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#and usually by the end of a trilogy i hate it
wordsgood · 11 months
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lockwood co this, lockwood co that. where are my real ones (kids who were traumatized emotionally by the bartimaeus trilogy)
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mermaidsirennikita · 11 months
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my message to any series writer, whether you're writing a TV series, a book series, a movie series, I don't care
before you continue a series you ended previously
ask yourself:
do I actually have a substantive reason to continue this, or am I just reviving characters who had their definitive endings already
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shinyaharu98 · 1 year
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Unraveled Secrets - Episode 3 (ft. Yeojin)
LOONA ViVi x Male Reader
Word Count: 6823 words
Categories: smut, threesome, series
Disclaimer: Here is the third and final part of the trilogy! This episode of course happened directly after where we left off in Episode 2. LOONATHEHAREM will officially began after this, enjoy!
Also special thanks to @a-casual-kpopfan for proof reading!
Episode 1
Episode 2
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Ever wondered why sometimes things just won’t go the way you want? Maybe you planned a trip overseas for months, but for some reason United Airlines just dragged your ass off the plane and ruined your day.
Perhaps sometimes uncertainty is what makes the world go round, and if you are blessed by the goddess of fortune, it can benefit you greatly too. If certainty is like checkmating in chess, then uncertainty is like playing Hearthstone. You better pray to RNGesus to give you that sweet curve or else you are going to smash your computer.
Location: A love hotel somewhere in Korea
“So let me get this straight again, Kahei.” You tried to understand the situation.
“For some reason, Yeojin found out OUR secret, and you two planned a threesome and practiced for a week?”
Kahei nodded bashfully.
“You know what is going to happen, right? Are you sure about this?”
Still couldn’t believe the position you’re in, you asked for her approval once more, but Yeojin barged in. “Ya oppa, why are you asking for permission? You are not her boyfriend anyway…”
“You are not her boyfriend… You are not her boyfriend… You are not her boyfriend…”
That line echoed inside Kahei’s mind, and reality finally hit her. She realized that this is not just a random hook-up between you and two LOONA members, this is war. A war of hormone, if you will. What happens later would finally decide the relationship between you and herself. Whether you two will remain friends, lovebirds or even…friends with benefits.
And in a broader sense, this also will define your relationship with other LOONA members as well, because she knows that paper can’t wrap up a fire. Eventually other 10 members would know your existence, and know you hooked up with the matnae and maknae of the group. Would they accept you? Would they hate you? Or…would they want to take part in this tangled mess of a relationship?
“...I’ll make sure by the end of the day, you’ll be mine and mine only.” Kahei said softly while gazing at you with her big, round eyes.
“And I will make sure that you will consider me as a potential partner by the end of the day!” Yeojin grabbed your arm and pressed against her chest.
Soft is the word that came to your mind.
And thus, war has been declared.
You tried to progress your storyline by stepping into the hotel, but for some reason Yeojin blocked your way.
“Yeojin? I thought this is your plan?”
“Shh……” She put her finger on your lips.
Kahei is visibly upset, because she is obviously jealous about your interactions with Yeojin. But Yeojin continued.
“We can’t go in together, it is way too suspicious. Us two will check in and prepare first, why don’t you wait around for our cue? We’ll send you the room number when everything is ready, alright?”
Perhaps it’s because of her shyness, or the nerves got the better of her, you noticed Kahei didn’t talk much. Yeojin has been taking the lead and acted way more enthusiastically.
There is nothing you can do now, as girls usually need more time to prepare, let alone such a big event like this. So, you decided to have a lunch break at a coffee shop nearby to kill some time and calm your nerves down.
Meanwhile, back in the hotel…
“Yeojin…I should take the lead for real this time. At the end of the day, it is MY plan after all.”
Kahei was worried that Yeojin might just overwhelm you and take over the entire situation…and take over you as well.
“Don’t worry, unnie.” Yeojin laughed while taking the keys from the concierge. “I know Jason-oppa loves you. I’m just having some fun on my own, maybe occasionally borrowing him in the future if he performs well tonight…”
“Don’t say that!” Kahei raised her voice. “Is he just a toy for you?”
“Oh, please unnie, you will definitely ask for more if he satisfies you tonight, wouldn't you?”
Truth stings.
“Come on, let’s get ourselves ready!”
“... Alright.”
This is an important moment for both Kahei and Yeojin, as they’ve been looking forward to this moment for days while suppressing their fantasy daily. But now it is the time, the time to finally begin to unleash their forces unto the person they've been waiting all along, you. Luckily, they already bathe themselves beforehand, so they only need to change into their chosen outfits, which they certainly knew would be super effective against you.
As both are getting dressed as planned, Kahei couldn’t stop herself from overthinking. She hasn't met you in real life for years, and the moment you two finally meet is in the context of preparing for a threesome with Yeojin. She has a million things wanted to tell you. How lonely she felt these years without you, how helpless she is when the only way for you two to communicate is through the internet, how much affection she actually had for you for all these years, how much she yearns for your touch…
Yeojin has a keen eye for details, naturally she noticed that Kahei is getting anxious. Trying to pump her up, she hugged Kahei from behind.
“Unnie, did you see sparkles flashing in his eyes? He really is happy to see you. I wish I had someone like that in my life, you are fortunate you know?”
“I…I am?”
“Of course, you are! And I understand the situation we’re in is brand new to you.”
“You sounded like an older sister just now you know?”
“Whoops, hehe. But I am more experienced in this area than you, unnie. But we must get ready, and to do that…”
Before finishing her sentence, Yeojin’s hands shifted from Kahei’s slim waist to her chest.
“Yeojin… What are you doing?”
“Getting your body fired up of course~”
It was DeJa’Vu for Kahei. Just like last time in the adult shop, she was once again ambushed from behind by Yeojin, her hands rubbing her sensitive spot while playing with her already erected nipples. Yeojin had familiarized herself with Kahei’s body, she didn’t overlook a single spot that would guarantee a reaction from Kahei. After all, they practiced a whole lot for this.
“Yeojin… Mmm… We can’t do this now… Jason is waiting for us…”
Clearly enjoying hearing from Kahei’s slurred speech, Yeojin showed no signs of stopping.
“I won’t let him in unless you are fully ready, unnie. He’ll turn into an actual monster when he sees your lewd expression hehe.”
“I’m not lewd at all…” Kahei tried to disagree, but she saw her reflection in the toilet mirror. Her pupils dilated, drool leaking out from the corners of her lips. Clearly her body is more honest than she is.
“No… Yeojin… I’m cumming!”
But just as she is about to reach her peak, Yeojin promptly stopped her movements, denying her orgasm.
“Tsk tsk, unnie. You are such a quick one as usual.” Yeojin said in a playful, almost condescending tone. “Don’t you want to reserve it for oppa first?”
“... Haah… You started it…”
“Yes, yes, I did. But now I think both of us are ready, I am getting turned on as well… Time to summon the beast himself.”
Yeojin took Kahei’s phone and called your number.
Meanwhile, back in the coffee shop…
It’s only been fifteen minutes, but it felt like an eternity.
“They do be taking their sweet time aren't they…” You complained to yourself. At the exact moment, your phone started to ring.
It’s that ringtone again.
It’s her.
But it’s not her voice.
“Oppa! We’re ready!” Yeojin’s voice can be heard loud and clear. “The room number is 9-12, we’re waiting for you!”
Just as you tried to respond, you heard another voice coming from the background.
“Mmmh!” A voice moaned.
Kahei?
Is she pleasuring herself?
It was DeJa’Vu for you. Just like last time over the phone, you once again heard her sultry voice moaning.
Adrenaline rushes to your brain as you quickly make your way to room 9-12.
You couldn’t possibly wait any longer, as you dashed towards your goal, ignoring judgemental eyes from others. The only scene you wanted to see, and indeed envisioned is Kahei and Yeojin sitting at the bedside, dressed up with their battle armour awaiting your arrival.
You finally arrived in front of the door. The only barrier between you and paradise is this wooden door in front of you. As your hand reached for the door handle, you stopped. Finally, you felt nervous, as you don’t know what to expect. You are afraid that if you have too much of an expectation, the more painful you’ll feel when you fall. But noises coming from the other side broke your train of thoughts.
“Yeojin… Stop… He’ll be here soon… You’re too rough!”
All hell breaks loose.
Of course, you know who that voice belonged to, of course you do. You heard that alluring voice countless times through the phone, but now it’s real.
It felt real.
It is real.
You gulped. Slowly, you turned the doorknob and opened the door. An inconceivably erotic scene appeared in front of your very own eyes.
Yeojin is pinning Kahei on the bed while simultaneously planting a deep kiss. Her tongue swirled around skilfully and formed strands of saliva as their mouths separated. Her hands are not idle as well, she slipped inside Kahei’s blue skirt and moved around while squelching sounds echoed across the room loud and clear.
“Yeojin stop… Jason?” Kahei snapped back from her trance the moment she saw you.
Your eyes couldn’t stop looking at the scene in front of you. This is wilder than your expectations could ever have imagined.
“Oppa! What took you so long?” Yeojin let go of her control and rushed to your side.
“We should start making out as soon as we can, right? I think someone cannot wait any longer~”
Yeojin’s petite figure bounced around, having the best time of her life. Her revealing mini skirt teases you as you can barely see her ass cheeks.
On the other side of the room, Kahei was drained from Yeojin’s previous assault, gasping for air and trying to regain her strength while lying on the bed.
“J… Jason… Don’t stare at me so much… It’s embarrassing…” Words slipped out from her drooling mouth, tears pooled around the edges of her eyes.
“What the hell did you do to Kahei, Yeojin?” You couldn’t believe she went through such a slutty transformation in just 15 minutes, all thanks to Yeojin no doubt. Not only have their outfits changed, but the entire mood of the room is also getting hotter and steamier.
“Oh, I am just preparing unnie to you, oppa! I thought you would like it.” Yeojin smiled, proudly. “Come on, don’t let her down now.”
You walked towards Kahei. Her face turned red as the bulge in your pants got more and more noticeable.
“I’ll take the lead first, okay?”
“Yes… Please do what you want to me…” Kahei said while looking at you with her big, loving eyes.
Knowing that she is in a vulnerable spot, you decided to start slow.
There is no turning back now, so you went into battle.
The anticipation of a kiss is building up as both of you move closer and closer to each other. A shared desire for the connection of your lips is getting stronger and stronger as well. As you bring your face closer to Kahei’s, you can't stop yourself from admiring her perfect visuals. Her big round eyes look deeply into yours with burning intensity as she yearns for your sensation. Her light and smooth skin shines under the lights, her plump lips glistened with anticipation, all in which further invites you to come closer.
Finally, your lips meet. A sweet flavour covers your taste buds, it must be her lip gloss. You closed your eyes and indulged in this new-found sensation. You moved slowly, savouring the sensation of your mouths finally connecting with each other. For all these years, you dreamed of hugging her and enjoying the warmth from her tiny body. All these years, you fantasized about how you would shower her with your love by planting deep kisses into her. And now, it has become a reality. No longer a dream, no longer something unreachable. You wish time would stop at this moment so you two can maintain contact for the rest of your lives.
“Aaah… Mmmh…”
Kahei moaned with pleasure, resonating with the wet sounds of your lips and tongue meeting each other. Your kiss intensifies as your hands wrapped around her waist. Surprisingly, Kahei responded by slipping her tongue deeper into your mouth, further escalating the intimacy and magnitude of the moment.
Finally, you let go. A pop sound can be heard as saliva dripped down from Kahei’s tongue to her chin. Perhaps the intensity was too strong for her, as her tongue was still sticking out when she gasped for air.
Too lewd.
“Haah… That feels… Too good…” Before you could respond, a naughty smirk appeared on her face. “Jason… I might get addicted to this…” Kahei said.
Uh oh.
Just when Kahei was about to make her next move, Yeojin who was waiting patiently from the side lines finally snapped. She was watching you two lovebirds enjoying yourselves without her, that is simply too cruel.
At this moment, Yeojin felt her body heating up. A voice ringing in her head telling her just BE HONEST. And now the choice lies within her hands, it’s up to herself whether she gave in for lust.
As you are still lovey-dovey with Kahei, you saw Yeojin slowly shuffled her way onto your bed.
“Oppa… Don’t ignore me, I’m still here you know?” Yeojin pouted as she complained. “You can do anything to me tonight, my body is yours to play with. Mess me up… Please?”
I guess she finally caved in as well. You can see it in her eyes, her facial expression, her entire body language. She is ready to accept anything that is going to be unleashed upon her.
Her fate is in your hands.
Or so you think.
Before you could have the chance to alter her reality, Yeojin took aim and stole the commander position from you. Her small body packs a punch, as she pinned you down and locked her lips with yours. Taken aback, you did what most men would do in this situation, which is asserting dominance.
But Yeojin was completely corrupted with lust, she refused to let this chance slip away, she refused to let your tongue slip away as well.
She turned to Kahei’s direction and gave her a playful look.
“Now it’s my turn… Right unnie?”
“But… Stopping halfway is cruel…” Kahei sulked. The sensation of your mouth still lingers on her lips, but she knows that you need to give some attention to Yeojin as well. After all, this trip would have been impossible without Yeojin’s help, so she needed some sort of compensation or reward too.
Yeojin’s hands are still working diligently while kissing you. She is constantly rubbing and massaging herself as her lower half is completely soaked to the point that fluids are leaking out, staining her blue miniskirt. She used her remaining free hand to slide across your chest, swirling around your nipples while lubricating it with her own juices. She worked her way downwards to your stomach…and finally arriving at your bulging crotch.
Her tiny body is completely pressed against yours as well. That doesn’t bother you at all, since she is basically pocket sized and light. Yeojin may be mini-sized, but her breasts are a different story.
“Oppa, your pants are in my way.” Yeojin said. “It’s so bothersome…”
With a clean jerk, she removed the only fabric barrier that is in the way between your erect member and the two girls.
Thanks to Kahei and Yeojin’s cheerleading session earlier, your shaft is standing tall and proud. It is throbbing in vain and drenched with precum. Amazed by its vigor, the two girls gathered around and stared at it intensely.
Especially Kahei.
“I had never seen this in real life, it’s so big…” Kahei was so shellshocked so lost the ability to speak coherently. But Yeojin, being the more experienced one, reminded Kahei what to do in this situation.
“Unnie, don’t just stare at it! Remember our training? You know what to do right~”
Just how much did they prepare anyways?!
Kahei slowly stuck out her tongue and licked your shaft from top to bottom. Slowly and steadily, she repeated her movements and continued to please you.
It is very apparent that her movements are very awkward, and she is trying very hard to hide her nervousness. But you know she is trying her best to satisfy you. She is venturing into a completely new area, risking it all just for you.
“It…feels very good, Kahei.” You patted her head, giving her a nod of approval. With her tongue still sticking out, she looked up to you and smiled. She felt happy that she can give you so much pleasure even though she is still an amateur.
Yeojin didn’t want to feel being left out, so she joined Kahei and double teamed you. While Kahei’s style is slower and mellower, Yeojin is unsurprisingly aggressive and experienced. Both girls licked your shaft at the same time, each carved up their own territory.
You thought to yourself you must be dreaming. Two beautiful LOONA members threw themselves at you and are working together to fulfill your wildest desire. But the sensation and slurping sounds they provide is very real. It is so real that you are unable to hold it back anymore.
“I’m… I’m cumming!”
Without waiting for their reaction, you shot your pent-up semen with great force, splattering onto both Kahei and Yeojin’s faces, covering them with your thick and white batter.
“There is so much of it…” Kahei was amazed by the sheer volume you ejected. On the other hand, Yeojin didn’t want your semen that was spread across their faces to go to waste.
“Unnie, semen is something that’s taken and tasted thoroughly you know? Like this~” She scooped up a generous amount of semen from Kahei’s face and inserted it into her mouth for her to have a taste.
“We can’t just waste Jason-oppa’s precious semen you know; it’s made out of love just for us!” Yeojin said as she licked clean the residue semen around her lips and showed Kahei how to properly enjoy it.
There is nothing you can do but act as a bystander at this point.
“Gargle it and really taste it through. A bit stinky, but normally it should taste salty. After you done that, open and let oppa see.”
“Like… Like this?” Kahei followed Yeojin’s instructions and gargled your semen in her mouth. The strong odor nearly caused her to have a gag reflex, but she pushed through it. She opened her mouth wide for you to examine.
“Aah…”
The white viscous liquid almost dripped out from her mouth, but she holds on to her position and lets you examine her thoroughly. This erotic scene happens all the time in adult videos, but you never thought that one day you would see your beloved Kahei acting like this. You quickly granted her permission to swallow, as her reflex is bubbling up again.
“Drink it.”
And she did. With a big gulp, she emptied her mouth and was getting ready to receive more of your love once more.
“You too, Yeojin. Swallow it all.”
You didn’t forget that Yeojin was also full of your cum, as her small mouth couldn’t keep in that much volume.
But just as Yeojin is about to engulf it all, Kahei intercepted her actions and stole her fill directly from her mouth. Without hesitation, she swallowed it all in one go. She proudly opened her mouth once again to let you examine it.
“Did I do a good job?” Kahei showed no signs of gagging, did she already get used to your semen?
“No fair, unnie! That was supposed to be mine!” Yeojin was not amused, as her chance to taste your love was stripped away.
Kahei was unfazed, she waited for this for too long, and now she is finally in the mood.
In the mood for MORE.
“I will start slow, okay?”
Neither you nor Kahei had any prior experience in the make out sector before. But you basically know the gist of it.
Kahei took off her skirt and laid down on the bed.
You’ve known Kahei for years, you’ve seen her naked body countless times over the phone during your “healing” sessions. But now it is no longer virtual.
It felt real.
It is real.
In real life, Kahei is way more attractive than any of her photos in your phone. Years of idol training has rendered her flawless in terms of body proportions. Her face card is always valid even without makeup. Mermaid lines are strikingly visible on her toned abs, together with her round and thick thighs made you wish to be suffocated in between them.
Kahei pulled her legs inwards to form a M shape, a position that is ready for you to devour her completely. Her entrance is already well lubricated thanks to her previous session, but there is something else that caught your attention.
Her pubic hair is nowhere to be found.
“You… shaved?”
“Yeojin dragged me to her laser hair removal session yesterday… And she convinced me to do it as well.” Kahei explained.
Of course. It is because of Yeojin.
“Unnie, I told you he would like it, now you believe me?” Yeojin grinned, pointing at your crotch.
Even after that blowjob section, your member regained its pride after seeing Kahei’s barren land.
Time waits for no one.
You took out a box of condoms from your wallet, saved for this very occasion. But Yeojin stopped you immediately.
"Oppa! Don't tell me you plan to use rubber tonight? Didn't we tell you that we want you to fill us up?"
