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cassandrajoybellbittner · 5 months

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*Warning Adult Content*

WANTING A FAMILY- Chapter 19

Adyen

I had never thought about what having a proper older sibling would be like.

Sure, when I had been passed around from family to family, a lot of my foster parents had older children of their own or other foster kids a few years older than me but I had been on my own mostly.

A lot of them also didn't seem to have any want for a family-like dynamic with someone they weren't related to.

Now I knew my brother and all those things I had told myself I didn't need... all those sibling friendship scenes on T.V.

I had rolled my eyes at... I realized that I had a deep-seated want for them that had only showed itself when Naylan and I started talking a lot.

He was only a year and some change older than me,but I felt like I was talking to someone much older when he gave me advice and listened to my rambling about school and my relationship with Len.

He had been the one to encourage me not to think about what my track mates would think if I was a little more open about being gay.

I had told Naylan that a lot of their jokes made me uncomfortable and he suggested that nothing would change until I stood up to that, so I did.

I took a stance, told them blankly that I was seeing Len and since then I've been conscious about being more open about that fact in public.

If people asked, I stammered but managed to admit that yes, I was with him and I was gay.

There was something freeing about taking agency and openly stating a fact that I kept to myself.

Being a foster kid had made me hide things instinctively.

I wasn't sure which adults would be supportive and which ones wouldn't be and there's a memory of one of my foster siblings from years back simply saying 'ew' when I mentioned that a boy on television was sort of cute.

My thoughts drifted back to Len.

There was so much I wanted to tell him but I had to be a bit careful about that.

It was a good thing that Naylan and his pack had settled in an abandoned building complex close to a factory site.

They were bordering territories that weren't there own but remained distant enough to not be a problem.

My stomach knotted a bit.

I knew a part of me was just making excuses not to tell him yet because I was a bit worried that he would panic or get sad about me keeping this from him for so long.

He was supposed to be teaching me stuff but I've carried those burdens to Naylan since there was less of an emotional factor to it.

"When are you going to tell him?" Naylan asked me, making me sit up on the sofa before looking in the direction of his voice.

It was a bit dark but the light from the muffled television was enough to make out his face.

I was in Naylan's place in the abandoned apartment complex.

It being abandoned meant there was no running water or electricity.

A few of the pack members were handy, so getting a few stolen car batteries to power everything from fridges, televisions, to lamps made it possible to live there.

My brother gave me a small smile before coming to sit beside me and handing me one of the bowls of cereal he had in his hands.

"You were having a little conversation with yourself back there," he said, looking at the television as he took a spoonful of cereal.

"You know, you'll have to tell him when you go and visit mum in the summer."

"I know that," I sighed, nodding my head in agreement.

Naylan did that mind-reading thing a lot, but I had gotten used to it.

Talking to Naylan had also meant contact with my mother.

The first call was scary.

I had shaken and stammered all the way through it but her voice was soft and I could hear the clear affection in the way she said my name.

We talked about dumb things like books and movies and what she had been up to all these years.

She had audibly gasped when I mentioned I was in university for architecture and was in the track team.

She was very proud of me and it was weird... that warm feeling that came from a parental figure praising you.

"I'm glad they didn't change your name," she had said, explaining that it had been my father who had named me.

"How about telling him on that date you two have planned together..." Naylan trailed and I felt my face warm up.

A new ice castle place had opened and Len kept talking about it in a way that made it obvious he wanted to go, so I suggested we did.

"Maybe that's a good idea," I muttered, looking down at my feet in the darkness of the room.

The blue light from the television illuminated Naylan's figure as he leaned forward.

There was a tooth smacking sound.

"You really like him, yeah?"

I shrugged, trying to play it cool even though my chest was fluttering.

"Yeah," I croaked and he laughed, making my chest flutter even more.

I stuffed my mouth with a spoon of cereal and let myself watch the car battery next to the television as Naylan's free tangle guinea pig hopped by.

"I don't think he'll take it badly at all," Naylan said, dropping his empty bowl on the floor before leading back on the sofa.

"Hey," he started, after a period of silence passed by.

"You know the only reason mum had to give you up was that..."

"I couldn't survive, I get it," I said, cutting my brother off.

He stared at me with eyes that had gone yellow, something that happened to Len's sometimes.

"I just..." he started saying, opening his mouth then closing it.

He hummed to himself and I brought up my legs before hugging them to myself.

"The streets are hard and mum didn't know what to do. She thought that she had found her person, you know?"

My ears perked up in interest.

I had heard Naylan go on about my mother's ex but I learned new things about him every time he was brought up.

My dad... our dad had made my mum happy,or so Naylan said.

He didn't talk about his biological father much.

I got a sense that he wasn't a real person in Naylan's head.

"We were really young but I remember a bit about him... how sick he was. We couldn't afford any of that so..." Naylan paused and I swallowed, knowing that my father had died.

Naylan's guinea pig made a squeaking noise, distracting both of us.

Naylan let out a sigh, getting up from his seat on the sofa before helping the poor thing get untangled from the wires.

"He always does this," Naylan said and I grinned, watching him pet the rodent.

He looked dumb in his pajama pants and the hoodie that was too small for him as he smiled down at his pet.

The imagery was a big contrast from when I had first seen him.

"Hey, can I ask you something?" I asked, feeling my stomach tighten up.

Naylan raised a brow at me.

"Sure," he agreed but he still looked a bit unsure.

I swallowed the anxiety building up at the back of my throat.

"Was your dad mum's mate?" I asked.

It was something that had been in my mind for a while.

I looked up, noticing that Naylan had gone a bit frigid.

His lips twitched after a while and he let out a sigh.

"No," he said.

"Just some douche mum had a fling with. I still see him around when I go home," he said, and the last part shook me a bit.

"Mum's mate isn't in Canada," he said, humming to himself.

"She's a Caribbean immigrant. She still has the mate bond but it's very weak. They're never going to meet each other..."

"Then what's the point of mates?" I asked, feeling confused.

Mum's love of her life was out there somewhere and she let her heart get broken twice.

Naylan sighed.

"You're still new to all of this. Mate bonds aren't binding, they're suggestions. Lots of wolves don't end up with their mates, especially city wolves like us..." he paused.

"Well, like me. You got yourself some rural pure-blooded mate. We're all just mutts here," he corrected himself.

I froze up for a bit, not knowing what to say.

"I have a mate. I can feel the bond," Naylan said, walking over to the sofa before sitting beside me.

The furniture creaked and the foam sunk under his weight.

"But I don't know, it's not like I'm invested in looking for them. I'd much rather stay here... with my pack."

There was fondness in his voice at the last part.

Something I had come to realize was that Naylan really wanted a family... a community.

It was something he craved and went on about.

Where Alpha Georgiou saw a bunch of annoying thieving teenagers, Alpha Naylan saw the potential for a family.

I smiled, thinking that he was a good leader so far and would get better with time.

But what did I want? I wanted very small things... a family, a boyfriend, a chance to feel like I wasn't being drowned by my life.

The whole thing with Len had started out in a confusing nerve-racking chain of events.

It had felt like puberty all over again but things were stable now and we were getting along fine... it almost felt like we were normal university kids who were dating and figure if things out together.

We were... Studying together in the library... Grabbing Pizza at Georgiou's... Playing video games with his roommates... those were all the basic things I dreamed of doing with a boyfriend.

I craved that mundane normalcy and I wanted to keep having it with Len as I grew in my understanding of myself.

"I'm going to tell Len everything when we go on our date on Saturday," I announced under my breath but I knew my brother heard me because he reached out to comb his fingers through my curls.

He didn't say anything but his gesture was enough of an acknowledgment.

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narrators-journal · 3 years

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Yandere hisoka x fem reader

{PLOT} yandere hisoka and fem reader who's treated like a baby/pet, she's very naive and knows nothing cuz is hisoka manipulative as fuuuu-. Hisoka keeps her locked up in his house and tells her the outside world is just full of people who want to take advantage of her. But one day y/n leaves the house and goes on her own adventure outside for the very first time. Whenever she returns home she finds hisoka looking frantically for her.

Let just say he wasn't to happy about her leaving the house.

Here ya go! I hope you enjoyed this little scenario! I don't really favor Hisoka much, but I hope I did him well here and is to your liking!

For years you'd been told the outside world was unbelievably terrifying. Murderers, robbers, taxes, it was a cruel nightmares apparently. That lie would've worked if you hadn't been an okay functioning adult before he decided otherwise.

You'd only met him once, to your recollection, before Hisoka thought it appropriate to kidnap you and keep you in this rather lavish, but miserable apartment. You'd stopped at a gas station, (h/l), (h/c) hair mussed from sleep, unbrushed in your panicked rush to leave for work, and you'd just come in to buy some candy and an energy drink to wake you up and give you some swift food. Hisoka was standing in line, and had kindly let you in front of him, that was the extent of your interaction. Yet, here you were, now too scared to set foot outside, unsure of anything you even thought, let alone do, being correct, and miserable.

So, you spent most of your days when Hisoka was off on jobs, staring out of the window at the lively street below. The outside world doesn't seem that bad, you mused for the umpteenth time since your confinement, you used to walk around and do shit all the time, it wasn't bad. You told yourself, but that pit of fear still gnawed at your stomach inexplicably. Then, your (e/c) eyes locked onto a familiar form on the sidewalk below. (f/n).

Just like that, your reluctance to go against the scary, powerful murderer who held you captive vanished, replaced by the strong desire to see your friend again. One hour, I'll only be gone an hour at most. He'll never know. You assured yourself as you collected your things and ran out of your apartment. For once, you were thankful for your captor being forgetful, because that meant the door was unlocked, letting you escape with surprising ease, something you should've maybe questioned.

Nonetheless, you got out, and you caught up to (f/n) like an excited puppy, high off the excitement of socialization and leaving the house. While that was an enjoyable feeling, it also meant you failed to keep track of time.

So, by the time you were running back and rushing into the apartment once again, it'd grown dark outside, from a noon hour. It's fine, Hisoka's supposed to be gone on a job, it's only been two days, he's probably not home. Sadly, when you walked in you were hit with a worse possibility.

The apartment was absolutely trashed. No room was spared the carnage of whoever may have broken in. Oh god, Hisoka's gonna kill me, did I leave the door unlocked? Was anything stolen?! You thought in a panic as you tried to pick through the debris and catalog what was there.

"There you are, my little pet~" Hisoka hummed, but his thin tone of nonchalance failed to hide the potent malice in his words that sent a shiver of terror down your spine. That growing pit of dread in your gut deepened further when you heard the soft clicking of his heels on the floor as he approached. "Did you have fun on your little outing?" he hummed coldly, wrapping his strong arms around you, trapping you against him. You didn't dare answer though. Hisoka wasn't expecting a reply and you knew trying would get you into further trouble with the magician. So, you instead just waited there, stewing in your anxiety until Hisoka added gas to the fire with a cruel chuckle.

"Well, now I get to punish you~"

#hisoka morow #hisoka x reader #yandere hisoka #hxh #hunter x hunter #ask #yandere #scenario

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apiratewhopines · 3 years

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Something Suspiciously Like Hope

Summary — The moment Captain Hook opens himself up to the possibility of love

Read on AO3

Inspired by Reception Redos and Jellymoons by Jrob64.

A gift for Joni @jrob64 as a thank you for the artwork she did for Killian, Persuaded. If words equaled gratitude, a million wouldn’t be enough.

David asked him once when he knew Emma was the one. He had hemmed and hawed, uncharacteristically shy about confessing his feelings to his father-in-law. One could argue that most people would have the same reaction when questioned by a man whose love life went down as the stuff of myths and legends. Although, when everything was said and done, Killian thought his own love story hadn’t turned out too shabby even with the many twists and turns it had taken over the centuries.

Deep down, he knew it wasn’t the tenderness of his emotions or the intimidation factor of Prince Charming being the inquisitor. No, the reason for his reluctance was something else entirely.

His life had changed so much, he had changed so much, that sometimes revisiting those early days of his acquaintance with Emma seemed like someone else’s life. He had been his normal roguish self, pushing and taunting to hide his genuine fascination with the blonde beauty who had steel running through her spine and fire in her blood.

She wasn’t charmed. Hell, he wasn’t even sure she was interested until he was already well past the point of no return. He had ached with longing, his body tense and mind restless, all the while trying to figure out how to pull her closer with hands already full of bitterness and tightly gripping on to vengeance.

He was ashamed at how long it had taken him to realize the price he needed to pay for the magic of her love was to let go of the past.

As he twisted himself inside out in his quest to become the man she deserved, the man he wanted to be, he would often think about when it began. Why after over a century of loneliness did a continuation of his life as it was suddenly seem unbearable? Why this woman who clearly was immune to his particular brand of charisma? Why abandon his sole goal, and all hope of revenge, for someone who merely tolerated him at best?

The answer was her heart.

Not her heart in the sense of her goodness, her courage, or her kindness. Although all those things formed pieces of the net that entrapped him.

He meant her heart in a very literal, and physical, manner.

Killian Jones had lain dormant for decades, buried under a cutthroat exterior and cunning mind bent on revenge. The young man who had been abandoned by his father and suffered through the loss of more loved ones than anybody should, rebelled against his role of victim and bystander of his fate. When he was forced to watch his brother die for the greed of an ignoble king, it had been the final straw.

But he had still been him. Still Killian, although a little more battle-weary and scarred.

Then he met Milah. His kindred spirit in all the ways that mattered, a companion who thirsted for freedom and adventure in a way that stole his breath. He had loved her as only a person who knew how it felt to lose someone could. Desperately, beyond reason, like a man who had lost his sight and clung hopelessly to the memory of his last sunset all the while knowing soon it, like everything else in his life, would fade.

And he had been right in the worst possible way.

Captain Hook was born out of loss, rigid in his purpose, unflinching in his objectives. But he was also a shield. Once committed to his bloodlust, Killian knew he was signing on to a life empty of love and friendship. The Dark One was not an enemy who respected fair play. The evil imp would find what you cared about, torture you with it, and then destroy all your happiness.

So it had seemed easier to not be happy in the first place.

It was a sacrifice he willingly made. He could have made the case his struggle was a noble one. After all, when you started a blood feud with the most powerful sorcerer in all the realms, you couldn’t go about your business like it was any other Tuesday. So he was really doing everyone a favor by never carrying on beyond dalliances and the murky friendships with his crew that were more about loyalty and obedience than true affection.

Of course, it was all a lie.

He knew it the moment he saw her heart. Or rather, didn’t see it.

For all his musings and certainties he was doing the right thing by keeping his distance from the rest of humanity, the truth was he did it because he couldn’t suffer another loss. He didn’t want to see one more person he loved with their heart ripped from their chest and crushed to dust. If any speck of Killian Jones was to survive, it was better to bypass any entanglements.

He was prepared to stay the course. He took up with all types of villains and unsavory characters and found they were the best sort of people. People who cut off emotion and consciences like gangrenous limbs in order to save themselves.

They were his people.

And then, the moment that changed everything.

They said Lake Nostos had the ability to return to you what was lost. He just hadn’t expected it to come in a flood of emotion so strong it nearly overwhelmed him.

As delightful as he had found Emma up until then, he was still prepared to double-cross and cheat her if it meant he could finally sink his hook into the Dark One’s thick hide. However, his attraction to her aside, he believed in good form and he wouldn’t cause her or her companions any more harm than necessary in his quest. Despite her uncalled for betrayal on their beanstalk journey, her orphan eyes called him back to his better days and he found while he couldn’t exactly forgive her defection, he could respect her singularity of purpose.

After all, wasn’t his own single-minded pursuit what had gotten him into the mess to begin with? Then he was trapped between a rock and a hard place. Cora would surely make him pay if he crossed her again and Emma wouldn’t go down without a fight.

Even he wasn’t sure which side he would land on, the internal struggle and cat-and-mouse game distracting him from the sword fight and leading to an opening the Swan girl took advantage of in a way that strangely made him proud.

As he watched from his place in the sand, Cora reached into Emma’s chest.

His eyes had shut tightly against the image. Echoes of past tragedies ripped through him, reminding him that love was pain, to keep his distance because all hope was already lost.

And then, nothing.

Against his better judgement, he opened his eyes and saw Cora’s empty hand. A wave of light so pure it burned his skin pulsed out from Emma, leaving him woozy. He watched Snow and her adult daughter jump into his portal but he was too dazed to register the fact that once again his chance at revenge was stolen from him.

Honestly, he started having an inkling it didn’t even matter anymore.

His mind whispered, “She’s safe.”

His heart whispered, “She’s the one.”

His soul whispered, “She’s everything.”

Years later, he admitted to himself it was then, at his bleakest point, the first rays of dawn had peeked through his unending darkness. He had even joked with Henry one time it was the moment he decided to win the heart of the woman whose heart couldn’t be stolen.

As he stood and watched his latest opportunity to get even with his archenemy close, he couldn’t help the smile spreading across his face. Ignoring Cora’s murderous stare, he had looked at the peaceful waters and wondered if there was truly someone that would be safe from the Dark One’s machinations. Someone who already called to him on levels he had buried deeply before her grandparents had even been born.

Perhaps it hadn’t been full-blown love but it was the start of something. Something suspiciously like hope.

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in-tua-deep · 3 years

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I had a dream where I was a little girl of about seven, and I lived in a world of powers and quirk and magic. And everyone, of course, manifested a quirk. Though - I hadn’t yet. The daycare workers and teachers all called me a “late bloomer” and even though I hadn’t manifested a power yet they thought I was a delight, bright and lovely.

My caretaker/teacher held me back when the kids were dismissed to play and told me with a sparkle in her eye that two more kids had manifested their quirks today. A boy at our other site (scross town?) who had a goldfish quirk and a little boy at the other site (next town over I think, our competitors) who had a time based quirk.

I looked towards our site, and I could see a goldfish sort of hovering in the air. I was the kid who always seemed to be there when a kid was manifesting a quirk or a power, and I was brilliant at figuring out what it was. And I took off running, to go and find the boy!

And there I was, careening through the school, following my instincts to find this other boy. I left the school and went racing across the countryside until I eventually found him by the rocky shore, all curled up an looking a little bit irritated. He was in a bubble of water - he must have been able to breathe in there. I hopped in as well and waved.

He asked what I was doing there, but I didn’t answer. Actually, I hadn’t spoken a word the entire dream so far. I must have been a very quiet kid. I waved to the boy again, and scampered off - satisfied I suppose.

Except when I ran off, he followed me. Which wouldn’t have been a problem, excpet I knew the coastline like the back of my hand and he... didn’t.

I started climbing on some rocks that jutted out towards the sea, and I remember distinctly hearing a meow that he didn’t.

He hadn’t told me what he was doing at the shore either.

(He was looking for his little sister. He didn’t know it yet, but he was already too late.)

There was somebody else there. I never say them, I just remember the way things seemed suddenly intense and sinister. Something happened on that day. Something terrible, something awful.

(The cat didn’t make it, either. We couldn’t have saved it. It was already gone by the time we got there.)

Fast forward time, and there I was with the boy pressed shoulder to elbow with me. If we didn’t maintain contact for long periods each day, he would go... sort of fuzzy about the edges. Because he was dead. He was dead, and I could see him clear as day. Every day we would do this, press against one another and hold hands and give him the strength he needed to not vanish through the day, so that he could go home and visit his poor mother who lost both of her children. Such is the life of a ghost haunting their loved ones.

I bid adieu to him and scurried off to the school where another child was manifesting their quirk. One probably too young. Maybe three years old.

I remember walking in as the child rolled on the floor, terrified out of their mind. I remember reacting instinctively, getting a grasp on the child and making them follow me through an exercise of breathing and making various noises. By the time I’d calmed them a little, the caretaker/monitor had vanished and I already knew what sort of quirk the kid had. The kid could feel the rotation of the earth, could feel how fast we were hurtling through space, could parrot the number of exactly how fast we were going, how fast we were spinning. What a terrifying power! No wonder they were overwhelmed.

