#we are a powerful community and I think it’s time we really proved that | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

moremousewrites · 2 months

Text

The Lesson

Pairing: Gale (bg3) / Tav (Femme Drow)

Summary: Gale and Tav are separated from the group thanks to Gale's impeccable navigation skills. Being a drow , you try to navigate your way back. This proves difficult when Gale is constantly distracting you.

Rating: Explicit

Tags: Smut, multiple orgasms, overstimulation, semi-public sex, vaginal fingering, oral sex, masturbation, eugenics, sexual slavery (mentioned), innappropriate use of language barriers

Gale had never been to the underdark before. This was made clear when he inspected a crevice that seemed to be a “shortcut” back to camp. Being a drow and a former resident of the underdark, you knew all too well he was going to get completely lost. To make matters worse, he had gotten you separated from the rest of the group.

In an attempt to pass the time, Gale asked about your experiences growing up in the underdark, Not wanting to divulge in such problematic history, you explained the properties of Noble Drow magic to him instead. As this was an area of the weave Gale had overlooked, he was giving you his rapt attention.

“The Drow have fey ancestry as you know, but magic is not a given. Through selective breeding and environmental factors, the most powerful magic users can be born and trained in Menzoberranzan” you explained, guiding him through the channels of caves Gale somehow dragged you into.

Gale hung on every word, cautiously avoiding a tinmask mushroom to his side.

“Commoners can develop magical abilities and rise in society. It is what males often pursue if they are not gifted with wealth or strength. Or the Dark Mother's blessing” you explained, nonchalantly.

Gale had noticed your jabs at the male sex before. Though you no longer swore loyalty to Lolth, it seemed that aspect of your culture had not yet been unlearned. He did not mention it as it seemed culturally insensitive to do so.

“Generally, we drow are endowed with many abilities as novices that any human or otherwise would need a lifetime to learn. Especially one so learnéd as yourself” you teased him.

Gale gave you his ridiculous grin. You were not getting under his skin so easily. “Incredible. And the architecture of Menzoberranzan. Is it really supported by magic? I can't imagine how practical that is.” He asked, following your confident strides.

You rolled your eyes. “There is nothing practical about it. It is a land of excess and debauchery. Be grateful I renounced my faith, otherwise I would have enslaved you for mine own pleasure” you sneered, irritated by the topic. You never stopped to think about how much you resented your home. Gale's questions were too sincere and you had enough of them.

There it was, Gale noted, your entitlement. He hated when you spoke this way. You'd hold yourself to a higher standard than the Lolth-sworn but you'd threaten him with your past. It was a very drab game you'd play.

To make matters worse, you were so often a delight to be around. You sacrificed your life for innocents, and prevented unnecessary violence. You could be kind and empathetic, but for some reason you'd just revert back to these ugly habits.

“I didn't mean to pry, Tav. If you want me to drop it, say the word. Unfortunately as a scholar, I feel the urge to educate myself on all aspects of the weave” He explains, trying to subdue your temper. You walk on a ledge and realize he can't follow. Huffing, you look for an alternate route. “I think it's important to know more about the cultures around us. Not just your home but your colony as well. I'm sure it must be an entirely different experience being a part of the Seldarine community-” Gale continued, trying to get your attention.

You cut him off, tired of his voice. “Please I'm looking for the… the…” you trailed off rubbing your temples.

Gale raised a brow, curious. “The..?”

“I don't know the word in your tongue. It's maybe only in Drowic” you took a deep breath and tried to think of how to say it. “like a cave but small and for falling”

“A hole?” Gale asked, amused. You never had trouble with common before. In fact, you'd sometimes take to mimicking him so accurately it would cause him distress.

“No no. It's called a…” you said the word but it was foreign to Gale. The sound of it rolling off your tongue was beautiful to him, in an odd way. Like a distant rolling thunder might be soothing.

Gale shrugged and you groaned, running curses in deep drow. The passion in your voice mixed with the fluency in which you spoke stirred something in Gale and he had to sit down.

“What's wrong? We need to get back to camp” you insisted.

“Oh nothing, just my knee acting up. Could you teach me something in that language?” he asked, folding his robes over his lap.

You pinched the bridge of your nose in agitation.

“No. We need to leave” you grabbed him by the arm and tugged at him but he wouldn't budge.

You tugged again, exasperated but he sat planted on the rocky surface.

“Just teach me one thing and I'll get up” he encouraged you, cherishing the feeling of your touch on his arm.

You were trying not to yell at him now. “Fine, repeat after me” you taught him how to pronounce a rather derogatory word in High Drow. It was an insult towards unexceptional males who an individual might deem culling.

Gale seemed very proud of himself when he was able to learn it after a few tries. You found the concept funny enough to not bother chastising him for being wrong.

“What does it mean?” He asked, shuffling his legs.

His face looked so pure, it annoyed you. What was he expecting from your little language lesson? You explained the phrase to him. He did not react.

“You're not mad?” You asked, irritated by his composure.

“Was I supposed to be?” He asked, leaning closer to you. You realized your hands were still gripping his arm.

You studied him; he'd be an insufficient male for mating. His human heritage was unforgivable of course but his that was nothing to speak of his lack of innate magical abilities and obvious self esteem issues. But you were no longer the ideal candidate for breeding either. You were a Seldarine drow and the standards of Menzoberranzan no longer needed to apply to you.

Taking interest in Gale felt wrong. It felt forbidden. But his arm was surprisingly solid in your hands and his gaze was fixed on your lips.

“Gale, I-” you started

He cut you off before you could say anything one way or another. “Whatever you have to say, please say it in Drowic” he insisted.

[This is a bad idea, Gale] you said, trying to convince yourself more than him. His cock twitched when you spoke his name.

“Keep talking” he leaned in, pressing a kiss beneath your jaw. Your grip tightened on his arm but you didn't pull away.

[We're incompatible, you're unworthy, I would demean myself by indulging you] you continued, breathless.

Gale's kisses traveled lower down to your collarbone, his hand gripping your thigh. You moaned at his touch, leaning into him. Gale moved to unlace your pants, sliding his hand inside and palming your clothed cunt.

[Gale, please. I need more] you panted out, grinding against his firm palm.

“I don't know what you're saying but I do love how you say my name. Please continue” he encouraged you by slipping one finger inside you.

You whined at the intrusion, noticing how wet you'd become. You'd started repeating his name as a plea for more but he wouldn't move.

“Ah, Tav it is lovely to hear my name on your tongue but I want to hear your native language. You have no idea the effect it has on me. Keep going, please” he toyed with you, pushing your hip back with his free hand.

Desperate for relief you cry out for him. [Please Gale I need you I need your touch. Fill me, take me I'm yours PLEASE] you begged.

Satisfied with your oration, Gale pumped his finger in and out of you slowly, drawing out your pleasure. His maneuvers were torture. He curled his finger upwards, pressing into you causing you to cry out in bliss.

You kept rambling, not knowing what you were saying by now but afraid he would stop if you were silent. When you moaned his name again, he pressed his thumb against your swollen clit and placed circular motions. It took all but seconds before you were coming undone in his touch. He was very skilled with his hands. “That was phenomenal. Please, indulge me more” he said, removing his hand from your lap.

“I'm running out of things to say” you panted, looking at him through lidded eyes. But he was kneeling before you and pulling at your waistband.

When he peeled the pants from your legs and saw your naked cunt, he looked like a feral animal ready to pounce.“I'm sure you'll figure something out” he leaned in close to your core but stopped just until you felt his breath on your folds. “Is this what you want?” He looked up to you, making sure you were alright.

You nodded your head yes. [Devour me]

Gale wasted no time after your permission. He snaked his hands behind your rear and pulled you forward to his mouth.You gasped as he licked the flat of his tongue against your folds. Bracing yourself against the stone surface beneath you, you pressed your hips further into his mouth. Gale grabbed your thighs, holding you in place. He took mercy on you and began lashing your clit with his tongue. His name was a chant, echoing in the cavern you occupied. You opened your eyes to look upon him feasting on you, wildly. You couldn't have predicted this meek, bumbling male to be so dextrous yet here he was proving you completely ignorant.

Your second orgasm was creeping up on you. Wanting to communicate this, you tried to warn the wizard. “I'm nearly there”

Gale removed his mouth from you at once. You nearly kicked him. “In Drowic, Tav” he ordered in a stern voice.

[In my tongue you would honour me as ‘mistress’] you hissed at him through High Drow. Gale noted the tone and did not continue his ministrations. You rolled your eyes. [Please let me finish. I've been good, it's not fair] you pouted, feeling restless.

“I think I heard please” he chuckled and went back to his exacting pace.

You threw your head back in relief. It was quick work bringing you back to the edge of your climax. Your eyes were shut tight until you heard a fast shuffling sound.

Opening your eyes, you saw Gale had loosened his trousers and was furiously stroking his cock. The scene was delicious.

This time, you did not bother to warn him as you came. The orgasm shot through your whole body, so powerful you thought he might have triggered your fey magic. The taste of you on his tongue mixed with your moans and shuddering body was enough to send Gale over the edge.

He rubbed himself through his orgasm, licking you through yours. You squeezed your thighs around his head when he continued well past oversensitivity.

“Please I can't give another” you pushed his forehead and he pushed his tongue into you, making you squeal in ecstasy.

Dragging his tongue out of you, he placed kisses on the inside of your thigh. You slowly opened your thighs to release his head, unsure if he'd continue attacking your cunt or relinquish you finally. He pressed one last kiss into the meat of your thigh and tucked his manhood away. It seemed he was going to be merciful.

“Are you alright?” He asked, helping you pull your pants back on. They were still soaked from your initial climax.

“May I speak common now?” You asked, drunk on lust.

Gale felt especially proud of you seeking his permission. It seemed he'd earned your respect. “Yes, you may” he offered you some water and you shook your head ‘no’.

“I underestimated you, wizard. You have many talents that I can appreciate. You would be a welcome courtesan in any noble house” you teased, knocking your knee against his as he sat next to you.

“Ah yes, a very tempting position. I'm surprised you ever left. It seems Menzoberranzan is quite dear to you still” Gale said, challenging you.

“Perhaps I was too quick to judge you, Gale. I have much to unlearn from the conditioning of my culture. In any case, you're a fine educator”

“Well I appreciate that, Tav. And thank you on the oral lessons as well”

#bg3 #bg3 fanfic #bg3 fanfiction #gale dekarios #gale of waterdeep #bg3 gale #gale x tav #gale x reader

131 notes · View notes

incorrect-jojolands-quotes · 1 month

Text

Hot take but I think what we saw in chapter 13 was necessary.

I don't think a lot of people realize how important it is for Araki to portray what he did, even if it extremely difficult to take in. Let me explain.

Araki has discussed about topics like racial and class disparity through both Steel Ball Run and Jojolion, but JOJOLands is different because the discussions are now very direct. We had Chapter 1 open up with police brutality and Chapter 13 open with intense bullying; both acts were committed by people of higher social standing/power and seemingly White (or white passing) and both are harming a dark-skinned queer individual. Not only that, remember that Hawai'i is an island stolen and colonized by the US and many indigenous individuals who were supposed to live and maintain kapu are being forced to endure housing problems, loss of culture, etc. due to gentrification and exploitation of its lands. 2020 was when we saw global protest towards the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor due to police brutality, which has spread as far as Japan in terms of demonstrations and rallies. Araki has made it clear that he tries to take real world experience into his writing, and this is no different. He is also no stranger to portraying law enforcement throughout his parts without glorifying or downplaying their behavior.

As a mutual of mine (who themselves identify as a black GNC individual based in US) has put it, those who identify or even appear as Black while identifying as trans-femme or women are subjected to some of the worse kinds of oppression possible in America. Queer women of Color are one of the most susceptible to sexual violence-- especially when they are young, and the darkness of their skin really plays into it. This is transmisogynoir; it is a hard pill to swallow and acknowledge, even if it feels excessive, and its a multilayer of oppression that connects a person's racial identity, gender, and sexuality as targets of discrimination. It's the fact that one is POC, a woman, AND queer that makes one a target--- not just one or the other. You can’t turn a blind eye to this because it happen constantly throughout America's history and American society even today, but you can't simply water it down or downplay it. In fact, many victims of transmisogynoir have no choice but to downplay their experiences because of their Black identities or because they appear too dark to be taken seriously; when they, especially if they are Black, try to hold people in power accountable, these individuals are suddenly labeled aggressive, indignant, etc. and they are further discriminated for attempting to speak up. Dragona downplaying the bullying isn't them just trying to avoid further conflict but a reflection of how many who were in similar situations like Dragona are forced to simply forgive and forget the trauma they have to endure. To downplay it ourselves is reinforcing the narrative that individuals like Dragona in real life should remain silent and endure their harassment rather than rightfully protect themselves and others from it.

