#complicated relationships | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

mediumgayitalian · 16 days

Text

———

Hades’ favourite thing to rant about is how much his family forgets about and sidelines him. Nico has literally never once given the lecture his full attention, because why the fresh fuck would he subject himself to that, but he discovers, lying facedown on the floor of Cabin Three, that he must have internalised enough of it to remember some key points.

He is loathe to admit it, but Father is right. How come the Poseidon cabin floors are so nice and comfortable? The floor of Cabin Thirteen sucks. Whenever he has Floor Time in his own cabin, he gets bruised and cold. Injustice.

“Could you suffer quieter? I’m trying to study.”

“Shut up, Percy.”

“I’m not the one groaning in misery.”

“Shut up, Percy.”

Percy sighs heavily. There’s a loud thud as he snaps his textbook shut, and the creak of mattress springs as he shifts.

“You’re so fuckin’ irritating, you know that?”

“Coming from you,” Nico says indignantly, pushing up to glare at him. Percy makes a face back. “I am here, having a crisis, being vulnerable in front of you —”

“Oh my gods.”

“— like you suggested, to rebuild our tenuous relationship —”

“I wish the prophecy had killed me. Either one, I’m not picky.”

“— and you are studying! Nose in a book! You hate reading! You are doing this just to spite me!”

“I am doing this to pass my classes,” Percy snips. “Someone should send you to public school. You need to experience that particular level of hell.”

“Experienced hell already, thanks. Don’t need a redo.”

“Tartarus references don’t shut me up, Zombie Boy. I’ve been there too.”

“Ugh.”

Percy rolls his eyes, turning back to his textbook. Nico contemplates rolling back on the floor to Ruminate and Think (after the second failure in a row he has a much to think about, like what the fuck is he supposed to do, should he even fucking bother, is he doomed to life without love, etc, etc) but finds himself, instead, sitting upright. Watching his — friend. Watching his heavy frown, listening to the bit-back curses and the crinkle of pages when he holds the book too tightly.

He’s moody, today. Sullen. Ate his breakfast in silence and stomped off to the sword fighting arena, raising hurricane downpour around the open theatre to deter anyone from joining him. Coincidentally, Annabeth has not been seen all day.

“Are you okay?” Nico asks quietly.

Percy shrugs, glancing over then glancing quickly away. “Fine.”

“I mean. You flooded half the camp. So.”

“Just drop it, Nico. If you’re going to stay in here, be quiet.”

Nico bites back the automatic, scathing retort. Be quiet, Nicolò! Lalalalala! Don’t tell me what to do! Ugh! I hate having a little brother! Yeah, well, I hate you too!

A quick, cut-off choking sound cuts through his thoughts. He looks up, startled, to find Percy’s face red, to find him swiping angrily at his cheeks.

“Woah,” he murmurs, climbing hastily upright. He ignores the loud chanting in his brain telling him to leave, the discomfort swirling in his stomach at seeing someone cry, seeing another man cry, instead hovering awkwardly. Percy shrugs off the hand he touches hesitantly to his shoulder, and Nico holds it there, suspended, in between and outstretched.

“I’m fine. Leave me alone.”

Nico hesitates. Of all people, he…nobody wants Nico around, when they’re —whatever Percy is. Upset. The only thing he can probably do is make it worse.

But what can he do? Leave him? Get Annabeth? Jason? None of it seems right. Instead he stands, frozen, hand still half-outstretched, eyes wide.

“You can —” He clears his throat. “Um. Did something happen?”

Percy shrugs. His eyes remain glued resolutely to his textbook, although the pages are wet and warped.

“Cause you can tell me, you know. I won’t — tell anyone. Or anything.”

Gods, he is so far out of his depth. Could Kampe come back and attack? That would be easier to deal with. Nico could handle that.

“I don’t —” the pages of the textbook crinkle under Percy’s grip — “it’s fucking stupid, is what it is.”

Hovering is not the right call. He knows that much. He scans the cabin, evaluating his options — sitting back on the floor feels like a bad plan. He doesn’t think any kind of touch would be welcomed, nor is he entirely comfortable in giving it. He doesn’t want to crowd. He doesn’t want to seem too distant.

Slowly, carefully gauging Percy’s reaction, he sits on the bed, across from him. He leaves the textbook between them, letting Percy keep pretending to read it, and tucks his legs up under his knees. He fiddles absentmindedly with his ring, chewing his lip every time Percy sniffles.

“Why’s it stupid?”

Percy shrugs again. Nico resists the urge to shake him. How does anyone deal with this shit? What the hell is he even supposed to do? He’s not Jason. He’s not Annabeth. Hell, he’s not Will, who seems to read emotions intuitively, who seems to know exactly what to do when someone is scared, when someone is upset. Even when someone is angry. He tries to imagine Will, in his position. Sitting across from a crying Percy Jackson, saviour of the world. Yesterday, one of the younger kids had tripped and scraped half the skin off their arm on the basketball court. Will had been there with a soft smile and gentle, glowing hands, speaking quietly and cracking small jokes until the kid was laughing again. Nico tries to imagine that here, soft words and lighthearted jokes. It doesn’t seem right. Would he — touch Percy’s wrist, like he did with Clarisse? Drag the fight right out of him?

Is Percy even angry? Nico has seen him angry before. Murderous. Fuming.

