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#I’m telling you this boy is traumatized but everyone overlooks it because hE NEVER TALKS ABOUT IT
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Mike biking all the way home after “finding out Will died.” Mike biking all the way to Will’s house after their fight in the rain, banging on the door, and asking him, “What happened? Are you okay?”
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constellama · 1 year
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I’m sure everything is completely fine and nothing will go wrong
Llama reads TRC: Chapters 26-30 of The Raven Boys
Chapter 26
Ok this is gonna go by faster cuz I don’t have many interesting thoughts ngl
Currently on chapter 28 but I wasn’t live blogging so I’ll leave my brief thoughts here
Talking trees!! Either it’s the actual trees talking or maybe Gansey can hear voices??
The forest is funky dude someone definitely died there
Chapter 27
Maura lowkey reminds me of Lorelei Gilmore. Just a bit. The cool mom vibes are there
Also I love how she’s just “oh you’re doing something I told you not to do? Damn that sucks, carry on”
Chapter 28
Haha things started getting interesting
Gansey saying “I could kiss you.” Gansey please be normal /lh
Gansey is so silly I would bully him /hj
Oh my God I was right about the wasp thing.
“I died.” What 😀
You’re telling me. That his near death experience. That I’m guessing happened around the time of Czerny’s death?? WAS BECAUSE OF WASPS??
Oh ok that was kinda traumatizing actually
Wait. Is that why both Gansey and Noah could hear the trees?? Cuz they’re both connected to death in some way??
Gansey :(((
Uh oh, spooky things happening
AN ARM?? Night in The Woods?? Is that you??
IT WAS AN AGLIONBY KID,,,
“The face on the driver’s license was Noah’s.” WHAT?? HEY??? HOLD ON WAIT NO NO N ONO
Ok I’m ngl I knew smth was gonna happen to Noah bUT I DIDNT THINK ITD BE THIS SOON??
WHERE IS HE WHERES MY BOY
“I don’t know” WHY DONT YOU KNOW HIS LAST NAME !!!
“I don’t really care” WHY is Noah being so overlooked this is upsetting
“Mine.” WHAT.
“I told you. I told everyone.” OHHH MY GOD. HES A GHOST??
I just went back to the page where they met Ashley HE DID LITERALLY SAY HE WAS DEAD FOR 7 YEARS
WAIT this entire time I thought the Czerny that Whelk was referring to was like an older brother or relative of Noah or smth bUT YOURE TELLING ME IT WAS ACTUALLY JUST HIM??
Oh my GODDD it was so obvious too
Guys you can’t just ask a guy how he died
Well if he’s dead then at least nothing worse can happen to him right? …right??
Chapter 30
What do you mean it was clear he’d never been alive. What.
“Maybe it’s because his body’s been removed from the ley line” noooo :( please come back Noah
Neeve why are you so creepy
“You’re looking for a god. Didn’t you suspect that there was also a devil?” Well that’s incredibly reassuring
“There’ll be more before it’s done.” oh lovely
Sorry these updates are so slow, I’m not having much time to read lately. Good news though, we’ve almost got 100 pages left!! This is only the first book and I’m terrified cuz I’m guessing that it only goes downhill from here.
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mishafletcher · 4 years
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Are you a Gold Star lesbian? (Just in case you don't know what it means, a Gold Star lesbian is a lesbian that has never had the sex with a guy and would never have any intentions of ever doing so)
So I got this ask a while ago, and I've been lowkey thinking about it ever since.
First: No. I am a queer, cranky dyke who is too old for this sort of bullshit gatekeeping. 
Second: What an unbelievable question to ask someone you don't even know! What an incomprehensibly rude thing to ask, as if you're somehow owed information about my sexual history. You're not! No one—and I can't reiterate this enough, but no one—owes you the details of their sex lives, of their trauma, or of anything about themselves that they don't feel like sharing with you.
The clickbait mills of the internet and the purity police of social media would like nothing more than to convince everyone that you owe these things to everyone. They would like you to believe that you have to prove that you're traumatized enough to identify with this character, that you can't sell this article about campus rape without relating it to your own sexual assault, that you can't talk about queer issues without offering up a comprehensive history of your own experiences, and none of those things are true. You owe people, and especially random strangers on the internet, nothing, least of all citations to somehow prove to them that you have the right to talk about your own life.
This makes some people uncomfortable, and to be clear, I think that that's good: people who feel entitled to demand this information should be uncomfortable. Refusing to justify yourself takes power away from people who would very much like to have it, people who would like to gatekeep and dictate who is permitted to speak about what topics or like what things. You don't have to justify yourself. You don't have to explain that you like this ship because this one character reminds you a bit of yourself because you were traumatized in a vaguely similar way and now— You don't have to justify your queerness by telling people about the best friend you had when you were twelve, and how you kissed, and she laughed and said it was good practice for when she would kiss boys and your stomach twisted and your mouth tasted like bile and she was the first and last girl you kissed, but— 
You don't owe anyone these pieces of yourself. They're yours, and you can share them or not, but if someone demands that you share, they're probably not someone you should trust.
Third: The idea of gold star lesbians is a profoundly bi- and trans- phobic idea, often reducing gender to genitals and the long, shared history of queer women of all identities to a stark, artificial divide where some identities are seen as purer or more valuable than others. This is bullshit on all counts.
There's a weird and largely artificial division between bisexuals and lesbians that seems to be intensifying on tumblr, and I have to say: I hate it. Bisexual women aren't failed lesbians. They're not somehow less good or less valid because they're attracted to [checks notes] people. Do you think that having sex with a man somehow changes them? What are you so worried about it for? I've checked, and having sex with a man does not, in fact, make your vagina grow teeth or tentacles. Does that make you feel better? Why is what other people are doing so threatening to you?
Discussions of gold star lesbians are often filled with tittering about hehe penises, which is unfortunate, since I know a fair few lesbians who have penises, and even more lesbians who've had sex with people, men and women alike, who have penises. I'm sorry to report that "I'm disgusted by a standard-issue human body part" is neither a personality nor anything to be proud of. I'm a dyke and I don't especially like men, but dicks are just dicks. You don't have to be interested in them, but a lot of people have them, and it doesn't make you less of a lesbian to have sex with someone who has a dick.
There's so much garbage happening in the world—maybe you haven't noticed, but things are kind of Not Great in a lot of places, and there's a whole pandemic thing that's been sort of a major buzzkill? How is this something that you're worried about? Make a tea, remind yourself that other people's genitalia and sexual history are none of your business, maybe go watch a video about a cute animal or something. 
Fourth: The idea of gold star lesbians is a shitty premise that argues that sexuality is better if it's always been clear-cut and straightforward—but it rarely is. We live in a very, very heterosexist culture. I didn’t have a word for lesbian until many years after I knew that I was one. How can you say that you are something when your mouth can’t even make the shape of it? The person you are at 24 is different to the person you are at 14, and 34, and 74. You change. You get braver. The world gets wider. You learn to see possibilities in the shadows you used to overlook. Of course people learn more about themselves as they age.
Also, many of us, especially those of us who grew up in smaller towns, or who are over the age of, say, 25, grew up in times and places where our sexuality was literally criminal.
Shortly after I graduated high school, a gay man in my state was sentenced to six months in jail. Why? Well, he’d hit on someone, and it was a misdemeanor to "solicit homosexual or lesbian activity", which included expressing romantic or sexual interest in someone who didn’t reciprocate. You might think, then, that I am in fact quite old, but you would be mistaken. The conviction was in 1999; it was overturned in 2002.
I grew up knowing this: the wrong thing said to the wrong person would be sufficient reason to charge me with a crime.
In the United States, the Defense of Marriage Act was passed in 1996, clarifying that according to the federal government, marriage could only ever be between one man and one woman. It also promised that even if a state were to legalize same-sex unions, other states wouldn't have to recognize them if they didn't want to. And wow, they super did not want to, because between 1998 and 2012, a whopping thirty states had approved some sort of amendment banning same-sex marriage.
Every queer person who's older than about 25 watched this, knowing that this was aimed at people like them. Knowing that these votes were cast by their friends and their families and their teachers and their employers. 
Some states were worse than others. Ohio passed their bill in 2004 with 62% approval. Mississippi passed theirs the same year with 86% approval. Imagine sitting in a classroom, or at work, or in a church, or at a family dinner, and knowing that statistically, at least two out of every three people in that room felt you shouldn't be allowed to marry someone you loved.
Matthew Shepard was tortured to death in October of 1998. For being gay, for (maybe) hitting on one of the men who had planned to merely rob him. Instead, he was tortured and left to die, tied to a barbed wire fence. His murderers were both sentenced to two consecutive life terms in prison. This was controversial, because a nonzero number of people felt that Shepard had brought it upon himself.
Many of us sat at dinner tables and listened to this discussion, one that told us, over and over, that we were fundamentally wrong, fundamentally undeserving of love or sympathy or of life itself.
This is a tiny, tiny sliver of history—a staggeringly incomplete overview of what happened in the US over about ten years. Even if this tiny sliver is all that there were, looking at this, how could you blame someone for wanting to try being not Like This? How can you fault someone who had sex, maybe even had a bunch of sex, hoping desperately that maybe they could be normal enough to be loved if they just tried harder? How can you say that someone who found themself an uninteresting but inoffensive boyfriend and went on dates and had sex and said that it was fine is somehow less valuable or less queer or less of a lesbian for doing so? For many people, even now, passing as straight, as problematic as that term is, is a survival skill. How dare you imply that the things that someone did to protect themself make them worth less? They survived, and that's worth literally everything.
Fifth, finally: What is a gold star, anyhow? You've capitalized it, like it's Weighty and Important, but it's not. Gold stars were what your most generous grade school teacher put on spelling tests that you did really well on. But ultimately, gold stars are just shiny scraps of paper. They don't have any inherent value: I can buy a thousand of them for five bucks and have them at my door tomorrow. They have only the meaning that we give them, only the importance that we give them. We’re not children desperately scrabbling for a teacher’s approval anymore, though. We understand that good and bad are more of a spectrum than a binary, and that a gold star is a simplification. We understand that no number of gold stars will make us feel like we’re special enough or good enough or important enough, or fix the broken places we can still feel inside ourselves. Only we can do that.
The stars are only shiny scraps of paper. They offer us nothing; we don’t need them. I hope that someday, you see that, too. 
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btssavedmylifeblr · 4 years
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Tongue Tied (M)
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Genre: SMUT, fluff, crack, demon au (sort of), idol verse, established relationship au, pwp with a side of minor relationship angst
Pairing: Jimin x Reader
Word Count:12k
Warnings: explicit sexual content, oral sex, orgasm denial, masturbation, squirting, sex toys, dirty talk, degradation, bladder desperation and brainwashing
A/N: So… this is porn. Apologies to everyone, especially Park Jimin. Blame my anons who goaded me into it. Love you all! Stay hydrated.
Jimin's tongue trails a warm circle around your erect nipple.
"Stop teasing," you groan, threading your fingers through his dark hair and tugging him closer to you.
Jimin obliges, spreading his tongue across the perky bud, sucking it into his mouth, massaging with his lips. Flames of arousal rush through you. His fingers move from your hip to your lower folds, dipping into you, checking how wet you are. He releases your breast and smirks, holding up his fingers to show you the translucent strings stretching between them. "So eager.”
He laves kisses across your throat. His tongue alternates between firm and soft, sucking just to the point of pain, then soothing it away. He moves downward, sliding you up the bed as he works his way toward your swollen center. Every place his tongue touches burns with desire.
Your core throbs as he draws closer and closer to it. Despite dating for six months, Jimin has never gone down on you. The place you most want his talented tongue is the one place it has never been. In the beginning of your relationship, you had assumed oral sex was something he had accidentally overlooked. But now it was starting to seem deliberate.
Jimin sucks a hard kiss onto your hip as he slips his finger back between your folds, spreading your arousal up to your clitoris. He draws a slow circle around the sensitive nub, laughing softly against your belly when you moan out loud.
The closer he gets, the more your desperation builds. You tighten your fingers in his hair to coax him farther down. He pushes your folds apart with his hand, bringing his face in close to inspect your swollen cunt, chuckling as it clenches. Your clit pulses as you wait for him to bring his mouth to it.
But then he's pulling away from you, sitting back on his heels. "I'm going to fuck you now.” He holds you open with one hand and strokes his dick with the other. You bite your lip to hide your disappointment and nod.
There's nothing disappointing about Jimin's dick though. He knows how to use it well. It's not until you're both sweaty, sated and lying in each other's arms that you remember your earlier disappointment.
"Jimin?" You trail a finger over his chest. "Can I ask you a question?"
He gives a soft murmur of assent as he presses a contented kiss to your forehead. His hand strokes lazily up and down your arm.
"Why do you never go down on me?"
His hand stops moving.
You press on. "I blow you all the time, but you never go down on me."
"I don't know.” He shifts underneath you, his eyes not meeting your gaze. "Just like other stuff better."
"Well, sure," you reply, kissing his chest. It had never been your favorite activity either, always making you a bit self-conscious. But it was quickly becoming the thing you most wanted, simply because he wouldn't let you have it. "But it's always fun to try new things."
He continues to duck your gaze as he unwraps his arm from you and scoots away from you over to his side of the bed.
Maybe he was insecure about this particular activity?  You slide in next to him and kiss his shoulder. "I bet you'd be really good at it.”
He shifts away from you again, frowning as you continue to chase him across the bed. "I just don't like it, okay?"
Your mouth falls open in shock. It’s such an un-Jimin-like reaction. He's always so generous with everything in your relationship.
"Why?" Did he have some terrible previous experience he didn't want to discuss? What kind of traumatic cunnilingus backstory would leave him this turned off?
"I don't know." He rolls over so his back is to you. "Can't you drop it?"
"No, I'm not going to drop it!" You sit up and nudge his shoulder. "Are you saying you'll never do it?"
He turns back over to face you, licking his lips. "Would you break up with me if I was?"
"What?"
"How big of a deal is it?"
"I don't know." It never occurred to you that you might face a relationship ultimatum over oral sex. You’re madly in love with Jimin. He’s the man you want to spend the rest of your life with. Surely that matters more than how much time he spends between your legs.  
"Is there something wrong with me?" you ask. Did you taste bad? Smell funky?
“No!" Jimin's eyes widen and he shakes his head. “No, no, it’s just...” He sits up, sighing as he leans back against the headboard. "I was waiting to tell you this until we'd been together a bit longer." He runs a hand through his hair as he gathers his thoughts.  
What secret has your boyfriend been keeping from you all this time? Does he have some weird STD that is only spread through oral? Is he allergic to vagina?
"My tongue is cursed." He rubs the back of his neck, sighing as if relieved of some terrible burden.
You laugh out loud. Of all the explanations you had concocted, none were as ludicrous as this.
"Don't laugh." Jimin frowns, kicking the bed.
"Your tongue is cursed?" It's impossible to not laugh when you say it out loud. "Like by a witch?"
"No, not by a witch, don't be absurd." He squirms and pulls his knees up to his chest. "I'm part demon."
You snort in laughter again. But Jimin looks so hurt by the sound that you bite your tongue.
"My great-grandfather on my father's side was a demon,” Jimin elaborates, staring down at his hands.
“Wait, are you serious?” You arch an eyebrow, afraid of appearing to actually believe him just for him to tease you.
Jimin groans in frustration, twisting the bedsheets in his hands. "I didn't believe my mom when she told me either. But it's true. My grandmother swore it was true."
"Let me get this straight." You sit up a bit straighter, eyeing him skeptically. "The reason you won't go down on me is that you are one-eighth demon, and your tongue is cursed."
He bites his lip and nods.
"Jimin, that's ridiculous."
His shoulders slump as he curls in on himself. You're still waiting for the "gotcha!" you think is coming, but he looks sad and embarrassed.
"Fine," you sigh, willing to hear him out. "What kind of demon?"
He picks his head up and licks his lips. "An incubus."
"Your great-grandfather devoured the souls of women through sex?"
Jimin shifts back and forth, rubbing his hands up and down his legs. "Grandma said he was very handsome."
Your boyfriend is very handsome too. But that doesn't mean he's part demon.
"He didn't hurt anyone." Jimin tries to defend his clearly fictional demon great-grandfather. "He just, you know, hooked up with a lot of women."
You sigh and pinch the bridge of your nose. "So which parts of you are demon then?"
"Just my tongue."
"Be serious."
"I am being serious! Look!" He sticks his tongue out as far as it will go. It's very long, reaching all the way to his chin. And it's pointy. But it seems to be a perfectly normal tongue.
"It doesn't look cursed to me."
"It's so long though," he mumbles, having difficulty pronouncing the words with his tongue hanging out of his mouth.
"Yeah, but not like supernaturally long." You argue, leaning in closer to inspect the potentially cursed muscle. He wiggles it back and forth as if that will convince you there's something unusual about it. "What does that even mean, a cursed tongue?"
Jimin draws in a deep breath, as if about to reveal a deep, dark secret.
"Any girl that I get off with my tongue…“ He pauses for dramatic effect, narrowing his eyes, “can never come again."
His proclamation hangs in the air of your bedroom, as he waits for you to gasp in shock. You raise an eyebrow instead. "Ever?"
"Except!" He holds up a finger. "On my tongue."
You can't hold back the laughter this time. "So is there some horde of perpetually horny women out there, dying to experience your tongue again?"
He shakes his head and chews on his lower lip. "I've never done it with anyone before." He begins twisting the bedsheets in his hands again. "I didn't want to risk it being true. My mom was really serious when she explained it."
"That's an awkward conversation to have with your mother."
Jimin finally laughs. "Yes, yes it was."
His change in demeanor brings you some relief. But it can't be true. There's no such thing as demons.
"You sure you're not making up excuses to not reciprocate?"
"I'm not making it up!" Jimin smacks the bed in emphasis. "I'm dying to go down on you!"
"You are?" Your earlier arousal knocks between your legs again.
"Yes!" He pushes his hair off his forehead. "Every time I get down there, all I want to do is suck on your needy little clit." Your core clenches and you squirm on the bed next to him. He eyes you up and down and smirks. "To make you fall apart with my tongue." He wraps his arm around your shoulders and pulls you in close enough to whisper in your ear. "To be surrounded by you as you come on my face."
"Would it be so bad if we tried it?" you ask, squeezing your thighs together to cope with the tension building between them.
"You'd want that?" His eyes widen and he licks his lips in excitement. "Even if the curse is real?"
"Yes, I'd want that." He's so excited that you don't have the heart to tell him that there's no way the curse is real.
Jimin giggles with delight, gathering your hands into his. "You know I love you right?" He kisses each of your hands. "I love you so much."
"I love you too Jimin," you reply and he pulls you in for a long kiss. His reaction would make you think he'd asked you to marry him.
"We can't do it tonight though," he mutters, frowning. “I’m leaving tomorrow."
Shit. The boys are leaving for their world tour tomorrow. A fact that has slipped your mind in the whole your-boyfriend-might-be-a-demon discussion.
"What better way to say goodbye?" You whisper, leaning in and planting light kisses up and down his neck. You're not going to let some weird family legend stand in the way of your boyfriend getting you off one more time before he disappears for a month.
"You sure?" Jimin raises an eyebrow. "A month is a long time to go."
"I think I'll survive." You've dealt with Jimin's absences before. You don’t like them, but you can’t admit to him how much they bother you. And curses aren't real.
Jimin's whole attitude changes, a dangerous glimmer in his eye. "Yeah?" He kisses your neck as his hand sneaks down between your legs. You're still sensitive and wet and you flinch when he slips his fingers into you, your arms breaking out in goosebumps. "Is this where you want my tongue?" he teases as his index finger brushes against your clitoris.
"Jimin, please," you whine. He pulls his hand back, but you slide your hips forward, chasing after him. You've been waiting for months and all he wants to do is tease.  
"So needy..." The smirk on his lips and predatory gleam in his eyes have you almost believing he is a demon. "It's like you want to give me all your orgasms."
"Curses aren't real," you gasp as he sucks a long kiss into your neck.
"Maybe you don't care if it's real." He trails kisses downward. "Maybe you want me to claim all your pleasure for myself." It's embarrassing the way more arousal drips from you at the idea. "Maybe you want to be alone and desperate, unable to satisfy yourself without me."
It's probably your mind playing tricks on you, but his mouth feels hotter than usual. It burns everywhere he touches you. He pauses his trail downward to suck on your nipple and you arch your back to press into him further.
"I like that idea," he says, releasing your breast and continuing his burning trail downwards. "That no other man will ever be able to satisfy you." He slips his fingers back inside you and you moan. "No toy, no dick, not even your own fingers will be able to bring you relief." His tongue inches downward, interrupted by lingering kisses. Your core is so swollen with arousal, the ache inside you so desperate. He smiles as he curls two fingers upward, so slowly that your thighs begin to tremble. "Every single one of your orgasms will belong to me."
"Please, Jimin." You're going to lose your mind if he keeps teasing like this. You roll your hips against his hand, trying to get his fingers in deeper.
"Is that what you want?" he asks. His mouth is so close you can feel his warm breath on your sensitive swollen skin. "Do you want to give me all your orgasms?"
He looks so serious when he asks, it almost makes you believe. But curses and demons aren't real. It's just a game. A game you’re both enjoying.
"Yes," you whisper. "I want you to have them all, Jimin."
"Good girl." He closes his eyes and exhales, then finally - finally - brings his mouth to your clitoris.
The surge of heat on the swollen bud almost has you coming the moment he takes it into his mouth.
"Holy shit," you groan, rocking your hips upward.
"Easy..." Jimin soothes, placing a firm hand on your hips to hold you down. "I'll take care of you." Then he buries himself between your legs.
His tongue alternates hard and soft as it strokes your clit. Any reservations he had about this have disappeared with the way he relishes you. He slides his fingers inside you and pairs each stroke of his tongue with internal pressure from his fingers. You pulse with arousal inside and out. You wind your fingers through his soft hair and he groans a deep satisfied rumble.
"Please, please," you beg, tugging him against you as you get closer and closer to the edge.
"That's it." He pulls off one last time to catch his breath. "Let me have it." His thumb rolls slowly over your clit as he watches you from between your thighs. "Come for me. Be mine."
He dives back in, the pace of his fingers curling inside you matching the figure-eights his tongue weaves over your clitoris. Heat radiates from his tongue, burning and tingling, so pleasurable it's almost painful. Warmth spreads through you, flowing into you and flooding up your spine and down to your toes. You tug harder on his hair. The groan he releases sends vibrations throughout your core, pushing you over the edge.
"Fuck, Jimin, I'm coming," you gasp. Your muscles clench around his fingers and your hips rock against his face as waves of pleasure cascade through you. It lasts for an eternity as he keeps stroking you, perfectly in time to the rhythms inside you. He keeps at it until you finally whine and squirm away, everything becoming too much.
"That's my girl." He smiles as he places a soft kiss on your inner thigh and chuckles when your skin trembles in response.
Minutes pass as you recover your breath. Jimin's head is still between your legs, trailing soft kisses up and down your inner thigh. It tickles and you try to squirm away, but his grip on your hips is too tight.
"Jimin," you whine, wiggling beneath him.
He ignores you, trailing his wet fingers up and down your leg.
"You know," he says, resting his chin on your thigh. "If the curse is real..."
"The curse is not real, Jimin.”
"If the curse is real,” he talks over you, pinching your inner thigh and making you jump, “then that was your last orgasm for a month." He looks so pleased with himself, dark eyes full of mischief. Your skin tingles under his hungry gaze and you begin to heat up again. "Seems a shame to leave it at that."
"Jimin," you sigh. "I'm not sure I have another one in me tonight."
"Oh, come on." He dives back into you, bumping his nose into your clitoris and causing your whole body to jolt. "I can't leave you with just one." He nuzzles against you. "How will you manage?"
A slight pang of pain hits you that he’s going to be gone for so long. But you don’t want him to see it, so you play sarcastic. "I have a vibrator."
"You do?"
"How else do you think I deal with your touring schedule?"
"Dirty girl..." He nips playfully at your inner thigh. "Where is it?"
You blush. "Under the bed."
"What?" His eyes widen in surprise. He swings his head over the side of the bed, inspecting underneath it. "There's nothing but shoes down here," he says as he hangs upside-down searching for your vibrator.
"In the Adidas box." You hide your face behind your hands as he climbs off the bed.
"Look at you," he teases. "Hiding sex toys in shoeboxes. You are dirty." He laughs a delighted laugh when he opens the correct box and you curl in on yourself further. He climbs back on top of you, pulling your hands away from your face.
You laugh when you see him, a small bullet vibrator hanging by its cord from between his teeth.
"I want to see it," he says as he drops the vibrator into your hands. "Show me how you get yourself off, if I'm not around to do it."
You laugh, rolling your eyes. "Two is kind of my max. I don't know if I can."
"I believe in you, sweetheart." Jimin sits back on his heels to watch you, keeping his hand on the controller connected to the vibrator in your hand.
Your heart beats faster as he stares at you. His semi-erect dick dangles between his spread knees.
"Go on," he encourages, turning the vibrator on.
You move the vibrator down between your legs. It makes a spluttering sound as it encounters your wet folds.
"Listen to that." Jimin smiles and scoots forward on his knees, licking his lips. "Listen to how wet you are. I bet you can come again."
The vibrator does feel good against your sensitive skin and watching him watch you fills you with an arousing mix of embarrassment and confidence. The pleasure builds quickly, everything still wound up from your previous orgasm.
He increases the speed on the vibrator. "Are you getting close?" he asks, his own erection rising as he watches you.
You groan and nod, rolling the vibrator in circles across your palm, grinding it into your clitoris. The sounds of the vibrator, the sloppy wetness of your arousal, and your panting breaths fill the room as Jimin waits to watch you come.
But the closer the edge of your pleasure gets, the more distracted you become. He's just sitting there waiting, with that smug grin on his face. What if you can't come? What if he thinks this stupid curse is real? You just came, it's perfectly reasonable that you might not be able to come again right now.
The further you get into your own head, the further your climax drifts away.
"It's not working, is it?" He strokes his now fully erect cock and wiggles his eyebrows. "Need some assistance?" He turns up the vibrations to their maximum setting.
The drive to come surges back as you press harder against yourself with the vibrator and watch him stroke himself. He shuffles forward on his knees, until his dick is right next to your face.
"Suck my cock," he urges, nudging your cheek with his erection. "Do a good job and I'll let you come."
You want to roll your eyes at the suggestion that he has any control over whether or not you come, but his erection is too tempting. You sit up slightly and draw him into your mouth.
"That's a good girl," he groans. "My desperate little cockslut."
He's so hard on your tongue. You let go of the vibrator to angle yourself better. He moans when you sink down so far that your nose bumps into his pubic bone.
"Fuck," he exhales and his hands tremble as he caresses your cheek. "You take it so well." He picks the vibrator back up from where you dropped it onto the bedspread and positions it back between your legs. You jolt and moan, sending vibrations through his dick. He threads his fingers into the hair at the back of your neck, easing you up and down his cock.
You hover at the edge of coming, so debauched and needy and desperate to please him. He rolls the vibrator faster around your clitoris and you're so close. "Can you come for me?" he whispers, stroking your hair. "I want to see you come with my cock in your mouth."
You groan and rock your hips back and forth against his hand, chasing the edge as he guides you up and down his dick. But you can't quite get there. Every time you reach the tipping point, his cock bumps into the back of your throat and you gag.
"You can't do it, can you?" he teases, pace increasing as he gets more and more excited. The vibrator drops to the bed as he uses both hands to grip the back of your head. "You're mine now. All your orgasms are mine," he chokes out as he loses control of himself and comes down your throat, holding you to him and forcing you to swallow his whole release.
His thighs tremble as he sinks down onto the bed. "I love you," he says, kissing your cheek. He folds his arms behind his head, closing his eyes and sighing happily. Your core aches, but Jimin looks like he’s about to fall asleep.
“Hey!” You poke him in the ribs. "You can't leave me like this."
He opens one eye and laughs. "You admitting that you need me?"
You pout, not wanting to admit anything, but really wanting to get off one last time before bed. He's leaving tomorrow. Just because you want him right now doesn't mean you're cursed.
"Please, Jimin." You nudge the vibrator back into his hand, core clenching again when he takes it from you. "Help me."
"Of course." He smiles and kisses you again, before scooting down the bed and positioning himself between your legs one last time.
"So wet and swollen," he teases, as he traces a finger up and down your labia, chuckling as it twitches.
"Quit teasing," you groan, smacking his hand in irritation.
"Yes, dear." He brings the buzzing vibrator back to your clitoris and your hips buck upward to meet him. You're so close to coming you cry out, reaching out for him and grabbing on to whatever you can reach. One hand grips his shoulder as the other tangles into his hair. "That's it," he murmurs. "Come for me."
His warm wet tongue slides in next to the vibrator and you shatter into a million pieces.
Your fragmented mind floats above you as you tense in pleasure, every muscle contracted as it all becomes too much. You sob as your third orgasm of the night is ripped from you. Jimin massages both the vibrator and his tongue against you, pulling every last drop of arousal from you.
You collapse into a pile of jelly. "Fuck," you breathe out. "That was amazing."
"Glad you enjoyed it." Jimin beams from between your legs, giving one small kiss to your pubic mound before sliding back up and cradling you in his arms. "Hope it was worth it," he mumbles, kissing your forehead as you close your eyes.
You nuzzle into his warm, muscular chest. It certainly seems worth it right now. But curses aren't real. It's the last thing you think before you fall into a deep satisfied sleep. Curses aren't real.
______
You roll over the next morning to find Jimin’s side of the bed empty. Running water in the bathroom tells you he’s already up and getting ready to leave.
There’s a tingle between your legs, an echo of the night before. Your legs and crotch are slick with a mix of saliva, arousal and sweat. It should be disgusting, but it makes you smile mischievously. Memories of last night replay in your mind as you slide your hand down between your legs and contemplate how you got so messy.
The bathroom door is closed. You wiggle over to Jimin’s side of the bed and pick up his phone. It’s 5:30 am. Do you have enough time to talk him into coming back to bed? Your core pulses and you run a teasing finger around it. It’s so sore that it almost hurts to touch it. Almost, but not quite enough to stop you. You miss the heat of his mouth, the possessive way he talked, his groans of pleasure as he consumed you.
“Jimin,” you call out, unable to wait for him any longer.
The running water stops. “Yeah?” he calls out, not opening the door.
“Are you almost done in there?”
“One second.” The water switches back on briefly before he shuts it off and opens the door.
