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lilacmooon · 2 years

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finished this chapter of 'Earth After Rain' (finally) for this prompt lol.

this is the full chapter. it's a short one. but if you want another moodboard for some reason lol, or want to check out the other chapters. here's the link

also the song for this is I Know Places We Can Go - Lykke Li. and it's so freaking kyalin and so angsty and perfect so plsss listen and love it as much as i do lol

Angstpril 2022 - Day 12: Hide

Lin was quiet for a long while as they sat on the end of the dock. The sea was loud but calming all at the same time. Lin wasn’t ready to leave yet. She wasn’t ready to abandon the comforting presence of her friend next to her, supporting her, caring for her. How was it that Kya could always manage to make her feel instantly at ease? When no one else could? Being with her wasn’t like being with anyone else in her life. It was the easiest thing in the world. Everything else carried a certain amount of effort, work, energy. Being with Kya, sitting beside the ocean, their thighs pressed together warmly, felt like the most natural thing in her life at the moment.

“How do you always know exactly what I need?” Lin asked her friend quietly.

“Because I love you, Linny.” Kya told her. Lin turned her head to look at her then.

“I love you too.” Lin said after a breath.

Neither of them spoke for a while after that. Kya was surprised when it was Lin who broke the silence.

“The water looks so peaceful.” Lin commented. Kya hummed in agreement.

“We should go for a swim,” Kya suggested, only half serious. “It will make you feel so much better, trust me.”

“It’s dark.” Lin scrunched up her nose and Kya watched the faint freckles from the week in the sun wriggle with her glowing skin. “And late. Aren’t there tiger sharks?”

“Not this time of year.” Kya told her. She stood up to stretch and start making her way back to the house. At the slight concern on Lin’s face, Kya couldn’t help but tease her friend further. “Besides, if we come across a shark, I will just bend all the water from its gills until it turns tail and swims away to escape suffocation.”

“Spirits,” Lin said, rising next to Kya. “Can you really do that?”

“I don’t know but did it make you want to go for a swim?” Kya asked.

“I think it made me more scared, Kya.” Lin admitted after a second of thought. Kya laughed and grabbed her friend’s hand to lead her down the dock to the sand. But she was met with resistance. She turned to see Lin staring at her, a look she had never seen before glistening in her eyes. “But I never back down from a dare.”

“I didn’t dare you.” Kya said quietly, dropping Lin’s hand slowly.

“Okay,” Lin nodded. Then she challenged, “So dare me.”

Kya’s breath hitched in her throat at the heavy, honeyed tone of Lin’s voice. What was she doing?

“Dare me to go swimming with you.” Lin said more firmly this time, moving closer. “Instead of going back up to bed with Tenzin.”

Kya feels rooted in place, captured by the emotion in Lin’s voice and the pleading look in her eyes. She feels her heart drop dangerously and then jump up to flutter in her chest.

“Lin.” She tried to shake her head.

“Kya, please.”

Silence settled in around them at her words. The lap of the waves against the dock was somehow both comforting and urgent. It beat steadily like her heart against her ribs.

Kya took Lin’s hand in hers once more, shivering at the sudden heat that was spreading along her skin, and lead them into the sea. Taking a breath, the two of them dove, far, far down into the cool indigo waters.

They swam for ages. Kya performed silly little maneuvers with her bending, partly showing off and partly just to see Lin smile. It warmed her greatly to see the way her friend was finally lighting up again — despite the darkness pressing in around them. Or maybe even because of it. The way the rich, dark color of the water dissolved into the inky, deep blue of the sky, it gave the feeling of being held. At least to Kya it did. If she looked straight out to the horizon, far out over the sea while she floated among the rhythmic waves, it almost seemed like they were the only two people in the world. The night might have fallen just for them, just so they could have this moment alone, hiding away together. Tucked away in plain sight. Hidden, just like the tender, desperately affectionate, feelings for Lin that Kya was anxiously trying to conceal. Even to herself.

“You know…” Kya suggested bravely, suddenly, as they waded slowly from the ocean. “You don’t have to go back to the city after we all leave Ember Island. You could come with me. Travel. If you really wanted to.”

Lin stilled, looking at her friend pensively and then back out toward the sea. For a moment, Kya allowed herself to hope. Even though she knew that wouldn’t end well for her when this night, suspended and singular as it was, finally came to a close.

“What would I do?” Lin shook her head, her brow knotting. “My life is in Republic City. My career.”

“You can do whatever you want to, Lin. Your life is yours.” Kya argued gently. “You could do anything. All of it. All the things you’d never normally let yourself do.”

Lin chuckled lightly, wringing out her wet hair and sinking down to sit on the beach. Kya looked at her, imploring. Lin tilted her head in question, an exasperated smile tugging at her lips. Was Kya…serious?

“You could work at one of the stalls in whatever market we are near at the time. There are tea rooms everywhere. You could make drinks there! Or sweet buns?” Kya smirked, laughing as she listed off all the possible things Lin could get up to. “Oh! You like coffee right? You could open a coffee shop! I hardly ever see cafes anywhere on my travels. It would be so fun, Lin. We could go wherever we wanted.”

“That won’t work Kya.” Lin said bluntly, frowning. Kya’s heart dropped. She had only been partially serious, really. But Lin wouldn’t ever entertain the idea, even for a second. Kya wished she could just play along for once, just for tonight.

“Why not?” Kya sighed, brushing at the sand dusting her long legs idly, not wanting to hear the answer. Still, she couldn’t pass up the opportunity to challenge her friend’s rigid thinking.

“If I open a cafe then I will just have to close it right back up again.” Lin said, thinking too much into the logistics of their hypothetical scenario. But she couldn’t help herself. The idea just wasn’t practical. There had to be something else that made more sense. “When you are off to the next place already after only two months of being still.”

“Ugh, Lin.” Kya groaned, the sound ending on a tumble of laughs. “Please. You can’t even be spontaneous in a fantasy. Can you?”

“A fantasy?” Lin said flatly, her lips a tight line now.

“Yes.” Kya sighed. Then she turned back to Lin, squaring her shoulders and smiling at her tenderly once more, though it felt like a feat. “As much as I would love to have you join me on my travels, I know you never well. So it has to be a fantasy. Doesn’t it? And in a fantasy anything goes. So try again.”

“What’s that supposed to mean? You think I’ll never, ever leave Republic City?”

“You are too steady. Rooted where you are.” Kya explained, her voice soft and quiet. “But…we can pretend for a bit. Can’t we?”

Lin shrugged, sullen.

“Try it.” Kya urged gently. She turned the full force of her grin on her friend, who felt herself caving instantly. “It will help distract you.”

“I don’t know where to start, Kya. This is dumb.”

“If you could go with me. Go anywhere at all. Anywhere we wanted to. What would you do when you were out traveling the world with me?”

“Okay.” Lin sighed heavily. She thought for a while, since it was clear Kya wasn’t going to drop it, and pulled her knees up to her chest, leaning into her friend for warmth. “I would…collect things. Wherever we go.”

“What sorts of things?” Kya asked with a yawn, leaning back into her as well, tucking herself into Lin’s chest and lap. Lin adjusted immediately, taking Kya into her instinctually.

“Rare stones and gems. Seashells and porous rocks. Crystals. Those glittering formations beneath sand that are burned into the grains by lightning bolts.”

“Hmm.” Kya hummed sleepily.

She closed her eyes, imagining what it might be like to have Lin there, on her journeys with her. Never alone. She pictured the pleased and excited look that would splash across Lin’s pretty face whenever she would show her what she found that day. Her clothes would be messy and wrinkled after days like that, caked with dirt and water and silt. Kya would reach out to clean the earth that streaked across her cheeks. And help her wash it from her hair. Then they would make dinner together, talking and drinking and just being with one another. After a long day apart. Still…it would be only hours. Not weeks and months and years like it sometimes was now. It sounded perfect. It sounded like a dream.

“I could make things out of whatever I find, too. All sorts of different things. And I could sell them to help buy whatever we need.” Lin thought aloud, nodding softly. She spoke the next bit into Kya’s soft brown hair, her breath falling against the crown of her head where Kya was folded in close to her. “While you are doing your healing work. Or whatever else you get up to. That’s what I’ll do. I’ll search for things and I’ll make things. But most importantly, I’ll get to be with you.”

Throughout the rest of the night, those tender sort of dangerous feelings she worried she was developing for Lin, Kya expertly hid them away. Hid them beneath the more prominent and pervasive sensations of warmth and comfort that flowered up in her at the feel of Lin’s skin against hers. Those feelings, they were bellied easily by the little thrill that shivered up her spine when Lin’s fingers tangled sleepily in her hair when they lay down together in the sand. And they were buried firmly beneath the tangled well of dread that hung heavy in her chest at the fleeting thought of what any of this might mean for them.

The hints of dawn shone silver but dull at the sliver of horizon where the sky met the sea. Kya knew that, if they didn’t leave soon, someone would find them out here, and start to ask them where they had been all night. The thought of being discovered, of dealing with any prying or curious questions and gazes, it seemed absolutely unbearable. This night with Lin was one she wanted to keep hidden away, just for themselves. But she also didn’t want it to end either. The passing of time was inevitable, however. Relentless and resolute. And so, Kya breathed deeply and stirred reluctantly to wake Lin where she lay sleeping in the sand beside her.

“We should get back to the villa.” Kya whispered, brushing her dark hair out of her face. She traced the new, still raw scars on Lin’s cheek tenderly, idly. “It’s morning.”

“Not yet.” Lin sighed out, barely audible. She rolled into her friend, pressing closer. “Just hide out here with me a little while longer. Please? Stay with me.”

#angstpril2022 #kyalin #tlok #lin beifong #kya II

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the-avengers-ate-my-tongue · 3 years

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Duty Calls

This was a request lol but I accidentally deleted the ask and didn't get the tumblr user, but that's pretty much it, a reminder of not posting through my phone because the app sucks heheh reader I hope you're out there, I'm sorry it took so long, college's been hard but I'm free now. Another reminder to not do stuff at 4am, I get ten times more stupid.

Summary: reader is not an early person but has to wake up to work on a day off, so Will brings her coffee.

Pairing: Will Graham x reader

Warnings: basic fluff, I love it

Word count: 634

The alarm clock ringed loudly and Will's hand moved quickly to turn it off, as he always did every morning. Ugh. He'd barely slept, the nightmares kept waking him up in what seemed to be thirty in thirty minutes.

He looked at his side, seeing your face. A light smile appeared in his lips as he watched you in a deep slumber, your face so unworried, so relaxed. He was giving you some hard time with those symptoms he couldn't explain, and God knows you insisted him to go to the hospital, but he was working with Hannibal, he would be fine. Or at least he expected.

Without being able to resist, he lightly caressed your cheek, adoration making his eyes glow. You were so sweet, so pretty. What did he do to deserve someone like you? He just wasn't worthy. Part of him kept waiting you would ditch him for someone better but, after over a year, you were still there. He was so thankful.

You mumbled something he couldn't get and he suppressed a chuckle, kissing your cheek and getting ready to get up to another day in Quantico. For a moment, he wished he could just stay there with you in bed, holding you, loving you. But responsibilities called. You opened your beautiful eyes lazily, absorbing the surroundings, then moaning in annoyance when you realized how early it was.

"Sorry, hun. It's early. Go back to sleep." He whispered in your ear, kissing your forehead. The dogs followed him outside the bedroom, leaving you alone, where you surely went back to sleep. He could hear your loud breathing.

Will went to the kitchen, feeding the dogs first, then preparing breakfast for you and him. You wouldn't eat together today, it was your day off, and even though you were an early riser, you'd been working quite a lot, so you'd earned some rest.

After a few minutes, he was almost finished, when he heard your phone ring. A tired "Y/L/N" came out of your mouth, and he sighed, picking up the coffee pot and pouring you some of the steaming dark drink in the mug you liked the most, walking to the bedroom and seeing you half up, leaning against the headboard.

"I know, Steve, but it's my day off, can't someone cover that for me? Yes, I'm aware. But…" You pouted as Steve, your coworker, spoke loudly something Will couldn't distinguish. You rolled your eyes, mouthing silently some curses. "Fine. I'll be there in an hour or some."

"Duty calls?" Will asked, grimacing a bit. You rolled your eyes, massaging your temples while he walked over to you, handing the mug.

"Thanks, love. That son of a bitch doesn't know how to solve anything without help, frankly, it's frustrating. Did he buy his diploma or something? Motherf…" you started sipping your coffee before completing the curse, making Will chuckle, kissing your hair affectionately.

"So much for a day off, right? I can drive you. I'm early." It wasn't quite true, but he would take any chance of spending more time with you. And the smile you gave him after that was worthy.

"What would I do without you, Will Graham?" You asked, caressing his face.

"If you hurry up, we can shower together to spare some time…" he said with a sly look on his face, making you laugh loudly. Damn, he loved your laugh.

"You know it's the easiest way to be late, Will. Don't tempt me. You go first, and hurry. I don't wanna delay you." You said in a scolding tone, but for the way you were biting your lower lip, Will knew you were considering it.

He chuckled while going to the bathroom. You both could enjoy some time together later. Now, duty called.

#hannibal #will graham x reader #hugh dancy #will graham #will graham headcanon #hannibal fanfic #will graham imagine #will graham oneshot

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ay0nha · 2 years

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Kiss of Death | Jamie Hewlett (Blurb)

REQUEST for @lundenloves - this was SO fun and thank you for answering all of my questions about how you invisioned this. I know I got a little derailed from the orginal request to my apologies and I hope you enjoy!

A/N: this was supposed to be short, but some how it's 5.3K words lol. It also wasn't orginally supposed to be smut, but here we are. I'm moving slowing through requests and with writing in general, but I'd love to do a part two with this as I took some things out/moved things around so lowkey it does call for it, but idk when I'll get to it so Thank You for the infinite patients (mostly) everyone has lol! Also, if you ever read my a/n's you know how I feel about smut (aka not my strong suit and not the easiest for me to write) so please be kind haha. Also as always lack of proof reading and rushed ending. Enjoy!

Warnings: SMUT 18+ - it gets explicit so be prepared for anything involving sex, ANGST, divorce/separation, cursing, therapy, fluff if you squint, talk of PPD, mentions of pregnancy/having children, smoking, etc etc + things related to these topics that I might be forgetting to add

"We've been separated for a little over a year now."

Grace had never said it aloud until now. Maybe it was because it didn't feel that long to her. Or maybe because some days it felt much, much longer. Through this separation, she learned time functioned differently and it could change within an instant. It all depended on things out of her control. She thought, in the beginning, she was in control of the situation and herself, but as time went on it only proved that no matter what she would never truly be in control the way she desperately needed to be.

"Why start therapy now, then?"

Grace looked around her, already avoiding eye contact with the qualified looking professional in front of her. She had always been resistance and skeptical of professional help especially when it involved Jamie. Vulnerbility was never her friend which Jamie knew all too well as he too went to speak for the both of them:

"She kissed me-

"He kissed me-

Jamie and Grace's sentences overlapped, causing the therapist's eyebrows to raise slightly while the two in the room shared an angry glance and stayed in their standoff. They were sitting closer than they should have been for people who were supposed to be put off by each other. However, they didn't sit closely out of love for one another, everything they did down to body language was from a point of pride.

Accustomed to the behavior before her, the therapist continued with her questions, "Were things going well before this kiss?"

It was a question that repeated over and over in both Jamie and Grace's heads. They clearly didn't work. They functioned. It was going. Life was still happening around them. But it was draining and both of them were barely hanging on and they both refused to admit it to the other. Grace found pride that she was able to hide it better whereas Jamie was able to be quieter about it. Any way one put it, it all but worked.

"No answer," the doctor noted to herself and in her notebook. Grace was starting to sweat, but she stayed planted. If Jamie wasn't going to answer, neither was she, "Let me rephrase then...What was the turning point that caused this kiss?"

Jamie hiccuped, holding himself upright against the door frame as he tried to steady himself enough to speak, "C-couldn't remember the way back to my place..."

Through a practiced eye-roll, Grace held the door open for him only to leave him to his own device. She felt anger bubbling through her chest due to another night where Jamie had some sort of excuse to show up unannounced. With each stair step, she pushed her feelings down, leaving them for later for now she needed to focus on cleaning up for the night.

She had just finished her daughter's bedtime routine and just put her down for the night. She half-expected Jamie to wake her up to say hello, but tonight his attention was on his ex. He watched from the hall as she sat on the toilet seat her knees pressed against the side of the tub, reaching for the plug to let the water swirl down. Jamie staggered in after her into the small space and instantly sat with his back to the tub to let his legs stretch out on the bathroom floor.

"I miss bath time?" He asked through hooded eyelids as he leaned his head back onto the tub to look up at her.

"Yeah..." She responded absentmindedly as she continued to clean up the area, placing all of the toys back on the rim of the bathtub.

Despite their daughter being a photocopy of Grace, she was definitely Jamie's daughter. Her mannerisms, even at her young age, mimicked his to a tee. Even now as Jamie's head rolled to no longer rest on the tub, but onto Grace's knee it reminded her of their daughter and the way she would always roll into her affection. With her daughter, it was easy to welcome it and reciprocate, but coming from Jamie made her feel queasy.

Jamie looked up at her fondly, finding the way she moved mesmerizing. She'd be lying if she didn't enjoy the added weight on her leg, her uneasiness calming with each passing minute. But they could only stay in this position for so long.

"I'm surprised you're not kicking me out," Jamie thought aloud.

Even though she smiled, her words were still flat, "Me too."

Any other night, he wouldn't have made it past the door so he inherently followed her lead. It was a bad idea on both parts, but they both needed the company regardless of how tense it could get.