He’s never seen him cry.

Percy’s voice is like palms scraping hard over sharp gravel stones. “I made Annabeth cry this morning.”

The way he says it makes it hard for Nico to actually understand his words. His tone of voice is — volatile, is the best way he can describe it. Loathing. Based on the curling self-hatred dripping from the sentence Nico would assume he’d tried to kill her — he says I made her cry like he doesn’t deserve to live for it. Like he’s hoping to be punished.

“That happens,” Nico says. He swallows. “When you — love people.”

He and Bianca made each other cry a lot. He just never — stopped, never gave her half a second. Sometimes she looked at him and he knew she wanted to hit him. She never did. But he knew and she knew he knew and sometimes it would well up in her eyes, and she would lock herself in the bathroom of their room and turn on the sink and cry and cry and cry. And it ached something nasty in the cavity of his chest.

Percy sneers at his hands, flexing his fingers. “People who love you don’t make you cry. That’s just — hurting. That’s people who hurt everyone around them.”

Nico frowns. “That’s not true.”

“It is,” he says venomously. “I’m supposed to be — I’m supposed to protect her. I’m supposed to keep her safe, keep her from people who cause her pain.”

“People like you?”

Percy nods.

Nico drags his teeth over his bottom lip. He thinks of bleeding fingers clinging to a tiny shaft of rock, thinks of dangerous green eyes, hard voices; thinks of a thick web clinging to a broken ankle and an abyss. Thinks of promises and oaths and choosing. Thinks of falling. Thinks of letting go.

“People who want to harm Annabeth do not jump into the Pit for her.”

The pages of Percy’s textbook have started to dry. The ink has bled, dark splotches in perfect circles. The fountain bubbles gently behind them, mattress creaking under shifting legs.

“You don’t understand what I —” He pauses, swallowing. “Did, down there.”

“D’you hurt her?”

“…I scared her.”

“Oh, well — Christ, Percy! Is that really what this — brooding is about?” He scoffs. “No shit you scared her!”

“…What?”

Percy looks at him, wide-eyed. Nico rolls his eyes.

“Aw, when you were fighting for your life in the place meant to tear your essence into atoms, did you do things that make you question your personhood? Your morals?”

“I —”

“Of course you did, dumbass! Of course you —” he takes a breath, trying to organize the jumble of thoughts in his brain — “of course the physical manifestation of darkness and distortion made you act differently than you would usually, Percy. Of course it — affected you. Gods. Of course you’re struggling.” He flicks Percy’s knee, looking at him with exaggerated exasperation. “Use your brain, why don’t you.”

A small smile quirks the corners of Percy’s mouth, although it fades as quickly as it comes. He wipes his face with his sleeve, breath shuddering.

“She didn’t scare me, though.”

“Not even once?”

“Not in the same way,” Percy admits. “I was scared, once, when I looked at her. In the death mist. But that wasn’t — her, you know? She could never scare me.”

“I mean,” Nico wrinkles his nose, trying to articulate, “I think that’s kind of abnormal?”

Percy tilts his head.

“I just mean that you have a very high threshold, Percy. For…what you’ll tolerate from people you care about.”

“Everyone has that.”

“Not in the same way you do.” He taps his knuckles, considering. “Tell me the truth — if Annabeth stabbed someone to death in front of you, in total cold blood, would you help her hide the body?”

“Yes,” he says immediately. He shrinks, a little. “Oh.”

Nico rushes to assure, placing a fleeting touch on his wrist. “It’s not necessarily a bad thing. I don’t think. It’s just —” He shrugs. “I’m used to scaring people, too. I don’t mean to. I don’t understand it. I don’t understand what I — do, it’s not intentional.”

Percy opens his mouth, but Nico stumbles on.

“But you’re not — a monster, Percy, gods. No one thinks you’re a monster. Especially not Annabeth.”

Percy wiggles his finger under his watch strap, turning it tightly around his wrist, cutting off the circulation. Nico watches but doesn’t say anything.

“You’re not, either.”

Nico blinks. “Huh?”

“A monster,” he explains. “You’re not, either.”

“Oh.” Nico shrugs. “Thanks, I guess.”

“No, I mean it, dude, I — look. Listen.” Percy sighs. “You got baggage. I put some of it on you. I’m sorry.”

Hands around his — throat — angry, angry eyes — harder — bruising — you promised! you promised! you promised!

“It’s fine.” A pause. “I did shit to you, too.”

“It’s not fine. And I know you did. We can still —”

He doesn’t finish his sentence. He sighs again, a long, defeated sound, and curls in on himself.

“One day you’ll forgive yourself,” Nico murmurs. “One day I’ll — me too, I guess. Me and you.”

Percy smiles tiredly. “And we’ll be okay?”

“No. You’ll still be annoying.”

He snorts. “Whatever. Drama queen.”

“Oh, I’m the drama queen, Mr. I Don’t Deserve To Be Loved.”

Percy snorts. He turns back to his textbook, fiddling with the dried page, and snorts again, trying to duck his head. Nico bites the corner of his mouth, hard. Percy glances up again, and Nico meets his eyes, and they —

Gods, they’re bad at this.

But suddenly Percy can’t choke back his laughter, and it’s wheezing and self-deprecating and still kind of teary and Nico is laughing, too, because thank the gods that shit is over. Percy’s red-cheeked and Nico is red-cheeked and neither of them are going to look at each other for a week, Nico’s sure, but for now he can roll his eyes at Percy’s melodrama and dodge his embarrassed shoving, and it’s fine.