Jimin is shirtless, patting his face dry with a towel. You lick your lips at the sight of him, the tingle between your legs escalating to full ache.  He’s dressed in only black slacks, hair wet and tousled from his shower. Your core pulses as you watch a drop of water from his hair drop onto his chest and trail down the muscular planes of his stomach.
His eyes rake over you, making you feel naked despite the covers. You pull your hand away from yourself, embarrassed. Your possibly demonic boyfriend smirks.
“Last night not enough for you?” He crosses his arms and leans against the doorframe, looking all too pleased with himself. “Greedy girl.”
You want to scoff at him, but your pussy clenches traitorously instead. His dark eyes burn even hotter, as if he knows.
He chuckles. “I’d offer to help you out, but I just washed my face.”
You roll your eyes and squirm under the covers. “There are other ways to help me.” You don’t need his tongue. His fingers or his cock would do just as nicely.
“Yeah?” He raises an eyebrow as he walks over to his nightstand and picks up his phone. “I’ve only got ten minutes before the car arrives though.”
The pang of distress at his leaving returns. “Why didn’t you wake me sooner?”
“I thought you could use the rest.” He laughs and kisses you on the forehead. “I didn’t want to wake you earlier than I had to.”
It feels especially hard to say goodbye today. “I’m going to miss you.”
“I bet you will,” he replies, striding across the room to fish a white button-down shirt from the closet, still smirking. “A month is a long time to go.”
“I like more about you than just the sex.” You cross your arms and pout. “Won’t you miss me?”
Jimin laughs brightly as he buttons up his shirt. He sits down on the edge of the bed next to you. “Of course, I’ll miss you.” He takes your hands in his, squeezing gently. “I love you.”
“I love you too.” It doesn’t feel like enough to convey how much you’re going to miss him. But you don’t want to be that needy girl who begs her boyfriend to stay.
He smiles and picks up your hands, lifting them to his lips and kissing the back of each. Then he pauses and sniffs. He can smell the arousal on your hand and you are mortified. His eyes flick back up to your blushing face and he cocks an eyebrow, pleased smirk on his lips. "You sure you don't want my assistance one last time?"
You clench your thighs together and squirm under his heated gaze. "I wouldn't want you to be late." You can always get yourself off after he leaves.
"Yeah," he replies, glancing at his watch. "I should get going." He cups your cheek in his palm, tilting your chin up to give him a kiss goodbye.
You pour all your unspoken longing into your last kiss. His mouth is warm, his lips soft, and when his tongue enters your mouth, your whole body breaks out in droplets of sweat. You thread your fingers into his damp hair, pulling him closer as you moan against his lips.
He laughs as he pulls away from you. "So needy," he teases, wiping his lips with his thumb. "I like it." You want to scoff at how patronizing he sounds, but then he places a soft kiss on your forehead. "Be good for me," he whispers and you can't help the whine you emit as he lets go of you.
What is the matter with you? You've always prided yourself on being a mature adult who was respectful of his schedule, not some hormonal teenager who can't live without her boyfriend. You must be horny. As soon as he leaves, you can solve that problem and go about your day as usual.
You watch Jimin leave, admiring the way the tight black pants show off his best assets. "Hurry back!” you call after him. He blows you a kiss, and then he's gone.
The moment he's gone, you feel colder and emptier. You slide back down under the covers, drawing them up over your shoulders, and sighing broken-heartedly. It's dramatic, but no one is around to see you, so you let yourself wallow for a moment.
The tingle between your legs recaptures your attention. You glance over to the nightstand where your vibrator waits. Your pelvic muscles twitch in excitement. You scoop the vibrator up and sneak it under the bed covers.
You take your time easing into your arousal. You're still sore and sensitive from last night, so you don't go straight for the maximum setting. You tease yourself slowly, like Jimin would. His kiss lingers on your lips. Your fingers miss his soft hair. The vibrator echoes the burning, tingling pleasure of his tongue.
Just as you reach your plateau, cranking the vibrator to the highest setting and settling in for the home stretch, your phone buzzes.
Today 10:35 am
Jimin: What are you doing?
You: Nothing...
Jimin: Nothing? You sure about that? You sure you're not fingering that needy clit right now?
You: I am doing no such thing.
Jimin: You've got the vibrator out then.
You: Fuck. How do you know that?
Jimin: You seemed pretty needy when I left. ;)
You: Where are you?
Jimin: Pulling into the airport.
You groan out loud. The idea of him texting you filth while surrounded by his members made you flush with heat. You ignore him for a moment as you ride the wave of pleasure that surges through you at the thought.
Jimin: You going to answer me?
You: I have the vibrator.
Jimin: Dirty girl... Did you cum?
You: No, not yet
Jimin: Can't get it done without me huh?
You: just taking my sweet time. thank you very much. curses aren't real
Jimin: prove me wrong then. cum for me
Your clitoris throbs as you lower the vibrator back to it, buzzing excitedly. The edge of your orgasm hangs just out of reach. You read back Jimin's command and press the vibrator harder against yourself, rocking your pelvis up and down. It's right there. You ride the edge for a moment, then breathe out and let yourself tip over.
Your whole body goes numb. All feeling disappears, as if you are floating in mid-air, all sense of time and place gone and you feel nothing. Your pelvic muscles contract rhythmically, as if you’re having an orgasm, but you can’t feel it. You feel nothing.
Blinding pain rips through you. The vibrator is a curling iron pressed to your clit. The sheets burn everywhere they touch you. You cry out in shock and fling the source of pain away from you. You tear the bedcovers off as the vibrator clatters into the dresser on the far side of the room.
What the fuck just happened? The pain disappears as quickly as it appeared and you are the same, cunt still pulsing with arousal. You lie in a pool of sweat, panting.
You look over at Jimin's message. Should you tell him what just happened? What if he thinks it's the curse?
You shake your head. No. Curses aren't real. It must all be in your head.
Today 10:42 am
You: did it
Jimin: really?
You feel a slight twinge of guilt as you lie to him.
You: really
Jimin: oh...
Is he disappointed? Did he want you to have an ancient demonic curse? He told you to come for him. You watch typing bubbles appear and disappear several times, but no messages come through. You feel overheated and overwhelmed. You get up out of the bed, ignoring the ache between your legs, deciding to have a cold shower instead.
Jimin: getting on the plane now
You: okay, have a safe flight! I love you! Call me when you land!
Jimin: yup, will do
No "I love you too"? Was he mad at you? Upset? You frown as you stand in your bathroom and watch his flight take off on the flight tracker app on your phone.
_____
It’s a long eleven hours as Jimin flies to Los Angeles. Every time you think about him, the slight tingle between your legs returns. You make the shower ten degrees colder to try to calm yourself down, but it provides only temporary relief. You are on edge and restless all day, but too afraid of the strange thing that happened this morning to try masturbating again.
By the time midnight rolls around, you are very tired and very frustrated. You should go to bed and talk to Jimin in the morning. But as you watch the plane get closer and closer to landing, you can’t fall asleep.
His plane lands and you wait for him to text you. Five minutes go by, then ten, with no message. You can’t take it anymore.
Today 12:18 am
You: Did you arrive safely?
Jimin: Just landed
You: Can you talk?
He’s only been gone half a day, but it already feels too long. You’re annoyed with yourself for feeling this needy.
Jimin: Not right now. Maybe in a couple of hours
You: I have to go to bed…
Jimin: You should go to bed then
You frown. Usually he would plead with you to wait a little longer, or ask if he could wake you up when he was free. You’ve had many whispered conversations at 4 am because it was the only time he could talk.
You can’t let on how much you already miss him though. You don’t want to be one of those girls who becomes a burden. This was the trade-off to dating an idol.
You: Okay, good night then
Jimin: good night
You frown at your phone again, before finally giving up and setting it down on the nightstand.
You stare at the dark ceiling of your bedroom wishing he was here with you, instead of halfway around the world. You roll over and hug the pillow next to you. It smells like him. It triggers a deep knock of the same arousal that’s been haunting you all day. Maybe it would help you sleep if you got some relief.
You slip your fingers down into your underwear and find yourself already wet. You trail your fingers through the sticky wetness curiously. You are not usually this wound up so quickly. It’s ridiculous that the smell of him alone can get you this excited.
You bury your face in his pillow and inhale again, amazed as you feel another burst of wetness gush from you. God, you miss him. How do you miss him this much when he’s been gone less than a day? His arms, his hands, his tongue, his lips are all you can think about.
You sigh softly as you trail a damp finger up around your eager clitoris. You close your eyes and imagine the hand belongs to Jimin instead. He’s here with you. His lips on yours, his hand curled into your hair, whispering how you belong to him.
“That’s it, baby girl,” he whispers in your head. “Make yourself wet and desperate for me.” You groan as you pick up the pace of your hand. “Good girl, you’re doing so good.”
“Jimin, please,” you plead into the silence of your empty bedroom.
The Jimin in your head laughs. “You know it’s hopeless right?” he teases, smirking at you in that self-satisfied way where he knows he has you exactly where he wants you. “Every one of your orgasms belongs to me.”
You feel the edge of pleasure begin to slip away. You speed up your hand and chase after it, but it’s no use. The pleasure fades aways and you are left numb, empty and wet.
“Told you I was cursed,” imaginary Jimin teases. You huff in frustration, unwilling to give him the satisfaction, and roll over away from the pillow that smells like him. You shut your eyes tight. Curses aren’t real.
_______
Your dreams are full of Jimin. Jimin’s hands, Jimin’s chest, Jimin’s tongue. Over and over, he teases you toward your climax in your sleep. Always pausing, always stopping before you get to your end. By the time you wake up in the morning, you are swollen and dripping with need.
Your alarm sounds. It’s Monday. Work starts in an hour. You reach down and confirm how wet you are, more wet than you have ever been before. Your thighs slide past each other, slick with arousal. You can’t go to work like this.
It’s time to break out the big guns.
You lean over the side of your bed and fish out the other shoebox. The one you couldn’t tell Jimin about. The one that contains your dildo. Sometimes the vibrator alone wasn’t enough. Sometimes you needed a bit more. Sometimes you needed to be filled.
“Won’t do any good,” imaginary Jimin whispers in your head. You ignore him.
You slide the toy through your folds, slicking it up with your excessive wetness. The sides of your entrance tingle with heat as you stroke over them.
“Imagine it’s me,” Jimin teases. The fake cock heats up in your hands and you can almost believe it's his.
“Please, fuck me, Jimin” you beg, even though Jimin is thousands of miles away.
“Would if I could, sweetheart,” he answers. You picture him running his tongue over his plush lower lip. “But that’s not what you really want.”
“No such thing as curses,” you urge as you slide the dildo into you. “Fuck…”
Being finally filled again scratches an itch you hadn’t been able to before. It’s a pleasure and a relief all at once. The toy slides in easily with how soaking wet you are.
You pull up some porn on your phone and prop it against a pillow before grabbing the vibrator. You’re done fucking around. You need to get off right now and then go to work.
The porn isn’t very interesting though. The only thing you want to think about is Jimin. You close your eyes, listening to the audio but picturing your boyfriend. It doesn’t take long before you feel the pleasure crescendo. You let out a sob. It’s happening, it’s finally happening. You aren’t cursed.
The phone rings.
“Fuck!” You throw the vibrator down in frustration.
It’s Jimin. If it were anyone else, you would let it go to voicemail. But you really want to hear his voice. You turn the vibrator off so he won’t hear it, but keep sliding the silicone cock in and out of you.
“Hey babe,” Jimin’s voice is a little raspy. “I thought I could catch you before work. What are you doing?”
“Nothing,” you lie, sliding the dildo further inside yourself and biting your lip to conceal a groan.
He chuckles. “Nothing?”
“Nothing. Getting ready for work.” You refuse to give him the satisfaction of admitting that you’re actually naked in bed, dripping for him. “What are you doing?”
“Finally made it to the hotel,” he groans. You can picture him stretching his arms over his head as he spreads himself across his big empty bed. “Was thinking about you. Thought you might be thinking of me.”
Does he know? How could he know? Does he have magical “knows when his girlfriend is horny” demon powers”?
Shit. No. Jimin is not a demon. There are no such things as demons.
“Did you just call for phone sex?” You want to sound irritated, but your pelvic muscles clench traitorously around the dildo.
“Can’t stop thinking about yesterday.” His voice gets lower and you can hear the slick sounds of his hand moving over his dick in the background. “You were so needy for me. I liked it.”
A sharp blade of anger slices through your fog of lust.
“Jimin.” You pull the dildo out of you, setting it to the side. “You can’t ignore me all day yesterday and then expect me to talk you off like nothing happened.”
“Aww, come on, we were so busy. I called you as soon as I got here,” he whines. “I’ll make sure you get off too.”
You aren’t sure he can. Not with his voice alone. You need him here with you. But you’re not going to admit that.
“I have to go to work.” You are rapidly running out of time.
“Don’t you miss me?” he asks. You can practically hear his pout through the phone.
“Do you miss me?” You want to know why he hadn’t called earlier, but you don’t want to seem too needy.
“Of course, I do, baby. I love you.”
The tension in you eases slightly. Maybe you had been making things up.
“Miss you so much,” he continues and you can hear the sounds of his jerking off pick up speed. “Miss that sweet little cunt.”
It’s just about sex. He doesn’t miss you, he just wants to get off. “I have to go Jimin.”
“What? No! Don’t go.”
“I’m going to be late for work.” You hang up on him, feeling a vindictive victory. Your core is still wet and aching, but your anger powers you long enough to get you up and into the shower.
______
One cold shower and a hot cup of coffee later and you are on your way to work.
The commute sucks. Your lingering arousal refuses to abate. Your mind dwells on Jimin. Sitting down on the subway has you springing to your feet as the train starts moving, vibrations from the rails threatening to have you soaking through your underwear. Memories of Jimin commanding you to orgasm echo through you as you fight to calm your breathing.
You haven’t heard from real Jimin since you hung up on him. He probably fell asleep.
At work, you shift uncomfortably at your desk. You try to answer some emails, but every few seconds your core pulses, forcing you to reposition yourself. Your clothes itch. Everything is too hot. You shrug off the cardigan that you usually need to cope with the building’s air conditioning system. But then you rush to put it back on when you notice how hard your nipples are, poking through your bra and shirt.
The only thing that can distract from the tingling all over you is the buzz of your phone.
Today 10:22 am
Jimin: I’m sorry :(
You: Go on…
Jimin: I’m sorry I ignored you. This whole thing has me a bit thrown off.
You: How so?
Jimin: I was just so sure that the curse was a real thing, you know? I felt pretty stupid that it wasn’t.
You bite your lip and shift uncomfortably in your seat, pressing your legs together. Should you tell him? No… curses aren’t real. You’re just missing your boyfriend. That’s okay.
You: It’s okay, Jimin. Thank you.
Jimin: Is it bad that I kind of wanted it to be real?
You: You did?
Jimin: Well, it’s pretty sexy right?
Sweat trails from your hairline down your neck.
You: I have to be able to live my life Jimin. Can’t be sitting around waiting for you.
Jimin: I’m sorry we’re gone so much.
Shit. Now you’ve made him feel bad for his work schedule, something you swore you’d never do.
You: It’s okay. I’ll be okay.
I’ll be okay. Curses aren’t real. I’ll be okay. Curses aren’t real.  
You repeat the mantra under your breath until you make it to the end of the work day.
_______
The rest of the work week passes in much the same way, days of jaw clenching and sweating until you can rush home and lie in bed with the vibrator. You edge over and over, afraid of the pain you experienced last time, until you pass out exhausted.
You manage to make it to Friday. There’s a big meeting at nine. Your whole office, crammed into one conference room. At least this way you have an excuse to linger at the edge of the meeting, rather than sit leaking all over an office chair. It’s the first time you’ve had to be around this many other people at once.
“Do you think they can tell?” demon Jimin whispers in your head. “Do they know how wet and desperate you are right now?”  
You teter at the edge of the room. You clench in horror as a drop of something begins running down the inside of your leg. You’re too far gone to tell if it is arousal or sweat.
A colleague next to you leans over to ask you a follow-up question on something your boss just said, but you cannot hear them over the buzzing in your head.  They look at you in confusion. “Are you alright?”
No, you are not alright. You’re becoming dumber with each passing moment. Sweat beads up on the back of your neck. You mutter something about not feeling well and run for the restroom.
You slam the door to the stall behind you, ripping off your cardigan and undoing several buttons of the blouse underneath. You can’t breathe. You need air. You need relief. You slip your hand underneath your skirt. Your fingers are cool against your burning core. It’s a relief to touch yourself again.
“God, you’re a mess.” Jimin whispers in your head. You want to cry from how humiliating this is. “Can you imagine if they knew what you were doing in here?”
“Jimin…” you plead, unable to stop yourself.
“Shhh… ” he chuckles. “Don’t let them hear you.”  
You bang your head back into the stall door in frustration. If you could just come, if you could just get five minutes of relief. Maybe the pain would be better, at least it would be a different sensation. You speed up your hand, chasing any form of relief.
“Such a dirty girl. Getting yourself off in the bathroom to the mere memory of me. What are we going to do with you?”  
Your fingers slurp through the slick leaking from you. The noises fill the small office bathroom. It’s disgusting and debauched and you can’t stop yourself.
“Listen to that.” Jimin whispers. “You’re so hopeless.”
Your orgasm dances tantalizingly near, but your hand is starting to cramp up.
“Don’t stop now.” Jimin urges. “Keep rubbing. That’s it. The more desperate you are, the more control I have.”
“Fuck…” you curse.
The bathroom door opens, noises of chatter and typing pouring in from the larger office. “Everything okay in there?”
Your face burns with humiliation and your back drips with sweat. “I’m okay!” you call out, even though you aren’t, not even a little.
You’ll never get relief here. It takes all your strength to pull your fingers away from your swollen cunt. Especially with Jimin whispering in your ear to keep touching yourself.
You adjust your skirt and rebutton your blouse as best you can.
“Sorry,” you mutter as you emerge from the stall, not looking at the colleague who has come to check on you. “Stomach bug.” You hope your excessive sweating sells the idea that you are actually ill.
“Go home!” your colleague insists, waving their hands at you. “Don’t be spreading your norovirus around here.”
“Yeah, yeah, I think that is a good idea.” You nod, rinsing off your hands and patting a damp cloth on your face.
Imaginary Jimin grins, his dark eyes burning in your mind’s eye at the idea of having you all to himself again. “I think that’s a good idea too.”  
_______
The first thing you do when you get back to your apartment is strip out of your clothes, leaving a trail of sweat-soaked clothing from your front door to the bedroom. You climb back into bed and grab the vibrator, hissing in relief as it clicks on, feeling like you can breathe for a moment.
“You know, you’re only going to make it worse.” Demon Jimin continues to taunt you. “The more you touch yourself, the more you’ll want me.”
“Please, Jimin, please,” you beg, even though there’s nothing your imaginary boyfriend can do for you.
“What will we do with you?” the demon smirks, tutting in mock disapproval. “Can’t even work a full day. How will you keep a job? I’ll have to take you everywhere with me, never too far away. My personal slut.”
“No, Jimin, please…” Everything hurts. Your folds are red and irritated. Your hand cramps from pressing the vibrator into you. But you can’t stop.
“It’s okay, my love. Keep rubbing yourself. Melt your brain away. Be mine. There’s nothing else you need to do. That’s my good girl.”
All conscious thought begins to slip from you. There is only aching burning need. Jimin’s voice echoes in your head, drowning out all your attempts to fight him.
“What an embarrassment you are. So wet and needy. Filthy girl. I won’t be able to take you anywhere. You’ll have to wait around my hotel room, begging me to take pity on you. My own horny little pet.”
Waves of desire roll through you, washing away any other aspirations. Just to be his. To be only his.
“Won’t that be easier? Nothing to worry about. No work, no chores. Your only job will be to stay wet and ready for me. And you’ll be so good at it. I’ll use you when I feel like it and only let you come once I’m satisfied. Every single orgasm will be mine.”
A groan rips from your throat, more animal than human. Tremors run up and down your spine.
“I’ll have to be careful not to let you come too often though,” Jimin teases. “I like you like this. All needy and desperate for me. Want to keep you like this. My brainless little fucktoy.”
You sob. He’s right. It’s all you’re good for now. Nothing but a shivering pile of desperation.
The only thing that saves you from drifting under the demon’s spell is the ring of your phone. Jimin is calling you. Real Jimin. Your only lifeline.
“Hello?” Your voice is raspy and parched. You click off the vibrator so he can’t hear it. But that only makes the need worse, so you replace it with your hand.
“Hello?” Jimin answers. “Are you sleeping?”
“No…” Should you be asleep? You have no idea what time it is.
“You sound weird.”
You switch the phone to speaker and rest it next to your head on the bed so he can’t hear your heavy breathing.  “I’m fine.”
“Are you okay? I haven’t heard from you all week.” He sounds a bit upset, and very far away.
You have no answer. No, things were not okay, but there was nothing he could do about it when he’s thousands of miles away.
“Beg him,” demon Jimin whispers. “Go on, beg him to let you come. It will be funny.”
“I can’t,” you mutter under your breath, groaning in frustration.
“What?” Jimin’s voice calls from the phone. “I can’t hear you. Are you still there?”
“I… I can’t do this right now Jimin.”
“Are you still at work?” His tone has shifted from upset to confused.
“No, no, I went home.”
“Are you sick?” Jimin asks through the phone. “Hello?”
A small sob bubbles its way up out of your throat.
“This conversation is boring,” the Jimin in your head insists. “Turn the vibrator back on.”
“I don’t have time for this right now, Jimin.”
“What are you doing?” Real Jimin sounds worried. “I don’t understand what’s going on.”
“Go on,” the demon whispers. “Tell him you can’t come without him. Tell him you belong to him now. Tell him his pathetic excuse for a girlfriend can’t live without him.”
“Jimin please!” you cry out. “I can’t do it anymore, please!” Tears are rolling down your cheeks. “Please let me come.”
“What? Are you playing with yourself right now?” he asks, incredulous.
Somehow the vibrator has turned back on and you rock against it, even as you wish you could stop. “I can’t help it,” you sob. “I can’t stop Jimin. I can’t stop.” You’re useless and pathetic. He’s going to leave you and you’ll never get relief again. “I’m sorry. Please let me come.”
“You can come! You can come!” he shouts through the phone, but of course, that does nothing to help you.
“I can’t come without you!” you sob. “You were right. The curse is real.”
“Huh? But, but... at the airport, you said you did.”
You groan, still chasing relief that isn’t coming. “I lied, Jimin, I’m sorry.”
There’s a pause on the other end of the phone. “Why would you lie to me?”
“I don’t know, I don’t know. But it’s real and I can’t… I can’t do anything without you. You have to come back.”
“I can’t come back. We have a show tomorrow.”
“ He’s not going to help you.” The demon is still there, waiting for you.
“Please, Jimin, please come home.” you beg. “I need you.”
“This is my job. I can’t leave.”
“What about my job, Jimin? What about my life? You can’t leave me like this!”
“It’s only been a week! Can’t you deal with it for a little longer?”
“Fuck you Park Jimin! You did this to me!”
“You said it wasn’t real!”
“He’s useless,” demon Jimin begins to drown out your boyfriend. “Come back to me. Be mine.”
“I have to go Jimin.”
“No, don’t hang up. We can figure this out.”
“You can’t help me.” You hang up the phone and toss it back onto your nightstand.
“Good girl.” The demon hisses in satisfaction. “Let it all go. Let your mind go.” You cry, still rocking against the vibrator, searching for relief that isn’t coming.
______
Your mind slowly leaves you over the next few days. You can get a few minutes of clarity if you’re willing to push yourself all the way over the edge, the searing pain providing you with enough mental clearness to call in sick to work or order food. But every time you do, it leaves you with even less with even less mental clarity.
At some point, you stop keeping track of the days. You stop sleeping. You stop eating. Eventually, even getting out of bed becomes too much work.
The bed sheets are wet, a mixture of sweat and vaginal secretions. You need to pee.
“God, you’re disgusting.” Demon Jimin laughs in your head. “He’s never going to want you now. Wet yourself like the animal you are and be done with it.”
You whine, hiding your face beneath your pillow and trying to distract yourself with the vibrator from the growing need to urinate.
The phone rings. Jimin is calling. He’s been calling for days, but you can’t answer him. You can’t let him know what you’ve become. He’ll never want you again.
There’s a loud banging on your front door. Who could that be? You haven’t ordered any food in a while, not really sure how long.
“Ignore it,” the demon instructs. “Lie here in this bed and piss yourself.”  
You wrap the pillow around your head, unsure if you are trying to drown out the pounding on the door or the demon whispering in your ear.
“Open the door!” A loud, frantic voice carries through the door and you curl in on yourself. You don’t know who they are, but you can’t let them see. You can’t let them know. The pounding stops, followed by a loud thud that rattles the door on its hinges. “Goddamn it!” The voice shouts. Then, a softer voice calls through the door. “Baby, please open the door. Please, let me in.” It’s Jimin. Real Jimin. He’s here.
The overwhelming drive for him is the only thing that could propel you up and out of the bed. You’re shaky on your feet, a bit dizzy. The world is not entirely stable. But you manage to make it to the door and unlatch the lock before collapsing in a heap next to the entry.
For a second, there’s nothing. The door stays shut and you are worried that you hallucinated the whole thing. Of course he’s not here. He has more important things to be doing than dealing with his pathetic girlfriend.
But then the door bursts open.
“Babe?” Jimin calls for you as he steps into the apartment, kicking off his shoes. He’s wearing the same white dress shirt and black slacks that he left you in. Maybe he’s a figment of your imagination.
“Jimin…” You reach out for him, unable to believe he’s actually here, needing to feel whether or not he is solid.
“Shit.” His eyes widen as he finds you crumpled up and naked on the floor. “Are you okay?” He drops his overnight bag on the threshold and kneels in front of you, cupping your face in his hands. “Tell me what’s happening.”
You don’t know how to answer him. You don’t know what’s happening. But his fingertips are cool against your feverish, sweaty skin. He brushes the hair out of your face so he can look you in the eyes. You only know you need him.
“Jimin, I need you, please.” Your hands reach for him, searching for more of his skin to cool yourself against. You’re untucking his shirt from his pants and trying to undo his belt buckle, but he bats your hands away.
“Woah...” He grabs your hands to stop you as you battle him for his belt. “Babe, slow down, talk to me.”
He doesn’t want you. He’s repulsed by you. The demon was right. He’ll never touch you again. You’re worthless. You’re repulsive. You burst into tears. “Please, Jimin, please, I can’t,” you sob, nearly incomprehensible.
“Shh, shh...” He runs his hands over your shoulders. “Shh… it’s going to be okay. I’m going to take care of you.” He scoops you up into his arms and carries you down the hall, back toward your room. “I was so worried,” he says as he cradles you against him.
You can only respond by nuzzling your face into his chest, the cool cotton of his white shirt absorbing the heat from your skin.
“Your work called and said you haven’t been in since last week.” He kisses the top of your head and inhales the smell of your hair. “Why haven’t you been answering the phone?”
You ought to feel bad, but it was hard to feel too bad when you had what you finally wanted, Jimin back here with you.  
“I thought something terrible had happened to you.” He pauses at the door to the bathroom, waiting for an explanation.
“It’s the curse,” you whine, covering your face with your hands. “I’m cursed. You cursed me.”
“I’m so sorry.” He set you down on the toilet, before turning on the shower. “I didn’t know it would be like this.” He places a soft kiss on your forehead and turns to leave the bathroom.
You panic. Where is he going? He can’t leave you like this. “Jimin, no, don’t leave.” You chase him out of the bathroom, catching him around the middle and clinging to his waist. “You can’t leave me.”
“I’m not leaving,” he chuckles, trying to unfasten your arms from around him, but you refuse to let go. “I was just getting undressed.” He sighs, picking you up once again and carrying you back to the bathroom. He tries to set you down again, but you whine, clinging to his neck.
Giving up, he steps directly into the shower, still dressed, cradling you in his arms. The white dress shirt turns translucent as the water hits it, clinging to his skin. The water runs down his torso and thighs and you groan with need. The water is warm, but it feels cool compared to how hot your skin is.
“Jimin, please.” You’re begging again. “I need you.”
“Shh, it’s okay, I’m here,” he answers. Your legs tremble underneath you as he puts you back on your feet.  He grabs the bottle of body wash and squirts out a generous dollop, lathering it up in his hands.  “I’m gonna take care of you.”
It’s all you can do to stay standing as he caresses you. He removes the shower head from its hook so he can follow each soapy caress with water to wash you clean.
He starts with your neck, then your breasts, then your stomach, gentle hands massaging over you. It only makes the ache for him worse.  He reaches the puffy and swollen labia and you gasp, legs trembling.
“Please, Jimin, please,” your endless chant of pleading begins again.
“Shh…. It’s okay. I’ve got you.” He runs the showerhead over your aching core to rinse off the soap and your legs give out entirely. You collapse against the wall behind you, unable to support yourself.  Still dressed in his soaking wet clothes, he kneels in front of you. He spreads your legs, investigating your swollen folds with his soapy hands. Your clitoris throbs, hard and angry and red. You shiver as he runs the water stream over again. “Does it hurt?” he asks, watching your face as he strokes over your tender core with his fingertips.
“No, no,” you shake your head emphatically. “Not anymore.” The only pain now is the distance between you. “Please, please, please…”
He slides closer to you, brushing his dark wet hair back off his forehead and licking his lips. He picks up one of your legs and wraps it over his shoulder, then the other, carrying you on his shoulders as he buries his face in your core. You are so on edge, have been on edge for so long, that you’re already at the peak of your arousal the moment his tongue touches you.
Something monstrous is building inside you. A sensation like nothing you’ve ever felt before moves through you as he moves his tongue in slow broad strokes over your clit. Flames of heat lick at your extremities, beginning in your fingertips and toes and spreading upward. Rising warmth builds in your belly as you ride his face, hips undulating in time with the bobbing of his head. Fear floods you as the memory of the searing pain returns from those moments you’ve gotten this close in the past. You tense up, gripping his shoulders tightly, afraid to let yourself tip over.
“It’s okay,” Jimin whispers, pausing for a second to admire you from between your thighs. “It’s okay to let go.” His warm wet tongue slides over your aching clit as his fingers penetrate you. A massive tremor rolls through you as all the pent of tension releases at once and you’re coming. Every muscle in your body seizes over and over as you grind against his face.
Rhythmic muscle contractions seize you as a rush of fluid shoots out of you, spraying Jimin right in the face. You’re screaming, but not from pain. There is no pain, only release, only relief.
“Woah.” Jimin gapes at you, your release dripping down his face and off his chin. Then he breaks into a huge smile. “That was amazing.”
