#also I do find it funny in a horrible 'I want to stab these people' way

[teaandinanity]

the republicans really do just say the quiet part out loud now huh

#'end medicare for people over 90' CARRLLLLL THAT KILLS PEOPLE #also I do find it funny in a horrible 'I want to stab these people' way #that they were all 'we can't have socialized medicine then they might take grandma's healthcare away! death panels!' #and now they're like 'to save on time and eliminate red tape grandma goes in the wood chipper' #and somehow this seems internally consistent to someone somewhere #jesus christ #why is my country's election the cake or death skit #us politics #babble tea (blacklist this for less chatter)

[stars-n-spice]

Silly Squad Alignment Charts

Because I thought it would be fun and silly :)

Find out more about the Silly Squad here!

Of course, have to start with the classic:

Hunter will say they have food at home and it's literally like probably two slices of bread, a bottle of ketchup, and a head of lettuce

Viram KNOWS how to cook so you best be happy to eat her food instead of having Mcdonalds

Khea and Echo it depends on their mood whether they pull up and order a single black coffee before leaving (Echo would never do it if Omega is in the car)

Crosshair doesn't even like their coffee but he does it to be a little shit

Feel like Tech is also kinda in the middle because he'll be like "Technically we have food at home-" but he also needs his caffeine

Phee will ALWAYS pull up to the Mcdonalds, especially when Omega's with her. Then Omega always holds it over Hunter- "Well, PHEE takes ME to Mcdonalds!"

Tay is the definition of a bastard (no seriously)

Phee is bastard (affectionate) but would technically be more of "Badass" than anything

Khea, Crosshair, and Tech are the Bitch Trio and if you put them in a room together they WILL tear each other apart (emotionally most likely but Tech will goad Crosshair and Khea into physically fighting each other while he records)

Majority of the squad is Babey though

Echo is also "Bad Ass" but he could also be a Bitch if he wanted

Hunter is Bastard just because I think it's funny

Dumb Bitch Hunter my beloved <3

Echo is sad dick because he has no dick

I use dumb affectionately with Wrecker (not with Hunter and Tay)

Tech just has big dick energy to me idk

Khea's a sad hoe but she'll never admit to it (the being sad part)

If you've noticed, I really like making fun of Hunter that's why he's there in the dumbass squared category

Wrecker, Khea, and Phee are all smart as fuck but have more fun pretending that they aren't really

Tay is good at pretending that he is smart - he is not

Then of course, Tech, Cross, and Echo are all smartasses

This fit so perfectly I was dying

Hunter is laughing nervously because he's aroace lmao

Omega would be like "Thanks! :D" and just carry on

Jung would most likely do *thumbs up* instead of finger guns though

When you pair up the couples, it's funnier

If Tay said "I know" after Cross told him that he loved him, Crosshair would dump him on the spot

Khea tells Wrecker she loves him for the first time and he short circuits and probably would say something along the lines of "YEET!"

Viram and Echo both have issues and would not be able to comprehend why someone would love them - I'm sure Echo's got insecurities and Viram knows she's a workaholic and therefore difficult to be in a relationship so she apologies in advance

If Phee told Tech she loved him and he went "a horrible decision, really" she'd probably laugh

And of course, who doesn't love Phee? If you don't, get out of here.

Crosshair could care less, he ain't dealing with that shit

Tech would say this ominously as if he's seen the future and knows your death is imminent meanwhile Khea's is more of a - "you probably will because everyone close to me has already died" sort of way :/

I feel like Omega might also be "i'd die for you first" too

Hunter, Viram, and Echo don't want to deal with that shit either, they've already got so much loss, guilt, and other things on their plate

Tay's probably not listening when someone tells him they'd die for him while Phee's like, "Oh, neat. Anyways, as I was saying about my last adventure-"

Jung is ready and willing to put his life on the line and Wrecker would probably more like a "Nu uh" because he's got your back and would look out for you

Phee will also do it for some credits or a cool treasure

Tay is going to fight god (and he's going to lose)

Tech could do so much more than take down the government, but he needs incentives (him and Phee can take down the government together <3)

Khea is a bounty hunter, her job literally requires her to stab people sometimes in order for her to get money

Crosshair would stab without anyone needing to ask him

Echo's taking down the government no matter what, but especially if Rex asks him to come along

Jung is going to fight god if you ask them to (and he'll win)

Viram is the type of friend who is an excellent tutor and you end up understanding the concept after getting her help meanwhile Omega will explain what she knows and then the homework becomes a group project of figuring out what the fuck it's asking

You can copy Hunter's homework but there is no guarantee that the answers are right (most of them are wrong)

You can copy Jung's homework and there's a high chance the answers are right

Khea had better things to do than homework - like get frustrated over it and cry for a bit before giving up on it

Phee did some of the homework but she'll only help you out if you give her something in exchange

Wrecker and Tay, beloved himbos, they had no idea and even if they did do the homework, you wouldn't want to copy off of them

Crosshair also didn't do the homework but he also doesn't want to respond

Tech and Echo both did the homework and it's correct but they don't tolerate copying work to even have suggested it is offensive so now you're left on read

#tbb #tbb ocs #tbb oc #the bad batch #clone force 99 #sw tbb #bad batch #tbb hunter #tbb wrecker #tbb echo #tbb tech #tbb crosshair #tbb omega #oc x canon #oc x hunter #oc x echo #oc x wrecker #oc x crosshair #techphee #phee genoa #sw ocs #khea nultez #viram cossa #tay'kaa marr #jung-myn yun #baddies batch #silly squad

[starlightshadowsworld]

Agency informant Izaya

During the Decay of Angels arc, Izaya becomes a vampire.

While Ranpo's bailing out the Agency, Izaya is doing damage control to their reputation.

Using facts and logic to dispell the allegations against them in the public eye.

He's been reunited with Atsushi and Kyouka and is helping them, Lucy and Ango with things on the Sky Casino.

And gets captured by Teruko and Tachihara after stalling for time to let the others escape.

Izaya figures out that Tachihara has changed alligances and hands him a drive thst doubles as a recording device. (It's a suprise tool that will help him later.)

Given Izaya is not technically not a member of the Agency, he's bought to Fukuchi for questioning.

Izaya has his own device like Tachihara's and uses it to record everything Fukuchi says during the meeting.

Fukuchi is intrigued by him, because he knows Izaya isn't just your run of the mill informant.

"It's werid, unlike the rest of the Agency we couldn't find anything on you. It's like you don't even exist."

"Funny, I could find everything on you."

Fukuchi chuckles and tells him while I couldn't find anything online, I've heard rumours out in the wild. About a man who uses humanity like puppets.

Izaya, caught off guard but counters that "werid, because the only puppeteer I see is the man before me."

Fukuchi does the classic we're not so different you and I.

"I'm trying to make humanity better than it ever could be, erase all war with just a price. You understand that, you will join me."

Izaya, laughs his arse off because no we ain't. *That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard you can't sacrifice lives for peace. There's not a toll to pay."

Fukuchi takes this... Not so well.

And they end up fighting.

Now Izaya can hold his own in a fight. But as the fight goes on, Fukuchi outmatches and overpowers him.

There's only so much you can dodge a sword that can't bend space and time. And Fukuchi is a soilder with countless surgeries to turn him into the peak of human condition.

Izaya is strong but he's not that strong. He got the information he required and that's what counts.

But he does still have an exist strategy... That's thwarted. And in a last ditch effort, Izaya uses his ability on Fukuchi.

Hoping to use the sudden flashback of memories to catch him off guard and give him an opening to escape.

It doesn't work. Instead Izaya's overwhelmed by the things he sees, the people Fukuchi's tortured, the sheer destruction and suffering.

Fukuchi doesn't bat an eye and stabs him, in multiple futures in multiple areas to keep Izaya from being able to look away or deactivite his ability.

"Funnily enough, I wasn't asking when I said you'd join me."

Izaya, even with all of this manages to press the send button to deliver it all to the Agency just before Bram bites him.

The outfit change is basically Izaya losing his current short coat and ending up with a trench coat (like he does in the Durarara Manga).

His skins grey, his eyes are black and red like the rest of the vampire. Theres also the fact Izaya can walk now, given the reason he couldn't was psychosomatic.

And he's currently mind controlled. With any atrophy from not walking for a very long time being fixed by vampire healing.

With Bram, Fukuchi found out Izaya's ability and decides to use him to gain information.

As he has complete control over Izaya's ability, Fukuchi is able to view the memories he sees.

Fyodor totally gloats over Izaya being turned to Dazai. And he's lucky Dazai and Chuuya are so good at being composed.

Because that's their friend and big brother... You'll pay for that.

The Agency take the news horribly too, Fukuchi is livid. Atsushi takes it the worst because Izaya got captured saving him and the others.

None of them want to fight him but they do end up having too.

When the ability wears off, Izaya collapses but Atsushi is there to catch him. He carries him and helps him back into his wheelchair.

And Izaya hugs him, comforts him that it's not Atsushi's fault but his own. He took a risk but it paid off.

"Were you scared?"

"Nope, you know why? Because I knew you were all gonna save me. And you did."

#long post #Agency informant Izaya #izaya orihara #bsd fukuchi #fukuchi ouchi #bsd atsushi #bsd dazai #bsd chuuya #bungou stray dogs #bsd #durarara #drrr izaya #drrr

[dirtytransmasc]

please, talk more about Tsu'tey's disabilities. How does our brave (and very much alive) warrior cope?

so this is going on the observation that he was only shot in the upper-middle chest, and that he survived the fall due to hitting trees and brush on the way down. spoiler warning, he's so fucked up its not even funny, he means it when he says he wishes Jake just let him die.

first and foremost, he's got fibromyalgia, I don't make the rules (yes I do, and I'm projecting, cause if I have it, he can have it too). fibro is a chronic pain and fatigue caused by traumatic events on the body, mentally or physically, and is often found in soldier/warriors, people who have suffered traumatic injuries or infections, and people with ptsd; tsu'tey is 3 for 3.

this means he has widespread pain from the aching muscle pain to the stabbing of nerve pain, fatigue that makes functioning difficult, brain fog, stiffness, sensitivity (to light, sound, touch/pain, etc.), and mental health issues.

the damage to his lungs from taking multiple chest shots makes him more breathless than the fatigue did. he gets a lot of chest pain and dry coughing fits, and if he really pushes himself he tends to cough up blood (which really scares spider)

because his wounds got infected pretty horribly he has long-term immunocompromisation, and particularly lung sickness (especially due to the above).

the blood loss, tissue death, and muscle loss from the injury and bed rest equals more pain more weakness and more feeling like shit. his entire body was poorly oxygenated do to the blood loss meaning he suffers all sorts of organ issues, including brain damage. it's what makes the day to day so hard. being laid up in the infirmary caused all the muscle he had honed to be a good warrior and chief to die off. he lost so much of himself so quickly and it's something he can never truly gain back.

the fall also fucked him up, breaks and fractures to heal from, more trauma to his already haywire nervous system.

all of the above gives him horrible mobility and mental health issues; horrific, paralyzing depression, paired with insomnia, PTSD, nightmares, panic attacks. main problem is, he tries to push through his issues, trying to 'break past them' further breaking himself. he hates himself and his life, he hates his body and his mind. he hates everything. he doesn't do his physical therapy, he just tries to jump back into life like it was before the accident. he sinks to a depression that knows no match, he cycles through different forms of pushing himself to far, self harming as punishment, over and over again until he's more broken that he began. he doesn't cope, not for the first few years; he becomes a secluded bastard that hates everything.

that is until spider starts taking to him and he's forced to exist, to go slower, to have fun.

he starts wearing his respirator (it purifies air and offers a little bit of support to his lungs) when he needs it, cause the coughing makes the kid worry. he paces himself so the kid can keep up and so that way he has the energy to take care of him, protect him, even love him by a certain point. the kid serves as physical and occupational therapy, bringing tsu'tey out of the pit he dug himself into and lets him actually start healing. he has to train with weapons again, starting at the easy stuff, to train the kid. he has to show him the ropes of the forest slowly, building up in advancement, so the smaller human can keep up. he has to smile and indulge the kids need for play and affection, ultimately opening him back up.

as he attatches to the kid he finds himself worried about him, spider needed a positive role model, especially as spider started to understand his own limitations, disabilities, he didn't want spider to be anything like he had. so he starts letting people help him, if only fractionally, so he can start making himself someone spider can look up to.

when spider befriends the viperwolf tsu'tey ends up forming the "gruff disabled dad who didn't want the dog, but then they end up being friends and the dog helps him move cope with his disability" (I watched that happen between my dog and my grandpa and it's so sweet). he has to take the thing on walks (no he doesn't), needs to go out into the woods when spider doesn't come down from high camp to make sure it's ok (he also doesn't have to do that either), needs to give it company so it doesn't get lonely without spider (even tsu'tey knows he doesn't need to do that, sue him)

by the time spider is 16 and s trained warrior under tsu'tey, the man has healed as much as one can, it had been about 11 years of the two of them stuck together. tsu'tey is still very much disabled, but his minds in a better place about it, he stops trying to be who he was and rather who he can be now. he tries to be who spider needs him to be, because his opinions the only one that really matters anymore (Jake can go to hell [affectionate])

the one thing tsu'tey had truly lost to the war was his ability to love and have kids. he had sylwanin taken from him, his soulmate. he didn't want to be with neytiri but was willing to take her as his mate, but even she was taken from him. with no role in the village he was not mandated to mate, and he really had no interest. he didn't want someone who wasn't sylwanin, so he gave up on that and the prospect of children; even if the one thing he wanted in life was being a father. it killed him to let go of that dream, and he's sure that was part of why the depression got so bad. but now he had spider, his spirit child, and it saved his life.

