#and not just so i have an easy setup to write them making out about it | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

bit-b · 5 months

Text

About a trending Discord warning:

TL;DR: Discord is NOT making "Find your friends" enabled by default. You're probably not giving Discord your contact information without your knowledge. Their UI choices just suck.

There's a warning post going around by a person I'm not going to name, as I don't want people to dogpile on them. That is NOT the goal of this post, and if you DO harass anyone because of what I write, then you're a garbage person with garbage habits that needs to throw those habits in the garbage.

Rather, my goal with this post is to educate about a Discord feature that's not being represented properly.

-------------------------------------

Supposedly in the new mobile update, Discord added this ""NEW"" feature called "Find your friends", and then they enabled it by default. This feature allows users to use their smartphone contacts to search for their friends on Discord. It also enables others to be able to find you in the exact same way.

Obviously, this would be MASSIVELY dangerous from a privacy perspective.

Imagine if someone had relatives that use Discord. In a scenario like that, those relatives would have an easy way of finding the accounts of family members. And in some home situations, online anonymity from relatives could mean the difference between having an outlet and not having an outlet.

I'm also pretty sure I know some folks with alt accounts (you know who you are). And if Discord was somehow able to cross-reference all your contacts with the Discord accounts you're logged into, that would be DISASTROUSLY EMBARRASSING, to say the least.

So I totally understand how concerning this would be if it turned out to be true.

The thing is, it's not.

The person who made that warning misinterpreted THIS page:

This is the new "Add Friends" page for the Discord mobile app. Obviously, a page to help you add friends. There's a big 'ol window at the bottom showcasing Discord's "Find your friends" feature.

Now, this feature is actually NOT new. It's been around for a long time. But there's a very subtle change that happened with the new update. Take a look at how "Find your friends" used to look:

It starts by giving you a banner at the top of your friends list, telling you that this feature is available. Then when you click on it, it takes you to a page with UI elements that look awfully familiar.

It's pretty clear what happened. In an effort to condense down their friend-finding functions into one menu, Discord took the "Find your friends" setup menu and tossed it in with all the other ways to contact friends.

But by doing this, Discord has made this setup window confusing. It's not immediately obvious if the "Find your friends" feature is ON and running, or OFF and waiting to be activated.

Maybe it would have helped to make the blurple button read something like "Sync contacts" instead of "Find friends". At least then, you could tell at a glance that nothing has been sync'd yet. (Or y'know, maybe just stick to "Grant Permission". That was working just fine before.)

So it seems the OP:

Looked at the "Find your friends" setup menu that Discord hastily slapped into the "Add friends" page

Noticed the checkbox that read "Allow contacts to add me"

Saw that it was already marked

Then assumed that it must be some kind of tucked-away setting that was left ON by default.

To make this abundantly clear, "Find your friends" only works if you opt-in.

That checkmark allows you to tell Discord you are okay with people finding you in this manner. Unchecking it makes it possible to use "Find your friends" without others being able to find you the same way.

It doesn't get set up on your device until you press the big blurple "Find friends" button. Even then, you still have to add your phone number to your account and verify it via a 6-digit code sent via SMS.

After that, you have to give Discord permission to access your contacts via whatever phone OS you use.

You have to be pretty deliberate for any of these functions to start.

I won't say it's impossible to set it up on accident. It's a strange world, and stranger things have happened. If you want to, go check your app permissions to make sure you don't have contact permissions enabled for Discord. It's always good to be sure. But rest easy knowing that you probably don't have to worry about it.

-------------------------------------

In my opinion, I think that anyone who reblogged that warning should consider reversing those reblogs.

Honestly, I also think the OP should just delete their post instead of repeatedly adding amended reblogs to it. At the end of the day, the core of that post was misinformation and misguided assumptions. There's no real reason to keep it up.

Besides, I'd rather pin Discord on things they're ACTUALLY guilty of. Like designing a new UI that's widely mocked. And making things 10x more confusing for the end-user.

Here's Discord's official "Find your friends" FAQ page:

https://support.discord.com/hc/en-us/articles/360061878534-Find-Your-Friends-FAQ

I hate to beg, but I'd appreciate if people would reblog this post. I fear that the warning post is gonna steer a LOT of people to believe a lot of things about Discord that are logically and functionally not true.

#discord #misinformation

4K notes · View notes

willaferrreyra · 9 months

Text

first date movies — neil lewis x reader

word count: 2.9k (oops this was….way longer than i thought)

contains: SMUT (18+ ONLY) —> fingering, oral (m receiving), public indecency (getting it on in a movie theater because…it’s neil), fluff, happy ending!

you have a crush on your coworker and you really wish you didn’t.

note: this has not been proofread so place excuse any typos! i hope you enjoy especially since this is my first smut fic on this account which is insane. also all of the movies referenced are some of my favorites so…..i’d absolutely recommend them if you haven’t seen them already! neil is my silly little movie buff husband and i’d absolutely LOVE to write for him again so please leave some feedback if you’d like more!

cillian taglist: @mortylover

As you stood on a step stool, shelving new video arrivals, you could hear Ingrid Bergman's lovely Swedish accent behind you.

Notorious. You'd seen it a million times but you'd never gotten sick of it. It was your favorite Hitchcock and often the movie you'd throw on if you were in need of comfort. Although it was your turn to pick what everyone watched at the video store today, you weren't sitting with everyone else on the big worn out sofa. You preferred to shelve and enjoy the sound of the movies in the background (maybe walking over when your favorite scene was on). After all, someone needed to help the customers even if you didn't have many.

You had an annoying habit of reciting movie lines that you loved, as did Neil, the owner of the store and one of your closest friends.

"This is a very strange love affair," you said with Ingrid as you placed Valley of the Dolls in its right place.

"Why?" Neil said right along with Cary Grant, glancing over at you.

"Maybe the fact that you don't love me," you shot him a dramatic look, trying to do your best Ingrid Bergman impression.

"Your Bergman should be better for someone who's seen this movie more times than she can count," he said.

You rolled your eyes.

"She's got a unique accent! Plus it's very transatlantic. That's hard."

"She can do the Fargo accent," your other coworker Jonathan pointed out, not bothering to look up from the TV.

"Oh, you betcha," you grinned, nailing the unmistakable Minnesotan "o" sound.

"That's not hard!" Neil protested.

"It's not easy!"

The doors jingled as your best friend walked through the door, cutting the discussion about accents short. Before you could even say anything she already had a request.

"First date movie. Help."

You thought for a minute.

"Well what's the person like?"

"I don't know! I haven't met him yet. This is a blind setup by a coworker thing."

"Do you....think you'll be paying attention to the movie?"

She made a face.

"Are you suggesting what I think you're suggesting?"

"Not necessarily! You could be....talking."

After many failed dates with guys who were into film, you understood the complexities of picking the first date movie. It said a lot about a person — what they're into, how they feel, who they aspire to be. But at the end of the day, it needs to be something that can transition to being background noise for a good make out session while still being enjoyable. Very few movies check all of those boxes.

"Just don't give me anything too complicated, okay?" she sighed. "No Lynch. No Cronenberg."

You fake frowned. "I was just gonna rent Crash and Lost Highway to you as a double feature."

She shuddered as she remembered the horror that was watching both of those films. You could stomach things like that but she absolutely couldn't.

"Okay, sit tight. I have a thought," you said as you ran over to the romances.

Your friend wandered over to the TV while you hunted for her perfect first date movie.

"Hey guys," she said monotonously.

"Hey," they replied equally unenthused.

She stood and watched the movie for a minute before you came back holding Moonstruck.

"Cher. Nic Cage. Romantic. Easy to follow. It checks every box!"

"That's your idea of a first date movie?" Neil scoffed.

"What's yours? The Seventh Seal?" you rolled your eyes.

"Yeah, that's why Denise broke up with him," Jonathan replied.

"What? You didn't tell me that!"

"Well it kind of just happened," he said. "And to be honest I'm not so broken up about it."

After knowing Neil a while, you knew that he wasn't one for consistent steady girlfriends. Denise lasted longer than most, but in the end he always seemed to get bored. Sure, he got around to an extent, but it was hard for you to picture Neil Lewis truly settling down. Unless, of course, you pictured him with you — but you tried not to do that. The thought popped into your brain every once in a while but you pushed it out as soon as it arrived. You knew you'd only end up getting hurt.

"Okay, well that's good because I was wondering if you wanted to go to the movies tonight. I mean, I'm all for a good ol' post breakup pity party but I'd much rather go see The Thing on the big screen tonight."

You and Neil did your part to keep your local independent theater in business more than anyone else in town. It was a regular thing for the two of you to go see at least two movies a week, sometimes more. Sometimes Jonathan and Lucien would tag along and sometimes it was just the two of you — every time you secretly hoped that it would be just the two of you.

"Now that's a good first date movie," Jonathan said.

"The Thing for a first date?" you scrunched your nose into a face of disapproval. "You guys have no taste."

"Well good thing we're not going on a first date then," Neil said. "But yeah, I'll go with you, I'm not doing anything else. Wanna grab dinner and go straight there?"

Those words shouldn't have been such a dagger to you but they were. No shit, this wasn't a first date. He didn't need to remind you.

"Yeah, that's fine," you said, trying to mask the disappointment in your voice. "I just have a few more things to finish up here and then we can head out."

You helped your friend rent her movie and finished up your shelving duties with a little less pep in your step than usual as Neil's words played over and over again in your mind like a broken record.

Good thing we're not going on a first date then. Fuck him. It's not like he was trying to hurt you, after all he didn't know that you maybe kinda sorta liked him. But those words.....you just couldn't take your mind off of them as you mentally prepared yourself for your very clearly stated non-date.

—

A little diner by the local theater had been your spot with Neil for as long as you'd been coworkers. It had become a tradition of yours to sneak in mini bottles of booze to pour into the milkshakes, either on celebratory or wallowing in your sorrows occasions. Neil's breakup felt like a good excuse to give your shared vanilla shake deserved an extra kick, even if you were the one who really needed it.

"Is anyone looking?"

He shook his head as you poured the vodka into the glass, stirring the concoction with the straw. You didn't wait for Neil before placing your lips to the straw and downing a quarter of it all at once.

"Hey, take it easy. I thought I was the one who needed the alcohol tonight," he chuckled.

"You said it yourself, you're not upset about Denise," you said, the irritation in your voice shining through.

"Are you upset about something, then? I'm sorry I didn't really help you shelve today, I just- you know, you like to do that stuff by yourself sometimes. And you picked such a good movie I couldn't tear myself away from the screen."

It would've been easier if you had really been upset about that. You wished that you were upset about that And now half the shake was gone, everything you wanted to say was rushing to your head, and you didn't even think about what you were doing when you blurted out:

"Why can't this be a first date?"

His eyes widened as he let out a small chuckle, assuming you were kidding.

"What?"

"You heard me. Why can't this be a first date?"

As he stared back at you, you felt like you had just fucked everything up. This amazing friendship was just ruined now because you drank your boozy milkshake too fast.

"Do....do you want it to be?" he asked.

"Fuck!" you exclaimed before burying your head in your hands. "Forget I said anything. I-I drank that too fast."

"No, I....we can call this a date if you want. In fact I'd really like that."

He wasn't trying to humor you and he wasn't trying to make the situation better by saying something that he didn't mean — he was dead serious.

"Neil, don't say that if you don't mean it," you sighed. "I'm just....upset today. Don't listen to me."

He studied your face for a minute before speaking again.

"Do you remember when I interviewed you for your job?"

"Now what does that have to do with anything?"

You did, in fact, remember your Gumshoe interview very well. You had asked him if he'd ever considered doing a film noir themed commercial for the store and you'd never seen someone so excited about an idea before — you always assumed that was why you had gotten the job.

"I knew you before that, you know," he said. "I remembered you from when you used to be a customer. There was actually this one time when you had an overdue fee and I paid it for you and told the guys that I had lost the tape."

This made you smile a bit.

"Point being?"

He took a deep breath before he continued on.

"Normally when we do the interview process, we ask the same shit, you know? What's your favorite movie? Who's your favorite director? And I asked you that stuff even though I thought I already knew the answers, I remembered what you used to rent. I thought I knew you so well and then you just went totally fucking wildcard on me — and I loved it. Ever since then you've kept on surprising me and I....well, I really like that. I guess what I'm trying to say is I really like you. And I think I always have."

You stared at him wide-eyed. You had not expected your little drunken tantrum to get you a confession of feelings.

"Neil....do you know why I rented from Gumshoe all the time? I mean, I'm all for supporting the little guys, but I really went in to see you. And then I got this job and I got to know you and you weren't just the cute guy at the video store anymore, you were like....my cute friend/boss technically but I won't get into that. But I got to know you and I watched you go through all of these relationships because you get bored eventually and....I just think you might get bored with me. I'm no Katharine Ross in Butch and Sundance."

He shook his head as a smile crept across his lips.

"No, you're even more exciting than that. You're like...Barbarella or something. Queen of the galaxy."

"Barbarella's whole thing was sex appeal," you point out. "That's the whole movie."

"Sex appeal, sure. But she's also kind and interesting and witty. You've got all of that."

You took all of that as a compliment but you found yourself blushing at his mention of sex appeal.

—

When you arrived to the movie theater after finishing your meal, it seemed that you two were the only ones dying to see a John Carpenter flick on a Tuesday evening. You had your pick of seats in the empty theater.

Your non-date turned date couldn't have been going better, honestly, it made you think that you should turn to drinking more often. It fixed this problem miraculously well.

As you settled into your seats and the lights dimmed, it was clear that both of you wanted to make a move but didn't know how to do it. After all, you couldn't just go straight for unzipping his fly. Or could you? Tonight was all about confidence and he clearly liked it when you kept him on his toes. You decided to start slow, resting a hand on his thigh, letting your hand wander from there.

He looked over at you as you made contact with the bulge in his jeans. It was hard to read his expression in the dark, but you could feel that he didn't want you to stop.

"Are we really gonna do this here?" he whispered.

"We've both seen this a thousand times, I think it'll be okay if we get a little distracted," you whisper back. "U-unless you don't want—"

He cut you off with a kiss that was a long time coming. You were surprised by the sheer force of it as your tongues collided. His hand reached up to cup the side of your face as you melted into the kiss, illuminated by the glow of the silver screen. He made you feel dizzy, but in a good way.

