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#Plot twist: They aren't getting married
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The third happiest man in Midgard
Have you ever seen that comic ‘the third happiest man in Connecticut?’ Well, I like that comic...
...I also redrew the last image from it:
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alottiegoingon · 12 days
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hc! married life
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lucy maclean x fem!reader
summary: meeting lucy + being married to her
warnings: lucy is a dork, established relationship, its 2296-2300ish, it takes place after fallout finale and things get better after it, nothing but fluff and a married couple doing cute shit, no nsfw but mentions of it, quick cannibalism mentions (uh…), wasteland and life outside the vault brief mentions, reader wasn't born in the vault, not proofread, silly plot
when you first met lucy, you found her in the old antique store. you were talking to the not so nice lady that owned the place when you saw her step inside with an inquisitive gaze, observing a bunch of what it looked like junk to you. it was almost hilarious seeing a young woman wearing that goofy ass blue and yellow jumpsuit.
you were leaning against the wall in the corner, listening to all of her chattering about vault-tec. it sounded like nothing but utterly tedious
"it would be safe to assume that you do business with criminals. not judging you. don’t imagine there’s that many other options up here." blissfully unaware of the death stare coming from that lady, she boldly muttered and it immediately made you step out of the corner you were hiding in to save her
"she doesn't mean that! she's new here, sorry." you jump in, forced to intervene, touching lucy's shoulder and giving them a light squeeze. she furrowed her brows in response with your disapproving glance. “wha- who are you? i was just talking about the equipments!”
pulling her away from the place, you hear the hoarse voice behind you saying "fucking vault dweellers."
it didn't take longer than a day for you two to be friends. sharing stupid stories from her vault, fun facts, and learning about each other's life and family was one of the things that you bonded over
while you two were outside once, walking together by the wrecked lanes of what los angeles used to be, and lucy began to talk about her life in the vault and you were more than impressed and in disbelief of how naive vault dweellers could be
"wait, what do you mean?" your face twists at the second you heard lucy saying that the guy she married was an outsider that was responsible for killing half of her vault. "how can you married someone you've never met?"
"well, you see, when you marry someone from another vault, usually it comes with benefits! we gave them seeds and parts for machinery and they offered us a breeder!" lucy explains it all like the good teacher she is, assertively nodding with shoulders back
you forced yourself to repress a laugh by looking the other way, and she immediately noticed and questioned you incredulously but you knew her too well already to notice that she wasn't mad. "what is it?!"
"you people marry strangers for seeds and to have kids? that sounds... miserable. what if they are awful people or outsiders like that guy?"
"okay, when you say it like that..." she loses her shoulders, brushing her confidence away, gulping and chuckling awkwardly. "but you are an outsider. and you aren't that bad."
"careful there. it makes you sound like you are very found of the outsider here, lucy maclean." you stare back at her and see a tender smirk peeking onto her lips. her body slightly leaning against yours, and a soft gaze that swiftly averted when you caught her. she didn't deny it though, you thought
it took her one kiss to invite you to live with her after your mission was done and you gladly accepted.
the invitation was up even after all the truth about her dad. after all the traumatic experience, on the way to your new home, you never left her alone not even for a second. you were always holding hands, sharing glances, leaning against each other and making her giggle as you were losing the track of how many times you kissed her face
in the vault, after everything was settled, you had all the time in the world to take care of her and learn about each other. you would spend hours running your fingers through her hair, listening to whatever she said and playing with her fingers while holding her hand. you would let her talk about all the memories with her family and carefully laugh along or comfort her when needed
you knew that you couldn't erase her bad memories from what had happened but you could create new ones and you focused on that
it was about time when she proposed to you, stuttering, crying and using a bunch of silly expressions like "holy moly" or "jeepers creepers"??!
don't get me started on the honeymoon. yes, you were living in a giant metal capsule but you could swear that as soon as you left the room after days, you were able to breathe fresh air.
lucy wasn’t exactly the easiest person to appease. especially not after finally seeing through the entire “breed” thing that everyone in the vault worshipped so much and experiencing what actually love could be. turns out that sex isn’t something people do just to have kids and “recolonize” the earth, after all
strongly believe that she would be such a loud and whiny girl when you touch her. even the slightest graze would make her legs tremble and she would go like 🥺
"wanna cook together?" "wanna go gardening?" "wanna watch a movie?" "hi, princess, wanna read something together?" "teach me your repair skills?" and her answer would always be "okey dokey" and a huge smile
your favorite part about gardening was to plant food and use it for dinner as you cooked together. and by that, it meant that you would cook while she was happily seating following you around with a cooking book giving you orders like a princess
in other times, you were proud to distract her on purpose by hugging her waist from behind, whispering sweet nothings into her ear. reasonable to assume that the entire room would smell like smoke as she cried at the sight of you on her knees and between her legs, eating her out
when it came to help around the vault, you were a great teacher along with your wife, making sure that all the facts were correct but in a less traumatizing way in order to not scare all the kids with “yeah, so basically all my family got killed by explosions but, hey, i’m here now!”
after a long day, watching movies was your favorite thing to do. one night, when discussing all the different genres of movies that lucy had never seen, you mentioned a specific one
“you know, my grandma used to tell me about this really weird show from the 2020’s where some creepy teenage girls ate each other after crashing into the wilderness.” and lucy’s face goes pale, looking like 😦
“golly gee… i hate it up there.”
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meggtheegg · 6 months
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FNAF Movie Theory...
I'm pretty sure there's still one major plot twist in the universe of the movie that's been set up for a sequel but hasn't actually happened yet. Heavy spoilers under the cut:
After watching the movie in theaters and then revisiting a few scenes on Peacock, I'm still kind of convinced that Mike Schmidt is Michael Afton.
Here's my reasoning. A lot of the characters spend time acting like they know something the audience/other characters don't, and those things are...mostly resolved. But some of them just...kind of aren't.
The main thing that sticks out to me is William's whole storyline. Starting with the scene where he offers Mike the job, his behavior is almost explained by the movie's logic. He sees Mike's name, seems...kind of deeply upset, looks at him very closely, stands to get coffee, and has a moment of visible internal conflict. Then he instantly offers him the Freddy's job. The way the movie frames this, it seems to be saying that he recognized the name of one of his victims, realized this was the kid's brother, and decided to kill him right then and there. Which is passable as an explanation, but it has a lot of holes, if you look deeper.
Why would William so instantly recognize a fairly common last name as the brother of some kid he killed that wasn't even anywhere near Freddy's? Why did he kidnap/kill Garrett in the first place, in some random forest in Nebraska? Why did he see the name on the file, then immediately stop and examine Mike's face so closely, when Mike's memories/dreams pretty clearly show that they never saw each others' faces when Garrett was taken? Why did he send Vanessa to "keep Mike in the dark" if he purposely gave him the job to get him killed? Why not have the animatronics kill him right away? He didn't know that Mike was searching for the man who took his brother, and while he could have maybe guessed he was still actively haunted by what happened based on Mike beating up a guy that he thought was kidnapping someone, it still feels like a weird choice to go and hire him, then just have him do the job with no issue for a few days.
As for Vanessa, we see that she's been cleaning up William's messes for years. Why is Mike the one she changes her mind and stands up to her father for? There's no implied romance between the two and no particularly meaningful connection beyond them both having family issues. I guess she cares about Abby because she's a kid, but kids getting hurt clearly never stopped her from helping her father before.
And, on a more meta level, this is Scott and his storytelling style we're talking about. The man puts plot twists inside of plot twists and everything always ties back into the Aftons, somehow.
So, here's my theory: I think that Mike is William's kid, but Mike's mom left Afton when he was young and remarried the man that Mike thinks is his father.
It seems convoluted and maybe cliche, but if it's true, then suddenly there's an answer to all of those questions. "Michael Schmidt" isn't exactly an eye-catching name, unless you had a kid named Michael and your ex-wife married a guy with the last name Schmidt. Garrett's kidnapping, then, becomes an act of intentional, petty revenge rather than an extremely random coincidence. Giving Mike the job and sending in Vanessa suddenly becomes about piecing together how much he knows and figuring out if he's worth trying to reconnect with or is just a threat that needs to be killed. (It feels worth noting that William is as far as I can remember the only person to call him Michael in the whole film. He also very pointedly never says "Schmidt" until he's decided to kill Mike and suddenly announces his full name out loud. If he went by Michael as a little kid, that is what William would default to calling him, but if he took the new husband's last name, that would be like like salt in the wound that he wouldn't want to voice. By finally saying it out loud, it feels like he's making the decision to fully separate himself from Mike.)
As for Vanessa, if Mike is her brother, it makes sense that he would be the person she'd turn against William to save. It would be weird for her not to tell him, but she could also be trying to protect him, in some way. There's never any mention of her mother, and it seems like it's just been her and William for a long time. Also, ending the movie with her in a coma feels like a strange narrative choice, but it makes sense if she knows information that's purposely being kept hidden for the sequel.
Of course, it could just be that the movie has kind of messy writing and I'm trying to fix it because I want there to be a deeper reason for it. Maybe there is no Michael Afton in the movies, or maybe he's off chilling and doing his own thing somewhere and we'll see him in the sequel. Only time will tell.
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checkoutmybookshelf · 11 months
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The Quartet That Started It All
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As followers of this blog will note, this is not actually the quartet that started it all for me, but it DID launch author Tamora Pierce's career in the 1980s, and Alanna remains absolutely beloved among Pierce's heroines. Let's talk the Song of the Lioness Quartet.
In a classic case of "if I can't do this as a girl, then I'll do this as a boy and I have a handy twin brother to go full Twelfth Night with," Alanna of Trebond begins The First Adventure by dressing as a boy to train as a page in Tortall's royal court. This book introduces all our main characters and establishes Alan the page amongst his peers and Alanna as she finds herself and her place in chivalry.
One of the other amazing things about Alanna's story overall is that she begins it absolutely terrified of her own magical gift. Her arc includes learning to work with her magic rather than to fear it, and that's a twist on magic users that I really appreciated. We often get overly confident magic users--indeed, we'll get TWO of them later in the series--but it's rare that we get magic users who are fully aware of their powers and are still absolutely terrified of them. So of course, the story and the world and Pierce herself keep throwing Alanna into situations where she has no choice but to develop and use her gift. It's so, so good. This first book covers Alanna's page years, and we move into her squire years in book two.
In the Hand of the Goddess really expands on Alanna's key relationship with Prince Jon on Conte, Duke Roger of Conte, and Geroge Cooper. Alanna moves into a wider world of adult politics and stakes in this book. From being able to defeat an older, stronger, and more experienced opponent in a duel to developing her healing skills when a wound puts her out of commission during a war, Alanna cements her skills, connections, and position in society. This culminates with unmasking Roger as an attempting regicide and the accidental reveal of her gender.
This book is really, really good, and extends Alanna's childhood fear of magic to her fear of Roger specifically in a really natural, logical way. I could say more about the details, but these two books have an episodic vibe to them, so I won't spend too much time exploring every single key plot event.
The Woman Who Rides Like a Man sees Alanna spending her first year as a knight in the desert, with a Bazhir tribe. She becomes their shaman by way of self-defense; she murders their first shaman when he tries to murder her for "being unnatural." Then it falls to Alanna to train three magic users for the tribe, and this is where we see more nuance into how different magic users relate to their powers, from sheer hubris to fear to "this is just part of me, let's do this." It's a phenomenal experience for Alanna, and she learns as much from her students as they do
Book three also sees Jonathan bitching to hell and back about having to be king, which is not a great look, and it's one Alanna calls him on. He spends most of the book alternating between pitching a hissy fit, begging Alanna to marry him, and training to take over as Voice of the Tribes. The interesting thing here is that Alanna refuses to marry Jon. He is trying to fit Alanna into his own fairy tale, and she very much goes "That isn't our relationship, I can't do that. We aren't meant to be like that, and that's ok." If I could inject that lesson into humanity's collective head, I would. It's well done and it's great.
Lioness Rampant picks up on Alanna's travels after she leaves the Bazhir, and eventually sees her return to Corus with a magical artifact to help secure Jonathan's position as king.
There's also the teeny tiny complication that Alanna's twin brother, Thom, has resurrected Duke Roger. Absolute chaos ensues, and Roger almost manages to take out the entire court during Jonathan's coronation. Nobody should have to kill an evil sorceror twice, but Alanna did.
If you want to dive into Tamora Pierce's Tortall Universe, starting with Alanna is absolutely a good choice. These books hold a very soft spot in my heart, and they're never not engaging.
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be-missed · 5 months
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Call Me Babe For The Weekend (MDNI)
Vada Cavell X Fem!Reader
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(picture not mine)
Summary: If only a high school reunion party is the reason Vada got to see you again, then so be it. Fuck her work commitments, fuck that blind date, and fuck the traffic lights. MDNI
Warning: curse words, smut minors dni. Story happens after college, so like Vada is older and have a job, so as Reader. So probably a slight ooc Vada and a slight twist in the original plot. Hate sex and like sligt angst. Cheating.
A/N: First time I will be writing for Vada. This won the poll so here you go.
words: 2.1K
Masterlist
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Everybody in the room clapped as Y/N finishes her performance on stage, some loud whistles from boys who aren't still married and have a child to support has been heard, while some other girls talk on how Y/N still has the talent that she have during high school, while there is Vada, just staring and reminiscing about the times that she get to see Y/N practice and jut watch her and be awed about Y/N's talent.
A slap on her arm gets to pop her own bubble "Now stop day dreaming and go to her" her friend Nick told her as she rubs the slapped area of her arm "Ouch? And why would I need to talk to her, she fucking hates me anyway" Vada said in return still following where Y/N went.
"Okay, she hates you, but you need to remember that she also loved you, like a lot lot" Nicki told the other girl "Please just fucking go to her, because I can't stand seeing you undress her in your own mind" Nicki exclaimed, begging her friend to just talk to Y/N.
"What will I tell her then? I don't want to start a small talk, she'll just probably not entertain me" Vada said with a sadness remembering how she messaged and texted Y/N when they broke up, or how she went to her house every time just for her to talk to Y/N. Well they didn't technically broke up, Vada thought, since Y/N just left after the last school year without even saying good bye to the other girl.
"Get a grip, please just talk to her. She's grown and I think she forgave you. Just talk to her, you deserve a closure." Nicki said and tapped her for some support, "Well here goes nothing" Vada said, getting up from her seat and walking to your side at the bar.
While walking, in every step that Vada take, she kept on thinking on what to say to you, how will you react, what will you do. Vada thought if you will just follow the lines that you said inside her head, everything will be just easy, but that's not the case.
"Still got that shiny necklace on your neck, I see" Vada started the conversation. Silence, Y/N is just looking at the bottles in front of them, drinking her sour whiskey. "Please, just talk me" Vada said with a small voice, looking at Y/N's face. They might not talk, or see each other but Vada for sure stalks every social media account that Y/N have just to know if you are doing well and if you happy. To Vada, well, you looked happier than you were, carefree even.
Vada got pulled out of her bubble when she was now staring in your eyes and said "There's nothing to talk about" and that earned Vada a chuckle and said, "Come on, really? Nothing to talk about? You left me, without any indication and now I get to see you after years and you're gonna say that we have nothing to talk about?"
Y/n lets out a deep sigh "Look, I'm not here to talk to you, I'm here to see my old friends and have fun. Interacting with you is not on my list tonight, so please, I am respectfully asking if you could fuck off" Y/N ended and started to get up from her seat and started to walk to go to the restroom.
Vada follows closely and said "Well I don't care about your list. I just want to talk to you and clear things out" Y/N then fasten her phase "Y/N please, just, can you" Out of breath, Vada is still trying to follow Y/N. Why are your steps so big? Vada thought.
"Where the fuck is the rest room" y/N exclaimed trying to find the rest room. A grip on her forearm stopped her from pacing around "Please Y/N, fucking hell Y/N, can we please just talk, I am begging here" Vada exclaimed, "And again, there's nothing to talk to Vada, so just fuck off" Y/N exclaimed trying to get her arm off from Vada's hold "Get off of me" Y/N said.
"Nope, not until you decide to talk to me" Vada said with a wide smirk knowing that she is much stronger than you.
Huffing, Y/N said "Okay, fine what do you want to talk about?" and Vada answered "Why did you leave me? You didn't talk to me for weeks and you didn't tell me you were leaving" and now, that statement made Y/N chuckle.
"Really Vada? That's your question?" Y/N said while looking a Vada's face realizing that Vada is not joking and that was her real question, "Are you really joking right now? You are asking me why I left you?" Y/N said while Vada just nodded.
"Wow, well for starters, you neglected me for 2 whole months, you hand out with Maddie more than me, You kissed her, and lastly you fucked her, while we were in a relationship" Y/N exclaimed, "So now Vada, tell me, was that not a good reason to fucking dump your ass and leave you?"