“You should talk to Annabeth,” Nico suggests, when the giggling has toned down.

Percy picks at the torn-up skin around his nails. “Probably.”

“Are you going to?”

“Why were you lying on the floor?” Percy asks instead. It is the least subtle subject change of all time, but Nico takes it as the hint it is and drops the subject. It’s not his business, anyway. They’ll talk. He knows Annabeth better than to think she’ll let it fester, at least.

“Oh, you know. Crushing weight of being alive, mortifying ordeal of being known, et cetera, et cetera.”

“Oh my gods. I’m sorry I asked.”

“Well, serves you right then, you selfish bitch.”

Percy snorts. “What, I cry all over you and now it’s your turn to vent?”

“I’m pretty sure that’s exactly how it works. Transactional and eye-for-an-eye. Exactly as friendship should be.”

“You’re not nearly as funny as you think you are,” Percy says, but he can’t tamp down his smile any more than he can stop his eyes from rolling, so there. Nico is exactly as funny as he thinks he is, thank you very much. A regular comedian.

Percy snaps textbook closed and sets it on the bedside table. “So.”

“So.”

Nico squirms. Suddenly he’s not sure why the hell he came in here in the first place. Are the floors in Cabin Thirteen really that bad? Surely not. Surely Floor Time didn’t have to be in Percy’s cabin.

(He blames Father for this. He’s horribly nosy. No doubt he’s passed his nosiness onto Nico, irregardless of his lack of DNA, and made Nico the way that he is. He can’t think of a single other reason he ducked into the cabin after lunch, when Percy still hadn’t shown his face.)

“Dude, come on. You came in here and whined and huffed and made a nuisance of yourself for literally forty minutes, and now that I’m giving you the attention you begged for you don’t want it? Nuh-uh. Spill.”

“There’s nothing to spill about,” Nico protests, “gods, can’t a man just complain in peace —”

“Ha! Not sure you can call yourself a ‘man’ if you’re voice is still cracking, squirt.”

“I literally hate you. Not joking.”

“Uh-huh. Okay.” Percy raises an eyebrow. “Well, since my guts are already spilled out and flopping all over the floor —”

“Disgusting.”

“—so it’s your turn, now.” He pokes Nico’s bicep. Nico bats him away, rolling off the bed and hitting the floor, scooting over to put more space between them. Thankfully, Percy doesn’t follow, and he exhales, settling his back against the bed frame. The mattress springs creak again as he readjusts. “You can tell me, you know.” Nico can hear the smile in his voice at the cheeky repitition. “I won’t — tell anyone. Or anything. Ahem.”

“You’re so annoying.” Nico picks at a loose thread in the knees of his pants, looping it around his finger.

Will thinks ripped jeans are stupid. He hadn’t said so outright, when Nico came back from his Aphrodite-Cabin-enforced shopping trip, but Nico had noticed his pursed lips and deliberately schooled face. When he’d pressed about it, pestering him until he’d given up with the very southern passive aggressive if you like, Nico, I love, don’t you worry about it answer, he’d gotten a forty minute rant about jeans that “sold less jean for more fuckin’ money” that made him laugh until he cried.

He yanks the thread and pulls. The hole widens.

“Oh my gods, you’re actually whipped. Is that what this is?”

Nico flushes. “Shut up.”

“It is!” Percy grins widely, wicked delight in his eyes. “You are literally thinking about him right now! You might as well be kicking your feet! You —”

“Shut up, Percy, gods.”

“I’ve never seen you so red,” he says instead, because he is incapable of following instructions. His smile fades, face softening into something more pensive. “You must really like him.”

Nico shrugs. Is that what he feels for Will? Gorgeous. I’ve been crushing on you forever. He likes a lot of people. You always know just what I need. A lot of people aren’t Will.

“He’s not scared of me.” No matter how much he fiddles with it, the metal of his ring is always cold. Cold hands, he supposes. He never heats up much. “Or. intimated. Creeped out. He thinks I’m —”

He clamps his mouth shut. A bubble of something expands in his chest, growing out of his lungs, past his shoulders, pushing his throat closed. He swallows, hard, trying to shove it back, but — Nico! Hey! You think I couldn’t stand to see a friendly face? No way, Death Boy, no more Underworld-y magic for you! I can literally feel you fading! My hands are still shaking — here, feel.

“Gorgeous?” The smile on Percy’s face is teasing, but much softer than before. “I heard he — said.”

Maybe it’s the redness of Percy’s nose that hasn’t quite faded, or his still-puffy eyes, but finally the bubble pops, and Nico sighs, tipping his head back until it rests on the edge of the bed. He closes his eyes. After a beat of hesitation, callused fingers brush through his hair, ruffling it, lingering awkwardly before pulling away. He smiles.

“Yes.”

“…Really? He just up and told you, that he had a —”

Percy stumbles on the words. Nico peeks one eye open and grinning wryly. “Yeah. He’s a hell of a lot braver than I am. Or maybe he’s just shameless.”

“He was always really intense about being your friend.” Percy screws up his face, tilting his head as if envisioning it. “I didn’t understand what that meant, at first. I didn’t get…the reason? Behind it? If that makes sense.”