Jamie trailed behind into the hallway again, her back to him as she pulled her hair down and ruffled it letting out the same sigh she would after taking her bra off after a long day. His eyes took her body in, she looked so domestic in the most positive way. With bare feet, she padded into her room, stretching slightly to help rid herself of any lingering tension. Jamie stood by the door watching as she readied herself for bed by pulling her jeans off. They fit her snugger than they had before their daughter, but he loved the way her body evolved to create who she was today.

"You hear me?" She called out to him as she pulled back the sheets and slid into them.

He stayed quiet, eyes now on hers as he shook his head. They were both out of words to exchange as she looked back at him as she lay on her side. She was prepared to fall asleep right there and then, not caring about anything but getting off her feet.

It wasn't until she felt the bed beside her dip that she opened her eyes. Jamie could be predictable at times, and this was one of them. It felt normal for him to simply join, no questions asked and certainly, no words spoken. She didn't protest as rolled onto her back with her arms open for him to sigh deeply as he melted into her hold.

Even when they were together and angry resulting in someone sleeping on the couch, Grace always slept better when he was under the same roof. The house was meant for all of them and when they weren't all there it made it worse. She always dreaded the weekends when she'd been on her own. It was too quiet. She was being selfish or maybe the exhaustion had caught up to her, but she allowed her hand to thread in his hair to twirl it the way he loved.

"Jamie..." She said his name as she pulled his head back slightly by his hair.

He was two steps ahead of her, knowing exactly what she was asking and responding with a kiss. His body was already slotted between her legs making it easy for him to hover above her the way he'd been imaging for a while. As for Grace, she'd never felt like this before. She didn't know that she could feel an ache so deep inside her and be so completely aware that the only cure for it is the touch of another person. A specific person. At this moment, she felt like he was her person.

Jamie's hands moved on their own accord, pulling the hem of his shirt over his head before tossing it aside, giving Grace the time to do it for herself. The two took their time to be settled between each other until Jamie's hands slid down Grace's now bare stomach. One hand went to grip her thigh, while the other sandwiched itself in the space between her pelvis and his. His fingertips could already feel the heat radiating from her clothed core. He rubbed two fingers against the soaking fabric. He pulled away from her lips, but stayed close, ghosting his mouth over hers to say, "You're soaked."

But before Grace can reply with anything, Jamie pushed aside her underwear and pushed his fingers as deep as he could. The relief Grace found was instantaneous. A breathless sigh slipped past her lips as he rubbed over her folds, delighted with the fluttering breaths she was letting out. Despite the tension building up in her body, this is the most relaxed she'd felt in days. The attention he was paying to her body was like no other.

Jamie knew how her core was soon going to convulse in the most delightfully sinful way, making him harder than he'd think was ever possible. He wanted to feel her completely and wholly, but he needed to see how he could make her feel with just his hands. He wanted a taste, he wanted to hold, he wanted to suck, he wanted to bite, he wanted to squeeze, he wanted to do anything and everything that had to do with her.

Grace, though, all she wanted was Jamie to fill her up so completely that she'd be feeling him for days, "Jamie I need you."

It went quick, his movements stopping, leaving her empty, and pulling back. Grace worried that it was time to come to their senses, but before she could finish her thought she could feel Jamie's wet kisses on her thighs. He was craving her at this point, selfishly not being able to give her what she was asking for. He kissed the inside of her thigh once more as he gets settled in between them pulling her underwear off so his arms could hook around both thighs to pull her closer.

Her hips twitched in the slightest movement, Jamie's eyes darted up to hers for a moment before he dove in, tongue licking at every part of her that ached for him. Her lips parted, eyes shutting in pure bliss as he got to work, lips closing in on her clit to gently suck. Then, his still warm fingers returned to work in and out of her like no tomorrow, she was sure to be done in minutes. He continued to skillfully work his mouth and fingers in her heat as she moaned deeply, beginning to see stars and feel warm. As predicted, it didn't take long for Jamie to coax her through and down from a powerful orgasm.

Once it was still again, Jamie smiled to himself pleased with her pleasure. He was ready to dive in for more, wanting to feel again how her fingers tugged his hair tenderly. But she couldn't help but beg him again, "Jamie, please."

Her wish was his command. Especially when she said his name the way she did. Jamie always got pleasure in her pleasure, so now as her legs were spread wide open just for him, it was his absolute bliss.

Jamie wasted no time kicking the rest of his clothes to the side so he could drag the tip of his cock along her slick core. The moment he filled her for the first time in a long time, there was a feeling of completeness that she'd been missing. She needed this, she thought. She needed to be stretched, to be filled. She meant to hold her in her mewl, but she only had so much control when she was underneath Jamie.

Yet, Jamie based everything off on her as he asked, "This okay? Do you want me to stop?"

"God, no."

Neither admitted it to the other, but it had been a long time for the both to be in the position with anyone, let alone each other. Their pleasure was quickly building as Jamie began to push his hips towards her finding the perfect ryhtm within a few thrusts. Her tone's softness was making his head dizzy. She could feel his tip pulsate inside of her. He was trying hard to last as long as he could, but with one flex of her muscles, he was a moaning mess on top of her as he finished inside of her. Jamie collapsed on top of her, his heart pounding out of his chest. He wasn't sure if it was through passion or embarrassment.

"Sorry I just miss-

"You're alright," She spoke over his confession with honesty. She loved the feeling, being able to feel him and how she now had something of his to hold onto which prompted her to say, "Let's just stay like this for a moment."

"No answer," the therapist said, trying her best to not show her annoyance with the two, "So I'm supposed to believe nothing happened after you invited him to stay?"

"Invite is a strong way to put that," Grace scoffed, eyes finally finding the therapist's to defend herself, "Drunk Jamie is impossible to get through to. Trust me it's easier to just let him-

"You make it sound like I was wasted," Jamie cut in, annoyed at how his image was being described, "I was tipsy at most-

"So you had clear intentions going into that night, then?" The doctor took her turn to talk, eyes now pointed at Jamie. Grace felt a sense of relief now that the attention was on the same question she wanted an answer to.

"I went to see my daughter," Jamie answered through a slightly frustrated sigh although everyone in the room could see right through him, "But she was already asleep. She's very hard to get to bed."

"A daughter," The doctor noted, then questioned, "Do you have more kids?"

"No," Jamie answered.

"Do you want more children?"

"We used to you," Grace answered.

They always talked about a family. The more the merrier, but it was always something hypothetical and always for their future selves. But they spoke it into existence earlier than they should have.

"I mean currently," the doctor clarified, "Do either of you want more children?"

"Considering our daughter wasn't planned and we're no longer..." Grace trailed off, not wanting to finish her sentence in front of everyone. It felt too permanent.

"I don't mean between the two of you," The doctor had to clarify again, "Do either of you picture a future that doesn't intertwine? Lives separate from each other?" "It's hard to imagine since we share a child," Jamie was quick to respond, as if afraid to think of another option.

"And you? Grace?"

Grace was surprised by Jamie's candor. He seemed to be welcoming this discussion better than she was. For her, it felt that with each minute, the walls were coming closer and closer to her.

"No answer...I know this environment can be intimidating for some, but it is inherent that we start somewhere," She said before pulling her glasses off to place them to the side like she had her pen to say, "Tell me, what do you believe was the reason for the separation?"

"Don't you want to know why we kissed?" Grace tried not the bite back, but her walls were quickly building up. She didn't want to go back, remember all that happened. They were past that, she hoped. The kiss she could handle, but the separation was an ongoing story.

"Not really, no," The woman crossed her legs to lean back comfortably, "It's clear you care for each other even if you don't say it. It's only natural if it doesn't work verbally to manifest physically. Honestly, I'm surprised it didn't go any further."

"It did."

"Jamie!" Grace scolded quickly as she felt the blood rush to the tips of her ears. Jamie always did have a different approach to their sex life than she did. She kept it all to herself, for herself to enjoy even in memory. But Jamie was the type who needed to talk about it, share it, laugh about it which more often than not made Grace cringe.

"Grace, you hold your cards close to your chest which I can respect. However, this information needs to be shared if you want to progress-

"I know," She cut her off, becoming fed up with the way Jamie and the therapist were acting. In reality, she knew they were only trying to help but at the moment she felt like it was two against one so the only thing on her mind was to retaliate, "I didn't say anything because he came in less than two seconds and I'd barely count that as anything."

"Does that bother you?" The therapist directed toward Grace.

"She asked me to stay and said..." Jamie had no issue exposing her. In retrospect Grace could see how he was trying to be honest, but she was convinced he said this just to push the attention off of him and keep it off of him, "...That she wanted-No-, needed to feel me."

"Do you feel you need Jamie? Or did you need relief?"

Grace's mouth felt glued shut, refusing to answer again. She felt betrayed by Jamie. It was true, she needed him. She tried 'relief' with other people, but she could never follow through and her hands could only do so much. The doctor looked at Grace, deciding not to press further and work with what was laid out in front of her.

"Let me be blunt," The doctor spoke clearly, causing Grace to shudder with slight fear, "You came in here telling me you don't want to be in a relationship, yet neither of you has had sex with other people. That's psychologically considered a relationship."

"We're not together."

"Tell me, then," She said, "How was the following morning?"

Grace woke up to him holding her tightly. He was always a light sleeper so she knew she only had so much time to take his image in before his eyes would flutter open. Jamie lived for aftercare, even if was the following morning so once he was conscious enough, his hands already began trailing her body.

"Tea?" Jamie asked softly, through a voice that dripped with exhaustion.

"In a minute," She hummed as his hand scratched softly down her back. Grace knew where this was going and she wanted nothing more. They just had to wait each other out as if being polite before truly attaching once again.

He watched her carefully, once again trying his best to follow her energy. He wanted her. He wanted to last for her. And he wanted her to know, "I could stay like this all day."

"Really?" She asked him through humor. Her smile was soft, matching his as both of their eyes fluttered down to each other's lips.

"Really." He confessed unintentionally moving closer to her.

Much to his disappointment, she detached herself from him swiftly and borderline playfully. It was still a part of the act, a soft form of foreplay. Jamie loved how simply it was playing out. He could make out every curve of her body as she confidently walked in front of him in search of clothes. She knew what she was doing, bending over without anything on. She wished she felt shy, but as his eyes went over every inch of her body, her confidence only swelled.

Her body was absolutely divine to him. He was devoted to her body. She had always been beautiful, without a doubt, but there was just something about her current natural state that absolutely took his breath away.

"C'mere."

His eyes were heavy from bliss and the little bit of sleep that had yet to wear off. Both of their decisions were quick as their lips found each other for a lazy kiss. Grace dropped the forgotten shirt on the floor the minute Jamie pulled her on top of him. Lazy morning kisses turned into needy ones, slumber-weighted fingers curled in each other's messy hair. Grace's leg raised to curl over his hip as he slotted his thigh between her legs, one hand resting on her lower back as the other coasted up her body.

Jamie could only last so long before asking, "Will you let me feel you again?"

Grace answered with a searing kiss as she rubbed her soaked center against him showing him the intense desire she had. Yet she pulled away, eyes dropping to where the two of them were rubbing against one another. Her eyes fleeted back up to look at him, his gaze still watching the sinful scene as she ground down onto him.

Just as he was about to move forward, she lifted herself, allowing her breasts to hang freely and feel Jamie's warm sigh of want against her skin. It was an unintentional distraction for him as he let out a deep moan the moment she took hold of him, lifting her hips just enough to have him at her entrance. He watched as she slowly took him, pussy fluttering around his generous tip, her jaw-dropping in a silent, fulfilled moan. His hands were down at her hips, thumbs rubbing soothing circles into her skin. She continued her journey down his length, one hand resting on his shoulder as the other gripped his thigh.

"Fuck, you were made for me..." His words came out through a breathy laugh that made her whimper and eyes close with ecstasy. She cursed when she finally took all of him, hips snug against him as she dived into pleasure.

She drew her hips up, allowing Jamie to watch the way his cock glistened in her arousal, just to watch as he slowly thrust up into her. His eyes trailed back up her body as they gradually picked up their pace, impatient to take it any slower. Grace looked down at him with glossy eyes, chest rising and falling with heavy breaths.

Jamie felt like he couldn't get close enough. As they moved in tandem, he sat up, pressing their chests together sucking on all of her open flesh, needing to feel and taste every part he could. He could feel how she was getting close and so could she, but they both needed more.

"Jamie, wait hold on," Grace's words betrayed her as she wanted to hold onto every thrust. Jamie, however was worried something was wrong, stilling his movements, but still twitching anxiously inside of her.

"Do you want me to stop?" It was a silly question to Grace, the answer always being no.

"I don't want you to stop," She breathed desperately as she pulled back until her body detached from him. It was almost painful how empty she felt in the few second it took for her settle on her forearms and feel the cool air on her behind, "I want you to hold me down."

"W-what?"

"Fuck me hard Jamie," She spoke clearly, pushing her hair out of the way to look back at him.

Grace swore he mumbled a 'fuck' under his breath as he settled behind her. Jamie bent over her naked back and planted kisses from the bottom of her spine to between her shoulder blades before blindly nudging her entrance again sliding into her inch by inch. Jamie wasn't sure why at a time like this he was taking his time to tease, but Grace knew that he wanted it to last as long as possible. His grip was gentle, but Grace loved the control he had. It's so different from the way she usually saw him.

His voice is calm, level, bringing her back to earth, grounding her as she whined. When she couldn't take it anymore, Jamie felt her start to pull off and push back on his cock by herself only to smile to himself, "Patients, love. I'll give you what you want. Want me to fuck you?"

It was then when he finally retracted his hips only to thrust them forward, meeting her body. His pelvic bone met her ass and his hands went to her hips. She could now remember why doggy was her favorite position. The way her hips are curved perfectly fit Jamie's cock allowing it rub right up against her most sensitive spot with each thrust, making her head go dizzy.

His grip tightens, and she started to bite her lip hard as she rolled back again and again, listening to Jamie's short grunts and drawn out groans of pleasure. When his thrusts started to get sloppy, she could feel a hand leave her waist and snake down to her core. She wanted to moan his name when he found her clit, tell him how good he was, how good he felt. She kept it to herself as she held onto the added stimulation.

As the sounds of skin clapping illuminate the bedroom, Grace and Jamie both tried to keep your moans at bay. The last thing they needed to pop their bubble was their daughter who would be the tangible reminder of what their relationship was supposed to be. Neither of them thought much of her, too selfishly focused on each other.

Jamie was deep inside her and she could feel the two of them battling to see who could last longer. She shifted her weight to one side so she could reach back to attach to Jamie's neck and feel his chest against her back. The slight movement and shift helped trigger Jamie's orgasm. Grace could feel his cum spurting deep into her cervix, but thought nothing of it in the moment, lost in the euphoria of her own orgasm. Her pussy was pulsing around his cock as Jamie slowed down his thrusting hips, only giving slow and deep thrusts to milk his cum from his dick.

Their bodies, joint by joint, started to collapse on one another. Jamie wasn't ready to let go of her yet. He was still trying to catch his breath when he reached down, taking a loose grip on her jaw and watching as her wide eyes flick up to meet his. Her mind was so foggy, arousal clouding every logical nerve in her body. Jamie cooed when he saw the tears that began to cloud her vision, threatening to spill at any second, "I love you."

"Was it always like that?"

"God, no," Grace chose her times to speak selfishly. It felt good to call Jamie out, even if she was the one currently being immature.

"Then, what makes this different?"

"There aren't eighteen-year-olds coming for my neck," Grace's arms crossed with her words, her normal anger returning at the thought. The woman in front of her looked more confused than ever, "He's quite popular with that age group."

"Is that a euphemism for cheating?"

"I've never cheated," Jamie spoke firmly, adjusting in his seat through agitation. This was hurting him more than she thought, "My job just attracts a certain crowd, that's all."

"Right," Grace spoke under her breath.

"So, is it safe to assume his job is part of the reason for your separation?"

"I should have never had said yes."

"Excuse me?"

"I should have known better to say yes to the man who asks me to marry him only days after finding out I was pregnant," Grace clarified confidently.

"Is that not what we wanted?"

"We were teenagers, we didn't know what we wanted," She disagreed as she shook her head, her voice full of pity, "But we knew better."

"Speak for yourself," Jamie bit back, "I knew what I wanted, I know what I want."

"What you want is a housewife, what you want is someone to dot on you. Someone to-

"I want you."

"What you want is not what I can be."

"You make it sound like I'm making you-" Jamie's voice raised slightly, but he stopped himself to not projecting as much to say, "You have the freedom to do whatever you want, the same liberties I have. If anything more than I do."

"More than you do?" She asked through a bitter laugh.

He cursed, "You act like I don't want to be a part of our daughter's life. I work to provide for the two of you."

"You get paid for the parties? For the drinking too? The drugs? All of that is tax-deductible?"

"Love-

"No, you don't get to call me that," Grace stopped him, the term of endearment making her sick, "You don't get to just fuck off when you feel like it and come back expecting everything to be the same."

"But I don't want to-

"You lost the right to have a say in this when you weren't there for me."

Grace's eyes were trained forward, her face grew passive quickly as she gave a rehearsed response, "We just grew into separate people."

"Can you elaborate?"

She shrugged as if the response was simple and obvious, "He got successful and it went too far. He was partying and I was putting a baby down. He was traveling first class while I struggled to cope after the birth."

Jamie's body was getting tense, he felt like he was under scrutiny and now he didn't even know how to respond besides saying what he truly thought, "You didn't tell me how you were feeling, it would have been different if I knew."

"Don't lie, Jamie," Grace shook her head as it faced down. Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion and frustration, all of her emotions hitting her. This was yet another topic they rarely brought up because every time they did Grace would shut down, shut everyone out, and shut off.

Even the chose to stay doctor was quiet, everyone waited for Grace to continue.

"I could barely take care of myself," Grace spoke softly, finally having a space to just speak knowing everyone else wouldn't dare to interrupt, "I barely took care of myself. My body didn't even want to...I couldn't breastfeed...and my baby, any time I looked at her I was just filled with such...It's fine now, I relied on myself and I figured it out."