Another thing to add is that the way Japan portrays and treats the LGBTQ community, particularly the trans community. In Japan, the process to legally change your gender is complicated and requires a lot of steps that include, but not limited to, being diagnosed with gender identity disorder, proving you have no kids/guardianships, and sterilization. This causes a lot of individuals to be forced to quickly transition as a means of getting their gender recognized, which takes away the time to let them explore at their own pace, and this is due to how the process can lead to hindering career and life opportunities that wouldn't be hindered had they already transitioned or stayed closeted. Many Japanese trans individuals unable to go through the process quickly either remain closeted or move away from Japan to transition at their own pace. So, as a result, the trans community and its struggles is not as noticed compared to outside of Japan. Another thing to add is that the trans community in Japanese media is often portrayed as comedic relief or a gag. Oftentimes, the trans character or character who diverts from gender conformity (i.e cross-dressing, acting more flamboyant) is the butt of the jokes. Some thing to note is that, when Dragona was first introduced, a lot of people thought that Araki put Dragona in simply for comedic purposes. I had people joke about how Dragona is just there because they believed Araki is trolling. Not only that, the racial issues that Japan has often results in jokes towards non-Japanese individuals in media, especially if they are of darker skin color.

So, Araki putting Dragona in these difficult situations is also meant to subvert expectations that his Japanese, and possibly Western, audience may be expecting. The expectation was to laugh and toss Dragona aside as a single-dimensional character, but Araki instead forced us to face the trauma through Dragona's experience head-on. We are made aware of Dragona's situation, how real and difficult the struggle is, and we end up emphasizing with it rather than laughing at it. Through this, we get a glimpse into real life experiences of trans POCs without it being downplayed and have it show how Dragona is a fleshed-out character with importance to the series. As some have put it, this chapter proved that Dragona isn't just a side character but arguably a complex individual on the same level of importance as Jodio. I don't think it would have been easy to have the same impact if another approach was taken.

While talking to others who identify as trans and/or GNC about their thoughts on the chapter, I was told by many of them that, while Dragona's experience hits close to home and was hard to digest, they appreciate seeing it being expressed and hope it will help other people understand their struggles. One noted how the introduction of Smooth Operators with the backstory as empowering, seeing the Stand as a symbol of surviving the trauma that comes with trans discrimination. I do find this a bit telling with how many people online who are against Araki's portrayal barely mention what trans/GNC people have said about it.

My main concern, as well as what I see people have rightfully critiqued, is the excessive trauma reinforcing the fetishization and violent voyeurism towards trans individuals; it also reinforces the problematic narrative that dysmorphia can only happen as a result of trauma and the trans experience can only be full of pain. There's also the issue that Dragona's experience also happened while they were under age and their harassment is similar to that of Lucy. It's a common trope in Western media to put marginalized people into these situations while upping the ante simply for clicks and pleasure, and even worse when the character portrayed is a minor. As I reiterate, it is a very uncomfortable chapter to read and I don't find it enjoyable at the slightest. Just because I understand why it is necessary doesn't mean I condone the approach done. I also understand Araki as a Japanese man can only relate and portray a queer American's experience to an extent. But, at the same time, the exposure was necessary because it gives us the awareness and a voice to trans people that is lacking within media even today. We need to be aware and acknowledge what our BIPOC trans community goes through as a means of being better humans--- and especially our younger community members. We need to make our society safer for them so they can thrive and have the respect they deserve. Oftentimes, that starts with how they are portrayed and how their experiences are portrayed. While it is still a journey and not every representation will be perfect, we can't simply toss it aside and bash those who try to show something realistic just because it is uncomfortable.

I only hope that Araki wrote Dragona and these scenes as a result of doing extensive research and reaching out to actual POC queer individuals, particularly transfemmes/women, to understand their experiences and have their blessings to use their words to shape Dragona. I feel like that would show that Araki was serious about discussing these issues through his characters rather than simply using Dragona's traumatic experience it for entertainment. I have higher expectations for Araki now, knowing that it may not be the last time he shows a character experience harassment and possibly have Dragona be harassed again, so I will keep my eyes open for this.

#the jojolands #this is my first time making a long ass serious post about this so i hope my message is well put #i understand that not everyone will agree and that my view is limited due to experiences so i do apologize if my message was incorrect #i wrote this after discussing this with trans/gnc individuals about their thoughts of chapter 13 and noticed how there's discourse on it #obviously please listen to BIPOC voices especially from those who also identify as queer. many told me they appreciate chapter 13's rawness #i'm also going to use this time to read up and learn more about the trans community and BIPOC community #so feel free to send me stuff to read up on as well #but yea my two cents

67 notes · View notes

iamsonormalaboutninjago · 4 months

Text

Making this a full post cause it deserves to be said:

TL:DR at bottom

A lot of the tumblr community is pro queer and progressive but why are they so violently against redemptions???

Seriously I’ve noticed a mind boggling amount of people who are dying on the hill that Harumi should rot in prison.

Do they even watch the same show?? Why are they dividing people into “evil” and “good” categories like that??? Ninjago has shown multiple times that people are complex and multi dimensional.

Flintlocke was just following the captain that he loved so much and trusted like a brother, Morro was consumed by a desperation to prove himself, Cyrus Borg hid the overlord virus from everyone, the dragon hunters were just scared by Iron Barons rule, The Ice Emperor was manipulated by Vex, Unagami was confused and angry by his abandonment, the Keepers were just doing their job, Ronin was trying to pay back his debt (and maybe support his family), Pythor used to be a power hungry jerk but being trapped in the tomb made him realize it meant nothing being a king or getting revenge, Garmadon before resurrection loved his son very dearly but was consumed by urges to destroy and infect others with his curse. And most importantly…

Lloyd was a spoiled brat child who wanted to hurt people and cause mayhem until Wu finally caught him. Yes he wasn’t a terrorist and was a kid but so was Harumi when she turned. They were the same age, around 10, when they were affected by the serpentine.

As well. All of the Harumi fans I know want Harumi to get a proper redemption. One where they pay for their crimes and feel horrible about what they’ve done. Where they’re forced to live in the real world and not some delusion that they created when they were young and angry. I want Harumi to cry and feel like shit for murder and terrorism. I really would hate if Roots was the end of her story and her redemption! She’s gotta show that she’s changed and is a different person in order to be fully redeemed in my eyes. I like a lot of others just want her to have a chance at redemption, not accept her as being redeemed immediately.

TL:DR: Ninjago has a plethora of people who start out evil but change and redeem themselves. So why is Harumi singled out? I believe Harumi hasn’t redeemed herself canonically yet and has to go through a lot of pain and growth before that can happen. But If anyone thinks that Harumi doesn’t deserve redemption then neither does Lloyd or Scales or Faith or Morro or Garmadon.

We can’t forget that in the could be canon Splinter in the Blind Man’s Eye story Lloyd claims that Morro gave him the most trauma, because he committed atrocities in his own body. He never even says he has nightmares about Harumi!! Which he has a lot of damn nightmares!

Lloyd was brought to the good side because Wu gave him a chance and believed that he was good, and Lloyd did the exact same to Harumi. “The best way to defeat your enemy, is to make them your friend”…

#ninjago #lloyd ninjago #dragons rising #ninjago dragons rising #ninjago harumi #normalness: explaining harumi #ninjago crystallized #in defense of crystalized

99 notes · View notes

bengiyo · 3 months

Text

Cherry Magic TH Ep 9 Stray Thoughts

Last week sucked. The boss tried to break up the boys, arguing that it harms productivity. Karan insisted on proving their work by meeting an unreasonable sales target, and ended up going back to the client that molested him previously. The boss showed up after a second assault had occured only to throw away the contract because of the humiliation. It was gross and stupid. Anyway, Achi revealed his powers, and Min and Jinta had a really cute moment over a Lego set.

I'm glad we're picking up at the reveal. This power always makes me wonder because I don't think in sentences in my head.

Amazing, Karan. He zeroed in on the most important information: Achi has known how sincere his feelings are for a while, so they can progress.

We are moving into the correct apartment this time!!

Goddamn Tay Tawan is beautiful. I'm having fun with Karan using the powers to touch Achi more.

Back to back ads. At least this one is horny.

This bed scene is so cute. I like Karan accepting the reality of this and just running with it.

Achi wearing the pajamas is still a great costuming choice.

New merch available in the GMMTV store!

Poor Rock. He didn't know!

I really love that Achi and Jinta made a promise to celebrate the success of his work. This is so great.

Jinta being inspired by them is a much cooler outcome. I also love Karan picking up on their telepathy, and Jinta reassuring him that he and Achi are just friends.

Newwie is so fucking big like whoa. Look at those arms. Look at those thighs.

Oh this is a great hug. I like that this version of Achi talks to Karan more.

I love Jinta so much. Like Tsuge, there is no shame in this man.

Yes, Min, chase his goofy ass down!

I still don't like the boss.

Oh, poor Achi. A month isn't actually that long, but this is all new for him.

Now, Rock, you gotta communicate with fujos in terms they understand.

Achi, please tell him about the assignment.

Damn, the boss already took that chance from Achi.

I really love the way Karan knowing about the power is leading to better communication between them, and allowing Achi the equity to express his anxieties.

I'm actually excited about the separation this time!

Oh, thank you TayNew for reminding us that you two are very willing to go there with each other. I have needed to see these two kiss forever. Count your fucking days, Cherry Magic Anime.

I'm so relieved that we came back on a good episode. I was worried about this show after last week's debacle, but this is all really fucking good. I love that the reveal of Achi's powers only helped him in his relationship with Karan. There's something so special about a man being thrilled that his gay love thoughts reached the person they were intended for and received the way they were intended. I love that so much of this episode was about Achi taking a step forward in his life. He expressed his desire to grow professionally and is taking that leap with the support of his boyfriend, and he took a step forward romantically by kissing Karan twice. I love that Jinta was inspired to take a step forward with Min, and Min didn't let him run away before completing the confession. We even got further confirmation that Pai is not romantically inclined at all right now. Fantastic episode.

#Ben watches #cherry magic #cherry magic th #cherry magic thailand

86 notes · View notes

bobgasm · 1 month

Text

unholy | r.a

pairing: single dad!rhett abbott x ofc!faith jones word count: 7639 warnings: establish relationship, fluff, high school reunion, drinking, mentions of murder/cover up, age gap [23/31] smut, nsfw [18+ only], sex in the chapel, slightly religious undertones, semi-public sex, unprotected p in v, rhett has a breeding kink [so does faith], daddy kink, pregnancy kink, bull riding [not rhett], sex in a field, rhett gets choked,

summary: in which rhett’s daughters meddle once again and it sees him and miss faith making an appearance at his high school reunion

author’s note: inspired by unholy by miley cyrus. a huge thank you to my bby morgan (@attapullman) who listened to me rant and rave about these characters and helped me create this cute lil family 🥰

tlhc oneshot | masterlist

Rhett had done his best to hide the invitation to his high school reunion, but with a pair of nosey twin daughters and a girlfriend who was just as curious, he wasn’t surprised when they sat him down to question him about it.

His girlfriend, Faith, was a little more understanding of his reservations. He’d started to build a great life outside of Wabang, and to dig up some of those old memories would be hard. He was still the younger brother of Perry Abbott, the man who’d murdered his wife, and the youngest son of Royal Abbott, who’d helped him cover it up. While he was working on building bridges to accept his family, but also prove he wasn’t like them, to be put in a place where that was all anyone seemed to care about…yeah, he wasn’t excited in the least.

Still, his daughters persisted. Eventually, they convinced Faith it would be good for them both. Describing exactly what dress she should wear to the gathering, while still in discussion about what Rhett should wear.

“Amy said it’s all anyone in town is talking about,” TJ gushed, immediately looking at Hannah for confirmation.

“Don’t you want to see your old friends?” Hannah asked.

At nine, the twins were relentless. Stubborn just like their father, and passionate for things they cared about. Rhett couldn’t fault it, he really couldn’t. He only had himself to blame. He was kind and loving and patient with them, everything Royal wasn’t. When he was upset, he let his fists do the talking. Rhett made sure he communicated his feelings and that he was never mad or upset with them, that he would always love them.

It was important to him that they knew nothing but adoration and support from their father. That they could talk to him about their feelings and he would do his best to help them find a solution. Even when they were mad at him he would still tell them he loved them and kiss them goodnight.

“You’ve made some good points, but ultimately I think it’s time we let dad think about it,” Faith stepped in. Rhett cast her a grateful look before smiling at his daughters.

“You promise to actually think about it?” Hannah stared him down pointedly, hands on her hips.

“I promise,” he assured her. “Go brush your teeth. I’ll be in t’ check on you both shortly.”

They did as they were asked, leaving Faith to handle the dad situation for them. She’d told them she was only onboard if Rhett was, but they didn’t know she had a little more persuasion than them. Leaning into his side a little more, pressing a kiss to his cheek, a couple days worth of stubble scratching her lips.