#I channeled all of my self loathing snd internalized ableism into him and his disability hc's #I love him so much I just had to make him absolutely miserable #avatar 2 #avatar the way of water #spider socorro #miles spider socorro #miles socorro #tsu'tey #disability #Spider te Rongloa Tsu'tey'itan

[damianbugs]

hi <3 since ive already obsessively reread your works i dont know how many times i think it's time for me to branch out and find some other batfam stuff too (im still a loyal reader tho dw bestie) i was wondering if you had any batfam authors you personally love and / or are inspired by! or maybe your top 5 batfam fics? if you don't mind sharing it ofc! thank u have a swag day and thank u for putting out such amazing amazing work into the world that offers me (personally) so much comfort :)

hello !! thank you so much for reading my works and i hope you will continue to enjoy them <3 i am so glad they bring you as much comfort reading as they do for me when writing !! and YES OF COURSE there is simply nothing i love more than recommending batfam fics that have me going absolutely crazy insane.

i previously did a top 5 batfam fic recs, and so here are my, uh, other top 5 batfam fics? everything is at the top of my list at this point.

+ these are in no particular order !!

MY TOP 5 BATFAM FICS (AGAIN) ON AO3 !

Cold Hard Want by AudreyCritter

“Are you happy?”

“I...I’m getting there.”

A follow-up to DC Rebirth Batman #35, in which Bruce recovers from being stabbed in the back and Damian considers the elusive nature of happiness.

MY NOTES: i might have read this fic a dozen times and everytime i do i am always so amazed by it. i have a soft spot for fics that move alongside actual comic canon, and so this was a lovely follow up to that original story (though you do not need to be familiar with it to enjoy this fic). damian is such a complicated character but at the end of the day, he is a child — and i think this handled his tumultuous relationship with bruce, dick and selina(!!) really well.

White Christmas by LemonadeGarden

Jason's been in the manor for a few months now. Bruce is a pretty cool guy, sure, but he's not exactly sure what to expect from him.

And then they go to Siberia in the winter on a case. It goes horribly wrong, and then pretty well.

MY NOTES: personally i think it is always the perfect time of year for a christmas fic that isn't actually about christmas. now, not only do all the best tropes meet in this fic (cuddling for warmth, sick fic, comfort after nightmares - to name a few) BUT this is also about robin jason todd. the little boy of all time. wonderful fic.

all the other rooms are a party tonight (and you never got an invitation) by irnan

(You will need an ao3 account to access this fic)!

The major difference between Gotham before Bruce left to set up Batman, Inc and Gotham after he comes back is that his children are grown-ups. Well, except for Damian.

Still, four out of five's an overwhelming majority.

MY NOTES: there is something so healing about this fic. bruce is rather pathetic (said fondly) in the way troubled middle aged men become when they finally realise their life is only in consequence of the people who exist around them. the dynamic between cass and bruce and dick and bruce in this is one of my favourites. the latter is very carefully weaved into the entire story, even when pertaining the other characters. a great take on bruce!

Have I Told You About Minnie? by Hinn_Raven

After you’ve known Matches Malone long enough, you get used to him telling you about his kids. Not that his kids know about it.

MY NOTES: oh this is such a fun one!! stephanie and bruce is such a wonderful dynamic and something about bruce creating an entirely new persona as a subconscious excuse to gloat about his children is just too funny. really sweet!

i want you to remember me by zxrysky

Bruce really needs to get rid of his saviour complex. Not all of them are the same as that poor boy who had to watch his parents get murdered in a dark alleyway; not all of them need to be saved.

Jason is perfectly fine where he is. Some capital would be great, but otherwise, he’s fine. He’s fine.

He doesn’t need to be saved again.

“No thanks,” Jason mutters, and pushes the papers away.

MY NOTES: this one hits you when you least expect it. it is so funny, so sweet and it hurts. jason todd you are so ridiculously complicated and tragic. also my favourite kind of time travel, kind-of-time-travel! little jason receives all of older jason's memories and his meeting with bruce and journey to robin is different, but some things are just destiny i suppose. so lovely.

as for inspirations or favourite authors, i have to say it might just be everyone i have ever read a fic from so i can not pick out anyone right now. the writers featured on this list are also phenomenal and some have written other amazing and loved batfam fics you should definitely check out!

hope you enjoy these anon and thank you again <3

#bruce wayne #jason todd #stephanie brown #robin jason todd #time travel #damian wayne #dick grayson #batman and robin #batfamily fic recs #saki batfam fic recs #hey guys unrelated news #but i think i have finally figured out how to format on tumblr #hope this is not horrendous to look at

[padfootastic]

OKAY SO THIS IS SOMETHING ME AND MY FRIEND DO THAT I SORTA NOW HC J & S TO DO IT AS WELL and i need you- queen of prongsfoot to tell me weather if they also would do this or this sleep-deprived me talking

so every year basically on our birthdays we send each other letters. and by sending I mean hand delivering it to them cause we live two mins away

but it just always has this format right? the address while following the normal format didn't contain the actual working address ala harry potter style kinda like for ex

ash/resident of everlasting patience and stupidity/ mountain of discarded coffee cups/ 16000 pictures in phone gallery street

but then the letter would be the most beautiful piece of ode to friendship to each other and just her and she shines my world and just e v e r y t h i n g.

like my description of notes is this should be so emotive that the reader is reduced to tears laughs and everything in between and those letters (more like a 5 page essay) is something that is one of my most cherished thing to get yearly.

and if you want to add angst to it, imagine sirius finding all those old james letters for each one of his birthday and one maybe for his 22nd one that he didnt get to read for lets just sya reasons

the way i saw u write this in real time and still took so long to get to it 😭😭 i should be locked up i s2g.

no okay but listen!!!! ur onto something here!!!

so. because i’m me, i’m gonna add an aspect of generational/familial history to it. so, imagine like fleamont and/or euphemia writing letters for james on his birthdays, right? and it’s filled with these heartfelt, funny messages and he cherishes them a lot. brings them to hogwarts and reads them when he’s feeling upset (only making himself more homesick in the process lol)

and then on sirius’ first bday in hogwarts (which is only a couple months in, yeah?) he sees that he gets a terrible, horrible letter from his family that doesn’t nothing except scold him/humiliate him and how it hurts sirius. SO. in a bid to restructure his perception of bday letters, james borrows from his own tradition & starts writing letters for sirius. he’s so filled w affection always that it’s absolutely not a problem for him to fill pages upon pages. (and u can even add the address thing as way for j to make it funny so sirius laughs!!)

so yeah, james starts it and slowly, hesitantly, sirius does the same. he’s never as proficient at it as james is, because he’s not as emotional in the first place, but whatever he writes is always heartfelt. (also, in a creative sirius scenario, u could hc that he draws something or composes music just for james and that’s equally sentimental but w/o being so horribly revealing?)

and like yeah, imagine then that james has got his 22nd bday letter all written and stuff bc he’s a little dork who never leaves stuff until the last minute unless he can help it, right? and despite doing this for a decade (a decade!!! they only had a decade together!!!) he’s still so fucking excited to write a fresh one bc he loves gifting and making people happy etc etc, and so he writes it, and keeps it in a nice little envelope w the potter seal embossed on it, just waiting to give it to sirius & see his expression (fav part) except.

except he can’t.

and when sirius enters the house, he sees james’ cold, dead body lying on the floor first, but once he gets up from the ground, he spots the envelope a few feet away and lets out a howl like never before. reads it so obsessively he can recite it, each word hitting like a stab in the heart.

(or, alternatively, u can imagine him somehow discovering the letter post-azkaban after he’s spends dozen years being psychologically tortured, reliving the potters’ deaths, and believing himself to be the cause of it. u pick)

(and of course, once sirius escapes, he does the same for harry. and to parallel james & sirius, the letter he writes for harry’s 16th is left in GP and harry only finds it after the war—or even during when they halt there—when he’s cleaning it up or wtv and basically breaks down all over again)

#james potter #sirius black #harry potter #good godfather sirius black #also!!! queen of prongsfoot 🥺🥺 my HEART #this got so long hehehe #but i just. could see it So Well #sirius writing harry letters absolutely happens in an AU where he raises him #can lowkey imagine jily writing letters for harry too #god i just. love letters so much #they’re so precious #contain so much history #a TANGIBLE evidence of one’s love & regard #‘i am thinking of u’ #hnghhhhhh #pen’s (delayed) asks #pen’s notes

[c65]

🐁🌫️⚖️ FOR ANYONE YOU WANT TO THINK ABOUT OR ANSWER THEM FOR

hey i didn't forget about this ask. look at me go

🐁 how are this characters ethics?

i think i'm gonna go with dani and co for this. of course i am. anyway. dani is like very staunchly about doing the right thing but in the wrong way. his concept of 'right thing' is 'whatever makes the people who can hurt me [parents, typically] happiest' so like his heart's in it but he's still a pushover. mal does not give a fuck about his parents and wants them to die comically and thinks about it every day so he's much more inclined to do things considered wrong like stealing. he just doesn't caare. he daydreams about killing a lot in the same way anyone did when they were an emo 16 year old but he knows objectively thats wrong. though if he had to he would not be very morally opposed to stabbing somebody in self defense or whatever? jeannie is kind of a middle ground. doesn't suffer from the same people pleaserness that dani does but also isn't likely to stab a guy. she's kind of regular and normal. dani's the kind of guy to get scared about using watch free online sites because he doesn't know it's not piracy until you download it, jeannie has no qualms with using them & mal would actively host his own if he had the means just because he thinks the risk of goiung to jail for piracy is funny. i'm gonna be honest i just made this all up don't hold me to it also i had to google what ethics meant

🌫️ how does this character feel about lying?

dani cannot fucking lie for the life of him. he's not incredibly opposed to it because he knows sometimes it can help more than it hurts but due to the nature of his split he's just naturally not good at it and every time mal lies to their family or their girlfriend he has a whole moral freakout over it. logically he knows it's not a horrible thing to do but it bothers him. mal loves to lying it's fun for him it makes people sooo mad because he likes to lie in that way where he tells the lie and then like an hour later goes oh lol i lied to you. jeannie is once again very indifferent. she wouldn't like finding out she was lied to but she also doesn't think it's like a moral crime if someone tells you a white lie. she's the most honest of the three of them though, incredibly straightforward with everything. hey i just made all of this up too. don't hold me to it

⚖️ how do they seek justice?

going to talk specifically in reference to like, how their parents treat them. dani is very fine with sitting down and letting things happen. what's happened happened, it's just up to him to make sure he does things in the "right" way so it won't happen again. mal... well he used to take out his anger about what happened to him on himself and the system, etc. and then he learned about amvs and just started daydreaming about getting revenge. he's not the kind of guy to actually know how to seek justice, though. he'd get in his own way especially emotions wise. jeannie is extremely petty when she wants to be. she doesn't /like/ to be and it's not an active trait of hers, but she does do small things she knows she can get away with that would bother their parents like being smug or sarcastic. she gets away with this because their parents like her because she's the Girl Alter. they don't know about the system they just like seeing "danielle" be a Gender Conforming Girl (<- this is not even what jeanine is)

[isleofdarkness]

The way I screamed when I saw you had uploaded the second part. I was so excited I stayed up all night reading it and writing this and I don't regret anything at all. Also, this part was in Ben’s pov which I absolutely loved, he's such a fun character to read about.

WANT AND FACILIER, YES!!!! You truly did an amazing job with these two. I love the backstories you gave them and how much they expand the lore despite the fact that Want was not more than ten minutes in her original film, you used her full potential and made her an extremely interesting character.

I didn't know how you would get them through the barrier but that was completely amazing.

“ The second the van passed through the mouth of the cave, the world outside the windows changed. The midday sun went out, replaced by some torchlit nighttime. [...] The two other people were replaced by at least a dozen. And those dozen people didn't look happy. ” Oh, this is so good, it embodies the depressive vibe the Isle has perfectly and also intensifies the feeling of anticipation just fine. It's great.

“ This, Ben was willing to bet, was Mara. ” fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck omg I can't do this fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck

“ None of them had the chance to answer before Mara spoke. "Of course you can, Chaos. If they have a problem with you doing something to save lives," she levelled a glare directly into Ben's soul, "They can take it up with me. ” I'm obsessed with this part. I love both Mara and Chaos.

Something I forgot to mention last time is that I love the fact that you pointed out (if you did, because my mind might be making this up) a vague similitude between Riah and Maverick in the first part. But you made it so much bigger in this, not only with Riah and his family but also with the other characters and their families, highlighting what their similarities and differences are. I’m just a huge fan of it.

“ He didn't understand why they needed to. The hospital had been left fully stocked and it got plenty of supplies, so why did they need to learn how to make a ventilator? Shouldn't they already have some? “ Ben, I have shocking news for you…

“ The longer Ben looked at her, the more she looked like Anxelin Fitzherbert. ” I'm so unwell right now.

“ "So," Molly turned cos attention to Ben, grinning. "Are you Riah's boyfriend?" ” OMG??? This just confirmed my love for Molly.

Mara it's finally here and i'm enjoying it like you have no idea.

Ben's great, Mara not only told him but SHOWED him The Horrors™ and the best things he finds to say are "I like your tattoos" and "That's incredible". Also, wtf? Mara's life is horrible, hope she gets to stab Beast MINIMUM.

"This one's not very bright." She's so funny but like, I didn't understand either.

Did I mention that I hate Beast? Because I hate him. Ben deserves a better father, hope he gets to stab his current one.

I hate Maleficent too.

I've only had Molly for a third of a chapter but if anything happens to cos I will kill everyone in this room and then myself.