"I thought that was just a figure of speech..."
"Seriously oppa. You are denser than a stack of bedrocks...You want some prove? I'll give you proof."
She took of her blue top, leaving her bare chest for you to admire. She is definitely bigger than Kahei, but her areola is smaller and pinker. She kept her miniskirt on, but of course nothing is beneath it.
"We are not joking around anymore, we meant it. We want it raw. We want you to fill us up. Breed us like there's no tomorrow..." Yeojin demanded as she lay down beside Kahei.
She wants you to decide.
Who will be the one to let you graduate from V-university?
"Who will you start first, oppa~" Her playful tone almost sounded condescending, yet somehow seductive.
Kahei didn't say anything to plead for your attention, but your eyes met.
That gaze. That power. The same determination.
You can see it from her eyes that she needs you.
She WANTS you.
Without hesitation, you leaned over and kissed Kahei on the lips, marking your choice to begin tonight's event.
"You're mine now, Kahei."
"Kahei, at your service. I'm all yours." Kahei said, beaming with happiness.
"Boo." Yeojin sulked.
You started slow, as your shaft slowly disappeared inside Kahei’s body. The sensation of her vaginal walls clamping down tightly with your cock nearly made you climax. You noticed Kahei’s body is trembling, since it is her first time, she is still adapting to your size. You moved your body in a piston-like motion, and her body reacted every time your cock scrapes her insides. It was painful at first, but soon pain turns into pleasure. Her body finally accepted you and your energetic cock.
“This is completely different than using my hands…” Kahei moaned while you continued to pleasure her with no signs of stopping.
“Vivi-unnie… It’s not fair that you hog oppa on your own…”
While you are still focused on bringing Kahei to pound town, Yeojin unleased a stealth attack on Kahei’s already stiffened nipples.
“This is what you get for leaving me out from the mix.”
You couldn’t stop yourself from moving your hips, nor could you stop Yeojin’s relentless assault onto Kahei, so you just leave her doing her own thing while you focus on making her as pleasurable as possible.
“Two at the same time is too much…” Kahei was overwhelmed by pleasure from two sources. Electricity sparked from her head to toes, a sensation she never achieved by her mere fingers. This can only be obtained by someone who she loves, who she wanted all.
And that is you.
The constant pounding, the moaning sounds of pleasures added with Kahei’s fazed yet satisfied expressions made you reached climax in no time.
“Kahei… I’m cumming!”
Instinctively, her legs wrapped around your waist, locking you into [position to prevent you from releasing anywhere except her insides. Waves and waves of guilty pleasure released inside her already warm body as her body responded with spasms of happiness.
She accepted all of you without wasting a single drop outside.
“So, this is what real sex feels like…” Kahei murmured. “I think I can get used to this after all…”
After uttering those words, Kahei collapsed onto the bed.
“Kahei? Kahei are you okay?”
No respond. She has been knocked out by your intense session while your member is STILL inside her.
You pulled out your soften shaft from her body. Streaks of white liquid leaked out from her vagina as the huge amount you deposited into her finally overflowed.
It sure is tiresome, it’s even more tiresome than that time you participated in a triathlon. But you saw Kahei’s expression.
Although she has been knocked out cold, but you can see a faint smile appeared on her face. She has been fulfilled, both physically and mentally. Her satisfied expression makes this all worth it.
Just as you are admired your work of art, Yeojin pinned you down on the bed and stuffed her mouth full of your cock.
“Yeojin, wait! I’m still sensitive, I just finished one round you know?”
“Bu you told me I’m next! This filthy cock of yours needs some cleaning, be grateful I’m doing this to you alright?” Yeojin beamed.
She skilfully licked your shaft from the base to the tip, cleaning up every single inch of it spotlessly. She is making sure that your member is ready for another round of intense love making. It’s almost like she is casting a spell onto you, your member became erect and regained its vigour after her treatment.
“You are too easy, oppa~” Yeojin mocked. “I already know your weak spots already, so just surrender yourself to me, would ya?”
“I already know your weak spots already… Weak spots already… Weak spots already…”
That line irritates you.
The fact that she thinks she got the hold of you just after one encounter is extremely annoying, Plus, Yeojin corrupted your best friend, Kahei to a degree that she can never be as pure as she was, ever again. Sure, you and Kahei had the bare minimum of sexual encounters, but that was all virtual.
To think that the adorable Kahei you know has transformed into this lustful version of herself is unforgivable.
UNFORGIVABLE.
You glanced at Kahei’s direction. She is still in her own dreamland. Now you don’t need to refrain yourself about using vulgar language anymore. Your blood is boiling with anger. The only thing on your mind right now is to give Yeojin the treatment she deserves.
Punishment.
You shoved Yeojin out of the way.
“Who the fuck do you think you are?” You yelled. Yeojin is already partially naked, she removed all her clothing except for that miniskirt when you and Kahei were going down just now. Because of that, it was easy for you to handle Yeojin like a toy, which is what you intended to do. You lifted her voluptuous ass facing in front of you, as you are ready to ravage that gaping hole of hers.
Unsurprisingly, Yeojin was not bothered by your words. In fact, it had the opposite effect. She was getting aroused.
“What’s the matter oppa? Can’t wait any longer? Come on…”
“Shut up!”
You slapped Yeojin’s ass cheeks. Red marks appeared, a stark contrast with her pale skin.
“Know your place! You are just a needy bitch who begs for sex. Why the fuck would I consider you as my partner anyway?”
Those words clearly hurt Yeojin’s pride.
“But I am more experienced than unnie…”
Without letting her finish her words, you thrust your cock into her hole with full force, no holding back.
“Hnngh! You’re so big… And thick! How can it be this thick?” Yeojin gasped.
“Still talking? Fine, I’ll fuck your brains out until you shut up already!”
You continued to ravage that tiny body of hers. Yeojin moaned with joy every time you plunge your thick cock into her body and filling her up.
Her walls tightened every time you move, she is not letting you go until you climaxed with her.
At this point Yeojin finally stopped talking, unintelligible noises and moans is the only form of communication she knows as she has been fucked crazy.
Or so you think.
You nearly reached your limit, as you prepare to unleash your third load of the day.
But then Yeojin noticed. She wants the same treatment as her unnie does. She wants you seed to be unleashed all inside her. Couldn’t hold back her true intentions, she finally yelled out her request.
“Oppa… Shoot it all inside me! Inseminate me with your thick cum and make me all yours!!”
Under normal circumstances this should make up reach your peak immediately, can you even imagine Kahei saying this to you?
But not this time.
This is supposed to be a punishment, a rehabilitation of hers to know her own place. What kind of punishment is that if she is having pleasure and gets all she wants?
But just as she is about to reach her peak, you promptly stopped your movements, denying her orgasm. What goes around comes around, I guess. She did that to Kahei, and now it’s time to let her taste her own medicine.
You pulled out your cock that is just about to erupt a second ago. Yeojin’s face full of disappointment and disbelief.
“But… But why oppa?” Tears nearly poured out from her eyes.
But that doesn’t work on you.
“If you want it, beg for it.” You declared. “Beg for it like you mean it.”
She quickly followed your instructions.
Yeojin laid down with her front facing your way. She begs for your attention as she spreads her labia wide open for you.
“Please… Please shoot all your hot, thick semen inside me! Breed me and impregnate me as you wish! Do whatever you want to me…” The usual chippy and cheerful Yeojin has disappeared.
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The only thing left on her mind is wanting you to put a child inside her.
“Well said, Yeojin.” You lifted her lower body. “But you forgot one important thing, YOU ARE JUST A TOY FOR ME.”
Once again you plunged your hardened cock into her, but not the one that she requested for.
“A… Anal??” A brand-new sensation gushed through her body as your member slid in and out from her butthole.
“You will never-ever get the same treatment as Kahei, you hear that?” You continued your movements while ignoring Yeojin’s refusal. “Kahei is the only one I cared about, and you will always be just a tool for me, got it?”
“Y… Yes oppa…” Yeojin’s vision began to blur. She claimed to have a lot of experience, but never with anal sex. Your treatment is so severe that her tiny body couldn’t take it anymore. Her body began to loosen up, her eyes rolled up while her tongue is sticking out.
Finally, you reached your peak and ejaculated all your semen inside her hole. Although it is the third shot of the day, the amount you deposited into her body is still that much. Yeojin’s body shivers with pleasure while she pants for air.
Perhaps finally Yeojin had learnt her lesson.
“You are going to shit white tomorrow, you know that?”
But there is no response.
“Yeojin?”
She is still breathing, thank God. But the rough sex you gave her has completely knocked her out.
Experienced my ass.
You looked around. Two beautiful girls lying on the bed, sleeping soundly because of you.
What a sight to behold.
Fatigue finally catches onto you, as you collapsed onto the bed and slowly drifted into slumberland…
A few hours later…
“W… What time is it?”
You finally woke up. I guess after a few consecutive ejaculations, you finally reached your limit and passed out like the two girls.
You felt a soft sensation on your right hand.
“Hmm?” You squeezed.
“Hello, sleepy head.”
Kahei’s…voice?
She is lying down next to you, snuggling up cosily AROUND YOU.
Also, your hand is on her ass.
“Hey, are you done touching?” She sneered.
“I mean… No. Of course.” You joked.
“… Pervert.”
You glanced at the wall clock, it is almost dawn. Yeojin is still sleeping soundly. I guess you really messed her up big time. Perhaps she will finally learn her lesson for good and stop being such a cheeky little brat.
“Jason…you told Yeojin that I’m the only one you cared about. Is that true?” Kahei said while raising her eyebrows in classic Gowon fashion.
“Wait, you heard us? I thought you passed out!”
“Well, anyone would be awake after all that loud noise you two made.”
Figures.
But now it is not the time for jokes or punchlines. This is the perfect moment for you to declare your feelings to her. If you don’t do it now, you might never have the chance again.
“Kahei.” You looked her right into her eyes.
“I like you. I liked you since out school days, but I never had the courage to told you so because I don’t want to jeopardize your dreams of becoming a singer…”
“Really?” Kahei chuckled. “I wish you’d told me sooner.”
“Why?” You asked.
“Do you still remember that field trip we had? The one we went to the beach?”
Oh right. Secondary school.
-flashback-
You and Kahei go way back. That year you are lucky enough to be drafted into the same class as hers. Although she is not the most active and outgoing member of the class, she still exudes a kind of motherly aura, as she always cares about people around her.
You two rarely talked to each other, but one fateful encounter propelled you into her orbit.
You class organized an outing to a nearby beach, something about camping and making memories, you couldn’t remember the details. But there was one activity that was so memorable, it sculpted as one of your precious core memories.
For some reason the guys in your class wanted to play dodgeball. So, your teacher at the time compromised and split the class into groups. You quickly realized that one of the classmates from your opponent’s team was none other than Kahei herself. You probably assumed that she would suck at sports, since she doesn’t strike you as a sporty gal.
But surprisingly, when her team was falling behind, she started acting as the de facto team captain, and started giving out commands.
“Attack, ATTACK!!”
It’s like a warzone out there.
Finally, her team overwhelmed yours and won the championship match.
All thanks to Kahei.
What an interesting individual, you thought. You want to know more about her, but you need to act fast.
You carefully approach her after the game and started a conversation.
“Hiya.”
“Hi.”
She was taken aback by your sudden introduction. But you pressed on.
“So… You played dodgeball before?”
“Not really, this is my first time.”
“I see.”
And so, the conversation goes on back and forth. It didn’t matter that this is your first real conversation, you two clicked instantly and chat about a lot of subjects.
The teacher’s voice let you two snapped back to reality as it was close to night-time already.
“Well, it was nice talking with you. I’ll see you soon.” Kahei smiled.
You never believed in love at first sight, but her smile just melted your heart.
A surge of courage led you made a bold decision.
“Hey! Kahei…right? We are on the beach anyways, you want to watch the sunrise later?”
“Umm…sure? But can you crawl up that early?” She smiled again.
Butterflies.
“Of course, I can!” A man’s pride is something needed to be protected. “5 am?”
“5 am it is.”
And thus, it begins.
-end of flashback-
“Of course, I remembered the sunrise! I still can’t figure it out where I got the courage to ask you out, Kahei.”
“I didn’t know why I accepted your invitation either.” She chuckled. “Perhaps its fate.”
“Maybe. But back to the point…you haven’t given me an answer, yet you know?”
You basically confessed to Kahei, but you two are immersed in your own flashback, she didn’t have a chance to respond.
“Well…”
Gulp.
“Close your eyes first.” Kahei said.
“But wh-”
“Just do it, okay?”
You closed your eyes, waiting for her response.
A soft sensation landed on your lips, intertwined with emotions and love.
You opened your eyes, and you saw that familiar smile again. That smile that made you fall in love with.
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“Take care of me from now on, okay?”
“Of course, Kahei.”
A string of line poured through the window, the sun is rising as you two finally cleared up your relationship.
“Well, want to see the sunrise again?” Once again you gave the invitation out.
“Why not do it?”
Just as you two getting dressed and ready to go out, that familiar booming voice strikes back.
“NO FAIRRRRRRRR!!!”
It seems that Yeojin has emerged from her slumber.
“Ya oppa, I heard everything! What about me? Why didn’t you even consider me?”
What’s up with girls pretending to sleep and eavesdropping these days? But since your decision is official, Kahei managed to stand up for herself.
“Yeojin.” Kahei said firmly. “I know that it would be impossible for Jason and me together without your help, and I will give you credit for that. But there is only one person who can be his girlfriend, and that is me.”
Facts.
“But unnie… What happened between me and Jason-oppa is something I never experience before…”
Again, facts. Maybe because she was the only child in her family that made her a spoiled brat.
“IT FELT SO GOOD!”
Wait, what?
“I want to try something even more extreme with Jason-oppa…couldn’t we find a compromise?”
It seems that your plan has just backfired spectacularly.
“Well… It seems fair that you get some kind of compensation. Alright, occasionally is fine.”
Why in the world would you agree with her, Kahei?
“Since that problem has been resolved… Let’s go see the sunrise together!”
You don’t the right to voice out your opinion in this situation. But what guy could turn down this offer anyways? The three of you went outside just in time to see the sunrise. It’s been a while since you had the liberty to enjoy something that basic as sunrise. But now you are not alone. You have your girlfriend on your side… As well as Yeojin, wherever she fits in the picture.
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Kahei is clearly enjoying herself. The same warm sunlight that shined upon you years ago has made a comeback, and it is better than ever. The question that has haunted her for years, the unsolved mystery between you and herself has been resolved. A sigh of relief puffed away with all her troubles, gone.
And now it is your job to fulfil her for the rest of your lives.
Meanwhile, Yeojin whispered some breaking news in your ears.
“Oppa… I just texted everyone in our group chat about your existence. They will give you a welcome party at our practice room as soon as we go back, isn’t that exciting?!”
And with that, your harem life with all 12 LOONA members has just begun.
The able-bodied Heejin, the endearing Hyunjin, the caretaking Haseul, the adventurous Yeojin, the lovable Kahei, the chic Jungeun, the dorky Jinsol, the sunshine Yerim, the warm hearted Sooyoung, the cutesy Jiwoo, the princess Chaewon and the ice queen herself Hyeju.
Dear me.
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oodlyenough · 1 month
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apollo justice: ace attorney thoughts
over the weekend I finished playing AA4 so I wanted to try to put my thoughts in order. much to think about etc
spoilers for the whole game obv, but i haven't played AA5 or AA6 yet so any mention of those are speculation lol
I had heard some pretty mixed reactions to AA4 and I had a lot of reservations going in. It's also probably the AA game I've played that I've been the most spoiled for, which is a shame but probably an unavoidable consequence of waiting for the port while engaging with the fandom. I don't usually like being spoiled but I think knowing the broad strokes of what to expect actually helped here. I can imagine an AU where I blitzed through the first trilogy and onto 4 with no idea of what was coming and being... very upset and disappointed by the direction it took. Having several months to brace for things like Phoenix's disbarment, the 7 year gap, Trucy, etc definitely softened those blows and made me more amenable to them than I would've been otherwise.
Cases
For the most part I thought the puzzle solving was good and the pacing was solid. The puzzles were mostly challenging enough to be satisfying to solve but not so challenging as to be infuriating, and I don't think I needed a walkthrough at all. 4-1 is one of the best tutorial cases in the franchise so far (though I'd give the edge to 3-1) and 4-4 was a really cool finale. The middle two cases tbh I also found fairly charming, and there's usually a least one case in the middle that seems to drag forever, so that was a pleasant surprise. I played Investigations 1 right before this, and I thought both the puzzles and pacing in that game were frankly horrible, so AA4 won a lot of points just with that.
I did think Turnabout Corner and Serenade would be more relevant in the grand scheme of things. The half-spoilers I knew had me expecting a much bigger web of conspriacy than we ended up with -- I expected it to be more than coincidence that Phoenix got hit by a car, more than coincidence that the Borginian egg coccoons are related to poison etc ... like... I fully assumed this was going to tie into the atroquinine plot. But I guess not ... ? Lol
Characters
The new main cast are all very likable, despite my initial reluctance to have a new main cast to begin with. Klavier was an interesting change of pace as prosecutor, in that he wasn't particularly antagonistic outside of the court, nor was he particularly preoccupied with winning, but he was still fun and challenging enough to face off against. Trucy was fun and delightfully bonkers as all assistants should be. Apollo's longsuffering exasperation was hilarious. Ema is the BEST I loved having her as the detective I wish she was there all the time.
I loved Beanix, for the most part. I can see why he rubs some people the wrong way, and tbh I'm glad his last canon outing isn't ... this. But I didn't find him wildly out of character, or at least, when he was feeling "out of character" vs the trilogy it made sense given the intervening events. I also thought it was fun to see him from the outside and see what a galaxybrain 5d chess master he is. I do wish we'd gotten to see more genuine moments of him with Trucy.
Kristoph was fun as a villain, though I have to say fandom led me to believe he was much more of a mastermind puppeteer than he seemed to be in reality. I was expecting a whole decade worth of conspiracies! Instead he fucked up once and struggled to fix it for seven years, lol. I also found the Kristoph/Phoenix relationship a) very fascinating, b) not really what I'd been led to believe by fandom (shocker). I like the canon more though -- I like that instead of being a retread of the Dollie betrayal-from-someone-you-love it was two guys who hate each other being forced to play nice as part of their own schemes.