“They know how closed off you used to be. They’ve seen you making progress with the other mom’s and dad’s, and just want to see you take back your life,” she told him softly.

He rumbled out a sigh, running a hand through his hair. “The first two sentences are them. The bit about takin’ back my life? That’s your words,” he muttered.

“No, they’re yours,” she corrected him. “They’re what you said to me after all that shit came out about who my dad is, and the state I worked myself into trying to imagine how you’d react to it all. People are going to talk about it whether you go or not, Rhett. It’s whether you want the power to control the narrative, or let them come to their own wrongful conclusions about your lack of attendance.”

“I jus’ don’t want any more bad attention brought t’ Ma or Amy,” he said, closing his eyes as she cupped his cheek and placed a soft kiss to his forehead.

“Quit worrying, cowboy,” she soothed. “Let’s go say goodnight to the girls, hm?”

In the weeks leading up to the reunion, Rhett completely forgot about it. He admitted to Faith when he’d responded that he’d be in attendance with his girlfriend, she’d marked it on the calendar and organised with Cece for her to have the girls that night.

The plan was to be in Wabang by mid afternoon so Rhett and Faith could get ready. The girls were thrilled he’d agreed to go, and had taken it upon themselves to find an outfit for him that would match Faith’s. She’d found a cute tulip shaped dress that was more red than it was rusty orange, but the suit they wanted him to wear was the perfect match. A dark green piece that they wanted him to wear with a white shirt underneath.

Faith had picked out a simple silver chain to wear with it as well. The grouchy man shot down every idea for some rings or a watch, but he allowed the necklace. All three of his girls were more than happy he’d even agreed to that.

Rhett let the girls help him get ready, like they had done previously for his first few dates with Faith. They liked that he let them fuss with his hair without any complaints, even though they knew he’d constantly run his hands through it. He felt naked without a hat keeping his hair from falling in his face, but a hat wasn’t an option, apparently.

Overdressed and out of place, he knew they’d both stick out like a sore thumb. Wabang wasn’t the kind of place where people dressed up unless it was for church, and even then, cowboy hats and boots were the norm. He felt awkward, and knew he’d want to change into something he felt more comfortable in, so he kept a change of clothes of himself and Faith in his truck. If they were enjoying themselves, they could change and head to the bar like he knew everyone would do. He wanted to make sure to be prepared for every outcome. And if they weren’t having a good time, they could leave and head back to the Abbott ranch.

He indulged Cece with conversation while Amy and the twins checked on Faith. Since Faith had joined his little family unit, he’d made more of an effort to be around his mom. He wasn’t the only one betrayed by what Perry and Royal had done. He’d slowly come to realise that and had apologised to her one night about closing himself off.

Cece had understood, of course she had, but to her it felt like she’d lost all of her family. She was left to raise Amy while Rhett moved away to raise his own daughters. He came by almost every weekend so they all had some kind of relationship, but it was tense. Amy doted on the twins, loving that she had baby cousins, and Cece appreciated that she had a relationship with all of her grandchildren. But she missed her son. She watched him grow into an amazing parent without much help from her, and it hurt.

It had taken a long time to get back to a good place where they could talk freely to each other, without it ending in an argument. They both knew Faith had been the one who’d brought them back together, so it only made sense that Cece was the first person who knew Rhett wanted to marry her.

She’d seen it from their first interaction. The way she loved his daughters like they were her own. The love and wonder that shone in his eyes whenever he looked at her, like he couldn’t believe his luck. It had meant so much to Cece that she had her son back, and she’d expressed her love for Faith to him. Telling him that she brought him out of his comfort zone and challenged him in the best way, and without her, it might’ve taken longer for them to grow close again.

She didn’t know when Rhett was going to propose, but she told him that the girls needed to be involved. They were the ones who set them up, after all. If it weren’t for their meddling, he never would’ve found her.

Rhett knew he was lucky. He counted his blessings every day. Waking up next to a woman who loved him and his kids was something he’d lost hope at finding a long time ago.

His nerves for the reunion were more for the big reveal of what Faith was wearing, if he was being honest. He knew she was going to look beautiful no matter what, but when Amy, Hannah and TJ announced that she was coming downstairs, his palms started sweating. He imagined this feeling would be ten times worse at their own wedding, but it only made his excitement bubble that much more.

Faith Abbott. He didn’t even need to ask, he knew the answer would be a resounding yes.

As Faith made her way downstairs, she met Rhett’s eye and beamed brightly at him. He wondered if he looked starstruck, because he definitely felt like there was a stupid look on his face. Breath caught in his throat as she posed on the stairs for a couple of photos the twins insisted on.

“Doesn’t she look beautiful, daddy?”

Rhett could tell you every discernible difference between his identical twin daughters, but at that moment, he had no idea who asked him. And honestly, all he could do was dumbly nod and try to swallow the lump in his throat.

“Yeah, she does,” he agreed, taking her into his arms and stealing her breath away with a kiss. “Absolutely stunning.”

“Surprised the stetson hasn’t made an appearance,” Faith teased, swiping some lipstick from his mouth with her thumb.

“We hid it,” Amy stated proudly. Rhett had found it and thrown it in the back of the truck for safe keeping. Not that he didn’t trust them, but he didn’t like to go far without it.

Faith thanked her for her help while Cece gushed about how gorgeous they both looked, insisting on a couple of photos of them together.

“C’mon Ma, it’s not like we’re off t’ prom,” Rhett fussed.

“You didn’t go t’ prom,” she pointed out. “You ditched t’ go t’ a tailgate.”

Faith grinned. “Please, just a couple for me?”

He’d do anything she asked, folding almost immediately. Keeping his arm around her waist as she helped him pose and settle against him. Cece and the girls all took a few quick photos and instructed them how to pose. Even with Rhett’s grumbling, he obliged. Eventually insisting they were going to be late, kissing the girls on their cheeks before ushering Faith out the door and into his truck.

Faith asked if there were any people he wanted to see, holding his hand as they drove down the dirt road. She saw his jaw tense and his grip tighten in hers.

“We don’t have to stay long,” she assured him. “We can ditch it if you’re not having a good time…get drunk at a bar instead.”

He smiled, raising her hand to his lips and pressing a kiss to her knuckles. “You look too good t’ go t’ a dinky ol’ country bar, Lil Lady.”

He wasn’t about to reveal that he’d thought of every outcome. Used to his kids getting messy or hating being so dressed up, it was second nature to bring extra clothes. He didn’t want Faith to think he didn’t appreciate the effort she’d put into her outfit tonight. She looked good, so good that he wanted to show her off. So good that he’d planned to take advantage of her in that outfit, and he knew she’d be more than willing.

“Thanks, Handsome Cowboy.”

When they arrived at the highschool, Rhett was out of the truck and walking to the other side to help Faith out. She was used to his old school chivalry. Waiting patiently with a smile for him to get to her door and help her out, large hands settled comfortably on her hips as he brought her to the ground. She indulged him in a kiss, slow and sweet.

“Y’ready?” He asked her, bumping his nose against hers.

“Are you?”

Rhett chuckled softly. “No, but we’re here, may as well get it over with, hm?”

He kissed her once again, slipping his hand into hers and leading her toward the school. He hadn’t told Faith much about his school experience, but then again, it wasn’t much to write home about. He showed up, did what he needed to do, and socialised a little. Enough that people knew who he was, but that was a given in a small place like Wabang.

He kept to himself – school wasn’t for everyone. When Rebecca, Perry’s wife, went missing during his senior year, everyone started looking at him differently. They’d whisper about her disappearance and throw looks of pity his way.

Of course, when it came out a few years later that Perry had been responsible for her disappearance and subsequent murder, the looks of pity turned into looks of disgust. Then word got around that Royal had helped him cover it up.

Rhett had been dealing with a lot at that time. His daughters had just turned one, he was at the crux of his career in bull riding, and he was winning every event he had. The shit with his family had thrown a spanner in the works and he’d had a particularly bad ride one night, made worse by the news that the girls’ mom had been involved in a car accident…he was a mess. Barely scraping the bottom of the barrel to hold his shit together, but assuming that his daughters had been in the wreck too.

Cecelia had watched from the stand as Rhett took the call. She knew something horrible had happened, so had told Amy to run to the truck and get it started, she’d grab Rhett. He hadn’t even thought that his mom would give a shit, so when she’d grabbed him and told him to pull it together until he had all the information, he understood a little bit more about how she was dealing with everything.

Cece knew how to prioritise. She had gone through hell and back with Perry and Royal, but Rhett needed her. He’d never ask for her help, so if she told him how things were going to work, he’d listen. She pulled herself together in a moment where their worlds had fallen apart, but the punches kept coming. She helped him keep a steady head until they had all the information.

Rhett had never been more grateful, but it took him years to properly understand that was what a parent did. That was what Royal had done for Perry, in their own fucked up way. Cece had been the rock that Rhett needed in a very difficult time, and he had no idea. Still a kid himself, trying to juggle his sister in law’s murder, his career, and becoming a parent, he was barely keeping his head above water.

His daughters had been left with a friend of their biological mother, Sally, who’d been drunk and gone out to get more alcohol. She’d caused a huge crash and her car had gone through the barrier on the bridge. The officer said it would’ve been over very quickly, but they couldn’t locate the babies after finding empty car seats.

Rhett had called everyone he knew trying to find his daughters. Eventually, one of the nurses answered the phone belonging to Sally and passed it to Rhett. He’d sobbed in relief that someone was with them – that they were okay, and had to break the news that Sally had died.

They’d been through a lot in their short lives, but he did everything he could to make sure they had the best upbringing they could. Giving up his dream to become a professional bull rider and prioritising their happiness over his own.

It was how he ended up meeting Faith, by his daughters insisting he start dating. They weren’t oblivious to their friends’ parents gossiping about their dad. They played like they never heard them and ignored their prying questions until they had enough information gathered to sit him down and give him a presentation. It contained the type of woman they thought he’d like, the kind of dates they could go on, and Rhett had been shocked. He’d kind of expected, from their prior questioning, that they wanted him to start dating. He never anticipated they’d take matters into their own hands, however.

They’d been his biggest supporters when Faith started coming around more. They adored her, and she adored them. She even made it known to Rhett that they didn’t have to have one on one dates all the time, and that they were part of his life. She wanted to get to know them better too. That kind of effort was what the other women lacked – they only wanted one night of fun, and he was well over that part of his life.

The effort was so attractive to him, that he wasn’t surprised he fell head over heels in love with her. He realised it one morning when Faith hadn’t left for work early, and had instead made them all breakfast and was helping do the girls’ hair. He could see his little family was so happy and whole, having found their missing piece.

His point was proved when the girls sat them both down a couple weeks ago and gave them another presentation on why Faith should be their mom officially and marry their dad, but also give them more siblings. Faith had asked him later that night if he’d let her finish her study first before they tried to expand their family. Her exact words were, “give me a year and then I’ll let you put a baby in me.”

Rhett had never heard anything so sexy.

He could wait a year. He’d already waited long enough to find her, so a year to let her finish her study was nothing. Plus, she was excited as he was to grow their family. That knowledge alone was more than enough reassurance that she wasn’t going anywhere.

Rhett showed Faith around the school. Showing her his favourite places to hide when he had a class that he wasn’t interested in a subject. Eventually, they made their way to the gymnasium. He expected they’d be the most dressed up, but it turned out they fit right in. He recognised a few people, some of the guys still wearing their hat or boots.

“You want a drink?” He asked Faith, feeling her squeeze his hand as she smiled at him.

“Sounds good.”

They quickly got themselves some drinks, mingling with a few people who were excited to see Rhett. He introduced them to Faith and she happily chatted away to them. Loving getting to know everyone, and sharing what she did for work and how they met.

Everyone Faith spoke to was lovely, but it was exhausting work. She asked Rhett a couple times to get her a fresh drink, earning a kiss on the cheek before he dutifully obliged, grateful for the brief intermission it gave him. Talking himself up wasn’t something he liked to do, but he was proud of how far he’d come from being that young kid. Faith sang his praises whenever she could, enjoying the chance to brag. She loved her little family and she wanted everyone to know.

As the night went on and more drinks were consumed, they’d been pulled in for a few photos with some of Rhett’s old friends. Faith was glad to see Rhett had loosened up a bit and was enjoying himself. Sending smiles her way or drawing her near to steal a kiss.

PDA wasn’t typically his thing. She didn’t mind at all because they were usually accompanied by their kids, but she loved seeing this side of him. This man was so proud to call her his girl that he made sure everyone knew it. He told everyone she was studying to be a Social Worker, specialising with youths. She loved teaching swimming, “that’s how we met, you know,” and she was a huge part of the community.

He didn’t miss the way her look had changed from adoring to sultry, like she’d have her way with him right there if he didn’t shut up soon. She turned the lull in conversation in her favour, excusing herself to the bathroom. Rhett would find her, he always did.