-Dante.

The sound I made when I saw this- thank you thank you thank you thank you. I love long reviews like this, where someone tells me exactly what they like.

Want once used her telekinesis to rip one of Bill Sykes's warehouses to tiny pieces and proceeded to beat him with the pieces for a solid four hours and only stopped because she got the news that Agony was out of surgery and would be okay. Maleficent is kind of scared of her and so help her gods, she will fight Maleficent, Bill Sykes, or even Thanatos himself to protect her kids. Like... look, I love her and I'm really glad you like what I did with her and Facilier (Gonzalo is Facilier's first name, just in case it wasn't clear to everyone reading this)

Yesss that's exactly what I was going for!

It took a lot of restraint for Mara to not open those doors, grab Ben by the shoulders, and judo flip him. If Riah weren't actively dying, she would have. She was pissed.

I'm so glad you love them. I love them, too.

All of the Mim kids just have the same vibe. Except for Malcolm. Malcolm is the prep member of the family.

"Plenty of supplies" I can't wait for him to figure out that they were given two (2) supplies and get one expired/broken thing every few years

You're about to be so much more unwell because there's a reason the full family is there

Molly, like all seven-year-olds, thrives on chaos.

Mara is pretty sure she likes Ben now after that response. There's just one last test- she's going to tell Ben about her plan to beat his father with her Stygian iron femur and see how he reacts. If he reacts well, he has her permission to date her brother.

Gods you have no idea how bad I want to say it. You have no idea

Eventually, Ben is going to get new parents. Hades and Persephone are going to go "Is anyone going to give this child a real family" and they aren't gonna wait for an answer.

Maverick gets one day off and, in only two hours, she has to ask Desire to come to the Isle and help her because Maleficent went and did all that. She is so tired.

I am so, so glad you also love Molly. Don't worry, Molly can't die because co sold cos soul to Maverick and is immortal. And if someone tries to kill cos, Maverick will conjure The Book just to beat that person to death with it.

I can't wait to see how you react to the final part. You have no idea

#the darkness speaks #dante anon #swearing #caps

[olivia-anderson-fanfic]

petition for the halloween where canary and red robin switched costumes. here’s puppy photos as incentive

A very cute dog I would die for them... but you have to understand, Canary is 200k including the Bad End and tweet collection............ I am very done writing it

You can have this outline of what I would probably do if I wanted to write that all out, though

Mari was using it as a chance to eavesdrop on important conversations and practice her acting. She gets caught up by a person looking for revenge on Red Robin. Stabs him because she has no problem doing so. Walks out and sees the media and whoops she has some very distinct red slashes of blood on her and the splatter pattern is damning. Vine boom sound

Tim did it legitimately just for fun because he’s a nerd that cosplays and it wasn’t uncommon for any of the bats to do something fun for halloween. It was also a great way to test their new voice modulators. 

They get home later that night and are mildly horrified to find themselves trending

Twitter argument over whose fault this is

Next time they fight they end up quietly discussing different cosplay tips

Time skip to 10+ years later for a round 2 (most of the ideas came from @izanae my beloved)

Tim pouting about how they n e v e r spend halloween together and she reminds him that Scarecrow would throw a hissy fit. He suggests sacrificing Adrien to his anger as a joke and she immediately agrees because Typical Sibling Behavior (and, maybe, she wants to spend time with her bf). He suggests getting some scary costumes. She says that's a great idea and takes his. He gets a little huffy but then suggests they switch it up for old time’s sake. She thinks it would be funny to see if people fall for it again.

They go out and she gets into it playing hero again. Tim eventually plays along and imitates Canary to his best ability, Marinette is horribly insulted because there's no way she's that melodramatic (she is). It turns into a pissing contest of who can be a better RR/Canary. The batfam is s t r u g g l i n g. The civilians that see are just very confused, especially because their cover for their relationship is essentially pretending to hate each other and now they’re both just casually making fun of each other.

Riddler fell for it. Marinette will never let him live this down… except yes she will please save her from Scarecrow’s wrath.

#canary #yeah respectfully No #i adore canary trust me #but i also never want to write anything for it again i am d o n e #ollieanswers #ollie's requests #you guys can request whatever and im happy to answer #but like #if it's some kind of spinoff of a completed fic... don't expect much #all of my fics are 50k+ by the time i finish them i am absolutely DONE thinking about them #edited for spelling #i did this before rushing to class and u can tell

[glitterdior]

newsflash newsflash!!! women are people!!!

at the end of the day i’m just a girl who craves to be understood, that’s why i overshare so much online. that’s why i’m extremely silly. that’s why i despise romantic gestures, sexiness or even womanhood. that’s why i wanted to be small all my life, to be a child.

I’ve always been after the feeling of being seen that only a child gets. you’re funny you’re smart you’re kind. you don’t have to be anything else. and i hate that in my soul i have so many good things to give people romantically that maybe are not the standard ones, but they’re still there and they’re important to me.

that’s why i always tend to love my friends so dearly, because to them i can be a funny girl who’s also good looking. and it’s so sad that men can only see you for one thing. 

i care so deeply about everything i do as a person, how i come across, and it never seems to work. all the time and effort i put into my performance, and it still gets misunderstood. 

Is it misogyny? is it society? why am I sought after only if i can be a pretty thing to keep by your side, to lie to and cheat on, to break its little heart.

why am i only an object, not a person. and why do i still feel alone even when i get the attention I seek?

Because that’s not the one i was after. im looking for a specific thing. im expecting you to look into my eyes and see a person, the reflection of the struggles and fights conveyed in the human experience. Relate to my stories, laugh at my jokes, treat me as a human.

So many girls let men walk all over them and i find it so difficult. to fall into such a trap and let a man take control of your feelings and emotions. of your peace.

I’m never going to find love, no one understands me like i do, no one loves me like i do. And it’s not on some im not like other girls shit bc i’m pretty sure almost every girl in the world feels the same.

But they stay with mean people who treat them poorly. my mom is an example of that. I’m so scared of intimacy that i ignore and reject any sign of it bc i’m terrified that my life is going to be like hers.

So many women in the world stay with horrible people bc they’re scared of being alone. i’m scared of being alone.

that’s why i have fucking dating apps and shit but idk it’s not the same.

it always feels like a stab in your heart when it comes from someone you thought was chill. Wtf do men want 

imagine girls did the shit they do 

that’s why i’m so mean all the time, i put walls up and decorate them with sarcasm and bitterness so people don’t bother me. yet they always do.

maybe it’s because i have a brother, and i have a reference on how people treat you when they see you as one of them. as a complicated person who fights with you all the time but still cares about you. someone who’s never called me pretty. only smart, funny, an asshole, an idiot, a nuisance, the greatest person in the world, the worst person in the world.

Friends get to see me maybe as a 80% of what i am, i always keep a little bit of myself with me, bc i’m scared they’ll do what i hate the most. That’s why i’m also good friends with girls. bc they get my struggle. and that’s why a compliment for a girl is more valuable than anything a man has to say.

they always try to change me, to make me into what they think i am. i always try to see them as who they are, to understand them. I know they’re incapable of change, why don’t they get it too???

After all this my life makes a lot more sense i guess. i always hurt people and try to fix them. but when someone hurts me i just disappear and heal myself

I’ve always been alone, and that has given me so much time to think. i know myself so well, i fall into pits of deep reflection, i come out having analyzed so many aspects of my being.

i know i’m mean, i know i’m difficult, i’m careless, i care too much, i lie. 

i don’t think i like anything that has to do with love bc it’s so unfamiliar to me. 

this is basically the song hot girls we have problems too, we’re just like you!!! except we’re hot

#ranting #i hate men #i don't want to be perceived #woman in her twenties moment #honestly why Im I so dramatic

[nagarashi]

I've often wondered about Silco and Vander.

And I've noticed a certain... tendency to blame more on Silco, because he's a much more ambiguous character than Vander (although I think you could argue with that), who is shown as a good guy from the beginning, while Silco is a bad guy.

I find this a very interesting trick from the developers. They hang an obvious label on a character from the beginning to see if the viewer can judge the characters by ignoring those labels.

 

Well, Vander... I'll give you the unpopular opinion that his death was a necessary evil. It was necessary in the first place for the Undercity, to get it out of the stagnation in which it was arriving. Some will say it was peace and security, but I will say that it was also a slow bleed.

The council and enforcers could invade and demand anything they wanted from the people of Undercity without any interference, make scapegoats out of them.

It's not hard to see that if any crime happens in Piltover, the people of Undercity are blamed for it without fail.

The scene after the theft of the crystal. The Council immediately says:

"No one in the Undercity has claimed responsibility yet. "

(By the way, it's funny that they are now waiting for someone to take responsibility, rather than, as before, demanding that the culprit be found).

Yes, we know it was Jinx. But why are they so sure of that?

Do you seriously believe that everyone in Piltover is law-abiding and upstanding? What prevents a potential criminal in Piltover from committing his crime? After all, in people's understanding, only the "rats" of Undercity are capable of such a thing. You could even dress up as a "rat" to make it more convincing. No one would look into it anyway ... would they?

 

The Undercity needed a change, which Vander couldn't give, for obvious reasons, but how does that change matters? He doesn't want to sacrifice lives, but instead, those lives just bleed out, still dying, just slowly...

 

Besides, admittedly, I can't blame Silco for this murder. And even more than that, I believe that Silco had a right to that knife. But that's up to the discretion of the beholder...

I think betrayal from someone you trust is one of the worst things that can happen. In Silco's case, it also happened in such a horrible way... Vander betrayed him and tried to drown him. Not to break his neck, not to slit his throat to finish things quickly (we remember he had a knife) ...

Drown him. It is a painful slow death.

And even at the end of Episode 3, Vander grabs Silco by the neck and again, instead of ending it quickly and breaking it, he starts strangling him, again.

The strangulation is a very clear demonstration of his power (which, by the way, Silco himself will demonstrate in the future in the example of the Chembarons, only not in such a crude way), saying "Your life is in my hands, and I will decide what to do with it" probably the way Vander wanted to break the will of Silco, and if he failed, then kill him in the process. The first time as well as the second.

He lived with a perpetual stigma on his face that reminded him of the past. Every time he looked in the mirror, every time he felt pain, he remembered that moment when he was betrayed and wanted to be broken, subdued like an animal and killed.

"I knew you still had it in you. "

And even though Silco says that his hatred is gone, as the same episode 3 shows, it's not really gone... I want to point out that even after stabbing him in the back, Silco still stood in place, as if waiting for Vander's reaction, without any fear... As if it was intended from the beginning.

"I show you what you really are. "

His voice even shudders with hatred (resentment?) when he says it...

 

It's not until the end of episode 9 that Silco truly forgives Vander...

"Oh, it all makes sense now, brother. "

Apparently, despite his hatred, he was still searching for the answer to the question of why Vander had given up. And now he finally got it...

 

By the way, from the funny part, it's very telling that Vander didn't tell the kids about his past, about how he betrayed Silco, and it would have been helpful for them to know that there was someone who might want revenge on their father.

It's just a strange logic of Vander, okay, he didn't say anything about the betrayal, he must have been afraid, but not to tell about the possible danger for himself and the children, it's very strange...

And as we were shown in the first series, he realizes that Silco has not gone anywhere, and that he can still be a threat.

#vander #silco #arcane #silco and vander

[ourmondobongo]

I honestly have no idea why some people still try finding excuses in order to shit on Hanji's potential as commander. I just literally saw someone saying "Erwin entrusted the commander role to Hanji who was not suited to the role" why?? why do these people talk about Hanji like that? It's getting really annoying. It's funny, because they kept saying Armin had more potential as commander lol

Aside from the biased "Hanji was only a scientist and only good with Titans" take, there are so many stuff underneath this all 😫 And it will keep going as well as worsening when 132 comes out and Hanji says "I was powerless". Brace yourselves next year - especially against the Yeagerists and Flochminions...

And, like, Hanji is in a very difficult spot, because Erwin was the "almighty" predecessor in the Commander position, and Armin was set as his successor since the juxtaposition of their dreams x lives x skills in RtS arc. This is built very clear in chapters 72 - 84, in the aot guidebook, and later in the way Hanji asks if Armin is possessed by Erwin's spirit in Marley, how Hanji thinks that being named as the next SC Commander was Erwin's only mistake, how in 126 Armin (and Pixis) are the ones they maybe should entrust the next steps in Paradis; and finally, in the way Armin is over and over reminded of Erwin steps until chapter 135.

So, despite all the significant achievements brought to the Island in Hans' time as Commander in those 04 years and the absurd burden placed upon her back (that Yams made sure to literally highlight while drawing Hanji in 106 and especially in 109, and that was almost like Atlas carrying the World), I think people can brush it all off with fair "easiness" because Hanji is written as a transition rather than an end goal. And as such, the lack of answer to the final quest (aka how to save Paradis and the whole World) as well as the failures and mistakes in spiral under Hanji's leadership - from losing Eren in enemy's territory down to the rise of Yeagerists, and Eren rumbling the world under the (fallacious) claim he is saving the Island and his friends (because he wants it too!) - is all enough for people to roast the hell out our 14th SC Commander.

Also, regardless of the truths and lies behind Erwin’s commanding, his leadership style is unmatched in so many points. The man is still worshipped by all his gambles, strategies, ruthlessness, and results. His heroic pose and above all smooth talk carries people's hearts where they needed to go, and this type of convincing is venerable in people's eyes. People ARE moved by charismatic leaders who apparently "know it all" and "shows immeasurable strength", and the collective results under them are attributed to their iron willpower.

