#I like zoe but her timing was… horrible | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

ikeuverse · 10 months

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LET ME EXPLAIN — p.jongseong

PAIRING: fwb!jay x fem!reader GENRES: fluff, slight angst WC: 5.8k+

WARNINGS: mentions of food, some swearing, alcohol. implicitly told that yn and jay have intimate relations. and let me know if i missed anything else.

NOTES: i always read fwb and this plot came to mind with jay so i had to put it into practice. because honestly this man as friends with benefits is a perdition. hope you enjoy and remember, my ask is always open!

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In your mind, this friends with benefits thing only happened in romantic comedy movies. That whole cliché of having a best friend at any time in your life, both being attracted to each other and starting with hot kisses until you were both in each other's bed. This continues until this relationship ends up being labeled friends with benefits.

You never thought of living this, even more so with your best friend Jay. When he proposed, knowing it was something you could start together – and because you loved clichés and romantic comedies – there was no denying it. And with the most cliché of all; the contract.

Jay's laughter was memorable as you sat on his lap one night after you were too tired to do anything. Your bare legs and torso were covered by his dark t-shirt as you waited for the paper to slowly come out of the printer.

"Do you want to read our contract?" he laughed with your weight on his leg, caressing your waist with his fingertips and letting his lips rest on your shoulder.

You read everything carefully as if you were living the scene from whatever movie you used to watch with that theme. Jay's kisses were soft against your skin and even with the last sentence, the most cliché of them, he didn't stop.

Neither of them can fall in love. This could be lived quietly if it weren't for the frequency of your encounters. If this friendship with benefits wasn't so intense because you were looking for Jay not just for sex, and he wasn't looking for you just to be in his bed without clothes. Many times Jay just wanted to kiss you while he came home from work feeling so tired, wanting a hot bath and the warmth of your arms while he napped for a while. Or you wanted to feel him hug you when you were on the verge of exhaustion after a university test that, even with effort, you knew you would get an average grade on.

Your relationship had gone beyond friendship with benefits and it was for this reason that you had relived that scene a million times in your mind. It was time for the main scene, where you call him into your room to talk, tear up the – useless – contract you created a year ago with the famous line "I fell in love with you".

And that's exactly what you did. You wanted to throw it all away and tell Jay that you loved him. That the situation you two were in was no longer a friendship with some sort of benefit, it was an unofficial relationship. And it was eating you up inside because you didn't have a proposal, you didn't have something concrete that could tell you it was a relationship or something like that.

So his brilliant mind worked stealthily to make that scene memorable. And it was. Only in the most horrible way possible, because as soon as you tore that paper looking into Jay's eyes, he ran. Ran. The boy opened your bedroom door and came out like a figure as if your apartment was on fire and he needed to get out as fast as possible.

It sank your heart too much. It shattered any expectations you had about Jay feeling anything beyond the friendship with the benefits you two had. You thought you were completely wrong about that.

And it was for that reason that you, at the present moment, decided to curl up even further in bed reaching for your warm comforter. You just wanted to sleep a few more hours before you got up.

"Coffee's ready" Zoe, your best friend, said quietly as she poked her head into your room. She searched the place but could only see your body buried under the covers "Come on y/n, you need to get out…"

"I don't want to, I'm tired" you mumbled softly, but quickly felt all the warmth from your covers disappear as Zoe pulled everything off of you.

"You've slept for over ten hours, there's no such thing as tired in this little body" as you looked at her, she smiled weakly in your direction, sitting down on the edge of your bed "Come on, you need to eat."

"But—"

"If you say you don't want to, Niki will come over here and pull you out by your hair," you laughed for the first time in weeks, knowing your friend would do just that.

Then, taking some convincing from Zoe's words, you stood up. She didn't leave your side until you'd gone to the bathroom and fixed your hair at least a little, trying to look presentable even though they'd both seen you like that.

"Finally!" Niki looked so excited when he saw you and Zoe come through the kitchen door. The baggy sweatshirt he was wearing made him look even cuter, and you smiled as you sat down on the opposite side of the worktop he was on "I made pancakes and I think we're out of jam, but we still have some peanut butter."

"I think that should do it" Zoe went over to the cupboard to get the peanut butter, setting it down next to her on the counter and grabbing the pancakes Niki had made.

As she served you, you felt your chest warm a little. You knew that your best friends, even though they shared an apartment with you, had been there for you no matter what and in almost every moment of your life since you started college. They knew about Jay, they knew what had happened because you had to explain when he ran out of the apartment without saying anything almost three weeks ago.

Three weeks you hadn't seen him since. A low sigh left your lips as you realized that all that time you hadn't seen him – either you were avoiding him, or he was doing the same – but maybe it was better for the moment.

"It's not the best milkshake in the world" Niki's whisper in your ear snapped you out of the sad reverie you were in. Then, looking over at your friend who now sat across from you on the kitchen counter, you let a smile play on your lips as he held out a cup "But I tried to imitate the one you and Zoe bought the other day."

"Oh, Niki" your nose started to sting at the action, any display of affection over the last few days was making you have that kind of reaction. You could feel your eyes watering.

"Shit, the idea was so bad? Zoe, she's going to cry—"

Niki despaired as a solitary tear fell down your cheek, and you quickly wiped it away. Since you were sitting between the two of them, you quickly felt one of Zoe's arms around your waist, while Niki's arm went over your shoulder.

"She's just touchy because of fucking Jongseong…"

"Hey, he's still my friend" Niki tried to correct Zoe, who just shrugged.

"Sorry, I don't want to talk about him."

"Three weeks, y/n" Niki sighed "I think one time you need to talk too."

"Too? Has he talked about it?"

Niki exchanged intense glances with Zoe. She looked like she wanted to curse him with every swear word on the face of the earth while he looked even more lost like he was trying to find something to say to comfort you.

"What Niki means is..." your friend sighed as she took her hand from your waist, picking up the pancake from the plate to eat "You need to get together and talk. I think it'll work out…"

"Work out with what?"

"Lots of questions in the morning, eat up" the boy pushed his plate with some pancakes towards you, also pushing the glass of milkshake he had made.

You could sense that something was different between the two of them just by the exchange of glances. Of course, you've been locked in your room for the last few weeks, it was understandable that Zoe and Niki had a lot more issues and even internal things that you didn't participate in because you chose to isolate yourself until you were well.

But it wasn't as if he could get what Niki had said out of your mind. Too… So he'd talked to Jay about what had happened and, a mere maybe, your friend had known why he'd left the apartment that day so quickly. But now you didn't want to know that. If he left and so far hadn't been in touch, it was because you'd done wrong and your friends-with-benefits relationship had come to an end.

So you would think that way. But how do you get over Jay when you've been involved for so long? There was no way to just let go of the fact that you proposed to him, and he ran away. Jay had run away from you… Or at least that's what you were thinking.

Jay looked at his reflection in the mirror one more time, trying to convince himself that the shirt was good for the occasion. Or he was curling up too much in his room trying to make an excuse and not go out with his friends that night.

He could easily take the second option, considering that for the past few weeks, he just wanted to isolate himself from everyone and lie around for as long as he could. Or until one of his friends walked in on him and yanked him out of his bed.

"You're going with us today" Sunoo gently pushed him out of the room, leading Jay to the bathroom they had in their shared apartment "Take a shower, get dressed. Look a little more presentable and less fucked up this time."

Down the small hallway, Heeseung was leaning against the doorframe with a bowl in his hands, laughing at the big brother scene between Jay and Sunoo.

"By the way" the boy swallowed some of his cereal to avoid talking with his mouth full "She'll be there, so…"

That seemed to cheer Jay up a little, and he rushed into the bathroom and took one of the best showers of the week. But now, at the very moment, he looked in the mirror seeming to snap back to the reality that had hit him. All right, you could be at that party, but that didn't mean you wanted to talk to him. Or that you would agree to talk to Jay.

Because he was the one who ran out of your room. He was the one who left you there without a single explanation as to why he had run away after hearing that you were in love with him. The truth was that Jay had been taken by surprise. He knew he was in love with you. All your friends and everyone who lived with you both knew it, Jay would never deny it, but he was taken aback by your declaration because he never thought you'd be that direct. It's usually the guys who declare themselves first, right? At least that's what he learned from the romantic comedy movies he watched with you.

But when the words came out of your mouth, he just froze. And the only way out was to run away from there because he was afraid. Of what? Jay couldn't think. And he tried to take the last couple of weeks to get his head together and just put some good words together to talk to you, but again, he was scared and looking like a fucking coward. As Zoe called him the last time they met.

He wasn't taking away your best friend's reason, because if someone hurt one of his best friends, Jay would surely curse that person without a second thought. Niki tried to defuse the situation, saying that it was between the two involved, but he also wouldn't blame Zoe's scowl while they were all gathered in the café after Jay needed someone to talk to.

Niki, Zoe, Heeseung, and Sunoo were the ones chosen to sit there since the others were busy preparing for the little party he was getting ready for now. And because the four of them kept in touch more because they shared apartments, so it might help Jay to talk to those who were daily involved with the subject.

The conversation had been good, even with the scolding from the only girl at the table, it had only calmed down after Sunoo offered a piece of her chocolate pie. Thank you, God of candies, Jay hummed mentally before taking the teachings of that conversation for the next few days.

Explaining the situation, that was the first step. But for that, Jay needed to go out and find you, otherwise, you would never answer a call from him or reply to a message. He knew because he knew you well enough to know that this would happen. So it was in person or nothing.

"Are you ready yet? The boys are here" Sunoo shouted from the hallway, it startled Jay and brought him back to the present moment where he was still looking at his reflection in the mirror. The boy swallowed dryly, deciding to put on a denim shirt over the blouse he was wearing and mess up his hair a bit trying to look a bit more presentable.

The smile his friends gave him was good for him, because Jay knew that all that reception was for the fact that he was leaving his room. The first party he didn't refuse to go to – or was practically forced to, because Sunoo was almost beating him to it – so it was nice when he saw that Jake and Heeseung seemed excited about the group finally being complete.

And this excitement continued until the house where the party was taking place. Nothing different from what they had all been to, because college parties were always the same, only the location changed because it was either in a fraternity house or in the mansion of some rich student. It didn't matter. But the people were the same, drinks everywhere and loud music that almost made your eardrums hurt.

By instinct, Jay looked for you everywhere. His eyes searched every figure to try to recognize you in the crowd.

"Do you want a drink?" he looked quickly at Heeseung next to him, who was smiling compassionately at his friend.

"I think I'll get one, I'll go with you" Jay could look for you later, he felt his throat dry and Heeseung's idea wasn't entirely bad for the moment.

So he followed his friend to the back garden of the house where the beer barrels were placed. Maybe a bitter to start before Jungwon showed up with Sunghoon and they started creating the craziest – and tastiest – drinks of the night.

"Are you okay? I mean…" Heeseung grabbed two glasses, handing one to Jay. When he took it, the boy pressed the keg's hose to pour some beer into his glass, doing the same to his friend "Are you feeling comfortable here?"

"I think I'll get better when she gets here" Jay didn't mind being direct, even more so with Heeseung by his side. Seeing that his friend only agreed, he drank some of his beer when the glass was full enough.

"Then let's go find the others, maybe a game or two before you paralyze them when she walks in the front door" he joked and that made Jay truly laugh. Because that was what happened every time at college parties. Jay could just freeze when you walked into the party because he was mesmerized by your clothes. The graceful way you moved to meet him and hug him when you met him with your friends. It was always a "get y/n out of here, she'll distract Jay and we'll lose" joke.

"Our best player has arrived" Sunghoon celebrated as soon as Jay approached the pool table, being greeted by his friends and a few other guys he knew from parties.

"Were you waiting for me?" he commented, a little too cocky when some agreed and others jokingly mocked that he had come just to lose "What team am I on? I want to slaughter you all" he joked, placing his almost empty beer glass on the makeshift table where a few more glasses were.

"Let's play me, you and Jake" Sunghoon ruffled Jay's hair even more "Worth a bottle of tequila."

"Uh, tempting. I'll take that" he grinned broadly and rolled up the sleeves of the shirt he was wearing.

Winning a bottle of tequila was worth it because it would only add fuel to the drinks they would make later. That one would be responsible for making Jungwon's drinks even better if that was possible.

"Loser gets to clean the winner's room for a week" one of the boys from the opposing team commented, and that made everyone laugh.

For a moment Jay decided to concentrate on his friends and the little game going on in front of him. Distracting himself might be the best remedy for the anxiety that was tearing at his chest so he could see you that night. He knew that the pool might take a few minutes, but nothing that would be so bad that he would stay there all night. Especially since his fingers would start to hurt from the shots, he knew someone would lose at some point or Jake would grumble about being tired and pull him away from the table to get a drink.

Surprisingly, the game ended sometime later. Jay's team won because Sunghoon threw the black ball together, now, with the bottle of tequila in his hands.

"Let's find Jungwon, I need something besides beer" Jake whined so childishly that Sunghoon laughed out loud at that. The three-headed to the kitchen of the house only to find the rest of their friends.

"If we'd agreed, it wouldn't have worked" Jake hummed as he approached the others, greeting them one by one until he stopped at Zoe. She smiled and hugged him back, and when Jake went to Niki to hug him, Jay felt stunned.

