appropriate if necessary, and Paenvellon settled behind Elladan. "Rohir's?" Las asked him, though it was a non-question.

Paenvellon hummed, watching out the window as the dockside slums went by.

The twins lived in a shitty second-floor walkup in walking distance from the fire station that was the base for Elrohir's ambulance. They could've had better, either of them could've afforded it, but they liked the building and they liked the neighborhood.

Elrohir kissed Paen on the cheek as they piled in the door. "Hey, good day?" he asked.

Paenvellon reeled his lover in for a proper kiss. "Very good," he agreed quietly once they broke. "You?"

Elrohir grinned at him. "Didn't have to knock anyone out, didn't have to narcan anyone, and no one died," he said brightly.

"And Elladan's stitches did not rip," Legolas called cheerfully from the kitchen.

"Oh good," Elrohir said dryly, rolling his eyes at Paenvellon.

Paen nodded in agreement.

There was a crash from the kitchen. Elrohir sighed, and they went to supervise Elladan's kitchen adventures.

Elladan was cooking stir fry, water heating for noodles and the wok already on the stove as he diced vegetables. Legolas was sitting on the opposite counter, eating peanuts out of the bowl they left there primarily for him. Paen sat on a barstool by Legolas and Elrohir went to help his brother. As the twins bickered over vegetables, msg, and sesame oil, Paenvellon smiled, pleased with the day's work.

[lokisprettygirl]

Under his influence (Post Avengers! Loki x female reader)

Read chapter 4 here // Series Masterlist

Chapter 5

Summary : The cuddle streak is broken by the end of your 30th birthday.

Warning: mention of drinking, sweet loki is sweet, short chapter (3k words)

In the morning you again woke up before him. Thank the gods. This has been going on for a week now, you had decided to put a stop to it like three nights ago but that obviously didn't work. You sneaked out of his embrace slowly and tiptoed towards the bathroom as if you were doing the walk of shame. Why did you always feel like such a sinner in the morning?

"It's just cuddles..be a mature adult about this" you mumbled to yourself. Well mature adults don't cuddle their mature friends. Also you shouldn't be cuddling men who existed even before the 19th century.

It was your birthday tomorrow, the day you have been dreading since your last birthday, the awful 30th, you were officially going to step out of your 20s with nothing to boot about. Nothing you ever did in life had made you proud of yourself.

For once you managed to leave the apartment without bumping into him, though why did he have to look so good when he was in deep sleep?

"So your place tomorrow? We are excited" Lyla squealed and you gave her a smile. Her and a bunch of other colleagues at the gym invited themselves to your birthday party that you didn't want to have in the first place.

"Yeah okay I'll see you tomorrow" as if you had any other options.

As you went home, he was folding your laundry, he was such a good roommate that you'd often forget that he wasn't your roommate. However as soon as he grabbed your grandma panties you snatched it out of his hand with the speed of the lightening.

"It's just a piece of fabric" he let out a hearty laugh so you glared at him.

"It's …intimate" So are the spooning sessions at night but he didn't see you complaining about them. None of you mentioned anything about them cuddles in the light of the day and it was starting to rub him in a certain way. A part of him was relieved because he wasn't sure if he was up for that conversation just yet, he didn't even know how you perceived him, was he just a friend? Only a friend?

"So big day tomorrow, are we having a celebration?" you sighed as he said that. You felt anxious telling him that he'd have to stay invisible tomorrow when your co-workers would come, it was one thing to introduce him to the family but you didn't want to put him at more risk. What if you get drunk and mess up or he does the whole magicky thing out of nowhere. You didn't want him to get caught, what would they do to him if he was to get caught? Would they hurt him? The thought made you want to cuddle him again.

"Uhhh actually my coworkers will be coming. I guess people really do like free drinks huh?" He chuckled as you said that

"So I'm assuming you won't be requiring my presence here?"