This is one of the most looked for quality people in dangerous times expect in their leaders, I think. And since Hanji had a different style as SC Commander and be a leader, even if ideals and beliefs and moral are in the right place, a great deal of people both inside and outside the manga still prefer the "infallible" inspiring-propagandist leader.

But they all purposefully forget that Hanji is a Veteran Soldier chosen by Commander Erwin himself to continue as SC leader. And not matter all the shit that went down in snk thanks to each horrible stab Hans received in the back, or how hard and heavy the Wings of Freedom in her uniform looked upon her shoulders, the facts remain that without the 10 years of hard work of our Squad Leader and later 14th Commander, both the Island, the SC, and the whole World would all have been doomed from the start.

#answering devoted hearts #keep loving Hanji people! #i know many times we wish to gatekeep her from the fandom #but since we can't then lets never forget that without all Hanji’s devotion and studies and heart everyone would be doomed from the start #all hail Hanji Zoë #my commander

[live-the-fangirl-life]

The One After Rowan Says Aelin

The Court - Throne of Glass x FRIENDS - Fic Series

S5, E1 : The court deals with the aftermath of a catastrophic slip-up.

Fic Masterlist | Main Masterlist | Read on Ao3

Warnings: Language, Mentions of Sex

7038 words

*******

“Repeat after me,” instructed the minister, standing before the bride and groom. “I, Rowan…”

“I, Rowan,” the silver-haired man repeated.

“Take thee, Lyria…”

“Take thee, Aelin…”

Shocked gasps spread through the chapel as it took Rowan a moment to realize his mistake. Eyes flying wide, he gripped Lyria’s hand tighter who was staring at him in disbelief.

“Lyria. Lyria.” Rowan emphasized with a forced chuckle.

Stunned, the minister leaned toward Lyria before asking hesitantly, “Shall I go on?”

From her seat a few aisles back, Aelin gaped as she listened to Rowan. He said her name. Her name.

It had to mean something, right? A groom doesn’t just same the wrong name during his wedding for no reason, right? Did he still want her? Love her? Like she loved him?

“He,” Aelin stuttered, leaning forward to whispering the ear of the woman sitting in front of her, “he said Aelin, right? Do you think I should go up there?” The woman didn’t pay her any attention, focused on the scene at the head of the chapel.

The minister was still waiting on Lyria to respond as she tried not to meet the eyes of people looking on with surprise and pity.

“Yes, yes, do go on.” She decided, forcing a calm expression over her humiliation and anger.

The minister nodded and announced, “I think we’d better start again. Rowan, repeat after me. I, Rowan…”

Rowan cleared his throat and said, “I, Rowan,”

“Take thee, Ly-ri-a” the minister dragged out the woman’s name as if speaking to a child.

Rowan shot an exasperated glare at the officiant but looked down at the brunette and repeated, “Take thee, Lyria.” She glared at him and forced another chuckle from his lips as he turned towards the guests and joked, “Like there’d be anybody else.”

Even Aelin cringed at the horrible attempt at humor, but it was no match for the way Lyria was glaring daggers at him.

“As my lawfully wedded wife, in sickness and in health, till death parts us.” The minister continued.

“As my lawfully wedded wife, in sickness and in health, until death parts us.” Rowan leaned in closer, “Really, I do. Lyria.”

People were still muttering as the minister asked for the rings.

“Lyria, place this ring on Rowan’s finger as a symbol of your bond everlasting.”

Rowan flinched as she jammed the ring forcefully onto his finger.

“Rowan, place this ring in Lyria’s hand as a symbol of the love that encircles you forever.”

“Happy to.” He chirped and gave her the ring.

Aelin, and everyone else, watched what seemed to be a train wreck unfolding as the minister declared, “Rowan and Lyria have made their declarations and it gives me great pleasure to declare them husband and wife. You may kiss the bride.”

People visibly winced as Rowan bent to kiss Lyria and she turned away from him only allowing him to brush his lips against her cheek. She escaped down the aisle, refusing to grab Rowan’s outstretched hand.

Aelin thought she heard Lyria mutter Just keep smiling to Rowan as they passed by.

Fenrys was standing next to Lorcan near the other bridesmaids and groomsmen. He nudged the taller man in the ribs and quipped, “Well, that went well.”

Lorcan glared down at the blond and rolled his eyes, “It could’ve been worse,” he suggested sarcastically, “he could’ve stabbed her.”

***

Aelin stood with Elide, Lorcan, and Fenrys in the lobby of the reception hall as they watched Rowan try to coax Lyria out of the bathroom she’d locked herself in. They could hear her shouting at him through the door.

“You’ve ruined everything!” she called out, furiously, “This is a nightmare! My friends and family are out there! How can I face them? How can you do this me?”

The group cringed as other guests look toward the scene.

Fenrys watched them a moment before asking, “No matter what happens with Rowan and Lyria, we still get cake right?”

Lorcan snorted as Rowan tried to open the door again, “All right Lyr, you take your time sweetie. I’ll be right out here.” He plastered a fake cheerful smile on as he noticed his friends watching him with pity, “She just fixing her makeup.”

“I hate you!” Lyria screamed through the door.

“And, I love you!” he called.

Rowan walked back towards his friends. Fenrys, trying to lighten the mood, teased “Man, bad time to say the wrong name, huh?” He wiggled his eyebrows even as Rowan fixed him with an incredulous glare.

“Thanks, Fen,” Rowan muttered as he clipped Fenrys on the back of the head. Then Rowan sighed and looked around at the depressing reception hall and tried to put on a happy face that came across as more of a grimace. “People should be dancing; this is a party!” Rowan whirled back towards Fenrys and urged, “Come on Fen, dance!”

Fenrys looked around at the empty dancefloor and his friends waiting patiently as he tried to dance in the music-less space for a moment before giving up and walking away.

***

Across the room, Lyria’s mother answered her ringing phone.

“Yes? Who is this?”

“Uh, hello, this is Rowan Whitethorn’s personal physician, Dr. Shifter.”

In New York, Lysandra cringed at the obviously fake accent she was attempting but pushed forward. After making Fenrys keep his phone on during the wedding ceremony and hearing Rowan’s horrible fumble, she was trying to help them fix the situation. To her and Aedion’s disappointment, they couldn’t attend the wedding due to Lysandra’s pregnancy; she was due any day now and was instructed not to fly. So, she’d have to help with damage control from across the pond.

“Who?” the older woman asked.

“Yes,” Lysandra insisted, deepening the ridiculous accent, “I’ve discovered Rowan forgot to take his…” she trailed off and Aedion prompted brain medicine, “brain medicine.” She winced at how horrible of an excuse that was, “uh, now without it, uh, in the brain of Rowan, uh women’s names are interchangeable, through…through no fault of his own.”

Lyria’s mother sighed, exasperated, “Oh my Gods, Lysandra.”

Lysandra winced again, her fake accent was as horrible as she thought.

“No, not Lysandra, Dr. Shifter.” Lysandra insisted and then exclaimed, “Oh no! You have it, too!”

The next thing Lysandra heard was the dial tone as the woman hung up.

***

Elide stood by the buffet table, filling her plate when she felt Lorcan come up next to her.

“Hey,” He said in a low voice.

She glanced up at him to find him already looking at her, “Hi.”

He looked apologetic, almost nervous, in a way he normally wasn’t, and rubbed the back of his neck. “Wow, uh, I hope you don’t take this the wrong way, but, I know we had plans to meet up tonight and,” he stumbled over his words again as they both flashed back to the night before.

Lorcan opened the door to his hotel room to see Elide standing there.

“Hey, El, what’s up?” he stepped aside to let her in. Lorcan watched as she looked around the room, identical to her own, he was sure, and turn to face him.

He blamed it on the jetlag and the craziness of the day, but he couldn’t stop himself from admiring her. She was beautiful, and intelligent, and funny. She was also one of his best friends. Normally, he pushed down any feelings that weren’t ‘best friend’ feelings—feelings that made him want to throw caution to the wind and kiss her.

“Hey,” she said, looking at him through her lashes. “Is Fenrys here?”

Lorcan shook his head and saw relief flash across her face as he said, “Last time I saw him, he was heading out the door with that one bride’s maid and a bucket of strawberries.”

Elide raised a brow and snorted. “Sounds about right.”

He hummed in agreement, “You okay? You’re not still thinking about what that idiot told you, are you?”

That idiot being the stumbling, drunk man who’d bumped into Elide, spilled half his drink on her, looked at her and then her dress that she adored, and declared the stain an improvement, before walking away and leaving her to replay the insult in her head.

She snorted again, but it lacked any amusement. “What? You mean the jibe about how I looked better covered in scotch?” she sighed and looked away, “Whatever. I was obviously wrong about this dress.”

She looked down, but he grunted his disagreement, making her glance back up.

“What?” She questioned, confused at the look he was giving her.

“Ignore him,” Lorcan insisted, “I mean, you were the most beautiful person in the room tonight.” He told her, immediately wishing he hadn’t said that because that didn’t sound like a ‘best friend’ feeling.

But, instead of looking at him weirdly, she stepped closer and her eyes were…hopeful?

“Really?”

He cleared his throat but closed the distance between them, “Are you kidding? You’re the most beautiful woman in most rooms.”

Elide surged forward and kissed him.

It was perfect, it was Elide, it was—

“Whoa,” Lorcan pulled back and stared at her in disbelief, “What’s going on? You and I just kissed! You and I are kissing?” his brain couldn’t catch up.

“Well, not anymore.” She mumbled.

He searched her face, “How drunk are you?”

She offered him a smile, “Drunk enough to know that I want to do this. Not so drunk that you should feel guilty about taking advantage.”

Even through her quip, he could see the sincerity, and something else, something he couldn’t pinpoint, in her eyes.

“That’s the perfect amount!”

Then their lips connected again, and hands were moving, and suddenly they were on the bed.

Elide leaned back and Lorcan hovered over her as she broke away and said, “You know what’s weird?”

“What?” Lorcan trailed kisses down her neck and she shivered.

“This doesn’t feel weird.” She breathed.

He removed his mouth from her skin and looked into her face. She was right, this didn’t feel weird. It felt right.

Grinning, they both leaned back in and enjoyed a very satisfying night.

The next morning, Elide woke up in a hotel room with a large, warm body pressed against her. She smiled, thinking about what she and Lorcan did. And did. And did. Turning in his arms, she found he was already awake and watching her.

“Good morning” she yawned

He smirked, “G’morning.”

They spent who-knows-how-long lazily kissing until a loud knock sounded at the door.

Panicking, Elide’s wide eyes met Lorcan’s and she ducked beneath the covers just as Rowan barged into the room.

“I’m getting married today!” she heard from her position tucked into Lorcan’s side, the blankets soon becoming suffocating.

Lorcan’s hand snuck under the cover to rest in her hair as he slumped down in the bed, trying to make it less obvious that Elide was there. “Morning, Whitethorn.”

Elide heard Rowan close the door as he left and she popped back up, her hair in complete disarray, as she glanced at a now smirking Lorcan “Do you think he knew I was here?”

She’d left to get ready for the ceremony soon after that. Just before she needed to get to her seat, Lorcan casually found her and pulled her aside. Clearing this throat, he said, “What we did last night was...” he trailed off, not knowing what to say.

“Stupid.” She offered.

“Totally stupid.” He agreed, nodding.

“What were we thinking?” She asked, fixing the sleeve of her dress.

They lapsed into silence a moment, neither looking at the other, before Lorcan asked, “I’m coming over tonight though, right?”

“Oh yeah, definitely.” Elide confirmed and subtly winked as she walked to her seat.

Lorcan kept talking, drawing them both back into the present, “I’m kind of worried about what it might do to our friendship.”

Elide sighed, “I know,” She glanced around and asked him worriedly, “How could we have let this happen?”

She didn’t regret the previous night, if anything, it was the fact that she didn’t regret it that alarmed her. She valued her friendship with Lorcan so much and hoped that whatever this was didn’t mess that up. Even though they both seemed to thoroughly enjoy themselves, a fact she was reminded of as he added, “Seven times.”

She allowed a smirk and she saw it mirrored on his own mouth.

“Well, you know, we were away…” She tried to justify.

Lorcan nodded eagerly, “In a foreign, romantic country…”

Elide hummed in agreement, “I blame London.”

“London,” Lorcan grunted disapprovingly.

They looked at each other for a long moment before Elide said, “So um, while we’re still in London,” Elide watched as Lorcan raised a brow, waiting for her to continue, “I mean, we can keep doing it right?”

Lorcan suppressed a grin. “Well, I don’t see that we have a choice. But, when we’re back home, we don’t do it.”

Elide nodded, though part of her didn’t want to think that far ahead, “Only here.”

Lorcan stepped closer to her, towering over her shorter frame, “You know, I saw a wine cellar downstairs—”

“I’ll meet you there in two minutes.”

Elide didn’t miss the wide smirk he flashed her before he disappeared around the corner.

She counted to one hundred and was just about to follow Lorcan out when Aelin rushed up to her side.

“El, I have to ask you something,” Aelin said desperately.

As much as Elide loved Aelin and wanted to help her, she knew Lorcan would be in the wine cellar now waiting for her to join him.

“Now?”

Aelin didn’t catch the impatience in Elide’s question. “El, Rowan said my name up there. I mean, come on, I can’t just pretend that didn’t happen, can I?”

“Oh, I don’t know.” This was definitely a conversation she wished they were having any other time.

Aelin urged Elide for advice, “Elide, what should I do?”

“Just, uh, do the right thing.”

“What?” Aelin asked, clearly upset Elide wasn’t giving her her full attention.

Normally, Elide would be offering advice and suggestions, making sure Aelin didn’t do something too insane, but at the moment she couldn’t keep her mind from wandering back to the night before and the feel of Lorcan’s hands on her, as she babbled, “Toe the line, thread the needle, Think outside the box!”