The caretaker came back with the headmaster, but by that time I’d already gotten the child sorted. The caretaker was so flustered, she said it must be a manifestation of some power that pushed others away, forces you to abandon them. I tried to interrupt, because that wasn’t the kid’s power at all. The woman was making excuses for why she’d left me, now all of eight (?) years old, in charge and ditched us both

Then the woman said something else, about how I was so reliable and that she was sure my own quirk would come in one day. And I remember my blood going cold, I don’t remember why but I remember being absolutely sure in my knowledge that no one must ever know. No one could know that when I knew what a quirk looked like, I could track that person across the land, but even more so no one could know about the boy, about the way I had tied the lingering sense of him to me, that I could still talk to him and laugh with him and see him where nobody else could.

No one could know about the ghosts.

(The afternoon on the coast, I hadn’t fully seen what happened. But it scared me. There was at least one person out there who could never know, could never know. Neither me or the boy knew what he looked like, so he could be anyone at all. How terrifying, for a young child, to know that any adult might be a threat.)

So I reminded her what I’d been telling her for a while now. I’m eight, if I haven’t manifested a quirk yet, it’s probably not going to happen. When will they accept that I might just be quirkless?

I could see the smile freeze on her face at the possibility of me being powerless. I remember how much I resented it, hated the thought that I was only ‘special’ because of my ‘gift.’ They only cared for a power, not for the strength of my arms and the easy way I smiled and the comfort I offered to the younger children, the fact that I gave the best hugs and the way I could soothe with simple touches. None of this was of value, not if I wasn’t of value.

The headmaster sighed and stated that well, they would have to begin finding other arrangements to be made then. I knew that meant they were kicking me out and I remember feeling so betrayed, but also not shocked.

The caretaker protested, saying that I didn’t know, that I might still manifest a quirk! They couldn’t give up on me. I was such a ‘good kid.’

Another man cut in and I didn’t really know him, but I could tell he had authority, and he said I would stay for a little while and they would see. He smiled, and I hated him immediately. I don’t think he was the man from the coast, but I think he suspected something amiss. Suspected something about me, though I’m not sure what.

I remember I went home, to my small house nestled in the hills and crags. It was empty. It would always stand empty. I wasn’t an orphan, but my mother had hidden me away. Or perhaps it was that my mother had been stolen away, by a princeling who felt entitled to her. Either way, the end result was the same: I was alone, and frightened, and haunted by the mystery of what had happened that day where the sea met the rocks. I knew I had to do something, but I didn’t know what.

And then I woke up.

#ghost boy dream #dream journal #long post #far tua long #the cat was a ghost by the way #the little girl had followed the cat #and they had both died at the hands of the man #i remember climbing across the rocks and the boy following me #but it gets a bit blurry from there #i knew something terrible had happened #i knew the boy was dead #it happened so quickly #i'm not sure he knew either #i think my power had something to do with being able to see people's 'spirits'#including their quirk factor??? as symbols?#that i could use to track them if i pleased #but when people passed suddenly and violently #imprints of their spirit remained for a little while #that's why i could hear the cat when the boy couldn't #the cat was already dead #but its spirit was lingering and i could hear it meow #and then i went and tied the boy's spirit to me then didn't i #if i left him he would have faded away #but i could... give him energy somehow #make him stronger and clearer #oh goldfish boy we're really in it now #i do remember being so angry that my power was apparently the only deciding factor about me #if i could sense the rotation of the world i would have been set to go !!#even though that's lowky a useless power and i pity that child for the motion sickness he will experience #i was so angry at the caretaker who kept cheerfully insisting that my quirk could still manifest !!

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vaguely-concerned · 3 years

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X-men Evolution; the great 2021 rewatch liveblog

exactly what it says on the tin, about halfway through the show I had TOO MANY FEELINGS and had to start writing some of them out haha (gets quite gambit & rogue/gambit heavy in the latter half, Because of Who I Am as a Person)

- this is my childhood’s x-men, my formative experience with them, and I’m happy to report that still seems like a good thing. the little eleven year old within me gets to geek out and have a good time with the characters and the surprisingly good animation and writing, adult me gets to CACKLE at regular intervals at the fashion/technology/absolute bonkers hot garbage comic book nonsense they use to justify a storyline every now and then, it’s been a good time

- I was like ‘ah well it is super dated it probably won’t be quite the same now’ and then rogue’s HAIR did the THING in the opening and ‘it’s all coming back to me now’ started playing in the background... the little baby queer in me swooning across time and space

- such a good beast, both his design and the writing, my heart aches for him all the time. he’s just so passionate! about being a teacher! helping young humans learn the stuff they’ll need in life! the most wonderful nerd man, just let good things happen for him

- I’m going to go ahead and assume that rogue’s ‘crush’ on scott is more of a deeply complex psychological process about desiring normalcy and intimacy and trying to figure out if she’s queer and dealing with her emerging sexuality and latching on to the first and best safely unavailable and nonthreatening older boy to project these issues onto rather than actually being a real thing, because I respect her so much as a person and I cannot bring myself to imagine she’s honestly attracted to a man who has POSTERS OF CARS on his bedroom wall. (I’ll give jean a break just because she seems to have a longer deeper history with him that might counteract some of that libido-kill, and also she’s a jock so lol)

like I am very sorry but can u imagine being a teenage girl with any interest in a boy with model cars in his bedroom when gambit’s swanning around being a much, much, much worse choice on almost every possible level but in a teen girl kryptonite kind of way? inconceivable

(I drag scott quite a few times in this and it’s not because I don’t love him, it’s just his tragedy to be the most draggable man in the world)

to be fair by the time gambit shows up that whole Situation has mostly played itself out I suppose but still

- toad’s design is so ineffably brilliant, I can’t quite tell you why but that ugly cute charm has really stuck with me, he’s one of the characters I remembered the best to this day just visually

- poor evan... he truly never had a chance, did he, they just saddled him with the most 90s teen bullshit they could come up with like he’s some kind of ‘what adult writers think teens like’ frankenstein’s monster ;______; it’s not your fault honey

- poor poor POOR storm, she gets one focus episode and they were like ‘we’re going to make an episode so racist -- ‘

I’m still STUNNED at how bad it was, but undeniably I laughed hysterically to the point that my neighbours were probably worried when that dude was earnestly like ‘He [stunningly breathlessly racist caricature of a ‘witch doctor’ guy] has stolen her powers, and he’s going to use them to take over Africa!!!’ fhajsdlfhsakjldfh oh really? tell me more, like how the fUCK this could be on television within my life time fasdlfhsdkjfhsad f just... fahjksdfh

- it’s a testament to gambit’s appeal as a character that his charm can survive what they’ve done with his hair and beard choices in this one fajskfhs regrettable but true I still fuckn LOVE him and in my highly biased yet Correct opinion he should have been around much more. get you a man who manages to stay hot through sheer Vibes even with a bowl cut

- aw scott/jean is kind of sweet in this show even if it’s taking them forEVER to get there, I like it

- it’s very nice of rogue to not mention magneto’s romantic daydreams and nostalgic memories about charles xavier after touching his face that one time... or maybe her brain did her a service and repressed it, there’s some stuff you shouldn’t have to know about your father figure

- the danger room is the very definition of ‘why do we even have that lever’ and I wonder what the fuck prof x does to have enough money to replace everything that gets busted all the time

- I’d say that a lot of the writing holds up surprisingly well! (but some of it is also incredibly inexcusably racist in ways that beggar belief, so... not full marks here) the characters have distinct voices and their arcs are set up and delivered on solidly for the most part, and there’s a lot of love showing through in small moments that are just there to have a funny/interesting thing to say about the characters and how their powers work separately and in combination. listen, sometimes I get so thirsty for like. basic goddamn competency in storytelling, let me have this

- ugggggh why is there captain america in my x-men have I not suffered enough... very very funny when prof x goes ‘sounds like you knew rogers personally’ and logan is like ‘I did ;)’ *all the students ganging up on steve rogers* “did you fuck our teacher, captain america?!”

- fskadfhas WHY are you showing me hot young-ified magneto’s ass fksjahfskj charles is not even here to see it, what a tragic waste erik

- ...I was sort of kidding before but uh I think logan genuinely did fuck captain america (or at least wishes very much that he did lol)

- wanda can have a little watching the world burn. as a treat for the way every single adult in her life has fucking failed her (’aren’t they treating you well here’ professor x she’s in a straightjacket)

- poor rogue tho can you imagine finding out after your biggest crush on a girl yet that she’s your fucking MOM in disguise... I would break out in cold sweat every time I thought about a boob forever after

- well seems like they really just had all that homoerotic rivalry stuff between quicksilver and spyke in their first ep only to never do anything with that again ever?? I mean even without the gay undertone that seems like a dynamic you spent most of an episode setting up writers what the hell haha

- dslhfkasjlh GAMBIT THERE HE IS MY BOY IS ON THE SCENE THIS IS NOT A DRILL!!! I don’t even care about his awful hair situation or the fact that his eyes are wrong here (coloured contact lenses, maybe, for a watsonian explanation? though he’d probably have to get them made special, considering he needs the sclera and the iris covered up in different ways, I’ve seen some comic panels indicating he has been known to?)

(cute little detail: when he shuffles the cards the first time we see him he ends with removing the top card to show the ace of hearts beneath <3 foreshadowing baBEY he’s a... good-ish boy deep down. hey he tries okay shit gets complicated sometimes lol)

- cracking UP at gambit perched cheerily on the edge of a crate dispensing cards in the middle of the battle... he’s like ‘eh it’s a livin’ sfsajkhf remy stop working for supervillains just because you had nothing to do on a thursday afternoon and they said they’d pay you

- I’m guessing magneto must have imposed a strict order of silence on these guys or something because I cannot imagine any other reason for him to shut up, especially once he notices rogue is a QTE (or, far more likely, they hadn’t settled on any voice actors for the new characters until next season haha. it is kind of odd that they’re all keeping up near monastic silence, though, even sabertooth lol)

- WHAT an epic first meeting for us rogue/gambit fans here... first his shadow like there’s fireworks going off behind him lighting him up and then he gives her the fuckn king of hearts and she’s so enchanted by his dumb handsome face she doesn’t even notice it’s about to blow up in her hands and it all happens in heavily meaningful silence afjsdfjashjk no wonder this ship ingrained itself in my hindbrain

yeah look smug while you can remy she’s gonna have you on your knees one day and you’ll be happy about it lol

- god storm is so COOL, everything just fading out of focus when she really gets going... give her more screen time, show!!

- mystique is every person... this person... that person... that bird... that cat... that wolf... I’m not even sure she’s not also me... are you sure she’s not you?

- holy fuck I respect the hell out of the decision to just... blow up the entire status quo in a season ender, I only vaguely remembered that (actually in general I appreciate how good the continuity is -- buildings and places that get damaged in battles need to be repaired or rebuilt, it makes the consequences feel more real even when no one gets seriously hurt. where they get the money to restore scott’s car and logan’s motorbikes every time they go cablooie is still an open question tho lol is it credit card fraud, professor? is it telepathically acquired blackmail???)

- I first watched this when I was nine or so, so it’s a real experience to go from my starry eyed intrigued ‘oh my god... they’re teenagers’ to my horrified adult perspective of ‘oh my god... they’re TEENAGERS D:’

that goes double for the brotherhood boys honestly, I’m here with tears in my eyes like ‘I’m sorry the system has failed you so badly you’re all just a bunch of dumb kids whose caretakers clearly fucked up spectacularly’

like lance is always waiting for mystique to come back because she’s the closest thing he has to a safe parental figure, may we speak about how crushingly depressing that is

- rogue is so ready to throw hands at literally any moment and for that I love and treasure her immensely (I think getting to see her be so surly and unreasonable and sometimes difficult and jealous, like any teenager, meant a lot to me as a kid who was not really allowed to be any of these things, this version of the character has stayed with me so deeply. she holds on so fiercely to her right to feel what she feels and be what she is even when it’s ‘ugly’ or unreasonable, which I think plays in really interestingly with how her powers involve getting invaded by other people’s thoughts and memories to the point of overwhelming her own sense of self and the fact that she clearly has a lot of self-loathing and self-consciousness and confusion about her identity as well. I love her so much)

- oooof this is the ‘the gang experience a microaggression’ episode huh (well more like macroagressions really)

hits a bit different with adult eyes and perspective huh

- hearing jean sound almost like a child when she says ‘that’s so unfair!’ somehow has me like ;______; -- she has to be so adult and responsible all the time, and having her be reduced to the kid she still is and should get to be in front of this awful awful man she could squash like a bug with the flick of a thought... ugh I’m Big Sad (it is funny that jean seemingly plays Every Sport tho djfhaskj)

- MY BOY IS BACK!!! this time with the duster coat and his eyes the right colour, im so happy (too bad about the subdued colour scheme tho; I adore his dumb bright pink getup with my whole heart)

it’s kind of adorable that he takes the time to take the bullies aside and go ‘I know these guys can’t wreck you without getting expelled, but I think you’ll find no law set down by god or man would stop me from doing so whenever I wanted to. so piss off and leave them alone’ lol he’s looking out for them, in his own way

- in this episode: remy lebeau wrangles some kids while looking bored yet mildly amused the whole time. what the fuck does magneto have on you for you to agree to this level of babysitting duty buddy

- fun detail I noticed b/c when I get a fave I hyperfixate: he gave rogue the king of hearts before, but he ‘introduces’ himself to the brotherhood here (lol) with the jack of hearts, probably to symbolize he’s here as someone who works for magneto in this setting and not as his own man? it’s a demotion he’s given himself there, anyway, might be he’s not very pleased about his current position huh

- I like it when rogue and kitty team up, they’re not very effective together but their squabbling is so cute and non-aggressive

- pietro is what draco malfoy would be if I ever found malfoy interesting to watch for even one moment, every time quicksilver talks I’m like ‘what wonderfully insufferable thing is going to come out of your mouth this time you little shit :’)’

- a) why are scott and logan shirtless for this scene? I am not complaining on the logan side of things at least but why and b) I laughed so hard I almost fell off my couch when scott asked logan if he’d ever been in love and he was like ‘once. she was the most beautiful bike I ever saw’ falsdfhaskjfhsakjlfhasklhjfd THE BEST VERSION OF WOLVERINE EVER, ACCEPT NO SUBSTITUTES

- mystique’s sheer dedication to being a petty bitch is kind of inspirational tbh, almost makes me want to go on a completely bonkers and extra crusade of personal revenge myself

- oooh they’re doing some genuinely cool things with vision/lack of vision in this one (it’s the scott left on his own in the desert without glasses one btw) even visually, dang! I’m so sad this show didn’t get more seasons than it did, honestly, it deserved it

- hell yeah jean wreck her, go get your man with the suspiciously specific clothing damage normally done to female characters

awww :’) okay yeah they’re super sweet, I love the tiny loving animation details like how he leans his head against her and her stroking his hair away from his eyes

- nooo don’t bully evan leave my t0tally r4dical sk8er boy alone :(

- I love the running joke of people fleeing in blind panic only to reveal that what they’re running from is kitty’s cheerful well meaning little face fskfaskh

- scott and jean are already peak married after officially being together for one episode and it’s adorable, and they just stone cold threw logan under the bus, rip wolverine we hardly knew ya

fjasdlfasldfhslajdkfhsadkjlfhsdkjalfhsdakfh h jean establishing herself as the alphabitch of this relationship by throwing her man to the wolves right after dsjfhaskjfhaskjhfsakjdhfaskjhfaskdhfskjahfskdajhf get smarter or get volunteered scott

- ...eyepatch lady is so hot ngl

oh evan went to the place hank used to go to calm down ;________; (honestly he’s kind of won a place in my heart just by being a pretty normal teenage boy haha)

- jesus fucking CHRIST can you imagine being storm having to look her sister in the eye as she tells her ‘I lost your only child, he’s *vague gesture* somewhere in the sewers we think’ this poor woman

- amanda the self admitted monster fucker you are so VALID (I love her and her family’s design so much tho!)

- it’s so cool that even in his human ‘disguise’ kurt’s fingers follow the shape of his actual hand beneath it rather than moving like a five fingered hand, it’s such a lovingly consistent little detail

- magneto and mystique in a breathless race to see who can be the shittiest parent... tune in next week for yet another parental nadir (also some low-poly gambit appearances in this one, for those at home keeping score (me), he’s in the background looking like someone drew him with their eyes closed fakjldfhasd look how they massacred my boy)

- someone please teach the brotherhood boys about consent huh

- jean ‘soccer mom before her time’ grey and her SUV dfhakjlhds :’)

- im sobbing rogue baby girl i’m so sorryyyyyy, this voice actress is so good, my parental instincts suddenly kicked into overdrive hearing the crack in her voice :( (bb me was right tho rogue centric episodes ARE the best episodes. that tension between ‘do I identify witn this character or am I crushing on her?? both???’ now has the fun new addition of ‘oh god oh no you are a baby I want to shield you with my body from everything trying to hurt you’)

- mystique is like ‘so you see despite you telling me you never wanted to see me again I completely disrespected that and posed as a friend your age, manipulated you by offering you the mirage of direly needed emotional intimacy and belonging and added some sprinkles of homoerotic tension to it just to massively worsen your already existing grievous psychosexual trauma and identity issues... out of love’

god go jump in a black hole you fucking monster

- there’s some very interesting and quite subtle subtext about the people she’s morphing into and what that says about her mental state/how it shows off some of her emotional baggage with the rest of the team. it’s like she’s switching between people/powers that fit the purpose as if she’s going through cycles of fight/flight (and then bursts of freeze where she’s herself, which is... so sad)

- this whole episode is hurting my heart but rogue at full power is undeniably epic

- ‘professor x get your goddamn act together and get this poor girl some fucking tHERAPY’ challenge

- SAFE PAPA LOGAN ;_____;

- EYYYYYY opening straight on My Lad, I cannot stop winning!!!!!

fasdfhsad disintegrating the window with a smiley face... remy I do love you more than my heart can bear honestly, hello may we speak about the fact that his urge to be a little shit is so deep and strong it survives mind control (that little breathed out ‘hiah!’ as he vaults the fence too dsakfjsd)

hahaha and he does up the coat fhsalfdsaj

- magneto dismissing other telepaths like ‘puh-lease, your Meaningful Looks have got nothing on my ex-husband’s’

- :’) rogue and kurt sibling timeees

- say what you want but this pyro guy’s got job satisfaction in being a creepy arsonist with a weird recurring horse theme (well at least twice but still weird)

- I love how beast is the kindest man to ever walk the earth but also straight up savage, this man drags people so hard their ancestors wince in their graves

- gambit taking the time to complete the guard’s game of solitaire -- this episode is giving me everything I want. u little disgrace mr lebeau

and THEN he takes the spider out in the most hilariously bonkers way my heart is so FULL

(I love that when magneto moves by he looks startled and has to quickly move his head out of the way to avoid getting kicked in the temple too that’s a fun detail)

I’m so INTO how this sequence shows off that his greatest strength isn’t even his powers (which are pretty straightforward, really, he makes go boom, longer time and bigger thing bigger boom) but that he’s clever and creative and always extremely ready to be the most harebrained-bananapants-extra-in-a-deceptively-laidback-sort-of-way person in the room (I actually have some genuinely Deep Thoughts about how his whole character does a really interesting thing with having the straightforwardly destructive nature of his powers yield to what his nature as a person is, and how using the playing cards play (heh) into it, maybe I’ll write it out some day. just the fact that he could use anything, but he deliberately chose something that adds style and playfulness and corny charm to it and that also limits the damage of the explosions compared to if he habitually used something with more mass... I find it fascinating how much he’s made a story around himself with it and how deeply it shows he does have a good heart, at the end of the day, in almost a metatextual way. he doesn’t want to destroy things or people, he’s at worst (and best lol) a thief.)

- I honestly have literally no memory of white nick fury (which seems so weird now isn’t it funny) in this series from when I was a kid, he clearly did not make an impression on me lol

- mr wolverine ‘assigned canadian at birth’ x-men

- oh man I dig the androgynity of x-23′s outfit (even tho they had to compensate with the long hair, which... kind of doesn’t make sense in-universe but does on a design level because it’s a crucial thing that she’s a female clone of logan so yeah okay fine whatever have your arbitrary gender markers if you must haha)

ooooooh that’s actually really clever, they make her gender gradually more obvious as she unravels through the episode and her outfit changes -- first the mask coming off, and then her jacket opening to show her silhouette more clearly, that’s cool!