The grip on Y/N's arm loosen and she got her arms back.
"That was, I told you, I didn't do it in purpose, I was grieving, I didn't know what I was doing, please, just I told you right? After that day happened, everything for me was different. And she was the one I was with..." Vada said.
But Y/N wasn't taking any of her reason and said "I know Vada, that is why I was trying my best to be involved in your life more and be a supportive girlfriend, but you fucking kicked me out and closed yourself to me. I have given my best part to you Vada, I have given everything but you just shut me out and let that girl comfort you. It should've been me Vada, it should've been me that you chose to fucking go through things. Now tell me if that's not enough reasons."
Now a tear stained face is what Vada is looking at. But deep inside Y/N's heart, she had forgiven Vada a long time ago, she just carry that hurt with her. She might not be suck a the restaurant but she surely checks every new things that is going on in there.
Leaving town, the school, and Vada that day was the most hardest and painful thing that Y/N did in her entire life. Her mom said that it was for the best, since the more you give, Vada wanted you less. Because sometimes giving up and running away is the right thing and the most bravest thing that a person can do.
Y/N got still love for Vada, she knows it in herself, but it is exactly hard to trust Vada back again.
Y/N was now leaning back to the lockers while Vada closed the space between them and buried her face into Y/N's neck.
"I'm sorry, I know. I'm sorry" Those were the words that Vada kept on saying. "Let me make it up to you please" Vada whispered in your neck.
Y/N badly wants to push Vada away, her mind kept on saying no, but her body acts on the opposite side, "fuck" Y/N thought.
"You don't need to forgive me right now, but please give me a chance" Vada's hands were now situated on Y/N's side, squeezing and massaging Y/N's waist.
"Vada..." Y/N said, voice faltering as Vada started to drop light kisses on her neck, "Tell me if you want to me to stop" Vada said as she climbs her kisses up to Y/N's face.
Y/N and Vada are now looking at each other's eye, testing the waters Vada lean in, and just like a jack in the box, it surprised her when Y/N also leaned in to kiss her.
Vada was trying to get the upper hand by tilting her head to deepen the kiss, yet Y/N's hand was now on her nape trying to pull her away. Vada thought if Y/N will try to tease her then she will do things her way. So Vada's free hand travelled from Y/N's waist to her ass, squeezing it real hard, making Y/N gasp.
Vada then travels her kisses again down to Y/N's neck with her other hand making its way under Y/N's dress, squeezing and sliding her fingertips along Y/N's thigh that made the other girl squirm.
"Tell me to stop Y/N" Vada challengingly said to Y/N who got her head rested in the lockers with her eyes closed, with heavy breathing she said "Just fuck me already."
Vada wouldn't just fuck Y/N in the hallway, leaning into the locker, of course she would tease the other girl until she begs.
Vada then slid her fingers through Y/N's underwear, into the slit that's now forming a wet patch, "Getting wet are we?" Vada said with a smirk on her face, Y/N squirms and squirms trying to get Vada's finger to hit her spot.
"Just please, put a finger inside me already" Y/N said while squeezing Vada's biceps, and anchors one of her feet to Vada's hips that made the other girl closer to her.
Vada pulls Y/N's underwear to the side, and the moment that Vada's fingertips got in contact with her wet slit, Y/N stifles a moan and grips Vada's biceps tightly.
"So wet, think you're ready for me?" Vada plays with Y/N's clit a few more times and teasing her entrance "Please Vada, just fuck me already" Y/N desperation in her voice.
Vada started to again kiss Y/N's neck and slowly inserts two of her fingers. Relishing the feeling of being inside Y/N for so many years, how tight and silky it is, "fuck, so tight Y/N" Vada whispers, moving her fingers, massaging Y/N's walls.
A moan slips out of Y/N's mouth, a sweeet music into Vada's ears. It feels good to knowing how she pulls those sounds out of Y/N's mouth.
"Faster" Y/N whisper trying to grind into Vada's hands and anchoring her legs into Vada more, "As you wish" Vada said while she fasten her phase while her other hand gropes Y/N's breast through her dress that made Y/N moan, "Still sensitive like before" Vada thought to herself.
Feeling a little bit tighter, Vada grinded her palm to Y/N's clit that added a lot more pleasure to the other girl, "I'm close" Y/N said with labored breaths.
"Cum for me" Vada said as she kissed Y/N's lips to prevent the girl from letting out a loud moan that might get them caught. Y/N's hands went tighter around Vada's neck a she reaches her high, trying to grind on Vada's hand to help herself settle down.
Vada delivers light kisses into Y/N's neck, "You did good" Vada said.
Catching her breath, Y/N tries to push Vada away and straighten her dress from the wrinkles that developed from the past activity.
"What was that for?" Vada said, surprised with what Y/N did. While Y/N just looks Vada for a second and walks to the exit, Vada followed until they got into the parking lot and Vada grips Y/N's arm.
"Where do you think you're going?" Vada said angrily at Y/N, "Home Vada, so can you let go of my arm?" Y/N answered, "You won't go home until we are done talking Y/N" Vada says while trying to keep her voice down.
"We are done talking Vada, right before you fuck me into the lockers" Y/N exclaimed, "Your also gonna blame me? You said yes Y/N, don't make me take the blame for what happened because if I remember correctly you were begging" Vada stated as a matter of fact.
"Yes, I got what I need and you got what I want, we can call it quits" Y/N says and yanks her arms away and started to walk to her car while Vada follows her.
"Great, now you are walking away again, go, do something that you are great at. Go on and leave." Vada yelled to Y/N that made the other stop walking.
In a heartbeat, Vada feels a hot sting on her cheek, "Fuck you Vada, if you think a single fuck would get me back to you then you thought wrong. Fuck you." Y/N said walking towards her car and starting it, while Vada stands still, hand on her stinging cheek, following Y/N's car leave the lot.
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A/N: I know a short smut, but hey there's drama. Anyway, thank you for voting and sorry for the short smut. Hope you enjoyed it! I'm gonna bounce, bye.
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ystrike1 · 6 months
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Busybody Woman gets ***** by the Mad Love & Hatred of a Snake Possessed Man - By Umekoppe (8/10)
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Betrayal sometimes has two sides. A monster and a human can bridge the gap and marry, but they will always be different. A snake reincarnates to hunt down the beloved wife who killed him. She broke his heart, but who was really in the wrong?
Madara is a handsome and capable man with snake blood. Everybody knows about it, but he's sociable and popular so it's fine.
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Nanaha is one of his many friends. She's nosy. A little pushy. They're close. They get along. Madara is easygoing and less cool around her sometimes.
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Everybody thinks they're already a thing. They aren't though, but Madara is already jealous.
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When she confesses her love he doesn't seem to take it well. He kind of feels like a different guy for a second. She's afraid of him for that second.
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He appears and saves her from a robber late at night. We see his snake blood powers in action. Madara seems very insecure. He thinks Nanaha will see him as a monster, now that she knows he can freeze people.
He's afraid that her love isn't all that deep.
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He doesn't wait. He drags her home and confesses everything. He has won. She loves him, and now he gets to kill her when she is at her most miserable.
He wants her to die the way he died.
Bleeding out, in front of the only person she loves.
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The previous Nanaha didn't seem very remorseful either. After she stabbed him she watched him die. She did not try to save him. Madara is clearly not over the pain.
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He tries to laugh.
He tries to act like he's enjoying what he's doing, but he still doesn’t understand.
Why did his only wife betray him?
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His character profile paints a very sad picture of his internal struggle. He cannot even imagine trying to find happiness with the modern version of Nanaha.
He died listening to her curse him.
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For some reason the entire plot twist is in the afterword sketches??? So please scroll all the way through the authors notes.
Madara was merciless and evil. He romanced his lovely wife, and he was a good husband to her. The other humans in her village did not approve of him. When Nanaha says she loves him, and she wants to find a way to be together, he's overjoyed. His loving wife wants him, even though he's not the best husband.
He tells her they will have their revenge. They will slaughter every being that dared to sneer at their wedding, and they will build a new life of riches through pillaging and death...she stabs him.
Nanaha originally stabbed him because he was evil and rotten to the core. His strong love for her could not magically turn him into a good man. He delighted in slaughter.
The Nanaha from the past tried to deny his evil for a long time, because she did adore him, but then he directly threatened everyone she has ever known.
She stabs him then, and she curses him, for not choosing life with her. For trying to drag her down into darkness, despite the pure love she gave him.
Madara will only ever see it as a betrayal though.
He doesn't understand.
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vagabond-umlaut · 8 months
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Mercury x Sulfur
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Gojo Satoru x Fem!Reader; Arranged Marriage; Childhood Friendship To Complicated Feelings™️; Fluff, Angst, Explicit Smut [Oral Fem!Receiving; P-In-V; Loss Of Virginity; Praises]; Angst With A Happy Ending; Porn With Plot & Feelings™️; Contains Manga & Anime Spoilers. This is 18+ Content -> Minors & Ageless Blogs Please DNI!!!
Oneshot From Series: One Day, Three Autumns [Can Be Treated As A Stand-Alone]
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THE WEDDING NIGHT FIC NO ONE ASKED FOR YET I WROTE FT. PATHETIC GOJO & PATHETIC READER & THEIR BLURRY PATHETIC FEELINGS FOR EACH OTHER... [I'VE NEVER WRITTEN SMUT BEFORE, SO PLEASE BE KIND TO ME 🥹🥹]
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Gojo Satoru is much too similar to fire, you suppose— so vivid always, so warm always, so protective always– yet not without the promise of destruction simmering within the sweet blue blaze of his eyes — Very much the reflection yet the contrast to how you resemble the air— so empty, so hollow, so fucking void.
Nice thoughts to think of yourself on your wedding night, aren't they?
Certainly not, you scoff inwardly, toying with the band of sapphire on your left hand. Yet... you cannot, or rather, do not do anything to stop them from sneaking past the defenses you've guarded yourself with– into that twisted, sick, pathetic mess of neurons and darkness you're ashamed to call your mind nowadays.
The noise of the shower tumbles into a sudden hush. An equally quiet sigh escapes you, fingers moving from your jewellery to trace the tiny floral design on the off-white gown– your brain somewhat registering the bathroom door being opened then shut.
"Y'know, mint ice cream might've be— whoa, is that my wife crying?"
Less than one nanosecond elapses before you find your perch on the edge of the bed being crowded by six-feet-three-inches of white hair, chiselled face, toned abs and worry— Oh My Fucking God, the worry swirling in those damned eyes of his— Mustering chuckles and grins, you move to scoot away from him, ready to brush your husband away with some half-baked something, when you feel him draw you closer and place two warm palms on the apples of your cheeks– both gentle and firm in the fashion they cradle your face— they cradle your entire being in this moment.
Cheer trickling away from your countenance, you hear him whisper in an unbelievably contrite tone, "You're mad because you did not get to eat the last piece of cake– because I stole it away, isn't it so? Y'know... we can always visit the bakery we ordered the cake from and I'll order the same flavour we chose for our wedding cake, and you can steal as many bites as you want from my plate— guess, that will make us kind of equals, huh?"
Equals, huh? Equals, huh? Equals. Huh?
"No," you snap, betraying the smile you've been struggling to keep on your lips, "We'll never be equals, Satoru. I mean, yeah— in dumb stuff like these, we might be equals or whatever you believe in. But, in life– do you really think we're going to be equals, huh? Do you think there'll ever be a reality, ever be a world where we might be equals, huh?"
Thumbs stilling over the tear tracks they were oh-so-very insistent on wiping away, he blinks at you. Once. Twice. Thrice— You groan, trying to remove yourself from the man whose mere presence is fermenting your inside. Searing your skin. Twisting and turning your mind into an even greater mess than it's ever been– One you know you cannot find yourself from, if once lost to.
Large fingers curling round your left ankle stop you in your attempts.
"I think so," Satoru offers softly, the unblemished smooth porcelain of his skin streaked with gravitas, you've seldom seen in the many years you've known him yet know becomes him too perfectly– You chuckle, shaking your head.
"This isn't only you and me. This is the world I'm talking about. This is our world I'm talking about. Do you really think they'll ever let a lady— married, that too— stand beside her husband, and not behind him?"
The grasp on your ankle loosens for a beat.
Something cracks and splinters and shatters within yourself.
Something you never knew existed before now— something you wish to ignore, so fucking desperately, now that you know it exists.
Shaky whoosh of pain leaving, you kick your foot free of the hold on it and scoot backwards on the mattress, screwing your eyes shut – as if them being closed will make you blind to the response your query has gathered by not gathering any at all— every iota in your body loathing the way your emotions well over and down your dusted cheeks— way too much, way too quick for your liking—
Large fingers curl round your left knee this time, preventing you from your retreat by pulling you towards their owner yet again — Little that does to dampen your efforts, though.
Or, the scald in that tender part in that tender mess of muscles and blood– pulses and impulses– you've never liked lots, for that matter.
"Let me go," you growl, legs shifting and flexing and extending to free themselves. The soft covers on the bed crinkle and crumple from the fight you put up against the forces reeling you in. "Let me go, Satoru," you snarl one more time, trying your best to keep your desperation in the cloth you've wrapped it in, not letting its pus leak into your words, "Let go of me, now. Satoru. Or, I swear— Gojo!!"
"Sweetness."
Some other reality and you think you might find this enticing. Loving, even, if you're being particularly, delusionally sappy then.
Yet, in this reality, in this moment, as you find yourself on the edge of the bed, legs hanging off it whilst your husband traps the rest of your body beneath him, one good foot between him and your supine form — and he calls you that horrid nickname with that horrid smile– as if you're sweet like those kikufuku mochis he loves eating– and not the most sour, the most salty, the most bitter person he has ever met—
You let the fight seep from yourself into the horrible rose-scented air of the room, wretched wails clawing out instead of growls and snarls.
"I can't do this anymore, Satoru," you sob, chest heaving beneath the bodice of your gown, the pearl necklace snug on your skin stifling, "It is just so difficult— This world. This life. Everything is so fucking very difficult. And confusing. And demanding. And difficult— I cannot do- I cannot live this way with the entire world's eyes trained on me," you cry out; the stinging in your eyes, in your throat, in your soul growing worse with every other word you utter, "I simply cannot live with my–"
"And what if only my eyes are trained on you?" Satoru interrupts you, mouth set into thin lines; though the concern and affection sparkling in his gaze is unmistakeable, you note, peering up through your thick curtain of tears and emotions— being close friends since you were a pair of kids learning to read and write, does have its perks after all —
"Tell me, sweetness," A finger hooks under your chin to lift it up; your suffocating pearl necklace comes off within the next instant– "What if I told you, proved to you: you don't need to worry yourself with any person; anyone, anywhere, anytime in your life; not when they aren't a part of your world—" A sturdy arm hooks under your back this time, lifting you with ease off the bed, until you're in your husband's strong grip: loose to not give you any degree of discomfort yet tight enough for you to be assured he won't be dropping you—
You wrap your arms gingerly round his neck. He asks, dropping his voice to the lowest, to the gravest you've ever heard him, "What if I showed you, your world can consist only of us— only you and me— will you..."
He trails off suddenly, gaze darting to the side before it returns to you again— it's burning. Burning, burning, burning – Stoking a fire in your nerves, in your veins, in the pit of your lower belly, perhaps in the area nether to it too— Your husband's lips curve in the gentlest shape ever seen on him, quite betraying or, maybe, complimenting the hints and clues of that something, evident from the way his fingers flex on your back for the tiniest moment or the way the shadows of the night shift and morph in the brilliance of his gaze—
"You wanna prove to me w-whatever you said right now," you state in what Satoru calls your 'weather-reporter' voice. A brow rises before it returns to its place again– the man addressed nods. Solemn. Certain.
The muscles in your shoulders relax, opposing the muscles tautening elsewhere in your body– not from fear, no. Perhaps from anticipation, you reckon. Or, maybe it is from fear– except it isn't a fear of the man in front of you— The Strongest Sorcerer, capable of turning anything and everything, anyone and everyone, into dust if he so wishes to—
Except he doesn't. Never has. Not without a solid good reason— Oh, this sweet, sweet man— For once in your life, you decide not to stay dwelling on your thoughts, on your twisted, sick, pathetic mind— all for the sake of your husband, him looking at you as if you really are a delectable mochi he wants to devour.
Oh, what a sweet fool your husband is, isn't he?
Moving your hands from where they were resting on his nape to your front, wedging into the little space between Satoru's and your bodies, you inquire, choosing your words soft yet solemn, "And... are you sure you wanna do this tonight? That you won't be regretting—"
"I can do this tonight and every other night," Satoru replies, without letting you complete your query. Then grins, loads like that shy boy, you remember, attempting to befriend you with a pebble– blue and white and blue, years back when you still pronounced 'star' as 'tar'.