God he made everything easy, he just always knew what to say

"Loki, I want you here, you're my friend. It's just I don't want to put your life at risk, there would be several people, pictures will be taken and shared on Facebook or something, I'm sure Tony Stark must have the high technology where they can trace you with your face print or something right?" He continued to smile as you blabbed incoherently.

"I suppose so"

"I'm sorry" your eyes teared up so he walked towards you. He was wearing that cute blue shirt you had gotten for him. The color really popped his eyes, it also contrasted with his light pale skin so well.

"You don't have to apologize my darling, we will celebrate afterwards if you'd be open to that"

"Of Course.. ofcourse"

"This is your home, I don't ever want you to feel burdened by my presence "

"You never burden me Loki, I love living with you" his brows wiggled as you said that "I meant I like it..just a healthy amount" you chuckled as you walked away to put the stack of clothes in the closet. You wanted to die at the moment, actually dying while still in your 20s didn't sound so bad "It's not like I'm obsessed with you or anything " you mumbled but he only gave you his signature smile in response.

"How are you feeling?" He asked you, making you sigh deeply

"Well I'm bummed for sure. I mean I'll never get to be in my twenties again you know? The ship has sailed, the boats have..uhh boated. I don't know." The boat has bailed would have rhymed better but nope "Did you feel this way when you turned uhhh I don't know.. seven hundred" Your voice got lower and then higher by the end of the sentence, sometimes it was hard to grasp that he indeed was more than a thousand years old.

"Well in Asgard the numbers barely hold any value. It is the intelligence that's of significance when determining whether or not a man has matured completely, we grow up in phases, numbers are just that..numbers"

"Huhh. So are you a fully matured grown up?" You asked him and he chuckled

"Merely a few years back I thought that the mass extinction of my own kind would finally gain me the approval of Odin so I believe the answer would be no"

He smiled but you could tell that part of his life really affected him. Of Course it did, you couldn't imagine this soft sweet baby hurting someone, let alone hurting his own kind so cruelly, but then you also didn't know what he was going through, maybe he snapped and had enough, you always felt you'd snap someday too and become a villain that's hungry for revenge. But then you always allowed the karma to do its thing, and also because you were too lazy to become an actual villain. It was too much thinking. You walked towards him and hugged him to comfort him

"Well I'm sure you have outgrown that phase of yours now because the man that i know here.. my sweet friend–" Again with the friend he thought "He's pretty amazing" Well pretty and amazing you thought.

"So are you princess" your face got warm at the pet name so you took a step away from him.

Did he just call you a princess? You would barely qualify as a peasant on Asgard.

"I'll go shower and we can eat"

You did the routine- Shower, eat, brush teeth, sleep in separate beds and then one of the two would crawl in the other's bed depending on the mood.

It was his turn today, as the clock hit 12 he crawled into your bed and snuggled into you. Before you could say anything he greeted you,

"Happy Birthday Princess" a birthday wish has never sounded so sweet

"Thank you Loki" you smiled as you hooked your arm around him "This is not as bad as I thought it would be, you being here is helping though" he chuckled as you said that "I'm not joking, i really would have been a crying mess right now if you weren't here"

"Even if I wasn't here at this moment, I think I would have find you sooner or later"

"No you wouldn't have, it was pure luck"

"I do not think something so frivolous such as luck brought me to you, that tesseract has a mind of its own, the cube wanted me here"

"Isn't it called mind stone? "

"No it's the space one..what I'm trying to convey is that perhaps our paths were destined to collide"

"You're very cute" he smiled as you said that he has never been called cute before, that word was only used for small little creatures on Asgard and not gods like him "Can I ask you a question?" You mumbled so he hummed in response.

"Are you always this cold because you're a frost god?" A frost god? He was just a giant monster.

"Yes. I can manipulate my temperature though, would you like me to go warm?"

"Would it be uncomfortable for you?"