- my god what really sets this show apart is how much it invests in little character and relationship moments, it’s just so fucking GOOD! it gives laura looking in on those moments such depth and weight because it’s new to her but established to us as an audience, this is how you make found family devastating people (storm growing bonsai trees is so charming too haha)

- ooof this is honestly quite harrowing

SHE’S SO SMALL COMPARED TO HIM I’M CRYING (at least that part of his genes translated over faslkfsjdh short king, I say this with all the love and support of a fellow short monarch)

- tabitha seems to just be running around doing precisely whatever the fuck she wants and you know what I support her even if she is an asshole her father left her a bunch of trauma and no fucks left to give

- still thrilled about professor x explaining the spider key fuckup to magneto after the fact like ‘magnus you dumb bitch this is why we split up’

- awww kitty has anime and movie posters on her wall and sleeps with a stuffed toy :’)

- remy rogue

🤝

doing completely unnecessary parkour around the brotherhood living room seemingly just for the hell of it... I’m not saying soulmates but fucking soulmates

- fhsadkjlfhsakjldfhsadjkfhsdajkfh just as gambit’s soul-level need to be a little shit survived his bout of mind control, rogue’s deep and urgent desire to kiss gambit full on the mouth survived hers I can’t breathe

she looks so pleased with herself too GOOD FOR YOU GIRL at least get something out of this other than more trauma

also not only the fact that he’s smart enough to figure out what’s going on (though he’s only partially right about who’s behind it. I do so enjoy gambit/mystique deep and sincere antipathy as a constant across all universes tho lmao pure wlw/mlm hostility) but also that he keeps fending her off like he’s not trying to hurt her even though she’s in nigh on unstoppable and invulnerable terminator mode... awww

- gambit having absolutely no patience for wolverine and sabertooth’s bullshit macho-off and consistently being this little biker trio’s one brain cell is adding years to my life with every passing moment

his voice is a little different in these scenes too, a bit softer and less like he’s trying to impress someone, it’s nice

- hank: well I barely recognize any of these (completely made up) ‘ancient egyptian hieroglyphs’ but from what I can make out -- *proceeds to infodump a perfect coherent narrative* fjdhfak

listen this whole thing is such nonsense on so many levels, I’m just turning my brain off so I won’t have to think about it okay, the compulsion to put ancient aliens in egypt haunts us as a culture

- I am CACKLING about gambit in the snow after having to listen to these two chucklefucks ooze testosterone at each other for hours

he started out taking it in good cheer and is now reduced to ‘dieu would both of you just jump off this fUCKING mountain please’

- ah. a little oops-a-daisy there, we seem to have unleashed the apocalypse. please stand by (they really don’t pull their punches with the season cliffhangers in this show haha)

- opening the season on gambit’s merrily grinning face is the easiest way to gain my favour. yes good this season may commence

baby u r my

ANGELLLLLLLL

(he’s so cute here tho haha I think it shows the design isn’t unsalvagable, just get him better hair and stubble more like logan has and you’ve basically got it)

love his exasperated eyeroll when the dude gets spooked (by his eyes? or just the general weirdness?) too

he’s just trying to keep this crazy family of evil mutants together and unmurdered by one another until they’ve managed to avert the end of the world, bless him

- oh NO rogue’s LIP wobbles my hhhhhheart ;____; such a good animation detail to put in

- like... I know kurt is just a sad scared teenager with a lot of shit going on and all the adults are too busy averting the end of the world to help him... but buddy maybe don’t ask your sister to wake her abuser (who forced her to kickstart the end of the world!!!!!) when she feels utterly unsafe even with her statue version around huh

- ...wanda is good and I want only good things for her. and for her dad to be disemboweled for what he did to her both the first time around and when he forced her to forget I mean what

- magneto throwing an epic satelite-slinging tantrum b/c ‘no I am the biggest sexiest strongest mutant of the pack :(’... erik fucking get over yourself

- yes boys absolutely go along with a plan suggested by a dude who looks at you like this

nothing bad can come of this surely asdfkhsa

- lance’s quarter of a braincell always trying to go ‘hey wait, maybe... not do this???’ and it never helps lol

- in this episode: Logan Has A Bad Day

...some very specific bondage positions he’s held in here, I am sure this episode awakened something in someone once upon a time lol

- logan shielding x-23 with his body... im fine it’s okay I’m not crying don’t look at me

- afsdhlsdfjasdlk those sure are some ‘scottish’ accents flsadkjhkdsjahfsd

- scott relieved to finally be able to cede the position of ‘charles xavier’s least favourite son’ to someone else fjsaklfhsajd (poor scott it’s not your fault honey)

supremely cowardly to suggest there is an ex-wife involved rather than charles slutting his way around the british isles back in the day but okay

- kurt with a cold is the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. it’s okay kid it’ll get better soon

- ...is there an implication here that professor x is naturally blond. because I am losing my entire little mind about it (i mean he at least has to carry the gene, as does this lady?)

ETA: upon doing some research into this I can indeed confirm that charles xavier does seem to be naturally blond, and after this knowledge I will never be the same

- “listen, dracula” fskdafghasd oh scott you sweet baby angel I love you

- I know jean’s abilities are a bit ‘as strong or as weak as the plot needs right now’ at this point (so you can have the setup for what’s going to happen with them eventually and she’s basically invincible ;____;), and normally I’m cool with it but god I want her to just squash lucas like a little bug

- ewwwww please don’t ever say ‘daddy’ like that again

- ...what the fuck is even going on this episode’s a mess

like okay the split personality thing could be something but the way it’s done... what just happened lol

- MY BOY EVAN IS BACK! with a real glowup too (...though kind of weird how he suddenly looks like a grown man)

- augh scott’s eyes are so pretty oh my god ;__________________________;

- that episode in the first season where evan makes the ‘this is my new family!!’ video is so sad now (also, again, his poor poor parents)

- time for: life affirming road trip with gambit (involuntary) faskljdfhaskjd

stunt therapist remy lebeau

- I mean the way he goes about it is batshit insane and it’s very much secondary to what he’s actually up to but this is the first time rogue’s sounded genuinely hopeful and confident and like herself in like a season <3

- he is disconcertingly pleased about her nearly throwing him off the train, and may I just say I agree it’s so nice to see rogue with her old fire back

- the first time I watched this it was of course dubbed into norwegian, so I had no idea either of these characters were southern lol (though to be fair I probably wouldn’t have had much context for what it meant exactly either, I was like ten at the time and not too interested in america) I seem to dimly remember the norwegian voice actor did a little more of a ‘french’-tinged accent for gambit all over tho haha

- you know what respect where it’s due, pyro dude knows to live his life for the lols and one has to admire his sociopathic dedication to it

interesting that he, too, seems to have fucking hated magneto -- I wonder if the implication here is that he kept all the acolytes in line with blackmail or by keeping something/one hostage? (except sabertooth maybe he’d just have to say ‘you get to fuck shit up and fight wolverine’ and that’d be enough)

- fsdakfhsd he’s so focused on her he doesn’t notice that guy about to hit him fkafhsa

- fuck everything else except whatever the hell these two’ve got going on

- it’s weirdly cathartic to have rogue have a conversation with someone who was not happily adopted as well, I don’t think kurt like. gets it because his parents loved him unconditionally and still do

birds of a feather motherfucker

- fun detail: when the x-men team are on the shore and logan is sniffing around scott is stepping in something and trying to wipe it off his boots in the background

- when he wakes up after passing out from the touch he’s smiling even though she’s standing over him looking like the rage of god outlined by the moon fsajfsa well the last time he passed out like that it was from a kiss, maybe he still has some hopes and dreams in that direction lol (also he recovers from the tumble down the hill first and is checking on her before accidentally brushing her cheek with his hand, which I thought was sweet)

and it was in that moment he knew he fucked up *passes out*

- ‘I can explain’ can u remy. can u

- did it ever even occur to you to just. ask her. to help you. I mean I know it didn’t but like rogue’s always one second away from throwing hands with some bully and is stupidly ride or die, if you’d given her the puppydog eyes she would have crumbled immediately (fair enough I guess this entire episode is telling us he’s not from a background where he has much experience with people just helping him without a price haha)

- his eyes glowing when he’s angry or upset or using a lot of his power is undeniably cool as all hell. I’m just saying it would be Big Sexy if they sort of flickered with light in moments of genuine vulnerability okay

- his coat... his coat is what makes the Silhouette tm and I could not be happier about it

- another parent of the year contestant enters the running lol “hey remy have you ever considered that you’re more of a walking bomb factory than a person? that’s certainly how I think of you hahaha c’mon kid let’s go”

- the running joke of jean luc getting dollar signs in his eyes seeing the other mutant powers and gambit being like ‘nO!!!!’ and pulling him along is amazing haha

- from the way he looks when he touches rogue accidentally and the way he talks to his dad I’m sort of getting the feeling this gambit might actually be a bit younger than he looks?

here too -- idk why but it’s making the ‘wait is he baby???’ alarms go off in my head haha. very early twenties at most.

- and we’ve officially seen him with all the face cards in the heart suit folks! (yes this is the sort of thing my brain notices no I don’t know either)

- poor logan running his ass off this whole episode in a panic and then she’s like ‘nah he’s fine (in several meanings of the word ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ) please put him down’ hfaskfsda

- rogue without makeup!!! her eyes look so naked like this haha <3

- oooh here’s a really interesting thing that tickles my brain a bit in this specific part of the scene where gambit frees his dad -- the part where he’s leaning against the door frame waiting for jean luc, who’s about to suggest using the opportunity to ruin the rival gang from the inside rather than slipping away while they still can

from his expression here he knows what’s about to happen, what jean luc is about to say, and it’s clearly a ‘man who thought he’d lost all hope loses last additional bit of hope he didn’t even know he still had’ sort of situation. he KNOWS what jean luc is like, and it still hurts that he really, honestly can’t give him even this, can’t appreciate that remy’s already done all this shit for him when he extremely didn’t have to, without immediately (no really, it took him less than ten seconds to go there? jesus) demanding more.

remy tells him “I’m just here for you” and jean luc does not understand it. remy seems to be sincere in this motivation -- rogue certainly thinks so, having experienced it second hand and found enough at least emotional merit in it to decide he was worth saving even after all his bullshit (lol a bit of a running theme maybe. I think it’s very telling that after she absorbed mystique she was like ‘what the FUCK you’re a fucking monster’, and after she absorbed gambit she went ‘you did the wrong thing for the right reasons’ after she got over the first wave of outrage)

there’s also what he says as he stands there: “You don’t need me for that”, with the distinct implication that jean luc would only keep him around because he has a use for him and for no other reason -- and then jean luc shamelessly doubles down on that by specifying that it’s not even him he’s got a use for as such, just his powers. that’s some kicking puppies level of deliberately missing the point, it’s almost impressive in how cheerfully mean it is haha

this idea of using people is really important in this episode because remy’s doing basically exactly the same thing to rogue to begin with; it doesn’t really matter to his plan that it’s her that’s with him through this, just what her powers are. (I think it’s p r e t t y solidly implied that he does actually like her a lot outside of that too and maybe there is some comfort in having her around for this, but mostly he’s behind a smokescreen of lies through the whole thing sooo I doubt he’s even aware of it, honestly)

but then it does matter that it’s her when she comes back for him, even after what he did. and unlike jean luc he understands what that means, that she did that for him, and that she didn’t have to. and instead of asking her for more, in return he gives her the thing it’s been established is what he considers the most valuable thing he has; his ‘last card’, the thing he’s credited with keeping him alive many a time, basically. it’s gone from using to mutuality, a tentative place of friendship, and at the end of the day he is a different man than his adoptive father, with a capacity for selflessness and love he lacks. which is of course some of the same stuff going on with rogue and mystique too, except rogue acted from a more fragile and unstable place and did something she regrets, or at least has a LOT of doubts about now, and she found some catharsis in helping someone make a different choice in a similar situation. man there’s some Stuff going on under the surface here haha

(by the way it’s a weirdly... meaningless yet intensely meaningful thing, the gifting of a symbol? of an idea? but he’s putting something very crucial of himself into her hands, is the subtext, and he expects her to understand, which she also does seem to do. at the beginning of the episode he’s proving that he’s seen something true about her -- “You’re such an unhappy girl”, knowing where she comes from, the way she’s mourning her lost confidence and autonomy with her abilities -- and here she’s proving she’s seen something true about him. :’) I wish this show had gone on long enough for this dynamic to progress, it’s really interesting and touching)

- gambit dragging himself up onto dry land seeing someone approaching (to help?!): :D

gambit seeing that it’s logan and the look on his face: D:

- rogue using her powers so confidently and fearlessly in this episode tho!!!!

- *me crying* and then her FAMBILY comes to take her home and he says he’s looking out for her too and kurt still loves her even though they’re having a conflict thing between them and she’s finally able to use her powers without so much fear again and --

- ...did I just watch some baby lesbian love at first sight shit right now???

- okay last two episodes let’s go

- HELL YEAH STORM (I love that she’s like ‘don’t give me a dumb order like that and I won’t have to disobey it’ too sdfjsaj) her voice has such command I’m usually very much not the ‘step on me’ type butttt

- y’know I feel like apocalypse’s main fault across all versions I’ve seen of him is that he’s like an immortal superpowered god king and he’s not even sexy. like at least make him hot if he’s going to be insufferable in every other way

- also callout post for apocalypse: one time he made gambit into the Horseman of Death... and didn’t even make him sexy!!! you were handed remy lebeau, supreme bi disaster slut of the x men universe, and you couldn’t even make his brainwashed superpowered evil side hot?? a beautiful stubbled twunk with glowing red eyes and extremely charming :> face practically delivers himself into your hands and you do that to him???? I mean I’m sure apocalypse did some other bad stuff too but that was the worst one

(comics are so dumb y’all)

- having to watch jean cry is emotional terrorism!! ;___; she has such older sister/mom energy, whenever she gets sad and helpless it hurts

- oh, OH so PROFESSOR X you’ll make into a hunk and ~*strategically*~ rip his clothes to show off a nipple and a flawless pec in a way that makes me extremely uncomfortable because he’s like The Dad??? apocalypse you are rotten to the core this is unforgivable

- so wait wanda never actually gets her real memories back. what the FuCk I hope that was a dropped storyline because they ended the show tragically prematurely rather than like. the plan

- why is spyke calling storm ‘storm’ show that’s his auntie o!! >:(

- as a society we need to acknowledge that apocalypse looks like a fucking clown

- ooooh yeah I have been thinking that this show’s greatest visual weakness so far has been not having a visual way to show telepathy/battles of the minds, but this is a pretty cool way to do it! better late than never

- I’m so happy rogue gets to end this herself, since she was forced into starting it against her will, it’s just nice and neat storytelling

- YEAH FUCKING TELL HER KURT AND ROGUE I AM SO PROUD OF YOU and she has the temerity to look pissed off oh my god

the only valid thing mystique has done in her entire life is be in love with destiny. literally everything else she gets up to is a travesty. like I know objectively she’s hot but my loathing for her stops me from even appreciating it. I do enjoy loathing her tho so please don’t change her haha

(a bit odd to have kurt’s attitude to her swing so much but I’m just going to assume he and rogue had a good long conversation after ‘cajun spice’ and that he understands what’s going on better now)

- this last part is such a cruel tease faskdfhsdaj ‘here are all the cool-ass things we had planned. sucks you never get to see it huh’ im devastated

- magneto without his helmet and playing charmingly with children like charles is going ‘well at least I saved my marriage finally’ fsadkhfjsd (honestly tho I would be super interested in seeing how they’d redeem this magneto because he’s been a real bitch the whole time lol)

there’s an interesting thing here where magneto looks down at wanda as the last thing he does on screen before this epilogue part (yeah I hope it fucking haunts you forever what you did to her erik you absolute piece of hot garbage) and the last thing charles does is look at jean b/c he knows what’s going to happen to her and it breaks his heart... Dramatic Parallells

- just the hint of jean as the phoenix has me in full D:D:D: mode tho maybe I wouldn’t have survived it

- gambit in the last groupshot with his arm around rogue ;^) I mean I’m sure they’re headed for some turns and roundabouts along the way but what’s that thing she says as her wedding vow, that she’ll always find her way back? anyway that got me in my heart

- man I really wish this show had been given more seasons, we were barely even getting warmed up here :’(

#x men evolution #x men #gambit #rogue x gambit #aaah this is like therapy for me... just dumping all my emotions into a tumblr post and then let them go into the ether #I am now wondering if I'm desperate enough to go all the way back to the x-men animated series (which I've never seen before!)#like am I willing to go there for more Contente. time will tell I suppose #happy tag #...this is very long #MAN why can't I channel this dumbass energy into fiction writing I'd get so much DONE

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thedefinitionofendgame · 3 years

Text

we're gonna be so happy

Mark X Lexie one-shot | Rated T | Grey's Anatomy

A/N: Because 8.24-9.02 broke my heart and i’m not okay. I will never be okay. So enjoy this mess of emotions meant to make you cry

•

You can find the post on ao3 here or fanfiction.net here as well

Written by @thedefinitionofendgame (aka me)

In those last few moments, she pictured the life he was offering her.

The life she was meant to have, with her soulmate by her side and their children running underfoot. Lexie didn’t believe in soulmates but after all the things she and Mark had been through only to end up still loving each other in the end, well that was as damn close as it was going to get. She was going to be happy in the arms of a man who looked at her as though she held the moon and stars. A man who wanted to have children with her, siblings for Sofia. Lexie heard him whisper his hopes and dreams, “A sister and two brothers,” he promised.

Life wasn’t fair. After everything that Lexie and Mark had been through separately and together, they of all people knew life wasn’t fair. They knew being doctors that time on Earth was never guaranteed, yet they still went around as though they would never die. Until here they were, her fighting for each breath and him begging her to stay.

His fingers grabbed hers, holding tight and never letting go. Lexie knew she was going to die and Mark knew too. It’s why his hand was secured in hers. She had been dreaming the past few nights about him. About the way she felt when his face was mere inches from hers; his baby blue eyes staring into her big, brown ones. Lexie had dreamed of the handsome face that always gave him away if he was guilty of something. The smirk that always made the corners of her mouth turn up, no matter how angry she was at him sometimes. And the mischievous twinkle that lit up his eyes. Lexie had thought about that same gaze passed down onto their children and how it would always make her melt. Even though right now seemed the farthest possible place from what she wanted, Mark was still here, holding her hand and telling her he loved her.

Though time was running out. It was not on their side; it was never on their side. Mark’s grip became more frantic as tears ran across her face. Blood leaked out of her mouth, mixing with the already dried content from before. His last memory of her wasn’t going to be beautiful but it was going to be his. Forever. No matter what happened, they were going to be together in the end. It was going to be beautiful.

“We’re meant to be,” Mark whispered to her, as she stared at him through the watery tears in her eyes. Her vision blurred and she choked back a sob.

His words chased her into a dreamland, one where they’re safe and happy and living out the future he told her about. One where they wake up in each other's arms and go to bed with a kiss that always leads to something more. Mark is hers and she is his and that’s all they ever need. Oh, maybe a few kids too because she’s destined to be a mom and he’s already proven himself to be a good father to Sofia, to Sloan to his patients he cures daily. Yes, Mark Sloan is all she’s ever wanted and here he is, telling her she’s all he’s ever wanted.

Married. With children. Until forever.

It’s like he said. “Meant to be.” As she takes her final breath, she sees it. And what she sees doesn’t make her sad or angry. It gives her hope that one day, perhaps in another life, they will be together. She’ll wait for him.

Meant to be.

Mark had been a doctor for many years. He had seen patients in comas pass away, he had seen patients in comas wake up and go about their lives as though nothing happened. It was his job to make people live, make them come back from whatever dream-like state they were in and rejoin Earth. Well, maybe that was more of Derek’s style with the whole neurosurgeon business. But still, Mark was supposed to keep people Earthside. And yet, he failed Lexie.