Now, you had never been intimate in a movie theater before, but it was even more exhilarating than you could’ve imagined. As you slowly unzipped his fly, taking his length out of his jeans, you noticed that Neil wasn’t watching the movie at all. His eyes were completely focused on you.

“You’re really taking your time, aren’t you?” he whispered. He was rock hard already and you could tell that he was getting incredibly impatient. You held the base of him while you teased his tip with your tongue. Whatever composure he thought he had went out the window as he his eyes rolled back in pleasure. Based on his breathing patterns you thought he was going to come right then.

“Fuck,” he swore under his breath. “Just….just like that.”

You could feel him trembling as your tongue continued to work its swirly magic. Eventually you began to take him in your mouth completely, greeting him with the warm sensation of the back of your throat. He groaned out your name in a raspy whisper as you bobbed your head on his length. Before you knew it, you could feel a hand on your head guiding it along — his touch felt so intimate and loving, you couldn’t get enough.

“I-I’m close….I’m— fuck….I’m gonna—“

Before he could finish what he was going to say, you could feel his come coat the back of your throat. It was a warm, welcome feeling and you couldn’t wait to feel it again.

“Jesus christ,” he sat there catching his breath before turning to you. “That was….wow. You’re just…..I-Incredible.”

You smiled at the praise. It wasn’t even day that you were complimented on your blowjob skills.

Your head made its way to his shoulder as you sat side by side watching the movie. His hand began on your though but slowly because to creep it’s way up between your legs.

“Returning the favor?” you whispered, smiling softly as you glanced in his direction.

He nodded, speaking in a sultry whisper that nearly made your legs shake. “You know, you just made me feel so good….it would be a crime not to reciprocate it, don’t you think?”

You continued to rest your head on his shoulder as he slipped two fingers inside of you. You couldn’t help but notice how easily they went in — you had been soaked for hours.

“All this for me?” he chuckled. “How long have you been like this?”

“All night,” you said in between heavy breaths. “I-I’m always like this around you, Neil.”

“No way, are you really?”

His switch up from the sultry whisper to his excited tone made you giggle.

“I have….a tendency to daydream about you when I’m around you,” you explained.

His fingers found just the right spot as he continued to question you. It was becoming increasingly difficult for you to talk.

“Daydream about what specifically?”

A small whimper escaped your mouth as his fingers curled inside of you. You couldn’t even recall what you used to daydream about until it hit you.

“This…..this exact moment. I-I’ve….fuck….Ive daydreamed about this a m-million times.”

“Oh yeah?” he asked as he started to pump his fingers faster. “And how does it end?”

“I- Neil- I’m gonna—“

“How does it end, sweet girl? Tell me.”

You could barely even answer in between heavy breaths but you managed to speak up, your words intertwined with your moans.

“Y-you make….you make me come, N-Neil! I’m….right now, I’m—“

“Show me. Come for me. Show me how the daydream ends.”

And you did, trying your best to keep quiet as you came undone. You buried your face into his shoulder as you whimpered and throbbed against his fingers.

“Good girl,” he exhaled. “That’s a good girl.”

—

The next day at work, you and Neil debated what you should tell the others. To announce the relationship or keep it a secret was a heavily debated topic, but you eventually settled on keeping it to yourselves for a while before revealing it. You thought it would be nice to have something that was just yours for a while. Plus, hiding a relationship can be incredibly sexy.

As you walked into Gumshoe, you flashed a quick smile at Neil who was in his usual spot behind the counter before taking your place at the shelf.

“Hey, Jonathan,” you called over to the couch, getting his attention. “I was totally wrong. Upon my rewatch, I think that The Thing would be a great first date movie.”

“See, I told you! I told you and you never fucking listen to me,” he said. “What made you change your mind?”

You glanced over at Neil one more time. It was clear that he was thinking about last night just as much as you were.

“I don’t know…” you shrugged. “Maybe it’s Kurt Russell.”

#cillian murphy x reader #neil lewis x reader #cillian murphy smut #I HOPE YOU ENJOY MY DARLINGS!! mwah!!!

1K notes · View notes

bengiyo · 12 days

Text

We Are Sucks, and BL Will Be Worse When This Succeeds

We Are the series, the latest empty drivel from New Siwaj, has crossed a line for me that I cannot abide. This show is nothing more than loosely connected setups for BL moments that are easy to gif or clip for maximum virality, designed to fulfill a financial obligation to iQIYI and otherwise keep the B- and C-tier BL pairs occupied with work. This show is saying nothing about the human condition with any verve, and there is no queer subtext or text to pull from any of these characters that the viewer isn’t already bringing to the table.

I had stopped writing Stray Thoughts for this show because it doesn’t really have much of a plot or story to tell, but I am not going to be able to continue this show past episode 5. This show is the BL equivalent of a cumshot compilation. It is designed exclusively as fap material to coo over known BL pairs smiling at each other. I was chatting with @twig-tea yesterday about how after five episodes we still don’t really have anything resembling an arc for these characters and how it’s just a bunch of BL dudes hanging out. Twig described it as “disingenuous to [even] call it a show” and “...a bunch of compatibility workshops strung together.”

I hate this so much. There is no story being told here. This is like watching actor reels on IG or TikTok. There is nothing here to hold onto other than your baseline fondness for the cast. There was a moment in episode 5 that felt completely unscripted between Aou and Boom that felt like Boom reacting to being teased by Aou and not a moment between their characters. They didn’t even let Aou’s character confess the specificity of his feelings because they don’t matter to this show! It doesn’t matter why he likes Boom’s character! Just that he does! Why does Boom’s character respond so positively to these feelings? Why didn’t he take initiative on his own before? What changed at all? What’s the goddamn story here? There’s nothing! We just make it up and enjoy the smiles.

I usually don’t want to bitch about shows I don’t like extensively on here, and I especially don’t like spamming tags with negative commentary or musing on shows. However, there are 11 more episodes of this empty nothing, and 30 more episodes of New Siwaj trash on the horizon. He has become the GMMTV BL Babysitter, and I am horrified by what this means for the genre. I try to stay patient with New because usually he captures some form of gay melancholy or angst in his shows, but there is none of that here in We Are. All of these characters know each other and are basically just hanging out for about an hour of TV.

I worry about stuff like this being good enough to monetize. There’s nothing interesting for me in this experience with a queer lens. There is no real story being told, and caring about any details as if they matter leads to questioning the integrity of the characters (are we really doing a slave narrative in a college BL again?). It feels like the end product of giving up on chasing ratings and only chasing virality to monetize the talent for ad spots, concerts, fan meets, and merch. No longer do we even need to make stories about compelling romances between men. We just need to get passably attractive boys on screen together and just ask them to smile.

What does it mean for the genre if GMMTV goes another step forward with this and no longer brings any robust writing to the BL table. Are we satisfied with BL as glorified slideshows of shippable actors? What happens when GMMTV is able to easily milk this over other robust productions? Is this just the filler fluff to keep people engaged with the network between their solid projects to prove their bonafides? BL has always struggled with depictions of queerness, but are we at the point where we don't even try to tell stories that even feel queer? Is just simply putting boys next to each other enough? I don’t like this at all, and it unsettled me as I watched five episodes of We Are only to feel nothing.

I am always half-joking about being over New Siwaj, but I really am at this point.

#Ben writes #we are the series

185 notes · View notes

ryker-writes · 1 year

Text

TWST characters taking care of a furby (part 2)

This is part 2 to this post with Heartlabyul, Savanaclaw, and Octavinelle. I loved writing the first one so much and received encouragement from you guys to write a second so here we are!

Request rules and Masterlists

warning: furby death

Setup: Crowley has decided that students should have to go through a lesson to test their skills as future parents. But we know Crowley, he isn't going to spend a lot of money on fake baby dolls that scream. Instead, he decided to purchase furbys, and have the students babysit them for a week...

Kalim:

he has nothing but love for his dear furby

Kalim wants his furby to have the best time while it's with him, so he spoils it

his furby gets all the best food, a super comfortable bed, and even fancy clothing

but Kalim doesn't understand that furbys don't know how to talk at first

so when the furby goes "WAH" he doesn't understand

he thinks the furby is crying because it's sad

Kalim is now desperately searching for some way to make the furby happy again

eventually he settles on the idea that doing something fun could cheer it up

what's more fun than a carpet ride?

the furby has no hands to hold onto the carpet and Kalim needs both hands to steer...

furby fell off and did not survive the landing

Jamil:

well it's easier to take care of then Kalim

the furby actually listens

he actually appreciates his little furby

but Jamil is a busy guy so he has to carry his furby with him everywhere he goes

to classes, around Scarabia, in the kitchen, and even basketball practice

it's pretty adorable

when he's playing basketball you can see his little furby sitting on the bench watching him and making noises that sound like cheers

Jamil was doing good and threw the ball to the net

but it bounced off the backboard and went straight for the bench where poor furby was cheering

the ball hit furby straight in the face and broke him

Vil:

why do furbys have to be so...ugly

since Vil has to look after it, it has to look good

he can't be seen carrying something so ugly after all

it could affect his image

so Vil tries to make the furby look better

but he soon found out that no matter what you do, a furby cannot look beautiful

therefore, he can't be seen with it

the furby stays in his room or in his bag

Vil had the furby with him while he was working on some potions

his bag with the furby in it was on the table next to the cauldron

furby, wanting entertainment and attention, crawled out of the bag

...and fell straight in the cauldron

furby did not survive, but the potion turned out well

Rook:

Rook is a pretty good furby dad

he has loads of fun with his furby and teaches him as much as possible

his little furby has learned french and how to appreciate beauty just like Rook

furby has even started learning some of Rook's hunting skills

it's such a special relationship the two have

at the end of the week when Crowley comes to collect the furby, it's nowhere to be found

when Rook was asked about the furbys whereabouts, he simply said

"A good hunter knows how to conceal themselves during the hunt."

Epel:

he really likes his furby and is determined to take care of it

but he doesn't understand much about how to teach it things

to be fair, he was the youngest where he grew up and never had to look after little kids

so after hours of trying to teach it words, he gets a little frustrated and starts yelling in his accent

the furby really doesn't understand now

this only adds more to Epel's frustration

he starts cursing at the furby with his accent

and furby starts crying sensing anger

not wanting to make things worse, Epel takes a break and leaves the room

when he comes back, the furby was gone

Furby just couldn't take it, and ran away

Idia:

he thinks it's going to be easy peasy

furbys are old tech and pretty simple to take care of

he could easily give furby an upgrade

and he does

after some tinkering, furby has learned many things and his AI has been upgraded

it can now learn faster, connect to internet, play advanced games

it's basically a walking computer

at the end of the week, furby refuses to go back with Crowley

furby threatened to hack into all the tech in the school and release all the information of Crowley's wrongdoings as headmage

even after Crowley let the furby stay, it continued to hack into the schools system to look at sensitive information and use it against him

in the end, the furby had to be destroyed

Ortho:

just two robots being friends

dear Ortho has studied how to properly care for a furby, and plans to do his best

he takes his furby everywhere with him and tried to involve it in just about everything he did

he even showed the little guy video games

both of them were really happy

the furby started to pick up and learn all sorts of things around him

it even started to understand the bond between Ortho and Idia

and it wanted to be a part of that

the furby started to get Ortho's attention by yelling "Brother!"

but the Shroud family had one special trait about them that furby didn't have; the flaming hair

so furby decided to try and get that hair...by setting itself on fire

Ortho was devastated when he found the burned mechanical remains of Furby Shroud

Malleus:

we all know Malleus isn't good with technology

but furby is supposed to behave and be cared for like a child

Malleus hasn't had much experience with children either (most run away from him) but furby was different

furby wasn't scared of him and even appreciated spending time with Malleus

so of course Malleus grew to love furby

he started to care for it much like he would for his roaring drago

furby was even taken on walks and learned about gargoyles

Malleus truly loved the little furby

nothing can hurt it while the great Malleus Draconia was protecting it

at the end of the week Crowley came to collect the furby, but Malleus had refused to give it up

he'd gotten to attached to it and treasured it

Crowley wasn't going to try and force the future king to give it up

Lilia:

he's raised Silver and Malleus, a furby is no problem for him

he's the only one with parenting experience

it's much easier to take care of than they were

he provides it with food three times a day like any normal child

thankfully, the furby doesn't need real food and doesn't have to suffer from Lilia's cooking

the furby has everything it needs

and Lilia is thrilled to have another child to raise, even if it's only for a little bit

he takes it everywhere with him

nothing can hurt the little furby with papa Lilia around

at the end of the week, he sadly hands it back to Crowley

his furby survived

Silver:

raising a furby is like raising a child right?

he totally asks Lilia for help on how to take care of his

and Silver takes pretty good care of it thanks to Lilia's guidance

the furby has the most comfortable bed like Silver has so many blankets and pillows that the furby will be swimming in them

Silver sometimes falls asleep while feeding it, but there aren't many problems with his care apart from that

in order to properly care for his furby, he brings it with him throughout the day

this includes to his classes and the Equestrian club

Riddle and Sebek don't mind much that the furby is there, as long as it doesn't interfere with club activities

the horses however, are a bit unsure of the furby

because of this, Silver did not attempt to ride take the furby on the horse with him

instead, it sat on the ground near the stables

the furby watched on in joy as Silver tended to his horse

and then it laughed and it's ears moved

the movement and sound must've freaked the horse out, because it started freaking out and even kicked it's feet a litte

yeah, it hit furby and messed it up pretty good

Sebek:

he's really going to try

and he struggles with his

aside from feeding it and providing it with a place to sleep, he doesn't know what to do with it

also asks Lilia for help

Lilia tells him that he has to raise it and try to teach it things, keep it entertained, etc.

so Sebek starts trying to teach it the important words

like Malleus' name

next thing you know there's a furby chanting "Malleus! Malleus! Malleus!"

and the furby learns to praise Malleus just like Sebek

once Malleus shows some annoyance at two Sebeks, Sebek decides it has to stop

but the furby keeps going

so Sebek challenges the furby to a deal to see who shall remain by Malleus' side

obviously Sebek won and the furby didn't know what surrendering meant

furby was murdered by the person who was supposed to take care of it

Totals:

Furbys handed out - 11

Furbys returned - 1

Bonus:

Ryker:

hehehe

I'm going to take care of my furby that's for sure

but

I'm going to teach it to say the creepiest things around people

once furby has learned the creepy lines, I'm going to ask someone to hold onto it for me and walk away for a few minutes

after I come back, they might try to tell me what creepy thing furby said

and I'm just not going to believe them :)

once Crowley takes the furby back then he has to deal with the creepy sayings

but also I never seem to have spare batteries around so once the furby dies, it's staying dead

270 notes · View notes

esmedelacroix · 2 months

Text

"I hate it when you lie"

husband!miguel x f!reader ♡

10 Things I Hate About You ← mini-series masterlist

"I hate the way you're always right," ← previous part

₊˚⊹♡₊˚⊹♡₊˚⊹♡₊˚⊹♡₊˚⊹♡₊˚⊹♡₊˚⊹♡₊˚⊹♡₊˚⊹♡₊˚⊹♡₊˚⊹♡₊˚⊹♡ ₊˚⊹

Miguel had been working later nights than usual. When you asked him about it he said that the recruits had him busy with getting them assimilated in the Spider Society.