Criticism
I think it's fairly obvious AA4 was meant to be a soft reboot of the series, to pivot away from the trilogy cast and set up our new heroes in Apollo, Trucy, and I guess Klavier. I think this is probably the entire explanation behind Maya and Edgeworth (and others but lbr those are the big two)'s conspicuous absence... but that doesn't make their absence any less conspicuous. I can squint and forgive neither of them being there when Phoenix is accused of murder, even though I find that insane. I can squint around Maya maybe being off in Kurain during the Enigmar trial, even though I think they could've used a line of dialogue to explain it. But then we started playing past-Phoenix for huge portions of investigation and that started to fall apart for me. Sure, maybe he's pushing his friends away because he's depressed, or maybe he wants to keep Maya out of things because he thinks it's dangerous, or whatever -- you could at least throw in a line or two saying as much. Not mentioning them at all and setting AA4 so closely after AA3, where Phoenix fell through a bridge to save Maya and Edgeworth chartered a private jet, just feels ridiculous.
I also think, at the end of the day, the story here was focused on and pivoting around Phoenix. The core question of the game is "what the hell happened to/is up with Phoenix Wright?" I love Phoenix, so that alone isn't a negative -- except that I think it meant Apollo, Klavier and even Trucy felt underwritten. Trucy and Klavier have such personal stakes in the unfolding events with the Gramaryes and Kristoph, but we only spend a little time and hints on how that might influence Trucy, who mostly falls into the AA weird girl pattern of brushing off major trauma instantly. (Maya got this a lot too in the original trilogy.)
Klavier ... I like Klavier, but they did not do much with him. How did he feel about Kristoph going to jail? He doesn't seem to hold it against Apollo, which is uh, noble, but perhaps not believable. He says he values honesty and truth but do we know why?
Apollo, likable as he was, felt like a passenger in his "own" game, rather than a major character. He doesn't even solve much of the stuff happening in the big overarching mystery -- he is Phoenix's avatar in court, presenting evidence and clues Phoenix left for him. Unlike Trucy and Klavier, who I am pretty sure take a back seat from now on, I guess Apollo still has two more games to try and flesh himself out ... lol but I also know fan reception of those two is not great, so my expectations there are minimal.
Overall
A really solid game that I enjoyed playing, though I can see why it's controversial and not some people's favourite, if they really loved the trilogy. I think it's debatable whether this was the best/only way to continue the series after AA3. And I am excited to read and write a billion 7 year gap fics now.
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bjornswoman · 9 months
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Nemesis's wish
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Author's note: Hello everyone! I'm back with this fic which is my favorite so far. It was supposed to be shorter but eventually it couldn't, so this isn't the end about these two characters. This fic is the first of a trilogy (hopefully). Anyway, thank you for your support and till next time stay safe and have fun.
Pairing: Ubbe x Reader.
Genre: Mini!series, drama, angst, slight romance.
Summary: You were forced to marry a man you despise.
Warnings: Mentions of cheating and pregnancy, mentions of divorce, jealousy and strong language.
My enemy and me masterlist |
Life had always been a challenge for you. And your wedding couldn't be any different. The worst part of it was that your husband, the man you were supposed to spend the rest of your life with, was horrible and you hated him.
Well, horrible wasn't a word people would use to describe Ubbe Ragnarsson. They preferred to call him loyal, reasonable, honorable and names like these, but for you he was horrible. A man you were forced to waste your life on his bloody side.
Your relationship was almost non-existent. Ubbe tried to have a deal with you or even approach you somehow but you wanted nothing with him. So he was never around the house.
You knew that he had affairs with other women, something that he had never admitted. It worked for you until you were with child. His child. It was a miracle that it happened. You almost couldn't believe it but it was the truth. After all, people were talking about you two and this child came to end the rumors around your marriage.
You hated Ubbe but you loved more than anything and anyone in the world your son. He was blonde and his eyes had the same blue as his father's. He resembled him a lot but you didn't care. Your baby was so peaceful, unlike his father and his brothers who were always too loud.
Thankfully for you, most of the year he was not around the town, because he was raiding in the spring and was back in the winter. The unlucky part was that winter was approaching and that meant that Ubbe would be back within some days.
It was like your son had notice your moody self all these days and he was upset as well. He would cry all time and he wouldn't sleep easily, like usual.
Your hands were wrapped around the toddler and you brought him on your lap trying to calm him down.
"Come on baby. Relax please. Just do it for mummy please." You muttered to your son as you tried to calm him down. You stood up from the bed, walking through the room holding the baby on your hands.
You didn't understand that somebody was watching as you were whispering to your son his lullaby. The one you sang every night. The one which could only calm him down, but lately even this specific one couldn't work on him.
"Here, give him to me. He will be delighted when he will see me." Said the guy coming out of the shadows, scaring you so much that you clenched the poor baby on your breasts. You turned your face and saw the person you didn't want to see at all.
Ubbe was standing next to you waiting to have his son. You wouldn't let him lay a hand on him, but you did when you saw the little boy smiling at the sight of his father.
"I thought you wouldn't be back until next week. You came quite early." You were saying as you were placing the boy on his hands. When the baby was on his hands, you took some steps away and placed your hands in front of your chest.
Ubbe's blue eyes were on his son smiling and playing with him. When you finished talking, his eyes left the baby who was almost sleeping on the hands of his father and turned to you. Eyes as blue as you had never seen them before, as beautiful as never before. Or you had never noticed them like that before.
A smirk formed on his face before he started his own words.
"Much to your displeasure, we managed to raid the Christian cities in less time and we decided to come back before the first snowflakes fall." He replied to you and left the sleepy baby on its crandle. The direction of his face returned to you and he placed his hands before his chest, as you did before. You were looking at each other for some seconds without talking, but Ubbe was the one to break the silence. "I didn't think that you would be here when I'd be back home. I was expecting you to take the boy and disappear." His voice was softer than before. Probably because the little boy was sleeping peacefully inside the crandle.
You chuckled when you heard him talking. You were asking that same thing to yourself. You could do that. After all, you were thinking about that all of the months of your pregnancy. You even tried to scheme, but you ended up doing nothing.
To be fair, life wasn't that bad next to Ubbe. At least lately it was quite better and after seeing him back safe and healthy you felt happier and quite more relieved than before. You couldn't find the reason behind all this. The only thing you knew for sure was that you felt strange.
"I thought the same thing, but it wasn't easy to run away when your mother had her guards watching me like hawks." You replied smiling and he smiled as well for a moment. Then, his eyes went darker. The darker shade of blue that you had ever seen in your life.
"I'd never let you go anywhere with my son. You could run away, go wherever, but little Ragnar stays here with me." His words were harsher than any other time before. You felt yourself getting confused. Ubbe had never talked this way to you before this night. He would leave this house and wouldn't talk to you. When he did talk to you he was kind most of the times. He moved closer to you and one his hands made it on your chin.
You moved away from his grip on your face and looked at him all mad. For one moment you thought that you could feel something else than hate and anger for him and he had to destroy these feelings.
"Command your men, not me. And don't be so sure that you will find your son here tomorrow when you would come back from your whores." Your words came out of your mouth like they were drops of poison. You could see his face transforming again. He went mad. If eyes killed, you would be dead by now. If Ubbe was another man, you would be dead by now.
His hands grabbed your neck and he pushed your body on the wall behind you using his own one. You were trapped between him and the wall with his hand around your throat. He could kill you if he wanted to. You were right there at his mercy looking at him angry like before. Looking at him like you weren't afraid of what he could do to you.
"I could kill you for that and nobody would guess it was me." Ubbe whispered to you. His angry eyes were burning your face. You didn't hold back. Your eyes were looking straight at his eyes.
"Go on then." Your voice came out as a whisper due to the pressure on your troat causing by his larger hand.
"Don't test my patience, woman." With that last whisper right above your left ear, Ubbe set you free from his strong grip and walk to your shared bed. He laid on it.
"My name is (Y/N)." You were saying within pauses as you were trying to catch your breath.
"I can recall your name."
"Then use it when you are referring to me!" You raised your voice this time, forgetting about the toddler sleeping next to the bed.
Your son's crying came right after your yelling. You rushed to him and grabbed him from the crandle before Ubbe could touch him.
"You hate me so much that you didn't even care for our son." He said as he sat on the edge of the bed, watching you holding and trying to calm down the crying baby.
"That's not true!" You whisper–yelled looking straight at Ubbe. "This boy is the best thing that has happened in my life since the fucking day I was forced to fucking marry you!" Tears were dropping from your eyes without your notice. "You claim that I hate you, yes I do hate you, but not more than you hate me! You are horrible to me! The mighty Ubbe Ragnarsson who is fair and reasonable to everyone else treats his wife horrible! I get it that you loved that slave girl and you wanted her, but it insults me." You said and wiped away the tears from your face. After that, you held the baby closer to your body and you caressed his hair and then his back. "Go. Find her like any other night. Hopefully, she might be with child and your mother will free us both." You spoke calmer than before and after this you turned to your baby. His teary eyes were looking at yours. "I'm here, my little warrior." You spoke softly at him and started singing only for him.
Ubbe didn't say a word back at you as you were trying to calm the kid so it could sleep. The only thing he did, was to leave from the house and slam the door behind him. When he left, you let the tears stream down from your face.
That night Ubbe didn't come back home, but it wasn't unusual for him. He wouldn't spend the nights at home when he was back. Probably he was drinking with his brothers at the Great Hall and then he was beding that Margrethe girl.
You didn't sleep more than two hours and not because Ubbe wasn't there, but because of your boy's crying. He would wake up every two hours due to fever.
The day was downing when you heard knocks on your door. You opened just to find Hvitserk holding your drunk husband. You moved your head unimpressed and opened your door fully so Hvitserk could move Ubbe on the bed. Little Ragnar was on your hands crying the whole time.
"Is - Is everything alright?" Hvitserk asked quite uncomfortably and brought his hand at the back of his neck.
"No, but it is going to be." You replied at him, caressing the head of your calm now baby who was sleeping. You tried to force a small smile on your face, but you failed as it was expected.
"Why is my nephew so upset today?" Hvitserk was speaking as his hand was caressing your son's blonde head.
"Your nephew has some fever and he is more cranky than usual." You said to your brother-in-law and your lips met your son's forehead. When you felt his decreased temperature you smiled. "But, he is quite colder than before so that's a good sign." You said again and left the boy in the crandle. After that you moved to your kitchen to offer some of your newly baked bread to Hvitserk. He admired your skills in cooking and you appreciated that. "I baked this some time ago. The little monster wouldn't let me sleep." You said when you offered him some of your handmade bread.
"He always calms down when his father is around and don't try to deny it." He pointed out with his mouth full of bread.
You gazed at Ubbe, then at the toddler and at Ubbe again. It was true. Little Ragnar adored his father, it was obvious. Ubbe had a unique ability to charm him, as everyone else. Those son of Ragnar Lothbrok had this ability in their blood.
"I was - I was not going to deny it. I admit that my son adores his father. Everyone adores him." You turned to Hvitserk.
"Everyone except from you."
"What?"
His words caught you off guard. It felt strange when you heard these words coming out of the mouth of a third person. Not so due to the sound of them, but because after the birth of your child people assumed that your relationship with your husband was better. The relationship that a husband would have with his wife. They believed that you grew to love each other and you let them believe so. You wanted them to believe that. You acted like a loving couple in front of others and you even agreed that neither his family should know the real. They seemed relieved and convinced that you finally loved each other.
Hvitserk's eyes landed on your face. You were upset, he could tell by the look of your eyes. He left the empy plate in front of him and concentrated on you.
"Don't act like the loving wife you pretend to be to me. I know better (Y/N). My brother isn't a good liar or pretender. Plus, he spoke a lot last night. Luckily, it was just me there to hear." Hvitserk spoke to you and your eyes met the darkness that covered Ubbe's figure laying on the bed. Before you could even form a word to defend yourself, Hvitserk spoke again. "He was talking about little Ragnar all the time when we were back on the battlefield, you know. He even talked for you a couple of times. It slipped from his lips that he thought that you prayed to Gods for him to die there and I acted like I didn't hear that." He confessed whispering and you felt a tear threatening your left eye. You fought that tear back, you wouldn't let yourself cry in front of Hvitserk. You had cried in front of Ubbe before, but only in front of him because for a strange reason it felt really hard to keep them in.
As for Ubbe's beliefs about your false prayers. Even if you hated him, you would never pray such a thing for the father of your child.
"I - I never - I didn't—" You stopped for a moment to catch your running breath. You closed your eyes for a second and then you re-opened them and looked right at Hvitserk. "I would never pray such a thing. Ubbe and I are whatever we are, but he is still the father of my baby. This boy right there needs his father and whatever bullshit I have told him and he went mad tonight, I wouldn't leave, not after I gave birth to Ragnar. To be honest if it wasn't for him, probably I wouldn't be here right now, but I don't thing that this matters after all." You said honestly.
Hvitserk run his fingers through his messy hair and stretched. After that he took a deep breath.
"If you wanted to leave (Y/N), you would be gone by now. You had your chances before Ragnar but you never did." He spoke and you frowned. You had never thought things that way. But Hvitserk's words were truth.
It had always been a threat that you wouldn't be there when Ubbe would be back home after the raid, but you had never actually done that. You waited for him even when you didn't want him to come home just yet. You caught yourself bringing him up on your prayers just to make sure that Gods would keep him safe, but away for a little longer.
You didn't know what you should have answered him. On the other hand, he didn't need an answer. Hvitserk, as a third person and outside of all this madness, he knew the reason behind both of your behaviors, Ubbe's and yours.
Hvitserk smiled at you and stood up from tbe wooden chair he was sitting. Before he lay his foot outside your house, Hvitserk turned to you.
"It's not a crime to admit that you care for him. Even if you don't want to see it yourself, you have feelings for Ubbe that are not just hatred and anger. You don't need to argue or convince me differently, not me." Hvitserk spoke after his gaze had landed on his brother just to make sure that he wouldn't hear his words. He didn't wait for an answer of yours, he walked through the way that led to the door, but first he looked back at you again. "My advice is only one and hear me for once. I know I am not the wisest person on Midgard, not even close to that, but you have to believe in me just for this once. Don't do anything stupid and let Ubbe go away. You are reaching the end of the line. Both of you are on the edge. You will regret letting him go. Try to think what you want and if you realize that you feel something other than hatred, change. That's my advice to you sweet (Y/N)." Those were Hvitserk's last words. After them he stormed out of the house and left you sinking in your thoughts.
They couldn't be truth, Hvitserk's words. This would be madness. You hated Ubbe and that was it. You were waiting the moment when this marriage would be over. You were living for this same moment. Hvitserk's words confused and made you reconsider everything you thought you felt before this moment.
You couldn't like this guy even a little bit. That couldn't happen. Never. The only good feelings which were trying to form were due to the fact that Ubbe was the father of your son — the only happiness you got from your marriage to your husband was this child. Your miracle baby.
You gazed over to your son and after to his father. You shook your head to avoid your endless thoughts.
You hated Ubbe and wanted to divorce him that was the situation. It wouldn't change. It couldn't change. You waited a very long time to be free from this man, so you wouldn't change your mind just like that, because Hvitserk tried to push some feelings that you didn't even have for his brother.
You stood from your seat and grabbed your basket. You had to clear your mind from all the thinking and going to the market seemed a good solution. Before you leave, you checked oj your sleeping baby and glanced at Ubbe just once.
When you made it out of the door and walked through the streets of Kattegat, people were looking at you suspiciously and you even cought a couple of them whospering to each other as you passed them. At first, you thought that it was a usual day and all this was normal, because you were Ubbe Ragnarsson's wife or something like that. You started to get suspicious when it didn't stop and their stares were persistent on you.
You tried to find a familiar face to ask about the situation, but you weren't that lucky.
After you bought some things you needed you headed back home, where you found Ubbe playing with little Ragnar.
Them playing together — more like Ubbe tickling Ragnar and Ragnar laughing — wasn't a picture you got to see every day. You felt a strange feeling in your heart. It was like a bird flying inside your chest though it didn't last long, because Ubbe's voice made you feel like your usual self towards him.
"Where have you been?" The tone of his voice was imposing and demanding, like he was questioning you. When you heard him you felt quite angry, but you didn't want to cause one more scene in front of your son.
You moved a little bit from the door and left your basket on the table.
"I have been in the market." You spoke as you left your cloak on one of the wooden chairs. As you were speaking, your hands were organizing your kitchen and the stuff you had bought.
When Ubbe heard your answer clicked his tongue inside his mouth, a sound that annoyed you very much.
"What a stupid excuse to leave your child all alone." He said bitterly. Something which made you to turn and look at him. Ubbe had placed your son back inside his crib and was at the other side of the table whick was standing as an obstacle between you and him.
Ubbe was leaned on the wall and his hands were crossed in front of his chest.
You took a deep breath and tried to remain calm for once more because of your child. It wasn't good for your son growing up in an environment where his parents were fighting all the time.
"I didn't leave him all alone, I left him with his father." You responded and leaned your body on the cupboards and placed your hands in front of your chest, like he did before.
"I was fucking sleeping and he was alone! Alone (Y/N)! Anything could have happened to him!" Ubbe yelled as he came even closer and stood inches away from the table.
You closed your eyes and tried to keep your patience.
"I am telling you he wasn't alone, he was with you. You would hear him crying if anything happened." You reasoned angry in low tone of voice, but Ubbe wasn't a bit pleased by your answer. In fact, he was even more angry.
The crying of your baby stopped Ubbe from saying whatever he was going to. You passed from him and grabbed your son from his bed, trying to calm him down.
Your lips placed on his forehead to check on his body temperature and when you knew that he was hot you placed a kiss on his forehead.
"He has fever." You muttered to Ubbe without looking at him.
"What?" His voice sounded different from before when he was talking to you. He sounded surprised and scared.
Undoubtedly, Ubbe loved his son and was an excellent father for him. This child was all he dreamed about. Ragnar just had the wrong mother.
"How long?" He asked again and this time he was close to you caressing the back of your boy.
It was the first time he was this close to you and you two weren't forced to pretend that you wanted it. This time both of you were anxious about your son's health.
"Since last night." You answered him and finally looked at his worried blue eyes. It wasn't the first time you noticed how lovely they were, but it felt like it was. Ubbe was looking back at you, the exact way you looked at him. "Here, hold him for a while." You told him and placed the boy on his hands.
"Where are you going?"
"I'll fetch some water and a wet cloth. They will help."
Within a minute you were both sitting on your shared bed. Ubbe was holding the kid and you were holding the wet piece of cloth on your son's forehead.
"He seems quite better now" Ubbe pointed out and you agreed, taking the cloth away from your baby's sleeping form.
After that, both of you stood from the bed and Ubbe placed your son back inside his crib and both you stayed there looking at the baby for some time.
It felt strange and weird being that close to him and not fighting. When you stopped looking at the baby, you went back to your kitched and he sat on a chair looking around uncomfortable.
Both of you felt uncomfortable and weird around each other for not reason. It wasn't like you didn't know each other, but you felt like strangers to each other indeed. Like you weren't the ones who were fighting some time ago.