He failed to give her hope, to keep her with him and loving him for all eternity. When the plane had crashed and he’d opened his eyes, all he thought about was her. Little Grey. Lexie. The woman he was wholeheartedly in love with, the one he wanted a life with. Mark had made so many mistakes in his life, but letting Lexie into his life was not one of them. Letting her go was, and he would forever regret that. They should’ve had more time. They should’ve had forever. In her last moments he wanted to tell her about his hopes and dreams. What he wanted for their future. To get married, have children and grow old together. He had told her a girl and two boys, so that Sofia might have siblings. Lexie would make a wonderful mother. Her sweet smile paired with those enticing eyes were the only ones he’d ever need to look into again.

The loved ones of patients who had passed had all grieved differently. Of course they did, because love made people do weird things. But what many had in common was the fact that their partner died before them, or without them by their side. Mark had never understood why a perfectly healthy spouse would want to die by their lover, at least not until he intertwined his fingers with Lexie’s. She was his lifeline, what held him to Earth. He hadn’t ever told her, at least not explicitly, though he had a feeling she knew. They were useless apart, had their constant breakups not expressed anything except that. Mark couldn’t bear to wake up and face Meredith and his best friend. Lexie may have been the reason things became rocky between him and Derek, but she was also the reason they made amends. “For the Grey girls,” he and Derek had said over beers one night. Only it was really for Lexie.

Sixteen years was a long time. The year Lexie was born, Mark was probably off having sex and doing the unmentionables in the school yard. Now being adults, age was just a number. He would still give her the world and then some, because Lexie deserved so much. She meant so much to him and he had let her go. Though he hadn’t given it much thought until now, Mark had always assumed he’d go before Lexie. In the end, he would pass away with her and their brood of rambunctious offspring by his bedside. He never imagined she would leave him; alone and wanting a second chance. Wanting an ending that didn’t end now, one that never ended until they were ready.

He had meant every word he had said to her in those last moments. The words of promise about marriage and children. He had looked into those brown eyes that had melted the ice over his heart. Looking into them gave him hope, even when it seemed like none was near. Looking into them told him he was home, no matter where in the world they ended up. She was all he needed to be happy. All he would ever want. She was his and he was hers and that’s how it was supposed to be.

Did Mark love Julia? The question was simple and Mark knew what his answer was No, because all of his love was saved for Lexie. For the girl who had stolen his heart the first time she had stuck up for the dorky dude, O’Malley. She had taken it and he hadn’t even blinked. Just given himself entirely to her, for he knew she wouldn’t break him. She could never break him.

The two words, “Teach me,” would always haunt his dreams. They began and ended every sexual fantasy he had about her because it was with those repeated words that he officially lost all his control. Lexie Grey had managed to break the powerful man that he was and made him feel dirty. Feel good and appreciated and accepted no matter what. Mark had been a damn fool in his earlier days, even more so as he got older too. But it was always for her. After he met her, it was all for her.

Mark didn’t know how long he had been laying there, on the hospital bed that he had seen others lying on many times before. Lexie hadn’t made it to a bed. She died holding his hand and thinking about the future they would never get to experience. Something to take with her into the afterlife. The thought of him and her would never end.

It was peaceful, being in a state of silence. Mark imagined so many scenarios about Lexie and him in his dream-like trance. His favourite was introducing their youngest son to the family, a little boy they named Greyson. Lexie had been a champ the whole pregnancy despite its ups and downs and it only made him respect her more. Mark had held their two older children in his arms, Everett and Caroline, as they all stared in wonder at the baby. Of course, Mark had already begun to call the baby “Tiny Grey”. The image made him smile, though no one would ever know.

He would start each morning with a kiss to Lexie’s forehead and end every night with his arm around her. They would bicker as all couples do, but make up with loads of sex. Derek would laugh and shake his head and tell Lexie all the crazy stories about them as kids. Lexie would laugh and smile and he would fall in love with her all over again, each and every time she looked at him. Forever.

He had told her they were meant to be and he meant it. They were meant to be, as whatever life threw at them, they would be together in the end. Maybe he was supposed to outlive Lexie if only to tell their friends and family the plan. That in the afterlife they would be together, watching over Meredith, Derek and everyone else. People they knew would join them, slowly one by one and would be welcomed with open arms. But Mark and Lexie would still be there, holding hands and loving each other.

Stupidly he had once asked Derek about limiting himself to just one woman for the rest of his life. Why have one, when you can have more? Back then he had been a naive womanizer. Lexie was the one who changed him. “You think you broke me, Little Grey? You’re the one who put me back together.” The words in that moment had made her smile and if she had known how real those words were she would’ve cried. But his girl, his Little Grey, she smiled instead and made his heart sing.

One day they would be together again. One day they would be happy and feel no pain. It was only a matter of time, because everything depended on the stupid four-letter word. If only they had had more time none of this would’ve mattered. It was all just borrowed time.

If life was going to fail him, then he would go willingly. Not before something shifted inside him, causing him to make one of his final acts ending whatever had been between him and Julia. Lexie and him had been unfaithful to each other and she would want him to do better, if that was the last thing he did. She would want him to say goodbye to his best friend and love his Earthside daughter one last time and then he could go.

Callie would be okay without him. She had Arizona and their daughter, Sofia, to keep safe. She wouldn’t crumble or back down. She could live without him; would strive and be able to truly live without him. Mark had loved Callie for a long time, though the love was different than what he felt for Lexie, it was still there. They were good together, almost as close friends as him and Derek were. It’s how Mark knew Callie would be alright, no matter what happened to him. He could never live without Lexie but Callie could. The thought made his head a bit clearer.

But it was Lexie’s voice in his head as his heart rate slowed. Her voice telling him she loved him, just as he had done for her. One of her hands was in his, the other running through his hair making him feel a way only she could make him feel. Lexie Grey was the last person on his mind as he finally drifted off into the never-ending afterlife.

He had told Arizona before, the woman he never thought he would ever love the way he did, as a friend and one of the mothers of his daughter. Mark murmured words he knew would hold true, until his last breath. Until his last heartbeat. Forever hers, for always hers.

Lexie’s waiting for me, I’ll be okay.

#grey's anatomy fanfic #grey's anatomy #mark x lexie #slexie #slexie one shot #slexie fanfic #chyler leigh #eric dane #the definition of endgame

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thelovelyghostwriter · 3 years

Text

KuraNeon Short Fic

Okay, this is one of my longer tumblr short fics, it’s 1000+ words.

Rated M because of lemon. Pairing: Kurapika/Neon

This is not the full length of the fic, the full version will be completed and posted on AO3 when I have the time.

Before anyone starts complaining about their age, Kurapika and Neon are born in the same year. In the current arc, Kurapika is technically 19 years old. I have had people complain about Neon being underaged (people deadass think she’s 12 to 16 tf), but then they go ahead and sexualise Kurapika because “he is an adult because he’s 19”. You can check it here.

Anyway, it’s fiction. Don’t take it seriously. I will just block anyone who tries to start a drama over drawings and fanfics.

Warning: sexual content, hate-sex, angry sex, angst, mentions of daddy issues

Here we go:

Kurapika wanted to stop this... Whatever they were doing. Yet his reasoning flies out of the window whenever he sees Neon in a flattering night attire.

Here he was, shirtless, with the woman sitting on his lap. Her spaghetti-strapped blouse was pushed down, her breasts exposed to him.

"I told you not to tempt me," he said. He licked her nipple and bit it lightly. Neon let out a small groan.

Kurapika had attempted to tell her that this dirty affair they had was inappropriate and unbecoming of them. Yet, for the past week, Neon had been giving him subtle flirtations and wearing clothes that showed off her skin (as compared to the baggy ones she normally wears).

The last straw was her talking about his Scarlet Eyes... while fondling the chains on his hand.

No.

That had to stop. For one, she was teasing him. Secondly, she recently found out about his Kurta identity - she was pissing him off on purpose to get "punished".

That woman should know her place, objectifying his clan's eyes like that.

He placed small kisses on her neck, then back again to her breasts. She shivered - it felt good.

"Are you happy now? You spoiled girl," he muttered against her breath sternly. She yelped when he slapped her ass.

Huh? That's weird.

His hands got underneath her skirt. Fuck. This girl wasn't even wearing a pair of underwear. She really wanted to get hate-fucked. By him. Again.

His fingers found her sex, all dripping in her arousal for him.

"So good," she mewled. She quivered under his touch.

Of course, she was satisfied, but never happy. There was a difference.

He inserted another finger.

Neon had always been like him - an empty vessel. Perhaps, even lonelier than him.

"M-more!" she moaned, demanding to be satisfied.

"Always wanting to be pampered," he huffed. What a greedy girl.

A father who exploited her fortune-telling, for fame and power; in exchange, he'd buy her all the things she wanted. The endless indulgence of material goods that she filled her heart with, yet it can never be full.

Ever since the Lovely Ghostwriter was stolen from her, the one thing that made her useful to her father... It was gone.

"You can never be satisfied, Neon," he said.

"Yet, you still do this with me," she countered, playing with his blond hair. She gripped Kurapika's hair and looked at his now-reddened eyes. Those eyes were beautiful... that held so much wrath and danger.

She had loved them when they were on a set of casing...but to see them on a deranged man when he takes her... it was... strangely exciting.

Kurapika said nothing, only kissing her in response.

Shut the hell up - he thought. He didn't like when she played mind games while they were doing this.

The kiss tasted sweet - so much turmoil in him, that he wished that a kiss could wash it all away. Wash away all his painful memories.

She snaked her hand into his pants. He hissed at the contact. Fuck. He needed this.

She giggled at his reaction, seemingly pleased, but her eyes said otherwise. Her father no longer paid attention to her, and it was obvious that she was trying to replace this by letting her head bodyguard (who was the same age as her) fill her.

She inserted his penis into her, squealing. God, Kurapika disliked her high-pitched voice whenever she complained. Yet, the noise that she makes during sex was what rubbed his ego - pleading, squealing, mewling, moaning as he rammed into her.

He halted for a moment, to lay her back against the bed. Then slammed himself again. Neon screamed, then covered her mouth alarmingly. He was enraged, she could tell. She really got onto his nerves, with her callous comment.

That disgusting hobby of hers. Collecting dead body parts that reflected her lack of sympathy towards the dead. Again, to fill that empty husk of her beautiful body. To treat people like objects because people see her as a predictive tool. A mere object.

She was her father's cash cow, the mafioso's crystal ball, another name in Chrollo's book and now, Kurapika's personal sex doll.

He removed her mouth. He wanted to hear her. She bit her lip, attempting to be quiet as possible.

He knew this. He wrapped her arms around her lower back, giving a new angle to ride her further. She yelped, in both surprise and ecstasy.

"Slow... Down..." she pleaded, her fingernails digged his shoulders. He said nothing.

"Papa... Papa might - ah!- hear us," she reasoned to him.

But he did not listen.

"I think - ah fuck!- he already... He knows," he said.

It was an open secret around the Nostrade mansion. It was not far-fetched for the young pair, who were equally lonely, to get caught into some odd agreement. She did expect her father to have some sort of reaction, though?

Neon's eyes watered slightly. Whether it was due to her being upset with her father's nonchalance, or Kurapika's roughness - Kurapika was unsure.

Kurapika did help Light recover from their financial slump by redirecting their mafioso business into something else. Perhaps it was some sort of sick reward Kurapika has earned when he chose to help them.

He brushed away the mascara-stained tears from her face. "Stop crying," he commanded, and gave a deep thrust that caused her to yell.

He did know she was going through a tough issue. But it can never be compared to him, his loss. The eyes of his clan gouged out just for people like her to enjoy them as displays. He should be the one crying, but there were no more tears left for him to shed.

He then remembered her hobby - why he was here in the first place. He began to incorporate his resentful energy into the form of pulsating desire, pounding into her mercilessly.

"Give it to me..." she begged, holding him tightly while her toes curled.

Her whole body started to shake.

So close...

Just a little more...

Then he stopped.

Neon immediately glared at him. It was one of his punishments again. To give her all the pleasures into a peak then abruptly crashing it into such a non-climatic disaster.

He laid on her side, brushing her messy hair off her face. They were both sticky, perspiring from their intimacy.

"Don't cry," he comforted and kissed her forehead.

Or I will give you something real to cry about, flesh collector.

She nodded. "Good girl," he said. He stood up.

He gripped her thighs, dragging her until her lower body was out of the bed. "Turn around," he commanded, and she obeyed him.

"Wait..." she protested, looking back slightly, "I want to see your eyes while you-" He gripped her hair. The audacity of this girl to still treat his eyes like a commodity... but in her eyes, he is the same. Another man in her life that sees her as an instrument.

"No. Not tonight, Neon. Look in front," he instructed.

If I catch you looking back, you're going to get it - he thought while he inserted his dick inside her again.

"I- ah!" she heaved, "I - hah - hate you..."

She managed to blurt out. He frowned. He didn't like that, be it she truly meant it or it was out of not getting what she wanted.

Because he couldn't resent her. He disliked her attitude, sheltered personality, her hobby... and worst of all, how she makes him desire her.

But it was never hatred. That was a feeling meant for the Phantom Troupe. She wasn't special enough for that.

He found her clitoris and rubbed it, all swollen and wet from arousal.

He noticed how she opened her legs slightly further to give him better access. Such hatred, huh.

"Yet... You're here," he replied. All he got was a repetition of her breathless curses and whimpers.

“Just… mmph! Turn me around…” she mumbled in the midst of the coitus.

“No-”

“P-please?”

No response. He only did her harder.

“I’ll… do anything,” she said. She looked back, rebelling against his rule. She kissed him before he could scold her. Neon stared at the glowing eyes, completely bewitched by them.

“Anything?” he questioned, and he withdrew himself out of her.

“Yes, daddy, anything-”

She pouted for an added-effect. She knew that was one of his weaknesses. Kurapika sighed.

“Okay-”

It was going to be a long night: he wasn’t done with her yet.

[A/N: I did not proofread this, so pardon the grammatical errors]

#kuraneon #kuraneo #kuraneon fic #kuraneo fic #kurapika x neon #kurapikaxneon #kurapika and neon #kurapika is drowning #kurapika is drowning in an indescribable emptiness #neon nostrade #kurapika

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imaginejamesandsirius · 3 years

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Can you please write a fic where James is a rich,star footballer and Sirius comes in to work as his super hott personal bodyguard??? And then James starts crushing on him hard but Sirius is hesitant because he could lose his job over this!!!! Please please please write this... I am a biiiig fan of your work... God Bless❤️

"What? I don't need a bodyguard," James said. The very idea was preposterous.

Coach glared at him, but the rest of the team was slightly more reserved in staring him down. The whole administrative team was there, from the head coach to the team's PR representative. "There have been threats."

"So? I also got threatened when I was seventeen and nothing ever came of it."

The team manager jumped in then. "This isn't a schoolyard threat made because you stole someone's girlfriend. Or- whatever," he said, fumbling a little-- as he always did-- when he said something thoughtless and remembered that James was gay afterwards. That being said, James definitely had stolen some girlfriends at school because it was the best approximation he could get for what attraction to women was. "These are extremely conservative people who want you dead and aren't shy about showing they're serious," the team manager continued. "Even if they don't manage to kill you, they could permanently injure you, effectively ending your career. Is that what you want?"

James huffed, knowing that he was being a little petulant and not caring. "No," he admitted. If he'd been just talking to his mates, he never would've admitted it, but they'd all gotten together to sit him down and make sure he listened to them; they wouldn't have bothered if they weren't seriously concerned.

"Then get a goddamn bodyguard," Coach said. "It won't be forever-- just until these people realise they have better things to do with their time than harass a popular footballer."

"Fine." If James had known it would be this much trouble to come out, he wouldn't have done it. He'd just been thinking that he might like to date someone for real. He'd also thought about himself when he was younger and how he could've figured out that he fancied men before he was twenty sodding three if one of his favourite footie players had been gay (and out. He wasn't discounting the idea entirely just because they hadn't said anything.). "I don't know where to find one though."

"We've got a list of possibilities," someone else said, handing James a sheet of paper-- for the life of him, James couldn't remember what she did, but in his defense, he'd only met her once as an introduction and then seen her in passing at the past six years of holiday parties. On the paper was a list of agencies, their websites, and phone numbers to contact them. There wasn't any mention of price, but it's not like James was pressed for cash or anything. Hell, he'd already reached his lifetime savings amount and didn't really know what to do with the salary he was still getting. Might as well use some of it to stay safe and pacify his bosses.

James had weighed all his options and looked at all of the information he'd been given, and he still couldn't decide. He'd handed the list to Remus, and he'd picked one at random; James took his choice as a good decision and called the company up. They made everything so easy for him that he was beginning to think Remus had special choosing powers. From now on, James was going to run his decisions by Remus before doing anything.

And then he actually met his bodyguard. He couldn't decide if this was better than before, or worse. Either way, he didn't think asking Remus for advice would really be the way that he wanted for his life to go.

He was told that his bodyguard's name was Sirius, and they had a first meeting at the company to sort out a few details. If James was a smart person, he would've taken one look at Sirius and said, "Thanks but no thanks, can I get someone else?" But James wasn't smart. He was a dumbarse. A dumbarse that let his heart make decisions for him. Sirius was, in a word, gorgeous. He had a face that looked like it belonged on the cover of a magazine, and a smile that stopped James's breath in its tracks. He was sure that Sirius was good at his job, but James rather doubted his decision to accept him as a bodyguard. He wasn't going to be able to focus for shite.

James explained the situation to Sirius-- the boring stuff, about why he needed a bodyguard-- and he didn't blink at him being bent. Either he already knew that because he followed football, he didn't care, or he cared but was a very good actor. James imagined that there was a certain amount of acting as a bodyguard, but he'd also like to think that Sirius wouldn't have accepted if it bothered him.

James had been afraid that Sirius was going to walk slightly to the side and behind him and stay resolutely silent the whole time, but he carried a conversation alright as they walked to James's car. "I'm sure you get this all the time and you're annoyed with it, but why's your name Sirius?"

The look on Sirius's face showed that he was very much used to the question, even though he didn't look annoyed by it. "Named after the star in Canis Major. Being named after stars is sort of a family thing."

"Really?" James asked. He was instantly charmed. Sirius hadn't even put much effort into it, but James was head over heels after exchanging two words with him.

"Mmhmm. My brother's Regulus, my father and great-grandfather were both Orion, and I've got a cousin named Bellatrix."

"Wow. Your family must've been made fun of a lot when they were kids."

Sirius snorted, and James looked at him curiously.

"What?"

"I wouldn't call any of us... well-behaved children. Got in a lot of fights."

"Ah, and it led to you being a bodyguard?"

Sirius shrugged with an easygoing smirk. "Might as well do something you're good at, right?"

"It's total rubbish that they're putting McLaggen in before you," Sirius said one day after practice.

"Right?" Then he paused. Sirius hadn't been around long enough to be so certain of that. Which meant, "I knew you were a fan. Why didn't you say anything?"

"I didn't want to freak you out. You're dealing with enough right now that I didn't want for you to worry about your bodyguard fawning over you."

"Aww, you fawn over me?" James asked, unable to help a pleased smile.

"It's called knowing who the best is," Sirius said with a wink.

"You don't get along with your brother?" James asked. Personally, he didn't have any siblings, but from what he understood, those relationships were often complicated. Lily, for example, cared about her sister even though-- as far as James could tell-- she was kind of an irredeemable twat that didn't seem to like Lily at all.

Sirius shrugged. "He wants to like our parents, but now that he disagrees with them on everything, it's not easy. I keep telling him that his life would be easier if he stopped talking to them, but he feels all guilty about it." He rolled his eyes expressively. "I think he thinks that he owes them for them not being worse."

"You both should get new parents," James said. "I volunteer my own."

"I think you stop needing new parents when you're an adult."