You let your palms face away from your chest to rest on his— still, so warm and uncovered from the shower he took— still so, so open and vulnerable to you, in spite of the slashes and gashes dear friends like you, like that damn boy, have only ever given him— He asks, "Do you wanna let me do this?"
A slow yet sure nod is the only thing you manage to offer him in reply.
That slow yet sure nod's also the only thing remaining crystal-clear in your mind— besides, obviously—
Those kisses, so shaky yet so fiery, pressed onto your lips, your chin, the hollow of your neck, the valley between your breasts, down down down, until they reached your thighs— And they grew less of adoring and more of wanting– with muffled moans and withheld whimpers— your lips constantly forming the syllables of your husband's name, as the man himself suckled purple splotches of his desire onto the flesh out there— Besides, obviously—
The sharp gasp of breath your husband made when he tasted you for the first time and you felt shame flood every nook and cranny of your naked body — how the gown or the lingerie were removed from your torso, you've no clue...—before the shame swelled into something far different, far pleasurable, with every lick, every nibble, every hum and every groan muffled into your sensitive tissue and bundle of nerves— steady in the beginning but rapidly growing in intensity, frequency or must you say ferocity, with every moment he spends with his head in between your legs—
And you came. Embarrassed. Ecstatic. Experiencing everything lying on the spectrum between them. Onto his waiting tongue, over his—
"Ah! S-Satoru–"
You're ripped back to the present by the feel of him entering you.
The stretch hurts— as much as you've read in books, as much as you have been told in extremely discreet terms by the older women in the clan— but never once has this feeling been described to you to be- so fucking perfect, so fucking right— as the one flooding your senses in this very instant—
Two blue eyes lift from where they were squeezed close against your forehead, slick with the sheen of sweat, blinking down at you with so much care, you think you may burst from how much of it you note in them hues— the dams holding your tears back sure do, increasing in the degree they allow your emotions gush out, courtesy of the palms mapping your flushed cheeks, caressing your flushed cheeks, almost as if you're some porcelain doll.
"Hey, hey, hey," Satoru croons, pausing himself entirely– despite the toll it takes on him, visible from the way his face scrunches for a tiny moment before wrinkling into lines of worry and apology again– "It's hurting, isn't it?" he asks, then lowers his voice to a whisper, directed more at himself than at you if its rambling quality is anything. "Fuck," he curses, removing his palms from your face, and curling them into tight fists on either side of your face, "This was my first time. And I— I, I know I should have been more careful, still I went and fucked up–"
"Satoru," you say, blinking your tears away, splaying your fingers onto the smooth planes of his cheeks, hoping he'll quieten on noticing the small smile on your lips.
"– caused you pain, oh fucking hell–"
When is he going to shut up?
"Satoru," you try again, tone growing more insistent than the previous time, fingers moving up to scratch the backside of his ears — to trace the shell of his ears.
"– I was so fucking ignorant, selfish–"
Is he ever going to shut up?
"'Toru!" you exclaim with a mild tug on his hair. That seems to be your trick in shutting him up— though you don't miss the way the muscles in his arms flex nor the way his fists grow tighter at your action. Smile widening on your lips, watching him train every bit of his attention on you, and only you; you pull him down for a small kiss— a desperation you've been trying to ignore for a while now– blooming in the motion of your mouth against his, with his—
Perhaps, from the way you hate him blaming himself for doing totally nothing wrong. Perhaps, from the way you detest the lack of friction, his irrational rambling has created down there where you want it, you need it the most— Perhaps, from a mix of both these reasons.
Removing yourself a touch from him, you whine into the plushness of his lips, breathless, dizzy, needy, "Move, Satoru. I think I can take it— Oh, that's it, Satoru," your words taper off into a breathy sigh, "F-fuck—"
In retrospect, you reckon you'll be mortified, probably to death, when you'll let your mind drift back to tonight's events in the future– to how messy you sound with your moans, how messy you possibly look with your makeup smudged from tears and sweat— yet, now— in this very second, you deem you're having the best time of your life.
With Satoru's constant grunts and moans of "Fuck, you're taking me so well, sweetness" and incessant chants of "This– you, you're mine– only mine, as I'm yours"— With him drowning your skin in long, lavish kisses and suckles— With him toying with your hardened nipples and giving your breasts a deliciously painful squeeze—
But, mostly, with the way your husband fits you– so snug, so tight, so warm– every drag of his hip against yours sending a jolt of electricity through your nerves, making your heels dig deeper into his back, and your hold tighter round him, nails raking across his undercut, eliciting a pleased groan from him– though, they're no match for those noises you make when he hits that spot inside, again and again and again, a rapidly growing precision in every next thrust—
"'T-Toru– I'm close- sooo close," you whimper, nuzzling your nose into his neck, breathing in his scent— musky, sweaty, sultry— "Just a little more, sweetness," Satoru begs, keeping an arm beneath your back to pull you even closer to himself— as if that is possible anymore— "You are squeezing me so well— oh fuck."
Your walls clench round him particularly tightly, signalling to you that you're indeed very, very close— despite the haze of pleasure steadily building over your gaze, you wear a fond smile at the half-lidded look he pins on you, his mouth hanging open, whilst his palm presses into your lower back. Subtly trembling, yet so anchoring.
You decide this is your new favourite look of The Six Eyes, the former being the staggered look he gives your smug grin whenever you best him in a fight.
He really is sweet, isn't he?
Another moan permeates into the air, into your thoughts, punctuated by your husband brushing his lips with yours. They are soft— as does every other facet of him feel to you. Movements growing sloppier yet faster, he heaves a husky sigh into your ear, teeth grazing its shell.
"You're really perfect, y'know," he all but whines with a rather dragged out snap of his hips with yours— Eyes fluttering close from the action tightening the coil in your lower belly, you force out a weak chuckle. "I know that I'm per— Oh Sato— mmph!"
Your climax hits you.
Hard, harsh and unforgiving— the wave of euphoria it wreaks through your body is, streaking your vision with nonsensical streaks of colours and cloaking your ears with a deafening ringing— your only tether the soft pair of lips gently coaxing you to dance with it to a melody you've never heard— but hope can hear and learn in the years left in your life— until you're back in the large bed of your hotel room, body sore and and tingling, but in a pretty satisfied and happy way— at least, till you notice your husband scooting away from you to the edge of the bed.
Wha–How–When did he get from being inside you to there—
"Hey, no!" you protest, dragging him down to lie on top of you. Satoru looks at you, shock evident in the way he slowly blinks— You plaster a mighty frown on yourself, asking him, worried, "Where are you going? You haven't fini—"
"But I have finished," your husband answers your incomplete ask with a frown to match yours— before a confused moment passes and you find his frown slowly melt away into a million-watt beam, him asking, "Didn't you feel me come too then, sweetness? Or, did I give you that good an orgasm that you were numb to everything else then, huh?"
Embarrassment flushes through your body at your husband's teasing remark. Ignoring it, you clear your throat to hum back with a smile, "I guess that was the case, yeah. You were really nice tonight— thanks." Then add, watching him open his mouth, the familiar gloom of regret threatening to dim his happiness, "And don't worry about then— I too— This was my first time too, and, um," you wish you could look away for a beat to regain your composure but the sparkles gleaming in the blue eyes gazing at you, are so magnetic— you continue with a laugh, sheepish, staring back at him, "I might have overreacted to the pain."
Whatever chuckle you were expecting never comes; rather, a tender kiss arrives on each of your eyelids, and on the tip of your nose. Your lips part in a content smile, widening on hearing the query sent your way.
"And was I just as great at proving to you what I promised to, huh?"
Your mind races back to then— the dark hollow plaguing you before he arrived. You pull it back to now— the radiance of your husband in every minute portion of your soul, filling it with a cosiness you know only he can impart to you.
"You so were," you're quick to hum back your agreement, paired with a peck to his lips, as he positions himself to lie comfortably atop you. He's quite a bit heavy, what with being so buff and tall– but you think you don't really mind it— not when he's incomparably better than the weighted blankets you've always liked sleeping with.
A hand rises to card through your tangled hairstyle, separating every strand from the other, carefully and gently— you wonder if he knows he does the same to your tangled thoughts too, unknotting them via few select words and few select gestures—
"You've the 'philosopher' face on," your husband's entertained remark interrupts your cloud of thoughts– you drag your eyes from that scar in his throat– one which never fails to throttle whatever sense of safe you might've developed– to the hues before, far more gleaming than the sapphires sitting on your fourth finger can ever be—
Satoru smiles. That annoying, understanding, endearing smile of his, which only serves to show just how much he has been forced by life to be matured. And murmurs.
"We're really equals in this partnership, y'know? You can always share with me whatev—"
"Is it wrong of me to compare you to fire and me to air?"
Your simple question catches The Strongest Sorcerer off-guard- you gather from the way his eyes widen and his heartbeat stutters a little over the bare flushed skin of your chest— you wonder if you must be happy at this silly victory or be worried, you have such a hold on him—
Something tells you, he won't mind either one of them — taking each into stride with a pitiful pout or a cheerful chuckle — the exact same way letting your inquiry settle into him, he responds with a grin in too short a span of time.
"Nope! Not at all!" Satoru exclaims, grin growing and digging dimples into his cheeks. "Obviously I'm fire! Have you seen me? I'm so fucking sizzling hot!" Despite the fondness swelling in your heart, you make a big show of rolling your eyes and moving to scoff — except that scoff remains lodged in your throat and gets swallowed by a gasp of shock as you find yourself being flipped over, so that it's you who is lying on the top now.
Grin growing freer and truer, your husband pulls you impossibly close to himself – so much so that the bounderies separating you from him begin to blur in your eyes; and resumes—
"And you, sweetness, of course, are air– without whose 21% oxygen, the fire cannot even be ignited in the first place."
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I do not own the characters or the image used. Divider is by @cafekitsune. Please do not plagiarize or translate or repost this. Hope you enjoyed reading this! 😊
Please interact with This Post to be added to the series taglist! ❤️
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SINCE THIS IS AN EXPLICIT FIC, I'M NOT TAGGING MY USUAL TAGLIST. INSTEAD, I WANNA MENTION FEW PPL [TAKING A LEAF OUT OF UR BOOK, SEL]— WHO HV SHOWN AN INTEREST IN THIS FIC WHILE IT WAS BEING WRITTEN, & HAVE ALSO ENCOURAGED AND MOTIVATED ME LOADS!! TYYY SM U AWESOME PPL!!!! 🥰🥰 [AND ALSO TO U, DEAR READER, FOR REACHING THE FOOTNOTES OF THE FIC!!]
TAGLIST: @moniheartz, @shotorus, @sukunassuka, @ancient-vivarium, @saenora, @avatarofstars!!!! ❤️❤️❤️ [THERE ARE MANY OTHERS TOO, WHO HV LIKED MY RAMBLING POSTS– I PROMISE I HAVEN'T FORGOTTEN Y'ALL. ILYSM 😭😭😭]
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dragon-watcher03 · 7 months
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I just came up with a trope for Mk1 x reader
So the reader is Kuai Liang's concubine but he's in love with her and Harumi (since shes alive and married to him in that time line). But Kuai cannot show these feelings cause you aren't supposed to fall in love with your concubine and his father would disapprove of it.
But plot twist, Harumi is also in love with the reader and they treat her very nicely when Kuai's dad ain't around but just don't speak with her when he is cause they don't wanna be rude to her.
And Bi-han is jealous that he didn't get to marry reader and thinks she deserves to be a wife, not a concubine. Which was one of the things Shang Tsung used to manipulate him into working with him.
But the reader doesn't know that any of them like her and despite being a concubine, she is extremely strong and skilled in kombat.
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charmed [17]: 'the finale: part 1' (remus lupin x reader)
a/n: part 2 drops wednesday at midnight.
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series summary: set in the prisoner of azkaban, including its major plot points. remus and y/n get hired by dumbledore last minute to teach at hogwarts, defense against the dark arts and charms respectively. not wanting the students to know they are married, they navigate the challenging year through hidden glances, hand holds underneath the table and loving moments in their offices. even with all their efforts to conceal their relationship, their chemistry does not go unnoticed by the student population of hogwarts, who grow fond of the pair as they offer them some of the best classes they’ve had in a while. their relationship as newlyweds is strengthened as teaching the next generation of wizards unlocks a sea of memories of their love story. for the second time in his life, remus holds hogwarts responsible for some of his happiest memories. he’s given the chance to create them with the love of his life, y/n, who has taught and continues to teach him that every part of him is lovable, remaining forever under her charm.
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17. 
"What are you going to do with him if I give him to you?" Ron asked Lupin tensely. 
"Force him to show himself," said Lupin. "If he really is a rat, it won't hurt him." 
Ron hesitated. Then at long last, he held out Scabbers and Lupin took him. Scabbers began to squeak without stopping, twisting and turning, his tiny black eyes bulging in his head. "Ready, Sirius?" said Lupin. 
Black had already retrieved Snape's wand from the bed. He approached Lupin and the struggling rat, and his wet eyes suddenly seemed to be burning in his face. 
"Together?" he said quietly. 
Y/N crossed her arms over her chest nervously.
"I think so,,, said Lupin, holding Scabbers tightly in one hand and his wand in the other. "On the count of three. One -- two -- THREE!" 
A flash of blue-white light erupted from both wands; for a moment, Scabbers was frozen in midair, his small gray form twisting madly -- Ron yelled -- the rat fell and hit the floor. There was another blinding flash of light and then —  
It was like watching a speeded-up film of a growing tree. A head was shooting upward from the ground; limbs were sprouting; a moment later, a man was standing where Scabbers had been, cringing and wringing his hands. Crookshanks was spitting and snarling on the bed; the hair on his back was standing up. 
"Well, hello, Peter," said Lupin pleasantly, as though rats frequently erupted into old school friends around him. "Long time, no see. 
"S -- Sirius... R -- Remus..." Even Pettigrew's voice was squeaky. Again, his eyes darted toward the door. "My friends... my old friends..." 
Black’s arm wand rose, but Y/N seized his wrist, giving him a warning look. Sirius jumped, as this was the first time Y/N had touched him— and she quickly retracted her hand as they both turned their attention back toward Remus and Peter.
"We've been having a little chat, Peter, about what happened the night Lily and James died. You might have missed the finer points while you were squeaking around down there on the bed — I'd like to clear up one or two little matters with you, Peter.” 
“D-don’t know… what you’re t-talking about, Remus— He- he—“ He squirmed, pointing at Sirius with a trembling finger. “He’s here to k-kill me, he's got dark powers the rest of us can only dream of!”
Black started to laugh, a horrible, mirthless laugh that filled the whole room. 
"Voldemort, teach me tricks?" he said.
Pettigrew flinched as though Black had brandished a whip at him. 
"What, scared to hear your old master's name?" said Black. I don't blame you, Peter. His lot aren't very happy with you, are they?" 
"Don't know... what you're talking about...," said Pettigrew again, more shrilly than ever. He wiped his face on his sleeve and looked up at Lupin. "You don't believe this -- this madness, Remus --" 
"I must admit, Peter, I have difficulty in understanding why an innocent man would want to spend twelve years as a rat," said Lupin evenly. 
"Innocent, but scared!" squealed Pettigrew. "If Voldemort's supporters were after me, it was because I put one of their best men in Azkaban -- the spy, Sirius Black!" 
"How dare you," he growled, sounding suddenly like the bearsized dog he had been. I, a spy for Voldemort? When did I ever sneak around people who were stronger and more powerful than myself? But you, Peter -- I'll never understand why I didn't see you were the spy from the start. You always liked big friends who'd look after you, didn't you? It used to be us... me and Remus... and James….”
Pettigrew wiped his face again; he was almost panting for breath. 
"Me, a spy... must be out of your mind... never... don't know how you can say such a --" 
"Lily and James only made you Secret-Keeper because I suggested it,” Black hissed. 
"Professor Lupin?" said Hermione timidly. "Can — can I say something?" 
"Certainly, Hermione," said Lupin courteously. 
"If you don't mind me asking, how -- how did you get out of Azkaban, if you didn't use Dark Magic?" 
"Thank you!" gasped Pettigrew, nodding frantically at her. "Exactly! Precisely what I —" 
But Lupin silenced him with a look. Black was frowning slightly at Hermione, but not as though he were annoyed with her. He seemed to be pondering his answer. 
"I don't know how I did it," he said slowly. "I think the only reason I never lost my mind is that I knew I was innocent. That wasn't a happy thought, so the dementors couldn't suck it out of me... but it kept me sane and knowing who I am... helped me keep my powers... so when it all became ... too much... I could transform in my cell... become a dog. Dementors can't see, you know...." He swallowed. "They feel their way toward people by feeding off their emotions.... They could tell that my feelings were less -- less human, less complex when I was a dog... but they thought, of course, that I was losing my mind like everyone else in there, so it didn't trouble them. But I was weak, very weak, and I had 
no hope of driving them away from me without a wand...." 