Elide tried slipping away but Aelin stopped her again, “Whoa, wait,” Aelin sighed, “I think I’m just going to talk to Rowan about what he thinks it meant.”

Elide halted and turned back towards her friend. “Aelin, wait” the blonde met her eyes, and Elide said regretfully, “No, he’s married. Married. If you don’t realize that, I can’t help you.”

Aelin closed her eyes and nodded, “Okay, you’re right,” as Aelin opened her eyes Elide offered a small, sad smile. Her smile dropped as Aelin whipped around and finished, “You’re right, you can’t help me.”

Elide rolled her eyes but finally left to find the wine cellar. She wandered for a little while before she found the cellar, but no Lorcan.

Making her way back to the reception hall, she saw him back at the refreshment table.

“Where were you?” she hissed, “We were supposed to meet in the cellar.”

“Forget it, that’s off.” He told her under his breath.

“Why?” Elide asked incredulously

Almost as if he heard her question, Lyria’s very drunk father wandered into the hall and slurred loudly, “The next tour of the wine cellar will plan in two…in two minutes.”

Elide cringed and shared a nod with Lorcan as Fenrys walked up to them with a large steak on his plate.

“Fen,” Elide demanded, “what are you doing? You promised Lysandra you wouldn’t eat meat until she had the baby!”

Lysandra, ever the animal lover, had been a vegetarian for as long as Elide had known the woman. To Lysandra’s horror, one of her pregnancy cravings was meat, and as much as she tried, she couldn’t help but give in. After an almost meltdown, Fenrys offered to abstain from eating meat for the duration of her pregnancy so that she could and, as Lysandra’s argument, no additional animals would be harmed. When Elide tried to question why Fenrys was doing this and not, say, Aedion, Aedion cut her off before Lysandra could hear the suggestion.

Fenrys looked between Elide and his steak, “Well, I figured we’re in another country, so it doesn’t count.”

Elide met Lorcan’s eyes and they shared a secret grin

“That’s true,” she conceded.

“The man’s got a point,” Lorcan agreed.

***

Aelin found Rowan hovering outside the bathroom door.

“Hey,” she said gently.

He startled but offered her a small, strained smile, “Hi.”

“Sorry things aren’t working out so well.” Aelin winced, unable to think of anything better to say.

Rowan shook his head and forced a laugh, “Oh no! It could be better,” he nodded and then looked towards her anxiously and asked, “but’s going to be okay, right?”

Aelin hated this. She hated having to stand here with the man she was desperately in love with and reassure him that his marriage to another woman would be alright. And as much as she honestly doubted it—because what woman wants to hear her fiancé say another woman’s name at the alter—Rowan was first, and foremost, her friend.

“Oh yeah!” She said as cheerfully as she could manage, “Of course, I mean, she’d gonna get over this, you know?” Aelin hoped not but refrained from saying that given Rowan’s dejected face. “I mean, so you said my name, you probably just said it because you saw me there. If you’d have seen a hawk in the window, you would’ve said, ‘I take thee, hawk.’

She internally cringed but Rowan nodded, reassuring himself.

Aelin went on, “You know it didn’t mean anything, it was just a mistake.” She pressed closer and allowed a sliver of hope to show in her eyes as she asked again, hoping he would disagree with her, “It didn’t mean anything, right?”

After a second’s hesitation that she may have just imagined, Rowan’s brows furrowed and he insisted, “No! No, of course, it didn’t mean anything.” He glanced towards the door then back to Aelin. “I mean, I can understand why Lyria would think it meant something, you know, because…because it’s you…” he trailed off and Aelin briefly saw highlights of their relationship flash before her eyes.

The museum dates, the love confessions, the times with their friends. She saw them break apart and mend back together. She saw a new friendship bloom, and her own feelings of love resurface even as he found happiness somewhere else.

She cleared her throat, bringing herself back to the moment, “Right.”

Stepping closer to the closed door, Rowan yelled “It didn’t! It didn’t mean anything!”

Aelin was prevented from saying something stupid as Fenrys approached and told Rowan, “Rowan, hey man, the band’s ready outside for your first dance with Lyria,” Fen trailed off as Rowan glared at him.

“Oh, oh, the band’s ready?” Rowan asked with fake interest. “Well, I—we have to do what the band says,” he whirled on Fenrys and shouted, “I don’t care about the stupid band!”

Fenrys shot Rowan an annoyed glace and wiped his face, “You spit on me, man.”

Rowan muttered a sorry before Fenrys asked, “Lyria is kind of taking a long time, huh?”

A memory surfaced in Aelin’s mind and she laughed, “You know, when I locked myself in the bathroom at my wedding,” she paused as the horrid image of Arobynn appeared but faded away as she looked back at Rowan, “it was because I was trying to pop the window out of its frame.”

The guys chuckled at the thought of Aelin maneuvering an outrageous wedding dress through a window.

“Had to get the hell out of there, you know?” she chuckled, too, before all three of them abruptly stopped and whipped their heads around to the bathroom door.

Oh shit.

“Lyria!” Rowan banged on the door, “Lyria, I’m coming in.”

Rowan threw the door open and he, Fenrys, and Aelin took in the empty bathroom, open window, and curtain flying in the wind.

“Well, look at that,” Aelin observed, “same thing.”

***

Elide and Lorcan escaped the reception hall amidst the chaos of a missing Lyria. They hastily made it to Elide’s room, hands clasped the entire way as Lorcan pulled her down the hall.

Laughing, she opened the door, fully ready to haul Lorcan towards the bed, but froze as she caught sight of Aelin sitting on her bed.

“Oh my Gods, Aelin! Hi.” Elide yelped, feeling Lorcan stumble into her as he froze, too.

He cleared his throat, “Oh, hey Aelin.” The fake calm tone he used to mask his irritation sounded too high for his ears, enough so that Aelin raised a brow at him before shaking her head and dismissing him.

Aelin didn’t wait for either of them to say another word as she exclaimed, “Rowan said my name. Okay?” She moved to sit on the edge of the bed with a slightly frantic look in her eye. “My name. Rowan said my name up there, that obviously means that he still loves me!”

Aelin looked back and forth between Elide and Lorcan desperately hoping one of them would validate what she said, but they stared at her in silence. She rolled her eyes and huffed a breath, “Fine, don’t believe me. I know I’m right.” She pointed a finger at the pair before running a hand through her hair, “Do you guys want to go downstairs and get a drink?”

At her inquisitive stare Lorcan said, “Yes, we do,” and as Elide shot him a look, he added, “But, we have to change first.”

Elide nodded vigorously, “Yes, I want to change. Why don’t you go down and get us a table?”

Aelin looked at her weirdly, but nodded as Elide told her, “We’ll be down in ten minutes.”

Lorcan subtly squeezed her shoulders and corrected, “twenty minutes.”

Lorcan didn’t miss the quick, approving look Elide shot him, or the subtle wink that Aelin was too preoccupied to notice.

The blonde hummed in agreement and grabbed her bag, “Okay, sure.”

Just as Aelin was about to leave, the phone at the bedside table started ringing. Answering, she asked, “Hello?”

Lorcan stifled an irritated groan.

“Oh Lys!” Aelin faced Elide and Lorcan as she settled down into the bed, “It’s Lysandra.”

“Great,” Elide mumbled and forced a smile as Lorcan didn’t hold back his next annoyed grunt.

Ignoring Aelin’s conversation and taking advantage of her distraction, Lorcan leaned down to say into Elide’s ear, “Hey, why don’t we go change in my room?”

She turned towards him with her brows furrowed, “But my clothes are—” her brows shot up as she caught the dark gleam in his eye, “Oh.”

At her answering smirk, he grabbed her hand and pulled her from the room.

***

Once Lorcan made sure Fenrys wasn’t in their shared room, he pulled Elide inside and locked the door.

His hands gripped her hips, pulling her towards him as her hand found its place in the collar of his shirt before wrapping around his neck and pulling him for a searing kiss.

Lorcan wound a hand in her hair and pulled back enough to look at her in her dress, “El, you look—”

She smirked, but said, “No time for that,” and went back to trying to get his shirt off. Their hands roamed each other’s bodies hungrily until a loud knock sounded at the door.

They pulled away as Fenrys’ voice called out, “Hey, dude,” Lorcan closed his eyes and released a slow breath, trying to reign in his fraying temper, “let me in. I’ve got a girl out here!”

Lorcan swore as he heard giggling from the hallway, and glanced at Elide whose hair was now fluffed from where his hands had run through it, and her dress that was scrunched at her hip.

“Well, I’ve got a girl in here.”

Fenrys scoffed, “No you don’t, I just saw you go in there with Elide.”

Elide huffed and Lorcan said through gritted teeth, “Well, we’re…we’re hanging out in here.”

“Look,” Fenrys insisted again, “Which one of us is gonna be having sex in there, me or you?”

It took all of Lorcan’s willpower not to reach through the door at throttle Fenrys as he growled menacingly, “I guess I’d have to say you.”

***

Realizing that neither of their rooms were going to grant them any privacy, Elide and Lorcan went to the one place they knew wouldn’t be occupied tonight.

The honeymoon suite.

“Do you really think this is okay?” Elide asked. As much as she wanted to rip Lorcan’s clothes off and climb on top of him, she suddenly felt guilty about using Rowan and Lyria’s suite. Not that they would be using it.

As if hearing her thoughts, Lorcan muttered, “Well, Rowan and Lyria aren’t gonna use it.”

“I know, I just—” she bit her lip and looked around, “I don’t know if I feel right about this.”

Lorcan stopped trying to remove the excruciating number of throw pillows and walked towards elide. “El, El, El,” he murmured, grabbing her face in his hands, “this is the honeymoon suite.”

“Exactly.” She retorted.

He rolled his eyes, “This room expects sex.” He chuckled at her raised brow but said, “The room would be disappointed if it didn’t get sex. All of the other honeymoon suites would think it was a loser.”

She snorted, “You’re an idiot.” The insult did have any of her usually bite.

He grinned, “Maybe, but I’m an idiot you want to fuck. And now we have an unoccupied room.”

Elide rolled her eyes but grinned back, “Okay.”

“Okay.”

They’d just reached the bed when the door flew open and Lorcan barely contained a long string of curses.

“Lyria?” Rowan called, his eyes scanning the room.

Elide shot Lorcan a look and asked Rowan, “You haven’t found her?”

Rowan groaned, “No, I’ve looked everywhere!”

Lorcan, very helpfully, responded, “Well, you couldn’t have looked everywhere or else you would’ve found her!”

Elide almost pitied Lorcan for being on the end of Rowan’s glare.

“I think you should keep looking,” she suggested, drawing Rowan’s attention back.

“Yeah,” Lorcan nodded, “for about thirty minutes.”

“Or forty-five,” she quickly suggested.

Lorcan’s eyes flashed to hers and a wicked gleam shown there as he said to Rowan, without taking his eyes off her, “in forty-five minutes you could find her a few times.”

Elide grinned but quickly schooled her features as Rowan turned back in her direction.

“No,” Rowan insisted, sitting down heavily on the bed, “For all I know, she’s trying to find me but couldn’t because I kept moving around. No, from now on, I’m staying in one place. Right here.”

Elide nodded, “Well, it’s getting late.” She shot a look at Lorcan and he quickly followed her to the door.

“Yeah,” he added, “we’re gonna go.”

“Actually, do you guys mind staying here for a while?” Rowan asked, looking pitiful and so unlike his usual self.

“We have to get up early and catch that plane for New York,” Lorcan argued.

Rowan sighed, “Yeah, that’s fine.”

Elide stared at Rowan a moment and had an internal battle with herself. Should she be a good friend and support Rowan when he’s upset and hurting…or should she escape and have the best sex of her life.

Groaning at her apparent conscious, she glanced at Lorcan and tried to convey that they weren’t about to skip out now. He sighed heavily but nodded almost imperceptibly.

“But,” he said through gritted teeth, “we’ll stay here with you.”

Rowan visibly brightened. “Thanks, guys. I really appreciate this.”

***

They stayed like that for hours, Rowan eventually falling asleep across both Lorcan and Elide, keeping them in place and awake despite their exhaustion, desire, and exasperation.

Lorcan groaned and dragged a hand down his face, “We have to leave for New York in an hour.”

Elide sighed, “I know,” she glanced at Lorcan and then at the doors to the suite. “I’ve been eyeing those doors; they look pretty soundproof, don’t you think?” she asked hopefully.

Lorcan winced, “We can’t do that that’s insane. I mean ‘A’ he could wake up,” his eyes flicked down to Rowan who was totally passed out, then back to her, “and ‘B’ you know, let’s go for it.”

She grinned and they both tried to carefully remove themselves from Rowan until a knock pounded and Rowan shot up and stumbled off them.

“Lyr? Lyria?” He asked, still half asleep, “Lyria?” Rowan ran out of the room and through the suite to fling the door open. It wasn’t Lyria, just her parents.

Her mother leveled a look at Rowan, “No, You can forget about Lyria, she’s not with us. We’ve come to get her things”

“Wait,” Rowan stammered, “where—where is she?”

“She in hiding,” her father answered, “She’s utterly humiliated. She doesn’t want to see you ever again.”

“Hey, you guys, check this out, a whole cart was just left—" Aelin sauntered in with tiny bottles of hair products in her hands but froze as she looked between Rowan, Lyria’s parents, Elide, and Lorcan.

“Goodbye, Whitethorn.” Lyria’s father said

“Hold on!” Rowan insisted, stopping the parents from leaving, “Look, your daughter and I are supposed to leave tonight for our honeymoon, now you,” he took another breath, “you tell her that I’m gonna be at that airport and I hope that she’ll be there too.”