Grace's eyes pleaded the woman in front of her to drop the subject. The therapist was debating on helping her push through the topic, but with one glance to the clock on the wall Grace was saved by the bell.

"I want to thank the both of you for making the first step and showing up today," The doctor spoke evenly as Grace gave her an appreciative glance, "I look forward to working with you two next week..." She hesitated saying the next thing knowing as a professional she should have kept it to herself, but even she could feel the lingering love between the two, "Just check in with each other once in awhile."

After some soft and swift goodbye's, the pair felt like they were gasping for air once they reached outside. Naturally, Jamie's hand reached for the pocket that held his cigarette and lighter, immediately settling it between his lips and lighting it. He didn't hesitate handing it to Grace to share. It was an agreed gesture to occupy the same space for just a moment longer without the pressures of what was inside the building or the pressure of what they would have to face once they went back to their own worlds. It was a moment to pause.

A moment Jamie took to ask the question sitting in front of them, "Think we can make this work?"

"Knowing us..." She trailed off through and exhale of smoke, implying the worst.

There was a beat of silence as she passed the cigarette back for his own inhale. He toyed with the lit cigarette that was on it's last limb as he asked, "You're alright, though?"

She smiled, appreciative of his gesture. She took her own moment to look at him now as he expertly took in the smoke and released it through his nose as she responded, "Yeah, you?"

"Yeah."

#Jamie Hewlett #jamie hewlett fanfic #jamie hewlett fluff #jamie hewlett x oc #jamie #hewlett #gorillaz #jamie hewlett angst #personal #Jamie hewlett imagine

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starrynite7114 · 3 years

Text

roommates: four

A/N: Hello everyone! Happy weekend! Hope your week has been a good one! So my brain has been going 100mph. I’m trying to calm it down and focus on one thing, but that’s proving to be hard. LOL BUT I’M TRYING. Sorry the updates are taking longer, I’ve been getting ideas and it just takes over my brain. School is starting back up next week so I’m going to try my best to go on a writing spree this weekend so I can try and update every week. Emphasis on TRY. But thank you for continue to support me, you all are just too lovely.

Also, I have two Angel request I’m going to try to post since they are half way done along with the EZ request. I’m really lagging on EZ, but it will be posted.

EZ request

Dance (Angel)

Always you (Angel)

Lake Part Two

Sex Guru Angel

Everything is you: part 12

Graduation (EZ request)

Rio request

Two Daddy Angel request: Snuggling and Trip to the aquarium

Groupchat for updates! Please join since the tags could be a bit iffy at times!

If you would like to be added to the tag list, please let me know! My tag list is a little messy, but please let me know if you want to be added!

Masterlist

roommates

Word count: 7697

Warnings: Mentions of abuse, smut, angst

You looked at your closet, thinking of what to wear tonight for your date with Angel. He suggested that you wore something comfortable, casual, no dressy outfits.

‘But if you want to wear a skirt for my benefit, by all means mami, go right ahead.’

Angel was too much, but you weren’t complaining. Ever since you agreed to go on a date a few days ago, Angel has been occupying your bed. He always reasoned that it was due to the fact that your bed was comfortable, but you’ve slept on his bed before and it was equally as comfortable. You stopped trying to kick Angel out of your bed since you enjoyed his company. And you figured it wouldn’t be long till Angel got over this need to be with you. You felt like he was just scratching some itch about going down memory lane. You didn’t think Angel was interested and you figured this need he had for you would fade. You had no plans on furthering your relationship and it was to protect yourself and Angel. Agreeing to this date, you didn’t regret it, you wanted to go on a date with Angel, see how it was after all these years.

“It shouldn’t be this difficult to pick out clothes.” You sighed, placing your hands on your hips, looking at yourself in the mirror.

“You don’t have to try and impress me, I’m already impressed.”

You jumped hearing Angel’s voice. You turned and found him leaning against your doorframe, looking sinfully good. His kutte was not on him for once. He was wearing a short sleeve black button up, jeans and boots. His hair was slicked back, newly trimmed along with his beard. But you had to remain strong, you couldn’t let Angel know that he made the butterflies in your stomach go wild. Or that whenever he smiled at you, you found yourself flustered since even when you were younger, Angel’s smile was your favorite thing about him. You made it your mission to keep that smile on his face. Whenever Angel was with you, you noticed how carefree he was and that’s all you could ask for.

You and Angel were always able to be yourselves around one another.

No bullshit, nothing.

“Impress you? Absolutely not, I dress for me baby.” You blew him a kiss before turning back towards your vanity. “Besides, just in case I see some other good looking guy wherever we go, at least I’m dressed to impress.” That was a lie, your eyes wouldn’t leave Angel’s tonight, but he didn’t need to know that.

“Look at you talking shit again.” Angel walked over to you just as you stood up from your vanity. When you turned around, you ran into Angel’s chest. One of his arms wrapped around you, while his hand cupped your face. Without any warning, Angel kissed you, which took your breath away as always. You thought that if you kept kissing Angel, the effects of his kiss would wither away, but you were wrong. It was like every kiss was different on a miniscule level, but it was and it always took your breath away. “This ass is mine baby.” He grabbed your ass, a moan escaping your lips. “God, let’s just order pizza and let me show you who that pussy belongs to.” He bit your ear, another moan coming out of you.

You bit your lip and looked up at him, your fingers began to unbutton his button up. “I wouldn’t be opposed to that.”

“No, no, don’t tempt me.” He captured your lips again, his hands stopping you from further undoing his buttons. “I got a night planned for us, but we can definitely have a happy ending later.”

You laughed. “Are you going to tell me where we’re going?”

“Somewhere nice, fun.” He pulled away from you to stop the temptation he faced.

“So we’re going to a strip club?” You teased.

“Listen, if you want to go to a strip club baby girl, I’m down, but I would rather you strip this outfit for me later tonight.” He twirled you around, your skirt flowing along with the twirl. You wore a white v-neck for your top and a navy blue skirt, shorts underneath.

“Hmm, maybe.” You held up two pairs of shoes, one were heels, while the other were Air Jordan’s.

“Heels or Jordan’s?”

“Jordan’s, you don’t need heels where we’re going.”

“Can you just give me a hint?”

“It would defeat the purpose of a surprise.”

“You’re annoying.”

Angel chuckled. “Learned from your annoying ass.”

Angel had been driving for forty-five minutes and the sun had setted. It was nice to watch the sunset, listening to some old school jams, and with Angel’s hand was intertwined with yours. You could get used to this, but at the same time, you had your reservations. While Angel made it clear that the scars didn’t bother him, it was still an insecurity for you. Why would he want damaged goods? It was a thought that Carmelo basically embedded in your mind. Why would anyone want damaged goods? Why would anyone want to touch a woman who had someone else’s initials carved on them? He wanted to mark you up so that no one else would want you, so he could have you, you would have no choice. It was all about choice with Carmelo. He would be your choice, your only choice. He isolated you, made sure that you had no choice but to stay with him.

But then Medina came along and gave you a choice.

At first, it was just an escape from your reality.

Then the outings with his wife came about and Carmelo didn’t mind since he was mildly afraid of Medina’s wife.

Then eventually he helped you escape Carmelo.

You never asked for details, you didn’t want details. All you cared about was that Carmelo was gone.

“Baby, I lost you.” Angel softly squeezed your hand.

“Sorry,” you offered him a smile and you noticed that he had stopped driving. Looking at the place before you, you smiled. “Angel Reyes, you want to get your ass kicked on our first date?” He brought you to your favorite mini-golf place, a date you two had plenty of times when you were still teenagers.

“This isn’t our first date and kick my ass?” He scoffed. “Baby, daddy’s winning this.”

“Odd term to refer to me as, daddy, but I mean, whatever floats your boat.” You shrieked as you exited your car, grabbing your stuff.

You closed the door and Angel made his way over to you, backing you up against your car. “You’re such a shit talker today.” He smirked. “We should make this interesting.”

“How so?” You were intrigued.

“Let’s make a wager, if I win, you left me fuck you in your car after we finish, but if you win, you could have your way with me.”

“Ooh, or, if I win, we go home right after this, forget the rest of your plans and you can fuck me at home.” You whispered this in his ear, making Angel groan.

“Fuck it, you win, let’s go home.”

“No,” you shook your head. “We just got here, let’s play, just so daddy can hand your ass to you.”

Angel chuckled. “Keep that energy up.”

You were currently at the last hole for mini-golf. Angel was kicking your ass, which didn’t surprise you. You always knew he let you win when you two were younger.

“I can’t wait to have those legs wrapped around me.” He whispered into your ear as you made your way to hit the golf ball.

You scoffed. If you made a hole in one, you could win. But of course, the last hole was rarely the easiest.

“You look good sticking your ass out like that.” Angel licked his lips, the gesture was not amiss by you.

Looking over at Angel, you playfully glared at him. “You’re distracting me.”

“Is that your excuse of why you’re doing so terribly?” Angel smirked.

“Fuck you Angel.”

“That’s the plan baby girl.”

You rolled your eyes and hit the ball. And much like you predicted, you lost. Angel walked with that damn swagger towards you, but it seemed to have grown tenfold. His confidence made Angel so much more attractive. He was already an attractive guy, but this swagger, the smirk on his face, that shirt that accentuated his newly sculpted body, it was sinful.

How could you keep resisting him?

“I’m glad you wore the skirt.”

“Yeah? Why is that?”

“Easy access.”

You moaned, your fingers became entangled in Angel’s hair, your back arching as he continued to eat you out. His lips parted from your nether lips, the devilish smirk on his lips, your juices make his beard glisten.

“Fuck,” you breathed out. You would never tell Angel he was the best oral sex you ever had. Best sex you ever had, period. “I’m so close daddy.”

“I know baby,” he spat down on your pussy, the added lubrication was not needed, but the mere act of it turned both of you on. Angel slid in two fingers in you, your skirt was bunched up above your stomach, Angel watching his ringed fingers disappear in you. His rings would bump against your entrance, the cold metal making the experience that much more erotic. “So fucking tight like always.”

“Uh huh,” you panted. “Daddy please let me come, let me come on your dick.” Control was something you rarely gave, especially with everything that happened with Carmelo. But with Angel, it was almost natural.

Angel bit your inner thigh. “I told you that you would be begging for daddy’s dick.” His mouth was back on you once again, adding a third finger sliding in and out of you.

“That feels so good.” You whimpered, moving your hips to meet his.

“Don’t move.” He held your hips down, he sucked your clit in, the added sensation felt so good. You felt your legs shaking, the tears welling up in your eyes. Angel had already made you come three times prior to your impending one. “Look at you, my pussy is just clenching my fingers, wishing it was daddy’s dick. You want daddy to stretch his tiny pussy out?”

“Yes daddy,” you begged, your hand resting on his hand that was holding your hip down.

Angel chuckled. He increased the pace of his fingers and before long, you were arching your back, seeing stars as you screamed out Angel’s name. Angel continued moving his fingers in and out, your walls sucking him in, keeping you feeling full. Pushing him away, you moved down your folded middle seats and took a deep breath. Angel’s eyes were locked with yours, licking the juices that were on his fingers. He pulled you towards him, cupping your face as he kissed you, his tongue massaging yours, your hand drifting under his shirt. His lips hovered above yours as he stopped your hand from moving further.

“Not yet baby, let’s eat and then I can fuck that pretty little pussy.” He gave you one last peck and moved down to sit at the edge of your trunk. You two had gotten some In N Out burgers with fries and a shake. Once you were at the lookout that rarely anyone frequented at night, Angel tore your panties off of you and ate you out. Your food was cold now, but you didn’t give a fuck, Angel gave you some of the best orgasms you’ve ever had and you hated him for it.

You sat next to him, the wetness in between your thighs should have made you feel disgusted, but knowing it was due to Angel, it made you wetter. Angel handed you your burger. You didn’t realize how hungry you were till the burger was in your hand. You two quickly ate your burger and fries, the melted milkshake still hit the spot. Angel moved to sit behind you, wrapping his arms around your middle and resting his chin on your shoulder.

The view of Santo Padre below you was breathtaking. You always enjoyed the peace and quiet, something Angel always tried to provide for you. Whenever you were stressed out, Angel provided the escape for you and you always appreciated how well he could read you.

“Why’d you come back to Santo Padre?” Angel always meant to ask you when he first saw that you had come back to this little town of his. He didn’t understand why you would come back, there was nothing here.

You shrugged. “I don’t know. After the whole thing with Carmelo, I wanted to disappear. Being up north just had too many memories and I was just embarrassed for everything that happened.” You leaned your head back against Angel’s chest.

“Embarrassed?” Angel’s head lifted, looking at your side profile.

“I was always so strong willed and wouldn’t take shit from anyone.”

“Say that again.”

You playfully elbowed Angel and he laughed, kissing your cheek. “I was embarrassed, I shunned my family and friends. Then when I finally opened my eyes, I could barely open them.” The memories of Carmelo’s abuse never waned, it was always present like it occurred the previous day. It was easier to mask your feelings or the fear you felt during those times. The scars on your back were nothing compared to the scars he inflicted within. How low you felt always came to hunt you. Confidence was always something you possessed, it was reinforced by your family along with your friends. Cheating was a deal breaker and abuse was above that. After the first hit, you always questioned yourself why you didn’t leave, then you realized that the emotional abuse started before the physical. Carmelo caught you in a low point, a patient had died on you, a nine year old and he swept in. The way he belittled you, it made you feel like an inadequate nurse and that’s when the abuse truly started. He knew how to make you feel low, reminding you that due to your inadequacy the nine year old passed.

But you realized now that it wasn’t your fault.

But Carmelo already had done his damage.

It took you some time to recover, but being up north suffocated you. The further south you were the better and for some reason, you ended up in Santo Padre. Your mentor, Pierre, an older ED physician took a job in Santo Padre Medical Center and you followed. Santo Padre always held special memories for you and a change of scenery was needed. You didn’t think you would run into Angel, but fate had another thing planned for you.

“This wasn’t your fault you know.” Angel hated hearing the defeat in your voice, the embarrassment. A man who was supposed to cherish you and protect you was the one who did such incredible damage to you. Angel could not forgive that. He had to find Carmelo and kill the mother fucker. He didn’t deserve to be walking on this earth after what he did to you.

“I know that now. He got me when I was in such a low place. He made me feel like a million dollars, but he also made me feel like I was the lowest scum in the world. I loved him, all I wanted was for him to love me. He always told me he did, that when he hit me, he was trying to correct bad behavior so that I would remain perfect.” You felt your chest tightening up thinking of Carmelo’s words. How he sunk his claws into your brain was something you never understood, but it happened.

Angel didn’t want to indulge in going down memory lane about Carmelo, but he wanted to know just how much he hurt you. Though, Angel realized that this may not have been a good idea since he felt his blood boiling. This was supposed to be your date, he shouldn’t be fucking worried about Carmelo. But he was going to find this man and make sure he endured the pain you went through, even greater than.

“He’ll never be able to touch you again.” Angel whispered against the side of your head.

“Medina took care of him.”

“I know baby, but you’re with me now. He will never go near you again.”

And you believed Angel. As long as he remained your roommate, you felt invisible, untouchable. The Mayans were well respected, well feared in Santo Padre. They didn’t need to be like, their presence invoked different types of emotions from everyone.

“When you get married, you should let me rent out a room so you can assure I would stay safe.” Angel knew your tactic. You were subtly trying to put him in the friend zone by mentioning his future without you by his side. It was cute, but that wasn’t going to work on him. He would show you that he was worth a second chance.

“Why would you need to rent a room when you’re going to be sharing a room with me?”

You smiled, shaking your head. “You’re too smooth Reyes.”

“Maybe, but don’t act like I didn’t just give you a couple of mind blowing orgasms. You can keep trying to push me away, but it’s not going to work.” Angel turned your face towards him, kissing you.

You pulled away, your eyes closed as you relished the feel of Angel’s lips against yours. “Has it always been this intense between us?” Your forehead rested against his.

“Do you just try not to remember our relationship?” He gave you a quick peck again.

“Shut up, I do, but I don’t know.” You turned to face Angel, wanting to see his reaction to your conversation. “Sometimes I look back at our relationship and wonder what would have happened if we had stayed together.” It was a thought that was always at the back of your mind. The what ifs scenario.

What if you stayed with Angel? Where would you two be? Would you two be together? Would you two have fallen apart?

What if you decided to come back to Santo Padre after you became a nurse? Would you two have reconnected?

For years after you left, you thought of Angel often. Your connection was always strong when you were younger and at times you felt it may have been too early for you two. That if you met at a later time, things would have been different. You remembered when Angel would sneak into your room, sleep over and pretend he was coming to pick you up in the morning. It wasn’t often but you enjoyed those late nights, talking about your future. He always spoke about your future, how you would be together. Yet when you told him you love him, he just said thank you.

He was your first love.

And they always said you’ll always love your first love.

It irked you how true it was.

Ever since you came back, seeing how Angel grew up after all these years, the love you had for him resurfaced and it grew stronger. But you weren’t willing to take the risk. Angel never seemed interested to rekindle your relationship till recently. At times, before this whole thing when you would share a bed, you would watch Angel sleep. He had no worries in the world and had to always be touching you while you were asleep. His arms and legs didn’t have to be around you, at times, his fingertips were just touching your arm and he was good. Or his arm would be against yours as he slept on his stomach and it helped his craving to be always touching you.

Angel wasn’t sure when it started, maybe it was after the first time you two shared a bed, but regardless, Angel craved your touch. It was his love language.

“We’d be married by now with at least three kids.” Angel’s answer was so firm and sure.

You grinned, shaking your head. “Yeah? You’re so confident about this.”