"Words that can only be spoken by someone with shite parents. Maybe you don't need parents anymore, but if Regulus is still trying to connect with them, it means he needs someone. My parents are great. Mum will probably see him smile once and then demand he come to Saturday night dinners for the next ten years."

Sirius snickered.

"Oh, I'm not joking," James insisted. "Lily and I haven't been together since we were eighteen, and she still comes over for dinner when she can make it."

"Only you would be on such great terms with your ex that your parents would do that."

"Bold of you to assume my parents wouldn't have done it whether we were on good terms or not. They blood adore her, and that didn't stop because we weren't dating anymore. I swear, they love every single friend I let them meet. If I introduced them to your brother? He wouldn't make it out of that house without them knowing his favourite dessert. He wouldn't stand a chance."

"Maybe that's what he needs," Sirius said, sounding amused. "We'll have to set that up when this all blows over."

James's first problem with Sirius had been that he was so gorgeous James couldn't think for shite. His second problem with Sirius was that he was an attractive person all around, not just in his face. Honestly, who had decided that someone should get to be that pretty and also be that funny? It wasn't fair to the rest of humanity.

He'd never been shy, so he told Sirius that he fancied him shortly after figuring it out. Thinking a bloke was fit as hell was one thing. Actually fancying him was quite another. People were fit all the time, and James had never lost sleep over it. He knew he'd regret it if he sat around and pined after Sirius uselessly though.

He told Sirius, and Sirius looked at him for a second, then blinked. "Erm. James, I can't- I could get fired for dating a client."

"Right." That made sense. "I hadn't thought of that." He really hadn't thought about it, but who'd want to hire a bodyguard that had a history of hooking up with who they were protecting? Hell, the company could get looked into for solicitation if it happened often enough. If James had thought of that, he would've kept his mouth shut until the end of Sirius's employment with him. "Just... y'know, if you were interested, I'm probably not going to need a bodyguard for much longer." He'd checked back in with the admin team, and they'd said that by next year, he should be good. New information was popping up on people that James's despisers hated more, so they were starting to leave him alone. At least, that's what he'd gotten from the conversation even if it wasn't entirely accurate.

"I know," Sirius said with half a smile. "I was there for that conversation, remember?"

"I'd forgotten," James admitted, a little ashamed. He wasn't the best at paying attention to several things at once when he really cared about one of them more than the others. In that case, he ended up thinking about the one thing and trying desperately to pay attention to the rest. That day, he was pretty sure he'd been so focused on getting his life back to normal that he'd ignored Sirius, and even the talk about their upcoming game.

"Bloody hell," Sirius said, one arm around James as he half-carried, half-guided him down the street so they could catch a cab. "I signed up to be your bodyguard, not your designated driver." Despite his complaining, he didn't sound upset, more amused.

"You could be both," James said slowly, having to put more effort into his words than usual since he was sloshed. He preferred speaking Hindi when he was pissed; it was just easier than English. He didn't think Sirius knew Hindi though, and the only thing he wanted right now was to enjoy Sirius's company.

Sirius laughed. "Maybe so, but I preferred just doing one."

"Heeeey, you could do the partner thing soon."

"I don't remember mentioning a partner thing."

James licked his lips as he tried to remember what the phrase he'd first used was. "Designated driver. Only, instead of just dragging me to a car, we'd be getting sloshed together."

"That does sound more fun."

James was always talkative, but now that he was sloshed, he wasn't stopping. He really liked Sirius. He liked him for lots of reasons, but right now he liked that Sirius was encouraging him. He wasn't getting mad at James for continuing to talk all through the cab ride, or as he helped him up the stairs to his flat. "You're so wonderful," James mumbled.

"Thanks," Sirius said with a laugh. He fished around James's pockets for his keys. James turned and rested his head on Sirius's shoulder, which did make it easier, but somehow he thought that wasn't what James had had in mind.

"You're so pretty," he said, turning his face into Sirius's neck.

"Thanks," he said again. "It's nice to be appreciated."

"In all my life, I've never met someone that made me feel like you do," James said.

"I don't know what you just said, but I'm going to assume it was complimentary."

James nodded. He kissed Sirius's neck because it was there. "The prettiest damn thing I've ever seen."

Sirius swallowed thickly. He didn't need to understand the language to know that whatever James said was something he would appreciate. The kiss sent tingles down his spine, and James's mouth was still resting close enough to him that Sirius could feel his breath hot against his skin. "As much as we would enjoy that, I thought we agreed to wait."

"You're right. You're just so pretty," he whined. "It's really not fair. You should try to be less pretty; it would make my life easier."

"You can live with it," Sirius said. He finally found the keys and put it in the door for him. He unlocked it and pushed the door open. James looked pretty comfy where he was, and it made shuffling him inside his flat a bit harder than getting him here had been. "C'mon mate, you've got to get in bed."

"But you're not there," James said, sounding awfully petulant about it.

Sirius chuckled. "No, but you'll get to sleep just fine without it."

"That's what you think."

"Love, you're drunk enough that you'll definitely pass out before the night's through."

"Aww, you called me 'love'. No one's ever done that before."

"Really?"

James nodded again, but since he wasn't leaning on Sirius as heavily this time, he swayed a little. Sirius was still right next to him though, so he was able to keep him from falling over. "My last boyfriend called me 'babe' but I sort of hated it."

"You do seem like you'd prefer the sweeter pet names. Sweetheart, things like that."

"Feel free to call me sweetheart as much as you want."

"I think I will. After I stop working on protecting you, that is. We've still got to wait, remember?"

"What I remember is issuing an invitation that never got an answer."

"I assumed you knew my answer. Or was I not obvious enough about my interest?" Sirius asked quietly.

"I would say that subtlety passes me by," James said. "But I got it now, thanks. You sure I can't convince you to stay?"

"Not while I'm working for you, and definitely not while you're sloshed." Sirius brought him to his room and took off his shoes when he collapsed back on the bed. "If you want to get undressed more, you're going to have to do it yourself, sweetheart," he said, then kissed James's forehead. "I'll see you tomorrow."

The day for James to no longer need a bodyguard felt like it took forever, but he could grudgingly admit that it had been a good idea. None of it had been serious, but he was told-- by Sirius-- that that's because having a bodyguard was often a large deterrent. In his time as James's bodyguard, Sirius successfully intimidated several people and got physical with one. James would be lying if he said that it hadn't been hot to watch, but he also wasn't going to say that out loud-- it made him feel like he was the heroine in a teen adventure book.

"So, do I have to take you on a date before I get to kiss you?" James asked.

"I wouldn't want you to think I'm easy," Sirius replied with a wink.

"You like curry? I know a good place."

Sirius made a face. "I only like it from one restaurant, and it's all the way up in Wales."

"Wait," James said slowly, a smile creeping across his face, "are you talking about Andi's?"

"Yes, you know it?"

"Bloody love it. I can't make the trip as much as I want, but if you're willing, we can definitely go up there."

"I can think of worse things than spending time with you on the way to the best curry in the UK," Sirius said.

James rented a car because it was easier than taking a cab that far, and it was definitely more private than a train-- which would only be able to take them part of the way anyhow. He wanted for them to be alone anyways, so that they could catch up on all the flirting they'd missed. Not to say that there had been a drought of flirting while Sirius was his bodyguard, but after they agreed to date when his contract was up, they'd tried to tone it down.

They didn't have to worry about that anymore.

The drive was okay, dinner was great, and Sirius snogged him for a bit after they got back in the car but before they drove back to London.

"How the hell do you feel even better than you look?" James whispered, stealing another kiss.

Sirius chuckled. "I was about to ask you the same question, love."

#prongsfoot #marauders #sirius black #james potter #fanfic #filled #getting together #no magic au #post hogwarts #past james/lily #siriuslystarbucks #Anonymous

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marril96 · 4 years

Text

Ain’t Nothing But a Number

Pairing: Rowena x reader

Summary: Dean’s unsolicited comment about your and Rowena’s relationship pushes you over the edge.

Editor: @miss-moon-guardian

*****

"Y/N, isn't…" Dean cleared his throat. Sucked in a breath, eyes roaming everywhere, far away from you. Then, in a moment of courage that made you freeze up for you knew — you knew, and, gods, you hated it. You hated it with your entire being — what was to come, they locked with yours, and he said, "Isn't she a bit too old for you?"

You supposed you shouldn't have been surprised. Dean had never been Rowena's biggest fan. He hadn't been yours, either — you being a witch, her protégé at that, didn't win you any favors. But still.

But still.

With Rowena's friendship with Sam, you thought the elder Winchester would be fonder of her. Just a tad. A teeny-tiny bit. That he would stop with the snide comments and start treating her — any, by extension, you — like a person.

Which he had, for a while, but now he was looking at her as if she'd just murdered an innocent person right in front of him and wiped her bloody hands on his shirt. All because you'd admitted to having recently started dating her.

Sam, for his part, had the decency to look uncomfortable by his brother's behavior. He'd reacted to the news well, breaking out a smile and congratulating you both. Heartily. Honestly. From the bottom of his heart.

Dean, on the other hand, had gone quiet.

If only he'd stayed quiet.

You'd learned a long time ago people who had nothing good to say had no qualms about saying it out loud and directly to your face. It was the same everywhere you went, with everyone you came across. Comments that, at first glance, came across as those of kindness, but the more you thought about them, you'd come to realize it was nothing but condescension masked as concern. Inappropriate, uncomfortable comments. Unacceptable. Out of line.

Comments about your relationship.

You were no fool; you knew what it looked like from the outside. An almost-four-hundred-year-old witch and a young girl. The witch who'd spent the majority of her life taking advantage of people, using them up until they were dry of whatever it was she needed and then tossing them aside like trash. Killing them without a shred of remorse. And now she was dating you.

Rowena had fully earned her reputation, a part of her still beaming with pride at her accomplishments, but it still wasn't okay. Neither of you needed advice, especially the unsolicited kind. No one knew what your relationship was like but the two of you. None of those people lived in your house, slept in your bed. What gave them the right to judge something they didn't — couldn't possibly — understand?

Worse than the comments were the looks that followed them. Pity. Doubt. Disgust. Minds no doubt imagining things — pictures — they had no right to think about. It always made you feel dirty, the way they would look at you; as if you were a child being taken advantage of by an older woman. A middle schooler seduced by her teacher, promised the world in exchange for intimacy.

That was all they saw. An old woman and a child. An abuser and a victim.

Not a single one of those busybodies stopped to consider your feelings and needs. Not a single one of them tried to look at you as you were — a woman, fully grown, capable of making her own decisions. A woman who'd chosen her path, who had fallen in love with one of the most powerful witches in the world and was lucky enough as to have her feelings returned. Who was raging — silently, inside herself — at every unwanted comment and sideways glance.

You glared at Dean with the intensity of a thousand suns, and it took willpower to push your bursting magic down, to restrain it for all it wanted was to roam free and destroy everything in its path. Destroy him for being just like everyone else despite everything he'd seen, everything he'd lived.

"Why the fuck do you care?" It came out harsher than it sounded in your head, but, gods, it felt good to say it, to let it out.

You were done keeping quiet.

You were done letting outsiders have an opinion about your relationship.

Dean flinched, startled by the outburst. He raised his hands in a placating manner. "I don't—"

"Why the fuck does anyone care?" you cut him off, face burning, magic churning in your blood. "Is there a sign on my forehead saying 'I Wanna Hear Your Opinions About My Relationship?'"

"Y/N—" Sam tried, to no avail. There were too many suppressed emotions. Too many words that begged to be left out, refusing to be silenced again.

"What is it with people who think I care about what they think? It's my relationship! I'm the one dating her!"

You were the one holding her when she needed comfort. You were the one making her laugh. The one kissing her just for the fun of it, because you felt like it, because you could — finally, after years of dreaming of it. The one holding her hand, playing with her hair, calling her cute names she would kill anyone else for daring to utter in her presence.

Rowena had chosen you, and you couldn't have been happier about it.

"I'm a grown woman!" you yelled. "Stop treating me like a fucking child! What I do is none of your business."

Who I fuck is none of your business.

You'd said the same to your family, and to all the friends who turned their noses up upon finding out about you and Rowena. You were an adult. They had a right to their opinions, and you had a right to not hear them. They didn't have to like your decision — all you asked was that they respect it.

If they cared — truly, genuinely cared — about you, they would.

Dean sighed. Gulped. Cleared his throat. "I wasn't—I didn't mean it like that."

No one ever meant it. Whatever it was they said, however uncomfortable they looked as the revelation of you and Rowena set in, they never meant it. Not a single word, spoken clearly, was ever as it sounded. No — you were exaggerating. You were making up drama where there wasn't any. Causing trouble because, well, you were young, too young to know better.

Too young to date a woman over three centuries your senior.

Right.

You shot Dean one of those looks that could kill if you wanted it to, stolen from Rowena. A glare so intense, you hoped it came across as intimidating as intended. "Then don't say it like that."

"I'm not gonna say anything anymore," he said, taking a swig of his beer.

"That's a first," Rowena quipped.

The hunter rolled his eyes.

Tension lifted from your shoulders. Muscles, taut and tight just a moment ago, free of the pressure. You breathed out in relief.

The worst had passed. The secret was out, words were exchanged, and now you could be at peace. You and Rowena no longer had to hide your linked hands. You no longer had to pull apart and pretend nothing had happened if someone were to walk in on an intimate moment.

You could be yourselves.

You could smile and laugh and be happy in this world rather than hide in its fringes.

The day passed in relative silence. As you and Rowena worked on research, flipping through dusty books and skimming words in faded ink, you caught the Winchesters sneaking a few glances, all averted the moment either of you looked up. It was more curiosity than disapproval; it wasn't always that their allies hooked up — and took it seriously, at that. It wasn't always that Rowena MacLeod, of all people, held someone's hand and laughed at their bad jokes.

It was new. It was weird. And, despite the initial shock, by the end of the day Dean seemed completely on board with it.

You were glad. Finally, you could breathe easily, without fearing judgment. Without fearing the next dirty look or wicked whispers the moment you turned your back.

Yes, Rowena was significantly older. No, she wasn't too old for you. She wasn't too evil, or too unreliable, or too cold-hearted to know what love, true love, was.

She was just perfect.

And you loved her for it.

*****

Tags: @werewolfbarbie @oswinthestrange @songofthecagedmoose @apurdyfulmind @getthesalt-sam @metallihca @salembitchtrials @jay-eris @hellsmother @elizabeth-effie @shadowgirl-vsb @rowenaswife @wonderifshelikesroses @xfireandsin @liddell-alien @hotdiggitydammit @lae-lae @darkhumorsblog @angel7376 @cherrypierowena @evil-regal-vampiress @hellbentredhead @angel-e-v-a @a-queen-and-her-throne @carryon-doctor-lock @fangirlxwritesx67 @theeasterbilby @midnight-lestrange @osterhagen @impala-1979 @gracib16

#rowena #rowena macleod #spn #supernatural #spn family #rowena x reader #my fics #fanfiction

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rachelbethhines · 4 years

Text

Tangled Salt Marathon - The Eye of Pincosta

So this is an episode that really didn’t need to exist, and I say that as a Styalan defender. The writers took a perfect opportunity have the characters actually learn and grown and bypass it all for a contrived performative fake out redemption.

Summary: The group arrive in the town of Pincosta, but Eugene is immediately thrown in jail for having previously stolen the town's largest diamond, the Eye of Pincosta. The sheriff declares Eugene to work in the deadly copper mines and soon the rest of the group are thrown in jail. Rapunzel negotiates with the sheriff, offering to find and retrieve the Eye of Pincosta in exchange for Eugene and the group's release. The sheriff agrees, but on the condition that Rapunzel returns in two days. Rapunzel confronts Eugene about the theft and reluctantly, Eugene reveals he previously worked together with Stalyan, forcing Rapunzel to seek out Stalyan and persuades her to help.

So Why Didn’t Eugene Just Stay Behind With the Caravan?

Like it doesn’t take all six of you to buy and carry food back to the caravan; which they don’t take into the town anyways. Especially when you have two horses you can use. So why bring Eugene along when you know he could be arrested?

Pointing Out the Flaw In Your Writing Doesn’t Make It Any Less of a Flaw

No seriously, why didn’t he stay with the caravan? You need someone to watch over your stuff anyways if your going to leave it behind and Eugene is the perfect candidate for that. And even if you did need everyone to stick together, which you don’t, then bring the camper with you and let Eugene ride inside of it unseen. It’s not like the towns roads are too small for it or anything and it’ll save you from having to carry your stuff.

If you have to turn your characters into sudden idiots for no discernible reason to make your plot happen then you haven’t a good plot. Start over and come up with something else. Like maybe have Eugene not realize that he is wanted here because it was so long ago or have the guards randomly check their caravan where he’s hiding out because Styalan’s back into town, or something. Anything so long as it doesn’t make the mains stupid.

You’re Literally The Princess of Powerful Kingdom; Use That!

Ok, from what background info we get here, Pincosta isn’t even a fully fledged kingdom. It’s a hamlet, which is smaller than even a village. We get no indication what ‘land’ it belongs to, but it shares a kingdom with the larger town of Zulberg, which is one of the running gags in the first half of the episode.

What all this means is that Rapunzel is still the most powerful person in the room. She’s the heir apparent to the throne of a prosperous kingdom that has ties with a large trading network with bunch of other power kingdoms. Locking up her boyfriend and the future prince consort of said kingdom can be perceived as an act of war.

The series is trying to lead into Rapunzel becoming queen, but that means she needs to take advantage of her position and perform queenly like tasks. Like negotiating international incidents like this one, and simply complying to the city’s laws as if she was some random traveler doesn’t cut it.

Oh, So Now You Care!

Rapunzel, where the fuck do you think that prison barge was heading to just two episodes back? The same prison barge that your friend Attila was being threatened with. The same prison barge that victims of Corona’s corrupt justice system, like say Varian, are threatened with on top of the inhumane conditions of those dungeon cells that you locked your two best friends in back in season one.

Do not tell me Rapunzel is some kind and caring person if she only gives a damn about unjust treatment when it only affects her or someone she already cares about.

This Is Stealing Agency Away From Eugene

Rapunzel is not the one responsible for Eugene’s mistakes. She can help to some degree, like using her political power to pull some strings, but she doesn’t need to be the one to make reparations for his actions; that’s on him.

Or rather it should be on him. This should be his episode. The one where he grows as a person as he makes up for past deeds. Because redemption isn’t just about never doing bad things again, it’s also about making amends for what you did wrong.

That’s where this series fails and why the whole ‘It’s Rapunzel’s Story’ mantra is hollow. For starters it’s not just Rapunzel’s story. The series isn’t structured to be that way because it’s based off of a movie with two protagonists. It’s Eugene’s story as well. It’s also Cassandra’s and Varian’s story because as the main antagonists they further the conflict.

But it also fails because Rapunzel is just thrown into other people’s stories instead of being given her own. Rapunzel never learns anything from this adventure. Stalyan does, and Stalyan is never seen again after this episode. Having Rapunzel teach other random people lessons is counterintuitive to what the series wants to be. If it’s meant to be a coming of age story where Rapunzel learns about the real world, then she can’t be automatically in the right every episode.

Well Ain’t That Convenient

So Stalyan is needed to find this diamond that she and Eugene stole in order to free Eugene. Yet it’s never stated how Rapunzel finds Stalyan, especially so quickly. Last we saw her she had just left Varados and that was months ago. She could have been anywhere by this time.

So why is she near the same town where she’d still be wanted for arrest at? Where’s a her dad, who was dying from poison when we last saw him? What has she been up to? How did Rapunzel even know she was here?

Like you need to establish crap like this, otherwise it’s just a major plot hole.

So Why Stalyan?

This episode could have gone to just about anybody. Eugene, Lance, Lady Caine, fucking Shorty... Like I’d even take Hookfoot over this. He’s at least there for more than two episodes.

So why Stalyan? Why does she get a focus episode when we’ll never see her again? How come she’s ‘redeemed’ but not any of the other criminals on the prison barge? Like the series wants to act as if Rapunzel is this really forgiving person who believes in second chances but only four villains out of twenty get redemptions. 4 out of 20! What makes Stalyan so special that she gets to be one of those few select four and not say Lady Caine, Dwayne, or Andrew and the Saporians?