"(Y/N)." Ubbe was the first to break the silence between the two of you and you turned to face him.
"Yes, Ubbe." You muttered.
"I—"
He didn't even get to form a proper word when loud knocks on the door startled both of you. You walked pass the table and opened the door. When you did, you met a very worried version of Hvitserk Ragnarsson. You hadn't seen his this way ever again before.
"Brother, I want to talk to you about something." Hvitserk spoke quickly, without greeting you. Ubbe's expression changed when he saw the one his brother had on his face and you were curious yourself, but you didn't ask anything. "Privately." Hvitserk added and glanced at you.
Ubbe stood up from the chair he was sitting and walked to the door.
"If anything happens with the child, go to the Great Hall." Ubbe told you.
"I know." You whispered before he close the door behind him.
It wasn't the first time he left like that. Actually, those times were countless and you felt nothing about it, you didn't really matter where Ubbe was, until this moment. You could feel the agony inside your chest. Your heart was pounding in your chest and your hands were sweating. You had a bad feeling. Or you were just sick. Maybe you had caught the cold from your baby.
That must have been. It was the only reasonable reason about your feelings.
Fortunately, a soft knock on your door stopped your thoughts and you rushed to open. When you opened, you noticed Torvi's worried look on you and frowned.
"Come in." You were the faster one to start talking, as you opened the door wider for her to come in the house. When she was inside, you closed the door behind her.
"I heard that a certain someone is sick and came to help you. I know how it is to have a sick boy. Hali would get sick almost every winter until he was three." She spoke and you smiled warmly.
"He is getting better now. I hope he will be fine in a couple of days." You said smiling, watching your little boy sleeping. But your smile died when you looked at Torvi again.
She had the same worried expression as when she stood outside your house.
"Is everything alright?" You asked as you moved to your kitchen to prepare some tea for the both of you.
"Well, I didn't come only for Ragnar here, I came to see you, too. You are barely around lately." Torvi's voice was softer than usual, but you didn't want to think too much about it. You were just upset because Ragnar was sick that was all. There was nothing suspicious.
But, on the other hand, too many of coincidences were standing in your way in one day. If you knew one thing, it would be that you didn't believe in coincidences.
"Yes, I know, but Ragnar was sick and you know how I am when is time for my husband to come back from raiding." You spoke and placed a cup of hot tea in the table.
When you looked at Torvi, she was still standing. You motioned her to sit opposite of you and she did it.
You didn't speak much of Ubbe, or the state of your marriage, but Torvi knew. Every member of his family knew the truth about you. They just didn't speak about it. Even Ivar, the brother who was known for his poisonous words, didn't say anything ever, at least not when you were around, and you appreciated that.
Torvi didn't answer you. She was just staring the table speechless which was suspicious. It felt like she knew something and she came to you to tell you, but for some reason which you didn't know she was saying it.
"Torvi." You said her name and leaned closer to her, placing your hand closer to hers. Her eyes met yours and at that moment you knew for sure that something was up. "I can sense that something is wrong, tell me what it is." You spoke again and she her eyes left you for once again. "Torvi, tell me." Your tone was firmer.
You saw her tensing and closing her eyes, then opening them again. Torvi took her hand away from yours and you felt even more confused.
"Alright." She wasn't looking at you when she was speaking. Something that felt even worse. "There is something that I assume that you are not aware of and I think that is unfair for you not to know it. Probably, I am not the one to tell you that and maybe it's a mistake the fact that I am here now, but I consider you my sister and I couldn't keep it away from you." She paused for some seconds and before she started speaking her eyes reached yours. "Margrethe, you know Margrethe, right?" She asked you and you felt you mouth turning bitter at the sound of her name.
Of course you knew her. She was the mistress of your husband. The woman – the thrall girl – he loved and wanted to marry and dreamed about being with her, having the family he always wanted with her, but instead Ubbe stuck with you – the woman he despised the most.
"Are you kidding me, right now?" Your voice was more ironic than you wanted or intended it to be, but when it came to that woman you couldn't keep yourself together.
"I assume you do, considering your answer. Anyways, Margrethe is pregnant." She spilled and you felt your blood turning cold inside your veins.
For a couple minutes nothing was sounding. You couldn't think properly, or even form a proper word to say. You were horrified.
"I didn't want to say it so straightforward. I tried—"
"Who is the father?"
Both of you spoke almost at the same time.
Torvi took a deep breath and that was enough as an answer for you.
"It's been said....... she said that....... I mean......." She was trying to say that your husband was the father of her bastard child, but she couldn't find the right words about it and to be honest were there any right words about something like that?
Probably not.
"It's fine. I guessed that Ubbe is the father." You voice was calm, as you intended.
You were upset. You were angry. You felt hurt for some unknown reason. But you kept yourself together. After all, that was all you wished for to happen. Now, after Margrethe's pregnancy, his mother would approve to your divorce. People would understand. You were humiliated but took all you wanted.
Also, the looks and the whispering in the market this same day made sense. Nothing was a coincidence at the end of the day.
"Hey, aren't you happy for me?" You stood up, trying to sound happy, trying to be happy. It was all you wanted all this time and now it felt like Hel. "Torvi, Torvi, Torvi, let's not lie to each other, you know my problems with him. I have always wanted to find a getaway from this nightmare and now I am finally free to live by my own rules, without a person I hate. And wanna know something else? I knew it about them and I fucking told him to impregnate her so the queen would let us divorse. See, that's all I ever fucking wanted." Your voice was bitter and poisonous. At the end of your speech, you turned your back on Torvi and placed your hands on the counter to steady yourself.
When you did that you closed your eyes and refused by that way to let tears fall from your eyes.
"(Y/N), you don't mean that. You are just upset right now, I understand, I totally understand, but—"
"Torvi, leave me alone." You said, trying to be calm, or at least the calmer way you could be. "Please." Your voice almost gave you away. It almost broke and Torvi was clever she knew – even if you refused to admit it even to yourself – that you were hurt.
Torvi did as you asked her too, she left without speaking a word behind her. When you heard the door closing, you let yourself break.
You fall on your knees and cried worse than your baby. You cried gor something you claimed you wanted all the time you were married with this man and after he did what you told him to, you felt awful – betrayed that was it.
Two words came to your mind when you cried. Weak and stupid. That's how you called yourself and you felt that way because what you didn't want to happen and hated to even think about happening, happened. You had developed feelings for him and you hated him for that, even more. You hated that you loved him.
Hvitserk was right. Everything he told you was right, but nothing of that mattered anymore. You should have admitted and tried to do something to save the last pieces of this marriage, but now, there was nothing that could be saved.
Even if you wanted, even if you tried, Ubbe wouldn't want you. She was all he wanted all this time and this baby of hers and now he had it all. His biggest dream was becoming truth.
Your son's loud crying brought back for once more. He was your saviour after all and you owed him for that.
Your hands wrapped around his little body and tried to relax him, but it seemed impossible when you yourself was crying loudly too.
It was just the two of you now – like you craved – and it felt lonely and strange. It felt like a piece was missing and you knew damn well which piece was that. All you wanted was to leave him and live all by yourself with the only person you loved in the world, but now it was different. It was hard to let go of him and your life with him.
Only the thoughts of finally getting freed from this painful marriage made your heart ached.
You couldn't fall for him. Especially not now.
"Your father will be always there for you, Ragnar. He will always love you deeply, after all you are his firstborn son, you carry his legacy the most. It's just that you will have to grow apart from him, but that doesn't change anything. And I – I love you more than anything in this cruel world. You are my only child." You whispered leaving your tears to reach your jaw. As you were speaking, your heands were caressing your son's back and your eyes were closed. Your were trying to calm down both of you. "Also, we won't be that far. You can see him whenever you want. He and I just won't be together." You didn't know whether it was your son the one you wanted to calm with these words, or yourself. "Never forget—"
You didn't get to finish because the door opened and closed loudly and the only thing you were able to do was to turn your back at the person who entered – Ubbe. But you failed to cover your wet face. He had seen.
"What had happened? Is the kid alright?" Ubbe asked and by the sound of his voice and the way he stormed inside the house, you could say that he was upset. You could guess the reason, but you couldn't get the reason he was upset. Your wishes were coming true. You wanted to divorce with him and he wanted to marry the blonde slave girl.
"Yes. He is just a little bit upset." You spoke swiftly and gazed at your son's big blue eyes. He was just looking at you now. You smiled at him and kissed him softly on the forehead. After that, you left him inside his cradle.
"What about you?" His voice came out softer than before and almost startled you. You didn't expect him to state anything about you, it wasn't like him to care about your feelings.
Your eyes met his for the first time after you found out about the girl's pregnancy and after overthinking your complicated feelings about him.
"I will be." You mouthed quickly and walked past him, or at lest you tried to, because the man you wanted to despise like no one and nothing before stopped you by force.
His hand wrapped around your arm violently and made you stop just inches in front of him. You frowned out of anger and looked first at his hand and then at his angry face.
"What is that? You are acting weird again." He pointed out and wanted to laugh out of your frustration.
You wanted to yell — yell like a madwoman — after the news you received and his audacity to want to be treated differently. You couldn't act like anything had happened. Neither you wanted to tell him about it. If he had the guts, he would tell you himself.
"I don't get what you mean. I'm just myself like usual and apparently you are acting like yourself." Your answer and the unphased tone were enraging him more. You notice by the way his grip on your arm was tightening. "Now let me go. I have to teat my son." You tried to escape from his grip, but Ubbe didn't let you. He pulled you even closer to him. You were both pissed at each other.
Well, you weren't just pissed at him. Deep down you were hurt. He had hurt you like always, but this time — unlike all the others — the pain was piercing through your guts. This pain was something you hadn't experienced before.
"I just can't understand you and I'm fucking trying!" Ubbe let go of you and started walking in the house with his hands running through his breaded long hair. "This morning we were alright and now you are back to your annoying self — to that hateful woman who despises everything." After he finished, Ubbe turned to face you. Your face hadn't change a bit after his words.
You could feel wrath in your veins, but something bitter was there too.
"That's what you believe of me, huh? Then wanna know what I believe of you?" That last part wasn't even a serious question. You were going to tell him anyway and you were going to be harsh. "You are just as hateful, but trying to pretend that you are someone else so that people like you. You expect them to love you when you treat your wife worse than the thralls. I should not talk about that matter — your way with the thralls. You wanted to belittle me so much that—"
You stopped yourself there. You couldn't continue. You were indeed becoming hateful. For a moment Ubbe was just staring you without speaking as his words were replaying themselves inside your mind.
You had become as heartless as your father was. You treated Ubbe so low, but he wasn't better.
"That what? Why did you stopped? Maybe you understood yourself that all these nonsense you are speaking are bullshit! I fucking treat you the way you treat to me! I have never wanted to belittle you!" Ubbe was yelling — it was one of the very few times that he was so mad.
But you weren't going to hold back your tongue. You were as mad as Ubbe — if not more. You had crossed the line some times, but he was worse. He cheated on you multiple times and even impregnated his mistress.
When you heard his words, you were the one who run her hands through her hair this time. Instead of yell immediately, at first you formed an ironic smile on your face and the next thing you did was to yell.
"You belittle me every fucking night of those you are back in Norway! You are cheating on me with that slave and you even got her pregnant this time. You humiliated me! Everyone in the market was gossiping about your exploits! All Kattegat knows! If not all Norway!" You were yelling without even thinking of what you were saying. You hadn't even understood that tears were streaming from your eyes all the time you were talking. "But that shouldn't mind me! After all, that's the best reason to divorce you. No one can stop me after this. And, of course, they can't prevent you from marrying her! Go ahead take her, but I inform you; this is the last time you are looking at me and my son." At the end, all you could do was whisper at him. It was pointless.
Your little boy didn't even cry this time, like he could sense that even him couldn't stop you from saying all these. He was just playing with some of the toys inside his cradle.
Ubbe's expression changed after all the poison you let your mouth spit.
"I've never intended to humiliate you or belittle you." His voice this time was softer than you were used to. You had never really talked in calm tones. "When we married we didn't love each other — we married for that alliance. At that moment, I loved Margrethe and I was planning to marry her, yes and yes, I had slept with her, but that stopped when Ragnar was born. Well, to be precise, I had stopped some time before I learned that you were with child."
All this time you had your back turned at him and were trying to stop the tears that were falling mercilessly from your eyes. But when you heard his last words, you wiped away some fresh tears and faced him. Ubbe was calm — it was a rare moment — a beautiful moment.
"I was trying to give in to the feelings I felt for you. The way I had you in my mind when I was at the battlefield. Don't ask me how those feelings were formed — I have no idea. I was thinking of you, knowing that you were praying for me not to return. Those feelings couldn't be replaced by any fight we had. At the end of the day, all that stayed in my mind was one of your rare smiles and the way you care for our son."
Those words were even harder to process them than the news about the child of the slave girl. You couldn't even think that Ubbe would ever form that kind of feelings for you.
His confession made the rock walls of your heart to fall one by one.
"I have never prayed for you to die on the battlefield. I did quite the opposite in fact and it felt strange in my heart. I hated — I told my self to hate you — I was telling myself all the things I hated in you so I could hate you. I felt strange for you — my heart was beating in a strange way as much as I tried to avoid it, it exists, still." You spoke truly without daring to look in his eyes. "But it doesn't matter anymore. Our marriage will end. Those rumours is humiliating enough for me to leave you. If I have enough dignity, I should leave you."
Ubbe tried to reach for you, but you stopped him with a motion of your hand. If things were different, you would stay and try to make this marriage work, but you had no other choice but to leave him.
Taglist: @bruher, @utterlyhopeful-fics, @hypocritic-trash-baby
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PROPAGANDA
ATHENA CYKES (ACE ATTORNEY)
1.) Despite supposedly being the MAIN CHARACTER of the game she was introduced in, she somehow still always ends up playing second fiddle to Phoenix and Apollo, to the point where she isn’t allowed to take the lead on even so much as a single case. Instead of the senior lawyers standing to the side in a mentorship role like they do for literally EVERY OTHER PLAYABLE CHARACTER, Phoenix and Apollo keep stepping in to outright take over for her. She literally does not make it through even a single case without needing some male character or other to swoop in and hold her hand every step of the way, not only Phoenix and Apollo but once even Blackquill, her rival prosecutor, as well.
Why? It has nothing whatsoever to do with her competence level. It’s a video game; her competence is determined by the player’s, just like everybody else. It seems like the writers just couldn’t STAND the thought of her doing anything on her own, or thought that the players would walk out en masse if it wasn’t the Phoenix and Apollo Show every second of gameplay. (And yeah, it DOES sometimes take me some time to warm up to new characters, but that was the case for Apollo too! At least give me the CHANCE to judge her on her own merits rather than assuming that I’ll immediately write her off!) Like, why did you even WRITE this character if you think so little of her?
2.) WHERE DO I EVEN BEGIN. She’s introduced in the middle of a male characters “trilogy” (Apollo justice) so the story is never about her. She appears in aa5 only to NEVER headline her own case IN HER INTRODUCTORY GAME and always fail unless a man comes in and saves her. Her own story is sidelined for Apollos. Next game, she only really appears in one case that’s a throwaway and still can’t do shit on her own. Ugh. She deserved to be treated better, more competent, etc.
3.) my girl is an attorney and a practicing psychologist at age 18 (youngest defense lawyer in the series) & is often shown to be more competent than her male colleagues, and yet is constantly pushed out/sidelined/generally treated like an assistant character rather than a lawyer (the assistant position in these games is usually reserved for characters who don’t have law degrees/are generally not educated enough to understand the courtroom proceedings to their full extent. athena is none of those things but she gets treated the same way by the game because. well. we know why.) Instead of being the main playable attorney in her debut game, the story is taken over by her male colleague (WHO ALREADY HAD A WHOLE GAME DEDICATED TO HIS BULLSHIT BTW) & her development is ignored in favor of his in both her debut game AND her second game. Even when her backstory IS explored it’s done via a male family friend of hers, meaning even when her OWN story is being told it’s not even about her it’s about simon’s lame ass. for extra context here in her debut game she is only the playable attorney in one case out of five, while the other (male) playable attorneys were playable in all or all-but-one of the cases in THEIR debut games. capcom hates women sooooo bad
KOTORI MIZUKI/TORI MEADOWS (YU-GI-OH! ZEXAL)
1.) first: ygo zexal is directed (and partially written) by known misogynist shin yoshida who is on record as saying that he would Never write female characters if he wasn’t being forced to by higher-ups. kotori’s voice actor signed a legal contract forcing him to include her character in Every Single Episode. she gets no duels that aren’t tag duels (2v2 duels), one of those is interrupted in the middle and all others she both loses, aren’t even shown in full, and all happen in the same episode. she is literally contractually required to be a major character and the dude in charge still point blank refuses to do anything with her despite the fact that she’s supposed to be the female lead of the series. please take pity on her for being handed to one of the worst people in the world and how despite the active attempts by other people to make her relevant in the story she was still denied that
2.) She only dueled once in the whole show and it was when she was brainwashed. Her main role is to only cheer the male protag on and say his name during his duels I guess.
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the-smut-analyst · 6 months
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A defence of the Good Guy / Bad Boy love triangle
It is no secret that mainstream YA & NA fantasy gravitates towards an angsty love triangle. But is this trope's popularity due to vapid teenage vanity... or something far deeper?
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Warning: in this post, I will be referencing: True Blood/The Southern Vampire Mysteries, Legendborn, A Court of Thorns and Roses, The Shadow and Bone Trilogy, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Hunger Games, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, and The Vampire Diaries. Some minor spoilers, mostly relating to the romance side of things, may be involved.
I have stumbled across a bunch of articles lately analysing why love triangles are popular in YA and NA fiction - and all of them, in my opinion, missed the entire point.
Firstly, they focus entirely on the "love interests", while wilfully ignoring the fact that the romance element is often a subset of these stories, rather than the main focus (more on that later).
Secondly, these articles often attribute the appeal of the love triangle to "teenage vanity". They either directly state or imply that young women are drawn to the idea of "provoking" two men into a fight for their affection.
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Look, I get it.
Or at least I get how a middle-aged man tap-tap-tapping away on his computer might draw that conclusion. Especially if the crux of his knowledge regarding female-centred fantasy rests on blog posts ripping apart Twilight.
But regardless, the fact remains that labelling YA love triangles as a conceited sexual fantasy is a gross over-simplification. Why? Because romance is rarely the point of the story. Instead, the love triangle is a vehicle through which the author complements and elevates the standard Hero's Journey plot beats.
To demonstrate this argument, I will go through each of the critical plot beats in the Hero's Journey. For each beat, I will demonstrate (with examples) how dual love interests can underscore the character development of the protagonist and highlight her emotional struggles during each stage.