You laugh out loud, relief washing over you. Your whole body turns to jello and you collapse into his lap.
“Thank goodness we were already in the shower,” he says, wiping his face with his hand and chuckling.
The two of you sit, holding on to each other under the stream of water, laughing. Finally, the mental fog begins to lift from your thoughts.
“How did you get here?” you ask, yawning as you do so.
“On a plane.” He laughs, nuzzling against your neck, arms wrapped around you.
You hit playfully on his chest, still covered in his soaking wet dress shirt. “You know what I mean, what about the tour?” You yawn again.
He mirrors your yawn, stretching his arms and groaning. “I have to go back in the morning. They managed to get me out of the press junkets for today by claiming I was sick, but I have to be back for the concert.”
“Do they know?” Your eyes are already closing as you lean against his warm firm torso.
“About the curse?” Jimin asks. “No…” he laughs. “No, I don’t think they’d let me leave if I told them it was because my girlfriend really needed to ride my face. I told them I had a family emergency.”
“I’m sorry, Jimin.”
He shakes his head. “I’m the one who should be sorry.” He turns your face toward him and kisses you. “It’s my fault. I never should have left you.”
You sigh, head resting on his shoulder. “What are we going to do?”
“I don’t know.” He squeezes your hand where it is entwined with his in your lap. “But we’ll figure something out.” He sighs, leaning back against the wall, finger stroking your arm. “But right now we should get some sleep.”
He turns off the shower, stripping off his wet clothes and leaving them behind before scooping you up. Your head is floaty as he wraps you in a warm towel. You lean against the counter as he strips the sheets from the bed and replaces them with fresh ones, then comes back to lead you back to the bed. The two of you collapse into bed together and sleep overtakes you almost instantly.
______
Your dreams are full of Jimin again. Not teasing demon Jimin, but your warm loving boyfriend, stroking your hair and holding your hand.
You are surprised to wake up and find him watching you.
“I have a solution!” He chirps excitedly.
“You do?”
“Yes! Apparently the curse is in my saliva. So here!” He thrusts the bottle of lube from your nightstand into your hands. You look at it in confusion. “I spit in it!” he proudly declares.
“Um…” You hold the bottle at arm’s length. “Thank you?”
“This way, if I’ve been gone too long, you have a way to get off without me.”
“How do you know it will work?”
He laughs sheepishly. “I, uh, called my mom.”
“Ugh, no…” You hide your head under the covers in embarrassment. “What did you tell her?”
“It was an awkward conversation.” He laughs again. “But I couldn’t let you go through that again. She swears this will work.” He glances down at his watch. “Unfortunately, I don’t have time to test it out with you.” He wiggles his eyebrows. “Think you can get it done before I get on my plane?”
“I suppose there’s one way to find out…”
Jimin disappears under the bed and returns with both your vibrator and dildo. “Better get going then,” he teases, before giving you one last kiss. “I’ll text you when I land. I love you.”
You stare at the assortment of sex toys and lube now spread out on your bed. “You’re just going to leave? I don’t have to go with you?”
“Do you want to go with me? I thought you had work.”
“Well, yeah, I mean, I do, but… I thought you were going to make me your personal sex slave.”
“Um, I wasn’t planning on it.” He laughs, then a more mischievous smirk spreads over his face. “Unless you want me to.”
You laugh in relief even as a lick of heat curls in your belly. “Perhaps that’s a game best left for when you are in town.”
He winks. “Looking forward to it.”
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makeste · 3 years
Text
BnHA Chapter 305: Worst Intervention Ever
Previously on BnHA: Shinomori, whose name took me an entire week to memorize, was all, “nice to meet you Deku, I’m ten feet tall, do you want to know how I died?” and without waiting for an answer explained that he kicked it from old age at forty thanks to good ol’ OFA. Deku was all “wait a minute, then how come All Might, who’s fifty-five and is definitely dyeing his gray hair, is still alive?” First and Shino were all, “we really have no fucking clue but we think it’s cuz he’s quirkless, JUST LIKE YOU!” So basically, since quirkless people don’t exactly grow on trees these days, Deku is probably going to be the last user of OFA. The chapter ended with Nana being all, “psst, Deku, about my grandson. Uh, can you kill him?” which is sure to lead to a very interesting conversation this week.
Today on BnHA: Nana And The Gang are all “so, Deku, how can we put this delicately. The thing is, we’re pretty sure that AFO really fucked my grandson up, so on the off chance you can’t save him, how would you feel about, you know... [throat slitting gesture].” Deku is all “idk you guys, I kinda feel like he’s really just a traumatized child at heart and he’s in a lot of pain and stuff and so I should try to help him.” The Vestiges are all “BUT WHAT IF YOU CAN’T” and Deku is all “BUT I WANT TO TRY, DAMMIT” and the Vestiges are all “well when you put it that way, we, uh, were just testing you, so congrats, you passed!” The chapter ends with First being all, “ANYWAY SO WHY DON’T YOU TWO SHY BOYS STANDING OVER THERE IN THE SHADOWS COME SAY HELLO” before we CUT AWAY FOR ANOTHER WEEK, goddammit.
seriously, Nana
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just... have you met Deku?? look, if you really want Tomura dead, just sic him on the U.A. first years and tell Shouto and Honenuki that it’s a training exercise
oh my god lmao
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we’re too far away to see Nana’s face here so I will just assume that she turned and is staring DIRECTLY INTO THE CAMERA for this one line lmao. “I just wanted to clarify in case anyone felt inclined to take my dialogue out of context and spend an entire week complaining about it”
oh my god?! are you all purposely trying to make me sad??
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someone stop me before I launch into an impromptu rant about all my Tomura feels. WHY IS NOBODY STOPPING ME. oh my god but yes, exactly. he’s just in pain all the time. this is exactly why I think Tomura has such high redemption potential even though so far he seems to lack so many of the redemption arc essentials such as feeling remorse, wanting to change, and taking responsibility for his actions. the reason why I’m willing to overlook all that in his case is because Tomura has essentially had zero agency his entire life. AFO molded him into a killer by making sure he was in constant mental agony, and making it so that the only thing that even slightly relieved that agony was killing peeps. like, please don’t think I’m making excuses for him or anything, but if you take a child and manipulate their existence to make it virtually impossible for that child to grow up as anything other than a killer, and basically never give him the chance to be anything else, then no shit he’s gonna be a killer?? he’s basically never had the choice not to be. it’s never been an option for him. anyways I feel like I am EXPLAINING MYSELF SO BADLY but nonetheless I am prepared to die on this hill
anyway so now Nana is all “that’s a rhetorical question btw because Our Hearts And Minds Are One so we can feel everything you feel bro.” so yeah, that’s interesting
now Banjou is getting started on the “let’s try and talk Deku out of wanting to save Tomura because it’s insane” part of their OFA Mystical Space Void Reunion agenda
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look, Banjou, I feel you, I really do. you guys don’t think it’s realistic that Deku can defeat Tomura without killing him. so if it’s a choice between killing Tomura vs letting Deku and everyone else in the entire world die, then duh, you think Deku should kill him. I get it! and if this were a real life mass murderer I’d totally agree with you. but the problem is that this isn’t real life, this is a sympathetic shounen villain with a tragic past who might as well have FUTURE REDEMPTION ARC RECEIPIENT stamped on his forehead at this point
so First is all “look, there’s absolutely no doubt my brother has fucked this kid up good and proper by now”, which, again, fair
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though, that’s kind of exactly my point though. everything that Tomura is, everything he’s done, he’s done because of AFO. AFO has so effectively shaped his personality and his worldview by this point that it’s all but impossible to penetrate that. he’s AFO’s puppet. but the problem is that rather than treating him like a victim, you all are treating him like a casualty. like he’s already a lost cause. but good luck trying to convince Deku of that
WHOA WHAT, RANDOM SUPER-IMPORTANT AND BIZARRELY UNRELATED EXPOSITION DROPPED IN JUST LIKE THAT??
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way to still not reveal Sixth’s name, btw. THE PEOPLE WANT TO KNOW, DAMMIT. but also so this confirms something we basically already knew already, which is that not even AFO can steal OFA. it literally can’t be taken away by anyone unless the owner wills it. SO SUCK ON THAT AFO YOU EGG
(ETA: so I have no idea why this was omitted from this translation, but apparently the Sixth’s name was revealed as “En”, which is obviously not his full name but at least it’s something. also he most likely has a fire or smoke-related quirk based on the kanji used, 煙.)
so Banjou is saying that Deku’s “lack of an iron will” could be a disadvantage against AFO. hahaha what?? Midoriya “I’ll break all of my bones without blinking an eye just to protect someone” Izuku lacks an iron will? do tell
he says this is going to be a test of Deku’s determination. well yeah, no shit. but just not in the way you guys think
OH HELLO AGAIN
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darker hair again here! but I don’t trust the contrast in these scans at all after last week. his coveralls are way darker than they looked before too, and you can clearly see he’s standing in the shadows now
(ETA: yep, once again the raw shows that his hair is considerably lighter than what’s shown in these scans here. although there’s no mistaking now that his hair is consistently being colored in this slightly darker shade, and it’s not just the lighting.)
anyways lol First was saying something about how AFO can’t steal OFA, and they’ve spent all this time cultivating it as the ultimate weapon against AFO, and blah blah blah. go on then, keep lecturing
NANA GODDAMMIT NONE OF THIS IS YOUR FAULT
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girl what?? you did everything in your power to protect your family, and AFO, fucked up man that he is, targeted them anyway. there is one person and one person only to blame for what’s happened to Tomura, and that potato-faced asshole needs a good kick in the balls
NANA GODDAMMIT DON’T MAKE ME COME OVER THERE
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SO HELP ME GOD!! I WILL GIVE YOU THE BIGGEST HUG YOU’VE EVER HAD!! THAT IS A THREAT
so now Nana is all “I’m just going to call my grandson a Thing to ensure that fandom has only the freshest, grass-fed no-hormones-added discourse this week”
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I don’t even need to drop into the tags to know exactly which specific people are going to respond to this, and what kind of posts they are going to write lmao. everyone’s all caught up in the “that thing”, and meanwhile I’m over here completely hung up on this “nay” that’s appeared out of NOWHERE you guys. look at that. she really said “NAY”
Nana, my love, my dearest, I feel you girl I really do. but he’s not an unforgivable manifestation of pure evil, Deku is exactly right actually, he’s a boy in pain. you guys need to stop questioning Deku’s shounen protagonist instincts here and just let him work his sparkly magic. “let’s try and convince Midoriya Fucking Izuku that he can’t save someone” is a plan that is NEVER going to turn out well you guys
“DEKU GODDAMMIT WHAT IF WE CAN’T SAVE HIM” lmao it’s like an intervention
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“DAMMIT DEKU JUST ADMIT YOU HAVE A SAVING PEOPLE PROBLEM!”
RED ALERT IT’S ANOTHER CLOSE-UP OF THE BACK OF MISTER TWO BON CLAY’S HEAD OMG
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(ETA: I was too distracted with freaking out about Two and Three to really appreciate how ridiculously handsome First looks in this panel. but on my second readthrough it stood out so much that I had to go back and add an extra bullet point just to talk about how hot he is. look at him. wtf.)
THAT IS DEFINITELY AN UNDERCUT. THE PLOT THICKENSSSS. also those are fucking exhaust vents on Mister Three’s neck. MISTER THREE COULD YOU POSSIBLY BE RELATED TO THE IIDAS, PLEASE TELL ME YOUR SECRETS I’M DYING OVER HERE
so now Deku is launching into what will undoubtedly be a “saving people problems require SAVING PEOPLE SOLUTIONS” heroic counter-speech!
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I mean, they can already feel the “lol nah I’m gonna try and save him” feelings running through him lol. ~OuR hEaRtS aNd MiNdS aRe CoNnEcTeD~ and all that. this is just a formality, but that doesn’t mean I don’t love a good shounen protag speech
oh wait hold up, do you mean to tell me that the whole “hearts and minds are connected” thing I was just mocking just a paragraph ago actually allowed Deku to feel what Tomura was feeling?? like literally feel it??
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YET AGAIN these Tomura feels are pounding on my front door you guys?? they just will not quit?? people my house is already full of feels, does it look like I need you to sell me any more of them?? -- what do you mean, they’re free??
AW YISS THAT’S IT DEKU. THAT’S SOME GOOD SPEECH RIGHT THERE
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I appreciate the contrast here between the Douchebag Triumvirate of Overhaul, Muscular, and Stain versus the Misguided Twosome of Gentle and La Brava. never let it be said that Deku doesn’t know the difference between a redeemable villain and an unredeemable one
OH NO -- OH MY GOD
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someone please help me I need directions to the OFA Spooky Galactic Nebula Realm in this fictional Japanese manga land. it’s not on google maps. I need to give these two babies a big hug and wrap them up in a blanket and treat them to some McDonalds Happy Meals please help
other things: (1) ENDEAVOR CHILLING OUT IN DEKU’S “PEOPLE I HOLD DEAR” PANEL LMAO NEON DISCOURSE EXTRAVAGANZA, (2) “ONE FOR ALL IS A POWER TO SAVE, NOT TO KILL” I’M ABOUT TO CRY DEKU I LOVE YOU SO MUCH HOW IS IT EVEN POSSIBLE TO FEEL ALL THIS LOVE, (3) [SLAMS HANDS ON TABLE] THERE’S YOUR MOTHERFUCKING IRON WILL!!!!!!!! -- I’m sorry, please don’t call security, I’ll be good
I just randomly remembered that Deku is still saying all of this in his muffled “FMMPHHMMPHMM” voice and I’m somehow cracking up lol. so actually it’s a very good thing Their Hearts And Minds Are Connected, otherwise they’d no doubt be all, “...what?”
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(ETA: so I completely missed this on account of it literally not being visible in the scan at all, but in the raw you can clearly see Baby Kacchan and Baby Shouto fanboying over All Might in two of these panels, and excuse me, ma’am??
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thank you very much Deku for including them in your montage, particularly since you’ve never seen Baby Shouto before lol. amazingly accurate image you managed to conjure up, all things considered.)
SDKFJLSKHG -- AS IF ON CUE???
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HE’S SO ADORABLE HELP?? Trippy Space All Might looks like he’s about to cry, and First is all “don’t crack a smile... you have to be Firm and Serious here... dammit, don’t smile” omg
anyways! YOU GO DEKU. “MY QUIRK MY RULES, BITCHES” damn, son
KLJLKKHLG TRIPPY SPACE ALL MIGHT LITERALLY ACTUALLY IS CRYING ALL MIGHT HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME
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“I JUST... [CLENCHES FIST] REALLY LOVE SAVING PEOPLE” FUCKING HELL LMAO THIS IS THE WORST INTERVENTION OF ALL TIME
Deku is literally all “sure, maybe I’ll have to kill him, but have you guys also considered, MAYBE NOT??” it’s no use Nana he’s too powerful
LMAO FIRST
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“like I’ve been saying this whole time, you should definitely try saving Shigaraki Tomura.” “but, uh... First, didn’t you just -- ” “shut up”
(ETA: clearly it’s not just his brother who inherited those smooth-talking genes.)
so now Deku has turned back into a sixteen year old and his clothes have gone missing again. just OFA things
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dskljdlsklgk
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yes... sure... “testing” you...
HEY
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FIRST OF ALL, DAMN YOU HORIKOSHI YOU MADE NANA CRY. even if I’m pretty sure they’re actually tears of happiness/relief. and SECOND OF ALL, “TELL MY BOYFRIEND I SAID HI” DJSKDLKJJL ANYWAY MAYBE GRAN, NANA, AND MR. SHIMURA WERE IN A THROUPLE
[SCREAMS]
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WHY WOULD YOU END IT THERE?? WHY WOULD YOU END IT THERE!!!!!
(ETA: and two-to-one odds that we cut away to some other scene once they finally start to turn around next week. I’M CALLING IT NOW. giving myself a week to brace myself for the rage.)
fucking hell. well if anyone needs me I will be adding Horikoshi fucking Kouhei to the list of irredeemable villains, peace
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let-me-write-shit · 4 years
Note
Hiiii! I absolutely love your writing. Could you do an imagine based off of your pregnancy one shot? Since H is incredibly private, would the couple be able to hide her pregnancy from the public and then announce it similar to like Kylie Jenner’s video diary of the whole experience? Thanks!!
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A/N: Ok I was OBSESSED with this request, but for some reason I found it very difficult to write, so I’m so sorry if it’s shit. Hope you like it <3
Word Count: 2,698
Requests are OPEN! If you have a request for a blurb, oneshot, imagine, whatever, Send me a message HERE!!!
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Friendly reminder to please like and/or reblog. It helps more than you think :)
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Is Forever Enough?
From the moment Harry found out he and Y/N were expecting their first child, he knew he wanted to document everything. He had been in the habit of capturing moments throughout their relationship, mainly of big events, but from this moment on, he wanted to capture it all. Little clips of every doctor’s appointment, every craving his wife had, every heartbeat, and every little kick. He wanted video documentation of the life growing inside his wife’s belly and everything that happened during that time. They had waited so long for this moment, and now that it was finally here, he wanted to make sure they would never forget a single second of it. From telling their closest friends and family members, designing the nursery, their tiny baby shower, attended by the select few that were lucky enough to know their secret.
At first, keeping silent was a way to protect themselves in case Y/N’s pregnancy didn’t stick like their fertility doctor had warned them was a possibility. It took them nearly two years to conceive, and the thought of going through a miscarriage in front of millions of watchful eyes was terrifying. But by the time they became aware that they weren’t going to miscarry, they had gone so long without announcing it that there wasn’t a point to do it. Why ruin something that was so well hidden?
The decision not to announce their pregnancy to the public wasn’t a hard decision to make. Harry was private, anyway, and everyone knew that. He was rarely on social media and didn’t talk about his private life to many people, and those who he did talk to were very loyal and trusting. They just wanted to enjoy being pregnant without the prying eyes of strangers and it was fairly easy keeping it under wraps considering how private they were, to begin with.
The timing of Y/N’s pregnancy helped, too. The early part of her pregnancy was during the summer, so they could enjoy tropical holidays together without worrying about being seen because she simply wasn’t showing yet. But, towards the end, it got harder to conceal, like during award season in the fall when an oversized shirt or puffy dress couldn’t conceal the roundness of her bump and plumpness of her cheeks and lips. It was the first award season she hadn’t accompanied Harry to in years and people began to get suspicious.
That’s when the rumors of her possible pregnancy started. Of course, no one could prove anything. But that, along with the lack of sightings of Y/N was enough proof for some. Luckily, nothing more came of it other than whispers. Harry had stopped doing interviews when he first got wind of the rumors, so no one could catch him off guard in uncomfortable positions or having to lie to protect his wife, and he began to focus his attention back on his music, halting his pursuance of on-screen work for the time being until after their baby boy’s arrival. Instead, he was the man behind the camera.
For the most part.
There were times when certain family members or friends would pick up their camera and film some things for them, capturing little intimate moments of the parents-to-be. They even enlisted the help of Harry’s on-tour photographer, Helene Pambrun, to help film the birth of their baby. Though she focused mainly on photography, her knowledge of videography and style of filming fit exactly with what the couple wanted, and Helene was all too honored to be a part of the day.
And although the birth of their child was, albeit, a bit traumatic, they couldn’t have asked for a sweeter baby boy. Born on a frigid Friday evening on March eighteenth after twenty hours of active labor and an onslaught of chaos, Paxton Robin Styles was born, tiny, healthy, and beautiful, surrounded by family that already loved him so dearly.
The hospital staff was wonderful in keeping their attendance private, no one having a clue that they were even there. No news articles or whispers were heard of their newest addition to which they were grateful to be allowed to enjoy their first week home, getting acclimated to being new parents. They had fallen in love with him.
“Y/N!” Harry exclaimed, bouncing into the nursery on a Monday afternoon as his wife fed their son, his phone in hand, and a bright smile on his face.
Y/N looked up, surprised and slightly offended, “Don’t ever call me by my name again,” she joked, stroking their son’s cheek.
Harry laughed, “Sorry, love. But, look! It’s here!”
He held his phone in front of her face, playing the edited version of their pregnancy and birth journey in video form one of Harry’s editor friends kindly put together for them after the birth of their son. The five minute and fifty-one-second video filled with shortened clips of the last nearly ten months of their lives in becoming first-time parents. They watched it together, occasionally glancing down at their baby that had fallen asleep while eating in Y/N’s arms, in awe that this was their life.
Tears were streaming down both of their faces, and Y/N giggled, wiping her husband’s cheek with her free hand. He was an emotional being, she knew that, but she had no idea what the effect of fatherhood would be on her Harry. She couldn’t have picked a better partner to raise a child with.
“I think we should post it,” Harry said, causing Y/N’s eyes to go wide.
“Post it? Like...social media?”
Harry nodded, “Well, we can’t keep him a secret forever. People are already starting to talk. I’d rather announce it on our own terms than on someone else’s. We can still stay as private as possible, I’ve already talked to Jeffrey and my publicist about it. I just...he makes me so proud and I feel like I need to show people that.”
Y/N smiles sweetly at her husband, taking his hand that rested on the arm to the nursing chair and pulling it up to her lips, kissing it gently. “Okay. We can post it.”
Later that evening, the internet was in an uproar and their phones were blowing up like crazy, for on both of their Instagrams they posted a grey-scale picture of a name tag sticker that read “Hello, I’m: P”, captioned ‘link in bio’, where they were directed to a youtube link posted under Harry’s account.
As soon as the video began, Harry’s soft voice was heard, singing his version of ‘Lullaby’ by the Dixie Chicks in the background as unseen footage of their wedding a few years prior had fizzled into view, video of their first dance as husband and wife played while the tail end of a speech made by Harry’s mom, Anne, was heard over everything else.
“We are so incredibly grateful to have Y/N now an official part of our family and I wish you both years of love, health, and happiness….and giving me tons and tons of grandchildren,” earning laughter from the attendees, “I love you both to pieces. Congratulations.”
The video slowly changed to little snippets. Y/N running towards the beach, holding her hat tight on her head with one hand while the other was holding onto Harry’s hand that was at the bottom of the screen as the breeze whipped at Y/N’s hair and sarong, cut to a clip of the camera propped on the beach overlooking the two of them sitting in the sand, looking out into the ocean, Y/N’s head falling on Harry’s shoulder and him kissing the top of her head as the sun set.
Next was a scene during one of Harry’s tour where someone filmed Y/N at the front of the stage in a VIP area beside a few of their friends, dancing and singing along with Harry who stood in front of her, smiling and singing at her.
The next images were upsetting. When they first started trying, they recorded videos of themselves awaiting the results of their tests, hoping to capture the moment they found out on film. One after another, the video showed negative test upon negative test, wanting to document the struggle they faced in fertility, one of the main reasons they decided to post this video. If it helped just one person who struggled with infertility and gave them a bit of hope, they needed to show it.
They showed clips of Harry holding an emotional Y/N in his arms, her eyes filled with tears and a quivering lip as he kissed her forehead and stroked her hair. Until the next clip showed. A shaky still of a screen that read ‘Pregnant’ that panned up to show a reflection of Harry and his wife in the mirror, Y/N pulling the test up to her face with a smile while Harry looked down at his wife in pride, softly touching her flat belly.
Clips of an ultrasound showed, Y/N stomach looking more bloated than anything as the doctor slid the wand around on her belly, Harry filming while squeezing his wife’s hand. His voice could barely be heard over the music of the video as he cooed, “Is that it, right there? So little…”
They included a few announcements they made to family members. How they told Anne while on an end of summer family vacation with a little jewelry box that opened up to two little birds and an egg in a birds nest with a note that said ‘A little birdy told me you are going to be a Nana.’ making Anne burst into tears, hugging them. And when they told Y/N’s best friend by giving her an orange and saying, “That’s how big our baby is right now,” which caused confusion before the screaming.
Y/N had filmed mirror clips of her growing belly in the floor-length mirror that stood in the corner of their room and had gotten clips of Harry laying beside her bump, his hands rubbing her stomach, clasped on either side as he sang, or talked, or read stories.
“I can’t wait to meet you,” he could be heard saying before kissing the top of her bump, looking up and past the camera to his wife, smiling lovingly.
There were images of Christmas, Gemma having caught an intimate moment between the two of them, Y/N sat in between Harry’s legs on the floor, mugs of hot chocolate in her hands and still in their Christmas Pajamas, Harry’s cheek pressed against hers as he held up a blue Gucci baby suit in front of them, smiling and gushing about how small it was.
The couple’s silhouette could be seen in the dark light sky as they stood in the middle of the field, illuminated by the New Years’ fireworks that went off in the distance, Y/N’s belly pressed against Harry’s stomach as they kissed intimately amongst their friends.
A small baby shower inside one of their London country homes was next, littered with a few familiar faces along with some that were likely family members. Harry still sang in the background as the two of them opened gifts, smiling and laughing with each other, genuine happiness and love could be seen on everyone’s faces and a few people popped onto the screen to say a few words for the unborn baby.
“You have wonderful parents,” Y/N’s parents grinned, her mom getting teary-eyed. “I can’t wait to see the person you become.”
Anne’s bright, shining smile was next, “You’re going to do amazing things. You are so loved.”
“Hi, my sweet nephew! It’s Auntie Gemma,” she grinned, waving at the camera, “I can’t wait to meet you and snuggle you! I hope you grow up to be just as kind and loving as your parents. We are so lucky to have you in our lives.”
Harry and Y/N were seen in the background, Y/N eating a slice of cake while Harry casually kissed her cheek before stealing a bite of her food, earning a smile from his pregnant wife
Video panned over their newly renovated nursery, mostly designed to be gender-neutral with little hints of outer space; moon lights, a solar system mobile hanging above the cot, with a star blanket draped over the nursing chair. Harry moved the camera to Y/N who was hanging some onesies in the nursery closet, smiling and waving at the camera.
Next, they were laying in bed. It was dark and, but a glow from a nightstand shone and Y/N’s belly was visible, round and very pregnant, a few freckles near her navel, and the faintest linea nigra could be seen running from her belly button down towards the bottom of her belly. Their voices were barely audible over the music still sung by Harry. A little ripple on her belly cast from left to right and then her belly distorted a little as their baby boy kicked and pressed against the center of her bump, making the couple laugh and Harry’s hand appeared, softly rubbing where his son’s foot would be.
It changed. They were in a hospital now, Y/N in a grey and white spotted hospital gown. The camera was propped on a table filming Y/N  who sat on the edge of her bed, moving her hips from side to side as she breathed heavily, moaning, while Harry kneeled on the floor in front of her, his hands on her hips and squeezing to relieve some pressure. They were talking to each other, concern, and empathy clear on Harry’s face.
In the next clip, Y/N was laying back in her hospital bed, sucking on gas and air. Harry was filming this time, and his Anne could be seen this time, sitting on Y/N’s other side holding her daughter-in-law’s free hand. Y/N put the gas and air down, gave a thumbs-up, and smiled, “We’re having a baby today!” as her mother-in-law smiled brightly.
The footage faded to black before it flashed to Y/N looking at someone just out of view as the disembodied voice said, “Whenever you feel the urge to push, let us know. You’ll be meeting your son soon.”
It faded to black again, Harry’s singing more evident in these moments, louder, as the footage flashed back into focus. The camera was, once again, being propped up on a table. At Y/N’s head on either side stood Anne who was still holding her daughter-in-law’s hand, while Harry stood, back to the camera, mostly blocking the view of his wife as one hand stroked her hair and the other held her hand. The doctors could be heard saying, “Deep breath” before Y/N took a deep breath in, bringing her legs to her chest with the help of a few nurses that could hardly be seen, bearing down and pushing as the nurses counted and Harry said, “Great job, love. Keep going. You’re so strong.”
The screen went black. A doctor’s voice was heard saying, “One more big push.” Y/N could be heard taking a deep breath, and a little exasperated yelp before gasping from both Harry and Anne followed by the beautiful, gurgling cry of their baby. Harry’s sweet singing voice in the background of the video got louder and finally, the video came back into view of a little name card on the bassinet that read:
Name: P, Styles.
DOB: March 18th
Weight: 6 lbs 12 oz
Height: 20 inches
Time: 8:39 PM
The camera panned down to the top of a blue baby cap with a white embroidered ‘P’ in the center, moving as their son wiggled in his bassinet, the hushed reassuring whispers of his parents heard just behind the camera as little lip-smacking and coos could be heard from the baby.
The screen went blank as the song started to end and white words appeared on the screen.
“Welcome to the world, Baby P. We love you to the ends of the earth.
Love,
Mummy and Daddy”
------------------------------------
Taglist:
@odetostep​ , @thurhomish​
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frecklesandstardust · 4 years
Text
Let’s Talk About Klaus
Hi, friends. The Umbrella Academy’s second season came out recently. I finished it about twelve hours after. And I have feelings. We need to talk about Klaus. 
Now, here is my disclaimer. From the very first moment I saw him, Klaus was my favorite, but please read to the end before yelling about how Klaus-stans refuse to see his negative qualities. Thank you <3 (Also, this will involve spoilers for Season 2 and probably be an essay, so be prepared.)
Okay, first of all. Let’s look at Season 1 Klaus. 
He’s an asshole. Just like all of his siblings. They were raised by a narcissistic egomaniac and given hero complexes from pretty much the second they were born. Obviously they all lack empathy and healthy coping mechanisms. We can all agree on that. 
However, Klaus is also kind. So unbelievably kind. He makes crass jokes and looks out for himself first, but he is also so caring. 
When we first see him, he is encouraging people in rehab. He has a rapport with the EMT who brings him back to life. He hugs Allison as soon as he sees her at the mansion and seems genuinely concerned about her and her life. When the giant portal opens, he grabs a fire extinguisher and runs to the front to try and protect his siblings. Siblings who essentially ignored and belittled him for years. 
Fast forward and we see him helping Diego and Five and Luther. We see him caring, sincerely caring about his siblings. He breaks a snowglobe over his head to help Five get the answers he needs. He follows Luther to a rave and dies trying to save his life, even though he’s riddled with PTSD and freshly sober. We see him try so fucking hard to not give out any information about Five when he’s being literally tortured by assassins. He saves Diego from Hazel and Cha-Cha at the hotel, even though he could have stayed safe in the car. He risked his life to save a brother who didn’t even notice he had been kidnapped. 
We watch him die. We watch him get locked in a museum by his father figure and tortured by his abilities. We watch him be traumatized over and over again by ghosts that look just as gruesome as the day they died. We watch him be hurt and kidnapped. We watch him get thrust into a literal war, where he lost his soulmate after staying and fighting for ten months because he was just that in love with Dave. 