Only Zoe and Niki were there, but no sign of you. Maybe you'd gone to the bathroom or met some friend on the way who might have made your trip to the kitchen a little long. Jay's gaze was so intent that it had caught Zoe's attention, she walked towards him and touched the boy's shoulder gently to get his attention.

"Are you okay?" she whispered loud enough for Jay to hear. His other friends now celebrating the fact that Jungwon was opening the bottle of tequila to start making his famous drinks.

"She's… She's… Where is she? She didn't come?" Jay seemed a little lost for words, feeling Zoe's fingers soften on his shoulders with a friendly squeeze there.

"She didn't want to come" Zoe smiled without showing her teeth, she knew she had been tasked with breaking this news to Jay since Niki didn't want to face the sad look on his friend's face.

"Because of me, right?" Jay asked.

The silence in Zoa's reply could already tell him all he needed to know, and it sank Jay's chest even deeper into guilt. He gave in to his friends' requests and sure enough Zoe and Niki had asked you relentlessly, thinking you would give in to it too.

Then you were deeply unwell and didn't want to see him at all, because you declined the invitation. You weren't there.

"Hey, you two" Jake called out to Jay and Zoe, making them both look at the counter surrounded by their friends there "Jungwon sorted your glasses, come drink" he pointed to the containers already waiting for them.

Zoe glanced at Jay before thinking to follow and picking up her glass, trying to smile and beckon him to join.

"Come on, maybe it's good—"

"Can I come over to your apartment?" he asked quickly, on an impulse that made the girl's eyes widen in surprise at the question.

"Jay… Do you think that's a good idea?" she asked back. Zoe had an understanding tone but was also worried about the whole situation because she knew how the boy in front of her was and what he felt. But she also knew very well the state her best friend was in.

"I need to fix the shit I did" he sighed heavily, his hands running down his shirt to wipe them from whatever it was – the sweat of nervousness that was starting to run through his body.

"It's okay, I guess you can do that" she walked with him to the countertop for a moment, picking up her glass and handing him his.

Jay didn't think twice before tipping over the entire contents, feeling his throat burn because he knew he was the strongest. Jungwon had done this for his friend and his relentless night. He thanked her under amazed stares for how quickly he had drunk the contents, and with a kiss on Zoe's cheek as a thank you, he ran out of there as fast as he could.

Running to your apartment was not an option for Jay. He felt his body exhausted and, even though the party wasn't that far away, he preferred to take an Uber so he could get off in front of the building where you lived.

From the lobby, greeting the janitor who knew him and didn't ask a single question as he waved to Jay and let him into the elevator. All this while the boy tried to calm his already rapid breathing as soon as your floor number lit up his eyes.

He didn't know he could get so nervous about something related to you like that. Jay remembers being like that only the first time you kissed and the first time something sexual happened, because he thought it might ruin the friendship you'd built since your first year at university. So there he was, just as nervous as if it was his first time at something.

Maybe it was. It was the first time he would see you after weeks of no contact and, possibly, if it worked out, the first time he might confess how he felt about you. Swallowing dryly, Jay left a few light knocks on the front door, opting for that instead of ringing the doorbell. He didn't know if you were asleep or if the sound might startle you, so the knocks on the door were safer against any banging inside your apartment.

The footsteps dragging on the other side of the door made Jay's heart race instantly. You were there, going to meet him even if you didn't know who was waiting for you. Jay was fully aware that you had no idea. On the other hand, you thought it might be Niki or Zoe who had forgotten something at home and came back for you, so you didn't mind answering the door the way you were.

Your eyes widened at the sight of a panting Jay at your front door. He let his jaw drop at the sight of your bare legs, the torso covered by a huge oversized t-shirt that went to just above your knees. Their hair was loose and not messy, but your clean expression indicated that you had just stepped out of the shower.

"Jay?" your voice was hoarse, from lack of use and because you'd cried a little in the shower, but that last part would be a secret only yours "Zoe and Niki left a while ago, they—"

"I've come to see you" he interrupted you so subtly that you couldn't be surprised by the confession but felt your whole body shiver at it "Can I come in?" Jay sighed as you gave way, still holding the door handle as he entered the apartment.

The familiar scent of the room flooded him with longing because it was as if the boy was the fourth member of the apartment shared between you and your friends, just as you were of his too.

Jay turned around only when he heard the sound of the door closing, your slow steps approaching him who was already in the center of the living room of your apartment. He looked at you deeply, searching for any trace that you were uncomfortable or that you didn't want him to be there, but no. He could only see how shy you were. Jay could only see how shy and equally nervous you were, because your fingers quickly found each other, playing with your own hand as he took a step forward.

"Why didn't you go to the party today?" Jay asked the first thing that came to his mind, he wanted to buy time until he calmed his poor heart.

"I had some late work from university" you lied, still not looking at him and playing with your fingers. He stopped in front of you, raising his hands to reach yours and intertwine his fingers in yours.

"Or did you not go because of me?"

Motherfucker. He runs out of your apartment and when he comes back, he acts like he knows you so well. Okay, he did, but you didn't have to give in that much when you shook his hands incisively.

"You're so arrogant" you laughed low, not because it was funny, but because you were nervous and didn't know what to say. When you finally lifted your gaze to Jay's face, he had been staring at you the whole time. The dark, glowing orbs stared at random points on your face until they met his slightly reddened, equally glowing eyes.

"I asked you a question, y/n" he said seriously.

You laughed once more, slowly sliding your hands over his to release them at once.

"It's not like I'm obligated to answer, Jay" you tried to mimic his intonation, feeling your chest ache at the look he'd cast after your speech.

Jay didn't move in his seat as you took a step back, enough to be a safe distance from him.

"Did you come here to find out why I didn't go to the party?" your breathing was rapid, but you tried to calm yourself as you took a deep breath, holding back the uncontrollable urge to cry when Jay still kept his eyes on you "You could have asked Niki or Zoe" your shoulders rose and then slowly lowered, trying not to give a shit with the growing urge of the burning in your eyes at the moment "Maybe talking to them you won't run so easily…"

Your words died in Jay's mouth, which was now pressed against yours. He doesn't know how fast he ran so he could grab your body and kiss you so quickly. For a few seconds – three, maybe – you tried to push him away with trembling hands that spread his chest. This only urged Jay to press you against him, his tongue sliding against your bottom lip a few times until the kissing passage was given.

Even with the need to feel all of you, he seemed so careful with every touch. Sliding his tongue across yours so calmly and his lips fitting so perfectly that you stopped reluctantly and just enjoyed the moment you'd missed. Without trying to push him away now, your hands firmly gripped the shirt he was wearing and that was like a silent answer so Jay could keep kissing you like he wanted to.

His mouth left yours with slow kisses, sliding now to your jaw until he brushed his lips against your cheek. Warm skin against his mouth and you felt Jay smile against your skin.

"Why did you…"

"I needed to shut you up somehow" he was a little breathless from the recent kissing action, his speech being muffled by still having his mouth against your skin. Jay didn't pull away for fear of looking you in the eye after that and that you'd finally push him away "And you wouldn't let me talk, so…"

"Do you have something to tell me?" your hands smoothed a little on Jay's shirt as he slid his fingers around your waist. Straightening his body so that he could still have his face close to you, but this time facing each other.

"A lot, I just…"

"Jay, it's okay" you interrupted him subtly, your hands returning to Jay's chest only to straighten the shirt you'd wrinkled from holding on too tightly "I think I understood that day and you didn't have to come here."

He kissed you once more, now without going deeper like minutes before. Jay just brushed his lips against yours and let his breath mingle with yours, their warm, moist mouths joined by something so subtle.

"Let me explain, please?" he said against your mouth, his chest tearing inside at the little plea he whispered sounding pained in his tone.

If he was there for a reason, and if he was kissing you every time you cut him off, the reason was a lot bigger than you thought. He could end it all or say he wanted something one last time before you two became strangers the next morning.

With your silence, he interpreted it as a way to continue, and that only made him even more nervous. But he'd been brave enough to kiss you without getting slapped or cursed at and yelled at, so he had to pull the courage out of his chest to tell you. And he would.

"I know my reaction wasn't the best that day, and I'm really sorry for all of it."

Remembering Jay running out of your room wasn't a very pleasant thing, even if the situation would have seemed funny if it had been in another scenario. He pulled his mouth away from yours just enough, now leaning both foreheads together and focusing on touching the tip of your nose to his.

"But the truth is that you ruined all the plans I had made to confess to you."

"What?" you pulled your face away from Jay, frowning and tilting your head back enough to look at him.

An amused look and a slightly less tense countenance than yours. He laughed low at your surprise, almost as if he'd expected it as he felt your body slide down his arms until you pulled away a little.

"Yeah, you ran ahead and said what I wanted to say" he scratched the back of his head a little nervously now, his hands-free from your body as his steps were enough for you to be a little further away from him "And I froze, you know?"

"How, Jay? I mean… I'm confused" he knew you would be, so it was understandable as your brow furrowed more and more and your gaze was judging him in every way possible.

He felt shy with your gaze never leaving him, even if it was something still confusing. Jay's hands quickly wrapped around his arms before he crossed them in front of his body, a way to calm his hands with what he was about to say.

"I know how much you love these romantic comedies because I've lost count of how many times we've watched them here, even sitting on this couch" he pointed to the cushion next to the two of you in the living room, and you couldn't help but let out a shy laugh. Your love for the movie genre was true, you just didn't know if Jay would like watching them with you.

But he never refused to watch it, never seemed bored, and asked really interesting questions about the topic. He even suggested a few during sessions when you just couldn't make up your mind.

"So I thought I'd be cliché with the whole silly contract thing and I spent a long time trying to work up the courage and propose before I tore up that paper or recreated the scene from some movie we watched" Jay uncrossed his arms and ran his hands down his shirt, feeling like he might faint at any moment with your expressions completely focused on him. Jay didn't know if you were going to punch him after that, or if you were going to say it was too late to confess, so he hurried and took a few steps back towards you until he was close enough to your body "But I hadn't thought about what it would be like if you decided to do it for us."

You had, indeed, and from what he was saying – not unkindly – you had ruined his plans to propose to you.

"Sure, I could've kissed you after that confession or taken you to bed and told you how much I love you and that that stupid contract just made me fall in love with you" Jay rambled so much, you almost shouting with the I love you he said without even realizing it. As he said it over and over, seeming to blurt out his own words, you knew he was smiling.

A captivating smile that he didn't know if it was because he was all flustered or because you hadn't given up on feeling the same way about him. Without answering him with the right words, it was your turn to wrap Jay between your hands, grabbing his face and pulling him close. You sealed your lips next to his, sighing heavily against Jay's mouth when he grabbed your waist on instinct.

"So you love me?" you held back the urge to laugh as Jay's eyes widened, realizing that it had come so naturally and that he hadn't even noticed.

"I love you, y/n. I really do love you" he whispered, keeping close to you "I'm not so good with romantic comedies and all that cliché stuff, but pretend I'm tearing up that contract right now in front of you."

You laughed once more, kissing him again as Jay pressed you against him. The warmth of his lips, the way he held you so carefully as he kissed you, and the low sighs against your mouth before the two of you could break apart in search of some oxygen.

"I love you, Jay" it was your turn to whisper as he leaned his forehead against yours "But I don't care that you messed up like that."

"No? But I messed it up because it wasn't like the movies…"

"Really" you confessed and before he could apologize one more time, your fingers slid up to his lips so Jay wouldn't keep talking "It was much better. Because I think we're living our fumbling, romantic comedy."

He chuckled against your fingers, kissing them before pulling them away from his mouth so he could move closer with his face even closer to yours.

"Thanks for ruining my plans, then" Jay knew it was nothing compared to the movies you two watched and loved, but it sure was a lot better than anything you could share.

#jay fluff #hyfenet #enhanet #jay angst #jongseong fluff #park jongseong angst #enhypen angst #enhypen fluff #enhypen x reader #park jongseong fluff #enhypen au #enhypen jay #enhypen masterlist #jay x reader #park jay x reader #enhypen scenarios #enhypen imagines

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nobodyfamousposts · 1 year

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Why Scarlet Lady Is Better Than Canon: Lila Rossi

I had mentioned before at length regarding my distaste, dislike, and dissatisfaction with the character of Lila Rossi in Miraculous Ladybug canon. A character so horrible, so poorly written, and so two dimensional that I did not think it was possible to make any iteration of her I wouldn’t dislike.

And yet it seems @zoe-oneesama has come through for me yet again in Scarlet Lady by taking what was quite possibly one of my biggest issues and most despised characters within canon and with only a few changes, turning her into something enjoyable. Dare I even say…likable.

More than that, even. It says something when my least favorite character in Miraculous Ladybug canon can somehow become one of my top favorite characters in a different variation of it.

It’s because Zoe shows an understanding of the characters and what makes them engaging, and other than SL Adrien, it shows the most in the form of SL Lila.

See, Canon Lila Rossi is a selfish, manipulative, egotistical, petty, and self-centered liar.

Scarlet Lady Lila Rossi, on the other hand, is a selfish, manipulative, egotistical, petty, and self-centered liar.