"Just a little, nothing I can not bear"

"Mmmm then i don't want it Loki, besides i am enjoying this, perfect for summers " you chuckled as you finished your sentence, you didn't want to get so completely obvious with your crush on him. You had no idea how much your sweet words and your care for him has affected him though, someone cared about his comfort and that wasn't something he was used to having.

Next day once you got all dolled up for the party he couldn't stop staring at you, the dress you had on made you look different, he thoroughly enjoyed you being in your pajamas but this wasn't too bad either.

He wanted to give you a little something before your friends would arrive so he sat down with you on the sofa.

"I was so rattled all night because I couldn't choose what I wanted to give you as a present –"

"Loki you don't have to do that" you placed your hand on his so he looked down and it immediately made you pull back.

"I know I don't necessarily have to, I just really wanted to" you smiled as he said that "There were plenty of things I could have given you that probably would have been more suitable for a lady like you, however–" his eyes teared up and so did yours, the softness in his voice remained undefeated, you didn't even need a gift anymore, this was enough. He waved his fingers and there was a small gift box in his hand, wrapped in a pretty paper and bunch of golden flowers, he passed it to you so you started to unwrap it

"I believed you'd rather want something sentimental and personal, something that would make you think of me" When he's not there he thought. As you opened the box, you found a knife in there, it was a knife polished in pure gold, the handle made from the finest oak, it had your name on it and there was a small birthday wish engraved on the blade,

"If you ever find yourself trapped by the twisted paths of uncertainties, remember that you can always cut through and make a new one, Loki"

"Loki–" you could hardly whisper his name and then it suddenly hit you, it wasn't any ordinary knife, it was the knife you had thrown at him on the first day, you recognised the blade, he had just molded it to make it look extraordinary "Ohhh god–" you looked at him, your eyes filled with several little emotions and then you hugged him as tightly as you could,

"Loki..This--" your breath hitched in your chest, making it almost impossible to talk to him "This is the most thoughtful gift i have ever received..thank you" he grabbed your hand and placed a small kiss, the look on your face made him feel content.

"Thank you lo ..thank you so much" you hugged him for a good minute before you pulled away, at night it didn't matter because the sleep always got you but rest of the times holding him for such a long time only made your thoughts spiral.

Unfortunately you didn't have much time because your colleagues would be here soon.

"Sooo ..just curious, what were the other things you could have gifted me" you questioned him and it made him chuckle.

"Jewels Perhaps"

"Yeahh I'm not into jewels sooo" you smiled and it made him smile too. He knew you'd appreciate something that held a sentimental value "Ummm okay I was wondering if people can still touch you if you're invisible?"

"Yes, I am indeed tangible but do not worry I'll just hide in my vault "

"What?"

"Its spacious "

"Nooo noo no Loki, I can't..i would like it if you're here..with me" you smiled and he returned it.

"Alright "

He disappeared as soon as he heard the door buzzing, it felt weird to not see him and you really really wanted to see him. But knowing that he was there made you feel slightly better. As you opened the door, Lyla hugged you and Loki glared at her, this woman kept calling you chubby, he didn't like her already. There were two other ladies and three men, he kept his eyes on this particular guy, his name that he learned was Chase, he couldn't stop flirting with you even though you didn't seem interested or maybe that was his wishful thinking.

You went into the kitchen as you made them all sit down in the living room which was basically just a few feet away. Loki has graciously offered you a bunch of chairs and a table for the party. He was like a genie, he was exactly like a Genie.

One of the guys turned the tv on , giving you the headache already.

"Guys look ..look.. queen of Asgard is on tv" you ran into the living room as he said that. Queen of Asgard as in Frigga? What was she doing here?

"Loki, my son, wherever you are please return to me, I can not lose you again, enough of the jesting, your father has given me his word that there will be no consequences, please return, your family awaits your presence"

Loki had told you about her, from what he had shared you knew she was that one person he really loved and cared for. What did she mean by losing him again? Loki never shared what had really happened after his fight with Thor all those years back in Asgard.