Out of every character, Klaus clearly has the most trauma. This isn't even including the fact that he was homeless for years and alluded to non-consensual sexual situations. Ergo, trading sex for a place to sleep and things like that. I am personally of the belief that Reggie was the reason Klaus broke his jaw, which Diego talks about in S1, but that’s my own opinion. 
Looking at all of that, Klaus has PTSD out the whazoo. Like, he is filled to the brim with trauma and no one cares enough to ask or help him. Five sees him after Dave dies and only cares about the briefcase. Diego hears that he lost someone and has the absolute audacity to call Klaus “lucky” because at least he can see them whenever he wants. Not one of his siblings understands Klaus’s powers and that’s terrifying because he had to deal with screaming, tormented ghosts completely by himself. Imagine that. Powers that you can’t control eating you alive and the only thing that helps dim the noise is drugs. 
And your family doesn’t care enough to ask. They just write you off as a useless junkie. 
Now, like I mentioned earlier, Klaus is not an innocent quote unquote soft boi. He is inherently selfish. But, he had to be. He had to be selfish in order to survive. He was on the streets. Alone. If he wasn’t selfish, he would have been dead ten times over. 
He stole things. He lied. He hurt people. He was an asshole. Just like they all were. 
But he was never cruel. 
His relationship with Ben in the first season was pretty awesome. We get to see the snark and the familiarity and the bond between them. And it makes sense, to some extent, why Ben is constantly trying to get Klaus to be better. If Klaus hasn’t seen his siblings for years, neither has Ben. I genuinely think Ben wanted to believe that they had changed. He wanted his siblings to be good, decent people. 
That’s why he told Klaus to go after Luther. Why he told him that his family would notice he was missing when he get kidnapped by Cha-Cha and Hazel. 
But it does not excuse the fact that Ben never apologized. He was wrong and he never said sorry for it. He inadvertently got Klaus killed and he never admitted that he made a mistake. 
He was there for so much of Klaus’s trauma and he just brushed it off. We never see Ben try to be there for Klaus or try to help him come to terms with everything. Ben can see the other ghosts. He knows that they’re terrifying and that Klaus’s powers are completely haywire. Why doesn’t he acknowledge that? 
Let’s move on to Season 2. 
For some reason, all of Klaus’s character development has been tossed out the window. He is a wildcard with no plot line to follow. He says random things and seems to act as comedic relief for the most part, except it rarely works.
For starters, his powers are completely gone, for the most part. We see him in a brief opening scene absolutely kicking ass with his ghost army. But, after that, we don’t see any ghost except Ben. We don’t see him learning to control his powers or talking to ghosts. We don’t even hear about his powers. It’s like they’ve been erased. 
That kind of trauma doesn’t go away. Especially when we find out he has been sober for three years. 
I’ve seen some people argue that he traded addictions. Swapped the drugs for the cult and the adoration that came with it. I don’t agree to that for a few reasons. 
First, he is very clearly uncomfortable with the cult touching him. And we see in the flashback that it happened completely by accident. Klaus was, again, trying to survive. Was it selfish? Yeah. Did he use that old woman to shamelessly find a place in a world he’s not supposed to exist in? Yeah! But, like I stated earlier, Klaus knows how to survive. He knows what to do to get by. All he is doing is trying to survive. Ben can scream all he wants about fairness, but he wasn’t offering up any options to get Klaus a place to sleep and a way to survive in the past. 
Second, we don’t know how the cult came about exactly. We don’t know what started it. We don’t know how it spiraled from whatever it started as into a cult. And Klaus hates it. He spends the entire season trying to get away from everyone. He used it as a means to survive and then wanted space. His entire plan was to get to 1963 and save Dave--probably from the start of 1960, to be honest. But to get to Dave, he had to survive. He had to get to a place where saving Dave was possible. He can’t save him if he’s dead or homeless. 
Third, Klaus very openly is touch-starved and desperate for attention. He spent his childhood being overlooked and his adulthood being treated like a disease. He just wants someone to take him seriously and care about him. The cult does. They love him for who he is, for his weird humor and mannerisms. They believe him when he talks. He’s never had that before, not since Dave. 
He finally has a group of people that genuinely care about what he has to say. Even if it’s all bullshit! They still listen to him. So, of course he sticks around. Of course he lets it grow. He thinks everyone he loves is dead! He’s holding onto the only thing he can. It just happens to be a cult. 
Next point: Ben. 
Ooh boy, this is gonna be a long one.
Ben is also not a soft boi. One tender scene with Vanya does not undo an entire season of cruelty and callousness. 
Before we get into that, let’s talk about the point everyone brings up: Klaus didn’t tell anyone Ben was there! 
Why should he? They never believed him the first thousand times he tried to tell them. What makes it any different fifty years in the past? 
But aside from that, I have two theories. 
One, I’m curious as to if he was subconsciously trying to punish Ben. Ben essentially got him killed at the rave with Luther. He also never apologized, as I mentioned earlier. He blows Klaus off, just like the rest of his siblings, even though, out of anyone, Ben should know better. From the very beginning of S2, Ben is saying some pretty nasty stuff to Klaus. Low blows that shouldn’t be brought up. If that’s been happening for 3+ years, it’s possible that Klaus internally is punishing Ben for being just like the others. 
Second, he’s scared of losing Ben. It’s been 17 years of only having Ben by his side. Constantly. And we know Klaus has watched the love of his life bleed out right in front of him. That’s PTSD. And PTSD doesn’t exactly involve healthy coping methods. So, it’s entirely possible that Klaus doesn’t saying anything about Ben being there because he is scared to lose him to his siblings. If Ben is corporeal, if they know Ben is there, what’s stopping Ben from leaving to go spend all his time with someone else? Someone that isn’t Klaus? Klaus could be trying to protect himself from losing another person. 
Does that make it okay for Klaus to hide the fact that Ben is there? No. But does it kind of make sense? Yeah. Ben deserved to reconnect with his family, but Klaus is traumatized beyond belief and clearly isn’t in the right state to make sound and logical decisions all the time. If we can forgive Five for murdering the Commission Board in cold blood and Vanya for blowing up the world twice, we can forgive Klaus for keeping Ben’s existence to himself (especially since he tried to tell them in S1 and was immediately written off as an attention whore.)
Now, let’s talk about the possession, aka my least favorite thing about the entire season. 
Ben possessing Klaus is assault. End of story. Non-negotiable. It’s not funny. It’s not cute. It’s not “payback.” It’s assault. 
We know that Klaus is terrified by his powers. We know that he has trauma in his past, involving non-consensual experiences. So does Ben. Worse, Ben was there for a lot of it. 
Ben flat out ignored Klaus’s discomfort for his own selfish gain. He was so hellbent on possessing Klaus that he ignored the fact that Klaus was terrified to go to sleep because he knew Ben would possess him without consent. 
And let’s acknowledge the fact that Klaus doesn’t owe Ben anything. He has no obligation to let himself be possessed. Ben is dead. And that’s horrible. It’s unfair and Ben did not deserve to die. But he. is. dead. The dead do not get free access to the bodies of the living just because they want to feel things again. 
Ben completely disregarded Klaus’s feelings because he had a crush on a girl who didn’t even know he existed. Klaus, who willingly accepted possession the second he realized it was important to Ben. Klaus, who laid out strict ground rules, showing he was clearly terrified of the idea, but still did it anyway because he loves his brother and harbors guilt for conjuring him the day of Ben’s funeral. Klaus, who had just been brushed off after failing to stop Dave from enlisting.
Ben possesses him and almost immediately starts to make out with a girl who thinks he is Klaus. That is sexual assault. If I have a twin sister and that twin sister sleeps with my husband, who believes she is me, then she has raped him. That is rape. 
Ben doing anything physical with that girl, who clearly showed that she was interested in Klaus, is sexual assault. She did not consent to sleep with Ben. She consented to sleep with Klaus, who was trying his best to break the possession and stop the entire thing from happening. 
And Ben fought him on it. We see them struggle in Klaus’s body for the next several minutes. Ben doesn’t care that Klaus is clearly uncomfortable, that Klaus wants him out. He selfishly wants to stay in control because of his own desires. He ignores Klaus’s rules and does what he wants without considering the consequences. 
This is the third time that Ben has used possession to control Klaus. We see it when they are fighting earlier in the season at the cult mansion. We see it again at the dinner with Reginald. We see Klaus essentially have a seizure (and we see none of his family members ask if he is okay. They just roll their eyes.) We see Klaus literally vomit once he forces Ben out of him in that alley with Five and Luther. Still, no one asks if he is okay. 
Worse than that, Ben says that he no regrets. And then reiterates the statement! Ben assaulted his brother and does not give a flying fuck. That’s crueler than anything Klaus has ever done. I would argue that it’s the cruelest thing any of the Hargreeves have done, to be honest. 
It doesn’t matter how much of an asshole Klaus is or how selfish or how flamboyant. His consent still matters. His boundaries are just as important. 
Overall, this season just gave Klaus more trauma while still leaving his PTSD and mental illness completely unaddressed. They essentially removed his powers and took away his bond with Ben. Like, in the first season, Ben is almost always with Klaus. That is Klaus’s power, after all. In the second season, Klaus’s entire arc is without Ben. All of his missions are without Ben present. 
There is absolutely no fucking way that Klaus wouldn't bring Ben with him to get tacos with Vanya and Allison. He loves Ben, more than anyone. We see that constantly in the first season, outside of a few mishaps. 
I love Ben. I genuinely love Ben and his story in the first season. But in S2, they took him and twisted him into a callous thing with no respect for consent or his brother. If those three years with Klaus in 1960 were anywhere near as bad as what we see in 1963, I can see why Klaus wouldn’t want Ben around his family. 
I was supposed to love Ben and cry for him. And don’t get me wrong, I did. I cried a lot in the last episode. But that scene with Vanya? Where he tells her she’s not a monster and that they should have done better and that they could help her control her powers? That’s the exact same damn speech he should have told Klaus. Vanya’s destruction was always outward. It always cost millions of people their lives. Klaus’s was inward. So why does Vanya deserve the help and love and support while Klaus gets tossed aside?
They both needed a family and only one of them got it this season. Sure, Allison and Klaus had some great scenes together. But she didn’t ask if he was okay when Ben possessed him at dinner. She didn’t check on him. 
Klaus deserved better. He deserved to work through is trauma and to have a family that takes care of him and supports him and helps him figure out how to deal with the ghosts. He deserved to control his own body and to say no when Ben wanted to possess him. He deserved a goddamn hug. 
Klaus was inherently selfish. However, he also gave up everything. He sacrificed his entire relationship with Dave to try and save his life. If he had succeeded, if Dave had never enlisted, they never would have met. They never would have fallen in love. Dave would never remember being with him. He nearly gave that up to protect the love of his life. 
Klaus is not perfect. He’s an asshole at best sometimes. But he’s also kind and compassionate and loves harder than every other character on that show. He deserved better. 
This has turned into a massive essay, but the bottom line is that S2 let Klaus and Ben down. So many things were handled poorly--from consent to mental illness. It could have been great. It could have been an opportunity to fix a lot of the mistakes made in the first season. Ben and Klaus could have talked everything out and figured out the ghosts and the war and the trauma together. They were never given that chance. 
There were so many good parts of this season, but the bad parts were so bad that it tainted the rest. I know the writers could have done better. They did it with Luther and Allison! They made their characters great this season and showcased some amazing relationships between the siblings. I’m confused as to how they let Klaus and Ben fall through the cracks so heavily. 
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emersonfreepress · 3 years
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What would the ro's be like in a zombie au?
whyyyyy anon whyyy. I'm actually gonna write this in like.. slightly different terms, you'll see. any time I even briefly think of a zombie au I'm just like
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I WANNA WRITE IT SO BADDD
i don't even allow myself to entertain it for very long because getting into that would be the worst thing ever for my productivity with the alpha omg 😂😂 so I'll put like the ideas that pop into my head for writing a zombie au, to work some of that creative frustration out 😆
so in this very general, absolutely noncommittal idea of mine, the main cast are older and the setting is in and around a civilian settlement led by the Emersons.
and as a refresher, i like my zombie aus to have fast zombies and fast infections ^ ^ 28 Days Later/Train to Busan style babyyyy, we the Sprinting Dead up in this bitch 😆
= = =
Gabe is, predictably, looking for what's left of his family. Following rumors of safe havens and bunkers and such. Starts the story as someone who tries to be diplomatic, if not outright pacifist, but as times get tougher and resources dwindle, he'd become one of the most cutthroat motherfuckers in the wasteland. Low-key though, low-key. People won't trust you if they know you’re capable of throwing them to a horde for strategic reasons. Like if Rick turned into Shane (for those of us familiar with early Walking Dead--idk did that happen eventually? i gave up before we even met Negan lol). The end justifies the means :) Damn, I can legit see Gabe going full evil in a zombie au omg 😂😂 i want to write it so fucking bad
Preferred weapon for zed encounters: rifle
Preferred weapon for human encounters: handgun
Faith in humanity: fucking zero
Zombie kill count: plenty; the type to kill every zombie he has spare ammo and time for
Human kill policy: When it benefits him or the people he’s looking after
Survival rating: B+; he can make it out of some pretty dire situations through sheer will to live and ruthlessness
- - -
Kile has arrived--clearly, this is the timeline they belong in. They start their journey with Gabe (and their doggo) and stick to him like glue, even reluctantly so when Gabe eventually has them join the settlement. This can only go one way, though: Kile's just too much of a wildcard for the group and hates being told what to do. (Especially now that society has fallen, wtf) They'd make their exit alone and unannounced aside from a brief head’s up to Gabe. It's slightly bittersweet, but also? They get to loot and hunt and sneak around and kill fucking zombies, all by themself. Kile is a loner, a hiker, and a hunter to begin with so they do beyond fine on their own. However, once the inevitable violent human threat comes for the settlement, Gabe is sent out to convince Kile to come out of isolation, just this once please, to be the camp’s super soldier help defend the camp.
Zed weapon: p much anything they can get their hands on, ranged or melee, blunt or sharp, w/e; improvised weapons
Human weapon: hunting knife
Faith in humanity: never had any to begin with
Zombie kill count: lol infinite?? any zed they come across is double-dead if they have the time for it
Human kill policy: at Gabe’s direction or when provoked enough/threatened
Survival rating: A-; they trust no one, live in isolation, and prioritize survival above all else. only reason it’s not higher is they would risk their life for Gabe or their furbaby and also... their own Rambo-esque antics def attracts the occasional horde lmao
- - -
Jack... this poor boy, he doesn't deserve a zombie au 😂 He's one of those people that first believes zombies are just sick people, too squeamish to keep up with TV news coverage at the onset and too upset to consider anything else. He'd hunker down at home, staying holed up even while his neighbors evacuated, and probably be discovered while the main group is looting the same place as him. When people try to tell him the real state of the world, he'd be in denial until he absolutely couldn't be anymore. idk, probably after Kile shooting a bunch of non-lethal holes thru a zombie to make a point (attracting more in the process lol).
He’d almost immediately join the medical team at the settlement and as word spreads about how easy he is to talk to, he quickly becomes the literal on-site therapist. It's a role he embraces but... idk if it's an emotional burden he can bear. He's very emotionally resilient! But he ain't a professional lol imagine a whole settlement of traumatized zombie survivors seeking you out for counseling, yikes. He also can't say no to a person in need, so instead he quietly spirals into a very private depression while continuing to help others!!
Zed weapon: Oh gosh, do I really have to?
Human weapon: ...Kindness?
Faith in humanity: Unrealistically high
Zombie kill count: Single digit
Human kill policy: Not ever, unless completely unavoidable and to defend the defenseless
Survival rating: C...? idk, that feels generous. D+. To be protected at all costs!!
- - -
Jessie also had the initial reaction of hoping zombies could be saved, but she woke up from that dream swiftly. The science-minded person that she is, esp with her interest in biology, leaves her determined to find anybody who's got the intellect, expertise, and resources to start doing actual work toward a treatment, cure, vaccine—anything. Nothing would get her to finally unabashedly embrace her love of science (and innate leadership skills!!) faster than a zombie apocalypse! In fact, it’s thanks to her that the Emerson settlement’s got a small but growing team of scientists doing as much research as humanly possible to best educate the others on the outbreak and zombie behavior. Def no zombie experimentation going on though lol. ...Not yet, at least.
Zed weapon: rifle
Human weapon: rifle
Faith in humanity: High! We’ll find a solution! Don’t give up hope!
Zombie kill count: Double digits, but less than 30
Human kill policy: Only in unavoidable self-defense or defense of others
Survival rating: B! She has experience with ranged weapons, farming and gardening skills, first aid, camping experience, and a can-do attitude with a healthy dose of realism!
- - -
Rain remains cargo as I said in the last post about this 😆 They'd be very good for keeping clothes repaired and making useful modifications in the settlement, but their life up to this point has been very sheltered and privileged. We're talking somebody with a chauffeur and a personal chef before the outbreak! They would contribute to quality of life and homemaking efforts more than anything—an overlooked aspect of these scenarios tbh! After as many months of dragging their feet as possible and being nigh impossible to track down when you need them, they eventually become involved in meal planning and even help out with medical stuff if they're asked.
Zed weapon: how do you reload this thing again?
Human weapon: switchblade or other concealable sharp-pointy
Faith in humanity: Very low
Zombie kill count: 0! Can you believe it!
Human kill policy: Well if it’s you or me, of course I’m choosing me.
Survival rating: C. Being so tiny helps them find good hiding spots and their self-preservation is high enough to keep them from unnecessary risk-taking. Plus they're very stealthy! Self-defense is a major issue though, so hiding is always their best option.
- - -
Rupan/Rohan scouts for and leads scavenging missions and is Curt's right hand on the recruitment team. The two of them together are the perfect combo of diplomacy, debate, and deception--although R is more honorable about the last one and will only deceive for strategic reasons. When they aren’t looting and recruiting, they’re doing peacekeeping inside the settlement. Most social disputes end up getting brought to them for mediation and they’re pretty dang good at making and enforcing calls. One day they’ll wake up to realize they’ve basically become a sheriff and feel the need to puke their guts up and do something, anything, to reassure themself they’re still punk 😂
Zed weapon: SMG
Human weapon: shotgun
Faith in humanity: Believes in fundamental goodness but knows better than to trust first impressions
Zombie kill count: decent, more than 40; you won’t catch them having a field day tho, they’re trying to gtfo of most zed situations
Human kill policy: Violent threats have to be taken out. And they aren’t, at all, immune to a revenge rampage either...
Survival rating: B-. Can handle themself both with humans and zeds but is vulnerable to hostage situations and truly difficult sentimental/interpersonal decisions!
- - -
Vivian/Vincent manages inventory and stock and they run it so efficiently it’s scary! They're the perfect pick: a hawk-eyed tyrant and tattletale 😂 Despite constantly butting heads with just about everyone on every imaginable thing, they quickly become an important part of the inner circle of decision-makers for the settlement at large. Terrible at stealth, jumpy, and squeamish at the sight of blood and gore, they literally never go on missions unless they're 100% needed for their expertise on a supply run. (They would deny all of these shortcomings are that big a problem, meanwhile R is definitely acting as their bodyguard lol.) When they do tag along, they're prone to becoming the damsel in distress. Seriously, it happens near every fucking time. It's like they just attract only the most improbable and perilous zombie attacks and hostage situations 😆
Zed weapon: shotgun
Human weapon: handgun
Faith in humanity: Medium; seeing people work together at the settlement helps restore it a bit
Zombie kill count: Double digits, under 25
Human kill policy: Violent threats have to be taken out. Well, no, not by me! Get one of the ruffians to do it!
Survival rating: C-. They’d be higher if they weren’t such natural zombie bait.
- - -
Heidi is running the settlement, well-organized to the degree of actually managing to bring bureaucracy to a post-zombie apocalypse settlement 😂 People are free to come and go, but getting in if you don't live there requires trading something of value (fuel, med supplies, food, etc), temporary surrender and registry of firearms and explosives, and you gotta GTFO at the time and date specified upon entry! You can stay long-term if you contribute to the community in a tangible way—and each person admitted is approved by Heidi personally. Yes, every individual. No, she has no free time. And she is not known to be lenient with rule breakers—you want rule bending, you’ll have to go to Curt for that. People kind of hate her, but it can't be denied that she runs a tight ship. She kind of throws herself into the work to avoid the harsher reality at large and hasn't left the settlement in a long time. She's out of touch with how bad things have gotten in the wastes, but she knows better than to take reports at anything less than face value--even when she's skeptical.
Zed weapon: rifle
Human weapon: handgun; dagger
Faith in humanity: Medium. It fluctuates, honestly
Zombie kill count: Double digits, less than 20
Human kill policy: Violent threats must be taken out if they can’t be reasoned with. Spare those who surrender, eradicate those who don't, keep an eye on the newbies. Not tryin’ to nurse any vendettas around here lol
Survival rating: B. She's good with a firearm, masterful at persuasion, and savvy enough to calculate risks appropriately. Also far tougher than her prim exterior and demeanor suggests!
- - -
Curt leads the recruitment and reconnaissance teams! When a new person or group shows up in the area, Curt's the one who stalks watches them, decides if they're worth approaching, and if they should be approached with an invitation, a simple acknowledgment/announcement of their presence, or an outright armed warning to leave the area. He also keeps tabs on morale and general confidence inside the settlement, alongside R. When he isn’t leading those efforts, though, he’s flirting with settlers and squirreling his way out of manual labor and other chores. He’s also secretly growing weed at his place--don’t tell Heidi or Vi ‘cause they’ll wanna yell at him and ration it UGH.
Zed weapon: SMG, explosives
Human weapon: handgun, dagger
Faith in humanity: Pft, sorry, what now?
Zombie kill count: ...way more than you’d expect
Human kill policy: I don’t start confrontations, but I sure as fuck end them.
Survival rating: A! He’s good at playing hapless idiot when it suits him to be underestimated, good with firearms, and capable of being ruthless and decisive in life or death situations! Plus he has no qualms about ditching the settlement if he decides it’s not working out for him. Just don’t tell Heidi lol
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diversetolkien · 3 years
Note
I really don't like Padme. I know they wrote her, a woman twice Anakin's age, falling in love with him because it was a man doing everything and child predation from women isn't taken as seriously but it still makes me hate her guts. And it sucks because her character itself is FINE. More than fine. She might've been a favorite character if they'd just let her meet Anakin when they were both ADULTS. But I wondered if they did it to make their relationship even more unhealthy and toxic. Wdyt?
This is the Padme anon and I just wanna say before you misunderstand,,,teenagers molest children the same as adults do and I myself have had that experience. So the fact that she's 'also a child' when they meet means less than nothing because it's possible for that kind of power imbalance to happen, even between children. And it is especially egregious here because Anakin obviously worships the ground she walks on and looks up to her and I just really wish they'd met when they were adults. 
This is the padme anon and just to be clear, I am not ranting at you or anything, I just am. Very tired of seeing everyone going 'boohoo poor padme' which is totally valid but also not addressing the ickiness on the other side of their relationship.
Hello anon! So there’s two primary reasons I don’t ship Anakin and Padme: 1) Anakin is abusive af, B) The age gap, and Padme’s role in it. I’ve already talked about Anakin and him being abusive here, so now i’ll talk a bit about Padme, woman on man abuse, and why their relationship is so problematic. 
Before I continue, Padme is NOT at fault for Anakin’s attraction towards her, nor is she deserving of what happens to her. 
In short, Padme and Anakin never should have been a thing. Ever. It is downright creepy. The moment Anakin approached her, an adult, with romantic and sexual advances, then she should have set up proper boundaries, and reported his behaviour to Obi-Wan.
As an adult, it was absolutely Padme’s responsibility to distance herself from Anakin when he approached her. There is absolutely no seeing past this. Their relationship started when he was literally six, and she was fourteen. An advancement of a relationship from that age just screams grooming.
And maybe she didn’t, canon doesn’t tell us she did—but that doesn’t change the fact that this is what it looks like.
When Anakin and Padme first meet, you don’t think that this woman twice his age would willingly enter a sexual relationship with him when he’s a teenager, because off the bat Padme gives us the air of maturity and responsibility, which only grows when she becomes Senator. 
Padme and Anakin’s relationship was very sibling coded to begin with, at least coming from Padme. Which, considering she is the older child in the situation, made a lot of sense. Anakin’s relationship and love for Padme also stems directly from the fact that he’s a slave and has never encountered anyone like Padme due to his circumstances. There’s a power imbalance and an unhealthy emotional dependency right there—now was Padme aware of the last bit, I doubt it. But the first bit, absolutely.
Considering that, her relationship with Anakin is just plain irresponsible. In fact, much of how she handles him is irresponsible.
And folks may be like, “19 is the age of consent,” or “he’s basically an adult” No—he’s not. The brain and experiences of a 19 year old vs. a 24 year old are considerably different, even with life experiences taken into account. And taking into consideration Anakin’s risk factors (growing up as a slave, trauma of leaving his mothers, etc.,), his relationship with Padme becomes even more concerning, and does not make him more of an adult.
Anakin was traumatized, badly. Anakin did not need to be in a relationship, not because he was a Jedi, but because relationships are such a huge part of his trauma and have been highly problematic. Padme knew this, she knew what Anakin experienced, she knew how damaged his life on Tatooine had made him. She should not have been in a relationship with someone like him, not until he was an adult and not until she could work with him to recover and heal.
I’m not saying people with mental illnesses can’t be in relationships at all, even I have trauma from a shit ton of crap I experienced in my childhood. What I’m saying is that being in a relationship with an untreated mental illness, when attachments and relationships are a trigger of a sort is not healthy and not good, and the responsible party should opt out of said relationship.
Anakin wasn’t mentally ready. Padme knew this. Padme also knew of his infatuation with her. Again, his attraction to her isn’t on Padme. But her knowing that his attraction to her came from his childhood as a slave, and understanding that he liked her mainly because he hadn’t seen anything like her, and entering a relationship with him rather than encouraging him to explore is problematic. It goes back to the power imbalance.
But like, I shouldn’t have to explain Anakin’s mental state to justify why a 24 year old entering a relationship with a 19 year old is problematic. Padme was wrong. Even if Anakin was a perfectly normal kid, it was wrong. She knew him when he was a child, and watched him grow. When he expressed romantic feelings towards her, she should have shut it down.
She should have—it’s completely irresponsible and disgusting of her not to.
And you’re absolutely right, teenagers can and do molest children. There are well documented case of this. It’s not unheard of, sadly, and as a MSW student I’m all too aware of abuse in the household between younger and older siblings. The things I’ve heard are god awful, but you’re right, it’s a thing. Padme was a fully functioning teenager who knows right from wrong, and who had seemingly put boundaries between she and Anakin given the age gap to begin with.
This should have continued throughout the trilogy. I mean she is aware of the age gap.  
And now to your point about women abusing men or boys—yeah, you’re right. Unfortunately there’s a huge double standard about abuse and molestation, and with women as perpetrators, people tend to overlook it and there’s a lot of shame in boys and men in brining it forward. I think this is why so many people actually let Padme off of the hook. But if Anakin was in Padme’s shoes, oh boy would there be riots and rightfully so.
All in all, Padme and Anakin’s relationship is disturbing. Padme takes advantage of Anakin, when in reality she should have set boundaries and spoken to Obi-Wan. She manipulated the relationship she had knowing Anakin was a child with a traumatized background that idolized her.
In a way I’m shocked because it’s so out of character for Padme, but it’s what’s canon.
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cagestark · 5 years
Text
-Proxy-
Chapter One | Chapter Two
Read here on AO3.
@starkerinthepark three words babe: fucking by proxy. 
Warnings: adult!Peter, sex, sex workers, natasha/peter, peter omc (but don’t worry, starker is endgame always). 
-
“Mr. Stark?” Peter asks.
It pulls Tony from his work, head coming up to blink owlishly at the kid. Peter sits at a table across the room, textbooks from his classes at NYU spread out along the table littered with pencils and papers, though it has all been pushed aside so the kid can plant his elbow on the table and lean on it, staring off into space (the space that just happens to be in Tony’s general direction). “What is it, Pete?”
“When did you have your first kiss?”
Tony thinks, stretching his mind back. “I was twelve. So, ’82, ’83.”
“Twelve?”
“What?”
“Well, isn’t that a little young?”
Tony smiles wryly. “I did everything a little young. You could say I was quite—ah—advanced for my age. Why?”
“I still haven’t had mine.”
Tony shrugs. He hunches back over and pick up the soldering pen, nudging the blazing tip at the copper wires. His hands are shaking, something about the kid’s admission. He’s nineteen years old, and still no first kiss? Tony’s no judge of normality, but it does seem a little delayed. Still, he’s not one to shame someone else for their sexual activities (or lack thereof). “Everyone moves at their own pace, kid. I don’t know what to tell you.”
“I feel like I’m missing out,” Peter admits. He picks up a pencil and twirls it between his long fingers—why is Tony watching the kid’s hands when he’s holding a goddamn soldering iron? God, Tony’s distractible mind is going to get him burned. Literally. Worse: figuratively. “Everyone at university talks about their hook-ups and stuff. It sounds like…”
“Like?” Tony prods. Just like how he prods the wires.
“Like I’m missing out.”
“On sex.”
Peter’s face flushes—look down, Tony, Christ. “I mean—yeah? But I’m so far away from that. Like, so, so far. I mean, I did kiss a girl once, but it was like—” Peter puckers his lips, squeezing his eyes shut tightly. Tony is obliged to look, he contents himself with that knowledge. Freckles dust the kid’s nose, and he looks so painfully childish. It’s endearing, even if it makes some part of his stomach churn, like he’s swallowed one too many cocktails made of one-part perversion and two parts disgust. Shaken, not stirred.
“Find a girl—”
“Or guy,” Peter chimes, helpfully.
“Or a guy—or a non-binary babe, and french them. That’s all it takes.”
“Believe it or not, not many people are jumping at the chance to like, make out with me, Mr. Stark,” Peter mutters. He twirls the pencil too much and it slips from between his fingers and skids off the table. Smooth.
Tony sits down the soldering pen. He studies the kid—hard. Peter has clear skin for a boy still clinging to his teen years. His eyes are gold like a glass of whiskey left to sit in the sunshine, the brows flat and a little unruly. He’s got curls which are adorable. All in all, a very sincere and baby-faced young man. Tony can see why the girls and boys at university might not look at the kid and want to jump into bed with him. The priorities of young people these days are different.