Now I’m sure all of you are looking at those two sentences and noting that they’re the same thing. And you are right. That’s the point! Because the difference between the two versions isn’t who Lila is but rather in how the narrative and writing treat her and what Lila ends up doing because of it. And it’s why Scarlet Lady is superior in its handling of Lila.

Lila in Scarlet Lady is not a good person. Nor does she become a good person. She admits that she lies for fun and just to see how far she can take it. She’s fully on board with continuing her lies and trying to fool her mom and the school to get away with staying out of school for a year. This is all in lines with regular Canon Lila and shows that they are still the same person, it’s just the events and situation and narrative that differentiate them. It’s in how the Scarlet Lady story handles Lila and her character.

For the sake of convenience, I'm going to be using Scarlet Lady to refer to the comic itself and Scar to refer to Chloe's hero identity specifically.

Let’s review and compare Lila in Scarlet Lady to canon:

1. Lila in Scarlet Lady is NOT a plot device.

She doesn’t need to be. It’s clear that the plot is and has been moving forward on its own without her. Even if Lila were to have been removed from Scarlet Lady altogether, it’s pretty evident from everything else that’s been happening that we would still be getting to some plots and story points without too much difference or delay.

Scarlet Lady has a natural progression. The story and characters aren’t so rooted in the status quo that sudden additional character like Lila or Felix are necessary to throw in just to move things along. And Lila isn’t simply forgotten about when she’s not needed to do so. She doesn’t vanish without an explanation only to return also without explanation just to be able to force the plot to move.

Events within a story can be dependent on the characters, but the plot itself should not be dependent on what feels like a third party to show up and force things to happen when they should already be happening. That speaks of bad writing.

Canon Lila existed for the purpose of getting the Grimoire into Marinette’s hands so she could be the one to take it to Fu and learn about the Guardian and Miraculous secrets, as well as to be a future helper to Hawk Moth. Up until that point, the plot had done nothing with Fu and had done nothing to move things forward in learning about the Miraculous or why Hawk Moth would want the specific two. And after Volpina, the episodes that feature Lila are the ones that display more plot progression or involve Hawk Moth having layers to his plans. Lila only appears when she’s to be used to further a plot, then disappears until needed again.

In Scarlet Lady, by the time Lila appears, it’s already clear to Adrien, Plagg, and Fu that Scar is a horrible person and that she had no business being a hero. It’s also clear that Adrien is handling the hero work on his own and needs help. This is part of what causes Adrien to know that Lila is a liar and call her out on his own because in addition to Lila stealing his book, he already knows Scar well enough to know Lila’s story of Scar saving her would never happen. Lila isn’t the reason they find this out, nor is she the reason that the book is discovered and gets to the Guardian because Plagg chooses for himself to take Adrien to Fu. And afterwards, Lila’s appearances are more natural. Plot progression happens with and without her. Her appearances involve her interacting with her classmates like a person. They don’t have to have a plot-relevant purpose.

Narratively, there are three reasons to put in a scene.

Plot

Expansion/information/character focus

Entertainment

In canon, all of Lila's scenes are plot-focused and plot-driving.

In Scarlet Lady, they vary. Some are plot (like Lila's anti-Scar attitude getting more focus and validity over time). But more of Lila's scenes are focus in on her character and entertainment. This builds Lila as a person and makes her enjoyable to watch.

Lila is not a plot device as the plot doesn’t NEED her to progress. But that’s not to say that Lila doesn’t matter…

2. Lila has a role that nobody else in the story could cover.

As I’ve stated before, Canon Lila is pretty much another Chloe and there was nothing she was used for that Chloe couldn’t have or wouldn’t have been able to do. As a rival/foil to Marinette, as another love interest for Adrien, and even as a helper to Hawk Moth—by the time Lila started any of these roles, Chloe was already there and fully capable of filling them.

In Scarlet Lady, due to Scar being the hero Lila is butting heads with and being outted earlier on, SL Lila ends up not filling those same “roles”. She’s not a rival to Scar or Marinette, just a hater/critic of the former and a friend to the latter. She was called out by Adrien so she is shown to have no further interest in trying to pursue him. And as of yet, there has been nothing of Lila helping Hawk Moth.

Instead, Lila’s scenes show her engaging with the other classmates. More of the results of her being revealed as a liar. Her being a queen of sass and snark. And most importantly, her going head to head with Chloe and Scarlet Lady in verbal lashings that prove her silver tongue is no duller for people knowing of it.

In fact, she’s a part of people starting to realize that Scar is in fact horrible and her popularity starts to break down.

Yes, yes, we do have both Adrien and Marinette who realize how horrible Scarlet Lady is and hate her, but other than some snarky comments at her expense, they don’t do much about it. Mostly because they can’t. Especially early on, it’s clear that they’re forced to keep Scar around because as useless as she is otherwise, she is the only one who can purify the akuma and undo the damage. And as Fu has told them, Scar is still too popular with the city that trying to take the earrings from her would result in more problems. The two of them have to focus on dealing with the akumas more than trying to deal with Scar. Plus let’s be real: even as snarky as they both can get, they’re just too nice.

Others are also similarly of no help. Alya is still completely wrapped in Scar’s facade of a hero to see how selfish and unheroic she is. Most of the other classmates also go along with this narrative. But even the ones who DO know like Alix and Nino aren’t that active. They know but they don’t do anything with that knowledge.

Lila has no such barriers. She’s not a hero. She doesn’t know how “necessary” Scar is in akuma battles. And she doesn’t have to worry about not upsetting Scar since the “hero” already hates her. And thanks to Marinette and the other classmates with their “we still care about you for you” bit, she now has no reason to put up a mask…or a filter.

This makes Lila in prime position to try to push more against Scarlet Lady’s popularity and talk at length about how horrible she actually is. Something she is MORE than happy to do.

Lila is essentially the first main civilian hater of Scarlet Lady.

And with that in mind…

3. Lila’s actions are reasonable. Perhaps not intelligent, but they are reasonable.

She commits a number of the same acts as canon in Volpina. Stealing Adrien’s book, buying a necklace to be a fake Miraculous, trying to claim herself as the hero’s best friend for attention, and trying to claim she is a hero herself to get Adrien’s attention.

SL Lila is not a master manipulator or an up and coming villain. We are not expected to view her as a real threat to anything except Chloe’s ego.

Sure, she wants to speedrun the popularity and attention and maybe a nice rich blond boytoy to be her arm candy, but it’s clear in the very first comic she appears in that Lila has NO IDEA what sort of people she’s interacting with or telling lies about, and so has no way to prepare for what happens. First in that Adrien is so DONE with everything that he calls her out himself from the get go. Second in that Scarlet Lady appears to “save” Adrien from Lila’s lies when it was no longer necessary, proclaims aloud to the multitude of bystanders that Lila is a fraud, and then dumps her in a fountain for good measure and further insults her to boot. And at the end of it all, Scar doesn’t apologize for her actions, doubles down, and only further insults Lila. And as if all of that wasn’t bad enough, still being wet AND being on top of the Eiffel Tower results in her getting sick.

As such, Lila’s hatred of the Ladybug Hero in this version of events feels more understandable and based on a legitimate grievance. Several even. Scar’s actions go well beyond canon’s version. We clearly see how hurt and humiliated Lila is. Plus we have all of Scar’s previous antics to look back on and…well, we already came into this with more reason to hate Scarlet Lady than Lila, and Lila simply jumped on the bandwagon that was already there.

It also makes more sense then that Lila never even pretends to forgive Scar. Scar never apologized. She caused emotional and physical harm to Lila. And unlike Ladybug, Scar never tried to make an offer of friendship so Lila isn’t losing out on any opportunities out of spite. Heck, Scar’s treatment of Alya shows us that there is nothing to be gained from even pretending to be a fan of Scar. So Lila’s hatred of Scar is understandable and her refusal to be friends with Scar makes perfect sense.

When she hides away at her home, there’s a valid reason behind it due to her being sick. Her “plan” to fool her mom and the school in order to avoid going back also makes sense given the fallout she knows she would have to face if she did. (At least more sense than it made in canon for her to disappear for months just because Ladybug outted her to one guy who clearly seemed to be on her side more and neither of them did anything to inform anyone else of the truth.)

And when she returns to the school and the classmates, it isn’t out of nowhere. Once she was no longer sick, she was planning to continue some ruse. We clearly see how despondent Lila was over her situation and the feeling that she’s on her own and no one would side with her over Scar. This was deep. It shows real fears and feelings on Lila’s part. And it’s telling that it was the assurance from Marinette and support from her classmates that convinced her to rejoin the class. It doesn’t look like she would have had the willingness or perhaps the courage to do so if Marinette hadn’t reassured Lila that they had her back and had taken steps to try and help her, even when she wasn’t there and as of yet had done nothing to warrant it.

Here we see a Lila who is vulnerable and real. Who is clearly impacted by events on a deeper and more personal and meaningful level—or at least better than “GRR! Superhero revealed I was lying about her to a boy I like! I shall join the terrorist attacking the city and potentially destroy the WORLD for revenge!”

In this way, Lila is portrayed more like a normal girl. Since the narrative isn’t trying to play her off like she’s supposed to be some master manipulator the way canon does, Lila for all intents and purposes IS a normal teenage girl. A normal teenage girl who was humiliated and injured by someone with more power and social status than she can fight back against. She’s less of an archetype and more of a person with her own thoughts and feelings and ultimately choices which—even if we don’t like or agree with, we can at least see and understand.

Her actions are reasonable. Not just in that we as the audience can empathize with them but that they make sense. For Lila’s character, for her personality, and for someone in her position.

4. No plot armor.

SL Lila’s plans don’t just seamlessly work out. If anything, they go very wrong very quickly. Even before Scar calls her out, Adrien already made it clear that he knows she’s a liar. This effectively ruins her plan to try and get his interest and not just in the “Adrien being nice but not in to her” way. Furthermore, as she’s revealed as a liar in front of the entire class, we clearly see some of her classmates (Alya) continue to take issue with her later on. And even the ones who don’t have such issues are at least fully aware of Lila’s personality and don’t allow her to fool or manipulate them.

Sure, she still tries to manipulate her mom and the school to avoid having to go back, but that doesn’t last that long. And in Lila’s defense at that period of time, she was legitimately sick as a result of her dip in the fountain.

So it’s pretty clear that Lila lacks the plot armor that she had in canon. But it’s not just that Lila experiences losses, it’s also in the ways she succeeds. And unlike Canon Lila, SL Lila is not reliant on the plot to accomplish anything or make things work in her favor.

Some classmates still consider her friends. She’s still welcomed back—even with a bit more trepidation than before. She gets some epic zingers on Chloe and Scar. She got to have another interview with Alya just to be able to go on at length about how horrible Scar is. She manages to get on live TV just to heckle Scar. And over time, more and more people are seeing the problems with Scar.

Lila still gets some victories. Certainly not as many and not as big as what she gets in canon, but at least they don’t feel so forced. And they’re entertaining to see.

Which delves a bit more into an additional point I wanted to make…

5. There are consequences and responses to Lila and her lies.

With Canon Lila, everyone is in this weird sort of limbo where they automatically believe Lila JUST ENOUGH to not question her but at the same time NOT ENOUGH to actually follow through with some of her lies. In Chameleon, Lila claims to have and then magically be cured of Tinnitus and Bustier believes her just enough to rearrange the seats for her at her will but not enough to require some doctor’s note or confirmation of either the presence or recovery from the medical issue—even in the event the former could be overlooked, the latter could NOT and any school or teacher worth their salt would require SOME proof to discontinue an accommodation for someone with a disability because that would be a liability. In Ladybug, Lila claimed Marinette pushed her down stairs and the adults believed her just enough to admonish Marinette but not enough to get Lila actual medical attention, which is a liability and gross negligence. In Ono-chan, Nino believes Lila’s lies about needing Adrien to help tutor her just enough to give her an opening to go to his place but not enough to follow through, check up on her afterwards, or reasonably consider that maybe the supermodel with the super strict father might not be the best person to tutor her and he should ask for help from Max or Sabrina instead?

Each and every time, Lila is believed in the exact way she wants to the exact extent that would most benefit her with minimal effort on her part when it shouldn’t work that way. Even if we disregard how stupidly obvious many of her lies are, there is something wrong when they believe her enough to trust what she says over anyone else telling them otherwise but not enough to follow through on what that belief should then involve. They believe her when she says someone pushed her down the stairs but not enough to get her medical attention? Make sure she has no broken bones or internal bleeding? This has the issue of ruining the suspension of disbelief and making it look like the problem isn’t Lila being amazingly smart and evil so much as it is everyone around Lila being infuriatingly stupid and negligent.

Scarlet Lady nixes that problem in one episode by having Lila be revealed as a liar immediately, but furthermore follows up on it and the fallout of those lies. Nothing big or major or life-ruining—it’s middle school, after all. But the impact is still there.

Even episodes later, we see effects of Lila’s earlier lies. Chloe of course keeps referencing them in their encounters and yeah, it is reason for no one to really take Lila’s word against Scar’s—at least at first. Alya and Adrien both give her some pretty evil looking stares, showing that even five episodes later they both still very much remember what she did and do not approve of her getting free jewelry. Alya in particular stands out. She is shown to bear such a grudge against Lila for lying on her blog that she holds no sympathy for her being sick. And in the second intermission, she looks physically pained when she has to ask Lila for an interview on why she hates Scar. Something she had apparently sworn she would never do again after being fooled the first time. And something Lila looks completely overjoyed to do. There are people who are angry with Lila. They have every reason and every right to be. But it doesn’t have to mean the end of the world for her. It just means that there needs to be something.