"But then I saw Peter in that picture... I realized he was at Hogwarts with Harry... perfectly positioned to act, if one hint reached his ears that the Dark Side was gathering strength again...." 
"It was as if someone had lit a fire In my head, and the dementors couldn't destroy it.... It wasn't a happy feeling... it was an obsession... but it gave me strength, it cleared my mind. So, one night when they opened my door to bring food, I slipped past them as a dog.... It's so much harder for them to sense animal emotions that they were confused.... I was thin, very thin... thin enough to slip through the bars.... I swam as a dog back to the mainland.... I journeyed north and slipped into the Hogwarts grounds as a dog. I've been living in the forest ever since, except when I came to watch the Quidditch, of course. You fly as well as your father did, Harry...." 
He looked at Harry, who did not look away. 
"Believe me," croaked Black. "Believe me, Harry. I never betrayed James and Lily. I would have died before I betrayed them." 
And at long last, Harry believed him. Throat too tight to speak, he nodded. 
"No!" 
Pettigrew had fallen to his knees as though Harry's nod had been his own death sentence. He shuffled forward on his knees, groveling, his hands clasped in front of him as though praying. 
"Sirius -- it's me... it's Peter... your friend... you wouldn't --" Black kicked out and Pettigrew recoiled. 
"There's enough filth on my robes without you touching them," said Black. 
"Remus!" Pettigrew squeaked, turning to Lupin instead, writhing imploringly in front of him.
And he scrambled around to Ron. 
"Ron... haven't I been a good friend... a good pet? You won't let them kill me, Ron, will you... you're on my side, aren't you. 
But Ron was staring at Pettigrew with the utmost revulsion. "I let you sleep in my bed!" he said. 
"Kind boy... kind master..." Pettigrew crawled toward Ron "You won't let them do it.... I was your rat.... I was a good pet...." 
"If you made a better rat than a human, it's not much to boast about, Peter," said Black harshly. Ron, going still paler with pain, wrenched his broken leg out of Pettigrew's reach. Pettigrew turned on his knees, staggered forward, and seized the hem of Hermione's robes. 
"Sweet girl... clever girl... you -- you won't let them.... Help me...." 
Hermione pulled her robes out of Pettigrew's clutching hands and backed away against the wall, looking horrified. 
“Y/N! Oh, Y/N— we’ve been friends… you knew me—“ He attempted to lunge at her before being violently pushed back by both Sirius and Remus.
“Don’t you even dare touch her…” Remus growled.
Pettigrew knelt, trembling uncontrollably, and-turned his head slowly toward Harry. 
"Harry... Harry... you look just like your father... just like him...." 
"HOW DARE YOU SPEAK TO HARRY?" roared Black. "HOW DARE YOU FACE HIM? HOW DARE YOU TALK ABOUT JAMES IN FRONT OF HIM?" 
Black and Lupin stood shoulder to shoulder, wands raised. 
Hermione covered her face with her hands and turned to the wall. Y/N bit her lip, unsure how to react or feel in the moment.
"NO!" Harry yelled. He ran forward, placing himself in front Pettigrew, facing the wands. "You can't kill him," he said breathlessly. "You can't." 
Black and Lupin both looked staggered. Y/N exhaled a breath she didn’t know she was holding.
"Harry, this piece of vermin is the reason you have no parents," Black snarled. "This cringing bit of filth would have seen you die too, without turning a hair. You heard him. His own stinking skin meant more to him than your whole family." 
"I know," Harry panted. "We'll take him up to the castle. We'll hand him over to the dementors.... He can go to Azkaban... but don't kill him." 
Y/N breathed heavily, cold sweat coating the palms of her hands and the low of her back.
"Harry!" gasped Pettigrew, and he flung his arms around Harry's knees. "You -- thank you -- it's more than I deserve -- thank you --" 
"Get off me," Harry spat, throwing Pettigrew's hands off him in disgust. "I'm not doing this for you. I'm doing it because -- I don't reckon my dad would've wanted them to become killers -- just for you." 
Remus and Sirius looked at each other, and nodded.
Thin cords shot from Lupin's wand this time, and next moment, Pettigrew was wriggling on the floor, bound and gagged. 
"But if you transform, Peter," growled Black, his own wand pointing at Pettigrew too, "we will kill you. You agree, Harry?" 
Harry looked down at the pitiful figure on the floor and nodded so that Pettigrew could see him. 
“Right.” Y/N finally spoke. "Ron, I can't mend bones nearly as well as Madam Pomfrey, so I think it's best if we just strap your leg up until we can get you to the hospital wing." 
She hurried over to Ron, bent down, tapped Ron's leg with her wand, and muttered, "Ferula." Bandages spun up Ron's leg, strapping it tightly to a splint. Lupin helped him to his feet; Ron put his weight gingerly on the leg and didn't wince. 
"That's better," he said. "Thanks." 
Remus turned his gaze on Y/N and was about to ask her how she felt, before Hermione brought up a very real point.
"What about Professor Snape?" 
“Nothing wrong with him.” Sirius bent over him and checked his pulse. “You were just a little… overenthusiastic, Y/N.”
Y/N winced. “Oops.”
Sirius muttered, "Mobilicorpus." As though invisible strings were tied to Snape's wrists, neck, and knees, he was pulled into a standing position, head still lolling unpleasantly, like a grotesque puppet. He hung a few inches above the ground, his limp feet dangling. 
Lupin picked up the Invisibility Cloak and tucked it safely into his pocket. 
"And two of us should be chained to this," said Black, nudging Pettigrew with his toe. "Just to make sure." 
"I'll do it," said Lupin.
"And me," said Ron savagely, limping forward. 
Harry had never been part of a stranger group. Crookshanks led the way down the stairs; Lupin, Pettigrew, and Ron went next, looking like entrants in a six-legged race. Next came Professor Snape, drifting creepily along, his toes hitting each stair as they descended, held up by his own wand, which was being pointed at him by Sirius. Y/N, Harry and Hermione brought up the rear. 
Getting back up through the tunnel proved to be a challenge. Remus, Ron and Peter managed to squeeze through sideways, shuffling along in single file. Sirius followed with Snape dangling behind him, his lolling head bumped frequently against the ceiling under Sirius’ control. They walked in silence until they reached the end of the tunnel, where Crookshanks exited first to paw at the root knot, letting everyone else exit without the chaos of the tree’s moving branches. At last, all of them were out.
Silently, with the occasional cry and whimper from Peter, they trampled through the grounds and halted just where the Castle was in view.
Remus detached him and Ron from Peter, helping Ron sit down while keeping his wand on Peter. “Let’s take a break,” Remus said, to which a grateful Ron nodded.
Sirius dropped Snape down carelessly. Harry and Hermione rushed to Ron, joining him on the floor and asking him if his leg was alright.
“So.” Sirius said seriously, looking at Y/N.
She still had her arms crossed over her chest defensively, before letting them down to grab one of Remus’ hands. She raised her eyebrows.
“How much more innocent do I have to be proven to get a hug from an old friend?” Sirius said, spreading his arms wide open.
Y/N smiled slightly, dropping Remus’ hand and slowly walking up to Sirius. She raised her arms, letting Sirius engulf her in a warm embrace, finally relaxing for the first time tonight. “God, it’s been so long.” She sighed.
They separated and Y/N fought back tears as she cupped his face, taking the time to have a proper look at him. “You’re so thin now.” She whispered sadly, brushing her thumbs along his cheekbones which cut right through from underneath his thin layer of skin.
“And you’re beautiful as always.”
Remus watched them with endearment pouring out of his eyes.
“What more do we not know about them?” Ron whispered to Harry and Hermione with a puzzled expression as they watched the unusual reunion unfold in front of them.
“You’re gonna be free now.” Y/N smiled. “You’ll be able to eat whatever you want again. Fill these cheeks out.”
“I’m free.” Sirius chuckled loosely. Y/N nodded, doing the same as a tear threatened to spill. He laughed more loudly now, beckoning Remus to join them.
“FREE!” Sirius shouted, jumping up and down, then squeezing his two friends against him.
“Whoa-“ Y/N said, “o-okay.” She pulled away from them. “Careful”, and she reflexively placed her hand defensively over her stomach. Her jaw dropped as she remembered.
“You okay?” Remus eyed her with slight concern.
Y/N’s eyes widened as her mouth hung open, moving but unable to get any words out. Sirius’ eyes darted between the two, looking for clues on what was going on all of a sudden.
“I’m…” Y/N managed to say. “I’m…” She looked down at her hand and looked back up at Remus. Comprehension dawned on him and he covered his mouth, gasping.
“Are you…”
Y/N nodded furiously, heavy tears spilling out. “Remus, I’m pregnant, I took a test literally earlier tonight— I had forgotten, with everything that’s happened after— but I forgot, and it’s really early, but I was feeling off and so I did the test and—“
It was like all the words that had failed her just prior all fought their way out at the same time. Remus let out a scream that could only be described as close to a joyful howl and ran to her. He dropped to his knees, wrapping his arms around her and pressing his cheek on her stomach.
“Are you really?” Remus whispered for only her to hear, searching her eyes intensely through his own glossy ones, as if confirmation of the truth was hidden somewhere under her pupils.
Y/N nodded, smiling, eyes absolutely sparkling as she cradled his head. She burst into happy tears as Remus’ eyes welled up. For the next minute, all they could do was let out disbelieving gasps as words began to fail them. He stood up, wrapping her in his arms.
They hid their faces into each other’s necks, crying softly into each other. “I love you,” Remus said into her hair.
“I love you too,” she whispered back.
“Holy shit…” Sirius stumbled slightly at the news. 
“It’s still really early,” Y/N said, finally pulling away from Remus, but unable to keep herself from smiling ear to ear.
“I’m…” Sirius whispered. He took both of their hands.
He was unable to finish his sentence but Remus and Y/N knew what he meant by the expression in his eyes and simply returned the silent sentiment. 
“Thank you.” Remus said quietly at his friend, squeezing his hand.
“C-Congratulations Professor Y/N.” Hermione said shyly, afraid to intrude on this incredibly intimate moment. The three of them had just been watching silently from the side until now. Well, somewhat silently, if you excluded Peter’s muffled whines that he let out once in a while. “And Professor Lupin.”
“Thank you, Hermione.” Y/N said warmly. She read her nervous, unsure body language and beckoned her over, wrapping a protective arm around Hermione’s shoulders.
Sirius took a few steps back, turning to face the open air where the Castle stood proud in the dark distance. 
Harry glanced at Ron and Peter, who sat immobile on the ground and inched closer to Sirius. The older man saw him approach.
“In all its’ glory, eh?” He turned back to the castle. Harry nodded. “God, it hasn’t changed one bit. Not from here, at least.”
Harry observed him. Almost longingly. In the span of a few hours, the image of him had completely changed in his mind. He wanted to know so much more. There was so much to ask.
"You know what this means?" Black said abruptly to Harry. “Me being free?" 
“You can eat all you want now?” Harry joked. Black chuckled, glancing back at Remus and Y/N, who had taken a seat alongside the others. Remus couldn’t take his hand off Y/N’s belly.
"Yes...," said Black. "But I'm also — I don't know if anyone ever told you — I'm your godfather." 
"Yeah, I knew that," said Harry. 
"Well... your parents appointed me your guardian," said Black stiffly. "If anything happened to them..." 
Harry waited.
"I'll understand, of course, if you want to stay with your aunt and uncle," said Black. "But... well... think about it. Once my name's cleared... if you wanted a... a different home..." 
Some sort of explosion took place upon Harry’s expression. 
"What — live with you?" he said. "Leave the Dursleys?" 
"Of course, I thought you wouldn't want to," said Black quickly. "I understand, I just thought I'd —" 
"Are you insane?" said Harry, his voice easily as croaky as Black's. 
"Of course I want to leave the Dursleys! Have you got a house? When can I move in?" 
Black turned right around to look at him.
"You want to?" he said. "You mean it?”
 "Yeah, I mean it!" said Harry. 
Black's gaunt face broke into the first true smile where the joy reached his eyes as well. The difference it made was startling, as though a person ten years younger were shining through the starved mask; for a moment, he was recognizable as the man who had laughed at Harry's parents' wedding. 
Sirius looked at Harry as if he were his own son, but feeling slightly awkward, extended out his arm and pat the boy on the shoulder stiffly. 
Y/N was watching the scene unfold between the two from her spot on the ground. Tears were rolling down her cheek, fast and hot. In that moment, hope filled up the chests of Y/N, Remus, Sirius, and Harry. It felt, it almost felt… like the future had a glimmer of a chance of having family in it.
Remus took notice, and wiped her cheeks dry with the back of his fingers. He took her hand, and squeezed it reassuringly. He was still crying himself, at the news that he was going to be a father.
His gaze was rested upon her face and while Y/N’s originally was too, her eyes shifted. They shifted to the sky behind him. A cloud had just cleared, and the night seemed to brighten a tad more.
She dropped his hand. The corners of her lips dropped.
Her face was now fully bathed in moonlight and Remus snapped his head back to see the full moon emerging into the sky. He went rigid.
“He didn’t take his potion tonight!” Hermione gasped.
“Sirius.” Y/N said, deadpan, not taking her eyes off Remus.
Sirius whipped his head around and froze. “Run.”
When Harry didn’t move the second he was told to, Sirius repeated it, and pushed him down the grass to where Ron and Hermione were. “RUN!”
Remus began to shake and Y/N jumped to her feet, but Sirius burst between them. “Leave it to me.” He said.
Sirius attempted to drag Remus’ transforming body away from the others as Y/N clutched onto Hermione and Harry’s shoulders tightly. “You guys need to run, okay?” She said, hands shaking in her grip as she nudged them in the Castle’s direction opposite from Sirius and Remus. “Ron, can you get up—“
She turned her attention to Ron on the floor, and squatted in attempt to help him get to his feet. “Oh, fucking hell—“ She cried at Snape’s unconscious body. She bent over him, slapping him multiple times on the face. “Wake up, wake up, wake up.”
There was a terrible snarling noise. Lupin's head was lengthening. So was his body. His shoulders were hunching. Hair was sprouting visibly on his face and hands, which were curling into clawed paws. As the werewolf reared, snapping its long jaws, Sirius disappeared from Harry's eyeline. He had transformed. The enormous, bearlike dog bounded forward onto the wolf. They were locked, jaw to jaw, claws ripping at each other. 
Harry, Ron and Hermione stood, transfixed by the sight, too intent upon the battle to notice anything else. Peter, who was still tied up, was inching his fingers near Remus’ wand, which had fallen onto the ground not more than a few inches away from him. He squirmed through his ties and… BANG! Light flashed once he got his hands on it and he was free from the restraints. 
“EXPELLIARMUS!” Harry pointed his wand, but it was too late— Peter had transformed into a rat and scurried off in the dark patches of grass. “Y/N, he escaped!”
“Fuck.” Y/N said, giving up on reanimating Snape. She rose to her feet, looking out for the rat, when another sound from afar caught her attention.
Yelping, whining… a dog in pain. A small thud of its body hitting the ground. Then, a howl and rumbling growl. Heavy paws running, and getting louder. The werewolf was headed back towards them. 
Y/N looked between the spot where Peter had disappeared and the three kids. There was no decision to make. 
“GO!” She yelled at them. “DON’T COME THIS WAY.”
And with a crack, she transformed into a dove and flapped her wings to get height. She whistled, getting the wolf’s attention, and soared through the sky, leading him straight into the Forbidden Forest.
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formosusiniquis · 1 year
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In a turn of events surprising exactly no one among the group, it's Dustin's who starts the whole thing. He calls a formal party meeting, and an hour after the message goes out over the walkie Steve has a living room full of anxious freshman and Eddie Munson -- and him and Robin who are mostly there because the meeting had to be held at Steve's house for some reason.
Dustin's sense of dramatics have come to rival Eddie's, and he waits until they're all seated before he even bothers coming out from where he hid himself with a manilla folder under one arm and the only white sheet in Steve's house, that had definitely come from off of his parent's bed, under the other. He doesn't say a word as he throws the sheet over the entertainment center and comes back again wheeling in an overhead projector. Steve can still faintly make out O'Donnell written on the side. "I'm sure you're wondering why I've gathered you all here today," Dustin punctuated his sentence with the heavy click of the projector being switched on.
The fan doesn't drown out the screaming from the crowd.
"You made it sound like an emergency."
"How did you get that here?"
"How did you get it at all?"
"Please," Dustin interrupts, "save all questions for the end." From his manilla folder he slaps a pre-written laminate down on the light table. Projecting, enlarged for everyone to see, 'Why Lucien is secretly the big bad of the whole campaign: a presentation by Dustin Henderson."
"This is the lamest reason for petty theft ever." Eddie gripes. Clearly more upset than Henderson had actually figured the plot twist out, Steve remembers how proud of himself he'd been when he talked himself through it weeks ago.
"Did you help him do this?" Steve asks, afraid of the answer. 