Jesus, Tony sounds like an old man. He feels like an even older (dirtier) old man when he thinks about how those things don’t change Peter’s attractiveness to him at all. The face might be babyish, but the jawline is cut. He knows from sparring in the gym and passing each other in the Avengers’ locker room that the kid has an eight-pack that most people his age would kill for. Beyond all that, he knows Peter, knows the kid’s heart, the generosity, the warmth, the bravery.
“Most people are stupid,” Tony says much too honestly. “Anyone would be lucky to be with you, Pete.”
Peter’s face lights up. Tony scrambles for the soldering pen. He needs all the excuses he can get to avoid looking at that handsome, joyful face. Peter asks: “Do you mean that? I mean, do you really think so?”
Tony makes a noise that he hopes conveys everything reasonable and acceptable that the kid wants to hear.
“I just think if I had some practice, I don’t know, maybe I could reel someone in.”
“If I look up and you’re really pretending to reel in a fishing rod, I’m going to throw you out of my lab,” Tony mutters, squinting at the wires. When he glances up, it’s just in time to see Peter lowering his hands demurely to his lap, eyes far too wide for him to have been doing anything but pretending so. Tony shakes his head, snorting. “You’ve found the paradox. To attract somebody, you need practice. To practice, you need somebody. The absolute woes—Thank God I’m not nineteen anymore.”
“You’re Tony Stark,” Peter says, and Tony can hear him rolling his eyes just from the tone of his voice. “I doubt you had any of these troubles when you were nineteen. Or, like, ever.”
Tony’s lips fight not to smile. “You might be right. Okay, so, attraction. Practice. Let’s brainstorm some solutions—”
“Do you think Steve would kiss me?”
Okay—Tony burns himself. The wound cauterizes instantly at least, which is nice, but it stings like a son of a bitch. Tucking the throbbing thumb into his mouth, he shuts down the soldering pen because obviously he can’t be trusted around both Peter and dangerous machinery. The words Peter spoke bang around in his head like a quarter in a washing machine.
“Steve who?” Tony asks.
Peter presses his thin lips together. He drops his eyes to the pencil he’d retrieved from the floor, twirling it anxiously between his fingers. “You know. Steve—um—Cap-Captain America?”
“You want to make out with Captain America.”
“Or Thor. I could do Thor—kiss Thor! Oh my god. I could kiss Thor.”
“Am I in a fever dream?” Tony asks. He makes a show of pinching himself. “FRIDAY, am I have a stroke?”
“Not that I can detect, boss,” his girl says, unhelpfully.
“Well find me a stroke, FRI, so that I can have it. ASAP.”
“Mr. Stark,” Peter groans, dropping his face into his hands. “Stop. You’re making fun of me.”
“Making—? I’m not making fun of you. This is me being traumatized at the thought of Steve doing anything more PG than holding hands.”
“I just—I thought maybe a more experienced person—friend, I mean. I thought maybe they’d be willing to help me out. You know. Take one for the team.” The kid looks so miserable that Tony feels his heart squeeze. With that look on his face, Peter could ask anything of him, and Tony would bend over backwards, alter timelines, break his own moral code to give it to him.
But Peter didn’t ask him.
“Kid. Peter—I’m sorry. You’re right. It’s a good idea, I think. But Steve probably doesn’t have as much experience as you’d like, and Thor is on Asgard. We’re only supposed to summon him under threat of galactic peril.”
The intensity of Peter’s stare makes Tony feel like there’s a joke he’s missing out on. It isn’t a feeling he’s privy too, often, and thank God he’s not, because it makes his skin prickle uncomfortably. “Well then what are my other options, Mr. Stark?” Peter asks, eyes wide and guileless.
Tony swallows. “Let me—give me ten minutes.”
-
“I don’t know whether to be offended or honored,” Natasha says, lounging on Tony’s sofa. She’s dressed in casual clothes, a t-shirt maybe best for sparring, yoga pants and fuzzy socks, because she always has cold feet. Always. She looks beautiful, stunning, sensual in the lazy way she lays against the dark leather, but Tony knows that’s just instinct to her. It’s not for his benefit.
Peter stands behind Tony, one hand tangled into his curls and tugging on them anxiously.
“Can I make a suggestion?” Tony says. “Because I’d say honored—I mean—”
“Stop talking, Tony,” she says, lips twitching.
“I would,” says Tony. “But I really do want to explain my choice to Peter.”
Natasha waves a hand magnanimously, even as her eyebrows raise, the picture of honed skepticism.
“Pete, we’ve got a handful of Avengers on the continent, so Natasha immediately gets a point for proximity. She’s—and I swear to God, under threat of torture I will deny having said this—but she’s got the biggest heart of all of us. Even if she says no, I knew she wouldn’t laugh you out of house and home, and she wouldn’t spread it around for gossip’s sake. Also, I have it on good authority that Natasha has never been bad at anything in her life, so more than likely, she’s going to suck your brain out from between your teeth.”
“If she says yes,” Peter says.
After which, they both turn toward her. She looks surprisingly moved (let it be known that Tony can give quite the stirring speech when moved to). Behind her pale eyes, Tony can see the cogs of her brain churning, always churning. Her glance flickers between them several times, and her lips are curving, curving, and Tony has a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach—
“You’ve overlooked one thing,” Natasha says.
“What’s that?”
She flicks a finger at Tony. “You have the Avenger most skilled orally right there. Why isn’t Tony helping you?”
It’s—yeah. It’s worse than Tony imagined it could be. Not that it isn’t a question he hasn’t asked himself twenty times during the brief call he made asking her to meet them up in his penthouse. Behind him, Peter makes a noise that Tony can’t translate from teenager to English. It sounds a little horrified which shouldn’t offend Tony as much as it does. Then again, Tony feels a lot of things for Peter that he shouldn’t these days.
“Because he didn’t ask me,” Tony says. Let the room make of that what it will. Everyone holds their breath, a stare-down of epic proportions taking place, a duel with no guns, they’ve met at high noon outside the saloon doors and all Tony wants to do is hop on his horse and ride off into the painted sunset. But he can’t. Because Peter asked for his help, and he can’t tell the kid no.
“Alright,” Natasha says at length. She shifts to the farthest couch cushion and pats the space next to her. “Come here, Peter.”
Peter looks far younger than his age of nineteen when he crosses the room, one shoe untied, wearing a graphic tee and skinny jeans, face redder than Tony’s suit. He’s wringing his hands even as he sits down on the couch cushion, deciding that he’s too far away and scooting closer only to second guess himself and scoot back again. The space between them is probably enough for Tony to sit—and okay, not a mental image he needs.
“Lesson one,” Natasha says seriously. “Good oral hygiene.”
“I—I figured the first lesson would be something like, don’t be nervous.”
She stares at him flatly. “You’re always going to be nervous. That lessens with 1. practice. 2. security with your partner. And 3. good oral hygiene. Does my breath stink? Can they taste what I had for lunch? Those are the last thoughts you want to be thinking when you’re trying to kiss someone. Brush regularly, and if you can, always carry gum.”
“I don’t have any gum,” Peter admits.
Natasha smiles, soft and indulging. “I do, don’t worry.”
She and Peter each takes a stick of peppermint gum, and when Natasha holds the pack out to him too, eyes glittering (“What,” she says. “It’d be rude not to offer you some as well.”) Tony realizes that it’s a little preposterous: his presence here. They don’t need him. Peter might even be more nervous with Tony watching, if the looks the kid keeps shooting him are any indication. Tony should leave. He should definitely leave.
He sits in the armchair, tucking the gum wrapper into the back pocket of his jeans.
While they chew, they make awkward small talk. Peter dodges any questions about who he might be trying to learn kissing techniques for, Tony dodges any question that make might him reveal his proclivity for the young man on the sofa, and Natasha looks like she knows everything, lips tilted upwards into a perpetual smirk. At last they all spit out their gum (not Tony, because Tony isn’t going to be kissing anyone, certainly not kissing Peter, thanks).
“Breath nice and fresh, now. Guaranteed. See how that’s one thing off your mind, now?”
Peter does look more noticeably upbeat. “Yes, you’re right. Thanks, Ms. Romanov.”
“You can call me Natasha, Peter. We’re going to get rather close. Now come here—” She urges Peter closer until their thighs are pressed together, and then their knees when she encourages him to turn towards her. “Lesson two, where to put your hands.”
She takes his hand—Peter has very nice hands, thin, fine boned, dexterous, so soft looking—and turning his hand to be palm up, cups her jaw with it. Peter’s fingers disappear back into her hair, and his thumb rests along the smooth skin of her cheek. Peter is holding his breath. Tony can tell, because Tony can’t take his eyes off of him.
“This is a good place to start with. It’s nice to touch your partner when kissing them, because it makes you feel more present, it makes the moment more intimate. There are—other—places you could touch them, but this one is nice and sweet and unlikely to offend someone if you’re still feeling each other out. Okay?”
Peter nods, head bobbing furiously. Tony might be holding his breath too. Who knows. Not him.
“Lesson three: caution and adaptation. You can’t hurt anything by starting off slow. You can always turn up the heat, but it isn’t as easy to dial it down, especially if you come on so strong that you turn your partner off. Listen to their cues—most people will unconsciously try to tell you want they want.
“Are you ready for the practical?”
“I—” Peter swallows. He glances at Tony, who can do nothing but shrug. “Yeah. Let’s—do it.”
Natasha matches Peter’s hold on her, reaching out to dip the tips of her fingers into those curls, to run her fingers along the strong line of his jaw and Tony finally feels it: the sourness in his stomach of jealousy, the aching desperation to be in her place. He wraps up all those emotions and tucks them into a trunk in the back of his mind, closes the trunk, and loses the key. Hopefully.
Slowly but firmly, Natasha draws them together. She kisses Peter. Their heads slant naturally to the right, and the first press is soft and chaste. They part just a hairsbreadth and then kiss again, this time their mouths just barely parted. Tony catches a flash of pink tongue (almost assuredly Natasha’s), and then Peter makes a noise from the back of his throat: a tender little whine that makes Tony swallow.
He can’t help but glance down and—oh. The kid is hard. There’s no hiding the bulge in his skinny jeans. To be honest, Tony can hardly blame him: he’s feeling a little tingly down south himself, mostly after that sweet sound the young man made. It backs up theoretical data Tony has already been compiling (from when the kid groans when he eats something particularly tasty at the Avengers’ communal dinner table to when he whines when Ned beats him at a video game on the console Tony had made for them). What Tony is compiling that data for is—confidential.
Now that he’s noticed the kid’s erection, his eyes can’t help but bounce between it and the sensuality of Peter’s kiss with Natasha. Tongue is obviously involved now: their mouths are open, cheeks hollow, and Natasha reaches up to coax Peter’s hand back towards her hair where he tangles his fingers in it, pulling her closer until she has to kneel up to avoid falling right on the kid’s lap.
She parts long enough to say, “Don’t forget to breath.”
The kid is panting, nodding furiously, already pressing back to her mouth. This time Tony catches a hint of his tongue and has to look pointedly above their heads for several long moments to collect himself. It almost doesn’t work, not with the soft sensual wet sounds that come from their mouths. How the fuck did Tony get himself in this situation, practically pimping out the young man who he is far too emotionally and physically and spiritually and intellectually (and all the other lly’s) interested in?
His life is ridiculous.
He looks back at them.
He can’t stop watching.
Natasha takes the kid lower lip onto her mouth and sucks on it. Peter’s eyelashes flutter, chest hitching. The bulge at the crotch of his jeans twitches. But ever the good student, he then tries the same move on her, taking that full lower lip into his mouth and suckling, then his lips draw back just a little and Tony sees teeth—he is biting her lip, and Natasha’s mouth curves just a little into a smile. When they pull apart, their mouths are wet and red. Peter is panting, and Natasha’s hair is mussed.
Tony is barely managing to keep from being hard.
“How was that, Pete?” Nat asks.
“I guess I should be asking you,” Peter says, sound more than a little breathless. “Did I do okay? Any tips, pointers, criticism? Compliments?”
Natasha laughs. Tony thinks it might be an honest-to-God laugh, one that bubbles up from somewhere inside her chest. He can’t help but smile at the sound of it, at the way it makes Peter duck his head, press one palm to his mouth to disguise his smile. Natasha reaches out and pulls his head to her bosom, giving Tony a look over his head that says, how fucking precious is he?
Tony rolls his eyes.
Pretty fucking precious.
- Tag list: @flowersandteeth @starkeroverload @prettyboy-parker @metametalina @st-arker @darkobsidianquill @typing123 @ironspiidey @i-don’t-know-what-this-is @thefaultinourstarker @livingbutnotalivex3 @starkerparadise @anyabxrns @fedupdadtm @alanaaw88 @idntwantausername @softstarkerstuff @kiaorastarker @thirsty-for-starker @thotticusmaxximus @sadbumblingmess @kawaiioverofanimu @katzenbaby1 @css1992 @99stark @spn-samifer @gimme-the-filthy-hcs @inmyfeelxngs @bros-before-ghosts @wandering-night19 @twixen93 @yeahishipthatsowhat @lonleystarker @nanibanani10 @deliciousflapbanditfarm @another-starker-hoe @von--gelmini @babyboy-peterparker @petertonytomrobert @goodtimesstarker @bshamm @nemeiel @audreyintheuniverse @silkystark @iamastarkerfan @issuffering @superpaperclip @idliketoleavenow
Tips welcome at my kofi. <3
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kaufmann-6 · 4 years
Text
Fanfic Rec
Hey! I wanna rec some fanfics that I've read here! They are of several different fandoms, but I will organize everything, don't worry. All the fics that I will post here arr available on AO3, and all of them are written in English.
Fandoms:
Heroes of Olympus / Percy Jackson;
Harry Potter;
Voltron: Legendary Defender;
Series Unfortunate Events;
Gravity Falls;
Batman;
The Thundermans.
Relationships:
- Heroes of Oympus / Percy Jackson:
Jasico (Nico di Angelo/Jason Grace);
Jercy (Percy Jackson/Jason Grace).
Harry Potter:
Drarry (Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter)
- Voltron: Legendary Defender:
Klance (Keith/Lance).
- Series Unfortunate Events:
Duncan Quagmire/Klaus Baudelaire;
Violet Baudelaire/Quigley Quagmire;
Beatrice Baudelaire/Bertrand Baudelaire/Lemony Snicket.
Gravity Falls:
Dipper Pines & Mabel Pines;
Mabel Pines & Stan Pines;
Dipper Pines & Ford Pines;
Dipper Pines & Ford Pines & Mabel Pines & Stan Pines;
Fiddleford H. McGucket & Dipper Pines & Mabel Pines;
Fiddleford H. McGucket & Ford Pines;
Ford Pines & Stan Pines;
Dipper Pines & Stan Pines;
Ford Pines & Mabel Pines.
Batman:
Tim Drake & Dick Grayson & Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne & Damian Wayne;
Tim Drake & Damian Wayne; 
Tim Drake & Jason Todd;
Jason Todd & Damian Wayne;
Bruce Wayne & Jason Todd;
Dick Grayson & Damian Wayne;
Bruce Wayne & Damian Wayne;
Stephanie Brown & Damian Wayne;
Damian Wayne & Bruce Wayne;
Tim Drake & Bruce Wayne.
The Thundermans:
Max Thunderman & Phoebe Thunderman;
Dr. Colosso & Max Thunderman;
 Allison/Max Thunderman;
Max Thunderman & Hank Thunderman;
Thunderman Family.
PS:You won't find any Top!Lance or Top!Harry
Heroes of Olympus / Percy Jackson
Jasico:
North:
Nico falls into Tartarus. Jason follows shortly thereafter.
https://archiveofourown.org/works/13019724/chapters/29776236
Countdown:  
When Nico di Angelo was ten years old he met Percy Jackson, but his watch didn’t stop. He was vaguely disappointed.
Soulmate timers AU
https://archiveofourown.org/works/1119869/chapters/2256441
Even the Strongest Will Break:
Top!Nico/Bottom!Jason (I put this just to warn those who don't like it, but that is NOT the central theme of the story, it only happens once, in the last or penultimate chapter. The central theme of this story is Jason's traumatic situations.)
It had been happening a lot. Ever since they had gotten back from a recent run in with Deimos, the spirit of fear, dread, and terror. He had messed with Jason’s mind, went deep inside of him and pulled out his inner most fears. He had brought Jason Grace to knees in fear and probably would have broken him, if Annabeth hadn’t slammed an old greek vase down on the spirit’s head. He was grateful for Annabeth, but ever since that incident, there was always this feeling of fear at the back of his neck. And, he wet the bed.
https://archiveofourown.org/works/12131247/chapters/27517335
Communication:  Alternative Universe - No Powers
Mute!Jason Grace
Nico works in a coffee shop and Jason is having trouble making himself understood.
https://archiveofourown.org/works/2142762
Let Us Go Then, You and I: (Alternative Universe - College/University)
Jason notices a strange boy in the library.
https://archiveofourown.org/works/1501262/chapters/3171011
To find where I belong:
“It’s Nico,” Thalia said. Jason almost thought he’d heard wrong. Nobody had seen Nico di Angelo since the war ended, and Jason still regretted that he hadn’t been able to stop him from leaving. Nico had told him about his plans to disappear, but Jason hadn't thought he'd really do it. Now he knew better.
“You found him?” Jason breathed.
“It’s a long story,” Thalia said. “But he’s been badly wounded. Think you could come pick him up?”
https://archiveofourown.org/works/1162705
The Emotion and the Response:
After the war ends, Nico disappears, and Jason isn't going to sit idly by while his friend hides away among the dead. He'll get him to come back, even if it means going down into the Underworld and dragging Nico out of there himself.
Part 1 of Not with a bang
https://archiveofourown.org/works/1086949/chapters/2186767
The Motion and the Act:
Nico and Jason finally tell the others about their relationship.
Part 2 of Not with a bang
https://archiveofourown.org/works/1138673
(it was always you):
Both overlooked, both struggling to fit in where they didn't belong, Nico and Jason became fast friends when Jason was sent to Westover Hall to bring Nico and his sister to camp. Jason was Nico's hero, his best friend, everything he wanted to be.
And then Jason disappeared.
https://archiveofourown.org/works/13371255/chapters/30620913
Consort:
Smut, Top!Nico/Bottom!Jason
"You knelt for me earlier, Jason Grace. Am I wrong to think you might do it again?"
https://archiveofourown.org/works/22643527
Exposition:
"He can think of dozens of ways for them to begin, that's all." 
Jason, and how Nico could be the one for him.
https://archiveofourown.org/works/22964572
Our Dictionary:
epitome,n.
I can’t think of one word that can fully mean what we have. It’s far from perfect, but it’s too good to be imperfect. It’s not always happy, but it’s not always sad either. We are together, but not quite as one. We do have each other, but we’re still separate beings just keeping each other company.
I suppose I have to concede that whatever this is, has to be love. Platonic, romantic, ours. The precious resin seeping through our cracks, holding us together, keeping us bound.
(A non-chronological series of flash fiction.)
https://archiveofourown.org/works/22014838/chapters/52535770
First Step After the Fall:
As a general rule, Jason tried not to expect anything from Nico. He didn’t expect Nico to reply to every one of his postcards, or for Nico to want to be his friend. He certainly never expected to arrive at his dorm room late one afternoon after tennis practice to find Nico passed out in his bed.
https://archiveofourown.org/works/21028073
Survivor's Guilt:
Nico has unbearable nightmares. The panic attacks come in waves, his sense on his self slipping like water through fingers. When Chiron insists that the seven of the prophecy live in an apartment complex, Jason insists that Nico live with him, since he's the only one who can see how Nico is ripping apart at his seams. Nico can barely keep the horrors of Tartarus contained, and tells his stories of what happened in Tartarus. Surviving it was hard enough, but reliving it may prove to destroy him once and for all.
Written pre Blood of Olympus.
(This fanfiction is a bit complicated, so I decided to explain: 
Jason and Nico are best friends, and they live together in an apartment that is in the same building as the rest of the 7 also live. The beginning of the story is basically Jason helping Nico with nightmares, panic attacks, among other things. But there comes a time when Nico tells Jason what happened in Tartarus, and a horrible creature comes back to haunt them. The thing is, Nico doesn't like Jason romantically, because he still loves Percy, this story revolves around Nico's love for Percy, but it's one-sided, because Percy dates Annabeth, but a creature comes back to attack them discreetly, and mess with it. This story is not really about Jasico, there are only a few things at the end. This story is basically about one-sided love, among other things, especially this creature.)
https://archiveofourown.org/works/1133440/chapters/2290931
Homecoming:
But he did know what his normal dreams felt like, knew his nightmares even better, and knew his flashbacks like the back of his hand.
By 2019, the crew of the Argo II have drifted apart. An earthquake, a message from a god, and Nico di Angelo bring them back together to face the apocalypse one more time.
https://archiveofourown.org/works/20545019/chapters/48767933
Jercy:
Jason Grace Doesn't bottom:
“You think the gods are meddling again?”Percy asked.
“Isn’t that what they do best?”He replied.
(Trust me, this fanfiction is one of the best Jercy I've ever read! It's wonderful! Take a look! It includes, to my great delight, unsafe Jason, and past child abuse in Jason.)
https://archiveofourown.org/works/22340215
Wait for Me:  Hadestown/Orpheus & Eurydice AU 
(This fanfiction takes place in the original Percy Jackson universe, if you are in doubt.)
Percy Jackson might sometimes be impulsive and reckless, but he knew the gods. He had walked among them, had been asked to join them.
So he knew how to get him back.
https://archiveofourown.org/works/22884169
Head.Cars.Bending:
Dom!Percy/Sub!Jason
“Percy. Please. I’m driving.”
https://archiveofourown.org/works/16422161
When It Rains, It Pours:
Tempest finally delivered Jason's message for Percy.
https://archiveofourown.org/works/20040409 
Stay the night. Please.
Drabble prompt: 'Stay the night. Please.'
https://archiveofourown.org/works/8488180
The Last Summer:
It's been two years since Gaea was defeated, and a new age has arrived for the Greek and Roman worlds.
Jason finally has time to relax. He's spent the better part of those two years building an alliance between the two camp, and now his work is done. He isn't quite sure what's next, but he has plenty of time to worry about it. Summer is here, and what better way to celebrate his efforts than a stay at Camp Half Blood?
Percy is drowning. Unable to see a future for himself in the new age, he returns to Camp Half Blood feeling stuck in the past. Jason catches him at the exact wrong moment, and won't let Percy go without having a talk. What starts out as a simple conversation soon escalates into the friendship that both of them desperately need in this time of uncertainty.
The gods have gone silent, the monsters have disappeared. When a new force reveals itself and threatens the lives of everyone they hold dear, Percy and Jason must find it within themselves to help save the world one last time.
https://archiveofourown.org/works/22828987/chapters/54559852
Harry Potter
Drarry:
Facts, Convenience, and Falling in Love:  (No smut)
Alpha!Draco Malfoy/Omega!Harry Potter
While most of the wizarding world is under the impression that Harry Potter is an alpha, he knows it's only a matter of time before he gets outed as an omega. As insurance against the backlash he'll no doubt face when his secondary gender is discovered by the general public, Harry ends up attending an event designed to help people find mates. Who he ends up matching with might be a bit of a surprise though.
https://archiveofourown.org/works/23189614
An Unplanned Gift:  (No smut)
Mpreg, Top!Draco Malfoy/Bottom!Harry Potter
"We’ve used spells every time, haven’t we? Except… when we were drunk last pub night,” Draco replies, eyes widening. “Oh, Harry, I’m sorry, I know this was all supposed to be in good fun.”
Harry shakes his head. “It’s fine. Er, what do you think?”
https://archiveofourown.org/works/20574134
Good to Me (And I'd Be So Good to You):
Tall Draco Malfoy
Everyone returns to Hogwarts after the war, but nothing is quite the same. Harry's groupies are creepier than ever, Ron and Hermione are snogging all over the place, and the once-proud Draco is shuffling around like a kicked puppy. But that's okay: Harry's got a plan.
https://archiveofourown.org/works/1385362
Such a Softer Sin:  Alternative Universe - Soulmates, Alternative Universe - Canon Divergence
Angst with a Happy Ending
After Draco meets Harry Potter, he's left with two tattoos, one on each wrist. One for a soul mate, one for his enemy. He's never known any one else who has the same name on both wrists.
https://archiveofourown.org/works/6058141
Completely Screwed (In the Clean Way):  Alternative Universe - Soulmates
On the night of his 17th birthday, Harry Potter receives two names, one on each wrist. One name is his worst enemy's, the other is his soulmate's. The difficult part of this is usually figuring out which is which, but when Harry's names are the same, Harry has no idea what to do. Oh, and there's the whole Voldemort thing.
  https://archiveofourown.org/works/9902510
Third Time's The Charm:  Alternative Universe - Canon Divergence
Slytherin Harry Potter, Abusive Dursley Family
Dolores Umbridge wasn't the only decision the Ministry made in an attempt to control the narrative after Harry Potter claimed that Voldemort came back from the dead at the end of the school year in 1994. Deciding it was too dangerous to leave Harry in Gryffindor, the House of the Brave, the Ministry decides to pass legislature mandating that students face the Sorting Hat again at the start of their 4th year. Officially, it's under the reasoning that as students grow and develop, they may find themselves better suited to another House and the Ministry is really big on Students Continuing To Develop Healthily And Normally. Unofficially, it's an attempt to remove Harry from any friends who might have believed him about Voldemort. And so, in Harry's 5th year, he's resorted as a Slytherin- the House full of children of Death Eaters just as Wizarding Britain is on the brink of another war. 
https://archiveofourown.org/works/21109571/chapters/50230406
Lost:
Abused Harry Potter, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Slytherin AU
Harry Potter was perfect, right? He was the Golden Boy, the boy who lived, the Chosen One, his life had to be perfect. Well, that’s what everyone at Hogwarts thought, anyway.
https://archiveofourown.org/works/20661836/chapters/49067783
Love is Deaf:  Post - Canon
Fluff, Deaf Harry Potter
A fic wherein Harry comes back for eighth year deaf. The only people who still talk to him are Hermione and Ron cause everyone else finds it so awkward. Draco watches from afar as Harry writes down all he wants to say, gestures wildly and eventually starts giving up on communicating altogether.
One day as they pass each other in the hallway Draco suddenly grabs Harry’s hand, places something in it and then scurries off. Harry looks down and opens a piece of paper that reads ‘meet me in the kitchens for breakfast tomorrow’. Harry has no idea his world is about to change forever.
So basically one of the many things Draco had to learn as a child was sign language and he decides to do something crazy and teach Harry.
https://archiveofourown.org/works/13243431/chapters/30293283
What if I had?
Hogwarts Eighth Year, Smut Later (But I don`t know if is Bottom! Harry or not)
Draco knew Azkaban was not an option, not for his crimes.
No, Draco knew that when he came out with the dark mark-his choice or not-he knew he had his fate decided.
What happens when Draco gets help from someone unexpected, unexpected and unwanted, but welcome.
https://archiveofourown.org/works/20670938/chapters/49091162
Mood Ring:
Mpreg, Top!Draco Malfoy/Bottom!Harry Potter
“We should probably see a healer.” Draco announced, rubbing Harry’s back. He had been feeling sick the last few weeks. Constant nausea and loss of appetite.
“We don’t need to see a healer.” Harry groaned, “It’s probably a cold or something.”
“Harry. You said it was like you were pregnant again.” Draco argued, “We need to take you to a healer.”
“It’s not possible. You know it’s not possible.” Harry stated stubbornly, “I haven’t been taking any fertility potions or anything. I can’t magically get pregnant without the help of magic.”
https://archiveofourown.org/works/7895914
A Mother's Son:
Smut, Top!Draco Malfoy/Bottom!Harry Potter Rape / Non - Con
All Harry wanted to do was return Draco's wand. Unfortunately no one thought to warn him that he was a Veela, even though everyone knew about Lily.
(The warning of Rape/Non-con is more specifically because it can be dub con, but there is no actual "force")
https://archiveofourown.org/works/1438927
Don't Fight (What You Can't Deny):
Harry's life changes when he comes across a book that no one else can seem to read. Except for Malfoy, of course.
https://archiveofourown.org/works/3603681/chapters/7950867
(Love) Is All You Need:
Draco Malfoy has a chance to start over after being invited back for Eighth year. Althiugh he had doubts of re joining something he helped to destroy, he finds himself wanting to go back.
As much as he doesn't want to be involved in any drama and carry on by himself, it's not something that will go as smoothly.
Especially considering that he is a Veela and his true mate is none other than Harry Potter himself.
https://archiveofourown.org/works/22080460/chapters/52695160
Starting Over (Temporary Title):
Past Abuse, Creature fanfic
The war is finally over and things have changed. Or at least, people think things have changed. Harry Potter, however, sees the Wizarding World as the same but with one less murderous wizard to worry about.
 During Lucius Malfoy's trial, Harry must make a decision that will change his and the Malfoy's lives. A decision that may lead to uncovered mysteries from Harry's past loved ones.
https://archiveofourown.org/works/7091590/chapters/16117288
At the Crossroads There We’ll Meet:
Time Travel
Potter keeps dying; Draco keeps saving him.
https://archiveofourown.org/works/2039154
Beholden To:
Rape / Non - Con
It's only months after the war and Draco can't handle it any longer. Stupid Potter, and his stupid attitude and his stupid having to die almost killed him. That's what happens when you're a Veela mated to the reckless golden boy.
Just a Matter of Time:
Top!Draco Malfoy/Bottom! Harry Potter
Draco's in a bit of a rut. He's nearing forty, divorced, and he still can't figure out how to make his Time Turner reconstruction work. He's bored, he can admit it, so he's not nearly as concerned as he should be when his pet project malfunctions and sends him twenty years into the past. That is, until he ends up relying on a nineteen-year-old Harry Potter for help and starts developing some very inconvenient—and possibly reciprocated—feelings.
(I have to confess that this is not my favorite Drarry fanifction. It's about time travel, and Draco is forty, and he goes back to the past. Harry is nineteen years old in the past. I don't like older people staying with younger people, even for a short period of time, as it is in this fanifction, so I put it here just in case someone likes it, because the story itself is good, Draco is just too old for Harry.)
https://archiveofourown.org/works/20680190
How to get what you want (even if you don't know what it is):
Smut, Top!Draco Malfoy/Bottom!Harry Potter, Mpreg
"Let me get this clear, shall we? You want me to bugger you in the arse, so you can get pregnant with my superior semen?"
Harry took off his glasses and rubbed his face with both hands. "I knew this was a stupid idea. The most stupid of all stupid ideas."