“You forgot about gay people,” Nico says drily. “I know.”

“This is true,” Percy admits. He grins, sheepish. “That’s an L on my part. Every time me and Annabeth went looking for you he’d somehow know about it and ask us a bajillion questions when we got back. I just thought he was really into necromancy, or something, but now it’s like…damn.”

Nico covers his eyes with his hand, fighting back an embarrassed smile. He thinks your eyes are a tie between moonstone and agate, in case you were wondering. There is literally not a single soul in this camp unaware about how much he likes you.

“You’d think it would be easier to get him to go out with me, then.”

“It hasn’t been?”

Nico throws his hands up. “No! He doesn’t — I got him flowers, Percy, and he ground them up to make a poultice. He thought the rock I got him was a bribe. I open every door for him and I always pull out a chair for him at counsellor meetings. I make sure to stand up first when we’re sitting together and offer him a hand. I don’t know what else I can — do, gods.” He makes a noise of frustration, glaring at the ceiling. “I’m being as obvious as I can be. What am I gonna have to do to get him to realise? Fuckin’ — tattoo his name on my forehead?”

Percy slides his hand into his pocket, pulling out his pen. He twists it around his fingers, fiddling with the cap, picking at the plastic casing. He uses the end of it to trace mindless swirls on his thigh, which Nico can’t help but feel is dangerous. One wrong move and he better hope Nico can drag him to the fountain fast enough to stabilize him. But his eyes are far away, teeth gnawing on the inside of his cheek.

“There is a chance,” he says slowly, “that he…knows.”

Nico frowns, turning to face him properly. He looks resolutely at his lap. “What do you mean?”

“Well, I — well.” He does finally uncap his blade, staring at the soft glow of the bronze, rubbing his thumbnail over the leather handle. “I. Knew,” he says haltingly. “That Annabeth liked me. I —”

Nico watches him carefully. This is…news, to him. He didn’t keep up much on camp drama about the two of them — for obvious reasons — but he hardly had to. Even during his brief, one or two day stops at Camp, Percy and Annabeth gossip was impossible to avoid. People talked about them constantly, about how much they obviously cared for each other, how oblivious, especially, Percy was. It used to give him a twisted sort of hope.

“You…knew? And you didn’t do anything?”

Percy winces. “She got frustrated with hiding it. She kissed me, once, before I blew up St. Helens. And I just —” He shrugs. “I couldn’t believe that someone like her would want anything to do with someone like me.”

It’s impossible to miss his meaning, to miss the self-directed bitterness at the end of his words. Nico recognises it because he practically invented it. Someone like me. Someone disgusting, ugly, unworthy. Someone bitter and twisted and wrong. Someone so undeserving.

“I think Will is like me,” Percy continues softly. “That — insecurity.” He says the word quickly, like he might be able to hide it in the rest of the sentence. “I think he thinks very highly of you. And I think it’s hard for him to believe that you want to — to lower yourself, to be with him.”

“That’s inane,” Nico argues. “He’s — bright and kind and smart and — he’s fucking everything, what is he —!”

“He grew up a healer in a camp full of warriors. Full of talented people,” Percy murmurs. “When you’re surrounded by people who know what they’re doing, it’s easy to feel like a loser.”

Nico opens his mouth, closing it again. On principle he doesn’t agree with Percy. It doesn’t make sense. Every single person at this camp has relied on Will in more than one way for as long as he’s been here — as long as he’s been healing them. How could he not know what his purpose is? How could he not realise his talents?

Ace bandage, sound and unwound. Hard blue eyes, self-directed sneer. I’m just a healer.

“He’s not a loser,” Nico says eventually. “I don’t think he’s a — loser.”

Nico thinks he’s quite a bit more than that, actually. In fact if all words in the any language he knows, ‘loser’ is probably the least apt to describe him.

“How do I make him realise? Make him —”

Percy shrugs. “Took Annabeth several years and I still think I’m — well. I still struggle. You’ll have to be patient.” He glances over, and that mischevious smile is back on his face, the one that promises trouble and guarantees Nico an excuse to kick him. “Or, you know, you could just tell him that you think he’s bright, and kind, and smart, and beautiful, and —”

Nico does indeed kick him. He falls back against his pillow, laughing, curled against his side.

“I did not — I did not say beautiful,” Nico says hotly, “that was not on the list, you total jackass —”

Percy only laughs harder, no matter how many times Nico kicks him.

———

478 notes · View notes

achromaticegoist · 2 months

Text

Lenore

Short doodle comic

just couldn’t get this idea out my head

Also, here's a little rough animation about the comic:

721 notes · View notes

mejcinta · 8 months

Text

It's the weekend . Time to find Reddit hotd analyses that hit hit hit!!!

#hotd analysis #house of the dragon #house of the dragon season 2 #aegon ii targaryen #helaena targaryen #show helaena and aegon #king and queen of the seven kingdoms #aegon ii × helaena #helaegon #complicated relationships

219 notes · View notes

nmolesofadrenaline · 2 months

Text

#dark academic aesthetic #academia #chaotic academia #romantic academia #light academia #dark academia #academia aesthetic #classic academia #love love love #on love #complicated relationships

105 notes · View notes

icespur · 2 months

Text

Incorrect Quotes Akeshu #97

Akiren: Pfft, you should meet Akechi, he’s such a tsundere. Ann: He... He just shot you. Akiren: So cute.