The outline for this analysis will be as follows:
Introduction of the Female Protagonist / Refusal of the Call
Meet the Good Guy / Meeting the Mentor
Meet the Bad Boy / Tests, Allies, and Enemies
Death of Innocence / The Ordeal in the Abyss
Heartbreak / "Death" of the Mentor
Grief for Lost Innocence / Refusal of the Return
Self-Discovery / The Road Back Home
Female Protagonist Accepts Her New Self / Master of Two Worlds
For reference, here is a rough outline of the major plot beats in the Hero's Journey:
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Alright. Time to rip apart some assumptions.
Let's go!
Introduction of the Female Protagonist
Refusal of the Call
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Mainstream fantasy love triangles almost always centre a female protagonist hence why people love to hate on them. The introduction of this protagonist generally follows your fairly standard Hero's Journey opening.
We meet the protagonist, usually a teenager or young woman, going about their "everyday life" in the ordinary world.
But then the Call to Adventure comes - sometimes referred to as the Inciting incident. For Feyre (ACOTAR), this moment is when she kills a wolf who turns out to be Fae. Or for Katniss (HG), her sister's name is drawn, prompting her to offer herself as a tribute instead.
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The Call to Adventure or Inciting Incident marks a point of no return - even though the protagonist might not realise it at the time. It is the moment when life as they know it ends. Afterwards, nothing will ever be the same, including the protagonist.
The following beat is usually the Refusal of the Call, where the protagonist resists any change coming their way. Buffy (BTVS), for example, wants to continue her life as a regular teenage girl instead of being burdened by the duties of being the Slayer. Similarly, Sabrina (TCAOS) is hesitant to participate in the dark baptism, scared of its implications for her ties to the mortal world.
But for the plot to move forward, something or someone needs to prompt the protagonist to leave the "ordinary" world behind - and in turn, take those first few tentative steps into the "special" world (unknown).
Enter...
Meeting the Good Guy
Meeting the Mentor
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The Mentor doesn't always have to be an Obi-Wan-style character who teaches the protagonist everything they know about lightsabers. In its simplest form, the Mentor archetype is a guide. Someone who takes the protagonist by the hand, either literally or metaphorically, and leads them from the ordinary world into the special one.
This transition is known as Crossing the Threshold and it is the beat that marks the shift from Act I to Act II.
Now, there is a good reason why the Meeting the Mentor plot beat often serves as a precursor to Crossing the Threshold. And no, it isn't because the protagonist is incapable of doing anything by themselves.
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Instead, the Mentor character is often employed to explain how this new world works to both the protagonist and the reader alike.
Through the protagonist interacting with a "guide", the rules and systems of the new world can be revealed through dialogue and action, rather than excessive exposition and info-dumping.
And this is where the "good guy" as a Mentor character stand-in comes into play. His arrival serves the dual purpose of propelling the protagonist into the Crossing the Threshold beat and guiding her once she does.
For example, Sookie's budding romance with Bill is what introduces her (and us) to the Charlene Harris's world of vampires in True Blood. Or, in Tamlin's case, he takes his role in "helping" Feyre to cross the threshold quite literally and abducts her, forcing her to leave the human world behind in place of the world of Fae.
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Now, there are quite a few exceptions to this good guy/mentor rule and they generally occur when the good guy is a childhood friend or sweetheart. Examples include Harvey (TCAOS), Gale (HG), and Malyen (SAB).
When this happens, the good guy often provides the protagonist with a much-needed link to her previous life and/or the ordinary world. He takes on more of a "grounding" role, rather than a guiding one.
But regardless, what these good guys have in common is a fairly standard set of traits. They are protective, have a strong moral compass, and are incredibly loyal to the protagonist.
Furthermore, they are almost always the protagonist's "first love". They offer her the emotional support she needs in order to move forward by making her feel less alone in the world.
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Regardless of whether the good guy is a childhood friend or a mentor-like character, his relationship with the protagonist usually marks a time of both innocence and self-discovery. He is a source of love and companionship while the protagonist takes those first few tentative steps into the unknown.
Meeting the Bad Boy
Tests, Allies, and Enemies
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The Hero's Journey is, at its essence, a Bildungsroman-like story. Or at least it is in the YA/NA genres. It is a coming-of-age tale, with Crossing the Threshold being a symbol for leaving the child behind in order to discover the adult that awaits.
What follows is a collection of plot beats known as Tests, Allies, and Enemies. This stage of the story is often fraught with missteps and small triumphs, good times and bad times - much the same as adolescence.
And this is where the bad boy comes in.
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Sometimes the bad boy manifests as an enemy who the protagonist must face in some kind of test like Spike to Buffy. Other times, he presents as a Temptation beat, like the Darkling does to Alina (SAB), trying to lure the protagonist away from their path.
But regardless of how he makes his entrance, the initial purpose of the bad boy is almost always to bring the protagonist face-to-face with the dangers of this new world.
For example, through Eric, Sookie realises that not all vampires are polite and restrained like Bill. Similarly, Feyre's first encounters with Rhysand show her an even darker side to the Fae.
Even bad boys who are not outright evil still tend to behave in a way that the protagonist finds confronting, like Peeta (HG), whose ruthlessly practical survival tactics disturb the very moral Katniss.
In this sense, the bad boy fashions himself into a symbol of the harsh realities of adulthood. Much as a child might find their first encounter with the cruelty of the world shocking, the protagonist is shocked and appalled by the bad boy.
We're not in Kansas anymore, Dorothy.
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However, it is important to note that the bad boy is usually just one component of the beats involved in the Tests, Allies, and Enemies section. Again, this ties in with my argument that these stories are a Hero's Journey first - with the love triangle simply underscoring that fact.
The friendships that Buffy forms with Willow and Xander are shown to be her two most enduring relationships, while her love interests come and go. In Legendborn, Bree's quest to learn the truth about her mother's death has nothing to do with romance at all. And Sabrina's rivalry-to-friendship arc with Prudence gets significant screen time across multiple episodes and seasons.
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During the Tests, Allies, and Enemies stage, the protagonist is usually starting to come into her own. She faces challenges, forms friendships, and encounters enemies. And yes, with love triangles there's usually some lust and romance thrown in there, too.
But the main focus of this stage is that the protagonist is starting to learn who she is. She is becoming more and more powerful with each setback and triumph.
The Death of Innocence
The Ordeal in the Abyss
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The Ordeal into the Abyss, also known as The Belly of the Whale, is a plot beat where the protagonist encounters their greatest test thus far.
Rather than this beat being the climax of the story, The Ordeal is generally a challenge that the protagonist must face before the final confrontation or battle - and they must do so alone. It sees them hitting rock bottom and coming face-to-face with their greatest fear, whatever that may be.
This plot beat is a transformative one. It forever changes the protagonist and readies them for the final battle ahead. It is a death of innocence. The moment when the "girl" becomes the "woman", so to speak.
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And in this sense, The Ordeal in the Abyss comes with loss and gain in equal measure. Yes, the protagonist is stronger for the experience, but not without cost.
To get to this point, she has been to hell and back. Sometimes literally (cough, cough. Sabrina). The protagonist is now well acquainted with the darkness of this new world but, in order to survive it, she has to absorb some of that darkness into herself.
If you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes into you.
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The aftermath of The Ordeal usually sees the protagonist having conflicting feelings over what she has discovered about herself.
On the one hand, she might relish her newfound power and strength. But on the other hand, she may also be afraid of who she had to become in order to emerge triumphant.
Heartbreak
"Death" of the Mentor
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The Death of the Mentor isn't always a literal death, but rather, it is a plot beat that forces the protagonist to stand on their own two feet.
By losing the mentor, the protagonist's safety net is ripped out from underneath them. It places them in a "sink or swim" situation that is critical to their growth as a character.
This is why the relationship with the good guy must either falter or end at some point, even if only temporarily. Their breakup serves as a stand-in for the Death of the Mentor plot beat.
Because despite romance featuring heavily in these stories, there is still an inherent idea within them that there are certain steps in a woman's coming-of-age that she must take alone.
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The cause of this breakup is almost always due to the transformation that the protagonist underwent during The Ordeal. The good guy no longer understands her, even though he may want to.
For example, Feyre's experience Under the Mountain sees her outgrow her coddled life with Tamlin. Similarly, when Katniss returns to 12, Gale can't fully comprehend what she went through, nor the role she is being forced to play as a result.
Grief for Lost Innocence
Refusal of the Return
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The combination of The Ordeal and the Death of the Mentor take their emotional toll on the protagonist. She mourns for the girl she once was, the loss of her first love, and the ordinary world that is now a stranger to her.
What follows is a low point called The Refusal of the Return. Sometimes this beat sees the protagonist running away from her problems, as Buffy does when she flees Sunnydale after killing Angel.
Other times, The Refusal of the Return is a period of rebellion. Grief manifests itself into rage and the protagonist leans more heavily into that darker side of themselves that they discovered during The Ordeal. Like when Elena turns off her humanity following the loss of her brother.
It is usually during this stage that the bad boy begins to take on a more prominent role. (Welcome back to the plot, bad boys!)
At some point, either during this beat or perhaps earlier, we see a different side to the bad boy. Most often, this occurs when the bad boy shows the protagonist some kind of vulnerability, leading her to second guess her first impression.
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In the Darkling's case, Alina recognises his profound loneliness. Sookie witnesses Eric's grief at the loss of his maker, Godric. And Rhysand confides in Feyre about the horrors he endured at the hands of Amarantha.
However, seeing this "other" side isn't just a plot device to justify the protagonist's developing feelings for the bad boy. But rather, it serves as a mechanism through which the protagonist's assumptions and beliefs are thrown into question. Not just about the bad boy, but about the world in general.
Disrupting the protagonist's foundations is essential to nearly all emotionally-driven storytelling. Through shattering the her beliefs - whether it be in a system or person - the narrative is propelled forward as the protagonist is then forced into come to her own conclusions.
And this - THIS! - is where the "good guy / bad boy dynamic" becomes so much more than just a blatant over-simplification of male archetypes pandering to female sexual fantasy.
The dichotomy of "good" and "bad" expands here to represent larger choices that the protagonist has to make. Comfort or danger? Honour or Power? Altruism or ambition?
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Furthermore, the protagonist's conflicting feelings about the two love interests underscores the very real push-and-pull we all feel during adolescence. Where we crave the adventure and independence of adulthood while simultaneously mourning the safety and protection of childhood.
And this is why the good guy / bad boy love triangle can be such a great plot device. It's not only fun to read (when done well) but it makes sense that the protagonist might find herself drawn to someone whose darkness matches her own.
Who the bad boy is - and what he has done - creates a safe space for the protagonist to explore this darker side of herself. To rebel. To fall apart. To be selfish for once, instead of selfless.
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At a time when others in the protagonist's life, like the good guy or her friends, my judge or simply not understand her, the bad boy offers a reprieve. But whether this reprieve positively or negatively influences the protagonist tends to vary from story to story.
Sometimes he is the one who encourages her Refusal of the Return, as the Darkling does for Alina. Other times, the bad boy helps the protagonist in returning to her path, rather than luring her away from it, by offering her his understanding.
Peeta gets what Katniss is going through in a way Gale never can because he went through it, too. Similarly, Stefan can't provide Elena with the reassurance she needs after becoming a vampire because he has never come to terms with his own loss of humanity - therefore, enter Damon.
Self-Discovery
The Road Back Home
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The Road Back Home sees the protagonist emerging from her Refusal of the Return. It is when she embarks on the journey to fully reconcile the girl she once was with the woman she has become. To do this, she needs to confront her trauma from The Ordeal and forgive herself for whatever darkness it might have awakened.
This is usually a gradual process that takes place over many chapters or episodes. In many ways, it is a mirror to the Crossing the Threshold beat. Except this time around, the protagonist is looking inwards not outward - instead of discovering the new world, she is discovering herself.
During this time, the bad boy's relationship with the protagonist is often explored more deeply. Being loved by the bad boy - darkness and all - is usually a precursor to the protagonist beginning to accept this darker side of herself, too.
But a distinction needs to be made here between "accept" and "embrace". The former does not necessitate the latter, and whether or not the bad boy gets his own redemption arc usually serves as the distinction between the two.
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In the Darkling's case, he certainly helps Alina to come into her power, but ultimately, Alina rejects the path that he is trying to lead her down. The Darkling might have helped her to accept her darkness, but she does not fully embrace it the way he does.
Other times, when the bad boy gets his own redemption arc, we see a precursor to self-love through their relationship. Because in pursuing her feelings for the bad boy, the protagonist has to reconcile the fact that people are nuanced, and no one is entirely good nor evil. In forgiving the bad boy for his past wrongdoings, the protagonist sees that it is possible to forgive herself, too. Damon and Elena's arc (in the TV adaptation) is a good example of this.
But regardless of where things may or may not go with the bad boy, the next plot beat has nothing to do with romance at all. Now, the protagonist is ready for the final battle.
The Female Protagonist Accepts Herself
Master of Two Worlds
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Everything the protagonist has been through has been leading her to this moment. Her triumphs, her defeats. Her discoveries and lessons. Her friends and mentors and lovers.
She's faced evil, maybe even embraced a little of it, and come out stronger and better for the experience. She has finished mourning the child she once was and accepted the woman she has become.
Now she is ready, as a master of both worlds, to face whatever comes next. And we, as readers, now get to enjoy the final battle!
Basically, the protagonist is a certified badass now - and she's going to win.
Now, where the romance goes during or after this plot beat is very, very varied. Sometimes, the protagonist stays with the bad boy, like Feyre does with Rhysand. Other times, the relationship is temporary, like Eric and Sookie. Or, in the case of Buffy, neither the good guy nor the bad boy remains in the picture. In fact, a very deliberate choice was made with her story to avoid an "end-game" romantic pairing.
And the reason why the romance is pretty damn varied is because, well, it doesn't really matter. The romance is the cherry on top of the story, not the whole damn cake.
Conclusion
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I understand that love triangles might not be everyone's cup of tea - and that's okay. But to paint the entire trope under the broad strokes of teenage vanity and wish fulfilment is to do it a disservice.
Because for the most part, it isn't just some vapid romance. A lot of the most popular stories within the genre are actually complex YA fantasies in and of their own right, driven by your standard emotionally-driven, coming of age beats. They just happen to feature a female protagonist who falls in love.
Okay, maybe in this example she falls in love a few times. But so what? Getting your heart broken and mended again is a part of growing up, so why shouldn't it have a place in YA/NA fiction?
If young men are allowed to froth over some guy getting bitten by radioactive a spider and getting superpowers, then we can have two sexy vampires pining over the same girl.
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aleksanderscult · 3 months
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IMO, LB tried to insert Zoya and Nikolai in the plot that was supposed to be for Alina and Aleksander. No one is gonna take that idea of my mind!!! Like she really tried to have this perfect monarchs of Ravka with a HEA for the grishas but fail at developing the idea. Unfortunately, LB had already taken away the real protagonists and had to continue the plot without them, so we were left with two characters that seem to have put there out of nowere.
This is the first time I'm hearing this theory.
I don't know if I agree or disagree but Leigh really can't seem to let Darklina go as it seems from the "Alex Stern" series. So it wouldn't surprise me if your theory is correct. It's like she loves this ship but doesn't want the real one to get together so she makes bad imitations of it to end up together (I hope this makes sense😭).
But I want to say that bringing back Aleksander was truly a huge mistake:
1) She really had to let his character rest. After all, I usually hate the whole resurrection trope in fiction. It's so dumb most of the times.
2) She had to find another antagonist for Nikolai and the others. Or better, let them handle Shu Han and Fjerda. Make a book that contains political intrigues (but Leigh doesn't know how to write that so 💀)
3) Bringing back Aleksander without having Alina on the picture was not good at all. "Darklina" was the heart and soul of the trilogy, no matter what the antis say. Their love, conflicts and bond made the books. Without it RoW "suffered".
Now if Leigh used Zoyalai as a second Darklina.... She failed like you said.
Send me your unpopular opinion
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hooked-on-elvis · 3 months
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ELVIS USES THE 'F' WORD DURING A CONCERT 🤬
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PICTURE: Elvis performing live at the Hilton (International) Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada, on August 30, 1974 (Midnight concert, 12:00 a.m.).
Elvis Presley was humble and kind to everyone, everyone — even the ones who demonstrated not being keen to his music or holding prejudices against him, something he usually took it in a stride, showing his understanding and mature side when comprehending it was only their right not to appreciate his music or performance, therefore he didn't hold resentment for his haters/detractors or took it personally in any way, but Elvis wasn't cold blooded and sometimes he snapped back at the rude and mean people that crossed his way showing extremely senseless hate to him.
On August 30, 1974, Elvis was performing in Las Vegas at the Hilton International Hotel. It was his second show at the night (Midnight concert). Out of the blue, while Elvis talking to the audience and getting ready to sing another tune, a fan lady in the audience screamed 'I love you Elvis'. Elvis kindly replied, 'I love you too, sweetheart', and then another person said something to him (inaudible in the recorded material) to which we can hear Elvis replying, 'Well, I don't take that for granted'.
Suddenly, right following this endearing moment between a music idol and his fans, a smart-ass in the audience, probably trying to make Presley uncomfortable or just intending to call some attention for himself, shouted, 'I HATE YOU, ELVIS'. Without even thinking twice, Elvis immediately snapped: 'FUCK YOU.'
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Elvis, who was in a great mood, very talkative throughout the concert, cracking jokes and even demonstrating some karate moves at some points, surely wasn't up to go on with that distasteful situation any longer, depriving his fans of some more valuable and joyful moments of his performance, so, without waiting for any kind of reaction from the unwelcome hater, Elvis begins singing 'An American Trilogy' and the show went on as smooth as if nothing of that nature had ever happened.
I wonder if the guy left the showroom or not. Probably he didn't.
Not much time later, Elvis can be heard laughing and then saying, "Just kidding" still in the middle of the "An American Trilogy" performance. I'm sure Elvis didn't feel proud of what happened in the way he responded the "fan" because he knew this could leave a permanent impression on this person. His (somewhat) apologize was not a matter of "damage control" concerning Elvis' image as a performer, in my opinion, but the will not to let that person go home feeling mistreated by him. Elvis was sensitive to other people's feelings. His close friends have said many times how El could be pissed off at someone, act impulsively in his anger but then immediately regret it afterwards and apologize the best way he found suitable. As I said, Presley never treated fans, who took their time to watch his live performances, in that manner but he just couldn't help feeling upset by that guy's bothering remark and that's completely forgivable - even because some of us would have done even worse in his place, if we can be honest with ourselves. As it seems, EP probably regretted the impulsive reply, but the guy totally asked for it.
youtube
This snippet is from a concert in Las Vegas, on August 30th 1974. The moment happened right after he finished singing 'Hound Dog'. You can hear the FULL CONCERT HERE (that moment begins at 35:23).