The classmates don’t have to be made out to be stupid to make Lila work. They are canonically very kind and forgiving people. But canon makes them come off that way more because the lack of continuity seems to erase the lessons of previous episodes or somehow make them forget that certain people are horrible.

Zoe fixes this and a lot of problems in canon by having not just the classmates but EVERYONE in Paris remember and respond to things that have happened previously, even if just in little ways. Given how little room Zoe has to work with, this is HUGE. Simply adding comments here and there puts the scenes from canon in a new light and makes the classmates feel more fleshed out and like…dare I say it: PEOPLE.

The difference from Canon has a lot to do with how everyone else reacts to Lila, which makes these other characters and Lila appear more real and like fleshed out people rather than caricatures who only exist and move as the plot requires. They don’t have to bash Lila or try to light her on fire for it to be clear that Lila isn’t a good person and that there are consequences to her actions.

This is all leading up to the real possibility of…

6. Character arc?

It says something that contrary to most expectations, Lila is not what one would consider to be redeemed in Scarlet Lady. Lila is not a good person here just because she rejoins the class and becomes their friend and Zoe at no point tries to pretend that she is.

Marinette and other classmates made the choice to reach out and try to befriend Lila, but unlike most other arcs in other stories, this doesn’t result in Lila being redeemed. And she in no way got Lila to admit she was wrong and try to be a good person.

Lila is not necessarily forgiven or absolved of what she did. Nor is anything Lila did magically erased. All Marinette did and all she had to do was encourage Lila to not run away now that the truth was out. She helped convince her to return to the class with everyone fully knowing what she’s done and the type of person that she is and move forward with that. She informs Lila that despite her lies, there are people in the class who genuinely care about her and are worried about her.

Hell, it’s not even all up to Marinette. We see Alix sending messages to Lila encouraging her to join the class for Marinette’s birthday party. Sabrina fully admitted to inviting Lila to that party. Same with Rose, who has also been expressed to be worried about Lila. There are members of the class who are shown to care about her and who were noted to have made an effort to help Lila even after what had happened. Because they consider her a friend despite what she did, and that’s what friends do. All they asked was that Lila stop with the lies, stop with running away, and give people a chance.

And the result is the more mellow but passive aggressive Lila Rossi we see in Scarlet Lady. Not a Lila who is a good person or who is redeemed. This is a Lila who is at least honest with everyone about the sort of person that she is. She’s not pretending like she was in canon. She’s not being fake. She’s not putting on a mask of niceness anymore. This is a Lila who is fully acknowledged by everyone to have been a liar, to still be very selfish, and in some ways...a bad influence.

With a few episodes left, perhaps there is more we’ll see of Lila’s development and who she’ll become. Maybe we’ll get to see her take the steps to become better. To be a good friend, a good person, and maybe even a better hero than Scar. I don’t know for sure just yet what Zoe has planned for a character like Lila, but I do know what I see here:

A good start.

#ml analysis #scarlet lady #scarlet lady is better than canon #lila rossi #lila salt #for zoe #merry christmas

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immaturityofthomasastruc · 6 months

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When you really think about it, Chloe is just a version of Azula written by people who failed to understand what made Azula work as a character.

They are both malicious 14 year old girls that have a final swan song where they fight the heros for the last time and have a breakdown when they lose. They both have neglectful mothers (but like at complete opposites of the neglect spectrum) that they crave love from, and they both have "loving" fathers that shaped them into the horrible people that they are today.

However, the writers of ATLA understood that Azula is the way she is because of her circumstances; if her father wasn't abusive fire Hitler that encouraged the worst parts of Azula's personality, and if Ursa was able to have a better relationship with her daughter, then Azula would not have turned out the way she did.

Meanwhile, the writers of ML honestly think that Chloe is a bad person only because of her choices, despite writing the exact opposite. Chloe got her ideals of Rich superiority from her Father who raised her alone for most of her life, who is also shown to constantly abusing his political power in the early seasons, but the show dosen't point out that obvious connection beyond "he dosen't punish Chloe enough because he loves her too much UwU". Chloe's mother straight up dosen't care about Chloe and acts like a meaner version of her, but Chloe is the one the Narrative treats as the big threat that needs to be stopped? Andre gets rewarded with a new daughter despite being the reason why the old one turned out so bad??

Azula and Chloe are both cogs in the evil machine that realize they are unloved at the end of their stories, but while ATLA puts the blame on the machine, ML puts the blame on the cog and it's really weird because they laid the ground work for the evil machine!

Also, Zoe is like a dollar store version of Zuko I guess.

Here's another thing that made Azula work: Her progression as a villain felt more natural.

During Season 3 of Avatar: The Last Airbender, the show acknowledged how screwed up she was mentally. After losing Zuko, Mai, and Ty Lee and being made Fire Lord only for her father to crown himself Phoenix King, Azula's sanity gradually degraded, and it was played seriously. It was clear that as evil as she was, she has a lot of issues that make it hard to just write her off as beyond saving.

With Chloe, after the betrayal, the writers ramped up her evil moments while acting like she's always been this cruel. While you could argue these have been traits she's had since Season 1, there's no natural progression to her getting worse after she betrayed Ladybug.

#immaturity of thomas astruc #iota #miraculous ladybug #miraculous ladybug salt #chloe bourgeois #queen bee #queen b #not miraculous ladybug #avatar the last airbender

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ssturniolo · 7 months

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Mistake

𝔭𝔞𝔦𝔯𝔦𝔫𝔤 - Mattxfem!reader

𝔰𝔲𝔪𝔪𝔞𝔯𝔶 - after a mistake on the ice, Matt comforts reader, making sure she knows a mistake doesn’t identify he ability.

𝔴𝔞𝔯𝔫𝔦𝔫𝔤𝔰 - mentions of injury, swearing, i think that’s it?(not proofread)

𝔞/𝔫 - i accidentally wrote this in first person and I really don’t feel like changing it.

I take a deep breath as me and my partners names are announced. Interlocking hands, we skate to the middle of the rink getting into our starting positions.

This performance determines if we make it to nationals or not, and I’ve been dreaming of this since a very young age. This being such an important competition, also means our routines have grown increasingly more difficult, leading to challenging jumps and lifts.

We start gliding across the ice as our music plays, nailing every move, our bodies in sync. I smile as I land a triple axel, a move I’ve been working on perfecting for weeks.

I skate towards my partner slightly nervous for the lift we’re about to do. This was added into our routine last minute, only giving us two days to practice it which lowered my confidence in our success.

My partner lifts me into the air his grip tight. Until it’s not.

Shit, I’m going down.

Matt’s POV:

I watch in horror as y/ns partner loses his balance, sending her skidding across the ice.

It all happens so fast. Her slamming into the rinks wall, the med team rushing out to her, and me just standing here unable to do anything. I feels so helpless.

***mini time skip***

I knock on the medics door lightly, opening it when I hear a small ‘come in’ from y/n.

“Hey pretty girl, how’re you doing?” I ask, moving towards her slowly incase anything’s wrong. My heart breakes seeing her tear-stained face, puffy from crying.

“I blew it” she sniffles, covering her face with her hands.

“No you didn’t my love, it was a simple mistake and it doesn’t define your ability as a skater,” I reassure her before continuing. “Now, are you ok?” I ask again, this time more firm so she knows I’m being serious.

“Yeah, I don’t have a concussion, just a few bruises” she says, turning so I can see her bruise covered back.

“Oh my god” I whisper, tracing a finger around a large bruise, pulling back as she winces.

I’ll thank god every day that it wasn’t worse.

Y/n’s POV:

I can’t believe this happened on one of the most important competitions. Me and my partner have been working so hard for this, and now the poor guy is beating himself up for ‘ruining it for me’. I know it’s not completely his fault, but I need someone to blame right now so I don’t totally fall apart.

Turning back towards Matt, I wrap him in a hug, burying my face in his neck. I slightly sway us back and forth as Matt’s hands come to rest on my hips, careful not to hit any bruises.

“Thanks for being here Matt, you’ve made this horrible experience a little less horrible,” I say breathing in his comforting scent.

“I’ll always be here for you, no matter how you do, I’ll be here.”

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

I finally got a request done ✊

XOXO - Zoe

#fypage #sturniolo triplets #chris sturniolo #sturniolo fanfic #matt sturniolo #christopher sturniolo #nick sturniolo #imagine #matthew sturniolo x reader #matt sturniolo imagine #matt sturniolo x reader #matt sturniolo fanfiction #matthew sturniolo #matthew sturniolo imagine #ice skating #boyfriend #dating #zoe talks !#fypppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppp

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ecoamerica · 1 month

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youtube

Watch the 2024 American Climate Leadership Awards for High School Students now: https://youtu.be/5C-bb9PoRLc

The recording is now available on ecoAmerica's YouTube channel for viewers to be inspired by student climate leaders! Join Aishah-Nyeta Brown & Jerome Foster II and be inspired by student climate leaders as we recognize the High School Student finalists. Watch now to find out which student received the $25,000 grand prize and top recognition!

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umeoniii · 1 year

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Hii! I was thinking female reader x Hange Zoe smut! Maybe reader is jealous and upset with hange seeming so invested in Pieck (you know cuz she's the cart titan). Hange starts to notice reader acting upset which leads to comfort sex. I dunno something cute and smutty

jealous reader & hange

(｀_´)ゞ

you sat alone in the courtyard watching the sunset, picking at your food. steak rice and water, the same thing as usual. you sat and thought, what drove me here? sitting alone with nothing but anger bubbling in my chest?

usually you’d be sitting with hange, listening to her ramble while you ate and nodded. a shiver ran through your body as the warm summer breeze went through you, bringing a few small flower petals aside your foot. you listened to the nighttime cicadas coming to life.

you were jealous, jealous of your lover’s friend, pieck. you didn’t trust their relationship, you were fine with hange having friends, but pieck made you feel something else. possessiveness. you weren’t possessive, or at least you thought you weren’t.

it’s been quite a while since hange and peick have been friends. about 3 months to be exact, it’s been 3 months since you’ve watched from afar with jealousy. you knew it was horrible for you to be jealous and to not have trust in hange but you couldn’t help it.

pieck had something that you didn’t have and that’s what hange liked about her. you’d watch how her face would light up when talking to her. you couldn’t help but think what would you have to do for her to appreciate you more, because you weren’t gonna just let this pass by like absolutely nothing. you’d wake up earlier to have an early start on looking even better, maybe that would’ve gotten her attention.

you’d wear your hair different ways , try to wear more pleasant clothes, you had even tried a little bit of makeup. there were times you’d even try to appear more provocative around hange. shoving your tits in her face or getting on all fours to pick something up, hoping she’d stare at your ass. she noticed it and would compliment you, but not in the way you wanted her to.

you started to become more jealous and bitter over it. you always told yourself that if hange wanted pieck that she would’ve already left you, so you were safe. but you still couldn’t help but hate her.

you’d look in your mirror before bed, mumbling and laughing to yourself “she’s not better than me, i have a whole lot more than her. im so much more desirable.” you’d then put your silky pink night gown on and go to sleep. sometimes crying yourself to slumber because of how much it pissed you off.

one day things were different though. the first time you saw them get super close, and most certainly the last. hange got super close to her, pulling her into a tight hug, jumping up and down.

you walked up with a smile inquiring about why she and pieck were so close like that.

“ive been begging her for weeks to let me experiment on her and the titan and she finally gave in! well kinda…” she smiled cheekily

she genuinely sounded so happy about it, you weren’t though.

you scanned them up and down with your eyes before turning around walking away. your finger nails digging into the flesh of your palm, fist clenching from the pure abhorrence.

that night hange came into your room, sitting next to you while you were laying down. she saw you were wearing another one of those lacy night gowns she knew you loved a lot. this one hugged your curves just the right way, it was a v neck as well, she stared at your cleavage while you were lying down.

she rubbed the side of your upper thigh “hey honey.”

“im not in the mood, go back to work.” you sighed turning around towards the opposite way of hange.

she slid her hands under the silk fabric rubbing your ass, “just what do i have to do to get under those cute panties.” she whispered

“stop talking to her.” you responded bluntly

you can feel her shocked face burning holes into your back.

“you know i can’t do that, she’s very vital to my studies.”

“then get out. m’ not gonna ask you again.”

you felt the weight of the bed lessen as she respected your wish and got off your bed.

you heard the door open and close as she took her exit.

and everyday after that you gave hange more of a slight attitude.

“look at what i read about today, isn’t it weird?”

“yup.” you looked away

“i found this for you at the store, do you like it?”

“it’s great” you say, not paying attention at all to the conflicting colors on the dress.

she noticed the complete change in your demeanor and assumed it might’ve still been because of pieck, so she tested the theory.

“i found this at the store, do you think pieck would like it?”

you turned from your vanity to look at the dress, it was very revealing. it was cute a pink, frilly, skimpy little dress. it pissed you off that she wanted her to wear something so… revealing. and you knew that she knew the dress was something of your fondness and that’s exactly why she asked.

and her theory was proven correct , because after you took in the view of the dress you turned around and threw your lipstick at her.