Rowan ran a frustrated hand through his hair, making the ends stick up, and explained, “Yeah, I said Aelin’s name, but it didn’t mean anything, okay?”

Aelin tried her best not to let her shattering heart show on her face as she slumped into a seat at the back of the room.

He continued, “She’s just a friend and that’s all!”

She knew Rowan wasn’t trying to hurt her, Hellas, he had no idea that she was still in love with him—he was just trying to get his wife back. Gods. His wife. How could Aelin be so stupid?

She felt Elide and Lorcan sink into the chairs next to her and Elide’s subtle, comforting hand on her back.

“She’s just afraid,” Rowan kept saying, “Now just tell Lyria that I love her and that I can’t imagine spending my life with anyone else. Please, promise me that you’ll tell her that.”

Aelin blocked out any other conversation.

***

Elide was tired. She was exhausted from staying up all night having to deal with distressed grooms, interrupting friends, and runaway brides—if she was being honest, Elide wasn’t all that upset over the last one. She kind of hated that Rowan married Lyria, she’d never gotten a good vibe from the woman, not to mention everything that was still between Rowan and Aelin…

Sitting next to Lorcan on their flight home, she leaned in close to rest her shoulder against his arm and smiled a bit as he turned towards her.

“You know,” she said, “maybe it’s best that we never got to do it again.”

He made a noise of agreement even if she could’ve sworn she saw disappointment in his eyes.

“Yeah, it makes that one ti—night special, I guess” He almost said time but corrected himself because they did it way more times than just fucking once. A smirk played at his lips as realized, “Technically, El, we are still over international waters.”

Her eyes lit up and she grinned as she maneuvered out of her seat and told him, “I’m gonna go to the bathroom, maybe I’ll see you there?” She asked coyly. Elide had taken half a step before turning back with a worried glance at him, “Airplane bathrooms are tiny, are you going to fit?”

Lorcan leaned back and smirked fully, “I’ll fit.”

She scoffed at the way his eyes darkened—it was obvious he wasn’t talking about the bathroom—but walked back there anyway.

He leaned over to watch her walk away and caught her sly wink as she slipped into the bathroom, before facing forward and coming face to face with Fenrys who’d taken Elide’s seat the moment she was gone.

“Gods,” Lorcan jumped, “what?”

“Can I ask you something?” Fenrys asked, oblivious to the growing anger emanating for Lorcan at another instance of being interrupted from his time with Elide.

“No,” Lorcan grunted and was about to get up when Fenrys grabbed his arm and dove into a conversation that Lorcan entirely blocked out.

He wasn’t sure how long he sat there desperately wanting to meet Elide but being trapped in a mindless one-sided conversation, his only reprieve being the small liquor bottles he’d charged to Fenrys’ ticket.

Fenrys suddenly stopped talking as he glanced over Lorcan’s shoulder. Turning, Lorcan winced as he met the livid eyes of Elide

“Elide,” Fenrys commented, “wow, you’ve been in the bathroom for like a half-hour.”

Elide’s eyes narrowed further and Lorcan tried to look apologetic as she bit out, “I. Know.”

***

When Elide, Lorcan, and Fenrys arrived back at their building Lysandra and Aedion were waiting for them in Elide’s apartment.

After the hellos and hugs, Lysandra stepped back and narrowed her at Fenrys.

“You ate meat!” She accused.

Then she turned towards Lorcan and Elide who watched her with wide eyes, “You had sex!”

They sputtered, “No we didn’t!”

Lysandra scoffed at Lorcan, “I know you didn’t, you have the personality of a shoe, who would want to hook up with you?” She gestured at Elide, “I was talking about Elide.”

Elide forced a laugh, “What? Lysandra, I did not have sex.” Elide brushed off the claim as Aedion gave her a funny look.

Lysandra shook her head and sighed, “This pregnancy is throwing me all off.”

Lysandra and Aedion said their goodbyes, and then Fenrys walked across the hall to his own apartment, leaving Lorcan and Elide standing in Elide’s kitchen.

“Well, we certainly are alone.” Elide said, unnecessarily.

Lorcan nodded, “Yeah, uh, good thing we have that, ‘Not in New York’ rule.”

She hummed noncommittally.

“Listen, I uh,” Elide tried to put her scrambling thoughts into words, “I just—that night meant a lot to me, I guess I’m just trying to say thanks.”

Lorcan cleared his throat and stepped closer to her, “Oh, yeah, you know,” She looked up as he stumbled over his words, “that night meant a lot to me too.”

They stared at each other for another long moment before Lorcan nodded at the door and said, “All right, I gotta go unpack.”

“Okay.”

“Bye.”

“Bye.” She watched him leave and waited to hear the door across the hall open, but the click of the door handle never came.

Lorcan stalked back in and slammed her door behind him.

“I’m still on London time, does that count?” He asked wildly

Elide was already flinging herself at him, “That counts!”

Then she wrapped her legs around his hips as he lifted her and carried her into her bedroom.

***

Aelin was making another lap around the airport, hoping to hear some updates about her flight. In her mad dash to show up at Rowan and Lyria’s wedding, she had bought the first ticket she could to London and hadn’t worried about her return flight. She didn’t think it would be such a struggle to fly home.

“Aelin!” A deep, familiar voice called out.

She stopped and turned to see Rowan sitting alone in an almost deserted waiting area.

“Rowan, hi.”

He stood up and met her halfway, his face scrunched in confusion “What are you, uh what are you doing here?”

“Oh, well,” she adjusted her bag on her shoulder and flashed him a smile, “I’ve been on standby for a flight home for hours. I’ve become very familiar with the airline staff.”

He nodded

“So,” she glanced around, “no sign of Lyria, huh?

“Not yet.” Rowan shook his head.

“What time are you supposed to leave?”

As if on cue, the speakers crackled as an announcement called, “This is the last call for Flight 1066 to Athens. The last call.”

Rowan made a face and answered her, “Pretty soon I guess.”

Despite her feelings about Lyria, the very last thing Aelin wanted was to see Rowan so dejected and heartbroken.

“I’m sorry,” she said as gently as she could.

He sighed and sat back down as Aelin took the seat across from him

“I just, I don’t understand,” He scrubbed his face with his hands, “I mean, how can she do this? You know, am I… am I like a complete idiot for thinking that she’d actually show up?”

“No, you’re not an idiot, Rowan. You’re a guy very much in love.” Aelin sighed.

He snorted, “Same difference”

She cracked a smile and he matched it.

The voice over the speaker rang out again, “All ticketed passengers for Flight 1066 to Athens should now be on board.”

“I get it!” Rowan snapped at the invisible voice, then sighed again, “Well, that’s that.”

Aelin couldn’t watch this anymore. “No, you know what, I think you should go.”

“What?”

His face snapped up and Aelin looked into his earnest, pine green eyes as she told him, “Yeah,” she nodded, “I think you should go, by yourself, get some distance, clear your head, I think it’d be really good.”

He looked skeptical but Aelin thought she saw an ounce of relief. “I don’t—I don’t know.”

He looked at the gate attendant still at the check-in desk and Aelin knew he wanted to.

“Come on Rowan, I think it would be really good for you,” She urged, hoping the trip would make him feel better and he would come back seeming more like himself—like the Rowan she knew.

He was nodding, trying to convince himself, “Yeah,” he eventually said, “I can do that.”

“Yeah!” Aelin agreed, trying to hype him up.

Rowan grabbed his bag and looked back at her, still frustrated, “I can’t even believe her,” he chanced another glance around the terminal as if Lyria would materialize in front of him, “No, you know what, I am, I’m going to go.”

“Good!”

“Yeah, why not?”

“Right!”

“Right.” Rowan took another step before turning to face her once more, “Thanks, Aelin.”

She smiled at him, glad that he was getting some of his happiness back that had abandoned him the previous day.

“Okay,” she said again and opened her arms to give him a hug he enthusiastically returned. “I’ll see you back at home if I ever get a flight out of here,” she huffed and began to turn away.

“Well...no, never mind.” Rowan shook his head, dismissing whatever he was about to say.

Aelin tilted her head, she scrunched her brows in confusion as he gave her a sheepish grin, “What?”

Rowan looked between her and the gate attendant, “Why don’t you come?” at her shocked silence he plowed on, “I—I have two tickets,” he waved them in front of him, still wearing that boyish smile she loved so much, “Why not?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” she trailed off. Aelin wanted nothing more than to say yes, but Rowan was offering her the second ticket on his honeymoon trip for gods’ sake. But as she kept looking into his hopeful face, she felt her resolve and guilt crumbling. “Really?”

“Yeah. Yeah, it’ll be great,” he insisted, handing her one of the tickets. “You can lay on the beach and read, and I can cry over my failed marriage,” he chuckled, “See? Already making jokes.” the smile he forced was more of a grimace.

“Rowan, I—”

“No, really,” Rowan stepped up to her and placed his hands on her shoulders. She tried not to lose focus as she felt his warmth sink into her. “Please, Aelin,” he said, looking more vulnerable than she’d seen him all weekend. “Gods, I could use a friend right now, and you’re one of the best.”

“Wow,” Aelin took a breath. She could accept. She could go to Greece with Rowan for a week and support him and enjoy herself. “Okay. Uh, yeah, yes! Yes, I can do that.”

“Really?” his smile widened and so did hers.

“Really.”

They walked to the gate attendant and handed her their tickets. After a disapproving glare for their timing, she opened the door and waved them through.

Rowan readjusted his bag and paused, “Oh, wait, I forgot my jacket. You go on, I’ll be right there.”

Aelin flashed him a happy smile and nodded, walking onto the plane.

Rowan quickly jogged back where he’d been sitting, picked up his jacket, straightened, and met the eyes of his runaway bride.

“Lyria.” he breathed.

She looked between him and the gate looking distraught and Rowan realized that she must have seen Aelin go onto the plane. His eyes flared, understanding that Lyria must have thought everything with he and Aelin had been intentional. And it wasn’t. It wasn’t...right?

She scoffed and made to turn away, but he stammered, “Oh no, no, no, no! No!, Lyria!” He frantically looked between Lyria’s retreating figure and the gate that Aelin had walked through to the plane where she was waiting for him.

Cursing every god he knew, he chased through the airport after his wife.

***

Aelin enjoyed first class. She didn’t fly it often, but when she really wanted to treat herself, she would. This flight was no different than she remembered. She settled into the seat, keeping the window spot open for Rowan, and ordered them both a drink from the flight attendant. She figured they could both use one after this insane weekend.

Glancing out the window, Aelin noticed that the airport appeared to be moving.

She jolted in her seat. The airport wasn’t moving. She was. The plane was.

The plane was leaving, and Rowan wasn’t on it.

“Oh, my Gods,” Aelin muttered in disbelief as she sat on a plane departing for what should’ve been Rowan and Lyria’s honeymoon. “Oh, my Gods.”

*****

Taglist:

@acourtofsnakes @allthebooksunderthemoon @astra-ad-mare @becarefuloflove @bisexual-genderfluid-loki @booklover41802 @charlizeed @cookiemonsterwholovesbooks @danibutterr @doubt-less @emily-gsh @enormousbooklover @foughtconquered @fromthelibraryofemilyj @hakunamatatazz @i-have-but-one-brain-cell @in-love-with-caramel-macchiato @jorjy-jo @lemonade-coolattas @mariamuses @mayhemories @midsizewitch @miserablesmusings @morganofthewildfire @nehemikkele @rowaelinismyotp @rowansfirebringer @sayosdreams @sheharahu @sleeping-and-books @stardelia @story-scribbler @superspiritfestival @surielandiareendgame @swankii-art-teacher @tomtenadia @westofmoon @whimsicallyreading @ladygabrielli1997 @moodymelanist @realbookloverproblems @gracie-rosee @julemmaes @yesdreamblog @the-regal-warrior @rowanaelinn @thestoriesyoutell @autumnbabylon @sunflowermoonshinewrites @wrathscannoli @backtobl4ck

#rowaelin #elorcan #aelin galathynius #rowan whitethorn #elide lochan #lorcan salvaterre #fenrys moonbeam #lysandra ennar #aedion ashryver #aelin x rowan #rowan x aelin #elide x lorcan #lorcan x elide #lysaedion #lysandra x aedion #aedion x lysandra #throne of glass #a court of thrones and roses #friends #rowaelin fic #elorcan fic #the court

[myopinionhi]

A Will Solace Character Analysis: the Underappreciated Soft Side

I've noticed many fanfictions have Will Solace OOC. So I’ve been thinking about aspects of Will’s personality fans seem to either gloss over or exaggerate. Here, this post is me doing an in-depth analysis explaining Will Solace’s canon personality in the books, and how it can sometimes differ from fanfictions. Sprinkled in this analysis are tips to fanfiction writers on how they write Will as more in-character.

There is one major aspect of Will that people seem to ignore or underemphasize. Nico best explains it when describing Will in this quote

Jason was a fighter. You could tell from the intensity of his stare, his constant alertness, the coiled-up energy in his frame. Will Solace was more like a lanky cat stretched out in sunshine. His movements were relaxed and nonthreatening, his gaze soft and far away. In his faded SURF BARBADOS T-shirt, his cutoff shorts and flip-flops, he looked about as aggressive as a demigod could get, but Nico knew he was brave under fire. During the Battle of Manhattan, Nico had seen him in action - the camp's best combat medic, risking his life to save wounded campers.

To sum it up, Will Solace is a very chill and calm character. A lot of writers make Will more irrational, impulsive, overbearing, and emotional than he actually is. Will is not the type of character to create drama unless he's, as Nico puts it, "under fire." In other words, the intense side of his personality doesn't come out unless the situation is urgent or dire.