“Listen, just because we broke up or we were young, it doesn’t mean our relationship was nothing. I knew that I wanted you for the rest of my life then and it hasn’t changed now. You came back to Santo Padre in your own accord and I knew that meant that this was our second chance and I wasn’t going to fuck it up.” Angel took your hand in his, intertwining it. “I know you’re not ready, I know the wounds he left you are still fresh, but I’ll wait. I’m inpatient, but you’re worth the wait. So all these doubts in your mind? About me not wanting damage goods or your choice to not rekindle previous relationships? That’s well and fine, but I’m here to shut those thoughts down.” He didn’t want to tell you he loves you, not yet. He would wait because he knew when things became too much, your default was to just freeze everything out.

“I’m scared.”

“You have no reason to be.”

And you wanted to believe him, but it was going to take time. You just hoped he didn’t get tired of waiting.

=================

As soon as you stepped through the door, Angel was all over you. Once you managed to lock the door, he picked you up, your legs wrapping around his body. He made his way to your room, softly placed you on the bed. He unbuckled his belt and removed it, your eyes never leaving him. Biting your lip, you stood up and maneuvered him to sit down. Unbuttoning his pants, you kissed him, pulling away so you could help him remove his jeans and boxers. Once they were pooled around his ankles, you got on your knees, wrapping your hand on his cock, your thumb spreading the precum on the tip of his cock. Spitting down at his cock, moving your hand up and down causing Angel to close his eyes. You proceeded to give a few kitten licks on the head of his cock before you engulfed it in your mouth.

Angel groaned, holding your hair together as he watched you hollow your cheeks as you moved up and down his length. His eyes rolled to the back of his head, moaning out your name.

“Fuck baby, you look so fucking hot like this.” You moved away from him, sliding your hand up and down his hard length. You take him all the way in, swallowing around him making Angel groan once again. He was trying hard not to fuck your mouth, but you were making it difficult. Dipping your tongue at the slit on the top of his length, Angel caught the smirk on your face as he lost himself watching you engulf his length back into your mouth. Using both your hands and mouth, Angel laid back on your bed, his hand wrapped around your hair, guiding you up and down. The moans that he was letting out was turning you on, you could feel just how wet you were. Knowing you brought such pleasure to Angel, it made you feel good. “Shit, I’m coming.” You took him in deeper, Angel fucking your mouth, groaning out your name as he came.

You let him go with a pop, you smirked as some of his cum seeped from the corner of your mouth before you put it back inside, swallowing it.

“You’re such a good girl,” Angel sat up, his hand still entangled in your hair. He bent down and captured your lips with his, you moaned as you felt him slightly tug your hair, his lips hovering over yours. “Daddy should reward you for being so good.”

“Please daddy,” you were giving Angel total control tonight. You could always be a brat, but tonight, Angel could have you.

Standing up, you stepped away from him to remove your skirt. Your hand was at the hem of your shirt, but you hesitated. Angel saw your hesitation and he gave you a small smile.

“You don’t have to take it off baby girl, you can keep it on.” He didn’t want to make you uncomfortable. He wanted to make you feel good. The last thing he wanted was for you to worry about your scars.

You bit your lip and took off your shirt. Angel’s smile widened as he saw your body for the first time. You took off your bra and threw it at him. He laughed and caught you when you jumped on him, wrapping your arms around his neck, pressing your lips together. One of your hands went back down to his length, moving your hand up and down wants again.

“Does daddy want his pussy wrapped around his dick?” Your lips hovered over his lips, smiling as Angel was catching his breath, his attention obviously on the sensations he felt around his length.

“Yeah baby girl, let me get my pussy.”

You positioned yourself above him, slowly sliding down his length. Moaning as your pussy stretched to accommodate him. Throwing your head back, your fingers digging into his shoulders, nails digging in on his skin.

“You’re so big daddy, it feels so fucking good.” You whimpered out as he bottomed out.

Angel looked down at where you two were connected, biting his lips as he waited for you to adjust. You moved up and down, your walls clenching around him making Angel moan your name out.

“Baby, stop clenching my dick.” He chuckled, kissing you to help you relax.

“Sorry,” you smiled sheepishly.

Guiding you to move up and down his cock, Angel watched your face, memorizing every facial expression you had.

“You feel so fucking good baby, tight, wet, always ready for daddy.” Angel whispered against your ear.

Your pace was slow, the burn Angel provided was basically imprinted in your mind. Ever since you two slept together, you haven’t slept with anyone and your dildo, vibrators, definitely did not compare to him, but gain, you would never let Angel know that. Angel’s fingers came in contact with your scar and you slightly froze. Before he could lose you, Angel cupped your face, brought your lips down to his.

“Don’t, stay with me.” He thrusted up into you, your brain fogging as the overwhelming pleasure Angel was giving distracted you. Watching Angel as he licked his thumb, he pressed it against your clit, even adding greater pleasure to you. Increasing your pace, you used his shoulder as leverage as you moved up and down his length, walls clenching around him. “You’re safe, you’re with me and I would never let anything happen to you.”

One arm was around his neck, his hand cupping his face. Your lips were above his, your breath mixing as you chased your high. Angel rubbed your clit, biting his lips as he watched you bounce on his length.

“Yeah baby girl, daddy can feel it.” Angel latched his mouth around your breast, his tongue swirling around your nipple.

“Daddy, oh my god, just like that.”

You threw your head back, black stars filling your vision. Both of your arms were around Angel, your walls still spasming around him. Angel peppered your skin with kisses, sucking on a few spots on your neck that was sure to make a mark.

“You were talking so much shit not too long ago and now look at you.” Angel smacked your ass, making you yelp, biting your lip. “Have to stop fighting the inevitable querida.” He grabbed your ass, grinding you down against him.

“You’re so determined about us.”

“I’m confident in every aspect of my life, especially when it comes to you.”

You laughed at his comment, which turned into a choked moan when you felt Angel thrust up into you.

“Can you get on your hands and knees for me?” He questioned, making sure you were comfortable. He wanted to show you that your scars, they were nothing to be ashamed of. It didn’t change you. He would never force you out of your comfort zone, especially about something that truly traumatized you.

“Okay.”

“Put your chest on the bed.”

You did as Angel instructed. You rested your chest against the bed, you turned your head so you could see Angel. He was looking at your back, no trace of disgust in his eyes. For once, you didn’t feel judged, scrutinized or even pitied. He just looked at your scars as if he was memorizing them.

“Angel,” you called out to him, bringing him back to you. “Come back to me.”

Angel was mesmerized by her scars. Thinking of how many times Carmelo must have hurt you, what he used to inflict such damning scars on your back. And that carved ‘C’ on your back, he tried not to focus on Carmelo’s actions, not wanting to lose himself right now, but he was angry he wasn’t there to protect you. It seemed irrational, he wasn’t part of your life then, but if remained a part of your life, Carmelo would have never been able to harm you. All he could think about was covering these bad memories up, a design to show you that with every scar, every hurt he caused and every tear you shed, there was life after and while he could never make you forget what occurred, he would build new memories to show you that you were worth it, that you were beautiful.

That you were loved.

“Sorry baby.” He kissed your back. Angel took his length in his hand, moving it up and down your slit, and pressing it against your clit, teasing you. When he finally slid in, you both groaned, your hands gripping the sheets. “Daddy’s too big, huh?”

You nodded your head, biting your lip drawing blood. At times you wondered what would have happened if you slept with Angel. You’re certain he improved his skills over the years, but fuck, you would have been addicted. And there was no shame, Angel’s stroke game was strong.

“Didn’t hear your answer,” Angel stopped moving, only the tip of his cock inside of you.

“Yes, you’re too big daddy, but I love how you stretch me out.” You gripped the tip of his cock, Angel groaning and pushing back in. You hummed, content that he was buried inside you once again.

Angel slid in and out of you, slow, deep. His slow pace was driving you crazy. You knew he was trying to restrain himself, savoring the moment as best as he could. He heard you sigh, leaning down so his front was against your back. He moved his hands from your hips to your hands that was gripping the sheets. He intertwined your hands, placing small kisses on your upper back before moving to your neck, nipping at your skin, earning tiny moans from you as he stilled inside you again. This wouldn’t be the last time you two would be intimate, but with everything that has occurred, he was just reveling at the moment.

“Daddy, please go faster.” You pleaded, gasping as he began to pound into you.

“Like this querida?” He moved one hand to wrap around your neck, slightly pulling you back so you were slightly lifted off the bed, while his other hand remained on yours. Angel began pounding in and out of you, the pressure he had on your neck was just the perfect added sensation.

You moaned out his name, his hand gripping yours along with the sheets. His lips was beside your ear, grunting as continued to pound into you.

“You look so fucking beautiful.” He coaxed. He felt your walls clenching him, your impending orgasm

“Angel,” the way you whimpered his name, it was intoxicating. It was embedded and his memories, a sound he wanted to head over and over again.

“You ready to cream daddy’s dick?” Angel was close as well, that familiar feeling at the pit of his stomach was there. His pace became stuttered, continuing to pound into you.

“Yes daddy.”

Angel moved the hand against your throat down your front until he reached your tiny nub, the one that’s been screaming for attention. Wetting it with your own combined juices, he rubbed your clit, your orgasm almost came instantly. You cried out his name, your volume would sure have the neighbors aware of what was occurring. Angel came after you, his throbbing cock stilling inside you as he coated your walls. You felt your legs shaking as you came down from this high. Angel slipped out of you, his come seeping out. He smacked your ass, causing you to moan, but that’s all you could do. You were spent in the best fucking way.

Angel kissed his way up your body, turning your head to face him when he got to the top. He kissed you, turning your body so that you were on your back. Cupping your face, the way he caressed made the butterflies in your stomach go crazy.

“So you gonna quit playin’ and be my girl?” Angel pulled away from you long enough to ask before kissing you again.

This man’s lips were sinful.

Hell, everything about Angel Reyes was sinful.

How was he going to kiss you after asking that?

You sighed, pulling away so his lips hovered above yours. Opening your eyes, you met Angel’s intense stare and caressed his face with your hand.

“I thought I was already your girl?” You teased, closing the gap between you for a quick kiss. “Are you sure about this?”

“I am, are you?” Angel wanted it to be your choice. If you needed more time, he would give that to you.

You moved the back of your hand against Angel’s cheek, his brown eyes looking at you, waiting for your answer. The fact Angel always put the ball on your table, it was different and much appreciated.

“Yes, I am.”

=================

You sat beside your co-worker at work, watching the clock so it would go faster and you could go to lunch. You were at the clinic today and you had a surge in the morning, but currently, you had no patients. Trying your best not to yawn, you hold it in and check your phone. Angel’s name popped up and you smiled.

Favorite Roomie 🍆😏 ‘You want some meat for lunch? 😏’

You cackled.

‘Mmm, feeling veggies today.’

You placed your phone down feeling eyes on you. Looking over, you found your work bestie, Jasmine giving you a knowing look.

“What?” You asked.

“What did BD want?”

“BD?” You were confused by her abbreviation.

“Big dick.”

“Jas!” You playfully smack her. “He’s just being a little shit.” Lifting up your phone, Angel’s reply made you cackle once again.

Favorite roomie 🍆😏

Stop being a little shit, you a rabbit? I know your kind of rabbit. 😏 But for real, what do you want from Wendy’s? I’m in line.

You furrowed your eyebrows.

‘Nuggets and fries, and a frosty.’ ‘Also, how did you know it’s lunch?’

Placing your phone down again, Jasmine shook her head. “You two have been dating for how long now?”

“Two months?” You couldn’t believe the two months passed as quickly as it did. One day you were just roommates, the next he basically moved into your room and the next, he was your boyfriend. The adjustment hasn’t been difficult at all. Angel was always very affectionate, but the biggest difference was the intimacy. The kisses, the sex, and just the sweet little things he would do for you.

“You know it’s been a year at this point. He was just waiting for Adam to be gone and boom, slid in.” Jasmine was ecstatic for you. She was the first friend you made in Santo Padre. When you told her you lived with Angel Reyes, she applauded you. She knew of Angel’s reputation, it was hard to not know about the Mayans. From her friends who had slept with Angel, she heard nothing but raving reviews. And besides that, it seemed that Angel was a solid guy, nice, but ghosted them afterwards. But then when you spoke to her about Angel, the things he did, even she knew he was in love. Then she witnessed your interactions at the Mayans Clubhouse or the BBQ’s you two held at your place, she knew it was only a matter of time.

Picking up your phone, Angel had replied.

Favorite roomie 🍆😏

I literally eat lunch with you every fucking day. You always play like I don’t know you.😒🤔 A creature of habit. Got it baby. You got time to suck daddy’s dick though? 🤔 Also, did you change my motherfucking name on your phone?

You choked on the water you were drinking, shaking your head. Angel has been changing his name on your phone to future husband and you would change it back to your favorite roomie. Ezekiel was named future brother in law, which surprised you.

‘You’re too damn much.’ ‘Hmm, since you’re bringing me food, sure.’ ‘I’m not saying you don’t know me, I just didn’t think you’d keep on track of that.’ ‘Of course I did, you’re my favorite roomie.’

“Did you tell him that you got a job offer in LA from Pierre?”

Pierre, your ED doctor friend/mentor, lived in LA predominantly and did a few shifts in Santo Padre as some community outreach. He worked at Cedars Sinai and got you a job, which was amazing since Cedars Sinai was at the center of LA and you could learn so much more.

“No, I mean, I doubt I’m going to take it.” You shrugged.

“It’s Cedars Sinai, it would open opportunities for you.” Jasmine knew why you were hesitant, but this opportunity didn’t come by often.

You opened your mouth to reply, but Angel’s voice startled you.

“Give me your phone. Favorite roomie.” He scoffed, extending his hand towards you.

“Boy, you’re not just going to demand shit without at least saying hello.” Jasmine scolded.

Angel held his hands up. “Sorry Jas, hello, how you doing, I got you some nuggets from Wendy’s.” He handed her the bag of food he got for her. “Come on baby, phone.”

“Angel, it’s not my break yet.”

“Yes it is, it’s 12:30 on the dot. Let’s go.”

Jasmine chuckled. “Better listen to the asshole over here.”

“That’s right. Listen to me, let’s go.”

You rolled your eyes before hugging Jasmine. Taking your phone, you followed Angel to the van and went to the back where Angel usually set up a blanket for you two to sit in and fool around if you had time.

Settling on the blanket, you take out your food and your mouth watered. “You’re the best babe.”

“Yeah I know,” he leaned over to give you a kiss and grabbed your phone. He unlocked your phone, keeping your phone away as you tried to grab it. “If you change this shit one more fucking time, I’m going to cuff your hands and edge you.”

You gave Angel an incredulous look, pushing him. “Angel, why do you keep changing it? Are you not my favorite roomie.”

“I’m not your fucking roommate, I’ve been upgraded to boyfriend.” Angel scoffed. He didn’t want to be offended by your constant need to change his name on your phone. He figured it was some weird defensive mechanism you had since you were the worst with change. He was surprised you had decided to move to LA, but he realized that you grew up in Los Angeles and moved to Santo Padre at the beginning of high school. He remembered how closed off you were and didn’t really open up till sophomore year and once you did, you and Angel clicked.

“Should I put favorite boyfriend then?” You teased him. The word husband had such certainty to it. You two had just begun dating. Sure, you two dated in high school and you two have been roommates for years, but that didn’t equal immediate marriage.

“Or you can stop playing and put future husband.” Angel rolled his eyes as he took a bite from his burger, shoving a few pieces of fries in his mouth. “We have a party at the clubhouse later, what time should I come get you?”

“Come get me? Angel, I’m not going. I’m going out with Jas, you know this.” You took a bite of your nuggets, leaning against the van. “And don’t even say bring her to the clubhouse, we’ve been planning this for weeks.” Captain Marvel came out and you and Jas had been planning to see it since it was announced.

“Shit, that’s right. Stop by afterward?” He suggested. Being with you was easy for Angel. Eating lunch with you every day, cooking with you at home, grocery shopping, cuddling, laundry, fucking, building furniture you get for the apartment, and fucking, it was all easy for Angel. What he was finding difficult was when you would be lost in your own world, or revert back to just putting this distance between you two as just friends. A few nights ago, you had locked the door and he came home late, he knocked on your door till you finally answered, and you were slightly irate then apologized for locking the door on him.

“Okay.”

You two ate in silence, both of your attention mostly on your Instagrams. Angel didn’t like this type of silence between you two since it was just awkward. You two could usually talk about random topics, but as of late, if you two were together, you would occupy yourself with your cell phone.

“You’re serious about us, right?” The insecurities Angel had screamed at him on the daily. His feeling of inadequacy stemming from him being in the shadow of his younger brother. The love he never felt from his own father, being second best. His mother tried her best and Angel felt she did love him, but his father was a different story. With the hesitancy and the hot and coldness you presented towards Angel, it frustrated him. While he was sure of his feelings for you, he felt that while you seemed present in the relationship a majority of the time, there were times where it seemed like you two weren’t together, that you two were just friends. He felt like he was your fuck buddy.

You gave him an incredulous look and raised an eyebrow. “Of course, why wouldn’t I be?” You understood Angel’s questions in some way. You could be hot and cold, which made you feel terrible, but it was hard not to be. Keeping a distance between you two was the safer option for now.

“I don’t know Y/N. At times, I feel like you’re just not in it. We literally eat together every day, so why ask me how I know it’s your lunchtime? You keep changing my name on your phone and girls usually find that shit cute. You know, I just don’t understand why you have this wall up between us. I’m committed to us, I’ve been committed.”

A frown appeared on your face, not liking how you made Angel feel. It wasn’t on purpose. You did this with almost every man you dated or boyfriend after Carmelo. If you didn’t get incredibly attached, you wouldn’t miss red flags like you did with Carmelo. Keeping yourself above the water, and alert, you wouldn’t have to worry about falling back into such blindness.

“It’s not on purpose. I told you, damaged goods remember?” You could feel his intense eyes trained on you, while your eyes remained on the nuggets on your lap. “Maybe this is too soon? Or I’m just not ready.”