“You should come to the new bar in town.” Rhett barely registers who’s talking, nodding in agreement. Too preoccupied with Faith and where she’d disappeared to for him to care about anything else.

She wanted him, and he wanted her just as badly.

He found himself asking where it was. Wabang was familiar in some aspects, but new developers meant buildings had been built on land he knew used to belong to other families. With the information barely stored, he says they’ll be there. Excusing himself with a polite nod of his head as he exited the gymnasium.

He bypassed the bathroom with a few people standing outside, hearing the faint click of her heels as he took a left and heard the heavy doors to the chapel open. The chapel was a small room, enough chairs for a class to attend the morning Mass that used to be held on Wednesday’s before class.

He found Faith admiring the stained glass behind the altar, making sure to click the door shut behind him. She cast a look over her shoulder, smiling bashfully.

“Y’sure picked a hell of a room for this rendezvous, Lil Lady,” Rhett said, slowly making his way down the aisle between the rows of chairs.

“Forgive me, Father, for I’m about to sin,” Faith replied as he stopped in front of her, tilting her chin up with his forefinger.

“Thought we would’ve left by now so I didn’t bring a condom,” he confessed, thumb lightly stroking her cheek.

“What if we just…didn’t use condoms anymore?” She suggested, running her hands up his chest. “I want a baby with you, Rhett. I don’t want to wait for our family to grow.”

He groaned as he slid his hand into her hair, cupping the base of her skull and kissing her with a fiery tenacity that had her knees weak. She slid her arms around his neck, fisting his hair as his hands slid down her body. Squeezing her breasts, gripping her hips and groping her ass.

“Fuck, y’sure about this?” He asked breathlessly, eyes finding hers as he rested their foreheads together. He wanted it more than anything. He wanted her, their family, this little life they’d perfectly curated.

Faith knew she’d asked for more time and that now she was taking it back. She was scrapping the timeline they’d agreed on. It was huge, but Rhett and his daughters had given him something she’d never known she was missing. A family. Community. People to fuss over and adore with her entire being. People who had welcomed her with open arms, despite her past, because they wanted her to be part of their future. They saw her in their future. More than anything, she wanted a future. She finally saw what her future held, and that was being a mom to her boyfriend’s adorable twin daughters and expanding their little family. Being a loving girlfriend, and eventually wife, to a man who’d proved time and time again that she was worth the effort.

“I want everything with you, Rhett Abbott. I’ve never been more sure about anything in my life,” she confessed just as breathlessly. He dipped his head to pepper kisses down her neck and over her collarbone, tugging one of her breasts free from her dress and wrapping his mouth

around her pebbled nipple. “Rhett, fuck me.”

She roughly palmed him over his trousers, fingers trying to free him from his confines. Eventually popping the button and reaching into his pants to wrap her hand around his growing length.

“Fuck,” he groaned against her chest, hitching her dress up around her waist. Fingers seeking her warm, wet centre. “Y’ haven’t worn panties all night?”

“Nuh uh,” she mumbled, drawing his head back for another searing kiss. She moaned as his fingers sought her swollen clit, fingers delving into her heat as she swiped her thumb across the tip of his cock to elicit the same sound from him. “Need you, Rhett, please.”

“G’na put a baby in you,” he growled, backing her up to the wall where she had previously been admiring the stained glass. “Fuck, Faith.”

She keened at his touch, whining as he removed his fingers from her cunt and replaced them with the tip of his cock. “Put a baby in me, Rhett.”

His lips claimed hers as he hitched her leg up around his waist and sunk himself into her. Groaning as he felt her tight, slick pussy stretch and relax around him. His tongue slipping into her mouth, tasting the wine she’d been drinking and swallowing her moans as he found his rhythm.

Faith gasped as he bit down on her lip, her hands tightening in his hair. “Fuck,” she groaned, his fingers seeking her clit. “Feels so fucking good, Daddy.”

“Yeah, y’ like that Daddy’s gonna fuck a baby into ya, hm?” He said, lips and teeth nipping at her neck. “Fill you with my seed? Fuck, such a needy lil pussy. Grippin’ me s’tight.” He groaned as he felt her clench down around him, her breathy symphony of moans like music to his ears.

“Can I cum on your cock, Daddy?”

He stuttered out a “yes,” losing himself in the feeling of her body. The way she chanted his name like a prayer, begging for him to cum inside her. Put a baby in her. Hips stuttering as his own high caught up to him and crashed into him like a bull in a china shop. Bottoming out as he reached absolution, not a care in the world as they defiled a holy sanctuary, wrapped totally in and of themselves.

He kissed her as they came down from their highs, savouring the taste of her lips. The feeling of utter euphoria. The way she sighed and tugged at his hair as his mouth slowly devoured hers. Languidly, breathlessly.

Faith felt exhilarated as they walked hand in hand back to the gymnasium. Rhett had tried to help her tame her hair as much as they could, but he couldn’t do much for the new hickies adorning her neck. Luckily her hair hid most of the small bruises, but she still felt like they were visible.

They were planning on leaving, heading home to continue what they’d started in the chapel, then Rhett mentioned a new bar they’d been invited to. He’d blindly agreed, promising he’d make it up to her later if they just went for one drink. Faith knew he was enjoying himself, even if he didn’t admit it out loud. She could see it in the way he carried himself. Confident yet relaxed. It suited him.

They headed out to the truck, promising a few people they’d been talking to that they’d stop by for a few drinks, if not to check the place out. Rhett grabbed the backpack from the bed of the truck, previously secured into the netting near the cab, and started to change right there in the parking lot.

“Rhett Abbott, did you expect to have a good time tonight?” Faith asked him, taking hold of his jacket and folding it neatly.

“I expected we’d be overdressed,” he replied, shooting her a wink as he pulled his boots off and changed from his grey trousers into a familiar pair of jeans. “There’s stuff for you in there, too. No panties, ‘m afraid.”

Faith laughed at the cheeky glint to his eye, leaning forward to press a kiss to his cheek. She handed him his belt from the bag, climbing into the truck before taking her heels off and attempting to shimmy into a pair of her own jeans. By the time Rhett slid into the driver’s seat, she’d managed to change into a tee and donned a bra underneath, her dress now stuffed into the bag. Slipping her feet into some socks and a pair of cowboy boots Rhett had gifted her earlier in the year for her birthday.

Faith appreciated being able to change. The heels had started hurting her feet, and the dress was gorgeous, but she felt more confident in jeans.

It was rare that Rhett dressed up, and she’d enjoyed the new look for as long as he’d worn it. She’d be the first to admit that she missed his soft jeans and stetson, happy to discover that the familiar hat had found its way back atop of his head. Watching him with a smile on her face as they drove to the bar.

They arrived and made their way inside, barely any time to wonder if it was the right place when a few guys hollered for them both. Waving them over, Rhett encouraged Faith to go while he grabbed them a couple of drinks.

“Glad you both made it!” Adam said with a grin.

“Thanks for inviting us,” Faith responded in kind, slipping into the booth next to Adam’s wife, Erin, who happily made room.

“I’m just glad I’m not the only woman here anymore,” she joked. “The other wives don’t come out much. Too busy at home with the kids.”

Faith nodded in understanding. “Do you and Adam have any kids?”

“Three. Youngest is ten,” she replied with a smile. “You?”

“We only have Rhett’s two at the moment,” Faith said. “They sat us down and gave us a ‘we want siblings’ presentation.”

Erin threw her head back in laughter. Faith grinned as she caught Rhett’s eye, making his way through the crowd to their table with a couple of drinks.

“How old are they?”

“Just turned nine,” Rhett answered, wearing a small smile. “Little demons.”

“Do you have any pictures of them?” Erin asked.

Rhett placed a drink in front of Faith before handing over his phone. Faith unlocked it and opened his pictures, swiping through to show Erin.

“They have Rhett’s scowl,” Faith said fondly, searching for the photo she’d sent him of the three of them sitting in silence on the sofa one night. They’d been pouting about not being allowed to have their own phones, but Rhett said they were too young. They’d tried to ask Faith, but she also told them ‘no’. It ended up being a rather quiet night, the girls going to bed early after dinner, leaving Rhett and Faith to watch a movie by themselves.

Erin showed a few pictures of her own kids, two sons and a daughter. Faith enjoyed the conversation while Rhett chatted shit with a few of the guys, occasionally sparing Faith a glance and always delighted to see her enjoying herself.

He kept an eye on her as she and Erin wandered up to the bar to get everyone some more drinks.

“Do you miss it?” Cory asked Rhett.

“What’s that?” He’d missed most of the conversation, taking a sip of his beer.

Cory asked again, “bull ridin’,”

Rhett gave a shrug. “Sometimes,” he admitted. “Don’t regret givin’ it up since it meant I could spend more time with m’ daughters.”

“He had a boys night with some of the other dad’s and I got sent a video of him ridin’ a mechanical bull at the bar,” Faith chimes in, passing out a few beers to the guys. “Never saw him on a real bull, but it looked like he’s still got it.”

There were a few laughs at her words before someone pointed out that there was a mechanical bull here. Rhett quickly shut down any ideas anyone had about him getting on, despite the protests and words of encouragement thrown his way. He was adamant that was a one time drunken thing he’d done, purely to prove he didn’t just like the cowboy aesthetic.

Faith had been curious about attempting to ride a mechanical bull at least once in her life. She’d been too drunk at her friend’s birthday when they’d specifically gone to a bar so she could ride one, and after Rhett had gotten on the bull at that same bar, she’d asked him questions. He’d made it look so easy, and sure it came down to years of practice riding actual bulls at the rodeo, but he’d indulged her questions. Given her pointers that she’d stored away for when she actually got the chance to get on one.

“You should do it,” Rhett told her quietly.

He knew she’d gone quiet for a reason, catching her deep in thought while everyone was trying to convince him instead. She leant into him, letting him press a kiss to her temple.

“Hm, yeah?” She replied, not entirely convinced.

Rhett hummed in response. “Yeah. Y’ want to, right?” She nodded, so he continued. “Then do it.”

“Okay,” she agreed softly.

“C’mon,” he encouraged her. “Faith’s gonna ride the bull!”

The group they were with cheered, making their way to where the bull was set up, while Adam asked one of the staff if they could get it started. Pointing over at Faith to show who wanted a turn. Rhett walked her up to the bull, giving her a reassuring kiss.

“Y’ got this, baby,” he told her. “Remember what I taught ya?”

She nodded as he lifted her up and got her set up on the bull. “Hold on tight, squeeze those thighs,” she recounted for him. “Don’t fight it.”

Rhett grinned. “That’s my girl. Give ‘em hell, Lil Lady.”

He wandered back to their group and she made sure she was holding on tight before nodding at the staff member who was in charge of the machine. He switched the bull on and heard the cheers of the crowd, but her focus was on staying up. Making sure she didn’t fight the jerky motions but instead went with it. Throwing her hand up for balance, grinning as she whipped around and used her legs to stay on.

She couldn’t tell you if time went faster or slower while up there, but she understood the feeling Rhett had done his best to describe. The way the crowd seemed to electrify you while you were up there. It was addictive.

The bull slowly came to a stop and she exhaled heavily, basking in the uproar of the crowd as Rhett strode towards her. Planting his hand on her head as he helped her off the bull, stealing a kiss that took her breath away.

“That was th’ sexiest fucken thing I’ve ever seen,” he told her breathlessly, making a point to squeeze her ass and bring her body closer as he went in for another kiss.

They didn’t stick around long. Enough to have another drink and share the videos some people had taken of Faith. Enough to know that Rhett was more wound up than she initially thought. Enough to know that he wasn’t the only one aroused by her performance – being hit on by no less than three guys who hadn’t gotten the hint that she was taken. That she was Rhett Abbott’s girl.

Rhett’s old school friends knew him to be a bit of a hot head. Throw punches first, ask questions later. They’d kept an eye on him as he sipped his beer and watched Faith shoot them down, wondering how often this happened for him to seem unbothered by it.

In truth, Rhett was bothered by it. Every time it happened, to be exact. He knew his girlfriend was young and gorgeous. He also knew that he was the one who took her home every night. He was the one she loved and he found comfort in that.

He had trust…he had Faith.

Faith watched him pull the truck into the west paddock instead of following the dirt road up to the house. She didn’t make a comment about it, but wondered what he had planned.

The Abbott ranch had gone through some changes over the years. Rhett regretted not sticking around to help tend to the cattle and maintain the property, but Cece had done what she’d needed to do. She’d downsized the amount of land they owned, mostly to pay off the legal fees of Perry and Royal, and help keep her and Amy afloat. Another chunk was sold to developers who had yet to do anything with it, but Cece and Amy had transformed the ranch into a horse sanctuary. They trained and broke in horses, as well as ran camps during the school breaks. They’d done well for themselves and Rhett couldn’t be prouder of them – he just wished he could’ve been more help.