“the fucks wrong with you!? i was so right, you do have something for her! you probably have weird little fantasies about having sex with her titan or some shit! you might as well fuck her with how you’ve been acting! get out!” you yelled.

“ y/n hun, it’s not like that, you know i love you more than titans or anything im interested in, i put you before anything.” she stood up looking at you.

“oh my god, get. out.” you pushed her through the door and slammed it.

you heard her voice muffled through the oak door, “you know what, stay in there and cry about it. im not working myself up with your crazy little delusions.” she walked off

you sat back on your bed, you didn’t want hange to be right but you felt your lip tremble as your nails digged into your thighs. tears ran down your cheek as you tried not to think too hard about it. once again, you cried yourself to sleep. all i’ve done is sat and been pretty for her, all for her to get mad at me.

you woke up to the rhythm of knocks on your door. your head turned and you sat up as you saw your door open, hange walked in with a expressionless face. she walked and sat on the bed next to you.

“you’re not seriously jealous of her though, are you? you don’t actually believe i’d ever leave you if i had the choice? you’re the only woman i want to be with. i wouldn’t chose another woman over you on even my darkest of days.” she said rubbing your thigh with her palm.

you sniffled as she wiped the tears off your cheeks.

“you’re better than that y/n, you’re so-”

“you seem to enjoy yourself more around her.” you scoffed

“well im sorry that i get excited about that kinda stuff, but you still know i love you.” she picked up your face, your doe eyes glimmering from the still wet tears inside of your eyes.

she brought your lips closer to hers.

“tell me though y/n, do you think the things that i do to you pieck will never get to experience?”

you shook your head

“that’s what i thought.” her soft lips drifted over the goosebumps on your neck before biting your neck, sucking on your supple skin.

you let out a soft yelp clawing at her clothed back.

she nipped and sucked at you skin undressing you slowly and whispering sweet praises into your ear.

“i’ll never love anyone else like this.” she said, her fingers drifting to your panties. you stifle your moan, pushing her hand away.

she looks up at you through her glasses, pulling you hand away forcefully and bringing your underwear down.

“god you’ve been such a brat y/n, im just trying to show you how much i really do appreciate and love you.” she whispered softly into your ear.

she opened you legs staring at your glistening cunt kissing and licking at you.

“you’re so beautiful.” she speaks in between laps, “i love you so much.” her tongue flicks against your hardened bud as she shook her head in between your thighs, gripping them as though she were holding onto a cliff in which she was hanging off of. her tongue slipped inside of your hole, licking at the ridges and wetness brewing deep inside of you.

“i want you to sit on my face baby.” she muffled inside of you, vibrations in your cunt causing you to whimper and squeeze her head with your thighs.

“huh?” you looked at her tears clouding your vision.

she unlatched her mouth from your pussy, “ i said i want you on my face.” she layed on your soft duvet laying her head back onto the pillow. you turned your body and sat onto hange’s face not giving her a chance to breathe.

she started lapping vigorously at your sweet cunt nibbling on your folds. then she went back to sucking on your hardened clit.

god, hange loved having you atop her face. she loved staring down your body, listening to your whines and whimpers as she gave you princess treatment.

you placed your hands onto her shoulders riding her face as her tongue stuffed you and her nose bumped against your clit. the friction was a lot, your brain even foggier from the pleasure. you couldn’t even remember why you were on top of hange practically screaming her name.

hange’s brown hair was in between your fingers while you whimpered her name “oh god hange fuck” you mewled looking at her looking up at you. she drifted her hands up your gown pinching at your nipples.

you gasped from the feeling, eyes shut tight. you felt her mumbling into your cunt, probably about how much she cherished you. you felt how her thumb started to rub your bud faster, and how her tongue got thrusted and rubbed faster. you felt yourself getting closer to your orgasm going faster. you looked down at hange who was looking up at you

“ m’ gonna cum han’ ” you whimpered gripping her hair tighter.

she gave you a a little nod setting you over edge as you came inside of her mouth. hange slurped up your cum, eating it like it was honey. you leaned forward catching your breath while hange slowly moved her face up from your cunt. she gasped for breath, “ i don’t love pieck like this, i would never eat her pussy and swallow her cum like i do you.” she kissed the inside of your thigh and the valley between your breasts.

“i… love… you too” you panted

her pretty lips pecked your cheeks, “ i won’t ever make you feel unappreciated again.” she layed her head in the crook of your neck.

a/n: i got a little bit carried away… i hope u love it though! sorry it took a lil bit long

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bigfatbreak · 1 year

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ask stolen from zoe-onesama Speaking of Émilie, do you think that she could have been a bad mother before her death, coma, or disappearance? Because, from what I've heard, Émilie had been dead, in a coma, or missing for about a year before the events of MLB, and if Adrien had been homeschooled for about most of his childhood, then that could indicate that his mother was aware of this and didn't do anything about it. Either Émilie was overprotective of Adrien and his wellbeing that she and her husband had to shelter him from the public, or that she was in a horrible situation with her husband from behind the scenes, ergo feeling powerless to do something about her son's sheltered life. There are so many things to imagine who Émilie was really like, but so far, we don't have enough substance to even care about her.

At the risk of spoiling how I'm characterizing Emelie in my AU,

I'm more leaning towards the idea that she was the first to be overprotective of Adrien. I think, initially, Gabriel didn't care as much about having a child as much as he did about pleasing his wife, that Emelie was the one who wanted Adrien more.

Because of this and because he's a sentimonster, I imagine Emelie wanted to closely monitor him and ensure he was developing as a normal child should, that nothing went wrong in his "creation." Being a mother AND a creator of a life form I imagine would spur on some really hard worries, and since we don't actually have an indication of what Gabriel was like beforehand, its more likely he didn't care what Emelie did with her new toy child, only that her wants were sated.

I think Emelie was overprotective to a worrying degree, but because she genuinely loved Adrien and since it came from a place of love, though it was unhealthy, I wouldn't instantly categorize it as abusive. She clearly gave him a lot of attention and put a lot of work into making sure he was educated, (we know this because after her death Adrien got desperate enough to start sneaking out and running away) and I think this habit only got worse as her illness settled in.

With how sick she got, I imagine she also ended up being at home more often than not, which meant... well, more time with Adrien. I don't think it occurred to her that, should she die, she should set up precautions to ensure Adrien eventually got that same love and attention after her death. I think she was more occupied with spending time with him in what time she had left, it really wasn't a thought that struck her, that maybe, just maybe, the guy who was married to her because he loved HER and was COMPLETELY AMBIVALENT ABOUT THEIR CHILD wouldn't care what happened to Adrien after his wife died.

The characterization I'm leaning on for my AU at least, is that Emelie wanted a child and Gabriel just wanted her happy. Because of this, after her passing, the realization that he never saw Adrien as human became abundantly clear. He instead saw Adrien as a product of his wife's work, which is the reason he never let him outside. I think if Gabriel had it his way, Adrien would sit on a shelf with his miraculous and his wife's Movie and their little mementos n' shit.

TDLR: I don't think Emelie was in an abusive relationship with Gabriel at all, but I don't think any of the dynamics at play were healthy. I don't think Gabriel EVER saw Adrien as his son, instead seeing him as a product of his wife - no different than if she had made a sweater or sculpted a statue. I think, initially, Emelie was overprotective of Adrien as a precaution to ensure that as a sentimonster, he 'grew up' healthy like any other child, and as her illness took her and she became more and more of a homebody, she leaned on his support and his presence as a comfort in her last days. I think if Emelie knew Gabriel had been so ambivalent about their son, she would've put a lot more work into ensuring Adrien got out eventually.

Maybe she did. Maybe, she made a will, and maybe Gabriel ignored it because he's so god damn proud.

Or maybe, she was hoping Nathalie would step in.

Then again maybe I'm totally wrong! Maybe Gabriel used to be really cool and they lived in this giant supermansion together and the guy just went ape shit after his wife died. I just think the weird leaps he's taking should be an indicator that something has always been VERY WRONG with Gabriel and maybe Emelie, too! I'm not talking abuse, I'm talking like...

ok so I've lost a lot of people in my life and I lost some important people at a very young age and that damaged me super fuckin' bad. you know what I DIDN'T daydream of? Putting their fucking corpses in like a deprivation tank and finding a way to bring them back to life.

WE DON'T KNOW IF GABRIEL KNEW THE MIRACULOUS COULD GRANT WISHES WHEN EMELIE DIED.

WE DON'T.

we know Gabe and Nathalie and Em like, went adventuring and shit! We know (or as far as I remember from the website) Nath found the peacock and butterfly miraculous, and that eventually Emelie used the peacock and that's what killed her.

We don't know... how much... Gabriel knew about the miraculous before that. Listen, if he knew that the cat and ladybug miraculous were capable of Doing That Shit (aka granting wishes if put together), wouldn't he have kickstarted his plans instantly into evil fuckery to try and find them instantly? I can't imagine a guy desperate enough to plonk his dead wife into a clear coffin would go on eBay listings trying to find them for a fuckin year.

What I'm getting at is that it seems like Gabe idolized Emelie or their relationship on some level, and that he defined himself by how he loved her. So when he LOST her, when he lost that column of his life, his real character was drawn out. Grief makes the worst of us yeah, but we have no clear indication that Gabriel KNEW there would be a method for bringing Emelie back when he hid her corpse under their mansion.

like that's some unhinged shit.

its ALSO some unhinged shit I don't think Gabriel would ever let Emelie know he was capable of while she was still alive, I think he valued her and her opinion and her happiness too much.

I just woke up so Ive gone clear past normal conversation and straight into ranting, but essentially I think Gabriel's weird shitty personality traits were sated by being married to someone he defined himself by, and that he was always capable of being an abusive fuckhat but would never show that in front of Em. I think he's never seen Adrien as more than a byproduct of Emelie and if Em knew he was going to do this insane shit, considering she was also unhinged enough to have a baby using a fukcking magic god bird brooch, she would've taken Adrien, maybe with Nathalie, and fucking DIPPED.

#replies #spoilers #oh my god this rant got so long im sorry citizens of ponyville

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johannestevans · 7 months

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So you finished Our Flag Means Death…

What show do you want to obsess over now?

Also read on Medium / / Read on Patreon.

So, Our Flag Means Death, unexpected workplace romcom chock-a-block with anachronistic 18th century fun, piracy on the high seas, gay and trans and otherwise genderweird and queer characters, not to mention neurodivergent and disabled ones, is over for at least another year. You’re aching for something of a similar flavour to fill the gap — especially if, like many of us, the finale has left you disappointed and eager to watch a show with a bit more care for its queer audiences.

Want recs?

After finishing Our Flag Means Death, I’m in the mood for…

Ed cradling Stede’s face in S1 of Our Flag Means Death. Via IMDb.

… more (relatively) light-hearted queer comedy!

The most obvious example I can start with is, of course, What We Do In The Shadows. While its fifth season was weak, its sixth season was in my opinion its best ever — a spin-off of the Taika Waititi-directed (and starring) mockumentary film of the same name, WWDITS is a fun-filled, ridiculous and deeply silly show starring a variety of incompetent and bumbling and blood-thirsty vampires and their various friends, enemies, and companions. It’s constantly and continuously queer, with the majority of the cast of characters being openly bisexual, and one of them being gay and having an emotive coming-out arc with his family.

Nandor (Kayvan Novak) and Guillermo de la Cruz (Harvey Guillén) in WWDITS. Via IDMb.

WWDITS follows the adventures of Guillermo de la Cruz, fat and gay and badass and so fucking pretty, the familiar to a vampire named Nandor the Relentless, a big himbo ex-warrior plagued by insecurity and ready to enter in power struggles with anybody from a fellow warrior to a household appliance, and the rest of Nandor’s household — Laszlo Cravensworth (once an English aristocrat, still a dandy, charming, slutty, and well-spoken — and often tinkering with experiments or DIY), Nadja of Antipaxos (once an impoverished member of a Mediterranean village, dramatic, intelligent, sharp-witted, and wry — and often getting involved in various misadventures), and Colin Robinson (an “emotional vampire” who feeds by boring those about him, dull, mundane, and painfully cringe at all times in the best of ways). As a mockumentary, its tone is silly and light-hearted, but it’s not without its emotional stakes, and there’s so many references to other pop culture vampires.

The BBC’s sitcom, Ghosts, is a great sitcom to go for if you’re in the mood for more of a neurodivergent found family vibe, with sumptuous costumes and a complex and intriguing cast who have a lot of wonderful moments with each other. The show follows Alison and Mike, who inherit a manor house and find when they start to refurbish it that it’s full to the brim with silly, ridiculous, and unrelentingly friendly — not to mention antagonistic — ghosts. Ghosts, like Our Flag Means Death claimed to be prior to its S2 finale, is a tremendously loving and kind show — it spends a lot of its time building up flawed characters and encouraging them to change and grow, giving you time as a viewer to love them.

See any familiar faces? Many of the Ghosts cast also appear in Horrible Histories. Via IMDb.