#persona 5 royal #persona 5 #incorrect quotes #akiren #ren amamiya #akira kusuru #goro akechi #persona 5 joker #persona 5 crow #akeshu #shuake #ren x akechi #ann takamaki #tsundere #11/20 #complicated relationships

61 notes · View notes

thoughtsaboutsnape · 2 months

Text

- Tobias Snape was a squib

- he knew all about the magical world and hated it for the way it had treated him.

- he'd argue with Eileen about magic and the magical world

- he loved his son and wanted to protect him but his lack of magical ability made him ashamed and fearful that he couldn't protect Severus.

- Severus never told him but as things turned sour at Hogwarts, being at home without magic became a refuge of sorts

#severus snape #tobias snape #eileen snape #tobias was a squib #complicated relationships

77 notes · View notes

wondertwinsenthusiast · 4 months

Text

Think about Dick Grayson, such a loyal and loving person, having to leave Bruce and Gotham so many times over the years. Whether Bruce pushed him away once more, or maybe he just felt so sick he just had to leave. Sometimes nobody's at fault, it just happens. People drift away, and maybe Gotham was never truly his hometown anyway.

They'll never be 9 and 25 again, each other's whole world.

They say you never love anything the way you love your first child. Bruce will forever miss the little boy he took in, with great fear and greater love. He misses the little ball of sunshine that was shaking his chandeliers and rocking his world.

They say the firstborn ages with their parent, that the two are maturing together. Dick will forever miss the man who wrapped his jacket around him and told him it'll be okay when he was sobbing on the circus floor. He misses Bruce's soft smile, the one he had when there were fewer wrinkles, white hairs, and all sorts of aches.

The persistent heartache that it is to love and to be loved by Bruce Wayne. The pain of having to be the one who leaves first.

Tiktok slideshows are going to be the end of me.

#i blame tiktok #tiktok slideshow #dick grayson #nightwing #robin #bruce wayne has issues #bruce wayne #batman #dc comics #batfam #dick grayson has eldest daughter syndrom #poems and quotes #dc #character analysis #dick grayson and bruce wayne #mother daughter coded #father and son #complicated relationships

81 notes · View notes

wt555 · 3 months

Text

my generic ass tommatt headcanons

#eddsworld #tommatt #eddsworld tom #eddsworld matt #matttom #headcanon #complicated relationships

92 notes · View notes

pubeplucker0 · 10 months

Text

She’s literally an icon. I love her.

(This could be the big girl crush I’ve had on Lauren Lopez since I found starkid AVPM all those years ago)

#spies are forever #curt mega #owen carvour #cynthia houston #tatiana slozhno #starkid #homosexual #complicated relationships #musicals #tin can bros #lauren lopez #fanart #character fanart #the guy who didn't like musicals #avpm #will wood #music

153 notes · View notes

whumpster-dumpster · 11 months

Text

"Came to see me get my just deserts, huh? Are you happy now?"

"Happy? Do I look happy to you? What do you take me for? No matter how angry I've been, I never wanted you to suffer like this."

#whump #whump prompt #writing prompt #dialogue prompt #bitterness #anger #worry #complicated relationships

267 notes · View notes

wangxianficrecs · 9 months

Text

We're friends... right? by Cy_an_Blue

We're friends... right?

by Cy_an_Blue

G, 3k, Wangxian

Summary: The juniors thought that the revered Hanguang-Jun would runaway and elope with the recently found-innocent Yiling Patriarch. When it didn't happen after Jin Guangyao's death, they waited... ...and waited... ...and waited. Nothing! Absolutely Nothing! Up until Wei Qianbei met them on a Nighthunt, they thought that he was an idiot for leaving the Cloud Recesses! But... that was before. Now they wonder... does Hanguang-Jun deserve Wei Qianbei? Kay's comments: This fic is a The Untamed and Novel Canon mix, but is set after The Untamed ending where Wangxian go their seperate ways and it's a reply to the mixed signals our dear Lan Wangji was sending, especially in his first life, which led to Wei Wuxian being unsure where they stood, especially after being left at the side of the road. A delightful outsider POV where the outsider in question realizes: huh, so that guys isn't an oblivious idiot? Really loved it! Excerpt: “You were on Hanguang-Jun’s level?” Jingyi asked in shock. “Of course!” Wei Qianbei exclaimed. “I still remember the first time we duelled. On a rooftop under moonlight and Emperor’s Smile in my hand.” The Juniors listened intently, hoping to hear something romantic. “He broke my jar! Told me to leave!” Wei Qianbei laughed, not noticing the Juniors’ flinch. “Of course, I was sneaking into Cloud Recesses after curfew the night before the Guest Lectures started. He told me ‘No entry after curfew’. And I had the Emperor’s Smile, so he told me off for the alcohol. And I made the mistake of trying to bribe him with it. So, three offences on our first meeting. He was so mad. I don’t know how I convinced him to be my friend when I was only there for three months, one of those months he oversaw my punishment copying the rules! I think we became friends after that.” Wei Qianbei looked happy about it for some reason, but none of the juniors could understand why. What was so romantic about fighting someone on a rooftop for breaking the rules and getting one of your belongings destroyed in the process? Obviously Wei Qianbei is biased, but love makes people biased towards the ones they love, so this is to be expected. Wei Qianbei obviously loves Hanguang-Jun, but… it doesn’t sound like Hanguang-Jun loves Wei Qianbei back.

pov outsider, post-canon, canon combination, frankencanon, angst, ambiguous/open ending, adorable juniors, reflection, complicated relationships, rogue cultivator wei wuxian, good friend wen ning

~*~

(Please REBLOG as a signal boost for this hard-working author if you like – or think others might like – this story.)