"Obviously not, why would I spoil my own-"
"The projector, Eddie."
"I mean barely, I was more of a getaway driver. Really, if she wanted to keep her projector she shouldn't have moved it out into the hallway so they could wax the floors. I didn't know he was going to use it for evil."
Henderson clears his throat, a disgusting phlegmy hem-hem, "If you're going to talk through the presentation, you'll be asked to leave."
The attitude on the kid, really.
It becomes a thing after that. Steve already has the projector, it's not like he can bring it back to the highschool. What would he even say, 'Sorry about the confusion, my overhead projector looks just like this one.' When there's nothing good at Family Video to rent or it's raining too hard to use the pool, they'll all go to different corners of the house with a stack of ten laminate sheets, a wet erase marker, and a vague theme. Then they come back and share what they've come up with.
The group is incapable of not instigating some kind of competition, at the end of the night they'd fight and argue over whose presentation was best. Steve participated half the time, but more often than not let himself be talked into playing referee to make sure no one's feelings got too hurt. On those nights he'd add onto Robin's. His favorite: why star trek is better than star wars (with footnotes from Steve)
It's at least twice as gay, kirk and spock are basically alien married and uhura definitely had a thing for spock's wife. All star wars has is the robots and they're barely main characters.
Steve note: Spock's half-vulcan status can be looked at the same as being bi or genderqueer, not feeling like you belong right in either half of your identity cause you aren't enough of one or the other -- Luke is just a twink with a nice wardrobe.
The Party could argue about anything, but Steve wasn't exactly surprised when the young adults got in on the fun too. The projector didn't usually come out until they were all drunk or stoned enough to admit that they had been waiting all night to make their presentations. Unlike the kids who mostly treat the games like debate team: who's the most powerful fictional character, what's the best PC class, what character from star wars would survive the Upside Down (he thought Erica's presentation: why the my little ponies could take down tiamat but wouldn't because they're too civilized, was especially inspired). The older teens treated it more like an amped up game of truth or dare, making up things that someone else in the group should have to do and encouraging the rest of the group to join in too.
They started the night off with Argyle's "Why Steve should give me his secret brownie recipe" which turned out to be mostly about how good they would taste as weed brownies and Eddie and Jon were quick to join his side.
They go around like that advocating for bad decisions like consequences don't exist, like they could be kids again. Robin thinks they should get tattoos, Steve is easily swayed. Jon proposes a road trip back to California. Nancy says they should all move to Boston with her. Eddie thinks the core four should start a band. Steve waits for his turn.
Steve has had his pages written and waiting for days. He knows exactly how long it takes his friends every time they meet to get wasted enough to give in to the temptation to wheel out his contraband projector. Once Robin is finished shouting at Eddie about how they're the only ones with any musical gifts he takes his turn.
"Why Eddie Munson should go out with me: a presentation by Steve Harrington."
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daresplaining · 8 days
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opinions on the red fist saga? :0
Resoundingly negative, unfortunately. I actually only just read it, because I was having a rough time with it while the issues were coming out and so decided to put it off until I was in a better headspace for it (or until I saw a preview for an issue that excited me and gave me the motivation to catch up, which is what happened with next week's anthology issue).
As I said, I disliked this story very much, so if you aren't interested in hearing me rant (perfectly fine! I wouldn't blame you!), read no further. I really hope you liked it. I really don't want to get you down if you did. This whole run was just the epitome of Not For Me.
Ahem.
The "Red Fist Saga" is, in my opinion, a flimsy "Shadowland" knock-off, centered around the abrasive, moralizing religious zealot who has been inhabiting Matt Murdock's body for the past few years. Elektra Natchios, an incredibly complex character whom I love dearly, had her backstory savaged to remove its autonomy and complexity (that's a rant for another post...) and exists in this story as an accessory to this Matt look-alike and as a handy target of his moralizing (at one point he comes to the revelation that this recent journey she has been on has been worthwhile because it was all about God saving her from her wicked ways!!, at which point I may have blacked out from rage for a few seconds). Matt and Elektra GET MARRIED, and the implications of this massive shift in their relationship are not explored at all. And phew...the less said about Sam Chung's single scene, the better. As was true throughout Zdarsky's entire run, Matt speaks and thinks in this story like he is reading a prepared speech at all times, making grand-yet-hollow pronouncements about the nature of good and evil. He doesn't sound like a real person, but rather like a robot that has been fed a steady diet of religious texts, along with a few surface-level social/systemic reform concepts. His personality consists of being alternately sad, angry, and making lofty proclamations about "fighting evil in the service of God's plan", and I just have no emotional investment in that. I'm not Catholic (and neither, until recently, was Matt Murdock, making this whole thing profoundly weird).
There were some cool elements to this story. I'm a huge Stick fan and I'm thrilled that he is finally back from the dead after all these years. I love Stilt-Man. I love Speed Demon (for some real Speed Demon goodness, go read Superior Foes of Spider-Man, one of my favorite comics of all time). Foggy had a few good panels. I got to read Milla's name; always a treat. Kirsten didn't actually die. Mike was...mentioned (I've already griped about his death; I won't do it again here). The twist that Foggy and Stick were actually already dead was effective and very cool and I didn't see it coming at all, so I will give full credit for that. And I'm someone who genuinely does enjoy Hand shenanigans. I love that stuff when it's done well. But the degree to which I could not stand this new Matt and did not care what happened to him or what he was doing, plus the fact that I had seen all of these plot points executed already, and better, by previous Daredevil teams, meant that this story was just a protracted slog through painful writing, past scene after scene that could have been so much better in the hands of a different creative team or centered around a version of Matt Murdock who was actually a compelling protagonist.
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whoreforall · 9 months
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DECISIONS PT. TWO
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tw: kidnapping
*present time*
me and bill are sitting in the hotel room on my bed which is of course near the window. georg left a few minutes ago and always gets super awkward around me. and bill thinks it's because he likes me. in fact that is what he's talking about right now. "y/n you can't deny it any longer! georg has a thing for you!" he whisper yells. "how come you always deny it!" he shakes his head smiling.
"maybe i don't want that to be true because i don't think of him that way." i raised my brows and smiled. bill dramatically gasped. "PLOT TWIST!" he shouts excitedly. "you like someone else." he pointed his finger in my face with a smirk. "who is it. you have to tell me." he sits up straight as i bring my knees to my chest. "no i do not!" i deny his accusations.
"don't lie to me. i'm your bestfriend, acting like i don't know you." he cocked a brow. i felt my face heat up. "no i do not!" i let myself fall onto my back, knees still up. "we aren't supposed to keep things like that from each other." he crossed his arms and gave me a joking dirty look. i laughed at him and sat up. "well i've had a thing for this guy for a little over a year now-" bill cut me off "WHAT!" his jaw dropped open.
"HOW HAVE YOU NOT TOLD ME THIS?!" his eyes widened. "i can't! you know the person. i'd hate myself forever if you knew." i put my hands to my face feeling guilty. "so it has to be someone we both know... and you don't know many people." bill said making me look up. "i only haven't told you because of who it is and now i feel like a middle schooler talking about crushes." i giggled. "well if we sound like middle schoolers so be it. i'm invested. WAIT!" he cut through his thoughts.
"IS IT? NOOOOOO- NO WAY" he laughed hysterically. he laughed for a while making me nervous that he was thinking right. "if i'm right about this i'll make fun of your forever." he said finally calming down. "is it my brother?" he smirked. my heart rate tripled out of no where and my face felt like it was in flames. "i'm right!" he smiled excitedly.
"you were scared to tell me about that for the wrong reason. i don't give two shits if you like him. but i will say you know how my brother has been. he has slept with alot of woman and you are so anti- people to have even lost your virginity." bill chuckles and i smile. "i just didn't think you would like the idea of me being interested in him. i thought it would cause a problem in our friendship and i value our friendship more then your dumbass brother." i giggled.
"he is pretty dumb. always has been. he's always been weird towards you though, like just mean for no reason." he shook his head. "i know i don't even get it. which is also why i don't get how i like him." i shook my head to myself. "who knows. he barely says anything to you and when he does it's always insulting. he's a jerk." bill rolled his eyes. "but i'm also excited about the idea of this." a sly smile formed on his face.
"think about it... we are really close, basically siblings. if you guys got together you would be my sister in law!" he said and started doing a lil dance. i laughed as he did so. "that's only if i got married to him." i said. "married, dating, not dating whateverrrrr. still your my sister." he smiled. "alright brother. well this is your last day of touring and you've got 2 hours before it's starts. better get dressed before the van gets here." after i said that bill stood up and sighed.
"show time!" he said in a sing-songy voice and rushed over to his suitcase, pulling out his outfit before rushing to the bathroom. i smiled to myself and went on my phone. after a little while of scrolling through tiktok there was a knock on the hotel door. i looked up groaning as i got off the bed. i walked to the door and before i could say anything the person on the other side said "it's tom." i opened the door and stepped to the side letting him walk in. he looked at me for a second before looking ahead and walking.
such a boujie ass hotel and they don't even have the peep hole for me to see who's there. such bullshit. once he was far enough in i closed the door. and followed him before returning to my spot on the bed. tom sat on bills bed, "where's bill?" he asked as i picked up my phone. "bathroom" i responded quickly and went back into tiktok. he didn't respond and looked over toward the bathroom waiting. once bill came out and walked over, tom stood up.
"the van is here we gotta go." tom said as he walked past his brother patting his shoulder as he did so. "ok one second." bill said grabbing his phone off the charger before following. "BYE Y/N! I SHALL RETURN!" he laughed. i smiled and said goodbye aswell before the door closed.
i turned my phone off and watched some tv. after a few hours i fell asleep. the sound of knocking woke me up and i sat up rubbing my face. "it's tom!" he yelled outside of the door. i walked over opening it and saw two men. "see i told you she would be here." one of them spoke. my eyes widened and before i could close the door they walked inside. one grabbed me and the other closed the door.
he forced me over to the bed and as i started screaming for him to let go he covered my mouth. my eyes shot wide open once again. my back hit roughly against the bed and the man straddled my lap keeping his hand over my mouth. i felt tears quickly fill my eyes. the other man came into my view and i looked between the two. i was so scared i physically felt it. before i knew it i was shaking.
"open the bag fucking idiot!" the man above me urged the other. the other man set a duffel bag beside me and opened it. he quickly pulled a roll of duct tape out and handed it to the man above me. my muffled cries were heard making them look at me again. the man pulled at the tape with his teeth before the other took it and ripped it off. he removed his hand but put the tape over my mouth.
he slid his hand over it to make sure it was secure and patted the side of my face with a smile. i took my hand and punched the guy above in the dick making him fall over, as i sat up to try and run the other one shoved me back to sit on the bed. he grabbed my hands and put them behind my back. the guy i punched was groaning and holding his crotch. i felt the duct tape wrap around my wrists.
"fucking bitch!" i heard the man groan in pain. after he recovered he stood infront of me. "you better hope they care about you. cause you'll get to live." he shoved me with his pointer finger. "and we will get our money." he smiled pulling his hand away from my chest. he knelt down and the other man handed him the tape which he used to restrain my ankles. i should've fucking kicked him in the face. as he stood up the door opened and in walked bill and the rest of the band.
my terrified eyes were met with bills shocked ones. tom reacted before my brain could fully process the situation unfolding. he lunged at the guy behind me and began repeatedly punching him in the face. i looked over at gustav and georg to see georg already on the phone with security. the other man went to go get bill but security barged inside tackling the man. this is when i realized i was hyperventilating but didn't care about that.
so much happening at once... the other ones pulled tom off, who i didn't realize was still going at it, before pulling the beaten man up. he was unconscious. tom pulled his attention to me and ripped the tape off of my mouth making me wince. "y/n? hey stay with me." i felt my eyes getting heavy. i was so panicked. his voice sounded fainter until he shook me. suddenly i was wide awake and not so drowsy.
tom looked in the duffel bag and grabbed a knife from it. he cut the tape off of my wrists first then my ankles. i looked up seeing security had cuffed the men and were walking out with them. i felt tom press against me and looked down at his shoulder. he was holding me tight, rubbing my back. i felt like i could breath properly again. i looked over and saw another security guard speaking to bill, georg, and gustav. i put my attention back to the hug.
my hands went up, holding tom close. it really happened so fast...
and this is the day that everything changed.
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suzannahnatters · 4 months
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My final Love Like the Galaxy reaccs!!! the tl;dr:  I loved it and it's the sort of show that probably demands to be seen twice because TWISTS and HINDSIGHT so IDK, one day maybe! Anyway it's either on Viki or on YouTube for anyone who wants to see what happens when Jane Austen comedy of manners meets The Count of Monte Cristo, but, like, in Ancient China, featuring an epic romance between a naive sledgehammer engineer girl and the terrifying murder general who cannot help looking utterly besotted with her every time she drifts past: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZZZLpfFwcBprNI6msl3NWt3pdX6F-eGs And now: for the reaccs for episodes 43-56, including the famous Murder Party (TM), check under the cut!!!
If Yang Yang ends up with Smug Scholar instead of her sweet little marquis I WILL throw things (thankfully, the sweet little marquis is getting actual screentime with her)
oh I LOVE this: the Empress apologises to Consort Yue for stealing her husband, and Consort Yue points out that if it's anyone's fault it's the Emperor's, and why should the Empress apologise? it's the little things, you know?!
I love that in amongst all this scowly strategising and betrayal and people's families in mortal danger…there's a whole running joke about whether the armour Niao Niao made her beloved makes him look more like a chicken or a mandarin duck
cdramas asking the real questions
wow they really kept like 90% of the action budget for this episode and money well spent say I
once again murder general is rushing off to save our girl, only this time he guesses precisely where she is and what she's doing, and knows she's probably doing a great job of it :')
GASP we are suspicious of Elder Brother Snacks now???
I've got a bad feeling about him and the crown princess turning out to be bad eggs - almost as though we're building up to a BIG BETRAYAL between our babies
Wan QiQi swaggering into prison in a wedding dress is the energy I aspire to
Hmm… Lou Ben feels very very foreshadowy of an obsessive man making a self destructive choice to grab what he wants no matter how it hurts the woman he loves
All the foreshadowing is REALLY mounting up now - Snacks still caring about NN but not wanting to see her after what she's done, NN observing of another couple that they were birds on the same tree but flew apart when trouble came
Anyway we are all headed for a heck of a third act breakup aren't we
is zisheng,,, allergic to almonds
what an absolutely bonkers twist
poor little Wang Ling! how terrible does her family have to be that she is trying to save her murderous traitor of an elderly husband, just because he treated her better than anyone else in her life?
"he even had a flower garden planted in my courtyard to please me, although he has life-threatening asthma! which means that he can't visit me very often! he's the best husband, Niao Niao!" okay Mrs Charlotte Collins
"Cheng Shaoshang, it seems you really don't know anything about Ling Zisheng" OOOOOOHH
Smug Scholar: a voice of reason. a stickler by the rules. an indefatigable drama queen who is quite ready to beg murder general to go right ahead, be his guest, do crime, because then Smug might get to marry Niao Niao instead
torture is always wrong, revenge kids! that said, it's very funny that murder general has been busy with hot iron and boiling oil all night and found out nothing, while NN has put herself fully abreast of the situation armed with nothing more than…a conversation with a female acquaintance
"wait - all that stuff you did in my name was ALSO in pursuit of your revenge plot? who are you really?" this show keeps serving the best stuff
matching bite marks on the arm is a way cooler idea than matching tattoos tbh
why are you not telling her, zisheng, she already knows!!!
she's sworn up and down (with bitten arms!) that she won't mind, it's keeping this from her that she can't forgive, get a clue!!!!!
ooooo - we have been cordially invited to a MURDER PARTY love the gearchange from Jane Austen Romcom to Jacobean Revenge Tragedy
OK LET'S GO, WHERE'S THAT MURDER PARTY I WAS PROMISED
Glad that we were given this scene of Marquis Chengyang being delusional and Chunyu being Justly Terrified that the young man obsessed with revenge has finally agreed to come to his father's birthday party, it doesn't quite explain how nobody realises this is Very Bad News but at least lampshades it
Since filial piety is the norm in this society, I guess it's hard for the elders to realise just how at risk they are from someone unfilial!