You were missing him during the day and were surprisingly on your writing schedule. So you decided to pay him a visit and give him the opportunity to see his beautiful wife.

After saying hi to everyone and giving the book club a teaser of your upcoming book. You finally went to Miguel's office after hearing he was back from a mission you never would have thought you would see Justine with him there playing nurse.

When Miguel saw you walk in he immediately sat up and his face lightened up. "Hi baby," he sighed as he gestured for Justine to stop working on the cut across his chest.

"Hi," you replied, giving him a strained smile.

"Justine, I can take it from here if you want to get something to eat," you said.

"Ugh, whatever," she hissed, stomping away and rolling her eyes.

"Thank you for being nice, I'm sorry about her behavior," he said as he pulled you closer to him, grabbing you by your waist.

"Yeah," you breathed out as you picked up some gauze for his cut.

"What's wrong mami?" Miguel asked, his hands sliding down to your hips.

"I just miss you, I hate to see you get hurt all the time. I worry about you," you admitted.

"Ay cariño, take a seat please, talk to me," he cooed as he pulled the chair that Justine had been sitting in previously. He took both of your hands in his and patiently waited for you to speak.

"Miguel, I've just been missing you, I promise that's all," you assured.

"Okay, promise me nothing else is wrong?" he asked.

"Promise," you said as he kissed your forehead.

"How about you get home and I'll get done with work here and we can watch a movie together," he suggested.

"That sounds great," you replied, trying not to smile too hard. You were so happy that he would be coming home earlier.

. . .

It had been 3 hours and 4 text messages since you got home from Spider Society and Miguel still wasn't home. You had popcorn setup that was now cold and stale and drinks that were finished off by you when you realized 5 minutes into midnight that he wasn't coming home on time.

He would probably creep in at 2 am and apologize in the morning like he did after every missed date. You could blame him; he was probably in another universe saving the world. But he never really had an issue with you calling him on missions they were usually pretty easy for him.

So you called him and he picked up after a while of letting it ring. "Hi cariño, I'm so sorry I wasn't keeping track of time," he apologized. Small sniffles and giggles could be heard faintly on the other end of the line.

"That's okay, are you working on something?" you asked as you put snacks away with him on the speaker.

"Yeah, it randomly got kind of busy," he replied. Another sniffle could be heard.

"Hey this might sound weird but are you with someone right now?" you asked. Long silence on his end.

"No," he replied. Long silence on your end.

"Okay, I'm tired, I'm going to bed," you said. You hung up a bit too fast, cutting him off.

. . .

Why would he lie if he wasn't doing something wrong? You asked yourself as you got in your sheets and scrolled on your phone before bed. You got a notification from Hobie. He sent you a story on Instagram. Justine's story. Justine's story of her playing video games in Miguel's office, with his arm in the corner of the photo.

. . .

next part → "I hate it when you make me laugh,"

₊˚⊹♡₊˚⊹♡₊˚⊹♡₊˚⊹♡₊˚⊹♡₊˚⊹♡₊˚⊹♡₊˚⊹♡₊˚⊹♡₊˚⊹♡₊˚⊹♡₊˚⊹♡ ₊˚⊹

taglist: @lilscast @lazyjellyfish300 @safixiovi @saaaaaaaaaaaamiiiiiiiiiiira @aktenati @straw-berry-ghoul @vera4luv

126 notes · View notes

keysorsomething · 3 months

Text

Gun Run

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |

I'm so sorry this is late !! I couldn't write it when I was intending to because I felt super bad. I hope you enjoy lol

Cross-posted on Ao3

It had been radio silence between the two of you, since the incident. There were brief, longing glances, but not much else.

He didn’t look awful, thankfully. His eyes looked tired, you could tell. After seeing him truly well-rested it was easy to see the difference, but they weren’t red and puffy. The biggest difference, however, was the beast that stayed behind him, just at his heels.

Velikan had explained it to you - a fluffy animal he had gotten after a mission with his last PMC. Sputnik, he had named it. The hyena was making quite the splash with KorTac at the moment.

You stood, far enough away to make sure König noted you weren’t standing next to Nikto, watching as Graves was absolutely mesmerized by the creature. The blondish American man had meat laid out in a stretched open palm, watching with wide eyes as the hyena licked it up.

“Man, Nikki!” Graves chirps, “You should have mentioned you had one o’ these before,” He stands, elbowing the Russian man in the kevlar-covered ribs. Nikto grunts, stepping back.

“I did not have him with me,” Nikto explains. “There was an issue with the paperwork, and he was living with a friend of ours.”

Graves opens his mouth, but he's interrupted by the loud rumbling of Velikan… rumbling. You can't be too sure of what noises he was making this far away. Graves makes a face of acknowledgment as he nods.

“So, he’s trained for the field?” Graves asks, prodding more even though he's been told not to. You're sure he's aware of what happens to people who push Nikto.

“Да, he is,” Nikto responds. “With any luck, he’ll be with us this next mission, but we are yet to be granted approval,” He continues, throwing a glare to the corner that houses the Colonel.

The Austrian man stands with his arms crossed, a glare in his eyes too. But, as Graves away from him - after hardly even looking - with a scoff, they soften briefly. Velikan pats his commander’s back, gently gripping at his shoulder with a low mumble. Graves sighs.

“Do I gotta?” He asks, and Velikan nods. “Fine.. but I am expecting to see that savanna puppy in action soldier!” He orders as he's pulled away. The rest of the Shadow Company follows as well.

“Don't call it a savanna puppy,” Mace grumbles as they pass you.

A call comes from down the hall in response, “That's what they are!” Before more muffled grunting lets you know Velikan is scolding him. Or maybe laughing. He's too far away to tell. The room is silent, still without Graves. You feel more than one pair of eyes on you, and you shuffle awkwardly.

You throw your hand up in a half-wave, slipping out of the room behind them. You’re unsure where exactly to go, trying to decide between the shooting range or the barracks. You had some paperwork to do, didn’t you? You sigh, trying to calm yourself down. It had been a long few weeks, and it was only going to feel longer.

The setup for the mission is the same as always, a messy rush of people trying to get all of their gear in order. You pull your gun off of its brace on the wall, checking it over briefly. You pull the magazine out, double-checking that it’s empty even though you know it's empty - you haven’t forgotten any details about the last time you touched it. The first time you touched him.

Your eyes flick over to the side, watching Nikto get himself and Sputnik ready. The beast shakes as he tries to put the special kevlar over its neck, and you can imagine that he’s huffing soft swears in Russian to it. Graves watches intently, seemingly wanting to help. Or at least talk to Nikto about it. Velikan seems to have a sharp watch over the both of them. It almost makes you feel bad, since he has so much on his plate without you asking him to babysit Nikto too. You can only imagine what his therapy sessions are like having to take care of Graves all of the time.

You don’t have the time to dwell, though, O’Connor’s voice cutting through as he calls for everyone to hurry the fuck up and get in line. The sound is familiar and oddly comforting, and you can't help but feel the excitement start to fill in the cracks between the stress, anxiety, and fear you’ve been feeling. Those feelings aren't abnormal before you go out, but it's been significantly worse. You usually don't have to be so cautious of how you act and who you hang out with. But König's watchful eyes and judgment of your relationships have been keeping you on edge. Even with your other coworkers, you've been more distant. You take your gun, making sure to check it out as you move to stand in your place.

"C'mon, come on!" He yells, clapping his hand as he chants to get the whole squad ready. It takes a few more minutes, but you end with the group you're going with.

König, Nikto, Izzy, Graves, Velikan, Valeria, and you. A second team was going as well: O'Connor, Hutch, Horangi, Stilletto, Oz, and Mace, but they were to be moved separately. Orders are barked to both groups, everyone piling in their respective cars. You sit in the very back, next to Izzy. In front of you is Nikto, Sputnik at his feet, and Graves, with Velikan in between them.

The whole ride is uncomfortably silent, with soft music playing over the radio occasional instructions from Valeria on where to go, and the crackle of conversation from the other car. O'Connor is hard to hear back here, and you’re unable to make out what he’s saying, only his accent. Sometimes Graves leans over to try to get Sputnik’s attention, kissing at him, only to be swatted away by Velikan.

The ride is long, but the mission should be easy and simple - in and out. It was a rescue mission, as far as you were aware. It doesn’t matter, really. Your job was to go in, secure the area, secure the thing or person, and get out. And you were damn good at your job, you’d like that on record.

You have to drive through a very populated area to get to the building holding it, compared to most of your missions, but it isn’t something that bothers you much. And it makes sense with most of whom you were placed with, like König and Graves.

König pulls through an intersection, the chatter of O’Connor coming through the hand radio attached to a pop-socket on one of the vents. It all happens at once, very fast, the car behind you is hit. You hear the pain through the radio, and the whole of your car lights up.

“Pull over, goddamn it, pull over,” Valeria snaps, swatting at the shoulders of your Colonel. Graves mutters curses, trying to squint past you and Izzy to see the other van. Velikan’s door swings open, a gun shoved out of it. Nikto’s eyes meet yours, wide and panicked. You nod at him, assuring him you’re okay.

This wasn’t going to be as easy as you thought.

Gunfire is loud - something someone who had never fired a gun before would never understand is that it transcends sound; even with the proper ear protection, big guns shake your bones and change the beat of your heart. You’ve been around it many, many times, but even now you feel how the shots from your coworkers shake up your rhythm and push the air out of your lungs. It’s the only thing that tells you someone on your side is still firing because you can’t see anyone.

You curse, falling back under the flimsy cover of a tipped-over newspaper dispenser - something you were incredibly surprised to see - and release your magazine, shoving a new one into place. With that, you’re out of preloaded mags, and any extra ones are in the long abandoned car fire of the extra car.

You’d seen Hutch get out, pulling Horangi along with him, and you were sure you had seen glimmers of Mace’s gear somewhere around, but that left three members in that car unaccounted for. You shake, taking a deep breath. This was your job. You could die, your friends could die, you had signed up for it. You cast a glance at your own abandoned car, all the doors wide open and all of its contents gone, having been ransacked.

You sniffle, taking a deep breath. You were going to die today, you take a deep breath. You have to accept it. It was hard, but you had to accept it was going to be your last day. Your last mission. You close your eyes, taking a moment to think over everything that’s happened for the past weeks. You should forgive König, even if you can’t do it to his face. You shouldn’t harbor any resentment in your last moments.

Or maybe you should, fuck that guy. You swear again, letting your head fall back against the metal. Your eyes open, looking over the gun in your hands. You start to move, shifting so you can flip back over and start firing again. Just before your head can poke back out into the line of fire, you hear a gentle whimper from behind you. You flip back, eyes wide as you see it. The fluffy, tan beast is next to you, sniffing at your legs.

“Oh, hey,” You speak, sliding back down to offer your hand. “What’s up, buddy?” You ask, looking around. “Where’s Nikto, huh?” It sniffs at your hand before brown eyes meet yours. “Take me to Nikto, okay?” You ask it, and it stands there for a moment before it sets off. You throw your gun up, over your shoulder, and rush off after it. You hear and feel as bullets wizz past you, but they mean less than the thoughts swirling in your head. Was Nikto okay? What about your other coworkers? Was it only you and Sputnik now? Fear rises in your chest at the thought that the beast you're chasing is leading you to the dead body of your.... whatever Nikto is to you.

You feel tears start to form in your eyes, but you try to force them away. Remember your training, all the years you spent trying to turn this off. You have to be solid and strong. You can't cry in the face of who you're hired to kill. There is no time to mourn the losses you feel, because by the time they sink in, you’re off to your next job. There's been so many times that stuff like this has happened.

You can't have it happen again. You're going to stop it, you have to. Your feet hurt by the time you hear it.

"There ya are, puppy!" Graves' voice calls out, and you stop for a moment. Did Graves just call you puppy? What? You stand still, barely registering how Sputnik rushes to the American man, his tail wagging quickly. Graves beams, rubbing the hyena's sides roughly. "Good puppy! Goodboy! You did very well!" He baby-talks it, which helps everything click into place. You sigh, walking forward.

It seems you’ve found some of your comrades, but several of them are still missing. Horangi seems passed out, propped up against a wall. Hutch has wrapped himself up, watching a screen intently. You see Mace on the other side of the alley, gun pointed up. Velikan is with Graves, trying to coach him in something through his muffling mask.

You pant, wiping your face as you look around, “Where’s Nikto?” You ask, And Valeria, and Izzy, and König, and O’Connor? But you don’t voice the rest of the questions, not yet at least.

“Looking for you,” Hutch responds, turning to you with a grin. Sputnik breaks past Graves to jump at the other man, sniffing at his face. Hutch puts a bandaged arm around him, hand on the hyena’s back.

“What?” You swear, looking around. Your hand goes to your mouth, biting your lips. “Do we… wait? Can we wait? I mean, they’ll come looking for us, won’t they? Whoever we’re fighting?”

“That’s where Izzy is,” Graves replies, turning to you. “On the inside, takin’ ‘em out,” He mimics aiming his gun. “Think Valeria’s there too, maybe König,” He lists off, tapping at his face.