The show is not as continuously or constantly queer as WWDITS, but it does have elements of queerness dotted around the main cast, particularly in the character of the Captain, the ghost of a WW1 soldier who was never deployed abroad, but spent his time in service yearning for the intimate company of a fellow soldier.

Brendan Scannell and Zoe Levin in Bonding. Via IMDb.

Want something a little weirder, a little kookier? Crave a bit more of the BDSM flavouring around Our Flag, more whips, more leather, more latex, more kink? You might like to try Bonding — this show features a woman who begins moonlighting as a dominatrix and then employs her gay BFF as her assistant. It suffers from the tendency shows like this have to sideline Pete a bit as the gay BFF, with some of his characterisation being squandered to prop up the less interesting protagonist, but it’s really funny and honestly super heartfelt.

And if you want really weird, really kooky, and unabashedly and delightfully and wonderfully queer, there is always The Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo, which is a gorgeously funny and loving gay comedy that you can watch online!

Apart from those above, you might like to try Special (a sitcom exploring the romantic and sexual misadventures of a deeply selfish and flawed character a la Stede Bonnet, this one a young gay man with cerebral palsy), Schitt’s Creek (a sitcom about a posh family falling on hard times and featuring several queer characters, particularly the bisexual David Rose, played by Dan Levy), and Grace and Frankie (a show about two ageing women who are best friends, and whose husbands leave them to start a romance with one another).

… more of the stunning cast!

You’ve watched Our Flag Means Death and you’re craving more of the spectacular and incredibly skilled cast.

If you want more of Nathan Foad (Lucius Spriggs) particularly, you’re in luck — last year, Foad wrote and served as executive producer on a show loosely inspired by his early life as a weird boy growing up gay in Nottinghamshire, Newark, Newark. It’s very silly, funny, full to the brim with love, and also deeply silly and willing to get in touch with the cringe side of life. It’s only three episodes, but starring the unparalleled Morgana Robinson as the harried mother of Leslie, the closeted-but-not sixteen-year-old who is trying desperately to lead the tragic gay life he’s seen on TV, it really makes the most of that limited runtime, and it’s so fucking good. Nathan Foad even has a cameo in it as a freaky and overfamiliar employee at the bowling alley.

youtube

He has a cameo in another great show, too — Bloods is an incredible sitcom about two NHS paramedics working in an ambulance together. It’s rapid-paced, it’s messy, it’s horrible and hilarious, and it stars Jane Horrocks as Wendy across from Our Flag’s Samson Kayo (Oluwande) as Maleek. The two are chalk and cheese in the front seat of their ambulance together, and Kayo is so incredible in the lead role balancing Maleek’s own desire to appear as cool and tough whilst also being vulnerable and having his own insecurities, especially because Wendy challenges him on so many points. Wendy is great as well, the two an exercise in contrasts, but Kayo and Horrocks are spectacular among an equally spectacular cast — you get to see so many different dynamics at the depot and in other settings, amongst other NHS staff, and the show is non-stop with the punches and the punchlines. If you really enjoy how well-balanced and how fitting the soundtrack to Our Flag is, you’ll love the music and its pacing in Bloods. Foad’s cameo in this is as Wendy’s neurotic and kind of a fuck-up son, and he’s so messy.

If you want more of Joel Fry (Frenchie), he stars in the first few seasons of Plebs — this is a goofy comedy set in Ancient Rome, and it’s not dissimilar to The Inbetweeners in its tone and content. Some of the jokes are funny, sometimes. I don’t recommend it because it really gives Joel Fry his full acting chops — but he’s hot and he’s funny and he’s cute in this, and even if you’re not super passionate about the show, if you like Frenchie, you probably will like Stylax too.

Joel Fry and Con O’Neill (Izzy Hands) also both play characters in season 2 of Ordinary Lies, which is an anthology series, so you don’t need to watch season 1. The premise of the show each season is that the narrative jumps between characters in a workplace and explores the ramifications of the small lies they tell themselves and each other. While O’Neill’s role is a more typical set of lies that concerns adultery (or not), Fry’s involves vigilanteism and attempts at superheroism, and the plot is quite fun. This show is obviously a drama, and is tragically heterosexual on many points, but for all that, has its good and intriguing elements too.

But what about Con O’Neill doing what he’s good at — playing wet, pathetic men? Very wet, very pathetic men? In Happy Valley, O’Neill plays a gloriously wet and pathetic man named Neil Ackroyd, who enters into a relationship with the protagonist, Catherine Cawood’s, sister, Clare. Clare is an alcoholic in recovery, as is Neil, and they have a really sweet and mutually supportive relationship — Neil’s particularly gorgeous in the most recent series, where he really dotes on Catherine’s grandson, Ryan, and he and Clare play a great duo. Neil is introduced in the beginning of season 2.

The premise of the series is that Catherine Cawood, a police officer in Yorkshire, is attempting to solve crimes while at the same time her grandson, Ryan, is curious about and desires to make contact with his father, whom he has never met. Ryan’s mother was raped by his father and died by suicide after Ryan’s birth, whereon Catherine raised him alongside her sister. Happy Valley is a cop show, and Catherine Cawood is really funny as a character. She’s a deeply conservative and cruel, reactionary woman who constantly engages in police brutality whilst trampling over people’s rights — she believes that people are born evil and bad, effectively, and while she often talks about the effects poverty have on people’s outlooks, lifestyles, and actions, she can’t quite make that connection with her beliefs. As a cop show, it’s really interesting because it’s very pro-cop and tries to be on Catherine’s side for much of her crueller actions, but at the same time is so starkly blunt about the awful shit she does that it doesn’t exactly make you put faith in cops no matter the intent. Clare Cawood, and then Neil, are naturally far more critical of Catherine’s perspective.

But if you really loved Izzy at his best in S2, if you love Izzy full of love whilst also being precise and cold and calculated in the defence of his family, if you love him beautiful and wonderful and unabashedly queer, you’ll undoubtedly adore Val, who appears in Uncle as the transfem and gorgeous dad of Gwen. Uncle isn’t a great TV show, it’s an example of one of those shows where they give a deeply dull cishet white dude who feels insecure a show where he sort of masturbates about how much he sucks and how he’s unlovable, but really, isn’t it on the people around him to love him anyway?

But Val is great. She’s so much fun, she’s funny and sharp and full of quips, she’s flirtatious, she’s hot, and she has some tremendous gender stuff going on as well as some gorgeous costuming throughout. If you like Uncle’s humour, watch all the episodes — if you don’t, just skip everything that doesn’t have Val in it. Val is where the good stuff is.

Or don’t watch it at all, and just watch this scene pack on YouTube:

youtube

Taika Waititi appears far more in great movies than he does TV shows, although he’s also one of the producers on Reservation Dogs, which is excellent — it’s a native-led and starring comedy series, and it rocks. Most of the time when Waititi does TV, it’s in cameos.

Apart from the cameo he makes in the What We Do In The Shadows TV show, I mentioned in the sitcom section, Taika Waititi also appears in the Flight of the Conchords TV series, starring the band members of the band of the same name. Rhys Darby also appears in every episode as Jemaine and Bret’s fictional manager, Murray Hewitt, and Murray is such a fun, bizarre character — and with a wholly different facial hair situation than you might have imagined for him before.

Wholly different facial hair. Via IMDb.

… more sailors!

Pickings are slim for a good pirate show, or indeed, any good show with nautical flavours to it — scenes at sea are high budget and hard to shoot, and as was evident with much of Our Flag Means Death’s second season at the hands of HBO Max, many studios do not want to proffer the budget for such things.

Let’s start with the best of recommendations — a show that’s unapologetically queer, anti-imperialist, anti-establishment, and full to the absolute brim with pirates, historical and fictional. Interested in Mary Read, Anne Bonny, Calico Jack, Benjamin Hornigold, Israel Hands, or of course, the inimitable Edward ‘Blackbeard’ Teach, real historical pirates who are portrayed and played with in the course of Our Flag Means Death, and want to see a very different take on them? Enjoy lesbians constantly scheming to kill each other, torture each other, and generally make one another miserable (sexual)? Read Treasure Island, perhaps, and ever wonder what came before?

Not-Yet-Captain Flint (Toby Stephens) and Thomas Hamilton (Rupert Penry-Jones) in Black Sails. Via IMDb.

Black Sails has all of the above and more — while it is very queer and anti-establishment, I will say that it’s far more similar in tone to Game of Thrones than to OFMD. The comedy bits are hilarious in part because the stakes are so high, but Black Sails is firmly a drama, and a gritty, violent one at that. It lacks the escapism present in OFMD — there is constant and continuous sexual violence, brutal gore and brutality, racism, classism, deep misogyny and homophobia from the society around the characters. The characters on offer are varied and complex, flawed, and interesting, but your mileage may vary with how much you vibe with them.

Making use of some of Starz’ old set pieces for Black Sails, including some of their ships, the new One Piece live-action reboot — an adaptation of the anime of the same name (itself an adaptation of the manga) — is a fast-paced, fantastical, and colourful new release. If what you loved about Our Flag was its playful relationship with real-life piracy and chronistic details, its flexibility with “reality” and its eagerness to play around with tropes and expectations, with its creation of found family through a ragtag and varied mix of individuals. What it isn’t, unfortunately, is textually or explicitly queer, let alone as unabashedly queer as Our Flag and Black Sails are respectively.

HMS Terror and HMS Erebus sailing through the surface ice in The Terror. Via IMDb.

If you’d rather have queer sailors at any cost than having ones that aren’t explicitly queer, there is, of course, season 1 of The Terror. Based off of Dan Simmons’ magical horror reimagining of the real events of the lost ships in the Arctic, the HMS Terror and HMS Erebus, the first season of this anthology horror series is itself a deeply anti-imperial story following the events of two British ships that become stranded on the ice whilst attempting to discover the North-West Passage, and in so doing poison themselves and the land and people around them. Stuck in place in a cold and unfamiliar environment that does not have sufficient resources to sustain them — and in any case, an environment and resources that as invaders of, they do not know how to live in relationship with — they are hunted by an Inuit spirit, a representation of and manifestation of the imbalance they’ve caused by their mere presence.

The Terror has a few more explicitly gay dynamics in the book than in the TV show, but the show does feature an unstable, cannibalistic bastard of a man whose favourite hobbies are identity theft, violence, and emotional manipulation — and he’s gay. Representation win!

As you might imagine from that description, The Terror is not a cheerful, happy show — it’s deeply violence and very at home with hopelessness, but has some fascinating exploration of British imperialism, whiteness, class dynamics, queer men on ships, and chilling horror.

And it’s not a TV show, but I would be remiss if I did not mention and recommend Taika Waititi’s favourite romance movie — Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003, dir. Peter Weir). Based off of Patrick O’Brien’s long-running Aubreyad, starting with Master and Commander, this film is about Captain Jack Aubrey and his duet partner and best friend (wink wink) Stephen Maturin, the ship’s surgeon. It’s a gorgeous film and while of course not explicit, it’s pretty fucking gay — although unlike the other pieces I’ve mentioned, as Napoleonic-era fanfiction about British navymen, it’s not nearly as critical of British imperialism as one might like, with the majority of the criticism coming from Maturin, and might leave a poor taste in the mouth compared to pieces more critical of the British imperial evil.

… more queer period dramas and historical shows!

Anne Lister (Suranne Jones) contemplating her hat and gloves. Via IMDb.

Let’s start with a historical drama — Gentleman Jack, starring Suranne Jones, is set in the early 1800s and is an biographical look at the life of the cryptic diarist and all around delightfully butch lesbian dirtbag, Anne Lister. Apart from the obviously intriguing concept, the show has some sumptuous costuming and set designs, and there are so many different characters and dynamics throughout. I’m always a sucker for an epistolary piece, and as it’s based off of Lister’s diaries, this show has a lot of epistle work throughout.

If you’re a sucker for lesbians in period dramas, though, you might just like Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries — the eponymous Phryne Fisher is not the lesbian in question. She’s a flapper and private detective in 1920s Melbourne, complete with a little golden gun, and is very hetero — but her best friend, a doctor named Mac (short Elizabeth MacMillan), is gay, and she’s so much fun. Where Phryne is really high-energy and excitable, constantly jumping from idea to idea, Mac is a lot chiller and more smooth, and she’s so suave and so much fun. Miss Fisher is a fun show — alas, a cop show, but it’s a lot more light-hearted, and it does a lot of playful stuff with the period and particularly with costuming details and things like cars, weapons, and various inventions.

Getting dressed and leaving the boytoy still abed. Via IMDb.

If you’re open to a miniseries that’s a lot dirtier and nastier than much of the above, have I got the recommendation for you: A Very English Scandal. Starring a relatively innocent and easily manipulated Ben Whishaw across from the deliciously greasy and depraved Hugh Grant, this is a dramatisation of the Thorpe Affair — a political scandal in the UK in the late 1970s — and it’s so fun and so sexy. If whilst watching Our Flag you’ve been giggling and kicking your feet whenever the more fucked up shit goes on in intimate ways, you will almost certainly delight in this one.

… more of… something. Surprise me!

You might have heard of NBC’s Hannibal, which is a gay take on the dynamic between Hannibal Lecter and Will Graham, but the same creator, Bryan Fuller, also did Pushing Daisies, which is a gorgeous 2-season show that was cancelled long before it ought have been. It explores intimacy at a necessary distance, and has some wonderful queer themes throughout, and stars Lee Pace.