80 notes · View notes

terrence-silver · 9 days

Note

What if John disapproved of beloved? Would Terry go as far as leaving them, Is he more loyal to him than to beloved?

---

Okay, I mean, to answer this, we got to research the supposed thirty something years of weird stalemate and absence John Kreese had in Terry's life and how Terry said, to quote, 'It's the best thing that's ever happened to him', which sounds like something someone embittered who had his heart broken by a close friend would more or less say anyway in the vein of 'You left!? Well, guess what!? It did me a world of good!' even though they're still hurting and reeling and probably will for the rest of their lives. Even their world actually collapsed when it happened.

I actually believe Terry Silver has a limit in patience. Perhaps not in devotion.

But, in patience? Yes.

Terry literally had the Cobra tattoo removed from his rib at some point or other and left a scarred maw behind because, well, yeah, if there's a brotherhood of two and one of the brothers leaves, there's no more brotherhood.

He's not a dog that can exactly be kicked without consequences.

You do it once and you wind up in jail under false charges, as witnessed with Kreese's case.

😬

I think his limit comes about when he tries everything --- and I do mean everything --- and nothing he throws at the wall for a person sticks or makes them happy. Truly content. Like in the case of John, Terry tortured a teenager for him, bribed referees, procured a champion, trained said champion, meanwhile, sent his depressed friend on a vacation, bought revenue locations for him all over town, offered him jobs time and time again, tried to bankroll his entire existence and ultimately, John still disappeared on him ---- or rather, made it clear he didn't want to be found. I think the fact Terry attempted so much and went truly and above and beyond for a friend only to still have that friend turn his back on him led to such a huge psychical shift and even breakdown for him that it shook Terry's existence and for a while, it is safe to say he indeed left John be for ages even though I'm convinced a man of his means undoubtedly knew exactly where the guy was; which means...Terry has the capacity to be loyal to himself and let the situation germinate untouched under extreme measures, and do so for thirty years. Ironically...it is still a form of devotion. If Johnny said, leave me be for the rest of my life, Terry could very well do it because it's anything Johnny says, always, for the rest of his life --- but I digress.

Point is; Terry Silver has limits.

Which means...if John didn't approve of beloved...and if it went to some really excessive measures where beloved's very existence could endanger their friendship, Terry Silver might just break away...but only ever if he himself considered beloved worthy enough for it. Very important to note.

He won't do this for just anyone. If for anyone.

Because I think Terry's self aware; like, don't figure he's gonna mess up half a lifetime of knowing John Kreese over someone he's randomly fucking or someone who's company he's effectively sponsoring, for example --- if John said he didn't like someone who has temporary written all over them, Terry could be very easily influenced by his Captain to leave such a person --- I mean, he very clearly leaves Cheyenne without a word and nobody can tell me it's, among others, not because it was blatantly obvious John didn't like her. So happened Terry internally agreed, cut his losses and moved on because he just about knew this would be the result of the relationship sooner than later anyway. You don't invest your stocks into a sinking ship; it's just basic business and Terry Silver's a businessman, first and foremost.

What if his relationship wasn't a sinking ship?

What if it was sturdy? Durable? Meant to last?

I think Terry would be heartbroken he has to do this, that he has to choose, that his hand is pushed like this, but he and John would have a huge fallout and it wouldn't be easy. It would be messy. Unhinged. Volatile. It would just about be the hardest decision Terry probably had to make where his connection to someone is concerned; he'd feel controlled. Ripped out of his own roots. Forced to choose. Lacking choices and authority, which he'd undoubtedly despise. He'd feel cornered --- and when a beast is cornered, it bites. It would leave behind this huge, gaping wound behind and Terry would try time and time again to make it work, but ultimately, if it didn't, he'd let John go and that would possibly just shatter his mind for a long while because here he was, attached at the hip with John since they were effectively boys in uniform and they were meant to die for each other, if need be, and here John was, leaving over something as offensive as Terry finding true love. John had his shot fair and square, Terry would be convinced --- with Betsy and Terry was happy for him when it happened ages ago, and now, when the opposite is true, John can't be happy for him!?

Terry Silver would be crestfallen and the distancing that takes place between him and John after this is probably the most sordid, complicated, layered and harrowing instance of two old friends falling apart imaginable to the degree if he ever had children with beloved he'd STILL downright name at least one of them John in spite of everything that happened because if the original had to be cut loose, Terry will create a new one literally out of his own flesh and blood mingled with beloved's and raise one that'll be so much a part of him he'll never leave or be able to because that's his child. His legacy. He'll have the upper hand this time. He'll ensure everything's under control. Everything will be as Terry Silver imagined it.

He'll have his own John. He'll fix the course of history this time around.

He'll have a second shot.

Terry's patience has a limit...but his devotion does not.

How's that for meta?