“You fucking dated Adam.” Angel let out in frustration.

“Yes but Adam doesn’t have any added complications with him. I had fun and my only worry is basically just my job. There was no stress with him because,” you paused, trying to form the right words. “I didn’t love Adam, he was fun to have around and I never had to worry about losing myself with him. But with you, every time I’m around you, I find myself falling even greater. If we ever broke up, I would lose our friendship. If I lost myself in this relationship, I may not catch red flags like I did with Carmelo.” The seriousness of this conversation was weighing heavy on you. You didn’t want to have this conversation during a fucking lunch break. “Fuck, can we please talk about this later? This isn’t the right place for this.”

“Nope, you’re going to find some way to ghost me. You don’t think I’m afraid of that too? You’re not fucking damaged goods, stop saying that. What Carmelo did to you was despicable, but look where you are now. You’re an amazing woman. You are also a woman who wears her heart on her sleeves and gives her all.” Angel watched as you fidgeted with your fingers, moving your food every once in a while. “I understand why you’re hesitant mi cielo, but, I’m not Carmelo and I never will be Carmelo. I’m in this relationship for the long run, I have no thoughts about us breaking up or anything fucking ridiculous like that. Open your heart to me Y/N, I’ve never hurt you once.”

“You said thank you.” The night of prom was still so fresh in your mind. You knew then that you and Angel weren’t going to last much longer.

“What?”

“When I told you I love you, you said thank you.” You smiled sadly, closing your food and placing it on the bag. “I should go, my break is over.”

Angel watched as you exited the van.

“Fuck!” He yelled out.

He said thank you because he knew you two were going to separate. If he acknowledged his feelings for you, if he told you he loved you, he wouldn’t be able to let you go.

And now, of course it would bite him on the ass.

=================

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#angel reyes #angelreyes #angel reyes x reader #angel reyes fanfiction #angel reyes fanfic #angel reyes fic #mayans mc fic #mayans mc imagine #roommates

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amazingmsme · 2 years

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Hi here bestie I hope your tests went well okay so MOLLY

I am I'm love with molly entirely (especially as a ler)

As a ler molly loves to tickle literally anything what has a pule and he gets so much joy out of it.

He teases NON STOP literally even jester get flustered by his teasing because someone how he knows just the perfect way to tease them all

He found nott going through his stuff and fully held a grade, poor nott was begging for mercy withing a minute

Since he's so skilled at slight of hand he is MEGA talented at tickling people in all the right spots

He love tickling the self loathing caleb because he can tell how much caleb truly adores it and will fully endorse him in all the tickles he needs

(When molly is getting tickled I would bet money to say hes the type to just lay there and laugh openly about it)

I’m on episode 27 so I really fuckin’ needed this😭 I already miss him so much & I gotta live in lala land where everything’s fine & dandy & everyone is Most Definitely Alive lol

Molly is TOTALLY a ler. Don’t get me wrong, he’s a huge switch but he’s more ler than lee just because he likes making people laugh & watching their reactions. Plus he’s a fucking menace who takes evil joy in embarrassing his friends.

His teasing is fucking lethal ok, no one is safe. Like you said, even Jester, shameless lee as she is, blushes like mad & squeals when he teases her. Beauregard gets angry when she’s flustered & it’s honestly really funny to see her all flushed & huffy, but still wearing a genuine smile. Nott is also more on the pissy side when teased, but she’s more whiny & shy about it. Lots of “shut the fuck up”s & tattle telling to Caleb (as if he can do anything) Fjord is SUCH a nervous giggler, he can’t help it. Molly will be teasing the hell out of him & he curls in on himself, blushing & smiling like an idiot as a few embarrassed giggles slip out. He runs a hand through his hair or down his face as he tries & fails to hide just how effective the teasing is. & I saved the best for last. Poor Caleb is the easiest to fluster, which is surprising at first because he’s always stone faced & wears this neutral expression at all times that makes him look constantly bored & annoyed. But once Molly found out he’s ticklish it was over for our favorite wizard. Even just ASKING if he’s ticklish sends a blush across his cheeks & he purses his lips to try & school his features but he really gives himself away. The more Molly teases him the more he smiles & the redder he gets. He can curl up in the tightest ball to try & hide & given the choice of pushing him away or covering his face he’ll hide his red face every time. Teases about how much he blushes really get him & also pointing out how cute his laugh is. Pleads in Zemnian so expect to hear a lot of “nein nein nein”s in the mix.

He fucking told Nott not to go through his shit, but she just couldn’t resist! Poor Nott was like a terrified cat trying to scramble out of the room but Molly is faster than her & of course catches her. The entire time he’s just leisurely walking towards her saying he’s not gonna hurt her but she’s screaming saying that he’s too calm, of course he’s gonna hurt her! But when he finally catches her he just goes to town tickling her wherever he can reach & it takes Nott by surprise. She’s a squealing & thrashing mess in his arms but refuses to apologize.

Also when both Molly & Fjord set up that trap for Nott it REALLY made me 👀. Like maybe they’re both bored & decide they wanna fuck with her & set up another trap because they know she can’t resist. They just really wanted an excuse to bully her without Caleb gettin onto them for it.

Molly’s slight of hand tricks really come in handy when tickling his friends cause he moves so fast & the things he does tickle way more than they should have any right to. & when they’re all sitting together say in the cart or at a bar/table in some tavern he reaches around the back of whoever he’s sitting next to & tickles their other side to throw the blame on the other person. This has led to Jester pouncing on Fjord & a v flustered Beau challenging a rather confused & amused Yasha to a tickle fight. Yasha is well aware of his tricks but doesn’t rat him out because she likes to watch the chaos unfold, even when she gets wrapped up in it.

They only realize it’s Molly when he tries to frame Caleb for tickling Fjord & they all know he’s too reserved & shy to start shit like that. Caleb digs both of their graves by saying “I didn’t do that, it was Molly. He’s been pulling this little trick of his for weeks” & Fjord is like “you’ve known this whole time & you never told us?” He grabs them both & tickles them while whoever’s sitting on the other side of Caleb & Molly join in. It’s all very cute & aaaahhhh I need this

Caleb is definitely one of Molly’s favorite victims because the dude REALLY doesn’t smile enough & he always has something bad to say about himself. So of course Molly has to wreck him & cheer him up! He can just tell that Caleb likes it despite all the squeals & protests.

The most Mollymauk will do to get away is squirm around & curl in on himself. But he tries sooo hard to keep his arms up & just enjoy it & literally everyone knows he likes it because… well he’s rather vocal about it. He doesn’t deny he’s ticklish & always talks about how fun it is & that he enjoys it. He’s the king of provoking the mighty nein into attacking him, but when they don’t fall for it he makes a show of stretching out in vulnerable positions & sighing very dramatically. When that STILL doesn’t work, he will straight up ask demand that they tickle him. He’s such a bratty ass lee I adore him

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itsclydebitches · 3 years

Text

RWBY Recaps: Volume 8 “Refuge”

Happy Saturday, everyone! Welcome to week two of… fourteen? Is that how many episodes we’ve got this Volume? Man, we’re going to be here for a while.

There’s a ton to unpack in “Refuge,” but as promised I want to delve into the opening first. Given the scattered, symbolic nature of our intro I think it’s easiest to just chuck out observations in list form. I’ll segue back into cohesive recapping in a moment.

So, what have we got?

The glitching between a happy, whole Atlas and the burning wreckage we’re now dealing with. That works well given both Atlas’ tech-focus culture and the ways that tech has led to some of our biggest tragedies (hijacked army, framing Penny, etc.)

Ruby looks scared and is standing behind the rest of her team, separated from them by the title. I’m not really feeling that theme so far though, given Yang’s incredibly weak challenge, Ruby’s immediate forgiveness (during her talk with Penny), and the fact that she’s still working with half the team who vocally support her, particularly Nora. Unless something drastic changes, the idea of Ruby being the outsider here is silly.

We get shots of the girls with their past selves superimposed over their bodies and weapons. I like the message here—they carry those versions of themselves with them—just not how it’s contrasted with Ironwood’s image of an earlier Atlas now burning. So that’s all he is now? Everyone gets to embody their growth except for him? His past is erased to focus solely on our current predicament? I’m not picking up any redemption flags here…

Robyn’s hand reaches down towards Clover’s badge, which then circles to show off the Ace Ops. The final image contrasts an angry Harriet with a defeated Qrow. At least, I hope they’re contrasts. It’s going to read as absurd if they somehow end up working together after Qrow helped get her leader killed.

This morphs into Qrow alone who sits, devastated, until Robyn offers him a hand up and they both smile. I’m not a fan of this symbolism after the prison scene we got this episode. It’s like Qrow might have thought about his choices until Robyn’s anger reminded him that, oh yeah, he can be angry at Ironwood instead. These two teaming up, when their last team-up led to a death, is worrisome to say the least.

We get our horrifying image of Salem looming over Oscar as he clutches his head. The group’s weapons fall. This makes sense given this episode’s kidnapping and the team’s sheer inability to do anything to stop it.

Jaune stands determined—also makes sense with his trend of giving “pep talks”—while Ren and Nora stand apart, facing opposite directions. Nora looks back though.

Paralleling them are Winter and Weiss who also face opposite directions. This is becoming a common visual theme: Harriet and Qrow, Nora and Ren, Winter and Weiss. Here though, Weiss looks determinedly ahead while Winter stares down at her feet, unsure. Ugh, I just know they’re going to have her betray Ironwood too.

We get a brief glimpse of Whitley and Willow, not a whole lot to go on. Then we see Salem turning her chess pieces into grimm—literally changing the game—while Ironwood’s white pieces are turned to dust. I could make a quip about how white is supposed to go first, but the initial move was made thousands of years before Ironwood existed and thus he never stood a chance, certainly not when his own allies are actively working against him… but I won’t lol

Watts is smiling at a terminal while at his back Pietro works at his. More opposites. Pietro’s reflection looks to Penny even as his body continues to work, his heart contrasting his head. Penny, in turn, looks upset as her reflection flinches at something off screen and the glass cracks. Watts hacking her, perhaps?

We see the new teams as a cherry blossom (I think?) floats across the screen. It melts in Ren’s hand while escaping Nora’s. Honestly, I’m not sure what to make of that just yet.

Ruby and Yang share a look—undermining their supposed conflict this volume. Couldn’t we have gotten sister unity over the last three years instead?—and a fight against grimm starts up. It freezes as Cinder walks through it, hopefully implying that the group’s attention is on the wrong threat. While they concern themselves with low-level grimm, Salem and her allies are walking free and wreaking havoc.

Then Cinder screams and clutches her grimm arm as things go up in flames. I hope that’s not a death flag given that we’ve teased her death twice already and we only just got a glimpse at her backstory. Also, I think it’s worth mentioning here that there’s a “Summer is the Hound” theory gaining traction which, frankly, I think is 100% unsubstantiated. It’s a fun crack theory, but not something I’m inclined to take seriously until we get some actual evidence behind it. There is, however, potential evidence for people becoming grimm in general: Salem falling into the pool and Cinder receiving that arm. That’s not much though. So while I’m far from convinced that the Hound was once human—let alone that it was Summer—there is something to the theory that Salem may be able to control Cinder via her arm like she controls other grimm. After all, she knew Cinder was alive despite everyone else thinking she’d perished. They seem to have some sort of connection that hasn’t been explained yet and now that Cinder has willingly walked back into Salem’s clutches, she may not be able to walk out.

There are shots of all our other villains, the Lamp and the Staff reflected in Salem’s eyes, and Jinn’s blue smoke, perhaps suggesting that we’ll see her again, or the entity residing in the Staff (if they exist).

Atlas glitches back to normal—a false victory?—before the ice breaks and Team RWBY falls into the darkness below. Volume 3 vibes all around. There’s light above them emanating from the Staff, but as Ruby reaches for it grimm arms circle and pull her deeper. I hope this means that the group will suffer the defeat we need to keep Salem as a legitimate threat, but we had very similar imagery back in Volume 6 and they made it out of that situation just fine, so.

“Happy Ever After” glitches into “Happy? Never Again.” Which isn’t ominous or anything. We finally end on the classic RWBY image of Crescent Rose buried in the snow underneath the shattered moon.

On the whole I think the opening is strong and I like a lot of the symbolism in it, though I do question how much will actually end up being relevant to the story. My only gripes are that there are too many different styles going on—it feels like three or four different Volume openings slammed together—and the fact that it also feels overly long. I don’t think it’s actually any longer than our Volume 7 opening, but it seems that way to me, perhaps because of those varying styles breaking things up.

So that’s what we’ll be watching for the next twelve weeks! Let’s move onto the actual episode.

We open on the image of Clover’s bloody badge in Qrow hand, the same one we got in the trailer. I theorized last recap that we’d be getting the rest of our trailer/promo material this week and I was almost entirely correct in that. This moment, retrieving the bikes, fighting off the grimm, Watts getting hit, Oscar carried away… all we’re missing are some eye closeups and Nora powering up her hammer. As said, it makes me nervous for what the rest of the Volume holds. I can’t decide whether the footage wasn’t ready to be included in promo materials that early, or if RT is just determined not to give us any information past the first two episodes…

Regardless, this is supposed to be a moment of grief and all I could focus on was Qrow’s hand. Specifically, the lack of detail in it. On the whole, I’ve been very happy with the engine upgrade and I quite like RWBY’s animation now, but a closeup here draws too much attention to how, sometimes, they’re just not animating their characters in a way that looks natural. Where is Qrow’s wrist? Why is his palm perfectly smooth? Stylistically that’s usually fine, but when given the chance to stare at it you realize how odd it looks.

Says the woman whose own drawing skills suck but, ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

But we’re talking about the important bits in this episode! Out of frame Robyn is heard yelling, “This is your fault. You realize that, don’t you?” We’re meant to think that she’s telling Qrow this, especially with how he’s bent guiltily over the badge, until we cut to reveal Jacques right next to them.

I wish Robyn was saying all that to Qrow. It would mean that she was ignoring her own responsibility in Clover’s death, but at least it would have started an arc where Qrow has to grapple with what he did. Not the awful moment that’s coming up.

Before that though, Jacques claims that he’s the “victim” here who was “duped.” His hands may not be clean, but “at least I’m not a murderer.” Look, I’m not here to absolve Jacques of anything. The guy is an absolute shit stain on the Remnant world. However, he’s right in his overall point even if his words are BS. Meaning, Jacques is not a victim and he is a murderer, but he is not the one responsible for Clover’s death. Robyn has plenty of things to be furious at him for, but this is not one of them. Ironically, here we have Jacques functioning as the kind of villain the show wants Ironwood to be. He is a murderer because the company he runs exploits faunus and forces them to work in dangerous conditions (see: the death of Ilia’s parents). He is culpable because he a) had control over these conditions and b) has full knowledge of their flaws. He’s a racist who cares more about money than lives. His informed choices then led directly to deaths. Ironwood? Not anywhere near the same thing. Overlooking the “Omg Salem is here and I have to do something about it” context, he did not try to arrest Robyn. He did not force Qrow to resist arrest, or Robyn to get involved, or Qrow to break Clover’s aura, or Tyrian to stab him in the chest. Ironwood had no control or knowledge of these events, so he is not responsible for Clover’s death in the way that Jacques is responsible for the faunus’. RWBY is giving the right arc to the wrong character.

Robyn then insists that Qrow didn’t kill anyone. He didn’t strike the blow, but he certainly helped! Look, Qrow is one of my favorites, but I’m not about to claim that he didn’t have a hand in getting his friend killed. I seriously can’t believe the show is ignoring this.

We then segue into some, uh, questionable dialogue choices. Jacques is a “snake with a mustache”? Sorry, I can’t take Robyn seriously at the best of times, but definitely not when she’s tossing out laugh worthy insults like that. Nevertheless, this “snake with a mustache” is guilty because he “helped that man tear us all apart.” That man being Watts.

…why are they all in what amounts to the same cell with barriers dividing them? I suppose we could make the argument that they’re being held in some secret facility, given that they’re in this dark, garage-esque space with no lights and no other prisoners. Some sort of maximum security setup that... doesn’t have any other inmates and no additional security? Hmm. Then again, the power is supposed to be out and I don’t really trust RWBY’s ability to craft consistent backgrounds. I feel like they’re packed together merely because that’s plot convenient, not because it makes any sense in world.

Watts looks pretty comfortable in there though and Jacques is likewise full of confidence. He says that by now Whitley will have already called their lawyers to get him out. Now, non-imprisoned people know that the apocalypse is currently underway, as Joanna will later put it. No one is lawyer-ing at the moment, but it will be crucial to see whether Whitley is trying to get Jacques out despite the chaos. How faithful is he to his abuser? Can Willow start undermining Jacques’ influence now that they’re alone?

Jacque’s confidence thoroughly pisses Robyn off and she screams, punching the barrier between them. Keep this in mind for a second.

A moment later two guards show up to take Watts somewhere and… oh no. Please don’t tell me Ironwood is going to team up with him now that Penny has written him off? I know the guy has (presumably) already killed someone, and he must assume he’s killed Oscar, so we’re definitely in full villain territory despite the stupidity of it… but please don’t start working with Salem’s henchmen too. You know what? I’m not going to assume the worst until I actually see it. RWBY gives me enough nonsense as it is lol.

What I really want to talk about is that hit.