I LOVE that Chunyu (sp? the stepmother) gets a whole speech to point out the hypocrisy of HER continually bearing the blame of "climbing into the master's bed" after so many ppl in the show have ridiculed her for it as though it wasn't a decision made by the marquis
oooooooooooohhh this is amazing: Yang Yang is disturbed that NN's farewell before the wedding sounds like she doesn't ever intend to return home. and from NN's response, she KNOWS murder general is about to do something crazy and is fully prepared to suffer the consequences alongside him
it's…really amazing that during the stretch of the cdrama when the male lead traditionally starts Machinating and Scheming and lying to the female lead about it, THIS show keeps the heroine's agency intact, she sees right through his lies, she is still front and centre. Chef's kiss.
she knows where it's happening; she knowns when it's happening; she's sending someone for news. she's amazing and so are these writers.
meanwhile: murder general refusing to enlighten the marquis as to his true identity is Irene of Athens-level pettiness and I love it
the way this show keeps this whole episode focused on the story's main character even though she has little to do with -
oh wait never mind she has decided to involve herself anyway!!! now we get the entire Cheng family charging into battle? with NN at their head on a black horse? EPIC?????
well THAT was the best of Jacobean revenge tragedy
shocked to discover that Zisheng has Always Known who was really behind the fall of the lone city - he's just been quietly, methodically working through the destruction of all the perpetrators, COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO style
I love a protagonist who holds cards so close to his chest that not even the audience knows what's going on
more than that, it really adds nuance to the show's themes about revenge. Sometimes the system is broken, & even in a good system people will sometimes get away with murder. What to do then?
I can't support the vindictiveness of the leads (& I'm not sure I'm meant to) but as revenge plots go, I like the weightiness of the themes - how to fight for yourself in a world where laws and manners tell you you shouldn't? - better than Dumas' more superficial take.
where did these two henchmen come from, because they are NOT being paid enough to be part of this absolute disaster
also WHEE Niao Niao gets to swoop in and save HIM for once! Well done our girl!
oh what an idiot. what an absolute peanut.
I was pulling for you, murder general, but I'm not sure how you'll manage to come back from doing the One Thing (abandoning her) she asked you not to do
she's still calling him by his false name T_T
something something she only ever knew him by his false name and identity not his true one
moment of silence, please, I'm experiencing an emotion
well, duh - of COURSE Third Prince is here to collect NN to go help him plead for murder general, who has obviously been quietly helping him all along. even better: we don't know if NN is just figuring this out now or has known it for months but she understands it perfectly, just like we do, the moment she sees Third Prince's face
!!! murder general has been deceiving everyone in so many other ways too???????
it's not just that he knew all along who was responsible for the lone city's fall and has just been working silently to gather evidence on them: he ALSO has been playing four dimensional speed chess with palace politics, supporting a totally different faction to the one he was supposed to be aligned with?
IT WAS HIM IN THE PAGODA ALL ALONG????
I just love the sort of character who plays certain things SO close to the chest while also being utterly open and vulnerable about certain other things. like, as long as we trust their judgement for hiding the certain things and know it's not for purposes of control. and while NN does interpret his secretiveness as control, due to her upbringing, it's also easy in hindsight to see things from zisheng's POV: he is playing not one but several high stakes political games, treading a tightrope between the prince he is supposed to be supporting versus the prince who would clearly be a better choice, and now suddenly thrown into the middle of all this is a naive and well-meaning sledgehammer fiancee who is an absolute force of nature but who is not yet quite insightful enough to see and understand where the deep waters run; she's simply driven by personal loyalty to protect her empress' son. and she keeps forcing choices on him: protect her, or serve the Third Prince? and he makes tremendous sacrifices, as with the Tiger Tally, to save both of them. so is he going to take the risk and tell her and trust in her, or is he going to keep her in the dark just about this, until the game is over (it's so close to being over) and he can be as candid about these things as he can be about everything else?
but at the same time, he was so frustrated with her for not being candid with him, for not telling him when the mean girls tried to KILL her, for lying to him about choosing to help the crown prince - he should have known better than to reproach her about this when he was doing exactly the same things to her all along.
I love that the show just doesn't support him in this. for two people who both say they want to work as a team, these two both spend an awful lot of time keeping things from each other. and it's only after going away and thinking about it that I start to see his side of the story at all, because she is so totally front-and-centred in the way the story is told.
oh wow - now she gets a whole speech and thesis statement about how just because she's a woman she shouldn't be shut out of her husband's confidence, and ends: "Ling Buyi is my most beloved person in the world. But I am still me."
I love this show so much
It's really wild that murder general, who everyone knows went on a murderous rampage to kill the entire Ling clan, goes from being condemned to death to the apple of the emperor's eye based on his surname changing
no doubt it's historically accurate and murder uncle, at least, deserved it - but for me it's just another sign of how irretrievably this system is broken, that bloodline so clearly outweighs right and wrong.
I'll be chewing over the question of whether this last-minute aversion of filial impiety ("it's ok! he was doing it to avenge his REAL father!") undermines NN's previous point about the right to filial reverence depends on a parent's conduct, or whether it's an author's saving throw to secure a HEA
"but I can never forgive him for abandoning me - he even swore it was for my sake" aha! How To Critique The Break Her Heart To Save Her Trope (Without Actually Using The Trope??????) this show didn't HAVE to hunt down and kill every bad Asian drama romance trope like this but is that stopping it? no
Empress telling NN that whatever decision she makes, she will support her in - hits like a punch because the only person who's told her this till now is murder general. On the other hand it is comforting, and underlines the themes of NN being a whole person without him, bc she still has love and support!
as an aside, I also like how the show has handled NN's terrible parents. by the end of the show, she's fought for, and won, their respect and support, & has come to understand the pressures they are under. but she will never love them the way she loves the Empress, bc they haven't earned that love. I feel this consolidates the filial piety critique.
we finally get to hear murder general's side of the story - and it's fascinating to hear him say that he failed. he did everything to bring ling yi to justice - and couldn't. the murder party was his failure.
I'm finding the murder party less problematic at this point than the Censorate beating
whoah, the empress is sailing in to admit that she spoiled her children until they were useless, so she's not upset about the crown prince being demoted? seems a rather unfortunate theme if children are only ever bad because of bad parenting
NN still taking absolutely no prisoners in the romance, though: "oh, I understand you perfectly. the problem is that you never understood ME" that's quite a burn
The Empress is now requesting to be deposed, and it's a complicated scene - is she blaming herself, or voicing regrets? I think she's regretting not fighting for herself: as she points out, her accepting a menage a trois has not spoiled Consort Yue's life so much as it has spoiled her own chance at love.
while the show has sometimes been finger-wagging, it's saved here bc she also blames the Emperor for going along with the flow, too, and tamely accepting a three-way marriage.
meanwhile at home, everyone's like "Niao Niao is so mature now!" and I'm sitting here like NO SHE'S NOT, SHE'S HAD ALL THE HAPPINESS CRUSHED OUT OF HER and…….along comes Not-Quite-So-Bad-Mum to say that precise thing, and confess to having been wrong all along???? This show just keeps hitting.
Love that NN's 3rd brother is completely on her side at this moment. he understands the assignment ("break up with murder general and send him away with a flea in his ear") and executes it with prejudice.
oh…mum has repented too late. I'm not sorry for her, but I AM sorry for the way NN chooses to spend the next forever - when there were so many things she wanted to see and do!
and now: five years' worth of mutual pining in excruciatingly aesthetic slomo, thank you
meanwhile everyone in the Cheng family is getting married? Yang Yang is getting married? Mum's warrior maid is getting married? Good for you warrior maid!
Smug Scholar, otoh, has remained UNmarried for our girl, and I actually love the choice he's presenting her - NN doesn't much care who she marries if it's a business arrangement; she just won't marry the man she loves knowing he was willing to lie to her and abandon her
is it really weird that I suddenly want to write the story about the coldly pragmatic fake marriage of convenience between NN and Smug Scholar
!!!! she IS going to get engaged to him??? murder general is going to come back from five years of picturesquely scruffy suffering to find her engaged to Smug Scholar??!?!?!!!??!
oh this will be GOOD
"thanks, but I can ride without stirrups these days" I love that this show is allowing the heroine to establish a life of her own apart from the hero - they have to be complete on their own before they can be good for each other.
and now: a break from reality for an absolutely bonkers carriage chase, which, because this is a cdrama, comes complete with one of the parties trying to extort a proposal of marriage from the person chasing them
I swear this is the third time this exact same cliff has cropped up in this show, one would think that people would know better than to gallop madly down the DEAD END CLIFF ROAD
Empress pays her last respects to the emperor: "I know that if it wasn't for Emperor Li's tyranny you would have asked nothing more than to live a simple life" LIESSSS this man requires a constant stream of drama to live, how would he have survived as a gentleman farmer?
"if you are truly filial, don't exchange your life for mine. Live well." while this show has come down in the end in favour of filial piety, I think that for the most part it keeps filial piety where it belongs: subordinate to ethics - and that's something I can get behind.
With NN decided that murder general is not the man for her and murder general determined to accept her decision, I really don't see how this will get believably sorted out in the next…3 eps. Bc she's absolutely right, he had his chance and he blew it. That said, I was really worried the show would blame her for being unreasonable, but only the recent antagonist has done that
even NN's mother is now telling him: we don't need you to perform guilt for us, we also had our chance with NN and blew it, now we can only defer to her conscience AND YOU SHOULD TOO
so, I guess we're headed for an "undeserved grace" ending, and I hope they make it a convincing one and not cheap, bc it's too late to show him doing any work to prove his repentance.
oh I love this scene: she tells him she forgives him but cannot trust him, and he without defending himself, vows to live well and take care of himself (because quietly protecting the people she cares about is the one last thing he can do for her)
and he won't ever tell her that he's been doing this because he knows it would only make her despise him more!!!
time for the bad family to apologise, the grandmother in particular for trying to control her children, and Niao Niao to decide no longer to carry resentment, but to dwell on the people who love her instead
I love that the themes have largely to do with resisting control, even when it's from family members, and fighting for yourself. Even more, I love that the highest expression of this theme comes in the trust there's supposed to be between husband and wife. Sometimes, lack of communication IS an attempt at control - although on thinking it over I'm not sure it always has been that on murder general's side. but if there's one thing the past five years must have taught him, it's that he's going to have to be be particularly open with this particular woman, because her family HAS tried so hard to be controlling in the past, and she can't take even the appearance of it from him.
somehow, yet another of NN's old enemies has an overly complicated plan to kill her sigh
loving how murder general jumps into this trap and promptly becomes useless and it's time for the lil henchmen to save the day
stop shouting his name and figure out how to open the trapdoors Niao Niao, smoke inhalation is no joke
murder general looks amazing for someone who was just blown up
TEARFUL RECONCILIATION SCENE
ahaha Snacks has fallen in love with his wife, we love to see it
Smug Scholar, meanwhile (exact words): are you all done flaunting your love?
EXPLODING PICKLES
flailing I love it NN is deploying her secret weapon….the family Cheng
"you can't be in two places at once, General!"
maybe not, but wifey and he can
"i'd like to see who interferes with my best granddaughter's marriage!"
*smash cut to the emperor having a hissyfit because he can't interfere with the marriage *
it's over? pokes couch cushions for spare episodes
OK I LOVED that murder general's grand gesture in the final ep comes in the form of a dilemma. should he go rescue his beloved as everyone is telling him - or should he stay on task, submit to everyone's ridicule for not protecting his woman, and risk her thinking he's abandoned her again?
his answer shows that at last, he has come to truly understand her (five years after she told him he'd never understood her). it's not physical abandonment she truly fears. what she fears is not being trusted & allowed to act as his equal. So he leaves her to protect Guo village while he stays on HIS task. His grand gesture, after so many rescues, is not to rescue her at all.
SCREAMING at that moment when Third Prince is like, seriously, mate, you'd better not abandon her! she needs help!!! go on I'll be fine!! and Zisheng VISIBLY WAVERS and then pulls himself together and shouts GUO VILLAGE HAS NIAO NIAO! GUO VILLAGE WILL BE FINE!!!
since the root of the contention between them was always him not treating her as an equal, this is probably the best proof of change we could get in the screentime. and the show is very insistent to tell us that if NN bends to take him back, it's because it's what SHE wants, not bc she can't survive without him.
the show does give her that moment of fright during the explosion to rush her past her abandonment issues, but since the real issue was always about control, I can make my peace with it. Similarly, she taught him a 5-year lesson about not consulting her. He knows - & her family makes it explicit - that he can never pull something like this again.
final overall thoughts: I have rarely seen such a well done romance in Asian drama, especially cdrama. The show was long & got repetitive, especially in the 2nd half, even though it had some of my favourite stretches as NN starts fighting for respect & equality within her marriage.
The themes about family, state, and fighting for oneself got fingerwaggy at a lot of points, many side characters were brutally humiliated and many of the numerous female characters became nonsensically villainous just to give NN antagonists. So, I would say the show is quite flawed.
that said, what this show does well, it does SO WELL. I was absolutely invested in this romance to an extent that is very rare for me. I was delighted by the way the show critiques asian romance tropes, there's a wonderful Dumas-level revenge plot, the fight scenes while rare are terrific, the show remains laser focused on its female protagonist all the way to the end, and if you are not delighted by the utterly besotted looks murder general serves up five times per episode, I don't know what to do with you.
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babyrunsforfanfic · 1 year
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Old Money — 1 of ?
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summary: when you meet steve harrington at the country club your parents insist you attend each year for the holiday season, you are slightly surprised at how you and him just immediately click. it only takes two more meetings for him to convince you to uproot your life and move to hawkins with him. however, when you get there, you realize he’s been keeping something from you, a someone— his boyfriend; eddie munson.
steve harrington x fem!reader, steve harrington x eddie munson, eventual!steddie x reader
warnings/tags: sfw, fluff with pockets of angst, miscommunication but it’s resolved, reader has hair long enough to tie back and tuck behind her ears, reader wears skirts and dresses, reader never called y/n, reader referred to by petnames (princess mainly), reader is old-money rich, steve and reader’s parents suck, reader’s last name is carmichael for the plot ok, infidelity but it’s due to miscommunication you’ll understand when you read it it’s cleared up fast, robin x nancy, making out, allusions to sex, discussions of polyamory, reader realizing her feelings for eddie at the very end, honestly it ends on a cliffhanger i’m so sorry
wc: 6300ish
•••
you kept a glass of wine pressed to your lips as you continued to survey the crowd around you. you loved the holiday season, truly you did. however, as much as you enjoyed the time of year it was— the festivities and the place was lacking.
your parents always demanded you attend the country club in upstate new york, saying it showed a more "unionized front", if you went. your grandmother when she was alive, always laughed it off and didn't make you attend every year. your grandfather was more subdued, thought he loved your grandmother dearly- and when she didn't want to go, neither of you had to go either.
however, this year you didn't have your grandmother's coat tails to hide behind. instead, you just nodded and agreed when you were asked to attend, lying from behind clenched teeth about how excited you were to attend. 
"you're a sight for sore eyes." your grandfather huffed from next to you, and you stifled a laugh by sipping down a mouthful of wine. your grandfather chuckled lowly himself, and you leaned up on your toes to press a soft kiss to the apple of his cheek.
"papa," you kept your voice soft, and you caught the light twinkle in your grandfathers eyes as you pulled back. "and what are you plotting?"
"well," your grandfather hummed primly, righting the sleeves of his suit jacket, causing you to roll your eyes fondly at the tone that flooded his voice. "i've successfully thwarted your parents from trying to marry you off, and i successfully stopped the tyner's children from drinking from the waterfall."
you were barely able to stifle your laugh, using the back of your hand to press against your mouth. your grandfather was smiling, eyes crinkled and mouth twisted in a grin as he watched you.
"oh, aren't you the overachiever." you teased softly, and your grandfather tipped his glass of bourbon to you, before he took a swig. "is there anyone worth actually talking to tonight?"
"well..." your grandfather trailed off, eyes darting to glance around the crowd- before it seemed he ultimately found whoever he was searching for. "would you like me to introduce you to someone? i believe, well, i believe your grandmother would have wanted you to meet him."
you swallowed harshly, fingers of your free hand ghosting the pearls you had around your neck. your grandmother had given them to you in her will, the heirloom ones that she had worn from the time she was your age, ultimately until her death.
"i... yeah, alright." you nodded taking the last sip of your wine, before you sat it on a waitstaff's tray as they walked past you both. "let's go then."
your grandfather followed your lead, abandoning his glass on the same tray, before he held his arm out to you. you carefully twisted yours into his, folding your arms smoothly as the two of you walked. you tried to not pay attention to the way people seemed to part as you followed your grandfather, and instead focused on counting your breathing.
it took twenty breaths to cross the room to where your grandfather had been looking, and you allowed a smile to spread across your face as the two of you came to a stop.
"mr. and mrs. harrington," your grandfather hummed, and you stifled a smile as the couple seemed to rush to turn around. "i saw you from across the room, and remembered i just had to introduce you to my granddaughter."
you murmured your name as you shook both of their hands, smiling and nodding when they repeated your name back to you.
"oh well you must meet our son!" mrs. harrington grinned, and you sent a side-eyed look to your grandfather, who very pointedly avoided your gaze. "steven! dear, come here for a moment- will you?"
"it's just steve, mother-" steve harrington had started before he fully turned around, though he immediately stopped as soon as his eyes met your own. "oh, uh, hello."