#terry silver #john kreese #cobra husbands #friendships #complicated relationships #terry silver x reader #terry silver x beloved #kk3 #cobra kai #character analysis #heartbreak #angst

18 notes · View notes

mejcinta · 9 months

Text

Team Black claiming Alys as their secret agent to avenge Luke's death, Team Green claiming Alys is an unquestioning devoted lover to Aemond or a spider sucking him dry to give the Blacks an advantage...

Alright, okay. But what if...what if Alys has motives of her OWN attached to neither side of the war?

#hotd #house of the dragon season 2 #house of the dragon #alys rivers #aemond targaryen #daemon targaryen #lucerys velaryon #harrenhal #alysmond #aemond × alys #complicated relationships #character dynamics

96 notes · View notes

coffeexxcigarettes · 1 month

Text

Guilt

My throat tightens

Like a knotted ball of yarn.

My eyes sting with promises

We made...

I made.

I spoke delicately,

As if too strong a breeze,

Would blow us to shreds.

You stomped,

And then threw your hands up,

Exasperated.

I can see you trying,

To make the stray pieces fit.

You deserve someone who loves you.

I'm sure of it.

I know it.

I also know it isn't me.

My throat struggles against

The current,

Unleashing the dam.

Not sure why I was crying,

But I cry for us.

I cry for this.

I cry for you.

20 notes · View notes

doombum · 5 months

Text

Evan spends decades stuck in Golden Freddy and he spends a lot of his time thinking about Mike.

At first, he's very resentful and angry and he wishes he could see him again only so that he could give him a taste of his own medicine now that he's the one looking scary. He doesn't want to kill him, but he does want him to feel the fear he had felt and for him to be sorry for what he did.

As time goes on, his anger subsides. He starts to miss his brother. The one who made food for him, who helped him with his homeworks and tucked him into bed. He starts to think about the good times and he hopes that Mike is far away from this whole mess he's trapped in and is living a good life.

Eventually, he starts to think he could forgive him, if Mike shows that he has changed and that he is remorseful. Evan really hopes Mike is remorseful, but that he did find a way to move on. That he still thinks about him sometimes, but has learned to move on, for his own sake.

He's horrified when he meets Mike again. He doesn't know it's him at first, of course, but he does feel bad for the weird purple man who seems to have dedicated his life to right William's wrongdoings and free the souls. No-one should have to live like that. But when he finds out that it's his own brother, and he sees just how deeply Mike was affected by his death, and how much he has changed, he feels terrible for him. He never wanted his brother to be consumed by so much guilt.

And when he shows himself to him, it breaks his heart to see Mike struggle to believe he is even real and refuse to accept that Evan could have ever forgiven him. It takes a long time to get his brother to believe him, and even then, he never fully believes he deserves it.

#fnaf #michael afton #cc afton #Mike is a sad sad man #evan just wants his brother back #complicated relationships #brothers #siblings #Evan is horrified when he finds out what actually happened to Mike #He never wanted him to suffer so much #even when he was filled with resentment

31 notes · View notes

catofadifferentcolor · 14 days

Text

Terrible Fic Idea #88: Percy Jackson, but make it Ptolemaic

Since I inexplicably seem to have fallen back into the PJO fandom, my plan for this terrible fic idea was to expound upon the fluff hinted at in #87... but once again got derailed as my mind dredged up a fic idea I'd long ago discarded as being too terrible.

Or: What if, instead of hating his demigod half-sibling at first sight, Triton fell in love with them instead?

Just imagine it:

Everything happens according to canon, with two exceptions: 1) Sally Jackson gives birth to a daughter, who she names Andromeda; and 2) Zeus' lightening bolt is not stolen until the summer Andy is set to turn 15, which means she never faces a Fury while on a field trip to a museum, which means Grover and Chiron never realize she's a demigod who needs to be taken to camp.

Because of this, Sally is not able to get rid of Smelly Gabe with Medusa's head the summer Andy would turn 13. In fact, she's forced to double down on the relationship, thinking his scent is the only thing keep her little girl safe-

-which Sally very much comes to regret the year Andy turns 14, when puberty starts turning her from an awkward, coltish child into someone who will clearly become a beautiful woman. The looks Gabe starts sending her daughter's way during Thanksgiving Break are enough for Sally to start drawing up divorce paperwork, but these things take time and Andy is forced to spend Winter Break mostly alone in Gabe's apartment with Sally working double shifts to make ends meet.

The first time Gabe makes a pass at Andy, every single pipe in the apartment bursts - and when he comes at her a few minutes later, thinking it was her idea of a prank, the water seems to trip Gabe and hold him down until he drowns in the three inches of water on their kitchen floor.

Naturally, Andy is freaked out in every possible way by the time Sally makes it home. Sally is equally worried, with a double dose of guilt for bringing someone who'd try to assault her daughter into their home and not getting rid of him sooner once she realized what he was capable of. She realizes that she has no choice but to take Andy to CHB.

Camp Half-Blood is a little different than the books - more small polis than summer camp, with each of the major gods having their own compound within the camp where their children and those of related gods reside. (i.e., the children of various water nymph and water deities, along with a handful of water nymphs themselves, have a compound on the waterfront, which would be headed by the oldest child of Poseidon, if there was one).