But Harry wanted a different life, a family, a child, and when his Healer told him it was possible for him to carry a child himself, being a wizard, the thought kind of stuck. Even if he wasn't compleatly truthful about his motives. Not to Malfoy and certainly not to himself.
https://archiveofourown.org/works/19950838/chapters/47241751
Voltron: Legendary Defender
Klance:
Together (That's How We Belong):   (No smut)
Alpha!Keith/Omega!Lance  
Keith’s abrupt return takes Lance completely by surprise, as do the unanticipated, yet very noticeable changes in the alpha’s appearance. Yet while the omega is secretly overjoyed to finally see the alpha again, when Keith is within his reach, Lance’s nerves get the best of him, and an accidental blunder will forever change the course of their lives.
https://archiveofourown.org/works/17204288
In This Reality:
“You may be a goofy guy from Earth, but if there’s anyone who can support Allura during this it’s you,” Keith finally says softly, turning from the sunset to look at him. It makes Lance’s heart race and he swallows drily, hoping the blush that creeping on his face isn’t visible under Kosmo’s fur. “The annoying, stupid, Earth version of you.”
While Honerva destroys realities, Lance finds himself going back in time to do things differently and is enlisted in helping an unlikely friend save the universe.
https://archiveofourown.org/works/18092651/chapters/42767819
Toward the Future:
Keith wasn’t stupid. He saw the way Lance looked at Allura. With a softness in his eyes, one Keith had only ever seen there once. He saw Allura wish Lance good luck and he saw their twin blushes and maybe Lance had been breaking his heart every few minutes since he came back to the team.
(Rewritten from the S8 with Klance.)
https://archiveofourown.org/works/17072585/chapters/40145954
Fragmented:
In a world of soulmates, Lance drew the short straw. Forever marked inferior to his soulmate, and the people around him, made worse by the first words that pass Keith's lips...
https://archiveofourown.org/works/8153570
Kick in the Teeth:
The time travel one-shot that ended up being more fun than expected.
Roughly: Post-Canon Lance wakes up in the Red Lion just after Naxzela and kicks canon in the teeth about as hard as canon tanked his character development.
https://archiveofourown.org/works/20109358/chapters/47636014
The Wrong Altean:
It is Lance’s birthday and the gang decides to surprise Lance at his farm for a surprise birthday visit, however, when they arrive, they find the place strangely quiet and even more disturbing, there are signs of struggle. A Galra blade has been found inside Lance’s house one that doesn’t belong to Keith. It is up to them to find Lance before their worst fears become reality.
https://archiveofourown.org/works/22670497/chapters/54185773
Just A Touch:
Keith isn't prepared to find himself clinging to Lance, his annoying classmate at the Garrison who is also maybe his "soulmate." He isn't prepared to get expelled or to live alone in the desert and search for the source of a mysterious energy. He definitely isn't prepared to fly into space on a whim or to pilot a magical robot lion in a millennia-old war for the entire universe.
But all of that does happen, so now he has to deal with it. Keith has to adjust to life in space, to becoming a soldier, and to building close and trusting relationships with his teammates – including Lance.
https://archiveofourown.org/works/10862013/chapters/24124074
Buried Treasure:
(This fanfiction takes place in the original universe of the series.)
“Last chancey,” the captain sneered down at them. “Wheree be me treasure?” Lance couldn’t answer and Keith’s swears and denial only made pirate grin. “So be it.” And the first shovelful of dirt to bury them alive fell from above.
https://archiveofourown.org/works/22361689
Because Love was Your Reality (But it wasn't Mine):
Lance found love in this reality once—he doesn’t think he’ll ever have it again. He swore to love Allura in this universe and the next, and he’s intent on keeping that promise. On the anniversary of her passing, Allura tells him that it’s okay to move on, to find love again and Lance doesn’t believe her—doesn’t want to believe her. How is he supposed to love someone like he loved her?
Altean marks, space phones, and two hearts that were denied their love once, with time telling them to try again.
https://archiveofourown.org/works/16991271/chapters/39941202
Don't Forget Your Vitamins:
Fluff, Smut, Alpha!Keith/Omega!Lance
Lance is an omega. Keith is a beta. This was something Lance had made peace with and determined that there was no way they could ever work. No matter how much he would like it to. Saving the universe and all that didn’t leave a whole lot of time to pursue such a complicated relationship.
However, when Keith finally starts getting the food and nutrition his hybrid body needs he is finally revealed to be an alpha. As he struggles with his new presentation, Lance tries his best to be there for him and support him. But it's difficult when the guy you love is now totally capable of giving you the best sex of your life.
Takes place post-season 3. Keith pilots the black lion and Lance pilots the red lion. Shiro is Shiro not a clone and everything is fine except for the impending war against the Galra.
Part 1 of Don't Forget Your Vitamins
https://archiveofourown.org/works/12245481
I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm:
Fluff, Alpha!Keith/Omega!Lance
Team Voltron and the castle are on an ice cold planet and Lance is suffering. He hates the cold. He was not made for the cold. He's going to freeze to death and no he isn't being too dramatic about it.
Thankfully, his alpha mate is Galra and they come with some useful features for his predicament. Keith is more than happy to help out.
Part 2 of  Don't Forget Your Vitamins
https://archiveofourown.org/works/12484528
The Black Paladin: 
Black Paladin!Lance
Shiro was gone.
He vanished into thin air after the battle with Zarkon and no one had any idea what to do. The Black Lion was back inside the castle with the shields up so nobody could even get close to her. The Hall of Lions felt cold and empty with the Black Lion just sitting there and looking majestic as ever but now with blackened eyes that might never light up again.
https://archiveofourown.org/works/9727025
Magnetic In Our Purple Season Five:
It wasn’t the first time Lance had called Keith to chat and give updates, and sometimes he was even the one picking up to hear about some especially stupid teammate or a warning that he wouldn’t be able to talk for a while because of a covert mission or something. There shouldn’t be a reason for him to hesitate to call his rival, old team leader, and best friend (longtime crush more like it), but there he was with fingers hovering over the familiar face reluctantly. He didn’t want to sound like he was whining or insulting Shiro, it was just…
OR Lance calls Keith after Shiro’s outburst, resulting in the clone's reveal and changing the entire face of Voltron. Between Keith's struggles with the idea of family, Lance's lingering strife from his time with the clone, and their growing feelings for one another, what seemed set in stone must change. For better or for worse.
https://archiveofourown.org/works/20122084/chapters/47668594
Lance Has the Flu:
Lance has the flu and Keith takes care of him.
https://archiveofourown.org/works/21375325
Diplomacy with Tentacle Aliens:
Rape / Non-Con, Top!Keith/Bottom!Lance
Lance and Keith go to engage in diplomacy with a species who, according to the Blade of Marmora, are feared by even the Galra Empire. However, due to the planet's harsh atmosphere, those who enter the planet never leave, so little is known about the species. The Red and Blue Paladins are going in not knowing what to expect, and they're about to find out first hand what happens when you attempt diplomacy with tentacle aliens.
(Fanfiction unfinished.)
https://archiveofourown.org/works/12191529/chapters/27680001
Lance Has Asthma and Gets a Respiratory Infection:
Fluff, Asthmatic Lance
(This fanfiction takes place in the original universe of the series.)
Lance has asthma and gets a respiratory infection. He wakes up in the middle of the night and needs Keith to help him breathe.
https://archiveofourown.org/works/19894864
Series Unfortunate Events
The Awful Abduction:
Kidnapping, Duncan Quagmire/Klaus Baudelaire, Violet Baudelaire/Quigley Quagmire
When the Baudelaire Orphans find the Quagmires at the bottom of Esmé's elevator shaft, they concoct a plan to rescue them. Klaus insists on staying behind however; something doesn't feel right to him.
Little does he know that this one event won't go well.
https://archiveofourown.org/works/23310241/chapters/55832605
Cracked China AU (Part One):
Graphic Depictions of Violence, Duncan Quagmire/Klaus Baudelaire, Violet Baudelaire/Quigley Baudelaire, Beatride Baudelaire/Bertrand Baudelaire/Lemony Snicket
The Daily Punctilio claims that the Baudelaire family died in the fire that destroyed their home. They've got it all wrong.
Beatrice, Bertrand, Violet, and Sunny Baudelaire were inside the mansion when it burned down, but they escaped through the secret tunnels below. Now faking their deaths and on the run, they meet up with some allies and visit familiar destinations, looking for the one thing that can free them from both sides of V.F.D.
Klaus Baudelaire was sent to Briny Beach alone on the day of the Baudelaire Fire, his sisters suddenly left behind. Strange to think how that cost them their lives. Sent by Mr. Poe to live with a man named Count Olaf, Klaus meets Duncan and Isadora Quagmire, two triplets who everyone seems to think are his siblings. Chased from guardian to guardian by the sinister Count Olaf, Klaus and the Quagmires just want some peace and quiet. Count Olaf, however, has plans for them... and their money.
https://archiveofourown.org/works/21387760/chapters/50949763
Gravity Falls
But We Could Change It:
Time Travel, Dipper Pines & Mabel Pines, Mabel Pines & Stan Pines, Dipper Pines & Ford Pines, Dipper Pines & Ford Pines & Mabel Pines & Stan Pines, Fiddleford H. McGucket & Dipper Pines & Mabel Pines, Fiddleford H. McGucket & Ford Pines, Ford Pines & Stan Pines, Dipper Pines & Stan Pines, Ford Pines & Mabel Pines
Even though everything turned out mostly okay, there was no denying Weirdmeggedon had sucked. So when Mabel found a Time Tape she suggested they go back in time and... rearrange a few things. After all, nothing bad had happened with time traveling before, right? Besides, it wouldn't be that hard to fix the past. They just had to stop Grunkle Ford from finishing the portal and getting sucked into it.
Easy peasy lemon squeezy.
Right?
Yeah, like anything in Gravity Falls was ever simple.
https://archiveofourown.org/works/21701614/chapters/51763012
Batman
Raisin Delight:
Time Travel, Tim Drake & Bruce Wayne
A year after Jason Todd dies, Tim Drake and Bruce Wayne take on the case when they notice strange occurrences in Gotham city. This has disastrous consequences, but so do most things that Tim gets caught up in, so what's new, really.
https://archiveofourown.org/works/15644082
Cracked Foundation:
Jason Todd & Damian Wayne, Damian Wayne & Bruce Wayne, Bruce Wayne & Jason Todd
The last thing Damian expected to happen when he ran away from home was to spend a day crammed into a small space with Jason Todd. His father's second son was a black sheep. An outcast. An angry, insanity driven criminal who enjoyed screwing with the batfamily in every way he could. At least, that's what Damian thought. Maybe he was wrong about Todd.
https://archiveofourown.org/works/14234844/chapters/32821734
I am We:
Dick Grayson & Damian Wayne, Tim Drake & Damian Wayne, Jason Todd & Damian Wayne, Bruce Wayne & Damian Wayne, Tim Drake & Dick Grayson & Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne & Damian Wayne, Stephanie Brown & Damian Wayne
Damian's hit by a spell that splits him up into four different versions of himself.
Anger, Anxiety, Happiness, and one more that Dick can't quite name.
They're a handful. (He loves them all anyway.)
https://archiveofourown.org/works/21271943/chapters/50647211
Yesterday's Voices:
Bruce Wayne & His Kids
While trying to take down a drug cartel that deals with memory altering drugs, things go awry, and Batman wakes up with no recollection of the last five years. As a result, his family must now race against time to find the antidote, while also having to deal with a Bruce who still thinks Jason is Robin. A Bruce who doesn't recognise most of them. A Bruce far less jaded and cynical than the one they're used to. A Bruce who still cares.
https://archiveofourown.org/works/11035398/chapters/24597084
Secrets:
It was always on the left. He couldn’t help but laugh at the irony. That was the side his skull had been bashed in on. But it never started in his head. It started with tingling in the tips of his fingers and a ringing in his ears that wouldn’t go away. And when the pain inevitably started, just like it always did, he couldn’t help but think that getting his skull bashed in had hurt less.
Ever since he came back to life, Jason has been dealing with chronic migraines.
Part 2 of  Chronic
https://archiveofourown.org/works/14770473
Can I Still Be Robin?
“Hi, Mr. Grayson?” Damian groaned and rolled over onto his side and cursed the school policy that parents and guardians had to be contacted in the event of a so-called emergency. It wasn’t even that big of a deal.
 “Yes, hi. This is Nurse Amy from Gotham Academy calling about Damian?” The phone call wouldn’t do anything but cause Grayson to panic. 
“Yes. We need you to come pick him up. He passed out during lunch."
Part 3 of  Chronic
https://archiveofourown.org/works/14831252
Juxtaposition:
Juxtaposition (n) the state of being close together or side by side.
Or the one where Jason reminds Tim that sometimes Damian takes jokes all too seriously.
+ the one where Tim reminds Jason that he has only himself to blame.
https://archiveofourown.org/works/9606995/chapters/21704609
When the Stakes are Higher:
Tim Drake & Dick Grayson & Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne & Damian Wayne, Tim Drake & Damian Wayne, Tim Drake & Jason Todd, Jason Todd & Damian Wayne
There's a new serial killer in Gotham, and he's managing to evade even Batman's attempts to catch him. The psychopath's inclinations have Bruce on edge, but Jason's not as worried...until it becomes personal. But when even the world's greatest detective is at a loss, will their efforts be enough to prevent another tragedy in the Wayne family?
https://archiveofourown.org/works/7826554/chapters/17865421
Time-Travel is not for Amateurs:
Tim Drake & Damian Wayne
That one time a Damian from an alternate future decided make things better.
https://archiveofourown.org/works/617874/chapters/1114756
The Thundermans
This is Your Heart (Can You Feel It?):
Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Max Thunderman & Phoebe Thunderman, Max Thunderman & Hank Thunderman, Thunderman Family
"Dad," Max chokes, clawing at the hand around his neck as the grip tightens and his vision starts to blur. "Dad...please."
https://archiveofourown.org/works/17023923/chapters/40024776
He's A Rebel:
Max Thunderman & Phoebe Thunderman, Dr. Colosso & Max Thunderman, Allison/Max Thunderman
An old enemy of Hank gets into the house and renders all the heroes powerless. Max, identifying as a villain, is the only one left standing. The question is, will he finally betray his family for good, or will he fight to protect them?
https://archiveofourown.org/works/21945634/chapters/52375057
*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*
I hope you enjoyed these fanfictions that I chose! I have others, but they are common stories, without romantic relationships. I know that Batman's stories had no romantic relationship, but I don't read stories of Bruce having a relationship, and I don't read incest either. Anyway, these other stories, I can post them later, if you really liked this list!
21 notes · View notes
vohalika · 5 years
Note
hello, this is random but.. could u please tell me some of your fav things about vex? i don't often see people who Really Like Vex and we need more of that
Well, well, well, anon.
I have literally no idea how long it has been since you asked this of me, but rest assured I have not forgotten! Well, okay, I had for a while, then I saw it again and was like “oh, right, huh… And would you look at that, I’m about 100 posts away from 100,000… Wouldn’t that be a good one…”
So. Here we are! An unstructured rambling of all the reasons I really, really love Vex, somewhere between superficial and embarrasingly personal, to celebrate this arbitrary number of things I have spread around on this hell site.
Okay, first of all, the only thing Laura had to say to Kit Buss for the official art was “make her hot”. That is a Statement. And boy did Kit and also everyone deliver on that.
Like seriously. I didn’t use to be a fan of feathers in hair or white armor, but good god does she make it work.
Hey, I said this was going to be extremely superficial
Another thing I really didn’t use to like, twins. Overdone and usually poorly executed. But our girl made a Point out of being as different from her twin as she could be while at the same time being completely believable siblings.
I swear to god I’ll do my absolute best to mention Vax as little as possible. This is not about him.
Third thing I really couldn’t stand! The one, usually female, team member with a pet! Closely related to the one with the nature powers! I don’t know, these just always rubbed me the wrong way in media before, probably because I also never really cared for shows or movies about animals. Fight me.
And yet here she is, and she is not the “won’t somebody think of the children animals!” type of gal and Trinket is amazing and it still ties into her personality on a larger scale without being preachy.
I have a fourth thing. I also really don’t care for elves, ever. Everybody hates them. And then she turns around and makes me cry about the elf thing. Good god.
Yes, watching the first episode way back when was an uphill battle. There’s a reason I started with episode 69 and then watched the rest.
Nice.
Vex has the best worst sense of humor. No, really. I’m not even talking about that time she made a comment about the boy with the shot off fingers not having much of a future as a musician. But I’m also talking about that. And that time Scanlan tried having a meaningful monologue about having a daughter now. “I’ve defined most of my life by the people I slept with, and now…” - “Well, technically, this is still kinda defined by that.”
(Shoutout to Percy “I was just thinking that”)
Also, “We don’t do anything with dignity”, “I only serve gods with big dicks”, “You might live forever, but you will still be fucking ugly”? Girl is iconic, even if her sense if humor is usually pretty inappropriate for the given situation, she just can’t help it. I relate.
On a related note, it is so easy to play a similar archetype and have her just be this always dignified and above the humor kind of stuck-up. It’s basically how most people would have written her (and a certain someone did). But not our girl, oh no.
Also, I recently made a post about this, but we really, really don’t talk enough about how she’s just the leader of the party. She is. No, really, lower your bitch sticks, y’all. She’s the one to talk to the most NPCs, she’s the one to usually say go, and everyone just naturally adheres to her. It’s never forced, it’s never an “I, as the leader” moment, and she doesn’t try to wrestle her way into the role. It’s just what happens naturally.
Which also means she’s good at stepping back and letting other people shine for a bit. But still, Vex is the reason they didn’t just flounder around like a chicken without its head after Scanlan left. Laura was late to two sessions in campaign one; the first one was already in an extended battle scene, and the other was literally spent in a bedroom in hell waitinig for Vex to tell them what to do.
This is why scholars are generally of the opinion that Vex is the only Top in VM. And also what intellectuals refer to as Big Dick Energy.
Let’s talk about what the assholes call Greed. Yes, Vex is, out of all of them, the most pre-occupied with gold and loot. But she NEVER hoards anything for herself, never spends any of her own gold on herself even until the timeskip, leave alone the party funds.
She looks out for the interests of the group, makes sure they get the best possible deals and are paid what they are owed. And she’s the only one to ever worry about money, too, whereas everyone else never bothers to think about it. Hence why her and Vax split the cost of paying their staff after the party spent all the funds early on.
Look, I find her worries very indicative of growing up in poverty with her mom, than surrounded by rich and important people but locked out of the loop, and then poor and on the road again with Vax. I find it very relatable, and everyone who claims that looking out for the financial well-being of the party is “greedy” is lucky enough to never have had to worry about eating next month while also making rent.
There’s Safety In A Fist Full Of Diamonds, okay?
No really I need y’all to read that and send it to the annoying bitches who complain.
Vex is literally never stingy when it comes to helping people with the money she made sure they have. Remember how she didn’t even flinch at spending a five digit number to free angel boy slaves?
WHICH LEADS ME TO ANOTHER POINT. Vex. Vex has a serious hoarding problem. But not when it comes to money of earthly possessions. No. When it comes to PICKING UP STRAYS.
It’s how she got Trinket.
It’s how she got the angel babies.
It’s what she tries to do with the grey render baby.
It’s what she suggested they do with the dragon eggs in the Raishan fight
(LET! VEX! HAVE! PET! DRAGONS!)
IT HOW SHE GOT HER OWN GODDAMN HUSBAND OKAY.
I have no idea how she hasn’t adopted her own zoo by the time VM forms. Though I can totally see her opening orphanages in Whitestone, both for people and animals and creatures of all kinds, really.
Remember when she was the only one to protest the punching of a spectral ghost cow?
The hardships of her youth made her, yes, very afraid of being out of money, but also made her compassionate as fuck. She’s always down with helping people even if there’s little to no coin in it, okay? Stop overlooking that, assholes.
SPEAKING OF COMPASSION. Remember what her original beef with the Vasselheim potion seller was? That he took advantage of Grog being intellectually challenged. Which is what he did! Blatantly so! And he wasn’t the least bit sorry about it!
I mean, I bet he is by now, but, you know. Karma.
When Laura says Vex just wanted justice and then everyone else escalated that scene she is goddamn right, rewatch your own footage Matthew.
Oh god do I have to talk about broomgate now. I don’t want to talk about broomgate.
OKAY
Broomgate is literally the only time in the entire series that Vex ever takes something for herself. Was it the morally right thing to do? Maybe not. Though to keep in mind that a) Hardwick is a piece of shit, b) they literally met Gern when he had the skeletons of Kiki’s dead civilization dancing for him; Vax shanked Nothics for less, c) and this was hot off the heels of fighting a necromancer in the last big arc, too, d) they were on a mission to kill dragons. That fly. With no method of flying for the majority of the party. Vex always intended to use the broom for that purpose, so you could make the legal argument of commandeering it instead of stealing, and, finally, e) SHE HAD JUST FUCKING DIED
Why do we never talk about that
Other characters get cut all the slack for what they do after just dying
Other characters get cut all the slack when they steal from other guests
Other characters get cut all the slack when they withhold loot for the party
Other characters DIDN’T GET AN ALIGNMENT DROP FOR DOING WORSE SHIT THAN THIS
WHY ARE WE STILL TALKING ABOUT BROOMGATE
WHY WAS BROOMGATE EVER EVEN A THING
okay
okay
MOVING ON
Hey, while we’re at dying. Remember how Vex spent the day after she, literally, died, trying to make sure the person who was to blame for her death was okay? She did that. And Percy was uncomfortable with it, visibly so, but also too guilty to call her out here.
And no one. NO ONE. EVER. Bothered to check in on how she felt after dying.
Vax made it all about the sacrifice he made, Percy felt too guilty, NO ONE ELSE CARED.
And what does she do? Soldier on. Try and cheer Vax up and support him in any way she can.
Honestly, learning the Raven Queen book by heart and then telling him that being the champion of a god is really fucking cool? Relatable. Relatable as fuck. You go girl.
And TO THIS DAY. ACROSS TWO CAMPAIGNS. Vex has been the only one. THE ONLY ONE. To EVER check up on someone after they died. Jester might eventually be the second one, but, you know. I am a big advocate for post-death and just post-big-battle-in-general aftercare cuddle piles or whatever. Someone tell the cast to implement that immediately.
And while we’re at death, let’s talk about THE DARKNESS
There are dark facets to her character. Vex never makes her own issues everyone else’s problem and they go largely unadressed, but they’re there.
Saundor brought up the story about how she got Trinket and had to kill for the first time while doing so.
(Sidenote: Saundor doing more research into her character than an actual writer is extremely telling.)
That was definitely traumatic for a young girl and I don’t mean to dismiss that, but that’s also the part I can understand Vax dismissing when they talk about it later on. They do kill a lot of people after that and this was self-defense, so hey, okay. Fine.
HOWEVER
That short story was indicative of many other things that torment Vex. Mostly her low sense of self-worth.
Like, her entire inner monologue is centered around how stupid she was for getting into this situation in the first place (= for being taken advantage of by criminals at the tender age of probably like 15), and how this would never have happened to Vax, who was away in the city to take care of them.
And we see that low sense of self-worth bleeding into Vex’s character throughout the campaign. That’s part of the reason why she spends the day after her first death making sure everyone else is okay. That’s also part of the reason she blames herself for Scanlan leaving and acts like she’s completely fine when he returns just so he’ll stay.
Honestly that short story is so insightful and explains so much about her, I don’t know how anyone could claim to have any grasp on her character without reading it.
(Also, Laura should write more, she’s talented)
Now a significant part of her self-worth issues obviously also ties back into her time at Syngorn. I can just hear people getting out their tiny violins, oh, waaah, she wasn’t one of the rich, cool kids in elf school, poor her.
But that’s not entirely it?
Like, just that is already plenty to fuck a person up. I’ve been there, too.
But let’s just say the fact that her dad was also cold towards them and acted like they were unworthy is a BIG part of what fucked her up. Call it daddy issues if you feel like being dismissive about a genuinely traumatizing upbringing, but that’s how it is.
And don’t get me wrong, if this were the traumatic childhood olympics, it’s not exactly up there and relatively tame for the background of a character in a fantasy story, but it is very true to life and extremely relatable, and Laura just executes it so well. So, so well.
That’s part of what makes the entire stretch of Feywild episodes so great. From what we see of Vax’s reaction later on, Percy is the only person she ever talked to about this - or at least the only one who ever listened - and he immediately got it. And instead of yelling at her about how amazing she is, he did something to make her feel better about herself. Without making it about himself, by the way.
I enjoy a fake married plotline as much as the next gal, but Percy giving her a title she’d have to earn by her own merits is soooo much more meaningful than just putting a fake ring on her, okay?
Yes, at the end of the day, this is basically a Cinderella fantasy. So what? No, really. One of the best things about Vex and her arc is that it validates feeling upset about not measuring up in superficial, material ways. And it validates getting your come-uppance. These are, as mentioned above, experiences that can really mess with a person, but we’re usually supposed to be above it all because money and titles don’t make you happy.
Also something only people who never struggled financially can say/believe unironically and without specifying.
Hell, that’s about 70% of the reason I’m considering getting a Ph.D. if I happen to get the grades.
I’m also not a big fan of the term daddy issues, but I can’t deny that this is a thing here
not the thing they went into the Feywild for, buuuut
ahem
So. Remember when Laura said during the campaign wrap up that Vex thought of Scanlan as a father figure and everyone was like whaaaaat? And I was like ahahahaha, I knew it.
This is so tragic, really. Because she tried so hard so many times to help Scanlan and be nice to him and he just brushed her off. And then she’s the one who volunteers to spend the night all by herself in some dirty pub far, far away after opening up to his daughter about her own issues to bring him back alive, and then gets yelled at, and never apologized to.
And then he comes back and tries to erase her memory and not only is that never even brought up, she also just doesn’t even think she might be owed an apology because a) she still blames herself for him leaving because, you know, they never really talked out what happened there and b) she’s just too happy for at least that father figure returning to them to make much of a fuss about it, and Percy, bless his heart, TRIES, but it’ll take a few more years of marriage to talk through all of her issues
And like. I am not wild about anything that happens after episode 99. If I’m known for anything in this fandom on this platform it’s probably for that time I was really into the Ioun discourse, which I still stand by, btw. And I personally would have preferred for Vex to maybe get someone like Sehanine as her patron, as fitting as giving her yet another unworthy and disapproving father figure in her life might be
But there is also something somewhat gratifying about everyone talking about how great she is. And she had been sort of working for Pelor before that. Also, the headcanons about her having sun spots or starting to glow when she gets emotional after this are amazing.
So I made my peace with that. She deserves better, but hey, she always does.
She is so smart. So extremely smart. People roll their eyes at her battle plans and say it’s all Travis feeding Laura information, but Travis fed her nothing that time she schmoozed up to the Briarwoods while also making herself appear extremely superficial and unthreatening. Honestly. That dinner scene? Prime Vex. Amazing Vex.
Her battle plans are also so good. Pokeball-ing Grog out of the kill box? Using the Goristro against Vorugal to save the party a trip into the abyss? The only plan of Vox Machina that ever worked out basically perfectly? Amazing. And even IF Travis told Laura these ideas, that means literally nothing in relation to how smart Vex is.
And btw I don’t believe that for a second. People just aren’t good with acknowledging that sometimes, D&D playing women might actually have good ideas.
And she just is so street smart. With her skills, her battle plans, and just her way of handling people. There’s a reason she is the natural leader when it’s not someone’s turn in the spotlight at the time.
Like, the two things holding her back were that her class was extremely underwhelming, so much so that it got completely revamped in the Unearthed Arcana to make up for how bad it was in the PHB, and the fact that she just. Has, what. 1.5 episodes of her own storyline? Even Pike got 2. It’s amazing that I can even say this much about her with how little narrative focus she got throughout the series. And most of what she did was literally due to Percy using his plot clout and putting a foot in the door to force her into the spotlight.
Speaking of which. Percy’s best quality, next to being self-aware of how fucked up he is and actively trying to do better and be kept in check, is how he realizes Vex is the coolest, smartest, most amazing person around and treats her accordingly. The way she deserves to be treated.
Oh hey I mentioned to get this far without even mentioning the romance arc. And oh my god THE ROMANCE ARC. The pining. The slow burn. And the fact that we actually saw them together and later married for like 35 episodes. They were so good for each other.
And yes, PERCY WAS GOOD FOR HER. And Vex was not his therapist and manic pixie dream girl. None of that bullshit here. Percy was already firmly on the path to being better before he even considered that crush he has had on her for forever to turn into something more.
And by he was good for her I mean that he actually UNDERSTOOD her and where she was coming from. Refer again to the titling issue, where Vax is just confused and kind of pissed, Percy got it. And that’s important.
Something I have not made a post about so far, by the way, is also something people have called problematic and co-dependant is how Percy shares his darker impulses with Vex in hopes she’ll talk him out of it. Which she does, and it’s never hard, but that also means so much to her? Because he involves her and tells her exactly what is going on with him and values her opinion? And that is just exactly what she needs? And they’re so good? THEY’RE SO GOOD.
WHEN DOES YOUR OTP EVER
HE COULDN’T HAVE ASKED FOR A BETTER DREAM
This is more on Laura, admittedly, but also, it was just so great to see her unapologetically pursuing this romance? There’s a place at the table for a 72 episode slow burn, and she’s gonna go for it, and there’s nothing any of the dudebros who are just here for the fighting can do about it.
And also Vex is just so unapologetically sexual at the same time. From episode 1 onwards, really, and in general and just limited to Percy. And no one ever treats that as weird or bad or anything. It’s just who she is and that’s great.
And she fought. So hard. For that happy ending of hers. Kicking and screaming, against the world and against Taliesin’s determination that Percy is irredeemable and not capable of getting a happy ending. Defy that auctorial intent, my girl. You deserve it.
Seriously. Seeing her get that happy ending against all odds was unfathomably gratifying and validating and I’ve never connected to any single character or narrative at large for that matter this much and this intimately, and considering how I came across this story at one of the darkest times in my life, I probably never will feel so strongly connected to anything ever again.
Which is probably for the best, but hey. 
Aaaand there you go. An almost unstructured, epically long list of reasons I love Vex. Dammit, I talked about other characters way more than I intended, buuuut hey. That’s how it goes when you’ve got an ensemble piece, they’re all kinda interwoven.
Thank you this wonderful ask, anon, and reason to celebrate my 100,000th post on this site in style.
607 notes · View notes
honeybee-babe · 5 years
Note
How can you excuse all of the abusive things Luther has done to his siblings (especially Klaus) throughout the series? And don't pull the "he was drunk" card. And without implying that Luther locking up Vanya isn't intentionally cruel or intended to hurt her? He has the ability to think logically, unlike Vanya he isn't experiencing a literal psychotic break down.... Please, explain this to me logically. Thanks.