Fans remember during the Second Giant War how he gets angry and argues with Nico over Nico's health and shadow-traveling, so many assume Will is going to be this fiery over a lot of other things regarding their relationship. For example, fanfic writers may make Will controlling or overly sensitive with Nico. However, keep in mind, Will gets heated with Nico during the Second Giant War because Nico's shadow-traveling is killing him. This is how Will describes Nico's dire state.

"Coach Hedge told me all about your shadow-travel. You can’t try that again."

"I just did try it again, Solace. I’m fine."

"No, you’re not. I’m a healer. I could feel the darkness in your hand as soon as I touched it. Even if you made it to that tent, you’d be in no shape to fight. But you wouldn’t make it. One more slip, and you won’t come back. You are not shadow-travelling. Doctor’s orders."

Will is a healer. When he touches Nico's hand, he can sense how little sleep and food Nico has been getting and how Nico's being taken over by darkness. Nico is on the verge of death and hasn't cared about his health for a long time. Nico is also stubborn about it, so Will has to be aggressive in order to save Nico's life. This aggressive behavior is not the norm for Will, but it can sometimes come out when he has to assert control in a life-or-death situation.

Will is a calming prescence. He's a diplomat. He stops violence on multiple occassions.

He's one of the few people who's able to calm Clarisse's violent rage, and he does so in a gentle manner.

Clarisse pointed her dagger at Rachel. "What about their allies, huh? Did you see that tribe of two-headed men that arrived yesterday? Or the glowing red dog-headed guys with the big poleaxes? They look pretty barbaric to me. It would’ve been nice if you’d foreseen any of that, if your Oracle power didn’t break down when we needed it most!"

Rachel’s face turned as red as her hair. "That’s hardly my fault. Something is wrong with Apollo’s gifts of prophecy. If I knew how to fix it –"

"She’s right." Will Solace, head counsellor for the Apollo cabin, put his hand gently on Clarisse’s wrist. Not many campers could’ve done that without getting stabbed, but Will had a way of defusing people’s anger. He got her to lower her dagger. "Everyone in our cabin has been affected. It’s not just Rachel."

One of the most underrated Will Solace moments is when he stops a bloody battle from happening between Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter.  

But he knew it wouldn’t do any good. After weeks of waiting, agonizing and steaming, the Greeks and Romans wanted blood. Trying to stop the battle now would be like trying to push back a flood after the dam broke.

Will Solace saved the day.

He put his fingers in his mouth and did a taxicab whistle even more horrible than the last. Several Greeks dropped their swords. A ripple went through the Roman line like the entire First Cohort was shuddering.

"DON’T BE STUPID!" Will yelled. "LOOK!"

People are so used to seeing demigods, especially male demigods, being aggressive fighters that they can't wrap their heads around a brave and strong demigod who actively tries to avoid unnecessary conflict and destruction as much as he can.

And that's Will Solace's strength: he has the ability to prevent as much harm as possible.

Will is a difficult character to write. There's a lot of dueling factors with his personality. He's calm and pacifying while also being brave and assertive. He's fun and lighthearted while also being intelligent, logical, and grounded. He's laidback while also being responsible and hardworking. He's insecure but not melodramatic. He's very caring and protective but not pushy.

Will's personality confuses Nico sometimes too.

He’d always thought of Will as easygoing and laid back. Apparently he could also be stubborn and aggravating.

The trick to writing Will is to keep in mind his default personality is a soft and lighthearted character. Writers tend to overemphasize the hard side of his personality when his default personality is actually the soft side.

Think of the relaxing, lanky cat metaphor Nico uses for him. He and Nico bicker often, and it works for Will because he rolls with everything and doesn't take things too seriously. He's able to alleviate Nico's moodiness with humor, wittiness, groundedness, and patience. Nico affectionately calls Will a "dork" because Will usually keeps things light. Interestingly enough, he's able to be lighthearted without coming across as insensitive or an airheaded goofball, the latter of which is something Nico dislikes about Percy's personality. On a related sidenote, another way writers make Will OOC is they make him too dumb or too immature. I know I mentioned to focus on Will's soft side, but be careful to avoid that too. He's a SENSIBLE, lanky cat.

The way Will keeps his composure during a stressful situation by using laughter while still being mature is expressed well in this exchange with Apollo. (Yes, Will has a lot to manage.)

It was difficult to think of this young man as my son. He was so poised, so unassuming, so free of acne. He also didn’t appear to be awestruck in my presence. In fact, the corner of his mouth had started twitching.

“Are—are you amused?” I demanded.

Will shrugged. “Well, it’s either find this funny or freak out. My dad, the god Apollo, is a fifteen-year-old—”

“Sixteen,” I corrected. “Let’s go with sixteen.”

“A sixteen-year-old mortal, lying in a cot in my cabin, and with all my healing arts—which I got from you—I still can’t figure out how to fix you.”

“There is no fixing this,” I said miserably. “I am cast out of Olympus. My fate is tied to a girl named Meg. It could not be worse!”

Will laughed, which I thought took a great deal of gall. “Meg seems cool. She’s already poked Connor Stoll in the eyes and kicked Sherman Yang in the crotch.”

The fiercer side of Will's personality comes out only when the situation calls for it; this happens sometimes when he has to be a caring family member, a responsible healer, or a warrior in a dire situation. Even when he gets more forceful, he doesn't get more forceful than he has to.

Since Will has such a balanced and lighthearted personality, what are his flaws? What are the dark sides of his personality? There are four main things that stick out.

1. He's insecure about his self-perceived lack of abilities.

"I agree," Will said. "I wish I was a better archer … I wouldn’t mind shooting my Roman relative off his high horse. Actually, I wish I could use any of my father’s gifts to stop this war." He looked down at his own hands with distaste. "Unfortunately, I’m just a healer."

2. He sometimes struggles to endure the heavy responsibilities he has as a healer and as a protector to his family.

“I got it reattached,” Will told me, his voice shaky with exhaustion. His scrubs were speckled with blood. “I need somebody to keep him stable.”

I pointed to the woods. “But—”

“I know!” Will snapped. “Don’t you think I want to be out there searching too? We’re shorthanded for healers. There’s some salve and nectar in that pack. Go!”

I was stunned by his tone. I realized he was just as concerned about Kayla and Austin as I was. The only difference: Will knew his duty. He had to heal the injured first. And he needed my help.

3. He forces himself to bottle his emotions to keep his composure.

Will laughed under his breath. “I’m terrified. But one thing you learn as head counselor: you have to keep it together for everyone else. Let’s get you on your feet."

Here's a second example.

I rested my hand on Will’s shoulder. “Don’t worry. We’ll be back by dawn.”

His mouth trembled ever so slightly. “How can you be sure?”

4. He constantly worries about his loved ones.

Nico rested his hand on Will’s shoulder. “Apollo, we were worried. Will was especially.”

In conclusion, Will Solace's personality is difficult to get correct. But don't worry, if you write Will as a laidback, witty cat in your fanfics, I guarantee he'll be more in-character than many other fanfics with Will Solace.

(Note: I am only human. If you believe I'm misinterpreting some aspects of Will's personality, feel free to express it. What I say isn't 100 percent the right interpretation.)

#pjo #percy jackson and the olympians #will solace #nico di angelo #solangelo #percy jackson #heroes of olympus #trials of apollo #spoilers #meta #character analysis #fanfic #fanfiction #blood of olympus #hidden oracle #long post #toa #hoo #apollo

[danielxricciardo]

Cheater III

Summary: You found out Max cheated on you part 3.

Warnings: angst and fluff by the end

Word count: 2.5k

Part 1 and Part 2

Cheating in a relationship is the saddest thing. It can kill the personality from the inside. Bring changes a lot mentally. These situations turn into you to be good or bad. Some may be helpful to be stronger.

It feels bad when our loved one cheated, cause we are well connected to our partners. We had a lot of plans for that person to spend a most valuable time of ours. When it isn't going to happen then it feels unsuccessful or bad. Expecting something from another person is common in humans. When it turns down we feel such pain, like stabbing with words, The words have the power to kill or to give life to the opponent's mind. The reason why people say 'think before you talk'.

True love doesn't involve multiple people... You knew that.

When you are in love with someone, you don't cheat and you're not talking about just finding others attractive. You just don't desire to be sexually intimate with other people when you are truly "in love" with one person. You're not talking about caring for someone or loving in general.

You're talking about the head over heels, you're soulmates, the stars have aligned and nobody else has what you have, a type of love that consumes your whole being and makes you want to give that person the world. And that includes giving them the greatest physical pleasure that they can possibly experience. Cheating takes that away from you and that is why it hurts.

The person you are in love with and desire, who you thought felt the same way is revealing to you that intimacy with you is meaningless when you thought it was special. They do not desire you in the same way that you desire them. They are not "in love" with you in the way that you thought. All of your love is in vain.

“Why do we feel bad, even horrible, when our partner cheats on us?"

A trust, expectation, a promise was broken. This type of violation hits you closer to the heart because you have let that person through all your external defenses. Because you fear the loneliness that you are going to face. Nobody wants to end alone. When you put in so much for your relationship, you want it to last. But when your partner cheats you think that you would end alone, gradually realize this happens and life doesn't end here and someone else is going to come into your life.

Why do guys cheat on girls?

Both men and women cheat. In some cases, the reasons are simple: humans are animals with sex drives. We are biologically programmed to "spread our seeds." We have other instincts, such as loyalty, honesty, and guilt feelings. Those drives duke it out with lust in our brains. Sometimes, lust wins. It's more complicated than that because we tend to associate sex with so many other things: youth, freedom, adventure, personal attractiveness, you name it.

You know people make all sorts of excuses like, “I wasn’t happy in my relationship” or “I didn’t know what I was doing” or “I don’t find my partner attractive anymore” or “someone convinced me to do it.” You’ve heard these. But it’s funny to you.

A cheater can never have any excuse. They do not deserve to have that say after cheating on someone.

If you weren’t happy in the relationship, then why didn’t you break up first and had sex with someone else? Why didn’t you say that you needed a break and then had sex? Also, how can someone even convince you to cheat on your partner? It’s nonsense.

Some people will even go as far as to say that the other person made them feel loved, so they got swayed away. If you are not feeling loved by your partner and someone else is doing that job, then aren’t you supposed to figure out your feelings first, maybe break up with your partner and then be with someone else? That’s common sense.

Nobody deserves to be cheated on. The blame is ALWAYS on the cheater. Nowadays people even try to justify cheaters. It’s insane. To you, all the answers to “why” are simply just excuses trying to justify their unacceptable behavior. You know, how they always say that a person who cheats once will cheat again.

Since you found out that Max cheated on you and until this moment, so many months have passed that you have the impression that you have started to heal. You were with a man who made you feel fulfilled, happy, and loved. There were days in a row when you didn't think about Max, but even when you thought, you had in mind only the beautiful moments. Like when, for your first date, he rented your entire favorite restaurant and he cooked for both of you, even though he didn't know how to cook more than just one egg. Or when you first visited him at a Grand Prix for the first time and he won and came to you and kissed you in front of all the cameras, telling everyone that you are his lucky talisman. Or, your favorite memory, when you were at his house after you met his family and heard him talking to his father about you. Sure, you didn't understand a word they said, but Victoria translated to you what was most important about that conversation: Max loves you so much and if he doesn't get to marry you, he'll never marry anyone else.

As dear as your last memory may be, it is also painful because it is like a slap in the face to the fact that there was a time in your life when you were in love and now you were no longer together.

When you told your family that you started seeing another man, more than 6 months after you and Max broke up, your mother asked you how you could get into a relationship so quickly. relationship.

To be honest, you weren't ready yet. You were damn scared but Stephen, your boyfriend now, went after you a lot and you decided that if you don't give him a chance now it will be many years before you think about going on a date with someone else. You knew it wasn't going to be a long relationship. You didn't have much in common with Stephen, but he was a good, sweet boy, and you needed someone who wouldn't make you hate all the men in the world.

"Look, I'm not saying you didn't go through something traumatic, but it's been almost a year since then and I think it's time to come and show everyone that you're not afraid of anyone or anything," says Anthony who called you on facetime one Sunday night after the race.

"But I'm afraid."

"Just shut up, no one needs to know. You just come here, you smile, you laugh, you act friendly with everyone and you're going to look like you're better of without him."

You sigh and get out of bed, and go to the kitchen to get a pill for your headache.

"But he will be there..."

"Okay, so? Who cares about him? I'll always be by your side, I promise he won't talk to you."

"Can I come with Stephen?"

"You know I can't stand him, Y/N. Take him with you to the next Grand Prix, I don't feel like seeing him now, okay?"

"I'll think about it."

You have decided, however, to go to the last Grand Prix of the season, in Abu Dhabi. No one but Anthony knew you were coming to the race.

You forgot what a busy atmosphere it was on Sunday. However, everyone who saw you came to you to talk a little and to tell you that you missed them. You smiled and answered that you missed them as well.

The road to Red Bull Racing was long and short at the same time.

"Do my eyes see well? Y/F/N Y/L/N!" says Christian Horner, who comes to you and hugs you.

You first see Sergio Perez who waves at you, happy to see you, then you see Max who comes from somewhere in the back. Had he just heard your name?

"Hey, guys! I'm so glad to see you again. I missed you all."

"And we missed you, Y/N!" Christian answers on behalf of all Red Bull Racing employees. "Welcome home."

You giggle.

"Thank you."

In less than 10 minutes since you got there, Anthony broke his promise. He promised not to leave you alone so that Max could not come and talk to you.

"Hey," Max says softly, coming behind you.