Andy is immediately assumed to be the child of a river god because of what happened with the pipes - likely Asopus, who has a history of intervening on behalf of his daughters - and not a particularly powerful one, otherwise she'd have been identified long before her 14th birthday when Chiron taught at her school. The thought of her being a child of the Big Three never enters anyone's mind.

And so Andy, slightly more traumatized with slightly lower self-esteem, finds herself living at camp full time, believing herself to be the daughter of an undetermined minor water deity.

Enter Triton.

He doesn't set out to fall in love with a mortal. In fact, Triton's first instinct when he hears the gossip about Andy is one of irritation at his father for being a little too interested in the affairs of a pretty demigod. He decides to check out the situation and see if it can't be headed off at the pass.

Triton first sees Andy alone one the beach in the moonlight and immediately understands why any number of beings would risk her presumed father's wrath to gain a sliver of her attention. He finds himself drawn to her, coming back night for a week until he finally works up the nerve to approach her - and rather than run away, Andy invites him to join her wave watching.

Their friendship begins slowly - Andy is somewhat leery of men after her experience with Gabe, but a male water spirit seems safer to be around than some of the older campers - but grows startlingly quickly, especially after Triton starts teaching her how to protect herself with both her powers and the trident she found in the armory. By the time June rolls around, Andy can safely call Triton the best friend she's ever had.

But then the situation with Zeus' bolt heats up. Andy is claimed, sent on a quest, and prevents a war. And somewhere along the way she learns the water spirit that's been flirting with her - who gifted her a necklace with his own symbol, to protect her if anyone tried to repeat Gabe's actions - is her half-brother.

Being mortal and having mortal morals, Andy naturally finds this uncomfortable. But the problem is Triton is really has become her dearest friend and probably the only guy she feels comfortable enough around to even consider dating. Triton, being a god, doesn't have nearly the number of hangups Andy has with the revelation - though he is rather peeved with his father for breaking his oath and potentially dooming them all.

This situation goes on for a while.

Meanwhile, we speed run through the next few quests, with SoM, TTC, and BotL all happening in the nine months immediately following Andy's 15th birthday. Only instead of being sent to Ogygia after blowing up Mount St. Helens, Andy lands at Triton's summer home in the Mariana Islands and things between them come to a head. Dealer's choice on the details, Andy eventually decides her feelings for Triton will never change, so she might as well be happy with him rather than hurt them both apart.

And so Andy and her immortal half-brother start dating on the DL.

TLO happens as per canon, the only difference being that Nico - Andy's adoptive baby brother - not Annabeth is her tie to mortality. Despite her new relationship with Triton, Andy still refuses godhood to ensure demigods are recognized by their parents.

It's not until Juno kidnaps Andy that Olympus and CHB learn of her relationship with Triton. The campers naturally find this uncomfortable, and it taints the perceptions Piper, Jason, and Leo have of her when they arrive.

(Poseidon is actually quite pleased by the news, and it should be suggested he waited as long to claim Andy as he did because he knew of Triton's visits to her and didn't want to scare her off something that could make both his children so happy.)

SoN follows canon, although the conch necklace Andy arrives wearing lead most to think her a granddaughter of Neptune rather than an actual daughter, though her treatment is the same regardless. This should lead to all the awkwardness when Andy regains her memories and admits to Frank and Hazel that Triton isn't her father, as they assumed, but her lover.

Andy begins her ascent to godhood in Tartarus when she takes control of Akhlys' poison. In her halfway state she's able to defeat Polybotes on her own, which propels her to full godhood. Her domains leave her something of the aquatic equivalent of Pan, with her ability over poison coming from her ability to clean polluted waters.

CHB and CJ are never quite sure what to make of Andromeda, the ascended goddess that each knew for a time. Though a superb fighter, she never really fit into either camp - a little too withdrawn because of her traumas for CHB, too untamable for CJ. She's respected, but not beloved as she might have been had she started camp earlier. In the end, her story becomes warning about the dangers of catching the eye of a god, as revisionist as that history is.

Bonuses include:

For all Andy loves her mother, her relationship with Sally never quite recovers after Gabe's attempted assault. For all she understands her mother's reasoning in marrying him, she never can quite forgive her for bringing such a monster into their lives. Though she honestly, truly tries, Andy never feels safe enough around mortal men to return home during the school year or form a real relationship with her new stepfather, Paul. She leaves the mortal world behind long before attaining godhood, preferring monsters she can recognize and kill to mortals.

Andy always being considered the odd one out at camp for forming closer relationships with nature spirits than other campers. Her relationship with Annabeth is never as close as in the books - more Gilmore Girls Paris and Rory rivalry than genuine friendship - while her friendship with Grover and Chiron is always tainted by the fact they never realized she was a demigod and thus forced her to endure two more years of Smelly Gabe. Nico is the one exception to this, with Andy declaring herself Nico's ersatz older sister the moment Bianca joins the Hunt; and

Everything about PJO being aged up accordingly, including the myths. None of the stories are sanitized, and so part of camp is being forced to come to terms with the often awful things the Gods (their parents/uncles/cousins) have done - as well as the awful things many demigods (their siblings/cousins) have done historically.

...And that's all I have. Despite the will they/won't they tension being largely glossed over in this outline, that's where I see the bulk of the drama (and thus the fic) coming from, but what can you do? Anyway, feel free to adopt this bun, just link back if you ever do anything with it.

More PJO Ideas | More Terrible Fic Ideas

16 notes · View notes