The new TV adaptation of Anne Rice’s books, Interview with the Vampire, is glorious — it’s openly and unabashedly gay, it’s so full to the brim with depth, and unlike other shows I can mention, it really doesn’t try to shy away from the cruelty of abuses in intimate relationships, or try to shift the blame for abuse entirely onto the back of the victim in a last-minute attempt to foster more sympathy for the abuser. Interview goes so deep into the loneliness and isolation of being separated from society’s mores and expectations, of how that isolation leaves you at much more risk of leverage and abuse by intimate partners, of the brittleness of found family under heavy pressure, and alongside all of that, like…

It’s a vampire show! It’s sexy! It’s full of blood and horror and misery and grief — the grief of being alive when you should be dead, and at the same time, being halfway dead when you seem to be alive. It’s funny and it’s dark and it’s just full to the brim with poetry, has some honestly gorgeous dialogue, and on top of all that, it’s well-paced, beautifully costumed, and tremendously shot and scored. Watch!

Looking for queer movies, as well as TV shows? I have a big rec list of gay movies here:

#musings #our flag means death #i'm gonna write about how shit the ofmd finale was and what a pisstake it was in the week #but in the meantime here #have this #watch a better fuckin show #Youtube

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avkima · 6 months

Text

~invisible strings:jamie flattersxreader~

Chapter 1

Summary: after Bailey drags Reider (reader) to meet Britain’s friends for a little hangout a quick bond is formed between her and Jamie. Doesn’t matter though, she’s so in the friend zone. P.S summary will change chapter to chapter as new info is given

tags:friend groups, Bailey Bass is your bff, Avatar cast, Sam and Zoe are your parents simply because they can be, fluff, friends to lovers, angst, love triangle if you squint, unrequited love but it’s really not, closed door smut. Stay tuned for some Easter eggs of secret characters and plot lines.

wc: 1.2k

tag list↯

@neteyams-wh0re

💌💌💌💌

truly don’t think I’ve lived before I found you.

But it was always meant to be

I never saw the world until I looked into your deep brown eyes.

You were there in the little things, but how had our paths never crossed?

I never felt alive until I felt your touch.

As a connected duet we preform this experience together.

I wish to dance with you forever.

For eternity—

Not just till death do us part.

-jamie flatters

* “Shall I compare the to a summers day?”

“I’m more of a fall to be honest”

——————

I really needed to get out of my dorm. Or at least that’s what Bailey had been telling me when she caught me talking to myself while folding laundry. She would barge in unannounced when she felt the need. Today I had been home alone all day so ranting to myself about horrible Professor Quaritch was inevitable.

“I was winning an argument—now I’m off track” I glance at her as she strolls in.

“Oh my apologies weirdo.” She sits down next to me and begins folding too, “Have you been in here all day? It looks spotless!”

My tiny 250 square foot dorm could be cleaned top to bottom in an hour if I was being a perfectionist about it—or I had neglected it that week. But I wasn’t about to go through my whole list of antisocial activities which only included an hour or two of actual school work.

“Yeah mostly, that and Gilmore Girls”

“You live like you have no friends”

I chuckled, “I live like an introvert who has been with her friends all week!”

She frowned.

Bailey was the most bubbly extrovert I’ve met. Most of the time she was very understanding of our opposing personalities but to be honest I think she saw I was more in the dumps than I was letting on.

“Come on, you need to get your mind off of Chris and have some fun tonight!” Bailey gets a twinkle in her eyes, a plan is forming as she pulls me off of the beige couch. “It’s party time!”

I groan “I’m all for a little get together but I don’t know if I’m party ready.” Bailey tugs on my arms back and forth to get me to dance with her.

“Britain invited some of his friends and the group to his apartment. It’s gonna be like so chill, I promise no more than like 7 people.”

I frown, mulling over how truthful that statement really was and how uncomfortable I would be if it truly was a party.

She notices I haven’t exactly been won over and back tracks. “I said party but I didn’t really mean party. It’s so casual and you know me, you know Britain, and you know Jack.” She meets my eyes for the selling point blinking her big green eyes “plenty of people to hide behind.”

I sigh. I hadn’t met any of Britain’s friends but I knew Bailey hangs with them too so they couldn’t be too bad. If anything I can just be introduced and then let Bailey and Jack do all the talking.

“Ok sure.”

“Yay! We can bring drinks, our wine is gonna go bad soon.”

>——————>

October In LA proved to be colder than I usually is. I regretted my sleeveless top but the jeans made up for it. With some chilled Merlot and some odd white claws or two in tow me and Bailey headed out to Britains apartment just off of 110 not far from campus. The smooth car ride in Bailey’s Camry proved useful for my mascara application. She had mentioned some of her boyfriend’s friends were single and encouraged me to at least get out of my sweat pants. I wasn’t getting my hopes up but I guess I was expecting something…maybe.

Britain’s apartment always smelled like something was cooking even when there was no food in the house. Tonight it smelled like burnt…toast?

Bailey scrunches her nose upon entering, “What did you burn?”. She asked Britain who opened the door for us.

“Popcorn.” He kisses her cheek and takes the drinks to the kitchen. “At least we have these” he tosses the bag of popcorn into the trash and takes some plastic cups out of the cabinet.

We set our bags down on the couch and look around at the seemingly empty apartment.

“Where are the boys?” Bailey asks, stepping closer to me. I know what she’s doing.

“Not sure actually,” he looks towards the hallway that led to his and his two roommates rooms. “Party’s here bros!”

My stomach flipped as a guy emerged from the hall, thankfully followed by Jack.

Jack greeted me with a smile and hug, “hey bro.”

The other guy he was with looked pretty friendly, a big smile on his face as he introduced himself. “Hey I’m Duane.”

“Reide.” I smile and shake his hand.

Britain calls out for ‘Filip and Jamie’ who we could hear laughing in one of the bedrooms down the hallway while we had been making our introductions.

One Filip and Jamie come walking down the hall—though I do not know which is which. They were still chuckling to each other from their conversation.

Bailey linked arms, probably trying to ground me with all these new people…new boys.

“So this is Jamie,” she gestures to the brunette with the sharper features who also seemed to be a few inches shorter than “and this is Filip.”

“this is Reider.” She finishes

“Everyone just calls me ‘Re or Reide.” I smile at them giving him my best attempt at confidence.

“Good to see you Reide.” Filip says he seems less chummy with me but this almost gives me more solidarity with him.

Jamie’s eyes catch my attention. They are blue or maybe hazel. The apartment lighting is still enough to see that he’s pretty. One of the hotter guys I’ve ever seen on campus.

“That’s a pretty name, ‘Reide.” He shakes my hand.

My flick wider and my cheeks grow hot.

He’s fucking British.

“Oh wow you have an accent.” Shove my hands in my back pocket, again posing myself as confident to make up for how frocking nervous I was to be talking to a cute boy.

“Yeah I’m from London.” His smile tells me he’s had this conversation a lot.

I panic a bit, not knowing whether he rather me just move on from his Britishness or if it would be rude to be so disinterested.

Bailey comes in to save me. “Well Britain burnt the single snack he had so is anyone up for a snack run?”

We all agreed the night would end in a movie and some games as we piled into Duane’s van.

He graciously offered to drive us to Walmart. Jack jumped in the passenger seat and immediately grabbed the auxcord.

The seating arrangement left me sitting in the middle of Jamie and Bailey. He smelled good though like cinnamon, vanilla and maybe pine. I hoped I smelled good, seeing as my body was so close to his. He was even cuter up close.

Jack started playing Get Him Back by Olivia Rodrigo and from there the chaos sprung. The boys belted the lyrics as if they had just been through some gut wrenching break up with their gaslighting boyfriend.

I giggled with Bailey, content. They seemed pretty cool but the night has just begun.

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darkcrowprincess · 4 months

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To all my followers about Percy Jackson fandom:

This is a Luke Castellan Apologist Blog

This is also an anti book Annabeth Chase blog.

Also anti Percabeth blog.

I can ship whatever I want if no one likes it, let's agree to disagree. Or just block me. That works too.

5. I actually like the first movie and think it's good. Am I bias because it's what got me to read the books? Probably.

6. The Gods in the books (accept for Hades, Artemis, Hestia, I'm undecided about Poseidon) can all go fuck themselves. Because you guys are horrible and I wish Luke did destroy all of you.

7. Percy is hilarious, but I'm also protective of him. Like let this boy rest. He deserves blue food and a normal life( and a not so abusive girlfriend).

8. I'm also protective of Nico. But he's so badass at the same time. My gay emo gremlin.

9. I would honestly join the Hunter's of Artemis. I hate that I'm too old for them and love romance too much. But they were my favorite part of Titians Curse.

10. Rachel is basically me. I just love her so much. She deserves more love!

11. Zoe, Bianca, Selena, and Luke's deaths still hurt so fucking much.

12. I've only read the Percy Jackson books and the first Hoo book lost hero, but got bored so I didn't finish. I know most of the spoilers of some of the later books. Still this renew interest of Fandom makes me want to re read books 3, 4 and 5.

13. The show is ok. Some things I like some things I don't. I just wish it had more humor. More Percy humor.

14. Again Artemis and Zoe are soooo badass. I love them. I get the hate on men. Especially considering today's world. Don't want to be a woman who hates men. But god do I get it soooo fucking much. Do I relate to it. Only good men are fictional ones.

15. I too like Zoe would lay down my life for Lady Artemis and would happily become stars/a constellation. Like Zoe is so relatable to me.

(Don't like don't read. Post hate and I'll block you)

#my thoughts #percy jackson #Artemis #luke castellan defender #Luke Castellan apologist #percico #pernico #lukercy #perluke #perachel #Fuck the gods #otp:don't pretend that you don't want me🌊👻

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mommypieck · 2 years

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༺ ♱ ༻ kinktober day four: missionary/breath play

✿ hange zoe

✿ tutor hange fucks dumb bimbo girl instead of studying

your head rests in your hand as you listen to your biology teacher rambling about your test mark. it's not the first time u failed your test and you're pretty much failing. when you decided to study medicine, you did it just because u wanted to be rich, you sure as hell weren't expecting most of your curses to be either about biology or science.

other people would call you picnic short of a sandwich but u just want to have money so you can buy pretty skirts and dresses. every since you were little, you loved makeup and fashion more than anything. and when you entered high school some started calling you bimbo or the dumb pretty girl.

you never cared much about it though. everyone has their title in school and you just happened to have this one. at least im not a geek or a weirdo, you thought to yourself. the thought of someone calling you a weird girl instead of a pretty girl makes you wanna puke.

"so y/n, as it seems like you are getting nowehere by yourself. im gonna assist hange to help you out with your school work." the teacher says and folds her hands on the desk as if she accomplished something. you can't help but to chuckle at that move.

"right ms. __. it's a pleasure to help others with what i love the most." you hear other voice say from behind you. you turned around to be met with a tall person with glasses.

oh god, a nerd, you think to yourself.

you turn around to face the teacher, regretting that you didn't wear a shorter skirt today. sometimes even women can't resist when you wear your short skirts. not like you would do something with a girl, that happened only one or twice... or it happens every thursday with your friend in the bathroom stall.

"ehm ehm," the person behind you clears their voice, "my name is hange. im gonna be tutoring you. nice to meet you."

you want to protest that you've never asked for tutoring, but the person is already shaking your hand with their sweaty one.

oh god, how am i gonna survive this? the thought makes you wanna pout and beg the teacher to assign someone different.

"hey, im here." the person says again to catch your attention. you take a good look at them for the first time. their hair is super greasy that you wouldn't be surprised if you could fry something on it during hot weather. their glasses fell down on the bridge of their nose. their clothes are dirty with all sorts of paint and they smell horribly.

"great." you mumble out, preparing to die if you spend more seconds with them.

"great!" they yell out with excitement, "my car is parked outside. so we can drive to my apartment." you can promise that you have never seen more excited person to be tutoring someone.

you follow them like a lost puppy already dealt with the whole situation. they are much more steps in front of you, almost jumping with every step.

they stop in front of their car and you can't help but to note that their car is really nice. it's almost as dirty as they are, but it's the latest model. (you learned some stuff about cars from the boys you hooked up with)

your face jumps in surprise when they open the door for you to jump it, firstly dusting the seat for you to sit in. it's a small gesture but it catches your eyes. they sit next to you, turning to face you. they give you one quick wink before they start the engine.

"oh come on, y/n," they say for the hundred time this afternoon, "it's a simple question."

they groan into the pillow they are holding, rolling over on their bed.

you found out hange isn't the worst case you could've met with. sure, they are messy and spell, and their apartment is more of a dungeon than an apartment, but surprisingly, the change of environment makes you excited.

"i don't know." you whine out in bored voice. for the past few minutes you were more interested on how hanges nose looks rideable than on biology. of course you don't find hange attractive, but the way, they scrunch their eyebrows together every time you get the answer wrong, is just... yummy.

you move in your seat, rubbing your thighs together. i wanna play, you think to yourself.