I recommend you to listen to the full concert. There's many great moments of Elvis on stage that day. One of the nicest things, right at the end of the concert, is when Elvis tells the audience that Dean Nichopoulos (son of his doctor, George Nichopoulos) is in the audience. Elvis tells them that Dean requested for him to perform 'Suspicious Mind', to what he shares with the audience that he would but under one condition. He made a deal with Dean that, if he sang the song, the boy would have to workout in Memphis at the karate dojo there, every day starting from the moment they went back to Memphis after the engagement was over.
This is the friend Elvis was. He wanted the best for the ones he cared for. 🥹⚡ Can we have any more doubt on why his friends and coworkers and all the fans talk so highly on Elvis since always? It is not exclusively because of who he was as a performer, much less because of any favors granted them over the years too. It happens simply because of who Elvis was as a human being and how special and loved he made people feel whenever he was near. Precious boy! My heart can't stand the amount of love and appreciation I have for Elvis, seriously. He was not only one of the greatest performers the world has ever seen. He was one of the precious souls to ever walked the earth - a faulted man at times, but a great human being, a figure of love, generosity, compassion, loyalty, true friendship and so much more. God bless his soul. 💙
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LIVE ALBUM 'Elvis: Night Fever in Vegas'. Release: 1997. Recording Type: Live Soundboard Recording. Location: Las Vegas, Nevada. Date: August 30 - 1974, Midnight Show.
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CLARIFICATION ON THE LIVE ALBUM COVER PICTURE — 'Elvis: Night Fever in Vegas', released in 1997.
Looking for pictures of that August 30, 1974 concert, I found Elvis wearing different suits. I was so confused on which one was the right picture from that concert that I had to do some research, otherwise I wouldn't be in peace. Here's what I found, I hope it can help clarify some fans too.
At the concert that moment happened, Elvis was not dressed as the cover from the live album shows. He was dressed in the Two-toned Wine Glass Leather Two-piece suit (picture above is from the actual concert on August 30, 1974 - Midnight concert). For the dinner concert earlier that night (8:15 p.m.) he wore the Emperor Beige Leather Two-piece suit. On the live concert album cover released in 1997, is a picture of Elvis dressed in the Chinese Dragon suit, first worn during the latter part of the 1974 August/September Las Vegas engagement. To be exact he wore the Dragon suit for the first time on September 2, 1974, therefore that picture used as a cover to the live album with the recorded August 30, 1974 concert can be either from September 2, 1974 or from one of the next Vegas engagement concerts when he wore the Chinese Dragon suit again (September/October 1974).
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SOURCES ⚡
For last, I'd like to thank/mention www.elvisconcerts.com for being a precious source of enlightenment on Elvis' concerts dates and the suits worn by him, with their amazing index on the website. It helps me A LOT getting the accurate info for the pictures of Elvis onstage (1969-1977) that I share in my posts. Other sources for the info on this post were: elvisoncd.com [concert setlist], Pinterest [pictures], Youtube [ELVIS WORLD and J.R. The King of London (Channel 2) [recorded concert].
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antianakin · 10 months
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If you were in charge of the Star Wars Prequels how would you have written Anakin? (assuming the only thing you can't do is erase him from canon :P)
Would you learn into Anakin's evilness or try to make him more sympathetic?
Honestly? I don't have THAT much of an issue with Anakin's general characterization in the Prequel Trilogy. I think for the most part that Anakin is a really interesting character in the Prequels and pretty unique as far as villain origin stories and action heroes of the time tended to be written. The focus on Anakin as FEARFUL, as someone who CRIES a lot and is AWKWARD and honestly not suave or smooth AT ALL (unless he's giving himself over to darkness, generally) is actually a really interestingly novel choice to go for. And that unique aspect of him is, arguably, why Anakin was so despised in the Prequels for being "whiny" and "annoying" and people really did not vibe with this weird awkward dude as proto-Vader. Obi-Wan as the much more competent, smooth, suave character with all of the snarky one-liners comes off looking much better in comparison. Same with Padme, usually.
So I wouldn't actually change the CORE of Anakin, the journey he goes on and the way his vices tend to be shown. TCW has already done that, they've just replaced Anakin's less likable characteristics with Obi-Wan's much more affable personality. They gave him snarky one-liners, he's now suave and smooth and charming, etc. It's annoying and it's boring.
But there are two things that don't work for me that I WOULD change if I were capable of going back in time and influencing Lucas's mind towards certain rewrites.
One is that I would make his romance with Padme more believable. The problem with the romance in AOTC for me is that you can completely believe that Anakin would be into Padme, but it feels a lot more difficult to understand why Padme is into Anakin in return. Especially after he murders an entire village of people down to the last child (we'll come back to this one). So we need to be told more WHY Padme is so into him when he is this weird, awkward, whiny manchild. Like, sure, he's pretty, but being pretty isn't enough to explain why Padme is willing to jeopardize her entire career to marry him by the end of the film.
So Padme either needs to be more corrupt, more angry herself, more connected to this part of Anakin that desires power, or they need to show us a better genuine connection. One of the things from the extended/deleted scenes from AOTC that I think could've helped with this is the bits where Padme mentions she had thought she'd be a wife and a mother by now and we see how close she is to her own family when she takes Anakin there. We know how close Anakin was to his mother and I think it would've been REALLY easy to use that as an easy connection. You could even help along the next movie by having Anakin mention that when he was a kid, he'd always sort-of wanted a big family. He didn't HATE that it was just him and his mom obviously, but it had been a sort of dream of his that one day they'd be free and he'd find a beautiful wife and have a big family for Shmi to dote on later in life. This gives Anakin and Padme a shared dream that neither of them is allowed to pursue due to their chosen careers. They've both sacrificed a desire for a family in favor of duty to the galaxy so when they get together later, you can kind-of understand why. No one else gets it but each other, etc.
The second thing I would change is the Tusken Massacre. I think that going as far as completely massacring the entire village is too far too soon. This is something that works only if you as the viewer don't truly see the Tuskens as equal to humans like Shmi or a people like the Jedi. The Tuskens aren't QUITE animals maybe, but they're also just savages who torture innocent women to death, so their deaths aren't sad for THEIR sake, the massacre is sad because of what it represents for Anakin - it's the beginning of the end. And obviously from a modern viewpoint, this really doesn't work anymore, especially with the way the Tuskens are being written these days. It also feels a little redundant with Order 66. It's not as impactful that he murders Jedi children when we already saw him murder Tusken children in the last movie. Baby murder is baby murder, there's no escalation in the evil he commits aside from sheer numbers I guess.
So I would probably have Anakin either choose to just leave the village quietly without killing anyone, or have him stop at just the guards/men and leave the women/children alive and either way he admits to Padme that he WANTED to kill them all and only just barely stopped himself. This also helps the romance aspect in that now you don't have to figure out why Padme is super chill with marrying a MASS BABY MURDERER and her moral code is a lot less gray. If he only killed the people who attacked him in the village or didn't kill anyone at all but just WANTED to, then you can dismiss it a lot easier. The rage is sympathetic and understandable and relatable, but Anakin is still mostly in control of himself. Padme can say that she's felt the same rage and not acted on it, so Anakin is the same. She can insist he would never murder Jedi younglings to Obi-Wan in the next film without sounding like an idiotic hypocrite.
(There's obviously a LOT of other issues with the Tusken Massacre in terms of how the Tuskens are written and presented in this film that could be rewritten to be a lot better and make the Tuskens more sympathetic, etc etc, but that's not really what you're asking me about and I'm not necessarily the right person to speak to that anyway.)
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myheartalivewrites · 15 days
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20 questions for fic writers
Hey @cha-melodius thanks for tagging me in this!
How many works do you have on ao3?
23
What's your total ao3 word count?
329,905
What fandoms do you write for?
RWRB and A Marvellous Light (The Last Binding trilogy). I've been thinking about writing for We Could be So Good by Cat Sebastian since I read it last week. I loved it so much I binge read 3 other books by the same author straight after, and then turned right back to WCBSG. Book rec for everyone who's not read it!
Top five fics by kudos:
Deep Blue
Just Like That.
Oxford Days
In His Wildest Dreams
A tie for fifth! Have One (On Me) and Tumbled Down and Tangled Up
Do you respond to comments?
Yes! Unless they're a bit dodge lol
What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?
This is the question that reminds me I've done this game before hehe. I'm only interested in happy endings so this is hard to choose, but Don't Wanna Be A Fool For You is quite angsty and ends just as they're getting over the angst, so I have to go with that.
What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?
I always write happy endings, BUT, if I must choose, I'm gonna go with a non-RWRB fic here. in your room, like a temple is an epilogue of sorts to A Marvellous Light, and it makes me SO HAPPY to have written this settled future for Robin and Edwin.
Do you get hate on fics?
Not usually, though I did get a couple of annoying comments on my first threesome fic from people who thought their own vision of monogamy for Alex and Henry was something they had to come and tell me about 🙄
Do you write smut?
hahahahhaaaaaaaa yes
Craziest crossover:
Never done one
Have you ever had a fic stolen?
Not as far as I know
Have you ever had a fic translated?
No! Someone did ask me about translating Deep Blue but I don't think they've followed through with it. I'd love it though
Have you ever co-written a fic before?
No
All time favorite ship?
Alex and Henry
What's a wip you want to finish but doubt you ever will?
Oooh, I don't have any WIPs on ao3 to feel guilty about. What sits on my hard drive is between me and my atheist god (also me)
What are your writing strengths?
Yikes, ok! Here are things I like about my writing: I like the way I write smut that's super emotional AND super hot, and all the different ways I've come up to make smut scenes different from each other (because writing them can sometimes feel repetitive from my perspective). I like the way I play with rhythm in sentences and build tension in scenes. I like the way I build emotional and sexual tension in a piece overall. Please no one drop into the notes to tell me they disagree 😂
What are your writing weaknesses?
I CANNOT come up with external obstacles! Whenever I'm trying to plot something out and I'm trying to come up with BIG PLOT REASONS to keep people apart, my brain just freezes. I love internal obstacles, the emotional reasons why people choose to do the things they do, but as for external things to move the plot along (think Jeffrey Richard leaking emails, Queen Mary telling Henry how to live his life) I'm just... ultimately uninterested in them. Which is fine if it's a choice, and I love a lot of writing just like that, but I wish my brain could at least TRY.
Thoughts on dialogue in another language?
Like it.
First fandom you wrote in?
RWRB
Favorite fic you've written?
Haha good one. Changes all the time. Current fave: Paper Chains, I think (a personal stab to my heart how much it's underrated). I tried something new for me with the structure, and I think the emotional punches hit so hard, I'm so proud of it. Or maybe the new one for RBB, called Foxden Park. Coming soon!
No pressure tags (and sorry if you've already done this and I've missed it!): @thesleepyskipper @firenati0n @welcometololaland @inexplicablymine @sparklepocalypse
@onetwistedmiracle @tintagel-or-cockleshells @historicallysam @cultofsappho @14carrotghoul
@suseagull04 @magicandarchery @itsmaybitheway @porcelainmortal @anincompletelist and anyone who fancies joining in! 😘
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allgirlsareprincesses · 10 months
Note
Do you think that Rey's story (excluding episode 9 'cause that was a shitshow) could be interpreted as a Cinderella/Ash girl story?
I hope you realize asking me this is like throwing chum to a shark 😈. But the short answer is yes, to a point.
The long answer is more complicated, so to begin with, let's consult the Cinderella bible:
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According to the Aarne Thompson Uther Index, there are five primary motifs to a Cinderella tale:
Persecuted heroine, usually by family
Help or helper, usually magic
Meeting the prince, usually with true identity disguised
Identification or penetration of disguise, usually by means of an object
Marriage to the prince
Rey is abandoned by her family, which is a form of persecution, and harassed by the inhabitants of Jakku like Unkar Plutt. Thus she clearly fulfills the first item.
As for meeting a helper, there are several for her, including Han Solo, Maz, Luke, and Leia. Any or all of these may be considered fairy godparents in the way that they offer her wisdom and material help. Further, except for Maz, they all die in the course of the story, which is consistent with many Cinderella tales in which the helper dies and their bones continue to offer wisdom and comfort to the heroine.
Next, meeting the prince. I mean
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To the extent that Rey is "in disguise' here, it would be the extent of her force powers, her destiny as Ben Solo's dyad mate, and her role as the heir apparent to the Jedi (chosen by the Force to wield the legacy saber), all of which are obscured from Kylo Ren when he discovers her in the forest. Further, she is grimy and covered in desert sand, similar to how Cinderella is smeared with ashes that hide her true beauty.
So now an object penetrates the disguise. This is obviously the Skywalker lightsaber, which reveals Rey to be everything listed above, especially when she calls it to her on Starkiller Base, and again when she wields it on Ahch-to.
And lastly, marriage to the prince. As many others have pointed out over the years, Rey and Ben have almost too many symbolic marriages to count in the course of the sequel trilogy. They're extremely married, the Force said so.
BUT WAIT! Go back and look at that list again. Who ELSE fits all those criteria?
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It's our boy! Consider:
He is indeed persecuted by family, most notably when Luke momentarily considers killing him.
Ben's helpers are both dark and light, as Snoke/Palpatine guide him in the dark while Luke guides him in the light (poorly). But note again what I said above about the bones of the mentor continuing to offer guidance and comfort after their death. Who should appear at Ben's lowest hour but his departed father, Han Solo? With a message of love, acceptance, and encouragement, Han's memory (because in fairy tales, bones contain memory) encourages Ben to at last cast off his beastly skin and become who he always was.
Next, meeting the prince/ss in disguise. He's wearing a literal mask when he meets Rey, so yeah.
An object penetrates the disguise? Rey slashed his face with the legacy saber, thus symbolically peeling away his mask. And I've argued before that the stabbing in TROS (which I still HATE, btw) is another cutting or burning away of the beastly skin.
And lastly, marriage to the prince/ss. As previously stated, that happened. Many times.
So yes, the Sequel Trilogy can definitely be considered a Cinderella story, with but one glaring issue: Cinderella's husband usually doesn't die at the end. But that's another topic that's been done to death, so let's all just read some more fanfic and forget about it. 👑 Thank you for the ask, this was fun!
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veliseraptor · 3 months
Text
Fic Writer Interview
I was tagged by @anghraine - thank you!
1. How many works do you have on AO3?
under my main pseudonym that I actually use these days, 610. total, across pseuds, we're looking at 1,013.
2. What's your total AO3 word count?
4,930,564, which is so close to 5 million!!! we'll see if I hit that threshold this year, I might if all goes well with big bang fic
3. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?
I thought I could do this from memory and I was so close, only missed two.
Life in Reverse (13,990)
With Absolute Splendor (10,436)
some good mistakes (6,551)
The Villain Wrangler (4,445)
half a league onward (4,437)
4. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?
I do not, because I don't know what to say, get overwhelmed, fall behind, get more overwhelmed, and ultimately end up with a backlog I don't feel capable of dealing with so I just don't. I feel bad about this periodically (often) but I don't do anything with that feeling. Just kinda feel bad.
5. What's the fic you've written with the angstiest ending?
I've written a lot of fics with angsty endings but I might have to give this one to Mercy, because that was a very mean fic on the whole. arguably even meaner than my other murder/suicide fic.
6. What's the fic you've written with the happiest ending?
I have a hard time with this question because I feel like most times my happy endings are at least touched with some kind of bitterness or loss or at least underlying open door that could be a problem down the line, or, like, lingering trauma.
but on the other hand I'm sure I have written generally happy endings in my backlog of fics, there's just a lot of fic in there so it's hard for me to pull them out, because they're probably also the ones that I find less memorable.
in some ways I think With Absolute Splendor might get this one, because it feels like it has ones of the strongest sense of earned catharsis, even if everything isn't all the way fixed. there's probably happier endings in terms of world state, but that's one where the ending feels happier because it doesn't start that way. but how this grace thing works is also one of the fics where I feel like it's on the whole softer/tenderer than my usual work.
7. Do you write crossovers?
not really! I wrote a few once upon a time, and a couple pastiches (one fandom in the style of another fandom), but those are years behind me and I'm not generally a crossover person as a rule.
8. Have you ever received hate on a fic?
oh yes. most of it more entertaining than truly upsetting, but there are a few exceptions. my favorite remains the person who was really bothered by the fact that my Black Jewels Trilogy fic wasn't High School Musical fic. still no idea what was going on there.
9. Do you write smut?
sure do. I haven't been writing as much these days (but then, I haven't been writing as much these days, full stop) and I've never been all that much of a pwp writer but it's still very much a part of my writing.
10. Have you ever had a fic stolen?
once, some time ago - I think it was Life in Reverse got posted on Wattpad. oh, though there was also another MCU fic that got reposted on AO3, but the person deleted it pretty quickly when I commented to inform them I didn't appreciate their doing so.
11. Have you ever had a fic translated?
I have! into a few languages and it's always super cool and flattering to me.
12. Have you ever co-written a fic before?
I have the one in progress but never anything I've finished/posted. I've done a lot of RP over the years but I always kept it pretty squarely separate from my fic writing.
13. What's your all-time favorite ship?
I've had a lot of all-time favorite ships, and there are plenty for fandoms I'm no longer really in that stick around in my head for longer than I'm really participating in the fandom (Celegorm/Aredhel is notable for this), but I think I will say that Xue Yang/Xiao Xingchen occupies a very particular kind of sort of insane place in my brain that feels relatively unique. so I'll give this one to them.
14. What's a WIP that you want to finish but don't think you ever will?
oh lord, so many of them. mostly various MCU wips I'll probably never finish but where I'm like "this was a good idea and I like what I have of it so far, too bad the MCU killed my caring about the MCU." outside of those...I'm so loathe to accept that things will or might remain unfinished, so I'll go with one of those and say the "Hela is around when Thor and Loki are growing up" one, which would've been so good and I still sometimes toy with the idea of returning to, only, you know. aforementioned "caring about the original canon" issue making it hard to actually do the writing thing.
15. What are your writing strengths?
I've been slowly filling out this meme for a while and I left this question conspicuously blank almost to the last. I think my strongest area is probably dialogue, though I worry that I'm giving myself too much credit there. I think I'm pretty good at writing it, though. it certainly is one of the pieces of writing that comes most easily to me.
16. What are your writing weaknesses?
description and action, for sure. I tend to skimp on description in a way that probably weakens much of my writing (I have so much respect for writers with good descriptive language), and I loathe writing action scenes the way that I loathe writing few things - it always feels like wrestling a bear. I usually know what I want to have happen as a result but getting there is just. very hard.