“So, what do we do?” You ask, looking at him. He was the one who knew what to do - he had been in charge more than once, and that had to account for something.

“Wait,” Graves responds. “Regroup, until we can form a full assault,” He turns away. “Just wish everyone will stop runnin’ off.”

The sentence alone keeps you pinned to the ground where your feet are. You want to run off, you want to try and find Nikto, but instead, you fall back, sitting on the ground. You sniffle, finally letting your tears meet your eyes. It sucks, crying in front of so many people, and in the middle of the battlefield.

You don’t want to, but you can’t help it. You hide your face in your hands, letting yourself sob as everything hits you at once. Sputnik noses at you, small chuckles coming from the creature. You sob, unable to reach out to it or push him away, just sitting there as the beast sniffs your hair and hands.

“Hey, Boss,” Mace’s voice cuts through your tears. “We have company,” He backs away from his post, and everyone launches into movement. You don't see much of it, but Velikan is pulling at you by your armpits, trying to get you on your feet to get you moving.

“Sorry,” You sniffle, standing. “I’m sorry,” You let him pull you along, grabbing at your gun to keep yourself armed. You wipe your face, trying to get your head back in the game.

Keep a hold on it, keep a hold on it, you tell yourself. You walk as best as you can, leaning on Velikan for support as he moves you forward, everyone falling into formation. Graves shouts out orders from behind you and you start to stabilize yourself.

You don’t feel dizzy, tears don’t fall freely from your eyes anymore and you stand on your own feet. You set off a blaze at an enemy heading your way, turning back to Velikan before you can watch them fall.

“I have it,” You tell him, and he nods, backing off. You can tell he’s still looking at you for a moment longer, but you all push on. It seems like you're in some kind of action film, with enemies flooding you and your team over and over again.

You manage to fight your way into a house, the building providing much better cover than the alley. Everyone rushes around, Velikan and Mace rushing to clear it out, Hutch placing Horangi down, and you rush to a window, assessing the area. Sputnik trails in behind everyone, a wailing man in his jaws. He drags the man in by the back of the neck of his shirt, clearly having mauled him a little before bringing him in.

You rush to close the door behind him when something stops you in your tracks.

“Нет, Спутник,” Nikto's voice cuts through the air from somewhere behind you. Sputnik's tail wags as he shows off the prize he brought. “Нет, put him down. Лежать!” You turn, finding Nikto standing in the doorway. He seems okay, blood splattered over his gear. You drop everything instantly. The door is already shut, and you just leave your gun on the floor by it, rushing over to Nikto.

“Nikto!” You yell, grabbing him into a hug. It's a harsh one, leaving your cheek pressed against him. He goes to speak your name, but you cut him off. “Shush! I just… Long mission,” You snap, and you feel as he relaxes into your hug, wrapping his arms around you. His hand rubs your back, trying to calm you down. You sigh, thinking back over it, all of it - your relationship with him, these past few days, the mission - it was all so much, so overwhelming.

You pull yourself away from him and press your mouth into where his is under the mask, finally able to return the kiss.

#call of duty #cod mw2 #nikto cod #nikto x reader #nikto

62 notes · View notes

writingquestionsanswered · 4 months

Text

Anonymous asked: I struggle with motivation to write and figuring out what I want to happen in my story. I'm really good at picking out tropes, understanding character motivation, seeing where the story is going, recognising good writing, etc. I often have dreams that are full-fledged, complex stories, so I know the creativity is there. It's just, for some reason, when it's my intent to create, nothing happens. I get stuck thinking 'they'll see this coming' or 'this wouldn't work', and I can't figure out how I want it to go. So, I feel like I'm pretty good at stories... when I'm not trying? And i dont know how to do it without trying. I hope this makes sense lol

Struggling with Motivation and Direction

Being able to recognize good stories and dream up good story ideas is a great place to start, but there's more to writing a good story than ideas, tropes, and character motivation. Stories revolve around conflict (internal, external, or both) and the protagonist's pursuit of a goal that will resolve that conflict. Stories have structure... they go through specific phases (setup, rising action, falling action, denouement) and hit specific plot points (hook, inciting incident, midpoint, climax)... and sometimes more specific phases and plot points (there are all different theories on what those are). And through all of these phases and plot points, your character is growing and/or changing (and or changing the people/world around them) while in pursuit of their goal/resolution to the conflict.

There are some writers who can come up with an idea that instantly includes all of those important phases and plot points, and they can sit down over whatever period of time and almost effortlessly hammer out a first draft. However, that is not the case for most writers or most stories. Most stories require some level of plotting or planning ahead of time to work out what happens in all of those specific phases and plot points, and what the character has to do in order to resolve the conflict, and figure out how the resulting events cause your character to change and/or grow/and/or change the people/world around them. Some writers do the bare minimum amount of pre-planning, but then they push through that work as they write, figuring everything out as they go. It's anything but effortless. It's really hard work.

And the thing is, you will probably figure out that you're a planner--meaning that you generally need to put whatever amount of plotting/planning into a story before you write--or you're a pantser--meaning that you do a minimal amount of planning ahead of time but take the time as you're writing to figure things out. Or you may find it depends on the story you're writing. Either way, don't give up just because a story isn't naturally falling out of your fingertips onto the page. Stories are like lumps of clay that you want to turn into a beautiful sculpture. You're not going to pinch here, pull there, and voila. It takes a lot of time and effort to shape them into the thing you want them to be. And sure... there are sculptors who can sit down and create a gorgeous sculpture out of a lump of clay in mere moments, but for most it's not that easy. Same with writing.

So, don't give up. You're right where you need to be. Spend some more time learning about how stories work. (You can look through the posts on my Plot & Story Structure master list to start with.) Read a lot, and when you read, see if you can pick out the different story phases and plot points. Analyze stories you love to see how you work. Author K.M. Weiland has a story structure database that pulls apart popular stories and breaks them down into all those different pieces. There are also a lot of great videos on YouTube about story structure and plotting.

Ultimately, keep at it. You'll get there!!!

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

LEARN MORE about WQA

SEE MY ask policies

VISIT MY Master List of Top Posts

COFFEE & FEEDBACK COMMISSIONS ko-fi.com/wqa

#writing tips #writing help #writing advice #wqaadvice

78 notes · View notes

beyondthisdarkhouse · 2 years

Text

Content warning: Discussion of grievous bodily injury

So, both my first two theories on the origin of high-heeled shoes in European fashion turned out to be bunk. I mean, I know that originally men wore high heels, but I did not expect the manner in which they appeared on the fashion scene.

(And no, the answer isn’t “butchers” either. Butchers in ancient Egypt wore high heels. Then they went out of fashion for, uh... a while.)

(And yes, I already said that high heels weren’t integral to my line of research. I spent a day writing up this post anyway. NOT EVEN I CAN STOP MYSELF SOMETIMES.)

My first theory was kind of wild. I thought high heels might be descended from the wooden platform shoes medieval Europeans wore to keep out of muddy conditions:

It would have been cool because platform shoes got RIDICULOUS, but we’ll have to get back to chopines another day. They don’t feature in this story.

As I got deeper into the research, I had to admit to myself that I was subconsciously expecting high heels to evolve from what I thought of as “conservative” and “natural” heels, to the more “refined” and “unnatural” heels.

But that’s projecting modern sensibilities into the past. These days we’re concerned with whether shoes will fit with our lives, the ways we move and the spaces we live with. We don’t even know what the concerns of the past are, and therefore aren’t good at predicting why they’d pick one shoe over another.

I therefore did not expect the shoe that convinced sixteenth-century Europe that high heels were the Next Big Thing to be... this one.

Not that exact pair, you understand, so it’s not just because of that absolutely divine aquamarine colour. But those are one of the best extant examples of 16th century Persian cavalry shoes.

In fact, those are

elite tactical military gear

I’ll explain, but it’s gonna get dark.

Let’s talk horses

(HORSE PEOPLE: DON’T GET UP MY GRILL ABOUT INCONSEQUENTIAL DETAILS, PLZTHX)

Horses are big round sleek bundles of nerves. They’re prey animals. They like to jump and start and flee from anything they find dangerous. Their nerves and smooth round sides make them amazingly easy to fall off of, if you don’t have a saddle. Generally people doing complicated or quick maneuvers bareback ride with one hand on the reins to guide them, and one hand gripping the horse’s mane tightly for balance.

As you might know, humans only have two hands. This setup leaves no hands free for anything like weapons; if you want to do anything else, you have to sacrifice either steering or stability. Before the stirrup was invented, horses were mostly used in warfare to pull chariots, or as moving platforms from which warriors could throw themselves before joining the fight.

But cast your eyes back to that horse up above. That horse has stirrups. The stirrup is the little square hanging below its tummy, hanging by a line to the saddle. The saddle is held stable by a strap around the horse’s midsection, so by putting their feet into stirrups on either side, the rider is able to stay much more balanced and steady. And now? They can ride with one hand free. They can even have both hands free for short periods of time. They can hold weapons and get close to their enemies.

Over the last century horses have almost completely disappeared from military and civilian life, except as quaint curiosities. It’s easy to lose sight of how absolutely pivotal they were to warfare, for millennia. The thing that’s replaced them, the modern “cavalry”, are tanks and helicopters. And the core mythos of European aristocracy is that they’re the descendants of old and mighty mounted warriors. Cavaliers. Chevaliers. Caballeros.

(Cowboys are misnamed. They oughta be horseboys.)

And stirrups have a fatal flaw. (CN: Grievous injury. Horse people, you know what’s coming; take a deep breath.)

If you fall off your horse, your horse will probably be startled (if it wasn’t already startled before you fell off) and want to run away from the thing that startled them (you).

If you fall off your horse and your foot stays in the stirrup, the horse will want to run away from you–so it will drag you after it.

If you are fortunate, you will stay to the side of your horse’s back legs, and your foot will come free or your horse will be stopped quickly. If you are not fortunate–let’s say, the stirrup is around your ankle, so your foot and heel are essentially anchoring you in place–your torso or head will end up under the very solid hooves of a thousand-pound animal as it panics and tries to escape you, and it is quite possible that you will be dead before your horse gets tired of running.

Being “caught up” or “hung up” in a stirrup doesn’t always result in death, spinal injury, broken bones, or other grievous bodily harm, especially when riders wear head and torso protection. But... I found an illustration of the phenomenon because it’s a picture of a person who died 700 years ago, not 30 or 20 or 10.

Also because looking at photographs of people caught up in stirrups makes my gut churn, because I used to be a horseperson so I’ve seen that shit live. Watching it happen feels shitty and helpless, and if you’re not already on the ground near the horse and able to catch it, there’s almost nothing you can do.

And so, therefore, you are now equipped to understand just how valuable it would be to have a shoe that stopped your foot from getting stuck in your stirrups, even if it forces you to walk funny when you dismount.

This 15th century Persian picture demonstrates just what’s going on: The stirrup rests on the forward part of the foot, and the heel prevents it from sliding any further back. That fatal anchoring is way less likely to happen.

Now that we’re all appropriately somber and appreciative of this shoe’s full context, I feel that we’re ready to behold what seems to be that same aquamarine shoe (or its mate) as a boot, which you could walk down any Parisian runway today in and look completely avant-garde.

Isn’t it glorious?

The military stiletto was not a long-lived fad, either in Europe or Asia. I would wildly conjecture that this had to do with the increasing use of cannons and firearms on the battlefield. They could punch through the heaviest armour from a long way away, and people sitting on horses are very visible targets, so cavalry soldiers had to focus on their ability to fight on foot if unhorsed. This is also why the period of 1500-1600 saw knights dump a great deal of their heavy plate armour.

(It’s not that you can’t fight on foot in full plate armour, it’s just... there’s a cost/benefit thing going on between weight and protection and stamina and speed, especially if you have to, say, not be the slowest man at the back of a pack of lightly armored infantry running for your lives from an enemy with a rifle, you get me?)

Civilians, meanwhile, got hold of the high heel and never looked back.

Italy, and especially Venice, was Europe’s first point of contact for most things coming from Asia or North Africa, and what records we have say that Venice is where Europeans got on trend, in the 1580s. Venetians fell for high heels with absolute glee.

Context: Back before freedom of religion was a thing, The Catholic Church and the governments in its sphere waged a never-ending legislative battle against the sins of, uh... I’m not up on my catechism, but basically, People Thinking They Look Good, People Having Nice Things, People Getting Ideas Above Their Station, and People Being Horny. In previous centuries the battle had primarily focused on things like Absolutely Gigantic Sleeves, but in the 1500s the real hot zone in Italy became Astronomically Tall and Gorgeous Shoes, which is the subject for a future post.

So the high heel was the perfect end-run around those laws. The ball of the foot stayed close to the ground, so it wasn’t really an illegally nice shoe! It still gave that extra something, but it was easier to walk and dance in, and it made men’s calves look super nice. And anyway, with this version, there’s some kind of reasonable human limit to the height of the heels, where previous Tall Gorgeous Shoes sometimes approached the proportions of low stilts.

We get these “slap-sole” shoes because the biggest civilian concern was the high heel’s tendency to sink into mud, so they made flat platforms for the sole to rest on. The toe would be fixed in place with the heel left free, so the foot can move more normally through the gait cycle. This means the heel would lift up a bit in the air, and then hit the platform during touchdown; apparently the clacking noise it made was distinctive and carried a cachet of elegant luxury.

I honestly don’t know why Louis XIV decided that chunky heels were the way to go. My only working theory is maybe... they made better ballet shoes? I’m not joking; the man was an avid ballet dancer, and danced at every opportunity he got. Maybe chunky heels are less likely to wear out, break, or come apart than smaller ones. But that’s still only a theory.

In conclusion: God, humans are so fucking weird. I love us.

Further Reading:

Bata Shoe Museum - Standing TALL: The Curious History of Men in Heels

Bata Shoe Museum - The Height of Fashion: Conservation of a Pair of 17th Century Slap Sole Shoes

Shoes: A History from Sandals to Sneakers, edited by Giorgio Riello and Peter McNeil. Book; 2006. It’s massively huge and heavy and also full of scholarly research and not just a glorified Pinterest board, which is more than I can say for everything else I checked out of the library.