I’m somewhat concerned by a lot of the fandom’s reaction to this moment in comparison to another. Who remembers Volume 6? That scene when Qrow punched Ozpin directly into a tree? Now, I’m not keeping track of who says what when—this is a generalized reaction—but I saw a lot of posts defending that action. There were numerous justifications for the punch, but the three big ones were: 1. These characters are fighters and they’re used to it, 2. These characters have aura so it’s not that bad, and 3. Ozpin totally deserved it. Now, the problems here are that 1a. I don’t think punching someone when they’re crying on their knees is justified, whether they’re a fighter or not, 1b. Qrow was likewise punching Oscar, a totally innocent kid, 2. We had established earlier that Oscar was having trouble remembering to activate his aura and didn’t seem to have it active then (no ripple effect, he’s rubbing his jaw afterwards), and 3. Ozpin’s crimes are, as explored on this blog, not nearly the horrific actions that the story and fandom would like to paint them as. The point is that despite all this, lots and lots of fans said it was totally okay to punch Ozpin&Oscar. What’s the big deal? they asked. Now, lots and lots of fans—mostly when the trailer first dropped—say it’s not okay to punch Watts. Despite the fact that he’s also a fighter. Despite the fact that his aura has broken. Despite the fact that he’s not currently a threat (seated on the bed/Ozpin on his knees). Despite the fact that he’s responsible for helping Salem try to take over the world. If we were to make a case for who deserves to get hit, Watts is a WAY stronger candidate in my opinion, yet he’s the one who a lot of fans are scrambling to defend. Why? I assume it’s because hitting him feeds into the generalized police state/dictator theme Ironwood has been thrown into. It helps villainize Ironwood for fans to go, “Poor Watts. He’s done horrific things but no one deserves to face police brutality.” I agree. The only problem is that a lot of those same fans seem to have gone, “Ozpin can get over it. He deserved to be hit! I would have done a whole lot worse to him…” So is the difference only that one attacker is a military professional and the other is… a huntsmen professional who soon after that scene starts working for the military? Yeah. The show continually ignores that the group aren’t the rogue heroes they pretend to be. They worked under Ironwood for weeks, if not months.

The show isn’t clear about its morals and neither are the fans, with both changing tactics whenever it helps blame the character they already don’t like. When Robyn punches the barrier, do we really think she wouldn’t have hit Jacques if given the chance? Why would it be heroic for her to hit the Evil Man but it’s not okay for the grunt minor character to hit the other Evil Man? These morals don’t change just because you like Robyn and don’t like Ironwood.

Jumping ahead for a moment, we get another example of this hypocrisy with Joanna. A reporter is informing the people that the military seems to have stopped evacuations and there is an unheard number of grimm hanging out overhead, both things that are objective facts. He’s reporting as he should, sticking to what’s known and provable, and thus is, notably, not some lackey of Ironwood’s who is hastily presented as evil. Yet Joanna treats him like he is. She snatches the microphone from him and, when he starts to protest, threatens him with her weapon. After she’s done hijacking the feed, she shoves him on her way out.

Look at how scared this guy is. These are our heroes? This back and forth doesn’t work. Prior to his random killing spree, Ironwood took his fear and frustration out on some furniture, yet the show acted as if he was hurting real people. The mere possibility that he might use violence and intimidation to achieve heroic goals—getting Amity up/escaping Salem—was enough to label him as an antagonist because the understanding was that you can’t act like that no matter what your intentions are. Yet our current heroes can use as much violence and intimidation as they want to achieve their own heroic goal of warning the people? Do we think the story will encourage us to be critical of the group if they start beating up a bunch of Atlas goons to reach the access point? Of course not. And it’s that flip-flopping that’s the problem. Your heroes have to function differently than the villains in order for them to be heroes. Under that logic, our heroes haven’t acted like heroes since mid-Volume 6 and it’s getting harder and harder to watch.

Especially when we take the scene before this into account. Yup, we’ve still got Qrow gunning for Ironwood. Robyn bemoans the fact that they can’t do anything, to which Qrow replies, “We can do something. We can kill the man who put us here.” I… feel like I shouldn’t start repeating myself given how long this recap is—we’ll be here for forever lol—BUT I hope everyone reading this understands precisely how little this makes sense. How god awful a choice it is. I mean c’mon. Robyn attacked Clover unprovoked, Qrow teamed up with Tyrian, he broke Clover’s aura, Tyrian murdered him, Salem is here, and now he’s sitting in a cell with Watts and Jacques… but Ironwood is the guy he wants to kill? REALLY, QROW? THAT’S WHO YOU’RE GOING TO GO AFTER? I really can’t with this show sometimes. RWBY, put your clown makeup on.

We get a cut to Ironwood’s image just so there’s no confusion about who Qrow wants to help kill next and Joanna threatens that reporter who, you know, is also a citizen in need of help and protection… Her “General Ironwood has abandoned you, but we have not” sounds absolutely ridiculous when we just watched her intimidating this guy to get what she wants. ‘You can trust us! Unless we randomly decide we don’t like you.’ I have other things to say about Yang calling out that racist woman later on, but she gets props for helping her regardless. Honestly, I don’t get that sense from the cast very often: that they’d help you even if they don’t agree with you. They certainly didn’t offer that to Ozpin, Ironwood, or the Ace Ops.

There’s a very long shot of a scared toddler staring out the window, just to hammer home how young and innocent Mantle is. Seriously, pay attention to our imagery: Mantle is scared children in homes, cute children fist-bumping Jaune, family photos lost in the street, a stuffed toy run over by hoverbikes. It’s meant to evoke a general sense of domesticity and, again, innocence. Meanwhile, Atlas is only shown via Ironwood and Jacques, the villains. Where are the families living up in the sky? The children? The humanizing details? Our racist woman is an outlier who is quickly silenced by Yang. The rest of Mantle is characterized as victims: scared women, worried fathers, the faunus huddling together in the slums, even another racist who, while an asshole, is supposed to have a point about things like the embargo. Which is all true. These characters are all of these things, it’s just that they’re not unique in this. All this exists above too—from those families, to the faunus slave labor, to the beloved objects that remind you of someone’s worth—but they’re ignored to provide a simplistic look at Atlas as the villain.

Throughout this entire episode the group tosses out snide remarks about how “They” don’t care about you and it’s just… they who? The other thousands of innocents who have nothing to do with Ironwood? The hundreds of Mantle citizens you already evacuated? The redeemable people like Winter and Whitley? The group fights alongside a Schnee who was one of the most vocal racists a year and a half ago, yet writes off the entirety of Atlas as the bad guys. What a mess.

As Joanna’s voiceover finishes, we cut to Yang’s group going after Pietro’s tech. I already covered this scene in our promo material, but to summarize here: horrible tone. Absolutely nonsensical given the situation. Salem is here and Yang is giggling over bikes. In fact, the tone is off for most of the episode (our end being the wonderful exception): Yang’s joy ride, antics with the Mantle citizens, Blake poking fun at Weiss, the tube scene… none of it fits the context of the series’ big bad here to kill everyone. Arguments along the lines of, “But it can’t be doom and gloom all the time” or “This is a brilliant parallel to Volume 3 with happy times heralding tragedy” don’t erase the fact that our cast isn’t taking this threat seriously. Last week Weiss’ “We’re never going to sleep again” moment worked because it’s humor in the context of how bad everything is. All of this? It’s just the group goofing off despite supposedly being in mortal danger. This?

This doesn’t read well. I’d argue this scene is even worse in context due to lines like “The others are definitely missing out.” In our promo material I assumed that the group just split for the sake of splitting and they were, in fact, just missing out on something cool. But we’ve since learned that they split due to a fundamental disagreement about how to help people, a split Ruby compared to Salem’s plans, a split that Yang started! Why is she now acting like their separation is a funny “missing out” moment? It’s like if half your friend group decided to go to the movies while the other half went to a party with an unexpectedly good DJ. The movie-goers are people who are “missing out,” not the group who went off to take over a military base and everyone left angry.

Keep in mind that Ozpin is also back. Every fun times scene with Oscar in it has the added problem of Ozpin hanging back, not saying anything, not acknowledged, still a secret.

The other issue I brought up weeks back was the lack of grimm. Why are the streets deserted? Shouldn’t the army be overrunning the city? Well, turns out that there’s no army because… Salem just hasn’t bothered to send it into the city yet? When Jaune and Ren take out the low-level grimm Oscar asks if they’ve “already pushed this far in,” to which Yang replies, “No, I think those are from last night.” A few minutes later, last night’s grimm change to new non-Salem grimm as Oscar observes, “It’s the negativity. Salem’s forces aren’t moving in, but it’s enough to attract the stragglers.” Later still, Joanna asks, “…grimm are circling out there. What are they waiting for?” GOOD QUESTION. We don’t know, but it’s real convenient, isn’t it? RWBY redeems itself a bit at the end of this episode with that Hound grimm, but I’m still calling it out for having Salem hold off long enough for the group to evacuate pretty much all of Mantle and infiltrate the base. That’s real nice of her. As the characters keep pointing out, it would be a staggeringly different situation if they were overrun with grimm right now, huh? Kind of like the situation Ironwood (rightfully) assumed they’d be dealing with.

Again, I’m so glad our Big Bad is kind enough to let the heroes do everything they need to before lifting a finger to attack them.

RWBY seems to be setting up a, “See! There was always time to evacuate the city!” accusation even though no one could have known that and it makes zero logical sense. Salem brings an army with her so she can not use the army against Atlas? Right…

This all segues directly into our other promo scene. My initial comments still stand: the tone doesn’t work, the lack of urgency doesn’t work (Jaune playing with the kid, Oscar politely knocking on doors), the low-level grimm are not a threat, that shield is useless against anything not driven by plot convenience, and it’s weird for Jaune to be yelling, “Heads up!” when there’s no one in front of him. As said, this moment really doesn’t sit well given everything that’s going on. I had hoped that it would read better when seen in the episode itself, but that’s sadly not the case.

After Ren one-shots the grimm Jaune suggests that they use his amplified semblance to get everyone to the crater safely. Ren seems less than pleased about this, but agrees. Right now, it’s easy to say that he’s in a bad mood because Nora is mad at him, but what about the Volume before? Where’s this underlying tension coming from? I can come up with lots of theories, but at some point the show needs to confirm something. The longer we go not explaining what’s wrong with Ren, the less faith I have that it will make sense when we get it.

We see the racist woman upset that they have to go live with the “animals in the slums” rather than going up to Atlas. As said, I like that Yang helps her despite clearly hating the woman, I also think her criticism holds up well (ignoring the simplified ‘They abandoned you’ narrative). The only thing that bugs me is RWBY continually presenting racism as a problem to throw a band-aid on and then pat yourself on the back for ‘solving.’ Racist drunk says shit? Toss him in the trash! Racist woman says shit? Remind her that her survival depends on you! It’s not that these responses aren’t earned, but that we’re given them instead of an actual arc that tackles the complexities of this issue. I mean, Blake has abandoned the White Fang and we’ve barely mentioned the faunus slave labor in Atlas. When they head to the dust facility it’s conveniently run by bots instead of faunus. Can you imagine if Weiss Schnee walked into a group of exploited minorities, hoping to use them to access a military base? But of course, there’s nothing like that. RWBY ignores the actual issues for these simple solutions. Heroes just attack/threaten racists and then it all goes away. Yay.

The other problem with this scene is that we learn the crater is the slums. Um… what? Hold on, Joanna made it sound like it’s a separate place, potentially inhabited by grimm, yet it’s the same area Oscar was in last episode? How is that area warmer? This makes no sense to me.

Also, ha, the crater below Atlas apparently houses all the “animals” that Team RWBYJNR is very protective of. I’m waiting for them to do something that messes with the Staff—Ruby reaching for it in the opening—Atlas crashes down on a whole city of exploited minorities, and then Ironwood is blamed for it somehow. Can’t wait for that episode.

So the group starts making their way there and hark! An Ozpin! I’m always thrilled to hear him, even if he’s treated just terribly by the show. Oscar is at the back of the group and comments that “It should not be this hard just getting people to cooperate.” Except… they are cooperating? Oscar, you are watching them cooperate right in front of you. That one woman might grumble a bit, but she hasn’t made a move or said a word about not doing what you say. Where did this complaint come from? Another example of RWBY insisting something is there when it simply isn’t. More importantly, Ozpin responds:

“And yet, it’s becoming something I’m increasingly concerned about.”

“You know, I really don’t need your additional comments right now.”

Then why did you comment out loud, Oscar? What, do you normally talk to yourself like that? You were clearly speaking to Ozpin! Don’t criticize him for responding. I hate traps like that.

Ozpin immediately says that Oscar has every right to be upset and apologizes for leaving… it’s not apologizing for his entire existence like I wrote on the bingo board, but it’s close. Who’s surprised that Ozpin is the first to offer (another) apology? Not me. Oscar corrects him with, “I’m upset you came back!”

Okay. Here’s the thing. I like the idea of Oscar rejecting Ozpin both because he’s taken over his life and because Oscar has suffered horribly due to Ozpin’s presence (punched, slammed into walls, kidnapping attempts, etc.) That makes sense, it’s actually morally complex, and it’s great groundwork for character growth. The only problem is… this came out of nowhere. Oscar was shown accepting this new life when he left the farm. Then again when he insisted on fighting Hazel. Then again all the times he’s been told he’s acting like Ozpin and seems to accept that just fine. He’s clearly pleased with this new badass self he’s got going on—he even says as much—yet doesn’t want to acknowledge Ozpin as the catalyst for all this positive change. Okay, that’s something we could still work through, but what about the group? Fans are already theorizing that this is why Oscar is keeping Ozpin a secret, because he’s scared of how the group will react, punishing him to get at Ozpin again, and though he 100% has reasons for thinking that will happen, Oscar hasn’t shown that fear before now. Qrow punches him? Bonding moment with Ruby. Jaune attacks him? I made you all dinner. They all smile over his inevitable death/disappearance? He smiles back. Yang is the most scream-y? Happy to have her using him as an armrest. The group continually ignores him and treats him with suspicion? Not a peep of protest. It’s horrifying that Oscar accepted how the group previously treated him, but he did accept it. Where did this fear come from if we haven’t seen it in response to the harm done towards him? Just as importantly, can’t we have an arc where Oscar is mad at the team some too? I’ll admit that the general premise of blaming Ozpin makes sense for the traumatized fourteen-year old, but after two years of blaming Ozpin for everything… aren’t we sick of this? His team has actively hurt him, outside of Ozpin’s ability to prevent, yet Ozpin is the one who takes all the heat for their behavior. “I felt like I was actually part of the team” should lead to the realization of, “Hey, Yang shouldn’t yell at both of us for things outside of our control” not, “Hey, you should stay away forever because others have decided they don’t like you.”

All of this following Ozpin saving Oscar’s life in the airship. Then saving his life again after Ironwood shot him. Our heroes are real grateful, huh. I hate that RWBY is taking another fave and doing them dirty, though I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised.

Ozpin also mentions his magic—would be nice if Oscar brought that up with the team!—and that he is now “recollecting my longest held memories.” He…is? When? Don’t you think that’s something important to show us? We keep being told that “the merge” is occurring but not shown what that actually means. Seriously, when did Oscar get slammed with that many memories??

Please just use the aura machine and give Ozpin a robot body. RT doesn’t have the chops for writing this situation.

As they continue on towards the crater Ren snaps at Jaune about not needing a “pep talk.” Jaune looks annoyed at the attitude which, fair. It says a lot about the writing the last few years that Jaune is the character I’m least frustrated with lol. Likely because they haven’t had him do anything lately which, given that he’s not one of the title characters and our cast is bloated enough as it is, I’m still totally fine with.

Ozpin concludes the scene with, “We need to find a way to work together. Not just the two of us, all of us” with the camera panning up to look at Atlas. I’m glad someone isn’t ready to throw Ironwood under the bus. Given how the group reacted to him sparing Lionheart’s name though, I don’t think they’ll follow Ozpin in his forgiveness. If anything, I expect this perspective to just be more hate fuel.

We move to Ruby’s group which now includes May. Woohoo! She still hasn’t gotten half the screen time as Joanna, but I’m really glad she’s here. In fact, between a useful semblance and that adorable courtesy, I love her already. Despite, you know, helping the team break into the base and all that. Everyone has their flaws lol.

She also frames the Amity plan as getting the world “talking again.” Why is everything presented like a fun romp rather than avoiding death via Salem? Absolutely terrible tone this episode.

The group hilariously waltzes past a sign labeled AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY and enters the dust facility with the bots I mentioned earlier. This I do like. My hypothetical scenario incorporating the racism issue aside, I like that Weiss is using her knowledge and connections to further the mission, rather than something conveniently dropping into the group’s lap. Like Amity suddenly being ready for launch…So yeah, it makes sense that Weiss would know of a potential way in.

Sending someone up through the tubes though? Ehhh… I know they have aura and everything—and that Zwei was once mailed—but are we sure this is safe?? Doesn’t matter because Nora sends Weiss through with a misplaced button press. Good thing that was the tube heading to the base. Too bad Weiss is heading to a guarded military base alone. It should have been May going first with her semblance activated, but no. Chuck this onto the ever increasing ‘Bad Tone’ pile. There should not be giggles over Weiss being in that level of danger, especially with everything else going on. Ruby’s expression is the only one on point.

Before Weiss is yeeted off though, Penny and Ruby have a talk wherein Ruby lies her ass off. Penny says, “I do not like it when friends fight” and when Ruby starts talking about Yang she corrects her, revealing that she’s actually thinking about Winter and Ironwood. “They were our friends.”

I was ready to sing Penny’s praises and really, she still gets credit for being the only one who has acknowledged this, but her opinion is (once again) overridden by Ruby’s. Penny goes, “but then the Ace Ops attacked you” which Ruby doesn’t bother to correct. How would Penny know otherwise? The only information she has about that battle is what Ruby has told her, but Ruby is lying via omission here. The Ace Ops never attacked her. They very explicitly refused to start a fight. Ruby attacked them. Then when Penny is upset that Ironwood said “people were going to die because of me,” Ruby takes her by the shoulders and angrily insists, “That was a lie and he was only saying it to hurt you.”