You shivered at his voice, a voice you've dreamed of every night since you broke up. You turn to him and analyze his facial features. He was the way you remembered him, maybe even more handsome.

You look left and right for Anthony but you can't see him.

"Hey." You answer Max and your heart starts beating much harder.

"I'm so glad to see you... I missed you."

The desire to take him in your arms and kiss him was so strong that you felt dizzy. You couldn't focus on anything, not even a few words to say.

"Do you think that we... We could see each other after the race to... Talk?" he asks, moving his weight from one foot to the other.

"Okay," you say and regret it the next second.

"How stupid am I for wanting to get back together with Max after he cheated on me?" you asked Anthony.

"First of all, you're not stupid for wanting to get back with your boyfriend. Relationships are the most real things anyone can experience. We're growing while we're together. As we grow, we also go through many different behaviors in life. Behavior does not make that person. Behaviors come and go as we grow into who we are. No one is perfect. You cannot name one person you know to be 100% perfect, right?" you shake your head and he continues. "We all grow organically, and the best thing about being in a relationship is that you get to watch each other grow. You get to experience the person you care about to develop. Relationships are like walking through a door that you don't know what's on the other side. But you go through the door without any fear, doubt, or unbelief. Relationships are the livest-realest- life experience. He is a man. A man can only love once or twice. Just because Max has sex with a woman, doesn't mean he loves her. He just wanted to get his rocks off for a moment. When it is all said and done, he loves you. It may sound strange but just think of all the men you knew. Think about all the relationships you knew about. Think those who have been together for years on out. So, no you're not stupid for wanting to embrace your boyfriend's "only temporary behavior". You're smart for wanting to have the courage to walk through the next door. You're smart for being optimistic and knowing that things will get better with time. You realize the importance of maintaining a companion."

You blink several times.

"Why do I feel like you've practiced this speech in front of the mirror several times?"

He laughs and runs his arm over your shoulder.

"Maybe because that's what I did?"

You laugh and you hug him.

"Thank you for being my friend. So you're saying I should give Max another chance?"

"You don't have to give him a chance if you don't want to. But listen to your heart. Don't just do it because I'm saying so because you might regret it and you'll blame me. If you want to give him another chance, just do it. He's not the kind of man to cheat. I don't know what was on his mind when he did it with Kelly. But something tells me he regrets what he did and he will never cheat again."

"Hey, can we talk now?"

"Sure. Congrats on the win!"

"Yeah, thanks."

You both went to his room to talk. You were scared and your palms were sweating. You didn't want to start the conversation because you had different scenarios in mind, all different, depending on what Max would tell you the first time. You swallowed hard when you entered his room. The last time you were there, you two broke up.

“I’m truly sorry for hurting you.” he started saying after he closed the door behind you. "I care for you more than anything. I’m deeply sorry for hurting you… Hurting you is the most painful thing I have ever done. With a bruised heart and a deflated ego, with a sad soul and a head hung low, I apologize to you. An apology is nothing to what I’ve done; but still, I know you have a forgiving and understanding heart and won’t let resentment destroy our love. I have shown you what an idiot I can be by making that mistake. Now it is your turn to show me what a darling you can be by giving your anger a break. Without you I feel lonely, I never want to lose you in my life. I am sorry and I’ll work hard on changing my behavior. I know that I caused you a lot of pain. Whatever happens, remember that I am the guy, who will always be there for you in good and bad times. I know you’re angry now, but I want you to know that I didn’t mean to hurt you. I’m sorry for hurting you. I am ready to make amends. If I could, I would have wiped your memories about all the terrible things that I have caused you, but all I can do is to promise you that I’ll create only happy memories for you. I hope when you feel ready you can forgive me."

His words took you by surprise. You knew he would try to apologize, but in your mind, you weren't crying. You knew before you came to the room with him that you would forgive him.

"I forgive you. To be honest, I think I forgave you before we broke up but my ego was hurt and I couldn't forgive you so quickly. What you did was horrible and I hated you for so many months for making me feel so small and insignificant. But I love you. And I want to give ourselves another chance."

tag: hellolipoops, taina-eny

#max verstappen imagine #max verstappen oneshot #max verstappen #f1 fanfiction #f1 oneshot #f1 one shot #f1 2021 #f1 fandom #f1 #f1 x reader #f1 imagine #formula one oneshot #formula one imagine #formula 1 oneshot #formula one #formula 1 #red bull racing

[merakiui]

hello!!<3 can i request an angst scenario (it can have a happy ending it's up to you!!) childe x fem!reader where they are together for some time and she didn't know he's fatui (she hates them bc her parents were in debt and overall they ruined her life and he's too scared to tell her) but she finds out and wants to broke up?? THANK YOU

In which you discover Childe’s ties to the Fatui.

cw: angst, debt, small mention of depression as a result of debt, female reader note - I woke up and chose pain with this one. >:) it also got long;;; oops!

You hate the Fatui. And although that’s such a strong, hurtful word it's your true feelings. You’ve never experienced their wrath firsthand, but you have witnessed what it can do to people. Your sweet, loving parents, who took loans out of the bank in order to pay for repairs to their shop, were reduced to frightful messes at the mere mention of that harrowing F-word.

It’s horrible to see them in such a state, especially since a few agents had come by once and practically demanded the money. As a result of such a distasteful discussion, you refuse to go into any sort of monetary career: trader, merchant, and even a wandering saleswoman. You’ll find a way to make things right by getting a job that will bring in lots of riches for your poor parents. Then the Fatui will have no choice but to leave your family alone.

Your own funds have dried up, having gone into another Fatui agent’s gloved hands. You can’t even argue because you have an inkling as to what will happen when you finally run out of money to give. Ever since this entire debt charade, your parents have become hollow shells of their former selves: paranoid, depressed, and starved of the happiness that comes with being in a regular, debt-free family.

Childe tunes into your rant as if someone had just turned on the switch that designates his listening skills. The two of you are sitting on a lovely hilltop, watching the stars twinkle in and out of focus. Liyue Harbor can be seen from afar, glittering in warm colors of gold and red. If Childe remembers correctly, another festival should be right around the corner. He’ll have to take you when he finds time to slink away from his work.

Speaking of his work, he’s never actually told you about it. When you asked, he simply said it was a job that allowed him to travel. It sounded like a traveling merchant to you—perhaps even a fishmonger specializing in exotic types—considering he was seemingly loaded with Mora. It made you jealous that he was so well-off with his finances, but you couldn’t complain when he so readily emptied his pockets for your sake.

“And then that stupid agent shows up at our door right when I get home! It’s the worst timing ever. My parents were pretending to be out of the house and I showed up and ruined their plan.” A heavy sigh tumbles from your lips as you flop back onto the grass, where Childe fixes you with a lopsided, sympathetic grin. “I hate it. They’re not even themselves anymore. It’s like they lost all sense of life. I’m picking up as many commissions as I can, but it doesn’t even help. The Fatui just take it all faster than I can save it.”

“They’re the worst, aren’t they?”

“And the sky isn’t blue. Of course they’re the worst!” You inhale softly. “No use getting mad about something that already happened, though.”

“You’ll just give yourself more stress and you don’t need that.” He joins you on the plush grass, turning his head to look at you rather than up at the inky night sky. “I can help with your commissions, you know. I’ve been itching to smash some hilichurl camps.”

“I can handle it myself. It’s fine.” Only it’s not and you’ve started realizing that. “Hey, can I ask you something?”

“Funny. I was going to ask you something, too!”

“Oh. Uh...”

He chuckles, staring at you with blue eyes that don’t sparkle. “There’s this festival coming up and I wanted to take you. It’ll be just the two of us for one night. You can forget all about work and money—”

“What about you? You said your job has you traveling all over the place. That’s why we’ll rarely see each other in the future. Once you’re done here in Liyue, that is.” You move onto your side, holding yourself up on your elbow. “I don’t think it’ll work.”

“Well, my boss doesn’t have to know. It’ll be our tiny secret!”

You roll your eyes, smiling a little. Deep inside you’ve always felt like something was off about his story. For the past few months, he’s remained in Liyue and once you even caught him slipping into Northland Bank when you were running some errands. You hope he isn’t in a similar situation concerning debt and poverty. No, he wouldn’t need to be. He’s shown you just how many lavish things his funds can afford. Why would he be in debt if he has a stable job?

“Are you...doing something bad?”

You could’ve phrased that better, but it’s already out in the open now. Sheepishly, you avoid his befuddled stare, opting to watch the moon as its light becomes obscured behind a dark cloud. An airy chuckle escapes him, but he doesn’t say anything. His silence confirms your fears and it dawns upon you that he hasn’t been truthful this entire time.

“This mask.” It’s in your hands before he can stop you. You’re tapping at it with a finger, equal parts curious and apprehensive. You refuse to beat around the bush; your doubtful gaze catches his and it hardens at once. “You’re Fatui, aren’t you?”

He sits up calmly, holding out his hand. “That’s quite the accusation, my dear. Let’s not jump to conclusions.”

“I’m not jumping to any conclusion. I’m right, aren’t I?” Now you’re sitting up, staggering to your feet to find some sort of leverage over him. He’s taller than you and far more powerful than he once let on. “Childe, why would—“

He sighs, lowering his hand out of defeat. “I suppose there’s no point avoiding it now. You were bound to find out one of these days.”

“One of these days? What? Like, when my family’s on the streets because the Fatui took our house?”

It hurts that he wasn’t honest and it hurts even more knowing that he has the power to help. He could’ve spent his time working out ways to get you out of debt, yet he decided to shower you in affection and useless trinkets! Trinkets that are only good for selling and receiving money to pay off the debt. You could cry; that’s how much it hurts. And when he makes no solid effort to comfort you, the tears begin to form.

“Of course not. I’d never let that happen!”

“Then why would you lie about it? Why not help me? Why can’t you just be honest? You always avoid questions you don’t want to answer and I hate it! I’ve been with you long enough to know that that mask is bad news. I was just waiting for you to confirm it, but you didn’t.”

You think it’s selfish for wanting his help—for wanting help from a Fatui agent, no less—but you’re too upset to care.

“(Name), you know that’s—“

“What else haven’t you told me? What else have you lied about? I don’t care if you’re trying to protect me. I’m already on a list. The Fatui still show up to my house and you just...let them. Why?”

“If I interfered, it would look bad in front of Her Majesty. You know I can’t go against her orders. I want to help you—I do. But...”

You’re fumbling for new words, at a complete loss with yourself. No matter how many questions you spout, he’ll evade them like they’re optional. And even if you want answers and honesty more than anything right now, you know he’ll fail to provide it. You shove the mask into his hands, shaking your head in disbelief. A swell of emotions overcome you: sadness, anger, and regret. You feel utterly betrayed. The sweet Childe, whom you once thought was your perfect match, is working for the Fatui—the people who have turned your life into misery.

And that’s probably not even the half of it.

“Let’s break up,” you say before he can spin another false tale. Another easy excuse to avoid this downfall. Childe stops short to stare at you in surprise and it’s weird to see that emotion scrawled across his face. He’s usually smooth and collected; he always knows what to say and how to act. Not this time, though. “It’s not going to work if we’re together while the Fatui are hounding my parents. And they wouldn’t approve of our relationship either.”

“Now, (Name), wait a moment. You’re not thinking straight. You’re just—” He struggles to find the correct words and in that small moment between foggy clarity and paralyzing uncertainty he plasters another plastic smile on. “Look. I know you’re upset, but I didn’t mean to lie to you. I was going to tell you eventually. Just had to find the right time to do it, you know?"

“I know. And that’s why we should go our separate ways.” Like Childe, you also put on a faux show, building up your walls as high and strong as his are. You don’t think you’ll last another minute in his presence, as you’re far too close to tears. “Thank you again for tonight. I’ll take my leave now.”

Rather than pain, it’s bitter when your lips fall upon his soft cheek. And the gesture stings harder than a slap on the wrist. 

The searing pain returns when you pull away and begin the descent from the hill as fast as your trembling legs will allow. You refuse to look back and fall into his arms in hopes that he’ll reassure you. The fact that he doesn’t chase after you—doesn’t even call out—stabs your conflicted heart and it’s more than enough confirmation. Childe isn’t exactly boyfriend material. He’s callous when it comes to a battle and he’s driven by his own ulterior motives. Surely this relationship was just a means of spending his extra time when he found himself bored and lacking a fight. Maybe he thought of his work when the two of you were on secretive dates. Maybe his heart was empty when the two of you were intimate. Maybe you were just the glue holding this crumbling bond together.

Childe remains on that hilltop, watching you disappear into the distance. And it’s then when realizes he’s lost you. The feeling is different from the battlefield and it’s far more real than when he’s snooping around as a Harbinger. You’re just a normal, good-natured citizen and he...ruined that part of you. With his ties to an enemy that has crushed your family. He’s partly, if not fully, responsible for what transpired just now and for the first time in a while real guilt gnaws at him. He’s left wondering why he did all of that—why he couldn’t just face your questions head-on.

It’s his fault, isn’t it?

On that windy hilltop, under the silent, disapproving darkness of the sky, he’s left to pick up the pieces of a fractured relationship. And it’s all because he couldn’t admit the truth to his precious girlfriend.

In a way, the Fatui have taken something from him, too, and he’s not sure if he’ll be able to patch it up with honeyed promises. 

Looks like we won’t be going to that festival anytime soon...

#genshin impact #genshin impact x reader #genshin impact scenario #genshin impact childe #genshin impact tartaglia #genshin impact ajax #childe x reader #tartaglia x reader #ajax x reader #childe #tartagila #ajax #i hope it was good!! #i wanted to capture childe's undesirable #personality traits in this #such as his tendency to lie smoothly #and avoid prying questions #tw: angst