#it's shoetime baby #if i infuriate pedantic equestrians or bibliography formatters oh well #I really don't care

1K notes · View notes

lennaire · 1 year

Text

Left Behind

Taskforce141 × Reader

No pronouns used except 'You'

Cw: some swearing, mentions of death, being left behind, threats

__________

You didn't remember how you got there. Maybe you did.

You weren't really sure with the pain of an obvious dislocated shoulder and possibly a gunshot wound. It was snowing. Is what you first remembered when you came to.

Now, you were trudging through the snow of Britain? You believed so.

A mission. The mission went wrong. Planting charges. Get in get out.

___________

It was a simple mission. Get in, get information, get out. Nothing you hadn't done a thousand times before. Ghost and Price were on lookout, watching the perimeter and security cams. You, Soap, and Gaz were to go in and find info on a shipment of guns.

Something was wrong. It was your first thought as you began to clear the floors of the apartment building. Getting in was too easy. You scouted the place for months, and you finally found an opening. Your suspicion was proven when all you could was information that you already knew or that wasn't important.

You were quietly chatting with Gaz and Soap over comms when Price shouted that it was a setup.

Men were flooding into the building, and you could a commotion downstairs, where Soap and Gaz were. Price screamed at you all to get out, but the door barged open before you could respond. Instinctively, you dived down behind a crate, but you knew you were shot.

The men began to flood out of the room just as fast as the came in, seemingly forgetting about you. The comms were chaos as the boys were yelling at each other and sometimes yelling at you. One thing did stick out, though: they were planting charges.

Window. Is what you thought as you sprinted across the room and threw your self elbow first, out.

_____________

You were trudging through the snow, thinking that if you got hyperthermia because of this, you were gonna make key chains out of your fingers. That's what the boys would get for Christmas.

You were humming Winter Wonderland to yourself as you continued to trudge along in the snow.

One foot. Infront. Of the other. You sang the song to yourself quietly, much as you did with Winter Wonderland. The Walk the Moon song reminded you of your sister, she was a big fan.

You then remembered why you were trudging through the snow, instead of sitting in a warm evac back to base. Those assholes left you.

You decided that you were gonna punch one of them when you got back, if you got back. The anger quickly died down, you wanted to cry. They left you. They didn't sweep the area, that was evident, if they did they would have found you. So much for "no man left behind", dickheads. There the anger was again.

You decided that you had to get back, just to give them a piece of your mind. You were gonna burn Price's god awful hat, steal Ghost's knives, use all of Gaz's good soap, and break Soap's knee caps.

You kind of found it funny, even as you lay in the infirmary, that you survived because of your anger. You did kick them all in the kneecaps, though.

___________

AN/ Hello! I've never written before, and I'm not too proud of this. However, I wanted to write it out!

#cod x reader #captain john price #john soap mctavish x reader #simon riley x you #simon riley x reader #john soap mctavish x you #captain john price x reader #captain john price x you #kyle gaz garrick x reader #kyle gaz garrick x you #mw2 x reader

146 notes · View notes

heliads · 2 years

Note

Okay

I think this is how you request? I’ve never requested anything before >w<

But before I do that I wanted to applaud you for all your hard work!!! You are such an amazing writer, one of favorites atm, and you definitely deserve some praise!!!

For my request, I’m not sure if you are still into Ouat or Peter Pan from the show, but I’m like, obsessed. I’ve had this soulmate idea in which Peter pan’s plan to steal the heart of the truest believer failed, so now he has to take the heart of his soulmate. This is harder for him because he doesn’t know how to love. He hates it out of fear of what it could do to him, yknow yknow? So he goes along with the plan and he captures her. He expects her to fight back but she doesn’t. In fact, she’s quite happy to give up her heart for him if it meant that she wasn’t useless. (She had no family other than her sister, who had recently died. She’s lived her whole life feeling unvaluable). Over the past few days, they get to know each other, and he starts to feel bad that he was her soulmate. Like, why does such a sweet girl have to be his??? How could she just be fine with giving up her heart, HOW COULD SHE BE FINE WITH HIM NOT LOVING HER WHEN SHE CLEARLY DESERVES ALL THE LOVE HE COULD GIVE HER?!?!

She just tells him that a soulmates job is to make their lover happy, and if this made him happy then she would gladly give him her heart. It’s not like he’s doing it just for himself anyway, he is doing it for all the lost children in the world.

After he finishes the setup necessary for the ritual, he takes his soulmate to Skull rock. By the point, Peter isn’t even sure if he wants to steal her heart anymore. Could he have fallen in love this quickly???

But she encourages him to do it, despite being frightened of it herself. Before he takes her heart, Peter asks her if she had any last words. She quietly mumbles that she loves him more to an anything. She then asks him if it will hurt, to which he responds by saying that he’ll numb the pain as much as possible.

Going against his better judgement, Peter kisses her softly as he takes her heart. She immediately passes out. Peter pan has big boy realization and can’t bring himself to kill her, so instead he puts her heart back in and kisses her in the hopes she will come back to him.

Insert fluffy ending here with more kisses!!

I am so so so sorry in advance if this is super specific or doesn’t make any sense. I’ve just had this idea stuck in my head for months and it won’t get out. Of course, you can add or change the idea to make it simpler for you to write!! Take as much time as you need and have an amazing day!!!

oh this idea >>

masterlist

Peter Pan is really out of luck. No, really. He says this about once a decade, when his latest plan for glory goes a little topsy turvy, but it’s real this time. Peter has finally caught his last break, found himself in a trap that he just can’t slip. Peter can name a fair number of people who’d be just delighted to hear that the King of Neverland has finally lost his way, but Peter himself isn’t one of them.

That probably has to do with a little something about how he’s going to die. Peter always knew his life came with strings attached, namely the giant hourglass ticking down his last hours until he finally croaked, but for some reason he always thought that he’d be able to find his way out of it. Peter is a mastermind at exploiting loopholes, but despite all of his centuries of figuring things out in the nick of time, he may have just now met his match.

Peter thought he had it settled when it came to the heart of the truest believer. Kidnap a kid and carve out his vital organ, that’s all it took. It should have been an easy task, too, certainly within Peter’s grasp. It’s a shame the truest believer also came with a team of die-hard do-gooders ready to tear the world apart to save their son, but who could predict something like that?

Henry Mills was Peter’s last chance, though. Or, to be specific, the last chance that Peter even remotely wanted to consider. He has explored all other opportunities, never given up hope on finding another way, but at last, he’s going to have to admit it. Peter is going to have to do the one thing he swore to always avoid.

Peter can feel the eyes of the other Lost Boys on him now, silently waiting for him to make the inevitable call. They’ll support him in whatever choice he makes to save himself, of course; Neverland disappears when Peter dies. He’s sworn that he’ll ship them all off to safer shores should that day arrive, but no one wants that, either. The Lost Boys have always had a chance to leave, they just never took it because this life on Neverland was always preferable to anything else.

He knows what he has to say, though. Peter has known it for a while. The one last gamble he could possibly deal, the last chance he will ever have to not die before a month is out—

His soulmate.

This is the one option Peter was really hoping to avoid. Something about the whole soulmate affair has really bugged him all this time. Forget the odds of ever finding your soulmate when he’s immortal living on an island where no one could track him down if they dared, Peter isn’t the type of person who makes sense in the whole soulmates agenda. Peter doesn’t like weaknesses, and having someone out there who’s supposed to mean the world to you, love above all else, makes his skin crawl.

Technically, he supposes his soulmate isn’t a weakness at a time like this. In fact, his soulmate is going to be the only thing capable of making Peter strong again. See, if he wants to go on living, he can sacrifice someone else’s heart to the magic of Neverland: that of his soulmate.

Anyone else would call it cruel. Peter is not anyone else, which is why he’s considering this. To be honest, he really hadn’t wanted to go anywhere near his soulmate, but he’s not so averse to the whole concept that he’d go into a grave rather than risk it. Peter clings to life like no one you’ve ever seen before, and he’s going to keep on doing it, soulmates be damned.

Peter can’t quite put a finger on why he has such a strong dislike of the soulmates thing. Maybe it’s because understanding the soulmate predicament would make him open to such weaknesses as love brings. Love is for fools who have nothing else to give, kids and blind men who would plunge a knife into their own chests if it meant meeting somebody who was supposedly meant for them. The only thing that Peter has ever needed in this world is his immortal youth, and if a soulmate were ever to get in the way of that, he’d take them out himself.

That’s the plan, at last. Peter doesn’t have to worry about the time it could take to track down his soulmate. He’s had his shadow keep vague tabs on them for no particular reason. He’ll tell himself it’s so he can head the other way if they ever draw near, but it’s not like that’s actually a good excuse. No one comes near Neverland unless they can avoid it or they’re one of his kind. Clearly, Peter’s soulmate would never be the type to fit in here, because soulmates are a sham. Peter refuses to believe anything else.

Still, he has to meet them, has to look them in the eyes as he carves the heart from their chest. It’ll be quick and clean, that’s all Peter needs. After that, he can live forever with another weight lifted from his shoulders. Two weaknesses removed from Peter’s world: death and love. What more could he possibly want?

Peter actually goes to the trouble of locating his soulmate himself. This job needs to be clean, he can’t afford to have any more storybook heroes on his tail. Look how well that turned out with Henry. This is Peter’s last shot, after all; it happens without error or it doesn’t happen at all.

To his surprise, it’s relatively easy to find his soulmate. She’s walking alone at night when he finally comes to her world, trading a dimly lit house for a chilly twilight. The walls are silent, still as a grave, and the girl doesn’t look back once as she leaves. Strange.

Peter waits until she’s out of the line of sight of the house just in case, then starts following her. Once they’ve turned off of the street, Peter quickly closes the distance between them. The girl turns to stare at him, and her eyes widen. She must be feeling it too, then, the rushing feeling in her chest. Peter’s hit by it now too. He didn’t ever wonder what it would be like to meet one’s soulmate, so the reaction of being in such close quarters to the one person designed for him takes him by surprise.

Peter bites back an unwelcome smile and a rush of butterflies to his stomach. “I’m going to need you to come with me,” he says. He’s got a knife in his hand just so she gets the point. Like he said, no slip ups. Not this time.

He’s expecting a fight. That’s how Peter would react if someone approached him at night with a weapon, after all, yet for some reason his soulmate just nods. “Alright,” she replies.

Peter blinks in surprise. “Alright? I’m kidnapping you.”

“Alright,” she repeats, this time with a soft smile, “are you, though? You look really confused about it.”

“Yeah,” Peter says without thinking, “you seem like you’re not taking this seriously. Aren’t you going to try to run or something?”

The girl lifts a shoulder. “Where would I go? Besides,” she adds with a small laugh, “you’re my soulmate. That seems like a fascinating kidnapping to me.”

Peter thinks he’s gone out of his mind. “I’m going to kill you. This is not fascinating. I need your heart so I can live forever.”

His soulmate tilts her head to the side as if considering something, and then nods. “Okay.”

He must be crazy. “Why is that okay?”

The girl spreads her hands. “I have nothing. Nobody left, no family. It would be something to let someone live forever, wouldn’t it? Once you see enough death, you start to wish somebody could do it. If all it took was my heart, I think that’s a fair price. Where are we going, soulmate?”

Peter almost opens his mouth to stop her before he remembers that this is what he wants, someone willing to give up their heart so that he could live. This is actually the best possible scenario, but then why does his chest twinge with something almost like guilt when he nods and gestures towards the sky? And, upon seeing his soulmate’s face light up as she realizes that they’re to fly to Neverland, why does Peter feel like a monster for giving this girl a snapshot of all that she could have had if he hadn’t been afraid of her and taken her to his island for any reason other than sacrificing her heart?

It doesn’t matter what this girl thinks. What matters is Peter staying alive. He can focus on that, not the way the eyes of his soulmate shine with all the stars as they fly through the night air, how Peter feels more powerful than he’s ever felt before because they’re so close to each other. Y/N— he doesn’t remember asking her name, but he must have at some point because it’s now folded carefully within the depths of his memory— makes him feel strange. Better. More alive.

It’s distracting, and Peter can’t take another distraction right now. He all but abandons her to the wilderness of the island when they touch down on Neverland, muttering something about needing to get something before disappearing again.

To her credit, Y/N seems surprisingly good at navigating this strange new world. She finds her way to the Lost Boys’ camp within a few minutes, and by the time Peter plucks up the courage to head there as well, she’s already locked in conversation with a few of the boys. Even Felix is nodding along. Some unwelcome voice in the back of Peter’s head tells him that she fits into Neverland so well for a reason, but he refuses to listen.

After all, Y/N is only here temporarily. She knows it, too, which just makes Peter’s unsettled surprise grow more intense. She doesn’t try to run or flee her fate in any way. Instead, she asks Peter questions about the magic of Neverland, what it would be like when her heart has been traded in and everything is as it should be. After some initial hesitation, Peter talks. He talks more than he thinks he has to anyone else, and comes away from every conversation feeling a surprising lightness in his chest.

A couple of days pass after his soulmate arrives on Neverland, and Peter begins to realize that if he wants to get through this at all, he’s going to have to plan the ritual sooner rather than later. Already, something almost like guilt is pricking at the edges of his consciousness, making Peter wonder if this is really something he could do. To tear the still-beating heart out of Y/N’s chest, even with her explicit permission, seems somehow so wrong that even Peter with all his centuries of depravity feels like he’s missing something.

It will come, though. This will pass. Peter has the Lost Boys depending on him. Peter himself knows nothing about death, that grand adventure that he has yet to experience, and he plans on keeping his demise to the distant future, if it ever does happen at all. He has to kill Y/N, even if it feels like he’s killing himself in turn.

The hour arrives at last, Peter makes sure of it. He takes Y/N’s hand and they fly to Skull Rock, out of the judging eyes of the other Lost Boys. Those that were so keen on him finding any way to live now seem less sure of Peter Pan’s divine right to never fail. Peter isn’t sure of it either.

The only one who’s sure of anything is Y/N. She watches him with those same bright eyes as Peter reminds himself of words to spells. He had wondered if her quiet strength would desert her when the moment of her actual death arrived, but she remains just as brave as ever. That marks her as better than Peter, he supposes.

At last, when he can push it off no longer, Peter turns to her again.

“It’s time,” he murmurs.

Y/N nods once. “It’s okay.”