"tell me, hange," you start of with your little game, "are you a virgin?"

you notice the way they freeze, eyes traveling from the book to your face. bingo. they clear their voice before they speak up, "no, i am not a virgin."

your mouth fell open at their response. you expected them to be one, pointing at how they dress or act. a tiny part of you likes this answer even more.

you move to sit even closer to them, one of your hands tangling under hanges and the second resting on their thigh. you let your head to fall on their shoulder as you look them straight in the eyes.

"how experienced are you?" you ask, tracing little hearts with your fingers on their arm. they look down to see what you are going before answering, "enough to make you cry."

their voice is deeper than before and you can feel their eyes scanning your every more. you start to be a little nervous, every gaze they give you burning your body.

you shakily move your hand to rest on top of their bulge. you can't help but to flutter your eyelashes at them, afraid they might back off now.

"that's it." they say, but it ends up sounding more like a moan. you yell out when their drag you by your legs to the center of the bed. you want to say something, but your mouth is already occupied by hanges lips. they lick into your mouth, kissing you like their life depended on it. the kiss is messy and wet and you can feel the spit running down your chin, but you seriously don't care. you aren't used to people acting like this with you, everyone else has always treated you like a fragile flower, but their is what you were missing.

hanges lips move down to your neck, licking and sucking on it, marking you up. when their lips meet the swell of your breats, they rip your white skirt apart, leaving your just in your bra.

they stop for a moment to smile at you, clearly enjoying the view in front of them.

before you can plead them to continue, their hands are on your breasts, massaging and pinching the skin. they hold the cups and with one swift moment, they rip it off too. their mouth is on your nipple the next second. they take their time licking and sucking on it, sometimes even biting it and making you yelp.

while one of their hands is busy fondling your tit, the other slithers down to your panties.

"no hange, not the skirt." you plead, afraid that they might rip the skirt too. they chuckle against your nipple, sending vibration down to your core.

"i would never rip that skirt." they say and you can feel them ripping off your panties. the waste no time with pleasing you, their fingers dancing on your clit, making you whine out like never before. you can feel that they know what they are doing and what you need, as if they knew your body their whole life. their lips touch your cheek again, giving you a sweet kiss.

"i don't waste time with preparing dumb girls. they are loose enough for me to wreck them." they whisper in your ear. you hear their belt rumbling and their hot cock is at your opening the next second, already slowly pushing in. you know that it's no use to plead them to slow down. their tip roughly entering you as they force their entire cock into your small hole. your back arches of the bed, tits bouncing with the force. a loud moan followed by "take it" rips out of hanges throat, making you moan out too. they set slow but rough pace, their thrusts meeting your cervix everytime.

your eyes screw shut as their thrusts get faster in pace.

"hurts," you whine out, looking at hange, your tongue falling out of your mouth. they smile at your reaction, going even faster than before. you can feel your orgasm building up in your core with every move of their hips. suddenly their hands are at your throat, squeezing and stopping all oxygen from your lungs.

"take it, take it, take it," they repeat with every thrust, their orgasm slowly building up too.

your vision goes blank as you cum all over hanges sheets. you have never cum so much in your entire life. they follow you shortly after, shooting their seed on your bully and tits.

you breathe out as you lay on their bed, looking at them. they stand up saying, "come on, dummy, now let's study, so i can fuck you again later."

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starless-nightz · 18 days

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X. FUCK PERCY JACKSON AND A STUPID BIG CAT

| MASTERLIST | WATTPAD |

Carmillas POV:

We were curently walking around a museum, I dont even remember why we are here or what the museum is called, I wasnt really paying attention.

Suddenly someone bumped into Thalia, knocking her into an Apollo space capsule. Grover yelped in surprise while mom, Bianca and I took out our bows and aimed at the persons chest.

I groand when I realised who it was, fucking Percy Jackson, the entitled son of Poseidon who acted like a baby cause he wasnt picked for the quest.

"You! How dare you show thy face here?" mom glared at him, still not moving her bow, unlike Bianca who lowerd it the moment she realised its Percy.

"Percy!" Grover said. "Thank goodness." both mom and i glared at him, causing him to blush. "I mean, um, gosh. You're not supposed to be here!"

"Luke," he said, trying to catch my breath. "He's here."

The anger in Thalia's eyes immediately melted. She put her hand on her silver bracelet, shes honestly a dumb bitch. "Where?"

He told them about the Natural History Museum, Dr. Thorn, Luke, and the General.

"The General is here?" mom looked stunned. "That is impossible! You lie."

"Why would I lie? Look, there's no time. Skeleton warriors-"

"What?" both i and Thalia demanded. "How many?" He asked, lowering my bow.

"Twelve," he said. "And that's not all. That guy, the General, he said he was sending something, a 'playmate,' to distract you over here. A monster." Thalia and Grover exchanged looks before looking back at him.

"We were following Artemis's trail," Grover explained. "I was pretty sure it led here. Some powerful monster scent... She must've stopped here looking for the mystery monster. But we haven't found anything yet."

"Zoe," Bianca said nervously, looking up at mom, "if it is the General-"

"It cannot be!" Zoe snapped. "Percy must have seen an Iris-message or some other illusion."

"Illusions don't crack marble floors," he told her. Mom took a deep breath, trying to calm herself.

"If Percy is telling the truth about the skeleton warriors," she said, "we have no time to argue. They are the worst, the most horrible... We must leave now."

"Good idea," he said, poor naive Percy, he isnt part of this quest.

"Are you dumb?" i asked. "You are not part of this quest, you are not includet."

"Hey, I'm trying to save your lives!"

"You shouldn't have come, Percy," Thalia said grimly. "But you're here now. Come on. Let's get back to the van."

"That is not thy decision!" mom snapped.

Thalia scowled at her. "You're not the boss here, Zoe. I don't care how old you are! You're still a conceited little brat!"

"You never had any wisdom when it came to boys," Zoe growled. "You never could leave them behind!"

Thalia looked like she was about to hit mom, but then everyone froze, I heard a growl so loud I thought one of the rocket engines was starting up.

Something enormous bounded up the ramp. It was the size of a pick-up truck, with silver claws and golden glittering fur. I'd seen this monster before, one time when I was a lot younger, but back then I wasnt allowed close to the hunts.

"The Nemean Lion," i said. "Don't move."

The lion roared so loud it parted my hair. Its fangs gleamed like stainless steel.

"Separate on my mark," mom said. "Try to keep it distracted."

"Until when?" Grover asked.

"Until I think of a way to kill it. Go!"

I rolled over to the right. Arrows whistled past me, and Grover played a sharp tweet-tweet cadence on his reed pipes. I turned and saw mom and Bianca climbing the Apollo capsule.

They were firing arrows, one after another, all shattering harmlessly against the lions metallic fur. The lion swiped the capsule and tipped it on its side, spilling the Hunters off the back.

I quickly moved to the Apollo capsule, Bianca helping me up there. I took out my bow and arrows, ready to shoot at the lion monster.

Grover played a frantic, horrible tune, and the lion turned toward him, but Thalia stepped into its path, holding up Aegis, and the lion recoiled. "ROOOAAAR!"

"Hi-yah!" Thalia said. "Back!"

The lion growled and clawed the air, but it retreated as if the shield were a blazing fire. The lion crouched, its leg muscles tensing, ready to pounce.

"Hey!" Percy yelled charging at the beast. He slashed with his sword, a good strike to the flank that should've cut the monster into Meow Mix, but the blade just clanged against its fur in a burst of sparks.

The lion raked him with its claws, ripping off a chunk of his coat. He backed against the railing. He turned around and jumped.

He landed on the wing of an old-fashioned silver airplane, which pitched and almost spilled him to the floor, three stories below.

I continued shooting the arrows, an arrow whizzed past his head. The lion jumped onto the aircraft, and the cords holding the plane began to groan.

The lion swiped at him, and Percy dropped onto the next exhibit, a weird-looking spacecraft with blades like a helicopter.

"Zoe! Carmilla!" he called out to us. "Target the mouth!"

The monster lunged. An arrow zipped past it, missing completely, and Percy dropped from the spaceship onto the top of a floor exhibit, a huge model of the earth. He slid down Russia and dropped off the equator.

The Nemean Lion growled and steadied itself on the spacecraft, but its weight was too much. One of the cords snapped. As the display swung down like a pendulum, the lion leaped off onto the model earth's North Pole.

"Grover!" He yelled. "Clear the area!"

Groups of kids were running around screaming. Grover tried to corral them away from the monster just as the other cord on the spaceship snapped and the exhibit crashed to the floor.

Thalia dropped off the second-floor railing and landed across from me, on the other side of the globe. The lion regarded us both, trying to decide which of us to kill first.

Mom, Bianca and i were above them, bows ready, but they kept having to move around to get a good angle.

"No clear shot!" He yelled. "Get it to open its mouth more!" The lion snarled from the top of the globe.

"Thalia," Percy said, "keep it occupied." She nodded grimly.

"Hi-yah!" She pointed her spear and a spidery arc of blue electricity shot out, zapping the lion in the tail.

The lion turned and pounced. Thalia rolled out of its way, holding up Aegis to keep the monster at bay, and he ran for the gift shop.

"This is no time for souvenirs, boy!" Mom yelled, but Percy dashed into the shop.

Mom, Bianca and i were still showering arrows on the monster, but it was no good.

The lion seemed to know better than to open its mouth too much. It snapped at Thalia, slashing with its claws. It even kept its eyes narrowed to tiny slits.

Thalia jabbed at the monster and backed up. The lion pressed her.

"Percy," she called, "whatever you're going to do-"

The lion roared and swatted her like a cat toy, sending her flying into the side of a Titan rocket. Her head hit the metal and she slid to the floor.

"Hey!" Percy yelled at the lion. He was too far away to strike, he hurled Riptide like a throwing knife. It bounced off the lion's side, but that was enough to get the monster's attention. It turned toward him and snarled.

Percy charged, and as the lion leaped to intercept him, he chunked a space food pouch into its maw-a chunk of cellophane-wrapped, freeze-dried strawberry parfait. The lion's eyes got wide and it gagged like a cat with a hairball.

"Zoe, get ready!" He yelled.

Percy scrambled away from the lion. It managed to choke down the space food packet and looked at him with pure hate.

"Snack time!" Percy yelled.

It made the mistake of roaring at him, and Percy got an ice-cream sandwich in its throat.

Before the lion could stop gagging, Percy shot in two more flavors of ice cream and a freeze-dried spaghetti dinner.

The lion's eyes bugged. It opened its mouth wide and reared up on itsback paws, trying to get away from him.

"Now!" Percy yelled.

Immediately, we all shot, the arrows pierced the lion's maw-two, four, six. The lion thrashed wildly, turned, and fell backward. And then it was still.

One of my arrows managed to hit his tooth, causing it to break. Finally! I always wanted a lion tooth.

Alarms wailed throughout the museum. People were flocking to the exits. Security guards were running around in a panic with no idea what was going on.

Grover knelt at Thalia's side and helped her up. She seemed okay, just a little dazed.

Mom and Bianca dropped from the balcony and landed next to Percy.

Mom eyed him cautiously. "That was... an interesting strategy."

"Hey, it worked." She didn't argue.

"Barely." I whispered, scoffing and crossing my arms. He wasted so much ice cream and we wasted so much arrows.

The lion seemed to be melting, the way dead monsters do sometimes, until there was nothing left but its glittering fur coat, and even that seemed to be shrinking to the size of a normal lion's pelt.

"Take it," mom told him.

Percy stared at her. "What, the lion's fur? Isn't that, like, an animal rights violation or something?"

"It is a spoil of war," i told him as i picked up the broken tooth, glaring at him. "It is rightfully yours since your plan helped defeat him."

"But you killed it," Percy said.

Mom shook her head, almost smiling. "I think thy ice-cream sandwich did that. Fair is fair, Percy Jackson. Take the fur."

"Not exactly my style," he murmured. "Its not as cool as a tooth!" he said pointing at the lion tooth in my hands. I rolled my eyes before going to Bianca.

"Look Bi! My first ever lion tooth!" I giggled like a child as I proudly showed her the tooth. Bianca only smiled and nodded, giggling slightly.

"We have to get out of here," Grover said. "The security guards won't stay confused for long."

I noticed for the first time how strange it was that the guards hadn't rushed forward to arrest us.

They were scrambling in all directions except ours, like they were madly searching for something. A few were running into the walls or each other.

"You did that?" Percy asked Grover. He nodded, looking a little embarrassed. "A minor confusion song. I played some Barry Manilow. It works every time. But it'll only last a few seconds."

"The security guards are not our biggest worry," mom said. "Look."

Through the glass walls of the museum, I could see a group of men walking across the lawn. Gray men in gray camouflage outfits. They were too far away for us to see their eyes, but I could feel their gaze aimed straight at me and Percy.

"Go," Percy said. "They'll be hunting me. I'll distract them."

"No," mom said. "We go together." he stared at her.

"But, you said-" he started but mom cut him off, "You are part of this quest now," mom said grudgingly. "I do not like it, but there is no changing fate. You are the sixth quest member. And we are not leaving anyone behind."

#pjo x oc #pjo x reader #pjo oc #pjo #percy jackson and the olympians x reader #percy jackson x reader #percy jacskon and the olympians #percy jackson #nico di angelo x reader #nico di angelo #bianca di angelo x reader #bianca di angelo

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