The first time he’d brought Faith home to meet his Ma was the first time he’d actually seen the work Cece and Amy had put into the ranch. They’d been overjoyed to give them a full tour, even though Rhett heard stories about it from Hannah and TJ. Faith had helped him put his feelings into perspective about everything, that he wasn’t letting his mother and niece down by prioritising his daughters. Family was about compromise and they all had to make sacrifices in order to get to where they were today, not just him.

“If Cece doesn’t hold a grudge, neither should you. The past is the past, and you can only work on mending your relationships so they’re stronger in the future,” she’d told him.

She’d been right. He’d slowly talked all the past shit out with Cece and they were growing closer again. Things would never be how they were before shit went down, but it was several steps in the right direction. They weren’t the same people anymore. Rhett was beginning to realise that more and more, and accepting that change was huge for him.

Faith stayed in the cab of the truck while Rhett set up the back. He’d made sure they had pillows and blankets and had even bought an air mattress to lie on. He knew how much Faith loved stargazing and camping, and while they weren’t in a tent, he hoped it would suffice.

She heard him jump off the back of the truck and looked out her window as he opened her door.

“What are you planning?” She asked with a slight teasing in her tone.

“Camping,” he replied. “In a sense. C’mon.”

Faith couldn’t keep the grin from her face as Rhett helped her up into the bed of the truck, taking her boots off before she collapsed onto the makeshift bed. Rhett joined her a moment later, peppering her face with soft kisses as she laughed breathily.

“What’s the occasion?”

“Just ‘cause I love you,” he said simply. “Can’t I do something nice for my girl every now an’ then?”

Faith hummed as she pressed her lips to his, combing her fingers through his hair. “Here I was thinking it was because you weren’t finished watching me ride,” she teased.

He easily rolled them over so she was on top of him, straddling his waist. Her hands resting on his chest, his on her thighs.

“I’ll never get enough of watching y’ ride,” he said, rolling his hips so she could feel the swell of his arousal.

“Yeah?” She mewled, rolling her own hips against his. “Y’ want me to ride you, Handsome Cowboy?”

“Fuck yeah I do, Lil Lady,” he replied with a grin. “First, I want y’ to ride m’ face.”

Faith’s breath hitched as Rhett placed his hands on her inner thighs and effortlessly moved her so she was sitting on his chest. Reaching down, she twirled some of his hair around her finger. “Can anyone see us out here?”

“Not unless they’ve got binoculars,” he assured her. “Y’ gonna be a good girl and ride Daddy’s face?”

Faith was quick, it always stunned Rhett how eager she was for him. The first one to get naked. The first one to go down – it turned her on more than receiving, though she never said ‘no’ when he buried his face in her cunt and drew orgasm after orgasm from her. He shouldn’t have been surprised that she’d be more than willing to ride his face, yet he sensed her hesitation as she hovered just above his lips.

“I said sit on my face, Faith,” he growled, forcing her down the rest of the way until his mouth was covered. Tongue laying flat against her slick pussy.

She moaned as he guided her hips, helping her find a rhythm that drove her wild. Hands braced on the roof of the truck cab and she began riding his face with reckless abandon. Gasping and moaning as he smacked her ass or groped her chest. Moaning against her core as her clit brushed against his nose.

“Fuck,” she groaned, her moans growing louder and more frequent. The pitch changing as she sought her orgasm. “RhettRhettRhett,” she chanted, succumbing to the bliss that erupted in her stomach and spread like shockwaves throughout her entirety.

Rhett lapped and savoured the taste of Faith on his tongue. Planting a firm kiss to her cunt before sucking a bruise into her inner thigh.

“That’s my girl,” he praised, grinning up at her with her arousal glistening in the moonlight on his chin.

“Wanna ride your cock, Daddy,” she panted breathlessly. “Want you to cum inside me again.”

Rhett groaned at her words, hands groping her hips. “Y’ really want Daddy t’ put a baby in ya, hm?”

Faith nodded, bottom lip captured between her teeth as she gazed down at him. “Wanna ride you ‘til you knock me up, Daddy.”

Rhett was more than willing to oblige, quickly undressing and pulling Faith back into his lap. She slid her arms up his chest, fingers skimming over his tattoos – one on his ribs, the bull on his chest to the tiny footprints in the shape of a heart over his heart. He smiled as he cupped her face, pressing his lips to hers.

Faith reached between their bodies, gripping his cock and positioning his tip at her entrance. Rhett’s hands were on her hips as she slowly sank down on his length, gasping at the stretch and welcoming the familiarity.

“Fill me so good, Daddy,” she praised, wiggling her hips a little to make Rhett groan. It was guttural and sent shivers down her spine. “So deep inside me.”

“Y’ look beautiful,” he told her, raising a hand to cup her face and draw her head down for a kiss.

Faith indulged him for a bit, his cock nestled snugly inside her as she draped herself over him. Chests flush together and his arms wrapped around her back, holding her even closer. Her arms tucked around his head, small moans slipping past their lips.

Rhett’s hands slid down to her ass, fingers gripping the supple flesh and lifting her slightly. Faith groaned and wiggled her hips, sinking back down on him as she broke their kiss.

“Use your words if you want me to start riding you, Handsome Cowboy,” she told him, hands braced on his shoulders as she gave him a sultry smile.

“Need y’ t’start ridin’ me, Lil Lady,” he told her breathlessly. “Y’ feel so good. Need more.”

Faith started rolling her hips, watching the pleasure in his face as she clenched her core and tightened around him. Rising off him slightly before taking him deep again and repeating the motion. Finding a steady rhythm as his hands slid up her body. Rough fingertips brushing against her sensitive nipples, pinching them harshly before taking them in his hands and massaging them gently.

He knew Faith liked a little pain with her pleasure. Knew she was receptive to it. He watched the way her face contorted with the harsh pinch, felt the way she tightened around his cock. He groaned as she threw her head back, giving herself over to the pleasure.

Rhett braced his feet, digging his heels into the soft air mattress as he started meeting her thrusts. Her short, sharp gasps filled his ears. Hand slipping on his chest to his neck.

“That’s it,” Rhett goaded her. “Squeeze m’ neck. Fuck.”

Faith groaned at his words but did as he asked, squeezing his neck and watching a delirious grin form on his face. “I’m gonna cum.” She panted, the coil in her abdomen moments away from snapping. “Feel s’good, Daddy. FuckFuckFuck.”

Rhett pinched her nipples once again, watching her throw her head back as her body tightened and spasmed. Dropping his hands to her hips, he kept her upright. Fucking her through her orgasm, flipping her onto her back and hooking her legs over his shoulders as he drove into her.

“S’good to me,” she praised him, stroking his cheek as he braced himself on his forearms, lips mashing together in a desperate kiss as he reached his own orgasm. “Want all your cum inside me, Daddy. Fill me up real good. Show me how much you wanna knock me up.”

“Fuck, Faith,” he panted, dropping his head to her shoulder. Cock twitching and spilling inside her, her cunt milking his orgasm from him. “Fuck.”

“Just like that, Daddy,” she continued, running her hand through his hair.

He dropped her legs from his shoulders, bodies still connected as he peppered kisses over her neck and chest. Nipping and sucking small bruises into her heated skin.

“Love you s’much, Lil Lady,” he murmured against her skin.

“Love you more, Handsome Cowboy.”

#rhett abbott #rhett abbott x oc #rhett abbott x ofc #rhett abbott x faith jones #rhett x faith #single dad!rhett abbott #single dad!rhett #rhett abbott fanfic #rhett abbott smut #rhett abbott fanfiction #single dad!au

54 notes · View notes

kienava · 1 year

Text

So someone asked me to make a post about Blake’s development so far in order to discuss the question of where Blake’s character can progress at this point in RWBY given that her arc with Adam wrapped up in V6 and she didn’t really carry a plot line in V7-8. I do media and story things for a living, but I’m also an intimate partner abuse survivor - needless to say, Blake’s story is important to me. Hopefully my perspective helps answer concerns about Blake’s story being “over,” because I think it’s very much the opposite.

(Continued below the cut because this turned into an entire essay.)

I want to preface this by saying I understand why it might be difficult to picture what Blake’s story looks like going forward. I largely credit this to the relative dearth of compassionate, healing-oriented narratives about abuse survivors in media. A lot of what we see is either revenge fantasies or stories about facing the abuser and arriving at a point of ultimate catharsis. In some sense, this is a broader fault in the standards of western storytelling, which is oriented around that singular, climactic catharsis, but that’s another essay. In truth, a mostly linear progression towards a pivotal point of recovery isn’t how healing from abuse works. It’s a messy process, and life is rarely as linear as in fiction. I think RWBY incorporates that nonlinearity into Blake’s arc very well.

Speaking of Blake’s arc, let’s look at that.

When we first meet her in volume 1, she’s introduced as an aloof, independent loner who’s very resistant to getting closer to people. Most of her classmates perceive her as mysterious and alluring at best, callous and cold at worst. Once we start to understand more of her history, it’s easier to see her attitude as the defense mechanism it is. She wants to keep people at arm’s length because she doesn’t trust them not to hurt her – but she also believes that she will harm people she gets close to just because of who she is. That whole Beauty and the Beast dichotomy, you know? Adam told her that she ruins things. It doesn’t help that he groomed her into a terrorist organization and thus her surrounding community has also labeled her a threat. She’s got a few overlapping layers of distorted thinking to work through when it comes to her image of herself and others. The way she perceives people is, at first, overwhelmingly informed by her traumatic experiences with Adam and the White Fang.

It’s pretty strongly implied that Blake bent the rules in the forest and intentionally selected Yang as her partner. When we first see Blake dashing around in the shadows, Yang is taking down a Grimm while sassing it to death. Blake talks later about how Adam’s charisma drew her to him initially, so it’s no surprise that when she was choosing her next partner, she gravitated to the same superficial qualities. During the first White Fang arc, after her self-destructive spiral, Blake starts to genuinely trust her teammates for the first time. That trust is tested when Yang fights Mercury. In this moment, Blake is confronted with the possibility that a pattern might be repeating itself: what if she was drawn to Yang for reasons beyond the superficial? What if Yang doesn’t just share Adam’s positive qualities, but his negative ones, too? The impulsiveness, the violence, the abuse – but Blake stops herself. She chooses to trust that Yang isn’t Adam, and she says as much. She’s accepting that Adam is in her past and electing to move forward. How perfectly, neatly linear.

Then the end of volume 3 happens.

For an abuse survivor, the idea that an abuser you’ve gotten away from might come crashing back into your life is possibly the scariest thing in the entire world. This is exactly what happens when Adam shows up, and Blake’s worst fears come true. He makes a point of hurting someone she cares about simply because he can to prove that he still has power over her. Blake runs because she thinks the only way she can protect the people she cares about is to be away from them. That paradoxical duality of (1) fearing harm will be done to her by others and (2) doing harm to others herself rears its head.

One specific question I was asked is why Blake talks about Yang so little in volumes 4 and 5. If Blake isn’t talking about the people she left behind, is she even thinking about them? I say, well of course she is. It’s coloring her entire attitude.

When Blake returns to Menagerie, she’s back in the place where she met her abuser. She’s at her parents’ house, a place that has been a symbol of everything she left behind when she ran away the first time. Now she’s run from another home. Menagerie is riddled with traumatic memories for her, both interpersonally and on a structural, systemic level. Everywhere she goes could be a place where Adam said something awful to her, made her obey him in some way, asserted control. She also has to confront him in person again, too.

With Adam around, of course she’s not going to risk mentioning Yang. He got one inkling that Blake cared about someone else and cut their fucking arm off. The one time Blake mentions Yang by name, her voice cracks so obviously it’s like she’s forcing herself to get the word out. Through both of these volumes, Blake has other external goals, but she’s still trying to protect someone she cares about. At this point, she’s constantly struggling with two motivations: hope and fear. She wants to make the world a better place, but she’s terrified of what she’ll have to confront in order to do it because of what she’s already lost. Her choice to reunite with her team and fight shows that ultimately hope wins out.

In Volume 6, Blake and Yang facing Adam is essentially the B plot of the whole volume. He appears in flashes before the major confrontation at the end, but the damage he’s done to both of them is intrinsically tied into Blake and Yang’s relationship throughout.

The end of this volume offers the climactic moment of confronting and overcoming the abuser. Afterwards, Blake collapses and cries. Catharsis! Yay! We’re done now, right? This may be why, to some people, defeating Adam is the obvious “end” of Blake’s character arc. Again, I’d argue that this perception comes from how abuse is often depicted in media, but there’s also a very intense pressure in the real world for survivors not to speak out and share their stories. Even people who are abuse survivors might not publicly claim that label for a multitude of reasons. Namely, it fucking hurts to think about it, and also sometimes people are real weird about it. I don’t blame anyone who doesn’t want to carry that weight around all the time. We can see some inklings of Blake dealing with this challenge over the course of the show, though they’re subtle. Early on, she explicitly avoids talking about Adam until she absolutely has to, and even when she does start to unpack what he did, she often talks about it with visible shame (averting her eyes, etc). Unfortunately, shame is a very common sentiment for abuse survivors to carry, and addressing it is a major part of Blake’s journey as she starts to heal in volume 6.