Ruby… you’re the one lying. You know damn well Ironwood didn’t just say that to hurt Penny. Oh yeah, the general trying to keep a kingdom alive from an immortal witch is preoccupied with hurting Penny’s feelings for no reason other than being evil. That makes sense. More importantly, Ironwood is right. Look, I’m by no means blaming Penny for anything. She fought off Cinder, took the power when there was no other choice, and has now gotten caught up in Ruby’s plans which include incredibly misleading information that Penny has no reason to question. She’s doing her best and deserves that hug. But that doesn’t mean she lacks responsibility here. Ironwood needs Penny to evacuate. Penny—listening to Ruby—won’t help him. Ergo, if something happens to the people up in Atlas Penny will be partly responsible. If I have the key to a door with lots of people trapped behind it as a fire rages, and I refuse to open that door, I have indeed allowed a lot of people to die. As Penny says, she didn’t want this responsibility… but she has it. She has to deal with it. Too bad she’s with Ruby who encourages her to ignore it instead, insisting that nothing bad that happens after their choices could in any way be connected to them. Kind of like Qrow ignoring his own actions against Clover.

Because that’s the takeaway from this scene. Penny had empathy for their friends and then Ruby talked her out of it. She never even acknowledges that those were indeed seven friends that she betrayed. That’s horrible.

What happened to Ruby? I used to love this girl.

Continuing our tone issue, Nora is watching this show like her favorite soap is on. Okay then.

Weiss goes up the tube and then we cut to Fiona saying that… the Mantle police are helping them evacuate? So the military is bad, but the police are good? I need to stop trying to make sense of RWBY’s allegory.

When Yang and the others return Fiona makes an innocent comment about being worried about how they’d fare without the rest of their team. Yang is pissed.

Ah, so we’re back to her giving allies attitude for random observations. Remember the anger at Marrow for suggesting she and Blake try different team-ups? Now here Yang is, in a different team-up, doing quite well. Funny how we never acknowledge who first suggested that. Now, Fiona reveals a totally logical worry that losing four fighters might make a difference when fending off grimm, but Yang is poised to be angry at everyone, about everything, all the time. Which I get is something that a lot of fans like. I’ve already seen a couple of posts praising RT for letting Robyn and Yang be angry without consequences because women often can’t do that and, fair. That is indeed one way to read it. My problem is that their anger is actually irrational, not just called as much because we women are ~emotional~. Their anger isn’t justified: Robyn because she had a significant hand in all this nonsense (that she’s ignoring) and Yang because it’s clear Fiona means no harm here. This is anger that needs to be called out, not ignored because yay women expressing emotion. That kind of defense is reserved for a woman’s justified anger that needs to be expressed without criticism, especially in a narrative that tries to undermine her perspective. But what has Fiona done to Yang? Nothing. More importantly, the show has yet to teach Yang a better coping mechanism than lashing out at people, be it with her fists, words, or angry glares. Yang has been through the ringer and it makes sense that she’s angry, but that doesn’t mean she gets a lifelong pass to treat those around her badly.

Anyway, Joanna says they have a lot of people to keep warm even though the crater was supposed to be warmer? And they’re stealing dust? So what are they using it for it not heat? We’re not seeing any difference here and frankly all the civilians should be dead by now. Or at least entering hypothermia. (Give me that conflict: how do you keep people safe when they’re not all conveniently up for walking all the way to the slums?) Joanna also says that they’re trying to get the “Old mine shafts into a livable condition” which would take how long exactly? In fact, I’d say our timeline is already wonky. We’ve watched Yang hide the Ace Ops last Volume, fly to Winter and Penny, find the Happy Huntresses, wait around for Oscar to show up, ran off on her own at some point to scout, went to get bikes, evacuated all those people to the (far away) slums, then went back out to fight off the grimm. That had to have taken up a good chunk of the night, though it’s impossible to tell the time with Atlas’ snowy sky. I’m leaning towards a bingo mark though…

The faunus who I thought was a badger or something is… a bear I guess? He has a bear-like paw, but his nails seem too long… I honestly don’t know. But he’s Fiona’s uncle! Cute. She's off to deal with a fight that’s starting while the group goes to fight more grimm. Finally, the episode gets good.

The teamwork to take out the dragon grimm was nice, always glad to see it, but the real fight starts when two more grunts show up and then immediately run away. What could have scared them off?

The Hound. (I’m sorry, all I can think of is Game of Thrones when I write that, but it seems to be the name the fandom is adopting, so…) Remember how I said it was unlikely to be a threat on its own? I WAS WRONG. Holy shit this thing is terrifying. It snatches Oscar and in some wonderfully quick animation absolutely obliterates the kid. Oscar is thrown around like a chew toy, desperately trying to rabbit kick at this thing and it does [checks notes] absolutely nothing. I’d normally say something about our farm boy always getting the shit kicked out of him, but this scene was too good for my salt.

Then it changes shape, growing arms, and starts using Oscar as a shield. Yang can’t pull back in time and is snagged by her head, the Hound tossing her into the wall hard enough to break the stone. She’s still conscious though and warns the others about its strategy.

“But grimm aren’t that smart,” Jaune says. Maybe if you kids (Fiona keeps calling them kids) had stayed in school you would have learned that grimm get smarter with age! Oobleck knew that. Or, just as likely, this is a special Salem grimm. Hard to say at this point.

The point though is that the group is helpless in the face of this monster. I do want to emphasize this. I’ve seen a few people criticizing them for not doing enough to save Oscar and it’s like, what did you want them to do? Yang tried to attack and the grimm nearly had her hitting Oscar instead. Ren tried to attack and the grimm changed so fast his weapon was useless. Factor in that morphing—which the group has never seen before—the horror of Oscar hanging there limp, and the general fighter response of, ‘I can’t just keep attacking head on because that thing might kill me,’ and you realize the group was screwed from the start. They can’t stand up against this thing, not without a good strategy anyway, which there’s no time to think up. For the first time in years, ever since Tyrian, Salem actually made the right, villainous call.

Ren screams, “Give him back!”—which was just lovely in an angsty way—and the grimm creepily cuddles Oscar against his chest. Then he responds, “No.” Yeah, they’ve never seen that before either. Can you blame them for their shock? I’m impressed that they were on their bikes just seconds later, managing to keep the grimm in sight. That speaks to their combat experience. Not the ability to power through a situation where they’re clearly outmatched, but their ability to pick themselves back up and try again.

... Ah, so that’s why Pietro was oh so randomly making them bikes. The plot needed a way for them to keep up with a flying grimm. Got it.

My takeaway? RT should be writing horror. They’re far better at it. The animation, sound effects, voice acting, the grimm’s speech and protective instincts, that splatter of goo on Oscar’s cheek…

... stellar all around. Like the Apathy, this is the best I think RWBY has been since the lore episode of Volume 6. Granted, action sequences like this aren’t required to grapple with any of the messy morals and character consistency of other scenes, but still. If RWBY had just given me a lighthearted ‘Girls fight cartoon monsters’ show or a horror fueled ‘Girls fight monster abominations’ show, I’d have been happy. This? This is the only redeeming part of the episode. And it’s indeed one hell of a redemption. Look at this thing!

I’m not going to say it erases all the bad we got—it doesn’t—or that it likewise erases problems like Salem not using the rest of her army, but it’s a notable step in the right direction. This grimm is a threat. This grimm is a mountain the cast has to overcome. If this is the minion its master should be Everest. I still think this Volume is going down the tubes fast (it’s going the way of Weiss lol), but if it can give me more scenes like this? It might not be a total loss.

Last thing to acknowledge: What about Ozpin? I’ll admit it doesn’t look good. Given how fast he takes control he should have been able to override Oscar’s will and at least fight back a little with that spectacular magic we saw during the finale. So why didn’t he? I hope we get an in-world explanation: it happened so fast even Ozpin couldn’t do anything (shaky, but I’ll take it in a pinch), now that the merge is farther along he can no longer take control—something. Because I can easily imagine how quickly the fandom, and even the cast, will turn on him for not playing deus ex machina here. In reality, I think Ozpin didn’t take control simply because the plot needed him not to. The writers needed Oscar kidnapped so any potential out from that is conveniently forgotten… which is another knock against their writing, despite how great the scene otherwise was. The point is to take all these potential pushbacks and find a satisfying way to circumvent them, not pretend they don’t exist. RT can still save themselves here by providing that explanation later, so I hope they’re smart enough to do that. Ozpin has been blamed for everything at this point. His own kidnapping doesn’t need to be added to the list.

Also, still no word on Schrödinger's councilman. We’ve got to wait another week to see whether he’s dead or not.

Finally, let’s update the bingo card!

I’m crossing off “Ruby gives an ‘inspiring’ speech built on ignoring facts she doesn’t like” for that conversation with Penny. Yeah, it’s a speech to her alone about her worth, but Ruby mischaracterized the situation so badly I’m mad at her lol

I never thought the story would straight up just not have the grimm army attacking, so I think I’ll hold off on “Army of grimm conveniently doesn’t kill any civilians” until we see if/when it gets involved.

I’ll likewise hold off on the timeline slot until we see how bad things get…

Maria is on thin ice given that we have no idea what she’s supposedly doing while the group is off on their missions. Stay tuned.

Today we’re crossing off “Deadly cold conveniently doesn’t kill any civilians.” They should all be dropping like flies by now.

A friend pointed out that Cinder’s Cinderella flashback counts as an “Overly obvious fairy tale allusion.” In fact, I talked about how much of a shorthand that is, so that’s getting a mark.

From last week I’ve also decided to include Amity for “Retconning previous lore.” Now that the group is fully underway with their plan it reads as even more egregious that we were told it wasn’t ready.

I’ll hold off on Ozpin’s space for a while. See if he apologizes to the whole group and, if so, exactly what for.

“Oscar is finally kidnapped”—check!

Well, that’s a whole lot of headway this week. Can’t wait to see where the next episode takes us... Here’s hoping we spend a lot of time with that Hound. MVP of the episode.

Until next time! 💜

[Ko-Fi]

#rwby #rwby spoilers #rwby volume 8 #mymetas #rwby recaps

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queenlua · 3 years

Text

my tarot decks

someone on here (maybe @capriciouscorvid?) asked to see my tarot decks the other day, and uh, turrns out my collection is quite expansive, and also i’m a shit photographer, but here’s a few of the decks i managed to take decent pictures of:

newest deck: white numen: a sacred animal tarot

this one just came in the mail today. i like it so far; it’s the correct mix of traditional + more unusual symbology for my tastes, as well as the right balance between goofiness (its chariot is DELIGHTFUL) and more serious imagery. and i like the animal focus in general <3

most expensive deck: you don’t want to know what i paid to get a secondhand Slow Holler deck. it’s worth it; i treasure this deck like burning, but also, ouch.

anyway this deck was made by a collective of southern and/or queer artists and it heckin slaps. the chariot alone!!! ahhh!!!!

workhorse deck: universal waite. this is just the standard rider-waite tarot ,but someone recolored it to not look like ass. it’s the easiest deck for me to read, and also, it cost like eight bucks, so if someone spills beer on it it’s no big deal. ergo i keep this one in my purse and use it all the time

(i’m on my second copy of this deck; the first copy got lost at a bar somewhere outside Magfest 2020. i hope whoever stole it and/or stumbled on it is having lots of mystical fun with it)

most deviantart deck: lost forest tarot

i saw this one in a local game shop and couldn’t resist. like. doesn’t Judgment look metal as hell. don’t the weird anime deer things look rad. i love it

oldest deck: the wildwood tarot

god i love this deck. it’s like, my other easiest deck to read, just because i’ve had it since like... high school? middle school? somewhere in there. and it’s very much my aesthetic: nature-y but, like, not so much that it gets cheesy-lookin like a lot of Llewellyn stuff does.

other decks i own but am too lazy to photograph

* wild unknown tarot. a very #aesthetic buy, but the symbology ended up being a little too sparse for my tastes

* dragon age tarot. this one was also... an indulgence price point, lol. i actually don’t like it much for reading—due to the nature of how it was made, some of the symbolism is really confusing/contradictory from traditional meanings, in ways that don’t feel deliberate/thought-out—but, like, it sure is dragon age, and i sure was fangirling hard in 2015, so

* modern witch tarot. a pretty traditional deck (in terms of picture contents, symbology, etc), BUT instead of rando medieval dudes, it’s all hip-hoppin lookin modern witches with iphones and laptops and such. it’s fun! it’s not really quite my personal aesthetic, but, this one seems really popular when i’m doing readings for people, and how much the other person likes the deck has a lot to do with how the reading turns out, so i reach for this one pretty often

* crystal unicorn tarot. it’s another very traditional deck, BUT instead of rando medieval dudes it’s all unicorns. fantastically charming. EVERYTHING IS UNICORNS

* tarot of the divine. newish deck; i haven’t played with it enough to have a solid opinion

* raven’s prophecy tarot. i bought this one on an impulse and mostly regretted it. the illustrations just aren’t to my taste.

annnnd back at my parent’s house i’ve also got:

* tarot of reincarnation. it’s a deck so fantastically unconventional that i never know what to make of it, but i love it.

* philip k dick tarot. i bought this at a used bookstore right before a halloween party, because i was getting drunk with high school friends but i’d left my tarot deck back on the west coast what the fuck. this deck, as it turns out, is utterly incomprehensible, which honestly tracks with the whole “philip k dick” thing, and thus i failed utterly to actually drunkenly read anyone’s fortunes, but i’m extremely glad i have this extremely weird thing in my parent’s attic

god. why do i have thirteen tarot decks. that’s just an excessive number of decks.

but yeah that’s the collection!

#tarot #oh god and i just remembered i've got another one IN THE MAIL ON ITS WAY TO ME AS I TYPE #so many.#that one's going to be absolutely worth it though.

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thequibblah · 3 years

Note

Yesss I’ve been waiting for you to rb this!!! Director’s cut for the protest scene in CT bcs I am a slut for any protest scene <3

bestie the hive mind is so at work because i was actually just rereading that scene today!!

wait i'm assuming u mean the ministry protest if not i am about to look a fool~

anyway so. chapter 32 was probably one of the easiest chapters for me to write LOL because character conflict was minimal (miraculously) until the end, and people just had to fucking do things. what. a. relief. i've already talked a bit about deciding to include alice and frank interludes, which, this was back in the day when i had chapters finished well in advance of posting them so i could actually go "backwards" sort of and seed those developments

so one of the really fun parts of writing this chapter, since the main cast's story was pretty simple, was figuring out how fralice could tell a compelling story even in their lil bits. and i hadn't yet published 31, so i was like, um, perfect, let's just have doe hint at fralice breaking up

this might shock you all (LOL) but one of my fave things about a big multichapter is gesturing to things that happen in the background and then aren't a focus of the story, but can impact what happens and how it happens. i knew from the time frank's dad got arrested that fralice couldn't just, like, be static through a very difficult time for frank's family, and i was already regretting having them be an established couple because i was like, boo, boring (KJAHKJS), so i wanted to leverage that for drama!!!

but they're sickening and in love so they ended up having realisations in the chapter, obv. i feel like i have a very strong sense of who my alice is and don't really...write her in the accepted fanon way...? so i wanted to better establish who she is. so there's tons and tons of little moments i threw in there to cement alice's personality, just for funsies. a favourite of mine is when james finally spots marlene:

“James?” “Marlene?” [...] “Alice?” said James. “Yes, yes, we all know who everyone else is,” Alice said briskly...

marlene's reaction is much like james, a la tiffany pollard saying beyonce??!?!?!? but alice is like ok gang can we focus here which makes me laugh every time i go back to that bit

another thing i wanted to establish was having alice be moody's protege! i was rereading the books early in the pandemic and i realised the first mention of frank and alice is actually something like "frank longbottom and his wife," and there's no implication that alice is an auror. (if i remember right, that's the trial scene from the pensieve in gof, and then of course in ootp neville's grandmother says they were both aurors.) i was like, dang, it's time for an aggressive course correction and so THAT is what i did!!!

this, too, is one of my favourite bits:

“Healer Quincy says I’m remarkably resistant to curses,” Moody said. “And some bright trainee cast a well-placed Shield Charm at the last moment.” He glanced pointedly at Frank, who coughed.

you could be forgiven for thinking frank is the bright trainee that moody's talking about, but then!

He had searched for her in the crowd, forgetting he ought to protect himself, and shouted Protego in her direction. Alice had been casting her own shield — not over herself, not over Frank, but at Alastor Moody, who’d dropped his wand and could only brace himself for the feathers’ curse.

i'm not sure if this actually stuck out to anyone on first read, hah, but i'm very proud of it, and i hope i got to subvert some people's expectations!

and, obviously, i must draw everyone's attention to this nugget, which i feel i deserve death for:

She unfurled the scroll of parchment, and something fell out of it. A pamphlet, mint-green and creased; its front cover read We Care For Your Loved Ones. The subtitle beneath was adjusting to life in the Janus Thickey Ward. Alice frowned and turned the pamphlet over. Its purpose was far clearer now. Scrawled across the back of the pamphlet, in Frank’s familiar writing, was a message. I’m sorry. There’s a lot I need to say to you. But I’m sorry. Please find me after all this. F. “What on earth,” Alice mumbled — not because she was surprised, that her boyfriend, no, ex- boyfriend, was apologising to her. But it was such an abrupt note. “You had the whole bloody pamphlet, Frank,” she groused.

#wow this got longggg #ask me #keepingupwithpotters #director's cuts

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berryblissbby · 3 years

Text

Whispers of the moon, endurance of the heart

Pairing: I have literally no clue I’m sorry. I have no set character but I can see Dabi, Aizawa, Kageyama, Iwaizumi, Mattsun, Sakusa, Atsumu, Osamu, Kita, Suna, Jean, Reiner I know that’s a lot I’m sorry

Work Count: 1.4k

A/N: This story came to me very vividly, but i literally have no context. It started as one idea and then bloomed into this. I’m still pretty proud and wanted to share. I hope you like my vague, obscure story <3 He can turn into a wolf (I hope that clears one thing up lol)

The last smoke from the summer's festival fires had blown away on cooler winds today. The night sky crystalline from where you watched it in your bed, an inky blackness with winking stars.