17. What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?
something you gotta be very careful with. I was going to say I almost never do it, but the one exception to that is Lymond Chronicles where I do it a lot, but that's because it's a fairly important part of the style of canon and I'm just. following that lead. otherwise, I tend to shy away from it personally, partly because I write from pretty deep in a character's head and if they don't understand what's being said in another language then that's what I want to convey in the story, rather than giving the reader privileged access to what's being said that the character doesn't have.
does that sound really pretentious? probably.
18. What was the first fandom you wrote for?
technically I wrote a cracky Harry Potter fic first, but I consider my first actual fandom to be Wheel of Time.
19. What's a fandom/ship you haven't written for yet but want to?
either bingjiu or beefleaf are two pairings that I love and have a lot of strong feelings about but haven't actually managed to write anything for, and both are on my list as like...just #waiting for the right idea.
also hua cheng/mu qing, which is a tiny pairing of my heart that Needs Me (or whatever) and I know the kind of fic I want to write for it but actually executing it is, as usual, proving harder.
20. What's your favorite fic you've written?
it fluctuates wildly depending on mood, but I'll give this one for now to the backyard is full of bones - it was the first project I bound into a book, which I feel like says something for it.
tagging @gloriousmonsters, @curiosity-killed, @mikkeneko, @brawlite, and @feralkwe; not actually sure how many people I'm "supposed" to tag on this one so if you want to do it consider yourself tagged as well.
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PROPAGANDA
ATHENA CYKES (ACE ATTORNEY)
1.) Despite supposedly being the MAIN CHARACTER of the game she was introduced in, she somehow still always ends up playing second fiddle to Phoenix and Apollo, to the point where she isn't allowed to take the lead on even so much as a single case. Instead of the senior lawyers standing to the side in a mentorship role like they do for literally EVERY OTHER PLAYABLE CHARACTER, Phoenix and Apollo keep stepping in to outright take over for her. She literally does not make it through even a single case without needing some male character or other to swoop in and hold her hand every step of the way, not only Phoenix and Apollo but once even Blackquill, her rival prosecutor, as well.
Why? It has nothing whatsoever to do with her competence level. It's a video game; her competence is determined by the player's, just like everybody else. It seems like the writers just couldn't STAND the thought of her doing anything on her own, or thought that the players would walk out en masse if it wasn't the Phoenix and Apollo Show every second of gameplay. (And yeah, it DOES sometimes take me some time to warm up to new characters, but that was the case for Apollo too! At least give me the CHANCE to judge her on her own merits rather than assuming that I'll immediately write her off!) Like, why did you even WRITE this character if you think so little of her?
2.) WHERE DO I EVEN BEGIN. She's introduced in the middle of a male characters "trilogy" (Apollo justice) so the story is never about her. She appears in aa5 only to NEVER headline her own case IN HER INTRODUCTORY GAME and always fail unless a man comes in and saves her. Her own story is sidelined for Apollos. Next game, she only really appears in one case that's a throwaway and still can't do shit on her own. Ugh. She deserved to be treated better, more competent, etc.
3.) my girl is an attorney and a practicing psychologist at age 18 (youngest defense lawyer in the series) & is often shown to be more competent than her male colleagues, and yet is constantly pushed out/sidelined/generally treated like an assistant character rather than a lawyer (the assistant position in these games is usually reserved for characters who don't have law degrees/are generally not educated enough to understand the courtroom proceedings to their full extent. athena is none of those things but she gets treated the same way by the game because. well. we know why.) Instead of being the main playable attorney in her debut game, the story is taken over by her male colleague (WHO ALREADY HAD A WHOLE GAME DEDICATED TO HIS BULLSHIT BTW) & her development is ignored in favor of his in both her debut game AND her second game. Even when her backstory IS explored it's done via a male family friend of hers, meaning even when her OWN story is being told it's not even about her it's about simon's lame ass. for extra context here in her debut game she is only the playable attorney in one case out of five, while the other (male) playable attorneys were playable in all or all-but-one of the cases in THEIR debut games. capcom hates women sooooo bad
CARMELITA MONTOYA FOX (SLY COOPER)
1.) Carmelita has always been portrayed as a sexy badass, but the fourth game in the series does her dirty. Throughout the game she’s given the “bitchy ex-girlfriend” treatment and is always regarded as an unreasonable nag. In addition, they put her in an impractical miniskirt (previous games had her in pants), and there is a minigame where she is forced to dress like a belly dancer to distract some guards (including prompting the player to have her shake her ass for extra coins) and when she complains about this, nobody listens to her, and is then reduced to the damsel in distress in the final act of the game, when previously she has always been a major help in taking down the final boss. While not the main reason a lot of Sly Cooper fans hate this game, it’s certainly a factor.
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hamliet · 4 months
Text
"Pet": Pretty Woman, But Gay
So I read the Captive Prince series way back in like, 2016, and read the first few short stories and never read the fourth one because I wasn't a fan of the character it would focus on. And then through a weird set of circumstances I found myself reading this short story this past week, and it might be one of my favorite short stories ever.
I'm posting under a cut because the series is very adult, and the short story and series itself contain triggering content.
Ancel is definitely a favorite character of all time now, which is impressive especially since I hated him. But that's kind of what CS Pacat does well--she writes unlikable characters who are indeed truly flawed and not just soft babies inside, and then makes you like them by showing their development without completely changing who they are as characters. It was the main strength of the original Captive Prince trilogy, after all--Laurent's development still remains one of my favorite character arcs of all time.
So really, I don't know why I was shocked at what she did with Ancel. Especially because the whole reason I hated Ancel was the same incident that made me dislike Laurent: a scene in which Laurent uses Ancel to sexually assaults Damen. And I still do think that particular scene is the biggest flaw in the series, because it's kind of glossed over in a lot of ways. Admittedly, that's still the biggest flaw of "Pet" as a story, too: that the story frames Ancel's low moral point as what he does to Erasmus, which is portrayed as an escalation of what he does to Damen, when I'd argue it's the opposite.
Yet, seeing things from Ancel's perspective--how desperate he is to matter, how he genuinely has only ever been used and so doesn't understand why other slaves wouldn't even try to perform and enjoy the meager scraps of joy they get in life--changed my perspective on him. Not on the incident, but on him.
Ancel's a brilliantly written unreliable narrator, too. As confident and vain as he seems, he's all too aware that he doesn't matter in the court. As much as he hates Damen and Erasmus for the former's refusal and the latter's inability to play the role, it's really self-hatred projected onto them. We see bits and pieces of this seeping through in his conversations with Berenger, such as him telling Berenger in a moment of delight:
"I'd even sleep with you. I might even enjoy it for once." He stopped. "High praise," Berenger said dryly.
Ancel doesn't enjoy a lot of his life. But he'd never admit it, because he lacks control over pretty much every aspect of his life and so seeks to keep control over his thoughts by lying to himself. And yet, paradoxically, he's still one of the few people at court who is usually honest with others.
All of this is why Berenger is such a great love interest for Ancel. Berenger prizes honesty, but also freedom. He buys Ancel but refuses to sleep with him because he knows Ancel doesn't really want to, no matter what sweet nothings Ancel whispers in his ear. He respects Ancel's autonomy in ways no one else ever has, and he sees him as a person first and foremost.
Normally stoic "good guys" aren't super interesting as love interests for me. I like angsty tortured souls, Byronic bastards. But Berenger works perfectly in the story, and is no less interesting as a character than Ancel. To be fair, part of this is because everyone in Vere is insane and debauched and there needs to be one normal one there, and that's Berenger. Yet there's intrigue, too: why Berenger bid so highly to buy Ancel in the first place is never directly stated, but what he does say is that Ancel:
You took on every councilor in that room and won.
It wasn't the physical performance, but Ancel himself, his psychological performance. It serves as a metaphor for the overarching plot of the Captive Prince series, wherein the lowly and those who have everything against them end up taking on far more powerful individuals and systems and winning.
Which makes the last line of the story all the more fitting:
But if he wins?
Ancel may not be a pure-hearted individual, but all along he's showing Berenger that it is possible for those who have less to win, and to be loved and give love. He gives Berenger hope for the future, for the coming coup. And as we all know, Laurent does win, and I can only presume Ancel and Berenger live happily ever after.
My second complaint about the series is that the ending is too abrupt even if the ending line is perfect because that's my complaint about the trilogy too.
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bisexual-horror-fan · 10 months
Note
Ugh it’s really late at night where I am and I can’t sleep and it just popped into my mind that I’m low-key terrified and excited to see what you’re gonna do with the third part of your Mickey-Randy fic. Is Mickey gonna go through with killing him? How will reader react if he does? Will she find out it’s Mickey? WILL MICKEY GET WHAT HE WANTS?
You best believe the moment you post it I’m locking myself in a dark ass room and telling my boyfriend to leave me tf alone for 3-5 business days
Well! I had the past two days off and I finished up this! For those who haven’t read part one or two of this trilogy I would recc that you do! Seriously, I never thought I would love doing this so much but I did! Massive shout out to @applesontheground for going over this and betaing pre-posting! Now then, I don’t wanna waste much time, I just wanna dive in and get deep! The long awaited conclusion of this trilogy is here! Let’s get deep in the paint!
Rating. Explicit. Length. 6.5K. Mickey Altieri And Randy Meeks X FEM! AFAB! Reader. She/Her Pronouns. Warnings: So Much Context Needed. Threesomes. Sloppy Seconds. Cuckholding. Semi-Public Sex. Blow Job. Throat Fucking. Gagging. Stalking. Murder Plot. Murder. Blood. Gore. Angst. Hurt. Comfort. Death. Grief. Vaginal Sex. Kissing. Confessions Of Feelings. Manipulation. 
You Need Me Like I Need You.
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When did shit, namely, his life, get this fucking complicated? 
He used to think that sex was pretty straight forward, that he had a good handle on himself, his interests and personal sexuality, even before he brought anyone else into the equation but now all the lines are blurred and muddy. He never knew that it could all be so varied, which seems fucking stupid now. The human experience has untold and truly vast depth, of course sex, something that has existed as long as people themselves have existed, has a million different ways to explore, play with and partake in and Randy had been confronted with all that, thrown headfirst into it with almost no preparation. 
Randy has experienced impossibly high highs and some true lows, the emotional roller coaster of it all was a lot to handle but also, shamefully, addicting as hell. 
He didn’t know that there could be so much sexual enjoyment derived from such typically and previously negatively associated feeling, particularly, humiliation. He had experienced plenty of humiliation over the years and it always, well, fucking sucked but for some reason, when it cropped up again from that tape and subsequent threesomes with Mickey, it made his heart race in a different way, a much better, albeit, confusing way. 
When he first was confronted with that tape he was a mess, when you eventually pulled out what was wrong he was still a total mess, and during that first threesome, he was even more of one. Mickey was an almost intolerable asshole but he had to admit, the things he did to you, the view and picture you both provided him, undeniably hot, much better than any bargain basement dumpster porn tape he ever watched by far. He hated that every boundary he tried to lay down, like Mickey wearing a condom, was ignored. Even further, the disrespecting of said boundaries were usually encouraged by you, as you seemingly craved it too. The shared wants between you and Mickey took precedence over his comfort and boundaries, he certainly didn’t do much to dissuade you both when he let it keep happening, especially when the evidence of how hard it made him was clear as day.
And the rules Mickey did agree to? It turns out he was lying, placating Randy to gain consent and access to you to then do what he wanted in the end. The worst of the worst is that when Randy had you afterwards, totally messy and stuffed with cum, literally subjected to Mickey’s sloppy seconds. It felt so fucking good that he couldn’t bring himself to have a single negative thing to say, any complaints die on his tongue as he buries his face into your neck and himself inside you to the hilt. 
Mickey said he would pull out, Mickey was apparently a fucking liar and when Randy was on his back afterwards, sweat slick and panting, still dizzy and high off the hardest orgasm he had in recent memory, he wanted to fucking thank the guy for making him do this and see how good it was. He would never actually thank him, Mickey’s ego was already approaching the size of a supernova from this situation as it was, he is sure if he thanked him for cumming in you when he asked him not to? He cannot imagine how much worse he would become. It doesn’t matter that true the experience was fucking great, the ignoring of his consent was screwed up, thanking him further sends the wrong message. 
So Randy put up with Mickey’s comments and overall attitude, he says he puts up with, but really he enjoys it, mostly secretly, he downplays his enjoyment but that damn knowing smirk of Mickey’s makes him think he isn’t as good an actor as he wants to be. 
This has been going on for a month. 
A glorious, confusion littered, fuck centered, sweat soaked and embarrassment filled month. In the moment and with his dick in his hand it is easier to take, he gets swept up in how filthy it is, finds himself consumed with your new relationship dynamic constantly. In the quiet moments between doing other things his mind wanders to either your last hookup or what might potentially happen in the next one. 
The last one he keeps on thinking about is a rather risky semi-public hookup, it was late, rushed, in the stairwell leading up to Randy’s apartment. The sight is burned into his mind, Mickey leaning against the wall, his fingers in your hair as he leads you while you are on your knees, blowing him, right in front of Randy. It is all so striking, so clear, as if it is still happening right in front of Randy when he thinks of it, the low light, the way Mickey’s head tips back and rests against the concrete wall. A bead of sweat rolls down the column of his throat, along with the bob of his Adam's apple from a heavy swallow he took after a harsh inhale of air. He hears the quiet moan, the curse that spills out as he rocks his hips to force himself deeper into your mouth, you gag, Mickey laughs breathlessly with that half sideways smirk and then, he looks at him. Mickey’s head no longer rests and instead brown eyes meet blue and that smile grows into an outright sadistic grin as he drives forward harder, more purposefully and the moan you let around the shaft invading your mouth makes Randy ache in his jeans.
Someone speaks to him, asks him a question and it pulls him out of his head, Christ, he wasn’t listening and he is far too hard over his walk down memory lane while stuck in class still. He needs to stop, he fucking hates himself for thinking and feeling like this so often. He especially hates himself for how he couldn’t wait and ended up cumming in that same stairwell a week previous during that hookup he was just pouring over, he has to fight back the urge to cringe thinking about whatever poor sap had to clean that up.  
True, while he is caught up in his head and consumed with all of this often, filled to the brim with negativity more than he’d like to be, things with you had gotten infinitely better. Your sex life together had gotten downright incredible in his opinion, he relishes the time he can be alone just you and himself without Mickey around. It isn’t as dirty as the threesomes you have, it’s softer, sweeter, more intimate and not as intense but he thinks you both need that. He has taken Mickey’s advice to heart and his fingering and oral skills have improved leaps and bounds, he loves when he is able to pull a sound out of you that reminds him of one Mickey has made you gasp out previously.  
He wasn’t sure how long this could or would go on for, it couldn’t last forever but this didn’t have to stop anytime soon, there wasn’t any reason to rush, right? Not when it felt so good and it seemed to be actively bettering and strengthening your relationship as opposed to harming it. So the worries are shoved aside, pushed to the back of his mind, a problem for future him.
Mickey is positively elated over how this has all panned out so far. He knew this stage would be fun, he just didn’t count on how much fun it could be. He got to not only fuck you, he got to humiliate Randy while he did it, being balls deep in you while you were moaning like a total whore and your pathetic cuck of a boyfriend was jerking off to it, making eye contact with the sad little redhead in that moment? Making him truly be confronted with the sight of what he could do to you? My lord, he is sure he will never need viagra when he is fifty plus, he can just recall that memory and be good to go. 
You were just so intoxicating, he thought he had it bad for you before he got to fuck you that first night Randy pissed you off but he was so wrong, it only got worse when he got to know you in the biblical sense. Now that he knows how you sound when he has two fingers angled just right inside of you, or how you feel when you are cumming on him, his interest grew into a full on crush and became infinitely worse. He couldn’t get you out of his head, how could he push it out of his mind or forget such an experience?
You were a delight, a joy to be around, so funny, so filthy and ready, willing and open. You got him, understood him, the sexual compatibility was a massive plus of course but it was more than that. It was the hushed whispers during class of dumb jokes that make you stifle laughter, it was shared lunches, and those times where you and he would end up crashing together post threesome and wake up side by side before Randy did. He knew you felt more for him than you were saying, the moments you would hold his hand when Randy wasn’t around told him that, the way you looked at him, would brighten when seeing him, it all tattled on your true feelings. He was sure of how you felt. 
Christ, he couldn’t wait until he could have you all to himself as opposed to having to carve out these small moments whenever Randy wasn’t hanging off you like he was doing his best impression of a koala bear. 
It was so soon. Mickey could hardly contain himself. The last thing standing between you and him being together is your boyfriend that you were still holding onto for some reason. Clearly it was out of some sense of loyalty, he liked that quality about you. So it means that he has to get rid of him and then you will be able to get with him guilt free, it’s the only thing that makes sense. The single option. 
You are more than worth him doing this, uprooting and changing his whole plan, Nancy had to go. She just did, no way would she understand or be on board, she was just a means to an end really, she bankrolled him sure but it isn’t like he was attached to her. He believed in his motive, in what he wanted but now that he had you, the idea of risking going to jail wasn’t high on his list of to-do’s. Maybe he could keep a low profile, maybe he would be satisfied being with you, having you and quietly killing people to satisfy those parts of himself from time to time. If he did go through with the original plan there is still a chance it might fail. Was he willing to risk even a slight chance of being separated from you? 
He is sure that the high he would get if he could pull it off, kill and spill his guts, blame the violence of movies and not go to jail would be immense, but then that part of his life would be over, that chapter closed. No way he could keep killing. Or, maybe he could, if he could keep getting away with it after that it would be amazing, however if caught that same plea wouldn’t work twice.
Perhaps the real high could be in never, ever getting caught. 
Between that and you, he might be just fine. 
He should feel worse, shouldn’t he? The thought was on his mind as he was cleaning his knife in the sink after putting an end to Nancy, he should feel something, but he just didn’t. Honestly seeing the look of betrayal on her face was priceless, she never would have thought Mickey would do this to her. She sobbed and begged, going on about how could Mickey do this to her, she needed to avenge her “sweet baby boy-” and yeah, he wasn’t going to listen to her go on about that. He didn’t waste much time on her, didn’t linger or monologue or go on and on, he made it relatively painless and pretty quick. 
The important thing is she was gone and now he could focus on killing Randy. 
Unlike his previous and now dead partner, he wanted to make it hurt, he wanted to destroy Randy, make him unrecognisable, but he knew that might not be best. Logical thought doesn't usually win out in these situations however. He hated how Randy took you for granted, he hated how you looked at him, that you insisted on staying together, hated every time he watched you kiss or anything else, he wanted to stab the knife into his chest, pierce his heart and twist. Wanted to watch him gasp, struggle, and bleed. 
He had a good handle on Randy’s schedule because of your arrangement, he is coming back from a late class, going back to his apartment while Mickey follows far enough behind to not alert him, yet. 