How like her, to absolve him of this last guilt. He doesn’t deserve this. Maybe this is why Peter has avoided the topic of soulmates all this time— he wasn’t afraid of a weakness but the knowledge that he would never be good enough for anyone. Especially not a soulmate like Y/N.

Peter squares his shoulders, reaches for her. “Is there anything you want to say? You know, before–”

He stops himself before the treacherous words come out. Before he kills her. Before he rips her heart out of her chest, ending the life of the one good person in his life, the one person he had been sent to love and instead ended up murdering just so he could have more years of empty life.

Y/N flinches slightly, and Peter realizes that she actually is terrified despite her calm front. “I don’t know,” she whispers, “Maybe that I love you. More than anything. If this is what it’s like to have a soulmate, to feel like this, I’m glad I got it.”

Peter must have reacted strongly, because she holds up a hand to stop Peter’s response. “I know it’s bad timing, but I wanted to say it once. You have to do this, Peter. Not just for you but all of the Lost Boys, everyone you haven’t saved yet. Promise me, won’t you? Promise me you’ll find all the kids who need you. You’ll have all the time in the world to do it. Bring them home.”

“I promise,” Peter says hollowly.

Y/N jerks her head up and down, a trembling acceptance. “Alright, then.” She eyes him cautiously. “Do you think it’ll hurt?”

Yes, he wants to say. “I’ll try to make any pain as little as possible.” He owes her that much.

Y/N flashes him a quick smile that neither of them believe. “Do it.”

Peter stares at her, and before he can stop himself, he leans forward slightly and kisses her. It is a mistake in anyone’s book, but Peter can’t help it. It goes against his better judgment, his limited common sense, but it also gives him a rush from head to toe that he could not explain if he tried.

Y/N’s eyes are shut, which makes it easier. Peter plucks her heart from her chest as easily as if it were a single emerald leaf from a tree. Instantly, Y/N crumples to the ground. Peter looks at her body in a tangle of limbs on the floor of the cave, and he knows. He can’t do this. It is the only thing that will save his life, and it is too great a price to pay.

Within a second, Peter puts Y/N’s heart back in her chest. She still doesn’t stir, and Peter finds himself swept away on a tide of fear, utterly wracked with the horror that maybe he was too late, that his realization took just too long to come about. He kisses her again in the hopes that it might do something, anything. He’s heard that soulmates are supposed to have a special kind of magic in them; if the stories were true, if there is anything left to Y/N and Peter, let it go all to her. Let her wake up. Please.

Y/N lets out a shuddering gasp and sits up. Peter’s breath leaves him in a rush and he clutches her to him, his arm wrapped around her shoulders as if she’s giving him strength instead of the other way around.

“You’re alright,” he says weakly. It’s as much to reassure him as her.

Y/N shakes her head against his chest. “Didn’t it work? It should have worked, Peter.”

Peter pulls away briefly, unwillingly, so he can look at her again. He doesn’t know how much time he has left now, but he’d gladly spend the rest of them just watching the sun set in her eyes. “I couldn’t do it. I can’t kill you, Y/N.”

Y/N’s eyes widen. “No. No, you had to do this. You’re going to die.”

He lifts a shoulder. “I’ve lived a long time. You deserve your shot at life, just like me.”

Y/N opens her mouth to argue against this, and then she falls silent. Peter furrows his brow, confused at her sudden hesitation, and then he realizes that the entire room seems to be glowing. He turns around to see what Y/N’s looking at, and then he sees it and loses the ability to function.

The hourglass is glowing. As Peter watches, all of the grains that had been steadily collecting at the bottom fly up to the top, and this time, they stay there. Even after Peter waits, they refuse to fall. For some reason, he is no longer capable of dying, at least not through the steady progress of time that had once marked his centuries.

It must be the soulmate thing. It’s the only thing Peter can think of, that something must have come of the bond between him and Y/N. It’s funny, isn’t it, that Peter has spent all of this time running from the mere mention of a soulmate and now she’s the one to save his life?

He faces her once more, and this time, he lets himself smile back at her. “I think we’re alright.”

She laughs. Peter thinks he could listen to the sound on repeat for days at a time. “I think we’re more than alright, actually.”

For once, Peter does not have any cause to fear. He has his life, but more than that, he has his love. Love is not something to shun or hide, it makes him strong. He holds out a hand for Y/N and helps her up. They have a new life to lead, hundreds of thousands of lifetimes until time itself ceases to function. Peter thinks it’s just about enough time to get started.

requested by @hinayugi, i hope you enjoy!

ouat tag list: @lovesanimals0000, @amortensie, @w1shes43, @lost-ender

#peter pan #peter pan imagines #peter pan x reader #peter pan oneshot #ouat #ouat imagines #ouat x reader #ouat oneshot #once upon a time #once upon a time imagines #once upon a time x reader #once upon a time oneshot #ouat peter pan #ouat peter pan imagines #ouat peter pan x reader #ouat peter pan oneshot #once upon a time peter pan #once upon a time peter pan x reader #once upon a time peter pan oneshot

761 notes · View notes

acourtofthought · 3 months

Note

hi I am a new ACOTAR reader 👋🏼 and I was so shocked to enter this fandom and see all the ship wars going on. I guess I’m more of a casual reader? But I thought SJM was going for elucien which listen - adorable - but then she spend the books after they were declared mates just dissing that entire plot line? Like ok I get it they don’t HAVE to be head over heels like feysand and nessian yet, but since ACOWAR there’s barely any elucien interactions and they’re all described as uncomfortable and idk why she would have them be mates and then turn around and just wreck that setup? Lucien barely is in the books anymore?

And then Sarah started writing these “looks” and shy smiles between elain and azriel and I was like ok I get it too I guess, if Lucien is like not even present in the books anymore? I feel like she straight up changed her mind or something because why did she do all that setup and now is introducing a new love interest? Being mates MEANS something right? Idk it seems like she’s abandoning elucien to me which is sad bc they could’ve been so good together 😭 like bat boy is great don’t get me wrong but we don’t know shit about him other than he is vaguely menacing and has shadows

He’s not shown interest in anyone except Mor or Elain so idk what his plotline will be (if he gets a book even). And yes, I did read this controversial bonus chapter and I genuinely saw it as a nail in this elucien coffin instead of gwynriel as people are saying. Like why would Elain kiss HIM when she has a mate? Lucien is RIGHT THERE ?? It just seems so convoluted for no reason. Like is this a love triangle setup? Idk 🤷🏻‍♀️ it would be easy if Gwyn and azriel were mates so elucien could nicely work out but I barely remember anything about Gwyn and Az interactions let alone anything to suggest romantic themes. So I don’t get that ship at ALL. Like azriel could be shipped with anyone at this point if Gwyn is being considered an option.

Idk I assume there’s hella analysis on this but I just don’t know why SJM would make elucien mates and then throw this random emo bat boy plotline in the mix. I’ve kind of abandoned that hope after ACOSF unless there’s something I’m missing that brings Lucien back in the game? (Genuinely where even is heeee like sir get your girl - respectfully)

Welcome to the fandom! And I'm sorry ahead of time, it's simultaneously fun, exhausting, and infuriating, haha.

I do understand why it feels like she set Elucien up with a bang and just let it fizzle but if you consider why she might have done that, I think it makes sense.

Are you in love? Have you been in love?

Imagine if you are a month away from your wedding. It's your first love, your first experience with intimacy, and the person you have imagined the rest of your life with. Maybe children, a home.

And overnight that dream is ripped away from you.

Not only is it ripped away from you but you're suddenly feeling a connection (because I fully believe Elain knew Lucien was something to her before he ever whispered that they were mates) to a random stranger who you have never seen before.

Your heart was promised to another but now you're chanting "traitor, traitor, traitor" over and over in your head because you're looking at this stranger and feeling big things for him.

But you're whisked away and the connection is broken and you're taken to a strange land where you're forced to think of everything that you've now left behind in the human lands. Where your fiance is probably wondering what happened to you, where you're no longer able to spend time in your gardens, see the people in the household you've grown to care for, knowing your father will be wondering what happened to you when he returns.

But through that depression you feel the tiniest bit of hope that you can go back. That your fiance will love you despite this new thing you've become and were taught to fear. That maybe, the life you loved can still be yours again.

But the stranger comes back into your life with it a torrent of emotions that you're struggling to understand and to control and it's all too much, it's too overwhelming so you shut down. You're not ready to face what it means when you're desperately trying to hold on to what was lost because if you can get that back, maybe things will make sense again.

But your fiance cruelly rejects you. The one who swore he'd love you until you were old and gray and he tossed you aside as if none of it mattered. As if you didn't matter. And he mentions the stranger to you as if it's a dirty word and maybe some of this is his fault. It's not, you know it's not but it's easier to blame someone.

But then you all nearly lose someone you care for during the war and suddenly, maybe that misplaced anger is easier to let go of.

But the war ends and you slowly settle into a new life, trying to forget about what you lost. Your fiance. Your home. Your friends. And even your father. So you put up a wall and you refuse to engage with your "mate" because some of that anger is back. You didn't ask for any of this. You don't want to be dealing with emotions you can't control when he's around when you're already dealing with so much. He makes it impossible to think straight. He makes everything confusing. But when you ignore him, it's easier to pretend. Everything is easier because you don't feel and when you feel right now, it hurts and it's too much and it's overwhelming.

But you can pretend around your sisters because they don't push you to deal with those emotions. You can pretend around Az because he keeps it light and you have no pull to him. He's handsome of course. But the conversations are surface level and you don't have to think about the things that plague you when it's late at night and you're alone. But you are lonely and comfort from another would be nice, wouldn't it? So you engage in a flirtation with Az. You avoid your mate when he's around because feeling too much is not something you can handle in the same year of your fiance's rejection and your fathers death and your lost humanity. You want to escape and you can do this in this school girls crush with him.

You alternate between dying inside while trying to make the best of your new situation and moments where you can fool yourself into thinking that infatuation is just the thing to help you get by but deep down you know you're avoiding everything. You hate yourself for ignoring your mate, knowing how patient he is, how kind but knowing that you're afraid. Afraid to love someone else. Afraid to lose someone else. So you'll keep taking the path of safety. Living in the NC, making Feyre's found family your new family. Liking the available brothers. It's all perfect and easy and safe.

Until the rejection on Solstice and your illusion comes crashing down. It doesn't matter what you do, you can't hide from reality for long and the time is coming for you to face everything you've been avoiding.

So yes.......Elain and Lucien on the surface appear to be lukewarm as of late.

But I think that when we finally get an Elain POV, we're going to see how intense and deep those still waters go. I think that's why SJM has hidden her POV because I think Elain's true feelings are going to bowl us over.

And I wouldn't say Lucien is not in the books anymore. He was heavily featured all the way up into the novella. SF of course was Nessian's story and since the POV shifted from Feyre to Nesta, it's understandable why Lucien was somewhat absent as he reports to Rhys (not Nesta) and lives in the Human Lands. SJM actually went out of her way to include Lucien on a few occasions in a story where his presence would have been odd when you consider his relationship to Nesta (non existent). I think people also fail to remember that everytime Eris and Helion were on page, that's information that can be applied to Lucien's future story too.

#elucien #pro elucien #elain archeron #lucien vanserra #anti e/riel #pro lucien vanserra #pro elain archeron

39 notes · View notes

teecupangel · 9 months

Note

was reading through your claudes tag and came across this tag "at this point we’re only missing petruccio and we will have all the auditore siblings x desmond headcanons XD" and it made me think of an au where desmond is reborn around the same time as petruccio is born so they become childhood friends after they hit it off after tthye "coincidentally" meet on one of petruccio's rare days out

so they grow up together with desmond feeling guilty about using petruccio to get closer to petruccio's family not realizing that he's started thinking of them as petruccio's family instead of ezio's and that his motivation has shifted to saving petruccio instead of sparing ezio the pain of seeing his family die

meanwhile petruccio has a puppy crush on desmond forever because desmond while protective of him doesn't coddle him like his family does and also being very understanding about changing plans because of petruccio's disability like "oh we had planned to play outside today but now you're not feeling up to it that's cool lets go play cards, or read together, or play whatever board games existed in renaissance italy"

side tangent had the thought of desmond apprenticing to a woodcarver so that he could learn how to make some of the few board games he can remember from the future to play with petruccio

also i feel like demond would have to have petruccio's crush pointed out to him a la white aster before he has his oh oh moment probably by one of petruccio's siblings letting something slip by accident

The post from the #claudes tag where I did write in the tags that we’re only missing Petruccio from the Auditore family.

With this ask, Desmond now have the complete set XD

Okay, let’s talk about this childhood friends-to-lover setup for Petruccio and Desmond!

Why not just make Desmond be reborn as the son of a carpenter? That would give Desmond easy access to what can be considered as ‘trash’ and he could just start trying to carve it because he keeps on talking about board games he remembered playing and Petruccio always looked interested in playing them but then Desmond would remember that they wouldn’t be invented until later on.

We can even make Desmond’s father a descendant of the Vikings so he could teach Desmond how to carve out his first Orlog set so Desmond would have something to practice on.

From there, Desmond could start bringing his own board games to play with Petruccio.

So in this scenario, Desmond would have played lots of board games. Maybe one of his coworkers in Bad Weather liked board games and would invite his coworkers to play during the weekend or something and Desmond enjoyed it because it felt like he was connecting with people without lying about who he was.

In this situation, I think it would be funny if Desmond making board games he remember to play with Petruccio would lead to Leonardo discovering him as a genius ‘game maker’.

How?

Because a lot of the board games Desmond remembered needed more than two players (although Petruccio does love Patchwork and they play that a lot) so the other Auditore siblings (and sometimes their parents) get roped in to play with them as well.

The Auditores are competitive kids and even Petruccio shows his fangs during this time (even if the main reason why Petruccio is being competitive is because he doesn’t want to lose in front of Desmond and, really, the three try their best to support their youngest brother's puppy love but their thirst for victory superseded any familial love they feel for one another).

So Leonardo gets roped in to the weekly (biweekly? Triweekly?) board game night and he sees all of the many board games Desmond had made and he starts to interview him about them and Desmond tries to answer all of them, admitting that a lot of the board games are actually versions 2 or 3 because he had to tweak the game balance (since he didn’t remember all the rules) a lot of times which embarrasses him. This only makes Leonardo think highly of him because admitting that it’s not perfect meant that Desmond strives to keep upgrading his work.