This Should Have Been a Lance and Rapunzel Team Up Instead

Keep in mind when I say this episode could have focused on anybody, I do mean it. You get creative enough this initial setup could have featured any two characters you wanted interacting. Lance and Eugene, Eugene and Rapunzel, Eugene and Stalyan, Eugene and Cassandra, Lance and Cassandra or maybe even Caine and Rapunzel, and reveal how Eugene knew Caine back in the pilot episode. Like there’s a lot of possibilities here.

For my money though, this should have been a Lance and Rapunzel episode. Because we don’t get any Lance and Rapunzel episodes. We don't even get any Lance episodes after his introduction. All his development, what little there is, is shoved into the b-plot of other characters’ focus episodes. He also barely interacts with the series main character despite being her boyfriend’s BFF and living with her on the road for year. That’s ridiculous.

All you needed to do was make Lance Eugene’s partner and have Lance make up for his past deeds to try and free his friends. Boom!

Why Didn’t You Bring Anything With You Raps?

We see at the end that the caravan was parked outside of town this whole time. She still has the key to get out any money that she needed, the pick of two horses that can’t fit inside of a cell anyways, and oh yeah probably a canteen to use.

Furthermore, she’s a fucking princess!!! She’s has credit and clout and can just get whatever she damn near wants just by asking; because she’s not your average person on the street like us.

I’m not going to feel sorry for the main protagonist when the main protagonist is an idiot who does these things to herself and makes life harder for everyone needlessly.

Rapunzel Has a Stunted Grasp of Ethics

Stalyan’s not wrong here. Unless you have an alternative, like your own horse or money to buy horses, that you decided to leave behind as well for some undefined reason, then yeah, you needed horses. Your friends lives are at stake woman!

I touched on this back in my TAR review, but the show leans heavily into authoritarian beliefs because it provides childish lessons for adult situations.

‘Stealing is always wrong no matter what’ is the thought process of a child. It does not take into account how systems of governments can stack the deck against certain groups of people, nor how sometimes emergencies come up and you got to deal them in the moment and make amends later.

And you know what, I’m not taking ‘it’s a show for kids’ as an excuse here. Children shows very much can introduce comlex themes and grey morals and plenty already have. If you make classism a major theme of your story then you need to actually address it, and that starts by having your main character acknowledge it.

This could have been the perfect opportunity for Rapunzel to grow. Up till now she’s always had her physical needs provided for her. Since her escape from the tower she’s also been thoroughly spoiled. Have her come down off her high horse and see how the other half lives. See first hand what Eugene and the pub thugs had to do to survive before they met her.

Have her things actually be confiscated. Have her princess title mean nothing cause no one knows her or believes her. Have Corona not recognized in this part of the world. You want to be the underdog then make her an actual underdog and have her learn from it.

Because Rapunzel having the moral outlook of child makes sense given her backstory, but she can’t stay that way. We all have to grow up sometime, we all have to learn the harsher truths of this world, and this is suppose to be a coming of age story.

So How Does Stalyan Know Where the Eye Is But Not Eugene?

If Eugene is the one who lost it, then how come he didn’t know where it was at? Why couldn’t he just have told Rapunzel all of this and left Staylan out of the picture? Also how do you know if Goodberry even still has it if it’s been years ago? How do you know where Goodberry is? It’s awfully convenient that he never moved in all that time and that he’s so close to the town of Pincosta.

Once again, plot holes.

Stalyan is a Poor Man’s Sadira

So for those of you who aren’t 90s kids like myself, Sadira is a villian from the Aladdin tv series. She’s basically Stalyan but done better.

Things they have in common

their goals are to marry the main hero, who are ex-thieves

both are jealous of the main heroines who are princesses

both are thieves themselves and have lived their whole lives as such

both believe they belong with the hero because they come from a common background

both resort to dubious means to win the heart of the hero

both try to get rid of the heroines but never resort to killing them out right

both are redeemed and eventually befriends the princesses

You know what the difference between the two of them is?

Sadira is actions are actually worse than Staylan’s but she’s given enough screen time and focus to come across as sympathetic to the audience.

I’m serious. Stalyan is an ex who was left at the altar by her douchey boyfriend, but their relationship was so toxic that she can’t understand that she’s actually better off without him nor accept that he left her for someone else. So she tries manipulating him into coming back to her, while her dad does some messed up blackmail and poisoning that she didn’t agree to but went along with anyways.

Meanwhile Sadria is a straight up stalker. She doesn’t even meet Aladdin until after the events of the first film, and he makes it clear to her from the get go that he’s in a committed relationship with someone else and isn’t interested in her. But Sadria tries episode after episode to ‘win’ him resorting to mindwipes, kidnapping, and even alternating reality.

But we actually see things from Sadria’s perspective. It’s made clear that she has no one and nothing. Aladdin is the first person to show her kindness and so she latches onto him. Sure it’s unhealthy and the series calls it out as such, but by the time she has acknowledged this and befriends Jasmine the audience now understands her and feels sympathy for her.

We get no such focus for Stalyan. Not even in her redemption episode. We still don't know why she wants to be with Eugene after he’s treated her so badly. We still don't have any clue what their relationship was like before the breakup, or even when the breakup happened. (I still think it was during the events of the movie and that he left her for Rapunzel, but it’s left open) It’s hard to relate to or feel sorry for Stakyan when we know nothing about her and haven’t seen this ‘good side’ Rapunzel keeps talking about for ourselves.

Even though theoretically she should be very sympathetic because of the way Eugene treated her, and because her actions thus far are relatively tame compared to most of the villains in the show.

Just Because Other Places in the World Are As Bad as Corona, Doesn’t Mean That Frederic Is Excused For His Behavior

This show thinks it’s a okay to introduce horrible crap so long as it’s done in a comedic way and not focused on, but this isn’t The Office. You can’t use a corrupt legal system and authoritarians abusing their power as the crux of your main conflict in season one and then expect us to just laugh off jokes like this one. Or the one about tailor getting locked up for ripping Frederic’s robe. Or find young Lance trapped in a cell with Shorty being fed gruel as funny.

Like, even if you do laugh at these jokes at first in the moment, once you stop to think about them, it just shows how awful Frederic and Rapunzel are, how awful the system is, and that change needs to happen. But it can’t happen if Rapunzel and the show doesn’t acknowledge that such things are wrong. That they are more than jokes.

The serious story that the writers want to tell is undermined by the comedy, and the comedic moments are undermined by the existence of the more serious drama.

So is this a sitcom or a drama? It can’t be both, not when dealing with such high stakes.

Sitcoms work because they’re low stakes. Few characters are affected and most situations aren’t life and death. Even in dark comedies where death is often the joke, it’s because death is seen as unimportant, something to be casted aside, and it’s funny because it’s disrespectful. But the moment you call to attention just how messed up everything really is, and how awful death can be, then it’s suddenly no longer funny. Especially if it’s innocents who are getting hurt. Dark comedies also work because it’s often computuance for characters who are awful people.

That’s not what TTS is, so it’s attempts at being like It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia or Rick and Morty just doesn’t work and comes across as tone deaf.

Also why are the dang horses in the cell with the humans? They’re horses!

So What Exactly Is Stalyan’s Plan Here?

No seriously, what is her thought processes here? The audience isn’t mind readers. We need know why the characters do the things they do.

Why is Stalyan still hung up on Eugene? Why does Stalyan think he’ll take her back if she shows up to free him without Rapunzel? What is she going to say when he asks about Raps and why would he even believe her to begin with?

What does ‘A thief belongs with a thief’ even mean!!? We have no context for this cause we have no context for their relationship!

This episode could have provided us with some context, some cule of why Stalyan and Eugene were together for so long, why they broke up, why she still wants to be with him, why she thinks he’ll return to her even now, but nope! We gotta have a stupid parody wrestling match.

Oh joy.

This Is a Guilt Trip, Not a Redemption

Rapunzel is full of shit.

If she honestly believed that there was ‘good in everybody’ then why did she send Caine off on the prison barge without even trying to relate to her? Why didn’t she try to befriend Weasel instead of fighting him off? Why is Varian currently sitting in a jail cell right now!!!

Here’s why Stalyan was ‘redeemed’ and not the others.

Rapunzel needed something from her.

Rapunzel guilt trips, manipulates, and coerces Stalyan into helping her. She doesn’t actually give a damn about whether or not Stalyan ‘does the right thing’ so long as she gets what she wants; Eugene’s freedom and his heart.

Sure Stalyan probably should turn away from her life of crime. She should let go of her obsession with Eugene. She should return the eye that she stole and start making up for her past. But you know what?

None of those things have anything to do with Rapunzel!

Stalyan needs to come to those decisions herself in order for this to be a proper redemption. If Rapunzel is involved in any of that then it can’t be with the condition that she’s gaining something from it. It’s not true compassion if you have an ulterior motive for what you do.

This Confession Might Actually Have Meant Something If We Had Any Actual Context!

This doesn’t tell me anything.

Why would Stalyan only see ‘a thief’? She loved him enough to want to marry him and has known him for years. Sure she may have accepted that he was a thief, encouraged it even, but there’s got to be other reasons why she dated him. Other reasons for why she wanted him back.

Also why does this come back to Rapunzel specifically? Is she the reason why he left Staylan at the altar? And even so, why is that a reason to give Eugene a free pass? Is it just because she’s the protag and now they’re friends suddenly?

In fact if you are friends now, then Rapunzel deserves to know the truth of who she plans on marrying and come to the decision if he’s worth it. If he really has changed, not just in terms of being an ex-thief but also in how he handles relationships.

We the audience deserve to know too.

Redemption Shouldn’t be Tied to Friendship With Rapunzel

Eugene becoming inspired to be a better person because he fell in love with someone is one thing. Rapunzel only forgiving people because they’ll befriend her is entirely another. Especially when two of the main villains become villains after they stop being friends with her.

It sends out a really gross message of favoritism and not letting go of toxic relationships, while also placing Rapunzel too high upon a pedestal.

Rapunzel Can’t Forgive Stalyan In Eugene’s Place

I’d be pretty upset if my current spouse just said that my abusive ex ‘was not that bad’.

Like, fuck both of you.

And yes, I did defend Stalyan in Beyond the Corona Walls, and I did say that we didn’t have enough context to claim she was abusive when they were in a relationship. After the breakup tho? Yeah, yeah she was abusive then. You don't have to be in a relationship in order to bully someone; you just have to have power over them.

Stalyan hurt Eugene, not Rapunzel. That’s why any redemption with her needed to be with him. They both needed to make amends, forgive each other, and move on.

This isn’t Rapunzel’s show.

If the creator wanted it to be her show then he shouldn’t have introduced conflicts that don’t actually involve her, nor characters with higher stakes then her.

This Doesn’t Feel Earned, and So the Audience Feels Cheated

And so Stalyan rides off into the sunset rich to live happily ever after presumably as a thief still, and no one gave a shit.

No one was asking for this. No one cared about Stalyan. Worse the writer failed to make us care. Ergo this whole episode feels like a waste and it is.

Conclusion

Much like the rest of season two this is pure filler, and not even good fun filler; like with the mermaid episode or the pirate episode. Worse it’s very existence actually diminishes Rapunzel as a character rather than build her up. So it fails in its sole purpose as a story.

#tangled #anti-tangled #anti-rapunzel #stalyan #tangled the series #rapunzel's tangled adventure

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petersspidey · 4 years

Text

Old Man

Summary: You were an Avenger, and Steve doesn’t trust you or your abilities, but he doesn’t want to admit why.

A/N: This is going to me a multi part :) I’m kind of super excited to write this.

Steve Rogers x Reader

Masterlist // Part 2 // Part 3 //

You had already been with the Avengers for over a year. You were a young, reckless, Avenger. Before Tony found you, you weren't exactly using your powers for good. You were more so using them for fun.

But, you were 19, and you were alone. So when Tony offered you a home, food, and a better life, you took it. Even if it meant giving up using your powers for "evil." Everyday, you trained to gain better control of your powers and worked hard to become a member of the Avengers. Nearly a year of training, you were finally able to regularly go on missions with everyone else.

You were unique compared to the other Avengers. Although, everyone was pretty unique from each other. But you felt like a combination of some of the Avengers. Your senses were heightened, similar to Peter Parker's, and could wield magic like Wanda, but you had also learned how to fight, not only from living on the street, but Natasha really helped you improve. And while you were the second youngest, and newest Avenger on the team, you were the most powerful; and everyone else knew it too. You were cocky about it. Although while you were sparring with other members of the team, you weren't exactly allowed to use your powers, your sparring skills were still strong. And when another member managed to ground you in a fight, you reminded them that if you had been able to use your powers, you would have easily won.

And you were right, You often went on nearly every mission. You had mastered your powers enough to be able to get the job done, while also being as least destructive as possible. And because you weren't known to the world like Tony or Cap, it made it easy for you to be sent undercover.

But every mission you went on, it was as if some of them still didn't trust you with your powers. Or, you assumed it was because they didn't trust you to control your powers. And you just felt like it was getting worse. After every mission, you thought it'd get better and they would trust you more. But you felt like it was the opposite.

Even after months of going on missions, you swear, every time Steve in particular would always question your abilities. Every mission, he'd always order you around, despite the fact that you knew what you were doing. It frustrated you to no end, for god's sake you had better control of your power than Bruce did of Hulk.

You were going on another mission today with Steve and Peter. He claimed that you both needed more training. You didn't completely disagree, but you knew exactly how this was going to play out.

"Y/N, Parker, you ready?" Steve said, grabbing his shield.

You were standing on the Quinjet, waiting for it to land.

You could tell Peter was excited. He wasn't as new at this as you, but he was younger and more excited about the idea of being an Avenger than you were.

"Yes sir," Peter nodded, slipping on his spidey mask.

You didn't say anything, you were trying to get into the right mindset, knowing what you were about to walk into.

"Y/N," Steve said

You looked over at him, "Yeah, I'm ready,"

"Ok, well here's the plan. Peter and I are going to go ahead into the building… Y/N, I'll get you to flank behind and once we radio to you, I'll get you to come in,"

"Woah woah woah," you said

"Why do I have to stay behind? I'm just as strong as both of you. Hell, i've taken you down in a fight old man," you continued.

Steve rolled his eyes, "I'm in charge of this mission, Y/N, and I'm saying you stay behind."

"Give me one good reason why I have to stay behind. I can fight like Natasha, I have senses exactly like Peter and Powers like Wanda," you exclaimed.

"Because I said so," Steve ordered.

The plane began to land, and you huffed in frustration. You could tell Peter was uncomfortable with the tension in the room between you and Steve.

When the door began to open, the three of you began to step out, and walk toward the destination. It was a warehouse complex, a group of men had stolen alien weaponry, and you needed to get it all from them before they began selling it all. When you reached the outflanks of the building, you could see men standing at the door.

Steve signaled to Peter, and he used his webs and swung up to the top of the building. He held his arm out to block you from moving forward.

"I mean it, Y/N. Stay here," he ordered.

You rolled your eyes, and held your hands up in a surrender.

"Whatever you say, Captain,"

He turned, and before he could even take two steps, he saw a bolt of purple light shoot past him and the four guards at the door collapsed.

He turned back toward you "What did I say, Y/N," he said, gritting through his teeth.

"You told me to stay here. I haven't moved," you shrugged, giving Steve a smirk.

Steve took a deep breath, and continued. He huffed and puffed the rest of the mission. You knew you got under your skin, and a lot of the time you did it on purpose.

You frustrated Steve to no end. Your cockiness, your abilities, and your age frustrated him. He hated how talented you were for your age, he hated how bratty you were and despised listening to his instructions. And he hated how young you were. Hated that you were barely an adult and how crazy you drove him.

Once again, you didn't listen, and you didn't stay behind, like every other mission. Once again, you disobeyed Cap's orders. As you walked into the building shortly after him, you smiled knowing how frustrated and mad he'd be when he found out.

And you were right, once again. When you got into the main part of the warehouse you saw Peter flying across the room, weapons shooting at him and Cap blocking shots with his shield.

You stood at the door and focused. You raised your hands, and suddenly everything stopped. You raised the weapons from their hands, and they began hovering above the men. Both Steve and Peter shot around to look at you. You smirked at Steve, seeing him clench his jaw you knew he was mad, but it also kinda turned you on a bit. But they both realized what they had to do. Peter began shooting his web at the men, causing them to be unable to move. Steve worked his way across the warehouse floor, dodging blows, and forcing the men down with his shield. You even used your powers to swing the guns at some of the men and knock them unconscious.

When all the men were down, Steve stormed over to you.

"What were you thinking," he said, raising his voice.

"You mean, why did I actually participate on a mission that Nick Fury ordered me on? Why did I save your asses?"

Steve rolled his eyes at you, and huffed his chest again. He turned to walk back towards Parker, "the SHIELD agents will be in here in a minute to clean everything up. And then we have to go back to base,"

After everything was cleaned up, you, Steve, and Peter went back to the plane. You could tell, even from Steve's back, that he was tense and angry.

"I can't believe you, Y/N," he said.

You shrugged, "Can we just move past this part, you're just going to say that I risked my life and yours and that I never listen and that I frustrate you. And then i'll say that I was right and saved your assess,"

"No! You risked our-"

"Our lives! I get it Mr. America," you cut him off

"But honestly, you need to have more faith in me, if I wasn't qualified to be here, I wouldn't be here,"

"I think you did a good job, Y/N," Peter said, cutting in.

"Don't encourage her, Peter," Steve snapped.

He was quiet the rest of the plane ride back to the compound. When the plane landed, Peter slid past you and whispered "Good luck," before rushing off to somewhere else in the compound.

You tried walking off the landing pad, but Steve grabbed your arm and pulled you back.

"What now?" you rolled your eyes.

"You need to stop being so irresponsible. When I ask you to stay back there's a reason for it,"

"You know what old man, If you just actually gave me proper orders on how to help during a mission I'd listen to you. But when you make me stand back, it makes me feel like you're keeping me back because you don't trust me,"

"I-" He started

"You know what, I don't even want to hear it Steve," you pushed past him and headed toward your room.

You hoped he would follow you, but when you turned around to look behind you, he wasn't there. You sighed, and kept walking toward your room.

#captain america #captain america fanfiction #captain america smut #captain america imagine #captain america imagines #steve rogers #steve rogers smut #steve rogers imagine #steve rogers fanfiction #steve rogers x you #MCU #mcu x reader #mcu imagine #mcu fanfiction #petersspidey

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smolbeanethel · 3 years

Text

Ashton (Age: 8)

- Was an only child. It was a miracle that he was even born at all with every miscarriage his mother would have. It was believed that she wouldn’t be able to have children yet she did... Only she had wanted a girl, not a boy.

- While his mother chose to neglect and ignore his existence, his father chose to take out all of his frustrations on the boy. It had really only been physical at that point.

- This changed when he opted to sexually abuse the boy. His father had his own issues and problems with himself, showing more disgust towards himself rather than at Ashton- Ashton was just a vulnerable outlet to take all that stress and rage out on.

- His first ever crush was his own father too. His feelings kinda warping to the point where he didn’t mind if his father would beat or berate him, anything, it never mattered to Ashton anymore. He was getting attention? And being punished like he believes he should be.

- This now just made his father despise him even more.

- Ashton only really had two friends at the time- the little girl in the attic from his neighbor’s house- and the boy who’d always come to play with him through his bedroom window.

- Always bruised super easily.

- He’s learned to associate abuse as attention. If he’s being beaten (or more) then at-least someone is focusing on him.

- Because of his mother’s neglect and occasional comment about him not deserving to be born- he firmly believes he needs to be punished, he’s upset his mother? Clearly upset his father too- it’s only fair that he gets treated poorly? His existence is a crime- anyone should be allowed to harm him.

Theme song: Disperse

Ashton (Age: 16)

- His father died when Ashton hit the age of sixteen, leaving him feeling hollow and kinda unsure what to do. His mother’s silence (punishment) was kinda deafening, he always felt alone around her.