~ wowowowowowow i clenched my jaw all night thinking about this ask~~
Yikes. You’re not asking me why I “excuse his actions” (I don’t), you’re asking why I see him as a human being with flaws and trauma which need to be addressed rather than the literal devil. And why I don’t think he is irredeemable based on a few terrible choices (when he has also made some great ones and showed affection for his siblings in the past). I honestly think people hate Luther because it’s easier to have clearly good characters and clearly bad characters, even in a show that actively and artfully avoids that dichotomy.
Why do you care that I like Luther? I’m not bashing your faves or causing any harm to you? I am not trying to tell you to like him or convince you he is a great character. I know he has flaws. 
But if you really want to know how I “excuse all his actions” (which…. I don’t?), I’ll humor you, but I’m answering the question you’re really asking:
Why Do You Not Despise Luther?:
This response is really longwinded but THIS QUESTION IS REALLY OVER-SIMPLIFYING(!!!) so I feel it’s warranted.
First, I’m gonna address the “abusive things Luther has done to his siblings throughout the series:”
I am not excusing any of the things Luther “does to his siblings,” I’m just saying we should extend the same amount of courtesy to him in sympathizing with him and understanding the motive behind his actions (just like we all do with Vanya). And also consider the fact that he is deeply traumatized and has literally been gaslit his entire life into thinking he has to follow a specific model that was set out for him as “leader.” Literally he has been taught that he is nothing without the UA and being a leader, and I don’t think people release how damaging that is to a person?
But also hot take: I don’t think Luther is abusive towards his siblings at all? Not until the last two episodes for sure. I think he is insensitive towards others’ emotions at times, but he is never cruel just for the sake of being cruel. I honestly think Luther is incapable of picking up on emotional cues to some extent.
I’m re-watching right now, I just finished episode 7 and I have yet to see any signs of him being abusive towards the others, and not Klaus specifically? The choking scene was vile and physically violent but I don’t think it’s abusive because it was a one time thing and abuse is a cycle. Luther isn’t particularly awful to Klaus, he is just dismissive? The only person he ever is really verbally mean to is Diego when they get into fights and Diego is just as bad if not worse, and also intentionally tries to get an emotional rise out of Luther (which is…. just as awful and cruel?).
But yeah I finished episode 7 and no abuse so far… maybe my dumb ass who was abused for my whole life just doesn’t understand what abuse looks like? Okay that’s kind of a joke but I’m actually being serious, my abuse is pretty similar to Luther’s and my body dysmorphia/eating issues are similar to his too which is a lot of why I resonate with him, so I could be missing signs because I’ve probably acted the same way. So please point out to me where specifically he committed an act of abuse, and not a one time act of violence or simply being dismissive of/not picking up on someone’s emotional needs.
Also I honestly think Luther is just in denial of others’ emotional needs because he is in denial of his own emotional needs. He has been taught to push everything down, including the needs of others, with the only goal being completing the mission, and protecting everyone/leading everyone to safety. Also I mean, he hasn’t been around human beings for 4 years (so of course he struggles to relate to them/communicate healthily), and he was always taught not to engage with his siblings but just to lead them because that was his role.
Also Klaus and Diego (especially Diego) are just as dismissive of Luther’s trauma? And like yeah Luther covers it up but it’s pretty freaking obvious…pointing out how big he is specifically.
Diego literally sees Luther shirtless after the chandelier falls on him, sees how self-conscious he clearly is, and then never asks about it or checks on him (yet continues to joke about it – also Klaus makes fun of his muscles when he first sees him which is just insensitive). And in the first episode the way Klaus jokes around during the family meeting about cucumber sandwiches when Luther is trying to plan a memorial service; it’s obvious that Luther is grieving and paranoid (and also that he has been manipulated enough to love Reginald!!!) and Klaus is just making jokes and not addressing this? And then they both just ignore his obvious paranoia over Reginald’s death and just call him crazy and walk away? And don’t use the “he was high” excuse for Klaus being a prick (just like I can’t use the ‘he was drunk’ excuse for Luther, which I never did once btw, y’all just want more justification 2 hate on him).
Also: Yes, Luther tells Diego to stop talking shit about Reginald at the memorial service but like, from his perspective, that is someone bashing the person he was closest to AT HIS FUNERAL!!! He starts the fight with Diego but only after Diego provoked him, clearly intentionally, and Diego continues to fight him and throws a fucking knife at his arm (but physical violence is only not okay when Luther uses it right?).
Also HUGE THING Y'ALL ARE IGNORING: Klaus finds out Luther had nonconsensual sex while drugged out of his mind and congratulates him………. uhhhhhhhhhhhhhh idk about you but I think Klaus has been around the block when it comes to drugs and sex (and consent) and should realize that someone on drugs for the first time losing their virginity is nonconsensual, or even if considered consensual still pretty icky? Like Luther is clearly ashamed and upset and doesn’t want to talk about it and Klaus just laughs abt it. That is so not cool.
And another thing:
Luther is very, very protective of Five which is so so sweet, yet people just completely overlook it because they only want to see the bad things he’s done. When he and Allison run into him in the hallway at the end of Run Boy Run and see him looking distressed Luther asks him in a soft voice, “Are you okay? Can we help?” and reaches out to touch Five’s face. Five grabs his hand to stop him but this was very sweet? Like it’s clear Luther has a soft spot for him because he’s small.
But Diego? After he finds out about Patch he bursts into his apartment and goes to attack Five; Luther has to pick him up to restrain him from beating up their brother who has the body of a 13 year old. All because he blames him for the death of the love of his life (just like Luther is afraid of Vanya after she killed Allison). But in Diego’s case, Patch is already dead; Diego only wants to hurt Five out of vengeance, not because he’s trying to protect Patch. And he doesn’t apologize or anything after????? It’s just never brought up again!
SO IN TERMS OF LUTHER BEING AWFUL TO KLAUS THE WHOLE SEASON: is he? is he really? is he really abusive? and is he really that much worse than his other siblings?
And now I’ll address this nonsense:
“And without implying that Luther locking up Vanya isn’t intentionally cruel or intended to hurt her? He has the ability to think logically, unlike Vanya he isn’t experiencing a literal psychotic break down…. Please, explain this to me logically. Thanks.“
…….sigh.
Luther is absolutely not being intentionally cruel or doing this to “punish” Vanya, he’s doing this because he’s freaking the fuck out and doesn’t have any idea what she might do. Yes it’s a bad idea but we need to keep in mind that he’s not thinking logically, he is emotionally distressed. Yes he could talk to her but Allison had just tried to do that…. and look where the fuck that got her?
Do you seriously believe Luther was mentally stable and thinking logically in this moment? Do you not realize he was literally going through a breakdown and identity crisis of his own?
He just found out maybe two days ago that his entire life was a lie and the person whose approval he sought the most didn’t give a shit about him, found out he was isolated from humanity for no reason (which….. as if being isolated in itself wasn’t traumatic enough), after he was mutilated against his will, and now he has just witnessed the person he loves most almost die and he couldn’t do anything about it. Luther is experiencing a breakdown and I think a big part of it is control: he realizes he’s had no agency his whole life/has never had control, he just lost control/agency over his body on drugs even more and had nonconsensual sex while intoxicated, and then after this he sees Allison dying and he can’t do anything to help her (he can’t even give his blood)!!!! His superstrength and locking up Vanya is the only thing he has control over, he feels it’s all he can do to prevent the apocalypse/protect everyone. 
Not only that but the idea of control as contol over powers: Luther has super strength, he has to be super careful and controlled all the time so he doesn’t accidentally hurt the people he loves… the thought of someone’s powers being out of control is probably the scariest thing in the world to him. And yes, he gets in fights with Diego but he doesnt use his full strength (just like Diego doesn’t either) because if they did then they would actually hurt each other, they have a lot of control over their powers. But Diego can control his powers by just… not throwing things and having temper tantrums. Luther doesn’t need to be angry to fuck up with his powers, we see that in the very first episode when he punches the model airplane. Luther can never escape his powers and has to constantly control them, and the idea of uncontrolled powers is his worst fucking nightmare.
So Vanya tells him, “we got in an argument and things got out of control” … like just imagine what must be racing through Luther’s mind when he hears that!
Yes what he does in this scene is awful but you can’t convince me he is doing it with the intention of hurting her. Literally you can see in his eyes as he is choking her how pained he is by this. And he apologizes to her: why would he apologize to her if he was trying to hurt her? And if that was intention… why wouldn’t he just fucking kill her?
I absolutely don’t agree with his decision here but like…. he absolutely is going through a mental breakdown and it doesn’t just stop during The Day that Was/Wasn’t and to act like he is completely stable and in his right mind when he locks Vanya up is just grossly oversimplifying everything! 
Y’all demonizes him over this but completely overlook some of the awful things his siblings have done (Diego going to beat up Five because he blames him for Patch’s death, Vanya killing a ton of random people because she was locked up)…. Like yes: Luther is insensitive, dismissive, and cruel in this scene but it is not his intention to be cruel, it’s obviously his intention to control Vanya’s out-of-control powers, protect his siblings (esp. Allison), and prevent her from causing the apocalypse. It is awful and yes it is cruel but to act like he just doesn’t give a shit about Vanya and/or is doing it just to hurt her is just….. so beyond what the show is portraying.
And I get that you guys really despise him for this, and if you’re going to hate him, fine: but you completely overlook the terrible things all the other siblings do throughout the whole series and write Luther off as evil, which is not cool. Seriously, y’all portray Luther as the literal devil just so that your faves seem like infallible angels and your headcanons and fanfictions seem nicer and more simple………. and honestly I just can’t reason with you. I think some people just hate on Luther and love everyone else because his abuse situation is more complex and they’re just… literally too lazy to do the mental math, so they stick with stanning everyone else whose trauma is more obvious? Even though Luther covering up his trauma (literally) and refusing to talk about/deal with it is a huge plot point in the show, y’all perceive this as him just not having any trauma, or just overook how his trauma affects his actions.
This show isn’t supposed to be “everyone in the family are wonderful, perfect victims and deals with their trauma like angels EXCEPT LUTHER HE IS STOOPID AND EVIL AND ALSO HIS TRAUMA ISN’T DEEP ENOUGH!!!!!!!!!”…… and if you think this then I think you need to do some soul searching? Or actually do some research into abuse and learn that it comes in many different forms and has many different effects?
Again: I don’t dislike any of the siblings. I used them as examples but I love Diego, Klaus and Vanya!!! I respect and understand them all and view them all as troubled souls who are trying.
This show is complex and it’s designed to be uncomfy, and if you simply write it off as having clear victims and villains (except Reginald, he a dick) then you are not respecting the writing or giving the show justice. 
Gerard Way says he wrote Luther based on his own experience of body dysmorphia, isolation….. the show designers say he has self-harmed before, and Tom Hopper has said Luther has been suicidal in the past…. but you know what, go on portraying his trauma as “having it easy” and using violence/cruelty just for fun, even though the show clearly portrays him as a broken man.
~
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peridot-tears · 4 years
Text
MDZS but it’s Percy Jackson - chap2
AO3 link here.
Chapter 1 here.
Lan Zhan had trouble sleeping that night.
Not because of the new environment. The Aphrodite cabin beds were softer, more luxurious. His brother slept in the bunk beneath him, of course. There was nothing different, and whatever was different was heightened into something more comfortable.
But he had trouble sleeping that night.
“A-Zhan,” said his brother.
“Ge,” Lan Zhan said, feeling guilty, “am I keeping you up?” He had been tossing and turning more than usual, which is to say he had shifted his hands about five times now. He hoped that moving into Aphrodite’s cabin would not suddenly start a pattern of insomnia in him.
“Not at all,” Lan Huan said kindly, which Lan Zhan took to mean, Maybe, only a little, but that does not matter at all. “What are you thinking?”
Lan Zhan rarely vocalized his thoughts; he did not need to. Least of all to Lan Huan, who knew him the moment he came into the world, knew his thoughts before they were formed into any language humans speak.
But, anyway, that was why it was important to respond when he wanted to, honest to gods, talk.
“I did not expect our mother to be Aphrodite,” he rumbled, finally. 
If any of his new sleeping siblings woke up and heard, and were offended, then he did not care.
“True,” his brother responded softly. “I have thought that we could be sons of Athena, or perhaps, truly, sons of Hermes. Something about how much time you have been spending on the hills lately.”
Lan Zhan did not respond. He liked the feeling of the wind on his cheeks. It made him think that he was the son of Hermes, who flitted through the sky, or even a minor deity—someone who took care of the clouds and pushed them swaying through the sky like a boat down a lake. Something that connected his grounded self to something higher. It was quiet up there.
“I would have thought that Wei Ying would have been a son of Apollo,” Lan Huan continued. “That his father would claim him because he taught Wen Ning—of all people—to perfect his shots at the archery range today. He seems more sun than death.
“A-Zhan,” he said. “Perhaps a good nighttime walk will be good. It will tire you out.”
Although Lan Zhan did not respond, he did as his brother suggested; before he truly registered what he was doing, his shoes were on, he had tapped the post of Lan Huan’s bunk on his way out, and then he was in the open, the night still warm, but with a touch of coolness too. The hills promised more.
He decided not to go near the edge of the border; not because he did not want to see the outside world for a moment, which he did, but because Peleus was still there, and he wanted to truly, truly be alone tonight.
Gliding up the hill, he stopped when he could glide no more, and stood overlooking the valley. The lights were off; anything he could see was due to the moon. It cast everything into black, but blue as well.
The shirt he had chosen to wear to bed was white; when he looked down, that was all he saw of himself too. So different from the city mere hours away from Long Island Sound, the city that blasted all the colors of his brother’s light blue clothes into sharp relief.
His peace, however, was shattered by the smattering of grass sounds coming from his left.
With a silent sigh, he turned towards it. It could not be...of course it was.
Wei Ying was leaping and bounding up the hill, hands flailing in the most deft way possible. Was he coordinated or not?—Lan Zhan could never tell with him. But Wei Ying stuttered to a halt when he realized just who he was mere five feet away from running into. Uncoordinated. Uncoordinated, indeed, though he shot arrows so well it made the newer demigods quiver like the fletching on them.
He grinned, awkwardly and excitedly. Everything about this boy clashed, right down to his emotions. And even to his parentage...
“Wow, what a coincidence,” he said. “Lan Zhan, are you out here to admire the moon too? You son of Aphrodite, you,” he teased, tugging at his sleeve, like he had a right to touch him.
When Lan Zhan flicked his eyes downward, Wei Ying jerked back with a sheepish giggle. That was the quickest anyone had ever reacted to his gestures...other than Lan Huan, of course.
“Ah-ha,” Wei Ying said, mostly through his nose. “That’s so romantic of you, Lan-er. Out alone, on a night like this, and yet I run into you...”
Lan Zhan sent him a glare, which is to say he intensified the tension around his eyes, and Wei Ying laughed, again making that sound through his nose.
“My gods, Lan-er, you’re too easy to tease,” he said. “Do you think you could teach me that look sometime? Think of all the monsters it could chase away, I wouldn’t even need to fight.”
“Why would you not want to fight?” The words were out before Lan Zhan could really hold them back; perhaps it was because it was just so long past his bedtime, and his self-control was less than desired.
Oh no. I am making conversation with Wei Ying, he thought, scandalized.
“Fighting’s fun, of course,” Wei Ying said, without preamble. It was as though he had thought about this for a long time. “But think of the possibilities when you get creative. Using fear tactics. In the old days, they used to fight fully naked. If I was being charged at by a man with his dong hanging out, I’d run for my fucking life.”
Lan Zhan did not deign to say anything else. But Wei Ying was on a roll now.
“Ah, hey, there might be a little bit of Hades in me after all. But you being Aphrodite’s son? I guess because your brother is the one everyone ogles after in camp. He’s probably the hottest boy in Camp Half-Blood.”
It took so, so much self-control to not wipe off the shit-eating grin that crossed Wei Ying’s face, and it had more to do with the strange, horrible, weird, traumatizing realization that the people had unanimously voted his own brother the hottest boy in camp.
“Looks are not the only part of being Aphrodite’s children,” Lan Zhan said, affronted.
“Well, what else is there, then?” Wei Ying countered.
Lan Zhan had not considered the possibility of being one of the goddess of love’s children at all; nothing in him screamed the sort of reckless abandon with which she—his mother—pursued love. In Lan Huan, even less so. His brother kept his careful heart close to his chest, though he let anyone and everyone get a good, long look at it. They were not the same.
But, as his new cabin leader had led him there after dinner tonight, she had told him something her predecessor had said, “Aphrodite isn’t just about love. She’s about passion. That’s mixed in with the root of love. That’s the base of what makes any human being.”
So, there was more to his new mother than just lovesick songs and his brother’s good looks.
“Hm,” he said.
“Aiyaa,” Wei Ying clapped him on the back, like he could not keep his hands off of him. “Well, we’ll see in the future, won’t we? I got a new brother, even though he’s kind of a bummer. He’s cute, though, in a scene kid way.”
Scene kid...? Lan Zhan tucked that away to ask his brother, or Chiron, about later. He could not keep up with the trends; that sounded exhausting.
Wei Ying, meanwhile, was the trend. He poked at Lan Zhan. “While we’re here, I’ll share it with you. I reversed the spell on one of Mr. D’s grape juices...ta-da!” He seemed to materialize the small bottle of wine from thin air. “I bet it’ll taste the way ambrosia does if you drank too much of it. It’s literally a smile from heaven!”
That makes no sense, Lan Zhan thought, wondering vaguely why he was still here. And, he was sure that... “We are underaged,” he said. “That is not allowed here.”
“What are you going to do, arrest me?” Wei Ying pouted. “I’m going to warn you now, I’m the kind of person who, if you bite me, I bite back.” He cradled the tiny bottle to his chest, watching Lan Zhan suspiciously. And still smiling, of course. “Ah-hee,” he said through his nose, “just try and stop me, see what happens.” When Lan Zhan did not respond, Wei Ying nodded affirmative to himself and popped the top off, sniffing the mouth of the bottle like it was a flask of perfume instead. “Wow...”
“Wei Ying,” Lan Zhan said, and then inwardly cursed himself. Something about saying his name made this night too real, like he was conscious of it happening right now. “That isn’t allowed.”
“What’re you gonna do? Brush my hair too hard?” Wei Ying looked him right in the eye, and took his first sip.
Well, yes, his hair was flying in all directions right now, wildly, but just because Lan Zhan was a son of Aphrodite, it did not mean that he was tempted to fix everything on Wei Ying’s body—
His hand flashed out, seeking to snatch the wine; Wei Ying parried with a hand, leaping back. But Lan Zhan was adamant—he struck out again, harder, and Wei Ying jerked back in a way that made his hair splay into the breeze.
“I warned you!” Wei Ying said, blocking another strike, and shoving his elbow into Lan Zhan’s chin.
Lan Zhan jerked his face sideways just in the nick of time, catching Wei Ying’s now free-flying elbow. “Enough,” he snapped.
“Enough?” Wei Ying echoed, kicking out with a knee. “We’re just getting started! Don’t instigate a fight you can’t finish!”
Lan Zhan spun backwards, hating how he showed his opponent his back but needing to create space. That opponent dogged him; the grass rustled around what Lan Zhan realized were Wei Ying’s bare feet as he sprang at him—
Lan Zhan sidestepped, shot out a hand to intercept the wine bottle still cradled against Wei Ying’s chest.
Wei Ying is smart.
That’s the only thought rolling through Lan Zhan’s mind as he realized Wei Ying was now pulled flush against him, the hand holding the bottle the only thing in the way. Wei Ying had expected him to continue his endeavor for his forbidden drink, knew he would not move far, and changed the flow of his jump to press himself against Lan Zhan. Even Lan Zhan, the next Percy Jackson, could not do close-combat fighting when it was this close.
Or could he?
He wrapped his arms around Wei Ying.
“Aiya, aiya!” Wei Ying cried out. “We’re in full view of the camp, Lan-er, what will people think?” Even as he spoke, he squirmed to loosen his hand from between their chests, raising the bottle to his lips and nearly elbowing Lan Zhan in the face as he drank—still looking him dead in the eye.
“Shameless!” Lan Zhan gritted. And he swung Wei Ying bodily over his head.
“Ah, Lan Zhan!” Lan Zhan was sure that if he could see Wei Ying’s face right about now, his eyes would be popping out of his head. “My wine!” Sure enough, the tragically satisfying sound of something sloshing into the grass rang through Lan Zhan’s ears, like a finely-stringed song.
Above him, Wei Ying seethed. “You—”
More squirming; Lan Zhan may be able to do handstands while he copied his work, but the ground never decided to fight back. They tumbled into the grass together, clawing like unrefined schoolboys for dominance.
And as it was, Lan Zhan finally pinned the rule-breaking gremlin down.
“You owe me another wine!” Wei Ying accused, whatever remnants in the bottle still clutched tightly to his chest, Lan Zhan’s hand scrabbling around his fist for purchase. “Unless...” A grin crept up his face, like he took it very well into stride, that he had been immobilized and stripped of the drink he had put so much effort into obtaining. “Lan Zhan, do you think Aphrodite would be proud of you right now? You’re supposed to be gentle and loving, not violent and horrible.”
“You seem to be just fine being brothers with Nico Di Angelo.” There it was again, conversation. It was too far past his bedtime.
“Nico’s a sweetie,” Wei Ying laughed. “He’s grumpy, but he’s no Jiang Cheng. All he ever does is argue cutely with his boyfriend. It’s adorable. You should learn from my brother Nico.”
Lips thinning. Eyes narrowing. Mouth opening. Voice emerging. She’s about passion. “My mother is not just about romantic love. And you are not just about death.”
Wei Ying’s eyes widened, and the rest of him scrunched as he considered this answer. “Mm, you’re right,” he said. “My dad’s not just about the dead. He’s about taking care of the dead, and doling justice out to people when no one else can. Because when you’re dead, then no one can judge you but him, right? No one can touch you anymore. Ah, Lan Zhan, you should come to the Underworld with me when I go for the first time.”
“That will not be necessary.”
“Why not?” Wei Ying said, eyes brightening with his own chatter. “Think of how different it’ll be. We might even meet those heroes they keep talking about, like Charles Beckendorf. Isn’t it weird, that someone’s gone, but then they’re not actually gone? Who would you like to meet down there?”
“No one.” If his parents were gone, then they were gone. Lan Zhan could wait until his natural death to see them again.
“Why not? Do you have anyone who you would like to meet? No idols? Lan Zhan, don’t be so boring. We all have people we want to see, who we’re not able to see. I’ve been sleeping in the Hades cabin for a few hours, and I already want to see my siblings.”
“You will see them again tomorrow.” Why was he so worried? They were right there. It was not as if they were going on a quest anytime soon.
“Jiang Cheng and my Jie are definitely not Hermes’s kids, though,” Wei Ying fretted. “I don’t know where they’re going to end up. What if they end up on the other side of camp from me? Well, that’s just some more exercise in the morning when I go prank Jiang Cheng, I suppose.”
“Wei Ying.” Saying the name just drove a nail into his skull. But it worked. Wei Ying stopped talking.
And promptly flipped them over, so Lan Zhan was the one drowning in grass now.
“Lan-er,” Wei Ying said on top of him, “you can really be a conversationalist when you try, you know?”
“You take that back,” he said blandly, though there was an intense trickle of something sliding up his ears.
Wei Ying’s laugh was like a bell, clear and loud. “I remember when I was younger, and Jiang Cheng and Jie’s parents took me in. But I remember a little before that too. Fighting dogs on the streets, and before even that, my mom telling me, ah, something about being sociable? Whatever it was, Lan-er, you’re better at it than people think you are.”
“You fought dogs,” Lan Zhan said. There was too much in that babble of words to really catch in a single cup, but he momentarily forgot he was underneath Wei Ying—well, there it was, remembered again—and asked, “Why did you fight dogs?”
Wei Ying seemed to cringe at the mere mention of dogs by anyone other than himself, but that was immediately swallowed by the realization that Lan Zhan was talking to him. He made himself more comfortable on top of him. “I was on the street for a while,” he said. It should have sounded like a confession, but it wasn’t. An experience is often truly lived, Lan Zhan thought at that moment, if the person who survived can speak so matter-of-factly about it in the aftermath. That was true of someone like Wei Ying. “My mother died, but I remember how...vibrant she was. I don’t remember much, just a lot of dogs chasing me off any properties I wandered onto.” He paused for breath.
“Mm,” said Lan Zhan.
“That’s why it would be nice to go to the Underworld,” Wei Ying said quietly. “I would like to see her one more time. And that’s why, Lan-er”—a playful nudge—“I don’t believe you when you say there’s no one you would want to visit. Think about all the possibilities. Be a little creative, Lan-er. Maybe you could learn from Robin Hood or...or Hou Yi or someone, who can teach you to outshoot me in archery.”
“Hou Yi isn’t real,” Lan Zhan said. “Neither is Robin Hood.”
And on it went, until they had realized that the sea of grass around them had lightened, and Wei Ying was yawning and Lan Zhan finally felt awake.
He saw this as a test of self-control.
They were both woozy this morning—surprise, surprise.
“A-Zhan,” Lan Huan said to him, “if you need the day off, you can just go back to your cabin. Insomnia is an understandable reason to be tired.”
But Lan Zhan gave a stubborn shake of his head. “No need.”
And he glided gracefully into the Hades cabin, which was dark and solid.
“Who’s there?” someone demanded. That someone was Nico, whose gaunt eyes emerged from the shadows, like he had been waiting.
Creepy, he could imagine Wei Ying saying. Probably yesterday, when he had first moved in with his new brother, only to be greeted by this.
“Wen Ning requests Will Solace at the shooting range,” he said formally.
“Oh,” Nico said. “It’s you.” He narrowed his eyes, making it look apathetic. “You should go to Apollo’s cabin. Will’s there right now. And he was with Wen Qing, the last I saw. You guys are kind of all over the place right now, huh.”
Lan Zhan (still woozy) bit back a retort. He was not tired enough to be snarky.
“Thank you,” he said, all politeness personified, and even dipped his head a little before he retreated into the light. Apollo’s cabin was much like Hermes’s, though conspicuously lacking in chaos. It was bright and cheery, and he heard at least five instruments that should never be played together played together. And it drifted softly like a harmony that should never end.
Surprise, surprise. Wei Ying was also there, perched on the steps right next to the golden boy himself. Will Solace was listening to him detail something apparently outrageously exciting, as he watched him with rapt attention. He was a far more appropriate match to Wei Ying than Nico’s shadow in the Hades cabin.
Wei Ying batted one bare foot at one of the yellow blossoms twined around the cabin.
“Try this, then,” Will Solace was saying by the time Lan Zhan was near, and he handed Wei Ying a recorder.
Oh no, said everyone’s faces as the little Apollo newcomers closed in to hear whatever disastrous excitement Hades’s Wei Ying could create out of a recorder.
He pursed his lips lightly, making the little doot-doot sounds into it. But it would be too much to expect a warm-up—he immediately jumped into a rendition of Hot Cross Buns that screeched.
Recorders are meant to screech, but...not like this.
Will was too polite to cover his ears; he was camp counselor, and too much of a big brother figure to anyone who crossed his path. He was dating Nico Di Angelo, after all. But his face strained as he listened, and Apollo’s little ones sucked in a breath.
Hot! Cross! Buns! Hot! Cross! Buns!
Then it mellowed, as though the recorder understood Wei Ying. In a few moments, he was piping away, the music a melody to the five-instrument harmony still seeping from within the cabin.
One-a-penny, two-a-penny, hot. Cross. Buns.
There was a brief silence as the last note died away.
“Yay, A-Xian!” And the onlookers broke into applause as Jiang Yanli—who, Lan Zhan only noticed now—took the lead in clapping for her little brother.
Wei Ying swept into a grandiose bow from his sitting position—“sitting,” as his limbs were angled into different ways all over the steps—and winked in Lan Zhan’s direction. It was more of a blink, but Lan Zhan comprehended.
“Lan Zhan!” he called, waving. Lan Zhan refused to come hither, when that was so clearly what Wei Ying wanted, but that caught Will Solace’s attention.
“Ah, Zhan,” he said.
Lan Zhan inclined his head ever so slightly. “Wen Ning has asked for you at the shooting range.”
As they made their way to the archery range together, Wei Ying and his sister joined. Lan Zhan wanted to ask him why he seemed to be vibrating with excitement at someone else’s match, but he would not let his all-nighter win out.
But he and his sister were murmuring the answers to each other.
“A-Xian, Wen Ning has been improving a lot. Have you been helping him more than before?”
“He doesn’t really need much of it, truth be told,” he told Yanli. “But he’s finally worked up the nerve to ask Will Solace to train with him. Wen Qing might actually smile at me one of these days.”
Wen Ning was waiting at the range. Lan Zhan had seen him shoot—his hands were steady, for someone whose voice seemed ready to shake apart at any moment. His bow hung from his hands, pointed at the ground while his sister Wen Qing collected his shots from the bull’s-eye.
Their heads turned as Will Solace finally entered the scene, but they greeted everyone in turn. “Will. Yanli. Wei Ying. Zhan.”
Lan Zhan inclined his head politely. He saw these siblings—the famous Wen siblings of Apollo—every day. And yet they had never spoken.
“They say that every great medic has to carry a sword.” Yanli spoke first, gesturing at the long, slender blade of Celestial bronze in Wen Qing’s hand.
“Where on earth did you hear that?” Wen Qing said, the hint of a smile in her cheeks.
“I thought it was common knowledge here,” Yanli said sweetly.
“Eh, Wen Qing,” said Wei Ying. “Do you have a smile for me too?”
Wen Qing walked away.
He pouted. “Wowwwwwwwww...”
“A-Xian. Behave,” his sister scolded, in the least scolding way a human could muster.
“But, Jieeeeeee.”
Wen Ning gave Will Solace a small wave. “Thank you for coming,” he said. Everything about him was sheepish, even his words. “I didn’t think you would, but I’m glad you did.”
Will Solace, sunshine boy who was not Wei Ying, beamed at him in that elder-brother way, not unlike how Lan Huan faced Lan Zhan when he was truly encouraging him. “Yeah, of course. Did you want to verse me in a shooting competition?”
That light seemed to bounce off Wen Ning’s face. “Yes, of course!”
“My money’s on Wen Ning,” Wei Ying propped an elbow onto Lan Zhan’s shoulder, and for the first time, Lan Zhan felt the sway in his step. He was tired, after all.