The moon shone brightly, its view as clear as a looking glass, a glowing face in the sky. So bright, its light pooled into thought your window, lighting up your room, and the world outside.

The white panes of your window framed the sky, and were turned silver by the moonbeams. You watched the trees whose leaves brushed the bottom of that dark space. The leaves shone and swayed in a breeze, forever reaching to the endless sky.

You were cold. A cold that froze past your flesh. It seeped into your muscles and bones, frosting over your marrow. You felt fragile, so frozen over that you could shatter any moment. Porcelain.

A little doll, becoming more and more inanimate every day. Each night a piece of you would slowly freeze over, giving way to cool glossy glass.

How ironic the bed clothes you wore, a white silky nightgown, with lace along the trim, cutting low and stopping high along your thighs. The silk was a different kind of cold, it wrapped around you like a gentle breeze, brushing its icy fabric against your skin. You should have worn better nightclothes, warmer nightclothes. But it would have made no difference.

It had been a gift, you couldn’t resist wearing it once.

The fire that had once been burning bright past the foot of your bed was little more than embers now. Not that either felt any different from the other. No matter how great the fire, how many quilts you covered yourself with, or what you wore, you would be cold.

Looking again to the night sky, you curled your little porcelain toes, feeling just how frigid they were as they pressed into the pads of your feet. Next you curled your little porcelain fingers from where they were tucked away under your chin. You could have sworn you heard the glass tinkling, gently touching at the joints.

Nothing would make it better. Nothing but him.

You threw the blankets back, your body meeting the cold rush of air. Chills ran over you, gooseflesh spreading under the rapidly cooling silk covering your body. You pressed your feet to the floor, forgoing slippers. It was so cold it stung, but you fought the urge to curl back into your bed.

He was out there, you knew it. He was always out there, waiting. Watching and guarding.

You hated him; hated him so, so much. Everything he did filled you with anger, you loathed him like no other. Never having felt such disgust, his presence made you want to be sick. It made you want to curl into the recesses of your mind, to imagine a place where he couldn’t touch you.

Or at least, that's how you used to feel about him. How you still tell yourself to feel.

You don’t think of how those feelings had been replaced. Replaced with twitching fingers that longed to bury themselves in the warmth of downy fur. Replaced with dark eyes, yearning for rest.

You still hated him. You did.

Each step was colder than the last. Longing filled your bones, longing to not be standing, to rest. It was so hard to stand, to have your head so high.

You ignored the cushioned seat below you, letting yourself only kneel on it for a second while you unlocked the window and swung your legs over the sill. Carefully you slid down, your feet landing on the soft dirt, barren of any weeds or grass in favor of the manicured bushes and plants that surrounded the perimeter of the manor.

Making your way through the ever so carefully planted briar, you felt your nightgown catch and tug on twigs and branches, but didn’t stop. The moment your feet touched the grass beyond the garden plot, you fought to keep your knees strong.

Two more steps and you were tumbling into the grass, so soft and gentle against your frozen skin. Your breakable skin. It was so hard to be upright, the grass granted your heavy head refuge.

Running your fingers through it, you imagined it was the furry scruff you were craving. Imagined the dirt below it radiating heat, instead of sapping it from you.

You also couldn’t…. you couldn’t sleep. Stuck in an infuriating in between. Always drifting, never to fall over. The knife's edge that you had been skirting never giving way; always keeping you dozing. In between.

He would fix it.

You stared up at the night sky, falling into that space. The stars glowing pinpricks, only to be blotted out. You didn’t know when you would close your eyes, but suddenly they would be open again and you would be met with the face of the moon.

Laying not quite on your back, not quite on your side, you stayed there. Not quite asleep, not quite awake. Watching the trees sway, the wind whistle thought their branches, a harmony for the two of you. Freezing but numb.

He would find you.

He had thought you dead.

Only for a moment, when he first saw you as he prowled on padded feet. As his wolf gazed at you, it itched to release its claws and find the cause of what lay before him. Until he heard your beating heart, and even breaths.

Asleep but not. An angle, but earthly. His gentle Juliet, waiting among an altar of grass, shining in the moon.

He made his way to you, and watched as your eyes slowly blinked open, and shut again. Opening your arms you silently beckoned him. He entered them with no qualms, wanting to shudder at how you immediately ran your hands through his fur.

Burying his face in your neck, he shifted.

“You're not hurt.” A statement mumbled into your skin as he kneeled beside your splayed, pliant body.

A soft, “Mmm,” was your only response.

Nuzzling his face into your skin he took deep breaths. Looking for any sign of fear or adrenaline, smelling for any spilled blood. He emerged from your neck to look at your face. Turned to the moon, eyes closed.

“Is this you giving in to me?”

“No.” A simple answer, the easiest one you had to give.

Liar.

Liar, he wanted to sing, to scream and chant and repeat over and over. Liar, liar, liar. But it was your truth. No matter how many times you weakened, how many times you let him hold you, to make you better, you would never fully give yourself to him. Never wholly, in body and soul, in heart and mind.

“Shift.” You commanded, and he knew what you needed. He could feel how cold you were, how your legs were twitching for what you really wanted.

“Get on my back,” was all he could offer, turning into the vision of what you craved.

He tried not to think of how high your nightgown rose as you straddled him, and how tight your thighs were squeezing his hips.

Burying your face between his shoulders, he could feel your hot breath seeping through his coat. Your arms again wrapped around his neck, burrowing your fingers into his thick fur to rest among his downy undercoat, letting the heat from his body warm you.

He knew you were using him to fight the aching inside of you. But he would endure your stubbornness, cure its plight when you couldn’t stand it anymore and called for him.

Endurance would be his to conquer. To know through and through. To memorize the throbbing in his heart that it caused, the swelling and suffocation in his chest.

He could endure it. And you could use him.

He could especially endure it while he laid with you. In the place he had chosen with a view of the stars, where the spindly aspens parted just enough to let the cool moonlight through.

When you had your cold little fingers buried among his fur, resting against his skin; he could manage. From where he laid with his head in your lap, and his tail covering your toes, watching you breathe; he’d let you use him. And from where you laid, your torso resting along his side, your face turned to his, he would let you rest, to gain what you craved every moment you weren’t with him.

Your fleeting moment of warmth would be gone, a restful night of sleep would only last for so long. Soon enough you would call on him again, and he could endure, would endure, until then.

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nastasyafilippovnas · 3 years

Note

Ship: Siena x Anthony. 🔥❤

MY BRIDGERTON OTP (or as close to it as I can get). THE HOTTEST CANON COUPLE ON THE SHOW. I have so many thoughts on them it overwhelms me at times.

I'll start by saying I knew they were doomed because they are basically all my favorites tropes put together, except make it regency England, lol. It might have been too many brazilian soap operas growing up, or just a love for angst and heartbreak, but I just have a huge soft spot for all mistresses/prostitutes/sex workers storylines? And then you made her also an OPERA SINGER? Who could resist?

Their first scene together is not only hot and sexy, but fun and playful. That lounging together in bed after sex, touching each other and talking freely, is just everything to me. And then he broke her heart by choosing duty over love and breaking all his promises to her. And despite how much it affected her, Siena keeps on. She is a pragmatic, she will find someone else. I love how she doesn't play games with Anthony either. Siena is always honest. "I can't be your fool again"??? MY GIRL.

On his part, I think Anthony didn't realize how much he loved Siena until he lost her. He liked her and they were having fun, but he thought he could give her up at any time. And then, the moment she isn't there anymore, he completely LOSES it. He just, in true Anthony fashion, doesn't know what to do or how to fix it. And Siena sees it. Like she says, "all I know is you're lost". I think in the end she was really afraid that, once he saw how truly difficult it would be for them to be together, he would go back on his world and break his promises again. And she couldn't let that happen again. Can you imagine going to that ball with your lover, knowing all these people (that never worked a day in their lives! that don't have half her talent!) will be making snide comments, having to deal with Violet's cold rage and silent treatment? I don't blame Siena for being afraid and choosing the easiest option. It also doesn't make Anthony's feelings for her any less real. She just couldn't take the chance.

Also, you know what breaks my heart? How she says "you need to let me go. let me go.". Because she knows that if Anthony keeps trying, she will always come back to him. And that's how you know she really loves him.

Long story short, I love them and I don't know how you can create a character like Siena and not make her your heroine. That's the truth.

give me a ship and i’ll tell you my thoughts on it

#puzzlepieces #answered asks #bridgerton #anthony x siena #this is so long sorry lol

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theriverpersonshadow · 3 years

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Lamia Drama/Deltarune Semi-Crack Fic

The not-awaited, not asked for Lamia Drama X Deltarune crackfic that absolutely no one wanted, but might now find they want!

I played Deltarune Chapter 2 and just decide to write some silliness for fun. This is extremely non-canon to everything involved. Spoilers (kinda but not really) for DeltaRune Chapter 2.

Warnings for swearing, an extremely brief moment of existential dread, and one sexual joke.

As always, the species of lamia I use come from @vex-bittys

If this is your cup of tea, maybe buy me a Kofi?

Susie stared up at the sign in front of them. “Kris. This…. Is this a fucking pet shop???” Susie said. The sign said “Caring Coils” and had a picture of someone part skeleton, part snake.

“No! It’s a spring shop!” Lancer said. What else could “Coils” mean?

“U-Um… I… I don’t know where this building came from???” Ralsei said. As far as he was aware, they had seen neither snakes nor springs on their journey, but apparently this was in Castle Town now! Somehow!

Kris walked in. It was surprisingly bright for something in the Dark World, eerily similar to what it’d be like in the light world, but given that the main inhabitants seemed to be the apparent offspring of Jockington and Sans, just… What was even happening here.

“Are these, like, half skeleton, half snake?” Susie said, walking up and knocking on the glass holding the Mamba. A dozen or so snakes suddenly tackled the glass, hissing at her. “Okay, not gonna lie, that’s kinda cool. You think they bite?”

Kris just stared at the sign on the glass enclosure saying “Please Ask Before Handling – We Bite – Highly Venomous” until Susie got the hint.

Regardless, Susie hummed, seriously contemplating sticking her entire hand in there anyways. “Hey. Hey Noelle, you dare me?”

“SUSIE NO!”

“C’mon, does venom even work on monsters?”

“Hah! Clearly you know nothing. Monsters do not have blood and nerves to shut down the same way humans do,” Berdly said, strolling over to the Mamba enclosure. “They don’t even look that tough. Look! They’re worm- AAAAAAAAAAAA;LKJSDFLK;JDFA!” He had stuck his hand in there and immediately gotten himself bitten by like 13 Mamba. He flapped his wings, running around the room and sending bitty Mamba flying absolutely everywhere. Tiny battle cries filled the room as they chased after Berdly.

“Um… Kris? Should we help him?” Ralsei said, watching the chaos.

Kris answered No, deciding to instead head into the back. Unlike the skeletal-snakes who were snake sized in the front, this area seemed inhabited by skeleton-sized skele-snakes. Kind of. Most were shorter than Kris, except one Cobra who zipped directly by them with a weaponized mop in hand. Kris peaked back – looks like the cobra dude was mopping up the little skelesnakes. Cool, that’s been settled.

They got a few odd looks as they browsed the area. It had snake things, and child things. Presumably for snake children, which most of these seemed to be. If not for the supplies and price tags, it’d be easy to mistake this place for an orphanage – which Kris could understand, who would want a Sans X Jockington baby?

Oh hey, that one might be an adult. A particularly grumpy looking skele-snake looked them up and down, them immediately flipped them off, “Oh great, I thought I was done with human shit. Or whatever the fuck you are.”

Kris flipped him off back. What meaningful dialogue.

Meanwhile, Ralsei was trying to figure out what he should do. In the few seconds Kris had left, Suzy had broken another enclosure completely and even more snakes were running around, not at all helped by Lancer and Rouxls mistaking the new lightners(?) for worms and trying to eat them. Berdly had been swiftly knocked out by the tiny swarm.

Thankfully, something answered Ralsei’s prayers. He didn’t expect his newly found angel to be a 12-foot-something long version of the things causing chaos, but he literally started mopping up the little ones and depositing them into boxes. As soon as that was done, he gave them all an exhausted, withering stare, “Why. Just… why.”

“Worms are tasty!” chirped Lancer.

“These are not worms, we’re lamia,” the new person said. He sighed, straightening himself, “Where are my manners. I’m Nikolai. Apparently the rest of the staff disappeared, somehow, and I have no idea where we are, so forgive me if I’m a bit… in need of several of wines.” His “staff” uniform had been replaced by gold and white robes… and a small golden nametag declaring him “staff”.

Rouxls pushed himself to the front. “I sympathizeth with thee mostly fullily, thine fellow worker of high class and generallyeth most terrifying stature.”

“… I think I’m having a stroke,” Nikolai said.

“Hey Yooooo. I Heard Someone Was Wanting Wine (alcoholic)? I Have Some Battery Acid Right Here!” the Queen said, holding her glass cup of battery acid. It exploded in her hand. “Oops Lol (amused)”

“… I… I give up,” Nikolai said, laying his head on a table. Several of the bitties were chirping and giving praises, trying to tell him not to give up, but the Mamba were also trying to knock the box they’d been placed in off the shelf by all ramming the side of it at once. The chaos refused to be contained any longer.

Ralsei looked at Nikolai sympathetically, going over and patting his back, “H-Hey, it’s okay! I’m sure between the two of us and Kris we can keep… order… Oh dear.” Everyone had scattered. It seemed that only The Queen, the unconscious Berdly, and Noelle remained in the room with them.

The Queen looked into the bitty Papython tank. “Hey Is That You Trousle?”

Trousle looked up at this new lady with the cool glasses, nodding.

“Sorry You Came Eleventh In The Dragon Cards The Deckening Mini-Tournament Game But Dang Getting That Much Out Of Like A Billion People (Exaggeration) Is Dang (Damn) Impressive!” The Queen said.

Trousle’s eyes widened, how did she know that?

“Oh Yeah And Here Is This (based on search history: Sexy Dom Bitties).” It was a small domino with Mettaton legs sticking out from it.

Trousle was silently screaming, but being him had the perk that he didn’t have to hold in his screams! They were silent by default. So he was just screaming and completely blush-colored in the face.

“Oh And Emo Thrash Metal (based on search history: Emo Thrash Metal).” She deposited a small broken chunk of the Thrash Machine that had thrashed her giant robot’s ass which was inexplicably wearing eyeliner and had “it’s not a phase mom!” written on it.

Meanwhile, Susie had joined Kris in flipping off Hux, and then Liam came.

“Tch. I don’t know what you troglodytes think you’re doing, but we’re closed. Get out,” Liam hissed, putting himself between Hux and the intruders. They were not closed, but could you really be “open” when you had accidentally planeshifted to another dimension without the majority of your staff?

“Yeah! Fuck off!” Hux hissed, throwing a double birdy.

“YOU GUYS WANNA GO?!” Susie yelled, foaming at the mouth and drawing her axe. Liam looked injured, but if he was going to go around picking fights, she wasn’t going to stop him!

“Oh please,” Liam said, rolling his eyes and crossing his arms, smirking far too smugly. “I would obviously win.”

“OH IT IS ON!” Susie said, surging forwards. She and Liam both turned out to be too adept at dodging for this to go much of anywhere, and Hux and Kris just spent the fight insulting each other even after Susie and Liam got so mutually carried away they left the battlefield.

Lancer had found some new kind of paradise: a plastic hammock full of dubious, blueberry snot flavored salsa! He paid no mind to the other person using the weird spa, just jumping in and plopping into the vat of goo.

Oozy blinked owlishly at Lancer, then started laughing, “Kid? Kid, what are you doing?”

“I’m claiming this spa as mine, you minty fresh bundle of mouthwash.”

“Um… This… is my bed?”

“No it’s not! This is a hammock, not a bed!”

“… can’t argue with that logic,” Oozy said, shrugging. He wrapped lightly around Lancer, purring. That said, he couldn’t quite resist the urge to tease, “Wow, easiest snack ever.”

“Thanks!” Lancer chirped.

Rouxls Kaard then skidded down the hallways without ever adjusting his Trademark Pose, “HALT WORMTH! THEE SHALSTH NOTS EAT MINE PRINCETH.”

Oozy, being a little shit, looked Rouxls in the eye as he lightly pressed his teeth to the back of Lancer’s head and audibly said, “Nom.”

“NOOOOO! UNHAND HIM, THINE UNCLEANETHEST OF HEATHENS!”

“Naaaah.”

“I’m slimy!” Lancer chirped.

Meeeeeeanwhile, Keith was laughing maniacally in a mix of sheer disbelief and genuine amusement as he dodged kicks from a living checkers piece, a small army of Pawns at his side. Too bad they weren’t from the same game.

Some of the Queen’s butlers helped Nikolai and Noelle clean up the storefront from the burst of chaos (and Berdly). They still weren’t sure how they got there, but y’know what, even Nikolai cannot contain this, so he lets the kids who are old enough play around the area with some supervision.

The Mamba immediately flock to the Dojo, Liam leading the charge, to prove their superiority over all. Berdly gets his ass beat there again. There are Papython in the bakery and Kings in the café, and, well, just lamia generally everywhere.

A lot of the younger ones flock to Seam. Every child’s dream come true: a giant plush toy that can actually talk to you and he’s kind of just a big fluffy grandpa!!!

Eventually just Kris and Hux are left inside, locked in a battle of wills and insults.

“Like you’d even know what it’s like to not have fucking control of shit! To always be told what to do and what to be, and if you can’t, no one gives a fuck about you!”

Kris: Act:

Understand.

They understand, they understand far too well.

…

Kris: Act:

Kidnap.

The snake boy is going home with them now. He screams, but he does not get a say in this. Bye.

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