- But that was the age in which she kicked him out, she didn’t want to see his face anymore. Even claiming that she wishes he’d die in a ditch somewhere, maybe all the drugs and alcohol will slowly do him in. He wouldn’t be missed.

- His addiction to drinking and taking drugs had only gotten worse, no matter how many times Alexander would try to get him to stop. There was just no helping Ashton, this was the only thing making Ashton hang on- he would’ve killed himself much sooner if he let them go.

- Ashton did manage to get himself a job after pushing through with his classes, he’d become a nurse’s aide/aide. But that was thanks to Alexander not allowing him to give up on that, soon even Sonia was helping to make sure he stuck around too.

- Doesn’t bother to talk to his mother much, he knows she doesn’t want to see him anyway- she made it clear that she’d rather see him dead.

- At this age, he was more prone to his emotional outbursts but they were only ever harmful to himself- bordering on severely bringing himself pain. It has only gotten worse as he’s gotten older.

Amelia (Age: 10)

- Actually used to really adore her mother, she was pretty much stuck to her mother’s aide 24/7- much to her mother’s delight as the two loved to play games together and paly outside.

- Used to love watching her bio father paint, he was striving to become a famous artist- and used to love painting whenever Meghan and Amelia were outside, to him the sight was beautiful, especially the outdoors.

- Her father eventually had gotten very sick, he had ended up passing away a few months later. From there, everything had changed.

- Amelia was still close to her mother though. Always tried to cheer her mother up whenever she felt that her mother was upset, she was missing her father too, after all.

- New father’s eventually came and went. Amelia was never too fond of them either.

- One stuck around much longer but he was never interested in Meghan, instead focusing his interest on Amelia- one night he had gone way too far and ended up sexually abusing the girl too, threatening to kill her mother if she even uttered what he had done to her, she only wanted to protect her mother, so she had no choice but to accept this.

- Part of her had grown cold and distant with her mother.

- This abuse continued way into her teenage years until she just adapts to enjoying it, even starting up her own ways to earn money.

Theme song: Memories

Amelia (Age: 16)

- Despite being so young, Amelia had grown into being sexually active and started her business off slowly during these years. All the while, she never told her mother anything, leaving her mother in the dark.

- She continued to sleep with all of her mother’s husbands and wives, only a few truly seemed to care for Meghan, and never sought out anything with Amelia, she left it at that.

- Part of her was unsure whether or not she hated her mother but she knows she resents her.

- Gotten into smoking and drinking alcohol. It helped give her a sense of control over herself.

- Pretty decent at lying at this age too.

- Got into plenty of arguments with her mother too, she had said some pretty harsh stuff and even made her mother cry. It didn’t feel good but she felt like she needed to lash out.

- Stolen quite a bit too, though it was always just money or one of her step parent’s things of alcohol.

Sonia (Age: 13)

- Sonia was the older half sister to two younger brothers and one younger sister. Her father had left her mother right as she found out she was pregnant with Sonia.

- Her mother had grown to blame this all on Sonia, the love of her life had left her behind just because this brat was born. Her hatred for Sonia was always made clear, she was never as affectionate with Sonia as she was with her younger siblings, and she always lashed out at Sonia.

- She’d resorted to kicking Sonia in the stomach many times. Even slapping and burning the girl with her cigarette whenever she got the chance. It had gotten to the point where Sonia had started to wonder if she should’ve never been born at all.

- Eventually she was locked away in the attic, whenever she would come home from school, she would be sent up there, just so her mother wouldn’t have to see her or hear her voice.

- Her mother had hated hearing her so much that she wanted the girl to stay quiet whenever she was in her presence, whispering never made her happy. She didn’t want to hear the girl period.

- Sonia was the girl in the attic that Ashton had befriended, though they had never spoken a word to each-other. He had done his best to write out his messages to her, pressing them to his window for her to see- eventually she had started to do the same.

- Always came to school all bruised and upset, she wouldn’t tell her teachers anything, she just kept it all in.

- The only time she ever might’ve felt love was when her grandparents would stop by to visit their grandchildren. They’d never hated her. Even gave her a music box that she still cherishes.

Theme song: The Empty Doll

Sonia (Age: 21)

- She thought that if she succeeded in school, did everything she was told, and got into college- that her mother would finally love and accept her. Yet that turned out to be all for nothing.

- The only way her mother would ever be happy, is if Sonia were to die somehow- in her own words too.

- Now she has moved far away from her mother and step father, she tries not to think of them but part of her still feels pained. She only wanted to be loved. She wanted to be treated fairly.

- Tries to not get angry but... she just can’t keep it in all of the time.

- Part of her wonders if it is even possible to love her, hence why she tends to keep herself guarded and finds it hard to talk to others- especially when she was only ever met with judgement from those her age.

- Used to be friends with Amelia but... Marx kinda ruined that when he had sexually abused Sonia while Amelia was away. She had tried to tell Amelia but... that didn’t go well.

- Still friends with Ashton, kinda spoils him when he stops by the bakery she works at. He’s her first ever friend, she feels attached to him in some form.

Marx (Age: 11)

- Marx was always a problem child. His own mother and father thought the same too, they found it hard to deal with him at times. He only ever wanted things to go his way and hated being out of control.

- He had to be taken to anger management as he would lash out and hurt his mother every single time. They thought he had changed, and maybe he did, but he only ever learned to manipulate his parents.

- Never was kind to kids his age, and if they told his parents, he’d just warp it to make himself look like the victim. That the kids were just bullying him because he was smaller than them. In truth, he was the one being a bully.

- Even as he child, he liked having control and power over others. Marx took joy out of intimidating others and making them do things they didn’t want to do, it amused him greatly.

- To his parents though, he seemed liked a well behaved boy, he had changed, he only ever wanted to make them happy now. Make up for hurting them like he used to. What a huge lie that was.

- Marx was still a jerk as a child, and still a jerk now that he’s an adult. That never changed, he just knows how to hide it well.

Theme Song: Hate

Marx (Age: 24)

- Inherited his father’s business at the age of 24, he had been trained to properly run the place and knew how to run the place. It made his father super proud of him, thinking he left the business in good hands.

- It was, for the most part. But Marx also had another job, he was part of gang that kinda sought to terrorize innocent people. He’d gang up on them while they were alone- and it would go from there.

- Likes to make girls and boys cry- he gets a kick out of it. Gives him a sense of power- he’s completely sadistic towards them and treats them like he owns them. In his eyes, he does own them.

- Spends his money on those he’s with, he still acted like a sugar daddy- but like how it is now, his money being given meant sexual favors would have to be returned.

- Still keeps up the aura of a gentleman around his parents yet he’s far from being a gentleman.

- Money doesn’t really matter to him. He’s always had money on hand, who cares if he decides to throw it around? It gets him what he wants in the end? People love money, he loves sex.

Meghan (Age: 12)

- Grew up in a pretty loving household, her parents had always been super kind to her.

- Loved visiting her grandparents house, they had this beautiful butterfly pantry/house, the butterflies and flowers that were inside, always left her in awe. She loved them so much.

- Met her first love too, they had started as childhood friends which soon turned to lovers as they got older. The two were always so inseparable, even as they’d go outside. He’d follow her outside and claim he would act as her knight, she was his princess. She always humored him with this too.

- Always super honest.

- Loved going to church with her parents (and sometimes grandparents).

- Spent most of her Sundays baking with her mother and grandmother. They always had dinner together, and would bake a dessert to go along with their meal.

- Had a silly sense of humor back then and still kinda does.

- Was better with tending to flowers than her mother, who always ended up killing her plants. It always left the girl to lecture her mother and teach her how to take care of them. It never really worked out.

Theme song: Winter lullaby

Meghan (Age: 25)

- Meghan was married by the time she was 25, married her childhood friend and was pretty happy with her life.

- While he was striving to be an aspiring artist, she was running a flower shop. She never stopped supporting her husband either, was always quick to rush to his side whenever he was being hard on himself, or was about to give up.

- Wanted to make her own butterfly pantry/house, having seen her grandparent’s one always was a huge inspiration for her.

- When she got pregnant with Amelia, she had opted to stay home. Started working on setting that up whilst also setting up Amelia’s room. Meghan was overjoyed at thought of being a mother, she’d wanted to start a family of her own too.

- Continued to support her husband even during her later terms of pregnancy- she never wanted him to take his stress out on himself, or for him to simply give up on his dreams. She wouldn’t stand for that,

- Her family life was perfect after Amelia was born, the three would spend so much time together. They’d visit family, go to parks, to to church, and would continue to bake and eat together just like Meghan’s family had done with her. She wanted Amelia to experience the same things too.

- Losing her husband had been hard on her, she never thought she would lose him yet lost him anyway. She’d try to stay strong for Amelia but it was always hard.

- Everything changed, she’d found love in others and yet- they always left. Her relationship with Amelia had gone cold and distant, Meghan had tried to get to the bottom of it but Amelia never let her.

- Now, she’s married to Marx, and deals with the brunt of his abuse each time. As well, as the knowledge that her daughter is now sleeping with everyone she manages to get with. She feels lost.

Alexander (Age: 8)

- Alexander had to grow up fast for his parents. Being the eldest, a lot was expected out of him. He couldn’t afford to spend him time on useless things, he could only do what he was told to do, and what was set out for him.

- Everything was decided for Alexander, what he would learn, what he would be doing for the entire day, what he would eat, and how much he would eat, etc. He never had much control over his life which frustrated him a lot.

- The time he met Ashton, was the first time he had ever chosen to do something for himself- he’d sneak out each time to come play with the other. Even if it could only be done through Ashton’s bedroom window, and it was pretty risky too.

- Hated getting dirty even as a kid. It would lead him to freak out and throw a tantrum, he didn’t like messes getting on him, or being around messes.

- Affection never existed when it came to his parents. They were always too bust to have time for that, and had flat out told him that if it doesn’t benefit them. What’s the point? He was expected to agree with them too.

- Time had went on and he’d become an older brother to four younger brothers and one sister.

- His parents taught him to show respect to his elders, and that’s stayed with him ever since. He could never entertain the idea of disgracing them with unruly behavior.

- Part of him does want to do his own thing. Not allow anyone to dictate his actions or feelings.

Theme Song: Isolation

Alexander (Age: 16)

- He had finally left his parents and chosen to follow his own path, this action didn’t please them. They’d given him an ultimatum, stay with them and inherit everything, or leave and no longer be their son. He’d chosen to leave.

- He shared a home with Ashton for some time, taking care of the male- he was completely attached to Ashton, he meant the world to him. He still means everything to him to this day.

- Despises anyone trying to control him- he doesn’t have to listen to them.

- Falling in love or feeling love- is new to him? Part of what he parents felt and believed had stuck with him too. Hence his annoyance with himself over falling for his darling, love wasn’t supposed tp matter to him.

- Hasn’t spoken to his parents in a long time, he had left them behind for a reason. There was no way he’d force himself to go back to them, not when he finally feels free.

- Anger and frustration had become common for him, there were so many things he couldn’t understand and people just really pissed him off. He assumed it might be best if he kept Ashton as his only friend.

#Yandere ocs #Tsundere oc #Ashton #Amelia #Sonia #Marx #Meghan #Alexander #dark content

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dreadwulf · 5 years

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*sigh* Okay, I just had to write this all out to get it off my chest and hopefully get over it and move on.

People tell me I look just like Brienne of Tarth. I’m tall, blonde, broad-shouldered, and homely. I get mistaken for a man, even when I have long hair that goes all down my back, even wearing a dress. I’ve gotten used to it.

My earliest memory of school is lying on the ground while a crowd of boys are kicking and hitting me, because I was an ugly freak. Girls grow earlier than boys do, you see. I was the tallest kid in my elementary, and I was hated for it. I endured constant abuse. When I got a little bit older, and I was almost 6 feet tall when I was 12, the abuse mostly turned away from being physical and into emotional and psychological. Girls followed me into the bathroom, laughing at how my clothes didn’t fit, how awkward I was, how masculine. Boys no longer hit me, just ignored or ridiculed me. Because it was the 80s I heard constant references to the East German olympic team, how I looked like a member. I didn’t understand the references at the time, but I knew it was yet another reference to how I didn’t measure up as a woman. Much later I learned about how those women were dosed with testosterone by the government against their will - a terrible story that the people around me regarded as a joke. There’s nothing funnier than a manish woman, apparently.

When I was young I was undatable, never considered an option to anyone. I never kissed anyone until I was in my twenties, and was a virgin until I was 25. It’s bizarre when I look back now at photos of myself, because I’m expecting a hideous monster, and all I see is an ordinary girl - a little taller, broad-shouldered and plain, not pretty, but ordinary. But it all got into my head, you see. Inside I still feel like a freak. Undesireable. Unloved.

I started watching Game of Thrones from the first episode (mainly because I’m a big fan of Peter Dinklage!), and I was intrigued. Intrigued, but not obsessed, not yet. I’m a grown woman and I don’t have time for that sort of thing. But the first time Brienne of Tarth took off her helmet onscreen and I saw her face, I literally pointed at the screen and said out loud, “that’s me!”

Never in my life have I reacted that way before. Never before, and never since.

Granted, the actress who plays her is a great beauty, but the character of Brienne I latched onto instantly and felt a deep kinship with, especially after reading her story in the books. How as a child she was a girl very much like Sansa, who loved songs and romance and dancing and other girlish things, but the adults around her told her she was too ugly. Her septa told her no one would ever love or want her. She was shamed for wearing dresses and trying to be feminine, was told she was embarassing herself because her body was not womanly enough. She was made to feel like a failure just for existing, for being umarriagable, for causing the end of her house by being so ugly that no one wanted her. But instead of just crumbling and disappearing, Brienne of Tarth took up a sword and decided to make something else of herself. She wanted to help people, she wanted to contribute something to the world, and she decided to find a good lord and serve them as a knight. Brienne is brave and caring and defends the weak and wants to protect the people she loves. Brienne is a hero. She is a hero while not being tiny and delicate and pretty but large, sturdy, and ugly. In that she is completely unique, and completely wonderful.

A lot of old wounds opened up, watching that story and reading A Feast For Crows. Old issues I thought I was over all came back up. I identified powerfully with having your femininity stolen from you because your body is different, with being abused for not being woman enough, and with longing for love in a world that hates you. I remembered being hated, constantly and visciously hated, just for existing. I relived the bone-deep belief that I would spend my entire life alone, because no one would ever want me, a belief that was constantly validated by the actual people around me. I became painfully aware of the sense that I still have to this day of being constantly too big, too loud, too much, that has me slouching and shrinking and taking up less space and whispering timidly and the effect that those things have had on my life and career to this day.

And watching Brienne’s story, I saw how someone can endure the same things I did, and keep trying. Can keep struggling to succeed, and even fall in love. That was the most amazing thing of all, you see. This woman on television who looked like me, she was a love interest! She had her own romantic storyline! I could hardly believe it at first. I watched through my fingers trying to talk myself out of hoping. Because this never happens - an ugly woman, a masculine woman, is never desirable in fiction, never important enough to the story to be a love interest, and never worthy of romance. Yet here it was, it was happening right in front of my eyes.

Her love story with Jaime Lannister was a competely unique thing on television. An ugly woman with a beautiful man. A bond of deep respect and admiration, with undeniable sexual tension. Here were two people who can understand each other because they have both been hated for reasons beyond their control, who sought refuge in honor and knighthood and were loathed for it. Brienne understood how hatred can warp a person, make them someone they never meant to be, just the way she herself had been made to harden and close off to the world. She saw the person that Jaime might have been, if things had gone differently, and the man he could still become. Jaime for his part saw worth in her when everyone around him called her ridiculous, even though she was his enemy. He still knew that she was more deserving than any knight in Westeros, and believed in her when no one else in the world did. He gave her a sword and a quest and even a squire, lost his hand defending her, and he put his own life on the line to save hers.

Jaime openly adored her, looked at her like she was the most wonderful thing in the world, and I have never seen anything like that. A woman who looks like me, being looked at like that. Do you know what that felt like for me? Can you imagine it?

This story meant a lot to me, is what I’m saying. It was healing for me. I believed in that story, and I expected that even if there wouldn’t be a happy ending, at least there would be that respect for the character, and that she would be taken seriously by the narrative and her story would be completed in some fashion.

And then they aired Season 8.

In season 8 we learn that not only did the show never bother to adapt her storylines from the books, where she is slated to face Lady Stoneheart and the Brotherhood Without Banners, they gave her no story in replacement. She has no material impact on the storyline of the show, she simply doesn’t matter in any way. The only major storyline they kept from the books was her romance with Jaime Lannister, and in Season 8 they destroy that story in the cruelest possible way.

After emphasizing that Brienne is an adult virgin, they give her one scene with what we thought was her love interest, where they share one kiss. One. Onscreen within seconds of Brienne being naked Jaime looks dissatisfied and unhappy, and in the same episode, leaves her to go back to his traditionally beautiful ex. Leaves her crying and pleading with him to stay. And then her story ends, except for a brief bookend where she writes an entry in the White Book showing she still loved him, even though he abandoned and betrayed her in the worst way possible.

Right now I’d really like to know if anyone involved with this show ever gave a moment’s thought to what it would be like to watch that happen. After years of patiently waiting to get the love story we were promised for five seasons, instead, to humiliate and punish Brienne for daring to think she deserved love. Did anyone ever consider what that would feel like for women like me? If they did think about it, I hope they enjoyed the hurt they caused me, because the way this story played out felt outright malicious and hateful. They could have given me one tender moment, one declaration of love or affection, just to know what it would look like to see that onscreen for a woman like me. Instead they deliberately withheld that. And then went out of their way to invalidate absolutely everything about the storyline we had been watching, as if it had never happened, as if we had imagined it all, and been foolish to believe in it in the first place.

Yes, I know, it’s only a story, but stories matter. We wouldn’t put nearly the effort and investment into them that we do as a culture if they didn’t. My story has never mattered before, and it meant something to me over the last 8 years that someone was telling it. So was this ending intended as a deliberate slap in my face, or was that collateral damage that the show simply did not care about?

The messages sent by our media are sometimes unintentional, but they are usually given at least some consideration. So I wonder what sort of message was trying to be sent by giving the gender non-comforming woman who dared to open her heart an immediate rejection, and have her then swear to serve a celibate organization for the rest of her life? Giving up her inheritance, her island, her own sworn vows to Sansa, and everything else she cared about? Am I meant to regard this as a happy ending, I wonder? Her feelings and dreams don’t matter, but hey, she has a position in the small council, so Girl Power! Was there a single woman anywhere involved in this production who might have pointed out how awful this is?

I understand that what’s done is done and there’s no fixing this, and complaining about it is pointless. But what I really want, what I wish for, is for somebody to confirm that at least at some point this was a love story, and that for whatever reason, network interference or showrunner decision or whatever it was, it was changed at the last minute. Just tell me that at some point the intent was real. To know that would be helpful. Because right now I feel like a stupid chump for ever believing that anybody wanted a woman like me to have a love story, and you cannot imagine how much that hurts.