"Come on it's a party..shut it off" Lyla whined as she sipped on her drink. You looked around in worry as you couldn't spot Loki but you knew he was watching.

"Man i wonder where that murderer bastard is" Steven, one of the guys said

"Mind your language you hear me?" You defended loki immediately,

"He's right though..a criminal like him rolling around freely isn't good for us" Stacy said and you rolled your eyes. What did they even know about him? You did, and he wasn't as evil as he should have been after everything he has been through, you knew he didn't attack NYC on his own, he was compelled and forced to do it.

You looked behind and you could see the bathroom door opening and closing so you went in there and locked the door.

"Loki are you–" before you could finish your word he had you pressed against the door with his palm right over your mouth, you looked right up into his eyes as he appeared, he was in his Asgardian clothing, a long black tunic with matching trouser, the color looked the best on him, it complimented his raven hair.

"They can hear you" he whispered quietly so you nodded, as he took a step back you breathed in deeply, the proximity always messed up your brain. All you could think about was kissing him and then him picking you up to place you down on the sink while you two would make out

"Your mother–"

"It's just so typical of Thor to involve our mother in between our quarrels" he mumbled in frustration.

"Well it's more than just a quarrel" you chuckled so he gave you a smile "She said that..there will be no consequences –"

"She's lying ofcourse "

"But she won't lie to you would she?" He chuckled again but his eyes had gotten teary this time, you squeezed your eyes shut as you remembered that she had lied to him about his heritage all his life.

"Are you okay?" You whispered so he nodded.

"Go enjoy the celebration darling, I'm absolutely alright I promise " you nodded as he said that. Maybe he just wanted to be alone.

You went back to the living room but you couldn't stop thinking about him, he seemed troubled and you wanted to hug him as tightly as you could.

Once everyone left and you couldn't have been more grateful that they did, you called out for him, he clicked his fingers and there he was, on your bed, reading his book.

"Are you okay?" You asked him so he hummed

"Are you?"

"I'm fine..a bit drunk but fine"

You gulped so he nodded.

"So that's your mom huh"

"Adoptive mother, I never even met my birth mother " he answered as he flipped the page of the book.

"Ohhh .. ummm.. soo.. do you want to celebrate my birthday..ummm there's a cake, I think you'll like it" you walked towards the kitchen and he sighed. He put the book down and followed you, his mood had turned sour but he really didn't want to upset you. He also really wanted to kiss you right now.

"Ummm so Chase asked me out on a date" he crossed his arms as you told him. That boar wanted to romance you? He didn't deserve a woman like you. Nobody did. He didn't think midgardian men possessed the heart to value a lady such as you.

"So you'd court this man?"

"I uhhh–" what were you supposed to say? You just wanted to see his reaction, you weren't sure this is the reaction you wanted. You wanted him to get jealous

"What should I do?" You questioned him like a moron and he snickered. Did he just snicker? Was he upset?

"I'm no one to make that sort of decisions for you darling"

"Well..Perhaps one date won't kill me" you mumbled. You really were picking up his lingos.

"Yeah, perhaps " Did he just use the word yeah?

"Okay ummm here's the cake " you passed him the plate so he took it. He couldn't stop you from courting other people if you wanted to, he wasn't your significant other afterall, he was just a friend, probably not even that. He was just the burden.

That night he didn't approach you for cuddling because he figured you'd rather cuddle this new man, you didn't either because you thought he didn't want to do it anymore.

Did you just ruin the cuddling arrangement by opening your big mouth? You weren't even into this Chase guy. You'd tell Chase tomorrow that you weren't into him, you weren't going to do what other people had done to you. It was deceiving.

Well that was the plan you had made before sleeping but an argument happened and for some reason you ended up on this date anyways. And Loki was definitely bitter about it. Extremely bitter.

😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳

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