"hello." you greeted back, feeling heat rapidly rushing to your cheeks as you smiled. mr. harrington was quick to give your name to steve, and you felt butterflies roll in your stomach as steve mouthed it to himself- before his eyes were back on your own. "it is lovely to meet you."
"likewise, uh-" steve was blushing, heat rapidly swelling on his cheeks, and you couldn't help but furrow your brow as he pointedly ignored his own parents. "would you like to accompany me for a drink?"
you turned to your grandfather who was beaming, before you glanced back to steve, and nodded slowly.
"alright then." at your words, steve gestured for you to follow him- and you hummed as he pressed a soft hand to the middle of your back. he used this hand to guide you toward the bar, and when you were far enough from both of your relatives, you let out a soft laugh. "i believe my grandfather is trying his hand at meddling, i apologize."
"no need, really." steve grinned, you shrugged your shoulders slightly as you cast him a look. "i was waiting for someone to save me, to tell you the truth."
"so i'm your knight in shining armor?" you teased lowly as steve and you approached the bar, and the man easily tugged out a barstool for you. you slid down, eyes still on his, and you felt heat rush to your stomach as he playfully tugged on a strand of your hair as he kept eye contact with you.
"seems so, princess."
you let out a soft laugh, ordering another glass of wine as you turned to steve, who ordered a glass of some form of hard alcohol that made you scrunch your nose. he watched you as well, eyes trailing over your body, before he made eye contact with you once more.
"so, what's a guy like you doing here?" you questioned, head cocked as your brow scrunched together.
"a guy like me?" steve laughed, and you hummed playfully as you nodded. "and what do that mean?"
"you didn't grow up in this." you pointed out easily, and steve nodded slowly. "you're newer money, my guess is your father? he was just recently promoted and offered an invitation?"
"oh so you're good at guessing this then?" steve joked and you shrugged again, smiling when the bartender slid you your glass. "and what about you?"
"oh, old money." you shrugged, and steve's hum prompted you to continue. "couple generations of oil, that type. my grandfather, the one you were introduced to, is my head of house."
"huh." steve cocked his head, eyeing you as his drink was dropped off within his reach. he made no move to touch it, and you mimicked his movement as you cocked your own head.
"hm?" you made a questioning hum from the back of your throat, and steve shrugged as he plucked his glass up, swirling the alcohol around inside of it.
"you seem miserable." steve's sharp words caused you to let out a laugh, and you held your wine glass by the stem as you nodded. "you admit it?"
"let me let you in on something, steve." you murmured, and you leaned forward so you could drop your voice an octave. you tried not to breath in steve's scent, a deep cologne that you truly wanted to never stop smelling. "you'll find that here? oh we're all terribly miserable."
steve let out a guffaw as you pulled back, and you stifled down a laugh as his eyes brightened as he smiled at you. you smiled shyly as he tipped his glass in our direction, and you slowly mimicked the movement.
"to being terribly miserable." steve teasingly toasted, and you tapped your glass against his as you giggled.
"to being terribly miserable."
•••
"and how are you enjoying tonight's festivities, miss carmichael?" the man in front of you, christopher something, asked, and you smiled slightly.
"it's beautiful, of course." you glanced around you, taking in the lights, before you offered another smile to christopher. "it is a lovely time of year, and i am blessed to be here."
"and you're still-"
a warm hand pressed against your back, and you turned as you caught the light brown colored eyes of steve harrington. he offered you a wide grin as he passed you a glass of sparkling wine, before you offered your own smile back.
"there you are!" steve theatrically greeted you, and you pressed the rim of the wine glass to your mouth to stifle a laugh. "your grandfather is looking everywhere for you! he said it's incredibly urgent."
"oh, is he?" you hummed after swallowing your mouthful of wine, before you sent an apologetic look toward christopher, whose jaw was set. "i am so sorry, we must continue this another time!"
"yes, we must." christopher nodded toward you, and you allowed steve to sweep you away, who managed to hold his own laugh until you were far enough away.
"oh you are terrible!" you hissed playfully, batting at steve's arm as the two of you came to stand slightly hidden behind a pillar.
"you looked like you were drowning." steve teased back, grin wide and eyes sparkling as he took a drink from his own wine glass. "in my defense, it was your grandfather's idea for me to be the one to go save you."
"that doesn't surprise me," you shook your head as you laughed to yourself, and you felt heat roll in your stomach as you looked up at steve. he was watching you again, slowly eyeing you from head to toe, before an easy smile spread across his mouth. "what?"
"you love pretty tonight," steve shrugged, and you shook your head with a fond roll of your eyes. "you do!"
"i'm sure you tell your girlfriend that all the time." you rose an eyebrow, and steve's grin widened. "don't look at me like that!"
"so, you've been wondering if i have a girlfriend?" steve hummed, and you let out a small scoff as you rolled your eyes again.
"oh hush," you waved him off, taking a sip of your wine as you tried to cool your all of a sudden parched mouth and throat. "have you been having a good time tonight?"
"yeah." steve admitted, and you nodded as you swirled the wine around in your glass, looking around the room for your grandfather. "do you like it here? in... society i guess i mean."
"i've been here since i was born." you answered, smoothing a hand over the pearls around your neck in an attempt to comfort yourself. "it's all i've ever known."
"that wasn't my question, princess." steve was closer, and you swallowed as you took a shaky step back. "i asked if you liked it here, not how long you'd been here."
"i like it well enough, i think." you murmured, eyes still set around the room- refusing to look at the man in front of you. his cologne cloyed at your senses, and you drew a short breath in as you huffed a sigh. "i envy you, you know. i heard you live in a small town and have a much quieter life than i do."
"and that's something you'd want?" steve questioned as he moved another step forward, and you blinked shyly up at the man as he stood in front of you. "is it?"
"yeah," you shrugged, and steve shook his head as he just watched you with a furrowed brow. "why are you looking at me like that?"
"for one, i enjoy looking at beautiful things." steve's voice was soft, and he tucked a small curl behind your ear as he kept his eyes on your own. "secondly, i'm trying to figure you out."
"oh?" you giggled, rolling your eyes as steve made a hum noise from the back of his throat. "and what are you trying to come to a conclusion about?"
"i think you'd do well in my town." steve instead hummed, and you held back a shiver as you watched the man take a slow sip of his wine instead. "it's small, but hawkins is home, that and my friends are there. i think you'd get alone well with them."
"maybe so." you kept your voice soft, and you dropped your eyes from his to glance at how close you were to each other. the tips of his well-polished dress shoes were barely an inch from your heels, and you glanced up at him again, before you looked over his shoulder. you could see your grandfather discussing something with your parents, and he caught your eye before sending you a pleading look. "i need to go attend to my grandfather, excuse me, steve."
you moved around him quickly, head and eyes still facing away, though you let out a soft gasp as his hand curled itself around your wrist. your eyes met his as he held you back, and you caught the look in his eyes he sent you as he stared down at you.
"i don't," steve murmured lowly, and you ignored the satisfying tremble that licked up your spine as you blinked up at him.
"you don't what?" your brow furrowed, and steve just grinned at you as he twisted your hand- before he planted a kiss onto the back of your knuckles. he kept eye contact, even as he let your hand slip out of his fingers.
"i don't have a girlfriend, princess."
at his words you felt your heart ache, and instead of responding, you turned on your heel- and continued to walk toward your grandfather. when you met your family, you all exchanged greetings, though they all left you to your own devices as you focused on drinking from your glass. once the trembling in your fingers stopped, you searched the crowd for steve again.
you found him, much too easily, as he stood with his own family— his eyes already on you. he tipped his glass in your direction, before he took his own sip of his wine. your grandfather bent his head down to your ear, and you turned your head slightly- though your eyes remained on steve's light brown.
"everything alright with him, buggy?" your childhood nickname didn't even annoy you as much as it usually would, and you let out a hum as you took a sip of your wine. "what's on that mind of yours, child?"
"i think i've decided something," you murmured, and you kept your eyes on steve as he had turned to slightly address his parents, though his eyes still stayed mainly on you.
"and what is that?" your grandfather hummed, and you shrugged as you tipped your glass toward steve.
your grandfather and steve both followed your movement, with the former just watching knowingly as the latter raised his own glass toward you for an across the room toast.
"i'm pretty sure steve harrington is going to break my heart."
and with those words, you drank.
•••
"come to hawkins with me." steve kept his voice low, as the two of you were sat facing each other on a window seat. it was the thirty-first of december, and the clock continued to creep toward midnight. "please."
"and do what?" you murmured, letting steve rub his thumb along your cheekbone as his large hand cradled your cheek. "my parents would disown me."
"would they?" steve questioned, and you shrugged. "my parents have threatened to disown me countless of times, and they haven't yet. my dad might be upset i work at-"
"family video with robin, i know." your own voice was soft, and you let out a low sigh as you turned, blinking up at the sky.
steve and you had spent the entire time at the country club together, growing closer. he'd filled you in on his life, his friends, the children he babysat. you'd filled him in on your own life, though in comparison... it felt rather boring. but, nonetheless, you told him stories of your grandparents. of horseback riding, traveling to foreign countries, learning new languages. and he listened, which was more than the majority of your social circle did.
"come to hawkins." steve repeated, using the grip he had on your face to turn your head so your eyes were on his. "i can't leave you here to waste away."
"is that what i would be doing?" you question lowly, feeling a flutter roll in your lower belly. "wasting away?"
"come to hawkins with me." steve repeated again, though this time, his nose is brushing against yours. you gasped quietly, lower lip trembling, and steve used his fingers to tilt your chin up. in the background, you can hear the countdown begin, and you huff out a sigh. "come home with me."
10
"why?" you murmured, and steve smiled as he raised his free hand to cradle your other cheek. "why?"
9
"tell me you don't feel anything between us." steve demanded lowly, and steve grinned when you balked. "tell me you don't, princess, and i'll stop asking."
8
"i-" you flicked your tongue out to wet the corners of your mouth, and you caught the way steve's eyes followed it. "steve..."
7
"come home with me." steve pleaded, and you swallowed as his thumbs rubbed along your cheekbones again. "princess..."
6
you blinked up at steve, your eyes meeting his glossed over ones, unshed tears wetting his top lashes.
5
"princess..." steve swept his thumb up to catch a tear that fell from your eye, and you swallowed sharply.
4
steve leaned up and pressed his lips to your forehead, right in between your brows. you scrunched them, and he nosed at your forehead before he pulled away.
3
"come home with me, princess." steve asked again, and you swallowed as you scanned his eyes for any reason to not go. you didn't see anything, instead just the absolute yearning, he seemed to have for you. "please."
2
you nodded, a nervous tilt to your smile that caused steve to draw in his own breath.
1
"i'll come home with you." you murmured, and steve grinned wide at you, before he pulled you close just as he leaned in.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
you'd kissed plenty of people. guys and girls alike. countless of times, but this... oh this.
steve harrington could fucking kiss.
you whined into steve's mouth as you leaned forward, pressing yourself closer to him- your hands lifting to cradle his face back. your lips moved against his softly, mimicking the way his bottom lip slotted in between your own lips. he pulled back, a smile on his mouth, all teeth- and you grinned back, before he connected your mouth back to his.
steve pulled back for a moment, tracing your bottom lip with his finger, as he sent you a smile.
"happy new years, princess." steve murmured, before he leaned forward and connected your lips in another kiss. you giggled into this one, especially as one of steve's hands left your face to slide down your back and press you farther into him. "god i fucking love kissing you."
"take me to your room." you murmured against his mouth, letting steve bow you to his body as he shifted the both of you. "stevie, take me to your room."
steve nodded as you hummed against your mouth, before he pulled away so he could catch your eyes as he spoke.
"okay, okay, we'll go up."
•••
"so you want to throw away everything for a boy you don't know?" your mother hissed and you didn't make eye contact as you kept your eyes trained on the plate in front of you.
steve and you had spent the night together, learning each others bodies well into the morning, before he'd escorted you back to your room. the two of you kissed whenever there was a lull in conversation, openly giggling into each other's mouths. he left you tucked in bed in a shirt of his, well worn with the black sabbath logo across your chest, before he excused himself.
you blinked up toward your mom when she cleared her throat, an expectant look on her face. you shrugged, clearing your own throat as you took a sip of your orange juice, hoping the sharp taste would stop the trembling of your hands.
it didn't.
"i like him." was all you responded with, and you winced at the dry laugh your mother gave.
"you like him?" your mother mocked, and you diverted your eyes toward the bar- where your grandfather and father were talking, the former looking toward you with a protective look in his eyes. "oh! so that makes it so much better."
"what do you want me to say?" you instead hissed back, and you turned back to your mother- eyebrows arched high. she rolled her eyes, taking a sip of her champagne as she waved her hand in the air. the bracelets on her wrist clacked, and you held your tongue to not scoff.
"marry one of the good boys i've been trying to set you up with!" your mother ordered, jabbing her pointer finger into the tablecloth. "not this... this random boy! marry someone from a good family."
"i'm not talking about marriage." you ground out, eyes narrowed as you ignored your grandfather and father as they came back to the table. "i'm talking about my life! mine!"
"you are my daughter." your mother bit out and you shrugged as your grandfather folded his hand against the back of your trembling one. you sighed lowly as your father cleared his own throat, and you looked up to catch the disappointment look that had flooded into his eyes.
"so you want to move to somewhere like indiana?" your father scoffed lowly, and you sighed as he took a sip of whatever alcohol he had in his glass. "if you do we will disown you and cut you off-"
"you will do no such fucking thing." your grandfather cut your father off, slamming his palm down to quiet the table. you flinched, eyes wide as you turned to your grandfather- who was watching you knowingly. "you will do absolutely no such thing."
"she is our daughter, unless you forget." your mother hissed back, and you held back a smile at the dry laugh that escaped your grandfather.
"and she is my fucking heir." your grandfather's voice was clipped, even at the wide-eyed look your father sent your mother. "my wife, may she rest in peace, decided that when she was but a toddler."
"you can't do that!" your father hissed, and your grandfather let out another dry laugh as he wrapped his hand around your arm, successfully tugging you away from the table. "you can't!"
"you will find, son, that i most certainly can." your grandfather shook his head again, before he leveled his gaze at your parents. "i need to go have a conversation with my granddaughter about her happiness and future... something i am unsure if i want either of you to be apart of any goddamn longer."
you let your grandfather pull you away.
when it was just the two of you, you then allowed him to cup your cheeks in his time weathered palms, and you felt the tears being wiped away before you even knew they'd been shed in the first place.
"do you want to go to indiana with steve?" your grandfather's voice was soft, coaxing, as if you were a wild animal he was cradling in his hands.
your grandfather was the first to refer to steve by his name. not "that boy", not some allusion to steve being below you. he called him his name like he was a person, like you were a normal girl bringing home a date for the first time.
"please." was all you murmured, and you held back a sob when your grandfather nodded, before he leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss to your brow.
"then, buggy, that is what you will do."
it went quick, the squaring away of plans.
your grandfather booked both you and steve plane tickets, first class because why would it be anything different, to the closest airport to steve's hometown. he filled you in on being his heir; the money, the investments, everything that would be transferred to your name when he passed.
he cut your parents off too. enough money being put into an account that while they would be able to live, they'd never live as extravagantly as they had been previously. he talked to steve, made him promise to keep you safe, to keep a smile on your mouth. the two of them laughed together and conspired together as if they had known each other for years.
when your grandfather dropped you both off at the airport, he cradled your cheeks in his hands once more. tears in his eyes, as he pressed a kiss to your forehead, before he whispered against your skin.
"live your life, buggy. enjoy everything it has to offer you."
•••
you loved hawkins as soon as steve drove into the town.
his bmw had been waiting for the two of you at the airport, courtesy of your grandfather, and steve kept his hand in yours as he drove. he pointed out different places, ones he'd already told you countless of stories about on the plane; the hideout, the video store, the arcade, the diner with 'overpriced fries and milkshakes but apparently they're worth it anyways'.
his house was nice, the largest in the cul-de-sac, and you scrunched as you surveyed the two cars that were waiting in the driveway.
"that would be nancy-" steve gestured to a station wagon, and you nodded. "and that would be eddie's." steve gestured to the older van parked in front of the station wagon, but the way steve said his name is what caught your attention.
it had meaning in it, the way it rolled off his tongue. steve talked of eddie, sure, but it always in passing— never fully going in depth to whoever the man was. you knew he was important to steve, that was abundantly obvious, but... you felt something akin to unease roll in your belly, and you just nodded as the man next to you shifted his car into park.
"do you..." steve licked his lips, and you nodded fondly, stepping out of his car as he did. he fumbled with his keys, nervous, and you smiled before you gestures toward his house.