Ol’ Randy was so oblivious, he was going to make this way too easy. Mickey felt his anticipation grow with every single step, every heavy footfall makes his mind run with possibility and pure excitement.
He wanted to rush him, tackle him to the ground, end it right here out in the open but that is stupid and way too risky, it still doesn’t stop how his hands itch, he craved to have his knife in his grip, to bury it in something. The urge to penetrate in a violent sense and in a sexual sense are not that different and Mickey finds it so hard to ignore either of those urges. Soon it is just right, soon Randy is unlocking the door to his apartment building and Mickey picks up the pace, he runs forward, he timed it just right, the door opens and he knocks into Randy, causing him to stumble into the building with a shocked, “Woah!” 
With him totally off balance Mickey takes the opportunity, hand gripping the collar of his shirt behind his neck, he moves him, comes forward, hauling Randy along, he bursts into the stairwell door in the lobby, that same one that you all hooked up in. He is quickly throwing him with all of his strength against the stairs. It hurts his spine, knocks the wind out of him, he groans feeling slightly dazed and when his eyes open he sees the figure clad in that all too familiar black robe and white mask and his heart drops. Eyes widen and he curses, trying to scramble back on the stairs, “Shit, fuck-”
God he loved that look. Pure and unadulterated terror, totally horrified, there was only one way to make it better, Mickey pulled the knife out, the glint of the blade in the low light flashes over his face, it made Randy’s breath catch. He tried to bolt, tried to turn to launch himself up the stairs, towards the safety of his apartment, away from his would-be attacker and that wasn’t going to happen. Mickey was on him too fast, one hand threads in short red hair and he jerks his head back, making it slam on the concrete, the sound was sickening and it made his struggle so much weaker immediately. Mickey sat on his stomach, knees on either side of him, he took in the view below him. Randy was already bleeding from his head wound, scarlet starting to stain the concrete, holding his own head up weakly, his other hand reaching out, trying to push on Mickey’s torso feebly. 
He enjoyed this immensely. He watches him for a moment before it starts, it’s like the calm before a storm, like in the summer when you can feel a thunderstorm brewing, something in the air telling you what is to come, as if you can feel the electricity threatening to crackle and break though. 
He lingers for only a moment more, he knows he is pushing it, but fuck, he has wanted this for so long and when he started he knew he wouldn’t be able to stop. 
Finally the moment is just right, he raises the knife and there is zero hesitation, it comes down and comes down hard. It embeds into his shoulder first, the air is practically sucked out of Randy, eyes wide, his hand comes up to clutch near the blade but Mickey didn’t take too kindly to that. He twists it and a choked off whimper left Randy and then he yanks the knife up, pulling the blade out, the body below him moving with the force of it, back arching as the struggle to remove steel is won quickly. 
Randy is still trying to hold the wound at his shoulder but the angle is awkward and the pain is blinding, he doesn’t think anything could snap him out of the agony, his mind is running a million miles a second, synapses are firing but not connecting to anything. The urge to flee is strong but how? How can he get out, how can he get away, he is stuck, he hurts so much, what is he going to do? He thought he left all this behind in Woodsboro, he should have been more careful, he knew the threat, the risks, he should have taken that tape more seriously and realised he was being watched probably this entire time since he got said tape. 
It turns out there is one thing that can pull him out of his head and free him enough from the pain to speak, eyes come into focus as the hurt is numbed with what he is seeing. Ghostface is still seated on top of him and the fingers leave his hair, hand comes up and the mask is tugged off to reveal is pseudo sort of fuck buddy or more accurately, YOUR fuck buddy and the cucker to Randy’s cuckee’, Mickey fucking Altieri. 
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Randy wheezed out, a cough that sounded too wet coming out after the words left him, “Mickey?”
“Heya Randy.” He dropped the mask, gloved fingers ran through his own hair as he stared down at the body starting to struggle under him once more. It all comes to Randy at once, the cheating, the tape, the “coincidences”, the dark edges to him, the knowing looks, he is the killer, he is Ghostface. Of course he is. 
“What the fuck? Why-AHH!” Randy yelped as the knife came back down, settling in the other shoulder, he left it there, holding the handle as he said, “Oh why? Meeks wants to know why-” 
Mickey hums and grips the handle harder before starting to twist it slightly, back and forth, digging deeper. Randy is crying now, tears falling down and struggling for breath, “-lots and lots of reasons. I had this whole big motive, this crazy plan, Billy’s mom, you remember Billy’s mom, Nancy Loomis, had found me and brought me here, bankrolled my education while I was meant to do the dirty work-”
Randy could hardly believe what he was hearing over the burning and pulsing pain, Mickey kept talking, “-but thennn, you-” 
Mickey pointed down at Randy with his free hand, “-fucked up. You took your girl for granted and I got to swoop in at that party and our whole whatever the fuck you want to call it started and I realized, I don’t want to share her. I don’t want to follow through on that original plan. I just want her. But she’s-”
He ripped the knife out and Randy half screamed, blood splatters over his robe and the wall and when Randy’s scream subsided he was still holding the knife while he made air quotes as he said “-all “in love with you” for some fucking reason.” 
Mickey shakes his head, “She’s amazing, but man that shit I just do not understand. I mean look at you! No fight at all! Fuck, you are so pathetic. You find out I fucked your girlfriend and you come to my apartment begging me to do it again while you watch?! Who does that?”
He laughs with a shake of his head, “I know as long as you are around she wouldn’t dump you and I couldn’t ask her to, I would come off like a total dick and then she might push me away and end our fun. That can’t happen!”
The exclamation is loud, angry, and violent. The knife comes back down again, in the ribs and Randy’s body jerks, he coughs, blood paints his chin, he wheezes, he thinks his lung might be punctured. Mickey barks out, “Look at me, Meeks.”
Randy’s eyes open half way, he feels woozy, Mickey looks positively manic, he has leaned down closer, still holding that knife handle so tightly, “I’m doing this because it’s the only way I see that she can be all mine. I’m killing you to fix this little problem. I’m going to be there while she grieves, I’m going to be the one to help her pick up the pieces, she’s gonna cling to me and then I’m gonna have her all to myself.” 
Mickey was grinning, “Our little thing was a good time I’ll admit that but I’m ready to move up to the next level, I don’t want to be her classmate, or her friend, I don’t want to be her fuck buddy, I want to be her boyfriend. Not you.” 
Randy is shaking his head, his face is so wet, blood, sweat, drool, tears, he is mouthing something, too weak to talk, Mickey thinks it’s “No” but who cares really. 
“Yeah. It’s gonna happen and there is nothing you can do to stop it.” Mickey said in a condensing tone as he nodded, “You’re going to die, and soon it seems like!” 
Mickey rips the knife out again and Randy jerks once more, nowhere near as strong, “I cannot wait. Not anymore. You should see her when we are alone, the way she looks at me, talks to me, she isn’t yours and hasn’t been for a while. I’m just helping her see it, speeding along the inevitable. She’s mine.”
The silver blade stained red cuts through the air and hits home again, lower this time and a similar reaction is drawn, weaker still, before being pulled out and then it happens again and again. Chest, ribs once more, stomach, stab, cut, rip, tear while repeating that one word over and over again. A quiet chant breathed through gritted teeth on harsh exhales from the sheer amount of exertion and effort, “Mine. Mine. Mine.” 
Randy is dead.
He didn’t get proper last words but Mickey thinks he didn’t deserve them the same way that he didn’t deserve you. Mickey is sure it happened sometime between the seventh and the seventeenth stab but it doesn’t really matter. He stays there for a moment looking down at Randy, body slowly turning cold, bloodstained and eyes lifeless. 
He sits until he is sick of looking at him and then he gets up, the robe and mask are rolled up and put into his bag. He leaves out the back way, the camera is broken on that side of the building so no one can possibly tie him to this. He left with a spring in his step and the bag under his arm and excited for the news to reach him naturally. 
The phone ringing is what wakes him up, he is wiping sleep out of his eyes as he makes his way to the kitchen, he snatches it up off of the bar and brings it up to his ear, “Lo’?” 
It’s you, the voice sounding wrecked, you barely get the words, “Randy’s dead-” before you are sobbing, he lets himself smile. You start trying to talk a mile a minute through your sobs and he listens to you go on for a minute before he cuts in asking you to take a breath before he is apologising, tell you how awful that sounds and as you are sniffing you ask quietly, “Ca-can you come over? I-I don’t wan-want to be alone.” 
 “I’ll be right there.” He assures and you tell him, “Hurry, please-”
He tells you he will be right there. He hangs up, he throws on clothes and finds himself humming on the way to your place. He shows up with coffee and breakfast, it’s stupid early and he isn’t sure when you last ate, he knocks and calls out, before he can get your name out the door is open and you are throwing your arms around his neck. He almost drops the coffee tray in one hand and the take out bag in the other but he keeps a grip on them. Your face is wet and buried in his shirt, body shaking and he says softly, “Oh hey, hey, I’m here.” 
You stand in your doorway for minutes and he doesn’t rush you, he lets you cling to him and God this is already working out so well. 
Once he manages to get you inside he sits with you, he makes sure you eat, he listens, holds the box of tissues while you lament, “I wasn’t allowed to see him but they say it was a massacre, they are talking murder Mickey-”
“Murder? Oh my God!” 
If only you knew. But you never would. 
He barely left your side. You kept asking him to stay, begging him to be close, you told him that he made you feel safe, made this easier to handle, you feared you’d fall apart without him and it made him feel so important. Your grief is intense but he loves how you are like this, how you rely on him even when things are difficult and hard to manage, he loves the desperation. He pokes, he has a small pattern, you are so raw that a small nudge makes your emotions go screwy and when you are in a deep spiral then he helps soothe you, pulls you out of it again and makes sure any positive emotion you feel during this time, no matter how small, is tied to him. 
You are so needy, but he has never felt this needed and my God is it nice to feel needed. 
No serious suspicion is thrown his way. He doesn’t kill anyone else, lets everything calm and die down and a funeral is planned and hosted for Randy over a month after he died. Everyone was just so scared that whoever it was might strike again beforehand. The fear it was Ghostface was present, kept Sidney and everyone else permanently on edge, waiting for the other shoe to drop but it seemingly never does and they all have to start moving on sometime. Mickey had to fight hard to keep the act up, but inside there was such power and joy in doing the receiving line of Randy’s family, shaking hands and giving condolences, everyone unaware that he is the reason and cause of his death. He made the right call, abandoning the other plan for this was amazing. He listens as you cry your way through your turn speaking, he knows he is going to be comforting you hard after this and true, right after you finished you come over and he held your hand, giving you the pack of tissues he had in his pocket.
The casket buried, the wake over, he is with you back at his place. You’d been wanting to spend more and more time here, you hadn’t cleared out all the little pieces of Randy from your space yet and you felt like you couldn’t face them today. Your eyes are red from the crying, your nose raw from the tissues used, sitting on his couch, heels kicked off and in your funeral dress still. You aren’t quite as sombre now, he had seen to that, he got your favourite take out just before the place closed, it was near midnight and you actually ate, half empty boxes on the coffee table along with a few empty drink cans. 
You were cradling your current drink in your hand, looking across the couch to him, you were both sitting on the same ends of the couch as before, a mirror of that night months previous that started all this. He was in the middle of telling some story that was making you laugh, the smile on your face was small but steadily growing. “She ended up not even having her wallet after all that.” 
“Holy shit, no way! So then what?” 
“What do you mean what? I sure as shit didn’t pay for her.” He laughed and you said around an amused exhale of your own, “Alright fair, especially after how she treated the cashier yeah fuck her.” 
He takes another pull from his can and you did the same before setting aside with a sigh. You rested your head on the back of the couch as you said, “Thanks for this Mick.”
A questioning hum left him paired with raised eyebrows and you elaborate, “For being here for me. I know I’ve been like a mess, understandably so but a mess all the same. I know dealing with me hasn’t been easy but just…Without your support I dunno how I would have gotten through this.” 
“Oh hey, no need to thank me. That is what a good guy does.” He said easily and you nod, “You really are, you’re so great.”
You reach out, a grabby hand gesture and he fills your need, taking your hand and you sigh. “I feel bad.” 
“For a different reason other than the funeral?” He asked and you laughed a little, “Yeah. I just…I’ve been having these thoughts that make ME feel like I’m a horrible person.”
“What thoughts could you possibly be having to make you feel like that?”  
“I dunno if I should say.” You grumbled and he said, “You don’t have to if you don’t want to but you know you can trust me. I won’t judge you and I sure as shit won’t tell anyone else.” 
You are quiet for a moment before deciding that yes, he is right, you can trust him. You might even feel better getting it out, “I loved Randy. I mean I still love Randy but…All this time I have been spending with you and everything from before, how great you are I’ve been thinking about you more than I should. In ways I probably shouldn’t.” 
He ignores the first half of your sentence, he is sure that would fade in time, he focuses on the second half, “Like how?” 
You give a half shrug and look away, gaze averted and he says your name, stretching it out, he is leaning closer and you steal a glance back at him and say, “Like…” 
The tension is thick, you’ve moved closer throughout the conversation yourself, not so much on the opposite ends of the couch now, almost on the same cushion in the middle of the couch you take a deep breath to steady yourself and you open up. You are already raw and vulnerable, why not go all in? 
“I’ll be in a class I don’t have with you and I feel this huge hole where you should be. I don’t feel like I can do anything properly while away from you, I can’t eat or focus, the weight of everything else crushes me but when you are around I have, fuck, I have hope. I think I can do this, I feel stronger and better, you do that for me!”
He keeps doing what he has for more than a month, he listens, he squeezes your hand harder and he listens to you. 
“I’ll be in bed alone and wish you were with me. My sleep schedule is wrecked but I think I could finally get some good rest with you because I swear to God, if there is one, I only feel safe around you lately.” 
You are speaking so fast now, as if you can’t communicate your intense emotion fast enough until the words stop because your other hand that isn’t in his is on his face, tugging him close to you and kissing him. It starts off hot, deep, needy and he is stunned, it takes a moment to match the energy but he lets you lead it. Fuck he has missed this, missed feeling you against him, you start to slow, he keeps pace, from all consuming open mouthed to soft brushes with laboured breathing and you pull back, “That. I have been thinking the most about doing that.” 
“And that…Makes you feel bad? Cuz it felt pretty good to me.” You laugh from the tone and his expression, the big smile that is so him, you admit, “No that did feel good but I feel bad because my boyfriend has been in the ground for less than twelve hours and I’m on your couch, kissing you and I’ve been thinking about doing it for weeks.” 
You inhale in a way he has come to know far too intimately, that hitch that tattles on you that you are going to cry, you choke out, “How shitty of a person does that make me?” 
He lets go of your hand, his hands are on your cheeks and then tracing down to your neck, thumbs stroke over the line of your jaw and he says, “It doesn’t, hey,  you aren’t a shitty person. You’re my favourite person.” 
Your hands are on his wrists and you shake your head, “I’m pretty sure I am, I-I don’t deserve you, I didn’t deserve Randy either-”
A sniff and he assures further, “No, stop that, you deserve so much. I wouldn’t be here, I wouldn’t be doing this if you didn’t.”
It is quiet for a moment, you are trying to breathe through it and stop yourself from seriously crying, he knows just the right thing to say, “I know I’m really stupid but I have good taste.” 
You laugh. A nod as you admit, “Okay, you’re right, you do have good taste.” 
“We’re gonna ignore you not disagreeing with me calling myself stupid-” You laugh again harder, “But see! So if I have good taste that means that everything I do for you isn't a mistake, it’s not wasted, you deserve this.”
You look into his eyes and ask a bit more seriously, one of the main worries weighing on you, “Isn’t it too soon?”
It’s his turn to laugh, “What? Do you seriously think Meeks would want you to recognize Victorian mourning customs and mope around in all black for a year?” Another laugh spills out of you at the image, “Why does the timing matter on this? If you want it now, then why not now? What is waiting a few more weeks or months going to do?”
He is right. Why does it matter?
The next thing you ask is, “Am I really your favourite person?” 
“Easily. No contest.” You are still so close to each other, and you decided fuck it, why does it matter? You’ve been through so much, you are desperate and you deserve to feel good and so you give into what you have been craving. 
You kiss him again on the couch. 
Neither of you stay on the couch for very long. 
It comes out while you are in his bed, your dress on the floor and you are under him, arms wrapped around his neck, you feel like you could cry but not for any of the feelings or reasons that you had previously over this past month. You don’t want to sob because you are sad or missing Randy or anything else, you cry because fucking hell you missed this, you needed this, it feels incredible but it’s more than that. You finally realised it a while ago, but now? You are unable to ignore it, can’t hold it inside, the admission is on your tongue and has been threatening to come out between moans for minutes. Rocking with him, feverish kisses placed over the side of his face as you gasp, Mickey’s hands are all over, like he cannot get enough of you, he is buried deep and he hits that spot that makes your whole body want to shudder and at long last it comes out in a rush, overwhelmed and feeling overflows you tell him-
“I love you.”
That makes him slow, not stop, but slow, rolls of his hips are purposeful, the change in angle is fantastic, the pressure and grinding on your clit makes you want to cry all over again. He has one arm under your neck, the other one runs up your side, there is this expression on his face that can only be described as a cross between joyful disbelief and pure affection, brown eyes are warm as he asks, “What did you just say?”
You repeat it, louder, voice more sure, “I said I love you.” A harder thrust, a shared and hushed moan, your nails biting into the skin on the back of his neck, you make yourself maintain eye contact, it’s difficult  but it’s important so you manage, “I am tired of-of feeling it, fuck, and not saying it, I fucking love you.” 
He couldn’t be happier, this was better than he ever could have planned or hoped, better than any dream possible, he leans down, kisses you deeply and you return it. Eyes closed you are close in sensation and the moment, in him. He pulls back, close enough his forehead is touching yours as he breathes back the same sentiment, “I love you too, so fucking much.” 
A broken moan that could be read as the word “really” but he is picking up the pace, quicker, rougher and your hand falls back, a desperate plea of, “Mickey, fuck, don’t stop-”
As if he would ever. 
He did manage to get away with it.
It’s been over a year since Randy’s murder, you are none the wiser and you barely mention Randy anymore. Sure his birthday, his death day and your old anniversary with Meeks was hard but that was understandable and tolerable. 
The main and most important thing is that he had you, after the funeral you and he became official, you kept it on the down low, he insisted he wanted you to be spared the judgement, you were already going through so much and any added stress needed to be stomped out. You and he talked regularly about living together and man was he ever excited for when that could happen. Sure it would make his “hobby”, whenever he picked it back up again, more difficult but fuck it, he loved a good challenge. The itch for murder hasn’t been on his mind in so long, much too happy and concerned with you, wrapped up in your relationship but he was feeling that need wriggling in the back of his brain, he can ignore it for the time being. He got away with it and he has you, life is good.
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