Leonardo’s sudden interest in Desmond makes Petruccio jealous though and he already had to be make peace with how Desmond seem to be ‘like’ Ezio (in Desmond’s defense… he’s bias to Ezio thanks to his life as Desmond Miles).

But he can’t do anything because Leonardo is a friend of the family and a loyal friend for that matter and…

Well…

Leonardo was also trying to help Petruccio try to get Desmond’s attention.

It all comes to a boil when in one of the more stressful board games (I’m thinking maybe Nemesis or maybe even Werewolves/Blood on the Clocktower), someone (probably Claudia?) calls out Petruccio’s actions as less of him playing to win but playing to make sure Desmond wins and that’s cheating because he can’t let his love for Desmond be the reason why he’s willing to lose the game and drag everybody with him.

And everyone just grows quiet…

And Petruccio runs away.

While Desmond’s just sitting there, having his own “Oh my god, he loves me! Why didn’t I see that? Oh Jesus Christ, I’m so dumb! Why didn’t I notice it???” and “Do I… Do I love Petruccio??? Have I fallen for him without realizing it???” breakdown on the inside while he just looked at the board game blankly.

This would happen when Desmond and Petruccio reached like maybe 18 or 19 (so yeah, no Auditore execution event because Desmond had been busy).

Leonardo would actually be the one to talk to Desmond and he would talk about how the real reason why he fell in love with Desmond’s board games (which they’re working on selling soon) was because it was made with love.

Each carving done by the same pair of hands each time…

Each stories engraved in the board…

Each rules to ensure fairness…

Desmond wasn’t just making them for fun.

They had always been a labor of love.

But the question then becomes…

Who was Desmond thinking of when he was making all of these board games?

And Desmond just stares at Leonardo before he goes, “Thank you.”

Leonardo just smiles back as he asks, “I’m not the one who needs to hear the truth about these board games now, am I, Desmond?”

“Yeah…” Desmond stands as he agrees, “I should… I need to talk to Petruccio.”

Leonardo nods and watches as Desmond rushes back to Palazzo Auditore.

Ah… young love…

#yup #didn’t know how to end this XD #i’m sorry I focused so much on the board game aspect #i’ve been marathoning no rolls barred for a while now #so i read board games #and i focused on that XD #ask and answer #what name should we tag this?#petdes #despet #???#assassin's creed #petruccio auditore #desmond miles #teecup writes/has a plot #fic idea: assassin's creed #all we're missing is sef and darim and he'd also have the complete ibn-la'ahad set as well!

67 notes · View notes

eerna · 3 months

Note

okay wait actually now that we're on the book-series-strengths-and-shortcomings-train what do you love most about tlt and tlc? (multiple answers bonus)

HOHO A COMBO

TLC: 1) Friendship not being secondary to romance!! The series' main theme is love. In the grand finale the big bad taunts the MC about love... but she doesn't use her boyfriend, no, she uses her best friend. This is made even more powerful because by all means, the best friend was meant to be the secondary love interest by all rules of 2012 YA, but NO he is JUST A FRIEND and it is not treated as "something less". 2) Team building!!!! Oh my god!!!! Building onto point 1, but it needs its own point. Rarely does a fictional team of main characters feel as natural as the Rampion Crew. This is even more impressive because the 9 of them don't appear in the same room until the end of the series. Even though the team consists of 4 couples and 1 single, everyone has a dynamic with everyone, they have arcs that aren't tied exclusively to their partner but also someone else on the team, they interact with each other freely. 3) The wide range of characters! I am a sucker for a "team of girls totally different from each other saves the world" setup, and TLC does it perfectly. I think this is one of the best YA series out there because of how much it empowers different kinds of girls. The guys are also easy to tell apart even at first read, and I sooo appreciate that at least one of them isn't conventionally attractive (anymore). 4) It's so funny. I love these books and how funny they are. They hit the perfect balance between a fun teen adventure and a heartfelt emotional story. 5) This is one of the least "Here's what REALLY happened" series I've read. A bunch of times major things influence characters' thoughts and opinions, but those things are fake and never revealed as fake, OR the characters never learn some big things that could change their opinions at all. Seeing how impacted Winter was when she realized Levana truly loved her father, when I KNOW what really happened, always shakes me to my core - and Winter never learns the truth!!! Everyone who could explain what really happened is dead!! Winter will forever go on thinking at least her father had a marriage of love!!! And why should she learn the truth, really, it would only serve as yet another sad plot twist that traumatizes her even deeper. 6) Levana. I am not usually a villain girlie, but Levana absolutely slaps. She is simultaneously disgusting, horrible, and pitiful. Usually if I like the villain it's because he has something smart to say, but Levana doesn't, I can't relate to her or see things from her perspective... But the leads can! Levana seems to carry all the trauma and complexes of our leads, but she crumbled under them, showing Cinder what she might have become if not for her loved ones.

TLT: 1) Isn't afraid of people not getting it!! Do you understand how refreshing this is to see in a mainstream popular series??? The book doesn't act like you are an idiot, it acts like you are some sort of a genius, and you feel illiterate until you realize NO ONE got it the first time around and you're gonna have to do lots of rereading and thinking to get it. This makes it impossible to get into for some people, but so what. So what!!! What matters is that it rewards those who stay and put in the work!! 2) Absolutely bonkers insane relationships. No one can be "just a friend" in these, we need 1000 different layers of trauma and tenderness surrounding everyone. 3) Pathetic women. These books are the epitome of all the worst parts of yourself laid bare. These characters act out the most shameful, horrible memories and impulses of your heart, all the while spouting poetics about the entire situation. And it is pure catharsis!! It is so rare to see female characters depicted this pathetic without it being torture porn. 4) Writing style. It's the perfect example of how realism doesn't matter if you're good with your words. No one in these books talks like a real life person, but they are all distinct from each other and filled with personality. Every book has several lines that have the power to reduce me a to a sobbing mess just from hearing them. Just. The writing style is so good that I even enjoy reading INTERVIEWS with the author, she has a way of speaking that keeps you engaged and makes her sound so smart. 5) Each book is its own thing, keeping you on your toes, but they all still feel cohesive. It also means that even if the final book sucks, I won't have any hangups about it, since I will just be able to reread the first 3. Honestly even if AtN never comes out, I won't feel like I wasted any time, because the books are so fantastic and so worth reading that the end of the journey doesn't even matter to me that much - and if you've been here a while, you'll know what a radical statement that is for me. It is so nice to relax and enjoy the ride instead of stressing over my thoughts and opinions aging badly.

#eernask #eernanon #eernask talk tlc #eernask talk tlt

33 notes · View notes

in-my-feels-probably · 1 year

Note

your Jon Snow works have been so good thus far, I’d love to see more of them!! would you consider writing a kind of comfort fic for Jon helping a reader with her/their (whatever you’re more comfortable with) anxiety, maybe something traumatic happens to them like they were taken by Ramsay and then rescued by Jon and afterwards a man corners her/them or something and reader has a really bad panic attack and Jon Snow, like the storm that he is, swoops in to save and calm them??

You and Me

Request: your Jon Snow works have been so good thus far, I’d love to see more of them!! would you consider writing a kind of comfort fic for Jon helping a reader with her/their (whatever you’re more comfortable with) anxiety, maybe something traumatic happens to them like they were taken by Ramsay and then rescued by Jon and afterwards a man corners her/them or something and reader has a really bad panic attack and Jon Snow, like the storm that he is, swoops in to save and calm them??

and: PLEASE more protective!Jon Snow content!!! 😭 he’s such an angsty gem who’s never had anything truly his own and the thought of someone trying to upset or hurt his LOVE!!!! GODS HELP anyone who tries it!

Hi! I hope y’all are alright with me combining your requests, and me having a fem reader in mind while writing, it just makes sense for this request and is easiest for me to write. Bear with me, there’s a lot of setup. I love Jon, I wish there was more work for him out there, so I tend to go a little overboard with backstory for his fics. I’m definitely happy to write for him!

I wrote about half this and realized I didn’t want to do a Ramsay plotline, it wasn’t turning out well and it felt unnecessarily heavy. So, I scrapped it and started over, hopefully that didn’t mess it up too bad. I decided to address the anxiety and protectiveness part of the request differently.

Other than that, I hope you enjoy it! Thank you again for the requests, feel free to send me any other ideas you have for the characters I write for :)

(Warnings: mentions of death, mentions of torture, trauma, fear of abandonment, anxiety and panic attacks, nightmares, let me know if i missed anything)

—

You had grown up in Winterfell, a friend to all the Stark children. Your Father was one of the bannerman to Lord Stark, and so you called the North home.

Even though Winterfell wasn’t your birthplace, you spent much of your life there.

Winterfell was the seat of the North, and your Father wanted you to spend as much time there as you could. If you were going to one day be the future of a great Northern House, it was best you were around the greatest Northern House.

Lord Stark agreed to take you in, assuming that one day, you may marry into his family, or another family he thought you were well suited for. You could hardly remember your birthplace a year after going to Winterfell.

It felt more like home than any other place in Westeros.

You were friendly with all the Stark children. They all liked you well enough. You were older than half of them, but they still enjoyed your company just as much as you enjoyed theirs.

You became a good friend to Sansa. She was a few years younger, but the closest girl in age to you. Remembering your Father’s wishes for you, you became much like a Lady in waiting to her. She always looked to you for advice and wisdom that you had, simply because you had lived longer and had seen more than her.

You supposed that one day, Lord Stark might promise you to his eldest son, Robb.

While you were fond of him, and he was fond of you, neither of you were that interested in each other. If it came down to marriage, you both would do your duties to your houses. You may not have been in love, but you certainly did love each other. It would have been an easy marriage. Friends from the start. It was more than most Ladies could have hoped for.

“Not pretty enough for you, My Lady?” Robb had jokingly asked when you both had been informed of your potential future engagement. “I suppose you have your eyes on a prettier someone.”

You had rolled your eyes, grinning. “You’re very pretty, My Lord. You know that as well as I do, don’t you?”

Robb wasn’t the one you had your eye on. No, not at all, and you both knew that. You both had agreed there was someone much more suited for you.

That someone was Jon. You were the closest to Robb in age, so you spent a lot of time with him, and with Jon by extension.

You knew Jon was a bastard.

But you didn’t care. He was just as much a Stark as the rest of the Stark children. Ned Stark’s blood ran through his veins. Why should he have to pay for the sins of his Father, and bear the name Snow? It was a custom of Westeros you hated.

He was wary of you at first. He was interested in you, there was no doubt about that. But you eventually became great friends. It was only when you started to express an interest in him that you could no longer deny your feelings for one another.

And the thought terrified him.

You were a Lady of a noble House, you were intended to marry a Lord of high stature and nobility. Not the son of a Lord who raised him out of pity and the good of his heart. Why were you interested in a man who could give you nothing but shame and humiliation?

It took you years to convince Jon he was enough for you, and that you didn’t care who his parents were.

Your family didn’t hold the same opinion, however, and were adamant about matching you with someone like Robb. Jon had alway been jealous of Robb. His potential engagement to you only added fuel to the fire.

You never acknowledged Jon’s doubts, always making sure he knew just how much you valued him. By the time he started to believe it, Robert Baratheon came to Winterfell.

Your last words to Jon weren’t the kindest.

“You’d really go to the Wall? You’d leave me here while you go sit at the edge of the world, and for what? You think the Night’s Watch will be your brothers? Not your actual brothers?”

“There’s nothing here for me,” he argued. “I’ll be treated more like family there than I ever was here. My Uncle is there.”

“And I am here!”

Jon’s face fell as he watched you nearly shake with rage. “Yes, you’re here. Robb is here, too. He’ll be the Lord of Winterfell in my Father’s stead. Stay with him.”

“I won’t,” you refused. “I love Robb, but he’s not mine. I don’t want him to be mine. If you go to the Wall, I will follow Sansa to King’s Landing. There’s nothing for me here if you’re at the Wall.”

“Y/N, don’t. There’s nothing in the capital for you.”

“That may be true. But there will be nothing left for me here either, so what does it matter? I’ll have just about as much purpose there as you will have at the Wall.”

Within a fortnight, Jon was headed for the Wall, and you were following Sansa to King’s Landing. How unbelievably naive you all had been.

When Ned was executed, Sansa was held hostage. The night of the Battle of Blackwater Bay, she told you to flee.

The Hound had come and offered to take her with him, but she refused, turning to you.

“They’re not after you, Y/N, but they very well could be soon. They won’t kill me, they still need me to get the Queen’s brother back. But you, they don’t need. I will not watch you suffer or die because you stayed here to protect me. Go. Please.”

You had argued, but finally relented, fleeing.

The Hound got you out of the city, but wouldn’t take you any further. You couldn’t be ransomed back to your family for enough to make him rich, and Robb was at war with your Father and your Father’s men.

There was no one to return you to.

Instead, you slowly made your way North. It took months and months to travel as safely as you could, which proved to be quite the challenge. You had plenty of time to think about all you had left behind. Your family, Winterfell, the Stark children….Jon. It still pained you to think of him, but he was often on your mind as you traveled. You avoided the Kingsroad, but finally made it to Harrenhal.

And who else would you meet along the way there, but Brienne of Tarth, and Jaime fucking Lannister.

By the time you found them, you had been away from any family you had ever known for many months. Word slowly spread of the death of the King in the North. Betrayed and murdered by his own men. When the whispers of the massacre finally fell on your ears, it brought you to your knees.

Robb was the best of you…and now he was gone.

You expected the news would have reached Sansa before you, and you decided that you’d sooner die, rather than let the two of you suffer alone. So, you returned to King’s Landing with Brienne and Jaime.

On the way back to King’s Landing in the time that it took you to return, Sansa had been married to Tyrion Lannister, and Margaery Tyrell was engaged to Joffrey Baratheon.

When you arrived, you thought it was better to keep out of sight, just in case someone recognized you. However, you still wanted to be informed. So you went to the most informed man in King’s Landing, and possibly the entirety of Westeros.

Littlefinger.

He allowed you to stay in one of his establishments, but for a price. He wouldn’t help you out of the kindness of his heart. No, you needed to give him something in return.