#braime #brienne of tarth #jaime x brienne

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surveys-at-your-service · 3 years

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Survey #284

“mama, we’re all full of lies / mama, we’re meant for the flies”

When was the last time you changed a lightbulb? About a month or so back I had to change Venus’ heat lamp. Who was the last person you sent an e-mail to? I emailed my older sister the OneDrive link to her holiday pictures I did. When was the last time you visited the dentist? What about the optician? It’s been quite a few months since I went to the dentist for a normal cleaning. I haven’t seen an eye doctor in around a year or so because it’s a less pressing matter, and we can’t afford to buy me new glasses anyway. I desperately need them. Do you sleep on your side, your back or your front? My side, stomach, or like a contortion of both. Would you rather drive or be the passenger? Let me be shotgun controlling the music and I’m set for a long ride. When was the last time you received a handwritten letter? Sara sent me one I think two years ago for my birthday. If you have pets, do you buy them gifts for Christmas or their birthdays? Ha, yes. We don’t know either’s exact birthday though, so we don’t really “celebrate” those. Do you know how to ride a bike? How about ride a skateboard? A bike, yeah. I don’t know how to skateboard, though. Did you get enough sleep last night? How much sleep is enough sleep for you? No. I don’t even know what “enough sleep” is. I’m always tired. What are your favourite condiments? Do you use those often? Ketchup and honey mustard probably top the list, considering they’re the ones I use most. Peanut butter: crunchy or smooth? Do you have a favorite brand? I trust no one who can enjoy crunchy peanut butter. I like Skippy quite a bit. Do you have any life-threatening allergies? No. Have you had to take a COVID test yet? Was it positive or negative? I haven’t needed to take one. Do you think it’s okay to keep cats indoors for their entire lives? They SHOULD be. Cats are very destructive and disruptive predators of once-stable environments. They fuck up the food chain and have done a lot of damage to native populations. This is coming from a person whose house was an absolute NEST for cats to the point they were taken away. They lived outside, and I can only imagine the harm they really caused. Of course, as a kid, I didn’t understand this, but as an educated and experienced adult when it comes to this subject, it’s saddening to look back on. Please, keep your cats inside. AND FIXED. Hence our cat empire lmao. Do you think people should need a license in order to keep animals, just to make sure they knew how to properly take care of them? That would actually be LOVELY. If only. Not that it would entirely prevent illegal ownership, but I like to think most people are law-abiding citizens… Which meal of the day is your favorite? What’s your favorite thing to eat for that meal? BREAKFAST! Cinnamon rolls just gotta top the list. When was the last time you bounced on a trampoline? Would you ever want to go to one of those indoor trampoline parks? It has to have been so, so many years. My knees could NEVER take that now. I’m not interested in that. What’s your favorite thing to put on a baked potato? Butter, American cheese, and bacon bits… yum. Have you ever made money selling stuff online? What was it you were selling? I don’t think so, at least not successfully. Do you have a valid passport? When was the last time you used it? No. What was the last song you sung along to? I’m unsure. I rarely sing along to songs. What was the last piece of fruit you ate? What about the last vegetable? Fruit: apple. Vegetable: ummm I’m actually unsure. Probably broccoli. Have you ever lied to the police or a customs official? Were you ever found out? No. Are you much of a procrastinator, or would you rather get things out of the way so you can relax? I am a HEAVY procrastinator. When was the last time you took an exam of any kind? I don’t know. Probably not since I was in school. What snacks/drinks from your childhood do you wish they still made? Ah man, I know there’s some… just too many to dig through to try and remember. Are you a fan of techno? Yeah, sometimes. Who's your favorite horror movie villain/monster? I don’t particularly like one over the other. What's an 'obsession' of yours that most people would find odd or amusing? Probably how much I love Mark, given that being a “fangirl” is usually seen as juvenile. What's the sweetest thing another person has said or done for you? Probably Colleen letting me live with her while I was homeless for a month or two. Said to me, actually from Colleen’s sister; I was having a crying episode over Jason and she just grabbed my head and told me with such passion that I was so beautiful, strong, and deserved the world. Safe to say I started crying more lmao but at least it wasn’t from sadness. What's the absolute best feeling in the world? Being in love. Does the person you have feelings for know you feel that way? Yeah. Do you like Tim Burton? Um, duh. How do you feel about hypnotism? I don’t believe it works. It’s just the power of suggestion. How do you feel about Pink Floyd? I’m not a big fan, but I like some songs. What’s your preferred way of keeping fit? Is it something you make time to do on a regular basis? You assume I AM fit… but I really am trying to change that with WiiFit again, once the living room is cleaned up. I plan to insert it into my morning routine. Have you ever raised a puppy? Would you want to or would you prefer to adopt an adult rescued dog? Yes, Teddy. Right now I don’t want another dog, but hypothetically, I’d absolutely go for an adult rescue. Who was the last person to come to your house? Were they an expected visitor? My younger sister. Yes. If you work, is your job the same everyday, or does it vary depending on what you have on? N/A Would you ever be interested in owning your own business? Why or why not? Well, I want to be a freelance photographer, so… It’s not off the ground enough for me to *officially* call it a business, but while it’s absolutely so exciting to picture, it’s also very anxiety-inducing, the idea of it (hopefully) getting to that point since I’m dumb as fuck in regards to business stuff. Do you have your driver’s license? If so, did you find it easy or difficult to learn and pass your test? Ugh, I don’t. I need it so badly, I know, but right now, I couldn’t even if I wanted to because my vision is too bad to possibly pass that part, and I can’t afford to see an eye doctor + get a new prescription. If you have pets, how often do you buy them new treats and toys? Venus is a snake, so… yeah, lol. She needs a bigger terrarium, though, but a 40 gallon is expensive. Roman gets a new toy every now and then, but he doesn’t play with them as much anymore. If you had to work a job that required you to do shifts, would you rather work the early, late or night shift? Early. Get it over with. Do you have a favorite type of survey to take? Yeah; I like the ones that make me think or are just questions I definitely haven’t seen before but are also interesting. Some random questions are way too specific to apply to most people. On a typical day, how long do you spend out of the house? Even before the pandemic, usually zero time. Do you live in a close-kit community? Well we’re the new family on the block, so it’s hard to tell quite yet. People were welcoming, though. Do you have a vlog? NOOOOOOOOOO. If not, have you ever considered starting a vlog? No, I would feel WAY too fuckin awkward. Did you go to AM or PM kindergarten? AM. What are your favorite YouTube channels to watch? The whole world knows Markiplier is my true favorite channel, but lately I’ve really been digging pet (particularly reptile or tarantula) channels, Snake Discovery in specific. I’ve been bingeing the fuck outta them. I’ve officially become the “I know more than you” Petco meme lmao. Which relative(s) do you look the most like? Idk. Have you ever watched a live birth video? FUCK no. I never would. That could be so fucking scarring to middle school kids, for Christ’s sake. I’ve never understood why they show them in a lot of health classes. Have you ever given birth? Fuck to the no; never plan to, either. Have you ever wished you were born the opposite gender? Nah. Have you ever worn overalls? Ugh, as a kid. They’re so hideous to me now. If you’re a girl, how old were you when you started your period? I was in the 6th grade, so 11-12. Is your mom mentally stable? I mean she has depression, but otherwise, yeah. What color hair did your first crush have? I can’t really remember who my first crush was with certainty… but I think I might. If I’m right, blond. What was the name of your first crush? ^ in minds, I think Aaron. Did you ever play on Mamamedia.com? Doesn’t ring a bell. Do you remember your first email address? Haha, yeah, it’s still my current one… Did you name your Lego characters? I was more of a Lincoln Logs kid. Do you take medication for anxiety or depression? Both. If so, does it work? Does it help you? Or does it make you feel worse? I’d probably be dead without at least my mood stabilizers. Have you ever had a bag stolen? I don’t believe so. Who was your best friend in high school? Hannia. What book or movie gave you nightmares as a child? Ha, no books or movies, I think, but remember King Ramses from that episode of Courage the Cowardly Dog? Oh, trust me, I HAD NIGHTMARES. What song makes you cry? The most, probably “Eternally Yours” by Motionless In White. I physically cannot listen to it. Does anyone know who your first crush was besides you? Maybe Mom? Idk. How many teachers have you had crushes on? None. Did you make your Barbie dolls get crushes on each other? I actually don’t remember? I don’t think we had any male Barbies, and of course as a little kid raised in the South especially, I didn’t even realize homosexuality was a thing, so we never considered the girls dating. Did your Barbie dolls go on dates? ^ How old were you when you had your first kiss? 16. Do you have scars from self-harm? No, they’re long faded and were thankfully never very severe. Did your hair change at all when you went through puberty? Yep, it gradually turned brown. Are you taller, shorter, or the same height as your mom? We’re the same height. Would you ever consider adopting a child? I don’t want kids, period. The only possible case I see is being a stepmom, but even then I can’t visualize me being one to an actual kid-kid. Just like, maybe a mid-teen and above. Do you trim your own hair? No. What are all the things you remember being for Halloween? I’m very surprised that I don’t remember many at all. I know I was a witch multiple times. What was the name of the first pet that you loved? I adored almost every pet my family has ever had. Our first was a stray cat named Chance we took in. INCREDIBLE animal. What color was your nursery? I have zero clue. Do you exercise regularly? Ugh, no, but I genuinely plan on changing that once the living room is cleaned up and Mom moves into her room. I’m very serious about starting Wii Fit again. I WAS gonna start walking once we moved here, but I found I was too scared to alone. I’m way too paranoid. Do you have a healthy BMI? lol What photo editing software do you use? Lightroom, Photoshop, and very rarely PhotoScape if I’m being lazy with watermarking my photography. Do you live somewhere with lots of livestock or wild animals? Livestock, yeah. You pass cows all the time around here. If you’re in a more wooded area, you’ll find roadkill kinda frequently, sadly. Would you rather live somewhere rural or urban? Rural. It’s the only thing that sucks about our new home – we’re in the suburbs. Is there anything (a hobby, for example) that’s guaranteed to always make you feel better when you’ve had a bad day? Not 100%, really. If the day was truly awful, sometimes nothing helps. If you’re struggling with your mental health, who are you most likely to open up to, or would you bottle it up instead? I vent to my mom the most. What room of your house do you spend the most time in? Is this through choice or necessity? My room, and it’s by choice. The second room that I wanna make my “office” is still LOADED with stuff from moving. If you could design your own garden, what would you have in it? Do you think that dream is ever going to be achievable for you? I don’t want a garden. Does it take you a long time to fall asleep at night? What do you if you’re really struggling to get to sleep? It can take me very, very long. I dread lying down some nights just because I know I’ll be tossing and turning for a good while. If I’ve tried to sleep for a long time to no avail, I do what you shouldn’t do and get back on the laptop. Do you think it’s cruel when people keep exotic animals as pets? Or do you think it’s okay as long as they have the space, time and money to dedicate to them? This depends on the animal and situation. I do believe some rescue cases are justified for the animal’s survival, but as the question mentions, you need to be able to provide adequately for it to be moral imo. I do NOT support exotic pet ownership for the average person. If you eat meat, is there a particular animal you’d never eat? If you don’t eat meat, what’s the reason for it? I could never eat a “pet” animal, nor an animal hunted mostly for sport. Even in survival cases, I’d have a hard time eating a wild animal.

#survey #quiz #questions #questionnaire

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hotcaramelmachiatto · 5 years

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Luffy x Reader

Imagine: Being Luffy's friend when you were children with Sabo and Ace and running into (quite literally) him at Loguetown. He asks you to join his crew!

Pairing: Luffy x fem! close friend! witch! Reader

Warning: fluffy

H/c=hair color | s/c=skin color | y/n/n= your nickname

You sighed, pulling your cloak over shoulders and tucking your wand into your belt. Being the extremely clever witch you were, you had just swindled your way into halfing the price of your ingredients for your next potion. You desperately needed them and if swindling meant using a sleeping spell on the shop owner, then so be it. Your dream was to become the worlds greatest and most powerful witch. As a child, your parents died and you were raised by a small coven of witches who taught you everything you knew.

You smiled softly at the memory of your adopted family until you heard the shop keeper shout at you from the small distance you had put between yourself and the shop of oddities.

"Thief!! Stop her!!!" The shop keeper started yelling and causing a commotion, so you did the most logical thing you could think of.

You ran. Down the alleyway and down the street.

"Shit," you cursed to yourself as you dodged the streetfolk.

Only recently did you get a high bounty, being worth 100,000,000 belly, dead or alive. You attacked a Marine base and managed to flatten the entire building because some oppressive Marines were abusing your little coven. Your witches weren't the strongest but they were kind women with warm hearts. When one of them, Grandmother Poppyseed, refused to comply to their demands any longer, they killed her in front of your eyes. You were so filled with rage that you attacked the Marines for revenge. Not your proudest moment but you don't regret a single thing. You free your coven and gave back the stolen goods the Marines had taken from your fellow witches. But, because of your bounty, you had to leave them. You couldn't make yourself put them in harm's way. So you left to pursue your dream, landing you here. Running from a shop keeper.

You made a sharp turn, hoping to shake anyone who was on your tail, and ran right into someone. Their skin was so . . . . rubbery? Wait. . .

You know this skin. You've felt the rubber before.

"Uuugggghhh. . . what the?" It was. It was Luffy!! You had him sandwiched (hehehehe sand witched) between your bust and the cobblestone ground. "What's goin on?"

"Luffy!! Is it really you?!" You squealed, throwing your arms around him in a tight hug. He rubbed his eyes and looked up at you with a perplexed look on his face before his eyes brightened and shone like the sunlight bouncing off the ocean waters. He wrapped his rubber arms around you three or four times and squeezed, his legs wrapping around your waist, causing the pair of you to roll over giggling like morons.

"Y/n!! Its been so long!! I'm so happy to see you!!" He buried his face in your neck like he always used to and you squeezed him tighter. Its been years since you've seen him. Of course you kept up with the News Coo and read all about him as well as supported him in spirit, but you never thought you'd run into him. Literally.

"Luffy! I can't believe it!" You pulled away just enough to look at him, cupping his cheeks in your hands tenderly. You smirked and squeezed and pulled on them, making him make all kinds of faces.

"Oooowww! Y/n/n at uuurrrtttssss!!!" (That hurts!) He whined and pouted, unhooking his arms around around your curved waist to nurse his cheeks. You two were so lost in each other's world that you completely missed the several stunned faces staring at you. Luffy's Nakama, the Straw Hats, were watching this little reunion in utter confusion.

"Can someone explain to me what the hell is happening? Is- does Luffy have a-?"

"Y/n/n has been my best friend since we were kids! Isn't that right, y/n/n?" Luffy interrupted a beautiful young girl with short orange hair. You nodded in response and wrapped your arms around his shoulders, his hugging your waist.

"Sorry, Lu. I didn't mean to just run into you." You stood up and offered him your hand, to which he took and stood up. You opened your mouth to intoduce yourself until a man with big pink heart eyes and yellow hair threw himself at your feet.

"Oh Y/n-swan!! You're absolutely gorgeous!! Your smooth s/c skin, your h/c hair, your beautiful perfect eyes!! You're perfect!! Please, find it in your heart, marry me!!" He squealed as he took your form in. Your curves, your bust, your long legs. He was practically drooling until the green haired swordsman smacked him with the hilt of one of his . . . three swords?

"Damn ero-cook." He rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Teme!! You dare swear in front of such a lovely woman?!??" The yellow haired man growled, practically on fire. You chuckled and slung an arm over Luffy's shoulders.

"Its all good. I'm Y/n. I knew Luffy when he was a snot nosed brat." You bumped him with his hip and he pouted.

"Its nice to meetcha. Im Nami." The orange haired woman spoke up with a smile. "Ero-cook is named Sanji and the green Morimo is Zoro. That guy is Usopp." She pointed to each guy.

"Hi! I'm Usopp!!" He puffed his chest out to look more manly and you snorted at him. "I'm the strongest sniper you'll ever meet!"

"I'm sure. Its nice to meet you all too." You smiled, resting your hand on your hip.

"What're you doing here, Y/n/n?" Luffy spoke up, tilting his head and making you smile softly at your childhood friend's cuteness.

"I was just doing some shopping for my next potion. I'm hoping to make the first potion that let's devil fruit users able to swim again." You smiled proudly and Luffy's eyes practically popped out of his head.

"NANI?!?!?!" The whole crew exclaimed in unison.

"Its not possible, though! Devil fruit users make the ocean hate them. You couldn't possibly undo something like that." Usopp's jaw looked like it needed to be lifted off the ground with a forklift and you laughed lightly at the sight.

"Do you know how much money you could make if you made one of those?!?" Nami screeched and buried her fingers in her hair.

You shrugged, "Probably a lot. But I'm not interested in the money."

". . . . can I have it then?" Nami pursed her lips in a puppy faced pout that Sanji gushed over and Zoro rolled his eyes at.

"I guess. I'm still in the process of figuring things out but its hard because I dont have anyone to test it on. I'm not a devil fruit user." You peaked into your bag and grabbed your prototype. It was a green and orange thin liquid that sloshed around in the purple vial you had it stored in. "This isn't the final product but with this I got fairly close according to my limited research." You were about to put it away when Luffy took it from your hands.

"Ill test it for you!" He chimed happily, opening the vial. A foul smell came from the green and orange steam that floated out of the vial.

"Luffy, it could be dangerous! Its not-"

Before you could continue further, he doesn't the whole thing and made you facepalm.

"Ew!! Y/n/n, that's gross!!" He stuck his tongue out and made a face. "Now I feel sick." He whined and clutched his stomach.

"She tried to tell you. Baka." Usopp spoke and shook his head and so did the rest of the crew.

"I have some golden ginger root that's really good for stomach aches when you make tea out of it. If you like, I can make some." You offered, shrugging your shoulders.

"Yay!! Y/n/n is coming back to our ship!!" Luffy squealed happily.

"Yay!! Y/n-swan!!!" Sanji squealed along side Luffy. This was perfect. You got to be with Luffy again and you got away from being in trouble.

"You guys go ahead. I need to do some shopping." Nami slung her satchel full of belly over her shoulder.

"Me too," Zoro agreed and started walking off.

"I better go with him to make sure he doesn't get lost." Usopp ran after Zoro and Nami split off as well with a smile and a wave.

"I actually need to get groceries. Luffy, do you remember where we left the ship?" Sanji asked like the responsible adult he really wasn't. But he was the most responsible one left.

". . . . yes." He pouted and held his stomach.

"You don't. Just go that way. Its the Going Merry." Sanji explained to you gently and pointed in the general direction.

"Sounds good. Luffy will recognize her when he sees her." You nod and take Luffy's hand in his, just like when you were kids. "Be safe on your grocery run. Marines are crawling all over this place. We'll be back after a couple of hours." You smile and lead Luffy towards where Sanji pointed. You were a little surprised at how quickly the crew seemed to have trusted you but you assumed it was mostly because you were so close with their captain.

It was a fairly short walk to the Going Merry. You boarded the ship, helping a complaining Luffy to his seat.

"You should know not to drink my potions without asking me first. Remember my fire resistant potion? Your arms had to get all wrapped up." You giggled when you remember Luffy purposely pissing off Ace to make him punch Luffy in the arm and practically light him on fire. You gently smile and bend down so you were shorter than him. "Are you alright? Does it still hurt?"

"You make me feel better, so my tummy is better." He wrapped his arms around your waist and bury his face in your breasts. "Soft~"

"You're such a baby." You giggle and take his hat, putting it on your head. He always let you take his hat without a fuss, but if anyone other than you ever touched his hat he would freak. Softly, your fingers ran through his black locks and massaged his scalp. He let out a small sigh of appreciation and let his muscles and body relax at your touch.

"I missed you, Y/n/n." He spoke up.

"I miss you too, Lu. I'm glad to see you're ok. I got worried when I stopped hearing from you." You pulled on his cheek a little bit, watching it stretch.

"I know. I got my crew and my ship and how all I gotta do is find One Piece and become King of the Pirates." He mumbled into your flesh and squeezed you tightly. "Y/n."

"Hm?" You kissed his forehead sweetly, like you always do when you cuddled when you were children.

"Become my nakama." The way he spoke didn't leave any room for argument.

"Lu, I'm a witch with a big ass bounty on my head. I'm not so sure-"

"My bounty is bigger than yours!! I'm worth 500,000,000!! Zoro is worth 320,000,00!! It doesnt matter. BECOME MY NAKAMA!!!!! AND WHEN THATS OVER BE MY PIRATE QUEEN!!!!!!" He jumped up, his stomach ache forgotten completely. To say you were shocked would be an understatement, but you had no problems with it.

"Ok."

"Yay!!! That was easy. Now, can I have some tea? My tummy hurts." He rubbed his stomach and pouted.

"Luffy, you're such a dumbass." You giggled and got to work boiling the water. ". . . . . Queen of the Pirates, huh?"

Luv: welp. That's a thing I did. It was long. Feel free to leave comments, suggestions, anything! ❤ 😊

#one piece x reader #luffy imagines #luffy #monkey d. luffy #luffy x reader

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