"i'll be with you in a minute, i'm sure your friends miss you, i've had you all to myself for almost two weeks." you waved him off, and steve nodded as he curled his arm around your waist- before he pressed a soft kiss to your mouth.
you pretended to not notice the rustle of the downstairs blinds from over his shoulder.
when steve leaves you leaned up against his hood, you let your head fall into your hands, palms rubbing harsh circles into your clenched shut eyes. you feel stupid, you can’t help it. and maybe while steve is trying to hide it, you could tell. he had feelings for whoever this eddie person was, and here you were— getting thrown smack in the middle of it all.
you count your breathing again, fingers smoothing over the pearls around your neck, before you decidedly walk up the path to steve’s front door. the door is unlocked, and you aren’t even surprised at what you walked in on.
steve harrington is pressed against the wall, by who you assume to be eddie- their mouths connected in a brutal kiss.
the two men part as if they’ve been electrocuted, and you offer the two a faint half-smile as you scan your eyes over eddie. he’s hot, you can’t deny, the almost complete opposite of steve— who is looking at you with his mouth slightly agape. you say nothing, and instead scan the entryway of the home, before you nod your chin up the stairs.
“can we go talk?” your voice is soft, and when steve tries to step forward and touch you- you turn away. steve freezes immediately, and when you cast your eyes to him again, he has his hands by his side.
“c’mon, sweetheart.” it’s eddie who finally speaks, voice low, ragged from having his breath stolen by steve. you meet the almost puppy-like look his dark eyes have, and he smiles at you as he gestures up the stairs. “let’s all go talk.”
steve harrington’s room is bare.
it looks like it’s barely been lived in, the only decoration being that of a few polaroid photos taped to the mirror of his dresser. you say nothing to either of the men, instead leaning against a wall- head cast toward your feet.
“we’re in an open relationship,” eddie is the first to explain, and that releases the weighed down pain you had in your chest. it’s enough for you to raise your chin slightly, and eddie continues on after seeing the movement. “i’ve known about you since steve first saw you, but he should’ve told you about me.”
“i didn’t because i’m an idiot, a big dumb idiot.” steve cut in, and you swallowed back a laugh as you nodded slowly.
“we’re poly, uh-” steve floundered, eyes wide as he blinked toward eddie, who took over again.
“we see each other and other people, you don’t even have to interact with me.” eddie soothed, and you nodded again as you fiddling with your fingers. “yeah?”
“so… you guys see each other, and other people separate? but not, not together?” your brow is furrowed as eddie and steve both nod. “does that not, does that not get weird?”
“oh i live off compersion, sweetheart.” eddie teased, and you let out a laugh- shaking your head slowly. you don’t miss the hopeful look that washed over both faces of the men across from you. “but seriously, you don’t have to interact with me romantically at all. we can be platonic with a capital p, like how stevie here is with buckley.”
you can’t help but laugh, not fully knowing the story behind the phrase, but finding it humorous nonetheless.
“i…” you nod slowly, a soft sigh falling from your lips. you knew about polyamorous relationships before— you hadn’t been under a rock. “i wish you would’ve told me about it, stevie.”
“i know princess, i know.” steve kept his voice soft, and you don’t pull away when steve is in front of you. “I wasn’t lying about anything else, okay? i… there is something between us, and i know you feel it too.” you nod, and you don’t pull away when steve’s hands raise to cradle your cheeks in his palms. “i would really like to kiss you, can i do that?”
you nod again, and when your lips meet his- you allow yourself to fall. steve crowded you to his front, arm dropping to loop around your hips to pull you flush to his front. you barely hear the bedroom door open and close, and when you pull away to catch your breath- steve planted soft kisses down your jawline and throat. his teeth graze teasingly at your pulse point, and you use that to grapple at his shoulders so you can push him back slightly.
“we need to talk, all of us, later.” you say into the space between the two of you, and steve nodded in quickly as he kept his eyes on yours. “all of us and no lies. i, i’m still really mad. okay?”
“okay.” steve pressed another kiss to your mouth, and when you pull away- he doesn’t plant kisses down your throat. “do you want to go meet nance and robin? they really want to meet you.”
you nod and let steve to pull you from his room.
•••
it took nearly two weeks for you to fully forgive steve for what he kept from you. after you, eddie, and him sat down- he explained why exactly he’d hidden it. to divulge his secret, he’d have to tell eddie’s. and while eddie had given his complete consent, steve felt off about outing eddie. which, you knew to be true, since the brunette hadn’t even spoken about the fact that nancy and robin were together.
like, together together.
which, led to today.
nearly a full month after you came to hawkins, you’re tucked on steve’s bed as you waited for him to get home. a fantasy book, one of eddie’s you think, is propped on your legs as you sit with them crossed in front of you. you heard the stomp up the stairs before you saw him, but you smiled at eddie when he burst into the room nonetheless.
his hair is more tamed than you’ve seen it, tied in a half ponytail, though it’s starting to frizz around the crown of his head. his eyes are wide and theatrical, and you cocked your head slightly as eddie frantically looked around the room.
“his shift is running late at the video store, keith’s apparently having car issues.” you explained, and eddie sighed as he started to deflate- clearly having intended on ranting to steve.“did your date go bad?” you kept your voice soft, and eddie let out a loud huff.
“go bad?” eddie shook his head, and you watched with a furrowed brow as the curly-headed man pulled his ponytail out, shaking his curls loose. “sweetheart, it was a fucking nightmare.”
you swallowed at the nickname, mouth dry and you nodded slowly. eddie kicked his boots off, dropping them into a pile near your carefully placed ballet flats. his chain wallet was unclipped next, and the brunette tossed it onto steve’s dresser with a groan.
“i’m going to go outside and smoke and uh, wait for steve.” eddie murmured, an apologetic look and tone in his eyes and voice. “sorry for barging in here-”
“you could stay.” you don’t know why you said it. you really don’t. but the wide-eyed excited look that spread across eddie’s face made it worth it. “um, i was reading but- we uh, we could talk? i…” you can’t help but furrow your brow, before you tucked your bottom lip in between your teeth. “are we allowed to cuddle?”
eddie laughed. like full on, tipped his head back laughed. and he was still laughing to himself when he answered you. “i think so, sweetheart.”
which is how you found yourself tucked into the arms of your… well whatever steve is to you’s, boyfriend. eddie is warm, and when he cuddles- he fucking goes all in. both of his arms are around you, your legs entwined, and you aren’t a hundred percent sure when you wrenched your sweats off… but they’re discarded in a heap by the side of the bed.
eddie let you fully relax against his chest, and he told you stories. stories about growing up in hawkins, going to the middle and high school here. how he had to repeat senior your three times, and how now he was a manager for the one and only little record store in town. how he had a band, and while they weren’t worldwide yet, the played at the small bar on the edge of hawkins every tuesday and thursday night.
he doesn’t talk about his date, short of telling you her name, though he took to referring to her as ‘the bitch’. the only reason he hadn’t fully gone in depth about it was due to the fact he didn’t want to have to repeat the exact same story to steve as soon as he got back home.
eddie let you nudge your nose against his throat, your face tucked carefully into the crook of it, before you let out a yawn.
“stevie’s back, sweetheart.” eddie murmured, and his hand smoothed down your shoulder blade as he tried to pull back. “let me go ahead and pull back, that way you can cuddle him when he comes up, yeah?”
“no.” you indignantly murmured, shaking your head as you kept your nose tucked against his skin. “staying like this, stevie can put up with it.”
you ignore eddie when he laughed at you, just as you didn’t turn when the door to the bedroom opened- and footsteps froze in the doorway.
“hey there, big boy.” eddie greeted, and you hummed at the feeling of his voice as it rumbled through his neck. “you’re uh, girl, turns into a cuddle-bug doesn’t she?”
“you’ve been… oh.” you hear steve chuckle, and the sound of him kicking his shoes off, before he’s at your back. he crowded you closer to eddie, not that you minded, and you aren’t even jealous when you can hear the unmistakable sound of them kissing above you.
instead, you allow yourself to relax even further, and when steve’s cold fingers find your neck to tilt your head- you let him. you have to twist, having been on your side in eddie’s chest- but when you’ve moved enough, steve plants a kiss to your lips.
and his mouth tasted like eddie’s.
as you settle back down, tucked between the two of them, all you can think is one thing.
you’re absolutely fucking screwed.
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imagineitdearies-old · 9 months
Note
do you have any fav fics right now?
Hey anon! I have been taking a bit of a back seat on writing, so BOY do I have a ton of fics to recommend. I'm guessing you might be looking specifically for lucemond? I'll try to rec mostly that, though a few rhaenicent might slip in too 😁
(note some of these have dark content, please as always read the tags!)
(K)not me by Avonne - as always, @avonneslovelies delivers the perfect twisted combo of steaming hot smut and an emotionally-conflicted, hard-but-actually-soft Aemond. Can’t wait for future updates, but it stops in a good place to read like a one-shot!
as if you were a mythical thing by greynovembers - Lucerys as a sacrificial offering to god!Aemond? I will read this premise a million times, but this one-shot is probably my favorite rendition so far of this pairing.
prisoners of war; me and you and our baggage by @glaciya - have I recommended this before? Yes, yes I have. But now there are two more chapters!! If you aren't following this sweet amnesiac-fisherman!Lucerys fic, you are losing out.
Blood Ties by vishini - Relatively new, and yet the best omega!Aemond I've ever read?? A lovely remix of the usual 'Lucerys locked up and married off to Aemond during or post-Dance' where it's Aemond locked up, but the arranged marriage happened a long time ago pre-Dance. Regularly getting updated too, so anyone who likes omega!Aemond--READ THIS!!!
Real gods require blood by maya28 - (edit) I can’t believe I forgot to include this one—speaking of ‘Lucerys locked up during or post-Dance’ here is my new favorite for this trope. Possibly will surpass anything else at this rate it’s THAT good in writing style, characterization, and plot (not to mention the smut gahhhhhh), and it’s regularly updating! Pleeaaaase everyone read this.
hamartia by hypothesistest @goodbadbaby - Another omega!Aemond (and finished), but modern and full of catholic guilt. Chef's kiss!
tonight I'm gonna cut it out and restart by alphayamergo - Okay, so it's rhaenicent, but surprisingly in Otto's POV and I still loved it. That tells you how well this cute, hilarious one-shot is written, lol.
the loving needs the bleeding by monkkeyslut - Both rhaenicent and lucemond, modern horror inspired by the show 'Midnight Mass' and written by monkkeyslut so of course I just had to read it.
Nekonarashi by @chibifier - Filthy, noncon but also kind of funny??? Idk man, all I can say is this: Lucerys wearing cat ears & tail + Aemond in a business suit = yes
Nobody Nothing Nowhere by hypothesistest - definitely the darkest thing I've read in a while....I almost hesitate to flat out recommend it, even though it's written beautifully. All I can say is that the ending is SO satisfying and if you can handle a lot of sad underage/noncon content, the catharsis of the last chapter is more than a fic has made me feel in a while.
If you read any of these, remember to give the authors some love :) it's the biggest contribution we readers can make to keep this fandom going!!
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universaln0b0dy · 6 months
Text
Bully twist au v.s reader untouchable
《Summary 》: You are willing to end things with NCR once and for all. But will you really defeat them? You are just some prefect with no magic right?
You felt like puking, just the thought of maybe having to return to NCR gave you a stomach age. You really didn't want to, but Crowley kinda forced you, since the school was kinda on fire with out you controlling the students.
"Hey, you aren't going there alone." Your friend says, offering you a kind smile, holding up her guitar. Neige stood beside you, with a slight smile on his face.
"We are prepared. Amanda made sure you will get in safely and I can get my final revenge on Vil and my stalker." The petit boy says. It was surprising just how he managed to plot a murder looking like a baby puppy. Amanda's words, not yours.
"Of course I did! We shared fan fic tags, we are basically married!" She says leaning into your face teasingly before booping your nose. She looks back at Neige. "Isn't that right monster fucker?"
You giggle, starting to laugh. "Yup, you are never getting rid of us!"
Amanda binds her hair into a low ponytail before tugging at her clothes. She looked like a business woman.
"Are ya ready to go? If we're late we going ta ruin the suprise, wouldn't want that wood ya?" Amanda's accent sounded everything but like that of a cowboy, but that mayde ths whole thing funnier, especially when she would probably talk the whole time like this.
"Yup! Ready as I'll ever be!"
You sat down in the carriage that had been send to pick you up, personally by Crowley. Amanda rode by you on a horse. It was a pretty black horse and she looked like a queen on it. Neige was of course also somewhere but he probably was hidden better.
You can't help but chuckle to yourself. Over the past month Amanda had been helping you with making sure you would get your revenge and helped you incredibly much with finding a portal back to your home world.
She had gone further with her studying in two weeks than Crowley in almost a year. You sigh, looking at your phone.
Neige had also become an important part of your life and acting like his girlfriend had it perks. Though you had to gag mentally every time you remembered that the both of you acted like a sob story online.
The carriage comes to a halt and you see the Night raven college in all its glory and you try to get rid of the lump in your throat as you step out. Amanda steps down from the horse next to you and offers you her hand.
You take it, squeezing it. She simply let's you do that, acting like she wasn't noticing it. But she let her thumb run over your palm soothingly.
"There you are!" Crowley says opening his arms. "Welcome back, we have lots of things to do!" He seemed to expect you to go back to him, to stand by his side, but you stay glued to Amanda.
"Prefect."
You recognised his tone. The same tone he used to threaten you, with less food, less money or even worse threatening to throw you out of the school.
"No. I won't be coming back. I will pay of my debt, but I won't be coming back."
Crowley seems to go quiet, his eyes widening in suprise before he starts to growl.
"Who do you think you are you wretched magicless-" he cough, pretending to smile. "I mean respected member of our school."
Amanda had slowly pushed you behind her back. Her brows furrowed, she would probably have an anger outburst if he continued. You wanted to sooth the situation, well for now, you wanted to ask Grim were he would like to stay and get your stuff. After that chaos would be okay.
"I am just here to get my stuff. The money you need will be transferred to your account. " You yell, glad that Amanda was supporting you in this situation.
But before you can go do anything a person walks up to the NRC gates.
"Herbivore?" Leona stares at you, his eyes twitching as of he was on high alert. The new glasses he had to wear didn't suit him. He seemed wary of you.
"Yes. Kingscholar, it's me." He was scared, you could tell, the way he backed away as soon as he could tell it was you. Would Floyd be scared of you like that too? You hoped so.
The fear he has gets replaced by a wobbly smirk, the edges of it twitching.
"Huh? Came back after realising you didn't have anywhere to go!" He tries to humiliate or even hurt you. You smile at him kindly, catching him of guard.
"Oh no. I found a new place to stay in. I would just like to pick up some stuff." And you walk past him.
NRC has changed. The weather is bad, green thunder everywhere and collared students running around in fear, but no Riddle or Malleus.
You walk into the school straight to the mirror chamber, ignoring the students you walk past. Amanda is always right next to you, closely watching in order to make sure no one would attack you.
You notice a student with a bruised face, his make up is smudged. It's Carter, the person you ruined the reputation of, the same goes for Azul. You didn't see him, but you just knew it.
The most mirrors are smashed, though it didn't matter just as long as you could get Grim out of there. For the first time you are here in this school you feel powerful, the pain and the fear that lingers in the air is boosting your confidence.
The only thing that didn't change is Ramshackle. You open the door, looking around. Grim pounced at you hugging you in the process. He cried loudly almost choking you in the process. He of course was informed on your were abouts, but he wasn't sure if you could keep your promise.
"Well Grim, you have the choice! Either-"
"I am going to go with you, Henchman!"
You were surprised by the fact that Grim didn't even listen to the other offer, but you were relieved after all leaving Grim here on his own would make you feel horrible.
---
You are about to leave NRC, but a thunder flash, crashing right into the floor in front of you stops you. Malleus was here.
The only person you truly feared out of them all was him. He was like a child, throwing a tantrum but with thunders.
He was strong and he could probably just get rid of you, but you had build a wall between you and them. Not even Ace and Deuce would be able to call you back now.
No manipulative Kalim, No Vil humiliating you, no Azul, no Trey, no Floyd. No more pain.
Amanda had put a hand on your shoulder squeezing it supportingly. You decide that you would directly at Malleus, your eyes having a quiet threat in them. He shouldn't dare to touch you. He was taken aback and you look at Amanda. Who had started to pull out her guitar.
"Don't try to stop me." You mutter, grinning. Sebek of course comes charging at you, but simply with a look of your eyes you tell Amanda to use her unique magic. She does so, making Sebek dance.
With that you leave, being greeted by Neige.
You smile a bit driving back to RSA, and for the first time in your life you feel untouchable.
.
.
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Well this is the end of season one of Bully twist au v.s reader! I am officially opening an question and answers so ask questions! Of course you can also request ideas for oneshots! (But romance only between: Amanda, Neige, Reader. Do with that information what you like-) I hope I will see you in season 2 -Uni
Also @danika-redgrave124 thank you for being do active with this story!
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