“I suppose you’d do anything for Sansa Stark, wouldn’t you?”

You nodded. “I’d give my life for her, if it came to it. I’m going to get her back.”

He had laughed in your face.

“And how do you suppose you’re going to do that?”

“I don’t know,” you shrugged. “But I came back to this hellhole of a city for her. I’m not leaving until she’s by my side again. She’s the last of the Starks, and I’ll die before I see her fall, too.”

Lord Baelish took that as his opportunity to use you, knowing you’d never do something to put Sansa in harm’s way. So he let you in on part of the plan, and on the day of Joffrey’s death, you helped Sansa escape King’s Landing.

You couldn’t go with her.

The goal was getting her out of the city, and Ser Dontos couldn’t sneak both you and Sansa out at the same time. So once the plan was set in motion, and Sansa was gone, you searched for Brienne. She was perhaps the only person in the city who had even the slightest interest of saving your life, and you knew she’d accept you because of your knowledge of Sansa and the North.

You had no idea part of the plan entailed killing Joffrey. You thought Littlefinger had come up with some sort of distraction, one that would work long enough to get Sansa out. When you heard of his death, you knew you had to leave. If Cersei caught you, she’d use you as a way to find Sansa. She’d stop at nothing, and you’d either end up dead or tortured beyond recognition in an effort to locate Sansa.

During your time in King’s Landing before the Battle of Blackwater Bay, Tyrion Lannister had taken a liking to you. You rarely spoke, but when you did he seemed fond of you.

He arranged for Podrick to find you after he learned of Sansa’s escape. Podrick had become a squire to Brienne, and they agreed to take you with them. You had sworn to serve the Starks, just as Brienne had sworn to find the Stark girls. You had a mutual interest, and were better off together.

It was you who told Brienne that Littlefinger would probably take Sansa to the Vale. It was you who took the lead after finding out Littlefinger had married Sansa to Ramsay Bolton after the death of Lysa Arryn. It was you who rode for Winterfell a day ahead of Podrick and Brienne, looking for your best chance of rescuing Sansa.

And it was you who was successful saving her.

Brienne and Podrick caught up, making sure you all lived to see the Wall. Sansa and Theon were saved, and together, you decided you, Sansa, Brienne, and Podrick would ride to Castle Black. Jon had become Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch, and he was your best chance at reuniting with the last of the Stark children.

Truthfully, you couldn’t bear to be apart from them any longer.

They were your true family, blood or not, and they were all you had left. There was nowhere else for you to go. All you could hope was that they’d let you follow them wherever they went.

And they did.

You followed Sansa all the way to Castle Black. Women weren’t welcome at the Wall, but you’d be damned if anyone tried to force either of you out. When you arrived at the gates, you felt like you were going to be sick.

You were let in, and you rode into the center of the square. You dismounted, and moved to steady Sansa as she slid off her horse, before turning to look at your surroundings.

And there he was.

Jon Snow. Alive, and the Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch. Standing on the balcony overlooking the square. You nearly collapsed with relief at the sight of him. He came down the stairs, and held Sansa tight in his arms. When he set her down, his eyes fell on you.

You could no longer hold back your tears, breaking down when he reached for you. You flung your arms around his neck as he wrapped his arms around your waist, pulling you impossibly close to himself.

“I never thought I’d see you again.”

“Me neither,” you mumbled into his shoulder. “But look at you now. We’ve come a far way from Winterfell.”

He nearly laughed, clutching the back of your coat. “Aye, we have. It appears the Gods haven’t been kind to either of us.”

You pulled away, running your thumb along the scar that ran from his brow to his cheek. He stilled under your touch, holding his breath.

“No…no they haven’t.”

Shortly after your reunion, you built your army to reclaim Winterfell.

The Battle of the Bastards was a gruesome one, to be sure. Ramsey killed Rickon Stark. Mere days of knowing he was alive, just for him to slip through your fingers so easily.

The little boy you had read to all those years ago, and carried around while you had Robb entertain you. The boy you didn’t get to watch grow up into a man, stolen from you and your family.

You thought you were going to lose all of what family you had left, that is until Sansa arrived with the Knights of the Vale.

It was a miracle.

The Starks returned to the North, to their family home. For the first time in years, there was actual peace amongst you and your family. For the time being, there was no reason to run or panic.

So why did you still wake yourself up screaming every night, tormented by dreams of all the ways your family could be taken away from you?

You had nightmares, nearly every night.

Some you remembered, some you didn’t. But they were always the same. Your family was gone, both your house and the Starks. Either dead, or they had left you. When you found out that members of the Night’s Watch had actually killed Jon, you nearly went mad.

In the days after the battle, Jon kept you close by his side.

He was beginning to worry about you. You were a shell of yourself, compared to the girl he once knew. He noticed, and those who knew you before noticed.

One night, the remaining Lords and Ladies of the North, as well as the free folk, were gathered in the banquet hall for a meal. You stayed quiet, minding your business as everyone chatted. You preferred staying close to a familiar face, like Jon, Tormund, or Sansa. But when they were held up, you decided to be brave and go talk with someone.

Ser Davos was the easiest option. “Having fun, My Lady?”

“Yes, Ser Davos. Thank you for asking. And you? I know it’s a bit cold up here for a Southerner.”

“I’m beginning to take the words of House Stark more seriously,” he mused, making you chuckle. “It’s bloody freezing up here. I don’t know how you Northerners manage it.”

Lord Hornwood overheard your conversation, cutting in. “You haven’t been in the North for some time, My Lady. Isn’t that right?”

“Yes, My Lord,” you nodded, albeit annoyed.

“Your Father would roll over in his grave seeing his daughter shiver in the snow, wouldn’t he?” He joked, but you weren’t laughing. “Gods rest him. He was a fine man, your Father.”

“He was,” you agreed. “I miss him every day. But I do my best not to dwell on what I cannot change.”

Lord Hornwood nodded. “I miss him too. Shame you weren’t here with him when he died. He fought for King Robb. Where were you?”

“That’s enough,” Ser Davos said, getting up to stand in between you and Lord Hornwood. “You’re drunk. Go sober up, My Lord.”

“You’re lucky you’re pretty. I don’t see what other reason Jon would have for keeping you around. You’re practically a ghost of the girl I once knew.”

“That’s enough!” Ser Davos said again.

Your face fell at Lord Hornwood’s words, turning your eyes away from him. Tormund, who had just passed by you, noticed the tension in the air. He took one look at you and headed for the table where Jon was sitting.

In just a few seconds, Jon was standing behind you.

“Lord Hornwood…surely some of the other guests are wanting your attention. Why don’t you go say hello?”

Lord Hornwood shook his head, reaching for his horn of ale. Jon put his hand over the top of it, yanking it back from him. He gave him a look that would have sent any man packing, quickly glancing back and forth between you and him. You hadn’t looked up yet.

“Go, My Lord,” Jon said, laying a firm hand on his shoulder as he lowered his voice. “If I hear that you’ve spoken out of turn to Lady Y/N again, you’ll be taking yourself and your men back to your own damn castle. Are we clear?”

Lord Hornwood begrudgingly nodded, accepting defeat. He retreated, leaving you, Jon, and Ser Davos alone at a table.

Jon laid a gentle hand on your shoulder, getting your attention. “Come sit up here with me, My Lady. Sansa has been asking for you.”

You nodded, taking his hand as he led you back to his table. You took a seat next to Sansa, who squeezed your hand in hers.

“He’s an idiot. Don’t listen to him. You’re just as much a Northerner as I am. The only reason you weren’t in the North is because you were following me.”

You scoffed, shaking your head. “I think half the men in this room blame me for Robb’s death.”

“That’s not true,” Jon said, trying his best to comfort you. “How could they blame you for that, you weren’t even there?”

“Exactly. None of us were. But everyone expected me to marry Robb one day. When I left Winterfell, he and your parents moved past that idea, and he was free to marry Lady Talisa. If I had married him, he never would have married her, and maybe he would have kept his head.”

“That’s ridiculous! Nobody can blame you for that,” Sansa said.

You smiled sadly at her. “And yet, they do. I’ve heard whispers of it so often since returning home that I’m beginning to believe it myself.”

“Tell me the next time you hear these whispers,” Jon said, giving you a look so serious it nearly scared you, and it wasn’t even you that it was intended for. “I’ll make sure they’re put in there place.”

“You’re going to punish every man who says something harsh to me? Send them away? Seems like we’ll run out of men,” you mused.

You were joking, but it was clear by his tone that he was not. “Then we’ll just have to come up with a better punishment, won’t we?”

You said nothing, giving him a grateful smile. You had missed him. It was good to know after all these years that he was still the man you remembered…just with a few scars. But what did that matter?

You all had scars.

That evening, you had a nightmare worse than any in recent memory.

You woke with a panic so bad that you couldn’t get your lungs to full with air. You were desperately gasping for it, clutching at your chest. In a haze, you threw on your shoes and coat, scrambling to get out of your chambers. You ran down the corridor, hardly even recognizing where it was that your feet were taking you.

Suddenly, you appeared outside Jon’s door.

Before you could stop yourself, you were rapidly knocking, pleading for him to open it. He finally did, opening the door as he rubbed his eyes.

His eyes widened as he took you in. “Y/N?”

“I didn’t know where else to go, I’m sorry—“

“It’s alright,” he said, easing you into the room and shutting the door behind you. “What happened? Are you hurt?”

“I…I had a nightmare.”

He took your face in his hands, forcing you to meet his gaze. “Breathe. Copy me…breathe.”

You steadied your breath as he steadied you, letting him guide you. Jon sat you down on the edge of his bed, wrapping a fur around your shoulders. He gently sat down next to you, turning his body to face you.

“You’ve been having them a lot recently, haven’t you?”

You slowly nodded. “How did you know?”

“Do you remember the day that man from the Night’s Watch abandoned his post, and ran all the way to Winterfell? He was raving about the White Walkers, all the way up until my Father removed his head from his shoulders.”

“I remember,” you said, nearly shivering at the memory.

“Father made us all watch, but you stayed with Arya. Bran had to watch with us, and he didn’t want to go. So, you promised you’d wait for him at the bottom of the hill. You were far away…but I know you saw that man die.”

You slowly nodded. “I did. I couldn’t get the image out of my head for weeks.”

“And you had nightmares about it, I know you did. You never told me about them, but I could see the fear. I could always tell when you were afraid. You hide it well, though, I’ll give you that.”

“I had to hide it,” you explained. “Your siblings were scared. The little ones, at least. I couldn’t very well let Bran come back down that hill to see me shaking with fear, could I? I had to put on a strong face in the days after so they wouldn’t be scared either.”

Jon nodded. “I know that. But you were still scared, I could tell. You were always quieter in the mornings after you had a nightmare. I kept waiting for you to say something to me about it, but you never did.”

“I didn’t want to worry you over something so stupid.”

“It wasn’t stupid then, and it isn’t stupid now,” he said, holding your hand in his. “If it panicked you as much as I just saw, you need to tell me about it.”

“Jon—” You started, not wanting to bother him, but he interrupted you.

“Y/N…just tell me. I’ll listen. It can’t be any more outlandish than an army of the dead.”

He was joking, trying to make you feel better. You mustered a small smile, but it meant nothing to either of you. You both knew you didn’t really mean it.

“I’ve been having these dreams…since Rickon.”

Jon’s face fell, but he nodded for you to continue.

“I see him die in my dreams. I can’t get it out of my head.”

“No, that’s not possible,” Jon said, squeezing your hand. “You weren’t there, I made sure you weren’t. You didn’t watch him die.”

“I saw his body, Jon. I can put together the rest of what happened to him. I know it’s irrational, I know that there was nothing any of us could have done to save him. But I just feel so guilty. Another Stark, gone.”

Jon moved closer, wrapping his arm around your shoulders. “You’re not responsible for their deaths, Y/N.”

You shook your head. “I certainly haven’t helped save them, have I? I can’t even tell a Lord to piss off when he’s bothering me, how could I save a Stark?”

“You’re perfectly capable of doing that, I just like helping you. And you have helped save them. Sansa is alive because you went to King’s Landing with her when I went to the Wall. She wouldn’t have escaped without you, and she wouldn’t have made it to Castle Black if you hadn’t come with her.”

You pressed the heels of your palms into your eyes, letting out a frustrated sigh. “Then why is Rickon still in my head, reminding me that I couldn’t save him? Why am I dreaming about the Starks dying?”

Jon squeezed you into him, his voice soft. “Rickon wasn’t the last of the Starks.”

“I know,” you said, leaning into his side. “It just feels like you’re all slipping through my fingers, and there’s nothing I can do about it. I’m afraid that one day, I’ll be without you all.”

It was quiet for a moment as Jon took in your words. You didn’t speak, letting him think. Finally, he broke the silence.

“Is that what your nightmare was about tonight? Rickon? Or was it something else?”

“It started out as him,” you said, trying to remember. “But that’s not how it ended. I remember feeling scared. I remember looking for someone. I couldn’t find you, or Sansa…and I was alone. Here, home in Winterfell after the battle. But I couldn’t find you.”

“Was I dead?” Jon asked, trying to understand.

“No,” you answered. “I remember that much. That was the worst of it. You were just gone. You had left, or you had been driven out, I don’t know. But I wasn’t with you.”

Jon wrapped both his arms around your shoulders, holding you tight. He laid his chin on your shoulder, gently rocking you back and forth.

“I don’t know what you dreamed, Y/N. I don’t know what any of it means. But I know this…I’m never going to leave you. Not you, or Sansa, or anyone else in my family ever again. It’s you and me, Y/N. You and me.”

You turned around in his arms, wrapping your arms around his waist. Your voice was small and muffled in his shoulder as you spoke.

“You promise?”

Jon felt his heart break at your words, and yet he knew you’d be the one who was capable of putting it back together. He pulled you close, holding you tight.

“I promise. Wherever you go…I go.”

—

A/N - Hi! Not loving this outcome, but I also really like certain parts from this. And you’ve waited long enough, so here you go! I hope you enjoyed it, please let me know what you think! If you have any other requests or ideas, my requests are still open :)

#jon snow #jon snow x reader #jon snow imagine #game of thrones x reader #game of thrones imagine #game of thrones

201 notes · View notes