Another point of interest posed was to look at Blake’s role in volumes 7 and 8. There’s an argument that she doesn’t really do anything or that her role is as a somewhat generic support figure within the group. I wholeheartedly disagree.

While Blake doesn’t carry a plotline herself during the Atlas arc, she and Yang embody polarized attitudes towards the global conflict the group is facing, and that contrast serves the larger narrative very well. Because she was raised by activists in a context where she was constantly thinking about civil rights, Blake wants to address the broader ideological conflict at play. Yang, whose childhood consisted of raising her younger sister, wants to help people in a practical, immediate way. Blake is an abstract, big-picture thinker, and Yang is more focused on what’s right in front of her. This isn’t a dig at either of them; it’s just a difference in prioritites. At first, Yang worries that these differing priorities will be a source of tension between them, but when she and Blake talk things through they’re able to understand each other without judgment. Blake is learning to reconnect with the idealist she used to be in her early youth, someone who fought for a cause purely because she wanted to make the world a better place. She’s able to embrace that side of herself around Yang even though they have different priorities, and they’re still able to support each other’s goals.

Furthermore, on a purely interpersonal level in V7-8, Blake has interactions with other characters that speak specifically to the healing journey she’s been on. Yes, these are significantly quieter moments than a fight to the death on a bridge over a waterfall, but that doesn’t mean they should be written off. Quiet and peace are part of healing, and that doesn’t have to undermine the story’s integrity. Dramatic tension is still possible amidst this, as we saw in Blake’s talks with Yang where they discuss their team’s split strategic approaches. When Blake talks to Nora about the importance of not losing yourself in someone else, that’s her speaking from experience. She’s lost herself in a relationship before, and she knows how hard it is to come back from that, but she survived. She healed. The asserted importance of self-compassion in relationships has a unique gravity coming from Blake. She has a strongly developed ability to balance interpersonal empathy with community- and global-level stakes, which we’re already seeing glimmers of at the beginning of V9 as she steps up to come up with a plan on the island.

In summary, Blake’s arc isn’t just about that final showdown with Adam. She faces her abuser, runs away, faces him again, and again, finally evicts him from her life for good - and after that, her story continues.

She goes on to find ways to heal from her past. That process involves renewing compassion for her loved ones, her community, and the world as a whole; learning how to love without fear; and reconnecting with who she was before she was forced to become aloof and detached to protect herself. Although the circumstances of abuse convinced her that she was a coward, she is, and has always been, an incredibly brave character. She’s finally recognizing that at the current point in the story. Ultimately, I think this is the thing connects her to Yang and the rest of team RWBY so strongly: they’re brave enough to love and have hope even when forces of adversity tell them they shouldn’t dare to. Blake is a courageous idealist with a heart full of compassion, and ultimately not even Adam could destroy that about her.

My serious answer to the question of where Blake’s character will go now is that I think she’ll be a sort of de facto leader on the island as Ruby spirals into existential depression. Hopefully that arc resolves in a way that’s consistent with the show’s overall message about hope winning out, and past this volume Blake will still carry that optimistic but grounded revolutionary spirit and continue to be a center of compassion and hope.

My catharsis-oriented answer is this: aside from being trapped on a magical fairy tale island, Blake is free for the first time in a very long time, and she can go wherever the fuck she wants.

#it's time for KIE'S OPINION #blake belladonna #rwby v9 #rwby spoilers #cw: abuse #tw: abuse mention #i have a lot of thoughts about blake. if you couldn't tell.#i went full english lit minor #anyway if anyone starts clowning on this post i will not hesitate to block your ass

417 notes · View notes

thestartax · 2 months

Text

Armin Arlert x Reader

Synopsis: you’ve been in Marley for a couple months now , you’re finally seeing Armin again

Tropes: long hug, eye contact, pre-existing relationships, yes the lowercase is intentional, first person pronouns because it’s you

i’ve been in marley for a couple of months now. i’ve only risked contact with eren once. he made me promise to not ruin this mission, he said he had everything in place to make it work. still, i didn’t love the idea that he was bringing everyone here to, very suddenly, bring ruination upon this town.

i’ve seen children running around. families, friends, relationships. the eldians have formed a community, everyone on the eldian side of the gate knows one another. they’re a family. to think that eren intends to destroy this town of eldians—not even the marleyans—even if they will be there these are still eldian homes he will destroy. it makes me nauseous to think about it.

reiner is here. he has a cousin who he treats more like a sister. she has a band of friends. they all want nothing more than to prove they’re good eldians and kill everyone back on paradis which, i’ll admit, makes me more than a little violent when i think about it for too long. but i always remind myself that this is all they’ve been taught, it’s all they know. i remember my boyfriend is back on paradis and the feelings of violence come back but then i see this girl and her own personal blonde and i have to remind myself once again. it’s an endless cycle.

i haven’t been able to come into contact with eren again—it’s too much of a risk, as he continuously reminds me. but i’ve been watching, very closely, from the sides. he’s been talking to that little blonde reiner’s cousin/sister is going to be stuck to for the rest of her life—assuming they both survive this. it makes me nervous seeing eren with him but i don’t think he’d go out of his way to hurt the boy so i’ve yet to intervene.

on the day i know eren intends to ruin these people’s lives—worse than they have already been ruined—i’m anxious beyond repair, i’ll just have to sit with it. even if this goes perfectly we’re still sure to lose some of our own and kill entire families on this mission. i’m nauseous again.

eren convinces the boy—falco to bring reiner to him. i sit just out of range of the explosion eren will surely set off when he transforms. i can’t hear them but i know what’s being said. eren’s revealing himself, reiner is scared out of his mind, and falco is shocked. i just hope that when he does transform that falco will be okay. he’s a good kid.

some long haired blonde man who’s very clearly important to all of these people is giving some speech about killing the island devils on paradis when eren finally transforms, decimates half of the people gathered together, and then eats said man. this, of course, causes the actual war hammer titan to make herself known. there is something of a fight between them but really eren just gets his ass handed to him by being skewered a few times. but that doesn’t stop reinforcements from coming.

i can hear the odm gear zipping by. i know my friends are here. it makes me smile but then it makes me nervous. i would prefer they all be out of harm's way—eren hasn’t allowed that. so we’re all fighting for our lives in unknown territory. the goal is to spare as many of our own lives as possible, capture zeke, and get eren out of here alive.

honestly, we look like we’re going to lose. they have the war hammer titan, the jaw titan, the beast titan, and the cart titan. if zeke were actually against us we’d surely be dead. but still, it looks mildly bleak. but i know what our power play is. i know what eren will have forced them to do. forced him to do. even though knows he hates it. even though he knows it goes against everything he believes in.

i see it in the distance. i hear it everywhere. i can almost feel it in the air. the explosion. i know what it is. i know who it is.

without thinking, i take off running towards the blast. i’m zipping around on my odm gear, reaching maximum speeds. i’m weaving through and around all the buildings and straight to the port.

by the time i get there, everything is decimated. things still shine with the light of a burned-out fire. these people were scorched and all of the land in a five-mile radius is crushed. there will be no survivors. no one will live through this if they’re not dead already. no one but the boy who caused it.

he’s just ripped himself from the nape of his titan's neck when my feet hit the ground. i stand before his titan, the size of a small bug from where he sits atop it. i look up at him, overcome with emotion and frozen in place.

when he looks down and spots me i can feel his eyes. i can feel his gaze upon me. it warms me everywhere his eyes travel. he’s slowly registering it’s me, he doesn’t believe it yet. he doesn’t want to get his hopes up if it’s not me and instead someone who’s about to shoot at him.

i smile despite myself, feeling my eyes pool with tears. i don’t try to blink them back like i usually would. he knows me then.

he inhales sharply and in the next moment he’s zipping down from his titans body and towards me. “y/n!”

i laugh helplessly and dart towards him. we’re running at each other with all we have, really. i’ve never run faster. this is the new record. i thought i was fast getting here. this beats that by a long shot. i can see him. he’s 100 feet away from me. 80 feet. 50. he’s so close, how could i not run as fast as i possibly can? 20 feet. then 10.

as soon as i can see every cut and bruise on his face, his titan marks, the blue of his eyes—it’s like as soon as i see him it’s like i leave battle mode. it doesn’t matter that we’ve both been fighting for our lives out here. we’ve nearly won now. we’re going to leave with only a few casualties of our own, eren, & the war hammer titan. it will be successful as long as we continue as we have been. my resolve dies and we’re just so close now. i’m jumping over charred corpses & rubble from the destroyed town. i’m running as fast i can to my favorite blonde. “armin!” i choke out, suddenly so close to sobbing i can feel the tears falling.

i’m sure it’s jarring to see me like this. usually so stoic and unmoved in the fast of terror or tragedy, reduced to a puddle of tears at the sight of a boy i’ve loved all my life.

his breath hitches again and when we embrace it’s with such equal force we stand completely still, absorbing each other's energy. we’re panting and holding each other like the contact is the only thing that allows us to breathe. one of my arms is wrapped around his neck, hooking it in the bend of my elbow while my other hand is pushed into the hair at the back of his head. he’s holding me so tightly around the waist that he’s nearly lifting me off the ground—i’m on my tiptoes.

i squeeze my eyes shut and take shaky breaths to stop myself from crying. i’m surely shaking in his arms, not to say that he’s not shaking too—because he is. i just can’t stop.

“armin, armin, armin,” i whisper it again and again like a chant and a promise.

i can feel his heart beat against my own chest. our hearts are working to match the other's pace. our breathing synchronizes, our hearts beat as one, it’s like we’re one being.

he pulls back just enough to look me in the eyes before wiping away my tears. his own eyes are filled with so much emotion it almost brings my tears back. he closes his eyes and leans our foreheads together.

i reach up and cup his face in my hands. he opens his eyes and does the same to me. when our eyes meet and hold contact i can’t help but let out a weak, wet laugh. my thumbs gently trace over his titan marks with a feather-like touch. the only sound is of our breath & the ocean behind us at the port. “hi,” i say without thinking.

he laughs quietly, “hi.”

for a long moment, we stay like that. wrapped up in each other and the moment. i’ve gone soft around the edges, i’m no longer alert and sharp. i don’t know exactly where the sound comes from when i hear it—and that makes me nervous.

it’s a voice that calls for us. it makes me pull armin to me, holding him tightly, shielding him. i look around to pinpoint where this voice is coming from. it makes me uneasy to be on a battlefield but feel so at home just because i’m in his presence. it makes me nervous to not be so sharp, so prepared, so ready.

finally, i spot jean. he’s off in the distance. we can’t quite hear him but it’s easy to make out the waving arm that tells us to get to him quickly. he’s not very calm about it.

i relax a little, happy it’s a friend who requires an answer to their call versus someone with a gun. my hold on armin doesn’t loosen much. he sighs against my neck, he’s relieved too.

“i think it’s about time to catch our ride home,” armin says softly.

i nod against his shoulder where i rest my forehead. i smile a little. “i’ve been missing home… missing you.”

he slides his hand up from its place on my back to the back of my neck. “you won’t have to miss me again. we won’t be apart again.”

“that’s wishful thinking,” i joke sadly.

he doesn’t say anything because he knows i’m right. he just pulls away and takes my hand. when he starts to lead us over to jean i quickly use our joined hands to pull him back to me. i put my hand on the back of his neck—mostly to steady myself and then lean on my tiptoes to kiss him. it’s long and emotional but really that’s all it is—emotional. there’s no deeper meaning behind it, no lust. it’s just something that says, “i’m so happy to have you back. never leave me again. i love you more than anything. let me keep loving you.”

when i pull away i simply take the lead in walking and pull him along behind me—he’s still a little dazed for the time being but he snaps out of it quickly enough. we walk together to jean. i’m sure we’re supposed to be in a hurry, i know this airship will leave without us, but we can’t seem to make ourselves run.

when we get to our friend he shoots armin a look i don’t quite understand but he says nothing of our joined hands, which i appreciate. he doesn’t hesitate to remind us that if we don’t make it to the rooftop rendezvous spot we will not be going home. on that very blunt note, the three of us book it to the roof.

armin’s hand is soft and warm in mine. he’s like home for me. he’s safety and happiness personified. he’s always been there. he’s been the love of my life since the moment i laid eyes on him and i don’t ever intend to take my eyes off of him now. not again. he and i are in it for the long haul… assuming we all survive this.