Lan Zhan directed his stare at him, those big doe eyes still uncushioned by dark bags that would usually give away the night they had spent grappling and talking instead of sleeping; Wei Ying had not released the recorder, still twirling it in his hand.
“Careful there, Wei Ying,” said Will Solace, with a twinkle in his eye.
Wei Ying twinkled back. Lan Zhan felt that he may go blind. “I’m not scared of you. Wen Ning learned a few tricks from me.”
“What’re you gonna do,” Will said. “Play an evil melody? F-sharp me to death?”
“Something like that,” Wei Ying said. “Thanks for the tip.”
Wen Ning and Will Solace lined up, side by side, their bows at the ready; arrows nocked, one eye in each profile nailing into that one spot in the distance.
For once in his life, Wei Ying seemed not to voice what he was about to do, but Lan Zhan saw it in the cock of his lip. It was the same look he had worn last night, when Hades had claimed him.
He raised the recorder to his lips. Threateningly, of course.
The two sons of Apollo released their arrows, all angles curving back into flat, straight lines. And Wei Ying began to play.
Aura Lee. It was a soft love song, then adapted by Elvis to be even more unsubtle about the romantic feelings in it. Love Me Tender, it was called.
There seemed to be a cloud stuck in the dirt beneath them.
But that wasn’t right. It was black smoke, unfurling from the ground. Lan Zhan watched, fascinated, Wei Ying still on his shoulder, as he piped a love song, as the arrows bounced in slow motion off their strings.
As the smoke became a wall, and the arrows punctured through them. No, that wasn’t right.
Where Wen Ning’s arrow had been suspended, there was a hole to the other side. It was Will Solace’s arrow that froze. It would not move.
Wen Ning’s arrow thunked into the center of the bull’s-eye.
Will Solace immediately whipped around. “I’ll get you for that, Wei Ying!” he said, grinning appreciatively. Lan Zhan wondered why he was not the least bit intimidated, because he heard Wen Qing and Yanli take a deep, collective breath. “I’ll tell your brother!”
Ah. Because he was Nico’s boyfriend. And, Lan Zhan reflected quickly, of course, this was Will Solace. He had seen more than his share of battles—of outright war.
And yet, he could still smile.
“Wei Ying.”
They both started.
Will and Wen Ning had turned back to their match, and Wen Qing had engaged Yanli in talk about whatever technique they had in mind for curing what they agreed was Wei Ying’s brash genius. And Lan Zhan did not recall opening his mouth in the past few minutes.
He and Wei Ying turned their heads in unison to an approaching figure. The man had gray hair, and unreadable eyes. No...no eyes were unreadable. Lan Zhan knew that. And yet, when he looked into them, they seemed to reflect the world around them rather than hold their own depth. He stood there, seemingly out of nowhere, in a starched gray suit.
Who was this man? Lan Zhan’s hand twitched, but he had no blade on him right now.
“Who’re you?” Wei Ying blinked.
“That was a marvelous trick you performed just now,” said the man, as though Wei Ying had not spoken. “Your father is very proud.”
“I asked you a question,” Wei Ying said. He was still splayed, somehow comfortably, on Lan Zhan’s shoulder, but Lan Zhan felt him tense.
“Oh, but you will know very soon,” said the man, “son of Hades. And you as well, son of Aphrodite.”
Lan Zhan leveled his best cold stare at the man, which is to say he made a conscious effort to add tension to his eyes.
“Come to the Underworld,” the man said. “Don’t you want to be rewarded for your sleight of hand?”
Lan Zhan blinked.
And he was gone.
Wei Ying frowned, staring at the spot where he had been standing before the two of them had made the mistake of blinking their sleep-deprived eyes. “What the Hades...”
Lan Zhan turned bodily to look at the rest of their group, but they had evidently not caught any of their interaction just now. As he did, Wei Ying slid off his shoulder, surprised by the movement.
“Wei Ying. Lan Zhan.”
Another person? But it was just Chiron, trotting to meet them. Wei Ying, mouth just opened to complain before he had called out, stuttered on his own comment as he redirected it into a greeting. “Oh, hi there, Chiron! Fancy that, seeing you here.” He waved his recorder wildly.
Lan Zhan cringed away before it could whack him to death. “Chiron,” he said in greeting. “What brings you here?”
He looked troubled. Usually, he would look troubled, anyway—he ran a camp that had a pile of teenagers and pre-pubescent tweens and Wei Ying in it, of course—but more so than usual. Like he carried bad news.
“I’ll need to speak to you two,” Chiron said, “and I’ll need you to come to the Big House.”
[A/N: So the “A-” prefix that everyone uses in MDZS is a super regional thing, that is not a thing in my region of China. And I don’t know anyone who actually uses that in modern day, so I’m not even sure if it’s still a thing. But since we’re shedding courtesy names for this fic, which died out a long time ago, Lan Xichen calls his little brother “A-Zhan.” “Xiao Zhan” would be too cute and 肉麻. Fight me.
A-Xian—so, most Chinese people grow up with a cute, embarrassing nickname that we swear to never tell anyone once we’re older. Therefore, in this world, Wei Wuxian still gets to be called Xianxian by his family. Fight me.
Also, I’ve taken the liberty of letting Lan Wangji and Lan Xichen be modern people and occasionally use contractions. Fight me.
I didn’t realize how many exclamation points I’ve been using to write Wei Wuxian’s dialogue. Huh.
Also—sticking close to your opponent is an actual thing in fighting! But once you do, get ready to grapple.
Writing this was painful, as I haven’t read most of the Percy Jackson books in years.]
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Metamorphosis: Final part
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Chapter Summary: Sam and Dean find that a family man is turning into a flesh-eating monster, and they argue about killing him. Ariel makes a big decision that leaves her crippled and alone.
Pairing(s): Eventual Dean x Archangel!OFC
Warning(s): Fluff, Heavy Angst, Blood, Nudity, Self-loathing, Kissing, Typical Supernatural violence, Mild Language
A/N: Here is an episode with some Sam content for those that really like Sam. I never really liked the Ruby storyline, but anyways here you go. Its a bit wonky everything will be explained in flashbacks, I promise. Kinder surprise egg.
Beta’d by no one
Word count: 11,308
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After Dean and Sam settled their dispute on the side of the road and Ariel, awkwardly third-wheeling it, they pulled up to Jack's home.
"Jack Montgomery?" A masculine voice came from behind Jack.
Jack stood in his backyard with the hose in his hand, watering the plants. With his back turned, Jack looked lively, but once the trio saw his face, they knew he was feeling out of it.
There were two men and a small woman standing between them. She also seemed pretty spaced out. The rougarou faced away from them after the little acknowledgment.
"I'm Sam Winchester. This is my brother, Dean...and This is Ariel." Sam gestured between the three of them, and when he got to Ariel, he gave her a small pat on the head, which made her cringe.
This action didn't go overlooked by Dean, but he chose to ignore it because she wasn't anyone special, and he wasn't relationship material.
The angel just observed the two men with her hands resting at her sides. She already knew the end of this situation, but she still wanted the boys to choose for their own. Outcomes were already unraveling in her head, and she wasn't sure if she should even tell the boys about the plan. Her thoughts were interrupted by Sam's husky voice. She decided not to, it wasn't the right time.
"We need to talk." The tall hunter stated in a firm but compassionate voice.
Jack finally whirled around to face the hunter who was walking forward and leaving Ariel and Dean standing in the far background. He glanced over at two and then back to Sam. "About?"
Dean tuned out Jack and Sam's conversation and solely focused on Ariel, who was evading every kind of contact there was after their bathroom situation. Maybe he should distance himself also.
A loud 'ahem' pulled him back down to earth.
"You're probably feeling your bones move under your skin. And your appetite's reaching, you know, 'Hungry hungry hippo' levels. How am I doing so far?" Dean adjusted himself and stepped to his brother and the man. He had an unreadable expression, but the annoyance in his voice told them that he didn't want to leave Ariel's side.
Jack was taken aback by Dean's forwardness. How could these strangers know all this stuff happening to him, and what does it mean? "Who the hell are you guys?"
"We're people who know a little something about something." Dean replied blankly as he casually shoved his hands in his jean pockets.
Sam pursed his lips at his brother's vague answer. "We're people who can help. Please, Just hear us out?" He corrected.
Jack hesitated. "Okay..."
Ariel roamed the garden, the square heels of her boots digging into the wet grass as she inspected the hedge bushes. They were cut in a particular oblong shape with a pointed tip. Staring at the plants offered her no solace, her mind ran rampant with the many slurs Raphael used to break her.
Though she was tortured for only a day, it wasn't the pain that broke her spirit. It was the lack of free will and control over the several millenniums that made her break down. She never thought escape would even be possible with Raphael always looming and dragging his blade across her skin. The fear of dying had never been so prominent for her. She was lucky when another Angel disobeyed, and Raphael was distracted by Angel radio. When he turned his back, she drew a banishing symbol.
Having her grace sucked out of her, traumatized her in ways that some couldn't even imagine. They never did this to Lucifer; they just tossed him out of heaven and put him in a cage. It felt almost violating, regardless if it would replenish itself; It left a mental impression.
The hairs on the back of her neck stood up. Instinctively, her eyes lit up. It was her only way of fending off whoever chose to sneak up on her. She promptly spun around and reached for the culprit's throat.
It was Dean.
"Woah, Woah. Okay!" The jaded hunter caught her hand and held it in his, tenderly. He subtly caressed her palm with his thumb and flashed her a wary smile. "C'mon, feathers. Time to go quickly." He wrapped his other hand around her wrist and pulled her toward the gate while frequently looking over his shoulder.
Sam hastily exited the garden and climbed into the running impala. "Feathers?" He laughed and put on his seat belt.
Ariel's voice cut over Sam's laughter. It was soft and enchanting. "It's not like I call you legs 'cause they're shaped funny? Don't call me feathers."
Sam started. "Legs actually sounds like an appropriate nickname-"
Dean immediately cut his brother off. "Alright, let's get some food and then stake out!" He clapped his hands together and turned up the music. "And they are not shaped funny." He added.
Sam just laughed over the music and carded his fingers through his chestnut hair.
. . .
The trio was seated at a table in Biggerson's. Ariel sat across from Dean, and Sam sat adjacent.
"So, That is coffee, and sometimes sugar helps make it less bitter." Sam reached for the can of sugar and slid it over to the angel.
Ariel grasped the sides of the mug and brought the cup to her lips. She never once tried any of the human inventions, she didn't need to, but to blend in, she had to. Her eyes widened as the bitter hot liquid touched the tip of her tongue. She coughed and quickly placed the china down and dumped a significant amount of sugar into the cup.
"Ariel-" Dean started with a chuckle as he watched her sweeten her coffee, but soon the sugar to coffee ratio would be too much, so he snatched the canister away and placed it on an empty table.
"What? It was gross." She cooed as she looked between Sam and Dean, who were just holding back their laughter. They shared similar expressions, one someone would make when looking at a toddler or small child. Is that how they saw her? She was billions upon billions of years older, how dare they.
Sam cleared his throat and leaned forward with his elbows perched on the table. "So, Ariel...Did you know?" The mood instantly plummeted by that question. Should she say all of heaven knew? That would only kill his spirit that every angel knew who Sam and Dean Winchester were.
"I did, I know a lot of things that happen or is going to happen. But different choices branch off, and that's when things get murky." Ariel replied shortly. She and Dean made eye contact once she revealed this information. She brought the mug to her lips, her gaze still on the older hunter.
"Wait, so you knew, but you didn't say anything to me?" Dean mumbled. His tone was accusatory as if Ariel was the offending one. "Why would you not tell me something like that? That comes before everything else."
" I am here to help lead you both to redemption. So, Don't you dare take that tone with me, because I saved your brother when I was the one who would be tasked with 'stopping' him." Ariel spit fired.
"Well, I had to find out from Constantine that my brother was ganking demons with a demon, which I actually thought was dead!" Dean countered. He narrowed his eyes at the offending angel, letting his anger take control of his mouth once again.
The enraged hunter leaned into the table and clenched his jaw. "And stop him? Not only did you forget to tell me he was hanging with Ruby and using his powers, but YOU; You were supposed to kill him?!" He tried to keep his voice down best he could, but the word kill grasped a waitress's attention.
"I'm sorry, did you miss the part where I risked my life for you and your stupid brother?! I fell for you, Dean, in so many ways you cannot even fathom, you incompetent human being." Ariel lamented. The sound of her voice breaking tore Sam out of deep thought.
"Well- No one asked you to, and I sure as hell didn't ask you to fall either. Y'know, I knew you were too good to be true. No one would just waltz into our lives, offering help just for the sake of doing good." Dean drawled with a stoic expression.
The lights in the restaurant began flickering, and her mug cracked down the middle.
Those words sent a pang through her vessel's heart.
"Ariel- you have to calm down!" Sam whisper shouted as he glanced around at everyone who just gawked at the ceiling in confusion.
Ariel fixed her doe-eyes on Sam, but his words did not compute. Tears began filling her eyes and falling in rivulets down her pink cheeks.
'Damnit,' Dean thought. 'She looked pretty when she cried.'
"Y'know, you are just like him. And when one of you end up dying, do not expect me to come running just because you prayed." She whispered before pushing herself up from the booth and making her way to the exit.
With each clack of Ariel's heels hitting the tiled floor, it sent a pang of regret through Dean's heart. When the door slammed close, Dean flinched.
Sam scoffed. "You're unbelievable. She risked her own life to help us, Dean." He scolded him. "What is wrong with you, Dean?" The tall hunter asked in a spiteful tone.
"Yeah, Well, No one asked her to." Dean ignored Sam's questions. Shortly after he had processed what he said, he regretted everything. He wanted to go after her, pull her into a hug, and possibly stay like that for a while. "It's getting late. I'm gonna hit the can, and then we can go."
"Whatever." Sam just scoffed at his asshole of a brother and got up from the table and left the restaurant.
This reaction prompted Dean to just hurry to the bathroom. Once inside, he checked to see if anyone might be using it, then he locked the door when he found no one. He hunkered over the ceramic sink. The troubled hunter let out a breath.
Dean just wanted control, but he lost that long ago when he was just a boy. He struggled to maintain his composure as he recollected how he treated Ariel when all she wanted to do was help him. He was just so angry, and he had no idea how to control it. And the longer he stood in front of the mirror, the more he wanted to thrust his head straight through the glass.
She not only told him hours before that someone she cared about did the same but that he reminded her of him. He could barely hold it together. Was it a good thing that he reminded her of that guy or a bad thing? And why him? What's so great about him?
A portion of him wanted to pray to the archangel, but the stubborn side took ahold of the wheel and told him not to and that what he said to her was reasonable. He tore himself away from his reflection and shuffled over to the door to unlock it.
. . .
Later that night, Dean and Sam tracked down Jack back to his house and found what was left of Travis. Jack attacked them, effectively knocking out both of them. Ariel nowhere to be seen.
Sam awoke from his comatose state with a faint gasp. It took him a moment to grasp his surroundings and remember where he was. He panicked once he realized his brother was nowhere to be found. He pushed himself to his feet and tried the door handle, but it was locked. "Dean?"
"Dean can't come to the phone right now." Jack muttered as he swayed back and forth.
That response enraged Sam. He just got his brother back, and he couldn't lose him now, not when there's so much more left to fight. Samuel slammed his hand against the door. "Jack! If you hurt him, I swear to God!" He bellowed as he banged his hand against the wood again.
Jack sniffled and swayed harder. "Calm down!" He looked over at Dean, who was knocked out and sprawled over the coffee table with a wound on to his head. "Your brother's alive." He added.
The rougarou's head whipped around at the closet door, "But not if you don't calm down!" He asserted.
This note made Sam relax, as long as Dean was alive- there was a chance he could wake up. Sam shut his eyes and pressed his forehead against the door, his breathing labored.
Sam pressed his hand against the door and let out a low exhaled. "Alright, Jack. Listen. Open the door. We can figure this out, okay?" He tried to reason.
Jack let out a hysterical laugh. "We'll have ourselves a little brainstorming session."
"Jack, please." Sam begged.
"I don't think so, after what you did." Jack uttered.
"What? What are you talking about?" Sam figured it would be a while until he was let out of the closet, so he began searching his pockets for anything to pick the lock.
"You send your friend here. He tried to burn my wife alive!" Jack's voice began breaking as his body slowly morphed.
Sam halted his search at that accusation. "What? Why?" He looked around the closet for anything pointy and found a metal hanger, grabbing it.
There was a long pause.
Jack tilted his head to the side. "He didn't say." He glanced over at Dean, who was still unconscious. "I guess psychopaths don't have to explain themselves." Jack sneered and crawled toward his limp body. All of a sudden, Dean's blood looked delightful.
Samuel kept his head to the door as he spoke."Listen to me. You gotta believe me. My brother and I, we never would have hurt her, okay?" He quickly unraveled the metal hanger and reformed it so he could pick the lock.
Jack stopped by Dean's face, and with a wavering hand, he dipped his fingers in the little pool of blood that formed by Dean's head. He tried fighting it, but there was no use. The monster raised his blood-soaked digits to his lips and licked his fingers dry. "Oh, God. I'm so hungry." He began rocking back and forth, contemplating.
"Jack, don't do this." The hunter knelt and attempted to pick the lock.
"I can't ever see my family again." Jack paused. "You two...your friend--you made me into this!" He roared.
"No one's making you kill us." Sam began working the lock, struggling to get the door open. He feels overall defeated and lowers his hand. He needed to stall. "Listen to me." The trapped hunter began to sympathize with closed eyes. "You got this dark pit inside. I know. Believe me, I know." Sam opened his eyes and began picking the lock again. "But that doesn't mean you have to fall into it. You don't have to be a monster."
Sam only heard a mocking laugh come from Jack before he began talking. "Have you seen me lately?"
The hazel-eyed hunter let out a low sigh as he gave it one last try. "It doesn't matter what you are." He took a long pause. "It only matters what you do. It's your choice." Sam felt like he would never get out in time, so he desperately prayed to Ariel. "Ariel, I don't know where you are or if you are even listening, but we need you..."
Jack stilled for a moment, his heart pounding in his chest. The pain of restraining himself began to wear him down. He groaned and opened his mouth wide and inched toward Dean. He restrained himself best he could, but now he was ravenous. Dean began stirring awake, moving only slightly. The rougarou's mouth only inches away from Dean's neck before a high pitched ringing overcame the silence, followed by the closet door slamming open behind Jack.
"Bad Jackie." Ariel quipped with her shoulders, rolled back as a blinding light filled the room, and her wings projected on the wall.
Sam came bursting in with the makeshift flamethrower at the ready, but his eyes landed on the Archangel. She came.
Jack stumbled back from Dean as he witnessed the angel asserting her dominance and vigor. She was intimidating, but that didn't dissuade Jack from getting up to fight. The monster pushed himself to his feet and lunged for the woman.
Ariel took a hefty step forward and connecting her right knee to the monster's jaw, sending him collapsing to the floor with a broken jaw. She beamed.
The loud commotion awoke Dean completely. He rolled off the table, his mouth and eyes wide with panic and confusion. Why would she come to save them after what he said? He wanted to question it so badly, but he just accepted it. Dean never looked away from her outstretched wings; they were so beautiful.
Sam watched with wide eyes and labored breathing. It was very intense for him, witnessing Ariel fight for the. Jack was no competition for her, even on a bad day, and it made Sam feel secure and safe.
"Godspeed." Ariel cooed. Her eyes lit up with grace, causing Jack's eyes and mouth filled with a white-hot light, and then soon, his whole body caught fire.
Dean looked to Ariel and then Sam, who sported a disappointed look as he watched the monster crumple to the ground. He swallowed hard. "Ariel, you came." Sam breathed.
"Well, you prayed." Ariel cooed softly and put out a hand for Dean to grab.
"Thanks ..." Sam smiled wanly.
"Let's go, Legs." She added with a smile.
The surly hunter glanced over at Sam, who just had a tired smile. "Why did you pray?" Dean gruffed and stood by himself. He ignored her.
Sam sighed. "You were about to be eaten, Dean."
"Dean," Ariel started with a step toward the stubborn hunter. "Don't pretend to hate me cause I made an honest mistake. I didn't want to scare you."
Dean curled and uncurled his fingers as he listened to her words. "No, something like that isn't a mistake. Lying isn't a mistake, you made that choice."
The redhead took a wary step back. "Can you for once get your head out of your ass, It is not a hat!" She uttered.
"Fuck you." Dean shouted and stepped to the offending angel. His chest fluctuated as he glared down at Ariel, who returned his gaze.
"Fuck me? Fuck you! It's not my fault you can't handle the truth!" Ariel argued.
"The truth?! You have no right to talk about truths! All you did was lie to me." Dean huffed, taking another step closer.
They were now three feet apart.
"Lie to you?! Dean Winchester, you are the God of lying! Your whole life, you conned and stole. I decided to not tell you that Sam is hanging with a demon and that my job as an archangel would be to kill Samuel if he went dark side for your benefit!" Ariel stomped her foot down to put emphasis on the word benefit. She continued, "You just came back from Hell, you discovered Angels were real, you went back in time and witnessed so much death. Why in the world would I want to add to that?"
"I never asked for any of this! I have been taking care of me and Sammy my whole life, you do not get to waltz in here with your pretty red wings and decide what's good for us. I don't care how old you are." The angered hunter closed the three-foot gap between them and gestured to himself and the door where Sam should have been standing.
The only word that Ariel picked up was Red. "Red?" She questioned with a shaky breath. "You can see my wings?" Her eyes were wide.
Dean remained silent once he realized he let slip that he can see her wings. He wanted to apologize, but something prevented him from articulating. The way she asked him and how her eyelashes fluttered every time she looked away made his blood pump faster. It took him a moment for him to realize that she had expected an answer. Was he supposed to talk now? Fuck.
"I'm sorry..." Ariel whispered in an oppressive tone. She fixed her gaze on the broken man in front of her.
The righteous man withdrew sharp breaths threw his teeth. He parted his lips in an attempt to apologize, but only nonsense came out. "I- You know-"
The woman tentatively raised her fingers to his cheek. "You're sorry?" She palpitated as she crept closer to his front.
Dean felt inclined to lean into her touch, shutting his eyes, and gave her a slight nod. It was the first time she actively tried to touch him since he dreamt, and the sensation was intoxicating.
"I'm sorry. I just get so angry...I don't know why." He choked out, licking his lips to prevent them from drying. His eyes wandered down her face to her fleshy pink lips. It was tempting, and there would be nothing to drag them apart now. Dean raised both shaky hands to her head and clutched both sides of her face.
Ariel's sapphire orbs bounced between Dean's eyes and lips. "I didn't mean to call you an asshat or lie to you. I should have told you-" She whispered in a quivery tone.
"You talk too much." Dean growled as he hastily yanked Ariel into a deep, heartfelt kiss. He nearly knocked her over with the amount of force he exerted.
The buzzing started again.
Once their mouths united, a surge of exaltation billowed through Ariel's body. The man squeezed her face, afraid she might disappear at any given moment.
Dean furrowed his brows as his teeth nibbled at her bottom lip. His tongue danced wildly behind his teeth; he could not wait any longer. The jaded man attacked her neck, pressing wet sloppy kisses against her feverish skin.
The pushing and pulling overwhelmed the vessel, the coil wounding up and tightening as heat pooled between Ariel's legs. She tossed her arms over Dean's shoulders and raked her nails across his nape. She wanted the buzzing to stop. They needed to be one.
They almost forgot there was a burning man on the floor until Sam rushed into the house and cleared his throat. "Sorry to interrupt. But we gotta go." Sam affirmed.
The two tore apart almost immediately. Ariel worked her fingers through her tangled hair and looked to Sam with lust blown eyes and swollen lips. She cleared her throat and fixed her jacket collar.
"Right." Dean huffed and speedily left for the exit.
. . .
Baby pulled off into the sunrise.
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darthlordcommie · 6 years
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Actual Gary Stu
Alright, Star Wars fandom. We need to have a Talk. No, it’s probably not going to be a pleasant talk. We are going to talk about her. Jude Watson. We’re not going to talk about her as a person, but her as a writer, and what she’s written. 
I’m going to talk about the three important characters Jude Watson introduced in her books, and their positives and negatives. We’ll start off easy. 
Darra Thel-Tanis: On the surface, Darra is one of the best characters introduced in the Jedi Apprentice series. She was less experienced than her friends, but was quick to learn and grow, and didn’t fight with Anakin, Tru, or Ferus, who all fought amongst themselves. She is actually a good friend to Anakin, which is something he really needs. However. 
Darra Thel-Tanis’s primary role in the books is as a follower and damsel. When the Padawans are in a group, she rarely, if ever, suggests plans of her own, or leads the others. Instead, she follows who she thinks has the best plan (nine times out of ten it’s Ferus, but that’s another problem). When it’s just her working with Anakin, and at points with the others, she is the classic damsel in distress. She is injured, which is used to highlight Anakin’s weakness, and often harmed or placed in danger, where she has to be led out of danger or saved. The one time Darra does something that has no connection to what someone else suggested, it results in her death. Not really a positive female role model. 
Soara Antana: This woman is known as Darra’s master, and is also apparently renown as one of the best lightsaber wielders in the Jedi Order. Her primary duty is to worry about Darra, and not much else. The most interesting thing she does is to teach Anakin lightsaber dueling for a few days, and even then, it’s with a caveat. She teaches him small tricks, things that will help his dueling slightly, and sets up a situation where Anakin, who is already feeling guilty and stressed because Darra was injured, is ambushed by the last person who should deal with Anakin in a bad situation. Anakin briefly loses control of his temper, and instead of telling him how to fix that in the future, Soara immediately cuts his lessons off for not already being able to perfectly control himself, which is a problem within the Jedi Order itself. 
Tru Veld: Boring, useless, and badly written. These are some words that can describe Tru. When he is introduced, he is supposed to be Anakin’s friend, someone to balance out the fact that Darra would usually follow Ferus, who’s the oldest. Instead, Tru does little, except for be there to convince Anakin that Ferus is right, and to slowly be poisoned by biased sources against Anakin. At the end of the Jedi Apprentice series, Tru demonstrates a level of incompetency beyond Stormtroopers. His lightsaber breaks, and he doesn’t know how to repair it. 
Ferus offers to help, but at this point, all of the four Padawans had known each other for at least four years. Anakin is known for being the best at mechanical items, and yet Tru doesn’t go to him for help, instead expecting that Anakin (who has no reason to believe that Tru can’t fix his own lightsaber) would offer his assistance. It is a costly mistake, and instead of being used to show that not everyone is cut out to be a Jedi, it is used to show Anakin’s pettiness, as he overheard them repairing the lightsaber, and instantly knew what they overlooked. However, because of his hurt feelings, he doesn’t say anything. This is a butchering of Anakin’s character, as he feels defined by what he can do for people, and is fully capable of thinking out consequences. He sometimes tries to rationalize these, but he recognizes them. Anakin would not leave Tru in a situation where any one of them could die because Tru needs to hold hands to fix his weapon/life. He might confront him, but not risk his death. However, this doesn’t happen, Tru’s lightsaber malfunctions, and Darra dies for the mistake. Tru then blames Anakin for something Anakin had a tendency to do in traumatic situations; disassociating. It is mentioned in the book that Anakin is not close enough to help, and so he is not at fault for that situation. Tru doesn’t think about this (and really doesn’t think about anything, apparently). 
Ferus Olin: Oh, boy. The big one. If you want an example of a perfect character, don’t point fingers at Rey, look no further than this Gary Stu. Ol’ Ferus was “The Perfect Jedi” or something like that, and was billed as the brightest student of his generation, the best in EVERYTHING, someone the Jedi Council was proud of, and Anakin Skywalker’s rival. Now, was Ferus the perfect Jedi? He was good at saying the Jedi words, and talking the Jedi talk. He distrusted Anakin (for no apparent reason other than Anakin having a temper and not immediately listening to Ferus), so he’s certainly following the Council’s footsteps. Was Ferus the best in everything? Hahahaha no. As we have already seen, he certainly didn’t know how to repair lightsabers the best, or Darra would not have died in her one big moment. He probably wasn’t the best pilot, or the best at blending in. Nobody is the best at everything. Rey would be brutally murdered if she went up against Darth Maul, Dooku, or Vader. But Watson decreed that Ferus was the BEST, so he was. Now, was Ferus Anakin’s rival? Hell no. In the Jedi Apprentice books, Ferus and Anakin never full-on fight. Why would they? Despite their dislike of each other, they’re both Jedi, and would never try to kill one another. When Anakin fights, using his full power, he is capable of doing things most Jedi just can’t. He matches Count Dooku blow for blow in AotC, and fights him for an extended period, on his own, before Dooku’s greater experience allows him to win. Anakin was powerful enough at the age of 9 to display clairvoyance that Jedi his age struggled with in the test the Council gave him. 
Now, let’s look at all of Ferus’ good qualities. He’s apparently physically attractive. He’s a skilled Padawan, who never struggled with anything. He was liked and admired, and by the end of the Clone Wars, was a natural leader who inspired people with his Very Presence. He is incredibly nice, and Sounds The Alarm for Anakin, not giving him a chance to prove himself. He’s not arrogant about his powers, despite the fact that Yoda himself would ram his head up Ferus’ ass. In fact, in the Empire books, Palpatine even challenges Ferus to kill Darth Vader, and become his new apprentice! Despite the fact that Vader had been powerful enough and skilled enough to slaughter a good deal of the Jedi Temple singlehandedly. No, instead of the zealously loyal Vader, Palpatine wanted Ferus, who quits at the end of the Jedi Apprentice series because the going got tough, and magically got better after the Clone Wars. 
Finally, Ferus becomes Leia Organa’s protector and mentor, and even survives Alderaan! Compared to him, Rey is the most balanced character ever created. Oh, someone looks like they stole something from your new friend? Rey immediately initiates violence, and Ferus talks them into crying and getting over their thieving ways. Never used a blaster before? Ferus does it effortlessly, while Rey forgets the safety. Lightsaber duel? Ferus can fight Darth Vader, despite not dueling in over 5 years, while Rey spends half her fights running away or struggling. Clearly, Ferus is the superior protagonist, and should be the main character of EVERYTHING. Because that is how Jude Watson wrote him. 
Honestly, if you want perspective on Rey as a potential Mary Sue, read the books written by Jude Watson. You’ll like Rey a lot more after that, and understand how Anakin could fall, if he was constantly being personally attacked by the GREATEST JEDI EVER. (Sorry if I brought up Rey a lot towards the end, but I wanted to point out how much worse it could have been.)
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