#armin arlert #armin x reader #armin aot #armin arlet x reader #attack on titan #aot #aot x reader #yn #x yn #armin x y/n

51 notes · View notes

teslacoils-and-hubris · 6 months

Text

that fucking. slasher movie but the slasher is a vampire hunter post has it's grip on me and I need to get it out of my system so I can get shit done

I can see the plot going two ways, one a more traditional slasher plot and one a more modern take on the genre

In the more traditional version, our final girl character is a human who was brought into the vampire's nest to be the night's meal. She's your traditional good girl who's friend (a newly turned vampire trying to prove their worth to the group) has convinced her to come party with all their new weird goth friends. The final girl has no idea that the goths are vampires, but there's some hints for the audience. We see a few vampires get picked off by the hunter while the tension is building with the main group, with the head vamp trying to get final girl to like do drugs or strip or something before killing her. The hunter gets into the main area and starts killing vampires in front of the final girl, who has no idea whats happening and still doesn't know the goths are vampires. In the climax when the hunter has the final girl trapped, he does something to test if she's a vampire and when it comes back clean he just. leaves her alone with the corpses of all the vampires confused and alone. Sure the hunter saved her from the degenerate goth vampires, but the final girl never really understood what was happening. This is your classic teens are punished for having sex and drinking type slasher, where the final girl is both spared from death because of her 'innocence' and is saved from the degenerate life of vampirism by the killer. The sort of movie where the intended twist ending was that the slasher was the good guy all along

The more modern take would have the final girl being a freshly, accidentally, turned vampire as the rest of the group tries to welcome her into her new life. We are shown the group as good people who just happen to be vampires (still visually goth though this is important to me) and therefore othered by society. They drink blood but they don't kill people. They're just trying to survive, you know? In this version the killer represents how society punishes those it deems as others, as the hunter comes in and destroys this little community. We see the hunter as representative of the normative, dominate culture punishing the vampires for something they can't control. In the end the final girl gets control of her new vampire powers, the culmination of her arc as she struggles to accept and control them in the start, and kills the hunter. Which both turns her into the monster the hunter thinks she is (in normative societies eyes) and proves that no matter how hard society(hunters) try to wipe out the marginalized other(vampires) they will never be victorious.

really feeling that last one tbh might design some characters for it when I have some free time

#doc rambles #vampire #im gonna have to make a pintrest inspo board for this aren't i?

96 notes · View notes

coochiequeens · 1 year

Text

Technology just revealed a new name to women’s history.

For nearly 1,300 years, no one knew it was there. The name of a highly educated English woman, secretly scratched on to the pages of a rare medieval manuscript in the eighth century, but impossible to read – until now.

Academics have discovered the Old English female name Eadburg was repeatedly scored into the surface of the religious text, using a method that kept it hidden from the naked eye for more than 12 centuries.

The covert writing of the woman’s name was finally revealed when researchers at the Bodleian Library in Oxford used cutting-edge technology to capture the 3D surface of the ancient manuscript, a Latin copy of the Acts of the Apostles that was made in England between AD700 and AD750.

It is the first time this technology, capable of revealing “almost invisible” markings so shallow they measure about a fifth of the width of a human hair, has been used to record annotations on the surface of a manuscript.

“There are only a limited number of surviving early medieval manuscripts which contain clear internal evidence of a woman having created, owned or used them,” said Jessica Hodgkinson, a PhD student at the University of Leicester who made the discovery while researching her thesis on women and early medieval manuscripts.

“Most of these manuscripts are from the continent – it is much rarer to find evidence of this in surviving manuscripts which were made and used in the geographical area we now call England.”

Writing Eadburg’s name on the book quietly asserted her power and high status at a time when only a few elite, highly educated women were able to write and read both Old English and Latin. “It’s a hugely significant and very powerful text – the word of God, conveyed through the apostles. And I think that might be at least part of the reason why somebody chose to write Eadburg’s name into it, so that she was close to that.”

It is not clear why the name was written so stealthily, with a drypoint stylus, rather than ink. “Maybe it was to do with the resources that person had access to. Or maybe it was to do with wanting to leave a mark that put that woman’s name in this book, without making it really obvious,” Hodgkinson said. “There could have been some reverence for the text, which meant the person who wrote her name was trying not to detract from the scripture or compete with the word of God.”

Significantly, she found Eadburg’s name passionately etched into the margins of the manuscript in five places, while abbreviated forms of the name appear a further 10 times.

This suggests it is likely to have been Eadburg herself who made the marks. “I could understand why somebody might write someone else’s name once. But I don’t know why you would write somebody else’s name so many times like that,” Hodgkinson said.

An Old English transcription, and tiny, rough drawings of figures – in one case, of a person with outstretched arms, reaching for another person who is holding up a hand to stop them – were also discovered etched on to the small book, which is barely bigger than an A5 pamphlet.

Hodgkinson hopes further study will reveal the meanings of these figures and the ancient transcription, which has so far proved impossible to translate.

She also hopes to eventually discover who Eadburg was. Certain features of the manuscript suggest the book was produced in Kent, where a woman called Eadburg was abbess of a female religious community at Minster-in-Thanet in the mid-eighth century. However, there are at least eight other known contenders for the role.

But whether or not these mysteries are ever solved, for Hodgkinson there is something very empowering and meaningful about the discovery of Eadburg’s name. “Still, to this day, there’s this human urge to leave a mark of your presence on something that is meaningful to you or is a record of where you’ve been,” she said. “We don’t know all that much about Eadburg, but now, because of this amazing technology, we’ve seen her name, we know she was there. She’s here, in this book – and it speaks across the centuries.”

#England #Eadburg #Women in history #medieval history #old english #Acts of the Apostles #Latin #Bodleian Library in Oxford

557 notes · View notes

queerextremity · 6 months

Text

i think one of the reasons i really like steve is the fact that he contradicts everything that you initially thought should be true about him. I’m not just talking of how i, before watching the cap trilogy, expected him to be some sort of walking toxic masculine propaganda, but he ended up being quite the opposite of that—that's already been discussed many times. i’m talking about all the subtle ways his storyline is written. when you think about it (and that’s probably the reason why steve is a very “safe” male character to me), he kinda goes through a character development that’s archetypically usual for female characters.

trying to fit in within the army, being rejected and mocked because you’re weaker and different, but later proving your strength by staying kind, persistent and clever is a story many old feminist media pieces used. i think of that scene from the first movie when peggy, after steve tells her about his life, says she knows what it’s like to have the doors closed for her. she does point out the reason why so many women are so passionate about steve (and why he’s really popular within the lesbian community, where attraction doesn’t really play a part). and i think it’s just so fundamentally different from the way i expected to read his story—as a typical patriotic male-centered superhero movie—and why it stuck with me when I saw it.

and i know we’re all joking calling bucky a damsel in distress, but when you think about it, he really does fit into the archetype of a superhero love interest. and steve does spend a lot of time trying to save him. and i, the great hater of this trope, find myself loving them tremendously. the thing is that, outside of their relationship, bucky has his own complicated and deep character conflict, and you would care about him no matter how the story handles him. in a world where such superhero love stories usually require the hero to be strong and powerful, and the love interest to be helpless and bleak, we have the cap trilogy. it plays with so many tropes that are so outdated even for superhero cinema that they should get boring, but it makes them interesting, dynamic and complex and refreshing.

that’s where it becomes impossible to ignore the romantic undertones of their story, because a lot of it is just familiar like that. adding that they are much more emotional in their relationship than the bros can handle. so we’re probably stuck with people trying to prove something to themselves by discussing steve’s sexual life in she-hulk, for example. it’s just that our society isn’t ready to accept male characters who are vulnerable and humane to their very core, and that’s another interesting way to look at these movies.

#mcu #steve rogers #julia rambles and screams #bucky barnes #stucky #steve rogers meta

73 notes · View notes

yourtoradorasextendedwarranty · 11 months

Text

It's all bad

So there is a post going around right now about how in Plano Texas, there was a sting operation that caught a sex trafficking ring. Some of the people there were first responders and teachers. However if you look at twitter, and of course on this hell site, there are people who are SO EAGER to suck a drag queens no no bits, they had to go out of their way to post some pretty "lovely" things. Now the reason I'm posting this image, rather than just the article is to prove a point.

We have absolutely zero confirmation about what the user William LeGate said here. None. At best he tried to look up some names, and background checks on those listed. However, on the original post by the DFWPD (Dallas Ft. Worth PD) This article is not even cited. And I looked at the article. You know what WAS listed in the "jobs" let's look:

You know what WASN'T listed? Republican Politician or "Church Leader".

Now let me show you the list of disgusting individuals, which wouldn't you know it, includes a woman.

Now let's do some math shall we. Racial, and political activists will look at this image, and do exactly what they do with is judge every single thing on surface level looks. As shown by these next tweets. (Some of them having prior records)

As you can clearly see, this started a trend of #NotADragQueen and a very old and tired trope of "The church is scarier protect them from that instead of drag queens"

My question to all of you Neo Progressives is this. Why exactly are you so hell bent on bringing up an event that happened over a decade ago?

Better question. Why exactly do you care if no drag queens were VISIBLE? Is it because parents don't think it's appropriate for their kids to be in from of a adult male in exaggerated women clothing. Several of whom have been found to have criminal records of sexual assault and some even against kids? Don't believe me? Let's look shall we.

WOW, if you look at this man's mug shot, YOU'D NEVER KNOW he was a drag queen. TURNS OUT not only was he one, but also is a child sex offender.

But rather than actually care about child sex offenders, which, let's be really fair here, you don't. You'd rather have a gatcha against those, "Evil republicans".

Let me be clear. If you look at all those mugshots? You'll notice something. Varying races and ages. You know what we AREN'T shown? Political leanings of every single person there and who they have and have no voted for. My current annoyance with all of you now, is one very LARGE thing. Rather than being happy that these people have been caught, you are FAR MORE EXCITED at the prospect that this group could contain your political enemies.

HOW F*CKED in the head are you? Really? Predators find positions of power. No matter where the position is. Sometimes they actually get complacent with their power and they begin to lose inhibitions. This should have nothing to do with the church, with drag with dems, or with reps. This SHOULD have everything to do with the fact that it's AMAZING that these assholes have been caught.

Thing is? Most conservatives just don't want drag in front of their kids. That should be their choice. AS THE PARENTS. And we don't actually know the ratio of predators to non predators in the drag community. And until they get arrested and charged, much like any other person, we CAN'T know.

Catholics were SEETHING when they found out what their leadership was doing. However, it was NOT all priests. It was not even most. It was however enough that it caused notice. And that makes sense. You can expect at least 10% of any large group to be not good people. However here is the issue. You are equating an entire group, that at the time was a VERY LARGE population size of the US. Per Capita is a fun thing to talk about. And given the LIMITED number of drag queens in the US you'd expect very very few to be guilty of sex offense. However, we see time and time again that's not the case.

Am I making the argument that drag queens are predators? No. Hell, most conservatives or moderates would not even be prone to making that argument if many of you were not so dead set on having kids see it or be around it. And the level of insistence around it kind of raises red flags if I'm being honest. Also a fun thing missed by that asshole William LeGate from the opening pictures is the mention of "Teachers" in that list of people involved. Another something people have brought up concerns over.

Stop making this about trying to own the cons. It's very possible several of the people on there are LGBT or Dem. And you'd ignore that, JUST to point out anyone not on your side. WHY THE FUCK do you care. Why can't all of it be bad. Conservatives are beat over the head with a 20 year old allegation equating their religious faith AS A WHOLE, to being pedo friendly. Imagine my shock when many got fed up with it and started putting that target on others. Mostly because it was a SMALL SUBSET of said group.

And now, just like them before, you are trying to salvage "your side" and deflect it from criticism. Also one last thing. MOST actual conservatives have not, and are not accusing most or all drag queens of being pervers or pedophiles. However in your fervor to not just demand they be in front of kids, but to also defend them from any and all allegations. I can certainly from the outside looking in see how that would be concerning. What's more, we DON'T know if any of the people shown there were drag queens. Some could have been ministers in the church. Both provide apt access to the people they wish to offend against.

Do you know what the only difference is between the two? You'll defend tooth and nail the drag queen even from the accusation. You know why that's bad? Because if that happened with a minister or pastor etc, that entire church community would be in lock down and every single person in power would be gone over with a fine tooth comb. So basically in one instance, Your side defends the potential predator, and their side demands action. In the other instance, you pat yourself on the back that bad people exist on the opposing side, and that side goes out of their way to figure out wtf is going on and seek out accountability.

Long story short. In both cases they want justice. In only once case you want justice. In the other case you are jerking off about how "good" your side is. Despite a NUMBER of people PUBLICLY that vote dem are on Epstein's flight lists including to his island on a number of occasions. Point it out and demand justice in every instance. Sex crimes especially against kids isn't a joke. And yeah OF COURSE by the laws of numbers it's going to be seen more in MUCH LARGER communities. DUH! Because there are more chances for it to even exist. A child understands that level of thought.

So again I ask you. Why do you care more about having a gatcha, than actual justice. You all saw, "the other side of the isle" and went, "See we aren't the bad guys". Meanwhile if I were to do research into every one of the people listed, I could likely find a few people who I could weaponize against your side. You know why I don't? Because I care more about the fact they got caught.

143 notes · View notes

thranduel · 2 years

Text

the big difference between these two relationships

*these are my own personal opinions based on what i’ve observed in the show!! obviously all of these characters love each other so much but i just don't think mike and el work together romantically, while mike and will do (and there are so many reasons why!)

as we all know, mike and will completely understand each other and relate to each other, they feel like equals, they're honest with each other, they have many deep and meaningful heart-to-heart conversations and they can actually be themselves when they’re together. mike and el don't fully understand each other or relate to each other, they feel completely different from one another (mike admitted he feels inferior to el and el admitted she feels like she doesn't belong anywhere), they lie to each other, they don't have any deep and meaningful heart-to-heart conversations and they can’t even be themselves when they’re together (they literally prove this in the show).

el believes that mike has been scared of her several times and sees her as a monster (obviously we know he doesn’t actually think she is one), but the point is that she still feels like a monster, and there are several scenes where mike unintentionally triggers traumatic memories of brenner right after he gets angry at el when she does something that scares him (like when she accidentally hurt lucas and and when she hit angela with the rollerskate). obviously mike and brenner are NOT the same at all, they are completely different people, but there are some parallels between them when it comes to how they view el as a superhero and how they put pressure on her to always save the day (“you’re MY superhero!”, “you can fly!”) and how they praise her for her powers more than who she actually is as a person. they’ve both called her “incredible” several times but it’s always about her abilities. but with will on the other hand, mike has always made him feel safe and comfortable for who he is and he doesn’t feel like a mistake at all because of mike. he has always been extremely protective, observant and caring towards will and he knows how to make him feel loved and accepted. the only time mike upsets will is when he excludes him, but the only reason he excludes him is because he forces himself to pay attention to el and then he pretends to be someone he’s not when he’s with her… see, it just shows how it’s not healthy or fair to anyone and mike can only be himself when he’s with will.

mike and el

season 4 episode 3: during their fight scene, el tells mike that she’s different from everyone else. he tries explaining that he understands what she’s going through because he’s been bullied his whole life but she says he never will. this already shows us that they don’t feel equal to each other in the relationship and they’re never on the same page, because unfortunately, they are very different and have experienced different things in their life, and no matter how long they date, they always will be different. obviously relationships can work like this in some cases, but the thing is with mike and el, they don’t have any sort of character growth or development at all. they don’t become stronger as a couple. in fact, i think they’ve only gotten worse. they can’t even communicate honestly or be themselves around each other. they’ve never had a meaningful heart-to-heart conversation or resolved their conflicts properly. they constantly lie and pretend to be people they’re not (el literally lied to mike the entire time they were sending letters and acted like her life was good when it wasn’t) and mike acts so different around el and forces himself to focus on her which results in him excluding all his friends. this isn’t healthy or fair to anyone, and continuing to force two teenagers in a relationship where they don’t understand each other and can’t even be themselves with each other is really weird. anyways, el says “you think i’m a monster too” and mike doesn’t really try hard to deny it, he just lies and makes her feel like she’s being ridiculous like he’s done to her this entire scene. we know that mike obviously doesn’t think el is a bad person at all, but there have been several times where he has been scared of her and she knows that too.

in season 1 when they find will’s body, mike slaps el’s hand away and yells at her because he feels betrayed. he realises that el is just a stranger that he’s been trusting and following around even though he barely knows her, and when he sees the body and believes it’s will, it absolutely breaks him and he thinks she’s been lying to him. a few episodes later, el freaks out and sends lucas flying across the junkyard with her powers, and it knocks him unconscious. mike is understandably terrified and angry because his friend got hurt. he yells at her again and this triggers a traumatic memory from the lab. this shows that mike’s reaction reminded her of brenner (there are actually many parallels between mike and brenner, and even in mike’s monologue to el in season 4 episode 9, he says the same things brenner said to el. they both go on about how she’s a superhero that can fly and she obviously doesn’t want to hear that all the time since she’s her own person as well, but they never seem to mention her actual personality or what she does outside of being a superhero). in season 4 episode 2, el hits angela in the face with a rollerskate. mike looks terrified and it parallels to brenner again because mike's words triggered a traumatic memory. even at the dinner table, mike is still annoyed and makes a sarcastic comment which upsets el. in episode 9 during his monologue, he lies and says he’s never been scared of her which we know isn’t true. that entire monologue was pretty much filled with lies that contradict things we’ve already seen and it just felt like an insult to el. i also didn’t like how mike said “you’re my superhero” and listed what she can do with her powers but he couldn’t even mention anything about her personality, because he doesn’t even truly know her since they can’t even be themselves with each other. they don’t even share any similar interests and hobbies. the only thing mike knows about her outside of being a superhero is that she likes eggos and that’s about it.

you can argue that he tried making her feel good about who she is in his monologue but he was lying during so much of it that it doesn’t feel genuine at all. people also need to realise that it’s unhealthy that mike has an inferiority complex. he literally admitted that he feels inferior to el because she’s a superhero with powers. he said it wasn't fate or destiny but dumb luck that superman landed on his doorstep. he saw that el was vulnerable and needed help and he just happened to be there. he also probably feels better about himself for being able to get a girl with powers because no girls have ever shown any interest in him before (and it doesn't seem like he had any interest in girls either). but the entire time he was talking in the car, he was talking about himself and how he wants to be "needed" by el because it boosts his confidence but he never mentioned what el actually needs, especially at that time in her life when he met her. she just got out of a lab and needed to grow rather than being pushed into romance before knowing what romance was. mike had a crush on her but she didn’t have a crush on him. she thought he would be like her brother and she only saw him as a friend that cared for her. obviously mike didn’t have any bad intentions when he kissed her, he was just a kid and it was supposed to be cute and wholesome, but the point is that he did what he wanted when she didn’t even understand the concept of romance and crushes. she didn’t really have a say and she didn't have any time to learn about this stuff. mike is the one that decided what their relationship was going to be without giving her a chance to discover herself first. it was also harder for el because she couldn’t communicate the same way mike could, so everything happened so quickly for her and it just doesn’t feel right that she couldn’t decide on her own. their relationship would've been so much better if it developed slowly and el had time to decide if she liked mike romantically HERSELF, without mike being the one to put things in her head. i think it's also important to mention that there was a literally an entire plot in season 3 that focused on how mike has prevented el from discovering herself and what she likes. max literally encouraged her to break up with him, and when she did, she looked the happiest she had ever been. max actually allowed her to find her own style and think for herself instead of letting the men in her life tell her what to do.

mike and will

season 4 episode 8: during the car scene, will confesses his love to mike using eleven’s name. he mentions how he feels like a mistake sometimes because he’s different but mike is the only person that doesn’t make him feel like a mistake. they were each other’s first friend, they’ve known each other for most of their lives, they have always felt like equals in the relationship, they’ve experienced the same struggles as they’ve been outcasts their whole lives and got bullied at school, they both understand each other better than anyone else and they can be themselves with each other. neither feels superior or inferior to the other (unlike mike and el, where mike literally admitted he feels inferior to el because she’s a superhero with powers and he wants to be “needed” by her… the whole thing isn’t healthy or fair to anyone at all). mike and will have only had two fights and both times it was because will felt excluded by mike because he was too busy with el. in season 3 episode 3, will felt called out when mike said “it’s not my fault you don’t like girls”. he was obviously already hurt for many reasons here, but hearing this would’ve made it even harder for him. but we know that mike didn’t mean it that way and he immediately regretted it because he just said it without thinking (it also sounded like he was actually projecting because of internalised homophobia). the other time they argued was at the roller rink and it sounds like mike is projecting here too when he says “we’re friends” twice and gets defensive about it. after both of these fights, mike immediately goes to apologise to will because he can’t stand seeing him upset and he had to make sure he was okay and knew that he was genuinely sorry for hurting him. it’s important to note that mike is stubborn when it comes to apologising but he always apologises to will without question. in season 4 episode 4, he doesn't let will try to blame himself either. mike takes full responsibility for the way he treated will and admits that things have felt weird because hawkins wasn't the same without him and he was afraid of losing him. this is a parallel to the scene in season 4 episode 8 where will also admits that if he was mean to mike or seemed like he was pushing him away, it's because he was scared to lose him too.

“if [i] was mean to you or [i] seemed like [i] was pushing you away, it’s probably because [i'm] scared of losing you just like you’re scared of losing [me]”

even though he used el to disguise his feelings, i think mike will eventually realise will was talking about himself here because it's the only thing that makes sense. el never pushed mike away and they stayed in contact by sending each other letters, but mike and will lost contact and pushed each other away because they love each other and they're scared of losing each other. that's why this line during the car monologue can only be applied to mike and will. also, when mike said his monologue to el, he copied a lot of what will said and he was basically responding to will's love confession for him without even realising it.

anyways, the scene where will told mike he doesn’t feel like a mistake because of him also reminded me of the one in season 2 where will and jonathan are talking and will gets upset. he says “mom, dustin, lucas, everyone. they all treat me like i’m gonna break, like i’m a baby, like i can’t handle things on my own”. notice how he doesn’t mention mike? that’s because mike has never made him feel that way. mike stayed by will’s side throughout all of season 2 to take care of him but he never treated him like he was a baby or made him feel bad about anything. he was just there by his side and provided support when he needed it. when will was explaining what he saw on halloween night, mike listened so carefully. he didn't make him feel like there was something wrong with him and he told him that they'll both go crazy together. in season 2 episode 5 when will is talking about the mindflayer spying on them, mike tries making the situation positive by saying how it would be cool for will to be like a super-spy. will almost let out a little laugh because of it even though he was terrified in the moment. it just shows that mike always makes him feel better. and when will was anxious and shaking, mike noticed and put his hand on top of his to calm him down. mike is also the only person that will opens up to when he's struggling which shows how comfortable he feels around him. in season 2 he told him about everything going on with the mindflayer, and in season 4 he's the first person that he spoke to when they arrived back in hawkins. mike also helped will snap out of his upside down trances in season 2 and he would always make sure he was okay and stayed by his side. even after will becomes "the spy", mike never takes his anger out on will or yells at him because he knows it's not his fault, and he stays by his side even though he knows it's risky to be around him. in the shed scene, he was so calm and gentle while telling will the story of how they first met. they were both crying during this scene and it was extremely emotional. it's also probably my favourite scene in the entire show.

there’s such a big difference between both of these relationships and i think it’s really important to discuss. it's obvious that all of them love each other so much, but the difference is that mike and el don't work together romantically at all, while mike and will could be one of the most well-written and genuine relationships because they understand each other better than anyone and they fit together so well. i think mike and el could have one of the strongest and most beautiful friendships too, but they just don't work together as a couple and we've seen why so many times. anyone that pays attention to the show would see that mike and el can’t even be themselves around each other and mike's character got worse the moment he started dating el. he was just reduced to her boyfriend, had no individual character growth and development AND it's just simply not healthy because he feels inferior to her and pretends to be someone he’s not when she's around. he sees her as an awesome superhero with powers but he can’t even name anything about who she is as a person or anything about her personality. el also hasn’t had the chance to grow on her own and make her own decisions. even when she’s starting to finally have her own character development, she always ends up back with mike, and the fact that he needed to say a monologue (that was literally filled with lies!) to “give her strength” while her best friend was suffering in front of her just feels really weird and the entire thing was cheesy. it’s just not healthy or fair to either of them. mike and will on the other hand have the closest relationship in the show and understand each other better than anyone else. it's also just been fully confirmed that will has been in love with mike from the very beginning and they have the most history and build up, even if we don't see all of it on screen. mike can only be himself when he’s with will and that says SO much too. they see each other as equals, they’re always on the same page and they love each other for exactly who they are. obviously mike and el love each other too, i just don't think they belong together romantically because their relationship just simply isn't healthy. i think they rushed into it way too quickly and mike got carried away because she's a superhero, as he's said over and over again. he couldn't even tell her he loved her when she was crying in front of him without her powers, but the moment she gets her powers back and will confesses his OWN feelings for mike and convinces him that el "needs" him, he can suddenly tell her he loves her? i don't know, the whole thing is just messy lol.

#byler #will byers #mike wheeler #stranger things #again these are my own opinions!!#if u disagree i don't care!! that's great!!!!#but i understand basic character analysis and narrative writing and mike and el just don't work together romantically at all #it also seems like mike and will have way more build up that would actually make sense and be better for the characters #i love mike and el as besties but as a couple? absolutely not #will #mike #otp: the best thing i've ever done #byler analysis

800 notes · View notes